Hello, Again!

Time has gotten away from me. I'm unsure where it has gone, but it's been a few weeks since I've checked in here. Let me see what I can remember.

--We have been busy helping my FIL, who had heart surgery. We are very thankful that the surgery went well.

--There is more to our car saga. You may remember that we got a new car last January. After owning it for only a couple of weeks, someone ran into it and totaled it. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it took four months to get a new car and resolve all the paperwork. However, a month ago, the new car started to make a knocking sound, so we took it to the dealer. Thankfully, they heard the sound but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. After a week and consults with Honda headquarters, they still couldn't figure it out. We picked up the car and took it back yesterday when a specialist was flying in to look at it. Unfortunately, he was called away due to an emergency, so we have to take it back again next week. 

In the meantime, we got a big crack in our windshield, and the whole windshield has to be replaced. It is an expensive job because there's a camera in it. (These new-fangled cars. 😕) We are very thankful that we have more than one car during these times.

There are so many interesting things to see at the fair. This was a child's entry.

--Yesterday was the first day of our community fair. We participate in it almost every year, and this year was no exception. Ward and I both entered things and won a few ribbons. I love this fair. It's free, family-friendly, and really brings the community together. I am very thankful for all the volunteers' hard work in bringing this event together.

--About a month ago, a big apple tree came down during a storm. Yesterday, a tree guy came and processed the whole thing. With the proper equipment, the job went about 100 times faster than if we had done it ourselves. I am very thankful that we had the money to pay for this service, and when it was time to pay the bill, he charged us $100 less than he quoted.

--That's about all the time I have for catch-up this morning. I have to work all weekend and should start getting ready. I am not thrilled about the schedule, but I am very thankful that I get to work with people I like—both customers and coworkers.

Until next time...

This and That

  or Speed Blogging 

In an attempt to post more often and not overthink things, I will be doing speed blogging from time to time. I will blog for however long it is on my timer. Currently, that's 12 minutes. Read ahead for a bit of stream-of-consciousness posting. : ) Generally, I end up sharing this and that from my week. Let's see where my mind takes me today.

No spring crocuses yet, but I found these little phlox braving the cold.

It's been a somewhat restless day - no big projects in mind. I've just been wandering around from thing to thing. I started using the timer about an hour ago, so I'm a little more focused now.

Last year, I bought an amaryllis bulb from a clearance rack. It was packaged for Christmas, but it was long past that. But it was cheap, so I took a chance. It grew leaves, but didn't bloom. I just stuck it out in the garage until I noticed it a few weeks ago and saw it was trying to send up leaves. I brought it inside to see what would happen. And much to my delight, it grew and bloomed. 

Today, I took it away from the window and into another room to take a picture. After placing it on a table with good light, I went to get the camera. And that's when I heard a crash. I guess it was top-heavy and toppled to the floor, breaking the pot it was in along the way. Not gonna lie. A few curse words were said when I heard that pot breaking. I cleaned up the mess and put the blooms, which had broken off, in water. I don't know if they will last since the stem is hollow. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

We are continuing to wade through paperwork with our totaled car. Even though we bought the car at the end of January, we found out Friday that they had just submitted the paperwork for the title and tags. MVA says that it should take about another month. Unfortunately, you can't hurry bureaucracy, but you sure can get annoyed with it. Another- Oh, well. That's the way the cookie crumbles or the car smashes.

I took a neighborhood walk this afternoon with Ward. I'm trying to walk outside every day to help with sleep. While exercise is important, sunlight is also important to trigger certain sleep-related hormones. I have about a week's worth of data, and I would say, overall, that my sleep has improved.

We started our next set of dance lessons. This time, we will "learn" cha-cha and the waltz. After I finish here, we need to go practice. One hour a week on two dances is not enough time for me to learn them. I am not what you would call a quick study - at least not in this area.

My timer is beeping, so that's all for now.

Until next time...

Hello

 Hello, again! Looks like I'm in a regular poster of irregular posting these days. :)

Things are busy here, but with mostly everyday stuff. We had beautiful weather this week before returning to cold and rainy. We took the opportunity to start our spring bed cleanup. I leave most old growth in the fall to protect the roots during the winter, so there's a lot of cleanup to do. However, we've had a relatively mild winter except for some single-digit temperatures in December. It's always interesting to see what comes back in the spring. I hope some mums I planted last year come back, but no signs of life yet. It felt good to be outside digging in the dirt again. And as it always seems, the yard work stretches infinitely before our eyes this time of year. But it will get done, slowly but surely. Unless it doesn't.

Our car had some problems last week with wildly varying estimates of what it would take to fix it, one from a dealer and one from a local, trusted mechanic. Luckily, the lower estimate from the local mechanic won, and the car runs well now. 

And just in time because we leave on Monday for a driving trip south to visit with family and friends. We are definitely counting our blessings that the car trouble happened before we left. We will have a two-day drive down and a two-day drive back. It's been a very long time since we've driven that far for a vacation. Usually, we would fly, but the airlines seem to be having problems now, as well as rental car prices have soared, so driving won out. We shall see how we do. Preparation for the trip is well underway, although some things can only be done at the last minute. I have to work all weekend before we leave on Monday, so we've been doing everything ahead of time we can. 

I will post along the way if I can, but internet access, time, and motivation are still to be determined during our travels.

Until next time...