Friday, September 30, 2022

2nd & Charles

 Going from the podiatrist to the SAS store, we passed 2nd & Charles. I immediately recognized the name even though I have never been there. CLICK HERE I have about 100 books to sell if they will buy them at all. No, these are not the ones my friend mailed to me. Tommy has every electronic he has bought for the last fifty years. He told me to drop them in the trash because they are old and no one will want them. He is so naive about stuff like this. 

He told me the other day and the week and month before that he wishes I would get rid of some of these books lying around. Well, books don't look like clutter to me at all. However, some of these do need to go since I have no bookcase. He is not pushing at all, just casually mentions the matter. 

When I told him I wanted to go there when we finished at SAS, he said okay and then wanted to take me back. I was just too exhausted when we finished going to the doctor and buying shoes. Both were high-stress occasions. 

Have you ever been to 2nd & Charles? Sold anything to the business?

I have tasked myself with helping my friend who worked at the daycare. I will get food for her, give her toiletries if she wants, the extra shampoos and such that I have stocked. Toothpaste? If she will use what I have, she can have it. If she needs something special that I don't have, well, maybe she can afford it if I save her money on other items. She is not picky about shampoo or bar soap, so that helps. 

She is still nauseated, and her nose hurts as does her head. I think her nose is broken. I have not seen her forehead that is bandaged over the stitches. But, the damage to her nose and cheeks and eyes is much less evident. 

The hall light is blown. We really need someone to change light bulbs. I don't dare try to get on a ladder! Since I cannot easily even step up a 5-inch step, I doubt I can.

It is late Saturday night and I must get something out of the house to declutter. Okay, I found a small aluminum pot, caked with something and battered. It is in the sink to catch grease we drain. I cooked a pound of bacon. Then, it will go into the kitchen trash. And, an old Utilitech flashlight that is corroded inside has been tossed. Those things will have to do unless I poke around in the box they were in. 

The day was lovely and mild, 75F. Best of all, the humidity is still in 30 % or so. Until 4 pm there were no clouds. I cannot say for sure after that. 

What is your experience with 2nd & Charles? How is your decluttering coming along? 


Thursday, September 29, 2022

New Shoes, Concussion, and TMI

My friend is nauseous and dizzy after her being shoved down by the child and realizes these are signs of concussion. She cannot afford the ER. And, she still won't let the daycare take care of it because she does not want to start trouble. !!! I have called her multiple times to check in. And, so has another friend who finally realized something was wrong because her car was home. We don't want her dog to eat her. 

Tommy and I finally had our appointments with the podiatrist. I was really frightened and told her why, saying, "I suppose you are going to touch my feet?" She had no trouble removing most of both large toe nails. Ick! I only had fungal infection on my big toe. She cut the other toenails and they look so pretty...lol. I could only hack at them. I was good for her. She rubbed something on my feet and said they looked fine, did not need grinding...lol. But, she did one little place. I could stand for my feet to be rubbed with the oil/lotion every day. 

Tommy had toenails about 1 1/4 inch (1.5 ") long. My doctor removed one from his toe that got caught on his pants, ripped loose and bled and hung. It was the only good nail he had left today since it grew out. We both tried to cut his nails and could not. The doctor could. 

We both got a prescription for shoes for which Medicare will reimburse us. We both wanted to try on shoes. If you go to a drugstore which is what they recommend, the nurse measures your feet, shoes are ordered and paid for by Medicare. When you pick up the shoes, the shoes cannot be exchanged. 

My big toes have had fungal infection, but the new big toenails coming in have no fungus. It never spread to other toes. I cured it with Vicks Vaporub. I have probably smelled like Vicks but I am old and don't care! 

We went SAS (San Antonio Shoe) store and he got shoes, loved them and wore them home. Mine had to be ordered in my size. They will be delivered to the store and we will go pick them up. My shoes cover my feet but have little vents in the top, not what I wanted, but I suppose they will do for snow and rain. I really only want to wear my sandals.

Tommy's shoes he wore every day had huge holes in the bottom and he was exposing his feet to doctor's office floors, asphalt in parking lots, grass in yard and other places. It is a wonder he has not cut his feet or picked up a disease. 

He bought some WM Crocs to wear to the doctor when he did not want them to see his feet touching surfaces. But, that was just a month ago. NOW, he still insists on wearing the holey shoes everyday  and save the good shoes. He refuses to wear the croc knockoffs in the yard because he does not want stuff getting on his feet from the little holes. But, it is okay to walk in the rain and grass. Some logic. 

But, for three years he has ranted and raved when I mentioned going to SAS for shoes because they are expensive.  Ha Finally, he was willing to pay the price before he found out he could get them for free. 

I mentioned to the doctor about my feet being sweaty and she told me to use a spray-on antiperspirant deodorant, forgot the name. So, when I call and find the name, I will spray my feet so they don't sweat or stink. Has anyone heard of this? 

Two weeks ago, I received Swiss cheese at the food giveaway. This week, I got a box of deli ham. So, I had to have rye bread. At the store I was going to buy rye but found rye pumpernickel and remembered I love that. So, I added tangy brown mustard to my rye pumpernickel ham Swiss cheese and was in heaven. THEN, I realized I had had more than a day's ration of sodium. Tommy is not enamored of my choices, so I suppose I will need to freeze some of the bread. Tomorrow, I will add tomato and lettuce to my sandwich. 

The other day, I was saying Rafaella over and over to someone on the phone. When I got off the phone, there were ads on the internet for Rafaella and an email from them. Spooky! 

We went to a church that serves/sells food on the lawn every day of the week. The doctor's office was nearby. We did not like any of their dozen choices, so we decided to come home and have a sandwich of ham and deli roll. 

Today, the skies were blue and cloudless. And, then we watch the weather in Florida.  ugh  At 7 pm, we left to go a block to friend's house to give her food. I was wearing a summer dress, tiny sleeves, knee-length, and loose and billowy. I was cold! The cold air went up the dress to my collarbones. It was like being naked. Tomorrow, I will go the Target for only the third time in my life and look for black leggings. 

This post is disjointed but I don't feel like editing tonight. 

Tonight, he had chicken with bbq sauce, English peas, and sliced tomato. I will have chicken breasts, tomato, Romaine, and green beans. 

Edit: I purchased a paint by number for Christmas for Tommy to paint. This is enrichment for keeping his brain active and we will have a pretty Christmas picture for the wall. Now, I just have to get the wrinkles out for him to start. 

Do you have weather from Ian? 

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

FIRED!

 My friend lost her job. Yes, she did, all for a child deliberately shoving her down. I forgot to say that the child ran to one side of her and chanted--"that's what you get! That's what you get!"

Wednesday morning, she received a voice mail or text, forget which, saying to just stay home today because of her injuries.  So, this is how she fires people all the time. Then, she told her that safety was her primary goal at her daycare. This is how she fired the last woman who lost her job this week after being out ill. She also told her just to stay home one more day to be sure she was well. 

The daycare owner told her she would put her on-call all this week. She tells all people she fires this, too, before firing.

The kicker is my friend was due to receive a $3K bonus in October! She will never get it now. She really needed that money. There were witnesses and video, but it will all disappear, probably has by now. 

As we drove by her house at 9 am this morning going to Cullman, her car was home when she should have been at work. I told Tommy I was worried and would call about 10 am when I knew she was up. Well, that was stupid. So, if she had fallen or was dying from a concussion, it might be too late. I called and she relayed the info to me. She will go to Walmart to try and work there. 

We drove to Cullman to sign papers and use a cc. That done, we went to Publix for my milk. We would rather stop there than after we had driven back to Publix here. I went to another store to get the Double Luck green beans. I counted out 10 as I felt for dents. I managed to get 11 cans...lol. Eggs were expensive $6.99 for 18 eggs (39 cents/egg). At the second store I paid $4.89 for a dozen eggs (41 cents/egg. I was at the second store and was not driving back for 2 cent/egg saving, 24 cent/carton.

At the PO I gave Tommy money to pay for my PO box. As it turns out, I paid it online. I do not remember that. Hopefully, I have not signed up for autopay. 

Dinner tonight: Tommy had the other hamburger from last night, peas, and mashed potatoes. I had cheeseburger, whole tomato, whole can of green beans. Neither of us had bun. 

Today, it was 75 at noon and really hot in the car with humidity of 33%. I love that humidity. Outdoors, the weather was perfect, not hot at all. The skies from the time we left until we came home was deep blue sky for miles, all the way to Cullman and back. 

Gas in Cullman was $2.98/gal. So, I guess we can use the gas savings to buy eggs. 

Are prices for things like eggs and gas coming down at your town? I hope everyone is safe from Ian.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Violence in the Daycare Against the Teacher

 A four-year-old boy sent a teacher for stitches and with other injuries. She refused to go to ER with blood flowing down her face. She may have a concussion and a broken nose. She injured her knee and shoulder. She refuses to let workman's comp pay her bills. Why all this? She does not want to lose her job at 75! I think at this point, they will let her go. 

Maybe I don't want to work at this place where children are allowed to brutalize the teacher. What if it is a small child next time? Or, me? Maybe I don't want to work here. 

Her face is all cut up and bruised. There is a huge bandage on her forehead. The child ran past her and then immediately in front of her. Then, he shoved her. This place is licensed and has DHR to oversee that it is doing things correctly. Yet, this can happen. I only found out about this afternoon. 

Sluggy, you wonder about the drivers. Well, this kid with no self-control and no raising will be driving one day. 

He will get one day out of class and be allowed to come back and continue his reign of terror. Parents just dump the kid in trouble with a grandparent who probably cannot manage the child's violence and misbehaving. 

Thankfully, I am not a designated reporter anymore. Or, am I? I would lose a friend if I reported it. I need someone far away from Alabama to report this. 

I spent the night running a temp and shivering. Glands under my ears are throbbing. I slept from 1 am to 2 am, stayed awake until 7:30 am, sat at laptop until 9 am, and slept until 1:30 pm. Now, I am taking an antibiotic. MRI trip of 200 miles round trip was cancelled for maintenance of their equipment. I am glad I did not have to cancel again this week. 

My baby girl is 47 today!

