Biking

Hello,

Following lunch, we headed off to Ely on the bikes after gathering and slathering sunscreen, finding and donning bike shorts and shirts, cutting apple and packing granola bars, filling and attaching water bottles, and waving good to our landlady who was deep in garage cleaning mode. Three miles slipped by before I wondered what this 65 year old was doing going on a 26 mile bike ride after having been on the bike only one other serious time this season.

With just four miles left out of the 12.5 required to get to Ely, I called a short halt to catch my breath and my resolve so I could make it the rest of the way. When there we planned to work in the garden and pick some more mulberries. I rationalized that as also a serious rest time.

In the garden the bugs were annoying, but not as much as some times. On the trail there were a couple places where smiling was not advised and breathing was risky. It seemed we might have weighed about a pound more with the weight of the gnats clinging to us. We did not pull many weeds as neither of us had thought to bring gloves. The mulberries had a strong voice calling to be picked so we filled the four small containers that fit easily in the bike bag sharing one with our garden land owner. After a short visit we headed back up the road only to realize that the head wind was seriously going to make a difference, but also knowing that this was the only sensible way to get home. After all a taxi would not take our bikes too, besides we do not spend our money on such things even when it is pouring down rain.

Three miles out of Ely a couple slightly younger than we are started to pass us, but instead slowed to talk. After a bit I think we speeded up to match them. Leroy rode with the man and I was parallel with the woman. The miles flew by. Had they not been such good companions I would have gone slower, complained about my sore bike posterior, stopped to rest at least once, and generally had a more negative attitude.

I still even feel quite good. My bottom does not hurt and my legs are only a little tired. It is all in the mind.

Paula

Frustration

Hello,

Yesterday, Leroy came home from work with the Wi-Fi adaptor for the phone. He had it delivered at work so someone could sign for it. I volunteered to do dishes as Leroy usually does them after the evening meal thus allowing him to get the adaptor set up and the phone working again. Two hours later, when it was to take just ten minutes, he was still working with it. He had even called the company whose service representative stated that the signal was weak. This is in spite of that fact that this set up has worked for us for ten months. Admittedly there are a lot of devices drawing power from this source. Our land lords have two computers, an IPad, an IPhone, and a TV that use it from time to time. There might even be more that I do not know about. Then we have two computers that are not on all the time, an IPod, and formerly the home phone.

When we asked permission to try this equipment closer to the router it was still not able to pick up the signal in their living room. It seemed the adaptor was not working all the time. We did plug the phone box right into the router and it worked. So we know that equipment is still good. I am grateful that Leroy is dealing with all of this. For some reason it made me so agitated last night that I could not even stay in the house while he was talking to the phone company. I had to go outside. I wonder, “Am I depressed? Am I mentally ill? What is happening to me?”

Hopefully we can get this cleared up in a week or two. Leroy is at least strong enough to tackle it once more. He is not sure that they will give us our money back on this adaptor. I want to just sent it back and go to a store here and buy one even if it is not the company brand. At least a return would be easier.

I am grateful that we each have a cell phone even if we do pay by the minute. I can also make outgoing calls on the computer with Google and that is a blessing.

Paula

Grumpy Day

Hello,

Yesterday was a grumpy day. Leroy was out of sorts and I was too. This morning he again apologized for the way he was and confessed that he is concerned about his job future. They will not know until August, when his contract runs out, if they will get the grant to continue his work. If he knew ahead of time that this job was to be over he would start looking for something in the church, however if this job is going to continue he would not do that. This is where trusting God is put to the test and so easy to come up short. I have not been bothered. Is that because I am trusting or just not thinking about it? It is certainly not within my control.

I believe that confession is good for the soul. Leroy has had the morning off and life has been very pleasant. We even made some decisions on things, moved things around, and will get rid of a few more things.

