I read 171 books this year (so far) but missed 35 of my categories and I doubt I'm going to get to them now. I may have been too ambitious, I started with 92 specific categories and it's harder to get to those books. ETA: a book booya

Morning, Happy Friday. My week isn't quite over, I have a workshop this afternoon. Should be pretty easy, this group of kids takes lots of initiative so I'm mainly going to be assisting with questions once the initial lesson is done. I think we're finally putting up our tree tomorrow. Our house is super small so the tree disrupts things a lot. Dh likes to wait to put it up close to Christmas. I want it down immediately after Christmas. It's a lot of work for just a couple weeks.

You all are doing way more than I am. But I find running around exhausting and refuse to do it. I took dd to a 4H Teen party Wednesday, then had the final meeting to argue about the fair Thursday. This coming week we have a leaders social and the holiday party for one of two of our clubs (meet together). Next weekend we're going to my mother's for dinner for her birthday, and this weekend my daughters and I are going to the Punk Rock Flea Market in Trenton. We're heading down tonight when older dd gets off work, spending the night at a hotel and going to the flea market in the morning. We joined the Y to start getting more exercise since dd ended up quitting tai kwan do when a bunch of stuff changed and it no longer worked for her. I tried some classes with her since her anxiety she won't go alone, but I pulled a muscle in the top of one leg and it's hurt for about a week now. It is getting better but it hurts at the weirdest times/movements. Two more weeks of class and we are off for two weeks.

I used to sleep in until noon on weekends. I can't seem to do that anymore. I generally go to bed between 10 and 11pm and wake up about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off at 7am. On days I don't need to get up for work, I'll stay in bed and doze back off for an hour or two but generally I'm out of bed by 9am. If I'm not feeling well, I may be able to push that to 10am.

My mother and MIL only ever had direct contact with each other through Facebook. They would never text or call each other directly. I haven't met the parents of any of my oldest dd's boyfriends. Not in high school and not since. I've met all her boyfriends and a sibling or two, but not the parents. I expect if she were to marry one of them, I would have some contact around wedding planning but wouldn't expect anything more than that.

Yuck, Oregon State has pretty nasty uniforms too. Head to toe bright orange. And Oregon is wearing lime green, but at least white pants. Both on the same field is extremely jarring. Blech.

We're not doing Thanksgiving dinner until Sunday so things are pretty quiet around here. I'm still working on cleaning out my storage unit. I should have it done today or tomorrow. I only have a couple more loads but they are going to different places so may have to split the load. dh is getting a nuclear stress test. His regular stress test had some concerning markers so they are checking more stuff out.

I agree. Head to toe neon green should not be a thing. Ick.

I live very close to everywhere I've lived except 3 semesters of college so I could visit any of those places easily. I never have. Before 5 years old, we lived in a few places that I have no recollection of. I know we lived with extended family at one point but I don't know if there were three or or different homes during that time. An apartment for 1/2 of kindergarten but I don't know when we moved into it. Apartment we moved into in March of my kindergarten year, we lived there until after I graduated high school. Four different dorm rooms for my 3 semesters of college. House mom and stepdad bought when they got married and moved while I was out of state at college. I lived there on breaks (only came home for Christmas and summer), and for a year after I came home. Never felt like home, maybe because they moved while I was away. House with exH and his brother, owned by ex-MIL, lived there for 6 years. House bought with exH, lived there for 6 years. Lived with mom and stepdad (different house from other house) when separated from ex for 6 months. Tiny house with dd after divorce, for 6 months. House share with another single mom, for 6 months. Apartment, for 6 months. Moved in with dh, have lived here for 19 years. My younger kids have always lived here and have no desire to move or change anything. Oldest dd mainly remembers the house I bought with her dad that he still lives in, and my current house with dh. She has her own apartment now.

I agree on the bigger pot but I basically just neglect mine. I have one that's at work where it sits in a window that gets sunlight until about 10am, in a window that's an old single pane with a sheet of plexiglass screwed to the outside. I water it when I think of it, probably only about once a month or so, by putting it in the sink and watering a ton allowing it to drain. That's it and it blooms fully every year.

Morning, Happy Monday. I'm on another break week this week because of the holiday but I'm moving out of my storage unit this week so have to move everything to my upstairs storage room. I loaded up my car yesterday and went out before tea this morning to empty it. There's a popular restaurant a couple doors up from my storage room door and parking gets really bad during the day. The only times to get close to unload are around 8/9am or after 3pm. Later today I'm going for a bone scan ordered by my gyn.

Our calzones are usually baked. Pizza dough folded over cheeses and sometimes other things like ham or pepperoni or sausage. It's shaped like a half circle.

I had an ablation when I was at that point, although anemia was a real consideration for me. I didn't want to go on the mini-pill or get Mirena since I wanted non-hormonal options at that point. I had been on the pill quite a bit for birth control, almost always had bleed through that would get worse the longer I was on it, plus it tended to give me headaches. I didn't need birth control since my tubes were tied. My ablation was about 5 years ago and I never had any issues from it. I'm now further into menopause and was getting hot flashes and other symptoms, plus I have risk factors for heart disease so I just recently started HRT. Estrogen patch and bio-identical progesterone. The first month was rough with frequent cramping but once that settled down it's been great.

