Out with the old and in with the new, happy 2023!

Looking back at 2022:

- My kid remains the best.  She is learning so much and gaining independence in leaps.  She doesn't need to be told to clean up very often, she is helpful, she is smart, beautiful inside and out, and beyond all -- kind.  She had her first recital (with dance) and joined back up for another year, but just for acro.  She loves playing with cars/monster trucks and is still into superheros.

- Another year with out a single cruise.  Avery, my sister S and I did go to my sister J's for a vacation however.  We made another trip to Idlewild.  We had a season pass to the local pool again and Avery made huge leaps forward in her confidence and abilities in the water without additional/formal lessons.

- The critters:  Saffy's health has remained good for her age, but she is skinny as a rail and does have bad days both with her mental acuity and not having accidents.  Zero is crazy, but has learned some calm to allow me a better time working.  The fish, named Indigo after this post last year passed just days after Thanksgiving, not making it a year with us.  Church - whooo... he really gave us a scare with his urinary blockage.  At this point most of the shaved spots are grown back in and he is doing well.

- More critters: We started fostering for the rescue from which we adopted Church.  Our first group was four babies (Sunflower, Lavender, Tulip, Clover) and their mother (Marigold).  They came in June/July and were all gone at the start of November.  Clover was a major loss for us, not doing well under anesthesia for his neuter just a week after Church's illness.  The second group remains here, three cats that were with another foster who had rescued them from outdoors (Vader, Buddy, Christian).  With these three I learned more about parasites than I want to, but they are well on the mend at this point and should be ready for forever homes early in 2023.

- Other than having way too much weight on me, my health is good.  My near vision is crap at this point and I have readers everywhere.  I did not get my water intake up as I had desired.  Typical aches and pains here and there - but I think many of those can be attributed to my weight too.

- Work has slowed due to a task ending, which was a relief, but in hindsight I wish I had capitalized on it more.

- No big activities here at this house this year.  There is lots that needs tending to as things are falling apart.  It's kind of hard to suck it up and replace carpet when you have an older dog and a younger kid.  Without the properly placed throw rug it is easy to step on carpet tack and hurt yourself coming into my living room.  If the dog goes running through between the living room and kitchen he kicks up the strip between the two.  There is a hole in the vinyl in my bathroom.  The grout between the tile in my shower is crumbling in several spots.  I debate if I should slush fund this or hold off until the mortgage is done.

- I was still on track to finish the mortgage by the end of 2023, but at present I am feeling like I need to build up a bit more in the slush fund since the cost of everything is climbing.  This is likely to slow me down and force me into 2024 with the mortgage.  I'm not too thrilled about it, but things could be way worse.

- While I have gardened every year I haven't mentioned it here in goals and successes.  Last year most of the non-tomato crop came from plants my favorite egg's parents brought.  This year I had my tomatoes, but I branched out a bit.  My potatoes, turnips, and carrots were duds but the peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce kicked butt.

Here is the wish list for 2023:

- Avery will put her toes back into sand.  She doesn't remember cruising, she doesn't remember being at the beach!  This needs to be remedied.  I never got us on that long weekend I mentioned last year and Disney's insanity made me question that desire.  I do want to get back down to my sister's now that my nephew's baby is here (our previous visit was while his wife was very pregnant)  Flying seems like a bad idea though given the recent airline issues.  I dunno, nerves keep making me postpone booking something..

- We need to get back to some of the activities in the burgh (Kennywood?  Zoo?  Children's Museum?).  I definitely want to hit the Pittsburgh Botanical Gardens - that is closer to me and not a trip into the burgh.  Maybe the Good Zoo in WV instead of the burgh's zoo.

- I want the end of the mortgage to be so close that I can taste it -- you know, since it's not looking as likely that I will complete it..  If I do finish it off my next goal is to start putting money away for the next vehicle.  My car is a 2016 but I bought it in early 2015.  Low miles, but it is getting up there in age.

- Starting the next thing with Avery.  Perhaps karate?  She loves to sing, is it weird to find her someone to work on that at this age?  Either way we definitely have Kindergarten in the fall.  I am hopeful we can get in at our first choice of schools.

- As noted, I wanted to finish the mortgage before investing in the house.  If I do leap the first things on my list are definitely the flooring and doing something on the sides of the fireplace.

- This year my garden will still have tomatoes and lettuce.  I will however plant rounds of lettuce to space out the harvest.  I am attempting to winter over the very successful pepper plants. I will give potatoes another spin.  I bought extra fertilizer and was gifted seed germinating mats from my wish list.  I need to figure out what else I will focus my space and resources on.  It might be decided by what seeds germinate well.  I wish I had the space and dogs that didn't dig/stomp so I could create a legit garden out back (beyond my buckets).

We had a nice Christmas.  The roads weren't pristine, but good enough despite the crazy cold temperatures.  Avery was pleased with her gifts - that is all that matters.  The big winners this year were the remote controlled cars and the microphone.  Not to lower the rank of numerous other gifts that are getting play time as well.

Per usual we went to my favorite egg's aunt's on Christmas eve.  Christmas day we hosted his parents, but easy peasy with dinner from the crock pot.  Monday we hosted my sister M and her husband.  All visits were fantastic, but I am very glad I have two more days scheduled off to try and relax a bit and call it a holiday "vacation".  Today I got a massage and had a nice lunch (with a rita).  The laundry is drying and other small to dos are getting checked off.

It's cold, it tried to snow, I'm gonna start my yearly complaining now.  It sounds like my old hood got a legit snow whereas we barely had a dusting, so... I'll stick w/ complaining about how the cold burrows into my bones.  Let's be honest, I've put on enough weight in the past two years that if it's getting to my bones it is really friggin cold.

I haven't allowed this to stop us though.  We still headed out on Saturday night to the Laser show at the UP church and to the outdoor live nativity event at Iddy Biddy this evening.  We made it about 45 minutes petting and feeding llamas, goats, and a camel before we snagged a hot cocoa and packed up.  --and I had leg warmers on!

I think this is going to be a rough winter.  The way the world is going I don't think the tin foil on my hat has to be thick to believe that we could have power outages.  Good thing I have more blankets than a human being should own.

Watching the brewing storm and hoping I don't have cause to argue against our Christmas-proper activities.

The first round of meds are complete.  I need to do another deep sanitize.  Vader's poo seems to have become less fluid-like, so that's a move in the right direction.

This weekend we got our Christmas cookies made - chocolate chip, no bakes, and pizzelles this year.  Not that I need cookies at the house.  Some have been packaged to go to a vendor event with the cat rescue.  I'm really glad I snagged several dozen of eggs two weeks ago before the prices took another leap up; pizzelles take a dozen after all.

Most of the gifts are bought, still a few more to figure out.  Several haven't arrived yet.  The gifts that were here at the end of last week are wrapped and under the tree -- except for Avery's, I will need a window of time while she is at school to achieve that.

I have to admit to myself that the pace at which I was paying off the house cannot continue thanks to the increases in everything.  Gas, electric, food like crazy, cat and dog food like crazy, even the HOA is nickel and diming for another $1 a month (despite not having the yearly meetings they're supposed to have).  I'm blessed either way.  It's just that when you are forcing your checking account to run on thin margins after boosting payments and savings you can see quite clearly where things start to go crazy.

Medication handoff took place yesterday before lunch so I got on top of treatment.  Today was day 2 and I'm already leaps and bounds better at giving liquid meds to cats.  Thank God they're such sweet cats or I am sure I would be have an eye clawed out by now.  After getting Avery to bed I took a solid pass disinfecting in the room. 

The beds and toys were steam sterilized in the dryer.  The liter boxes and scoop were scrubbed, bleach sprayed, and totally swapped out for new liter (the garbage guys will love picking that up next week).  It wreaks of Lysol in there as I sprayed the carpets and blankets across the bed (rather than exposing the bed itself to the cats whiles I washed them at this time).