I repaired Leroy’s bike shorts where the elastic has become stretched out. It was a little tricky, but it is now done. I am not really a seamstress, but I do tackle the occasional mending job rather than throw something out. I figure if it does not work ejecting is still an option. I also sewed new elastic on my elephant hat that is from Cambodia. That elastic also stretched to the point of being no help keeping the hat on my head in a wind, brisk or gentle. As a save I tried tying a knot in the elastic, but it only helped for a little while. This hat has stiff bamboo joints that made it the tricker sewing job, but I got it done. I had left some bit of elastic on the hat so I could make the connection there. It now fits snuggly under my chin.

Brian reports that their power came on a couple days earlier. I would guess that new appreciation abounds for all those things that depend on the power.

Paula

More shelves

Hello,

Leroy is making another shelf for the kitchen storage and he will make one more for his closet. Just now he was all disgusted because the cut for the kitchen shelf is crooked. I figure it does not matter so much because just holding up cans is what is important to me. He would like it to be perfect. It must have been those gnats that he said were almost driving him to distraction.

This new shelf will allow me to store canned goods so that I can tell what is on the shelf. I am happy to have that as they have been piled on each other and it is not so easy to see what I need to restock. The shelf in the bedroom will help Leroy to see what he has available in the t-shirt area. Whoever invented shelves deserves a medal. What an assist for daily life to keep things organized and accessible.

This morning Leroy preached at a church in the country about an hour from here. He was happy when he came home, declaring that he enjoyed it. It was a very small church with under 20 people in attendance. I did not go with him even though he was concerned about finding the place as he got one set of directions from someone at the church and another set from the Internet. He chose one and headed off finding the place without difficulty even without GPS. So he was plenty early since he had allowed extra time. But his book kept him occupied.

Leroy has not experimented much with the internet on his new phone partly because it takes a lot of minutes and partly because he cannot figure out how to put in the password so he could use the Wi-Fi at home. He has it find the source and then it immediately says it is unavailable. Frustration!

But small frustration compared to Brian and Jen who do not expect to get power back until Wednesday. They are moving their smallish chest freezer to Jen’s bother’s house and returning the generator as it is not cost effective. Is it worse to be without power in the summer or the winter? Who knows? Neither is good for our lifestyle.

Now Leroy is upset because he does not have the proper screws on hand. He will put off shelf attachment, waiting for a better day.

Paula

Life is Better

Hello,

This morning Leroy almost hopped out of bed. He declared that he had slept well. It made a difference. He was ready to work. After breakfast the first stop was the garage where he worked on that piece of furniture that he had brought home from the Ely library. It had a hole in the back so the large TV could breathe or release heat into the air. Since it is now used to store power tools a total back seemed like a nice idea so nothing would fall through. Leroy covered that hole with wood he had scavenged from work. It feels good to get something for nothing, save something from the landfill, and create a useful item. Then Leroy did a little sweeping in the garage, put up another tool holder and tightened up the storage areas so walk ways were a little more open. He was quite satisfied when finished. I on the other hand did not get so many useful things done. I did do dishes and weeding so it looks quite good to walk alongside the house to get in the back door.

On this burst of energy Leroy tackled the computer issues. He was able to wipe Chrome from both computers and put it back clean. It is so nice to have it working much more efficiently. I grumbled about some of the extra things on the desktop so he got rid of things that he no longer uses. It is just makes a clean and tidy life in lots of ways.

We went ahead and bought a new device to capture the wireless signal to be sent to the home phone. It will come Thursday and then life will be back to normal.

Brian called to tell us that, because of storms, they have been without power since some time Friday. He did rent a generator that will take care of the freezer and refrigerator. It has also been used at some of the neighbors’ houses. It seems that he is making a regular circuit among three houses. He said that he and a neighbor sawed wood for almost three hours trying to get things cleaned up. There was not have a problem in their yard, but many of the neighbors had trees down. Unfortunately more storms are on the way for tonight.

There were also trees down around here, but it did not affect us.

