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Post by Linda on Aug 23, 2022 12:27:31 GMT
gramma - poor puppy but he is cute! great page! Love the eyeglasses on the chicks - fun page. And the Create page is awesome - and I think I spy a gnome! kellyr21 - yay for starting the mini album kitbop - wow - looks great. How is it used? grammadee - love your helper - she's so sweet looking. Good luck with the canning. joyfulnana - Thank you. Looking forward to seeing the DD and fingers crossed on the mojo!
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Post by grammadee on Aug 23, 2022 16:18:56 GMT
We use that mustard relish in a number of ways, Linda. It is the 'secret ingredient' in my spaghetti and lasagna sauce. Since I can't add garlic, it gives the sauce a bit of kick. We also use it as a relish on hamburgers or hot dogs. Love it with pork: as a veggie side to go with roast pork, or as relish on a cold sliced pork sandwich. Mmmmm.... Hoping to hear from you, nylene about how your dh's recovery is going, and hear some of the stories he has revealed for that book you are putting together. I hope you can scrap some of those stories with or without photos. No "canning" today. I may clean, cut, and blanch the beans I picked yesterday to make room in the fridge. Just picked a 5 gallon bucket of cukes and another one of zucchini this morning. No plans for them today: just need to dry them off and store them. The jelly is a two step process, so I will clean and cook the berries this morning. And grab some jars from downstairs to put into the dishwasher. The berries will steep in the juice for a day or two. Then it will be time to screen out the skins and seeds and cook up the juice with sugar and pectin. |
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nylene
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Post by nylene on Aug 23, 2022 17:53:58 GMT
I am going to try to catch up on the chat. DH has been recording his memories but needs me in the room with him (he thinks) so I haven't been in my scraproom much. kitbop , I am very impressed with your relish canning. I don't even think about canning anymore. I make strawberry jam each year and bottle peaches some years, but that is all. We built our home on a lot with 19 pear trees. We removed 11 to build the house but that still left lots of pears. I canned, dried, and jammed pears. We found that we could trade them for peaches, apricots and tomatoes so I was canning all through the fall. With just 2 of us we don't need that much food. But canning really got us through some lean years when the kids were young. How is your husband doing? gramma , your pages are delightful and I love to see you scrapping again. You have such a beautiful scrapping style. I left you love in the gallery. grammadee , your chokecherry jam sounds wonderful. We used to go up into the hills where there were a lot of volunteer chokecherries. We would spend a day picking and another day jamming them. Mmmm. We also had a bunch of mulberry trees on the corner of our block. They were outside an apt building and no one wanted them so we kids would climb the trees and shake the mulberries onto sheets spread on the grass below. Mulberry syrup was one of my favorite tastes. I don't know how you keep up with everything in your garden and canning all the produce. You are the Energizer Bunny. I will catch up with your layouts in the gallery. kellyr21 , I hope it starts to cool off for you. Your trip to the beach sounds so relaxing! I hope you can do that again before winter comes. I look forward to seeing your latest scrapping. I haven't heard much about the fires in your area lately. Are they knocked down or under control now? Your chair yoga sounds wonderful. That's something I would enjoy. MARIBETHR , your courthouse pages are wonderful. I love the way your embellishments often are matching the design and architecture of the courthouse. What a great project you are doing. I left love in your gallery. Are you looking forward to some Fall RVing. joyfulnana , I'm glad your scrapping mojo is coming back. I am eager to see your DD. Will you do it again this year? How is Rudy liking school this year? I hope he is doing well. I'm sure he's so anxious to get that baby brother here. He'll be a sweet big brother! I look forward to getting back to some online scrapping too. It seems that life just gets in the way in the summer. Linda , Is your DD enjoying school now that the bus arrives on time? How about your older kids? Is DD going to school? Your DS is still in the military isn't he? I hope you are fully recovered and back to feeling your normal self. I look forward to your posting more pages. I love your ability to make the sketches work with your photos and paper size. I'm getting better at that, but I usually hope you do it before I do so I can scraplift! DH's surgeon told him to keep his head at a 30 to 45 degree angle for the first week. He said if you drop a pencil, have someone else pick it up! I should have known that DH wouldn't follow that advice. He did that for the first couple of days, but it's just impossible to keep him from doing things. If he could drive he would be out at work, supervising what's going on. Grrr! We don't see the Dr. until Friday. The next 3 days will be L-O-N-G. I'm glad he heals quickly, but I hope he isn't doing damage. He is bruised from the eyebrow to his chin and has 3 incisions stitched. He would scare children! I left him for a couple of hours yesterday and went to Em's to help her organize her dies. I don't even want to think what he might have done while I was gone. LOL |
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nylene
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Post by nylene on Aug 23, 2022 19:40:25 GMT
I had to come post this!
