Rainy Days and Mondays, Do Not Get Me Down

 The big highlight on this Wednesday morning is the A/C people coming to do our twice yearly inspection. Everything seems to be running right, but it is just a part of the territory, just as it is in Houston. I am so glad that even last and this week with our warmer than normal temps here, it is not Houston hot. Lord have mercy! *** Well, they changed the appointment to the afternoon. All is well but the guy broke the drainage thing and had to replace it as well as turned the attic chain light too hard or at a weird angle thus the light would not turn off. Roy kind of freaked out over it but we texted with Jon, friend and electrician, and he came by last night to look at it and then he fixed it. We are most grateful for him. As for the A/C guy, I kind of laughed about the light thing because he was not raised nor trained to never ever flip a light switch haphazardly, pull a chain too hard and while it is all being mentioned, who could ever forget the door and drawer shutting lessons. Those are things I rarely do unless I am mad and way back in the past slammed a few doors shut. 

Saw a few Japanese beetles while dead heading roses, so it is time to get out the traps before they wreck havoc on all the roses. Some of the transplanted four o'clock plants were a little droopy but they have revived quite nicely. The youngest peach tree didn't make it so this fall we will get another one but plant it in a different spot. The redbud tree that was there died too. The tomatoes are going wild and we hope to see some red ones soon. Our blackberry bushes are abundantly filled and we await the turning from red to purple any day now. So fun to watch all the growth from last year. Apple trees are doing much better than last year as well.   

Big Daddy is still around as of yesterday. His meow is pitiful, almost like he had stroke or something. He will not let you treat him special but wants to eat with the others and they are letting him do that. He does accept treats though. He is pretty beat up from his hard living. I am glad to feed him and talk to him in what might be his last days. 

Mr Mo returned to the vet yesterday for a quick check up for his bottom lip and first set of shots. He was out like a light for most of the day but he has rebounded quickly this morning. He and Roy were out early on the front porch enjoying the morning. We bought Mo a bed that converts from a covered top to a flat bed. Mo has flipped that bed upside down and he sleeps and hides underneath it. Quite a funny thing to see. We are gravitating to brining G-Mo in the house although he is a boy. MoJo is not that friendly and G-Mo runs to Roy when he sees him in the garage probably due to the high hopes that food is involved if Roy is present. But that helps. It is hard to remember Mr Mo acting so wild but he does love the creature comforts. Oh, and not sharing his food. 

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Ah Saturday. We loaded up the truck this morning and took a bunch of stuff to Habitat for the thrift store. A high school in the area had a car wash so we came home and brought back the Mustang. Since we were close to Publix, we ran in for a few things and then came on home. 

I haven't seen Big Daddy since Thursday. Don't know if he has moved on across the rainbow bridge or not but if he did cross I am glad he was around here to have a full tummy and soon enough the Feral Fam came around to loving on him. 

This week I finally have some appointments and I am still waiting to be scheduled at the gastric office. filled out all the digital paperwork but if I don't hear anything by Monday afternoon, I will make the call. Everything has such a slow pace to it around here. For the most part I am feeling good but just have little tinges of discomfort now and then. 

This has turned out to go much longer than anticipated so, I will close this to post this. 

Remember, Remember, Remember.....

 Yesterday and this morning we are experiencing those rare mornings in the summer...cooler temps. It was 49 when I woke up this morning. Mr Mo and I spent a good portion of the early morning on the front porch. He enjoyed the new cat condo/tower Roy assembled and I enjoyed morning coffee. Roy probably enjoyed a quiet morning even though the stock market is closed today. Surely, there still is financial news looming. 

We had a couple of storms on Friday and with one brilliant flash and a tremendous boom of thunder, the Wi-Fi went out. Nothing new cause it goes in and out all day long but this time it stayed out since repairs were having to be made until early Saturday morning. One does not realize how connected they are until Wi-Fi vanishes. The world could have experienced some major catastrophe and we would have never known. We enjoyed a quiet evening on the front porch with Mr Mo watching him and the cars whiz by. Just needed some beans to snap to complete the picture. Mentioning this in Sunday School we all took some time to reminisce over our childhoods on the front porch with grandma, aunts and various other friends and family. Oh the things you could learn. If one, being a child, acted like the bean snapping had all the attention, well you could learn a few things when the grownups decided to tell a story or two not meant for little ears. I tells ya, that was living on the edge. Maybe all the duplicitous acts I employed when much younger can be traced back to that fine balance of working just to listen in. 

