Tired

I worked outside and inside pretty much all day yesterday and felt good. I shopped in two stores today and am worn out. I hate shopping because it makes me tired. But I like having stuff. I got a 40 v battery operated kobalt chain saw and some groceries. I unloaded the car, put away the stuff, and put the battery on the charger. I’ve been recouperating ever since. Tomorrow is Easter and I’m pretty sure Larry is going to object to me playing with my chainsaw. We’ll see. With the weather so wet, any day that isn’t rainy is good for whatever I want to do outside.

Good Day

I got my Verizon bill. Last month the phone rep told me I would have to pay $47 for a $20 plan. So I went to the local store and they said that was incorrect. So I kept the phone service. When my bill came it was for the wrong amount. I went back to the store and they said it was wrong. So I said cut off the service. She said the manager wasn’t there and she couldn’t do it. I would have to call Verizon. I called Verizon and said I wanted my service stopped. She asked why and I went through the whole mess again. She said I would get a three month refund of the overpayment and the future bills would be the correct amount. Then the handyman came and fixed several things on my list. The lawnmower repair service brought the lawnmower back. EJ came to pick up my car to replace the muffler. So all in all it was a productive day.

I Did What You Said

Today my friend said she did what I said. Since I say a lot, I needed more than that. She said she timed how long it took her to dust the living room. It took a lot less time to dust than she had spent noticing it needed to be dusted. I told her I hate to wash my hair. I timed it and it takes three minutes. It is better to wash it every day than be bothered all day because I didn’t wash it.

Volunteers

Today I called a couple of our volunteers and asked the first one if she would be our new treasurer and she said yes. Then I called our secretary and asked if she would be the second name on the account in case the first one was out of pocket. She said she would. We don’t have many volunteers but the ones we have are great!

Monday’s Stuff

I did my Monday chores and several things on my to do list. Mostly my to do list has things that require more than one time. But hitting a lick fairly often leeks the idea that I may eventually get that chore done. So it was a good day.

Pebble Isle

Pebble Isle is open for this year. It was cold and grey so we didn’t sit outside. It was good that Larry felt well enough to go back. With his health issues I sometimes wonder if we’ll be able to go there next year. I’m not able to take continued good health for granted. But appreciate each day is my current motto.

Friends

I’ve lived here seventeen years and didn’t feel like I had any friends because I haven’t found anybody who likes to do any leisure activities that I like. But since Larry has been sick, I’ve discovered I do have friends. People have been helpful and kind. It is nice to realize that I do have friends.

Planning

Going through a scary medical experience made us decide it’s time to get medical and financial powers of attorney as well as wills. We had used a lawyer when we bought this property so we went back to him. I finally asked if we were paying by the minute or job. He said we were paying by the joke. But finally we have the paperwork. It was a huge relief to me.

Eggs

I’m almost finished painting my egg gourds. One looks really good. After I get the glaze on another one maybe that will make the difference. My muffler gave up today. I think I’ll have a new one tomorrow. Spaghetti with meat sauce was Larry’s request for dinner. So I added a green salad to it and called it dinner. I ate both but Larry skipped the salad. I made the oil and vinegar dressing again with a reverse proportion of oil to vinegar. I think it was still to vinegary. Maybe it is because the vinegar is apple cider with a bunch of dregs. Maybe next time I’ll use clear vinegar. I know I like that kind of dressing. I didn’t know I couldn’t make it even with a recipe.

Bedtime

My phone has a bedtime and alarm function. The alarm doesn’t do any good because I don’t have it in the bedroom. But the bedtime signal is wonderful. I don’t have to pay attention to the time. I just get up and start doing my bedtime routine.

Printer

I bought a wireless printer today and took it to a computer guy. He got it so it works from my phone and I’ve printed a recipe. I wish I knew how to delete documents from my phone. It looks like maybe I need to do it from a computer.

Oil and Vinegar

I wanted to make an oil and vinegar salad dressing. I remembered the proportion was 3 to 1. I think it is one part vinegar to three parts oil because the other way isn’t as wonderful as I remember.

