I'm Tired

We all are.  It's been a busy day.  Otter has been madly packing stuff all day, Bill and I both worked but got stuff packed/ready/taken apart when we got home and I also went with Otter and Roomie (who will also be referred to as my Other Daughter) to do the walk through on their apartment.  It's small, it's one bedroom, but they can make it work.  We measured and figured out where/how they want their furniture and they have a general game plan on where they want misc. things.  I made sure that all the appliances work, the faucets work, the toilet flushes, we turned on the a/c and let it run long enough to tell it cools and we checked things like the patio door.  There is one issue, the ceiling fan in the dining room works but the lights attached to it don't.  They were lit when I turned the fan on, but I turned them off so I could check the fan without getting blinded.  But then I couldn't get them to turn back on.  Also, the bulbs might not be the right size for the fixture.  The apartment office was already closed when we got through, so I'll make sure they know tomorrow.  We checked all the keys and both girls checked their mailbox keys.

 

Then Otter and I met Bill for dinner at El Chico.  We ate too much, but this is probably the last time we'll eat out for a while.  Bill and I are going to make a serious effort to eat more healthy!

 

I got several misc. grocery items for the girls on my lunch hour today, Roomie's mom did the same thing and we didn't overlap too much.  I think we both got peanut butter, but a) that stuff never goes bad and b) you can never have too much peanut butter!

 

Otter has to go in at 5:30 tomorrow morning, she's going to sleep on the couch tonight since Bill took her bed apart this evening.  We washed her bedding this morning.  She gets off at 10:30, she's going to go pick J up at his college which is literally just down the street from where she works and then they'll come over to her apartment and help.  I'm thinking that I'll make a couple of trips with car loads, Bill's trying to get all the furniture moved tomorrow and Roomie is going to try to get as much moved as she can but her furniture might actually be moved in the afternoon, depending on when her helpers can get there.  She'll at least bring a carload of her stuff in the morning.  Somewhere in there, I'm getting pizza for the moving crew.  I'm also going to put her kitchen stuff up, she showed me where she wants everything.  I need to get foam shelf liner on the way over in the morning.

 

My plans for tomorrow evening include parking on the couch and putting my feet up!

Last of the Home Cooked Comfort Food!

Tonight was the last "home cooked comfort food" on Otter's list.  It was the burgers Bill grilled last night, with oven baked frozen french fries.  And beans for Billyboy!

 

Tomorrow night is the last night Otter will be living with us, our dinner plans are El Chico.  Possibly fajitas, that will depend on what sounds good at the time.

 

Otter worked last night.  To be strictly correct, she worked this morning.  She went in at 12:30 a.m, as in just after midnight!  Once a month, towards the end of the month, the store has a large sale ad that comes out and the prices have to be adjusted on the sale items.  All of them.  They usually start earlier in the evening and are generally done by or shortly after midnight, sometimes well before.  But the corporate office wouldn't approve any more hours for them on last week's schedule, so it had to be done today which is the first day of the weekly schedule.  The problem is that it also had to be done BY the time the store opened today.  She got off at 5:30 this morning!!  She came home, said hello and goonight to both of us and went straight to bed.  She slept until shortly before noon, she called me when she woke up and she still sounded pretty tired.  She slept in yesterday morning and took it easy all day, but I'm thinking that maybe she should have gotten up early yesterday so that she would have been able to take a nap.  Next month, she won't be living at home but we will make sure she has the car.  She's off tomorrow and she's going to be madly packing from the moment I wake her up until she goes to bed tomorrow night.  It's crunch time and she's about to get crunching!

Sunday, 3 days to go

Until Otter moves out.  She and Roomie are going to do the walk-through Tuesday afternoon and I'm going along to measure a few things like the stove so Otter can get pizza pans that fit!  I'm also going to measure the kitchen cabinets for foam shelf-liner.  Also, she is going to show me where she wants her bedroom furniture to go so I can make sure Bill knows.  Otter has to work the early shift at work on Wednesday, but Bill will go ahead and start loading her furniture as soon as he gets up on Wednesday morning then he'll take it as soon as the El Camino is full.  If he knows where to put everything, it will be a lot easier.  Roomie is probably going to bring her furniture later in the day, she may bring her boxes, clothes, etc., in the morning and then the furniture in the afternoon.  Bill will put help get her furniture up the stairs (3rd floor!) and assemble anything that needs to be put together.  I'm bringing the pizza for everyone!!

 

My living room is cluttered in a M.A.J.O.R. way, which is a major issue for me.  I hate clutter!  The hallway has boxes of Otter's craft stuff lining it, there are things stacked in the entry way and her room looks like a bomb went off!

