A lot about food

I hope my pants fit tomorrow. We had the day off, I got up around 7 and got ready to go.  We went to Carl's Junior for breakfast.  I like their breakfast burger, as I've said. 

Ron tried their spicy chicken strips.  He liked them pretty well.  On the way home, though, we had another pickup. 

We went off a busy road and entered a medical office center's parking lot.  The driver had the windows down.  I could smell smoking meat and it smelled really good.  I looked and saw a smoker belching out lovely gray smoke. 

Ron and I agreed, it smelled really good.  When the driver came back around on the busy street, I looked.  I saw a Pupusa place/bakery and a BBQ place, one that had been suggested to us by a driver. 

One day we're going to learn not to follow the drivers' suggestions.  We have been to so many bad barbeque places based on their suggestions, I wish we could get our money back. 

Anyway, we went home.  I took my pills with some milk, because it had been a while since the breakfast burger.  I almost got queasy so I was glad I had drunk the milk. 

I had a pretty good nap and woke up at 1:30.  I was sleeping with Torbie so I enjoyed that for a while, and got up around 2.  I did my God Time.  Torbie joined me for some of it.  We had a good time. 

Chuck was coming at 3.  He and Ron had planned to go to the "new" BBQ place.  It smelled so good, Ron felt it belonged in his "list".  He is allowed a list of 20 places.  If he wants, he can call the reservation line and schedule trips for himself, off the list, between 5 AM and 5 PM, I think.  If he wants to go somewhere not on the list, he has to call reservations, which is problematic. 

Chuck arrived and we got there.  It was a bar, that also served BBQ.  A bar and grill.  Nothing wrong with that except Ron has drinking issues.  He did not drink today.  Not at the location, at least. 

It was small and crowded.  They ignored us for minutes after we arrived, terrible customer service.  Prices seemed kind of high.  I decided I would get a pupusa. 

Pupusas are really good Central American food.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa  They are hard for me to describe so I will let Wikipedia do it.  I ordered 3.  I was hungry.  They also had a bakery.  I bought something that looked really lovely and flaky, and a sugar cookie.  The sugar cookie tasted like real butter. 

The only problem I have found with pupusas, is the fact that they tend to stay at molten hot temperatures for quite a while after preparation.  I took my takeout back to the bar and watched Ron eat the ribs.  He was not impressed, fatty and not very well smoked.  I had a bite of my pupusa, burning my tongue in the process, it was delicious. 

A good bean and cheese pupusa has a lovely thread of cheese running through it, holding the bean together.  The filling is primarily "bean" though.  I ordered the bean and cheese.  They also make a pork, bean, and cheese but I like just the beans and cheese. 

It came with condiments, some funny looking coleslaw and bags of hot sauce.  If I wanted.  I didn't. 

Ron finished his food, I cleaned him up, and we came home.  I ate 2 of the pupusas, which were still hot even though it was a good half hour.  They were "eating temperature" though.  I had a good time eating them.  The outside was mildly crispy and they held together well while I ate them.  Nothing worse than food falling all over my clothes when I'm eating!  That's the only problem with my beloved "Fried egg on a hamburger" meals, the bun invariably falls apart, dropping condiments all over me. 

I still have the third pupusa, which barely fits into the takeout container.  I ate the flaky thing, very good but a lot of crumbs, and the butter/sugar cookie, also really good. 

Mexican pastries look good, but tend to be dry and not have any real sugar.  We would call most of them "dinner rolls with a little sugar on top".  Salvadoran pastries are, from what I see, very like American ones except with nice little twists. 

Stuffed, I took my pills.  No worry about nausea with this meal.  I drank the last of my diet decaf tea and watched a little TV.  The whole outing took a while because of the traffic. 

I got a business card and had Ron change the address in his list from the BBQ/bar to the Salvadoran pastry/pupusa place.  Ron liked the bite I gave him, he likes pupusas but probably not as much as I do.  I am sure he would be happy to go with me, though. 

We decided to stay home tomorrow night.  We have tons of food already. 

I just need to feed Biscuit and clean out the litter boxes (in that order).  I have been thinking I need to reduce the amount of food I'm giving the cats.  All 3 get a combined amount of 1 cup dry and 2 cans.  They are all still fat.  Torbie and Baby Girl have lost some weight, but Biscuit is still as jiggly as ever. 

I'm thinking to cut it back to 1/3 of a cup twice a day and 2 cans.  I don't think it's going to hurt them and if they start looking bony I can just add more food.  You have to remember, though, the last time I had them weighed both Biscuit and Torbie were well over 14 pounds each. 

I just want to get them to a healthier weight, with a little fat left over for a reserve in case Ron and I got hurt in an accident, or they got sick.  But not so much they have a big wattle of fat hanging down from their bellies like they do now.  Sometimes I will play with the wattle on Biscuit, flipping it back and forth while he looks at me.  He lets me do it, usually. 

Biscuit is unusual for a cat, in that most of the time he lets me play with his tummy.  Baby Girl used to let me pet her tummy when she was more of an outside cat.  She would come up to me and flop on the sidewalk or driveway, exposing her tummy, and I would rub it for a while.  When she was done, she would get up and leave.  Torbie, as a rule, generally doesn't like me to play with her tummy but I will feel her belly if a cat gets into bed with me in the middle of the night.  Torbie has a double wide belly, whereas Biscuit is more of a "singlewide".  She will let me do that. 

Tomorrow, though, I need to go to work and get everything stocked.  #6 may or may not have a party tomorrow night.  It's unclear.  I will try to get a nap if at all possible. 

#2 still isn't working.  He just washes his car, washes his driveway, and talks on the cell phone in front of his house, wearing a t-shirt and shorts.  I don't know if he doesn't "need" to work, has a job starting sometime in the future, is still looking, or is just living off his wife.  It isn't my business. 

I am curious, though.  At least he is still quiet. 

That's it for now.  Have a good weekend! 

Early pickup

I slept pretty good last night.  I woke up at 5-something and hit the snooze button a few times.  I was all alone in my bed, actually, no cats. 

I got up and fed Biscuit, even though he was outside and couldn't be bothered to beg for his breakfast.  Well, breakfast comes at 6:30 regardless of whether he's begging, so I fed him.  I don't want him to feel like he has to beg in order to be fed.  I'm feeding him, regardless. 

He came in and was delighted to find breakfast (1/2 cup dry food, 1 can salmon pate) already laid out for him and the other cats.  He gobbled away and rubbed against my leg in gratitude. 

I got ready, shaved my legs, etc.  I did my God Time before I got on the computer, later. 

We went to work.  The boss was supposed to show up, but didn't.  I stocked everything anyway.  I was a little annoyed at Ron, at one point.  I feel sometimes like he wants me at his beck and call.  I'm OK with that, but if I have other work to do (snacks) it presents a conflict.  That was pretty minor, though. 

I finished my work and helped Ron with his, then did some touch up, "extra" work before we left. 

I also remembered to bring both my Phenergan and my bucket to work.  The bucket will stay at work, the Phenergan will stay in my fannypack.  Here's to hoping I don't need them. 

We took some change to the bank and deposited that.  It took a while.  I was glad to get out of there.  Then we went to Burger King (my choice).  We took Chuck, we all ate for $23.  Ron got the new specialty bbq bacon burger, and I got 2 extra hamburgers to be my dinner tomorrow night. 

We had a good "visit" I suppose you'd say, and then Chuck took us home.  And what do I find but #6 has completely torn up his front yard, removing all grass, exposing rusty galvanized piping I suppose he used for his irrigation system. 

You may remember some years back he was obsessively running his sprinkler system every night, soaking my siding, causing me some worry to be about the siding getting wrecked.  That stopped after a while, but it looks like it may be starting again. 

Worst case I will need to repaint my house and repair the siding.  When we bought the paint, I didn't realize the paint clerk had formulated a gallon of interior paint, for my exterior job.  And everyone says you can't use inside paint outside.  After I had already painted the siding.  Great.  So, worst case the sprinklers wreck my paint and I need to repaint. 

This is all just supposition.  He may have just ripped out all the irrigation stuff altogether.  That would be great.  I didn't see any new pipes, just the old ones piled up. 

I tried to take a nap and did sleep for a while.  Whatever they were doing next door, they were quiet about it.  I woke up spooned with Biscuit, who had crawled into bed behind me and curled up with me.  His back legs touched the back of my knees and his tummy touched my back.  It was very nice, but of course I had to roll over, which upset him.  :(  He moved a little but not much. 

Then the guys next door started making noise and I tried to sleep, but I couldn't.  I finally got up. 

I did my God Time before I turned on the computer.  I heard some strange electrical humming which freaked me out, wondering if the A/C system was dying or dead.  A few minutes ago, I figured out the icemaker "arm" had fallen down so the icemaker was trying to make ice, but it's broken and doesn't have water anyway, so it was just humming.  I fixed the icemaker arm so it wouldn't make any more noise.  Scared me. 

I had horrible visions of having to buy a new A/C unit or something.  I'm glad I didn't tell Ron when it started.  I will tell Ron now because he needs to know about the arm. 

Ron opened the door to the garage to get his vodka, and didn't realize Biscuit had escaped.  I heard pathetic cries for help and looked all over the house before I figured it out.  I opened the door to the garage and there he was.  He came right in, too.  He had something stuck in his whiskers from sticking his face where he shouldn't, of course. 

#2 still isn't working.  They have been here for weeks and nothing.  Either they get some kind of check or they are in big trouble.  I can't see them moving to Texas if they didn't have at least one job lined up, though.  He was out in front of his house talking on the cell phone for a while earlier.  I could hear him in the house. 

Ron set up an early pickup for tomorrow so I need to go to bed.  I hope you're having a good one, I'm praying for you every day. 

2 beers and a taco

Well, the big rain front was supposed to come in this afternoon. 

We planned our whole day around this fact; out in the morning, home in the afternoon. 

The big rain front arrived this morning. 

I slept in until about 8, actually woke up a little before the alarm.  I fed Biscuit, brushed my teeth, did my usual morning care routine (brush my hair, take a shower, brush my hair again and put it in a ponytail, etc.).  I got dressed and did my God Time. 

