Since my last post kiddo and I hit the open sea once again.  We headed to Orlando airport where we spent a couple of nights and celebrated a good friend's 10th anniversary and renewal of vows.  From there we headed to the coast, staying at a hotel we previously stayed at - but we got in late, so we didn't get to spend as much time in the lazy river as we would have liked.  The next morning it was onto Adventure of the seas with two my sisters to Nassau (our first visit to the new Royal Beach Club), Falmouth Jamaica, and Cococay.  Post-cruise kiddo and I went to the space center.  We could have easily doubled our time there to see everything.  It was a great trip!

Now that we're home I'm in catch up mode.  Laundry, mowing, and the like.  Last night we were awakened by the smoke detectors!  I heard them sound and indicate "fire" and sat straight up in bed.  But they didn't persist.  In my startled awake state I thought perhaps I dreamt it and went to the bathroom during which it sounded once again for a quick bleep and "fire".  At this point my heart is racing.  I'm shoeing the dog downstairs and opening girl-child's bedroom to rouse her and get her downstairs to make an exit should it prove necessary.  I searched the house over and found nothing so I allowed kiddo to return to bed.  I lingered awake for a while, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty freaked out.

In my research this "nuisance alarm" (that's putting it mildly) could be due to dust (that wouldn't shock me) or a sensor failing but who knows which one triggered the alarm.  Today I also vacuumed around each detector and pressed each and every 'test' button.

I'm glad I had today scheduled off as it allowed me to do some of that catchup.  We also had an ortho appointment; kiddo got her expander removed and lower braces put on.  I still have so much to get done.  I so don't want to have to go back to work tomorrow.  Time to play the lottery and dream big.

Yesterday I marveled at how quickly news and information can travel, including somewhat niche information.  Kiddo and I have greatly enjoyed music from Oliver Tree for the past few years.  We'd dance waiting for the bus, we'd rewatch the videos and be goofy in the living room, he brought me joy.  I was watching for tour dates and hoping he would come near so I could go -- even better if it was all ages that I could take kiddo to her first show.

Within hours of two helicopters colliding in South America resulting in his death I heard about it.  Isn't that a bit crazy?  At first it sounded like a joke/publicity prank.  Now it just sits oddly.  Music industry screwed in the past few weeks, going independent, and now suddenly gone.  It's odd, it's too much of a coincidence, and it's just straight up sad.  Rest in peace Oliver.  Thank you for the joy.

This past weekend I came to terms with my situation and went back to the appliance store.  When I left I was still deciding if I was getting another LG fridge or a Kitchenaid and had only intended to get the fridge, not the stove.  By the time I got there I realized I should say eff it, I ordered both.  Fortunately the fridge I wanted was available and it was delivered today.  The stove will come in the next few weeks.  I went with Kitchenaid.  I'm not gonna lie, I liked the little red 'ends' on the pulls.  I didn't go for the black ore - but believe me I wanted to - it's stainless but more of a matte stainless.  I like it.  I also didn't go after cool colored pulls.  I can always order those in the future if I am feeling speedy.

As always I now have more marks on my walls etc from getting the old out and the new in - and they weren't reckless, so I don't blame them.  I did throw things away as I removed food from the old fridge.  In order to get back online for a meeting I rushed to cram everything into the new one over lunch.  I figured it best to keep the doors shut so it would come up to temp quickly.  I'm definitely going to need to do some reorganizing (like I don't have enough areas in the house that are in desperate need of such attention).

Observations so far:  I hadn't noticed that it didn't have a closable spot for butter.  That's weird.  The main shelf above the drawers angles up on the sides a bit which kind of reduces usable area IMHO.  I went from a 24 ft^3 to a 30 ft^3 fridge and it's still full, explain that.  The filter doesn't invade the storage space as much as it did on the LG.

Summer is official as kiddo's last day of 2nd grade was last week, and the weather has been beautiful.  I've been keeping up with mowing the lawn so far.  Fortunately with a bit less rain it should slow down.  Less rain also made it painfully obvious that my rain barrel is definitely leaking out as it is bone dry at the moment.  I'll need to figure that out as it's nice to not use the tap for many reasons.

I ended up buying tomato and pepper plants from Home Depot and Lowes when they were doing slightly reduced prices over Memorial Day.  I feel like a sell out, but who knows when I'd get to one of the farms to get them purchased and I didn't want to miss out on sweet 100s.  Everything went into their pots and are acclimating well.

My favorite egg's dad, the landscaper, came and refreshed my mulch and broke apart some of the plants out front.  I love how sharp everything looks with fresh mulch.  He also sprayed the property for ticks, which seems very necessary this year.

Now it's time to shift into getting things in order for summer activities and vacation.  Both things I look forward to, but I'm still behind on.  I at least got a new swim top ordered this morning, I'd hate to get too close to the date and not have everything I need.

