Starry night on the prairie

I am in New York City at Kennedy Airport. My flight left Dublin at 10:00 Dublin time and arrived at 11:30 New York time. My how time flies when you travel.

I came down to the reception of my hotel 15 minutes early and my cab driver was already there so got an early start to the airport.

He was a delightful Irish man that kept me laughing all the way to the airport. He told me he was divorced but his ex was a good lady and a great housekeeper. She kept the house when they divorced!

He shared that the difference between the Scottish and Irish men is Scottish men wear skirts and the Irish wear pants.

He showed me the Irish humor that I was expecting to see on this trip. He kept throwing things at me and kept me laughing all the way to the airport.

Things have changed since I have traveled internationally before Covid. I cleared customs and immigration in Dublin so when I arrived in NYC I just had to walk to my gate that will take me to KC. If I had known that before, I would have taken the earlier afternoon flight. They wouldn’t let me change flights as I had checked my carry-on bag. Dang it anyways!

I managed to sleep for a short nap on the flight from Dublin. Hoping I can take another nap on the flight to KC so I can drive home tonight. If I am completely wiped out I will spend the night at Nicole’s and then drive home in the morning.

The mechanic I had Tagen’s pickup towed to called me just after I landed in NYC. The transmission on the pickup is blown and it would cost way too much to have it replaced so the mechanic is going to contact his contact and have them come haul the pickup off to have it scrapped. Dang it anyways. Tagen is disappointed that he won’t get more money for the truck. He will get a couple hundred from the scrap guy but he sure wanted to sell it and get more than that. I have to take the title to the truck to the mechanic tomorrow and get the tag off the pickup.

Michelle’s house is still scheduled to close next Monday. The rental house I have will be available for her to move into this weekend. She plans to buy the house from me so will get that paperwork started tomorrow. Hopefully we will get that house closed sometime next week.

I need to call the insurance adjuster and find out where the money is for the replacement doors and windows. He had told me I would have those funds two weeks ago.

It will take me the rest of the week to get all the way home. The jet lag thing will be real and I have a six hour time change to adjust to. Feels like I have lots to do the next couple of days too so will need to find some brain cells to help me get through all of it.

What an experience I had though. So grateful I got to cross off going to England and Ireland off my bucket list. I need to revise my 70 things to do before I turn 70 list to 80 things to do before I turn 80. Dreams do come true when you are clear on what you want.

Grateful for a safe trip across the pond, grateful Nicole is meeting me at the airport in KC when I get there, and grateful for my fun taxi driver this morning.

I head home tomorrow morning. My transportation to the airport is to be at my hotel by 6:15. My flight leaves at 10:00. I will arrive at Kennedy Airport in New York around 12:30. My flight for KC leaves around 6:30 and I should arrive in KC around 9:10. Fingers crossed for on-time and smooth flights.

I went down for breakfast this morning and got to say goodbye to several on the tour. There was only one couple that I would like to stay in touch with. We exchanged email addresses. Not sure I will ever see them again but who knows.

I walked down the street for a bit to stretch my legs. I happened across a church and I popped in for a minute. They were finishing up a mass so I slipped into a pew at the back and waited until they were done. I took a picture of the beautiful altar and then left.

I stopped at a phone store and found a charging device for my iPad so I can use it on the plane on the ride home. The one I brought with me connects to a plug-in and the airplane only had a USB-C port. Being able to use my iPad on the flight will give me something to do on the plane.

I came back to the room and hung out for a bit and then went back out to find lunch. I went back to the Chipotle like place for lunch. I then came back to my room. My room key didn’t work so I had to go back downstairs to the reception. Since I stayed over an extra night they had made two separate reservations for me and they handed me a new key.

No plans for the rest of the day. I may go back out and walk some more later. The sun was shining when I was out this morning but clouds rolled in while I was out at lunch time. It is to rain later this afternoon.

I sure lucked out on the weather. I only had to walk in light rain once or twice. It was a picture perfect day on the Ring of Kerry and the views were magnificent. Rain seemed to fall when we were on the bus and would stop when we stopped. I heard that doesn’t always happen that way.

A guy on the tour got his wallet picked off of him yesterday. Not sure if his passport was in it or not. Grateful I haven’t had to experience that.

Not looking forward to the two flights tomorrow but I am looking forward to getting home.

This has been a grand adventure and am so grateful I had this chance to come. Visiting England and Ireland were on my 70 things to do before I turn 70 list. The trip was a month after I turned 70 but close enough.

Others on the tour kept asking me what is next for me in regards to travel. I don’t have anything on the horizon and am not sure where I want to go next. Staying home right now sounds like heaven on earth so will get home and get through the holidays and go from there.

Hoping the airport in NY has a place that has iced tea. I am craving a big glass. I only got iced tea here twice. Once at a hotel where they made a cup of hot tea and put one ice cube in it and sold it to me as iced tea. Another time at the restaurant we had lunch in while touring the Ring of Kerry. It actually was cold although they didn’t serve it with ice. Close but no cigar! Oh how privileged and spoiled I am!

Grateful I am heading home tomorrow, grateful I stayed well and healthy on the trip, and grateful for the memories this trip gave me.

Lazy day for me in Ireland today. I slept in a bit and then went down to breakfast. Sat with a couple from the tour I had not had a chance to visit with. They live in Wheaton, IL which is a neighbor to Naperville, IL where I lived in the mid 80’s.

Got to see the couple and their sister that I hung with a bit on the trip. Was nice to get a chance to tell them thank you for allowing me to sit with them at meals. Since there were three of them, they usually had an empty chair near by for me.

Came back up to my room after breakfast and did some reading. Went out for lunch a bit ago. Found a Chipotle type restaurant and had a burrito bowl for lunch. Almost tasted as good as Chipotle. I got an extra bottle of water to bring back to the room with me.

My goal today is to drink 6 – 8 bottles of water. I feel very dehydrated as I haven’t been drinking near as much as I normally do. Hard to drink a lot when toilets are not handy. I need to get rehydrated before the plane trip home dries me out again.

It is rainy today. It wasn’t raining when I walked a half block to the Mexican Restaurant but started raining again when I got back to the hotel. Good day for it to rain as I have no plans to be out and about.

I noticed very little traffic or people out and about. The shops are closed although some will open for a bit this afternoon. I have all the things I wanted already so no need to shop. I would like to go find some more bath salts for tonight and tomorrow night but no big deal if I don’t get out and get them.

I had trouble falling asleep last night. I slept for about an hour and then was up for a couple of hours. I finally took some Tylenol and took another hot bath and then was able to fall asleep and slept really good for several hours.

I have been reflecting on this trip and trying to put my finger on why it was so very hard for me at times. Still haven’t figured it all out but am getting some insights.

This is the first time since Jim left that I have felt lonely. I was the only one on the tour group that didn’t come with someone else and several of then came with a group of people. Funny that I felt it so much this time. When I walked the Camino I never felt singled out for being single.

Most of the people were close to my age. Some a few years older and some a few years younger. Many have traveled a lot around the world. Many were obviously wealthy and used to being waited on. I was the only person from a rural area on the trip. All the others live in big cities.

It makes me wonder if being from a rural area is becoming uncommon these days. I realize most people live in suburban areas now but still. I guess I haven’t been out much lately and most of the people I interact with these days live like I do in a small, rural area.

I struggled to find someone on the group that had done any type of experiential trips, such as walking the Camino or doing an Ayahuasca Retreat. Most had simply been tourist either with a group or alone but just seeing sites.

This is the first international trip I have gone to where English is the primary language of the country. I kept forgetting I was overseas. Dublin feels a lot like KC to me. London felt more like New York City since it was much bigger than KC.

Having English as the primary language makes ordering food, etc. much easier. I could follow the road signs and not have to guess at the meaning of words. But it took me a bit to figure out what was missing from this international experience and that was hearing a different language being spoken.

This has been an incredible experience and I am grateful I came. I remembered I do better when I can have an experience in traveling and not just seeing things. I was challenged on this trip in a different way that felt uncomfortable for me at times. It is always good to get out of my comfort level and have to get uncomfortable for a bit. It will take me some time once I am home to fully unpack all that happened and understand it.

I plan on staying in my room most of the rest of the day. I need a day alone to completely fill myself. I will probably venture out tomorrow when the shops are open and walk up and down the streets around the hotel and see what is here. It is to rain again tomorrow but it is Ireland and that happens a lot here.

Grateful for a quiet day alone, grateful to have had this incredible experience, and grateful I get to go home on Tuesday.

Last night at the hotel I went to take a bath. I turned the water on and then went to my suitcase to get my bath salts. I came back to the bathtub and there was hardly any water in the tub. I fiddled with the plug and made sure it was working right. It was. It took over 30 minutes to get 2 inches of water in the bath tub. I was pouring little cups of water from the bathroom sink trying to fill up the tub.

This morning I went to take a shower and there were barely sprinkles coming out of the shower head and the bathtub faucet. I didn’t get a shower as I couldn’t have gotten wet enough if I stood in the shower for 15 minutes.

I got my hair wet in the bathroom sink and called it good. Sometimes things don’t work the way they are supposed to. At breakfast I was asking the others on the fourth floor (the top floor of the hotel where I was at) and they all had the same problem.

When I told the desk clerk when I checked out, he acted surprised. I was surprised he was surprised. I am guessing this has happened before.

The hotel I am in now in Dublin is having a light issue. You have to put the room key in the little box by the door so the lights turn on. I did that and after five minutes the lights go out. I have to get up, take the room card out and put it back in again for five more minutes of lights. I can’t get the bedside light to work. I will be in this room for three nights. This might get old quick!

Today we started our day in Waterford and then drove to Kilkenny. We had three hours in Kilkenny. I walked down the street for a bit and then back up close to the bus park. There was a Kilkenny Design shop across the way so I went in there. I managed to fill another box that they are going to ship home to me. I hadn’t gotten anything for myself this whole trip and I found two sweaters that I liked so I bought them for myself. Got a few other little things too. I should get the box in about 3 – 4 weeks according to the clerk. She actually said God Willing it will arrive in 3 -4 weeks.

I walked back down the street and had a meatball Sub from Subway. Not the same as home but close enough. I then walked back to the bus and boarded it over an hour early. I AM DONE! Just stick a fork in me and call it good. I am totally peopled out.

We then rode from Kilkenny to Dublin. We played a quiz game on the way back to Dublin. The Guide asked 20 questions and the three people that got the most right won prizes. I didn’t win. The things that he asked about are about names and places and those aren’t things that I choose to pack into the limited number of brain cells I have left to play with. I got about half of them right.

I will be at this hotel until Tuesday morning. There are lots of little shops and restaurants in the hood to visit and I can always use an Uber or taxi if I want to go somewhere in the city. Right now a full day in my room alone sounds like heaven. I will venture out for food occasionally but other than that I am ready to hole up and build up my energy for the trip home.

This tour has been painful for me at times. There were no other single people on the bus and with the exception of two couples most ignored me. I have forgotten how to make small talk and be social. Many in the group were with several couples traveling together so they hung with their small group.

I forgot how herded one can fill when you go on a group tour. We were given several hours a day to be free to roam in the various cities along the way. That saved my sanity.

There is a group farewell dinner tonight but it is someplace away from the hotel and there is a music show as part of it. Sounds like absolute torture to me so I told the guide I was going to skip it. I tipped the bus driver and the guide earlier as I may not see them again. The guide will be hanging around tomorrow and then will be around Monday to make sure everyone that is leaving Monday gets their proper transportation. He is to leave me a note on my door with the time that my transportation will be here Tuesday. He won’t be here that morning.

I need to call down to the front desk and find out what I am doing wrong with these lights. I will go crazy if I can’t get those straightened out.

I will be home Tuesday night – God willing. Ready for my open skies, little people and freedom.

Grateful for another safe travel day, grateful the group part of this tour is done, and grateful for this experience to see all that I have been blessed to see.

My days are all starting to run together and I can hardly remember at the end of the day where we started and where I am. I am having the hardest time remembering my hotel room number.

We started the day with a two hour bus ride to go to the Blarney Castle. We were advised if we wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone to do it first thing when we got there.

I headed over to the castle and was pleasantly surprised to find the line wasn’t too long. We were able to walk into the castle before the line started. We had to climb 125 steps to get to the top. Some of the steps were really high and narrow and it was a winding up type of staircase.

When it was my turn, I had to lay on the rock floor and put my hands on some poles they had rigged up. You push yourself backwards until your head falls off the cliff (At least that is what it felt like) and then you raise up a bit and kiss the Blarney Stone. There was a couple from the tour behind me and they kindly took a picture of me doing the deed.

The castle people also take a picture and give you a proof which you can then buy a bigger portrait at the bottom of the castle. I skipped that.

As I was pushing myself out of the hole my head fell in, I banged my glasses on the rock above me. For a minute I thought I was going to have a bloody nose but I was OK. Maybe it knocked some sense into me!

Then you get to walk down the 125 narrow, winding steps. There is one staircase for going up and another one for going down, thank heavens.

When I got to the bottom of the staircase and walked out of the castle there was a line hundreds long. The sign post said they had a 90-minute wait and they were lined up beyond that. Grateful I didn’t have to do that.

After the kiss on the Blarney Stone, I walked around the grounds for a bit. The grounds were beautiful with lots of blooming flowers. I wasn’t in the mood to explore much so headed to the Woollen Mills Store.

The store was the biggest knit ware store I have ever seen. I got a bit overwhelmed trying to figure it out. I finally took a break and went and had lunch and then came back and was able to get what I wanted.

We had another rain on, rain off type of day. Luckily all the rain happened while we were on the bus and while we were on the castle grounds it was dry. It started raining minutes after I got back on the bus.

We then drove to Waterford, Ireland for a tour of the Waterford Glass Factory. We saw the artisans blowing, etching, cutting, and polishing the pieces. They showed us some of the custom pieces they have made. They always make two in case the first one breaks. They had some amazing pieces.

In the lobby of the workshop is a grandfather’s clock made from crystal. Amazing! They had quite a showroom full of pieces that ranged in price from $50 to $26,000. I didn’t buy anything as I didn’t see anything that caught my eye. Several in the group got some pieces though.

We then came to our hotel. We are staying in Waterford for the night. This hotel looks very old but the room is spacious and will do nicely for my one night stay.

Tomorrow we end up in Dublin with some stops of some sort along the way.

There is a group dinner tonight but I am not going down for it. I am peopled out for the day. I was done after the Blarney Stone and got fried trying to shop in the Woollen Store. I am not a very good shopper.

Tomorrow night we have our final farewell dinner at some place that also will do a show of some sort. I really don’t want to go to it but I’ll see what mood I am in tomorrow night. I enjoy a tune or two of Irish music and then I am done with it. Not sure I want to experience a whole show of it.

Sunday and Monday are free days in Dublin. Not sure what I am going to do. I’m still not sure where my hotel will be and what is going to be close to it.

Tuesday I fly out of Dublin at 10:00 am and land in New York around noon. Oh the magic of time traveling. I have a five or six hour lay over and then fly to KC landing around 9:30. It will be a long day of travel. Sure trusting all will be on time.

I hear the prairie got some more rain this morning. So very grateful to hear that. I have been so envious of all the green here and all the rain I have seen while here. Wish I could pack it up and bring it home with me.

I’m tired tonight. I slept well last night and was lucky I woke up when I did this morning as I hadn’t set my alarm correctly and it didn’t go off. We have only had one time this entire trip where someone was more than a minute late getting on the bus. I don’t want to be the cause of holding up the whole group. I’m grateful the group has been respectful of the time and with the one exception have not slowed us down.

I need to remember to ask my tour guide what time my ground transportation to the airport will be on Tuesday. We won’t see him after tomorrow night

It isn’t even 6:00 pm here but I think I will take my bath and put on my PJ’s and rest. We have lots of driving time on the bus again tomorrow. At this point, I just want to get to Dublin and be free again.

This tour has been a great way to sample three countries so if I ever get back this way I will know where I want to go. I sure hope I get to come back to the Ring of Kerry again. That was by far my favorite place on the whole tour.

Grateful for another safe day of travel, grateful I didn’t oversleep this morning, and grateful for a kiss on the Blarney Stone.

Now I know why I came to Ireland. The Ring of Kerry was beyond amazing. We had a rare perfect, blue sky day to travel. The guide said he hadn’t seen such a perfect day for the Ring of Kerry for a long time. We did drive through some rain at some point but not when we were off the bus and the rain never lasted very long.

The view was incredible and you could see for miles. The temperature was perfect and it wasn’t windy today. You can’t ask for a better day in Ireland.

We stopped several times at scenic places for photo shoots. Each view kept getting better and better. We were actually able to be seaside at one stop and hear and watch the waves crash on the shore.

We stopped for lunch at a delightful restaurant that was well run and had a wonderful view of the ocean. I had Shepherd’s Pie that was delicious.

We stopped at a sheep farm on the way back to our hotel. They demonstrated the skill of a dog and it’s master herding about ten sheep around a pasture. We then watched a guy shear a sheep. I didn’t watch the sheep much because the guy was delicious eye candy. He had the most attractive eyes. Alas, he was way too young for me but he was fun to watch and adore.

The road we traveled on today was narrow and winding. There were times when the bus had to back up to let someone pass it. We had a very skilled driver that never seem to get rattled. I appreciate the skill he has driving our big bus on these narrow roads.

I got the front row on the bus today. It was a glorious day to have gotten a front row seat. About halfway through a lady from the back of the bus joined me. She was sitting behind someone that had too much perfume on and she had a headache from it. I happened to hear her talking about it and invited her to sit next to me. It was nice to have someone to converse with today.

It is mid-afternoon and we have a free evening tonight. Not sure what I will do. I will need to find a bite to eat at some point but may order room service. I have to stay dressed as I have to go down to the lobby to get my laundry around 7:00. I would be tempted to take my bath now and just chill in my room for the evening. Guess I will do that after 7:00.

Tomorrow we leave at 8:00 for Blarney Stone. We will have lunch and get to spend a couple hours there, Afterwards we go to Waterford Crystal Museum and will spend the night in Waterford. Somewhere along the line we get to go to a Woolen Goods Store that is supposed to have the best prices in Ireland on woolen goods. I could skip the crystal factory and spend my time at the woolen goods store. Saturday we go back to Dublin where I will spend three nights before I head home Tuesday. Sunday and Monday are both free days so I will have time to see some sites in Dublin if I decide to. I will have lots of time to do some shopping if I can’t find what I want at the woolen goods store.

The scenery today more than met my expectations of what Ireland would look like. It was magnificent.

When I started thinking about coming to Ireland last January I had first looked at a walking tour around the Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately you have to book those about two years in advance to get prime spots to stay. When I looked there was going to be days where I would have had to walk up to 20 miles a day as that was the only openings available for overnight accommodations. I chickened out and did the group tour thing instead. The price of the walking tour was higher than the tour I am on and I wouldn’t have been able to see England and Scotland.

Part of me regrets that I changed my mind. I sure could have spent eight days in this area. However, with all the rainy weather they have had the last week or so it is probably a good thing I didn’t attempt to walk it. The trail is considered moderate to high-challenging and I wasn’t in good enough shape to manage that. Maybe another time and year I will come back and walk it.

So very grateful for the beauty that I saw today, grateful for the company of a fellow passenger on the bus today, and grateful for another day of safe travels.

Today was another long day on the bus. But we made the best stop of Ireland so far – the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are described as an impressive wall of rock that towers some 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.

We drove in and out of rain going to the Cliffs of Moher. While there we hit a dry spell and were able to climb up to see the cliffs in dry weather conditions. It was even clear enough to see quite a distance which the guide told us is not always possible. It started sprinkling on the way back to the bus.

It was, however, very windy. I didn’t bring a heavy jacket and it was nippy cold. I didn’t stay outside very long but climbed high enough to get a good picture and then went to the visitor’s center. It was a magnificent scene with the water crashing into the cliffs. Absolutely breathtaking!

We then went to Bunratty Castle. I could have skipped this two-hour visit. It was a recreated Irish Village of old. The food selection was poor and there were not many places to sit down. They had pigs, ducks, chickens, goats, etc. The buildings didn’t have anyone demonstrating their craft. I can see pigs, ducks, chickens, goats, etc. at home. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Those were the only two stops we made today and they were 30 minutes apart. We had a two hour drive from Bunratty Castle to our hotel and a two hour drive from our morning hotel to the Cliffs of Moher. I saw four rainbows today. None were complete rainbows like I see on the prairie but they were beautiful.

