Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Hi, Everyone!

Victoria,we hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable time at the beach! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

June, it's good to know that you were careful when on the ladder. Even though the TV cabinet is solid wood and hopefully a secure place to stand, I hope you confine your climbing on ladders or the TV cabinet to times when someone is nearby, preferably in the room with you. It's wise to delay further climbing until the hot weather subsides. Congrats on having your Christmas shopping nearly finished! I hope the prawn and chicken night at bowling is fun and tasty. What a great idea to add Chinese cabbage and grated carrots to the prepared coleslaw!

Suzy, you have proven yourself indispensable in that school. What would they have done if you hadn't pitched in to empty the staff room? Enjoy some time off and hopefully get all your Christmas preparations finished!

MizT, hooray for you for getting the pansies planted in time! I'm sorry the crafty thing didn't take place yesterday, but glad you had 2 musical events scheduled for today! I hope you don't suffer from Scrabble withdrawal.

Heidi, I with you on the Christmas cards. They're in the house, but not written or addressed. I hope your tractor wasn't damaged by IH. I must admit I wasn't too surprised that he didn't arrive home as promised to help you with getting the creep feeder out of the deep mud!

Heading off to bed now. But first, here are the daily wishes: positive thoughts, healing vibes, prayers, {{{{{HUGS}}}}} and ! Good Night!

Here's an 'almost TOPP' for the page:

Grown men can learn from very little children
for the hearts of little children are pure. —Black Elk (Dec 1863 - Aug 1950), Oglala Sioux

I think I ate too many prawns last night. They were lovely. Ken turned the AC off when he came to bed last night and the house is now starting to warm up! Computer says 28*c outside.
Ken will bowl tomorrow but I must think where we can go for dinner as it is his birthday.

Actually as it is now Saturday it is now his birthday! Must see if I can get back to sleep.

Ken

It's raining today, but ridiculously warm. It's actually Tee shirt weather! It's supposed to be ~ 70F tomorrow, then by Monday we'll be back to a hard freeze. Very schizophrenic weather.

Nasty storm here, Heidi, with a bit of a break tomorrow and then another storm on Sunday. Ice, snow, yuck!

Happy Birthday, Ken.

Suzy, how are you feeling? It took me just over 3 weeks to get rid of my cold ... it was a nasty one. I was about to make a doctor's appointment when it eased up a bit.

Wrong avatar ... wishful thinking.

I was just about to start cooking supper when IH called to let me know that he just ate out. I'm in shock! He was considerate!!! I bet it'll never happen again.
And no, he didn't bring me anything.

Instead, I just made myself some cheese blintzes and a couple of rashers of bacon. It's not too balanced, but my tummy is happy.

Happy Birthday Ken!!

Theresa, a teacher I was working with headed off to Canada the day after school finished. I joked with him that he was going from 40 degrees to 40 degrees (C to F), but it's probably colder if you're having storms!

I haven't had time to have a cold yet. I kept working until Thursday, Friday I was sorting things ready for this morning. This morning our new fridge and bed arrived. Under the old fridge had to be scrubbed, walls too. Then when we moved the bed there were grease marks on the wall. (gross)Hubby says, I'll get the new bed now. Oh, no you won't. Walls first...

OH Heidi, no pictures of food please! I am still too full from our Christmas lunch! I missed having real turkey, they served some type of turkey loaf, processed white meat in a loaf shape. It just did not have the taste or texture of real turkey. Everything else was lovely though. I thought about taking some extra cranberry sauce for myself, they give the cutest baby fluted paper cup with a tiny bit. I like cranberry sauce with each bite of dressing. Growing up, it was a fun game to see who could 'make it all come out right'; finish the cranberry sauce, dressing and turkey at same time. Sometimes it did not even happen on the second try hehehe.

On coming home, we found a small bag of goodies from St Mary's Episcopal Church, the home church of our Chaplin. There was a clear glass ball ornament with bible verses on strips of paper inside, a book of prayers written by Mary Ann, the Chaplin, a bottle of water with reindeer antlers and eyes, and a red nose attached, cute. I am sure some of the children did these as an activity in sunday School. Then there was a small wrapped gift. I got 2 nice cotton pillow cases. I had bought white sheets earlier this year, only came with 2 pillow cases, I have four pillows, so these are very welcome here. I do not think they did this last year, must have been Mary Ann's idea, she was not Chaplin last year.

OH, a kind of funny thing I found out about today. I remember yesterday after the Jazz band one of the staff saying to a group, 'No, it is just mud, someone tracked in mud, that's all it is'. I did not think any thing about it at the time.

This morning, when I left apartment, I saw that my power chair was leaving little drops of dried mud, I found out they were in tread of my power chair. Between the band and the singers, I had gone outside, riding around enjoying the lovely day. Out front, I saw an old newspaper had blown up into our shrubs. I drove across the grass and picked it up. I went back inside to put it into trash. I must have left a trail of then fresh mud from tire treads!