Torbie joined me.  She's my old lady cat, a mixture of brown tabby, orange, and black.  She has a white chin and big green eyes.  She's pretty heavy, even after a couple months of dieting, but we're working on it. 

She shed all over my pants, of course, but that's why I bought the lint brushes.  We had a good time. 

Done with that, I posted in my "Read the Bible in a Year" "blog" and watched a little TV.  That's when I found out the storm was coming sooner, rather than later. 

It was supposed to come at 9, but it waited until after we were already at the taqueria eating breakfast.  It rained pretty hard for about an hour, then cleared up. 

Ron had 2 beers and a taco.  I had a shrimp quesadilla and a large diet coke with lime wedges in it.  It was very good. 

We talked a little and planned tomorrow.  Ron grumbled about the rain, which honestly wasn't that severe in our part of town, and was happy when it ended. 

It was nice and dry when our ride home arrived.  He (the driver) was a nice man with gold teeth, smiling a lot and very friendly.  He got us home quickly. 

We got in right as it started raining again.  Since I had taken "everything" pill wise (except my antioxidants), I took a nap.  Biscuit joined me (the white and gray neuter).  We had a good nap with him sleeping on my leg.  It was very sweet. 

It rained during my entire nap, not really severe but pretty hard at times.  It would stop, another wave would come in, and it would start again. 

I finally got up and watched a little TV.  Torbie begged for treats, which I didn't give her, and she ended up eating cat food.  That's the idea. 

I am happy to report she eats a lot more canned food. When I first started putting it out, she wouldn't touch it.  However, after Ron had the back surgery, I was so busy sometimes I forgot to feed the cats.  She "had" to eat the wet food if she wanted to eat, and now she's got a taste for it. 

I'm generally not an advocate of starving an animal into eating a particular food, but in her case it worked.  Baby Girl and Biscuit always liked canned food anyway. 

So, I'm done for now.  I took in the garbage can.  The side yard was really muddy and I got stuck a few times, got mud on my freshly washed capris, so I rinsed my feet, and them, off in the bathtub before I put the pants in the wash pile. 

Now I'm going to tweak the blog a bit.  I would like to put the slideshow back.  I feel it adds a lot in explaining who I am. 

Biscuit sticks to small prey

Well, I found my chips.  I have to wonder if you are interested in hearing how I found it. 

Well, you can always scroll.  After yesterday's vomiting debacle, I took the bag, with the chips, into the house.  I set them by the front door and got the disinfecting wipes to give to the driver. 

I decided to apologize to Ron when he was sober, but he (drunk) asked me if I had found the chips yet.  I told him, yes, I had.  I told him I was sorry I asked him where the chips were, which is true enough as it goes. 

I went to bed.  I slept pretty well and woke up with a mild headache.  I took some aspirin and went back to sleep.  I woke up again without a headache. 

I got up, did my God Time, took my shower, took my pills.  We went to Walmart.  I got our stuff, including 25 pounds of cat litter, and spent $71.  We came home. 

I took a nap and had a pretty good one, but Biscuit must have brought something alive into the house, because he is stalking it.  He is still after it, whatever it is. 

Thankfully Biscuit tends to stick to small prey. 

I got up and chatted with Ron a little as he began drinking.  He wanted to know if I'd bought a new fanny pack since the other one was probably ruined.  I told him no, I had the old one soaking in the sink. 

He called Chuck to take me back to the store, and I accepted.  I went to the store, got Ron some chips, myself a diet 7up "It's hard to find a caffeine free diet beverage" I told Chuck.  I also bought myself a large bag of Sour Cream and Onion Ruffles, one of my favorite chips. 

Then we came home.  I had also gotten Ron some TV dinners he had requested so he was happy about that. 

I watched Hoarders and finished doing the laundry.  My clothes are clean now - I got all the puke out of them.  Yay.  I would have hated to buy a whole new outfit. 

Then I fed the cats, that's always ongoing. 

Now I'm going to bed.  Tomorrow we are going out for breakfast before the bad weather arrives.  We are already seeing a lot of gusty winds - harbingers of worse to come. 

Hopefully, by the time the bad weather arrives I will be at home in bed, taking my nap. 

Thanks a lot

Well, I'm not queasy any more.  Earlier today, I bought a bag of chips and put them, along with my crocheting, in a plastic bag on the back of Ron's wheelchair. 

I finally asked Ron why he was washing his garbage.  He wastes soap and water doing this.  It's trash, why are you washing it?  Oh, he said, he didn't want to attract roaches.  1.  The container has an airtight lid and 2.  You don't think the cat poop, used tampons, and half-eaten cans of cat food won't attract bugs?  It's pointless and a waste of dish soap.  He has used an entire 2 quart "thing" of dish soap washing his garbage.  "I'll buy you more" but I think I got him thinking about that at least. 

I went looking for the chips, because eventually I will feel better and get my appetite back.  I asked Ron what happened to them.  He blew up, shouted at me (with me politely reminding him I have a bad headache and asking him not to do so), and just generally acted like a jerk.  He didn't get physical but that's about all he did that was right. 

So, I have a migraine.  After he is done shouting at me Ron decided to play his music at full blast.  I am sure he is waiting for me to come in there and ask him to stop.  I won't.  It's just the same old stuff, he will get bored of it eventually and turn it off. 

I am SO sick of Ron's music.  He is always shoving it down my throat, and I never return the favor.  I make sure, when I'm listening to my music, that he can't hear it in the next room.  If he complains he can hear the bass, I turn it down even more. 

The man.  Does not.  Respect me.  I went to work so sick I vomited, and he's angry because I asked him what happened to my bag of chips.  Now he's going to torture a person with a migraine (I am starting to feel a little better but I won't tell him that - as far as he knows I am in excruciating pain and he is blasting loud music and shouting at me).  Classy. 

Ugh, I am so disgusted. 

I know some of this is the head injury but he always has these tantrums when he thinks I am "attacking" him.  "Where are my chips?  They were on the back of the wheelchair?" is not an attack.  It is a simple question.  One I would have liked answered. 

As near as I can figure, he probably drank to a blackout and got "sick of all this crap on my wheelchair" and threw away the bag, with the crocheting and the chips in it. 

Thanks a lot. 

Pull over!

I was doing OK, really, until we got to the hog excrement. 

I woke up with a headache today.  I took some aspirin and drank a Diet Mountain Dew.  That will kill a headache, most days.  It didn't today. 

I got very excited when I saw the "terrible" apartment complex (Section 8) near work had a shooting last night.  2 people dead, four more in the hospital.  I started plotting how I could do a Bible Handout. 

That's how I work, something terrible happens, I want to do a handout. 

My headache got a lot worse after that.  I don't think the devil liked that. 

We went to work.  My headache was bad but manageable.  I did almost vomit at one point.  I was headed for the bathroom and a woman got in my way.  She was wearing a heavy floral perfume which just made everything worse. 

"How are you doing?" she asked me cheerfully. 
"Not so good." I replied.  "I think I'm about to vomit."  She got out of the way right quick.  I did not vomit, I wish I had, now. 

We went outside early because it was very noisy at work and people kept heating up food in the microwaves.  The last thing I want, when I'm nauseous, is to smell cooking food.  Especially curry. 

We have a lot of people at work who like curry. 

We left (I had done all my stocking and helped Ron as much as I was able).  I was so happy to see our driver, early.  He had another client in the backseat. 

I got in the front passenger seat and he dropped her off.  On the way home, I was hit with an overwhelming wave of nausea. 

"I don't see" Ron says "Why muslims hate pork so much." 
The driver (from Gabon, in Africa) "Oh, pork is very unclean.  Pigs eat anything (listing all the things that pigs eat).  Pigs even eat their own excrement!"
"Pull over?" I asked weakly.  "I need you to pull over!" 

He did, but not in time.  I got sick all over the side of the cab, the dashboard, and mostly, myself.  I was OK getting sick on myself but I felt horrible about the cab. 

I got out and finished getting sick for the moment.  Then I got some disinfecting wipes from the driver and began cleaning.  He said he would clean it up but I'm not making that poor man clean up my puke.  Since I had only had clear sodas at work, it wasn't bad. 

After a couple minutes, the cab was cleaned to our satisfaction and he brought us home.  I ran in the house and got him another package of disinfecting wipes.  I figured I owed him that much. 

He was incredibly nice about the whole incident. 

I have learned my lesson, if I have a headache I am bringing a bucket. 

I crawled in the house and went to bed.  I asked Ron to call in a compliment on the driver.  He deserves it.  He was very nice about it.  I would have been furious if someone got sick all over my cab. 

I vomited again, it felt like down to my bowels, and cleaned the bucket.  I managed to sleep for a few hours, woke up, the headache is marginally better but I'm still queasy.  I woke up really thirsty so I drank some powerade, which is sitting in my stomach like a lead weight.  I don't dare put anything else in my system. 

This, my friends, is one of the few days when I will not be taking my medication, because I wouldn't hold it down.  Biscuit has been very cuddly and affectionate, he is sleeping by my feet right now. 

Ron is singing along, (badly) with some music on the radio and having a good time.  He was nice and quiet so I didn't have any drama. 

The last thing I need is for him to get sick on the floor! 

We have tomorrow off so we can run to Walmart (and I can get more disinfecting wipes, cat litter, stuff like that).  Wednesday we're supposed to get severe weather so I believe them.  My aunt always swears incoming bad weather will trigger a migraine and I sure got a whopper today. 

"I don't open those cans"

I slept in this morning, until 10.  Biscuit tried to wake Ron up to get breakfast, but Ron declined.  "I don't open those cans". 

I did, when I got up.  Dry and wet food served up, one happy kitty with his tail in the air.  Aren't they so cute when they're happy and stick their tail in the air?  I just love that. 

I took my medication and did my God Time.  I wanted to make sure I was pretty clear when I talked to God. 

My reading did get me thinking, though.  In the "olden days" God did not want the Israelites to interact with their "unsaved" neighbors.  In fact, marriage between the two groups was strictly forbidden.  In the New Testament, we find an injunction not to be "unequally yoked" which applied to marriage in that context, don't marry an unbeliever. 

Take it from me, a woman married to a guy who often acts like an unbeliever, it's a world of pain.  I can't imagine knowing my spouse was going to hell.  Awful.  Better not to start the relationship to begin with. 

