3 Good things for today:

- No broken thumb
- Exercise ball ordered from Amazon
- Christmas cards very much underway

i read a bit last night about the head start ( school ) program in my state .
it appears that there is in fact an entire community standing by to help awkward parents or guardians to get a kid off to a good start . the services are seemingly unlimited but like any government program requires a degree of compliance from the caregiving adults .
i may be asked to raise a grandson and ive no issue with some expectations from the state in return for their help .
i long ago reached out to CPS and gave them my thoughts on what was going to transpire ( re ; nick ) , and i hope i made it clear that i would welcome any help they could provide .
on the other side of the coin is a narcissistic grandma who scoffs at anyone trying to give her constructive input at all . the " greatest grandma who's ever grandma'd " . she'll fail another drug screen and the judge will throw her clear out of his courthouse .

Have some interesting books to read
New clothing
Thank G-d had a better evening than expected

1. My mother is in Assisted Living and doing much better.

2. I can choose to see her when I want. No evenings. She gets mean in the evening sometimes.

3. I have a warm little dog in my lap

- Hair dye
- Weight loss
-Southwest McD's salad

1)I’m going to sleep well for the next 3 nights because my husband just let to Santa Maria for a 2 day class his employer is making him attend (it’s required for his rank). I’m looking forward to being able to go bed earlier & not having to tug at his blanket and nudge him repeatedly until I fall asleep. He has sleep apnea and got a new cpap machine earlier this year which is quieter but now he makes raspberry sounds with his lips and still snores (not as bad though). But it’s the lip noises that keep me up!

2)my sons football team won their division championship yesterday against a team they previously lost to this season & who is last year’s division champ. Next Saturday is the “super bowl” and they are going against a team they beat this season. So one more week of practice, one more week of sitting outside the middle school for 2 hours in the dark but I know come Saturday when the game ends and we turn in his equipment, i’ll Be sad that it’s all over. It’s been a great season, my son found a sport he loves & I love being a football mom getting to see him play every week. But it is a big time commitment and it’s taken time to get used to. We’ll have 2.5 months to relax and then softball season will start mid February and I’ll be softball mom until May, taking my daughter to softball practice 3 times a week. Her practices will be during daylight thankfully! Gonna enjoy every minute of it and take it all in because these years go by so fast!!!!

3)my little dude is sleeping in my lap and I keep reflecting on how he’s 15.5 years old and despite the cataracts and his hearing going, he’s still in great shape for an old dog! I’m so thankful for his health. I cherish these doggy cuddles!! And I sleep much better when he’s curled up against my legs at night. It’s really amazing what animals can do for us right? I cherish this little dude so much :)

Siouxann, nothing like sleeping with a farting pug! We have a "chug" who is at least 75% pug, and she is a 15 lb bed hog, and I love it. She is warm and cuddly. Took Tinkerbell for a drive today with hubs,, now I know why DD did not want him teaching her to drive,, but good thing no one died ( as in I did not kill him..LOL) He hates to not be in charge in the car.. but other than parking the beast I did fine. Third good thing.. I got our thanksgiving turkey for 4.59 The price was .29 a lb if you spent $35. Easy peasy with moms Depends... And I spent a lot of time with mom in her TV room, and some more quick chores.

After my father's passing (It's been a week ago that it happened), I have mostly focused on trying to help my mother and the rest of my family get through this, I have also been trying to deal with the loss myself. So, I haven't been focusing on 3 good things for today lately.

But, I figured I could focus on them while in grieving for my father.

1) I got a new cell phone. It's much nicer and faster than the other one.
2) Been trying to keep myself busy. It's better than crying.
3) Yesterday's memorial service was very good. All of the people in our lives stepped up to the plate: My SIL made the food and bought the booze, My two nieces and nephew showed up, My Step nephew and my other niece couldn't attend but my SIL bought a card signed by them, The property that owns my mother's apartment refused rental costs for our community room (We had it in there), Many people showed up and everyone was very nice and good towards us.

Trying to take things day by day. That is all I can do.

1. Set a beautiful dinner table with candles for mom and family today. My mother every Sunday set a beautiful dinner table with her best dishes. We were most important in her life. Did not wait to bring her best dishes out for company.
2. Made a vegetarian meatloaf, baked potatoes, carrots and for dessert chocolate avocado banana pudding for mom and apple crisp for the rest with whipped cream.
3.Watching a movie tonight with family. Very nice day, indeed.

1.) Got some much-needed exercise this morning
2.) Talked myself out of buying silly sh*t online that I don’t need!
3.) My Sunday grocery run cost one-third of what I normally spend. Gonna focus on “shopping at home” and work my way through our two freezers.

1. The nor'easter that's been plaguing us for the last three days finally seems to be winding down. We may see sunshine by... Tuesday.

2. My leg isn't quite as painful as usual today (see #1), so I got ALL the laundry done.

3. The kitten (2 months old) was getting underfoot something awful today, so I hit on something new to keep her busy: I tossed her little stuffed piggy toy into a dollar store laundry basket, and she's been trying to get it out for the last 15 minutes. Problem solved!

NHWM- I'm not- I live in the cold midwest. But we had a friend move here from Louisiana and she brought her coffee with her and totally addicted us. For awhile when she moved back she would send it to us. Now one of our grocery stores here sells it. And we have 2 restuarants here that serve it now. I go and have it with beignets. Heaven!

Siouxann,

Are you by any chance from Louisiana? That’s our coffee!

