Up early to gather stuff for an upcoming little road trip/work day. Eventually, I will do a fun workout, some laundry, and the now mandatory nap-before-work.

We rarely exchange birthday gifts anymore, but she's entering a new decade in her life and I wanted to do something nice for her. I sent a bamboo bathtub caddy and a few things to fill it with. For grins, I included some things to remind her of our childhood. I sent pick-up sticks and jacks. We spent hours and hours sitting on the floor or driveway playing with those. I didn't even know they still sold Chef Boyardee Pizza kits, but I found them. We had fun creating pizzas, some were good, others were borderline or downright disgusting. I'm remembering one with canned sardines and smoked oysters. It fell into the disgusting, but memorable, category. She has grandchildren, so she'll be able to share the fun that she had, with her grands. Not for the kids, I also sent strawberry daiquiri mixer. We got in trouble with those back in the day

@prince wrote:

I need fun ideas for surprises. Is it something you can share?

@Mert wrote:

Sent my younger sister who lives several states away a fun surprise for her birthday.

Love those ideas @Mert

Ants...so many ants! And not the ones that make cake!

No night job/other plans. This is good for my voice (or lack thereof). My throat spray would work best, I think, if I also did not use my voice for more than a few minutes per day. This product gives me instant relief for a few minutes but does not overcome everything that is wrong with my voice. The product works well within a reasonable range of experience. I need to do the rest (ha,ha!). So today is a test day for that hypothesis.

Finish 2 reports; clean 1/2 bath; set up new screen names; set up phone numbers for MS use; condition my very dry hair; defrost and roast some chicken for future meals.

@Shop-et-al , when I taught full time, I had a lot of voice problems. Still have to be careful at school.

@prince: I would not want to be a classroom teacher now. I am only a few refresher courses and re-certification away from that job, but... no. The classroom assistant job that I recently recalled would (I think) serve as a mostly silent support and pillar of an appropriate teaching and learning environment in which a talented teacher could be relieved of mundane tasks and freed to do just a little more, or something different, for the students who need a bit more focused attention. This is not the same as a para for an individual student, who might exist in the same classroom but for a different purpose. Mind you, the job that existed then probably does not exist anywhere in the world now-- all these years later. It was fun to dream for a posts in this thread.

It does not exist here. Educational Assistants are hired for specific students. (And not for just one student, so their time is split)

So today is for silly home things. I did not know this until after we returned from errands. Why was there water on the kitchen floor that was dry when we left for errands? Why was there a brown puddle on the floor of the freshly cleaned 'fridge? *sigh*

That sounds like my Big Girl Fridge:

Water on the floor = ice maker
Brown puddle on shelf = mysteriously broken egg?

Working on post-vacation house activities--grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning up the condo since Youngest Son (who cat sat for us) doesn't have the same cleanliness standards I do. On top of that a face-to-face meeting with a mentee and a Zoom meeting tonight.

Watching shark week on Discovery. Same as every year of watching, I’m absolutely awe-struck.

I want one of those. I have an oldie and baddie. It came with the apartment. Twice, and once at my expense, the bars in the doors came out and had to be replaced. They never stayed, and they were broken when the cheap appliance arrived. (Long story there.) Over the years, I learned to alter it substantially and live with the thing. For me, it is annoying because hubby had just cleaned the inside of this refrigerator. The floor and other parts of it actually looked pristine and new! This was some sort of miracle (both that he cleaned it and did such a good job). The water was closer to the sink than to the refrigerator. Nothing was leaking from under the sink and the nearby dishwasher had stopped leaking and doing everything else some time ago. I thought the brown liquid looked like tea that had leaked from hubby's glass iced tea maker that lives in the refrigerator. He roared for quite some time that that was a lie. In fact, this is the first iced tea thingy we have ever had that does not leak. I do not appreciate when odd things happen. These days, we have so little time to take care of the basics that it is beyond the pale when stupid things like this take up time unnecessarily.

