Starry night on the prairie

I was surprised this morning when a repair guy from Clark’s showed up. He checked the water line starting with the connection at the house under the crawl space. He found a leak and worked for a couple hours this morning to repair it. He left for lunch and then came back this afternoon and worked some more on it.

After he got it fixed he figured out there is another leak somewhere. This one they are going to have to dig to repair it. He called the gas company, electric company, cable and internet companies to get them to come mark their lines. When that gets done, the repair guy will bring helpers and they will dig the line up and repair the other leak.

That means another couple of days with no water. Not sure when they are coming back to fix it. We survived most of yesterday and all of today with no water and I’m sure we will survive another couple days.

I went to Emporia this afternoon for exercise. I wasn’t feeling the best but made it through. I was going to stop and get some groceries to make Christmas treats but with no water I can’t do that so decided to wait to get groceries another day.

I have to go to KC tomorrow for an eye doctor appointment at 11:00. Afterwards I am meeting up with Nicole and we are going out to lunch. I may stop at Costco on the way home and can get some of the supplies for Christmas treats there.

I got the electrician bill for the repair at Tagen’s rental house. They included a charge from June 2023. I have no idea what that was for and called them to ask. They couldn’t find records and told me to take it off the bill. Not sure what that was all about.

I also got a letter from my new prescription drug insurance company. They are telling me I am covered with BCBS. I was but that was back in 2018 and I haven’t been with them for years. I have to send a form back to let them know I no longer have that coverage. Wonder what is up with all these mix ups?

I was talking to my trainer today while we were exercising. I remembered the last time I put up a Christmas tree we couldn’t keep the cats out of it. That gives me a good excuse not to put the tree up this year. Win!

This house is cold today. Not sure why the cold feels extra cold today but it has. Kathy mentioned it bothering her too. Not sure what I am going to do when it gets down to single digits. We are thinking the dogs need to learn how to poo in their back yard pen. Neither one of us enjoy walking them when it is cold out. If I go to Costco tomorrow I might look for some space heaters to help warm up Kathy’s room and the living room.

The title to Tagen’s truck is at the car dealership. They called to let me know it had come in today. One day this week I will need to stop and pick it up and get the tag for the truck. I have to find out how much it will cost to change it to Lyon County when Tagen gets ownership of the truck. I would rather just title it in Lyon County to start with but not sure how that all works. I may go up to the Courthouse Wednesday and ask how it all works.

It will be good to go to KC tomorrow and spend a fun day. I have Wednesday and Thursday free to recover. Hoping they can get my water fixed Wednesday but it may be Thursday or Friday. Not sure how much fun it will be to go without a shower for the whole week.

Sitting in a weird place tonight. I feel well grounded but can’t make anything feel very important. I have some things to take care of on my to-do list but can’t quite make myself do anything.

Grateful one of the water leaks got fixed today, grateful for a warm house this evening, and grateful I can do nothing tonight as that is what my soul needs.

Another quiet stay at home day. I am so grateful for these types of day that refill my soul.

The ice skating rink outside had grown lots overnight. I was getting concerned it was going to harm the new sidewalks so called the emergency number for the city. A guy came and drained the water out of the water meter hole and turned off the water. It took him a long time to get all the water out of it. As soon as he would turn his little pump off the hole would fill with water again.

He still isn’t sure if it is on my side or on the city side. He is thinking my side but won’t know until they do some work on it tomorrow. He is going to coordinate with the people I called Saturday and will come back over in the morning to help fix it. Grateful for his attention and time on this cold day.

I currently don’t have water in the house. We filled some buckets up before it got turned off and fixed a temporary potty. No shower or bath for me tonight. Hoping the workers all show up tomorrow and can get it fixed. It may take a couple of days for it all to get going again but we shall see. Preparing myself for another couple of days without water but hoping it will be back on tomorrow.

I worked on my annual Christmas letter today. I have the first draft done but like to sit on it and read it again a couple more times to make sure I didn’t miss a typo or something important that happened during the year that I wanted to include. It always amazes me how much I do during a year. I keep thinking things are going to slow down and get boring but that hasn’t happened yet. Maybe I am not old enough yet.

Kathy went to Casey’s and got a pizza for dinner tonight. Without water it is a challenge to make anything – or at least that is the excuse we used to indulge in pizza.

Tomorrow I have the water repair guys coming in the morning. In the afternoon I have to be in Emporia at 2:00 for exercise and then I am going to buy groceries to start making my Christmas treats. I also need to stop by the court house and find out how to renew my passport and get it sent in to take care of that. Tuesday I am going to KC for an eye doctor appointment and then am having lunch with Nicole. I don’t think I have any other plans for the week until I am meeting up with Tagen on Friday to take care of a banking issue. Saturday I am going to Pioneer Bluffs to help with a Newsletter mailing.

Grateful I have a couple of stay at home days during the week. My soul and body do better when I get several of those a week.

I need to make some phone calls tomorrow. I never heard back from the guy that is going to replace the sewer line at the rental house and I need to find out what’s up with him. I also need to make a dental appointment. The VoTech hasn’t called me yet this year and my teeth seriously need cleaned. The drain guy hasn’t sent me a bill yet and I need to find out how much I owe him.

It has been a delight to have several stay at home days in a row. I almost feel like I can deal with people again.

Grateful for the city guy that came on the weekend to help me with the water issue, grateful for another stay at home day, and grateful for repair people that know how to fix things.

I managed another mostly stay at home day. I did go to the Old School Christmas festivities twice today. I had lunch there and then came back home. Went back to listen to Annie Wilson sing Christmas carols.

Other than that I stayed home all day. I took care of a few things off my to-do list. I still have a long list but made a bit of progress.

Discovered I have a serious water leak in my yard. I am on the list to get it fixed next week. I have lots of standing water in my front yard and the meter hole is full of water. Not sure if it is on my side or the city side. Thinking mine as the water bill was over three times what it should have been. Trusting things will hold together until they can get it fixed and we won’t have to turn the water off until then.

What is it with water and me? I seem to have had more than my share of water issues.

I stooped by the 4H bake sale on the way home after listening to Annie. I brought home a Bundt cake. I am a sucker for 4H kids. I was in 4H for years when I was in school and enjoyed it. I learned so much and do my best to support the kids. It was cold for them to be standing outside selling their baked goods but they were all in great moods and having fun.

I didn’t brave the Christmas parade and evening festivities. Too cold for me. It was all I could do to take Roxy for a walk at dusk. Kathy took Sophia so I only had to walk 1/2 mile. It took me a bit to thaw out after I got back home.

No plans for tomorrow except to continue to work on my to-do list. There are a couple of projects for me to do in the house. It might get done tomorrow – we shall see.

I made an eye doctor appointment in KC for Tuesday. Luckily Nicole is free to go to lunch when I get done with my appointment. I will probably stop at Costco on my way home. Not sure I need much but it is always fun to stop and see what they have. I hope to miss the Christmas crowd going this early in December.

Tagen needs a washer and dryer at his new house and Best Buy has a set on their Black Friday sale. I’ll have to see if he can go pick them up as their delivery is not available until January. Not sure why their delivery is so backed up.

We didn’t get snow like they did north of here. It smelled like snow and felt like snow. It is to warm up a bit next week but only to the lower and mid 40’s. Winter has arrived.

I’ve been binge watching Christmas movies this afternoon. It has been years since I have done this. Trying to get in the Christmas spirit this year. I never did find it last year.

It is nice to take a couple days and slow things down. I have been going too fast for the last month working on the rental house. I do much better going at a turtle pace. I don’t multitask like I used to and like to take lots of quiet time between tasks.

Grateful for this quiet time at home, grateful progress is being made on my to-do list, and grateful for repair people that can fix water leaks.

I went to walk Roxy this evening and realized I still had my pajamas on. Needless to say it has been a quiet day at home. I put my coat on over my pajamas and walked the dog. No need to getting dressed at this time of day or should I say night.

I did a bit more clean up this morning but took the rest of the day and did nothing. I watched the Chiefs game this afternoon. They sure can figure out ways to win even when they are out played.

No plans for the rest of the weekend. I am hoping tomorrow I can cross some things off my to-do list.

I did do some ordering today for the grandkids Christmas gifts. I still have some more to do but it feels good to have gotten a start on it. I realized I only have three more weeks until the 21st when we have our family Christmas. I don’t like last minute stuff so need to get started.

I am adjusting to having empty space again after all the hustle of the rental house. It feels good to have it. I’m sure in another couple of weeks I will start looking for another project but for now it is just what my soul needs.

My phone got an update and they changed the look of my calendar. I don’t like the new change. I wish when they did those things that you could opt out of the change.

Sitting in what feels like the in-between state and I’m not sure what I am in-between. Doing my best to stay open and allowing what is to be what is.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for pajama days, and grateful I get to do this the next two days too.

Thanksgiving 2024 is a wrap. There were 18 of us for dinner. I had expected 24 but several got sice and couldn’t come.

I slept last night between 6:30 and 11:00 and then never did go back to sleep. I am one tired puppy today.

This small kitchen made it happen today. I got frustrated a couple of times with little space. I would pick up a pan without planning where it was going and there was no place to set it down.

The mashed potatoes didm’t turn out very good today. I had too many potatoes for the pan and the top layer got tough and wouldn’t mash. I fished out as many lumps as I could find but several eaters found lumps. They were sticky for some reason today too. The turkey in the roaster worked well but the ham didn’t do as well. It was edible, just not as tender as I like. Other than that everything turned out great.

Kathy helped me get things pulled together today and helped me clean up afterwards. She carried all the tables and chairs back out to the shed while I did dishes. I still have to put the dishes away and clean off the table and then we will be done.

It is good to know I can seat 18 people for a sit down dinner and make it work. I easily could have had at least 2 more and probably 6 more like I had planned. I had pushed the riding bike into my bedroom. If I had been thinking, I would have put it in a different spot so people could have exited the kitchen with their full plate through the laundry room and out my bedroom. That would have made a smoother traffic flow. We made it work so all was good.

Today was the first time I missed my big house. Cooking and serving a crowd in that house was easy. Good to know this house works if I do some advanced planning and think out my moves.

Kathy and I were trying to remember how many times we washed dishes today. I’m guessing at least ten times between yesterday and today and it could easily have been more. This house doesn’t have a dishwasher and with the small space I would fix a dish and then have to stop and do dishes, put everything away and then could start the next dish.

It takes longer that way but I never felt rushed today and could have been ready to serve at noon instead of 1:00.

I am gifting myself tomorrow as a do nothing day. I am hoping to sleep around the clock tonight and take a long nap tomorrow. I may get to stay home the rest of the weekend. I need to do something with Tagen in town but he is going out of town and isn’t available so it will have to wait till next week. What a treat it will be for me to have several stay at home days. I might get some things crossed off my long to-do list.

Next week looks fairly quiet at this point. I have to go to Emporia on Monday for exercise and will go in later in the week to take care of a banking thing with Tagen. Now that the rental house is all but done my life can go back to lots of stay at home days and regular activities.

Debating on putting up a Christmas tree. I never did put one up last year. We had our family Christmas early and I didn’t host it so didn’t see the point. This year we are having it on the 21st at my house. That may motivate me to put it up but man I hate that job. We shall see what I decide to do.

I so enjoyed having a house full today. Good friends, family, lots of food and lots of love in the air today. Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year and this year was perfect.

Now I get to turn my attention to getting Christmas ready. I will get some things ordered for the grandkids soon and start looking for game ideas. We decided on the menu for our gathering today so fixing it will be easy. I don’t do much shopping for Christmas and the grandkids are old enough to give me their lists. I do enjoy making Christmas treats so will make a list of stuff I need to do that and pick that up next week when I am in town. Then as the mood hits I can get started making my family’s favorite treats.

I still send out Christmas cards and write a letter that goes with them. I will get started on writing that this weekend. It sure helps that I blog and record my life. I struggle with the timeline sometimes and can’t remember with much clarity when things happened. I am getting good at letting go of things and not holding on to them but the downside of that is I forget they happened.

Sitting in a wonderful head space tonight. I absolutely love having friends and family over and fixing a big feast. It was so neat to hear the laughter and conversations that were happening in the house today. Everyone seemed to have a good time and everyone left in a good mood.

Grateful for those that came for the feast today, grateful I was able to pull this event off, and grateful it is almost bed time as I am tired to the bone tonight.

Not a good night to find sleep last night. I have been tired all day. I am getting up at 4:00 in the morning to put the turkey in the oven. May go to bed early tonight. I can go back to bed after I get the turkey going if I can go back to sleep. I really won’t have anything else to do until 9:00 or so.

It was a rough start to my day. Jason opened a bank account and needed to add me to the account. I had completed the steps that bank requested but still got an email asking me to call them for more verification. The lady that answered had a thick accent and I had trouble understanding her. They needed me to send them another picture of my drivers license. I had already done this so not sure why I had to do it again.

I tried three times with the lady on the phone waiting. It would not accept any of them. I asked her what my options were and initially she said I didn’t have any. She finally said I could bring it to my local bank.

I tried again after she hung up and it went through. But it had gone through before so not sure I am finished or not. Sometimes these things feel very difficult for me. I was not in a good mood when I finished all that.

I baked five pies this morning. Chopped up the celery and onions for the dressing and prepped the veggies for the roasted vegetables I am going to put in the crock pot. I also broke the bread I am using for the dressing into bits and pieces.

I went to the liquor store and got some wine. I asked the lady at the store to pick out two bottles of white wine and two bottles of red. She started asking questions and I said I know nothing about wine and that it is useless for her to ask me anything. She picked out the wine but said it felt like a lot of responsibility I was putting on her. I apologized and told her I wouldn’t tell on her. When I got home, Kathy said she liked the choices. The lady did good!

I got a message today and found out four more are coming for dinner tomorrow. Yikes! I will have a very full house. I am sure I have plenty of food – just not sure where everyone is going to sit/stand. I’m sure it will all work out. I remember going to Grandma’s small house and many more than that all fit.

I needed a few more chairs and one more table. My SIL offered to bring those. That was easy! I moved the riding bike into my bedroom to open a bit more floor space in the dining room. Jason is bringing another card table so I can put it up in the kitchen to put food on. I don’t have enough counter space to lay all the food out for people to fill their plates.

I made myself a schedule for tomorrow. If I use the roasting pan to keep the turkey and ham warm I will have enough oven space. I may have to put the crock pots and roasting pan in my bedroom to cook as I don’t have enough counter space to have them going and still have room to make the rest of the dinner. Sometimes you have to get creative to get things done.

Trusting tomorrow will be a better day for me. I hope I got my crankiness over with today! I so enjoy having a house full of people and tomorrow I will get that and more! Trusting I won’t have a cooking disaster.

Not sure I like this colder weather. We got a bit of rain today but it didn’t amount to much. Tomorrow it is to be sunny so that will help. The dogs came inside for most of the day so they wouldn’t get wet and stink up the house. Grateful they can be outside tomorrow as there won’t be room for them. It is only going to be 42 tomorrow so too cold for some to sit on the front porch and eat. Inside will be warm and toasty with all the people coming.

Tonight I will get the tables set up and set. I will still need to set one more table when it gets here tomorrow.