I kept Avery home from school today due to some ich -- which hasn't happened much in her 5 years.  She was sneezing and coughing last night and she commented about being tired before bed time.  No fever or anything but I decided I would let her sleep in and play it by ear.  She didn't sleep super late, but did wake up saying her throat was a little sore (probably drainage) and coughing.  So she got to chill on the couch and I fed that cold a bit.  I convinced her to nap after a dose of medicine and she came bounding in around 3pm to tell me she was ready to go to school.

I'll tell you, this kid is awesome.  When I was a kid, before dimetapp came out with that yummo grape flavor, and the medicine was gross good luck getting me to take it.  I cracked a bottle of "bubble gum" flavored Tylenol (she picked it over grape and cherry when we were at the store a while back) last night and she informed me it was gross.  She still took today's doses without more than a scrunched up nose.

It was nice to get a taste of what it will be like when she starts going to real school.  Not needing to leave the house in the morning or to watch the clock to run back out at a certain time was quite nice.

Giardia.  Yup.  So much for these fosters coming and going quickly.  Ugh.  One had loose stinky poos.  It's possible the others don't have it... but prb not likely.  All will be treated and I will need to continuously disinfect their room - which is an extra challenge w/ carpet.  Thank God the were kept separate.  Eff.

I neglected to mention the critters in my earlier post.  First, Indigo - our betta - passed, Christmas would have been a year with us.  It didn't seem to phase Avery.  I am a bit sad about it; I feel like I should have done more for her.  My monthly subscribe and save is in shipping, which included more filters.  Go figure.

Our other critters are well.  The fosters are adjusting decently.  Vader, the longhaired black cat is a delightful cuddle muffin.  Christian, the gray shorthair, is playful.  Buddy, the orange tabby, is terrified but still sweet.  All three allowed us to trim nails without too much complaint -- color me surprised. 

Today I put in some work cooking.  I cooked up ground beef for tacos which I froze, roasted yams and butternut squash, made a match of chicken soup, made a few chicken-stuffed green peppers, and prepped the mix to stuff the small sweet peppers.  I should be eating off of this all week.

I wanted to get all of the Christmas decorations up, but that didn't happen.  Yet another chunk of the tree would not light, so the extra lights I bought last year to supplement wouldn't cover me.  We ran to Big Lots and snagged more warm lights, but they are pretty cool compared to the other warm lights -- so they cannot go together.  I ran the three strands I bought unplugging all other lights and it was pretty thin.  Several batches of colored lights had chunks burned out.  I almost lost my sh*t and pulled out the lights from when I was a child.  Yes, I fully expect the nearly 50 year old light to still work.  Instead I pulled two tri-colored strands that allow control over how the lights change -- these are probably 25 years old, something I bought early in my adulthood.  Neither of the tree toppers match the color of white so I threw something Avery made at the top and called it a night.  No ornaments have made their way on there yet but that seems to be too bad at this point.

I'm finally sitting down on the couch for a minute and the cat has swarmed me.  Sorry Churchie... I need to go spend some time with the other kitties too!  But first, some of that soup.

I have moaned about it enough here through the years, so I'll cut the mixed emotions and sadness about holidays brief in this post.  As usual we went to one of his aunt's/uncle's. The weather was decent enough that we had our appetizers outside. It receiving a dose of sour on the way home really ruined the day for me.  I'm grateful I don't have to host a big to do because I feel like the amount of work that goes into preparing just a few (unappreciated) dishes isn't a worthy investment.

I am trying to back off the Christmas shopping this year - finally giving in to my sister telling me to not do anything for her and her husband.  I am spending less on my niece and nephew -- well, actually some of the nephew spending is instead going to their kiddo instead.  I am not buying for all of the kids in his family - I'm so over needing to hunt and hunt.  I don't know what to get for him... and it's all odds and ends for Avery at this point - no big/main gift.  Not a thing is wrapped, the thought of that is part of the reason why I am willing to back off how much I am buying.

With my several days off I am hoping to get numerous things ordered.  I got some organizing achieved and some light cleaning checked off.  I also have quality time in front of the TV cuddling with Church and time in the hot tub on my agenda.  I have also been working to get to know 3 new fosters that joined us between Tuesday and Wednesday.  These 3 were with another foster - along w/ 4 others that she trapped as kittens. They're fully vetted, so hopefully their stay will be short.  There is Vader, a long-haired black cat who is a sweet cuddly guy who loves attention, Christian, a gray guy who was a bit more reticent but still quite friendly, and then Buddy who... if I'm being honest, up until a couple of hours ago I thought could be a spicy boy.  He wouldn't return slow blinks and had buried himself under the dresser after pushing books that blocked his path out of the way.  Earlier today I tried to get his attention with a toy (again).  He sat ignoring it until I put it just in front of the dresser.  Next thing I knew a little paw reached out slowly... and then a head popped out.  Next I knew he climbed out and asked for pets!

Waking to another dusting of snow this morning.  I once again am fighting with my sinuses.  It is the same 'routine', so I am pretty sure I can call this chronic sinusitis.  First the drainage gives me a sore throat.  I've gotten smarter and pulled out the netipot sooner during all of this to shorten that part of the process.  This of course clears it out and avoids a sore throat, but it leaves me with nosebleeds and swollen sinuses.  The drainage isn't colorful, so I don't think there is infection - just lots of pressure and inconvenience.  I think I'm headed out the other side already (which is definitely a shorter run) but maybe I'm just feeling better because Tylenol sinus is doing that good of a job.  Hot tea has been a good friend.

Today's the day... first snow.  For a while there were some big fat flakes falling.  Ended up being enough to coat the lawns, but nothing stuck on the roads (thank goodness).

What incredibly odd weather.  Sure we have had several Novembers and Decembers with unseasonably pleasant/warm temps but today had a different feel and smell to it.  It felt like spring - something tangible, maybe the humidity levels?  You can hear the evening sounds like it is spring.  The only thing missing this weekend was my motivation to get a bunch done.

I really need to wash my windows.  What better chance?  Lost.

I did get some organizing and laundry done.  Halloween is all down and on the dining room table - but not away like it should be.  I even put the battery for the drill on the charger so I could properly store the outdoor items (note I bought the brackets I want so screw in LAST Halloween and half-ass put away these items thinking I'd properly stow them in the near term.

We did see Tulip off yesterday afternoon.  Yes, I cried for a minute after she left.  Lavender is set to leave tomorrow while Avery is at school, so she got some extra play/cuddle time in this evening before bed.

It will be a busy week.  Tomorrow I head to get the tires changed out.  Hopefully that all goes as planned and at the cost anticipated.  Later in the week the dentist gets to terrify me again.  There are consignment items to ready and take to an appointment. Oh.. and that voting thing.  God help us.

Ah, anxiety.  There isn't one thing I can put my finger on that is triggering it, but perhaps it is death by 1000 cuts.

I woke up just after falling asleep the other night not quite in a panic attack, but with my brain very focused on an awful event that happened back in the mid-90s.  Yep, it sucked, but I had also not thought of this in years... and the individual involved put me through way more painful stuff a few years later, so what the hell brain?

I tortured myself a bit last night by watching a video an old friend posted.  Sadly, I am no longer part of that person's life and (even more sadly) I know they hurt another friend very much.  Seeing how their life moved on just hit too close to home, likely exaggerating the feelings all around.

There is of course the insanity of our world today.  Prices in general, looming shortages/outages, the forthcoming election... all of it.

I had a day trip for work earlier this week.  Fortunately the weather was good.  It was good to see familiar faces and to have a brief change of pace.  But even this leaves me with unease that feeds the anxiety monster.

Good news that may also add to the pile (simply because I am terrible with change) is that 2 of the kittens are slated to leave for their forever homes in the next week and the third may also have an approved adopter in the next day or two.  That would give me at least an hour of each day back.

I blew it.  I wanted to take Avery to 100 Acres Manor today - they had 2 kid-friendly days, one of which was today.  I had no idea however that I should have booked tickets online in advance.  When I checked the website earlier today for hours I found it was sold out.  I'm bummed.

