Terrific Tuesday

October 18--slept with my bedroom window open last night (unusual for this time of year) and woke to a lovely sunny morning.

The view from my three windows from my computer chair:

 

The view from my recliner:

A raucous Blue Jay at the feeder 

A Blue Jay with Mr,. Squirrel waiting for his turn

(see his little ears behind the bird?)

Mr. Squirrel's turn and then...........

When he left, two Blue Jays

This goes on all day long.
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Last April, I bought a special paint to put on my porch steps and floor.  The stain I put on 4 years ago was wearing off and looking awful.  This is paint made especially for high traffic steps/porches/floors.

I finally got around to opening the can this morning and painted the steps.  Took all of 20 minutes.

YIKES.  I wanted a bluish tint to the Gray.  I got bluish tint to the blue.  Too blue.  Not to be undaunted and because we have only one more day of guaranteed good weather, I got the original gray stain I had used and the blue I opened and put them in the trunk of my car.

Off I went to get my new tires put on--goes they are groovy.  Nice deep grooves in their treads.

Then I stopped off at Walmart and picked up my prescription, then across their parking lot to Lowe's.  I hauled in the cans of paint and said, "I want this kind of paint--the floor paint, but I want it the color of this stain."

No problem!  I was hoping and asked if they had a recycling program for half full paint cans because we are not supposed to throw them in our trash.  But...they don't.
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Pulled out of there to head home and stopped at Big Ray's to get an oil change.  "Ma'am, you have a thousand miles left before you need an oil change."

"I know.  But look at the date.  I only drive about three thousand miles a year, so I get an oil change every year."

"Fifty thousand four hundred miles on the odometer.  Is that One hundred and fifty thousand?"

"Nope.  Those are actual miles."

"Wow!"

Got the oil change and drove across the parking lot to the car wash.

Man!  That old car of mine shines up nice!!
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Got home, came inside, opened up the back door and went out and painted the front steps again.  Perfect color!!!
You notice I was smart enough to open the back door so I would have a way to get back into the house?

Dar and John are always ragging on me because I "never go anywhere or do anything."  They are the kind of people that seem to HAVE to go somewhere every day in their car.

So today--I went somewhere and did everything.  I went to the BIG mall on Sunday and managed the round-about.  Yesterday, I went to the bank and the gas station and ordered my tires.  Today, I ran all over the place--well, within a 4 mile radius.  Thursday I go to lunch with the gal pals and visit my sister and Friday, to the Dentist.

Tomorrow is a day off and I will paint the porch steps a second coat and perhaps get the porch floor done too.

Mundane Monday

Not much going on here.

My MSU Spartans are having a miserable football season.  I've been a fan since I was 10--so I've seen the good, the bad and (this season) the ugly.

I managed to make a return of "too short" jeans, at the Penny's store at the BIG mall, south of here, which meant driving through a huge, scary round-about.

NOT your average traffic circle!!!

The general rule is: Yield to cars coming from your left.  Which I did, but I was in the wrong lane and almost got shoved off onto the expressway, heading south.  Managed to blinker light myself into the correct lane and made it there and back unscathed.  Don't think I will need to go out there again.

There are Four Hundred and Forty-Two thousand stores and restaurants in the Mall, but I see no need to investigate any of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Today, or tomorrow, depending on my mood, there will be a trip to Discount Tire to have 4 new ones put on the old car.  Not that my other ones are worn thin, but they are 7 years old and cracked from weathering and with a predicted fierce winter headed our way, I want (and have the money for) new ones.  Git 'er done!
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Back to my laundry--later-------------------

Get 'er done!

Got it done!  All gardening paraphenalia put to bed in the shed, along with the rug from the porch.

Note to self:  Porch floor and steps need painting!!!!!


73 degrees today.  Perfect "Judy" weather.  Lots of rain and wind expected tonight.  I will put out garbage cans next to front-side of car to protect them from falling over and yet still visible to garbage pick-up at 7:30 am.
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The inside of my refrigerator and freezer are decidely very empty.  I think, although I don't want too, a BIG trip to Walmart is slated for tomorrow.
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The two remaining genealogy books are off to WA and NY.  Now I am working on a paternal genealogy for another friend/client.  This one is interesting too and I even found photos of the "way back" ancestor's.

Tonight, I will watch Survivor and cross-stitch on the baby quilt.  My Gosh!  This thing is taking a whole lot of time and stitches.  That great grand daughter is due in 7 days!  I sure hope she waits until the 24th, so she is born on her grandma Karen's birthday.  October is such a nice month to be born.  By Christmas, they are aware and cooing and--BOY OH--isn't this Christmas Eve day going to be fun for our family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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So, on to the "floating" room divider.

