When workers are here, I always want to shout, “Man on the land!” in my best lesbian separatist farm commune voice. Re-roofing today and tomorrow. Followed when the world is dry enough by exterior painting. Followed, I’m sure, by some other major expense.
We unsuccessfully chased aurora last night, but it was still fun to be out in the boonies at midnight, flaunting my mad driving in the dark skillz.
And happy noon time (well, at least where I’m at it is). Have shopped (apples, carrots, tomatoes and hot dogs) and consumed my Jersey Mike’s sub with cookies and chips, so will head to the gym in a bit to work them off. Swimming has been my usual habit Monday-Wednesday-Friday, but I’m going to try and just do the gym/weight stuff this week and see if it affects my urine output…it seems heavier on swimming days. Either way sweating is on the agenda.
Herald, I’m not a coffee drinker, but hope the Java Monster meets your cravings.
nellie. the family issue is most certainly not your failure; it is theirs and your toughest job will be keeping peaceful relations with both sides, since you are now ‘in the middle’. My best wishes to you. And like Knots suggests, I’m pretty sure swampy’s VBS is Vacation Bible School.
lucky, only problems I have with my neighbor’s dogs is their overly-enthusiatic greetings when they see me (labradoodles). Happy teeth cleaning.
FCM, with those bags (albeit they are rather small), you might ind your stateroom a bit crowded. I’m sure you’ll be able to play room tetris well enough to manage, however.
JtC, glad you have more peaceable neighbors now. Been here nearly 25 years and don’t think I’ve had a bad neighbor yet. Mostly private folks here who don’t interact all that much.
lily, sounds like a major project is on-going, hope it all looks great once it is done.
And need to get my gym shorts and shirt ready for the sweatin’ time. Have a good day all.
The road crew working outside of our building is doing. . .something. . .that I can’t identify. But it’s something mechanical and it’s making a droning noise that is about to make me lose my mind. Like a boring tool or something. It’s right at that register where it burrows into your brain and makes you want to crawl into a padded room somewhere. I think it’s time to put on headphones and watch a movie.
Thanks. So far, interior paint; interior carpet (stairs and upstairs); new heat pump and furnace (switch from gas to electric); new fridge, new range, new microwave; gas fireplace repairs; clean roof and gutters, discover leak, replace roof; carpenter bee abatement; exterior repairs; exterior painting (upcoming). Yard restoration continues slowly–fence stained; shrubs trimmed and shaped, new plantings, rock borders, planning to sow a short and dense grass seed plus short low-flowering clover in the fall to help choke out weeds. We hope to replace the kitchen and bathroom countertops, a WC door, and the living/dining/kitchen floors, as well as add better garage storage, but these niceties will have to wait until we recover financially from the roof and painting.
Well, the small bags will fit in the big bags, so there’s that. And in past cruises, the big bags slid right under the bed. We got this!
Garbage and recycling has been dispatched. Groceries have been acquired. I even got the DashIn app and saved 25¢ per gallon when I filled the truck. Then to CVS to pick up the meds - a long wait because the tech couldn’t find one of FCD’s meds. She checked everywhere 3 times, then sought help, who found it pretty much right away. Someone was having a bad day! 
I also tried the Dr Scholl’s machine to see what inserts are recommended - 420 apparently. I didn’t buy them since CVS tends to be $$ but maybe I’ll get them elsewhere.
Home now. I made FCD some egg salad, and I’m about to indulge in some chillage.
We’ve grilled several times already this summer, and planning to do a bunch more. Pay of our plan to avoid spending money, which involves eating at home more, and grilling is both tasty and easy and feels a little more exotic than frying something up in the kitchen.
This weekend was all about this little one:
This is Bobby Bobbi Norman Clover (we don’t know if it’s a boy or girl and these are the names our nephews suggested). Bobby Bobbi Norman Clover showed up Saturday morning and spent the whole weekend with us. Did some internet research and apparently does leave their newborn fawns alone for hours at a time while they forage to avoid attracting predators to their babies. They’re well camouflaged and have no scent, so they’re pretty safe. Mom returns every once in a while to nurse and then disappears again.
