Oh There Was That Day, March 27,2012

My battle against weeds continues. It is a battle fraught with hope and discouragement, work, planning and then more work. While laying out cardboard yesterday there were a few tiny weeds trying to poke through the spaces that don't line up exactly. For now it will be a pull by case basis until the reinforcement rubberized mulch border arrives sometime next week. Since we had beautiful weather and pleasant temps, most of yesterday was spent outside working on the flowerbed. It is forecasted to be much warmer today, so that will limit the time but there are a few more boxes to be cut apart and laid out and eventually covered with the mulch. In the past when these projects are started, patience hasn't been a companion. It was rush, get this done and move onto the next task. Well, now I just say, there is time to get this accomplished. Teasingly this is called my job and my PE class.

It got too hot too quickly so outdoor work came to an end and a move indoors was necessitated. I did get some cardboard laid out. I thought about doing some work in the backyard. I wish I could tell you how industrious I have been inside but sadly, that would be fake news. But there are a couple of items on the to do list that have been taken care of.

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the day of the official separation began between us and my father. That day as I had spent most of the afternoon looking for my father because his cardiology nurse said he did not show up for his appointment. Long story short he came home and I was in his office...writing down phone numbers of his friends and the constable for that area to begin a search for him. I knew it would not bode well and that no matter what I said and showed him what I had written down. that once I left, the conspiracy thoughts would envelop any sane thinking he had left. We sat there in the family room and talked, I wrote down all his meds and then when I was leaving, he threw out the idea we should go look at assisted living for him right then and there. Health-wise that day had been a drain on all the meager energy I had. I also knew he was not serious about assisted living and with it being after 4:00, it wasn't a good time to start looking. He took that as an insult. I reminded him I was not well and dealt with serious heart issues and he pretty much accused me of faking an illness. He couldn't understand why I would not call the nurse at his cardiologist office, she was so smart. No doubt she was but my cardiologist developed the procedure that was saving so many lives, he was on the cutting edge and my father was furious I wouldn't talk to his nurse. Of course, it was an attempt to acquire information and thus turn into control for him. That day while backing out of the driveway and waving to my dad, inside me the thought came...this is the last time you will ever see your dad alive. And you know, it was. From that point on and on April 12th while being served with papers by his attorney, he severed his relationship with us, legally. Then his harassment began with bogus reports to the police, constable office and adult protective services. Roy has said to me many times during the last five years, North Carolina saved your life. In the midst of all the accusations of coming to his house, putting a tracker on his minivan, tapping his cell phone, turning on water, turning on the stove and stealing from his garage, I was in North Carolina so many of the times. My brother found out the yard person was setting a lot of that up to be able to embezzle money from my father and my brother put a swift end to that part of the story. My father's friend John, who was the closest thing to a pastor he had at the end since he was fighting with the church he and my mom had belonged to since 1960 or so, called me once and asked if I had read the letters my father had put on all his doors addressed to us. No, cause I didn't go over there. He said they were some of the meanest words he had ever read. He asked me, do you know your father hates you? Of course I did, his hatred began when I went to kindergarten and I was more interested in making friends and going to school than thinking of him. This I also knew, while any one of his posse spoke to me, they would soon find themselves in the position I was in. He turned on everyone. Everyone was cheating him, stealing from him and plotting an overthrow to take all his money. He fired the lawyer that served the papers. He got rid of most of his posse. I'm glad that John was able to stick with him to the end and that his friend Thelma was so helpful to him. Once she realized all he had told her about us was a lie, her attitude changed regarding his accusations. While all of this was kind of a shock to the system it was also so freeing. So much stress was entirely gone once he was no longer a part of our lives. Like I said he tried hard to make his deluded accusations stick and I think it was his way trying to get back with us, thinking we would call and confront him about the falsehoods, but we didn't take the bait. He could not call and say I was wrong and I am sorry. I thought we were free and clear, my father and me when the beginning of those days with my mom declining and then eventually passing away. He had instructed my brother and Nancy not to tell me my mom was in the hospital, possibly facing death. He was able to keep that news from me because my mother no longer spoke, just spoke gibberish, so it wasn't eventful not to speak with my mom when I called.  I just happened to be in the cardiologist office when the news was leaked to me and cleverly I might add. When I called my father, we spoke of clearing the slate, of forgiveness on both of our parts and we were able to walk with him during the sad days ahead. But, I took the bait, he just said what he needed to say to manipulate the circumstances in his favor. My father was a smart man and throughout most of his life the only thing that held him back was sadly, him. A little too late we learned about narcissism and only then could we eek out freedom in a survivable way. We didn't know his behavior had a name. It seems the meds he was on, he was on so many accelerated his hallucinations, fears, neurosis and once my brother and the wonderful assisted living place he had found for our father, took him off all those meds, our dad settled out a little. Like my father had never been diabetic, he told that lie for years. Doug had two good years with him until our father died on April 1,2017. Thinking back on this day of eight years ago, I don't think my father ever thought he would need help from anyone. He was a cunning and skillful lair. He was able to keep his lies straight and his fabricated ingenious stories in line for the most of his life. Sitting at his roll top desk, surrounded by file cabinets and organized papers, he was king of content, until he got older. He couldn't keep lies and stories straight. All those years of lying when there wasn't a need to caught up and he found himself mired in a mess he had concocted himself. I share this from time to time because this story has hope, this story shows God's faithfulness and just because we find ourselves involved with people whether they are family, friends or coworkers who suffer and yes make us suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder, there is victory. The practical solution is starving the narcissist but the truth and victory only come from trusting in God, asking for His wisdom and be as wise as a serpent but harmless as doves. Also there were years of visiting a therapist. She gave me a road map as well as the encouragement while entangled with duplicitous ways to be set free.

