My Weblog

Celebratory drink...........

Anyone want to hoist a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with me? Yes, we're celebrating. Today I was mobile enough (and motivated enough) to drag my rusty butt down to the store, and YES! I do still have a job! Can I hear some Amens??? 

She has in deed hired 4 people behind me. In her view, she thought she was going to need 3 people and someone to sub for me til I came back. We had that one girl who jabbered up a storm to everyone who came through the door. She got mad and walked out. My understanding is that she wanted graveyard shift and was mad because she was being scheduled to work days and swing. Then there was the woman with whom I was working on Saturdays. She called in sick and just never came back after that. And, then Mr. KIA quit. Finally, the man who works grave has some very real health problems and she thought he might be benched. So, she hired 4 people. Well, the graveyard guy is still hanging on so she's already overstaffed by one and now I'm coming back. 

She says, however, she will work me in. We'll see how this goes. I can't survive on just a coupla hours a week. I signed on for 16-24 hours a week and, if it matters, I do have seniority over all these new hires. I still have a bit of a desire to look for a job elsewhere. I do not walk afraid. I walk with angels on my shoulders, but, if you pay any attention to that sort of thing, my job is one of the most dangerous in the country. And it is HARD work. There are no benefits and no raises. We used to be allowed to bring home or eat the outdated food that got pulled from the shelves but she's outlawed that now, or so she tells me.

I've been thinking that there are any number of good companies to work for right here in the neighborhood (within 2 miles of my home). If the desire to check those out doesn't go away, I may have to give in to it! 

But, no matter what, I'll be most grateful to be having a paycheck again. Supposedly, I need a new left front tire. I noticed today that there is a piece of wood (embedded in the stucco) on the front of my house that needs to be replaced, at least in part. And, of course, the summer power bill is usually life threateningly high as is the water bill. And there are all those doctor and hospital bills. Yup, I'm gonna be happy to have a paycheck again! 

So, hoist a glass of whatever you're drinking and help me celebrate! I'm just thrilled! 

Rough day.......

I have done very little in this house today, as predicted. And I have been in bed a lot. I took a muscle relaxer twice which meant I went to bed twice. I also ended up taking 2 800 MG ibuprofen throughout the day just to be able to sit here and do some design work. For now, though, I think whatever was out of place is back in. Of course, I'm still sore. 

I did manage to do some more work on the desk. And I got done what needed to be done design wise. Not much in the way of accomplishments for today........

But, I think, maybe, tomorrow will be a better day. If I'm right and things are back where they belong, I should be able to be pretty mobile with just ibuprofen......... I sure hope so! 

It didn't work.............

Standing up straight, that is. Here I am today in worse shape, much worse shape. Bending is absolutely NOT on my list of things to do today. Nor, for that matter, is going from a seated position to standing. Yup, my back has decided to misbehave again. What fun........... If I want to cross my left leg over my right, I have to use my hands to make that happen. I'll bet this is "fun" to watch, NOT!

Considering I was already hurting yesterday, I didn't do too bad here in the house. I got one shelf in the fridge cleaned out and ran the dishwasher. I was able to stay upright for the fridge, but had to do some bending for the dishwasher. 

I really made some progress on the desk yesterday. 

I got one shelf of the linen closet emptied out and I have a good sized pile of sheets and pillow cases to donate. They are mostly from Joe's house in CA from before we were married. They're well worn but, if donated to the ASPCA, the dogs and cats won't mind. I also decided some things are going to need to be washed. Yes, there are doors on the linen closet but some stuff has been in there a long time and acted as a dustcatcher for whatever dust managed to seep in around the doors. 

I'd love to say I'm going to get the stuff I decided to keep put away today, but it's not going to happen. There are sheets in there that need refolded, including fitted sheets. I'd end up bending over the bed trying to fold those and that is not going to happen. Maybe tomorrow............

Yesterday was also drag-the-trash-to-the-curb day. I didn't have too much inside trash to take out so that got done and the bin was put out by the curb. Thankfully, the bin has wheels and I can just wheel it out there. I also carried in more dog food by the bucketful. The bag is empty enough I could just bring it in and dump it, if I dared lift it. I don't think I'll try that today. 

