blah

This was a pretty blah day

    Not only was the weather blah, I was blah!

    Before I went to  bed last night I ate a huge cookie Julia brought home from one of the markets on Saturday.

    Yes, I finished it along with a cup of decaf tea.

    But when I went to bed, it seemed there were 2 factions fighting for control of my stomach.  Neither were good guys.

    Tums did not help.  I took 4 of them 2 hours apart.

    I did not get much sleep.

    So today, when our help came, I snuggled into why chair and slept of a couple of hours.

    But I have no appetite.  I had tea for breakfast, 6 crackers and cheese for lunch, and finally plain spaghetti with cheese for supper.  Not exactly a solid nutrition day.

    I spent most of the day sitting.  I did go downstairs and play with Beth for a while, but not as long as she would have liked.

    Jen and Sam stopped and visited for a few minutes and got to watch the Beth experience as she raced into the house, around the coffee table and then out and around the yard.  Beth  does this 2 or 3 times and then stops to drop a load. 

    Luckily the rain made it impossible for me to work outside, although I could have used the time to organize my recycles out in the garage.  

    There's always tomorrow.  

Peace and Love

missed it

Today was recycling day for us

    The guy usually comes between 10:30 and 11.  

    Usually I take out the recycling when I pick up the empty trash can.

    Usually I go back out about 11and bring back the. recycling cans.

    Usually.  I used that a lot.

    It did not apply to today.

    Because:  Usually we don't sleep until 10:30!!!

    I got Jackie into the bathroom, Beth out the door, and hauled the recline out to the street.  By then it was 10:40 or so, but I had not seen nor heard the truck.

    As soon as I turned my back, the wind blew over a can and debris spread out all over the driveway.

    I picked it up and decided I will take it all back into the garage and watch for the truck.

    So I did.  Huge box of paper.  2 tubs of plastic and paper.  All ready to recycle.

    I sat at the kitchen table and worked a crossword puzzle and watched.  And waited.  And watched.

    We had dentist appointments at 1:30 today and it was now almost 11:30.  

    I assumed I missed him and jumped in the shower.

    When I got out of the shower, there he went.  Nothing I could do about it at that point.

    Honestly, I don't know any time Jackie has slept that late.  

    I also know the next time the recycles get picked up we will have a ton of stuff.  We have been eating a lot of fruit and the raspberries, blue berries, and strawberries all come in plastic containers.  There has to be a better packaging system.

    Our church had a fellowship dinner in Rochelle tonight, and I went.  Jackie did not because it was raining when it was time to go.  I think she would have been fine, because it had slowed by the time I got to the restaurant.

    It was a nice outing.  I just wish we could get to a service someday.

Peace and Love

odds and ends

Just not a lot of specifics for today 

    I put Beth's wet food in a separate dish and she eats it.  Then she eats the dry food.  Tonight she would not eat the dry food until I put the bowl in the middle of the floor, then she ate.

    Turned in my I Pass transformer for the new stickers.  The man next to me was doing the same thing and the person serving him went on this whole explanation of how it works and where to put the sticker.  My person said "Stick it in the window."  That was it.

    When I checked in all the stations were full, so they gave me a number.....11.  I looked at the 2 pretty young things staffing the counter and said, "Would you believe this is my age?"  They laughed at the old man in front of them.  Then I added, "Of course, some people say this is my IQ."  They laughed at that too.

    Jackie made me put the heat back on.  Said she was cold.  I am sweating bullets.  Although it might be the wine.

    Thank you Dan and Linda for telling me it was ok to open a bottle and drink it over 3 or 4 days.  I am on day 2.

    If it is not raining, Jackie and I are going out to dinner tomorrow.  If it is raining, I am going out to dinner and bringing her home food.

    I mulched the slope next to the driveway today.  That was not easy. I used my edger to create a clean edge, then loaded my yard cart twice with mulch.  Actually 3 times, but the last load I just put in the garage.  I guess it looks nice, but my shoulder and thumbs hurt. I think that is the largest area I have to edge and mulch.

    Hopefully tomorrow I will do a little more, but it may be raining.

    Tough loss for the Cubs tonight.  

    I did not know what 8647 meant until I looked it up.  I agree.

Peace and Love

dog issues

We are having a dog issue at our house 

    Maybe it was just today.  I don't know.

    I made Beth her usual breakfast..... half a cup of kibble and 2 tsps of wet food, in this case chicken and salmon.

    Which actually sounds pretty good.  I love chicken and salmon.  But I digress.

    I put water in it, set it on the floor and wished her a good breakfast.

    She went over, sniffed it, and walked away. She did this several times over the next hour.

    I finally dumped the food and put dry kibble in her bowl.

     Sh immediately ate the food!

    Huh, said myself.

    So tonight for supper, I put kibble in her bowl and put the wet food in a smaller dish. She ate the wet food.

    Here comes the strange part.

    I sat on the floor and held the kibble bowl up to her face.  She would not eat.

    I got her spoon (and yes, only she uses t.  It is not a people spoon.) and put a little on the spoon and held it out to her.

    She ate it.

    Then she ate all of her kibble one spoonful at a time, with me feeding her!