Thanksgiving always seems to kick off the holiday season for me. It is the only part of the holiday season I love. I’m grateful Nicole and I are going on a little vacation mid month in December. That will give me something to look forward to that I will enjoy. We are doing my family Christmas on the 21st. That will be here before I know it.

Not sure I could live in this small house if I fixed a meal for 24 everyday. It takes some planning and thought to get things done. I have to fix one thing at a time and do the dishes and clean up after myself and then start the next thing. Takes longer than it did in the big house. Good thing I only do this occasionally and this small house works great the rest of the time.

No plans for the weekend. Tagen and I need to open two bank accounts so may get that done but Tagen is going out of town for a day or two and not sure he is available. That task may have to wait for next week.

Next week looks fairly quiet so will get some more stay at home quiet days. I do need to make my Christmas treat list and go get groceries one day. If I make one treat a day I will be in good shape for the 21st.

Grateful the feast preparation has started, grateful for all the friends and family that are coming tomorrow, and grateful for a day to stop and give thanks for all the blessings I have.

I manage to have a stay at home days ahead! I didn’t realize how tired I was. I have not done much at all today. I needed to recharge and refill to get ready for tomorrow and Thursday. Grateful I had a day to do that.

The drain cleaner let me know he unplugged the sewer line. He also let me know the line is in rough shape and needs to be replaced. He referred me to some people and I also asked my plumber to refer me to someone.

I called one of them and they are to go look at the house and measure the line and get back with me about the cost. Not sure that replacement was in the budget but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Those things can only be put off for so long.

I have had this house for several years and the first couple of years there was a twice yearly drain cleaner charge. I asked my property manager about it and he had someone do something to the sewer line. The drain cleaner bills stopped and I thought the problem had been fixed. They must have only repaired a part of it.

The good news is Tagen can move in now whenever he can find the time to do so. The line should hold until the repair guy can come replace it.

I spent an hour doing a meditation with the lady that led my retreat to Costa Rica. It was relaxing and exactly what I needed today. She does these every so often for free. She taught me how to relax and soften my body and give to myself the love and compassion I share with others. Powerful stuff!

I think the cold weather has arrived for the season. It is not to get over 45 for the next 10 days. Burr…. We have been lucky to make it this far into the season without these cold temperatures. It is the end of November so we were overdue. My Facebook memories remind me of snow we have received in the past on this day.

Tomorrow I get to start cooking. I will bake five pies, break the bread for the dressing, and get the tables and chairs from the storage shed. Not sure I have enough folding chairs so need to figure out what to do about that. I don’t remember how many I have. I know I gave away some of them as I didn’t have room to store them all. We will figure something out.

I had forgotten to buy some fresh flowers when I was at the store yesterday. Kathy surprised me with some when she came home from town today. Funny how those things work out. I appreciate them!

I need to write out a timeline for my cooking for Thursday. I have a 20 pound turkey to fix, a whole ham to warm up,and then all the side dishes that need to be warmed. I used to have a double oven and could do lots more things at the same time. It will take a bit more preplanning this year but I think I can get them all cooked and be able to serve the hot stuff hot.

I may still get some housecleaning done tonight. Needed to recharge and refill my body first. That felt more essential to me than dusting. The house will be so full I’m not sure anyone will notice the dust.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for the meditation today on self love and gratitude and grateful the sewer line got unplugged today and Tagen can move in.

I went to Emporia after I got up and going this morning.. I had a slow start to my day and it took me a bit to get going.

I texted the drain guy and he said he would get to the house late morning. I went in to meet him.

I cleaned the house and got the paint splatters up off the floor while I was waiting for the drain guy. I listened to some Podcasts and the time went by quickly. I had to leave at 1:45 to go to exercise.

I did my exercises and then ran back by the house to see if he had come. He had not so I went to Walmart to buy the rest of my Thanksgiving groceries. Went back by the house again after I got groceries and he hadn’t shown up yet.

I went ahead and headed for home. I stopped and got gas and then came home. I haven’t heard yet if he ever showed up.

It took me a bit to unload the groceries and put everything away. Grateful that task is done. I dislike shopping and it was good to get the stuff I needed and get out of the store. I forgot about on-line ordering or I would have done that instead. The store was crowded but I managed to get around the unconscious people and avoid the big blue carts.

It was cold today. It only reached the low 40’s today. Guess it is time to have some cold weather but I am spoiled and not ready for it yet.

The rental house is looking good. I will be grateful when the drain guy comes and does his thing and the house project is complete. I still have just a bit of painting to do but not much. I wasn’t in the mood to paint today so got started on the cleaning instead.

Kathy cleaned house while I was gone today so tomorrow will go even faster for me. I only have to dust and do some detail cleaning here and there. I also need to bring in tables and chairs from the storage shed and figure out where I am going to put everyone.

I’m anxious to get started baking and cooking. That is the fun part of all of this. Now that the grocery shopping is done and the house almost clean I can start having fun.

Got my property tax bills for the three rental houses in Emporia. Nothing says Happy Holidays more than receiving the annual property tax bills. Wish they would move them to a different time of year. I will probably get the bill for the Chase County house later this week. This is the time of year that I am grateful I sold the big house in the country. The taxes on this small house are much smaller than the big house.

I think I am starting a string of stay at home days. Hoping I don’t have to go back to Emporia for several days. I did forget some half and half but I can get that at the Dollar General store in CWF. Tagen and I need to open a couple of bank accounts but that can wait till Friday.

Feeling a bit emotionally tired this evening. I can tell I haven’t had enough stay at home days lately. I am feeling pretty drained and empty. It will be fun to concentrate on fixing a feast and having a house full Thursday.

Nicole and I are going to Sedona, AZ for a retreat mid December. We fly into Phoenix the day before and then are renting a car and driving to Sedona. Nicole called today and asked if I wanted to do a hot air ballon ride in Phoenix before we have to drive to Sedona. I said YES!. That is something that is on my bucket list. This will make this trip even more special and exciting.

Grateful all the groceries are in the house for our feast, grateful I have several stay at home days ahead for me, and grateful my furnace works and this house is nice and warm on this cold day.

It has been a quiet stay at home day – my favorite type of day.

I watched the football game. I’m not sure how the Chiefs manage to pull it out so often. I have never seen so many penalties in a game. Hope the player that flipped and landed on his head is OK.

I heard a disturbance coming from the dog pen. Went outside and discovered a dog that belongs to the neighbor across the street had jumped the fence again and had come over to visit Sophia. Not sure the meeting was going well. The neighbor ran over and got her dog to go home. I took Sophia on a walk to calm her down. Kathy had Roxy out walking her so they missed out on the fun.

I decided not to go in and paint today. I wanted to watch the game and by the time it was over it was almost 3:30 and by the time I could get to time it would be 4:00. It gets dark by 5:00 and I needed to paint in the living room and I wouldn’t have been able to see what I was doing for very long. I will go in tomorrow before exercise and try to get it finished up.

After exercise tomorrow I will go get the rest of the groceries for the Thanksgiving feast. I have already gotten supplies twice so hoping tomorrow’s trip will be fairly quick. The store will be busy but I will just have to deal. I guess if I get up early I could go in early and make two trips to town tomorrow. We shall see what happens.

I spent some time this morning listening to some YouTube videos and reels. I am fascinated by the concept of 5D and how the universe is moving from the false matrix to truth.

The mentor that I followed did a video on what she calls YoYo people. She perfectly described me. I feel deeply both sides of the range. When I fall down the rabbit hole it takes me a bit to find my footing and climb back out. Then I fly with the eagles and enjoy the bliss that comes with that. My mentor said what is happening is YoYo people help balance the timeline. That makes sense to me and explains what is happening.

This still feels a bit out there for me but the more I learn the more all this is making more and more sense to me. I can feel deeply that there is a major change coming our way over the coming days/weeks/months/years. It isn’t the political change although that plays into it. It is much deeper and bigger than that.

My job is to stay regulated and tune into my inner self. I need lots of private, quiet time right now. I find myself making different decisions than I would have in the past. Things that used to be important to me no longer feel important. I have a deep inner knowing that all is well in spite of the political winds that are blowing. We are birthing a new way of being and the old structure is dying. I feel the labor pains but know the reward from the pain is close.

Not sure any of this makes total sense. I really have trouble explaining it but know that I feel it deeply. It feels like we need to invent a new vocabulary to explain this new way of being.

Grateful for teachers and mentors that help me make sense out of this chaotic world, grateful for a stay at home day, and grateful to be on this path even when I don’t understand it.

Another night of little sleep. Must have slept too much the night before. I gave up at 7:30 and got up and got dressed. I went to Emporia to get the turkey and ham for Thanksgiving. I was only able to find a 20 pound turkey but it will do. I also got a whole ham so we will have plenty of meat for our feast.

Came home and put things away and went back to bed. I slept for a couple of hours. Yay!

Went back to Emporia and painted for about three hours. Am almost done with the painting. I couldn’t do the front door as that room doesn’t have an overhead light and I didn’t have a lamp. I will get it painted tomorrow and do all the last minute touch ups and call it good.

I really need to paint all the windows but decided not to do that. If for some reason Tagen doesn’t get to move in next weekend I may do it then. He doesn’t notice things like that and with the blinds up they aren’t too noticeable.

I brought home a bag full of stuff from the rental house. Extra shelf liners, painting supplies, etc. It felt good to get it out of the house. There is still a bunch of stuff that we are still using in the house that I will need to bring home some. It is almost time to do the final cleaning and call it good.

Monday I have to go to town for exercise at 2:00. I will stop afterwards and get the rest of the groceries. Tuesday I will clean the house and Wednesday I will bake the pies and start prepping the feast. I have done this menu so many times I know the timing of everything and it is pretty routine for me to fix. Latest count is 20 people coming. We will have a house full but I love that. I have a small house but a long table. There is always room for more if you don’t have a place to eat come join us. We are eating at 1:00.

Looking forward to a mostly stay at home week next week. It is long overdue. I love hosting Thanksgiving Dinner and am looking forward to my friends and family gathering. I wish I could skip Christmas and go straight to 2025.

This day has felt weird in sorts. I had the hardest time figuring out if it was Friday or Saturday and if it was morning or night. I must not be well grounded today. The sleep thing is messing with me.

I will be so grateful when the rental project is complete. It has consumed me this month. I needed a project to work on but…….

Grateful I got some painting done today, grateful I got sleep during the day today as it was elusive last night, and grateful I got a turkey and ham today.

I slept the clock around last night! Sleep, dear sleep at last. It is amazing how much more energy I have when I get sleep.

I met a dear friend for lunch. It was good to catch up with her and have a deep conversation. I need that in my life often.

After lunch I went to the rental house in Emporia. I managed to get all the lower cabinet doors put up. I finally figured out they were all slightly different sizes and I had to take some of the ones I had put up down and match them up better. They went on much easier after that.

Tagen came over and we hung all but one of the upper cabinet doors. We need longer and bigger screws for one of them as the screws are stripped out and won’t keep the cabinet door hung up. Tagen said he would get the ones we need and finish that job up.

With the cabinets up, the kitchen looks so much better. The only other things I have to do is finish the woodwork painting and then do a real good cleaning. I hope to go in tomorrow and finish those two things up. The drain guy didn’t show up today so I will need to call him tomorrow and see if I can get him there. That is the last thing that needs to be done before Tagen can move in.

Tagen and I signed the lease agreement today and I also drew up a contract with him dealing with the truck. We went over those and I got him to sign them. We need to go to a bank and open two accounts and then he will be ready to meet his responsibilities. Next week we need to get the utilities transferred to his name or at least his bank account. I don’t know if the utility companies will allow Tagen to have them in his name since he doesn’t have a credit score. Wonder how one does get credit for the first time.

Phil got the backyard gate up so the back yard is ready to contain a dog. He also got the last two blinds hung. The house is really coming together.

I meant to stop and get a turkey and ham before I came home but I forgot. I will have to go to town and get them tomorrow even if I don’t paint.

It will be good to finally get this rental house project completed. Next week I need to turn my attention to Thanksgiving and getting a dinner pulled together. I won’t have time to go to town everyday and work on the rental.

After Thanksgiving will come Christmas and all the work that comes with that. Add in the trip in December Nicole and I are taking to AZ and the new year will be here before I know it.

This has been a good day. I got several things crossed off my pending and to do list. It felt productive and I need a productive day occasionally. Things feel possible again to me today.

Grateful for lots of sleep last night, grateful the contracts between Tagen and I got signed and explained, and grateful the rental house project is almost done.

I didn’t sleep one minute last night. I have been up since yesterday morning. I am beyond tired. Tonight I trust I will crash and sleep the clock around.

Kathy and I left for Topeka at 8:45 this morning. Our first stop was at HyVee on south Wanamaker. Unfortunately it was a wasted stop as the biggest turkey they had was 17 pounds. I can get one that size in Emporia so didn’t get what I wanted.

We went to my eye specialist for my 10:50 appointment. We got there around 10:30 and I got checked in. They called me back to dilate my eyes around 10:40. Next stop was to take pictures of both eyes. Luckily they didn’t have to inject me with contrast material today.

They sent me back to the waiting room to wait to be called back to see the doctor. We sat for over an hour before they called me back. It was past noon by the time I got to see the doctor.

He said I have grade 2+ cataracts in both eyes. He said sometimes they shrink and come back and sometimes this might mean they are growing. Other than that, everything checked out great. I go back in a year.

This doctor has walked parts of the Camino three times. We had a brief discussion of that before I left. We wished each other Bien Camino when I departed. That is what the pilgrims on the trail say to each other.

We stopped at 5 Guys for burgers and fries. It was delicious. I had forgotten how many fries they give you. Luckily we split an order and still couldn’t eat them all.

I’ve worn the shades they gave me at the doctor’s office all afternoon. I have a slight headache but didn’t get a migraine like I usually do this time. I am grateful for that.

The furnace guy came at 3:30 to clean the furnace. It was really dirty. He showed me how to change the filter. I will get some replacements the next time I go to town and start changing in monthly. The cat litter box is close to the bottom of the furnace and I’m sure that doesn’t help the furnace. Keeping the filter clean will cut down on the amount of dust that gets to the working parts of the furnace.

I was to go to a happy hour at 4:00 but the furnace guy didn’t get done until 4:15. I was too tired to go so I stayed home. Thinking I will take a bath soon and go to bed.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend for an early lunch and then going to town. I need to track down a big turkey and get a ham. I also want to finish hanging the kitchen cabinet doors and finish the painting. Tagen and I need to go to the bank and open two accounts together. Not sure I will get all that done in one afternoon but will get part of it done.

No plans for the weekend except finishing up Tagen’s house. Still haven’t heard from the drain guy so it isn’t looking like Tagen will get to move in this weekend unless the drain guy shows up tomorrow. One more week won’t hurt if it comes to that. Not sure he has gotten the stuff he needs to be there anyways. I’m sure he hasn’t thought about towels, trash cans, shower curtain, dishes, couch, etc. We need to get internet service lined up and installed next week too.

Something keeps shifting inside me. Not sure I can find words to describe what is happening within yet. I realized today a couple of times that I handled somethings differently than I would have in the past – and in a better way. It often happens that way with me. I can’t always figure out how or why it happens, but I can feel and notice a difference. Grateful for the change however it happened.

Grateful for a good report from the doctor, grateful for a safe trip to and from Topeka, and grateful the furnace is clean and ready for cold weather.

