Monday once again

ei34 · December 2022

How was everyone's weekend? Had a lot of fun in the city with the kids, it really is a magical time of year. Squeezed in a birthday celebration for my sister, some grading, chores and downtime too. Hoping everyone had happy moments this weekend and that this week goes quickly!

VarunaTT · December 2022

Well, my weekend got kind of ruined. I was supposed to go with a friend here in town, to see another mutual out of town friend. OOT friend is going through a very rough time with a terminally ill parent and had asked us for support. It is a big deal that this particular friend has reached a mental health point to be able to even ask, plus as local friend put it, "We'd already be there if she were closer". Then, woke up on Saturday with a slight fever, congestion, a fever blister, and sore throat. Local friend woke up with some sort of "I can't get away from the toilet" bug. There are a lot of things going around the city right now, plus I started at the new job which has all new people germs. We canceled, b/c we're more afraid of passing an illness on and OOT friend has to catch a plane on Thursday to CA to say goodbye to said parent. But I was pissed about it.

However, I was rage cleaning on Saturday and ended up taking a 3 hour nap!! So whatever it was, my body was fighting the good fight about it. Fever blister is even already gone this morning, which is really weird. I feel like between having had covid, my ongoing allergy shots, the updated covid, and the updated flu shot, I'm a bionic woman and no mere illness can take me down!!! Sunday was mostly just relaxing and enjoying a quiet day.

Otherwise, SSDD.

climbingsingle · December 2022

We had a good weekend. Ran errands, got my nails done, did some more shopping. We watched Bullet Train Saturday night which I really liked. Also watched half of Pepsi Where's My Jet.

It snowed most of the day yesterday so we stayed inside, watched football, made a fire and I cooked chili for dinner. We ended up with about 5" of snow by the time the storm was over. And now they're calling for another storm Thursday-Friday.

SSDD here. Meh.

banana468 · December 2022

We only received about 2 inches of snow but it's beautiful to look at and just enough that school wasn't even delayed.

I need to fly this week and I don't want to. I'm planning to mask up in the airports and on the trains but I have to do a company dinner and be in a big meeting with like 200 people Thursday and fly home that night at the same time as Chiquito's concert. I'm grumpy about it but I think I need to just embrace it, pack for the season and hope for the best. I got my booster on Friday and had my flu shot so I'm going to cross my fingers that the family can make it through Christmas and NY unscathed.

DH I think is finally on board getting Chiquita tested for ADHD. I advised him of the success of our friends who have kids who were diagnosed (one is a HS Freshman taking an AP course - he's THRIVING) and we know we have a smart kiddo who may need some additional help that we should not turn down.

Oh! I forgot to add that Saturday was the town's annual light parade and DH and I were in it with both kids respective scout groups. It was a hit and they had a great time. I had to chuckle to DH that the following day after mass both MIL and FIL had to tell us all the ways that we needed to make changes and vented to him about it. He said, "They're just offering suggestions because they're trying to be helpful," to which I said, "That's like telling me the day after a party that I should wear a different dress next time. It isn't helpful when I didn't ask for the opinion and it hurts feelings. Tell me BEFORE we leave the house that I look fat because once it's ON you better just tell me that I'm beautiful." He didn't say much and I think my December stress is showing. All of you with all the December events and a December birthday to boot - I'm feeling you.

short+sassy · December 2022

@ei34, I'm glad you had a fun visit in the city. I've heard the holidays is one of the best times to visit NYC. One of these days!

I also had a great weekend. I went to my coworker's Christmas music concert. The music was amazing and inspiring! I wasn't familiar with a lot of the songs. But I especially liked when they took a classic Christmas carol and jazzed it up with a Gospel twist.

I also booked my free cruise for next month! It was only $260 to upgrade to a balcony, so I jumped on that, plus the friend I'm going with will split the cost. The reservationist also surprised me with a $100 credit that was apparently on my account. That helped pay the port fees and prepaid tips. But it is amazing how expensive a "free" cruise gets, when you start loading on the extras and required fees, lol.

