One-Chore Day

 Monday, I awoke feeling well in one way and awful in another. I slept well for over nine hours. However, I felt like I needed to get an inhaler immediately! 

We both ate a very late breakfast, the rest of the news, and one episode of Gunsmoke. We needed to collect my pink sandals he bought back in September. Well, I had returned two other pair and finally got these. 

Traffic was wild and it was a long way to the SAS store. I got them and we headed home. I did stop at a store and found a few things, nothing spectacular. 

That is our day--nothing exciting. 

Tommy can now take the sheet off the flowers. He removed the sheet after the first freezing of several predicted freezing nights. He thought the sheet had to be removed every morning. No, just plastic bags. The hummingbird feeders and my black bird came down. It is so bare out in front of the house.

For dinner I am having turkey/tomatoes/salad, half a banana. Tommy is having turkey, slaw, and grapes. 

The exciting part may come after the Antiques Road Show....I am considering making cornbread which means I might make homemade dressing instead of Stovetop Stuffing. 

Tuesday will be a many-chore day. 

Have you noticed the traffic on roads and in stores is much heavier? 

What did you have for dinner?

Busy Day

Things planned today happened with only one snafu. The weather was beautiful--80F, calm, pretty skies. The whole day would have been better if I had started earlier. 

First stop was the courthouse to turn in request for an absentee ballot. Tommy had to go down a steep ramp and then up, something I cannot do. I cannot do steep, up or down. So. they refused to give him a ballot for me. I have to go in by myself. Even in a wheelchair, that ramp is too steep. So, now I fight for my right to vote. 

We took the shoes I ordered to SAS. I just got another pair of sandals, a very bright pink. Shoes for my swollen feet will be bought somewhere else. I love pink, but if these are too bright, I still need something to wear at home.

Then, I went to King Cotton, a store that sells only upholstery and drapery fabric. They helped me with a place to sit. They brought five samples--I immediately said Tommy would like the huge buffalo check. But, I wanted him to have a choice, so we took the three best choices to Tommy. He took like three seconds to say he wanted the buffalo check. It is blue and a tan/gray color, not really greige. 

I ordered it with his cc and left--2 yards at $37/yd. So far, that is the only expense so since we got these from the trash in front of a house being renovated to rent. I expect to spend money on foam to go underneath and a layer of polyester over the foam. This is still cheaper than buying new chairs. And, these are old and sturdy and wood ladderbacks. Someday, I will find a free table to replace the smoky glass table of his that I just hate. Of course, he will have to agree. 

Lastly, we stopped at The Pig to get milk for Tommy and to get Lynda some guaifenesin for her congestion. This for lung congestion. She really needs it. I found a really fresh bag of cole slaw mix for $/97. We will have that for dinner.

At Lynda's house, she gave us her pumpkin and a bag of fresh green beans. Tommy has added it to our two pumpkins and butternut squash on the porch. I may cook the green beans to go with the coleslaw I will have with the ground beef from the freezer. 

So, we are home and watching a wonderful woodpecker documentary. Amazingly, all our plans have gone well, except for me not being able to vote! 

The week ahead looks good with highs near 80 and little rain except for the weekend. This makes me very happy! We may break record highs. I won't complain about that. 

Once again, I am looking for someone to help here. I have a call in to a friend. I gave Lynda the number for the missionaries to help her with a few things at her house. 

We have a hard day tomorrow, and I have phone calls to make tomorrow, also. 

I love to pick out fabric, especially upholstery fabric! Do you? Maybe this will expand in this house, to maybe some painting. Or something! I need to get some of my lamps rewired. What projects do you need to do or wish you could do to improve your home? We can all fantasize. 

Salvation Army

 I have not completely resolved the issue from Friday, but things are going our way! 

Wednesday, I had to get up at 7:45 am, wash my hair, eat, bathe, and leave by 8:30 am. I did it. Well, I carried a piece of sourdough bread, half a banana, and a glass of milk in the car and ate as we drove. I waited in the car while Tommy had an ultrasound. By then, my hair had dried and I had consumed a pack of peanut butter crackers. 

We were so far from home that it took an hour to get there. All the places I might want to go were on the way home. I returned the second pair of shoes to SAS. My left foot is so swollen that even a double wide shoe would not go on my foot. The right shoe was too loose! 

The Salvation Army Store was the next stop. I found nothing in dinnerware, nothing in Tupperware lids, nothing in coats to fit me. Well, I asked Tommy to find coats in my size. He came back and told me where the coats to fit me were located. No, not the right size. I was so exhausted and had two items, so we left. 

The prettiest white basket with a plastic liner caught my eye. At $4.99, it was a deal. Then, I spotted a Reed and Barton small round dish, not sterling. It was $1.99. On the internet the same thing sold for $15.99 to $65. It only cost $1.99. I have silver polish. 

