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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Another Long Day

Ever had a day when everyone was crabby? At once? Oscar the Grouch times 3? That was today beginning at 4:00 p.m. They're almost ready for bed now (8:00 p.m.). They have one more day of school before the 9 day Thanksgiving vacation so I hope they have it out of their systems by then.

They're probably just tired as am I and they've all had colds. I was going from one to the next breaking up battles. Rebecca wadded up her math homework. She said it was too much. She was right but that didn't mean she shouldn't do any at all. I finally told her she was the one who'd be grounded from her recesses, not I, and let it go. She was close to meltdown for the first time in a while. I've learned when that happens to not escalate. Just leave her alone. She'll learn about consequences, she already has, but may need a little reinforcement. I'll write a note to her teacher. Incidentally, she read most of the comments about her Honor Roll and thanks you all. She was so tickled that so many people had heard about it.

So why am I sitting here? It was better to give them all a chance to get over themselves and have a little quiet time before bed. At the moment it's calm.

Thanks to all of you who sent cranberry recipes. I was a little embarrassed to admit I know next to nothing about the cranberry in its natural or dried state. It wasn't something that was native to upstate New York (or at least not anything we grew). New Jersey, I believe, is famous for cranberries.

Now I'm tackling pecans. It seems California has never heard of the soft shell pecan. I tried 3 different stores before I finally gave up and bought 2 pounds of hard shell and two nutcrackers to go with the one I already owned. The girls can have a nutcracking party this weekend. At least they're not Brazils which take a larger hammer than I own. (Usually I buy them shelled but they're like buying platinum this year). I was so spoiled during the years I lived in Tennessee and Arkansas. My brother-in-law had two huge soft shell trees in his back yard and we could rake them off the ground by the bushel. I moved back here to see $5/lb and almost fainted.

Ray had his followup doctor appointment today. All seems to be well for now. While I was waiting for him, Tim and I had coffee and then wandered around Best Buy drooling over lap tops, plasma t.v. , and the combination printer/scanner/copier/fax I'm been wishing for. The price has dropped and I bet it'll drop even more after Christmas. My printer is barely functioning (it's the feed - paper goes through crooked).

The laptop is something else again. I don't need it and can't justify it. Tim has one; I have a desktop with high speed net connection and I have no complaints. Still, I look at those neat little machines and think maybe someday. I can be so silly. A little over two years ago, I'd never used Windows and now I'm throwing around terms like I knew what I was talking about. Modem, router, all that stuff.

Brief pause. They're all pretty much settled in and I'm going to keep Ray company for a while watching CSI.

Tomorrow is another day and they'll probably wake up with all the squabbles forgotten.

Take care everyone.

12 comments:

Kristen said...

Sorry about the crankiness. We had a rough night here with Bryce, too. I think everyone is tired. Things are so busy. We all need a vacation...luckily there is one coming up!

Anvilcloud said...

My printer seems to have dies tonight. Too bad I just spent $75 or so on new ink. That's the way it goes sometimes.

Puss-in-Boots said...

Hi Ann

I really feel that by this time of the year the kids have had enough of school, well here they have anyway. I hope the crankiness is all washed away in the morning, but yes, it's better to just leave Rebecca. I have a grandson like that and it is all about consequences, isn't it? It's a hard lesson.

Glad things seem ok with Ray. Let's hope it stays that way.

Have a refreshing night's sleep.

Merle said...

Hi Ann ~ I hope they all woke up in a better mood. We all get tired and cranky at times. Glad Ray is going OK. Take
care Ann. Love, Merle.

Turtle Guy said...

I walked into the bank yesterday in the middle of their "transition" to a new accounting system. Everyone's bank account number has been changed, and you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) the number of people who get cranky. I stepped up to the teller. She made a point of saying how refreshing it was that I smiled and was joking about. I figured... there's nothing to be cranky about - so what if the "system" changed? The way I look at it, in 100 years, all new people!

Gina said...

Ha! I'm the cranky one knowing that Mr. P will not have school next week! Amazing how spoiled I got in such a short time!

Madcap said...

9 day vacation for Thanksgiving? Here they just get one day off school!

Jo said...

Sometimes I just need to go in my room and shut the door. Engaging in the squabbles can be counter productive sometimes. What is a soft shell pecan? I didn't know there was anything besides the hard kind.
Yay on Ray doing well for now, breathe deep!

Pat said...

I take my vitamins with cranberry juice every morning and I believe it is good for any number of things, withour getting technical.

Susie said...

Hi Ann,
Well, I just realized that your blog is not working in bloglines for me. There are several that aren't but I can't find a common thread.
You are ambitious to shell nuts. I go the lazy way and buy mine at Costco. You're right, they are pricey!

Carole Burant said...

I'm a day late visiting again! lol It's Friday evening and I hope your day went better today! Having 3 grumpy girls isn't any fun but now that they are on holidays for 9 days, hopefully they'll relax and get along again! I didn't know they had that long of a vacation time for Thanksgiving over there? Over here, they just have Thanksgiving Day itself off if it falls on a week day. Take care dear Ann and glad to hear Ray is ok for now:-) xox

HORIZON said...

Having just one grumpy daughter (17) is enough for me!!lol. Glad things went ok for your Ray- enjoy CSI together :)
I love Christmas time over here for the nuts-lol- that sounds strange but l love munching my way through all the different kinds- what a mess l can make. When the kids join in it can get awful messy.
Bests for you this weekend xx