When I went outside apartment today, there were little drops all down the hall way up here even. I cleaned those up, and vacuumed my apartment floor. OK, the really funny part, the staff members comment, I found out, was in answer to several people talking about 'someone's dog has walked all through the first floor, dropping doggy poo everywhere'. Linda picked it up and inspected it, to keep down THAT rumor! I had NO idea about any of this, till someone told me about the dog rumor. I just kept my mouth shut, figured no reason to say anything at this late a date! I really did not know I was leaving droppings, I cannot see behind me hehehe.

OK, I know I am over, so posting now, then to bed with me, it is getting late. Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Surprise, my post all fit in the space.

Oh, I forgot to say one thing. Healing thoughts and prayers for Joy please. She was in ER tonight, had cut her thumb, well junction between thumb and finger, using a pocket knife for a job that was not in it's job description. She has 3 stitches and NO PAIN MEDS. Geeze, once upon a time if you needed stitches, you got a script for pain meds with instructions to fill if the pain was bad. I do hope she can get by with ibuprofen (OTC non steroid anti-inflammatory drug). But she said she had left over meds from a recent root canal if she needed them. Weekends are not a time you can get anyone to write a script for pain meds, not with the feds looking over the shoulder of every doc in town.

Climbing off my soap box and really going to bed now, hugs.

Warm Sudoku Greetings!

Happy Birthday and a yummy cake for Ken.

Heidi, enjoy the considerate thing Gil did today, in case it never happens again. How nice to have T-shirt weather. I think we almost made it up to freezing today.

MizT, I won't share your little secret about the tracks from the tires on your chair.

Suzy, no more wall-washing! Just relax the enjoy being home!

Time to call it a night here. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers, healing vibes, and for everyone!

Really nasty out here ... only intermittent internet access.

Suzy, my oldest grandie's teacher is going to Australia on a teacher exchange for six months. Her new teacher is from Australia, starting in the new year. She really likes her teacher, so she is upset about the change. She doesn't do change well. Wouldn't it be a bizarre coincidence if her new teacher is the one you know?

Good Morning all....Happy Saturday and Happy Birthday to Ken. Hope many more follow. Finally had a great night of sleep and feel really rested. I'm no longer taking pain pills and only have a very few aches...Yay! I've managed to get a few gifts for the children and must wrap them today...Christmas goodies are here as well as the wine and rum...I do think the house looks rather festive and altho another year has come where I haven't sent cards out, I'm starting to think that I found at least most of my Christmas spirit ....I'm really happy about that.
I will not take the time to comment on the recent post other than to say how much I have enjoyed reading and being included in the shared information you have posted. I do want to tell you all that each and every one of you have added to my daily life in such a pleasant way. Friends, family and the knowledge that they hold one's life force together is often spoken of in song...since I won't inflict you with my singing, I'll simply say a big thank you for being and sharing..Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. May my dream of HIS Peace be yours.

Mama, glad to hear the pain is down to a manageable level. Love your posts.

Our weather forecast has taken a turn for the worse. Heavy ice rain starting this afternoon, with the potential of widespread power outages for several days. I see a quick trip to the store in my future to get some canned goods ... everything else is pretty well stocked as we keep an emergency kit prepared during the winter. We don't have a generator, but we do have a fireplace and lots of wood. Oh dear, I guess I will have to bring some wood in too. That means trundling through about a foot of snow to get to the wood pile. Have I told you I dislike winter? I'm also very achey, which isn't usual for me in the winter. What up with that?

Okay folks, I have a lot on my plate right now to deal with. My brain had shut down for a while to figure things out, which is why I hadn't been here much.

My brother-in-law, who is much more like a brother to me (more so than my real brother) has an aneurism near the liver. He needs an operation, but it is so rare that there are only 4 or 5 people in the world with the same thing, and not many doctors who can operate. None of the doctors he deals with at the hospital had ever done or seen the operation. Right now it's a wait and see thing, and he'll have another MRI in the new year to see how the aneurism has progressed. So he can have a very risky operation, or wait until the aneurism bursts. What a choice! I am so sad about this.

Stress number 2. FIL is not cooperating. He is still at home and refuses to go to the nursing home where MIL is. He says he wants to die at home. MIL phoned him and is upset that he would prefer to die at home rather than live with her at the home. What a sad, sad situation. He now has someone coming in every day to help him, because the community care people noticed bruising and they think he's falling. We will be going down on Boxing Day to spend the day with him and MIL. This could well be their last Christmas. He is so stubborn.

Stress number 3, but not necessarily the least of the stresses. My oldest grandie probably has Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism. She also has epilepsy, and anxiety disorder. She has been going to a psychologist ($180 per hour, not covered by our health insurance) and we should have the final report early in the new year.

