Happy Halloween!

Stay safe and have a happy time!

Life is great!  God Bless America!

Just Some More Thoughts

I just had about thirty minutes on hold with the DMV.  I did eventually get to talk with a very helpful lady who answered all my questions, but Holy Moly! 

The issues are all from when we first got our TLX as a lease.  We had never leased a vehicle before, but there was a deal going on that saved us several thousand dollars on the car.  Unfortunately, what we might have saved in money added a lot of stress and worry as far as I am concerned and we will not be doing this ever again.  We have paid off the lease and now have a regular car loan with our credit union.  Where the problem is right now is this: we got a letter from Acura leasing saying we had fifteen days to get the TLX registered.  But we do not have a title number yet and the credit union says it could take up to forty-five days to get it.  And we want to keep our personalized license plates, so that has to be worked into the process.

The DMV lady was helpful, but said I needed to contact Acura and get them to help.  So I called the helpful man we have been working with and he thinks he can help.  We will probably be going back up to see him either Friday or Monday.  OMG!!  Like I said, we will not be doing another lease in the future. EVER.

In other news, the weather has been Fallish.  At the current time, neither the heat nor the A/C are on.  Outside temps are mid-60's and humid.

The precipitation people are coming on Saturday to shut down our sprinkler system.  Les has been hand watering the area that was dug up in the front for the new drain; rest of the yard is doing okay.  Leaves are coming down.

Life is great!  In the words of Helen Reddy (from I Am Woman)  "If I have to, I can do anything".  If you are wondering what brought that comment up, Helen's CD is one of the ones I have loaded up in Jadzia (TLX)  She is right along with IZ, the soundtracks from Chicago, Wicked, Grease, Frankie Valli, and Celtic Thunder.  And for extra stressful times, I have Pachelbel's Ocean Sounds.  😊

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Some Thoughts and Reflections

I was listening to a report/interview on TV recently about "Life Journeys".  Those of you who know me also know I don't really go for what I call the "touchy feely" stuff, but it did get me thinking.

I was raised by a divorced, hard-working mother.  If something needed doing she did it.  She had many strong opinions but rarely voiced those.  For whatever reasons, she thought it was better to stay quiet.  So as I grew up, I used to be like that.  If something needed to be done, I did it.  But I didn't talk so much, to the point that two dear friends have told me that when they first met me they thought I did not like them.  Now when we get together, our husbands tell us we are all never quiet. 😊

Les and I have been married for over fifty-two years.  He is the love of my life and my best friend.  We have two wonderful, responsible, talented daughters.  Life has been very good.  During the years when he was active duty, going on assignments, and going TDY, I always handled things at home.  If something needed to be done, I figured a way to do it, and hardly ever talked about it.

But then, November 2, 1999, happened.  I was very blessed and survived that awful accident.  I think as bad as it was, it made me stronger.  It's been almost twenty years, and it is never completely out of my mind.  But I survived, and during the injuries and recovery, something was switching on in my brain.  (Les and the girls blame the flat spot on my head from the concussion)  I am no longer that quiet person who rarely spoke up.  If I see something, I say something.  If something is not right, I say something.  If someone waves or says hello to me, I wave or say hello back.  And whenever possible if something needs to be done, I still try to figure out how to do it.  Age, past surgeries, and other health issues sometimes make that harder, but I try to find a way.

So often older people are dismissed, and overlooked.  Sometimes we are seen as insignificant when others see we move more slowly, or our hair is silver, or it takes us longer to understand new technology.  To the younger folks who are guilty of this, I advise you to be careful and be more considerate.  If you are lucky, you will someday be older yourselves.

I had a couple instances recently where someone we were doing business with did not care to talk to me; they only wanted to speak with Les.  Honestly, I think they should have known better.  They were ignorant of the fact that Les and I handle things together, but I am very capable of making decisions.  And more often than not, I am the one that will be calling them for future service and also writing checks and paying bills.  So heads up!  If you want to keep our business, act better!  As an example, let me tell you about the service agent at the car dealership where we have purchased several cars that made a major goof.  This agent was a young female and when I went in to pick up our car - the TLX I drive the most - she said to me that she needed to talk with my husband. Les had dropped me off and was already heading home.  I looked her in the eye and asked why.  Then I told her I was the one who drove the car and she could just tell me whatever needed to be said.  She took a breath, apologized, and basically just wanted to tell me that the work had been done.  I thanked her and drove home.  I am pretty sure she will improve her customer service practices in the future.

The picture at the top of this post is from a Facebook post a friend made.  It just sort of jumped out at me and I had to copy.  If I knew where it originated, I would certainly give credit.  But thank you to the artist who came up with this!

