Heard from My sister

 I got a text from Liz the other day, asking me if I Was okay because she hadn’t heard from me..  I haven't text her since Monday.  After talking To both Mama R and Debra.  They both reminded me that even though she can have an opinion, she can't do anything Legally.  Anyway, I told her I was just busy at work, and that I am fine.  Told her about the Dr. Appointment yesterday.

I probably should have said something about Friday but as I said to both Debra and Roberta, If I say “this bothered me” or you said things I didn’t like etc.  That would give her reason to continue to do it.  I don’t want that.   I sent her one this morning, we talked about the weather, her activities, and Chris and his family.  His Daughter Sophie started First Grade this week.  I can’t believe it.

Things in Allentown seem to be okay.  There was some concern a couple of weeks ago between J&J and I am trying to stay out of that one.  Their weather is lots of rain and tornadoes.  

Everyone else is doing fine. AGain I Will find out when I actually talk with Liz. I am pretty sure the Rivera/Maratea grands and great grands go back to school in a couple of weeks.

Work has been busy for me.  Trying to get more scanning and time management done.  I thought I was doing pretty well but GA was riding my butt for the last few days since she returned from vacation made me feel as though I wasn’t.  BEfore you ask, no she is not my supervisor or boss.  She has repeatedly told me that i don’t answer to her nor does she answer to me.  

The annual Union Picnic had to be rescheduled from last week to sometime in September.  It was due to the weather.  I plan on going.  The Science park committee is having a Tipsy tomato Lunch on My birthday.  There are a few other things coming up as well.

Condo life is good.  President Frank C.  had covid and was hospitalized for a few days and then stayed away from people most of the following  week.  Next Door Don is coming home Friday.  He texted several times to show where he was at different points of his trip.  The Board meeting is next week.

Spent time with the girls from Finding friends.  Our weekly Wednesday night was held at the diner because of the rain. PRior to that we have been at the Madison Beach Club and its been beautiful.  I don’t think we have a major activity coming up yet but a few of the girls got together to see the theater.  FH was in an accident and had to get a new Car.

Other than the emotional and mental health the physical has been pretty good.  The BP has been low and the protein level is lowering.  Still taking the meds.  I haven’t been using the CPAP machine.  I do have a cardiologist appointment next week and the infusion at the end of the month.

The weather is  supposed  to be bad tonight.  Remnants of Debby.ITs humid out and windy and the sun comes in and out but later today and into  tonight there is more rain and storms coming.  The rest of the weekend is supposed to be nice.  We did have a lot of rain this week.

Lost some neighbors recently

 Earlier this week I learned that two of my association neighbors passed away recently.  I discovered that Chuck who lived in #4 passed away on Friday.  He had been battling cancer for a while now.  I saw him maybe two weeks ago.  He was a nice man.  We had nice conversations.  

The other neighbor whom I didn’t see much but had a beautiful collie named Reagan, passed away near the end of September.  She had been having health issues.  I first met  Nancy back in November 2021.  A Plant was delivered to my home for her so I brought it to her.  Her Husband had just died that month. It was a nice visit.  From time to time her family would come and walk Reagan for her.  My hope is that Reagan will be going to the daughter.

Addie, who is two doors down, is going for surgery at the end of the week.  Not sure how long she will be out.  

Neighbor Don is still in NC for another week.  I haven't told him about the neighbors yet.  I am thinking of asking him to watch Sky Thanksgiving weekend.  He was waiting for a package to be delivered and it came Thursday and so I let him know it was here but still didn’t mention it.

The board meeting scheduled  for last week  was canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow at 10.

I have noticed there are spots around the house that need fixing.  Mostly painting..  I have to pull up my big girl pants and do it.  Not sure when though.  

I have been paying my bills but part of that is also keeping up with my budgets and ledgers and I haven’t been doing that.  I need to force myself to sit down and do that very soon or I am afraid that I will get myself into trouble.

Just Popping in to Say Hi

 Hey everyone!  Just had a few moments to pop in and say Hi.  Things are going well.  As you recall I was on vacation the last we spoke and I had a great time.  Caught up with things at home, had doctors appointments, and meetups.  THose were usually at night.  I also got to rest too.

I think the blood pressure is better.  THe latest appointments indicated that.  Next week I have follow ups with Cardiology, Nephrology and of course the Oncologist (blood doctor).   