I have done a lot of reading about AS, and I have been way too strict with her in the past. The psychologist says we have to pick and choose our battles with her. She cannot control her temper, cannot control her emotions, and a whole host of other things. I have found the Asperger's Society of Ontario website very helpful. So I have had to rethink the way I deal with her. It is going to be such a hard life for her. She does not make friends easily. She has to have a routine that she follows. For example, she has had the same items in her school lunch since she started junior kindergarten ... she is now in grade 4. The exact same things. If my daughter puts in something different, it comes home again, even if it's a treat.

So all those things plus a few financial difficulties (over $2,000 in car repairs, $1,800 in legal fees, plumbing and electrical problems for which we don't have the bill yet), has kept my mind too busy. Needless to say, we have toned down Christmas this year, but it should be a fine one anyway. We carefully picked presents. Hubby and I will get each other something after Christmas after everyone else is taken care of. Besides, I like spending Christmas with family and really don't care much about presents. Presents are nice, but family is much nicer.

Vent over. It has taken me months to straighten out my head and I know life takes on its own course, but sometimes too many problems makes we want to shrink inside myself.

Theresa.... Asbergers does explain a WHOLE lot about your granddaughter... her tantrums... her lack of respect for you. Diagnosis is the first major step. I'm so glad that she's been diagnosed so you can get support and answers.
I can't believe all the stresses you have on your shoulders right now. Your FIL is sure stubborn, but I see his point. My grandfather insisted on staying and dying at home, too, but he wasn't alone. I've wondered in the past why the governments don't try some sort of program with homeless people (not the crazies) who need a place to live and could work as companions to the elderly so they can live at home. Of course, the testing and background checks could be a pain-in-the-rear.

The temperature here is 67ºF / 19.4ºC, and rising!! It's also raining. It's supposed to start dropping tomorrow, and by Monday we'll be down to 19ºF / -7.2ºC!!!!!! I hope we don't get many animals getting sick with pneumonia. This is nasty.

I didn't sleep well last night. One of the dogs (Missy) has become terrified of thunderstorms (I've noticed this happening as a collie gets older) and we had some crashes last night. She spent the night on the bed, clutching my head and shoulders, and shaking. It's hard to sleep that way, so I'm off to take a noice nap.

JUGS, everyone!

Just lost a long post, I was typing away when I got a screen asking shy I thought Heidi's post was abusive. Not me, did not think that, push that button. Canceled that and lost my post, drats. Teresa, was thinking about you and your grandie and all you have on your plate now, come vent as often as you need too. Heidi, was commenting on your doggie afraid of thunder. Is it time for doggy tranquilizers?

weather here is strange, 72 degrees, 100% humidity, very muggy feeling, yuck. NOT cooling off as much as Heidi, but some drop in temps, oh 20 degrees or so.

I am back from grocery, bought some things to make cookies on Christmas Eve. I bought Christmas Cards, just to hand deliver to friends her at EP. I have been getting a steady stream slid under my door, nice.

I was leaving grocery store, after returning the riding cart to it's place, when the cashier who checked me out came and handed me a bog. I thought I had left something on the carrousel, so said thank you and walked back to car. Now I find this was not mine! I really do not to make another trip out today to return it, what to do??

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

What was in the bag?

It's nearly 10:30 pm, and it's 73ºF /22.8ºC!!!!! WHAT is going on???

Cousin Don was here for supper tonight. I made spaghetti with garlic bread and italian sausages. He and Gil scarfed it down like they hadn't eaten in days. I think they liked it.

Heidi, there were two cans of tomato soup and a bottle of dish wash liquid. Tomato basil soup, it sounds pretty good about now hehehe. I feel bad that someone did not get what they paid for, hope Walmart will make it good for them. NO ticket in the bag, no way to track the owner.

I had to turn on the AC, humidity was terrible, and the temp was approaching 80 inside. Did not take long to dry out the air a bit.

My hands ache now. I just finished signing and addressing just 16 Christmas Cards. Not even long addresses, either, just first names and apartment numbers. I have one friend I cannot find on the buildings phone list. There is no Lynn on the list, I have looked for anything starting with an L, no luck so far. I cannot remember her last name, if I ever knew it. She plays scrabble with us, might have to phone one of the other players to find her. I think I have about 4 more to address, they can wait till either pain meds work, or tomorrow, cause I am not going to deliver them tonight.

I bought cookie making supplies, and some plain flour called for in one recipe. I may have mentioned, I have this recipe I must try. It is called Impossible Cocoanut Pie, and all ingredients are just mixed together, poured into a greased pie pan. It is suppose to cook into 3 separate layers, a crust, a custard like filling and a cocoanut topping. It has intrigued me, gotta try this. Will let you know how it turns out.