Sunshine today

A good cup of coffee, had the same kind as Siouxann. 😊

My daughter is coming to visit today.

I've been trying this for awhile- to write down three good things each day or three I am grateful for
Today- Really good coffee! Community Coffee with Chicory and a generous dollop of full on fat half and half in it.
My dogs. My two. My big ole 13 year old boy, Keeshond and a new addition a terrier named Bear. My grand pup- a snorting, farting pug-he had a sleepover with me last night while his parents had a night out
This forum. Helping me stay sane!

Three things.
Three good things.
I'm thinking on it.

good things happen but just in small increments right now .
i went to the indoor flea mkt yesterday and found exactly the two kitchen utensils that i needed for 2 bucks each .

came home and extended my kitchen sink faucet to a height of about 28 inches . the better to rinse carboy's with .

then this am i received a very pleasant email from my former employer . hes quite intelligent , of course he would know the perfect timing for mending our differences . weve always traded goods and services with utmost fairness and i suspect that our trade relationship isnt over altho im employed somewhere else now .

yet another sunday that ' cat anus face ' isnt going to be bringing nick by . she is defying the judge's wishes . he will have the last word and it isnt going to be what she wants to hear .

pam: You're very welcome. On Kia Motors, when it finally came time to trade my cop car in (Grand Marqs look like Fords), my husband researched that they had the best warranty plan. Alien green Kias are quite popular around these parts. One CAN get drawn in to the news media outlets, CNN and Fox News. That friend whose dad "wants" to go to the hospital, but is afraid he'll miss the news must not realize that hospitals have TVs. LOL.

Thank you Llama for my friend. I do know the Alien color, and it reminds me of all the retro colors from the 70s.. I loved them! I had a sports car from a line that had a lime green model! And an SUV that we called orange crush! ( international scout) And yes.. my mom is hooked on CNN right now.. but it keeps her mind going, even if she cant remember who we like or don't.. LOL Another friend is going through this also,, her dad always wants to go to the hospital at night, but he won't go because he will miss the news.. LOL

pam: No, my Kia's color is called "Alien Green." I recall that towards the end of my aunt's life (she was an RN, who failed to get a colonoscopy and ended up with colon cancer) - well, at that point my mother was about 91 and all she could think to talk about to her sister was "How is your Kia?" - since my aunt owned one. She asked that over and over and over and over. The elder mindset...
Oh, my previous car was one that I could intimidate people with - a Grand Marquis easily named "The Cruiser."
Your mother "likes" the Impeachment stuff?

pam: So sorry for the loss of your dear friend's husband.

lol,
disco stu . as i remember his act was so dated that he had " no longer living " goldfish inside his disco shoe heels .

love the simpsons .

saw a story today about an old sideshow bob joke . he scoffed at an attempted murder charge . he questioned ;
do you get a nobel prize for ' attempted chemistry ' ?

of course not .

Oh Llama,, it is so funny you mentioned a Kia Soul.. one of my friends just bought one, and it is "poop brown".. or as she calls it " latte" ( OMG I hope yours is not that color!) While we were looking for a truck, my hubs was so bewildered that I really didn't care what color it was.. except I did not want "poop brown" What would I call it? You can imagine.. I'm taking the turd to work,, or the Shi,,storm and I are leaving now.. My friend even laughs that her car is poop brown...

captain: That's funny about the truck name. Since I own a Kia Soul, I bought 2 hamsters (stuffed) and called them Hamlet and Othello as I am a fan of Shakespeare and poetry.

- Got Christmas card writing started - 100 to write.
- Got 4 family birthdays done (gifts bought and one for a person with Alzheimer's, which was tricky).
- German and Russian black breads received from Amazon.

pam,
i think you should call the truck ' disco stu ' -- one of the funniest stereotypes on the simpsons in my opinion .

i have a trike named " ike " . another called " the short bus " .

today has been pretty noneventful . i went and paid 200 bucks towards my internet account . its my way of not letting money get away . my mortgage is payed up till march 1 of 2020 . i'll bump it up another couple of months before springtime . when taxes hit me in january i wont have bills competing for the income .

I have one really good thing. On vacation in the Florida Keys; not in the New England cold.

Day started off poorly with my dear friends husband passing. He went peacefully with his family around him so that was a blessing. Another friend was coming over and we were going to go to hospice and see him, but we were too late. We did go by the house when they got home, and gave hugs and shared memories , then left as they were getting a bit of a crowd. Picked up the new truck ( now renamed tinkerbell) and we went for some driving to get used to all the fancy things I'll never figure out.. Got used to it pretty quick as far as normal driving goes, I guess Ill figure out the rest in a few days. Now to relearn to park...LOL. Mom had a good day watching the impeachment stuff ( she is in heaven with that going on) and was pretty with it today. And subs for dinner. SO a bittersweet day

Three good things for today:

1. Washer and dryer went on the brink. Cost was $159'00 charged me $65'00
2.Was going to hire a plumber today, but decided to try and fix the garbage disposal. Glass broken did not run for about a month. Got online and found a site how to fix a garage disposal. Pushed the red button on the disposal and moved the parts inside and it was fixed in no time. Glad I did not hire a plumber!
3. Made mac and cheese today the old fashioned way. I have not made it for sometime Came out great and creamy.

Fred Rogers
Princess Diana
Steve Irwin

GrannieAnnie: The German and Russian black bread loaves and rounds were purchased on Amazon.