Last Day of August 2015

I'm still a little title-challenged, but it works.

I am feeling better today.  I went to work.  I got a lot done.  And about 11:00, it felt like the sky fell on me and I suddenly had zero energy.  So, back home I went.  With a stop on the way home for dog food, because that was something I had to do today - the beagle likes it when we feed her!  :)

This is what said beagle did most of the afternoon:

I washed her blankets and bedding today, I didn't really have much choice because they were beginning to smell.  After the dryer is done, she always loves to curl up on her warm blankets.  Today, she was acting antsy and digging around on her blankets.  Which means that she wants to be covered.  I obliged and she was out for hours.

These are a few other pictures from this summer.

This is one of the 18-year black cicadas that emerged this year.  One showed up on the back window. They were predicted to be heavy and very loud, and they were both.

This is my 2nd volunteer sunflower of the summer.  This is the trellis that formerly held the clematis that never did anything.  It's had one bloom already complete it's cycle and there are two or three buds yet to open.

I tried to get a close-up, but of course that means that it immediately got breezy!  Bill has been absolutely forbidden from even coming near it, he says that sunflowers are weeds and pulls them if he sees them before I do.  I may actually plant some next year - he will be well threatened beforehand, if I do! 

We had this ivy suddenly show up in the backyard.  It might be something that grew from birdseed, judging on where it suddenly started growing.  Bill mowed it several times and it kept coming back.  Finally, he dug it up and we transplanted it.  It nearly died at first, but then it came back to life and is growing very well.  When he dug it up, he didn't get all the plant because it's still growing like crazy in the yard.  I don't know what the name of it is, it's just an ivy.

It has berries or seeds on it, and one of these days I'll actually find out what it is.  It may be a weed, but it's pretty and we like it.

The next two pictures are of a visitor that showed up on the cherry tomato plants we have at work.

Isn't she gorgeous?  I haven't seen one quite this big in a very long time.  Younger Boss usually will kill spiders, unless I get to them first and I do try to.  I pointed this one out to him and told him that he is forbidden from even thinking about getting rid of her, but he surprised me and said that he knew it's a good one and that he will leave her alone.  She's been there for several days and I checked on her this morning.  She's still at it and she is still alive, she moved when I was taking pictures.  These are from today.  We always called them zig-zag spiders.  Froggy calls them zipper spiders.

She's happy there and we hope she stays around.  She can eat all the little buggies she can catch!

Sunday Grilling

It's Sunday.  Bill grilled.  So, it's an appropriate title.

Occasionally, Bill will grill several days worth of meats and that was the plan for today.  Hamburger patties, hot dogs, chicken breast and steaks.  He grilled the hot dogs first, then the patties.  The chicken breast was next, and Maggie was very pleased when we finally got to that.  She stayed out on the deck with us most of the time, she was very interested in the all the lovely smells.  But when Bill put the chicken on, she was just about glued to his side.  He broke off a small piece of one end when it was cooked through and tossed it down to her - she was overjoyed!  It took her a few attempts to actually eat it because it was hot, she was funny and kept grabbing it and tossing it around until it was cool enough - almost like a predator and prey that needs to be killed before it can be eaten.  After it cooled down enough and she finished it, she spent the next several minutes licking the deck everywhere she had tossed her bite.  Bill gave her another one and she was a little smarter this time - she waited until it had cooled enough but she stared at it the entire time.  Then, she pounced on it.

Of course, the propane ran out when he was getting ready to put the last meats on the grill - the steaks for dinner tonight!  They wound up being broiled in the oven, they were still good but it took a little longer because we had to wait for the broiler to heat up enough.  We will probably both have steak leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Then I won't have to cook much this week, since there are enough chicken breast for 2 or 3 meals in addition to the burgers and dogs.

Looks like I get to exchange the empty tank for a new on this week!  As Bill said, we still have several good grilling weekends before winter.  We don't grill every weekend, but we do grill enough that it's worth it to get a refill even this close to winter.

I am feeling better.  Still feeling a little tired, but not as bad as I was this time last weekend.  I took a short nap this afternoon and that helped.  At this point, I am still planning on getting my flu shot next Friday after work.  So is Otter, I'll go get her after work or meet her at Walgreen's and we'll get that taken care of then.  Yes, I will buy her some ice cream!  And probably dinner as well, since I'm thinking it's going to be Subway to take home.

I went to the office for a few minutes about mid-morning today.  I wanted to get the trash and recycling stuff out for pickup tomorrow and I also cleared two or three days worth of mail out of the mailbox and took it in.

I did not get any crochet done today, but I did get some done yesterday.  We also got the pachinko machines that we had at the antique mall, we are now finished with the booth.  We may get another one later, the owner of the booth mall is opening another one in a couple of months in a better spot and we told her we would let her know.  It took us three trips.  I drove, Bill did all the lifting and loading into my car, then the unloading and lifting them into the house when we got home.  We didn't use Otter's car after all.  After we got the last machine, we went to a local barbeque-ish place for lunch.  It was pretty good.  Bill had three or four glasses of iced tea - he was thirsty! - and then when we got home, he still had to take a nap (after all the heavy lifting) and he slept for about an hour or so.  He was joking that maybe the tea was decaf, but really it was because he was up late Friday night working on his website and then up early on Saturday followed by all the heavy stuff.

Bill is probably going to get a load of firewood this week.  He was going to get one last week, but then he had a slight case of the bug I've been dealing with so he put that off.  I need to check on my bird seed supply, I might need to get more and a lot of places have it on sale this time of year.  I know I need to get suet cakes for the birds, I used my last one during the last snow storm we had this past winter.

