I had to go to Emporia today to drop off my Colon Guard test kit at Staples which is where the UPS drop off point is. After I did that I went to Tractor Supply looking for a cover for my Weber grill. The clerk led me all over the store, finally asked someone if they had them and found out they don’t carry them. At least she tried to help me.
I then went to True Value which is where I had bought the grill. The lady at the register was reading a book on her register. She very hesitantly closed it out when I asked her if they carried the covers. She looked it up and told me that way and pointed to where I had been looking for five minutes and couldn’t find them. I left and came home and ordered one on-line. Not sure why I didn’t do that to start with. Local service ain’t what it used to be.
Baked Jim a batch of Snickerdoodle cookies this afternoon. Made a batch of ham salad – Jim likes to snack on it.
Last night I got the first of three hats I am making for someone knitted up. My Plan A worked for a change and the hat fit just right. I had to modify the pattern as the yarn is home spun and thicker than the yarn I had used when I used this pattern before. I increased the size of the needles and had to decrease the amount of stitches. At the top part of the hat you decrease stitches and I had to modify that too. I was very surprised when I was done and it fit. I thought I would have to rip it out and play with it a bit to get it to fit. Got it sewed together. I have the second hat on the needles. Since I am using size 10 needles they knit up fast.
I took a long nap again today. For some reason my lower back is bothering me today and I laid down on the bed to stretch out. Made the mistake of throwing a blanket over me and I got warm and sleepy so I slept for over two hours. I have a shift on the hot line tonight so now I will be alert to take my shift.
I leveled up last night. I had to take 250 calls to make that happen. The next level up will occur when I take 500 more calls. Yikes. That seems like a lot. I didn’t get on to take calls today as I needed to get some things done around the house. I checked once and they were busy and could have used the help. We are to limit ourselves to 12 hours a week and I already have spent 15 hours this week and I have my shift tonight. It can be addictive to be on the line.
I handled 15 callers yesterday. A couple of them were heart breaking. One had a miscarriage on Thanksgiving Day and another texter’s boyfriend was murdered the day before. I had to take a deep breath before I responded to either of those callers. They are the type of calls where you affirm whatever the texter has to say and just listen. Advice this early in these situations is useless and not needed. I think both were in a bit better space when the call ended.
Jim wanted a frozen pizza for dinner tonight so he doctored one up and baked it. I grilled a piece of salmon and had that along with some veggies. Made for a very easy dinner to fix. Almost felt like a night off from fixing dinner.
When I came home from town Jim said he had a present for me on the kitchen counter. There were two eggs on the counter. Jim had done chores for me while I was in town and found two eggs. The girls are laying! Yay! I was so excited when I saw them. This means they will probably lay all winter long, although if it gets bitter cold they will slow down a bit but I should have eggs now until next Fall Equinox time. Finally! The girls are 16 1/2 weeks old. Not all will start laying this early but enough that I may not have to buy eggs again. The fruits of my labor have begun.
It was a clear day with lots of sunshine today. The temperatures were in the low to mid 40’s though. We missed out on the moisture that was in the area. We got a bit of sleet or snow overnight but not enough to do much good. There wasn’t enough to cover the sidewalks – just some piled up along the edge of the deck. No more rain is in the forecast for the next week. I guess we will stay dry a bit longer.
No big plans for the weekend. We continue to stay home unless we have an essential trip to town we need to take. One of us will go to town next week for groceries. Jim was going to go to Stillwater this week but didn’t make it yet. He still needs to get the car he has up here titled before he brings the other one he has in Stillwater up to get it titled. Maybe tomorrow….
I seem to be settling into the routine of staying home now. I felt impatient at the two stores I went to today. I might be loosing my social graces and manners. It is going to feel weird being back out in public when this is over. It will take me a bit to adjust to being around others energy face-to-face.
Grateful my girls are laying eggs, grateful I leveled up on the hot line, and grateful for long naps on cold days.