So, it seems to me I am going to be in bed most of today. When I'm not, I can probably do some design work and maybe work some on the desk. I think that's about my limit. I did lie down earlier, after taking a muscle relaxer. If anything, I think my back now hurts worse than it did, LOL. I am giving myself 2 hours up and then I'll take another muscle relaxer and lie down again. I cannot find the "stay awake" muscle relaxers, so I'm limited to flexeril which always knocks me on my butt. Better to be lying down when that happens. 

So, as you can see, there's not much on my to do list today that will advance the cause of making this house look better. Well, it can't be helped. Besides, I'll probably still be awake 11 hours from now. Maybe I can move a little better before "official" bedtime. In the meantime, YOU be BLESSED today.

Standing up straight..........

That is the order for the day. NO BENDING. That innocent-okay-I-worked-hard back ache I had at the end of yesterday has turned into something more. It is a muscle spasm waiting to happen. So, whatever I can accomplish today will either be done while standing or while sitting! That just might put a crimp in my plans! 

I wanted to clean out the fridge today. It needs it. I may be able to do that still if I can figure out how to clean out the shelves while sitting down. I figure I can pull a chair over in front of the open fridge and go from there. We'll see how that works out. 

I have been needing to chase cobwebs. Here in the desert we have few flies, no mosquitoes, no ticks, no fleas, etc. But spiders are everywhere. I have noticed some cobwebs up along the ceiling line. Ordinarily, I would use the vacuum with the hose attachment to go after these, but due to the back situation, I'll be using my long handled feather duster. 

Of course, I will continue with my clear the desk campaign. Day by day it gets a little better, but I'm convinced it still looks like it belongs to a mad woman! I'll get it the way I want it, sooner or later. I HOPE sooner.........

I will NOT be bending over, pulling and tugging to put the top sheet on my bed. I think, instead, maybe I can tackle a shelf or two in that linen closet. I am bound and determined to find the "missing" pillowcase so I can put it on my bed! I just have to figure out where to put the stuff I unload from there to begin the sorting process. Maybe I can put it on the bed and sort sitting down. It's worth a try.......

And, of course, there will be my usual unzipping, deleting, and organizing project. 

I decided yesterday it was time to defrag my computer and my EHDs. I have large-capacity EHDs. I need 'em. However, I am not thrilled with the defrag process on them. I have been running a defrag on the biggest one (5TB) since about 10PM yesterday. At the moment, more than 12 hours later, it is only 84% complete. And that is only pass 1. I think there are 4 passes. At least each pass should go a little faster than the previous one........ I've completed defragging both internal hard drives, but this EHD is gonna take a while longer........

I had planned to go down to the store today and talk to the owner. I am not on the schedule for the new week (starts today). I wanted to talk to her about just what my status is. However, it seems a bad idea to go down there on a day when going from a sitting position to a standing position is painful. I think I need to look very healthy when I go there!

So, this doctor I ended up with when I left the hospital continues to grow in my estimation. I had a "ghoul" show up to draw blood this morning. I've now been on the higher (a laughable 12 MCG higher) dose of thyroid meds for 6 weeks. I expected he'd run a TSH test. I was shocked when the "ghoul" told me he is also asking for a T3 and a T4 test. That's pretty thorough for someone who is not an endocrinologist. The doc himself will show up here sometime on June 11 and I fully expect the dose to increase. There's a reason for this falling hair and peeling/itching dry skin, the shortened sleep cycle, the night sweats, and the itchy face. I've been down this road before and I remember.........

For now, I am headed back to bed. It turns out I didn't get to bed til around 1:30AM. And I set the alarm for 6AM so I'd be awake and wearing all the appropriate items of clothing when the lab tech showed up to draw blood. So, I've had only about 4.5 hours of sleep. Subtract from that one nightmare which woke me up and one episode of night sweats and it's easy to see that I'm a little short on sleep. Thank God for naps. 

News..........

Well, Wednesday is the day the next week's schedule comes out at the store. I called in and was told that my name is not on it. I will be paying a personal call on Mrs. Owner tomorrow morning. I am quite sure that if I somehow no longer have a job, I can go to the Labor Board. I am told it is illegal for them to get rid of me simply because I got sick. I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. It seems to me that if I no longer have a job there, it is because God has something better for me someplace else. So, before I do that labor board thing, I'll have to pray about it............

