(Old) Hello, Mr Sandman - Dreaming in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

Good morning, everyone.

It’s 67°F and sunny outside. It’ll be sunny and extremely hot today, with the high temperature topping out at 95°F. The heat isn’t really dissipating overnight either, so any nighttime cool down is slight. It was uncomfortable late yesterday afternoon and into the night. The good news is that it is supposed to start cooling down overnight, with temps dropping back down into the 70s for tomorrow, and the potential for another good, soaking rain on Friday. I’m up for that! That last bit of rain did wonders for my flowers!

Congrats and Happy Birthday, J-Bat.

VanGo, get Peaches. Of course, no dog replaces our previous pups, but the new pups do help fill that hole. It’s nearly two years since I had to let Polar go, and I still miss him so much, but the new doggos provide much love and joy.

JtC, good for setting those boundaries. I know it’s hard.

I have a mall a couple of miles or so from my house. I don’t like going there, and for the most part, even when I go, it’s not too crowded. On the other hand, when I’m forced to go, I tend to go when they open so I can get in and out. Dicks, Target, and JCPenney are the anchor stores. Macy’s is closing down that particular location, which is where I did most of my clothes shopping. There’s an outlet mall around 10 or 15 miles away, and another full mall in Tacoma, which I haven’t been to in probably 20 years. I have to try clothes on, because all the brands fit differently, and I don’t want to have to mess with returning crap.

Anyway, I never did make it to the mall, because obtaining the doggos’ special food turned into quite the saga. I have to feed them Royal Canin Skintopic, and I have to say, it’s made a difference since I’ve started them on it. It’s prescription food, so it’s $$, of course. :roll_eyes:

I arrived at the vet and saw the shelf that usually houses their food was empty, so I waited my turn and then asked the staff member if they had any more in the back. I wanted the big bag, because it’s less per pound that way, too. Nope, they were out, but I was told PetSmart had it, so I had to wait a bit for the vet to provide me a written prescription to take with me. Instead of going to the PetSmart closest to the vet, I went to one on the opposite end of the main drag, because the tech said they had it there. I arrived at the location, but didn’t see it. So, I got back in my Jeep and drove back to the other PetSmart, where I didn’t see it at first. Then I saw the prescription food sitting there all by itself. I go over there, and there are only two seven-pound bags, at nearly 57 bucks a pop! Before fully committing to purchasing the food, I called back the other PetSmart, and they did indeed have the food, but only the seven-pound bags. Next, I called the nearby PetCo, and they told me they were no longer allowed to sell prescription food at that location. Another roll-eye, so I opted to purchase the two bags, with the idea, that I’d just get it online and be done with it.

So, I go to the vet’s online source. Completely out. Chewy, completely out. PetMed, completely out. Lo and behold. There is a shortage of this food, and they are fixing to close down the plant that makes it by the end of the year. I need to talk to the vet about getting something else, because this turned into a complete PITA. And, while I want to do what’s best for my dogs, there has to be another solution.

So, after all that crap, I was in no mood to go to the mall. However, since I was near Lowes and Home Depot, I opted to check out Lowe’s for new metal shelving for the garage. They didn’t have what I was looking for. I looked in the nursery for strawflowers, but they didn’t have much of anything left in the nursery, to be honest. I opted not to go to Home Depot, because I was getting hungry, having not eaten anything in the morning, and it now being past lunch. So, I picked up some lunch on the way home, and then stayed home.

I truly hope you and FCD get to enjoy the boat, FCM. You’ve had to put so much time, work, and money into it, and it seems like it’s only ever been out on the water a very few times.

Frumious, I’m glad things are going well with Izzy.

I went down to the office yesterday to try and find those electronic files. It seems many have disappeared, but there is proof the files were there, because I found an email trail where I cc’d one of the managers with a copy of the form for another office location. When I worked there, anytime I asked another manager’s employee to do something for me, I cc’d the appropriate manager so they were aware of what was going on. Unfortunately, the email I found was to the manager whose computer I was using. At any rate, I set her up with shortcuts to the appropriate sites for national operations and SEMD. She should be able to obtain copies of those forms from SEMD. After doing that, I said hello to some folks who weren’t in last week when I visited, and visited with another of the managers there, as well as said hello to the SD.

I was asked if I was staying for the “celebration” and the new DD swearing in, and told them no. I wasn’t invited, and I had other things to do, anyway.

