Category: Life

Life

Life and Loves

1972italy

Yesterday was busy. I tried to relax between driving to doctor’s appointments. Stella’s went well. She is very healthy but she needs to lose a few pounds. She not badly over weight. Right now the little babe is curled in a ball under a blanket on the couch. I was surprised when she got up with me this morning. My friend’s doctor appointment was to tell him that he needs more blood work on Thursday. He also revealed to me that he thinks this is what might take him out. He’s exhausted and tired of fighting with it all. The sentence he said before that was, “I’m gonna tell you something and you probably won’t like it.” I told him that I would just enjoy the time that I had with him then. I’m used to driving in silence so he thought I was mad at him. I told him I wasn’t because I know that with everything going on then doctor appointment upon doctor appointment on top of that… That will put a big dent in your fortitude. I am not going to judge. We had a fun lunch? dinner? at Applebee’s.

By the time I got home I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I played with Stella as best I could. Which wasn’t much and she was not happy with me. But I did manage to cheer her up for a bit. (She knew it was my day off and I was expected to stay home with her.) Stella and I didn’t sleep well until Chris got home. Once that happened we were both out cold. The next time I looked at the clock it was 9am.

I’m not sure how late Chris will sleep. He is taking delivery of his new care this afternoon. He is like a kid at Christmas! I really am happy for him. I think he will love his new car like I love Angus. I will share photos at one point this week. I don’t think it will be too hard to get him to let me take some pics. I will need to get back in the bedroom and shower before work though.

I feel like I have no time to do what I want right now. I have about… 45 minutes before I need to start getting ready for work. I have stuff I wanted to take care of in the yard (branches need to be picked up so I can mow on Friday) and I need to work on my writing. Then there is Stella who needs some attention (you should see the look I am getting from beneath the blanket). But I need to wrap this up if anything is going to get done. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Travel, Writing

The Eclipse of the Red Moon

1972italy

I stayed up late last night to watch the lunar eclipse. I was a bit upset at first because I had missed the first half of it (everything I read said things would get started around 11:30pm, I stuck my head out around 11:14pm and the moon was half gone). It was wild to watch the moon disappear and then turn a deep red. I watched until a little after midnight. I had intended to go to bed not long after I got home but a coworker asked if I was going to watch the eclipse. It didn’t look too promising when I got out last night. Everything was clouded over. But after I got home I noticed that I could see the moonrise through the clouds. The clouds never did completely disappear but I was able to watch everything through the thin veil of clouds. I am glad I stayed up to watch.

Yesterday was busier than intended. I did another chunk of garden before work. After my shower I was chillin’ in front of the tv when Stella starts barking. We have company! Two of our dear friends stopped by to give us our wedding invitation. Since we hadn’t chatted in a while we all stood around and did so. By the time they left I had to hurry up and get dressed. I was almost late but that’s ok. I made it. Work was steady if not downright busy. I spent time in the deli helping out as well as hopping on a register to ring and helping at the gas window and courtesy counter.

Today will be going to the vet with Stella and then taking my friend to the VA hospital for his appointment this afternoon. I might try to garden after I get home. It won’t be hot so that will help. I do need to try out the tiller. I have everything I need to get going with it. But the tiller is for the back gardens. I am pushing through my side and front gardens. We’ll see. The thing is I will need to dig out a few things before I can use the tiller. So it comes down to what I want to accomplish today. I need to squeeze in time on my novel as I didn’t get any yesterday. The annoying part is I woke up at 5:30am and started peeking at the clock. I didn’t want my alarm to wake Chris. He has been working so hard and he needs his sleep. My mind started working around 6:15am. Around 6:23am I tried to drift off but my mind kept going so I gave up and got out of bed.

I think I will wrap this up and see about getting Stella out of bed so we can go to the vet. Thanks for reading and stay safe! Oh and did anyone else see the eclipse? What did you think?

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Just a Little More Time

1972italy

I am just so tired this morning. I have packed too much into the past few days. That is a good thing and a bad. I don’t have much energy for anything around here and I really need to get going on my gardens. I got that one small patch done Friday and I’ve not done anything else.

