Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[PollyannaMom]

Beautiful picture, Lynn. So sorry for your loss.

 

[lynxstch]

Beautiful picture, Lynn. So sorry for your loss.

Thank you

 

[dazedx3]

Sorry Lynn, I didn't mean to put a thumbs up on your post. Losing a loved member of the family is always so hard. Monkey was a beautiful cat.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Oh no. That must’ve been hard, Lynn. Sorry to hear.

 

[Snowysmom]

Lynn So sorry about your furbaby. Such a lovely cat. It is so hard to lose a furbaby. Sending thoughts and prayers to you,

I did manage to spend the night at the house. I got pizza and salad for lunch, supper, and supper tonight. I also got Brigham's peppermint stick ice cream. Yummy! I left it at the house as a treat I can have there. The evening went pretty well, I watched TV, and I went to sleep after a bit. I did wake up many times but I expected that. What I did not expect was that in the morning, after I was dressed and out in the kitchen, I had a meltdown. I thought of Chris and the routine we had on Saturday morning. I just cried and cried, missing him and our daily routines. He would be the first one to say to make new routines as he did after we lost Jasper. I went out to get coffee and a muffin for breakfast. After I got back to the house I found a small storage box to sort through with lots of old sentimental cards we gave each other and notes the kids wrote to Dad telling him how much they loved him. The waterworks started again and it has been like that on and off today. I did make a baby step in staying the night. Next time I do stay the night it will be when one of the kids is coming over to help clean the next morning so I can just concentrate on that and know I will be busy. I think having my birthday coming up, a day that Chris always made special, and the holidays, are making me sadder and missing him more.

I got to visit my younger's DS's kids today. My oldest DGD had a special shopping day at school. The school had items for sale, mainly little items for $5 or less, and the kids could buy up to 5 items. She bought me a gift. She picked out a little stuffed mouse from the Nutcracker. She wanted to give it to me today. She is so sweet and loves giving. I have it up in my room at my older DS's house. She also had bought her brother and sister a gift each and gave them the gifts when she got home from school that day. I had Christmas books I gave each of them as well as a snack. I read books with them and oldest DGD sat right next to me snuggled up. She misses her Grandpa. My younger DS knew how upset I was today and told me he wished he could make time go forward so the house could be done and I would be settled somewhere. He said he knows how hard it is. I know he is missing his Dad alot. I am glad he has his family to help with the grief and to keep him occupied. What I did learn from today is that I cannot live in the house on an every day basis and I definitely cannot work from the house as Chris and I had so many routines wrapped around our working together from home. That knowledge really helps my decision.

Tomorrow we are all back to the house. The guys will be hauling heavy stuff to the dumpster while I sort through our Christmas ornaments to put into a new storage box. I don't need them this year for sure. The kids will take some probably next year. The lights are old and are very hot so we will take a picture of the strands and then throw those out. I am mainly interested in keeping the ornaments that Chris and I bought when were we first married and some special ones we got during the years. I am not sure I will be decorating any kind of tree again but if I decide to I will be ready.

Have a good weekend.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Back from camp. It was cold, but fun. Got to see DD and the kids and some other friends. Did not see @easyaas123. Drove through Chesapeake City and Chestertown on the was home to look at lights. Got carry out for dinner.

@lynxstch, so sad about Monkey. What a beautiful cat.

I did make a baby step in staying the night.

Don't sell yourself short. That was a major accomplishment.

 

[Kirby]

Hey everyone, hope today has been good for all. I can't remember the last time I posted so I'll just begin at Thanksgiving.

QOTD - For whoever is making a turkey, do you have a favorite way or recipe?
I like to cook a turkey in a bag. No particular recipe, I just follow the directions on the box.

It felt strange not being in charge of our Thanksgiving meal and cooking a turkey. DS and fiance hosted Thanksgiving this year. He ordered a smoked turkey. We also had a ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, dressing, mac & cheese, cranberry sauce and home made rolls. There was also a pumpkin pie, apple pie, French Silk pie and a pecan pie cheesecake.

DD, Lou Lou and I braved the Black Friday crowd but we went later in the day. Picked up a couple of things. I was able to get a Land's End Cashmere sweater for DS's fiance for a great price through Kohls.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat Lynn. He was beautiful!

Carol, was it you that was needing stocking ideas? I usually put chap stick in everyone's. Sometimes a favorite candy, jerky, small flashlight, hand/foot warmers, gift card, deck of cards, batteries, etc. Just depends on where that person is in their life.