It got me thinking about friends of mine and who is saved and who isn't.  When someone says "God and I are on good terms" that really means "Shut the hell up about all that God stuff, Heather."  Do I spend the same amount of time with this person, or less?  I'll have to think on that. 

The rest of my friends, including online, are saved.  I know you readers are a mix of religious standpoints and I appreciate the attention.  I know I must seem pretty strange at times. 

After my God Time, I took a shower and shaved my legs.  I wasn't in a rush to go anywhere so I figured today would be a good day.  That accomplished, I headed off to do up my medication. 

Every 2 weeks, I sort out my medication.  I have to take 2 Wellbutrin in the morning, and 4 Lithium, 1 Depakote, and 1 Haldol in the evening.  I also take supplements, like calcium/magnesium/zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, etc.  So, twice a month I have to sit down with my two, pills of the week organizers.  I have to put the medication into the little compartments for morning or evening.  I do this until I am done. 

I have a plastic box for all my supplements and medication.  As I "do" the medication, I take it out of the box and put it on the floor.  When the box it empty, I'm done. 

Done!  Yay!  That is one of the more tedious aspects of my illness, but I can't always remember to take the pill out of the prescription bottle.  Better to do it this way. 

Doc doesn't care as long as I'm taking everything, everyday.  That would have been a good title "Everything, everyday". 

Then I did the litter boxes.  Ron's box (he doesn't use it [grin], it's just in his room), smelled pissy even after we took out the clumps, so I dumped it and washed the box.  Boy, that was some hot and careful work.  My feet got wet in the tub, working, and as I stepped out on the tile floor I almost slipped a couple times.  Yike. 

I decided to try to take a nap, but remember the tree guy from yesterday?  Yeah.  He came by today with his crew (none of them legal, I bet), and fired up the chainsaw.  I did manage to get a little rest with Biscuit, who slept on my legs. 

When I got up I checked the mail and found something for #2.  I gave that to him and told him I liked how they had trimmed the oak tree. 

I think the landlord got a letter from the insurance company.  They did that with us "Cut the overhanging branches or we won't pay for any roof damage".  They (#2) also had some low hanging branches that liked to "attack" people going to check their mail.  That's all gone now.  It looks very nice, sort of upswept.  It's a live oak tree, we have a lot of them in Houston. 

All day I have heard the sounds of power equipment as people tend their yards.  My jasmine is blooming and smells lovely.  I only wish we went in and out the front door.  We use the garage now to provide protection for the cats.  It was mostly sunny and lovely 70-80 degree weather. 

Tomorrow, I hear it is supposed to rain, which is probably why everyone is doing their yards today.  I checked the weather, it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Wednesday.  Pretty severe, they are saying, on Wednesday. 

I have to get up at 4 AM tomorrow so I'm going to bed shortly.  Hopefully the neighbors will be quiet and "let" me sleep. 

I always try to be quiet when I am leaving so they can sleep.  I wish some of them would return the favor. 

Wierd, wierd, wierd

Last night we finally got the severe weather.  It woke me up, and kept me up, for hours.  We had a lot of rain, wind, and some hail. 

This morning I reset my alarm to get extra cuddle time with Biscuit.  I got up and took my shower, got ready for work. 

We went to the warehouse.  I bought all our stuff and Jack came and got us, to go to work. 

While unloading the truck, I caught a postal worker filming us.  I don't know why.  I was unloading a truck just like the other vendor does (well, they have a van, this was a pickup, and the other vendor's wife doesn't do manual labor).  I found it very disturbing. 

When caught, the woman filming me just said "Candid Camera!" and turned it off.  Weird, weird, weird. 

Why would you film the crazy woman?  Maybe she thought I'm faking being disabled and this would "prove" otherwise.  Maybe she thought my helper was Ron, even though Ron was sitting in his wheelchair.  I don't know and I don't pretend to understand what drove her behavior. 

But I do run paranoid and delusional.  BAD idea to stick a camera in my face. 

Good thing I took my meds today. 

We got everything parked in the stockroom and left.  We had done our stocking yesterday and everything still looked good. 

We went home.  I took a nap, well, I tried.  #2 had their yappy little dog out in the backyard and it was pretty loud, woke me up.  I had a thought of rising up, naked, and storming next door to please ask them to put it up. 

Apparently I transmitted this thought because suddenly it was quiet.  Then I got my nap. 

I woke up and did my God Time.  Torbie got in my lap and "helped".  Then Ron and I went to the BBQ place. 

We had a good time.  I got a hamburger with a fried egg on top and it was much better than the one at Denny's.  I was stuffed after eating the hamburger. 

Ron ate himself sick on pork ribs, again.  He loves his pork ribs. 

We came home.  #6 was gone (I thought they were having a party tonight, but I guess not), and 2 young women, of a different race, were parked crosswise at the bottom of #6's driveway, blocking it.  They watched the unloading (get out the wheelchair, bring it to Ron, stuff Ron in wheelchair, push him up the driveway, open garage door) with great interest. 

It's just been a strange day.  If I had a huge readership I would have thought they were fans. 

I settled in and so did Ron.  He's asleep now.  Someone knocked on my door. 

I went outside.  I don't leave the door open and talk to people because 1. I don't want them looking in my house and 2.  I don't want the cats getting out.  I stepped out on the porch and shut the door behind me. 

It was the owner of #2.  He wanted to trim one of the trees in my sideyard.  I said that was fine.  He had me repeat that to his yard guy.  I said, go ahead, just don't damage my roof (yard guy laughed at that, and waved it off), and told him how to open the gate.  So that will happen at some point, probably when I am trying to take a nap. 

Funny, last year, when they half-painted the house, they were cutting limbs off that tree without asking permission.  I guess nowadays we are being polite.  The house is still half-painted, by the way.  I'm surprised they got a tenant at all. 

So, that's been my day.  I am watching Dr Jeff reruns on the Animal channel and I will be going to bed pretty soon. 

I'm still pretty wiped out from last night. 

Far corners

The neighbors were quiet last night when I went to bed at 7, but I had a horrible time falling asleep.  Then I had a horrible time staying asleep.  Ron woke me up laughing at something Baby Girl did, but says he didn't remember it.  As I lay in bed, I kept thinking, "It's too late... I think I have a problem with the alarm.  It's too late.  I have been in bed for too long". 

Sure enough, I checked my alarm at 3:20.  I had meant to get up at 2. 

Needless to say I scurried around trying to get everything done.  I was "acceptable" when I left the house but that's about it. 

At least I didn't have a headache. 

The other vendor's employee was on the bus and we had a straight trip to work.  It was interesting riding with him.  He has 3 cats.  I told him today his one cat is probably a Japanese Bobtail.  He was impressed.  He has one of those households where new cats just show up periodically.  I'm surprised he's kept it to 3 cats. 

We got to work and I stocked.  It needed stocking.  I made an inventory list for my Sam's run tomorrow.  I helped Ron, who, for a change, didn't yell at me today. 

It is especially embarrassing when he yells at me in front of other people.  Worse when they smile or laugh, hearing him yell at me.  It's like getting kicked, twice.  It happens. 

Only one time ever did someone tell Ron to cut it out.  I wanted to hug that man. 

Eventually our delivery arrived.  It was short a case, they had a mishap going up the ramp.  They hit a bump and a case of soda went flying.  Oh, well. 

They didn't charge us for it. 

They even put it away, I love that guy.  I really didn't want to stack up 47 cases of soda if I didn't have to.  And I didn't. 

Ron was a little upset it came in cases of 24, instead of his 12 packs.  He will manage. 

After that I did what I could but things were pretty dead for a while.  I did remind the other vendor's wife about the coin mech. 

I noticed she had a new coin mech on her cart.  If you plug in a coin mech when the machine is on, you will fry the mech, and that is $200-$300.  You have to turn off the power in the machine before you put in the new unit.  She was happy to hear it and told her "new" guy about it, too. 

Good.  I'd hate to know I could have helped prevent equipment getting fried.  I don't care if we have a little rivalry going, that's natural when we are competing, but I don't have to be ugly. 

I took the money out of the machines and Ron counted it (we do this on different days so we don't have a schedule).  We went to the bank - we had the rules and regulations driver again. 

We changed the money into $20 bills and met Chuck.  Ron had it in his head he HAD to go to Denny's.  I would have been just as happy with $1.49 chicken nuggets from Burger King.

We went.  I decided to get the hamburger with the fried egg on top. They put hashbrowns in it, and some nasty spicy cheese, even though I asked for cheddar.  I was not impressed.  I ate it anyway because we had to pay for it, but next time I will just get sausage and eggs ala carte. 

Ron got his cheesesteak omlette, and Chuck got a club sandwich.  They both enjoyed their food.  Our waitress was nice, I liked her. 

We paid and left, toting Ron's leftovers.  Next up, we went to a local grocery store to get more Paratransit tickets. 

If we want to go out to our favorite BBQ restaurant, we need four tickets round trip.  It is in the "premium fare" area - the nice part of town, and requires commensurate fare, apparently.  Ron was almost out of tickets. 

If we go anywhere on paratransit, we have to stay there for an hour, even if it's just a 10 minute trip.  So we had Chuck take us. 

I got stuck waiting in line behind a lady who was showing her passport for ID on a transaction, and it wasn't an American one.  I wondered what country she called home.  I wondered what she was doing.  At the end of it all, she also bought a gift card too. 

When I got up there she told me, if I wanted more than one sheet of tickets, they would have to open the safe, and it was on a 5 minute delay.  She got a manager to do it. 

They kept looking at me, probably because I don't appear disabled, and I wanted several sheets of tickets (each sheet has 11 tickets).  She made me get out of line and wait. 

The line grew very long.  I got worried I would have to wait behind all these other people, and their complicated transactions.  They called me to come up front, jumping the line. 

I'm sure the other customers loved that.  She presented the sheets of tickets and I paid for them. 

I left the store and called Ron to come get me.  Chuck, when waiting, likes to park at the far corners of the parking lot.  They came and got me. 

We went home. 

I put the leftovers in the fridge and immediately went to bed.  Sleep deprived, two nights in a row, is asking for trouble. 

