Dear Reader,
I couldn't sleep till 3:00 this morning. I stayed up too late. Chronic! Problem! But I get tense at night because of ... everything! And then I get wide awake even if I was exhausted earlier. It's like my body says, "Danger! Danger! Don't go to sleep!!" So annoying. I was so tired that I decided to try to go to sleep without taking any Xanax, even a half. I thought I would surely fall asleep but ... no!
When my alarm went off, I was soooo tired. I stayed awake, but stayed in bed reading up on what is going on in Mississippi over the Thad Cochran vote. I have no dog in this fight, and I don't know a thing about Chris McDaniels ... but I do know corruption when I see it, and it sure looks like it here. I also know "spin" when I see it. What has happened is that many people who,voted in the democrat primary also voted in the republican primary, which is illegal. Cochran is wanting the voter records checked to see how many illegal votes were cast. Cochran only won by 1% of the vote, so it's reasonable to check it. Mississippi law requires that voting records be made available to the public. But some counties, including the one in which I used to live, are refusing to do this. They are refusing to let the records be seen and are, at best, saying they will let COPIES of the records be viewed after they have removed birth dates, and that people will have to pay for,these copies. I may have this wrong, but I think one county alone is going to charge $1400 for a copy. In one county who did make the records public, an individual has been going through them checking for illegal votes. As of a fee days ago, they had found 800. Cochran won by 6000 votes. I don't know what the complete number of illegal votes for that county ultimately came to. Mississippi is considered to be the most corrupt state in the nation, and I think that's showing here.
But here are my thoughts, since you asked? Oh, didn't you? Well, you're going to get them anyway.
I believe there are two kingdoms in this world. Not two political parties. Two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world. By faith, you move from being a citizen of the kingdom of this world, and you become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is ruled by Jesus, the kingdom of this world is ruled by satan. I John 5:19 says that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Philippians 3:20 says that our citizenship is in heaven.
So, the whole earth is under the control of the evil one. It is his dominion until Christ's return. Before we are saved, we are members of this kingdom. We don't even notice it because it's everywhere. It's the air that we breathe, the ideas that we speak, the philosophies we hold to be true. It is only after salvation and becoming a citizen of the kingdom of heaven that we start seeing the world differently and noticing how "off" everything is. Then, when we interact with the world, we begin to notice unkindness, lack of love, injustice, greed, cruelty, up forgiveness, hostilities, corrupt hearts and minds and systems. We then have a choice, and I think both choices are probably valid and are made according to the individual gifting of people. We may withdraw from the world and develop insular societies. Or we may oppose the world by confronting the corruption and calling it by its true name - sin. Prophets and evangelists are the people most likely to enter into this arena.
And, in this arena, they function as terrorists. The world is under the control of the evil one, but they choose to interact with the world and confront it, challenging people to open their eyes and see the truth of what is going on, with the goal of seeing them renounce the world and enter the kingdom of heaven.
I believe this should be our ultimate goal. To persuade people to renounce the world and enter the kingdom. I think that Christian political activists are challenging a system of corruption. But systems don't get redeemed. Only individuals experience redemption. When you challenge a system, you are challenging the dominant control of the evil one, and you are going to fail. At best, you may make the kingdom of this earth a little bit more palatable. A little less,obvious, for,a,short period of time. But corruption is always going to be the point to which any system returns. It will always return to it's set point.
So, while the prophet in me is alarmed and angry at the blatant injustice going on in the Mississippi election, I think it is largely fruitless to go after the system and try to reform it. The only response that could be effective, in my estimation, is on a personal level. Who knows Thad Cochran personally and can challenge or rebuke him? Who knows Haley Barbour, who apparently bankrolled a lot of this, and can have a personal "come-to-Jesus" conversation with him? As individuals respond and repent, the system they control may change for the better, for a while. But there is no "repent" message to be given to a system. This it cannot respond, or repent, or be transformed. Only individuals are transformed into the image of Christ ... not political parties.
So, while I may appreciate the efforts of people trying to confront a system, I think they are spinning their wheels. Corruption is a given, and even if a person has a lifelong influence on a system, they will die and their influence will end and the system will become corrupt again, because corruption and evil is the set point for a system under the control of the evil one. I believe an individual's life is better spent advancing the kingdom of heaven rather than trying to beat back the kingdom of this world.
So, that's your "Deep Thoughts, with Lisa McDaniels" episode for the day! Hopefully you're old enough to catch the Saturday Night Live reference. If you don't watch SNL, then you obviously aren't cool, like me! :-)
So, non-eventful day. My daughter and I watched some more "Sherlock" today. She is loving it, I thought she would. Then her father and she traveled into Manhattan to see "Wicked." I didn't go because I don't touch things with any occult ANYTHING with a ten foot pole! You wouldn't either if you had had my childhood. And that's all I'm going to say about that! They had a great time together. But they ate at the Hard Rock Cafe! Of all the restaurants in New York City... why in the world would they eat there!?!
Our son needed me to send him some rent money. He is very discouraged right now. I told him I needed his bank info to send him some money, but he didn't send it to me. I had gone to the grocery store to so this, but wound up just buying a few groceries because I didn't hear back from him. Then I decided that I couldn't take my car being dirty, so I found a car wash in a nearby village. But I called my mother while I was driving there and made a wrong turn and nearly wound up in New Jersey!
My fitbit battery died so I didn't get my steps recorded today. Forgot all about charging it ... of course! I made a nice salad with the leftover chicken breast from last night's dinner and snacked on some potato chips, but not too excessively, I don't think. I had a gluten-free English muffin, dairy free yogurt, and some organic apple juice for a late breakfast. And ... four smallish chocolate-chip cookies. Gluten- and dairy-free, of course! And a banana. Am I the only one frustrated by having to cut open bananas now? What did they do, genetically modify them so you can't get into them??
Oh, and, did you notice that the NOAA changed their declaration that the summer of 2012 was the hottest summer ever and went back to saying that the summer of 1936 was the hottest? Turns out, they have been modifying their data and even making up temperatures from weather stations that were closed down years before to make it appear that America was getting hotter. (Didn't I just say something about corrupt systems??). Someone analyzed the data after coming upon a fluke. He at first thought it was just a math error, but when he went deeper, he found them actually changing and making up data! American has been on a cooling trend since 1936. July of 2012, however, WAS the hottest JULY ever. I believe it. Gardening that summer was a nightmare and I had a garden club coming to see my gardens and had a deadline to have them ready! It was MISERABLE!
I got one and a half large boxes unpacked,this evening and went through some of my table linens. Even gave some away!
I have to get this stuff carted off to Salvation Army to empty my dining room before the interior designer comes on Tuesday!
Well, that's it for me. I think my daughter and I will be going into Manhattan tomorrow to go to a museum. Should be fun!
Cheers!
Lisa
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Day 341 - Got My Girl!
Dear Reader,
We picked up our daughter at Laguardia today. She had a good time traveling by herself. I nearly killed myself today getting her bedroom and bathroom cleaned, ordered, unpacked, and prepared for her. I wasn't able to get her space saver assembled, so I didn't hand a cute picture in her bathroom. But hopefully that will be finished tomorrow.
She and her father are going into Manhattan tomorrow to see "Wicked." I am not going because "The Wizard if Oz" freaked me out so badly as a child. I was forced to watch it each year even though it terrified me. In fact, it disturbed me enough that I very nearly didn't reference it here. She used to think I could handle "Wicked," but then, after seeing it again in Nashville, decided that I can't. So I'm sitting this one out.
Her bedroom came together really pretty and comfy and she likes it a lot. Tomorrow I want us to go get manicures and eat lunch out and do some trails. She brought her fitbit with her and walking shoes.
Speaking of fitbit's, I made 15,900ish steps today doing all this housework. I also cleaned up the yard of dog poop and sprayed it down with the lawn deodorizer which seemed to work.
I've stayed up too late, again! We stayed up to introduce her to "Sherlock," which she loved! I could understand more of he dialogue this time. Wouldn't it be lovely if my hearing improved as well as my sense of smell??
Phone you're looking forward to a new week and not dreading it. I worked really hard this weekend so that I could not have to do much this week.
Wonder what I'll do while they're gone. Three boxes in bedroom. About five BIG boxes in kitchen. About that many in family area. Two or three in the living room. . . and about a MILLION in the dining room! There are about ten large boxes that the unpackers just threw in a heap outside the shed, but they put the racks for the shed in the basement! Maddening! But, there is an end in sight!
So, cheers!
Lisa
We picked up our daughter at Laguardia today. She had a good time traveling by herself. I nearly killed myself today getting her bedroom and bathroom cleaned, ordered, unpacked, and prepared for her. I wasn't able to get her space saver assembled, so I didn't hand a cute picture in her bathroom. But hopefully that will be finished tomorrow.
She and her father are going into Manhattan tomorrow to see "Wicked." I am not going because "The Wizard if Oz" freaked me out so badly as a child. I was forced to watch it each year even though it terrified me. In fact, it disturbed me enough that I very nearly didn't reference it here. She used to think I could handle "Wicked," but then, after seeing it again in Nashville, decided that I can't. So I'm sitting this one out.
Her bedroom came together really pretty and comfy and she likes it a lot. Tomorrow I want us to go get manicures and eat lunch out and do some trails. She brought her fitbit with her and walking shoes.
Speaking of fitbit's, I made 15,900ish steps today doing all this housework. I also cleaned up the yard of dog poop and sprayed it down with the lawn deodorizer which seemed to work.
I've stayed up too late, again! We stayed up to introduce her to "Sherlock," which she loved! I could understand more of he dialogue this time. Wouldn't it be lovely if my hearing improved as well as my sense of smell??
Phone you're looking forward to a new week and not dreading it. I worked really hard this weekend so that I could not have to do much this week.
Wonder what I'll do while they're gone. Three boxes in bedroom. About five BIG boxes in kitchen. About that many in family area. Two or three in the living room. . . and about a MILLION in the dining room! There are about ten large boxes that the unpackers just threw in a heap outside the shed, but they put the racks for the shed in the basement! Maddening! But, there is an end in sight!
So, cheers!
Lisa
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Day 342 - FAILURE! FAILURE! FAILURE!!!
Dear Reader,
Today started off rough. Everywhere I looked was disorder, chaos and dirt. And everything I saw that was out of place or dirty or a mess, in other words, EVERY place is looked said to me, "You're a FAILURE! You're a FAILURE! A FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE!
I think that's what you call negative self-talk??! It's kind of up there with me saying every time I look in the mirror, "YOURE DISGUSTING! YOURE SO FAT!!" I am compassionate with others, but merciless to myself. At least I caught what I was saying to myself today and tried, unsuccessfully to convince myself that it was untrue. But, I tried. And then I decided to pony up and clean it! I was worried about my neck, but it is enough better that I was able to get A LOT of work done today. The entire kitchen is clean, the kitchen table is clean, the big island counter is clean. Another lamp has been found and set up in the family area. All sorts of things were carried upstairs where they belong to be sorted through tomorrow. I finished unpacking a tall box of kitchen things and put the remaining paper into it, filling it up. I relocated the dog beds from the staircase landing to our closet-to-be room. But, most importantly, I swept all of,the important areas of the downstairs AND MOPPED it all!
I worked really hard all day. I way surpassed my fitbit goal of 10,000 steps. I had on a nice channel I found and just be-bopped away, cleaning to the music. The house looks so much better! And this calms my nerves don. And ... makes me feel like I'm worth something after all and am not a failure! There's something wrong here, but I'm not sure I exactly know what. This is where my counselor would say, "What does that say to you?" and I would say, " uh ... um ... hmmmm? What was the question??"
I'm determining my worth by my ability to beat back the chaos. I'm determining my worth by my performance. I am not seeing any intrinsic worth in myself. This is not good in these particular circumstances in which I am having to determine each moment what is the priority. When unpacking trumps cleaning too many times,this is where I land. I am most unkind to myself, ripping at myself when I fail to be everything and accomplish everything. Let's see. I'm 57. I wonder at what point I'll get past this demanding taskmaster in me?
We had an interesting lunch. There is a super rich and exclusive country club in our area with a long history. It is truly gorgeous! A man who lives behind us in a jaw-dropping estate (a movie was filmed there) invited us to lunch. He gave us a history of the area, didn't go quite as far back as the Indians, but pretty close! He also had some advice for my husband about how to help the strained relationship between the collage and the two villages in which it lies. Lays. Why do,I always have problems with this??
For dinner we went to the local health food store and picked out things to make a big salad for dinner. Were really enjoying having these salads. Then we had fresh berries with ice cream. I tried a new product that is dairy free and made from cashews. It was delicious! Far superior to all the other non-dairy options I have tried. I also bought some raspberry/chocolate sauce, and wow! It was really great.
I called my mother and it was one of,those times when she was MY MOTHER! When I told her that I had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she acted completely uninterested and changed the topic immediately to herself. I've been posting some stuff to Facebook since I've had this very bad experience with my neck and she's read about it, including the article I attached. She said she had to read the article several times because it just wasn't getting through to her. Then she finally realized that this is what her daughter has and is experiencing constantly, and it really got to her and she was very concerned for me. She said her defenses are so high and strong that upsetting things just almost can't get through to her. So, it was a lovely conversation for me, because she acted like she cared about me and had concern for me. Doesn't happen often. This is what my counselor spoke of one time when she said to see if I can see. Y mother in each context, or if I can only see her illness. So, this time I saw my mother.
