Fiddling Around

Just had one of these nasty little beasties run across the kitchen floor:

It was about the size of a dime and it was running fast, like they do.  I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and what actually caught my attention is the way it was running, they have a particular way they move.  I had to move Maggie Moo's food bowl to get to it, which brought her running immediately.  She listened to me, for once, and didn't try to eat it (she seems to like to eat spiders).  I put the bug jar down and it immediately ran into it.  I was pretty sure what it was but I could look at it better in the bug jar and it was very clearly a fiddleback.  Brown Recluse is their actual name, but we've always just called them fiddlebacks.  It's gone for a very long swim now!  Most of the time, we leave spiders alone or relocate them, but not those.  They either get squashed (if we have shoes on) or flushed.

 

We got the carpet cleaning finished up Friday night.  I eventually got to run the vacuum.  It looks a lot cleaner and smells better.  Although we still get a whiff of the smell every so often, but now we think it's the dogs themselves so a bath is on order soon.  But not tonight, and not tomorrow because it's going to be very cold tomorrow.

 

We might get ice tonight.  It has been in the 70's the last couple of days and was really nice today, so it's going to feel even colder.  The ice chances are not high, but the chance is still there.

 

I found something today:

Except that mine is olive green, not blue.  But my camera is charging so I can't take a picture of it.  I think it's the 8" bowl, I haven't measured it but it is big.  And heavy.  And did I mention that it was only $6.50?  Talk about a steal!  It was at an antique-ish mall that we haven't been into in a while.  It was next to Goldie's, where we had lunch, and we've been talking about moving our booth so we wanted to look at the two close by stores.  We went to the first of two next-door stores and I just happened to see the edges of it peeking out from underneath the stuffed bunny that was sitting in top of it. I "may" have also said something to Otter about hoping the seller didn't know what they have!  The obviously didn't.  It's perfect and it's now holding court on the side top shelf of the entertainment center.  We watched Dirty Jobs reruns this morning and one of the episodes was the one where he went to the Fenton company, deja vu!  The pattern name is Thumbprint and it was made in the l960's.

 

Anyway.  Otter brought her laundry over, and we all went to lunch at Goldie's.  They have the best burgers!  We stopped at Wallyworld on the way home for baby oil, which we then used on the tulip bed.  We planted 56 bulbs today, and we've got pretty good timing because they need the cold ground.  They are fixin to get plenty of cold!  This is probably the last year for the tulip bed, at least in that spot.  We have been talking about extending the back side fence and it will block the sun from the tulip bed if we do.  They will be back, probably not for a couple of years and in a different spot, but I think we'll have them again.

 

Otter was going to have the car all next week, but with the weather chances we decided to keep it for the next two days.  Bill does not really want to drive the El Camino if the weather forecasters do manage to get it right.  Her hours for Monday and Tuesday work for me to get her to and from work, although Tuesday I'll bring her back home with me and she'll take the car then.  Her Wednesday shift is a possible all-nighter, this is the first late shift she's had in a couple of months.

 

I'm also going to change Otter's dentist appointment.  I really can not get off in the morning to take her, she doesn't want to drive if there is a) ice or b) the slightest chance of needing the anesthesia gas and c) her boss forgot what day she needed off so he scheduled her to start her shift tomorrow at 10:00 - the time of the appointment.  He told her that she could just come in afterwards, but I'm going to reschedule it for her.  I'll call them the second they open and they'd better not give me any grief about short notice because I originally started calling them on Friday which was before we knew what her schedule is.  Thursday, I called them and thought that they might have an answering service but they actually had a message on their voice mail saying that they were closed.  On Friday, the message stated that they were busy with other clients and told me to leave a message - and I left two.  I think that they were probably closed, but they didn't have anything like that on the voice mail message on Friday - but they did on Thursday.

 

When she was over here today, we finished going through the stuff in her room.  It was mostly the stuff from her bathroom, and most of it went in the trash.  Which is what I thought was going to happen.  Some has been added to the donate pile, but the majority of it was make up, cosplay make up and thinks like broken earrings, etc.  She took some stuff with her also.  As of this afternoon, she is officially and 100% completely moved out of her parent's home!  There are still a few boxes of her stuff but it's destined for the attic for us to store for her.  But for all intents and purposes, she's out of our house.

Bill moved the sofa table to My Room when we were getting ready to clean the carpets.  It's still there.  It's going to be moved to Bill's Room, also known as the Pachinko workroom/hoard.  I moved the dogs blankets to the spot where the sofa table was originally and also have two plants on stands there.  They're right in front of the window and will get a good amount of light.  I also tossed a cactus that was dead and rearranged my plants in the dining room.  Maggie seems to like the blankets, she more or less flew onto them and sprawled out on top of them.  When she's not actually awake, she's on her blankets.  Frasier hasn't really gone back to them, I think because he liked the spot he always snoozed in and didn't care one way or the other about the blankets.  He would frequently move them, we thought he was playing with them but now I realized that he was moving them out of his way.  Maggie Moo is quite happy, and she'll be even happier when she realizes that she'll be getting more warmth because of the fireplace.  The blankets are not in an area where there is a fire danger, but they are in a spot that will be very warm.  She spends quite a bit of her time in the winter snoozing in front of the fireplace anyway!

Black Friday? Well, No Not Really.

Although the water that Bill keeps having to change out of the carpet cleaner is black.  Beyond black, actually.  Dirty Dirty Dirty!

 

It took a few tries, but the carpet is almost clean.  I vacuumed twice and then we treated a couple of spots.  Then Bill got the carpet steam cleaner and went to work.  He made one almost full pass of the living room when he realized that the soap jet wasn't working, so he had to stop and do a little surgery.  The first pass he made was mostly all water, but it loosened a lot of dirt up so it still helped.  After he got assorted parts of the soap jet system unclogged, he re-did the parts he'd already done but with soap this time.  Then I had to go to Wallyworld (ugh!) and get another bottle of soap - detergent, actually.  I also picked lunch up at Subway and brought it home, so Bill was forced to take a break.  Then he got the perimeter of the living room with the steam cleaner.  The main part has a little time left to dry, he's got 2 fans blowing on it and the ceiling fan is on.  We should be able to start putting the furniture back in place in a couple of hours, but I want to run the vacuum again first.  I suggested we do it all at once instead of in two parts, now it will be done and over with.

 

When we moved the couches out of their spots, we could really tell a difference in what the covered by furniture carpet looked at as opposed to the open areas.  We ran a blacklight around in the living room last night, I think that Maggie Moo had been having her leaking problem for a lot longer than we thought.  Hopefully, she's done with that but we'll have to wait and see.  We're just hoping that now that the smell is out of the carpet, she won't remember her accident spots.  The dogs have been blocked out since this morning, they have water and their carpet to snooze on in the garage and access to their yard area.  They have also had a couple of treats, so they are not the deprived & unloved pooches they are pretending to be!

 

Bill has the front and back doors open, it's a really nice day today.  But it's a little bit breezy and now there are leaves that have been blown in.  All over the nice, clean carpet!  Well, I think the vacuum will take care of them.

 

We finally had those biscuits!  The ones I was going to make last Sunday when the oven quit.  They were fine after being frozen, I gave them a minute or two longer than normal and they came out good.  Slightly dry, but that is probably from being frozen.  We had gravy (yes, Froggy it was Pioneer brand!) with them so they were fine.

