Starry night on the prairie

It has been a productive day. I got up this morning and watched Jim’s oldest son testify to a US House Committee on youth employment. Jim is so proud of his son – rightfully so. His son is doing good things for our country and the youth in it.

Drove to Wichita late morning. First stop was at Home Depot to return something. They made the process easy and I had no problems with the return. Stopped at Chipotle for lunch. It is one of my favorite places to eat. They were very busy but the line moved fairly quickly. I ate in my car as I still don’t like to eat indoors at a restaurant.

Then I went to the New Balance store and got a new pair of tennis shoes. The guy that helped me commented that my old pair of shoes had lots of miles on them. They were starting to fall apart at the seams. They were over two years old so I think I got my money’s worth out of them.

Last stop was at Costco. I was grateful they had chicken tenderloins this time. Got a cart full of stuff I didn’t know I needed.

The drive through the hills was beautiful today. Went down via Newton and came home the Turnpike. Everything is so green and lush looking. It was a good day to take a trip to Wichita.

Unloaded my car and put everything away. I deboned the two roasted chickens I got and froze the meat from them. Did chicken chores and then went into CWF to paint. I got the two bedrooms done and they are ready for the carpet to be laid tomorrow morning. Yay! Four rooms down – three to go. While I was there I put a bit of paint on the outside as I want to make sure I am going to like the color I choose. I will look at it tomorrow morning when I go let the carpet layers in and see what I think. My neighbor came over and she really liked the color.

While the carpet layers are busy tomorrow morning I will do some more painting. If it is nice I may paint outside, if not I will paint more woodwork in the living room, dining room and kitchen. I am getting so close to having this inside painting project finished up. There is a 50% chance of rain for tomorrow so may have to stay inside and paint.

I need to do a bit of house cleaning this evening. This house has crossed the line on my tolerance for dirt. Painting the other house has consumed my time and I have ignored this house long enough.

While at Costco today I got three new t-shirts. I still have trouble feeling like I am a size Small. I have been wearing size small for almost three years now but I still don’t feel small. The t-shirts fit – actually they are a bit big but small was the smallest they have. I would rather they be a bit big than too small.

Tomorrow after the carpet guys are done I will come home and do more house cleaning. I hope to have the main floor done before Jim gets home sometime Saturday afternoon or evening. Saturday I will probably go back in and do more painting and see if I can wrap up this inside paint project. I am tired of it and anxious to get outside painting.

My mood has been much better today. I think I worked through what was bugging me. I wish my body had come with operating instructions sometimes. It seems to take me a bit to figure out what is going on within. I need to upgrade my internal processor to a higher speed one.

I spent years stuffing my emotions and not allowing them to surface. Now I allow them to surface but I get overwhelmed with them when they do. It still feels new to me to have such strong emotion running through me.

My hip had a spasm today when I was unloading my cart at Costco into my car. I was trying to not yelp in pain out loud and to not grab my ass and rub it. I didn’t want to alarm the other customers that were loading their cars around me. The same thing happened when I was in Walmart yesterday. I don’t want to show up on those Walmart videos of You Wouldn’t Believe How our Customers looked and acted today.

I got a good night’s sleep last night at last. It has been a bit since I slept good all night. I am tired today but I have had a busy day and was in Wichita for several hours. I didn’t take a nap today when I got home. Maybe I will be able to have another good night’s sleep tonight.

Grateful the trip to Wichita is done and I was able to get what I needed, grateful two more rooms are painted, and grateful for a good night’s sleep last night.

Went in to the rental this morning and got the second coat on all the woodwork in the second bedroom. When I was done I went into Emporia and got some groceries and ran errands. I ended up stopping at six different places. I was in town for two hours which is a long time for me. I was tired when I came home.

I unloaded the car and put everything away and then went back to the rental house and put the second coat on the walls in the second bedroom. Tomorrow I will need to do some touch ups in both bedrooms and another coat on some of the closet doors. They are taking three coats to get them looking nice. Then those two rooms will be ready for the carpet to be laid Friday morning. Yay! I am anxious to se the rooms with the new carpet as it will really help those two rooms look done.

Tomorrow I am going to go to Wichita and make a return of an item at Home Depot and do a Costco run. I will either get my painting done before I leave or when I get home. It will depend on what time I get up and going tomorrow. I don’t think the touch ups will take very long. I may not get any other painting done tomorrow but we will see how I feel when I get home from Wichita. I don’t like to shop and it wears me out to do so.

I may try to find a store and look for some curtains for the rental house. I’m not sure I want to put some up as I doubt that the renter will like what I put up and will want to do something different. We will see what I decide to do. Did I mention I don’t like to shop?

Jim’s oldest son is testifying before a House Committee in DC tomorrow on employment of youth. His son is a subject matter expert on youth employment. Jim is so proud of him and plans to get up early tomorrow so he can watch him testify.

I had ordered two boxes of siding pieces for the rental house several weeks ago. The handyman popped in while I was painting today and said he didn’t think that was near enough. I ordered them from Home Depot so will check tomorrow to see if it is something they keep in stock or if I have to order them. They are over $100 a box – dang! That little project is going to add up quick. He thinks I need at least five more boxes if not more.

I have a crisis hot line shift tonight but may not get on. I am tired as I didn’t sleep much last night again and didn’t get a nap today. I painted for over four hours today and went to town for over two hours. When I am really tired I don’t feel I do a very good job on the hot line. I’m still on the fence as to what I want to do about the hot line anyways. Not feeling the urge to get on tonight.

Friday I hope to get the rest of the woodwork first coated in the living room, dining room and kitchen. I have a few kitchen cabinets that need a bit of touch up I would like to get done too. Then Saturday I can put the second coat on all the woodwork in those three rooms and a second coat on the walls in the living room and I will be done with the inside painting. I will still need to paint the back room and the outside of the house but the inside painting project is almost done! Yay! This has turned into a much longer project than I had expected it to be. I’m ready to move to the outside job.

Once I get the inside painting done I will need to do a very good job cleaning the inside of the house and getting rid of all the paint splatters. I got the laundry room done the other night. It is fun to see a room look so transformed. It is amazing what a coat of paint will do to a house.

The weather forecast for next week is calling for a 50% chance of rain every day. That might slow down my outside painting and repair project. We will see what happens. It rarely rains all day but I do need it to be dry long enough for the paint to dry. If it rains maybe I will have time to get this house cleaned. It is starting to bug me it is so dirty again.

I had a better day today emotionally. Not sure what is up but the last several days have been hard for me. Hoping I have turned the corner and put them behind me now. I’m ready for some smooth waters for a bit. I have cried more this last couple of days then I have for months.

Grateful for the painting that I got done today, grateful my errands got done, and grateful the end of the inside painting project is close.

For some reason this feels like Monday to me. Not sure why I missed a day already this week. Jim came home late Saturday and Sunday and Monday must have felt like Saturday and Sunday to me.

Jim left for Stillwater again today around 3:30. He got a bit of a late start but will make it home before dark. Trusting he has a safe journey and will enjoy his quiet time in Stillwater to get some more renovations done on his house there.

I went in around noon and painted the first coat on the walls of the second bedroom. When I get done writing I will go back in and do the first coat of woodwork in the same bedroom. Then tomorrow I can second coat both and do needed touch ups on Thursday and that room will be done and ready for carpet on Friday. I will move the closet doors in the master bedroom and get the second coat on them and the master bedroom will be done too.

Thursday I want to give the living room a second coat of wall paint and finish the first coat of woodwork in the dining room and living room. Friday I can do the second coat of woodwork paint in both of those rooms and those two rooms will be done. I still have some woodwork to paint in the kitchen so may try to do that Thursday as well. If I can get all that done all but the back room will be done on Friday.

There is a small leak in the ceiling of the back room. I decided to wait to paint that room until the handyman can figure out where the leak is and get it fixed. He also has to patch some holes in the walls for me before I can start painting.

Next week the handyman is going to start the siding repairs and I can start painting the outside of the house. Not sure what other work we are going to find that needs done. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Hoping to get most of the house painted next week if the weather holds for me. Sure looking like I can have it ready to be rented by June 1 unless we find a major area that needs repaired. Fingers and toes crossed that won’t happen. I am mentally and physically done with this project and need it done.

Last night I went in and Jim had a big magnet on a stick. I ran it through the burn pile and kept pulling out lots of nails. I found lots and lots of them. I didn’t make it to the bottom of the burn pile and am sure there are still lots of nails to be found yet.

Tomorrow I need to run into Emporia and pick up some groceries and run a few errands. I’ll pick up some outside paint while I am in town in case I want to get started on the outside this week. My handyman told me I could start painting the outside if I stay away from the broken siding pieces. I’m anxious to see the color I have picked out on the house.

Had another emotional day today. What is up with that? Anyone else experiencing some strong emotion going through you? I trust what ever it is will go away soon. It is exhausting and draining to process it all.

Grateful another room has the first coat on the walls, grateful I see the finish line for the inside painting job on this project, and grateful for some quiet space to process my emotions in.

I just came in from mowing and my fingers got cold and aren’t working very well right now. I hope I don’t make too many typos.

Yesterday was a terrible, rotten, no-good day. I spent most of the day in tears. Had nothing to do with Mother’s Day it was just one of “those” days. Glad it is over and behind. me now.

