Starry night on the prairie

The pace of the change in world events is leaving me a bit breathless this afternoon. Still not sure what to think of it all. Doing my best to stay grounded and reminding myself to turn off the media to take media breaks frequently. I can’t seem to wrap my head around all that is happening.

Went to the grocery store this morning. We had gone last Thursday morning and the store was quiet and the shelves full. This morning the store was very busy and the shelves were decimated with lots of empty space. Found most of what I was looking for but came home without potatoes as there were none left.

After Jim got up we went and picked up our marriage license at the Court House. Stopped and got some stamps and went to Lowe’s to pick up a few things Jim needed. Lowe’s was fairly busy but the post office was not. Hoping we can stay in tomorrow and Wednesday and not go back out.

Tomorrow the guy is to come and install the new kitchen counter top. Jim may have him do some other jobs too. We need to get the flooring installed. Jim has never installed this type of flooring before so he may ask the guy to help him get started. He got the kitchen cabinet doors installed except for two of them that still need to be painted. We got more door handles for them at Lowe’s. Progress.

We have arranged to get married on Thursday at 2:00 in the preacher’s office or in the small chapel at the church. The choir director and her husband will be our witnesses. That date and time may have to change as the plan still feels fluid. New guidelines keep coming down and who knows what they will be by Thursday. That seems a long ways away in some ways.

Jim has a son that lives in Berkeley and David’s community has been put on total lockdown. Residents are asked to shelter in place for the next three weeks. So grateful we cancelled the wedding as David wouldn’t have been able to come now. Crazy times right now!

We had planned to go to KS next Monday and spend a week but that seems a bit fluid too. I need to check with my house sitter to see if she can stay if we decide not to travel. Not sure what is best for us and those we love. I would like to be home in case I can help with the grandkids. They are out of school again this week and may be out again next week too. Michelle works nights and I hate for them to be alone all day so many days in a row. We will not make any final decision until the time gets closer and the right path presents itself to us. I am a bit homesick and was looking forward to being on the prairie for a week but I may need to suck it up and deal!

I miss doing taxes. They closed the site down until further notice. We have heard there may be an extension as to when taxes are due this year but nothing has been sent out yet. We are hoping to get back opened later so we can help people get their taxes done but not sure that will happen.

During this time of unsettled energy it can get uncomfortable within. I keep reminding myself that nothing is fixed – everything is temporary and everything changes. I keep reminding myself to ground and come back within myself. Staying grounded and flexible is all I can do right now. In this moment right now all is well. Sometimes I have to repeat that to myself several times a day and sometimes several times each hour! All I have is this moment and if all is well in this moment what else do I need?

Grateful all is well right here right now, grateful we were able to get our marriage license today, and grateful I know how to ground myself and allow the world to swirl around me and not get pulled in over my head with her craziness.

Feeling much better today.  Still not a ball of fire but am eating, keeping it down, not running to the bathroom, and I have been remaining upright and not sleeping all day.  I’ll take that as progress.

I’m so bummed we had to cancel the public ceremony for our wedding and the reception in Strong City.  All that planning down the tube.  We are going to talk to the preacher Monday and find a time during the week that she can marry us.  We will have to find a couple to witness the ceremony for us.  Jim has several friends that will be happy to do so.  Just wish my kids could be there but that isn’t going to happen. The preacher told us she could do another ceremony later after this madness is done and I will reschedule the reception in Strong City later too.  Sometimes you have to deal the hand you have been given.

Both of us still feel we made the right decision.  If the majority of people would self-isolate the spread of the virus would greatly slow down.  I’m amazed how many are proceeding as if nothing is going on or think it is just a cold.  I don’t think we need to panic but some good common sense would go a long way to stopping the spread.  After hearing the condition of the airports this weekend I am grateful Jim’s sons won’t be flying next weekend and standing in long lines with infected people.

Both Jim and I are in the higher risk group due to our age but we are both relatively healthy and would probably be OK.  We are self-isolating to hep protect those that are autoimmune deficient or medically challenged.  Neither of us will leave the house except for essential trips to the grocery store or pharmacy.  We will go meet the preacher to get married later this week!  But that will be a group of five people.

I contacted all our vendors to cancel our plans.  Everyone was understanding and willing to work with me.  The florist and cake baker won’t give me a refund but will delay delivery until a later date.  The photographer didn’t have a deposit and said I didn’t owe her anything when I offered to pay.  She just asked me to contact her when we reschedule.

I’ll have to figure out what to do with the mints in the freezer.  I don’t think they will last several months without picking up a funky taste.  I’ll probably end up throwing them out and making fresh ones when we have a new date.

The freezer is full of brunch frozen stuff.  Guess we will start eating on it during our isolation time.  Not sure it will stay good for six months or so.

I cancelled all the hotel rooms and am to get all my money back within seven days.

I spent some time this morning notifying everyone that was invited to the reception that it has been cancelled.  Jim did the same with people he invited to the wedding.

We are going to the court house Monday to get the marriage license in case they decide to close the court house to walk-in traffic.

There are so many that are in much worse situations than we are in.  I feel bad for all those that have lost income due to businesses closing and jobs shuttered temporarily.  If the US follows like Italy we haven’t even began to see the worst of it yet.  It will take everyone doing there part to slow the spread.  Cancelling a public wedding and reception is small potatoes compared to what some will suffer.

Times like this it is important to check in with our friends and neighbors.  Especially those at high risk and offer trips to the store for them, etc.  A phone call can brighten a shut-in persons day.

Grateful for vendors that are flexible and understanding, grateful I am feeling better and on my road to recovery, and grateful for our preacher and her willingness to flex with us.

I got hit with a stomach bug Thursday evening.  Started around 8:00 with diarrhea every ten minutes and then I started vomiting around 10:00.  Came out both ends for over three hours every ten minutes or so. Finally went to the ED as I was getting very dehydrated and weak.

I continued to put out for three hours while there.  They gave me a medication that slowed it down but it didn’t stop.  After three hours they gave me a shot which knocked me out and things slowed down.

I was in the ED for over four hours.  Sent me home and I slept for eight hours straight.  I was up for 15 minutes and slept for another four hours. Up for 5 minutes and slept again for four hours.  I managed to sleep most all night last night too.

Still have a touch of diarrhea but the vomiting has stopped.  I hate to throw up!

Jim is a good nurse.  He reminds me to drink and fixed me some chicken noodle soup.  I ate about ten spoonfuls of the broth.

I just ate a banana – my first food since Thursday night dinner.  I’ll see if I can keep that down and will try to eat some more food later.  I am a bit weak today but know my strength will come back quickly once I can start eating again.

The church where we were to get married a week from tomorrow has closed for three weeks and maybe longer.  Sounds more and more like we need to cancel the public wedding ceremony and the receptions in both Strong City and Stillwater.  The recommendation from the authorities is to self isolate as much as possible and hold no public gatherings.

We will make a backup plan today and will probably pull the plug on both the wedding and reception in Strong City.  Maybe we will hold something later in the year when this crisis has passed.  There are only a few confirmed cases in both KS and OK but there has been so little testing done who knows how many are really here.  Most of the guests we invited for the wedding are over 60 and are in the higher risk group.  I would hate to have them come to the wedding and someone be sick and get everyone else sick.

I’m sad and disappointed to have to make this decision.  If we do cancel we will go to the preacher’s office or have her come to our house and marry us.  We will find two people to stand in as witness and call it good.

I will have to contact the florist and both cake bakers on Monday and see if I can cancel and get back my money.  I will need to cancel the photographer hotel rooms I reserved for the kids and siblings that were coming.

Life is always full of curve balls.  This one is a big one!  The impact on people’s lives is going to be hard for many.  Cancelling a public wedding and reception and turning it into a private one is not a huge sacrifice compared to what others will be called to do.

I have been awake for over an hour this morning and am getting tired again.  Time to go take a nap.  Trusting the banana I ate will sit well and not start the cycle of throwing up again.  I do feel better than I did earlier.  Trusting I am over the worse of it and things will only improve from here.  I do need to self isolate a bit as I am in a weakened state right now and am more susceptible to picking up another virus.

Stay well my friends!  Celebrate with us in your hearts and someday soon we will join together for a public celebration.

Grateful for ED that are kind and compassionate, grateful for Jim’s care and love, and grateful for healing.

This has been mostly a quiet day at home.  I haven’t gotten much done but maybe that is what my soul needed today.  I’m not used to having three days a week taken up with a commitment and it has felt good today to relax and chill.

I went to the grocery store this morning.  There were hardly any other customers shopping while I was there.

We did go meet with our wedding musician and picked out the music for the wedding.  She made it easy and didn’t have to give us many choices before we found something we liked.

Stopped at Jim’s bank so I could cash a money order.  I had to sign the money order over to Jim, he had to deposit it in his account and then withdrawal the funds.  Whatever it takes!

I have a ham and scalloped potatoes cooking in the oven.  Have beer bread muffins ready to pop in the oven in 30 minutes.  Made an apple salad and have broccoli to fix.  The guys will have cheesecake with strawberries for dessert.  Trusting our guest will show this time – he forgot Tuesday night.

We don’t have anything on our calendar for tomorrow so hoping we can get the kitchen floor started.  Saturday I am doing taxes in the morning but then we are free for the rest of the day.  Sunday we have church but are free the rest of the day.

We checked in with our preacher today to see if she wanted us to change our wedding plans.  So far she is comfortable proceeding as planned.  This virus situation seems to change daily but as of today we are on as scheduled.  We will check in again Monday.  That is the last day I can cancel the flowers and cake and get a refund.  Fingers crossed the virus stays away from the heartland for at least another ten days!

It reached 80 degrees in Stillwater today.  The high tomorrow will only be in the mid 50’s tomorrow and most of next week.  There is a wet cold front coming in tonight and spring rains are headed this way.  The spring flowers are busting out and are beautiful.

Grateful for quiet days at home, grateful for a flexible preacher, and grateful for beautiful spring days.

 

Did taxes most of the day today.  Around 3:00 I decided to go get lunch.  I was going to return but we were so slow they told me not to come back today.  We were slow most of the day so stood around visiting much of the time.  Sure makes the day go slow when that happens.

We got two kitchen cabinet doors hung when I got home.  I touched up two others.  Still need to go out and finish painting two others.

Jim is working on the hallway floor this afternoon.  He cut out the linoleum and carried it outside.  He is scraping up the glue that is on the wood floor.  He is making progress but it is hard, slow work.

He has choir practice at 7:15 tonight so I will need to get dinner going soon so we can eat before he leaves for practice.  I am going to make Shepherds Pie and use up the left over mashed potatoes from last night.

Heard Emporia is testing someone for the Coronavirus today.  That is getting pretty close to home!  Getting a bit nervous about the wedding and if guests will be able to come.  Hopefully the preacher will stay well and we will be able to get married on the 22nd.  May have to celebrate with our friends and guests in a different way at a later date.

It is in the mid 70’s today.  We want to get out and take a walk soon.  Spring has definitely sprung in Stillwater.  Rain is in the forecast for most of next week.

There is so much work that needs done to this house and I can’t do most of it.  I will get some deep cleaning done tonight while Jim is at choir practice.  That I can do!

Tomorrow we meet with our wedding musician to pick out the music we want her to play.  We will also go check out Jim’s benefits and see if we need to make any changes.  Saturday we are doing taxes in the morning – they are trying one Saturday a month this year to see if that helps some people out.  If I remember I will go up and help them out.

Eleven days to do!  Wow!  Trusting we will get the kitchen floor laid this weekend.  Anything else we get done will be a bonus.  I am ready for the 22nd to get here and get it over with.  I want to get on with the rest of my life.

Grateful for more progress happening in the kitchen, grateful for Spring and the beautiful flowers that are blooming, and grateful it is only 11 more days!

12 days to go! It will be here in a New York moment! I think I am ready!

Did taxes this afternoon. Only competed two returns but reviewed four others. I attempted two others but one was out of scope and the other needed more information. I left early as we ran out of clients again.

I fixed a pot roast for dinner. We finally texted our expected guest when he was over 30 minutes late. He forgot about it! He is going to come Thursday night instead. He missed out on a great dinner. I tried a new recipe for the pot roast and it was the best pot roast I have had for a long time.

The recipe was a 3 -4 pound chuck roast put in the crock pot. Sprinkle on a package of dry Ranch dressing, a package of dry Au Jus mix, and 5 pepperoncini peppers, and 1 stick of butter. Cook over low heat for 8 hours. I served it over mashed potatoes and made gravy out of the juices in the crock pot.

We had to take a one-mile walk after dinner as we both ate too much. It was so good! I had also roasted some carrots in the oven. Jim has a whole pan of brownies to eat. I’ll probably take some to the tax site tomorrow to help him get rid of them. They sure smell good!

Tomorrow I do taxes again all day. Hopefully we are busy all day. I haven’t worked all day for several times. Time goes much faster when we have clients stacked up.

Thursday we meet with the musician for the wedding to pick out the music we want. We will also go to the University HR Department to check out what we need to do for Jim’s benefits since we are getting married.

We are free all weekend and hope to get the kitchen floor laid. The guest that was to have come to dinner was going to advise Jim on some techniques for laying the floor. Hopefully he will come Thursday night so we can get to work on the floor Friday.

Since I was focused on getting dinner ready tonight I didn’t get any painting done tonight. Hopefully tomorrow night I will get the rest of the cabinet doors painted.

In my free time I need to start deep cleaning the house. I have a lot of dusting that needs done. Thank heavens the house is small so it won’t take a long time to deep clean.

I told one of my clients today that I am getting married in less than two weeks. He told me he is 80 years old, a widower and still believes in love! He gave me a big hug when he left and wished me well. He was so cute!

Grateful for all the spring flowers that are blooming in Stillwater, grateful to have found a new pot roast recipe that is delicious, and grateful for the wonderful people I am getting to meet while doing taxes.

Went to do taxes this morning at 9:00.  I did one client and there were no more clients in line.  I waited about 15 minutes and no one showed up so I came home early.  I don’t like to waste time and I had lots of things I wanted to do at home.

I got some more flowers ordered.  I had forgotten to get flowers for the grandkids and I also needed two more wrist corsages.  Got those ordered and confirmed.

Sent an email to the photographer to check in with her.  She is confirmed.

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home from taxes.  We are having a guest for dinner tomorrow night so picked up ingredients for that.  I also picked up three gift bags and thank you notes.  I needed to give a thank you gift to the hostess that sponsored the brunch that was held in our honor.  I also wanted to give the preacher and musician for the wedding a thank you note and gift.  Got those sacked up and ready to deliver.

Jim called the benefit department of the university that manages his pension.  We need to go in and talk to them and see if it would be beneficial for me to go on his insurance plan instead of the one I have.  They told us we can just stop in and we didn’t need an appointment.  We will get that done sometime this week.

I got the kitchen cabinet doors painted today.  I have the back side of the two new ones I need to paint but then that job will be done.  I have a bit of touch up painting to do too.

My next project will be to clean the house really good to get it ready for all the company that is coming in for the wedding.  A lot of that project is decluttering and that is something I will have to talk Jim into doing.  I will go into hide and seek mode the day before our guests are due to come in if he hasn’t gotten to it by then.

I had sent out a note to the people that occasionally house sit for me.  I needed someone to stay in the house for a week in July.  I immediately found someone and two others volunteered to be back ups.  Another one said she was sad she couldn’t come that week.  We need to come to Stillwater for a long weekend in May so we found a weekend that we can make that happen today.  I love my house sitters!

