Of all the dumb things to need to repeatedly replace... toilet seats.  I replaced the garbo plastic ones about a year ago with wooden seats.  A while back the one in my bathroom ended up snapping at the back making the seat loose - so I replaced it (again), this time with a slow close.  Now the one in the downstairs bathroom broke - right in the middle of the one side - snapped the whole way across.  Thank GOD I was not the one using it at the time or my personal insult and embarrassment would be unbearable.  Let's be honest, I'm not tiny, but I don't think I'm break a toilet seat every six months fat.  That said, what brand do really really big people buy, because hook me up.  At $30-60 a pop this is ridiculous.  I will also note that in all of my years adulting I've never had an issue with toilet seats before; none have ever broken at the mount point, in the middle of an 'arm', and none have even wiggled loose.

A quick update on all things garden:

I have pulled two good sized fist fulls of pea pods from my garden so far.  They're crisp, tasty, and a great snack.  The tomato plants have all started to form fruit (I love how cute the little romas look).  Finally some basil took from seed and is starting to grow - still no lettuce to speak of, I guess I need to try again on that.  The potatoes are a bit of a mixed bag from pot to pot.  I guess we'll see how they turn out.  The beets and carrots are looking good.  The radishes have lots of green growing.  The brussels sprouts look like they've stalled out -- which is what tends to happen w/ anything cabbage or brocolli/cauli-related I try to grow.  I never did buy pepper plants - I guess I still could, I do have a few buckets that either didn't take or never got something planted in them.

I was irritated w/ my local Starbucks and their shenanigans (more on that in the last paragraph if you care) and started hitting the one in South Fayette before Avery's Saturday jiu jitsu classes instead.  They still do the bags of used grounds for free -- so I have snagged two bags and distributed them to many plants including my hydrangeas, so I am hoping for a nice pop of blue tones.

I guess we'll see how we weather this extreme heat.  I couldn't keep enough water drained off of the catch barrel for weeks on end, but I am pretty sure it is going to dry up quickly now.

Starbucks.  The local one plays the game where they disable their order ahead way too often for my liking.  It irritates me because they're essentially making the wait in the drive through even longer because no one can order ahead, right?  At least this case shows up in the app and you know, so you can chose to not order.  The other bull crap game they play is that sometimes they just slap a sign on the door saying the 'dining area' or whatever they call it is closed - drive through only.  THIS is not something you see on the app until you get there, which means I can't just run in and quickly grab my drink (which I've already paid for) -- and the drive through is usually wrapped and a nice 15 minute wait, which I don't sometimes have to spare.

It is remarkable how much longer taking a half day on Friday can make your weekend feel.  I'm in the use or lose time frame for vacation hours.  I've tried to use all year, but every time I have time scheduled off I use a smaller amount due to longer hours on the days leading to it.

Friday we made a late lunch and then headed to the town park pool.  I haven't been there since 2023, but I sure do appreciate it.  I had the joy of watching the girl go off the diving board, rope swing, and slide in the deep end with confidence.  While she may not be fast yet, she's officially a capable swimmer.

We did a bit of running yesterday, which included buying some school clothes for the upcoming year and snagging goodies at Trader Joe's.  Today was relaxing, including some time on the couch with Church on my lap -- those are the best naps.

Foster kittens are queued up for spay/neuter in a week and a half.  They are doing great and I have officially gotten purrs from all three.

Avery and I were away on the first cruise of the summer for a bit over a week.  While we were gone the kittens have gotten so big!  Venus is trim and has long lanky legs.  All three have made great progress, and as I suspected before I went away, they are now ready for freedom in the foster room.  This gives them a lot more to explore and play with, but also some space to romp and wrestle.  Two of the three are of weight so it's time to reach out and start getting their shots and spay/neuters lined up.  I'm hoping to get them through the process quickly as that makes them available for adoption - and heaven knows when they still look like kittens it is even easier to gain interest.