I laid down.  Torbie joined me.  I took a little while falling asleep but when I did I went under pretty far.  I slept well and woke up, thinking it was several hours later.  Frankly, I was surprised it was still light out. 

Imagine my surprise when I found out it wasn't even 3 PM.  I got up and did my God Time. 

I talked to Ron for a while.  He is reading one of those "Vigilante Justice"  novels.  You just know someone's going to die and probably at the hand of the protagonists' child. 

He drank.  Then he ate a TV dinner.  He treated the cats and went back to bed. 

I plan to follow suit pretty soon.  I'm still tired and I have to get up at 4 tomorrow morning. 

something Yellow

I think Ron had a blackout last night.  He wasn't abusive per se, but he did keep waking me up. 

Sleep deprivation is very bad for me.  Morning came, I still had to get up.  But I did rearrange my God Time for later. 

I took my shower and got ready.  We went to the pet store.  We had the control freak driver again.  I wonder why we keep getting him.  I think he has OCD. 

We arrived and got Ron unloaded.  We went to the Kolache Factory and got some Kolaches.  Ron got cheesesteak, I got cream cheese. 

Then we went to Starbucks (I am not a fan of their politics but Ron likes the drinks).  I left Ron there and went to the pet store. 

First in, I ducked a large puddle of urine.  Yuck.  People wonder why I don't have dogs, this is one reason.  They don't seem to have good bladder control, based on what I see at the pet store. 

I looked at the cats.  They had some cute ones up for adoption, but my favorite was the fluffy calico.  Of course, she would require a lot of grooming.  They can get mats if you're not diligent and I can barely keep up with the litter. 

I went to the cat food section and found my brand (Blue Wilderness Salmon).  They had good codes, over a year.  I bought 3 because Ron hates shopping for cat food. 

He hates waiting at Starbucks while I shop for cat food, and called me a "bitch" this morning when I told him I still wanted to go.  Nice. 

I called him and asked if he wanted anything.  He said maybe toys, but the cats' favorite toy seems to be the live thing they drag in through the catio.  They love live things, not so much "dead" toys, no matter how I wiggle them. 

I told him this and he agreed.  He said he didn't want treats so we skipped them. 

I checked out, ducking another puddle of dog urine.  I got $6 off with my reward card, nice.  I have to buy the food anyway, if I can get a discount I'll take it.  I don't care if they track my shopping patterns. 

I put all 3 bags of cat food (5 pounders) into my tote bag and walked back to Starbucks.  I arrived and checked in with Ron. 

I saw something yellow out of the corner of my eye.  Rather, something Yellow (cab).  I went out and verified it was for us.  I got Ron out there and we loaded him up.  I put the cat food by my feet.

We came home.  Ron said he would like me to roll down the exterior blinds.  I did that. 

I laid down.  I have to get up at 2 AM tomorrow and I didn't sleep well last night.  I don't want to get manic because - or more depressed, because I was sleep deprived. 

I kept hearing banging noises.  The blinds were hitting the side of the house.  I got up, got dressed, and went out there.  I fixed it pretty well. 

Then, an hour later, just as I was falling asleep, Ron woke me up and told me to please roll UP the blinds, because we had a storm coming in and he didn't want to hear them banging all night.  So I got dressed, got up, and did it. 

I wasn't too happy about it but I didn't blame Ron.

I went back to bed, AGAIN.  #6 made a lot of banging and rearranging (they are having a party on Saturday) noises directly outside my bedroom.  I did manage to get a little sleep, though, because I eventually woke up at 4:30. 

I did my God time and turned on the computer.  I have to go to bed pretty soon so that's it for now. 

Here's to hoping I get a good quality of sleep tonight. 

Wild Yorkie attack

Today turned out to be pretty interesting after all. 

We went to the taqueria for breakfast, it was very good.  First, though, we had to get picked up. 

While waiting on our ride, outside, we were approached several times by someone's escaped Yorkie.  I think it was a Yorkie.  Whatever it was, it was small and very friendly.  It kept licking my toes.  It ran off before we could catch it so we called Animal Control to come get it.  I didn't want to see it run over in the road.  And some people are sick enough to hit the gas when they see an animal in the road, instead of the brake. 

Then our ride arrived.  It was the "control freak" driver who likes to dictate our every movement to the millimeter.  It was ridiculous.  He ordered me to stand still while he loaded Ron, then he got Ron transferred.  He strapped the wheelchair (locked it in place, basically), THEN allowed me onto the vehicle. 

Normally the driver just opens the door, I board, and then they help Ron. 

"This guy" I told Ron later "Is terrified of losing his job."  He agreed.  It's actually very sad. 

What's sadder, the guy was over 20 minutes late so he should be worried.  They like drivers with "On time" performance, and late drivers do not do well. 

We got to the taqueria and unloaded, "driver" style.  This time he ordered me off the van first, then he helped Ron. 

By the time we got in, Yolanda, our usual waitress, had moved a chair away from table 12, making room for Ron's wheelchair.  I thought that was very sweet. 

Ron said he wasn't really hungry, he just had a beer and some chips.  I had a cheese quesadilla with shrimp.  Ron ordered some Machacado tacos to go.  We paid and left. 

We had a nice ride home but got an unexpected call from the boss on the way.  It was a little tricky unloading him while he was agreeing with the boss on the phone. 

We went inside and put our food away.  I tried to take a nap but didn't sleep very well.  I guess it was all that soda.  I woke up really thirsty, too. 

When we got home, I had taken all my medication at once (I can do that) to get it over with.  It, however, tends to make me very thirsty. 

I got up and watched a little TV, cleaned the litter boxes, and arranged a trip to the pet store for tomorrow.  We need to get some more cat food. 

I always keep cat food in reserve, but when I buy a new bag I take an "old" one out, and use that.  Then I put the new on in it's place.  We are almost out of the current bag. 

They, of course, get wet food in addition to the dry, but I don't want to run out of any cat food. 

I did my God Time.  Torbie got in my lap while I was doing it. 

Someone knocked on my door.  It was the nice man from animal control, with the "Animal Control" van parked in front of my house (marking me as the "narc").  He said he couldn't find the little dog, it sounded like it had gone home, and he would keep an eye out. 

I explained I just didn't want the little thing to get run over, and I told him about the catio.  He had never heard of one and said, "Everyone should have one of those". 

I put that on Facebook and tagged the handyman who built it.  I think he deserves to hear good things about his work. 

I love to hear good things about myself and my work.  I think everyone does. 

A lot about my freezer

Sorry I didn't get to you yesterday, I was just wiped out. 

I got up, went to the warehouse, and bought stuff for work.  Not a lot, enough to fit in a large tote bag.  I also got some popcorn (already popped and flavored) just to see what they think. 

We went to work and stocked.  I realized I had forgotten the Snickers.  [facepalm]  Agh!  I put Almond Snickers instead.  It will hold them for a few days. 

I should add, here, I had full rows of Snickers in two out of my three snack machines.  It's just #3 that is "out" - well, almost, yesterday. 

I did everything with Ron, got it all stocked, and we went home.  I took a short nap. 

I got up, got my reusable tote bags together, and went to Walmart.  I did my weekly shopping.  I was happy, and annoyed, when I got to the milk. 

I was happy the organic whole milk was sold out.  That's great that people are considering what they put in their bodies.  I was annoyed the whole milk was sold out.  I bought 1% instead. It will work. 

Ron wanted gallon ziplocks, pineapple juice, apple juice, and a couple of "Steak and Corn" TV dinners.  When I check his blood sugar, it's fine, so I don't worry about him. 

I got some cookies.  I have plenty of sandwich fixings in the fridge, and frozen TV dinners in the freezer.  Ron bought five value burgers to freeze, and eat later. 

We don't have a deep freeze, just the standard "came with the fridge" freezer.  The icemaker broke last year, cost us over $600 (we had to fix a plumbing thing that was related), and still isn't fixed, so it's pretty crowded in there with the ice trays and all. 

When we get another fridge, I don't want an icemaker.  They break, they leak, they are expensive.  I would rather just use ice trays.  Ron says an icemaker makes him feel "rich" - well, you'd better be, to have one!   I don't want to deal with the hassle and drama again.  I hardly ever use ice anyway. 

We'll see how that one plays out.  Currently the fridge is working.  It makes some odd noises now and then but everything is still cold. 

We came home.  We had a nice driver.  I like her.  She says Biscuit is "sexy".  I really enjoy her. 

I put everything away that I could, and pretty much went right to bed. The day just wiped me out.  Even #6 playing outside couldn't deter me from my rest. 

I think of all the things I used to do before medication, and on lower doses, and I get sad and resentful.  I shouldn't have to drag my tired butt around like a 90 year old lady.  I know some 90 year old ladies with more energy then me! 

But, it's the price I pay.  Do I want to end up like my mother, drinking my troubles away?  Married 7 times?  Plus boyfriends?  No.  Do I want to end up like other family members who are constantly posting drama?  No.  Do I want to hallucinate and get delusional?  No.  Well, then. 

So I gag down another handful of medication, wondering why God has to use me this way.  He didn't want me with more energy? 

It's a mystery to me. 

It was fun while it lasted

Surprise!  Blogger added some new themes so I took this one. 

I like it, but let me know what you think.  I like playing with templates. 

Years ago, right before Ron's accident, I decided to take my soapmaking retail.  I bought a domain name and downloaded Star Office.  Star Office had an HTML editor, which I used to make a pretty decent website. 

I wonder if Star Office is even around anymore.  I always found it easy to use.  I didn't have a retail site, just a promotional one.  I was going to have photos of coconut palms, and a photo of a grease dumpster.  You have seen them behind restaurants, waiting for the renderer to come pick them up.  I was going to have the comparison: my soap, coconut palms.  Commercial soap, grease dumpster with roaches on it.  Feel free to steal this if you are a soapmaker. 

A couple of things happened.  We hired a woman who turned out to be deeply troubled.  She told Ron she had auditioned for a porn movie, and her father was a pimp.  She was always complaining about the other girls. 

I made soap and brought some to work for the girls.  Since the woman in the above paragraph had young nieces, I made sure to tell her this was soap for adults, not to use it on children, they might have an allergy or something. 