Instead Avery wanted to go to Spirit... so we drove down to Washington and hit Spirit - and Rural King right next door.

We also baked the quick pumpkin print sugar cookies we bought this morning.  Then I made apple sauce (again -- I know, I'm obsessed) and tried to make caramel apples.  They're in the fridge, hopefully when I pull one out of there it will be in better shape than they were this morning..  If not - that was an expensive fail.  The cans of La Leche are like $3.50 a friggin piece and don't even get me started ont he price of heavy whipping cream.

On the foster cat situation - an update! 2 of the 3 kittens are spoken for, but both will be holding until the start of Nov for pickup... and then there was 1.

Friday fun time!  Since I'm off every Friday this month I gotta get some things done, right?

Today I got up and made a batch of stuffed shells (at 9am).  It served me well for dinner time since we had to run a former foster to the vet at dinner time.

Avery and I headed out before 11 and went to see Lyle Lyle Crocodile (which was more entertaining than I expected) and then headed to Chuck E Cheese for a pumpkin shaped pizza (which was better tasting than I expected).  We did a play pass and spent some time there before buzzing through a couple of stores and heading home. That alone ate most of our day.  I had wanted to go get more apples and to carve Avery's pumpkin, but the good news is there are two days left to our weekend -- that is, if I can rest up.  I'm pooped!

Just a post to quickly note that treadwear guarantees are bullshit.  How can my 60000 mile tires, which I got on my car around 30k and am now at 55k possibly only be worth $20 a piece back.  That is ONLY if I go through the dealership... and don't do their current deal, which is cheaper than full price w/ the treadwear money back.  I can order the tires myself for about $120 cheaper.

Plus, I had to drop the car off this morning so they could check it out etc.  What a scam.

My sister came in from out of state for just over a week.  Another sister was here for the Pumpkin Festival and the third sister was here for 2 nights while the first sister visited.  It was good to visit, but I feel very out of touch w/ work.  I know, it's good for me, but I struggle.

The Halloween parade was nice.  The weather has been amazing.  We enjoyed what we say of the Pumpkin Festival, but I felt rushed through there.  This past week also involved a walk around Peters Twp Lake, a trip to Simmons Farm for a hayride, playtime, and a few more pumpkins, and probably the most tiring thing -- Avery sleeping in my bed.  I love getting to cuddle with her, but I don't sleep as deeply for one reason or another, so I am tired.

I got a little done this weekend -- mostly outside clean up -- but at least I crossed a few things off of the to do list.

This weekend is the Hickory Apple Festival... it's also been raining like crazy, so I bowed out.  Instead, after dance we went to the local orchard and bought from their storefront.  Since we got home I have been working on apple sauce (regular, cinnamon, and strawberry) and an easy apple crumble.  I still have a bag of honeycrisps for eating and an extra bag of golden delicious -- which are particularly delish.

Hopefully next weekend will be nice - I really do not want the Houston Pumpkin Festival rained out -- especially the Halloween parade.  Have I mentioned I love this area and all the activities around here?

Another eff'n filling needs to be replaced.  Seriously.  I have to be out of the old metal ones.  I hate it, but I distrust the need given that every friggin time I go to the dentist I need something traumatizing done.  Insult to injury they gave me different toothpaste (a prescription one... why this is necessary is beyond me) and eff'n charged me $26 for it.  $26!  Honey, no.

This weekend our town has Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest going on, so we had to go down yesterday and have a little fun.  I adored riding fair rides and playing fair games when I was a kid, so I'll cough up the cash for Avery to get the same experience.  It was nice, but it's still pretty stinking hot right now, so I came home feeling like a salt lick.

Yesterday was also Avery's second day of the new year of dance (acro) and she said she enjoyed it, so that's a win.

Today I got my rear in gear and finally found some beets (which were more expensive than I'd like to admit) so I could make another batch of pickled eggs and beets - for canning!  I officially need more medium sized ball jars.  I also want to make a small batch of limeade and chicken gnocchi soup today, but for now I am sitting and relaxing for a minute.

I really need to do some cleaning and get the rest of the Halloween out too.  I suddenly feel guilty for sitting for a minute.

On other news, our Mama Marigold may very well be adopted and heading to her forever home very soon.  I am very excited for her.  I really kind of expected the kittens to go first and Mama to linger a little while simply because she wasn't a baby.

This sucks too.

This morning the foster babies went to get spayed and neutered.  Unfortunately, one of them, Clover (the only boy), will not be coming home.  He coded under anesthesia and couldn't be saved.

He went from deserving the nickname bitey-mcscratchy to being a cuddly guy.  He was so soft and sweet.  His little eyes set a little bit too close and the grunt noise he made when he got excited.

Since we had to leave early this morning I didn't spend the time I should have with them before loading them into the carriers.  That will be my biggest regret.  As we put the crates down where we were instructed I took notice that he was sitting in his in the back right of the cluster staring up at me.

It isn't fair that he doesn't get his forever home.

I am blessed that the rescue offered to give me his ashes when they are returned.  He can take a place with Satin, Vixen, and Danika.  Rest in peace little friend.

From his write up, which had just gone live on Petfinder earlier this week:

Meet Clover

Clover was born in May (2022). He has super soft short fur in a beautiful orange pattern with two white rings at the tip of his tail, which pairs perfectly with his light amber brown eyes. He joined Merlin's with 3 siblings and his Mama. Clover is getting along well with the young child, other cats, and dogs in his foster home. Clover is a confident, inquisitive, and playful guy who is more curious of a running vacuum than frightened.

Clover would love to share a forever family with his sister Sunflower, his favorite wrestling partner, but would do well with any other playmate(s). He is also quite the Mama's boy who readily cuddles up with her every chance he gets. When Clover gets excited, he makes cute little snort noises. His favorite toys are the ball whizzing around a plastic circular toy and a vertical scratching post, which he climbs like a pro. If you are trying to find a guy who is in touch with his feelings and likes to talk, Clover is the one for you.

"A good friend is like a four leaf Clover; hard to find and lucky to have." --Irish Proverb

I did something new!  Technically two new things today, but the one was a target of opportunity.

You see, this morning I had plans to can pasta sauce.  I needed to go through the freezer to find any/all tomatoes I've tossed in there.  I decided to embrace it since it's crammed and I couldn't find diddly when I wanted it.

EVERYTHING came out and I cleaned the bottom/sides.  I reorganized as I put things back - meat to one side, fruit and veg to the other, popsicles and a few other odds and ends on the drawer on top (it is a bottom drawer fridge/freezer).  I also found, all combined I had about 3 loafs of bread in there.  I tend to not use the heels of bread in sandwiches and whatnot, so I toss them in the freezer and use them when making meatballs and/or meatloaf.  Apparently I haven't made enough meatloaf lately and it's been a long time since I made meatballs.  As to reclaim this space I removed all but a few slices and dried them out for bread crumbs whilst the pasta sauce cooked.  I've never made bread crumbs before.  I know that's pretty basic, but it's true.

I also made a double batch of my banana bread recipe.  Yep, you guessed it, lots of bananas in that freezer too.  But I wanted to make a batch anyhow as to offer a thank you to the neighbor who shared a delightful pulled pork they cooked earlier last week and a neighbor who gave us peaches from their tree.

I've never canned before.  My anxiety is high.  I have read so many (conflicting) instructions.  I went with the most conservative of all things with one exception - that is, I forgot to add the citric acid that was bought for this purpose.  As I type the 6 pints of sauce are sitting to cool.  I'm glad I didn't buy larger jars as even with the huge pot I bought they would not have fit (height wise).  I could probably get a 7th bottle in the pot.  I can see how slow going things would be given that you have to get all of that water to boil to sterilize and then allow the jars to sit in there for a long/slow cook.  If you wanted to do several rounds that would definitely slow you down.

