Monday Movement

[Nancy]

Waving to everyone! Today I'm going through some old reading glasses one pr. was too small so they will be going in the give away pile. Found a magnifying glass that will come in handy for jewlery work I suspect!

I have the 2nd load of clothes going today so it feels great to have that progress yea.

I've done chicken chores and have done my qt & journaling, one of the channels I watch for qt spiritual things has been down for repairs for at least a week now I called the cable co. last week and they said it's being worked on but we did not loose another channel so that was good. Coffee is gone, I need to make the bed.

I did my 10 mi. on the ex. bike while we watched a movie yesterday during a bit of a shower when the rains came in the afternoon it was not really the best walking weather and it was cold and blustery here.

It was 31* and frosty out here when I got up today; and is only up to 34* now at 8:00 however one of the good things about the cooler weather is that I get more done inside!!! Lord knows I needed to get some things done indoors! It's too cold to plant stuff yet so I'll be bringing in the toms and marigolds on a flat I have each night. [H. reminded me last night so that helped.]

Yesterday we changed up the nest box turning it so the hens would have more "head room" so we will be anxious to see how this works. For now they are using the outside nesting boxes and the coop is the chick brooder. We also put a handle and hooks in the inside of the doors in the chicken run. Those came in handy this morning when I was feeding the chicks. Took out some old sod the pullets were done eating the grass off of and added new chunks who knew the sod I dug out would be chicken food? Got 4 eggs yesterday. The sun eventually did come out and h. grilled burgers first time in ages yummy! I made sweet potato fries to go with it. I also cooked up a batch of pumpkin for the pullets to eat they love it! We had canned chili for lunch. I need a plan for today.

I need to scoot and check the laundry.

[Cowinkie]

Good morning y'all...
Don't worry blessed I seldom can remember everyone when I write. Memory erosion

Up puppies fed, no footprints as my house is clean. I am dressed and abt to exercise then out to the garage. Will bring my radio out there and turn it up...I worked almost 8 hrs yesterday. Felt like I did when I was in my thirties. Thinking back I was always, dressed up and going by 5am. That allowed me quite time before the morning rush. My front walk was done by 6:30 and my box was my best friend. I loved that time in my life. Never cleaned without music. Realized yesterday how important that is to keep me going. All laundry is also done and put up. Sweetie stopped me this morning for my morning hug and thanked me for a sparkly home and cleans clothes

[helia]

What a sweet sweetie, Cowinkie.

I'm thinking of the Da Vinci quotes and assuming they are translated from Italian (maybe I'm wrong!) and if so, their wording in English would depend to some extent upon the translator. Maybe an effort to preserve a sense of trendy language back then resulted in using modern language of today? Or, maybe that is just how the words best translate into English. Interesting. I had similar thoughts regarding the language as Harriet.

I hope dd gets her guitar, Harriet. It would be nice to know for sure, wouldn't it.

Weekend was really good. I'm glad we made the trip, though it was about 12 hours in the car there and back for just one day stay, so borderline in terms of visit time to travel time ratio. We had nice visits with friends from Cali, with friends from my Univ. Christian group, and with my family. We got to have lunch at a favorite restaurant with Calif. friends. The quilt guild charity show/sale was fantastic!! The quilts were way underpriced - but dmom said that was on purpose. $$ raised from sales is donated to the children's home. The guild also makes a quilt for each child that enters the home. Dh and I bid on a quilted wall hanging and got it!! Nice. We're making a note that in the future when we need new bedding, we should not buy from the dept. store and wait for this annual quilt sale. . .. I was sure exhausted by the end of Saturday, though. We stopped by the home where dfriends from Cali were staying to visit with them a bit before heading out of town Sunday morning. We decided to skip church with dfriends to get home before dinner.

Today, the a.m. routine is about half done. I have made a menu plan and groc. list and will be heading to the groc. store here in a minute. Dh went for a run this morning and then off to his office.

We're going to be in the 60s and even 70s this week! Next week, it looks like highs are back in the 50s, maybe even upper 40s on Saturday. Our last frost date is the end of May.

Today:
- groc. store
- call credit card with question from dh re: payment for professional organization membership
- Heb. translation work
- Heb. class at 5:05
- exercise -- hope to get it in. A jog outside would fit the bill.

[Lilac]

MT, I was thinking it was 2014 when your friends are headed to Alaska.Then you mentioned yesterday that you weren't going to the midwest this summer, I thought I was mistaken. Thanks for confirming that my feeble mind does still work.

I have been in a tizzy over age related issues. It started when I went to have my hair trimmed last Wednesday. She commented that my top layers were getting too long and needed trimmed, plus the sides were thin looking and needed shortened. I had thought we were on the same page and that I was growing all layers out. She thought I was just growing the side layers longer. So when I said that I was planning to grow it all out, she then asked why. I told her I don't want it long, just enough that I can put it in a short ponytail at home. She looked horrified (seriously) and commented that I didn't want to do that, it would be so plain. So she went on to cut it the way she wanted. It looked nice when she was done but she definitely trimmed all layers. I guess she thinks she is saving me from myself. My hair is thin due to all the meds but I was trying for one more time of having it longer.