 

I am excited for her, we both are but we're also going to miss her terribly.  But it's time, she's ready and we're trying to be.  I firmly believe that children are God's and that we are only raising them for Him.  It's been an amazing honor and privilege to be the parents He chose for her.  We will always be her parents, but now we can (and will) also be her friends.

 

OK, enough emotional stuff for tonight!

 

Comfort food tonight was steaks and baked potatos.  Bill also grilled the hamburgers that are tomorrow night's comfort food, all I'll have to do is put the frozen french fries in the oven and fix the bread.  Tuesday is El Chico, so I don't have to do much then, either!

 

Within the next couple of weeks, we'll get started on turning Otter's room into My Room.  Bill is going to hang a ceiling fan with a light in there, then I'm going to take out the wall paper border that is on the walls.  After that, it's time to paint!  Then, the yarn and craft stuff will be moved in.  The next project after that is probably to re-do the guest bathroom that was always Otter's.  I don't know when that is going to happen, but we'll be taking the wall paper out and painting.  Bill is also probably going to replace the light fixture in there.  I will probably replace the shower curtain, etc., but that's not a big priority.  It might be next year's project to redo the bathroom, actually.

 

Run, Bill, Run!  I got jobs for you...

One Week and Counting

Until Otter moves.  She's been packing madly and there is now a large stack of boxes in the living room.  I played "Box Tetris" this morning and got the stack arranged a little bit, but there will be more added to the stack tomorrow.  She's taking a day off of packing, but that's because she worked from 5:30 this morning until somewhere around 3:00 and she's exhausted.  Truck Day is Wednesday, she's more or less in charge of Inventory.  Which means that next Wednesday is also Truck Day as well as moving day, and she can't get the day off!  She will still have to go in at 5:30 but she will be able to get off at 10:30 and she will be certain not to allow herself to be worked past the 10:30 time!

 

The Comfort Foods post was because Otter wanted as many comfort foods/Mom's meals as possible before she moved.  So far, she's asked for (and had) homemade pizza, biscuits-gravy-BACON, tuna casserole, creamed chicken and rice, spaghetti & garlic toast and still to come is steak & baked potatos (Sunday), monkey bread (Saturday breakfast), tacos-beans-nuclear rice (Friday), hamburgers & oven baked fries (Monday) and her Final Meal While Still Living In Her Parent's House is El Chico - probably fajitas and probably at El Chico instead of being brought home.  The Chicken Noodle Soup and Potato Soup she likes are on hold until the weather is cooler, the potato soup will probably be made at her apartment and shared with Roomie.  The chicken noodle soup will most likely just be the next time I make it for us with extra made to be taken over to Otter and Roomie.

 

She took care of the deposit and service connection with the electric company today, she did look into internet but they will probably wait a little while on that.  She still has a few more loose ends to take care of, but she's pretty much ready - except for the part about finishing packing!  And the actual moving itself. :)

 

I got busy with my yarn stash and the new plastic drawers I got Saturday.  I moved quite a bit of overflow yarn from the drawers that I already had and there is plenty of room now.  I still have one drawer in the new unit that has the pre-crocheted stuff in it, I'm going to empty it out and decide what I'm going to do with those items and then I'm going to spread out the yarn a little bit more.  I did empty my tote bags of yarn and that yarn is now in the drawers.

 

Time to go buy more!

In Through The Out Door

Alternate Title:  In One Door and Out the Other!

 

There seems to be something about Bill and car doors.  Actually, it's car door & windows!  The El Camino driver's side window has been out of commission for months, the part needed to fix it does not exist anymore.  A while back, maybe a couple of years, the driver's side window glass on the 02 Impala slipped out of it's frame and slid down into the door - which is what the El Camino did, just several months later.  Bill was able to order the part for the Impala and the window was fixed.  This morning, Bill leaves for work and I head for the shower - just as I was getting into the shower I had one of what we refer to as one of my "feelings" and the thought that popped into my head was about Bill needed to come back inside because something was wrong.  I had just gotten into the shower when Bill came back inside because something was wrong:  the passenger side window on the 02 Impala popped out of it's frame and slid down inside the door!  He couldn't drive it to work like that, he didn't want to leave the car parked at work all day without being able to securely lock it and he didn't want to take the El Camino today and have to leave the Impala in the driveway unsecured.  So he called in and took a personal business day.  He was able to get the window blocked into place and he ordered the part it needs.  He said that there is a newly-listed part on Rock Auto that might, just might be what he needs to fix the El Camino window so he ordered that as well.

 

Otter's plans are moving forward.  Roomie went by and signed the lease today, then she and Otter went to lunch as well as started making arrangements for Roomie's moving.  I think they also may have gone to Wallyworld and they figured out who is buying what as far as some of the things that they didn't already have will go.  After I got home, I took Otter back up to Wallyworld and she acquired a few more things.  She was off work today and she did quite a bit of packing and some cleaning out.  She's still got more to pack and this Sunday we are going to tackle her closet.  A lot of the things in her closet have been outgrown and will be donated if possible.