We also decided on our dates to visit Ocala later this month. We decided to drive the 9 hours instead of flying. Ugh. Orlando is the closest airport, but it's 90 minutes away. I estimated we'd only save about 3 hours each way to fly and that's only if things went perfectly with no delays/cancellations. It also would have added a lot of cost. The flights are pretty cheap, but still $130 r/t. Then we would have had to also rent a car.

We found the place we want to stay at. I'm just waiting to get the okay from work this morning before booking it. But my work is pretty good about that. They've never said "no" when I requested vacation time and I'm only taking a few days off around Christmas for the Ocala trip. Not a whole week.

@CharmedPam, you had asked about the cruise fees to compare to what your parents are looking at. Mine is a 7-day cruise with 4 ports, that leaves/returns to NOLA. The required fees are around $440/person, not including my $100 discount. That includes the admin. fee ($40), the taxes/port fees ($288), and the prepaid service charges (tips for housekeeping, $112).

It does not include $65 for travel protection, beverage tips for my drink package, or the balcony upgrade.

charlotte989875 · December 2022

We had all sorts of fun things planned for this weekend and I tested positive for Covid so we did none of them. We built forts and watched TV and stayed in our Jammie’s and I called H and he came right home.

It sucks so much. The only silver lining is that we should be better by Christmas.

banana468 · December 2022

charlotte989875 said:

We had all sorts of fun things planned for this weekend and I tested positive for Covid so we did none of them. We built forts and watched TV and stayed in our Jammie’s and I called H and he came right home.

It sucks so much. The only silver lining is that we should be better by Christmas.

Oh Charlotte I'm so sorry.

Casadena · December 2022

oh man, @charlotte989875 i'm so sorry. I'm glad H came home immediately and seems like baby M had a fun day anyway

MissKittyDanger · December 2022

Weekend was okay.

BK stayed at my mum's overnight Friday so M & I went for sushi then I picked up some THC drinks. I had one and it was too much so I got much higher than I expected.
It wasn't super bad, but I usually do 5mg and this was 10mg lol

I just crashed so hard.

Nasal drip is back, so I'm back on my nasal spray.

Saturday we did last bit of xmas shopping. It's busy a.f and both of us were very done at the end.
I wanted to get a new mascara from Sephora but it's too busy. I'll just go to a different store. Anything I wanted there I can get other places now for better points.

Got BK at my mum's late afternoon and my mum trimmed my hair - just an inch or so. I cannot do long hair anymore, it's too weighted.
As my mum also discovered, I seem to have thicker hair on my left side vs right. So that caused some issues when trimming lol
I'm going to my stylist after new year and after I get at least one tooth dealt with.

Sunday was ok.
We had to rebook Santa photos but they weren't busy so we could easily do it.
We'd originally booked sunday but apparently M's email said Saturday?
Anyways, easy fix.

BK & I made an oreo house.
The instructions were awful but BK found a solution and it worked.
M was suppose to do one of BK's drawers but he got a mild thing of food poisoning, so he didn't want to risk starting it and unable to finish.
He's going to try this week over lunch

short+sassy · December 2022

@charlotte989875, I'm sorry to hear that! You all have been hit with COVID so much. I know it's extra frustrating. I hope you're at least feeling all right and that M and your H don't get sick (though that's probably unavoidable).

Casadena · December 2022

Weekend was pretty good. Saturday morning we went to a winter festival in our town that was kind of a dud. They had crafts and caroling and Santa and cookies, but it wasn't well attended and didn't seem well planned. Doesn't help that both boys were crabby anyway, then N tripped on the sidewalk and literally fell on his face. His nose is all scabby and scratched and he had a bad bloody nose. We didn't stay long. IL's hung out at our house Saturday afternoon.

Sunday, H and G let N and me sleep in until 8am!!!! It felt like a vacation. Then one of H's sisters came over for the afternoon since she wont' be able to come for G's birthday next Saturday. N took a super long nap so I was able to get a couple things done in the kitchen and baked a gingerbread breakfast cake, and a blueberry breakfast cake - both super good!