You know how, as a mom, you are doing something and it suddenly gets too quiet? You know the kids are up to something! Well, I was sitting here on 2Peas when that feeling came over me (for the first time in many years). I went to find DH. Not watching TV, not in the bathroom. I went to the window and spotted him outside, pushing on a dead tree that fell in the last big wind. It didn't go clear down and he was helping it. ARRRGH. Why do I even try to keep him down?
I thought you guys would enjoy that!
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kitbop
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Post by kitbop on Aug 23, 2022 21:34:25 GMT
You know how, as a mom, you are doing something and it suddenly gets too quiet   YUP!!! I can just see it! My DH is struggling with his injury because he simply can't do anything that requires 2 legs. And if he walks on it, he's back to square 1 and starts all over again. So at least he has motivation to stay off it for these few weeks just to get it over with! We have a mulberry tree in our backyard! We harvest some every year but the birds and the grass get most of them. I'd never thought of syrup, I will try that next year! I could can that! I bet it would be good over ice cream. I've used them to make muffins and berry crisps, but they aren't quite as good as raspberries or strawberries, although free in the backyard is a good situation  |
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Post by Linda on Aug 24, 2022 1:16:24 GMT
grammadee - sounds tasty nylene - I'm sorry. Hopefully he's not done any damage and will SIT STILL for a bit now. Yes - DD likes school - she's happy with all her classes and actually got to turn on the torch in welding class - super exciting! DD22 just started her semester yesterday - she's only going parttime this year -she only needs two more classes to graduate and they're both only available in the spring so she picked two she thought interesting to take this fall. Yes, DS is still in the Navy - he's hoping to make a career out of it. kitbop - having spent five years straight on crutches in my early 20s and on and off them ever since - I have great sympathy for your dh - it's no fun to not be able to jump up and go. I'm not sure I've ever had a mulberry - nice to have some in the garden though I'm sure. No scrapping but I did make a camera strap cover for my dSLR and I've been doing some digging in old records (genealogy).
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gramma
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Post by gramma on Aug 24, 2022 1:58:29 GMT
I had to come post this! You know how, as a mom, you are doing something and it suddenly gets too quiet? You know the kids are up to something! Well, I was sitting here on 2Peas when that feeling came over me (for the first time in many years). I went to find DH. Not watching TV, not in the bathroom. I went to the window and spotted him outside, pushing on a dead tree that fell in the last big wind. It didn't go clear down and he was helping it. ARRRGH. Why do I even try to keep him down? I thought you guys would enjoy that! But but but - did he have his head at the prescribed angle??? |
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Post by MARIBETHR on Aug 24, 2022 18:19:33 GMT
MARIBETHR , your courthouse pages are wonderful. I love the way your embellishments often are matching the design and architecture of the courthouse. What a great project you are doing. I left love in your gallery. Are you looking forward to some Fall RVing. I certainly am. We have a weeklong trip scheduled for late September to our favorite campsite of all. |
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Post by grammadee on Aug 25, 2022 15:36:57 GMT
Isn't there a verb "husbanding" which means taking care of? Husbanding is a tough job, nylene . Hope your dh did not do any damage with his yard activities. My dh was supposed to take it easy after having his teeth pulled, but decided he should move the hoses for the sprinklers, do some other stuff around the yard and drive out to check on the bison. By last night his jaw was swelled up like a pumpkin. Gone down a bit this morning, but still puffy. Hoping your dh is learning to cope, kitbop and YOUR husbanding duties are not too onerous. But I can understand his frustration. Thankfully I have never had to navigate on crutches. With my wonky sense of balance I don't think that would go well at all. Dd tells a story of trying to rush from one class to another in University the week she was on crutches and it sounds like a wonder she did not end up in a whole body cast. Glad you are getting to go camping in the fall, maribeth. Dd and family are in the mountains this week with their holiday trailer, 2 dogs and a cat. Haven't heard much from them--reception is spotty up there--but hoping for some fun photos when they return. You have done a marvelous job home schooling that young lady, Linda . Sounds like her confidence is back. Glad she is enjoying the in person experience and I hope this last year for her is memorable. What's on the agenda for today? I slept in this morning and my head is still a little foggy. When I have had [at least] one more cup of coffee, I hope to get my chokecherry jelly cooked up and into jars. And I have to do some housecleaning. Last I heard from them, my ds the team roper, was planning to bring his boys up here for the weekend. The 9 year old really wants a "sleepover" here. So I hope to get some sheets washed and rooms ready. |
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Post by justjac on Aug 25, 2022 19:06:16 GMT
Hey. I am currently waiting to get my colonoscopy. Thanks to my family history I need to get checked every five years or so. I was supposed to start back at work yesterday, but instead I was doing prep. This whole thing makes me anxious, but I’m now at the stage where I just want them to get moving so I can have a drink and something to eat. I’m sending sympathy to all of you with injured husbands and to your husbands. Dean has been a sweetheart while I’ve been whining.
