5 thing Friday - BTS, book club, deer, tire woe, end of physical therapy

I pride myself on not having to know when the first day of school is now.  For years, the back to school prep for four kids during the hottest part of summer almost sent me over the edge.  When I see moms in the store, list in hand, kids trailing behind them, I feel thankful.

Some places are calm and quiet now, like Half Price books, where I sold back almost all of the DVDs, a couple books, and a puzzle while I picked up a copy of the next book for book club.  I figure I will keep book club, even though they lean towards Sci/Fi.  It was fun to meet other adults for a beer and talk.

I was noticing that this particular shrub out front didn't look as full as the others.  Was I not watering it enough? (we definitely need rain) Same with the Wandering Jew pictured below...

A bunch of the tops were gone and I noticed a leaf now and then outside of the edging.  Then early one morning I noticed two deer in the front yard, feasting.

A quick order to Home Depot and a painless pick-up process got me a spray bottle of deer spray.  Do you know they make a spray for just about anything you want to discourage in your yard?  It smells so bad, but it actually works.  I am OK with the deer peacefully chowing down in the nearby greenbelt.  But in my landscaping, they are giant rats and need to mosey on.

Brigid managed to run over a carpet razor, slashing herself*.  I should have taken a photo of it - it was impressive.  Props to Traveler's roadside assist who sent someone out in 6 p.m. Austin traffic within minutes to change the tire.  Then it was off to Discount Tire the next day for a new tire and the hazard certificates on all four tires.  July and August have been pricey months.

*note: I think I handled that pretty well!

This week was my last in physical therapy for my old lady shoulder.

The PT asked me how I felt and said she thought it could be graduation day for me - yay!  I got through my routine in record time and banged the celebration gong while everyone applauded, then signed the banner.  I have been a bit sore here and there, but feel back to being strong.  I will continue my home exercises and be mindful of body mechanics.  Work smarter, not harder, Gina.

Happy weekend!

Gina

Thankful today

 Its been a crazy summer - every other week it seems like there is a new thing to deal with.  I could get myself worked up over the hard stuff, or I could reframe it.  It seems right to acknowledge the struggles, but maybe just as right to express the gratitude, and may be even more so.  Gratitude is hardest to find when you need it the most, but the practice strengthens us and can be life changing, shifting our perspective from scarcity to abundance.  Every day I want to give my brain some proof that life is good.  

So this week:

*I am thankful that I have the money to buy a new tire after I ran over a carpet razor!  The new tire is on its way to the store as I type this, and by tomorrow this will be remembered as a minor inconvenience.

*I am thankful for my friend, Deb.  She loves and accepts me without judgement and has been a good listener these last few weeks. Having this strong social connection is a blessing to me.

*I am thankful for the mail order prescription service my employer provides.  They are friendly and helpful on the phone, its cheaper than a retail pharmacy,  and I get my refills delivered to my house fast. 

*I am thankful that the washer repair was relatively fast and easy, and that I had the funds to cover that expense.  I got the new dryer vent installed and the whole nook painted and we're back in business!  

*My shoulder did not hurt with all of the hard work in the laundry nook, so I am counting shoulder improvement as a Big Win.  PT is going well and I am experiencing very little, if any, pain. 

There is a lot for me to feel thankful for right now!

Gina

5 thing Friday - paint storage, thrifting, dinner with Scout, salad weather, tree woes

I really meant to do more painting this week, and organize the paint that I still have so that it doesn't dry out and I can use it in future, if I need to. 

I got the idea to make up these touch up pots that I can keep in the cleaning closet.  Each one will have a mini blender ball and a label with the paint's specifics.  Maybe this will make touch ups easier and the paint less likely to dry to a rock.  

I did a bit of thrifting this week, mainly to leave the house.  But also because I have a running list in my head of things to be on the lookout for, none of which I found this week.

I bought 2 books, 2 new bath towels, a workout tank top, and a cute Old Navy dress.  Total spent was $20 and included a senior discount that the cashier begrudgingly gave me after telling me I didn't look old enough.  Thank you?

Hooray for me not getting lost when visiting Scout for the first time since his move in February.  I took him some dinner, a giant "brookie", and some beer.  I got to meet his cat, Oscar, who is a sweet purr machine.  It was nice to see Scout and I need to do that more often!

He loves thrifting, too.  He saw this mug and thought of me. Sweet!

Its going to be salad season here for a loooong time.  I am leaning into it as it doesn't involve the oven and encourages me to eat more veggies and fruit.  I'm trying to do a better job of  eating healthy and staying away from fast food.

Yesterday I walked onto the deck with my morning coffee and thought there was something different with the view.  Oh yeah - a giant portion of the neighbor's tree is not where its supposed to be!