Tomorrow morning will be "exciting". I got a call this afternoon telling me some fellow intends to show up between 7 and 9 to draw blood. I don't mind the 9 thing, but 7???? What is with this crazy person? Who would think to do this to a hypothyroid person who is always tired? Sounds like cruelty to me!

Speaking of tired, yeah, that describes me tonight. And achy........ I have done a lot of lifting, bending, tugging, etc., today, and my back is registering complaints about that. Thankfully, it is just your normal everyday achy back. Not a muscle spasm. Can I get a "Hallelujah" from my readers? 

All of the kitchen chairs have been scrubbed every which way. I had to turn them on their sides to properly get the legs and rungs. But, they're clean. And they don't look too bad. There is some "patina" on them. That's a fancy decorator word for "wear". There's a little bit of paint chipping and so forth, but all in all, considering what I paid for them and how long I've owned them, they look pretty good. 

All of the cushions from those chairs are washed. They're not all "installed" yet. That would require more bending and I'm not in the mood for any more of that today! But they are as clean as I can get them and, again, considering how long they've been hanging around in this house, they don't look too bad. One has a stain on it. I did pre-treat the stain, but I have no idea how long ago that stain happened. In any case, I guess it was pretty well set in. It didn't come out, so, being the resourceful person I am, I'll just flip the cushion over, LOL. No one will ever know unless you tell them. 

I called to talk to the hospital about their bill today. It did not reflect the small payment I made them last month. I have never gone through so much to get to speak to a human in my life! Even the IRS's system is more user friendly! That electronic answering system was just endless! However, I did ascertain that the payment and the bill I recently received must have crossed in the mail. They HAVE the payment. I originally sent all the docs and radiologists and the hospital and everyone else a payment of $25 except for one bill which was for $29.06. I figured I could chisel out another $4.06 if only for the pleasure of calling that one paid. They (the hospital people) originally wanted me to pay them $600 next month and $600 the following month and then it would be paid. Crazy! Then they worked their way down to $400 a month for 3 months. Big help, right? I finally got them down to $50 a month. 

I figure I can handle that. I can use $25 from the little one I paid in full last month and the $25 I started with for the hospital and that will be cool. I'm not telling them yet, but I have 2 more with balances of less than $25 so those will be paid off this month and I'll hike that hospital payment up to $100 a month next month (July). Two more will be paid off in July, so I can either breathe easier about what is left for me to live on or pay the hospital more in August and thereafter. 

The level of paper buildup on the desk went down some more. I still have a long ways to go, but it's great to be able to see that I've made progress.

I got the sheets stripped off the bed in my room and got them washed. They are in the dryer now. I'm not going near them anymore tonight. I'm tired! I can just see me struggling with trying to fold that darned king-size fitted sheet, LOL. I'd probably just throw it on the floor in disgust if I tried, LOL.

One of the big deals in decorating bedrooms these days (it seems particularly where there are king-sized beds) is Euro (square) pillows. I am on an e-mail list for Wayfair. They sent me a mailer for some "big sale" they are having. They wanted $31.99 for one insert! Holy Mary! I just looked on Amazon and I can get down alternative pillow inserts (two of them) for less than half that. I can see I won't be ordering from Wayfair any time soon! 

I did manage to fluff the feather bed up a little. Hopefully, the cover is not now full of loose feathers...... And, I got the fitted sheet on the bed. I was a bit worried about that since I am sure those sheets were most likely purchased before the idea of "deep pocket" fitted sheets had occurred to anyone. I'm not messing with that bed any more tonight. 

I've noticed there seems to be some sort of movement to eliminate top sheets if you have a covered duvet. I am just going to pretend I'm in that camp til tomorrow, LOL. I do have one problem: so far I can only find one pillowcase! Now, it's a set of king-sized sheets and those ALWAYS come with two pillowcases, so I know there's another pillowcase in that linen closet somewhere, but, honestly, that linen closet reminds me of Fibber McGee's closet. I move something and wait for everything else to fall on my head......... However, if I want a pillow case on the other side of the bed, I'm going to have to get in there and search. I kinda wish I had a football helmet to wear when I start that! 

