Greetings from Jackson

I'm drinking wine out of small plastic bottles and eating Hostess Powdered Sugar Donettes.  I feel like I'm 16.  The wine is not bad (Sutter Home White Zinfandel) and the donuts are delicious.

I procured supplies for my weekend away at Walmart yesterday and went when I was hungry.  Big mistake.  The donettes were an impulse purchase.  Yes, I regret it.  But they are delicious.  I am enjoying them.  We stopped shopping at WalMart pretty much - but I needed a variety of things including food, non-food and garden items - and going there saved a couple other stops on my list of places to go yesterday - so guess I will add it into the errand rotation once in a while.

There is a concert here tonight - Salt 'n Pepa - never heard of them - but there is quite a crowd here. The casino was mobbed so after losing more than I wanted to on my first day here, I headed back to the room.  Internet is spotty and a call to the front desk revealed 'there are a lot of people here and we thing that's causing issues'.  Hmmm.  It's up for now so will try to do a quick post before I lose it again.  Hopefully, the wine will kick in and I can try to get to sleep soon.

I look forward to this get away with great anticipation.  Yes, I miss 'my guys' - I really do.  But I relish the time alone and look forward to a couple days of 'just me' time.

Yesterday (before WalMart), I visited a podiatrist.  I've never sought out care for my feet - never had a single pedicure; avoid people touching my feet.  I stopped wearing open toed shoes in my teens and just never thought my feet should see the light of day.  I've spent years dealing with ingrown toenails on both big toes and the methods used to manage them over the years have left those nails less than attractive.  But that will all change - 'cuz on July 21st, I'm going to have an in office procedure that will remove the sides of both nails that grow in - and stop them from ever growing again.  With some healing and tending as they heal and regrow sans the constantly ingrown sides, they should look 'normal' after a few months.  Maybe six.

The podiatrist was amazingly nice - said this 'issue' is one that many people just like me have dealt with for years - and she knows that when it's done and they are growing more normally, I will be thrilled with not having my status defined by the state of my nails.  I can't wait!!  They will be sore for a few days but she said most folks wear shoes the first day - and I am coincidentally off the week of the procedure so it will be fine.  I can limp around the house in flip flops if I need to -

We've installed five gallon paint buckets in two of the three bathrooms to catch the water that runs while the hot water gets to the shower.  We've been using that water to keep the patio pots moist and also sometimes are able to work on some of the dryer parts of the lawn.  We're trying really hard to conserve.  J. did an experiment with the dishwasher and put in plates with dried on food - no pre-washing - and they came clean!  So we aren't pre-rinsing dishes quite as much.  I shut off the shower after I'm wet, soap up, then rinse off.  I wash my hands with a little water, turn water off, add soap, lather and then rinse.  It's sort of amazing the small changes we've made that we hope are helping - while simultaneously thinking 'these are things we should have been doing all along'.  Water is precious. Especially in California.

I want to profusely thank two dear friends who mentioned that they'd notice the lack of postings; that they still check (one every single day!!).  It's nice to feel connected to people I care about via these musings and I do miss these ladies so much!!  I have been remiss in posting mainly 'cuz of time but will try really hard to do better.  Even if I have to move my wake up time ahead another 1/2 hour or so.

J. said one day not too long ago 'what happened to the good old days when we'd just get out of bed, make coffee, shower and go to work'?  Facebook is my short answer.  Followed closely by "The Internet" and online banking.  There's just so much out there now to 'connect' to daily - and I sure can't do most of that at work.

The conference in Livermore was very good and I will try to post more on the topics that revealed themselves over the course of the two days.  We had a great time - most of the district admin team attended and it was a lot of fun 'bonding' time as well as very informative.

OK - time to think about going to bed.  I forgot to turn the AC on when I left the room around 5:45PM and it was really hot in here when I got back...but it's cooled off now and I feel sleepy.  Wine in teeny bottles does that.....