Don't Try This At Home!!!

UGH!! Last week I thought I was so clever, changing the handle on the toilet...Well the seat is much more difficult, especially in a bathroom made for midgits!

The stupid screw and bolt kept twisting around together and would not loosen. I pulled an old butter knife out of the drawer and was able to finally loosened them (with my face practically in the toilet!!) and yanked that old seat off.


Now for the new seat...the nut and bolt still turn as one and the toilet is so close to the tub, it was hard to hold the bolt in place and turn the screw and/or hold the screw and turn the bolt. I finally got the new seat on after much obscenities. (My children stayed away....far away)

I'd take a picture, but I doubt you want to see my sad little bathroom, with the white toilet and blue cushioned seat. My other "fix-it" attempt was to reattach molding on the floor to the tub with...get this...Mighty Putty" PLEASE if you use this have a well ventilated area! It smells terrible and didn't work so well. Of course, I tried to do that BEFORE I got the toilet seat off, so it added to my frustration, smelling those fumes while using a butter knife to loosen those big plastic screws. I still have a head ache.

Take care.

Have a good week! :)

Sick Days

Kate and I have been sick most of this week and now Jack has it too. So much for lysol on every door handle and washing all the bedding and drinking out of papercups.

Being off these few days with Kate...has actually been nice. Am I allowed to say that about being sick and coughing, sneezing, hacking, wheezing and missing work?? (Hell, I've been working from home. Writing IEP's and calling parents for meetings.) I haven't felt like cooking but we drink peppermint tea with honey, and eat toast and sip chicken broth with little Pastina in it.

Cool Things About Kate

1)She likes to watch the Today Show :)
2) She hates The View
3)She takes her school work, VERY seriously
(I think I know EVERY county in PA now)
4)She is reading New Moon and she doesn't like Bella either
5)She begged to get Facebook
6)She has been on FB about a total of 1/2 hr in the 4 days she has been off sick
7) She still looks 12 in her fleece pajamas
8) She loves Jerry Stiller on King of Queens
9) She can now swallow antibiotics!
10) She watched Melissa Gilbert as Anne Frank on the Family channel

I couldn't watch Anne Frank...but tried..I know how it ends :(
I read the book at her age....I might get her to read it after she is done w/ New Moon!


Stay Healthy
Use your Lysol

One More: She thinks it is a Pepper rally not Pep rally, too cute

OCTOBER 2009: WEEK 3

I made soup #4 this week. Chicken stew with dumplings. Really, it's just chicken noodle soup without the noodles and dumplings instead. I also made Italian Wedding Soup. The kids used to really like this when they were younger, now, not so much. They loved the little meatballs in it and so did I.

The broth I made came out well, if I do say so. I roasted a chicken breast with the veggies and some water. I poured off that broth it made and then added a quart of Swanson's chicken stock. I had never made dumplings before and the kids liked that. Just followed the directions on the bisquick box. It was fun to watch them sink into the soup and rise back up. (See how interesting my life is....this is fun for me :P) Trying to think of a new soup for this weekend. Maybe chicken with wild rice, since my broth has been coming out pretty good.

I fixed the handle on the toilet by myself today. Major accomplishment for me, doing these type of plumbing things. I am trying to loosen the bolts on the seat to replace that.

Time for a cup of peppermint tea. I was out sick today and will go in tomorrow. I think my office mates will freak because I am coughing so much. I'll just walk around with purex wipes and "clean up" after myself.

October 11, nineteen sixty......wait 2009

Today is my birthday and I wasn't going to blog about it, as I was trying to forget how old I am getting. Jack is "making me a comic" and I am sure it will be funny. His cards always are.

Kate is the more serious gift giver. Sweet poems that will make you cry. After church, we ate breakfast together and talked about what they learned that day in CCD. Kate's class discussed Jesus being a Shepherd and we are the sheep. Kate's other analogy was this thought, "Jesus is like our compass, leading us in the right direction." Yeah, she's 12 and she is mine.

I got 4 coupons - 1 freebie, 1 good for 20 hugs, 1 for 5 loads of laundry and 1 for a helper to clean any room of my choice....no expiration date on any of them. The card says: "Don't forget to reach for the stars when you are having a Happy Birthday." The inside says: " May all your birthday wishes come true - Let the compass show you the way."

I hope your day was as good as mine.

October: Week 2

Still rainy and cold. No "Indian Summer" yet. It that a politically correct term? We made a Jack-o-lantern tonight and toasted the pumpkin seeds. Last weekend we made homemade Chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. Tomorrow I want to make an Autumn soup recipe I found at www.tasteofhome.com Linda C told me about it. I'll post pics and let you know how it turns out. I have some homemade frozen sauce, so we can always have spaghetti as a backup, plus I bought 2 pizzas from the cheerleaders. Enjoy your Saturday nite. We have some Netflix to watch. :)

OCTOBER

The leaves are just beginning to turn in PA. We drove down to Rockwood Mill Shops and Opera House and met an old and dear friend. Janet Johns was the librarian in the High School when I joined BBSD 19 years ago....

She was so fun to talk to, knew so much about books and research. The age of the internet entered and it was even more fun. She loved it! and when I found a website she never heard of....I was so proud of myself.

Unfortunately, the strike ended her tenure there. New administration drove many people away. She is trying to talk me into joining her district :)

It must have been a weekend for catching up with people from the past. I saw a former student at the Dairy Bar and he thanked me for all I did for him...giving him a hard time until he performed to the level he was capable of! What a great young man. He earned top Co-op student his senior year.

When I got home from visiting Janet and her husband, there was a message on my machine from another former student. He was in town and wanted to say hi!

I am a lucky girl.