Do you buy presents from a list or just wing it? My kids have been giving us a list of things they would like to have since they were in middle school. I always choose something from the list but also get them something they are not expecting which they usually end up liking more than the gift they picked out. DD's fiance gave him a list but has come up with something that she is totally not going to expect. Several years ago he made a mural of the Dallas skyline. Here's a picture of the finished product:


Fiance really likes all things Harry Potter. He has made an outline of Hogwarts and is going to do a mural the same way. I can't wait to see it, wish I could be a fly on the wall when she gets it.

We put up our Christmas decorations on Sunday night after Lil Joe got home from a week with his dad. He and Lou Lou had so much fun. On Tuesday night we went to IHOP for pancakes for dinner. They had an Elf on the Shelf sticking out between some blinds. Lil Joe was so excited to see it and wanted to know when the Elf was coming to our house. It appeared the next morning and the GK's have had a ball looking for it every morning.

DD has a court date Wednesday for temporary custody of the kids. I believe I mentioned to you back in June that her ex had filed for full custody of the kids and also temporary custody while they waited for the full custody hearing to take place. We are glad that the court stuff has begun, it's been a long six months.

 

[easyas123]

Good morning everyone, hope you are all having a good weekend. Pups & I got up early and are letting my husband sleep in. One of our dogs is a talker and when he is ready to get up he starts talking louder and louder, plus he will very dramatically will yawn repeatedly. Then if that doesn't work he starts to headbutt the bed!

I am sad.

Oh I am sorry to hear that. It's always so hard to lose a pet...it's nice he can be at rest with his brothers.

I did manage to spend the night at the house.

Good for you, one hour at a time. Just reading your posts, I can feel through your words how hard it is for you.

Did not see @easyaas123

No...didn't make it. Youngest ended up coming home and since the Army has him living in a hotel for a year I like to try to give him a decent meal now & again, so since he was home I stayed home to make him supper. Glad he is somewhat nearby and he can come home once in a while.

DD has a court date Wednesday for temporary custody of the kids.

I can't imagine, must be very difficult. I wish her all the luck on Wednesday. The two kids are young, right? I'm not to learned in all this, but does the judge take into consideration the kids wishes or talk to them at this age?


Well my trip out and about Christmas shopping was fairly productive and I even fit in a grocery shopping trip at the end of it and was home by 3ish. I actually over bought and need to return a few items, which is a pain as the mall is a good 45 minutes north, but I'll figure that out at some point. I guess we will have a chat with the kids and decide if we want to try to schedule a get together all together or as individual schedules allow. Then I'll plan menu(s) accordingly.

Speaking of menus, there are a few football games on that interest my son & husband this afternoon/evening so I'm making chicken wings along with the last of the poppers & pot stickers that are in the freezer. And snickerdoodles.

Since I don't have anywhere to be today I'm finally going to think about getting around to stringing the porch lights. We have a porch that wraps around the entire house, and it looks nice with lights BUT it's a pain to string the three porch entrances, but I'm feeling ready for the challenge today ha ha! Watch this space later this afternoon for a rant from me about what a pain stringing the lights turned out to be!

Have a good morning everyone -

 

[PollyannaMom]

@Kirby, that artwork is amazing!! I hope you will be able to show us the Hogwarts one too when it's done.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning all. Frosty 32 outside but going to be sunny and mid 50's again.

@Kirby that picture is beautiful, your son does nice work..his fiancee is going to be so surprised at the Hogwarts one he's doing

@easyas123 I only put lights up on a small front porch, can't imagine tackling a porch that wraps around--good luck with that one,,and I better not hear you yelling about it from my house, lol!

Stepson went to Walmart and got me peppermint stick ice cream, a jar of hot fudge, and he found some frozen peppermint ice cream between oreo cookie like mini things. He should have ordered the pizza from there, as when he got there, he found a 1 hour wait (at 7:15 at night?). So he went back into town and stopped at Ollies to say hi to one of the nephews (our oldest grandson), but he had just left work..and he saw the other nephew (youngest grandson) at Walmart. He had seen one of our granddaughters here Saturday night, so that just leaves 1 granddaughter unseen. She was at her boyfriends house as usual. She is only 15, and spending way way way too much time with that boy, but what can we say..times sure have changed!

