My cozy nest

12:18 pm Sunday

The day is mild and overcast.I did a little housework and took the dog on two walks and had lunch. I’m not fasting today but I’m still restricting carbs. I’ll admit I am feeling kind of glum today just about a whole lot of things. The overcast sky doesn’t help but the walks and fresh air do help. We went out and ran a couple errands and then just came home and continued watching season 3 of The Crown. I was cuddled up on the couch under a soft blanket with my head on my neck pillow on Mike’s lap. It was cozy. I eventually fell asleep and so did he.

Mike’s mom was sick at her stomach yesterday and said she felt like she was getting the flu. I hope she hasn’t picked up anything. 

Monday 7:33 am 

Yesterday I wrote letters and made out Thanksgiving cards to send to the grandkids. I had two gallon- size ziplock bags full on misc. cards that I sorted through. I got rid of a bunch that didn’t have envelopes. I put them in 4 different labeled ziplock bags so it will be easier to find the correct card from now on. They had all been in two nice heavy decorator boxes on the shelf in the back office but I got rid of the boxes when I cleared out the office to paint. The sorting yesterday started with me searching for a sympathy card to send my friend whose mother died on my birthday. She had been suffering with Alzheimer’s for years and the situation had been very bleak for a long time.

Today I’m going to try to get out the Christmas stuff and the Christmas cards. We need to make lists of what’s stored upstairs in the attic and what’s store in the garage and where. I drives me nuts and gives me great angst to not be able to find stuff. 

At least the sun is shining. 

8:59 I just got back from a 1.3 mile walk around Wildflower Lake with Bitzi. Although I sometimes complain about all things, I really do meet some of the nicest folks while walking around here. When someone passes me or comes near I pull my mask up over my nose and mouth. When I’m off by myself I have it down so mu sunglasses don’t fog. I saw an bald eagle perched in a tree on the far side of the lake.I took that as a sign of hope.

Around noon Sallie is supposed to FaceTime call me when she’s at our other sister Vicki’s group home in Peoria. I had been going to meet her there today but decided not to travel.

After that call I’ll take Bitzi for a walk around the other lake. 

 

Tomorrow the new quartz kitchen counters, under mount sink and new faucet are getting installed. I just moved the front entryway table out of the way to clear the front door. I’m excited!

Dodging the Covid-19 bullet

It’s early morning. I got my rooster crow alarm to finally work. Sub finder called me twice. I’m tending the spaniels this week so not taking any sub jobs. I may try taking my first one next week. I am done submitting all my stuff in order to sub for Huntley school district but the lady in charge of the subs who actually enters you in the system is now quarantined at home due to exposure to Covid. Bitzi’s pet groomer is closed down this week due to two of the groomers testing positive. Our mechanic and his daughter just had it. Annette’s sister and brother-in-law died from it. Restaurants & bars indoor seating is now shut down again because of the virus surge. I’m trying not to freak out but am trying extra hard to be careful when we do go out. Even though all my other blood tests are fine and normal I still produce hardly any immunoglobulins in my blood so I have almost no fighter guys to fight off viruses. So I need to be careful. 

I have four alarms set on my phone and IPad to remind me to go tend the spaniels. I’ve overslept or gone late a few times. Four more days to go and then the owners return from Myrtle Beach. 

My oldest daughter is 38 today. I’ll call her later. I emailed her an Amazon birthday card gift card but don’t know if she got it.I have a 10:45 pool time scheduled this morning. They are actually allowing us to change in the locker rooms now after the one hour time slot. All summer they didn’t allow us in the locker room and we had to just towel off and leave. I put a big beach towel on the seat of my car to drive home. They’re still not allowing us to use the showers though. They still have the big hot tub drained and won’t let us use the sauna. At least we can use the pool though. I bought my own foam dumbbells to use as they don’t allow us to use theirs anymore. I have to go to the store today to get some keto foods. 

Get out and vote!

My check up at Loyola was great! I’m so grateful for all my blessings.

Remodeling angst

7:44am I have to take Bitzi over to the vet in a few minutes to get her leptospirosis vaccine. I have some stuff to get done around here later. Our house is all piled up with stuff out of the rooms and closets we’re having painted and worked on. The remodeling hell has officially begun. It will be worth it in the long run. 

1:06pm

I have brownies baking and I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my iPad and keyboard directly across from my husband doing work on his MacBook Pro. The workmen are hear painting the office, laundry room and closet, spare bedroom and closet. They’ve painted all the ceilings first. There are drop cloths  and paint cans and supplies all over. Combine that with our junk piled around (from the rooms being worked on) and it makes for a very hectic environment. 

