Here we are again.  Another year has blurred by.

Let's take a look back at 2023:

- I got past my anxieties about traveling after so long without.  I also resolved the lack of cruising situation.  Win-win!  Avery and I took two absolutely delightful vacations, both of which included a cruise, but also a few days before relaxing in paradise. Our time in Galveston and Cocoa beach before each cruise was just as fun and therapeutic as the cruises themselves.  Sailing with a kid that heads off to Adventure Ocean definitely is different.  I didn't really know what to do with myself - but it was nice to have a chance to sit and read.

- We again had passes to the public pool this summer and Avery had a few more swimming lessons. There was a trip to Kennywood (and Avery rode the rides she was big enough for like a champ).  We didn't get out to other new adventures, but I think the vacations counted big time.

- Saffy had her moments this past year that really worried me.  It is to be expected, she's going to be 16 in a few days.  For now, she seems to be doing ok.  The poo accidents are just part of our daily routine now.  I don't love it, but it could be worse.  I'm glad she's still with us.  Zero is still crazy.  He just celebrated his 4th birthday, so I have a couple more years before I can expect him to chill out a bit.

- Church has done well this past year, although we did have a UTI late this year that scared me thinking he was blocked again.  He loves having a new brother.  Barnabas didn't stay little long.  He loves to plop on my chest in the middle of the night and purr his little heart out.  They keep each other entertained.

- We have had more foster cats come and go in 2023:  The three that were with us over last new year (Vader, Buddy, and Christian) all went to on to their forever families.  Then a few as singles that came and went (Viktor, Cupcake)... and one that came and never left (Barnabas)!  Presently we have three more from the trapping efforts this year (Summer, Pickle, and Jackson).

- Supporting the rescue I applied for a few grants.  I am proud to say that we secured a $2000 grant from one of the places I had identified.  The have more trapping to do in one location and of course the bills are constant, so it will definitely help out.  We also helped out at the mass trapping efforts with a few activities; it was an interesting learning experience.

- As noted last year, my mortgage has been stretched out and will be going well into 2024.  Honestly, if it stretches beyond this year I will be disappointed with myself -- but that does necessitate me _really_ stepping up my pace again.  This also means that I need to keep other spending in check (this statement does not apply to cruising, come at me).

- My health hasn't changed.  Take that for what it's worth.  It means I'm still way too fat.  It means I still ache here and there.  I'm not giving up on myself making a change, I just need to find that spark and it isn't something I can manufacture.  The days go by so quickly.

- The house remains neglected. The carpet desperately needs to be replaced, but it doesn't make sense with a 16 year old dog.  I wish there were things on my to do list that weren't major undertakings ($$$$) so I could make a bit of progress.  I did replace a few lights downstairs, so that's something.  I'm quite pleased with what we put in.

- The garden went well with a few exceptions. Carrots did way better than the year before.  Beets did great.  Lettuce did great, tomatoes always do pretty well.  Potatoes did decently.  We had a few peppers, but they were small and unlike last year the cubanelles were duds.  Broccoli was a huge fail.  The pumpkins were a tease.  The one notable win in that I got a lot going from seeds in the basement under a grow light - which is a first for me.

- We did spend quite a few evenings outside enjoying the nicer weather.  It's good to have the swingset, scooters, and the awesome neighbors.  Remember the years where I said I wanted to be a bit more open and friendly with neighbors?  It took some time (and the right people) but success!

- I did take a solid pass on the whole garage clearing some things out (not as much as I probably should have), reorganizing, etc.  Let's not talk about the basement.

- Work is what it is.  A bit like Groundhog's Day with numerous cycles of stress and repeating activities (weekly and monthly statuses) that highlight how quickly time is flying by.

- Let's talk about ick.  Early this year Avery got really sick - vomiting and all - for the first time since she was little.  At least now she knows what her stomach is telling her and she is able to grab the garbage can in time.  Late this year (right after Thanksgiving) I went down with chills and all (flu?) and a cough that continues to plague me.  She's been coughing even longer.  I'm ready for that to all go away.  I will say that I count myself fortunate that we did NOT get sick while on vacation.  Perhaps I need to maintain the crazy amount of preventative vitamins year round for both of us.

- Then there's the kiddo!  She graduated from Pre-K and started Kindergarten at Central Christian Academy (which was indeed my first choice) -- which she gets to ride a bus to (much to her pleasure).  We dance, spin, and laugh in the mornings out front while we wait for the bus.  She even had her first field trip (to the Children's Museum, which I never got around to doing this year, so that's a win).  She's doing well at school learning to read, doing basic math, learning more about God -- all the good things.  She doesn't fight me on doing her homework and likes to read books together.  She also enjoys catechism class, making that necessity a whole lot less painful than I expected.  She remains helpful and kind - the best thing I've ever been a part of.

- This year Avery was Wolverine for Halloween.  She still likes her superheros and cars, but has added transformers to her likes.

Here is the wish list for 2024:

- More cruises!  We do have two booked for this year, one in June and one in July.  We really need to get back to my sister's place too, but I said that last year as well.  The travel window now that we're in school is definitely narrow.

- I said it last year and I'll say it again - I need more local activities.  We didn't get to the Zoo last year or the Pittsburgh Botanical Gardens.  As she gets taller and can do more we need to get back to Kennywood again too. I really need to do what I did a few years ago - and just block a day off for each summer month that we can go do something.

- I will keep going on the mortgage - as noted before, I need to step it back up and get it gone.  Fact is next year I can start contributing to retirement with "catch up" amounts - how horrifying is that?  I'll need those extra funds there.

- We didn't start karate this year, but I'm hoping she'll have interest when she turns 7, which is the age the one school will allow her to start the one style of interest.  I am pretty sure we'll do more with swimming lessons, I want her swimming actual freestyle this year and able to swim in deep water.

- I will continue with my garden.  Spacing out lettuce worked out well this past year.  Give us all of the tomatoes - the kid will gobble them all up.  I need to get things started earlier this year - relatively soon.  We will keep going with potatoes and carrots.  I will try again with my peppers - I do wish cubanelles grew from seed.

- I hate writing this because I get disappointed in myself every year, but I have to say it and I have to feel bad about it if I miss the mark... I want to lose weight.  I also want to stretch more both to reduce the aches and pains but also to regain some of my lost range of motion.

- I also want to learn how to do something new.  Have I made my own pasta yet?  No. Have I figure out how to make a good chinese brown sauce?  No.  This might warrant a separate list.

- Another big goal is to clear things out that I don't need.  Sell it, donate it, trash it - whatever the case may be.  I need to get some things cleared out.

- We will continue to foster cats.  I want to do more to help them identify the resources they need to keep doing the work they're doing.

I hope everyone who stuck it through and read to this point had an amazing 2023.  I pray that your 2024 is blessed.

I went for a massage this morning - definitely needed to work out the knots in my shoulder/back from compensating for my ribs.  The ribs are good - but if I press directly, I can still feel the tenderness.  My cough is 99% gone too.  That means Avery's cough has been going on longer than mine - and mine was around for a month.  Soooo... I called her doctor yesterday and they got her in.  There was no concern about her cough and honestly they felt that it could have an allergy component, so claritin it is.  At least I was able to get her the flu mist while we were there.  She dodged getting the flu when I caught it, but there is still a few months of flu season left.

It's been a good week off.  I managed to get 2 naps in!  They say you can't "catch up" on sleep, but I beg to differ.  I feel so much better.  Yes, I still slept all night both nights w/o issue.

Leading up to Christmas I managed to get all of the cleaning done, which at least means I didn't have a ton of that type of stuff to do this week  I also got that batch of chocolate chip cookies made - we needed it for Santa's plate.  I made a cranberry, pineapple, apple, mandarin orange dish for Christmas eve.  Christmas day was a chicken fajita bake, rice, and salad.  We have one more obligation tomorrow that I need to make something for.  I'm going with another fruit-salad type thing.  I'm so over the big to dos.

Avery seems to be happy with her gifts this year.  We even took a nice long walk yesterday.  Well, I walked, she rode her electric scooter.  I am feeling compelled to take the decorations down.  It would be nice to not need to use a weekend after I'm back to the grind to do all of this.  Maybe with what remains of my time off I will take most everything down and strip the tree to just lights.

4 days left... I stayed up last night and wrapped more gifts including a few for the critters and some that came from aunts for Avery.  I ran out yesterday at lunch to get a gift card for the bus driver.

Still to do:  finish cleaning, figure out what we're making and taking to Christmas eve, figure out what we're making to eat on Christmas, buying the necessary supplies for those meals, and maybe make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I mean, I don't need more cookies, especially since I've received a few desserty gifts from neighbors and family, but it doesn't feel like Christmas if I don't have them and it's a nice way to spend a little time with Avery that I know she will remember fondly, as I do.

Avery has a half day on Friday.  I could and probably should keep working, but I might embrace it and use that as a bit of catch up time.