Paula

Embarrassed

Hello,

I have been fussing with a store return that was accomplished in May. I did not see this return on my credit card statement. I have spoken several times with a nice person at the store who works with credit issues. Just yesterday she called me to tell me that the deed had been accomplished, but I needed to call the credit card company to verify the transaction. In talking with the new person I learned that the return was dated in April the same day that we had purchased the item. I had forgotten that I had gotten a coat for Leroy in that month and the return cancelled out the cost of the coat so it somehow never showed on the statement that I was looking at. I am embarrassed because I should know to check through the statement more carefully. I caused this woman to spent a lot of time working on this and it was done just a month earlier than I had expected. Why is life so full of things to learn? I thought when I reached adulthood I would know everything. Or does this just mean that I never reached adulthood? Or is adulthood different than expected?

I like to use the chrome Internet browser. Something called startnow has become attached to it. I want to get rid of it, but do not know how and Leroy is too tired to look into. From the reading I have done I cannot decide if it is a virus or not. It has not adversely affected the computer, but Chrome does not work very well anymore. It takes a long time to load. We have Norton on our computer, but I did read someone else’s statement that Norton did not stop it. I did get emails from two people that I think were hacked. I opened the email, but did not follow the links, could just opening it have released it? It was after that that I first noticed this thing.

Now I like my refrigerator that just works as it should without even complaining when it is on call 24/7 for years. What a machine! Just chugging away quietly in the background and not demanding attention! When Sophia and Logan were here they enjoyed moving the magnets and pictures on the refrigerator. They have a non-magnetized door so they cannot do this at home. Maybe there is something fun at Granny’s house.

Paula

Phones

Hello,

Leroy tried to call the cell phone company once more from work and could not get it done so he emailed them. They responded with a list of suggestions. One was to turn off the phone and turn it back on. That worked. Amazing how a solution can be so simple, but if you do not know it, it is as elusive as hidden treasure. Just what treasure can’t we find that is so simple? Meditate on that a bit.

The home phone is a different issue. I found the reset button on the box that captures the wireless signal. After pushing it multiple times during the day I would have to say that this unit no longer works. Unfortunately we cannot find the papers on this purchase that we made last August. Leroy thinks he might have left the papers in the box that it came in. Where is that box? In another box, in another box, in another box. It is quite small so it could be quite elusive. We could buy a replacement piece for $50 which is not so bad, but I am annoyed because I think this equipment should work much longer than ten months. At least the other wireless devices that we have performed well for much more than a year or two. Did we just get a lemon?

I did not really spend much time working on this problem, but it consumed my energy just the same. Emotional thinking is hard work. Sometimes I tell myself that I do not stress about things that I cannot control, but I am fooling myself. If any of you have good coping skills for such situations, let me know. I know that in the long run of life it is very small potatoes.

One thing I did learn this afternoon was how to access our list of calls on the home phone. I could see that we had some new voice mail messages, but not what the messages were. The phone numbers were listed so I tried a reverse look up and found the names of some callers. It does not work for cell phones.

If you want to call me use my cell number as you cannot reach us on the home phone yet.

Paula

Excitement and frustration

Hello,

Excitement and frustration seem to live side by side in a life. Seeing two young squirrels in the tree next door excited me a great deal, but it was hard to share that with Leroy when I came home last night. I have a picture of one of the squirrels, but I am not sure that you can tell it is small. Just think the branch is big.

Leroy has purchased a new mobile phone. We subscribe to a pay by the minute program because we feel we do not use our phones so much. He was pleased to get it in the mail because it is a nice upgrade as well as he has three times the minutes for the life of the phone. The phone came on Saturday. He promptly set about porting his phone number to the new phone, a task that appeared to go seamlessly as he could do it on the website. It could take up to two days to get the SIM activated so he was no concerned that it did not happen right away. Sunday evening, I asked, “Does your old phone still work?”

When he tried he got a message to contact a rival phone service. I called his number and got another message about the same rival phone service. It happened about three or four years ago that his number, for some unknown reason, got switched to the other company. And at that point they assigned Leroy a new number with an area code for Vermont. Why we do not understand. Could it have happened again?

Because it was late Leroy said, “I will work on this after work tomorrow.”

I came home to a very sad guy who stated in a mournful voice, “I got nowhere. I can’t seem to get a live person on the phone.”

