Monday, May 8

[chochiyo_sama]

Monday, May 8

My alarm was set for 9:15 this morning because DeAnn and I were going to zoom at 10.  I got up, took care of my morning obligations, and fired up my computer.  I got a text from DeAnn asking if I minded doing the zoom at 11 instead of 10 as she was really tired and needed a little more sleep.  I was fine with that as I have been craving Cream of Wheat, and delaying the zoom for an hour would give me the opportunity to have it for breakfast.

I  did a little tidying up in the kitchen and unloaded the dish drainer before getting the Cream of Wheat started.  I usually make it with milk instead of water.  This resulted in all three of the cats swarming me and demanding milk.  I don’t usually give them milk as it can give them diarrhea.  However, I was tired of being swarmed and clawed by them as they demanded their cow juice.  So, I poured about ½ a cup into a plastic container and set it down for them. 

Then, I was horrified to discover that my Cream of Wheat was boiling over.  When that stuff dries on the stovetop, it is like concrete.  Ugh.  While I was attempting to clean that up, there was a feline kerfluffle with hissing and growling and, of course, rampaging that resulted in them tipping over the plastic container and getting milk all over the kitchen floor.  The kitchen floor that I had recently mopped, I might add.  ARG!!!

By this time it was almost 11, so I got my Cream of Wheat in a bowl, added sugar, cinnamon, and a splash of half-n-half.  It was delicious, and after all the messes I had to clean up to get it made, I am thankful for that!

I was hungry as I didn’t eat much for supper last night, so I basically inhaled it.  I was able to eat the whole thing before DeAnn appeared on our zoom.

We had a good zoom, discussed Josh’s new computer which was still “under construction,” and shared some random points of interest that we had run across since we last talked.  I showed her the man doll I talked about yesterday on my DW entry.  She loved his face.  She was less thrilled with my idea of making him the priest in charge of my Catholic Girl’s school as she had actually attended a Catholic girls’ school and does not have fond memories of it. 

But, my Catholic Girls’ Boarding School for Dolls (St. Agnes) will be the ideal version—not anything ugly or heart rending.

And, in related news, I have named my French and Deportment teacher after perusing baby name sites for at least an hour.  She will be Aurélie Solange.  She needed a name like that to fit the personality I am imagining for her.  I might have her be a piano teacher too, if I can find an affordable piano in the proper scale.  I know such a piano exists, but I am afraid it will be insanely expensive.  The Tonner company made pianos in the Tyler Wentworth scale—baby grands in white or black.  I think they were over $800 before the company went out of business.  They are probably triple that or more now.  If there are even any available. 

After we ended the zoom, I spent most of the rest of the day in the kitchen.  I husked the four ears of corn I bought from Lerbergs last week, boiled them, butchered and containerized the watermelon, and peeled and boiled the last of the potatoes that were starting to get withered.  I ate one of the ears of corn, several chunks of watermelon as I chopped it up, and the last two slices of honey ham sandwich meat on toast for “lupper” (late lunch/early supper).  I washed the huge pile of dirty dishes and did a very thorough job of scrubbing the stovetop where this morning’s Cream of Wheat had boiled over.  Later, I cleaned the three litterboxes in the breezeway and the one in the laundry room.  I did a lot of random tasks mostly involving tidying up the place. 

I spoke to Lily and Mom on the phone for quite a while.  I hadn’t talked to my mother since probably Wednesday or Thursday of last week.  While I was talking to my mother, Nola called and asked if she could stop and drop something off to me.  “As long as it isn’t another cat,” I said.  “My cats have been making my life very stressful today.”

She laughed and said this would help to ease my stress.  I resisted the urge to ask if it was a bag of edibles as I don’t think she would find that funny. 

I told my mother (who was on hold) that Nola was stopping by and I would call her back later.  Sweet Nola dragged my garbage bin back to the house when she arrived and visited briefly.  She dropped off a tiny container of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia which is my favorite ice cream of all time.  I often attempt to order it from Lerbergs when I order groceries, but they seldom have that particular flavor.  They always have Chunky Monkey and other kinds, but seldom my favorite. 

Nola had been to an appointment earlier today and stopped to pick up a few things.  She saw the Cherry Garcia while she was shopping and remembered how I always ask about it.  So she bought me a little carton.  What a sweet thing to do!

She is such a thoughtful person.

Late in the afternoon, the sky to the west started getting dark.  Again, there was not a breath of air stirring and the air grew really heavy and thick.  It looked like a big storm was rolling in.  Not long after that I got notifications in my weather app that “lightning had been detected in my area.”  Then a severe storm warning was issued on TV for some counties in Iowa right on the border not far from here.  For a while, we got some pretty impressive lightning and some heavy rain, but the severe weather never made it this far, and the warning was allowed to expire. 

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my diabetic counselor.  Lily will be picking me up at 8:30, so I will have to get up at 7:15 to get showered, dressed, and ready to go.  She needs to do some shopping, so she will drop me off at the clinic and pick me up after she is done.  I’m just too tired to shower tonight. 

I’m going to try to be in bed by 10 tonight so I can get plenty of sleep.

That’s all I have for tonight. 

Comments

[the_godiva]

I do Cream of Wheat in the microwave. It can also boil over but I keep the temp lower and also do it in 15 or 30 second increments to prevent that, stirring in between. Since I can do it in the bowl it's less clean up.

Have you considered keeping goat's milk in the house? For things like Cream of Wheat you might not notice the taste difference. It is used by people with lactose intolerance so the cats can drink it without the vomiting or diarrhea.

Did your Trulicity ever arrive?

I slept badly as I had to set the alarm for 6:15 to do some last minute bidding on an eBay auction for a loaded charm bracelet. I'm back to making my own now that I will be giving my Mom back the one I made for her. It was missing a charm, Florida. There was just the loop on the bracelet but the charm was missing. So I had to buy one and wait for it to get here. I need to find mine as I'm not sure if I took some of my charms off to make her bracelet, figuring I would eventually get it back. Now, pretty sure I won't as my sister is going to keep everything she can, including things that my Mom intended for me to have. If it isn't specifically in the will, I won't get squat. I know I have been buying charms off and on for that bracelet. I can't find the bracelet so I'm pretty sure it's in the mess in the sewing room. Some loose charms are in the bedroom in a bag I've got "works in progress." This time around I did some research into places I've been that I don't have charms for. Lake Constance aka Bodensee and the two towns the boat to Maimau island leave from. Got charms for all that. That was the family's European vacation when I was 12. Also got Kloster Ettal and Hellbrunn. Then from my more recent trips Freiburg and Karlsruhe and from the Steiff club tour Duisberg and Rudesheim. The charm bracelet I bid on will be the base for my bracelet as I seem to recall the one I was originally working on didn't have enough loops, plus this one has a safety clasp with a lock. There will be extra charms to add to my "sell" collection. I need to get going on that.

Another reason I slept badly was acid reflux: I ate to much too late. Then I also had to get up at 3am and lock Diana in the easement between the two back gates because she just wouldn't shut up. So 3 am, 6:15am and then trying to sleep after that with the acid reflux. It just wasn't going to happen. I ate early tonight and not a lot so hopefully it will be better. I'm also taking another Omeprezole pill before bed.

I did the weedeating of the driveway this afternoon and brought some more stuff into the house. Still missing my Chantal pot pie dishes and my $40 vintage Butterick jumpsuit pattern I bought specifically to make my Mom those jumpsuits. I'm hoping it's in with all of the fabric I have yet to drag into the house. It's in a double garbage bag in front of the garage people door. Likewise a bag of my clothes from the closet I just threw in there after removing the hangers. Both have to come in and get put away. But unlike at my parent's house I am NOT working 12-14 hour days and always on my feet at my house so it takes me longer to do everything I am also really trying to stick to my two days a week at the therapy pool so 1-3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays is reserved for ME. I am also going to try to take the dogs to the dog park once a week, now that they won't have Dolly to play with in my parent's yard.

I think I already emptied Diana's pill bottle into the little one I keep in the kitchen so that is not missing. A new bottle arrived from Amazon but I did a little research tonight and I think I am going to switch her from Benedryl to Zyrtec as it is only 2 pills twice a day instead of four. I am also going to be adding fish oil now that I'm pretty sure her allergy is environmental and not food. My next order from Chewy will have one bag of Dr Pol's chicken and one of the salmon. I'm going to slowly transition them to the salmon and see how they like it. I know Freyja will love it as she is Husky and fish protein is their thing. Diana not so sure. If she doesn't like it, I'll move them back to the chicken but I really don't want to keep them on it year after year. I might have to put them back on the Wolf Cub bison kibble Diana ate as a puppy.

As for me I still haven't quite gotten myself into a new routine either. I've been waiting way too long to eat and then end up with one meal a day. But I am so happy to be drinking my seltzer water again. Maybe at some point I'll be able to have an occasional glass of wine too.

[acelightning73]

Try toy stores or hobby stores for dollhouse furniture. A couple of years ago, my son and his wife were upgrading their dining room furniture. I asked them what to get them for Xmas. They said that one of the chairs for their set cost about fifty dollars; but I didn't jus want to give them a check in a card. I bought a fancy-looking dollhouse chair and wound a fifty-dollar bill through its ornate legs and arms, then put it in a box. When they opened it, they thought it was an ornament for their tree. But then they looked closer, and I said, "I gave you a chair!". They completed their dining room set before the next Xmas feast ;-)