My day, and then I *must* get going! Coffee make sure I have everything I need in my "Open House" box (for my classes at our co-op) leave on time to get there on time Open House 10:00 to 11:30 Staff Lunch/End of Year Party/Meeting thing after (don't forget the paper goods!!!) Come home, nap??? Probably not 😞 School with DS Check with Oldest -- is his accountability group coming over tonight, or no?? Pull meat from freezer accordingly, so we can cook dinner on time (small pack of ground beef if not, big pack if yes; dinner is tostados) Get all the fencing stuff ready Cook dinner Eat, go to fencing Come home, go to bed The thunderstorm that woke me in the wee hours seems to have passed and the sun is coming out, so at least it's not gross weather to drive to the Open House. But, I've finally finished my word games and my 2nd cup of coffee, so now I really do have to get dressed, pack the crate, eat some breakfast, and head out.

Thanks, @ScoutTN!

Apparently, I once signed up for Education (dot) com, which has various projects, worksheets, activities, etc. for all ages/grades. I got a charge for a crazy amount, that I would *never* have paid for something like that, went digging, found the subscription, and where I had, in fact, downloaded some stuff from them (a ton of stuff). Did more digging -- here's the various shady parts, in case anyone here also has subscribed to them: *Year One subscription is $60 -- all future years it increases to $120 w/o notice/warning (the terms includes fine print permitting this) *You *can* cancel online (good) *You *cannot* remove your saved payment method, only change it, even if you've cancelled (it will not let you "edit" and leave the card info blank) I emailed them, and explained all of the shadiness of all of this, and they did process a refund, although they claimed to have sent me all the appropriate "you're about to renew" emails and such (I never found them in my inbox or spam folder), etc. so that part was at least good, but....ugh. They still did not remove my cc info but did send verification that I was cancelled, which I've saved so for next year/just in case.

Oh, I am so deeply, deeply sorry. Prayers for you, for your daughter and her husband, for all those grieving the loss of your precious grandbaby.

Dinner turned out yummy! Yay! I figured out the chem stuff on my own - also Yay! Everything is packed/ready for fencing; DH is running late getting home b/c Middle was running late from the end of his next-to-last class day of the semester (prof kept them late). We should still make it more or less on time, though.

Finished school with DS Got the meds all sorted for everyone - Oldest's doctor is calling in a stop-gap refill to cover whatever happened, whether he lost 15 pills or the pharmacy shorted him (they say no way, b/c this med is a double/triple count med.....). We should be able to pick it up tonight I would think. Dinner is figured out, about to start getting things ready for it. Sending 2 chem problems to DH, unless I can figure it out w/DS w/o him.....we'll see. I have time to either nap or sew.....

put away my laundry, folded the other people's laundry my doctor called, I can pick up my sample meds until my appt in two weeks had a good talk with DS about some stuff answered some emails that came in, helped DH edit some of his emails figured out a plan for dinner waiting on Oldest's appt, and then will head out to get my meds

Prepped for 2nd grade.

We have a cat that also brings in live critters -- how is she/he getting them in? IF it is through a dog door (that's how ours does it), there is a relatively easy solution we've found that still lets the other animals use the dog door. Get the smallest set of "underground fencing" you can, with the collar that will zap the cat when it gets near the wire. Set it up with the "underground wire" looping just around the dog door. Put the collar on the cat. Kitty now comes in/out only through a door opened/operated by humans (who can check kitty for critters first); the other animals are unaffected, no more live things brought in and let go to wreak havoc. With ours, we put the collar on when she comes down for breakfast, only open the dog door once the collar is on her, then take it off around dusk-ish/dinner time-ish, close the dog door. She's allowed in/out throughout the day if we're around to open the human door, but no more animals brought in and set free. As she has a litter box, it's not as intrusive as letting the dogs only in/out via the human door, and for finally solving the rodents-brought-in problem, it's well worth it.

I am also a stress shopper, so I totally get it. I used to stress-shop for clothes, but then I made a significant change in my wardrobe/approach to clothing, so that has stopped, which is lovely. Now, I might pop into the Goodwill or the thrift shop run by our local Women's Shelter, instead, looking for quality pieces. If I want to just plain stress shop, I end up at the quilt shop/fabric shop instead. :sigh: Or looking for shoes. I do have "play money" each month, and stick to within that limit, so it's not detrimental (and I keep a list of "remember, you are saving up for....." stuff as well). Big hugs to you on all the extra hits this month/lately; I'm glad you were able to find needed shoes though and channel your stress shopping into that.