Went in this morning and got the rest of the wall in the master bedroom second coated. Went back later in the afternoon and got the rest of the woodwork second coated and the closet doors second coated. When I can move the closet doors I need to touch up the closet paint and that room will be done.

I also think I finished the bathroom. I’ll have to check it again but I think it is done. That makes three rooms done – four to go. Progress!

I didn’t get much else done today except for my egg delivery. This house still needs cleaned but it seems to be waiting for me.

Jim is going back to Stillwater tomorrow and staying until Saturday so I will have lots of quiet time to clean and paint. Maybe by the time he comes back this time I will have gotten the house cleaned.

Tomorrow I plan on putting the first coat on the second bedroom walls and woodwork. Jim moved his saw and other stuff out of that room so I can have access to the walls. I sure like painting walls better than woodwork. I have until Thursday evening to get that room done. If I can get first coat on tomorrow then I can do the second coat on Wednesday and touch ups on Thursday.

Finished mowing most of my yard after dinner tonight. I still need to mow the driveway but most of the yard is done. Part of it is still hard to mow as there isn’t much grass and the weeds are few and far between. Up close to the house the grass is filling in and it was tall and easy to tell where I had mowed.

I got a jury duty questionnaire In the mail today. Last time that happened I got notice to serve three different times but never did have to appear. We will see what happens this time.

I’m having trouble getting the gas bill paid at the rental house. Last time they charged me a late fee and when I talked tot hem said they were going to subtract it off and get the bill paid. This bill included last months bill and a late fee. I’ll have to call tomorrow and find out why they can’t seem to get it straight. Maybe I need to forget auto pay and just send a check, however the mail delivery is so slow these days I am having trouble getting checks to companies on time to pay bills. I’ll have to see if they have an actual place I can go to to drop off a check.

I haven’t had to go to Emporia since Saturday evening when we took Ellexia home. Hoping I can go another couple of days before I have to go back. I’ll need groceries sooner or later this week but nothing that can’t wait for another day or two.

Still not feeling grounded and fully recovered from yesterday but am much better than I was. It will be good to have lots of quiet time this week. I need to be put into time out.

Grateful the yard is mowed, grateful two more rooms are done, and grateful today was a better day.

Went into Emporia after I got chores done and ate breakfast this morning. Picked up a gallon of woodwork paint and headed to the rental house. Painted for about two hours and then came home for lunch.

Ellexia texted me and wanted to come out for the day. Tim brought her out and we had a great day together. She went with me to the rental house this afternoon and helped me paint. She did a great job. We baked Snickerdoodles after we were done painting. She was so good. I really enjoyed being with her today.

Jim got home around 6:30. We grilled chicken for dinner and had baked potatoes and green beans with it. Ellexia had hot dogs. We took her home around 8:45 tonight.

I didn’t get as much painting done as I planned today but had more fun playing with Ellexia. I’ll get to the painting tomorrow.

I’m tired tonight as I didn’t get a nap and I didn’t sleep very well last night. Maybe it will rain tonight and be a good night to sleep. The lightening to the north east is coming fast and furious tonight. It is too far away to hear the thunder. I just checked radar and our chances for rain aren’t looking very good right now. It may expand a bit and we will get some later.

Tomorrow I need to mow this yard again. I also want to get into town and get the master bedroom finished up. I think I can get it completed tomorrow if I can spend a couple hours painting. The other bedroom will take a bit longer as it still needs first coat on walls and woodwork.

Jim is planning on going back to Stillwater next week on Tuesday and staying until Saturday. He has so much work to do on his house and needs to spend some time getting it done. I will be busy painting so it is a good time for him to go south.

It reached 85 on the prairie today. Not sure I was ready for summer like temperatures after having to run the furnace last night. Gotta love the ever changing KS weather.

It was good to see Jim come home today. He and Ellexia had a good time for a bit this evening. Not sure which is the bigger kid. They taught each other some tricks.

No plans for tomorrow other than mowing and painting. I don’t have anything on my calendar for next week so will have lots of time to paint. Hoping I find some time to get this house cleaned. It is starting to bug me it is so dirty. Funny had dirt patiently waits for me to get to it. Wish it would get bored and move on out on its own.

Grateful Jim had a safe trip home, grateful Ellexia came out to play for the afternoon, and grateful for what painting I did get done today.

I had a productive day of painting. The laundry room is complete. It now needs a good cleaning and it is done! One room down, six to go plus the back porch.

Got a call from the carpet people and they can come next Friday to lay the carpet. Yay! That means the next two rooms I need to get done are the two bedrooms. They need to be completely painted before the carpet is laid. One of them has the first coat on walls and woodwork and doors. The other room needs everything done to it yet.

I ran out of woodwork paint tonight so will have to run into Emporia in the morning to get another gallon. Dang! I was hoping to avoid going to town for a few days. I managed not to have to go to Emporia today.

I painted this morning, came home and had lunch and took a nap and then went back in after dinner to get more painting done. Tomorrow I will run into Emporia and get more paint and then paint all morning. Jim is coming home sometime tomorrow and once I know when that is I may get a second painting session in before he gets home.

I got on the hot line last night. I only took one call but it lasted for 1 1/2 hour. It was a tough call that I had to get the supervisor involved from the beginning. We were able to talk them down to a calmer state. I celebrated my one year anniversary yesterday on the hot line. I have taken 590 calls in my first year. I was glad I had that experience behind me when I got the call last night. It was a tough one.

Did some work on the budget today. I am so over budget at this point it is crazy. Sure hoping we don’t run into major issues when we get to the outside of the house. We may just have to paint and figure out the rest of it another day and time. It is looking like the house should be ready to rent June 1. Hoping I can find a renter sooner rather than later and start having the house pay me instead of me shelling out dollars right and left.

I haven’t gotten any house cleaning done on this house this week. It is starting to bug me but painting has taken priority. I may take Sunday off from painting and clean house here instead. We will see. I feel pressure to get those two bedrooms done and hate to lose a day painting. I only have three weeks left to get all the inside done plus all the outside. Cleaning this house may have to wait a bit. Somehow the dust seems to hang around for me.

I fixed a piece of salmon or dinner again tonight. It is easy and I don’t have leftovers to deal with. I managed to get the dishwasher loaded and run it after dinner tonight. I have been lazy and have been letting the dishes pile up and not get them done. I have two loads of laundry that has been in the laundry room for two days that need folded. I am picking up bad habits while Jim has been gone.

It will be good to see Jim drive up the driveway tomorrow evening. The house feels so quiet and big with him gone. I have stayed busy painting so the time went by quickly this time. I even remembered to take care of the chickens each afternoon while he was gone. That is usually his job.

Grateful one room is completely painted, grateful for one year on the hot line, and grateful Jim will be home tomorrow.

Got up early this morning as I had to leave at 8:30 to go to Emporia for a doctor’s appointment. The sunrise this morning was beautiful. It is my favorite time of the day.

I get to stop taking my cholesterol injections. They were not helping to lower my cholesterol and they were causing side effects. He told me to not take the last injection next week. He had a risk calculator for my chances of having a heart attack. The only options he had for me was to add a statin, increase the dose of my blood pressure medication and for me to take a baby aspirin daily. We talked through all of them and agreed the only one that made sense was for me to continue taking a baby aspirin daily. If I did all three it only lower my risk by 0.5%. I had a rare side effect from statins when I took them before and I won’t take them again. My blood pressure varies a lot and I have lots of episodes of too low of blood pressure so he agreed it wasn’t smart to raise my dose.

He checked out my butt pain. I have a muscle that goes into spasms occasionally. He offered me some muscle relaxers – I refused as it only happens occasionally and I don’t like the side effects of them. Besides if I took them when it happened the spasm would be long gone before the muscle relaxer could kick in. He showed me an exercise I could do to try to work the muscle. I will try those several times a day. If that doesn’t help I am to let him know and he can get me into physical therapy to see if they can help.

I’m grateful to be able to stop the injections. I look forward to my Charlie Horse leg cramps going away. It was a good visit and I like my new doctor. He listened to me and was able to flex to meet my needs. He gave me lots of time and didn’t give me the impression that he was in a hurry. He had a medical student with him today. She came in and did a quick assessment before he came in. She was in the room while he chatted with me.

The nurse gave me the medicare memory test. I passed it but had to really concentrate on some of the things she asked me to do. She did a good job with me and didn’t make me feel stupid.

After I was done at the doctor I went to Cottonwood Falls and met some friends for lunch. It is always a good thing to spend time with like-minded women. I enjoy our time together.

I stopped by the rental house and chatted with my handyman for a bit. He made good progress today. I came home after that short visit and took a long nap.

After I woke up and had dinner I went into town and painted for several hours. I got one side of the closet doors painted, the new shelving in the master bedroom closet painted, and two other doors painted. Progress but sure have lots to do. I think the handyman is almost done so I will be able to go in tomorrow during the day and get more painting done without being in his way. I sure would like to get one room finished up completely.

I’m getting anxious to get the house cleaned up. It is so dirty from all the construction dust and paint splatters. It is hard for me to know how much longer it will take me to get the painting done as I have done some painting in all the rooms but haven’t finished any of them completely. Hoping I can start finishing up some rooms this weekend.

I got on the hot line last night and tonight. Last night I handled three callers. Thankfully all three were fairly easy ones and I had a supervisor I have worked with before and I like. Tonight I only handled one hard call. I had to get the supervisor involved. We were able to get the person calmed down – it was a weird call.