It is much cooler this morning. It got comfortable enough last night that I turned off the AC in the living room. I have several windows wide open as well as the sliding glass door. It should be decent tomorrow as well. My mind is scrambling ahead to what I need to get done both today and tomorrow. My fingers are trying to figure out which thoughts they are supposed to type. I hope that I just have the vet appointment tomorrow. I think my friend should stay home this coming week. He pushes himself too much (yes, I know, listen to your own advice). If he has to stay home then I can work on another stretch of garden as well as my novel (and I did get a page written last night before I fell asleep). I think I will work on another stretch before work. I need to shower anyway.

Stella and I went for a bit of a walk yesterday on the property. She was patient with me when I wanted to stop and take photos. There are a lot of things blooming and they just look so beautiful. In return I let her (mostly) pick our route. There were spots under branches and such that I wouldn’t fit that she wanted to sniff. I let her go as far as her lead was long. She came back tired and, I hope, happy. I know once Chris came to bed last night it was Stella and I sharing my pillow. I didn’t mind. Neither of us takes up much room.

If I am going to get anything done outside I should wrap this up and get out there. A big thank you for all you kind words and support! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

anxiety, Automotive, dreams, Emotions, Exercise, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Writing

I’m Sorry… What Just Happened?!

1972italy

Life has been interesting. The friend I went to work to take home the other day? He has COVID. He was sick enough that he decided to go to the hospital. He is in bed rest for 5 days. He has a doctor appointment on Monday but I told him to call and tell them he has COVID since they probably will reschedule him. It’s a tough one because it is about his brain aneurism and he really shouldn’t put that off. I called and texted people I’d been in contact with to let them know (why his son, who lives with him did not call the store to tell anyone is beyond me… he talked to a coworker and told her) including the store owner and our store manager.

On a positive note I got a small patch of my gardens cleaned out. It’s the small one between the fence and the side porch. But I dug everything out except the flowers. I would like to put fresh dirt in there too. Dare I get a bag from work? Last time there was literally trash and clay mixed in. I might. One bag… maybe two ought to take care of it. I tried to get out before it got too hot but my car was finished maybe and hour and a half after I dropped it off. Once I got the call that my car was done I walked over (his shop I right around the corner from us). After talking for a bit I drove home and got back into the garden. I was almost done when I found out about my friend being sick so the whole phone call texting took more time. By the time I finally finished that small patch I was ready to drop. I think I overdid it a wee bit. But it’s done.

The lilacs are blooming as it the small apple tree in the back. I will get photos to share later today. Today’s batch will be repeats. I am always pleased every year to find various new plants that I did not plant pop up. I see by the clock I need to get my self moving. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

anxiety, Automotive, Books, Creativity, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Music, Nature, Photography, Reading, the World, Thinking, Writing

Finding the Good in the Bad

1972italy

I know there will be some of my readers reading this to hear about some of the drama and trauma of yesterday. I am choosing not to write about that. Instead I am choosing to write about the good that happened.

I have a dear friend that is in recovery. I have done my best to be there for her as much as I can. Last night was one of those times. I asked her to come over as much for me as for her to be honest. I don’t know if the neighbors were happy with us or not (I haven’t heard any complaints so I think we are ok) but that doesn’t matter. We had a blast! We talked and played and danced and sang. When she came over I had a few goodies waiting for her. The big thing that I wanted to give her was a beautiful abalone butterfly necklace. I wanted her to remember that she was an emerging butterfly no matter what. And that she was loved. She’s been through a lot of crap in her life. I wanted her to have something with her that would remind her that she is loved. That she is worthy. She had a good cry over it. I guess no one had ever given her anything nice before.

This morning I hauled my sore and still exhausted tush out of bed and drove over to drop the car off. My mechanic had been up late as well doing an emergency repair on our mail lady’s Jeep. We both looked wiped out. I know I felt the better of both of us. (I just feel so good inside after last night despite the late hour that we stayed up til.) After I finish this I think I will do one of two things. I want to work on my gardens along the front and side of the house. They are looking very scraggly and unloved. The other thing is my novel. I am looking wistfully at my chair and table outside. I should do the gardens first as the temperature is supposed to get extreme again today. I can write in the house or wait til closer to evening if I want to sit outside to write. Ooooo! I can put my swing back out!

So I guess I will wrap this up and get my self outside. I do have some new photos to share (finally!). Tomorrow’s post might be a bit short as it is another 6:30am work day. I want to thank everyone for their support. It means a lot! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

anxiety, Emotions, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking

No More Naps

1972italy

Ok my friends, this might be a bit all over the place. The phone’s battery is not completely charged and neither is mine. I am exhausted from the past few days. We are getting busier and busier and then there is the clash of personalities. The new people aren’t fitting in. The people who work maybe once a week are acting like they are in charge, telling the new people what to do and how to do it. Coworkers getting sick.

