Today I feel fine. No fever. So I am catching up from chores I didn't do this weekend. And of course, this all happens on my 4 day weekend. Sigh.....
So, I wonder, did I have the "regular" flu? Might I have had Covid? No matter really ~ the vaccine worked very well if I only had to be sick for 2 days. 2 days! The last time I had the regular flu I was sick as a dog for 5 days.
Speaking of the dog, she is still recuperating. She is eating well and enjoying walks.
Love, 365
When my sister and I were kids, Mom made us baskets up until we had our own kids, then she made them for her Grand kids. They weren't extravagant, but had all the basics ~ chocolate bunny, jelly bean eggs, other assorted chocolate goodies. It was kind of fun digging through the fake grass to find those last few treats.
Sioux is improving, but slowly. She still sleeps a lot, and every now and then has diarrhea, but she still has more energy than before, and is enjoying a couple of short walks a day. I attribute her slow recuperation to her age I guess? Truthfully we don't have any idea what is going on. We might go back to the vet for more tests if she isn't fully better by next week.
Ms Loud has been on vacation. It would be so much easier to enjoy if we weren't so incredibly busy, lol.
About three or four months ago, I made an appointment with an optometrist right next to Coscto, since that's where I order my contacts. I liked the doc ok. She gave me a pair of trials to try, and also mentioned she would order a pair of lenses for astigmatism, since they don't have them on hand. ~six weeks later, I still didn't have those, so I ordered a three months supply of the regular contacts, and while I was there asked about the other trial pair. The woman at the counter said she hadn't seen them. By the time I picked up the ones I ordered, she said the trial contacts arrived, and she took them to the doctors office ~ which was closed because one of the staff had covid. In the meantime, I sort of forgot about them until about 6 weeks later when we were there shopping.....where one of the staff members promptly lied and said they mailed them to me. I finally got them last week though (but not through the mail). Man, it is so hard to find good help, isn't it?
If I forget to post again this weekend, Happy Easter!
Love 365
The last week has been difficult. She has had terrible diarrhea for 5 days in a row. The vet doesn't really see anything in particular, and is sending off a sample to the lab (of the poop, which Romeo had to collect with a spoon and then kept in the fridge until the vet appointment) for analysis. She's on a few medications, which are OF COURSE making her feel kind of sick. It has been a real roller coaster ride. One day she's close to her normal self, the next day droopy and sleepy. She's currently under the table in the kitchen, not moving much. I think she's nauseated from the medications, but it's currently very windy outside, and she hates the noise from it, so that could be a factor. I certainly hope she is back to her usual self in the next few days.....
This morning we are having blizzard like conditions, and the power went off for a little over an hour in the wee hours of the morning. I only know because when it came back on, the tablet Romeo had plugged in suddenly lit up, as I was tossing and turning trying to sleep while the wind is howling. Then Romeo comes upstairs to tell me that I probably won't be going to work today because of the weather....which I had to laugh at, because our office closes only when there's an apocalyptic event. Snow and 60 mph winds is not enough to close, much less a delay in opening. It had been years since I've taken a mental health day, but I decided today was a good day to do it. So I quickly sent off a text, and here I am at 8 am in my pj's, sipping coffee and eating a pumpkin scone, looking outside at the nasty weather instead of driving in it to work. It is possible that they know I'm not really sick, and are calling me all kinds of names this morning. But I just don't care. I've driven on plenty of dicey roads to be there on time, and haven't called in sick in a number of years. Does it sound like I'm trying to justify it? Yeah, it kinda does, but I still don't care. :D
In the meantime, I'm sending off a few prayer to St. Francis for Sioux.
Love, 365
My Mother's birthday is tomorrow, and hopefully the edible arrangement will arrive today ~ there seems to be a problem with some of their stores not open yet (& they're in Texas! I thought everything was open there). So, if it doesn't get there today, it'll be late. Sigh.