So, I am here, I know myself, life is great!  Stay strong, take care of yourself, be courageous!  Remember to pick your battles wisely.  Stay safe, be kind, and God Bless America!

Trunk or Treat!

Last evening we went along to Trunk or Treat for Cutie Girl and Little Miss E.  They were so cute and I was so proud of both of them speaking up and saying "Trick or Treat" and then saying "Thank you!" 

They will get to go out to a few houses in their neighborhood on Halloween evening. Jacquie, Chris and Jordan have decorated their front yard.  There's been a pirate invasion!

Here are our cute little Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat!

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week.  There was no golf today so Les and I went to Byrd's for breakfast.  It was very good. 

He plans to do some work in the yard.  I've been doing some odds and ends around here and finishing the usual morning stuff.

It's supposed to get to around 70 today and right now the humidity is 70%.  May or may not rain; who knows?!

Interesting thing happened yesterday while I was out doing errands.  I don't know if I should be insulted or not.  I choose not.  I had parked the car and was walking into Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy a new replacement skillet.  A large man carrying boxes was passing me and in a low voice he said, "that's a good looking car you got there, Grama".  I just smiled and kept going.  Jadzia is a good looking car and I am a Grama.  😊

Life continues to be great.  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Here is Angus relaxing by the pumpkin.

Just Saying Hi!

The flat tire on our TLX had too big a hole to repair, so she now has a brand new tire.  We have no idea what was run over; we did not see anything in the road.  I remembered we had points on the Acura rewards program and used those for the cost.  They paid almost all of it, so yay! for me for remembering about it!

It's been coolish, and damp here.  Had a couple cloudy days, but today is sunny and in 60's.

We have been trying for years to get help with the drainage issues at the side of our house.  Several times we talked to companies and they either backed out, didn't want the work, or said they would do it and then never show up.  But..... Les talked to a new company a month or so ago that seemed promising.  He called us Tuesday morning and said he was ready to do the work either that afternoon or on Wednesday morning.  He and his crew of guys showed up Tuesday afternoon, dug a trench down to the storm drain.  Installed a flexible pipe and a grated drain cover and then repaired the yard, raked and seeded.  And it was done for the estimated cost, so we are hoping this is going to help.  I kept his card in case we ever need anything else done.

I have continued with my catching up and have even gotten a good start on the Christmas shopping!  Other than that, the file cabinet has been cleaned out, some organizing done in the closets, and yesterday I did a little yard work out front.  Got the mulched area all cleaned up and the Liriope cut back.  Will do some in the back yard on the next  yard work day.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Well. Huh. It Is Certainly a Monday.

Sorry Monday, I try not to pick on you, but your reputation is proving true today.

And here is how the day has been so far.....

After a day of rain yesterday, today is just cloudy and in the 60's.  Les is having a round of golf with the other guys.  We were both leaving at the same time because this is a Starbucks day for us.  I got in Jadzia (TLX) and immediately got a warning message saying "low tire pressure".  I looked at the readings and then got out to look.  Yep, flat tire, reading had said "0".   Les saw me get out as he was backing out of the driveway and asked what was wrong.  I went with him to Starbucks, we got our coffees,  and he brought me home.  He got his golf hat he had forgotten and I came in and had breakfast, enjoyed my coffee, read the paper, and watched some news.  When it was time for the Acura service department to open I called them and am currently waiting on AAA to get here.

Does everyone remember when it used to be that when you had a flat tire, you just changed it with your spare tire from the trunk which was a regular tire????  Now tires on new cars are filled with Nitrogen, and you get no spare tire, just a can of something to squirt in a flat tire.  And in this case, since she is new, and we have a warranty, she has to go in to the Acura service department.  Sigh.

Les made sure years ago that I could do some things with our cars if I needed to since he was sometimes TDY or on assignment somewhere.  I checked tire pressures, fluids and added if needed, scrubbed battery posts, etc.  And I remember when he was in Thailand for a year and I went back to Ohio to stay with my Mom for that year, his Dad would come by and check to make sure I knew what I was doing.  Memories!

Well, anyway, life goes on.  The plans I had for the day are all on hold.  There are things I can do here at home. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  AAA man was just here and Jadzia is on her way to Acura.  Will keep you posted.  After he left, I cleaned the garage floor since the cars are both out.

Life is still great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Just Checking In

Things are calming down around here.  I am caught up on most of the cleaning.  Still need to get upstairs and do some organizing and a bit of cleaning up there, but it can wait until I am ready.

The man was here and shaved some off the bedroom closet door and it will now open and close easily.