As to our cruise, we were on Symphony out of Bayonne.  A day at sea, Port Canaveral (we stayed on), Nassau (we stayed on), Cococay, and two more days at sea.  This is the same itinerary/ship we will take later this summer.  The ship is Oasis class, so there is plenty to do.  Avery barely made the cut on height at 4'4" (52") and was able to ride the flowrider!  She enjoyed it when it wasn't split during busy times.  As always she was loving the rock wall.  This time our neighbors were onboard, so she had someone to ride slides and get in the pool with.  She's treading water and swimming quite well, so it's also the first time where she could get in the pool w/o me hovering (the pools are too deep for her to stand (fun fact about cruise ship pools).

Cococay was delightful as always.  Girl wasn't as interested in the free slides as she has been in the past, and wanted to focus more time on the Oasis pool where she swam back and forth and we worked on her stroke and breathing.  I'm very excited for another week of swim team practice and her first swim meet as a result!  It will be nice to have an official first time on the 25 free (which is likely to be her only event).

Food was ok.  That's something that has been going downhill for years.  Specialty dining - this is the first time I've done a 3 night package.  Chops was quite good.  Hooked disappointed me compared to having it on Icon, everything here was so bland.  Izumi was yummy again.  I also had credit for Playmakers from booking this package - which surprised me, making my last day snack free.  I do like their garlic fries, and now I've learned how good their pork sliders are too!

Back to work this week - and a bit of business between swim practice/meet, Church and Zero's vet appointments, a massage appointment, and now a hair appointment.  I realized right before we left for vacation that Avery's hair is knotting easily and causing her trouble to properly tend to on her own.

I had to kick the heat on the other day to take the chill off of the house.  Today it's 85 out there.  Summer is definitely here.  The girl started a summer swim team on Monday.  So far so good.  It's a bit odd as parents can only go watch on Mondays.  I'm trying to create a habit of walking the building during that time to get some exercise in. I wish I had a summer off with sleeping late, swim teams, and VBS.

The kittens are doing well and we're finally past the daily medicine doses.  Saturn is slowly realizing that my hand is acceptable in small doses.  Mercury will let you hold him a bit longer than everyone else, unless there is an opportunity to play.  Venus was straight up purring this morning and she gets elevator butt when you scritch her.

I always feel a little bad for the kittens as there is often medication involved (dewormers, etc).  I guess on one hand it gets them used to being picked up/held.  On the other hand - quite literally on my hands - ouch.  They don't mean to as everyone needs their first nail trim but my hands are a bit tender at the moment.  One little guy has been getting medication since his vet visit last Wednesday, 2x a day icky liquid and for the first few days a booty soak and wash with topical ointment.  All three were due for a second dose of dewormer on Saturday and now all three have to take another medication since the one's poo indicated a protozoal infection.

The other good news is that these needs force me to weigh them a little more religiously (time gets away from me otherwise) and I can see how quickly they're gaining weight.  The guy that went to the vet last week was 1#6oz and he was up to 2#2oz yesterday.  It's mind blowing.  The other male is the same size and our girl is a bit more petite weighing in at 1#11oz yesterday.

Hopefully they will all be at a weight and ready for spay/neuter when I return from vacation.

On another topic, who ordered more cold/rainy weather?  How was it so warm over a month ago and now we're cold and considering turning the heat back on.

Who needs a drink?

I  just wrote the check for more summer camp activities.  I already sent the one at our church.  This one for 2 weeks at Camp Splash is another $380 out the door.  Admittedly, these things are not necessary expenses and I'm just feeling sensitive to the check-writing.  I'm blessed, we can do it, she loves it -- all the things, but I need somewhere to complain for a hot moment.

Then I opened the mail box. Your gal forgot that my car insurance comes in June.  OUCH!  At least it didn't go flying up in price.  I'm trying to be content with that fact.  At least my insurance does a three month split w/o charging a fee to do so.  That helps reduce the immediate  impact - but that will take me to when the payment for school and my school taxes are due.

I shouldn't be feeling this way having paid off the house. What the literal heck?

How do people with lower incomes (and more kids) do it?

 I woke up to a notification that my internet bill went through (over $100) and my email saying that I'll get two bills in the mail, one of which is medical (also over $100).  C'mon.