What a day! Had trouble sleeping again last night. I slept in a bit this morning but then gave up and got up.

Went to Emporia to work on the rental house. Once I got to town I stopped to drop off some Chex Mix to Jason and was able to see him and have a short visit. Then I went to Michelle’s office and dropped off some for her and her kiddos. She wasn’t too busy so we were able to chat for a bit.

Went to the house and worked on the kitchen cabinets. The screws I got on my fourth attempt worked and I was able to get the drawers put back in place. I worked on the kitchen cabinet doors and ran into problems. The hinges I bought cheap from Amazon kinda worked. Some of them I had to drill new holes.

Got the drill bit stuck in the cabinet door and had to figure out how to reattach the drill to it to pull it out. Finally got the hinges all on and then I attempted to hang the doors. Some of the doors don’t line up with the old holes and had to drill new holes. We didn’t mark the cabinet doors and found out they are not all exactly the same size. This type of work is not my strong suit.

It really is a two person job to hang some of the doors. Good thing Tagen showed up and helped me out. We didn’t get them all done before we had to leave to go to the car dealership.

Tagen doesn’t have a credit score yet as he hasn’t had any credit cards, etc. The car dealer’s finance people wouldn’t offer him a loan even with my co-signature with him as the primary buyer. I called the local bank and they would do it but at over 20% interest with 20% down. Yikes! That feels like highway robbery to me.

The only way we could make it work is if I purchased the truck on my own. The interest rate is still over 8% doing it that way. If we added Tagen as a co-buyer the interest rate would have been over 15.8%. Yikes! I am selling one of my rental houses next year and when that happens I will pay off the truck loan and then Tagen will pay me direct for the truck. That will save him over $12,000 over the course of the loan. I will transfer the truck to Tagen’s name when I pay off the loan. I wonder how much that will cost and if we will have to pay sales tax again.

I haven’t borrow money for over 10 years and had no idea interest rates were so high. I feel so bad for people that have no choice but to pay them. I’m grateful to be in a position to help my grandson out.

I asked the car dealer if sales were down. He said last month they moved 55 vehicles and so far this month only 15. Wonder what next year will bring for them if the tariffs go through.

Came home exhausted. I find doing things outside my comfort zone wears me out. I am not wired to hang kitchen cabinet doors. I am proud of those we got up but will have to spend another day getting the rest of them done. May end up asking Phil to do it for me.

Tomorrow I have to leave for Topeka around 8:45. Going to stop at HyVee to get a turkey and a ham before my eye doctor appointment at 10:50. Kathy is going to drive me as they will dilate my eyes and that usually gives me a migraine.

Friday I am meeting a friend for lunch or conversation and will spend the rest of the day at the rental. I didn’t get any painting done today so still need to finish that up. I will work on it through the weekend and get it done. Then I will need to clean the house and it will be ready for Tagen to move in. Still waiting on the drain guy but still hoping he will be there this week.

I will be so grateful when this rental project is completed. It is draining me. I am looking forward to having stay at home days and nothing pressing to do. Remodeling takes more dollars and time than expected and we didn’t do that much. I will be ever so grateful when all three of the remaining rentals are sold and I am out of that business.

Feeling a bit out of touch with the world today. I really had no idea interest rates were that high. How privileged I am to not have to know that. I wonder what credit card rates are these days? No wonder people can’t get ahead.

Grateful I could help my grandson out, grateful some kitchen cabinet doors got hung today, and grateful I got to see and talk to both Jason and Michelle today.

I didn’t fall asleep until almost 6:00 this morning. This sleep thing is wearing me out! I slept in this morning but woke up feeling unrested.

I did have a stay at home day. I got Ellexia some Chex Mix made. Got my desk cleaned up and got caught up on the paperwork that had been sitting on it waiting for me. Mailed a couple of checks to pay some bills. Still have a long to do list but made a bit of progress today.

Phil was at the rental house today hanging one more blind and attaching the gate I got last week. Tagen should be able to have his dog in the back yard and it will stay in now.

The cabinet door hinges came in so I will go to the rental tomorrow and get those attached to the doors. I may need to wait till I have some help to hang the cabinet doors. I have two more shelves to line and that job is done. Still have a bit of painting left to do. Hoping to get that all done tomorrow. I still have Friday if needed to get it all done before the weekend.

Still haven’t heard from the drain guy. That is the last major thing that is holding up that project. Have my fingers crosses that it will get done this week.

It was good to shut out the world and stay home today. I needed a stay at home day. My body wants another one tomorrow but I need to get this rental house done and off my plate. Next week I plan on staying home all week except for Monday when I have exercise. I will be busy getting the house ready for Thanksgiving dinner and doing some prep cooking but that will be fun.

Tagen is having car issues and I may need to help him out Friday with that. I remember years ago being in his shoes. Hard place to be in. The kid is picking up a lot of responsibility in getting his first place to live in alone and I hate to see him pick up a big car payment too. The world feels a little unstable to me right now and I hate to see him get into a big hole at such a young age.

Still feeling a bit unsettled with all that is going on in the world. It feels like something is dying and many are in grief and at the same time many of up are in labor birthing a new way of being. Transitions are never easy for me, especially living through the in-between time. Doing my best to return to doing what I need to do to take care of myself and keep myself regulated. I have no control over what is happening in the world. I can manage my own reaction to what happens and take care of those within my reach.

Grateful for a stay at home day, grateful some things got crossed off my to do list and grateful I have some good self care practices.

Last night I slept for two hours and then was up for two hours. Went back to sleep and slept better for my second sleep.

I went to Emporia for exercise at 2:00. Afterwards I went to the rental house and put shelf liner in the cabinets and drawers. I went to Bluestem and I think I got the right screws to attach the handles to the drawers. This is my fourth attempt to get the right ones. I then stopped and had a late lunch and came home.

It has been raining most of the day. I have over two inches in my gauge. It is to stop raining later today. There is a cold front that has come in and tomorrow the high will be 55 and then on Thursday only 46. Not sure I am ready for cold weather to be here.

Phil got the blinds hung at the rental house today. They look nice. It was too wet for him to attached the new gate in the back yard.

I was too tired to attempt to paint today. I might take a stay at home day tomorrow and then finish up the painting on Wednesday. I’ll see how I feel. I sure would like to get the painting done but my body needs a rest. I think I can get it finished up in one more day of painting.

I have a growing list of things I need to do at home. I am behind keeping up with things here. I have been too distracted with the rental house to do things here.

Still not sure if Tagen can move in this weekend. Waiting on the drain guy to do his magic. The weather today was not cooperating today for him to come. There is quite a small pond in the back yard and I’m not sure if he can work back there for another couple of days.

Feeling a bit unmotivated today. I had a political discussion with my trainer today. It was a good discussion as we are both on the same side but it caused a bit of fear to come in. I will do some work on myself and release that. I am seriously considering discontinuing reading and listening to the news so much. I don’t spend lots of time on it but with the winds that are turning dark I’m not sure it is in my best interest to keep up with the daily twists and turns. I will continue reading Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance as they are sources I trust and they will keep me informed of the important things happening.

Grateful the blinds are installed, grateful the cabinets and drawers are lined, and grateful I honored my body today and didn’t attempt to paint.

After I got up this morning I went to the rental house in Emporia and painted. I made good progress. Another productive day like today and I will get it finished painting. Then I have to clean it but that shouldn’t take too long.

We still need to get the blinds hung and the new gate we got for the back yard needs to be permanently put in place. Phil said he can take care of those things. Not sure what I would do without Phil. If the drain guy gets there this week and gets that problem fixed, Tagen should be able to move in next weekend.

I looked at the roof of the house today and know that it will need replaced sooner rather than later. I will plan on doing that next spring.

I listened to some podcasts while I painted today. It makes the time go. By faster and painting is less boring.

Came home and watched the Chiefs get beat. They played tough but things didn’t go their way.

Tomorrow I have to go to Emporia for exercise at 2:00. I will either go in before and paint for a couple hours or stay afterwards and do it. Hoping the drain guy will call me in the morning and want me to meet him there.

Thursday morning I have to go to Topeka and then the heating guy is coming in the afternoon to my house to do the annual check. No plans for next weekend but helping Tagen moved if he needs my help.

Hoping to get two or three stay at home days this week. They have been in short supply since I started work on the rental and I am missing them. I get cranky when I don’t get a couple stay at home days a week.

We are to get some rain this evening. We are still close to drought conditions so I welcome the rain. I miss being able to watch the storms roll in. I am slowly losing touch with the sky and moon as I can’t see them that well in town.

Feeling in a bit better place today than I was in yesterday. I got some sleep last night and that always helps. I was pleased with how much painting I got done today and realized how close I am to being finished. I really like how the house has been transformed with a little bit of paint and new lighting. I’m still very disappointed in the company that managed the property. Lesson learned I trust. I will be grateful when I am out of the rental business. That won’t happen for another couple of years but I am headed that way.

Grateful for the painting I got done today, grateful there isn’t a lot of painting left to do, and grateful Phil is going to install the blinds and gate.

It has been a hard day. I didn’t fall asleep until 6:00 this morning and then woke up every hour for about 10 minutes. Gave up at 10:00 and got up and showered.

I went to Emporia and painted until after 1:30. I have reached the point in this project where it feels like I will never get done. I painted woodwork today and it goes so slow. I will go back tomorrow and paint the rest of the walls so it feels like I am getting something done.

When I got home Phil was painting the lattice on the front porch. Wow! I love the new look of the porch. It changed the whole image of the house. So grateful that project is completed. I so appreciate Phil and his skills.

I attempted to take a nap when I got home. I slept off and on for about two hours. This lack of sleep thing takes a toll on me after a while.

The drain people didn’t show up today. Hoping they will make it soon. That is the thing that will hold up Tagen moving in. That has to be fixed before he moves in.

I attempted for the third time to get the right screws for the handles of the drawers. Failed again. Not sure why that is so hard. The ones I got today were too long. I will try again Monday.

Next week I have exercise on Monday and Thursday I have to go to Topeka for the eye specialist appointment. While I am in Topeka I want to go early and get the ham and turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The store I go to tends to have bigger turkeys than I can find in Emporia.

I should have plenty of time next week to get this rental house project wrapped up. I know I am further along than it felt like today. It is easy for me to lose perspective. The back end of a big painting job always feels bigger than the front end to me.

Five weeks from today we are doing our family Christmas. As soon as Thanksgiving is over I will need to start planning. I don’t like last minute shopping – not that I do much of it. I need to prompt the grandkids for their wish lists so I can get things ordered. I will make a list of the treats I want to make and make a big grocery store trip. In this small kitchen I have to plan out what I am making when as I can only do one at a time. I don’t have lots of storage space for the finished product.

Feeling a bit ungrounded and unsettled tonight. Lack of sleep can do a number on me. I am getting behind on things I need to do around this house and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the rental house. I will push through and get it done this week.

December is my least favorite month of the year. The continued darkness is hard and the fake commercialism of the season wears me out. I do look forward to Winter Solstice and the return of the light. I am grateful Nicole and I are going to AZ for four days in the middle of December. That will give me something to look forward to and hopefully get me over the hump of the season.

Grateful I got a bit of painting done today, grateful for what sleep I did get today, and grateful tomorrow is a new day.

I was up early this morning and in Emporia before 8:00. The electrician showed up as promised a little after 8:00. He discovered the switch to the kitchen light was bad as was the switch to the bonus room light. He replaced both of those and changed the plug in to a three prong plug as it is in the kitchen. He then discovered the light bulbs were burned out in the bonus room. He had to go to the shop to get some new LED ones. He finally finished up around 9:30.

While he was there I worked on the kitchen cabinet doors. Discovered I ordered 1/2 inch hang instead of 3/8. I ordered the correct ones and they are to be in mid week. Got the cabinet door pulls on but needed different screws for the drawers. Took a bunch of trash to the trash bin and cleaned up the living room and kitchen a bit.

After the electrician left, I went to Sutherland’s to get different screws and picked up some cleaning supplies. Then I went to Commercial Street Diner for breakfast. A dear friend was there and he picked up my tab.

Went back to the rental and found out the screws I had gotten didn’t work. I started painting and got the spare bedroom finished up. I went to the bigger bedroom and got most of the walls finished up but ran out of paint. I also did some painting on woodwork in the living room. I had picked up some paint remover and it works well on the splatters on the floor. Still have more to remove but got started on the cleanup of those.

Tagen came over and we went to get different screws. Also got a gate for the back yard so he can dog proof it so his dog will stay in the yard. Then we stopped at Sherwin Williams and got another gallon of paint. Stopped for some ice cream at Freddy’s and then went back to the rental house.

Discovered only three of the 11 screws we got were the right size. The others are too long. They were all in the same box but evidently had gotten put in the wrong box and no one noticed. Maybe the third time will be a charm.

Tagen was working on cleaning out the gutters when I left. He needed to go get some gloves as he said there is mud in the bottom of the gutters. We need to get the gutter drains connected and cleaned out too.

By then it was 4:30 and I was wiped out. I came home and haven’t moved much. Man am I sore and tired.

I will go back to the house tomorrow and do more painting and clean up. Hoping the drain guy will show up tomorrow and figure out what needs to be done. Worried that will turn into a big project but he does magic and may be able to fix it without replacing pipe.

Looking like we will be done this weekend except for hanging the cabinet doors but that won’t take long once the parts are in. Tagen is going to try to hang the blinds. May need to ask Phil to come do those if Tagen can’t figure them out. The only other thing that will delay Tagen moving in next weekend is the sewer drainage problem. Fingers crossed that won’t be a big problem and if it is the workers can get it fixed quickly.

This day went by quickly. I am really tired and may be in bed by 8:00 tonight. Hoping I can find some energy to do more painting tomorrow. I am getting so close to being done painting.

I was impressed all the professionals that I called Tuesday have come and taken care of their projects at the house. The only one left is the drain cleaner and he told me it would be several days before he could come. One by one, things are getting crossed off the list and getting taken care of. The house is already looking much better inside and we haven’t cleaned it good yet. I still can’t believe that the property manager said the house was ready to be moved into.

Too tired to think much tonight. It will be good to have some quiet days next week with nothing on my urgent list. This rental property has kept me busy this week.

Grateful the electrician did his thing today, grateful for the progress that is being made, and grateful to be sitting in my chair tonight.

I slept in spurts last night. I would sleep for two hours then be up for two hours. Rinse and repeat all night long. I didn’t feel like I got good sleep last night and am tired this evening.

After I got up this morning I went to Emporia to paint. The pest guy had come yesterday as did the plumber. Two things crossed off my list. I got the kitchen cabinets painted so they are ready for the doors to be rehung. I did other woodwork painting too. I think I am getting close to the end of the painting. It feels possible that by Sunday I will be done with painting.

There is still a small pond in the back yard so am seriously concerned that I have a major problem. A couple of years ago we did a repair on the sewer lines but it is looking like I have another problem. Trusting I can find the right people to get it fixed in a timely matter and at a reasonable cost.

Tomorrow I am meeting the electrician so he can figure out why the kitchen light won’t turn on. I will stay and paint for as long as I can. I still have some walls to paint as well as more woodwork. It is possible the drain guy may show up tomorrow or Saturday. Tagen is to help me this weekend so that should help things move along.

Once I get all the painting done we will have lots of clean up to do. Tagen should be able to move in the following weekend if we can get the sewer problem identified and fixed.