Holy cow, chickfila is $$$ for their catering options/pick up/etc. $100 for 200 of the little nuggets....??? Egads. Will stick with little sausages, sauces on the side, etc. It's work, but not $100+ worth of work.

Good morning! Today is busy -- ...coffee ...fold/put away laundry I didn't put away yesterday ...prep for 2nd grade tomorrow ....start planning the end-of-year party (find out Chick Fil A delivery/pick up/catering options) ....call my doctor for a refill on an Rx ...be around when Oldest talks to *his* doctor about a refill -- he ever somehow managed to lose a month's worth of his med, OR (more likely) the pharmacy miscounted when they filled his Rx; he was supposedly given a 90 day supply, but ran out at the 60 day mark, so...????? ...school with DS - we have a LOT to do b/c we never did some over the weekend as originally planned/intended ...figure out dinner for tonight, prep that, cook that, etc. ...eat, go to fencing ...come home, watch TV with the guys? Maybe? Or veg out w/DH, go to bed It doesn't *sound* like more than normal, but it *feels* like more than normal.....

Continuing to pray, and have alerted my friend to the prayer need. He has nightmares still from some of the calls he's been on....he'll know just how to pray for your kiddos. And all of you. Praying for sleep/rest to come through for everyone.

Praying; may I share the gist of it (not the details) with a friend who also was once a paramedic, and makes a life out of praying for others now?

We did ballroom/Latin dance lessons for a while - that was a lot of fun, but kind of costly. We started fencing a couple of years ago, and have kept it up - we both enjoy it. He's better than me, but we have fun. Our fencing club has once/week "hang out" time afterwards, which is an added bonus (and once/month "nerd night" though we've yet to partake of that). We watch assorted shows together. I recently started going with him to his "boot camp" exercise class once/week; that's been surprisingly fun. He gardens, and I hang out in the yard with him, help harvest the crops (he has fruit trees and veggies when it's veggie season), and we just enjoy being in the yard together. We were playing a video game together in the mornings, between "coffee time" and "start work" time, but we've dropped that. We go out to eat/to a brewery/etc. once a week or so -- we still have the grown kids at home, and youngest is still youth group age for one more year; so, on Weds, we drive him, do the grocery shopping, then stop at a brewery down the street from the church and play cards &/or scrabble until time to pick up DS. Fencing has been the biggest though -- we go to practice 2-3 times a week, and for part of the year, have a tournament roughly once/month or so; sometimes they are out of town, which gives us a built in overnight mini-getaway as well. With adult-still-at-home kids, that's been extra nice.

Got the bday present, and helped DH pick party goods for a party for work next week. Sorted/reviewed the school stuff. Napped. Lots. Ha! We are soooo old. Dinner is leftovers, so doing that, watching something, vegging out.

You're very welcome! Have tons of fun!! Oh! And keep the little plastic tab for the wrist light thing, you can reinsert it and have it as a souvenir that way (those that want to; otherwise there are drop boxes on the way out to "recycle" them). The lines for merch may be longer, earlier (at least outside), but should still have plenty of time regardless.

@Kassia -- thank you! Hard-won, heard-earned, learned over the decades navigating my own difficult family relationships. We *lived with* my MIL when my preemie son was born....much of what I posted here was taken directly from memory of us navigating nearly exactly that 25+ yrs ago. Also, it's much easier to write it out on a forum than to navigate it flawlessly in real life 😉 so don't hold me in *too* high esteem!

Popping in to say Hi! I posted the concert report over on the Friday thread. I woke up at 7 this morning anyway, Dh & I went to the grocery store, came home, got the food ready for D&D, and the minute the last kid was here, I laid back down. Slept for about an hour & a half! Now I'm just normal Saturday tired, not "I only slept 5 hours" tired. Ha! Got up, finished the soup for the kids, took all that upstairs, ate some myself, and now piddling on the computer while I decide what to do. Nap again? Do stuff? Not sure. DH will be home in about maybe an hour (he still went to fencing....how on earth, I have no idea....), so maybe wait till then to nap. Other things I need to do this weekend: ...double check my school stuff and prep the science things ...shop for a gift for my tutor kid/friend's granddaughter for her bday tomorrow ...check on my grandma (uncle is there till tomorrow, then my sister goes, then my aunt comes) ...help DH put together his new grill ...call my mom ...not sure what else