 

My car is almost finished being repaired and I suspect that I will have it back by next Tuesday.  I was given an Audi for the interim and it's beautiful but the bells and whistles are getting on my nerves.

This week Liz and Nelson will be moving into the condo. As early as tomorrow.  The rest of the furniture and movers are arriving tomorrow.  They have been spending the last several days doing odds and ends.  When the new furniture arrived Liz showed it to me and it's beautiful.

We talked about a number of things including whether or not I said anything to big brother.  My first reaction was; ITs her job not mine but by the end of the visit she basically said I could.  So I did.  THey were pleased but I am not telling her that.

We have a baptism for Lina Di next weekend.  It will be the first time I am meeting her since her birth.  I think we are  going separately because Liz and Nelson get over tired so they can leave on their own.  

I have been invited to Allentown for thanksgiving again.  I will probably go down that Wednesday.  After my infusion.  I always enjoy going down there.  

The rest of the family is fine.  

THe Ladies Guild is going pretty well.  We have a general meeting tonight and an auction near the end of the month.  TIckets are pretty steep for me but I do want to go.

As I mentioned, I've been doing a lot with meetups.  We had a Movie night about two weeks ago and it was fun.  IT was the House with the clock in the wall with Jack Black.  We had pizza and stuff.  THen we had our weekly beach nights but those are coming to an end sooner then we had hoped.  THe park closes at sunset and it's about 6:30.  We then head to the diner.

Steph had to cancel the Wild Life auction she had planned for November.  THAt’s Okay.  Something tells me the woman she is doing this for is becoming difficult again.  On top of that Steph is just getting back to work after surgery on her knee.

We have a Cookie swap at Faith and Jerry’s home in December.  I definitely need to do that.  I also will have to cancel bingo for that day. 

I know that the other two Meetup groups have a bunch of things but they always seem to be on days I have something else to do.  I am afraid they may just remove me if I don’t participate soon.

One of my old neighborhood neighbors is having a halloween party/open house in her new home this weekend and I am looking forward to that.  I am not dressing up though.

The Dolan Clan celebrated their youngest daughter’s wedding and I am so happy for them.

Sky is doing good.  He is healthy.  I have been giving him treats (basically to call him out of the spare room when I need to close it off).  He has been sitting behind the bookcase in the spare room as well as sitting on a pillow on the couch.

Crazy end of September

 Wednesday was crazy. First I was beating myself up for sending emails to the wrong people regarding some of the mail.  When it was time to leave for the day, I left here hoping to get to the Bank and realized it was already closed. So I went to the highway,  unfortunately I made some wrong turns and ended up getting on at Long wharf.  I did stop for gas on the way into Guilford.

I was early to Shoreline diner and settled in and had some tea.  Subsequently the others joined.  THere were about 12 or 15 of us.  We all got something different and had great conversations.  I got some advice regarding vacuum cleaners (recommended by the Petsitter who ended up coming for a short time).

We all left by 8:30 and headed home.  I usually call Mama but the phone had a low battery and I didn’t want to deal with that.   WHen I got home I looked at the link and ordered the vacuum cleaner.  IT should be here Monday.  I hope I won’t be disappointed.

The rest of the night I did some straightening and cleaning.  Then I got ready for bed.  Eventually the titans came to bed as well.  They were getting feisty with each other too and woke me at 4.

Thursday was a busy day.  Both TD and I worked a few different things (she was finishing the cash posting).  I did work on the healthlogic mail for the 26th until I had to leave for my OB appointment.

Friday was pretty much the same thing.  That night I came home to find my front stoop all decorated and a sandwich and Pumpkin inside the door from none other than Dave.  So after feeding the cats and eating the sandwich I chatted with Dave.

Saturday was pretty rainy and so I stayed close to home.  Well I did go to the laundromat and grocery shopping but the rest of the day I did a little cleaning.  I did hear from Liz who has another cold.  I wasn’t forthcoming with news of Jim’s impromptu visit. 

Sunday I did some cleaning and counted the hours I would receive the new vacuum cleaner.  I slept some,  and then around 2 I got a call from Jim and we met at Panera Bread for lunch.  We had a good time.   We discussed Thanksgiving.  At first they teased and said they were  going to Ireland and I could take care of the cats.  In the end I will be getting to their house by 7 like last year.  Dinner from Wegmans the next day.

