We Are Actually Doing It

Really!  What?  FINALLY painting the stair risers!  I'm sure a professional painter would tsk tsk some of the work....for example, we realized there's a 'bif mark' from the piss poor paint job the builder did on the trim and we didn't see it before we started.  We should have sanded it down a bit but we didn't.  We will add that to the list of things to 'touch up'.  We also need to use some wood putty to patch the 'break' in the trim on the stairs that's been there since the dawn of time - something that every time I look at it, I'm irritated we didn't catch it during the walk through - sixteen years ago. Let it go already, Majah!

But thanks to the Sure-Line edger, it's not terribly hard and it's getting done.  The stairs down into the family room are done and four risers on the stairs heading to the 2nd story are also almost done.  We haven't killed each other and I'm tamping down my 'do it my way or die' tendencies as well as the slight perfectionist in me that comes out during manual labor.  It's been two years since we did the floors and I just want to get it done.  It couldn't look any worse than it has -

H. - who promised me he owed me four hours of labor for the money I advanced him to go to the movies earlier this week - went to Santa Cruz with friends.  I didn't mind the unexpected Santa Cruz trip - a long-time friend of his is visiting from Ireland (he lives there now which was news to me) and a bunch of friends decided to head to the beach.  Concert tonight and they are spending the night at someone's house.  Those kind of unexpected adventures are the ones you just have to seize the day on and I honestly had no issue with him going.

What I did have a HUGE issue with is when he left the house for '20 minutes' to go help some friends get air mattresses, etc. (for the overnight stay camping out on someone's floor) out of their attic. The 20 minuets turned into an hour and 45 minutes - time he could have been here helping and working off the advance he got for the movies.

To say he got reamed when he got home is putting it mildly.  The old patterns come back in a flash - he doesn't keep his agreements; doesn't respect the people he lives with; gives more care and attention to relationships of people he barely knows than he does the two adult parents he lives with.

I know 23 year olds are the epitome of selfish - but geez that kid pushed my buttons big time today.

He won't be home until mid-day tomorrow at the earliest so we are painting as fast as we can (for us) to see how much we can get done before he's home.

I think we will tape off the rest of the stairs today/tonight (hopefully) and paint in the morning (hopefully).  We're on a roll!  Let's keep that momentum going!

Chloe's insulin dose has been increased and she had a day at the vet having her levels read all day. She isn't feeling too well today - lethargic.  I was cleaning the treadmill in the family room (which I was on for a quarter mile this morning, by the way) and she walked over to the rug by the back door and peed a gallon - TWO FEET FROM ME.  No warning, no whine to go out - just said 'I need to pee so I'm going to'.  Grrrr.

She's not well and it shows.

We're trying to decide what to eat for dinner.  J. had the idea to go out - but I'm hot, sweaty and still in my PJ's technically (though it looks like a tank and shorts.  Boy shorts.) so I need to get dressed. Thai food sounds delicious and at least with no H., we can keep it less expensive.  Take out, I think.  I'm never in the mood to go out and it saves tip and beverages - so it's the frugal option as well.

More later.  We'll see how far we get on the stairs tomorrow and I will report back.

Clouds with Wind

This morning started off shattered.  I was up and downstairs by 5:25 and took Chloe out.  Fed her, out again and then headed to my computer with a hot cup of coffee.  Heard something shatter...and then heard something else shatter....and again...and again.  Ran into the kitchen trying to figure out what was happening - and had a moment of 'crap, I think our china hutch just tipped over'.  I saw glass on the landing and realized it was H.'s favorite heavy glass 'stein' that we got him in Cancun a few years ago.  He was on his way downstairs and dropped it.  Thankfully, it was empty and 'dry' vs. full of chocolate milk or the remains of chocolate milk.  Poor kid had tears in his eyes about the mug and had to endure the wrath of his mom who reamed him for having it upstairs.  Once again, violating the rule of 'only water' upstairs.  The carpet in his room is DESTROYED because of him taking food and drink up there - and he ignores the rule.  So he got no sympathy from me about breaking the glass 'cuz if he hadn't taken it upstairs, it wouldn't have happened.

J. got up to help 'cuz the glass went everywhere.  On every stair; in the entry way up to the landing; all over the landing; into the kitchen; down the stairs into the family room.  What a mess.  Great way to start the day for all (not).

J. took Chloe out again post clean up and came back in saying 'wish I hadn't washed my car on Monday'.  'Why?', I asked.  He replied 'it's raining' and then I heard it!  A brief, very large down pour!  It was awesome!  Stayed cloudy and cool until noonish or so - it was great to feel a little coolness in the air.