On the health front:  I am still coughing.  My ribs feel about 95% better, but I can still feel it and need to "get into position" to cough w/o hurting myself.  At least I feel well enough to move around more freely and can get in and out of bed easier.

I hate snow to begin with, but having my kid on the bus on the way home yesterday when weather physically slapped my house and dropped a pretty heavy dusting in 10 minutes was unnerving.  This morning we got a call from the bus driver asking us to walk down to the first intersection on the main entry road in the plan because of the roads being pretty rough.

It was a pretty slick walk.  Avery started to tumble once, but I had a hold of her and some pretty clunky boots on that held me in place.  Thank God my lungs aren't where they were 2 weeks ago or I would have died trying to walk home.  After passing the cars sliding about.  We got there in time to find the exit on the main road backed up and people turning around.  Fortunately, the salt trucks were also coming through by this point.  On the walk back I got to relay to a few high schoolers that their bus got stuck, but was on its way.

Regardless, putting your kid on that bus and telling her to sit and stay firmly in her seat w/o conveying your anxiety to her is quite the challenge.

It is only a half an hour later and the roads are clear enough now that the later buses are rolling by out front w/o an issue - thank God.

6 in one hand and half dozen in the other?

Saturday I got up and we headed out with a few things on our to do list.  After leaving the post office (I'm very late getting Christmas cards out) I decided I needed to add a stop to our list.  As I always do in the fall, I have needed to add air to the tires, but the rear passenger has consistently dropped faster and more each time.  On this day when the car dinged to tell me this tire had low pressure I knew I needed to get it looked at.  I took a leap of faith after searching local tire places and headed to one on our main street (Pike).  Just a little shop, several people there waiting - all of which said they trusted this place and come there when they need something with tires.  I also learned they own the repair shop across the road, so that's a good tip.  It was a bit of a wait due to first come first served, but I left having only spent $27.  Tiny screw in that tire, but in a repairable spot, so win.

From there we went and snagged more apples from the local orchard, but I scrapped the other few stops I wanted to make since I was already well into the afternoon.

Today on the other hand I had to call the vet for Church.  We noticed him in the liter box a few times just standing there.  If you recall, he's had urinary blockage before, so I am not playing around.  Fortunately, he's not blocked, but he does have a UTI, so it's medicine time in my house for the next two weeks.  We will also be shifting Barnabas to the Urinary Care food as to avoid Church sneaking kitten chow, which probably doesn't help matters.  This bill was definitely more, but still way cheaper than a blockage and emergency care.  Merry Christmas Church.

Speaking of which, my gift to myself this year is quite small and inexpensive.  Many many moons ago a friend bought me KitchenAid brand kitchen towels.  I've literally had them for 20 years and they remain quite usable.  Well, I ordered myself another set of KitchenAid towels.

On Sunday we went to see Wonka, courtesy of Grandpa Joe's Candy shop - they had hidden passes around town a few weeks ago.  It was a good time and they even had a table full of free candy at the front.

With part of my Saturday hijacked and our activities on Sunday I once again didn't get cookies made.  I did get a bit of cleaning done on Friday/Saturday, although not as much as is necessary by Christmas.  My ribs still feel like I've been beaten and I still have some coughs (although less).  My upper right back has been tightening up due to compensating for my side, so I'm still pretty gimpy.  Time to pull out the massager.

I stopped taking meds on Sunday because it had been two weeks and I wanted to give my liver a break.  By dinner time, I took a bite of food and felt pain on the left side of my mouth -- whee!  Sinus infection.  Good to know the meds did nothing to help my lingering issues but they masked a legit problem.

Monday I scheduled the earliest available appointment at my PCP (Wed at 11:45am) and then called leaving them a message asking for any slot if someone cancels.  Fortunately, they called back and got me in yesterday at 11.  I left there w/ two prescriptions, one for an antibiotic for my sinuses and one for a cough suppressant.  I don't think the cough suppressant is doing much - it is a "take as needed" thing but the mouth pain is gone already after 3 doses of the antibiotic.

My ribs are the biggest source of my pain at the moment.  Pretty sure the coughing did this to me, but I feel like someone took a baseball bat to my right side.  It's hard to get in and out of bed and most movements are giving me a sharp pain.  I had to get help to lift the 30lb bag of dog food last night.  This all needs to go away -- now.  It's time to start cleaning in prep for Christmas since I'm obliged to have people here.  I was supposed to get the house cleaned tomorrow, but my cleaning person is afraid of getting sick, so I'm on my own.

Of course, while I'm gimping around and struggling everyone in my house has lost their mind.  The cold snap has Zero running circles.  Church and Barnabas needed a play session last night before bed and the foster kittens are running amok.  

I neglected to mention the one very odd thing that happened last night!  My favorite egg arrived and when he opened the door to walk in a finch flew in with him.  It was flying around - the dogs and cats immediately took interest.  After getting everyone locked up we chased it around for a while trying to convince it to go out the back door.  Failing miserably in that attempt I got lucky and he flew into the downstairs bathroom.

I slipped on some gloves and we found Avery's butterfly net.  Between the two I was able to catch a very tired finch and put him out back.  He sat out there at the top of a post for a while but eventually flew off.  How crazy - and it was after dark, so what were you doing out there little buddy?

I'm still coughing.  For the most part it is completely non-productive.  The sinuses slamming shut thing came back with vengeance the night before last.  Around 3am my head completely closed and my only option to sleep was w/ my mouth hanging open, hence drying out my throat further.  I hate that everything gets caught in my chest for a month.  What to do about it?

Cough syrup doesn't do anything.  Tylenol helps my head, but not the cough.  Allergy meds didn't clear my head.  My inhaler didn't help my cough.  Warm tea did nada.  The neti pot was futile, I couldn't get it to flow through and salt water got trapped so I then had pockets of it draining out overnight (yum).  The steam of a hot shower didn't change much.  I never had any fever with any of it... but could I have a sinus infection?  Between the two issues I want to call the doctor, but I'd be pretty pissed if I spend $100+ to go and they tell me it is what it is that I just need to wait it out.  I'm almost at the 2 week mark of taking various medicines, that can't be a good thing to keep doing.

Update on the fosters - Pickle and Summer get a shot and a chip today (I guess the mobile clinic ran out of chips).  All 3 had their second dose of dewormer.  That means they will all technically be ready to go.  Pickle and Summer are doing well and will play and cuddle a bit, they are both still apprehensive, but will accept pets and both purr.  Jackson on the other hand definitely needs more time.  If Pickle and Summer go quickly I'll be able to give him more focus.  In the mean time I may need to put him back into a smaller containment area.

I still feel a bit woozy -- like when you first put on a new pair of strong glasses, a bit weak, and cold.  I slacked this morning until just before my 11am stakeholder call but truly still didn't feel like doing the things that need to be done.  I, as my mother would have called it, "rested my eyes".  Ultimately, I don't think this one will kill me.  Admittedly it is prb my own fault for not getting a flu shot this year, something I have done for the past 15 or so years... but my distrust is too high to convince myself to do it.

Of course, now you have the next novel cough-cough spinning up in chy-na.  Get ready for the long cold winter of death in preparation for an election year where you simply MUST vote by mail.

In theory I go back to work tomorrow.  I'm tempted to take another day to make up for my lost time... but I'd prb feel bad for do so.

I froze all night, but the chills broke (note, not once did I show as having a fever) earlier today and I am back to overheating way too easily (I just came back in from sitting outside for a minute).  What overheated me was lugging several containers of Christmas decorations up from the basement, which took 2x as long as it should have due to breaks in between.  I definitely still feel wobbly and a bit off.  The only thing I put up though was the greenery on the front door.

I didn't get up until 9am this morning and that was due to my lower back aching from being in bed too long.  So I moved to the couch and wiped out until around 2pm.  I have to praise the kiddo, she understands I am not feeling well and has been so sweet.  She's kept herself pretty busy and has repeatedly asked me if I'm okay.

I did get up to feed her and to tend to the beasts.  When I get sick I am always reminded of the flu I had in January or February of 2020, right after the ex had headed to NC.  That will always be my measuring stick.  This round of ick was tolerable - At least I walked to put the dogs out and didn't have to crawl.

Hopefully I don't feel like a complete pile of poo when the tylenol wears off.  I'm not much for taking meds, but this is an occasion that calls for it.  I even took 2 tablets instead of 1.  I did wrap up the chicken and the enchiladas are baking, so we will have a decent dinner.

The signature drink for Thanksgiving went over well.  I did make a bit of a mod to it... partially because I didn't have enough heavy cream as required for the amount I was mixing and the mac and cheese I was making, but also to reduce the irish cream and up the vodka.  The mac and cheese recipe came from the Monin website - the place where I order my flavored syrups.  Color me surprised that they had so many non-alcoholic recipes.  It too was pretty darn good and I'm pleased to have leftovers.

