Month: May 2021

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Emotions, family, Gardening, Life, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking

Staring at the Wall

1972italy

I tried to get up a little early so I could ease into my day. I reset my alarm to get an extra hour of sleep anyway. I still have time but I am still very sleepy. Whenever I had to move I woke up. I have no idea how this 9 hour shift will be tonight. Or tomorrow for that matter. I am in the deli again tomorrow night. But it is what it is. We are short staffed so there is no help for it. We are all wondering if our store hours will change because of that.

I didn’t do much other than read yesterday. I am disappointed but there is no help for it. I might try to fill the bird feeder before work. I also need to change out the hummingbird feeder. I didn’t take any photos either. I’m just not feeling it right now. I will add some from the other day.

I did get the brief piece written and turned in yesterday. Truthfully it wasn’t very good. It had two things going against it. One I had little to no information to go with (I made up a lot of fluff) and two I just didn’t want to do it. I hurt and I was tired. Much like right now. So I don’t know whether or not the piece will get used. I won’t be upset if it doesn’t get used.

If Chris can get the mower functioning I may try to get atleast the front mowed after work one day. I don’t think I will have time before work on any given day this week. I need to look through the backyard for toys as well. I think we have all of them inside now but there might be a few stragglers. That way when I have a chance to do the backyard I can just do it.

I’m going to get this posted so I can have one more cup of coffee and then go to work. Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great day. Stay safe.

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Writing

Finding the Sun In the Clouds

1972italy

The back has taken a severe turn for the worst. They sent me home from work about two hours early yesterday because of it. It has gotten progressively worse. I can’t stay in any position for very long. I did a lot of pacing both inside and outside. Right now the pain in barely manageable. My doctor appointment is Friday. What a fun week this will be! I am hoping not to have to end up in ER. But I worry on that account as my legs will go numb every once in a while now.

I have today off and it feels very weird. I am used to doing this and then having to get myself together for work. I di have an article that I need to write for an online publication when I finish this. I really regret saying yes to this one. Not that it is a bad topic or anything. I just hurt so much that I don’t think I am going to do it very well. And right now I really don’t want to do anything. But I said I would so I need to follow through. I have an in person meeting on Thursday in Elk Rapids. I am concerned about attending that one. I don’t know if I can sit for that long with my back. I will wait and see. BUT an added bonus is that I did get a raise! I am up to !6 cents a word now! Whoot whoot! I was very pleased at finding that out. ❤

Some other good news is that all my plants seem to be doing very well despite the very cold nights. I did catch a bunny in on one garden. I need to see what damage was done. I may have to take drastic measures this year. I never had problems with them in my gardens until we got the fence up. I’m not sure why. I also got a visit from a Monarch butterfly the day before yesterday! She was going to all the milkweed that has come up and doing her thing. That brought a big smile to my face! AND my orchid has started to bloom!!!! It is sooo beautiful!

The sun is out and shining and the girls are in and out. I am hoping to spend some time outside today. I just hope my back will let me. It will be hard to not do anything in the gardens. I might pull a few weeds… 😁 I did not stop and get anything after work yesterday. I just came straight home. I still need another hose, spray nozzle for said hose, dirt, seeds and plants. Next weekend is our plant sale at work. I am hoping to sweet talk the store manager to setting some stuff aside for me. Dirt for sure…. I can do the seeds at the dollar store down the road. But the plants and dirt I want to get at work. The thing is it will be crazy because it sounds like a lot of places are out of plants and won’t be getting anymore around here. Soooo I will have to be extra good so they will let me have first dibs.

I need to wrap this up. I will share a few photos as well. I hope all of you have a great day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Love, Movies, Nature, retail, the World, Thinking

Emotions Unmasked

1972italy

I love Scooby Doo. I grew up with him and the Gang (not Our Gang). It is where I got my love of mysteries. I remember when we would get our Girl Scout cookies (always the Samoas) I was allowed three to last me through my episode. After watching Birds of Prey I asked if we could watch Scoob! since it was available. And we did. And it was good. And I cried. A lot.

Scooby and Shaggy are very much like Moose and I. Too much. I thought I was healed enough to enjoy the movie. I was not but I watched it anyway. The strain of being short staffed and such did not help. I stayed up way past when I should’ve gone to bed as well.

I think what started the whole thing was the “support dog” (it was an ankle biter and he had nothing on to indicate that he was a support dog like he is supposed to). I got the people in my line yesterday and we got to talking. It reminded me of Moose because he was very much my emotional support dog. And I miss him. Terribly.

And I apologize for the abruptness of all this. I got up at 6am and I have to be to work at 7am. Which means that I need to wrap this up and get out the door. I hope you all have a great day and thanks for reading. Stay safe!

Life

Drama and Trauma

1972italy

Yesterday was a long long day. We were short staffed (and will continue to be until we get new hires) and very busy most of the time. I was the closing cashier and we got done around 8:20pm because my line was almost all the way through to the back of the store at closing. I also found out a coworker had gone through some very bad things at home when she came in crying. I did my best to comfort her and talk to her about the situation. Oh and we are losing one of our staff member today. She gave her notice. So.