I gave up Church's appt to get the foster baby in, so Church will go in a few weeks.  We have a plan and meds.  Tonight I intentionally put a cat into water and it went surprisingly well.  Thank goodness he is only 1.6#.

Zero's bordatella needs another dose in 3 weeks - when did this become a thing?  That mat cause me some challenges but they are saying he didn't get it last year and it didn't create a problem... so?

Obvi a vet trip adds up with shots and hw preventative.  Garage door, landscaping, hotel booking, vet... oh and the kid even lost another tooth (at least that's a minor expense).  This has been one heck of an expensive week and it is only Wednesday.  Can I stay in bed tomorrow and Friday to prevent other expenditures?

Aaaaand ants - the little ones in the kitchen are gone.  The stray carpenter here and there in the house every couple of days continues.  Today we found larger black ants that found Avery's lollis.  When the landscaping was done he did the perimeter.  I have now deployed liquid to that cabinet.  I really don't want to need pest control bills too.

My room finally assigned for our first cruise- that is a win.  We got a hump cabin, so a larger balcony - score!

I am happy to report that the garage repair guy called later on Monday and was back with the fix for my garage door, so we're back in working order.

On Tuesday my favorite egg's Dad, aka my favorite landscaper, made his yearly visit.  There is nothing like a yard with fresh crisp mulch.  There are new plants and split plants everywhere.  With the salvia in full bloom (note they were even growing throughout the yard) the front of the house looks quite spiffy.  He also gave me an ant treatment which seems very necessary.  As an added bonus it was raining overnight, reducing my work tending to the new plantings a wee bit.

I am also proud of myself as I finally made a decision and booked a hotel for the night before our upcoming cruise.  I typically stay near the Newark airport and it is stressful every time.  My thoughts this time were, if I stay a bit further "away" from Bayonne, but right on the routes I would be taking on the way there I would still have a 40 minute drive to get to the pier in the morning, but hopefully w/ less twists, turns, and NJ headed toward NY exits.  There isn't an area anywhere near that comes up on crime and safety maps w/ "green" but this place isn't bad.  Hopefully I'll come out of this with a keeper.

On the foster kittie front, they are playing and eating, and most of them are pooing.  I do need to call the vet for the one little boy who has had a very sore rear since arriving.  He's now straining to go.  He'll look at me and cry - he defn wants some help.  Hopefully the vet can get him in with Zero and Church today, who have their yearly visits scheduled.

As you can guess from this post it has been a rather expensive week so far.  This year so far has been financial adjustments.  I felt like I was going to be able to pack money away faster than I am thanks to finishing the mortgage, but having a milestone birthday this year and wanting to contribute the max possible into retirement has me about in the same place as I was before the mortgage ended.  I mean, my deductions did jump $1500 each check from Dec, $700 when compared to earlier in 2024 (since I try to get it done early so I have a built in Christmas fund), so that more than makes sense.  All that to say I haven't leapt on the flooring at all.  I'm starting to think I might go for the carpet first.  Advice was to address that other flooring first -- was that to install it or just to pick it, hence allowing me to make a matching carpet selection?

Garage door guy rolled up right at noon - took him longer to walk through the house and into the garage than it did to look up and say "yeeeep".

He's going to see if he has the part and let me know or will get it ordered.  The good news is -- it theoretically can be in and handled this week.

Meow!  We have three new foster babies here (as of Friday afternoon), and I mean babies - younger than I have ever had - eyes still blue.  They are very reminiscent of the last set:  an all black boy that is super unsure of me, a tabby male, and  tabby female with a sassy little look on her face.

No names just yet - standby!

Dang it.  This afternoon we decided to head out for a walk/bike ride.  On the way out we put the garage door down and from across the street we could hear a loud BANG-TWANG noise.  Yep, that'd be one of the springs.  The good news is I did have a great experience w/ the garage door company I previously used to replace my opener to one with a battery backup.

I knew things in the 10-11 year old house would start to go, but I wasn't guessing garage door.