 These are in place, even as we speak.

Pebbles and a fake succulent

Real sand and star-fish, sand dollar from the

Outer Banks, Nags Head, North Carolina 

This is coming soon---

To hang between, at a different height

and this, also at a different height and line 

and even perhaps this tiny bottle, with a bit of water and ivy growing in it?

...and who knows what else might take my fancy?  Not too much.  Just enough to stop the line of sight when someone walks in through the front door.

Something like this, but not as low--must keep above cats range.  LOL

What a beautiful day...

I love this photo my sister sent me.

Her husband Chuck and their new cat Abbey, checking the weather.

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I worked outside again today.  Inch-by-inch, I will get it done before the first snow flies!

I also got my last two genealogy books ready for the mail-lady to pick-up tomorrow.  That was 6 books from one genealogy.  Some with both sides of the family, one with only one side.  If was fun!

I also ran up to Tractor-Supply, I imagine you have no clue what that is.  Think store with all sorts of feed for cows/horses/rabbits/pets of any kind/bird seed/horse tackle and garden/farming equipment.

I got a big bag of bird seed, some black oily sunflower seeds, two bags of peanuts, and shelled corn with whole peanuts and nuts.  

Some for the birds and some for my squirrel feeder--as the squirrels are already coming in and knocking on the front door, wondering when their feeder was going up.

Took down the Humming bird feeders and washed them up good.
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Dar came over, just as Jeopardy was starting, and needed 19 medical reports scanned and printed out.  She couldn't get her fancy scanner/copier/printer/fax machine to work.  One hour later..............ARGGH!!!

She no more than got back home and John and his dawg stopped in.  He went on with a 35 minute rant about his volunteer job at the elementary school.
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So, here it is. Nearly 10:00 and I haven't gotten to sit and relax and watch any TV tonight.

I think I will play a couple of FB games and then go to bed.  Tomorrow promises to be a 70 degree day and I am going to finish up my yard work. 

Tomorrow, I will show you photos of my "room divider" idea.  It is coming along nicely.

Monday Moaning

This is a test.  This is only a test.

Hung the blue jar on the filament and the ceiling hook to see if it would work.  It didn't come loose and fall in three days, so I guess my idea will be safe to try.

I have four hundred and fifty-two thousand Stink Bugs trying to get in my house!!!

Sunday  night I enjoyed the Green Bay Packers vs New York Giants football game.  Bickering people make me very uncomfortable, so I only clicked on the debate for a few minutes, then back to the ballgame, where the players are far more civil then the players in the debate.

I did end up with a favorite quote from the debate.  "We are great because we are good!"

Wait.  What?  Whatever does that mean?  We are the most disrespected Power County in the world right now, so---I don't get the quote.

Anyway--the Packers won, which I was glad for.

On a related note, FB is full of political shared links and cartoons and all sorts of meme's, it got so I dreaded going on there.  Some of the political links were mine.  So I made a pack with everyone that we not talk about this political crap until it is over.  Many agreed with me.  

It was difficult because I saw a lot of links and meme's I would have liked to share this morning, but...I promised.  Let's face it.  You aren't going to change any one's mind.  Everyone knows your party affiliation, so...........what's the point.  Just to tick people off and start a half page of ugly comments back and forth.  Bickering people make me uncomfortable.  It's not worth my peace of mind.  So now, I just whip right down the pages on FB until I find something worthwhile to peruse.
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My 83 year old cousin with Parkinsons' and her 86 year old husband with Alzheimer's live on the 11th floor in a Condo, across the street from the Ocean in Fort Pierce, FL.  He didn't want to leave.  She did.  They waited until the last minute and then fled.  He got lost twice trying to get inland, but they made it before the full brunt of Hurricane Matthew.    The last I saw on FB she was reaming out her kids for not caring.  They live in Michigan and Georgia and I don't know they could have done, except pray like the rest of us, but.....................

North Carolina is where the real problem is.  So much flooding from all the rain the week before and then the rain from the Hurricane.  12 people have drowned and in some places, the water level is going up--still!  

While that part of the country is lovely to visit, and the Outer Banks of NC are my favorite place on this earth, I wouldn't live in any of those low-lying swampy States.  There is just no place for the water to run off or drain too.  A lot of their trees are very shallow rooted because there is hardly any firm ground under them, so down they come.