 

Even though we are about done with the living room carpet, I'm still going to hit a few local stores tomorrow for Small Business Saturday.  I'd probably be going to those stores anyway, but it makes a good excuse. :)

 

We'll probably eventually clean the carpet in the rest of the house, but the living room was the most urgent area because of leaky beagle.  We'll probably do My Room first, although it's pretty good because it had been cleaned a while back and the beagle was not allowed in there over the last few years.  But since it's mostly empty, it's a good time to get to it.

 

The microwave is acting up again.  It quit about a year ago, then it started working again so we figured we'd just run it as long as we could.  But it started acting up again a week or so ago, so I think it's time.  They are usually on sale around this time of year anyway.  We looked at a couple and Bill liked one in particular, but I'm thinking I might want a smaller one this time.  We do use it, obviously, but Otter was the main person to use it.  But we'll have to see what's out there before we decide.

 

Otter gets her permanent crown Monday.  I was going to take her, she asked me to in case they have to do anything requiring numbing and/or the gas, but I have to be at work at the same time on Monday and it's not anything I can skip - I have to notarize a bunch of stuff for some property sales at work.  She can drive herself, she's just concerned about the possibility of needing heavy anesthesia.  I called the dentist, but they are closed today.  I left them a message to call me as soon as they open on Monday but the plan is for Otter to be there a little early if they don't call me back.  She had asked for the day off, but her boss forgot when he was making the schedule up for they week so she is supposed to go in at 10:00.  Same time as the appointment.  He told her to come in as soon as she can afterwards, but if there is heavy anesthesia she is not going to be functional.  Grandpa can pick her up after the appointment if it becomes necessary, but I really don't think it will be.  However, we thought that before and then she wound up getting the gas after all.  But at least she'll be able to eat easier after Monday.

 

Bill is making the last pass with the detergent on the perimeter area of the living room.  I'm probably going to get the vacuum running in a few minutes.  Then we'll get the love seat out of the dining room, the couch is standing on one end in the entrance way and the rest of the furniture is in My Room.  We left the entertainment center in place, it's a major weight to move and also has the tv on it, our huge movie collection as quite a bit of my Fenton.  Also, the carpet was cleaned before it was put there so it should be ok.  Next time, we'll probably move it but that may be a few years from now and we might be un-dogged by then.  Not that I'm in a hurry for that!  We like our doggies and hope they stay for a long while.

Thursday's Other Stuff

We had a really nice day.  It was quiet and since it was just the three of us it was a different Thanksgiving than usual.  But it was nice.  The pizza was very good and (most important) Otter could eat it without too much difficulty.  She also went through the plastic drawer unit (like my yarn drawers) that had a lot of stuff in it.  She was thinking that she might still need one drawer but that I could have the rest of it "in case" I needed it for yarn.  But when she got through going through the drawers, she didn't need one after all.  So she gave it to me.  My plan is to use it mainly for desk/office supplies, and not for yarn.  However, the reason I have 3 of those drawer sets already filled with yarn is because I had two and bought a 3rd one just to use with desk/office supplies!  It didn't take long at all for it to become filled with yarn.  I do have the two smaller drawer sets that are holding yarn, I might take that yarn and put it in the one Otter gave me today then use the two smaller ones for desk/office supplies.

 

Anyway, Otter took a box of stuff with her when she left, tossed quite a bit in the trash, put a few things in the donate pile and found a few more books for the eventual take-to-the-book-trader trip.  I found a few sewing related things in my closet and they have been transferred to My Room now.  I've been rearranging a few things in there and have some stuff in the closet.  It doesn't look like it was ever a bedroom now, which was kind of a difficult Mom Moment for me!

 

When Otter left, she also took pizza with her to share with Roomie.  Half of a pepperoni and half of a supreme.  Which left us the same amount.  It was good and fun to make, as usual.  Hopefully, Roomie will like it too.

 

Maggie was overjoyed when Otter got here.  She was snoozing in a sunny spot and I simply said "Maggie, Door."  It was enough to get a very interested expression on the beagle's face and she turned her head in the direction of the door, then I went towards the door which got her going full speed ahead in the same direction.  And she was talking all the way.  It was about 10 minutes until Otter got here, Maggie talked the entire time.  Not sure what she was saying, but she was telling me something alright!  She was really excited when her Otter got here.  So was Frasier, he spent most of the wait time staring at the front door but he was not standing at the door, wiggling and making noise.

 

We went to Wallyworld this afternoon.  I was surprised that they were going to be open today, I expected them to be open tonight for pre-Black Friday sales.  But they were open and we were able to go get almost everything I couldn't get last night at the grocery store.  No sign of fajita seasoning, I'm going to have to see about ordering a case on the McCormick website.  But I was able to get dog food and a couple of other things I needed.  All over the store were stacks of things with "Not For Sale Until 6:00 p.m." signs.  They also had some aisles block off with extra stock.  There were not too many shoppers and the ones we saw were mostly getting things like groceries.  I'm not going to be part of the Black Friday madness, I usually avoid it.  I do have to go to the post office tomorrow, Bill has two orders of pachinko stuff that I need to mail for him.  But that might be it.  Otter and I were going to a local museum's Christmas display after she gets off work but we're going to wait until next Sunday (a week from this coming Sunday) since she's off that day.  Also, we wanted J to go with us and he can't go tomorrow but probably can next weekend.  We might take the books for Otter to trade in then, since we'll have the Pack Mule known as J with us!

 

Tomorrow is also the day we're going to get the carpet cleaner out and tackle half of the living room.  We're doing it in two halves, the 2nd half will be Sunday because I'm going to be part of the Small Business Saturday madness, and hit a few antique/craft stores including the booth store and quite probably the yarn store in Tulsa.

 

After all, I now have 5 more drawers to fill!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ours will be a little different this year.

That doesn't look like a turkey to me!  :)

Are We Sure It's Not Monday?

Cause you can't tell by me!  It's been a Monday-ish day all day long.  I mean All Day LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.

 

I couldn't wait for 3:30 to roll around so I could escape.  Of course, I then had errands to run and everywhere was crowded.  The liquor store was pretty busy, that's typical before a major holiday.  The post office was absolutely horrible, I stood in line for something like 30 minutes just to mail one small item for Bill.  The grocery store was pretty crowded, which I expected.  I didn't intend to wait until the night before Thanksgiving to buy our groceries, it just worked out that way.  They were running out of things, not just the typical Thanksgiving meal items either.  Grenadine?  None left.  Cheese was also going fast, just the regular cheese and not the specialty stuff.  There was one really delightful older gentleman who was shopping with his wife.  He had a particular look, one that involves a long white beard, full belly and a red hat!  I told him that I thought he must be very popular this time of year, and he said that he had so much fun with the little ones.  Really nice man, he reminded me of Dad even though he didn't resemble him at all.  It was the fun-loving attitude.

 

I had a small migraine yesterday, nothing big but it probably had something to do with why I didn't sleep too well last night.  I had to run to Wallyworld on the way in this morning, then I had errands at lunch (Michael's was pretty busy, too) and then work was kind of chaotic.  Add my after-work errands in, and the result is that I am exhausted.  I think I'm going to have a drink in a little while - that is, IF I can get up from the couch.  I have a large coyote asleep with his rear right up against my left foot and a beagle against my right foot!