The new flooring material came in and Jim picked it up today.  The guy that is coming to dinner tomorrow night is a friend of Jim and he is going to give Jim some advice about laying the floor and may possibly even come over and help him do the job.  It will make a big difference in the looks of the kitchen and I’m excited that we will get it done before the wedding.

I keep checking my to-do lists to make sure I have forgotten anything.  I still need to go to the church and find out where they store the punch bowl and ladle.  We are going to the church Thursday to meet with the musician that is playing for the wedding.  I will find out then where the punch bowls are and how to access them the day of the wedding.  I also need to find out where I can put the cakes and flowers the day before the wedding.  The refrigerator at Jim’s house will be full and I won’t have room for two cakes and flowers in it.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the Coronavirus stays away from this area so we won’t have to change our plans to keep people safe.  We will if we need to.  I am a bit concerned about Jim’s sons having to fly to get here.  Jim has told them not to come if things get worse and they get ordered to stay in place.  One of them lives in the hot area of CA and the other lives in DC where there is a big outbreak too.

I’m almost to the point of I can’t wait until the wedding is over.  I’m ready to work on a new project!  It will be a fun day and I am looking forward to all the family that are coming – if they can get here.  I’m just tired of the planning and endless to-do lists.

The full moon is tonight.  I can feel the effect on me today.  I am overdue for a good cry – it might happen tonight.  Jim is so gentle and considerate when I have a breakdown.  He just holds me and lets me cry.

Grateful more things got crossed off my to-do list today, grateful the painting project is almost done, and grateful the flooring material came in early so we can get it done before the wedding.

 

 

I had a beautiful start to my day. I got up and went out to the living room. The pre-dawn colors to the east were beautiful.  Then I turned to the west and watched the setting moon.  I rarely catch the moon set so it was a special, magical start to my day.

We headed for Stillwater a little after 1:30.  Stopped at Costco and got a cart full of things.  I decided to get stuff pre-made for the brunch the day of the wedding.  I will make homemade cinnamon rolls but most everything else will be stuff I just need to heat up.

Drove through some rain between Wichita and Stillwater.  Nothing heavy but it smelled divine!  It was raining when we got to Stillwater and unloaded the full car.

Managed to find room in the freezer for all the stuff we got.  I bought a six pound package of hamburger and divided that into one pound portions and then froze them.  I bought a whole roasted chicken and I deboned it and froze the meat in two separate baggies.  Jim unload all the folding chairs and tables we brought and put them in the garage.

We are going out to eat in a bit.  I am tired and we need to go to a place and ask about reserving a room for after the wedding.  We will try and take care of that tonight.  Good reason to go eat out!

It was great spending a few days on the prairie.  I didn’t get any painting done this time but maybe after the wedding and we are there for a week we will get more done.

I noticed blooming Bradford Pear trees as well as other blooming trees and flowers when we arrived in Stillwater.  They are about two weeks ahead of Strong City.  It was delightful to discover spring has sprung forth in Stillwater.

Two weeks to go!  Jim and I are both ready for the day to get here so we can get on with the rest of our lives.  Neither one of us can think of anything that will change once we get married other than it makes it easier to introduce the other to friends.  People understand spouse – they raise their eyebrows at companion or partner.

Tomorrow I do taxes all day.  Hope to get some painting done tomorrow after I get done with taxes.  Tuesday I do taxes in the afternoon and Jim has invited a friend over for dinner Tuesday night.  Wednesday I do taxes all day.  Thursday we are meeting with the organist at the church to pick our wedding music.  The week will go by quickly.

I’m tired again tonight.  Not sure why I have been so tired lately.  I have been sleeping more than I am used to – maybe that is making me more tired.  I went to bed  before 9:00 last night and fell asleep in minutes -most unusual for me.

Trusting that Jim’s sons will be able to make it to the wedding with all the fuss about the Coronavirus.  I saw a travel alert recommending people avoid airplane travel for the next two months.  Thankfully both of his sons are young and healthy and we have to trust they will be able to travel.  It will be what it is and worry won’t change anything.

Grateful for another safe trip from KS to OK, grateful for all the signs of spring, and grateful for the short time we had on the prairie.

Another beautiful spring like day on the prairie today.  The wind has reached over 30 MPH though.  If you can find a spot out of the wind and in the sun it is nice and warm.  It reached 70 degrees today!

I worked on my to-do list a bit this morning.  We brought a load of Jim’s stuff to the house when we came from Stillwater and then filled the car with stuff we need for the wedding to take to Stillwater.  We are taking a table, folding chairs, an ice chest and my big mixer.  Hope I haven’t forgotten anything as we won’t be back again until after the wedding.

This afternoon we drove down to Matfield Green to go to Pioneer Bluffs.  They had Farmer Derek give a presentation today.  If you have never seen his video’s they are fun to watch.  Go to You Tube and search for Farmer Derek.  He seems like a very nice young man that has a wonderful sense of humor and is very creative.

We didn’t get any deck work done today.  It is too windy to be on a ladder painting.  I had some other painting I could have done but the wind would have blown the paint everywhere.

I got the cake ordered I am using for the reception in Strong City the weekend after the wedding.  Nice to cross one more thing off my list.  A neighbor is making it for me.  I have my grocery list ready for that week so I can make the other food I am serving.  Jim will take care of the wine and beer that week.  Grateful I don’t have to make those choices.  I don’t drink and never know what kind to buy.

I noticed this afternoon my hands are extremely dry.  Whenever I come home from Stillwater I seem to dry out when I get here.  Does 200 miles north make that much difference?

We cut cockleburs out of both dogs again today.  I lost count a long time ago as to how many we cut out. Managed to not cut the skin on either dog.  Sophia still has some more but she had enough of me pulling on her again.  I might get one more go around on her before we leave tomorrow.

The kids were going to come out but something came up and they couldn’t come.  I need to think of something to fix for dinner.  I have some hamburger thawed so need to use that up.  Wonder if I can fix the same thing as last night and call it good?

The time home has gone by too fast.  I am so looking forward to the end of April when we can come stay for several weeks in a row.

The next two weeks are going to go by quickly. It is getting to be crunch time for the wedding.  I’m grateful most everything is planned and ordered.  Have a few last minute follow-ups to do next week.  We are stopping at Costco on the way through Wichita tomorrow to get some items off my list for the dinner and brunch we will be hosting at Jim’s house the day before and the day of the wedding.  I have my grocery list ready for the Thursday before the wedding for the rest of the stuff.

I’m starting to get excited and ready to party!

Grateful for the time home on the prairie even though it was too short, grateful I got most of the cockleburs off the dogs, and grateful for to do lists that keep me organized.

For a quiet day at home I am tired out tonight.  Got up this morning and baked a double batch of Jim’s favorite cookies – oatmeal chocolate chip.

After we had lunch we ran into Emporia to get some groceries and a lamp shade.  Got what we needed quickly and came back to the prairie.

Went out and cleaned out the chicken coop.  Jim helped me.  He says that proves he is no longer a city guy – the verdict is still out.  It was nice to have his help.  This is the hard clean of the year as the coop hadn’t been cleaned out since October.  I had five wheelbarrows full of dirty straw to dump.  When I clean it monthly I only have one wheelbarrow full to dump.

We took a two mile hike before dinner.  It was a beautiful day on the prairie and we had a nice walk.  The wind was picking up a bit but it was in the high 50’s and perfect walking weather.  We always pick up beer cans and bottles along the road when we hike.  Today we found eight of them.  Sure wish people wouldn’t throw them out along the road.

While I was fixing dinner my Camino friends from CA FaceTime.  We had a wonderful conversation.  It is always so good to hear from them.

I fixed hamburgers, tater tots and broccoli with cheese for dinner tonight.  Simple, quick and easy.

After dinner we baked Snickerdoodle cookies.  Jim rolled them in the cinnamon and sugar after I made them into balls.  We are going to Pioneer Bluffs tomorrow to listen to Farmer Derek and they had requested homemade cookies from the volunteers.  I have six dozen ready to take if I don’t forget them.

I am tired tonight.  It isn’t even 9:00 and I could fall asleep if I laid down right now.  Not sure why I am so tired.  I slept really good last night and got more sleep than I had been getting.

We cut out about 50 cockleburs off of Sophia tonight.  She still has more on her but she was tired of us pulling on her.  Some of them were really close to her skin and must have been bothering her.  When the dogs used to run the neighborhood I could cut that many off of them everyday.  I need to remember to cut some more off of her tomorrow.  Roxy doesn’t pick many up as her coat is a different texture than Sophias.

We didn’t get any painting done today.  We sat out on the back deck for about an hour and enjoyed the peace and quiet and beauty of the prairie.  We have been so busy the last few weeks at Jim’s house that it felt good to sit for a bit.  The painting will have to wait until after the wedding.  We might get some done tomorrow but not counting on it.

Farmer Derek is the guy that played his trombone in the middle of a pasture and video taped the reaction of the cattle to his playing.  He has since made hundreds of videos about farm life.  He will be at Pioneer Bluffs tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 for a free presentation.  I’m sure it will be lots of fun.  Everyone is welcome to come.

Time change happens tomorrow night.  Sure wish they would leave it alone and not make us do that.  Not sure what it saves.  It takes me a bit to adjust to the new schedule.

I still haven’t tried on the dresses.  Maybe I will get that done yet tonight but it will probably wait until tomorrow.  I hate trying on clothes.

Grateful the chicken coop is cleaned out and the girls have fresh linens, grateful for a beautiful hike this afternoon, and grateful for my Camino friends in CA.

 

I am back home on the prairie.  It has been a long day getting here though.  We left Stillwater at 9:00 this morning.  We came to my house and Jim got out of the car.  I headed back to town immediately so I could get to my 12:30 appointment on time.  I didn’t even take time to go into the house before I left.

I had my teeth cleaned at the Vo-Tech.  Anna did a great job and it only took a little over two hours today.  They had a new dentist (t least one I hadn’t seen before).  He was thorough.  I asked him why I have two places that trap food every time I eat.  He said the dentist that put the crowns on didn’t fit them correctly.  The only fix is either two new crowns or modified braces that would pull the teeth together.  Not sure I will spend the money for either solution.

After I was done I went to Walmart and picked up a few groceries and then headed home.  It was so nice to sit in my corner chair after I got home and just sit.  We did manage to walk down to take care of the chickens.  Only picked up two  eggs.  I could tell some Rhode Island Red chickens were missing.

I made chicken Parmesan for dinner.  I got ready to put the Parmesan in it and discovered I didn’t have any.  Then I remembered I had bought it in OK!  Sometimes living in two houses creates problems.  The chicken was good but turned into chicken Marinara instead.

I am tired tonight.  I doubt that I stay awake past 9:00 tonight.  We have been going hard and heavy for the last week or so.  Hoping tomorrow morning we can sleep in and take a quiet day at home.

My shop renter brought my mower back to me this afternoon.  He had taken it to the John Deere dealer a week or so ago.  I called John Deere and gave them my credit card information to pay for the repairs.  It was over $350.  Ouch!  I started the mower and it starts easier than it has since I had it.  Nice to know that it is ready to go when the grass starts growing and mowing season starts.

It was a nice day on the prairie but very windy.  We were going to take a walk but I didn’t have the energy to fight the wind to take a walk.  Maybe tomorrow……

l hope the wind dies down tomorrow so I can get outside and do some deck painting. Most of what I need to do is ladder work and not sure I want to be on a ladder if the wind is 20 plus MPH.  We will see what the day brings.  Jim brought his sander and is hoping to get the last couple of steps sanded so they can get painted.

Grateful to be back on the prairie tonight, grateful for clean teeth, and grateful my mower is ready for mowing season.

We weren’t very busy at taxes today.  I only did five returns but reviewed at least five others.  I had time between each return to visit and stand around.  It makes for a long day for me when I am not busy.  I don’t get the adrenaline rush I get when we see a hallway full of people slowly thin out.

I was tired when I came home at 2:30 and didn’t get much done this afternoon.  I didn’t sleep well last night and didn’t have the energy to get out and paint.  Darn!  That will set us back another day getting the cabinet doors back up when we get home next week.

Jim and I talked at dinner tonight that when we come back to Stillwater Sunday we only have two weeks before the wedding.  We have so much work to do on the house.  Obviously we won’t get it all done before the wedding.  We will have to stay focused to get at least the kitchen done and we will see what else we can get done too.

Jim is at choir practice tonight.  I am working on finishing up the laundry and starting to pack for our short visit to KS tomorrow.  Jim loaded the car today with stuff he wants to move to KS.  Not sure what he put in it today to take.  I still need to pack my suitcase tonight.

I think I am going to take all the new dresses to KS with me so I can try them all on and make a final decision on which one to wear to the wedding.  Jim doesn’t have a floor length mirror so it is hard to see myself in them.

Several of the tax preparers have the virus bug that seems to be going around in OK. Fever, cough, tired, etc.  Trusting that I won’t catch that this close to the wedding.  Wish the ones that were sick would stay home!

So looking forward to being back on the prairie for a few days.  My soul is craving some wide open space.  The sunset here was beautiful tonight but we don’t have a big view of it.  It is to be nice this weekend in KS and hope to be outside painting most of the day on Friday and Saturday.

I need to remember to go by John Deere while I am home and pay for the mower repair.  I had to have new blades put on it as the others were so beat up they couldn’t sharpen them.  I wasn’t surprised when they called to ask permission to replace them.  The rocks in my yard are hard on mower blades and hard to avoid.

I have a list of things I need to bring back for the wedding weekend.  We are having 19 people at Jim’s house the day before the wedding for dinner and then on wedding day for a brunch.  I will need to bring some folding chairs back so we have a chair for everyone to sit in to eat.  I also need to bring my mixer as I want to make cinnamon rolls for the brunch.  I need some short sleeve shirts as the temperatures are rising here in OK .

Have a bit of a headache tonight and a bit of a sore throat.  Trusting it is because I am tired and by tomorrow morning will be gone.  I am tired of being sick and don’t have time for it right now.

Grateful to be headed back to the prairie tomorrow, grateful for to-do lists that keep me somewhat organized, and grateful Jim was understanding and encouraged me to rest this afternoon when I got home.

I am feeling much better again today. I have a very slight backache but it is almost gone.  My energy has come back and I can almost put this little episode behind me.  I may go in while I am home Friday and have a UA done just to make sure it is clean.

Went out and painted for an hour this morning.  I am working on the kitchen cabinet doors that Jim is building.  We are painting them two different colors and they need two coats of each color.  I have to paint both sides and all the edges so it is taking me several days to get them all done.  We won’t get them up before we leave for KS on Thursday morning but they should be up early next week after we get back to OK.

I only did three tax returns today but did four reviews.  We ran out of clients so I left before 3:00.  I don’t like to stand around and do nothing.  The people I met today were super appreciative of the service we are providing.

Came home and painted for another hour.  I doubt I paint anymore tonight.  I might get one more coat on when I get done doing taxes tomorrow afternoon.

We took a one-mile walk this afternoon.  It is in the upper 60’s today and a perfect day to take a walk.  I almost had us go further but decided I shouldn’t push myself yet.  Maybe tomorrow we can add some more distance to our walk.

I am going to fix tacos for dinner tonight.  That is one of Jim’s favorite foods.  I will have a taco salad but I think I will use the left over chicken from last night.  I prefer chicken over beef and Jim prefers beef over chicken.

