Ch ch ch changes........

 

Although my wisteria is bloomed out ~ we just have the smaller blooms now and the leaves have all popped out ~ it was really glorious this year.  Romeo pruned it at just the right time.  This photo isn't as good as I hoped, but trust me, they were beautiful!  The scent was lovely, so on days we didn't have 80 mph winds, we had the door and windows open.  This vine is now just over 20 years old ~ I planted it not long after we moved in.  

This is our first week with the new doctor.  Although he has exhibited some nervousness, he is doing great.  His skill is amazing, and our dental assistants are happy except....he is not quick.  So, we have discovered that if we aren't careful, we end up being in the office rather late.  Yesterday we left at 5:25, and today, 5:45.  This is a hard transition, since before that we were either on time or even early.  We did have a patient who was in the office for 4 hours today ~ his case wasn't an easy one, but 4 hours is a bit much.  Luckily the patient was........well, patient.  haha  He's a very nice guy, and later sent a compliment to the dentist.  While I was waiting for the last patient at the end of the day, I began to quickly make some adjustments to the schedule, making sure we aren't over-booking him at the end of the day.  He does have two young kids at home, so he is eager to get home too.  Luckily, I will have a nice 4 day weekend beginning now!

On Tuesday I heard from one of my friends from church that two people have tested positive for Covid.  By Wednesday that number grew to 20.  I tested the last 3 days and have been negative each time, but I will test again on Saturday, just to make sure.  They must have been infected prior to the party, but it's a sad thing for it to end up this way.  Ugh.  Will this nightmare ever end???  At least it is not as serious as it had been ~ at least it seems so, since all of the symptoms have been mild.  

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Love, 365

Staying up late.......

Tonight is our Pascha (Easter) celebration.  The culmination of 40 days of preparation will end tonight, the biggest event on the Orthodox calendar.  We will go to services at 11 pm tonight, and it will go on for a few hours.  A celebratory meal is offered after services.  It is a very beautiful service, for at midnight, all the lights are turned off....and in the darkness, the priest will come out of the sanctuary with a candle, and light the candles of two parishioners, who in turn pass the light along (because we will all have candles), filling the church with a warm glow, symbolizing the illumination of the faithful.  We will greet each other  (in Greek) with Chritos Anesti! and reply with Alithos Anesti! (which means Christ is risen and indeed he is risen).    It won't be easy staying up so late when we've gone to bed around 10 every night.....well, unless we can't fall asleep, which these days happens more often than we'd like.  

We will both try to nap a bit this afternoon.  I am not really a nap taker.  It is hard for me to take naps.  If I try and actually succeed, when I wake up I find 10-15 minutes has gone by, not the hour or so I had hoped for!  Romeo can nap on demand, an ability I wish I had!  No matter if I find it easy or impossible to nap, I will so enjoy our services tonight.

 

Yesterday was a day of truly prodigious winds.  Gusts up to 70 mph and more, and continuous wind all~day~long.  It was awful.  We had gone for a walk somewhat early in the morning, but not early enough to beat the windy conditions.  By the time we were back home, my skin felt like sandpaper.  Dry, scratchy, itchy.  I felt so much better after a shower and slathering on tons of lotion.  The sky looked beige with all the dust in the air, and it was tough to be outside even for a few minutes!  I saw some guy jogging in it, and marveled that he could be out in it that long.  Everything has a coating of sand and dust on it, and my poor wysteria looks a bit worse for it today.  It's universal around here ~ no one enjoys that kind of wind.  

Today it is quiet and much cooler.  We sure could use some rain though!  

Time to finish my laundry!

Christos Anesti!

Love, 365

The fun just never ends with Louisiana vital records.....

 

Maybe you read about the woes I've had about applying for my passport.  It turns out my Mom's name is misspelled on my birth certificate, which was pointed out to me at the post office.  I had never noticed that it was wrong!  So I sent all the things they wanted me to send, along with a check for around $22.  But of course, first I had to pay around $30 to obtain a copy of my Mom's birth certificate from Pennsylvania.  I made a copy and sent it with all the stuff in December.  I called many many times, until I finally gave up and just waited.  