I encouraged him to send an email. He did get a response to that, but he needed to call that same unproductive phone number. He went to bed hoping to gird himself with power and fortitude for an early morning call.

In the morning for reasons unknown to us our home phone has not been working. Sometimes the internet signal is not strong enough to support it. I think that is what has happened in the past, luckily it is not often, but…

I am so full of suggestions. I suggested that Leroy go to work early and use the phone there because it is an 800 number so it will not matter if he uses that phone. That is what he did, but I do not know the result. Is no news good news or bad?

Paula

Kid Activities

Hello,

I am not so great a planning ahead properly. I took the kids to the local zoo which is really a farm animal exhibit. It seemed to me that it should be open until about 8:00 pm. However it closed at 7:00 pm. We got there just a scant fifteen minutes ahead of closing. That turned out to be a little bit exciting as they were putting the birds to bed.  This became quite fascinating as some of them raced around trying to avoid bed; others were so eager to get there they waddled or raced right to the pen. One of the staff commented, “It is great to see you so enthusiastic. I wish my grandmother had been like that.”

Since it was not yet bedtime we headed off to the splash pad park even though I had no idea when the water was turned off. Oops, I remembered that I should get gas because we were leaving promptly in the morning to meet Brian and Jan with the goal of returning children to their parents.

When we got to the park it was full of children running around on the splash pad because of the hot weather. As we pulled in I realized that I was so unprepared for this. The kids did not have on swim suits nor had I brought towels, but now it was too late to go home and retrieve those things before closing here. Most of the children I saw had on regular clothes even if they had thought of towels. So I sent the kids in and hoped for the best.

Then I remembered that I should have ear plugs for Logan who has tubes. They seemed somewhat shy of the water at first so I hoped it would not matter. Also I heard a girl say the water was cold. Some of the water was a mist rather than a spray and that helps too. It was only towards the end when another child slung a water bottle Logan’s way that I thought it might be a problem. I asked the girl not to throw water on Logan. A father heard and came over with dog in tow, “What is going on?”

I explained that I did not want Logan to have water thrown on him because he is only two. To which this dad replied and pointed, “Well he is only two and he is fine.”

“He has ear tubes and should not have water in his ears,” I explained.

To which the dad informed me, “He also has tubes and we just let him do everything.”

There was no more water thrown at Logan while I had a rather long conversation with this guy who certainly thinks differently than I do.

When we got in the car Logan cried a little because his diaper was soggy with water. I had the kids take off their clothes in the car so they would not sit in them. Home was close so it was not much of an issue. They certainly enjoyed it even though granny was not ready in any way.

Paula

New Time in Life

Hello,

I will get back to more reports of the visit with the grandchildren, but for now I must tell you about a new phase in my life. First, I do not like it one bit. It seems most unfair. I certainly never thought it would happen to me. How could this be that bugs, especially little flying ones that barely deserve notice, like me better than they like Leroy? I have always felt a bit smug and superior to Leroy because mosquitoes have ignored me if he is around from them to attack. I put on an appearance of sympathy if he was being bitten by them, but deep down I was glad that it was him and not me. Well now the tide has turned. Earlier this spring I had an itchy area on my neck and some on an arm. It was so annoying. I thought it must be hives and I could just calm down, do more yoga, and get past it. It did get better, but when I talked to my landlady I learned that she also had annoying itches on exposed skin. After a visit with her doctor, the conclusion was that it was the little gnats that attacked her when she would sit on the deck.

I don’t sit on the deck, but I do hang out clothes as well as do some weeding here and there. It made sense that it could be gnats biting rather than just hovering. Later I tried to work in the garden in Ely and a horde of those little critters descended on me. First I pulled shut my shirt, my UV shirt that is to protect me from the sun, but it was not long before I threw in the trowel and hopped in the car after it. No more weeding for me.

Supposedly the gnats have a season. As near as I can tell the bugs that came after me today in the Ely garden were a larger relative, it is probably a new season. The sad thing was that Leroy was working with me and he was not especially bothered while I was complaining almost the entire time. Really I am worried that I will not be able to sleep because of itches demanding to be scratched. Some creams help, but they do not entirely eliminate the sensation.