Jason called me this afternoon and we had a nice long chat. I love when one of my kids calls and fills me in on what is happening in their lives.

I stopped at Walmart before I came home after I finished painting today. I got lots of the non perishable items off my Thanksgiving list. I forgot to get groceries for me to eat between now and Thanksgiving. Good thing I will be going back to town all three days of the weekend.

I got a letter from my insurance company today telling me they were not going to renew me for next year. I got hold of them and they told me to ignore it. Evidently they changed their policies and will only allow a client to insure two rental properties in addition to a residence. Luckily I had decided to leave one of the rentals with another company as I should be selling it early next year and leaving it where it was seemed easier than changing it. I trust they advised me correctly and I won’t run into problems when the renewal gets closer.

I picked up some Christmas cards while I was at Walmart today. It is almost time to start working on those. I usually write a Christmas letter to go with them. It takes me some time to write it. I save a copy each year and over the years they have become like a mini history book on my family.

While I was painting today I listened to some podcasts from my new mentor. It makes the time go by quickly and I feel like I am learning lots while getting painting done. My new mentor is helping me realize how the false matrix we have been in has to go. She does a call a week and I have been listening to some of the recorded ones to get a better sense of what she is teaching.

Grateful for more painting done today, grateful the pest guy and the plumber did their tasks, and grateful the preparation for Thanksgiving dinner has begun.

This day has not gone as I thought it would. I didn’t fall asleep until around 5:00 this morning. I had to get up at 8:00 so I could be in town by 9:00 to wait for the furnace repair guy to show up.

I got to the house and it was cold. The furnace has not been working and I was tired and got cold. I could not make myself paint. I didn’t feel very good and my body ached.

The repair guy showed up a little after 9:30. He discovered the gas guy had turned the gas off to the furnace which is why the pilot light had gone out. He got that fixed and cleaned the connections. He checked out the thermostat and said it was OK. Not sure what the gas guy had found that made him turn the gas off to the furnace. I left the heat on and will check it tomorrow to make sure all is well.

It didn’t take the repair guy very long to do what he did and he was gone by 10:00. I then discover the bathtub faucet was dripping and the bathtub had about two inches of water in it which means the drain is plugged.

I called the plumber to come fix the bathtub faucet. They are to come tomorrow to fix that. I also called my drain clean out guy to come figure out why the tub isn’t draining. He said he can’t come for a couple of days. So far everything else in the house drains OK. While I was on a roll, I call the pest company and got on their schedule. I also called an electrician to come figure out why the kitchen light fixture doesn’t work. The electrician is to let me know when they can come.

I noticed the back yard has a small pond in it. Not sure if it is related to the bathtub or if it rained that much last night or if there is yet another issue that needs addressed. The drain guy has a camera that he can run down the lines so hopefully he can check all those out and make sure I don’t have a bigger issue. Dang! The list seems to grow as I get one thing crossed off I add two more.

After the furnace guy got done and I made all the calls I came home. I texted my trainer and let her know I couldn’t do it today. I came home and took a three hour nap. I felt much better when I woke up.

The pest people called and they had a cancellation this afternoon so I gave them the front door code and they were to go over and treat the house this afternoon. That was fast.

A friend came over and I helped her with a tax situation. Hopefully she can take the next steps to resolve her issue.

Kathy and I went to a birthday party and spent two hours visiting with some beautiful souls. It is always good to spend time with the gang/

When we got home it was dark and getting cold outside. We each took a dog and took them on their early evening walks. It sure felt good to come in to a warm house when I finished the dog walk.

Tomorrow the plumber is to come so will try to get to the house in the morning and wait for them to show up. I hope the house will be nice and warm and I will be able to get lots of painting done. I don’t have anything on my calendar the rest of the week so trusting I can get this project wrapped up this weekend. Tagen is off this weekend so he said he could help all day Saturday and Sunday too. He is getting anxious to get moved in so maybe we can get it done so he can move in the following weekend.

I’m grateful I had a keypad lock put on the front door. That way I can give repair people the code and they can let themselves in the house and I don’t have to be there.

I’m feeling a bit like I have dropped out of society. This rental project has consumed me and I don’t have a clue what else is happening in the world right now. I read the news and can’t seem to comprehend what I am reading.

I got my Thanksgiving invitations out yesterday. So far I have 16 people coming for dinner. Still have room for more. If anyone needs a place to go for dinner on Thanksgiving give me a shout. I always have room at my table for more. I may have a small house but I have a long table.

I have to go to Topeka next week for a Doctor’s appointment. I want to stop and get a big turkey and a few other groceries for the Thanksgiving dinner. I will have to do that before my appointment as the doctor will dilate my eyes and I won’t be able to do anything after that.

I feel like I haven’t been home much lately. I will need a couple of stay at home days soon to get myself grounded again. I do better when I have a couple stay at home days a week.

My short trip to Sedona is in a month. I am looking forward to it and spending time with Nicole. I went to Sedona years ago for a business meeting and remember a bit about it but not much. It will be good to get away for a few days and explore some vortex areas outside of Sedona.

It won’t be long before I also need to give some thought about what we are going to do for Christmas. Luckily I don’t do lots for shopping so that makes things easier for me as I hate shopping. I will need to start bugging the grandkids for their wish lists. I also need to find some fun games that the kids will play when we gather. I also need to make a grocery list so I can get all the things to make our favorite Christmas treats. That is the only part of Christmas that I like besides having all the kids home at the same time for our gathering.

Grateful the furnace at the rental house was an easy fix, grateful I was able to call the other repair people today and got on their schedules, and grateful for the extra rest I got this afternoon.

This has felt like a long day. I didn’t get to sleep until after 2:00 this morning and woke up around 5:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Around 7:00 I gave up and got up and took a shower and got dressed.

Did a bit of housework. I was expecting a friend to come over at noon so I could help her with a tax situation but something came up and she had to reschedule for tomorrow.

I decided to go to Costco in Wichita. I had a list of things I needed with toilet paper at the top of the list as we were getting very low. I stopped at Chipotle and had lunch and then went to Costco. I filled the car up with gas since I was there and saved about $0.30 a gallon. Got a full cart of things I needed and other things that I couldn’t resist.

By the time I pushed the full cart around the store and loaded everything into my car I was worn out. Then I had to carry everything in when I got home. Dang, that was a work out. I got three cases of water and a couple of other heavy things. I found a nice winter coat for $30. I will use it mainly to walk the dogs so didn’t want to pay much for it. It feels really warm but I shall see if it is when it gets cold later this year.

Tomorrow I have to be at the rental house by 9:15 to meet the furnace repair guy. After that I go to exercise at 11:00 and then my friend is coming over at 2:30. I have a birthday party to go to at 4:00. It will be a busy day. I hope to get some painting done while the furnace guy is doing his thing.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will find me at the rental house getting it finished up. I think if Tagen and his girlfriend help, we can get it finished up this weekend. Tagen is getting anxious to get moved in.

Luckily next week is rather quiet. I may need a quiet day or two at home to recover from four days of painting. I do have to go to Topeka that week to the eye doctor but other than exercise I don’t have anything else on my calendar for that week.

I need to make a grocery list for my Thanksgiving dinner. I like to get the non perishable things early so it isn’t such a big grocery shopping trip when I pick up the perishable stuff. I will look for a big turkey when I am in Topeka in another week.

I signed up for a year’s long class with a new to me teacher. She lives in South Africa and I have been binge watching her YouTube channel. She finds words for things I have felt but didn’t know how to explain. When I get a chance I will start watching her classes. I needed something to feed my soul and am trusting this will do that for me.

I have a feeling bed time might come a bit early for me tonight. I sure could take a nap right now but it is too late in the day to do that – especially since I have to be in Emporia by 9:15.

I signed up for a new prescription plan for 2025. I plugged in the drugs I take and found the cheapest one I could find. It is only $3 a month. I get all four prescriptions via mail and a 90 day supply at a time. Sure makes them cheaper doing it that way. I also had to change the bank account where my Medical supplement insurance is taken out of and I was able to figure out how to do that. Somedays that type of thing is easy and other days not so much. Today it was easy.

Grateful for a safe trip to and from Wichita today, grateful I was able to cross some things off my to-do list today, and grateful for a new teacher/mentor.

I got up and after I had breakfast I went to the rental house to paint. I painted for about four hours today. I got the walls in the living room done and most of the kitchen and bathroom walls. Still have to finish the two bedrooms and hallway walls. Have lots of woodwork left to paint.

I did stop at Sutherland to get a ladder. I needed one that had a paint ledge. They had what I needed although it was a bit taller than I really wanted but what I got works.

I stopped and had lunch and around 3:00 and then came home. I am tired. Four hours of painting was probably at least one hour too much.

Tomorrow I have someone coming over at noon to get some help with their taxes. I will probably not paint tomorrow and get caught up on some things around home. Wednesday the furnace guy is coming to check things out at the rental house at 9:30. I have exercise at 11:00 so plan on getting some more painting done then. I may go back after exercise and do some more painting. I would really like to get the painting done this week but not sure that is realistic.

Thursday and Friday I have nothing on my calendar so can do lots of painting then if my body will allow it.

I found a new to me person that does You Tube videos about energy. As she talks, the things she is saying feel very true to me. She offers a class that I am seriously considering taking. I need a new mentor and teacher and she helps me find words for what I have been intuitively been getting. I have felt for sometime we are undergoing a major shift in the world’s energy. She helped me understand it is OK to not understand what the next step is. We are being called in go inside and discover our own power. Then as we go out into the world to allow our light to shine. I can still get stuck in “doing” instead of “being” and I don’t understand how that is enough. On one hand I can see how it is but on the other hand I stuggle to get it. I think if I spend some time learning more I can make that transition and help others do it also.

I haven’t had a teacher for a long time and it is time for me to find one. The class I took on boundaries was life changing and helpful. I had thought that was the way I wanted to go but could never pull the trigger and jump in all the way on it. This new opportunity feels like it will take me deeper and be more of what I am looking for.

Grateful for teachers and mentors, grateful more painting got done today, and grateful for a beautiful fall day.

I finally was able to go back to sleep around 3:00 this morning. Luckily I was able to sleep in late this morning.

I watched the Chiefs game at noon. I don’t know how they pull out of games like they do. Hope their luck holds for the rest of the season.

This has been a quiet day for me. Words are hard for me to find today. I’m grateful I didn’t have to talk to anyone today or go any where. I am so privileged to be able to take a day and do nothing and not interact with anyone except briefly with Kathy.

My trainer asked me to change my session that was scheduled for tomorrow to Wednesday. So now tomorrow I can either stay home or go in and paint. Not sure what I am going to do. It will depend on if I feel like I can get lots of painting done or not.

Phil let me know he went to the house today and got the key pad lock installed as well as the vanity and he was able to fix the toilet. Good to cross all those things off my list.

I do need to make some calls tomorrow and get a pest control company to come out and I also need to figure out what is up with the bath tub not draining properly and get that fixed.

I watched a video today about What Now? Her advice to both sides was the same. If you are elated with the election results or if you are shattered both sides need to consider who controls them. Our power comes from within not external factors. It isn’t a matter of sticking your head in the sand and ignoring world events. It is a matter of not allowing those events to control your mood, happiness, and the amount of love you give to the world. Your power is within!

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for a free day tomorrow, and grateful for mentors that help support my world view.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night. My tummy was a bit upset and sleep was not to be found. I finally gave up and got up.

Went to Emporia around 9:15. Got to the rental house and started taking plates off the cabinet doors Tagen had taken down to get them ready to paint. Discovered the paint bushes had not been cleaned so had to go get two new paint brushes.

Came back to the rental house and painted the kitchen cabinet doors. Then painted on the cabinets themselves.

Tagen and his girlfriend came over. I had him work on taking down all the old blinds and hardware. I got to a stopping place on painting and we went to Bobby D’s for lunch.

While I had some muscle with me I took them to Walmart to get cat and dog food. Tagen lifts those 44 pounds bag of feed like they weigh 4 pounds.

We went back to the house and I painted some more while Tagen finished taking down all the blinds. Around 3:30 I decided I had painted enough for the day and cleaned up my mess and headed home.

I came home and felt cold. I could not get warm. I finally took a hot bath and went to bed. I slept for a couple of hours until the dogs decided it was time for their late evening walk. I got up and got dressed and took them each on their 1/2 mile walk.

I am still tired but not sleepy. I will probably stay up for another hour or so and then try to get some more sleep.

If my body will allow it, I will go in and paint some more tomorrow. I still have the rest of the kitchen cabinets to paint and more woodwork to paint. When I get all that done I have some wall painting left to do. Right now it feels like I will never get done but I’m sure that isn’t true. Still hoping to get all the painting finished up this week.

Monday I need to figure out if I need a plumber or a drain cleaner so they can fix the bath tub drain which is not draining well. The heater guy is coming Wednesday. I need to call a pest control guy to come. The kitchen light fixture is not working so will need to call an electrician to fix that. Phil is going to come over and finish installing three things for us. The tree guy has us on his schedule but won’t be over for several weeks. We will have to get all the kitchen cabinet doors put back up. Then we have lots of paint spatters to clean up and then I think the house will be ready. Lots to take care of yet but hoping it will all get done soon.

Monday I have exercise in town. Tuesday someone is coming over for help with a tax issue. Wednesday the furnace guy is coming over. I have free days Thursday and Friday. No plans for next weekend either.

I really do need to start thinking about Thanksgiving and getting invitations for dinner out. I am going to be brave and attempt to fix a full dinner for 16 – 20 people. It may be my last one if it is too hard to do all that in this small house. I love having a house full for Thanksgiving but that number is smaller this year than it has been in the past for me due to the smaller house.

Christmas needs to start hitting my planning list too. I don’t have many presents to buy. I love making all the special treats though. We play games for our Christmas gathering and I will need to start figuring out what games we will be doing and get the stuff and prizes for them taken care of. It will be here before I know it. I don’t do well with last minute stuff these days. I don’t move near as fast as I used to.

The last couple of years I have sent a Christmas letter to my friends and family. If I plan on doing that this year I need to start thinking about getting that ready too. This time of the year sure gets busy and with the rental house I feel like I have lots on my plate right now. I had wanted more things to do – I need to be careful what I ask for.

Still viewing the election results with a deep knowing that my purpose for being here just got defined. I have a strong belief that there is a universal dying of the old ways happening along with the dying of a male dominated society. Change is frightening for many and many are holding on for dear life to the old ways of doing things. A new way of peace and love is being born. We are both grieving for the old and going through birth pains for the new path to come into being.

My job is to stay firmly on the peace and love path and invite others to walk beside me. We all have to find ways to stay grounded and regulated and meet others with love and peace. Man is that hard somedays. It is so easy to slip into fear and divide. The more I can keep myself regulated, the less I slip into the muck pond of fear.

Grateful more painting and progress was made on the rental house today, grateful to spend tine with Tagen, and grateful for all my mentors and teachers that had led me to a path of love and peace.

I slept in a bit this morning. I stayed up rather late last night and it felt good to get some extra sleep this morning.

I left for Topeka around 11:30. I stopped at Chipotle for lunch and then went to Walmart to get blinds for the rental house. They had what I needed except for one.

