Starry night on the prairie

What a busy day. It feels like this has been a long day too as I woke up before 6:00 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. I got up at 7:00 and started my day.

Yesterday I stripped one of the bedroom’s beds and brought them and the towels up to wash. I washed the blankets, bedspreads and sheets. I think I did seven loads of laundry today as I had some of our personal laundry to do as well.

Went to Cottonwood Falls at 11:30 and did my egg delivery. Got rid of four dozen eggs. A friend stopped by this morning and picked up two dozen. That makes ten dozen eggs that have gone out the last three days. Yay!

Stopped by the rental house and talked to my handyman. He didn’t have good news about our plumbing issue. He has narrowed down where the blockage is. It is between the clean out thingy by the sidewalk and the street and probably at the joint between our line and the hookup to the city’s line. The city is cleaning out the main sewer line this week so we are hoping that will clear the blockage as what the handyman tried didn’t work. If it doesn’t I’m going to have to call a plumber that has a camera so we can figure out what happened and how to fix it. Dang!

I checked out the closets I painted yesterday and they don’t need a second coat. That is nice! They looked good in the light of day. I needed some good news on this property today. I’m getting a bit discouraged.

Met three friends for lunch at the Grand Hotel today. It was so nice doing a “normal” activity with friends. A friend had posted an article on Facebook this morning about post-Covid anxiety. It really helped me understand why I have been so reluctant to get back out in public and made it easier for me to go to lunch today. I can do this!

Came home and mowed for an hour. I got about half of the yard mowed. I had to stop a little before 3:00 so I could be inside while Jim taught his OSHER class in case he ran into computer issues. He didn’t but I was there in case.

After his class ended at 4:30 I started fixing dinner. Before I could get it done the carpet/tile guy came to look at our master shower. He said the shower needs torn out and totally replaced. I was afraid that would be the case. We then went to Cottonwood Falls and he measured the two bedrooms that need new flooring as well as the bathroom and laundry room. They can’t do the master shower for at least 3 months and it will be pushing them to get to the rental house work before June 1.

Jim stayed home while I went with the tile guy too Cottonwood. Jim finished fixing the Shepard’s Pie and put it in the oven. When I got home dinner was ready.

I didn’t have time for a nap today and I am tired tonight. Not sure if I will lay down for a bit after I get done blogging or if I will fight through it and go to bed early. Tomorrow I need to go to Emporia and pick out carpet and vinyl for the rental house and look at tile for the master shower. I have a prescription that needs picked up and a few groceries to get while I am in town. I also need to pick out a new toilet for the rental house. If it snows overnight as forecasted I may wait until Wednesday to go to town.

Other than the trip to Emporia sometime the next two days we don’t have anything on our calendar the rest of the week. Jim is going back to Stillwater Thursday and will come home Saturday. I will spend as much time as possible while Jim is gone at the rental house painting and the rest of my time I will be cleaning this house. I got one room done this morning. I don’t want to count how many more rooms I have to clean.

It has been a while since I have had such a busy day. I enjoyed visiting with my friends at lunch today. It felt safe as all of us have been vaccinated. I hadn’t eaten in a restaurant since March 2020. It is starting to sink in the world has opened back up to us and we can start getting out and about safely again.

Grateful for my wonderful friends, grateful I don’t have to put a second coat of paint on the closets and grateful the last load of laundry is done for the day.

Went to the rental house and painted both closets this morning. I was pleased with the color I picked out. I’m anxious to get the bedroom wall paint up to see if I like that color. It is good to have the closets done. Came home and took a long nap. Painting wears me out.

The handyman saw me at the house this morning and came over to chat. He is going to work on the plumbing issue tomorrow. Hoping he will be able to get the blockage cleared but I may have to call a plumber. He discovered the bathroom sink drain is not hooked up correctly and one of the pipes under the house is slanted uphill instead of down hill. He also discovered the bathroom vent pipe doesn’t have a cover on it and sticks out straight from the roof so leaves, etc. can fall down the pipe. So grateful he is able to fix most of that, if not all of it, himself. Hoping he can get this plumbing issue fixed quickly so he can get back to doing things off his long to-do list.

After my nap I headed back into Cottonwood Falls with the intention of doing some more painting. I stopped to deliver some eggs and ended up visiting with a friend for over an hour and never made it to the house to paint. Oops. Jim came in town to help me paint and I wasn’t at the house so he came home.

We didn’t get the cupboard doors hung today but will get those done Tuesday. The kitchen and living room have their first coat on the walls completed and the dining room is half way done. The kitchen cabinets are fully painted except for one door that needs one more coat. Closets are painted with their first coat. I don’t know if they will need a second coat or not. Progress was made. It is never as much as I hope to get done but am grateful for what did get done.

Jim teaches another OSHER class tomorrow afternoon so he will need to work on that this evening and tomorrow morning. I am going to start cleaning this house tonight and tomorrow and maybe on Tuesday we can get back to the rental house and get the kitchen cabinet doors hung and the rest of the dining room painted. Then I need to help Jim with the woodwork painting.

I am meeting some friends for lunch tomorrow. It will be my first lunch out since March 2020 when COVID hit. I wonder if I have anything to wear? It feels like I should dress up a bit for the occasion! Maybe I will put on jeans that don’t have paint spots on them – that is about as dressed up as I get these days.

I am delivering four dozen eggs tomorrow. A friend is coming by to get two dozen in the morning and I delivered two dozen today. That helps reduce my stash a bit but I still have lots of eggs in the refrigerator. I will be glad when the temperature stays above 45 both day and night and I can stop refrigerating the eggs. I have more kitchen counter space than I have refrigerator space.

We are still forecasted to get 1 – 3 inches of snow Monday night and Tuesday. Yuck! I’m tired of cold and winter and ready for warm temperatures to come and stay. My yard needs mowed but it is going to have to wait until it warms up. I hate being out in the cold.

I fixed a ham and cheese omelet for dinner. I forgot to lay something out and had to drop back 10 and punt. I have run out of ideas of what to fix.

When I came home around noon today there was a squirrel in one of my little trees in the front yard. Both dogs were below watching it very carefully. The squirrel was chatting with the dogs saying some not so nice things. We attempted to entice the dogs away but Roxy would not budge. Jim finally went out and dragged Roxy into the garage so the squirrel could escape. The dogs are still out by the tree this evening making sure the tree is safe.

Grateful for the painting that got done today, grateful the squirrel escaped unharmed, and grateful for a wonderful visit with a friend.

Finally got lots of painting done today. The living room and kitchen walls have their first coat completed. The kitchen cabinets are all done except for one door that needs one more coat. Half of the dining room has its first coat. Jim gave about half the woodwork in the living room a first coat. Progress at last.

We discovered an issue with our plumbing. The handyman connected the kitchen sink drain last week. When I was washing out paint brushes the water going down the drain made the toilet gurgle. When we were getting ready to leave I attempted to flush the toilet and it wouldn’t flush. I sent a message to my handyman and am trusting it is something he can fix. If not, I will call a plumber on Monday. Jim thinks it may have something to do with a toilet vent – I’m not sure what that is. That will set our time table back a bit but am hoping it will be an easy fix.

Tomorrow I hope to get the kitchen cabinet doors hung and the knobs put on. I want to finish painting the dining room and the two closets. Jim ran into Emporia when we were done painting and got closet paint and another gallon of dining room wall paint for me. I took a nap. What a deal for me!

I may not get a first coat on all the woodwork this weekend but I feel like we have made some good progress. I hate painting woodwork and Jim’s time is limited as he has to work on getting his class ready for Monday. It will get done though – sooner or later.

I need to decide what I want to do for window coverings for the dining room and living room. Exciting to think we are far enough along in the project to be thinking about that.

There are two small areas on the living room and dining room walls that need to be repaired and the medallion needs put up in the dining room and then those two rooms are basically done and ready for their final coat of paint. Yeah! I will have to scrap the floor and clean up all my paint drips when I am done painting but that will mean the painting is done. Can’t wait!

The front bedroom just needs paint on the walls, closet and woodwork and carpet laid. Then the closet will need trim around the baseboard put on. The other bedroom needs some stuff removed from it and then the walls will need some repair and then it will be ready to paint. Neither of those will take very long to complete.

Hoping next week the handyman can get the laundry room and back room done. Both of those need lots of his time. The bathroom still needs a bit of repair work done to it before I can paint it. He also needs to install the subway tile back splash in the kitchen. The carpet/tile guy is coming Monday early evening to give us a bid for the carpet for the two bedrooms and vinyl for the bathroom and laundry room. Hoping to get that product ordered Tuesday so it can get installed in a couple of weeks.

Then we have to turn our attention to the outside. I never can estimate with much accuracy how long the repairs to the siding of the house will take and how long it will take me to paint the outside of the house. I’m also not sure how long it will take us to clean up the yard. It seems huge but it may go faster than I expect it to. We also have to repair the front porch and back entry way. The list seems long.

June 1 is still looking very possible to have it ready to rent. If we can get the inside in good shape I can start showing potential renters the house while we continue the work on the outside. I need to call a Realtor and find out how much the going rent in Cottonwood Falls is. I really have no idea how much to charge.

We don’t have much on our calendar for next week except for Jim’s class on Monday afternoon. I do need to clean this house top to bottom for the guests that are coming in next weekend. I will alternate between painting and cleaning for the week. Jim is going to Stillwater again towards the end of next week for a night or two. He needs to spend some time working on his house too.

It was a cloudy, cool day on the prairie today. High was in the low 50’s and the sun was on vacation today. It is to warm up to the upper 50’s tomorrow but we have a chance of snow on Tuesday. I look forward to next weekend when it is to be back in the low 70’s. I’m done with winter.

I fixed hamburgers for dinner tonight. I had some left over potatoes that I fried for Jim and some left over veggies for me. Easy as can be. Now to decide what to fix for tomorrow night.

It has been almost a month since I was on the hot line. I need to decide if I want to extend my leave, if I am ready to return or if I want to quit. I will need to talk to my coach and see what my options are if I return and get another call that I don’t agree with how it is being handled. I hate to transfer urgent risk calls but not sure I can go through that experience again. I miss doing the calls but still feel angry about what happened. I can’t carry that anger with me if I return to the hot line and for what ever reason don’t seem to be able to let it go yet.

Grateful for all the painting that got done today with Jim’s help, grateful for a long nap while Jim got more paint for me, and grateful for an easy dinner tonight.

My guest left for home a little after noon today. She had gone into Emporia to visit some relatives this morning and when she got back to the house told me she had decided to return home. It was fun to have her visit.

After she left I took a nap. I had gotten woken up at 7:30 this morning when the electric company called me and told me the guys had gotten rain out on the job they were scheduled to do today and could come to my rental house. I got up and went in to meet them as she told me they were on their way. They must take the scenic route as they didn’t show up until 9:15. I got an hour of painting done while I was waiting for them.

After my nap this afternoon I went back in and painted for a couple of hours. I have the first coat completed on the living room wall now. Tomorrow I will put the first coat on all of the living room woodwork.

I need to finish getting the first coat on all of the kitchen and finish the last few cupboard doors. Once all the doors are done they can get hung back up and the knobs put on. I realized this morning I had forgotten to paint the tops of the cupboards so will need to do that tomorrow too. I also need to paint under the kitchen sink as the handyman got that area cleaned up and repaired. Then I can put the first coat on all the kitchen woodwork and two rooms will have the first coats completed.

I can’t paint the dining room until I get the kitchen cabinet doors out of it. If I can get the kitchen done tomorrow and the cabinet doors hung I can paint the dining room Sunday. By the end of the weekend I would love to have the first coat on walls and woodwork on the dining room, kitchen and living room.

The front bedroom has construction equipment in it and the other one needs some wall repair from where the electrical conduit was. So I can’t work on painting those rooms yet. I need to paint the closet in each of those rooms too. The closets needed a bit of sanding done to them and the handyman was going to try to do that either this evening or in the morning so I can get a first coat on them. I need to get some paint for them before I can get at them.

The laundry room and bathroom still need some work done on them before I can paint them. The back mud room is going to get sheetrock put up so it isn’t ready to paint yet either.

It was nice to cross the electrical work off my list. I was pleasantly surprised when they called this morning and told me they could come today. The work they did looks good. There are still a few light switches in funny places but I think we can live with them.

I am hoping in another week or so we can start turning our attention to the outside and getting it repaired and cleaned up. I still have to paint the whole house outside when the repair work gets done to the outside of the house. The yard needs mowed but we can’t mow until we rake and get all the stuff out of the yard so we don’t harm our mower. I will have to get a new mower that we can leave there to mow with. The house sits on three lots so there is a lot to mow.

Next week I am going to have to spend time cleaning this house as I have Disc Golf guests coming in next weekend and staying for a week. I haven’t cleaned downstairs for a long time so am betting I will find lots of dirt. My guest this week tried to use the coffee maker downstairs and we couldn’t get it to work so may need to replace it before next weekend so my guests can have coffee.

I don’t have much on my calendar next week so should have plenty of time to clean and paint. It is going to be a cooler week temperature wise and will be a good week to be inside cleaning and painting.

Monday the carpet/tile guy is coming to look at our master shower. Then I am taking him to the rental house and he is going to bid new flooring for the bathroom, laundry room and two bedrooms. It will be good to get those projects bid and started.

We had Ham and Corn Chowder for dinner tonight. It was a good night to have hot soup. I put it in the crock pot this morning and presto – dinner was ready when I came home from painting.

It has been a rainy, cool day on the prairie. The rain gauge on my weather system says we got 1.46 inches of rain over the last 24 hours. Lots of rain puddles in the yard. Snow is in the forecast for Tuesday with freeze warnings for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The rain has helped clean the air and lay the smoke down for a bit.

I’m glad the electrical work got done and I got some more painting done today. It seems like we are so close to having this project wrapped u yet the finish line seems to keep moving out away from me. June 1 still feels like the date we can have someone move in though so we are getting close.

Grateful the electrical work got done today, grateful more painting got done, and grateful for the company of my guest this week.

Went into Emporia this morning to run errands. I stopped at Sutherlands and got smoke detectors for the new investment property. Went to the Doctor’s office and had my blood draw. Dropped some things off at my friend’s brother-in-law’s house. Stopped and picked up my prescription and some groceries and then headed west.

We went by the rental house and dropped off the siding pieces. Visited for a short while with my handyman and gave my friend a tour of the new house.

Came home and fixed lunch and then we both took a nap this afternoon. Jim got home around 6:15. We had dinner and then unloaded his car.

I fixed a chicken in the crock pot for dinner. Baked potatoes for Jim and my friend and fixed a veggie and called in dinner. Tomorrow night I am gong to fix Ham and Corn Chowder as it is supposed to rain all day. Soup on a rainy day sounds good.

The girls gave me 28 eggs today. I now have 9 dozen in the refrigerator. They sure add up quickly.

I am tired this evening so will call it a day soon. I got up early this morning and I had trouble sleeping last night. Only napped for about 30 minutes today so am hoping I will be able to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow I don’t have much on my calendar. I have to change the batteries in the dog’s collars but other than that don’t have anything I have to do. It will be a nice day to stay inside and be lazy and visit with my friend.

I got the results of my thyroid TSH test back and my levels have dropped from 4.1 to 3.6. They are moving in the right direction. It is still too high as my goal is 1.5 – 2.0. I sure wish I could keep my levels more stable but for what ever reason my body doesn’t seem to be able to do that.

I now have three guests coming for the week of the Disc Golf tournament in Emporia. I think the first one is coming in a week from Saturday. I’ll have to spend some time next week cleaning house good – including all of the basement. It will be fun to see the guys that are coming – two of the three are repeat guests and fun to have around.

Saturday and Sunday I hope to paint most of both days at the new house. I really need to make a dent in all the painting I have to do. It is feeling a bit overwhelming again. I know if I can get a couple of full days painting in I can make good progress and get lots done. Some days it feels we are really getting close to being done and other days it feels like we will never be done.

Grateful for a day with my friend, grateful Jim had a safe trip to Stillwater and back, and grateful my TSH levels have dropped a bit.

Woke up early this morning as I went to bed early last night. Went to the new house to make sure the electricians could get in. As I expected the handyman had locked up the house last night. The electricians weren’t there so I called them. They told me they still have about six hours of work to do and they are booked the rest of this week so won’t be back until at least sometime next week – maybe. Dang it. One of the jobs they need to do is remove some electrical conduit in a bedroom so we can repair the ceiling and walls and then paint. Guess that will be the last room that gets done. I have plenty of other painting that can be done before they get back.

Jim took off for Stillwater around noon. He is staying overnight tonight and maybe Thursday night depending on how much work he gets done.

My friend got delayed leaving Manhattan but will be on her way soon. It will be good to have company while Jim is gone. I forget each time how quiet the house is when I am here alone.

A friend came over to get some eggs today. Two dozen will come in today and two dozen went out. At least I am staying even. I still have seven dozen on hand if anyone needs some.

I need to remember to do afternoon chicken chores while Jim is gone. He loves tending to the chickens and usually takes care of afternoon chores.

The grass in the yard is almost tall enough to need mowed again. It is still pretty spotty but starting to fill in. If we get rain as forecast later this week and then if it warms up it will really start growing. There is a haze in the air that needs cleared out with a good rain. We could see prairie fires all around us last night again and can I tell ranchers are burning today. I will be glad when burning season is over and the air is fresh again.

Jim helped me bake Snickerdoodle cookies last night. He likes to roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and put them on the baking pans. I made a triple batch last night so maybe they will last him more than a week or two this time.

I am making a meat loaf for dinner. I love meat loaf and Jim is not so fond of the way I like to make it. If I remember correctly, my friend likes it too so we will enjoy it for dinner tonight along with baked sweet potatoes and another veggie.

Tomorrow I need to go to Emporia for a blood draw and to pick up a prescription. I have a few groceries on my list but nothing urgent so may not bother getting those. My friend had an errand she wanted to do while we are in Emporia so will help her take care of that. I need to look for some tile for a backsplash so my handyman can get that up. I need to figure out how much tile I will need. I also need some smoke detectors as the house doesn’t have any.

It is a beautiful day on the prairie. A touch windy so it feels cooler than it is. It isn’t going to warm up for a week or so and we have a good chance of rain starting tomorrow night. It will be a good weekend for painting inside.

Jim is starting to talk about taking a trip in May. It makes me nervous to think about it. Not sure why – I used to enjoy traveling. I’m sure once we hit the road I would enjoy it but the thought about leaving is unsettling. Maybe this time at home for over a year has changed my wanderlust ways. It will be interesting to see what other things I discover about myself that have changed during this isolation time. I have really enjoyed the isolation and distance from others. I will have to push myself out of my safety bubble to allow myself to rejoin the world. Baby steps!

Grateful for what work the electricians got done, grateful my friend is coming to visit, and grateful for the possibilities of travel in the future.

I was at the new house by 7:30 this morning. I started painting some woodwork as I needed to get a small patch done so a kitchen cabinet can be attached. I was waiting for the electrician to show up. They said they would be there around 7:45. They showed up at 9:00 so I got more painting done than planned.