I was writing this on the 27th and have come back to it a little to make changes here and there. In the past years, I know I have written about this incident and the fallout we felt and experienced. Each year that has gone by, I rejoice in the victory of being set free and that God made it all possible. How he impressed Roy for us to pay off our home in Texas. We expected something bad to happen but it was to be able to free us up to buy our home in the mountains. If we had a mortgage the lenders would think this more of being a second home and not inclined to loan us the money. God weaved together the circumstances to be able to live here in much better health than I would be back in hot Texas. If I reflect on time in my childhood, and mainly that is to write or at times encourage someone who has a similar background, I can see the hand of God and how there were people He sent that helped me along the way.

Tomorrow, my father will have been dead for three years. Five years tomorrow, the moving van arrived at our home in the mountains. This year I am more aware that the bad times and the times of deliverance are bundled together in a time span of dates but separated by years.  It kind of has that biblical time line feel to it. The other day my brother and I were texting, catching up and we both mentioned and then gave thanks that at this time of Covid-19, we aren't stuck in a house with him, quarantined with him. "My chains are gone, I've been set free!'



 

Too Beautiful Outside To Stay In and Write

An infrequent feral visitor has been hanging around this morning and he is creating quite a stir. It has been several months, maybe even the end of last year since he has been around. So maybe he isn't feral but he still carries the equipment. Cat fighting broke the silence of our morning, twice. Buddy and I looked out the window and there was Frankie in the submissive fight position against this other cat. It seems like they move in slow motion and then accelerate to fight. Claws were in position to claw away at will. Frankie is normally the dominant cat. Now I see why Strawyer flights and not fights. He has come home a couple of times looking beat up and worn out. He picks his times carefully to come to eat. He knows if I see him I will make up a bowl for him on the spot. With Frankie hanging around and the infrequent feral, this usually means the coyotes are a little closer than normal. The animal kingdom hasn't got word on social distancing. Watching all the happenings has activated social distraction and nothing has gotten done this morning. Well, breakfast and then treats for Buddy.

The project desk got cleaned up yesterday. Dried up pens, gone. Papers that needed to be shredded...they have been shred. Rearranged some books but that is a larger project that needs dedicated time.

I made a quick trip to the Post Office. Roy had sent me a package. I went when the post office is closed for the two hour break. Love that the small post offices can shut down mid-day and then reopen.It was just enough of getting out and then upon returning, I brought the garbage bin up. Glad all that is taken care of because it is raining a good bit now.

Facebook brought up a very good and fun memory from five years ago, five years ago today the packers were at the house getting everything ready for the moving van. We are getting ready to celebrate living here five years April 1. One of the best decisions we ever made and not once have we regretted it. These have been some of the happiest and joyful five years of my life. Even in the midst of this pandemic, we are so blessed to be here and be ensconced by the beauty of the mountains. We have made wonderful friends here. I have spent more time in the last five years going at a slower pace, spending more time alone, and not eating out as much...so basically, I have been in training for this season of life for a while.
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It seems like I can't get back to this post. It was a beautiful day, so I was out in the flowerbed continuing my redneck work of limiting weeds. Work went well today and I wasn't as tired as last week. So that is good.

