deja vu

It is always interesting around this house 

    Not good.  Not bad.  Interesting.

    Like when I dropped Jackie this morning.

    I was moving her from the bed to her chair and I lost her.  At first I thought I could get her back on the bed, but that plan soon unraveled.

    She hit the floor hard, scraping her elbow on the way.  It now has a very bluish tint to it, but she has full movement and no pain.

    Luckily Julia was still home and Emily was on her way because they were going to Oregon for the craft booths.

    We turned Jackie so her feet were facing the wall.  Then two of us lifted her while the third person slid the chair into place.

    I have no idea what happened.

    After putting in laundry I went to put my new regulator on the grill.

    It was the wrong one.  Again.

    This one had 2 ends to hook into the grill, but I only need 1.

    By this time friend John had arrived, and we went to Ace to find yet another regulator and hose.  This was my third attempt, and now they just staple all my receipts together.

    John, Julia and I then went out to the house and did a walk through.  There are things I don't understand, and I asked her to have someone explain it to her so she can explain it to me.

    John helped me put the grill back together, and it works!  I still have to use a flame thrower to get the burners lit, but someday I will tackle that repair.

    He wasn't hungry for brats or hamburgers, so we just chatted about dogs, family, the Bears, the Cubs, and life in general.  I really miss seeing him and Kathy, but Kathy did not make it out today because they have  a sick dog they did not want to leave alone for several hours.

    The Kudelkas came over after supper and we bought Fanny May candy from Sam as part of an all school fundraiser. 

    I spent a lot of time watching videos of the destruction in North Carolina.  My heart goes out to the people out there. The damage is truly horrendous.

    Peace and Love

oops

 To err is human

    I am so human it is ridiculous!

    Gas grill is not working.  No gas gets to the burners.  I figure it needs a new regulator.  I buy the part Tuesday and decide tonight to put it on so I can grill outside while the weather is nice.

    The new one does not fit.

    The part that goes onto the propane tank is not the same as what I have.

    So at 7 I go back to Ace with the part and no receipt.  I take the old one with just so they know what I am talking about.

    We try another model on a tank, it fits, and I buy it.

    Tomorrow I will put it on and hope it was the regulator and not something else.

    Today I got my new Gingko tree.  The last one was in the ground about 3 months before a deer destroyed it.  This one is bigger, which means it costs more.

    It was suggested I wrap it with something to discourage deer from attacking it, so that is on my list of to dos.

    I also asked ab out a sweet gum to replace a mostly dead American beech tree.  But the sweet gum was $600 plus planting, a little too rich for my blood.

    I bought something at Walmart for Jackie.  The package did not look the same, but I bought it anyway.  Turns out, it was not the same.  I have to return that tomorrow.

    You know, I try to do the right thing, buy the right product, make the right choice.  But so often it ends up kicking me in the butt.  It makes me frustrated and irritated.

    Which is my state of mind tonight.

    Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Peace and Love

ouch

 I wear my bandages proudly

    No, I did not fall and hurt myself.  Although that is always a possibility.

    I got flu shot today and a Covid shot.

    A wonderful pharmacist gave them to me, but hey did sting a little.  

    I don't like shots.  Or blood draws.  Or needles.  A friend is going to get an injection in their eye and every time I think about that I cringe.

    I have always been like that.

    Years ago, when I was a teen, I went to a dentist for a bad wisdom tooth.

    Now, I thought he was just going to look at it and set up an extraction date.

    The office was maybe on the fifth floor  in a tall building on Lawrence  by the L tracks. (That's in Chicago for those of you who don't know.)

    I remember sitting  in a chair, the nurse coming in, my mouth being jabbed and then the tracks of the L came up to my face, turned 360 degrees and the room turned white.

    They moved me to a cot in another room until I was "normal" again.

    And yes, they took out the tooth and sent me on my way.  I did not have enough money for the bus, so I walked home, a wad of bloody cotton stuck in my mouth. It was at least 100 degrees out and I thought I was going to die.

    I had to have a blood test before we got married and I fainted.  

    I got woozy when I had a blood test at the hospital, so for years they put me on a cot.

    I am better now, but I still don't like shots or needles.

    But I have improved.

    I do not faint at blood draws.  I do not faint, or scream, when getting shots.

    But I don't enjoy it either.

    Plus thing is:  my arms don't hurt.

    It pays to have a pharmacist as a daughter.

Peace and Love

mystery solved

My mysterious mail was revealed 

    When I was looking at the notice, there was a name.  I thought it looked familiar, but Julia said it may be the county clerk.

    So I went on the Ogle County website and looked.  Nope.  Not the clerk. But it was the county collector.

    Hmm.......I went to bed with visions of tax problems of some sort,

    I picked up the mail and voila!!  A tax issue!!

    The taxes on the lot we bought last May were not paid.  I got the tax bill plus a late fee plus a processing fee.  If I did not pay the full amount by Oct. 24, the property could be put up for auction.

    The total amount owed on the property was......$48.11.

    I drove over to Oregon and paid in cash.

    The problem seemed to be the bill was sent to the previous owners and they never sent it to me.  I guess the property transfer eventually went  through, because the delinquent bill was sent to me.

    I grew up in Chicago and was never a delinquent!

    I asked the clerk if the correct addresses were on the form and she assured me they were, so I should get the tax bill next year.  I will pay it on time.

    I just wish that was my house property tax bill!

    I thought maybe I had won a prize.....foolish thinking on my part.