It’s chilly and very windy outside. I’ve been for two walks with Bitzi. I’m feeling very good lately aside from the bug bites I got last week and my occasional left knee pain. I think I aggravated my knee by walking around a bunch in flip flops at the beginning of summer. I believe that’s what started it. I has felt much better since I got the Dr Scholl’s inserts designed for knee pain and put them in my Skechers. Mike thinks I need walking shoes with a thicker sole and better support. I hate heave clunky shoes though. I like my Skechers because they’re so light and flexible. Anyway I’m feeling good, exercising and sleeping well. 

Next Tuesday I got to Loyola for my check up with Dr. Stiff my oncologist who did my stem cell transplant. It will be five years on November 23. 

The brownies are out of the oven. I’m letting them cool before they’re frosted. They’re made with duck eggs Sallie gave me. I’m not telling the guys......

The brownies are a hit!  Really good.

The wind is super strong and nasty outside. After her lepto vaccine, Bitzi is pretty slow and lethargic. She’s walking like she’s a bit sore. They gave her a steroid pain killer and Benadryl. Poor little fluffkin.  

I’m reading Lee Smith’s Oral History again for the third time but I haven’t read it in a long time now. I love to reread and rewatch my old favorites. That’s just the way I am. 

4:37 after much research and thinking and pricing and investigating I decided not to buy a new laptop and I just bought a new nice higher quality keyboard for my existing iPad. I think it will suffice for my needs. Actually it isn’t even a new nicer keyboard it’s a refurbished nicer higher quality keyboard at half the price of new. I’m using now and it’s like driving a Cadillac compared to my old broken down jalopy keyboard. SO smooth......and nice and it actually FITS my IPad instead of slipping and being stuck on there with nano tape. So I’m happy for now. I feel fancy. I’m happy. The guys are still here painting and Mike is on a work call across the table from me. After while we’re going to the countertop place to finalize our selection and put down half on the quartz so they can come out and laser measure to cut the stone. I‘M SO excited!!!!!!

Rise up

I met an old friend for lunch today. It had been over a year since I’d seen her. It was good to catch up. I also stopped to see another old friend in Peoria on my way home Sunday. I had never seen her new

house. I felt sweaty and cruddy from traveling and driving that day. It was good to catch up.

I have to go meet with the lady about tending her two Tibetan spaniels for the next two weeks starting Thursday. I’ll have to go over to her house four times a day and let them out and tend them.

Thursday I also have to go to the McHenry county ROE in Woodstock and get fingerprinted for my criminal background check so I can be on the sub list for McHenry County and Friday I have to attend a 2-3 hour orientation to sub for Huntley school district. I’m not still even sure I want to but I do want to have options and keep contributing to my IRA so......

Tomorrow we’re having some rooms painted and the bedroom closet attic fixed so we can put luggage up there and the living room TV mounted on a wall bracket and some garage lights added. 

Sunday

It’s Sunday mid morning. Mike just got up. He never sleeps that late. I was pretty exhausted when I got back home yesterday around 4. I got bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes and gnats at the Norris park Thursday. I had tiny bites all over. Last night I took a hot bath and scrubbed myself all over and then I put on anti itch cream and took a Benadryl. I went to bed around 10 but was watching Greys Anatomy on my IPad for a long time. I hadn’t watched it in a couple years so started watching it from the beginning a couple weeks ago on Netflix. I don’t know what season I’m on now.

I had a good time this week in central Illinois. Good to visit, spend time with family and drive around in the beautiful fall scenery but I was ready to come home. 

My keurig has been messed up for a while. It’s super slow and will only give me the smallest, strongest cup. Just now I tried cleaning the coffee hole under the pod with a paper clip, turn it upside down and patted it on the bottom to loosen any coffee jam, ran white vinegar through the reservoire and it still sucks. Figures. This pisses me off. It’s less than a year old. WTF?

Tomorrow I have to go over and meet with the lady whose Tibetan spaniels I’ll be tending the next two weeks four times a day. She wants to show me how she feeds them and lets them out to pee and poop in her fenced back yard. I’m meeting a friend for lunch Tuesday and I have to get some stuff taken care of to be on the sub list for Huntley.

I think Mike managed to get the Keurig running better. I’m done with coffee for today anyway. I took Bitzi to the park, put in two loads of laundry, cleaned  up the kitchen and put peanut butter cookies and pumpkin bread in the freezer, cleaned up my bedroom, cleaned out dresser drawers, changed to cooler clothes ( getting warmer out now), gave Bitzi a bath in the utility sink ( badly needed) and now she’s hiding in her little gray fabric dog teepee glaring out the opening at me. 