I stopped and filled my car up with gas and then went to my doctor’s appointment. I got there at 1:45 and they called me back at 1:50. The nurse did her quick thing and then I waited. At about 2:30 the nurse popped in and said the doctor had an urgent phone call but would be in soon.

She finally shows up about 2:45. She did apologize several times for running late. She asked the normal questions and looked at my test results. All is well. I asked her about switching to the generic Synthroid medication due to cost. She told me about some place in Mississippi that I can get the liquid Tirosint for $160 for a three month supply. I am currently paying $155 a month.

She sent through a request to them to contact me and get me on their program. I am to contact her if I don’t hear anything in the next two weeks. I will never understand the variant prices of drugs. It doesn’t make sense to me. Not sure what the price will be next year but if they stay rather reasonable I told my doctor that I would stay on the liquid type of thyroid medication.

I came home after my appointment. It rained on the way up and then again on the way home. It was in the mid 50’s today. It was cold and wet today. The house smells like wet dog. Yuck!

Tomorrow I plan on going in to the rental house and painting most of the day. Tagen is off and he is supposed to come join me. We shall see if that happens. I have lots of things I ordered to take to the house tomorrow. I need to borrow Tagen’s muscles and have him help me get a couple bags of dog food in my car. I am almost out.

I got the bid for the guttering at one of the other rental projects. They are going to do the roof first and then do the guttering. Not sure when that is going to happen yet. They are to let me know when they can work it into their schedule.

Wednesday the heat and air guy is coming to Tagen’s house and fixing the furnace. The pilot light was lit by the gas guy but it didn’t stay on and there is some question about the thermostat working properly.

Phil let me know the bathtub wasn’t draining properly so next week I will need to get someone out to check that out. Dang, the to do list keeps growing faster than things I can get done and cross off.

Next week looks rather quiet for me so hoping I can get the rental house finished up. I am getting tired of it already. I hope I have found all the issues it has and can get professionals out there and get it fixed.

Still working on reminding myself to stay present to what is and not to allow myself to think about all the things that might happen in the future. When I stay present I know that all is well – right here – right now – all is well.

Grateful for a safe trip to and from Topeka, grateful for assistance in finding cheaper medication, and grateful most of the things needed for the rental house have been taken care of.

This has felt like a busy day. This morning I cleaned up the house from the dinner I hosted last night. I had soaked the two crock pots overnight and needed to finish washing them and the rest of the dishes. I folded up the card tables and chairs and got them out of my way.

At noon I went downtown and paid my water bill and then went to a friend’s house for lunch. We had a planning meeting for a potential event in late December. Not sure we accomplished much as one of the people involved wasn’t there but it was good conversation with two dear friends.

At 4:00 another friend hosted a happy hour. I love gathering with like-minded women and sharing conversation and life. In these uncertain times, gathering with my community is appreciated and welcome. We talked about ways we can be in service to our community and help build connections with others.

Kathy and I came home from that gathering and we each took a dog and walked them. I will have to take them out one more time tonight before I go to bed. It is getting cold out again. I70 is closed west of Goodland tonight due to winter like conditions. Winter is coming and I am not ready.

Tomorrow I have to be in Topeka at 1:45 for a doctor’s appointment. I need to go to a hardware store and see if I can find some cheap blinds for the rental house windows. I ordered everything else I needed earlier this week and it all came in today.

Saturday and Sunday I hope to get lots more painting done at the rental house. Tagen is off and he has agreed to help me. Sure hoping we can knock out most of the painting this weekend. Not sure that will be possible but that is my goal.

Monday I have to go to Emporia for exercise. Hoping to get a stay at home day next Tuesday. Wednesday I have to meet a repair guy at the rental house in the morning. I am beginning to miss my quiet time at home.

It was good to take two days off from painting. I really don’t have a deadline to get the rental house done but I get tired of projects if they drag out too long. I think Phil went to the house today to put the ceiling fans up and install the vanity. I’m anxious to see how they look.

Five weeks from today the retreat Nicole and I are going to in Sedona, AZ starts. It will be fun to get away for a few days and spend some quality time with Nicole. We will be visiting some vortexes and doing lots of yoga. Looking forward to going somewhere warm.

It is time for me to get my Thanksgiving invitations out and figure out what I will be fixing and who all is coming. I am a bit limited on space this year so will have to figure things out early.

Ellexia sent me a text today and requested some Chex Mix. I haven’t made that for a long time. I usually make them a batch for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas. I told her next time I buy groceries I will get the stuff I need to make it and get it to her. I can’t make a huge batch now as I don’t have the oven space like I did before.

Sitting in a good head space tonight. I have given myself a break from the news for the next little bit. Reading about what might happen next year is not good for me right now. I am working hard at staying present and reminding myself that right now – right here – all is well. As and if things happen in the future I will deal with them then. I am working on finding some service projects for myself and spending my time loving on people and making connections. That feels like what I am to be doing right now.

Grateful for my tribe and the deep conversations I can have with them, grateful progress is being made on the rental house, and grateful this house is easy to clean.

I stayed up until midnight last night. I could only watch the broadcast for short bits. I was rather certain Harris lost early on and as the night progressed it looked more and more certain. I woke up at 5:30 and checked and found out my intuition was correct

I meditated for a bit and asked myself what did I need to help me regulate. I got up and sent an invitation to 10 friends to come over for soup and a meditation tonight at my house. Nine of us gathered and enjoyed conversation and two different kinds of soup and a dessert. We ended the evening with a meditation. It helped calm my soul. My house was blessed to host them. I needed connection today to my tribe and they came through for me.

The good news is I can comfortably sit at least 12 people for a meal in this house. If I used a long table I could push that up to 16. Yay! Now I know how many I can invite for Thanksgiving dinner. The bad news is I was reminded how small my kitchen is and how little counter space I have. It will be a challenge to prepare lots of dishes. I have to fix one thing, wash up the dishes and put them away and then move on to the next thing. It takes longer that way but it is the only way I can manage in this small space. I will give myself lots of extra time to get things made and it will be possible.

My next problem is I don’t have a double oven any more. I used to be able to put eight containers of food in the oven to warm up or to keep them warm. Now I can only do four. That one will take me a bit to figure out a solution to. I think I can! I think I can!

All day my mantra has been “Right here, right now, all is well!” I keep pulling myself back from going into anticipation of what might happen. It has been a bit of a roller coaster today of emotion. I am allowing myself to grieve and process the results of the election. When I can zoom out I understand what and why things happened the way they did. I had held out hope we collectively would choose the easier path but that is not the way it went down. My job now is to accept the world as it is and not as the way I wanted it to be. Once I move into acceptance I can then plan action for myself.

I took a short nap this afternoon. I didn’t get lots of good sleep last night and needed to rest for a bit. Luckily I only slept for about 15 – 20 minutes so I should be able to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow I have a meeting at 12:30 and then Friday I am going to Topeka. The weekend is free to get some painting done in town.

Phil came over this afternoon and painted the upper part of the porch. He still needs to spray the bottom lattice and then the porch project will be complete. Yay! Phil is going to the rental house tomorrow to install the ceiling fans and the vanity. I wanted him to put the new door lock on but it didn’t come in today. We will get that done another day.

I did run to Emporia this morning to pick up some groceries so I could make soup for dinner tonight. It still felt like a stay at home day though as I got up so early. I was home from town by 8:30 and had the rest of the day at home. I needed a quiet day at home today and having dear friends over for dinner made it a perfect day for me.

Now that the election is over it is time to start planning Thanksgiving and Christmas. If I had it my way, we would do Thanksgiving and skip December and Christmas all together. I do enjoy our Winter Solstice gathering and knowing the light is more each day. Christmas is my least favorite holiday.

Sitting in a better head space tonight thanks to my friends. I needed the reminder that all is well – right here – right now – all is well.

Grateful for friends who come for a last minute dinner invitation, grateful the soups turned out OK and grateful the more progress made on the front porch.

I left for Emporia a little after 8:00 this morning. I started painting on the woodwork in the master bedroom and then did the other bedroom.

The tree guy showed up as scheduled around 9:45. He found lots of work that needs to be done in addition to trimming the limbs hanging over the power lines. It is cheaper to have them only come once and do it all than to have to have them come back later. He won’t be able to get to the work for about two months but we are on his schedule.

I painted until about 11:30 and then came home. I decided to order new hardware for the kitchen cabinets. I found some on-line that were very reasonable. A fresh coat of paint on the cabinets and new hardware will really update the kitchen.

I haven’t turned on the election returns yet. Way too early for me to do that. I plan on staying up late tonight and seeing which way things are leaning. Bet there is a lot of stress drinking going on around the country tonight. It feels like it will be a real defining moment for the US and the world.

Tomorrow I am staying home. I haven’t had a stay at home day for a bit and I need one. If it is nice I will finish painting my part of the porch. I have some other to do things on my list that I want to take care of. I also need some time to refill myself and ground. I don’t do well out and about if I don’t get lots of private and quiet space.

Thursday I have a meeting that got moved from Matfield Green to Cottonwood Falls. It will be fun to visit with two dear friends and plan a December event.

Friday I have to go to Topeka for a doctor’s appointment. I need to get some new blinds for the rental house and some house numbers for my new porch while I am in Topeka.

This weekend Tagen is off so we will be working on the house. He is getting anxious to move in and we need to get all the painting done. All the things I ordered for it are to be in this week so hoping we can get that all installed. Phil is to come install the ceiling fans and maybe help Tagen install the new front door lock and vanity for the bathroom.

I’m still feeling cautiously optimistic about the election results. It amazes me that it may be as close as the polls indicate. I also know that the winner will be the one that the universe in totality needs to move them to the correct path. It seems like there is an easy path and a hard one. Collectively we have taken the hard path before.

Grateful the election is over, grateful more painting got done today, grateful for a stay at home day tomorrow.

I woke up late this morning but felt like I still needed more sleep. I got dressed and headed to town to get some woodwork paint. Got that and went to the rental house and painted the living room bottom woodwork and most of the dining room bottom woodwork. I don’t like painting woodwork as it is so tedious and slow.

I had to stop at 1:45 so I could go to exercise. I went and did my thing and yawned all the way through it. Not sure why I was so tired today.

Stopped and had lunch and then came home. I was cold when I got home so I snuggled under a blanket and took a three hour nap. I still feel like I might be able to sleep all night.

Guess today was a crash and burn day. I hadn’t had one of those for a bit so maybe I was overdue. I listened to my body and gave it what it needed so I will take that for a win for the day.

Grateful that the election is tomorrow. I know it may take a bit before we know the results but am trusting it will be sooner rather than later.

Tomorrow I have to be at the rental house at 9:45 to get a bid from the tree trimmer. I will do more woodwork painting while I am in town. I’ll see how far I can get. I have lots of windows and all the kitchen cabinets to paint in addition to the rest of the woodwork. I haven’t even begun to do the ladder work of woodwork painting. Progress feels slow at this point but hoping it goes faster than I am expecting it to.

Wednesday is my only stay at home day. I plan on giving myself the day off from painting in town. If it is nice I want to get the rest of the painting done on my porch. Phil got the posts done but I still have a bit more to do. Phil said he would do the ladder painting on the porch another day so will wait for him to do that.

Thursday I have a meeting to go to. It got changed from Matfield Green to later in the day in Cottonwood Falls. Friday I have to go to Topeka for a doctor’s appointment. I want to stop and get some new window blinds for the rental house while I am in Topeka.

Nothing on my calendar for the weekend so hoping Tagen will be free and we can finish up the painting and installing all the new stuff.

The research program I am in for the exercise thing called me today and scheduled two of three of my final appointments with them. I have to do another cognitive three hour test one day and then a three hour physical assessment on another day. Those appointments won’t happen until the second week of February. Their MRI machine is down and they are hoping it will be up and going by the time I go for the other two appointments and will get me on that schedule then. This year has gone fast. I feel like I have a lot more free time since I only have to go to the fitness center once a week instead of three.

Feeling cautiously optimistic about the results for tomorrow. I trust things will go smoothly and no one will be harmed. The anger and fear level is high and violence can happen as a result. I am trusting we can all take a deep breath when this is over and start the process of healing the great divide. We are all more alike than we are different. Sometimes we forget that.

Grateful for lots of sleep today, grateful the end is in sight for my exercise program, and grateful more painting happened today.

It was nice to have an extra hour of sleep last might. I slept in a bit this morning and it was still early when I got up.

I went to Emporia to meet Tagen at Sutherland at noon to pick out three ceiling fans, a vanity and a few other things. He was able to lift them in and out of the car and get the stuff in the rental house. He made the vanity look like it only weighed a pound or two. I couldn’t have lifted it myself.

We went to Bruff’s for lunch afterwards. I always enjoy time with Tagen. He had a girlfriend with him and I enjoyed getting to know her.

I stopped at the liquor store and got a bottle of wine for a birthday present. The clerk started asking me questions and I said I know nothing about wine. I asked him to steer me to a good bottle of red wine. I trust what I got is drinkable.

Then I stopped at Dollar General to get a wine bag. They didn’t have a birthday one but they did have a Christmas one so that had to work.

Kathy and I went to a dear friend’s birthday party at 3:00. It was so fun sitting and visiting with other friends. We enjoyed some pizza, wine and lots of other treats.

The day went by quickly. I didn’t have much down time today.

Tomorrow I have exercise at 2:00 so will go in and paint some before and after. Tagen and his friend were going to paint this afternoon so hoping most of the tall painting got done today. I will get a bucket of woodwork paint and do that tomorrow. I still have a few things to get for the rental property and may try to take care of that tomorrow if I can go into a store. Somedays I can and some days I can’t. I am going to Topeka Friday so can go to a different hardware store and get what I need if I can’t find what I want here.

Tuesday I have to go back to the rental house and meet the tree guy. There are limbs hanging over the two power lines in the back yard that need taken care of before a winter ice storm makes them come down. Hoping I can do some more painting Tuesday as well.

Wednesday is my only stay at home day this week. It will be needed by then. Thursday I am going to a meeting in Matfield Green and Friday I have a doctor’s appointment in Topeka. Busy week for me.

It is raining again this evening. I dumped out almost five inches of rain earlier today. We are going to get all our fall rain in a few days. Grateful for the rain as it will fill the ponds that were getting dangerously low. Hoping it will help save the new grass that Kathy planted earlier this fall.

It has been fun working with Tagen on this project. He is doing some of the repair work himself. That will help make this house feel like his. He is starting to get anxious to move in. I doubt that he waits until January. That is fine with me – I much prefer someone be in a house then have the house sit empty.

I have no idea how long it will take us to get the house move in ready. It still feels like we have a lot of work to do but we have made good progress in less than a week. Good news is we really don’t have a hard deadline to get it done.

Phil worked on my porch today. He took the guttering down and finished painting all the red posts. They look so good. I am thinking of painting the front door red. I guess I can paint it and if I don’t like it I can change the color. Phil is going to paint the lattice gray some other day. The ground was a bit wet to do that painting today.

Grateful to have spent time with Tagen today, grateful to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday, and grateful for all the rain.

This day has not gone as planned. I chickened out going to the Women’s March in Topeka. I don’t like cold and rain and that is what today has brought. The two people that were going to ride with me have a daughter in the hospital in KC and they needed to go see her. Kathy and I decided not to go.