Solomon and all his glory or maybe that should be all his bad decisions he made were the topic of the Sunday School lesson yesterday. He started off so good and as he grew more cynical and walking away from God, he gave us the gift of Ecclesiastes. I do like that particular book of the Bible for other reasons, but reading chapter 2 in NLT version opened my understanding to see the steps that can be taken to become old and bitter. As Solomon states, nothing new under the sun. Wine, building, pleasure, music and love could not fill the emptiness he experienced. He even included hard work which appeals to so many who love their careers, but at the end of the day, it was chasing the wind. His steps away hurt many. The people were heavily taxed and worked in monthly shifts to keep all the building going not knowing that Solomon had mostly lost purpose and interest in his projects. I remember a friend from tennis days who constantly had a building project going. She remodeled and she was not DIYing it, changing rooms on a consistent basis due to boredom and the feel of lacking purpose unless the build was on. We ended the lesson looking at Psalm 92 and being a Baptist the need for alteration kicked in. In our old age, we are to flourish, fruitful, and foliage. The last one being a stretch cause trees that are verdant are mentioned in Psalm 92. As people age the bad personality traits or at least the most irritating ones become harder to disguise. Thus, we can become self absorbed in everything, especially in everyday life. When working at the church, the hardest group to please was the older ladies and their Bible study. When they needed copies or if something was wrong with the room set up, they approached with that single focus in mind. Even if, I was involved with work and projects that didn't exactly include them at the moment, they didn't care. The minister I worked with was over a huge area of ministry and there was always something demanding attention. Their approach barking orders and threatening me with "I'm going to tell on you" mentality, made being compassionate a little more difficult. We always got their requests taken care of in a timely manner, but the bark and bite was ferocious. There were a few, kindly, gracious and easy to please ladies. Co-workers and I would usually comment, if all the older ladies were like her (them) I would like to hang around with them. But, I digress...back to Solomon. The theme to him in the beginning, remember. But he quickly forgot. An example I used to emphasize the point was learning the choreography to the song Fame in a long time ago aerobics class at the Y. Dance steps aren't that hard for me to pick up but the movement and steps on the chorus, major difficulties. A bunch of us went to the tutorial the teacher held and to this day I can probably remember most of the steps. Often tempted to try this in Ingles because Fame is on the music track for the store. Long aisles, yes plenty of room and no flash photography or videoing, please. So far, I have resisted the temptation. The key to life ending well, remember, remember, remember...the faithfulness and goodness of God. 

A strange yellow cat is hanging around. Looks to be older. I cannot tell if it is male or female, but orange cats tend to be male. Of course there are exceptions. Mr Mo is doing well and has several adventures on the front porch and a really good nap this afternoon on my lap. 

The strange cat hanging around, being watched by the other cats, keeping their babies close, although babies is an operative term. I decided to look back in 2018 at a picture of Big Daddy. Sure enough, this cat that is hanging around is the most revered and command demanding cat of the long ago. I remember him coming around, sitting on the railing of the once upon a time, poorly constructed back deck and watching his offspring. He took advantage of the lovely buffet and then one day he was gone. Haven't seen hide nor hair of him since that long ago summer. By the looks of it, Big Daddy has lived one tough life and just that little glimmer of recognition that he was in a safe place showed a bit here and there. While watching from the front porch and keeping an eye on Mr Mo, Big Daddy struggled down the stairs to the coolness of the front flowerbed and rested. Not knowing why he showed up or where he has been reminds me of Buddy before she died. She made peace with my brother when Doug was here and she sat in Roy's lap, something she never did. Maybe he was making a goodbye tour or he just knew there might be food. He remembered to stop by. 