I then ran down to Safeway to get my dollar off per gallon and fuel up the Jeep. Since I was near where my son lives, I reached out to him to see if he had time for me to pop in and say hello. He told me to come on over, and I stopped and purchased a mocha frappuccino for him on the way over. We chatted for a bit, and then he had to get back online for a meeting, and I took my leave.

When I left, I opted to explore down a road that deadends on the water. It’s a lovely area, and I’ve looked at several homes down that way. While you get an idea by looking on the map view of the real estate sites, traveling down the road really showed me how lovely it would be to live along there. Anyway, I went about as far as I could before I ran out of room to turn around, and then meandered back to Hwy 101 and then I-5. I was going to wander down another road a bit further north, but it was coming up on afternoon, and I did not want to get caught in the traffic that would soon build up, so I headed home.

Well, I suppose I should finish my coffee and get outside to water the front flowers and lawn. You all take care of yourselves.

62

Morning all. Stayed in bed until 8am today, so should be well-rested. Have soccer with the 7-year olds this afternoon, weather permitting (about 40% chance of showers). Otherwise not much on the agenda. Will run the dishwasher tomorrow so need to play dish tetris with it. Might even do a little house-irk.

JtC, good that you found a way around it without saying no and maybe causing a fracture. You need to think up a few more for the future. Geez, it’s so easy to do these days…

Secret of a long and happy marriage, that…

flyboy. I swear I run a checklist through my head and I’m loading up my pockets, somehow the keys just keep missing the roll call…

Fruminous, sounds like things are starting positively for everyone. Eventually as settles in there will be small frictions and differences, people are like that, but starting off so comfortably it’ll be easier to resolve them. And never had a recurring dream like yours, hope you don’t have one while Izzy is there.

boo fae, getting to 84F here today, which is what we call in N. Ali-bama in August a ‘cool day’. Hope it all works out for you and minion.

{{FCM}}, hope you are coughing less today. And good luck on the tubing issue, I see your point, but he’s like Bruce Willis playing Bilbo Baggins…Old Hobbits Die Hard.

Sticky Buns, that is what I thought I was getting, they are pretty good, ended up with the curly fries. Live and learn (to read the damn ticket…).

Taters, quite a tale on the doggie food issue, I can understand your frustration and hope the Vet can provide an alternative that is not as pricey/difficult to find. And sometimes after a day like that, a good meander can do wonders.

And getting close to the time I can justify fixing lunch, so take care all.

63

very productive, susan! well done! there is a slight chance that you may inspire me to look at the linen drawer tonight…slight.

fcm, i have this one. Amazon.com: Non Slip Bathtub Mat,Anti Slip Shower Mat,Fast Drying Bath Tub Mats,Foot Scrubber Mat,Anti Slip Mat for Tub,Floor,Bathroom,Home,Kitchen,Hotel : Home & Kitchen you can exfoliate your feet at the same time. very easy to keep clean.

those are very celebratory milestones, jack batty; congratulations.

after some very nice spring like weather, we are heading into a heat wave in philly. the haze returned yest., and today had the humidity level in the 90s by 8am.

the shopping areas in and around phila have taken a big hit since covid. my office building is connected to a small shopping/food court area, liberty place. there are many empty areas retail and food. the gallery on the east side of market was closed for a bit and renovated. it reopened in 2019 and kabam! covid hit. many of the stores in that mall closed and have not been repopulated.

the malls in southern nj have taken hits as the big anchor stores closed. i haven’t been to a proper mall since 2023 (cherry hill mall). i am considering going to the king of prussia wildness ( Welcome To King of Prussia® - A Shopping Center In King of Prussia, PA - A Simon Property ), but that depends on how things go with septa.

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I eagerly await the potential rain and cool-off. Today I’ll get my RSV shot, bag up what we removed from closets yesterday, turn the mattresses, and work on sorting clothes. I may take a load to the donation place. The animal shelter will take towels and blankets, but only after it gets cold, so those will need to wait.

65

Short day again today. Of course there was a smashed sink, mirror, and toilet bowl in the damages left over from Twilight. I played a little ice cube soccer with Spot, well, I throw him 6 ice cubes, and he immediately batted each one under the fridge.

Yeah, it’s always a bother when your pup needs special food.

Then you could do a sort of a British Miami Vice.

And everybody survived. Yay!

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Thanks for the link - I need to measure the shower to see how big a mat I can fit in there. There are molded-in seats at each end and I’m not sure how far apart they are. But that looks like a good solution to the slipping.