Liz did send me a coupon for Big Lots.  Then overnight she asked me about what year I graduated.  One of the FB pages for Woodmont listed all the various elementary schools in town and one was mine.

I went to bed early Sunday. All the things on TV were things I have seen a billion times.  I did get up a few times.  THe cats were nearby.  

This morning I somehow misplaced the phone.  I heard it ding but I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it.  I will try again when I get home.

Took my time cleaning the house

 

I started the cleaning before 10 basically Laundry and dusting.  I waited until late in the day to vacuum.  I still have to wash the floors but I think that can be done in the morning before I tackle the guest room/office. 

Today was absolutely beautiful it felt more like a spring day instead of winter but it’s supposed to change early tomorrow morning.  We are supposed to have snow for most of the day and clouds for the afternoon.  The last report I heard is we may get up to two inches. 

In preparation of the impending snowstorm I emptied the garbage and discovered I should have gone to the Trash hut closer to my place as the other one was completely full.  The one that was full was closer to the mailboxes and I was getting my mail.  I probably could have left it in the mailbox until Monday.  It was junk mail.  It got tossed when I got back.

I made dinner and washed the sofa blankets.  I will have to fix it in the morning.  They were uneven and I just didn’t feel like fixing it tonight. 

I spent the rest of the night watching TV for a bit until I fell asleep.  Now I am heading to bed.

Winter Storm Bob or who ever

This is what i woke up to this morning.  Going to last until 4 so i have heard... 

I think this storm was given two different Names in New England.  One I heard was Bobby and then I read it was Kenan.  Either is cool.  It came sometime after 8 on Friday.  I had been home a couple of hours from my sister’s house.  I kept looking out the doors and windows to see if it had started and how heavy it was.  As others have mention it was a light snow and continued all day Saturday until 4.  It was about then the wind started picking up.

The plow crew came through at least 4 times the entire day.   They must have started sometime before 8 Saturday morning but the snow was still coming down and in no time covered up again.  When I checked around 6 it looked as though they did a better job but more needs to be done.  I am watching for when President Frank and others move their cars back to the regular places.

The total snowfall is 11.3 inches here in Milford.  The rest of the state was all over the place.  Some places got more than a foot.  Other’s not so much.   

I did start to clean in the bathroom.  I cleaned the litterboxes and then after that I got tired.  I did some laundry and emptied the dishwasher.  The rest of the time I slept, or watched TV and ate food. 

Now I am tired because I didn’t go to sleep until maybe 3.  I tried to answer emails and write a letter. 

I am going to have to do my cleaning later.  I am never sure I can do cleaning (vacuuming) on Sunday. 

 

Didn't get much done yesterday

 

I did as I thought I would.  I got the dusting done and vacuumed the office first.  I had to that’s where the vacuum was.  I finished the room and took it and left it right in the middle of the floor. 

I decided to talk to Dave and we talked for nearly an hour.  We talked about everything including his brother in laws funeral yesterday. I asked him if he would make good on his offer to put the picture he gave me for my Birthday/Christmas present.  He said he could do it in a couple of weeks.  I explained that I wanted to get hung up in anticipation of Roberta’s first visit to my new home.

After that conversation it was near lunch and so I made a beef patty and had lunch.  After that I ended up falling asleep for a while.

I eventually got the vacuuming done but still had to do the bathroom and kitchen.  I have decided that I will get the more quiet things done and vacuum on Monday before my session with Debra, if possible. 

I cooked the chicken strips.  It was quite simple.  I put them in 2 baking dishes (oblong) sprayed the bottom with cooking spray and then pour olive oil over them and the all but the bagel seasons on them.  I baked them in the oven for twenty minutes and they came out good.  I will do some pasta salad later today.  I don’t always like doing two things at once when it comes to cooking. 

The cats were lying on the bed.  They were fed the normal time and I went back to bed for a while.  Sky is roaming around here vocalizing.  Tiger is just relaxing.  I gave her meds but it took a minute or so.  I was pleased to learn that both of my chewy orders will be here sometime today.  Now I don’t have to go the store and pick it up.

I have been watching TV for now.  I managed to do some folding clothes and straightening the kitchen.