 

I was able to get the table from J's mom in my car last night.  It's 3' x 3' square and the legs are removable.  It's very good quality, solid wood and will work perfectly for them.  I told Otter that I would get a tablecloth for it but the size is not one that's made often apparently.  I'll find one eventually.

 

I realized that I can have rosebushes soon.  Otter is extremely, extremely, extremely allergic to roses.  It's one of the worse ones her allergist had ever seen.  But now I will be able to plant a rosebush or two.  Her allergy has actually gotten better over the years, she'll be able to come visit us without it being an issue for her if she's not actually standing over the plant inhaling the scent!  She suggested I plant one, actually.

 

OK, I'm finally hungry.  It's 8:15 and I'm just now ready to eat.  I had a sandwich for lunch today and orange juice, but I just wasn't hungry until now.

Myrtle!

My friend Shara has a post on her blog where she references "old lady" names, but not in a bad way.  She mentions that she likes them.  So do I.  One of the names is Opal, which is my favorite stone.  I didn't see the name Myrtle, but it seemed like a good name to use for today's title. We just bought ten Crepe Myrtle plants and planted them along the back fence.  Hence the name Myrtle!

 

5 are a deep reddish color, 5 are pink.  They are planted in alternating colors - red, pink, red, pink, etc. and are about 3' off the fence.  They are between the trellis pieces attached to the fence that the honeysuckle might eventually reach to grow on, now that all but one have come back from being mowed down by Doofus and Doofus!  The Crepe Myrtle varieties we bought are going to be 10 - 12' tall.  We hope they grow fast!  Besides the fact that they will attract hummingbirds and butterflies, as well as honeybees (we hope), they will also make it a little more private in our back yard.  Neighbors behind us seems to think that it's ok for them to stand on their back porch and obviously attempt to look in my dining room and living room windows.  We haven't seen either of them do it lately, but we're taking matters into our own hands.  We had looked into ordering crepe myrtles from the Audobon society last year or thereabout, I don't remember why we decided against it at the time.  But Atwood's had the plants on sale so we went up there and filled up the trunk of my car.  We got a pretty good rain this morning so the ground was very soft, we got them planted pretty quickly.  Fall is the best time to plant things like that, tall bushes and trees, because they spend the winter growing their root systems which will help them to withstand spring storms and wind.  They are cold-tolerant to 0 degrees.

 

Otter is at J's house today.  J's mom gave her and Roomie a small kitchen table and 4 small bench-style seats that go with it.  I took her out there early this afternoon and the 4 chairs fit in my car so they came home with me.  I think the table is square, maybe about 3' x 3" so it will be big enough for the two girls and small enough to fit in the dining room at their apartment.  If it fits in my car, I'll bring it home with me when I get Otter in a couple of hours.  She was going to take my car and take herself, but I needed the car this afternoon so I took her out there.  J lives in a small town that is not exactly next door, but it's not too far.

 

Yesterday, Bill and I got the tape measure and measured her room.  I got a pad of paper and a pen, and we drew out how I think it's going to be arranged when it become "my" room.  "My" room as opposed to "Bill's" room which is the pachinko workroom.  So if I refer to it as my room, I don't mean that I'm moving out of our bedroom.  Anyway, there was a point to this ramble.  I was going to the library yesterday and to check our booth.  I did manage to get to the booth store, but I never made it to the library.  I got sidetracked by a yard sale sign.  There were a bunch of signs, but this one particular one just caught my attention.  It was just a posterboard sign and not any different than any other signs, but I just had the feeling that I should go check it out.  I'm glad I did.  When Bill and I were planning out My room, we included the fact that I desperately need more yarn storage space and I was going to head to Big Lots or another store in Tulsa which is nationwide but I'm not sure how far - Old Time Pottery, for another plastic drawer set.  The first ones we got were around $20 on sale, the last one I got was $25 regular price.  The yard sale was an older couple and it was a fun sale, they were just trying to get rid of stuff and not "just make a lot of money" so their prices were pretty much almost free.  I spent $13.00 total, plus $1.00 I paid the young gentleman-in-training who was shopping with his mom for watching my stuff so I could get my car - I think he was maybe 6 or 7 years old and absolutely adorable.  For $3.00, I got a 3-drawer plastic set just like the 5-drawer style AND IT WAS FULL OF YARN.  For $5.00, I got a wider and deeper drawer size 3-drawer set and IT HAD QUITE A BIT OF ALREADY CROCHETED ITEMS INCLUDING SEVERAL DOILIES.  (Capitals is not yelling, it's just for emphasis).  For $5.00, I got a wicker sewing basket WHICH WAS ALSO FULL OF YARN.  The sewing basket is in the donate pile, but the yarn was worth easily 5 or 6 times what I paid for it.  Similar deals with the other two drawer sets.  The already crocheted items are granny squares and similar items.  I might find a use for them, some of them may be donated and there are a few that are partially made but not completed and they might be frogged out.  One of the drawer on the smaller size unit was full of wool yarn, which I didn't realize until after I got it home but I should have figured out because my hands were itching pretty fiercely after I had opened the drawers to look at it.  The wool yarn will be donated, but even with that I still got a huge amount of yarn for very little so I'm not complaining.  I'm going to empty my tote bags of yarn into the larger-sized drawers and probably put some of the yarn I got yesterday into it as well.  I think (maybe anyway) that the smaller drawer unit will solve my overcrowded stash drawers.