They sent two guys today, neither were there when the bid was done. We walked around the house and discussed what they were going to do and then I went home. I went back this afternoon around 3:30 and they were not there. Not sure if they were on break or had called it quits for the day early. They aren’t finished so will need to come back. We left the house unlocked in case they are coming back today. Not sure how they will get in tomorrow if they come then. No one told me what they are doing. They have my number so guess they will call me if they need in. My handyman is planning on working at the house tomorrow.

The work they did get done looks good. They cleaned up the panel box and got rid of the illegal runs off of it. They still need to hang two ceiling fans and clean up one of the bedrooms that has electric cords all over it.

Jim woke up with a tummy ache so he didn’t go to Stillwater today. He is feeling better this afternoon so will plan on going tomorrow. He took a hike this afternoon while I took a nap. I woke up at 4:00 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. I slept hard this afternoon for about two hours.

I haven’t gotten much housecleaning done but I will get to it this evening. I woke up this morning with a Benadryl hangover. I have to take Benadryl before I give myself my cholesterol medication injections. It always messes with me and causes me to get sleepy and then I get very wired and then crash again. The injection went well last night. I didn’t have any trouble getting it started this time. I had a knot on my leg when it was done but the knot seems to have disappeared today.

We drove into Emporia this afternoon to deliver the Chex Mix to the kids. We also stopped and picked up some prescriptions for Jim. I will have to go back to town either tomorrow or Thursday as I need a blood draw to check my thyroid levels and I have a prescription that needs picked up.

My friend is to come tomorrow late morning and is going to spend two nights with us. It will be fun to have her here.

I didn’t think Jim would be here for dinner tonight so I didn’t plan to cook. He said he would eat a frozen pizza – he considers them a special treat. I will find something in the frig to eat.

The girls only gave us 22 eggs today. That is the least we have gotten for several weeks. Not sure they approve of the smokey haze that is covering the Flint Hills today. It has been cloudy today and with the haze a bit depressing outside. Tomorrow they will get a pan of sprouted wheat berries. They go a bit crazy when they see the pan of greens in their pen.

I got a delivery of propane today. My contract price was $1.27 a gallon – this load was $1.67 a gallon. Ouch! Due to the very cold February I used all my contract propane up this year. I hadn’t done that before. It is hard to know how much propane I will use each winter as it all depends on how cold it gets and how long it stays cold. Not sure I had budgeted $335 for propane this month. This tank should get me through until fall.

Got my electric bill and it is back to the normal $32.90. It was high this winter due to the heated watering pans for the chickens and dogs and the heat lamps that ran 24/7 for both the chickens and cats. It should stay at the minimum charge of $32.90 for the rest of the year.

Not sure I will get any more painting done until the weekend. Maybe Saturday I can spend most of the day there and get lots done. It feels a bit overwhelming again to think how much I have left to do yet if I could spend one or two full days there I can get lots done. I’m getting anxious to get this project done.

Grateful for the work the electricians got done today, grateful the injections went well last night, and grateful Jim likes frozen pizza.

I went in and got about half of the living room painted last night. I like the color. I wanted to get a whole wall painted so I could really tell if I was going to like it. The wall is really soaking in the paint. I am brushing on the first coat and will roll on the second coat.

Drove into Emporia this morning to get groceries and some paint for the two bedrooms at the investment property. I got some kitchen cabinet hinges but they didn’t have enough. I had them order some more for me but they can’t tell me when they might come in.

Did my egg delivery and then stopped by the investment house. My handyman came over and we did another walk through the house. He made a list of things that need done. Jim wants the back room to have Sheetrock put up so the handyman is going to work on that when the electrician gets done. He will also build a closet around the furnace and water heater in the laundry room. He has about five little things that he was going to work on this afternoon.

He is also going to work on the outside of the house but we agreed that the priority is to finish the inside completely before we start the outside. We can get the house rented with the understanding that we will continue to work on the outside after it is rented. I have no idea how difficult it will be to find a renter so we may not get it rented till the outside is done anyways.

The electrician is coming tomorrow morning early. I’m not sure how long it will take him to get through his long list of things he has to do. The handyman has a different job to work on tomorrow so the timing was perfect. I will have to get up early and go let the electrician in the house. It will be good to have that major project out of the way.

I may go in this evening again and get some more painting done. There is so much painting that needs done and that is something I can do to help move the project along. I would really like to get the cabinets done so we can get the doors hung and put it back together again.

The siding material came in today. The boxes are heavy so will have Jim load them and take them to the house in town next time he goes that way. I am thinking I didn’t order enough of them but they don’t take long to get here so will order more later if needed. They are expensive and I didn’t want to have a full box leftover.

I talked to the handyman about a back splash and he agreed that it would look nice and is something he can do. I will go to town this week and look at tile and see what I can find and price it. I never know how much to buy but I can always take it back if I get too much.

Jim is teaching his class for KU Osher this afternoon. This class is on Religious History. He loves teaching and has taught this class in OK before. This class is only three sessions and each session is an hour and half.

I made Chex Mix for the kiddos today. I have to admit that I have eaten a couple handfuls of it this afternoon. I love that stuff when it is warm out of the oven. I’ll probably have a tummy ache from it later though. I don’t usually eat that kinda of food anymore. The kiddos are tired of cookies so I can’t bake more of those for them for a bit. I do need to bake Jim some more Snickerdoodles this week some time.

I called the internet company again. They are scratching their heads trying to figure out why the system keeps dropping. The latest thing they want me to try is moving the router/modem to a different room. When Jim is done with his class today I will try that. I was afraid to move it before in case I do something wrong and we lost internet completely. It is acting like it did before when we had a bad router but I will humor them and move it. We have disconnected our printers from the wireless feature and have them hooked directly to our computers. The internet company was trying to tell us that was causing the problem. It wasn’t.

Tomorrow I need to clean house as I have a friend coming to stay for a couple nights on Wednesday. The smoke from the burn yesterday blew in and there is a layer of ash and dust everywhere inside. It will feel good to get the house clean again. I always enjoy the house more when I know it is clean.

Jim is going to Stillwater either tomorrow or Wednesday. He will probably stay one and maybe two nights. He needs to mow and do some yard work and will bring another load of his treasures back with him. He seems to be having trouble getting down there to work on his house. Slowly his attachment to that house is weakening.

It is only in the mid 50’s today. Lots of prairie fires all around us again today. The handyman called the sheriff to get permission to burn the big pile of old garage boards and found out the only burning that can happen until the end of April is pastures. They are trying to reduce the amount of smoke in the air by not allowing other non-essential burns. We will get them burned sometime in May.

We are having brats and sauerkraut for dinner tonight. I think it is warm enough to do the brats on the grill. Not my favorite dinner but Jim enjoys it.

I’m excited about all the progress being made at the investment property. It really seems to be coming together. We still have lots of little things that need done but I can see the finish line. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint does to a house. I was so lucky to have bought a house next door to a wonderful handyman that works so efficiently and does great work.

Grateful the electrician is coming tomorrow, grateful for the progress on the investment property and grateful for the smell of Chex Mix in the house today.

They burned our pasture today. I got a call around 2:00 this afternoon to let us know they were going to burn. Jim really enjoyed watching it. He had never seen a pasture burn up close and personal before. The wind was high enough today that the fire went very quickly over the grass. There was a crew of about 10 people doing the burning. It is always a relief when it gets done and no one was hurt.

I was going to go in and paint this afternoon until I realized they were going to burn. I wanted to stay home and watch the fire. When I get done writing I’m going to go in for a bit and paint. I got a note from my handyman and he is finished working on the house for the day so I won’t be in his way if I go in soon to paint.

Tim and Ellexia came out for a bit this afternoon. Tim stores his trailer in our barn and he brought it back out. Ellexia gathered eggs for me and came up to the house to visit with me for a while. It was good to see them.

We are having leftovers for dinner again so I don’t need to fix dinner tonight. I’ll have to come up with something for tomorrow night. The hardest part of fixing a meal is deciding what to fix.

Tomorrow I need to go to town and get some groceries. Jim teaches his class from 3:00 – 4:30 tomorrow afternoon so will need to be around then in case he runs into computer issues. I have an egg delivery to make at noon tomorrow. Then before I go to bed tomorrow night I have to give myself my cholesterol medication injections. Hoping it goes easy this time.

Tuesday Jim is going to Stillwater for a night or two. I have a friend coming on Wednesday to spend two nights. I need to clean house Tuesday. The smoke blew in today and there is a layer of dust and ash all over the house tonight.

I’m hoping to get back into town to paint sometime next week. I have a lot of woodwork and walls to paint throughout the whole house. The electrician is to call Monday and let me know when they are coming out. Once they get done the handyman can get the laundry room done and finish up a few other little things and the house will almost be ready inside. The carpet/tile guy is coming the 19th to give me a bid for the flooring that needs done. Not sure when they can install it. Then we can start thinking about what needs to be done on the outside. It is getting close to being ready to be rented.

Took a short nap this afternoon. I got a phone call that woke me up. I’m glad I got the call as I really don’t like taking long naps and have a feeling I would have slept much longer. Jim took a nap today too and he is still sleeping. He will need to stay up late tonight to get his notes and power point ready for his class tomorrow.

It reached 80 today. Tomorrow the high will only be in the low 60’s. This week is going to be cooler again with temperatures in the 50’s and low 60’s most of the week. Rain is in the forecast for later in the week. We need the rain again to clear the smoke from the air. There is a haze on the horizon again from all the burning that is happening all around us.

The kids let me know they have enough cookies and it would probably be good if I didn’t give them any more for a while. Ellexia asked me if I would make some Chex Mix instead so when I go to the grocery store tomorrow I will get the stuff to make that. I usually only make that at Christmas time but I decided that is a rule that can be broken when necessary.

Grateful the pasture burn went well today, grateful to get to see Ellexia today, and grateful rules are made to be broken.

What a fun day. I drove to Manhattan this. morning. I stopped at Home Depot to pick up something I ordered. That process was quick and easy. I looked for kitchen cabinet door hinges but they didn’t have what I needed.

I then went to a dear friend’s house. We sat outside on her new porch and visited for several hours. It did my heart and soul good to have a heart-to-heart conversation. I have so missed my girl friends during this long year plus of social isolation.

I drove home through the beautiful Flint Hills. The drive between Council Grove and Manhattan is one of my favorite drives. The hills are so pretty right now with the new green grass coming up from the ashes of the burnt fields.

I should have gone into paint when I got home but I stayed home. I will do my best to make it in tomorrow to paint some more. I was tired when I got home and I don’t do a good job painting when I am tired.

We are having fish for dinner tonight. Jim has beer batter fish and I get salmon. He gets tater tots and I will have sweet potato fries. All but the salmon goes in the oven so it is a very easy meal to fix.

My neighbor was hell bent on burning today but the wind had other plans for him. He might get to burn this evening yet as the wind is starting to slow down some. Tomorrow might be a better day to burn as the forecast shows slower winds in the morning. We will see what he decides to do. Not sure if the guy that burns my property will burn mine at the same time or not. I told the two guys to talk and leave me out of it.

Jim teaches his first of three classes on Zoom Monday afternoon. He is going to Stillwater for at least one night if not two sometime this week. My friend from Manhattan is coming Wednesday to stay for a couple of nights while her new wood floors get installed. It will be a busy but fun week.

I have to go to town one day next week and have a blood draw to check my thyroid levels. Last time they checked my levels were way too high. I trust they have come down a bit.

We got 28 eggs again today from my 29 laying hens. Wow. They are busy producing. I had the biggest egg I have ever seen for breakfast today. It was a double yolk egg and absolutely huge.

Feeling in a much better space today finally. It has been a rough week for me mentally. Figuring out what was unresolved helped me clear it out. I have learned when the little things start bugging me I need to pay attention and figure out what is behind it. It is easy to blame someone else but always the real problem is myself. I have no control over what others do. My power lays in controlling myself and my reactions.

Grateful for a much needed visit with a friend, grateful for the beauty of the hills today, and grateful my heaviness and restlessness has cleared.

This has turned into a day of problem solving. I got an email from the gas company at the investment property telling me the bank had returned my check. I now owed the $27 bill plus $30 returned check fee. WTF? I called the bank and found out the gas company had the wrong account number. I had set the account up for auto withdrawal. They must have not recorded the proper bank account number as when they had attempted to withdrawal the funds it was declined. I didn’t problem solve when they let me know about that failure and just sent them a check. Instead of cashing the check they attempted another automatic withdrawal. I called the gas company and got it fixed. They credited the account with the $30 fee.

When I got the mail today I found out the State of Kansas had sent out the wrong information on a tax form. I called my accountant and he is going to have to amend my taxes. The error by the state will cost me $300 in accounting fees plus additional taxes. What gross incompetence by the state. I’m not impressed.

Got a labor charge from the plumber. He had come out once and determined our water booster pump was defective. He came out a second time to install it. He was here both times less than 5 minutes. The bill was $175. Wonder why the warranty doesn’t cover that cost? May need to call and ask.

Went in this morning to paint but ended up attaching hardware to the cabinet doors. Worked for about an hour and got a headache so came home and took a nap. After my nap I went back in and worked for two more hours. Did some painting in the kitchen. I have a set of cabinets pulled out so painted the wall behind them. I also painted part of a wall in the living room to see if I like the color of paint I had chosen. I like it so will use it to paint the living room and dining room. I’ll need to choose another color for the bedrooms and bathroom. Still need to test paint the woodwork color.

I had trouble falling asleep last night. Finally took a NyQuil and slept really good for about four hours. Have a bit of a NyQuil hangover today but doing better late afternoon.

We are having green chicken for dinner. The house smells good right now as it is almost done. I’ll fix Jim some hash browns and I will have carrots with mine.

We got 26 eggs from the girls today. I’m up to 10 dozen in the refrigerator now. Need to hard boil a dozen and make some ham salad and more deviled eggs.

I’m going to Manhattan tomorrow to pick up some things I ordered from Home Depot and to visit a friend. It will be good to take a day and get away by myself. I need a good heart to heart talk with another woman.

I didn’t hear from the electrician today – not that I am surprised. Hoping they will call me the first of the week to let me know I am on the schedule for next week. If not I am going to have to call them again and I’m not sure they will enjoy that call. Why is it so hard to get a job scheduled with them?

I finally have figured out what is bothering me. I have been holding some expectations that have been unmet and it was triggering me. This is a life-long learning experience that I keep coming around to. I have learned for me whenever I hold expectations I set myself up to be disappointed. Be they expectations of others or of myself. I must be a slow learner as I struggle to not repeat this pattern time and time again. Now that I have figured out what is behind these strong emotions and feelings I have been having the past several days I can let them go easier.

Grateful to have figured out what was behind my feelings, grateful the paint color I choose will work, and grateful for NyQuil and the sleep it helps me find.

Went in to the investment property this morning and painted for two hours. I should finish the kitchen cabinets tomorrow. Then I will have to attach the hardware and door knobs and get things back together again. I need to figure out how to change out the bit in the power screw driver. I don’t use that thing very often and forget every time how to do it.

Jim taught his sixth and final OSHER class for this time around. He starts a new three week course on Monday. I’ll be glad when this next class is over and I get Jim back. He puts in hours and hours prepping for the classes.

The chickens gave me 28 eggs yesterday. I have 29 laying hens. Today I got 25. Anyone need eggs? I had cleared out my stash over the weekend but am back to having 7 dozen in the refrigerator.

We went into Emporia after Jim was done with his class. Delivered cookies to the kids and then went to Sutherland’s. I found a board that will work to fix the back of a kitchen cabinet that has a broken back. I also picked up one kitchen cabinet hinge to see if it will work. If they do I will try to get some more ordered tomorrow. I was going to get a gallon of paint but there wasn’t anyone in the paint department and I didn’t want to have to chase someone down.

I have a pot roast cooking in the crock pot for dinner tonight. The house smells so good. It will be an easy dinner to dish out and serve.

I feel like I want to run away today. Not sure what I want to run away from or where I would go. Maybe who I want to run away from is myself. Feeling very restless and like I have ants in my pants type of day. I went out and pulled a garbage sack of weeds from the swing circle this afternoon. That felt grounding to get my hands in the dirt and pull weeds.

Something feels unresolved but not sure what that might be. Reminding myself to allow it to be what it is and not to make a story about it. And this too shall pass.

The handyman got the window sills fixed as well as some trim work done yesterday. He is making great progress. It is so fun to go in and see what he has gotten done. He is going to work either Saturday or Sunday and get some more things done. I didn’t hear from the electrician today (no big surprise there) so not sure when they are coming. Hopefully early next week they will make it out. They need to get there work done so the handyman can finish his.

The wind has been in a hurry all day today. We have had gusts up to 40 MPH with sustained winds over 25 most of the day. The sound of it is starting to wear me out. It did warm up this afternoon and if you can find a place outside out of the wind it is nice out. There were some light clouds earlier that were casting beautiful cloud shadows on the prairie.

Grateful for all the eggs my chickens are giving me, grateful for the smell of pot roast tonight, and grateful for the beauty the clouds and sun provided today on the prairie.

It was a cold, windy and wet day on the prairie today. A thunderstorm rolled through during the night. I love watching the lightning streak across the wide open sky and hear the rolling thunder. It has sprinkled on and off during the day. Only reached the mid 50’s today and with the wind it felt much colder.

A friend came over and we discussed her taxes today. She is going to gather more information and work on them and will call if she needs more help. It was nice to see her and visit for a bit this afternoon.

I took a short nap again. I got two phone calls while I was laying down. I slept for close to an hour which is the right amount of nap time for me. Maybe I can sleep tonight – sleep was hard to find again last night.

The handyman worked on repairing windows and trim work on the floor today. Since he was there I didn’t go it to paint. He is working on a different project the next two days so will make it in to paint tomorrow and Friday.

I called the electrician. They are to let me know tomorrow when they can come. I told them they were holding up the project and I really needed them to get this job done. They seemed to understand that language. We will see if they come through and come out.

I ordered some siding pieces for the outside of the house. Jim found them on-line at Home Depot. They are to be delivered next week. I looked for cabinet door hinges on-line too but can’t decide if I have found the right thing or not. I may need to go to a big town soon and find them in person.

The handyman still has the laundry room to do but needs the electrician to do some work in there before he can do what he needs to do. I need to decide if I want the back porch sheet rocked or not but can’t tell until the electrician gets done out there too.

We are getting really close to having the inside fixed up. I’m guessing another week after the electrician gets done and we will be done except for the flooring. We have lots of work to do on the outside though including painting the house and lots of landscaping. We also need to repair the front porch. It is looking like we should be ready to rent it out May 1 though.

I am ever so grateful that I got lucky and bought a house next door to a wonderful handyman. He has saved this project for me.

We had left overs for dinner again. I made some mashed potatoes and Jim had a hot turkey sandwich for dinner. I had turkey and leftover roasted veggies. I laid a pot roast out to fix for tomorrow night. We are tired of leftovers.

I made no bake cookies for the grandkids today. I need to take them to town tomorrow and deliver them. I wold think they would get tired of them but they keep requesting them.

Still feeling a bit adrift. Not able to stay grounded and feel like I have a purpose right now. Not sure if it is because of the hot line thing or something else. Trying my best to ride out these feelings and allowing them to be what they are without getting stuck.