I realized last time I was on the Hot Line I was too involved and not able to stay distant. I was giving too much of myself to it. I would look at the number of people waiting and it would distress me when I saw how many were waiting. I was putting in too many hours and it had drained me. I will see if this time I can just do what I can do and leave the rest – it is not my problem that they are understaffed. I can only do so much. If I start to get sucked in again I will have to back out again. I spent a lifetime carrying too much responsibility and am not willing to carry that burden any more.

Tonight after the one hard call that lasted almost 1 1/2 hours I signed off even though there were people waiting, I was feeling OK but I didn’t want to push myself.

No plans for tomorrow or the weekend other than painting. Jim will be home sometime on Saturday. I hope to spend lots of time tomorrow in town painting. I think I can stay out of the way of the handyman. Maybe I can get a room completely finished tomorrow. That would feel so good.

The girls gave me 29 eggs today – a new record for them. That means everyone of them gave me an egg today. I’m glad Jim cleared out my stash yesterday as I added two dozen to it today.

I got my electric bill today for this house. I owe $0.20. They issue capital credits annually and this was the month for them. Without the credits my bill would have been $32.92. I love my solar panels and the money they save me each month. I didn’t use any of the power from the electric company last month – my panels generated all I needed plus some. The $32.92 is the minimum bill I have to pay each month.

It is time for me to slow things back down again. I have been to Emporia every day this week. I am longing for a day or two on the prairie where I don’t have to leave my house. I won’t get that for several days though as I have to get this painting done. It will be nice to have several days where I just have to paint and not go to Emporia. I have peopled too much this week and need some space!

Grateful I don’t have to take my injections any more, grateful for the time the doctor spent with me, and grateful for my friends that I had lunch with today.

I went into Emporia this morning early to get another kitchen cabinet hinge, a gallon of paint and a screw to attach the last knob on the kitchen cabinets. Dropped off the things I purchased at the rental house. The handyman was off getting parts he needed for the day.

Came home and helped Jim get ready to leave for Stillwater. He left around noon. He will be back on Saturday. Two different friends have invited him over for dinner – one on Thursday night and another on Friday night. It will be good for him to spend some time with friends and get some work done on his house. Jim took eight dozen eggs with him to give to his friends. It is good to clear out my egg stash. We got a fairy egg this morning. Jim took it to give to one of his little friends he will be seeing this trip.

I went back to the rental house this afternoon and got the first coat of paint on the woodwork in the master bedroom. I still need to paint the closet doors. The handyman needs to install the closet clothing rod and shelf. Then it will be ready for the second coat of paint on the walls and woodwork and that room will then be ready for the carpet to be installed. That room had some blue woodwork. It was nice to get the last of that covered up today so I could really see how the room will look. I like the combination of the woodwork with the wall color.

The handyman got the kitchen cabinets finished up for me today. What a relief to finally cross that project off my list. They were the first place I started painting. I still need to give them a good scrubbing inside the cabinets and lay the shelf lining in them. The kitchen needs the woodwork painted and then that room will be done.

The laundry room is ready for the new woodwork to be painted. The handyman is going to install some shelving above the washer and dryer. Then it will be done and ready for the washer and dryer to be put back into place.

The living room still needs some woodwork painted and then a second coat on the walls and woodwork put on.

The dining room has a second coat on the walls and just needs the woodwork finished up and then the wall paint touched up.

The spare bedrooms needs walls. doors and woodwork painted and the carpet laid. I love the closet shelving that the handyman installed today. The closet really looks nice.

The bathroom is done except for a few touch ups on the woodwork and a door replaced and painted.

I also still need to paint the back mud room walls, ceiling and floors.

Wow! I think I know what I will be doing for the next several days (or weeks).

The handyman had a fall roller skating last Friday and is moving a bit slower than he would like. He can’t work a full day right now and has to take some extra breaks. He is still hoping to be done this week.

Painting will go faster when the handyman is done as I try to stay out of his way and not be there so much when he is there working.

After I get all the painting done I will then need to clean the house really well. I have lots of paint splatters to scrap up off the floor. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get this done.

I may go back in tonight and paint some more. I painted for about three hours this afternoon on the woodwork in the master bedroom. I hate painting woodwork as it goes so slow and doesn’t look like I got much done.

I’m tired tonight as I didn’t sleep well again last night. Tomorrow I have to get up early as I have to be at the doctor’s office at 9:00. I am meeting some friends for lunch at 11:00. I need to stop and pick up a few groceries between the doctor appointment and lunch. I really don’t want to have to go to town again this week. I have been everyday this week.

I fixed myself a piece of grilled salmon for dinner tonight. Need to think of something to fix for tomorrow night. Since I am eating out for lunch I might be able to get by with something light and simple for dinner tomorrow night.

One of the first things I did today was get a splinter under a fingernail. I need to go find some tweezers and see if I can pull it out. I may need to cut the nail really short to get the splinter out. It is starting to get a bit sore.

Evergy finally came by to look at the limb that is hanging over the electric line. I wasn’t there when they came but the handyman was so he shared their findings with me. Since the line is from their box to the house it is my problem to cut the limb but Evergy will send someone out to disconnect the line while the limb is cut. I’ll need to get that scheduled sometime soon and get that off the list of things that need done.

I forgot to sign off for my crisis hot line shift for tonight. I just got a text reminding me of my shift tonight. Guess I will try the shift and see how it goes. It may be my last shift if it doesn’t go well. I won’t be able to go in and paint tonight after all. Dang!

The house is so quiet with Jim gone. The house feels big and empty tonight. I need to get some housecleaning done while Jim is gone. It has reached the point it is bothering me and I need to get it back into shape.

Grateful Jim had a safe trip to Stillwater this afternoon, grateful the kitchen cabinet project is done, and grateful my egg stash got cleared out today.

Went into Emporia early afternoon and got a haircut. Good to have that taken care of. I always feel better after I get my hair cut. I sold my hair dresser two dozen eggs – always a good day when I can sell more eggs.

Went to the rental house after my hair cut. I got the master bedroom walls painted with the first coat. Jim came in and worked on the woodwork and got a bit of it painted. I like the color of the wall paint. I am anxious to see it with the second coat on it. The other bedroom is ready to be painted so that will be my next painting project.

I’m trying to decide what color to paint the outside. I have some paint chips and have picked out two sets that I like. Jim and I are world’s apart on which color we like. I have gone with a gray theme inside and am thinking I will stay with gray for the outside. I like a dark gray with cream and red trim. Jim would prefer a cream colored house with gray trim. The house is white now and I like to make it look very different and I don’t think cream is enough of a difference.

Jim is going to Stillwater for a few days in the morning. I will get lots of painting done while he is gone. It will be easier to run in for a couple of hours each morning and afternoon with him gone.

The handyman is working his way through the list I sent him over the weekend. He should be done by tomorrow evening. I have to run into Sutherland’s tomorrow and get a part for him so he can finish hanging the kitchen cabinet doors. I need an extra long screw to put on the last knob so I will get that when I go to town tomorrow. I have some extra flooring planks that I need to return to the tile store so may take those back tomorrow when I go to town and get that taken care of.

My handyman is going to take a two to three week break before he starts helping me with the outside of the house. He might get bored and get started on it sooner rather than later. I don’t think he likes working five long days a week – can’t blame him at all. I need some time to get all the painting done anyways.

Made some phone calls this morning. The guy that is going to take the boat away had come over to look at it. The boat won’t fit on his trailer so he is checking around to see if he can borrow someone’s boat trailer so he can make the boat go away.

My business partner is coming next week to look at the property and see if I have missed something he would recommend I take care of. He is also going to bring me a rental agreement I can use with my renter.

I called the local realtor in Cottonwood Falls to get an estimate of how much rent to charge. I was pretty close with my guesstimate. He told me about a renovation tax credit program the city offers. I could have qualified for a reduction in property tax on a graduated bases over five years but it is too late for my project now. Dang!

I should go back in tonight and paint some more but probably won’t. I’m tired as I had a restless night trying to sleep. I don’t paint well when I am tired. The wind was blowing hard last night out of the north and I think that was part of my lack of sleep issue last night.

There is a meteor shower this week and I want to go out and watch for them later. They are best seen between 2:00 am and 5:00 am so may miss them. If I can’t sleep tonight I need to remember to go out and watch for them. The sky is cloud free right now and I trust it will remain so over night.

Jim is taking eight dozen eggs to Stillwater to give away. He has dinner plans with friends for two of the nights while he will be down there. Good to know he will have a good dinner or two while he is gone. I need to think about what I will fix for myself when he is gone. It is hard to cook for only one person.

Nothing on my calendar for tomorrow except the quick trip in to Sutherland’s in the morning. Thursday I have to go back into Emporia for a doctor’s appointment. Maybe Friday I will get to avoid Emporia. I need a day at home without leaving my little corner on the prairie but not sure when that might happen. The need to get the painting done is greater than my need to stay home all day.

We have another quiet week coming up next week. Good to have lots of empty space so I can get the inside of this house finished up. Jim wants to start working on the outside next week – we will see how far he can get on it without the handyman’s help.