Computers, Kittens, Breakfast and Danger

 Called yesterday to get Mr. Mo a follow up appointment at the vet for next week. What a difference a happy little kitten makes on the heart. I loved Buddy and she was an excellent pet for us but she was a bit cranky for everyone else, especially at the vet office. The tech asked how Mo was doing and she scheduled him for his appointment to be at the time when she was working so she could see him. I love that! He is recovering nicely and is a fun and morning energetic cat. Oh the adventures that await when he is older and doesn't sleep in the playpen. I'll enjoy these nights of rest. 

With computer issues and WiFi being noncooperative, I was finally able to submit my digital work to the gastrologist office. Even the submittal of history and paperwork did not go smoothly. Several questions were just yes or no but it felt like I needed some space to explain because it was not a yes or no answer.  

Had a Costco day this week. We are trying to gear our trips for once a month. As the fruit season shifts, so does our shopping list. A TN shopping trip will be next and we will do these until we cannot afford to do so because of the gasoline prices. Because the oil and gas industry put food on our table and to some extent still does, everyone ganging up on the big oil companies is nothing new. Like our friend Solomon said as he grew more cynical as he got older, there is nothing new under the sun. There are many years that cuts are made all through the oil and gas industry which means people lose jobs and their livelihood. After the 80s, it seems a lot of companies ran lean and mean hoping never to cut back on all the jobs they did. Even as a non math loving person, one can look and see if there was more production and refineries coming back online, people could be working and give the credit to this administration in charge. It reminded me of a situation when I played softball. One of the best players defensively in the field and a force to reckon with at the plate missed most of a season with an injury. We other players were united in how much we disliked the preferential treatment that she received. If we made mistakes, we were punished someway, lack of playing time etc...but in her slumps, she never bore a lick of reprimand or punishment. So that season she missed? It was one of the worst seasons our team experienced, but not because of her lack of presence on the field, no we were not united in whom we focused on with disdain. Now that there wasn't one person to direct that to, we were all over the place with ununited blame at foibles and mistakes.  That kind of feels like what our country is dealing with right now. The one focus isn't there to unite a majority. I feel sorry for those who are required to tow the company line when it seems so counterintuitive even in the fact their lives have been affected financially. I also feel sorry for those who have the slim advantage now and seem to over do it with pounding out their mantra and with energy just experienced from those there are differences with. It is beyond my comprehension all that is going on right now no matter what side we lean toward. I'm here in my usual spot, the middle.

We had a profitable TN jaunt. Got groceries, walked through Academy, had a delicious lunch and topped off the journey with a stroll through Barnes and Noble. We look at such different subject matters. Roy checks the sale books, then business books. I look through fiction and nonfiction first, then through the journal section looking for deeply discounted notebooks that would be great for putting Sunday School notes in. No such luck but did find a book that I had contemplated ordering a few weeks ago and Roy found a book on Technical Assets. Well, he saw the book and came home and ordered a different book, same subject matter on Amazon. Next week I hope to get a lot of reading done since we are having church wide gathering for Sunday School. But for today it is getting the lesson for Sunday in outline form. Solomon is one interesting King that's for sure. 

This morning Mr. Mo got to wander through the downstairs for a bit. Last night he and I sat on the front porch. Let me correct that, he ran all around the front porch and I sat until I had to chase him down and bring him inside. His sister BJ was under one of the rolling carts napping on the front deck. They saw each other. I tried to get her to come inside the porch but she wouldn't. Last night before we shut down the cafeteria, we did a looksee for a couple of our bunch that didn't show up for supper. Our presence scared a gray cat, not Frankie, out of the garage. MoJo and Tab Hunter are usually around because they are so little. Benny and Beanie are regulars that don't miss a meal, not in sight. Later just as dusk began overtaking the sky, Sweetie and two of the black cats chased off the gray cat from the backyard. They had been sitting with the little ones on a large flat rock, encircling them as in protection. We don't always know what is going on in cat world but this morning MoJo and Tab Hunter were present for breakfast as well as Beanie and Benny. Something certainly was up last evening, the sense of danger hung in the air.  Thankfully this morning that danger seemed to have vanished and the normal hunger for breakfast returned. 