Bobby Bobbi Norman Clover seems to have finally left us as of this morning. Which means we can grill again, since we were avoiding the back patio to avoid stressing it out.
There was a good deal at Giant Eagle. 7 oz. Of Hillshire sliced salami for 1.19.
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I brought an Uncrustable to work for lunch but forgot to bring some Goldfish, so I went to the 4th-floor vending machine for chips…and couldn’t resist the butterscotch Krimpets. Now I’m fighting a Tastykake-induced food coma. I have a meeting at 1pm that will help (even though I only need to listen), but really I could just curl up under my desk right now. No one would know, because my cubicle is at the end of the row and no one can see under the desks…I could totally pull a George Costanza…heh.
I didn’t grow up with grilling/BBQing (except one or two friends’ parents), and have never been interested in cooking. I bought a George Foreman grill once and wound up selling it 3 years later, still sealed in its box. HusbandBFF is a big charcoal griller, and loves cooking burgers or steaks. I don’t have a preference regarding whether food is cooked on a grill, but I’m happy to indulge him from time to time. 
I’m not a fan of charbroiling, though, so I’ve never liked Burger King’s burgers.
Speaking of HusbandBFF, his birthday dinner got cancelled: WifeBFF had GI issues all day, and she cancelled at around 3:45pm. She felt like she ruined his birthday celebration, but both of us totally understood. Everything will keep, and we’ll just celebrate while their son and his GF are visiting (they arrive on Saturday and will be here for 1.5 weeks).
It might have been just as well for me to stay home for one more night: my toe doesn’t hurt, but I can tell I’ve been using that foot more today. I’m wearing these sandals (in brown; I also own them in black and silver), which I’ve had for years and are life-savers. I have to stop for both gas and groceries on the way home, then after I take care of the doggy I’ll need to change the bandage before I can finally put my foot up for a while. I have some diabetic neuropathy (in both feet) that I think might be heading off any actual pain, but I can definitely still feel aching/soreness. Who knew there’d ever be a silver lining to nerve damage? 
I spent most of the weekend binge-watching Sherlock. I love that show and hadn’t seen it in a while, and was reminded that it’s on Hulu. I got through seasons one and two – three 90-minute episodes each – and will start season three sometime this week. Tonight I’ll watch the season finale of MobLand while I eat dinner, then I’ll put the new episode of Home Town on for company/background noise while I start building the first of the three Lego book nooks that should be delivered today. I haven’t decided yet which one will be first…the Sherlock Holmes set might be appropriate.
Boooooo!
Something similar happened to me a few years ago. Because of my gastric bypass, I’m supposed to have 60g of supplemental protein a day (in addition to whatever I eat): I’m lazy and prefer pre-made protein shakes, but many of them are too sweet for my taste. Shortly after the surgery I discovered coffee FairLife Nutrition Plan shakes, and they were perfect (if a bit hard to find)…until suddenly I couldn’t get them at all, either in the store or on Amazon/BJs/etc., and when I went to their website I discovered that coffee wasn’t listed as an available flavor any more. Meh! I switched to cafe mocha Ensure Max shakes, which are just fine, but I’d go back to the coffee FairLife in a heartbeat if I could.
Hi there! 
HA! 
When you’re finally done it’s going to be like a new house! Are all of the updates for the two of you, or are you gearing up to sell?
Soooooo cuuuuuuute! And so thoughtful of you guys to avoid using your patio until mom re-claimed her baby. Very nice.
quote=“nelliebly, post:10, topic:1019101”]
Hello, again! “Lovely to see you again, my friend(s). Walk along with me to the next bend.”
[/quote]
Welcome back nellie! You’ve been missed.
Channeling your inner 6 year old?
Got my labs done this morning, dropped donations to the shelter and Goodwill and stopped to buy bug dope (I’ve been getting eaten alive by skeeters sitting on the patio in the evening.