The electricians came this morning and added a new plug for the microwave.  It finally works.  We need to clean the old one up and take it to the ReStore.  They also installed a plug in the bathroom.  I now can plug my electric toothbrush in the bathroom instead of having the charging port in the bedroom.  Wow!  Progress!

I have lost touch with the phases of the moon.  I am looking forward to getting back on the prairie full-time the end of April.  I need some wide open space for a bit.  We will probably come back to OK for at least one week during May but I am hoping to be on the prairie for most of May.  We are going to be gone the first two weeks of June and maybe another week.

We got confirmation today that we have the cabin we requested in the Y Camp in Estes Park for July 1 – 29.  I am hoping some of the kids will be able to come out and spend some time with us while we are there.  Two of Jim’s brothers and their families will be out there during at least part of that time too.  It will be a fun month full of family and hiking.

Feeling a bit disconnected from my friends and family in KS.  I have been in OK for over three months now and still have another month to go.  Coming home once a month for four or five days has helped but really feeling the need to have a long stretch at home.

Grateful for another beautiful spring day in Stillwater, grateful for all the progress we are making on the kitchen remodel and grateful we got our cabin for four weeks in July.

20 days till THE day.  It will be here before I know it.  Trusting I am ready.

Took the Prius to the glass shop today and had the windshield replaced.  It was $150 cheaper in Stillwater than I paid in Emporia.  Wonder why?  Glad to have that done.

Stopped by Walmart on my way to do taxes this morning to pick up two things Jim forgot to get when we were there yesterday.  Got to the library to do taxes around 9:00.  There were only three people in line.  Set up my computer and went out to get my first client.  Took her back, entered three pages of information and the entire network went down.  It didn’t come back up for over an hour.

By the time we got it back up and started getting clients done there were over 30 people waiting to have their taxes done.  I didn’t get a lunch break today until after 2:00.  We finally got through the line and ran out of clients.  I was going to go to lunch and come back but was told I didn’t need to come back as there were seven preparers there and none were busy.

I went to Chipotle and had a salad and then came home.  We went and picked up the Prius and brought it home.  I painted a bit on the new cabinet doors.  We took a one-mile walk as it was in the upper 50’s and good walking weather.  After our walk I came in and got dinner going.  After dinner was cleaned up I did a bit more painting inside.

We are making progress on the kitchen cabinets.  I still have some more painting to do before Jim can hang the doors that are done.  He is out in his shop now building two more doors.  After those are done he will still have four doors for the upper cabinets to build and four shelves.  Thinking we will get them all done before the flooring material comes in and we have to stop to get that down.  We should have the kitchen done before the wedding but we won’t get the back room done.

I am feeling much better today.  Still have a bit of backache but it is so much better than it was yesterday.  I have had much more energy today too.  Thinking by tomorrow I will be back to full strength.  I’m glad I didn’t have to go back to the doctor today.  I don’t have time to be sick right now!

Tomorrow morning the electrician is coming to put a box in so we can plug in the new microwave.  He is also going to install some under counter lights and put a plug in the bathroom.

I do taxes tomorrow afternoon and again all day on Wednesday.  Thursday we leave for KS in the morning and will be back to Stillwater on Sunday.  I hope the weather is nice in KS so I can get some painting done on the deck.  That project is still pending and I am tired of thinking about it.  Painting seems to be my thing everywhere I go these days!

Got my electric bill for February.  It was $32.  Wow!  The solar panels are really making a difference.  I do heat with propane but my electric bill was never below $125 a month before and my electric bill hasn’t been over $45 since I had the panels installed the end of October.  I’m anxious to see what my bill will be during air conditioning season.

Lost another chicken today.  I feel bad for my house sitter.  She feels so responsible and is concerned I thought she wasn’t feeding or watering them.  I keep trying to reassure her it would be happening if I was there too.  Wonder if the chickens have a virus or something or if they are just old and it is their time.  I want to get rid of the chickens later this spring anyways but hate to see them die like this.

Starting my to-do list for when I get home this weekend.  At the top of the list is to clean out the chicken coop.  Not sure Jim will be helpful as he struggles to handle chicken shit.  Sometimes he is such a city boy!

Grateful I am feeling better, grateful progress is being made on the kitchen, and grateful for my solar panels.

Three weeks from today!  Wow!  Time is flying by.  I think everything is ready.  I told Jim we needed to go through everything one more time and make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.  He is trusting me to handle most of the arrangements – just wish I could remember what I have forgotten to do.  Sure feels like there is one more thing that I needed to do but darn if I can think what it is.

I didn’t go to church this morning.  Jim got up at the last minute and went.  My back is still sore today and seems to be having spasms of some sort.  It feels better for a bit and then the pain hits me hard again.  If I am not better tomorrow I will either go back to the urgent care clinic or see if I can get in to see Jim’s Urologist. Sure hope the pain is gone by tomorrow.  I’m surprised I still had pain today.  I am starting to wonder if I have a kidney stone.

I painted one of the two colors on two of the cabinet doors today.   I got the second coat on them.  Waiting for them to dry more and than I can put the second color on them.  The other doors aren’t ready to be painted yet.

I got out the heat pad and have been laying on it for a bit this afternoon.  It feels better when I lay down but when I get up it hurts again.

We went to a baby shower at the church this afternoon after we went grocery shopping at Walmart.  The church administrator had a baby about a month ago.  She requested diapers and books.  Had a fun conversation with a couple of Jim’s friends.

it is in the lower 70’s today.  Sure wish I had felt better so we could have taken a long walk.  We walked around Jim’s big back yard and that set off my back pain.  I wisely decided not to attempt a one-mile walk.

The daffodils are blooming already.  The hyacinth are popping up – bet they will be blooming by mid-week. Spring comes earlier here than in KS.

I do taxes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Thursday we go to KS as I have a 12:30 dental appointment Thursday afternoon.  We will come back to Stillwater on Sunday.  This week will be gone quickly.  Hoping the weather will be nice enough in KS that I can get some deck painting done on Friday and Saturday.

I take my Prius in to have the windshield replaced tomorrow morning.  Decided it needed to be done before David takes it to CA.  I would hate for him to take it in to be inspected and they order him to get the windshield replaced before they would approve it.  I also need to schedule an oil change for it before I hand it off.

Grateful for ibuprofen today, grateful for 70 plus degree temperatures, and grateful for heat pads.

 

This has been a rough day.  As I was getting ready to go to bed last night I noticed blood in my urine.  That explained why I was so tired yesterday and felt kinda crummy.  I had a lower back ache all night long and slept on and off.  I still felt crummy when I got up at 9:00.

Finally decided around 11:30 this morning I better go to urgent care and see what was going on.  Jim took me to the urgent care that he uses.  They were not busy and I got back within minutes of my arrival.  The nurse and the PA were both efficient and kind.  After giving them a UA the PA came in and examined me.  She concluded I had a bladder or kidney infection.  She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and sent me on my way.  She did say there is a chance it is a kidney stone and if I don’t feel much better by Monday I need to go see a urologist pronto.

We got home by 1:30 after stopping at the CVS to get my script filled.  I must say the CVS here is much more efficient than the one in Emporia.  They had me out of there within five minutes.

Came home and took a nap of about one hour.  When I got up we took a one-mile walk.  My back hurt some during the walk but it was so nice out today I had to get out and enjoy it.  It got up to the lower 70’s today.

After our walk I took another one hour nap!  Trust I will be able to sleep tonight after taking two naps today.  I feel tired yet so am hopeful I will be able to sleep all night.

Jim grilled hamburgers for dinner tonight.  I managed to make us each a salad to go with our burgers.  It was a simple and good dinner.  Just didn’t have the energy to do more than that.

Jim worked on installing the cabinet doors today.  He got two of them hung.  He will take them off and I hope to feel good enough tomorrow that I can get them painted.  Just didn’t have it in me to paint today.

Tomorrow we have another quiet day.  Other than church we don’t have anything on the calendar.  I may or may not go to church tomorrow depending on how I feel in the morning.  Unless I am much better I doubt that I go.  Usually with an antibiotic within 24 hours I am feeling much better so may wake up tomorrow feeling almost back to normal.

I am always a bit humbled when I get sick.  I’m not very sick this time and am amazed how little energy I have and how crummy I feel.  I am ever so grateful for my health and today is a reminder to not take it for granted.

Today is my third day back on Bright Lines with NO cheating.  I can already tell my body is thanking me for getting back to eating what runs my body the best.  I don’t handle foods that are processed.  I really do feel better when I eat whole foods that are not processed.

Trusting that tomorrow I will feel better and have some energy to do something other than sleep all day.  Jim was a good nurse today and took good care of me.  I am grateful!

Grateful for antibiotics that get me back to normal, grateful for naps that help me heal my body, and grateful for the love and care Jim showed me today.

The concert last night was fabulous. It was St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell on the violin. They played some Mendelssohn and Beethoven. We sat way up in the balcony but the seats were good. Watching Joshua play the violin was like watching fairies dance.

I got up early this morning and after breakfast I did the final painting in the kitchen. Good to have that done. When Jim gets the cabinet doors made and fitted I will need to paint them.

After Jim got up we went and ordered the flooring material for the kitchen. It won’t be in for about two weeks. That will cut it short to get it laid before the wedding but I think we can get it done.

We dropped off a car load of donations at the Salvation Army and the ReStore. Stopped and got an estimate to get my windshield replaced. It is cheaper to do it here than what I paid in Emporia for the last one. They are going to put it in Monday morning.

Came home and Jim went out into the shop to work on the cabinet doors. I laid down and slept for several hours. Not sure why I was tired but I was able to sleep. I take sleep whenever I can find it. I slept six hours last night. I still feel like I could sleep some more. Guess I am catching up a bit. We will see what happens tonight.

I fixed salmon for dinner. It is quick and easy. Neither one of us love it but I feel like it is good for me to eat occasionally. I usually fix it once a week. I had some broccoli with it. I fixed a baked potato for Jim as he doesn’t believe a meal is complete without a potato.

Got a text from my house sitter. Another chicken had died. It is unusual that two die this close together. We will see if more die soon. I was going to have someone take them away when I get home this spring. At this rate I won’t have to worry about that. They are almost five years old and have begun to really slack on egg production. I won’t replace them until I know what we are going to be doing next fall and winter.

I feel a bit achy tonight. Sure hope I am not coming down with something. I hope it is because of the painting I have been doing and not something else.

We took a one-mile walk this afternoon. It was in the mid 60’s today. It was a touch windy but nice to get out and stretch my legs.

My foot is feeling a bit better. It was only going off about every ten steps or so instead of every step. Maybe it is getting better and will gradually stop doing that.

We have another free day tomorrow. Hoping to get some cabinet doors painted so we can get them up on Sunday. I painted the doorway today and Jim needs to cut and put up two pieces of wood trim to finish off the dining room side of the door to the kitchen. He said he would do that tomorrow so I can get them painted too.

Having trouble knowing what day of the week it is. We usually don’t go out during the week except Jim goes to choir practice on Wednesday. Guess we need to go out more often and shake things up.

Grateful for a beautiful day in Stillwater – it feels like Spring is almost here, grateful the kitchen painting is done, and grateful for naps and sleep.

I got up at 5:00 this morning as I couldn’t go back to sleep.  I had slept hard for five hours which is a lot for me.  I finished reading a book I had and ate breakfast.

At 11:00 I went back to bed and slept until 1:30.  Grateful I got a second sleep.  We are going to a concert tonight and now I won’t fall asleep during the middle of it.

After lunch I painted a second coat on the woodwork in the kitchen.  Jim scrapped the doorway and I put a first coat of paint on that.  I am almost done with the painting in the kitchen.

The dealer called and my Prius needed a new starter battery.  They got that installed and we went and picked up the car.  It drove fine.  I hadn’t drove it for two months.  I forgot how quiet it is when it starts.  I will need to get the oil changed before I send it off with David the week of the wedding.  Trusting it won’t have any more issues for a bit.

I need to get dinner underway so we can eat a bit early.  I will need to take a shower and change clothes before I go to the concert.  I have on old sweats and have a bit of paint on me.  I am not the neatest painter in the world.

We have a free day tomorrow.  Jim is working to get the cabinet doors he is making installed.  He is going to take the hinges off after he makes sure they fit and tomorrow I will get them painted and ready to be permanently hung.  He still has the doors under the kitchen sink cabinet and the upper doors to make but he is making progress.  We may start laying flooring tomorrow or Saturday.  I have a floor board I need to get painted that runs under the cabinets before we lay the flooring.  Jim has to figure out the floor under the dishwasher.  He wants to lay the new stuff there but the dishwasher barely fits now and he is afraid with the additional quarter inch the dishwasher won’t fit.  Once he solves that problem he can go pick up the flooring and get it started.

Still working on making ice cubes for the punch for the wedding.  I am over halfway done.  I keep forgetting to make more.  I fill the tray half full with water, let it freeze, add the raspberries and then fill the trays with water.  Seems to take me two or three days to do both steps and then remember to start the process over again.  The tray only makes six cubes at a time so it is taking a bit of time to get 48 made.

The renter that rents my shop in Strong City offered to take my mower to the dealer so they can get it ready for mowing season.  They text me today to let me know they took it in today.  I so appreciate them.  It will be good to have the mower in top form when mowing season starts.  It will be here soon.

Three weeks from Sunday is THE day.  I got the cake baker confirmed and changed the pickup time to Saturday instead of Sunday.  I will call the florist and photographer this week and double check with them.  Sure can’t think of what I am forgetting to take care of but have the feeling I have forgotten something.

Made a couple more hotel room reservations.  My sister and a friend are coming and Jim’s brother and family are coming.  I didn’t realize when I made the first reservations that I have to be there to check people in.  I think I will go to the hotel Saturday afternoon and check everyone in and then have them come to the house to get their room keys.

My foot continues to send sharp pain up the toe when I walk.  I did notice though that it doesn’t do it with every step I take now like it had before.  Maybe it is getting better.  I sure hope it isn’t still bothering me in six weeks and I have to go back to the surgeon.  I will be so grateful when my feet feel normal again although I am not sure what that will feel like.

Grateful for second sleeps even when they happen hours after the first one, grateful the Prius is back up and running, and grateful progress continues to be made in the kitchen.

This has been a weird day for me.  I got up early and was ready early so decided to go to Walmart to pick up a couple things on my list before I went to do taxes.  I got lost and it took me longer to get there than it should.  They didn’t have two of the three things on my list anyways.

Went to do taxes.  I got there at 9:15 and there were only three people in line.  This is the first day that we haven’t had at least 15 people waiting for us to open at 9:30.  I helped two of the rookies do several clients today and ended up only doing two myself.  I left at 11:30 and took a lunch break and went to the other Walmart in town.  They had the two things I had looked for earlier in the day.

Went back to do taxes and we still didn’t have many clients.  There were plenty of volunteers so I decided to leave after doing one more client.  I don’t like to stand around and not have anything to do.

I had called Toyota mid-morning and asked them to come get my car started.  They came right away but couldn’t get the car to start.  Jim had to call someone to come tow it to the Toyota dealership.  I stopped by the dealership on my way home but they hadn’t gotten to it yet.  I trust it will be a simple fix and not cost too much.  I am grateful we discovered there was a problem before David gets here to drive it to California.  I would have felt bad if he had stopped overnight on the way home and have it not start the next morning.