We drove in and out of rain all day. The skies would clear up, then cloud up and it would rain, then it would clear up and then cloud up again and it would rain. Repeat often throughout the day. I’m a bit jealous of how much rain they get. Sometimes it would rain when it appeared that there were no rain clouds. Hard to get a full view of the sky sometimes though.

The scenery at times was so green it almost hurt my eyes. Lots of dry-stack limestone fences. Made me feel right at home.

We have a group dinner at 6:00 tonight. Not sure I am going to go down for it. I am about grouped out for the day. We leave in the morning at 8:30 so will need to go downstairs at 7:30 for breakfast. Thankfully we are staying in this hotel for two nights so won’t have to pack and take my suitcase down with me in the morning.

Tomorrow we are doing the Ring of Kerry Tour. This is the place that I originally had planned to come and walk and then changed my mind. With the rainy weather it is probably a good thing I shifted my plans but I know I would have enjoyed walking it more than the group bus thing. I’m not sure where we are stopping for lunch and other stops during the day. They usually tell us ahead of time but didn’t for this day. I’m sure we will make a few stops on the 111 mile Ring of Kerry Tour.

Friday we go to Blarney Castle where I will get to kiss the famous Blarney Stone. Then we go to the Waterford Crystal Showroom and then we will spend the night in Waterford. There is a Blarney Woolen Mill Store I am looking forward to visiting.

Saturday we head back to Dublin and will have our farewell dinner. Sunday and Monday I will be on my own in Dublin. Tuesday I fly home.

When I was coming up the tiny elevator when we got to this hotel, a man spilled a small bit of beer on my sweater. He wiped it off and offered to pay to have it cleaned. I told him not to worry about it. This hotel offers laundry service at a much more reasonable rate so I fixed a bag of laundry and took down to the reception. I put the sweater in there so it will be clean for the rest of the trip. I don’t want to smell like a brewery for five more days.

I need to give some thought about how I want to spend my two free days in Dublin. If I had realized I had a free day before I flew home anyways I probably wouldn’t have stayed over an extra day. I’m not sure what hotel I am staying at and where I will be in relation to things to do. If I remember I will ask tomorrow and then do some research and make a plan.

I have a feeling these last few days are going to go by quickly. Six more days and I will be home. The three weeks has flown by. It will be ever so good to be home again though.

Grateful for yet another safe day of travels, grateful for the beauty of the Cliffs of Moher, and grateful for affordable laundry service.

I had the best conversation with a couple at breakfast this morning. They are a couple that was with me on the England part of the tour and we have sat together and chatted a couple of other times. This morning it was just me and them having breakfast at the same table.

He mentioned that after I left the dinner table early last night, one of the others in the group mentioned that I had done lots of traveling. He asked me what was my favorite trip and I told him about walking the Camino de Santiago. I shared with him a few stories and lessons I had learned along the way.

That led to a conversation about mindfulness and connecting to like-minded people. His wife has been able to find her tribe but he is still looking. We talked about beliefs vs truth and other such things. If felt good to be able to go a bit deeper with someone on the group.

Today we headed out at 9:00 to go the Connemara National Park. We made a potty stop at a cute shop along the way. We ended up at Kylemore Abbey. The nuns were originally from Belgium and their order started in the early 1600’s.

I was lucky enough to notice that the nuns were leading a mass at 12:15 so I went to part of that. I love to hear them sing their prayers. I didn’t stay for all of it as I needed to eat lunch before we had to be back on the bus at 1:30. The mass that I did see was beautiful. There were 10 nuns doing the mass. Two of them looked like they had just joined, two others looked like they had taken a bigger step towards becoming a nun, and the others looked like they had been nuns for a long time. The ones that looked like they had just joined looked young.

There is an old church, a beautiful garden and a mansion on the grounds. I toured part of the mansion but it wasn’t my thing. The old church was beautiful. I didn’t make it to the garden as the weather was not garden type weather.

We drove back to Galway at 1:30 and arrived around 3:15. The guide took the group on a short walking tour around Galway. Most of the group stayed in Galway for the evening and will have to take a taxi back to the hotel as it is quite a walk to town. I opted to stay on the bus and wait for the group.

Today has been more typical Irish weather. We had rain on and off all day. I only got caught in the rain for a short bit when I was walking at the Abbey grounds. The high has been 58 so it has been a bit cold for me.

The countryside was beautiful as we drove through the Connemara National Park. Lots of sheep, a few cattle, and lots of waterfalls coming down the mountains. We saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on the trip. There were huge white caps on it today as it was very windy. The mountains were making clouds today. We were high enough up at times that we drove through the clouds.

We got back to the hotel around 4:00. I went to the bar and had dinner and then came up to my room for the night. I am going to take a hot bath in a bit and warm up and then tuck myself in for the evening. Tomorrow we leave at 8:00 so I will have to be up and dressed by 7:00 so I can have breakfast before we leave.

My clothes I washed out yesterday are still not dry but hoping they will be more dry by morning. I tried using the hair dryer on them this morning and over heated the hair dryer. I will try it in a bit and see if it will work again. Oops!

Tomorrow we are going to the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle. We will spend the next two nights in Killarney.

Five more days of tour plus one bonus day for me in Dublin before I head for home next Tuesday.

I haven’t gotten homesick yet and haven’t given much thought to the hail damage process. Trusting the insurance adjuster is meeting with the window guy and will get me some funds for windows soon. I will be home a week from today.

I am struggling remembering what hotel room I am in. I try to remember to carry the jacket they put the room key in with me as it has the room number on it. After this many nights in different hotels, the numbers are starting to run together in my head. It is all I can do to remember what time I am to meet the bus in the morning.

This group has been very punctual so far. I’m surprised that with 42 people on the tour that everyone has shown up on time. I’m grateful for it though.

This trip has been wonderful for me to see sights I have never seen before. I have been a bit disappointed that I haven’t connected to many people on the tour. I have forgotten how to be social and make small talk with strangers. I have found the best part of the day is when I am in my room – alone!

Grateful for another safe day of travels, grateful for the beauty that I am seeing, and grateful for the faithfulness of the nuns and the work they do.

We boarded the bus this morning at 9:00 and took a bus tour throughout downtown Dublin. We saw from the bus several green spaces they have in town. One was over 1,700 acres and is where there President lives. We saw the Guinness beer plant and St. Patrick’s cathedral but were unable to go inside it.

We stopped at Trinity College at 11:00 for a walk around and lunch. We went to see the Book of Kells at noon and then had some more free time until 1:00.

The Book of Kells is a manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD.

Getting to the Book of Kells was a big, narrow room full of information about what the Book of Kells is all about and how they came into being. Unfortunately for me, the room was jam packed and was over crowded. I just wanted to get to the Book of Kells and then get out of there.

They keep the Book of Kells in a darken room in a glass surround display. I took a peak at it and left. I needed to get away from people.

I went out to the streets and walked them for a bit. I went in some beautiful knit ware shops. I was very tempted to buy a sweater but decided to wait. I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities for that later on this trip and if not, I have two free days in Dublin on the back end of the trip that I can go back and get it then.

We had a rare, blue sky sunny morning for our bus tour. We did drive into rain while on our three hour trip to Galway this afternoon but when we got to Galway the rain stopped and it was clear again. The temperature in Galway was 58 for the high today and 55 when we got here. It feels like fall to me. The leaves in the parks were beginning to turn. It is raining again now. It seems to rain, clear off, rain, clear off all day long.

We stopped at the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas. We were very lucky as the organist was playing while we were touring the church. Very beautiful music and a very beautiful cathedral.

We got dropped off at our hotel for the next two nights and got checked into the room. The grounds of the hotel are incredible filled with glorious flower beds. We aren’t close to any shops so will stay close to the hotel tonight.

We have a group dinner at 6:30 tonight but I’m not sure if I will go down for it or not. I’m not very hungry and I am peopled out for the day. Last night I went to the dinner but only stayed for the soup and then left early.

The bus for this part of the trip has 44 people on it counting the driver and guide. Last leg of the trip only had 24. It feels crowded and a bit loud to me. There are several couples that came with a group of friends or family and they converse back and forth across the way on the bus. The guide played Irish music this afternoon which was fun for the first tune or two but got old quick.

Our potty stop was at a rest area, similar to the KS Turnpike rest areas. There was a McDonald’s so I got some chicken tenders. They were good and service was good. I did have to use the self-service kiosk to order. I haven’t gotten any local money yet – everywhere takes my credit card. I tap it and go. Easy! Meals are usually about $20 – $30 US. I haven’t purchased souvenirs yet. Just haven’t seen anything that called to me.

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Kylemore Abbey in the heart of the Connemara National Park. We will get several hours there to explore it and have lunch. We get to come back to the same hotel tomorrow night.

When I got to the room, I did my laundry using the bathtub. About half of the hotels I have stayed in have had bathtubs so was grateful this one had one. As rainy as it is here, I hope my clothes will be dry by Wednesday morning. I can always use the hair dryer on them if needed.

The Irish countryside so far isn’t what I had kinda expected. It looks like England so far. Lots of sheep and more cattle than England, although their fields of cattle only have 10 – 20 head instead of the hundreds I am used to seeing. It is very green due to all the rain they get.

Grateful we were able to go inside the cathedral this afternoon – my soul needed that respite today, grateful for another safe travel day, and grateful for this chance to see Ireland.

Shortly after I finished blogging last night the connecting door between my room and the next room opened. I heard a man’s voice and the door quickly shut. I went out to the hallway and poked my head out. One of the couples from the tour are in the room next door and the husband had opened the door. He was looking for a closet. I think he was a bit embarrassed. He stuck his head out in the hallway too and apologized for opening the door.

I went downstairs to find some food and stopped at the front desk and asked them to come up and lock the door. I ate dinner and then went back up to my room. The door was still unlocked. I flagged down a housekeeping staff member that was in the hallway. They said they would text someone to bring a key.

About 15 minutes later a man comes into my room without knocking. He had a key to lock the door. He was startled to see me in the room when he turned around. Needless to say, I was startled he had just come into my room without knocking. He apologized about five times and left.

That is the second time on this trip someone from the hotel staff has entered my room without knocking. What is up with that?

I stayed in my room last night and didn’t go to the dinner. We had to be down in the lobby by 5:45 this morning and I didn’t want to eat after 7:00 which is when the dinner was to start. I went to bed around 8:30.

I was up and ready by 5:30 so I went to the lobby. Not long after I got there a couple and her sister came down. We were visiting for a few minutes and a taxi driver comes in and calls all our names. No one else had shown up yet. We all four got in the taxi and headed to the airport. It was about an hour and one half drive to the airport.

Traffic was fairly light this morning and the trip to the airport was smooth. We didn’t fly out of Heathrow airport this time. There was not a lot of signage at the airport to point us in the right direction. We asked a worker where to go and he kinda gave us directions. We asked another one further into the airport and found our way to the bag drop area the worker told us we needed to go to. We stood in line for the longest time and then got to the front of the line and discovered we were at the wrong place.

We found the right place and stood in line again. Once we got to the counter we got checked in easily as all of us had gone on-line and checked in last night. They don’t tell you the gate number until about 15 minutes before you board the plane. We found a spot to sit and wait for our boarding time. We had over an hour to wait. I got a sandwich and drink and had a late breakfast.

The bathroom was at the back of the area we were in and then we had to walk down a long hallway. I turned the corner and there was another long hallway. I turned another corner and finally found the bathroom. Surprisingly there was a long line for the men’s room but none for the ladies room. When I came out I mentioned that to another lady that was waiting for her partner to come out of the men’s room. She said she was thinking of taking a picture of it as she had never seen that happen before. I laughed and agreed with her.

The flight to Dublin was only an hour of air time but we taxied for 20 minutes both before and after the flight. We didn’t have a gate when we landed so had to use the stairs and then a bus. It was quite a hike through the airport to baggage claim. My bag arrived and I headed to immigrations which was a no-line process. They stamped my passport and I headed to the exit.

A Gate One person directed us to our bus driver. We had another long hike with the bus driver to get to the bus. 16 of us came as a group from London. He filled the back of his smaller bus with luggage and ran out of room so I carried mine onto the bus with me. We had about an hour drive on the bus to get to the hotel.

Our new tour guide Liam, met us at the entrance of the hotel. We got checked in with him and then into the hotel. We had a short meeting with the tour guide and then were allowed to go to our rooms. Luckily, the rooms were ready and we could get into them early.

I got to my room and then went down and found some lunch. I came back to the room and plan to take a short nap when I get done blogging. We have a meet and greet with the whole tour group tonight at 5:30 followed by a dinner. Unfortunately we found out that there will be 42 people on this tour. The tour in London and Scotland only had 22. 42 seems like a lot of people.

I haven’t been given the time table for tomorrow’s trip. I know we are starting the day with a bus tour of Dublin and then are going to Galway where we will spend two nights at the same hotel.

It feels nice when we get to spend two nights at the same place. I can kinda get my bearings when we do that. I struggle to remember my room number when we change hotels every night.

It was lightly raining when we arrived. The forecast is calling for rain most of the days we are here. The guide told us we will see the sun sometime while we are here if only for ten minutes at a time. Rain is very common and expected and life goes on when it rains. Wish I could figure out a way to bring the rain home with me.

Feels good to be in Ireland. I’m anxious to get out and into the countryside tomorrow. Everything is spring green colored here. It is a bit cool and forecasted to stay that way all week. I may have to buy myself a warmer jacket.

Grateful for another day of safe travels grateful to be in Ireland, and grateful I was able to get in my room early today.

Halfway through this trip. 10 days to go. It has been an adventure!

We left Leeds this morning at 8:00. We stopped at a rest area type place for a potty break and then went to Cambridge. We had three hours in Cambridge to explore and have lunch. The weather was perfect today with no rain and temperatures in the mid 70’s.

Cambridge has several hundred different colleges – some only have 150 students and some have thousands of students. There was row after row of colleges housed in old buildings.

The downtown square of Cambridge was full of people, sights and smells. They had an open market with everything from t-shirts to food being sold. Most of the major US brands seemed to have a shop in Cambridge. Lots and lots of shops and eating places. The only thing I purchased was some laundry powder so I can wash some clothes out. It is the one thing I forgot to bring with me. The container I had to buy is too big so I will put some in a zip lock bag I brought and ditch the rest of it. It was the only size and brand available. We really haven’t been where locals must shop for everyday things.

I had lunch and then walked around for a bit. I spent most of my time at St. Catherine Cathedral. I went inside and sat in a pew for the longest time. People were respectful and quiet inside the church and it felt good to sit and reflect on things.

We had a two and one half hour bus ride after we left Cambridge to return to London. We are staying on the other side of London tonight. This side is closer to the airport.

A taxi will take me to the airport in the morning at 6:00 am. My flight to Dublin is at 9:35 and lands around 11:00. We will be met at the airport and taken to our hotel. We will have a welcome dinner with our new tour guide tomorrow night.

We have a dinner tonight at 7:00. I am strongly considering not going to it. I don’t think I will be hungry and I don’t feel the need to get any closure with this group. Very few have even spoken to me and the ones that have are going on with me to Ireland. The dinner won’t be over until 9:00 or so and I want to be asleep by then.

Sure hoping the hotel room will be available tomorrow when we get to the hotel and I won’t have to kill most of the day waiting to get in a room. I tipped the bus guy when we got off this afternoon and I will see the tour guide in the morning so I can give him his envelop then.

I love the English and Scottish countryside. It is so green and hilly with lots and lots of sheep. There were some cattle but not big pastures full like I see at home. I was surprised at how diverse their restaurants are. Not sure there is a typical English meal or restaurant. Most restaurants represented many different countries and tastes from around the world.

Looking forward to going to Ireland. I trust it will be a highlight for me of this trip.

No one else has come down with Covid – at least not officially. I was a bit concerned last night I had it but felt much better today. My tummy was a bit upset this afternoon but that is normal for me and it settled back down pretty quickly.

I haven’t done much souvenir shopping or gotten gifts for anyone. Just haven’t seen anything that caught my eye yet. I gave up forcing myself to get gifts for family members a long time ago. I would end up focusing more on that while on a trip then enjoying the sights and sounds of where I was at. If I see something I think someone would like, I get it but don’t worry if I don’t find something.

I think I will take a shower and get refreshed and then decide what I am going to do the rest of the evening. Staying inside my room sounds wonderful right now It is a pretty day out and we are in a beautiful area so may go out and take a walk. We shall see what I decide to do.

Grateful for a safe journey through England and Scotland, grateful I felt better this morning, and grateful to be moving on to Ireland tomorrow.

My laundry was returned in full last night. They were to have delivered it to my room by 5:00. At 5:30 I went down to check on it. I had to pay for it before they could release it. This was the biggest expense I have had so far this trip. Wow! It was nice to have clean clothes this morning but at that price I think I will just wash things out myself from now on.

The first thing the tour guide said when we got on the bus today was that two people in the group (a couple traveling together) tested positive for Covid. They have to stay at the hotel in Edinburgh until they test negative. Not sure where they go after that and if the tour company rebooks them or what.

I was not surprised. The man had sat across the isle from me Wednesday. He was complaining about a sore throat in the morning, no appetite and he slept most of the time on the bus. In the afternoon he put on his coat as he had the chills. I wondered then if he had Covid. I guess he and his wife had both gone on the city tour in the bus on Thursday and then asked to be dropped off at the hotel before the group went on to tour a castle as they both were very tired. I’m grateful I didn’t go Thursday and get exposed again.

I am ever so grateful a friend who travels a lot reminded me to get travel medical insurance. It pays for hotel, medical expenses, food, change in flights, etc. if I should get Covid. At least if I get it, I feel someone will help me out and help me get home eventually.

There are a couple others in the group that are starting to get coughs. Crossing all my fingers and toes no one else comes down with it but I won’t be surprised if some others do. I took a Covid test this late afternoon when we got to our hotel for the night, just to make sure I didn’t have it. Thank heavens it was negative, however, my experience with the rapid tests tells me it isn’t always accurate for me. I have a touch of a sore throat and a headache today. No fever that I can tell and no cough. We shall see how I feel tomorrow.

Today was a long day on the bus. They do break up the day with stops every two hours or so. We passed Hadian’s Wall and stopped for a photo shoot. This wall was built way back in the Roman ages.

We stopped for lunch at a service area – kinda like the KS Turnpike Service Area. It had several shops you could get food from. I got a sandwich and two books to read on the rest of the trip.

Our long stop of the day was at the town of York, England. It was a delightful town with lots and lots of shopping on streets way too narrow for vehicles to drive on. We toured the York Minister cathedral which was built in 1600’s. I can’t wrap my head around that. It was beautiful with lots of stain glass windows and mile high ceilings. There is a crypt there that we were able to walk down into. Bodies from the 1600 were there. Outside the church were individuals singing for tips. They were really good and made the wait time for the group to gather fun.

Our hotel for the night is in Leeds, England. It doesn’t have air conditioning so grateful it isn’t too hot today. We had rain all morning but it was absolutely delightful in York with bright blue skies and temperatures in the upper 60’s and lower 70’s. Perfect walking around weather.

We have a free evening here in Leeds. We are about a 20 minute walk from the main square of town. I had dinner in York so will stay in my room the rest of the night. I have had enough people for the day.

Tomorrow is another long day on the bus. We will be stopping at Cambridge, England for a long lunch break and will end up back in London by day’s end. We have a group dinner tomorrow night to say goodbye to our bus driver and guide. We will get a new guide and driver in Ireland. We fly to Ireland Sunday morning. We have to leave the hotel at 6:00 Sunday morning for our 9:30 flight.

We will have a free afternoon and evening in Dublin Sunday. We will have a group dinner Sunday evening to meet out new guide but will have the afternoon free. Monday we take a bus tour of Dublin and then travel to Galway where we will spend the night.

I am at the halfway mark of this trip tomorrow. It hasn’t been quite what I had hoped for in some ways and has been more then I had hoped for in others.

Tagen plays in the football game in Emporia tonight. Go Tagen! I trust he will stay safe and play hard. It will be his first high school football game to play in. I wish I could be there to watch him play. Kathy is going in my place tonight – thanks Kathy!

I think I will go to bed early tonight and hopefully get some good sleep. I’m still grateful I skipped the tours yesterday and stayed in my room. I needed a people break and time to fully recharge my self.