 

At least I didn't have Otter's schedule.  She went in to work at 3:30 (just when I get off) and doesn't get off until 11:30 tonight.  They're stocking the shelves to be ready for Black Friday.  She has it even worse then, she goes in to work at 4:00 a.m.!

It Lives!!!

My oven, that is.  So, the non-traditional Thanksgiving Pizza is back on the schedule.  I'm going to the grocery store after work yesterday, so I'll be getting pizza fixins.*  I'm hoping the store isn't too totally crowded, but I simply have not had time yet this week.  I was Otter's transportation to/from work yesterday so Bill could keep her/his car here for the repair.  Then today I took his/her car for the oil change and picked her up at her apartment after work.  I brought her back to our house, with a couple of detours including the UPS box to get the stove part and also we stopped at Sonic for 1/2 price (or 2 for 1?) cheeseburgers.  I did offer to get dinner for Otter but she wasn't super hungry so she just wanted tater tots.

 

The oven part has been replaced, it wasn't too difficult but it took a little work.  It was almost a plug & play situation.  It works, so I'm not complaining!

 

While I was waiting at Chevy this morning, I got about a half a row done on Otter's blanket.  I'm thinking I can get it finished within the next few days, if I can just get the time to devote to it.

My Biscuits Are Burnin'!

NOT.  It's been an interesting day, to say the least.

We tossed around a couple of ideas for breakfast this morning, seeing as how we're almost out of cereal, we're out of syrup and don't like plain pancakes (and I think I'm about of pancake mix) and we are down to just have two eggs.  I'll get to the grocery store soon, I promise!  Anyway, we came up with biscuits and I did have baking mix at least, so I got a batch of biscuit dough ready to go and was about to start cutting them out when I realized that the oven I'd turned on over 15 minutes before was ice cold because it had never come on.  Bill looked at it and decided that the "igniter" (not sure of the actual term) was bad.  It's not a particularly old oven, we bought it a couple of years at least after we moved here in 2004.  I've had no problems with it, when it comes to appliances we tend to get the biggest and best ones we can afford with an eye to not having to replace it again anytime soon.  Bill eventually found the model number (down near the floor, inside the door) and then he had me check it to make sure he'd read it right which means that we both had to get down in the floor!  Harder getting up than getting down there, let me tell you!!  He found the part online and it will be here sometime this week.  It won't be too difficult for him to replace the part.  It's a gas oven because I don't like electric to cook on.

 

But it might not be here in time to use the oven on Thursday.  We had plans to make homemade pizza for Thanksgiving, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  I can still use the stove (top burners) but Bill's thinking he'll probably be grilling something for Thanksgiving.  Not sure what it's going to be, Otter still has the temp crown and has to be careful about what she eats, she could have managed our thin-crust pizza though.  We have discussed burgers and also steak.  Otter voted for steak, but she'll have to cut hers into tiny pieces if that is what we go with.  I am not getting anything for the meal until Wednesday, if we do go with steak I'm going to get it at an actual butcher shop and see if some of it can be tenderized for her.

 

We did eventually get breakfast and it did include biscuits!  It's just that Braums baked them. :)  I looked online and biscuit dough can be frozen, so I cut the biscuits out and they are in my freezer.  Hopefully, next weekend we'll be able to actually cook them!

 

I just took a rock out of Maggie Moo's mouth.  She was trying to eat it.  Nutball dog!  I was concerned about Frasier earlier today.  He has a tendency to curl around me when he wants to lean on me and sometimes he stands that way on his own, curved.  He came in from the back yard walking curved and it looked like maybe he couldn't uncurve his body.  Also, his right rear leg looked stiff and like maybe he couldn't really use it.  He came to me when I called him, he leaned on me much harder than he normally does and I ran my hand down the right side of his body with just a little pressure.  It felt like his muscles were stiff but theyrelaxed underneath my hand and he straightened out.  He seemed to be walking better after that and he seems fine this evening but we are keeping an eye on him.  He's an older dog and could have a little arthritis.  Bill thought that maybe he'd been snoozing on the hard ground and was just stiff.  He does like to be inside, but he seems to be just as happy to be left outside and will stay outside for hours on end by his own choice.  That may be because of his coyote heritage?

 

I got two rows on Otter's blanket yesterday and one more today.  I've got about half of the skein I'm using now (# 5) and then one more skein after that.  The end is in sight!  The blanket is big enough to be a lap blanket for me now but I want it to be bigger.  Otter isn't picky, she's just glad I'm making it for her.

 

Speaking of Otter, she brought the car and her laundry this afternoon.  She works tomorrow but I'm going to pick her up and get her to work, then I'll get her after work and drop her back at her apartment.  Bill wants to work on her car tomorrow, the part was in the mail Friday.  Yesterday was cool and slightly rainy, today was supposed to be very rainy (but never was) so he never was able to get the part replaced this weekend.  Tomorrow is supposed to be decent weather for car repair.  I'm going to take it for the oil change it needs on Tuesday, then I'll get Otter after (my) work on Tuesday and she'll bring me home.  Then she'll have the car the rest of the week.  While her laundry was in the washing machine, we went to Goodwill but didn't find anything.  While her laundry was in the dryer, we cleaned out the rest of the pile in her old room.  There is still just a little bit to go through, that will be done on Thursday.

 

Also on Thursday, the tulips will be planted.  The plan was to do them last Sunday but that was the day it snowed.  Then we planned on Tuesday or Wednesday but I was sick.  Then we planned on today and I am better, but I haven't quite gotten back up to 100% yet and was tired out just from doing my own laundry, dishes and vacuuming the living room so the planting day has been rescheduled.  I don't have a problem with planting them on Thanksgiving.  It just needs to be done and done soon.

 

Now I just hope that the microwave holds out!  It first acted up about a year ago, then it started acting right so we never actually replaced it.  But it's starting to act up again.  It is definitely going to be replaced this year, I'm just hoping to wait until slightly closer to Christmas because there are generally pretty good deals on that sort of appliance then.  Just in case, I'm not planning a whole lot of meals that have to be microwaved this week since the oven is out of commission.

Warm Feet

I have warm feet.  In other words, I have my afghan over my legs and a beagle at my feet.  Usually, she is UNDER the afghan and ON my feet but this afternoon she is on top of the afghan and next to my feet.  My left foot, to be precise.  And she's close enough that her body heat is radiating to my left foot.  It's very warm.  She stretches her beagle self every so often, but she never really moves away.  Frasier is parked in front of the coffee table, nap # 4958477 of the day is in progress for him.

 

I'm home today.  I do feel better, but not well yet.  However, I am now back to thinking that this is the flu-ish bug but not the actual flu.  Whatever, I'm still treating the symptoms and taking it easy.