Poop patrol has been delayed to tomorrow. I didn't have time to do it before our lunch and then it was too hot. I don't like the idea of picking up,dog poop at all, and I'm sure not going to pick up HOT dog poop!
Our pool is ready now and my husband got in it and enjoyed it. It's still too cold for me, so I just sat there with my feet in the water. Everything was so beautiful! Just lovely.
I'm trying leaving my dog in her diaper tonight. I'm not sure,this is a good,idea, but she is only peeing about three times during the night, and I think this will hold it.
I have big plans for cleaning hues tomorrow. I have to get our daughters's bed made with the sheets and blankets I had to buy since I still haven't found any. And then I want to get a lot of cleaning and tidying done upstairs, mostly in our room and bathrooms.
So, that's it for tonight. Have a great Sunday! I feel slightly guilty for not going to church any since we got here. But I am okay with having some weeks dedicated to unpacking before starting back into the real world.
Cheers!
Lisa
Today started off rough. Everywhere I looked was disorder, chaos and dirt. And everything I saw that was out of place or dirty or a mess, in other words, EVERY place is looked said to me, "You're a FAILURE! You're a FAILURE! A FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE!
I think that's what you call negative self-talk??! It's kind of up there with me saying every time I look in the mirror, "YOURE DISGUSTING! YOURE SO FAT!!" I am compassionate with others, but merciless to myself. At least I caught what I was saying to myself today and tried, unsuccessfully to convince myself that it was untrue. But, I tried. And then I decided to pony up and clean it! I was worried about my neck, but it is enough better that I was able to get A LOT of work done today. The entire kitchen is clean, the kitchen table is clean, the big island counter is clean. Another lamp has been found and set up in the family area. All sorts of things were carried upstairs where they belong to be sorted through tomorrow. I finished unpacking a tall box of kitchen things and put the remaining paper into it, filling it up. I relocated the dog beds from the staircase landing to our closet-to-be room. But, most importantly, I swept all of,the important areas of the downstairs AND MOPPED it all!
I worked really hard all day. I way surpassed my fitbit goal of 10,000 steps. I had on a nice channel I found and just be-bopped away, cleaning to the music. The house looks so much better! And this calms my nerves don. And ... makes me feel like I'm worth something after all and am not a failure! There's something wrong here, but I'm not sure I exactly know what. This is where my counselor would say, "What does that say to you?" and I would say, " uh ... um ... hmmmm? What was the question??"
I'm determining my worth by my ability to beat back the chaos. I'm determining my worth by my performance. I am not seeing any intrinsic worth in myself. This is not good in these particular circumstances in which I am having to determine each moment what is the priority. When unpacking trumps cleaning too many times,this is where I land. I am most unkind to myself, ripping at myself when I fail to be everything and accomplish everything. Let's see. I'm 57. I wonder at what point I'll get past this demanding taskmaster in me?
We had an interesting lunch. There is a super rich and exclusive country club in our area with a long history. It is truly gorgeous! A man who lives behind us in a jaw-dropping estate (a movie was filmed there) invited us to lunch. He gave us a history of the area, didn't go quite as far back as the Indians, but pretty close! He also had some advice for my husband about how to help the strained relationship between the collage and the two villages in which it lies. Lays. Why do,I always have problems with this??
For dinner we went to the local health food store and picked out things to make a big salad for dinner. Were really enjoying having these salads. Then we had fresh berries with ice cream. I tried a new product that is dairy free and made from cashews. It was delicious! Far superior to all the other non-dairy options I have tried. I also bought some raspberry/chocolate sauce, and wow! It was really great.
I called my mother and it was one of,those times when she was MY MOTHER! When I told her that I had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she acted completely uninterested and changed the topic immediately to herself. I've been posting some stuff to Facebook since I've had this very bad experience with my neck and she's read about it, including the article I attached. She said she had to read the article several times because it just wasn't getting through to her. Then she finally realized that this is what her daughter has and is experiencing constantly, and it really got to her and she was very concerned for me. She said her defenses are so high and strong that upsetting things just almost can't get through to her. So, it was a lovely conversation for me, because she acted like she cared about me and had concern for me. Doesn't happen often. This is what my counselor spoke of one time when she said to see if I can see. Y mother in each context, or if I can only see her illness. So, this time I saw my mother.
Poop patrol has been delayed to tomorrow. I didn't have time to do it before our lunch and then it was too hot. I don't like the idea of picking up,dog poop at all, and I'm sure not going to pick up HOT dog poop!
Our pool is ready now and my husband got in it and enjoyed it. It's still too cold for me, so I just sat there with my feet in the water. Everything was so beautiful! Just lovely.
I'm trying leaving my dog in her diaper tonight. I'm not sure,this is a good,idea, but she is only peeing about three times during the night, and I think this will hold it.
I have big plans for cleaning hues tomorrow. I have to get our daughters's bed made with the sheets and blankets I had to buy since I still haven't found any. And then I want to get a lot of cleaning and tidying done upstairs, mostly in our room and bathrooms.
So, that's it for tonight. Have a great Sunday! I feel slightly guilty for not going to church any since we got here. But I am okay with having some weeks dedicated to unpacking before starting back into the real world.
Cheers!
Lisa
Friday, June 27, 2014
Day 343 - Ferocious Headache!
Dear Reader,
Have you heard about all this going on in Mississippi? I lived there for 18 years and I am in no way shocked about the dirty politics Cochran and his supporters pulled. And the Governor just wants to cover it over and certify the vote before the votes have been examined to find out how many are illegal?? They already have found almost 1000 illegal votes, and many counties are refusing, illegally, to let their records be examined. Unbelievable! What am I saying?? TOTALLY believable! I am SO glad I don't live there any more!
I saw the chiropractor and he worked on my neck some more and was able to get it to adjust some more. But it's hurting awfully badly this evening and has caused an incredible headache. It's weird because it's mostly on the right side, and the right side of my forehead is swollen.
I went to Ethan Allen today. I called the manager ahead of time and asked her of she could set me up with someone who understood the style I was going for. She said that all of,their designers are very versatile, but that there was one who especially liked the style I want. Her name is Alex, and we bonded immediately! She totally gets what I'm trying to do. I want my house to be warm and friendly and inviting. Fresh and bright and youthful and cheerful. Something that our lower-economic students will not find intimidating, but something that our very rich backers will find appropriate and refreshing. I want a blend of French-country with a touch of shabby-chic but reflecting refined elegance. A style,that is appropriate for our Southern heritage, but will have the crispness that someone from Manhattan would like. Romantic, but sophisticated. Easy, huh?? She had some really good suggestions that I liked a lot. She is coming to the house next week to see it and to measure everything. She's also going to help us figure out if we can do the baby grand or not.
Our daughter comes in on Sunday! I have to finish putting her room and bedroom together as best as I can. The space saver for her bathroom has arrived, but it looks like I'll have to out it together. Hope it's easy!
My cat stayed gone all night and all day and into this evening. She finally came to me!
For lunch today image an entire bag of,those popped popcorn chips, the triangle looking ones. An entire BIG bag! I was running errands and didn't have time to stop,to eat.
I have to do a lot of housework tomorrow ... Beginning with cleaning all the poop in the backyard ... Yay! Poop pick-up party!! And then spraying it down with this lawn deodorizer. That'll be a lot of fun.
The pool has been cleaned and prepped and is looking beautiful! Can't wait to get in it, but it's really cold right now.
Well, that's it for today.
Cheers!
Lisa
Have you heard about all this going on in Mississippi? I lived there for 18 years and I am in no way shocked about the dirty politics Cochran and his supporters pulled. And the Governor just wants to cover it over and certify the vote before the votes have been examined to find out how many are illegal?? They already have found almost 1000 illegal votes, and many counties are refusing, illegally, to let their records be examined. Unbelievable! What am I saying?? TOTALLY believable! I am SO glad I don't live there any more!
I saw the chiropractor and he worked on my neck some more and was able to get it to adjust some more. But it's hurting awfully badly this evening and has caused an incredible headache. It's weird because it's mostly on the right side, and the right side of my forehead is swollen.
I went to Ethan Allen today. I called the manager ahead of time and asked her of she could set me up with someone who understood the style I was going for. She said that all of,their designers are very versatile, but that there was one who especially liked the style I want. Her name is Alex, and we bonded immediately! She totally gets what I'm trying to do. I want my house to be warm and friendly and inviting. Fresh and bright and youthful and cheerful. Something that our lower-economic students will not find intimidating, but something that our very rich backers will find appropriate and refreshing. I want a blend of French-country with a touch of shabby-chic but reflecting refined elegance. A style,that is appropriate for our Southern heritage, but will have the crispness that someone from Manhattan would like. Romantic, but sophisticated. Easy, huh?? She had some really good suggestions that I liked a lot. She is coming to the house next week to see it and to measure everything. She's also going to help us figure out if we can do the baby grand or not.
Our daughter comes in on Sunday! I have to finish putting her room and bedroom together as best as I can. The space saver for her bathroom has arrived, but it looks like I'll have to out it together. Hope it's easy!
My cat stayed gone all night and all day and into this evening. She finally came to me!
For lunch today image an entire bag of,those popped popcorn chips, the triangle looking ones. An entire BIG bag! I was running errands and didn't have time to stop,to eat.
I have to do a lot of housework tomorrow ... Beginning with cleaning all the poop in the backyard ... Yay! Poop pick-up party!! And then spraying it down with this lawn deodorizer. That'll be a lot of fun.
The pool has been cleaned and prepped and is looking beautiful! Can't wait to get in it, but it's really cold right now.
Well, that's it for today.
Cheers!
Lisa
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Day 344 - A Better Day
Dear Reader,
The pain was pretty much gone this morning when I woke up. What an enormous relief. I was able to do some minimal work today, but I had a helper from the college who helped me get a lot done.
The person who got the contract to do the work on the house came out today. He took measurements for blinds and. Moved three blinds from downstairs to our bedroom, so I'm not providing a peep show for the neighbors anymore. Good times are over, old guys! You can stop taking your dogs out for late night walks now!
My husband has MOUNTAINS of clothes! He swears he's going to go through them and cull out things he no longer needs. Salvation Army is going to be getting so much from us! I need to call them and get them to come out and pick up what I've already accumulated for them. It's a LOT!
I would say that I am about halfway unpacked upstairs and downstairs. The basement is a fright, of course. I cannot find my vacuum down there anywhere!
I ordered sheets and a blanket for,our daughters. Room since I can't find any of those things. The sheets are a perfect match to her bedset. I've also ordered some curtain panels, but I don't think they've arrived yet. There are two packages downstairs, but I don't think either one of,them is hers. One package got here that I'm pretty sure is one of the bedroom sets I ordered, but I didn't have time to open it yet.
At around 3:30, my body had strong words with me and told me to go to bed! I finished off things with the guy who was helping me and slept for about an hour and a half. I texted my husband and told him to go,get a hamburger, so when I woke up, I heated up some polenta and BBQ chicken on it and had a salad out of some excellent salad greens they have here. Then I had some edemame, so that made for a nice meal.
We sat outside on the patio while I ate and he smoked a cigar. He told me about a lot of,cool things that have been happening. He's already calming down a lot of,folks here in the community. They're going to love him when all is said and done. There is one guy here who is apparently a fierce opponent of,the college. I had already heard about him. The man that my husband talked to today said that he should not try to talk to him yet, but he's probably going to. When he told me about that I said, "Why not? He's not the only alpha male here!" My husband is the alpha male!
I can't wait for my daughter to get here! I have just been unpacking , as my body let's me, and haven't gone to anything fun yet. She's looking forward to walking all the trails around here and eating some good food, so I've been saving the good stuff for when she gets here.
I usually write this in bed, but as soon as I got in bed and started working on my to-do list for tomorrow, my neck started killing me! It's hurting really bad now, even though I moved to a chair.
I've been letting my cat out for little bits the last week, and then I let her out while my husband and I were sitting outside. But then, later when I was trying to get my blind dog to come inside, the cat rushed past me and got out and won't come in. So she's about to spend her first night outside, it looks like. I'm going to check on her one last time before I turn in, and then that will be that. There's a six foot fence around our backyard, and I don't think she would know how to climb it, so I assume she's still there some where. This means that I won't be leaving food out for,her anymore! I was reading about training a cat to come when you call and the first thing you have to do is stop leaving food out for them so that they get hungry.. And then you can use the hunger to train them.
I hope to pick out our dining room furniture tomorrow. I've prepared myself so I won't faint over the prices. I'm not hungry, but I want to go down and heat up a gluten-free roll I have down there and slather it with butter and eat it! I'm sure it's the stress of my neck hurting again and worries about my rotten cat.
Cheers!
Lisa
The pain was pretty much gone this morning when I woke up. What an enormous relief. I was able to do some minimal work today, but I had a helper from the college who helped me get a lot done.
The person who got the contract to do the work on the house came out today. He took measurements for blinds and. Moved three blinds from downstairs to our bedroom, so I'm not providing a peep show for the neighbors anymore. Good times are over, old guys! You can stop taking your dogs out for late night walks now!