It sounds like DD & DSIL are on the right track. SIL needs to *also* speak to his mom and say something along the lines of "You did a great job with me, as did (Anne without an e) with (DD). Now it is our turn to be the parents, and you need to respect our way of parenting. Preemie twins are a different ball game than full term singleton babies, and (DD) & I have spent (two months?) learning how to best meet their needs; if we does things differently than you would do them, that's okay; it doesn't mean your way was wrong, it just means our girls have different needs than I and my siblings did, times have changed, twins are different, preemies are different, etc. It also doesn't mean *OUR* way is wrong, again, just different. I'm so glad you're my mom, because that helped give me confidence to do this, and I know you will trust me and DD with this." In the moment, if SIL is present too, he should be the one to speak up. (b/c the MIL's personality seems such she'll take it better coming from him). If he isn't, DD needs to absolutely speak up in the moment, "Oh, MIL, I'm sorry, I thought I made clear, the girls really need to be asleep right now, not playing; preemies take a lot longer to readjust when their sleep routines get interrupted, b/c their brains haven't developed as much yet. Thanks so much for understanding!" Say this while turning down the lights, any music/TV/noise, speaking in a calm, quiet voice (modeling the voice level she wants used, etc. If after one attempt, MIL doesn't respect this and pulls it again, DD needs to have MIL leave the room while DD pumps with the sleeping babies, "so I can be sure that the babies stay asleep this time; It's just so vital to their growth & development as preemies". If it continues "I'm so sorry, MIL, I really want you involved, but the babies are just not ready for so much stimulation; I think we need to cut our visit/your visit short and try again in a few (weeks, months, etc.) when the babies have settled a little better" Put the focus on the differences that exist -- twins, preemies, etc. -- so that MIL has an "out" to why it has to be different. Have SIL speak up *and use "our", "we", etc., not "she, dd," etc (when talking about "If she does something different than you would --- NO, use "if WE do something different than you would..") so that MIL sees them as a truly united family unit. Also encourage DD to speak up in the moment (he's right about that), and use the preemie thing to her advantage; that takes the focus off of "you did this wrong, MIL" to "oh, these babies need different things b/c of...." which will help the victim card aspect. Your DD also needs to NOT coddle her on this. When MIL said "Oh, grandma messes everything up..." DD needs to respond something like "Of course you don't mess everything up; you've had only one day to adjust, while I've/*we've* had two months so far. I've learned though that doing things like this (and re-explaining) really is best for them; I'm sure you'll remember next time!" Said sweetly, kindly, etc. but still firm. And again it reiterates DD/SIL's position as those who know their babies the best, puts the focus again on the twin/preemie/we're the parents aspect, still removes the "you screwed up" part, but holds firm to "but this is the way to do it." It's exhausting in those early days, but they'll sort it out. Tell them both to hold firm, kind, but firm.

Oh, you will have so much fun!!! We went to one, once, and I'm still a little peeved that DH wouldn't let me do the meet & greet with one actor (who had, crazily enough, no line....)(I don't know his name, but he was the bad guy in Alias, among other things....the blonde; at the time he was in other stuff too) (Also, Henry Winkler was there, and I wish I'd done his as well). Go. Enjoy yourself! It will be so fun!