 

At Church this morning, it was announced that the 9:00 a.m. service is being discontinued.  Next Sunday will be the last one for the early service, after that it will be back to the 10:30 only service on Sunday mornings.  We liked the 9:00 a.m. service, but there were never very many people.  The 10:30 service is always full, but the most people we've ever seen at 9:00 is about 15.  Usually, it's 10 or less so we're not surprised.  We actually expected this a while back, I think it's been about 4 years or so and the attendance at the early service has never increased.  We're thinking about looking for a different church anyway, we were waiting until after Otter's move to worry about that and now we're really thinking it might be time to move on.

 

The first day of Fall is this Tuesday.  It seems like it's still late Spring, there has been so much going on that I'm running behind!  We've seen a few people having firewood delivered or hauling it home themselves.  So I guess we're actually ahead of the curve this time.  At least as far as firewood goes, I still need to re-stock the Winter Storm/Housebound supplies but I think I can cut down the amount a little since it's just for two people and not three.  Not that we have a huge stock, just a few canned items and water for a couple of days in case we get iced in.  Which does happen here sometimes!

It's Friday Aaaargggghright!

Its also International Talk Like a Pirate Day, in case you can't tell by the title!

 

Krispy Kreme had their usual free donut to anyone wearing a pirate costume and free dozen for anyone talking like a pirate.  Otter did both, so she got a free one (which she ate pretty much instantly) and a free dozen which we'll have for breakfast tomorrow.

 

Next year, I may be on my own if I want donuts on Pirate Day.

 

Because I'm fixin to have one of these:

 

An empty nest, if anyone is wondering.

 

Otter's taking one of the final "yes, I'm really an adult" steps in a week and a half.  She's moving into her first apartment!  She will have a roommate, her best friend (we'll refer to her a Roomie) will be moving with her.  They are going to share a one-bedroom apartment, one girl (probably Otter) will have the actual bedroom and the other girl (Roomie most likely, because let's face it - Otter is neatness challenged!) will make the living room into her bedroom.  Otter has a beanbag-type armchair and Roomie has a papasan chair, so they won't really need a couch but they aren't going to have room for one anyway.  J's mom has given them a table and 4 chairs, so they will not have to eat sitting on the floor.  Apartment rates are astronomical compared to what they were "way back when" I was looking for one when I moved out of my parent's house, but houses and duplexes are even higher.  They did consider a duplex and found a possible one a few months back, but they would have had to pay for all the utilities and probably lawn care as well.  In their apartment, they'll just have to pay for the electricity as far as utilities go.  They may or may not be able to afford internet service, that will be determined later.

 

It's about 6 miles from our house, Otter will only have about a 3 mile drive to work which is about what she has now.  Roomie will have to driver slightly farther, but she doesn't mind.  They will be living on the 3rd floor!  Bill's going to have to do some serious Engineering when it comes time to get furniture up the stairs.  But considering the fact that the apartment complex is literally right next door to the newly-moved-into main police station for our small town, he's not complaining too much!  Also, there is a police officer who lives in the complex and actually in the building that Otter and Roomie will be in.

 

Otter's been collecting stuff she'll need for a while, she's bought some and we've bought some and we've also given her a few things that we had.  It's a big step, and it's time.  She's ready.  But I'm not so sure if I'm ready!  Actually, I am excited for her.  It's just going to be an adjustment for everybody.  I am reminded of Dad telling me that I shouldn't be in a hurry to move out and that I should just wait a couple more years (I was 21 and nearly 22 in fact.)

 

Her room here will become my YARN/craft/guest room.  And it will be a Pachinko-Free Zone.  I have two pachinko machines which may be on the wall in there, but there will be no pachinko repair/work/restoration/etc. in there.  I'm going to paint it, I have a color in mind.  It's a very pale blueish color.  I'm going to have to get a 4th plastic drawer set for the yarn stash, but I've needed that for a while - I have three that are overfull to the point of bursting and I also had a few tote bags of yarn that were on the shelf next to the drawers when it was in the closet in what is now the hoarding/rat's nest/pachinko room.  We will probably not put an actual bed in there, we're thinking a pull-out loveseat sized couch might be what we go with.  Otter thinks she'll probably leave her desk and the sewing machines will be parked on it.  She's not sure about her plastic shelf unit yet.