As far as grilling goes, I wasn’t brought up in the culture, except when we went on camping / fishing trips, so it was usually an open campfire. I’m a fair campfire cook, but have spent quite a few years of my adulthood in apartments, so grilling is rarely done.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
how adorable!!
i have grilled only once. 2 friends and i tried grilling hamburgers once. they tasted of charcoal lighter fluid.
my cousins (the men cousins) will grill with charcoal. i did have a friend who was very into grilling. he had a gas grill.
i will need to find a new show to watch tonight. i finished dci banks last night. perhaps i’ll do a you tube thing.
on thursday i have the wb mason stationary event at the ball park. that is always a fun time. lots of free samples. many, many pens.
Hello Monday, and I can’t believe it’s already June. This year is flying by…
I love the taste of charcoal grilled food but alas I do not have the patience for charcoal. I used to grill quite a bit with a propane grill at the house I owned, but since moving into my current rent house I haven’t felt motivated. But I struggle finding motivation to cook for one person anyway so that’s not terribly surprising.
The weekend was busy with last-minute preparations for my sister’s wedding (which is next weekend! 
). We also spent all of Sunday shopping for something for me to wear as none of what I had ordered online ended up working out. I did find a nice dress that should be cool and comfortable. I also several new tops for work, which was badly needed as I hadn’t shopped in quite a while and didn’t really have much that works for summer.
I ended up taking today off to recover from the exhaustions of shopping and to do laundry. The cats disagreed with my attempts to sleep in but at least I’m not at work.
nellie sorry to hear that family is being difficult. I hope cooler heads can prevail now that they’ve been able to blow up about the situation a bit and let off some steam.
Okay what does this mean? I’ve not heard this in my BBC show watching and I’m stymied!
JtC glad to hear your procedure went well! Also, thank you and your husband for your advice last week - Farmers apparently doesn’t have their A team working on a holiday weekend, so after a bit of pushback things are heading in the right direction now.
susan You’ll practically have a brand new place by the time you finish all of that!
Over the years I’ve had a variety of propane grills and charcoal hibachis & grills. Haven’t owned one in 11 years now since moving out of single family detached houses. Most condos & apartments have gas grills available someplace in the common spaces, but the idea of dragging my raw stuff down there, cooking it, and bringing it back up seems more hassle than worth it.
Back when I did grill it was the usual assortment: burgers, dogs, chix breasts, ribs, and steaks. Plus corn and the occasional shish-kabob. As we got older, it pretty well turned into all steaks. Little prep, no falling apart, easy to measure doneness; what’s not to like?
Reminded me of my grands’ turtle - Carla Herman. When they got it, Daughter and the vet couldn’t decide if it was male or female, hence the two names. I’m pretty sure he’s a he.
Supper will be chickie salad, leftover fried rice with some peas added, and sliced (canned) peaches. Quick and easy - about all I can manage this afternoon! 
Partly tired, partly lazy.
Lil’ bit of a short day today at the museum. My folks are in town, so want to spend as much time with them as possible. I took them on a tour of the museum yesterday, and they had notes. They are the same ones I’ve been thinking for a while–what does this thing work like that, this makes no sense…
I’m going to bring them up at the exhibits meeting on wednesday.
Am pondering grilling this evening with the folks, but I haven’t taken the winter cover off the webber yet, not sure what I’ll find. Squirrel nest? Masses of spiders? Who knows, so I think we’ll just go out for pizza.
Nope, just for us and for the good of the house.
I must praise noise-canceling Airpods. I can feel the thumps and bangs overhead, but I can’t hear them.
Don’t know what dinner is tonight (not my turn to cook), but last night was a chicken stir fry cooked on a propane flattop griddle. My wife got me that for Fathers Day a few years ago. My first thought was “Why? We don’t eat pancakes that often!” Then I discovered stir fries, fajitas, heck, just veggies on the flat top. We use it at least twice a week!
How about horse?
We bought a squirrel feeder something like that for FIL and he enjoyed it. Until Mad Max got up early one morning and chewed holes in it looking for his peanut tribute.
When I was in the USAF, we all loved screaming “Man in the barracks!!!” whenever there was a surprise inspection. We couldn’t shout “Put your shit away”, but we were required to warn everyone when there were men in the barracks. (Except when we were sneaking our boyfriends in of course.)
When your swimming, you aren’t sweating. Or if you do, it isn’t much.
Our neighbors before that place were acceptable, but we had more land so the noise wasn’t as noticeable. We don’t like people that much so our perfect neighbors are the ones we don’t notice.
