<p>Wow, best of luck with all of the illnesses and ill relatives. DTE, glad to hear that your headaches are getting better. I have a referral if, at some point, you need one. </p>
<p>Met the daughter of the hospital CEO friend – thought, what a good match for ShawSon, except that she’s going away to med school next year. Smart, great social skills (learned from her mother). Gets how unusual ShawSon is – was a year behind him in the same HS, though the last time they met was probably in 5th grade carpooling to Hebrew School. Really funny: I’m seeing young women and wondering about a match with ShawSon – he’d be much happier with a GF. He’s confronting his next managerial challenge with the partners, just as they are about to hear about a beta test with a big customer who would roll it out to 1000 facilities. They would be profitable almost immediately. Yet they continue to have to work out internal issues that are more personality rather than substantively driven. I think the resolution will make him much less stressed.</p>
<p>ShawD is on her Birthright trip. Heard from her when she first landed but not since then. I assume she’s having a whirlwind of a trip.</p>
<p>I’m waiting at the BMW dealer for them to do a couple of final things and inspect my car and then get my second set of lessons on how to use my car. Lots of cool electronics but navigating them is complex (and I’m a techie). Then on to get a new EZ-pass, pick up a pair of sneakers, and pick up my tux from the tailor. What a useless day.</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t know, shaw - how can a day when you get a new BMW be useless? </p>
<p>Healing and supporting hugs and prayers to all those in need this holiday season. I totally agree that a parent with dementia/Alzheimers can be stressful, frustrating, and sad all rolled into one. I feel fortunate that even though my mother pretty much had no memory, she recognized me to the very end. Plus, she never turned mean; was always very polite and grateful to any/everyone who helped her in any way. Thankfully my brothers and I were all on the same page. In fact, there’s no big family drama in either my family or H’s. When I hear other people’s family stories, I’m always glad I have nothing to contribute.</p>
<p>Congrats to cqD. Woot, woot!!</p>
<p>My goal is to get all the gifts wrapped before church this morning, so off I go … (Unless anyone has the contact info for the Wrapping Elves?)</p>
<p>Made pecan pie waffles with whipped cream for breakfast – incredibly yummy, but when the sugar crash hits it is going to be a bad one. D got tickets for us to go to the symphony this afternoon; really looking forward to it. Next job is to get things cleaned up before the onslaught of nieces and nephew tomorrow for the big cookie-making extravaganza. (Really my gift to my brother and s-i-l to give them a day before Christmas with no munchkins around.) Onward.</p>
<p>Oregon – I hope your son is feeling better today, and too funny about your mind-meld with your DIL on the baby. I always found it funny how with a first baby many of my friends were all into washing and sterilizing everything, and by the third one life got much, much more casual.</p>
<p>CBBB, I got the car a week before. It is a joy to drive. But, it needed a couple of things and then lessons on how to use it. The sad thing is that most of the things I want it to do, they didn’t know how (e.g., make sport mode the default, put past addresses into storage, etc.). The navigation system is definitely inferior to the Acura’s.</p>
<p>Good luck with cookie-making and wrapping. I’m off to exchange my tux shirt. Noticed it was the wrong size.</p>
<p>S is hanging in there. His chest tube comes out tomorrow afternoon. D arrived last night with her dog. D said the dog bared her teeth twice while looking at G’son so the spray bottle is at hand. I think she will be ok as long as there is no food on him.</p>
<p>D’s future MIL and FIL are coming for lunch. She is the one that may arrive on time and may arrive hours later. H told them to arrive at 1 and that we will eat at 1:30. I plan on serving by 2 whether they are here or not. They once showed up 2 hours late as she decided to stop and buy some b-day gifts for her sibs who live states away. I am not actually looking forward to seeing her–she is the aunt of the nephew who bashed D’s car. She has offered to pay for the repair and is very upset about his behavior and did call him. But what she is not willing to do is expose him to the rest of the family. I am not judging that as it is not my family and who knows what goes on with hers. But the situation remains a problem and I do believe in exposing bullies so I plan on staying busy and quiet today.</p>
<p>Took G’son to see the alpaca’s who live down the street. They are all donkeys to him but it was fun and the sun was out.</p>
<p>This weekend I ran some hiring events for our seasonal tax offices. We advertised as an open event, and while applicants were encouraged to make appointments, it was not required–it was sort of a hiring fair. I was hiring front desk personnel, not tax pros, so the standard isn’t crazy high. I am basically looking for personable people, who can mutlitask answering the phone and greeting clients, after a few weeks of training.</p>
<p>But I am left with the big question, “what are people thinking ?!??!?!”</p>
<p>Two applicants each turned up with multiple children at the interview event…am I supposed to get the impression that they will be better at finding child care if I hire them, if they could not find someone to mind the children for one hour on a weekend afternoon? Another applicant showed up with her parents…who insisted on coming in to my office with her during her interview. One young man showed up smelling of beer…and when I asked him about it, he said he’d only had a couple…umm, it was 11:30 am? Not to mention he was in ripped jeans and a stained t-shirt.</p>
<p>^good grief! Might explain their availability, eh?</p>
<p>Fall Girl, sending you hugs for the holiday. </p>