Maggie Moo has been snoozing in her bed for the last couple of hours.  She was very happy, she got a treat from the grill then I brushed her (which she loves) and I guess that tired her out, because she is O.U.T.

Tired Friday

I'll be glad when this bug is gone.  Whatever it is.  It's apparently making the rounds and it seems to be happy about it.  Ugh.

I didn't even attempt to go in today.  I thought about it, but I knew when I woke up that I was still to draggy although I am slowly getting over it.  Bill did go to work, he wasn't feeling too good the last couple of days but I don't think he had the bug after all.  He probably has been having allergy issues.

I did get out.  Maggie Moo made sure she got her walk this morning (and then I also had to go to the post office.)  Maggie Moo was determined that she get taken out to prance around the neighborhood.  I was sitting on the couch and she wiggled around until she was between my legs and the couch.  Then she flipped over until she was on her back and her back legs were against my legs.  Then she proceeded to start kicking my left leg with her back legs.  Over and over and over and over to infinity and beyond.  I know she was trying to get me to take her out because the second I stood up, she flew to the door and bounced up and down in front of the leash hook.  Brat!  She was quite happy to get out the door, she sniffed as much as she could and visited as many blades of grass as she could.  When we got home, as soon as I got her harness off she hightailed it down the hall so she could get underneath my bed for her next nap.  Brat again!

I parked on the couch for a couple of hours, then I decided to get my post office trip out of the way.  I also had to stop at the bank and I remembered I needed to get something at the grocery store so I hit wallyworld with the intention of a quick run-in/run-out but I should have realized that even at 10:30 or so in the morning, Friday is not a quick day at Wallyworld!  I only had a few things to get but it took me 45 minutes.  I was tired before I got there and I was exhausted when I got through!

I talked to Younger Boss today, he said that his wife is still fighting it herself.  She has actually had to deal with it for about 3 weeks.  I was feeling iffy starting the middle of last week but I thought it was allergies.  Now, I don't think it was although my allergies might have compounded it.

I did manage to get the dishwasher run and a load of laundry washed but it's still in the dryer and will probably stay there until at least tomorrow.  There were 5 or 6 dishes in the sink that don't go in the dishwasher, I managed to get them washed but they are not put away yet.  I was planning on doing some crochet work on Otter's poncho but I got stuck into a book instead and had a very restful afternoon.

I really want to sleep in tomorrow.  We have to get the machines out of the booth by Monday evening, the plan was originally to move them tomorrow or Sunday.  That's non-negotiable, so I guess we'll figure out a game plan for them.

A place to put them all, however - that might take some time.  I have a sinking feeling that my living room is about to become a (better be temporary!) storage place for them!

It Must Be A Slow News Day

Because the first 15 minutes of the noon news today consisted of shots of the rain hitting a driveway and a parking lot!  I'm not exaggerating.  So exciting!

Anyway.

I went to work this morning but I was still feeling iffy and very tired.  Maggie Moo still got her walk, she is like a kid and doesn't understand that Mom doesn't feel good (and also she needs to get a little exercise as well as getting some of her energy expelled!) so we took a short walk.  She did get to say hello to one of the neighborhood kids as he was waiting at the bus stop, so the fact that it was a shorter than normal walk didn't seem to occur to her.

I left about 10:00, I only went in because I had to do paychecks and also pay a few bills such as electric bills for the oil leases.  Younger Boss is not feeling too good himself and he also said that his wife has been fighting this bug for days and days.  I know several people who have had it recently or have it now.  Otter has been warned to stay FAR AWAY from us for a few days.

It is 50-cent corndog day at Sonic, so I did get out once after I got home.  Bill needed his corndogs!  He had them for lunch and he kept some back for dinner tonight.  He called in today, since he apparently felt left out and came down with the bug I have.  He was home yesterday.  He's not sure yet about tomorrow, he'll decide in the morning.  At this point, I'm not inclined to think about going in to work tomorrow but I'll see how I feel in the morning as well.

I managed to get a little crochet done on Otter's poncho.  I've been trying to work on it all week, but I just never quite got around to it because I simply wasn't feeling good.  I might work on it some more today.  It's actually a fast pattern and I'm enjoying it.

This is just because I thought it was cute:

I love Dr. Who, but let's face it:  Star Trek beats them all!

Rerun

I thought I'd make it to work today.  But then I walked the Magginator and realized shortly after we started out just how tired I was.  So I called in.  We finished the walk - she really needs a walk on a daily basis if possible, she's like a kid and doesn't care if Mom isn't feeling quite up to par, then we came back home and I have been parked on the couch for most of the day.

With company, too.  It's Bill's turn!  He was home today and might be tomorrow as well.  I'm going in tomorrow and I'll just see how I do, I'd like to make the day but I'm not going to  worry about that right now.  Younger Boss said he really didn't know of anything that I absolutely had to be there for, and not to come in until I felt like it.  But I have to do paychecks sometime between now and Monday, so I'm thinking I'm at least going to be there long enough to do the checks.  After that, we'll just see.

Since Bill was home with me today, I actually made lunch.  It's mostly just been whatever I could find in the fridge this week.  I had a package of minestrone soup mix in the pantry, I keep it on hand for times when I don't want to cook, and we had that for lunch today.  It was pretty good, not very spicy but it has a good tomato-y flavor.  Bear Creek brand, Big Lots carries a lot of their items and they generally have better prices on most of their mixes.