I wanted to do some pickled eggs and beets too but the farmer's market didn't have beets this past week.  I also would like to do applesauce, but again - I keep seeing conflicting information, some indicating that you can't/shouldn't do apple sauce w/o a pressure canner.  All for the best as I am exhausted and my feet hurt.

Thanking all of my friends for their prayers and thanking God for answering them.  Church came home this evening.  While he was supposed to be sedate he was himself and very happy to see us, rubbing on us and wanting petting.  I have medicines to administer for a while, which includes some wee hours, but I will gladly do it.

This sucks.

It's true. I have long since admitted this - I love the cat.  Church is the best cat in the world

Tonight my eyes are beyond puffy and my boy is at the emergency clinic.  Long story short he has a urinary blockage.  This weekend I thought he was constipated. Late on Sunday night he threw up.  Monday (a holiday mind you) he was not himself.  He even looked off.  He didn't want water or food.  I cleaned both liter boxes at the same time as to be able to monitor better.  Over the coarse of that day we had one poo and not a single.. pee.  When he was sitting on my lap he started to grumble like he does when his nails are being trimmed.  That's how I really knew he wasn't happy.  I tried to get him to drink.  I tried to get him to eat and the best he did was part of a moist treat.

I had done my googling and after Avery had gone to bed and was starting to be convinced of what is our current diagnosis.  It had me going back and forth on getting Avery up in the middle of the night to take him to an urgent clinic.  I was up most of the night, checking on him at least 4 times.  He was pretty lethargic, but still moving around the house.  Right at 7, when they opened I called the vet and they scheduled us for 11am.

The 11am appointment had me leaving him behind there at the vet.  I was home by noon and had a call from them before 1pm suggesting we transfer him to an emergency vet where he could be monitored all night.  His blood pressure was low, potassium high, and kidney tests off the charts among other worrisome results.  Before he was transferred they drained his bladder with a needle.

After he got settled at the emergency clinic and got some pain meds I got to hold him and love on him a bit before leaving.

I am beating myself up and it is justified.  I should have gone to the ER straight away.  Yesterday.  Late last night.  First thing this morning.  I definitely shouldn't have waited the 4 hours for his appointment.

Regardless, no news is good news - so they told me.  Now we wait.  If you're reading this I ask for your prayers that his levels might get to a place where it is safe for them to sedate him to deal with the urinary blockage.

If Church comes home and I pray that we are so blessed, damn straight it is going to look like that movie Signs in here w/ water every which way to lure him to drink more.  The last time he had moist food he threw it up, but we'll be working him over to more moist and putting water on all other food.

We love you Kiki.  Get well and come home sweet boy.

I try.  I swear I do.  But my patience wears thin at times.  Some days I just want to say "I'm not the idiot here."  But that is frowned upon in polite society.

Dance class spins up next week.  Payment due Sept 1.  Check the site by the 25th for your balance.  Nope.  Gotta get the bank processing that check or it won't get there in time. Received 3 emails each indicating an amount.  Tried to call and no one answers.  Sent a check for those 3 invoices since I am paying "by semester".

Get an email today "the amount you sent doesn't match up with anything" and this is what you owe.  First, it would have taken you 10 seconds to realize that's the total for 3 months minus the $10 balance I had on the account.  Ok, so a semester is apparently (in what friggin world) 5 months even though ya'll end the first week of June and have several weeks w/o lessons in between.  At BEST you're giving 9 months of lessons, but let's be honest it's more like 8 1/2 months since there is a week that is for photos, and a week off for holidays.  Regardless a semester being some screwed up number like 5 months MIGHT be info you want to convey.  Hell, you might even want to bill for those 5 months.  If I log in today I still do not see a balance, only the credit for what I did send.  Get your sh*t together, don't waste my time, I don't like guessing games.

I have picked a few more peppers and continue to get some cherry tomatoes, although not as many.  The roma plant and green onions I snagged from the $1 table at our hardware store are doing quite well - there are 2 tomatoes growing at this point.  Lettuce has petered out.  Next year I need to plant smaller batches each week for a while.

On a whim I took a cut from the bottom of a cabbage and got it to start growing.  Similarly I got an onion that had started growing in my onion bin to start rooting.  Gotta get some practice in where I can before it is desperate times to have some type of produce.

I even bought a few things to do some water bath canning. I type the rest of this paragraph with the caveat that I need to do more research.  I see some folks saying you can do the following without needing to pressure can... but.. I'm paranoid.  I'm hoping the guy across the street offers us peaches from their tree again.  I am also watching for a decent price on tomatoes to do some meatless sauce.  I had bought beets from the farmers market a few weeks ago and made an amazingly delightful batch of pickled eggs and beets.  I'd like to do some of those as well.

I did get a bit of purging of Avery's old toys and smaller clothes done in preparation for her birthday gifts.  I also did a bit of cleaning and reorganizing in my bathroom (under the sinks and in that closet).  It felt good. I need to do more of that.  As I have bought a little extra of food I need to do some organizing in the basement too.

I also still need to get the limoncello bottled.  I filtered it again as it had a bit of yellow at the top.

The other time consuming thing has been the foster family of cats.  They're quite the sweethearts and their personalities are shining.  We have a cuddler, a scaredy cat, a sweetie-petite, and a bitey-mcscratchy.  They are scheduled (at long last) for vetting (spay/neuter) midSept, so the time is quickly growing short before they'll be available for adoption and moving on to their forever homes.

Other stuff... a bought of dizziness kicked in yesterday.  The only time I've had severe dizziness was due to anxiety (like back when my world fell apart).  I'm stressed, but not that bad, so I dunno what's up.  I almost toppled in the shower last night too.  This morning I can add twitchy eyelid to my list of symptoms.  I guess the watermelon margarita I made last night did not in fact cure what ails me.

Peppers!  I have tried to grow peppers a few times through the years with pretty abysmal results.  This year on a whim I bought plants at Simmon's farm -- a 3 pack of bell peppers and a 3 pack of cubanelles.  I had a woman with a very thick accent stop me and offer some advice on picking my pepper plants, which caused me to swap them out for other plants.  Well, the woman was right.

Granted, only 1 of the 3 bell peppers is actually bell peppers, the other 2 are also cubanelles, but the plants are going crazy.  I pulled 4 good sized cubanelles last night to stuff and they turned out amazing.  There are prb another 7 cubanelle peppers and 5-6 bell peppers out there getting to size.  One of the cubanelles also toppled over weeks ago (before it was growing fruit), breaking the top, which set it back -- I'm hoping it will give me fruit in a few weeks.

I continue to harvest lettuce.  I should have started more of it a few weeks ago to take us into the fall, but I'm a slacker.  The basil plant I thought was done resurged and is giving me more fresh basil.  Most of the tomato plants are killing it (except the roma).  Even the dwindled $1 discount roma and scallions are starting to grow nicely and may provide a nice later crop.  The potato tops are large, dark green, and strong.  The mint is flowering, I need to pull the leaves and dry them (I know, I know, I'm late on that).  The carrots never seemed to root down, but they have lovely tops.  Same with the turnips, but I am finally seeing a few little bumps at the top of the soil that make me think I might have something there.  (35 days from germination to fruit?  yeah more like 70.)

Long story short, not bad for a bunch of buckets in the back yard.  Next year I may need to clear a spot in the flower bed above to do some zucchini or other large viney plant.

Also - we have a volunteer sunflower that took up shop with the lettuce.  She is in bloom and looking beautiful.

At long last I got myself in for a fresh pedi.  It was bad.  All but my big toes were grown out.  I took the opportunity after I got in and out at my mammo crazy fast and the place I prefer was able to take a walk in.

I should have stopped to top up my gas tank too.  The station closest to my house was reading $4.25.  Yeah, I think they messed up too.  Everyone else around here is $4.5something right now.  Granted that's down from where it was, but still not as nice as $4.25.

Since my previous post I also managed to get on a bakery's schedule for Avery's birthday cake and cupcakes.  Batman it is!  I also bought a few of the mega millions lottery tickets, so if I disappear you know what happened ;) gotta indulge those "what would I do if" thoughts for a moment or two every now and again, it really reminds you of what and who is important.