For dinner we will have cheeseburgers without a bun, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Maybe Tommy will have a bun. 

Monday, September 26, 2022

Shopping and CS

 This morning, I was sleeping the sleep of the just when Tommy woke me at 9 am like I asked him. My hair needed washing before we went to Tommy's doctor. So, I was on my way to another sleep of at least my 7.5 requirement. 

We both needed to go to the doctor's office so the nurse could set him up with a blood sugar monitor that used my phone. Well, I have to get a different phone as mine won't work with the monitor. I am very surprised. So, I have to get a different phone, a Samsung. 

He can get a little monitor to use with the device. But, he said that we would just get me a new phone. I did not encourage the little monitor. If he had that, we would never know where it was as he would drop it somewhere like one side of his chair and have to search. Or, he would leave it out of the reach of both of us. If he took it in the car, he would not give it to me to check when I thought his blood sugar was dropping. He can get it out of my phone anytime he likes as I put my purse in the same place all the time and accessible to both of use. So, we left. 

Since I needed things from Big Box, we went there. I found leggings for $2 and got three pair. I want to wear them in the house during the winter. I really did not care what color, so got once cute pair and two pair to cover my cold, nakedness. There were no black ones in my size as they have sold out! So, I came home pleased as punch at the great price. 

As I pulled off the hanger one pair, the cute pair, I realized I had bought capri leggings. Bummer and double Bummer. I will wear this pair in the house or the yard, but the other two pair were bought for the cheap price and just to wear around this winter only in the house. So, this is a dilemma. I am wearing the cute black pair with pink flowers all over. I may take the other two back, maybe not. I will have to wear leg warmers to keep my legs warm from the calf to ankles! 

Okay, I wore the cute pair of capri leggings. The back waistband pulls down too far. I can fix that. I think I will take the other two pair back. I hate to lose a $2 deal, but they will not work. The big takeaway from this is they are not cute enough to be uncomfortable or to fix! 

I also got two jackets to decide which I wanted. I don't think I like either one. But, I have the receipts to return them. 

Last night, I was anxious to wash the glass serving dish and see how pretty it was. It was yellowed and sticky. Plus, I didn't know if it were etched from soap. Vinegar on a cloth took away the yellow and sticky. It does not look etched, but it will never have soap on it ever again, only vinegar. 

Last year or two years ago, I bought a cute sundress from a major department store. I could never get it returned because I lost the receipt. The store took back the other things I bought on the same receipt. I called cs national. They told me when exactly I bought the dress and what to tell the people at the store to get the return. Well, that did not go over well. The clerks were young women who were overworked and I did not feel like arguing. (Even Publix is having trouble finding or keeping people.)

In the meantime, I found something at this department store I want. So, I got on the phone and got no answers and was put on hold. Sooo, I emailed cs and asked for a call. The young man called and we had a good talk for 1:50. Yes, one hour and fifty minutes. No, I did not talk his ear off. He talked my ear off. lol. The dress was $18 and cs had given me the day and time I purchased it before. He said keep the dress and wash the car with it if I liked. He was sending me a $50 egift card. Suits me! 

Tommy brought in the mail and I have two coupons for a free loaf of my favorite bread. In other good news, dinner is leftovers, so no cooking tonight. But, we need to load the dishwasher, so no rest. 

However, I am going into the kitchen and drag something out of a box until I find a thing Tommy does not want. If he wants it thrown out, I will keep on until I find something to take to the thrift store. No one wanted anything from the free box we put by the road. 

Update: I had to take off that pair of leggings I liked because they were just too tight in the crotch! All three pair go back.

Do you wear a blood sugar monitor? How is it? Do you think service in stores and customer service in stores is worse? Have you had good luck with customer service on the phone? Tell me all about it.


Sunday, September 25, 2022

Obsessed or Not

Maybe not obsessed, but mighty interested in figuring out what I am doing with these succulents. 

I have learned a lot about succulents in 24 hours. It is sort of a crash course for me. I got the succulent pieces on Wednesday, bought the cactus soil mix on Friday, and finally "transplanted" the leaves on Saturday afternoon. Impatient, later Saturday night I picked up one of the leaves and roots had started to form, just like the class teacher said they would. It is amazing. So, anything that gets roots will get planted. That means nine "planters" and the room for them to sit around! 

If one of the four flat leaves is a Christmas Cactus, I will be happy to have just that one since I have always wanted one. Oh, I have always wanted Hen and Chicks, too, even more than the Christmas Cactus.

The problem lies with soil for succulents. Even having it in the same room caused me to start having asthma symptoms, coughing and shortness of breath. I won't be driven to an inhaler just because of a plant! These need less light soil, but I am afraid to experiment with a heavier soil. Does anyone have an idea of what soil they can stand that won't choke me? Even having the basil plant near me causes me problems, I fear. At least the basil serves a health purpose by lessening ear congestion. 

Obsessed much? Well, it will shortly end as I get the knowledge and get these bits of cactus under control. I removed the bag of soil from the house and now can breathe better! I need a storage place and an outdoor place to work!

When we heard it might rain overnight, Tommy took the new geranium onto the ramp for a chance of a good watering. It appears it did rain a bit. So, he won't have to water at all today since the temperatures are lower. 

This afternoon, I went to the thrift store looking for Corelle plates. Tommy is slowly warming up to the idea of not using paper plates. He no longer objects, so that is good. Sometimes, he even uses a real plate. There were hundreds of plates in great and small stacks. None appeared to be Corelle, and some were broken! I could not pick them up. 

However, I did find two measuring bowls just like the set I got for a wedding present. I already have one, the middle size and today I found the two smallest. So, good deal for $1 for the two. Then, I found a very heavy, antique pressed glass dish, divided for serving olives and such. It was $4.49, a steal. I can sell it for twice as much if I want to sell it. 

I stood as long as I could. I wanted a Trivial Pursuit game. The manager sent someone to find it for me and bring it to the front. However, she did not bring Trivial Pursuit, and all were for children, just a bunch of games loosely related to trivia. I left disappointed. 

Today, as we sat in the park, me soaking in the green and Tommy soaking in a baseball game, I had an idea. Where we sat there was an area near a fence with a hundred pinecones, new ones. My idea--get a circle of cardboard, clean off a bunch of pinecones, glue them to the circle of cardboard with the pinecones lying point out, layering them so they formed a tree of pinecones. Then, I could spray it and put it on the porch for Christmas. Tommy could use his reacher to pick up the cones and put them in a box. I can lift it to his walker for him to carry. Maybe I will do this, maybe not. 

The decluttering is slow, maybe one item a day, maybe 5. But, things are leaving one way or another. 

Tonight, my dinner was salad with tomato, shredded cheese, and chicken on top. Tommy had cube steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots. 

Today was mid 80s. But, best of all--the humidity was low. 

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Saturday Curb Find, This and That

Last week, the np got wind of my difficulty sleeping. I did not mean to tell her, but it slipped. Sooo, she is going to solve that problem and gave me something to sleep. Since I did not want it, I did not take it. Friday night, I decided to try it out since I needed sleep for the next day. Well, I am still groggy, not feeling particularly swift or well. I hate this feeling. This is why I take nothing for pain of sleep. 

That means I did not feel like stopping for green bean stock up. Lynda wanted four cans, too. I did not feel like going to the farmer's market for my 40 pounds of sweet potatoes. I did get out of the car for one thing.

A block from my place, I saw pink flowers in the gutter. Tommy turned around and I rescued a pink geranium. Okay, I got out of the car three feet from the plant. I carried it straight to the porch here, and he dumped the dirt from one of my pots in the trash can and plopped it into the pot. I suppose he will water it when he waters all the flowers later today. Right now, he is watching an Auburn game. I absolutely never bother him when an Auburn game is on tv. 

Ordinarily, I would dump dirt into a place in the yard that needed more dirt. But, that is not ever on his radar, and I will not argue or do it myself today. I am just too tired. 

There is a red geranium in a hanging pot, and now there is a pink geranium on the porch. I don't know if they will survive winter or if they are annuals. I suppose not annuals since the one I found is very large. So, I will have to read up on that. 

Friday night, about 7 pm, I put some sort of pork roast into the crock pot. It was half-thawed so I put it on high in order to get it out of the pot and into the refrigerator before we went to bed. Ordinarily, I would have waited until later and put it on to cook on low or medium all night in order to take it out in the morning. But, I knew we were leaving by 8am, and I did not want to do it half asleep and in a rush. about 1 am, I slammed it into a glass storage dish and refrigerated it. Today, I will freeze some of it in bags holding two portions. It appears we have about 8 portions of pulled pork or 4 meals for two. This will be great with bbq sauce on it and eaten with slaw. 

Last night, we had a huge salad with a whole tomato each and other items we both love. Mine had shredded cheese and chopped chicken breast. His had crumbled hamburger cooked with onions. We both fix our own salads, getting what we want. Until about six months ago, I made a salad for Tommy after consulting him about his preferences. Now, my back hurts too much for that. 

Later today, I have about ten pounds of chicken that I will put into a turkey bag for more meals. Maybe I won't if I am still groggy from this pill to sleep. I am going to take a nap. We left within five minutes of 8 am and arrived home within five minutes of noon. I did not even want to stop at good yard sales. 

While I eat asparagus, I have never cooked any. Tonight, I will figure out how to cook it and have that for dinner with whatever we decide.  (I have a vague idea.) Tommy said he would eat asparagus if he had to eat it, but he does not care for it. Oh well! I love asparagus, so more for me. 

He peeled the sweet potatoes we microwaved. I  puta tiny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon on them and stirred them well. He will eat these as they are not my favorite sweet potato and taste nasty. I am waiting on Beauregard. Georgia Jet would be better, but they do not store well. 

This morning, I was not too cold as I went to the car in a short sleeve. However, the car air was chilly and the arm rest and seat were frigid. I grabbed a fleece blanket to cover my arms. As soon as I got the car turned on, I turned on the heat. When we both finally were too warm, I cut the ac back on. I suppose this is the beginning of cool weather. I will carry a sweater or light jacket in the car for the few moments I need one each time I am in the car. I just hate this new development. But, the temperature is now 82F. 