We went to church tonight for Ash Wednesday service.  Jim had choir practice before the church service.  I sat and knitted while the choir rehearsed.  The service was nice.  The piece of bread I broke off to dip in the juice broke apart in the juice.  I had a tiny little piece left to eat.  When my grandkids were small and drank out of my glass we called in back flushing when they left bits of food for me in my drink.  I guess tonight I back flushed into the communal cup of juice.  Oops!

We went out for Chinese after church.  I had cashew chicken without rice and a cup of egg drop soup.  Chinese isn’t my favorite type of food but I can eat it.

Tomorrow we have a free day although we decided to go to another concert tomorrow night.  I hope to get the painting in the kitchen done tomorrow.  We hope to get the kitchen floor laid this weekend.

Another dress came in today.  I haven’t tried it on yet.  I sure have a nice supply of dresses now.  Wonder how much I will wear them.  Most of them are spring and summer type dresses so hoping when it warms up a bit I will wear them some.

We got a bit of snow overnight but it had melted by morning. The wind was cold today and it didn’t warm up much during the day.  It is to warm up more tomorrow and even more over the weekend.  I am ready for spring and warmer temperatures.

Grateful for Ash Wednesday and a church to attend, grateful we discovered something is wrong with the Prius, and grateful for a new supply of dresses.

Went to the foot surgeon today to find out why my right foot feels like I am stepping on a gel pack and then shoots a pain up my big toe with every step I take.  The doctor’s best guess is I have scar tissue and nerve damage from the surgery.  The surgeon is hoping it will get better within the next month or so.  I am to go back in six weeks if it isn’t better and he will treat it with steroids.

He did take X-rays to see if the screw he put in the big toe is in place and not causing the problem.  As far as he could tell on X-ray it is not.  Another possible solution is to have him remove the screw but he said he would want to try a round of steroids first.  He promised me I would be able to walk lots of miles in Estes Park in July without pain.  Wonder how I hold him to that promise?

This morning we met with the preacher that is going to marry us.   In OK if you do pre-marital counseling the marriage license is only $5.  It is $50 without counseling.  Today we talked about the actual ceremony and how things will proceed.  We won’t meet with her again before the wedding.  We aren’t having a wedding program so can make changes up until the day of the wedding.  Jim is taking the lead in planning the actual ceremony.  I don’t really have any preferences as to how we do things.

I took a box of blankets to the preacher today.  She said she could find homes for them.  Grateful to have found a place to take them for me and put them to good use.  I still have lots of yarn to work up and it makes me motivated to get it worked up when I know I have a home for them to go to when they are done.

We ran into light snow in Wichita.  Never did accumulate while we were there.  Strong City got several inches today.  I’m glad the snow stayed north and we didn’t have to drive on slick roads.  It is to be near 70 here this weekend.  Spring will be in the air.  .

Tomorrow I have a full day of doing taxes.  Tomorrow evening is Ash Wednesday services at the church.  Maybe Thursday we can get back to working on the kitchen and getting our part finished up.  Haven’t heard when the contractor might be here to do the countertop and floor.

I need to call the local Toyota dealer and have him send someone out to get the Prius started tomorrow.  I may have to get a new battery for it.  I don’t want to send a broken car to CA with David after the wedding.

I’m fixing left overs for dinner to help get the refrigerator cleaned out.  Maybe tomorrow I will fix something fresh.  We won’t get to eat until after 7:00 tomorrow night.  I’ll have to think of something to put in the oven before we leave for church.  I prefer to eat early and Jim prefers to eat late.  Tomorrow he wins!

Contacted my wedding cake baker today.  Originally I was going to pick the cake up on Sunday morning but asked her if I can pick it up on Saturday instead.  We will take it to the church and put it in the refrigerator there.  We will also pick up the flowers on Saturday morning and take them to the church too.  Sunday morning of the wedding felt too busy to have to pick up the cake.  I had nightmares that they would forget to meet me and we would have no cake to serve to our guests.

I had ordered a second cake just in case and it is starting to look like we won’t have many attend the wedding.  It is spring break here in Stillwater and many of the people Jim invited will be out of town.  I think I will serve the second cake to the family that will be coming over to dinner Saturday night.  I can always take the leftovers to the church and have as a backup in the kitchen in case we need more cake.

Grateful for a safe trip to Wichita, grateful there was nothing seriously wrong with my foot, and grateful for a flexible and compassionate preacher.

 

 

What a day! I went to do taxes at 9:00. There must have been 15 people waiting when I got there 30 minutes early. Unfortunately the system had a technical issue and we couldn’t print the returns. It turned out to be a system wide issue. We finished the returns and had to ask the clients to come back later to sign and receive a printed copy of their return.

At some point during the morning the system totally went down off and on for about 30 minutes. I’m sure they had to reboot it to fix the printing issue. It was frustrating to enter a return and have it disappear and I had to start over.

I only did seven returns today as a result of all the technical difficulties. Had lots of slow time while we were waiting for the system to come back up. Makes for a long day when that happens.

All the clients were very understanding and didn’t get upset with the fact they had to come back to finish their returns. The best part of doing taxes is meeting all these wonderful people that are so appreciative of the service they are receiving. It is rare to find one that is grumpy or demanding.

One of the clients was asking me about the change in age that you are required to draw down your IRA. I didn’t know about the change. Love that the clients are my teacher!

Jim tried to start the Prius today and it was dead. He put new batteries in both key fobs but that didn’t help. When I got home after doing taxes I called the local Toyota dealer. He said the car will need to be jumped. He is going to send someone over on Wednesday to help get the car started. He told me the Prius C doesn’t handle not being driven regularly very well. Glad we discovered it before the week of the wedding when David is coming to drive the car back to California.

I came home tired and can’t make myself go do some painting. I may get there yet tonight but it isn’t looking good. I fixed bacon and eggs for dinner as that was quick and easy which is all the energy I had for tonight.

Tomorrow we meet with our preacher in the morning and then have to drive to Wichita to go to my foot doctor. My right foot is still acting up. Last night both feet hurt most of the night. I think last night was due to the rain. I’m anxious to hear what the doctor has to say and am not optimistic that he will have a good solution for me but thought it wouldn’t hurt to go in and find out.

Another dress came in today. I haven’t tried it on yet. I like it on the hanger. It is another print dress and I decided I want to wear a solid color for the wedding. I now have a nice supply of nice dresses to wear to church, etc. I still have a couple more ordered that haven’t come in yet too.

Grateful today was an exception in doing taxes and not a regular situation, grateful for the clients I got to meet today, and grateful the local Toyota dealer can help me fix my car Wednesday.

A very non-productive day today.  Came home from church, had lunch and took a long afternoon’s nap.  Both of us were tired and decided a nap sounded good.  It has been lightly raining off and on all afternoon and was a perfect day for a nap.

Fixed left over chili for lunch and cleaned the refrigerator out and served left overs for dinner.  Some days I get a lot done and others I don’t.

I have worked off and on knitting a twin sized blanket today.  Have the second skein tied on so almost half way done.  Will probably tie on the third skein tonight.  At least the day wasn’t a total wipe out.

Four weeks from today – 28 days – till the wedding.  Oh my!  I think I am ready.  Keep thinking I have forgotten something but can’t figure out what it is.

Tomorrow I do taxes from 9:00 – 4:30.  Tuesday we meet with the preacher in the morning and plan the actual ceremony and then run up to Wichita to go to my foot doctor.  I hope he can do something about the squishy feeling I have in my right big toe.  Wednesday I do taxes again all day and we have Ash Wednesday services at the church at 6:00.  The rest of the week is free and clear so we can get some more work done in the kitchen.

I did touch up one of the three colors in the kitchen today.  Still have the other two colors to do final touch ups with.  Once Jim gets the cabinet doors completed I will need to paint them.  We are hoping the guy that came to look at the counter tops and floor will give us a bid this week and be able to do the project in the next week or two.  The electrician is to come by early in the week to hook up the microwave plug.

It is to snow on the prairie Tuesday.  Trusting we will be able to make it to the foot doctor OK without running into snow and ice.  We shall see what happens.

Grateful for rainy day naps, grateful for days I get to “Be” instead of do, and grateful four weeks from today is THE day!

The brunch that was given in our honor today was delightful.  There were about 16 people that attended – all members of Jim’s choir.  The hostess does a wonderful job of cooking and the food was delicious.  Conversation around the tables was lively and fun.  It was so sweet of Nedra to hold this event for us.

Afterwards I painted the kitchen walls.  I love how the kitchen looks now.  It really brightened up the walls and pulled together the two colors we used on the cabinets and lower wall.  I can’t wait until we get the new countertop and floors done.  The kitchen will be completely transformed.  Jim still needs to finish making the doors to the cabinets but they will get done when they get done.  Hoping we can get the floors and countertops in before the wedding.  Not going to hold my breath that the cabinet doors will be done though.

I made a crock pot of chili for dinner tonight.  JIm has a really good recipe and we enjoy it every time we make it.  Have enough leftovers for at least one more meal if not two.

I told Jim I need him to come up with another project for me to do once I finish the kitchen.  I have one more day of touch up painting to do in the kitchen and my part of the kitchen will be done.  Hoping to get that done tomorrow after church.

I started knitting another blanket – this one is a twin sized one and not a baby blanket.  I like to have something to pick up to work on when I sit for the evening.  I play too many iPad games if I don’t have some knitting to work on.

Next week will be busy – at least for the first part of the week.  Monday I do taxes all day.  Tuesday we meet with our preacher in the morning to plan the actual wedding ceremony.  In the afternoon we have to make a two-hour drive to Wichita so I can go to the foot doctor to find out why my right foot feels like I am stepping on a gel pad all the time.  Wednesday I do taxes all day again.  As of right now we are totally free Thursday through Sunday so hoping we get lots of work done on the back room.

The wedding is one month from today and four weeks from tomorrow.  Time is flying by since I am keeping so busy.  Glad I have most everything organized and ready.  I am working on making the ice cubes for the punch.  As far as I know that is the last thing I have to do until the week of the wedding.

My house sitter let me know the little red hen that had two deformed feet died today.  She was over five years old.  Never did figure out what happened to her feet.  She stayed inside the coop most of the time as it was hard for her to get in and out.  I hate that my house sitter had to deal with a dead chicken.  It isn’t the easiest thing to have to pick them up and dispose of them.  I told my house sitter that I expect more of them to die though as they are getting so old.  When I get home later this spring I need to find someone to take the hens and will need to get babies to start my flock over.  I will wait to do so though until fall and I know better what Jim and I will be doing and where we will be living most of the time.

Trying to get my summer trip with Ellexia nailed down.  She has decided she wants to go to Disney World in Florida.  Think we will go for five nights.  One day we will go to the beach and then go to three different Disney parts on the other days.  I will keep her so busy she won’t have time to get homesick.  Jim and I are going to NC the first part of June and then on up the coast to DC.  We are leaving for CO the first of July so I have to get my time with Ellexia squeezed in between those two trips.  June and July are going to busy for me!

Feeling the need to get back to the prairie and reconnect to Mother Earth.  I am hoping we can stay on the prairie most of May.  I need a full cycle of the moon to reconnect and get grounded again.  It amazes me what a difference that makes for myself.  I so miss the sunsets, sunrises and being able to track the moon when I am away from the prairie.

Grateful the kitchen walls are painted, grateful for Jim’s choir friends who took time out of their weekend to come to the brunch, and grateful for my little red hen and the joy she gave me.

A very non-productive day after a night of little sleep. I didn’t fall asleep until after 4:00 this morning. Woke up at 8:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Laid down for a nap around 11:30 and slept until 1:00. I was going to paint today but didn’t have the energy to do so.

We did go run errands this afternoon. We went to the Court House and Jim got his passport ordered. We also mailed our request for reservations to the Y Camp in Estes Park for the summer. We are hoping to get a cabin for four weeks in July this year. Hopefully all five kids can make it out at some point during the time we are there and can enjoy it with us. The Y Camp uses a seniority system to honor requests and Jim has been going since 1955 and is rather high on the list. He usually gets what he requests.

I finished knitting another baby blanket this afternoon. I gave the others I had knitted to Jim’s preacher. They distribute a gift basket to members that have a baby and will include a blanket in the basket. I’ll have to go through my yarn and get another project on my needles. Lord knows I have plenty of yarn to work up.

I dislike days like today when I have little energy or motivation to get anything done. My body is stiff from not moving it and I can’t make myself move it. All I want to do is take a hot bath and go to bed. I still need to fix dinner before I can go to bed though.

Tomorrow a brunch is being held in our honor. It will be a fun time. Not sure who all will be there but thinking it will probably be the people from Jim’s choir. I know many of them by now so will enjoy their company. I feel a bit uncomfortable being the center of attention though.

The piano concert last night was amazing. Jonathan Biss played five of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas from memory. The passion he puts into his playing is incredible. He has long, thin fingers that danced on the keyboard. I kept checking to see if someone else was helping him play as at times I couldn’t believe only 10 fingers were creating the music.

I think I am a bit depressed from all the national news. It is harder for me to take a break from the news when I am in OK. Jim watches the news for several hours every evening. It overwhelms me and depresses me. I have to keep coming back to the only person I can change is myself. I am working harder on myself to find my faults and weaknesses and change them. I am working to not add to the decisive energy in the world right now. When I see something in someone else that triggers me I turn the mirror onto myself.

I also know there are more good people in the world than bad. We have lots of strong ethical people that work in our government and I have to believe that at some point things will turn for the better. I can’t let the negative energy bring me down or it wins.

Grateful for what sleep I did get last night, grateful Jim’s passport is ordered, and grateful for people that play the piano so beautifully.

Today was a quiet day at home spent painting in the kitchen. I painted some more woodwork and then touched up the kitchen cabinets. I will start painting the wall tomorrow.

We went out this afternoon to look at a flooring product. Picked out a color we like. Some guys came over early afternoon to give Jim a bid on laying a new countertop and he asked them to bid installing the floor. We are trying to get both of those projects completed before the wedding. Jim has cabinet doors to build along with a long list of other things he wants to get done before the wedding. We won’t get this house finished up unless we hire some of the work to be done by contractors.

Jim is at a board meeting right now. As soon as he gets home we are going to have dinner and then go to a piano concert. That will make for a fun evening.

Both of us are tired though as his cat yelled during the night many times. She is 18 years old and is having to stay in a big crate as she has forgotten how to use the litter box. Her bedding gets wet and then she gets cold and then she yells. We are doing a load of laundry a day of just her bedding to try to keep her with dry bedding. It is like having a newborn baby and changing diapers all day long.

Tomorrow we have a free day with nothing on the calendar. Hoping to get lots more painting done. Not sure which project Jim will choose to work on. He has many to choose from. I wish I could do some of his projects but they aren’t something I can do for him. Not sure what he will find for me to do once I get the kitchen walls painted. We do better together when I have projects to work on too.

Another dress came in today – this is the first dress I ordered way back the first part of January. I haven’t tried it on yet. It is a print and I think I prefer a solid color. I like the style of it though. I may wear a dress to church Sunday so I can practice putting on my panty hose and wearing my new heels. I think I have forgotten how to act in a dress it has been so long since I have worn one. Now I have several to choose from and still have three more I ordered that haven’t come in yet.

I need to remember to clean Jim’s house the week before the wedding. We are going to be feeding 18 people Saturday night and Sunday morning of the weekend of the wedding. Maybe the house will be so full of people no one will notice if the house is clean.

Jim just got home so need to go eat and get ready for the concert.

Grateful for the painting I got done today, grateful we found some flooring we like, and grateful for a free day tomorrow with no commitments.