I had thought I would be well enough to go after that linen closet weeks and weeks ago. Of course, I wasn't, but my plan then was to unload it onto my bedroom floor and sort through stuff in there. I can close the bedroom door to hide the mess if I need to which seems wiser to me than trying to sort in the hallway which is open to all to see. I am thinking I'm going to have to do that with at least one shelf while I'm searching for that missing pillow case. 

I carried in more dog food. I should almost have that bag down to where I can drag it in and empty it into the container. Then there's another bag.............. I also lugged in another 3 gallon water bottle. That is one of my most dreaded tasks. It seems to me those water bottles weigh a ton and, believe me, they haven't gotten any lighter since I got sick! Then I turned around and refilled the dogs' 3 gallon water bottle and carried it out here from the kitchen.

I did do one "squirrel" thing today. I have a footstool that I've owned since Noah walked the earth. It was looking pretty bad so my scrub brush and I went after every surface on that thing and it looks much better. 

Well, I'm supposed to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed by 7AM, so I'm signing off now. See you in the AM.

Do over...........

Yesterday was not a productive day over all. I don't know where I went wrong, but..........

Well, one thing that wasn't planned was when I realized I didn't have enough dog food left in the container to take care of the dogs. This initiated a trip to Target. Now, I did really well. I didn't stop to look at anything til I got to the grocery area. However, it has been many moons since I've bought foodstuffs at Target and I ended up going back and forth looking for stuff. 

I did play part of that trip smart, but my best laid plans didn't work. I planned to buy 2 50-pound bags of dog food. I knew i didn't want to try lifting those into my cart myself. So, on entering the store, I stopped by customer service and asked if they could have someone help me load the dog food into my cart. I watched the customer service guy put out a call to have someone meet me in the dog food aisle but, of course, no one showed up. Finally I found one of those phones and asked again; that time worked. 

I didn't buy a whole lot, but when you start with $50 worth of dog food, the total does mount up! For meat, I bought one roll of Jimmy Dean sausage. I have in mind making some of what we used to call Egg McMamas around here. I wanted an Egg McMuffin the other day but a) didn't want to buy it and b) didn't want to drive to McDonalds to get it. So, this is the alternative solution...... I also bought some English Muffins. 

I didn't buy any produce. NONE! 

For canned goods, I bought a couple of cans of beets. Originally, I wanted beets for my 5-can soup. I've decided instead to make an old family favorite: pickled beets and eggs. That's a good old traditional Pennsylvania Dutch food item and a better "snack" item than some of the stuff I've been eating. I also bought a dozen eggs. I'll be putting this stuff together today and can't wait for some of that yumminess to hit my taste buds.

I impulse bought a can of Grands biscuits. That was silly. I have Bisquick here. How hard is Bisquick? Not that hard! Silly of me...........

They had their Bertolli frozen entrees on sale and I bought several. I tried the Shrimp Scampi last night. First, it says it's two servings. I did eat half, but if I were also eating a salad, etc., I could not have eaten that much. I think it's reasonable to call it 3 servings if you have anything to accompany it, particularly if you are not feeding a teen age boy. The taste was good. Odd, though, was the fact that pieces of yellow and red peppers were included. I've never seen that in Scampi anywhere. I saw these dime-sized or bigger things in there. I couldn't quite figure out what that was til I tasted it. It was garlic, sliced long way instead of across. All in all, it was tasty. There weren't many shrimp and they were the teeny tiny popcorn shrimp size. But, what can you expect when you pay $6 for 3 servings of something WITH noodles and sauce? 

So, anyway, I am set for quite a few more meals with the frozen entrees. I also bought some frozen hash browns. I'm perfectly happy just frying some of those up and calling it lunch. Of course, if I need a protein boost, I can add an egg. 

I bought some of their house brand stuff. For example, I bought half and half. I actually bought 2 quarts. The quart size was only $2.09 and it says it is from dairy cows NOT treated with hormones. I pay $1.79 a pint at the cheapest quick store around so the price certainly seemed right! And the expiration date isn't until 6/30/15 and it will certainly be all gone by then! 

I also bought a box of their house brand crackers. I wanted some crackers and cheese as a snack the other day but didn't have any crackers. Well I have crackers now! 

I bought a couple of cleaning products. I've decided that shortly it is time to attack the stains on the carpet which happened while I was in the hospital. The dogs got hungry and played in the trash........ So I bought a bottle of liquid Resolve. 

