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.