Speaking of which, we certainly did notice Harry this morning. Or rather, we noticed his raven. Harry is in his mid 80’s and spends a lot of time out on his riding mower fighting the forest. Mrs Harry is his age but not as mobile. Harry put a school bell out on the post so folks visiting could make enough noise for him to hear it when he was in the south forty. The raven leaned that if he rings the bell, Harry will bring him food.
This morning, I heard the bell going off like a sugar amped toddler had found it and expected the clanging to stop in a few mintues. It did, but didn’t. The raven would ring the bell and then fly over the gulch and then go back to ring the bell again.
I thought that was odd and went out behind the shed to look and saw the mower on its side and Harry on the ground. I called 911 on my way down the gully and then called Hubs when I got to Harry. He was breathing so I didn’t try to move him and just sat on the ground and held his hand while telling him that help was on the way.
Next I heard a siren, then I heard another one. Then I heard every ambulance and sheriff car in the state come screaming up and lining both streets while people were running from all over.
Harry was awake and talking by then, I sure do hope he remembers how the community showing their appreciation for all he’s done for them over the years.
Hubs put a plate of scrambled eggs out on Harry’s porch for the raven but he needed have bothered. He said there was sooo much food already, he’s going to check later to be sure it gets eaten/cleaned up before attracting bears.
You have my sympathy. I really do feel your pain. I hope the headphones helped.
Awwwww!
It is so good of you to avoid using your yard to avoid stressing the little one. They do know to just stay still, but you might have scared mama off when she was trying to feed her little one and babies are so fragile, no matter what species.
What kinda cats do you have anyhow? Ours always love it when we sleep in…as long as we feed them their morning gooshy fud before going back to bed that is!
I do hope your future BIL has everything sorted out before his wedding. He has a wedding night to enjoy and doesn’t need to be bothering with insurance worries while making whoopy.
It’s great that they enjoyed the tour enough to have questions, that means they were paying attention!
We deserve to eat off the good china.
So, before the morning excitement, I had my first shower since my procedure. I do not like taking baths, I never feel clean, but there was the whole “no water in the eyes” thing. So I was so excited about taking a shower that I forgot to close the doors. I have to close the bedroom door AND the bathroom door to keep GG out. He will open the bedroom door and then forget what he wanted and leave the bathroom door alone.
As I was showering with eyes clenched closed, I felt cool air around my ankles and a slimy snake wrap around my calves.
Poor hubs couldn’t hear what I was yelling and thought I’d fallen or something so ran in unready to grab our big jerkface and wrap him in towels, so he spent the next hour mopping floors and cleaning fur out of my shower.
After sitting in the mud with Harry, I needed another shower and was very careful about properly closing both doors properly. Asshole kittycat!
JtC, I’m so glad that you were there to help Harry.
Today I officially finished making two pillows. Then I made pasta and meatballs for dinner. Oh, and I looked for jobs most of the day when I wasn’t doing those things.
I got a call and email from a recruiter who has remote teaching jobs available. I think that might be the best thing for me. It won’t erase my student loans most likely, but it will allow me to be with my mom. And, it will definitely be more money than the job in Canton. I haven’t actually talked to the recruiter yet, but I hope it goes well.
Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to fill my cavities and I may have to go up north to pick up my GLP-1 prescription. Speaking of, I’m expecting tomorrow’s weigh-in to not go very well. I’ve been feeling all kinds of weird lately and have eaten more than I normally do. Ah well. We shall see…
This!
Howdy Y’all! Been home a bit from the first night of Vacation Bible Skool. I grilled 96 dawgs and they got et up. There were anywhere from 40 to a gazillion of the little urchins there. I don’t mind cookin’ for the humanlets, but glad I don’t have to herd ‘em. However a good time was had by all so it seems.Tomorrow night’s gustatory delight will be boxed lasagna (don’t judge!) sallit, garlic bread, fruit and ice cream with star sprinkles bein’ as the theme is outer space. I suggested gruel, but was overruled. Maybe I can tell the knee nibblers it’s Martian lasagna made with real Martians. Try it! Tastes just like beef!