I am thinking about having an Open House Christmas Eve, invite to come down have a fresh baked cookies and some coffee, have Christmas music on the TV. I must ask Joy what she thinks of this, as we usually bake cookies Christmas Eve. With her help, I could do this, not sure about without. There are several I know who will not be with friends or family on Christmas Eve. If there get to be too many for my apartment, we have a meeting room just down the hall, we could expand to that. I am already planning on moving my sofa table to the hall outside my door, to be the cookie and coffee serving station. No staff here weekend, I think I can get away with that hehehe. I will phone a few friends, but also put out a notice in elevator lobby, and see if anyone turns up.

I suppose I need a snack, I ate lunch at 3 pm, and not really hungry, but know I need something before taking evening meds. Maybe a cup of coffee and a turkey/cranberry sauce sandwich, that sounds about right.

Julie and Theresa, hope you do not have terrible icing from this storm coming through. Heidi, what are they saying about Kentucky? Any chance of freezing rain for you? I keep looking to see if we will have tornado watch, it feels like tornado weather. Weather was tough for Thanksgiving travel, looks to be same for Christmas travel. Glad I am not flying anywhere, or driving far either.

Once again, hugs to each of you, with extras. I am so glad to have each of you a part of my life.

Heidi, it is also 73 degrees here at 9:42 Central time. As expected, weather forecasters just issued a tornado watch including my county and a nice chunk of north west Alabama until 2 am.

HEIDI, looks like the thunderstorm is about to hit your area, it will arrive here in the wee hours, not into Alabama yet. I must make sure my phone is near, and turn up the volume on the ringer, just in case we get a warning instead of a watch. I am NOT going to stay awake waiting on weather to come through. Gosh, I remember having to do that living in the mobile home, one or both of us would stay awake waiting for storm to come through, and I would have emergency necessities ready in case we had to go to the dome. It is so nice to not have to think of that now. If a tornado was headed at us here, I would just go out to the hall with my power chair and flash light, closing all the doors behind me, putting as many walls as I could me and any windows. Much easier, and no getting wet hehehe.

That storm just blew through. It was brief but nasty. The power was out for an hour. I had recently purchased several inexpensive but powerful LED lanterns, and they sure came in handy. We're all OK. I hope it loses some of it's power before it hits you, Tricia. It sounded like a hurricane out there.

BTW.... it's after midnight and it's STILL 73ºF!!!!!!

In a matter of half an hour, it dropped 13º!!!! And there's still thunder and lightning out there.

Happy belated birthday to Ken!
Tricia - hope Joy's thumb/hand is getting better.
Theresa - so pleased you have a diagnosis for your grandie. It explains and forgives so much. Hopefully once you all get used to managing it, things will become easier for her and you.

Just in case I don't get back here before Christmas, I wish all you lovely SA people the most glorious Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

Sorry, still can't access my smilies. My cheque is still in limbo and until I know what happened or remember to get to the bank to cancel it, I can't/won't pay by PayPal.

Hi, Everyone! Sending the usual supply of warm {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, , and healing vibes for each of you! Please apply liberally.

We still have power .... yahoo! Another storm supposedly coming through today. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Jugs to all.

Gekko everybody!
The storm has passed, with only one bit of trauma. After midnight, we got a call from 911 that a crew sent out by them had discovered that our creek had flooded something fierce, and IH's office building was flooded. They asked him to get down there immediately. When we looked out the window, we could see emergency vehicle lights flashing on the road closest to his office. He drove down there as fast as possible, waded through the water, and opened the front door. The front deck was under water, but the building itself was just high enough. The water was 1/2 inch from coming inside. They sat and watched the water levels for a while, but they had peaked and rose no higher. I did tell IH to turn off the circuit breaker to the building overnight in case there was another round of heavy rain and flooding. We had never seen the water so high in the 22 years we've owned this place. That was one NASTY storm last night.

Heidi, There must have been quite some rain in that storm! Hope all the animals are OK.
Suzy, I sent you an Email about Portable North Pole. It is a great video to organise for young children. It is a video from Santa with photos, their names etc. Laura was very excited about it all last year.
It was an awful hot night. We slept with the AC on all night. We do not do that very often. Christmas day should be a lot cooler, thank goodness.
Must go and water the garden so that it can survive the heat!

The creek had risen over 7 feet, and, though it flows into the Ohio River, and then to the Mississippi, it starts on our farm as a trickle from a tiny spring, then collects rainwater.

I got to the pharmacy and picked up my prescription for pain meds, so I'm good to go through the holidays. I also did a lot of grocery shopping, so I won't have to worry about food or drink for at least a week. At least for people. I'll stock up on dog food tomorrow. I need to go fire up the tractor in a few minutes and feed the cows. They sound hungry.

The weather forecast for tonight is SNOW!!!!