The list of things that get discussed or queued up at the doctor for your routine well-visits after you turn ahem "49 plus" do nothing to help you feel younger.  Just sayin.

We survived first communion!  Now on to the summer mayhem planning.  I'm lucky I didn't book flights yet for June, but I suspect the closure of Spirit means higher prices on the other airlines and we won't see drops.  That said I sucked it up and booked for the first trip.  My wallet hurts a bit, but there is a load off of my shoulders.  To save a few I bought gift cards from Ticketsatwork, that gave me $60 off - and I am taking the 7pm back out to save another $100.  In the meantime, we'll book an excursion to see the Kennedy Space Center, so that'll be fun.

The other side of the garage still isn't done.  But I am.  Yesterday we had kiddo's practice for her first communion.  Then we made a shopping trip and by the time we got home we were readying to head back out for her school's auction/fundraiser.  I left mostly empty handed (I did snag a peanut butter pie from the bake sale).  Her class project was beautiful, a framed picture with a verse in the middle and each of their little hands set to pray in the slots around the perimeter.  I was not paying $500 for it however.  It was a bit rainy and cold yesterday, so it was good we had indoor activities to attend.

The rain is all the more reason I was surprised to find my rain barrel empty today.  It seems to be leaking at the hose - and this is after it was reseated with tape last week.

Today the weather is decent again.  After church I started cooking.  I had several peppers here from a flashfood box that needed used and I had bought two bags of onions on sale during the shopping trip. So first there was a large batch of onions and peppers which resulted in several bags set to freeze; they will make for expedited breakfasts and dinner options.  Some of the peppers were hollowed and stuffed, that was cooked up for tomorrow's dinner.  I also made a ham, cabbage, and bean soup that we ate for a late lunch and a batch of choc chip muffins for breakfast.  I made blueberry muffins of the same brand on Friday night at and they were so good, I couldn't resist but try the other mix..  The house still smells yummy 6 hours later.

I should have mowed on Friday night but made up for my procrastination today.  I also took a pass with the weed eater.  Then I planted a bit more, in part giving a second pass where things didn't seem to take.  This includes cukes, lettuce, half of the carrot bin, one of the bean bins.  I did have a single pepper plant that wintered over, but didn't make it through one of the frosts (despite being covered), so I put some pepper seeds in - a few green, a few sweet banana, and a few red.  Some of the tomato seeds I had planted were a couple of inches tall and that is about all the more they wanted to grow - so I put them into bigger pots.  They're prb too small to be on their own, but we'll see.  The potato plants look nice as do the onions and one bin of beans.  I also want to note that it looks like my two lavender plants survived the winter!

I learned that the local hardware store where I tend to buy my tomato plants and pepper plants isn't getting plants this year, they actually plan on closing at the end of the year.  This is pretty disappointing.

I bought myself a meyer lemon tree from Lowes during the aforementioned shopping trip.  I saw these last year and hinted to kiddo that I'd love one of those or a key lime for Mother's day. Well it didn't happen and by then it was too late, they were sold out.  She also bought a small plant from the clearance rack, a succulent, and she named him Mr. Fluffy.

Next weekend will be chaos w/ first communion and people coming in to help us celebrate.  I'll need to find some cleaning time this week.

Standards.  Mine are too high - for most everything, really, and this causes me a lot of frustration.  I want to let some of it go, not sweat the small stuff as they say, but it is a struggle.  I think part of it is because I feel like I am being held to a higher standard than others -- so why should I let things go that I would normally get dinged on?  The fact is there is simply too much right now and I can't juggle all the things.  What to do?

On other fronts where I am way behind:  I can report that I managed to get one Alaska excursion booked, so that's progress.  Of course, the laundry list of things I need to do for summer planning this is but a drop in the bucket.

Since the weather got a bit cold and rainy again Avery had a neighbor friend come in to play.  That was the motivation I needed to clean the floors and clear the table and counters.  I also found a spray that worked on the mildew I have been fighting at the bottom of my shower on the grout right where the tile meets the plastic shower floor.  That's huge!

I had wanted to tackle the left side of my garage this past weekend but didn't get moving fast enough.  I was lucky to get all of the mowing done before the rain began.  I also had to get all of the plants out back covered; I hope they get through the couple of cold nights (yes, the heat is back on and I'm not too happy about it).

It's been a good weekend.  I dropped off after must attend meetings on Friday and made my grocery run before the kid got home.  There is something about wrapping up early on Friday that makes the weekend seem so much longer - which results in it being more productive.  I even got my second mow achieved.