I didn't get a ton done this weekend.  I was supposed to be off on Friday but I put in a solid 6.  Saturday we mixed up the dough for pizzelles, good thing too or I wouldn't have budged to make them today.  I spent more time on the couch today fighting with sinusy issues than I'd like to admit.  I did do an emergenc this morning because I was feeling a bit off yesterday and more so today.  At this point I have chills, but no fever.  Let me repeat - I am cold.  I haven't been cold but a handful of times in the past few years (yay menopause).

Regardless, I did get the pizzelles made -- with extra hand washing and mitigation activities to ensure they aren't typhoid mary signature cookies.  If I had gotten started earlier I would have made choco chip too, but that didn't happen.  I cooked chicken and put it to marinade for honey lime enchiladas yesterday, but they too did not get made today.

I gathered the fall decorations, but didn't put them away.  Not a single box of indoor Christmas decor has come up the stairs, but I did get 95% of the outdoor stuff out/up including the wreaths on the windows.  I had big hopes to start wrapping gifts or to start Christmas cards.  Those are both big no-gos.  I am really hoping a good night's sleep sets me right and maybe I will embrace the day off I scheduled for tomorrow a little more fully - be it to get things done or to sleep.

And another burst of pretty decent temps!  I'm loving this, especially now that my time outside isn't working to prepare it for winter - although I could prb mow the back again as a result of the nicer temps.  At a minimum w/ the kids playing on the swing set I am scooping regularly, that definitely lightens the load come spring.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week.  I have planned to make a mac and cheese that involves pumpkin and some of Alton's pb fudge as our food contribution to the gathering.  I have also gotten into the habit in the past couple of years of coming up with a feature drink that appeals to my favorite egg's two female cousins and I.  This year during brainstorming a pecan pie vodka was mentioned, but noted that they've never seen it.  Well, the PA LCB was willing to do a special order, so I ran and picked that up last night and did some stocking up of various other items.  Of course, I left w/o Irish Cream, which is needed for the one recipe we wanted to try w/ the pecan pie vodka so I need to pop back in.

I had also ordered a signed bottle of Four Walls Irish Whiskey.  For whatever reason, PA LCB would ship that direct to me but the special order bottle had to go to the store.  Whatever, it's here.  If Four Walls is meaningless to you, it is from the gents (Glenn, Rob, and Charlie) of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  I'm not a whiskey person, but... eh, why not fan girl for a hot moment?

I often have to return to my notes here in my blog to get dates and timeframes.  As I return here this evening to see when Barnabas joined us - as to be able to calculate when we should be celebrating his birthday - I figure I should post it.  His gotcha day is Sept 2 and if he was approx 4 months old at that point that brings us to May 2.  So it shall be.

Another burst of warm weather - thank goodness.  By "warm" I mean upper 50s.  Perfect if you're outside moving around or have at light jacket.  With the time change I managed to get up for early mass before cathecism.  We had to get up for the early mass as Avery had swimming lessons!  The neighbor alerted me that another session had been posted and I quickly registered her for another 4 lessons.  It looks like they didn't do a great job marketing it as there weren't a lot of kids, but that was a huge win.  It was just Avery and one other boy in her lane this morning.

From there it was time to get moving here at home.  I am happy to say the hot tub water is now changed out, the rest of the brush (which ended up being a second garbage can - I had already gathered the first garbage can on Friday) is ready for the curb tomorrow, the hoses are away for the winter, and the hose bibs are covered.  Halloween is almost all down (except window clings) and a good chunk of it is away in bins and back to the basement, but some remains to pack up.  Somehow I manage to always need another bin, the stuff expands outside of the container, I swear.

All that time I had some pork cooking, so from there I needed to only prep the potatoes to cook for mashing and that's my day.  My back is barking. I would go get in that fresh clean hot tub water, but frankly, I'm too tired.  The lunch box and snack bag are packed.  It's time to zonk..

I remain exhausted and behind.  While I got a good bit addressed outside before the first snow (we woke to it November 1) I didn't get the hot tub water changed out, nor did I 'disable' my rain barrel - I did drain it, but I should probably flip it over and put the rest of the downspout back.  I think there is another two large garbage cans of clippings to make in winter prep.  The lawn did get mowed one last time about a week ago.

School was out last Friday and this past Monday.  Wednesday was our parent teacher conference and a holy day of obligation.  Today (Thursday and Friday) are half days.  It's keep the kid occupied while getting work under control season.  Thank goodness they gave us a week off from homework.  Hopefully I'll get the Halloween decorations down --and away-- by Thanksgiving.

I'm also struggling to get enough sleep again.  There's the waking in the middle of the night from the dogs only to be followed by the cleanup necessary when Saffy then still poops in the house.  I almost fell asleep during church last night.  Tonight I made it to 4pm with work when I cut out a bit early to nap on the couch for two hours.  I'm still feeling like I could zonk right back out, and hopefully I will at bedtime for a full night.  Yep, and it's time for them to frell with the clocks to screw me up further.

On another, but very related and necessary note, I got a moka pot.  I've had my eye on one but it seemed needlessly complicated.  I think I have it figured out and I gotta say, it's pretty delish - and strong - which is needed these days.

I know with all of this going on it seems crazy that I took on more foster cats, but getting to sit peacefully holding them is actually quite soothing.  We've made some progress.  I can hold them, but they still look fairly scared and we haven't had our first purr yet.  There is debate on the gender of the black cat.  I'm pretty sure we're talking male but the records for that # cat indicated female... I'm just not seeing it.  If that situation is what I believe it to be, we have Jackson (black), Summer (tabby female), and Pickle (tabby male).  Can you tell it was Avery's turn w/ names?.

How many cats must one have before officially being a crazy cat person?  Asking for a friend.  On a related note, it's official - we applied to adopt Barnabas.  He and Church get along so well and hang out together more often than not.  Barnabas comes in to cuddle with me at night.  He told us from his first meow that he wanted to come home with us - I just finally recognized it was time to agree.  Welcome home sweet boy.

On that note, the rescue did another round of trapping where Barnabas came from.  Of those, 3 more have come home for fostering.  They will need some more time to get them to understand how cool people are, but we'll do it.  2 boys and 1 girl.  Time for some names!

I just used a moka pot for the very first time!  I'm not little miss refined pallet, but I think it takes pretty good for my first attempt.

The worst part about having a garden isn't planting.  It isn't tending to them and watering them.  It isn't even chasing the dog away so he doesn't steal the tomatoes.  It's the end of season -- and even then it isn't the activity of clearing things out, for me it's the emotions of it.

Every year I find myself thinking "if this plant only had another month!"  I feel guilty plucking every last tomato off of the plants, especially those that are continuing to offer me blossoms despite downright cold overnights.  Good job ladies.  You served us well and I am grateful for your bounty.

Two lipped plates of tomatoes, one cherry sized and the other larger tomatoes, have been brought inside.  Unfortunately, I cannot leave them on the counter - ahem, CHURCH - so I have to put them into the cabinet and monitor them for ripening.

When I take another 10 minute pass I'll pull the remaining peppers from those plants.

The hours aren't that much longer than they were in pre-k, but for some reason the time seems to be going faster and the amount of time to do things outside of work hours feels a lot shorter.  I'm feeling pretty wiped out.  I guess the seasonal allergy thing doesn't help either.  So grateful to have indulged and headed upstairs to ready for bed at 7:30 last night.  I was asleep by 9 and I needed it.

I need to find the time to clear out the remaining garden plants out back.  There are a few tomatoes that I was trying to give every opportunity to ripen on the vine.  The basil never tried to go to flower/seed on me, which is crazy - I'm going to try taking a snip to grow through the winter, we'll see how that goes.  I am also going to cut back a couple of the pepper plants and try to winter them over again.  At some point I'll get good at that if I keep trying it, right?  The last round of lettuce looks nice, so that has to come into the basement as is.  We're looking to hit 35 on Sunday, so time is short - I need to make it all happen.

For today, I have some running to do while I pick Avery up from after-school activities.  I'm also going to hit the newly opened (this morning at 9am) Ollie's in Washington.  I'm so excited to have one closer!

I caved and turned on the furnace this week, mostly for the sake of the cats overnight and the kid in the morning.  Church is still cuddled up against me overnight, which is nice.  Barnabas, our current foster, was out running about most of the day yesterday.  He's still not thrilled with the dogs and gives them hisses when they come near, but he has made great progress.  I am very proud of Zero, who has been very chill around Barnabas; it isn't often I get to tell him what a good boy he's being!

They say you don't smell things when you're asleep.  I have to disagree (light up the internet calling me a science denier).  Saffy had a banner day yesterday - she was hungry.  Saffy ate 4 times, which is insane for her.  Probably about 2x as much food total than she would normally eat on a good day months back.  What goes in must come out, and if you have a dog that isn't 100% in control of her pooper it isn't a surprise when it happens overnight.  My point, yes, at 12:30 I smelled it and got up to clean it up.

