Category: This & That

You probably are wondering where I have been the last few weeks. A lot has been going on, and by the end of the day, I usually snuggle up with Heidi and fall asleep.

I had contracted with a company to clean and restain my cedar shingles.  We weren’t sure if they would get to it this Autumn, or if we would need to wait until Spring.  However, they called me almost right away and were able to start. Here is a before picture.

The process of cleaning (pressure washing) the shingles and restaining was awe-inspiring. I wish I had a good front-of-the-house picture, but here is the front now. Restained and new shutters!

Although the shutters look black in the picture (I blame the snowstorm), they are, in fact, a deep blue.

So the madness and mayhem of construction were all around me, and I sat down to write a letter on my laptop, and everything was crazy. Those who know me well know that computers and I do not always get along. However, a long time ago, I met a man named Brad, whom we always called for repairs. My brain wanted to understand computers, and Brad taught me gently what I needed to know.

I always remember him telling me, “Give it a go and if you can’t get it done, call me.”

I decided to back up everything this time. Then I sat down and completely wiped the hard drive. I took my time, thought it through, and planned. Once it was done, I began to reprogram the laptop.

The first thing I did was uninstall OneDrive. I swear that program has caused me more trouble than it ever has actually helped.

Then, slowly, slowly, I added the files I wanted, leaving the rest on my external hard drive.

Naturally, there was a day spent going through accounts to add in auto-fill answers and also setting up other programs I use frequently. I went very slowly, and finally, I can say, it is all done.

Then Thanksgiving was upon us, and I had a long drive to my daughters and back.

Life quieted down briefly, and now I am back up and have two full weeks of appointments coming up. One day I am free, and I think I may go to the Outlet Mall.

Snow fell for the first time yesterday. We got between 8 and 10 inches of snow. Previously, I had gotten a small electric snow blower. I was a bit hesitant to use it in the dark. Today I got it out, and here is what I found.

It works great every 3-4 inches. Now I know I will stay on top of things. After all, little Heidi has short legs and needs help getting through the snow.

I also had a dental appointment to clean my teeth and have a tooth that has been bothering me checked. Much to my dismay, a root-canaled molar crown had gotten chipped. Next week, they will remove the old crown and get me ready for a new one. It could have been worse.

Just as I was catching my breath from all of the above, I realized my big goal of cleaning closet #2 had been forgotten. So, as I got out my hat and gloves for the snow, I also started pulling things out of the closet to deal with.  All in good time.

I was sitting here in the sunshine, enjoying the warmth after the 24 inches of cold snow fell. My mind seemed to drift to various things, so I put my laptop on my knees and started to write.

I feel so saddened by Princess Kate’s diagnosis of cancer. I have read several truly hateful things about her. All I can say is that I hope the Sussexes stay away.

After hearing that people were trying to break into Kate’s hospital records, I was sure I knew who was behind it.

As you all know, I had skin cancer on my nose, and tissue from my forehead was used to close the wound. It left me feeling quite vulnerable with such terrible scars. The scars have faded somewhat, but I will probably always have my Harry Potter scar on my forehead. Therefore, I do Photoshop pictures of my forehead.

There is no photoshopping above.
This was done with slight photoshopping.

Why do I do it? Well, because the scar makes me feel ugly and self-conscious. I’ve been told the scars will always be there unless I have more surgery, and since I do not want any more surgery, I will Photoshop!

I mention this because people have come down very hard on Princess Kate. Knowing what I know now, I fully understand the picture of Kate with her children.

My little Heidi is doing better. I am happy but also worried. It’s been a long haul for this baby. She is now on delicious dog food, which seems to work.

My bathroom/laundry room is nearly done. It is beautiful!  My bathroom previously had a jacuzzi tub, corner shower and toilet. This room is bigger than most New York City Apartments.

I have been carrying heavy laundry baskets up and down the stairs, which included a few falls. So I removed the jacuzzi, and I now have a washer and dryer, a new corner shower, and repairs done to the floor and walls!

I’m also getting my bedroom walls painted and a new carpet. I am thrilled—pictures to come.

That’s it for now. I will try to write more as I get on my feet again.

This is sort of a catch-up post as a lot has been happening, which has kept me from sitting down to write this out. But, here goes…

• • Lili’s left ankle is still a problem. There were two incidents today that exacerbated the injury, and she is once again limping about.

    Limping Lili.

    I still have the anti-inflammatory so she took a dose with dinner tonight, and I will go back to walking her only on a leash. My poor big girl.