 

I did have to go to the post office.  Bill had something that needed to be mailed but got left at home, so I ran it up there for him.  He has my car today, so I got to drive the Big Car.  With the blocks holding the driver's side window in place, so I couldn't roll the window down.  It's cool and misty, it was raining earlier so I didn't really need to window to be down.  But the weather stripping that goes around the window is also messed up, it falls out of it's track every time the door is opened.  Anyway, I stopped at Wallyworld because I ran out of Kleenex and thought I'd better get more.  Walmart was in the middle of being re-stocked, which is almost never seen by customers.  I guess that Friday mid-morning is not normally a busy time for them, but I'm not usually in there at that time so I'm just guessing.

 

I haven't gotten any crochet done today, I mostly have been parked on the couch reminding myself why I dislike daytime tv!  I finished my Stephen King book last night, Cell I think is the name but it might be Pulse.  I don't think I'm actually going to collect all his works, I don't think I have enough room for what could fill a large library!  But I am going to add to my collection a bit.  I still have several that I haven't read, they were part of Otter's horde originally.  I'm not sure which one will be next.

 

Anyway, it is at least Friday.

Not Really Sure Why I Bothered

with the flu shot.  Because I'm pretty sure I've got the flu!  It could still be the flu-like bug that the Tulsa Health Department talked about, but I'm pretty sure that the bug does not include the Hot/Chills combination that I've been dealing with today.  I've also had a few spells of achiness.  If it is the flu, I'm past the point of time where Tamiflu would be helpful.  If it is the bug and not the flu, I still have to treat the symptoms the same and just wait it out.  Ugg!  Also, this is at least the 3rd time in the last few years that I've (maybe this time) gotten the flu after the shot.  If you get the shot and then get the flu anyway, it's usually a slightly lighter case.

 

I felt better this morning, not well but at least better.  So I went in and wasn't even to work when I started to feel worse.  I got a few things done that I figured I'd better do while I was there, they weren't urgent and could have waited but I was there so they are done.  I left somewhere around 10:00, after telling Younger Boss that I thought I had the flu and watching him get to the other side of the office in a hurry!  He apparently hasn't gotten the flu shot yet, so I don't blame him.  If it is the bug and not the flu, it's still contagious and I still don't blame him!  I told him that I'll see how I feel in the morning but he told me not to push myself if I'm not up to it.  The Teenager called me this afternoon and told me that he does not want to see me until Monday, at least.  I'm probably not even going to try to go in tomorrow, but I won't actually decide until the morning.  I'll have to decide pretty early, Bill will take my car if I don't go in.

 

The doggies were happy when I got home today.  They were also happy yesterday because I was home all day long.  I took about a 2-hour nap on the couch yesterday afternoon, it was interrupted a couple of times because of a certain large, furry coyote that had to check on me a couple of times.  When I woke up, both Frasier & Maggie were snoozing on the floor beside the couch.

 

I did have to take the office mail to the post office so I went to the office where our box is and cleared it out.  I had to drive right by Otter's store and the grocery store next to it, so I stopped there for OJ and milk.  I got a bottle of cranberry juice and left it in Otter's car, she's probably safe but a little more vitamin C certainly won't hurt her.  I texted her, I didn't actually see her because I don't want to infect her - she was having some mild asthma issues like I started out with but she was also in a dusty situation at work the last couple of days so it might just be that.  Probably is, but I didn't want to take any chances.  She texted me (in fun):  DO NOT GET NEAR ME YOU GERM-RIDDLED PLAGUE MONKEY!!! It really was joking, and I was amused.

 

Bill's not so lucky, he has to live with me.  He's on vacation next week.  Bill + scheduled vacation quite frequently = sick boy.  I'm not kidding when I told him that it is NOT allowed, he can NOT get sick.  If he does, I just might make him sleep on the front porch.  After all, there is a porch swing out there so he wouldn't have to sleep on the cold concrete porch! :)

Home Day

I woke up with a sore throat and it hurt to talk, so I decided to stay home.  Which is what I though I would have to do, I probably would feel better today if I'd been able to stay home yesterday and rest but it wasn't possible.  The dogs seem happy that I'm home.  Or at least they do, between naps!

 

I ran the dishwasher because it was full and I put a load of laundry on, but neither of those are strenuous.  I have mostly been hanging out on the couch and I did a little crochet.  I put another row on Otter's blanket and I'm now on the 4th skein of yarn.  I might get back on it in a little while, it's one way I can guarantee that I won't overdo it!

 

Froggy, it is possible that Dad might have been telling the truth about the denture adhesive.  He just joked so much and so often, he had such a good time and I'm glad of that.  But it was sometimes hard to tell when he was joking about stuff like that. :)

 

Bill took my car today.  The White Lightning/Beast/El Camino really does not like cold weather and it was still pretty cold this morning.  I think it's nicer this afternoon, but I haven't been outside so I'm really just guessing.

 

I think I'll take a page out of the dogster's book and have a nap.  They seem to enjoy their naps so much, maybe they are on to something!

I Feel Like Something Funny is Needed (Ramble Warning)

Because I feel cruddy otherwise.  I first noticed last Friday that I was feeling what could have been my asthmatic lungs letting me know that they were awake.  I spent most of the day Friday and all last weekend sneezing my head off - and wondering why, because all the allergy triggers have been frozen!  I heard a news report yesterday that the Tulsa Health Department has released.  There are a few assorted cold-like or flu-like bugs that are going around but they are not the flu - but apparently the emergency rooms are being filled up with people thinking they have the flu but what they have is one of the bugs.  Which don't respond to treatment and have to be worn out.  Yesterday, I started to feel pretty bad and was exhausted by the end of the day so I was pretty sure that I might have one of those bugs.  The cold-type, not the flu-type is my guess.  I didn't want to go to work today, but I had a couple of projects that I had to do and that had to be done today so I had no choice.  I got everything done that needed to be done and I was pretty tired by the end of the day. Also, I'm still sneezing my head off and tonight my throat is getting sore.

 

I am most likely going to be home tomorrow, but I'll decide for sure in the morning.

 

The extreme cold last night that hung around until this morning didn't help!  It was in the low teens last night and I like to froze just going from the house to the car this morning!  It was so cold that my car had difficulty getting warm enough to actually blow other-than-ice-cold-air when I needed the heater.  It won't be as cold tonight, but it will still be cold.

 

I picked Otter up at her apartment after work today - she made a point of keeping the neck of her hoodie over her face and not facing me!  I don't blame her, she doesn't want to be sick.  Anyway, she got the car tonight and will have it until Sunday.  She'll bring her laundry over then and might actually get to keep the car all next week as well because Bill's taking a few vacation days so he'll be off the entire week of Thanksgiving.  Although I'm probably going to take her car to Chevy to get the oil changed on Black Friday, and Bill will need it one day to replace a clogged valve.

 

Anyway, here's the funny stuff:

This one is especially funny, Dad always told a joke about how he grabbed Preparation H instead of his denture adhesive once!  I don't really think it happened, I have heard variations of that joke for years but it was funny anyway.

OK, so that's not funny.  But it is true and we always like Mike Rowe.  Dirty Jobs is no longer being produced, but we always wanted to see a show where he painted parking lots - preferably lots in S. TEXAS that had been baking in the incandescent sun all day!

This one isn't actually a joke, either.  It's true!

I like this one for a couple of reasons!  Not the least of which is that I'm married to an Engineer and most of the stories about them are true....

They Actually Got It Right!

