Sunday, March 13, 2022

Three days until the wedding. Yikes!

Mike finally told his kids about us getting married yesterday. I guess it went well though one daughter (the younger one) was surprised and needed time to process it. But she emailed him later and he said she was doing well.

Windy, windy, windy here and it feels cold after a week of super hot and muggy weather! Justice eyes were very weepy this morning - I hope it is just the wind because he seems fine otherwise.

Interesting discussion about induction stoves - I have always liked cooking on gas and my entire Cape house is gas: stove, dryer, grill, and 2 fireplaces.

Off to Sunday breakfast. Have a safe and healthy Sunday!

3 days! Hell, I'd be nervous even if I was 100% sure! Glad Mike's kids seem fine.

Working on food structure that past few days seems to be agreeing with me. More baby steps.

Orthotics have been delivered and I wore the custom flip flops all day. My feet were sore by bedtime, but boy, oh boy, did my knee feel GREAT at the end of the day!!!!! So what I was hoping for!!!!!!

I have a client at 10:30, trimming Aunty Kathryn's little Brussels Griffon at 3:00, a massage at 5:00 and am going to try to get Blitz trimmed sometime in between.

I have another busy week ahead.

3rd night this week with really poor quality sleep. Boooooooooo! It's really killing me.

Oh, and I do not love the switch to Daylight Savings Time.

Proof we share a brain, I have also had 3 bad sleeps in a row! Last night I saw the time change happen...

So glad your knee is liking the flip flops! How is your back now that you've had some time to recover?

I honestly had a tough week with the lower back. I had my last spinal decompression treatment on Friday. It was a tough one, but by yesterday afternoon my back felt better than it has in weeks and weeks. I am hoping the massage today will help ease things up just a little more, too.

I will start working out again this coming week. I am looking forward to it and at the same time, not. Weird. Not sure where the not looking forward to it part is coming from....

I think that feeling is why it's so easy to stay idle when you've taken a break from exercise. I get the same with walking and hiking. I love it, but I develop a weird aversion to it when I'm skipped for a while.

Why would Mike wait so long? Men... (our beloved Peps excluded)

I had SUCH a productive day yesterday! Loads now stationed in the dining room to leave the house. One bedroom cleared out. Fixed 3 light fixture issues (cleaning people broke pieces off of two of them, spun another to clean it so the cap at the ceiling fell off), have a big load to take to the electronics waste recycler on Tuesday when they reopen, listed a bunch of stuff on NextDoor. I talked to my friend who is moving to AZ and he offered to take a bunch of it because their new house is 8000 sq ft and they can use it. Found takers for my bike and a guitar I bought when I thought that would be fun and then decided I'm not musical despite loving music. I also have compiled a very extensive list of things to do, which oddly makes it feel more manageable.

I gave a random flower pot to my neighbors who grow a lot of veggies in their backyard. When I told her I was decluttering she laughed and said she's doing the same and filled their three trash bins yesterday. It's in the air...

And I walked for the 6th day in a row.

Now if I could just get a few pounds off and get my medical procedures scheduled, I'd be all set!

Peps, I hope your reentry into working out goes smoothly. Encouraging news on the orthotics and knees.

Liz, Do you think Mike's kids were thinking the two of you were headed for marriage? As adults, it probably doesn't impact them the same way it does your son since he lives in your house, but I wonder if they are concerned about their mother still living in Mike's house.

CC you are a decluttering queen. Our trash bin is rather empty right now, and it made me think of the time you would look around your garage and find stuff to throw away. Its too cold for me to dig around in the garage right now, but I am going to commit to only full garbage can to the curb starting in April.

I have stuff I could sell, but is it worth it? Being somewhat paranoid, I don't like the idea of meeting up with strangers. Do you use venmo etc to pay? Maybe I should try an old fashioned garage sale. I'm a fan of bigger items on the curb with a free sign on it, stuff usually disappears fast. We don't have an HOA, so its a little more flexible for me.