 

She's going to start cleaning out her stuff, she probably has a whole lot to be donated and there will be some stuff she wants us to store for her.  We're about to start on that process, hopefully we won't be buried in Otter's craft supplies!

Comfort Food

Otter was listing her comfort foods this evening.  Top of the list?  Homemade pizza!

 

The rest of her list was tuna casserole, creamed chicken & rice, homemade hamburgers (with frozen french fries), spaghetti (with frozen garlic toast) and she also has a few breakfast foods:  biscuits & gravy, preferably with sausage.  Chicken Noodle Soup is also on the list, I can't forget that one.

 

Now that she's brought it up, I want that homemade pizza too!  I think we'll be having it on Saturday.  Of course, we didn't decide this until after we'd been to the grocery store so that means a trip back for the cheeses and pepperoni.  And I probably need to get another jar of ragu.  And the other toppings, such as black olives and canned mushrooms.  Celery and bell peppers, also.

 

The latest Godzilla movie is out on video this week.  Otter saw it at the theater but Bill and I never got there.  It's Otter's turn to rent the movie for Saturday, Godzilla is her first choice and Captain America 2 is her second choice.  Next Saturday is my turn, it will be whichever one she didn't pick this weekend since they are both on my list of movies to rent.

 

We finally finished the meats that Bill grilled last Sunday.  Well, nearly.  There is still a little chicken breast left but it will be in his lunch tomorrow.  Guess I'll have to cook tomorrow night!  I think maybe Otter is going to get that tuna casserole she likes to much...

Dad

Happy Birthday, Dad.  We miss you more than we can put into words.  But we know we will see you again someday.

 

I'm going to go have my blues & greens now.

Sunday Dinner

Will last all week!

 

Bill got the grill out and we had steaks for dinner.  He also grilled 4 turkey burgers, 5 hot dogs, 4 pork chops and 3 fajita-seasoned chicken breasts.  Dinner for the week!  I made corn on the cob to go with the steaks tonight, although mine was "corn off the cob" since I have to cut it off to eat it due to my dentures.  Still good, just eaten with a fork instead of with holders on each end and the cob.

 

I had a couple of things I wanted to get accomplished this weekend.  I wanted to get Uncle Crazy's lap blanket finished, I did that today.  I put three rows on it yesterday and the final one today.  Otter and I needed to go through the blankets and separate hers out, we got that done today as well.  I gave her a specific quilt that Mom and our special Aunt made - Froggy, I think you may have helped with it but I'm not sure.  Otter was thrilled with it.  That's the one I texted you the picture of, Froggy.

 

I wanted to go to the Yarn Store in Tulsa that was re-opening and I did that yesterday - there were two locations, they were consolidated into one store and it's really nice.  The two stores were great, but one was really small.  The new store is open, airy and filled with light.  And lots of yarn!  It's a very inviting place, it was originally started as a knit shop but the owner makes a serious effort to include crochet artists in her store even though she herself knits.  I didn't buy any yarn yesterday, but there are a couple of varieties I'm thinking about.  It's where the mink yarn came from and I've found a few other good yarns there.

 

Bill wanted to get some more firewood split, we did that this morning.  It's actually kind of fun, it's a little strenuous but it's not difficult.  We might not actually get any more firewood.  We have a great deal, more than I thought we had.  If Bill does get more, that's fine.  But if not, I think we probably have enough.  He mowed the back yard this morning, it wasn't really tall but it did kind of need it.  He got the front yard one day last week.  Not too much longer for that this year.

 

Yesterday was really cool, it was in the low- to mid-50's.  It was supposed to be a little warmer than that.  It was overcast and misty.  Friday night was cold, it was in the 40's!  It was pretty cool last night but I'm not sure how low the temperature actually was.  It was pretty chilly this morning, I went out on the back deck and enjoyed it for a while.  The dogsters enjoyed it to, Maggie was following her nose all over the deck and along the back of the house between the house and the honeysuckle trellises.  Possibly there has been a 4-footed visitor, most likely a possum or something similar.

 

I took the last antibiotic tonight, I'm so glad to be through with them.  I still have a couple of yogurt left, I'm getting tired of it as well.  I still need to eat it for a few more days.  I like yogurt but I'll be glad when I don't have to eat it as often!

 

Otter woke up with a pretty bad allergy attack yesterday morning, she had a tremendous headache and was in bed pretty much all day long.  Fall has always been her worst season, but it's been better the last couple of years.  Hopefully, it's not going to be bad again.  She was pretty miserable yesterday.  Today, she woke up fine and hasn't had any allergy issues beyond some mild stuff.  At least it was "only" allergy and not the flu, which was my first concern!