I received a call from my eldest son, they received notice from their landlord that he will not renew their lease because he's planning on putting the house on the market. No big surprise there, the Austin/Round Rock real estate market is so hot, it's on fire. Apparently there's quite the influx of people (mostly Californians) who've sold their property in CA and have money to burn. A house that is listed for $500,000 will sometimes sell for as much as $100,000 more. I imagine the rental market is pretty hot now too, so I hope they don't have any problems finding something. My son seems a bit down on having to move once again. Until his ex-wife agrees to sell the house, they aren't able to qualify for another mortgage. If they were taking my advice, I'd say rent anyway. The market will change as those things always do. It might be a year or so, but it will.
Ugh, I just can't pile it on with the worry. It never accomplished anything except bad things anyway (like having breakouts, and not being able to sleep).
I am trying to put off going through my bathroom cabinets for a spring clean out....haha. Spring cleaning is not my favorite, buy we always need to do it! What about you?
Love, 365
Two days before I was due to fly out to Texas, I received an email from Southwest letting me know the flight out would be completely full. They offered me to opportunity to change my flight at no charge if I wanted to. Two days before, really. I had scheduled time off from work, and my kids were expecting me to be there. I was rather annoyed, but I had already had both of my Moderna vaccines I figured why not.
This flight wasn't anymore comfortable than any other flight I've been on. Shoulder to shoulder seating is not something I enjoy. I picked up an N95 mask from work to wear ~ I do not know how our hygienists wear these all day. It was miserable. When I used the restroom I took it off and panted. I did not wear it on my trip home, I just wore my surgical mask ~ I just couldn't bring myself to do it. In many ways I wish I had decided to fly before they started filling the planes again. It would have been nice to be on a plane only half full.
Everyone wore their masks, and Southwest announced right before boarding that wearing a bandana will not do, and offered free masks. I've seen people drape a piece of lace over their face and call it a mask. They also explained that you must wear the mask over your nose and mouth, another point of contention. The airports were busy! It's immediately apparent that people are tired of staying home and are taking off to visit family, or go to a business meeting, or take a vacation. Luckily 3 out of 4 of my flights were all on time. And that is another thing I dislike about flying these days. I can never get a direct, go from here to there flight to Austin or San Antonio on Southwest. It seems they prefer to fly you to Phoenix first (hey! that's the wrong direction!), then they'll go back the other way to Texas. Coming home they went to Houston first, then back to Albuquerque. Why oh why?? I could have just ditched my $200 voucher and taken Allegiant Airlines, which has a direct, 1 1/2 hour flight to Austin. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I haven't enjoyed flying for over 20 years. Remember when boarding a plane was an adventure in and of itself? The seats were wider. They didn't care how much your bag weighted. Meals were served ~ although the way I remembered it, they weren't all that great. Sure beats a tiny bag of pretzels though! And with the constant threat of terrorists, we still have to remove our shoes, and aren't allowed to bring our own water, or food.
Do you still like flying?
Love, 365
I just got back from my visit to the kids....it was ~ exhausting. It was great to see them, spend lots of time with them, don't get me wrong. And being able to cook meals, help out around the house, give them a chance to go out together was great. But I was vividly reminded of how tiring it is to be around three kids ~ ages 9, 5 and 1 1/2. The youngest is my son's child. The other two are his wife's children. The eldest is a nice kid, very smart, listens, is respectful. The 5 year old is a bundle of energy that never quits. He is always bouncing off the furniture, running up and down the hall, and constantly creating mischief. And never, ever stops talking. He drove me nuts. I like him, I really do, but 24/7 with him for 4 1/2 days is really just too much. I was able to see my oldest grandson, who is 11, only twice. He is high on the spectrum. He doesn't speak much, although he has come a very long way, and will respond to a question now, instead of pointing at something and making a noise indicating he wants some. Maybe he will be able to live in a group home someday. He is adorable, and I wanted a photo, but shit just happens and we didn't get one of us together.
Plus, my eldest son and daughter in law are starting real estate careers, and they were super busy. With the exception of dinner, we didn't spend much time together just shooting the bull. I was tired of hearing the "I'm sorry it's so crazy right now!" and I marveled that they added the "right now". Haha My youngest son started a new job 3 weeks ago, and is very busy with that, and very stressed over it. We did have a few meals together, went on a nice walk and were able to chat without kids around.