I need to share some of my projects. I scrapped a bunch of daily pages and a few layouts of my friend’s wedding.
Hope your day is better than mine!
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nylene
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Post by nylene on Aug 25, 2022 19:16:39 GMT
justjac, best wishes for a clean (pun intended) colonoscopy. I hope you don't have to wait too long. Glad DH has been a rock for you as you went through that prep. I look forward to seeing more of your pages. I really enjoy reading your journaling pages. grammadee, you have so many visitors that I don't know how you keep up with everything. Hope the choke cherries make a wonderful jelly for you and DH all winter. They take a lot of sugar but are so tasty. Hope you get all the cleaning and wash done that you feel you need to do. Busy day at your house. I ordered a bunch of photos from Costco but they won't be here until after Sketchtember starts. I better start looking for some photos hiding in boxes in this room for the first few days of Sept. I want to get more Christmas cards made before the end of the month too. cycworker and refugeepea, hope you are doing ok.
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cycworker
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Post by cycworker on Aug 25, 2022 20:55:04 GMT
All is well.... just over the top busy. I'm running for reelection for school board and there is a lot of prep to do. I want to be ready, or close to ready, to officially launch my campaign on Monday. The person who assists with my signs is away & she is back on Sunday; she is connecting with me Monday. So I want to have stuff ready to send to her (basically the materials for my handouts).
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Post by Linda on Aug 26, 2022 0:18:11 GMT
MARIBETHR - enjoy the anticipation of the camping trip! nylene, kitbop, and grammadee - love the term husbanding - hopefully everyone's DH's are doing well and doing what the doc (dentist) ordered grammadee - thank you. She's in 10th grade so almost 3 yrs left but this year is definitely off to a great start. Four of her teachers had her sister and 1 of them also had her brother so we knew they were excellent and I've was pleased she likes the other 3 as well. DD22 has gone from taking one course this semester and planning two next semester for her final (5th) year at college to taking on a full courseload and declaring an anthropoly minor to go with her religion and cultural studies major. justjac - I hope the colonoscopy went well and you've had a drink and some food. cycworker - good luck with your re-election campaign. IRC you're in Canada, right? When is election day? I have not had a productive day - too many interruptions - had an IEP change meeting at the high school and then DH was home for lunch and then first one and then the other of my older kids phoned (they are chatty) and then DD15 had a meltdown...Hopefully tomorrow I can get through a bit more of my to-do list.
