Playing with New Toys!

Front Yard Picture Collage

The problem with weekends is they go by too quickly!  It's not like I had a lot going on, either!  But, the days flew by!

Friday night, I stayed up all night, till 5:00 a.m., playing new word games (crosswords, etc.) that my daughter downloaded for me!  On Saturday, I slept in!

Saturday was another windy day.  I cleaned part of the kitchen: wiped down the counters, cleaned the microwave, and washed the doors of some of the kitchen cabinets and the door of the dishwasher.  I ran the dishwasher, too.  Daughter installed the new wireless internet device that the phone company had sent to replace the one that we had because the phone company is switching to 5G services.  I am very thankful that she was home to set it up, because I would have been lost trying to figure it out!  She needed to call the phone company to activate it and there was a bit of back and forth to get it to work properly, but, now, the new system is working.  We kept the old phones, but, the system box (for a lack of a better word for it) is new.

After that, she very kindly set up the new cell phone that the phone company had also sent, free of charge, to replace my old cell phone, also due to the change in service from 3G to 5G services.  My old cell phone had been on its last legs, so to speak, and I had been wanting to replace it, but, we were waiting until the Covid numbers improved to risk going into a store.  But, in this case, procrastination paid off!  I received a replacement phone, which is better than what I had, free of charge!  There are a couple of new things I need to get used to, including unlocking the phone with a passcode prior to using it, but, my daughter assures me that it is for better security of the devise.  The biggest plus is I can now take and send photos to myself, without having to text them to my daughter and having her email them to me in order to upload to the computer!  I tried it, today, and that's when I discovered that I can make collages with my phone!  How exciting is that?!  

We had the leftover fish pie for dinner on Saturday and ham sandwiches for a late night snack (yes, we stayed up till quite late, on Saturday night, too!)

Sunday's adventure was setting up the voicemail feature on the home phone!  Daughter had to call the phone company, again, to get help with setting it up, and we realized part of the problem was we hadn't turned off the answering machine built into the phone base!  One of the nice things with the way the new system works is, we no longer have to listen to the messages as they are being left on the voicemail which is nice when the callers are unsolicited marketing calls.  The bad thing is, I can no longer use hear the message as they leave it and pick up when I heard who was calling!  Now, I have to check the phone number and pick up if I recognize the number, or else, play back the message to know who called.  A minor inconvenience; I just have to make sure I regularly check to see if the new messages indicator light is flashing!

Sunday was another relaxed day, but, I printed out the check in form to take to the lab for Monday's (today's) blood test, made sure I had the lab test order in the file folder, and got my bag ready for the appointment; took the recycling and kitchen trash out; checked the mail; cleaned the bathroom and Dancer's litter box; cooked dinner (chicken curry, sauteed cabbage and the handful of spinach leaves that was still left, and rice), did the dishes, and practiced the piano (lessons are scheduled to start on Tuesday).  I also gave myself a mini pedicure, soaking my feet in the plug-in bubbling massager thing and applying lotion, afterwards (no polishing of toe nails, however).  

Today (Monday), I went for my blood test at noon.  They are for my regular follow up appointment with the oncologist on Friday.

In the afternoon, I took the above photos of the various plants in the front garden.  The top photo in the collage is part of my succulents bed along the side wall. 

At 5:00 p.m., I logged onto the online painting class.  I discovered that a lot of the paints that I have are dried out!  So, if I plan to continue taking these classes, I might have to buy new paints!  But, I managed to work with what I have; however, I didn't try to rush and finish the painting, today.  Even the instructor admitted that they had to cover a lot of ground in one hour.  The video will be available on line after 24-48 hours, so I can go back and work on it.  Today, I mostly worked on the background and I am finally happy with my blending skills!  

Afterwards, I did two loads of laundry and practiced the piano for a bit.  Neighbor S had called earlier today to ask if I can do the lesson tomorrow, instead of Thursday, which means I don't have the extra two days of practice time!  

Lunch had been a salad; dinner was leftover rice, chicken curry, and cabbage (I had to cook more cabbage, actually), with zucchini chutney.  

Later in the evening, we put in another grocery order, which I will pick up, tomorrow afternoon.

Today, I am grateful for:

- New replacement phones, free of charge
- Daughter being home and able to install them
- Medical insurance to cover the costs of routine blood tests
- Free online painting classes
- Being able to order groceries online

Today's joyful activity was finding out the collage feature on my new phone!

Plans for tomorrow (Tuesday) include:

- Picking up the groceries
- Piano lesson
- Paperwork

How was your weekend and Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?