In other words, I really didn't do much. Sat around making sure the kids don't injure themselves jumping off the furniture or throwing stuff at each other. I never let my kids act like that, but I am not going to judge their parenting efforts. And for pete's sake, those kids never go outside! It was a little weird, I was always outside as a kid. They have a nice backyard. I was sorely tempted to throw them out with their foam dart guns and a ball and lock the door for at least an hour.
My daughter in law remarked "I bet you don't stay with us again, haha" and I made a remark, but was thinking "you got that right sister!". I was so wishing I had rented a car and a hotel.
Part of it is that we aren't near enough to visit on a regular basis. In fact my son mentioned that they don't have any support, because everyone lives too far away. It's true. His Dad is a couple hours away, but does come every (or was it every other??) Thursday. I'll tell you this ~ I never had a night off because my Mom never kept the kids over, or did very much baby sitting for us. She was still working, and just didn't have the energy.
Just reviewing the past 5 days makes me tired. I've give you a blow by blow of airline travel tomorrow!
Love, 365
I am on the last few days before my trip to Texas to visit my kids! I am very excited to see them and my grandkids. It won't be a long trip, 4 days ~ which is probably as long as any of us would want to be together 24/7. This is because I will be staying in the house. I didn't rend a car or reserve a hotel room. I had a Southwest voucher that will expire in a few weeks, and there wasn't any other place I would want to go (OK, well Hawaii sounds pretty darn good, but the voucher wasn't quite that big 😁). In the spirit of thriftiness, I asked if they were ok with me staying with them. Of course they said yes, what else would they say? This is why the trip is 4 nights. Normally when I go to Texas I stay for at least a week, 10 days. I sure will be happy when my family wants to come here to visit us! It seems something always comes up 😔
Y'all ready for the next installment of Ms Loud???? The moon landing was a hoax! And so, the Mars photos that came up on my phone are a hoax as well. We did the 5 year old "No it wasn't" "Yes it was" thing back and forth a little. Then she agreed to disagree. In about 4 months (give or take) she will move to Montana.....and says that I will be taking her spot (which I don't want to do). We will see what happens! They may force the issue. I will lose my view of the outside, and have to take over the ordering of the implant supplies, which to my eyes, looks rather complicated. Not excited about that. I'd rather stay where I am now, where I think my strengths lay.
Winter is loosening it's hold on New Mexico...although the mountains in the northern reaches did receive some snow this week. We got zip. The drought situation is worsening. Our next option for moisture (well, more than a passing storm) will be our summer monsoon season. Fire danger remains high. I hope that the people walking/hiking/camping in our forests are careful. One little spark....well, we've all seen the fires in California. Yikes....
I am baking an orange pudding cake today, trying out a new recipe from Baked from Scratch magazine. It's supposed to taste similar to those orange push up treats, which I really loved. I hope it turns out good!
Enjoy your weekend!
Love, 365
Texas, as undoubtedly you have all seen, is having a really bad week. At least by now they are finally experiencing above freezing temperatures. I have a lot of family in Texas....my Mom is OK because the assisted living facility has a generator, so they didn't experience loss of power (thank God!), nor did they lose running water. My two sons (who live in the same house ~ younger one lives in the apartment attached to it, a great arrangement during Covid) never lost power or water either. My sister wasn't quite so lucky though. Their pipes froze ~ and possibly their water pump. They live in the country and have their own well...and have been without water for nearly a week. They were warm though, since they had plenty of oak firewood and a wood stove in the living room.
Some of the photos and videos we've all seen on tv this past week are so awful. I can't imagine my house with no power, no way to heat it, and no water. Did you see the photo of the icicles coming down from the ceiling fan? I know there were people who went from house to house depending on who had power. I saw one photo on the morning news showing a tent set up in the living room in an effort to warm it with their own body heat. Nowhere to go, the roads are icy. My heart goes out to all of those people.
We were cold for sure, but here in NM, we do sometimes get some very cold weather. We have water and power. The only gripe I had was the snow we had every day, and having to drive to work every morning in it. Yesterday was the worst. We had snow start in the early morning and the city didn't send out the salt trucks until after nearly all of us had made it in to work. My Rav4 did ok, I didn't slide around but for a tiny bit and made it in to work safe and sound. I was a bit ticked off at my employers ~ really they should have given us a two hour delay, because by 10 am it was melting and much safer to drive on.