Had a great lunch with Controversy Club, our question was, Is the invasion of Ukraine similar or different to 1939. During our discussion we talked about the potential cyber hacking that could be coming our way. I randomly thought, should I be keeping a stash of cash? Then it occurred to me that in some ways, maybe we are at war, if someone like me is starting to think about the very first basic steps of prepping. Growing up in the country, it was necessary to think about having supplies, because we literally did get snowed in, sometimes for days. People with snowmobiles would go from farm to farm, just to check on neighbors, because you weren't going to be traveling any other way. You always had a survival kit in the car trunk during the winter, and extra winter clothes in case you got stranded. But living in a metropolitan area, I stopped worrying about these things. Prepping to me now would be making sure I have enough Fair life protein shakes for the week (I don't if I intend to drink one a day!!!!). California people, do you have a few things prepped in case of earthquakes?

The trash can thing was the best idea I've had. I was thinking the other day if my homeowners association weren't so strict, I'd just have a free garage "sale". Put stuff out on tables that my neighbors could just take. No haggling, just make it disappear!

On the earthquake question, no, I don't keep a lot of stuff. There's water and drinks in the garage fridge, but who knows if you will be able to get to where you keep your stash? 99.9% of Californians will live their whole lives never having to go into survivalist mode because of an earthquake. I think our odds are much better than weather related disasters in some other parts of the country!

Good questions about Mike and his kids. I don't know why he procrastinated so long.

They are all concerned about their Mom in the house - they want her to figure out a future and do something about it. They perceive her as being stuck in time. Mike's youngest told him last year when we were visiting that he had to get firm with her Mom and tell her it was time to move. Their son has really been upset about lots of things having to do with his mother and her inability to get her life in order is one of them. The 3 kids are all very goal oriented, more or less take-charge people so it is hard for them to see their Mom not do anything with her life.

As to guessing about their Dad and I heading toward marriage, their son definitely had an inkling back in January while we were in Hawaii together. But the girls may have thought their Dad was never going to do that since he did have a 13 year relationship with a woman but never moved to marriage. The youngest may be worried because she apparently had a contentious relationship with that woman at the end. Apparently she never had children and resented Mike's time and money spent on the kids. But I get along fine with the kids and finances are not an issue as we are pretty much in the same league as far as that goes and agree on how to handle things going forward. And we have the same priorities about our kids.

Greetings all

Lots of good chat today. Peps I am so glad the orthopedic flip flops are helping you. Ditto the decompression and such. Looking forward to workouts or exercise I think is sort of on a subliminal level - your body craves it even if you don't. Anyway so glad you are feeling better

Liz glad Mike has told his kids and that all is cool. Sounds like they have reason to worry about their mom. Some people have zero initiative and I guess she is one. And hey I wish I had an all gas home but aint gonna be. I still don't want the induction stove even though they are more energy efficient. I would tell DH we can get it if he does all the cooking but I know that won't work plus I would have to eat yuck!

CC I am so proud of you for getting rid of junk!! Free piles are common here but DH thinks its a signal to thieves to come break into our house. I think our former HOA allowed garage sales but only two per year. My SIL used to love to go garage sale shopping but it drove me nuts. Ditto combing through thrift stores.

So we met with the studio perp today. What a sad case of a basically good person going off the deep end. I told him I would deliver a letter if he wants but I will not be an advocate. Not sure where this is headed but if he has to leave he is effectively homeless. Crap. He wants a mediation which might be a good idea. All this crap stems from dogs coming in and pooping in the studio lawn which he tends and he hates finding a dog turd with his weed whacker.

DD we are told here in CA to have an earthquake kid but its so much stuff - like 3 days worth of water and food for all and medications and all this stuff. It does seem to be less of a present danger than being snow bound in the midwest. Always had candles, matches, shovel and stuff in the car. Here I like to keep bottled water. My SIL always kept soda in the trunk and drank it warm. So no, we are unprepared.

The dogs have learned to tell time and are lobbying me for food even though its an hour early due to daylight savings time. How do they know?

Cheers Diane S