I also bought some of those drop-in toilet bowl cleaners. My toilets are stained. I admit it, I wasn't cleaning them regularly while I was sick and this is the result. Years ago, I read somewhere that toilet stains from hard water could be removed with a pumice stone. Yes, that works, but it also scratches the porcelain and forever after, you are sentenced to stains, stains, and more stains. So, hopefully this will work and hopefully I can keep Parker out of his favorite drinking fountain while those things last. 

When I got home, I ended up spending a good bit of time carrying in my purchases and bucketsful of dog food. I will continue the bucket brigade today. Somehow, the thought of an open bag of dogfood baking in my van in 90 degree weather makes my stomach churn. The van is gonna smell of dogfood if I don't get that stuff outta there! 

So, anyway, what I'd planned for yesterday will have to roll over to today. But, I can say I'm pretty proud of the way my kitchen floor looks now. I gotta git and start working. YOU be BLESSED today!

Squirrel..........

It has been a "squirrel" kind of morning. I started in the kitchen which is my usual starting point. I haven't gotten past the kitchen! First I moved the table and that one remaining chair I didn't move yesterday and went after the floor in that corner. I soon realized that even with this WONDERFUL triangle-shaped mop head, dog hair was being left behind along the very edge of the baseboard. So I got down there, in some cases astraddle table legs, and wiped that up. Then I went to put the chair back in place and I realized the seat cushion was DIRTY. It's one of those you just tie on, so I untied it and carried it to the laundry area, pre-treated it with Oxiclean, and threw it in the washer. 

I have those little rubberized matts you put under cushions of this sort to keep them from sliding. When I looked at it, I realized it was dirty too. But I literally had to peel it loose from the seat. Apparently something had spilled, dried and semi-glued that puppy down. Carried that in and threw it in the washer too. Then I started cleaning the chair. Phew! was it dirty! (Please understand that this particular chair sits against the wall and the table is pretty much pushed up against it. You couldn't go back there and sit down without moving the table and no one sits down in that kitchen anyway.) 

Then I looked at the floor and realized it wasn't "sparkly". Yeah, well, it's really old linoleum flooring, but I still think it ought to look better than that. Removed the fabric pad from the steam mop and carried that into the laundry area and put it in the washer. Attached a new pad to the steam mop and went over 90% of the floor again. Yup, it looks better. I think the floor was dirty enough that once the pad got wet, while it picked up a lot of dirt, it left behind some dirty film on the linoleum. 

I still have 3 chairs to clean and probably 3 cushions to add to the laundry. That's quite a weird load of laundry I'm going to have. 

I've been doing my unzipping, deleting, and organizing and I got some inspiration. Some designers give you pre-made papers included with other stuff. I want the other stuff, but I also want to make my own papers. I  am sometimes amazed at how long it takes me to come up with the simplest ideas. I took one of those pre-made papers and removed all the color. So it is just grayscale. And it works perfectly as an overlay for paper design! Yay! 

I have an "oops" purchase from Trader Joe's. Somehow, a cajun style Chicken Alfredo pasta dish crawled into my cart and came home with me. Now, you know I do not relish eating "hot" stuff. This stuff is not intolerably hot, but it's an effort for me to talk myself into eating it! Maybe I can feed the chicken to the dogs?????

Well, I knew I wouldn't last too long today. Low thyroid and little sleep are my excuse. I only had one night sweat incident last night, but I awoke repeatedly so my sleep cycle is still screwed up. I'm headed off for a nap. After that, I have to go out to some store somewhere and buy dogfood. Either that or I may awaken in the middle of the night tonight with the dogs gnawing on my feet, LOL. Later, maybe.

A new day.........

Well, here we go. This is day 2 of the (with help from God) more disciplined and more energetic me. What shall we do today?

Well, for starters, I am going to do a bit more with the kitchen floor. After I moved 3 chairs, the trash can and lord knows what else out of the kitchen, I was spent. Today, starting fresh, I will go back out there and move the table and 1 remaining chair out of the way and get that little bit of floor clean. Then I will start moving things back in.............

Of course, as usual, I have stuff to deal with on the desk. And, as I predicted, I did do some more work on the desk last night. One trashcan is full enough I had to push on it to push the contents down so it would hold more. However, it seems there is always more to do............