Now it's Thursday

Much better/different than last Thursday!

 

Bill got another load of firewood today.  He thinks we're where we were last year in terms of the amount of firewood we have.  I'd like to get 2 more loads, Bill wants to get at least one more but we'll see.  Today's was free, when the temperature gets to 50 degrees is when they start charging.  I don't mind if we have to pay for it.  Today was in the low 70's, tonight will be cooler and tomorrow our high is 68 degrees!  I'm thinking that we might have to pay for the next load of two of firewood.

 

The promised rain never did develop, although it was noisy in the early evening last night.  It was misty this morning, cloudy and overcast pretty much all day.

 

Otter's jalepeno plants still have blooms and small fruit.  She'll probably be making her final harvest in the very near future.  I'm thinking the mint and rosemary will be moved inside within the next few weeks.  I'll also need to bring my begonia back inside, which means I'm probably going to have to rearrange my plant stands.  Again!

 

We're going to get started on the tulip bed soon.  It needs to be weeded, then the dirt needs to be turned and it needs to be treated.  Then it might get another treatment a couple of weeks later.

 

I weeded the rock garden a bit this afternoon.  Mostly, I pulled grass that was encroaching from the sand stone edges.  There are a few little "false morning glory" vines popping up again, they get yanked as soon as I see them.  Wish we'd known that it wasn't actually morning glory and we would have pulled it out as soon as it came up through the dirt.

 

Well, they were pretty at least.

A Few Days Later

Wednesday.  I'm better.  I still have issues, but they are caused by the additive to the antibiotic (nausea, etc.) but I think the sinus infection is clearing up well.  I went to work Tuesday, but I cratered and headed home about 11:00.  Otter ordered me to the couch to rest, and that's pretty much what I did.  She made the post office run and checked the UPS box.  She also found yarn at Hobby Lobby so I can make her another scarf & hat set - there is a reason I call her my Chief Enabler!

 

I managed to stay the day at work today, but it was hard.  I went to the Dollar Store at lunch for about 3 things I needed.  I took my time and had a somewhat restful shopping experience at lunch.  That's not usually how it is at the Dollar Store.  Froggy asked me why I wasn't going to a thrift at lunch, then lectured me about not overdoing it?

 

We figured out the problem with loading pictures here.  The picture files are too big.  I'm sure that there is a way to compress them, I just haven't looked for it yet.

 

We will probably get rain tonight, and possibly off & on through the weekend.  Friday's temp is supposed to be 68 degrees!

 

Not a very exciting post, but it's been that kind of week.

Maybe

Still trying to post pictures without success.

(I can attest to the truth of the above)

(I also speak TEXAN and Trekish, so I guess I am actually fluent in 4 languages.)  (TEXAN is my native language, Trekish is the next one I learned.)

 

I can't figure out what the problem is, but I can't post actual photographs that I've saved on my computer.  I can post things I got off the internet or that I've saved from emails.  Just not the pictures I've taken!  It's frustrating, but I'll figure it out eventually.

 

In the meantime:

 

I'm still dealing with the sinus infection.  I felt a little better this morning and I went in to work but I didn't stay long.  I actually got in early, about 7:30, and got caught up quickly (it's not a busy office).  About 8:30, I called Younger Boss and told him I'd cratered and was going to head home.  He was pulling into the driveway at that point, so I waited for him to get in and then got him to answer a few questions I had about something work-related.  I was home by 9:00, which was when Otter had wanted me to call and wake her up.  She was already up, she met me at the door.  I've been parked on the couch pretty much since then, although I have gotten up a few times.  Such as when I had to rearrange the beagle - she spent about 20 minutes napping on my left foot and I could not get her to move, even though my foot was getting numb!  I sent Otter to the store for more yogurt and a couple of things.  About the time I figured Otter would be getting home, I asked Maggie "Who's at the Door?" which always gets her excited and bouncing to the door.  (It took Bill a loooooooooooooooooooong time to teach the dog that trick!)  That was the only thing that really got the little bowlingballbutt to move off of my foot.

 

Frasier seems happy that I'm home.  He is spending quite a bit of his time in front of the fan, but he gets up every so often and comes over to the couch for chin and ear scratches.  Then, he goes back to his spot in front of the fan.  And goes back to sleep.

 

I think that part of the reason I don't feel quite as good as I normally do by this point is the extra ingredient in the antibiotic.  It isn't a strong antibiotic, used to be that a doctor would prescribe the strongest one immediately but then bugs started to develop a resistance to them so the doctors generally start with a milder antibiotic.  The one I'm on is a milder one, but it has an additive that is to help the antibiotic fight off the bad bugs and my own system, in case my body views it as a threat.  Seems strange, but that's what I found out.  Anyway, the additive has a "no drive, etc." warning and I think it's making me feel a little odd.  But as long as the antibiotic takes care of the sinus infection, I'm not going to complain.  But I will probably see about not getting an antibiotic with the additive the next time (there is always a next time as far as sinus infections go.)