The winds are picking up here again. I wonder what they will peak at. The other day the trees were bending almost sideways. Everyone has commented how off the weather has been here lately. Today I am feeling like the weather. Off. I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that is going on. I would much rather stay home today and just decompress after all that has happened (there are things beyond what I have shared here). But I am front and center today. I’m not sure what tomorrow will be like since a coworker who is scheduled to work probably won’t be there (she has only worked one day this week and she is scheduled for full time hours). We will be short as it is but with all hands on deck due to the holiday weekend there will be no one to replace her. Sooooo the big question is will I stay in the deli or end up on a register?

Hopefully next week’s schedule will be out today. I only have two things. I have a meeting Thursday night (we are now having all meetings in person so on those days I told work that I need to have time to drive to the meeting as well as back if I am going to be scheduled on a day I have a meeting) and a doctor’s appointment Friday morning. I hope I don’t have to wait until Thursday for a day off next week. We’ll see.

I guess I ought to start getting ready for work. I haven’t had time to do any new photos so I will try to share some new pictures from the past. Stay safe and thanks for reading!

Creativity, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, Thinking, Writing

Squirreling Through the Days

1972italy

This morning was a great struggle to get out of bed. I didn’t get home until much later (I had a chatty coworker with me last night after close) and then about half way home I realized I had forgotten to punch out and had to go back. I stayed up way to late writing and doing research. I am kicking myself but I was wide awake. I finally got to bed after 1am. I had planned to get up around 8am so I could take my time before work but I was just so desperate for sleep…. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 9am. I feel like I have gotten no sleep. And I am getting up progressively earlier each day. Still getting home around the same time though. I start at 11am today, 10am tomorrow then the eye watering 7am on Saturday. My back and middle are not happy.

We had an actual freeze warning last night. Not frost but freeze. I think everyone faired ok. I have so many plants outside there was no way I was going to get them covered up. Especially as late as it was when I got home. I will have to keep an eye on the weather the next few days. I had hoped to putter in my gardens even in a limited capacity this weekend. If I can’t then I won’t bother getting the gardening stuff on Saturday. I might still get the seeds at the dollar store though. Plants have been scarce around here. I was talking to a coworker yesterday and he said that he had driven around to maybe five different nurseries and maybe one had any plants. So I will make my own. They sell a decent mixture of seeds and they are inexpensive at the dollar store. Hopefully no one else gets the same idea.

Sunday I hope to spend writing and spending time with the family. Saturday I will call my parents to chat so I will have Sunday free and clear. We might even go to brunch. We’ll see how busy the restaurant is though. It is a holiday weekend here and a lot of tourists will be up from downstate. yay.

I should probably wrap this up so I can start getting ready to go. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Life, Nature, Photography, Reading, Thinking, Writing

Blooming

1972italy

There is only enough for one cup of coffee so I am saving it for Chris. I made myself a cup of Scottish tea this morning. Sadly I now have an upset stomach. I am not sure what the prerequisite is for tea to upset my stomach. Sometimes it does and other times is does not.

Essie is sitting outside staring at me through the door way. She has been bugging me to put the laptop away and give her my undivided attention. Stella has been the opposite. Ahhh, now Essie is laying in some sun. Stella has done the same but she is in the kitchen by the window. We had a huge storm last night. Essie was ok for the most part but we had some big thunder roll through and that got her shaking. Stella was freaked the whole time. My Weather Channel app sent me a message that there would be “light rain off and on over the next few hours.” I happened to be outside taking pictures of the moon to the southeast. From the northwest there was a multitude of lightening strikes and reoccurring thunder. Yeah Weather Channel…. you might want to work on your accuracy.

The flowers are blooming like crazy around here. A whole batch of iris have opened up overnight. When the wind blows through the house is smells like honey suckle and lilacs. Yay Spring! I am trying to get yard work done a little at a time despite my back. I did get some weeding done. I was going to mow the front yard yesterday but the blades for the riding mower won’t activate. The lever is stuck in the down position. Chris was able to get the mower moving again (the belt had slipped of a pulley) but I tried mowing after he left (that way he’s allergies wouldn’t kick into high gear) so in the end I just parked the mower by the garage for now.

I am still doing a ton of research for my novel. I am at a loss as to how I’m going to pull it all together. What started out as a simple story has morphed into a monster. So much information. Do I include it? When and how? Is it relevant to the story? Fortunately I received this month’s issue of The Writer and the articles are all very timely and seem to be addressing my current woes with my novel. So I think that after I finish with this I will finish going through that magazine.

Oh and I discovered that the nest over the motorcycle has been taken over by a robin. She has atleast one baby in there that I could see from a distance. I had better wrap this up and get some more words on paper. I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Movies, Nature, Photography, Thinking

Sun and Fun

1972italy

This is a late late post. I got up with enough time to feed the girls and let them out before I went to physical therapy. And after that I came directly home and went back to bed. We all slept til around 11am. Now that we are up I will do this and then head outside. It will be a hot one today with sun and humidity. I want to be able to be out in it for once.