I’m not feeling all that great. I don’t know if I should see if someone can take my meeting tonight or not. By then end of the night last night food wasn’t staying in my system very long. I guess we’ll see what happens. Thankfully I get out at one. I need to get myself home right after work so we can get the AC units in. Chris has to leave early again and with the temperatures Stella is getting too hot in the house when we are gone.

I should start getting ready to go. It will hopefully go quickly at work. No new photos today, although I did take a few. Once again I have my mystery tulips appearing. I haven’t planted any yet here they are! They are beautiful though. I will share more tomorrow. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Automotive, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Springin’ Thunder

1972italy

What a mess. Thunder and lightening when I got home meant a freaked out pup. And then she was warm because the house had been closed up. I finally gave up and gave her some Benadryl so that she would sleep around 1am. More storms today and tonight. Since I have to be back at 6am tomorrow morning I don’t see me getting much sleep. But there it is. Yesterday was chaos for most of the shift. The gas pumps crashed once again. We had new people training. We got busy enough for all three registers to be in use at one point. And we aren’t even in to tourist season yet.

On the plus side I was commended by the store owner for my efforts and told that I would be getting a raise. The phrase used was “a significant raise” so I am a bit excited to see what happens. The store owner also he would kick in some money for the barbeque that I have planned. That will help with the meat portion. Unfortunately the event has been put off until June 10th now. At the rate we are going it will be shelved. It is going to be our busy time and everyone is pretty much going to want to go home after work instead stop off at a barbeque (free or not). We’ll see. With several people graduating it is hard to find a decent date for everyone in June. I’m not going to offer it later since we just get busier as the summer goes on. There is no point. We’ll see.

I am dropping off my car to get the brakes done Friday morning at 9am. I have the day off so that will make sure I stay home to get things done. So any running I need to do I ought to do Thursday after work. I might get some gas for my little tiller and give that a whirl on Friday. I may or may not leave a few minutes early and go to the Dollar General to get a few things. I have several graduations this month myself and I have a few gift ideas but I need supplies to pull it together. I also need to remember that I have a meeting Thursday night.

I got no writing done yesterday. I tried. I just sat and stared at the blank page for about 15 minutes. My brain was too fried after work. I will try again today. Things have cooled off (mostly from the day yesterday as it reached 90F (32C) because it is the same temp as it was at this time yesterday) so it is comfortable. Stella is asleep on the couch. I have a window open as well as the sliding glass doors so there is a nice cross breeze.

Chris brought home a bunch of stuff from Mom’s Monday night. A small composter was part of the goodies. I have that set up in the yard. It may move once I figure out what I am doing (Mom also included “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Composting”). It is so nice to see all that green outside! I have moved a few of the plants out there to stay for the season. I might move a few more out there today. But for right now I need to wrap this up and get some work done on my novel. I hope you have an amazing day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Life

Finding Worth

1972italy

Whelp here we are! My screen says that it is already 65F (18C) but it is deeply clouded over and is quite comfortable. If I can get this out fast enough I might have time to work on my novel before I head to work. And I think that pushing ahead with my novel is what I should be doing. Lately several friends (both on here and around my home) have either intentionally or not encouraged me and reinforced what I have been telling myself in my head. This culmination tells me to keep going. It is not a frivolous task. (Not that it was to begin with but it helps me reinforce that in my head.) The hard part today is Stella. She woke up in a funk again. She is back to not eating breakfast. I don’t know if it is because I am going to work or something else. As a Momma I worry. (If I don’t get to my novel before work then it will be after I get home before bed.) But my 30 minutes of work on my novel will happen.

The wind has died down considerably. I had to shut the sliding glass door because it was bad enough it was blowing plants off the shelves! It even blew some pieces off of my poor spider plant! On a happier note… I got my blue banana tree yesterday! Chris got me the plant and a big planter for Mother’s Day. The planter arrived before the day and the tree after the day. I went out and got dirt as soon as it arrived. (Stella wasn’t happy but it was too hot in the car to leave her even for a few minutes.) I think I will need to stash the plant in my office while I am gone though. Stella seemed very interested in the whole thing last night. She didn’t dig or anything. She just sniffed very, very intently. Sooooo I need to remember to do that before I leave.