I do prefer my near 650 feet above sea level and my deep rooted trees and the deep ground that soaks up rain in short order.  The only place that floods in Michigan, is in the city with all the concrete and under passes on the highways that go through.
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So, Friday and today, I got all my perennials cut back and all the underbrush cut out of my side garden where about four hundred and fifty-two thousand Rose of Sharon bush sucklings were nearly 2-3 feet tall.

I was 64 when I moved in her and with great ambition.  I dug up three different areas for perennial gardens.  Mowed my own lawn, kept all those gardens weeded and looking nice, with no problem.
The last few years, those gardens have suffered.  Up until I was 71, I used to be able to work 4-5 hours outside with hardly a break.  Now, I am lucky if I can work 20 minutes before it feels like my back is going to break right in two.

You know, like at my waist-line, my body is going to break and the top part of me will fall face forward onto the lawn and the bottom part of me, fall back into the garden and no way to get the two pieces of my body stuck back together.  The whole process of bending over, along with arthritis in every joint and every spinal disc, sure makes taking care of outside stuff difficult.

I do feel energized though from working outside and doing heavy work.  Gives me a real sense of accomplishment.  Just takes a while of sitting in my recliner and a Tylenol PM before bed to recover.
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After my latest client got and perused her genealogy book, she asked if I could print out two more--for her daughter and son.  Then another part of one for her 91 year old cousin.  I did and mailed them off Friday.  Then she wanted two more for her niece and nephew.  No problem.  I took them to the print shop today to be bound and hopefully pick them up tomorrow and mail on Wednesday.  It was a great job and the books turned out nice.

I feel so privileged when someone asks me to research their family.  I know I'm not going to find anything terribly bad, and even if I did, it wouldn't change my feeling.  I just feel that it takes a certain amount of trust from the client and it is an honor for me.  Maybe that is why I try really hard to find everything I can about each ancestor.  After all, it is THEIR family!!!!!  I treat the ancestor's with respect. 

I am not a crier--you all know that, but in some of these genealogies, I have shed tears.  Like the one I am working on today.  The family came to this country and on their voyage, 4 of the little children died--all within days of each other.  Can you even imagine the horror of that for the parents?  Especially the Mother?  Too watch your child's body wrapped in white cloth and dumped into the Ocean?  Then repeat that whole process the next day and the next?

It's a wonder the mother didn't go mad and throw herself over the edge of the ship.

Yet--they kept going.  Finally made it here and even with terrific hardships here, they went on to have more children and form a good life. We owe our ancestor's so much honor and respect!
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By the way, Dar came over yesterday and she was in a great mood.  High and bouncing all over the place.  Her son is also moving in with her and Daddy.  The son who has been in 12 rehabs, but has been sober for a year.  The son she said she would never allow to live with her.

Personally, I don't think the arrangement is going to work, but I was telling her positive things.  That I was glad and what a blessing.

We shall see, what we shall see.

Hm-mm

I stole this pix from Sally's blog.  Should I enlarge it and put it on my front door when I see Dar heading this way?

Hectic

It's been hectic around here.  I keep looking at my perennials that need to be cut back, undergrowth in my Lilac/Hosta garden that needs to be cut back.  Little Maple trees growing in the midst of my Privet Hedge, that needs to be cut back.  The shed needs to be rearranged and I need to get all my porch pots put away AND paint the porch steps.  I have had the paint since April.

My client, whose genealogy I finished the last of September, wanted two books for her children.  Then a book for her cousin and a book for her niece and nephew.  Not a problem at all and such a nice thing for her to do for her family.

I had ordered black and tri-color inkjets from a place on e-bay.  They are brand new, still in their HP box and work really well.  I ran out of black ink, so up to the refill place I went.  I got a black and a Tri-color.  Got home put the black one in and the print-out was very dim.  I got back in the car and headed up to the refill place.  Mind you, this is nearly a 20 mile round-trip through town traffic.

Got my black inkjet replacement and headed home.  Two years ago, a black and Tri-color refilled inkjet cost $35.00, now they cost $53.00, still under the price of new ones at Staples, but.......

Got home, put the new black inkjet in and printed out 5 pages.  When I looked at them, the Tri-color inkjet wasn't printing.  I had to throw those pages away, at 34 cents a page for the special paper.  This time, I just drove back up to Staples, went in and found they had a sale.  Buy one, get another one for 40% off.  Two Tri-color inkjet cartridges cost me $63.00!!!

I put the new Tri-color inkjet in and off we went.  Then, I got on-line and ordered two cartridges from the e-bay seller, at $37.16--free shipping.

By then, it was supper time and I was exhausted!!!