I have to actually start and finish some sort of transition document and organize some things at work because i'm moving desks next week, then off for the rest of year. But all I want to do is Christmas shop and eat snacks.

CharmedPam · December 2022

So when I first landed on TK page, I wasn’t logged in, and the times were 1:00 pm’s. And I’m like - is this last Monday’s thread? Lol. I was confused. But when I signed in, it fixed itself.

so sorry @charlotte989875! That’s a bummer. My bro and family are all sick too. And SIL should have started chemo today but it was pushed back because of it.

As I said to them, get it out of the way before christmas I guess? At least you got a cute photo out of it?
@ei34 so glad it went well!
@VarunaTT I’m sorry everything was canceled. I need a MAD clean at my place too
@short+sassy the cost of the port fees/packages made us put a kibosh on the “free” cruise. For that reason! I searched Celebrity prices to Alaska and it was cheaper to just go direct with Celebrity on the extended sale. But thanks for telling me. Are you driving to Ocola then?

Weekend was great. I went to get an IPL done Saturday morning but I didn’t know you couldn’t be on antibiotics while getting it, so she told me I had to reschedule. But because I waited for her and drove all the way there, she gave me a full sized spa moisturizer. Score! And then that night I went to see Margaret Cho at the Improv. She was good. Not great. Fun time out with friends though.

Sunday, my rothy’s order came and they fit!!! I was worried since 1/2 the reviews said order your size, the other 1/2 of them said to size up 1/2 a size. One’s snug but do-able and one fits perfect and if I sized up, my foot probably would have slipped out on some steps. I’m SO happy they worked out. My betabrand order came in. I’m cheap and the yoga jeans I bought not in my size were $20 cheaper than my regular size, so I bought the sale jeans and was like… they say they stretch - I’ll squeeze into them to save $20 lol. Those fit too! So both really good purchases. $128 pair of jeans for only $55… $60… can’t remember. And I have an Adidas order coming my way. They had a 40% sale Thursday I think it was. So another pair of slip- ons and a pair of running shoes. I hope I have the same success with that order too.

January 1st, I need to slow down my shopping. But not till the 1st.

mrsconn23 · December 2022

Glad you're better @VarunaTT! Boo to ruined plans.
((hugs)) @charlotte989875. You can't catch a break lately.

I was off Friday. I got my nails done and did some shopping in the morning. DH did get an earlier flight home on Friday, so he was home about 2pm. I got home from being out and about as he was getting to the house. We immediately ran out to go Christmas shopping for the boys since we have no idea when we'd next be able to do it. We almost have them done now. Just a few more orders.

BIL/SIL/nephews got to our house around 9 or so. The kids were up super late. They were also up early in the morning. They went to visit SIL's grandma. DH and I did more running around. DH and BIL went out with the kiddo and some friends for the kiddo's bday (it was on Thursday). They were out until 2:30am, SIL and I waited up for them.

Yesterday was rough. Kids were up earlier than Saturday and we were all dragging. We had to go to my sister's to bake cookies and celebrate Dec bdays. It was an all right afternoon. DefConn got a little extra, but he's an extroverted introvert like me. He was just stressed after having his personal space invaded by littles all weekend.

I'm dragging today. It's been a very Monday-Monday already. I had to go over the week with DefConn this morning since it's finals (his first ever). I didn't put together the chili for tonight when we got home yesterday, so I was rushing to do it this morning, but at least the beef was cooked since we smoked it a couple weeks ago. And then DH's truck was dead. I think he needs a new battery, which is totally what I want to spend money on right before Christmas. I could so go for a nap.

charlotte989875 · December 2022

short+sassy said:

@charlotte989875, I'm sorry to hear that! You all have been hit with COVID so much. I know it's extra frustrating. I hope you're at least feeling all right and that M and your H don't get sick (though that's probably unavoidable).

Thanks everyone!!

H has the best immune system possible- he’s still testing negative with zero symptoms. So he’s taking care of us. M has mild symptoms and we tried to test him but it’s similar to giving a cat a bath some I’m not confident in the results. We may just have H take him to the pediatrician tomorrow and have them do an in office test.