I also need to work in getting out into the yard and working on the gardens. I think it might be safe to pull the plants out. I may do that today. I wanted to get some work done outside (I guess I need to start getting up earlier on the days I work if I am going to get all this done before I leave). There is so much that I want to do! I also know that if I cram too much in then I will burn out on all of it. So once again I need to find a balance of it all. And for once I think I can. Time to turn to my lists!

I am excited to get a surprise gift in the mail for my friend. It is a butterfly to remind her that she can reinvent herself and come back stronger than before. I could’ve gone with a phoenix but she is more like a delicate, but determined, butterfly. I have a few more things for her but I want to wait until that necklace arrives.

It sounds like I need to get off and get this posted. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, the World, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Like a Patchwork Quilt

1972italy

This morning I am very frustrated. I went to bed exhausted. 4:30am wide awake. Now that I have to head out to cover a meeting I can barely keep my eyes open. Right now I am a mess. I found out that a dear friend is in the hospital due to a minor heart attack. My talk with Mom last night after I got home from picking another friend up at the airport did not go well. By the time we hung up I was very frustrated. Mom complained that she couldn’t do this and that but she really wanted to. If only… She refuses to apply herself to anything. She will even cancel needed doctor appointments because she doesn’t feel like going anywhere that day. If you give her a solution she immediately comes back with a counter problem to that solution.

I found some baby pictures of Essie yesterday on here when I went through to delete any duplicates and not so good photos. That made me a bit teary. I miss all my fur babies. I’m sorry I am kind of all over the place this morning. My mind is already going on what I need to do today. The sun is out again so it should be another beautiful day. The tiller has been put together so I might get some gas and give that a go this afternoon. I need to remember to call about brakes for my car tomorrow as well.

See what I mean? My mind is on everything but this. I got a good 20 minutes on my novel yesterday before my mind wandered off. The last 10 minutes it thought about everything but the novel and characters. Maybe working in the yard is a good idea today. Then my mind can wander and my hands can do something constructive. Maybe I’ll start in the front yard along the house. I need to try to write the article for this morning’s meeting today so I only have one article to write tomorrow morning (I have another meeting tonight). We’ll see how that goes.

I should wrap this up. I see by the clock it is time to try to get myself together and head out. Thanks for reading through my muddle. Stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Books, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Reading, retail, the World, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Let the Busyness of Living Commence!

1972italy

I sit here nursing my first big mug of coffee for the day. I look across the room at my little tiller that I need to finish putting together. I got it out of the box and everything laid out when Mom called last night. She cancelled for today. I am a bit upset because I raised a bit of a stink because I requested the day off and did not get it. Then a coworker offered to work it for me so I could spend the day with Mom. However I cannot message that coworker and offer to take my shift back because I said I would go and pick a friend/coworker up at the airport a 3:30pm today. So I will try to give Mom a call before I leave for the airport (Mom sleeps late and probably won’t see the message I sent her until well after noon).

Stella is asleep on her back on the couch. When she stretches all four legs go straight up in the air and the paws come together. Then they all fall back and there is a big sigh. I know her ball is still on the bed so we’ll have to find something for her to play with in the meantime. If she even wants to play. She has been snoozing.

I am trying to figure out what to do with my day. Get the tiller put together and work on the novel top the list. I also need to pull my cold weather gear from the car. I am going to cross my fingers that I won’t need any of it. I also need to check on a friend to make sure she is doing ok. She has been in a bad place mentally and I try to check in with her atleast once a day. I also need to check in with both my parents, even if it is just messaging (I worry that if Mom and I start talking it will be several hours until we hang up now that I think about it). I also want to spend time with Chris since this is his one day off. I have tomorrow off but I have a meeting at 9am and another at 6:30pm. Oh and I need to write down that last Thursday’s meeting has been rescheduled to this Thursday before I forget. I also need to start cleaning the house if we are having people over on the 20th for the BBQ. Which also means I need to start looking seriously at picnic tables. And I need to plan the day as well as set money aside for the meat. I am asking people to bring a dish to pass. I might have a few sides just incase. I have a sign up sheet in the office but most of the we’ll be there’s have been verbal. So I need to write down how many people are coming so far.

I guess I ought to wrap this up and get it together. Stella has gotten off the couch and shaken herself to let me know I have spent enough time on this. She is ready for her attention now, lol. On that note I hope you all have an amazing day! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Thanks for reading and stay safe!