Today is National Dog Day.  Maggie Moo celebrated by pouncing into her bed, scooting around until she'd kicked her pillow out, then jumping out of the bed and scooting herself until she was underneath the pillow.  Then she went to sleep!

This is from a few years back, one day Maggie Moo decided she needed a nap and she got up into Otter's bed.  This is how we found her, she got into this spot/position on her own:

And because I will never forget my special boy, King Frasier!:

I really miss him, but I know we did the right thing.  He was just a very special dog and there will never be another one like him.

Bill saw a commercial earlier in the week.  Tomorrow is 50 cent corndog day at Sonic.  Guess I'm not cooking dinner tomorrow night!

Still Bugged

I went to bed before 9:00 last night and it was still hard to wake up this morning.  I felt better but not the best.  I had an appointment to get new tires and an oil change, the plan was to drop my car off and then borrow Otter's car so I could go on to work (I told her I'd give her lunch money!)  I was going to bring her car back on my lunch hour and pick my car up - the car repair place is in the same shopping center as her store.  I went to the post office before dropping the car off because I was way too early, as usual.  And that's when I realized that my throat was really sore and I was beginning to feel bad again.  So, I dropped the car off then walked across to get Otter's car.  I called in and came on home.  They said it would probably be about 2 hours, but they called me about a hour and a half later to tell me the car was ready.  I went back up there, parked Otter's car in their employees parking area and walked back across to get my car.  It was actually less than I expected for four 70,000 mile tires and an oil change.  I've been back on my couch for the most part since I got home.

There's been a beagle at my feet, snoozing, for the last few hours.  Yesterday, she alternated between one of her 2 beds, pillow in the laundry room, blankets in the living room and underneath the futon in the guest/craft/YARN/front room.  But today she's mostly been on her bed in the living room or at my feet.  What can I say, dog's lazy.  And spoiled!

I normally go see Miss Dorothy on Wednesday mornings, but I asked Younger Boss to call and let her know that I don't think I should go see her tomorrow.  I'm planning on going in, but I'm pretty sure that this is a bug and not an allergy, the last thing any of us want is to get Miss Dorothy sick.  I'll probably see her later on in the week.

Bill was planning on getting firewood this week, but it might actually be next week before he gets any.  He had something to do after work yesterday and tomorrow he's going to meet someone at the booth about a machine.  We are going to close out the booth so we have to get the machines out, which he might be planning on starting tomorrow instead of waiting until the weekend.  Or maybe not, I don't think he's made up his mind.  He has several machines needed attention, but he has had to spend several days recreating part of his websites because the web host goofed up and quite a bit of it was deleted - they apologized, but that doesn't help much.  He still had to miss several days of his sites being available.  Along with accidentally deleting things, there backup files were either deleted or corrupted - depending on which person he talked to.  Talk about frustrating!  All three sites are back up and running, but there are probably still a lot of things that need to be added back as he has time.

But since it was actually cold enough that I needed a jacket this morning, I think he'd better find time to get firewood soon!  We might just need it early.

Warm Spell

The title refers to the fact that I woke up feeling cruddy and also had a slight fever.  I didn't feel too good over the weekend and I was thinking allergy but now I think it is probably a garden-variety bug.  I'm tired this evening but feeling better and I don't have fever anymore.  It wasn't much, just a degree more or less.  It has aggravated my asthma slightly.

I've been parked on the couch for the most part today, I did take the bratdog for a short walk this morning but that was partially self-defense so she would be calmed down and let me rest!  Bill took my car today.  Maggie Moo wanted to go back outside while ago, we went out in the back yard so she could visit the grass there and the mosquitos were out in full force.  I squashed two, one on each arm, and evaded a few more.  But I think that there may have been a few that I was unaware or - but they were aware of me!

I did get a loaf of banana bread made, the bread machine has a recipe for it but it's not really my favorite.  No secret that bananas are my favorite fruit and probably one of my top favorite foods in general.  I do like banana bread, but the recipe the bread machine makes just doesn't have enough banana taste or sweet flavor for me.

I started the 2nd half of Otter's poncho.  The first half is lavender and the 2nd half is light blue.  We bought all the yarn at the same time at Hobby Lobby, two skeins of each color.  We made sure that the labels matched and the yarn looked like they matched.  I made the first half and had almost enough yarn in one skein to finish but not quite.  So, I attached the 2nd lavender skein on and did 4 or 5 row sets until it was long enough.  I finished it up at work on my lunch hour one day.  And that's when I discovered under the stronger office lights that the two lavender skeins don't match!  They looked the same in the store and the labels matched.  But the yarns are not the same color.  When Otter was over here yesterday to do her laundry, she looked at the poncho half and I held it up to her like it will fit on her when it's assembled.  The part that is different will be in the back and it will probably look ok, but I'm still very annoyed about it.

I'm taking my car in to get new tires on it tomorrow.  It's due for an oil change, so that will be done at the same time.  I'm taking it to the place in the same shopping center that Otter works in, we've used this place for a few months now and they re the place that put the tires on Otter's car a few months back.  They said that it will only take a couple of hours, so I'm going to drop my car off with them and then walk across the parking lot and borrow Otter's car so I can get to work.  I'll bring her car back at lunch and pick my car with it's new shoes up.  I told Otter that I'd buy her lunch, so I'm going to leave her some lunch money for letting me borrow her car - she agreed to that!

Maggie Moo is now curled up at my feet.  Snoring loudly!