My husband has MOUNTAINS of clothes! He swears he's going to go through them and cull out things he no longer needs. Salvation Army is going to be getting so much from us! I need to call them and get them to come out and pick up what I've already accumulated for them. It's a LOT!
I would say that I am about halfway unpacked upstairs and downstairs. The basement is a fright, of course. I cannot find my vacuum down there anywhere!
I ordered sheets and a blanket for,our daughters. Room since I can't find any of those things. The sheets are a perfect match to her bedset. I've also ordered some curtain panels, but I don't think they've arrived yet. There are two packages downstairs, but I don't think either one of,them is hers. One package got here that I'm pretty sure is one of the bedroom sets I ordered, but I didn't have time to open it yet.
At around 3:30, my body had strong words with me and told me to go to bed! I finished off things with the guy who was helping me and slept for about an hour and a half. I texted my husband and told him to go,get a hamburger, so when I woke up, I heated up some polenta and BBQ chicken on it and had a salad out of some excellent salad greens they have here. Then I had some edemame, so that made for a nice meal.
We sat outside on the patio while I ate and he smoked a cigar. He told me about a lot of,cool things that have been happening. He's already calming down a lot of,folks here in the community. They're going to love him when all is said and done. There is one guy here who is apparently a fierce opponent of,the college. I had already heard about him. The man that my husband talked to today said that he should not try to talk to him yet, but he's probably going to. When he told me about that I said, "Why not? He's not the only alpha male here!" My husband is the alpha male!
I can't wait for my daughter to get here! I have just been unpacking , as my body let's me, and haven't gone to anything fun yet. She's looking forward to walking all the trails around here and eating some good food, so I've been saving the good stuff for when she gets here.
I usually write this in bed, but as soon as I got in bed and started working on my to-do list for tomorrow, my neck started killing me! It's hurting really bad now, even though I moved to a chair.
I've been letting my cat out for little bits the last week, and then I let her out while my husband and I were sitting outside. But then, later when I was trying to get my blind dog to come inside, the cat rushed past me and got out and won't come in. So she's about to spend her first night outside, it looks like. I'm going to check on her one last time before I turn in, and then that will be that. There's a six foot fence around our backyard, and I don't think she would know how to climb it, so I assume she's still there some where. This means that I won't be leaving food out for,her anymore! I was reading about training a cat to come when you call and the first thing you have to do is stop leaving food out for them so that they get hungry.. And then you can use the hunger to train them.
I hope to pick out our dining room furniture tomorrow. I've prepared myself so I won't faint over the prices. I'm not hungry, but I want to go down and heat up a gluten-free roll I have down there and slather it with butter and eat it! I'm sure it's the stress of my neck hurting again and worries about my rotten cat.
Cheers!
Lisa
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Day 344 - Adult Lisa ... Come Back!!
Dear Reader,
Thismwill he short because I'm hurting so bad. I saw the chiropractor today and I think he's going to be okay. He did a very gentle adjustment since I'm new to him. The muscles in my neck were so tense and swollen that my neck didn't adjust very well. But my middle back did fine. I'm supposed to go back friday, but I think I'm going back tomorrow. This move has been hard on my body. As my immune system settles down, it should be able to turn its attention to healing my connective tissues. My husband went downstairs after going to bed, to get me the travel pillow. I thought it would help support my neck, but it's too tight and hurts badly.
I've got an appointment set to see both the counselor I picked and the doctor I picked. But the doctor doesn't file insurance, and my husbands not keen on that. I'm not keen on it either because it means I'll have to be the one wrestling with the insurance company all the time.
Pain is making me feel more overwhelmed again.
That's it for now.
Lisa
Thismwill he short because I'm hurting so bad. I saw the chiropractor today and I think he's going to be okay. He did a very gentle adjustment since I'm new to him. The muscles in my neck were so tense and swollen that my neck didn't adjust very well. But my middle back did fine. I'm supposed to go back friday, but I think I'm going back tomorrow. This move has been hard on my body. As my immune system settles down, it should be able to turn its attention to healing my connective tissues. My husband went downstairs after going to bed, to get me the travel pillow. I thought it would help support my neck, but it's too tight and hurts badly.
I've got an appointment set to see both the counselor I picked and the doctor I picked. But the doctor doesn't file insurance, and my husbands not keen on that. I'm not keen on it either because it means I'll have to be the one wrestling with the insurance company all the time.
Pain is making me feel more overwhelmed again.
That's it for now.
Lisa
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Day 345 - In a Lot of Pain
Dear Reader,
This will be short because I'm in a lot of pain. One of my neck vertebra has come out of place and it is extremely painful. It's been hurting bad all day, but towards the evening, it shifted further and has been extremely painful. Especially if I turned my head in the slightest. I found a chiropractor and will see him tomorrow morning, thank goodness. I hope he's good! I got very discouraged over it this evening. Even shed a few tears of self-pity. Give me a break! I don't do constant pain well! Tend knowing that this is going to happen my whole life got to me. I looked up Ehlers-Danlos and found that it's one of those super rare disorders. Yay, me! I just need a good chiropractor and a good prolotherapist! This chiropractor is very close to me, I don't think he's even a mile away.
I used this pain and the low-intensity work day it created as a means to push myself to find a doctor and a counselor. In fact, I started researching counselors in the area and texting them to my friend in Tennessee for her to see what she thought. She was getting the texts as coming from an email account that doesn't have my name in it. Her daughters told her not to open them because she'd get a virus! But then I said, "Ding! Ding! We have a winner!" and she knew it was me. I called one that is thirty some minutes away. She sounds great and trauma and EMDR for trauma are two of her specialties. The whole place sounds great. It's just women counselors and they just see women! They're having an aromatherapist come in next week to talk about scents for summer. I'm sorry, but that sounds wonderful to me! So, I may get to see her Friday morning, depending on insurance issues.
I also tried to make an appointment with an integrative health medical doctor today. Turns out she's started specializing in an area that is not me. So I told her nurse what all I had going on and she was going to talk to her tonight about whether she wanted to take me on as a patient or not. One problem, though, is that she doesn't take insurance. You have to pay up front, and then submit the bill to your insurance company. I've got to talk to my husband, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be a problem.
So, that's three things I got taken care of today that I had been putting off. I also got quite a bit of unpacking done despite my neck ... until it shifted and I haven't done anything since then.
Our daughter comes in this Sunday! I've ordered her sheets and a blanket since I can't find hers either. I ordered a white space saver for her bathroom, which is tiny! There's not even a towel ring I there! What did the previous people do? I was thinking of trying to paint it before she got here, but ... I think that that is not going to happen now.
And my good friend and her husband are coming to see us in July! I'm so excited! Broadway, here we come! Osteria al Doge, here we come! She's going to come in a few days early to help me, which will be wonderful!
My husband told me to just go ahead and go to Ethan Allen and order the furniture for the downstairs. I was try got figure out how to do this in the most cost effective way, but he said to just get it. So that will make things so much easier.
I think a vertebra just below my shoulders has come out of place now, too. If you want to know what Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is like, read this blog. She describes it perfectly. She doesn't seem to know about prolotherapy, though. http://brilliantmindbrokenbody.wordpress.com
I need to get by Bed, Bath, and Beyond this week and pick our daughter up a bath mat and things like that. I have everything for our guest bedroom, not her bedroom, except a mattress and box springs! Kind of need to get those. I want to see what mattresses a hotel here has. It was so comfortable, and my back didn't hurt at all. I didn't even need my heating pad!
That's it for tonight. I think I've decided on doing jazzercise instead of the Y. Need to visit a class, though, and make sure I can do it without collapsing for three or four days afterwards.
Again, I didn't do anything for my health today in particular except to eat pretty well and I did allow myself some time to sit in the sun and pull some weeds coming up between the patio flagstones.
Cheers!
Lisa
This will be short because I'm in a lot of pain. One of my neck vertebra has come out of place and it is extremely painful. It's been hurting bad all day, but towards the evening, it shifted further and has been extremely painful. Especially if I turned my head in the slightest. I found a chiropractor and will see him tomorrow morning, thank goodness. I hope he's good! I got very discouraged over it this evening. Even shed a few tears of self-pity. Give me a break! I don't do constant pain well! Tend knowing that this is going to happen my whole life got to me. I looked up Ehlers-Danlos and found that it's one of those super rare disorders. Yay, me! I just need a good chiropractor and a good prolotherapist! This chiropractor is very close to me, I don't think he's even a mile away.
I used this pain and the low-intensity work day it created as a means to push myself to find a doctor and a counselor. In fact, I started researching counselors in the area and texting them to my friend in Tennessee for her to see what she thought. She was getting the texts as coming from an email account that doesn't have my name in it. Her daughters told her not to open them because she'd get a virus! But then I said, "Ding! Ding! We have a winner!" and she knew it was me. I called one that is thirty some minutes away. She sounds great and trauma and EMDR for trauma are two of her specialties. The whole place sounds great. It's just women counselors and they just see women! They're having an aromatherapist come in next week to talk about scents for summer. I'm sorry, but that sounds wonderful to me! So, I may get to see her Friday morning, depending on insurance issues.
I also tried to make an appointment with an integrative health medical doctor today. Turns out she's started specializing in an area that is not me. So I told her nurse what all I had going on and she was going to talk to her tonight about whether she wanted to take me on as a patient or not. One problem, though, is that she doesn't take insurance. You have to pay up front, and then submit the bill to your insurance company. I've got to talk to my husband, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be a problem.
So, that's three things I got taken care of today that I had been putting off. I also got quite a bit of unpacking done despite my neck ... until it shifted and I haven't done anything since then.
Our daughter comes in this Sunday! I've ordered her sheets and a blanket since I can't find hers either. I ordered a white space saver for her bathroom, which is tiny! There's not even a towel ring I there! What did the previous people do? I was thinking of trying to paint it before she got here, but ... I think that that is not going to happen now.
And my good friend and her husband are coming to see us in July! I'm so excited! Broadway, here we come! Osteria al Doge, here we come! She's going to come in a few days early to help me, which will be wonderful!
My husband told me to just go ahead and go to Ethan Allen and order the furniture for the downstairs. I was try got figure out how to do this in the most cost effective way, but he said to just get it. So that will make things so much easier.
I think a vertebra just below my shoulders has come out of place now, too. If you want to know what Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is like, read this blog. She describes it perfectly. She doesn't seem to know about prolotherapy, though. http://brilliantmindbrokenbody.wordpress.com
I need to get by Bed, Bath, and Beyond this week and pick our daughter up a bath mat and things like that. I have everything for our guest bedroom, not her bedroom, except a mattress and box springs! Kind of need to get those. I want to see what mattresses a hotel here has. It was so comfortable, and my back didn't hurt at all. I didn't even need my heating pad!
That's it for tonight. I think I've decided on doing jazzercise instead of the Y. Need to visit a class, though, and make sure I can do it without collapsing for three or four days afterwards.
Again, I didn't do anything for my health today in particular except to eat pretty well and I did allow myself some time to sit in the sun and pull some weeds coming up between the patio flagstones.
Cheers!
Lisa
Monday, June 23, 2014
Day 346 - A Much Better Day!
Dear Reader,
I don't know,what made the difference, but today was a much better day. I think it was trying to approach my work with the mindset of how what I call a "grown woman" would do. "Grown woman" as in a normal woman as opposed to still emotionally traumatized, but yet, grown woman. My alarm did not go off because I set it in the dark and couldn't see if it was set for am or pm. I knew there was a 50/50 chance that it wouldn't go off, and it didn't. When I woke up, I was afraid to look at the clock. I was so afraid that it was noon or 1:00 again. But, it was only 10:20, so that was a relief.
I got up with energy and enthusiasm. I had made a good plan for action today, focusing on cleaning, rather than unpacking. I didn't get even halfway through my planned schedule, but what I did do made a bit difference.
I met my mailman today. I heard him pull up and went outside to meet him and said, "Please have doggie diapers!" He did, and they actually fit my dog and she can't get them off!!! Thank God! He was a strange man, and very ... unkempt. He had a towel,drape over his head and a hat on top of it. I asked him if he would like some ice water, and he said some ice would be nice. He had really crooked teeth that had ... well, not been brushed for,quite a while! I didn't ever see anyone so ... um, is it unkind to say "gross" in Mississippi or Tennessee! In 25 years in the Deep South. And, yes, of course it's unkind. But I don't know any other way to say it, and I don't want to draw a more precise word picture for you. See, ... I'm protecting you!
The owner of the dry cleaners delivered my husbands clothes today. Really nice man, Korean I think. And he was so pressed and polished. A real contrast to the mailman. And super nice.
I am down to three boxes in the bedroom! One small one, and two very large ones. So exciting. I got a lot of things cleared off of,the mantle. It's looking neater, but isn't decorated yet.
My husband grilled me on what was happening on everything regarding the house while we were at dinner tonight. At one point I interrupted and said I felt like I was being grilled and we were at dinner, after all. I wasn't upset, I was just commenting. Strongly! I told him he was still in his Presidential mode and not in his husband mode! After we finished going over everything I asked hi, if that was how he grilled his staff. He said, no, but he knew I could handle it!