Now my weather app has the wind symbol showing and unusually, it's so windy that our satellite TV keeps losing the signal.  Survivor starts in 40 minutes and we have sporadic outages of broadcast. Dang it!

I have a workshop on the legal aspects around technology in schools and then in the office for a couple of hours at the end of the day tomorrow.  Off on Friday again!  H. was advanced $ to go to a movie with friends so he owes me work on Saturday and we are going to tackle the stairs.  He has a class on Friday (just one) so I doubt we'll get much done that day but I will try to be motivated enough to get the taping process started.

The big news is Angelina and Brad are splitsville and I'm sorry to hear that - I'd really hoped they would make it.  Rumors of him cheating with someone else - the female lead in his latest movie - and Angelina hired a private eye to prove it.

Glad Survivor is on (and wind seems to be dying down a bit).  We've been missing our regular programs and J. has been a trooper about all the Life Below Zero and baking shows I've been rewatching over and over.  Oh! and Law & Order.  Always.

Beauty Day

I've needed a haircut for a couple weeks - and decided I wanted to branch away from the JC Penney styling salon experience.  I feel for those stylists - new, learning, making minimum wage in a salon that hasn't been updated for decades.  It's just not a fun experience and while I've rationalized 'it's not too expensive' and 'it's just hair', I was looking for something a little 'nicer'.

I headed to ULTA - the store.  And their hair salon.  Got a great cut from a lady about my age who also has short hair.  Felt right at home right away.  Nice cut and a new product that provides a lot of volume which I need.

And on the way out, I met the brow guy and had my first ever eye-brow wax and shaping.  My brows are so sparse, I never felt the need to groom them via wax but he convinced me and I must say, I'm glad I got them done.  Lots less time staring into the big makeup mirror in our bathroom attempting to pluck stray hairs - and looking into that light leads to a halo effect for many minutes after when I close my eyes - so maybe regular brow waxing is the way to go.

Tomorrow morning will be the true test - can I fill them in on my own and make them look decent. Fingers crossed.

We did look at houses briefly yesterday - they looked a lot like the homes we visited in Reno.  Design concepts apparently don't vary much.  The single story was perfect for us - 4 bedrooms plus a 'flex room' we would use as an office - but the bedrooms are really tiny.  That's the trend now, too.  Space in the living area and keep the bedrooms really small.

We weren't tempted 'cuz I think we both agree Tracy is not where we will retire - though one of us already is retired in Tracy - but that won't always be the case.

We also trekked to OSH and Kelly Moore to get the supplies we need to start painting the stair risers. Company's coming over Christmas and the risers have been awaiting paint since the floors were installed TWO years ago - geez, I can't believe that.  I'm a little worried that upon painting, it will be painfully obvious that the entire house needs painting - it really does.  But we're just going to work on the risers and the trim up the stair case and maybe a little bit of baseboard touch ups.  And some wall touch ups.  And maybe a door.  When my cousin (one of the visitors) reads this, she is going to be so concerned that I'm painting my house for her visit - when really, I'm painting our house 'cuz it needs it and her visit is just the icing on the cake to get it done.

J. turns a young 67 tomorrow so I'm heading into the kitchen to bake a carrot cake and check on the pot roast that's in the oven.  I have a meeting tomorrow until 5PM so I'm baking tonight - and we will probably eat it tonight.  He won't mind -

B. heads back to Ft. Campbell tomorrow via bus.  He called very briefly on Friday evening - called the house phone so I would answer and he sounded just wiped out.  We had a really bad connection and we ended up getting disconnected - but we reconnected long enough to say our good nights. He was calling around 7:30PM our time, had been up since 4 and had to get up early on Saturday for the actual 'live fire' exercise they were doing all-day Saturday - so I really wanted him to get some sleep.
Live fire went fine - I was so relieved to see his Facebook messenger show 15 minutes at around 5PM last night after being off for 22 hours.  Facebook is great at keeping people connected - and reminding you just how long it's been since someone you care about has been online.

I took a phone survey and was surprised at the end to hear 'this survey was paid for by the Republican Party' - waste of their money since every answer was anti-them.  And Donald.  Especially Donald.

Adding potatoes to pot roast and getting the cake mix stirred up (no, I'm not making a cake from scratch.  I considered it and if I hadn't spent a couple of hours getting beautified and grocery shopping, I might have tried to) and in the pans ready to bake as soon as the pot roast comes out.

Another Monday looms.  Ugh.