My Seedlings

Planting seeds doesn't take long, but labeling them with name and date planted is slow. I tried labeling the group, but when I transplant into a larger container, I no longer know which variety of cucumber, for example, is which.

Egg Gourds

I've tried to grow egg gourds, unsuccessfully. But I found a place that sells them along with pumpkins, sweet potatoes, apples, and an assortment of other gourds. I used a crackle finish on two of them. I paint in the greenhouse so I enjoy the setting as well as the activity.

Damping Off

I had a flat of hollyhocks to germinate beautifully then keel over and die. They probably had a fungus on the seeds as they were self harvested. Now I have a bunch of new seedlings and don’t want them to die. So I put a fan in the greenhouse, sprayed the foliage with a weak solution os peroxide diluted with water, and intend to sift cinnamon onto the soil as that is supposed to be a natural fungicide. So far the seedlings have survived my tlc.

Pretty Good Day

The weather was in the seventies yesterday and the fifties today. I didn’t do much outside but I got all the things on my list done. Larry did some stuff outside and was pleased with his efforts. It is good for him to feel like he can do things again.

Growing Up

When I was growing up, my parents criticized every thing I said and did. It was usually prefaced by “Don’t be stupid.”  I was in the honor society in high school and three honor fraternities in college. So school was the good place for me. It was the place where I was appreciated. I stopped talking to my parents and I lied often trying to avoid consequences I thought were unfair. Actually I still think they were unfair. For example, my hair was oily but I was only allowed to wash it on Saturday so it would be clean for church on Sunday. When I was in college, I decided to quit lying because I was sure that I would survive the belt that would follow my “impertinence.” I was also told I was going to hell. When I married, I determined that my husband was not the enemy and I would neither lie nor hedge the truth. Lately, my husband has been critical of everything. So I stopped telling him things. Sometimes I would tell him something and he would tell me why it wouldn’t work. I told him I wanted him to tell me what would make it work. That black hat he was wearing wasn’t helpful. Before Larry went in the hospital, I ordered a shelf organizer. It came when he was in the hospital and I put it together and loaded it with cans. I didn’t mention it but I liked it and ordered another one yesterday. This morning he asked when I had gotten it. I told him. He said it was a good idea. So I told him I’ve ordered another one for soup cans. He nodded. Maybe with his improved health, the good husband is back!

Neighbors

Three neighbors stopped by today. None of them get along with each other. So when another came the first left. I don’t see why they think it’s a good idea to badmouth each other to us. I think all neighbors should make an effort to get along. That is apparently a minority opinion around here.

Today

Today I finished pruning that rose that looks dead. The spelling row is giving me pictures. I don’t know oh it just started doing it or if I just noticed. I ran the deebot, washed a load of clothes, picked up some limbs, and weed whacked until the battery ran down. I also discovered that my phone records my steps. I then felt impelled to sit while the phone recharged. I had to fight that impulse as I needed to cook dinner. I spent a while trying to get into my fitness pal. I was a member years ago and didn’t remember my password. Anyway, it was an easy but busy day.

You Need

You need to is one of my least favorite phrases. You need to bring the weed whacker down here and clean around the asparagus. We need to bring the hose down here and get rid of some of these weeds. How will a hose get rid of weeds?  H o e s not h o s e. Hoe is not in my vocabulary. In fact it’s a bad word.

Knockout Roses

Today I pruned the rest of the knockout roses except half of one. It may be dead. But Gary Bachman said to cut them half their height in spring and one third in late summer. And he said to fertilize after pruning. So I’m trying to restore them to some semblance of shape. They go nuts but I trimmed them last summer and they aren’t so bad this year.

Customer Service

The customer service rep probably had my file on the monitor screen in front of her. She surely knew she wasn’t telling me anything I wanted to hear but she kept calling me sweetheart. I understand that sometimes when I want something the answer is no. But my option is to go somewhere else or do without the service. Being called sweetheart didn’t help that call.