Home seems a long ways away tonight. I have no idea of what is going on back home. I do try to look at the headlines of the news daily just to kinda stay in touch with the rest of the world. When I am on a tour like this, my world seems to shrink. It is all I can do to remember what time I am to be when.

Grateful I was able to visit Scotland grateful for the beauty of a church built in the 1600’s (how in the world did they do that without modern equipment?) and grateful for another safe traveling day.

Happy birthday to my oldest daughter Michelle. I trust she is having a wonderful day celebrating. We had a small party for her before I left. Maybe the kids will fix her dinner or something special tonight.

I skipped the bus tour of Edinburgh and the tour of the castle today. I needed some quiet time and a day free from a ride in the bus. We have two long bus ride days ahead of us and then an early day flying to Ireland. It has felt good to stay in my room and be quiet.

I did go downstairs this morning to drop off my laundry and to have breakfast. I am a bit concerned about my laundry. The desk clerk I gave it to seemed a bit lax when I gave it to him. He wasn’t sure if laundry service had already gone out for the day. The card said I had until 8:45 to turn it in and it was 7:45. He said if I missed the laundry time, they would return the dirty clothes to me this afternoon. Sure hope they got cleaned as I gave them all but the clothes I have on today. Not sure what I will do if they lose my laundry sack or return it with still dirty laundry. Dirty laundry is better than no laundry returned I guess.

I went back downstairs at 8:45 to tell the tour guide I was staying in for the day. I came back up to the room and took a nap. I had woken up at 4:30 and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. After my nap I went walking outside for a bit.

It was sprinkling and then lightly raining for a bit. I looked up and there was blue sky above me. I walked down the block and got a bigger view of the sky and saw a little rain cloud above. It didn’t rain long and I didn’t get very wet.

I stopped at a little cafe and had a goat cheese salad. It was delicious and the service was very good. Not sure what I am going to do for dinner. I may go out later this afternoon and have another walk around. I didn’t see many shops or things to do close to the hotel. I wasn’t feeling very adventurous this morning so I will see if I feel like wandering a bit further late afternoon.

I wrote a few letters and sent them as emails this afternoon. It has felt so good to not be in a bus. I needed a quiet day to get ready for two long bus days ahead and then the flight to Ireland. Hoping Ireland will be amazing.

Grateful for a quiet day in my hotel room, grateful for a wonderful lunch, and grateful for silence – it feels my soul.

It has been a long day riding on the bus. We stopped every hour and one-half to two hours which helped break the day up. We left at 7:45 this morning and arrived at our hotel at 5:45.

Our first stop was at a farmhouse that was built in 1645. The lady of the house served scones that she had baked that morning with clotted cream and jam and of course tea. I passed on trying them as they are full of sugar and flour. They looked delicious. She gave us the history of the house. Beatrice Potter owned the property at some point and when she died, donated the land to a trust of some sort. Local farmers then rent the property and care for the land. Care of the house is a mutual project between the trust and the families that live in the houses.

We drove through the Lake District which was beautiful countryside. We stopped at some lake for a photo opportunity. We continued north and ended in Edinburgh, Scotland. We stopped just over the border at a little town and had lunch. I think we made one other stop somewhere to have snacks and coffee. I kinda lose track of the day.

I had dinner in the hotel tonight. It was late and I don’t like going out on the streets to find food after dark. I had a hamburger and it was OK. The meat had a funny texture to it but it was edible. Service was good. I asked for iced tea. They bring me a cup of tea that had a tea bag in it that they had added one ice cube to. I asked for a glass of ice – it melted immediately. I kinda got a glass of iced tea tonight!

Tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit as we don’t start our group until 8:45. Breakfast is before that in the hotel. We will take a bus city tour of Edinburgh and then we are touring Edinburgh castle. We are to be done by 12:30 and then the rest of the day and evening is on our own.

I’m not sure what I want to do tomorrow. It isn’t supposed to rain so I will probably get out and walk around a bit. I haven’t done much souvenir shopping yet so may try to look at some shops. There is a church or two I would like to go into if they are close enough.

I am sending some laundry out in the morning and it is to be back in my room by 5:00. It will be good to have clean clothes again. It will also be nice to spend two nights in the same place. I won’t get to see much of Scotland as we head south on Friday. I would have loved to get further north in the country but we only have two days here.

Friday we depart for York and then will spend the night in Leeds. It looks like it will be another long day on the bus as will Saturday when we drive back to London.

The countryside is absolutely beautiful. So very green and lush. It feels like springtime to me. The flowers are blooming and the fields are so green it almost hurts your eyes to look at it. There is a very slight hint of autumn in the trees though. The high tomorrow is to be 64. After the heat of London it feels good to be cool again but I may need to purchase some warmer clothes.

I love seeing all the dry stack rock fences. Makes me feel right at home!

Friday and Saturday are forecasted to be rainy days. It looks like that might be the case in Dublin when I get there Sunday. I may need to get an umbrella tomorrow to get myself prepared.

I had a period of time this afternoon that my legs got restless. It was so hard to sit still so I wouldn’t bother the lady in front of me. I wanted to get up and walk for a bit but we are discouraged from doing that on the bus. My legs finally calmed down and I enjoyed the rest of the drive.

The insurance adjuster sent me a text and an email today. Things are moving on his side. He still hasn’t sent the payment for the windows but is paying for the total siding repair and the roof. I hope to have that money in my bank account by the end of the week. Not sure when he is going to send window money.

My first week of this grand adventure is done. 13 more days to go. Part of me is ready to come home today but Ireland awaits. I trust I will find Ireland to be the best part of the trip.

Grateful for another safe day of travel, grateful I can send laundry out tomorrow and grateful for comfortable hotel rooms at night to rest in.

We left beautiful Bath at 7:45 this morning. I didn’t make it to soak in the spa last night. I was too tired and just stayed in my room.

We headed to Liverpool with a stop at Stratford-upon-Avon. We drove for about two hours and made a quick potty stop and then drove about one more hour until we got to Stratford-upon-Avon.

The countryside today was rolling hills and farm land. Lots of sheep and cattle with a few pig farms here and there. They have gotten more than their share of rain so everything is lush and green. Hard to believe it is the middle of September here. It looks like spring back home.

Stratford-upon-Avon was another quaint town with lots of tourist shops. They sure like to sell sweets here as there was a sweet shop or two or three or four in every block. Our guide took us on a short walking tour around city square and then we had 1 1/2 hour to explore.

I choose to go to the church where Shakespeare is buried. I love going into the old churches. The energy is always palpable to me. Just imagine how many baptisms, weddings and funerals have been held over the hundreds of years the churches have been in existence.

After I walked the 10 minute walk to the church, I toured it. I found a little chapel where they invite you to sit for a bit. I took advantage and sat in the beautiful energy of the church. Afterwards I walked back to where we were to meet the bus which was by the Shakespeare Theatre. I found a little cafe in it and purchase lunch and then sat and enjoyed the sites by the river.

We drove into Liverpool this afternoon. A different guide got on the bus and took us to some of the more well known Beatles spots. We saw Candy Lane and Strawberry Fields. He then took us to a pub called Cavern where the Beatles performed almost 300 times. It has live music everyday. You had to walk down about four flights of stairs to get to the music. It smelled like an old British pub – urine, skunk (as our guide calls weed) and dirty bodies. There was a guy playing and singing old Beatle tunes. He wasn’t too bad. We only stayed about 15 minutes as we needed to get to the hotel to check in.

Our guide checked us all in and I have been in my room for about an hour. They just delivered my bag to my room. I should have grabbed it when I came out of the bus. I only travel with a carry-on and it would have been easy to manage.

We are having a group dinner at 7:00 tonight. The room is similar to the one last night but not as clean or as modern. The room was freezing cold when I walked in but I managed to figure out how to turn the A/C down so it will warm up a bit. After being so hot at night in London, I appreciate the cold.

We had light sprinkles and a bit of a drizzling rain most of the day. We never did get too wet when we were out and about though. We were told Liverpool had heavy rain this morning but it had slowed way down by the time we got here. We need rain so badly at home, I can’t complain about rain.

Tomorrow we leave at 7:45 for Edinburgh, Scotland. We make a stop at a farmhouse sometime during the day. Not sure if that is for lunch or if we will stop to grab something somewhere else. We won’t arrive to our hotel tomorrow until 6:30 p,m, so it will be a long day of travel.

We get to spend two nights at the hotel in Edinburgh which will be nice. I need to send some laundry out and that will give me time to get it back before we leave. We won’t get to see much of Scotland other than Edinburgh. Thursday we have a guided city tour and then a castle visit in the morning but will have the afternoon and evening on our own. Friday we go to Leeds and then Saturday back to London. Sunday we fly to Ireland. I will spend the whole next week in Ireland and we will drive around and see different places in Ireland. I fly home from Dublin on Tuesday, September 26.

I remembered today that I am not a good tourist. I am an experiential learner and traveler. I have enjoyed the things that I can have a sensory experience with better than just walking past items or places. I am not big on history and while I appreciate the value of it, I still prefer a hands on experience instead. Walking the Camino and taking Ayahuasca are more the type of vacations I prefer.

I’m grateful I came and have been able to see the things I am seeing. Sites always seem so different then what you see on TV and read about in books.

I sent the insurance adjuster an email today asking why I haven’t heard anything about the direct deposit he was to have set up for me. He told me that would happen Monday. It will all get sorted out eventually but I don’t like when someone says one thing and something else happens.

Still adjusting to the six hour time difference. I’m sure by the end of the trip I will be good to go and then I get to go back through it again. It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that those in in US are getting up about the time we are having lunch. I have noticed how habitual I have become with my emails. I expect them to be able to read at a certain time and with the time change, that doesn’t happen on my expected schedule. I am a habitual person.

Grateful for the beautiful scenery today, grateful for the churches that have survived the ages, and grateful for safe travels so far on this trip.

We got out of London today and traveled to Stonehenge and am spending the night in Bath. It was so nice to see the rolling hills and pastures. Too often, though, all you could see was the tree-lined road side. It was fun to spot the sheep and cattle when the tree line broke.

Stonehenge was wonderful. Such powerful energy in those rocks. I was able to find a bench with a clear site and sit in the energy. It wasn’t too crowded when we got there, although many more people were coming in as we were leaving.

We ended the day in the beautiful, quaint town of Bath. We had tickets to see the Roman Baths. Not sure I was impressed with them but I loved touring the Abby which was right next door. I sat down in a pew and soaked up the beautiful, spiritual energy of the Abby.

We had lots of time to shop and have a late lunch/early dinner before we met out group and got taken to our hotel for the evening. This room reminds me of the room I stayed in while in Iceland. It is a lovely, modern room. The best part is it is cool with working air conditioning. I didn’t sleep well the last two nights as the room was so warm. I am due for a lot of sleep tonight.

The weather today was much cooler. It was mostly cloudy this morning and partly cloudy this afternoon. I took my jacket to wear while seeing Stonehenge but didn’t need it this afternoon. I didn’t drip sweat all afternoon today like I have the last couple of days. No rain today which was a blessing.

Tomorrow we go to the Cotswold and Stratford-upon-Avon while on our way to Liverpool which is where we spend the night. We will stop and see the birthplace of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway’s cottage. We will get a tour of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields while in Liverpool. They are providing dinner for us this night.

Wednesday we take a long drive to Edinburgh. We will make a quick stop every two hours and one longer stop in the Lake District where we will have a unique farmhouse visit.

The bus is big and not crowded so we are able to spread out a bit. The driver seem very competent and it feels safe traveling with him. Our guide feels like he is trying a bit too hard but is OK.

I’m considering taking a taxi to the hot springs spa tonight so I can soak in the springs. I love doing that. I am really tired though so may just go to sleep instead. Once I get to my room, I have trouble getting back out.

Yesterday a few got caught up in a demonstration that was going on in Hyde Park. They had taken the Hop On Hop Off bus for a tour of the city and the bus could not get through the demonstration area so they had to get off and walk through it. They reported it was a bit intimidating for them. I’m grateful I was in the hands of the guide touring the Crown Jewels and St. Paul’s Cathedral and missed that. One disadvantage of touring alone is when you run into things like that and you have no one to help you through it. It can feel a bit intimidating to be in the midst of all that noise and chaos. I’m grateful I missed that.

Feeling like I can breathe a bit better getting out of the big city energy. Bath is a town of over 100,000 people but it doesn’t feel that big. Seeing the country side took away the closed-in feelings I was getting in London. I do need space to breathe in.

Grateful for this time away from home, grateful for some quiet space this afternoon and grateful for the beauty of the Abby today.

I’m wiped out. We had a wonderful day touring London today. It is still hot as blazes though and we did a lot of walking this afternoon.

This morning we met the guide and boarded the bus a little before 9:00. They took us on a tour of downtown London. We had a special guide today and she was wonderful. She showed us that unique British sense of humor and made the day lots of fun.

We stopped at Westminster for some photo shots of that and Big Ben. We couldn’t go inside as there were Sunday worship services being held. We drove by Buckingham Palace and got to see the start of the changing of the guards. We saw a parade of soldiers playing marching music. The guide said that was a special treat.

We stopped at Trafalgar Square for lunch. I had Fish and Chips. It was just about what I expected. Afterwards five of us continued with the guide and went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were able to go inside and take a peak. What a beautiful church.

We ended the day at the Tower where we saw the Crown Jewels. They house the world’s largest diamond and many crowns and other royal symbols.

It is amazing to get to see in person all these things that I have seen on the TV.

I walked from there back to my room. I am hot and tired. My room is 26.5 C which is about 83 degrees. This heat wave London is taxing the capacity of their cooling system and the heat wave is winning.

I washed some clothes out last night and they still aren’t dry. Still hoping they will be dry by morning. We shall see. In this heat, putting wet clothes inside my suitcase all day will not have a positive outcome.

Not sure what I am going to do for dinner. I may skip it. I am still full from lunch. I couldn’t eat all the fish and chips I was served for lunch. I need to drink lots of water this afternoon and get rehydrated as I feel a bit dehydrated.

Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 7:30. Our first stop is at Stonehenge and then we will spend the night at Bath. I should have the afternoon free in Bath so hoping to soak in the hot springs. It will be good to get out to the country side and out of the big city.

Tuesday we go to Liverpool where we spend one night then it is off to Edinburgh, Scotland where we will stay for two nights.

So far, so good. I feel a bit lonely as we were on the bus most of the morning and I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone. I’m sure opportunities will present themselves over the next couple of days for me to get into conversation with others.

Haven’t given much thought to the hail damage and what is happening with it. That is a good thing. I didn’t sleep much last night – I think I slept too much the night before. Trusting I will sleep better tonight. This room is so warm that it is hard to get comfortable. Trusting my next hotel will have a cooler room or else the temperature will drop.

I liked London – much better than Rome. It is as easy to get around in as Paris was. It feels cleaner than Paris was. Not a city I would want to live in however. Way too many people and horrible, congested traffic.

Grateful for this opportunity to get to see London and see the sights I have only seen on TV, grateful for the quiet of my room this afternoon, and grateful we are headed to the countryside tomorrow.

I got lots of sleep last night. I was asleep before 6:00 London time last night. I woke up at midnight but was able to go back to sleep after I used the bathroom.. I didn’t get up and moving until after 10:00 this morning. I was awake for part of that but kept dozing off again.

I took the Underground, or the Tube as it is called, to Harrod’s. I had to get off and then take a bus. I had trouble figuring out what bus to take. It was really hot and I found a 5 Guys and had lunch there while I was trying to figure out what bus to take.

After lunch there were some construction workers so I asked them what bus to take. They showed me a road to walk to Harrod’s instead. It was about a mile walk. The road was a straight shot and I knew I would get where I wanted to go that way.

Harrod’s is huge and EXPENSIVE! Oh my gosh, it has all the expensive brand names. Not what I was expecting. I walked around a bit but felt very out of place as I had my trail clothes on. I had gotten really hot walking and was looking for a place to sit down and cool off but couldn’t find one to do so.

I started not feeling well so decided to take an Uber back to the hotel. It took a couple tries to get someone to accept the ride. The ride back took about 45 minutes.

The cars I have been in don’t have A/C and many of the shops don’t have it either. It was over 90 again today so felt very warm. My hotel room has A/C but it hasn’t cooled the room below 80 yet. I don’t handle heat well.

I got back to the room mid-afternoon and rested and tried to cool down. I dozed off for a bit and am finally feeling better and I am not tired. I found the correct converter at the tube station so was able to get my iPad, watch and iPhone charged up this afternoon. It took me a bit to figure out how to use the converter but I finally figured it out.

We had a group meeting and dinner tonight with the tour group. There are only 22 in the group and eight are dropping out after we do Scotland. I like that the group is small. There is one mother-daughter couple and one sister along with her sister and brother-in-law. The rest are all married couples except me. About eight of the group are from other countries. Most are about my age, although there are two younger couples.

The dinner food was awful. I had a piece of chicken that was so dry I could barely cut it. They served a lettuce salad with it that had no dressing. I’m glad I wasn’t hungry tonight.

I am grateful I came in a day early and got some rest. Most of the group had come in today and were barely awake tonight. The hotel had let them check into their rooms today by 11:00 though so they had been able to get a nap this afternoon. That sure would have helped yesterday go easier for me as I didn’t get into my room until almost 5:00.

Tomorrow we leave at 9:00 and are going on a bus tour of London. They will drop us off at Trafalgar Square so we can have lunch. I am going on an optional tour to go inside St. Paul’s Cathedral and then a tour of the Tower of London where I can see the Crown Jewels. Dinner tomorrow night is on our own.

Monday we head to Stonehenge and then will spend the night in Bath. I look forward to getting out of the city.

Tonight I will do some laundry and wash out some clothes. I looked today to purchase some laundry detergent but couldn’t find a shop that sold that. I will get by with some hand soap and will keep my eyes out for some tomorrow. Not something they sell at tourist shops, I guess.

It felt a bit weird being the only single person on the trip. I was hoping there would be another one or two singles. Oh well, I will make the best of it and enjoy getting to know the couples.

Feels good that the official tour has begun and I have a support team behind me. The tour director is young and eager to please. We shall see how he does as a guide tomorrow.

I wish I could have gone into lots of the buildings I have seen but wasn’t sure how to do that. Many have tickets you have to buy and purchase in advance. The lines are very long and it is very crowded. I’ll have to make due with just seeing the buildings from the street.

We come back to London sometime down the road on this trip. We will be staying at a different hotel for that night. We have a farewell dinner that night as we will be getting a different tour guide while we are in Ireland.

It feels like I have been gone for a long time already. I’m grateful I will have guided activities tomorrow and a group to visit with. I will have lots of free time intermittently so that should be a good balance for me. I tire of people easily these days and need lots of alone time.

Grateful I came in a day early, grateful I knew how to call for an Uber this afternoon, and grateful I was able to sleep last night.

After having a very smooth travel day with on time flights and great service in-flight, today kinda made up for it in not a good way.

I got up several times during the eight hour flight to walk. One time I got in a conversation with one of the flight attendants. He gave me some great ideas of things to do while I am in London on my own for two days, He showed me a picture of the northern lights he had taken 20 minutes before I talked to him. They were amazing. I missed seeing them by 15 minutes! Dang it anyways. I sure wish they had announced it but most of the passengers were sleeping as that was in the middle of the night.

It only took me ten minutes to get through immigrations and customs and most of that was walking to the immigration area. The driver met me as he was supposed to. He had just arrived and was surprised I made it out to him that fast. Then the trip turned from smooth to not so smooth!

The drive from the airport to the hotel was to have taken 1 1/2 hours but ended up taking 2 1/2 hours due to traffic. He kept taking short cuts trying to get around traffic. I wonder if he had stuck to the original route if we would have made it sooner.

He asked me where I was from and then asked what the ethnic make-up is of the area I live in. I had to tell him Chase County is primarily white Caucasian. I told him we had some Hispanic and Blacks but they certainly were a minority. He then made a very racist comment about Blacks. I didn’t talk to him the rest of the trip. He was from the Middle East and had lived in New Jersey at one point in his life.

I checked my bags at the hotel as they told me my room wouldn’t be ready until 3:00. I went to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast. I must say it wasn’t worth the $24 I paid for it.