She is the second young person who has told me what I didn't want to do. Several months ago, I was looking at carpet. I was looking at Berber because you can get multi colored or one color. The young girl proceeded to tell me that I don't want Berber in my living room. Dd2 and I had just looked at an expensive home with beige Berber carpet and it had a super padding under it and it felt nice, not hard. So I know it can be done. The girl was trying to show me other carpets. All I seen were "50 Shades of Tan". Carpet is sure not what it used to be. I do not want a solid color of carpet because they show dirt and stains. I don't want a color so dark that it hides everything, so that it where I am having a problem.

I had thought dh was going to work until March or April of 2015. He recently said it would be January 2015. It hit me that he would be retired for 4 months before both dgds16 graduate. The way school years fly by, it will be here before I know it. Also, dh has repeatedly said that he would find a different job after retirement. He hasn't mentioned it lately and when I asked, he told me he doesn't plan to work. I will only be 61 and we will be paying our own insurance for quite awhile and that is why he always said he would work to cover that. He thinks since our dfriends who moved away 2 years ago are making it, so can we. The dh had 1/4 the amount of retirement dh will have. They are paying their own insurance and a house payment with a 30 year loan. Our house will be paid off. The dh worked until he was 70, dh will be 63. Recently, dh had told me that he planned to use his 401K, for vacations and bike trips. As each new day arrives, it brings me that much closer to a new normal. I guess what is really getting to me, is the new health issues dh is facing. My dmil retired at 62 and died at 64. I remember when she retired that I wondered why, she was healthy and too young. When she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I remember being so thankful that she at least had had those 2 years of retirement to enjoy her life. I know that dh thinks of his dms short lived retirement and that is why he won't wait until he is older.

I don't know what planet I was existing on, but when we moved in I really thought we would have all our improvements done in 6 months. Hahaha, the joke is on me. Oh how I wish I could have a do-over on the decision to buy this house.

I guess I just had to get this all off my chest. Sorry to be a downer. I need to get started on laundry and cleaning.

The lawn guy still hasn't shown up.................

[Nancy]

History buffs: I came on line to look some thing up wondering how chickens came west and found this interesting but definate side tracking alert is in order!
http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/research_history.htm

[Harmony]

Hello everybody. Lilac, I'm hoping your DH's knees feel better. My DH had a bad flair-up of his knees a couple years ago (can't remember when) but they settled back down later and only hurt periodically. He was so bad I had to go take his crutches down to him at the job. Thank goodness he's not like that now.

Plans change as we near retirement for a lot of people. Our plans are still in flux.

Sunday I helped at church baptism. At home I started doing the odds and ends that have been piling up badly. Cleaned out the car (and restocked the car with things I took out when it was in for fixing) and discovered how dirty it was. A good couple hours+ later I'd vacuumed, spot cleaned the carpet, wiped all the interior surfaces and shined the windows inside and out. Oh, my it was so hot doing that, having hit 90° so I had to immediately get into the shower.

It's been hotter here and we've had to start running the a/c in the house. Here go the bills.

Today I'm working on that long list of odds and ends (the list is in my head, mostly the stuff that's been bothering me around here). I'm washing/changing bed linens, much put away all through the house, folding laundry. Went to the bank and wrote a thank you message to someone who sent us a gift card for letting his family come and have their daughter's birthday party here. Was a surprise they did that. Someday soon we'll have a steak dinner at the restaurant they chose!

[Harriet]

you know what...
hmmm... I.....
probably need to ask for good thoughts/prayers for Betty over the next few hours. The address she thinks she sees on the card turns out to be a dentist office. She also called me by mistake meaning to try to call them again. She's so flustered. She has lost confidence, and these hours before her 2:30 appt have become nerve-wracking for her. I will not drive away without some assurance we can get to the correct eye doctor, who is expecting her. And I will try to be super calm. Super. Calm. Calm. On the chance the card doesn't help me (maybe she really is trying to see a dentist's card), I'll insist on going inside her home and telephoning for directions myself. If all else fails (because she seems to have lost contact with dr, although she knows the time of her appt and believes she can see in general well enough to recognize the building and will remember it), we will call her husband in Europe and get all the info he remembers. That will just have to happen, if needed. I'm sure many thoughts are going through her mind as she tries to manage without good eyesight, and wonders what has happened.

So much here to which I want to respond, but I'm going to go ahead and get ready early.

[Lilac]

Harriet, I will be praying for you and Betty. Harriet, I am sure that you will be able to have a calming effect on Betty. You always know the RIGHT thing to say to all of us.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet (in case you haven't left yet) What about meds showing the name of the doctor?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dh corrupted me into playing hookey with him. It is a lovely, sunny, day; we needed milk; he had an errand to run near the market town; I had a return for Walmart; all these things combined to me heading off with him. We added in lunch out as well. I love being able to do that although I'll regret it later today!

Off to choir practice now.