Okay, I am headed off for a nap when Tommy gets back in from getting the mail. 

Do you eat asparagus? Do you grow it?  Is your weekend beautiful with a cloudless sky like it is here? Anything exciting, boring, or mundane happening in your life?


Thursday, September 22, 2022

Thursday Mail Bonanza




We went to The Pig to get our $0.98/24 bottles of water. Of course, I was going to have to think of what I wanted after we arrived, except for milk. There was a gallon of milk for $0.99 because the date was Sept 23. This is Tommy's milk. So, I got that reduced gallon and another at full price. Something I wanted but did not get other times was 100% black cherry juice. When I was ill, Tommy drank all of the last jug! I did not really mind. But, I only had about a half-cup or less serving. 

When the milk does go sour, I told him he could try it with chocolate milk. He said nothing. He may rebel when the moment comes to taste it...lol. I told him I left milk on the counter to make buttermilk and buttermilk did not kill anyone. Since he hates buttermilk, this reasoning probably left him cold.

Then, I remembered that chow I saw last week was over $5, so was left behind. This week, I found chow chow made from Vidalia onions. So, I will try this. Once, I ate so much chow chow and blackeyed peas that I had such an allergic reaction that my face swelled so I could not see my ears. And, my ears were swollen and sticking out. My nose and lips were freakish looking. So, I will eat this judiciously. Squash, Kool Aid, Concord mix for roasted potatoes rounded out my order. 

Since I have succulents here hardening off and ready to "plant," I cannot locate my potting mix for succulents, so I bought another small bag for cactus plants. I suppose it will work. Since I actually found a cart, I shopped...lol. Now, I have purple prince tulips and allium bulbs. I bought my third can of red spray paint for my wooden cardinals. It is going back, I think, before I try it. My concrete bunny planter has a new yellow pansy. I used a store card from previous returns and then Tommy's Lowe's card. It works for me. Now, I have planting ahead for October. 

When I passed the drink box, I was seized, seized, I tell you, with the notion of getting a Diet Mt. Dew! I never have this reaction in any other store even though I pass cases with bottles of Mt. Dew, frosty-cold and ready to drink. I have no idea why I do this in Lowe's. Anyway, Tommy and I drank it, mostly me. 

When he brought in our loot, he went to the mailbox and came in, saying the mailbox was stuffed! And, it was "and all for you", five packages. I started with the four small packages, not so exciting as there were four Covid tests. Then, I came to the goodie. 

T sent me a Barbie Doll. It has the high heels, and a thicker waist and long, lustrous, blond hair, and is dressed in a cute sundress. Her hair is silky, not hard like the original hair. I think I will make her a new dress, using scraps or fabric from another garment. While I am at it, I will make a pattern. This one will be stitched by hand. I am so tickled by this doll! Thank you. I looked at all the different dolls advertised on her box insert, some in wheelchairs, with prosthetic, and other different shapes from the tortured original. I still would like an original, so not saying she is not something I would like, but am thrilled to have a different type Barbie. Thank you, T.,  And, I still owe you that email from a month ago.

One thing I wonder--with so many body iterations, how will pattern manufacturers be successful in making patterns to sell for the correct body. She is #181. This is another thing I will have to research. I don't need a pattern, but some people might. The fabric of her dress is stretchy, so hard to get a pattern wrong. Plus, I am intrigued by the closure in the back--very soft Velcro. I will have to look for this new Velcro. 

When I handed Tommy the doll still in a plastic tray, he said, "My god, the neck!" He has heard from me and others the problems with bodies of Barbies and reality. Her cute pink sunglasses will come off, but I won't remove the glasses or leave her lying around naked like little girls do so often. 

It was 96F today, hotter than yesterday, but today I did not sit in the car with the windows down for over an hour, trying to hear a program. Today started cloudless and sunny, but by 3 pm a few clouds gathered, then it was cloudy and by 3:30 a spitting of rain. Now, at 5 pm, the sun is back out and the rays are beautiful. 

I really want planters for the succulents but will not buy a new planter. I am going to use some of the old plastic containers Tommy had and did not want that I saved for gardening. Since these cuttings are so tiny right now, I will plant more than one to a container and later put in larger containers. If I ever get to a thrift store, I know I can find succulent planters or something that is appropriate. This succulent thing is something I need to learn more about care and feeding. Not watering much is a rule that I do know. Just laying the leaf or cutting on top of the soil is another thing I know, but the rest is a mystery. I do hope at least one of these cuttings will result in a Christmas Cactus.

The new Hawaiian that was free with a coupon is not very good to me. Tommy likes it. I will eat it but intend to go right back to the bread I love when it is gone. Since I have too much bread and we don't eat much and have some in the freezer, we are going to give one loaf, free to us with a coupon, to a neighbor. 

Today, we were going to an appointment 100 miles away, but since I slept two hours, I had Tommy take my phone and cancel it. So, I suppose the two lovely nights of sleep were what I thought--a fluke. But those nights gave me hope. The appointment is rescheduled. 

Today was a great day! When I went outdoors to put bread on chair for friend to get, my hair was blown all around by a gentle breeze that was neither warm nor cool. My hair is finally getting long again after butchering it months ago. The blowing about gently was proof. 

Dinner was cube steak dredged in egg and flour with a choice of sweet potatoes, carrots, mashed potatoes, or a salad with tomato. Tommy said he had never had cube steak it like this, but just fried. If he had not seen the egg and flour and my working with it, he would not have believed it had eggs and flour on it before frying--Tbsp of oil in non-stick skillet. I doubt he knew what he ate in all these friends, relatives, and at eating establishments he said had never prepared it with eggs and flour. Tonight, he was standing in the kitchen watching as he microwaved the store sweet potatoes. I have eaten cube steak with gravy, on a bun like a burger, and mushroom gravy over cube steak. How do you eat cube steak?


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Lunch and Succulents

 Today, we went to Cullman. I got my tag, mail, and the pickup lunch. We took the lunch to site of next "appointment" and ate in the car. Lunch was a cup of soup, a cup of salad, a ham sandwich, and dessert (cookie or brownie.) Since the soup was too spicy, I just had salad and brownie. Tommy had the soup and salad. 

The program was about succulents, pumpkins, and making a centerpiece using a pumpkin. We did not win a door prize, but last time each won one. They decided to hold this even outdoors instead of inside. We decided to sit in the car and could barely hear unlike the last outdoor program when we could hear crystal clear. The video of the program will be on FB, so hopefully, I can watch there. 

The lunch served was Domino's Pizza. I had two slices of the mushroom pizza. Tommy was full from lunch. Dinner tonight was an extra salad from the lunch and chicken I cooked Tuesday. 

We did get a little baggie full of succulents. I asked the guy to get me a hen and chick, at least. He brought me about ten different succulents, including I hope leaves from a Christmas Cactus. I do have a bag of soil for succulents. So, if they last until tomorrow night, I will stick all the succulents in some dirt. I'll plant them all together and repot later. 

Tommy had already learned a new word from me--succulent. He had no idea until last year what that was. According to the program today, I have been overwatering the one I already own. I had told him a spray once a week was enough. It appears that once every two months is plenty of water. 

We took 3 bags of aluminum coke cans to the salvage yard that was across the street from the succulent program and received almost $5 since aluminum is 60 cents/lb. I told Tommy just to keep the money.

As we left town, we visited a huge nursery and bought a pumpkin for Tommy to draw on. I suppose he spent his "can money" on the pumpkin. 

I went to the local store while in town and found Double Luck green beans on sale for $0.69/can. Hallelujah!  The guy there said this spring that this company no longer sells their product in the South since they sell little here. Well, they were back. I picked up 10 cans but left a dented one at the register. Also, the huge cans of peaches that were supposed to be leaving, too, are still here. I got one. 

When we left the store, I called and talked to the guy about the green beans. He said they bought 7 pallets and had them stored in a trailer out back. It seems canned vegetables are considered "four weather" stock. So, he said when these are gone, that's it. Next time, I may pick up 20 cans since they do have a date of 2023. I can easily eat a can of these at one time and every day of the week. But, I won't have them every day...lol. 

We are told to store food, even cans of food, in a cool environment. I wonder how much of our canned food is kept in the sweltering heat of a closed metal container out back in a Southern summer. ??? 

While there, I got a beautiful tomato. It was for dinner, too, in the salad. Today was not market day, unfortunately. 

Wednesday was not even as hot as many days this summer. It was at least 95F but was unbearable to me. I must have become accustomed to the 80s! 

For breakfast in the car this morning, I took a chunk of chicken, a slice of cheese, half a banana, and a glass of milk. Tommy had had sausage in a slice of bread before we left. I was too busy to eat since I had to wash my hair. This is why I like having chicken breast cooked and waiting in the refrigerator--I can have ready protein that makes me happy and is not mammal meat. We did not eat out at all since we had the choice of two lunches--soup and pizza. 

It was a very good day with food, fun, succulent babies, and a pumpkin. 

Still, there are only two chances of any precipitation in the next ten days, so I am happy! 


Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Funeral

 Sunday night as I went to bed, I wished I could see the Queen's funeral service that would come on at 4:30 am Monday morning. I thought Tommy would not like it at all. However, he seemed not against it. So, I told him if he awoke around then, would he wake me? He said he would. I read for a long time and turned off the light. I could not sleep. So, I was surprised when he woke me. 

We watched the funeral from 4:30 until almost 11:30. During this whole time, I only had half a banana and some water. I became teary-eyed many times during the processions and all the pomp. I don't think I have ever seen so many people assembled. It seemed the world became very quiet, mankind had paused. The drum that kept time for the march was the only thing that existed. 

My burning question was why the march was sort of a sway. Even the royals, women and all, swayed as they marched or walked. I actually was a bit seasick as all mankind rocked from side to side. 

Charlotte was so cute and precious. I loved her helping George to get the bowing right. Those children certainly had a long day. It was a beautiful, dry, and sunny day. 

I know there are bad things one can say about Monday, the monarchy and such. But, this is not the time for that criticism. Someone's mother and grandmother and great-grandmother has died. 

