Memnison Journal

Asking the public brain trust on this; we’re looking at refinancing the house to get rid of some annoying bills and taking advantage of better interest rates.  But it’s been a while, and I’m not Mr. Expert on the subject; any suggestions from the mass mind on this?  What to do, who to avoid or [...]

We spent all of Saturday being very quiet around the house; everyone was very very tired from the bustle of the holidays, and Susan’s knee was swollen and painful. (She’s been fighting off this arthritis stuff a lot, and things like walking a lot or shoveling snow have just been killing her.)
 
So we declared the [...]

What I can mention is that the New Year’s Party was a good time, though a little frazzling.    I also spent a good deal of the day in the library with Rich Rostrom, who stayed over and was helping me with getting all of my stuff out of the closet under the stairs in the [...]

The carpet fan is whirring away in the background, and I think we dodged the bullet on this one, at least as far as  It Could Have Been Worse.  The major damage that isn’t replaceable is a small stack of papers I’d set aside for scanning, which were on the floor in my office.  I’m [...]

John and Mere were working on the tree on Friday night, with help from Kurt, me and Susan, and  got it up in record time.  A full run of the photos is here, and two of the best are below:

…so that the dogs can bite at them.

I’ve moved back to the land of the living the upstairs, but I’m still housebound, pretty much.  We are sending back the roll-a-bout shortly; the next real use for it would be in three weeks, in any event.  By then, we figure I won’t need it anyhow.   And yes, we’ve getting pictures for posterity of [...]

I have been having a LOT of problems with my eyes recently in regard to reading things, and set up an appointment a while back with the eye doc that the rest of the family sees.  (I’m the only one who didn’t need glasses to function; Susan had LASIK surgery a while back, and does [...]

I’ll sit down and go over the Presidents Thang in a day or so.  Right now, I’m busy fishing the big Digital Organization, to be followed up with more organizing tricks tomorrow.  So I’m Really Busy As Heck with that stuff. 
Meredith had a good deal from Sinterklaas, with lots of pepernoten / kruidnootjes and [...]

Today was Mere’s ‘family’ birthday party out at her great-aunt Marlyce’s house in Elgin, and we moved the time up somewhat because of the weather; it was getting slick and messy from sleet and snow.   And also, it looks like Mere is coming down with a cold.  She came home, and moaned and crashed very [...]

Oh, there’s some things I’d like to get, but we’re really short on money today.   Susan is out right now at Home Depot; Mere’s bed is broken, and Susan has to get some plywood to put it together again.  That trumps a lot. And nobody in the house is about to fight huge lines and [...]

I’m noticing that a lot of my friends-list and others online - and the few I talk to on the phone (man, I am so housebound) - are going to take the holidays easy, cheap and local this year.  Our household will, as usual, trot out to Susan’s aunt Marlyce’s house and do the holiday [...]

Meredith’s 1st trimester in 4th grade just ended up, and she did very well.    She had a rocky spot with her advanced math class in regard to a few things - most notably statistics, my absolute downfall in math.  (My Eyes Glaze Over on that sort of thing, and I did wretchedly in a college [...]

So whatcha gonna spend it on?
I’d have to consult with Susan, of course.
I’d be Mr. Conservative.  Stick it into some needed repairs and fixes around the house and outdoors.

The pancreatitis has died down enough to bring Dot home from the vet’s office / animal hospital, and while she’s still shaky, she’s obviously a whole heck of a lot better.  And there’s a ferocious vet bill, over a grand, and I really DON’T want or need that with Christmas coming up.
Susan’s knee is better, [...]