When the letter came in the mail, I just sensed it wasn't my corrected birth certificate ~ and it wasn't.  Now they want me to send the original certificate ~ the one I paid $30 to get from Pennsylvania ~ and they will NOT return it to me.  Apparently it will become "part of the record of the correction".  No doubt it will be filed away, gathering dust.  I doubt any one would have any reason to look at it. While I was on the phone with my supposed caseworker, she had put me on hold.  I was talking to Romeo, and said how it was all so stupid.....and she heard only the last word.  Asked me did I just say stupid, and I said yes, I was talking to my husband.  Well, the conversation went down from there.  She assumed I called her stupid.  

The only problem is, she may not be stupid, but she sure doesn't pay attention to detail.  She put the wrong case number on the letter she sent me.  So when I called they wanted my Dad's birth certificate saying he was born in Tennessee (he wasn't) and called me Charlotte.  Hmmm, that's a very nice name, but it isn't mine.  That's when I realized that the case number was wrong.  

So, bottom line:  I don't trust them to get any of this right.  What if I send the birth certificate and she conveniently throws it in the trash?  I would have no way to prove it.  I could send it certified, but that only means I sent something, not necessarily the document.  Romeo thinks I should just go apply for my passport with the original document and just spell my Mom's name the way it is on my birth certificate.  It has already been 5 months.  If she's not vindictive enough to throw the document out, she could put it on the back burner for a long time.  

Ok, blogger family ~ what to do?  

Frustrated ~ 365

The count down in earnest........

 

The office has been so crazy, I barely know where to begin.  First of all, the doc that is retiring is so done!  He is happy when we had to reschedule patients for their fillings, because one of our dental assistants has been out most of the last week.  Her 96 year old father passed away the week before last.  She was off a couple of days, came in on Monday, and then off the rest of this week.  On Wednesday she let us know she wouldn't be in yesterday, causing a mad scramble to reschedule some of our orthodontic patients (the one who was out is the only one able to work on brackets and wires).  That was difficult and disappointing, since one of the patients was due to have her braces off, and now it's been delayed, and her prom is this weekend.  I felt bad, but couldn't do anything about it.  Patients want to come in and see him one more time, but does he care?  Nope.  He just wants to be done and leave for his trip to Paris.  It's frustrating.  And hard to call and move people.  

I am lucky to have put in for vacation time for next week, which is Holy Week for Orthodox Christians.  Our Easter is one week after everyone else's.  Romeo bought a couple of my favorite candies last week...they might be out of them if we wait past this weekend :D  

I am so glad I will have this next week off....it will probably be even crazier than this week has been.  I do feel just a tiny bit of guilt, leaving all my co-workers to deal with it.  We do have a college student working on Mon-Wed-Fri, so that will help.  

Just in time for retirement are the gallbladder polyps discovered in Sept, which are "stable" but larger than they want.  So, I have to schedule an appointment with a general surgeon to discuss if I need to have my gallbladder removed.  I called, and they first mentioned August (!!) then asked I call every week to schedule in July.  At first I was a bit freaked out, but I've chilled a little since then.  Happy retirement!  Let's schedule surgery to remove parts of your body!  Yay!  

Cute, funny................

Not so much.....

Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Easter!

Love, 365

I'm just practicing.....

 

I sure do enjoy my Monday's off.  This one was busy, where they are usually pretty lazy.  I had a few calls to make regarding our trip to bury Mom....needed to schedule someone to do the service, and (gulp) dig the hole.  Tried to reach my cousin to let him know that Joe (my Mom's caregiver and ex-husband) will be coming for the funeral, and how many bedrooms are there in the house?  He offered us to use his parents retirement home, which is just up the way from the farm house where he lives with his family.  I sure hope there are three, because I'm not sure I want to share a bed with my sister.  Maybe I'll sleep on the floor or the sofa.  It's not that we don't get along, but I only share the bed with Romeo :D

We raked up three hugs bags of leaves from under the wisteria, which is putting on lots of flower buds.  My oregano was growing underneath a big ol' pile of leaves.  They smell so good when you bruise the leaves.