I'm going back in the master bedroom. My target is to get that bed stripped, the linens washed, and the bed remade with fresh white sheets! I'm looking forward to that. I am also still dealing with seasonal clothes in there. I think I have "lost" an entire box of tee shirts. My tee shirts hang in the closet in a ROY G BIV style. I have found the G BIV box, but seem to be missing the ROY box, LOL. It is probably in that mess in the guest room. Guess I'll have to go exploring. While I'm in there, maybe I'll stick a box or two back into the closet now that the shelves are fixed........... Or, is that a "squirrel" thing? 

I found another place to put money. Thankfully, not too much money, but LOTS of work. I didn't say anything about it here, but last week I was convinced I had home invaders. I heard this horrible racket from the kitchen and figured folks had gotten in through the garage. I jumped and the dogs barked. Of course, having no big strong man (or even a little weak one) to check it out, I had to go look for myself. My cabinets have adjustable shelves in them. And they are held in place with plastic brackets--very OLD plastic brackets. One of those had given up the ghost and the shelf tilted and the contents of the shelf literally fell out onto the countertop. It's a mess, but nothing breakable, so it could have been worse. However, it occurred to me yesterday that the brackets holding the shelves where my dishes are stored are the same age as the one that gave way. It was just a blessing that one of THOSE didn't break........ So, I am going to have to go to Lowe's and buy a bunch of those brackets (metal ones, yes indeed) and empty the kitchen cabinets and install new brackets! In this case, for sure, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Well, all of those cabinets can stand a cleaning. Well, not really, I've cleaned out 3 of them already, but there are 3 more to go so I can accomplish the cleaning at the same time.......

Before I got sick, I was trying to tackle one cabinet, drawer, closet at a time. My goal was one per week. Well, like everything else, that effort screeched to a halt when I got sick. I guess I'd better start up again. Besides the kitchen thing, I looked in the linen closet yesterday. I've avoided that like the plague. It is stuffed full, so full I have taken to just laundering the sheets that are on my bed and then putting them right back on the bed. That was easier than finding a place for them in that linen closet. (Don't tell anyone, but I have sheets in there that I bought many decades ago when I first had a home of my own.........) I know I will be donating some stuff to the Humane Society or the ASPCA. They are always looking for sheets/blankets to comfort the animals they take in..........

I will be doing several loads of laundry today. First there are the bed linens currently on my bed. And, I noticed that one of the white sheet sets is somewhat yellowed from being stored. So, I plan on washing those as well. 

And, of course, my usual unzipping, deleting, and organizing files............ Isn't this fun? Well, once again my choice is to write more or to get started. I think I'd better get started. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night and I will probably wear down pretty quickly. I'd like to get something accomplished before I collapse into bed for a nap. YOU be BLESSED today.........

Slowing down..........

I have turned in what I will call a successful day. The kitchen floor is clean and the stove top (mostly by accident) looks better than it has in years. I about wore myself out carrying chairs out of the kitchen and moving stuff around, but that floor is clean! I am still loving my steam mop. I don't think it makes doing the floors any easier (or maybe that's just because after being sick for so long, I am weaker). But they sure do get cleaner! That baby combines two things I love: washable pads and steam. When I finish a floor, I really feel like it's CLEAN!

The trashcans out here are filling up. That is my measure of what has happened at the desk. Full trash cans must mean I have sorted through a LOT of junk mail. I think one of them will be full to overflowing before I give up for the night.

Partly, the master bedroom got exchanged for laundry. I did find those white sheets. And, actually there are two sets of them, Glory Be! And they're both really pretty, decorated with lace edging. I washed the wubbie and then I had to stop and empty the dryer of a load of clothes I did late last week. Now the wubbie is dry. I did not get the bed stripped or new sheets put on--yet. I MIGHT still have enough oomph to do that before I give up for the night. If not, I'll go after that part again tomorrow. 

I also crawled around and got after the corners and the area around my desk with the vacuum cleaner. My shoes pick up dog hair as I walk through the house and it gets deposited here, under the computer desk. I HATE that. I'm about ready to shave Parker! I thought when Max, the long haired German Shepherd, died that the dog hair problem would be solved. It MAY be lessened, but it certainly is NOT solved. 