Jim and I are talking about taking a trip to CA later in May or in June sometime. He wanted to make a long road trip out of it but I’m not sure I am ready for that. I think I would rather just drive to Berkeley and visit his son and then come home. I am just not comfortable staying in lots of different hotels and eating out in crowded restaurants. Last time we went to Berkeley we stayed in an Airbnb that had a kitchen where we could have fixed some meals. That feels safer to me. I need to check to see if they have any availability for this year. They may not be open. We need to set a date so I can find a house sitter for the time we want to go.

I need to get up and move around a bit or I am going to fall asleep. Maybe tonight will be the night that I sleep long and hard. I always have hope for that anyways. Rarely does it happen but I haven’t given up holding on to the possibility of it.

Grateful one more room has it’s walls painted, grateful for a hair cut, and grateful the handyman will be done tomorrow with the inside.

Happy birthday to my dad. He would have turned 95 today. So hard to picture him that old as he always acted young to me. He enjoyed life so much and found the beauty and joy in the little things around him. He is loved and missed by many.

I went into Emporia this morning and had a blood draw to have my cholesterol levels checked. I only had to wait about five minutes before they did the draw. They were able to get me on the first stick. I got the results this afternoon and was disappointed to find out my cholesterol levels are basically the same as they were before I started the injections. In fact they were a few points higher. The doctor is going to have to talk really hard to get me to continue taking them. I don’t think they are doing any good. I looked at the drug’s website and it said it would reduce my cholesterol by 63% within three months. I have taken the injections for five months so far and all that I have gained is lots of Charlie Horse leg cramps and sinus issues. I have an appointment with my doctor on Thursday and we will see what he has to say.

Jim and I cleaned out the chicken coop today and gave the girls some fresh linens. We only had two wheelbarrow fulls of the old straw to dump. The girls always have fun rearranging the straw when we are done. Every time I clean out the coop I feel compelled to change the sheets on my bed. If the girls get fresh linens, I want some too! Now all the beds in the house have fresh linens.

The best thing that happened today was my friends I met on the Camino FaceTime with me today. It is always good to see their beautiful faces and catch up on what is happening with them. I was relieved to hear they have escaped the virus and are doing well. Their part of CA is extremely dry and the fire danger is already high. They are starting to get out and about a bit and seeing their large, immediate family.

I stopped by the rental house when I was in town delivering eggs today. The floor in the laundry room was almost done and looks so nice. I wish the budget had been able to stretch enough that I could have done the kitchen floor too. I am over budget at this point and had to cut out some wish list items. We didn’t make it in to paint today. I think both of us needed a day off to rest and recover. Hopefully I will get in tomorrow and get some painting done. I am free in the morning so may go in while Jim sleeps in and do it then.

I fixed split pea soup with ham for dinner tonight. Not one of my favorite meals but Jim enjoys it. My tummy has been a bit off today and I haven’t felt like eating much. Trusting it will be back to normal tomorrow.

I made more deviled eggs today. I needed to drop something off to Tim so I took some deviled eggs to them as they all like them too. They also got two dozen eggs. I got rid of eight dozen eggs today and still have nine more dozen in the refrigerator tonight. Anyone need eggs?

I got the electrician bill today – it was about what I expected. They did some work that wasn’t in the original bid. Hoping that is my last big bill to pay besides the carpet that is coming later this month. I will have another big bill from the handyman for his labor and parts. After that I hope I will just have paint to buy to finish the inside. I still have to get paint for the outside and then whatever materials we will need to fix the outside. Yikes! I didn’t guesstimate very good as I am over budget. Par for the course probably for a remodel – it is hard to know what one is getting sometimes. My budget got blown by the roof replacement that was higher than I expected as they found the house had three layers of shingles on it and all needed to be taken off and new sub put on. Hard to make up for that extra expense.

Jim is going to Stillwater on Wednesday so he can put in some time working on his house there. I think he is staying until Saturday but his plans may change. While he is gone I can put in some extra painting time at the house in Cottonwood Falls.

Nothing on my calendar for the next two days except painting. It will be good to have some empty space at last. If fills like it has been a bit since I have had some. I need to slow things down and regroup.

Grateful for the FaceTime call today with my Camino friends, grateful for the wonderful memories I have of my dad, and grateful for fresh linens for all on the prairie today.

It has been a lazy day for me today. I over did yesterday and needed a rest and recovery day. I did manage to get the three bedrooms put back together again and get the beds made up. I took a long nap this afternoon and can’t seem to get going again.

I did go out and mow for about 30 minutes. The dandelion stems were driving me crazy so I finished the little area I didn’t get done last week when I got rained out and then mowed down the biggest part of the dandelion patch. The yard looks much better.

We went into the rental house after I got up from my long nap and got the second part of the shelving in the bedroom taken down. We did a bit of patching on the walls. The walls will need sanded and possibly another coat of patching stuff and then they will be ready to paint.

The other bedroom still has a saw and other stuff in it so that one will be the last room I get to paint. I have plenty of woodwork to paint so I won’t run out of things to do when I have the energy to get in there and get it done.

I sent the handyman a list of things that need to be done this week. Sure hoping he is able to get his part of the inside done this week. Then we can empty the house and I can go at it and get the painting done. The rooms where the woodwork is painted are looking nice.

The handyman burned our burn pile this afternoon. The wind calmed down and he was able to get it burned. In another week or so we will start cleaning up the outside yard some more and start prepping the house to be painted.

I fixed a simple dinner of grilled chicken tenders that I had marinated in Olive Oil salad dressing. Jim had a baked potato with his and I had carrots. It only takes me 10 minutes to fix to whole meal – can’t get much simpler than that.

Tomorrow I have to go into Emporia before I eat breakfast for my cholesterol blood test. I need to stop and get a screw to attach a knob in the kitchen. The two screws I picked up yesterday are the wrong size. I don’t think I need any groceries so it will be a quick stop and I will get to come home and have a chill day. I do have to deliver eggs at noon time. If it doesn’t rain tomorrow we plan on cleaning out the chicken coop tomorrow afternoon. I need to do some house cleaning tomorrow too.

Jim is talking about going to Stillwater this week. His house sitter reported the yard needs mowed. I’ll see if he goes. We don’t have much going on here so it will be a good week for him to go. Once the handyman gets done we will spend more time at the rental house during the day getting it done.

I have something I need to return to Home Depot. I may take a trip to KC this week if Jim goes to Stillwater. I have some things I need from Costco and maybe I can hook up with Nicole as a bonus.

I need to make a decision on what color to paint the house. I keep going back and forth between two different combinations and can’t decide which I prefer. I may need to get some samples of each color and put them up and then decide.

I’m on the schedule to work a crisis hot line shift this week. I need to decide if I want to continue doing that or if I am done. It does feel good helping others but not sure how I would handle things if a similar situation happens again.

I need to call my real estate partner and get a rental agreement form from him and ask his help in deciding how much rent I should charge. I have no idea what the market value is in Cottonwood Falls. If I remember I will make some calls tomorrow and see if I can get a handle on it.

It is almost time to schedule a haircut. Maybe I can get that taken care of this week too. I always feel better when I get my hair cut.

Grateful for a rest and recovery day, grateful the bedrooms are put back together again, and grateful for Jim’s work on the rental house today.

I almost forgot to write today. It has been another busy day. I got up early and headed into town to paint. A friend came by to see the house and may be interested in renting it. I got most of the knobs put on the kitchen cabinets. Painted the bathroom woodwork and other woodwork here and there throughout the house. Touched up the kitchen cabinets and walls. It is getting closer every day to being done.

Came home a little after noon and had lunch. Jim and I went into Emporia to get two new interior doors and a few other little things we needed for the house. Came home and we both took a nap.

After dinner we went back into the house and got some more work done. Jim got part of a bedroom shelving unit cleaned out and I did more painting. We are both tired tonight.

My last two guests left this morning while I was in town painting. It was fun having all the guys here this week and it is nice to have our house back to quiet and normal again. I have done four loads of laundry today and need to get four beds made up tomorrow. I emptied trash and did a bit of cleaning downstairs. Still have a bit more to do tomorrow and then things will be back to normal.

I made list of things that the handyman needs to do next week. I have no idea how long some of them will take. Some are fairly quick and easy things and others not so much. He is hoping to be done mid-week. We will see if he can get it all done in three days.

We had an extra storage shed on the property and the handyman took it down today. He is going to reassemble it and use it in his back yard. It is nice to have it gone. One more thing off the to-do list.

Tomorrow I plan on going in again to paint in the morning while Jim sleeps. Then sometime in the afternoon or evening we will both go in and get the rest of the bedroom stuff taken apart and removed. Then that room will be ready to be patched so I can paint it next week. I have to wait until we are done with the saw that is in the other bedroom to paint it. The back room has gotten full again of stuff and I will have to wait until it gets cleared out before I can paint it. Hoping by the end of the week we can clear everything out of the house except my painting stuff and I will get all the painting done in another week or so. May not make it but that is my goal. Painting walls sure goes faster than painting woodwork.

This house is starting to yell at me for some of my time to clean it up again too. I can work on it during the day next week while the handyman is working on the other house. Tomorrow the rental house takes priority as the handyman isn’t there.

Monday I have to go to Emporia for a blood draw. Sometime the next few days we need to clean out the chicken coop. I have a doctor’s appointment Thursday and then am going to lunch with some friends Thursday noon. Other than that we have a quiet week coming up. Hoping I can have a day or two of staying home and getting some things done at this house.

