Spare time

I haven’t felt like I’ve had a lot of spare time lately, so hence not much blog time. Of course the lapse in time lends itself perfectly to a list-style blog entry.

I went to CPK for ACG’s birthday today. I had leftovers that I had to graffiti with my name and the date. T recently had her CPK leftover pizza stolen from the refrigerator. Who does that? What has our work environment turned into? So as the afternoon slump hit, my mind turned to a slice of pizza as a snack and pick-me-up. I envisioned walking into the pantry, opening the door and my pizza being gone. Then I’d have to walk the halls – each and ever row – looking for the box in someone’s trash. I’d find it of course and leave huge red-Sharpie notes all over the cubicle stating “Caught!” and “THIEF.” I even went so far as to contemplate taking my cell phone so I could get a picture of the perp and post it on the fridge for all to see. Lucky for the potential perp, the pizza was safe and sound – and yummy.

I went to Texas this past weekend. It was the big move weekend. My sister-in-law moved out there at the start of the new year and by April it was decided my mother-in-law would also move out there. So D, and his sister and I spent time in April choosing a new home for her (by home I mean nursing home). We narrowed it down, but one stuck out as the best. They have a new social director who seemed open to residents’ ideas for activities. D’s mom loves all the social activities and would have tons of ideas. Plus this place has a live-in dog and birds – and they seemed more kid-friendly than the other stuffier locations. And after all she was moving down there to be closer to her grandkids. Though D did note the first place had a “hot” admissions woman. Surely this would rank as high on the list of demands for his mom.

The weekend was okay. It was sweltering and I was sick most of the time. But I got a lot of quality time with AJ and baby K, pool time, and a birthday party for D’s sister’s kids. A dual party . . . . 1-yr for her son & 2-yr for her daughter. I’m really glad to be home though. I’m not feeling completely back to myself, but I am feeling better. I really think once the Ohio heat wave dissipates I’ll feel even better.

I went to . . . nowhere. I just wanted to start yet another sentence like that to be lame. Ha! We had our air ducts cleaned yesterday. I was super excited about this and could have overlooked the turning off of our A/C for a few hours during the hottest part of the day on possibly the hottest day of the year. However, I could not overlook the smell. Apparently they backed their diesel spewing truck up to the house to hook the hoses up to, and then the house proceeded to fill with diesel fumes. Nice. WTF? Can the company not swing getting their trucks exhausts taken care of? Really? Will it be cheaper to clean my house when I call and rant at them? It’s disgusting. The downstairs still smelled this morning and some of my things smell too. And these are things I brought home after work, when the truck was long gone. Rowr!

You may be wondering (or maybe not) how our other home improvements are going. The front porch is nearly done, just needs painted. The bathrooms have quotes in the mail. I think landscaping is off the list now. It’s rather late in the season, and it’s been too hot and dry for our poor plants anyway. Next year we’ll do more on that front and maybe add a hammock. The outside room has had all the stuff photographed so now we just need to put it all on Craigslist. A couple things may end up on Ebay, but really at this point it’s all about to end up in the front yard on trash day with a “FREE” sign on it. I want to be able to use my room! We’re planning to make it into an office/outdoor den. It’ll have an enormous TV that anyone is welcome to steal. It weighs like 200lbs and once it’s gone we’ll get a newer, nicer, lighter, locked down one. Somehow I think it’ll be safe and sound out there. Hmmm, what else? Oh yes. The stair runner is on order and installation will be scheduled soon. I’m super excited because our little dog, Zulu won’t go up the stairs on his own. He slips too much on the new wood and he’s afraid. So we have to carry him. It’s ridiculous and must stop.

Okay, that's it for now.