Nice

 We got the grouting done in the kitchen today. I did not take pictures because, truth be told, it looks hideous. Sponging down that black grout over that white tile looks pretty awful. Black and smeary. But when I took a clean paper towel and sprayed a bit of 409 on it and rubbed the tile, it rubs right off and looks pretty sharp. So. We'll wait until it is done and take a picture, lest you think we lost our minds. 

But, I think when it is done, it will look pretty good. Tim was right on this one. 

So that was today. 

We had given a cast iron, porcelain coated double bowl sink to my sister, but in the end, she went with something different. My brother in law asked if we wanted it back, or whether he should scrap it. Tim thought perhaps Mia would want it for her house formerly known as 'the rehab'. I shot her a quick message and the answer came back just as quickly. She would LOVE that sink. She's quite enthusiastic about her new home and once again, we know for a fact that we made the right decision on passing that project on. Everyone came out a winner and it is a great gift to watch that joy happening. 

One of the things that I love best about the new house is that once again, you can hear the wind. I have missed that living in town. 

When we left today, there was an owl hooting. That was nice to hear too. 

I came home and made Tim stuffed peppers for supper. I have one pepper left to put in the freezer for a quick meal if he needs it while I'm laid up. I turned the rest of the meat filling into stuffed pepper soup, another meal to put in the freezer. 

Over at Shadows and Light, Steve posted a picture of some books he's inventorying at his school. One caught my eye. The Road to Nab End. I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up. The author is an interesting fellow. William Woodruff dropped out of school at 13 to take a job to help support his family. Sounds like a beginning of a hard life, but he ended up graduating from Oxford University. receiving a full scholarship to Harvard, becoming a college professor, and writing 61 books. 

That's a nice story too. I went to my favorite Better World Books and ordered both The Road to Nab End and Beyond Nab End, his two autobiographical books. 

Grinning.

 Just got the results of my A1C. It (once again) falls into the normal range, albeit just barely. I got teary looking at the number. If it can be controlled by diet, then I expect once this knee is corrected and I can get more exercise, I can bring it down even more. 

So. That is today's happy. 

Another happy? My Christmas cactus is blooming. It has never bloomed twice in a year before, so I'm not sure what triggered that. 

The tiling is complete in the kitchen, and the range hood is installed. I am happy with it. 

It was snowing this morning, once again. I am not happy with that. 

Checking in.

I have not been inspired to write, which is unusual for me. Usually there is something. But...

Let's see. Cheerful things. I got a haircut, something badly overdue. I looked like a frowsy mess all the time. I made up my mind to get something that just made me look 'kempt'. She did a good job, and I'm happy with the results. I don't think Tim is. 

I've got bloodwork tomorrow. It was supposed to be last week, but they realized there was an insurance issue. If I had gotten it last week, it would not have been covered by insurance, and so everything has changed to this week. So...I'm just anxious about that. Please, just let my blood sugar be under 6 so that we are not banging on about this for another six months. 

My knee is also much, much worse, and that is getting to be a problem. 

A three year old washer has gone out in a rental, so that has been a bit of a distraction. It is an apartment sized washer/dryer combo: 

It wasn't cheap by any means, but the thing is, it is tucked into a small closet. It is a tight fit. It just seemed simpler to pull it, put a new unit in, and then, when things slow down, trouble shoot the old unit to see if it can be fixed. We have a bit of a suspicion that the washer was being overloaded on a regular basis, so best for her to have a full size washer. 

We went with a All in One, a washer that also dries the clothes. It will fit in the space. It will arrive on Monday, so we'll spend the day installing that, no doubt. 

Tim is repairing a hot water tank for his daughter. It is something very expensive and worth it, according to him. Powerflex hot water tanks are a big deal. Don't ask me why. He knows. I trust his judgement on it. 

So that's it really. I'll be headed east after Easter, and I'm looking forward to that very much. I'll get to see my granddaughter compete, which will be exciting.

Thank you for the e-mail to check in, Judith. 

I suppose it is good that this happened before the effects of the tariffs hit. 

Things to celebrate

Last night was the big concert in Erie. Tim needed to go to the Home Depot. As long as I was there, I wanted to stop in at the Salvation Army store. I was looking for a plant stand really, but did not find it. However I did find a Farberware Slow Cooker to replace the slow cooker I am now afraid to use due to cord damage. 

And a nice shirt. 

Anyways. we had supper out at a place with a terrific salad bar. Tim enjoyed his barbecue. I enjoyed my salad. 

We drove to Warner Theater, and as we guessed, it wasn't jam packed. 'Asia' started off with 'Only Time Will Tell'. Asia has been through many incarnations, with many different musicians. Their new lead singer is John Payne who replaced John Wetton who died 8 years ago. So while they played a bit of the hits, they also, understandably, wanted to showcase their recent stuff too. It wasn't horrible, but I wasn't familiar with it. 

