A First

I donated blood for the first time yesterday.  Les has been going regularly to donate.  I had been thinking about it, decided it was time. So when he scheduled his appointment this time, I scheduled, too, and we went together.  

The Medics and staff were very nice, very patient.  

I have a history of Vasovagal response episodes when getting blood draws, injections, vaccines, etc. I can not control this.  I do all the preparations and stay hydrated, make sure I've eaten, take deep breaths, and sometimes they still happen.  It used to be ALL the time.  After the accident it got better  - you know, things in perspective and all, I guess. I'm fine getting injections now.  Blood draws are okay if they get a vein on the first try.  If they do more than one stick or start twisting around to get a spot, I have problems.  So, knowing this, I told the Medics yesterday to give them a warning.

The very nice woman getting me ready said not to worry, they had me.  And they have people pass out all the time.  If I started to feel bad, I should just call out or wave.  

I was fine until towards the end of the donation.  I could feel issues starting and called and they were quick to respond.  If you have never experienced one of these episodes let me describe what it feels like for me.  First my vision starts to go all wonky - flashy lights, colors change, can't focus.  I break out in a cold sweat, I feel nauseous, and my breathing changes. 

Took a little while to get over it, but after some water, and the salty pretzels they kept wanting me to eat, I was okay.  I am fine today.

So, thank you Red Cross volunteers!  And heads up!  I'll be back.

Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!  Life is good!

Just a Funny That Made Me Smile

 

Stay safe.  Remember that life is good.  And God Bless America!

Ahhh, the Fresh Smell of New Paint!

Seems like it's been a busy week here.  Errands to be done, appointments, second Covid booster shots, etc.  Add to that the riding mower had to go in for service after it died in the back yard.  When it returned, Les did yard work.  I did a bit of cleanup in the yard and mulched areas.  Things are looking pretty good out there right now.  Azaleas are blooming, Liriope are coming up, Day Lilies have pretty green leaves, the Sweet Shrub has filled out, and the Hydrangeas are recuperating from the freeze a few weeks ago.  All is well out there for now. 

Today was the day for Jeff to come and repair two areas on our living room ceiling and paint the whole ceiling.  He does good work.  The areas are all looking good and the paint is drying.  We have done some cleanup and finished putting things back in place.

I woke up about 5:30 and knew I wouldn't get back to sleep thinking about things to get done before the painting, plus the usual morning "stuff" I do.  So I was up and getting my Starbucks early this morning.  And of course, I had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful sky that early.

So, Happy Earth Day!  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a Blessed, Peaceful, and Happy Easter today.  Remember the reason of the holiday and be thankful.

Les' Dad made these bunnies for us years ago.  💗

It's been a day of activity and flurry of action around here, more than we've had in quite a while!

First there was a hunt to find the eggs and treats that the Easter Bunny left here!

I had made a decision to not do a huge meal like the traditional baked ham, etc.  We had Pierce's barbecue sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, and fruit.  We finished up the meal with cake for Cutie Girl's birthday!  Jacquie did a good job on the requested dinosaur cake!

We are all recuperating now.  The dishwasher is running.  Les is watching golf. 

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good!  God Bless America!

More Yard Pictures

 

Different view of the back corner of our yard.  It's getting more sun than it has ever had now that the very large, old pine tree has been removed.  It was sad; it was a lovely tree, but it dropped hundreds of cones, thousands of needles, and many branches.  Our neighbor was afraid it would fall down and damage the houses.

This is a closeup of the Azalea in the first picture.  This is the most blooms it has ever had!  The other smaller Azalea back there has buds on it but not opened yet.

It's a nice sunny, warm day here.  Our power washing guy was here earlier and everything is clean and in the process of drying.  While on our roof he saw that our neighbor has loose shingles sliding off her roof, so I went over and told her.

Our A/C system was checked out yesterday and it is all good and ready to use.

I will be washing windows sometime soon.  Life is good.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  

God Bless America!

Greening and Blooming

 

Replaced our USAF yard art twirler.

Azaleas starting to bloom!

Sweet Shrub blooming.  My Grama always had one of these.

Enjoy your day and stay safe!  God Bless America!

Just Checking In

We've been keeping up with things, or at least trying to.  😊

We have more things growing and blooming in the yard.  The grass continues to sprout and grow in the worked on areas.  Azaleas are starting to bloom.  The sweet shrub is blooming, too. The Liriope in front of the porch is getting new leaves.  Everything is green and the pollen is heavy.  I wear a mask when I go out to clean off the porch and walk.

As I write this, we are waiting for the service call to check out the A/C system and have it ready.  We won't be leaving it on after the man is done though.  I just put on a sweatshirt!  It is cloudy and in the mid-60's today.  It's probably just me though.  I feel really tired and achy and cold.  

Tomorrow we have the power washing people scheduled to get that all done.  And that means that in the near future, I will be cleaning the windows and doing some other "Spring" cleaning around here.

I worked in the garage over the weekend and straightened the shelves and swept and wiped and cleaned up.  Got rid of some expired things, and also mopped half the floor.  The other half of the garage will require Les'  attention for looking and cleaning out since that is the side with tools and golf equipment.  Although I can go ahead and clean the floor sometime when the MDX is out of the garage.  Felt good to get that job done though.

Next week we have a couple appointments scheduled.  Nothing definite is finalized for Easter.  A lot depends on weather.  

Jacquie took the girls for a little "trip" to explore a bit.  The girls had Spring break last week.  Jacquie sent me this picture of Little Miss E.  And since you all know I love sky pictures, and the grandchildren, here she is!

As far as I know everyone is doing okay.  The kids all back in class now after breaks.  Everyone is busy.  

The state of the world is the same.  Covid cases are rising again and we are being encouraged to wear masks again.  Actually, I never stopped the mask wearing completely.  I keep them handy when being out and about and use one depending on situations.

Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  Remember life is good.  God Bless America!

Just Saying Hello

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.  Les and I are doing alright.

Our weather is getting very nice, but the pollen counts are rising.  I made a judgement call today and turned off the heat and opened a couple windows.  I usually don't this time of year because that pollen just comes right on in if the window is open.  But I have to dust anyway, so they are open. 😊

The new grass seed is sprouting up.  The Liriope are shooting up some new leaves.  And some of the Azaleas are starting to bloom.  I had to prune back the Hydrangeas a bit since there was some damage.  We had had warm weather that made things start to sprout, and then it got really cold again and we had two hard freezes.  One of those "burned" the leaves and some buds on the Hydrangeas.  So they got pruned; they are looking a little perkier now.  Les mowed for the first time last week.

Our neighbor had some major tree work done and yesterday we got to listen to the stump grinder for a large part of the day. Her yard is all smoothed out now.

We've just been taking care of things and staying caught up.  Grocery shopping is still a challenge around here.  There are still some supply chain issues on a lot of things.  I have adjusted and learned to make substitutions as I shop.  I refuse to spend the time and gas driving all over and going a lot of places for something. Gas prices are high. It's the way it is now.

The world situation hasn't gotten any better and there isn't much to say on that.  And I don't discuss politics.

We have Easter coming up and several birthdays, anniversaries, and a graduation.  I spent some time sorting through and wrapping and getting things ready. 

I was in the mood to clean out a bit so I took a trunk load to DAV.

Les is playing golf when he can.  Today was a good day. 

Starbucks continues to have issues off and on so this morning before we went, I called them to make sure their brewers were working and they actually had coffee.  They did, so that was a good start!  There are several other Starbucks in our area, but I still prefer to go to the one closest to us.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Remember that life is good.  God Bless America!