We had a short but productive trip to the boat. FCD did what he wanted to do in the engine room, and I handed down down tools and gathered up trash and rags and stuff that he passed to me. We came home via Aldi, then gassed up the Santa Fe, and now we’re home.

The towels I ordered have been delivered - they’ll be laundered tomorrow. Not sure if I’ll do anything productive this afternoon or if I’ll just chill till it’s time to wrangle the grands. Decisions, decisions…

67

Chewy stocks it and WOW! I got sticker shock just looking it up. Its a good thing the pups are so cute! I doubt you will save any money ordering from Chewy, but once you are set up for autoship it makes things easier.

I’m glad I was already crabby because of the big stoopid mistake I’d made. Its easier to say No when I’m already mad!

They do need to start figuring these sort of things out for themselves, Mom isn’t going to be supporting them forever.

Well, heck. I was really hoping you weren’t going to go through what FCD had.

It sounds like a great start for all of you, I’m glad it is working out.

Thirded.

68

Hi folks - About 1:30 as I start driveling. Had a RDOS day yesterday, but did indeed remember to bring down my e-cycling when I left for dinner. Go me! So the drop off at Staples was done without too much stupidity at the store, then I hit the pub across the street for the weekly prime rib special.

The outdoor bar was wonderful in the warm air, but this place caters to a crowd that still includes smokers, so cig smoke was in the air. Ugh. Good news is most of them are old and decrepit looking so the smoking problem will end itself soon enough.

Then off for some amazing live music. A ~50yo duo; one guy on electric piano & vocals while the lead guy plays tenor, alto, and soprano sax, clarinet, flute, electric guitar, and Spanish-style guitar. And he sings too. Amazing jazz, pop, & R&B repertoire from Sinatra to Ariana Grande. And a Flamenco or two. So that was happy. But …

BB and I remain friends and txt every few days. We still have a lot of loving feeling for each other. She calls once in awhile to chat about whatever. I took a tough call from her yesterday.

Her aged Mom’s health in now failing rapidly. Much more feeble than even a month ago, and in addition to her long-standing slowly failing memory which is now accelerating she’s now also having general cognitive loss. As a nurse, BB is all over getting Mom seen ASAP to resolve anything that can be addressed, such as UTI or … But good bet the old lady is just running out of days, coupled perhaps with some TIAs eating her brain.

Darn shame. But as we see with ourselves and our SO’s it’s one to a customer; nobody gets out alive. Sigh. Sucks to be human sometimes.

Today is Taco Tuesday so I’m planning after this posting to dress for the beach, go do that for a couple hours, then around 4:30 hit one of the nearby craft taco places for solo dinner & drinks. As BB’s Mom demonstrates: enjoy it while you can; it doesn’t last all that long.

As to y’all …

@Sticks_and_Scones: Great workspace and I’m pleased to see Monday wasn’t as terrifying as you’d feared it’d be.

@Jack_Batty: Hooray on all 3 counts. But especially the birthday.

@Paintcharge : ISTM that if you’re buying dog accessories, your emotional brain has already made the decision. You’re just waiting for the rest of your head to catch up. That does seem like an especially good sort of dog, but I’m sure no expert. Good luck whichever way you go.

@FairyChatMom : Ouch about FCD and falls. Getting rid of mountains of old bedding and towels & such was always very refreshing when I did it. Hope you and @JaneDoe42 and @missred can all enjoy the same refreshing feeling.

@Rilchiam : Hooray for settling in with Izzy.

@JaneDoe42: Good job standing up to Mom, albeit obliquely.

I did read everybody, so my apologies to those I didn’t address directly.

As to keys and remembering: For most of my adult life there’s been a small side table by the front door which holds a basket or tray that holds all my usual out-the-door pocket stuff. All the stuff a woman might leave in her purse. So I’ve got decades of rehearsing gathering keys, wallet, specs, sunglasses, etc. on the way out the door. Adding today’s extra errand stuff to the same table works pretty well. Better if I move my keys 6 inches to be atop the pile of other things.

The one gotcha about a table like that is you must religiously prevent it from becoming a spot for clutter or “I don’t know what to do with this yet”. It really must stay as the “pocket & outbound stuff only” table. Lest you lose your car keys somewhere in that 2 square feet of surface area. Don’t ask how I know this; just don’t.

Anyhow, cheers and good wishes to all!

69

Years ago, when Downton Abbey was still on (this is relevant), I got Mr. Rilch this fake-leather platform, with a drawer and a space with a lid and two open spaces. It was for “out of door pocket stuff”, and the tag said it was called a valet. So Mr. Rilch and I call it the Bates. “I put your mail on the Bates.”