Speaking of death, I actually cried out as I read another friend had died! The funny thing is that I had told myself I was going to call her for the last few weeks. Sometimes, we wait until it is too late. We were not close friends, but long-time friends. 

Today, it was mid-nineties, very hot. My hands were burned on the railing, on the car, and the seat belt lock! I had forgotten about such heat...lol. But, I won't wish it away. 

I had to get up too early to go with Tommy to his doctor this Tuesday morning. I took a nap before noon and another after 3 pm. We had leftovers for dinner-chicken, rice and salad. Tonight, at 9 pm, I will put two packages of breasts and a package of chicken drumsticks into the oven. There is about a pound or more of carrots ready to go into the cooking bag, too. It will be late cooking, but that is okay as there will be plenty of chicken for a couple of weeks. 

Did you watch the coverage from England? Did you notice the sway to the columns of people? Was it disconcerting to you as it was for me? 

Monday, September 19, 2022

Back in Style

 My favorite makeup is back in fashion!

Here HERE

I will still wear a navy eye pencil, but not the eyeshadow. That may all change. I never wore baby blue. A dark shade of blue was my choice and will be now. I have not worn any eye makeup since spring 2019. Maybe it is time to start again. 

My older shamed me out of wearing any blue eyeshadow. I don't fear her wrath, just don't want to look too ridiculous and out of style. And, I don't try to follow the latest fashion. I will find some new blue eyeshadow that suits me. It won't be applied as liberally as these models wear their blue eyeshadow.

Do you or have you ever worn blue eyeshadow or eyeliner?

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Free Food, Decluttering, "Cream Of"

 Some turn up their nose at the idea of free food. Growing a garden is one idea. Getting surplus from friends or neighbors is good, too. 

Growing one plant in a container works for beginning gardeners or those without space or time or motivation. 

The years I picked up free produce for my chickens were good years. I also ate from that box as did Tommy, taking apples to his house. The owner knew I ate some of the stuff, acknowledged it to me, saying to eat all I wanted from the box he was dumping. 

Now, I grow free food in the window from scraps. Tonight, I saved lots of money by using window-grown onions. Just save the bottom of the onion after using the green tops. Put it in water until roots grow or grow longer. Mine had roots when I put them in water. Now, they can be planted in a pot or in the ground. I just reached up with scissors and snipped off all the tops.  Then, I used scissors to snip them into half-inch pieces. Green onions went into the chicken casserole even though they were not in the recipe. 

By looking for green onions still viable, I grow all the green onions I can use. I just keep cutting off the tops to use. Carrot ends are a good source of carrot tops, greens for flavor and nutrition. At some point I was going to plant them all in one a flowerpot on the porch. But, when I went out one night, roaches were all over the end of the celery I was regrowing for the tops. Now, water in a short glass container in the window works. I will put it in soil before winter because I think it might grow better. I don't know. 

CLICK HERE for a guide to growing 19 different vegetables from scraps.

Last night, I did not get my 7.5 hours of sleep, but that was my fault. I went to bed later than I would have, read longer and then wanted to get up at 10 am to watch Meet the Press. I love that show. So, I took a nap. I am okay with that because I did get my allotment of sleep I need.

The next-door neighbors have decorated their porch for Halloween, the first yard decoration I have seen for the season. The woman on the other side have four extra vehicles where the whole gang came to work in their mother's yard, clearing and hauling to the street. They also put up a huge trampoline in the backyard, right next to the chain link fence for her grandchildren. It looks dangerous to me if someone accidentally bounced off. Maybe they are not through and will move it out a bit or put up a mesh fence. My friend a block away has been lopping and moving the lopped limbs to the road. Everyone has been busy outside, it seems. The mild temps and lack of precipitation and low humidity have inspired people to spend hours working outdoors, it seems.

Tommy is watering the mums and last of the summer flowers. I need to store them somewhere over the winter so that maybe they will bloom next year. 

I have decluttered a bit more. Tommy has plenty of hangers, but he wants to keep every last one, all the hangers from dry cleaning. A few wire ones are good to keep, but too many is ridiculous. There was a pair of rubber rain pants in that box. He says they are too long, coming all the way above his chest. Well, they are about half the waist size he needs, too. So, those will go. That makes one more box empty. 

A basket of soups was retrieved from the back bedroom to replenish the kitchen supply. I think I will start making my own "cream of" soups. Even the healthy request type has enough sodium to kill a person. Now, there is a space in that room that was filled before. 

The chicken thighs were actually legs stuffed in closely, so I only saw round shapes and thought they were thighs. When I remove food from the freezer, sometimes I mistake what cut of chicken I have. There is sage and a bay leaf cooking with those in the crockpot. The breasts, rice, soup, and broccoli are in the oven. 

I put the chicken in first instead of last. Then, when I put in the soup and broccoli, I forgot the rice. It will be okay and the whole dish will cook, but I will have to add water and cook it all a bit differently since the rice went on the top. To top it all off, I forgot to put foil over the pan. THEN, I could not squeeze the foil tight because the glass casserole was too hot. There will be dinner and legs for the refrigerator for Tommy. 

Dinner turned out fine, delicious! 

There are recipes for the "cream of" mixes online. Do you have a different one? 

Have you taken advantage of less than torrid conditions to do outdoor work this week or do you have plans as the temps rise again?

What vegetables do you regrow from scraps? 

Saturday, September 17, 2022

I Did It Again!

I slept for another 7.5 hours on Friday night. I am amazed. Two nights in a row.  I don't think this has happened for years. And, I think I only went to the bathroom once. That has to be a record.

Saturday was a low-key day, little work, blue skies, dry, warm and pleasant.  

I started a new book, another long one, but not as long as the last. The print is larger, so reading won't be such a strain. So, in actuality, it is not so long. I forgot to get it out of the box until I was on the way to bed. That was annoying.  

Friday evening, Tommy cleaned off three boxes of mushrooms for me. I decided to slice them and make mushroom sauce or mushroom soup. I really have enough for both. Around 11 pm, I got them into a huge pot, put in about three Tablespoons of olive oil, and put on simmer so I would not have to stand over them. Tommy checked them once for me and reported there was less than half an inch of liquid. He thought this was too low, but since it only had a bit of olive oil, it was a lot. I ended up with about six cups of sliced mushrooms and lots of liquid. At least, he knows to sound the alarm for me.

Tommy realizes I could not accomplish so much cooking if he were not so supportive, helping me with washing dishes and finding things in the refrigerator. I am grateful and thank him many times a day. 

Saturday afternoon, I wanted to just get out of the house for a bit and go to Piggly Wiggly to get the water for $0.98/24-pack with $10 purchase. I had the $10 worked out and, in the end, got nothing at the store. The deal starts next Wednesday. Tommy forgot to give me his cc. Then, I decided two bananas would do until the next grocery ad with the water deal. THEN, all three lines open had at least three buggies with groceries to the top. If I had stayed longer, the Auburn game would be on. So, frustrated, I left the store. ugh

Auburn lost. Tommy did not even finish watching the game. I had gone to nap halfway through the game. 

Every time I go into the kitchen, I pick up something from another box and put it where it should go or toss it. This is all stuff he had stored in the kitchen cabinets. 

I have four 12-ounce boxes of vegetable pasta that I am putting into Ball quart jars so it will stay fresher. Once I shake it down in the jar, the whole box just fits. We don't eat enough pasta to eat this soon enough to just leave it in the boxes. Plus, the pasta is less vulnerable to air, pests, and moisture. Then, I have only need to protect the jars from light. 

Today, we finished the container of orange chicken, meatloaf, and carrot/potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Good. There was too much in the refrigerator. 

Today was a good, quiet, relaxing day, no-drama, nothing exciting, maybe boring to you. A little decluttering happened. I feel much better. 

How did your day go? 

Friday, September 16, 2022

New Song Instead of "Same Song, Second Verse"

You all must think my sleep story is "same song, second verse" every day. But, I actually managed to get 7.5+ hours sleep last night. I did get up every two hours to go to the bathroom but fell asleep immediately every time I got back into bed. I am not sure if it was because I was ill or not. 

This morning, I fully expected the critter would have dragged the fire ant poison on the porch from the bag again. When I woke the last time to go to the bathroom, I thought I heard something metal scraping on the porch. Since Tommy put the poison in a metal pot, I rushed to the front door, yanked it open, and opened the storm door to look at the pot. I thought that I had caught the critter in action. No. Surprisingly, I did not wake Tommy who is right near the front door. Equally surprising, I fell back asleep right away. 

(Okay, he did not put it in a metal pot. He put in a huge pot and covered the bag with another pot. I misunderstood because he said he put it in a metal pot. It is not.)

I finished all 950 pages of The Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds last night. I highly recommend it. The last 200 or so pages is reference material and an index. While reading never puts me to sleep or makes me the least bit sleepy, it does leave me with a feeling of well-being. So, maybe finishing the book helped me sleep. It could be because I am still ill. 

Maybe I did the wrong thing. I found dog toys on sale and bought two for Lynda's dog since her dog gave me flowers for my birthday. Then, Tommy told me the toys were for puppies. It says so right on the tag. Now, I don't know if it would be bad to give these to a dog that is larger than a puppy. These were going to be Christmas presents. 

When I woke up, Tommy had put the kitchen things in the washer and before noon he got it into the dryer. He usually does not get the laundry done so early. With winter coming on, we have to reset our habits. Soon, we will not be going to the grocery store later than 5:30, maybe 4:30 if it is dreary out and darker.  

Janet, I need your telephone number again because I lost it even though I thought it was in my phone. I thought I had the right email but got no response. So, hope you are okay.

Cindy in the South, finding help from my abused friend was a nightmare. I will post that within this next week. I have questions I don't want to post on here because I will call names...lol, alphabet agency names. Can you email me?

Kris, call or email and let me know how you are. Please.

Rachel, I will send you what I was going to send you when I asked for your address. 

Tonight, I realized I could use the Knorr Sides Spanish Rice mix with the last of the two pounds of ground beef Tommy browned. I did that and cooked it on the stovetop. It was delicious, but too much hot spice means it is for him only. I was so shocked because there was supposed to be pasta and there was no pasta. Finally, I figured out the spaghetti pasta was only one-half inch or less instead of rice. There is also rice. So, it was a free meal. I offered cheese on top and some black beans and chopped lettuce, but he was having none of that. Oh well. I will get this again if it is free, but probably would not buy it, only because of the spices being too overpowering for me. If he wants it again, I will get it. 

