3 Good things for today:

My husband and kids just left for a weekend get away at a national park. I'm glad for them. They will have a good time, a well deserved break. We haven't had a vacation for 3 years because of my mother. I didn't go with them this time because I didn't make any arrangement for someones to elder sit my mother. One of the sitters is out of town, and my mother needs 24 hours supervision so I need at least 2 people to take turns watching her. That will cost a pretty penny.

I told my brother after New Year I'm taking a family vacation and he needs to fill in for me. It'll be cold at the time, so I'm thinking either Mexico or Hawaii.

Oh, and I'm making my favorite beef soup today. A big pot so when my husband and kids come back tomorrow night, they will have some delicious beef soup waiting for them.

I picked my MIL up at AL and took her out to breakfast. I called and asked if she wanted to go to lunch after mass tomorrow. She said she didn’t want to go to mass and would like to go out to breakfast this morning. Then we went to Walmart to pick up a couple of things she needed. Second good thing was stopping at bakery for a treat. Third good thing stopped at bookstore and picked up new JOHN Sandford novel. Going to spend afternoon reading. Fourth good thing - going to dinner and a movie this evening.

1) Got the closet cleaned out. A couple of bags in the trash can and three bags put into the basement/storage.
2) American Film Institute countdown specials. 
3) Very mild outside, no wind or cold.

UsedupDIL: What movie are you planning to see?

Gently raining & pastures ever so slightly showing green

Pot roast, mashed potatoes & carrots for supper

5 of 6 house plants in bloom

im feeling pretty confident in law enforcement's resolve the last couple of days . without a moments notice the grandkid could be delivered up here by a cps caseworker or he could be sent to my exes house with instructions to make me and him happen . ive no doubt his parents are going to prison . our judge has made the same statement in the past so ive a basis for that theory .
i keep tinkering away to ready things for him . he has a new towel bar , washcloth bar , and today a toothbrush and wall mount for it .
im seldom blindsided by anything . my ex will fail yet another drug screen and the judge is not going to be smiling .
there isnt going to be any adversaries left when i walk onto the battlefield . thats been my plan for 3 years and i believe it'll be worth the wait .

captain - I hope the day you're waiting for will come soon. I'll drink to that. Not an alcohol drinker but I'll make an exception.

thanks polarbear,
i sent the ex an email this am . i have a soviet army pile cap that id like for nick to have this winter -- it'll be in my mailbox today .

i'll be surprised if it gets picked up , but thats just one more thing she can explain to nick someday .

he's going to have hard questions some day . mine are all going to be answered with consistency -- the others' ?
i wouldnt want to be them ..

Anon1256 - went to see Downton Abbey for the second time. I think it’s the current date night movie for all ages. It’s fairly good, but not as good as the series.

Usedup,

I adored the series. I saw the movie when it first came out. I enjoyed it.

Do you have a favorite character and why are they a favorite?

Not every character was able to be in the movie.

Did anything surprise you to see in the film?

Who do you miss from the original cast? Hands down, Matthew!

They are all excellent actors. I was a drama queen for awhile. Hahaha, I took drama in school. Was fun! I love the classics. I love a well written script but I loved improv too. That’s when you get to fly by the seat of your pants and really be creative.

NHWM, Hands down Maggie Smith - always my favorite British actress. I didn’t watch every episode of the series. A lot of it was on while my husband was sick and he definitely preferred anything else. I’m going to binge watch the series sometime. I hate going to movies. Can’t stand sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers.

It's a beautiful, mild Fall day - 18°C

I got my grass mowed and had a chance to get a lot of my garden cleaned up before the weather turns.

I found some pears I had pushed to the back of the fridge and made myself pear crisp with them - yum.

1. First coffee of day
2. Birds are singing in my garden
3. Attending school event tonight (smart casual) & have something to wear! Something I really like, that I fit into (yay to elastic waists!) & is comfortable.

1. Church and church family.
2. Homemade soup and the warmth that it brings on this damp, rainy day.
3. Ability to do what I’d like to today.

1) Friends and family
2) Relatives are visiting mom for the next couple of days.
3) Unpacking postponed until relatives leave.

Today is a hard one. Got some not so good news last night (everything's fine with dad but his condition is getting worse) so It was rather hard to not worry about him.

* DH was accepted into an adult daycare here in town!!! The past two years he has been attending a program an hour away. This is a blessing for both of us!