It snowed.  They got it right! Start time, duration, coverage and amount.  Which might be a sign of the apocalypse!  The point is, we got snow and no ice.  The ground was warm enough that it melted on streets but cold enough that it stuck on lawns and grassy areas.  Otter had the car, she got to work fine but it didn't start until after her shift started.  When she headed back to our house, it was still coming down but not too bad.  She did have to clean snow off the car, however.  She hasn't really driven in it, and today wasn't really bad conditions but it was still a new experience for her.  She'll eventually have to drive in bad conditions, she does live where we get winter after all.  But I'm not in any hurry for her to have to!

She brought her laundry and we cleaned out a few of her books while it was in the machine.  I took her home, with a detour to Tuesday Morning.  I found the other towel I wanted and a bathmat, finally.  I think the guest bathroom is finally done!  There's still a little work in the guest/craft/YARN room but I've been doing a little in there as I have time.

 

I got two rows put on Otter's blanket today.  I didn't work on it at all yesterday, I had another crochet project so I did get to play with my yarn and even de-stashed a little (tiny, very small) bit!  But my elbow muscles are a little sore today, which is a tendonitis issue, so I'm probably going to take a break from it for a few days.  I don't like it when I have to take crochet breaks!  But it's either a break for a few days or I don't get to crochet for days and possibly weeks if I push through and keep doing it.  So, a break it is.

 

Meatloaf is in the oven at the moment.  I made pinto beans yesterday, we'll have some of those with the meatloaf and I'm going to make brown gravy - yes, Froggy, it is Pioneer brand!  We had discussed Bill's Famous Mashed Potatoes but decided against them tonight.

 

I have been reading the Stephen King book, Dr. Sleep, this week.  It's the sequel to The Shining which was tremendous (the book, not the movie - the movie was typical of King's books that are turned into movies:  completely different and frankly not that good.)  It's really good and I enjoyed it.  But it's a little different than most of his books.  It's slower paced and the action scenes are a little less, as well as not as intense.  But it was still good and I am glad I finally got a chance to read it.  But there is one other difference:  it has an actual happy ending!  That almost never happens in his books, while specific characters might have better endings than most, very often the main character dies or doesn't have a happy life afterwards but this one has the stereotypical "happy ending" and it was a nice surprise.  This book is on my "to buy" list, I borrowed it from someone.  When Otter cleaned out her books, all her Stephen King books became mine (but she has visitation rights) and she had quite a few.  I'm thinking that I'm going to attempt to collect all his works.  For the most part, Stephen King is an author that you either really like or really dislike.  Obviously, we like him.  But his best work, in fact probably my all-time favorite book, has to be The Stand.  It's also the only one that really worked on film, and that's because he controlled everything to be sure it was done right.  It showed.  I just might have to watch the mini-series again, we have it on dvd.  When I have a couple of days to do nothing else!

Cold Stuff's a'Comin!!**

It's cold and has been for days.  But it's fixin** to get colder.  And the forecast also includes what we refer to as the "S" Word:  SNOW.  It's not expected to be much.  However, it's a documented fact that our weather people do not know what they are doing until and unless it is happening "now" so one of two things will happen if we do get snow:  a)  not much or b) SNOWMAGEDDON.

 

I think that it will be a), but I'm always prepared anyway.  I got dog food yesterday, but I literally ran out completely yesterday morning and almost didn't have enough.  Actually, I didn't have enough but they got a torn up slice of bread with what little kibble we had left and a couple extra morning treats.  I stopped for milk this morning, we weren't completely out but were close.  While I don't think we'll get much, if any, I really don't want to have to get out to go buy milk if it is as cold as is probably will be.

 

I did not forget about Veteran's Day.  I posted something on Facebook and was going to post it here but I got busy and by the time I remembered it, it was too late and I was too tired.  But I still want to say THANK YOU to all our Veteran's.  Lots of them are family and many of them are gone already (like my Dad).  But still, THANK YOU.

 

Anybody need me this weekend, I'll be curled up in front of the fireplace with yarn in one hand and a hook in the other!

 

**(Remember, I am TEXAN.  We have our own language.  That includes our own punctuation and our own pronunciation!)

Wiggles & Jiggles

There was another earthquake felt in Tulsa yesterday.  It actually originated in Kansas but it was felt in this area.  I didn't feel it, I was driving at the time.  Bill was home, he was working on a pachinko machine.  He has a bobblehead-style Hula Girl figurine that was a gift, the person who gave it to him thought it would look cute in the El Camino but it never got there.  It's been sitting on a shelf in the office/pachinko room, along with the Stripper Doll that Sweetie gave him last Christmas!!  Anyway, he was sitting in front of his work bench/desk when the Hula Girl started shaking her grass skirt!  (Or maybe she was just cold?!) :)

 

My migraine didn't last too long, I went to bed feeling cold last night but that is also a symptom I sometimes have.  I have a suspicion that those disgusting, bad, EVIL cinnamon scented pinecones had more than a little bit to do with the headache.  Otter went to Michael's yesterday after she got off work, she was standing by some of them herself and she started to get a migraine as well.  Those things should be illegal!

 

It's still pretty cold and will be for a few days.  The "S" word has been used, by the forecasters on all the local stations.  I don't think we're supposed to get more than a dusting, if anything at all, and it is forecast for either Saturday or Sunday.  We're prepared, but then we usually are.  IF we get anything, it probably won't be a snowed or iced in situation, just very cold.  I am going to spend the weekend inside anyway, in front of the fireplace mostly and a hook in one hand and yarn in the other.  Although I might go to a used book store with Otter on Sunday to trade in her boatload of books that she cleaned out before she moved.

 

I loaded the trunk of my car up with stuff she is donating.  I'll take it tomorrow and give it all to Goodwill.  She was over here for a while this afternoon, she helped me move the last of the pile of her stuff out of the center of the craft room, and then we moved the rest of my yarn stash in there.  I vacuumed the closet again and a part of the middle of the room.  Then we moved the sofa table to where it's more centered in front of the living room window.  Otter is going to get me a couple of boxes from work, the remaining pile of stuff will be boxed up for her to go through as she has time.  The picnic baskets are now in the closet, there is still a stack of boxes that has her notebooks and sketchbooks and will eventually be put up in the attic.  She left a plastic 5-drawer unit, it has "office" supplies, some craft stuff, some drawing pencils and lots of misc. stuff; she thinks she wants it but she hasn't had time to go through it yet.  I might move it into the closet for now.  I'll probably get that done next week or in the next few days, then I'll get the sewing machines moved to the desk.

 

I also filled up two of my seed feeders for the birds, I'll put them out in the morning.  I need to get a few more suet feeder refills.  Maybe tomorrow, but if not the birds will still be fine with the plain seed feeders.  The dogs were very interested in what I was doing, they like birdseed and seemed to be a little unhappy that they didn't get it!

 

Otter came by so Bill could check the car.  The "check engine" light came on again today, which is what it did a few weeks back.  They took the car to the auto parts store and got it tested.  It's probably a clogged valve, which will be around $80 for the part and Bill can fix it himself - when the current cold snap is over!