There are still thighs to cook and the bscb/soup/rice broccoli casserole to make. I must do that on Saturday. Maybe I will put sage on the thighs.

My allergy doctor called me for a tele-visit. He said it was the last my insurance would pay. He wants blood. Everyone wants my blood! So, this is the third doctor needing my blood. One time, I had 13 vials drawn because I had orders from 3 doctors. Once someone gets a needle in the vein, I want plenty drawn to give people what they need! 😙Ha, I just noticed the emojis! Ooops! Is that a kissy face? I did not mean that. 

I have done well without a nap today, but even at 8 pm, I am exhausted. I have to choose another book to read in bed tonight. 

Football season is upon us because I have to plan around Auburn games. Well, he wants to watch some others, too.

Tommy reads to go to sleep. I don't understand. Do you read to help you get sleepy? Or, does it make you sleepy?


Thursday, September 15, 2022

Wednesday Continued Through Thursday

 When the guys emptied all the cabinets in order to have them clean inside the cabinets, there were boxes of stuff just stacked in the floor filled with items. Well, Tommy was upset that I was going to throw out his stuff. I was not. So, Wednesday night, I tired of having the top of the box that sticks out scrape my leg when I tried to walk in the kitchen. He was adamant that it was all junk and needed to go in the trash. Eventually, he was raising his voice. I could see one of my Tupperware lids and did not know what else below was mine. He did not want to put FREE on the box and place it on the side of the road. He insisted either trash or thrift store. I was having neither. He did not even want me to go through it, saving him the effort. I insisted I had to look at the contents. 

So, he begrudgingly brought the box in for me to empty and go through. There was another one of my T lids. AND, all his good glasses, here from forty-years ago as housewarming gifts. He calmed down a bit when he saw those. They are now in the dishwasher. I did toss a lid lid from a pitcher he wanted tossed this summer. And, there were stored deli containers and tops, none of which matched--trash. I found two of the Kraft Parmesan shakers I washed and a sandwich box that I kept. 

We tossed the carafe from a long-gone coffeemaker. He has the carafe from the last old coffeemaker in the cabinet to use to put water in the new coffeemaker. So, that third one was definitely redundant. He wanted to toss it, so I did. I kept two decent pieces of plastic for gardening. Three of my Ball jars, lids, and rings were in the box, so they were rescued. I imagine this is the last box he will want to toss without looking in it first. So, one box decluttered. That ordeal with the arguing and taking things from the box exhausted me. He had insisted all the boxes were junk. Now, we know. Don't we? 

Drinking tea the last two days has kept me from drinking diet Coke. I just love unsweetened iced tea. Tommy actually got a bottle of water to drink instead of coffee or a diet Pepsi. 

In the Publix ads this week, Miracle Whip is on sale for something like $5.49! I am shocked. By buying at this price, I can save $2.50. Really? How lucky for me. $7.99 will never leave my cc for MW. So, now the hunt will be on for sales on Miracle Whip. I remember when I would cringe when the full price was $4.99. On sale, MW would be $2.50. sigh

I looked through the Publix ad this week and found nothing to circle. I gave it to Tommy. Later, I looked at the ad to see what he circled, and nothing was circled. He said he found nothing. So, back to bummer ads so far this week. I will check the others later.

At The Pig I got a six-pack of Cokes free with $10 groceries--vinegar, zucchini, and something else. When I look over the ads at home and think what I need and is not exorbitantly priced, we will get the 24-pack of water for $.98 by buying another $10 worth of groceries. 

Tommy was driving in front of Publix. People were pulling out of parking places while others were waiting and creeping along, as were we. All of a sudden a woman sort of bounced off the front of our car, putting her hand on Tommy's hood as if to shield herself. I thought he had hit her. No. She was just bouncing off with her hand, not hit, though. She had walked toward us, and then she immediately stepped in front of the car. Tommy slammed on his brake. If she had not been involved with her phone, she would have seen us. The event frightened me even after I realized she was not hit. When she could walk in front of us and was not hit, she immediately went back to her phone. Some days I wonder about people! 

There is a Knorr's Spanish Rice Mix that I believe I got free from The Pig sitting here. I will put a package of thighs in the crockpot to cook on Friday. In about an hour I will put the mix and one of the bell peppers into the crockpot. Tommy loves bell pepper in Spanish rice, so this is for him on other nights.

Maybe we will go through another box! I love decluttering, especially now that I know Tommy is agreeable to going through this junk that was in his cabinets. 

Do you ever have to urge someone you know to declutter or at least watch while you declutter. Take note, I am not trying to get him to get rid of anything. He would have lost his good glasses if I had given in to his wish to be rid of it all and drop the box into the garbage can outdoors.  

Tonight, I am putting carrots, potatoes, another bell pepper, and an onion in the oven. The chicken I cooked last night will be served tonight, too. It was delicious, but I had no onions. I put garlic powder and celery seeds and olive oil in the bag to cook. 

Thursday night, I am somewhat better but tire easily when I think I can work a bit.

Have you had a close call that scared you when you or driver almost hit someone talking on a phone? What have you decluttered lately?


Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Wednesday

 On Wednesday morning I left a message with former doctor, not new one. In less than ten minutes, the nurse called back. Then, she called pharmacy and I had a prescription by noon. THEN, around four pm, I got a voice mail from her, saying he was sending me a prescription to take. So, I got that one, too. Tommy left the first one in the hot car for five hours, so I wonder how effective it will be. I am continuing with the first med. 

There is no way I was attempting to assemble the chicken, rice, soup, and broccoli casserole. However, with Tommy's help, I got one package of chicken in the crockpot with the remainder of the orange marmalade and the remainder of a bottle of Italian dressing, both rinsed out with water. Two hours later, we had chicken; he had sweet potatoes and green beans; I had the lion's share of can of green beans. 

In a few minutes, I will take the marmalade chicken out and put thighs into the crockpot with bbq sauce. Or I may wait until tomorrow and put carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and onions, probably the latter.  

Tomorrow, with Tommy's help, I will assemble the chicken breasts, brown rice, broccoli, mushroom soup casserole. I broached the subject of putting pimiento into the casserole, telling him I would drain off the juice since that is not as tasty as the pimiento. He said he hated anything where the pimiento was 1/3 of the ingredients but did not mind it in moderation, saying sometimes it was good. Well, that was quite a little explosion and something he never told me. He usually says he hate pimiento and won't eat whatever. Sooo, I will add pimiento to the casserole. He refused to eat pimiento and cheese his mother made, so I suppose that is the only thing he has eaten that he knew had pimiento that he hated. Oh well. 

Whatever tore open the bag of fire ant bait came back Tuesday and dragged it across the porch and tore it open. Well, I put both in a garbage bag, so it tore that open, the original bag and dragged about two cups of the bait onto the porch. I need a trail cam! 

I did put fire ant bait out on two beds in the yard despite my inability to walk steadily. Things have to be done no matter how bad I feel. Tommy would put out too much, so I did it. 

Hopefully, I can get my hair color on and not spill it on my chair since I cannot stand to apply it. This quilt on the chair is expendable and cheap, meant to protect the chair, so I will not worry. 

I tried to defend and explain my position and the shape of the nonexistent curriculum in comments on last post. So, I deleted my lengthy comment. But, I know what I am doing, have education, experience and resources and don't have to keep defending myself. Tommy is coming around to helping me. He has never done anything like this. But, he is comfortable and kind to little children. 

Tommy took out two loads of laundry for me. I have clothes to hang and towels and stuff to fold. It is after midnight, I think. And, I am so tired, but he keeps yelling about everything! 

Gotta go. 

Can anyone imagine why a critter would tear into fire ant bait? I need to check the bag and see if it will kill animals. I certainly hope it won't kill birds! 


Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Teaching Maybe

Maybe I will have a job. Maybe not. I am considering creating my own job--teaching reading readiness. It would be at a daycare that has all sorts of programs for the children beyond just caring for them while parents work. One worker takes it upon herself to teach sign language and Spanish. She learns it before she teaches. She is quite enterprising. 

All daycare workers must wear a mask, so that will be in my favor since I do not intend to give up my mask in public. Plus, little kids are germ factories, petri dishes. 

I know the activities and need the worksheets. Of course, visiting a bookstore for teachers will give me the ability to find many activities. And, yes, I will read up on the concept. Yes, I can download worksheets online.

Of course, my certification is 7th grade through junio college, but I know what I need to do. 

A first grade teacher told me I was teaching my two-year-old reading readiness skills. The child's "job" was to take utensils from the dishwasher and put them in the drawer in the correct slot for that utensil. I had no intention of teaching a "reading readiness" skill, just taught her the same things I taught the others--sorting. Of course, oldest child, son, learned to sort his toys into the correct bucket--cars, blocks, soldiers, cowboys and Indians. Middle child learned to sort with her dolls and toy dishes. 

There is more to reading, but there are concepts little minds need to gain. Since children are often behind in their reading skills these days, I think my services might be well-received. Even though I have not felt well, thinking about all this and planning lessons has provided me with a happy feeling. 

Tommy will be my helper. I would be annoyed with helpers who don't know how to help. Over-helping is annoying and counter-productive. He was not for helping at all, saying he didn't know how to be a helper in this endeavor...lol. When I held craft camps in the civic center, I had mothers who just came and helped. It was a disaster, especially when they "helped" their own child and stifled the child's creativity and spoiled the experience by standing over their child and pushing for excellence. 

Tomorrow, I will get my allergist on the phone and see what else I can do for myself to keep this crud from returning. Thursday, I have a doctor's appointment, anyway. 

While I slept, a restorative nap, Tommy followed the directions on a bought meatloaf, one given to us. He had a salad. He seemed happy with his dinner. He was diligent in getting the puddled grease from the little pan. He learned from me how to drain it and to use a paper towel to soak up the excess grease before it all reabsorbs and cools to a gel. He hates greasy food since he says he can feel the grease coming out of the pores on his face. ???