Grateful for the wonderful progress the handyman is making on the house, grateful for the rain on the prairie, and grateful for the times I can ride my emotions and not get lost in them.

It was a long night of little sleep. I finally got up around 5:00 this morning after not sleeping at all and took another bath. I was then able to sleep for a couple of hours. I hate nights like that. I felt tired but my mind was racing last night. That rarely happens. I just couldn’t turn it off last night.

Went into Emporia after I did chores and breakfast. I stopped at Walmart to pick up a prescription and some Epsom salts. I then went to Sutherland’s to look for kitchen cabinet hardware. I had two guys helping me. We found a hinge that will work but one of the guys couldn’t figure out how it attached. I didn’t really care as I wasn’t going to attach them but he took me back to the kitchen cabinets they have in stock and messed around with it for 15 minutes. He finally figured it out. We went back to get what I needed and discovered they only had half of what I needed. He told me they could order some more but he had no idea if and when they might come in. He said they are seeing massive delays in most items they order. I decided to pass as I want the hinges to be the same and they didn’t know when they might get more. I did get the door pulls I wanted.

I then went to the Vo-Tech for the third appointment with my hygienist. That appointment was only to have taken 15 minutes but I was there almost 1 1/2 hours. That girl! I’m grateful I won’t see her again.

I stopped at True Value Hardware to see if they had cabinet hinges – they do but not the ones I needed.

While I was at the hardware store the plumber called. He told me he had the new booster pump and was able to bring it out and install it if we were home. I headed home and got here just a minute or two before he did. He installed the pump. Glad that is something I can cross off my to-do list. Good news is the pump was under warranty so no charge for that little project. It will be nice to have a dry floor again in the furnace room.

I came home, ate lunch and took a nap. I was able to sleep for another hour or so. It has been a windy, rainy day and it was a good day to take a nap. (Most days are good days for naps lately.)

We are having leftovers for dinner tonight. I need to clean out the refrigerator and get rid of some stuff. I haven’t looked to see what we have so it will be a dinner surprise for me too.

The tile guy is coming April 19 to look at our master shower and see what needs to be done to it. I have a feeling the seal around it has broken and water has damaged the back side of the tile that is there now. If I haven’t already done something about the floors in the new investment property by then the tile guy will then go with me to that property and give me estimates for some flooring work at that place. I don’t know if my handyman can lay new flooring or not. I’m betting he can so may not need the tile guy for that project.

Still haven’t heard from the electrician so tomorrow I will call them and nag a bit. I’m not sure why it is taking them so long to do that job.

I didn’t make it in to paint today. The handyman was going to paint ceilings today and I didn’t want to be in his way. I have someone coming over tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 so will try to make it in to paint when that appointment is over or maybe in the morning if I get up early. I would like to get the cabinets finished this week.

May need to go to a big city to find the right hinges. I have looked on-line and get too confused – I never knew they made so many different hinges. Jim found the siding pieces we need that match what we have at Home Depot so may take a trip to Wichita this week or next and get those plus the hinges.

I’m feeling a bit lost with out the hot line to keep me busy at night. I miss getting on it. It helped me feel like I was serving others and gave me something to do at night. However, I just can’t make myself get back on with what happened on my last call. It still doesn’t feel like something I can do right now.

Feeling a bit restless and like I am drifting a bit. The wind the last couple of days has worn me out. I am in resistance to it and that is never helpful or productive. Acceptance is close but I’m not there yet.

Grateful my dental appointments are done until fall, grateful for rainy day naps, and grateful for left overs.

Another beautiful but windy day on the prairie. Things are starting to green up. The pastures that were burned last week are already turning green. It is a beautiful time of the year on the prairie.

Went in and painted after I took my nap today. Have four sets of the cabinets done and two more sets to go. One of the remaining sets has the first coat on it. Have over half of the cabinet doors finished and the rest have at least one coat on both sides.

The handyman came over while I was painting and we walked through the house again and made a list of things for him to do. It is really feeling like the house is coming together. If I can get the electrician out this week the handyman can really get a lot of things crossed off our list.

We still have lots of work to do to the outside but that work can be done while the house is rented if needed. I am starting to think the house may be available for rent May 1.

Jim worked on the flower beds at our house today while I was painting. He hauled dirt from a pile in the back yard and built up the beds. He sees things that need done that I don’t notice. Glad to have his eye and helping hands. We have lots of projects to do at this house too.

I slept fairly good last night but woke up still tired. Took a long nap early afternoon and woke up feeling rested. Yesterday was so fun it was worth getting tired.

Tomorrow I have to go to the Vo-Tech for my last visit with the dental hygienist. Afterwards I need to stop at Walmart and pick up a prescription and a couple things on my list. I also need to go to Sutherland’s and get some help buying cabinet hardware. I looked on line for cabinet hardware and get confused. I don’t speak their language and there are way too many options and little details I don’t understand. I also need to pick out some paint for the walls for the rest of the house. Hoping to find one color I can use for the rest of the rooms. The gallon I got earlier I will use to paint the closets. It is too light for the walls.

Wednesday afternoon a friend is coming over and I am going to try to help them do their taxes. Thursday Jim teaches the last class on the History of the Great Plains. He starts a new class on Religion next Monday. We don’t have any plans for the weekend.

I grilled steaks for dinner tonight. Made potato cakes out of the leftover mashed potatoes from yesterday. Cooked some broccoli and called it dinner. That made for a quick and easy dinner. Our steak supply is starting to get low. I have another beef ordered but not sure when the rancher is going to take it to the butcher shop.

I did my egg delivery today. Came home with $26. Some pay in advance and today was pay day for eggs. That is almost enough to buy two sacks of chicken feed. I keep thinking the chickens pay for their upkeep but Jim isn’t so sure. I give away too many eggs to make them profitable – or at least break even.

Grateful the investment property is coming along, grateful for long naps, and grateful for my egg customers.

What a fun day. We had our Easter Thanksgiving feast today. Jason and his family joined us shortly after we finished eating lunch. It was so good to have all three kids with me today. Everyone had a good time and ate too much.

I was sad for a bit today realizing how much I have missed in each of their lives this past year by not being able to gather. I am ever so grateful for the vaccine and the new opportunities it gives me. Nicole is getting her first vaccine tomorrow. All the rest of the adult family has had at least one shot and some of us are fully vaccinated. We can continue to gather when ever we can make it happen now.

It was extra special to get to hug my kids today. Oh how I have missed that.

The dinner turned out great. I didn’t have a failure (that I know of at least). I didn’t taste test most of the food but what I ate was good. The kids each got to take home lots of leftovers.

After everyone left the house felt so quiet. Jim laid down and took a nap. I don’t think he is used to the chaos my family brings with them. We are both so used to the quiet and slow pace out here that when we step into a different energy we find it exhausting. I am really tired this afternoon. I laid down too but couldn’t sleep. I bet I go to bed early tonight.

The handyman let me know he hauled away the remains of the garage he finished tearing down. How I love that man. He sees things that need done and does them. Jim was glad to know that project is done and he doesn’t have to do it. I asked the handyman to do the woodwork trim repair, paint the ceilings and build a closet to hide the hot water heater and furnace.

Monday I need to find out if the electrician is going to come this week. He is holding up the project at this point and if they can’t get to me soon I may have to find someone else to do the job. I also need to go see the carpet guy and find out how to get that process started. I tried calling several times on Saturday but they never answered their phone.

Other than making a few phone calls tomorrow and doing my weekly egg delivery I don’t have anything on my calendar. It will be a good day to recover and relax. I may go in and paint if I have the energy to do so. I am getting so close to having the kitchen cabinets painted that I want to get across that finish line so I can start painting woodwork and walls in the other rooms. I need to figure out what I am going to do on cabinet hardware so we can get the cabinet doors hung back up later this week.

I’m not fixing dinner tonight. There are plenty of leftovers we can eat if either one of us gets hungry. Neither one of us are used to eating such a big lunch. I’m sure we will both want a snack of some sort later this evening.

I got rid of eight dozen eggs today. Yay! I am down to five dozen in the refrigerator. I will deliver four dozen tomorrow but will gather two more dozen. It is nice to have them mainly cleared out every week or so. The girls gave us 25 eggs today.

It reached over 80 today on the prairie. It was windy most of the day with winds up to the mid 20’s MPH. Tomorrow it is to be warm again tomorrow and then is going to cool down a bit. Rain is in the forecast for the middle of the week. We sure could use some rain to clear the air of all the smoke.

I almost have the house back into order. I spit shined it yesterday so only need to finish the final load of dishes and the load of laundry I generated with tablecloths, kitchen towels, etc. It is nice to have the house cleaned for the week.

Grateful for the time with my kids today, grateful for all the laughter and fun we had, and grateful for the peace and quiet after they left.

This has been a long day for me for some reason. I haven’t been too motivated to get much done this afternoon. This morning I baked five pumpkin pies, broke the bread for the dressing for tomorrow and fixed two dozen deviled eggs. I’m glad I got something done today. I have worked on doing some cleaning this evening but am only doing a spit shine job.

Tomorrow I will need to get up at 7:00 to put the turkey in the oven. it is a small turkey so will only need to cook for four to five hours. I may go back to bed if I can fall back asleep after I get the turkey in the oven. I need to fix the green bean casserole, peel, cook and mash the potatoes, prepare the roasted vegetables to go in the oven and make the dressing. It will be a fun morning spent in the kitchen.

I sure hope I don’t forget to fix something – I have been known to do that before. I will have to print out my list so I don’t forget something. Several times I have found things either in the back of the refrigerator or in the microwave that I have forgotten to serve. Hate when that happens.

I feel like I need a good cry tonight. Not sure where these feelings are coming from but sometimes a good cry can clear things out for me. I have been a bit teary eyed all afternoon.

The smoke is heavy again tonight. We can see the flames from a fire to the east of us. It was a bit windy to burn earlier today but this evening the wind has slowed down and it would be a beautiful evening to burn.

Jim had tacos tonight for dinner – I had a plain hamburger. I must be tired of cooking as I can’t think of anything to fix these days. Maybe someday soon the urge will hit again and I will get a bit more creative in the kitchen again.

We cleaned out the chicken coop today. This clean was the easiest one for a long time as the straw was dry and not all clumped together. The girls love when we give them fresh linens – they get busy rearranging it to their satisfaction. They gave us 25 eggs today. I used 35 eggs today so made a very slight dent in my egg stash. I’ll get another two dozen from them tomorrow. Hoping the kids will take eggs home with them tomorrow. I will deliver four dozen on Monday to my regular customers. I have 12 dozen in the refrigerator tonight. Anyone need eggs?

Feeling a bit stiff and sore tonight for some reason. I curled up in my recliner and took a short nap this afternoon so may have slept wrong. My hot bath with Epsom salts will feel good tonight.

It reached the mid 70’s on the prairie today. Tonight we have the windows open and can hear the coyotes singing across the way. It is cooling down a bit but only going down to the mid 50’s. It is to reach the low 80’s tomorrow.

I did a bit of mowing this afternoon. I must have looked like a drunk sailor mowing as I was not able to stay in straight lines. I would see a little patch of tall grass and go get it. I couldn’t tell where I had mowed much of the time. The grass will start to fill in more and more if we get some more rain.

So looking forward to the kids coming home tomorrow and gathering for a meal. So grateful we were able to get our vaccines and can resume some “normal” activities.

Grateful the girls have fresh linens, grateful for to-do lists so I don’t forget to fix something, and grateful for the beauty of the prairie today.

It was a beautiful day on the prairie today. The wind was in a hurry though which made it a little challenging to be outside. We need to clean out the chicken coop but it was too windy to try to do it today. We will try again tomorrow.

We went into Emporia this afternoon and bought groceries and some other things we needed. Stopped at Staples and got a toner for the printer. I came home exhausted as normal when I go to town. Walmart was crazy busy and it wore me out. The produce section was cleaned out. We had to ask a clerk to go to the back and get some celery for us. I hate shopping and when the store is busy it makes it worse.

After we got home I got things put away and then I took a nap. I put myself in time-out and fell asleep. I was in a better mood when I woke up.

Fixed hamburgers for dinner. Poor Jim doesn’t get very exciting meals these days. He got Fanestil baked beans with his hamburger and I had carrots.

After dinner dishes were done I went to the investment property and painted for a couple of hours. I am making good progress on the kitchen cabinets – the end is in sight. I need to go get the new hardware so Jim can start putting the cabinet doors back up. I also need to decide on some more wall colors so I can have the paint ready when those rooms are ready to be painted.

The handyman has made great progress on the remodel. He fixed a leak under the bathroom sink today, has the bathroom wall repaired, put in the divider in the closet, and tore down the old garage. I’m impressed with how much he gets done each day.

I’m going to have the handyman do the woodwork around the windows that needs fixed. Jim is busy with his classes and needs to spend his time getting his classes ready to present. I am also going to have him paint the ceilings – I hate painting ceilings and he is quick and efficient and they will be done very quickly and well. It is feeling more and more like we can get this house ready to rent by June 1. We still have a lot of work to do outside too but I am fairly optimistic that we can reach that goal.

I have a ton of painting that will need done. Every wall in the house needs painted as well as all of the woodwork. I’m going to call the electrician Monday and see if I can light a fire under them.

I also need to call a carpet guy to come measure the two bedrooms for carpet. The floors in those rooms are in bad shape and the easiest way to cover them is to put some carpet down. I hate carpet but think it will be OK to use in the two bedrooms.

We are going to have to figure out a way to haul off the shingles and wood from the garage that came down. We can burn the wood but not the shingles. I also have to find someone that will haul away the old boat that is in the yard.

The plumber came to my house yesterday to check out the booster pump. It is leaking again. I just replaced it less than 2 years ago. I am hoping it is still under warranty. The plumber was going to the store where he bought it when he left my house and was going to let me know what they are going to do about it but I haven’t heard from him yet.

Tomorrow I need to clean this house and bake some pies. Sunday the kids will be here for dinner. Yay! I’m so excited.

Next week I have to go back to the Vo-Tech on Tuesday so the hygienist can do something she needs to do to complete her assignment that she is doing on my mouth. I think she just needs to take pictures but I’m not sure. She hasn’t communicated with me very well and not sure I understand what she is doing.

Thursday Jim teaches his last class on the history of the Great Plains. He starts another new set of classes next week.

I got a letter from my hot line Coach today in response to the letter I sent her. I’m not sure yet what I am going to do. I’ll take some time off and see how I feel when I have some distance from this experience. I felt a bit lost last night now being on the hot line. Just not sure I can do it right now.

Sometime this spring we need to finish the deck project on this house. We never did get it finished last fall. By now the floors of the deck need a fresh coat of paint on them. It is hard to stay ahead of all the projects going on around here.

The prairie burns last night were incredible. Jim had never seen prairie burns up close and personal before. We watched the west pastures all night long. When I got up to go the bathroom at 4:30 this morning I could still see the fire circle. The air was heavy with smoke all night long. The wind today helped clear the air a bit although you can still smell the prairie fire smell. There are still lots of pastures that need burned. We need days with a lot less wind so the ranchers can finish them up.

Grateful so much progress got made on the investment property this week, grateful for the beauty of prairie fires, and grateful the grocery trip is over.

I had a rough night on the hot line last night. One of the calls I notified the supervisor I was concerned about the texter even though they didn’t meet our Imminent Risk criteria. The supervisor said she would look at the convo but never got back to me during the entire convo.

Then my next call was super stressful. This one was a medical emergency due to a suicide attempt. It was clear from the beginning of the call to me that we needed to call an ambulance for them. It took the Supervisor 1 1/2 hours to get there. At several points I didn’t know what to say to the texter so I would ask the Supervisor. If she responded at all it took over 5 minutes for her to do so. Several times she prompted me to ask the texter something I had already asked them. Needless to say I didn’t feel very supported during the call. I was fit to be tied by the end of the call. I notified the Platform Manager of my frustration and asked her to get involved. After she did the Supervisor got a bit more interested in getting the person some help.

At one point I even asked to have the call transferred to another CC as I didn’t want to be a part of it if we weren’t going to get the texter some help. The Supervisor ignored my request.

They finally decided to call an ambulance for the person. I will never know how serious her wound was and what the outcome was.

I get a note from my Coach after every call that requires a rescue call. I responded and let her know I was not OK with how the supervisor had reacted and how slow they were to respond and help. I have signed off from my shifts on the calendar for a month. I’m not sure if I can go back or not.

It really bothered me that it took 1 1/2 hour to call rescue. I’m not sure I could ever be a part of another call like that again. I’ll have to sit with this situation and see where my feelings end up. I may not be able to return to this work.

It has been a quiet day on the Smokey prairie today. Lots of burning all around us today. The sunset was a big red ball slowing dropping into the smoke filled horizon. We can see the ribbons of fire still burning to the west and north. The smoke haze was especially thick today.

Jim taught his class today. He only has one more to do in this series and then April 12 he starts a three-week class for KU OSHER. He keeps busy getting his classes ready.

I didn’t make it in to paint this morning. I was still too upset about the hot line last night. I didn’t sleep well last night so took a good nap this afternoon.

We had leftovers for dinner so I didn’t have to do much for dinner. Will have to think of something to fix for tomorrow night.

Tomorrow I need to go to Emporia to get groceries for our Easter Thanksgiving feast. I will start baking Saturday.

Jim read a part in his church’s Zoom Thursday Easter service tonight. It was nice to see some familiar faces on the Zoom screen. It was a lovely service.

Grateful for the beauty of prairie fires, grateful an ambulance was finally called to get my texter to a hospital for some care, and grateful for leftovers on a night I didn’t feel like cooking.

I was so excited when I went into town to paint this afternoon. My handyman had cleaned out the back porch. Wow! What a difference that made to that room. I feel like we made huge progress. He was working on the bathroom while I was there and it is looking much better already too. He is going to work all day tomorrow. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow afternoon and see what he has gotten done. The project feels possible to get done now.

I painted for a little over an hour. Got all but one set of cabinets first coat done. Did a second coat on some of the cabinet doors. The kitchen is looking a lot better with the cabinets painted.

My guest that stayed with us for two nights sent me a text mid-afternoon to see if he could stay one more night. He joined us for dinner tonight again and will leave for home tomorrow. He had to finish up a job in Emporia tomorrow morning. It was nice to have him join us for dinner again. Jim has really enjoyed visiting with him.

I fixed salmon for my guest and me and fish sticks for Jim. We also had tator tots and sweet potato fries. I fixed a dozen hard boiled eggs and made deviled eggs out of them so had them for dinner too. Trying to use up eggs.

I have a hot line shift tonight. I took a nap before I went to go to paint so will be able to stay awake to work it tonight. I checked earlier and they were getting busy already so am expecting another busy night.

Jim and I went into Emporia after I got home from painting. I had baked some peanut butter cookies last night. So we delivered cookies to Jason and Michelle’s houses. I got to see both Jason and Tagen for a hot minute today. We stopped at Fanestil’s on our way out of town and got some bacon for me and a box of bacon for Nicole and Geoff. I also got some turkey and party time ham. It was an expensive stop but they sure have good products.