What did she do?  She went home and gave the kids a bath in the soap!  She came in the next day raving about the soap (the first time we heard anything positive from her), but I was pissed.  She did the one thing I told her not to do.  I did not give her any more soap. 

I was worried about liability issues.  If someone had a problem, they could sue us.  Me, rather.  I would also need to get a sales tax permit and all that if I were going to get serious about selling.  I would need a venue to sell. 

Sales were so bad in the deli, I had to come in and help.  I was working a lot of overtime and I had little to no time to make soap anymore.  So the soap business kind of fell by the wayside. 

These days, I might make some soap for family and friends, not to sell, BUT I have three VERY nosy cats.  I would have to lock them up while I made the soap, and then I would have to keep them away from it while it cured.  I would also have to buy new supplies and download some kind of spreadsheet program because I need to use formulas to calculate the lye and all. 

It was fun while it lasted, though.  It was always so fun to see the moment in the chemical reaction when it "saponified" and turned into a thick pudding.  I had to pour it pretty quick after that because it set up fast.  It was a lot like cooking. 

You have to be careful, though.  Lye will blind you, burn you, and cause you a lot of pain if you are not incredibly careful with it (which is why I would need to lock up the cats, dogs, children, etc.).  It can be messy, you have to use various oils and an appliance (something called a stick blender, but you can get one at Walmart for $20) to formulate the soap. 

Here's the page that got me started, if you are interested.  It is a lot of fun. 

http://www.millersoap.com/  Just scroll down for all the links. 

Today.  I woke up at 4.  I was very tired, as I had a hard time falling asleep last night.  I reset the alarm to 4:40 and went back to sleep with Biscuit. 

I got up and did my usual morning routine, except for my God Time, which I did later.  We went to work. 

The boss was supposed to come and take two dead bill changers away, today.  However someone hurt his back and that is not happening today.  We went in, basically, for nothing. 

We did have the repairman come in and swap out the locks, though.  We didn't want to send them back with the "good locks".  We put some cheap basic locks instead. 

He also had a look at the bottled vendor, which was making funny noises.  He addressed that too. 

We stocked and I got sandwiches.  I stocked them. 

Pretty soon all done and we came home.  We had a good ride home. 

Then I took a short nap.  I got up late (I had meant to get up early and do my God Time, but I was too tired), and got ready to go. 

We went out for burgers.  Actually, I did.  Ron had eaten himself sick on leftovers, earlier.  He just had a drink while I ate. 

We came home and I finished doing the first load of laundry.  I did my God Time.  I just need to feed the cats again, before I go to bed. 

Tomorrow should be an interesting day, too. 

11

I slept really well last night and woke up at 11 AM.  I was shocked.  I never sleep that late these days. 

I got up, took a shower, and did my God Time.  That got me to 1:30 PM.  I decided to take a nap but I had a hard time dropping off, so I got up around 3:30. 

Ron was awake by then, so we talked a little bit.  Then I decided to do laundry.  I took all the clothes out of the washer and checked them.  They were OK.  I didn't want to leave a receipt in a shirt pocket, or money in a pocket. 

Then I reloaded the washer.  I couldn't fit everything in there so I held some of it back, making sure to get the pants, shirts, and underwear while I had it.  I ran a load. 

The washer makes terrifying noises when it runs, loud bangs, hums, etc.  It always freaks me out when I hear it going. 

I watched a little bit of the X-men (Days of Future Past) while the load ran.  Then I put it in the dryer.  I watched more TV but couldn't find Hoarders anywhere, I don't know why. 

It used to be I could always find it on a Sunday night. 

The cats are good.  I had to squirt Baby Girl earlier for hassling Torbie and making her hiss.  Torbie is happy, Baby Girl forgave me, and all is OK.  Biscuit is waiting by my foot for his dinner, which is overdue, so I'd better go. 

I feel very apologetic about my blogs lately.  I feel they have been boring.  I am sorry about that, but in my world boring is a very good thing. 

"You just want to squish her"

Sorry for another 2 days in one post.  Sorry I am doing this on about 5 hours of sleep.  I will endeavor to be coherent. 

Yesterday I had planned to sleep in, but #6 had a bunch of Mexican guys running around and yelling in Spanish.  Over the course of the day, a load of cement was delivered and a new patio foundation was laid. 

You may remember, years ago, he laid a nice big patio.  Then he converted it to a bonus room on his house.  I doubt he got any building permits and I know he didn't have permission from the homeowner's association, but guess what?  I have a big cat cage off the back of my house so I don't throw rocks. 

They finished up around 2.  I had wanted to take a nap because I was working a late shift last night, but that didn't really work out. 

We went to work and worked, stocking the machines, and got everything done that we could.  We got picked up to go home, around 10 PM. 

Not really a problem, except I had to get up at 4 this morning, and I had a hard time falling asleep.  I went to bed and tossed and turned for a while. 

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when my alarm went off.  On the plus side, I did have Torbie and Biscuit in the bed.  I rolled over on Torbie by accident and she moved, but it was nice while I had her. 

"She's like a big teddy bear" Ron said "That you just want to squish".  Very true. 

That reminds me I need to clean their litter box.  I'm going to go do that now. 

 Done.  They were pretty bad.  I tend 3 boxes. 

I hauled myself out of bed, ate a protein bar, and took my medication.  We went to the warehouse.  I forgot some things I needed, mainly, I think, because I was tired. 

We paid for everything, went to work, and basically parked it all.  We had already done our stocking last night. 

We came home.  I did get a pretty good nap for a little bit. 

Ron had made a trip to our favorite BBQ place.  He had scheduled half an hour to get there.  The ride was half an hour late.  Ron was really upset. 

The driver managed to cheer Ron up with a speedy trip, and I thanked him in Arabic.  He was impressed I knew how to do it.  Then he wanted to know how I knew he spoke Arabic. 

Uh.  Racial profiling?  I told him it was a lucky guess. 

We had a good time at the BBQ place and got our food.  They were half an hour late picking us up.  It was a driver we like. 

When we got home, all 3 cats were waiting at the door.  I fed them and they went their separate ways.  Ron laid down to read a book and I turned on the computer. 

That's it for now.  Hopefully I have tomorrow off, really off, no trips, sleep late, etc.  We will see.   

Raised by a man

I was raised by a man. 

Sad but true, that probably impacted my beauty routine.  I don't have any memories of watching Mom put on her face cream or whatever. 

Dad's idea of pampering was a Bubble bath. 

Dad had care of me pretty much from my birth to age 5.  Then he married a woman who had a 10 year old girl, an 8 year old boy, and a toddler boy. 

I knew how to bathe myself, toilet, and brush my teeth so I don't think she was too worried about it.  I might need a reminder to brush my hair but I knew how to wash it.  She still supervised my bathtime for a couple of years, though. 

That would be awful to let your kid drown in the bathtub.  I know it's happened. 

Anyway, growing up, I would wash my face with body soap and scrub with a washcloth.  I might use a little perfume in my teen years but I had terrible skin. 

Along came the acne soap.  By the way, the cure for my skin trouble?  Vitamin A and E supplements.  According to the FDA I can't use the word "cure" but my troubles ended when I started a Vitamin A supplement. 

That's the first time I realized I needed a special soap for my face.  So I did that.  Sometimes I used astringent.  I was given Retin-A, which made my skin peel.  When I was in the hospital for depression, Doc prescribed a course of Tetracycline for my acne. 

I guess you could say my whole beauty routine, for years, was about managing my acne.  Now I finally have that under control (mostly, I had a pimple on a cheekbone last week), I have developed my own routine. 

I wash my face with Neutrogena Acne soap, found in the "teenager" section of the skin care area.  I'll remind you here I am 42.  I inherited my Dad's oily skin, which means I will probably be using the acne soap for decades to come. 

I wash my hair with Suave.  I have various products I use.  I use one for a while, get bored, try another.  I am currently using the Keratin shampoo.  It does help with smoothing my frizz, which can be pretty bad on humid days. 

While I do have a tremendous weakness for "nice" body soaps, I am currently using "Moisture Blast" Irish Spring.  It doesn't dry my skin the way the other soaps can.  I alternate between that and Coast, one I remember from my childhood.  I think they used to have a Lemon Coast, which was great, it has a very nice lemony scent.  I would love to find that again. 

And that's it.  I don't use lotion.  When I shave my legs, I just use regular soap.  I don't use any powders and I seldom use perfume. 

It works for me, but looking at my routine I have to laugh and say, yes, I was raised by a man. 

"What's your emergency?"

I thought I would have to call 911 today. 

"What's your emergency?" 

"My husband is threatening to overdose on Tylenol". 

I woke up about 2 AM with a vicious headache.  I took some aspirin and went back to sleep.  I woke up 4 hours later.  It was worse.  I took some Excedrin and want back to sleep. 

I got up a couple hours later.  Still there.  In the meantime, Ron is literally groaning with pain in his room.  He had neuropathy pain in his ankle. 

He drank.  He took Tylenol (I begged him not to combine the two).  He laid down again, groaning some more. 

About this time I hit my 4 hour mark for my medication and took some more aspirin.  Ron got his vibrating massager.  No joy.  Groan. 

He started threatening to take more Tylenol.  If I had thought he would have, I would have called 911.  I prayed.  I didn't hear any pills rattling. 

Pretty soon he called some friends and talked to them for a while.  His voice sounded better.  The next thing I knew, he was snoring. 

I didn't do anything.  I didn't do my God Time, take a shower, or even get dressed.  I did feed the cats.  I watched Supernatural - Sam and Dean battling various Bad Things.  I watched a couple episodes and went back to bed. 

I slept for a couple hours and woke with a slightly better headache.  I ate, drank some milk, and took my medication.  By this time Ron was up and feeling better, I can always tell if he's feeling better because he plays music. 

He did that for a while, until I suggested he keep the bass down "We don't want to give the neighbors any ideas".  He's also watching TV, some old classic comedy reruns. 

I wasn't allowed to watch much TV when I was a kid.  I couldn't watch TV, but I could watch "movie night" on Friday night when we rented videos. 

Then, when I lived on my own, I didn't own a television for a long time.  I only found out about Waco at work.  One male coworker was almost in tears when Selena died but I'm not into Tejano music anyway. 