Are itches methods of torture? I could see it as being quite effective. My skin still feels sensitive in some areas where I was not in command enough of my hand to stop it from straying back to gave a satisfying scratch to the point of a little skin damage.

Now that satisfied Leroy just says, “No they are not bothering me,” as I flail my arms helplessly in the air to keep them away from me, especially my nose and mouth. And yes I did use bug spray this afternoon, but I think they liked it.

Paula

Geese in the fast lane

Hello,

On our way to see the chickens I noticed, from a distance, two police cars head up the interstate ramp. As I reached the half way point on the ramp I saw one of those cars pulled to the side with its warning lights on. “Oh no,” I thought, “there must have been an accident and we will not get to the chickens on time.”

As I carefully pulled onto the interstate the other car was parked farther down along the side with its lights on, but I could see no accident. There were two women along the side waving their arms at something on the ground. A flock of geese that might have numbered about 20 was waddling along in front of them. Some geese were adults, but some were adolescent, and some were toddlers probably unable to fly. The cars of these women were quite a distance farther down the road so perhaps they had been herding them for a time.

It was fun to see geese in such an unusual edge of danger type of place. Logan was especially pleased that, “They were on my side of the car.” Consequently he got a good look at them. Sophia could also see them quite well because she is taller and the road tilted in the right direction at that point.

Adventure stared right away and we hadn’t even gotten to the egg gathering.

I appreciated those geese herding women keeping the geese gathered at the side and out of the traffic lane. Hitting one of them would not have been a happy experience.

Paula

Farm Pictures

Picking up eggs

Hello,

Monday morning we headed off to the chickens so we could pick up their eggs before it was too late in the day. I do not know about these chickens, but my mother always complained that they would break them if they were left around too long. Last year when we visited these chickens there were 24 of them. I knew that half of them had been given away, but when we arrived we learned from Farmer Ellen (Sophia’s name for her), “The chickens squawked a lot last night. There should be ten of them so it means something got one in the dark.”

That still gave the kids a chance to gather the eggs that were there. This time no chickens were sitting on them so it was not so threatening to an arm in the nest. Two year old Logan did not understand the concept of putting eggs down gently so two of his broke as he let them drop into the bucket. It was a fun time to feed the chickens ahead of going into the nest area. One would come almost close enough to touch, but not quite trusting enough it darted back to a safe distance.

After chickens we moved on to see the horses and feed them some carrots that they seemed to enjoy. Sophia found the horses a bit frightening, but Logan managed to touch and stroke them. He did not hold the carrot long enough to let them grab it so Granny got the pleasure of feeding them. It was especially great to see the two young ones.

Paula

Pictures

I understand that I needed to post the pictures here.

So here they are.

Enjoying but busy

Hello,

We are enjoying this time with grandchildren, but we admit to feeling booked for almost every minute. I have been surprised at how the kids just managed to settle in so easily. This afternoon, however, Logan seemed to wilt. He thought maybe he needed medicine because of his cough even though he had not coughed in some time. Then he complained that his tooth hurt. He looked pale and listless. The next thing he said was that he wanted his mother. I called them and we did a video chat with Brian and Jen. After that he was a changed little boy, his color came back and apparently all of his ills disappeared. He did not mention them and I did not either. He was eager to go for the bike ride around the lake.

It was a chore getting that bike ride accomplished. Leroy rides the bike for two by himself to the lake while I take the kids in the car with my bike on the carrier. Some of the hard parts were getting Logan’s car seat out of the car. One of the clips would not release.  It is a hard ride for Leroy to move that bike by himself and there is a bit of a hill to manage. I had the kids at the lake first. Luckily someone had caught a fish so Sophia and Logan got to take a good look at that. Then the people showed us the string of fish that they had caught that afternoon. It was quite an impressive assortment.

When Leroy got there we loaded up the kids and headed around the lake. The highlight of that circuit was all of the small geese of various ages that we saw. They also liked going so close to the train cars that we on the other side of the fence.