* My hydrangeas are still blooming & beautiful

* Cardinals, woodpeckers, chickadees & finches at the feeders this morning

Longears - so happy that your DH can go to adult day care in town. Wish my mom could be accepted into one. We applied to two places and both wouldn't take her. Truth be told, my mom didn't like the daycares either and wouldn't stay. Sigh... But, I have things to be glad about:

1. Spending time with my kids.
2. My very understanding husband.
3. Having two wonderful sitters who stay with my mom so I can have time for my family.

polarbear, so very glad you have reliable sitters & the opportunity to enjoy family time!!! We were unable to find reliable sitters so the program an hour away was the best we could do while waiting for an opening here.p

I love your screen name. I am fascinated by polar bears. We have a Great Pyrenees named Bella, nicknamed polar bellybutton, as she is huge & looks like a big white bear who wants its belly rubbed.
I am thankful for
* my counselor
* my pets
* the beauty which is everywhere if I just slowdown & look around me

the day isnt over yet but so far ive went to the forestry and cut / split / brought home one helload'a red oak firewood .
it wasnt hard to imagine nick out there with me in the future .
" patience old man "

and i just ordered 3 . 3 lbs of pilsner liquid malt . whatever happened to that last batch of beer -- it needs to keep on happening . to get ' dark ' , ' wet ' , and ' stout ' to come together in one beer -- i never expected that to happen .

usually darks arent real thirst ' quench - ey ' .

1) Got errands and a doctor's appointment done yesterday. Also make faux rocks to paint and cleaned out my frig.
2) Had vegan sloppy joes and mac and cheese last night for supper.
3) Dogs.

Anonymous - all good things, especially #3 dogs. IMO, they are the best things. I love dogs. In the future, I hope to have a lot of money so I can help rescue as many as possible. Right now, I just do small monthly donations to 2 organizations.

My 3 good things for today:

1. My little poodle Sandy. Her fur is the beautiful color of sand.
2. Trying out a new deep dish pizza recipe I saw on Cooks Country.
3. Going to shop for a new outfit for a wedding this weekend.

i got nothing done today . im looking for a rather decent rain jacket for my winter in the forestry . ive got wind that im destined to be the snow plow guy . ice rain down my neck dont sound too appealing to me .

fortunately i just learned that theres a colombia outfitters factory outlet store about 45 minutes away . maybe tomorrow i'll go see .

i went and got the rain jacket . glad i went down there the selection was a little on the unbelievable side . 48 bucks for a 100 dollar jacket .

its raining buckets full here today .

ive never minded outfitting myself well for the job at hand . it makes a person look like theyre paying attention instead of daily fighting the same ( correctable ) things .

good day so far . just put on my rib tips / egg noodles to warm up and cracked one of these btchn beers .

We went to lunch with my mother and some visiting family.
We bought her a new TV as the one that had been in her room from a previous resident finally failed.
We set up the TV but couldn't completely because of cable issues. My husband will go back tomorrow to see if it is a battery issue. So #3 is not a complete good thing but we tried.
I did not complain much about how messy her room was. She loves magazines and newspapers but it gets out of control. In her 2 room unit I could barely sit down and she has a love seat as well as chairs.

We drove to Baton Rouge to see my daughter. She’s a student at LSU.

My daughter saved most of the money for her new laptop. She only works part time while in school. So we pitched in and she bought it today from the Apple store.

Had a nice lunch with our daughter.

Polar,

Tell us about the wedding. I love to hear how people met and their wedding. Interesting to hear.

My husband is opposite of me! We balance each other though.

Three things about hubby and me 😊. We were young, students.

He was the handsome bartender with the gorgeous black hair and dark eyes.
He’s Italian.

I was the waitress. Italian restaurant, uptown New Orleans. I noticed him immediately but didn’t let him know that I did. I worked my butt off at that place. We were slammed every weekend. He stayed busy making drinks so I had no idea if he noticed me when I ordered drinks for my customers.

He did notice me! He asked me out! His best friend was sitting at the bar and asked me out first, ‘pretty boy’ blonde. Not at all my type! Turned him down quickly! The piano player at the restaurant was always asking me out. He was fun but I had my eye on the great looking bartender studying to be an engineer. Married 41 years now 😊.

Three good things:

1.) This weekend had the earmarks of becoming Another Dysfunctional Family Boondoggle. And in a way, it was. BUT my household stayed firmly removed - despite pressure to jump in and save the day. We’re learning! Oh yes we are. 😃

2.) My guy & I are spending the afternoon with our core group of friends. We love and support each other - without judgement. We laugh uproariously. And we do not see each other often enough. Today is a welcome gift. 💗

3.) I am taking a desperately needed break from work this week. Using 1.5 days of PTO to reset a little bit. 🤔🛀👍🏼

Husband went back today with batteries and got remote to work. So we accomplished 3 things. Although he did it my gentle nagging made him follow through. Now we will be fine until she calls us about how to use the remotes which was clearly explained but she refused to write it down. Hopefully staff that is not around on a weekend can help.

im always a little stressy on sundays . my ex is usually spending time with the grandkid and never fails to brag about it on FB afterwards .

im not going to socialize whatsoever with people who i know to be the prime murder suspects . i think its a disservice to jake and the process of justice .

a judge kicked open a door between the kid and i but i think he knew i wasnt ready to step thru it yet . im a real one tracker -- justice for my son ( and the kid ) , and then i will comply with anything asked of me .