I mowed last week and the yard is starting to look like it needs mowed again already. I have raised a bountiful crop of dandelions this year. I wish they would quit sending up seed stocks – they make the yard look untidy and they are hard to mow down. The yard must have liked the rain we got last week and used it to grow grass.

Jim brought a bunch of iris up from Stillwater last year. They are just now starting to bloom and are beautiful. They have lots of buds getting ready to open. Iris is one of my favorite spring flowers. The critters seem to leave them alone out here which is amazing as they eat most every other flower that gets planted.

On May 1, 2013 Craig and I sold our McDonald’s restaurants and retired. Hard to believe that was eight years ago. Some times it feels like it have been eight months and other times it feels like it was a different life time ago that we owned and ran the stores. I’m so grateful we were able to retire early and have some wonderful years to do other things in life besides working 24/7.

Jim reminded me today that it has been almost a year since he moved to KS. We returned from Stillwater June 1 last year. This year has flown by. It sure doesn’t feel like Jim has lived here full-time for almost a year.

Sometime soon I will need to make a trip to Costco. I might try to schedule a lunch with my daughter in KC. I forget that is back on the table as an option now. We also want to go to Wichita to visit my Aunt Marylyn. I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that I can go places again.

Grateful more work was done on the rental house today, grateful for the guests that came to stay for a bit, and grateful for the beautiful Iris that are blooming.

Another busy day. I’m ready for these busy days to stop and for it to go back to quiet and slow again. I got used to my slow pace and am having trouble stepping it up when lots of things happen in a day.

Got up early and went into Emporia to fix the flooring issue. The lady had given me the wrong box and they had what I needed in stock – no worries. The kind I needed had more square foot per box than the one I paid for so they are going to send me a bill for the difference. I didn’t want to wait for the lady to figure it out – she is a bit ditzy.

Took the correct flooring to the house and chatted with the handyman for a bit. Made a few more decisions for him so he could get the towel bar and toilet paper holder put up today.

When I got home one of my guests had already left and wasn’t going to come back tonight. Another guest was on his way out the door and he decided to go home tonight too. So I am down to two guests for tonight. They will be heading home sometime tomorrow. I have sheets and towels washing now and will get the rooms made back up again later tonight.

I took a nap this afternoon. It felt good to take some time to recharge a bit. I feel like I am running on empty and need some extra down time right now.

When I woke up from my nap I went into town to paint. Jim had gone in earlier and worked on the yard some more. I got the laundry room’s first coat put on. It sure looks nice. Jim got all of the yard mowed. It was slow going as he kept having to stop and pick up stuff in the yard. He came in and I helped him get the refrigerator put back together. He had to switch which way the doors open.

I cleaned up the house a bit as I am showing it to a potential renter in the morning at 9:00. It isn’t clean by any means and not really ready to be shown but trusting they will be able to see past the construction dust and dirt and unfinished painted walls and woodwork.

I am planning on staying in town after I show the house and getting a couple hours of work done in the morning while Jim sleeps in. Then when he is ready mid afternoon I will go back in and get at it again. I need to get the second coat on the laundry room this weekend so my handyman can lay the flooring Monday in there. I would love to get the kitchen cabinets done and crossed off my list. They have been hanging around my to-do list too long and I am tired of them.

I have a feeling the handyman will have to work most of the week next week to get things all finished inside. We are so close to being done but some of the little things seem to take a long time to finish up. Two rooms are done except for woodwork painting – the dining room and bathroom. The dining room needs a second coat of paint on the walls as well as the woodwork finished. One bedroom needs walls painted and all the woodwork painted. The other bedroom needs some shelving removed, walls patched and then the walls and woodwork painted. Both bedrooms still need carpet laid but not sure when that can happen. Both closets need shelving put in as well as a clothes rod. The laundry room needs a second coat of paint, the flooring laid and trim put down. The kitchen still needs some cabinet doors put up, the cabinets need a final touch up of paint, and the woodwork needs painted. The backroom still needs painted – both walls and the floors. It seems like a long list of painting for me to do yet.

I’m almost afraid to list all the things that need done on the outside. It is too overwhelming. Getting the yard cleaned up and mowed was a huge relief and sure makes the property look much better. I’ll have to start painting the house as soon as I get all the inside painted.

We plan on burning our big burn pile tomorrow if the wind is slow enough and the sheriff gives his blessings. It will be good to have that pile gone although it will be another pile to clean up after the burn.

I called the internet people again today to report we are still losing internet connection once to three times a day that we are aware of. They are to call someone higher up the food chain and will call me back next week with what they are going to do about it. Not sure it is solvable at this point. Sure will be glad when the new internet company comes out this way.

Sometime this weekend I need to go to town with Jim and get two new 30″ doors for the bedrooms. The two that need replaced are in really bad shape. I’m hoping that is about the end of things that I need to purchase for the inside other than possibly some more paint.

I still haven’t heard from the guy that was going to take the boat away. If I remember I will call him tomorrow and see if he is going to be able to take it away. If he can’t, I’m not sure what I am going to do. Does fiberglass burn?

Other than cleaning bedrooms and painting I don’t have any plans for the weekend. I have to go to town Monday morning to have some blood work done and then back to town again on Thursday for my doctor’s appointment. Other than that we have a quiet week ahead which sounds like heaven at this point. I am peopled out and it will be nice to have our house back again.

I fixed a ham and cheese omelet for dinner tonight. Sometimes I fail when it comes to dinner planning and tonight was one of those nights. Good thing I have an abundant supply of eggs. Maybe I will get my act together and do better tomorrow night.

Things are starting to pile up at this house that need done too. Good thing dust patiently waits for me to go after it. Clutter is starting to pile up and it seems to wait for me too. Someday soon I will get caught up – maybe after I get some more painting done.

Grateful the flooring issue was easy to resolve, grateful progress is being made on the house, and grateful for Jim’s help.

It has been another busy day. The guys were up before I was this morning. They were fixing eggs when I came into the kitchen. They ate their breakfast and took off for another day of fun playing disc golf. I sent some sun screen with one of them as they had gotten a bit red from the sun yesterday.

I met some friends at 11:00 for lunch. Then I went to the bank in Cottonwood Falls to deposit a check and I stopped at the water department to pay my water bill.

Went into Emporia to get two gallons of paint and the kitchen cabinet door hinges. I dropped off the signed bid for the master shower and picked up another box of floor planks for my handyman. He didn’t think we had enough.

Stopped by the house in Cottonwood and dropped off the planks and then came home. I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the guys. Jim went into town to mow.

My fourth guest showed up late afternoon. He is a nice man and we have enjoyed visiting with him.

Two of our four guests joined us for dinner. We had leftover spaghetti and chowder. Nothing like feeding my guests leftovers. They both ate two plate fulls so guess they liked it.

I went in and painted for a bit after dinner. The handyman let me know the floor planks I picked up are different than the ones I had gotten before. I discovered they are in totally different packaging and the square foot per box is even different. Not sure what happened but they are loaded in my car and I will have to go back into Emporia in the morning and get it straightened out. The good news is he hasn’t started laying the laundry room floor so hoping I can get enough of the same planks in the morning so he can do that floor tomorrow yet. May have to change to a different plank but that is OK as long as it goes with the bathroom somewhat. The two rooms share a doorway.

I am a bit confused as to why we needed more flooring material as the guy from the tile store measured and told me how much I needed. Trusting we can get it all worked out somehow tomorrow morning.

I didn’t get the laundry room finished painted as I discovered it still needs sanded in places and wasn’t ready to be painted yet. I was really tired tonight anyways and wasn’t too sorry I couldn’t get much painting done.

Tomorrow I need to call the guy that was going to come take the boat away. I must have not understood him correctly as I thought he said he was coming for it the day I called him or the next day. Maybe he came and checked it out and decided he couldn’t move it. That boat is a pain in my ass.

Tomorrow I don’t have anything on my calendar except for returning the planks and fixing that issue. I hope it is a quieter day. I have had a couple of busy days this week and have hit my limit of them. I need a day of peace and quiet. I have been around people too much this week.

The handyman won’t get done tomorrow but it is close. He will probably have two more days after tomorrow to finish things up inside. I still have a solid week of painting left. Still hard for me to think we are almost done with the inside part of this project.

The bathroom looks really good with the new flooring, vanity and sink. I’m glad we were able to rearrange it a bit and give it more room. When I get the woodwork painted and the trim gets put on it will really look nice.

I am really tired tonight. I took a NyQuil last night and had a bit of a hangover all day. I should have taken a nap this afternoon but didn’t know what was going to happen with my guests. It was a good thing I stayed up as the fourth guy showed up. I think I will go to bed soon and see if I can sleep.

I have had the feeling I have forgotten to do something important all day today. Still haven’t figured out what I might have forgotten to do. I hope what ever this is goes away soon as it has put me a bit on edge.

Grateful I got my errands all done today, grateful for leftovers, and grateful the end is in sight for this project even if I can’t see the finish line yet.

I am cranky this afternoon. I took a nap and woke up cranky. Maybe I should have gone back to sleep and slept off this foul mood. Not sure where it came from but it can go back to where ever it came from – the quicker the better.

I cooked breakfast for one of my guests at 8:00 this morning. He had a tee time of 10:00 and I knew the restaurants in town would be very busy. He left a little before 9:00.

I went out and mowed half the yard. One of my other guests returned back to the house after taking his friend to town. I came in and fixed him breakfast. We had a nice chat after he ate.