I Could Have Done Without Another One

A migraine, that is.  I was in the grocery store and had just managed to get past the evil scented pinecones but I could still smell just a hint so that might have had something to do with it - they are that horrible.  Anyway, I was just getting started on putting stuff in the basket when I saw the first hint of a flasher.  I did think about leaving my basket there and heading home, but I can usually tell how bad the flashers will be and how long they will take before my vision clears completely and I didn't want to risk driving home with a flasher causing vision issues.  I figured I had about 45 minutes until it cleared completely, so I got my groceries and it was nearly cleared up by the time was ready to check out.  The headache isn't severe, but it is there and I know it!

 

Oh and Otter did say that she liked the Tooth Fairy idea!  But since we'd been to Michael's and used my 25% off on the entire purchase coupon and she had stuff in the purchase, I told her I'd just pay for what she bought.  She thought that was a good trade off!  :)

 

I got into Otter's closet yesterday morning.  I pulled everything out of it already, and I took the vacuum to the feather/mouse nests before I went to work yesterday.  And the vacuum promptly clogged up!  Lots of feathers, as well as quite a bit of plastic bag pieces and torn up paper which had all been used as nesting material.  Bill took the vacuum hose off and found the clog, and it also contained a small plastic spork! 

 

I am going to vacuum the closet again tomorrow, and then I'm going to move the picnic baskets to the closet.  They are filled with part of Otter's fabric stash.  The remaining stuff from the closet is going to be boxed up for Otter to go through when she gets a chance, and I'll vacuum the rest of her old room then.  And then I'm going to move (the rest of) my yarn stash in there.  The next thing is to bring the sewing machines in, then I just need to arrange it all.  Otter took the last of the clothing last night, she cleaned out the stuff she wanted to donate and the stuff she wanted to keep.  She wanted me to hang on to her Black Belt for a while, she doesn't really have a place for it.  It's in my closet for the moment, but I think I'm going to put it in the Guest/Craft/YARN room when I move the yarn stash in there.

 

I took my car in for the oil change today.  I went back to the Chevy dealer that we've been using, the service manager who was such a jerk is gone and we thought we'd give it one more try.  The other Impala needs to get the oil changed as well, I'll take it next week but I'm not sure if I'll be taking it to the same dealer or another one.

 

Cold!  It was in the mid-20's this morning and our high for the day was 32.  I think it got there, but I don't think it got any warmer.  By the time I was coming out of the grocery store, which was just a little after 5:00, it was really cold and felt like the temperature was dropping.  We have a fire going, we've had several already and I'm thinking that Bill should probably get at least one more load.  Not that we know where we'll put it!

Is This a Job for the Tooth Fairy?

Otter didn't exactly lose a tooth today.  Well, she sort-of did.  Maybe!

 

She had an appointment with the dentist this morning for the crown prep - which we thought was only the impressions based on what they told us when we set up her various appointments originally.  I thought that she already had the temp crown on, but what she actually had was "just" the filling/root canal stuff.  So, she goes in today thinking that it will be a short appointment and it turned out to be the impressions PLUS the crown prep which included grinding the tooth down enough to be able to attach the crown, which means a shot (and she did ask for the gas) and a temporary crown.  The actual crown will take about 2 weeks, so we made an appointment for 2 weeks from today.  The dentist tried to match her tooth color but because it's a front tooth and they couldn't get an exact match, they suggested we go straight to the lab to get the color match done.  I talked to the lab, it turns out that they are right down the street from where I work and she has an appointment at 9:00 in the morning.  Because she had to get the happy gas today, she really wasn't up to being dropped off at the library which was the original plan and she didn't want to be alone.  So, I took her back to work with me for the rest of the day.  She spent the time parked with her laptop, like she did last week after the root canal.  She was able to eat and was pretty hungry by noon, so we went to McD's so she could get chicken nuggets.  She figured that the would be soft enough and that she could also bite into them with her side teeth.  It took her a while to really recover from the happy gas, even with the oxygen they gave her after the procedure it takes a while - thanks to the RedHead Curse and the way we metabolize everything!

 

Otter didn't really eat enough last week, which probably didn't help her with the migraine and the bug she had.  She brought the car back yesterday afternoon, she texted me to tell me that she was heading over and could I please make her something to eat?  I opened a can of tuna for her, it's soft enough to eat and it also has quite a bit of protein.  I made her macaroni & cheese as well, she was absolutely starved and it disappeared pretty fast!

 

Bill's sister was in town today, we met her at Fuddruckers for dinner and by that time Otter was able to eat a little easier.  She still had to cut her burger into 4th, but she managed to eat half of it.  The other half and the french fries she didn't finish went home with her.  Otter enjoyed getting to visit with her Aunt, but she was pretty tired by the time the meal was done.  I took her home after we ate, she was going to take an allergy pill tonight because she needs it for allergies but it will also help her sleep which she might need after the dental work today.  Although the temp crown will protect her tooth, it's still tender.  Her tooth was pretty tender, but it was almost impossible for her not to bump it because it's a front tooth.

 

It was very windy today (which is why my allergies are on overdrive and Otter's are ramping up as well) and there is a cold front coming in tonight.  Emphasis on COLD.  We have a good chance of a "wintery mix" by Saturday morning.  Bill's going to bring in more firewood tomorrow, we might be having fires in the evening this week and we will definitely have one Saturday morning.  I was originally going to get groceries tonight but that has been put off until possibly tomorrow.  Maybe Wednesday, but I don't want to wait.  It's not going to be a B-M-T storm, but I still don't want to wait.  I also need to get the oil changed in my car this week.  I am going to go back to the Chevy dealer we're not happy with, but only for the oil change and only because I can not wait any longer.  Bill/Otter's Impala is also almost ready for an oil change, but I think I'll have enough time to check out another Chevy dealer in the area.  There are several of them.

 

I did make it to Tuesday Morning today, they don't have the towels like I bought Saturday so I'm going to go back to the closer store and get one of the larger towels if they still have them.  They do have some bathmats, but none that I liked.  I'll find one eventually, I just want one that is the right color but that is also not going to fall apart after a couple of runs through the washing machine!  I don't think that's too much to ask!

Dark Early!

I don't particularly like the time change, I believe I "may" have mentioned that a time or two.  Or a few dozen times!  I just couldn't think of a good title today, and it works...

I spent a few hours running around Tulsa today, looking in various stores for bathroom stuff.  And finding almost nothing, mostly.  I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond - they have some Bed stuff, very little Bath stuff and not much variety in what they do have - and a whole lot of Beyond which seems to mostly consist of make-up!  Looks like the same stuff that wallyworld carries, too.  I looked at Burlington which used to have a lot of household and some clothes - and now has almost entirely clothes with 2 small aisles of household stuff.  And it was messy, it looks like the employees don't bother to keep things neat or follow up after customers.  I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.  I looked at Target, which did have a few possibilities but not exactly what I wanted.  I did buy a soft pretzel at Target's snack bar, but that was the only thing I did buy there.  I hit a few other stores, too.  I finally decided to just to go Tuesday Morning in my small town but didn't think I'd find anything there since I had been striking out everywhere else.