I never watched Friends, Will and Grace, or any of that.  I was happy reading and renting the occasional movie.  Funny, I did a Google street view of my old neighborhood and the video store is now a vitamin shop. 

I'd probably love shopping there. 

I watch Law & Order (the original, not that horrible "women raped" series), Supernatural, and Hoarders.  That's about it. 

I'm just not interested in following a lot of shows.  Generally speaking, if it means getting my sleep or watching a program, I'm going to get my sleep. 

The neighbors have all been pretty quiet.  I still have to deal with #6's side yard light, which shines in my bedroom, but other than that it's been OK.  I hate typing this, just knowing chaos will erupt, but there you have it. 

Biscuit is hovering at my feet, rubbing against me and purring.  I can hear him purring from up here in my chair.  He wants his supper.  I'll give it to him in about 20 minutes.  I try to feed him at 6:30 and 6:30.  He's a patient boy, he knows I'm good for it. 

I wonder if people with dementia feed the same meal several times a day, or forget to feed at all?  A friend of mine with an elderly mother is looking at her going into a nursing home.  She will not be able to take her cats with her. 

So he plans to add her 3 to his existing 3.  Thankfully, for him, he doesn't have deed restrictions.  I'm sure the cats will get much better care, too. 

I have always been afraid to keep my cats alive too long.  My childhood cat developed diabetes.  Since my Dad had only agreed to one cat, as in "No more after this one dies", my stepmother had a very hard time letting him go.  He became incontinent and had to live outside for a while before he finally died.  I thought that was too much. 

Frosty and Bubba were very clear cut cases for euthanasia.  There was nothing that could be done to save them, not in the long term.  I didn't want to keep them "alive on machines" anyway.  So I let them go. 

Gravy was so much harder because what he had wasn't fatal, but would have caused him severe and chronic pain his whole life, no matter what I did.  So I made the decision to put him down. 

He was so freaked out by his time in the hospital.  In the future, I wouldn't leave him there overnight, it was just cruel.  He was so relieved to see us he licked both our hands (that was his thing).  When he died his tongue was hanging out.  It would have been comical if he wasn't dead. 

Sorry to be so grim. 

You know, it's hard to believe, but when I was a kid my parents let me walk to my friends' houses.  I was allowed to go hiking in the woods by myself.  All of this was totally normal.  I rode my bike a mile to the store and back to get treats, and when I was a little older, cheap makeup. 

I don't wear makeup.  I was only ever interested in it when I was manic, and I wasn't good at applying it.  I can slap on some mineral makeup and look OK but I don't, as a rule, because I would just sweat it off at work anyway. 

Same with my hair.  I never really learned to "do" my hair and my stepmother always kept it short.  Short hair can really only be brushed.  I started growing it out in '92 and did that for a few years, but once it got longer I didn't know what to do with it.  So I wore it in a ponytail, or more rarely, down.  I'd grow it out, cut it short, get tired of having to get it cut every month (my hair grows fast) and repeat. 

Biscuit gave up on me, and is eating breakfast leftovers. 

Clothes.  I know how to match, but I am not a fashionista.  I wear basic stuff in neutrals, generally, unless I am manic.  Then I wear brighter colored t-shirts.  I always felt I had trouble, working in an office.  Do I tuck in the blouse?  Do I wear sneakers to work and then change (that's what I would do now)?  Hose, I'm told, are not necessary any more.  I don't even have formal stuff that fits. 

I have a black dress I would wear if someone died, but that's about it.  The rest of my wardrobe is casual. 

Then I get depressing thoughts like if Ron died, would I try to work in an office or what would I do for a living?  I think I would try something in retail.  They are more forgiving and there is generally a uniform involved. 

That's always safe. 

The bottom of the food chain

We had originally planned to work tonight, but things didn't work out.  Ron's boss (and mine, although the food chain goes boss, Ron, Heather), came by to pick up our reports. 

I got up exhausted, reset the alarm, and did my God Time later.  I strive to do it first thing in the morning, after my shower.  It generally does not work out that way. 

I took my shower and we went to work.  We met the boss and had a good visit.  He's a good guy.  He also has back troubles so he could really relate to Ron. 

We discussed the disposal of the vending machine parts.  He wants me to send a formal email to put in the file.  Done.  Hopefully I can either get them back to the program, or get rid of them.  I absolutely cannot sell them, which is fine.  I have money. 

A customer came by and complained about the "deli".  He wanted a hot food operation, didn't care that we bled money operating it, and told us about the cafeteria where his wife works, how "you pick the filet you want and they cook it to order for you".  The boss managed to drum it in his head, that's not going to happen here.  I was dying to ask the guy why he didn't go work for that company if he liked it so much. 

The boss left and I continued stocking.  We finished up and came home.  I ate a sandwich (I made a couple last week, and they have been convenient), drank some milk, and took a nap. 

I had a pretty good nap, but woke up very depressed.  I watched a little TV and decided to do some food prep for Ron.  I had 3 kinds of presliced deli meat, two kinds of cheese, honey mustard, bread, and mayo.  I made 3 sandwiches. 

Years ago, during my half marathon training, I had a great 7 mile run.  It was harder to make the sandwiches than it was to run 7 miles.  What a horrible illness. 

These days I'm either depressed or I'm not, I seldom have a couple day mania.  At any rate, I put one sandwich in the fridge for Ron and put the other two in the freezer.  That way he can take it out the day before he wants to eat it. 

The cats ate all their food early, which is unusual for them.  They were all begging, different ways, during my God Time (after the nap, before the TV and sandwiches).  Torbie sat next to me and meowed, got in my lap, and purred.  Biscuit dug his claws into my leg like he was going to sharpen them, and meowed.  Baby Girl just meowed and pranced around prettily. 

I fed them after my God Time and of course Baby Girl was the only one who ate it right away, the other two started feasting later.  They were excited.  Apparently the kitchen is the place for cat treats.  Whenever Ron goes into the kitchen he treats them and I'm not often found in the kitchen these days. 

I thought that was funny.  They left me alone after a while. 

I also put up the garbage can and checked the mail.  It's a beautiful, sunny (well, it was) spring day.  It's a shame I can't enjoy it but I remind myself I have eternity.  This is temporary. 

I tell you, if I didn't have my faith I would have killed myself years ago.  I mean, if this life is it what's the point?  I don't see how the atheists do it (and I've said this before).  This illness is hell, many times "civilians" don't understand it, my husband can be verbally abusive (not today, happily), and I could go on. 

I worry about Torbie.  She is 9 years old now and probably doesn't have too long.  Bubba died at 10 and a half.  I will continue to love all my cats and enjoy them as much as possible.  Torbie is fun because she gets in my lap a lot, and sleeps with me. 

Biscuit hasn't been sleeping with me lately and that, I think, revolves around food.  Baby Girl only slept with me the night that Bubba died.  She's not very cuddly but she likes petting.  She's more Ron's cat. 

Although, I hear about cats living to their 20's so who knows.  Maybe Bubba just made bad lifestyle choices.  Maybe that cheap cat food was no good for him.  He wouldn't eat the quality stuff and literally starved himself until I got some 7-flavor feast in some cheap brand.  That's the only thing he would eat, aside from people food.  He loved meat. 

Which is why I could never figure why he wouldn't eat the quality stuff with meat as the first ingredient.  He used to like to lick the gravy off the canned cat food pates.  He would lick the gravy and then Frosty would eat the pate. 

I always felt Frosty was getting cheated (Frosty was an old cat, about 9, when Bubba brought him home), so, one day, I fed Frosty a can of cat food when Bubba was gone.  Frosty took one look at the gravy "What is this crap?" and walked away.  Bubba gave me a speaking look when he came home and found the cat food waiting for him.  I never did it again.  That was their deal. 

As it turns out, Frosty was diabetic so it was probably better for him.  My vet has asked me to try to get them on an all-wet food diet.  That's not really practical in our heat but I do feed them wet food (which all of them eat).  They have dry for nibbles in between. 

We have tomorrow off but didn't make any trips to go anywhere.  If we go anywhere, we will have to take the bus or a cab. 

Ron is keeping busy reading his talking book catalog.  It keeps him out of trouble and away from the vodka bottle. 

That's if for now.  I hope you're having a better mood than I am. 

Nights and weekends

Why does the headache always seem to come on the day off? 

Good question.  I took some aspirin and drank a Diet Mountain Dew to kill it.  It worked, somewhat. 

I took my shower and did my God Time.  We went to our favorite taqueria for breakfast.  Our ride was late and Ron got upset, and was a little short with the driver when she finally showed up. 

As I pushed Ron up to the doorway, I noticed they had a "jueves" special for "Sopa de cabeza" - head soup.  No thank you, very much. 

I had a quesadilla and just one of their delicious shrimp tacos.  Ron had them make him a (not on the menu, but should be) bacon, egg, and cheese quesadilla. 

Our pickup was late.  It was the guy who is usually late. 

He told us a story of one of his other clients.  She was "having some sort of bladder problem" so he dropped her at a drugstore to use the toilet.  She took so long dispatch was calling him on the radio, demanding to know his location, etc. 

If it had been me, I guess I would have said "You've got 5 minutes and then I am leaving" when he dropped her because, like he said, he couldn't exactly haul her out of the stall! 

By that time we were home.  I was looking forward to my nap as my headache had been re-aggravated by the first driver's air freshener.  My clothes reeked of cheap air freshener.  She must have used that nasty spray.  It is horrible and sticks to my clothes. 

Have you ever had someone else decide how you're going to smell for the day?  Even your hair?  Ugh. 

I took off all my clothes and laid down for a nap.  And our yard guys showed up.  All the cats fled to my bed with me in it.  Biscuit and Baby Girl went under the bed, Torbie bravely stayed up top.  Since Torbie is an older lady, I'm sure she has heard plenty of yard guys in her life. 

The guys followed their usual pattern, mow, weed-whack, and leaf blow.  Torbie was doing really well until we got to the leaf blowers, then she hid in the closet behind a robe.  I could still see her tail, though. 

The guys finished up and left.  I laid back down.  Baby Girl came out, then Biscuit.  And my alarm went off. 