When I went to the store before the ads ended, I forgot to get broccoli, so the chicken, rice, soup, broccoli dinner was postponed. Tomorrow, I hope to get all the chicken cooked. I won't be sneezing, coughing, or breathing germs on any food. Actually, I have not sneezed or coughed once. I do still breathe...lol

We were going to Cullman tomorrow, but that is cancelled since I am so ill. This is my usual October illness that seems to be coming early. Do you have a season of allergy induced illness?

The temperature was 75 today, but it was torrid here. cloudless. The good part is the low humidity. That part thrilled me. Are your temperatures cooler now? I do expect we will see 90s again. 

Monday, September 12, 2022

Gifts, Ads, Mystery

 And, the gifts keep coming. Tonight, Lynda said she drove by my house and wondered what the items on my porch were. I was confused. What was she doing driving in this direction? What would concern her on my porch? Aloud, I asked her what did it look like and she did not know, just two things on the table. So, Tommy looked out and said I had to help him. ??? He backed up and held out a gold mum with a card in the top. Okay, I got it. Where I put it down was in my way to get out of my chair. Then, he shoved the other mum into the house for me to take, a reddish one. I told him to toss me the card and leave it outside. 

So, she gave me two mums and two cards. I was puzzled as to why two. Well, one was from her dog, Baby. Cute! She drew paw prints and signed her dog's name on the one card. 

I needed/wanted more flowers for the fall and hated to buy more. So, now I am set. Maybe I will get one of those knotty pumpkins and call the porch decorated. Both mums need the kind of watering where the pot is set in water for a bit. Maybe I can get that done before bed. We have to be out by 8:30 in the morning. 

This afternoon, I figured out why I feel so tired. I know I am becoming ill again, like a few weeks ago. Remember when I did not wash my hair for a month? Well, that tiredness is coming on again. I grabbed basil and was mashing it and breathing it in deeply for the congestion. Tommy was watching, so, just being silly, I stuffed the basil leaf up my nose and breathed deeply again. I decided I would be embarrassed to explain to the ER why I had basil up my nose if I sniffed it out of reach. So, I took it out.

I was just too weak to cook or heat food, so told Tommy we were having Whoppers for dinner. This will stop with tonight. I will figure it out early tomorrow.

Tuesday, I will call my allergist to see what else I can do NOT to get sick! October is my month to be ill and it is starting early. ugh 

I just now wrote down things on the Publix grocery ad that I bought or want to get tomorrow before the ad ends. 

Heinz ketchup bogo done

Heinz mustard bogo Since I just bought one, and I eat little of this, I am passing this time.

Spice Island Spices bogo done

Kraft cheese 2 for $6

Kraft Italian dressing bogo, I think

Drumsticks (the ice cream kind) bogo

Cascade bogo, I think

Cheetos 2 for $7 Tommy really wants these.

There was nothing at The Pig that I wanted or needed.

We drove and got a pink bag with ads for this next week. Less than a dozen were thrown in this whole subdivision! 

The people next door baffle me. The family of four children and two parents moved in with seven dogs. Then, after complaining, some of the dogs disappeared. A woman and a child also moved in with another dog. Then, a couple and two children moved in. 

I told Tommy to take more bananas to the children last week. He said the kids were gone, had been gone for two weeks!  And, all the dogs except for the yappy little chihuahua had left. Then, Sunday, some of the kids came back. Then, all the dogs plus another large one. The din from dogs is extreme over there. The only way we knew the kids were back was there laughter as we could not see them. Oh, kids are quiet.

Maybe the one woman with a child was a gay woman escaping from a bad situation with her child? Maybe she was just poor? And, why did the couple with two children move in and then out a week later? I never see this because I just don't! Tommy goes out to take garbage to road, get the mail, go to washing machine. 

The original family seems to be a nuclear family. None of the children disappeared for visitation anywhere else. So, doubt there are parents elsewhere. I do wonder now if all the dogs are theirs or if the dog sit as someone suggested. I don't think about this a lot since I never notice their comings or goings. 

These people have lots of people they help, I suppose. However, I cannot go in my oen yard without dogs hitting the fence, barking to get at me. It's very stressful! They frightened Lynda as she came to our door because she is afraid they will get out. 

If I can stay awake until 10:30 until the news is over, I will go to bed. The temperatures here are really cool, in the 70s. Maybe it was 80. But, it will warm up again. 

I wonder who has snow yet. Freezing temps? Blue skies? Rain, still? How was your weekend? 




Sunday, September 11, 2022

All Done

 On Sunday, I did not lift a finger. I was tired this weekend, so this was a necessity. One thing was good, I was not ill like I have been the last two years on my birthday. Of course, this tiredness could be a precursor to being ill as this happens. 

I had forgotten that Lynda's birthday was on the 7th, so needed to do something for her. First off, I bought a little gift bag that cost me $0.33. Since she had said she would like to purchase some of the 48 cans of tuna I bought cheaply from Amazon, I could fit four of those on their sides in the bag. Next, I wanted her to have some of my birthday brownie, so I cut a large one from the center of the pan and placed it in a sandwich bag. I poked a hole in the bag and inserted a yellow candle. That went on top of the cans of tuna. Then, I put a large, juicy halo in to hold the brownie in place. Since I wrote nothing on the gift bag, she can reuse that. And, of course, the rest of the gift was consumable and all food I knew she loved. 

Someone's birthday is on the 12th since it was not Lynda's. Now, I wonder whose birthday I will be forgetting tomorrow.

Since I forgot to put a birthday card in her bag, I will include that with the coffee I am giving her. I won coffee on The Occasional Nomads, vanilla. Tommy did not care for it. But, it won't go to waste. 

We went for a ride once we delivered Lynda her gift. Then, in order not to go home to go out again, we ate. Sonic has been having a delicious looking cheeseburger on Texas toast. We carried drinks from the refrigerator. The park was shady and we watched a baseball game of high schoolers. The Texas toast was so scorched it was almost inedible. A Whopper would have been better. But, now the Sonic ad will hold little lure for me. I had another burger from Sonic once, and think that the footlong chili cheese is the best thing at Sonic. 

I forgot to light the candle I got out to put on the brownie, but that's okay. The sun shone all day, a change from the forecast. I had a nap later on in the day. Tomorrow, I need to make calls and arrange for the only thing I wanted as a gift. 

For a week, the weather will be sunny with no rain and the temperatures will be in the 80s. I am sorry to see the heat go, but it will be pleasant. Today, even though the temp was in 80s, we were very hot in the car. Lynda had sweat on face, neck and chest as she stood beside the car to talk. So, the cooler weather is a way off right now. 

There was a bag of fire ant bait by the front door. When we went out, it was torn open and scattered about. Tommy said a dog or possum did it. The porch was covered in ants going for the spilled bait. I left them until they all were gone. I suppose there are fire ants in some of the pots on the porch or below on the ground. Tommy took both bags, opened and unopened and put them in a trash bag. He covered the broom with a plastic bag, swept all the bait from the porch and discarded the bag into the trash. Now, I wonder if the ants will still come to the open bag in the trash bag. 

9/11 will forever be a day of horror for me. My daughter in Brooklyn called me terrified. Her husband worked 3 blocks from the WTC and she could not reach him. So, the day was quite scary for her and, of course, for me. When you expect the phone call early on your birthday to be your daughter, it is hard to hear some woman screaming and crying, a woman I did not recognize as my own child!

I hope your weekend was clear, blue skies. What did you do at your house?

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Saturday, Ads, Birthday


Today, we started off later than I intended. But, around 12:30 we ate lunch and left. Tommy needed to pick up prescriptions and get gas at $3.15/gal. I got the ad from The Pig, we cruised Lowe's looking at flowers and the bedding plants. I still want a grill. Then, I went in Publix and got things with coupons or that were bogo, still spending way too much. 

Last week, I bought a brownie mix and made that this evening and had a bit of ice cream with a warm brownie. My goal is to not do anything on Sunday since I will start out the day exhausted, so the birthday brownie had to be eaten today if I were going to have it hot with ice cream. 

While I was in Publix, I called Tommy and asked why couldn't we just eat chicken from Publix and take tomatoes for a salad at home. He agreed. We were going to Zaxby's, but that would have meant sitting in the car in a line and spending much more. I think we spent $8 for dinner--chicken and grape tomatoes. We had shredded iceberg here. It was almost like have a Zazby's Zalad. This was not my birthday dinner, just a gift of time. I did not have to spend time cooking or even using the microwave. lol

Tommy is going to find several more packages of chicken, so we can have that next week. I might put it in the oven tomorrow or Sunday, depending on what he finds. 

I did have my first glass of iced tea in a year or so. I had a free cup of water with ice from Publix, so I put my caffeine-free Lipton instant tea in it with a bottle of water. I was able to make a second glass! It was delicious. Most restaurant tea is gross, so this was really a treat for me. 

When there was just me and I was working all the time, I could never drink the tea made with one tea bag and was throwing out lots of tea, so I switched to instant Lipton tea and have been happy since. I hate tea that has been refrigerated, tea left out all night. So, this works for me. Tea for my birthday!

The big thrill of the day was empty stores. All the million Alabama fans stay home and don't shop when Alabama is playing, so Birmingham and area were mine alone. In The Pig there were only two customers--two mean carrying a couple of items in their hands. No one was even checking out! All the checkers were standing idle. It was weird. 

No one was in front of Lowe's, so we could cruise slowly without anyone being annoyed. There was no line when Tommy picked up his prescriptions. We easily found a pump at the gas station without have to wait in a line. 

Publix was equally bare-ish. It was getting later, so I suppose Saturday shoppers could not wait any longer, but it was not the usual Saturday crush. 

And, ALABAMA won! 20-19, I hear. 

On the day of the Iron Bowl, I plan to shop since stores will be even more bare. I will drive myself since Tommy will be watching the game. 

At Publix, I bought a pelee mum. It looks like fall with the orange foil, and it was fairly cheap. It is outdoors, so I hope it was hardened off. Spice Island Spices are bogo, so I bought two garlic powder and one onion powder. I should go back and buy another onion powder. I have never had this brand onion powder, so I wanted to try it first. 