Follow Up

I went to a nearby Verizon office. They refuted the information the phone representative gave me so I said I would wait until my next bill comes. If he is right, I’ll be a satisfied customer. If the phone representative is right, I wii be a former customer.

Phone

I called Verizon to pay my bill. They changed my options: speak to a representative or hang up. They want me to pay online. That is no longer an option. She said the phone only plan costs $20. Then she said there will be a $7 fee to pay the bill. So then my phone bill would be $47. I asked if the phone plan is $20 why am I paying $40?  She said the additional $20 is for access to the tower. So I have to pay a fee to pay my bill and a fee to use the tower so the phone will work and a fee for the phone plan. Verizon is again on my last nerve.

Change

Nothing stays the same. Maintenance and care are necessary to prevent deterioration in homes, cars, and our health. It is annoying when people deny that and think doing nothing will preserve the status quo.

Poor Decisions

Larry decided not to go to dialysis today. I’m tired of being the only adult in the house. I am thinking up consequences other than health if he does it again.

Procrastination

I started trying to conquer my enjoyment of procrastination years ago professionally. I realized that the adrenaline rush I got doing things at the last minute wasn’t enough to compensate for the horror of realizing that the last minute wasn’t available for work. But personally deadlines are more fluid. I only stopped procrastinating personally when I noticed that the aggravation I felt at the undone chore lasted longer than it took to do the chore. So I timed how long it took me to clean the bathroom and found it didn’t take long at all. So gradually I eliminated procrastination from my personal life, too.

Good Day

Larry is home from the hospital and rehab. Today he drove an hour to his nephrologist, then to a restaurant, and then an hour home. He isn’t totally wiped out. This is good news as I was worried I would have to drive him everywhere.

Sleep

Sleep has always been difficult for me. Getting to sleep in the first place is my main problem, but today I woke up at two and gave up on dropping off again at ten after three. Four hours of sleep isn’t awful, but I’d rather not wake up at two. But it’s five and I have a good start on my to do list.

Finished Seeds

I finished planting the seeds and transplanting the seedlings. I also did three five minute exercise sessions on my rebounder. The exercise sessions are going to be regular things on my to do list. The seeds are finished for the year but I’ll have more transplanting to do.

Seeds and Seedlings

I transplanted the vegetable seedlings that had put out secondary leaves and planted some of my flower seeds. It was nice spending time in the greenhouse when I wasn’t too tired to care.

Half Worked

Today I took my laptop with me while I waited for Larry ay dialysis. I went to McDonald’s to use their free WiFi. It worked with my laptop, but not my kindle. I used a couple of my credits to buy books. Then I opened my phone and there they were. I have some books that I bought on amazon a long time ago. I want to read them on my kindle. I couldn’t connect with my kindle at McDonald’s so I went to the hospital and tried to use their guest WiFi. Still no luck with my kindle. I’ve never had trouble with other hospitals. But I’m partway there.

Hair Style

The lawyer said he’d seen one other person with a hair style like mine in Makensie. I said I didn’t know how she got her style but I told my hair dresser to cut it so none could get in my eyes or mouth. Then I kept the bangs short until the sides got too long and then went back.  He really shouldn’t have started the hair style conversation.

First Day Home

The home health nurse came today and we went to see a lawyer.  We decided it was time to take care of power of attorney and wills. They aren’t finished but we got the ball rolling.

Doll

Ar th nursing home an elderly lady refused to sit in the wheelchair and said she was leaving. She was distraught. A nurse came up and gently offered her a baby doll and blanket. She immediately sat in the wheelchair and wrapped up the baby, calm as could be.

Redbuds

I planted four redbud trees today. I still have ten white pine Christmas trees to plant. The ag department gives out trees here the first Friday in March every year. We usually get some. Since Larry was in a nursing home for rehabilitation, I thought we wouldn’t this year.

Buds

The lilacs that I thought were dead have buds. The Japanese magnolias have buds. The forsythia has started to bloom. The daffodils are blooming in big bouquets all over the yard.   I know we’ll have more cold weather but right now is nice except that the ground is completely saturated.