We had clouds this morning but now its sunny and its 24 degrees. It is supposed to get to 34 degrees.  .

 

 

sigh not happy

 

We got the monthly newsletter from the Association and we got the results from the election and the budget and the end results of landscapers.  Apparently the previous company went out of business without telling their clients.  WE have a new landscaper and everything is right as rain.  However, HOA Fees are going up $9.    I know that’s not a big deal I have been paying $241 for the last year.  The HOA fees could have gone up $25 to $30 but they didn’t’.     It just threw me into a panic with everything else I am working on and I already sent out my payment last week. 

I have managed to get the bathroom cleaned but somehow I found a couple of kitty litter pellets on the floor.  I don’t know where they come from.  I vacuumed and washed the floor.  I have to say it might be my Ovente vacuum cleaner.  It’s a POS

The next room I did was the kitchen.  I had already washed down the counters and cleaned the oven now it’s just cooling.  All that needs to be done is wash the floor.

Well the house for the most part is done.  The guest room will need to do as I hope to get to that room tomorrow.  Of course I find pellets again on the floor again. 

The cats are fed and watered and medicated.  Sky is ambling around and Tiger is sitting on the couch

I broiled Salmon for Dinner and now I am just watching TV for now.

Got the results

 

Sometime after lunch I got the results of my test.  I checked in before I got the email alerting me they were posted.  These and all medical tests never can be in layman’s terms.  The gist is I basically don’t have it.  As usual they caution you about still taking precautions and stuff like that.

So I let Liz know, and the girls from the group know.  I hadn’t told J&J but I will another time.   Now the coffee visit with Liz is on for tomorrow.  So I did the grocery shopping this evening.

I took the time to order more litter.  I tried to change the item to a different brand but I was doing something wrong.  I was rushing through it and it was aggravating me.

Gillion just offered a Christmas/Holiday Movie night at her house in December.   It’s the first weekend of December.  Oh I wonder if I could bake something for that weekend.  It will be a week after Thanksgiving and I may have only the Board meeting to do.  I am a cohost and will be bringing wings.

I managed to get dusting done and went grocery shopping around 4; 30 5 pm.  I got a lot of stuff and I got some I didn’t need.  I ran into Susan from the Finding friends Group.  I also met this nice lady whom I kept running into in all the lanes.  It turns out we parked next to each other and had a nice chat.  I finally got home around 6.

I put the groceries away and fed the cats and ate the ice cream.  Later on I had open face grilled cheese.  It was a bad idea.  It didn’t sit well with me.

I spent the evening watching Polar Express.  I think it was a tad early for this but with all the Macy’s Christmas ads and JC Penny Christmas ads and the rest of them why should I be surprised.

Since I didn’t clear off my bed of the laundry, I decided to sleep on the couch.  So I am going to sleep now.

The Storm last night was scary

 

Before going to bed last night there were several alerts for thunderstorm, tornado watches, and of course the flash flooding.  The Thunderstorm scared the cats for a little bit but that’s all.  Tiger went and laid down in the Livingroom so I sat with her for a bit.  Sky was under the bed and stayed there for a while.  I watched the news and it covered different towns that were flooding.

When I woke this morning I found the stove clock was flashing and the microwave had all zero in its display.  I am not sure why just those two things were affected because everything else was fine.

It was 60 degrees and cloudy and it looks like Ida is hitting Rhode Island and its outer Islands.  WE have flood warnings until Saturday.  The sun came out before ten.

I heard from the girls in the finding friends group.  Megan has standing water in the crawl space under her bedroom, Stephanie’s fur baby was terrified of the boomers but Stephanie slept well.

I sent a message to the three amigos.  I heard from Ann first.  I know Leslie may live near the beach and there was a street that was flooded near her. Mary says she is fine.

Around ten, I finally got to the house cleaning.  In my mind it’s not that messy but at the same time I know I haven’t done a few things.

   

Ya Remember when?

 

Ya remember when I wrote Friday that I was feeling better and I talked to my sister>> well that was short lived.  The headache was back and I was heading home from picking up my regular prescriptions.  I called Liz back for something I can’t remember what and we got to talking about how my niece saw the picture of the cats on the brand new furniture.