That bike is just the greatest for hauling two small children in one vehicle. We even managed to store it in our garage so we can use it when we want as long as the kids are here. First we left one of our cars on the street. Leroy used that big space to have the kids pound some nails in boards. It must have been a good time because they wanted to hammer when we got back from the lake and waited for Leroy to get there to help put things away.

Leroy noted that we should get rid of one car and then he could have some work space out in the garage. We just might do that since much of the time we do not need that second car.

Paula

Shopping and a phone call

Hello,

It is a quiet day because Leroy is gone, but I found ways to fill in the time. I have done a larger than normal amount of grocery shopping because Brian’s kids, Sophia and Logan will spend time with us. I made many trips from the car to the house and up the stairs. Where is pack horse, Leroy, when I need him? He is resting at a conference on cataloging. It is our first experience having grandchildren come and stay without parents in tow. Leroy and I are looking forward to it. It is amazing how much higher the food bill was than for just the two of us. I kept wondering how low income families manage. It could be a scary deal to go food shopping when you would have to make some serious choices. A life of crime might seem attractive in comparison.

In the afternoon I made a call to Sears because I have not received a credit on my credit card for a returned item. It has now been a month. I had called about two weeks ago and the helpful woman I talked with told me it shows up as having been processed. She suggested that we give it another two weeks. I got caught up with a robot when I first called today. After three minutes I realized that I could not access a live person the way I was headed as I looped thought some of the same conversation. After I stopped that call and simply called a department it all went much better. Not solved, but it hopefully will be in the next couple of days. I had written the woman’s name down so I could speak with the same person. She did remember our conversation and she was quite surprised that it had not been solved. I do not like to make these types of calls, but I don’t know why. Not one person with whom I spoke was discourteous or unwilling to help. I have an old tape playing in my head that it is not an easy thing to do. I suspect I got that from my mother. She would almost never do such a thing nor would she ever return anything if she could avoid it. Nothing like blaming mom for present day feelings.

Paula

Summer is here

Hello,

We know summer is here even though it is cool and rainy. We know summer is here even though people are not flocking to the pools and beach. We know summer is here even though children are not often seen playing in the park. We know summer is here even though people are not sitting on their porches. There are green leaves, green grass, some flowers struggling to adapt, and the sure sign of summer, kids in the library. Numbers of users have gone up. This morning there was toddler time as well as a special program on worms. From opening at nine until noon we had 70 people come in. Because the youth services librarian was involved with the programs, I worked the desk. I had time to breathe, but not to sit back and wonder what I should do next. I also managed to interlibrary loan because there was only one request that we needed to fill. The phone rang a few times including a man who has the softest voice that I have tried to understand in a long time. Leaving the room was the only way I could guess at what he was saying.

After lunch things were much quieter. I miss that business that was such a part of the job in Slovakia. I like the rush of pressure, summer is good because it will be there from time to time.

It was also fun to visit with someone I used to know from former days of living in Ely. If I am there long enough I will get reconnected with many people.

Today and tomorrow, Leroy is in Dubuque for a conference on cataloging. He tells me that almost all of the participants are his age and maybe even older. Is cataloging now a skill only held by the close to retiring? What will happen to libraries then? It is our understanding that cataloging is no longer a required course and some library schools do not even have it as a possibility. The work world is changing.

Paula

Anniversary

Hello,

Leroy and I noted 42 years of being together. Leroy informed me yesterday that it was about to be. He also thought of it first this morning. He is much better at this stuff than I am. We mostly spent a quiet and ordinary day. Leroy went to work. He wanted to ride the bike, but it was raining when he was ready to leave so he changed clothes and unpacked his bike bags. It was only misting a little when it was time to come home, but he was still happy to be dry.

I did pick up the two pictures that were framed. They do indeed look very nice. I looked around and thought a couple places might be good for hanging them. Leroy came home and pointed out two more. They will get on the wall, but I am going to think on it a little more before we pound the nails. Was that our anniversary gift to each other?