One thing though: I don't get the whole 'rock star persona' thing. It's very strange watching a 60+ year old man leaping around the stage, leaning forward, bug eyed and waggling his tongue for the crowd. What is it with the tongue thing? I guess I'm too old for that too, right AC?

Everyone was waiting for Lou Gramm to take the stage though, and when he did, he was surely worth the wait. A pudgy 74 year old walked out dressed in jeans and a denim shirt looking perfectly ordinary, like anyone you would pass on the street and not give a second look. He proceeded to bring that house down. 

The crowd went nuts as one hit after another thundered off the stage. All familiar. All songs that everyone knew the words to. Sure, Lou's voice was not so high as it had been (he had a brain tumor that involved damage to his pituitary gland years back, and this changed his voice). There was a microphone that they were having some difficulty with. But you know what? No one cared. The band was top notch, the man is legend AND. EVERYONE. KNEW. ALL. THE. WORDS.

 There was no mugging.  There was no leaping about, unless you counted the saxophonist who came off stage during "Urgent," and marched up the aisle playing the solo while everyone roared. It was a solid hour and a half of pure entertainment, without the nonsense. Everyone's tongues stayed right in their mouths where they belonged. It was a great night. 

We walked out of there with all the rest of the old folks and drove the hour home remembering what it was when we heard that music for the first time. 

We were dragging tail this morning though. Ugh.

We had an appointment at the bank. You know, I just gotta say it. There was a very elderly woman and her (I'm guessing) grandson. He helped her into the bank. We followed them through the parking lot. They smelled horrible. I mean, like extreme. She was obviously very frail, and filthy. I mean, dirty socks that I think had once been white. The elastic was gone and they drooped around her thin ankles. The backs of her legs were smeared with something. I hated to guess. The grandson was dirty with shaggy black dyed hair. He smelled too, although he was not so obviously dirty. 

We had to wait for our appointment, and so we took two seats outside the office of the man we needed to see. 

The tellers knew these people by name. They went up to a window, and they were asked to wait back by a sign until they were called. The smell filled the lobby. This is not hyperbole. The young man grabbed a chair for the woman, and shoved it over to her. He came back and grabbed a second chair for himself, and they parked themselves in the middle of the lobby. 

The customers at one of the windows left. The teller asked if the woman had the withdrawal slip she needed. She didn't. The teller pushed one across and the young man went to get it and returned to the elderly lady. I saw the teller surreptitiously spray something on her hands and then fan them at her face. 

We got called in by then so I did not see how the rest of that played out. Our appointment was a half hour, and when we walked back out into the lobby, the smell was still very noticeable, although the people were gone. 

Tim and I talked on the way to the car. I hope someone is watching out for that woman. It really made me concerned about elder abuse. 

After we finished there, we drove straight to the protest. We were surprised to see about 150 people there. Even more amazing was that there were a lot of honking horns and thumbs up from passing vehicles. There were raised fists in support. There were a few people flipping us off or gunning their engines in disgust. We do after all live in a red county, but most people waved using all their fingers. That is quite a shift. A big rally in my town in 40 people. We generally get a lot of insults. It was different. Today was different. It is hard not to be encouraged by that. 

We had a birthday party to go to, which involved buying two cards. Tim just grabbed himself some chicken wings. I drove so that he could eat. As I was going towards the exit, a truck backed out of a parking spot, evidently forgetting that there was two lane traffic. I hit the brakes sharply. Tim said mildly. "Well...I got one of them." The container was on the floor upside down. 

It is raining, and it will turn to snow. I can't really complain. There are people in this country right now who have a lot more worrisome weather. Still, I just can't help longing for spring. 

Cray Cray

 I cannot even wrap my head around these 'proposed changes'. Who comes up with these things? Let me tell you who. Rich people who need workers, and are completely willing to break your children to do it. End meal breaks? 14 year olds working overnights? What about school? MAGA, my ass. 

Today we worked in our kitchen doing the tiling. We got the long wall done while listening to the live updates on the stock market. After a long morning, Tim said, "What was it he said yesterday? This is the Golden Age of America?" 

Yeah. That's what he said while he was gleefully making his announcements. 

Nuts!

To quote a sage, "Nobody can believe it!" 

He has a new book out.

But enough about this sad state of affairs. 

Did I ever show you this? It's right inside the front door. My brother in law made the hat rack.  

I came home and repotted three plants. I'm sure they'll be fine, although they appear a bit bedraggled right this moment. Plants aren't the most grateful life forms I've ever known. 

I broiled a chicken breast and sliced it up and made a grilled chicken salad for supper, which hit the spot for both of us. 

We figure that we will spend a half day up at the new house tomorrow and be able to finish the tiling. We'll come home, clean up, and head out to see Lou Gramm in Erie. 

Then: 

Now: 

Wonder if, all these years later, it still feels like the first time? 

Anyways...the old fogeys are headed out...and yes. I have earplugs. 