I would consider one ding in my sleep to be a good night because I've had a few in the past couple of years where I was awakened after an hour of sleep every time I went out and the going out was hard taking an hour or two itself.

Nope, that wasn't the last waking, but not Saffy, instead the exorbitant amount of water the kiddo drank did exactly what I warned her it would do, she peed a little.  At 4:30 I hear "moommy."  So now I'm up striping  a bed and starting a load of laundry.  She's cleaned up and back into a fresh set of warm pjs and into my bed because I am not making a bed at 4:45 in the morning.

Thank God for that one more hour.  I still curse you alarm.  Getting up earlier since school started (another 35 minutes) has been draining me.  Can I schedule a nap on my calendar?

I am having more fun than I'd like to admit using my little breaks during the day to step outside and swat all of the lantern flies around the house.  They seem to like the brick and the black fence.  I'm sure I look like the crazies a few years ago wandering about trying to "catch pokemon" to my neighbors.

On an unrelated note... I really thought I broke my toe today.  I don't even understand how I did it.  I often bounce off of door frames etc because I misjudge and slam myself into it.  Today I bumped off of the dog crate in the dining room and as my foot came down my second and third toes crunched under my foot.  I watched and waited for the swelling - it really hurt.  It didn't swell too bad, just a bruise, but one heck of one.  It didn't help that our resident doofy dog stomped my foot later in the day.

Another weekend sped by.  We did our grocery shopping Saturday morning and then headed out to see Avery's Nonni.  Fortunately we didn't have CCD on Sunday, allowing us to go to the 9am service we prefer.  After we went to Triple B Farms even though rains had rolled in during the prior 24 hours.  It was a bit muddy, but it could have been a lot worse.  Avery had a blast with her bestie and the temps were perfect.

I did take a few minutes of my lunch break to decorate the dining room side table for Halloween.  I'm getting close to done decorating for Halloween.  I cannot find the projector light that typically goes out front.  I am sure I hid it from myself when I was tidying and reorganizing in the garage - go figure.

With the cooler temps I am wanting the soupy and warmer meals.  Tonight we had an amazing roast with carrots and potatoes from the slow cooker.  I love that I don't need to run out to pick up Avery at the end of the day - it allows me to get meals a bit earlier.  Tonight we ate and had a few minutes outside, did some homework, and still had time to play a game.  I need my evenings to feel a bit longer to mitigate how fast each week seems to be going.

Halloween decorating remains a slow process this year.  Many of the outdoor items have been set up - minus lights etc.  The outdoor items all came upstairs last weekend and now they're out of the big boxes and cluttering the whole dining room, but not much is "in place".  I don't know why I am not feeling the enthusiasm this year.

Friday evening Avery and I headed to the Oktoberfest celebration in town where she got to ride and play with her bestie and another friend from PreK.  Saturday I slept in a bit but forced myself up to head to the consignment sale at the fair grounds.  It is the "lesser" of the two that come 2x a year (in my opinion).  We only found one item - but it is quite the score -- the Halloween costume that Avery has been indicating she wants (since the day after Halloween last year). Best part?  It was $3, on half off day, so $1.50.  Spirit and Party City haven't had it, so I feel like it is an extra big score.

Also on Friday our foster Cupcake left for her new family; well, foster to adopt if all goes well.  Part of my Saturday was spent cleaning the foster room up to move the newest baby, who we have named Barnabas Collins.  Then I cleaned the bathroom he was in so Avery could return there and most of my bathroom (not my sink - I should have done that today, but didn't get to it).  I was taking benedryl yesterday (which makes me want to fall asleep) to combat allergy issues.  So while I did get some stuff done I also sat more than I wanted.  At least I didn't give into the nap temptation.

This morning catechism class started.  This means my typical Sunday morning has changed.  We can no longer go to the 9am mass at the church Avery prefers.  Instead we have to get up early (ick) and go to 7:30 - which I can't see happening, or we go after to the 11am.  Today's 11am was long.  We got home at 12:30, so half of my day was gone.  We went out for a late lunch and to hit a few places as an excuse to head a bit north, where I had to snag dewormer for Barnabas.

Saffy seems to be doing pretty well given her age and overall condition.  She was eating like a champ there for a few days.  I am out of the one medication, but continuing to give her the other as they remain.  Today I spotted her being chipper outside and she was coming up the stairs pretty darn spry for her age.  It's going to ebb and flow, but I am so happy to see her looking and feeling a better than she was.

The kiddo is doing well with school.  She remains enthusiastic (save tonight's tears over not having someone to sit with on the bus) and is getting positive feedback each day.  She also hasn't been arguing much over doing a bit of homework each night, so that's a win.

Our foster Cupcake has an applicant, but it is incomplete.  In the meantime, the rescue trapped roughly 60 cats last week. I gave of some time on Saturday to transport a few to other rescuers north of the burgh that were willing to take a few in.  While there at the garage where they were managing the masses one little black kitten (abt 4 months old) started meewing at me - which is odd for cats that were outside.  Long story short, he came home with us.  While he cannot go in with Cupcake due to quarantine he is in a crate inside Avery's bathroom (so she's using mine).  The new guy is doing well - eating like a champ, cuddly as can be.  I got him to play a bit today - he seems to be getting rested up post his vetting and need to decompress.

I had a nice long weekend.  I didn't get the things done that I should have, but relaxing is good too.  I did do a bit of organizing in the basement (rotating dog food bags, breaking down some boxes and combining things/putting things away).  I did not get my Halloween goodies out yet - much to Avery's displeasure.

I was up in the middle of the night to the smell of poo - and a bit thinner than normal, so even more annoying to clean up... but still this is a good thing.  Her body is still doing it's job and producing.  Today I called the vet once I thought I could get through it without crying... I did not get  through it without crying.  Because we did bloodwork earlier this year the vet was willing to prescribe a few things without seeing her.

I snagged her three meds after work (an appetite stimulant, an anticonvulsant/neuropathic pain med, and a nsaid).Within a few hours of the appetite stimulant she was ready to eat when I presented a bowl of moist food.  I had put extra water in to try and get more fluids in there.  I did stop her midway and allowed her the rest about 2 hours later -- I didn't want her throwing it up or having other issues after not wanting to eat for a few days.  So far everything has stayed down. Hopefully we can make a productive trip out before bed tonight to avoid any other mess.

As for the pee pad - the cat likes to chew plastic, so that didn't work out so well.  Maybe I'll toss down some of the old dog towels in the most likely to be soiled path.

It isn't a cure, there isn't one, and I have to remind myself of that; but I was so happy to see her eat.

The first two days of Kindergarten are in the books.  She was confident boarding the bus and all went well there.  The good news for me is hat it gets me started with my work day a few minutes earlier than I previously started (without needing to go anywhere which is a bonus).  When she gets home she can sit at the TV or table to decompress while I get a last 20-30 minutes in.  Yes, I am able to end my day a bit earlier too if I am not swamped.

I am on an upswing with MacBids.  I may have reported getting a few deals and a few busted up things in the past. This week's scores included like new vacuums (I threw the my basement one away last week as it smells like it was starting to burn up and the upstairs one is kind of crappy) and a ride on toy for the kiddo.  The ride on came w/o a battery or charger, but we can snag that for 70-80$.  All told $100 for a $300 item seems pretty good to me.  She didn't get a ton for her birthday, so we'll call it a birthday gift.  I REALLY need to get the little kid stuff out of my newly arranged garage now to make room to park her little 4 wheeler.

The other thing to note here is that our Saffy is really not doing well the past few days.  By my count she is coming up on 16 and has been thin/frail with hip/back leg weakness for a while, so this isn't surprising but still far from desired.  She is refusing to eat even with a bowl of moist food, sleeping even more than normal (I had to make her get up around 9am this morning to go outside - but it could be the pain meds she got at bed time last night too), and needing the strap/assistance to make the stairs. I'm worried about her.  It's probably overdue, but I guess I will pull out a pee pad - not that she's been trained to use them, but a gal can hope that she might use it if the need/urge comes, right?

I am feeling productive, so I had to pop on and record the moment.  I started my day by throwing goodies into the slow cooker as we headed out to church.  After I folded laundry with the foster cat, Cupcake, in the room.  She was having a blast running around and being in my room I know she was getting lots of smells from the dogs and Church.  She and Church have had a few interactions that have gone well enough, but she is still not very thrilled about the dogs.

I finished my mowing (front and side - I did the back on Friday) and weed eated, vacuumed, and then we had a delish meal.  The roast was cooked with potatoes, carrots, and banana peppers all from my garden.  At this point I was already proud of my progress by 1ish in the day, so I had mixed up a margarita, but I cut it short so we could make a big lots run.  We also got some ice cream, so I had some extra calories to work off.  I am still trying to keep my calories down and get some weight off and I have knocked out about 7 lbs so far.