Jane: That’s not such a bad way to start. It might get them to start thinking, “Well, what if Jane can’t?” (I’m still learning the Mumper names. Is there a master list?)

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Few more things about us and Izzy:

  • Talking. I’m trying not to keep up a steady stream of chatter, because that’s what Mr. Rilch is doing. Not in a bad way, mind you, but I think it’s a good idea for me to be the person who gives her some room. I’ll ask a question, but not prod her further when she gives a short answer. I know when I was a kid/teen, I was turned right off by adults who came on like they were hosting an episode of Kids Are People Too. It felt like they were doing it more for themselves than for me, y’know? And generally, slow and mellow is how I started with the kids I used to be a mother’s help for, and both times, I ended up really connecting with them. Maybe because I didn’t come on strong.
  • Language. We ask about basic vocabulary. What is “stove” in Italian? What’s the word for “chill” as in “relax”? We’d like to learn* from her as well!
  • Eating. I did make it clear on the second day that I have issues with food, but, one thing that helps is if I’m involved in the process of making whatever it is, so I know what’s in it. She brought a recipe book and the plan is for her and me, or her and Mr. Rilch, to make a lot of them together. Also, Friday night, I had a salad with a cream-based dressing, and some greens I’ve never had before, and I didn’t gag on any of it.
  • Hydrating. Another American thing is our constant swigging of liquid. Water, coffee, soft drinks, sports/energy drinks, fruit juice…Izzy doesn’t seem to have this need. I’m trying to walk the line: making sure she’s covered, but not irritating her with a constant, “Wanna water? Wanna Pepsi? Wanna smoothie?” The stereotype of the Italian grandma always going “Mangia, mangia! You’re too thin!” — perhaps Europeans have a stereotype of an American always saying, “You look parched! Wanna Gatorade?”

*It is aggravating how so many people who immigrated to the US in the…I guess early 20th century, elected to make Polish or Norwegian or whatever into the Secret Language. If you don’t want the kids to understand, say it in German. So their children come of age not knowing the language, hence they can’t pass it down to their kids, and the language dies on the vine. However, I brought this up with my sister, and she snorted and said she’d rather not have learned Italian from our dad’s family anyway. “Mostly it was gossip; that’s what [second cousin] told me. She told me this when I asked why she wasn’t joining in any more. And [our grandparents] only switched to Italian when they were angry and yelling at each other, and I didn’t want to understand that!”

70

I talked to her this morning. After 24 years of driving 40 miles each way to work, she’s decided to take a similar job at a place that is much closer to home. Can’t blame her. She did a round of applicants for her position and eliminated the dregs; then one of the owners came to town and they did a second round. Later this week will be a third round that includes other staff. She is going to remain accessible for questions and transition, which is good.

Did grocery shopping today; seems like whenever the wife goes with me, the grocery bill nearly doubles. She is the worst impulse buyer for food I’ve ever seen. Not a good thing, considering how much food I end up throwing in the trash. I tossed an entire dinner plate of caprese salad last week, and today she bought a huge tomato and a block of mozzarella. And then there was the 12oz piece of sockeye that was $20. We’ll see how it goes.

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Not a fresh one AFAIK.

I’ve been in gentle rebellion against them ever since we came over from vBulletin to Discourse. On vBulletin it didn’t matter, but using the @Rilchiam feature here on Discourse means you get notified about, and can search for, my mention of you here. If instead I use Frumious that’s harder for everyone. All pain, no gain. IMMO and FCMMMV (FCM’s mileage may vary. She’s real fond of the tradition and is sorta the MMP’s den mother these days.)

72

Today was to be devoted to packing, and I wasn’t going to leave the apt. in this heatwave. Hah. I had to dog-sit this morning, which meant taking his highness for a walk. Luckily it wasn’t too hot yet. Then his person was 45 minutes late returning. Laundry is chugging away now, though, and I’m partially packed.

Yesterday I had a surprise awaiting me. About a week ago, I noticed a plant frowing near the impatiens in my window box. It looked like a bean plant, which made no sense, but since it was minding its own business and I was curious, I let it grow. Yesterday while watering, I discovered what it was. Can you guess how it got there?