The trip to the thrift store was very pleasant except for the grumpy old man at the register. I kept saying I was sorry and I did not know. But, he would not let up. If I ever go there, I will avoid him. He kept getting louder and louder. The more I apologized, the meaner he got. We finally just looked at him and let him go on. He was going on break and was grumpy to other people leaving the store, so I suppose it was not just us.

The Salvation Army Store in Cullman priced itself out of business when The Foundry opened. One day at SA, I told them the item sold for $1 at the DT and the woman said in a haughty manner that they had trained professionals who had been taught how to price. Well, okay! The DT sticker was on the bottom! That store was too crowded. Two-thirds of the store was oppressive in the summer and freezing in the winter. When I asked why, I was told there was no heat or ac in the back. 

Finally, they closed. I was sorry to hear that because bread makers were always $3 to $5. and I resold them all the time. Every one of the bread makers worked. 

We found the SA in Hoover to be very nice. I had been there once before but had forgotten how like a department store it was. The clothing I saw was very stylish, clean, and in good repair. Of course, it was small sizes. 

On Tuesday night, I went to bed at midnight and slept 7.5 hours, went to bathroom three times and fell right back to sleep, thankfully. I felt really well all Wednesday until about 7 pm when I wanted a nap. I did not go to bed. 

We took the tablet to have it set up. Well, I felt silly since it took less than two minutes. 

This afternoon, I convinced Tommy to let me read to him "Young Goodman Brown" since he had never heard of it or read it. The short story is by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I could not believe it took me almost 40 minutes to read it to him. Have you ever read it? October Farm's post today made me think of the story. 

Tonight, I plan to go to bed at midnight. It's almost midnight. 

Have you ever read "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne? I highly recommend it. 

Boring Day in Retelling and Dreamworld Coke

Good news! My friend received her $3,000 bonus she was depending on. This is the main reason she has not made waves at her daycare job. Yes, she is afraid she is the troublemaker here. 

We tackled the list again today. There was still no a2milk 2%, so I bought four half-gallons of my milk and a gallon jug of his. 

Several days ago I saw a cryptogram book and decided we should try those for brain exercise. Well, no way was I going to exhaust my brain trying to figure these. Tommy took it willingly and decided he did not want to try those either! So, I took that back to Publix. 

While in Publix, I bought the toothpaste I needed. When I got home, I had bought a tube of Colgate. I am fit to be tied. 

The SAS shoes went back. If the wider pair are not okay, I will just get another pair of sandals. That was an arduous trip. 

Sunday night, I did not sleep one minute. When I awoke, I took my pill for my stomach and then immediately started eating. Well, my stomach hurt when I went to bed, so that caused me not to sleep.  We left for chores with my stomach and chest burning, feeling like throwing up. So, a trip to the drugstore for something to drink for my stomach pain was necessary. 

We drove around and purloined a pink bag of grocery ads. There is lots on sale but not much we need or want this next week. Some houses have multiple bags out, left there for weeks, so we try to go to those since they never pick them up to use or even to throw away. 

We spent from 1 pm until about 4 pm out of the house. I was exhausted and slept from 5 pm until 7:20. I only had chicken breast, one Lindt truffle, and applesauce. Tommy can get chicken and whatever for himself since he can decide. No, I will maybe eat a vegetable!

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, we will go out to finish the list. I have things from a store to return. Plus, I will probably get two more half-gallons of a2milk. I am quite sure the date on the milk will be sometime in December. The four I bought have a date of 11-27-22. 

After buying milk and making the one return, all our chores are in the house, thankfully. 

It is supposed to have a frost or freeze and I am not sure if geraniums and chrysanthemums will make it uncovered. I suppose the pansies will survive. Now that the weather is not so hot, the geraniums are putting out blooms. I certainly want to keep those around! 

A church member who was around helping with the youth when he was young, has died. She was in her 90s. I had a box of sympathy cards ready for him to choose one. These are made in the USA and cost around 50 cents each. He was astounded at the price of a box of cards when a neighbor died. After all, he only needed one card.  Now, he is happy to just pick a card out of a box and not have to go buy a card. 

We always try the new Coke flavor. The newest is Dreamworld. I gagged. Tommy said it tasted like Coke and Grapico and drank it. 

Tuesday, I will bake the chicken and vegetables. I do need to find the ghosts to hang in the tree. 

We like drama-free days! 

Tommy is watching Quantum Leam. I loved this show when Scott Bakula starred. Now, it is just boring. Do you like this drama? Did you prefer it with Bakula?

Have you tried Dreamworld Coke? Did you like it? 

Has first frost come early where you live?

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? 

Happy Birthday

Today, Tommy is 66. He had scheduled a teeth cleaning, so I decided to go along with him. I had not been up long enough to take my pill and eat, so we got a sausage and biscuit at Hardee's.