Fortunately, I had picked up a little book on Patience. This was helpful. Eventually, we will catch up with ourselves, the apartment will look decent again, and... well... take a few deep breaths, forgive the gremlins, and just be grateful for that bit of hopefulness.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

That sounds like my Big Girl Fridge:

Water on the floor = ice maker
Brown puddle on shelf = mysteriously broken egg?

Three months ago I changed banks based on a whole lot of MS visits to branches of one bank. Yesterday I called my new bank to see if they could lower my car loan payment by refinancing my existing auto loan (from another bank). Within an hour I was approved, so this morning I will go in to sign the paperwork and provide the car title and insurance info. I got a substantial reduction in monthly payments with the new interest rate!

Will also roast some chicken parts before I go out to do 2 shops. Having a supply of cold roast chicken for summer suppers needs to happen.

Tonight the last shift at the talking head job for this week. I had to reduce hours because this talking head does not have much vocal power. Mind you, I have to make up the money with assorted gigs where I say little. It's okay.

Was pleased by news that Britney Spears had a court victory that leads to another step in the direction of changes that she wants to make. The amount of courage this takes is immeasurable. Go, Britney!

Early bike ride to beat the heat, undetermined middle of the day activity, and then a happy dance when Hubby leaves late afternoon for a weekend retreat.

Bike riding at the forest park. Well, only walking for me since i don't have a bike yet. Husband got a bike so he can ride with our daughter. It was fun. Can't wait to get my bike now.

I tried out a new hair stylist since my current one is moving. The new one did a decent job.

Sat in the car for 13 hours to drive to Winnipeg!
Fun. :/
But the hotel is lovely. Pool is still open Gym is open 24 hours. I am drinking wine in bed.
Thank goodness snacks are sufficient that I don't need to organize finding food from somewhere.

Easy, quiet day. Needing to speak less is the same as having universal permission-- right?-- to be nerdy and multi-task. First, I have mostly decaf while finishing a book. Then, I do a long workout while watching the movie that was based upon the book in order to observe similarities and differences.

What.

I've been having plantar fasciitis issues, so walking for exercise is not an option. Instead, I am taking the bike out. My first obligation (a Zoom meeting) is five hours from now but I know I'll be home long before then. Tonight, church then dinner somewhere.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I tried out a new hair stylist since my current one is moving. The new one did a decent job.

Yeah, my hair stylist retired several weeks ago -- boo hoo!! -- And she lived less than a mile from me....had a one seat shop attached to her home. Anyhow, she told me she has a sister who is also a stylist, whose shop is in a regular strip plaza about 7 miles away. So I'm going to try her...got my appt set for about 10 more days. So at my final appt with my stylist, she took several photos of my "after" hair, so her sister can get an idea of how I like my hair styled. We'll see how it goes! It's always a bit scary to entrust your hair to someone new!!
Honny, glad your new stylist did a good job for you!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2021 05:13PM by guysmom.

@KathyG.. My scenario for a shop I did was pretending to have plantar fasciitis issues..Having it for real must be hard. Hope you feel better.

Thanks. I had a problem several months ago and it eventually went away. I'm hoping if I baby my foot I can be back to walking pain-free soon.

@Mum wrote:

@KathyG.. My scenario for a shop I did was pretending to have plantar fasciitis issues..Having it for real must be hard. Hope you feel better.

Up early to clean out purse (big job for such a little purse!), finish one book, and as much of the second book as possible. Next? Road trip. Hubby is driving, and I am finishing the second book.

@KathyG: I hope your foot issue clears up soon!

Hubby comes home from his retreat today mid-afternoon. I've really enjoyed the 'me' time, but it's time to get back to reality.

@KathyG..Tell me about it! Love my family but that me time is so important. Just a quiet walk makes me feel energized without having to listen to "what's for dinner, I am hungry..."

I need a single tire for my car. The first three were victims of curb kissing and nails. I found a place on Yelp that has used ones.

Rushing around visiting people. Exhausting.
A quiet early supper in the hotel restaurant, now an unexpected
free evening, it seems. Book, pool,? What to do.