Can't Think of Anything To Call This!

I've been fighting allergy symptoms for several days and today I don't feel the best.  So, cut me a little slack Froggy!  (You know you want to get on me because it's been a few days. :)  Do I know you or what!)

Last week had some interesting weather.  Wednesday was odd.  I don't think we even made it to 80!  It was so nice, it was a very pleasant change from the warm and icky weather we've been having.  It hasn't been "hot", but then I go by TEXAN standards so my version of warm might be someone else's version of meltingly hot.  But the point is, it was nice and I enjoyed it.  We've had a few days of rain, Yesterday was rainy for most of the morning and into early afternoon.  I had plans to go to two neighboring towns on an errand for Froggy, but I decided not to after seeing the radar and the storm prediction.  It wasn't bad in terms of tornado alley bad, but there was a lot of water and some localized street flooding.  So my plans changed.  When Otter got off work at 2:00, I picked her up and work and we went across the street to Hobby Lobby.  After we shopped, I took her back across the street and dropped her off at her car.  This morning, we were planning on visiting one of the other 2 churches we are interested in but then we woke up to a pretty loud thunderstorm and a lot of water!  The power went out for about 30 seconds, which was B.A.D. because the coffee pot was only about half way through!  It came back on quickly, so I pushed the "on" button on the coffee pot and it finished.  That was a good thing, because I desperately needed caffeine this morning.

Otter came over to do her laundry this morning, Maggie Moo didn't get a walk yesterday because of the rain or Friday because it was just rainy enough that she wouldn't go outside (she might melt, you know!), so she was raring to go this morning.  When Otter got here, Maggie Moo was overjoyed and then she was even happier when she got to go on a walk with her Otter.  (Maggie made a new friend on her walk today, a young female pittie mix puppy who is just the sweetest, goofy baby!)  I wanted to get something at Wallyworld, so Otter and I ran up there after she got her laundry going.  When we got back, we went through the fabric boxes that Otter left here.  She cleaned out a small amount and got a few things to take home with her, but most of the boxes will go back to the closet.  Which is fine with me, they are not in the way and she doesn't really have that much room at the moment.  She may get some or all of the fabric later on, but it's fine if they stay here.  She gave me one of the picnic baskets - the original one that I had and gave to her, and some of the stuff in the boxes was mine so it's now in the picnic basket.  She left the large plastic tub full of her silk flowers and another box of misc. stuff that she'll get in the next few days or we'll take to her if we happen to be heading in the direction of her apartment.  We also stopped at Subway to get lunch to bring home after we went to Wallyworld, we all got foot long sandwiches with the idea of getting two meals out of them.  Bill's having his 2nd half for dinner at the moment, I'll get to mine eventually.

I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but we're closing our booth at the antique mall.  We're paid through the end of this month, next weekend we'll bring the machines home.  I told Otter that we might want to borrow her car, since these are restored machines and could be damaged if they are tossed in the back of the El Camino.  I also might need to borrow her car one day to get myself to work, since we're probably going to put new tires on my car this week.  She's agreeable, we buy her gasoline when we borrow her car!

In the news this week, former President Jimmy Carter has cancer and it's spread to his brain.  He probably doesn't have a lot of time left.  I have never made a secret of the fact that I think he is the worst President in recent history.  I'm not too impressed with some of his actions/statements after he left office,specifically his comments about Israel.  But as a human being, I do feel for him and I wish him the best with his treatment.  I also think that he is a genuine Christian and not a "show Christian."  He needs our prayers as he faces what is probably the final battle of his life.

I rearranged some of the kitchen decor.  Actually, the dining room.  I have a triangular plant stand, it's tall (5 or 6 shelves) and is designed to fit in a corner.  I moved it from where it was to the other side of the dining room, it's now beside the china cabinet and the trash can is moved to where the plant stand was.  I'm going to hang the 5 ceramic and 1 metal pie plates on the wall that was formerly covered up by the plants stand.  It makes the dining room look better, less cluttered and all I did was move two things to the opposite side of where they'd been!

Remember

This is one of my favorite Gene Roddenberry quote, on what would have been his 94th birthday (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991): 

"It speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow – it's not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids – human beings built them because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things”. --Gene Roddenberry

LLAP!

Still Looking (Edited)

We met with the associate pastor at the church we've been attending.  We had a few questions and she was very willing to answer them.  After the visit, we've decided that we need to keep looking.  We are going to visit one of the other United Methodist churches in the area and see what we think.  There are a few big issues and we agreed on most of them, but there was one in particular - does the specific church view the Bible as literal?  It was the first question and nearly the last one, because the answer was no.  It's a big one as far as we are concerned, there were a few other things we didn't really like so we are not going to continue visiting this particular church.  (EDIT:  I think the work"real" would be better than literal to describe the Bible.  And if the pastor doesn't think it's real, then why is he/she even in that position?)

Since it's Tuesday, it's fajita night at El Chico so we stopped for dinner on the way home.  We got there at the perfect time, they weren't crowded at all but they were getting that way fast by the time we finished our meal.

I've been wondering if I might be on the verge of a sinus infection the last day or so.  I'm at that point where it might be, but it might not be and I won't know for a day or so.  Or a few days.  It's at the point where if it is, it will continue to develop.  But if not, then I don't want to go to the doctor for antibiotics that I don't need.  But there were two yogurt coupons in the paper the other day...