We are getting 2 inch faux wood blinds put in several of the rooms. I can't wait! They are going to make such a big difference. He also told me to go on to Ethan Allen to decorate the house and not to try to pinch pennies like I was planning to. So, that should make,things much easier. Two sofas, two Bergere chairs, two occasional chairs, one large round ottoman, coffee tables, sofa tables, end tables, lamps, art, rug and drapes. And I'd really like a tall secretary for one wall and plantation shutters on the lower half of,the windows.
And then there's the dining room. Dining table to seat ten, one or two china cabinets and a large buffet. Maybe a tea service table. Art, chandelier, large antique mirror, drapes and a rug.
And then there's the entry way. It doesn't exactly lend itself to any special decorating . It's a large space with one long side wall and two short walls on either side of the entrance to the dining room. My husband wanted to out a small baby grand in here, but it requires 7 and a half feet by 5 feet and would probably overpower the entry. He is really saddened about this. We found a very nice ebony upright. It's strings are the same length as those in a baby grand, but the action is different since they are vertical instead of horizontal. But it's just not the same at all. I may submit this as a question for houszz folks. They can be extremely helpful.
I wore my fitbit for the first time today and met my goal in the afternoon. Ultimately logged 12,440 steps. Yeah! I'm looking forward to seeing what it says about my sleep tonight. I think this little gadget is going to be really helpful.
I met with three members who run the facilities here, which includes our house. They are incomparably smarter and more efficient than the people I dealt with in Tennessee. I am so,used to,having to go,slow and watch the wheels,spin slowly in people's minds, the pm see,them misunderstand and planning how to go back over it hoping they'll get it the second time around. Not so with these people! My husband told me the staff here was MUCH sharper than were used to and he wasn't "whistling Dixie!" (Sorry. Seemed appropriate at the time!)
We talked about house cleaning options. This has still not been clarified with the board, but I told them that I would like, ideally, a team to come in three mornings a week. Well see what happens. How can they possibly refuse to clean their own house!?
I am experiencing something new. My sense of smell is coming back. I bought a lotion at a spa in Jamaica this spring. I could never really smell it and wondered why they made such a big deal about the fragrance. Well, starting two days ago, I could smell the coconut fragrance! Tonight, I could pick up some other fragrance in it. Pomegranate, maybe?
I am in desperate need for a chiropractor. I've got my right pelvic joint out, and I have a neck vertebrae out so far you can feel it jutting out my neck. I am going to call to see a chiropractor tomorrow, but it will regret the time. They'll have to do all the new patient stuff and take x-rays, and I'll be there for an hour and a half at least! Time I can't spare. But my neck has been out for a few days, and I can't mess around when my pelvic joint is out, so I'm going to have to just do it.
I've got a lot of work to do to get my daughter's bedroom and bathroom ready for her visit. She gets here Sunday! In the meeting they said that there were some delays in getting the pool ready. I asked them to please, please have it so we can swim while they're here. They said they can do that. Later the heater and sand trap (sand filter?) may need to be replaced.
Well, I think I'm going to go down and heat up a corn tortilla. Had a super lean dinner and am just a little hungry. Enough so I won't be able to go to sleep, I think.
So, maybe I've turned a corner? Maybe not? A friend offered to come up to,help me,which was remarkably sweet. I told her I want her to wait till we can just paint the town!
That's it for tonight, folks. Go to sleep! Darn! It's almost 1:00 am!
Cheers!
Lisa
I don't know,what made the difference, but today was a much better day. I think it was trying to approach my work with the mindset of how what I call a "grown woman" would do. "Grown woman" as in a normal woman as opposed to still emotionally traumatized, but yet, grown woman. My alarm did not go off because I set it in the dark and couldn't see if it was set for am or pm. I knew there was a 50/50 chance that it wouldn't go off, and it didn't. When I woke up, I was afraid to look at the clock. I was so afraid that it was noon or 1:00 again. But, it was only 10:20, so that was a relief.
I got up with energy and enthusiasm. I had made a good plan for action today, focusing on cleaning, rather than unpacking. I didn't get even halfway through my planned schedule, but what I did do made a bit difference.
I met my mailman today. I heard him pull up and went outside to meet him and said, "Please have doggie diapers!" He did, and they actually fit my dog and she can't get them off!!! Thank God! He was a strange man, and very ... unkempt. He had a towel,drape over his head and a hat on top of it. I asked him if he would like some ice water, and he said some ice would be nice. He had really crooked teeth that had ... well, not been brushed for,quite a while! I didn't ever see anyone so ... um, is it unkind to say "gross" in Mississippi or Tennessee! In 25 years in the Deep South. And, yes, of course it's unkind. But I don't know any other way to say it, and I don't want to draw a more precise word picture for you. See, ... I'm protecting you!
The owner of the dry cleaners delivered my husbands clothes today. Really nice man, Korean I think. And he was so pressed and polished. A real contrast to the mailman. And super nice.
I am down to three boxes in the bedroom! One small one, and two very large ones. So exciting. I got a lot of things cleared off of,the mantle. It's looking neater, but isn't decorated yet.
My husband grilled me on what was happening on everything regarding the house while we were at dinner tonight. At one point I interrupted and said I felt like I was being grilled and we were at dinner, after all. I wasn't upset, I was just commenting. Strongly! I told him he was still in his Presidential mode and not in his husband mode! After we finished going over everything I asked hi, if that was how he grilled his staff. He said, no, but he knew I could handle it!
We are getting 2 inch faux wood blinds put in several of the rooms. I can't wait! They are going to make such a big difference. He also told me to go on to Ethan Allen to decorate the house and not to try to pinch pennies like I was planning to. So, that should make,things much easier. Two sofas, two Bergere chairs, two occasional chairs, one large round ottoman, coffee tables, sofa tables, end tables, lamps, art, rug and drapes. And I'd really like a tall secretary for one wall and plantation shutters on the lower half of,the windows.
And then there's the dining room. Dining table to seat ten, one or two china cabinets and a large buffet. Maybe a tea service table. Art, chandelier, large antique mirror, drapes and a rug.
And then there's the entry way. It doesn't exactly lend itself to any special decorating . It's a large space with one long side wall and two short walls on either side of the entrance to the dining room. My husband wanted to out a small baby grand in here, but it requires 7 and a half feet by 5 feet and would probably overpower the entry. He is really saddened about this. We found a very nice ebony upright. It's strings are the same length as those in a baby grand, but the action is different since they are vertical instead of horizontal. But it's just not the same at all. I may submit this as a question for houszz folks. They can be extremely helpful.
I wore my fitbit for the first time today and met my goal in the afternoon. Ultimately logged 12,440 steps. Yeah! I'm looking forward to seeing what it says about my sleep tonight. I think this little gadget is going to be really helpful.
I met with three members who run the facilities here, which includes our house. They are incomparably smarter and more efficient than the people I dealt with in Tennessee. I am so,used to,having to go,slow and watch the wheels,spin slowly in people's minds, the pm see,them misunderstand and planning how to go back over it hoping they'll get it the second time around. Not so with these people! My husband told me the staff here was MUCH sharper than were used to and he wasn't "whistling Dixie!" (Sorry. Seemed appropriate at the time!)
We talked about house cleaning options. This has still not been clarified with the board, but I told them that I would like, ideally, a team to come in three mornings a week. Well see what happens. How can they possibly refuse to clean their own house!?
I am experiencing something new. My sense of smell is coming back. I bought a lotion at a spa in Jamaica this spring. I could never really smell it and wondered why they made such a big deal about the fragrance. Well, starting two days ago, I could smell the coconut fragrance! Tonight, I could pick up some other fragrance in it. Pomegranate, maybe?
I am in desperate need for a chiropractor. I've got my right pelvic joint out, and I have a neck vertebrae out so far you can feel it jutting out my neck. I am going to call to see a chiropractor tomorrow, but it will regret the time. They'll have to do all the new patient stuff and take x-rays, and I'll be there for an hour and a half at least! Time I can't spare. But my neck has been out for a few days, and I can't mess around when my pelvic joint is out, so I'm going to have to just do it.
I've got a lot of work to do to get my daughter's bedroom and bathroom ready for her visit. She gets here Sunday! In the meeting they said that there were some delays in getting the pool ready. I asked them to please, please have it so we can swim while they're here. They said they can do that. Later the heater and sand trap (sand filter?) may need to be replaced.
Well, I think I'm going to go down and heat up a corn tortilla. Had a super lean dinner and am just a little hungry. Enough so I won't be able to go to sleep, I think.
So, maybe I've turned a corner? Maybe not? A friend offered to come up to,help me,which was remarkably sweet. I told her I want her to wait till we can just paint the town!
That's it for tonight, folks. Go to sleep! Darn! It's almost 1:00 am!
Cheers!
Lisa
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Day 347 - New Activities Added to My Life :-(
Dear Reader,
Well ... Picture am learning the intricacies of having a small lawn and four dogs. Ugh! But first ... today I spent time thinking about how a "grown-up" woman would handle her day versus how I, a woman whose childhood fears are activated, act. It was a good thing to think about and made a difference in my day.
For one thing, I thought that a grown-up woman would removethe offensive poop from the small backyard, not bemoan it's presence. So ... I did the deed. I got one plastic bag and used it to pick up all the mess and put it in another bag which I then tied up and out outside on top of a trash can. I actually had to do a search on what to do with dog poop! I read about dog dooleys, septic systems you set up in a corner of your yard. But they are a bit expensive and sound like a lot of work, so I'm going to hold off on that. I did order steel gray poop bags, based on a review that said they were not see-through ... which seemed like a desirable quality to me! I ordered a special poop-scoop that uses these bags in some way so that the bag wraps around the scoop to pick up the waste, so neither your hands nor the scoop itself get soiled. Another thumbs-up option., finally I got some stuff you attach to your hose and spray on your lawn and it removes the odor. And lastly, some rocks you put in your dogs' water bowl which lowers the ph of their urine so that they don't kill the grass where they pee. Imagine! So, I am PREPARED! Bring on the poop!
I cleaned another toilet (ugh) and my husband's sink and vanity. I used to clean the toilets and sinks every day. The idea was from flylady.net who advocated a quick "swish-and-swipe" each day so the job was always non-objectionable. Need to get back to that.
I found our bedroom lamps and got them set up and working. Moved one lamp to a little table between our chairs, set up the Bose radio, and got most of one large box of bedroom things unpacked.
I have written a letter to the main guy over facilities bringing up our need for WINDOW BLINDS! And I ordered sheets for our daughter's bed since I can't find any of hers.
I made a real difference in the house (and yard) today. I attached all the cushions that I found in the basement to the chairs and got cushions and pillows set up on my large wicker dining set, which they finally brought back to us. I cleaned off all the glass table tops, but they need to be turned and cleaned on the other side.
I plan to do some more work in the bedroom tomorrow and attack the closet room, they can't out up any of the things to convert it to a closet until I have the room emptied, so that should provide motivation. I also have a lot to do in our daughter's bedroom to get it ready for her visit.
So, things are moving. I ate healthfully and actually sat outside and read and relaxed with my husband for a good while which was lovely. I'm supposed to meet with someone tomorrow about starting cleaning services on the house. Yeah!
Well, that's my main news for the day. I really need to get out and around some people! I thought about trying a jazzercise class, but decided to still work on the house for this week. Need to get to the dmv this week. I narrowed down the internists in the area and sent about three names to my husband for him to pick. And ... I ordered two other bedsets for our room just to be sure before I commit to the one that has come in.
This is five weeks now that all I have done is work on packing or unpacking. I'll be so glad when we are actually moved in!
Cheers!
Lisa
Well ... Picture am learning the intricacies of having a small lawn and four dogs. Ugh! But first ... today I spent time thinking about how a "grown-up" woman would handle her day versus how I, a woman whose childhood fears are activated, act. It was a good thing to think about and made a difference in my day.
For one thing, I thought that a grown-up woman would removethe offensive poop from the small backyard, not bemoan it's presence. So ... I did the deed. I got one plastic bag and used it to pick up all the mess and put it in another bag which I then tied up and out outside on top of a trash can. I actually had to do a search on what to do with dog poop! I read about dog dooleys, septic systems you set up in a corner of your yard. But they are a bit expensive and sound like a lot of work, so I'm going to hold off on that. I did order steel gray poop bags, based on a review that said they were not see-through ... which seemed like a desirable quality to me! I ordered a special poop-scoop that uses these bags in some way so that the bag wraps around the scoop to pick up the waste, so neither your hands nor the scoop itself get soiled. Another thumbs-up option., finally I got some stuff you attach to your hose and spray on your lawn and it removes the odor. And lastly, some rocks you put in your dogs' water bowl which lowers the ph of their urine so that they don't kill the grass where they pee. Imagine! So, I am PREPARED! Bring on the poop!
I cleaned another toilet (ugh) and my husband's sink and vanity. I used to clean the toilets and sinks every day. The idea was from flylady.net who advocated a quick "swish-and-swipe" each day so the job was always non-objectionable. Need to get back to that.
I found our bedroom lamps and got them set up and working. Moved one lamp to a little table between our chairs, set up the Bose radio, and got most of one large box of bedroom things unpacked.
I have written a letter to the main guy over facilities bringing up our need for WINDOW BLINDS! And I ordered sheets for our daughter's bed since I can't find any of hers.