Stella is laying on the floor beside me snoozing. I was scratching her before I started this. She wants attention and to play. The irises will be blooming this year. they seem to go every other year. So we’ll see if the day lilies bloom. Sometimes they alternate with the irises and other years I get both of them. My orchid is getting ready to bloom as well. I am very excited about that. i never thought I would have an orchid let alone be able to get it to bloom again.

Not much sleep was had last night but it was for a good cause. After I got home from work Chris and I watched the latest Godzilla movie Godzilla Versus Kong. I LOVED it! I don’t want to talk about it too much incase one of you plans to watch it. It is really really good!

I need to get outside for a bit. I will probably do some work in the gardens (I shouldn’t but oh well things are getting way over grown) and just try to relax. I hope everyone has a great day. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Emotions, family, Food, Gardening, Life, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking

Putting On the Big Girl Pants

1972italy

The day has started out later than I thought it would. I didn’t get any real sleep until the last say three hours. I couldn’t get comfortable and my back was not happy. So I kept turning over like an alligator in a death roll. Or maybe I was making blanket sushi. I don’t know. Every little while I would need to untangle. Or dangle. A foot or a leg because I would get too hot. Anyway I finally looked at the clock around 6:00am or so and told myself to atleast stay in bed until 7am so my day wouldn’t be so long. Well I finally fell asleep solidly. When I next cracked an eye it was going on 9am.

I feel like there is so much that I need to do and so little time I have to do it. I made some progress on my novel but it was stop and start with everything going on here. I would catch an idea and start to work with it then something would happen or need my attention and it would be gone. It was frustrating. I also need to get working in the yard despite my back. The grass is too tall and the flower beds need attention desperately. I also need to get some more seeds planted. Not all of them survived our second winter temperatures a few weeks ago. A lot did surprisingly. Which also means more dirt. My goal is to try to get some of this stuff Saturday after work. Since I get out at 3pm. I work in the deli that morning so I will already be dirty so I might as well keep going. Hopefully the back will be ok. Regardless this stuff needs to get done. I also need to get things done inside like vacuuming and cleaning the multitude of blankets as well as our bedding in the master bedroom.

So after physical therapy tomorrow I will set up my doctor’s appointment for next week to see if I can get her to do the MRI. If not I’m not sure what I am gonna do next. Just wait and see what happens at the appointment and go from there I guess.

I need to start the banana bread soon so it will be done before I leave for work. It can bake while I am in the shower. The bananas won’t last much longer so it is today or they go into the trash. Looks like the sun is trying to come out and stay. We are supposed to have summer temperatures today. Sigh, Mother Nature is all over the place but I don’t blame her. It is way too peopley out anymore. It stresses you out.

I will add a few photos and get this posted. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking

Foggy Paths

1972italy

This morning is a late morning for me. I just can’t seem to wake up. There is a dense fog moving down into our little valley and the temperature has dropped again. The past few days have felt like the height of summer heat and humidity and now it is almost fall chilly. Still everything is greening up and blooming.

Not much has been happening lately other than work. I have been trying to keep the girls busy where I can. We were up late last night so I could spend some time with Chris. I got home late (we were busy most of the day so there was a lot to do once we got everyone out of the store… which wasn’t until almost twenty after eight last night) so it took me a while to unwind from the day. Essie was ready to go to bed almost as soon as I got home. She was getting desperate by the time we actually went to bed. I could read all I wanted but it had to be in bed.

I did get some very cool photos last night of the moon. I was pumped. Essie was not. I saw my photo op when I was letting them out for one last time before bed. Essie gave me a look when she saw what I was doing. (I went in and out several times to change lenses and try my phone camera.)

It looks like the fog it rolling itself back. It isn’t as far on our property as it was when I started this. Sorry this is so short. I will share what photos I can. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking

Back to the Back

1972italy

Truly I do not know what to write about this morning. It rained last night so between my back and Stella freaking out (blessedly Essie just hunkered in closer) I have had very little sleep. I think three or so hours. It is getting harder to function normally. I have one more physical therapy appointment before I can get an MRI. I think what will happen is that I will make the doctor appointment after I complete physical therapy. Then I can have it slated to make sure I get the day off. Something has got to be done.

I had an 11 hour day yesterday. There were times that my back was seizing up and I had to stop what I was doing and stand still. I’m sure there will be more of that tonight. I am on my own tonight as I don’t think I have any managers to ask if I have any issues. I might have one working tonight in the deli…. Right now I am miserable. everyone is so patient with me. Except myself. And it is more impatience because nothing is being done and it is getting worse. Impatience because insurance is making things worse instead of trying to find out what is wrong and fix it.

So no photos were taken yesterday. I will filter through what I haven’t shared yet and try to put some up. I’m sorry for the downward spiral but that is where I am right now. Physical therapy is Tuesday. I work straight through until then.

Stay safe and thanks for reading.