Froggy, I knew you would like the TEXAS clock.  The bluebonnets are hand painted.  It was special from the moment the Teenager gave it to me, but now it means even more to us.

Cue Twilight Zone music:  Yesterday, Maggie literally herded a cricket to me.  As in she chased it but wasn't trying to eat it - however she was very obvious that her intent was to bring it to me.  Then, she turned around and walked over to where the bug jar is kept and stared at it very intently.  Then she turned around and stared at me intently, then back to the jar and then back at the bug.  At that point, I realized that she had made the connection with bugs in the house being caught in the bug jar and put out.  She was quite happy when I picked up the bug jar and caught the cricket and then she walked to the back door and waited for me.  She walked out on the deck with me and watched me dump the bug out, then she turned around and came back in.  It's a scary moment when the beagle does something smart!  :)

Tomorrow's high temperature is in the low 70's!   Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Late for Sunday!

I meant to post on Sunday, but I got busy with stuff and forget.

Among other things, I did a little maintenance on my yarn drawers.  I took the doilies out of the large drawer that they were in, and then I moved the contents of 2 of my smaller drawers into the large drawer.  Which then left me with 2 empty drawers!  I teased Bill about needing to go to the yarn store, he offered to "help" me with my yarn stash and I threatened him with dismemberment if he so much as thought about getting into the yarn!  He thinks I was kidding, but I'm not sure sure. :)

I didn't get to the yarn store, but I did get to a few thrift stores and one of them had yarn.  Vintage Red Heart brand, clean and non-smelly, 3 skeins in a colorway that they don't make any more and $1.00 each.  Of course they came home with me!  I had to move the futon out of the way a little, which meant that I had to also relocate a certain beagle, and then I rearranged my yarn in the drawers.  I have quite a bit of Red Heart, it's fairly cheap but also fairly strong and works for a lot of items so I have a lot of it.  A LOT.  I spread the Red Heart out a bit so that the 2 empty drawers are now full, and there is room in the rest of the drawers to at least shut them easily.  I moved some of the other varieties of yarn to different drawers, the stuff I don't use much is in the lower drawers that are blocked by the futon and the Better, Good and Really Good Yarn are now where they can be accessed easier.

I took the doilies out because I wanted to get started on my doily curtain.  I pinned a few together to see how it worked and flung it over the curtain rod.  It does work, but I'm thinking that I might change my plan slightly.  The curtain that was my original inspiration consists of doilies that are attached to very filmy fabric and I'm thinking that I'm going to go that direction.  For one thing, it will drape better and I think it will be easier to hang.  The one at the store has a pale pink fabric but I'm thinking I'm just going to use a white gauzy curtain for my backing.  Froggy, even with as many doilies as I have - and I have a lot, I'm not sure if I actually have enough.  So, I will be very happy to get the ones you mailed to me.

I've given up on my clematis plant.  It never really did very well, it would grow a few feet long and twine around the trellis but that was all it would do.  It would grow to a point and then it would quit growing.  It died several times and came back, but I don't think that it would ever have done any more than that.  So I dug it up yesterday - and it was dead at the ground level again.  I'm going to put in a rosebush next year, which was my original plan for that particular trellis but Otter is extremely allergic to roses and she was still living here when I put the clematis there.  I have always loved roses but never had them because of her allergy.  I'm not sure what kind of rose I want, I love red roses but pink roses are really my favorite.  Bill apparently figured that out early on in our marriage, because if he's going to send me roses they will be pink!  So I'm probably going to go with a pink blooming rose.

This is the forecast for the Tulsa area for the week.  Look at Wednesday!  It is still August, as far as I know.  But Bill is going to start getting firewood pretty soon.

The Teenager gave this to me a few years back.  The working mechanism quit working a while back.  After we lost him, I came across the clock again.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another clock mechanism, Bill put it in for me and the clock is now in a place of honor in the living room.  The Teenager was a TEXAN and was just like the rest of Us - TEXAS is in our blood and bluebonnets are especially sacred to us.  When we and Miss Dorothy moved to their retirement community a few years back and they were cleaning out stuff they didn't want to take with them or wouldn't have room for, he immediately brought the clock to me.  It means a lot to me, to both of us really.  The office is very quiet and feels like something important is missing.  Which it is, I guess.

Thursday Already?

Wow, tomorrow is Friday!  I just realized that.

PBS is having their annual August pledge drive, which is when they have the music features.  I've been in musicobsessive heaven all week!  I did manage to see the BeeGees special from the beginning this time (I usually miss the first part of it), the John Denver special was very good and there have been a couple of others that I've enjoyed.  Tonight is Celtic Woman - watching them makes me realize that the most influential Teacher I ever had was probably Irish!  Obviously, it was the Choir Teacher I'm referring to.  He was probably university professor level, and his lessons are still with me.  One thing he drilled into us was breathing.  Breath control is probably the most important aspect of singing, and to this day I still find myself remembering what I was taught to do and it drives me absolutely CRAZY when so-called professionals can't even figure out when to breathe while singing!  We were taught to the level of ability and performance professionalism that the members of Celtic Woman have, and he made sure we learned it!  I wish Mom had not gotten rid of my Choir Sweater, but she apparently did because it was nowhere to be found when we cleaned out the house after Dad died.