I went back out and got most of the back yard mowed before the rain came in. The rain started with great big drops and I could tell a storm was moving in quickly. I made it to the house before the flood gates opened. There was a lot of lightening that seemed to be striking close by. I love the sound of the rolling thunder over the prairie. We would see a strike of lightening and then immediately the thunder would crack. I bet we got over an inch of rain in the hour that it rained. It really came down hard for a bit.

Since I couldn’t finish my mowing I went to bed and took a nap. I didn’t sleep very well last night. The leg cramps are getting very frequent and seem to be more intense and lasting longer. I hope the doctor has some answers next week.

After my nap we went into Emporia to get 450 pounds of chicken feed, oats, sunflower seeds and dog food. What a haul! Jim had to load it on the cart, load it into the car and then unload it and put it all in containers when we got home. He got his exercise for the day. We stopped at Sutherland’s and got the right size screw for the kitchen cabinet knobs and two light bulbs for the kitchen at the rental house.

I am making corn and ham chowder for dinner tonight. I thought I was going to have some extras for dinner but they have all decided to eat in town. I have a fourth guest coming later tonight. He was camping in a tent and got rained out where his tent was. I had an extra bed and when one of my guests asked if he could bring him out I told my guest to bring him on out. What is one more – right?

Last night Jim and I went in and got one coat of paint on the bathroom walls. It sure looks nice. I haven’t been by the house today but after dinner I am going in to paint the laundry room and to put another coat on the bathroom. The handyman was hoping to start laying the new flooring tomorrow but I’m not sure how far he got today.

During the night I heard a loud motor sound. Finally figured out it is the exhaust fan in the bathroom below the master bedroom. I will need to get that fan replaced as the sound is very disturbing – especially at night.

Got my water bill for the rental house and they charged me a late fee as the check I mailed five days before it was due never showed up. I’ll have to go by the office tomorrow and find out if the check ever showed up. I mailed the check the same day I got the bill last month. USPS you disappoint me again!

Tomorrow I am having lunch with some friends again. It is nice to be getting out in small groups and seeing people. I need to go by the water department and go to the bank while I am in town.

I’m not sure when my guests are leaving. I think on Saturday but am not sure. It really doesn’t matter as we don’t have any plans. I will spend most of Saturday in town painting regardless of what the guests decide to do.

Next week I have a blood draw on Monday and my regular weekly egg delivery. Thursday I have a doctor’s appointment. Other than that I will be at the house painting most days. I am way past the point of being tired of this project and need to get this thing wrapped up. I may need to mow on Saturday if Jim doesn’t get it done before then. Not sure I am looking forward to starting the painting of the outside of the house.

Hoping this foul mood will pass quickly. I have a raging headache this afternoon but I think that is allergy related to the storm. Maybe painting this evening will help work some of this out of me.

Grateful for the rain the prairie received this afternoon, grateful most of the yard is mowed, and grateful the bathroom got a first coat of paint on it last night.

I went in last night and got a second coat on the dining room. Two rooms now have their second coat. I was one tired puppy when I got done.

Came home from painting last night and sat out on the deck and enjoyed the light of the full moon. It was almost as bright as daytime last night – the moon shadows were incredible and the moon was beautiful.

One of our guests came in last night after dinner. He sat out on the deck with us and visited for a while. The other two guests haven’t gotten here yet. I expected them to come in this morning. I finally heard from them this afternoon and they were on their way. Then later they said they were having dinner in town and would be out after dinner. I may be in bed before they get here. Good thing they know where their bedroom is.

I fixed a potato salad and deviled eggs this morning. Jim made some baked beans and I grilled hot dogs and we called it dinner. Our guest joined us – he didn’t seem to mind having to eat hot dogs.

After dinner Jim and I went in and painted the bathroom. It sure is looking better. It still needs a second coat and the woodwork painted. Tomorrow the handyman is going to put down the sub flooring material and maybe start laying the floor. Tomorrow night I may get to paint the laundry room. That room is looking so much better with the Sheetrock on the walls. It is amazing what a coat of paint does to a house.

I don’t like to paint when the handyman is there as I like to stay out of his way and not distract him. He is really pushing to get his part of the inside of the house done this week. He may carry over one and maybe two days next week but we are really getting close to being done.

The guy I got the refrigerator from was to have called me when he left Emporia so I could meet him at the house. He called and told me he left the refrigerator on the front porch. When Jim and I went in we moved it inside in case it rains tonight and tomorrow. The refrigerator stinks. I sure hope I can get it cleaned up as it has mold in it. I am a bit disappointed in it but will see if it will clean up. I may have to go to Plan B.

I called city hall today and got the name of a guy that might be able to haul the boat away. He was to have called me this evening when he was on his way to come check it out. I didn’t hear from him. Hope he calls me later this week. That boat is becoming a pain in the ass.

It looks like I will spend most of next week painting once the handyman is done with his part of the job. He has been putting in 8 – 10 hour days which doesn’t leave me a lot of time to paint. It still seems like I have a lot of painting to do but when I can get a second oat on a room and cross a room off the list it feels so good. Two rooms done – six to go. Then I will have to do all the woodwork. I don’t like painting woodwork but it goes fairly fast.

We have some doors that are going to need to be replaced. Anyone know of some where I can buy used doors?

I sent a message to my doctor today and they ordered labs for next Monday. I wanted to have the results of my cholesterol test when I talk to him at my appointment next Thursday. I have been having lots of legs cramps both day and night since I started taking the new mediation and the doctor is going to have to talk me into continuing taking the mediation.

We need to go to Emporia and do a big feed haul again. We need oats, chicken feed, dog food, and sunflower seeds. I think I have enough egg money to pay for it this time. That always feels good. Don’t always have enough though – I’m afraid Jim is correct when he says the chickens are a hobby and not a money making proposition.

While we are in town I need to get some different screws for the kitchen cabinet knobs. The ones that came with the knobs are too long for 10 of the cabinet doors. They were too short for 12 of the cabinet drawers. At least this time I know where the hardware store hides them.

It has been another windy day on the prairie. It was cloudy and humid today. Sure feels like we could be in for a strong thunderstorm tonight or tomorrow. I have had a headache all day today and my feet have been aching. They are good weather indicators for me.

Grateful two rooms have a second coat, grateful for the beauty of the full moon, and grateful to be headed to bed soon.

I went into Emporia first thing this morning to pick up some things for the rental house. Went to Walmart and got groceries. I dropped off the supplies at the rental house and then came home.

Had a chance to talk to my handyman today while I was at the house dropping things off. He has asked for some time off when we get the inside of the house done before he starts on the outside. I think he has had to put a lot more hours in then he likes to work each week. I’m grateful he has hung in there with me this long and will work until we get the inside done. He still thinks he will get it done by Friday. We will see. We have lots of little things that still need done but it is hard for me to know how long those things will take to do. We are both getting tired of this project. I will still have painting to do when he gets done and then I will need to get the house detail cleaned.

The outside of the house still feels overwhelming to me to start to work on. I can start painting the house and finish painting when the handyman comes back to the project and fixes the siding pieces that need replaced. We have lots of yard work that needs done. Jim taught his last class for a while today so he is freer to help me now. I’m sure it will all work out in a way I can’t see right now.

We can always rent it with the understanding that we will be working on the outside for the first month or two that we have renters. I hope to start being able to advertise it late next week. The carpet in the bedrooms won’t be in yet but other than that the inside should be done.

I delivered eggs around noon and then met two friends for lunch. After I got home from lunch I helped Jim get started on his class and then hung around in case he needed help. He didn’t need help once he got started but it makes him feel better to know I am there if needed.

I fixed a crock pot full of spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight. After I started it I found out two of the guys won’t be here till tomorrow and I haven’t heard from the other one. May have lots of sauce left over for another day or two or three. I have a spaghetti squash in the oven cooking for me to eat and I will boil some traditional spaghetti noodles for Jim to eat.

The wind has been in a big hurry all day today. We have had 40 MPH wind gusts and sustained winds of around 25 all day. I am a bit exhausted from listening to the wind all day. I had trouble closing a door when I came home from the grocery store and a screen blew out of one of the dining room windows today. The wind is to slow down a bit later tonight. It got up to the mid 80’s today. We are to get thunderstorms Wednesday. Gotta love KS weather.

After I got home from Sutherland’s they called and told me my hinges have come in. Jim needs to get some wood to start building a piece of furniture for our study so he said he will go in tomorrow and pick them up and get his wood. The hinges came in sooner than they told me they might.

I had to pick up some screws for the cabinet drawers. I get overwhelmed at the store when I try to find something like that. There was a whole isle full of different types of screws and I don’t speak that language. There was a customer there that seemed to know what he was doing. He could see I was frustrated and asked me what I was looking for. He took me right to what I needed. I was grateful for his help and knowledge.

Hoping to get to the rental tomorrow to get some more painting done. I want to get some painting done in the laundry room and bathroom before the handyman puts down the new floor and installs the vanity. We will see if it works out so I can get it done on time. I don’t want to slow him down.

Nothing on my calendar for the rest of the week other than tending a bit to the guests coming in. They are pretty self-sufficient so won’t need much time or attention from me. That should allow me plenty of time to get lots of painting done this week.

I have had a headache all day today. Thinking it is allergies from all the dust and crap the wind has stirred up and blown in. I am tired and a bit sore today from the painting I did over the weekend. I probably should have taken a nap today but the timing didn’t work for that to happen. It may be an early night tonight although if I can find some energy I may go in and paint for an hour or two after dinner tonight.