I went to town and had breakfast with Jason. Commercial Street Diner is closed for their annual maintenance and repair week. We ended up going to iHop. It wasn’t the best choice but there are few breakfast options in Emporia.

We had to wait almost 30 minutes to be seated. Food came quicker than I realized but the pancakes were cold. The waitress did the best she could do. They were getting slammed and it is hard under those conditions. I am grateful to have gotten to spend some time with Jason even if the food wasn’t the best.

After breakfast I went to the rental property and painted for a bit. I need a taller ladder to do the tops of the rooms. The one I used works as I can reach the top but my arms got tired quickly. It is only a two step ladder and not very tall. I stopped ladder work and painted the bottom of the second bedroom.

My tummy has been a bit upset today. I kept having to go to the bathroom. Discovered the toilet doesn’t hold water in the tank. I can push a lever and it fills but that gets old after a while. I will have to get that fixed.

Discovered the smoke detector is missing. The bottom plate of it is there but no detector. The bathroom vent is so covered with dirt and dust that I doubt that it vents much. I am so disappointed in the property management company I was using. Grateful I didn’t want them to rent this house out any more.

Jason let me know the milk in his refrigerator was frozen last night. That usually means the thermostat is going bad. I think I will look for a new refrigerator for my house and give him the one I am using.

The list of things to fix at the rental property keeps growing. I am grateful I have time to get it all done before Tagen wants to move in.

I came home without doing a lot of painting. My tummy is settling down this afternoon and things have slowed down.

Kathy and I each took a dog for a walk during a break in the rain. My gauge shows we have gotten almost three inches. Sophia looks for water puddles to walk through and Roxy avoids them like the plague. Kathy was walking Sophia and they had fun walking through the puddles. Roxy and I did our best to jump over them or walk around them.

The house smells like wet dog – yuck! Not sure what to do about that. I will have to clean house good when it dries up and they stop tracking in. They come in and give themselves a good shake and water goes everywhere. What is a girl to do?

Tomorrow I have a birthday party to go to in the afternoon. Monday I go to Emporia for exercise. Tuesday I have to meet the tree guy that is going to give me a bid to fix the limbs hanging over the power lines. Thursday I have a meeting to go to in Matfield Green and Friday I have to go to Topeka for a doctor’s appointment. Sounds like Wednesday will be my only stay at home day next week. I will do some more painting while I am in town on Monday and Tuesday.

From the pictures I saw from the women’s march there weren’t many that braved the rain and showed up. The ones that did are my hero. I’m grateful I didn’t try it the way my tummy was acting up today. It will be interesting to see what happens Tuesday with the election. I am cautiously optimistic. I don’t think Kamala Harris will be a savior but I strongly feel she is a much better option than her opponent. One is much more decisive and full of hate than the other. I will always choose the path of love over hate and fear.

Grateful for the rain, grateful to spend time with Jason today, and grateful for those that showed up at the Women’s March today.

I got up early and headed to Emporia, I was at the rental property by 8:00. I started painting and waited for a call from KS Gas Service. They called and came around 9:15. Turns out the guy that showed up was a neighbor of mine when I lived out in the country.

He had to replace the meter as the one at the house was old and out dated. He got that done and then lit the range, furnace and hot water heater. Discovered the thermostat for the furnace may or may not be working properly. I called my heating and air company and they are going to send someone to check it out in a couple of weeks.

A neighbor came over and showed me a problem with electric lines and trees in the back yard. He wanted permission to come in my yard and cut a branch down that is hanging over the line that leads to his house.

We got to looking and discovered the same tree has another branch that is way too close to the line that leads to my house.

I called the same tree service that took care of Jason’s property. They are coming next week to give me an estimate. We need to get it taken care of before ice storms start.

I painted until 1:35 when I had to leave to go to exercise. I got the living room, a bedroom, the hall way and the kitchen and dining room 2/3 done. I need to go back another day and do the ladder work.

I found lots of dirt and cobwebs today. The top of the refrigerator is almost black as I don’t think it has been cleaned for a couple of years. Yuck! I would have thought they would have discovered the issues with the power lines when they did the check out inspection. The property management company had told me the house was ready to list – I am so grateful I took it back from them. I feel like I have been a slum lord.

I went to exercise exhausted. Luckily it was a short 40 minutes today and not too hard to do. The time went fast and it felt good to stretch.

After exercise I had to go back to the rental house to get the key. I couldn’t find it when I had to leave so I went back and found it. Then I went to Walmart and picked up a prescription and a few groceries. I stopped on the way home and filled the car up with gas so it is ready for our trip to Topeka tomorrow.

I sat in my chair when I got home and fell asleep. I haven’t been this tired physically for a long time. I painted for over five hours today which was probably too much. I am a bit sore tonight.

I came home to a clean house. Kathy took care of the dogs for me today and cleaned the house too. I so appreciate her.

Tomorrow I am taking three others and going to the Women’s March in Topeka. I sure am trusting it won’t rain. Not sure I want to sit out in the rain all afternoon. I will make a last minute call at noon tomorrow about going depending on the latest forecast.

Sunday I have a birthday party to go to. Monday I have exercise so will probably go in early and get some more painting done. Discovered today that the woodwork also needs painted so there is lots of painting left to do. Good thing the house isn’t too big.

Tuesday the tree guy is coming over to give me a bid so will be at the house again and will do more painting that day too. I still need to get my porch painted too. Maybe one day next week I will stay home and take care of that.

Friday I have to go back to Topeka for a doctor’s appointment. That will be my third trip to Topeka in two weeks and I have another trip later in November.

Felt good to get a good start on the painting. It will feel even better to start getting a room or two finished. I sure like painting walls better than the porch.

I need to be careful what I ask for. I wanted a project and man did I get one. Good thing I have several weeks to get things taken care of before Tagen moves in. Trusting painting counts as exercise! It is rewarding to see a house clean up and look better.

Grateful for all the painting I got done today, grateful for the nap I took in my chair today, and grateful it is bed time.

Craig and I were married on this day 45 years ago. We went to a Judge and the whole thing was over in about five minutes. I had to work that night as it was month end inventory. Craig went out with some co-workers and didn’t get home until like 3:00 in the morning. He was a bit (or should I say a lot) shit-faced. What a start to a marriage.

I have been thinking about Craig all day today. We got married on Halloween and joked about who was treated and who was tricked. We signed divorce papers on April Fool’s Day and wondered who the fool was.

We renewed our wedding vows on our 20th wedding anniversary. We had a Halloween themed party at the church and lots of our friends and family came. My how time does fly.

I had a stay at home day today. I got some more painting done on the deck. Still more to go but progress is slowly being made.

Someone from the real estate company that managed my properties call me this morning. He has taken over management of the rental side of their business and was calling to introduce himself. Not sure he was ready for all I had to share with him. He said he recognized they had some issues a couple months ago and was slowly trying to fix things. I told him I had complained to the President of the company earlier and saw no changes or improvement made. I don’t have any expectations they will make the changes that need to be made but I no longer have any reason to know or care. I am done with them.

The gas company called me today to let me know the gas got shut off at the new property yesterday and now they need someone to be at the house in the morning so they can come inside and do their safety checks. I was planning on going in tomorrow to start the painting so guess I will get to go in a bit earlier than I had planned. They gave me the time range of 8:00 – noon. I will have to get up early and get in there. I have exercise at 2:00 so will spend most of the day in town. I should get lots of painting done. Tagen is coming over tomorrow to help paint too.

We got about 1 1/2 inches of rain last night. I was surprised we got that much rain. I am grateful for all that we got. Trusting we will get some more this weekend. The tornado threat didn’t develop around here which was good. We are so dry that you can barely tell it rained last night.

I have a big bowl of candy ready for Trick or Treaters. Not sure we will have many. They have a Trunk and Treat event downtown and I guess most kids just do that and don’t go door to door. Wasn’t in the mood to be around lots of people tonight. I have my porch light on and we will see what happens. I will take the candy to my grandkids if I have lots left over.

Saturday I am taking myself and three others to the Women’s March in Topeka. I am hoping it won’t be rainy and cold. Hoping there are bathrooms available somewhere close. It will be interesting to see what happens at a March like this. A friend brought over some signs she had made and taken to the last rally that was held a couple years ago. We are taking some chairs and umbrellas and will see what happens.

Sunday I have a happy hour for a friend’s birthday to go to. Saturday night we turn the clocks back an hour. I sure wish we would leave time alone and stop pretending to outsmart it.

Monday I have exercise again. Nothing else on my calendar next week until Friday when I have a doctor’s appointment in Topeka. Hoping I can get lots of painting done next week.

Feeling a bit unsettled tonight. Remembering times long gone by. Grateful I can remember the fun times and let the hard times go. I try to stay present and not dwell on the past but on major anniversaries it is hard to not go there.

Grateful for the life I shared with Craig, grateful for the rain that fell last night, and grateful more painting got done today.

I went to Emporia mid morning. First stop was to pick up the keys to the rental property that a company had been managing for me. It is good to be done with them.

I went to the rental house and Tagen met me there. He thinks it will work well for him and his buddy. It is small but perfect for a first rental for two young men.

I can’t say I was surprised that I found some issues with the house. I was told other than the dining room needing painted, the rest of the house was clean and the house was ready to rent.

The back yard is full of down branches. There is a shed in the back yard that has the door ripped off and laying in the shed. The shed has lots of junk in it. The ceiling fans have lots and lots of dirt and grim on them. Every room in the house needs painting. The blinds are very dirty and most are broken. I would not say that the house is ready to rent.

Tagen and I went out to lunch and then to the paint store to pick out paint. It took Tagen all of one minute to select a color. We are going to paint all the walls in the house the same color.

Next I went to have a blood draw. I got half the results back today. My TSH is 1.8 which is just a touch low. My goal range is 2.0 – 2.5. Last time it was over 3. I will never understand why it varies so much. The other half of the blood test has to be read at a lab in TX and the results won’t be back for several days.

I went to the water department in Emporia to arrange for water service for Tagen’s house. They made it quick and easy.

I was going to stop at Walmart and pick up a prescription and some groceries but the weather was looking very threatening and I didn’t want to get caught in the rain.

I drove home through some heavy rain. I am grateful for the rain. It came down hard and fast but didn’t last very long. It is raining again this evening. I hope it rains for a couple of hours but not sure it will. We are in a tornado watch until 2:00 tomorrow morning.

When I got to the rental house I realized I had arranged for gas and electricity to be connected to 615 instead of 616. I had to call and get that fixed. The electric was easy once I got past the automated phone service. The gas was a bit harder. There was a 20 minute wait for service so they gave me an option to put in a call back number. I tried ten different times to give them my phone number but the system would not take it. I finally hung up and went on line and arranged for a call.

When the lady called this afternoon she was efficient and kind. I saved having to make a $120 deposit. Not sure why she waived that but was grateful she did. Guess sometimes it pays to screw something up.

I wrote a letter to the company that managed my rentals and let them know how disappointed I was in the service they provided. I am ever so grateful I am done with them. I don’t think I could use them again for any of my real estate needs.

I have a free day tomorrow. I want to do a bit more painting on the front porch if weather permits. I discovered a couple places on the cedar posts that I missed and there is a board below the flooring that needs to be painted. I may paint on the upper level too – I’ll see how ambitious I am feeling tomorrow. If the weather is bad, I may go to town and get started painting on the rental.

Friday I am meeting Tagen at the new house in the morning and we are going to start painting. I have exercise at 2:00 and I will take him to lunch so won’t have lots of painting time. The house isn’t very big so it shouldn’t be a big job. Tagen is nice and tall and can do the high stuff for me.

Saturday I am going to the Women’s Rights March in Topeka if weather permits. If it is raining, I won’t go. I’m too old to stand out in the rain and cold and enjoy the day.

Sunday I will probably go back to town and do some more painting. Tagen is off that day until 6:00 so he can help me again. We have some cleaning to do and a back yard that needs cleaned up too. I want to get three new ceiling fans with light fixtures to replace the ones in the house. The old ones are so dirty I am afraid they are a fire hazard.

I came home from town feeling drained. I am so disappointed in the company I used to manage my properties. I paid them a higher commission than I did the other person I had used who retired. I certainly don’t feel I got what I paid for.

Someone removed the Boyda sign from my yard this week. My Harris sign blew away yesterday in the wind. Election is close enough I am not going to replace them. I am thinking most people have already decided who they are going to vote for and signs don’t much matter at this point.

Finding it hard to settle tonight. I am still upset about the property management company. I will let it go soon – need to allow myself to totally feel all the emotions of my disappointment with them and then I will be OK. Feels good to have seen the house and show it to Tagen. It will be fun to paint with him over the next couple of days/weeks.

Grateful I got to have lunch with Tagen today, grateful my TSH levels are lower than they were last time, and grateful for the rain falling as I type.

I didn’t fall asleep until after 5:00 this morning. The dogs got me up at 4:30 for a walk in the dark. Got my first mile in before sunrise today.

I painted on the porch today. I did white, red and gray paint. I didn’t get the second coat on but most of the rest of it is done. I think the gray matches close enough. I lost the paint can from when I painted this house a couple years ago. I will check tomorrow after it dries overnight to make sure it will work. I still have some red to do but I need Phil to remove the gutter thingy so I can paint it.

It was warm and windy again today. Too warm for me! It is to cool down tomorrow and we have a chance for tornadoes and wind tomorrow afternoon and evening. We need the rain but not the bad stuff that can come with it.

Tagen let me know he is interested in renting my last rental property the first of the year. We had talked about it before and he switched jobs and is going to be ready for it the first of the year. I let my property manager know that I wanted the house to be empty at the end of the year. Found out the current tenants moved out today and they won’t rent it on a short term basis.

Not sure why I didn’t know the tenants were moving out. One of the reasons I am grateful Tagen is interested in this property is so I can disconnect from my current property manager. The communication has been poor from the beginning.

Tomorrow I will have to get all the utilities changed to my name. I will have to carry it for two months until Tagen is ready for it. That will give me some time to check it out and do some painting and whatever else needs to be done. The last couple of houses they have managed that I took back needed work done to them. I will get the keys and see what needs to be done and go from there.

Guess I needed a new project. This will give me something to do during November. If I get real lucky it won’t need much done to it but I can’t count on that. I’m anxious to go see it.

I’m meeting Tagen for lunch Friday. I think I will move it up a bit and give him a tour of the house. He hasn’t been in it yet. Hope he likes it. If not, I will find a renter on my own or sell it.

I am slowing getting out of the real estate business. If Tagen moves into this house that means the last three rentals I have all will have family in them. Hopefully one by one the kids will buy the house they are in and I will be out of business. I’m grateful I have the houses as it is the only way the kids will be able to afford to buy their own house.

Feels good to have most of the painting done. The weather is going to take a turn and not sure I will have many more painting days left this fall. I really like the look of the porch and how it changed how the house looks. The house looks much younger now.

I don’t have much to do this week. I will go to town tomorrow and pick up the keys and get the utilities changed and tour the house. I will make a list of things I need to take care of and get started.

Saturday I am going to Topeka to the Women’s March at the Capitol. Kathy is going with me and another couple from Cottonwood Falls is going. I have never been very politically active but I guess it is better late than never.

Grateful the election will be over next Tuesday, Not sure when we will know who our president is going to be but I am grateful the election itself will be done. Trusting that both sides will accept the outcome and there will be no violence from both sides.