Another day of doing taxes. Only did 7 returns today. We ran out of clients around 2:00 so I left early. I needed to pick up a few groceries and other stuff at Walmart so did that before I came home.

Jim painted the master bedroom closet today and added a shelf. He got rid of things off the floor of the closet and made a bit more room for my stuff. He has trouble letting go of things so I am proud of him for doing so today.

He is at choir practice tonight so I have a quiet evening at home alone. I think it is good for both of us to have some private time apart. I have soft classical music playing in the background and am decompressing from the whirl wind of life. I forget to stop sometimes and “be”.

Tomorrow I will get back to painting the kitchen. I was tired tonight when I got home and I don’t like to paint when I am tired. We have a concert to go to tomorrow night so will need to stop late afternoon and clean up for the concert. Jim has a meeting at 5:30 so we may have to catch a quick bite to eat somewhere before the concert.

We need to go pick out the new flooring for the kitchen floor tomorrow. It will be so nice to get that installed. The old stuff is in really bad shape. The new floor will transform the kitchen.

I cleaned out Jim’s utensil drawer today. I didn’t throw anything away but took out stuff I haven’t seen used since I have been with him. I put the extra stuff in a bag and put it behind some stuff in the kitchen cabinet. I’ll see if he misses anything. Sure is easier to find what I need when the drawer isn’t so full.

Friday we don’t have any plans so am hoping we will make more progress on the kitchen. Saturday a friend of Jim’s is hosting a brunch to celebrate our wedding. That should be fun!

We have so much work we would like to get done before the wedding. Hopefully this weekend we can kick into high gear and make some noticeable progress. We seem to work in spurts and have trouble sticking with it. Jim project hops and starts new projects before finishing the one he first started. It all needs to get done so guess it doesn’t matter what order we do things in. So much of what needs done he has to do.

It is almost time to send reminders to the photographer, cake baker and florist to make sure they are lined up for the wedding. Four and one-half weeks to go! Wow! It will be here before I know it.

It was 55 for the high today and is only going to be 42 tomorrow for the high. It will warm back up this weekend into the upper 50’s. I am so ready for spring and warm temperatures. It is to snow again on the prairie tonight. Can’t say I am sorry to miss that.

Working on making the big ice cubes for the punch. Can’t quite figure them out. I am putting raspberries in the cubes. The first batch the raspberries sunk to the bottom and in the second batch they rose to the top. The batch freezing now I filled half full with water and put in the raspberries and will top them with more water after the bottom half freezes. Maybe I can get the little buggers to stay in the middle of the cube like I want.

Grateful I have taxes to do as it makes me feel useful and in service to others, grateful for a quiet evening at home alone, and grateful the master bedroom closet is freshly painted and cleaned out.

I didn’t get home from doing taxes this afternoon until after 5:00. We had a steady stream of clients today. The last one I did took a bit of time to do and the guy that reviewed it afterwards is slow. I did five clients today and enjoyed all of them.

I may get some painting done tonight. After sitting all afternoon I need to move my body. Jim isn’t working on the cabinet doors today so I can get to what I want to paint today.

Anyone want to come house sit July 22 – 27? Jim and I are going to Estes Park for the whole month of July and my regular housesitter has to be gone July 22 – 27.

It was a bit cooler in Stillwater today but still a beautiful day. It only reached 49 today. It will be back in the 60’s by Sunday. Winter is mild in Stillwater.

Tomorrow I do taxes all day. Maybe I will get out early instead of 5:00 like today. But since we only are doing taxes two days this week there may be a crowd again. Some people had to wait for over two hours today until we could get to them. That makes me a bit crazy but it is what it is. We can only go so fast and some returns take more time than others.

Thursday night we are going to a piano concert. I happened to see the notice about it. Jim loves classical music and this is a Beethoven Sonata series. I bet we will enjoy it.

Saturday a friend of Jim’s is holding a brunch for us to celebrate our upcoming wedding. Not sure what she has planned but it should be a fun morning.

I need to go to the grocery store soon – if I get done with taxes tomorrow afternoon early I will stop on the way home. I don’t have anything I need tonight so it can wait until tomorrow. I get confused what I have at what house – I end up with duplicates at one house and none at the other.

The pantyhose I ordered last week came in today. I wonder if I remember how to put them on. I can’t remember when I last put hose on. I had to ordered two different sizes as I have no idea what size I need now. I may wear a dress Thursday night to the concert so I can practice putting hose on. Maybe it is like riding a bike and one doesn’t forget how to put them on.

Feeling a bit scattered tonight. It usually takes me a couple of days to settle into a different house. I am looking forward to combining our stuff and mainly being in one house or the other someday in the future.

Grateful for the people that I met today doing taxes, grateful for another beautiful day in Stillwater, and grateful for Amazon that helps me not have to go to a store.

We had a safe trip back to Stillwater today.  Left Strong City around 1:15 and got to Stillwater at 4:15.  Light traffic and clear roads all the way.

It was nice to be on the prairie for a few days.  It does my soul good to be there.  I need the wide open space to fill my soul and quiet my mind.

We went out for dinner tonight.  We ate at Texas Roadhouse.  The one here in Stillwater does a nice job.  We have eaten there probably ten or twelve times and haven’t had a bad experience yet.  Sometimes the line is too long and we don’t wait but if we can get in the food is always good and the service acceptable if not exceptional.

I had ordered another pair of dress heels and they came in while we were gone.  I like these much better than the first pair I got.  I think they will be comfortable.  They are made by an orthopedic company designed for someone that has bunions.  I won’t wear them often but am glad to have them.

The envelopes for the wedding invitations came in so we can get the rest of the invitations in the mail this week.  I also ordered and received a few more reception invitations and will get those addressed this week too.  Another thing to cross off my to do list.

Tomorrow I do taxes from noon until 4:30.  I go back at 9:00 Wednesday morning and do taxes all day Wednesday.  Thursday evening we are going to a piano concert and Saturday a friend of Jim’s is hosting a brunch for us to celebrate our wedding.  This week will go by quickly.

I called my orthopedic doctor and told them about my right foot.  It feels like I have a silicone gel pack under the big toe.  I can feel it squish when I take a step.  Most of the time it pinches a nerve during the step.  Not sure they can do anything about it but they want to see me.  I go to see the doctor a week from Tuesday.  I’m kinda hoping since I called them and made an appointment it will stop hurting and I can cancel the appointment.

We took a one mile walk when we got to Stillwater today.  It was 66 out and we had to get out for a bit and enjoy the warmth and stretch our legs.  I only did the one mile so I wouldn’t push my sore foot too much.  Not sure it makes it hurt more though when I take a walk like that.  Figure I can’t hurt it as it already hurts – right?

Grateful for a safe trip to Stillwater, grateful I found a comfortable pair of dress heels, and grateful for 66 degree days in February.

We didn’t make it to church today.  It was too hard to get out of bed and get ready to go. After we finally got up I finished cleaning up the laundry room and put it back together again.  I didn’t get the closets painted but I got them cleaned out.

Took a two mile hike this afternoon.  Both of my feet are rather cranky now.  I am going to call the doctor’s office tomorrow and see if they can tell me why the right one feels like it has a pocket of fluid in it.  Every step I take I can feel the fluid squish around and pinch a nerve.  It almost feels like when I had my neuromas.  The left foot still gets cranky too.  I am over six months out from the left foot and over three months on the right.  I thought they would be better by now.

Most of the snow melted today.  All that is left is on the north side of trees and buildings where the sun didn’t hit it.  We got nice and muddy on our walk as the roads are sticky muddy.  We cut through the grass on the way back so the grass could clean our shoes off.

The chicken coop is one big mud puddle.  I got five eggs yesterday and none today.  I really need to get a new bunch of chickens and get rid of these old ladies.

The laundry room looks much nicer.  I put the paint that I had been storing on the folding table in the closet.  I got everything scrubbed down and hand mopped the floors.  It is nice to claim the laundry room again.

It was in the mid 50’s today and little to no wind.  We would have walked further if my feet weren’t bothering me.  I had to take off my jacket on the walk as I got too hot.  For mid February in KS I’ll take these moderate days anytime.

We head back to Stillwater tomorrow.  I’ll be sorry to leave the prairie again.  We have a long list of things we need to get done in Stillwater before the wedding though and can’t do it from here.  Tuesday and Wednesday I have taxes to do.  Maybe Thursday I can get Jim’s kitchen painted.

Five weeks from today is the wedding.  I keep thinking there is something big I am forgetting to take care of but can’t figure out what it might be.  I got both batches of mints made this weekend and will start making the ice cubes that I will put in the punch soon.  I am putting raspberries in the ice trays to freeze in the ice.  Jim has some super big ice cube trays that will work but I can only make six at a time.  Not sure how many I need but thinking at least 36 if not more.  They take about a day to make six.

Jim is continuing to work on his slide project.  I’m glad he had that project to do while he is here.  It had been on his to do list a long time and he doesn’t have much to do here so he could get that project done.

I have white chicken chili cooking in the crock pot for dinner.  It sure smells good.  I added the cream cheese and half and half so it will be ready whenever we decide to eat.  We will have lots of leftovers to take back to OK with us.

I have been trying to clean out my refrigerator freezer and the freezer in the garage. I found a bog of cooked chicken left overs so decided to get it used up.  I love using up left overs in a new way.

Feeling a bit low energy today.  I worked hard yesterday and expended my limit.  I decided not to paint the closets today as I wasn’t sure I could do a good job as I feel tired today.  I got lots of sleep so not sure what this tired is about.  Probably just letting down and relaxing on the prairie.  Sometimes I need a quiet day to refill my soul.

We will be back to KS March 5 – 8.  Will only stay until Sunday that weekend as I will have taxes to do on March 9.  Then we will be back the day after our wedding March 22.  I am taking that week off from doing taxes so we can come here and have a few quiet days together and get ready for the reception on that Saturday.  I’m so looking forward to seeing some friends.  I feel I am out of touch with most of them.

Grateful for a quiet day on the prairie today, grateful the laundry room is put back together again, and grateful for a two mile hike even if my feet are not.

 

Jim and I went into Emporia early afternoon to watch Ellexia do her gymnastic thing.  She came in third in tumbling in her class and first in her heat.  We also watched her do trampoline.  It was fun watching her perform.  She has really grown and improved since the last time I watched her perform.

We came home when she was done and had lunch.  After lunch I started painting the laundry room.  I fiinally got it finished tonight at 9:30.  We had to pull the washer and dryer out so I could paint behind them.  We managed to put them back into place without issue.  I brushed the paint on the walls instead of rolling it,  I have never painted a room just using a brush before.  I think it was slower this way.

Tomorrow I will do any needed touch-ups and paint the closet.  It will be nice to have one room painted – don’t want to count how many more rooms I have to do.

Jim has worked all afternoon and evening on his slides.  He is getting them into order of some sorts and putting them in sleeves.  It is a project he has wanted to do for a long time.  Good project to work on here.

The weather warmed up nicely today.  The snow is almost all melted.  I’m sure by tomorrow afternoon it will be all gone.  We sat outside and watched the sunset tonight.

I am sore and tired tonight.  My bath will feel good!  It was nice to move my body and get something tangible done. The laundry room has bugged me forever as the guy that painted it when we moved in didn’t pull out the washer and dryer and paint behind them.  I could always see where he didn’t paint.  I used a lighter color this time and it looks refreshed.

When we get back here for good I want to repaint every room in the house.  I have lived here almost seven years and it is time to refreshen the whole house.  Not sure what room I will do next.  I have to thinkabout doing the living room, dining room and kitchen as the ceiling is so tall.  May need to hire those three rooms to be done.

We are driving to Manhattan tomorrow morning to go to church.  Jim wants to check out the Presbyterian church there.  They have a profesisonal director for the choir and a big organ.  Church music is important to him and finding a new church with a good choir and organ is something that will make his move to KS easier.  The choir in Manhattan meets on Sunday mornings before church and doesn’t have a rehearsal during the week.  That would make it easy to only have to make one trip a week instead of two.  We’ll find out tomorrow if he likes the church and the preacher.

It feels like we have had a productive weekend in KS.  We have to go back to Stillwater Monday.  Sure looking forward to the 20th of April when I get to come back and stay here more than I am in Stillwater.  I miss the priaire when I am gone.

Grateful to have gotten to watch Ellexia today, grateful the laundry room is freshly painted, and grateful I get to take a hot soaker bath in a bit.

 

 

It has been a cold, windy day on the prairie.  Got up and went into Emporia so I could get my hair cut.  I have had enough of trying to grow it out and went back to shorter hair.  Stopped at a bank to get cash to pay the housesitter and then went to Bluestem to get critter feed.  It was good to get back home on the prairie.

Made a double batch of Jim’s favorite oatmeal cookies.  Made one batch of mints for the wedding.  Jim helped me make the little round balls that I then smashed with a fork.  I’ll probably make a second batch tomorrow so I can have mints of two different colors.

We went down to do chicken chores.  That wind is cold!  Had two eggs that had frozen and cracked open and got one egg to bring up to the house.  It is too cold for them to be laying much right now.  They didn’t even come out to see if I brought treats for them – they stayed inside the coop.  I gave them some sunflower seeds inside as I didn’t blame them for not coming outside.

Ordered some hose from Amazon.  I needed a few other things to get free shipping so ordered a few things Jim had on his list.  I set them to arrive Tuesday in Oklahoma when we are back there.  I like that you get to choose your delivery day.

When I bought my new computer I got $250 worth of Best Buy credits that expire April 2.  I need to replace my double wall oven so went on the Best Buy site and found out they have free delivery and installation going on right now.  Jimhelped me measure the existing one so I knew what size to order.  I got one ordered.  They won’t deliver it until March 26 at my request.  I’ll be home that week as it is the week after the wedding on the 22nd.  Kathy will be here and I want to be in KS to spend time with her.  I think that is the last appliance that needs replaced.

I still need to make some ice cubes that I will use in the punch for the wedding but it is too early to do that.  Other than that I don’t think I have anything else I need to do for the wedding.  I’m so relieved I have found a dress that will work.  That takes alot of the stress off of me.

Jim is working on his slide project.  Not something I can help him with.  Glad he has something to work on here though.  We still need to get the deck project done but the weather is not right for that today.  Sure hoping we can get it done this spring.  I’m tired of having it on my to-do list.

I may go paint the laundry room.  I got the paint for it several weeks ago. I need something to do this afternoon.  I always feel better when I get something done during the day.

We are coming back to KS March 5 – 8.  I have an appointment to get my teeth cleaned at the Vo-Tech on the 5th.  It always feels good to come back to the prairie even if for only a few nights.

Tomorrow we have to go into Emporia early afternoon so we can watch Ellexia do her gymnastic thing.  Luckily two of her events are fairly close together so we will get to see her perform twice without having to hang out all day.  Sunday we are going to Manhattan for church.  Jim wants to check out the Presbyterian Church there.  Monday we have to go back to Stillwater.

We are almost down to five weeks from wedding day!  Wow!  Time is flying by.  Glad I have things under control and can coast the next few weeks.  It will be here before I know it.

Grateful to have short hair again, grateful cookies and mints are made, and grateful I have a warm house to stay in on this cold, winter day.

 

 

 

Home on my beloved prairie again!  It fees so good to have lots of breathing space again.  The trip north was smooth and easy and the roads were nice and clear.  Seems funny to see snow again – Oklahoma hasn’t had much.