I got our tree up and decorated last evening..so all is done. Just want to pass the vacuum later after stepson leaves. He has a 4 hour drive back to Salisbury, so he will be wanting to beat the traffic and get home at a decent hour. Most of the friends he usually sees when here visiting were out of town this weekend, so we got a lot more time with him than usual..which Mr L really needed. They had a lot of time to just sit and talk about everything and about nothing,,and I think the stepson finally had a weekend where he could just relax

Have a nice morning everyone!

 

[footballmouse]

Good Sunday morning

lynxstch - so sorry to hear about Monkey the cat. He was a beautiful cat and that was such a nice picture you posted.

Working today but it's pretty slow for the time being, everyone was headed back for a c-section so I'm out front holding the fort down. Hoping the get 3 other patients discharged so we can watch the Bengals game this afternoon. (no one is supposed to know we do that)

Update on the coin situation. Ds3 took all his rolled coins to his bank and they did accept it all and did not require his account # to be written on any of them. That was a total relief b/c I didn't want to listen to him crab and complain about it.

That's it for me today. Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Went grocery shopping this morning, so of course I had to pick up some peppermint stick ice cream!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Good afternoon.

Back from church. I am really liking the services this year. Signed up to usher at the 4 pm service Christmas Eve and will just go at 9 pm as part of the congregation.

We got the tree (fake) up and DH is getting the lights on before the Ravens game at 4:25. Will try to get some other decorations up too.

Carol, was it you that was needing stocking ideas?

It was me. Thanks.

Do you buy presents from a list or just wing it?

We all have Amazon wish lists. And ideas can also be added there. All gifts may not come from the lists but they are helpful ideas.

@Kirby, that mural is gorgeous.

DD has a court date Wednesday

Great. I hope it goes your/her way.

@easyas123, After we drove though, we parked at Riverside. They had hot chocolate and hot cider. The pier was all lit. We visited with DD, the kids, and some other people we knew. It was fun but cold. Saw some cars and trucks drive through and not stop and thought it could have been you. It was nice but no Herrs.

Update on the coin situation

Thanks for the update. Glad they took his coins without issue.

Better get off here and help with the tree.

 

[lynxstch]

Went grocery shopping this morning, so of course I had to pick up some peppermint stick ice cream!
View attachment 628316

sounds like a lot of us will be having peppermint stick ice cream for a snack tonite !

 

[lynxstch]

Company is gone. Summer came over to say goodbye to Luke before he left. He left 1/2 the pizza, 2 full containers of crab balls (deep fried crab dip wrapped in breading), and I had 1/2 of my chicken salad hoagie from lunch left, and 2 of my fried meatballs from last nite, so I didn't have to make lunch and won't have to make dinner..lol

Sun just came out,,but it feels cold outside to me. We just put the slider things on the bottoms of the new nightstands and coffeetable, so they don't get caught on the rug at all. Hubby is watching football,,I am going to do a long, hot, relaxing bath and do my hair.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Carol, you mentioned enjoying the services this year. I was especially touched by the homily this morning. It was about a desert experience. That we find God when we have less. I have a lot to pray about.

Lynn, I am sorry to read about Monkey. He found love and safety with you.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Where is Mona? So unusual. Last posted here yesterday afternoon.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Here I am! I truly apologize especially if I worried all of you dear friends! I'm fine and have missed you. Promise (God-willing, of course) not to disappear again. I know I often say this but that's because it's always true and that is all of you sincerely mean so much to me. I appreciate each one of you always. I also especially during this time of year give God extra thanks for keeping us a Quacker family in care and support of each other.

I will catch up tomorrow and not let this happen again ever. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest after all. HUGE hugs to Lynn (I am so sorry, so very sorry about Monkey :'( Here for you, my friend extra and always. Snowysmom, as Carol said don't cut yourself short. You did FANTASTIC! Even if you had left for the night to go back to your DS' house you know I would have the said the same thing because it would have rang true but in a different way. My sweet friend, one step at a time and you ARE taking them so courageously! Please know we all are so cheering and praying for you always.