Buncombe County is officially on stay home, stay safe in about twenty five minutes. Essential businesses are open. I try to limit the essential visit to one day a week and take precautions.

Think I need to relax, so this is the post for now. All is well...

We Don't Learn Anything in Drizzle

A couple of months ago while working on a Sunday School lesson I came across a quote that grabbed my attention. We were having a lesson from Psalm 84 taking a break from the regular Sunday School lessons whose theme about 95% of the time was on idolatry and rebellion. At the time it just seemed like a good idea to take a break and look into the psalmist longing for the house of God. Not only longing for the house of God but gaining strength from the journey. I don't remember where I found this quote but here it is, "We learn nothing in drizzle but we can learn life lessons from storms." Guess this comes to mind because this morning is a light rain, drizzle kind of day. From experience we know we are more frazzled and impatient in drizzle because the aggravation factor is multiplied when deciding whether it is worth the effort to open an umbrella or put the hood up on the rain jacket. These past few weeks have held some storms and you can go out to YouTube,FB Live or church websites and find encouragement about the storms of life and the unknown to us but known by God. We will get out in drizzle, even though a drizzle laden errand is fret with frustrations but storms, we stay at home or shelter in place. If we happen to be caught out in a storm, we learn lessons for the future and come to know the joy of being in a place that feels familiar or warm or cozy. For the most part, emotionally, I am okay but there are moments. You know moments that catch you unaware like last night while watching HGTV and the commercial comes on that all the familiar faces from those programs we love, talk about home and staying home. Home so others won't get ill and before I knew it, tears welled up and the thought of being so far away from Roy hit me hard. Our schedules are in flux, being changed and knowing that Roy has a tendency not to take things like this serious enough...well, tears. Although these past few days in our conversations he is taking things seriously. No more Metro bus riding into the office where he is about the only person on the fifth floor. He is driving into downtown and most probably those drives will be coming to an end this week. He has ordered monitors and other necessary items to work from home. On Friday he did get a little panicked and said he was buying another freezer to accompany the one in the garage and the refrigerator in the house. I talked him down off that ledge.

Talked to Peggy and Lisa yesterday. Not being much of a phone talker, I forget to call others. Peggy is always so good about keeping in touch so I surprised her yesterday. She was working on photo books and by the end of our conversation, she was outdoors pulling weeds. Lisa called while the usual Sunday routine of taking the garbage bin down to the road but the VM didn't show up till much later. So we got about an hour of conversation in...which was good and always fun.

In trying to be disciplined just a bit...I gave myself a list of things to accomplish yesterday. It wasn't even an aggressive too much to do list and even with the laid back feel, only a few things were taken care of yesterday. Most importantly the strawberries were sliced up. I bought some raspberries, a fruit I don't usually buy and enjoyed some of those in yogurt and cereal this morning.

As most of y'all know Roy is the book smart kind and I am common sense smart. I was talking to Roy as he was doing laundry. He told me he was going to put bleach in with his clothes. What? No! Stop! He didn't know you only use bleach with white things...oh man, he would have looked so colorful in his acid wash, tie dye clothes.

My neighbor Nancy texted me this morning. Cali's kitty, Canvas has been missing for three days. She is an indoor/outdoor cat. We are both afraid that the coyotes got her. Frankie, the mean dude cat, has been hanging around here at night and in the early morning. That kind of confirms that the coyotes were back. I have seen all the ones I care for today, so that is good. But I am sad about Canvas...I am sad for Nancy and her family.

Well, I think it is time for a late lunch. I am eating by expiration dates, so I have a salad planned for lunch. We are not in a drizzle friends. We are in a storm but this Psalm gives great comfort and hope, Psalm 84, we go from strength to strength...we are going through the valley of Baca. God gives grace and glory, no good thing will He withhold. We are so blessed when we trust in Him.