Casadena · December 2022

@CharmedPam I'm SO glad your Rothy's work! I got mine a couple days ago too (finally!) and they're perfect too! They also just sent a $50 off coupon (sign up for emails if you like them, they do that a few time a year) and i have to use it by today and don't know what I want or if I should buy another pair.. I still have 2 pairs to sell so i'm telling myself that it's a wash.

levioosa · December 2022

I’m so sorry @charlotte989875. FYI it’s very likely even if you take him to the pediatrician he might still test negative. One of my close friends has two kids with COVID right now. One tested positive first, the other one (vaccinated) has been pretty sick, she’s PCR tested twice and still negative. But she knows her kid of course has it. It’s been a struggle with school because they’re threatening truancy and she doesn’t want to send back her clearly infectious and super symptomatic COVID child. School will only accept a positive test.

Weekend was pretty good. Friday we went to H’s work party which was okay but politically a little annoying. Saturday I got to hike finally and then we had SIL A and her H over for drinks and games which was fun. There’s been a “super heavy winter storm” here for the last two days so we’ve gotten some rain which has been nice.

Otherwise not too much is happening. I need to organize the house today and prepare for work.

CharmedPam · December 2022

Casadena said:

@CharmedPam I'm SO glad your Rothy's work! I got mine a couple days ago too (finally!) and they're perfect too! They also just sent a $50 off coupon (sign up for emails if you like them, they do that a few time a year) and i have to use it by today and don't know what I want or if I should buy another pair.. I still have 2 pairs to sell so i'm telling myself that it's a wash.

It’s totally a wash. Let me be the devil on your shoulder and whisper “do iiiiiiiiiit. Do it”. I’m glad it worked out too because I used afterpay and everytime that payment would have went through, I’d probably shake my fist at it! Much like my clip-in hair extension. I actually used paypal credit (6 months) for those and the weft is so thick you’re probably going to see the line across my head because my hair is SO thin. But no returns once it’s opened and “your weft is so thick” is not a malfunction. Just poor design.

charlotte989875 · December 2022

Casadena said:

@CharmedPam I'm SO glad your Rothy's work! I got mine a couple days ago too (finally!) and they're perfect too! They also just sent a $50 off coupon (sign up for emails if you like them, they do that a few time a year) and i have to use it by today and don't know what I want or if I should buy another pair.. I still have 2 pairs to sell so i'm telling myself that it's a wash.

I just ordered the black lace up sneakers with my code! The drivers and the sneakers are my favorite. I also LOVE the Chelsea boot but they don’t seem to have them any more.

Also- what is the resell place?? Also are we the same size?!

Casadena · December 2022

Also if anyone is looking for a couple easy snack/breakfast recipes i highly recommend these 2:

https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/easy-gingerbread-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-38841

https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/blueberry-yogurt-cake/

*not just for toddlers, we all love these!

charlotte989875 · December 2022

Thanks @levioosa- that really sucks about your friend because clearly they’re trying to do the right thing by keeping them home! I’m sure M has it (although is vaccinated and had it before) but he’s tired and has a runny nose and a slight cough. Sure he *could* have another virus while I’m testing positive but more likely he has it too.

Daycare basically told us if he’s negative he could come back per their guidance but if I’m positive and he has symptoms to please keep him home if we can.

banana468 · December 2022

I'm so sorry @levioosa. It's so frustrating and I had friends who had the school start to talk truancy issues last year too. Is she in a district where she can get a doctor's note and they'll accept that?

It's not like she's pulling the kids for 6 days and 5 nights at Disney. I "get" that the truancy gets triggered based on the # of absences but schools can't have it both ways. You can't tell me my kid has to be in a # of days or you'll bring about a truancy claim and at the same time no one wants to have a kid in school with Covid.

levioosa · December 2022

banana468 said:

I'm so sorry @levioosa. It's so frustrating and I had friends who had the school start to talk truancy issues last year too. Is she in a district where she can get a doctor's note and they'll accept that?

