Lo...not to be confused with LOL.

 Today, we worked on the renovation and got the work done there that we wanted to get done. 

We met up with an old friend. He eats a plant based diet. A few days back, Tim and I had did a quick grocery shop, and I'd seen some of the pouches of seeds and grains that he likes. I thought of him as soon as I saw them, and at 59 cents, I could not pass them up. It was good to see him again, and he seemed pleased with our finds. 

A couple of days ago, someone had thrown (among other things) a plant to the curb. I'd been watching it for a couple days, wavering back and forth. It was supposed to be in the 20s that night, so, channeling my inner Steve Reed , I walked down and rescued it, three plants really, purple heart (tradescantia pallida). I brought the plant home but not the pot and dirt. I gave it a careful wash, and cut away all the dead and damaged leaves. What's left looks pretty happy, and that made me happy too. 

I finished the book that I was reading. It was the color of lapis lazuli as strange as it sounds that a book would have color. It was beautiful and filled with sweetness. It was ugly and heart breaking. In the end, it was hopeful. It seemed appropriate for these days and I loved it. "There's a River in the Sky" by Elif Shafak. 

I tended cats, although I did not have a chance to play with kittens. Teaching wild animals to trust is something that makes me feel peaceful too. 

Supper was a good soup from the left over steak and gravy of the night before. I chopped the carrots, celery and potatoes and tossed them into the crock pot, along with some green beans from my sister's garden. There are people in this world who would be grateful for such small moments of normal. I think of them.

Tim walked in the house exclaiming "Smells good! I could smell that soup half way up the driveway." We had a quiet supper with toasted garlic bread. It tasted as good as it smelled. 

I did not watch the news. It is too soon to watch it. I cannot bear to listen to the voices. I think it's awful that Nancy Pelosi blasted Biden. It's done. We need to put our efforts towards managing this train wreck, not finger pointing and blaming. Anyways, I keep a close eye on the news...I just don't want to hear it. I read it online, from trusted news sources. 

While I was not watching the news, I cleaned the kitchen. 

I did have a moment of hilarity today. Someone who believes herself to be always right decided today that I was using an alias on line, one blogger commenting under multiple names. First of all, I don't. I yam what I yam and dat's what I yam.

In any case, her hypothesis is incorrect. I'm sure that because she is never wrong, she will believe forever that I am a liar, but it is just so funny that she'd even come up with such an idea. What even sparked that? Since we got our computer back, the unfamiliar security system sometimes boots me off my blog while I am looking something up. Sometimes, I find that I've posted anonymous comments because I haven't noticed that security has logged me out, but I have never commented under another name. 

Nothing nefarious going on at all, and there is only one me. (Let the world rejoice!) 

Margaret from NZ asked about my meeting with the city. I'm loathe to say too much about it at this point, because I won't feel like the deal is done until we are actually holding the check, but I cautiously feel that this is resolved. I sent an e-mail to the city administrator asking if I could be put on the agenda to speak to the council. I gave her no reason, or idea of what I was going to say, but somehow, the big man himself got wind of it. 

Now remember, I had a funeral to attend that night, and it would have meant ducking out of the viewing, rushing to the meeting, hoping to speak first and then rushing back for the funeral. Since no one had responded to the e-mail, I called the city administrator. Without warning, I was asked to hold, and suddenly, I was speaking to the big man. He was very friendly, and wanted to know what was going on. I said, "I was informed by my lawyer that the city agreed to settle back in September. We are now into November, and the issue has yet to be put on the agenda. I would like to address the committee." 

Oh it was very polite. He claimed that our lawyer had never done the necessary work. He said, "But let me check into that, and I can give you a call back." 

I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have, but there was this five months of ignored correspondence that rankles me to this day. I said, "Not to interject any animosity into the conversation, but really, you haven't been all that great about responding to us." 

And he smoothly said words to the effect of, "Initially, that may have been true but since the lawyers are involved, I think the city has been very responsive."

And to my credit, I made no response, although I had one in mind. Anyways, that is as close to an apology as I will get, I imagine.

Our lawyer was quite irritated, and handled things immediately. We should have payment the week of the 16th. 

So...I am glad that I did not have to make the meeting after all. The funeral was very sad, and it was important to be there. 

So... lo, it is good.