Otter came over to do her laundry today.  She was originally going to come over yesterday, she was scheduled to work Tuesday night (as in all of it, until early Wednesday morning) but the supply truck was delayed so she was rescheduled to work on Wednesday instead, when the truck actually arrived.  She was exhausted after unloading the truck and restocking all the shelves, which is probably her least favorite part of being the Pricing Coordinator for the store.  She is part of the Inventory Control Department.  She decided to come do her laundry today, on her day off.  She mostly came over to play with the beagle I think!  :)  Bill saw a Sonic commercial, they had half-price cheeseburgers today so that's what he wanted for dinner.  I told Otter that I'd get her something from Sonic as well so she had dinner with us.  She's very happy with the new apartment and having more room.  She was really happy today, she found what they refer to as "dumpster furniture."  Somebody put a short dresser out by the dumpster, she and Roomie borrowed a dolly from the apartment office and it's now in their apartment.  On the 3rd floor!  She said it probably weighs at least 100 pounds, and it took them a while to get it up the stairs but they did it.  All that is wrong with it is one drawer needs a little glueing to hold it together on one spot.  They got it into the living room and then left it there, they will figure out exactly where to put it but she said they were tired after having to get it up the stairs and into their apartment.

It's been cooler this week, the last couple of mornings have been almost sweater temperatures.  Maggie Moo has really enjoyed it on our morning walks, especially this morning.  She was so bouncy!  She really had fun this morning, she sniffed everything, and I do mean everything, and she was so playful.  At the moment, she is asleep at my feet.  She wiggled herself around until she is underneath her bed.  I guess she's comfortable because she is snoring!

Nevermind, the beagle is up!  She woke up and curled her tail around my ankle.  Then she got up and shook herself, now she's sitting in front of me and may be watching tv.  She has been known to do that.

It's back-to-school time.  Otter has been out of school for 4 years now.  For some reason, I keep thinking that I need to get school supplies!  She hasn't even lived here in nearly a year, and she's been working for the last 2 1/2 years, for pete's sake.

We do need to start getting firewood soon, though.  That's another thing that the cooler morning temps have got me to thinking about.

Walgreen's has the flu shot vaccine in stock.  I'm getting mine on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, like I usually do.  Last year's was much earlier, in August.  As a result, it was a normal weekend instead of a 3-day weekend.  I really could have used that extra day off to recover from my usual reaction, so I've gone back to the Labor Day weekend schedule.  Otter is going to get hers then as well.

The crepe myrtles in the back yard are doing wonderfully.  Some of them are blooming.  The mimosa tree in the front yard is finally blooming as well.  The mimosa tree was planted from a sprout that showed up in the back yard and was probably grown from a seed from the neighbor's tree.  Each year, it would come up and have a few leaves then it would die down in the fall but it never got taller than a couple of feet.  Last winter, it died completely and disappeared - or so we thought.  It did disappear, but there was still life left in it and it came back up this year.  And it's now over 7 or 8 feet tall!  It's fully leafed out and it beautiful, but I was afraid it might not be a blooming tree.  Then last weekend, it suddenly put of blooms.  Just a few, but that's fine with me because that means it will bloom each year and should increase the number of blooms.  I guess it just took it a few years to get really established.

We have a meeting with the associate pastor at the church we've been attending, next Tuesday.  I think we'll make the decision after we talk to her.  In all probability, we will be joining that church but we won't decide until after our meeting.  Otter will be transferring her membership with us.  We realized today that we haven't been to our current/about to be old church in over 10 months and not once has anyone ever contacted us!  Except for one time when I mailed my tithe check in and made a mistake on it - they contacted me immediately when it concerned money, I noticed!

I think that's very telling.

Weekend Shopping

The sales-tax-free weekend in Oklahoma is this weekend.  It started on Friday and ends at midnight tonight.  We don't have to buy a lot anymore, since we don't need school clothes.  But Bill needed jeans, shirts for work and socks.  Otter need jeans and she also got a pair of shoes.  I found a few t-shirts at Walmart.  We saved a whole $12.36!  (I'm being a little sarcastic here.)  Not a fortune, but it all helps.  Otter wanted to get her glasses adjusted so we went to the mall for that but didn't actually buy anything there.  We got most of the clothing items at WalMart and one of Bill's shirts at Sears.  But the mall was still fun.  We also went to a Goodwill, where I made another Fenton find:

These are stock photos, but I found one of them.  $1.50!  I'm not really into the bells that much, but Fenton at $1.50?  Yes, it will come home with me!  This one did.  I had just remarked to Otter that I didn't think I was going to find anything at the store today, and it was on the next shelf.  It doesn't have the sticker that the last picture shows, but it's the Daisy and Button pattern and it is in perfect condition.  It's a little more iridescent than the pictures show.  The clapper is intact, which is usually the first thing to be broken off and lost.

I did get my closet rearranging done yesterday, like I planned.  It wasn't difficult.  I mostly had to move a few boxes around and then shift the longer clothes to the center of the closet rod.  And then I had to hold my left foot over the sink while Bill poured peroxide over it, after I dropped a small wooden box on it!  It wasn't a long drop, more of a slide out of my hands than an actual drop.  But it landed on the top of my foot and caused a small cut.  No damage, it wasn't hard enough of an impact to worry about broken bones or anything, but I'm probably going to have a bruise!

