Whatcha doing today?

[Littlesister]

Mt. Rider, Glad you are back home and was able to rest up.

 

Miki, Glad you are doing better from that fall. 

 

Jeepers, have a safe and fun trip, though I know you will be doing a lot of work. Hope you can get everything you want to do done on this trip. 

 

Made tea and washed clothes, then went to store mostly for GS. He was out of his special foods he likes, so I went and picked up a few things for him. Plus, I am making tacos for dinner tonight and needed some fresh veggies and a couple of other things I was out of. Not much of a grocery trip just a few items. 

 

Came home got food in freezer, had lunch and taking break. Getting ready to work on pantry again. Will work on that for about 3 hours and then maybe finish watching that movie that I fell asleep in middle of last night. 

[Jeepers]

Thank You Miki. I always have big plans but I poop out half way through. 

 

Thank You too Littlesister. If I get half of it done I'll feel grateful. It's a long drive and it takes a day or two to recoup from the backache. 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Jeepers
Added a comment

[Becca_Anne]

Welcome back Mt Rider! 

Miki glad you got to order your curtains. I am working on washing all of mine. With these tall windows it's challenging!

Enjoy your movie Littlesister! 

Just work for me today. And laundry. I did order some plastic window kits to seal the older windows and the upstairs porch door. Still have to get the right door kits to get the weatherstripping but will do that this next weekend.

[snapshotmiki]

Walked first.
Walked dogs.
Did laundry.
Made tea and kool-aid at Church for meeting tomorrow evening.
Made venison stew.
Worked at online bookkeeping.
I think I am about done.

[Littlesister]

Switched out summer and winter clothes and got all that put away.  Then GS woke up as eye doctor called and said his contacts were ready for pickup. So, I took him to pick them up and then took him to Bojangles for Lunch. We went through drive through and bought it home to eat. Then I started back on working on pantry. I have canned chicken running out my ears. Filled up double on top shelve and had to move down a couple of shelves to finish putting it away. So oldest cans are on lower shelve to be used first. Still have a few more cans that will have to go on next shelving unit over. After DH passed away, all I did was to try to keep busy because I wasn't going to lay around and do nothing for weeks on end thinking about losing DH. So, I must have canned my heart out in 2021.   Don't think I will be canning beef or chicken for a long while. Will use what is in freezer for soups and stews instead of just canning it up plain. I have 2 more shelving units that are smaller than the ones I have in there now and thinking I might only have room for one of them. But once I get one out of box and put together, I will know for sure what I can do in there. I am really tired now and ready for a nap but still need to get more done. GS left for work about an hour ago. So, might just watch part 4 of the movie I was watching. Actually, it is more of a documentary. it is called in the Days of Noah it's on Prime TV. Very interesting about the last days and how the flood plays into prophecy and what to expect for end times now. Not sure about some of what it says but it is like I said interesting. 

[Jayceef]

Jeepers have a good trip! Little sister good for you with swapping out your clothes. I was just looking at my closet this weekend thinking I should start working on that. I had to pull out some of my winter stuff for a funeral on Friday. Plus, it was kind of cold here. 
 

Called Sylvan learning center today about my youngest. Uffda! I thinks it’s going to be a hefty price, but he’s 9 and really struggling with his reading. I should have started the ball rolling on it last year, but drug my feet thinking everything would click for him this year and that he just didn’t get along with the teacher last year. Well, got his latest test scores and he improved 1% from last year. That’s a huge red flag for me. We have conferences Thursday, so I will see what they say at school. Plus an exam scheduled at Sylan for Monday night. IDK! I know not prep related.  Anyone else ever struggle with this? 

[Becca_Anne]

Jaceef I have heard good thing about Sylvan. Be sure to get a vision check too as sometimes it's a tracking issue or other vision issue with seeing up close. One of my kids had to have vision therapy but then did fine for reading. Turns out he has one eye that sees blurry up close and the other that sees blurry far away so no matter what his vision was off until we got that addressed. Mine don't struggle with reading but they all did with writing. Youngest is currently writing about 2 yrs below grade level but is able to write a decent paragraph now so things are starting to click. He's homechooled so I don't worry about the grade level as long as we are progressing.

[Jayceef]

Thanks BeccaAnne! We did get his vision checked and that was good. I have heard about vision therapy, I might have to look into it if all else fails. I checked with my doctor as well and we are going to test for ADD. I don’t really want to medicate him, but I need to know what’s going on. That’s great that your kids are progressing along BeccaAnne. That’s how DH and I see it, we know with him that he’s not going to be top of his class and we are just fine with that. He has many other redeeming qualities. We just want him to be a productive member of society. 