Tomorrow I plan on painting some more again. Jim teaches his class from 1:00 – 2:30 so will need to be around here for that in case he runs into trouble. I’ll have to plan my nap around his class. Hoping I can get into town before his class and get my painting done early. Then when his class is over I can take a nap so I can stay up and do my hot line work tomorrow night.

Friday I will need to go into Emporia and buy groceries for our Easter feast. I will start baking pies and doing some other prep work for the dinner on Saturday. I am so excited the kids will be here.

I need to remember to give the dogs and cats their flea and tic medication tomorrow. The dogs will also get their heart guard. Fleas and tics will be out and looking for warm bodies soon.

I doubt if I get in to work on the rental property this weekend. I need to clean this house and do the prep work for the dinner on Friday and Saturday. Next week is pretty open so will have time to get back at it next week.

Grateful the handyman got started and did such a good job, grateful I got a bit more painting done today, and grateful I got to see both Jason and Tagen for a hot minute today.

If anyone is looking for a vaccine Haag Pharmacy in Emporia has slots available this week and next. This week they are giving Moderna and next week the one shot Johnson & Johnson. You can call the pharmacy or go on-line to register for a time. Anyone over 16 is eligible.

I had trouble finding sleep last night. Finally got up at 5:00 and read for an hour then took a second bath. Was able to fall asleep around 7:00 and slept until 10:00. Man sleep is hard to find some nights for me.

I haven’t done much today. I didn’t feel like painting today so have hung around the house and been lazy. I did call the plumber to remind him my booster pump is leaking. He told me he has been very busy and just hadn’t gotten to me yet. He had no idea on when he might be able to get here. I also called the water department in CWF to find out if I had signed up for automatic withdrawal on the water bill for the rental property. I had not. They could sign me up but they only withdraw it from one local bank. I have an account with that bank but it is not the rental property account. I will have to write a check each month and mail it. Hoping we can get it rented soon so won’t have to mess with that for long. I am spoiled with all the automatic payments I use. I rarely write checks anymore.

I am fixing chicken over rice for dinner tonight. Not sure if our guest will be joining us or not. I forgot to mentioned it to him earlier. Dinner is in the oven cooking so it will be easy to fix a veggie to go with it and call it good come dinner time.

Tim and Ellexia are still in KY and won’t be coming home until Sunday now. That means I am only going to have 6 people for dinner Sunday. I’m glad I hadn’t bought groceries yet as I need to cut back on how much I buy. We like left overs but some of the stuff I am fixing I can’t eat and Jim can only eat so much.

What a difference a day makes in the temperature in KS. Yesterday it hit 80 and today the high is 53. The wind is brisk again today and down right gusty at times. It has slowed down a bit late afternoon. It sure was in a hurry earlier. Wonder where it blows to? It is to start warming back up Thursday and may reach 80 on Easter Sunday.

Jim was brave and went for a hike today. It is too cold for me to go walking right now. I don’t like cold and wind. Once I get cold I have a hard time getting warm again. I am thinking my thyroid levels are still too high as I am cold most of the time right now.

I’m in the mood to make cinnamon rolls so may go get those started when I get done writing. I’ll have to time it so they won’t need attention during dinner time.

I had ordered a router when we were having issues with the internet. The company sent me the tracking information two days ago and come to find out they are telling me it was delivered the 18th of March. Only trouble is we didn’t get it. I’ll have to check with my neighbor to see if it is by their front door. If not, I’ll have to call and have them track it down.

Sitting with a feeling of restlessness again. I never am quite sure what it is trying to tell me when it comes. I have the urge to do something but can’t put my finger on what it is I am to be doing. I try to remember to allow that feeling to be and not act on it. I find myself standing in front of the refrigerator looking for a snack. I quit snacking there years ago. It must be some old energy working itself out and I have an unconscious habit of feeding the feeling instead of allowing it to be.

Grateful for what sleep I was able to find last night, grateful for a quiet day at home, and grateful vaccines are becoming available to all.

I got three hours of painting done today – yay! I almost have the kitchen cabinets first coat on. Still have three more sets of cabinets to do. The second coat will go on faster than the first one does. I like the look of the painted cabinets and the color I choose. I was afraid it was too light of a shade but now that it is up I can see the true color and like it. It is really making the kitchen brighter and cleaner looking.

The door guy came today and fixed the door to the metal shed. It didn’t take very long to do so. Am glad to finally get to cross something off my to-do list. He will come do my screen door when the screen he ordered comes in.

The internet people called today and aren’t too convinced we are still having connectivity issues. I will be so glad when the new company comes out this way and we can get a different provider. Jim talked to the internet people and I’m not sure I understand where they left it. If we keep getting kicked off I will call them again.

Our guest came out around 4:30. He joined us for dinner. I had fixed a crock pot of chili this morning so dinner was easy tonight. We have enjoyed visiting with him this afternoon and evening.

The wind was in a big hurry most of the day. We had gusts well over 40 MPH today with sustained wind of 30 MPH most of the day. I almost got blown over when I went down to do the chickens this morning. The girls gave us 26 eggs today. The wind didn’t seem to slow them down. The wind has finally calmed down a bit this evening and it is only going about 20 MPH now.

It reached 80 degrees today but was so windy I didn’t get out to enjoy the warm weather. The wind was a bit cold and hard. It was too windy to have the windows or doors open. It is to cool down and only be in the low 60’s tomorrow. KS can’t decide if it wants to warm up or stay cool.

I didn’t get a nap today. It may be an early bedtime for me tonight. I want to get up and go finish the first coat on the kitchen cabinets tomorrow morning. I’m getting tired of painting cabinets and want that job done.

I took seven calls on the hot line last night. None of them were imminent risk which is always good. One was a bit alarming but I convinced them to contact their therapist and to text back in if they couldn’t get hold of their therapist. I doubt I get on tonight as I am tired tonight but we will see what happens. They have been so busy lately that I feel guilty if I don’t get on and help out for an hour or two.

Nothing on the calendar for the next couple of days. Later in the week I’ll need to go to town and buy groceries for our Easter feast. I’ll start baking on Saturday for that. I can’t wait till the kids come out Easter Sunday. It will be so good to have them gathered around my tables again.

I may need to mow my yard sometime this week. It is getting high in spotty places. I haven’t heard when my guy is coming to do the burning of the outer yard. My neighbor hasn’t burned his pasture yet either.

It feels good to be physically tired tonight from three hours of painting today. I am hoping that will help me sleep better tonight. I am overdue again for a good night’s sleep.

Jim and I were commenting how much work we have to do around this house this spring too. Now that we have the other big project we are starting to feel work piling up around this house too. Guess we will do what we can and the rest will patiently wait for us to get around to it. Not sure when we are going to get back down to Stillwater to work on that big project too. Too much to do and not enough to time to get it all done.

Grateful to have gotten three hours of painting time in today, grateful for the company of our guest, and grateful the wind has slowed down this evening a bit. The sound was wearing me out earlier.

Not sure this day went as planned but it was a nice day. It was a beautiful spring day on the prairie. Lots of prairie fires all around us today. When we went for our walk after dinner we watched a fire to the northeast of us. I love watching the line of fire snake across the prairie.

I got the downstairs cleaned up this morning. The bed has fresh linens and all the towels have been washed so they are nice and fresh. I still need to clean the coffee room and then we will be ready for our guest to arrive tomorrow early evening.

I was going to go paint and then I got a text from Jason. He had something to bring to me and told me he was coming out. He waited for Cody to finish his nap and didn’t make it out for a couple of hours. We had a nice visit when they got here. Cody enjoyed gathering eggs and playing on the back deck with a bucket of wood pieces Jim found for him to play with. Jim is so tickled that Cody calls us Grandma and Grandpa.

After they left I took a nap and when I got up it was time to fix dinner. I had put some scalloped potatoes and ham in the oven for Jim before I laid down and I also baked myself a sweet potato. I had some left over chicken with the baked sweet potato and fixed Jim the rest of the asparagus.

This morning I made a batch of ham salad for Jim to snack on. Since I have plenty of eggs I boiled a few extra and made deviled eggs. We both enjoyed eating on them today – they are already gone. I’ll have to make some more soon. Heavens knows I have enough eggs to use up. I sent two dozen home with Jason. I tried to give him four dozen but he said he didn’t have room in his refrigerator.

Tomorrow I will deliver three dozen eggs to my regular customers. I will still have 10 more dozen in the refrigerator after that and I will get 2 more dozen tomorrow from the girls. I have got to find some more egg customers.

There are high wind advisories up for tomorrow. We are to have winds of 30 MPH with gusts up to 50 MPH. The chicken coop needs cleaned out but thinking tomorrow might not be the day to do that.

When I get up and get going tomorrow I am going in to town to paint. I didn’t make it in today. I sure would like to get the first coat on all the cupboards in the kitchen. Not sure I can get it all done tomorrow but I am going to try.

We just looked out the front door and saw the big beautiful super moon and the last of the prairie fire that is burning about a mile away. I love watching the fires at night. It is magical with the full moon above it tonight.

We just put the turkey I am going to cook for our Easter Thanksgiving feast next Sunday in the refrigerator downstairs to thaw. I am getting so excited to have the kids over for a meal. Maybe we are getting back to normal – what ever that means these days.

When we got back from our walk we found Sophia in the back pasture. I had to put her collar back on her. I had just taken Roxy’s collar off of her today thinking they would stay in the yard. Darn it anyways. Sophia knew she was in trouble when I yelled at her. She avoided us for a while afterwards but we tracked her down and put her collar on her. I trust she will not have another accident with the collar. The pastures will soon be filled with cattle and the temptation to herd them would be too great for her to go without her collar that keeps her in the yard.

Grateful for the beauty of the prairie fires around us, grateful for the beauty of the full super moon tonight, and grateful to have gotten to spend some time with Jason and Cody today.

Got some more painting done this afternoon. I ran out of paint and had to stop. Good thing Jim went into town today to get some supplies so he can start his part of the remodel. He picked up another gallon of paint for me so I can go at it again tomorrow.

We stripped the bed downstairs of the linens and grabbed the towels out of the bathroom so I can get everything washed up so it will be fresh for when our guest comes Monday. I’ll need to go down either tomorrow or Monday and clean the bathroom and floors. The room hasn’t been touched since August and needs a layer of dust removed from it.

I took another nap today. This is becoming a habit again. I sure sleep better during the afternoon than I do at night.

I was on the hot line earlier tonight as they got busy. I only handled two or three callers. They got caught up so I signed off. I have put in 14.5 hours this week and am not to exceed 12. They are so busy that they have been allowing us to put in extra hours if we are able to do so. They have started training new volunteers again so hoping we can get some more night owls to work so texters don’t have to wait so long to get someone to talk to.

I fixed Jim Gravy Train for dinner and I had a hamburger patty. I really need to give more thought about what we are eating. I seem to be in a rut and can’t come up with anything creative and exciting to fix.

Tomorrow Jim and I are going into the new house again and get some more work done. I want to finish getting the first coat of paint on the upper cabinets and doors. Jim got some lumber so he can start repairing woodwork. He also got some plaster so he can repair holes in the walls. I am hoping the handyman will be home so I can get him a key so he can get started on the three rooms he is going to do for us.

Monday I need to make some phone calls and light some fire under some workers I need to come out. I sure wish it only took one call to get someone to come do a job for me. Still waiting to hear from the electrician as to when they can come. I haven’t heard from Evergy about the tree limb I reported was hanging over the utility line. I don’t know if they just show up and deal with it or if they are to get back to me. I still need to the plumber to come to this house and fix the leaking booster pump as well as do an inspection at the other house. The internet people were called again Thursday and they were to have called us back Friday and didn’t so I need to call them again. I can’t seem to get things crossed off my pending list.

Monday I also need to call the tile guy and have him give me an estimate to put in a back splash in the new property and to look at our master shower. There is a water mark all around the bottom of the shower so I think the seal is leaking water behind the tile. There always seems to be something that needs replaced or repaired around here.

The door guy is coming Monday early afternoon to CWF to fix the door that blew off the metal garage at the new property. They ordered the creek for the screen door but that usually takes a week or more to come in so he will have to come back to fix that.

Our guest will be arriving sometime Monday early evening. It will be fun to have company for two nights. We both enjoy visiting with him and it will be good to catch up with him. Last time he came I was sick and didn’t get to visit with him much. That was the start of my C-Diff experience. So glad that episode is behind me now.

There is a full moon tomorrow night. It is clean tonight and the moon looks all but full. It is casting beautiful moon shadows on the prairie tonight.

Grateful to have gotten a bit of painting done today, grateful for what progress is being made at the new house, and grateful for beautiful moon shadows on the prairie tonight.

We were surprised by a thunderstorm while we were eating dinner tonight. I don’t remember seeing it in the forecast. We didn’t get much rain and the rain didn’t last very long. There was some thunder and lightening and a rainbow was trying to form but never quite got there.

We went into Emporia this afternoon and got a new ladder. I was going to get some paint but we couldn’t find anyone in the store to mix it for us. I got two cabinet door knobs so I could decide which one I liked the best. I also stopped at the key store and had two keys made – these keys work.

Went to the new property and Jim helped me take the rest of the kitchen cabinet doors off the cupboards. We walked through the house and made an initial list of things that need to be done in each room. I was tired so I didn’t stay and paint. I came home and took a long nap.

Jim had hot dogs for dinner and I had left over hamburger soup. Someday soon I need to get serious about fixing dinner and fix a nice dinner. Maybe it will happen and then again maybe not.

Jim helped me bake Snickerdoodle cookies after dinner. He rolls them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and puts them on the cookie tray. They are his current favorite cookie.

I worked on the hot line last night. I handled 13 callers. I asked the supervisor to check over two convos as they were a bit alarming but didn’t meet the criteria to flag them. I always feel bad when I sign off and there are 125 people waiting to talk to someone and only 40 counselors working. I was fried and needed to stop though. Since I took a long nap today I will get on tonight and help out.

Plan to get to the new house tomorrow and get the upper set of cabinets painted as well as the doors that we took off. I would like to use up the rest of the paint I have tomorrow before I stop. We will see if I can get that far.

A friend that has stayed with us before is coming in Monday evening and will be here until Wednesday morning. His job brings him to this area occasionally and he stays with us when it does. We both enjoy his company and it will be good to have him here for Monday and Tuesday evening. Sunday I will need to get downstairs and clean. I haven’t cleaned down there for a long time. We haven’t had a guest stay since last August.

I need to remember to put the turkey in the refrigerator downstairs on Sunday so it will be thawed for me to cook it next weekend. I’m so excited to fix a turkey dinner for my family. It has been way too long since we have gathered.

I look forward to it warming up a bit next week and the sun returning. I’m tired of cloudy days and cooler temperatures. I got cold today and it took me a long time to warm back up. Poor Jim is sweating and I have my heater running under my desk. We have very different inner thermostats.

Feeling a bit ungrounded tonight. Not sure why although the full moon is Sunday and it can cause be to get pulled off-center sometimes. I don’t do well when I go to town these days and I came home cranky. I am also a bit overwhelmed with all the work we have to do at the new house. This little project is turning into a huge project. Guess we will continue working on it and cross things off one at a time off our list. It will all get done – sooner or later.

Grateful for a new ladder that will make painting safer, grateful Jim’s supply of cookies has been replenished, and grateful for my time on the hot line – it always teaches me something new about myself.

Took my car to get its oil changed at 10:00 this morning. It was cold and raining so I sat and waited for them to do the change. I then went over to the new property and painted for a while. I got most of the lower cabinets finished. I’ll need to get Jim over to the house to take the upper cabinet doors off so I can get started on the upper set of cabinets.

Jim taught his class this afternoon. He has two more classes in this series left to do. We were trying to decide how many hours it takes him to put together one class. He started reading and taking notes for it way back in December. He starts teaching another class sometime coming up in April. This class he has taught before so just needs to clean up his notes. He has less time than he usually does to teach this class so will have to cut things out which is hard for him to do.

I saw a post on the local buy sell or trade site that someone was looking for a wireless pet containment system. I had one that I don’t use and the three collars that went with it so sold those. The lady came and picked them up this afternoon. Good to have another box of stuff I don’t use out of the house.

We both took a long nap this afternoon when his class was over. The last week or so has felt busy and neither one of us are used to that any more. Dinner was a bit late tonight as we slept longer than I had wanted to. I had put some green chicken in the crock pot earlier this afternoon so just had to make Jim some potatoes and heat up some veggies and dinner was ready. Saved by a crock pot meal again.

Last night I worked on the crisis hot line but the system Gremlins were hanging around. I lost two convos and gave up for a bit. When I got back on an hour later the Gremlins had quieted down and the system worked as it should. I handled six texters all together. None of them were imminent risk but several were high risk. Most did not seem to want to problem solve and just needed someone to vent too. I have another shift tonight.

I need to go to Emporia tomorrow to get a key made for the handyman and I need another gallon of the kitchen cabinet paint. That is the paint that I dumped most of the first gallon on the ground when it fell out of my car. While I am at the hardware store I want to look at cabinet hardware and decide what I want. I also want to look at backsplash tile and see if I can find something that isn’t too expensive that would look good. I may look to see if I can find some paint for the dining room and living room. I also need a taller ladder so painting the rooms will be a bit easier for me. Sounds like I may be in the hardware store for a bit. Yuck! I hate shopping.

I’m grateful my calendar is rather empty for the next week or so. Hoping to get lots of painting done. I need to see some real progress made at the new house. We will have had procession of the house a month tomorrow and we are behind schedule.

The girls gave us 24 eggs today. I now have 10 dozen eggs in the refrigerator. My they pile up quickly. The girls got a treat of sprouted wheat berries today. They love it when I bring a fresh pan down to them. It disappears very quickly.

Grateful the extra wireless containment system found a new home, grateful for rainy day naps, and grateful for crock pot dinners.

This has been a cloudy, cool day on the prairie. We didn’t get any more rain but it looked like it was going to rain most of the day. The sun broke through the clouds occasionally but it never cleared up completely. It was only in the low 50’s today so it was damp and cool today.

I went into town and painted for two hours today. I got the first coat of the kitchen walls done. I really like the color and will be anxious to get the second coat on it. It felt good to get some more painting done today. I need to get a better ladder – the one I am using is too short and the paint bucket is too far from where I need it to be. The other ladder we have is too tall and heavy.

I took a nap this afternoon and when I got up we went into Emporia and delivered cookies that I had made this morning to Tagen and Jason. Jim stopped and got a replacement windshield wiper for the rear window on the Mazda while we were in town.

I fixed Jim burritos for dinner and I had a hamburger. I am still feeling a bit tired and needed something that was quick and easy to fix. Although most nights I only do quick and easy these days.

The furnace guy came and he discovered the leak is from the water booster pump and not the furnace. Damn. I get to pay the furnace guy for a service call and now get to pay the plumber to come out and fix the booster pump. The booster pump is two years old so hoping it is still under warranty.

The door guy texted me and let me know he has ordered the heavy screen for the screen door at this house. He is going to be in Cottonwood Falls on Monday so will stop by the new house and check out the door to the metal building then.