We were going to Walmart because Ron wanted to buy some soda for work.  He wanted to get cream soda, strawberry, and grape. 

Our ride was on time but they rode us way off in the other direction to pick up a married couple (don't see many of those) and then took us back to our Walmart (probably well out of the other guys' way).  We finally got to Walmart. 

They did not have an easily available kiddie cart.  I saw one in use with a couple of little kids in it, and thought about taking it (grin).  I didn't. 

It was early afternoon and the store was full of crying, or tantruming, babies and toddlers.  I couldn't go anywhere to escape the constant crying.  And people wonder why I don't want kids.  The kids needed a bottle and a nap, but that would mean their parents would have to shop later. 

I got cat food, some TV dinners for Ron, the usual.  I made my deposit for my health in$urance.  Also known as "My crappy HMO plan".  At least my Doc is the decider in all that.  He is cool, I trust him with my health (and Ron's).  I also threw in enough to cover my cell phone because that is coming up sooner than I think. 

I got everything I had come for - including organic milk.  My aunt had talked me into getting it.  She said she gives it to the grandchildren and it lasts forever. 

If nothing else I would rather get milk from a humanely treated animal, not some poor thing from a factory farm.  So I got the last gallon in whole milk. 

It's good to see the organic milk is selling. 

I looked for the soda.  Strange things live together in my shopping cart, at Walmart.  They had cream soda but they did not have strawberry or grape.  I told Ron. 

I got ready to check out.  I picked what looked like a good line, behind two ladies wearing head scarves and speaking in another language. 

And the older one started haggling about all the prices of everything she wanted to buy.  Sigh.  I didn't show any frustration or irritation, because I figured she wanted me to get upset.  I called Ron and cheerfully chattered about all my purchases. 

The old lady sent the manager off for a price check, insisting her luggage item was $2 cheaper than it was scanning.  Then she spent the whole time complaining it was taking too long! 

The manager came back with a slightly smaller bag, explaining that this was the cheaper bag.  Did she want to pay $2 more for the larger bag, or get the cheap one?  She chose the cheap one. 

The "daughter" seemed used to this, patiently waiting with her empty travel bottles and a package of pull-ups.  The mother paid for everything and then they finally left. 

I told the cashier I really liked how she handled everything.  She gave me a variation of "I'm just doing my job".  Still, not an easy job. 

I got all my stuff bagged up and tried to fit the cat food (I bought another case of Fancy Feast canned salmon pate), but it ripped the bag.  I eventually got it into my reusable tote bag. 

Time to go. 

Ron called dispatch, because our ride home was going to be over half an hour late.  They actually managed to fix that.  Someone came within a few minutes.  Color me shocked. 

We got home and I put away all the cold things, ate some cookies, had a very large glass of my "old" milk, and took my medication.  Then I tried lying down but it was too late in the day.  I gave up and got up. 

I love my sleep, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.  Our yard looks fantastic, though. 

Tomorrow we go to work and fill 'em up.  The boss is coming so we will make sure they look as good as possible.  He has to pick up a couple months' worth of accounting paperwork for our audit. 

Not a big deal, it happens every year.  We were going to work tomorrow night but that won't happen. 

We might work Friday night, instead.  We like working a night shift (later evening) now and then.  The customers like it and we don't have to worry about managers in "our" hallway with our refrigerator (we chill all the bottled drinks before we sell them).  The other vendor is also absent, so Ron isn't falling over their stuff either. 

It works for us. 

It's funny, back in my early days of working I used to wish for a day shift with weekends off.  Now I think, ew, rush hour traffic.  Give me odd hours please.  Everyone is out on the weekends, shopping and doing whatever.  I'd much rather have a couple of weekdays off instead. 

Our driver can only help us on Saturday so we do a lot of work then, too. 

So now I'm back to nights and weekends. 

Exhausting

As I age, my cycle has become less heavy.  Usually.  This time we went "old school classic" and I had to double my protection with a tampon and a pad. 

I woke up depressed, I didn't feel like I slept well last night.  I took my shower and did my God Time later.  Now and then I think of formally doing my God time later in the day but then I have a conflict with Ron. 

I got dressed and we went to work.  I wore my new fannypack, which didn't get in the way.  The machines weren't too bad so I filled what I could and helped Ron. 

Every couple of weeks, I buy myself (with my own money) a case of Zevia soda.  It has no caffeine, no artificial sweeteners, and no sugar.  It tastes very good, but it's not cheap. 

I drink a couple of cans every day I'm at work.  I like something cold and bubbly, but I don't need the caffeine.  The sweetener thing is just a bonus. 

We went to the bank after work.  One of our favorites was back, so we went to her.  She was really nice. 

Ron spent some of his money on a cab to take us home.  It came fast.  When we got home I had a snack and took my medication.  Then I took a nap. 

I had a nightmare I was back living in my Dad's house.  I've always known Dad would take a bullet for me, it dealt with other people.  The old "I can't get out of here" nightmare.  It also had a little of "packing for a trip" which amusingly meant I was bringing all my bedding wherever I was headed.  I have a cotton bedspread, a fleece blanket, and a wool blanket.  A little bulky, but in the dream I was determined to bring it all along.  It's funny, because he sold that house over 20 years ago. 

I also woke up with a headache, which meant I had to take some aspirin, which means probably more bleeding.  So be it.  The headache is gone. 

I am pretty impressed with aspirin for headaches.  My pharmacist told me it is better to use it than the other headache medications.

It's also a lot cheaper. 

After I got up, I did my God Time.  I was tired.  I was depressed (even after my God Time).  I didn't even want to get on the computer, so I went back to bed for an hour. 

Then I watched reruns on TNT while I ate some chips.  Now I'm going to bed. 

We have tomorrow off.  It should be more "fun".  I hate the depression. 

The medication took my manias and dialed down my depressions, but I still have the depression without even a mania now. 

Not that I miss them much, they were exhausting. 

"Brought the pain"

I remembered to do daylight savings last night, but forgot to remind Ron.  I went to bed about "9" (really 8) and had a pretty good sleep.  It got cold - in the 40s, so I used my wool blanket. 

I woke up about 9:30 and got up.  I fed a very eager Biscuit.  One great thing about my cats, and I hesitate to even mention this for fear it will change, is that they never bother me for food when I'm sleeping.  After they see I'm awake, they start begging.  I'm glad God wired them that way. 

I fed Biscuit, of course.  Dry and wet.  Baby Girl showed up and he stopped eating and went to the dry food, leaving the moist for her.  She appreciated it. 

Biscuit is very respectful of the girls.  I think because they beat him a lot when I was gone, in the beginning.  I don't kid myself, they were very unhappy I brought them (Biscuit and Gravy) home.  Biscuit is laying next to my computer chair right now, grooming. 

He still walks around with a dirty butt, but one day he didn't.  I think he did it just to prove to me he could, he just doesn't want to, clean his butt.  I don't care. 

I ate my protein bar and did my God Time.  During my God Time, Ron came out of his room and decided to start drinking.  He went immediately into a blackout and began mumbling. 

Great.  Not what I wanted to see. 

I took a shower as he thundered around in the dining area.  Then I pushed him into his bedroom.  He trashed his bedroom while I watched TV, but at least he stayed in the bedroom. 

It sounds cruel, but if he's going to break things I'd rather they be his things, than mine.  I get tired.  I get scared.  I get angry.  Mostly I get angry. 

But then I remind myself I don't have his problems.  He clearly has depression, in addition to all his physical problems.  His answer to that was to take a single antidepressant of mine, tell me it didn't "work" and go back to drinking.  Unfortunately, you can't drink when you take antidepressants, so he would have to go cold turkey and start on the antidepressants to see if they worked.  That would take about 2 months.  Could he do it?  I don't know.  If he was motivated, yes. 

It's kind of a rude blow to my pride to admit I can't "motivate" him, God has to do it.  The only thing I could do, at the end of it, is move out.  If I did that, it would have catastrophic consequences.  And he very well might decide he liked me better gone. 

Even more depressed, I watched TV for a little while as he slumped over, snoring, in his wheelchair.  Once my hair was dry enough from my shower I took a nap. 

I woke up from that around 4.  Ron was awake and eating.  I asked him if he had made the trips for tomorrow and he said no.  He said it was only 3:30.  I reminded him of daylight savings and told him it was really 4:30, if he didn't call in his trips right quick we would be taking cabs everywhere tomorrow.  And sales aren't good enough to pay for a lot of cab rides. 

He called and made the trips. 

I took another Aleve.  My cycle was late this month, almost a week late, and has "brought the pain" with it.  I don't normally get any kind of remarkable cramps but this time has been pretty bad, and the flow very heavy. 

I made a note in my notebook, so I don't get surprised next month when it shows. 

I plan to eat a snack and go to bed in about half an hour.  What a day. 

At least the cats were good.  I got a very nice cuddle from Biscuit during my nap.  I was lying on my side, and he came and gave me a massage, then curled up behind my knees for a couple of minutes. 

He also gave me a very nice massage yesterday, during my nap.  I just can't see how anyone could give him up. 

It must have been the puking, and the dirty butt.  But that doesn't matter in the long run. 

Friday and Saturday

I woke up at 2 AM Friday morning and went to work.  I stocked and got the Dr Pepper order. 

Ron hadn't gone to the bank because they kept forecasting rain.  All he had to pay Dr Pepper were $300 in $5 bills.  I told him that wasn't going to work, took $300 out of my own pocket, and paid the guy myself. 

Ron offered to give me the $5 bills, but I told him I knew he was good for it.  After we finished at work we went home and I got a pretty good nap. 

I got up, did my God Time, and went to Walmart.  I had to get my medication, which cost about $200.  First stop, I went to the bank and changed the $5 bills for $20's.  Then I went to the pharmacy, leaving me with about $100. 

I did my shopping, Ron wanted to stay up front.  I found a fanny pack at the store, actually.  It is gray with orange accents.  Not necessarily the colors I would have chosen but the belt works for me and it is big enough for my needs.  It only cost $10, too.  I can live with that. 

I might have gone for something on Amazon but I could touch this and try it on, and I was supporting a local business.  So I got it. 

Pretty soon I was done and checked out, got Ron, and went home.  I didn't turn on the computer and went to bed early. 

