Ado Annie

Goodness, Stars, your POD people sound frustrating. But glad you have a go-date and all. Joe, I missed what happened to your knee. Still stiff and sore? I whacked the heck out of my little toe on the doorframe of our closet a couple of nights ago and it is a pretty shade of purple. I just can't bring myself to wear shoes in the house even though I know it would prevent that kind of stuff. (as well as stepping in cat vomit, ugh). Hubs continues to feed the 3 stray cats. Hubs secured a place to keep the boat at the lake for a couple of months and he wants to spend the 4th on the lake and watch their fireworks from out on the water. I thought it would be fine -- we'd go in the late afternoon/early evening and stay until the fireworks were done and put the boat away. BUT he says let's go in the morning and spend the whole day. Um, it's been in the 90s all week with "abundant sunshine" and I just don't know if I'm really up for that. And what are the odds there will be any wind? His best friend from Indiana will make a short visit, along with the friend's grandson, in a couple of weeks and Hubs plans to take them sailing, too. Again, hoping for a little wind.

Great pictures, J22! So the weather app says "abundant sunshine." That means, yep, it's BRIGHT out there. As I became very aware when we left the retina doctor on Monday. Both eyes dilated. Very glad Twin A was driving. The good news is that my eye is so stable that I don't have to return for TWO years! Tomorrow we're having a "cookout" at work. They'll serve burgers and "fixin's" and we can bring in desserts that will be sold by the serving (as a fundraiser for other employee events). Yet again, one of the air conditioners isn't working so there are fans set up in strategic locations, most notably right outside my office. I, however, am still cold in the office.

Stars, your references to the PODS people are making me think of bad science fiction movies. 🤣

Got the mammogram over with. Next up is the visit to the eye specialist. Hubs finally gave up on washer "repair" yesterday and found a very similar used washer that he went to pick up this morning. Keeping my fingers crossed but I'm hopeful. I do not want to know what he spent on the attempt to fix the old one. When I sent a Happy Birthday message to stepson Saturday, he replied with a picture -- he was at a "drag brunch" and would later do a scripture reading at a wedding for a gay couple, then was planning to go to pride, and then a drag show. Busy day but good for him. Indiana is quite red in general but there are communities. I made deviled eggs last night, thinking it would be a good low-carb snack. I don't expect them to last long with the boys around, though. Well, off to see what I can accomplish today.

Book club was enjoyable and I'm glad I went. There were some delicious-looking baked goods available but I stayed low-carb and had brisket tacos (but didn't eat the tortillas). Our little community's fireworks will be tonight (apparently they save money on the display and find it easier to schedule food trucks and such if they don't do it on the weekend of the 4th). Hubs and I might go. Twin A will be working and Twin B will be sleeping in preparation for working. Tomorrow I meet my friend D for lunch. I am thinking of going to Norman early to do "water walking" at the pool there. If I get busy tonight, I could drop some things at Goodwill while I am there, too. But I might not get busy on that if we go to the fireworks display. Monday I am scheduled for my annual visit to the retina specialist. Twin A has agreed to drive me. Even if they only dilate one eye, I am past the point where I want to drive myself home in that condition (it is on the other side of Oklahoma City). The day in 2019 when I went there and learned about the retinal detachment, and had laser retinopexy, I had driven myself. Not again. Then I received a letter saying it was time to schedule my mammogram, so I scheduled that for Monday as well. I'll do that before going back home to get Twin A to drive me to the eye appointment. He and I can get a good lunch somewhere. And sometime over Sat/Sun/Mon I must visit the laundromat again. I don't object too much because I can get multiple loads done all at one time. Still, maybe by next weekend my washer will be functional again. Or replaced 🤣 Saturday is stepson's birthday. Sunday would be my dad's 100th birthday!

Howdy, all. I'm very happy to have my little site visit completed. I knew it wasn't something to worry about - but just getting everything wrangled together was enough to cause some stress. Hubs continues to ache from his shingles. Yesterday we celebrated our 37th anniversary. (the only celebratory thing I did was pick up steaks to grill, but at least we did that). Hubs has for some time been watching the stray cats that would hang out near the dumpster at the apartment complex across the street. The last couple of days he has been putting food out for them, and this morning, there they were -- 2 cats in our yard. I know what comes of this. But I am soft-hearted, too. I haven't seen one of the hospital cats in a few weeks. The other was here yesterday but one of the employees who regularly feeds them says she thinks this one is sick -- she isn't eating much and has lost a significant amount of weight. My book club meets tonight and I'm determined to go, barring any major disruptions. We are discussing the Pompeii book.

The other day I was back in the administrative offices after taking a patient complaint in the conference room. The latest joke has been about Hubs having shingles and I bought him a TENS unit. (a) this was before he showed me the rash, and (b) I was trying to help with his back pain, but (yes) it's kind of funny. So someone brought that up and we were laughing about that and other things, and then worried that the patient might still be around and think we were laughing at him and his situation, which we were not. We looked, and he appeared to be gone. No, Mr. Patient, we aren't making fun of you. We are making fun of me. Too much to do this week and I'm having a hard time resisting the tasty carbs.

I totally gave up the low-carb diet yesterday and this morning, feeling justified by my blood donation yesterday. I'll get back to it. It won't be helpful to beat myself up every time I decide to enjoy some food. I feel much better today. We had a downpour early this morning and the next several days have fairly high potential for rain and storms. I went back to the office last night to try to get some things caught up. It's a good thing, too, because when people are here I get interrupted for a lot of things. Still have a lot to do to be ready for some deadlines so might spend some time here over the weekend. Thinking of moving my piano back into the living room. It has been in my bedroom since we brought Grandma here in 2020. Which means that in order to get it tuned I have to let a tuner into my bedroom, which means it has to be tidy, which means I might never get it tuned. I don't even know when it was done last, but it needs it and I want to be able to play it. We've had a few of those (generally younger) people who don't seem to have a commitment to the job. My observation is that they usually don't last long even if they are not fired. It is disappointing to be counting on someone to come in to work and share the workload and they don't.