I don't know what clicked, but when we came home I got to work in the garage.  I've been here for almost 7 years.  I have swept (and even used the leaf blower) to clear out the dust and cobwebs a few times but it was definitely do for some attention.  Now that I have a rack hanging from the ceiling  I need to reorganize as I move the one set of shelves .A few things landed in the trash, other things got reorganized (or re-discovered), and I lots of tidying took place.  I have a nice healthy pile of things that Avery no longer needs, I just need to clean them up and find someone who wants to give me a few bucks for them.  At this point maybe I need to wait until next summer... but at least they're all piled together now and it is less crowded in on the sides of the car.

Don't ask me what all I did NOT achieve this weekend because the list is long.  My work computer had issues early this past week that were not repairable - I need to get the rest of my data moved and a few things installed on the new system they mailed me as to complete my transition.  It didn't happen.  Now that I spent quality time in the garage I need to do the same in the basement.  Wish me luck and motivation ya'll.  I also could use a bit of luck to manage the evolving schedule.  4 more days.

Feeling old... I know things happen to people of all ages, but it's been one of those weeks where I have heard of numerous friends and acquaintances going through stuff that tends to happen later.  One lost his son, I don't know the details, but my heart hurts about it.  I would guess the son was 30?  Another had a friggin heart attack, and she's only 2 years older than me.

I've been trying earnestly since returning from vacation to get my act together and get some of this extra weight off.  I want to take the news of my friend's heart issue, no pun intended, to heart - as to further encourage me to make the necessary changes in my life.

15 days until school starts!  I can't believe it's the middle of August.

Before our calendar becomes slaves to school, Avery and I headed out on one more vacation -- and we had a blast.  Once again I went several days early and I am finding this is key for me to relax and slow the world down a bit.  It results in me feeling like I was gone way longer than I was.

Towards the end of July we flew to Orlando and traveled down to Cocoa Beach.  We spent 3 nights at Beachside Suites.  I admit, I chose it because it had a lazy river and I knew Avery would enjoy it.  It was also very close to shopping, good food, and the beach, so it worked out perfectly.  For my own notes - Nolan's Irish Pub was so good, and Guinness with black currant syrup is next level delightful.  On our first night we walked to the beach hoping to see an 11pm SpaceX launch, but it was scrubbed.  By some miracle it actually launched on our final evening, we got to see it -- and it was amazing.  It was a falcon heavy launch, and the reusable side boosters returned to the ground - sonic booms and all.  It was so very cool.

I had initially planned to go to the Kennedy Space Center, but Avery wasn't feeling it, so I didn't spend the money for the tickets or transportation to and from.  We'll do that some other time down the road, I am sure we'll be through Port Canaveral again.

From there we headed to get onboard Mariner of the Seas.for a 6 night cruise.  Avery wasn't quite tall enough for the ship water slides, but with all of the other water activities on this trip she didn't even seem to care.  She spent some time in Adventure Ocean, but not a lot.  Mariner is in great condition for her age and it was a very nice trip.  The entertainment was good, we only saw the ice show 2x this trip.

Our trip took us to a new to me port in the Dominican Republic where we stayed in the port area (much like we did on our previous cruise).  It was really nicely done.  We spent some time at the free pool and lazy river, checking out the made beach areas, and snagging a few souvenirs.  Sure shopping inside the port area was a bit pricier, but we did come home with some DR chocolate and cocoa that is amazing.

Next we went to Labadee (private island in Haiti) which was remains a delightful destination.  We managed to snag a covered swing mat near one of the beaches that we used as our home base for a portion of the day.  We also spent some time at the splash pad.

Finally, we went to Cococay (private island in the Bahamas) which also remains amazing.  I miss the old Cococay too, but I do love what they've done with it.  They've built up a lot with the goal of pumping people to spend money, but you can easily do a free day there and have a blast.  We spent time at the giant pool and even more time at the free water play area (pirate ship, slides, and splash pad).

I'm so grateful for my time with my baby before she heads off to school.  I'm extra grateful that we managed to come back without being sick.  Everyone I know that has been on vacation lately is bringing home a bit of covey.  We front loaded vitamin c, d, and zinc (I also took n-ac) and continued our vitamins though the trip.  There were numerous ppl on the fb page for our sailing that reported coming home sick, so my prep was definitely warranted.

Now that we're home it's paperwork and appointments, gathering a bag of schools supplies, and all those things.  My favorite egg tended to the cat and the garden while I was gone.  He also hung up my birthday present (a ceiling hanging storage rack in the garage) and a few new lights that I've purchased to upgrade from the builder-basic fixtures in my dining room and kitchen area.

Tomatoes were delivered to three neighbors since my last garden report multiple times and I still have several bowls full rotating in the kitchen -- that is of sweet 100s.  I have one roma ready to come off and I've pulled a few small "beefsteaks" that were trying to rot before they even ripened.  I pulled another round of banana peppers and a few small bell-like peppers (these too were trying to rot before growing/changing colors).

I plucked the last two beets this afternoon and need to cook them to do one more batch of pickled eggs.  Maybe I should can more of them.  Still no pumpkins forming and the broccoli plants mock me (I'm so disappointed).  I had harvested one bucket full of potatoes before we left.

Hummingbird!  I just wanted to note that I saw not one, but two hummingbirds this evening.  They haven't been around much this summer that I've seen, but they were quite persistent trying to get to the feeder despite knowing we were all outside (kid, myself, and dogs).  I'll have to keep an eye and ensure it doesn't run out.

The tomatoes... it's happening!  At least with the sweet 100s.  Both yesterday and today I went out at lunch time to harvest fresh tomatoes and basil.  Yesterday I had designs on caprese, but quickly realized I never ran to get my mozz.  I had to make do mixing the basil, tomatoes, and balsamic with the garlic cheese curds I snagged from a local dairy.  They're quite good, but obviously the texture isn't what I was desiring.  Today I cooked up some garlic and tomatoes in butter, then I tossed in the basil right at the end... all to make a nice sauce for my ravioli.  Lunch has been delightful this week.  I also pulled enough basil to dry one cookie tray worth, so the whole house smelled delightful.

Admittedly, I have eaten like a queen (much to my own detriment) this week.  There were cupcakes I couldn't resist earlier in the week (to celebrate moi) and then my favorite egg took us out for dinner yesterday.  I had to indulge in the chocolate cake post meal.

Another item of note from the back yard... I'm not sure if I reported that we had 3 baby robins in a first nest earlier this year.  A few weeks ago Avery spotted an egg on the ground by the playset.  I figured it was a lost cause, but still put it in the nest that was not yet used that was under the deck.  Well, lo and behold... within 2 days additional eggs began to appear!  It was up to a total of 5 eggs.  I was seeing the robin - and then she disappeared much to my sadness.  I haven't seen her, the eggs are sitting.  At some point I will tend to the eggs that remain, but I can't help but hope for a little miracle.

And just like that, it is the middle of July!

The kid is presently enjoying vacation bible school at the church where she attends daycare.  We have another week of vbs next week at the Catholic church.  I can't wait to see how they compare in her view.  She LOVES the one at the presby church.  Talked about last years right up until the day she bounded out the door excited to attend again this year.

We have spent more time at the pool now that the heat has returned in full force.  She is bumping into friends there, which is mixed emotions for me.  When she sees them - *poof*.  It's great to get to watch her play, don't get me wrong.  She had attended a birthday party there a few weeks back.  Seeing her friends do things got her going down the twisty slide into the water and it made her sad that she isn't able to go off of the DIVING BOARD!  She made great progress with her swimming lessons, but needs to progress a little more before she can be in water that she cannot stand in.

The house is a mess.  But I've been keeping up with the lawn and a massive weeding effort.  I also spent an evening tending to the garden plants, tying the tall tomato tendrils to ensure they do not break under the weight of the fruit that is forming like crazy.  We finally pulled our first 3 sweet 100s and probably have another handful in the next 48 hours to pull.  The beefsteak tomatoes are about the size of mandarins.  The roma have a few small ones growing.  I didn't notice fruit on the cosmic grape or the much less progressed hybrids received from the neighbors.  The pepper plants are starting to kick it into gear - there is one fairly large cubanelle along with many smaller sweet banana peppers growing.  The bells aren't as noticeable just yet.  First set of lettuce has gone to seed and the second set stalled out and seems to be struggling.  Basil and mint still kicking butt.  I probably need to harvest the rest of the first batch of beets and the first batch of potatoes.  The carrots - I pulled one that was a nice size, but woody as all get out.  The green onions are getting a bit fatter, which is nice.  The other onion seems to be rotting out - lesson learned to not put carrots (which need lots of water) in the same pot as onions.  I wasn't thinking - just using the open space where other items didn't take.  The broccoli has stalled out too.  The pumpkin plant has a TON of blossoms but nothing wants to form.  I'm told you need the big fat bumble bees to fertilize there... so I decided to stick some fingers in flowers to give it a hand.

Side note:  if manually trying to fertilize blossoms, look for bees first.  Fortunately, I ended up petting one instead of getting stung, but he was not happy about it and came out with an angry buzz.