I made a real difference in the house (and yard) today. I attached all the cushions that I found in the basement to the chairs and got cushions and pillows set up on my large wicker dining set, which they finally brought back to us. I cleaned off all the glass table tops, but they need to be turned and cleaned on the other side.
I plan to do some more work in the bedroom tomorrow and attack the closet room, they can't out up any of the things to convert it to a closet until I have the room emptied, so that should provide motivation. I also have a lot to do in our daughter's bedroom to get it ready for her visit.
So, things are moving. I ate healthfully and actually sat outside and read and relaxed with my husband for a good while which was lovely. I'm supposed to meet with someone tomorrow about starting cleaning services on the house. Yeah!
Well, that's my main news for the day. I really need to get out and around some people! I thought about trying a jazzercise class, but decided to still work on the house for this week. Need to get to the dmv this week. I narrowed down the internists in the area and sent about three names to my husband for him to pick. And ... I ordered two other bedsets for our room just to be sure before I commit to the one that has come in.
This is five weeks now that all I have done is work on packing or unpacking. I'll be so glad when we are actually moved in!
Cheers!
Lisa
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Day 348 - Fun Day
Dear Reader,
Today was a much better day, except that I slept wrong and have a yen bhbhuhjhnhnbjh non. N tght (that was the contribution to this post by my cat! She just tried to jump up on the bed and it was a tremendous fail! Wish I'd gotten a video of it!)
Anyway, I have an awful crick in my neck that hasn't let up all day. Really painful, and I can't find my aspercream or any of the other balms I have. Except oh wait! I think I saw some BioFreeze earlier today. Be right back. Yes, thank goodness!
So, I washed my new queen sheets this morning and put them in the dryer, and then I washed my mattress cover. When the dryer signal went off ... I had wet sheets! The dryer has broken. So, we had nothing at all to sleep on that night. We had already talked about going into a nearby large city so that clinched that deal. Found a Bed, Bath, & Beyond and bought another set of white sheets and a nice mattress cover. Thankfully there was no sizing in the sheets, so they are very silky soft.
We found a Mexican restaurant that had Aztec in the name. There was a large wall mural, done by someone without much talent and kind of childlike. But, as I was looking at it while I ate my fish tacos, I realized that part of it was a profile view of a person on their hands and knees. And ... it looked like they were being cut in half at the waist by something. I asked the waiter about it and he said, "Oh, that. Yes. That is the Aztecs committing human sacrifice. They have cut off the person's head. And then you could see it. Yep. That's a head! WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!?? Definitely won't be going there again!
Went to a super nice mall, and getting there we drove through some of the most beautiful residential areas I have ever seen. Quaint, beautiful houses, one after another. Lovely!
Oh, it was kind of funny. At the restaurant I had to decide between eating something with chicken, which I am a little allergic to; or fish, which I hesitate to eat because of my high mercury levels!
I looked forever last night trying to find a diaper for a long dog, like my Jack Russell. Nothing, isn't that strange? So I ordered some medium sized diapers which should be here Monday. I found, though, my washable dog diaper. It is just almost too small for her, but ... she was not able to get out of that sucker! Of course she peed in it, caught her in the act, but it absorbed all of it. It comes with some absorbency in it, but you can add the equivalent of a small sanitary pad to it to hold more. She flooded it, so I hand washed it and hung it to dry. But ... there's hope! The harness thing I ordered hasn't gotten here and I don't remember where I ordered it from!
I now have probably ten boxes to go to Salvation Army. My husband is catching the anti-hoarding spirit and is laying out a lot of stuff to give away also. Each box I pack up makes me happy!
We looked at baby grands for the house and, I just don't think there's room for one, not even the small one we found. I unwrapped a big mirror that was wrapped up in a huge sheet of padded wrapping material that I think is close to being 5'x5' and ... it's huge!
We also looked a formal dining room sets. The one I found that I like the best is at Ballard's. Let's see if I can paste a picture.
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/farnese-dining-table/furniture/category/dining-kitchen/dining-tables/278162
No. Apparently, no I can't.
So much work to be done. Find a doctor. Check. Find a chiropractor. Check. Find a doctor for husband because he won't want to see the integrative medicine doctor I have chosen ... nope. Find a church ... nope. Find a hair dresser ... nope. Find a dry cleaners. Check. Find a pharmacy. Sort of checked, but want to change. Find a manicurist. Ha! My nails are terrible!
Our daughter will be here in a week! Can't WAIT to see her!! Maybe knowing she's coming will help me to get really serious about unpacking. Still have a lot to do to,get her room ready. In fact, I think I'm going to have to order her sheets, too. I can't find hers either. She called this evening with some good news about some freelance work she go, which was very exciting. And then our son called and told us the temporary job he had been working had ended. He thought that it was going to turn into a permanent one, so he's pretty disappointed. But there's a full-time job possibility with the temp agency itself. He'll be 29 this summer. He lost about eight years to alcohol, and it may be a good while before he gets everything pulled together. Were just so happy that he's sober and living pretty well on his own and involved with other people. He even went to a baby shower last weekend!
So, now for,the serious part. I had a good prayer time this morning and God showed me a lot of things. I've been acting in a childlike manner to the chaos of this move. I've been overwhelmed by the enormity of the job, like a child would be. I am bemoaning everything and not taking charge of it and attacking these boxes. Don't get me wrong, I've unpacked A LOT! But not like I could have done. Like with the dog diarrhea problem yesterday. I left the house for about two hours. That's not the take-charge, make-it-happen kind of person that I like to think I am. I realized that this is bringing up a lot,of,the feelings I had as a child. Everything is without order, everything is chaotic. Nothing is neat, nothing is clean. We're not even sleeping on sheets. The dogs are having every sort of digestive problem they could possibly have. Toilets are dirty because I didn't have toilet bowl cleaner or a toilet brush and ... because I didn't want to! I've had a housekeeper for seven years and cleaning toilets is gross! No matter how much I work, I seem to accomplish virtually nothing. It's even ugly. I can't find my vacuum so in having to sweep the floors which is hard on my back. The new mop I got is very frustrating. The yard is full of poop and smells bad. The wisteria on the pergola is dropping all sorts of leaves and crap on all my wicker. Even the bedroom is ugly. They apparently decided to,fill in some nail holes, but they just dabbed white paint all over the place and it looks awful. The kitchen is ugly. Well laid out, but ugly,,cheap, contemporary cabinets that are painted GREY!
In other words, I feel like a child again. My childhood home was dirty and ugly and overwhelming to me as a child. We had relatives who would,show,up at the house without warning, I think maybe my father sent out an SOS asking them to come. I would see their car and run to the bathroom to clean it because I was so ashamed of how dirty it was. Once I picked up a fingernail brush that was so gross ... it even had some sort of worm-type creature in it! I threw it away without even askin g my mother, which was a great act of courage. All the paint was old and dirty and ugly to begin with. And, my parents let the dogs use the garage to sleep in ... and didn't seem to notice all the dog poop in it or how it smelled. They never ever cleaned it up. I finally cleaned it when I was in college. They had lined old glass milk gallon jars along the walls to turn in someday ... which never happened. They all had huge, dead cock roaches in them that had climbed in and not been able to get out. I also cleaned these up when I was 20 and about to get married. How could they have lived like that? How could they let their children live in that sort of setting. One time they decided to paint the hall ... have I told you about this? I was so happy because they were going to pint it and it would be new and right and pretty. Instead,d they came home with a puke-color paint and painted the walls, the trim, and the ceiling all the same color. I felt like a part of my soul died.
So, here I am in a dirty house, with order, complete chaos, an overwhelming amount of work to do, which makes me feel like I am being ineffectual. Dog poop everywhere, and things are ugly and paints is just slapped around.. The paint colors are, to me, depressing and dull. In other words, I feel like that child faced with unconquerable chaos, dirt. disorder, and ugliness. So it's like it had re-activated my helpless inner child. I may need to go back and spend time with her talking about this with her and making my parents. Lean the house and take care of us like they should hVe.that would probably be helpful.
My husband said today, wouldn't it be neat if we went to the YMCA every day at 5:30 together? I told him I would do it with him. Temporary insanity? I think so. Well, adios. I'm about to fall asleep. Have a blessed Lord's day!
Cheers!
Lisa
Today was a much better day, except that I slept wrong and have a yen bhbhuhjhnhnbjh non. N tght (that was the contribution to this post by my cat! She just tried to jump up on the bed and it was a tremendous fail! Wish I'd gotten a video of it!)
Anyway, I have an awful crick in my neck that hasn't let up all day. Really painful, and I can't find my aspercream or any of the other balms I have. Except oh wait! I think I saw some BioFreeze earlier today. Be right back. Yes, thank goodness!
So, I washed my new queen sheets this morning and put them in the dryer, and then I washed my mattress cover. When the dryer signal went off ... I had wet sheets! The dryer has broken. So, we had nothing at all to sleep on that night. We had already talked about going into a nearby large city so that clinched that deal. Found a Bed, Bath, & Beyond and bought another set of white sheets and a nice mattress cover. Thankfully there was no sizing in the sheets, so they are very silky soft.
We found a Mexican restaurant that had Aztec in the name. There was a large wall mural, done by someone without much talent and kind of childlike. But, as I was looking at it while I ate my fish tacos, I realized that part of it was a profile view of a person on their hands and knees. And ... it looked like they were being cut in half at the waist by something. I asked the waiter about it and he said, "Oh, that. Yes. That is the Aztecs committing human sacrifice. They have cut off the person's head. And then you could see it. Yep. That's a head! WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!?? Definitely won't be going there again!
Went to a super nice mall, and getting there we drove through some of the most beautiful residential areas I have ever seen. Quaint, beautiful houses, one after another. Lovely!
Oh, it was kind of funny. At the restaurant I had to decide between eating something with chicken, which I am a little allergic to; or fish, which I hesitate to eat because of my high mercury levels!
I looked forever last night trying to find a diaper for a long dog, like my Jack Russell. Nothing, isn't that strange? So I ordered some medium sized diapers which should be here Monday. I found, though, my washable dog diaper. It is just almost too small for her, but ... she was not able to get out of that sucker! Of course she peed in it, caught her in the act, but it absorbed all of it. It comes with some absorbency in it, but you can add the equivalent of a small sanitary pad to it to hold more. She flooded it, so I hand washed it and hung it to dry. But ... there's hope! The harness thing I ordered hasn't gotten here and I don't remember where I ordered it from!
I now have probably ten boxes to go to Salvation Army. My husband is catching the anti-hoarding spirit and is laying out a lot of stuff to give away also. Each box I pack up makes me happy!
We looked at baby grands for the house and, I just don't think there's room for one, not even the small one we found. I unwrapped a big mirror that was wrapped up in a huge sheet of padded wrapping material that I think is close to being 5'x5' and ... it's huge!
We also looked a formal dining room sets. The one I found that I like the best is at Ballard's. Let's see if I can paste a picture.
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/farnese-dining-table/furniture/category/dining-kitchen/dining-tables/278162
No. Apparently, no I can't.
So much work to be done. Find a doctor. Check. Find a chiropractor. Check. Find a doctor for husband because he won't want to see the integrative medicine doctor I have chosen ... nope. Find a church ... nope. Find a hair dresser ... nope. Find a dry cleaners. Check. Find a pharmacy. Sort of checked, but want to change. Find a manicurist. Ha! My nails are terrible!
Our daughter will be here in a week! Can't WAIT to see her!! Maybe knowing she's coming will help me to get really serious about unpacking. Still have a lot to do to,get her room ready. In fact, I think I'm going to have to order her sheets, too. I can't find hers either. She called this evening with some good news about some freelance work she go, which was very exciting. And then our son called and told us the temporary job he had been working had ended. He thought that it was going to turn into a permanent one, so he's pretty disappointed. But there's a full-time job possibility with the temp agency itself. He'll be 29 this summer. He lost about eight years to alcohol, and it may be a good while before he gets everything pulled together. Were just so happy that he's sober and living pretty well on his own and involved with other people. He even went to a baby shower last weekend!
So, now for,the serious part. I had a good prayer time this morning and God showed me a lot of things. I've been acting in a childlike manner to the chaos of this move. I've been overwhelmed by the enormity of the job, like a child would be. I am bemoaning everything and not taking charge of it and attacking these boxes. Don't get me wrong, I've unpacked A LOT! But not like I could have done. Like with the dog diarrhea problem yesterday. I left the house for about two hours. That's not the take-charge, make-it-happen kind of person that I like to think I am. I realized that this is bringing up a lot,of,the feelings I had as a child. Everything is without order, everything is chaotic. Nothing is neat, nothing is clean. We're not even sleeping on sheets. The dogs are having every sort of digestive problem they could possibly have. Toilets are dirty because I didn't have toilet bowl cleaner or a toilet brush and ... because I didn't want to! I've had a housekeeper for seven years and cleaning toilets is gross! No matter how much I work, I seem to accomplish virtually nothing. It's even ugly. I can't find my vacuum so in having to sweep the floors which is hard on my back. The new mop I got is very frustrating. The yard is full of poop and smells bad. The wisteria on the pergola is dropping all sorts of leaves and crap on all my wicker. Even the bedroom is ugly. They apparently decided to,fill in some nail holes, but they just dabbed white paint all over the place and it looks awful. The kitchen is ugly. Well laid out, but ugly,,cheap, contemporary cabinets that are painted GREY!