A quick note before I dive into policy & procedure for however long it takes to come up with what I'm being asked for. Not that there's anything to report. Supposed to storm overnight and it is overcast and only 83 today. The yard needs to be mowed but Hubs hasn't been up to it. Twin A worked today but says he will do it tomorrow if it's not too wet. I gave blood today and decided I had to have some carbs. I probably overdid it, but I feel good now! Wish I had thought to marinate some steak strips I bought so we could do fajitas tonight but ... I didn't, so I don't know what we'll do. Last night I tossed leftover grilled chicken into some broth with noodles. I just left most of the noodles out of my bowl -- maybe that counts? I'm not going to work too hard at trying to count the carbs there.

I hope the storms aren't too bad, Joe. dianah, it's good that the appointment went well with no surprises. Stars, you accomplished a lot. And I admire you for emptying and recycling those cans. Tweety, I'm totally not offended. Your shifts have been fairly brutal and that's reason enough not to be all sunshine and rainbows. I've got some drudgery to face at work, but at least it keeps me busy doing something useful. Very little else going on, and that is A-OK. 89 degrees, humid, and windy. I guess some part of Florida got some rain because one of our volunteers was talking about her daughter's family being there for her grandson to play in some baseball tournament and they're getting rained on.

I tried to post from my phone this weekend, but ... no. Glad the finger doesn't seem to be broken, Stars. Good for you, Joe, to recognize you were not feeling well enough and needed to get some rest. Hubs has shingles and I wish I had recognized it sooner. To be fair, though he was complaining of back pain that was a lot like when he had a herniated disk, he didn't tell me about the "little red spots" until Friday night. So he got some gabapentin but it is too late for antivirals. After a 96-degree day Saturday, the forecast for yesterday showed a high in the 70s with a little rain early in the day, so Twin A and I took the opportunity for a trip to the zoo. We had a great time, did a lot of walking, got to feed flamingos, a rhino, and cassowaries. Saturday involved another trip to the laundromat as we are still awaiting parts for the washing machine and Hubs couldn't have been working on it anyway. He tried Friday (thinking he had just hurt his back somehow) and got so frustrated and miserable that it didn't go well... requiring the ordering of more parts. ☹️ Today I feel tired and slow. My right eye is puffy -- the only thing I can think of is irritation from the CPAP mask. I did buy some of the pod-type laundry detergent for the trip to the laundromat so I suppose there could be something in the sheets that troubled my eye but I suspect is was just my positioning with the mask/straps. The perks of getting older...

Congrats on reaching your goal weight, Joe. I hit a new current low but have a long way to go. So the Florida weather came to give you a preview, Stars? That makes it really fun (not) to go into storage sheds and garages. Remember how I said I'd never actually seen Phantom? Well, I just got an email about Phantom being in OKC in November, so guess what I want to do for my birthday? I sent a text to all the guys. So far I've only heard back from Twin B but he is game. I'll be going back to the laundromat tomorrow. I think that the last part Hubs needs for the washer arrived yesterday. But he has been having some low back pain so not sure if he will work on it tomorrow or not. I got a TENS unit for him to try and he said he thinks it helps. I'm going to look at the weather forecast again, but it looks as if Sunday might be a good day for the zoo visit that Twin A has been wanting to make.

My obsessive behaviors are undermining me this week. I found a new game app that kept me entertained while I figured out the logic. I think I have figured out as much as I am going to and most of the puzzles are easy now, so it is time to delete that app so I don't waste time doing it. And I just ate a whole package of LifeSaver gummy candies because no self-control. I will not be in ketosis today or tomorrow for sure! Woke up and couldn't get back to sleep between 3 and 5. It can be harrowing trying to keep up with a fast CBI. Would be OK if you didn't have a million other things to do.

That's the first time I've heard that little quip, and it made me laugh. But then, I used a word I seldom ever use -- in front of by boss! -- yesterday. He looked surprised, but then repeated it in his own comment.

Oh, dear, not Chinese food 🤣 J22, I hope you start feeling better very soon. Joe, that's very thoughtful of you to plan something for your niece to do. My aunt (my Dad's only sister, who was 16 years older than my dad) always kept a box of comic books and candy for the kids who came to visit. Kept me occupied while the adults visited and I loved going to her house. Saturday the city had its annual "lake day" out at the city lake. The hospital and the church both had tables/booths. I was the only person from the hospital to participate so I borrowed a canopy, made a sign, and Twin A went with me. We took chairs, a TV table, and 152 little bottles of bubbles. Those were gone by noon, which was when I needed to go do my shift at the church's tent anyway, so we packed up the hospital's stuff. There were predictions of thunderstorms and rain but it remained warm and breezy and really a nice day for it. There were free hotdogs and sno-cones so I abandoned the low-carb diet again. Saturday evening we went with a group from the church to the baseball game in OKC and had a lot of fun. Sunday I ended up going to the new laundromat in the next town, which is just across the bridge. It was nice to have that one available because before I had to drive a good 12-13 miles to get to one. Hubs is working on the washer and dryer. The dryer was up and running but the washer required more parts. Then Binx the cat peed on Twin B's pants that he needed to wear to work last night (he left them on the floor of his room), so I decided to just go ahead and take some laundry over to the laundromat and get it over with.