  • On Wednesday I had a meet-up with my girlfriends. They’d been dying to meet my little love-puppy, and since it wasn’t raining, was not too cold, off we went to the meet-up.

On our way to the meeting.

• • To say that my little gang of ladies fell hard for Heidi would be an understatement! She was at her very best and flirted with each and every one of the girls!
  • Heidi is an amazing doggy. She will be 6 months old next week and yet she is already well behaved. Heidi can sit, down, roll to the side for belly rubs and sit at my feet. Next on my list is to teach her to shake paws.
  • On my way home I stopped and saw a friend at the Shipping Store. She was Arnie’s girlfriend. (And I even brought Arnie to see her before I took him for his last ride.) She is totally smitten with our new little Miss.

My darling!

• The general consensus is that the world needs more baby puppies like Heidi.
• Did I mention that Heidi got into some gross stuff the other day? She hates baths. So, since I needed a shower too, I readied the bathroom and brought her in with me. It turns out that she actually liked the nice warm shower with Mommy! This is good to know

Happy Thursday!

Wow! There is so much going on in the world, and even in my little corner of the world, so a “This and That” list seemed appropriate.

• • Okay, the slap was heard around the world. I understand the frustration, but as I think more and more about it, I think sometimes you need to suck it up and walk away. I live every day of my life with a face that close up resembles an inner-city roadmap. It’s due to extensive cancer surgery in 2013.People have made comments that felt unkind to me, but so far I haven’t decked a single person. Walk away and choose your battles wisely.
  • I went in on Monday to begin having my two front teeth crowns replaced. It is rather an arduous task and has left my mouth sore. But the end result will be good I am sure.
  • Today Lili was running around the yard and my guess is she leaped from the field down onto the driveway and twisted her ankle. Tonight she is limping badly. If she is not better tomorrow I will bring her in to get it checked.
  • I go to see my Glaucoma doctor tomorrow. I am six weeks late for this appointment as I was sick with the flu when I was due to go in for my last appointment and had to cancel.
  • The bears are awake and starting to roam the neighborhoods. This means that I need to bring in my feeders at dusk and put them out after breakfast in the morning.
  • We had to call for home heating oil today and they came and delivered 202 gallons of what I should call liquid gold. The current price for heating oil is $4.97 a gallon. So there’s $1000.00 I will never see again. But, at least we will be warm and can take hot showers.
  • I got the cutest picture of Heidi today and I love it so much that I ordered a print of it to have on my mantle. I just love this girl!

5-month-old Heidi.

Thursday was almost a good day. It started with a meeting up with my good friends. I am so lucky to have these wonderful ladies that I love like sisters.

We joked and laughed and just had a really great time. I came out of that meeting feeling pretty good. Yay!

I had a fun time playing with Heidi, solved Wordle in the nick of time, and enjoyed a nice lunch before heading out to do errands.

I picked up the mail, went grocery shopping, and still had time before my dental appointment to bring it all home and put it away.

I was expecting good news, but what was discovered was a crack in my crown! I need a new one. Yikes!  $500.00!!! At least I did not have cavities!

Well, nothing brings you down like a big break to your piggy bank!

Ugh!

But the absolute bright point in my day is that Mandy and the kids called and after a bleak afternoon, I felt very loved and cared for! I am hoping to see them at the end of the month.

Happy Thursday everyone!

The last few days I have been pretty busy. I’m so anxious for Spring to arrive and I have actually enjoyed the pouring rain we had at the start of the week, which washed away a lot of the snow.

However, we had a dramatic drop in temperature, and everything turned to ice. Some you could see and some were invisible. It was the invisible ice that got me on Tuesday morning and found me falling down like a sack of potatoes.

Lili and Heidi were with me and both ran over to me, covering me with kisses lest I be seriously injured! I wasn’t, but my gosh, I sure felt all of my 63 years.

I’ve had the Spring Cleaning bug and I’ve been trying to get things washed down and cleaned. My next big step is to take down the curtains and give them a good wash.

Heidi is a real character, and this morning she was posing in the funniest ways. The first was looking up at me.

And the second was taken as she slept in her favorite spot. On my chair between my knees!

As you can see in this picture, the poor baby has no toys! LOL!

I have binge-watched “Sex and the City”. I somehow never watched it the first time around and now in my geriatric years decided to give it a shot.

I nearly stopped watching the first two seasons, but then I got caught up in the growing up of Carrie and her friends. I’ve now gone all through the TV, both movies and the revival. And I actually can say I liked it.

Now don’t judge, it was pretty graphic. But if you look past that to the character development it was a good show.

It’s snowing again. I am so over that. I am really ready for Spring to come!