cafe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
- Messages
- 9,827
- MBTI Type
- INFJ
- Enneagram
- 9w1
It's funny looking at the pics of my projects. I could not get the rain barrel hose thing to stay up on the downspout, so that's currently a lost cause.
My garden is growing, mostly with volunteer tomatoes from last year. And weeds.
Still getting some tasty tomatoes from it and I have cantaloupe growing. I am going to have to check the seed packets I have left because I can't remember if it's one of the heirlooms I planted, or if it's a plant I bought, or if it's a volunteer.
Got enough volunteer potatoes to make 3-4 servings of mashed potatoes, enough strawberries from my strawberry patch for everyone in the family that wanted strawberry shortcake to have some.
I'm not going to dig around the sweet potatoes until the cantaloupe is done because they are all tangled up with each other.
Don wants us to get a shed and a tiller in the spring, which will be pretty cool.
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My mom is divorcing Scott, the creepy, pushy guy. They have been separated for a few months now. She has apologized and seems reasonably stable, so we talk on the phone a couple times a week and we've gone to get sandwiches a couple of times. I am not going to have her around the kids anytime in the near future. She seems fine now, but one thing she has never been is predictable.
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My older son has started middle school. He seems to be doing okay so far. They have stopped doing parent teacher conferences because of budget constraints, so I will have to check in from time to time. I'm feeling pretty out of the loop and I don't like it, but at the same time, he is going to be thirteen, so I don't want to be all up his butt. I'm not ready for this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My younger son had to switch schools due to local No Child Left Behind politics. I was warned off the record that it was likely to happen at the end of the last school year, so I was able to make preparations.
We visited the building a couple of times over the summer to get him used to it, especially the high ceilings. The speech therapist has years and years of experience and I think I like this principal better (not that it would be hard to do) and his teacher seems nice.
I'm mildly concerned that they are going to accommodate him too much and not challenge him enough. I'm considering requesting an IQ test to make sure I'm not crazy for thinking he's very bright and so they will know what it is reasonable to expect from him. I will give it a month or so to see how things go before I make myself a pain in the rear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm trying a gluten-free diet for my younger daughter again. Gluten problems are what best match her symptoms. We've discovered that she can have dairy products, but has to drink lactose free milk. She says she is feeling much better and frankly, even if it's placebo effect it's totally worth the extra trouble to have her feeling better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oldest daughter now has her learner's permit, but we've only gone out driving once. It was kind of nerve-wracking and she's not in a big hurry, so I've been lazy.
She's starting her junior year and likes all her teachers and classes except for geometry. She can get college credit for her AP English class if she does well enough on the test at the end. She is going for an academic honors diploma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don has taken a smallish pay cut because some of the dealerships on his route have closed. We expect there will be more changes at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Probably he will take another pay cut. He could also lose his job or, if they reduce drivers and change his route, he could stay the same or get a pay increase.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've spent a lot of time playing around with the budget and looking at contingency plans. Even with a major pay cut, we should be able to pay the mortgage and basic utilities. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm confident that I can stretch a dollar when I need to and that Don is strong and hardworking and will do anything legal and ethical to provide for his family.
Have applied for weatherization and for income based student loan repayment. Both of those things would really help us out. If we get them I will be sending Mr. Obama a thank you email.
So that's about all I can think of right now.
My garden is growing, mostly with volunteer tomatoes from last year. And weeds.
Still getting some tasty tomatoes from it and I have cantaloupe growing. I am going to have to check the seed packets I have left because I can't remember if it's one of the heirlooms I planted, or if it's a plant I bought, or if it's a volunteer.
Got enough volunteer potatoes to make 3-4 servings of mashed potatoes, enough strawberries from my strawberry patch for everyone in the family that wanted strawberry shortcake to have some.
I'm not going to dig around the sweet potatoes until the cantaloupe is done because they are all tangled up with each other.
Don wants us to get a shed and a tiller in the spring, which will be pretty cool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My mom is divorcing Scott, the creepy, pushy guy. They have been separated for a few months now. She has apologized and seems reasonably stable, so we talk on the phone a couple times a week and we've gone to get sandwiches a couple of times. I am not going to have her around the kids anytime in the near future. She seems fine now, but one thing she has never been is predictable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My older son has started middle school. He seems to be doing okay so far. They have stopped doing parent teacher conferences because of budget constraints, so I will have to check in from time to time. I'm feeling pretty out of the loop and I don't like it, but at the same time, he is going to be thirteen, so I don't want to be all up his butt. I'm not ready for this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My younger son had to switch schools due to local No Child Left Behind politics. I was warned off the record that it was likely to happen at the end of the last school year, so I was able to make preparations.
We visited the building a couple of times over the summer to get him used to it, especially the high ceilings. The speech therapist has years and years of experience and I think I like this principal better (not that it would be hard to do) and his teacher seems nice.
I'm mildly concerned that they are going to accommodate him too much and not challenge him enough. I'm considering requesting an IQ test to make sure I'm not crazy for thinking he's very bright and so they will know what it is reasonable to expect from him. I will give it a month or so to see how things go before I make myself a pain in the rear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm trying a gluten-free diet for my younger daughter again. Gluten problems are what best match her symptoms. We've discovered that she can have dairy products, but has to drink lactose free milk. She says she is feeling much better and frankly, even if it's placebo effect it's totally worth the extra trouble to have her feeling better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oldest daughter now has her learner's permit, but we've only gone out driving once. It was kind of nerve-wracking and she's not in a big hurry, so I've been lazy.
She's starting her junior year and likes all her teachers and classes except for geometry. She can get college credit for her AP English class if she does well enough on the test at the end. She is going for an academic honors diploma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don has taken a smallish pay cut because some of the dealerships on his route have closed. We expect there will be more changes at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Probably he will take another pay cut. He could also lose his job or, if they reduce drivers and change his route, he could stay the same or get a pay increase.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've spent a lot of time playing around with the budget and looking at contingency plans. Even with a major pay cut, we should be able to pay the mortgage and basic utilities. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I'm confident that I can stretch a dollar when I need to and that Don is strong and hardworking and will do anything legal and ethical to provide for his family.
Have applied for weatherization and for income based student loan repayment. Both of those things would really help us out. If we get them I will be sending Mr. Obama a thank you email.
So that's about all I can think of right now.