<p>Oregon, hopefully your lunch was smooth. It’s a good sign at least that future MIL feels bad and is trying in her own way to make it up to your d; obviously your d has built some goodwill with her.</p>
<p>Shaw, enjoy your new wheels! I had a sad dream the other night that mch surprised me with a new car and I hated it and wanted my old Allroad back and was actually crying. I told mch and he suggested I get a valve job to make sure that didn’t happen for a while, since they don’t sell this model in the US anymore (I don’t actually think I need a valve job. I think my mechanic needs a Xmas bonus job. The car runs fine, but had a weird and un-recreate-able event after the last oil change.)</p>
<p>So, the party was a blast despite the ice storm…glad my friends are an intrepid bunch because it just wouldn’t have been the same without a Xmas pre-game warm up. One couple, whose kids are in CA and LA respectively are headed to New Orleans for a family New Years vacation/reunion, in part to overcome Xmas logistics. I can see that I’ll be wanting to crib ideas in the future should mcson head west this spring Another friend has one D in Gambia with the peace corps and another living in Denver. All of our kids went to school together in the GT magnet program. It’s funny to think how just a few years ago said kids were all on hand and now are so far flung We must have given rise to a batch of kids with wanderlust. Then again, maybe we have it too – one couple was not with us this year because they moved to Germany. We were sorely tempted to Skype them into the party :)</p>
<p>KMC, I think my invite was lost in the mail! Sounds like a great party; you have such a great circle of friends - I am living vicariously through you. </p>
<p>Miserable rain and mud here…unseasonably warm. I’m fighting a losing battle keeping the house together. My family is barely tolerating me so I’m headed into the office this morning for a few hours. Then I need to finish up a few things shopping wise and then I think I’ll be baking cookies.</p>
<p>boys, my SIL is required to go on interview to keep her unemployment, and as she really wants to just retire (i.e. NOT get the job), I can only imagine how much effort she puts into the interview.</p>
<p>Oregon, sending the light to your Son. FallGirl, sending the light to your father and everyone who loves him. There are SO many reasons why 2013 was a sucky year.</p>
<p>My mother flies in today. I already have an anticipatory headache. I wrapped presents for 8+ hours yesterday. And between last night and early this morning, got the laundry done. (H does the laundry on Tuesdays. He agreed that laundry wouldn’t fit into our Christmas Eve plans, but thought that Wednesday could be laundry day “since we don’t go anywhere on Christmas Day.” My assumption is that he said that so I would go ahead and do the laundry myself.)</p>
<p>Younger D deserves only lumps of coal for Christmas. I hope she will at least turn off the surliness in front of Grandma. I would love to send her to Outward Bound over the summer.</p>
<p>oregon101, hope S is doing OK. FallGirl, sorry for the bad news about your father.</p>
<p>S is home. Flight was delayed a bit so it was early Saturday instead of late Friday. I came home from work Friday night, took a 3 hr nap, then headed out. </p>
<p>Had my fun annual “Church Lady” brunch later Saturday morning. One of S’s good friends left Sunday with his mom to visit his older sister in another city, and was returning to school directly from there, so despite his late arrival S was up early and dropped me off at the brunch so he could spend some time with the guys. </p>
<p>S left 25" of snow and frigid temperatures, so of course we had a big snowfall late Saturday and a temperature drop and it’s now colder here than at college. H had a long weekend. Did a wedding yesterday. Turns out the bride’s uncle was H’s HS band teacher. H left extra early Sunday morning for church due to the snowfall, and stayed in that town (about an hour west of here) for the wedding and reception so was gone around 13 hours yesterday. He said it had fabulous music – lots of musicians among the family and friends. </p>
<p>Many church services were cancelled yesterday due to the snow. Because of H’s schedule with the wedding, our original plan was to drive the hour to church separately, but the kids and I just stayed in. Since I am working today and tomorrow I got some baking done and did some last minute gift-buying later yesterday.</p>
<p>D had a good first day at the temp job Friday. They told her it would be very quiet and she could take off Thur & Fri if she had other plans, but she’d rather make some $ under quiet circumstances. They told her she could bring books/electronic books/iPod to keep herself entertained. Not surprisingly her office is way nicer than mine. She is planning to delay moving to Chicago. She has an airline ticket she purchased for $1.25 with frequent flyer miles but it can be exchanged.</p>
<p>That’s tough, FallGirl. I’m so sorry. My dad got really bad health news a few years ago, but it was a couple days after New Year’s Day, not just before Christmas. </p>
<p>C_Q - glad your daughter had a good first day. Nice to be able to get started in a lower-key time. </p>
<p>Thanks for the support. I am still reeling. I mean I know Dad is 81, but he is the guy who goes to the gym 3x/week, walks like a much younger person and is always on the go. It just still seems unreal. If Friday’s bone scans are ok, he will get treatment but if the bone scans are not ok, it is really bad. The tests he had so far do not bode well. I am planning to tell the kids on Thursday.</p>
<p>Fallgirl, am thinking about you and your family. He sounds like a wonderful person.</p>
<p>S had his tube out today and it was still 2% low. They agreed to another X-ray in the morning but plan to head back in any event–even if then end up back here in a few days. Given that no one expected this, we have coped well and I still like DIL but do find balancing D and DIL’s different ages a little much. Neither are making it difficult but it is what it is.