In other words, I feel like a child again. My childhood home was dirty and ugly and overwhelming to me as a child. We had relatives who would,show,up at the house without warning, I think maybe my father sent out an SOS asking them to come. I would see their car and run to the bathroom to clean it because I was so ashamed of how dirty it was. Once I picked up a fingernail brush that was so gross ... it even had some sort of worm-type creature in it! I threw it away without even askin g my mother, which was a great act of courage. All the paint was old and dirty and ugly to begin with. And, my parents let the dogs use the garage to sleep in ... and didn't seem to notice all the dog poop in it or how it smelled. They never ever cleaned it up. I finally cleaned it when I was in college. They had lined old glass milk gallon jars along the walls to turn in someday ... which never happened. They all had huge, dead cock roaches in them that had climbed in and not been able to get out. I also cleaned these up when I was 20 and about to get married. How could they have lived like that? How could they let their children live in that sort of setting. One time they decided to paint the hall ... have I told you about this? I was so happy because they were going to pint it and it would be new and right and pretty. Instead,d they came home with a puke-color paint and painted the walls, the trim, and the ceiling all the same color. I felt like a part of my soul died.
So, here I am in a dirty house, with order, complete chaos, an overwhelming amount of work to do, which makes me feel like I am being ineffectual. Dog poop everywhere, and things are ugly and paints is just slapped around.. The paint colors are, to me, depressing and dull. In other words, I feel like that child faced with unconquerable chaos, dirt. disorder, and ugliness. So it's like it had re-activated my helpless inner child. I may need to go back and spend time with her talking about this with her and making my parents. Lean the house and take care of us like they should hVe.that would probably be helpful.
My husband said today, wouldn't it be neat if we went to the YMCA every day at 5:30 together? I told him I would do it with him. Temporary insanity? I think so. Well, adios. I'm about to fall asleep. Have a blessed Lord's day!
Cheers!
Lisa
Day 349 - Anyone Want a Dog? Or Four??
Dear Reader,
I will sum up yesterday by saying it was filled with excrement. And I'm not being cute to keep from saying a bad word. I mean it was full of dog excrement! From the beginning to the end of the day. It began when I went downstairs after waking up and seeing vomit placed neatly behind a large basket in the entry. That was Beatrice. She's very considerate that way! Then I found that Chessie had peed in about three places in the kitchen area where she stays at night. I cleaned that up and went about my day with its endless unpacking. I was in such a bad mood and sooooo sick of everything. After unpacking for about two hours, I left the room only to find that Allie had had diarrhea all over the dining room floor. So much pooh!!! I cleaned it up and just left the house. I stayed gone for a while and didn't come back until I had had french fries and a York mint! I mopped most of the downstairs and got the smell out of the house. But I started getting really hot and then realized that the downstairs a/c had quit working! Thankfully I had made a large salad with shrimp, so I didn't heat up,the house much with cooking. Dealt with more pee throughout the day and evening. At one point I went outside and realized that the dogs were confining their pooping activity to the small formal back yard, instead of walking,across the sidewalk and across the pergola to the large portion of the yard. And it smelled bad!
It was just, in general, a really bad day yesterday. I spent sometime trying to figure out how to keep the dogs off of this small, formal yard. But for every product there is one person says it's fantastic and another person says it is a waste of money. I ended up deciding to try just vinegar for now, which everyone seems to say works pretty well. A little, decorative fence that would for ce them to go down the sidewalk would be best.
Maybe I should close here and start a new entry for today.
Lisa
I will sum up yesterday by saying it was filled with excrement. And I'm not being cute to keep from saying a bad word. I mean it was full of dog excrement! From the beginning to the end of the day. It began when I went downstairs after waking up and seeing vomit placed neatly behind a large basket in the entry. That was Beatrice. She's very considerate that way! Then I found that Chessie had peed in about three places in the kitchen area where she stays at night. I cleaned that up and went about my day with its endless unpacking. I was in such a bad mood and sooooo sick of everything. After unpacking for about two hours, I left the room only to find that Allie had had diarrhea all over the dining room floor. So much pooh!!! I cleaned it up and just left the house. I stayed gone for a while and didn't come back until I had had french fries and a York mint! I mopped most of the downstairs and got the smell out of the house. But I started getting really hot and then realized that the downstairs a/c had quit working! Thankfully I had made a large salad with shrimp, so I didn't heat up,the house much with cooking. Dealt with more pee throughout the day and evening. At one point I went outside and realized that the dogs were confining their pooping activity to the small formal back yard, instead of walking,across the sidewalk and across the pergola to the large portion of the yard. And it smelled bad!
It was just, in general, a really bad day yesterday. I spent sometime trying to figure out how to keep the dogs off of this small, formal yard. But for every product there is one person says it's fantastic and another person says it is a waste of money. I ended up deciding to try just vinegar for now, which everyone seems to say works pretty well. A little, decorative fence that would for ce them to go down the sidewalk would be best.
Maybe I should close here and start a new entry for today.
Lisa
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Day 350 - Very Pleasant Day
Dear Reader,
I got nothing accomplished today. Well, not quite nothing, but much less than I hoped for. The person who was bringing the plumber over came a half hour early. We went over several things regarding the house, and then I went out to eat with our realtor. She took me to an amazingly beautiful and super-cool restaurant in a nearby town. Then we walked to a coffee shop and I finally got a chai latte, with soy milk after going without for almost a month. Had a delightful time.!
I was pretty tired when I got home and was about to lay down for a quick nap when the doorbell rung. It was one of the administrators of the college who came to talk to me about the decorations of the house. The only problem was that we were supposed to meet TOMORROW! I was originally asked about meeting with her today, but it said no, but I could meet with her Thursday. I guess that message didn't make it to her.
So we sat down and started talking about my olans. I sold her on my ideas after she finally realized how careful I am with money and that I have real limits on what I consider something to be worth. Let's put it this way. I want two solid-color sofas with decorative pillows on them. I showed her a picture similar to what I wanted to do and she said, oh, she really liked it. In fact, she had done something quite like it in her home and had spent $500 on each pillow! WTH???! I told her I could never pay anything like that. That I knew how much the fabric cost, I knew how much the trim cost ($14/yard) and I can sew, so I just would never pay anythg like that. Then she told me about draperies she had made for her home which were similar to one of my pictures. A quick sum in my head comes up with 14 yards of fabric, 4 yards of trim. Add in thread and lining fabric, and the cost would be around $400. She paid NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HER WINDOW TREATMENT!!! $19,000.00! I'm sorry, but I think that is just obscene. There are children without clean water and without mosquito nets and you're spending that kind of money on drapes? I'm try got remember what it costs to drill a well for a village to have clean water in Africa ... I think it's in the $10,000 range. She also told me that she just got a,new dining room set and spent $2500.00 ON EACH CHAIR!
So ....
After a while she understood better what standards I would use in decorating the house. That I wanted something beautiful and warm and welcoming, bright, cheerful, elegant and in good taste, without it being something that anyone would find overwhelming, while still being appropriate for the community in which we lived. She understood that I am ... frugal. Not "cheap", but frugal. Or, as I said, "I can pinch a penny until it screams." Once she got that, she gave me some recommendations for stores where I can find good quality furniture at good prices. So, it was a profitable meeting, but took about two hours. I was after 5:30 when she left and I had to dash to get my husband's clothes into a dry cleaner in town. He was home by the time I got back and we went to the restaurant I told him about and, sure enough, he loved it! The food was excellent. I had a grilled watermelon salad with arugula which was really excellent and duck confit with beets and prunes in a pomegranate sauce. It was wonderful! The only proble was that it turned out that I had ordered from their lunch menu when I was there with the realtor, bpbut their dinner menu was double those prices! Whoops! Then, walking back to the car we got to enjoy how beautiful the evening was. There were all sorts of restaurants with dining on the sidewalks, and it all as just gorgeous.
So, I'm hoping to be able to go to sleep better tonight. I have to work like crazy tomorrow.
Oh, and how's this for an example of how bad our moving company was: I have not been able to find the cushions for some of my outdoor furniture. But, while showing this woman around the basement, I saw a large box that said outdoor cushions. I opened it up and found some of my missing cushions ...AND the two large air filters my husband uses in his study. These weren't noted on the box at all! So there is absolutely no telling where all of our things are. Like our SHEETS! Hopefully the ones I ordered will get here tomorrow.
Rest well, and have a great Friday!
Lisa
I got nothing accomplished today. Well, not quite nothing, but much less than I hoped for. The person who was bringing the plumber over came a half hour early. We went over several things regarding the house, and then I went out to eat with our realtor. She took me to an amazingly beautiful and super-cool restaurant in a nearby town. Then we walked to a coffee shop and I finally got a chai latte, with soy milk after going without for almost a month. Had a delightful time.!
I was pretty tired when I got home and was about to lay down for a quick nap when the doorbell rung. It was one of the administrators of the college who came to talk to me about the decorations of the house. The only problem was that we were supposed to meet TOMORROW! I was originally asked about meeting with her today, but it said no, but I could meet with her Thursday. I guess that message didn't make it to her.
So we sat down and started talking about my olans. I sold her on my ideas after she finally realized how careful I am with money and that I have real limits on what I consider something to be worth. Let's put it this way. I want two solid-color sofas with decorative pillows on them. I showed her a picture similar to what I wanted to do and she said, oh, she really liked it. In fact, she had done something quite like it in her home and had spent $500 on each pillow! WTH???! I told her I could never pay anything like that. That I knew how much the fabric cost, I knew how much the trim cost ($14/yard) and I can sew, so I just would never pay anythg like that. Then she told me about draperies she had made for her home which were similar to one of my pictures. A quick sum in my head comes up with 14 yards of fabric, 4 yards of trim. Add in thread and lining fabric, and the cost would be around $400. She paid NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HER WINDOW TREATMENT!!! $19,000.00! I'm sorry, but I think that is just obscene. There are children without clean water and without mosquito nets and you're spending that kind of money on drapes? I'm try got remember what it costs to drill a well for a village to have clean water in Africa ... I think it's in the $10,000 range. She also told me that she just got a,new dining room set and spent $2500.00 ON EACH CHAIR!
So ....
After a while she understood better what standards I would use in decorating the house. That I wanted something beautiful and warm and welcoming, bright, cheerful, elegant and in good taste, without it being something that anyone would find overwhelming, while still being appropriate for the community in which we lived. She understood that I am ... frugal. Not "cheap", but frugal. Or, as I said, "I can pinch a penny until it screams." Once she got that, she gave me some recommendations for stores where I can find good quality furniture at good prices. So, it was a profitable meeting, but took about two hours. I was after 5:30 when she left and I had to dash to get my husband's clothes into a dry cleaner in town. He was home by the time I got back and we went to the restaurant I told him about and, sure enough, he loved it! The food was excellent. I had a grilled watermelon salad with arugula which was really excellent and duck confit with beets and prunes in a pomegranate sauce. It was wonderful! The only proble was that it turned out that I had ordered from their lunch menu when I was there with the realtor, bpbut their dinner menu was double those prices! Whoops! Then, walking back to the car we got to enjoy how beautiful the evening was. There were all sorts of restaurants with dining on the sidewalks, and it all as just gorgeous.
So, I'm hoping to be able to go to sleep better tonight. I have to work like crazy tomorrow.
Oh, and how's this for an example of how bad our moving company was: I have not been able to find the cushions for some of my outdoor furniture. But, while showing this woman around the basement, I saw a large box that said outdoor cushions. I opened it up and found some of my missing cushions ...AND the two large air filters my husband uses in his study. These weren't noted on the box at all! So there is absolutely no telling where all of our things are. Like our SHEETS! Hopefully the ones I ordered will get here tomorrow.
Rest well, and have a great Friday!
Lisa
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Day 351 - Got to Get Some Friends! And Some Curtains!
Dear Reader,
Shazam! I am tired of working in this house! It's been two and a half weeks and I feel like I've barely made a dent in things. And I haven't even started in my study. I'm actually working pretty diligently, but trying to figure out where to put things is taking a lot of time. Would you believe they packed a wet toilet brush??! And sometimes I'll unwrap and unwrap and unwrap two or more sheets of,that big wrapping paper to find something like two metal measuring spoons! I can't even begin to reach the third shelf in my kitchen cabinets so I guess that's where I'm going to store my china and all my milk glass until we get some china cabinets or something. I still haven't found our regular dishes, but I found some pots and pans and flatware and seasonings today. This kind of impinges on my needing for us to go out to dinner each night!
I was pretty unhappy this morning for getting onto people last night on Facebook. I had to have a long prayer time this morning about it. It comes down to this: they were saying bad things. I was acting in my calling and conviction and gifting. I cannot stand by and let people say hateful things and let them go unchallenged. I believe this is the topic, or part of the topic of the book my counselor told me to read, A Failure of Nerve. I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I believe that God was pleased with me contending as I did . I think it's appropriate, though, that it not make me happy. There is the adrenaline surge, the up strapping of the sword and wielding it a bit, I can't deny it. But overall, I don't like not being nice all the time. Twenty-five years in the Deep South will do that to you.