The flight attendant had recommended I take the blue route Big Bus on a tour of the city. That way I could see most of the sights from the road and not exert much energy as I was tired. I didn’t sleep much at all on the flight. The hotel sold tickets for it so I got one and asked directions and headed out. The directions sucked and I had to ask three other people how to find the bus.

London had a record high day for this summer yesterday and they were to have beaten that record today. The bus was not air conditioned. Traffic is horrendous and the route that was to take three hours took almost five. Needless to say by the end I was a hot mess in more than one way. I could have hopped off and gotten on a different bus or tried taking the Underground but I didn’t know where I was and my thinking power today was limited. I didn’t trust that I could figure it out and was afraid I would get lost.

London is a beautiful, old city. Cleaner than Rome and it reminded me of Paris. I loved the beautiful flower boxes hanging from the windows in many of the buildings. It is very crowded though and I never did quite understand the lane markings on the road. They appear to be suggestions of where to go but not necessarily the rule of the land. Delivery people would park in the oncoming traffic lane to deliver their goods. I had to close my eyes more than a couple of times as the driver of the bus cut it very close when he made turns. We never did hit anything but…….. So very grateful I was not driving. I would have been terrified!

I finally got to my room around 5:30. My friends from the Camino, Tom and Carolyn, will appreciate my struggle with the shower. It has two shower heads – a tall one and a hand held one. I couldn’t figure out how to make water come out of the tall one so used the hand held one. I had to mop water up off the floor when I was done as it got away from me once or twice. Maybe tomorrow when I am not so tired, I can figure it out.

The bath tub is almost mid-thigh high and I could have used a step stool to get in it. Getting out of a slick tub that is that high was tricky but I navigated it safely. Just as I got out and grabbed a towel, my hotel room door opened. Since I am in the room alone, I hadn’t closed the bathroom door which is right by the room door. I screamed and the person backed out quickly. I wrapped a towel around me and poked my head out the door to find out what they needed. They were checking to see if I needed any service. They didn’t knock before they opened the door. At this point, the only service I need is to be left alone. I am dangerous right now!

The air conditioning is not working well. It is 80 degrees in the room and I am struggling to figure out how to make it cooler.

I rarely have two bad days in a row so anticipating tomorrow will be much easier. I’m grateful I have this extra day to adjust. If I had come in tomorrow, I would have had to meet my tour group for dinner and I don’t think I would have made a very good first impression if that had been tonight.

Tomorrow I want to ask how to use the Underground and I want to go to Harrod’s department store. I saw it today from the bus. If I would have had some courage and energy I would have hopped off and then gotten back on the bus but I was way too tired and hot by then to do that. The flight attendant told me the Underground is as easy if not even easier than the one in Paris as it is in English. Kathy, Nicole and I figured out the one in Paris without much mishap.

The international charger I brought didn’t work. I have a two pin adapter and need a three. But I remembered reading somewhere that most TVs there days have an extra USB port on them and sure enough, this one does. I will only be able to charge things one at a time but I can make that work. If I happen to see a store while I am out tomorrow that sells converters, I will get the correct one.

I trust I will get lots of sleep tonight. I am ready to go to bed now. I am not hungry so will skip dinner and sleep instead.

Oh the adventures of traveling. Thank heavens most days aren’t like today. I am betting a good night’s sleep will make tomorrow go much easier.

Grateful for safe travels, grateful I held it together today, and grateful it is time to go to bed.

I am sitting at the Minneapolis Airport waiting for my late afternoon flight to London. I’m lucky to be at an airport with lots of shops and food choices. I just ordered a pizza and will enjoy people watching for a bit. I have several hours to wait. Wonder if they have a bed I could rent for two hours so I could take a nap? I didn’t sleep very much last night.

I left home at 6:30 this morning. It was a smooth drive to Nicole’s house. Traffic backed up a bit around Olathe but otherwise wasn’t bad. I got a notice my Uber driver backed out but they found another one quickly and he picked me up right on time at 8:30.

He was a pleasant man and we had a nice conversation on the way to the airport. Very little traffic and I got to the airport just a little after 9:00.

The security line was short and moved quickly. I made it to my gate with an hour to spare. The lady at the boarding gate played a game called Who Has It? She would name an item and the first one to bring it to her gate got a prize. I had one of the items but it was in my carry-on bag and I didn’t want to open it. It made the wait fun and before I knew it I could board.

I saw lots of people in Detroit football gear at the KC airport. I am assuming KC is playing Detroit tonight?

The flight was jam packed. I was lucky to get to bring my bag on board as the people behind me in line had to check theirs. I was the last one on board with a carry on. There was a space for it just one row behind me.

We landed on time and the de-boarding was the most civilized I have seen for a bit. The guy behind me handed me my bag. A guy earlier had helped me get the lid off my bottle of water. Sometimes it helps to look old!

I keep thinking of all the things I would be doing if I was at home. Not sure I tied up all the loose ends I could but thinking all will wait for me until I get home. I made one last sack lunch for Tagen before I left this morning. He is on his own for the next three weeks.

We had a fun dinner and birthday party for Michelle last night. We had a bit of a family meeting with all so I could give instructions for the week. The kiddos agreed to take care of the dogs and cat and help Kathy do dishes. We shall see if they remember to – I trust Kathy won’t get stuck doing all the chores.

Still not feeling the excitement of going on this trip. My head is still too full of things that have been going on at home. I will continue to let it go and get into the spirit of this adventure. Once I land in London, I trust the excitement will kick in and I will enjoy this adventure.

Grateful to have this chance to get away and see new sights, grateful the first leg of this adventure went very smoothly, and grateful for some quiet, relaxing time this afternoon.

Tomorrow is D-Day. I will leave the house by 6:30 in the morning to drive to my daughter’s house in Shawnee. I have an Uber reservation for 8:30 that will take me to the airport. The first flight is at 10:40 and the second one to London leaves Minneapolis at 5:30. I will arrive in London at 7:15 am their time Friday morning.

I had a haircut this morning and then picked up my grocery order. I picked up a birthday cake for Michelle. We are having a little early birthday party for her tonight since I will be gone on her actual birthday. Ellexia, Tagen, Tagen’s girlfriend and Michelle and I will be here for dinner and Kathy will join us for cake and ice cream.

I had to go back to town this afternoon. For some reason I have lost one pair of pants I had gotten a week or two ago. I can’t find them anywhere. I need pants that dry quickly as I am only taking three pair and will be washing them out nightly. Two pair were going to cut it too short. Thankfully Dunham’s Sports had what I needed.

I took most of the recycling to Cottonwood Falls. I still have a bunch of cardboard that needs to go. I might make a second trip yet tonight. I’ll see how my time goes.

I have pulled things out to put in the suitcase but haven’t packed yet. I like to wait until I am rather sure I have everything that needs to fit pulled out and then put it all in there at once. It looks like a big pile so hoping all will fit.

The window guy came and measured the windows today. I’m glad he was able to come today so Kathy didn’t have to mess with him later this week. He was going back to the office and ordering the windows. Now we wait 5 – 8 weeks before they come in. He pulled a piece of trim off so he could color match something on the windows. I’m not sure I understand all of it.

While the window guy was on the roof he noticed a spot on the roof that he told me I should have the roofers come back and fix. It is a place where two angles meet and there is a gap. He said it will cause rot. They are coming back to do the guttering after the EFIS gets repaired so will need to remember to tell them about it. Wonder if I should have them come back before then?

I went out and mowed for about an hour. I had a section of the yard that I didn’t get mowed last time and it was bugging me. I’m glad I got it taken care of before I left. Hoping we get some rain while I am gone and I will need to mow the whole yard when I get home. It sure was dusty and bumpy on the mower today due to the dry conditions.

The insurance adjuster called and is to set up direct deposit of the funds he will be forwarding to me. Initially he said he would pay me the EFIS amount and window amount in full but now he is saying he is holding some of the funds back until final invoice. Dang it anyways. We will see how this all sorts out. Hoping I can get the direct deposit set up correctly without issue. It sounds a bit complicated but will see what happens.

I meant to call the title company and see what needs to happen for me to sell one of my rental properties to Michelle. I forgot to do that. Maybe between flights tomorrow I will find a quiet corner in the airport and be able to make that call. I was told the paper work only takes a couple of days to complete so maybe it doesn’t have to be done before I leave.

I feel like I have too many moving pieces in my life right now and am struggling to keep them all moving. I never did get the hang of juggling.

Still not excited about leaving tomorrow but hoping I get with the program by the time I get to London. I am really dreading the long flight and a long first day in London before I can check into my room. Truly trusting that once I get there I will enjoy myself. It will be good to get away from all that is going on here. Everything tends to sort itself out sooner or later and I have to trust that will happen while I am gone.

It has felt like a lot of work to be able to get away. I haven’t prepared myself for the trip like I had hoped I would have. Sometimes when I over prepare I set too high of expectations of what will happen so maybe this time I will just go with the flow and have no expectations.

Taking some deep breaths and reminding myself all is well. In this moment, all is well!

Grateful tomorrow is the day for this adventure to finally begin, grateful most loose ends have been tied up, and grateful all is well – right now, right here, all is well!

I feel like I have gotten more done today then I have in a long time. I woke up and had the motivation to do things for the first time in a long time.

Miracles of all miracles happened as the insurance adjuster was in this morning and I got my questions answered. He has been out sick with Covid the last two weeks. He still sounded sick but he said he was feeling better, although not back to normal yet.

He approved the window and EFIS bids. I then called the window guy and he was able to come this afternoon so I could sign a contract and give him the down payment for new windows. They take 5 – 8 weeks to make so was very happy to get those ordered before I leave Thursday. Someone from the window company will come later this week and do a second confirmation measuring of the windows and then they will place the order.

I signed the EFIS bid and mailed it to that company. The window guy mentioned some EFIS repair that needs to be done on all the windows on the main floor so I sent the EFIS guy an email making sure he was aware of that. The EFIS guy may need to modify his bid.

I got some other little bills mailed to the insurance adjuster. I also gave him my direct deposit information so he can send money directly to my account since I won’t be home to deposit checks. I had to take money out of savings for the windows and trust that the insurance adjuster will get me the deposit money soon.

I called the roofer and he is going to send me his bill minus the guttering charges. When that comes in, Kathy is going to mail it to the insurance adjuster and then that money can be put in my account so I can get that bill paid.

I did three loads of laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator and did some cleaning. It has been a productive day on the prairie.

I reserved an Uber for Thursday. Nicole has a phone meeting and can’t take me to the airport Thursday morning but I am leaving my car at her house and will have an Uber take me and drop me off. Nicole will pick me up when I return the evening of the 26th.

I have all the laundry done so can start pulling things out to pack. It won’t take long as I am only taking three outfits. I will wash things out every night or send my laundry out on the nights when I spend two nights in the same hotel.

Tomorrow I have a haircut at 10:30 and then will pick up a grocery order afterwards. I will spend tomorrow afternoon cleaning and driving myself crazy thinking of things I might have forgotten to pack.

I will leave the house by 6:30 Thursday morning so I can be at Nicole’s before 8:30 when the Uber driver is to come. My flight leaves at 10:45 so am hoping that leaves me plenty of time to get through security and to my gate. I have a four-hour layover in Minneapolis before my flight to London leaves. That will give me plenty of time to have lunch and mentally prepare myself for the eight-hour flight.

It felt good to have a productive day. It has been a long time since that happened. I was efficient and organized this morning and got lots done. Wish I could be like that most days. Grateful I was able to take advantage of it today.

So very grateful I was able to move the hail damage project along today and I feel much better about leaving now. The 5 – 8 week wait for the windows will go fast as I will be gone for 3 of them. The EFIS guy can’t get here until November so the timing will work well for all of us.

Still not very excited for the trip but know that will happen soon. I still need to type up instructions for Kathy and Michelle, finish packing and get the rest of the house cleaned and then I will be ready to go. It sure feels like it has been a lot of work to get ready to go.

I am a bit concerned about Covid and the impact it might impose on the trip. I keep hearing of more and more people having it for the second or third time. Crossing my fingers that I will not get it again and that my travel schedule won’t be impacted due to others getting it.

Grateful the hail damage project had major movement today, grateful for a productive day and grateful it is almost time to leave on vacation.

Another quiet day on the prairie. I haven’t done much today again. It felt good to take a quiet day at home and gather my energy for the trip this week.

The wind is in a hurry today. It is 94 outside right now with wind gusts of over 31 MPH. I wish the wind was blowing in a rain storm but don’t think that is in the cards for this week.

Tagen went to town late afternoon to go to the middle school football game and to watch film of the game last Friday. He said he would be home late. He gets to go back to school tomorrow after a four-day weekend.

I put my things in the new wallet and purse I got. I don’t like the wallet and am trying to decide if I want to keep it or go find another one. The credit cards barely fit and are a bear to get out. I thought I could zip my phone in it but when it is full of cash and cards the phone won’t fit. Oh the trials of picking out a new wallet.

I did a bit of cleaning today but have lots more to do. I need to change the sheets on my bed and on Tagen’s bed this week. Hoping the cleaning mood hits me hard tomorrow and I can get some things cleaned up. I always feel better leaving the house when it is clean.

I only have two more full days at home. I will leave Thursday morning around 6:30. I arrive in London at 7:15 London time Friday morning. It will be a long first day as I can’t check into my room until late afternoon. I have gotten so I really dislike travel days. But if you want to go somewhere new, you have to pay the price of traveling to get there.

The second EFIS guy sent me his bid today. It is MUCH lower than I anticipated it might be. I forwarded it to the insurance adjuster. I still hope to get to talk to the insurance adjuster before I leave so I can sign some contracts before I leave. I am very grateful I found this second EFIS guy and he turned around his bid so quickly. I never have heard back from the first guy. I will not be able to do siding so will have the EFIS repaired and replace windows on the main level. Insurance should pay for most of it, although I will have to cough up a bit more to cover the extra windows.

I need to remember to call the guy that is working on Tagen’s pickup tomorrow and see if he knows if the truck is fixable. I kinda forgot about it and Tagen asked me about it today. The guy does great work but takes a bit longer than expected. There is no rush to get it back this time, Tagen is just worried about the outcome.

Trying to remember if I need to notify anyone else about me being gone for three weeks. I don’t think I had anything scheduled or anyone counting on me for anything. Three weeks feels like a long time to drop off the radar but thinking not many will even notice I am gone. My world has gotten pretty small lately.

I was looking at Facebook memories and noticed that it was a year ago that my car got it’s window broken out while we were in Silver Spring, Maryland. The next week is when the fraudulent guy called me and hacked into my bank account and I had to change all the passwords on all my accounts. Those two events kinda started the ball rolling down the hill and my life changed completely shortly after all that. Hard to think it was a year ago. In some ways it feels a lifetime ago and other ways like it happened yesterday.

This upcoming trip is a celebration of my survival of all of those hard times and to celebrate turning 70. The best is yet to come!

Grateful for the EFIS guy getting his bid to me, grateful that I still have a chance to get contracts signed before I leave Thursday, and grateful my life changed for the best.

It has been a quiet day at home. I fixed breakfast for Ellexia and her friend that had spent the night. I am fixing the leftover ham for dinner tonight. I’m not motivated to do much else.

I did get my medication sorted and boxed up for the trip. I needed to make sure I had enough of everything in case I needed to order something tomorrow so I could have three weeks worth. I didn’t need to order anything and am good to go.

It is another hot day on the prairie. The low water level is getting serious and we will be in big trouble if we don’t get some fall rains. Not sure what the ranchers will do with empty ponds all winter. Scary times for them for sure.

I started my grocery order that I will pick up after my haircut Wednesday. Hard to guess what the kiddos will need over the next three weeks. Michelle will have to fill in the gaps while I am gone. I spent some time organizing the pantry again and seeing what we had. I lose track of what I have and what I need. I think I have something and then can’t find it or it has been eaten and I didn’t know that.

Ellexia goes back to her dad’s house tonight. Tagen will be around tomorrow again due to the holiday. He is sure hoping he gets to see his girlfriend. She had Covid last week and has been in quarantine. I think she gets out of quarantine tomorrow.

Tomorrow I want to lay out the clothes I am taking and make sure I have what I think I have. I will only take three outfits and wash them out daily like I did on the Camino. Trying to decide if I need summer things or warmer things. I will take a sweater and a raincoat. Thinking I will wear my tennis shoes and not take my sandals. I will be doing lots of walking and tennis shoes protect my feet better. The only problem will be if my tennis shoes get wet – they take a long time to dry. If I have room, I will throw in my sandals.

Feeling a bit better each day about going on the trip. I still wouldn’t be disappointed right now if the trip was canceled by the tour group. I know once I get on the airplane and get to London, I will get with it and enjoy myself. Trusting their will be some fun people in the group and I will find a few people to hang out with and converse with.

I haven’t traveled internationally since before Covid hit in 2020. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, has changed. The tour group sent a letter with last minute reminders and the first thing they said was to pack your patience as hotels, restaurants, etc seem to be understaffed and wait times can be long. Not my strong suit but will do my best to go with the flow and lower my expectations of service standards.

Need to do a bit of tiding up the house before I leave. I hate leaving a dirty house. I had cleaned it well mid August but it is time to do a once over again so it is clean before I leave. I have three more days before I go so have time to do that. I may even get the chicken coop cleaned out before I leave. We will see if I get up early enough one morning so I can get that done while it is still cool out.

I did some meditation last night and am working on releasing my concerns about the trip. I feel lighter today and can feel a bit of excitement coming in.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful the packing has begun, and grateful I only have four more days before the adventure begins.

I went to Emporia mid day and got four bags of dog food that I had forgotten yesterday. I also got some cash to leave with Kathy in case she needs something or the kiddos need something while I am gone. I filled the car with gas and got a travel purse and wallet. I usually carry a very small purse and I needed something I could put my water bottle in as well as the other little things I like to have with me when I am out and about and traveling.

I haven’t done much else yet. It is hot again today and I need to go down and check on the chickens and make some water puddles for them to cool down in.

Thanks to the advice of one of my friends that travels a lot, I got travel medical insurance for the trip. That eliminates one of my concerns for the trip. With Covid rearing it’s ugly head again, there is always the chance I can get Covid again. This way if I get it, the travel insurance will help pay for any medical expense as well as the travel difficulties it may present.

Trying to decide if I want to drive to the airport and park my car there or if I want to go to Nicole’s house and leave my car with her and use an Uber to get to the airport. It would be cheaper and probably safer to use the Uber. It would take about 30 more minutes to my day though. It will be a long travel day either way so what is an extra 30 minutes – right?

I have heard at the new airport the pickup line is awful. It would take longer when I get back to wait for an Uber than just walk to my car and go. The parking cost for three weeks would be outrageous though. I guess I will decide the day before or the day of.

I need to remember to type up my reminder notes for Michelle and Kathy of what needs to be done when. It is nice to not need to housesitter this time as I already have them built-in.

A part of me is still hoping that I can get a contract signed for the windows and siding before I leave but I doubt that can happen. I still need to get the EFIS bid and then hear back from the insurance adjuster that he is willing to pay the bid amount for that and the windows. I can’t sign a contract until I know how big of pot I have to work with. It sure would make it easier to leave if I could get that nailed down before I left.

I signed up for full international coverage for my phone for while I am gone. I learned when I walked the Camino to pay the extra dollars to have cell service. I need to remember to drop it when I get back as they sign you up for it to last beyond one month and you have to tell them to drop it off.

I called my debit card bank and put a travel alert on my account for the time I will be in the UK. I trust that they will honor any charges I attempt to put on the card. The credit cards no longer require advanced travel notice. Last time I traveled I had better luck with the credit cards then I did with the debit card. Someone who recently traveled to the UK said cards are king and cash is no longer needed or used much. I will get some cash as the airport in London just in case but am thinking I will use cards for most of my spending.

I don’t have anything on my calendar before I leave except a haircut on Wednesday morning. I will pick up a grocery order after my haircut and then I think I will be ready to go.

I need to finish my packing list so I don’t forget something. I keep reminding myself I am going to the UK and not some third world country where they don’t have the modern conveniences. I can always pick up what I need there if I forget something. I am only taking a carry on bag so can’t take many what-if things. We will be moving from hotel to hotel almost every day so I don’t want to have to drag a big suitcase around daily. I only took a carry-on when I walked the Camino and was gone from home for 60 days. I will manage just fine as I am only going to be gone for 3 weeks this time.