The cost of groceries has been outstanding…the only carry in has been pizza and thai and otherwise home cooking. But still, guessing still about $800 and that has been using things I had frozen and such.
They eat about 5 meals a day…
D suggested that I send them to a fast food but then what do the rest of us eat?
Silly focus but somehow food seems to take center stage.</p>
<p>MissyPie, learn how to take two hours to pick up milk and take a nap in your car. Set your phone alarm. Then act dismayed about the traffic jam and accident you just happened to be behind.
P.S. I have many versions of this if you should be interested.</p>
<p>I find the stories about interviews humorous and amazing–I read about parents being there a few years ago. Who would ever hire such a candidate?? I am seriously wondering. Also, bringing your kids ???</p>
<p>Forgot to update about D’s future MIL being late always. So her family showed up at 1:15 for a 1:00 lunch–all good. She was at large with H worried as she had forgotten her phone and so on. I said I was serving at 1:30 and really planned 2:00. She arrived at 1:45, upset that her family has not been helpful (they were ) and she had gotten lost…
It went well overall.</p>
<p>Hugs and prayers to you and your family, FallGirl. </p>
<p>oregon - sounds like lunch went pretty well, considering. Hope your S continues to improve.</p>
<p>I too am astounded at prospective employees showing up with either parents or kids in tow. I’ve certainly read about this happening, but somehow I didn’t quite believe it. Do these people honestly believe they have a shot at the job???</p>
<p>As those of you here who are on FB know, I spent all day yesterday baking. I’ll admit I was pretty wiped by the end of the day, and I had nothing on hand for dinner except left-over chowder and grilled cheese sandwiches. But that actually worked out since it helped clean out the fridge - I’ll need the room for Christmas Eve food. (I’m not getting on the scale until after New Year’s!)</p>
<p>In any event, I’m actually in a pretty good place this year in terms of being ready. The gifts are wrapped, the baking is done, the cards were sent on time … H is picking up D at the train this morning, and S texted me that he’s coming sometime today. (We haven’t actually “talked” since Thanksgiving, but texting is better than nothing!) So, I think I have time to keep my haircut appointment this afternoon. Yay!</p>
<p>^Enjoy your visit with S2, TheAnalyst, and best wishes for an enjoyable holiday!</p>
<p>Fall Girl, you never know, maybe his fortitude and good health habits will serve him well and make him a good candidate for treatment. My FIL is one of those octagenerians who seem invincible, so I can understand why it still feels shocking. Sendin ya the light for the best possible journey on this one.</p>
<p>Missy, you’re a trooper. I second Oregon’s suggestion for a little retail retreat, but instead of sleeping in the car, I think a nice pedicure or massage might be in order. Maybe you could sneak your mom away for same and let the surly ones miss ya for a few hours :)</p>
<p>I hope everyone else has a lovely evening tonight and a great holiday tomorrow!</p>
<p>Mcson is due home around noon but is coming straight to the office to help out on a project, and then we’re all headed out to dinner with FIL and wife. Tomorrow we head to Canada for a whirlwind visit and then are dropping him off in Ann Arbor the following day. We’re working on Friday, then birthday shenanigans on the weekend with the sisters coming to town. Two of my Canadian pals are grousing that I’m not heading back for New Years but I don’t think I’ll have it in me Every year I say I’ll take the holiday week off and every year there is always some compelling reason not to, it seems :)</p>
<p>This year, I have to be back Friday anyway for the electricians to wire the studio, and if I have to be back, I’d rather supervise for an hour and then skedaddle to the shop to get some work done. I do think I’ll treat myself to a professional painter, though…got a quote yesterday from a semi-retired pro that makes it hard to refuse :)</p>
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