The mulched area near the garden also experienced "dog vomit mold", which has already started to dry out.  I made further use of the diatomaceous earth, mixing it in water and spraying it onto plants out front that were loaded with asian lady beetles.  I got to see all 4 life cycle stages within seconds of spotting them on the plants.

We have finally gotten to spend some time at town park.  Avery and I got there one day last weekend to swim and returned yesterday afternoon for a few hours after attending some of our town's 100 year celebration for town park.

The weather has turned quite warm again, but we did get some rain so the barrel is full again... I guess that's a nice lead in to the garden updates!

I have had a steady stream of lettuce, but the next batch hasn't taken off just yet.  Many tomatoes are started on the sweet 100s, but nothing turning just yet.  The other types of tomatoes have flowers, but nothing growing just yet.

The peppers are just getting past the blossom stage.  I'm hoping for a good harvest with variety..  My cabbage was starting to get a nice little head, but tonight I spotted a ton of eggs (of some sort) in the first layers and the top layer chewed up.  I scraped many eggs out and need to drop some diatomaceous earth in there to try and prevent its destruction.

The basil and mint is booming.  I pulled my first green onion today for use in a tuna and egg salad.  The pumpkin plants are tossing tendrils every which way.  The first set of potatoes plants are still quite green.  The second set of greens are popping up quite nicely  Last week I had pulled about half of the beets, cooked, and pickled them.  I had started some new seeds in their place and I'm hoping to have another harvest from said seeds.  The smaller ones from the earlier seeding remain.

While we are getting plenty of time in outside and the garden is being tended to, the inside is a train wreck. I think there is 4 loads of laundry sitting upstairs waiting for me to fold right now.

We finally got a few days of rain.  The rain barrel is full again and the grass is growing again (that didn't take long).  Of course this rain rolled in on Sunday afternoon whilst my sister was visiting just as we finished up with a cat rescue event and were supposed to be headed to the town pool. It also dropped our temps enough that the pool is out of the question until that water warms back up again.

While she was in and my other sister came in for a couple of days, we celebrated Avery's pre-k graduation.  I can't believe we're here.  Things are happening too fast!

Now that my sister left, I got down to business this evening.  I trimmed back the growth behind the back fence, stuffing it into the garbage cans.  I weed eated along the fence and edges and scooped poop.  I'm tired.  I'll tell you what - I was ready to kick over a few times while doing this work and it isn't even up in the 90s today.  I really need to get some weight off or I am going to collapse at some point this summer just trying to keep my yard in shape.  Again, I ask how on earth people get so much larger than even I am at this point.

If I used titles on my posts I would call this one "Expectations and Boundaries".

I dug through my old posts - sure enough, I had a post back in September of 2015 (2.0.1.5!!!) that was about the same issues (and rooted around the same individual).  It's clear that I've been putting up with the same bullcaca for a very long time.

I mentioned how my mother had her way of doing things and I hinted about her being very critical.  She was.  It doesn't mean I don't love her to say that, please don't read this wrong.  There were times where I stood up for myself and told her that I was going to walk out and come back in and I expected her to "say something nice"... and not only did she do it, but she then apologized.  My point is, she didn't mean to be mean, she just got a few extra scoops of honest and a double-dose of opinions and wanting things the way she wanted them.  I guess I got the later pretty frigging honest, right?

I find myself once again (dealing with the same person) extremely frustrated and in tears because I simply cannot make them happy.  I spent time while they were not accessible fretting over what they were going to think or dislike about what I did in their absence.  I even ran through scenarios with others trying to come up with things I could aim for in an effort to meet expectations.  Now that they're back and highlighting the gap of what I did and their expectations I'm in tears - DESPITE anticipating this happening.  Let's be real, no matter what I did or didn't do - there would always be something.

Then there is the death by a thousand stings.  Random, seemingly innocent items that are brought up (especially in front of others) that make you feel about 2 feet tall.  They don't like a word you used because "it isn't the standard" (one that they seem to have made up in their own head after you research the term in context) they want or it wasn't "how I would have done it".  It's getting asked for information they could retrieve themselves from the tracking tools you took the time to get rolling and full of the content you knew they would want.  It's being held to a different standard than other folks who are referred to as "doing such a great job".  It's being told conflicting things "you're too expensive to do X" vs "it's just easier if you do it rather than reinforce with another person what needs to be done".

How do you know when boundaries are crossed?  It should have been when you feel like crap after an interaction.  If not there, then it should have been a sign when you aren't sleeping well because you're worried about that persons perception.  It really shouldn't be when you get on a periodic "how are things going" chat with your superior - and it for damn sure should not involve tears.

But here I am.

I hate so much that I have the same tendencies of which I am complaining.  This piece makes me even more sad, because I know I am likely making others feel the same way.

On a related note:  In my personal life, after getting to visit with people I enjoy the company of I have a hard time unwinding at night.  Thoughts that I overstayed my welcome or said something that could have bothered or offended them in some way torture me.  I convince myself then if I don't hear from them for a while that I've done something and/or that they don't like me much.

I look back and remember that Mom took "nerve pills".  I know anxiety and stress have genetic factors.  I see it in me.  I see it in another relative that I love.  I worry when I see Avery reacting to something that she's going to be just like me in that regard - or worse still that I am hurting her feelings.

When she told me last night "Mommy, I want to be just like you." all I could say is how sweet that was, but that I wanted her to "be better than Mommy".  I try to tell her when she does things well or when I notice her doing something kind or thoughtful and I tell her how much I love her and how proud of her I am - but I also know the critical response rears up and exudes itself from my face before I can ever dream of tamping it down way more often than I'd like.

I want to change.  I've tried to do better.  I've prayed and begged to not be that way.

I'm supposed to reach out to the person causing me my current stress and have a conversation.  Who am I to have the expectation that they'll be able to "change" the way they interact with me?  Even if I do deserve better!  It isn't that easy to just be a better version of yourself.

It was a nice long weekend.  There was an afternoon playing with Avery's bestie.  We also made some time to go to one of the local parks w/ Avery's bike in tow and had a nice time playing outside.  I really should have gotten more done than I did, but here we are.  I did do a little in the garden this evening.  A bag of weeds has been removed from the decorative garden.  Two beef steak and one atomic grape tomato plant were moved into pots.  I also put some more potatoes into soil.  I have 3 more tomato plants that aren't quite ready for planting yet (gifted from a neighbor), hopefully they will be ready relatively soon.

This first successes have begun.  We pulled two strawberries from the plants the would-be inlaws brought.  I have pulled some lettuce and beet leaves to make a salad.  Some of the sweet 100 plants also have blooms, which is always exciting.  I think the beets are doing quite well, I can see some growth at the base of the leaves.

I often take to my blog to complain and "get it all out", but there is lots of good stuff too.  Today I have some of those things to chat about.  Let's start with another "I love my town" note - 2023 is the 100th year celebration of our town park.  Town park is where our swimming pool is among other resources.  How are they celebrating?  Not just one weekend of activities, but four of them! That is on top of the summer concert/movie nights they have there on the regular.  Of course we will also have the huge 4th of July celebration here in town.  So many good activities to look forward to this summer.

I had a moment earlier this week, realizing that the pool opens this weekend and I still hadn't purchased our pool passes, so I got that off of the to do list.  Avery and I are ready to enjoy another summer of swimming.

Related to love of "my town" but more specifically where I am, my neighbors!  We continue to play outside in the evenings and weekends.  The driveway is full of bikes and scooters, chalk drawings, giggles and sometimes tears.  My heart is full.  I'm so happy I am somewhere that Avery can have so many friends right at and within a few years of her age.

Better still - I am sure years ago I posted about the gas powered pressure washer and snow blower that I had back in Jingletown.  They haven't worked since I lived there.  Well the one neighbor said "I can take a look".  A $20 parts kit later and the pressure washer is functioning.  How awesome is that?  He also said he'd look at the snow blower later this year.  What an incredible blessing.

Today, after a few minor delays, Viktor (our foster kittie) gets the last shot he needs before he is ready to post as available.  I have been trying to get him to interact with Church -- he is pretty adamant that he's not interested in the dogs.  He is fine in the same room with Church, but Church being who he is, wants to play -- and Viktor is not interested in him getting that close.  Hence we had a bit of swatting.  I'll keep working it - it would be very helpful to Viktor when we can mark that he is down for cat siblings.

Happy Mother's day to all.  This kid is finally in the sweet spot (age wise).  She was so excited to give me the surprise home made items she had for me this morning.  She further warmed my heart by wishing me a happy Mother's day two more times as she was going to bed.  The rest of the wrongs the world spills upon me can melt away.  My baby loves me -- and I love her -- that's all we need.

I got the lawn tended to before the weekend, which was good as I needed time to do some extra cleaning before we had company today.  I wanted to take Avery to the Touch a Truck event yesterday, but rain got in the way.  Fortunately there will be more of those later this summer.