By Friday ~ today, haha ~ the snow is completely gone from the roads. Romeo took the dog for a walk, and slipped and fell in the mud. I asked if he was ok, and he said yeah, the only thing hurt was his dignity, haha. It's very muddy and slushy, even though we are above freezing, the shady areas are still slick.
I hope all of you affected by the storm are doing better. Stay warm everyone! Help your neighbor....
Love, 365
I'm listening to dozens of tiny birds, mostly sparrows and finches.....Romeo threw bird seed out on the snow, and they have congregated to take advantage of the bounty. It is very cold today ~ 13 degrees. We also had a snow thunderstorm yesterday evening, complete with a lot of lightening. We don't usually have those kinds of storms. I was driving home and saw a few spectacular lightening bolts, one of which produced a huge boom! afterward. I arrived home minutes before the the blizzard, which was short lived, until about 2 or 3 in the morning, when it started to snow again. At least, I assume the weather channel was correct, because I was sound asleep. 😴
The result of this 3-4 inches (don't forget the bitter cold and wind) of snow is that I have a morning off from church, as it was cancelled due to the terrible driving conditions. I have yet to hear a snow plow, but I'm hoping to hear them this afternoon....or that my employers will cancel tomorrow's work day. I'm sure that the roads are very icy. I grew up in Texas, where snow is as rare as hen's teeth (to continue my birdy theme today 😁). I don't enjoy driving in snow and ice, mostly because I have little experience.....and given how people around here drive in it, neither do they.
Romeo did bring me flowers and chocolate yesterday, even though I didn't ask ~ usually I would tell him not to spend the silly amounts of money on flowers that die in less than a week. He was thrifty, which made me so happy.....even if that sounds weird. He doesn't need to do these things, because he shows his love every day in all the little things he does. I am so lucky!
Have a wonderful Valentines Day!
Love, 365
It has been a looooong week. I don't know why it seemed so long! By 3 pm I was so ready to go home, but still 2 hours left to go. Do you have work days like that? It's so annoying. Maybe I'm not busy enough :-)
In January of last year (I think I wrote a post about it) while playing doubles, one of the players ran in front of me, resulting in my tripping over their feet and falling. I broke my left arm. Then, just as the orthopedist gave me the go ahead to go back, everything was shut down. I suppose that was mid March. I had actually put my membership on hold a week before, which is a six month deal. But, they kept allowing us to keep the membership on hold due to the ongoing pandemic. Nice, huh? The last part of January I had a reminder to decide what to do with the membership. I was paying a LOT for that membership. Romeo said he wasn't going back, he would just continue with home work-outs and if he wanted to go to the gym, he'd go to Planet Fitness, which is usually around $10 a month. So it was up to me if I wanted to keep going. The kicker is that this gym is the only one in town that has racquetball courts, ergo, if you want to play racquetball, you must pay! Once upon a time there were multiple gyms that had courts, but it seems that it is not as popular as it once was, and eventually they all removed those courts to make room for other gym activities or closed all together.
It is a competitive and active sport. I have been playing off and on for over 20 years. I would love to keep playing, but after a lot of thought I decided to cancel. It's just too much money! We could take a nice yearly vacation with the money I was paying. Now that Romeo is retired, and given the financial goals I have in mind, it just doesn't fit so well anymore. So, when I called Michelle at the club and informed her of my decision, she "reminded" me that I would have to pay for that last month of membership. What kind of bull shit is this???? And sure enough, on the 4th of the month, a big ol' withdrawal was ripped out of our account. So, I figure, it's paid for, I might as well go, especially since I've had my two vaccines.
So I go to Wednesday night racquetball, the first time in over a year. It took a bit to get the feel of it again...you know? It was so fun. I had a blast, and ended up playing for 2 hours.
The next day I could hardly move my right arm, haha. I had, as I usually do, over done it just a little bit. And my right knee was wonky. The knee is ok now, but the arm is still very sore. I think I need to add a better weight lifting routine, because I obviously wasn't strengthening those muscles at all. I hope it's all back to normal for next week :-)
Love, 365
Did you have a great Easter? I did not. I spent Saturday and Sunday with body aches and fever, that went as high as 103.5. It was not f...