Les has been discharged from PT and will continue his exercises here at home.  He is outside doing yard work now.

I finally got a pumpkin for the front porch!

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Happy Columbus Day!

When I was working, Columbus Day was the day I usually got most of the Christmas shopping done.  I am way behind this year!

The new carpet is installed, things are back in order and put away.  The new desks were delivered on Saturday and all the office things are back in order, too.  Les has the computer set up again and working. 

I still have many things I would like to get done, but am being careful and pacing myself.  I got the windows all cleaned.  That was really necessary after the roof cleaning!

Our weather is back and forth.  Today is in 70's but 90% humidity and feels a lot warmer.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Updates

Today has been spent getting ready for tomorrow.  We have just about all of our prep work done except for alarm clocks and lamps, and the computer.  The installers will be here between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning.  We have piles and stacks all over the house.

One of the prep jobs was to round up our furry boys and get them to the clinic to stay overnight.  With three rooms involved in the carpet installation, there is just no safe place to secure them tomorrow.  Lisa helped get them all settled into the kitty condos and she said she would check on them.  We'll go bring them home as soon as we can tomorrow.  BTW, the boys were not happy about this, but sort of looked resigned to the situation when we said good-bye to them.  (and none of them looked at all as happy as the kitty in the clip art!)

It has cooled off a little here and been cloudy all day.  Les did not play golf today so he could get things moved around.

No word yet on the scheduling for the exhaust fan on the roof. 

Stay safe.  Life is great, even when it is sometimes exhausting!  And God Bless America!

What Next?!?

And here is the answer to that question.

While the man was up in the attic doing the Fall heating system check-up this morning, he called me over to the ladder where he could talk to me.  He said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I think your roof is leaking".  (the roof is not all that old)  And he had sat in water while doing the furnace check and he was all wet.

Les was on the computer and came out to hear all this and immediately called our guy, Steve.  Steve has been here and he went up and looked around.  Seems the leak is from the exhaust fan.  It's been up there for years.  Supposedly the newer models of the fans are made a bit better.  So we will be getting a new fan installed and things secured up there. 

And again, I ask, what next?

Stay safe and God Bless America!  Life is great!

Too Much Time on the Phone!

Things are moving along here.  The cleaning out and getting ready for carpet installation continues. I have made a couple trips to drop things off at DAV.  Also marked some things for Jacquie and for Pam.  😊  And we filled up the garbage dumpster.  Work continues.

And I have had to make way too many phone calls and be on hold way too long to get answers for various things.  I had to talk with the insurance claim people, the Verizon people about a messed up situation I won't go into, and several other time consuming calls. 

I had previously mentioned we are getting new desks and we wanted to donate our old wooden ones that were still in good condition.  Unfortunately, none of the charities would come and pick up.  In my search for one that would though, the name of the company "College Hunks Hauling Junk" popped up.  I called and talked to a nice young-sounding lady.  They would pick up and haul to a charity and send us a donation receipt for a fee.  So Friday they came to give us an estimate and Saturday they came and picked them up.  One of the guys came both days.  Definitely college age, and able to lift and carry.  The man who came with him on Saturday was maybe a bit older, but definitely looked like a weight lifter.  They picked those large desks up and moved them out like they were TV trays!

I've been trying to keep up with things that always need to be done and keep working on the prep work.  I admit, I am ready for all this to be done and things back in order.  I am tired and I am achy.  And I know why (too much bending, stooping, reaching, lifting and carrying even though I am careful) 

This coming week is a packed one.  Les has PT and doctor appointments, we have the Fall heating system check-up, the carpet installation, the roof cleaning, and the furniture delivery, as well as getting everything moved back in place.  That is going to go at a slow pace and be done right, not just shove things back in closets.  Although I am sure we will be tempted to do that.  😊

Since the desks were moved out, Les has our computer set up on the work table temporarily.  Angus is not pleased at all with this situation.  He does not have his usual place to sit on the end of the desk to see out the window and his napping place in front of the monitor is different.  But you will notice that he squeezed in and as I write now, he is fast asleep. But please also notice the expression on his face.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Happy International Coffee Day!

I thought this was the perfect picture for the day's observance.  And also to remind you to check out "The Stitch" at http://www.thestitchtvshow.com !

I recently participated in a survey of "what is your favorite way to drink coffee".  Starbucks' bold with a splash of half and half, please!  Sometimes it's made here at home, and sometimes gotten at the store.  Either way, YUM!  And don't rush me when I'm drinking it.

Have a great day!  Stay safe, keep your coffee hot, and God Bless America!  Life is great!