Grateful for friends to have lunch with, grateful the grocery trip for the week in done, and grateful for a stranger’s help at the hardware store today.

Got some painting done today and most of the kitchen cabinet doors are hung. Yay! The kitchen walls all have their second coat on them. One of the bedrooms is half painted with a first coat. Sure seems like slow progress but at least it is progress. The kitchen looks nice with the cabinet doors back on. I still need to attach the knobs to the doors.

I am sore and tired tonight from painting for five hours today and two hours last night. It seems to take me much longer to paint than it used to and I don’t recover as quickly afterwards.

The grass in the yard is getting tall and we need to get after the yard work at the rental house too. We need to run a rake through the yard and pick up the last of the trash that was laying here and there and everywhere in the yard. There is a lot of branches and things growing that need cut back. It is going to take some hard work to get the yard looking nice.

Tomorrow I hope to go back in and paint in the bathroom. I need to paint where the new vanity is going to be placed as well as the new light fixture and medicine cabinet. That isn’t a big area so it shouldn’t take me too long to do it. The handyman is going to be working at the house tomorrow but he is working in the laundry room so I think I can stay out of his way.

The guy that was to have delivered the refrigerator this afternoon got behind schedule and postponed the delivery until Tuesday. I don’t have anything on my calendar for Tuesday other than my guests so the change in date works for me.

Tomorrow I deliver eggs and then am having lunch with a friend. I need to remember to boil some eggs to put in the refrigerator in the guest kitchen so my guests can enjoy some hard boil eggs. I have an abundance of them and I will appreciate getting rid of some. I may even make them some deviled eggs and see if they will disappear too.

I need to run into Emporia tomorrow and pick up a toilet paper holder, a towel bar, a flood light and a kitchen faucet set. I’m trying to stay ahead of the handyman so he doesn’t have to stop working and go to town for things we need. I sure hope we are getting to the bottom of things we need. The budget is busted and I am in the red on this project.

Jim teaches his last OSHER class in this series tomorrow afternoon. His next class doesn’t start until the end of June so he will be a bit freer to get some things done. Our list of projects seems to be growing. He needs to get down to Stillwater and work on that house too.

I need to call the door people and find out if the screen for my screen door has come in yet. They ordered it over a month ago. It is to be warm tomorrow and I can’t open my south door until I get the screen fixed.

Tomorrow night is full moon night. Last night we sat out on the deck and watched the moon shadows on the prairie. The burned areas have already turned green and the hills are especially beautiful right now.

Grateful for the painting that got done today, grateful for Jim’s help in hanging kitchen cabinet doors, and grateful for the beauty of moon shadows on the prairie.

It has been a nice day but a tad busy. A friend I hadn’t seen since COVID hit came for a visit. We ordered take out for lunch and brought it back to the house and enjoyed our lunch. It was nice to see her and catch up. She is caring for her elderly parents and needed a day away. It reminds me how important friendships are and how critical it is to take the time to engage with others.

A friend sent her son and his wife to pick up a piece of furniture I didn’t want any more. It is nice to get that out of the house and to someone that will enjoy it. I was able to unhook the TV and internet and get both back connected. I never know if I can successfully do that. Jim now needs to build a piece of furniture that will hold the TV and all the cable equipment that comes with it.

I grilled hamburgers on the grill for dinner. It was such a beautiful day that we needed to celebrate it by grilling. Simple, easy and delicious dinner.

I got the rest of my mowing done this afternoon. It was good to get outside and get that done. The grass is still sparse in places but starting to grow back in. It was tall in the area nearest the house. Jim got the weed eating done and the yard looks nice tonight.

After dinner I went in and painted two walls in the kitchen. I am getting a refrigerator delivered tomorrow and wanted to get the wall done before the refrigerator comes so I don’t have to move the refrigerator. I also painted the woodwork that is behind where the refrigerator will go. I painted on around the corner of the wall and have over half of the second coat on the kitchen wall.

Tomorrow I am going to finish vacuuming and dusting this house and then go into Cottonwood and paint for a good four to five hours. I’ll see how far I can get. I want to get a coat of paint on one of the bedrooms so I can see if I like the color. The bathroom is almost ready for a coat of paint. I need to get it painted before the new floors go in later this week.

I’m a bit tired tonight. I slept for about two hours last night and then woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I finally took another bath and was able to sleep for one more hour. I didn’t take a nap today so am hoping I will crash tonight and get lots of sleep. It is so frustrating some nights when I can’t find sleep.

Still not sure if my guests for the week are coming in tomorrow or Monday. I will get the house ready in the morning and go from there.

Other than having three and maybe five guests this week I don’t have anything on my calendar. The guys that are coming are easy guests and won’t take much of my time. It will be fun to visit with them when they are around. They are all involved in the disc golf tournament so will be busy with their rounds of disc golf and all the extra festivities that go with the tournament. I doubt they are around here much.

I’m sure hoping the handyman can get the inside of the house all but done by the end of next week. I will have some painting to do after that but we are getting so close to having the inside of the house done. I still will need carpet laid in the two bedrooms and not sure when that can get done but I can start showing the house to find a renter. We have tons of work to do outside yet but all of that work can be done after we get it rented if needed. Sometime next week I need to pick out the colors we are going to use on the outside of the house so we can get started painting outside too. May need to host a paint party.

Jim and I sat out on the swing on our back deck for a while late afternoon. It feels like it has been a while since it was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the sun in my face. I so look forward to summer evenings when we can sit outside and enjoy the late sunsets and then the night skies.

Grateful for my friend that came to visit today, grateful for my friend that took my piece of furniture off my hands, and grateful the yard is mowed and looking nice.

Our guest had to leave last night as his daughter was in labor. He will be back either Sunday or Monday and will stay all of next week.

This morning I went into Emporia and picked up the flooring material for the laundry room and bathroom at the carpet store. I signed the bid for the carpet installation at the rental house. I was given the bid for the master shower at this house. After they picked me up off the floor upon me seeing the huge amount, I picked out the colors for it and told them to order it. WOW! It was much higher than I anticipated. The work has to be done though as we are going to have some serious water damage if it doesn’t get fixed.

I then went to Sutherland’s and picked up a 24 inch wide medicine cabinet and light fixture for the bathroom at the rental house. Went to Cottonwood Falls and dropped off my haul.

Took a nap this afternoon while Jim went to town for an appointment. After he came home and we had dinner we went into the rental house and painted for over two hours. The living room, dining room and kitchen all have their first coat completed. All kitchen cabinets and cabinet doors are painted. Progress at last. Still need a first coat on all the woodwork in those three rooms but Jim is making progress on it. He is having to do a lot of scraping and cleaning up the wood before he can paint.

The handyman worked on the laundry room today. He had a lot of prep work to do before he could start hanging sheetrock. He has the ceiling almost covered with sheetrock which is the hardest part for him. He still has sheetrock to put on part of the walls and then he can start mudding it. Some days it looks like he has made a lot of progress and other days it is hard to see the progress. He hung a light fixture in the laundry room and that helps make it brighter and it looks better already.

The handyman is taking the weekend off. I have company coming for lunch tomorrow but will get in late afternoon or evening to paint some more and I am hoping to spend lots of hours there on Sunday. I would love to get the three rooms we are working on done and cleaned up but not sure we will get there this weekend. I need to mow at this house and do some dusting and vacuuming on Sunday in preparation of my guests coming in on Monday. It will be a busy weekend.

I am still hoping the handyman can be done with the inside of the house by the end of April. We are really close on being done with the rest of the house inside. The outside is going to take a few weeks of his time to get repairs done to the siding of the house and some other things that need done. I am still hopeful that we can get the house rented by June 1. If we can get the inside done I can start showing it and find a renter.

Jim teaches his last class Monday. He will have more free time after that class is done. His next set of classes doesn’t start until the end the June. He puts hours into prep work for each class he teaches. It will be good to have him have more free time again.

Other than having guests all week we don’t have anything on our calendar. Not sure how much time we will have to get in to paint but maybe we can start getting some yard work done while the handyman is working inside. We will see what happens.

Grateful for the painting we got done today, grateful the flooring is at the house and ready to be put down, and grateful the material for the new shower is being ordered.

Good news at last for the rental property. My handyman made some calls today and found a local drain cleaner that has a camera to run through the sewer line. I called them today not expecting them to be able to come today. We stopped by the house early afternoon and to my surprise the drain cleaner showed up while we were there. He was able to get the line free – it was full of tree root at a joint in the pipe. He ran the camera through the line and discovered where the roots were coming in. He recommended I treat the lines with a root killer quarterly and thinks that will take care of it. He doesn’t recommend we dig out the line and fix the joint where the roots got in – at least for now. He said we may have to have him come clean them out annually but we should be able to get by. It cost $175 to get the problem fixed – I was afraid it was going to cost several thousand dollars if we had to dig out the whole line.

My handyman cut down the tree that sent the roots through the line. He is putting in a wood-burning fire place at his house and likes to get free wood. Problem solved!

While we were at the house we loaded up the pile of things that needed taken to Salvation Army to get them out of the way. We went into Emporia after our stop at the rental and dropped the stuff off at Salvation Army. We then went to the hardware store. I got a bathroom vanity with sink, a faucet set and a new toilet. My budget is starting to yell at me to stop spending money. The guy at the hardware store helped us load them into the car and then my handyman helped unloaded them at the house.