It pissed both of them off and she was angry but she didn’t sound it when she hung up.  But I was angry.  I ended up calling Mama Roberta and ranted to her about it for nearly an hour or more.  We then discussed the credit card stuff and she wanted to now the interest rates and ending dates on the statements.  She explained that if it adds up to the minimum payment that’s fine but if doesn’t (like adding more) then it could be against me.

Most of that night I was semi successful at keeping the cats off the furniture, I also ended up ordering two self-heating cat beds.  They should be here by Tuesday I think.  Liz had sent me a link for a scratching post that could be adhered to on the chair.  She wanted to know what I thought of it.  I said it would be confusing the shit out of the cats. 

On Saturday hadn’t talked much with Liz until that night.   I sent her a text about one of the kitchen chairs coming apart at the split below.  She sent me a text that she had been literally in bed with the tooth infection.  She had texted me a suggestion that maybe cover the furniture with sheets or something to allow them to sit on the chairs especially,

So we talked on the phone for about 20 minutes discussing why she got so mad at me about the furniture.  She went on to say that it was hard work going shopping, researching, pricing etc. and to get Lawyer man to agree to pay for it(btw, yes I am aware  it’s my money but…).  She feels that I will not be able to get new furniture or anything nice again if it is ruined or not taken care of.  She also did that “you also said you would change”.  This whole thing isn’t lost on me either.  She feels this also took a lot of her emotionally, physically etc.  So all the things I said in my rant I never did get to say to her. 

She says she understands I want to have the cats cuddle and that they do sit everywhere and anywhere.  She related how a friend of hers was on the computer and the cat walked right across the keyboard because she wasn’t paying attention to the cat.  Liz supposedly understands this.  

In my own defense I said to her I do understand why and I don’t want to constantly be arguing about shit. I am not doing things to appease you either.  Although, I think keeping the cats off the furniture may be construed as appeasing.   We eventually went past that conversation and talked about the dining room chair which will be gorilla glued at another time.  I also told her I got the greatest electric bill ever.  The one thing I didn’t tell her was bout the Home again membership annual renewal.  So when we hung up we came to an understanding of sorts.

The weather this weekend started off to match my mood.  It rained Friday into Saturday and most of Saturday was gray and cloudy.  I do remember seeing the sun come out midafternoon.  Right now the sun seems to be playing hide and seek behind the clouds. It’s 41 degrees and that’s as high it’s getting today. 

I spent most of Saturday doing my version of cleaning.  Just before lunch time I cleaned the bathroom.  In place like this it should take probably no more than an hour.  It took a little longer.  I stopped in between and watched TV.  I didn’t clean the kitchen until later on in the evening (right before the phone call with Liz). 

I did spent the time after lunch and before the night watching my weekend programs the cooking shows on PBS.  The Aerial America shows on Sundance.  I am not sure what else I want to do today.  I know I have to work on the office and get it organized but I want to relax.  Put off today what can be done tomorrow.

 

This has been a crazy week.

 

This week has definitely been crazy busy for me.  Work was no big issues except I got annoyed with the zoom application because it wouldn’t let me back into a staff meeting.  I managed to do what I was supposed to and get as much as I could done with scanning. 

We didn’t have a union meeting this week which I am grateful.  The administration distributed new chairs to the staff who wanted to them on Friday.  Apparently didn’t meet to everyone’s standards.  The ones I saw looked great but I am easy to please anyone.

There is a learning webinar regarding dealing with Covid and stress I think on Monday.  That should be fun let’s hope it doesn’t get messed up on the computer.  There is another in a couple of weeks as well.

I have tried several times to write this week and each time I had put it aside or got distracted by something or another.  I can’t promise it won’t be that way next week though as a lots going on again.

AC will be returning from her extended vacation.  I can’t wait.  I really tried to get a lot done but I still had a lot of stuff to do.

Early in the week we got some of the monies due us from Lawyer man.  For some reason he has been insisting on working with my nieces on this.  He reimbursed me the monies I spent on the movers and that went into my savings and will be applied either to the credit card I did use or one of the other cards that has a high balance at this time.  I believe he reimbursed Liz for the junk movers.    He also approved monies (like $4k) for a new mattress, the new couch, and new chair, but he said he didn’t want me to get the sofa/sleeper couch because he doesn’t want people to stay with me.  So what did we do?  WE bought one anyway. 