My ex is dealing with stage four colon cancer and doing outpatient chemo but he’s lost a ton of weight and is very weak. My youngest daughter Sarah has been put in charge of his accounts and holdings. She’s 32 and has a husband and three little boys. She’s handling it okay and learning the ropes but the hardest part is dealing with my two sons. It’s a mess but they’re adults. I try to help her with the boys but I can’t get in the middle of it. All too hairy....I’m proud of how she’s managing. 

Missing you

The sun is splaying golden laser beams through the East sitting room windows. I’m weird and sometimes take nature  things ( clouds, beams of light, flowers, birds, animals) I see as possible signs to direct me. The light rays are speaking to me this morning but their message isn’t clearly understood, maybe they’re saying something like straighten the hell up, quit being so indecisive and DO something. I still have this feeling of being in limbo waiting for something not yet revealed, 

I’m going down to Lewistown this week Wednesday through Sunday to visit my family. I’m looking forward to going and spending time with my tribe. I like driving and seeing the fall scenery. I’m going to the orchard, a winery, the Amish bakery over by Cuba. 

Yesterday I applied to sub at a couple more nearby school districts and applied for a long term maternity leave sub job for a middle school band director in my old district. We’ll see if that happens. I’m not even sure I should be going out places with my immune system and the recent surge of this pandemic. The neighboring county has shut down all their restaurants and bars again for indoor seating due to the sharp increase of people infected with Covid-19. I want to do stuff but I don’t want to do stuff.

The automatic sub caller robot has called a couple times today. Since I decided to apply to sub after school had already started I missed some important information. I don’t know if I accept a job on sub finder ( even though it’s for an online virtual class) if I still have to report to that school and punch the time clock. Also I turned in my district laptop when I retired so do I need to get a new one? I don’t have one of my own. Mike is using his MacBook Pro for his work. I think the woman from HR I dealt with to get hired as a sub isn’t very good. She’s missed a lot of stuff. I’ll worry about that bs another day.

I drove to Kohl’s in Algonquin then back to Aldis in Huntley. They were mobbed. I have some acute pain in the top of my right foot and not sure what happened but it’s more than mild occasional pain.

I just took the dog out for a walk of about 6 blocks. It’s very windy out but much warmer than earlier.

I can hear Mike chattering always on a work call back in his office. He’s talking about retirement now too and suggesting he might take the buyout if they’re still offering good deals if the paper finds it still has to make even more cuts. We’re trying to get the new roof, kitchen, floors and other stuff done now so we don’t have to worry about it in a few years. 

I’ve been feeling more tired the last two weeks. I don’t know if it’s the change in weather or what. 

Country comfort

I’m feeling very content and grateful this morning. I’m feeling better than the last few days. I’m truly grateful for my health and my life, sitting here in my cozy home in super soft lounge pants and shirt with my warm Sherpa slippers on. A few years ago I would never have guessed I’d still be alive or able to retire. Miracles do happen.

Relief

12:01pm

I got up early this morning and left at 7 to go to the Elgin DMV to be there before they opened at 7:30 because I need to renew my drivers license, take the eye exam and get my real ID. I’ve been nervous for weeks since the renewal notice came stating I’d need an eye exam. When I arrived at the DMV there was already a huge line to get in winding all the way around the parking lot. I stood in line in the brisk windy morning air over two hours. Once I finally got inside the process went quickly and I didn’t even have to have an eye exam. I was so relieved!

We watched the first presidential debate last night. I already couldn’t hate Trump any more than I already do. He should be terminated. 

Coffee and morning news

I’m drinking my first cup of coffee. I’ve been drinking less coffee lately because I’ve been chugging water immediately after getting up in the morning. It helps me feel more awake and energized and it’s helping my gut work better.

I’m going to take Bitzi for a walk in a little while and then I’m driving to Aurora to the Premium outlet mall and going to the Columbia store to buy the boys jackets with a coupon before it expires. Then once I’m home I’m going over to Meadowview Lodge to work out on the weight machines. Then another walk.

Tonight is the first presidential debate. Last night and Sunday night we watched Comey Rule on Showtime and the latest episode of The Circus. 

Tomorrow morning I’m going to the Elgin DMV to renew my license and get a Real ID. I have to take a vision test so I’m a bit nervous. You only have to have one eye pass. I think my eyes are as good as five years ago when I passed the last test. Fingers crossed. 

We had another appointment yesterday afternoon to go through more of my stuff and sign more papers. It’s such a pain in the ass. Everything’s getting rolled into one IRA with conservative investments until after the election bullshit is over and then I’ll go more aggressive. 

I made potato soup yesterday and it turned out really good and hearty. I love soup. 

8:53 I just went on a fast 1.5 milk walk. It’s brisk out there! My fingers and face are cold now. I’ve been exercising a lot more since quarantine, getting a puppy and retiring. Hurray!

I’m reading Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough.