A Treadmill Saga and a Scissor Lift? Fancy Equipment!

I didn't get quite my full 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning. I can't run/walk without tunes. I don't know about other people, but for me - tunes are essential to take my mind out of my room and into the virtual reality scenery on my screen. Running is, essentially, one of the most BORING physical activities EVER. But I do it three days a week for my health and general fitness. I can't be in the swimming pool more than three days a week because the chlorine is complete hell on my skin. So I run/walk for three days and I swim for three days. It works out well. 

I'm only on the treadmill three times a week, and in 
the pool for three days as well. That gives me six 
days of solid activity to start my days. It's keeping 
my weight under control and I'm at the weight that 
I want. 

But to run, I need two components. I need the treadmill to be hooked up to my virtual scenery films, and I need my Sirius XM tunes. Today, I needed to re-log in to Sirius, so that took a bit more time than usual and I ended up with about 40 minutes instead of my usual 45. Still, both DH and I (and probably Chickie too) are running on empty. There's SO MUCH to do before the closing sale begins. 

I've subscribed to SiriusXM for years and years. It's what 
I have in my car and on my phone. I also consider my tunes 
an essential part of my treadmill days. For swimming, I 
listen to audio books. 

So far I'm very impressed with Travis. He's massively organized, very much in contact, and is keeping us to a schedule that will allow this whole "Going Out of Business" thing to actually work! While I'm working with Travis, getting him whatever information or doing whatever action required, DH is working on the shop making sure that everything is correctly labelled, priced, and actually in inventory. What a job! 

A scissor lift would make putting the sale banner at the 
store front a LOT easier than ladders would. I know 
they're available for rent. I'll have to look into it. 

But today is February 6th, and the clock is ticking down. There's still a HUGE amount of things that need to get done/finished before our "Going Out of Business" begins. I had been hoping our landlord still had access to a scissor lift - I had seen him working with one in the past. But, I had a chance to actually ask him while he popped in to the store yesterday, and no. He no longer has access to that equipment, and also is running his business solo these days. A LOT of work for one older guy who has usually had minions of one sort or another to help him with odd jobs. So, we'll have to figure this one out on our own. It'll happen, I just don't quite know how/when. Have a great day. Slava Ukraini. 

Life Continues - Busy as Anything and ICE Is Still Lurking in the Cities

Yesterday was VERY busy, and I ended up spending almost all afternoon on stuff for Travis. But I did get my meals made for the next week, and my "Ogre Juice" for the next week as well. Today. after swimming, I have a dental checkup at 7:30 am, and then on to work. I have 14 items that I need to send to Travis in three days, so I'm pushing to get those finished and sent off. DH apparently has some of the information I need, but I don't think he's actually given it to me yet. *sigh*

I suspect Travis is a good 20 years older than this 
photo, but it's hard to say for sure. I haven't met 
him in person. I do hope if I get a chance to meet him, 
he won't be this wizened little old man - LOL. 

I ended up going to the grocery store closest to me THREE  times yesterday. Once for my regular shopping, a second time because I forgot something, and a third time because their shelves hadn't been restocked when I had been there earlier, and I needed two more items. It's a good thing the store is only a mile from my house! But it still was a major rush. 

This is my main grocery store - Lunds & Byerlys. The two 
stores merged in the late 70's or early 80's. It's only a mile 
from my house, which makes it very convenient. It's not 
the least expensive, but that's OK too - the quality is there. 

I spent a lot of time yesterday on the phone getting this or that changed or this or that notified about things regarding our upcoming sale or business closure. There's just SO much to do. But these first two weeks are the worst, at least in terms of things I need to check out and notify Travis about. Then we'll be getting things worked out, and, of course, we're also still in the middle of reorganizing, pulling items that we don't want to put into the clearance sale, and otherwise working on stuff. Stuff never truly ends. 

I'm not really much of a fan of to-do lists, 
but sometimes they have their place. When 
it comes to this store closing, they're 
essential. He's supplied us with a very 
detailed schedule, and we need to get everything 
on the schedule done on time. 

It's 25 degrees today, almost balmy (which will make going to my dental check-up appointment this morning much easier). Oh, and the government will be pulling 700 ICE agents out of Minnesota. Of course, that will still leave 2000 agents remaining! Can you say "Overkill"? Such bullshit! So, that's life in a war zone. It continues onward, but those "interesting" times that we would rather not be living in are continuing. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It'll Be a VERY Busy Morning

It's going to be hectic today, at least for the early morning. We have an 8:00 am appointment with an attorney to sign the final documents for our Trust Agreement. That's (of course) completely across town. So, in sub-zero cold, we'll be joining the lemmings as they move from one part of the Twin Cities to a different part within a very constricted time frame on possibly icy roads. Current temperature is 16 F, which isn't as cold as the past few days were. 

It's one of those days that will be MASSIVELY 
hectic first thing, before it settles down into the 
usual routine. Nothing like dealing with rush hour 
traffic to and from the opposite end of the Twin 
Cities to start a day out right - LOL. (NOT!)

Speaking of cold temperatures, the house has recovered and is cozy once again. My furnace guy is amazing. I wouldn't have known about him at all, but my shop landlord recommended him for our old furnace there when it quit within the past year. I still had his number, and I had liked his professionalism at that time, so he was my contact this time also, and he came through for us. I'm delighted to not be shivering in the house any more. 

Our furnace is closer to the bottom right photo in 
this montage of old furnaces. But we have zone heating 
in this house - meaning a set of piping that squirrels off 
in a variety of directions to heat a variety of rooms. It 
was state of the art in 1964, but it's OLD now and not 
everyone is capable of fixing it. My dude absolutely 
ROCKS! Old furnaces are his thing. 

So, today will start out very busy. After the legal appointment, I'll drop DH off at the shop and head to the grocery store. I'll only get my Wednesday off this week, so I have to pack a LOT of cooking into my day. I'm totally out of "Ogre Juice", so that's a MUST, but I'll also need dinners for the next few days as well. I'm not sure what I'll make. My fall-backs have been stuffed peppers and BBQ pork chops, and I still have two portions of pork chops left, but I'm thinking maybe a nice stew. Maybe. I'll have to see what looks good at the shop. It's chicken for tonight, so I may be lazy, pick up a cauliflower crust pizza from my secondary store, and let dinners ride until Sunday. DH will have to live with my cooking on a Sunday since I don't get my Fridays off until after we've closed the store. 

Hubby has been eating a lot of frozen pizza lately, so I 
decided I'd give Clo-Clo pizza a try. It's a cauliflower 
crust pizza. I tried the Margherita flavor and I'd definitely 
buy and eat this again. It was VERY tasty and totally fir 
my dietary principles. They're a local firm, too. So it's 
a total win/win. 

We have our next payment due to Travis, our guy who's handling our closing, on Monday. I was in touch with him yesterday and also had Chickie write out the exact directions for me to get the check sent to him - it's a photograph/Dropbox/email kind of procedure that is a bit convoluted because of the various programs that have to be used for a successful transfer. Since Chickie doesn't work on Mondays, I had her write the instructions out, step-by-step. We had all kinds of problems getting the last check to him in a format he could receive and I could send. Old computers and up-to-date electronics don't always mix well. 

It's always interesting to put the trash cans at the curb 
during winter. The sides of the drive are filled with large 
piles of snow, so the can actually has to sit at the side of the 
driveway, restricting our access in and out. Still, we 
have learned how to do this dance over the years. 

So ... life progresses. At least I was able to get the trash into the can early this morning so that I can put the can at the curb when I leave for our appointment at 7:00 am. I hope all of you have a more relaxing day than my day will be - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Mixed Up Days and Time

It's hard to be running behind at 4:00 am, but I'm succeeding in that difficult task - LOL. It's the first of my three swimming days today, and I need to be in the car, heading for the gym, in less than 30 minutes. I do have a little bit of fudge room if needed, but I like to be early, not late. I've always joked that I must have been an eight-month baby because I always want to be early. Was I in real life? Who knows? 

I always joke that I must have been a premature 
birth because I despise being late for anything. 

Are you like me in this? Do you like to be early for appointments and events rather than on time or (heaven forbid) late? Were you the one waiting for the bus as the first person on the corner? Or were you the person running for it to catch it quickly before it left for the next stop? If I have my preferences, I'll always be early. I can always sit and read a book or do a quick puzzle on my phone. I'm usually on a rather strict time schedule and don'e have a lit of wiggle room available. To get my swimming in before the next group of people start arriving to share lanes ... it's important. 

Of course, if you're catching a bus, train or plane, you 
always want to be early. They're scheduled, but they 
also run late or, sometimes, early. 

I have Wednesday in my head today. Have you ever had that feeling when you think of the day as one day but it's actually another one? I don't get those often (that's lucky since my days are crowded at best). When I get them, it messes everything up. Last week was messed up. I put the garbage and recycling out, but it wasn't a recycling day. The calendar provided by the service is less than readable. So, I had to leave the recycling until tomorrow which means my bin is EXTREMELY full and I'm stashing some recycling until after the bin has been emptied tomorrow. 

Sometimes I need a signpost like this to keep the days 
straight. Holiday times, especially, mix the days up - 
holidays in mid-week, days off other than Sunday. 

So, I'm going to get this moving and head to the swimming pool. I hope you have a fabulous and a bit less mixed up day. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini! 

It Was a Day of Exercise and Frustration - Cards Will be Mailed by the End of the Week

It was indeed a VERY busy day yesterday. It took almost an hour for me to get the driveway and walkways shoveled out, and I was 30 minutes late for my mammogram appointment at the Breast Center. However, the world was also delayed, and they were able to take me right away. I was quite grateful. I won't know the results for a day or two, but hopefully they won't find anything to be worried about. 

My breasts are very dense - rather like the scan on the 
right. My life would have been quite different if my 
breast tissue was less dense like the breast on the left. 
My friend's Mother-in-Law just had a 2mm tumor removed 
from her breast. They didn't find mine until it was 10mm 
in size because they simply couldn't see it. 

DH came home yesterday evening in a foul mood, and informed me that I WILL work on Friday. So, I'll be working tomorrow. It won't stop my getting to the post office to mail my holiday cards (which I labelled yesterday. I think, however, I might have forgotten to actually sign some of them, so I'm extending apologies to all of you if you get one that I missed signing. That's poor form on my part, and I can put that at my door of "Too Much To Do and Too Little Time in Which to Do It". 

DH needs to renew his driver's license and needs to get 
a "Real ID" style. He was trying to fill in the form online 
yesterday, without success. I don't know why it wasn't 
working for him, but he'll have to go to the License Center 
like most of us do. 

I've had a friend at the grocery shop for several years now. Justin first began the friendship while he worked in the Produce department alongside Phil. When Justin got married, there was a freak hail storm and, of course, since it was early Spring, it was an outdoor wedding. VERY bad mojo, which within two months became EXTREMELY bad mojo when his wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died within two years of the wedding, and Justin was on his own again. 

So Justin has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. That 
totally SUCKS! I'll be able to keep touch on how he's 
doing through Phil, but coming on the heels of his wife's 
cancer death, this is not a good thing. 

Now, according to his friend Phil (whom I use to keep in touch with everyone), Justin's doctors found a brain tumor when they were doing a scan prior to a surgery that would deal with his head. Wow ... just WOW. That came out of total left field and left all of us totally shocked. How much bad mojo can one guy have? Of course, we're all pulling for him, but I'd say the "Fickle Finger of Fate" has definitely targeted him. 

So, I'm off to the pool. I'll be swimming again tomorrow since snow shoveling made yesterday's swim impossible. Last year's "Winter that Wasn't" is being seriously erased this year - LOL. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow if all goes well - LOL. Slava Ukraini. 

Sharon Arrives Tomorrow! Whoot!

Sharon arrives tomorrow, and the house is almost clean. I'll be washing the bathroom and kitchen floors today, and there's a bit of dusting that still needs to be done, but I'm basically ready for my "bestie" to come for her annual visit. We'll start out at Red Lobster on our way from the airport to the house. The next day (Friday) will be our first day at the Fair, and it's a day that's just for Sharon and I. We'll have a lovely steak dinner at Mancini's that night and then collapse. LOL

Sharon will arrive late tomorrow and I can't wait to see 
her again. We'll have SO much fun - so much to talk 
about, so many things to look at, so many things to munch 
on - LOL. 

On Saturday, Sharon and I will start the day at the Fair, and we'll be joined by James (and often also by Chickie) for the evening. That's when we'll walk the Midway and do other more night-oriented activities. Sunday is the full day for all four of us to gather together. We'll hit most of the buildings because DH won't have seen much of anything. It'll be a repeat for some of us, but that's OK. Sharon always starts her Sunday off at Mass in the Fairgrounds, and then we gather at the Fine Arts building to look at all of the artwork for the year. Some really amazing things to see in that building. Then we'll wander wherever DH wants to go because it's really his only day at the Fair. 

On Sunday morning at 9:00 am, Sharon will be in Baldwin 
Park on the Fairgrounds, attending Catholic Mass. She never 
misses it. Father Fitzpatrick, a retired priest, has led the Mass 
for more than a decade now. As soon as Mass lets out, we'll 
all meed across the street from the park at the Fine Arts 
building to look at the art exhibition before anything else. 
No food or beverages are allowed inside the Fine Arts 
building, so breakfast will be after art - LOL. . 

On Monday we'll all meet up again at the Renaissance Festival. I still need to pick up tickets for Chickie and Sharon. I'll try to get that done today. We'll wander into every booth, get dusty (or damp, depending on the weather). We'll say "Hi" to friends there, share hugs and kitty photos, and in general, I hope, we'll have a lovely last day for Sharon's visit. On Tuesday morning, I'll drop her off at the airport on my way to the shop and life will pick back up where it left off. 

It's hard to believe that I took this photo of our outdoor 
pool just before Memorial Day (end of May). The summer 
has just flown past in so many ways. The State Fair 
always marks the end of the Summer and beginning of 
Autumn to those of us living up here. Time to start 
thinking about Fall and Winter. I doubt we'll have the mild 
winter that we had last year again. It's highly unlikely. 

Tomorrow will be my last day for outdoor swimming. I'm missing it already. I do love the length of the Olympic-sized pool. I'm certainly no speed demon, however. I'm more the "slow and steady wins the race" kind of a gal. LOL Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow morning to check in one last time before going on radio silence until Tuesday next week (or maybe even Wednesday, depending on schedules). Enjoy your Wednesday. Slava Ukraini. 

An Early Start Today - It's Going to be a VERY Busy Two Weeks

I awakened early, so took a bit more time for my morning meditation. Of course, that means I'm now in a bit of a rush because today is packed - laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning. Next week I don't get any days off at all and I have to make sure I'm caught up enough to have meals for the week ahead between today and Friday. 

I'm not fond of missing my days off, and nobody else is 
either. However, this sale is major, and on our most 
popular product. I think/hope we'll have a strong 
response to the sale, and we'll need all hands on deck. 

Our EVERY SWAROVSKI IS ON SALE sale begins on Tuesday and continues through Saturday next week. That's "all hands on deck" time for all of us. Chickie had asked to have Tuesday off to accompany her Mom to Mayo Clinic for a gastrointestinal MRI. Unfortunately, Tuesday is the first day of the sale, and there's no way we're going to be able to do without three people available. So, no. She can't have the day off, and I don't get my Wednesday and Friday and DH doesn't get his Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday (his days are more fluid than Chickie's and mine are). 

In addition to my three loads of laundry, I need to do some 
grocery shopping and other errands today. It'll be a 
busy, busy day. 

I'm taking full advantage of my Wednesday and my Friday days off this week. I'll have to cook ahead, so Friday will be a kitchen day. Today I'll try to get some errands in and work on framing for at least an hour or two. I also have to get some bills paid, and I think I also need to download my next book into my audio headphones for swimming. I think I'm quite close to the conclusion for my current book. 

I use a set of Shokz Open Swim headphones in the 
swimming pool. Swimming without listening to a book 
is really boring to me. I listen to Sirius for my treadmill 
days - love the music for my fast walks. But in the pool, 
I've found a book is the perfect thing to keep me on 
pace and keep the time moving along swiftly. 

So, I've got my first load of laundry in the washer and I'm looking at a desk full of things that have to be done by the end of the day. I'll need to drop by the shop and pick up a couple of things for my framing tasks this afternoon, and I'll make sure the Swarovski sale e-flyer went out as scheduled. No rest for the wicked or the good today - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow morning. Off to the pool! Slava Ukraini. 

It's a Busy "Day Off" Today

It's a busy "day off" today. I have an appointment for my car - long overdue - for a six-month checkup, possible oil change, etc. Standard stuff and shouldn't take long, but I have a bunch of stuff to do today in addition, so the sooner I can get out of the car dealership, the better. Still, they've always done well by me, and if I absolutely needed it, they'd lend me a car at no charge. I'm not that desperate on time today, though. 

I'm very accustomed to my "Ogre Juice" for my lunches. 
I use the basic recipe from years ago - whatever green 
veggies look good and a variety of other veggies, blended 
with spices and honey (essential ingredient for me). I rely 
on these for my lunches at the shop and for my general health. 

I do need to get to the grocery store - I need veggies for my next batch of "Ogre Juice", and I need a bit of this and a bit of that. But again, if I don't get there, no problem. I can pick up essentials on my way to work tomorrow and keep them in the store's ancient refrigerator for the day before bringing them home with me after the shop closes. In other words ... I'm flexible. 

I don't have the link to this humorous presentation, but if 
you look up the title and Pete Silvia, I'm sure you'll find 
it without any problem. It's a good one. 

Taking a quick look at my upcoming schedule, I don't have another doctor appointment until I appear for labs on June 27th and then get my Prolia injection in July. It's just as well my calendar is open because Chickie and Chickie Mama are heading to Montana for a family reunion (something that occurs every year or two). She'll be gone from the 9th through the 17th of June and I'll have to work every day while she's out of town. ICK! That DOES put a cramp into my schedule. But Chickie is entitled to her vacation time, and just because I don't get any ... she certainly chipped in and worked a lot of extra time while I was dealing with my cancer earlier this year. 

I know that several of my friends around the world have 
similar issues with wildlife and their gardens. I don't plant 
the garden - that's DH's territory - but he gets VERY 
frustrated when the deer eat his flowers. We lost a dahlia 
yesterday and he grumped about it all day. 

So, I'm ready to get moving on this lovely day in the Great State of Minnesota. The grass is green, the sun is shining, the animals are all happily munching from garden to garden and the people planting those gardens are grumbling about their eaten plants - LOL. It's a normal summer in the Great North. I hope you have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Monday and I Need Everything To Mesh Smoothly

Good morning one and all, and happy Monday. I've got my treadmill repair guy scheduled for 8:45-9:00 am this morning. I needed to lube the belt some more after the last time he was here (he only had a small ampule of lube in his equipment bag and I didn't have the small bottle that I had been given when I purchased the treadmill - I have no idea where I stashed the MASSIVE amount of paperwork and booklets I was provided at that time). As soon as Jake was finished with the treadmill I had run over to Dick's Sporting Goods and purchased a bottle of silicone lube. So I now have lube. 

Lubricating the treadmill requires loosening screws at the back 
of the machine on each side. They have to be absolutely even - 
ten turns left side means ten turns right side too. I did that, but 
then things got screwed up and I'm sure I messed that up totally. 
*sigh*

Why have Jake come out again? Well, I was still getting a "LUBE" warning on my treadmill screen, so the small amount he had put on was insufficient. But ... we had worked on that together and I knew how to loosen and tighten the belt. Which I did. My problem came in the application of the lube. The long straw-like extension from the lube bottle didn't work worth a damn, so I just used the bottle which worked great. But I had to life the belt higher for application which pulled it off-center and it needed to be centered again before the treadmill could be used. That was the problem - no matter what I did, or how I adjusted it, that belt was NOT getting aligned properly and wasn't 100% straight. The treadmill was giving me sounds it shouldn't have. I finally gave up, told DH he couldn't use the treadmill for a few days and called Jake to come out again. *sigh* 

I adore Dahlia plants - the flowers are simply spectacular. 
We now have several in the garden to make me happy, so 
that was a good buy. 

So, Jake should be here between 8:45 am and 9:00 am. Normally that wouldn't be any problem at all. I could leave around 9:15 am and still get to the shop on time, DH could oversee things. EXCEPT, DH apparently has a pre-scheduled call with our broker for his monthly analysis of his portfolio, and he doesn't want to be interrupted when he's dealing with finances. So, I'll stick around until 9:30 am, but then I'll HAVE to leave. Hopefully Jake can get things completed within that time frame or I'm screwed. *sigh*

I have my herbs in several hanging baskets that we hang on 
an old wrought iron display we used to have at the shop 
years ago. I have rosemary and oregano and thyme and 
others, all of which will be harvested all summer and dried 
in the dehydrator, then pulverized and stored for use over 
the winter. I love my herbs. (I also dry and chop up my hot 
peppers - which line the edge of the patio. Lots of wonderful 
flavors for our winter months.) 

We had a nice Sunday, though. We started by going to Home Depot for three Dahlia plants and an assortment of additional herbs for me. We also got chicken wire to help guard my trellis, and other miscellaneous items. DH and I spent most of the afternoon getting things planted, putting up the chicken wire guarding layer on the trellis, and he planted while I put ribs into the slow cooker for dinner (which was very tasty). We needed a relaxing day and we actually got one that wasn't horribly labor intensive, and the weather was PERFECT - not too warm and not too cold. Have a great Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Have I Mentioned My Schedule is Crazy? Well - If Not, I'm Saying It Now!

All things seem to cluster together when least expected. I was driving to the Northern suburbs when I got a phone call. It was my treadmill company. They were in the area, and had a cancellation, and wondered if they could come over and replace/fix the item that was sticking out. Well ... under normal conditions I would have been jumping up and down, saying "Come on over". But ... I was on the road, ready to meet with my oldest niece for a nice lunch and long chat, and I couldn't make the time for the repair guys. 

Johnson Fitness have really been excellent in their 
service, it's my schedule that's been messing things 
up. After I sent the photos, they immediately sent 
the parts needed to be replaced and if I hadn't been 
meeting with Cat, I would have been at the house and my 
treadmill would already be fixed. 

As it turned out, when I returned home from my lunch, there was a large box at my front door from the treadmill company with the parts needed for my treadmill, and I now have an appointment scheduled with them for Wednesday ... altho as I look at my schedule for that day, I still may have to shift it again. *sigh* At least the treadmill still works, and I now know what the part is supposed to look like. I'll take photos tomorrow and maybe remember to post them on Monday. 

My oldest niece, Cat, is Ojibwan, from Northern 
Minnesota. As most of us in our families, she was 
adopted at a young age and raised elsewhere. I was 
also adopted, as was my husband, and of the eight 
kids in Cat's family, five of them were adopted. 

So, back to the focus - my meeting with my oldest niece, Cat. She started things out by bringing me as up to date as possible on the condition of my oldest nephew, Mike. He's been battling intestinal cancer for two years now, and it's not looking very positive at this point. Cat says he's barely eating, he's on constant high-grade pain meds, he's a total shadow of himself, and she doubts he'll make it through the summer, maybe even the next month. It's a tragedy for the entire family - his wife and daughter, as well as the other seven siblings in his family, me and DH, his Mom and other assorted relations. The ripple effect when he dies will be large, and it will leave Cat as the oldest member of that generation. 

My oldest nephew, Michael, has been fighting intestinal 
cancer for more than two years now. It's getting very bad. 
He's unable to eat anything, is in constant pain, and has 
wasted away to a shell of himself (according to Cat who 
drives over to see him regularly). It's terminal, no question. 
The only question is when he will give up fighting. 

I then went into what my personal dreams were - establishing a family trust that would be accessible by any of the eight kids (seven once Michael passes) and what my goals are/were for that fund. I wanted to know if there should be any exclusions (none, according to Cat), and whether she would be willing to step in as Trustee. She saw my dream and embraced it, is willing to act as Trustee, and will contact a friend of hers who is a Financial Planner to see if she would also help. I'm hoping this little dream of mine can become a reality and that lives will be enriched and, in some instances maybe even saved, as a result of this Fund. 

This is what I want to do with my personal funds - 
the funds I have left from what I got when I sold 
my Mother's condominium, as well as a bit of 
this and that. 

Of course, DH is super against my setting this up, doesn't agree with the concept of it, and truly, simply doesn't understand what I want to achieve with it. Eventually I'll try to set up a private meeting between my broker, the attorney, Cat and her Financial Advisor and pound out the details. I think it's a goal that's worth fighting for - a "Dreams Can Come True" slush fund for my nieces and nephews and for their kids as well. If it is managed well, it might trickle down one additional generation, but we're talking less than $1 million here - so substantial, but not earthshaking in scope. 

My personal funds are substantial, but hardly earthshaking. 
DH has much more than I do, which makes sense since 
I don't earn any money at all. *sigh* But, I do have some 
of my own, and I want it to go where I desire and help the 
people I want to help achieve their own personal goals. 

Then I went home and cooked which always makes me happy. I now have a refrigerator full of food, and I had a lovely lunch and chat with Cat - something that had been needed for a while. We've caught up here and there at family get-togethers, but with large groups like our family, there was no real time to discuss anything about life or dreams. I feel much better about my own dreams today than I did 24 hours ago. Have an excellent day, and try to see one of your own dreams come true today. Your heart will feel might lighter as a result. Slava Ukraini. 

Blossoms, Appointments, and Running and Somehow They All Fit Together - LOL

Hello Monday, welcome to our last week of April. Spring has settled here in the Frozen Northlands and even though our maple trees are slow to develop their leaves, other trees are already splendidly green and gorgeous. The Spring is my favorite season. I love that specific color of new green leaves and plants, before they've gone darker in the summer heat or more golden in the autumn frost. We didn't have much of a winter, actually, which is probably bad for our water levels, but it's wonderful for my personal happiness (and made driving to and from the hospital complex every day much easier all around). 

The cherry blossoms are out on the trees in Como Park 
right now. I know they're blossoming in Washington DC, 
but we have our own wonderful cherry trees in our own 
park that are every bit as beautiful. 

I've realized that my schedule for Wednesday is impossible. I start out with an eye doctor appointment, then I was supposed to squeeze into my orthodontist for a quick reglue on a couple of back-tooth wires which have worked loose, and then back to the hospital complex for a radiology appointment and a phone conference. Well, I'm going to have to reschedule the orthodontist. I just can't be that many places within the time frame I'll have available. I'll be phoning them this morning and getting rescheduled, hopefully for this week still, but next week is also just fine. 

My Wednesday will have me travelling South, 
then North, then South again, then West. It's 
just NOT going to work out with reality and 
road construction, so I'm going to have to 
postpone one thing. 

We had a rather laid-back Sunday - lots of TV which was fine. I was able to give the kitchen a fairly good clean and sort. I still have to wash the floor, but I did give it a good sweep. I got my full 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning too, so I'm "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" as the saying goes. 

I love my treadmill, but having the virtual reality views 
on the screen really makes a HUGE difference in the 
quality of my workout. I get involved in my music and 
the scenery and don't "clock watch". It's really the only 
way I can easily get my 45 minutes in. 

I'll contact my friend who sold me the treadmill later today. I'm suddenly not getting my virtual runs (which I absolutely depend on). Looking back and time frames, I might have just purchased six months of the videos (although I thought I bought an annual plan). I'm not sure what it would be listed as in my credit card receipts, so she would probably have that information available for me. Then I can go back into my statements and find out when it was paid and for how much-how long. I've been using the sample virtual runs, but using the same ones every day gets REALLY boring. LOL

So, I'm off and running. Lots to do. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Monday and the Start of a VERY Busy Week

Happy Monday. It's a short post today because I took some major time to catch up with all of the comments you've been kind enough to leave my earlier posts that I hadn't had the time to respond to. It's a two-way street - this blog - and I love the comments as much as I love posting every day. But you only become friends when we're exchanging thoughts and commentary, thus comments are very important as well. 

Communication defines itself as interaction between two or 
more entities. When one of those people won't talk or 
communicate, or when they meet every statement with a 
negative shield, that's not communication, that's 
dictatorship. We're living in that in the USA right now 
(to a limited extent), and I'm living it in my home right 
now too. *sigh*

The weekend was too short - LOL - but it was filled with golf. I happen to be very fond of watching golf on TV, so I didn't mind spending the day at Augusta, watching The Masters. It's the official unofficial start of Spring to me. There's many years when I've watched the scenery of Augusta with the green grass and the wonderful flowers, but looked outside my own door to see a scene of white, grey and ice. This year, however, we had four snowstorms, only two of which dumped anything of note. That means it's going to be a dry summer and we'll probably have more garden pests because more survived the Winter cold. But, it was quite a pleasant winter to live through for me with my almost daily trips to the clinic or to radiation therapy. 

I love watching the Masters golf tournament. It's the 
official (unofficial) start of my Spring up here in the 
Frozen Northlands. Even though we had a super mild 
winter, I'm still counting my Spring as having just 
started on Thursday when I saw the green grass and 
flowers and heard the birds of Augusta, Georgia. 

But today is Monday and the start of a VERY busy week. I'll be more in touch tomorrow, just going to leave this for the day and get moving. Still, it's wonderful to be back on an almost-empty schedule once again. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow with a bit more to write about, I'm sure. Slava Uktaini. 

It's a Normal" Monday - It's Been a Long Time

Happy Monday to all of you. This is the first day of a "normal" week for me since January, and I can hardly wait. I was on the treadmill this morning for my 45 minute fast-walk, I've made my tea - one cup next to me, the other in my travel mug, staying nice and hot for the shop. My phone is charging, my watch is charging, my electronics in general are a bit low on power, but they're getting the attention they need. I'm starting my Monday out organized - LOL. 

My life is almost back to "normal". I never actually 
have a "normal" life - there's always something or other 
that's going on. But, this is as close to "normal" as I've 
been over the past few months. I'd toss confetti, but I 
don't want to clean it up afterward. 

I set out a couple of ant traps in the downstairs bathroom. I've been seeing some very young ants in the shower, and although they might be hitchhiking on DH when he checks the garden, they might be trying to get a foothold here through other methods. So, I'm not taking any chances. See ant, put out ant trap. Hopefully I've chosen locations that will pay off. I can't really put the bait into the shower itself, it would be flooded out twice a day. So I've chosen two areas against the walls of the room that might work. Maybe. I should probably put out a third under the heat radiator, but I'll wait for a day or two before I do that. 

I don't mind ants in general, I've actually been quite impressed 
by them over the years. But they're not welcome inside my 
house. Last year's infiltration was NASTY and I have no 
intention of going through something like that again. 

I'm slowly working on getting used to my new tablet computer. It was a good price for a Google P10 tablet, but since it's operating on Google, it will take a little bit to get used to. Still, I'm glad I purchased it when I did. I saved almost $100 off the standard price, and got free shipping too. Now, my next project is another Amazon purchase - a new cell phone holder for my car. I like having my cell phone held in a bracket from the car's CD player, but since I added the pocket on the back of my phone for my ID, it's not sitting comfortably in the brackets and has fallen out several times. So I ordered a new holder - deeper - that will still work with the CD slot. I ordered it Friday night, and it was delivered on Saturday! WOW. That was FAST! I didn't have time to play with installation yesterday, so I'll try to carve out a bit of time over the next couple of days. 

I purchased a Lenovo Android P10 tablet from Amazon 
during their Prime Days for less than $115. I figured it 
was worth the gamble for that cost. I've been wanting a 
tablet of my own for a while now. DH hogs the smaller 
tablet that we have for all of his PBS shows and other 
stuff, and I want to be able to watch Le Tour de France, 
the Olympics, and of course PBS on mine. Now I have to 
get used to its' operating system and load the things 
I want onto it. 

And tomorrow will be my first swimming day in FOREVER! I'm quite sure I'm out of shape, even though I was on the treadmill almost every day (once I recovered from the surgery). I charged my underwater headphones yesterday so that I won't have any problem continuing with the book I was listening to, despite the four-month gap. It's hard to believe it's been that long. I hope I'll fall right back into the routine of three days in the water and three days on the treadmill. There are things on the schedule that will require changes, but not the extensive "vacation" I've just been forced to have. 

The outdoor pool opens on Memorial Day (that's near the 
end of May for my not-in-the-USA readers). That's not 
a lot of time to get into shape for the longer lengths and 
all-out swimming it requires. Time to get moving indoors 
so that I won't fall short outdoors. 

So, have a really great Monday. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.