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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Birds and buds!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ice-pocolypse 2022 update:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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