I called the electrician and we are on their pending list. They will call the day before they can come and couldn’t give me an estimate as to when that might be. Guess it will happen when it happens.

I have a shift on the hot line tonight. I was too tired to get on it last night. When I was up in the middle of the night for three hours I checked the hot line and they had 20 volunteers working and 125 people waiting. I didn’t get on and should have.

Tomorrow I take my car in for an oil change at 10:00. If it is nice I will walk to the new house and paint while they change the oil. If it is rainy I will just wait and then drive to the new house and paint for a bit when they are done. I need to be home before 1:00 as Jim has his class and he likes me here in case he runs into computer problems.

Our internet cut out again today. Damn it anyways. I will have to call them tomorrow and see what they want to do. I don’t think he tested the new router after he discovered the other one was bad. Not impressed with their routers.

We don’t have anything on our schedule for the weekend so hoping I can get lots more painting done. I need Jim to come down and take off the upper level kitchen cabinet doors so I can get them painted and get the inside of the cupboards painted. I think I have decided to replace all the hardware and get some that will all be the same color. They have four different types and colors of hardware on the cabinets now. I may also add cabinet knobs to give the cupboards a fresh look. I was looking on-line and got too confused with all the different choices. I may have to go shopping in person to find what I want.

I also decided to add a tile backsplash above the kitchen sink and two sets of cabinets. The wall is in bad shape and the backsplash will cover it nicely. I need to call the tile company and get on their schedule to get that work done.

I sure would love to get the kitchen cabinets and kitchen woodwork painted by the end of the weekend. Not sure that can happen but that is my goal. The other rooms will go much faster – cabinets take a long time to paint it seems. I also realized today the ceiling will need painted. I hate painting ceilings but it needs done.

Jim wants to come up and make a room-by-room list of things that need done. That will help both of us organize the work and decide who is doing what and I can get outside help for some of the projects started. It sure seems to take a long time to get contractors in to do the jobs.

The keys I had made did not work. I need to go to my key people downtown and get a key made. I should have done that today when we were delivering cookies and didn’t think about it. I need to get my handyman a key so he can get started.

Jim got both cars unloaded this afternoon. Not sure where he put the treasures he brought back with him. I think most of it went down in the basement. His other house is starting to look a bit lighter but there is still a lot of stuff left to bring here yet.

We got our stimulus money as promised today. I put it in savings so I will have the money to pay the state estimated tax later this year. It is nice to have the money come in to cover that tax bill. Still waiting on the OK state tax refund. There was a change in the tax law after our accountant did our taxes and we will be getting an additional federal tax refund too. The accountant was waiting on the software update before he can amend our tax return file for that refund.

I got the final invoice from the dumpster people and we did not exceed our weight limit so their was no additional charge. That was good news. I can finally cross that item off my to-do list. It seems most days I add to my to-do list many more items then I get to cross off.

Tomorrow afternoon I need to bake Jim some more cookies. His supply is low. Maybe I can do that while he is teaching his class.

I can’t wait until Easter and being able to fix a Thanksgiving Easter dinner for two of my three kids. It will be such a delight to have them here for a meal. It has been over a year since we made that happen.

Grateful for the painting that I got done today, grateful to get to see Tagen and Jason for a hot minute today, and grateful to cross something off my growing to-do list.

What a day. I’m glad I am home and this day is done. Neither one of us slept very good last night and we were both up before the alarm went off at 8:00 this morning. If you know Jim, you will understand how unusual that is.

We were on the road to Stillwater by 9:00. I made a quick stop to deliver some eggs in Matfield Green and we stopped again at Belle Plain for gas. Got to Stillwater before noon. Jim had some errands to run and I stayed at the house and started packing up books. Jim brought Wendy’s chili back with him when he came home. We ate our chili and then he went out to the shop and started gathering up things he wanted to bring back. We filled up my car and Jim’s Honda Element.

We left for Strong City around 3:25. We drove in rain both ways today. There is a lot of water standing in the ditches between here and Stillwater. Traffic wasn’t heavy except for about three miles around Wichita on the way south.

I drove by the new investment property when we came home through Cottonwood Falls to make sure they had picked up the dumpster. They had and they left some good sized tracks in the yard where they had to drive to pick up the dumpster. Glad to have that gone so I can cross it off my list.

I quickly fixed a ham, cheese, and onion omelet for dinner along with some hash browns. It was quick and easy. We were both hungry and tired. Jim took care of the chickens while I fixed dinner. They gave us 24 eggs today. I got rid of four dozen eggs today but got two dozen more. They pile up quickly.

After dinner I gathered up the trash and Jim took it down to the curb. I need to remember to go into town tomorrow and set out the trash there. We filled up the trash container when we were picking up the yard Sunday.

Tomorrow the furnace guy is coming to fix the water that is leaking out of the furnace. I haven’t heard from the door guys so will need to call them again and see if they got my message. I also need to call the electrician as I still haven’t heard from them. Sure wish I only had to make one call to get things done.

So far the internet is working although we weren’t home and on it much today so far. Not sure I believe it has been fixed yet but am hoping it has been. The printer is still not working properly but we will take it one step at a time.

I need to call and schedule an oil change for my car sometime this week. I keep forgetting to do so. I turned 13,000 miles today on the way home. I got the car on January 3, 2020 so haven’t put lots of miles on it yet. COVID 19 grounded me and I didn’t travel much last year.

I promised Tagen some cookies tomorrow so will need to get those made in the morning and taken to town tomorrow afternoon. I hope to go in to Cottonwood Falls and paint in the morning for two hours or so. I would love to get the kitchen walls finished with the first coat. I need to see some progress on that house. I also need to test the new keys to see if they are going to work – I have my doubts. If they don’t I can take them back when I deliver cookies tomorrow afternoon.

I have a crisis hot line shift tomorrow night. Last night I worked for about two hours and handled seven callers. None of them were high risk. I had an interesting exchange with a woman that is not enjoying being a mother. I trust I handled her with grace and compassion even though I was a bit shocked at what she had to say. I’m too tired to get on the hot line tonight. Not sure I would have much patience or grace.

Jim will unload the cars tomorrow. Both of us are too tired tonight to mess with it. Some of the stuff needs to go downstairs and it would be easier to drive the car to the back lower doors and not have to carry the stuff so far. With all the rain we have had we can’t do that right now. If we wait a day or two it will dry out enough that we can drive up to the back door.

We don’t have anything on our calendar for the weekend after Jim teaches his class on Thursday. Am hoping we spend a couple hours a day at the new house and make some real progress. So far next week is pretty open too so we should be good to go and work lots on the new house.

I feel old and tired tonight. Sitting in a car for six hours wore me out. I’m glad that trip is done and out of the way – until next time at least. We really need to get back down there and stay for a solid week and get lots of work done down there. Everywhere I look we have lots of work to do. Somehow it seems to patiently wait for us to get to it.

Grateful for a safe trip to and from Stillwater today, grateful the dumpster is gone, and grateful for the rain that is falling on the prairie.

A rainy day on the prairie today. It was sprinkling when I went down to do chicken chores this morning. The sun took the day off and it has been damp, cloudy and cool all day.

I called the electric company that provides service at the new house and reported the tree that is hanging over the power line in the back yard. I left a message so not sure when or if they will react to the call. I also called the door company to ask them to fix my screen door and the door to the metal shed at the new property. I haven’t heard back from them either.

I delivered five dozen eggs to my regular egg customers around noon today. Jim wanted me here when the internet guy came so I didn’t stay in town to paint. The guy showed up and spent about 15 minutes doing a diagnostic check on the system. He replaced the router box again. The new one was a lemon too. Not sure if the problem has been fixed or not but we will see what happens. The printer issue did not get fixed although I didn’t expect that to happen.

We went to town after the internet guy left. We stopped at Bluestem and got 200 pounds of chicken feed and 50 pounds of dog food. I also got some keys made for the new house so I can give my neighbor a key so he can get started on doing some work. The guy that made the key didn’t seem to know what he was doing and made me four keys when I asked for two. I’ll have to try the new keys to see if they work. He said I could bring them back if they don’t.

We then went to Walmart and got some groceries and other things on my list. I got a few more things for our Easter Thanksgiving Dinner. That list is now down to just veggies and perishables which I can’t buy until it is closer. Came home and got everything unloaded and put away. I then took a nap. Every time I go to town I come home exhausted. Wonder how long that is going to happen for?

Jim had fish sticks and tater tots and I had salmon and sweet potato fries for dinner. It makes for an easy meal.

Tomorrow we are driving to Stillwater to pick up two loads of stuff from Jim’s house. I’m taking four dozen eggs to another regular egg customer that lives in Matfield Green as we will go by her house on the way out of town. Not sure what we are going to do for dinner when we get home but will figure something out. Think I will stop by Wendy’s tomorrow in Stillwater and have chili for lunch. That will be a treat to get take out. We haven’t done that for over a year.

The dumpster guy is to come pick up the dumpster tomorrow. I am grateful it didn’t rain too much today as he has to drive through the yard to pick it up. It will be good to go to the house and not see the dumpster in the yard.

Wednesday the furnace guy is coming in the afternoon to fix the water leaking from the furnace. We are to get our stimulus money on Wednesday if it comes as promised. It will just go into savings until we need it to pay our state estimated tax. Money comes in and it goes right back out.

I didn’t get any more painting done today. I am a bit stiff and sore from my fall yesterday but am doing better this afternoon. I don’t like to paint when I am tired as I don’t feel like I do a good job painting when I’m not at my best. I won’t get any painting done tomorrow since we will be gone all day so hoping Wednesday I can get back at it.

Wednesday I will need to call the electrician if I haven’t heard from them by then. They have had the bid for a week now and I want to remind them to get that job scheduled. Other work is being held up until the electrician can get his work done.

Since I took a nap I will probably get on the hot line tonight. I checked last night and they didn’t need more help – at least when I checked. Anytime there is a mass shooting they tend to get busy and it sounds like something happened in Boulder this afternoon. It makes me sad every time there is a mass shooting.

Grateful for the additional rain we got today, grateful the internet may be fixed, and grateful for naps that restore my soul.

We are worn out! I worked for four hours at the new house and Jim worked for three. I painted kitchen cabinets again. After over an hour of that I stopped painting on the cabinets and painted on the wall. I needed to see some progress and cabinet painting is slow and hard to tell that I am getting anywhere. The kitchen sure looks better with part of the wall painted.

Jim worked on tearing down the old garage and cleaning up around it. He didn’t get as far as he wanted to get. It Is slow, hard work. He is cutting rafters trying to get the roof to collapse but so far it is hanging tight.

We both stopped what we were doing around 5:15 and finished loading the lumber that has been torn off the garage into the dumpster. I handed boards to Jim and he threw them up high in the dumpster. At one point I tripped and hit the ground hard. I am thinking I am going to be sore tomorrow. No real damage done though.

We cleaned up the yard some more to add what we could to the dumpster. It is to rain tomorrow so doubt we add any more to it. It is getting pretty full. They are coming to pick the dumpster up Tuesday morning.

I need to find someone to haul off the boat that was left on the property as well as the rest of the boards and roofing material from the garage once Jim gets that down. I also need to call the electric company to see if they will come cut a tree down that is hanging over the power line in the back yard. It is our line so not sure they will do so. My list of things to do at that house seems to continue to grow. I don’t seem to be getting to cross much off the list.

I had put a chicken in the crock pot around noon so when we got home around 7:30 I quickly made some hash browns for Jim and some carrots for me and dinner was ready. We were both tired and hungry. I’m glad I had something almost ready for us to eat.

Tomorrow the internet guy is coming in the afternoon to hopefully figure out why our internet goes on and off. After he leaves we need to go to town to run some errands and pick up some chicken feed and dog food. I need a few groceries so since we will be in town I will pick those up. I have an egg delivery to do around noon tomorrow. If I get up early I may go into town and paint for an hour or two before the internet guy comes or else go in after he leaves and we get back from town.

Tuesday we are going to Stillwater for the day. We will drive my car down and drive both my car and Jim’s Honda back. Jim will fill both cars with more stuff he wants to bring up. Someday soon we need to spend a week or more in Stillwater so he can get some work done. He hasn’t been keeping up with his plan to spend a week a month down there working on the house and he has lots of work that needs done there too.

Wednesday the furnace guy is coming to figure out why water is accumulating under the furnace at our house. It sure seems like we are having to deal with a lot of fix-it guys lately. I need to call the door guys and have them come fix a screen door that the screen is torn and almost completely out of the door and then send them to the new property to attach a door to the metal shed that blew off during the high winds a week or so ago.

Thursday Jim teaches his OSHER class and then I think we have a couple of free days. I will be ready for some quiet time without scheduled repair guys by then. Of course we will have to continue to work on the new house and see if we can make some serious progress over the next couple of weeks.

It felt good to make more progress on the new property. There is so much work left to do that I get overwhelmed thinking about it. It helped to paint some wall today though as I can see how that transformed the kitchen and can picture the other rooms with fresh paint. I’m so glad our neighbor is going to start working when he can on the three really bad rooms. That will take a load off of Jim as much of that work I don’t know how to do.

Grateful for the work that got done today, grateful the dumpster is going away Tuesday, and grateful for fix-it guys that know what they are doing.

Happy Spring Equinox to all. A day of balance between light and dark and the traditional first day of Spring. The prairie is starting to green up and spring flowers are blooming. It is a beautiful time of the year.

We went to the new investment property this afternoon to work for several hours. I got some painting done after Jim helped me remove all the lower set of cabinet doors. He worked on tearing down the old garage. Neither of us finished our projects but it felt good to get a couple solid hours of work done. I helped Jim haul lots of garage boards to the dumpster after I painted for a couple of hours.

I talked to the neighbor next door who happens to be a handyman. He came in the house and I showed him three rooms that need lots of attention – the laundry room, bathroom and back porch. I am going to get a key made to the house and then he is going to start working on all three rooms as he has time. Since he lives right next door he can come over for an hour or so and get some work done in any free time he has as he won’t have any drive time. Jim has way too many other projects to do and if we don’t hire some help this house won’t get done.

I’m hoping I will hear from the electrician next week and find out when he is coming. He needs to get that work done before the handyman can do some of what he needs to do.

I took a nap this afternoon before we went to town. Jim took a hike while I slept. It was another beautiful spring day on the prairie.

I had laid out some hamburger so when we got home I quickly turned the grill on and grilled hamburgers for dinner. Made some hash browns for Jim and green beans for me. I like easy dinners like that and it only took 20 minutes to fix dinner. Tomorrow I have one of the free range chickens thawing and I will put it in the crock pot before we go work in town and dinner will almost be ready for us when we get home.

We plan on going back tomorrow to work for another couple of hours. We have a stack of boards by the dumpster from the old garage that need put into the dumpster before it goes away Tuesday. I want to get some more painting done. I would like to get the bottom cabinets done so I can then get started on the top ones next week. I need to look at the hinges as I would like to order new hinges for all the cabinets so they will all be alike. Some of the doors have a circle hole drilled in them that the hinge fits in though so not sure that I will be able to find hinges that will work for all. We will see what I can find. If I add pull knobs I think it will help give the cabinets a new look too.

I didn’t get a chance to try the new wall paint as we drove Jim’s car and the paint was in mine. Maybe tomorrow I will take the wall paint and see if it will work. I will make it work for at least one room as I don’t want to waste it. I will paint the big bedroom closet with it if nothing else.

We have a busy week shaping up for next week. Tomorrow we need to get some more work done on the investment property. Monday the internet guy is coming to hopefully solve our internet problem. We also need to go to Emporia Monday for a feed haul and to run some other errands and I have egg deliveries to make. Tuesday we are going to Stillwater to bring back Jim’s other car and two car loads of stuff. The dumpster is going away Tuesday. Wednesday the furnace guy is coming to find out why the furnace at our house is leaking water on the floor. Jim teaches his class on Thursday. We need to get some more work on the investment property most days too.

It felt good to get in town and get some work done today. If the handyman can get those three rooms done over the next month or so I can get the other rooms painted and Jim can handle the little things that need done to them. Maybe we can get this house rented by June 1. There is still a lot of yard work that needs done and the outside of the house needs painted so June 1 may be an ambitious goal.

Grateful to have gotten some painting done today, grateful Jim got started tearing the garage down, and grateful my neighbor agreed to do some work on the house.

One year ago today Jim and I got married with just five people total in attendance including us. The pandemic had just started and social distancing was just starting. No one wore masks as those hadn’t been recommended yet. What a first year this has been. We still haven’t been able to get all five kids together so they can meet each other. Not sure yet when that may happen. Weird on so many levels yet with all that has gone on in the world this last year it seems “normal” in a different way. Things do change.

This also happens to be my sister Kathy’s 70th birthday. Where does the time go? Sending much love across the miles to her and wishing her a wondrous year of celebrating her 70 years this life time. Trusting someday soon it will be safe to travel again and we will be able to see each other soon.

I woke up late this morning after having a dream that I was up cleaning house. I was disappointed when I discovered it was a dream and I really hadn’t gotten the house clean. I got up, did chores, ate breakfast and then started cleaning – this time for real. Got the whole main level cleaned today. Wow did I find a lot of dirt. It feels so nice to have the main level cleaned.

We rearranged the office and got rid of a lot of clutter in it. Now it looks like a study that I want to be in. I had to unplug the DISH TV cords and after a bit got them all plugged back in correctly. Had one problem with a plug but figured out what it was and our TV works.

The internet went out again today and the yellow lights came on just as they did with the other router. Jim called and the company is sending a tech guy next week. Sure hope they can figure out what is wrong. It wasn’t the router. Wonder if they will cancel my new two-year contract?

I removed the driver for the printer on my computer and reinstalled it hoping that would help fix the printer issue but it didn’t help. I don’t know what else to do to fix it. The printers work if we plug them into the computers but they work very inconsistently when we use wireless. It would be easier if they never worked using wireless but sometimes it works right away and sometimes it searches for hours to find the network and never prints and sometimes it will print three hours after you tell it to. I still haven’t found a tech person to come help me solve that problem. My computer shows the printer is idle but when we go to print the icon shows us the printer is offline. Even when we reconnect the printer to the internet it still shows offline most of the time although sometimes reconnecting it fixes it for a bit. Weird!

I called and have a furnace repair guy coming next Wednesday. The furnace is leaking water and am not sure where the water is coming from.

The dumpster is being picked up next Tuesday. Will try to get the old garage torn down tomorrow and Sunday so it can be put into the dumpster but if not we will have to figure out another way to haul that lumber away.

I cleaned today instead of painted at the new house. Hoping I get to the new house tomorrow to get some painting done. I needed to get this house cleaned today. It had crossed the line of no return and needed put back into shape. When my house is dirty I get cranky.

We are grilling steaks for dinner tonight. I have a baked potato in the oven for Jim and am baking myself a sweet potato. Dinner will come together very quickly when it is time to heat the grill.

I handled six calls on the hot line last night. No high risk callers and most were easy to handle. I did have one new situation for me but seemed to be able to get them to a cool calm by doing a grounding exercise with them.

Spring Equinox is tomorrow – a day of balance between light and dark. It is a good time to plant intentions of what you want to spring forth over these growing days of light. I used to gather with some friends to celebrate the Equinox and Solstice and I miss that ceremony time.