I should have gone to Tuesday Morning first.  Because I found just about everything I wanted/needed for the guest bath.  I didn't find a bathmat, they did have some but not in a good color to go with the towels because I'm not even going to attempt to match the shower curtain.  I found a sort-of dark goldish color trash can, matching soap/lotion pump, matching small container that I'll figure out a use for and a burgundy plastic drinking glass.  I noticed that I'd been calling the shower curtain ruby, but burgundy is a better word for the color.  The gold I was finding today was mostly bright and I wanted a darker, almost antique gold color.  I found a decorative towel and washcloth, I would like a hand towel in the same pattern but they didn't have one.  I'm going to look at the Tuesday Morning close to where I work and see if they have one, if not I'm going to get another bath towel and get busy with needle and thread to make it a little smaller.  The towels are a cream color with a gold ribbon decoration, it's a little brighter gold but it works.  I am probably going to get a cream color bathmat, they did have some but not a lot.  I had a small plastic and metal basket that I use to keep things like small soap, toothpaste, stuff that a guest might want.  It doesn't really go anymore, Otter had a small woven basket that works better, she doesn't have any use for it so she gave it to me.  It had a green ribbon wrapped around it, I took the green off and am going to use some burgundy ribbon I got at Hobby Lobby today.

Otter has had a rough few days.  Monday was the root canal and her tooth is fairly sensitive still, then she woke up Friday with a very severe migraine.  She was off Thursday and supposed to work Friday morning, but there was no way she could go in.  She was taking the strong motrin the dentist gave her so she took some on Friday to see if it would help the headache - it didn't even touch it, I'd forgotten that she used motrin before and it never worked for her.  I was going to pick her up and take her to work Friday morning, then pick her up when she got off and either take her home to her apartment or drop her off at the library and then she was going to come home with me to get the car for the weekend.  Since none of those things happened, Bill drove to her apartment after work and I met him there.  I took her some rice I made Thursday evening and Bill met me at the door of her apartment.  She was in bed, she got up and let him in and went back to bed.  She was feeling really bad, she wanted to take a night-time allergy pill to at least get a little sleep but it has Tylenol in it so I called the pharmacist to ask about it.  He said that after Motrin, as long as you wait 2 or 3 hours then you can take Tylenol and that she should be fine - I read him the ingredients in the allergy pill and he ok'd it since it has other stuff in it as well.  She was going to take the allergy med and hopefully get some sleep, so we left.  I guess it's just as well that she did not go to Wizard World this weekend after all.

This morning, she texted me that she was going in to work and that she did feel better but her head still hurt some.  I stopped and left her a surprise snack in her car, then when she texted me later she said that she really felt bad.  She was scheduled to work until 4:00 and they were short-handed, so she knew she wouldn't be able to leave early.  I told her I'd bring her some Gatorade, so I stopped at the convenience store near her store and got three bottles.  I left them in the car for her, then I went inside to see her.  She was checking out a customer so I waited until she was through.  She did not feel feverish but he said she felt fairly awful and she was pale - which is saying a lot, she's got the typical Irish Redhead coloration.  She thinks that she might have actually had a bug that was aggravated by a migraine, but I really think it was "just" a migraine.  I headed on home at that point, she texted me about 2:30 that the next cashier had arrived and her boss told her to go on home.  She texted me later on that she'd had some soup broth (with chopped onions added to it) and that she was feeling better because she'd had some rest.  She is going to take an allergy pill tonight and should be able to get some sleep tonight.  She works tomorrow but not as early, she gets off at 3:00 but then they have a mandatory employee meeting at 6:30.  I told her to put her laundry in the car then she can come over here and get it done before she goes to the meeting.  I don't know if I'm taking her to the meeting or not, but she will bring the car back tomorrow at some point.  She's off Monday and Tuesday, so Bill will have the car and she will also have some downtime in case it is a bug.  The dentist appointment is Monday, it was scheduled for 4:00 but the dentist changed it to 10:00 in the morning and I'm glad of that since her tooth is tender.  She thinks it's just because the spot the dentist worked on is on the back of the tooth and it's kind of hard to keep from bumping it with the bottom teeth.

 

I'm hopefully going to get started on the tulip bed tomorrow.  The dirt work, anyway.  The ground is probably going to be cool enough to plant the bulbs very soon.  Possibly extremely soon, we have a cold week ahead of us and may get a "wintery mix" next Saturday morning!  So, I'm going to get the soap/oil/water mix on the bed tomorrow but I still have to get the weeds out of the way first and start loosening the dirt.  I might treat it again in about a week or so, but I might just go ahead and plant the bulbs then.  Either way, this is probably the last time I'll plant tulip bulbs there.  We may extend the back fence and the tulip bed area will not get enough sunlight if we do.  I may plant them somewhere else at a later time, though.

Too Tired!

But at least it's almost Friday.  That's a Good Thing, by the way.

 

It's been a busy week and I've spent a lot of time either sitting in a chair and bending over repeatedly to pick things up out of a filing cabinet, or standing on my feet for hours on end getting things out of higher filing cabinet drawers.  In other words, backache!  Mostly, my lower back.

 

I've also been running full speed ahead and had to deal with the tummy bug that Bill shared with me.

 

I'm so glad that it's almost the weekend!  I think my Saturday plans include shopping.  Followed by more shopping.  And maybe then shopping after that.  :)  Actually, I'm not planning on going nuts with shopping but I am looking for a few things to put in what is now the guest bathroom.  It used to be Otter's bathroom.  She left the ruby colored shower curtain and I like it so I'm not changing it.  I moved some of my Fenton in there, the goldish color and the reddish color.  They look really well and I've always liked red and yellow colors together.  I need to get a couple of decorative towels, a new bathmat and probably a new trash can.  The trash can that is in there now will be moved to the laundry room, since the one in the laundry room is the upside-down thimble shape that will be in my craft/sewing/YARN/guest room.  The bathmat is a creamish color but it's several years old and it's flaking more and more off of the back each time it gets washed.  Bill tends to panic when a bathmat gets replaced because it's frequently the first sign that I'm redecorating!  This time, the old bathmat is just crumbling.  But I'm going to change the color, it will be something that goes with the gold/red color and I'll probably get it at the same time as the towels.

 

I've been working on Otter's blanket and I think I'm going to be able to finish it with the remaining yarn I bought for it.  She was over here yesterday to bring the car back, I held the blanket up to her and it's going to be big enough.  It's going to be bigger than a lap blanket, which is what I wanted.  I'm enjoying working on it and it's going fast.

 

ComicCon Tulsa is this weekend.  Otter had originally planned on going, but early on it was obvious that it was going to sell out fast and also that the tickets were going to be astronomical.  So she decided it probably wouldn't work out this year.  Then she moved, and it's not really in her budget anyway.  She's not too upset, although she would have enjoyed it.  The main reason she was wanting to go at first was because Stan Lee was announced as being one of the main attractions.  However, shortly after that Mr. Lee started pulling out of everything he was scheduled for and that includes Tulsa.  He's gifted, but he's not a young man by any stretch of the imagination and we're kind of afraid of why he's suddenly cancelling all his appearances.

 

Froggy, I still have the butterfly shaped hook to send to you.  I have something else that I'm sending you, too.  Eventually, when I get around to it!  I'll let you know when I send it, but I'm not sure if I'm still looking for something else for you or not.  Probably!