Rasputin

Bless J.'s heart - one of his projects the past couple weeks has been going through all our vinyl albums (we have 100's.  Lots.  Tons.) to get them inventoried and then take them to Rasputin records. He phoned Rasputin and the guy said basically 'keep your expectations in check'.

Now we know why.

J. decided to take just 50 on the first trip.  The guy refused 33 of them.  Kept 17 he wanted to research.  Researched and came back - gave 10 of them back - and bought 7.  So from 50 down to 7 - and we made.....wait for it.....$1.50.  Yes, that's a decimal between the 1 and the 5.

So now we have 100's of remaining albums we are just going to donate somewhere.  The hospice donation in Jackson takes pretty much everything - and I'd be willing to drive up there and then go get a great chicken dinner at the casino and come home.  Trying not to play - I haven't played there in many months - just to get rid of all the albums.  Maybe twist hubby's arm to ride with me so two of us can unload all the albums and then we can go have a nice dinner together.

I think we will also call our local library to see if they would accept them.

If we had a new house to decorate, I'd be tempted to use them as a wall covering - like on Trading Spaces when Hildy used compact discs to cover a wall.

Day Off!

I'm taking the remaining Fridays this month off - using vacation to comply with the allowed carryover policy.  It's nice to sleep in a bit and to not feel rushed.  Enjoying the blue jays and listening to the street sweeper.  Back and forth.  Weaving as close as he can to the curb whilst avoiding all the parked cars.

No real plans today though we might meander over to new homes near us (and in our school district!! Yay! to future increased enrollment!).  There's only one single story model in the entire three community development but oh well - worth looking.

Though my heart is still set on Reno.

H.'s driving suspension was apparently lifted officially the day of the meeting with the DMV but I guess they just don't confirm any way other than 'in writing' - so it took close to a week to receive the official notice.  H. is back on the road now and J. is super glad to not be schlepping H. back and forth though he (J.) did get a lot of reading done which he enjoys.

Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of our proposal - hard to imagine it's been that long.

J. just headed out to pick up Starbucks - thankful it's just down the street and loving the mobile app.

B. is on maneuvers again but got to fly there (vs. a bus) on a huge Army transport plane.  Though his unit is heading 'home' and they are on a bus back.  But still - at least it's a one way long bus trip vs. both ways.  The latest rumor is Iraq in December - so possibly home for a week in November but then restricted to base for the 30 days prior to deploying.  Christmas without him home will be hard - really hard.  But hoping for Thanksgiving timing which would be lovely - and we will do a mini-Christmas then, possibly?

I had dinner with a dear friend on Wednesday evening in Danville - all things considered, the drive was fairly easy.  The new 'Express Lane' is open and it was only $1.30 all the way to 680 North which I thought was a pretty good deal.  I told J. I think I'd like a FasTrack gadget for the car so that IF you are going somewhere and decide the toll lane is a better option, you can make the move!  And the rare times we head over to the city will also be easier with FasTrack - automatic and you just pay the bill monthly.

My friend just celebrated her 75th birthday - we spent the evening reminiscing about the college where we both worked for a while and about her grandkids and kids and my kids.  We ate pizza, drank beer and she brought me a box of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies - and then, bless her heart, she told me they are a mix and it's a King Arthur Flour Company mix....I've already tried to order it and it's completely sold out!  They were so good, I hid the cookie tin under a pile of laundry in a laundry basket lest H. find them and immediately devour them.  She could have told me it was a secret family recipe and I would have totally believed her - but she fessed up and I'm glad she did 'cuz they are fantastically delicious and I can't wait to make them!.

It was a really nice evening and I'm glad I'm going to commit to making time to schlep over the hill to see people I miss seeing.

Work is crazy busy - when is it not?  I always say that as if it will magically ever be not crazy busy? It's always chaotically busy and already this year, little things just seem so irritating.  Sometimes I want to email people and say 're-read the email.  Read it carefully.  Think about what you are reading and then apply it.  If after doing that, you STILL don't get it, then call me'.  One little thing took one person SIX emails to get....and it was as if she simply just was guessing at what to do vs. reading what the email SAID to do.  Geez, people.  I know everyone is really busy and it is craziness everywhere but when we take up extra time unraveling things that a little simple 'stop, read, think, do' would manage, it's so challenging.  For everyone.

I'm going to turn on the TV and see what's recorded to watch - and then settle in for a leisurely Friday.  I think a nap will occur since I can stay up way past my bed time tonight.

What's the Haps

J. trekked with H. to Modesto yesterday morning for the DMV face-to-face.  H. was late getting up and sadly, J. made him three pieces of cinnamon toast which he didn't have time to eat.  I was sort of irritated about the wasted food -

It was delicious.