Jim ordered some bird spikes and put them up around the outside lights today. The barn swallows like to nest around the lights and it causes a big mess on the deck for several weeks each spring. We will see if they work and where the birds decide to nest this year.

Grateful for a year of married life with Jim, grateful for my sister and celebrating with her from afar today, and grateful the main level of the house is clean.

So far the new router is working. Neither of us have had to reconnect our computers to the internet. Before the new router we were having to do it four or five times a day. Jm made it through his class without getting kicked off which was a huge relief. Still having problems with the printer printing on demand but am thinking that is due to an issue either in the printer settings or in our computer settings. I will continue to look for a wiz kid to come to the house and check the settings and see if we can get that resolved. I had a list of three people that do in-home computer calls but when I called them none of them were still in business. Thinking the COVID thing probably drove them out of business. We can always plug the printer into our computer if all else fails.

I didn’t sleep well again last night. I took some Advil Cold and Sinus stuff and am now thinking that is what is causing me not to be able to sleep. I won’t take it again. I seem to need to double test my theories to see if they are right.

Today is the last day of my ear drops. My ears are better – I didn’t have any ear pain at all today. First day in several weeks for that so progress is being made. I am to continue using the Flonase for another week and I was to take the decongestant for another week too but I will have to see if the other kind causes me to not be able to sleep too. Sleep feels more important than the reward from the decongestant.

I took a long nap this afternoon. I didn’t get a nap yesterday and I have a shift on the hot line tonight. I made it through my shift last night but I was wiped out when I was done. I only took four calls and then signed off. None of them were high risks texters but all needed a listening ear and someone to assure them they would be OK. One was a bit tougher with a hard situation with few options. They promised to text back in if things became worse and they become serious about suicide.

Jim taught his class this afternoon. It seemed to go well. I only had to help him out once. I took my nap after his class so didn’t make it into town to paint. Sure hoping I will get some painting done tomorrow and this weekend.

I fixed hamburger soup when I got up this morning so dinner was ready after my nap. That was easy. I laid out some steaks that we will grill for our anniversary dinner tomorrow night. I will throw some potatoes in the oven and then grill the steaks and dinner will be easy tomorrow night too.

Other than painting we have no plans this weekend. It is to be a nice weekend so hoping Jim can get some work done outside at the new property. The dumpster is going away next week and we need to get some more work done while we still have it. I will paint inside and try to get the kitchen done. I want to do one wall in a bedroom to see if the new paint I got will work. Am thinking I want to get a darker color for the living room and dining room.

I haven’t heard from the electrician yet so don’t have a date when he will come clean up the breaker box and do the other odd jobs he needs to do. Everything happens in it’s own time.

When we were eating dinner tonight the doorbell rang. It was a young couple from Topeka looking for a bed and breakfast. I gave them the Chase County Chamber website address so they could look up what is available in the area.

Maybe this coming week will be a good week to get this house cleaned and get lots of work done on the house in town. We are going to Stillwater one day next week to bring up Jim’s other car. We will fill my car too so he will get two loads of more stuff brought to KS. Wonder how many more car loads of stuff he has to bring? I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that question. Other than the trip to Stillwater we don’t have anything else special planned for the week.

Ellexia and her daddy are driving to KY to visit family next week. Ellexia told me she needs some cookies to take along in the car with her so I will need to get some baked for her and delivered to Emporia either tomorrow or Saturday. A girl needs her cookies!

We didn’t get the winter weather that was forecast for last night. We got a bit of sleet and ice early evening but not the two inches of snow. It was actually nice outside today if you could find a spot out of the wind. The wind was in a hurry all day with gusts up to 30 MPH.

The girls gave us 25 eggs today. My refrigerator is getting full of eggs again. I may take some to a friend in Matfield Green tomorrow just to get rid of some.

We are still checking our bank accounts daily waiting for our stimulus money to come. Not sure if we will each get a check or if they will combine them this time since we have filed our 2020 income taxes already. I have had to wait for a paper check the last couple of times. Jim always got his right away in a direct deposit. I guess there is no hurry for the money to come in as it is going into a saving account to sit until it is time to pay the state our estimated tax payment quarterly this year. We don’t need it until July so have time to wait for it.

Grateful the new router is working and Jim didn’t get kicked off the internet during his class, grateful for no ear pain today, and grateful for a long afternoon nap.

What a day. Not sure much of it has gone as planned or expected. Another reminder to not have expectations I guess.

I figured out this morning that part of my not feeling good has more to do with the cholesterol medication than it did with the COVID vaccine. I happened to think to look up the side effects of the new medication I inject myself with. Not so common side effects include sore throat, fluid in the ears, leg cramps, fatigue and insomnia among others. My leg cramps have been getting increasingly worse over the last couple of months – now that I look back they started when I took my first injection. The new injection made them even worse. The sore throat and fluid in the ears started after my new injection and the insomnia worsen then too. It also mentioned the possibility of chemical burn at the site of injection which I have.

I have an appointment with my doctor the first week of May and I will have to have to risk/reward discussion with him to see if this new medication is worth it. I will take the next two as scheduled as they cost so much I don’t have the heart to waste them.

The manager of my internet company called me this morning and woke me up. Not a pleasant start to my day. He didn’t have much new to tell me other than I found out that their router has a card in it so the router is not interchangeable with other brands. He didn’t have an answer to me as to why I wasn’t told the router has a one-year warranty. No compromise or interest expressed on his part to keep me as a customer.

Unfortunately my internet provider choices are very limited. Jim has a class to teach tomorrow and needs internet to be able to do so. So we ended up driving to Council Grove to exchange the router for another one. I had to sign a two-year contract to get it for free. When the new company comes my way I will break the contract and have to pay $240 to get out from under it.

The new router did not fix my printer issue. The printer is still going off-line and you have to reset it every time you want to print something. And even then it only decides to print occasionally. I am beyond frustrated with computer issues. The internet tonight is working very slowly and am not sure why. Jim wants to call the company tomorrow and have them send a tech out but if they don’t find anything they will charge me $150 per hour. Not sure they have any interest in finding something wrong on their end.

Jim and I volunteered to help with the distribution of Commodities. We only had to work for one hour this afternoon and then returned early evening for another hour. They had plenty of volunteers both time so not sure we were too needed. Most of the boxes had been handed out early and were gone before we got their at the designated time this evening.

It is getting cold again and there is an icy mix in the rain we are getting. We are in a Winter Advisory for overnight with wind gusts predicted to be over 30 MPH during the night and up to two inches of snow expected. It will be a good day tomorrow to stay home.

I obviously didn’t make it to the house in town again today to paint. Another day wasted on that front. We have no plans this weekend so hoping I can spend a lot of time in town and get that project going. I need to call the dumpster people and have them come pick up the dumpster. We aren’t adding to it so it might as well go away.

I have a shift on the hot line tonight. I didn’t get a nap and the internet issues have made me grumpy again. I hope I don’t take my frustrations out on a texter.

I spent way too much time today around other people. After not being around people most of the time I find it very draining to be around people now. Thinking I like the isolation of COVID and will not be breaking out much. I can handle one or two people in a home setting but beyond that I have forgotten how to handle that and not sure I want to remember how to do it.

Grateful for the commodities that will go to families in need, grateful for the additional moisture we are getting on the prairie tonight, and grateful most of the time I don’t have to people.

I think someone needs to put me into time out. I am cranky this afternoon. I came home from the dental cleaning with a raging headache. That hygienist is going to have trouble holding a job when she graduates. I am surprised she is a second year student – she acted like a first year student. My mouth has three sores in it from her oops today. This has been the only bad experience I have had at this program. Usually they take a long time but don’t wound me.

Got a notice from the Oklahoma Tax Commission that they need proof that OK withholding had been withheld from Jim’s pension and IRA. I had to take a picture of the forms on my iPad as I don’t know how to use the camera on this computer. I filled out their form and it almost went through when the internet went down. I had to start over and do it again. Finally got it through. They won’t let you mail it in – you have to submit on-line. Wonder what people that don’t have computer access do?

Got a gallon of wall paint and a gallon of woodwork paint before my cleaning today. Trust I will like the colors. Am concerned the wall paint will be too light. I can do one room with it and then get something different if I don’t like it. I had thought I would do most of the rest of the house in one color but if I don’t like it I am not stuck with doing it that way.

Stopped at Staples to ask if they make house calls. I desperately need someone to come help me solve our internet problem. I am beyond frustrated with it. Staples used to make house calls before COVID but no longer do so. Does anyone know of someone that knows computers and understands routers and is willing to come to my house? HELP me out please!

Picked up a few groceries as I needed to waste 20 minutes before my appointment. I got non-perishables I will need to fix our Easter dinner – we are having a long delayed Thanksgiving meal – turkey and all the trimmings.

Stopped at the Vet office and got flea and tic medication for 3 cats and the 2 dogs and got the dogs a three-month supply of HeartGuard. Those critters are expensive!

I mailed the electrician their check and acceptance of their bid. Trusting they will call in the next week or so to get that job scheduled so I can get the painting done. This whole project has not progressed much this week. That adds to my crankiness.

I did manage to get some sleep last night. I didn’t take the decongestant and am thinking that is what has caused me not to be able to sleep the last couple of nights. I did use the Flonase last night and the ear drops. My ear is better although still not 100%. At least the pain is manageable now.

I got on the hot line for a bit last night and handled four calls. They were all routine type calls and not high risk. Most of them just needed to vent and weren’t too interested in problem solving. Sometimes I guess venting is enough. I have to remind myself to meet their goal and not to impose my goal on them.

Tomorrow I am helping prepare the Commodities for distribution in Chase County. The lady was to have called me to tell me what help she needs but I haven’t heard from her yet. Guess I will show up and figure it out then. Not sure how much of the afternoon it will take.

Thursday Jim teaches a class from 1:00 – 2:30. Trusting our internet will hold up during his class this time. He likes me to be here when he teaches in case he runs into some technical issues. Not sure I am very helpful but sometimes two heads are better than one.

We don’t have any plans this weekend. Our first wedding anniversary is Friday. This year has flown by. I guess if we can survive a year of isolation together we should be good when the world opens back up again.

Spring Equinox is Saturday – a day of perfect balance of light and dark. I always check within to see where I am in balance on that day and where I am not. I love learning new things about myself during Solstice and Equinox ceremonies.

Jim wants to go to Stillwater one day next week. This time I am going to drive him down and he will bring his second car to KS and not leave one in Stillwater. It will be a long day as it is a three-hour drive one-way. We will fill both cars with more of his treasures and then come home in the evening.

It is to start raining overnight tonight and rain for lots of tomorrow and Thursday. I welcome the rain to the prairie. It has been a beautiful day today with temperatures in the low 60’s and sunshine.

The girls gave us 26 eggs today. One day next week we will have to do another feed haul. They are eating like crazy right now. I don’t mind feeding them when they give me lots of eggs in return. I have extra eggs again if anyone needs some.

We are having leftovers for dinner tonight so dinner will be easy. Nothing else has felt easy to me today so glad something will be easy. I’m too cranky right now to think about taking calls on the Hot Line. I’m afraid I would not give much empathy to the texters in the mood I am in now. Maybe I need to text in and have someone tell me something positive about myself.

Grateful the teeth cleaning is done, grateful I got my errands done while I was in town today, and grateful tomorrow is a new day to wake up to and feel great.

Another non-productive day after another night of little sleep. I have got to figure out what is causing me to not be able to sleep. It is causing me to not be able to do the things I want to do. I stayed home this afternoon and took a nap – even during my nap time I wasn’t able to sleep very well.

I delivered four dozen eggs today. I have four more dozen in the refrigerator for a friend that will stop and pick them up. I’m glad eggs are going out a bit faster this week. They sure pile up quickly. The girls gave me over two dozen eggs today.

I attempted to hook up my old router to the internet today. It worked easy as could be. The printer even printed immediately. Then I walked away for five minutes. When I came back and attempted to print it didn’t do so. The network that I connected to was not on the list to choose from. WTF! I don’t understand why it worked and then the network I used disappeared. These things drive me to drink. I reconnected the router that is going bad and the network reappeared. I give up. I will wait until I can find a tech person to come out and help me or I might end up smashing something in frustration.

I got the bid from the electric company. They charged me a hefty fee just to do the bid and inspection. Their bid was actually a bit less than I had guessed it might be. I wrote them a check to pay the inspection fee and included a note to schedule the work. Their bid didn’t have an acceptance page to it. I will mail it to them tomorrow and hopefully will hear back from them soon as to when they can come do the work. There were two items they didn’t bid out as they weren’t sure what all would be involved in doing the work. I may hit my guess of what I expected it to cost when I add in the inspection cost and the remaining two items on their list.

We got our federal income tax refund today. I tucked it into my saving account as I will use all of it to pay to the state for what I owe them plus the estimates I have to pay. I will have to add to it to cover all the estimated tax payments I owe. Easy come – easy go.

I checked the IRS website to see where my stimulus check is and they tell me they don’t have enough information to tell me. This happened last year too. Not sure why I don’t show up in their data base. Last year they had to mail me my check but since we filed our 2020 taxes and they have my banking number now I am hoping they will direct deposit it. Not sure if Jim will get his separate from mine or if they will come together.

There was something in the Recovery Act that my accountant discovered that he now needs to file an amended tax return for us which will net more federal tax refund. That won’t cover the rest of the KS estimated tax but with the stimulus money added in it will. Money comes in and it goes right back out again. I’m grateful that I will have enough to cover the state tax bill without having to dig into savings.

My dental hygienist called today to let me know she had an opening for tomorrow afternoon and asked if I could come in then. I agreed to do so only to get this appointment over and done with. She is not on my list of favorite people. I really dread going but I need to get it done. For some reason she called Jim’s phone instead of mine today. She sure seems to not have her act together very well.

Since I have to go to town tomorrow I will go in early and pick out the paint for the walls for the rest of the house and the woodwork paint. Some of the painting will have to wait until the electrician gets done but I can get part of it done now.

Dinner is going to be the corn beef and cabbage dinners I picked up yesterday from the Catholic fund raising dinner. That will be easy. Tomorrow night we are having left over pot roast so that will be easy too.

It reached 59 today. The clouds and light shadows were beautiful this afternoon. There were tornado warnings in counties around us but we didn’t have any severe weather. We are to get more rain tomorrow night and into Wednesday. I have appreciated all the rain we have gotten so far and welcome even more to come. It has greatly reduced the fire warnings that we had been under.

Grateful for what sleep I did get, grateful the funds to cover the state tax owed will be forthcoming, and grateful for the beautiful clouds and light shadows today.

What a wonderful “normal” evening we had. Some dear friends invited us over for dinner. Great good, great conversation, a fire in the fireplace, and a sense of returning to a rich and full life. Couldn’t ask for anything else.

I only slept about two hours last night. Not sure what was going on but I could not fall asleep. I am wondering if I had a Benadryl bounce from the sleepiness it caused to being wired. I am taking some over the counter decongestants that the nurse recommended for my ears so they may be wiring me. I tried taking a nap this afternoon and maybe got another hour of sleep. I am really tired right now so may take a bath when I get done blogging and go to bed early. At this point I will sleep whenever sleep can find me.

I didn’t make it in to paint today as I was too tired. I was afraid I would be too sloppy if I tried. Trusting tomorrow I will make it in to paint. Jim wants to work on tearing down the old garage tomorrow afternoon so I may go in to paint in the morning and then help him in the afternoon.

I did run into Strong City around noon. The Catholic Church had a corned beef and cabbage dinner today. I got two orders to go. It will be our dinner tomorrow night. I was surprised that no one inside the building were wearing masks – not even the guys that brought the food to the car. People were hugging and talking and acting like the whole virus thing is over. Trusting no one that was there had the virus and that the event doesn’t become a super spreader event. I was glad they offered a drive-up option and I didn’t have to go inside.

My ears are a bit better today. The drops went through the ears today and didn’t plug them up like they did yesterday. I didn’t have as much pain in the ears today either. Hoping by tomorrow the pain will all be gone, the ringing in the ears will stop and I will have my energy level back to normal for me.

I need to make my egg deliveries tomorrow around noon. I have a new customer to deliver to so will get rid of four dozen eggs tomorrow. I got rid of one dozen today so will only have two left in the refrigerator although I will add another dozen tomorrow after I gather eggs. I like when the eggs go out as fast as they come in. Gives me more refrigerator space.

Wednesday I have volunteered to help prepare and pass out Commodities that come in to Cottonwood Falls and are given to low income people in the area. That will help me meet some more people in the area and be of service.

Since we weren’t home tonight I didn’t notice the time change thing tonight. I like extra daylight in the mornings and will miss that for a bit. I like eating earlier rather than late and wish they would leave the whole time change thing alone.

We got more rain today which is a wonderful blessing. We have been in drought conditions for a while and we are appreciating every drop of rain that has fallen. The ponds needed to get filled up for the start of pasture season on the prairie.

The girls gave us 27 eggs today, including a fairy egg. I hadn’t gotten a fairy egg lately and was just thinking about them yesterday. I wonder if that is the only type of egg that hen lays.

It was a nice reminder tonight of what returning to normal activities might look and feel like. Small gatherings with friends and family is what I have missed the most through this past year of isolation. I haven’t missed shopping or eating out. Still don’t have the urge to travel yet but I am wanting to invite friends over now. We will start with small groups and go from there.

Jim and I have talked about finally holding our wedding reception but not sure how to know who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t been yet. I sure don’t want to host a super spreader event. We will probably wait a bit longer to start planning one.

Grateful for dinner out with friends, grateful my ears are getting better, and grateful for the rain the prairie has received the last few days.

Finally got a bit of painting done today. Am still working on painting the kitchen cupboards. Still have the top ones to do and some of the bottom ones. Progress was made though. It is starting to look better in the kitchen but so much work still needs to be done in the house. I’m a bit discouraged this evening.

My ear was feeling better this morning. Jim came over to the new house this afternoon to bring some things to put in the dumpster. I went outside to help him and when I was done my ear started hurting again. It didn’t like the cold air hitting it.

I came home after painting for a couple hours and laid my head down on a heating pad. I fell asleep and when I woke up my ear felt better. It is still a bit painful but not stabbing like it was earlier.

Got another regular egg customer today. I will add her to my Monday delivery schedule. The girls gave me 27 eggs today so am grateful to have another customer.

Jim is getting taco’s for dinner tonight – I will have a plain hamburger patty. That will be another easy dinner to fix.

The guy that was going to take the boat came this afternoon after I left. He sent me a message letting me know he had found a hole in the bottom of the boat and didn’t take it. I’ll have to figure out a way to haul the damn thing to a dump now. I had thought when we got the dumpster that the first thing we should have put in it was the boat. I’ll figure something out about it – sooner or later. Wonder if the city would haul it away when they have their free trash and haul day sometime this spring?

We got invited over to a dear friend’s house for dinner tomorrow night. I almost feel like dressing up to go – I haven’t dressed up since Nicole’s wedding last June. It will be a huge sign of doing some thing post COVID to go to their house for dinner. A night out – YAY! Our first big step towards returning to life in a bigger world than our house.