Yesterday I got my very first pedicure. I’ve always just done the nail-clipping, cuticle-pushing stuff myself, but my clippers are dull, and my sister suggested I splurge, so I did. Holy crud, there was so much tsk-tsking over my nails and cuticles that I felt like a homeless person. (My daughter says this is common for a first visit.) And I now have pretty pink polish on my toes. They DO look better, and the pedi tech thought I was younger than I am, I guess. She asked if I had the day off of work, and I said I was retired. She looked surprise and asked how long. Then she said, “Oo, very lucky!” I decided to take that as a compliment.

Dreams: I haven’t had any humorous ones lately, but I did have a recurring dream for a couple of years, and by “recurring,” I don’t just mean every few weeks, I mean also repeatedly every night I had it. I won’t go into details–it was about my ex–but I’d wake up between showings, turn on the lamp, and tell myself, “No! More!” only to have it start all over when I fell asleep. I couldn’t figure out why I kept having this dream. Then one day when I was running at the gym, the reason came to me out of the blue. I was so stunned, I had to go home. I never had the dream again.

As far as remembering stuff, I keep my must-haves in my shoulder bag, but for other things like running the dishwasher while I’m out, I attached a magnetic clip to my metal door for such messages. I don’t stack stuff in front of the door because it’s my only exit aside from jumping off the balcony, and I don’t want to trip over it in the dark, but a note in the clip reminds me.

Happy Birthday, Jack! I hope you celebrate in style!

Oh, no worries. the manager has over r20 years’ experience and has been working on these other issues for months. Really, I don’t mind if they stay if they’d just BE QUIET. The woman has a million kids/grandkids, and “quiet” is not their default setting.

You said it! It took a wihle to adjust to a place where “rush hour” means three cars at the McDonald’s drive-through.

Did it work? My mom just said nightmares were my brain’s way of “giving itself a good cleaning out.”

Smart! I was 21 and so weirded out, I couldn’t look at spider webs for ages.

Don’t forget swampy! There are actually a big bunch of us fond of that tradition. I sometimes forget a Mumper name, but it’s easy enough to ask, and nobody gets upset.

I learned some Italian growing up, but not enough to translate the stuff my mom and aunt said to each other when it was some remark they didn’t want us to know. I took Italian in college so I could be in on the jokes and gossip, but by then I was old enough that they didn’t switch to Italian as much. My Italian is a bad mixture of Mom’s dialect and the formal Roman stuff. Mom and I would talk to each other in Italian sometimes. Since she died, I’ve forgotten much of it.

When Mom and her mother and sisters came over, the girls started learning English and would use it at home. Gramma forbade it, as she didn’t want thim keeping secrets from her. Then she realized she wasn’t learning English. (They lived in an Italian-Jewish neighborhood, and all Gramma’s factory cowrokers were Italian.) The rule was then changed to “ONLY speak English at home!”

FCM, I’m sorry about FCD’s fall but am glad he didn’t hurt himself. I used to have a full-length bathmat I got from Amazon that had rubber duckies all over it. It made me smile every time I got in the tub.

Whoops. Washer stopped.

73

I put one of the Boil-In-Bag bags of peanuts into the slow cooker this morning at about a quarter 'til six. I filled it with boiling water from a kettle to jump-start things. The directions say to use a gallon of water, but the slow cooker only holds a bit more than a kettle’s worth. Mrs. L.A. moved the slow cooker out to the catio, so as not to heat up the kitchen. The directions said to simmer on High for 12 hours, then turn down to Low until the peanuts reach the desired tenderness. Since I’ve never had boiled peanuts, I have no idea what that is. I mean, you don’t eat the shells, right?

14:32. I ‘go home’ from irk in less than half an hour.

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I forgot to include the link to the photo!

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No, prayer did not work for me. Her next suggestion of a commercial or changing the channel did work. I found out later that I tripped into lucid dreaming. I still use this technique.

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Howdy Y’all! Laundry got done and put where it stays until it gets dirty again. I accomplished stuff at the church house and then decided it was RDOS and day drinkin’ time. Sup got nuked and et as well.Thus is the news from swampland. I had some other stuff to say, but it has eluded me.

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How good are they at staying put? I’ve purchased (and discarded) a few that tend to move around, which is a really bad combo with water.

No, you don’t eat the shells. However, the birds outside do like them. As for the doneness, you’ll want the goobers done about the consistency of a toothsome bean.

I got set up for wifi today and changed my mobile service to boot! I got wifi, mobile and tablet data for less than my current carrier charges me for one line of mobile. I knew that I was paying way too much for communications, but didn’t realize it was that far out of line.