I took on WAY more of a job than I ever expected. Almost done. I recently read from Ephesians 5:2 " And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us..." It is my deepest prayer that I honor this command all the days of my life. To walk in and with/to He Who is LOVE! To do that means being of joyful, healthy spirit, not weighed down by well stuff for example. I may need to lookout for this passage for my still bare green walls

I have shared how freeing a blessing it has truly been over the last 2 years plus (even pre plague) to have gotten all-around healthier in now, thanks to God, all ways. Not only physically but during the plague emotionally as well in terms of truly letting go of long-held baggage. I truly chose only to live simply with joy and for Christ! To also do as I best am able to cherish this extra gift of time with my dad both of us in health and with those extra family and friends He has also blessed me with---such as all of you❤

All of you know by now I enjoy using stickers to personalize notes and cards. I do and always have. I have taken the time, yikes, to get out ALL my stickers from various places. PLEASE don't ever do what I did and think it's a good idea (it started out that way) to have stickers or cards or anything TOO divided up and with extras in different places. Keep only what you know at heart will be used within the next few months. Save some extras, not many and let go of the rest! Not bringing joy to anyone least of all serving God when stuff sits and accumulates. All that does is hinder the daily walk I have created ONE half accordian file folder with 13 sections and limited each section to 5 sheets at most and of different sticker sheets so not the same sheet. I'll pare down to one set of extras and pass on the rest! When all of those run out, I can think about replacing. Same with cards/notecards. I had a plastic shoebox with seasonal leftover cards intending to use them the following year. I took stock of that and am almost good to go. Anyone need any stickers?!

Have a good night friends. I WILL see you in the morning as usual

 

[Kirby]

I can't imagine, must be very difficult. I wish her all the luck on Wednesday. The two kids are young, right? I'm not to learned in all this, but does the judge take into consideration the kids wishes or talk to them at this age?

Yes, the kids are 3 and 5. I don't have a clue what the judge does but since DD holds down a full time job, doesn't do drugs and rarely drinks and has a stable home life and support system, I can't imagine him taking the kids away from her. Her ex is on his 4th marriage, has lived in three states since their divorce, is currently unemployed and sends her lots of harassing texts. I could say more but..........

@Kirby, that artwork is amazing!! I hope you will be able to show us the Hogwarts one too when it's done.

Thanks! I'll be sure to post a picture.

I forgot to tell you that my sister had exploratory surgery two weeks ago. I won't go into all the details but she had almost 12 inches of her large colon removed. She is doing fine and has been cleared to get out of the house for short periods of time now.

We're hoping for some rain overnight but I doubt we will get any. Forecasts for December are above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. My purslane is still going strong which is not normal this time of year. The warmer temperatures are keeping me from wearing my Christmas shirts. I guess I'll have to see if I can find some short sleeved ones.

I went to the dentist Thursday to get one crown and ended up getting two! I got a call that morning telling me that the person before me canceled and that I could come on in if I wanted. I hurried up and got Lou Lou ready for Preschool and then handed her off to DH. My dentist asked me if I wanted to go ahead and have a second crown done since there was extra time and I went ahead and had it done. They took my blood pressure and it was almost 200 on the top and over a hundred on the bottom. After a good dose of gas it came down and I began to relax. Three and half hours later I was done with two new crowns, my dentist does his own so I don't have to leave with a temporary and go back for the permanent one. But my jaw and inside of my mouth still hurt. They told me that it could take up to two weeks to heal. Yikes! I had a crown put on my lower back right side and my upper back right side, right above/below each other. My mouth is so small back there that I had to shift my jaw to the right in order for them to get the instruments back there when doing my upper tooth. Because of this I can barely open my mouth to eat something, I have to work it some in order for it to open wider. And they always have to deaden my mouth more than the average person, I had three shots per tooth and I was still having some dull pain but decided to tough it out. Having gas and ear buds loudly playing music are what got me through it plus lots of prayer. I know there was one instance where I begin to feel anxiety and Amazing Grace came over the ear buds. That song brought me down and I was fine after that.

 

[lynxstch]

Good Monday morning all. Welcome to warm weather again,,we will be low to mid 60's? This is December, right? lol

Did a whole lot of nothing after company left. Had leftovers for dinner and watched football.

I want to get into the cellar today and start cleaning down there. I can put some of it out with trash on Wednesday

Stepson texted that he made it home safely about 7. Stopped at a friends house here in town and left a little later than he wanted to.

@Kirby, hope your mouth stops hurting soon!

Just texted the floor guy to ask why he never showed up or called on Saturday to finish those small things. His reply was 'sorry for not coming, the wheel bearing went out on my truck. Its on jackstands, but should be finished shortly. Then I will be out'..I am not as ticked by the fact that he didn't show up Saturday morning, as I am by the fact that he didn't have the courtesy to call, or answer the text we sent. That's just plain rude!

Have a nice morning everyone