Feeling Different

The house is slowly getting more organised. I try to do something every day, even if it's just putting one thing away. Some days I get a lot more done, which helps in the morale department. Saturday I woke up and showered, then started in on the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, emptying boxes and putting away their contents (easy to do when they are CDs and we finally got the CD shelves stabilised) and taking out trash.

The VIP and his DS went to a nearby U-pick farm and got us three bags of Empire apples. I'm not sure if this is an old breed, which has gotten a new lease on life, or if it's a new hybrid. It's good though! The DD unfortunatly missed her marching band practice, because her room was not cleaned. I felt bad for her, but I finally had to put my foot down and insist. She got it cleaned up wonderfully by Sunday night.

Sunday we had to speak in church. I had stayed up Saturday night writing the talks while the VIP cooked. Okay I totally lifted the talk from the church website, but at least I told everyone that I did. I know it's not really in the spirit of preparing a talk, but at least I know I didn't teach false doctrine. The VIP decided he was too sick to go to church, so I gave both my talk and his. The topic was prayer, so I got him back by saying that I pray a lot when he is driving.

Monday morning I woke up feeling like I was Going To Die, so I didn't go to work. I spent the day sniffling and sneezing and wiping and feeling Like Cr@p. I got quite a lot of the VIP's new sock knitted, and I watched 2 John Wayne movies. I also took out some trash, emptied a box, and eventually took a shower. The DD had to go to the doctor for her yearly school physical, so I had to go along for that. Then we went to Ikea for dinner and to get the screws to put the computer desk back together. I know we saved those stupid things, but we sure can't find the plastic baggie we saved them in. We got stuck in construction traffic on 95 on the way home, so we got home very late. I was tired of feeling the way I did, so I took a Claritin and went to bed.

Now to explain the title of the post: I hate taking cold/allergy meds. The side effects of the darn things are often worse for me than the original symptoms. But after 2 days of sniffling and sneezing and blowing and wiping, I just wanted to not have to. So now I don't have to, but I feel quite disembodied. And Claritin is supposed to be the one that doesn't affect you! I went to work today, but if I still feel this bad at lunchtime, I'm going back home to rest. No movies today, just sleeping. I just couldn't resist Hatari yesterday though. I love that movie. I have the DVD, but I will watch it on tv every time it comes on, all the way to the end.

Scared Out of a Year's Growth

Seminary (catechism) classes started this week. Since we are not in Utah or SE Idaho, we don't have the luxury of release-time classes, so we have to do early-morning. I survived early-morning seminary, mainly because in my senior year my dad was the teacher. (Remember, Shauna?) Personally I don't get seminary. Why does having five more hours of religious instruction per week on top of the three gotten on Sundays plus the whatever-amount on Wednesday nights make a difference? Are teenagers so stupid that they need it? Speaking for myself, I only went because I was expected to, not because I wanted to. Except for spending more time with my dad that final year, I don't really think I got a whole lot out of it. I enjoyed my teachers, and being with the other kids, but I saw them every day at school anyway, plus Sundays and Wednesday nights.

So in our new ward, they have decided that seminary is Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings, with another lesson on Wednesday nights. Not Thursdays. Today is Thursday. My alarm went off as usual at 6:15am. I got up and went to go make sure the DD was up and getting ready for school. Her bus comes at 6:50 and if she has ignored her own alarm, she can still get up and ready for the bus when I get up. No child. The house was completely black. No evidence of bathroom activity (except that toilet really needs to be cleaned) and the bedroom is its usual tornado-like state. The computer was asleep, so it had been at least 30 minutes since it had been touched, and the front door was unlocked. Calls made to her cellphone went to voicemail. Panic mode ensued.

Being the practical person that I am, I wasn't about to start calling the cops until I was presentable, so I got into the shower. The VIP called the school, and reported our "missing" child. I called her phone again and left a message this time. I got dressed hurriedly and located my keys, intent on driving the neighbourhood. I was halfway down the stairs when my phone rang, playing Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, which is the DD's ringtone. Apparently, it was decided to hold seminary on Thursday mornings as well, but we the parents had not been informed.