I picked up a 60 day supply of insulin, both day and night after swinging through Fud Kitty for a bag of salad and a couple of Romas to keep vegetation in the lineup until I leave. The folks who were supposed to get the washer / dryer didn’t come, so if they don’t by the time I leave, the maintenance guy will have to deal with it.

Now it’s time for chillage.

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At the top of the MPSIMS page: The MMP FAQ. Last updated 2 Feb 25, so a few people are missing, but not many.

79

Good evening everyone. It did not rain today. Rain was promised by the weather guessers and the clouds would move in and then move back out again. I watered everything, including my lemon tree (not supposed to over water lest it get root rot) and it didn’t rain. I just washed the glass doors and applied more yellow hi-lighter. Its cloudy again, but no magical sky water has happened. I probably shoulda ran my car through the car wash and left it out in the driveway.

I finally finished frogging (un-stitching) and am almost back to where I was when I realized I couldn’t fake it. I had missed a stitch and didn’t notice because I’m far too overconfident to do most of the prep-work. Had that been done, I would have noticed I’d miscounted before things really went south. Have I learned anything from this? Probably not.

I have learned that I can root start catnip though. George thinks that is a very good thing. My bag o’potatoes is blooming which makes me think I’ve done that right. I’ve ordered some elephant garlic to start next month, it will get cold enough here for the cloves to split. I used to grow big single bulbs in AZ, the ground didn’t freeze.

Din was stuffed bell peppers and ciabatta rolls. Now that I can grow bell peppers, I will do some research as to how to get them all pretty like sto bought peppers. Mine don’t hold much stuffing. They are very tasty, though.

Oh how fun! Now that I know how easy it is to grow peanuts, I wanna try too!

I had no idea! I’ve been hand-shelling unsalted peanuts for the birds, maybe I’ll boil up a batch for them instead.

OTOH, I’ve been feeding the shells to my thriving worm colony, it only takes a couple of days for them to go away.

I’ve never had much success with worms before, too hot and too dry, now I see worms every time I pull the straw back.

Which brings me to a serious question. Are my worms going to die this winter? I know they can be replaced, but it would make me sad if they all froze to death.

I know which rabbit hole I’m falling down next!

I’m so happy you had that epitome and managed to stop that nighttime nonsense. Good sleep makes such a difference!

Argh! I hate food waste, do you have any neighbors who would like some of her overstock? (I’m so happy I found Tara, when I buy something too big for us, I can split it and give half to her. She’s happy, I’m happy and perfectly good food doesn’t end up in the trash.)

Actually…what they need to do is realize that Mom in in her late 80’s and won’t be around to pay their utility bills or tell me to do things for them. Because once she’s gone and I’ve finished with the executor stuff…all of their numbers will be blocked.

(It is Jane the Cane because I once whacked someone with my cane so hard that I broke his collarbone. Never underestimate someone who supports her body weight with one hand every step, I might have a bad leg, but I’ve got a very strong arm.)

Hubs tried to get into the habit of using our side table for mail when we moved here. I didn’t understand why he thought I would think it was acceptable here when I’ve never allowed our key table to be used like that in the past.

Thanks! Now that I know I won’t get smitted by lightning for saying No to her, it will be easier next time when I’m not all crabby.

I’m so sorry BB is dealing with that, its got to be so hard to be a medical person and KNOW what is going on instead of being able to hope that things will get better.

As an ex-smoker, I used to look for bars with patios and they were very rare the last decade in AZ. Cigarettes don’t seem to be a big thing here, most folks vape instead. There are no smoking signs in the patios here but seeing as how I’m off the tobacco and smoking weed is against the law, I haven’t considered lighting up.

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No, I’m not the den mother. But yes, the tradition of nicknames goes back to the days when RueDeDay started the MMP, circa 2001. He started giving out nicknames and the practice continues. It’s not a rule, it’s not required, it’s just how we play in this sandbox. And someone (I don’t recall who) compiled a list of nicknames not too long ago - and I see Herald provided a link.

Home from wrangling. I was talking to the kidlets about what we’ll do in their solo days with me (Roxy next Moanday, Tobias, the following Thursday.) She wants to go swimming. He wants to play in the basement. I think one-on-one will be lots easier than two against one!

Tomorrow the landscape guy is coming to discuss our desire for ground cover. I hope he has some good suggestions. And I hope it’s not too ridiculously $$. But we’ve got to have it done - it’s too big an area for me to mess with myself, and FCD doesn’t plant, nor would I let him. Anyway, early afternoon tomorrow, Jason should be here.

Time to wind down and get ready for sleepy-bye.