I may checked my bag for the trip as I have a five hour layover before the long flight to London. It is a pain to drag a bag around an airport for that long. I also have trouble getting the carry-on lifted over my head to put in the bin. That kinda defeats one of the reasons for taking only a carry-on though. We shall see what I decide to do. Now that I am 70, maybe I can plead I am old and some young thing will take pity on me and lift it up for me.

Four full days left for me to get ready. It felt good to get a few more things taken care of today. Now I just need to get the final things organized and I will be ready to go.

Sitting with some restlessness still but it is easing up a bit. I think I just needed to take a few steps to get ready to go and allow myself to let go of some reservations I have about leaving. All is well and all will be well.

Grateful some things got checked off my to-do list today, grateful I am feeling less anxious about the trip, and grateful for all the options and choices I get to make.

We had a beautiful but emotional fall Equinox ceremony last night. I believe that if everyone had a special group to gather with and be able to be vulnerable and share your deepest fears and secrets with, the world would be a much better place for all. I hold all that attended with great love and appreciation for all they are.

I took Ellexia to town early afternoon. We picked up a friend of hers and then I dropped them off at a store. I went to several stores looking for a travel bag but didn’t find what I wanted. I went to a bank and broke some hundred dollar bills. Sometimes when you are traveling, they can be hard to break.

I went to Bluestem and got eight 50 pound sacks of chicken feed. I forgot to get dog food. Dang it anyways. I have to go to town next Wednesday so will get it then. 400 pounds of chicken feed was probably enough for one trip anyways.

Ellexia called while I was at the bank and requested a ride to her friend’s house. They were going to walk but changed their minds. I took them to her friend’s house and then went to Walmart to pick up a few things and then came home.

I will ask Tagen to unload the chicken feed before he leaves for his football game tonight. He doesn’t get to play this week as he missed three days of school for being sick. But he gets to stand on the sideline since he is a senior and will enjoy the game that way. Michelle and Ellexia are going to the game but I am staying home since Tagen doesn’t get to play this week.

I got the first insurance payment. This one is part of the payment for the new roof. The insurance adjuster still has not called me back so have been unable to advance any progress on the windows and siding project. It is looking more and more unlikely that I will get anything settled before I go on vacation next Thursday.

I don’t understand insurance talk and am a bit confused with some of the wording on what he sent today. He hasn’t sent me the report for the windows and the siding. What he sent me included the painting of the deck and am not sure if I have to prove that job gets done before I get paid the rest of that payment or not.

I am tired this afternoon. I may go take a nap when I get done writing and doing chicken chores. I woke up early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. I feel like I wasted my chance this morning to sleep in. Maybe I will be able to tomorrow morning.

No weekend plans. I am starting to make my travel list of things to take and things I need to get done before I leave. Still not excited about going but I will work on getting there. Feels like a lot of work ahead of me to be able to leave for three weeks. Maybe once I get to the airport Thursday, I will get excited.

Feeling a bit out of sorts this afternoon. Restless and anxious about something but have no idea what. Sure wish I could have gotten final decisions made on the house repairs before I left so I didn’t have that hanging over my head. Not signing contracts until I get back will delay the repairs for three weeks. There is a 5 – 8 week wait for windows which will put me into almost winter time. This project may not get finished until next spring.

Grateful the chicken feed is stocked, grateful the first insurance payment came and grateful for afternoon naps when they are needed.

Kathy, Tagen and I watched the full super blue moon rise last night. There was a have on the horizon so we didn’t get to see it until it was already up. As it rose about the haze, it kept getting brighter and brighter. It was beautiful!

I had trouble finding sleep last night. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3:00 this morning and then had to get up at 6:30. I woke up a couple times during my sleeping period. Dang. Why is sleep so hard some nights?

I was aware when I woke up last night that I woke up to change the channel on the dreams I was having. I rarely dream but last night was having some good ones. I didn’t like the way they were going so I would wake myself up to end them. Rinse and repeat two or three times. I was dream channel surfing I guess!

Got the kiddos lunches packed and water bottles filled and they were off to school. The allergy meds are helping Tagen feel better so he was able to go to school and stay all day today.

I took a nap this afternoon to catch some much needed sleep. I feel better this evening.

I fixed a ham and tater tots for dinner but I ate alone. Tagen went to football practice and they were having a team dinner afterwards that I didn’t know about. Michelle isn’t feeling well and Ellexia wasn’t hungry. They missed a good dinner. Have tons of leftovers so will try the same menu another night soon.

I called the insurance adjuster but he was out of the office and didn’t call me back. The Efis supplier is waiting on some information he needs me to get from the insurance adjuster before he can submit his bid. Hoping tomorrow the insurance adjuster will call me back and I can get the information to the Efis guy and he can get me his bid. Nothing will happen Monday as it is a holiday and I only have Tuesday and Wednesday next week to sign contracts. Not hopeful that can happen but maybe there is still a chance.

Some friends are coming over at 7:00 so we can do our Fall Equinox Ceremony. I need this time tonight! It will be good to get grounded and centered and get some support from my friends. We are going to end our ceremony by watching to moon rise tonight and doing some smudging. That usually helps me clear things that I am holding on to that aren’t mind to hold.

I leave for London a week from today. I think I can, I think I can. I think I realized what was holding me back from getting excited about the trip. I will do some releasing of it tonight at our ceremony and hopefully that will help free me up to get excited about the trip. It will be good for me to get away and have some focused “me” time. That has been in short supply lately.

No plans for the weekend. The kiddos don’t have school again until Tuesday so they will be around all weekend. I do need to do a feed haul so will probably try to do that tomorrow. No use waiting to do all the trip preparation stuff next week. Maybe Tagen can go with me and do the heavy lifting.

Tagen has a home football game tomorrow night but since he missed three days of practice this week he won’t get to play. That means I don’t have to go. Yay! Glad he is feeling better and was able to go to practice today. He is enjoying his welding class and seems to be getting the hang of welding rather easily.

Grateful Tagen is feeling better, grateful for a nap today, and grateful for the friends that are coming over tonight for sacred ceremony.

The chicken coop has a new roof on it. The siding guy came and gave me his bid for new siding and all new windows on the main floor. I could build a new house for that total! Ouch!

The handyman came and painted the ceiling in the kitchen downstairs and installed a new toilet in Kathy’s bathroom. He gave me his estimate on replacing the front porch on my rental property in Cottonwood Falls.

I sent the second Efis guy some pictures. He needs a few more. When the siding guy was here he said he purchased a thingy that gave him the dimensions of the house and he would be happy to share it with the Efis guy. The Efis guy said that would be helpful so need to get that requested and sent to him.

Still haven’t been able to get hold of the first Efis guy. Not sure what happened with him. I haven’t heard from the insurance adjuster either. He told me he sent the first payment for the roof but I haven’t received it yet. I also need his report so the Efis guy knows how to bid the project. I sent the insurance adjuster the Pella bid and asked him a couple of questions but I haven’t heard back from him. I will give him until Friday and then I will call and bug him.

I haven’t heard from the local glass guy on his bid for the windows either. So frustrating to sit and wait for these guys to do their thing. I am running out of time before I leave a week from tomorrow.

Tagen went to welding class but then came home. He slept all afternoon. His girlfriend tested positive for Covid today. We were all around her Saturday so we are all on guard for another day or two. I will test Tagen again tonight and tomorrow to make sure he is negative. The Covid test from the doctor’s office yesterday was negative.

I keep thinking for some reason my trip is going to get canceled. I cannot get excited about it and almost am dreading going now. Covid is rearing it’s ugly head again and something is holding me back. I didn’t get trip insurance so I will go unless something I don’t know now shows up. Fingers crossed all will go exactly as it needs to.

Excited to watch the Full Super Moon rise tonight. It is a Blue Moon which occurs when there are two full moons in the same month. Maybe this restlessness and anxiety is being caused by the moon. It has happened before.

I went to Emporia this afternoon and picked up my grocery order. I also got some allergy medication for Tagen. We need to find something to get that boy feeling better.

Tomorrow night some friends are coming over so we can do sacred ceremony celebrating the Fall Equinox. We are doing it early due to travel schedules. It always gives me a boost to gather with these friends and am looking forward to our celebration.

The kids don’t have school Friday or Monday so they will enjoy a four-day weekend. Maybe I will get to sleep in for four days! We don’t have any special plans for the weekend. The event I was going to on Saturday got canceled due to Covid.

Early next week I will need to stock up chicken and dog food for the time while I am gone. It will be a big haul.. Trusting my car will carry it all. I guess I could make two trips but we shall see. I only have one bag of chicken feed left so may need to do that haul Saturday.

The girls only gave me 16 eggs today. Yesterday I got 20 and the day before I only got 14. Thinking the noise and confusion from the roof job caused them to slack off a bit. The heat is coming back too. I think they are ready for the cooler temperatures fall will bring. I have lots of extra eggs if anyone needs some.

Feeling uneasy and restless this afternoon. Something is up and I’m not sure what it is. Doing the best I can to ground myself and allow whatever it is to be what it is. Tomorrow night’s ceremony will help me ground better. Things always work out. Reminding myself to stay in this moment where all is well.

Grateful the roof job is complete, grateful the ceiling repair and toilet replacement got done today, and grateful in this moment, all is well.

The roofers returned this morning and did the east side of the house. They were finished by noon. They didn’t do the chicken coop but have to come back to do the guttering after the siding gets repaired so I am assuming they will do the chicken coop then. I was grateful when the hammering and noise stopped.

I got up at 6:30 to get Ellexia up and to pack lunches. Tagen stayed home sick again today. After Michelle and Ellexia left at 7:15 I did a few things and then went back to bed. I didn’t feel very good this morning and was still tired. I slept through most of the roofing noise.

I am fixing a meat loaf and Kraft Mac and Cheese for dinner tonight. It was Ellexia’s turn to choose what we are having. That will be an easy dinner to fix later.

I found a second Efis supplier. This one is from Blue Springs, MO but felt he could do the job in Strong City. I am going to send him pictures and the drawings of the dimensions Phil made and we will see what happens. I still can’t get hold of the first guy. This guy wants me to check with my insurance adjuster to see if he is willing to pay for replacement or for repair. He will bid accordingly.

I got the Pella window quote this afternoon. I will forward that to my insurance adjuster. I keep hoping I will get his claim information but so far I haven’t gotten anything from him. I got notice it was sent last week but not here yet. It is coming all the way from McPherson so the pony express may be slow! Ha! Sad that it takes a week for a letter to get from McPherson to Strong City these days.

I haven’t heard from my local glass guy. He is working up a bid on the windows too. Neither have I heard back from the siding guy. He is working up a bid on replacing all the windows and putting on steel siding. Both were to have gotten back in touch with me the first of this week.

Last night Kathy called me downstairs again. This time to show me her toilet is spraying water out the bottom of the tank. She was able to tighten it up and it no longer sprays but I don’t trust it. I sent a text to my plumber to see if he could come replace it. He can but not sure when he can make it out. I sent an email to my handyman and he will be able to do it tomorrow when he comes to paint the downstairs kitchen ceiling. I am going to put a high rise toilet in. I have gotten used to those and really like them better then the lower ones. Wonder what will break next? I can’t seem to catch a break with things breaking around here lately.

I placed an on-line grocery order that I am going to pick up tomorrow. Next week I will get a big one as it will have to last for three weeks. I might log Kathy into my on-line account and have her place one each week while I am gone. I wonder if my bank debit card will allow me to charge in the states and be able to use it without issue in Europe? The challenges of modern technology!

We are back in the 90’s today and are to hang around the lower to middle 90’s for the next week. No chances of rain in the extended forecast. Dang! We need rain.

Michelle is going to take Tagen to Urgent Care when she gets home tonight. She couldn’t get a doctor’s appointment for him and he needs to be seen. I’m concerned about his tonsils. He had an abscess on his tonsils a year or so ago and it seems to be the spot where he gets hit when he gets sick. We need to get him well so he can get back to his welding classes.

I’m grateful that the roof got finished up today, grateful I got the Pella window bid, and grateful I found another Efis supplier.

The roofers have been hard at it all day. Grateful it isn’t as hot as it was last week for them. We reached the mid 80’s today which is plenty hot when you are on the roof. Better than over 100 I guess.

The Pella guy had told me he was coming at 10:00 this morning. At 10:15 I called the company to find out where he was at. They had me on his schedule for 4:00 today.

He shows up at 2:05. Grateful he came but the guy really needs to work on his time management and communication. He dodged nails and droppings from the roofers and measured all the doors and windows. He sat down at the table and showed me his bid when he was done inputting everything. I almost fell over – it is over $100,000. That is just for the west and north side windows and not even the lower west side windows and doors. Ouch!

My internet is down as the roofers had to take down the internet thingy off the roof. The Pella guy couldn’t transmit the bid without better internet so he is to send it to me once he gets back to the office today. Do I trust that he will do that? Not sure!

When I do get the bid I will forward it to my insurance adjuster. I still haven’t received written confirmation on which of the doors and windows the insurance adjuster is willing to pay to replace. He can take the Pella bid and take out what he didn’t approve. Hopefully he can get a check cut this week.

I’m thinking the roofers will be back tomorrow. They made a lot of progress today and are putting shingles on but they are running out of day. They still have to do the chicken coop. That might be a challenge for them as I have netting over the top of the chicken yard attached to the coop. Not sure how they get through that to get to the roof but they can figure that out.

I only got 15 eggs today. I’m thinking the noise from the roofers spooked the chickens today. It kinda spooked me. Tank, Michelle’s dog and Louis, Kathy’s cat were both spooked all day too.

Not sure if I need to call the internet people to come out and make sure the thingy on the roof is installed correctly when the roofers are done. Guess we will find out tomorrow when the roofers are done.

I tried calling the Efis guy but his mailbox is full and he can’t accept any messages. Hope that isn’t a sign that he has blown me off. I will keep trying him. He has always answered me before.

Tagen stayed home from school today. He has a swollen throat, headache and is congested. No fever today but he has been very tired and rested all day. Hope he gets better soon. I’m concerned about his tonsils as he has had trouble with them before.

No plans for tomorrow or Wednesday. I may go to town tomorrow just to get away from the roofing noise for a bit. It tried my patience today at times. I was doing OK until the internet went down and I couldn’t play my music or watch TV.

I got a bit cranky when the Pella guy didn’t show up this morning. I would have canceled him out if I hadn’t needed a bid from Pella. I don’t like people telling me one thing and then doing something else. It feels disrespectful. He did apologize when he got here for not coming last week. I was grateful he was able to give me a bid right away – that is if he gets it emailed to me promptly.

Now if I can get the Efis guy to do his thing this hail project will get moving along. One big part of it got done today and maybe tomorrow I can nail down the Efis guy. I’m getting anxious to get this done before I leave next week.

Grateful the Pella guy finally showed up, grateful I have replacement cost insurance, and grateful the roofers are doing their thing.

It has been a quiet day at home. I did go into Strong City to get some ice but other than that I have stayed home all day.

Tagen is congested, has a slight cough but no fever. I sure hope he was just very tired and his body wanted him to rest today. He took a nap this afternoon. Hoping he can go to school tomorrow but we shall see how he feels in the morning.

Ellexia came back this evening. She will be here all week. She missed my sack lunches I pack for her to take to school. Good to know I am good for something!

Tomorrow the Pella window guy is to come at 10:00 in the morning. Last time he tried to come he got lost so we shall see if he can find me tomorrow. I need him to come as his bid to replace the 20 doors and windows is what the insurance will use to pay me.

Tomorrow I am going to call the Efis guy and see if he has had any time to work up a bid and to see if he needs any more information in order to get that bid to me. I need him to do this bid so the insurance can get the payment for the repair of the Efis started.

I can’t make any decisions about windows or siding until I get those two bids. Fingers crossed that both bids will come in this week. Sometime this week the siding guy is to get back to me and let me know how much replacing all the windows on the main floor and putting on steel siding will cost. I have a feeling I better be sitting down when I see that total.

I don’t have much else on my calendar for this week. I will have a couple of quiet days to start prepping for my trip next week. 11 days to go!

Hoping we here something about Tagen’s pickup this week. Still don’t know if we will fix it or junk it. It would be nice to have a pickup for the chicken feed hauls but this one isn’t worth putting lots more money in to it.

Feeling a bit out of sorts tonight. I have this big hail project on my plate and a big trip to prepare for. The timing of the trip isn’t ideal and I am struggling to get into the spirit of getting away. Hopefully the hail project will get moving this week and I will feel more comfortable getting away.

The roofers will be here bright and early in the morning to start the reroofing project. Not sure how long they will be here. May need to find something to distract me from the noise.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful Ellexia is back home for the week, and grateful I have a quiet week ahead.

It was a busy morning for me. I went to the Olpe Meat Locker and picked up the other half of the beef. I came home and counted and sorted it and put away 3/4 of it in my freezer. I delivered the other 1/4 of it to my neighbor.

I was grateful I found room in my freezers for all the beef. I would have run out of room if I had kept all of it. I have been working to get the freezers cleaned out but still have some things I need to get used up. I feel rich having two freezers full, the propane purchased for the winter and the hay stocked up for the chickens. I am ready for winter!

I went to Emporia to watch Tagen’s football scrimmage. When I got there I ran into Ellexia and she asked me to go pick up Tagen’s girlfriend. I did that and then came back and watched the last part of the scrimmage. Tagen only played for a couple of plays and I was able to be there for those.

I brought his girlfriend to the house and when Tagen got here I fixed them lunch. They hung out for a while and then went to his other grandmother’s house for a birthday party for Tagen’s Uncle.

I fell asleep in my corner chair and slept for an hour or so. I was still tired from yesterday’s adventures. I had stayed up late last night waiting for Tagen to get home from his football outing. He texted me at midnight and he still hadn’t gotten to Emporia. He decided to spend the night at his dad’s house as he had to be at the High School at 8:00 this morning. Staying in town gave him an extra hour of sleep last night. He was one tired puppy this afternoon.

We had a storm rolled through during the night. I had a wind gust of 48.6MPH. I was afraid the piles of shingles that are on my roof would blow off but haven’t seen evidence of that in the daylight. We only ended up with 0.17 of an inch of rain. West and north of here got some good rain last night. At least the storm blew in a cold front and it was only in the mid 80’s today. I welcome the cooler weather after having a week of over 105 everyday.

Don’t have much I need to do today or tomorrow so will take some chill time. Monday I will need to make some phone calls and try to keep the hail damage project moving. The Pella guy is to come Monday afternoon to give me a bid on replacing the 20 doors and windows.

The roofing guys will be here early Monday morning to get started replacing the roof. I might need to plan an escape Monday and Tuesday while the pounding is going on. I’ll see how much of it I can take.

I will need to get a big stock of chicken feed one day next week. I still have one bag left so it isn’t urgent. I will need to stock about 10 bags before I leave for vacation September 7. The dogs will need a couple bags stocked ahead too.

Ellexia will be back Sunday night. I will have to remember to pack two lunches each morning next week. They only have school four days next week.

I need to give some thought about stocking the pantry while I am gone too. Michelle will have to get milk, bread and those type of things while I am gone. Hard to predict how much food I will need to stock while I am gone. Guess Michelle can fill in the missing pieces as needed.

I am struggling to get excited about the trip to England, Ireland and Scotland. Not sure what is behind that. The hail damage kinda threw a kink in my plans and I don’t like the thought of leaving all that undone. Sure hoping I can get the windows and siding decisions made and contracts signed before I leave. That would give me a bit of peace of mind.

I keep hearing about the rising numbers of Covid cases again. Crossing my fingers and toes that I won’t encounter it on my trip. I have already had it twice and don’t need to go for the third time. I have a bit of anxiety thinking about getting it while I am on the trip. That would not be fun by any means.

Need to go down and do chicken chores. Hoping the girls will have given me close to two dozen eggs today. This week the egg production dropped off a bit due to the heat. Can’t say I blame the girls though. Laying an egg looks like hard work and it was too hot to work hard this week.

Feeling a bit anxious and restless today. It will be good for me to have a quiet day at home tomorrow. I can’t do much about moving the hail damage project along on Sunday so I can set that aside and enjoy the day. It is to be clear and only in the mid 80’s tomorrow so maybe I can get out and take a walk in nature and try to walk off this restlessness.

Grateful to see Tagen play football today, grateful the beef is in my freezers, and grateful for the cooler temperatures.

