Stormy morning

7:40am

My rooster alarm went off at 6:45. It hadn’t been working right but it did today. It’s raining and thundering outside. I’m going to take Bitzi out with the umbrella then drive over and tend the spaniels. I hope it’s not rainy and overcast all day.

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!!!!!!

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. 

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.