After working through all that in prayer, I opened up Facebook to see what happened after I got off. No response from the poster of the video of the little Hispanic boy or the person who made the unbelievably rude comment; but one person liked my comment.
The guy who went off on the canned, Bill Mayr rant against religion did not respond at all.
The guy who said kill all the Muslims and let God sort them out said that I was a fool. Did I let it go? Ha! You KNOW I didn't let it go! I said, "Gary - Really? That's all you've got? Just an insult? I find this intriguing. Especially in light of you talking about Christ but then appearing to be unaware of what He said in Matthew 5:22."
The only thing I wish I had written differently was I wish I had added "blithely", as in, "blithely unaware"! Yea ... that would have REALLY crushed him! Ha! Ha! As soon as I read what he wrote I was ready to go back at it! I mean, come on. Just insult me without even beginning to deal with the point? Anyway ... the original poster called for a cease and desist. Literally. She said "I'm calling a cease and dismiss." He said, "You rock!" And I said, "Peace." and that was the end of that little skirmish.
The anti-religion guy never responded. But when I put up a regular post about actually remembering to take my reusable bags into the grocery store he posted a peaceable comment.
So ... online haters, beware! I WILL call you out! This country has GOT to return to civil debate! This hateful speech and unbridled tongues and basic rabble-rousing going on is detrimental to the health of any society. And I am sick of the vilification of other people. I swear, some of the stuff I read starts sounding a lot like Nazi talk before Hitler came into power.
Speaking of Nazi-talk ... I started reading a book that has a little to say about when America started buying into the eugenics idea of race purification and all of those ideas that the Nazis latched onto and carried out to the extreme. But, did you know that California sterilized 20,000 people during that period!? And in California people who were considered mentally I'll were given blood transfusions from patients who had TB to give them the disease?! And many elderly people and people in mental hospitals died demo deliberate neglect and from actually being killed. And that's just California were talking about. I'd look up other figures for the nation, but my internet connection just died. God's way of telling me to quit wasting time and go to bed? Nah!
I cooked a real meal for dinner for,the first time tonight. The only problem is that cooking a real meal means cleaning up real dishes! Yuck.
So, here comes the uncomfortable part. Back twenty years ago (good grief! It has actually been twenty years ago!) I had a massive nervous breakdown. I may have mentioned it already. Too much trauma and my psyche couldn't hold it back any longer. During it, I developed for real agoraphobia, fear of open places. I couldn't leave my room for five weeks and I couldn't leave my house for two years. Even when I was able to,start leaving my house for short periods of time, I had to have Xanax with me to handle the terrible panic attack I was likely to have.
And, well, I'm having some of these feelings again. I hate to even admit it because even admitting it feels like giving in to it. I'm sure that is bad psychology and bad theology. I don't want to leave the house now. I get anxious going to the grocery store. I out off running errands semi-deliberately so that I run out of time and can't get them done so I don't have to leave the house. My counselor one time said that my last move was very disorienting for me. I think disorienting was the word she used. I don't want that to happen again. I don't have TIME for that to happen again! She wanted me to have a counselor picked out and ready to go before I got here, and I saw the wisdom of that at the time and did try to find someone. But, literally, it seems like every fifth person is a counselor of some type! When you do an internet search there are tons of them of all varieties! I found one that I thought was interesting and a possibility, but she doesn't accept insurance. But I may need to get serious about looking for someone. But, I'm hoping that for now just talking about it will help.
I need some friends, of course. I'm going to have to choose between jazzercise and the YMCA because they're pretty pricey.
Well, I'm turning it in for the night. I didn't do anything for my health today other than cooking a healthy dinner, including a wonderful kale salad with red onions, fresh blueberries and pecans. Oh, and part of a York mint I got at the grocery store.
I'm having lunch tomorrow with my realtor. She's an interesting person. Kind of ... agitated? Anxious? Frantic? She needs some yoga! Which reminds me, I need some yoga! Which definitely tilts me towards the Y. We'll see.
Cheers!
Lisa
P.S. Before I actually leave, I have to tell you what happened last night. I was calling the dogs to come in. My little blind dog is handling the move so much better than I thought she would, but she still hasn't figured out where the door is to come back into the house. Apparently she can hear some out of only one ear, so she can sometimes hear your voice, but can't locate you. So, I was standing at the door after dark in a blouse and panties. The spotlights were on to light up that portion of the yard. The only light switch we can find to do this is upstairs in my bedroom. So, the light is on. I can't turn it off. I'm in my panties. My blind dog can't figure out where I am. And right then, my cat runs out the door! I will eventually let her go outside, but not yet. I've read that you have to wait a month before you let a cat out so that they are reoriented to your new home. And we have coyotes! So, I call her and she very prissily refuses to come. I can't call up to my husband to turn off the light because he's in the shower. I can't go,upstairs and grab some pants because I'm afraid she'll get out of the fence in that time and really be gone. So, I go inside and get a can of cat food, then go outside, yes, in my panties! I had to follow her around before she let me get her and go back inside! It's a six-foot picket fence. No neighbors can look into the back yard, but someone walking by might could have seen between the slats. It was pretty embarrassing, but at least I still have my cat, who I adore!
Shazam! I am tired of working in this house! It's been two and a half weeks and I feel like I've barely made a dent in things. And I haven't even started in my study. I'm actually working pretty diligently, but trying to figure out where to put things is taking a lot of time. Would you believe they packed a wet toilet brush??! And sometimes I'll unwrap and unwrap and unwrap two or more sheets of,that big wrapping paper to find something like two metal measuring spoons! I can't even begin to reach the third shelf in my kitchen cabinets so I guess that's where I'm going to store my china and all my milk glass until we get some china cabinets or something. I still haven't found our regular dishes, but I found some pots and pans and flatware and seasonings today. This kind of impinges on my needing for us to go out to dinner each night!
I was pretty unhappy this morning for getting onto people last night on Facebook. I had to have a long prayer time this morning about it. It comes down to this: they were saying bad things. I was acting in my calling and conviction and gifting. I cannot stand by and let people say hateful things and let them go unchallenged. I believe this is the topic, or part of the topic of the book my counselor told me to read, A Failure of Nerve. I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I believe that God was pleased with me contending as I did . I think it's appropriate, though, that it not make me happy. There is the adrenaline surge, the up strapping of the sword and wielding it a bit, I can't deny it. But overall, I don't like not being nice all the time. Twenty-five years in the Deep South will do that to you.
After working through all that in prayer, I opened up Facebook to see what happened after I got off. No response from the poster of the video of the little Hispanic boy or the person who made the unbelievably rude comment; but one person liked my comment.
The guy who went off on the canned, Bill Mayr rant against religion did not respond at all.
The guy who said kill all the Muslims and let God sort them out said that I was a fool. Did I let it go? Ha! You KNOW I didn't let it go! I said, "Gary - Really? That's all you've got? Just an insult? I find this intriguing. Especially in light of you talking about Christ but then appearing to be unaware of what He said in Matthew 5:22."
The only thing I wish I had written differently was I wish I had added "blithely", as in, "blithely unaware"! Yea ... that would have REALLY crushed him! Ha! Ha! As soon as I read what he wrote I was ready to go back at it! I mean, come on. Just insult me without even beginning to deal with the point? Anyway ... the original poster called for a cease and desist. Literally. She said "I'm calling a cease and dismiss." He said, "You rock!" And I said, "Peace." and that was the end of that little skirmish.
The anti-religion guy never responded. But when I put up a regular post about actually remembering to take my reusable bags into the grocery store he posted a peaceable comment.
So ... online haters, beware! I WILL call you out! This country has GOT to return to civil debate! This hateful speech and unbridled tongues and basic rabble-rousing going on is detrimental to the health of any society. And I am sick of the vilification of other people. I swear, some of the stuff I read starts sounding a lot like Nazi talk before Hitler came into power.
Speaking of Nazi-talk ... I started reading a book that has a little to say about when America started buying into the eugenics idea of race purification and all of those ideas that the Nazis latched onto and carried out to the extreme. But, did you know that California sterilized 20,000 people during that period!? And in California people who were considered mentally I'll were given blood transfusions from patients who had TB to give them the disease?! And many elderly people and people in mental hospitals died demo deliberate neglect and from actually being killed. And that's just California were talking about. I'd look up other figures for the nation, but my internet connection just died. God's way of telling me to quit wasting time and go to bed? Nah!
I cooked a real meal for dinner for,the first time tonight. The only problem is that cooking a real meal means cleaning up real dishes! Yuck.
So, here comes the uncomfortable part. Back twenty years ago (good grief! It has actually been twenty years ago!) I had a massive nervous breakdown. I may have mentioned it already. Too much trauma and my psyche couldn't hold it back any longer. During it, I developed for real agoraphobia, fear of open places. I couldn't leave my room for five weeks and I couldn't leave my house for two years. Even when I was able to,start leaving my house for short periods of time, I had to have Xanax with me to handle the terrible panic attack I was likely to have.
And, well, I'm having some of these feelings again. I hate to even admit it because even admitting it feels like giving in to it. I'm sure that is bad psychology and bad theology. I don't want to leave the house now. I get anxious going to the grocery store. I out off running errands semi-deliberately so that I run out of time and can't get them done so I don't have to leave the house. My counselor one time said that my last move was very disorienting for me. I think disorienting was the word she used. I don't want that to happen again. I don't have TIME for that to happen again! She wanted me to have a counselor picked out and ready to go before I got here, and I saw the wisdom of that at the time and did try to find someone. But, literally, it seems like every fifth person is a counselor of some type! When you do an internet search there are tons of them of all varieties! I found one that I thought was interesting and a possibility, but she doesn't accept insurance. But I may need to get serious about looking for someone. But, I'm hoping that for now just talking about it will help.
I need some friends, of course. I'm going to have to choose between jazzercise and the YMCA because they're pretty pricey.
Well, I'm turning it in for the night. I didn't do anything for my health today other than cooking a healthy dinner, including a wonderful kale salad with red onions, fresh blueberries and pecans. Oh, and part of a York mint I got at the grocery store.
I'm having lunch tomorrow with my realtor. She's an interesting person. Kind of ... agitated? Anxious? Frantic? She needs some yoga! Which reminds me, I need some yoga! Which definitely tilts me towards the Y. We'll see.
Cheers!
Lisa
P.S. Before I actually leave, I have to tell you what happened last night. I was calling the dogs to come in. My little blind dog is handling the move so much better than I thought she would, but she still hasn't figured out where the door is to come back into the house. Apparently she can hear some out of only one ear, so she can sometimes hear your voice, but can't locate you. So, I was standing at the door after dark in a blouse and panties. The spotlights were on to light up that portion of the yard. The only light switch we can find to do this is upstairs in my bedroom. So, the light is on. I can't turn it off. I'm in my panties. My blind dog can't figure out where I am. And right then, my cat runs out the door! I will eventually let her go outside, but not yet. I've read that you have to wait a month before you let a cat out so that they are reoriented to your new home. And we have coyotes! So, I call her and she very prissily refuses to come. I can't call up to my husband to turn off the light because he's in the shower. I can't go,upstairs and grab some pants because I'm afraid she'll get out of the fence in that time and really be gone. So, I go inside and get a can of cat food, then go outside, yes, in my panties! I had to follow her around before she let me get her and go back inside! It's a six-foot picket fence. No neighbors can look into the back yard, but someone walking by might could have seen between the slats. It was pretty embarrassing, but at least I still have my cat, who I adore!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Day 352 - Meh!
Dear Reader,
Today got off to a rough start. I had insomnia last night and didn't get to sleep till I'm guessing around 3:00. My husband had woken up and I didn't ask him what the time was on purpose.
So the day was slow to get going and I didn't get much accomplished. I did get a few boxes unpacked, and I broke down some that my husband had emptied but chunked the boxes into another room. I brought down the clothes and got them sorted and started a load and the remembered that the dryer is not venting outside. A lot of IT guys came over and were working on issues with the internet in the house and then some maintenance guys came and took care of a few things around the house. While they were here, though, I had to go back to bed. It was one of those times when --- oh, heck! I just realized that I don't think I took my beta blocker tonight. Have to do that! --- my body told me to lay down or it was going to lay me down. I got in bed and just layed (?) there for an hournrnlonger until whatever was going on got better. I think I was dehydrated and so my blood volume and pressure had probably dropped.
I was supposed to meet my husband at his office to walk into one of the villages for dinner, but by the time I got to his office I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do that. So we walked back to the house and drove to the office.
I did find my fitbit! Thank you, Lord! It was behind the love seat. Of course, I didn't find it until after I went through this big basket that was full of all kinds of tv type wires and stuff. I wrapped each item up neatly and put them in separate ziploc bags. Seriously. What did we do befor ziploc bags? And guess how many remote controls we have??? TWELVE! Madness!
We found a new restaurant that was really good. An Asian fusion place. He had the Tom yum soup and I had a thai salad with papaya, mango and jicama with a peanut dressing that was delicious.
What does it mean when my iPad keeps putting up a notice that says my storage is almost full and that I can adjust my storage in settings? And why the heck can I not connect my phone to my car anymore by Bluetooth? It's not even giving me that option. And ... the whole idea of doing on star for navigation rather than paying for a navigation thing to be out in my car? Well, forget that! You know what you have to do? You have to make a phone call and listen to that recording about how you may be recorded, blah blah, then wait for someone to answer, them tell them where you want to go, and then wait for them to send you the route!
I found the coffee maker today! Yeah! STILL cannot find sheets! I think I may just order some from amazon while I'm thinking about it.
I just gave a few people the time of day on Facebook! One person posted the adorable Hispanic boy talking to his mother. I hope you've seen it! The, "Linda! Linda! You're not listening to me!" Well, I had been thinking about that video just today, so I went to make a comment and found that someone else had commented, "I want to see the little puke's Green card!" Can you believe that?! I saw that he was the poster's brother, so I didn't rant, I just said, "I really really really dislike the previous post!" And then ... the same poster who is one of these ultra-conservative, I mean ultra, knee-jerk reaction, don't-bother-me-to-actually-think, conservatives posted something or other, I can't even remember what it was, I think it was an anti-Islamic thing, and someone posted "We should kill them all and let God sort them out." Well ... I just about went ballistic and chowed down on him hard! And I ended it by saying, "SHAME ON YOU". Yeah. I know. Pretty profound, huh? And then some guy I went to school with starts posting about how religion is going to destroy humanity and religion has caused more deaths than anything else and how religion has never done anything good for anyone. Well, God just simply did not make me timid! He made me a scrapper. I don't mind taking people on. So I jumped on his case, too. I said that atheists always throw around things like that because they think that no one is going to challenge the,. So, I said, forget that. I challenge you! Ever hear of guy named Hitler? How about Stalin? I wanted to go on. You should look up the charts of deaths caused by military aggression since recorded history. It will blow your mind! It's unbelievable! I think the whole world must have PTSD! I also went off about how evil people hide behind the mantle of religion and use it as an excuse to do evil. Jesus said, "by their fruits you will know them" and it's not too hard to see the difference between the fruits of a true believer and a power monger or other types of hypocrites.
So, I may not have gotten a lot done at the house, but I "whup some butt" on the internet! I'm not getting back on Facebook the rest of the night, though!
And now, it is that difficult time of the day when I have to turn out the lights and try to go to sleep. I'm just not feeling it tonight. I ate very healthy today. I quit working when my body told me to. But that's about all I did health-wise. All the unpacking is just driving me crazy!!
So ... later!
Lisa
Today got off to a rough start. I had insomnia last night and didn't get to sleep till I'm guessing around 3:00. My husband had woken up and I didn't ask him what the time was on purpose.
So the day was slow to get going and I didn't get much accomplished. I did get a few boxes unpacked, and I broke down some that my husband had emptied but chunked the boxes into another room. I brought down the clothes and got them sorted and started a load and the remembered that the dryer is not venting outside. A lot of IT guys came over and were working on issues with the internet in the house and then some maintenance guys came and took care of a few things around the house. While they were here, though, I had to go back to bed. It was one of those times when --- oh, heck! I just realized that I don't think I took my beta blocker tonight. Have to do that! --- my body told me to lay down or it was going to lay me down. I got in bed and just layed (?) there for an hournrnlonger until whatever was going on got better. I think I was dehydrated and so my blood volume and pressure had probably dropped.
I was supposed to meet my husband at his office to walk into one of the villages for dinner, but by the time I got to his office I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do that. So we walked back to the house and drove to the office.
I did find my fitbit! Thank you, Lord! It was behind the love seat. Of course, I didn't find it until after I went through this big basket that was full of all kinds of tv type wires and stuff. I wrapped each item up neatly and put them in separate ziploc bags. Seriously. What did we do befor ziploc bags? And guess how many remote controls we have??? TWELVE! Madness!
We found a new restaurant that was really good. An Asian fusion place. He had the Tom yum soup and I had a thai salad with papaya, mango and jicama with a peanut dressing that was delicious.
What does it mean when my iPad keeps putting up a notice that says my storage is almost full and that I can adjust my storage in settings? And why the heck can I not connect my phone to my car anymore by Bluetooth? It's not even giving me that option. And ... the whole idea of doing on star for navigation rather than paying for a navigation thing to be out in my car? Well, forget that! You know what you have to do? You have to make a phone call and listen to that recording about how you may be recorded, blah blah, then wait for someone to answer, them tell them where you want to go, and then wait for them to send you the route!
I found the coffee maker today! Yeah! STILL cannot find sheets! I think I may just order some from amazon while I'm thinking about it.
I just gave a few people the time of day on Facebook! One person posted the adorable Hispanic boy talking to his mother. I hope you've seen it! The, "Linda! Linda! You're not listening to me!" Well, I had been thinking about that video just today, so I went to make a comment and found that someone else had commented, "I want to see the little puke's Green card!" Can you believe that?! I saw that he was the poster's brother, so I didn't rant, I just said, "I really really really dislike the previous post!" And then ... the same poster who is one of these ultra-conservative, I mean ultra, knee-jerk reaction, don't-bother-me-to-actually-think, conservatives posted something or other, I can't even remember what it was, I think it was an anti-Islamic thing, and someone posted "We should kill them all and let God sort them out." Well ... I just about went ballistic and chowed down on him hard! And I ended it by saying, "SHAME ON YOU". Yeah. I know. Pretty profound, huh? And then some guy I went to school with starts posting about how religion is going to destroy humanity and religion has caused more deaths than anything else and how religion has never done anything good for anyone. Well, God just simply did not make me timid! He made me a scrapper. I don't mind taking people on. So I jumped on his case, too. I said that atheists always throw around things like that because they think that no one is going to challenge the,. So, I said, forget that. I challenge you! Ever hear of guy named Hitler? How about Stalin? I wanted to go on. You should look up the charts of deaths caused by military aggression since recorded history. It will blow your mind! It's unbelievable! I think the whole world must have PTSD! I also went off about how evil people hide behind the mantle of religion and use it as an excuse to do evil. Jesus said, "by their fruits you will know them" and it's not too hard to see the difference between the fruits of a true believer and a power monger or other types of hypocrites.
So, I may not have gotten a lot done at the house, but I "whup some butt" on the internet! I'm not getting back on Facebook the rest of the night, though!
And now, it is that difficult time of the day when I have to turn out the lights and try to go to sleep. I'm just not feeling it tonight. I ate very healthy today. I quit working when my body told me to. But that's about all I did health-wise. All the unpacking is just driving me crazy!!
So ... later!
Lisa
Monday, June 16, 2014
Day 353 - I HATE UNPACKING!!!
Dear Reader,
I got a pretty good amount of work done today. We went to a Pier One on Saturday and I got new cushions for the front porch. I set them up today and they look great! These are the cushions I got:
http://www.pier1.com/Angelique-Cushion---Black/2784462,default,pd.html?cgid=angelique
Hmmmm. I thought that would bring up the picture. I tried to copy the picture and add it, but I wouldn't do it. Oh, well. They are a black background with a leaf motif that brings in reds and greens. I like them because they work with the house now (white with olive shutter) and will work with the house if it gets painted (a more traditional white with black shutters and red door.). Plus they should handle dirt well. I out them out today and they look very nice!
I had big work plans for,the day, but I wasn't far into it when I came squarely face-to-face with the fact that I am not very strong or fit. I tired really easily. At some point today, I guess when I was carrying something fairly heavy upstairs, I pulled all those growing muscles again! Oh, for crying out loud!!! Hurts SO BAD. Really limited the amount of work I got done for sure. I wasn't able to get to anything upstairs, but I did get quite a bit of work done downstairs. I swept the entire downstairs and dusted and cleaned and arranged and went through boxes. Really made a difference! I even got some laundry done.
They came out to test the pool water, so we may have the pool up and running before much longer!
Hmmm ... I can't figure out how to scroll all the way down to wear I say I pulled my "growing muscles" but I meant "groin muscles"!
My doggie's diapers did not get in! And they don't know when they're coming, so I'm going to have to order a different kind because I need them NOW! She is blocked into the
breakfast room tonight to limit her excretory functions!., I did find a harness system that holds the diapers on so they can't get out of them! Got rave reviews so I ordered one last night. Something's got to change because the constant puddles is driving us crazy!
I have to tell you about the broom I ordered because it's amazing! We have four dogs, so the dog hair situation is ridiculous! This is a rubberized brush that said it picked up dog hair and -- my gosh -- it does! It's fantastic!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032GEHAS/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It picked up hair I didn't even see.
We had a big salad again for dinner and the some Skinny Cow candy my friend gave us in a wonderful goodbye basket she made up for us to survive the car trip. It had everything we needed except alcohol! :-)
I hope tomorrow to get a lot of work done upstairs. I'm down to seven boxes in the bedroom. I have our litter box set up in one of the unused bathrooms. It's a mess. She's tracking litter everywhere. I got online and found this Breeze System that looked really good and more than a thousand good reviews!
Oh, I won't be working with the nutritionist I told you about because her hourly fee is, get ready, $400 per hour! I emailed her backpack that I was sure she was worth it, but that was outside of my budget. I didn't say it was outside of my budget by at least $350! I got a sweet email back from her. Her website is really wonderful. She has a bunch of summer salad recipes right now that look fantastic. Check it out at www.thehealthyapple.com.
Well, I'm really tired now. Oh, but news flash! My husband bought us each a fitbit. I sat down a couple of days ago to figure it out, but I. Ended a computer which was upstairs, so I left it till my husband could help me out with it. Today, I gathered everything up and moved it to my side table at the end of the sofa. So, after dinner, he started to get it set up, but had to stop because the little do-hickey wasn't there!!! The little thing that is the actual fitbit is missing! Oh my gosh. So tomorrow I get to go through this big basket that has a million remote controls and other things in it and see if it dropped into there. Pull out the love seat, look behind it. Oh gosh! What if it dropped between the cushions? If it falls down deep will I even be able to find it? Horrors!
Well, in that cheerful note, I'll close.
Cheers!
Lisa
I got a pretty good amount of work done today. We went to a Pier One on Saturday and I got new cushions for the front porch. I set them up today and they look great! These are the cushions I got:
http://www.pier1.com/Angelique-Cushion---Black/2784462,default,pd.html?cgid=angelique
Hmmmm. I thought that would bring up the picture. I tried to copy the picture and add it, but I wouldn't do it. Oh, well. They are a black background with a leaf motif that brings in reds and greens. I like them because they work with the house now (white with olive shutter) and will work with the house if it gets painted (a more traditional white with black shutters and red door.). Plus they should handle dirt well. I out them out today and they look very nice!
I had big work plans for,the day, but I wasn't far into it when I came squarely face-to-face with the fact that I am not very strong or fit. I tired really easily. At some point today, I guess when I was carrying something fairly heavy upstairs, I pulled all those growing muscles again! Oh, for crying out loud!!! Hurts SO BAD. Really limited the amount of work I got done for sure. I wasn't able to get to anything upstairs, but I did get quite a bit of work done downstairs. I swept the entire downstairs and dusted and cleaned and arranged and went through boxes. Really made a difference! I even got some laundry done.
They came out to test the pool water, so we may have the pool up and running before much longer!
Hmmm ... I can't figure out how to scroll all the way down to wear I say I pulled my "growing muscles" but I meant "groin muscles"!
My doggie's diapers did not get in! And they don't know when they're coming, so I'm going to have to order a different kind because I need them NOW! She is blocked into the
breakfast room tonight to limit her excretory functions!., I did find a harness system that holds the diapers on so they can't get out of them! Got rave reviews so I ordered one last night. Something's got to change because the constant puddles is driving us crazy!
I have to tell you about the broom I ordered because it's amazing! We have four dogs, so the dog hair situation is ridiculous! This is a rubberized brush that said it picked up dog hair and -- my gosh -- it does! It's fantastic!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032GEHAS/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It picked up hair I didn't even see.
We had a big salad again for dinner and the some Skinny Cow candy my friend gave us in a wonderful goodbye basket she made up for us to survive the car trip. It had everything we needed except alcohol! :-)
I hope tomorrow to get a lot of work done upstairs. I'm down to seven boxes in the bedroom. I have our litter box set up in one of the unused bathrooms. It's a mess. She's tracking litter everywhere. I got online and found this Breeze System that looked really good and more than a thousand good reviews!
Oh, I won't be working with the nutritionist I told you about because her hourly fee is, get ready, $400 per hour! I emailed her backpack that I was sure she was worth it, but that was outside of my budget. I didn't say it was outside of my budget by at least $350! I got a sweet email back from her. Her website is really wonderful. She has a bunch of summer salad recipes right now that look fantastic. Check it out at www.thehealthyapple.com.
Well, I'm really tired now. Oh, but news flash! My husband bought us each a fitbit. I sat down a couple of days ago to figure it out, but I. Ended a computer which was upstairs, so I left it till my husband could help me out with it. Today, I gathered everything up and moved it to my side table at the end of the sofa. So, after dinner, he started to get it set up, but had to stop because the little do-hickey wasn't there!!! The little thing that is the actual fitbit is missing! Oh my gosh. So tomorrow I get to go through this big basket that has a million remote controls and other things in it and see if it dropped into there. Pull out the love seat, look behind it. Oh gosh! What if it dropped between the cushions? If it falls down deep will I even be able to find it? Horrors!
Well, in that cheerful note, I'll close.
Cheers!
Lisa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)