[Mother]

Jayceef, don’t forget to check into other possibilities, such as nutritional, allergies, or illnesses like autoimmune ones. Those things can present as brain dysfunctions that can appear as learning difficulties.  Allergies can be to foods like gluten or even grains, additives as simple as food coloring or preservatives, or to environmental like chemicals or mold. 
 

Another possibility with reading difficulties is being unable to process the written word.  Having the information read to him or using videos might make all the difference.  I admire you and your DH’s continued efforts to help your son be the best he can be.  It is the sign of the love you have for him. 

[Ambergris]

Someone mentioned magnesium citrate.  This is the kind of magnesium that gives a lot of people very loose bowels.  Chelated magnesium oxide, I think, is the one recommended to be both absorbable and less likely to cause volcanic spews.

[EmeraldCat]

Hi, everyone! 
 

Jayceef, I just read about your son’s struggles. My daughter had a hard time reading as well. We had her tested in 2nd grade, and she came back with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. We never had her on meds, instead allowing her to learn strategies to help her manage her diagnoses. She is now in 10th grade, and just read Brave New World for her homeschool ELA curriculum!  Reading difficulties can be overcome with love, dedication, and by finding how your child learns best. With my DD, it turned out that she could NOT read using phonics approaches. She still has a hard time breaking down unfamiliar words or reading them by sounding them out. Instead, she memorizes every word as a sight word. It’s not the “in” reading strategy, but every child has individual keys to learning, and that was hers. Make sure that your son’s teachers and school are willing to take that individualized approach to help him. After he is tested, you may want to consider securing a 504 Plan or an IEP to ensure teachers have to accommodate his needs. I’m a mom with two special needs kids and I’m a 4th grade teacher (taking time off now to homeschool my daughter), so if there is anything I can help or support you with, please don’t hesitate to let me know. 

 

I hope that all of you have a great day! 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

12 hours ago, Ambergris said:

Someone mentioned magnesium citrate.  This is the kind of magnesium that gives a lot of people very loose bowels.  Chelated magnesium oxide, I think, is the one recommended to be both absorbable and less likely to cause volcanic spews.

My doc warned me to stay away from mag oxide as it is so poorly absorbed.   In Dr. Carolyn Dean's The Magnesium Miracle book, she also warns against it.  

 

Magnesium citrate is a good mag supplement, but can be an excellent laxative-- finding where you are on bowel tolerance to it (amount you can take without loose stools), taking it in divided doses, and taking it with food is important.    I have everyone in my family taking mag citrate, including DD, and we've all seen improvements.   Doc recommened a magnesium bis-glycinate supplement and I can tell by my symptoms that I am absorbing it better than the Mag citrate. 

 

I have had severe health issues that got to a very bad point a few years back that have improved (and a few symptoms are even completely gone!  I am so thankful!!)  by treating my magnesium deficiency. 

 

The Magnesium Miracle book is excellent.  There was someone else here reading it, too....Daylily?   

 

I'm not a doctor, my doctor is not your doctor,  do your own research.  

Edited October 13, 2022 by out_of_the_ordinary

[Jayceef]

Thank you Emerald Cat! He does have dyslexia, the school sent us to be tested a couple of years ago and he is on an IEP. Maybe I’m just overreacting, but I just can’t shake the feeling that he’s being left behind and it breaks my heart. So, hoping with some extra help we can get him up to where he can feel a little more confident. 
 

And thank you as well Mother. Someone had suggested the allergy issue to me as well. We tried another specialist because we thought he had asthma, but he said no that he just has bad seasonal allergies. So, it’s nasal spray and oral meds every night.

 

Im optimistic that we can get this figured out. 

 

[Littlesister]

My DD put oldest granddaughter in a private school for 1st through 3ed grade because she was both dyslexic and ADHD.  She was in the Beca reading program, and she learned to comprehend and read much better.  Now she reads a lot. Though she is now 30 years old, that program helped her a lot. 

 

Today was another busy day. went to store this morning to buy things for the Samaritan's purse Christmas shoeboxes. Our Church does this every year. I always do one for a girl and one for a boy.  So have that out of the way now.

 

Came home and started working on the pantry. Got a lot more done.  Moved a small table out of there as well. So now I have a place for my metal trash can that houses all my sugar. Still going through a lot of things but house is getting closer to being done. 

 

Want to try out my new wood burning stove but hasn't been cold enough yet.

 

Fixed tacos for GS for dinner when he gets home in the early morning hours. He just has to heat up the meat and it's ready to go. 

 

Might work on pantry for a bit after I finish drinking my tea. needed a break. Got almost all the boxes gone through now.  But still have pictures to put up. It's slow going but I'm getting there. 