Grateful the painting is mostly done, grateful I was able to fire my property manager, and grateful summer weather is over for the season.

Went to Topeka today for my regular ultrasound. Takes over an hour to get there and the appointment only takes ten minutes. I went to lunch at Chipotle afterwards and came home. Smooth trip up and back.

I came home drained and exhausted. Took a short chair nap late afternoon. Trust I will be able to sleep tonight. Not sure why I got so drained today. I really didn’t talk to anyone or have any triggering events. Just came home and felt very empty.

Nothing on my calendar the next three days. Hoping to get the rest of the porch painting done and get that job crossed off my list. I have a few miscellaneous things on my pending list that need my attention sooner or later but none of them are urgent.

Took the dogs on a walk when I got home. Since Kathy is back I am not getting my steps in. She took them out this morning. I will walk them at least one more time tonight and maybe twice more. Need to figure out a way to get my steps in without walking dogs. Since I am only going to the gym once a week now I need to figure out ways to get more exercise.

I have been shopping drug insurance plans for 2025. None of them cover my thyroid medication and the cost of it was $155 a month in 2024. Who knows how much it will be for 2025. Thinking of asking my Endocrinologist to let me go back on the genetic pill of levothyroxine medication next year as that cost is very cheap. I am on a liquid form of it that isn’t covered by insurance. My levels still bounce around so not sure it is worth the extra dollars I spend. Now that I haven’t had C-Diff for a couple of years maybe my gut will absorb the pill medication now.

With the new out of pocket costs that are being put in place for 2025 I might meet that level if I stick with the liquid form of levothyroxine but with the deductible plus $2,000 I probably won’t. Dang, that is a hard decision as who knows what medication I might need for 2025.

I haven’t checked out my medical insurance coverage yet. I hear there are changes happening with that for next year too and need to have a clear mind and check into that soon. Wish I knew someone that understands this stuff to help me out that I can trust. I have been very satisfied with my medical provider in the past but need to understand what changes might be happening for 2025.

It reached the mid 80’s today. The wind was blowing hard on the way home. I think my knuckles were white by the time I got home. When I would pass a semi I had to brace myself for the wind gust. Hopefully the wind is blowing in some rain. We have a chance for rain Wednesday but unfortunately also a chance for some tornadoes and high damaging winds. Keep your eyes on the sky Wednesday!

Last night I took everything out of the cabinet that holds my canned goods and other dry food stuff and reorganized it. I threw some things away that were out of date. It feels good to have gotten that cleaned out. I even have some extra room now and hopefully can find things easier. I have a dresser in my bedroom that I need to clean out next.

Days like today are hard for me. I don’t like feeling drained, especially when I don’t understand why it happened. I do my best to accept what is and to allow it to be and not get into resistance to it. It seems to pass quickly if I can do that. Fall is a hard time for me and this seems to happen lots during this time of year for me. I will be glad when January rolls around and things start to lighten up for me.

Grateful for a safe trip to and from Topeka today, grateful the food cabinet is cleaned out and grateful for a short chair nap today.

I hosted a meditation group this afternoon. Five of us grounded, centered and envisioned a new path forward. It is a treat to gather with like-minded people and remind our bodies what being regulated feels like. In these times of chaos and fear, it is nice to step out of it and into love and peace.

I cleaned house this morning. Found a few spots that I need to do some decluttering. I really don’t like having trouble putting things away as there is no space. I have plenty of space for those things I need but need to do some decluttering and get rid of things I don’t need.

It has been another beautiful day today. I had the furnace on last night but the windows open this afternoon. We have a red flag warning for this evening and tomorrow. We are to reach 87 tomorrow with high winds. Maybe this will be the last blast of summer temperatures. Wednesday we have a chance of rain again.

I didn’t get any painting done today and I have to go to Topeka tomorrow. Hoping I can get some done either tomorrow afternoon when I get home or else on Tuesday. I’m already tired of that project and want it done.

Haven’t thought of anything I need from Topeka tomorrow so will go for my ten minute ultrasound and then come back home. I will probably treat myself to Chipotle while I am in Topeka. If I hear back from my Endocrinologist I will stop at her clinic and have a blood draw. If not, I will get it done another day in Emporia.

I found it helpful today to remind myself of the importance of stepping away from the chaos as I need to be able to keep myself regulated. Staying above neutral needs to be my primary “job” from here on out. I can serve more people if I can do that. Dropping below adds to the chaos and fear and that is the last thing I want to do.

Grateful for those that came today for the meditation, grateful the house is clean, and grateful for my mentors and teachers.

Another beautiful fall day. It was a bit nippy this morning but warmed up nicely.

I painted the cedar posts today. I came in to take a break and fell asleep in my chair. I didn’t get back out to finish them up. There is always tomorrow!

Kathy got home this evening. The critters went crazy and were glad to see her. The dogs talked her into another walk even though they had been out just an hour before.

Tomorrow I need to clean house in the morning. The meditation group is coming at 3:00. There was no use in cleaning it today as the dogs track in and slobber while they sleep and leave dirt on the floor. Good thing this house cleans up quickly. It will take less than an hour to clean the whole house.

I’m looking forward to the meditation tomorrow. It brings good energy into the house and it will be good to get grounded. I love when like-minded people gather and have deep conversations.

Monday I have to go to Topeka for an ultrasound. I’m trying to think if I have anything else I want to do while I am in Topeka. Sure wish they had a Costco as I have a list of things I need from there. I used to have a Sam’s Club membership but gave that up years ago and switch to Costco when I stopped going to Topeka so often.

We have a chance of rain Wednesday next week but the rest of the week looks like it will be good painting weather. I will attempt to get the porch finished up next week. It is slow and hard painting as there are lots of corners to paint.

Sophia got me up at 3:30 this morning. It was hard climbing out of a warm bed to take her on a half mile walk. She did her business and we came home. We both went back to sleep and they let me sleep in this morning. I had to put another blanket on my bed to warm up. It is time to get my electric blanket going.

Felt nice to treat myself to a nap today. Not sure why I was so tired but I really needed a nap today. I still feel a bit tired tonight so trusting I will be able to sleep tonight. Hopefully with the extra walk the dogs took they will sleep all night and not get me up again.

Grateful more painting got done today, grateful for another beautiful fall day, and grateful Kathy made it home safely.

The dogs let me sleep in this morning. After I walked each dog I headed to Emporia to take care of a few things.

My first stop was at my insurance agent. I changed the ownership of this house out of the LLC and into my personal residence. I had it insured as a rental property and got it changed.

Then I went to the paint store and got a gallon of trim paint for the porch. I put some of it on when I got home and I think I like it. I need to finish two of the cedar posts and then make a final decision about the color.

I took the car through the car wash and then headed to Walmart. I needed kitty litter and I picked up a few groceries, Walmart was hard to navigate through today. Not sure what was going on but it was hard to get past slow walkers today. I got what I needed and got out of there.

I came home and got to painting. I didn’t get a lot done today. I wasn’t really in the mood to paint. I hope to get at it again.

I went over to a friend’s house for happy hour at 4:00. It was good to just sit and visit for an hour. I came home and had some chili that I had put in a crock pot went I got home from Emporia. It tasted good. It has been a bit since I fixed myself real food.

Tomorrow should be a stay at home day. Hoping I get the porch painted and finished up. I’m tired of it already. It is hard painting with lots of details and four sides to most things. I much prefer painting walls.

Sunday I have the group meditation at my house at 3:00. I will have to spend some time that morning cleaning house. Good thing this house is small and it won’t take long to clean.

Monday I have to go to Topeka for an ultrasound of my throat. Since I had thyroid cancer I get an ultrasound twice a year as a precaution. I will also have to stop and get a blood draw at a different clinic in Topeka. The rest of the week is free until Friday. If I don’t get the painting done Saturday I will definitely get it done next week. It is to be warm again next week which is amazing for the end of October.

Feeling a bit anxious for some reason tonight. Not sure what is behind it but I will stay quiet and see what comes up. I have been attempting to turn off the news this week and take a media break. I check the headlines but limit myself to only a few minutes. Anytime I change my daily habit and routine it can kick start some anxiety. It has done my soul good though to step away from the details of the election.

Grateful the insurance thing got taken care of today, grateful the painting job continues, and grateful for friends to sit and visit with on a beautiful fall day.

Another mostly stay at home day. I did take the car to Dieker’s so they could change the oil. I loaded Sophia in the car and walked her home after I dropped the car off. Took Roxy for her morning walk after we got home. Later in the day I walked Sophia to the gas station when I picked up the car and then I drove her home.

I painted on the porch again today. It was over 90 today and it was hot painting. I almost have all the lower white paint first coat on. It will need a second coat. It sure looks nice. If it is dry tomorrow, I will get the rest of the first coat on and get started on the second coat. When that is done I have some gray house to paint and then Phil is going to paint the upper boards for me.

I am so pleased with how the porch changed the look of the house. Everything about it is just what I imagined. Phil did a fabulous job building it.

We got about five minutes of rain this evening. Thunder was rolling for about five minutes before the rain started. Sure trust we get more rain. We are mighty dry again. One of my favorite sounds to listen to is thunder rolling across the hills.

We have a bit of a cold front coming in with the rain. The high tomorrow is to be 71 and it is to be sunny. Much better painting weather.

I need to go to Emporia tomorrow and get the paint for the six cedar posts. I also need to dump recycling, stop by my insurance agent, and get some groceries. I have to get the kitty litter I have needed all week. I am out and the box needs more added to it.

Kathy will be home tomorrow some time. I’m sure Lewis will be glad to see her. He gets away with more when Kathy is here. He didn’t go outside again today as he tried to bite me again. Not sure he understands the consequences but I do!

Quiet evening at home. It is so much cooler this evening with the little shower that came through. It should be good sleeping weather tonight.

Since I voted earlier this week I have quit reading news about the election. It feels good to step away from it all and give myself a break. There is so much fear and hate being stirred up right now. I am on a love and peace path and the fear and hate feels icky to me. I do feel bad for those on that path. Not sure it leads to anywhere productive or satisfying for them. Not my job to rescue or save them. Every person gets to choose their own path.

I have realized I have to limit the time I spend with those on the other path. We are living in two different realities and I don’t have much in common with those on the other path. I wish them well and trust they will find their way home.

Grateful for the cool down this evening and the bit of rain we received, grateful for another quiet day at home, and grateful for the media break I am on.

I slowed things down today. Sophia tried to wake me up at 5:00 this morning. It took me a bit to realize what she wanted. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3:00 so I was sleeping deeply when she started barking. I yelled at her and she quieted down for a bit. She barked again and then I heard Roxy bark at her. Sophia quieted down after that. Sometimes a mom has to do what a mom has to do!!

I dreamed I had gotten up and took her out for a walk and left her outside in her pen. I was surprised when I actually got up and discovered she was still inside. That dream felt like reality for a bit.

Took each dog for a morning walk and then put them out in their pen. Lewis did not cooperate this morning so he has spent the day inside. If he tries to bite me I don’t play and ignore him.

I did some chores around the house this morning. I had a couple of checks to write, laundry to do, dishes to do and I did some vacuuming. I was still tired so instead of going out to paint I took a nap. I didn’t sleep very long but felt more rested when I got up.

I took the dogs for their noon walk and then I went out and painted. I got half of the railings painted. It sure is changing the look of the porch. I’m anxious to get the rest of it done. I still need to get the paint to paint the cedar beams. They are going to be a different color than the rest. It was a touch windy this afternoon and my drop cloth kept getting blown around. I’m afraid I am going to have to put two coats on it. New wood absorbs paint and is hard to get completely covered in one coat.

Tomorrow is another stay at home day so hoping I can finish up the painting of the rails tomorrow. I will still have some gray to paint after that. Phil offered to paint the top boards and he is going to spray paint the lattice which will save me hours of painting time.

My trainer let me know I am going down to one fitness session at the gym starting this week. It will be nice to only have to go to Emporia once a week for these last 15 weeks of the program. I am almost done! Now I have to find the motivation to do the sessions at home. That will be a challenge for me. I am doing lots of walking but have not been doing the yoga and Pilates that I should be doing at home.

I got the books I bought at the book sale put away and a sack of books filled to take back to them for next year’s sale. Feels good to be restocked on plenty of reading material to get me through the winter.

I loaded recycling in my car and need to take it to the trailer tomorrow. I may go to Emporia and get some paint for the cedar pillars and can dump the recycling on my way to town. I also need to get some kitty litter as I was too tired to stop and get it the last two times I have been in town.

Nice for my soul to have a stay at home day. I was able to move my body a lot and spent the afternoon outside painting which was also I good for my soul. I have a tendency to be a couch potato and I forget the value of moving my body and how helpful that is in regulating my central nervous system.

I have spent some time thinking about the meditation session I am hosting Sunday afternoon and how I want to moderate that. Not sure how many will be coming and what their experience level with meditation is. I trust some will give it a try and come. Not expecting more than 12 at the very most and will probably only have 6 -8. Group meditation can be very powerful and moving. Come if you can – 3:00 my house Sunday afternoon at 421 Plum in Cottonwood Falls. If nothing else it might give you a chance to relax and come to neutral if not above.

Grateful the painting project has begun, grateful for a slower, quieter day at home, and grateful for this beautiful fall day.

This has turned into another busy day. The dogs let me sleep in a bit so when I got up I took them each for a walk and put them outside. Lewis joined them outside today. Yesterday he tried to bite me when he was in his crate and I didn’t take him out. Today he behaved himself so he got to spend the day outside.

Around 11:00 I went downtown and voted. Feels good to have that over and done with. I can tune out all the BS for the next two weeks. There was a steady line of people coming and going when I went to vote. I use the touch screen and don’t request a paper ballet. I told the lady that waited on me that I trusted them and appreciate how hard they work to keep things on the up and up. They both lit up when I said that.

I stopped by the gas station that takes care of my car. I got a text from Subaru telling me my car was overdue for an oil change. It only has a little over 4,000 miles on it. The guys looked it up on their computer and sure enough Subaru recommends the first oil change happen at 3,000 miles. Got that scheduled for Thursday.

Went to the post office and got stamps. It will soon be time for me to send out my annual Christmas letter. Man are stamps expensive these days. I remember when they were less than $0.25 each. Times do change!

I met a dear friend for lunch at the Grand. It was so good to see her and catch up with what is going on. She even treated me for lunch – how sweet is that!

After lunch I headed to Emporia and worked another two hour shift at the book sale. I came home with another sack of books. At $5 a bag they are hard to resist. There are lots of books left. It barely looks like we have moved any out yet they said they were pleased with the amount they have made this year. Tomorrow morning they are only $2 a bag.

After my shift was over I went to the car wash on my way out of town. My Apple Watch let me know I didn’t have my phone with me. Dang it anyways. I had left it at the library so had to drive back downtown to get it. Grateful my watch let me know and I didn’t get all the way home before I discovered it missing.

Went back to the library and got my phone and then headed out of town. I was going to stop and get some kitty litter but by then I was too tired. I stopped and filled the car with gas and came home. The dogs hadn’t been walked since morning and they needed my time and attention.

Took them each for a half mile walk. They both did their business. I kept them outside as it is too nice today to bring them in early. Lewis didn’t get in his crate so I will bring him in later too.