We got into Emporia about 15 minutes early for my appointment with my accountant.  I passed off my taxes to him.  He is going to estimate my tax liability for 2020 so Jim and I know how much we need taken out when we combine incomes.  I have a nice tax credit coming as a result of the solar panels that were installed last year.  I am hoping we won’t owe any taxes for 2020 as a result.  I didn’t pay much last year and am not expecting to have to pay much this year.

We stopped at Walmart and picked up a few groceries after we were done with the accountant.  It was so nice to get back home on the prairie.  My soul needs the breathing space this place offers me.  The wide open spaces fill my heart and soul.

We are going to Ad Astra for dinner tonight at 6:00.  Neither one of us could think of something to fix for dinner while we were at Walmart and decided we would eat out for Valentine’s Day tonight.  The restaurants will be full tomorrow night.

I have to go into Emporia for a 10:00 haircut tomorrow morning.  We will stop and get some cash to pay the housesitter and get critter food while we are in town.  Saturday we go back into Emporia so we can watch Ellexia compete in a gymnastic meet.  Luckily she has two events fairly close together so we will get to see two of her three events.  Sunday if the roads are clear Jim wants to go to Manhattan to check out the Presbyterian Church there.  Monday we go back to Stillwater.  The time here will go fast!

Yesterday two different dresses came in.  I tried both of them on last night and both fit and look nice.  Either one of them will do as my wedding dress!  YAY!  I can cross that off my list.

I tried the dresses on while Jim was at choir practice.  I didn’t feel like getting dressed again so I took hot bath.  I laid down afterwards as I was a bit lightheaded and fell asleep.  I slept from 8:15 last night until 7:15 this morning!  Wow!  I haven’t gotten that much sleep without being on drugs or sick in a long time.  I was over due to crash.  Jim said he kept checking on me as it is unusual that I sleep that long and that hard.

We brought a car load of stuff from Stillwater to KS.  Each time we come we bring a full car load.  Wonder how many car loads it will take before the house in Stillwater starts to look like we have taken stuff out of it?  Can’t believe how much stuff we still have to bring and how many loads it will take.  We will eventually need to rent a U-Haul truck to bring the bigger stuff.  Thinking we will need a big truck!

Not sure Jim has wrapped his head around the fact that he is moving to KS sometime this year.  It will be a huge change for him.  We still may have to go to Plan B – what ever that is.

Almost time for our dinner reservation.  Best get myself ready to go.  It is hard to get back in the car after just getting here but we won’t be gone long tonight.

Grateful to be back home on the prairie, grateful for a safe journey, and grateful I found my wedding dress.

 

Had a rough night of sleep last night.  Both feet were aching and super sensitive.  Had to hang them off the bottom of the bed as they couldn’t stand to have even a sheet touching them.  Finally feel asleep around 2:00 and was sleeping really good when I had to get up at 8:00.  Could have slept longer but had to get up to get ready to do taxes.

Did seven returns today.  Had another couple challenging ones but all in all nothing I couldn’t handle.  I did have to call a client and have her come back.  I screwed up her return and we had to amend it.  It took the experts some time to figure out how to do it.  One of them had helped me do her return.  The client was very understanding and kind.

Need to get things ready to go to KS tomorrow.  We hope to leave around 11:00 so we have some time in Strong City before we have to be in Emporia at 3:30.  We will see if that happens.  We can always go directly to Emporia and my accountant appointment.

The prairie has gotten lots of snow today.  Several of my friends have posted pictures on Facebook.  Oklahoma got some rain but not much.  The temperature has been cold though but it is to warm back up by the weekend.  The snow will be pretty to see tomorrow.  I’m glad the roads will be clear by the time we drive that way tomorrow.

A dress came in today – so far I like it but haven’t tried it on yet.  I”ll do so tonight after I take my bath.  Another one is to arrive tomorrow so hoping between the two one or the other will be THE one.

Jim is working on loading the car with stuff he wants to move to KS.  It will also give him a project to work on while we are in KS this weekend.  Not sure I understand his master plan of things he wants to do but know I don’t need to understand it.

I haven’t gotten any more painting done in the kitchen.  Guess it will wait for me until we get back next week.  I do taxes Tuesday afternoon and all day next Wednesday so won’t get to the painting until Thursday.  Maybe by then Jim will have the cabinet doors he is building up and I can get to the wall I want to paint.

I have the paint to paint the laundry room in Strong City.  Maybe I will get that done this weekend.  We certainly have a list of projects to do in both houses.

I’m going to fix tacos for dinner.  I laid some hamburger out this morning not knowing what to do with it.  When I was giving Jim options when I got home this afternoon he choose tacos.  I think he would eat them daily if given that option.  I enjoy them but don’t love them like he does.  I’m tired and they are easy to fix so will go with it for tonight.

There was a communication glitch between me, another person and the person that was going to sell me a house so that deal is not going to happen.  He has some other properties he may be interested in selling this summer so will see if that happens.  I’m relieved that the deal is off the table.  The house he wanted me to buy was at the top end of my price range and I wasn’t overly eager to proceed anyways.  Love that it turned out the way it did.

Grateful for another day of being in service to others, grateful the snow came today and not tomorrow, and grateful I get to go to the prairie tomorrow!

Did taxes this afternoon. Only did three and we ran out of clients. I didn’t stay past 3:00 as there were six other preparers there and no clients. The ones I did today were all fun. Had two new things to enter – love when I get to learn something new.

I have a casserole in the oven cooking for dinner. It has hamburger, potatoes, cream of mushroom soup, milk, onion and salt and pepper in it. When it is almost done I will sprinkle cheddar cheese over it. I laid hamburger out this morning but didn’t know what to do with it. I looked up hamburger recipes and found this one. Hope it is good.

It is cold and cloudy here today. I sure miss the sun when it doesn’t come out to play during the day. It is to start raining during the night and rain most of the day tomorrow. I wonder if the rain will keep clients from coming in tomorrow to have their taxes done. I am scheduled to work 9:00 – 4:30 but may get off early again if clients decide not to get out in the rain.

We have some packing to do to get my car loaded for the trip to KS. Each trip we try to get it filled with more of Jim’s stuff. He needs to pull some stuff out in the morning so we can start loading the car tomorrow when I get home. We have to leave Thursday morning around noon. It will help us get out of town on time if the car gets loaded tomorrow afternoon.

Looking forward to getting back on the prairie tomorrow. My soul needs some open space and night skies. Friday I have a haircut in Emporia and Saturday we are going to Ellexia’s gymnastics meet. We won’t have lots of down time as Sunday is our only free day. We will come back to Stillwater Monday afternoon.

I have several packages being delivered tomorrow. I didn’t time that very good as likely they will arrive after we leave tomorrow. Luckily someone is coming over to check on the cats late afternoon and can bring the packages inside.

Friday while I am in town I will need to do a restock on critter food if needed. My house sitter had to buy sunflower seeds for the girls as I didn’t have enough on hand to get her through.

I may have found another rental property to buy. Someone contacted me about buying one and we are negotiating the price. I have been looking for my fifth property for some time. This one is at the top of my price range though and needs $15,000 – $20,000 of improvements done to it. I prefer to get smaller, cheaper ones as the return on investment is higher but haven’t had much luck finding any for the last two years. I’ll see what happens with this one.

Haven’t gotten any more painting done. The wall I was going to paint is right above where Jim needs to work. The other walls that need done have cracks he needs to repair before I can paint. I have a bit of touch up painting I may do after dinner. I hate washing out brushes though and hate to get a brush dirty for a small job. I may wait until we get back and I have a full day to get lots of painting done.

I need to pull my taxes out one more time and make sure I haven’t forgotten anything on them. I meet with my accountant Thursday afternoon to pass them off to him. It is always a good feeling to have my taxes completed for the year.

I get my haircut Friday. I have decided to go back to having shorter hair again. My hair just doesn’t look right to me when it is longer. I tried growing it out but haven’t really liked it. I don’t want to go back to having it as short as I had it but need to find a good point between as long as it is now and not as short as it was.

I don’t have too long of a list of things I want to do while I am in KS this time. I need to bake Jim a couple batches of cookies as he is out of cookies again. Maybe I can find some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful views.

Two years ago today I started my Bright Line journey. I have not eaten much flour or sugar since I started. It has become pretty automatic for me to not eat it now. I struggle though with snacking which I had stopped doing for a long time. Chips and peanut butter are my biggest downfalls. I am up 15 pounds from a year ago thanks to the weight I gained when I had my two bunion surgeries. I’m back on the wagon though and working to take it back off. I’m very grateful I found the program and that it worked so well for me.

Grateful for my Bright Line journey and the weight I lost and the confidence I have gained, grateful for the tax clients I had today, and grateful I am headed to my beloved prairie tomorrow.

I did ten tax returns today.  Only two had something I hadn’t seen before.  The others were all simple ones.  Seemed I had time to do nothing today as I waited for a review of my work.  Usually I can find a return to review but that didn’t happen so much today.

The day went fast.  I left around 3:45 as we had finally cleared out the line and had no clients.  There were plenty of other prepares that were going to stay in case someone else showed up.  It was spitting ice and I wanted to get home before the roads get slick.

Jim has a medical test tonight at 6:00 so we won’t have dinner before 7:00.  I may go take a short nap when I get done writing my blog.  I am tired tonight but not sure I am sleepy.

I should do some painting in the kitchen.  I think I will lay down for a bit and if I don’t fall asleep I will get up and paint.  I want to get one wall done so we can see how everything is going to look.  I sure like what we have done – especially since I changed the color of the top running board above the paneling.

Tomorrow I do taxes but only in the afternoon.  Wednesday is another full day of doing taxes.  Thursday we head for KS.  This week is going to fly by quickly.

My right foot is still bothering me today.  I’m glad I didn’t walk much on it today as it screams at me every step I take.  Sure wish I knew why it has become a problem child for me.

I did Jim’s taxes today. The manager of my site let me do them without Jim coming in.  They bend the rules a bit for the volunteers.  That was nice!  He was glad they were done and filed and he didn’t have to do anything.

I took my lunch today and took 15 minutes and ate it.  Last Monday I didn’t take a break and came home and ate anything and everything I could get my hands on.  I hate to take a break when I know people have been sitting for two hours waiting for us but I have to take care of myself.

Three dresses are supposed to arrive Wednesday.  Trusting one of them will be THE one.  We shall see!

Grateful to have been in service today – I get to meet the nicest people, grateful Jim’s taxes are done, and grateful I took the time to eat lunch today.

I am tired tonight!  I came home from church, fixed lunch and then started painting.  I am just now stopping for the night.  Got most of the kitchen woodwork and lower half of the wall painted.  Still need to paint the upper wall and do some touch ups.  Jim wants me to paint the back door and frame too.  Got it started but started getting sloppy so stopped.

I have taxes to do the next three days so doubt I will get back to the painting in the evenings.  We will see.  I might find some energy and get some more done.

We are leaving for KS around 11:00 Thursday morning so won’t get any painting done until next week unless I sneak some in the next three evenings.  I have some painting I need to do in KS if the urge to paint is still there.

I have an appointment with my accountant next Thursday at 3:30 in Emporia to turn my taxes in to him.  Seems a bit ironic to me that I do lots of other people’s taxes but have to hire an accountant for my own.  With the Airbnb and the rental properties mine are considered out of scope for the program I use to do other people’s taxes.

Jim is going to bring his taxes up tomorrow for me to do.  I did them using the Practice Lab program and he has good news this year.  I can’t access the proper program from my home computer.

We stopped by the grocery store on the way home from church.  I needed to get some salad stuff so I can take a lunch tomorrow.  I learned my lesson last week when I went the whole day without lunch.  I ate completely out of control when I got home that day.

It was 61 when I got up this morning and is only 52 now.  It is going to continue to drop.  The high for tomorrow is only going to be 47 and it will be even colder the next three days.  I kinda liked the 70”s better.  It has been cloudy all afternoon but we didn’t get the rain that was in the forecast.  More rain is forecast for tomorrow so we will see what happens.

Six weeks from today is THE big day.  Time is flying by right now.  Glad most of the list of things I need to do to get ready for the wedding is done.  If I can find a dress I will be in good shape.  Have two more arriving this week so hoping one of them will be THE one.

We were going to try to move back to KS full-time April 20 but Jim had something come up and he needs to stay here another week.  I’ll have to come to KS though as I have guests coming in April 25 and will need to get the house ready for them.  Jim will join me the 26th or so.  We still have lots of work to do on his house before he can get it rented so will be spending more time here than I would have liked during the summer.  One day soon we will be in one house!  I believe in miracles!

My right foot continues to bother me.  It feels like I am pinching a nerve every time I take a step.  It kinda swishes when I walk on it too.  If it doesn’t straighten out soon I will call the surgeon and go in and see if he can figure out what is going on.

Grateful for a good day of painting, grateful it is only six weeks till THE day, and grateful tomorrow I will be in service doing taxes.

Got the lower half of the kitchen walls painted today.  Still need to do some touch up and then push the appliances back into place.  I had painted the top of the molding the same color as the lower part and don’t like that so will have to repaint it the wood work color.

Tomorrow I want to do the final touch up on the outside of the kitchen cabinets and start painting the upper walls.  Jim doesn’t like a roller so will have to brush paint it. He needs to do some repair on some cracks on part of the wall before I can paint part of it.

Jim worked on installing the frames to the storm windows on the three windows in the master bedroom.  He got the frames up but didn’t get the storm windows put in them yet.  It is to rain tomorrow so may not get them done tomorrow.

I made Shepherds Pie for dinner.  It was good!  I tried not to eat too much of the potatoes on top as white potatoes are not good for me.  They are Jim’s favorite food!

I ordered two more dresses today.  If they fit I will have a nice collection of dresses to wear to church.  Also ordered another pair of heels.  Found an orthopedic type that may be more comfortable than others.  I haven’t worn anything beside New Balance tennis shoes for over a year.  Do they even make hose any more?  Not sure I like wearing heels without hose but it has been so long since I’ve worn any I don’t know what to wear with them.

It will be good to get the kitchen put back together again.  We get it put together and tear it apart again.  One more day of disorder and hoping we can put things back together and they will stay in order.  Neither one of us like chaos and clutter.

We are watching Hidden Figures.  It is a movie I actually saw in the movie theater.  I enjoyed it and Jim is enjoying seeing it for the first time tonight.  It is a good movie and one everyone should see.

Did five loads of laundry today.  Put fresh sheets on the bed.  Need to do some cleaning but that may have to wait until Monday night.  I want to get the painting done first.

The moon will be full tomorrow night.  It was beautiful this evening.  I can see the moon out of the east bedroom windows once it is up a bit.  It will be nice to get back to the prairie where I can see it rise and the the sun rise and set.  I feel a bit claustrophobic in town without my views.

Grateful to have gotten some more painting done today, grateful for on-line ordering, and grateful for movies like Hidden Figures that educate me about how life is different for those of other races.

 

I took my car to the dealer where I purchased it today.  The Service Manager drove it on the highway with me in the car.  It only acted up once on the drive.  They checked it out and said it was functionally normally.  I’m disappointed in the blind spot detection system as it doesn’t work as well as Jim’s Mazda.

They explained to me how the system works and when it doesn’t work.  Not sure I totally agree with their justification as to how it works as it doesn’t work at times they don’t talk about.  The guy that checked me in at the service desk said other owners have had the same complaint with this system.

I bought this particular car especially for the blind spot detection system.  I am disappointed in it as it doesn’t work as I had hoped it would.