Rare for me to eat breakfast before I get to work - J. usually scrambles some egg whites for me and I eat them when I get to my office.  Three pieces of toast and a small glass of OJ - just what I needed to start a(nother) incredibly busy day.

Now it's end of day Friday and today was super busy, too...but another cycle of year-end madness is officially done - pending board approval on Tuesday.

There are tons of blue jays enjoying the seed and I saw two robins earlier this evening as well.  I love creating a place for them to fill their stomachs and the jays look so much better than they did a week ago - their feathers are fuller and their getting round bellies back after a summer of very dry, hot weather.

H.'s DMV interview went OK and we await a letter - hopefully tomorrow but most likely Monday.  In the mean time, he's getting to/from school with the help of friends and his dad, who frankly is one of the most patient, giving guys on the planet.  Thank goodness for J.'s Kindle - he's fine sitting in a Starbucks or wherever, connect to WiFi and surf the web or watch videos.  We sure hope he won't have to spend basically full days in Antioch & Brentwood next week but it's working out so far.

I have concerns about H. lately - he's spending time with someone who I haven't met yet and am a little on guard about.  She picked him up last night to head to school and I said 'well, I'd like to come out and meet her finally [J's met her already - she and her husband invited H. and J. (and me but I declined) to a BBQ over Labor Day] and he seemed reluctant.  He said 'just in a hurry so it would be better if you met her another time'.  Guess that's reasonable but his reaction felt more 'concerned' than just that.  I'm not sure what this woman is doing spending time with kids in their early 20's - she's married with kids and in her 30's, I think.  It's just strange to me.  H. and a bunch of his friends spend time over there a lot and lately, H. is there more than any other 'friend'.  I'm not sure what to make of it.  I'm a mom.  Can't help it.

I'm not working this weekend and I'm off every Friday from now until the end of the month!  I'm grateful for a work-free weekend though I started a list here by my computer of things that need doing.  Sometimes just writing the things down as I think of them is the best way to get my mind to shut off a bit...if I've written it down, I don't need to worry I'm going to forget.

My fingernails are back in a growth cycle.  I just tried to paint them dark blue - I love the idea of dark polishes but they are a PITA to apply and even harder to make look good.  So I removed the polish and now there's various shades of blue on, under and/or around my nails.

I reached out to a dear friend this week and have decided that I am going to make time every month for at least one or two dinners out with friends.  I've been contemplating a lot of friendships lately - 'cuz honestly, it often feels like we don't make the effort.  And I include me in that as well.  We all think 'I'm too busy' or 'they're too busy' or 'well, I haven't heard from them in ages so they obviously don't care about spending time with me' or [insert a myriad of things I can think of when I'm in that mode].  And the truth is my friends are real friends.  People that have been in my life for decades and we don't need to be in touch often to reconfirm that.  These are the truest, dearest, people on earth and in my life - so we just have to start making it happen.  I have one dinner this coming week with someone I haven't seen in over a year and another dinner the week after with another someone I haven't seen in over a year.

And another new friend (work - I've known here a couple years now) and I had lunch last week and we talked through our 'friendship' styles.  When I'm having a hard time and need a friend, I reach out. When she's having a hard time, she retreats and shuts down.  We have completely opposite 'support/need' reactions and it can lead to hurt feelings or mis-understandings.  So when she called me around noon today and said 'How's your day going?  I'm heading to Starbucks, want to come'? and I replied 'I just got back from Starbucks and a doctor's appointment'.  She said 'I'm having a really hard day' and I said 'then I'm going to Starbucks with you'.  She's usually in shut down mode when she's had a hard day - so I applaud her reaching out and I dropped everything to go with her.  It was a nice break.  We are great supports to each other and that really helps - 'cuz there's lots of stuff I don't write about and it's nice to have someone who knows what's going on.

J.'s back is bothering him and he's never had any back issue that wasn't a kidney stone.  He's trying to convince me that it's muscular and 'I used to have this a lot when I was younger'...I met him when he was 40 so I never knew him in his late 20's/early 30's when these back flares were apparently 'common'.  So he's a little groany and moving slowly and I will do my best to do things this weekend so he won't have to.

That's going to be a long weekend of taking the dog out - she's back to her constantly starving, frequently peeing mode and she's whiny and sort of a pain.  But she's the cutest dog ever and is so earnest in her cuteness, she's impossible to resist.  We'll spend a lot of time outside tomorrow - yard work, sweeping, etc. -

I can't wait for two sleep-in days...especially the moment when I wake up close to when my alarm would be going off and I realize I get to go back to sleep!!