We went for a 3 1/2 mile hike, where I took the photo of the red bud just starting to put out flowers.  Spring is here.....we had really strong winds about 4 am that woke up Romeo.  It didn't bother me though.  Tomorrow is going to be a really windy day though.  Have I mentioned how much I don't like wind?  Ugh.  But we really miss having a dog.  It almost felt pointless to go out for a hike without one.  We need to wait until after the June trip....I don't want to get a new puppy and then board it.  Romeo is OK with waiting until we find the right one, which will mean a few trips to the shelter.  I'm hoping I can find the right one before the trip with my sister, but that may be a lot to fit in.  If it doesn't happen, then I'll just wait, because it has to be the right one, you know?  

I hope all of you have a great week.  Peg, things will get better.  Hang in girl.

Love, 365

Well, here we are!......

 

We had such fun on Tuesday ~ two of the four people that work at the front desk were out.  One was sick, the other had car problems and did not make it back to New Mexico in time for work.  So, there were just the two of us handling two doctors and five hygienists schedules.  Checking in, checking out, scheduling, phone calls, walk ins.  By the end of the day, the meme above is pretty accurate.  We were wiped out!  So, it's a good thing that I only have 4 Monday's left.....8 weeks to go.  The best thing that happened is that we were given a reprieve on taking everyone's temperature ~ which resulted in looking into it, and we no longer have to! (for now?)  That is wonderful news, because, after two years, we know it's a worthless test, and it was awkward when someone came in "hot" because of the car ride.  We had a couple of patients freak out that that person was allowed to stay.  

I am simplifying my day.  I am no longer cramming everything in.  I declined a meeting today (a church group I'm a member of) and a party tonight with my racquetball buddies.  I just don't want to.  So, I'm just going to say no.  I am going to help out with cookie baking, but that's it.  I have no desire to run around all day trying to fit all this stuff in.  Stuff that will make no difference in my life at all, especially since the meeting is to vote on board members (yuck).  The party is one I have attended many times in the past.  I have no desire to go to it, mostly because I had not planned on it in the first place because we were originally to be out of town this weekend, but those plans fell through.  Ugh.

I am quite enjoying the Bridgertons, although it makes me crazy.  Sheesh.  Duty above all.  So very English!  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Let's see how it goes........

 

On April 1st, our state will start selling.  I drove past an old gas station that has been boarded up for years, and noticed it will be a dispensary in less than a week.  I'm not sure how this will all go, especially in a state known for it's drunk drivers.  Although it may not make too much of a difference, as I'm sure those that drive while high have already been doing that.  

I am planning on going to one of these dispensaries, perhaps purchase a little.  It's been many years since I've smoked any ~ and I quit back then because it made me so paranoid.  Perhaps age has mellowed me somewhat.  I'll write a little report on the experience, lol.

The atmosphere at work has been evolving, partly due to our new front desk person (who is only 25, and loves to remind me how young she is at every available moment).  *Alissa (not really her name, and not the new front desk person) has taken over much of the office manager duties.  *Betty (who is our accountant) has taken over some of those duties too.  I find it funny to see how she is doing her best to be super helpful to the docs, all smiley and cheerful.  She (Betty) is an interesting person.  Her husband is a now retired pastor.  Being very nearly 70 (I think that birthday is this year), I am surprised she wants to continue working, but hey, maybe she doesn't want to be with him 24/7 yet.  And although I don't feel that way, I've seen it before!  

The new girl is very sweet, but also has some backbone, which is an admirable quality in the workplace.  I have asked her a few times to learn something new, and I discovered that asking is not the right approach:  you just have to give her the job and tell her to ask if she has questions.  It's weird, right?  I always wanted to at least appear to have interest in learning something new, but not her.  Lol.  Hey, in two months she'll be all up in it, and I'll be sipping coffee and watching the news in the morning.  

After having snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, it's going to be 70 degrees today....spring.  Have an enjoyable weekend!

Love, 365

Come on, spring....go away wind :-)

 

Our spring winds haven't really started up yet.  One day we have an inch or so of snow, and the next day it's 55-60 degrees.  I was always surprised at people wearing shorts and tee shirts in New Mexico even in 50 degree weather, but I guess after 27 years her I've acclimated.  Today I wore a skirt (bare legs, no hose or tights) and tee shirt to church, but to be fair, I did wear a jacket :-)  This mornings temps were around 47 or so.

This coming Tuesday I will be 10 weeks out from retirement!  Time somehow seems to be speeding up ~ but I believe that was helped by the "spring forward" we experienced a week ago.