I aimed my phone over the fence.  Oh, Lord.

A portion of it is right against the fence - I hope it has done no lasting damage.  I never even heard it fall and we had no storm or wind.  So, yeah, I don't know how that happened. But I refuse to get worked up over it.  Things happen. And it didn't hit my tree or house, and a fence is fixable.

Its been a slow news week here - how are things in your world?

Gina

5 thing Friday - fixing and learning things, laundry nook, easy meals, PT, walking

One evening around midnight Bubbie and I were confounded over a chirp in the hallway.  I had assumed that Hubby took the battery out of the carbon monoxide detector years ago when we got a new combo detector hooked into the home alarm system. 

Apparently not.  Since I didn't have a 9V handy I just removed it for the night so we could sleep.  And it got me to thinking about all of the little things I have had to resolve over the last four years.  I have learned how to do far more than replace batteries and light bulbs and I am still learning.  I would love to pass on what I know to my kids, who were also never taught some of these things.  After all, Bubbie panicked a little, thinking it was alerting us to a problem.

This is what ChatGPT suggested when I asked it to redecorate my laundry nook.  It looks very similar to what I already have!

I shopped my house and found these two baskets which originally held DVDs in the den bookcase.  I pulled that small plant out of the front room.  And I bought a reed diffuser to gently scent the area.  Once I repaint (using the same basic color) and remove the door track hardware, I will call it done.

But as of right now, the part to fix the washer is on order and will not get installed until next week.  Its a good thing I have three weeks' worth of scrubs to wear.

I am still loving dinner salads with a nice glass of kombucha.  This is on regular rotation in my menus because even if I am back to cooking, I don't want to do it every day.

Sometimes, you have to let someone else do the cooking, and that's OK.

Even if it means you sit quietly in your car at a park, or an abandoned carwash next to the food trailer for breakfast tacos.  Its all good!

Physical therapy kicked my rear this week and yet I still found time for my walks.  Its hot, humid, and fairly terrible.  But I feel strong and heat acclimated and no way am I going to stop pressing on.  And I have even done my exercises at home, though I am sore.

Hooray for a dear friend and her helpful hubby who gave up some of their Wednesday evening to help me with the switch to the new disposal.  Even though I want to be as independent as I can be, its helpful to be shown how to do something.  Its like being taught to work a puzzle and it feels so good to learn these things!  I know I will not always be able to get it on the first try, but I am willing to learn and I think that philosophy will help me in many ways.

Happy August!

Gina

Little project: sprucing the laundry nook

My laundry room is a "nook" located in the hallway that separates the living space of the house from the bedrooms.  This has never been an ideal spot for it, but it was better than it taking up space in my small kitchen or stuck out in the garage.

These bi-fold doors, when open, were hard to navigate around when you travel down this hall.  And the dryer had to be situated just right to allow the left door to open fully while still allowing you to get the dryer open without banging it.  Oy.  Last week when I took them off to investigate the washer leak, I thought "I really don't want to put those back".  So I didn't!

I might as well spruce up this area - its been awhile.

At one point I was storing Christmas bins in here.  I had even added a container for my own powdered laundry detergent.(which I do not make anymore)  This shelf was packed up to the ceiling!

Eventually, I just had miscellany up here and kept it as neat as possible, but it always looked so junky! As the years have gone by, I am putting fewer things out for the holidays so I was able to get rid of a lot of it  Recently I moved the rest to my office closet.  Hooray for unclaimed closet space!   

I had painted the whole area a sandy beige and added some pretty things just to make it nicer to look at when the doors were open.

It worked like this for a long time. But now I favor a more minimalistic look and after all, I am only doing laundry for little ole me.

So here it is now, everything off of the shelves.  I pulled this "art" out of the living room - it looks better in here.  I just need to add a silk plant, maybe some decorative pieces.  Not a lot.

I think I will leave the color the same.  I will fill some nail holes and add a new coat of paint to freshen it up.  And I'll keep the tension rods which create a space for hanging things to air dry and storing extra hangers. 

I plan on adding a simple burlap curtain and giving it a deep clean.  I have already removed the adhesive shelf liner and may just paint the shelves.  I don't want to reinvent the wheel here, so I'm not going to change out the light fixture, which is functional.  It will be a pretty space for me to do my laundry.  And maybe by Friday, the washing machine leak will be a distant memory.

Gina

*update*

I finally painted in here, then shopped my house to change it up a bit.  I think I like it without the curtain for now. Its pretty, functional, and having the doors off makes it less confining to do laundry!

Project fail: leaky washer

On Monday I noticed a soggy area right along the edge of the laundry nook and had to remove the doors so I could pull the washer out to investigate. 

That can't be good.