I want to go back to the new house in the morning and get some more painting done. If I would work just two hours a day on it I will make some real progress. Getting the inside painted will sure help the house look better. I need to pick out a paint color for the walls in the living room and dining room and then paint for each of the bedrooms. I also still need to get some woodworking paint. Thinking I am going to hire a handyman to fix the back room and laundry room. Jim has classes to work on and it is going to be while before he can get to them.

I’m hoping the electrician’s bid will come in the mail Monday so I can get that signed and then get on their schedule to get that work done. I need to call and remind the plumber Monday that he still needs to come out and inspect the plumbing. Trying to get the big things out of the way so I know where I stand budget wise.

I need to call the dumpster people and have them come pick up the dumpster the end of the week. Jim might get the garage down yet before it goes away but if the rain continues he won’t be able to. We can always burn the garage wood if we had to.

The spot where I injected myself with the cholesterol medication is starting to turn red, itch and welt up like the other brand of the medication caused. I found a video on-line to watch on how to use the injector. The only trouble I had was once I had it on my thigh was getting the pump to start injecting the medication. Once I figured that out the injection went smoothly. It takes 9 minutes for all the medication to inject. There was a big mosquito like welt when I was done. Now the welt is bigger than a silver dollar. My body does not like medication.

According to the Where Is My Tax Refund website we are to get our Federal refund Monday. That will be nice. Too bad most of it is going to the state to pay our state income tax due. Easy come – easy go. Just grateful we got enough back from the Federal tax to have enough to pay the state.

I have a new knitting project that I need to get started. I’m not sure I am in love with the colors but I won’t know until I put it together if it will work. It is so hard to pick out colors on-line and not in person in the yarn shop. My next project is another blanket and I need to get it done before it starts to get too hot to have a heavy blanket on my lap while I am knitting on it.

I’ll probably get on the hot line if they are busy tonight. I didn’t get on last night. This hasn’t been a good week for me on the hot line and need to get a good couple of calls in so I remember why I like doing it.

Grateful to have gotten some painting done today, grateful for another regular egg customer, and grateful I was able to figure out the injection.

Another lazy day where I didn’t get much done. No painting again today. Still didn’t have the energy for it although I am feeling a bit better.

I slept from 1:00 – 3:00 and then couldn’t go back to sleep until 6:45 and then I only slept until 8:30. Got up and discovered our power was off. I called the electric company and they were already on the way to fix it.

I took my shower and got dressed and went into Emporia. I had to drive Jim’s car as I couldn’t get the garage door open to get my car out. Picked up my ear drops and a few groceries and returned home. Put things away, did the chicken chores and fixed my breakfast. The power was back on by the time I got home.

Went into Cottonwood Falls and delivered four dozen eggs to a dear friend. Went by the new investment property and discovered the door to the metal out building had blown off in the wind. We had left the door open as the building is empty and the heavy wind must have caught it and ripped it off the hinges. I’ll have to add fixing that to my long list of things to do. The boat is still on the property. Hopefully they will come get it tomorrow.

Came home and took a two hour nap. I’m still a bit tired tonight but feeling better. My ear hadn’t hurt much today until this evening. The PA I saw recommended I take some decongestant as well as Flonase. That seems to be helping a bit.

Tonight I have to inject myself with the new cholesterol medication. I watched a video on how to do it and it doesn’t look too complicated but sometimes things don’t go as easy as they should. We will see how it works. This one takes nine minutes for all the medication to be injected. Trusting it will feel like an IV and won’t hurt all that time. I am also trusting I won’t have a skin reaction to it like I did with the other brand. I have to take a Benadryl 30 minutes before the injection just in case I react to it. My body doesn’t like drugs and I can have unusual reactions.

I worked my shift last night on the hot line. It was another frustrating night for me. I handled five texters and four of the five were very slow to respond and gave me one word answers. It took a bit to drag out of them what was going on. None of them were very interested in problem solving. I have to trust that venting is what they needed as that is all I could see happened. I had to get a supervisor involved on one of the calls. The supervisor was helpful and gave me some extra space to chat that sometimes the others don’t.

I’ll probably get on again tonight when I get done blogging. It makes me feel like I did something for the day when I put in a couple of hours on the hot line. But so far this week I haven’t felt that my time was super effective. Some days and weeks are like that. One never knows what impact, if any, I am having.

I called the electrician and found out they were mailing the bid out today. I’m glad I called as they had the wrong address. Somehow they had my address as U Rd instead of V Rd. I’m anxious to see how much that bid will be.

Got the roofing bill and the bill from the heater inspection. I wrote checks and will put those in the mail tomorrow. I guess it is a sign of progress that money is flowing out.

I fixed green chicken for dinner. Jim got some hash browns with his and I had some carrots. It was another very easy meal to fix. Seems like that is all I do these days – easy what ever. Jim wants tacos for tomorrow night so that will be another easy meal.

We don’t have anything on the calendar for the weekend. Sure hoping I will feel energized tomorrow and will make it in to paint. That house is not going to get done if I don’t get started.

This time I am in right now feels like the in-between time. I have a wonderful anticipation of things returning to a new normal yet still have my feet stuck in the isolation of COVID. It feels like my body is not all here on either side of this great divide. It will take me some time to figure out what part of the new I want to pick up. Change is in the air and sometimes it can feel unsettling.

Grateful the power came back on rather quickly, grateful for what sleep I was able to find, and grateful for ear drops that will help my ear pain go away.

Jim had internet problems during his class today. So frustrating. He got kicked off the call when the internet dropped two different times. He was a fried puppy when the class was done as it interrupted the flow of his lecture – twice. I sure hope we can get the router situation fixed soon. I sent the company a letter today but not sure what they will do about it – if anything.

I didn’t make it in to paint this morning. I’m still not feeling 100% yet. When I went down to do the chicken chores this morning the wind hit my ear and I literally yelled in pain. I called my doctor’s office and they told me to go to Express Care. I went in after Jim’s class was over this afternoon. I have lots of fluid behind the ear and the tube is swollen and one of the ear drums is red. She called in some ear drops for me. The pharmacy was backed up and I didn’t want to wait an hour for them so will go in tomorrow morning to pick them up.

I am making spaghetti and meat balls for dinner. I will have my sauce over a spaghetti squash and Jim will have the traditional spaghetti noodles. I took some of the sauce in to Michelle’s family as I made way too much for us. I baked chocolate chip cookies this afternoon so took the kiddos a bag of those and also dropped a bag off at Jason’s house.

Jim’s car was fixed today. After class I drove him in to pick it up. A rat had chewed through the clutch hose and the hose had to be replaced. He has spent a lot of money on his two cars this month. Glad it was a relatively easy fix.

I worked the hot line last night and handled four long calls. All four of them needed a supervisor to be involved due to the high risk of the texters. Some of the people were challenging as they were high risk but didn’t want to problem solve. None of them felt good to me when I was done with them. Some people are harder to help than others. I will never know the final outcome of any of them. Glad every night is not like last night.

I have a shift tonight to work. They are already busy and have lots of texters waiting. I will get on after dinner and get my two hours put in. I didn’t take a nap today so can’t stay up late tonight.

I’m starting to feel the pressure of not getting into the house in town to work on it. Trusting I will feel better soon and have the energy to work on it. We are to get rain starting tomorrow morning and it is to rain most of the weekend. That will make good painting weather so trusting I will feel better sometime this weekend and get some work done. The sooner I can get after the painting the sooner we can rent the place out.

We got 28 eggs from the 29 girls today – not bad. I have 5 dozen eggs in the refrigerator that need a home. Anyone need eggs?

Nothing on the calendar now until next week. I do need to remember to give myself my cholesterol shots tomorrow night but other than that we are free of any responsibilities. Sure hoping we will make it into town to work on the new investment property. Jim will need to start getting his lecture ready for next Thursday. He didn’t get near as far as he wanted to today so maybe he has a lot of it done already.

Jim and I are both fully protected from COVID today as it was two weeks ago that we got our second shots. What a relief that is. Not sure much will change for us but I do feel much more comfortable being around the kids and grandkids. Not ready to travel yet but nice to know we could if we had to.

Grateful for the compassionate care from the nurse that saw me today, grateful Jim’s car is fixed and home, and grateful for empty space this weekend.

I have no idea what I did today except sleep. I had a headache this morning and didn’t feel like doing much. I had slept from 10:00 last night until 4:00 this morning. Woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Was up until 7:00 and then took a hot bath and slept until 10:30. Went back to bed at 2:00 and slept until 5:30 this afternoon. I must be fighting something off. Feel better tonight.

Fixed hot dogs for dinner. Talk about an easy dinner. We had some hot dogs left over from our dinner Sunday night with the kids. Jim likes hot dogs – even had buns on hand for him. He got leftover baked beans and potato salad with his. I had some carrots and no bun with mine. About all the energy I had to muster tonight so glad it was a very easy meal.

I have a hot line shift tonight – hoping I can make it through it. I checked a few minutes ago and they are busy already so may sign on early and get it done. Guessing it won’t matter when I sign on as they will be busy whenever. We usually aren’t busy this early in the day.

I didn’t make it in to paint today. Just didn’t have the energy earlier to do so. Hoping tomorrow I will have my energy back and will be able to get some work done. I don’t like days like today when I get absolutely nothing done.

Jim teaches his second OSHER class tomorrow. He has been working all day making a Power Point presentation to go with his notes. The time he puts in to put together a 1 1/2 hour lecture is amazing.

Friday evening I need to remember to give myself my cholesterol medication shots. I will be using a new type of injection this time so trusting I can figure it out. I have to take Benadryl with it so will inject them at bedtime so the Benadryl doesn’t mess my day up.

There was a huge grass fire south west of us today. We could smell the smoke all afternoon. The wind today was in a huge hurry – gusts of up to 40 MPH. It has finally slowed down this evening. There are some beautiful thunderheads to the south and east of us. Doesn’t look like the rain will make it up to my corner of the prairie tonight but have a chance for more rain later this week. It is dry and the grass is tall and the fire danger is high. Trusting we will get our share of rain sometime soon.

I called the new internet company today and they can’t give me a date when they will get to my area. It could be in a month or it could take a year. When I told the lady why I was calling and the problems I am having with TCT she told me I could buy a router on-line for less than $50. Sure enough – I found one for $45. I ordered it and am trusting I will get it soon. I have never heard of the company I ordered it from but sometimes I get lucky when I order. We will see what happens.

The house feels weird tonight after all the wind today. It is almost an eerie quiet now. The air feels heavy to me and my feet are hurting. I can tell there will be a nice thunderstorm in the area tonight.

Still haven’t gotten the electrician’s bid to do the repair job on the new property. I may need to call them tomorrow and find out where it is at. The plumber hasn’t called me yet to schedule a time to come out and I will need to call and remind him too.

My Aunt Jeannie called today. We only talked for a few minutes and she got another call. She said she would call back but must have forgotten to do so. It was good to hear from her briefly. She told me she is going to be 81 this year. Wow! Where does the time go? I have many fond memories of staying with her during the summer time when I was a kid.

Need to try to track down a package delivery. Got a note that an attempt was made yesterday and failed and they would try again today. We were home both days and no one came by. The package is a huge box of egg cartons. I would like to find them before they sit out and possibly get wet. I may drive down to the neighbor’s house and see if they are on his front porch. That happens sometimes.

Trusting I will feel better and have more energy tomorrow. Today I felt like someone pulled my plug and drained me empty. Maybe I just needed a rest day.

Grateful for a day of rest, grateful for an easy dinner, and grateful the wind finally slowed down.

What a day. I am tired and cranky tonight. I listed the boat that is in the back yard at the new investment property on several sites trying to find someone to take it away for me. No charge – just haul it off. I have had to answer all sorts of questions today. How much does it weigh? Will it fit in a pickup? Can you deliver? How long is it? Where is the trailer that goes with it? People it is free – take it or leave it – just make a decision and deal.

I finally had someone come to look at it. He had a boat trailer with him – but he came alone and couldn’t figure out how to get it on the trailer. Yikes! What happened to common sense? He was going to go find some help or else he is coming back this weekend with some friends. He drove 30 miles to come to my house. As long as the boat is gone soon I will be happy. I am done with it!

Went to the house and did a bit of painting this afternoon. I think the colors will work but I need to let what I put up dry before I decide for sure. Patched some nail holes in the living room and dining room. I didn’t get much done but it is a start.

I took seven calls on the hot line last night and got promoted to Level 7. Level 8 will come after I handle 500 more calls. I have handled 500 calls since I started last May. I got on the hot line this afternoon for a short bit as they were busy. I handled two calls and they were caught up so I got off. Anytime there is a major story about suicide the story adds a link to the hot line and we get slammed. Meghan and Harry mentioned suicide and the story about their interview posted on-line had a link to the hot line. I’m too tired tonight to look to see how busy they are.

I have an issue with TCT Wireless. We have trouble using our wireless printer and several times during the day our internet goes down. I have called them four times over the last month. They finally sent me a new power cord and charged me $10 for it which didn’t fix anything. Today they told me our router is going bad and it will cost me $200 for a new one as the warranty on the old one is up. If I sign a two-year contract they will provide the router for free.

I looked at the contract I signed with them when I joined their service and there is no mention of a one year warranty or the fact that if the router goes out I have to pay for a new one. Their service is worthless if you don’t have a router. And what happens if the new router fails one year and one month after I sign the new contract?

I checked the terms and agreement on their website and it doesn’t mention a one-year warranty or the fact that if the equipment fails I have to pay.

I hesitate to sign a new contract as there is a new internet company coming my way sometime this year and I want to switch to them as their speed is much higher. TCT charges $240 to break their contract.

They have me over a barrel though as we need internet service and I have very limited options until the other company gets here. I’m going to write them a letter and see what we can compromise on. The other three times I have called in no one mentioned the cost of a new router. Yikes. What to do?

I slept hard for about three hours last night and then couldn’t get back to sleep. Since I was at the house in town this afternoon I didn’t take a nap today. Thinking it will be a very early night for me.

I am running a low grade temperature tonight. My throat is sore and my ears are plugged and ringing. I have felt like I was coming down with something ever since I got my second vaccine ten days ago. You would think that if what I am experiencing is a side effect of the vaccine it would be done by now. Maybe I have an ear infection or something. I can’t take oral antibiotics so don’t think I will go to the doctor unless I get worse.

Other than a hot line shift tomorrow night I have nothing on my calendar for tomorrow. I hope to get to town and get some painting done. We only have one car right now as Jim’s car is still being fixed so am having to figure out what Jim needs to get done. I do my best painting in the mornings so will probably go in tomorrow morning while he is still sleeping.

Jim went to Emporia this afternoon and picked up some groceries and ran some errands. I think if I had gone to town today it would have pushed me over the cliff. The wind today wore me out and it is still blowing tonight.

I fixed a pot roast this morning in the crock pot so when I got home from town dinner was ready. That was a good thing tonight as I was tired and didn’t have the energy to cook. The roast was delicious and a very easy dinner to serve.

We have a chance for some rain tomorrow night and into Thursday and maybe even more over the weekend. We are in drought like conditions so any rain we get would be very welcomed. There have been lots of grass fires around. It is a dangerous time of the year for fires.

Grateful the boat may be going away, grateful a bit of paint is up on the cabinets and walls, and grateful it is almost bed time.

I got on the hot line after dinner and forgot to blog. I handled 8 callers and was getting impatient with the whiners so decided I needed to get off for the night. Luckily I didn’t have any hard texters tonight. I leveled up to Level 7. I will have to handle 500 calls before my next promotion to Level 8. I have handled 500 calls since I started last May.

It was a rest and recovery day around here today. We got woke up early as the roofers called and needed Jim’s car moved so they could position their trailer where they needed it to be. We got up and got dressed and rushed over to the new house. One of the guys helped Jim push the car out of the way.

We came home and Jim went back to bed. I stayed up and did a bit of house work. After I had lunch I went into town for a haircut. I wasn’t in the mood to stop for paint when I was done so I came straight home and went to bed.

When I came home Jim had gotten up and I went back to bed. I took a long nap this afternoon. I was still worn out from our long work day yesterday. I’m still a bit tired but am feeling better.

Jim arranged for the car to get towed to the repair shop this afternoon. He had to call a tow truck to come from Emporia to tow the car 6 blocks to the repair shop.

The roofers probably finished their job today. When Jim was there mid-afternoon they were almost done. I’m anxious to go see the house now that they have finished and most of the yard is picked up. It will look even better when we get the dumpster out of there.

I had left overs for dinner – Jim had a frozen pizza. He enjoys pizza and is good about eating it when I fail to plan dinner. He doctors it up and adds lots of jalapeño peppers, onion, olives and cheese.

I baked Jim a batch of Snickerdoodles after dinner tonight. I needed to see that I had done something today other than nap.

I was going to go paint this morning but decided I didn’t want to hear the roofers pounding on the roof all day long so I didn’t go in and paint. I am hoping that tomorrow I can get it and get that project started. Jim said he would come in and help me get the cabinet doors removed.

It reached the mid 70’s today. The wind was a bit brisk at 22 – 28 MPH so it didn’t feel as warm as it was. I only needed a sweatshirt when I delivered eggs around noon today. It is to be warm again tomorrow and then go down to the 50’s for several days. Spring is still deciding when it wants to come and stay.

Other than taking trash to the curb I don’t have anything on my calendar for tomorrow. Jim will teach another class on Thursday and I have my scheduled hot line shifts Wednesday and Thursday nights. Otherwise we have our normal, quiet week going on. Hoping it will be a good week to get lots of work done on the new house. That project feels big to me right now and if I can get a room or two painted it will feel more manageable to me.

Thursday will be two weeks since our second vaccine. The new guidelines say we can now gather with other vaccinated people. What a relief that will be. Maybe I need to schedule some dinners with friends so I have something to look forward to. It was so nice having Jason and his family out yesterday and not being so worried about getting sick.

Grateful for a haircut, grateful the roofers did a great job, and grateful for long afternoon naps on a recovery day.

I am tired. We almost filled the dumpster today. Jason, Cody and Dylan came and helped Jim and I throw stuff into the dumpster. I think it is safe to say all of us are exhausted tonight. It was a beautiful day to spend outside this afternoon carrying load after load of junk into the dumpster. So grateful that part of the job is done.

When I got to the house at 12:30 today the guys that hauled off the grain bin were there. They were looking for parts for the bin. They found some of what they were looking for. We didn’t find any more pieces when we were cleaning the yard up today. They took some things out of the garage – I told them anything they wanted to haul off they could have.

Jason and his family came over to our house for dinner after our work day. I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs to go with the deviled eggs, potato salad and baked beans I fixed earlier. It made for a quick and easy dinner. I made Jason Eclairs for dessert and sent the pan home with him.

Cody, the four-year-old helped us gather eggs. He picked one up and immediately cracked it open. He didn’t quite understand the concept of putting them into the bucket and bringing them up to the house.

Needless to say I didn’t get a nap today and I am tired this evening. I will do my best to stay up until at least 9:00 but may not make it. My bath with Epson salts will feel especially relaxing this evening. I’m not used to lifting and carrying so much stuff.