Self Distraction/Self Distancing/Self Detention=All The Same Thing

We have enjoyed some warm temps, with very little wind and lots of sunshine today. It has been one of those days that makes staying indoors very difficult. So, even though I had told myself last night, no working in the flower garden today but when everything pulled me that way, I gave into the work. Instead of using the tarp to pull down bags of mulch, I carried it down the old fashioned two by two. All in all I finished up some of the bare spots and then one of the outdoor rugs that is a part of my red-necking of the mulch and flowerbed. I was just about done when the unexpected happened. I slid on the incline of mulch and landed on my right hip. Yes, the right hip that I broke in 2016, That rubber mulch really cushioned the slide. Maybe the only bad will be bruises from my leg landing on my keys that were in the right pocket. I told Roy that when I played softball I believed that God only gave me 3-5 slides so I must not have used them all up. The area is supposed to have rain tomorrow and Monday so I will take a break and work again when Wednesday and Thursday are forecasted to be beautiful. I took several of the flat stones for the back and made a little pathway from the stairs to the flowerbed. Not so much to walk on but to keep my from stepping into an uneven part of the yard. Oh and for good measure I rolled some of the big border rocks from the flowerbed under the front porch down to the edge of the flowerbed. Need a few more there as that flowerbed under the porch is going to become part of the yard. Cheaper and easier than trying to keep it weeded. Nothing but burning bush in it anyway.

While resting this afternoon I began reading the stack of magazines that has accumulated over the past few months. Started with Garden and Gun.

Roy had cabin fever today so he took back the air filters to Costco. The A/C company put in this huge filter thing in the attic. Because Roy's allergies have been kind of bad the past few years, he runs the AC fan quite a bit to keep the air circulating. So hopefully this will help the motor not burn out. He did a little shopping because he hadn't bought any snacks. What! I mean I got snacks purchased the first thing and then worried about meals. Ingles chicken legs and thighs in the deli dept has become a go to for me. I had some the other day and put everything else in the freezer.

Buddy spent most of the day on the front porch and hopefully all that outdoorsy time will help her not be so restless tonight.
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Outdoorsy time for the win. Buddy was quite the sleeper last night but I also think as the temps cooled down she stuck around for warmth. This morning I made another batch of orange rolls because the expatriation date is getting close. They turned out better than the other day and for those of y'all and I know there isn't one person worrying about this for me, but I have heard the refrigerator motor...so now I have new things to listen for.

I have been online church hopping this morning. So many good and needful words and songs and then you know, there are a few that I skipped over cause I kind of know what is coming from them and truthfully, their words weren't helpful before the cornavirus and now certainly not feeling it in a time of a pandemic crisis. Highlight was hearing Lisa Pierre on the HFBC webcast. I miss hearing Pastor Bradley...and going through the book of Mark.

Because I can never remember the correct term of self distancing, I am calling it self distraction cause distractions are how I operate and get things done, eventually. Like right now I would really like to be outside working on the flowerbed but I need to take a day off. Folding laundry isn't holding the same fascination but it needs to get done. This afternoon seems like a good time to clean and organize my project desk. If I don't behave, then I'll put myself in self detention.  Last night I got back to the book that grabbed my attention but while the story is so good, the violence in the book is more than I can handle. So instead I am just skimming it to see if I can find the story soon enough. This mornings self distraction led me to look for any ponytail accouterments because you know I might be sporting a ball cap and ponytail in several months. Yesterdays self distraction, I found some dry shampoo spray that I didn't care for, but now will use because ain't going to see anyone. Got to find the silver lining in all these things and days.

A Taste of Texas email came last week and since I have been craving steak, I think I have written about this, I ordered four steaks and some decaf cinnamon coffee. Should arrive sometime next week.

Slid update, no bruises and feeling good. Rubber mulch is where it is at.

So that is all for now. 

At Home...At Peace...Ate Robin Egg Candy

Good morning! It is a lovely day so far, well except for seeing a possum, this is not a Teen Girl Squad reference, hanging out under the porch. Just saw the tail but for a moment it looked like a skunk. I had not had any coffee yet and Roy called and talked way above my level of understanding...so it was a lot of uh hah, yes...really...hmmm.. reactions on my part.  I don't mind a possum at all but you don't usually see them in daylight. Hope I don't have a rabid possum scooting around. I think I will choose to believe that it was out all night partying and late getting home. It must have moved on though because the kitties are hanging out under the house a bit and they usually get the heck out of the backyard when they see a possum.

