February 14 through 18

[chochiyo_sama]

Monday, February 14

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Lily called and talked for over an hour—she has finally put out the word that the trailer is for sale.  I think the bladder/kidney infection she is suffering from is so resistant to being ended by antibiotics and the intense pain of her hand (which the Texas doctor claims is caused by gout) is making her long to return to Minnesota where she thinks her doctors are better and more reliable.  I hope that someone will buy that trailer and buy it quickly.  She needs to get the hell out of Texas and come back where she at least has people who can help her.

Today, I ordered some stuff from Target.com that I don’t have access to from Lerberg’s little grocery store.  I bought two of the biggest bottles of Tylenol 8 hour Arthritis formula Target had available.  I am almost out of Tylenol.  I also ordered a pair of copper infused hand braces which are supposedly effective for reducing pain and swelling from arthritis in the hands.  I also bought a bag of Mother’s frosted fantasy animal crackers, a bag of “cookies and cream” Hershey’s kisses, and a bag of Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups.  I had run out of chocolate, and I have been craving it.  I wanted to buy some mediped socks because all my socks are turning into rags.  Sadly, they had no medipeds in stock, and none of the other socks looked good to me. 

The cantaloupe I butchered a few days ago is almost gone now.  It is uncommonly delicious.  I have been eating some every day.  I will be sad when it is all gone.

I spent most of the day messing on the computer and watching TV.  My knees and shoulder have been giving me a lot of grief—as well as my hand.  I don’t even know how I hurt my hand, but it feels like I pulled a muscle in the thumb area.  It hurts.  The Tylenol doesn’t touch the pain in my hand.

 

Tuesday, February 15

My cousin Amy called me today about the two kittens I am willing to take in.  She agreed to take them to the vet to be neutered as long as I pay for it.  I am totally willing to pay for the neutering as I don’t want them spraying all over the house once they hit maturity.  I called the vet in Owatonna where I took Stewie and got the price for neutering and got the okay to pay for it via my debit card over the phone.  I explained the situation, and they were totally okay with doing it that way.

We might have to wait a while for an opening for the surgery.  Apparently there are a lot of people bringing their animals into the vet.  Long waiting periods for optional services.  I don’t mind waiting.  It gives me more time to work on kitten proofing my house. 

Jack stopped after work and dragged my garbage bin back up to the house.  He didn’t come in to visit as he had to pick up my mother.  They had invited her over for supper and then they were all going to Cora’s one act play presentation at the school.  She has really enjoyed being in the school plays.  I hope she will continue that interest when she goes off to college next year.

I had the last dregs of the roast beef with potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage for supper.  While it was heating up, I did a big sink full of dishes.  This was the first time I used my new WearEver pots and pans since I got them.  It is so wonderful to use quality cookwear again. However, I am so embarrassed; I STILL haven’t sent the payment to my friend who got them for me.  I am such a slug.

I posted some pictures of my dolls in their new Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits on my Facebook Doll group.  I have to remember to post them again on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. 

 

Wednesday, February 16

My prescription refills arrived today.  At last.  I had a nice chat with the FedEx lady who frequently does my deliveries.  She is a very good egg.  If I get to the door fast enough, she always pauses to have a little conversation with me.  It was nasty cold today, so we didn’t talk long.

I had two New York Strip steaks in the refrigerator, so I put them in my roaster with two sliced up onions and cooked them both. I had one with a baked potato and coleslaw for supper and saved the other with half the onions for tomorrow.  That was one of the tastiest steaks I have ever had.  Must have been a really good cut.

 

Thursday, February 17

My sister Tammy called me early this morning.  She had just talked to our sister Joni and called to tell me that Joni’s health is back in the shitter again.  She is weak and is vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhea again and is unable to eat anything without dire after effects.  She had walked out to the horse barn to check the water trough for the horses, and did not have the strength to walk back to the house.  She kept falling down and finally had to CRAWL back to the house.  Her husband had left to go into town to get something at the store, and as cold as it is, she could have frozen to death before he got home again.  Fortunately, her dogs had gone with her to the horse enclosure, and every time she fell, they curled up with her to keep her warm. 

I am very worried about her.  The medical personnel around here have basically given her the run-around about these issues for almost a year.  Finally they discovered that her thyroid gland was so huge that it had grown way down to the bottom of her breast bone.  They figured that was probably the source of her issues, so they removed it.  She did get better for a while, but it always goes back to being horrible again.

Joni herself called me in the afternoon and told me all the same stuff Tammy told me—except she also told me that her husband had been haranguing her that he was sick of her being sick all the time and accused her of faking it for attention.  Also, he is hounding her to take a road trip to Las Vegas!  She said she wanted to rip his face off.  She is unable to keep food down—vomitting and having diarrhea constantly all day long.  How in the hell could she even take a trip by car that would last for hours and hours?  He doesn’t have any common sense at all.  The idiot.

My Target package arrived today.  Sadly, the box containing my copper infused hand brace had been torn open and someone had put on the right glove.  I could tell because the fingers were inside out on the right hand one.  The other one was fine.  It irritates me that this was used by only God knows whom.  It is probably fine, but I paid $20 for it.  I would like it to be pristine.  I ate a few of the cookies and cream kisses.  Pretty good. 