We finally have a morning to be able to ease into the day. I've been waiting on this all week long. 

Updates

 What a week! Not a bad week, just one that took a different direction than what we had planned. Couple that with a few things around that house that took our attention as well and the days are filled with to dos and the evenings once all has been watered outside quickly turned to rest. 

Tuesday evening before feeding the Feral Fam, I gave some treats to hold their appetites a bit at the backdoor of the porch. Mama Cat came around to partake but before eating she took a couple of swipes at Monet. With them a bit distracted, we came out to the garage and began dishing up supper. Mo ran towards me and it was obvious something was wrong with his mouth. You could see bone and the tissue had been torn away. My thinking at that time was it happened during the day when I could not find him outside but he looked normal right before shaking out the treats. I realized then the injury had just happened. I got him into the house, gave him a bath and fed him by bottle because it was clear he could not eat normally. This all happened a little before 5:00. I called the vet office and after a bit of a conversation I was to drop him off at 8:00 am the next day. Fast forward to morning and the vet told me he had suffered the injury and she would begin that morning to fix his mouth and while there she could neuter him. You can see now I am referring to Mo as a him because they verified the evidence there-in. 

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Now it is a Tuesday week and Mr Mo has just eaten breakfast and hopefully got some of his kitten energy expended. I love yet don't like all the extra energy. It does mean he feels better so I am going with that good feeling. Last night, first night sleeping in freedom from the collar and he did well. We just fed the Feral Fam outside and Roy is watering plants because with this heat wave, it took forever to cool down last night and it was just too hot to take of anything outside. 

Last Tuesday after my haircut appointment, I stopped at Target and it just might be a last Target visit in person for a while. They have been revamping the store and it actually looked organized. Lately, Target stores are a mess. It was the next day after Target announced their earnings and the fact they had too much merchandise due to the changing of consumers feeling post pandemic. Y'all, the store was packed with people looking for discounts. I did score a skirt and shirt deeply discounted but all the other stuff was priced as usual. Here is the clinker, lots of people wanting to check out. Only self service was open. It was a mess. Not enough checkouts. Finally, they opened one line but I had already been the Target employee of the hour by checking out on my own. Again, I know they are combating not having enough employees but seriously, someone needs to rethink the process. 

Yesterday, we made the Costco trip. A couple of items we love had the asterisk in the right corner, so we bought up a few extra items. Stopped at a peach stand and bought some delicious peaches. Even made a Jack in the Box stop for me. Haven't had their tacos in over a year. They certainly were good. 

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This is taking way too long to write, so I will go ahead and get this posted. Roy got the new computer going yesterday and it won't be such a hit and miss of being able to get a post published. Thanks for being patient. 

Of Course...

 I realized this morning I have not written, no more like not posted, anything on the blog of late. Certainly, I have written some thoughts but I don't know if I will ever post them on the SBC coverups and on the Uvalde school shooting. Even at a distance in both cases it is hard to put our minds around the lack of happenings and the happenings. 

Around here the Feral Fam has taken a lot of attention of late. Spring brings kittens and the dynamics have been a mix of happiness, tenseness and a few deaths as a result of mamas and aunties fighting over a litter and one or two are forgotten along the way. It is sad and difficult. I feel I am observing what happens out there on the gravel road as they continually move from place to place and it seems a couple of mamas lose interest. Fortunately, some of the moms take over nursing duties. Two kitten groups dominate our attention, the Bs, Barney, Beanie and Benny, and the Moes, one of whom is Mo-Nay. Two of the Moes succumbed to the eye/upper respiratory thing. Mo-Nay was the third kitten of that litter who had it but she has recovered very nicely. The special antibiotic cream for cats and kittens helped tremendously. It is a joy to watch Mo-nay running and playing these days. She has a very hearty appetite. 

Just in time for the Platinum Jubilee for the Queen, as a Monarch I celebrated getting a new crown fitted Wednesday at the dentist office. God Save the Tooth! It has been kind of interesting watching all the festivities this morning in London. Our festivities for the day is planting everything I have gotten the past few days at TJs and Reems Creek. 