A report on the ferals, I am calling the gray cat with blue eyes Frankie, after Frank Sinatra. Ol blue eyes doesn't hiss at me as much now. He is not around all the time, which I like cause I don't care for him, but especially when it is cold, I don't mind feeding him. The past couple of days have been seasonal but when he showed up this morning, he got his own bowl of food. Keeps peace in the feral fam cause he and Strawyer do not get along...thus Strawyer got his own bowl of food too that he shared with Punky. The kitties just look at me and eat and most of them will do the trust eyes with me, so that is encouraging. I brought out the kiddie fishing rod and they sort of play but their favorite is still red laser light at night. Camo hasn't been around for months so I assume she is no longer with us. Mama Cat shows up once in a while.

Buddy and I got into a little tiff yesterday. I tried to trim her nails and in the past she has been cooperative but not last night. She got a few good swipes in and retreated downstairs for a bit. Came back up and slept on the other couch meaning I got in a few hours of sleep on my left side. Around 2:00 am, she came to bed, slept on my arm and guess we have made up. When I fell back asleep I dreamed I had a huge fight with Beth Moore. About what, haven't a clue but we were yelling at one another...then when I woke up from the dream, I was in afib. Dang! My heart went back into rhythm after about forty five minutes and then I went back to sleep. So it was funny when a friend texted me this morning about Big and Boo Mama's podcast with Beth she listened to last night. My friend also had a weird dream about meeting Bernie Sanders and his wife...so self distancing is having an effect, strange and odd dreams. In real life, I am not mad at Beth, nor would she care about that, so I wanted to make that clear. Oh and my friend, she doesn't know Bernie Sanders.

Is anyone else washing their hands before they wash their face?

After working in the flowerbed yesterday, I am taking today off. It is supposed to rain this afternoon. Tomorrow though, I hope to be back out there finishing up my project. After years of using bird feeders that looked like a porch swing, I have now purchased some that look like a picnic table. The swings finally rotted out. It is good to have an open feeder because if you put meal worms in with the birdseed, blue birds and woodpeckers will come and eat.

How come bird feeders is two words but birdseed and birdbath are one word?

It seems earlier this year and I know we will have cooler temps several times, but off came the flannel sheets and cool cotton sheets replaced them. I am also putting up my heavier flannel shirts put keeping a few handy. Not quite ready to give up flannel shirts and boots, but we are nearing that time.
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Saturday morning...beautiful after a night of scattered rain. I ended up working just a bit in the flowerbed yesterday because Mike the Mower Man was here and I wanted to get the border around to keep extra grass and seeds from going into the uncovered part of the bed. 28 bags of mulch remaining and as Roy said, take your time...you don't have anything else to do...and that isn't totally true. So far the coffee maker and ice maker have received deep cleaning and there is more to be done around here. I also have stacks of stuff that needs to be gone through. And of course books. My attitude toward being self distancing is not to go overboard on any one thing cause that is how one gets bored quickly.

The ferals have had snacks but I'm getting ready to go out and feed them brunch. Buddy is on the front porch and a very happy camper. She was a little restless last night but not too bad. Now that it is warming up she doesn't stick so close by which I welcome so I can sleep on my left side some.

Day 3,134 of Self Distancing...I Mean Day 4

Day 3,134 of self distancing...uh, oops, no...sorry, day 4 of self distancing. Except yesterday, I went to the grocery store(s) for supplies. I found bananas, citrus fruit and dairy products. It is nice having Ingles and Publix across the street from one another. Got home, put stuff up and read a bit. Then, I decided to make another trip to Lowe's for rubberized mulch. The garden center area is practically deserted and when I walked past two people, I held my breath. I am also wearing my gardening gloves to load fourteen bags but a nice Lowe's employee loaded them into the truck.

Rednecking the front flowerbed is keeping me interested and active. I took down the twelve bags I bought earlier in the week on a tarp, four bags at a time. Spread out eight bags and laid down more cardboard. There are lots of breaks thrown in for good measure and it also keeps me hydrated and my hands not touching my face. When I finished up, I washed my hands like three times due to touching stuff having been brought into the house from the grocery store and fixed lunch. Such a deal on mesquite grilled chicken, six legs and thighs for $3.99. Had a couple of legs with mashed potatoes, stored a few in the refrigerator and froze the rest. Fixing the lunch thing exhausted me more than the outside work.