I hate birthdays.

Starbucks messed up my free drink - I don't know why, but they don't bother reading/following the customizations on free drinks.

A VM that used to work and pull from Gitlab suddenly has stopped working for no friggin reason while a similar VM continues to work fine.

I'm rocking a cold or allergies that have my nose running and my throat sore.  I took a test, it isn't the wu-flu.

And if I don't already feel marginalized enough, I told kiddo it was my birthday this morning and she asked me if Daddy was coming today.

My happy birthday call from my insurance company has been the highlight of my day so far.  At least I have a massage scheduled to try and improve my morning.  I really want to take the rest of the afternoon off and get a pedi; I only have polish left on my big toes at the top 1/3 -- but ooooh no, there are, of course, meetings.

Someday I will learn to just stay miserable in the comfort of my bed on this day.

Throws self on floor and has tantrum.

I am filtering my limoncello that steeped with strawberries and adding simple syrup today.  It smells pretty darn good and the color is mild but very pleasant.  Back into the container for another couple of months.

I should be upstairs -- I'll explain why in a second -- but instead I am trying to stay busy downstairs whilst Avery is off w/ our favorite egg at the trampoline park.  They don't go do a lot just the two of them, so I am glad we convinced him.  Normally I would have also gone, but again, I need to be downstairs.

Saffy has had a few days of loose bowels.  It was once a day at an odd time during the work week so I had a few messes to clean up - fortunately in the hall and not on the carpet.  Yesterday while we were gone earlier in the day she didn't have a problem but on our later venture out for a wedding she had a few blow outs.  The increased amount/frequency is troubling.  I had her out in the middle of the night and first thing.  She still didn't get through while we were at church w/o another accident.  I made her some rice and she seems a little bit happier at the moment. I realized quickly that I don't have any minute rice here, so I'll be picking some up ASAP.

Now, why should I be upstairs?  Well, I'm crazy you see.  We officially have our first cat fosters here - a Mama and 4 of her 8 week old babies (a 5th was given away before they came to rescue).  Everyone is set up in the spare bedroom.  Gosh they're cute.  Fortunately everyone seems to be eating, drinking, and using the litter, so that's a good start.  Mama is a bit apprehensive, but you can tell she's a nice girl.

More proof I am an idiot with no capacity to keep things straight when under duress.  Today the kid and her dad were ready to go before I was.  In my haste to get out the door I blew it and once again Saffy was left outside.  Dangit, if she would just come in straight away when she's done.  Nope, it's my fault, I can't even say that.  I'm a jerk and an idiot.

Not only did she get left out, but the kid came to mow -- so the gate was open.  Imagine my surprise when I come home and cannot find her ANYWHERE in the house.  Long story short the telephone number on her collar worked and a guy down the road had her, so I was able to quickly pick her up (but not before someone posted her pictures on FB to help him find me).  I mean, I know that's a good thing... but I am so embarrassed and ashamed to screw up like that.  I would have been completely devastated if something had happened to her.  There is no excuse for screwing up like that.

If you recall the last time I screwed up with regard to Saf being outside was the day I went to pick up Zero.  There must be something about other critters or rescue related stuff that causes me to loose my mind.  One of the things we were out to do today was to drop some donations I picked up from a local donor to the folks from Merlin's (where Church came from).

I'm going to go ahead upstairs and continue in my embarrassment. I'll prb also have a nightmare or two as a result.

I will try to end on a good note and state that I spotted the first halloween goodies for sale out in the wild today.

Once again, I am cancelling a cruise (rather than making final payment).  It breaks my heart -- truly, the situation as a whole brings me down pretty hard.  The timing of the neighbors just returning from their cruise probably doesn't help my sadness on the whole thing.

Avery had her first dance recital last weekend.  She danced!  She wasn't over the top (we've all seen the viral videos of kids that get way into it), but she did her thing.  Speaking of which, wanna hear more about how poorly I juggle life lately?  I had it in my head that it was at a different high school auditorium.  We went to the wrong one -- which was also having a dance recital.  After a short period thinking "gosh, I don't recognize any of these people or costumes" we were enlightened and dashed out the door and 6 miles down the road with about 10 minutes to spare.  *smacks self*

The garden, which continues to be in individual containers, seems to be going well enough.  Even the tomato plant that fought it's way back from the brink of death a few times seems to be growing nicely.  The sweet 100s and the roma have started to develop fruit, but nothing turning just yet.  The carrots and turnips (both from seed) have gotten large enough that the second type/shape of leaf has started to form on each.  The potatoes look like they'll offer us a couple of meals.  There was a small pepper started but it has disappeared (glares around at the rabbits).  Basil (the third) and the mint are booming - so much so that I pulled and dried a small harvest of basil last night when I pulled some for an eggplant dish I was making.

Nothing else really to speak of other than work, which has me feeling exasperated all too often as of late.

Another sad example of how far I have devolved from being on top of things:  At 11am this morning my reminder went off on my phone that I was to be at a bridal shower at noon.  Oh crap.  Why didn't past me help future me out by setting a reminder the day before and for something earlier than an hour out?  Mind you, the event was nearly an hour away.  I dashed around getting myself and Avery dressed, slapped paper on the present (thank goodness I bought that a while ago) and we hit the road.  We managed to arrive a mere 10 minutes late, but dang.

This meant I didn't get the things done I wanted to today.  Not all of them anyhow.  I did get some done, which is why I am now completely exhausted.  There is some limoncello started and an ice batch of strawberry lemonade cooling in the fridge.  I also have some strawberry applesauce cooling on the counter at the moment.  To make myself feel a bit better I also got the vacuum out upstairs and down.  Here I sit for a minute with the massager on my lower back lamenting the end of my weekend and trying to get a bit of reading done for work.

Tomorrow is Avery's dress rehearsal for her first (and perhaps last) dance recital.  We haven't practiced.  It's my fault.  Fingers crossed for the event.

Somehow I have already been back to work for two weeks.  I have not, in that time, gotten basics achieved like I should - like cleaning and organizing.  I have had a few minor wins though.

I finally got a few more pictures up on the dining room wall - I mean, it's only been a year since everything was painted, what do you want from me?  I snagged a few sturdy shelves to help facilitate some organizing in the basement and put them together.  I also got prints of Avery's school photos and slid them into cards which got mailed out to my aunts and uncles.

I also got some gardening related things achieved, including getting some quick to grow seeds planted.  I already see sprouts from the lettuce and radishes starting.  Still waiting to see the carrots, which would be super fun if we got those to grow.  Today we snagged some pepper plants and yet another basil plant.  I say yet another because... I had two basil plants started from clippings that were doing well that both suddenly died off at the same time.  I assumed the cat was messing with it.  I bought another plant and hid it away in my bathroom while I was on vacation to avoid the cat issue.  It didn't come back out of the bathroom but it too has decided to die.  It never did start getting any bigger.  This time -- new soil for sure and in a pot outside instead.  The tomato plant that Zero tried to destroy early on was growing nicely but then something dug in the soil breaking off some roots and it looks like it is on life support right now.  If it continues to grow this plant is a miracle.

Today we also went and picked strawberries at a local farm and hit the local pool for the first time this season.  Yeah, I should be cleaning etc, but I sure prefer doing the fun stuff with the kid.  May as well while we still can right?

After more than two years, I finally had a real vacation.  It wasn't a cruise, but it was nice - I didn't take my work laptop!  Avery and I joined up with my sister S and we went to Texas to visit our sister J for a week and two days.  We did a wee bit of shopping, way too much eating, and did a bit of touristy stuff.

In no order whatsoever, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, and yes we saw the baby elephant and baby giraffe.  We went to the stockyards and watched the cattle drive, and poked into Billy Bob's for a drink.  We hit a playground... and more.  My sister snagged a bike off of the marketplace, so Avery was ripping it up and down the driveway.  If we had another week we prb could have taken off the training wheels.  It was pretty darn (unseasonably) warm (high 90s) while we were there, up until the last day when it dropped to the 60s.