Tuesday through Saturday of the coming week will be dry, so that makes me happy, very happy. 

Tommy said he would sing Happy Birthday to me on Sunday, which is my birthday, so there is that. Plus, I will have more brownie and ice cream. He never gets me anything for my birthday, but he will get me whatever I want. This year, I want something not tangible, something I have wanted for 50 years. Oh, yes, I forgot. I want a Barbie, too. I have never had one. But, these days Barbies are in many shapes, a good thing, except I want the original type. I know that is silly, but I am old enough to have a Barbie and be silly. I shopped a bit for one today, but it was all so confusing! 

Have you ever seen a pelee mum? I have not. What is your favorite flavor for your birthday cake? My brother wanted a cherry pie and got it. 

Friday, September 9, 2022

Lazy

Today was to be taken up by a long list of calls I need to make. I managed to get some calls made. But, few of them ended up positive since people were not in and/or could not help me. 

The Amazon call was so difficult. The only people I can talk with are overseas. One guy could not or would not speak up. So, besides trying to navigate his accent, I could barely hear him. Then, his voice was vibrating, then raspy. then like he was in a bucket. I think he did this, so I hung up. 

Finally, I got a woman who seemed to have the microphone in her mouth so that understanding her was so difficult. She told me to be patient like it was my fault only one box of five I ordered was sent. As for the otc, she said to keep it and she would remove the cost. 

As for my disliking talking to people on the phone whose first language is not English, there is more to it. When I had told one man I could not understand him, he was adamant. "Yes, you can understand me." Over and over. I do believe he was trying to reassure me he could understand me. 

I have studied Latin, Greek, Japanese, and Spanish, so different languages are interesting to me and I was good at these studies. From the time I was 18 other people in my group would ask me to talk with someone who they could not understand. I had a friend who was Japanese, and we worked through understanding each other. So, understanding someone who has an accent is not a problem in person.

However, when trying to convey a problem with an order to someone who speaks too fast and with a heavy accent, and who repeats the problem back to me wrong, I find it annoying. 

It seems Amazon has no agents in the US at this time. They can find cheap labor overseas and do not use employees in the US. This was one of my gripes with ATT. 

Well, I feel lazy even if I have spent time on the phone, working to set a few things straight and get appointments. I did get one appointment 100 miles away. And, feel happy to go to this setting. 

The grocery ads are better for me this week, but I will deal with that tomorrow.

How are the ads at your stores this week?


Thursday, September 8, 2022

This and That--doctor, Sleep, Amazon, Ice Cream Cake

This will be short and sweet. I had the best experience ever at a doctor's office. Everyone was respectful, patient, and kind. You know how there might be one employee who is terse or does not like your questioning what they said, thinking you are opposing their words. Well, not here. 

My blood sugar dropped precipitously, and I was incoherent on some concepts. I insisted my gall bladder was below my waist and could not figure out what was wrong with what I said. The lab is usually not pleasant. I cannot sit on those molded plastic chairs that are off the floor for the ease of blood drawer. I do understand. But, I cannot sit with my feet off the floor and was ordered OUT of the wheelchair at one lab. Needless to say, I left without the blood draw. These women were so patient and kind, allowing me to sit on the walker. I cannot use the footrest on the high chairs because my knee will not bend back that far without pain. 

The woman who checked me out told me the same thing three times before I got it...lol. 

I have never had my blood sugar drop so during a doctor visit. They brought me all sorts of drinks that I would have had a reaction to, like throwing up or a possible allergic reaction. Of course, water is always good for me, but certainly won't help my blood sugar. Tommy ended up walking across grass, curbs and to a parking lot to get to a fountain drink. I was grateful. We brought nothing in the car as usual since we were less than five minutes from home. I learned my lesson! Bring juice and crackers everywhere. We usually do. 

My son knew I could not stand root beer or Dr. Pepper. When he bought a drink at the skating rink, he bought one or the other, knowing I could not drink it. I asked for a sip and had to spit it in the trash. Little stinker. So, I never asked for a sip of his drink again. Or, I asked first as to what he bought. 

After all this, for some reason I could not sleep Wednesday night. I usually just lie there, only turning to the other side occasionally. Wednesday, I tossed and turned and thrashed around and only slept for about two hours. Once, I had to get out of bed to unloosen my panties from their wedgie-hold on me. I cannot ever remember that happening. I was miserable all night long. 

Today, I received a mystery Amazon order. It was a mystery as to why I got what I did and why I did not get other items. I order one COQ10 and got two. One bottle was missing the plastic top. Both were very hot. Tommy had me order more needles for his insulin. I ordered five and got one box. 

Plus, there is no way to get anyone in the US, at least not after five o'clock. Every agent that spoke another language and English was not their native language was not intelligible. They also did not understand the words I spoke and mistook what I said. I am very unhappy with Amazon right now. 

Plus, I was told last week I had to go to UPS to return an order. Not doing that. 

I have decided I will not buy an ice cream cake of any size. I will bake brownies and have ice cream. I entirely missed my friend's birthday. Her birthday was Sept 7 and I thought it was the day after mine and on Sept 12. I feel terrible and apologized tonight. I need to get her a birthday gift that is large enough to be an apology. She will get brownies, too. So, that leaves someone with a birthday on the 12th that I am forgetting. 

Are you having problems with Amazon customer service? A witch in doctor office? 

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Till Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane

 When Tommy and I were driving along, we both saw a tree moving along and commented almost at the same time. As it turned out, a man was cutting some limbs and carrying them in a manner where he was obscured. The limbs must have been from a dogwood tree as they looked like they grew and spread in a flat manner instead of being from a tree where the limbs had limbs in a different configuration. I immediately thought of Macbeth and the prophecy. I have to admit this moving tree unnerved me for half a second. Same with Tommy. 

Tommy said to tell you he was reminded of a WWII movie with Robert Taylor where Japanese cut limbs to obscure their advance. 

Okay, enough of Shakespeare and our fright. I was seriously doubting my sanity! Three seconds later, I understood.

Tommy has started to tell me what he says, so I do.

"We don't care if our children die in a ditch as long as they don't die in the road and make it bumpy." I watched Resident Alien and it was hilarious. I heard lots of new terms--elimination portal where aliens probed. Sooo funny! 

Today, I had a visit to a new doctor only about 5 minutes away who is from a hospital downtown. I had to see the nurse practitioner which was fine with me. AND, they could not get blood. So, what is new with my veins? I am well-bruised. I cannot handle the pain from the back of my arm or back of my hand without lidocaine and they have none. So, I am going back another day. 

Today, the visit was about 3 hours, counting seeing the np, traversing long halls, and the several attempts at a blood draw! So, I am drained. I can talk about that later or maybe not.

So, we saw walking trees. What have you seen or thought you saw, in nature or not, that was not what it seemed? Do prefer nurse practitioners? Do you watch Resident Alien?


Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Is this a good idea?

 

When I first saw this three-section lasagna pan, I could only think of the times I wanted to leave something out of a portion of a meal when children did not care for one of the ingredients. 

Now, I am thinking of how I could put three different meals in one pan! I could have dinner for several nights cooked all at once. It seems each section could hold a meal for three nights for the two of us, at least two nights. Three pound cakes? Or three different dishes for one meal.

This was on Wayfair, but it is also on Amazon for the same price--$17. I probably won't get one, but it would have been a good idea once upon a time. 

Tuesday, we have done practically nothing, but it is fine by me. Well, Tommy did wash the two rugs from the bathroom and I hung them over my walker inside. I made slaw and baked beans. 

When I was ready to make the slaw, I could not find it, nor could Tommy. He finally went to the car. So, the slaw mix sat in the car for four hours. ugh When I made it, we had warm slaw. 

Tonight, we are having hot dogs and chili sauce with shredded cheese on top, baked beans, slaw. I managed to get the slaw too bland and the baked beans too spicy. I have no idea why I put so much Worcestershire in the beans. It is so bad that it gave me a terrific earache! Even "the little hanging down part," as Chester says, hurts and all the way to my eardrum. So, I wonder if Tommy can stand it.

Tommy said baked beans was too strong. I could put more beans in it. Well, he did eat some. He said the slaw was good. Said he even had seconds of slaw and baked beans. 

Not much here! How did your day go? Any foods sort of messed up at your house? Have you ever owned a three-section baking pan?



Monday, September 5, 2022

Labor Day Cooking and Cornichons

 I have not done much today but did make the Mississippi Sin Dip. Unheated, it was rather bland. But, that could be my doing since I prefer not to eat green chilis. I did put about a half tsp of garlic powder in the dip. Tommy hates pimiento, so I am putting in a bit in a little dish. If it is not to obvious, I will add the rest to the dip. I have put in pimientos in different things and he has not objected and said the dish tasted really good and no he cannot even taste pimientos. I don't add the liguid from the tiny jar, so that makes the difference, I think. 

Besides adding the garlic powder, next time I will add more green onions for my taste, maybe a cup instead of 1/3 cup of green onions. Altogether, this was delicious. 

Tommy broke up and cooked two pounds of meat--ground pork and ground beef. I will use this for making taco casserole/soup. It seems like I spent hours chopping the deli ham, green onions, and grating cheese. 

I heated the nasty sweet potatoes with some cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. For two cups of sweet potatoes, I used several shakes of cinnamon, 1/8 cup dark brown sugar, and a Tablespoon of butter. Tommy should like these better without being too sweet. I may eat a teaspoon of them. 

On Monday, when Tommy went into Publix to get a half gallon of my milk, I had him get slaw mix. He also got two half gallons of ice cream, a shock. Then, he handed me the bag of slaw. As I looked in, it was shredded lettuce. He was going to go back and exchange it, but I figured we would just not have slaw today. I am thinking taco meat, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and green onions and sour cream--all in a bowl. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow this will happen. 

The hotdogs and no beans chili are still here, but they will last a bit. We can get slaw later this week. 

Sunday night, I made a peach cobbler with Bisquick. The cobbler did not rise above the peaches, just stayed under the peaches and juice. The date on the Bisquick box was Dec. 2020. No wonder; the leavening had died. I have baking soda, so no worry.  Tommy said the peach cobbler was good but not enough peaches. Well, that was all the peaches we had left! Rhubarb is cut and ready for another cobbler. 