    It seems to me I win dozens of prizes daily when I check my Yahoo e-mail account.  Pity the fool who tries to claim one.

    I did have a rough night sleeping.  So I took a nap on the porch today.  It felt good sitting outside with the cooler weather.

    Friend Sheri stopped by and we had some nice red to go with some pizza.  That's unusual for us to have pizza in the middle of the week, but it tasted good.

    So did the wine.

Peace and Love

    

busy bee

I was a pretty busy worker bee today 

    Some of it was fun, some, some frustrating, some rewarding.

    I had a committee meeting for the RACF at 1.  Friends Dan and Linda were in town so we arranged to meet at Petro at 3. I had rehearsal at 6:30.

    At some point I wanted to go to the store for fruit and yogurt

    Sometimes plans don't work like you think they would.

    Emily's car was in Rockford for repairs.  Julia and Emily went out to supper with their Aunt Ruth, and Emily left her car  at the dealership and rode home with Julia.

    The dealership called at about 3 and said the car was ready.

    Julia was working, so I said I would be at her house about 4 and take her.

    Dan and I had a chance to chat for about 40 minutes, and then I left.

    The pendant for the movable chair in the car is not acting correctly, so we ordered a new pendant.  It came in Monday, and since the dealership is just down the road from the mobility store, I figured I was killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

    Dropped Emily off, went to the mobility store, picked up the pendant at about 4:55, with the store closing at 5. 

    Emily had an errand to run, so I agreed to meet her and help, if needed.

    While I was waiting I attached the new pendant.  It did not work.  It was after 5, so I assumed I would have to contact the store tomorrow and maybe make another trip.

    So I put the old pendant, as unreliable as it was, back on and....it did not work.  

    Double damn.

    I started home from Rockford and figured I would call friend John and chat with him on the drive.  But the call did not seem to go through.  A minute later he called back and I answered but he could not hear me and I could not hear him.

    So I gave up.

    I got home just in time to do a couple of things for Jackie, then it was on to 6:30 rehearsal.

    At this point, I had eaten  breakfast, some popcorn, 1 piece of string cheese and 1 beef stick.  So I grabbed another piece of string cheese.

    Toward the end of rehearsal I realized I was damn hungry. 

    I also realized I was tired and I don't like eating at 9 p.m.

    Now I need to destress.....

    Oh, I did try the pendant with the driver's side door open and it works!  I guess the key is having the door open.  

    Glad I tried it instead of calling or driving to Rockford.

    And I am glad I don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow!

Peace and Love

yawn

 Not much to say about today

    I had a great nearly 2 hour nap, let Emily's dogs out and went to our first rehearsal for an upcoming play.

    I think I will have trouble sleeping tonight though.

    While I was napping, the mail person tried to deliver a letter that I had to sign for.  No one could answer the door, so I don't know what the letter is about.

    Am I being sued?  Jury duty? Back taxes?  Overdue library books?

    My mind races when I think of all the possibilities.

    Sometimes Jackie gets letters from the city because she is on the library board. If there is an annexation, every board member gets a letter and that has to be signed for by the recipient, or their agent.

    But I am not on any government board.  And I don't want to be on any government board.

    So, I will go to bed and worry until I get to the post office tomorrow.

    The form said I could pick up the letter after Oct. 1.  But does the mean they will attempt delivery again tomorrow?  

    Geez.  I make life so complicated sometimes.  I need to not worry so much about things I can't control.

    Still, the unknown always puts me on edge a little.

Peace and Love

tow be or not toe be

 There are some dedicated collectors in this world

    I have a collection of nutcrackers.  But these are not your ordinary buy at the store nutcrackers.  

    Almost all of them were made in Germany, including some when there was a West Germany and an East Germany.

    And yes, there may be 1 or 2 from some other country, but most are from Germany.

    Jackie has Santas for her collection.  Most are hand carved or hand crafted but some are not.  Some are glass, like the one I bought her at the market in Chicago.  I liked it so much, I bought a second one the next year and wondered why it seemed so familiar.

    We have a display case full of them.  Well, I call it a display case.  But we probably have over 100 of the two types.  

    The girls are not Santa or nutcracker collectors, so I don't know what will happen to them when..... well, you know.

    Which brings me to the topic of Toby jugs.  

    The Tribune had an article about  them today.

    These are from England originally and are ceramic figures of people.  Not just he face, but the entire body although the face is 90 percent of the jug.  Toby jugs have been around for over 250 years,

    A man in suburban Chicago started collecting them when he was a teenager.  When he was stationed in Europe with the military he would send cases of them home.

    After he was married, he still collected them and displayed them in his home.  One day his wife said, "Get them out of here."

    So he converted space in a building into the American Toby Jug Museum.  According to the Trib,  it is open Tuesday afternoons and attracts several thousand visitors a year.

    He died a few years ago, but left provisions for the museum to be funded for five years after his death.

    Well, the time is up.

    His widow and their daughter have begun selling some of the 8,500 Toby jugs.

    8,500!!!

    Sports figures, presidents, royalty, the Beatles, Harry Potter and Star Wars characters..... all will be sold either in parts or as a whole.

    When his widow was asked why she was selling, she had an honest answer.

    Toby jugs were his thing, not hers, and she didn't want to have her family figure out what to do with them when she goes.

    Reading the story, it almost made me want to go to the museum just to see the Tobies!

    An figure out what to do with our nutcrackers and Santas.

Peace an Love