There was bright sunshine this afternoon, but it was still horribly cold.  When I opened the door to bring in the Target box, I threw more peanuts out for the squirrels and blue jays.  Peaches loves watching them eat their treats from the picture window. 

Several months ago, I had bought an Ideal Pete doll along with a Pepper and a Pepper doll case.  It was ridiculously cheap.  Pete by himself is always quite expensive.  I have never seen it for less than $120 and it is usually more expensive.  I got all of that and a couple of Pepper outfits for around $80.  It was a real deal.  Pete came naked, so I decided to see if the clothes I bought for the Todd doll twins would fit him.  The pants were a little hard to get on him as his hips are a tiny bit wider than theirs are.  But, I put him in a pair of blue jeans and a blue “Superman” emblem tee shirt.  It fit him perfectly and he looks very cute in that outfit.  I had given him a good scrubbing before I dressed him as he was a little grubby.  I haven’t given the new Pepper a good scrubbing yet.  She is also very grubby.  The clothes in the case need a good washing too.  I already have a Pepper, whom I call Penny, short for Penelope.  Now I guess she will have a twin.  I am thinking of calling the new one Persephone and calling her Peri for short.  Pete is going to stay Pete.  Well, his formal name will be Peter of course, but Pete it will be for normal.  Now I have to dig up the small tote with the whole Ideal family in it so they can all be together. 

The Ideal Tammy family had a cardboard house like Barbie did, back in the day.  We, of course, never got any of those kinds of things.  I am considering looking for some pictures of that house on line and seeing if I can possibly reproduce it with plastic canvas.  It is just a lovely miniature time capsule of a house from the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Obviously, I will have to use some artistic license in recreating the house as I will need rooms for the parents, Tammy, about a 15 year old teen, Ted, her probably 17 year old brother, the twin “Peppers,” about 9, and Pete, about 7.  I know there was a kitchen/dining room, a formal living room, a “game room” with a pingpong table, television, and bookshelves, and a “Patio” with lawn furniture and a grill.  I suppose I should add a bathroom too.  I will have to live 300 more years to do all the doll house creating I want to do.  Sigh.

 

Friday, February 18

I bagged up the garbage from my bedroom, bathroom, and living room then took it into the breezeway where I cleaned the three litterboxes and added the scoopings to the trash bag.  I also took a bag of recycling into the breezeway as well.  I took both of these bags outside to the bins and tossed them in. 

I had not ordered groceries from Lerbergs for today, but I did have a small order delivery from Schwans.  Larry, the Schwans man, and I always chat a bit.  We were talking about how the sky had gotten very overcast and how they were predicting extreme cold, light snow, and heavy winds as the day progressed.  I asked him if he was almost done with his route so he could get home soon.  He said, “Not even close.”  ☹ 

I asked him where he lived, and he said Albert Lea.  I told him if the weather ever got so nasty that it was not safe to be on the roads, and he was close to Ellendale, he was welcome to come and stay with me.  I said, “I only have one bed, but I have a comfortable recliner and a new couch!” 

He thanked me for the offer but said that he’d been driving for many years and always managed to make it home.  He said the worst of it was that he had to take his truck all the way to Owatonna and then go from Owatonna to Albert Lea in terrible weather.  But he said he had friends in Owatonna, so if the weather was ever that bad, he’d stay with them. 

I hope I didn’t sound like I was propositioning him.  I don’t think so. 

Lily told me today that my cousin Haylie had given birth to her second daughter on Valentine’s Day.  Welcome to the world, Ellie Ruth Heil.  She gave her the middle name “Ruth” in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  Haylie is a lawyer, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg is her hero.  I am hoping I can buy a RBG rag doll for the baby.  I think that would be a fun gift for her. 

For supper, I made the Schwans Chicken Burrito bowl I had bought today.  It’s odd, but I like it enough to order it again.  It’s chunks of white meat chicken in a bowl with rice, black beans, kernels of corn, and some kind of tomato sauce that tastes like chili.  While it was cooking in the microwave, I did a sink full of dishes.  I can usually get my dishes done up in the time it takes to make my food in the microwave.  Might as well be productive instead of just staring at the microwave as the food goes around and around.  Ha.

Well, that’s it.  I am caught up again.  That was a little exhausting.

Comments

[the_godiva]

Ah, Mother's Circus Animals. We had that discussion a month or so ago.

Still think Joni should try the C-Diff diet.

I'm sure there are photos of that vintage doll house on line. Plenty of collectors have blogs to show off their stuff. Once you find it you can probably download the photos for future reference.

Amazon has a plush RGB doll that's perfect. 11 inches from the Philosopher's guild.

https://smile.amazon.com/Unemployed-Philosophers-Guild-Ginsburg-Thinker/dp/B07NDJKBWG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1L0HG5WS2BRS3&keywords=Ruth+Bader+Ginsburg+doll&qid=1645412684&sprefix=ruth+bader+ginsburg+doll%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-3