Today I slept in until 5 AM.  Alright!  I hit the snooze alarm a couple of times because I had a fat and cuddly Biscuit.  Eventually I got up and fed him. 

We went to the warehouse.  I got 37 cases.  Jack took us to work. 

We had agreed today would basically be buy and park our merchandise, in the stockroom.  We did that.  Some things went into the fridge. 

We left and came home.  We had a very long ride.  It was us, the driver, and a lady from Chicago.  She wanted to go to Aldi.  However, the reservation person put the wrong address into the computer.  The driver went an hour out of his way trying to find it.  With us riding in the backseat.  It was a long and tedious journey but at least I got to see Lake Houston for the first time. 

I took a nap.  I forgot to set my alarm, which was set to give me time to do my God Time before we went out.  I couldn't, Ron's alarm went off about 20 minutes before our pickup.  We got ready.  This pickup was late, but not too bad. 

We were supposed to get the same driver both ways, but Ron called and complained he wasn't being given enough time to eat.  So they sent out driver away and sent someone else, half an hour later.  I gave him the food I had bought for the first driver.  He was very nice. 

We finally made it home.  I had taken my medication at the restaurant, but I had to get it out of my individual pill bottles instead of my pills-of-the-week, which were empty. 

When I got home I did my God Time, then I put my stuff in my new fannypack and did up my pills-of-the-week.  It took a while.  It's very tedious work, and nerve wracking, because I don't want to drop one of the organizers and have 50 prescription tablets all over the floor.  It has happened.  Thank God I don't have a dog to eat them up.  The cats don't care.  I still pick everything up of course but occasionally I will find a prescription tablet where I don't expect it. 

Again, so glad I don't have a dog to eat these. 

I finished that up and called Mom and Dad, who are dogsitting this week.  Dad is not impressed with the barking (sounds like me).  Overall, they are doing well. 

We hung up.    Ron hasn't had any blackouts the last couple of nights, thank God.  We have tomorrow off and aren't going anywhere, because they are having a big parade on one of the main roads near our home.  If we want to go anywhere, we have to take it, so forget it.  Plus, we always have a lot of "Church Ladies" riding on Sunday.  Most of them do not "represent". 

I did up the pills, I fed the cats, I got our soda delivery, I got our supplies, not a bad couple days.  Now I just need to set my clock ahead and I'm all set. 

Two days in one, again.

Ron had a blackout on Tuesday night that kept me up most of the night.  I was pretty annoyed at him. 

Doing my God Time the next day, I just couldn't see a way out of leaving him.  If I don't leave him, he'll leave me by killing himself mixing alcohol and Tylenol.  So, either way I'm alone.  I have come to rely on Ron for all my financial support, and don't have a good opinion of my employability skills these days.  So I was angry and depressed. 

I had to get ready to see Doc, though.  I did that.  Ron bitched and moaned endlessly because he would have to "waste" two whole hours on the trip.  That didn't make me feel very important.  Not to brag (I will) but every day Ron was in the hospital I spent at least 4 hours a day with him, not counting travel time and time running the business.  I spent probably over a thousand dollars on rides with Chuck, getting to and from his bedside, but I didn't (and don't) mind because I just think that's what I should have done.  It's what I would have wanted if it had been me in the bed. 

But Ron can't be bothered to "waste" 8 hours a year.  He really has a knack for the selfish, and making others feel unvalued. 

We went.  It was a pretty long ride, and at one point I thought "If we had an EMP and I had to walk home, I have no idea where we are."  Happily we didn't and we got there OK. 

They worked us in early.  Doc had a medical student.  I asked him for the same Depakote I got last time, but based on my pharmacy bill, I don't think he did that (too expensive).  Whatever it is I will take it. 

He told her all about the history of lithium and it was interesting to hear some of it.  A lot of it, I already knew, like if you put pure lithium into water it explodes.  You can also cut pure lithium with a knife.  I didn't know that it's found in caves, in stalactites. 

Doc decided I was fine and I demonstrated my tremor for the medical student.  They weren't impressed. 

We left after he electronically sent the prescriptions to my pharmacy. 

Ron decided he didn't want to wait a whole hour, even though I had encouraged him to bring something to read.  I had my Kindle, I was set. 

Ron called a couple of cab drivers and then the cab company, and put in a trip for us to go from Doc's office to our next destination, Walmart.  It was a hugely long trip. 

The cab driver who took the trip was thrilled with it.  A nice long trip.  Paying ca$h.  It was really long, too.  Let's just say the cab driver, after putting 5 gallons in the tank, will still have enough left for a nice steak dinner. 

I did my shopping at Walmart.  Ron didn't want to ride in the kiddie cart.  I left him up front.  I bought my stuff, including a new pair of capris.  The new ones are in stock now.  They don't have good pockets, though, they have the "Any money you put in here will fall out the second you sit down, or get up" design.  When I clean out Ron's pockets (and he wears the cheapest clothes he can buy), I am always impressed with the depth of the pockets.  Not so with women's clothes. 

I will have to get a fannypack to carry my money.  I'm OK with that but it will make me look even fatter.  Not happy about that. 

I also got some food stuff, etc. 

We went home (Ron called, and paid, Chuck).  I put away the perishables and tried to take a nap, but the yappy little dog next door at #2 kept me awake.  Every time I would drift off it would start yapping again.  Very frustrating. 

When I got up I had Ron call the landlord.  He wanted to know why I was so upset.  I reminded him HE kept me up the night before, and then the dog kept me up during the nap I needed.  I was very cranky. 

I felt totally betrayed by the landlady.  Ron specifically asked if there would be any dogs and she said "no".  I could live with it when they let the dog run around out back in the morning, then locked it up in the afternoon and evening.  But I need my rest. 

If I had called I would have explained we work strange hours, including nights and very early mornings, and sometimes we need to sleep during the day.  I would also remind her both Ron and I are disabled. 

Ron called.  He said that I need my nap in the afternoon, making me sound like a giant 2-year old.  He asked if they could lock up the dog between 12-4 in the afternoon.  I did like that part.  He asked if she knew about the dog, she said no, but there was nothing she could do now that they'd moved in.  She read Ron a lecture about how he couldn't expect perfect neighbors and we would just have to deal with it. 

If I was upset before, I was even more upset now, but Ron was already drinking and belligerent.  I went to bed early, figuring I would need my sleep for Friday (when I get up at 2 AM). 

I woke up about 8 AM today, with the alarm set for 9:15.  I laid in bed with Biscuit after I fed him (I wouldn't make him wait on his breakfast just so I could get a cuddle).  We had a good time.  He has this adorable way of draping himself across my lap as I lay in bed.  I felt very loved. 

I got up and took my shower, shaving my legs today because who wants to shave their legs at 2 AM?  Not me.  Not even when I was manic. 

I finished up and did my God Time.  We are getting into where Joshua takes over from Moses.  It never says how old Joshua was in Egypt when Moses came back (Moses was raised as an Egyptian).  All we know is that Joshua must have been at least 60 years old by the time he took over, and Israel had about 600K fighting men, so probably 1.5 million souls altogether.  Good thing he did have 40 years of training under Moses. 

I got dressed in some elastic waist shorts.  I had to wash my new capris, I got mud on the one pair of jeans, and I got a food stain on the other jeans.  I took them out of the washer just now and all the stains are gone. 

Our pickup was late, so we were left sitting outside of the house.  Someone came over from #2.  Oh, crap.  They got the call from the landlady.  He was very polite.  He just said if I had any issues, to please bring them up to him.  Implied, and not the landlady.  We were all very friendly and he left. 

They were working on sorting out a very cluttered garage.  He said they moved from out of state, Saint Louis, not Chicago as I thought, but that's still a lot of money to move all that stuff. 

I like to think if I had a huge move, and a little bit of money, I would probably just donate everything I could and just bring my memorabilia.  In reality, though, when I got a new bed Torbie was very upset at it for about a week so I would probably bring my bed, if not Ron's. 

Ron has ruined the bed, which was originally mine.  He continues to drink to blackouts so I have not pursued getting a new bed, because he would just ruin that one too.  He says he is comfortable. 

If he stopped drinking, and started some kind of counseling or program, I would be happy to help him get a new one, but I just don't see the point. 

I guess that makes me a terrible Christian.  So be it. 

I would be furious if we spent hundreds on a new bed, just to have him soil it, and he refuses to use mattress covers, say they make the bed feel funny. 

Our ride finally came.  We had an interesting talk.  He said his dog just had 9 puppies but one of them looked pretty bad and probably wouldn't make it.  I didn't give him the spay your dog lecture, I think he sells the puppies.  He didn't deny it. 

Sad.  There are so many adoptable dogs in need of homes right not, it is really irresponsible to play backyard breeder.  I didn't say that. 

We got to the BBQ place.  I got the catfish.  It was molten hot.  I couldn't even eat it.  That's good, though, at least all the harmful pathogens have been killed.  I nibbled on the edges while Ron ate his pork ribs. 

Our next driver was early, right as I had put everything into takeout containers.  She came into the restaurant to find us. 

Not too hard to find a man in a wheelchair!  LOL 

We loaded up and went on our way.  We had a straight trip home.  When I got home, I still hadn't taken my medication (I need a big meal) and the catfish was still hot (I don't know how they cook it, but whoo!).  I ate some cookies and had a big glass of milk, keeping it away from Biscuit because milk makes him vomit.  It doesn't stop him from drinking it, though. 

I took a nap.  It was quiet.  They locked up the dog in the afternoon.  Good. 

I slept until 4, got up, and turned on the computer.  I worked while the washer ran the load of dark pants, then I put them in the dryer after I inspected them. 

On one or two occasions, I missed a stain that did not come out and put it in the dryer, setting it permanently.  I didn't want to do that with my jeans.  I paid $20 each for them! 

The clothes were clean, so they went into the dryer. 

Then I came here.  I didn't even check my comments or stats (about 30K hits a month right now) before I started typing. 

I have to go to bed in about half an hour, so I'm going to check my bank balance and quickly try to find a fannypack that I can wear with the capris. 

9 minutes left before I need to go to bed.  I think I will just wish-list some fannypacks and buy one tomorrow.