Our pastor's wife Kelly, called me Tuesday and confirmed what I think what we all already had guessed, our Easter Egg Hunt is cancelled. Good thing I bought a lot of candy that I like...and a lot I don't. She and Pastor Bradley are so wonderful! She is maybe 40 and loves our Sunday School class, so that's where she goes. We all love her and her enthusiasm for life. She asked me to send a text to our class letting them know if they need anything, she or Pastor Bradley would love to pick it up for us and deliver. Then she gave me the talk about staying home since I had mentioned going to Lowe's. I texted the class, don't let her find out if you get out and about...cause she is good at trying to keep you on the straight and narrow...except, I went back to Lowe's yesterday. But the good news is, I'm not going there today.

The Bradford pear trees are so beautiful right now. Along the ridge lines where there are so many, it almost looks like smoke from a fire. Our ornamental cherry trees are budding as well. The blending of the pink and white blossoms make a great photo opportunity.

So back to texting...our class is full of funny, funny people and one of my favorite things is to laugh with them. Like all good group texts, we were blowing up everybody's messaging. We hoped that we would recognize one another when we are finally allowed to gather with ten or more people. Thank goodness I had a highlight and haircut appointment last week, but several mentioned they might be wearing ponytails when we gather once again and I reminded them that if they saw someone who looked like me but with dishwater brown hair with a few gray hairs, it was me.

I have moved on from trying to catch the refrigerator motor running and have become occupied with the liquid underneath the truck...which was just run-off condensation but you know...it got my attention and held me in its grips for just a while.

So, this is the update here and I forgot to post it yesterday...I think it is really day 6 of self distancing because it began on Saturday...but you know time flies...

Keeping Focused In These Days....on refrigerator motors

I refuse to play anymore games with Buddy. She cheats at tic tac toe as well as BINGO. She will have to find another way to pass the time while we are self restricting our comings and goings during this pandemic.

Articles are encouraging men to shave their beards for health reasons during the Covid-19 crisis. I haven't broken my nazarite vow from the January period when such a vow was enabled for the non-shaving my legs. Will my health rise for the better if I shave my legs now? Seems like I will have plenty of time to ponder this but unlike Mary, I will not treasure these thoughts in my heart.

One of the ferals either Andy or Ranger accidentally spent the night in the garage. When the ubiquitous fragrance of cat poop hit upon opening the garage backdoor, I only hoped they had used the litter box. No, but they used the rubberized tree rings which is close enough. Those rings will be escorted out of the garage once I finally get dressed for the day. It is not my usual habit to stay in jammies for the majority of the morning, but since these are special times, special care to keep one attentive and interested is now being utilized here at the house. The likelihood of someone popping in is nearly 0, so extendomatic time for jammies is a new thing.

I spend a lot of time in the winter at home and doing so is always welcomed. I believe the term is introverted extrovert. But now with the emphasis on staying home, I am noticing things that have never had a blip on the screen. This morning for instance, after cleaning the ice maker, I have been obsessed with hearing the refrigerator motor. It hasn't come on, so I think, and wonder if all is well. The refrigerator door messaging assures me all is well, all is running and being kept cold or frozen. Only, the preoccupation of actual hearing the motor is making me a little OCD. Thus moving upstairs has helped a little. I haven't really ever been OCD about much, well, my tennis strings being replaced constantly was a little OCD, but other than that...Oh yea, looking for my purse in the car...yet, while traveling overseas, I tend to get OCD over, where is my passport...even when it is in my hands. Since then my new obsession is washing my hands and going through lotion. I think I have rubbed skin off the back of my hands because these little scab places are showing up.

In the midst of all this, I have taken the time to read math oriented articles about the virus. No one told me math would be involved but I'm thinking with all these resources being offered free online to help kids now out of school and thrown into the world of homeschooling, maybe I should return and try again in the math journey...well, I don't have much spare time for that cause you know, refrigerator motors are taking up any slack time.

It looks like our rainy morning might be over thus work can resume on the rednecking of the flowerbed. Probably just a matter of time before Lowe's restricts products and...thus rubberized mulch. So maybe I should make another trip to keep this project front and center. Note to self, only work in the front flowerbed in snippets of time due to the copious amount of attention now to be focused on the refrigerator motor. Hmm...Lowe's has appliances...a perusal might be helpful to see what kind of motors are available...just to listen to.

Buddy has asked not to be home schooled at this time. She is researching naps and how many can be taken in a twenty four hour period. I applaud her determination in her pursuit. Maybe this would be the time for adding college credits to the resume'. The most important thing right now here at the Monarch Penurious Path to Education is joining a sorority. I have pledged, Keepa Cuppa Coffee. Rush the past few days has been arduous but well worth the effort. My assignment was buying coffee filters because the sad reality revealed yesterday was, a low supply. I found only filters for 1-4 cups of coffee at Publix but I think my ordering off of Amazon this morning impressed my sorority sisters of whom I haven't even met or seen but know they must be around.