 

Froggy left a comment on my last post, she mentioned her cat Muskrat missing Callie.  Callie is a cat that they've had for years, but she disappeared last week.  They don't let the cats outside, although it looks like Callie-Cat managed to get out because they haven't found any trace of her and it's been nearly a week now.  Callie is a calico, which is probably why Scooter named her (Scooter is Froggy's oldest kid and Callie is his cat) that.  I keep hoping that Froggy will text me that the cat has turned up, safe and sound.

Sunday I Don't Know What to Call This!

I've been trying to post pictures on this all day, but blogger is apparently not working right.  Blogger has been uncooperative before, hopefully it will fix itself or decide to act right soon!

 

I'm feeling a lot better, I am still on my antibiotic and it is playing havoc with my stomach.  But I haven't had as much of a sinus headache today, I did have the headache yesterday off and on.  I woke up with it this morning, but it was much lighter.  We stayed home from church, I wasn't quite up to it.  I took a nap this afternoon, although I kept waking myself up because I was snoring!  I don't think I snore that much, although I was pretty stuffy and that meant I was most likely opening my mouth to breathe.  Which means I snored.

 

I did get out today, I was feeling extremely housebound (and micromanaged by a certain Engineer) so I volunteered to take Otter to meet J for the afternoon.  But I didn't really "go anywhere" or anything.  I didn't even have laundry to do, we finished it all up Friday and then we got it put away this morning.  I did have a few things to iron, but that was about as industrious as I got.

 

Among the pictures I've been trying to post today is a shot of a certain big, tan, furry bratdog snoozing on the floor of the living room.  In front of the fan.  Every time the fan is turned on, Frasier materializes right in front of it and then he snoozes.  Every time.  Dog likes his creature comforts, that for sure!  Maggie Moo was curled up in the position we refer to as a cinnamon bun, since that's what she looks like, I have a picture of her as well.  Maybe tomorrow.

 

I've been experimenting with the new camera.  I really like it, the definition is excellent.  Maybe I'll eventually get to post the pictures it takes!

Yogurt Coupons

I don't necessarily use a lot of coupons.  There are some specific ones, like for laundry detergent and dog food.  But as far as food brands go, there aren't many.  But I have discovered something, I think I've mentioned it before.  Every time there is a coupon for yogurt in the paper's coupon inserts, within a week or so I will have a need for yogurt because either I will need it to combat the effects of an antibiotic, or Otter will.  Last Sunday's coupons had two for yogurt.

 

On Wednesday, I started feeling the unmistakable signs of a sinus infection.  By Thursday,  I was leaning more towards allergies but I felt pretty cruddy and left work mid-morning.  Around 3:00 this morning, I was awakened by sinus pressure and when I got up about 5:00 it was actual sinus pain with the pressure.  The med clinic opened up at 8:00, I was the first one in the door.  Guess what?  I have a sinus infection.  Guess I should have known it was coming, after all I did get two yogurt coupons!

 

I took Otter to work so I would have the car today, Bill took the Impala that she drives when she needs a car.  I was originally going to take her to work and pick her up after I got off because Bill needed the car and not the truck, but since I didn't go in today she could have taken my car if I didn't need to go to the doctor.  I'll pick her up when she gets off and we'll go to the post office to check the box then.  Probably also to the UPS box that Bill has for the business.  Then we might get some kind of take-home dinner.

 

Which will be followed with yogurt.

 

We're also in the market for new health insurance.  The company we have had for 10 years is leaving the state, effective the end of March 2015.  We have plenty of time, but I'm not waiting.  I've gotten a few quotes and am waiting on a couple more.  I knew that the government interference was affecting policy costs, but I was still shocked to get one quote for less insurance than we have now with a premium that was doubled!  And that was from the company we have our cars and house insured through.  We had been thinking it might be time to look into another carrier, now I really thing we will.  But it will probably be after we get the health insurance situated.

 

Froggy, yes the lumberyard probably does not want to store anything they can't use over the winter.  I just think it's a little "unfair" of them to give it away when people don't need it but to charge when people may be desperate.  But it's their business and they can run it the way they want to.  But, in their defense, it is only $5.00 per pallet load and the pallets are very full.  Depending on the weather next week because I think it might be rainy, Bill will get another load.

 

It's in the mid-90's today, it's been mid- to high-90's all week.  Tomorrow?  Well, tomorrow will be in the 70's.  And probably rainy as well.  But still, 70's?  That is wonderful.

