Busy Spring Sunday

It's Spring.  It's Sunday.  We've been busy.

It's also major allergy time.  We had quite a bit of rain last week and then the last couple of days have been dry and sunny.  In other words, the perfect allergy storm!  The rain cleaned out the air and we had a couple of days where we could actually breathe.  But that was all that the assorted allergens needed to bloom.  And they are blooming with a vengence! 

Yesterday, since it was Saturday, we were home and lazy all day.  Sometimes we do stuff outside, but the wind was blowing so strongly yesterday that even the dogs refused to go out.  We knew it was time to hunker down (that might be Texan dialect, I'm not sure) and so that's what we did.  Otter didn't even go outside the door at all, but it didn't help her much.  She hardly slept last night and was not very functional this morning.  She went back to bed right after breakfast, we left her sleeping and went to church.  She got up after we got home and did her one chore that required her to be outside - cleaning the dog yard - in record time.  I'm having allergy related asthma issues myself, along with a sinus headache that comes and goes.  Bill's been sneezing a lot and he's even more stuffy than he was earlier since he mowed the back yard just now.  Otter is better than she was, but I suggested she take an allergy pill tonight even if she doesn't think she needs one.

I have a new dishwasher!  Our old one died of old age, just over a year ago.  It was a few years old when we bought this house and we used it a lot, it was a pretty good one.  It just got a huge amount of use.  At the time, I didn't really want to buy one so we've been doing dishes by hand.  Which really isn't as much or a problem as it sounds like.  The main reason I wasn't in a hurry to get another one is that we've never had much luck with them lasting very long.  Expensive, cheap - it doesn't seem to matter.  Years ago, I had a lot of problems with me skin and a dishwasher was more or less required.  My skin improved over the years, but I've noticed that the last couple of months it seems like my skin is acting up more.  So, I was beginning to think it was time to get a new one.  We were not in agreement (major understatement here) over the type/price range/style, etc., so we hadn't actually gotten one.  But Grandpa & Sweetie are in the process of redoing their kitchen and are replacing theirs, which still works but Sweetie wanted a specific one to go with her kitchen redo.  (Her kitchen is going to be very nice when they get through and I'm going to be soooo jealous!)  The upshot is, they're getting a new one and they gave their old one to us.  Bill picked it up Friday, then it spent Saturday in the garage.  He pulled our old one out, it was still in place since we didn't want an opening there and it wasn't taking up any additional room.  He put the "new" one in this morning and I've already used it once.  Otter was overjoyed at the thought that she won't have to do dishes every day anymore!  We had a system - I did breakfast and she did dinner dishes.  Weekend lunch dishes were sometimes done right then or sometimes with the dinner dishes, depending on how many there were.  But now, it's just going to be the occasional small or meltable thing that will get washed by hand.  The new one is white and matches my stove, so (for once) I actually have two appliances that match.  Not sure what we're going to do with the old one, it's not fixable so it isn't really donatable.  It's in the garage for the moment.

I cleaned the floor where the dishwasher sits, when we took the old one out.  I found 5 pieces of elbow macaroni and a small piece of a ceramic cup handle.  Remember when I had a major pasta spill, months and months ago?  I kind of think that the macaroni is from then.

Otter bought me something at Joann's Fabrics last week.  Texas Longhorn logo printed duct tape!  No idea what I'll use it for, but I'm sure I'll find something.  She's at the mall with a friend this afternoon, she was still having some allergy issues when she left but she's very much her mother's daughter:  nothing stops shopping! :)

Movie Review:  The Rise of the Guardians.  If you get past the fact that it obviously has a political spin - as in the moon is God, Easter is about eggs & a rabbit and Christmas is about gifts from Santa Claus are a few examples, it's not a bad movie.  It's not the best movie, either.  But the animation was excellent.  It's probably not on our to buy list, but it was enjoyable.

OK, back to my laundry now!  Seems like that never ends.