I did make gingerbread for Leroy and I asked him to put rain-x on the car windows. Seemed to me that would be a nice present since I have wanted it on there for some time now. We have gone from being a little dry to almost soggy with more rain predicted in the future. This should help me see out of the windows.

I walked over to the library to look at the paper in a dry time that became rain just before I left the library. My raincoat kept my upper body dry, but my knees were wet. I am grateful for a warm dry place to come to and change my clothes. I even have choices of clothes to put on how is that for rich? It almost seemed like fall with gingerbread in the oven.

Paula

Electric Mysteries

Hello,

Last night when I came home Leroy had this tale to tell. “The microwave stopped working, but I solved it,” he stated right away.

Now this is not surprising because it stops working from time to time in this place. The usual solution is to go down two flights to the basement where one fools around in the confusing fuse array, finds the fuse, and changes the position. The microwave will now work. Last night after Leroy had done the basement routine the machine did not work. He thought it was gone for good as it was purchased in 1997.

He checked and other outlets as well as that one were working as powerfully as usual even though the fuse controls their energy as well. “Oh Leroy,” I moaned, “I am not lusting after a new microwave. It never crosses my mind.”

“Not to worry,” he assured me, “I finally figured out that it was the power strip that had stopped working. I had a spare and plugged that in to have the machine running just as it did when new.”

It seems to me that we should be grateful for all of our electrical power that gets through many connections to make it to just the point where it runs something that helps us in our day to day world. Isn’t it remarkable? It involves many people and inventions to make this simple seeming thing happen. I am happy to have a microwave that works for a while longer.

Paula

Lists

Hello,

I often make lists that map out the day. I am finding that if I do not do this I just fritter away the time with nothing special. Now I am hoarding little “to do” lists from days when I do not finish the tasks. I will surely do them tomorrow! Well, maybe, maybe not. At any rate it helps when Leroy is home and he has the same task focus. Today we had planned to bike ride to Ely and work on the garden there. We were cold as we walked to church. Leroy said he was quite cold when he came home. I came home about two hours later and still felt cool. The bike ride no longer looked attractive. We talked about driving down, but I assured Leroy that I would leave for work early so I could do some garden work before I went to work. One of the problems in doing that is keeping clean so I look decent when I go to work. I may just get a little done and finish on Thursday after work if it is not raining. I have not looked at the predictions for this week but I understood that we were to get more rain.

Leroy and I stayed home doing a little work around the house here. We pulled some weeds, moved some plants, hung a new piece of clothes line, and made plans. Hopefully things will look better when the moved plants are well established.

Our church was going to walk the neighborhood this afternoon handing out some information. I had wanted to participate in that but figured the garden work took precedence. Now I wish I had remembered that walking task after we decided not to ride the bikes so far. It was beautiful and sunny out lifting our spirits.

Now what is on my list for tomorrow? Enough, enough!

Paula

Forgetful

Hello,

Last night Leroy decided that he would like to do a little camera shopping as well as pick up the pictures. So off we headed to the stores. The first stop was to look at cameras; while there we also looked at TVs and clothing. Then Leroy remembered that we could look at the can openers. At another store we looked at some of the same items totally forgetting to pick up the pictures at a third store. That was one of the main reasons to make this trip! At least it is not so many miles away, but I still might not go back until next Wednesday when I do not work. Goodwill is in the same area and I have some things to drop off there. I tend to forget them so two things that are neglected can be taken care of in one trip.

 I think I forgot to give you the update from the Dentist. He told me that if the chip did not bother me I could just ignore it as everything is still fine. He took an x-ray because he could not see so well how the crown was constructed. He did not charge me for this visit. I was amazed and impressed about the generosity of people.

I talked with Sarah this morning and learned that Natalie had been talking to her father in the emergency room. Somehow she hung up on him and called me. So I could have called him for an explanation. Also Sarah commented that she thinks I could have stopped the call and just called her back and it would have worked. As she said, “It is not like it used to be where if the caller did not hang up the call was not finished.”

I guess times and technology have changed. Sometimes in the moment I forget that.

Paula