Another hot one today. My car showed 108 on the way home from KC today. Luckily the heat wave ends tonight. The high tomorrow is to be in the mid to upper 80’s.

I went to the Olpe Meat Locker around noon and picked up Nicole’s half of beef. I took some boxes to contain it and took my weighted blanket to put on top of it for the ride to KC. I blasted the A/C in my car on the way to KC. I had to put on my sweater as the car was too cold for me. The meat was still very frozen when I got to Nicole’s house at 2:00.

Nicole’s friend came and picked up half of her half. I helped Nicole get her quarter in the freezers and then headed out. She works from home and had a call she needed to participate in.

I stopped at Chipotle and had lunch and then went to Cabela’s and got some trail pants and a few new shirts for my trip in September. I came home after that. Traffic was heavy until I got south of Gardner and then it lighten up a bit. I forgot this was Friday and traffic was heavier than normal.

I got an email from my insurance adjuster letting me know the first payment on the roof replacement was put in the mail today. My insurance agent was able to get Jim’s name removed from the policy so now the insurance adjuster can start asking payments.

I got a call from the roofing company to let me know they are going to start the new roof on Monday. Wow! That was fast. I may need to look for something to do Monday and Tuesday while the roofers are here making noise.

I still haven’t heard from the Efis guy so will call him Monday. I was going to call him this afternoon but was on the road and I don’t use my cell phone when I am driving.

The Pella guy is to come Monday afternoon if he can find my house. Not sure why he struggled so much trying to find it last Wednesday. The other contractors have driven right to it.

Feels like a bit of progress was made today on the hail damage resolution. The next big things I need are the Efis and Pella bids and then I can start making some decisions on what to do next. Hopefully by mid-week next week I will have those.

I need to check with the insurance adjuster about the deck painting and see if I need to get a bid or if he is going to pay market standard price. His roofing estimate was based on market standard but he holds back 20% of it and pays that out at actual cost bases. He was unable to come up with a market standard for the Efis replacement and the window replacements as Efis is not common and the windows are custom sized.My understanding is that when he gets those two bids he will pay me that cost.

Tomorrow morning I am going back to the Olpe Meat Locker to pick up my half of beef. I didn’t want to get it today and then come home and put mine away before I went to KC. I didn’t want Nicole’s meat to sit out that long.

I have a football scrimmage to go to at 11:00 tomorrow to watch Tagen play. I’ll have to make two trips to town tomorrow. Some days are like that, I guess.

Not much on my calendar for next week. The Pella guy is coming Monday afternoon and I am hosting an Equinox Celebration Thursday evening. I should have plenty of down time to start prepping for my trip. 13 days to go and counting….

Before I leave I will need to get a big load of chicken and dog food stocked up. The chickens seem to be eating an unusually high amount of food right now. They are going through more than one bag a week. I’ll have to get at least 10 bags next week to last them until the end of September. The dogs go through one 50 pound bag a week. Wonder if my car can haul 700 pounds of feed in one trip? I may need to make two trips.

Tagen is playing football in Wichita tonight. They are doing something called a Jamboree where three different teams take turns playing each other with a limited amount of downs. Craig and Nancy are going to watch him. I’m too tired to drive to Wichita after having driven to KC today.

Michelle got another offer on their house today. Fingers crossed the loan the people need will get approved and this sale will go through. Third time is a charm – right?

Feeling a bit exhausted and a bit overwhelmed this evening. Going to the city can do that to me. The heat is getting to me too. I’m not out in it much but it sure seems to zap my energy what little I am out in it. I feel for those that have to work outside all day. I worry about the football players tonight. It is still over 100 at 6:00 so it won’t cool down much when they start playing in full pads at 7:30.

Grateful for a safe trip to KC, grateful to see Nicole for a hot minute today, grateful for some movement on the hail damage claim, and grateful I found some trail pants today.

109 on my car thermometer on the way home from Emporia this afternoon. Yikes! It is another hot one out there.

A guy from Manhattan came this morning to give me a bid to replace the Efis with metal siding and to replace the Pella windows with Marvin windows. I liked him and liked his approach to the windows and siding. He usually gives the client an immediate bid but since the house is so big and this will be a big bid, he asked if he could work up some numbers and options and come back next week to present it.

Sounded reasonable to me. He is going to work up a custom look to the front of the house and possibly in a few places in the back. My real estate business partner was concerned I would lose the custom look of the house if I put on metal siding. Metal siding these days has many looks and the guy guaranteed the house would still look like a custom built house.

Another company was to have come this morning to give me a siding bid but they didn’t show up or call to tell me they weren’t coming. Yet another company is to come tonight at 6:00 but am doubtful they will show up either. Siding companies are a dime a dozen and some are not reliable.

The roofing company had the shingles delivered. They had to put them on the roof of the house. I gave them permission for their heavy truck to back up to the front of the house. They left some ruts in the yard. Now the front yard matches the back yard! I am guessing the roofers will be here next week to do the job. That was easy and fast!

The meat locker called me to tell me the beef is ready to be picked up. I am taking half of it to Nicole in KC tomorrow. I will only pick up her half and then I will get my half Saturday. As hot as it is, I don’t want it in the car any longer then it has to be. While I am in KC tomorrow, I will stop and see if I can find some trail pants for my trip in September.

I had a wonderful birthday dinner last night with several girl friends. We went to Union Social and as always, the service and food was excellent. Great food and great company – what more can a girl ask for?

I picked up the two prescriptions that were ready to go this afternoon and picked up a few grocery items so I can make dinner tonight. I am going to make stroganoff. Tagen wasn’t sure he has ever had it before but he likes Alfredo so I think he will like stroganoff. I then got the on-line grocery order loaded into my car and headed home. Too hot to do any other errands.

I need to go down and do the chicken chores when I get done blogging. I have a watermelon to take to them today. I have been creating water puddles for them to play in and cool off when I go down every afternoon. They seem to like the puddle water better then the water in their watering cans. When I dump out the water from their watering cans it is hot! Doing my best to keep the chickens happy and as cool as I can. Haven’t lost one yet but heat is really hard on them. I got 18 eggs yesterday which isn’t bad considering the weather.

Still haven’t heard from the insurance adjuster or the Efis guy. The Pella guy got lost yesterday and wasn’t going to get here until the time I had to leave to go to town for my birthday dinner. He rescheduled and is to come Monday. I would have canceled him altogether but I need a bid from Pella. I have no intention of buying more Pella windows but the insurance adjuster needs a quote from Pella of the cost it will be to replace the 20 doors and windows he is paying for.

I will call both the Efis guy and the insurance adjuster if I haven’t heard from them by tomorrow afternoon. I really want to move this project along and get contracts for the windows and siding signed before I leave September 7. Not sure I can do that but that is my goal.

The window guy said it will take 5 – 8 weeks before the windows will be ready to be installed. They go in before the siding is done. Once the siding is done the roofers will come back and put up the new guttering. Hoping this project can get started in October and be done before the snow flies this winter. We shall see. It may get pushed back until spring, depending on the weather this fall.

Don’t have any weekend plans and not much on my calendar for next week. If I can’t find trail pants tomorrow, I may need to make another trip to KC or Wichita to go shopping. Hoping I find some tomorrow to avoid a second trip to a city next week.

Two weeks from today I leave for London. I fly to Minneapolis and then to London. I will arrive in London on Friday morning at 7:15 am their time. It may be a long day before I can get to check into my room at the hotel. I will have to find something fun to do that day to keep me awake. The actual tour doesn’t begin until Saturday evening so I have two full days in London to see some things not on the tour.

We are to cool down next week. Hoping this has been summer’s last blast. I am ready for fall and cooler temperatures.

Grateful the siding guy came today and I liked him, grateful the shingles got delivered today, and grateful for my friends that treated me to dinner last night.

I have had two contractors here today so far with one more coming this afternoon. I have two coming tomorrow.

One today finished the ceiling repair downstairs. He will need to come back one more time to paint the ceiling.

The other one measured all the windows on the main floor. While he was here he taped up the broken window so glass would not fall out and cut one of the critters. The Pella guy is coming later today. Insurance will pay for me to get 20 new Pella windows and doors. I may take that money and get cheaper windows for all of the main floor. I want the windows to match and I will have to stick with Pella to make that happen or replace all of them. Several of the other windows on the main floor are failing and it might make more sense to replace all of them with a different brand. I haven’t been impressed with the Pella windows. This house is 20 years old and the windows are failing. It seems like they should last longer than that.

Tomorrow two siding guys are coming. I am still waiting to see what the Efis is going to cost to replace it on the west and north side of the house. It might give me enough funds to completely side the entire house with a different product. I am looking at metal or cement siding with doing a batten look on the front. Again it will depend on how much funds I have to work with.

When my handyman was here to fix the ceiling, we discussed the porch on the rental house in Cottonwood Falls. It has settled some more and needs some serious repair. We discussed taking the existing porch off and replacing it with a simpler structure. The porch is in bad shape and it would really help clean up the look of the house to replace it. He is going to draw up some ideas and try to find a porch on another house that looks like what he has in mind to do.

Tonight Kathy and I are going to Union Social for dinner. Three of my best friends are joining us to celebrate my birthday. It will be fun to have an evening out with these special friends.

Tagen’s welding class got canceled for today and tomorrow due to the heat. He did his first welding yesterday and enjoyed doing it but it was 120 in the building he was in. They wisely decided that was foolish to expose the students to that environment.

Since he had the morning off he got to eat breakfast and lunch at home. I have been packing his lunch but today he got some leftover macaroni and cheese and leftover pulled pork sandwich. Michelle will get to fix him dinner tonight as I will be gone.

I haven’t gotten much done today but deal with contractors. I did get the kitchen cleaned up from the weekend. I placed my on-line grocery order that I will pick up tomorrow. I need to go to town to pick up a prescription so will take care of both things tomorrow in one trip. Both contractors that are coming tomorrow are to come in the morning so I should be good to go to town in the afternoon.

The roofing company called to tell me they placed the order for the shingles and the shingles will be delivered sometime next week. Once they are here they will put me on the schedule and get that job done. I need to go to KC shopping one day and one of the days they are here roofing might be the day to go to get away from the noise.

We have had another day of extreme heat with the temperature above 100 again. This is to continue through Saturday. Thankfully next week won’t be as hot. Maybe this is summer’s last blast for the year.

Haven’t heard back from the Efis guy, my insurance agent, or the insurance adjuster. I am patiently waiting on them to make their next move. I can’t make any final decisions until I hear from them and then get the Pella estimate. Still hoping to get some contracts signed and on a waiting list for both siding and windows before I leave for England in two weeks. Might not happen but that is my goal.

We got to see Tagen’s Senior pictures today. They were taken Sunday. they turned out really good. Some of them were taken here at my house at sunset. Tagen seemed pleased with them too.

I have a few letters I need to write so may get to them this afternoon. It is too hot to go outside to do anything and the house is still fairly clean from the weekend. Not much on my to-do list right now which is nice.

No plans for the weekend. Thinking the beef will be ready to be picked up so may have to go get it. I have been working to get the freezers cleaned out and ready to hold it all. I may take part of it to KC if I have time. We shall see when they call to tell me it is ready.

Next week I have to move the upcoming trip to my priority list and get myself organized for it. I leave two weeks from tomorrow. Time is flying by and it will be time to leave before I can blink. I think I can, I think I can be ready.

Grateful for contractors and their expertise, grateful for my friends and the joy and love they bring to my life, and grateful this heat is to end this weekend.

Finally got a quiet day at home. No emergencies so far today. I did leave the house to take the recycling to Cottonwood Falls to dump it. Other than that, I have stayed home and enjoyed the quiet.

I had the house to myself all morning. That hadn’t happened for a bit. I fell asleep in my chair this morning. I had woken up at 3:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I needed a bit more sleep.

I took the day off from dealing with the hail damage stuff. Although i did call my realtor business partner and asked him about changing the siding on the house and the windows. He gave me some considerations I hadn’t thought about. This will not be an easy decision to decide what to do. I still don’t have enough information to make a decision yet so will give it some more time.

Tomorrow I have two window people cmowing to give me bids on replacing the windows. One is Pella which is where the original windows came from. The other is a local guy that sells other window brands. I really need to keep all the windows the same so not sure where this will go. I haven’t been pleased with the Pella windows. Some have failed and I have already replaced a couple. Not sure it is worth the extra money to put them back in. I probably can replace every window in the house with a cheaper brand with the money I will get from insurance as they will pay the full replacement value on the 20 doors and windows that they are paying for.

I also have two metal siding guys coming this week to give me estimates on changing out the Efis. However after talking to my business partner, I’m not sure a metal siding is the way to go. He is concerned about resale value and changing the look of this custom built house.

I haven’t heard from the Efis guy or the insurance adjuster. I will give them to the end of the week and then I will bug them both. I hate to be a pest but I also know they respond to a squeaky wheel and can ignore others.

I am fixing Tagen sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Michelle is helping make snack sacks for the football players when she gets off work and she will be late getting home. Tagen hasn’t been getting home until 6:30 or 7:00. He is hot and tired when he gets here. They are practicing inside this week due to the heat but he said it is still hot as they practice in full pads.

The chickens seem to be surviving the heat so far. I let the hose run for about five minutes while I gather eggs and give them fresh water. The hose water creates some swimming holes for them to play in and cool off. They love to drink the dirty water from the puddles. They gave me 19 eggs today which is amazing considering the heat.

Kathy’s cat disappeared for the longest time today. Kathy looked all over outside and we both looked inside. I went to my bedroom closet to get something and found Louis. Kathy was very relieved he was found. She was worried he had escaped outside and was in the heat of the day outside.

It reached over 100 again today. It is to hit over 100 everyday this week. We will get a bit of a break Sunday and next week is to be in the high 80’s or low 90’s. This heat is wearing us all out.

I need to go to Walmart and pick up a prescription. I may run in this afternoon as I have contractors coming the next two days.

Tomorrow night I am meeting some friends at Union Social for dinner to celebrate my birthday. Kathy and Candace put this little gathering together. It will be a treat to have some time with my best friends. Yesterday was a bit chaotic and didn’t feel like much of a day to celebrate.

I really need to start putting together a packing list for my trip to Europe. I leave two weeks from Thursday. I need to get some new pants and skirts to take so may need to take a day and go to KC shopping. I want some pants that wash and dry easily. I will be gone for three weeks and am only taking a carry-on bag so will be washing things out. The pants I have now take too long to dry. I will be staying more than one night at several hotels so can send clothes to be laundered at those hotels. It gets expensive though so like having the options of washing them out myself. I did that on the Camino and got along fine.

I’m surprised I have stayed about the neutral level of consciousness this last week. I have slipped below a few times but have managed to climb right back up. I don’t like unfinished projects and this hail damage project will be an unfinished project for months to come. It feels like it has a lot of moving parts and I am a pawn in the game. Waiting on others to do something is not my strength. I would rather just do it myself and I can’t in this project. A huge life lesson for me!

Grateful for a quiet morning alone at home, grateful for more sleep this morning and grateful the chickens are still alive.

Had a busy morning making phone calls trying to move along the hail damage stuff. My handyman Phil came out to repair the sheet rock in the ceiling downstairs that was water damaged due to the garbage disposal failing last week. While he was here, I had him measure the west and north side of the house so I could send those measurements to the contractor that is working up a bid to repair the Efis. Phil understands those things much better than I do and he drew some diagrams that show the measurements. I scanned them and emailed them to the Efis guy.

I called Pella windows hoping they could work up an estimate from the original window order from when the house was built. No such luck. They have the original order but like to do on-site estimates when it is that big of a job. They are coming Wednesday afternoon to measure and work up an estimate. I have 20 windows and doors that need replaced. The local glass person is coming Wednesday morning to give me an estimate too.

I got an email from my insurance agent asking for a copy of the divorce decree so she can take Jim’s name off the policy. I called her and reminded her I had sent that when we removed his cars from the policy in January. She remembered it then and said she had taken the cars off but forgot to take his name off the main house policy. I sent another copy just in case. The insurance adjuster can’t send me any information or dollars until that gets taken care of.

I called and got a haircut schedule for the week that I am leaving for England in September.

Tagen came home at 10:00. He had finished his Vo-Tech class early for the day and didn’t have to be at his high school class until noon. He had gotten a text saying he could pick up the Mustang so we went in to Cottonwood Falls to do so but the shop was closed. Tagen got a text later from the owner saying the owner’s dog was sick and the owner had to take the dog to the Vet.

Tagen left for town again to go to his high school class and took the pickup. 20 minutes later he called me to tell me the pickup quit working and he was stuck in the intersection at 6th and Graphic Arts Rd. I told him to flag someone down to help him push the truck to a safe spot and I would head in.

I called Michelle and she left work and went to where Tagen was. Tagen called his girlfriend and she was there too by the time I got to town. They managed to get the car into a parking lot out of traffic. I called a tow truck and Tagen’s girlfriend took Tagen to school. Michelle went back to work.

The tow truck showed up quickly but while they were loading the pickup they broke the hitch of the wrench. We had to wait for another tow truck to come with a replacement. 45 minutes later we headed to Cottonwood Falls to drop off the pickup with our repair guy.

While I was at the shop, I paid for the Mustang repair. The guy had come back to the shop, thank heavens. He gave me the Mustang key and Tagen can go get the Mustang tonight when he gets out of football practice.

Tagen’s pickup won’t shift into gear reliably and it won’t hold if it does shift into gear. We discovered the pickup is leaking transmission fluid. If it is an easy to fix leak, we will get it repaired. If it needs a new transmission we will not fix it. I have spent $600 on this pickup so far and Craig pitched in another $200. The pickup is only worth about $3,000. No use throwing good money away on it and spend more on repairs then the pickup is worth. We shall see what happens.

Phil got the hole in the ceiling repaired today and has put a couple coats of mud on it. He is coming back Wednesday to finish up the job. While Phil was here he looked at the siding and helped me come up with some options of what to do with it and the windows. I may use the insurance money and reside the entire house with a different product depending on how the numbers come in. I am going to get some bids for the other product so I know the cost of that so I can be ready to make a decision when I know how much the insurance is willing to pay.

This whole project is like a game of dominos and I can’t get ahead of myself. One link leads to another and then another, etc. The chain is broken if I try to skip a link.

Now I get to wait on others to make their move before I get to move something else. I need the Efis repair guy to send me his estimate. I need the insurance lady to fix the policy. I need the window people to come give me an estimate. I need the cement siding people to come give me an estimate. I need the insurance adjuster to send me his estimates of repair costs and the first check towards paying for the hail damage. I think I did all that I was to do – next move is in other people’s hands.

While Phil was here he told me the porch on the rental property I own in Cottonwood Falls has sunk even more on one side. Phil told me how he could fix it and I gave him approval to do so. He didn’t give me an estimate on the cost but I trust him and know he will only do what is needed and do it in the most efficient way he knows how to do.

I sure hope this is the end of unexpected surprise expenses. I have had more than my share this last week. I’m grateful I know who to call when they happen and have been able to get the process started towards getting repairs done but ……. I really dislike doing things like this and spending money on things like this. Enough already!!!!

I have been able to stay in a good head space today regardless of the day’s events. I turned 70 today and have been enjoying reading the texts, cards and facebook messages people have been sending me. 70 sure sounds old to me but I don’t feel old most days. Guess age is just a number. Not sure what 70 is to feel or be like since I have never been 70 before.

Grateful to be alive for another birthday, grateful the hail damage repair process is moving along, and grateful for all my friends and family that are sharing love with me today.

What a weekend. I didn’t have a chance to sit down and blog last night. It was a full day and then some.

I got up early Saturday morning to make deviled eggs and to finish cleaning the house. I got the dinner buffet line set up and drinks made.

Kathy went to town at 11:00 to pick up the meat from Bobby D’s. Michelle went to town in the morning for Tagen’s football scrimmage and brought home lots of ice for me.

Nicole and Geoff came around noon and we headed to Pioneer Bluffs. Michelle and Ellexia stayed home but the rest of us went.

My cousin Larry gave a wonderful talk about the Patton family history. Jason and Melissa met us there. It was a hot day to sit in the loft of a barn to listen to the family story but we were entranced with what we were hearing and didn’t notice the heat so much. It reached 114 yesterday. Hottest day I ever remember having in KS.