 

It rained pretty hard earlier in the week, I don't know what we got in terms of amounts but it was a good, hard rain and there was a lot of it.  I think the old rain barrel is probably full now, and since Bill cleaned it out and replaced the broken spigot control we can use it easily.  The newer one was about 3/4 full, we were trying to use as much water as we could so that Bill could take it off the stand and re-align everything.  It's full again now, so that will have to wait a little longer.

 

My clematis has come back - the mowers we used after Bill's hand surgery took it out with the weedeater.  Along with a couple of the honeysuckle plants on the back fence.  The honeysuckle will probably come back, it's hard to kill.  I wasn't sure about the clematis, it is a strong plant and is very resilient.  But I wasn't sure if it had enough time to really get established, since it had barely survived being eaten to the ground by what was probably a rabbit.  Bad bunny!  But I checked on it Thursday and it's still alive.  It's not huge, but there is a nice size clump of it growing.  It's next to a fan-shaped trellis, I think the trellis is a little further from the plant than I wanted it to be but part of that is because it's growing away from the trellis.  I have some strong twine that we've used before as training for climbing plants and it's attached to the trellis then draped around the baby clematis plant in the hope that the plant will climb it and go the direction we want it to.  I haven't checked the honeysuckle at the back fence, but it's a very hardy plant so I think it will probably come back if it hasn't already.

 

But that bunny better stay away!  He can go find another salad bar, and not the one in my back yard!

Thursday Evening

No imagination on titles today!

 

I just thought the above was interesting.  It's also correct, by the way.  Star Trek Rules!

 

I like this one, too:

Anyway.

 

Bill got another load of firewood today.  He asked them why they aren't charging him.  They figure that if it's hot weather and people are desperate/silly/brave enough to load it themselves, they won't charge.  However, once the weather gets cold they will start charging.  Seems a little unfair, when the weather is cold is when people might be really desperate.  But that's their policy.  Bill thinks we're at about the amount we were at the beginning of last winter.  We had quite a few fires but we still had some left over at the end of the winter.  However, even though we had quite a bit of cold & icy weather last winter it was actually light by statistical standards.  Which means that we're going to get more.  At least one more load, then we'll look at the amount of wood we have and decide then if we need more, but I think we'll probably actually get two or three more loads total.

 

I've cleaned all the winter/storm supplies out of the area we store them in.  I'm going to start rebuilding our supply, but I rotate stock out in the summer or fall.

 

Maggie Moo never did get that bath we were going to give her last week.  I put the monthly flea/tick drops on them this morning, so no doggies baths in the near future!

September Already?!

This has been a fast summer.  I know, it's still the summer season and will be for a few weeks yet, but the summer "break" is over.  We have actually been making Fall/Winter preparation for a few weeks already - as I've mentioned already, Bill's been getting firewood.  We still need more and he'll probably get another truck load this week if the weather cooperates.

 

We enjoyed the Monday day off from work today.  Otter had to work, poor girl!  We still had a bigger than normal breakfast, biscuits & gravy so she at least got to enjoy that!  Bill and I had a few errands to run, including going to Otter's store to get a tarp for Bill to use to cover the grill with.  The grill has been stored under the lean-to but the lean-to is rapidly filling with firewood.  We went to several other stores, including two hardware stores and another tool store (besides Otter's) but Bill was unable to find the item he was looking for.  He needs a specific type of rubber pad to put underneath the feet of the compressor - one of the specific "will void the warranty" if he uses anything other than the specific type!  One of the stores was Ace Hardware, where I discovered that they had tulip bulbs in stock already.  I grabbed several different varieties of bulbs but we might get a few more.

 

We went to Best Buy because we needed a new digital camera.  Bill has an ancient one he still uses with the pachinko business, but we've been borrowing Otter's digital camera for misc. stuff.  However, when she moves out she is taking her camera with her!  I just don't think that's fair at all, Otter!  Anyway, I found one that I really liked.  It's got a very high resolution quality, and it was also on sale.  $179 is what I paid today, it was $80 off the regular price.  We got the wrong kind of SD card though, I'll take it back and exchange it tomorrow.

 

I did manage to get some laundry done today.  Not all of it, but enough.  I also need to do dishes, but I'm not in a hurry!

 

Bill grilled steaks for our Labor Day dinner.  We also had baked potatoes and ranch style beans.  We are stuffed!  The dogs are happy, they each got a tiny bite of steak and a little bit of potato that Otter had left - she prefers her baked potato without anything on it beyond a small shake of salt.

 

Speaking of Fall/Winter and getting ready, it's time to start rotating out my Spring Storm/Loss of Power canned food items and replacing them.  There are also a few things such as canned fruit and crackers, it'll all get rotated out and replaced.

 

I guess that's the extent of our day.  Very exciting, huh!  (Yeah, I know - boring but we enjoyed the day!)