When I got back this afternoon I found that my lawn was not tended to as I had anticipated... so I launched into emergency mode.  I mowed what I could before the mower batteries died (that at least covered the front) and then ran the weed eater over most of the back yard to get the bulk of it cut back.  I raked and filled a large garbage can.  I will mow to even things out and address the high spots in a day or two, but I did buy myself some time.

From there I had to hurry to cook some frozen chicken and french fries, per Avery's request, and dive through the shower before running to dance class.  They FINALLY got her dress for the recital, so we had to be in make up and ready to get the outfit on for pics.

Church is super happy to see us.  I had someone coming to see and play with him each day as they tended to him.  The dogs come back from camp in the morning.  I am whooped.  It's been a very long day.  But I do want to cuddle with the kittie while the dogs (read:  Zero) aren't here to make this harder to do.

Shady AF.  I'm going to add this to the list of times where actually HAVING health coverage (or dental in this case) actually results in shit costing more.

When you get a statement of benefits that indicates several hundred dollars as "This provider has agreed to not bill you for the difference between the PROVIDER'S CHARGE and the ALLOWANCE for this service" but they sure as hell DID charge you that several hundred dollars you would think that the insurance company would want to know.

Nope, instead they said "that is between you and your dentist".  Seems a little fraudy to me.

Happy mother's day to all!  Avery and I were up early this morning to go to church.  We were out to celebrate my niece Kate's college graduation last night, making it impossible to make that check in yesterday.  It looks like things are warming up, but the yard is pretty darn soaked, so I am not sure I can mow.  I guess that means I might have to just chill in the hot tub while Avery plays on the swing set.

I am trying hard to relax a bit an back off of the crazy amount of extra work.  This bought me the time -- and miraculously the motivation -- to do a little bit of sorting and tidying yesterday morning.  Avery's downstairs books have all headed up stairs and her games are now in the bookshelf area of her toy box.  Several kitchen cabinets were pulled, cleaned, and sorted.  I pulled the last of the little kiddo stuff from there.  Progress!

At last I have 3 sweet 100, 1 sun sweet orange, and a 1 roma tomato plants.  I got them into the pots on Saturday night.  I am hurrying to type "have" instead of "had" because of the crazy-ass dog.  I may need to bring them up on the deck so I can keep a better eye, at least until they're larger -- but that definitely makes watering a bit more complicated.

I did have the buckets up on the retaining wall to keep them out of reach of said crazy-ass dog.  But when the rains came in on Sunday I wanted them under cover (under the deck).  I did set up chairs and a small barrier around them in an attempt to deter.  This morning I went out and saw the sun sweet orange was plucked from the bucket.  I knew it wasn't a rabbit or other animal... I know who is to blame.  So I searched the yard and found it half decimated.  It is back in the pot, but my hopes are low.  Thanks for eating the equivalent of a $5 bill crazy-ass.

I never did get anything else planted.  The onions and chives I attempted to grow died off.  It is most definitely too late to start anything else from seed.

As of yesterday the cat no longer wants to leave his room and will jump out of my arms in order to stay upstairs.  I have no idea what happened that I missed... but I am none to pleased and can only assume that the crazy-ass dog did something that now has Church leery.  He is still walking with his tail straight up and looking confident, he is willing to play and remains lovey with me -- so I at least don't think it is that he isn't feeling well.

On Friday morning Saffy had me up in the wee hours to the sound of vomiting and again an hour later.  They say nothing gets you out of bed faster, but I still wasn't quick enough and had to clean up a spot on the carpet both times.  I was half asleep when the third round began a mere half an hour before my alarm was set to go off, so I managed to jump up in time.  At that point I decided to stay up -- and fortunately that was the end of the issues.

While my day off fell short I tried to make up for things today.  I did get a load of laundry done -- don't ask if I am going to have the motivation to get it away tonight -- and the lawn mowed and weed-eaten.  The kid once again blew my mind.  When I pulled out the weed eater she told me to be careful and made mention of the baby bird from last spring that had fallen from the nest... one I didn't see before weed eating.  I had forgotten, now I am heartbroken once again.

Now I am getting to sit with the kiddo while we watch Noah, which she received on DVD for Easter.  She seems to be as enthralled as she was last year, which is awesome.

I have nothing figured out for the weekend.  I am sure I will work a little... which in 2 hours would mean I didn't need a single hour of vacation this week despite having had 2 full days off scheduled.  The weather was finally decent again today.  I'm almost afraid to look at the forecast for the weekend.  I can hope that there will be some time outside relaxing and perhaps a dip in the hot tub while kiddo plays.

Fooey.  I was waiting to hear I needed new tires for inspection.  We even found a good deal on the tires in advance - but not the case.  Instead 1k for new brakes.  Oh and the leaking washer fluid is the pump; to the tune of another couple 100.

I opted to not fix the switch that causes the turn signal to trigger the other direction when it kicks off to avoid that 300 bill.

I am off with kiddo today; we were supposed to go do something fun with her bestie.  That too was up-ended.  As she tells the story she found a bead on the floor by one of the classrooms yesterday.  She gave it to her bestie, who put it in his ear.  Long story short they were at medexpress and then childrens overnight to get it out.  Needless to say they are tired and the trip into the burgh for a museum or something is scratched.

While a bad day at sea always beats a day at work... the vacation days I get to take lately sure don't fare as well.

We did have another visit with the Easter Bunny at our favorite consignment shop.  This photo is epic, one we will -- for sure -- share with her boyfriend someday.  She didn't cry, but sitting on his lap was definitely displeasing.

Our weather finally warmed up this week.  I still have nothing growing.  I did plant some onions and chives, but what came up died off -- I am blaming the cat.  I will be snagging plants from the hardware shop as soon as I spot them there.  I'm wondering if I need to get more buckets and grow a little more this year.  Ya know, when they toss about the word famine it seems appropriate.

Work hours remain long.  I do have a couple of days off in the next week, which is coming at a decent time in the grand scheme of the mayhem, but I doubt I'll be charging much to my vacation number as I am getting extra time in in advance.

Of course on the one weekday I was forced to waste some of that day off with a car dealership appointment.  My washer fluid was reading near empty a few weeks back, so I stopped and added a gallon.  I saw some of it on the garage floor and I just knew.  Needless to say the friggin light is back on.  I'm due for inspection too, so at least I can deal with both at the same time, but daggum that's annoying.

It's cold.  It's been pretty cold ever since my last post.  Snow even showed its face on April 1.  Things really need to warm back up.  I didn't get plants going yet, honestly, it's too cold to find the motivation to do it.  I did however get all of the items that needed mending addressed here today.

We had a pretty busy weekend.  There wasn't a day I got to roll back over, instead the alarm went off at the weekday time on both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday we headed out early to get to the Easter egg hunt at my sister's church in Beaver Falls.  While it is cold, it was at least sunny and not frigid.  Avery came home with yet more goodies to pile into her junk food bag piled on top of the fridge.  There was a side trip to a place called Kraynaks which had lots of interesting items to shop and a lovely walk through Easter display.  We also had some ice cream at a neat little shop there.

Today we were up to get to church.  After making breakfast we went to see the Easter Bunny at our favorite consignment store.  4 years later and I'm still getting photos of Avery frowning and trying to crawl off of that rabbit's lap.  When we returned I finished that mending I mentioned and now -- here I am, tired, but I have so many other things to tend to.

Last week Avery and I got our hair cut one night and the next morning the mobile groomer came to get the dogs freshened up.  That of course expedites the massive shedding.  I took my time vacuuming towards the end of the week and doubled the amount of crud dumped from the vacuum bin but the house is still a mess.  I've been working my share of long hours still.  It takes its toll in multiple ways.