I hate these bi-fold doors.  They are a pain in the rear to take off and put back on, and they are hella heavy.  I set them out in the garage - just in case I decide to put them back one day.

I pulled out the washer/dryer file and read that you're supposed to change the intake hoses every 5 years.  Since the machine was bought in 2017, I knew that hadn't been done.  So I ordered the hoses from Best Buy and made a plan to replace them the next day, hoping that would fix the problem.

Spoiler alert: it did not.

The instructions seemed straightforward:  unplug machine, turn off circuit breaker, turn off water, remove hoses.  Reverse steps.

You can see the calcium build-up in the old hose on the right.  I scrunched myself down into this space and tightened everything up - even checked the drain hose.  All good.  Time to turn the water back on and flip the circuit breaker.

And just to be sure - I ran a short rinse cycle.  You guessed it - water leaking out, but it wasn't coming from the intake hoses. Luckily I was standing by with the shop vac.  A neighbor gave me the name and number of someone she has used for such problems in the past.  So I cleaned everything up, pushed the machine back,  and set a fan up to dry the carpet the rest of the way.

I can't put the doors back on yet anyway, since the repair guy is coming next week.  And I got to thinking, this area could use a major refresh.  There is so much stuff in here!

I emptied the shelves and made a plan to repaint them, add a lazy susan for the small supplies like stain stick, bleach tabs, and fabric spray, and just pretty it up in general. I went through the decor and some of it landed in the Goodwill pile, the rest to the closet in the office.  I pulled the miscellaneous stuff off the walls (decorative plates and such).  Gone are the kids' art magnets, too.

And now I have a clean slate to work with.

And I may just do another of these tension rod/rings/curtain panel set-ups.  It will be easier to open the dryer all of the way and make the hallway seem less like a tunnel of doom.  I might even use burlap which is so easy to work with and relatively inexpensive.  All in all, not a total fail I guess since  I learned how to switch out those hoses!

Ooof.  Happy Friday. Glad this week is over.

Gina

What the week holds, and prepping myself

This week has all the potential to be a booger and I am going to resist the negative bias of my brain and instead, look for ways to move through it gracefully with more positivity.  On the schedule are:

*mowing, edging, trimming of shrubs, cleaning up the patio area

*a dental appointment 

*Two physical therapy appointments

*on-call hours

*a somber anniversary

*a mammogram

*a Drop-In concert

*extra hours at work, followed by

*a full weekend shift

Somewhere in there I also want to add a mani/pedi, reading and puzzle time, and walking - full on self-care.  And of course I will feed myself well, hydrate, and get good sleep. I've got my planner filled out and I'm ready to go!

How do you tackle those full weeks without feeling the burn?

Gina

5 thing Friday - crockpot pork, new ladder, daylight bulbs, sewing, gin

 Its been a long week.

On Wednesday, I bought a few groceries, and as per usual, I looked at the marked downs in the meat department.  I found some boneless seasoned pork ribs for $3.91 after markdown and partner card (thanks, Scout!)  Popped them into my crockpot for about 7 hours yesterday - no need to add liquid.

They came out tender and juicy and I managed to get 5 meals' worth out of them, plus the stock they created.  Boneless pork in the crockpot is one of those good things in life. With the shredded meat you can do tacos, sammies, soup, a dinner salad...the meat is so tender and delicious!

Said pork on a salad of romaine and avocado with balsamic dressing.

I grew soooo weary of trying to use the heavy as crap giant ladder that Mark bought just before he died.  So, I finally bought my own ladder. (no idea what I will do with the other one)  This one has two top step platforms and a task tray you can hook on.  I already love it and have many projects in mind where it will come in handy. 

Yes I did try it out to see if I could use it to paint in the front rooms and den. I just need to work on that fear of heights I have.

While I was in Home Depot I found some small daylight bulbs for the fan fixture in the sewing room.  How did light bulbs become so expensive?!  These were $6 APIECE. But I can tell the difference in visibility.

They add much needed light on sewing and craft projects.

Like these bookmarks I made for the reading library in our work breakroom.  "Leave a book, take a bookmark".  The last batch lasted about 2 weeks.  I spent $4 on interfacing and 74 cents on ribbon.  It will take me quite some time to use up all the fabric scraps I have.

Yesterday evening I went to a gin tasting featuring Hendricks Gin at Total Wine that was actually quite fun.  We got a welcome cocktail, then got to mix two of our own.  They also had fruit and cheese trays with my current obsession - Manchego.

The woman seated in front of me was solo, too, and very fun and friendly.  I was kicking myself for not hanging out with her for a bit. She looked about 10 years older and maybe a widow, too.  Note to self: getting out there requires that you put some effort in!  There's always next time.  First day of PT today for my shoulder - wish me luck!

Gina