[kappydell]

This last week went by so fast it was gone before we realized it.  The chicken tractor is done, the chickens LOVE their new and spacious digs.  They run around, flapping and hopping and having a gay old time.  I guess that is how chickens play,. LOL.  The goats are still bottle babies, but eating less at a sitting now, and nibbling hay, imitating the older goat Nibbles. Their antics are always fun to watch, that hippity hop run of theirs is so silly looking we cant help but smile.  And we have a tree stump in the pen that they play "King of the Mountain" on.  

Our sweet potatoes finally got dug.  We got a 30 gal tote and two 5 gal pails full from those 6 plants.  Of course I had to taste test them.  It was hard waiting out the curing time while their starches turned to sugars, but they are now ready to be shared with all our sweet potato loving friends.  Mary just snorts when I talk of canning some.  She does not see the use, but I keep hearing more and more about upcomingh food shortages, so my "hobby" is more satisfying than ever.  Irt is getting harder though, as my arthritis progresses it slows me down.  I am often frustrated with that; sometimes I could just cry for feeling slow and clumsy.  But then someone compliments us on how much us two "old ladies" get done and our projects, so I guess we are doing better than most folks.  Nobody believes we are pushing 70, and thats how we like it.  I started counting my  birthdays backwards when I hit 50, so I figue i should be about 22 by now.....a very CREAKY 22.

[EmeraldCat]

Today I prepared for the end of our homeschool Fall Break!  I got my daughter's lesson plan guide done for next week, and updated all of her assignments on her Google Classroom.  I used Google Classroom when I was teaching last year, and it was a great way to keep things organized.  I upload videos (for example, she studies genetics in Biology next week, so I found several videos about Gregor Mendel, Punnett Squares, and related topics), her writing assignments, and the like.  

 

I have yardwork to do and need to figure out where to prepare next year's garden.  We have a lot of trees on our property, so I'm trying to figure out the place with the most sun!  

[Mt_Rider]

Welcome EmeraldCat!   

 

I'm not getting much done since returning from the midwest.  Another round of steroids for MS helped but when the daily pill amount tapers down, my hand tremors and HOT-COLD returns.  I woke up in a cold sweat this morning...and was trying to return for more sleep.  I'm getting fairly good sleep at reasonable hours right now.  Hope to keep that up. 

 

So....I just have to wait out this period.  Not like I didn't know it would happen when I chose to go back for this reunion.  Was it worth it.....yes.  It was.  A bright spot in the sadness and weariness of the past year and half. 

 

MtRider   

[Jayceef]

Heading to Omaha tonight to stay over and take that tacmed basic class in the morning. Going to pick up my brother along the way. We are going to see if we can get a haunted house/corn maze squeezed in tonight. No one in my family likes that kind of thing, so it’s nice to be able to go with someone so easy going. 

[Becca_Anne]

Really busy week. Welcome EmeraldCat! Sounds like you have a great set up for your homeschooling.

MtRider so glad you got to go back for your family reunion. Those area always so fun.

Jayceef my husband has dyslexia and loves audiobooks. Of course still work on the regular reading but they are a great way to get kids to enjoy stories and they can learn other content by listening just as well so look into those possibilities so he can learn while he is working on the reading. Nowadays with all the video content/documentaries that is good too for alternative ways to keep up with grade level content. 

Outoftheordinary glad the magnesium is helping you! 

Littlesister so glad your pantry is coming together! That's on my list to work on this weekend.

 

My plan this weekend - reorganize my pantry it's currently just stuff shoved in there as we cleared the space to move everything into the new kitchen and I have boxes in there that need to go elsewhere. I want to be able to step into it so I can get to the shelving and with all the boxes and buckets in there it's not possible and not working for me. It's 11 feet high ceilings so I have shelves on top I need a ladder to get to but that's a good place for those seasonal items I only use once a year like the easter baskets, and Christmas cookie cutters. Then we are also running to Home Depot and buying all the door weatherstripping and doing all the doors in the house since half have old crumbling or missing weatherstripping. The front door had nothing and it was like a wind tunnel in my entryway last winter so that is first on the list! I also want to replace two outside doorknobs that don't work well and we don't have keys for. So that's my ambitious weekend plan we'll see how far I get. Might also run to the store and stock up on chicken and hamburger. I have a big freezer with almost nothing in it so want to remedy that as I still feel like my food supplies are way too low.

[snapshotmiki]

That all sounds like a good weekend plan @Becca_Anne.  I hope you accomplish a good bit of it!

 

Already walked this morning and will walk dogs next.
Then ebay photos for dh.
Then take the garden fence down and stow away. That's a pretty big job for just me.
Making a breakfast casserole for dinner.
No big prepping anything today.