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cycworker
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Post by cycworker on Aug 26, 2022 4:12:01 GMT
MARIBETHR - enjoy the anticipation of the camping trip! nylene , kitbop , and grammadee - love the term husbanding - hopefully everyone's DH's are doing well and doing what the doc (dentist) ordered grammadee - thank you. She's in 10th grade so almost 3 yrs left but this year is definitely off to a great start. Four of her teachers had her sister and 1 of them also had her brother so we knew they were excellent and I've was pleased she likes the other 3 as well. DD22 has gone from taking one course this semester and planning two next semester for her final (5th) year at college to taking on a full courseload and declaring an anthropoly minor to go with her religion and cultural studies major. justjac - I hope the colonoscopy went well and you've had a drink and some food. cycworker - good luck with your re-election campaign. IRC you're in Canada, right? When is election day? I have not had a productive day - too many interruptions - had an IEP change meeting at the high school and then DH was home for lunch and then first one and then the other of my older kids phoned (they are chatty) and then DD15 had a meltdown...Hopefully tomorrow I can get through a bit more of my to-do list. Yes British Columbia. October 15, It will be interesting on two levels... one, because it is always the same day as Mayor/City Council. Given the campaign period is exactly the same, unless there is something controversial we've been debating (a facilities plan that proposes a school closure, for example) people are far more interested in City Council, because they see the direct impact in their lives.... specifically, property taxes. We don't have local taxing power for schools; it comes from the province. Two... because we had a pretty calm, effective, relatively non-controversial term (even with Covid closures - again, we were basically managing it as directed by public health) there may not be a lot of candidates, which could make it easier for a kooky type to get in. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 26, 2022 12:09:51 GMT
cycworker - I wish our campaign cycle was as short as yours. Hopefully it goes well and sane people prevail.
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Post by grammadee on Aug 26, 2022 13:54:51 GMT
Good luck on a successful re election bid, cycworker. Linda, here is to a smoother day today. I am sure that your family appreciates all the time and emotional support you give them. joyfulnana and nylene, I am glad you are excited about SKETCHtember. I have the sketch chosen and LO done for my first sketch (I have only two samples to do as I am sharing a day with another host) If your pic's don't come in, maybe you can do cards for the first few sketches, nylene. But don't forget that CARDtober will be here before we know it, too... Ds confirmed that he will indeed be coming today. I know he will have the two younger boys. Not sure if my ddil or dgd will be coming. I have one more bed to make upstairs when the sheets come out of the dryer, and then this main floor to spiff up today. Will have to figure out something for supper. I need to do a grocery run, so might just pick up something in town. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 26, 2022 16:03:31 GMT
grammadee - thank you. It's a bit smoother so far despite a rough night of sleeping but DH is home sick with vertigo again. Have fun with your family visit - sounds like you're well prepared.
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nylene
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Post by nylene on Aug 26, 2022 18:13:33 GMT
cycworker , best wishes for a great and successful campaign. I agree with Linda , I wish our campaign cycles were short. Seems we are ALWAYS in campaign mode here. grammadee , I hope you have a wonderful visit with DS and family this weekend. It's always a lot of extra work, but the visit and memories are worth it. Thanks for all the work you do setting up challenges and events here at 2Peas. Glad you have your first sketch finished and ready for Sketchtember. I hope you can sit back and relax and enjoy working on your own pages during the month. Linda , sounds like your kids are heading in the right directions and know what they want to accomplish. I hope they each have a great school and military year. I hope today goes better for you and you can have a more productive day. Just know that sometimes handling all the emotional stuff doesn't look like you are producing, but it's often the most important thing you will do. You are doing a great job with your family! MARIBETHR , I look forward to hearing about your RV adventure. I'm sure you are looking forward to lots of Fall trips. I spent some time yesterday looking through your Kansas Courthouse pages. They are all amazing. I was excited to see so many Peas willing to take more photos for you! We just came back from DH's post-op. His surgery was much more involved than we thought. Rather than graft skin from his upper lid, they opened a big flap from just under the eyelid down into his cheek. They then rotated it upward and the skin under his eye now is his cheek skin. So a cheek lift twisted to fill the space where they removed the cancer. I was hoping he could go back to his normal activities today, but he still has to do hot wet packs 4 times a day for 20 min. and still is not to lift, strain, bend over, etc. for the next 10 days. He has thought it was just some incisions healing and he has that all the time with the dermatologist, but this needs to make new blood vessels since it has been moved. I hope I survive the next 10 days. I think I need to quit husbanding and let him make his own decisions. I know he is tired of my "mother henning". I am working on another POTW. I have missed a bunch of those and want to go back and do them.