Tomorrow I need to call the carpet/tile place and find out how much flooring I need for the bathroom and laundry room. I picked out what I want and they have it on hold. I need to go pay for it and pick it up so it will be at the house for when the handyman is ready to put it in. That may happen next week. While I am at the tile store I need to tell them what colors I want for the master shower so they can get that material ordered.

I found out when we dropped off the vanity at the house I need a new kitchen faucet set so will pick that up when I go to town tomorrow to get the flooring.

We still didn’t get the kitchen cabinet doors hung. We got distracted by the drain cleaner and then taking a trip to Emporia. Jim cancelled his trip to Stillwater this week so maybe we will get a chance to get them up yet this weekend. While we were at the house I was looking at the cabinet doors and found two more that need the back side painted that I missed. I will go in tomorrow and get those taken care of. I’m still waiting on some hinges to come in so we can’t get them all hung yet anyways.

Got the basement cleaned and ready for the guests that are coming in next week. I still need to vacuum the rug and dust but those are last minute things to do. Still not sure how many people are coming and when they are coming but I will be ready when they show up.

I took a nap when I came home from Emporia. I had Jim wake me up after I napped for an hour so I wouldn’t sleep too long. Not sure why I was so tired this afternoon but I was. I fell asleep quickly and slept hard for an hour. I was cranky when I came home from town which has become normal for me these days. A nap seems to help every time.

I fixed green chicken for dinner tonight. Our guest joined us again for dinner. It is so fun and “normal” to have guests for dinner.

Tomorrow night is left over night. My refrigerator is overflowing right now and needs cleaned out. I had some leftover white chicken chili for lunch today. Not sure what else we have in there but most of it is going to be gone by tomorrow night. I hate having a cluttered refrigerator. Part of the problem is the 12 dozen eggs I have in the refrigerator right now. I made a dozen of them into deviled eggs tonight just to get rid of some more eggs.

A friend sent me an email today and she is coming by for a visit on Saturday. It will be good to see her. It is so nice to be able to have friends over again and go to lunch with them. I have so missed that this past year.

We don’t have any other plans for the weekend so will hope that we can make it in to the house and get some painting done. It is feeling like this project will never get finished. I flip from feeling like it is almost done to it is never going to get done. Hoping no more big expense items come up. I really want to get the second coat of paint on the walls in the living room and get the woodwork painted in that room. Then I can get the room cleaned up and have one room completely done. It will lift my spirit to see a completed room.

It is sprinkling a bit tonight. It has been a cloudy, cool and windy day on the prairie. I am looking forward to Sunday when it is to be 73 and clear. I will need to get my mowing done and take advantage of a nice day.

Grateful the drain got cleared today and it was an easy fix, grateful the house is ready for the guests coming in next week, and grateful for naps that fix my cranky mood.

We had a busy afternoon at the Commodities distribution. The delivery truck ran two hours late today so the leader didn’t get there with the food until 4:00. It was scheduled to be there by 2:00. I had gotten a text to let me know we didn’t have to come until 3:00. We waited an hour before the food showed up. We had to rush a bit to get the 50 boxes ready to go out by 5:00. They sure went out quickly. We were done by 5:30.

Fixed tacos for dinner tonight. I couldn’t think of anything to fix this morning so made a last minute decision to do tacos. The guys enjoyed them – I had a plain hamburger and carrots.

Our guest arrived shortly after we got home from our volunteer job this afternoon. It is always nice to see him. He is staying until Friday and then will be back next Monday and will stay all week next week.

I went to the rental house this morning to talk to my handyman. He is making good progress and has the kitchen, living room, one of the bedrooms and dining room all but finished. I found out he can lay the flooring I picked out for the laundry room and bathroom so will need to go pick that up later this week. Not sure he is ready for it yet but I want to stay a step ahead of him. He is going to lay 3/8″ plywood on the laundry and bathroom floors in preparation for the new flooring as the carpet/tile guy recommended.

We talked about the bathroom. I found out he has to move the sink pipes as they are too close to the outer wall. Since he has to move them he told me we could move the sink if I wanted him to. I am going to get a 24 inch wide vanity base with sink and move it to the opposite wall. That will open up the side where the sink is now and help make the bathroom feel much bigger. It will also provide a place to store towels which the bathroom doesn’t have now. He is going to pick up a new toilet next time he goes to town to get parts.

We discovered the dryer vent is not venting outside so he will fix that when he gets to the laundry room. There were some hanging lights in one of the bedrooms and he is moving two of those to the mud room as it needed more lighting. We are repurposing some shelving that was in a bedroom and moving it to the laundry room.

The city was cleaning out the city sewer lines today. They hadn’t made it up our street yet so don’t know if that is going to eliminate our blockage or not. I gave the handyman permission to call the city to talk to them about the situation to see what they will say. I could call but I don’t speak their language. Still hoping we don’t have to dig a hole to fix the connection between our line and the city line.

The back splash is completed except for the grout. He was going to put the grout on today if he got to it. It looks nice. He is going to start putting sheetrock up in the mud room today. The next big project when he finishes the mud room is the laundry room. It needs a closet built around the furnace and water heater and the walls and ceiling in that room are in bad shape. He has a bit more work to do to the bathroom but that room is getting close to being done.

I’m getting a little nervous about my budget for this project. It sure seems like I still have lots of things to get yet and will need lots of hours from my handyman before he gets this project wrapped up. We haven’t even started on the outside yet. The plumbing thing could break my budget if the news is bad there. Trying not to go there yet until or if I have to.

Jim was going to Stillwater tomorrow but has decided not to. He may go Friday but he may change his mind again. We still haven’t gotten the kitchen cabinets hung yet so need to get in and take care of those. It is bugging me that they aren’t up yet.

Not sure when I will get back in to paint. I don’t like to get in the way of the handyman when he is able to work on the project. I should be able to get in this weekend when the handyman is off and can get some more work done. We will see how it goes.

I have been working on cleaning the house. Not done yet but I see the finish line in front of me. I don’t have anything on my calendar for the rest of the weekend so will have plenty of time to get at the cleaning and get it done. Some of it I want to wait till the last minute as it won’t stay clean if I do it too far in advance.

I need to get out and finish the mowing in the next day or two. I have half of the yard mowed. I was going to mow this morning but it was too cold. Sunday it is to be back in the 70’s so may have to wait to do it then. There is a chance of rain the next couple of days and temperatures are only going to be in the 50’s. That is cold by my measure. By Sunday the part I have already mowed will probably need mowed again.

Tomorrow I have a pile of things that need donated to Salvation Army at the rental house that I want to load up and get out of the house. I can finish the living room now and would love to see one fully finished room. I need to finish painting the woodwork and do a final coat on the walls and that room will be done. I have lots of paint splatters I will need to scrap up as I give the floor a good cleaning when I am done painting.

Jim loaded my car up tonight with recycling stuff so need to drop those off when I go into Cottonwood Falls tomorrow. It amazes me each time we drop off recycling how much material we gather to drop off. Jim has been picking up the ditches and has found lots of beer cans and beer bottles that need dropped off too.

Back to having a huge stockpile of eggs in the refrigerator. If Jim goes to Stillwater I will have to send a bunch with him again to get rid of. Wish I could find some more regular customers.

Grateful to be able to help with the commodities distribution, grateful the handyman is making progress on the house and for his variety of skills, and grateful my calendar is full of empty space for the next couple of days.

We went to Emporia a little after noon today. Stopped at the tile/carpet store and picked out the carpet for the rental house bedrooms and flooring for the bathroom and laundry room. I brought home samples of the material they will use to rebuild the master shower. It is an option to tile walls and I know I will like a solid surface better. Way too many color choices though.

We went to Walmart next and I picked up my prescription and we bought groceries for the week. Came home and got everything put away.

We had some friends over for dinner tonight. I made a crock pot full of white chicken chili this morning and decided we needed help eating it. I made beer bread muffins to go with it and baked a German Chocolate cake for dessert. It is so nice to sit and visit with friends over dinner again. I need to remember to invite more people over more often.

Woke up to about two inches of snow on the ground. I’m glad I got up early today as by 10:00 most of the snow was gone and by noon all of it had melted. When we get snow in April it usually doesn’t last long. Grateful for the bit of moisture it provided. It helped clear the smoke from the air.

We didn’t make it in to the rental house to hang the kitchen cabinets today. We plan to go tomorrow. We are helping make boxes for the Commodities distribution at 2:00 tomorrow. It only takes about an hour or so to sort the commodities food. Hopefully we will go hang them either before or after we do the commodities job.

One of my disc golf guys is coming in tomorrow for two nights as he has to work in the Emporia area tomorrow and Thursday. I usually fix dinner for him so will need to figure out something I can put in the crock pot before we go to our volunteer job tomorrow. I’ll need to do some house cleaning in the morning so the house is ready for our guest coming in.

I didn’t get a nap again today and am tired tonight. Thinking it will be another early night for me. I slept fairly well last night and woke up feeling rested which is almost unusual for me. I won’t get a nap again tomorrow as we will be busy in the afternoon. Maybe my body needed this reset to help me get away from taking naps.

Grateful for friends over for dinner, grateful for the beautiful snow this morning, and grateful the decision about flooring for the rental house has been made.

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.