Romeo has been working on our taxes, but he hasn't been grumpy......yet.  It's all very strange, because usually he's stressed over it.  Good ol' Turbo Tax.

Putin is continuing his crazy war, and innocent people are dying and being displaced.  It's a horror every day on the news.  And did you hear this?

From the New York Post, dated March 15th, 2022   Ben Kesslen writes:

Matveychev then said he wants “the return of all Russian properties, those of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia, which has been seized in the United States, and so on.”

That includes Alaska and even Fort Ross, California, a small area in Sonoma County that was at one point the Russian Empire’s southernmost outpost in North America and was sold off in 1841.

This is apparently to compensate Russia for the economic sanctions imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine.   He is deranged. 

Let us all pray for the innocent.

Love, 365

Frickity frackity........

 

For Pete's sake, right?  Why Saturday night?  At least we would have a two day jump on adjusting to one of the most absurd propositions ever.  It's been proven over and over that none of the "advantages" ever bore any fruit.  It has been proven to reduce productivity.....and make most people cranky and tired.  We don't even have the excuse that we forgot to set our clocks, since everything changes without effort.  Ugh.  

I am praying for Ukraine.......

Love, 365

It's getting real...............

 

I chose this spiral staircase, not because I'm heading down, but going up!!  

On March 8th, I will have 12 weeks left.  6 more paychecks.  😮

We all survived the retirement of our previous office manager.  She is still somewhat involved, as she's putting the open house party together on 4/22 for the incoming doctor ~ which we met last Monday.  One thing that struck me, is the resemblance of the doc that's staying and the new one.  It's really rather uncanny.  I told them they look a bit like brothers 😛  I think it's weird, but hey.  

I did get a raise, which went into effect on my last paycheck, which was nice since we had a short month and we are paid hourly.  

Otherwise, it's been busy busy both at work and at home.  And I put aside an hour to go and get a pedicure, which I haven't had since the first part of November.  Since we've had warm temperatures, I've been tempted to wear sandals, until I have a look at the state of my toes, haha.  Of course, the temp's have plummeted (70 a day or two ago, and the high tomorrow of 46 ~ typical early spring weather).  So, probably won't wear sandals to church on Sunday.  I am not sure if I will continue to go to a salon to have them done.  The price was more than last year ~ so what's new, everything has gone up ~ so I'll have to "polish" my skills.  Sorry for the pun!  There were only two people working in the salon, the owner and one technician.  She told me they just can't find help.  Maybe they went back to school so they could get higher paid jobs?  I assume that the pay is likely around minimum wage for technicians.  You could not pay me enough to work on people's gnarly feet!  But I can manage my own, lol.

I spent much of yesterday doing laundry, as I didn't do any the weekend before, so I had two loads worth.  Cleaned the bathroom.  Dusted.  Put stuff away.  My office is still in need of tidying though.  Today is bread baking day ~ I've baked three loaves already and have two more to go.  The first three are for church (bread for communion), and the other two are sourdough loaves.  I finally figured out it's better to bake 2 smaller loaves and give one away.  Romeo and I could not finish a full loaf in a week!  Probably a good thing!

I am right on track as far as my financial goals.  But I admit that it's a tad bit nerve wracking, saying goodbye to a bi-monthly paycheck ~ especially since I just had a raise!!  Sigh.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

It's an on hold day........

 

**please note the pinky

My church ladies group ~ Philoptokos (which means Friend of the Poor) had a "high tea" membership luncheon Saturday.  My friend, who is the cook who typically caters these things suggested we take photos before all the craziness, which turned out to be a great idea.  I was so tired after it was done.   And I don't think I looked quite the same after it was all done!

So, as it turns out I was lucky on the Southwest Airlines ticket.  Because I had not responded to any of the revision notices they sent me, they will refund me the cost, which is a very good thing because they can't (or won't) extend the travel credit.  See?  Here is how procrastination ~ one of my big negatives ~ has been reinforced as not so bad....     I did have to wait and hour and 20 minutes to reach a representative.  I did nearly all that waiting working out on my treadmill, so at least I got my workout done.

I was feeling lucky, so I called Louisiana Vital Records, but no love there.  They have my case, but it hasn't been assigned to anyone yet.  Arghhhh

Win some, lose some....

Love, 365