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Post by grammadee on Aug 27, 2022 16:26:16 GMT
I think I have my August calendar photo!  |
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Post by Linda on Aug 27, 2022 16:42:44 GMT
Just know that sometimes handling all the emotional stuff doesn't look like you are producing, but it's often the most important thing you will do. You are doing a great job with your family! THANK YOU nylene - I really needed to 'hear' that I'm sorry your DH's surgery was more involved and the recovery will be longer and more difficult. I hope he's handling the restrictions well. (((Hugs))) grammadee - awesome photo! looking forward to the calender page layout! Today is off to a slow start - I'm still in pyjamas - but I did do one layout for Shimelle's stamping class and I've watched the second video. Time to do some chores while I let ideas marinate for the next layout. |
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joyfulnana
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Post by joyfulnana on Aug 28, 2022 17:05:53 GMT
Good Morning! I hope everyone is doing well. I finally got some of my JYC pages uploaded, I'm happy with the way it turned out, but the smaller size really challenged me and I know I overthought it a lot lol. I'm not sure I would do it again but I am glad I did it once. I think this is the first time I've earned Pokey Points! lol  2021 JYC by Joyfulnana, on Flickr  2021 JYC by Joyfulnana, on Flickr  2021 JYC by Joyfulnana, on Flickr  2021 JYC by Joyfulnana, on Flickr |
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Post by grammadee on Aug 28, 2022 17:43:20 GMT
Just came from the Gallery, joyfulnana, where I was admiring your JYC album. I think you did an awesome job. And I like your take on it that you are documenting traditions rather than specific events on a specific date in a specific year. That way it can remain your Christmas book that you display out on the coffee table every year for you and your family to flip through. I envy you that your whole family is with you each Christmas season. It's quiet around here. Ds left mid morning with his boys. They had a great time playing with toys in the basement and tearing around in the yard. He spent the weekend relaxing, and last night we had his cousins over to play cards while the boys watched movies and ate popcorn. This morning the youngest dgs made sure he was up early enough to help cook breakfast. He immediately reminded me what needed to be defrosted and was an enthusiastic waffle maker. He had trouble separating eggs using the two shells, so he ended up doing it the Gordon Ramsey way, holding the yolk in his hand and letting the whites slip through his fingers. Luckily I got a pic of THAT! He served his dad breakfast, and told him "Now I can cook. Just like Gramma." So far I have done the breakfast dishes and stripped the beds and stuffed the first load of sheets into the washer. Normally I am not in this much of a rush to get those rooms upstairs livable again, but if all goes to plan another ds will be arriving this upcoming weekend with their boys. So all the used sheets and towels went down the laundry chute, and the process starts again. Wondering why I worried about vacuuming the rugs and washing the floors before these guys came. What with popcorn and grass all over the place, and a *few* minor spills with the breakfast making operation, I don't see much to show for my earlier cleaning efforts LOL. Ahhh.... but I can still feel the hugs... |
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kitbop
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Post by kitbop on Aug 28, 2022 21:29:21 GMT
grammadee - that really sounds like a *family* weekend, from dirt to hugs! Love that you are creating memories for them of a loving family home. Honestly, I look around my house and cry... I could clean all day and not keep up!
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Post by Linda on Aug 29, 2022 1:43:56 GMT
joyfulnana - love you pages - great documenting of traditions grammadee - sounds like a lovely time with your boys! ((((Hugs))) kitbop - relatable esp. lately with all our appointments Speaking of which - DD15 went to the skating rink last night with her friends. She didn't say a word to us last night but when she got up this morning she showed off a swollen and painful wrist - she fell and landed it on it at the rink. She was 'hoping ice and rest would fix it overnight' So off to urgent care we went as soon as they opened. They took x-rays and sure enough it's fractured and in such a way that they splinted it and sent us off to the Ortho After Hours in the city - they were pretty clear it needed to be seen today if at all possible. So off we went and once it opened (evening only on Sunday) she was seen. No more x-rays - they reviewed the urgent care ones - but a Ortho PA and then an Ortho DR both poked and prodded (poor girl - that hurt) and sent her to casting for a custom splint and we go back there for the hand and wrist clinic tomorrow morning where they'll decide if they can manually reduce it and then cast or if she'll need a pin. did I mention we're still not done with PT and podiatry?
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Post by grammadee on Aug 29, 2022 2:35:37 GMT
Oh that poor girl, Linda! She must be one tough cookie A broken bone HURTS! And poor Mom, spending the day in waiting rooms! I am beginning to think it is not safe to get too close to a pokey! I hope your dh's are coping well, nylene and kitbop, and doing things to help themselves heal. |
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kitbop
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Post by kitbop on Aug 29, 2022 13:05:00 GMT
Linda!You need to bubble wrap her! I hope it's her non-dominant hand, otherwise school work  Is it the radius? I hope they can get good alignment without surgery. OK Pokeys, we've had WAY MORE than our share of injuries and illnesses for 2022. Time to hang up our hats and be uneventful, yeah?