Back to the refrigerator motor for a second...you see, I have Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls in the refrigerator that must be used by March 26th. So, this morning, orange sweet rolls was the menu. Only they didn't come out of the can like usual, thus adding to the conspiracy of a non running motor. But when I made closer inspection of the pop open thingy, it was not the usual 8 roll can...See what can happen when you were raised by a conspiracy theorist. By the way jumping to conclusions was the exercise portion of the morning so at least that will get checked off the box. I see I have now been upstairs for thirty or so minutes and that means a surprise inspection of the refrigerator motor needs to be assessed. Oh the things one can become involved in and obsessed with. Tomorrow might bring obsessing over the HVAC system or on the time delay on Roku TVs.

For Now.....

It feels strange to be home at this hour. If this was a normal week the choir would be going over Total Praise before going into the service. I would have finished up our lesson in Sunday School. But, I am here at home looking out on the beautiful scenery and listening to Second Baptist Houston. As life changes to a new normal for the unseen future we are having a huge swell of support local businesses during this time so in that spirit I should really go from online to TV and watch a local service.

I can hear my Houston cardiologist in my head reminding me because of the virus that attached my heart in 2008 that I must always remember that I have a compromised immune system, no matter how good I feel and to act accordingly. Several years ago before having an ablation and dental surgery, my comings and goings were very restricted because if I had one iota of anything respiratory, neither the ablation nor the dental surgery could be done. They told me to err on the side of caution, no abundant caution back then, and restrict being in groups. Thus, came the season of just going to Sunday School and not big church. All shopping was done in non busy times. For the foreseeable future, I'll go back to that regimen.

The past few weeks have also held adjusting to a new schedule. Beside studying for a lesson on Sunday I am also facilitating the study of Taste and See on Thursday mornings. Although that doesn't require study time, I need to be familiar with the homework and discussion. Thus, my blogging time has diminished a bit. A post that has gone on for several days has been in the works, but now, with time gone by, I probably won't post it. It had a few updates on the ferals of the backyard. Every now and then someone down the road either lets their dobermans out or the dogs escape but they usually make a stop here...not like the other dogs that wrecked havoc but to eat. Yesterday morning, the cats flew under the porch with an urgency. I just happened to be downstairs and saw the dogs on the security camera. So out to the garage I go and I yell and bang on the door to scare the dogs off. It worked. We really need to put up a fence not so much for the cats but for me. It is beginning to be the time of year when I work outside a bit more and those huge dogs would scare me and I cannot escape with urgency underneath the porch. All in all the cats are doing okay. A little more adventurous toward the gravel road. The gray cat, Frankie, hangs around more and I don't really like him. He is a bully. Punky and Strawyer are around but not too much.

It didn't seem to hit here until late Thursday or early Friday, panic mode. On Tuesday and Wednesday stores had plenty of supplies, now not so much. My big venture out yesterday was to Lowe's to take advantage of the ten percent off for card holders. More rubberized mulch for the front flowerbed, redneck preparation to fight off weeds. This endeavor is keeping me off the streets and away from any virus. I keep waiting for all this rain that was forecast to water down the cardboard before covering it with the mulch. Yesterday, Mike was here finishing up by weed eating the backyard and helped with getting the mulch down to the flowerbed. That was a HUGE help. The dogwoods and ornamental cherry trees have buds and blossoms, so it won't be long till the yard looks like spring. Daffodils are in bloom all over the backyard and the Bradford pear trees are in bloom. Some blooms are whiter and some blooms are beige depending on the amount of frost or freeze the past few weeks.

Since I prepared for a bad winter, which did not happen, I had most supplies I needed. Picked up a few snack type items along the way cause these days I am more of a snacker than a meal prep person. And I am more of a mood eater. Plenty of food for Buddy and the ferals. As for books, y'all, I am set because the TBR pile is pretty high.

The reason for my redneck flowerbed prep, I am in the midst of a dental implant and learned in the first part of March that I will need another implant. Thus, in an abundance of caution, any big ticket landscaping is now designated for dental costs. The second implant procedure begins the first part of May.

Well, that is all for now.