Because of recent tragedies and gun violence we have been forced to come face to face with the realities of our world. It is easy to jump on a bandwagon and then do nothing. I have contemplated and prayed over what in my tiny world I can do to make a difference? I can easily jump in agreement with well thought out articles and news, but I don't think that is going to change a thing. Our attention spans have become so short that as these shootings happen all over the country, we are onto the next newsworthy issue. New gun laws and raising the age of being able to buy a gun seem reasonable to help curb violence, especially in young men. So much of the anger is "girl" problems and it just seems to fester into such hatred to lash out and hurt and kill. All these questions and fears, they are going to take our guns, we are loosing our right of free speech. Then when you add your faith and worship, all the complexities of the hurt, violence and abuse whelm and overwhelm our minds and our hearts in churches of all denominations but especially now the attention being on the SBC. On a personal level I was overwhelmed in thought once again with gun violence in how it relates to our lives. In the early 80s, the oil business tanked thus people lost jobs and lost homes. Neither one of us lost our jobs but in a sense we lost our home. Our neighborhood tanked and quickly turned into the hood. It could have been a whole lot worse but our neighborhood and a few surrounding us had probably 60% orthodox Jews and their synagogue was in walking distance. So many of the dangers I encountered were by myself because Roy was in law school during the late 80s. He went to work and then went to classes at night at U of H. He would arrive home very late. On Saturdays and Sundays he was with his study group or intensely studying at home. I was harassed by men just hanging around and their comments included violence and violence in a sexual nature. My parents kept our dog for two weeks to give me a break from the men but my father told me to come and get Tiff and getting raped or not raped was just a chance I was going to have to take. The last year before we moved, we had riots and shootings in the streets. A man threw his gun in our yard while he was chased and then captured by police. Bullets sprayed everywhere. There were attempted break ins but the straw that broke me was the attempted car jacking when I was getting the mail. I saw the two young men and so the element of surprise didn't work for them. One slapped the back of the car with his hand, for surprise, while the other one reached into the window and began strangling me with my seatbelt. The cut into my throat was deep. I gunned my car and nearly took his arm off but he finally let go. In hindsight, I was driving a stick shift, so they probably couldn't even drive it. In that period of time, God and only God, intervened as my friend and I were going to be robbed in the Galleria parking garage. I will tell the story another time of what stopped the attempted robbery at gunpoint. There are other stories that go with this season of living in fear because criminals had guns. Then of course the granddaddy of them all, Roy being robbed at gunpoint in Mobile and left with nothing, but of course he was left with the greatest gift, he wasn't shot or killed.   

 Roy has been doing some research on reactions from the CoVid shot along with booster. The all over the place symptoms I've been experiencing and the timing of them certainly seem to be in agreement of side effects and issues. Couple that with heart meds that slowed my pulse down to 44 and it seems to be a recipe for health issues. The meds got regulated and the science of treatment with those meds is changing. I have a couple of appointments coming up and hopefully we will get some answers. I have been feeling much better these past two weeks but still I don't feel 100%. 

We began studying I Kings yesterday. One of my favorite books in the Bible. The lesson kind of plopped us down in chapter 3 with just a bit of context. I decided to look a little ways back at Absalom to set the stage of Adonijah wanting to make himself king and even after getting mercy from Solomon, he still goes to Solomon's mother to ask for the girl who took care of David to be his wife. I love how after he tells Bathsheba he comes in peace, he says as you know I should have been king...no more mercy for Adonijah. In chapter 3 Solomon asks for wisdom to rule the people and God gives him that and so much more. David in his blessing and advice to Solomon personalizes it all with "you" Solomon must do these things. Just one little detail, Solomon doesn't ask for wisdom to govern himself and thus his decisions and heavy tax burdens on the people lead to the divided kingdom. 

It does feel like we are living in a divided kingdom now somewhat with our eyes as a nation focused on the division. Opinions and op-eds, news channels, and social media keeps us in our respective corners. Our pastor preached on Proverbs 3 yesterday and the need for wisdom. He will preach two more weeks on the third chapter to finish it out. Looking forward to that.