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nylene
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Post by nylene on Aug 29, 2022 15:38:56 GMT
joyfulnana , I love, love, love your JYC album. I love the way you have documented traditions, not a day to day activity. I think I'd enjoy doing that. I always thought I'd have too many blank pages because we don't plan an activity each day. I love grammadee 's idea of having the album out each year for family to enjoy and reminisce. I think what you have done is great and I love all the photos of what you make. Linda , I am so sorry about DD's break. I have great empathy. I have broken both and they can be painful. I hope this will not make her school work even more difficult. She has lots to do and learn this year. Prayers for being able to reduce without pins and plates. Hugs to you and gentle hugs to her. kitbop , I feel the same way about my house. I know I could clean clear through it, but it just gets dirty again! It's a never ending job. How is your DH doing getting around on crutches. I am so sorry that he is going to have such a long recovery. Hugs to both of you. grammadee , your weekend sounds wonderful with family around, and another one coming up this weekend. The washing and cleaning...not so fun. You are such a warm and caring gramma. Your children and grands are blessed to have you. Your August Calendar photo is fabulous! You have photogenic grandchildren! I'm heading over to Em's today to help her organize her die and some other things in her scrap area. Have a great Monday, everyone.
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Post by Linda on Aug 29, 2022 16:10:55 GMT
Thanks everyone - she got lucky and is now sporting a green cast...which'll come off on her birthday (Oct 3) and then she'll have to wear a brace for a bit afterwards.
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kellyr21
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Post by kellyr21 on Aug 29, 2022 21:25:55 GMT
Happy Monday! Hope you all are having a nice day. Our weekend was nice. Ron had Friday off so we relaxed all weekend. We went to get to M's, the bookstore and Bath & Body Works. I love their lemon foam hand soap for the kitchen. Today, I hope to do a few things around here like crafting and painting/art. I took a Gelli Plate class this morning and it was interesting. It was about printing with your Gelli plate on fabric. I think it would be good for quilts. grammadee - What a fun time you all had. Do they live far from you? joyfulnana - Loved seeing your layouts and pockets. Good to see you getting some of your mojo back! How fun! nylene - Oh those cards you made are so pretty! I especially like the slimline card. Is this one of your first slimlines? You are so good with the Sheet Load designs. linda - Hugs to you! I hope your dd heals quickly. Do they still sign casts? If so, I hope she gets lots of fun autographs and happy faces.  kitbop - House cleaning is a bummer at times. I wish I was like Samantha from "Bewitched" and could wiggle my nose and it all be clean in a flash. LOL! |
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cycworker
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Post by cycworker on Aug 30, 2022 3:07:26 GMT
Hey friends... posted this on NSBR but don't know than many go there from here:
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So, thinking about aging parents a lot.
My dad has been having a tough time.... both my parents, really. Dad physically, mom the stress of caring for him. Though part of the problem with Dad is that he's not as... I don't know... strong as he was. He has no, or not much, fight in him. He's just apathetic. He's also am 83 year old Eastern European man who doesn't believe in that 'touchy-feely counselling crap.'
Basically he had a couple falls, and hip surgery. And he's walking, but with a walker, which he HATES. He wants to get back to a cane, at most... but he also isn't super motivated to do the WORK needed to get back in shape enough to achieve that.
So that's the background.
Mom has him in respite this week, in one of the buildings on my complex. He wasn't thrilled - he wanted to stay by himself when plans to have someone stay at the house with him didn't work. But when it came down to her not going on the break (she's on a trip with her sister...she REALLY needs this), he said ok. Even he knew she needs to recharge.
He's settled in.
My question is, I know I'm going to pop over & visit every day. What I'm struggling w/ is dad is NOT a chatty guy. And he doesn't do puzzles. I can probably get him to play some Cribbage... possibly Rummy. But likely Cribbage. So what other things to do? And how long is too long/too short? Even before he got sick, he wasn't one for small talk.
So I'm struggling... I genuinely love my dad. I genuinely want to spend some time with him. I am just REALLY rusty at it.
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