In a bit, I will cook the four huge, pre-made burgers. The three one-pound bags of green beans, also, need to be cooked. 

In less than 24 hours, I have cooked four burgers, meat for taco soup, meat for tacos in a bowl, peach cobbler, rhubarb crisp, sweet potatoes for at least 4 meals, dip that can be part of a meal, green beans. I think I can call the marathon a success. That is protein for about 20 meals plus veggies for a week. Then there is all the raw vegetables for salads and other raw fruit. We have to really bear down on eating all these grapes before they go off. 

Tommy chose the dip to have for dinner, along with a salad. I need to chop onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers for him to use. 

Okay, he asked me again what were the ingredients. He said that was a lot of cheese. THEN, he went into the kitchen. I had no idea what he was doing. He said he tasted the dip cold and did not like it. Then, he warmed a bite in the microwave and did not like it. So, he had a salad, ham and sweet potatoes. I had dip, Wheat Thins, and salad.

When I was assembling the dip, I could not find the cream cheese. He had put it behind the cheese box. When he found it for me, I tried to cut the whole chunk into four pieces to soften it faster. Well, it was frozen solid. When I tried to cut it, it kept shattering into crumbs. In the dip when it finally thawed, it was grainy. Heated, the whole dip was grainy and had an awful texture. So, I have a ruined dip and two more packages of ruined cream cheese! 

Even though I have done lots today, I still have things to chop! 

I said I got a free jar of Wickles Pickles, but that is off. I actually got a free jar of Wickles Pickles Dirty Dill Cocktail Cornichons. I buy sweet gherkins, but these are also called gherkins, too. Gherkins I buy are larger than these pickles and they are sweet pickles. These are smaller around than a pencil and much shorter than gherkins. Now, we need an occasion to use these. I know I can use them like regular pickles, but they are so cute, and I won't eat many. 

How was your Labor Day? Cooking? 

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Tshirts

 







Edit: Rhitter pointed out this was an unusual post. It is. I found these tshirts I loved and decided to put them at the head of Sunday's post. So, this is it. I had nothing particular to say anyway. Do you know someone who would fit these shirts and their message. Tommy does not do much anymore, so not the first shirt. He would probably find lots of new lady friends if he advertised prowess at fixing things. 

His hair is not highlighted by silver. It is mostly silver.

"Selective hearing" best describes him...lol. 

Do either of these tshirts need to go on someone in your life? 

There! Rhitter, that was what I was going to say. 

Friday, September 2, 2022

Nights Are Strange Sometimes, Always an Adventure

 When I went to Publix and expected to get green grapes cheaply, I was disappointed since they were not of a quality I wanted to buy. Then, I was given 8 pounds of prime quality, beautiful green grapes. Good deal. 

I am not sure why, but The Pig did not have broccoli or cauliflower even though it was on sale. I got a free jar of Wickles pickles with my purchase. Salmon was on sale. I bought a can of sale salmon and a can of my favorite salmon. Tomorrow, I will open it to see if the quality is what I prefer. Then, I might buy more while it is on sale. I bought four ears of corn for way too much. But, it is done. Dasani water helped to get the Wickles pickles. I like saying "wickles pickles." I bought two more gallons of cheap vinegar. I would have bought five total, but Tommy has enough water to carry into the house3 24-packs of Dasani. 

Today, we received two pounds of bacon, (Remember, I bought two pounds bacon bogo yesterday!) four tomatoes, two butternut squash, four small red potatoes, 4 sweet potatoes that I will give to Lynda, 4 Just Crack an Egg, four burger patties, 3 tiny, individual pies, one bagel that fell on the ground and was tossed, 

We will use the add-ins for the Just Add Egg and not use eggs at all. I now have the ham to put into the Mississippi Sin Dip since we received a frozen pack to make hoagies--ham, turkey, and cheeses. I will probably put the tiny packages of JAE cheese in the dip, also. There are tiny packages of vegetables, chopped finely that may be in the dip! 

I took apart the Just Crack an Egg bowls and have the cheeses in one sandwich bag and the vegetable packs in another. This will help to declutter the refrigerator.

Well, I mixed in free and bought items in this post. So, you may or may not understand...lol. 

For at least 4 months I have been asking Tommy if he is sure he cannot find a can of salmon. Finally, I have decided we ran out. So, I need to get at least a half-dozen cans of salmon on the shelves. Now that I have salmon, I can put salmon in my scrambled eggs. YAY! 

This afternoon, we took sweet potatoes and cajun peanuts to Lynda and she gave us tomatoes and a small bag of peas. Sharing fights waste!

Today has been a day of doing nothing much. Since Tommy washed the kitchen linens this morning, I need to fold them. We have neglected nothing, just done nothing much. 

Nights around here are strange sometimes, always an adventure, it seems. Last night, we went to bed at 3 am. Then, I read until 4 am. At 5:20, I awoke rested and looked at the clock, wondering how I slept until evening. I put on my glasses, went to bathroom, and took my phone to the living room. As I stood in the doorway, I saw Tommy was sound asleep, no lights were on. If he were snoozing at 5:20 pm, lamps would be on. It was really dark outside. Sheepishly, at 5:22 am I retreated to my room and went back to sleep. 

At least, I did not get up, frantic that something had happened to Tommy like Thursday night. We are still laughing about him being Niles in Frasier. 

Do things awake you at night, be it really happening or in a dream where your sleep is disturbed, even momentarily? Can you get back to sleep? 

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Birthday Greetings

 The plan for getting my mail and doing a few chores while in my town completely fell through, and I really don't care. As it turns out, I discovered late in the afternoon that a wreck with two tractor trailers and a car happened at the time we would be on the interstate, and a woman was killed. So, we would have been stuck in interstate traffic if we had gone up on Thursday.

Last night, about 4 am when I was drowsy and well on my way to sleep, I heard Tommy cry out. I lay there 30 seconds and heard nothing. But, this did not reassure me. What if he fell on the way to the bathroom and hit his head? I got up and did not steady myself. I have been very dizzy since I got over being ill. So, I bounce along the hall, clutching at walls and bounce to the other side. Door facings helped me to keep moving forward. 

After I turned on the lamp and saw he was in the chair, I was not much comforted. I called his name and asked him if he were okay. He said yes and why. I told him he cried out. He said he was okay, and I left. Of course, this disrupted my sleepiness. Finally, about 8 am, I got up and told him we were staying home when his alarm went off. 

This morning, he asked me if I asked him about yelling out. He said he dreamed he was Niles in Frasier. There was a tiger in Frasier's apartment, but he was the only one who saw it, so he was yelling about the tiger danger. He said Daphne would look to the right and leave the room as the tiger entered from the left. No one ever looked in the direction of the tiger. He said it scared him when he/Niles saw it. Even Eddie missed seeing the tiger. 

Today, I addressed a birthday card for our 93-yr-friend. I keep generic cards, blank cards, birthday cards, sympathy cards, note cards, and note papers and matching cards. This way, I don't have to shop for a card or pay a whopping 50 cents. Plus, I still have many of the expensive cards I bought about 20 years ago for 10 cents apiece. And, I found a Forever stamp to use, one gotten two price hikes ago. I get these boxes of cards from Big Box. 

"Today is the oldest you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be again." Or, something like that, a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. I wrote this in the card even though it had a birthday greeting.

I will make the Mississippi Sin Dip from yesterday's post. I forgot to check to see if I had sour cream. Yes, I do, two containers. I had to go to Publix to get an ad as none were in the pink bag that lands in some people's yards, just not ours. I know I can read online, but that does not give me an ad to hold and mark! Plus, it is difficult to see, and I don't care to have to enlarge each item in the ad! 

Publix has the best soup ever--wild rice and mushroom chicken soup. Tommy will not try it, so he gets chili with beans. The soup is bogo this week. So, that may be our lunch or dinner tomorrow. 

Having the scales in the closet has helped me lose 3 pounds in three days. It is a tad claustrophobic in the closet with clothes all around! I know this trend of great weight loss will not continue. But, I won't analyze it to death. I do know it helps me change my mind about what I will eat and when. It helps me to make better choices. The scale is such a critical little hussy! 

Tuesday, I was going to make cole slaw with the mix I bought last week. But, it had gone bad, smelling to high heaven as cabbage can. It had a date of Sept 01, 2022, so that was replaced by the store. I bought hot dogs and buns and still have the bogo chili no beans. So, I am set for Labor Day. I found a pound of bacon bogo, so got two of those. 

We still have a few sweet potatoes from last year's 40 pounds we got from the farm. So, those need to be eaten as there will be fresh ones the end of September. I am excited about this annual purchase. One year, I bought 160 pounds, another year 120 pounds. We love sweet potatoes, especially me. 

We were given two 3 lb. bags of sweet potatoes, washed and ready for oven or microwave. Lazy me decided to microwave. They were so horrible I would not eat them. Tommy did and said they were disgusting. I refuse to eat a disgusting sweet potato, so will wait until I can get the Beauregard variety. Tommy pulled the skin off the other five sweet potatoes, and I mashed them with lots of cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar. He will like them heated in the microwave. I gave one bag to Lynda.

Today, I did get an appointment with the gynecological oncologist, but it is same day and hour as podiatrist! The obgyn nurse returned my call while we were in the car and neither had our day planner! So, I need to straighten that out tomorrow. 

For my birthday, I don't need cake, but I decided an ice cream cake would be nice. I have never even wanted one and have never tasted one. Are they worth the trouble? DQ is the only place I know that has one. 

Tommy went to the kitchen and chose what he wanted to eat from all the leftovers this week. He had beef, squash, potatoes, and carrots. I will have chicken breast, carrots, squash and potatoes. Same thing except for the meat. 

What is your opinion of ice cream cakes? Have you ever eaten one? I may just have brownies and ice cream. Oops, now I have decided it is too expensive.

Halloween Decorations

 Saturday night, we started decorating for Halloween. I found the ghosts to hang from the dogwood tree. They were wadded and wrinkled, so th...