I also had them check out the lane departure system.  It turns on and off without my understanding why.  It did that when the service manager was driving it.  Again they said the system is working as designed and they tried to give me the times it would do what I am complaining about.  Again I find it not working under different circumstances but guess I will have to learn to live with it.

We stopped for lunch after our appointment and then went to Home Depot to look for bath tub surrounds.  The one Jim needs they don’t stock but can have it delivered in two weeks.  Not sure what he is going to do.

When we got home I did his taxes on the practice lab part of my training.  I’ll have to do them again on the real program but found out he will get a nice refund.  With all the extra remodeling and wedding expenses it will come in handy.  He is going to come up to the library Monday and let me do them for real.

Tried on the dress that had come in earlier this week.  It fits and will work for Nicole’s wedding.  Not sure it is what I was looking for to wear to my wedding but it would work for that too if needed.  It is floor length and I decided not to wear a long dress but could change my mind.  I’ll see when the others come in – hopefully I will fall in love with one of them.  I like this dress but I don’t love it.

We have a free day tomorrow.  Seems likes it has been a bit since we had one.  Hoping we can sleep in late.  Jim has only been getting 5 – 6 hours a night and he likes to get 8 -9.  He is getting tired and needs to catch up on some sleep.

I hope to get lots of painting done tomorrow.  Jim is going to build cabinet doors.  He is out in the shop now starting them.  It will be so fun to get them up and painted.  The kitchen is being transformed slowly and surely!

My feet have been cranky again today.  Sure wish I knew when they will calm down and quit with this.  I haven’t over used them and don’t understand why they got cranky.  They were very sensitive to touch last night.  I have quit taking ibuprofen and maybe I need to start again.  I was trying to give my liver a break.

Looking forward to a quiet day at home tomorrow.  We haven’t had one for a bit.  Sunday we just have church and will have the afternoon at home.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I do taxes.  Thursday we go to Strong City.  I need to get lots of painting done tomorrow and Sunday as I won’t get back to it before we get back from KS.

The full moon is Sunday.  I have felt its effects this week.  Been a bit down and cranky.  I didn’t fall into the muck pond but feel like my valley closed in on me a bit.

Grateful there is nothing wrong with my car – I just need to get used to it, grateful the dress I ordered fit and will work for Nicole’s wedding, and grateful for a quiet day at home tomorrow.

After having a very productive day yesterday I did the opposite today.  I didn’t do much at all today.  We had a pre-marital counseling session this afternoon and then stopped at Walmart for groceries on the way home.  I did get the rest of the stuff to make the punch for the wedding and a container to put the mints in when I get them made.

I didn’t get any painting done yet today.  I didn’t sleep a lot last night and have felt a bit hung over today.  I didn’t want to paint when I wasn’t at my best.  I might get some painting done tonight but doubt it.  Somedays you just need to take a rest day.

Jim had a board meeting to go to tonight.  When he gets home in an hour or so I will fix dinner.  We are having chicken Parmesan that I will fix in the instant pot.  It will only take about 20 minutes to make.

I am hoping Jim will get the new tub ready for me to use tonight.  I didn’t get to take a bath last night or a shower this morning.  The tub had to sit empty for 24 hours so it would set up correctly.  The surround was partially removed when they removed the old tub and Jim needs to rig a temporary surround so water doesn’t get under the tub.

Tomorrow we go to Oklahoma City to take my car in to get the blind spot detection system checked out.  Jim wants to leave early so we can stop by Langston University so he can drop some things off.  My appointment is at 1:00 so we won’t be home until  mid to late afternoon.  That will waste most of the day.

We don’t have anything scheduled for the weekend except for church on Sunday.  Hoping we will get some more work done on the kitchen then.  I do taxes next week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday we head for KS.  I have an appointment in Emporia at 3:00 so we will need to get going fairly early.  We will come back to Stillwater the following Monday.  It will be good to be back on the prairie for a few days.

Feeling a bit down today.  Hoping it is just from not sleeping well last night.  I was up between 3:00 and 6:00 and then managed to get two more hours of sleep.

Grateful the wedding details are almost done, grateful for what sleep I did get, and grateful tomorrow is a new day!

I woke up to about two to three inches of snow this morning.  It was so beautiful sitting inside and looking at the snow.  The wind has been quiet all day and the snow is still clinging to the trees this evening.

I painted the rest of the outside of the kitchen cabinets today.  I still have to finish the cabinet above the microwave but the rest are done.

Jim got a new bathtub installed today.  We can’t use it until tomorrow so it will be another sink bath tonight.  He will need to put the water board up around it tomorrow and attach the faucets.  We should be able to use the new tub tomorrow night.

We went to Lowe’s this afternoon and picked up samples of tile for the kitchen floor. While we were there we got a gallon of wall paint.  The kitchen has wainscot on the bottom half of the walls and we got the paint for that.  I might put some up while Jim is at choir practice tonight so we can better choose what floor tile we like the best.  I’ll get it painted tomorrow.  After that I will need to paint the top half of the kitchen walls.  We already have a color picked out for that.

It is amazing to see the kitchen go through this transformation.  I am excited we are this far along.  It sure would be nice to get the new floor down this weekend as well as the walls painted.  Then all that we will need is the doors to the cabinets made and hung and the counter top laminate replaced.

We also need to get the bathroom floor redone and the walls above the new tub replaced with something else.  Not sure Jim has decided which way he wants to go on them.  We also need a new toilet installed.  I have painting to do in the bathroom too.

After the kitchen and bathroom we need to get back out to the back room and get insulation up and then sheet rock it.  I see more painting in my future!  We also need to sand and stain the floor we laid some time back.

A dress came in today but not sure it is going to work for the wedding – it is a very dark blue and seems too dark for a wedding.  I might be able to use it to wear to Nicole’s wedding in October.  I’ll try it on after I can take a shower or a bath.

I still have three more dresses I ordered to come in.  Starting to worry a bit that none of them is THE one though.  I may have to go shopping in stores soon.  Sure would feel better if I could find THE dress.

Need to run to Walmart tomorrow and pick up some juice and pop that I will use to make the punch for the wedding.  Jim needs cat food and ammonia.

Have a beef stew in the oven cooking.  It is done and waiting for Jim to wake up from a short nap he is taking.  Jim didn’t sleep very well last night worrying about the bathtub installation.  The guy that came to install the tub knew what he was doing and it went fine.  Jim had to cut a piece of plywood to put under the tub as the wood that was there was rotten.  It was interesting to watch the guy cut the old tub into pieces and haul it out.

We rearrange the stuff in the kitchen cabinets today.  Not sure Jim is on board with the changes I suggested.  He doesn’t adapt well to change sometimes!  We still have some more sorting to do and reorganizing some shelves but I think everything fits.  I wanted the stuff we use the most in the easy to reach shelves and stick the appliances and other stuff we rarely if ever use in the high shelves and in the back of the pantry.  He still needs to build some shelves for the upper cabinets but the stuff up there fits – it is just hard to get to and hard to see what we have.

We will finally get to move the spices that have been stored in the dining room into the kitchen cabinet where they belong.  I found a bunch of spices in the back of the pantry that Jim had forgotten he had.  Now we have some duplicates as I added some spices I didn’t think he had.

Tomorrow we meet with the preacher for another pre-martial counseling session.  Friday we take my car to Oklahoma City to see if anything is wrong with the blind spot detection system.  We don’t have anything on our calendar this weekend except for church on Sunday.  Maybe we can get the floor laid on Saturday.

I got two checks in the mail today and tried to deposit them on-line using photos of the checks.  I screwed that up and need to call my bank and find out how to fix it.  I may have to see if Jim’s bank will accept them if I endorse the checks over to Jim.  I don’t want to wait to deposit them until I get home the 13th.

Grateful for the beautiful snow – it looks like a winter wonderland outside, grateful I didn’t have to shovel the snow, and grateful for the smells of a hot beef stew cooking on a cold’s winter night.

Went in to do taxes at 12:15.  We weren’t supposed to start until 12:30 but most of the other volunteers were already there and helping clients.  I will go in at noon after this.

I did eight returns today.  All were easy and simple ones.  I did have a Health Savings Account return – grateful I got my certification for that part.  I love meeting the clients.  They are so very grateful for the service provided.  I’m also humbled to meet so many that live on so little.

We were to work until 4:30 but we didn’t have any clients come in after 3:30 so I left early at 4:00.  The other volunteers are fun to visit with but I decided not to stay for 30 minutes to waste time.

Several of the volunteers that had been there yesterday said they were wiped out last night too.  Glad it wasn’t just me.  Half days are much easier.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  I had a few things on my list to get.

I fixed a crock pot of chili this morning before I left to do taxes.  The house smelled really good when I got home and it was nice to have dinner ready tonight without having to fix anything.  The chili turned out good and we have enough for another meal.

The weather took a wicked turn today.  The high was only 37.  We got a few sprinkles but no snow.  Tomorrow the high will be 33 and snow is in the forecast.  Glad I get to stay home tomorrow.

I plan on painting the rest of the outside of the cabinets tomorrow.  I have been too tired the last two nights to attempt to paint.  Thursday we meet with the preacher again and Friday we have to take my car to Oklahoma City for service.

The rest of the invitations came in but I forgot to order the envelopes for them.  Rats!  I placed an order for them tonight and ordered 10 more reception invitations too.  I had thought of a few more people to invite and was out of invitations.  They won’t be here for ten days so I will get them out a bit late but better late than never!

I have been riding through a wonderful valley lately.  I haven’t fallen into the muck pond for a bit.  The ride has been fairly smooth and easy.  I need to take more time to appreciate when I am in these valleys.  This one has been a long ride and I am grateful.

Grateful for the opportunity to be in service to others by doing taxes, grateful for chili on a cold winter’s night, and grateful for the valley of life I find myself in right now.

 

First day of doing taxes in Oklahoma is in the bag.  It was an interesting day.  Met some wonderful people and had fun working with my co-volunteers.  Did eight returns.  The first one took three hours and stumped the long-term volunteers.  I had another one that took three people to figure out too.

Their system of finding someone to review seems to work.  I didn’t like having nothing to do while mine were being reviewed although most of the time I could find someone to review during that time.  Felt a bit like a round robin of sort and a bit chaotic but it works.

We had a hall full of people this morning waiting to get their taxes done.  It was much slower this afternoon.

I like the way we can help each other out.  There seems to be different subject matter experts and we can call on others when we have a question.  There is no judgment when a reviewer finds a mistake.  The person that imputed the information just gets told what the reviewer found and if they didn’t understand how to do something it gets explained.  The newest people had an experienced person with them for most of the day.  That was nice!

I go back tomorrow from 12:30 – 4:30.  Wednesday got cancelled as the library where we do the taxes had the room booked for someone else,  I’m glad it is only two days this week.  I have lots of painting I want to do Wednesday.

The plumber came this morning to fix the bathtub drain.  In addition to the broken pipe Jim found out his bathtub needs replaced.  They are coming back Wednesday to do that.  It needs new surround panels too but the only ones available won’t fit.  He is going to have to have it tiled instead.  Not sure if Jim will try to do that or if he will hire it done.

He got the cabinet above the stove installed today and is finishing getting the microwave hung below the cabinet.  Wow!  The kitchen is really looking different.  I hope to get the painting on the outside of the cabinets done on Wednesday.  Jim needs to finish stripping the doors and then he needs to make some more doors.

After I get the cabinets painted I will start painting the kitchen walls.  We will have to pick a paint color for the lower part of the wall.  Some of the wall will need some crack repair done before I can paint.

It is exciting to see the kitchen get redone.  Wish the floor guy could come sooner than three months but guess he will get here when he can get here.

Once we get the kitchen as far as we can get it we need to get back out to the back room and get insulation and sheet rock hung.  Still need to sand the floor and stain it.  Jim will also need to build some trim around the windows.

We are making lots of progress though!  Still not thinking we will have the inside of the house done by April but we will get more done than I had thought we might.

It was much colder this afternoon than when I went into the library this morning at 9:00.  The high tomorrow is only going to be 37 and it was 69 this morning.  We are to get snow on Wednesday but by Friday it will warm back up to the 50’s.

I didn’t take a lunch break today and I came home at 4:30 very hungry.  I haven’t started dinner yet as Jim wanted to finish installing the microwave before we eat.  I have some leftovers to warm up for dinner so when he is ready to eat it won’t take long.  I’ll have to put something in the crock pot tomorrow morning before I leave at noon to go do taxes.

The rest of the invitations came in today so we can get those addressed and in the mail this week.

I’m tired tonight.  It was fun doing taxes but I feel a bit drained tonight.  I should have taken a lunch break and gotten some fresh air.  I’ll remember to do that next week.  Tomorrow is only a four hour shift so that should be easier and not so draining.

Grateful the first day of taxes is in the books, grateful I only have one more shift to do this week, and grateful for all the progress being made in the kitchen.

75 degrees on this second day of February in Stillwater, OK.  I’ll take this weather any day of the week, month or year.  It was bright and sunny out but the clouds are rolling in now.  It is to snow on Wednesday.  The ups and downs of winter in Oklahoma.

Went to church this morning.  Several people had gotten their wedding invitations and we were greeted with much cheer.  Most of the ones I know are going to be out of town during the wedding.  It is spring break at the university and people are leaving town.

After church I started painting the outsides of the kitchen cabinets.  It is slow going painting as there are lots of edges to cut in.  The paint seems to drip more than the other paint did.  We got cabinet paint and I had hoped it would be thick but it doesn’t seem to be.  It is taking two coats to cover nicely.  I have the lower set almost finished and will need to do ladder work next.

I didn’t like the color when I first put it on but since it has dried I like it.  It is a smokey blue gray color.

Took a break from painting and took a four-mile hike.  It was too nice of a day to stay inside and paint all afternoon.  Now I am tired and getting back to painting is going to be a struggle.  I almost have my 10,000 steps in for the day.

I bought some Impossible Burgers at Costco last week and we thawed some out for dinner tonight.  Jim is going to fire up the grill and cook them outside.  Thawed they look like hamburger patties with white cheese in it.  Hope they are good.

Tomorrow I will get to do taxes for my first shift.  Trusting I can figure out how to do the Oklahoma state returns.  I don’t feel I was trained very good on how to do them.  I will have to bug one of the experienced people and have them show me how to work them if I can’t figure it out.

I still can’t quite figure out how their system works so looking forward to having the first day done.  I’m sure it works or they wouldn’t do it the way they do.  I hope they keep me busy and I don’t have lots of time to sit around and wait.  Maybe I will be so busy I won’t want to leave for lunch.  The manager of the site told me to take good care of myself and slip away if I need to get lunch.  Most only work half the day and a new crew comes mid-day to finish up the day.

Jim finished getting the dishwasher installed last night.  We ran a short cycle with it empty to make sure their were no leaks and to get the dust out of it.  We then loaded it and did the dinner dishes.  This is the first time this house has ever had a dishwasher.  Jim sat and watched it for about ten minutes.  He is so excited it is in and working.

We got all the stuff put back into the cabinets.  Jim needs to build some shelves for the upper cabinets.  We put lots of coffee cups and various other dishes up there. Most are things that haven’t been used for years but Jim isn’t ready to let go of them yet.  Once he put some shelves up he will have lots of room to store everything.  It is nice to have it out of the easy to reach cabinets.  They now have a bit of empty space which is nice.

I may not get back to painting after today until next weekend.  I do taxes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday we meet with the preacher for another pre-marital counseling session.  Friday I have to take the car back to Oklahoma City to get the blind spot detection system checked out.  It still is working very inconsistently.