Since we were down IN Vestavia, I asked to go to the SAS store In Hoover, my present to me. I managed to get a pair of sandals for winter, black ones. These are so comfortable that I wore them out of the store. Just before Thanksgiving, SAS had shoes bogo. Rats! I need to remember that. These shoes have four buckles, including one around the back. I like that. And, I really hate Velcro.

Then, I went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Glass was just inside the door. That stopped me dead in my tracks. Most of it is cheap. But, I have found two pieces of Waterford Crystal, one piece for $7 and another for $9. !!! I spotted them from across the huge room and my hands were trembling as I tried not to run to them. Yes, they were marked and I knew what to look for. I made money from those purchases. No such luck today. I bought an antique glass cake plate, a newish Christmas tree shaped plate, a piece of Corelle. I checked purses, clothes and coats. Kitchen baking and cooking utensils were down to a candle snuffer. No luck. Both were in Hoover. This was the nicest Sally I have ever seen.

I saw a sofa I would use. And, lots of nice brown furniture. I love brown furniture! People generally hate brown furniture and I hear it is out of style. So, people buy it cheap to paint. GAH! What a travesty in my book. However, some is best painted.

The holiday season is when stores sell more used glassware, antique and just old stuff. So, if you need a serving piece, now is the time to get it at thrift and antique stores.

I think there were dealers buying for resale. Or, maybe the woman just liked all the stuff she was buying, a whole two carts of home furnishings. The workers were polite. At other Sallys they are sort of rude and hard to find. The cake plate was $1.99. In another thrift store the same type plates are priced $14 and up, antique store prices.

I was going to buy Tommy a $10 gift card for coffee and a fast food place, then decided I might be with him, so was going to make it for $20. As we were headed home from Hoover, I asked him if today would be a good day to eat at Bright Star, a restaurant in Bessemer. It is famous, owned by two Greek men, one of whom just died. I asked him if he wanted the $20 to put toward lunch. He did.

It is a place full of history. The walls were covered with pictures of the famous who have eaten there, newspaper articles, and all sort of interesting stuff.

We got home just in time for him to watch Jeopardy, his favorite show, so it must have been a good day so far. I have plenty of leftovers, so dinner won't be a problem, thankfully.

I forgot to say that I told the waiter that today was his birthday. At the end of the meal, she gave him his choice of pit. He chose cream cheese pineapple. It came with a lit candle. She had heated it and it was gross to me, since I would have preferred it cold. I only took one little bite even though she brought two forks. At home I sang "Happy Birthday" to him. So, it is complete.

Now, the rest of Friday

Okay, this is the rest of the day, Friday. It really does not merit its own post. We went to the doctor. But, first, I went shoe shopping.

The internet indicated there was a SAS store just below my doctor's office. I wanted to go there first. The pair of shoes I wanted after looking at SAS online site did not fit me in the size I wear in SAS. So, I went wide. Nope, did not fit. Went up a half size. NO! Went to wide. Still, it did not fit either. The woman watching said, "Your feet look swollen." I had the thought on the tip of my tongue. I nodded and told her my feet were swollen. After trying on shoes with Velcro and finding they did not fit either, I opted to come back when my feet were not swollen. Bummer!

I went to the doctor and got an antibiotic. I love that doctor.

Sam's Club was on our list of places to go. Tommy has a card. It has been ten years since I have been to a Sam's Club. He bought cereal and some sort of oatmeal cookie, got pens for his insulin, and Zyrtec for me. Zyrtec was $15 for 400, much less than any place else. I had a whole bottle that was stolen!

There were five people giving out samples, two of whom+ Tommy knew. Remember, Sam's Club was his retirement job. We ate there--hotdog and Coke for me, Slice of pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper for him. AND, I got a Brownie Sundae on special for $.99. I only ate half the hotdog and threw out most of the Coke to save me from drinking so much sugar. Let me tell you, the Nathan's hotdog tastes and has the texture of a Vienna Sausage. Nasty! Tommy was not in a hurry to get out of there. However, I did not test his patience by looking at every thing in the store. I did try on two coats, neither of which fit.

I was fascinated with the huge packages of cookies, cereal, mustard, etc.

The Brownie Sundae was huge. I ate the two triangles of brownie and all the ice cream I wanted. Then, Tommy finished the rest, eating two more triangle of brownie and all the caramel. I would say I left him 2/3 of the dessert.

When I got home, I was irritated I had not gone anywhere to buy a pair of scissors and a few little things I want and need. However, I was not willing to get back in the car and brave Friday night traffic. We had already driven from Hoover to Hueytown.

We are such fun-loving, wild and crazy` people.

Do you have a Sam's where you shop?
Do you buy the giant packages? If so, how many people are you supplying in your house/