Labor Free Day Prior to Labor Day

I should be working...I went in a bit yesterday and realized just how much I have to do...but my stomach is giving me fits today so I'm sticking close to home.  I think I am super-duper sensitive to any spice and Thai food on Friday combined with things I snacked on yesterday with the extra addition of chili dogs for dinner last night have me under the weather.  It's no big deal here at home but the thought of sitting in my office and likely needing to frequent the restroom (which is outside and down three buildings) is more than my psyche can handle.

It means I will treat tomorrow as a normal workday - getting up and heading out to work as soon as I can.  I should be able to get everything done tomorrow and if not?  It will be a week of very long days.  And that's OK.

Harry Potter marathon on today so I'm a happy camper.

News....let's see.  H. got a letter from the DMV yesterday confirming that his license is suspended at 5PM tomorrow - though he (and J.) both insist he's been 'in touch' with them about their request for a face-to-face interview and it's been a 'scheduling thing', they clearly see it differently and have officially rendered him unable to drive effective tomorrow evening.  J. is convinced it can all be resolved over the phone on Tuesday - and while I hope it can be (because he has a class on Tuesday night to get to not to mention the rest of the week) - I'm not all that optimistic about it.  Which leaves J. to add 'chauffeur' to his list of retirement activities.  H.'s classes are split between the campus in Antioch and the campus in Brentwood - no buses or shuttles between.  So if this isn't resolved timely, J. will be spending a lot of time sitting in a car waiting for H..  Fingers crossed some of the logistics can be managed via friends he has that also attend both campuses and many of the same classes.

It's absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend - not too warm and down right awesome!  Cooling down a bit - which is great - and while it's windy in the evenings, it's really nice during the day.

J. is heading out to OSH to get a bag or two of soil - our Japanese maple that's in a big 'pot' in the yard needs some soil added ASAP - and then I will also had a tree fertilizing spike to give it some nutrients.  I think we need to figure out how to repot it - but not sure when/if we will make that happen.

I'm taking off three more Fridays this month and then plan to take off a week (or two) sometime in October.  We've been in touch with B. who says he's going to have some leave days in October - so we've offered to fly him here if he wants.  So we'll see.  I'd love to have some time off when he's home though I then quickly think 'why?' 'cuz he won't be hanging around here much if he is home. He's usually out and about much of the time - which is great since he's still got many friends here he loves to hang out with.  He is still hearing rumors that it might be Iraq in January for his unit so we sort of stay in 'pins and needles' mode until he knows for certain.  Maybe he will be able to make it home for Christmas?  Fingers crossed.

Our latest thing is trying to get as much in the trash as we can every week.  Last week, we got rid of a broken plastic storage bin (and it's matching lid so we wouldn't torture ourselves trying to figure out what bin belongs with the lid sometime in the future); a broken patio plant pot and a patio chair that was beyond repair.  J. had to take the chair apart and cram it in the trash bin - the other items went in the recycle bin - and just like that!  Three huge things gone off the patio.  Today, J. threw out an old rolling garden stool that was cracked - and moving that led to sweeping up around where it was and getting rid of a rock hard bag of gypsum.  Every time we're tossing things in the 'regular' weekly pickup trash, we're saving a future dumpster charge AND gradually getting rid of things we don't need.

J. has also been working on the garage - unearthing more treasures from his parents.  He is trying to get a reel projector to run so he can watch some of the old movies - then try to decide what we could try to get transferred to DVD (Costco!) to save.  It's expensive but it's hard letting those films go. J. said he's not interested in all the family vacation films but some of the family shots would be nice. He's also found old photo albums and is having fun looking at pics.

Next on his project list is to take all our old albums to Rasputin to see about selling them.  We haven't listened to them in ages.  They are taking up a ton of space and are on an old 'credenza' type table I got from my sister and her (then) husband when I moved into my first apartment - 36 years ago! Time to let the old stuff GO!

A single story model by our same builder is on sale as a pre-foreclosure.  It needs a ton of TLC but J. is going to go give it a look.  It's priced at the rock bottom price and is going to be a great investment for someone - probably not us but maybe?  This house is just plain too big for us and no amount of culling is going to change that.  It's just huge for three people.

J. is back - the open house is already over so we'll have to see what happens in the next week or two and watch for another one.  If it doesn't sell pretty quickly, that's a clear sign it's a 'no' for us.  We are fine with doing new floors, new landscaping, etc. - but if the inside has been trashed, we're not redoing the entire interior.

And we'd really rather be in Reno.  Someday.