The dumpster is 2/3 to 3/4 full. We didn’t get the garage torn down so will wait to call them to come get the dumpster until we get that project done. We got all the big pieces into the dumpster and still have a bit more room. I’m glad I got the 40′ dumpster though as we would have run out of room in a smaller one.

Tomorrow I hope to go in and start the kitchen paint job. I have to go to Emporia for a 1:45 haircut so may not get started until I come back from town. We will see how sore I am in the morning and what my energy level is.

Something is wrong with the clutch on Jim’s car so we will have to have it towed to the shop tomorrow to get it fixed. Glad it broke in the driveway and not somewhere inconvenient.

It feels so good to have the big garage and old garage both emptied and most of the yard picked up. We got a good start on getting the place cleaned up today. It feels a bit overwhelming though to realize how much more work we have to do to get it fully into shape. One step at a time – one day at a time. Slow, steady progress wins the race.

Grateful for Jason and Dylan’s help today, grateful to have family over for dinner, and grateful for the beautiful work day.

I was sound asleep when the alarm went off this morning. The straw rancher was bringing straw this morning and I wasn’t sure what time she was coming. So I got up early in case she showed up. She didn’t get here until 10:30 so I could have slept two more hours. Oh well, I have a fresh supply of straw so I can change the chicken linens now. The straw rack Jim built works nicely and held all 10 bales she brought today plus plus the two I had on hand.

I took a nap this afternoon and slept hard for two hours. I’m still tired tonight but am hoping I will be able to sleep tonight again. Once my body decides to sleep that is all it wants to do.

I went to the rental property this afternoon to check on the progress of the removal of the grain bin. It was gone when I went in mid-afternoon. Yay! Another big sign of progress. The neighbor said they had used a Skid Loader and it only took them a couple of hours to move it out of there. I’m glad I sold it to someone that knew what they are doing and were able to get it to go away quickly.

I unloaded my car with the stuff we bought yesterday – the two ceiling fans, paint and paint supplies. When I opened the side door of the car one of the paint buckets fell out and the lid fell off. I spilled 2/3 of the gallon of paint in the grass by the driveway. Dang it anyways! That was the fastest I have ever gone through 2/3 of a bucket of paint. My new neighbor came over and asked what he could do to help. He went and got a bucket and a shovel and cleaned up my mess. I think I like my neighbor. Now I get to buy another gallon of paint. I will wait and make sure I like the color and use up what I have first. Not sure how much I will use. I spilled the bucket of kitchen cabinet paint and I don’t think it will take a lot of paint to do them. We will see how I come out.

While I was at the house I carried another 20 loads or so of stuff into the dumpster from the old garage we are going to tear down tomorrow. There is still a lot of stuff to clear out of it before Jim can start tearing it down. The big newer garage still has a lot of stuff to clear out too. The people that took the grain bin piled the stuff that was in it in a big pile and that all needs to get loaded in the dumpster. We will have plenty of work to do tomorrow afternoon.

I made a potato salad and boiled and peeled the eggs for deviled eggs this morning. I also made two pans of Rice Krispie Treats for the kiddos. Tomorrow morning I will fix baked beans in the crock pot, finish up the deviled eggs and make a dessert. Then when we get done with our big work project and come to the house all I will have to do is grill the hamburgers and hot dogs. That will make for an easy dinner after a hard afternoon of work.

Tim came out late afternoon and picked up the trailer. I sent one of the pans of Rice Krispie Treats home with him.

It will be nice to get most of the stuff into the dumpster tomorrow. Not sure we will get the old garage all the way torn down but that may go faster than I think it will. I wouldn’t know how to start to do that project. There will be four adults working so the moving stuff into the dumpster part should go rather fast. I’ve gotten lots done in just the few hours I have worked at it so far. The weather is to be beautiful again tomorrow so it will be a nice day to spend outside cleaning up the yard. I sure would like for the dumpster to be able to go away next week but I don’t know if we can make that happen this soon or not.

Monday I have to deliver eggs and then go into Emporia as I have a haircut in the afternoon. I need to stop and get a gallon of woodwork paint and some paint to use to paint the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I also need some liners for my paint bucket. I’m hoping I can start washing kitchen cabinets Monday after my hair cut so I can start painting on Tuesday. We will see if Plan A works.

Don’t have much else on the calendar for next week other than Jim has his class to teach Thursday afternoon. He will need some time to finish up his prep work for that. I’m hoping to get to the new property and get a couple hours a day of painting and cleaning done. Part of the work will have to wait until the electrician can come and get their job done.

I worked for a bit on the hot line last night. I am six calls away from leveling up after handling 494 conversations since I started last May. I had a couple of interesting ones last night and felt like I helped at least two of them. I may get on tonight if they get busy and I am not too tired. I have put in 12 hours this week already though and they recommend you only work a maximum of 12 hours a week. They have been so busy that they are not enforcing that recommendation though.

We had left overs for dinner tonight. With the eggs all cleared out and now the left overs cleared out I can find things again in the refrigerator. The eggs will start piling up again soon though. It is nice to have them all gone for a day.

Grateful for my new neighbor’s help in cleaning up my paint spill, grateful the straw got delivered today, and grateful the grain bin is gone.

I got a very good night’s sleep at last! It felt so “normal” to sleep most of the night. Maybe I can learn to sleep again!

I went to the new property early afternoon so I could meet the person who is taking the grain bin and get the cash from her for it. I’m glad I went early as she showed up early. She and her fiancée are going to start taking it apart tomorrow. It will be good to have that gone this weekend.

While I was waiting for her to show up I carried lots more stuff from the yard and the outbuildings to the dumpster. The yard is looking better already. Jim and I are planning on going over tomorrow afternoon and doing more work and Jason is coming to help us Sunday afternoon. By then we should be almost done with filing the dumpster. Yay.

I had expected the roofers would come back today and finish up the job but they didn’t show up. Trusting they will show up Monday and get it done.

Jim and I went to Sutherlands after I came home from Cottonwood Falls. We got two ceiling fans with light fixtures that will be hung in the living room and one of the bedrooms. I also got paint for the kitchen cabinets and walls. Trusting I will like it when it gets up. I did tell Jim I don’t have to live with the colors so it won’t matter if I don’t like it anyways. Jim got some materials to start building the chickens a shaded porch for their coop.

I took a long nap when we got home from town. When my body decides to sleep that is all it wants to do. I’m still tired tonight. Trusting I will sleep again tonight. I could get used to sleeping at night.

I fixed white chicken chili in the crock pot before I went to Cottonwood today. I was glad I had made it as I slept so long this afternoon. It was nice to have dinner ready when I got up.

Took a few calls on the hot line last night. I was starting to get impatient so signed off a bit early. I got on tonight and handled a few calls. I may get back on when I get done writing. I’m working to get promoted to Level 7 and am less than 10 callers away.

A friend is stopping by tomorrow and picking up 14 dozen eggs to give away for me at a volunteer work day Pioneer Bluffs is having. It is nice to have the refrigerator cleaned out again.

My local straw farmer is coming by tomorrow to bring me 10 bales of straw. It will be nice to have fresh straw. What I have now is pretty old and got damaged before Jim built my straw rack. Not sure what time she is coming so will have to get up early and be ready for her. Farmers tend to work on earlier schedules than I do.

Tagen was going to come help us clean up tomorrow but he got a better offer of something to do. He was so sweet and made sure I would be OK if he didn’t come. He said he could help during spring break so we will have him out then.

We have another quiet week next week. I have a haircut Monday afternoon and Jim will teach his class Thursday afternoon. I’m sure I will spend lots of time painting and cleaning at the new house. Hoping the electrician will get his bid to me so we can get that project scheduled and completed next week. I can’t do anything in a few of the rooms until he gets his work done.

We are over one week out from our second vaccine. My arm finally stopped hurting and my headache is gone. Last night I read that you are 95% protected two weeks out from your second vaccine. What a relief it is to know that it is safer to be out and about now.

It is to be in the mid 60’s this weekend so it will be a beautiful time to be outside cleaning up the yard. We didn’t get any rain last night – it came close but missed us. We sure could use a couple of inches as everything is so very dry. Lots of grass fires are keeping the local fire departments busy.

It is nice to see slow, steady progress happening on the new investment property. Hoping by the end of the weekend most of the clutter will be gone and the yard will look clean. I hope to get started painting kitchen cabinets this weekend so the transformation inside can start to happen. Still a long ways to go but progress can be seen.

Grateful for sleep, grateful for progress on the new investment property, and grateful for the help of my family.

It has been a busy day. I was at the new investment property at 8:30 this morning. The roofers were already there and hard at work. They got over half the roofing project completed today. They will be back in the morning to finish the job. Not sure I like the color of the tile but am hoping when they get all done it will be OK.

The furnace guy came a little after 9:00. He got the furnace cleaned up and said it was in good shape. He showed me where the filter was and how to change it.

The electrician came while the furnace guy was still there. He found lots of things that need to be fixed. We walked through the house and he made a long list of things to do. He is going to send me a bid and then will schedule a day to come do the work if I accept his bid. I will need to pick up two ceiling fans with light fixtures to have ready for when he comes back so he can get them installed.

After picking up the yard for a bit and putting more stuff in the dumpster I came home. Jim had his class this afternoon at 1:00. I sat in the office during his call in case he ran into technical issues. He figured it out most of the time by himself.

When his class was over I took a two-hour nap. I didn’t sleep well again last night and was able to get some good sleep this afternoon. I grilled hamburgers for dinner tonight. I had quickly laid some hamburger out this morning before I went to town and couldn’t think of anything else to do with it. Grilled hamburgers and quick and easy.

I handled five calls last night on the hot line. One I had to get the supervisor involved but was able to talk the texter down and felt they would be safe the rest of the night. I have another shift tonight. I am 15 calls away from leveling up to Level 7. I have handled almost 500 callers since I started taking calls in May. Feeling much more comfortable with most callers now. I still get an occasional one that I struggle finding words for them that might help. Some situations are so big and hard that what ever I say feels like it couldn’t possibly be enough to do any good. I’m humbled everyday on the hot line by the resiliency of the human spirit and how important having someone listen to your story is.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a quieter day. We will probably go in the afternoon and do some more clean-up work in town unless it rains. It is surprising how much better the place is looking already and we really haven’t given it a lot of time and effort yet. I need to do some clean-up at this house soon. The dirt is exceeding my comfort level and needs to be cleaned up soon.

I am selling a grain bin located on the new property. People have been bidding on it. I’m closing it out at 8:00 tonight. Trusting the high bidder will come through with the money and will be take it away sooner rather than later.

Some of the kids are coming Sunday to help with the cleanup. I need to do some cooking Saturday so I can feed them when we are done Sunday with our work. That will be fun to spend time with them. I have missed that more than anything this past year.

So far the new investment property renovations have gone very smoothly. That tells me it was the right property to invest in. I’m sure we will hit some snags at some point but so far so good. Slow and steady progress is nice.

Grateful for trades people that know their business and practice their skills, grateful the grain bin will be sold by night’s end, and grateful for a quiet day ahead tomorrow.

After dinner last night I laid down to sleep for an hour. Jim tried to wake me up after an hour was up but I couldn’t make myself get up. I slept for four hours. Blessed sleep at last. I was up most of the night after that but it felt so good to get four hours of sleep.

I finally got to sleep around 6:00 this morning and at 7:30 my phone rang. The guy delivering the dumpster was in Council Grove and headed our way. We quickly got up and went to the house in Cottonwood Falls to meet him. He got there about one minute before we did.

He found a spot in the yard to dump the dumpster and left. He will be back in 30 days to pick it up. We came home and I fixed breakfast. Jim went back to bed after we ate breakfast.

I stayed up and drove in to Emporia to deliver the permission slip to our accountant so he can e-file our tax returns. I stopped at the bank and cashed a check and then stopped to pick up a few groceries. After lunch I laid down and slept for another hour. Wow. I have gotten six hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. That is the most sleep I have gotten for days.

The electrician called and is coming tomorrow morning at 9:30 to do an inspection and bid to fix all the electricity issues in the house. The furnace guy is coming at 9:00 to do his inspection and clean. The shingles were to have been delivered today and they might start working on the roof tomorrow or Friday. Progress! It feels so good!

I need to go back into Cottonwood Falls as we need to set the trash out tonight for pick-up tomorrow. We forgot to do that when we were there this morning. I will probably spend some time taking the trash I have in a huge pile in the living room and putting it in the dumpster. Might as well start the big haul project and start loading up that huge dumpster. I can’t wait until the yard is clutter free.

Jim teaches his first OSHER class tomorrow at 1:00. Tonight he needs to finish putting together his notes and Power Point for his lecture tomorrow. He has a 90 minute class to present and it is new material for him to teach. He has so enjoyed doing the research for this class.

I gave up and hooked my old printer directly to my computer and am not going to mess with the wireless connection. That means I can’t print from my iPad but for whatever reason this internet doesn’t easily allow me to use a wireless printer. Jim is still fighting with it to make it print from his computer. I bought a second printer cord today in case he gives up and wants to hook the new printer directly to his computer. It just wasn’t worth the frustration to me. So looking forward to the new internet company coming out this way. Not sure when that is going to happen but they keep telling me soon.

The new power cord to the internet router just came in the mail today. We will see if that helps fix the connectivity issue. I have my doubts but I don’t know how this stuff works. Hoping that the solution is that easy. I just tried it again and it has already kicked the printer off-line so the new power cord didn’t fix the problem. Drat! Back to the drawing board.

It feels like spring out today. It reached the low 70’s today. I sat outside on the glider and ate my lunch. It felt so good to sit out in the sun for a bit. There is a gentle breeze today and the sky is bright blue. There is smoke in the air from the burning of the pastures that has started around here. The quality of the air will increasingly get worse over the next 45 days. We will be begging for rain soon to clear the air up. We could see the smoke from three different pastures being burned while I was eating lunch.

Jim is out hiking this afternoon. He always feels better when he takes a good 2 – 3 mile hike. With the weather this nice I will soon start hiking with him. I am a wuss and don’t like to hike in cold weather or too hot of weather. I have a very narrow comfort hiking temperature range.

I am marinating chicken tenders and will grill them for dinner. I got Jim some fresh asparagus at the grocery store today and I will grill it with the chicken tenders tonight. I don’t care for asparagus but Jim loves it. It is one of the few vegetables he likes.

I have had some slightly swollen lymph nodes in my neck that appeared the day after I got my second vaccine. Have a touch of a sore throat and it goes up into my ears. I am still running a very low grade temperature. I usually run 96 and am running low 99. I read that women are getting false positives on mammograms due to the vaccine. My body does not handle drugs well and I am assuming it is my body reacting to the vaccine and that it will take several weeks for it to calm down again. We will see what happens. Anyone else notice that reaction?

Since I was up in the middle of the night I got on the hot line. There were only 20 of us working and we had over 100 people waiting for someone to talk to. I handled five callers and then had to sign off. I can only work for about two hours at a time and I become emotionally drained and can’t take another call. I always feel guilty when I sign off and there are people waiting. All the callers I handled were urgent calls and some had been waiting for over 15 minutes. The non-urgent callers had to wait for over two hours. None of the ones I handled were as urgent as they might have been but they all needed someone to help them calm down and ground. I have a regularly scheduled shift to cover tonight. Grateful I was able to get a nap this afternoon so I can stay up and work the hot line tonight.

I feel my energy level rising with the temperatures. It was so nice to sit outside on the back deck today for an hour or so. It has been a long winter and it is so refreshing to welcome the sunshine and heat back to the prairie. With our vaccines in and working and the heat and sun returning I am really feeling the spirit of spring this year.

Grateful for sleep at last, grateful the house renovations are progressing, and grateful for the wondrous heat and light that is returning to the prairie.

Another night of little sleep. This is getting old quick. At least I got two hours in a row last night. That is more and better sleep than I had gotten the last couple of nights so maybe things are going to improve from here. I am feeling very sleep deprived right now.

Got on the hot line last night and handled four callers. Had another heart breaker case. At the end of it the texter was in a better space mentally than when they texted in. It felt good to get them there but oh my their situation is a hard one for them.

Went to Emporia before noon today. I picked up our tax returns. Jim has to sign a form before they can file the taxes so I will have to run the form into town tomorrow. I need to get our federal money back so I can pay the state. Easy come – easy go.

Stopped by the Salvation Army and dropped off eight boxes of stuff collected from the investment property. It feels good to have that out of the house and gone.

Went to my dental cleaning appointment. The girl that did my cleaning last time asked me when I got there if I would allow another student to do it this time. Each student has to handle a certain variety of cleanings and my teeth fit some special category that they don’t see often. I said yes and by the time it was over I wished I had said no.

This is the first time I felt like the student cleaning my teeth was not well suited for her new profession. She had a high, squeaky voice that grated on me. She had the personality of a stump. I was surprised she was a second year student as she kept hitting my teeth with her instruments. She had to take each x-ray twice as she didn’t position the thingy correctly. I was there for three hours and she didn’t get done. She did some extra things as she is using me as a class presentation case study. I have to go back March 30 for her to finish the cleaning and then back a third time for her to do something to finish up the case study.

When she was looking at her calendar to schedule my return visit I told her I could only do Tuesday afternoons. The first date she gave me was a Thursday afternoon. I repeated my limitations. The second date she gave me was a Tuesday morning. I repeated my limitations. The third date she gave me was a Thursday morning. I repeated my limitations. She finally found a Tuesday afternoon. Man! Some people can’t hear and listen at the same time.

It was a great lesson to me to next time say no to special requests. I came home grumpy and with a headache.

I called and ordered a dumpster to be delivered to the new investment property. They are bringing it tomorrow. We will have 30 days to get it filled and then I am to call them so they can come back and pick it up. We are having a work day with some of my kids helping us this coming Sunday afternoon. I bet we will get most of the stuff into the dumpster then. Jim has an old garage he wants to tear down and add to the dumpster if we have room left at the end of the day.

The roofing company called and let me know they are delivering shingles tomorrow. That means they will be starting the project either Friday or next Monday.

Thursday the furnace is going to be cleaned and inspected. Progress is slowly starting to happen. I was going to go in and work some more sorting through stuff this afternoon but decided not to go in. Not sure I would be very productive today.

I have ham and corn chowder cooking in the crock pot for dinner tonight. I’m glad dinner is already ready when we are ready to eat. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.

It is another beautiful day on the prairie today. Temperatures are in the mid 60’s with bright, blue skies. It is a touch windy again but this is KS and most days are a touch windy in KS.

The girls gave us 28 eggs today – a new record. I have 29 hens so all but one laid an egg today. What to do with all these eggs is the big question around here these days. When the kids come over Sunday I am going to fix potato salad and deviled eggs. That will use up at least two dozen eggs. Maybe I will make an angel food cake and use up even more.

It does feel good to have a project to organize and work my through. I have need a big project and this property is providing that. I sure would like to have it done and ready to be rented out no later than the first of May. We will see if we can hit that target or not.

Grateful our taxes will be filed tomorrow, grateful they can deliver a dumpster tomorrow, and grateful for the wonder of eggs – they still amaze me when I gather them each and everyday.