Rooting

Otter's root canal was today.  She did pretty good.  The dentist remembered the Redhead Lesson she gave him last week and he made sure she had plenty of the novacane to get through the procedure.  She also had the laughing gas, it took longer than the numbness did to wear off but that's because it affects us completely differently than the non-Reds.  It only took about 45 minutes for the procedure.  She has a mild pain pill, it's basically super-strength motrin and is non-narcotic.  He also wanted her to stay on the antibiotic for a few more days so he gave her a refill on the prescription he gave her last week.  She decided that she did want to go back to the office with me after all, which is what she thought she would do.  She camped out on the sofa in my office with her laptop and ipod.  She didn't eat an actual lunch, but she did eat some yogurt about noon.  About 2:30, she was obviously very tired so I told my bosses that I thought we should head on home - they practically chased us out!  You'd think she was their kid or something (well, I think that they DO think that!). :)  I brought her home with me, she camped out on the couch at home and I got busy in the kitchen making potato soup.  It was pretty good, she enjoyed it and took two servings home with her.  She said she felt much better after she ate.  I told her that she should probably think about tuna or something like that if she was hungry this evening.  She goes back next Monday for the crown prep, which I think includes the impressions.

 

We could get rain tonight, and probably for the next couple of days.  It's supposed to be cool but not cold this week.  We'll see, sometimes they do get it right but not always!

 

Bill was under the weather today, he didn't sleep too well and he had a "sad tummy" this morning so he called in.  He's feeling better this evening, it's never fun when he gets sick!  The potato soup helped him, too.  This time, I made it with "baker" potatos and it was really good.

 

While I was waiting for Otter at the dentist, I got another row done on her blanket and am now on the third skein.  I still have 3 left, but I won't be surprised if I wind up buying another skein.  Otter has also requested another scarf/hat combo, so that makes 4 projects for her (including the blanket) that I have lined up now.  Not that I'm complaining, but she has a knack for always wanting something out of yarn that I don't already have!  She is my Chief Enabler, after all.

Just a Matter of Time.....

Getting There!

I'm not surprised.  At all!

 

It's been a somewhat busy day, for a Sunday.  I saw a pachinko machine in a craigslist ad last night, it was for an antique-ish store in Tulsa and the ad was actually for the store so nothing was said about the machine.  But the machine was pictured, so we decided to go look at it today.  We went by the booth first, then we picked Otter up to take her somewhere (she has a way home, she just needed a ride to meet J since she brought the car back yesterday).  After we dropped her off, Bill and I headed to a Chinese buffet and had a nice lunch.  We eventually found the store, although it was hidden and hard to see - exactly opposite of what their craigslist ad said!  The machine was overpriced, $85.00 for a machine missing some major parts and with some dirt and also the seller said it was from the mid-1940's.  It's actually from 1977, there is a code to date them.  The owner of the store called the booth owner to see if she'd go lower, she said $50 but Bill didn't even want to go $40. He would have gone to maybe $35, but we weren't surprised that she didn't want to come down so far from her $85 price.  So we left without it, but Bill left one of his cards with the owner.  It was still a fun shop, Froggy we might go back there when you visit me next time.

 

After we got home, I got busy in Otter's old room.  We had been thinking that the craft stuff was going to get put in the attic, but I decided to put it on the shelves in the garage next to my work bench since there's probably a lot of stuff that I would want to use.  I have been consolidating some of the boxes, Otter didn't pack them as much as she just tossed things into boxes and I made 3 or 4 boxes out of 6 or 7.  Today, I emptied the remaining craft stuff out of her desk, moved the much smaller stack of boxed craft supplies to one spot, moved the boxes that will go to the attic to another spot and then got the vacuum.  I vacuumed the spot where the craft boxes were originally stacked, then I moved the desk to that spot.  I vacuumed where the desk was, after I spent quite a bit of time on my hands and knees picking up beads that had fallen behind/under the desk!  There are still 3 picnic baskets, they mostly have her sewing stuff and some fabric and will probably be stored in the closet.  There is also a plastic drawer unit that has some craft stuff, some misc. stuff and some stuff that I don't have a clue what she wants to do with it.  In the middle of her room is a fairly good-sized stack/pile of boxes & misc. stuff that she's going to go through next.  That will leave the closet.  I opened the closet yesterday to see how big it actually is, and it kind of exploded on me!  I told her that she has until Thanksgiving to have it all done/cleaned out/sorted/taken home with her/donated and she agreed to that.  After the pile in the middle of the floor is done, I'm going to take everything out of the closet and it will become the pile in the middle of the floor to go through.

 

Maggie Moo helped me in Otter's room today.  She stayed in there almost the entire time I was in there.  She did her pedicure, groomed herself, scratched for a while and took a nap.  She was a big help!  The most movement I saw out of her was when I brought the vacuum in and she had to scoot out of the way.  She didn't scoot very far, just enough to get out of the way and then she went back to sleep.  Frasier stuck his head around the door a few times but he never actually came inside.  The dog block/baby gate has been moved back to where we can get into the hall bathroom without having to climb over the thing and now the dogs have realized that the first bathroom is open to them.  However, as that is where they usually get bathed they have almost no interest in going in there!  Frasier has peeked in there a couple of times (my dog the peeping Tom!) but he won't actually go into the bathroom.  Maggie Moo followed me in there once, then she suddenly realized where she was - talk about Deer in the Headlights!  She hightailed it out of there as fast as she could get those paws moving.

 

Before we left the house this morning, I got Otter's remaining shoes boxed up to take to her (she was going into shoe withdrawel without her shoe stash!  She was very glad to get the boxes with her shoes) and I found evidence that last winter's mice were nesting in her closet.  Specifically, in one particular short boot - it was filled with feathers that had previously been in the craft supplies and it looked like a mouse had actually made a nest IN the shoe - I left the feather nest intact so Otter could see it - trust me, she's her Mother's Daughter and she thought it was neat.  I'm sure that I'll come across more evidence when I pull the rest of the stuff out of her closet.  There are still some clothes in the closet, but mostly spring stuff and I think that there are probably more cosplay pieces.  And more craft/sewing stuff!  She's got a bunch of belts and a couple of purses, and I also noticed that her Black Belt is in there.  I was wondering where it was, but apparently she knew it was in the closet.

 

Otter and J saw the movie, The Book of Life this afternoon.  She texted me that it was really good.  I hope so, we were afraid it was going to ruin the idea of the Day of the Dead but she said they really enjoyed it.  Eventually, Bill and I will see it.

 

It did get pretty cold overnight Friday into Saturday, but not quite as cold as it was supposed to be.  It was below freezing, but not more than a couple of degrees.  It was a freeze, just not a hard freeze.  It was cold enough to have a fire yesterday morning, which was really nice.  I don't think any of my plants were affected, but the pepper plants are probably through producing fruit anyway.  Unfortunately, the freeze was not enough to kill much, if any, of the stuff we're allergic to.  It's been very windy today, which does not help a bit.  If I'm not sneezing, Bill is.  I set the humidifiers up Friday night and we'll be using them for the next several months.  Otter said she thinks she'll probably get one.  We'll see how she feels tomorrow after the dentist and maybe run by Wally or Target to look at them if she's up to it.

 

I did get a couple of rows added on to Otter's blanket yesterday, I never quite got around to going to the antique/junk store I planned on, but at least I did get some serious crochet time in!