He also made comments to my niece that my family is crazy. It was highly inappropriate for him to do that.  If I have an opportunity to say something to him I plan on it.  Debra sent him a detailed message after he reached out to her recently.  I will find out tomorrow night the results were.

Liz and I had a conversation when she came over to show me the checks. She was saying how this mismanagement of money and my behaviors abilities to take care of myself are fuel for Bob to indicate I am incompetent and therefore lose the condo.  That I need to rein in my finances (and she said she doesn’t want to know what I spent on in the past but going forward I need to be honest and not just justify “because I wanted” or perhaps “I needed it”.  She says I need to talk to Debra about the “addiction”.    I don’t like it when people tell me what I should talk or not talk about with my therapist. 

She also says that quite possibly he will be willing to pay for at least part of the debt and I would have to work on the rest.  We reviewed the interest rates and stuff a couple of times earlier or that night. 

 She also showed me how to use the mobile deposit app on the phone.  That will save me a lot of time in the future. 

When that conversation was done we talked about the furniture we looked at and decided we would order them.   So after work on Thursday we went and It took an hour and we chose the ones and starting tomorrow the new living room chair (recliner) and the sofa (which is also a recliner-I think) will be here.  The others will be here over the next few months.  March the latest.  We got my nephew to take away the sofa this morning (we asked Thursday).  We also told him what Lawyer man said and he was flabbergasted.

About the same time Liz and I were having that chat and going to the store, Cheryl contacted me and asked me what my yearly salary was and what my bills and expenses were. She said they are working on something.   I was supposed to gather those this weekend but I have been updating my budget this weekend and Friday I was too damn tired.

I had told Liz that Mama Roberta suggested I do a debit consolidation and so she said okay she reminded me to take notes.  However, I haven’t called about it yet because I want to see what Cheryl is doing.

I have been keeping in touch with Jim mostly by text. It has been nothing deep and not really discussing current situations with Lawyer Bob.  As I said to Liz I figured they have talked on the phone (yes I now realize huge stretch).  She feels he has done absolutely nothing of value other than discussions with Lawyer.  He has been working, and seeing Janis.

I talked with My Aunt Rosemary yesterday.  It was really tough.  Her short term memory is even shorter than I remember.  She did remember where I was living and I told her about the recent move.  I was not really comfortable talking about it.  I was hesitating about it.  The call was about 8 minutes long.  I have no idea how my sister or anyone else manages a 30 minute conversation with her. 

Right now Liz is staying close to home this weekend.  Nelson was admitted Friday morning to the hospital with a Blood clot but it turned out to be a clogged artery.  I don’t know when he is coming home but she hasn’t been able to see him because of Covid.  He is resting comfortably.  She has asked my cousin Donna to step in for the delivery.  Liz will let me know by the end of the day if she can.  She says that if Donna can’t do it I may have to take the day off but she really eels I take too much.  I told her I have the time.  She feels I have been taking too much time already. I don’t know how many more times I can say I have the time without saying something snarky in the end.

So I saw some doctors this week.  I saw Debra on Monday via Zoom.  It was a good session.  She told me about Lawyer Bob asking her stuff.  I told her she could reach out to him but I hope she documents everything.  In her last text to me she did send out a detailed message to him.  As I mentioned earlier I will find out tomorrow what the results were.  I hope if we have a zoom meeting and include him she lets me know because I will be really pissed.

On Wednesday I went to the hematologist and my numbers (white count and anything else) is good.  No indication of blood clots, or anemia.  That’s good because I think a day or two afterwards I felt light headed.  I left work earlier.  I did learn my co-pay went up to $30. 

I have also been having a lot of headaches lately, at least at bed time, I am discounting to the pillows still.  My sister has noticed and mentioned the light headedness I have been getting and that it might be more than I realize.

I went to the eye doctor on Friday and I learned it wasn’t scheduled for that day.  I guess they hadn’t scheduled yet.  However, the next one is in March.  I will have to put that in as soon as I can.  That’s just great.

Next week I have the cardiologist and my infusion.  I have already prepaid the cardiologist but I don’t have to pay for the infusion (covered).   It doesn’t look like I have much of anything else in the medical arena.

I had a surprise visit from Gillion C and Cyn Y from the FF meetup group last Tuesday.  They stopped by the condo while I was at work.  They left me a sweet note and text.  I would have loved to show them around but from what they saw in the windows they love it. 