It took me sessions over three days to get the lawn mowed and in order thanks to all of the rain we have had. 3+ hours the first night with the weed eater and mowing the front and sides. Another hour and a half off and on the second night in the back due to the much thicker grass and mower batteries dying. Another 20 minutes for the last few swipes today. Honestly, the front already looks like it could do with another trim, but I am out of "go" for right now.

At least this weekend the weather is giving some summer vibes. Admittedly I took a little break the first night to get a couple of tomato plants transitioned into the big buckets. All were of one variety, the others are trailing behind in size. I should probably re-pot the (bell) peppers too. Still not even a glimmer of hope from the seeding or re-seeding of cubanelles.

I also need to update that our foster cat landed with the name Viktor. He is quite a gentle and sweet boy.

The Dr visit went well. No questions abt bs topics, he was attentive, and most unexpectantly - prompt! I stopped and had the blood drawn for various bloodwork fri morning after embracing the need to take the morning off to get a bunch of stuff done.

I picked up auction items from a place down in wash, hit the big consignment sale, got my new driver's licence, and ran through to get things at Target/Iggle and the like. This gave me enough space that I feel like I can relax a bit this weekend - but I do need to get some cleaning done and pack up the stuff to donate that has been sitting in my way since pre-vaca.

We had another foster boy join our home this week.  He was taking shelter under a trailer and being fed by someone.  If I didn't know that, I would never have guessed it.  He is the most gentle and relaxed guy.  As soon as he gets one additional shot he will be listed and available for adoption.  The only bummer is that we do have to do the whole quarantine thing to keep everyone safe -- because I think Church would love to meet and play with him.

Avery has had a couple of swimming lessons, Sat/Sun this weekend and next.  They are at the local high school, so that's kind of neat to go there and see their pool.

Final random thought, I have my first well visit scheduled for this coming week since 2019.  I did call a different doctor's office after giving my current PCP one last shot.  When they put me on hold and never came back in 20 minutes that was the final straw.  To be fair, this is also the office that wouldn't see me or grant my request for steroids when my shoulder was jacked -- they're lucky I tried calling to schedule.  Either way, I'm long overdue.  I am not in the shape I'd like to be in, but I also know I need some help to assess where I am at and make sure all is well with me and that there is nothing standing in my way to get healthier.

The three year streak of not being on a cruise ship has been -- blissfully -- ended.  Avery and I headed to Galveston TX almost two weeks ago.  After a 10pm arrival we crashed at a hotel near the Hobby airport.  In the morning after some breakfast we enjoyed their pool, even though it was a bit chilly.  A late checkout and hanging out in the lobby we ordered ubereats from a local food truck and I had the best birria tacos (I am drooling thinking about them).  I recently had purchased the different chiles I need to attempt these on my own.  I am sure they won't compare, but if I hit the 25% mark I'll still love it.

We then had someone from Galveston Moms transport us the hour to Galveston proper where I had my first ever AirBnB experience.  It was fantastic and just what I wanted.  We had a little kitchen, so I cooked the first evening - thanks to a Kroger delivery.  We noshed on some of the leftovers between snackies and a meal out the next few days.  We were on 24th and O 1/2 st, a very easy walk to the beach, a liquor store (I needed a bottle of wine to carry onboard and one to drink while we stayed in Galveston), a convenience store, and the trolley/bus stops.  I couldn't get a fire to stay lit in the fire pit (time to work on my scout skills) so we microwaved some smores instead.

In Galveston we:  went to the train museum which exceeded my expectations, walked/shopped the Strand, had yummy seafood, walked to church Saturday night, and most importantly -- went to the beach since Avery didn't remember being at a beach!

Avery wasn't much of a fan the first night - I get it... sand sticks when you don't want it to.  She quickly realized there was plenty of fun to be had at the beach burying her legs, building a small castle, gathering cool shells, and jumping the waves.

We struggled w/ Lyft to get to the pier (Uber isn't allowed in the port) but got there at the time they wanted us there to check in (an hour late due to issues they had that morning).  Onto Allure of the Seas, which I have sailed on pre-Avery.  She loved the water and ice shows, we went to each 3 or 4 times a piece.  I forced her to go to the juggling show which she ended up liking.  Adventure Ocean was a big thumbs up, but her time there left me struggling to mentally unwind and keep myself occupied.  Once I was able to bring it down a notch I was able to make good progress on a book I have been stalled on for years (I am embarrassed to say I haven't read for pleasure much since Avery was born).

We stayed onboard in Roatan.  Costa Maya we went out right in the port area and enjoyed their large pool area and the Aviary.  There are bridges up high for the aviary, which I knew would be a big challenge for me, but I did it!  In Cozumel after much anxiety going back and forth on it I sucked up my nerves and headed to Mr Sanchos - and I am so glad we did.  There was nothing to worry about, and I knew the taxi transportation there was very well organized and clean, so I don't know why I was so anxious about it.  Avery had a blast in the pools and is doing great going under water.  I'm glad we spent the time in Galveston beach; while the beach and water in Cozumel was prettier the drop off was pretty quick and the waves were a bit more than I wanted to spend a lot of time in w/ a weak swimmer.

That brings us up to speed.  We are back home.  The laundry is well underway.  The dogs were picked up.  The kid is back at school.  I'm back to work.  The cat was obsessed with me last night.  The creeper watched me shower and proceeded to knead me as I fell asleep.  He stayed on the bed all night (which he did for 2 nights after the last time we vacationed for a week).

So glad for the trip and the experience.  Even more glad we have another one booked for later this year.

Friggin technology.  Neither my work phone or my cell phone are reliable.

I had the dentist office calling my work number to confirm my appointment but when I'd pick up - nothing.  They said they could hear me, but I had nothin.  I managed to get ahold of them today because they were ready to cancel my appointment.  AGAIN... if I have an appointment and I didn't call to cancel, I still have an appointment, do you understand me?  I don't need to talk to you on the phone.  Frick.

I had left messages for roof repair and a need from church w/ my cell number.  Never heard back from the roofer.  Called the church again yesterday and she said she left me a voicemail (I had given my cell).  Mmm, no.  I don't have a missed call or a voice mail.  This leads me to believe that even if the roofer called me back I didn't get the call.

If you're calling me, presume I didn't get it - and even if I did, I hate the phone greatly.  Send me an email.

The kiddo is registered for kindergarten!  I am assuming since they took our deposit that she's official for full day at CCA.  That is one huge weight off of my shoulders.  Now I need to reach out to the local school district to arrange transportation.

All of the tomato seeds downstairs have now popped out.  Nothing on the peppers.

Well frell.  It was a matter of time with the way the winds are here.  The storm that came through yesterday whilst I was driving back from a celebration of life in Altoona finally managed to take a bite out of the house.  Front corner of the roof above my bedroom (where the wind always comes in from) is peeled upward.

I am lucky compared to the neighbors.  They had more shingles come off after loosing some the other night.

As I said there is a lot of crazy wind here.  It also managed to break the cute little flags off of Avery's swingset in the past week.

My rain barrel is full (that was quick).  I used water from it for the first time this afternoon.

Nothing visible growing outside yet, but a couple of the tomato seeds in the basement on heated mats have popped out, so they now also have a grow lamp on them.

I didn't get a ton done this weekend what with Saturday being up early and out of town.  But I did finally put the Christmas wreaths back on their hanging pole in the basement -- and out of the way.  I mean, it is only April.

I also made a pretty friggin good dinner tonight.  Lunch was awesome too - it has been ages since I have had a blt, well, technically a belt.  I have been doing intermittent fasting the past few days trying to break my food focus.

A youtuber I enjoy talked about 40 hour fast for good friday.  I don't know if I can do that, but I am curious to take a run at it.  Thank God coffee is 0-cal.

Today was about redemption.  Did I get everything on my list done?  Heck no.  But I did work outside, thank goodness for nice weather.

The poop is scooped, the high parts of the grass were hit with the mower, and the heat sensitive matching shirts for Avery and I are dyed.  Several pots were readied for when the tomato plants are kicking and I did my best planting some seeds.

I have the following on heat mats in the basement:  

Tomatoes (beefsteak, san marazano, and a specialty grape), peppers (mixed color bell, cubanelle, and sweet banana).

A few other outdoor pots were readied too including potatoes, carrots, beets, broccoli, basil, green onions, chives, and my first pass of lettuce.

  

We will see what tries to come up. I really want to get a small greenhouse but I feel like it would blow away.  I never have much luck w/ seeds, but I can say I am trying.

The windstorm that came through yesterday had the neighbor's house losing shingles.  It's been pretty darn gusty.

I'm trying to compensate for my slacking with regard to planting seeds.  Instead I have turned my attention to often overlooked cleaning tasks.  I took 15-20 yesterday and the day before with a nice Mrs Meyers Lilac scented spray cleaner.  The edges of the baseboards in the kitchen, downstairs hall, and my bathroom are tidied.  I also wiped down every slat on the window blinds in my bathroom.  Given a couple more days at a steady pace and I should be able to tackle the other blinds and baseboards.