@PinkTulip -- okay, back with my post-concert report/intel for you! We got to the Fannin South lot at about 5:40/5:45 -- it's $20; it was listed "cash only" but they were taking cards, although much slower. If you park there, take cash for much faster entrance. Even doing the card, we were at the gate to enter NRG by 6:00. We got in line outside for merch - we were in line right about an hour, and while the exclusive blue crew was sold out, and the half-zip sweatshirt, the tees were still in good stock, and the sweatshirt I wanted I was able to get, though I had to get the next size up (the last M sold literally to the person in front of me in line). They still had plenty of the concert-specific poster, etc. though. You will get an email code when the concert ends for 15% off, for 24 hrs, for tour merch -- not sure if that works out better or not, once you factor shipping (it's free shipping over $50, but the tees are $45, sweatshirts $65, so then once you add the discount...?). Once we left the merch line, we were through the security gate within just a few mins, and then to our seats by 7:15/7:20, even after stopping to go to the bathroom and buy a water (we bought from one of the many guys with buckets of water, vs standing in a food line, which were LONG). Our seats were section 548, and we entered via a ramp that had us walking about a quarter of the way around the stadium once we got up there; snaking through the crowds lined up for food took a little while. Taylor came on a little early, a few mins before 8:00. Concert ended about 11:05/11:10, something like that. Mostly standing -- wear comfy shoes. Leaving -- this is the first time we've had such a crazy line to exit. We park Fannin South for everything (Garth Brooks, Rodeo, football games, etc.) and never have too much trouble. This time, getting out was a huge line, waiting on the train, a huge line (stay to the right hand side of the line for the Southbound train; the left side of the line goes across the tracks to the Northbound train, and was a MUCH longer line, though it doesn't split till very near the front -- in fact, if you are not opposed, stay on the outside of the line until near the front barrier just before the gates pop up, and then slide in). We were in line about an hour to get on the train going back, and that was with sliding in near the middle (there was another spot closer to the front we could have done). Possibly they'll have this better going by Sunday....the line behind us was crazy long, so not sure if this is a time when "stay in your seat till it all clears out" would have helped, or not, and just left you wayyyy in the back of the line for the metro. We went straight out (bathroom stop once we reached one with a reasonably short line inside, which given the length of the line outside, I'm glad we did) - probably walked out the doors/off the ramp about 11:15/11:20, and we were on a train by about 12:05/12:10 or so. once we were on the train, easy ride back, in the car, heading home w/in just a few mins. All that to say -- if the waiting for the train part will be a bother, consider if it's worth the extra $20 to just park in one of the NRG lots. Oh, and bring ear plugs. The music was fantastic. The decibel level of a stadium full of screaming Swifties is......insane. Possibly dangerous, at times. There were a few times we were covering our ears against the noise. Mostly it was okay. Have snacks and water in your car, and if you have pockets, maybe tuck a granola bar or something in vs. paying stadium prices/staying in those lines. We ate PB&Js in the car on the way, and I had granola bars and oranges waiting in a cooler in the car for the way home; I wished I'd tucked a granola bar in my jacket pocket though. (It was pretty cool in the stadium, so consider that). Hope this helps!! Have fun! It's an incredible show!

Whew! Posting here so you guys hopefully get the notification - the concert was *amazing*. Also, LOUD. Holy cow, I did not realize that Swifties are so very LOUD. We should have taken ear plugs! The music itself was great, but the screaming stadium full of people was at a decibel level that had to be insane, if not dangerous. Oh my word. It wasn't like that the whole time, at least, just at a few points. We are wiped out. Being "almost 50, still a Swiftie" is ummm, not so compatible with a concert that ends at 11:15, an hour long line to get to the metro back to the parking lot, an almost hour drive home....as predicted, we walked in our front door a little after 1 a.m. Then one of the kids was up, so we chatted for about 15 mins before finally going to bed. As far as concerts go -- I have never seen one with a better production value/higher production level -- it was incredible. Songs -- she did of course all the eras, thus "Eras Tour", but it was heavy on the newer stuff, less from the good ole' days. I like all of it, but DH is more familiar with the older stuff, so he was a little....I won't say bored, he enjoyed it all, but it wasn't as sing-along-able as some. Even for me, a lot of what she did is more introspective, ballady, etc. So, super fun to see, listen to, be in that huge crowd.....makes our top 3, right up there with Garth Brooks (probably always #1 as far as enjoyable concert -- he was in that same stadium, and somehow made it feel like an intimate venue....*that* is a whole other thing, and just...amazing), or Bon Jovi (we saw him in the Toyota Center, so a basketball arena not football stadium; his music is much more sing-along-able). Overall, really amazing. Just....:yawn:....still woke up at 7:15 this morning, so will def. be heading for a nap soon. The girl next to me was hilarious to watch - I thought she was going to explode, or implode, or just burst into a tiny million pieces, or just drop dead of a heart attack - she was just vibrating with next-level energy and excitement the whole time. Oh my word, she was fun to be next to; her enthusiasm was catching. The guy in front of us, too, although his date just live streamed the entire thing (till her phone died, which was a little hilarious to us), watching through her phone screen, just sitting watching the reactions come in. That made me sad. Even when her phone died, she still just sat. Anyway. It was such a good experience. DH and I said to each other a few times "Oh, I forgot Swifties are a little bit like a cult/cult following...." but it was good. So so so so good.

LOL! Yes, probably quite late! We already warned our exercise class we'll probably miss -- I'm expecting we won't get home till something like 1 a.m. probably. :yawn: That's why the nap!

Went & tutored - that went really well. Visited with my friend, and that turned into an antiquing trip in our local "downtown" - she did not find what she was after (well, some potentials), but I scored a vintage black leather jacket that is amazing, for under $50! Now home, eating something, then napping. I promise to report tomorrow on Taylor Swift!