That night there was a virtual cocktail party and there were about 12 of us.  Eileen was there too.  I haven’t seen Eileen since March or April when we stopped the virtual coffee talks and trivia.  She has changed much like at all.  I got to see Jackie B from work.  She looked awesome.  Stephanie was there too (she was at the beach meetups) but left because there was too much interference.  Either there was people talking in the background, or had multiple devices going.  To me that’s distracting and somewhat rude.

They also did have the Wednesday night coffee talk in Guilford but I was at the Doctor’s and got out at 5.   That was the night Liz came over I think to discuss the finances.  My hope is that once the finances are resolved and on some schedule I can start to go back to those on Wednesday. 

The hiking with Friends had some activities recently but again still trying to settle in and the finance thing is a big issue right now.

I spoke to Dave this weekend he is good.  We talked about the holidays, the situation with lawyer man, and where he is off to now. 

I did manage to speak to Mama Roberta.  She, like everyone else, agrees its not Lawyer’s man prerogative to tell me when or who I can have as guest.  I told her about the furniture that I got and I don’t think she flinched at the “new sofa” announcement.  You see the two blue couches  I did have she gave me before she left for LV few years back.

She did say she would put together steps for me to do the consolidated debt routine.  She will email me information.

The cats are settling in.  They have gotten into some mischief here and there.  One day I found Sky on top of the cabinets in the corner of the kitchen.  I have found tiger on the dresser a few times.  They a little perplexed as the couch they are usually sleeping on or sitting on with me is gone but as I mentioned a whole new one is coming tomorrow. 

They both get on the kitchen counters like they did in the old place and try to eat or drink stuff so I have learned to either put food away or in the stove or micro until I am done with them.   Sky broke the butter dish cover last week.  I can’t keep the butter out as they still try to eat it. Eww!  They both have their annual checkups in a few weeks.

Well Echoes radio show is on so I am going to listen to that for a while before I fall asleep..

 

 

 

 

New Year's Day 2021

 

 

Dear Debra:

                Happy 2021!  It is after midnight and I can hear fireworks being shot off somewhere in the distance.  They were being shot off earlier too.    Let’s hope this year is better and healthier than last year.  Admittedly despite the pandemic there were some good moments among the bad ones. 

                Despite my rant on Wednesday the rest of that day ended up not being too bad.  I did some cooking, called Mama Roberta, and received my stimulus check!  I texted Liz about it but she noticed she didn’t get hers.  I wasn’t even expecting one.

                Anyway, Liz suggested we go shopping yesterday for the appliances I would need or want and we would give the receipts to Cheryl who will be meeting with him on Sunday.  We also would be pricing the furniture I would need.   So that’s what we did.  We got a new micro, toaster oven,  a humidifier, a new Keurig (Mine died yesterday morning).  We didn’t get to go to Bob’s discount as Liz got over tired.  I was already fighting a headache.  Bob’s Furniture was also closing early for the holiday.  So we will go on Saturday and price the furniture and let Bob know.  As I understand it he will give me the money to purchase them.  As I write this I am not really holding my breath.  He really is making us jump through hoops to get the money.  Liz feels he is being highly inappropriate.  Making Cheryl come and speak to him.

                I don’t know if I told you that I finally sent the audit request to the lawyer, the law firm, and the person we thought Lawyer was grooming to be the trustee if Lawyer didn’t want to do it.  Well she sent me a totally useless email.    I even told Liz yesterday that the woman was totally useless.  As Liz says she wasn’t an intern or whatever.  She was a lawyer.  The woman did say she would sent the request on to Bob (duh don’t you think I did that).  Liz told me that she replied to her thanking her for the information and that was mistakenly under the impression that she was going to be the next trustee.  I am glad I won’t be having this woman as a trustee.    We will be making preparations for retaining a lawyer to get rid of trustee/lawyer.

So the rest of the afternoon and evening, I reorganized the kitchen to find spaces for the newly acquired appliances, and tried setting up the Vick humidifier but I am just not getting the instructions to set up.  I also reorganized the office/guest room.  I had to move stuff around and did some vacuuming.    At the end of the night the boxes I had in the middle of the kitchen were taken to the trash hut.  I did some laundry before the weekend started.

