Sorry for the light blogging today.  This has been one of those days that has seen a lot of people in need of my services, and I’m not done yet.  I’ll try to write more but, in case I don’t, and if you have something you want to share here, go for it!

I’ve procrastinated for some time about reconciling my Quicken, but I simply have to get it done.  After all, tax season is around the corner.  It saves a lot of money if I come to my accountant with an immaculately organized Quicken printout accounting for every tax-relevant dollar.

So, I’m laboriously going through, checking off matches, correcting anomalies (somehow there are always anomalies), and generally keeping an eye on the old finances.  This is a task I hate doing.  Some organizing really satisfies my soul.  This does not.

I’m taking a break to have lunch with Don Quixote, which might inspire me to write something not-tax related.  Until I have something to say, though, I hope you all enjoy this Open Thread.

Also, if you feel like it, you can read this post I wrote for PJ Media’s Tatler, about a Facebook story currently exciting many of my liberal friends.

An inert Saturday, followed by a blank-brained Sunday morning.  I’ll try to do better this afternoon.  Until then, help yourself to this open thread.

Just doing stuff (DIY furniture projects, laundry, cleaning, bills, doctor’s appointments, shopping, etc.), and I haven’t had the time to sit down and think.  Heck, I haven’t even had the time to move and think.  Will you guys do the thinking for me?

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

– Robert Burns

I had the day well-planned.  Then I got a call from the retirement home telling me that my Mom has a toothache; I learned that the red bumps all over my son’s back and legs are probably bed bugs he picked up on a trip; and my husband announced a rush project that needed to be done yesterday.

So far, I’ve completed my husband’s project, and I’ve washed (and dried, very hot) two loads of bedding and sleeping bag stuff.  Next stop, the retirement home, in order to get my Mom to the dentist. More laundry will await me upon my return, plus some carpo

This was not how I planned to spend my day.

I think that, somewhere along the line, I’m going to be drowning my sorrows in Haagen Daaz.  It’s the only way to deal with these things, you know.

My Mom finally consented to having me take over her finances, which is a very good thing.  She’s still compos mentis, which is a good thing, but she’s struggling more and more with the minutiae of daily life.  Her handwriting is degrading, she can’t find stamps, etc.

I’ve spent the morning wrestling with Quicken and Online banking for her various accounts.  I know that, once it’s all set up, everything will be easy, but setting it up is . . . whew!  One of the things I’ve discovered is that I need to go to her apartment and get more documentation than I currently have.

What helps is that my Mom saw this day coming, so I’m a signatory on all her accounts.  That’s irrelevant in terms of Quicken, of course, since I pay bills on-line, but it means that I can use my own information to sign up, and don’t have to figure out her Social Security and other information.

Anyway, this will all be good when it’s over, but it’s time-consuming now.  I’ve come to a natural stopping point (I haven’t torn out all my hair), so I’m off to the hospital to visit her.  Then to her apartment to get the needed documents, and then back home to try again.  I tell myself I’ll look pretty and edgy when I’m bald….

For those of you who have free time on your hands, enjoy this Open Thread.

Taking care of kid stuff until mid-afternoon, and then I head over to my Mom. I’ll be back late afternoon/early evening. Have fun without me!

As those of you who have cared for an elderly person know, nothing happens quickly.  What takes young ‘uns an hour, is a much more attenuated process with an older person.  I’ll be leaving shortly to take my Mom to the doctor for a check-up, a process that takes roughly three to four hours of my time.  It’s okay.  She needs my help and that’s that.  But I can’t blog, so you guys will have to do the work for me until I return home.

I am still working on my big post.  Life, however, keeps getting in the way.  I have hopes that I’ll get it done sometime tomorrow.

My mom will be having a procedure tomorrow morning that should control her heart problem.  With luck, the secondary problems — confusion, depression, panic-attacks — will diminish if her heart is brought under control.  While she’s in surgery, I’ll have time to clear out my in-boxes, both paper and cyber and, with a little luck, I’ll also have the chance to finish that gosh darn long post I’ve promised.

Until then, have fun here.  You guys/gals always bring such interesting stuff to my attention.

I’m working on a “deep” post, one full of meaning, with multiple citations.  I also have errands to run.  Until I get to the computer and have my post written out, consider this space yours (subject, of course, to the usual rules of courtesy, etc.).