It's not like she's pulling the kids for 6 days and 5 nights at Disney. I "get" that the truancy gets triggered based on the # of absences but schools can't have it both ways. You can't tell me my kid has to be in a # of days or you'll bring about a truancy claim and at the same time no one wants to have a kid in school with Covid.

I think she’s trying to get a doctor’s note. The worst part is her kid is in a class with another kid who is immunocompromised. That kid has been hospitalized three times so far this fall with respiratory issues. So she’s like you can yell at me all you want but I’m not going to kill a kid because your policy sucks.

mrsconn23 · December 2022

levioosa said:

I’m so sorry @charlotte989875. FYI it’s very likely even if you take him to the pediatrician he might still test negative. One of my close friends has two kids with COVID right now. One tested positive first, the other one (vaccinated) has been pretty sick, she’s PCR tested twice and still negative. But she knows her kid of course has it. It’s been a struggle with school because they’re threatening truancy and she doesn’t want to send back her clearly infectious and super symptomatic COVID child. School will only accept a positive test.

That is such fucking, ridiculous bullshit. I have so many people in my mom group who's kids have been hit with Flu A, then Flu B, and then covid because people keep sending their kids to school sick. I'm not blaming parents as much as the schools because schools are doing this dumbass shit when there's flipping triple-demic happening between RSV, flu, and covid. Oh I'm so pissed for your friend.

charlotte989875 · December 2022

mrsconn23 said:

levioosa said:

I’m so sorry @charlotte989875. FYI it’s very likely even if you take him to the pediatrician he might still test negative. One of my close friends has two kids with COVID right now. One tested positive first, the other one (vaccinated) has been pretty sick, she’s PCR tested twice and still negative. But she knows her kid of course has it. It’s been a struggle with school because they’re threatening truancy and she doesn’t want to send back her clearly infectious and super symptomatic COVID child. School will only accept a positive test.

That is such fucking, ridiculous bullshit. I have so many people in my mom group who's kids have been hit with Flu A, then Flu B, and then covid because people keep sending their kids to school sick. I'm not blaming parents as much as the schools because schools are doing this dumbass shit when there's flipping triple-demic happening between RSV, flu, and covid. Oh I'm so pissed for your friend.

I’m so mad- basically our daycare was like “well these are the policies (no symptoms if exposed) and it’s up to parents to follow them, there’s nothing we can do but monitor symptoms and send them home if they have a fever”.

I could have sent M today because technically he had a negative test even though he has symptoms (because apparently tests trump symptoms? That’s insane). And I know there are parents who would send them even though realistically of course he has Covid. And even if he doesn’t, he clearly has something else contagious so yah he’s home.

It’s like we went from all the precautions and mitigations to zero.

banana468 · December 2022

The thing I'd want to ask is....what does the school actually plan to do about it??

Schools DO NOT want to hold a kid back for absenteeism and by doing that you may need an extra elementary school teacher for the grade. It's a financially bad policy and they know it. Depending on the people I'd talk to it would make me want to ask them exactly what they planned to do when everyone knows that RSV has been through the roof and it's the worst flu season in 10 years.

short+sassy · December 2022

@CharmedPam, yes, we are driving to Ocala. It made more sense financially vs. the time we would save by flying.

I just hate doing drives that long. It's two extra vacation days, just for the driving. Grrrr. But then, even flying sometimes takes a 1/2 or full day on each side, depending on the times.

short+sassy · December 2022

Frick! The inspection was today and the buyer cancelled the contract.

I know this would have been her first rental property and I'm wondering if this was also only her 1st or 2nd inspection ever. She said it "had a good bit of problems" and "I don't want to invest that type of money into a property that needs that much work".

Y'all, seriously? I've seen the inspection report. It has a bunch of minor things on it, like all inspection reports have a bunch of minor things on it. Shower head loose. This and that needs caulking. I have no idea what she is talking about. This is the property that we totally rehabbed about two years ago. Where one unit was approved by S8's stringent standards less than 6 months ago.