I am eager for warm weather to go hard on the windows (indoor and outdoor) themselves.  It's ridiculous how dusty/dirty they look now that the sun is starting to shine in.  I also need the nice weather to scrub up a few larger toys that Avery has grown beyond so I can take them for re-sale.

If only I had the energy to execute the things that my brain is inspired to tackle at 5am.

I wanted to report that I opened my very first self-canned jar of pasta sauce for a meal last week, and it was delish.  I am so proud that I not just made that sauce (which I've done for years) but that I (properly) canned it.  I need to make and can another batch when I spot a good price on tomatoes.

I wanted to get some seeds in dirt today, but dang it's cold -- too cold to want to stand in the basement and get this task done.  I did find a good deal on 5 gallon "grow bags" on Amazon, so I'll have more space in which to plant things this year.  I do need to get more soil appropriate for the planting task.  I also need to order another batch of canned meat from Keystone Meats.  I don't think I reported it here, but I bought the ground beef, beef, chicken, and pork in the past - I have tried 3 of the 4 thus far and they're delightful (and I am crazy picky about meat).  I may also snag some turkey.

It's Friday.  I'm tired.

Emotionally because I've gotten smacked down twice now for trying to be helpful with the rescue. Basically, because I respond to past adopters when they message me directly.  Sorry, I'm not a jerk who won't answer them.

Mentally because we're at the 11th hour at work and we have someone making random changes without thinking through the repercussions to documentation, testing, etc -- couple that with infrastructure challenges that have slowed me down a ton.

Not as legit tired as I was the last time I complained about my tiredness.  I've actually been sleeping decently at night - maybe 1 wake up over night.

Kiddo had another dr appt this week to get the last shot necessary for kindergarten.  I send off all of the papers necessary for screening to the school.  It's going to be a busy couple of weeks before we finally get a bit of a vacation.

It isn't the pressure switch... their next recommendation is that it could be the board going bad.  They will likely be back tomorrow to change it out.  Remember how I said I wasn't going to complain about costs?  I'm going to just end this post now in order to keep my promise.

The furnace guys got us running yesterday and it stayed running, but they are back this morning to change out a pressure switch that was throwing codes and not maintaining expected power.  I had a moment last night while I thought about things - most everything in this house is getting to that age where I can expect to see issues.  I guess it's time to mentally (and financially) prepare.  I will do my best to not complain about the cost and to remain grateful that I am able to get the parts and repairs necessary.

Avery has recovered (and in time to go to her friend's birthday party).  Fortunately, I didn't pick it up from her -- at least no signs of it as of yet.

Now this morning the furnace isn't kicking on.  Once again I am grateful for the year round maintenance agreement I have.  I called giving the error code and what it sounds like based on a quick google search and they should have someone here today.  It isn't crazy cold and I still have my space heater and the fireplace, so we're fine, but it's nice to know we should be good to go before the next storm rolls in.

Well, Avery is sick - again. This time it is stomach issues.  On a related note, all of both her and my bedding got washed overnight.  I didn't get much sleep and I'm pretty wiped out.  When she fell asleep on the couch (in my seat) I  decided to relax and make a drink (the last of my bottle of kahlua, amaretto, and... chocolate milk -- because I could -- judge me).  I put the drink in the cupholder of the other couch and sit down.  The cupholder tips over and dumps the entire drink on my side and lap, into the couch seat and down the front.

When I tell you it was a mess, that is an understatement.  This is easily the biggest mess that couch has ever seen and the biggest mess this carpet has ever seen -- and I have a 5 yo, a cat, and two dogs including a senior.

If you visit and smell spoiled milk... well, yeah.  *sigh*

First solo robin on Sunday morning, on the way back from church!

I posted on this day last year too.

My sleep sucks lately.  I'm past the super stressful work activities from last summer, so I should be having an easier time, right?  Nope.

Let's just note that I am tired, very ready for bed when I get Avery to bed between 8 and 9.  Last night I showered and climbed into bed.  I am guessing it was within 10 min into a video I wanted to watch before I was out.  But then I woke up a half an hour later, before 11pm.  Mind you - I am not someone who can take 20 minute naps.  On the rare occasion I get to nap on a Sunday afternoon it takes a couple of hours.  I did get back to sleep but woke up at 2am and 5am.  Multiple wake ups seem to be the norm lately.

I know one of the common causes of waking is being too hot or too cold.  I keep the heat down at night and often turn on the ceiling fan to reinforce that coolness.  Usually when I wake I get warm a minute or two later, and have to kick the sheets down to cool for a few minutes before I can cuddle back up and re-attempt sleep.

I also have something happening that I remember first experiencing when Avery was a newborn - falling asleep on the couch I would be very aware and awake on one level but I knew my breathing had slowed to a state for someone who was asleep.  It puts you in a mental state where you think you're dying but you're at peace with it.  That is such an odd thing to write or try to explain.  I don't think it's sleep apnea.

Either way, this is exhausting.

Following up on Saffy - no indication in her urinalysis that there is anything negative going on with her kidneys, so that's a blessing.  We can do follow up bloodwork for comparison at some point.

We had a quick bout of sick come over Avery.  Slight fever, feeling icky.  It was kind of nice to have her at home, probably because she napped all afternoon and was pretty easy to manage.  It gave me a taste of when I won't have to leave the house in the morning.  While I am not rushing for Avery to start kindergarten I will have the perk of getting an earlier/less interrupted start.

In other news I finally booked us a cruise... well, two actually.  I'm not having anxiety over it, which I am surprised by but more than good with.  My excitement for vacation was also amped by abnormally warm weather on Thursday.  It was just long enough to get a bulk of the back yard scooped.  Not the most vacationy thing to mention, but it sure does make me think of the forthcoming spring.

Saffy had her yearly visit to the vet.  She has elevated white blood cells and a slightly high SDMA kidney result.  As such, I was outside with her first thing this morning to collect pee.  It went better than I expected, I will say that much, and we dropped it off today for analysis.

She has gone through spurts of pee accidents, like 2 or 3x in a short period of time and then nothing for a while.  She has also been pooping quite easily in the house, even right after having been outside.  I assumed she was just slipping a bit and getting old.

I am hoping we'll hear that she has a slight UTI.  That is pretty straigthforward to deal with and may even explain some of the other issues.  You know how UTIs really mess with older people, almost making them act as if they have Alzheimers?  I wonder if that happens w/ dogs too.  Say a prayer for Saffy, we do not want this to be the start of kidney disease or even cancer.

Ah the new year, when there are all kinds of things available in the stores and ads everywhere to help you lose weight -- mostly by taking the money out of your wallet.

I gave in and bought mysellf a little something - Aldi had step counting watches for $5 or $6, so not much of an investment, and I have to admit I have been curious for a very long time.  I wore it today with the intention of truly doing what I normally do.

I am shook.  After getting Avery home I was still under 1000 steps for  the day.  That is embarrassing to note and I do so only in an effort to kick myself in the rear.  I did walk about the house for a while this evening and got myself up over 5000 steps.  I have started tracking my calorie intake again (after about 2 months off). I'm hoping to make numerous small changes in an effort to snowball.

The night before last we broke in the air fryer much to Avery's pleasing.

The good:  Yep, the nuggies and fries were pretty darn good.  The time to cook potato wedges is greatly reduced from doing so in the oven - and that's not even me thinking about the obscene amount of time it takes for my oven to get to temp.  It was pretty easy to clean.  No oil added for nuggets and only a tablespoon for the three potatoes I sliced into wedges.

The bad/lessons:  Don't trust the internet for times.  I'm glad I opened the fryer a couple of minutes early on the nuggies, they were slightly overdone and probably would have been burned had I waited.  Now I need to find somewhere to store this beast.

I wasn't going to buy myself a Christmas present this year, but I cracked and ordered an air fryer when I saw a good deal through Best Buy.  Avery had expressed sadness that I hadn't gotten one from Santa so I could "make her nuggies easier for her".  I guess it is a gift for both of us.

It arrived on the 1st.  I haven't tried it yet. I am trying to decide what tp make first, but I guess I should christen it with chickie nugs.

On a completely different topic:  I am always a bit down and distracted through the holidays.  This season I have also been struggling with jealousy.  I am so grateful for the comforts I have, why do we always feel the need to compare ourselves?

Nope, I don't get to be part of a dual income household.  With the ongoing and looming issues I postpone booking that cruise.  Having a circle of people to hang out with isn't in the cards right now.  I am lazy and don't have the stamina (or money) to take Avery everywhere and join everything.  I am not rattling cages to climb the corporate ladder.  It all is what it is and won't matter down the road.  What I really wish I had the balls to do is to cut myself away from fb, but I worry that I would feel like an island as a result.

What to do about it?  Pray, for sure.  Put it out there to maybe let someone else know they aren't the only one with those feelinga.  Press on.