So I had some "squirrel!" moments, but at least the things I did in those moments were worthwhile!

I spent some money today. After pondering the bed situation and after calculating that it will be almost a year before this doctor gets my thyroid level up where it ought to be, I decided the most important thing about the bed is getting a good night's sleep. I have a pillow I really love. Oddly enough, it's one of those sobikawa pillows. I originally bought it for Joe and he thought I'd taken leave of my senses. But it didn't seem to matter what else I bought him in the way of pillows, he complained they didn't give him enough support. So, I decided to try this thing and after the first night, I never heard another complaint. I didn't think I could ever sleep on that, but after he died, I decided to try it. Now I love it. The problem is the featherbed. I am strictly a side sleeper. And my hips hurt from that when the featherbed is not doing its job properly. And, right now, it's not. Partly that's my fault. I used to rotate it every time I changed the sheets. However, I'm more or less afraid to do that, now that I know there's a good sized hole in it. Nor do I want to flip it, same reason. So, I decided it's time for a new one.

I thought about doing this a few weeks ago. At that point I had more or less decided to skip the feathers and go with memory foam. Then I was warned that memory foam is really hot. With the night sweats I've been enduring, I really don't think I want anything that adds heat! So, back to featherbed......... I had one picked out that was pretty cheap. But when I went looking for it today, it was out of stock. Then I ran across one that is 5 inches thick when fluffed! Wow! The one I was angling for was only 2 inches thick. I have no idea what the one that's on the bed now measures, but for sure, it's not 5 inches. I bit. I bought the thing. It should arrive in about a week. I bought it on Overstock and I comparison shopped several sites. And, the Overstock price was already reduced and I got another $18.60 off on it plus free shipping. I checked out the reviews and they were overwhelmingly positive. The product was rated at 4.5+ out of 5 by almost 1600 shoppers. So, hopefully, in about a week, I will wake up with no pain in my hips!

It was more than I wanted to spend. Of course, most things are more than I want to spend. However, I am sure the one on the bed has lasted somewhere close to 20 years. I plan to be in heaven with all my Christian brothers and sisters before another 20 years pass. I am absolutely convinced we will see the return of Jesus Christ for His church long before 2035! So, if this one lasts 20 years, some unfortunate left behind person may benefit from it. 

I did get through my routine of unzipping and organizing files. I wonder when I will ever catch up on that...........

That's it for tonight. I may do a few more things but I'm not coming back here to tell you about them. I've had enough accountability for today, LOL. G'night!

Naptime...........

No amount of determination or commitment will substitute for an afternoon nap. If you don't believe me, go find someone who is hypo thyroid and as undermedicated as I am and ask them. 

I did get the wubbie into the washer along with another tee shirt with an oxyclean treated stain. I also dug in the linen closet and found that set of white sheets I wanted to use. I have to clean that thing out someday SOON. The dishwasher has been run. I've sorted through more papers and entered appropriate stuff into the budget program as well as filing a bunch of stuff. I'm also about halfway through my daily unzipping and organizing. I still have a long way to go with that as well as the surface of the desk and......well, the whole house, LOL.

I did have one really wonderful experience. Last week I made some homemade dishwasher detergent. In the process I spilled some on the surface of the stove, right in the area with the burned on grease. (If you remember, that burned on grease is left over from the days when Joe was in charge of after dinner clean-up.) I've scrubbed at that mess over and over. I've used straight dishwashing soap, cleanser, vinegar, ammonia, and everything else I could think of. I've really put a lot of time in on it and gotten pretty much nowhere. Today, as I began wiping up that spilled homemade dishwasher detergent, up came a big part of the burned on grease. I could hardly believe my eyes. I was at the point where I was willing to risk the black-painted surface by applying commercial oven cleaner! It's not clean yet, but you can bet I'll be "spilling" some more of that stuff on the stovetop in days to come.

In case you want to try making some of this magical stuff, here's the ingredient list: 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup kosher salt, and 5 packets of lemonade mix. I made it in an empty jar and just shook it up to mix it. I don't honestly remember how much the instructions said to use on a load of dishes, but I just put some in the dispenser and didn't worry about it. I filled it less than full. I think this stuff might work. After all, by the time I pre-wash the dishes, they're a lot easier to clean than that stovetop! 

Later............