I am wiped out this afternoon. Two busy days in a row has done me in. Grateful the next two days will slow down and I don’t have much on the calendar. Trusting I will get started painting in the morning and get that project going. I will need to get one more gallon of paint next time I go to town but I have plenty I can paint before I will need it.

It reached almost 90 here today. Not sure I like it being that warm this late in October. The trees are beautiful right now since we got our first frost a week or so ago. I do like this time of year but am not looking forward to winter cold. Can we just skip winter this year?

While I am painting tomorrow I need to remember to water the yard. We only got about three drops of rain yesterday and that was not near enough to water the yard. We are very dry again and I worry about the new grass and if it will survive this drought and be able to winter over and be OK come spring time.

Feels good to sit in my chair this afternoon and prop my feet up. Two busy days back to back is too much for me these days. I get used to staying home and having little to do. I feel a bit over stimulated today after two busy days. It will be good to slow things down and stay home for a couple of days.

Grateful for the privilege of voting, grateful to have been in service at the library boo sale today, and grateful for a dear friend that bought my lunch today.

Busy day for me today. Sophia tried to get me up at 5:30 but she quieted down before I was awake enough to respond to her. She waited until I got up later to go out.

I went to Emporia around 10:00. I went to the Friends of the Library Book Sale and got a sack of books for $10. I was going to go get something to eat before my mammogram and the contractor I had contacted two months ago to fix Michelle’s foundation called and said he could meet me at her house. I headed that way instead.

I liked him and he seems fair. He could do a patch for one price, dig the whole wall out and waterproof it for another price, and then add I Beams inside for a higher price. We agreed to the middle solution although he reserved the right to the highest option if he gets in the project and finds it is more than he thinks it will be. The wall has moved almost two inches over time. If it goes above three they need I beams put it too. He may not get to the job before spring but it depends on the weather. Good to be on his list and I will be grateful when that job is done.

I next went to my mammogram. The lady that did it was gentle and it went fast. They didn’t take any extra images so that was good. I should hear tomorrow what the results were.

I then went to exercise and then came home.

Phil finished caulking the porch today so it is all done now except for the painting. I hope to get started on it Wednesday. I’m anxious to see what it will look like painted.

This evening I went to a Chase County Democrat meeting. We wrote postcards to all the registered Democrat Chase County voters. I think there were 17 of us there and we knocked out over 300 postcards quickly. Lots of good discussion. Nice to not feel so lonely in a very red county.

I took the dogs for their walks when I got home. Hoping that will last them till morning. I might take Sophia one more time before I go to bed. Roxy can go 12 hours between walks but Sophia likes to walk every three or four hours.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend for lunch and then I am working another shift at the library book sale. That might mean trouble for me though as I will probably find another sack of books to buy. Tomorrow they are only $5 a bag. Hard to pass up a deal like that. They still had lots of books left when I was there this morning.

Wednesday I hope to get started painting. Phil offered to do the high painting and to spray paint the lattice. That will make this painting job much easier and faster for me.

I am organizing a group meditation for this coming Sunday at 3:00. We will be envisioning what we want our city, county, state and country to be like in the coming years. I feel a strong need to help people step out of fear and chaos for a bit and get grounded and centered and focus on what we do want to come our way instead of what we are fearing. Come if you can. It will be held at my house at 421 Plum in Cottonwood Falls. No prior meditation experience needed.

Sitting in a good place tonight. The meeting was a bit hard as everyone talked about their fears. I guess people need a safe place to vent but I much prefer talking about what I want and not what I fear. Fear attracts fear!

I am going to go to the Women’s March at the Capitol in Topeka on November 5. I have room for four more to ride along if anyone wants to go with me. I will stand and march for what I do want and that is women’s rights.

Grateful the contractor contacted me today, grateful the porch construction is complete and grateful for other like-minded people in this community.

Sophia got me up at 5:30 this morning. I hadn’t fallen asleep until 3:30 so it was a short night’s sleep for me. I walked Sophia and then Roxy and put them outside. It took me a bit to fall back asleep but managed to get another two or three hours of sleep.

I have walked them four times already today and will take them at least once more and maybe twice before I go to bed. I will get my steps in for sure today.

Phil got the front porch done today. He said he needed to get one more thing of caulk but that I could start painting now. The porch looks so good and changed the look of the house. If these warm temperatures hold I will get started painting Tuesday.

I cleaned the bathroom and laundry room today. The laundry room tends to be the dirtiest room in the house as that is where the cat box is and where we feed the dogs. One of the cats hangs their ass over the box to pee and the dogs manage to get their wet faces on the floor.

I did three loads of laundry today and managed to get it folded and put away. I had done laundry last week and never got it put away. Feels good to have finished it all today.

Tomorrow I have to be in town at 11:15 to check in for my mammogram. I have exercise at noon and then I am going to the library book sale for the bag sale. Then I have a meeting to go to in the evening.

Tuesday I am meeting a friend for lunch. So far Wednesday and Thursday are free and clear and I should get lots of painting done.

It has been nice to have a stay at home day. I love this weather and the nice temperatures. Silence is good for my soul. I feel more grounded and centered than I have for a long time. I’m still not sure what my hard week was about but I seem to have come out of it with a higher vibration than I had before.

Grateful for this beautiful fall weather, grateful for a clean laundry room and bathroom, and grateful the front porch project is almost done.

The dogs let me sleep in today. Sophia made it all night without waking me up. She only has pooped once today.

I went to Emporia in the afternoon to work a short shift at the Friends of the Library book sale. Came home with five books from one of my favorite authors. I will go back Monday for bag sale. I paid $14 for six books today – a real bargain.

I have over 8,000 steps in so far today and will take the dogs for another mile walk yet this evening. They do get me moving!

No plans for tomorrow. I hope to have a stay at home day. Nothing on the agenda but walking the dogs at least four times each.

Monday will be busy as I have a mammogram late morning and then exercise. After that I will go back to the book sale as a customer and get at least one bag full of books for $10. Tuesday I am meeting a friend for lunch and then the rest of the week is free.

My mind is quiet this evening for the first time in a long time. Not sure what shifted but something did. Silence has been good for me this week. Things are coming into focus for me in a new way. Not sure how or why or what it all means yet but it will be interesting to see things unfold.

Grateful to be in service today, grateful to be out walking lots, and grateful for a quiet mind this evening.

Sophia did OK last night. She let me sleep in a bit this morning. She has been a bit unsettled all day. Her stools have gotten progressively loose all day. She has gone five times today. I gave her the pectin probiotics that the vet gave me for her. We shall see how she does tonight and tomorrow. I still believe something is wrong that is causing her to have loose stools. It may be a long weekend until I can get her to a different vet next week.

I went to Emporia for exercise at 2:00. I did 49 minutes of them today but the time went fast as my trainer and I engaged in conversation.

Afterwards I stopped and got some groceries and then came home. I walked Sophia about six times today and Roxy four times. I feel like I spent most of the day outside walking a dog. I got in over 10,000 steps today. At least the dogs are good for that!

Tomorrow I have to go back to Emporia to work the Friends of the Library Book Sale from 3:00 – 5:00. Bag day isn’t until Monday so I will go back to the book sale as a customer Monday and get at least one bag of books.

Sunday I think I get to have a stay at home day. Monday I have a mammogram and then exercise and then the book sale. I also have a meeting to go to Monday evening. The rest of the week is pretty quiet and I should get another couple of stay at home days.

I had ordered something from Vista Print and was expecting it to arrive yesterday. When it didn’t come today I checked the tracking on it. Found out it had been delivered Monday. I filed a claim with UPS and then contacted Vista Print. Found out they had been delivered to my old country house. Not sure how that happened. I contacted the guy that bought my house and sure enough they have them. They are going to drop them off tomorrow. Not sure why he didn’t get hold of me before but am glad I am going to get what I ordered. They are a bit time sensitive.

The house sure feels quiet with Kathy gone. The silence has been good for me though. I haven’t even had music or the TV on much. I have had some things come up that I needed to process and let go. Feels like remnants of things that happened in the past. Funny how those things come up when they are ready and I am ready to let go.

Grateful for all the steps today, grateful my lost package was found and grateful I like and appreciate silence.

This has been a frustrating day for me. It started during the night when Sophia got me up a couple of times and needed to go out. She had watery stools yesterday and wasn’t feeling well last night.

When I took her for her walk this morning she vomited in her pen as soon as I put her back in it. I called the Vet and reported what she was doing. They wanted me to bring in a stool sample. I took her on another walk three hours later and she didn’t do her business but she vomited again when I put her in her pen.

I called the vet office again and they told me to bring her in. I loaded her up and took her to town. They weighed her and she has lost five pounds since the first of the month. I told them again what the deal was and left her.

She has had loose stools for two months. I had told them about it when I boarded her the end of September and they did her annual check. They didn’t report anything back to me when I picked her up.

Late afternoon they called and told me I could come pick her up. When I got there the receptionist tried to give me some probiotics and said nothing was wrong with her. I asked to talk to the Vet as I have been giving her probiotics for two months.

The vet came out said nothing was wrong with her. They did a blood panel and checked a stool culture and it was negative. When I asked about the weight loss she said Sophia was overweight and it was good she had lost weight. We haven’t changed her diet and she is getting the same exercise this month as she did before. Why the weight loss? I told them I think I need to take her somewhere else and get a second opinion. They told me to let me know where to send her records.

I brought her home. I think I need a new vet. They dismiss my concerns and tell me nothing is wrong with her when she has watery stools and is vomiting? Over $200 spent for nothing. Any suggestions for a new Vet?

Haven’t gotten much else done today. I am tired as my sleep kept getting interrupted last night with a sick dog that isn’t sick I guess.

Trusting tonight will go better as there is nothing wrong with her!

I have used this vet office since I moved back to Emporia years ago. I miss seeing the regular vets I used to see. Only one of them is still there and he doesn’t seem to do direct patient care any more. The one we had today I have had before and I find her to be a bit rude and dismissive. Time to find a new office.

Two trips to town today and nothing much accomplished from it. I get to go back to town tomorrow for exercise at 2:00. I need to stop and get some groceries when I go. I will go back yet one more time this week Saturday as I am working the book sale from 3:00 -5:00. Sunday I think I get to stay home.

I did have a good phone conversation with Jason today. That was the highlight of my day. I love when the kids call just to check in.

I didn’t do any painting today as it was so windy. I sure don’t notice the wind at this house like I did at the country house. I noticed it when I was on the highway though. There was enough wind in town that leaves were blowing all over and I didn’t want them to stick to the new paint.

Feeling a bit frustrated this evening. I hate when one of my critters is sick and the professionals dismiss my concerns. I will take this as a sign that it is time to change vet office and move on. Hopefully Sophia will be OK until I can find someone else to look at her.

Tomorrow is a new day and I will move on.

Grateful there are vet options in my area, grateful Sophia is back home this evening, and grateful Jason called today.

The dogs let me sleep in this morning. That rarely happens so I am grateful.

This has been a very quiet day at home. I took a three hour nap this afternoon. Other than walking the dogs three miles I don’t think I have done anything. I haven’t had a quiet day like this for a long time.

Nicole called this afternoon before my nap. We had a delightful conversation. I love when one of my kids call and catch me up on what is happening with them.

Tomorrow I should have another quiet day. I don’t have anything on my calendar. Friday I go to Emporia for exercise and to get some groceries. Saturday I am working at the Emporia Friends of the Library book sale from 3:00 – 5:00. I’m grateful it is time for the book sale as I am almost out of books to read. I didn’t have room for all the books I had when I moved so I gave them away. I need to replace some of them so I have reading material for the upcoming winter.

I wonder if I will sleep tonight after sleeping all of last night and then taking a long nap today. I was so sleep deprived that I needed to crash and burn and sleep lots. I finally feel almost rested this evening. Sure wish I could find a solution for my sleep issues.

We had a hard frost overnight. It was still on the grass this morning when I walked the dogs. I trust my allergies will calm down now. It was a bit nippy walking this morning but warmed up a bit during the day. We are to warm up a bit more as the week goes on.

It hit me today that I have been in this house for almost six months already. I am ever so grateful I made the hard decision to sell the country house and downsize. Life is much simpler for me now and I feel like I have lots less responsibility. I am almost finished with projects on this house. Phil is almost done with the new front porch. The only thing I have left to do to this house this year is to fix the foundation. I may decide to add a privacy fence and a garage next year but I haven’t decided for sure on either project.

Christmas will be here in a little over two months. I haven’t even given it a thought this year yet. When the kids were small and I worked full time I would take a week’s vacation every October and do most of my Christmas shopping then. It made the holidays much easier for me. Sadly these days I don’t do much shopping for Christmas. I gave up giving the kids gifts long ago and only get the grandkids things off the list they provide for me. I do enjoy baking our family’s favorite Christmas treats but the rest of it I don’t enjoy.

Still thinking about Thanksgiving. I think I can fit 16 in this house for dinner. I love fixing a huge Thanksgiving feast and inviting friends and family. 16 will seem small for me but maybe it will feel big in this small house. Still not sure where I will put all the food to serve but hoping I can figure that all out.

Tomorrow night is the full Hunter’s Moon. I plan on driving out to the country to view the rising moon. It will feel like a trifecta of sorts with the Northern Lights, the Comet and now the full moon. Lots of beauty in nature and I am grateful I get to view it.

Finally felt like I stayed above the neutral level all day today. Of course it helps that I didn’t have people to deal with today! But last week I wasn’t able to stay above neutral even when I was home alone. Whatever that was seems to be gone now and I am grateful. Wondering if it was a reaction to the steroids I had taken the week before?

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for lots of sleep and grateful for the phone call from Nicole today.

Sophia got me up at 1:00 this morning as she needed to go outside. I bundled up and took her for a walk. She did her business and I came home and went back to bed. I had trouble falling back asleep but finally did around 3:00.

I got up and did a bit of housecleaning. My guests came around 10:00 and stayed until about 1:00. It was fun visiting with them. I had’t seem them since May so we had a lot to catch up on.

Kathy left for the hotel early afternoon. She has an early flight tomorrow morning and decided to drive up tonight. I wish her safe travels and a fun time in CT.

After they left I went to Emporia for exercise. It was a fairly easy session and the time went fast. Afterwards I went to Sherwin Williams and got paint for the front porch. I hope to start painting tomorrow if it is warm enough. It will take me a bit to get all the railing posts painted.

I walked the dogs when I got home. I don’t like this cooler weather. It is to warm up later this week. I broke down and turned the furnace on this morning as it was down to 64 in the house. Once I get cold I have a hard time getting warm again.

No plans to leave the house the next two days. Hoping I can paint and do things round here. I will be walking dogs for about two hours a day for the next ten days to that will take a chunk out of each day. Each dog gets walked for 15 minutes four times a day. Take that times two and it takes two hours a day.

I saw a quote today that I have been thinking about all day. It said “So many becoming so obsessed with the human experience they have lost all connection to their soul and its purpose.” It is creating two different realities currently. That really rang true for me. I really feel the world is splitting into two different realities – one based in love and peace and one based in hate and war. I can’t quite wrap my head around what the future will hold but it does feel like there are two paths ahead for all of us to choose between. My task right now is to continue to ground myself in love and peace and to make that choice every chance I get.

Grateful for a visit from friends, grateful for two stay at home days ahead of me, and grateful to be on a path of love and peace.