We got Maggie Moo another bed yesterday.  She was so funny.  She was a little on the confused side, but then she generally is, when she couldn't find her bed.  We kept the pillow out of the old bed, but the bed itself was thrown out last week.  It developed a hole in the bottom of the bed when I washed it one time and it slowly grew larger each time the bed was washed or the dog rearranged herself or the pillow.  Since they are somewhere around $7.00, we figured we would just go get her another one.  Yesterday, we ran a couple of errands and then went to Otter's store since that's where the first bed came from.  I brought it inside, cut the tags off and put it in the place by the couch where the first bed had been.  The Magginator was outside at the time, when she came in and saw the bed - she squealed like an excited toddler!  Then she literally bounced into the new bed, curled up and went to sleep.  Silly baby!  She made a few new puppy friends on our walk this morning, so she has had a good day.  She's snoozing on her blankets at the moment.  She was napping under the futon when I left to get Otter and she's been rearranging the pillow in her bed today too.

I also got the soup made yesterday, but I put off making the pinto beans.  Possibly one evening this week.

Bill's assorted frozen spots are fine, they are still a little sensitive but not actually painful.  He slept on the couch Friday night, we figured out that he would be more likely to stay on his right side and not his left (the wart was on the left side of his nose) so we made him a bed on the couch.  I went to bed before he did, but sometime after he got into his nest, he realized that he was laying on his right side and that was the arm that had the frozen spots!  So, he switched to his back.  Which means that he didn't sleep too well.  Last night, he decided he'd better stay on the couch and we fixed his pillows up a little so he'd be propped up more which would help him sleep a little.  I'm not sure where he's sleeping tonight, but he may decide to stay on the couch again.  I'm just glad it wasn't actually a skin cancer on his nose after all.

Sun Tea is happily being made on the back deck!  I forgot to put it out yesterday, but I remembered this morning.  When I picked Otter up for our shopping trip, I noticed that her jar was out on her patio today, too.

I think it's time to go check on the load of jeans I have in the dryer now.  Then I think maybe I'll answer the call of the chocolate that I can hear calling me all the way from the freezer!

'Splain Me...

Why people act so surprised that it's hot?

IT'S AUGUST, PEOPLE!!!!!

It's supposed to be hot in this part of the world in August.  Summer?  Last time I checked, Summer does not mean snow and ice!

Geesh.

OK, rant over.  That one, anyway.

Billyboy saw the dermatologist today.  The spot on his nose is not a skin cancer, although it did look like one and is in the same spot as he's had them before.  It's actually a wart, but it was growing so the doctor froze it.  Bill did have a place coming up on his right hand (that he had NOT told me about) that he had the doctor look at and it was a skin cancer, but very small still. There was also a "wanna be" on the same hand and on his right arm, so all three of those were frozen as well.  The doctor gave him a pretty good once-over and didn't see anything else to be concerned about, so unless Bill has something pop up between now and next August he is good to go.  We really like this doctor, he's very thorough and he's also very familiar with the care of Redheads.  He told Bill that he has to go to work next week, but that he doesn't have to do dishes or vacuum for the next two weeks.  :)  However, he may still sleep on the couch tonight so that he can keep from rolling over on his left side.  If he sleeps on his left side in our bed, that means that he's snoring in my ear!

Today is the first day of the Sales-Tax-Free Weekend.  I went to Wallyworld this afternoon.  I found 2 golf shirts for Bill (for work), a package of socks for Bill, a pair of jeans for Bill and 3 t-shirts for myself.  He really needs at least one more pair of jeans, I may go to a different Walmart tomorrow or Sunday, when Otter and I go shopping.  So far, I've saved a whole $3.57!  It's not like when Otter was little and we bought school clothes, but it's still fun to go.

Since Bill does not have any restrictions other than being careful not to bump the spots he had frozen today, I don't need to stay home and be nursemaid.  I'm still going to make soup and possibly a pot of beans tomorrow, since we want them too.

Maggie Moo might also get a shopping trip tomorrow.  Her bed got a little tear in the washing machine and it finally tore enough that we just decided to toss it and get her another one.  It cost less than $8.00 at a certain tool store we frequent.  Dogs are allowed and since her Otter works there, she loves to go in there anytime I take her.  The pillow from her bed is ok, it got washed this morning along with her blankets and regular pillow, she likes the pillow from her bed but I think she'd prefer her bed to the pillow.  At the moment, she's snoozing underneath the futon!

Such a hard life that dog leads...

Still?

It seems like this year should be over by now.  But it's still only early August.

It's been a busy year, I guess.  And a very stressful one.

Anyway, I checked in with Miss Dorothy today.  I am going to visit her each Wednesday morning.  She is doing very well.  She obviously has emotional moments, but she has gotten to the point where she can remember the Teenager and the fun they had over the years.  She is such a precious person, and very special.

Otter came over today.  She had laundry to do and also Bill wanted to check on her car.  The car seems to be running fine.  She said that it seems to be running "not as hot" as it was before, it wasn't overheating but in hindsight the radiator might have been losing efficiency or maybe actually leaking slowly for a while.

The Sales-Tax-Free weekend in Oklahoma is this coming weekend.  I think TEXAS has it the same weekend.  We don't need to buy school clothes anymore, but it's a good time to get things we need.  Otter said she could use a couple of pairs of jeans and I know Bill needs a couple, so we'll do a little shopping.  Otter has to work Saturday but she's off Sunday.  Bill isn't into clothes shopping, but I can get him jeans without his presence.  However, Otter's presence is required for buying clothes for her.  I told her I'd spring for lunch, and she also wants to get her glasses adjusted while we are out and about.