[Becca_Anne]

Got my flu shot and shingles #2 and bi-valent COVID booster today so happy about that since I'm flying this next week and going to be around a lot of more people over the next few weeks. Then we went to Menards and Lowes and got all the weatherstripping supplies. Before we left I re-organized my pantry and my laundry room so feeling very accomplished. Only got before pics of the laundry room so posting my before and after of the pantry. I couldn't even step inside it before and now it's very accessible. The buckets will go down to the basement when I get some more food cannisters to put smaller amounts in the pantry. Have to get some shelving set up in the basement for food storage and paper products will go up in the attic. I still need to get some crates for potatoes and onion storage for the shelving on the left and move the wallpaper out of there so I have more room for cans and jars of food. Way up top I still have two open shelves that are really high up so may put paper products up there but need a ladder to get there.

 

[Littlesister]

Becca Anne that is looking nice. I'm still working on mine makeshift small bedroom pantry but getting closer to being done. 

 

Was gifted a big bag of kale couple of hours ago and have been getting that ready for freezer. 

 

opened all the windows in house this morning and aired the whole house out. will keep the bathroom windows and pantry windows cracked all night for the cooler air and continue to air out house. All the dust from construction and grandson and his vaping just smelled all over the house. And yes, grandson is no longer aloud to have that pipe in house any longer.  Seems those things leak. That was why the smell was making me sick. Very strong smell. But much better now.  

GS got up this morning and cleaned house for me while I worked on pantry. Got all his clothes washed as well. So went to market and bought fried chicken and some banana pudding for him. 

Got things together for church in morning.  Candy for the fall Halloween festival end of month and some things needed for the food pantry as well as the Samaritans purse Christmas shoe boxes I have ready to take back to church in morning. So that much is done for now. 

Need to get started next week on the windows. They need washing along with blinds and curtains. I kept putting it off and now I need to get started on that. Don't want the really cold weather to hit and still not having that done. Next week should be good weather for that. 

 

Mt. Rider, glad you had a great time at your reunion and came back in good shape. Glad you are sleeping better also. 

 

Jayceef, hope you learn a lot from that class. Classes like that will come in handy to know. 

 

Emerald Cat glad you have joined in. We need all the good advice we can get these days. Sometimes I feel our time is just running out to get prepared for whatever comes our way.  With GS working nights and sleeping days he's not a lot of help to me. But did chip in today which is his day off and cleaned house so I could spend more time in pantry getting that all straight. That has been a struggle with having to wipe down every single jar of food in there. That dust from construction went everywhere. I am cleaning out the top kitchen cabinets and the canned food in there is even dusty. So, cleaning out everything. Still a lot of organizing to do and going through things I am going to get rid of. But it is coming along. 

[Mt_Rider]

   ......  Me.  Today.   

 

I've had increasing fatigue and tremors as the 6 day round of steroids tapered off.  I was expecting some but WHAMO....  I wasn't expecting that.  I got a lot of sleep last nite.... midnight to 11am.  Ate breakfast.  Read some on the laptop.  Then went back to bed....to read, I thot.  Nope.  I slept again from 1pm to 5:30pm.      Rats!  Not only that...my walking is very unsteady.  I was at the stove after eating a bit of mac& cheese.  Suddenly my legs buckled as I was talking to DH at the doorway.  

 

Yes, I'm thankful daily for all my gymnastic and mostly the many years of martial arts training.  I simply "lost cohesion"  - by which I mean all muscles relaxed/went limp.  It's not called a "Meltdown" for nothing.  Gently "melted" straight down to the floor.  Big wave of DIZZY so I got my head down too!  Eventually crawled to the living room chair and managed to crawl up on it.  Here I am....but still feeling dizzy and weak.     It's nothing serious.  Nothing new.  It's MS Fatigue.   I'd hoped for a bit more residual from the steroids...  Nope.  Likely I'm only going to solve this with a lot of sleep....and rest. 

 

Drat!  I'd been able to keep upthe muscles strength I'd developed while clearing mom's house.  Don't want to lose that but....at this point, I might not have any choice.  I didn't even get the horse ride today cuz the ranch was closed for this week.  3rd wk w/o riding.....that's not helping either.  But I truly may not have been able to complete the ride. 

 

Well.....not like I haven't been thru this before.  I did everything I could to avoid this but.....    ...not anything more I can think to do.  This is the time for the MS Fall Fatigue Thing too....so that may be part of it.  Just have to wait it out.  

 

MtRider   .....   

[Becca_Anne]

MtRider really hope you feel better soon 

[Annarchy]

Me today….. & tired..house cleaning, major rain storms hit…so much for washing the floors… dogs rushed out..mud everywhere….