The cats spent their date sleeping, eating, chasing each other and begging for food.  Sky scared the socks off of me.  I found him on the ledge above the cabinets.  He must have jumped up from the counters on to the top of the refrigerator and then walked along that space.    This just reinforces my fear of them getting into the attic.  They hadn’t up to this point but after last night I am certainly not taking the chance.

My plans for the rest of today will be to clean the house.  I have been leaving a trail of crumbs and I don’t want to get back into the habit of doing that.  I also notice what I can only guess is from the inside of the spring mattress under the bed.  I am guessing princess Tiger did it.  Something my sister reminded me to do.  IF and when the mattress comes I will need to spray it with that deterrent before we place it on the bed frame. 

I also am thinking I want to clean out the car before starting back to work next week.  Get rid of papers, wash or clean the seats etc.  I need to get gas really soon. 

I have some thank you notes to write and a sympathy card to send to the family of one of my journaling group friends.  He died on Christmas day from covid.

As I mentioned earlier Saturday Liz and I will go price the furniture that is needed to buy.  After that I am not sure what I am doing.

Right now my legs are starting to get numb.  So I am going to sleep for several hours.

 

It is now after 8 am.  I managed to sleep until 5:30 this morning.  I did actually ignore the alarms but got up when the cats started getting impatient.  I fed them and went back to bed. Unfortunately the alarms were still going off and I figured it would stop on its own.  Note to self:  don’t do that on Monday.

Usually most mornings I watch TV but decided to catch up on blog writing, and cull the emails I have still left in the inboxes.  The cats of course are under the covers or sitting on top of the covers.  I am not sure how long I will be sitting here but as I mentioned earlier I want to do some things.

I think I will have to get to the outdoor chores early as the weather is going to change some point today.  It’s going to have some sun this morning and by the end of the day the clouds are moving in and rain coming in tonight. The weekend will be rainy. 

Well I will check in with you later…..

Christmas Recess has begun

 

                                                                                                                                      December 23, 2020

 

 

Dear Debra:

                Well the Christmas Recess has begun and I have been looking forward to it for a while.  I usually do every year as it is the break from work.  As you may remember over the years I am usually pet sitting for friends and usually splitting my time between two homes (and my own kitties).  It was tough.  When all I wanted to do is relax and be lazy or get ready for the holidays. 

Well as you know I have already said I am not doing much for the holidays because of the recent changes and of the finances.  The most decorating is the door hanger from Kristy I received and the tree from Dave and his gift and the Christmas cards I received so far.    My hope today is to get out Christmas cards to as many as I can.  I may have to find the New Year’s Eve cards I got last year and send them next week.

                You had asked me in our abridged session this week what I would be doing for the holiday and I asked Liz and she said dinner.  So like Thanksgiving it will be the four of us for a quiet dinner.  Liz and Nelson haven’t been in the Christmas spirit because of the Pandemic and quarantines.  They did get some creative ideas for gifts for the grandkids in state and shared them with them last week and it was a huge success.  I think it may have lifted their spirits a little.  We agreed that we would not be exchanging gifts this year.   Of course every time we say that either of us does give the other something. 

                The weather forecast for the Christmas holiday has called for a bad storm (mostly rain and high winds).  I have been getting weather alert updates from the cable company for the last couple of days now assuring customers they will be on top of things if something goes wrong.   I think I will need to go grocery shopping again this afternoon.  It’s going to be crazy there I am sure.

                I can’t believe it’s been over a week since we officially moved in.  It has become quite comfortable that we feel we have been here forever.   The cats are currently next to me sleeping.  Sky is under the blankets and Tiger is curled up on one side of the bed.  I have not had the urge to drive to the old place even once.   My plan is to do the office while on the recess.  I am already tired of having the door closed. 

I have to make some calls to Condo President today.  I have questions about the monthly fees like where do I send the check,  and do I pay for December?   If I miss more than three months in a row it will be messy and a Lien can be put on the condo.  I also want to check with him about having contractors submit their licenses prior to work.  When and where?

Once I get those questions answered I need to call a plumber to fix the water connection to the washing machine.  It is leaking and rusty.  I don’t want to spend $200 plus for this to be done.  I don’t know what a reasonable price is for it. 

Well I better get my day started.  Have a great one and I will check in with you again soon.

 

                                                                                                                                      Kate and the kitties