Came back to the house and finished the final preparations for dinner. Three of my cousins and three grandkids of theirs came to join us for dinner. I think there were 20 of us for dinner.

We sat around and visited and told family stories and ate. There was plenty of good food and wonderful company.

Most of them left around 5:30 or so. The kids and I watched the Chief pre-season game and hung around and visited.

Nicole and Geoff brought their camper so they spent the night in that as I was out of beds.

We got up early this morning and headed to Emporia to help Michelle make the final move out of her house. It took 30 minutes to rent the UHaul. I hadn’t anticipated it would take that long. We finally got through the process and Geoff drove the truck to Michelle’s house. Kathy, Jason, Melissa, Tagen, Nicole, Michelle, Geoff and I got her things loaded up.

While the kids were doing the heavy stuff, Kathy and I went to get some breakfast sandwiches and cold drinks. By the time we got back the truck was loaded. We came out to my house and unloaded the UHaul. We then put some things in the UHaul that Michelle wanted to donate to the Salvation Army.

Tagen and I followed Nicole and Geoff to town. We stopped and filled the UHaul with gas and then went to the Salvation Army and unloaded the donations and returned the UHaul.

Nicole and Geoff headed to KC and Tagen and I stopped and got some lunch and then came home.

I think it might be nap time. It was very hot moving stuff today. Grateful we got it done this morning and didn’t have to do it this afternoon. It is already 103 and it is just now noon.

I have a bit of work to do in the kitchen to get it restored back to normal from the dinner last night but it won’t take long. We have some leftover pulled pork for sandwiches tonight so I will call that dinner.

Phil is coming in the morning to start the Sheetrock repair in the basement ceiling. I forgot to have the kids help me measure the house for the Efis guy so will have Phil do that tomorrow when he comes.

Tomorrow I will need to get those measurements of the house sent to the Efis repair guy so he can work up an estimate for the insurance adjuster. I also need to call Pella Windows and have them give me an estimate to replace the 20 doors and windows. The local glass guy is coming Wednesday to give me an estimate. I also need to make sure Jim’s name was removed from the insurance policy so the insurance adjuster can start cutting me some checks.

Tagen’s car is done so will go get that picked up tomorrow. I will either take Tagen before he goes to school in the morning or Kathy and I will go get it later in the day. Tagen is excited to get his car back. I will then start the process to buy the pickup from him.

Hoping this week will slow down a bit. Last week felt like a train wreck with surprises and unexpected tasks almost every day. I am ready for a quiet week at home.

Tomorrow I turn 70. Nicole told me I will now be old enough that I don’t have to remove my shoes when I go through airport security. Gotta take the good things wherever you can find them – right?

Enjoying the quiet of the prairie today and the cool of the A/C. I think I will stay home the rest of the day and relax. I have taken three trips to town already today. That exceeds my patience level for the day!

It was a fun weekend with lots of family time. All three kids were here last night and I always appreciate those days. They all worked together this morning and helped Michelle get moved. What ever do you do if you don’t have family close?

Grateful for family memories and the creation of new family memories, grateful the move is done and grateful for a quiet afternoon at home.

Last night Kathy called me downstairs. There was water on the floor in the TV room dripping from the ceiling. I could tell by looking at the sheet rock ceiling that it had been leaking for a bit.

I sent a text to my plumber and they were able to come out today. Turns out the garbage disposal at the hand sink went bad and was leaking. It had dripped down through the bottom of the sink cabinet to the ceiling below. They took out the disposal and put in a normal sink trap. I never used that disposal so no use replacing it. My handy man has been notified and will come repair the sheet rock when he can work it in his schedule. That was easy!

My handy man came out this morning and replaced the missing cap on the flue pipe on the roof. Crossed one thing off my list from the storm damage. Guess I crossed off the A/C unit repair too. Two down, and I am afraid to count how many things are left to do.

I haven’t heard from the Efis guy yet so will call him this afternoon as he requested I do. I sure hope he can get out next week and we can come up with a plan of action. I need to remember to ask him about the new windows and door and in what order does thing need to get done. Can the windows go in before the Efis repair or should they go in afterwards? I am ignorant about things like that.

I got a notification from my insurance company telling me who my insurance adjuster is and who his boss is. I noticed it was addressed to myself and Jim. I sent an email to my insurance agent to let her know Jim’s name needs to be removed from the policy. I had sent her the divorce papers back in January.

I had barely hit send on the email when the insurance adjuster called and asked me about Jim’s name on the policy. He didn’t want to send me a check with his name on it if Jim was no long around. I like this insurance adjuster and appreciate him noticing that and checking with me first. He will wait to send the check until the insurance agent can get Jim’s name removed from the policy.

The insurance adjuster had called me yesterday afternoon and I was able to visit with him about the windows, the siding and the roof. The roofing bid I got was lower than what the insurance would have paid out so I can proceed with signing a contract and get that process started. I called the guy that came out to give me a bid but I haven’t heard back from him yet. Insurance will pay what ever it will cost to repair the siding on the west and north side of the house with Efis. What I do with the money is up to me. So I can replace the Efis with another product with no worries or I can restore the Efis. Now I need to cost everything out and decide what to do.

I called my local glass guy to come out and give me a bid on replacing the windows. He will be out next week. I will also call the Pella company and get a bid from them. They have the original order from when the house was built so they won’t need to come out to give me a bid.

The sale of Michelle’s house that was to happen next week fell through. The buyer backed out. Michelle found out that this is the third time this buyer has backed out of buying a house within a week of closing. The realtor didn’t share that information with Michelle when she accepted the offer. Disappointing to say the least. Now they get to realist the house and start the whole process again. Grateful Michelle didn’t buy a house and have to start that process over too.

Tagen texted me today to let me know his Mustang will be ready to go tomorrow. I am going to buy his pickup from him. There have been several times that a pickup would have been nice to have. I like the idea of having a back-up vehicle around. I will pay for the repair to the Mustang and deduct that from what I have agreed to pay Tagen for the pickup.

I got a bunch of cleaning done this morning and have some more to do. I have the eggs and potatoes boiled and ready for me to make deviled eggs and potato salad. I still need to make two cakes. It may be a long day for me. I should have gotten some things done yesterday but didn’t have it in me to do so. Today I have no choice but to get it done.

Tomorrow I will get everything set up for the dinner before I go to Pioneer Bluffs for the 1:30 talk my cousins are giving. Nicole and Geoff are coming down late morning to go with us. Kathy is going to town tomorrow late morning to pick up the meat, buns and BBQ sauce and get some ice.

Tagen has a football scrimmage tomorrow morning at 9:00. I will have to miss this one but will go to the one next weekend. I think Michelle is going to go to it Saturday. It is going to be 106 Saturday so it will be a hot one. They moved the scrimmage to the morning to try to get it in before the heat sets in.

My trip to Europe is in three weeks. I haven’t given it much thought lately. Maybe after the family gathering this weekend and after I get a few more things squared away from the hail damage I can start focusing on the trip and start getting excited about it. So looking forward to getting away for three weeks. Hard to think about that yet though. Just grateful the storm happened while I was here and not thousands of miles away and Kathy had to deal with it all.

I am doing a bit better dealing with the feelings of overwhelm although I can regress and go back into overwhelm rather easily. Things seem to be progressing but it still feels a bit daunting at times to get everything done. I would like to have the roof, siding and window contracts signed and decided on before I leave for Europe the first part of September. Not sure I can make that happen but that is my goal.

I almost cried when I saw the leak in the ceiling last night. Thank heavens that has happened many times before and I knew what I needed to do to get it fixed. The plumber was able to come out today and the handyman can fit me in his schedule in the next week or so to do the repair. Just about pushed me over my breaking point though.

Ellexia wants spaghetti and meat balls for dinner tonight. That will be easy. I fixed fried chicken strips and mashed potatoes and gravy last night. Both of these meals are the kiddos favorites so they ate lots last night. Both of them were tired last night. Even Ellexia went to bed early last night. Both looked a bit more rested this morning. It is hard on their bodies to adjust to their new school schedule and routine.

I may try to take a short nap this afternoon and then finish up my tasks for the day. I slept well last night finally but when I do that after not sleeping well for several days my body wants even more sleep. I am really tired today. I am thinking it is stress related as much as anything. Hoping next week will be calmer and I can do some good self-care and calm myself down a bit.

I need to remind myself to step back and zoom out a bit. I have gotten a lot done this week in attempting to restore the house from the hail damage. I forget that when I am in the moment and dealing with all the contractors and insurance adjuster. This process will take time and lots of patience. I will get it done – just not on my timeline.

Grateful for a competent insurance adjuster, grateful for my plumber and handyman, and grateful the restore project is progressing even if it isn’t at the pace I would like.

Had trouble finding sleep again last night. I woke up at 3:30 and never did go back to sleep. The day is very long when you start it that early.

I got Ellexia woke up at 6:15 as she requested. She didn’t get out of bed until 6:45 but she likes a slow wake up. Tagen didn’t have to get up until 7:15. I packed both of them a lunch and off they went. Ellexia left at 7:25 and Tagen left at 7:45.

Tagen didn’t get home until after 8:30 last night. He had started his day with the sunrise breakfast for seniors at 5:15 so he had a very long day. He ate and went right to bed. He said he was still tired when he got up this morning.

Kathy had to work this morning so I had the house to myself this morning. I went out and did some more mowing. I had done part of it yesterday. I still have a little bit more to do but am almost done.

The solar panel guy came yesterday evening. Luckily there is no damage on the solar panels. He said it all look well and there are no error messages on the control panel. Thank heavens for that!

I went to Emporia late morning. I went to Bobby D’s and confirmed my catering order for Saturday. I’m glad I went as they hadn’t put buns on the order. I took care of that so should be good to go Saturday when I pick up the order.

I went to Walmart and picked up my on-line grocery order and then came home and got everything put away.

I laid down for a short nap. I hope I got enough sleep to take the rough edge off but not so much I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

I haven’t gotten any more cleaning done yet today but will get at that soon.

No contractors came today. My handyman is coming early in the morning tomorrow to fix the flue pipe that lost it’s cover during the hail storm. One of the roofing contractors noticed that and took a picture of the pipe with a tape measure so I knew what size of cover was needed. Phil is going to pick up the part and bring it out and fix that tomorrow. Thank heavens for Phil!

Waiting on the insurance adjuster to send me his initial information. Once I get that I can get the roofer lined up and a contract signed with them. Both roofers said they could get to the job within two weeks. That was much faster than I expected it would be. The guttering part of that job will be done after the efis gets repaired.

The Efis guy is to contact me tomorrow. If I don’t hear from him, he asked me to call him. Hoping he can get out here next week and let me know what that project will entail. I am anxious about that and will appreciate getting some facts and a plan put together. Still thinking we may have to change the siding material to something else. Not sure how the cost thing will work. I envision a worse case scenario in my head and it is hard to stop myself from going there.

Haven’t looked for a deck painting bid yet. That is the least of the priorities and that may not happen until next spring. With me being gone for three weeks in September there is only so much I can manage before I go and I don’t want to have lots of contractors doing work while I am gone. The deck painters can’t be here when the roofers and siding people are here anyways.

I have some chicken tenders thawed for dinner tonight. Tagen doesn’t get out of football practice until 6:00 or later so dinner will be late tonight. I wasn’t told to pick up Ellexia at 3:00 so am assuming she has plans to go to a friend’s house until Michelle gets off work at 5:00.

Sitting in the in-between feeling place today. I seem to find myself here often and it is not comfortable for me. It is more comfortable then it used to be but evidently I needed more practice with this feeling. So much needs to be done but I am at a stopping point until some one else makes something happen. Hurry up and wait and then hurry up and wait again. Rinse and repeat.

All the kids will be here Sunday morning to help Michelle move the last of her things from her house. I am hoping it will only take a couple of hours with that much help and a U-Haul truck. It will be good to have that big job done. We will have to repeat the process when she gets her own house but we will worry about that when that happens.

Looking forward to the family gathering on Saturday. I hope I can relax and enjoy everyone and set aside all this hail storm stuff for the weekend. It will be fun to have all the kids here Sunday morning even though we will be working hard moving. They make everything more fun!

Grateful for a short nap, grateful the groceries are put away, and grateful things are happening even when I can’t see that they are.

I got up early and packed Ellexia’s lunch. I went down and made sure she was awake. Since it was the first day of school and she was excited she got up easy this morning.

Her school had late start Wednesday so Michelle took Ellexia to Ellexia’s friend’s house and dropped her off on Michelle’s way to work. Ellexia and her friend were going to walk to school together.

Tagen had spent the night at his dad’s house in Emporia as the Senior Class had a sunrise breakfast this morning. Tagen wanted the extra 15 minutes of sleep he could get if he was in town overnight.

The A/C guy came at 8:00 this morning. The ramping up and ramping down sound was continuing and was annoying. I thought it was a damper problem. It took the guy 2 3/4 hours to figure out it was a different problem that was easily fixed, once he figured out what the problem was. He had called the manufacturer of the unit and they told him I had a bad control panel. My guy didn’t believe them so he kept at it until he figured out the problem. He explained what the problem was but I didn’t understand any of it. I’m grateful for his expertise and willingness to keep at it until he got to the real problem. If he had ordered an expensive new control panel it wouldn’t have fixed the problem.

The next guy to show up was a roofing guy. He told me, once he got here, he couldn’t do much as he works off the insurance adjuster’s bid. I am to send him a copy of it when I get it and then he will give me his bid.

Another roofing guy showed up to work up a bid. He said he didn’t need the insurance bid. He discovered I have a missing flue pipe cover on the roof and recommended I get it replaced as soon as possible. He will email me his bid within 24 hours.

The second guy told me the first guy was just working the system and trying to maximize his profits. Hmmmm…….

I called the plumber as I haven’t been able to get hot water out of the new faucet. He came and turned it on and it got hot. Go figure! Both Kathy and I had tried and tried to get hot water and couldn’t make it happen. Not sure what is up with that.

The solar panel guy is to show up yet today to check out the units and make sure they weren’t damaged. They are generating electricity but they can do that when they are cracked or damaged.

Both roofers recommended I upgrade to a Grade Four level roof covering. Both are to give me pricing information on that. There are better shingles then what I have available and it may make sense to do so. I’ll see how the pricing comes out.

All the guys that came noticed the dents in the window frames. They all recommended that I get the windows replaced. The insurance adjuster mentioned that he could total them out too if I wanted to mess with replacing them. I will need to call him and get that added to the claim. If I change the siding on the house they may need to get replaced anyways. I don’t know how that stuff works.

Louis got outside some time today again. He had gotten out yesterday and he must like being free as he is now trying to sneak outside at any chance he gets. I had left a door open while I was talking to one of the roofing guys and didn’t notice Louis sneaked outside. Later I noticed Tank, Michelle’s little inside dog, had sneaked outside sometime too. I tell you it is a circus around here today.

I don’t do well with getting bids and contractors. I have dealt with four of them today and still have one to go. I have reached my breaking point with this project and nothing is fixed yet. Yikes!

I know things will happen and get done sooner or later and I have no control over most of it. I’m sure glad I will be gone for three weeks in September. I need to get away from all of this. I hate to leave it for Kathy and Michelle to deal with though. Good thing it is outside stuff that needs done and no one needs to be home when they do their thing. Trusting I can get it all lined up to get done before I leave.

I have gotten some cleaning done in between my contractors coming. I will continue to work on cleaning the rest of the day. Tomorrow I have to go to Emporia to pick up a grocery order at 11:00. I need to stop by my caterer and confirm a few details while I am in town. I will finish the cleaning when I get home tomorrow afternoon and then Friday I will be in the kitchen making some desserts and potato salad and deviled eggs.

This whole hail storm damage has thrown me this week. I have been pleasantly surprised with how fast the contractors have been able to come out and get this whole process started. Now to get the insurance adjuster’s bid and get contracts signed and get on the waiting list to get repairs done.

I do trust that the Efis guy will get back with me. There are holes in the side of the house and if we get rain it can cause a major mold problem if water gets in the holes. For the first time all summer, I am hoping it doesn’t rain for a bit.

I’m tired this afternoon. I went to bed at 11:00 last night and got to sleep fairly easily but I woke up at 1:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. I got up and tried again around 4:30. I slept for another hour or so. I had to get up early to get Ellexia going and pack her lunch. Maybe tonight I will get some good sleep.

I need to go down and do chickens again. I have a feeling with school starting the chicken chores are back on me. Tagen has a long day of school followed by football practice and doesn’t have time to do them now. I got 22 eggs yesterday. The girls love this cooler weather.

I need to get out and mow before Saturday. I think I will finish up the cleaning I want to do today and then go out and mow for an hour or so. My head needs cleared and bouncing around on the mower usually clears it for me. It is to get very hot by the weekend and I want to get the mowing done before the heat returns.

Feeling overwhelmed and a bit frustrated. I feel so ignorant about these repairs and I have some major decisions to make in the next week or so. I’m working hard at remaining conscious of my weaknesses and strengths and finding help to fill in the gaps. I am grateful it is mainly outside stuff that needs done so the mess doesn’t invade inside. That helps keep my consciousness level higher.

Grateful for the quick response of the contractors, grateful the A/C blower unit got repaired, and grateful I only have one more contractor to deal with today.

I feel like I have gone in circles today. I made two trips to El Dorado. The first one to drop Ellexia off so she could spend the day back-to-school shopping with Papa Craig and Nancy. The other one to pick her up from her shopping day.

In between trips the insurance adjuster came. He totaled the roof and the west and north side of the Efis siding. The guttering around the whole house needs replaced and the deck and swing set need repainted.

It took me six months to get one little piece of guttering fixed. Wonder how long it will take to get the whole house guttering replaced? I spent all spring painting the deck and now it needs redone. Feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated.

He asked me to call the solar panel guys and have them come inspect the solar panels to make sure no damage was done to them. The guy that came today didn’t have a tall enough ladder to get up there and inspect it himself.

The adjuster will send me a written report with his estimates. He isn’t going to estimate the cost of the Efis repair though. I told him I could only find one supplier and he said they would pay what ever the guy charges.

I have to get two estimates for the roof repair and then compare them to what the insurance company is willing to pay. If both of my bids are higher than they estimate, they will adjust to the higher price.

I am a bit overwhelmed with all of this. I hate dealing with contractors and getting bids and then playing the waiting game until they show up and do the work. This project may take months to finalize if my experience with the guttering guy earlier this year is an indication of how the contractors may perform.

I am so grateful I found an Efis supplier. I have been looking for months and hadn’t had any luck. When I googled it yesterday a contractor from Wichita popped up. They actually don’t do Efis work but knew of someone that does. The guy sounds promising and said he could get me fixed up. We shall see…….

I have calls into two different roofing companies and I called the solar panel place to get those two things started. I had called the Efis guy yesterday and he is to get back with me later this week. I will wait for the estimate from the insurance adjuster to proceed with the guttering and painting of the deck. My priority will be to get the Efis and roof repaired and then go from there.

I may need to make some major decisions about the Efis repair. It might be cheaper to do a different siding on the house. Efis is incredibly expensive to repair. I’m concerned with insurance only covering half of the house that there will be a major cosmetic difference in how the front of the house looks via the north and west side.

The roof was replaced in 2015 when there was a little tornado that came through and ripped off many of the shingles. It is a major pain to live through the noise and mess of having the roof replaced. I will have to price a metal roof and see what the difference will be.

Ellexia was excited to get home and try on all her new clothes. She gave me the thumbs up when she modeled them so I think she was pleased with what she got. She said she felt ready to go to school now.

Tomorrow is a late start day for the middle school so I will take her to school. That will try my patience as the line to drop the kiddos off is slow and long.

Tagen is spending the night at his dad’s house tonight so he won’t be home after football practice. I did the chicken chores yesterday and today for him. I don’t think he even thought about them when he got home last night. He had a very long day yesterday and was tired when he got home.

The first couple of weeks of school is an adjustment for all. The kiddos aren’t used to getting up early and having to focus all day long. We still have to figure out the transportation issue. Ellexia wants to take her lunch so I will get to fix and pack her lunch every morning. I had forgotten about all those little things that a new school year brings.

I still need to get my house cleaning project started. With all the phone calls, talking to the insurance adjuster and driving over 200 miles today I haven’t got my things done. There is still time before Saturday – right?

Tomorrow I need to get my grocery order organized and placed so I can pick it up Thursday. I will spend part of the day in the kitchen fixing things Friday. I am having the meat catered so won’t have to mess with that.