Parts of the yard have grass starting to grow, heralding summer.  Only in the back yard, as always -- one area tends to require attention before the entire lawn is ready for mowing.  Our weather has been pretty decent, but it is to turn cold and potentially snow again this weekend.  As the sky turned white and the temps plummeted I got the first pass with the lawn mower checked off.  I got back in just before drops started appearing on the windows.

The time has been flying.  I continue to work longer days and on the weekends.  I do look forward to my Friday night when I relax with the kiddo and get to cuddle watching videos in bed while she falls asleep.

I caved and dropped my taxes at H&R Block after running my own guestimates on their online goodies.  They more than earned their keep.  I was guestimating a significantly smaller amount back and the token couple of bucks owed to PA.  Turns out they multiplied my guestimate by 5 and got me a couple hundred back from PA!  THAT is a first.  I don't know why I didn't know that putting money into a 529 for the kiddo had such benefits.  The crappy thing is their online tool does base some of the questions off of your previous year's details, but still it appears you have to be aware of things and hunt them out to get it right.

I also got my temporary crown earlier this week.  The process itself wasn't awful, but the anxiety that I have about the dentist, the drill, and the gosh awful smell came along with me to that appointment and had me twitching and in tears before he touched me.  It is pretty remarkable that it doesn't feel different to chew or close your jaw -- but there is a little bit of 'feeling' at the bottom that I certainly hope won't be there when the perm one is place.  At least for that they need not numb me so I will be able to provide this type of feedback.

I tested Zero by (inadvertently) leaving him out while I ran to pick up fish fry today.  I did discover the banana he jacked form the counter and partially ate.  *shakes head*  I know it took years to get some of the sibes to the point where I knew I could trust them out of the crate when I was gone, so I shouldn't be surprised.  Maybe my expectations are too high.  It's best to lock him up just to give Saffy and Church a break.  That's one thing I can't tell when I return, but neither one of them flipped me the middle paw when I returned.

I booked flights to visit my sister in Texas, thus making this a banner week.  It was definitely a long week, so I needed that boost.  It is remarkable what having something to look forward to can do for you.

I needed that boost because my visit to the dentist earlier this week was less than desired.  So one of the molars with a filling in the middle has a piece missing and they are concerned with the whole thing crumbling.  Hence, I am sentenced to a crown -- and not the kind I deserve.  I'm not thrilled.  I am such a bad dental patient.  I'd rather go under for a colonoscopy or frozen shoulder treatment again.  Hell, those things were cheaper too - so I guess in a way I am getting routed up the rear like a colonoscopy.

I need to get a good night's rest so I can try to finish my taxes.  I may do them myself this year as to avoid the $300+ fee from HR Block.  It just makes me anxious.

I booked a cruise!  It feels sooooo good, even if it isn't a guarantee that I will get to go.  My $1000 in cruise credit from a fall 2020 sailing have been applied for a sailing later this year.  The C&A rep indicated that "off the record" they are considering relaxing some of the requirements which prevent me from sailing in April or May.  What a glorious day that will be.  I also suspect that will also be the day I book another sailing before this one.

Not much else to talk about.  Lots of work - evenings and weekends.  Getting a little extra bank to fund said pending vacations I suppose.

Birds and buds!

As with previous years since moving to where I am, I have spotted rounds of robins throughout the winter.  But to keep with tradition I will note that over the weekend I spotted several individual robins out and about foraging.  Last year it was March 3, so I feel like we're ahead of schedule even for this area.  The trees in the parking lot by the chinese restaurant I prefer also appear to be budded, this too has been one of the earlier signs I spot around here.

The joys of a newer home.  As Avery walked upstairs last night she told me the stairs were broken.  When I returned with her to investigate I had to thank her for pointing out to me that two more pieces of wood holding the spindles on the stairs had popped loose.  I say more because a couple of other ones were loose over a year ago.  Gorilla glue has been applied and nothing is falling apart at the moment.

Another thing that drives me crazy here is the flooring, which I have probably only mentioned as being worn or builder grade.  The carpet is crap -- but the best part is the spot outside of my closet where I think there is a screw laying sideways under the carpet.  The vinyl flooring in the bathrooms has spots where it's been damaged and is trying to lift up.  The fake wood on the main floor scoots back and forth under your steps giving quite the nice haunted house effect.  All of it cracks and pops, especially upstairs, likely thanks to subflooring that is not properly secured.

If I ever have don't give a poo money I'd like to build a place that harkens to the older homes - real wood trim and doors, neat architectural elements, and quality products applied in a solid and reliable way.  I suspect that the last little item in my list would be hard to find these days.

Still having waves of struggle.  I piled on by accident when I spotted something that reminds me of many years ago -- for someone else.  Then there was preparing a meal and opting to wait until tomorrow morning to go to church only to find I could have skipped cooking.  *sigh*

I do believe God has this.  All of it.  My personal "this", the country's "this" the world's "this".  I know that when I allow it all to get to me I am letting the enemy win -- but still I struggle with the fears welling up.

I haven't had to fight the blues much in recent years.  Maybe it was the hormones and changes from being pregnant... maybe it's just having Avery around, I dunno.  But I guess we all have our ups and downs.  Personally, I'm going to blame Valentine's day, it is often a good reason to be bummed out.

Life is flying by.  There is lots of work to do and not enough hours in the day.  The routine just consumes everything, ya know?  It is what it is.

I think the masks do very little, I hate them, you know this.  If given the option, I do not wear them.  That said, when I see someone wearing one I assume that they are more concerned.  As a result, I give them extra space etc.

I've never liked people in my space (prb one of the reasons I hated Walmart back when I actually went there).  One of the BENEFITS of the past two years has been that people stay the heck out of my personal space.  I've grown quite accustom to this delight.

Last night at the grocery store I was looking at the various cans of beans trying to find the baked beans I prefer.  The cart w/ Avery is in front of me and I am turned at a 45 degree angle looking at the shelf.  All of a sudden I sensed someone in my space and turned to my right/behind me to see a lady's masked face close enough that I reeled backwards a little.

If you are wearing a mask WTH are you doing getting that close any other human being?  Lesson learned - I need to cough more to claim my space.

Ice-pocolypse 2022 update:

While I am sure the roads were gross enough to warrant closing today daycare today I am still annoyed.  They closed at 3pm yesterday too, even though the temps were still above freezing at that point (and for a while after). I know, I know... they are just trying to keep everyone safe, but I am so over the closures. I probably wouldn't blink about this if we didn't have all of the covey related closures in the past few months on top of these weather related closures.

I do still think they've been taking more liberties than they should for "pending" weather.  This isn't school age kids who can continue with remote learning.  Avery does decently plopped in front of the TV while I continue to work and I should be grateful that she isn't younger, right?

After waking I saw quite a few posts on the local FB groups about power outages, so I kicked on the fireplace (gas with an electric starter). I don't want to turn it off, just in case, but it's starting to get toasty in here.  It might be shorts weather inside soon.

Speaking of power outages!  I got another call about a planned outage.  ahem.  So I guess they didn't do the work the last time?  *sigh*  Add this to the list of distractions and irritations about my efforts to get work in.

I just went and shoveled the driveway.  At the moment snow flurries are picking up.  I wanted to get any ice/crud out of the way as that is definitely heavier.  I'd say we had a nice 1" of crunchy mix under the dusting of snow from overnight.

In my defense I'm pulled too thin.  Our favorite egg was staying away after he was sick, visited once or twice and then had a repeated bow to other lingering ailments which has him staying away again.  My days are loaded with meetings, so trying to find a window between said meetings for an early pick up yesterday was fun.  I'm also supposed to be trying to get OT in at this point.

If I wasn't so embarrassed, posting a picture of my basement would sum things up.  The Christmas stuff isn't 100% away and there is a pile of outdoor Halloween decorations that never made it closer to 'away' than my garage.  I need to get my butt in gear because I now have the plumber coming due to the leak on the back outdoor faucet kicking back up - and he will need my junk out of his way to work inside.