    Now I love my dog, but I am not going to spoon feed her every day!  And I hate having to toss dog food away because it has been sitting out untouched for a couple of hours.

    Grrr.

    I did get part of my garden planted.  Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, Italian beans and peas are in.  I replanted the peas because the package says I should see sprouts in 7-14 days and it has been over 2 weeks. 

    Tomorrow I hope. to get green beans and carrots in, but I don't have any kore string or stakes to mark rows.

    I also hope to get edging done tomorrow and maybe some mulch spread.  Maybe.

    Hopefully all the stuff is done this week.

    But if I take anymore 90 minute naps like I did today, it won't .  Evidently last night's show wore me out more than I thought!

Peace and Love

    

whew!!!!

This was a pretty awesome day 

    No, I did not get the garden planted.

    No, I did not get the yard trimmed.

    Yes, I put the cold air return vent back in place.

    Yes, I got gas for the mower.

    Yes ,I did one load of laundry and ran the dishwasher.

    Yes, I took a long nap.

    Yes, we had an Exit 99 show tonight and it was a blast!!

    I am pretty tired from the show, but also pretty wired.  We had a great audience and I thought we were pretty in sync considering it has been nearly 2 years since we did a show!  2 years!!  I was only 75 when we last performed.

    It was great to see some familiar faces and sone new faces.  There were a few people who had never been too one of our shows and I hope they left laughing.

    I know I laughed a lot.  And I know I am pretty dang tired, but probably won't get to sleep for a while.

    Tomorrow the garden.  And maybe my secret project....who knows.

    Hopefully the wind will die down.

    Julia ordered pillows for her house and they were delivered here.  The boxes did not stay put!

Peace and Love

try it

 Sometimes change is good

    Sometimes trying something new is good.

    I never liked broccoli.  Then one day I actually tried it and now I like it.

    If I had never tried it, I would not have known it was good.

    Maybe it was the name that put me off.  Maybe because it was so funny looking.  I don't know why I never ate it before.

    But now I like it.

    I get tired of people telling me they discovered something new and they liked it.  Especially when I told those same people for years that they should try the broccoli.   They never did.

    Then one day I was invited. to their house for dinner and they served.....broccoli!  They pronounced it differently, but it was still broccoli!  And they raved about it!!

    And the frustrating thing was the broccoli I offered them was just as good, if not better.  But they were never willing to try.

    Humph.

    I went to put the hoses on my new hose reel today and 2 of the wheels fell off.  I don't know what I did wrong.  I followed the instructions to a tee.

    The issue seems to be connecting the wheels.  They are held on by a push pin.  Push the pin in, slide the wheel on, the pin releases and the wheel stays on.

    Except when it doesn't.  I id not have one wheel on all the way, so it fell off.  But the other wheel...well the push pin does not stay in place.  It keeps popping back inside the tube, if that makes any sense.

    Frustrating, to be sure.

    There has to be an easy solution.

    By the way, it was windy today!!

Peace and Love

something new

 I listened to my first podcast today

    Let's be clear, I did not make it.  I listened.

    Years ago, when I was a young would be journalist, I envied a man named Studs Terkel.  He was a radio personality in Chicago, but in 1963 produced a book called Division Street .

    He wrote the book based on interviews he conducted with regular Chicagoans, if I remember correctly.  It amazed me.  He followed it up with several other books on a similar vein, but Division Street was the kind of writing I had never experienced before.

    Well, 60 years later there is a podcast called Division Street Revisted.  Mary Schmich , who used to be a columnist for the Tribune, has gone back and talked about some of the people in the book.  I just listened to the first of 7 episodes and was blown away by how informative it was.

    Now I have to look for my copy of Division Street and do a little rereading.....60 years later.  And yes, I am sure I still have it.

    I woke up this morning with He's a Rebel spinning through my head!  I think the group performing it was called The Toys, but I am not positive.  I don't remember all the words, but I do have the retrain stuck in my head.

    Speaking of stuck in my head,  we had someone in doing a little work at our house.

    After he left, he texted me and said he forgot his mug and could I drop it off at a business in town.

    I told him yes, and that he had a couple of tools and I would drop them off too.

    I went into town and dropped off the mug and realized I did not have the tools.

    I texted him and said I forgot and could do it today.

    He said he would use swing by and to put the tools one the porch.

    About 2 I headed to the chiropractor and texted him before I left.  He said he forgot to stop this morning, and if I could drop them off in town that would be great.

    I said sure!  

    Got in the car and drove to town, but did not bring the tools.

    I texted him again and apologized for forgetting again   I also told him I was 70 f'in7 and was expected to forget stuff but he was younger and should not be forgetting.

    he did pick up everything on his way home....except for a couple of things in the garage.

    As for my secret project, I have most of the stuff.  Hopefully tomorrow I can finish.  But today is just too warm and windy,  And warm is maybe the wrong word.  Hot is better.

    But we had a hell of a storm around 6.  Strong winds, heavy rain. Julia was here and it took her 45 minutes to get home, a 11 minute drive.  A couple of roads were blocked by downed trees and power lines, so she had to go backroads.  Luckily no tornadoes.

Peace and Love