Let's end on a laugh: 

Oh gees. I forgot one: 

Today

 This morning was an odd morning. I woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep to save my soul. I had a tiny headache, but it didn't seem like enough to keep me awake, and then my mind started wandering from one thing to another like it does. I finally got up and took something for my headache, came back to bed, and managed to fall asleep, only to be jolted awake by my cell phone alarm. I shut it off. Why it was set? How did it get set? Who set it? I assumed that it was for something, so I got up and logged into my computer portal to check for appointments. I had none. I had one for tomorrow, but nothing today. 

I finally decided to go back to bed, but I couldn't fall back asleep because I kept thinking that there had to be something that I was missing. By the time it was actually time to get up, I was bleary eyed and short sleeped. 

Tim wants to build a shed to store his 'stuff'. He'll drive me crazy, the pack rat, but I figured I'd just let him go build his shed. 

That's the nice thing about working on only one project. If I want to take a day to do laundry and get groceries and the like, I don't feel like a terrible person. I absolutely did not feel the slightest bit guilty about not helping him build a shed for stuff he really should be thinking of getting rid of anyway. IMHO. 

So I got up when I felt like it, and had my coffee and breakfast in front of the computer. 

A memory popped up on facebook from this day back in 2017: 

I woke up to Tim standing beside the bed in holding his work gloves, saying, 'I can't believe that I overslept today, of ALL days...' Half asleep, I looked at the clock and it was 2 AM. I sat up in bed, confused and realized that Tim was sound asleep in bed, snoring gently.  

Eight years later, it made me laugh again. 

Anyways, so it was one of those days where there is nothing to report. Laundry is done. I got out and got a few groceries. The cat is tickled that I bought cat food. I stopped at Goodwill because I need a couple planters to repot a pothos that is surely rootbound and in need of dividing. They didn't have any planters, but that didn't stop me from having a bit of a nosey. I found a pile of plates, those collector type plates. Probably a dozen of them. They were painted with birds of all different kinds. One with cardinals. Another with blue jays. Blue birds. Robins. Chickadees. Gold finches. Birds I didn't know. And they were really beautiful. $1.49 each. They had the hangers. I picked them up, looking through and I was so tempted. Sooooooo tempted. Except we're downsizing. And where would I put them? I stood there holding the plates. 

I turned to a woman standing nearby. "Do me a favor, will you?" 

She looked surprised but said, "If I can..." 

I said, "Look me in the eye and tell me that I do NOT need these plates. Say it in a firm voice, like you really, really mean it." 

She said, "YOU. DO. NOT. NEED. THOSE. PLATES." She sounded like she really truly did mean it. 

I put the plates back and said, "You're absolutely right. Thank you for pointing that out." 

She was laughing as I walked away.

I ran my errands in a downpour. In the west, the lightning seemed to jag straight down to some unfortunate piece of ground far away behind the mountains and the thunder echoed across their peaks. It was a doozy of a storm, and I do love a good thunderstorm.

I found two planters, nice ones. Ceramic, and on clearance for $5.49. I consoled myself that $11.00 was not too much to spend on something that I really did need, especially since I had been so brave about not getting the decorative plates. 

I felt quite virtuous by the time that I explained this all to Tim when I got home. 

He did not look convinced. 

"And look! I got you Twizzlers!" I said. "The big bag!"

Anyways. 

I put together a nice supper. I had a half pound of sausage that I needed to finish off. I browned it with onion and peppers and mushrooms and some rosemary and thyme and a dash of cayenne. I added chicken broth, some diced tomatoes and simmered it together with lentils. 

It was one of those 'no recipe' hits. 

So that was today. Tim ran out later on his daily trip to Lowe's. 

They are really getting to know us there. 

He's still talking.

 And this is what we need to see, right here. 

It's not only that he's talking, but that he's speaking eloquently. He has not had a bathroom break. 

I'm not sure why the link I shared yesterday changed to private. He has held the floor for 23 hours and 50 minutes. If he holds it for another half hour, he will hold the record for the longest speech, beating out Strom Thurmond at 24 hours and 18 minutes.  (Late Edit: He has done it!)

But it is not about that. It's not about records. It is about galvanizing our government to stand up and resist the unconstitutional activity we are seeing unfold before our very eyes. 

I sent another e-mail to John Fetterman and Glenn Thompson, suggesting that they see Cory Booker as the role model. This was what they were elected and sent to Washington to do. 

I am watching this now, and I know that I am witnessing history. I know also that when these awful days are done, Cory Booker's name will be writ in the history of our country. 

Today, we met at the lawyer's office. Bless the man, we expected to go there and tell him what we wanted, and go back next week to sign a contract. He had it all laid out on his desk. He wrote in a few pertinent details, asked his questions, and wrote the contract out today. Mia was not prepared for it. Neither were we, but we walked out of there with the signed papers. 

She said, "I was so sure that I was going to get here and find out that this was an April Fool's joke." It wasn't, of course. Her family is meeting up at her house to celebrate with pizza today.