Bill doesn't know what his Saturday plans will be, it depends on what the dermatologist does on Friday so he may be home on the couch for the weekend.  I have a few things I want to do around the house, which I'll do on Saturday since I want to be close in case Bill needs anything.  Obviously, we don't know if there will be anything but the last time Bill had a skin cancer removed from his face he was unable to bend or do much of anything for something like 72 hours (or maybe more) but that was a big one and it required a very intensive removal process.  So, we're planning on similar to the last time in the hopes that it won't be that bad.  I've been trying to find the time to make my specialty crock-pot beef-vegetable soup but I haven't had a chance to stay home all day, so I have soup plans for Saturday.  I'm going to rearrange my closet, for one thing.  I have a few boxes and misc. stuf stored in the closet but it needs to be arranged better (I'm gong to channel the Borg Queen!)  My dresses and longer skirts are crammed into one end of the closet and keep getting wrinkled just hanging in it, so I'm going to move the boxes to the end and my dresses/skirts will be hanging in the middle where they can actually hang and not fold at the bottom.  Also, Bill's suits and dress pants are in the same position at the other end of the closet.  I may also clean out some of the clothes that we haven't worn in a long while.

Is it Friday yet?

It's Summer, So That Means...

Another possible skin cancer for Billyboy!

And I was just thinking the other day that maybe he would miss this summer, because had no sign of anything.  Then a couple of days ago, he brought to my attention the fact that he has a small spot on his nose that is coming up exactly like the big one he had removed from his nose 2 years ago.  But this time he's admitting that it might be an issue now, when it first showed up, as opposed to waiting months and months (while it got bigger and bigger) before admitting the maybe/possibly/there was a slim chance/probably wasn't a skin cancer - and the delay caused by his denial turned a small procedure into a Very Big Deal.  I called the dermatologist today and he has an appointment on Friday afternoon.  He's taking the day off, I'm taking the afternoon off.  It probably is another one, but it's still small so (hopefully) it won't be a big deal.  It's on the right side of his nose, the one before was more in the middle, but it is close to his eye so it might be a bit tricky.  I told him to be sure and let me know in plenty of time what kind of alcohol he wants me to buy for him before Friday!

Please Please PLEASE wear sunscreen.  And stay out of the sun as much as you can.  Wear a hat, keep the back of your neck covered and wear a t-shirt if you have to.  Teach your kids that sunscreen is a sacred ritual and enforce it.

It's not fun, and I'm only on the outside of it looking in.  But I know what Bill has had to go through.  Too many times and probably more in the future.

Stuff Happens

Such as life!  Froggy, I've kind of had my hands full but here:

The girls are moved.  The apartment office had the keys changed for them at 10:00 and the internet guy showed up at the same time to move their modem from the old apartment to the new one.  Once they had access to the new apartment, J started moving some of their stuff.  Bill got off at 11:00 and headed straight over there.  He and J started taking beds apart and moving them.  I left work at 11:30, and ran by Little Ceasar's pizza to bring lunch over there.  Bill was working on getting the beds assembled again starting with Otter's because she was there by then.  Then Roomie got home, so she decided how she wanted her furniture arranged, so he got her bed put together and then we basically got out of the way so he could get her other furniture moved.  All that was left at that point was the closet, which was quick to empty, and a few misc. boxes of things that had been packed from the bathroom and linen closet.  They have a hall/coat closet now, which they didn't have before but really needed.  Bill and Otter figured out where to put her workbench in the dining room.  I unpacked and shelved their foodstuffs on their shelf they use as a pantry.  Bill left after he finished the furniture, I was only there a short time after that because the only thing was left was unpacking boxes and figuring out where Otter and Roomie wanted to put things

Yesterday, (Saturday), the plan was that we would clean the old apartment up after Roomie got home from work since Otter's shift at work was early morning.  I had a couple of errands to run, including going to Wallyworld to get a couple of floor lamps for Otter.  She headed over to our house to get the coffee table, and that is when the plans de-railed.  Bill was mowing when they got there, he sent them on inside and then he realized that there was a very large puddle under Otter's car.  And it was growing.  He looked at it and realized that her radiator had sprung a leak.  After I got home, Bill and I went to the auto parts store and got her a new radiator.  Then I took Otter and J back to the apartment and we cleaned the old one up.  It didn't take that long, it was a one bedroom apartment and they aren't really slobs.  I cleaned the kitchen sink and Otter cleaned the rest of the kitchen.  The stove and refrigerator were moved to the new apartment with them, so that was less to clean.  She cleaned the bathroom, I helped a little but she did most of that job.  J ran the vacuum and then he also mopped the kitchen floor.  We all headed back to our house at that point.  Since her car had to be cold for Bill to work on it, I sent Otter and J (and the coffee table!) home in my car.

Bill worked on Otter's car today and replaced the radiator.  The neighbor (the nice one) is a part-time mechanic and he came over to help before he had to go somewhere.  Then Grandpa showed up and he really helped Bill a lot.  Bill bought full-strength anti-freeze when we got the radiator and it needed to be mixed with distilled water.  Grandpa ran me up to wallyworld so get it, when we got back Bill and the neighbor were working on getting the engine support arms reattached, then it was just a matter of refilling the radiator.  Bill checked the transmission fluid while he was letting the car warm up enough to start the water circulating in the radiator, then he added a little fluid to it.  He test drove the car, then I took it to Otter at work and got mine back from her.  She won't need to drive it much the next couple of days, then she'll bring it back for Bill to check again and see if it needs any more anti-freeze/water added.

In other Otter news, she had her annual review at work today.  It was very good.  The boss said that she's doing everything right - and then he gave her a pretty good raise!  She was happy about that.  Especially since she now has higher rent!

Happy now, Froggy?  :)