Pass the Xanax, please.

Parenting

So I need to know if I handled this correctly. Last night after work, DD cornered me and begged for a trip to StuffMart for a new backpack. Yesterday before work she had cornered me and begged for the VIP's backpack, which request I politely declined. I told her I would buy her a new one at StuffMart after work. So we went, and it was LOUD. Sometimes I just get over-stimulated and I Can Not Deal with the cacophony of daily life. As soon as we got the backpack and a couple of other items, we got out and went home, and I retired to my bed. At 9:30 she came in and requested another trip to StuffMart for index cards. I told her to ask the VIP to take her as I was in no shape to go out again. I assume that he did, because I saw index cards in her room this morning. So as I was getting ready for work this morning, she called me. She was already at school, and wanted me to bring her oboe to her. She had forgotten it. I declined. I simply did not have time to do that and get to work on time. One day in band class without her instrument of choice is not going to kill her, and it may propel her to remember it tomorrow. So am I awful?

Discoveries

I found the lunchmeat! Unfortunately it was not in the same box as the leftover cheese-and-onion pie. I found that a day later. All had to be dispatched to the great garbage disposal in the sky.

I found my chocolate stash. It's fine. I shoved it under my bed.

I didn't lose my yarn stash. I made sure I packed it and moved it myself, and placed it in the new house and it has not moved. It is still there.

I found the shims that go under the shelves so that they dont fall forward and kill somebody. They are at Lowe's in the pre-hung doors section.

I opened my housewarming gift from DG. She knitted me three beautiful dishcloths and included a bottle of Bath & Body Works antibacterial soap. The computers aren't up yet so no photos have been downloaded off the camera. But believe me, they are lovely and will be loved. I miss her so much!

DD's birthday lasted several days. We finally ended it on Saturday by taking her to dinner at an international buffet with a Mongolian grill. She thought that was pretty cool. The VIP gave her a gift card to Barnes & Noble so we spent another couple of hours there looking for books. She still has one item coming in the mail from England. She asked Grandma for more books, which I gave her the night before her birthday because she had been so helpful with the moving. I think she made out okay.

I am having to be more creative about storing things in this house. One of the bookshelves has been called into action as a space for storing kitchen ware. As soon as we find the cookbooks they will go there as well, but it is also going to hold the rice cooker, the crockpot, and some other like items. I can't really store anything on the balcony and not expect it to get weather-damaged. I'd like to take advatnage of an end-of-summer sale and get some patio furniture, but it would be a shame to have it sitting out there all winter getting ruined. So maybe we will just get a couple of folding chairs that we can take out there on nice days.

I've been re-organising the sidebar, hopefully making it more easy to find what you want to read. All ideas welcome.

And go give Lynn some love. Her children's father is having serious health challenges and it is affecting them all.

And locals, let's meetup at Philadelphia Knit in Public Day.

Heavy Labour

This is just a note to say that I am still here, although I've been AFK during the move. We have one laptop up and running, but using the keyboard and mouse is a pain so I do the minimum on it. We are moved in, and I would like to publicly thank a certain person that works with us by the initials GW for all the incredible hard work he served us with. We could not have done it without him at all. I managed to hyper-extend both knees early on in the game, and had to spend most of the time directing from the top of the stairs. A big thank-you also to the Elders Quorums from both the Pennypack Ward and the Medford Ward.

Now comes the part where I do my best trying to get everything organised and put away. Tonight's job is putting the bed together not only so that we have a place to sleep, but also space to store boxes underneath while I get other things taken care of. I don't even want to think about all the stuff that has to be done, so I'm giving myself one big job at a time to accomplish.

The DD turns 14 tomorrow, September 3. She is a mostly-good girl and I'm proud to say she is my daughter. She has been a challenge to me, but I can see that she is growing up and will be an exceptional adult with wonderful service skills. I love her very much, even when she pushes every button I have. If you'd like to send her a birthday greeting, post in the comments and I'll pass them along to her.

Love you all, forgive my intermittent-ness please?