After getting my breather in on Friday I was ready to rock on Saturday.  The girl slept in until neighbors knocked to play.  We headed outside and I took to the garage, well - one half of it.  Everything came out.  She was agreeable to get a couple of things gone, I crunched some heavy duty boxes that I concede I will never need, I put the cursed snow blower towards the back again, and I put up the two shelving units I bought for out there.  Even with some of the Christmas stuff put back in there (instead of back in the basement) there is still lots more room.

I need another productive weekend to hit the left hand side in the same manner and a third to get the back to tidy all of those shelves.  From there I need to carry my efforts into the basement.  I ordered more of the same shelves for the Christmas and Halloween stuff.  I'd like to get rid of some of the decorations I never use, but that will definitely make the basement efforts all the slower.

Today was rest.  We went to church and came home with another hyacinth plant that they were giving away.  Made a light breakfast and then we headed outside to the outlets for a quick walk around.  My goal was to measure Avery's finger.  When we came home we headed outside to enjoy the nice weather.  First the hyacinth went in the ground.  The plant was quite sturdy and plump, so we split them into three spots.  Then Avery headed across the street and I settled in under the deck to relax with a drink.  Eventually more neighbors came out and the kids were having a blast.  One neighbor also brought me a Sarris chocolate based beer, a third style that I hadn't tried yet - and from another brewery. Like I said, it was a good day.

Girl has testing all week, so it'll be a fight to get her into bed earlier each night.  I also learned an aunt that has been ailing passed, so I will be trying to plan to get there for her services later this week.

The plumber was right.  The drips stopped by late morning.  He did still come through and I got to spend some cash to get the hot water expansion tank replaced along with the seal for the valve on the hot water tank.  I managed to get rid of a lot of stuff that was gathered and put out for whoever wanted it, but of course I had to deal with people saying they were coming that never showed repeatedly.

School transport has been a crap show for the past few weeks.  I think we'll see some of that normalizing now that we have an official van driver (as of yesterday).  Kid isn't happy because "she's mean" (translation:  she doesn't want them eating in the van and told Avery to not sit by the door).

My first mow took place last weekend whilst I had taken time off for Easter, but it's ready to be mowed again -- the main drawback to spring if you ask me.  I took my chances a few weeks ago and put some potatoes and onion sets into dirt - same with carrot, beet, cucumber, bean, and basil seeds.  The potatoes, onions, and one pot of beans are already doing their thing well enough that I had to cover things up a few nights ago when it dropped into the 20s over night.  Here we are back up to 70 today.

Work has been a bit crazy.  I ended up working 20 hours when I had 16 planned out of office at the beginning of this week.  Now... I sleep.

Drip drip drip.  Poptarts.  I ran to the basement to restock the Poptarts.  But quickly got distracted.  Drip drip drip.

Took a closer look at where water comes into the house and it is dripping at a connection before the shutoff valve.  Now, we had some mighty heavy storms last night - matter of fact some school districts are closed or on delay - so yes, I palpated to see if the water was coming through the wall and it doesn't seem to be.

I guess this is one way for God to nudge me into dealing with the mess/chaos that is my basement, right?  I cleared out that corner (mostly Christmas decorations) to make sure a plumber could get to it.  My work was disrupted though because kiddo's school didn't cancel or delay, and if the district isn't providing transportation, I'm the transportation - so we headed to drop her off.  One road was closed due to water and crossing Chartiers creek was a little spooky as it is quite high.

Plumber thinks it's just from all of the rain, and he may be right as it does seem to have paused.  Either way, he's popping in later this afternoon.  May as well have him also take a look at the overflow valve on the hot water tank that has been dripping for months while he's here.

This is the first time I've had even a drop of water in my basement.  I'm not here for it.  After the years of water I fought with in Johnstown, I need to know we're good.

I made a run into Johnstown for part of the day earlier this week.  A legend is retiring, and I couldn't miss her gathering.  Fortunately, the weather was good - but yes, there was still some snow in the parking lot.  I'm getting to the age where people I've worked closely with for a very long time are retiring one after another.  It give me hope for me, but it makes me might sad too.

I made sure to snag some meadows and sushi before I headed west again.

I commented about the ticks in my last post.  The flurry of them must be deeper in my brain than I realized as I had a dream about it last night -- and I don't often remember dreams anymore.  In the dream I noticed I had one on my leg, then another, and another.. and it became this frenzy of pulling them off of me -- but they weren't ticks, they were more like leaches, long and when I pulled them off there was blood.  For whatever reason my one neighbor was there watching me pull these off of me and I was frantically asking him to help get them off of me.

I also mentioned that I got some yard and garden work in.  I knew it was too early but I certainly wasn't expecting the 50 degree temp drop and immediate onslaught of 4 inches of heavy snow the next day.  The good news is we're to the time of year where it melts off pretty quickly.

Kiddo's swimming classes end in a week and I'm looking forward to another night or two that I don't need to run after work.