Friday

It has been one week since the new fridge/freezer was delivered and it seems like the whole week has felt a little bit off kilter.  I think all the happenings of the past few weeks sort of caught up with me.  It seems that September has been non-stop: my daughter's visit home, discovering Dancer had fleas, the nearby brush fire, my brother's death, the tooth extraction, the purchase and delivery of the new appliance; finding that it didn't fit into its space as well as I had thought it would was almost too much.

The weekend was busy going grocery shopping, running errands, etc.  Saturday morning, I was woken up by some sounds outside my bedroom window, which overlooks the drive way.  Sometimes, my gardener friend works on my neighbor's garden on a Saturday morning and, occasionally, if he's trimming the bushes in her side yard, which adjoins my drive way, he keeps the yard waste bin on my drive way, so, when I herd the noises, I just assumed it was him and was just about to fall back asleep when the phone rang.  It was my cousin P, from across the street, calling to tell me that there was a stranger, a woman, who was picking through my trash cans, which were all the way inside, near the garage!  Often, when the trash cans are taken to the curb, people wander up and down the street picking through the recycling bin and trash can looking for recyclables.  It is supposed to be illegal to do so, but it happens and I feel sorry for the people who try to earn a little something by picking through the trash for recyclables to redeem them.  But this is the first time that I've known of that someone has actually come all the way in, to go through my trash cans!  That's almost trespassing, in my opinion.  I opened the window and asked her to stop going through my trash (there was a lot of stuff I had tossed from the fridge and freezer which had thawed and I was concerned that things would leak and make a mess at the bottom of my trash cans).  I don't know if she even understood what I said, but she waved the bottles she had picked out from the recycling bin, already, and walked off - I watched her from the window and saw her walk down my neighbor's driveway!

Saturday afternoon, I did some grocery shopping.  I called my friend R to see if she would like to come over to have some tea with me (she lives near the grocery store), but she wasn't free.

Sunday, I went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication refill, went to the other grocery store to pick up coffee for my daughter, and stopped by yet another grocery store to pick up a bag of cat food.  The same brand of cat food sells for $11.99 at the regular Kroger-affiliated grocery store (the Armenian grocery store doesn't carry pet food); this store, which is also Kroger-affiliated, sells the cat food for $8.99 regular price, but I was able to find one bag with a $2 off coupon attached to it, so I paid $6.99 (plus tax).  

On Monday, I forgot that I was supposed to have a day off from work and went to the office.  My supervisor was very surprised when I went in to her cubicle to say good morning to her!  We agreed that I would work on Monday since I was already there and take another day off, instead. I walked to the library during my lunch break and borrowed some magazines.  In the evening, I took the trash cans to the curb.

Tuesday and Wednesday were productive days at the office, not so productive at home.  But the everyday tasks still got done - trash cans which had been taken to the curb for pick up were brought back, the garden got watered, the litter box got cleaned, dishes got washed, laundry got done, phone calls were made, etc.

Thursday, I worked part of the day and had my dental appointment.  In the evening, I changed the dust sheets on the family room sofas and laundered the old sheets.

Friday, I worked from home.  I took a break around 1:00 p.m. to cook lunch.  I had put a piece of the marinated beef steak to thaw on Thursday; I sliced the steak into thin strips and sauted it with onions, tomato, garlic, and spices to make a spicy sauted beef, along with rice and broccoli.

Lunch: rice, beef, and broccoli

In the evening, my gardener friend replaced the battery in the smoke detector in my bedroom (it had been beeping for a couple of days, indicating that the battery needed to be replaced, and I had tried to remove the old battery, but couldn't reach it even when I stood on the top step of the 2-tier step stool and I didn't feel like bringing the step ladder from the shed).  While he was up on the step-stool, I had him wipe down the blades of the ceiling fan for me.  And then, I had him take down the window air conditioner unit.  We have cooled down quite a bit and the house has been in the low 70s; I doubt very much that it will get hot enough for me to need the a/c again until next summer.  The air conditioner is being stored in the garage until needed again.  Then, I dusted the window sill and started to dust the bedroom furniture.  I didn't finish the dusting.  I forgot to wear a dust mask when I dusted and that was silly, because I needed to take my rescue inhaler, later.    I did change my bed sheets and washed the old sheets.

I called my sister and left her a message, asking if she knew about the arrangements for our brother's funeral/memorial service.  She hasn't returned my call, yet.

My aunt called to say that her daughter, my cousin N, has a sore throat and won't be able to accompany me to my eye doctor's appointment on Tuesday and drive me back.  I had been counting on cousin to drive me, but I told aunt not to worry about it; I'll manage.

My cousin P called to check on me and to ask if I was going to attend the monthly prayer gathering, tomorrow.  I said yes; I will be giving her a ride.  The prayer gathering is being held at an honorary aunt's house; it'll take 3 freeways and about an hour to get there.  

I combed Dancer and didn't find any fleas on him.  I am hopeful that we have won the war against the fleas.   

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to work from home
- Cooler weather
- My gardener friend who does odd jobs for me inside the house in addition to taking care of the garden
- Gaining the upper hand over the fleas 
- Rescue inhalers

Saturday's To Do List:
- Put gas to the car
- Attend the prayer gathering
- Put away the dried laundry
- Finish dusting the bedroom (put on a dust mask!)
- Vacuum the bedroom
- Clean the litter box
- Do dishes
- Water the front garden
- Do another load of laundry

How was your Friday?  What have you planned for the weekend?