There was one medium concern about the breaker box. Which we are already going to hire a licensed electrician to fix, even though we aren't under contract anymore. So obviously we would have done that anyway, if she had asked. The big ticket item is the roof that, at least according to the inspector, only has a few years of life left. But it still works just fine and has no leaks. Other than I didn't know exactly how old the roof was, though I'd guessed at least 10 years, this was previously disclosed to her. I also would have been okay taking a few thousand off for the roof.

That's okay. I just needed to vent. She can choose whatever reason she wants not to buy the duplex.

But back to (hopefully) some good news. We have two other duplexes for sale. The next door one and another one that is about a 1/2 mile away. Supposedly, I'm about to get a full price offer on the duplex next door.

And a different buyer is considering the third duplex. It's between mine and another one. But their agent recommended my property to them. It's $13K cheaper, in better shape, and in a better location. The other property is a little bigger and rents for about $200/month more than mine. But that can be a big deal for an investor too. Crossing fingers!

CharmedPam · December 2022

Sorry @short+sassy

we were JUST talking about home inspections yesterday! One of our co-workers house set fire due to electrical wiring (brand new house though). And we were talking about home inspections and how really pointless they are “here’s your report. This, this and this is wrong. But also, you can still buy this house”
(at least here in IL that’s how it works)

short+sassy · December 2022

CharmedPam said:

Sorry @short+sassy

we were JUST talking about home inspections yesterday! One of our co-workers house set fire due to electrical wiring (brand new house though). And we were talking about home inspections and how really pointless they are “here’s your report. This, this and this is wrong. But also, you can still buy this house”
(at least here in IL that’s how it works)

That's how it works everywhere. Even condemned properties that people aren't allowed to enter, can be bought and sold.

I found out more info when I got home. She is a first-time buyer. The buyer and her agent showed up at the beginning of the inspection, but left shortly afterwards. It took a few hours and it was just my H and the inspector there for the whole thing.

Pro-tip: Be there for the whole inspection when you are buying a property. Multiply this advice by 10 if you've never purchased a property before. There is so much more great information the inspector will give you, if you are there to ask the questions.

I did full inspections for my first two properties I was under contract. Both of them were for my personal home, but I didn't follow through with the first one.

After that, I've only done major systems inspections. But either myself or my H, and usually both of us, have been at every one of them.

For example, an inspector won't write in their report an estimate range for fixing a problem because that is just asking for trouble. But they will tell you verbally. They will also tell what they recommend absolutely needs to be fixed and what isn't a big deal and/or more specifically what life is left for a roof or HVAC system.

-------------------------------------------

For my first non-owner occupied property, the inspector told me that the foundation was currently good. But, to keep it that way, I would need to pump sand under it in the near future because the ground it was sitting on was starting to erode away from the foundation.

Me (thinking), "Sand? Well, that can't be too expensive." But, fortunately, I asked him.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when he told me it would be about $4K to pump sand under the foundation!

I negotiated with the seller to have the full $4K taken off the price.

But if I had just read that in an inspection report, I would have pooh-poohed it and been $4K worth of sorry later.

MNNEBride · December 2022

I also learned valuable information during the inspection of my first home. The location of the water shut off, the gas shut off, how much insulation was in the attic, etc. I was glad I was present for it.

We're doing OK here. DH took a fall on Friday that aggravated an existing condition. He's been home from work yesterday and today. I've asked him to call his Dr. Oh no, won't do that, will be seeing him anyway on Friday (insert eye roll here). So instead he's home grunting and moaning when he moves and irritable. Days like these I wish I didn't WFH.

I did finish getting the house decorated over the weekend. I need to put a grocery list together for a few holiday treats I'm making and for Christmas eve with my family. Only have my Mom's gift yet, but unsure what to get her. I need to wrap but really enjoy that. We have my work unit party on Saturday night but they aren't including spouses which is OK I guess.

We are on the edge of terrible winter weather here but, fortunately, just getting wind and a little rain. I have a mani/pedi tonight and am singing at church tomorrow night and am glad not to have to deal with several inches of snow while out and about.

Monday once again

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