Last summer I may have complained about the bib outside not always shutting off properly.  If you turned it back on and off again you would eventually get it to really turn off and stop dripping.  Naturally I did this before winter and put a cover on the bib.  Well, it started to run on me again *big scary blinking danger sign in Jan-Feb*.

Yes, there are shutoffs running to the bibs, but they're not where you'd think they would be.  They were found, but the one to the drippy bib wouldn't turn the whole way (go figure).

We went bowling today. It's been over 5 years which includes having a kiddo and a frozen shoulder and I did pretty darn well.

Our weekend was pretty peaceful.  Stuck around the house until evening church service last night after which we did a little shopping since the kid pushed to go have dinner down in Washington.  Today I got a bit of time in for work before we headed to bowl.  I am feeling pretty fulfilled this weekend.  Glad I got to spend some quality time with her.

On a sad note my cross broke.  I had it off after a massage last week.  When I tried to put the necklace back on I dropped the pendant and the rose gold portion separated from the silver portion.  At least I found a good repair place.  Fingers crossed that it can be repaired.

Last week the electric company notified me that they had a planned power outage for my house/street/area this morning.  I looked at the weather and it said low of 23 and a high in the 30s, so I wasn't sweating it.  This morning it was -7 on the way to take Avery to school.  The weather app was sticking to its guns claiming the low for today was going to be 23. *blink blink*

I headed to Starbucks for a few hours.  When I checked in via their text message service it indicated my power wasn't out.  I called their 800 number and was told that the work was done.  I was home early enough for most of my daily meetings to be from here rather than on my cell w/ the sbx noise in the background, but the power wasn't out. *shrug* ok, I'm good with that for sure... but how much are we betting the power is out by surprise some other day instead?

Speaking of work calls, I'm about done w/ all of them.  I'm truly struggling to get things done because it's one call after another.  The best part are the calls when you need to indicate what you did since the call yesterday... approximately NOTHING.  #feelingaccomplished

My shoulders and back did remarkably well despite the snow shoveling.  The strained feeling was minimal and I was pleasantly surprised.  Still coughing.  I wonder sometimes if you just end up in a habit of coughing which makes it go on longer than it needs to.  I tell myself to just not cough, but well... you know, what's the first thing you do when you think "don't do this".

Critter updates - Saffy goes for her yearly checkup tomorrow.  She was enjoying the snow with Zero earlier this week and feeling spunky.  Zero is doing ok.  There are some things he just needs to get through his head; I'm hoping consistency will be the hammer that gets them in there.  Church no longer lets me trim his nails easily, so I am trying to figure out how to get him to work with me without getting swatted at.

 It's the second half of January and we got our first _real_ snow overnight.  To be fair, most of the Western half of PA and several states south of us also got significant snow as well.  I went out to shovel the driveway twice last night in an effort to spread out the pain.  I still had a good bit this morning to clear away.  Even though I expect no one I still shoveled the stairs.  I was also a good girl and cleared around the fire hydrant in my front yard -- you're welcome neighbors.  It's been blowing around, so it's hard to guestimate the overall depth but I'd say we have 6-7".  School was closed today due to the snow fall, so I didn't need to get shoveled out, but I bet I'll see people turning around in my driveway more often today as a result -- again, you're welcome neighbors.

I no sooner finished shoveling and the flurries began again.  While I am reminded to be grateful that my shoulder functions this winter I am also saying a prayer that they still function tomorrow despite the abuse.

Happy 100th birthday in heaven to Betty White.  I made my little donations to my favorite Cat and Dog rescues, you should do the same :) 

Long before I realized today was Betty's birthday we had also assigned this day to Church based on lose guestimates that he was prb around 6 months old when we adopted him on July 17.  It worked out well to not overlap Mom's birthday or Saffy's birthday, so the 17th it was labeled on my calendar and today he got a special treat with his breakfast.  Even he watched me shovel the show this morning from the front window.

This past week saw daycare closed for 4 days... again.  I'm tired.  But more than that I feel guilty for the amount of time the kiddo spent watching videos.  Yes, some of them were educational, but nothing compares to real learning time.  Our favorite egg has been staying away because he tested affirmative.  Looks like that stint isn't up because he got another affirmative despite feeling better.

I guess if he had it that is what I had nearly two weeks ago?  If so what they advertise as primary symptoms are off the mark for the latest flavor.  This makes it all the more lame that they continue to check for fevers at school.

The doggo has been a bit more tolerable.  I am trying to be more diligent about some things to mitigate potential issues.

This weekend Zero has decided to go into 100% hardcore drive me insane mode.  We went outside to enjoy the snow Friday after school/work and he promptly jumped up, putting both front paws on Avery toppling her over.  She plopped down on her butt, and gratefully didn't end up smacking her head on the concrete, which could have easily happened.  I feel like all I did this weekend was yell - "leave the cat alone", "don't jump on her" (he will jump onto the couch not carrying if he's landing on Avery), "get out of there".  Today we went to the trampoline park and hung out w/ Avery's best buddy for a couple of hours.  We returned home to find that he was able to reach a significant amount of Avery's stuff.  If he can reach it from the crate he drags stuff into the crate and destroys it.  Her tent and tunnel, or what remained on the main body of each anyhow, are both in the trash at this point.  Her sleeping bag has a hole that will need to be repaired.  Avery didn't cry a ton, which I am surprised by, but grateful for.

I'm over it.  I can't stand having this huge crate in the middle of my living room forever.  There isn't a bigger space to put it where nothing can be reached.  You can't have it up against anything, as I learned in my bedroom, because when he has a poo accident you get to clean the whole wall too!

This has been an expensive few months with him - and I don't even leave very long/very often.  How long before him stomping on Avery, Church, or Saf is more than an annoyance?  What if he pushes Avery down the stairs?  What if he really hurts the cat?

I did it.  I left the message saying I just can't do it anymore.  I don't know what else to do.  I never thought I'd be this person.  I miss the peaceful existence I had 4 months ago.

Saffy had her 13th gotcha day on the 3rd (we labeled her 14 yo as a result).  With Zero's birthday right after Christmas and Church's birthday earmarked for later this month we'll do one celebration later this month.  That buys me some time to figure out what I am going to do for them.  I'd like to think that I would make them some special treats - but let's be honest, even when I didn't have a kid and a lot more free time I didn't make treats but a couple of times.  I think I need to order something special and maybe plan to cook up some meat and rice to distribute to the gang.  Other ideas are welcome.

Avery and I have a lovely cough.  Around the same time I also managed to get sore ribs (intercostal muscles) again (from being in the car for a couple of hours) and shifted back to no longer being overheated.  I thought briefly that I was going down hard, but I had no fever - I truly think that my hormones finally flipped back the other direction.  It's been a couple of years that I was rarely even wearing a winter coat out of the house, but the past few weeks I have found the 20s to be painfully cold.  My sinuses are now pissed off, so it's time to do the neti pot tonight and get past this.

I have been going back and forth on my extra vitamins because I was trying to determine what was causing my nosebleeds.  I would take them for a couple of days and then have 3-4 nosebleeds a day.  Stop the vitamins and a couple of days later the nosebleeds would stop.  Debugging has led me to blame the zinc.  Further searches tell me that supplementing zinc could drain your body of copper thus giving you the nosebleeds.  Very interesting.  So the question is, can you supplement copper?  I need to research more.  At least I can continue w/ my vitamin d, vitamin c, and n-acetyl cystine.

I have been telling myself I am overdue for purging.  I need to go through so many things and cut some stuff loose.  I had taken one quick load to donate before the new year (baby bedding and a queen sized comforter since I no longer have a queen bed in this house).  Last night I found the last minute motivation to clean out the kitchen junk drawer!  It took way longer than I would have liked, which should make the full task in front of me seem extra daunting, but it was therapeutic.  I found myself quickly gathering a garbage bag of clothes before bed too.  I need to go through the other cabinets and closets and then maybe I'll have the momentum necessary to tackle the basement.