It sounds like I won’t have a big crowd come for dinner on Saturday. Both of my aunts have decided not to come due to the heat and mobility issues. Not sure many of their families will come. I’m sure I ordered too much meat but it will freeze and get eaten at a later date.

Sunday I reserved a UHaul truck so we can get the last of Michelle’s things from her house. She closes later in that week and is on the clock to get things done. Her two siblings have agreed to help her move the rest of the stuff Sunday. A UHaul truck will make it much easier than loading things in a pickup. It will be good to have all her stuff here and her house emptied of her things.

Next Monday I turn 70. How in the world did I get to be that old? 70 sounds old to me and I don’t feel old. Time sure seems to pass quickly these days. I will blink and I will be 80!

Grateful for house insurance, grateful for contractors that know how to do things I don’t know how to do, and grateful Ellexia starts 8th grade tomorrow.

We had a brief, intense storm come over last night around 6:00. We had lots of hail in a shape I had never seen before. It was the size of my palm and looked like someone had cut up big chunks of ice. It was not round balls. I made everyone go downstairs as it sounded like it was going to break a window.

We watched the ice chunks fall from the sky and bounce all over the yard. It came with strong winds and rain. It lasted for at least five minutes and maybe ten.

When it was over we went outside to see what the damage was. It broke one of the lower windows in the living room. I have double pane windows so no water came in the house but there was glass all over the deck below the window.

The west side of the house took a beating. It looks like marbling effect in places. Not sure how we get that repaired as I can’t find a repairman that deals with efis.

Not sure if the roof was damaged or not. I called the insurance company and put in a claim. They are sending an adjuster to come out and check it out.

The A/C unit was blown off the pad again.

Michelle’s car was damaged. The windshield was cracked and in some places on her car it looked like someone took a ball bat to it. She filed an insurance claim too.

We lost power when the storm started and it was out for over three hours. We were all grateful when it came back on.

I have been busy all day with phone calls. The glass guy came out this morning and measured and will get the replacement piece ordered.

The A/C guy came and checked out the unit. No damage this time. He bolted the unit to the pad. Not sure why he didn’t do that last week but at least he did this week.

I haven’t heard when the insurance adjuster is coming yet. I also called some different A/C people to replace a damper that is frozen shut. Not sure when he is coming to check that out.

I got a text from my handyman who lives next door to my rental in Cottonwood Falls. A big tree limb is down at the rental property. He is going to take care of that for me.

Dang! I hate things like this. I don’t know enough about these types of things and I really dislike dealing with repair people. I am grateful I have some I trust and can take their word for what they think needs to be done. I would much rather spend my money on trips and experiences rather than fixing things.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and could not go back to sleep. I have tried to take a nap three times today and keep getting woke up with phone calls, repair people showing up, etc.

I had to go to town around noon. Tagen was getting his supplies for his welding class and his scholarship didn’t cover all of it and it needed to be paid for today. I went to town and helped the kid out.

Tagen had class this morning and stayed in town as he has football practice this afternoon and then a parent-teacher meeting tonight at the Vo-Tech. Ellexia went to a friend’s house last night for an overnight and hasn’t let me know she is ready to come home yet. Michelle is staying in town when she gets off work to go to Tagen’s parent-teacher meeting.

It has been a quiet day without anyone extra around except for the two repairmen that came.

It almost feels like fall outside today. It was in the low 60’s this morning and will only reach the mid 70’s today. It is supposed to heat up later this week so will enjoy these cooler temperatures while they last.

I need to go down and do chicken chores today as Tagen won’t be home until 9:00 or so tonight. He had a long day.

I was really grumpy earlier. I think it was the stress from the storm and that I am so tired. I did manage to get a 20 minute nap before the A/C guy showed up and that seemed to have taken the edge off.

Still need to get started cleaning. I had to make all those phone calls this morning and that was more important than the cleaning. I hate making phone calls so that started my day off rough too. I was glad I was able to get them all made and get things moving. I have lots of hurry up and wait times ahead of me though until all can get repaired. Not my strong suit by any means.

My neighbors to the west got some hail damage, a mile north they had pea size hail and no damage. It was a tiny little system that seemed to have found my place and dumped it all here. Lucky me!

Grateful no one was injured during the storm last night, grateful the damage wasn’t worse than it was, and grateful two repair people have already showed up.

We got a very brief shower this morning. Rain all around us and we barely got enough to wash the cob webs out of the rain gauge. It has been cloudy and overcast all day. Still have a bit of a chance for more rain later today. Fingers and toes crossed we get lots!

Kathy’s phone locked up on her. She took it to Verizon and they couldn’t help her. She came home and tried. I offered to help and used the desktop computer. Between her tablet, my desktop and lots of trial and error we got it up and running. Sometimes it takes two heads to figure out technology. Technology is great until it breaks. The tech people don’t speak language I can understand.

I got on a text chat with someone during the fixing process. The lady said no worries I can help. I texted back that was a good thing as we had been worried. She didn’t respond or take the bait. Kathy and I got a good laugh out of it though.

Tagen wants breakfast for dinner tonight so will fix either waffles or pancakes with bacon and eggs. That will be easy.

Tagen starts Vo-Tech tomorrow. Ellexia is here this week and her school starts Wednesday. She wants to go shopping with Papa Craig and Nancy either Monday or Tuesday which means I get to drive to El Dorado to drop her off and then go pick her up. Good thing I didn’t have anything to do this week.

Cleaning is on my agenda all week. I am on the countdown for the family gathering next Saturday. We will host it even if the house isn’t totally clean so no worries – right? I am hoping to get some deck painting done tomorrow as it is to be cooler. I would really like to get the two front decks painted before Saturday but we shall see if that happens. It has either been rainy or too hot the last couple of weeks to paint.

Tagen brought up 20 eggs today. The girls seem to like this cooler weather. I have six dozen eggs if anyone wants/needs some.

Fighting myself against taking a nap. I sure could fall asleep right now if I laid down but I don’t want to start that cycle again. I will fight through and try to get to bed early tonight.

I turned off the thermostat for my bedroom and the ramping up and ramping down sound stopped. I think I have a damper that has frozen shut. I will call the other A/C company to come check it out. They figured out what was wrong last time something like this happened. My regular guy doesn’t seem to understand dampers.

Feeling a bit restless this afternoon. There seems to be a lot of moving parts in my life right now but not much I can do about most of them. Sometimes I feel I am just along for the ride. And this too shall pass…..

Grateful Kathy got her phone fixed, grateful for the cooler temperatures, and grateful this too shall pass……

What a day. I went to bed at a good time last night. It took a bit to fall asleep but was sleeping soundly by midnight. I woke up at 3:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Finally got up at 4:00 and messed around for a while. Went back to bed at 6:00 and was able to fall back asleep at 6:30. I had to wake up at 7:30. I was really sleeping good when my alarm went off.

I took Tagen to El Dorado to meet Craig and Nancy. They are going to take him back to school shopping. After I dropped Tagen off I headed to Costco in Wichita.

Got my Costco shopping done and then went to Chipotle for lunch. I ate lunch and then drove home. Kathy helped me get the car unloaded and after I put away the cold stuff I went to bed.

I slept for about an hour. Feel better although a bit of a hungover feeling. I have forgotten how to operate on only three or four hours a sleep a night.

I was planning on going to Costco next week but since I was only 20 minutes away I decided to get it done today. I’m glad I don’t have to make that drive again next week.

Michelle left about the time I got home to go meet Craig and Nancy and pick up Tagen. It didn’t take him long to get his shopping done. It was nice of Craig and Nancy to do that for him and to get to spend some time with him. They will take Ellexia on another day and do the same thing. She will take more time to do her shopping!

I need to get the stuff I got put away. I was so tired when I came home I piled it all on the counter and decided to deal with it later. This way I have a chance that I will remember where I put things and what I got. I’m not sure I even know what I got at this point.

I plan on getting some more cleaning done this afternoon after I get woke up enough to do so. I have some painting outside I would love to get done but it is too hot to do that now. Tuesday is it only going to be 81 so hoping that is the day I can get a lot of painting done outside.

With the rain we got last week I may need to mow again before next Saturday. We have a good chance for some rain tonight and tomorrow so hoping we will get another inch or more and I will really need to mow later next week.

Found out I may not have Cody on Tuesday. He is going to early start day of school as he changed grade schools this year. Not sure if I will have him for part of the day or not. He will be disappointed if he doesn’t get to come play with Ellexia next week.

Tagen starts Vo-Tech Monday and Ellexia starts 8th grade on Wednesday. That will change the schedule around here and free up my days. Not sure how transportation to and from school is going to work but we will get that all figured out this week. I remember the quick trips to Walmart the first couple weeks of school as the kiddos would find out things they needed for their classes.

One week from today is the family gathering. I am excited for it and grateful it is giving me a reason to get my house clean. The house is in great need of some tender loving cleaning and I haven’t been motivated to do so lately. I love a completely clean house but rarely make that happen these days. I am getting lazy and have been slacking off on cleaning.

If Cody doesn’t come next week, I will have a completely free week. Nothing else was on my calendar for the week. I’m sure something will get added as the week rolls around. It feels good to have some breathing space and lots of empty space ahead of me this week. I have needed that.

We may try to move some things tomorrow. Michelle has done a good job this week working at the house and dividing things up. She is getting close to getting all the smaller things out of the house. I think she is going to rent a U-Haul next Sunday and we will get the big things out. It will be good for her to get everything out of that house and be done with it.

My A/C unit is doing the ramping up and ramping down thing again. I will call the service people on Monday and ask about it. It tends to do that occasionally but it is happening way more than it used to. Not sure if it is something to worry about or not.

Grateful to have the rest of the day at home, grateful for naps to make up for lost sleep, and grateful I got the Costco trip out of the way today.

Went to Emporia early afternoon to pick up a prescription and my grocery order. Had to stop at a different grocery store to get two things Walmart was out of. Picked up my order and prescription and came home.

Man, is it hot outside today. There are some pop up storms all around me but nothing over me yet. Getting out of my car sucked my energy right out of me. Grateful I can stay inside with the A/C on.

Tagen brought up 22 eggs today – a new record. He gave the girls a watermelon to help keep them hydrated from this high heat. So far I haven’t lost any of them to the heat.

It has been nice today to just have Tagen here. I woke up during the night and was up for an hour between 3:00 and 4:00. I took some Tylenol and was able to go back to sleep and I slept in this morning. Michelle’s dog woke me up at 8:00 as it wanted to go outside. I was able to go back to bed and sleep a bit longer.

Yesterday I got the floor of the walk-in kitchen pantry cleaned. I pulled everything out and then hand scrubbed the floor. I found lots of dirt and dust bunnies. Feels good to have that floor clean. When I get done blogging I am going to deep clean the laundry room. The cat has stayed outside much more then coming in so it isn’t as dirty as it sometimes is but it definitely needs a good deep clean.

Tagen is going to town tonight so won’t be here for dinner. I have gotten off easy cooking this week.

Kathy and I did a little project for Pioneer Bluffs last night. We put stamps on over 2,100 postcards. I took the postcards to the post office in Cottonwood Falls this morning so they are done. While I was in town, I delivered six dozen eggs. I still have three dozen plus what we got today if anyone wants/needs fresh farm eggs.

No plans for the weekend although I think Sunday we will moving a lot of Michelle’s things. It needs to get done and we are running out of time to do it. Hopefully we can get the bulk of it done this weekend.

Next week I have my grandson Cody again on Tuesday. Tagen starts school Monday. Ellexia will be here all week so she can help me with Cody this time. She starts school late next week. It will give me a break when both of them are in school all day.

I will spend most of the week next week cleaning house. I need to decide what desserts I am going to make for the family gathering the 19th. If I decide on cookies, I will need to do a batch a day all week. I’ll see what my mood is and what I get done. I wish I could clean sooner rather than later but it is so dusty right now that I can’t clean too much ahead.

I will be glad when the family gathering is over as then I can turn my time and effort to preparing for my big trip in September. I still need to do some research and figure out what I want to go see in each of the towns I will be staying in. I will be in London for three nights, Bath for one night, Liverpool for two nights, Edinburgh for two nights, Leeds for one night, back to London for one night then on to Dublin for one night, Galway for two nights, Killarney for two nights, Waterford for one night and then back to Dublin for 3 nights. Wow! I will get good at packing and unpacking my suitcase. I’m grateful I have several places I get to stay more than one night so I can get laundry done.

I am back up the ladder of consciousness today. It does feel good to be a rung or two above neutral. Things seem to be leveling out and calming down around here as I have gotten used to my temporary normal around here. I am finding my rhythm again.

Grateful for 22 eggs from the girls today, grateful the groceries are put away and things restocked for another week, and grateful I was able to get some good sleep last night.

Happy birthday to my baby brother. He turns 66 today. He has a beautiful family and is a good Christian man. He grows a huge garden every year and is very generous with sharing his extra produce with others.

This has been a long day for some reason. I think the novelty of Cody being here has worn off. We are both getting on each other’s nerves today. He even wore Tagen down a bit today. We are taking turns taking breaks and surviving. I am feeling my age today! I have loved having him here though and am grateful I could help them out. Cody will be back for one more day next Tuesday.

I got the pantry cleaned out today. I took everything off the floor of the pantry and hand washed the floor. It was getting disgustingly dirty and needed cleaned out badly. It looks nice now.

I got a bit more sleep last night then I have the last couple of nights but still not what I consider to be a good night’s sleep. Maybe tonight will be the night.

I am putting stamps on over 2,000 postcards for Pioneer Bluffs this evening. That will keep me busy for an hour or two. They are dropping them off later this afternoon and I told them I would drop them in the mail tomorrow when I go to town. I have to pick up a prescription and my grocery order so will take them then.

No big plans for the weekend other than helping Michelle move. Hoping we get a big chunk of it done this weekend. She is coming up against a time limit and needs to get this job done. It will be good to have all her stuff here and out of that house. Next weekend I am hosting the family gathering and can’t help on Saturday. We will have to finish the job up by nextSunday.

I don’t have anything on my calendar for next week except for the family gathering next Saturday and watching Cody on Tuesday. I should have plenty of time to get my house clean. I might do a Costco run one day next week if I need a day away.

I wasn’t able to stay above neutral for a bit of the day. I have recovered and climbed back over neutral but dropped a rung or two from yesterday. It will be good to have a quiet day tomorrow to recover.

Grateful we were able to watch Cody for three days this week, grateful the pantry is cleaned out and grateful for my baby brother Keith.

The A/C guy found the breaker on the side of the house had blown and was arcing. He was surprised my house didn’t burn down. There was a big black spot behind the breaker box. Thank heavens it was raining hard when the A/C unit got picked up and tossed around. The A/C repair guy got it replaced and all is well. Now to figure out how to either anchor the unit to the ground or have a fence built around it to block the wind.

Cody, my seven-year-old grandson is here again today. We are getting along OK again. Tagen is playing Xbox with him and keeping him entertained. They just went down to do the chicken chores. Yesterday they brought up 16 eggs.

Fixing chicken strips for dinner tonight. Tagen also wants macaroni and cheese. Once I know what to fix it is easy for me to do dinner. Deciding what to fix is the hard part.

Tagen and I went to Cottonwood Falls to check on his Mustang today. It hasn’t been moved into the fix-it shop yet so it will be at least one more week before it is ready. Tagen will either have to use my car or his pickup to get to school next week.

Michelle got her house sold. They close August 28 so they have less than three weeks to get it emptied out. Michelle still has to divide things up so it will be a process. I’m grateful we have the big barn to store things in. Not sure where she will be moving after the house sells but she has some time to figure that out. I will be gone for three weeks in September so she can watch this house for me while I am gone. Hopefully she can find something and be able to move and get settled around the first of October. I’m sure she will be glad to have her own place again. I’m grateful I had space for them to come here for the summer. I’ve really treasured this time I have had with my grandkids especially. During Covid I didn’t get to see them much and this has helped me reconnect to them again in a much deeper way.

I had trouble falling asleep last night. It must have been 3:30 or after before I could finally sleep. I knew I had to be up by 7:30 to be ready for Cody so didn’t sleep very well. I am tired tonight – it might be a very early bedtime for me. I think the storm that was coming in kept me up. My feet were complaining loudly last night which happens when there is a storm. We got about an inch of rain. I was hoping for more but am grateful for what we got.

I will have Cody again tomorrow and then one day next week. He certainly has a lot more energy then I do. The storm woke him up extra early this morning and he is starting to wear down a bit this afternoon. I think we both need a good night’s sleep.

Friday I am picking up my grocery order and a prescription that is ready. I also need to get serious about getting this house cleaned for the family gathering on the 19th. I don’t have much on my calendar for next week except for the day I am watching Cody so should be OK.

The hospital called and scheduled my mammogram and bone density test. They didn’t have an opening until the middle of September. I pushed it to the first week in October as I need some time after my trip to recover. It’s always good to get those preventive things scheduled and out of the way.

My doctor’s nurse sent me a note to tell me my doctor recommended I start a low dose aspirin daily as well as fish oil and garlic to help lower my cholesterol since I won’t take the new medication. I did some research and am not sure they will do much but I will try them and see what happens. Last time I was on aspirin I had trouble with excessive bruising but I will give it a try and see what happens this time.

I leave for my big trip in 30 days. The official count down has begun. It will be so good for me to get away for three weeks and see a new to me part of the world.

Sitting in a good head space today in spite of being so tired. Staying home for a couple of days has been good for me. Cody has kept me entertained and busy the last two days. It is fun watching Tagen play with him. I keep calling Tagen and Cody Jason instead of their correct names. They both laugh at me when I do it.

Grateful Michelle’s house sold, grateful for this time with Cody, and grateful the A/C unit got repaired.

I have had the company of my seven-year-old grandson today. Tagen has been so good with him and has kept him entertained. Cody has been so well behaved and fun to have around. I must say I am tired of cartoons though. I usually have a very quiet house during the day. I will have him Wednesday and Thursday too and then one more day the following week. Glad I can help them out by watching him this week.

Needless to say, I haven’t gotten much else done today. Cody wanted to learn how to dust so he put on some rubber gloves and I gave him a dusting cloth and he went at it. He did a little bit in every room in the house. Better than nothing – right? I will take all the help I can get on dusting.

The A/C guy came out this afternoon to check out the unit. When Jason dropped off Cody this morning he moved the unit back on the pad where it belongs. The A/C guy thought everything looked OK but he is going to give it a good look and make sure. It quit the ramping up and down yesterday and hasn’t done that today so hoping there are no problems with it.

I did ask him if I should have a fence built around it and he thought that was a good idea. I’ll have to find someone to do that for me. This is the second time this has happened to the unit. The first time was back in 2015 when there was a F1 tornado about one mile from the house and I lost a bunch of shingles off the roof. As far as I know this time, the roof is still OK this time.

Tagen and I need to go in to Cottonwood Falls and check on his Mustang. Tagen is getting anxious to get it back. The mechanic told him he doubted if he could get to it until this week. He usually runs late on what he can get done so doubt if he has even started on it yet. Fingers crossed it is an easy and not too expensive of a fix.

My doctor had his nurse call me today and offer me a prescription for a new type of cholesterol lowering medication. It is new and insurance doesn’t cover it. I found out the cost is over $400 a month so I turned down his kind offer. I know my cholesterol is high according to the range but it is actually low for me. I am not going to pay $400 a month to get it lower. I can’t/won’t take statins and the expensive injectable medication I tried didn’t lower my levels at all. I was also concerned the new medication would interfere with my thyroid levels. I have finally got my thyroid levels stabilized and I don’t want to risk having them react to something new I take.

We are having ham and cheese omelettes for dinner tonight. I have some ham that needs used up and plenty of eggs. That will be an easy dinner to fix.

Tagen just took Cody down to do the chicken chores. Cody has been asking to do them all day. He loves to gather the eggs. They were going to give the girls a watermelon today to help keep the hens hydrated. It will be fun to watch them come back up with a full bucket of eggs.

Sitting in a good head space again today. I seem to have been able to climb up the consciousness ladder a rung or two and can hold myself there. Feels good to be back above neutral and able to stay there without effort. I have more energy than I had before and am able to get some things done easily. Glad to be back!

Grateful for this time with Cody, grateful for Tagen’s help with Cody today, and grateful the A/C unit is getting checked out.