Today, I got the two books for her children done and up to the print shop to have them bound.  I pick them up tomorrow and have her cousin's book done, so can get that bound tomorrow too.  The rest of today, I worked on printing the two books for her niece and nephew.  

I love genealogy--the research, the putting the families together, putting everything together and writing the book.  I hate the printing process!!!!!!!!!!  
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I got a letter today from the hospital where I get my mammogram.  I am considered low risk for breast cancer, so I only need a mammogram every two years---or at my age--not at all.

While this is good news, with my doc telling me the cut off time for a low-level lung CT scan is 75 years, I wonder.  Is there really a cut of time for these tests or is it that at my age, the cure wouldn't really help, wouldn't add any years, so-----I am expendable?

Who says?

When my doc says I have the blood work of a 55 year old.  When the cardiologist tells me that biologically my age is really 65 and I have the heart of a 20 year old.  Then why does the year of my age matter?  I may live to be 90+.  Why should these tests be cut off because my birth certificate says I was born in 1939 instead of 1948?

My step-mother had bladder cancer when she was 91.  They took out the tumor, radiated her for 6 weeks and she felt great for another 2+ years.

I guess some of us are living too long and not being productive enough.  Taking up space?  Best to just give us a pill to mask the problem instead of trying to cure it?  Odumba Care has made the insurance companies not want to pay for elder preventative medicine?
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Dar came busting in my house, during my Soap.  She was hysterical and crying!

"I tried to call my sister-in-law, but she didn't answer her phone.  I had to come over here so you can calm me down!"   Pacing up and down my living room, moaning and failing her arms around.

It seems she had just gotten back from a visit to an orthopedic doctor.  He gave her a Cortisone shot for her back pain, but informed her that the only relief she will get from that and her hip pain is if she gets a hip replacement.  Plus, he thinks she had a head injury when she had the accident.

"Now I know why I can't remember things!  Oh. My. God!!!  I probably have a brain tumor!!."

"Sit down.  Take a deep breath and let's talk about this."

She sat.  She grabbed a cigarette.  She rocked back and forth.

"Please, be careful you don't drop ashes on my new carpet."  I said.

She finally put the ashtray she kept reaching for, in her lap.

"Now--you had a CT scan on your head after the accident, right?"

"Yes."

"They found no problem..right?  No bleeding.  No hematoma.  No problems...right?

"Right."

"I think the reason you are having a hard time remembering things is that you have so much on your mind.  You have appointments with a different doctor nearly every day of the week.  Your Dad is having problems and needs tests.  You have tests scheduled.  You have so much in your head, that you are completely distracted.  That's why you get to the grocery store and forget half of what you wanted to buy.  That's why when you wake up, you forget what day it is.  Anyone would be that way."

"I now have 9 different doctor's.  None of them listen to me.  They just seem to pass me along to the next one.  I have to meet with the insurance doctor--my attorney is going with me and told me HE will answer all the questions and I am not to say a word."

"That's a good idea.  You do get wound up and might say something that wouldn't help your case."

"And now?  A hip replacement?"

She lights up another cigarette.  This is the woman who tells me she only smokes two cigarettes a day.  She just met her quota in half an hour!

"I'm sure the accident caused my hip problem,"

"You have osteoarthritis...right?"

"Yes."

"That alone will cause the cushion in your hip socket to wear away and it will be bone-on-bone and the only help, is a new hip joint."

"Well, I didn't have it before the accident."

"You've had arthritis for years.  Even without the accident, this would have come on and just gotten worse and worse."

She wailed and she moaned and she paced.  Finally, her phone rang--it was her sister-in-law and Dar started wailing and crying again as she told her SIL all that she had told me.

"I'm at Judy's.  I feel like I'm losing my mind!  I am going to tell you all this while I'm here so Judy can hear it all too.  I am so filled with fear!"  and on she went for 30 minutes.

90 minutes later, apparently I had calmed her down enough so she could go home and eat supper!
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Every time she comes over, the first words out of her mouth are, "I came over so you can calm me down!"

Wouldn't it be nice, if just one time, she said, "I came over to see how you're doing.  Oh, you got your fireplace.  It's pretty."

She has been here twice in the last week and hasn't even noticed the fireplace.  LOL

She's a pitiful thing.  Always bragging about how strong she is.  How religious she is.  How she relies on God for everything.  How she can tolerate pain better than anyone else.  A sort of uppity attitude, especially when she states that she relies on God for everything.

Somethings I like to remind her to "Rely on God.  Give it all up to Him and He will calm you.  You know, you have no control over any of this.  Give it to God!"

Yeah--I can be nasty person--dig, dig, dig.