The wedding is seven weeks from today.  Sure wish my dresses would come in so I could cross that off my list.  My shoes came in today – not sure I love them but they will work.

Grateful for another beautiful day and wonderful hike, grateful the cabinet painting has begun, and grateful the dishwasher is in and working well.

Got the inside of all the cabinets painted.  Am in the process of filling the cabinets back up.  They sure look better already.

We went to Lowe’s and Jim picked out some cabinet paint.  I will start painting the cabinets either after dinner tonight or tomorrow afternoon.  I wanted to pick the wall colors too but we didn’t worry about that today.  Trusting we will find some that will coordinate.  Picking colors is one of the hardest part of remodeling.

We took a four-mile hike this afternoon.  It is in the upper 60’s and perfect walking weather.  Lots of other walkers with dogs on the hike around Boomer Lake today.  My feet held up and didn’t yell too loudly during the walk.

Jim is going to get the dishwasher in place tonight.  It is so nice out he has had trouble staying inside to work on it.  Hoping tomorrow he will get the new cabinet and microwave installed above the oven.  We have so many projects going on it is hard to keep focused on just one project.

Jim’s birth certificate finally came in.  He had ordered it sometime in November.  It is the first step he needed to complete so he can apply for a passport.  I’ll try to talk him into calling sometime next week and getting a passport interview.  It can take up to two months to get a passport once he gets an interview.  I don’t know how far out he will have to wait to get an interview.  He needs to get his passport before we can start planning a trip overseas we want to take in late August or early September.

The wedding is seven weeks from tomorrow.  Still don’t have a dress but have four more ordered.  One of the ones that I have could work if it had to.  My shoes should be in next week as well as at least one of the other dresses.  I won’t panic until the first of March if I haven’t found the right dress by then.

The rest of the wedding invitations should be here Tuesday.  We will get those addressed next week and get them out.  I wish I had a few more reception invitations as I have thought of a few more people to invite but I sent all that I had out.  I may order 10 more.

I am sitting here looking at all of the extra stuff Jim had in his cabinet and thinking about all the dishes I have in mine back home.  I need to rearrange my cabinets and store the extras somewhere else.  I use all 16 plates I have several times a year but they don’t need to be at hands reach all the time.

One of the projects on my to-do list is to repaint the inside walls at our house in Strong City.  I was going to do that this winter but then decided to winter in Stillwater instead.  I am getting practice painting and will have lots more to do when we get back to Kansas full-time in April.

I sure like having big projects to do here.  It makes the days go by faster and I feel useful.  I love seeing the difference it is making in the kitchen.  I wasn’t sure we would be able to get the kitchen done before the wedding but am thinking we will now.

Grateful for a beautiful day, grateful for a four-mile hike, and grateful the inside of the cabinets are painted.

 

 

The house is a mess!  I have been painting inside the kitchen cabinets and stuff is everywhere.  We went out for lunch and will need to go out for dinner.  Can’t find the stove or dishes to eat off of.  I have three more shelves to paint and five need a second coat.

There were two layers of contact paper on the shelves.  I had to use a razor blade to get it all up.  At some point someone had painted some of the shelves red.

Jim has a lot of sorting to do before I can put things back up.  He has way too many coffee cups and water cups.  If he can’t part with them they need to go on the upper shelves out of the way.

The drain coming out of the bathtub has a leak in it.  We can’t use the shower until it gets fixed.  The plumber is to come Monday to fix it.  I’ll have to use the kitchen sink to wash my hair.  At least we have water and can flush the toilet.

Not sure what I will find to do tomorrow.  I have been busy all day today painting.  I like days like this when I have projects to work on.

We took a one-mile hike this afternoon.  It was so pretty out and both of us needed some fresh air and to stretch our legs.  It reached 51 today and is to be 62 tomorrow and 75 on Sunday.  I like winter in Oklahoma!  Maybe we can take a really long walk one or both of those days.

My feet have plain out hurt today.  I woke up to my right one screaming at me.  The left one joined in on the chorus.  I took some Advil and they quieted down for a bit but are yelling again tonight.  They can take a hike!

We picked up some more paint samples at Lowe’s today.  We are getting to the point of needing to pick out paint colors for the cabinets and walls.  The colors I like don’t go with the living room color.  They don’t share a wall but it wouldn’t look good as you look into the kitchen from the living room.  It will be interesting to me to see what color Jim decides on.

Grateful inside the cabinets are almost all painted, grateful for a nice walk today, and grateful for Advil!

Busy day today!  We left around 10:45 to head to Oklahoma City to go to Subaru school.  The lady that worked with me was good.  I learned how to turn off most of the automatic systems that beep at you when you do something they don’t like.  She was able to answer all of my questions except explain why the blind spot detector is inconsistent.  I made an appointment with service to have them check it out.  I’ll have to go back a week from tomorrow to take it in.

The lady gave me a $25 gift card to On Cue, a local convenience store/gas station and a coupon for $50 in Subaru merchandise.

We went to Costco when we were done with Subaru school.  Got the cups, plates and nuts for the two wedding receptions we will be hosting.  Ended up with a cart full of stuff.  Not sure what all we bought.  I get into trouble going in that store.  Somehow I always come out with stuff I didn’t know I needed.

Next stop was REI.  I got a day pack for hiking and a warm pair of gloves.  Jim got a hat and a water bottle.

We stopped at a place called Tucker’s Onion Burgers for lunch.  They had great hamburgers – I had a turkey burger wrapped in a lettuce leaf.

The drive home was nice – no beeps!  I was able to turn off the automatic cruise control that slows you down if there is a car in front of you.  I also was able to turn off the lane departure system.  Jim appreciated the lack of beeps on the way home!

When we got home after we unloaded the car I painted the inside of two cabinets.  Jim worked on fixing the bay for the new dishwasher.  After dinner I painted the bay and the adjoining cabinet.  All the lower cabinets are painted and one of the upper ones.  Lots more to go but progress is being made.

Tomorrow Jim has to cut the holes to put the water line and waste water line in the cabinet next to the bay.  He also has to trim the edge of the counter as it is 1/4 inch too tall for the dishwasher to fit in properly.  After that he can hook the lines up and get the thing in place.  We got some dishwasher detergent and rinse aide at Costco today so we are ready to let the new dishwasher help us out.

I will work on painting some more upper cabinets tomorrow.  10 more to go!  Six done!  Some of the cabinets are high and I will have to be on a ladder.  That will slow me down a bit.  We are sorting the stuff that has been in the cabinets and throwing some of it out.  We have found treasures Jim forgot he had.

We don’t have any plans for the weekend other than continuing to work on the kitchen.  An electrician is to come tomorrow to run a plug for the microwave so we can then get that hung up.  I got that cabinet painted today so it is ready to be hung.

Monday I start doing taxes.  The managers called me again today.  They are trying to get my password situation fixed.  Sure trust that come Monday I will be able to get on and do the taxes without a problem.

Feeling good about the wedding plans.  Unless I have forgotten something I think I am going to meet my goal of having everything planned before I start doing taxes Monday.  Still waiting on a few things to arrive but trusting when they do they will work.

Grateful for Subaru School and the knowledge it provided me so I can manage my car, grateful some more cabinets got painted today, and grateful more wedding items  were purchased today.

I told Jim this morning I needed a physical job to do today.  He had me paint the inside of a kitchen cupboard and inside the new cabinet he is going to hang.  I got paint in my hair as I had to climb inside the cabinet to reach the back of it.  It felt good to see something I did.  I have had a long string of days where it doesn’t seem like I accomplished anything tangible.

I ordered a pair of shoes today.  Trusting they will fit.  It is hard to find wide width.  They are a plain pair of navy pumps.

I helped JIm address a bunch more invitations today.  He still has some more he wants to send out but we have to wait for a second order of invitations to come in early next week.  Feels good to have most of the invitations out.

Went to Walmart tonight to get some Epsom salt and contact paper for the kitchen cabinets.  I found some plates I can use to serve the mints on and I got two bowls for the nuts.  Also got a tablecloth for the serving table.  Got ingredients to make a sample batch of punch for Jim to taste.  We will end up throwing most of it out but I want to have him taste it and see if he likes it.  I can’t drink any punch as it all has sugar in it.

I also got the stuff to make a sample batch of mints.  The mints freeze well but the recipe recommends only freezing them for three weeks.  I got a scoop at Murphy’s today so I may go ahead and make a sample batch of mints now and see how they freeze.  I was looking for some large silicon ice cube trays so I can make big cubes that I will put maraschino cherries and mint leaves in to cool the punch.  I couldn’t find any.  Jim has a tray that makes six cubes so I can use it and make several batches and freeze.

Mailed the check for the extra cake I ordered as well as the deposit for the flowers.

Tomorrow we go to the Subaru dealer and learn how to operate all the systems in my car.  We are also going to Costco to get some things for the wedding.  May stop by REI for a day pack.

We have a free weekend and hope to get lots more work done in the kitchen.  Jim got some support boards put in while I was painting.  He is almost done with that.  I will get that area painted either tomorrow night or Friday and then we can get the dishwasher in place and plugged in.

We got some paint samples for the cabinets and walls but what we got isn’t going to work.  We’ll have to go back and try again.  We aren’t ready to paint the walls and cabinets yet so have time to think about what colors would work better.

We got busy working this afternoon and forgot to go take our walk.  Jim had choir practice tonight so we couldn’t do it after dinner.  Hopefully when we get home from Oklahoma City tomorrow afternoon we can get a long walk in.

Texted with Ellexia for a bit today.  She seems to be feeling better.  She told me she was bored staying home.  I’m glad her mom kept her home today for another day of rest.  I’ve heard there is a lot of crud going around and once you get down it is hard to get over it.

Grateful for a painting job today, grateful some more to-do things are crossed  off the list, and grateful progress is being made on the kitchen.

It is a cold, rainy day in Stillwater.  It has rained all day long.  Heard it is snowing on the prairie.  It may change to snow here overnight but it is to warm up to 44 tomorrow so the snow won’t last long.

Went to a flower shop this morning and ordered flowers for the wedding.  I wasn’t going to get any but Jim’s sister sent an idea that made so much sense I decided to go for it.  Thanks Jane!

I mailed the first set of wedding and reception invitations.  Jim still needs to address the ones he wants to send out.  I addressed a few more of each this afternoon and will mail them tomorrow.

I decided to order some more cake.  I had to order some more invitations as Jim’s list keeps growing.  I’m not sure how many can come but I don’t want to run out of cake.  Decided to make it easy on myself and just order another cake and not have that worry on my mind the day of the wedding.

My right foot is swollen up big again today.  Not sure why it does that.  I have stayed off of it most of the day.  I want to bitch slap the damn thing and tell it to snap out of it.  I’m so tired of its whiny ways!

I took a nap this afternoon.  I slept for three hours last night and then was up for three.  Might have gotten another hour or so sleep after that.  It is cold and wet outside and I didn’t have anything to do so a nap felt like a good use of my time.  We are going to a piano recital tonight and will be out later than normal.  Maybe this way I won’t fall asleep during the recital.

Both of the dresses that came in fit – one is a bit tight and the other a bit big.  Not sure either one is THE dress but either one would work.  Still have four others coming so am reasonably certain one of the six will work.  Now I need to get a pair of shoes and I will be set.  This will be the first pair of shoes I will buy since my surgeries.  I am to continue to wear my New Balance tennis shoes for six more months.  A girl has to break the rules though on her wedding day!

I made a crock pot of hamburger soup this morning.  The smell is so divine.  Jim is out in his shop working on the cabinet for the microwave and will be in soon so we can eat.  It was a good day to make a hot soup for dinner.

I don’t have anything on my calendar for tomorrow.  Thursday we are going to Subaru school in Oklahoma City and then to Costco.  Nothing special planned for the weekend.  Monday I start doing taxes.  It will be a relief to get the first day under my belt and understand their system.

January flew by!  I can’t believe it will be February Saturday.  Glad I have the wedding plans under control and most everything figured out.  Once I start doing taxes three days a week time will fly by even faster.  It will be March before I know it.

Grateful for the idea for flowers from Jane, grateful for the rain and rainy day naps, and grateful for hot soup.

I went to the library this morning to play with the Chrome book.  I had trouble logging on.  The ID number the instructor had given me didn’t work.  I had received a note from AARP with a different number and that number worked.  I didn’t have any trouble navigating the Chrome Book.  Not sure why they were telling us they are really different.  My $10.99 keyboard worked just fine.

I sent an email to the instructor and the lady in charge of the program to give them a heads up about the ID numbers.  Still concerned that come Monday I won’t be in the system correctly and won’t be able to do taxes.  We will see what happens.  Neither one has gotten back to me yet.

I stopped by Best Buy after I was done at the library.  I haven’t received my new credit card or the bill to pay for the computer I got January 2.  They were able to look up my account and I paid for the computer.  The salesman had told me I would get 10% off the cost if I opened the credit card.  That didn’t happen.  The assistant manager told me I get it in store credit.  I told him I was really pissed as his salesman had told me something different.  The manager said he would talk to the salesman and didn’t even apologize to me.

My license plate came in today and I got it put on my new car.  I can finally cross something off my pending list.

After lunch Jim and I took a one mile walk.  My feet were a bit cranky after the walk yesterday.  The weather was mid 60’s today and it felt like a spring day outside today.

Jim had gotten a cabinet to put above the stove and the new microwave.  The cabinet wasn’t square and needed some work done on it.  We worked on it for about an hour adding some supports and reinforced the sides of it.

After we were done with that Jim came in and cut the cabinets so he could get the dishwasher in place.  Tonight the dishwasher is almost in place.  Still need to cut the holes to run the lines through the adjoining cabinet.  Hopefully by tomorrow the last bits and pieces will be done and the dishwasher will actually work.

The weather is going to change drastically tomorrow.  The high is only going to be 39 and there is a chance of snow.  It will be a good day to work inside and make more progress on the kitchen.  When we started working on the kitchen I didn’t think we would get it done before the wedding but am beginning to think we might.

Something we need to do soon is pick paint colors for the cabinets, inside the cabinets, and the walls  Jim is going to build new doors to put on the cabinets but I can start painting inside the cabinets soon.

Two of the dresses I ordered came in today.  I haven’t tried either one on yet.  One looks a bit matronly and the other is a print and I’m not sure I want a print.  More dresses should be in later this week.  I’ll try the two that came in today on when I take my bath tonight.

When we go to Oklahoma City Thursday I want to stop by Costco and pick up plates, forks and cups for the receptions.  The Costco is close to the car dealership that we are going to so they can teach me about all the systems in my car.

Ordered 20 more wedding invitations.  Jim worked on his list last night and kept adding people to it.  Many of the people that he is inviting won’t be able to come but I want him to feel free to send an invitation to all he wants to.  May need to order the second cake after all in case more show up than he expects.

We have a piano concert to go to tomorrow evening but nothing else on the calendar for the daytime.  Trusting we will get lots of work done in the kitchen.

We did some of the homework the preacher had assigned us.  She asked us to talk about how we think and feel about finances and there were some questionnaires that we needed to discuss.  We had a good discussion.  I find it interesting how differently people think about money and how difficult it is to have those discussions.  Jim and I agreed about 80% of the time on the answers of the questionnaire and weren’t that far off on the ones when we didn’t agree.

Grateful for the time I was able to spend outside today, grateful progress was made in the kitchen remodel project, and grateful the dresses I ordered are starting to come in.