I hardly ever drink but it's never been a big deal. I've "explained" if I felt it was necessary with one of the following usually: "I have no tolerance since my last two kids", "it gives me a headache", "it's bad with my allergy meds", "I have to work in the morning", "I'm driving"

Good Morning, Happy Monday. My break week last week was super busy since we made huge changes at work. Moved walls and reorganized massive amounts of stuff. But it is pretty much all done except for cleaning and fixing up what's left in our storage room so we can empty the off-site storage unit. Older dd and her boyfriend came for dinner last night. Dh made seafood mac & cheese which was yummy. It was nice. Dd's boyfriend is very like dh. They like the same team, have similar interests in music, and he likes to read the same type of books I do so I loaned him some books. He and dd are cute together. Now a week of classes before I'm off again for Thanksgiving week. That week we're hoping to empty the off-site storage unit. We aren't doing big dinner on Thanksgiving due to various things so I'll have the whole week. Our Thanksgiving dinner is going to be that Sunday.

I made phone calls today. My doctor is retiring so I cancelled the appointment I had with her the Monday of Thanksgiving since I want someone who will be able to follow up with issues I think I'm having. I'm returning to an office I used to go to and dh goes to. I don't like the male doctor there but they have a couple female nurse practitioners know that I've heard good things about. So I made an appointment there for January. I was on the phone for 30 minutes making an appointment for my mammogram, breast ultrasound (I always get both) and bone scan. Mammo/US I go Friday, bone scan is Monday of Thanksgiving. I feel like an accomplished adult.

Morning, Happy Tuesday. I got a ton of stuff done yesterday. Took apart 8 shelf units from my storage room and put them back together downstairs to be used in classrooms. Now I need to move all the small stuff that is going to be stored on those shelves downstairs. And pick up a few things from the storge unit that need to be used now. My car is in the shop currently. It was smoking and smelled like something burning. Last time that happened it was some kind of leak (not dangerous, just smelly). Dh had a doctor's appointment this morning so he took the car to work until his appointment and let me sleep in a little bit. When his appointment is done he'll come home, I'll drive him to work so I have the car to drive ds to school. Then I'll do some work while ds is at school until it's time to pick dh up from work, then I think dh is picking ds up from school. Fun times. Next semester ds is going to be on campus three days a week so we'll have to do the car sharing even more.

I had: Newborn/Toddler/Teen (0/2/13) Toddler/Preschooler/Teen (2/4/15) Preschool/School Age/Teen (4/6/17) School/School/College Teen (6/8/19) School/Tween/Adult (8/10/21) Tween/Teen/Adult (11/13/24) Teen/Teen/Adult (13/15/26 through 16/18/29 now)

Morning, Happy Saturday. Dh and I got a jump start on the long list of to-dos for this week. We went and emptied the 40 gallon turtle tank so we could move it, then refilled it. We moved my 14 foot long by 8 foot high folding wall into a different room (not heavy but awkward and has to be partially laid down to fit through a doorway). This afternoon we go to the 4H Awards Ceremony. I'm a presenter since I'm on the Board.

I didn't but my oldest daughter (now 29) did.

Morning Happy Friday! Session 1 is done! Now I have a week to get a ton of stuff done before Session 2 begins. But we only have class for a week before we are off for Thanksgiving. So lots of time to finish up things if I don't get it all done this week.

Yikes, I did not know that. I also don't drink mine really hot. I usually add a few ice cubes to my tea so it cools down enough to drink comfortably.

Dh and I met at a work bowling league and often went to dinner at Olive Garden, Chili's or California Pizza Kitchen after bowling. Our first official date was at a nicer restaurant though. Most of my first dates (I've had a few) were probably dinner at Olive Garden/Applebee's level places and a movie. What are the Big 7 sports? I could only come up with five. Are Lacrosse and/or Cricket BIG enough? I guess maybe Rugby? Polo? Gymnastics? 1. Baseball 2. Basketball 3. Football (American) 4. Soccer/Football (not American) 5. Hockey

I'm not sure why the temperature of the drinks would be a problem. I'd worry about caffeine or sugar or something but not temperature. I drink two 24 ounce cups of tea in the morning. I make a very strongly brewed pot of tea using one black teabag and one green teabag for my 2 cups. In the winter, I may have another cup of either hot cocoa or tea in the evening or during the day. I now have a Keurig at work and I bought some good hot cocoa flavors so it may go up once the air is cold enough to counteract my menopausal running warm. I drink about three 24 ounce bottles of water/cold drinks a day. I mix in an Emergen-C Immune for my first 24 ounces at work, then when I drink that down half-way or so, I add more water. Water with dinner, water until bedtime.

I run a science center for homeschoolers that I've been doing since before Covid (2017). There are definitely some differences now from before Covid, but since I'm a secular science center I've never had mostly religious students, unless it was religions other than Christian. I do have quite a few students of other religions, but the vast majority of my students seems to have left school due to bullying or special needs not being met. We have a few with high medical needs, Tourette's, ASD, ADHD, and similar. We're small enough that younger kids with special needs can have older siblings close by if needed for comfort or to help with anything that comes up. We're a drop off program but have a lobby where parents can stay if they want. Between all my teachers we have a ton of experience with neurodiversity, with one of my teachers having years of experience in a ASD school, one has a lot of experience with their own kids, one of my younger teachers is ASD herself. We like being the place where the ND kids can feel comfortable and successful. That was something that was very hard to find for my own (ASD, ADHD, anxiety) kids. We also have quite a few LGBTQ+ kids attending.