The First Week in September

Dancer Finds a New Napping Spot

The first week in September has come and gone and I am already behind with my blog posts!  I haven't posted my Thriving in August post yet, but, I want to make a note of the highlights of the first week in September before I forget things!

Monday, September 1st was sunny and hot, with a high of 100F.  I made milkrice and seeni sambol for brunch and offered fresh flowers at the altar.  The blue plumbago plant is about the only plant with plentiful flowers at this time of the year.  

We had ordered a couple of items of furniture a week or so prior to that and the items were delivered on the first and after brunch, daughter assembled the first item:

New Shelving Unit

Yes, a new shelving unit with fabric covered boxes to provide storage for crafts supplies while keeping visual clutter to a minimum.

Initially, we had planned to place it along a different wall in the family room and we moved the sofa that was along that wall to make space for the shelving unit, but, we didn't like how it looked.  So, we moved the sofa back to where it was and put the shelving unit where the old entertainment center/shelving unit had been.  It fitted the space exactly while allowing access to the light switches and the power outlets.  Daughter spent a couple of evenings sorting out her crafts supplies into the different storage containers.  

On Tuesday, September 2nd, it was still hot with highs in the upper 90s.  I spent the morning making several phone calls to set up medical appointments for myself and for Dancer.  Although I've been giving him a monthly flea prevention medication and he is an indoor cat, it's summer, the garden cats have fleas, and either they find their way into the house or I bring in flea eggs on the soles of my shoes when I come in from the garden; Dancer seems to have ingested an infected flea and there were signs that he might be having tapeworms.  So, Tuesday afternoon, I was able to take Dancer to be seen by a vet and the vet confirmed that, yes, he had tapeworms.  She prescribed a pill to  be given to him and wanted me to bring in a stool sample, too.  Giving Dancer a pill was something else!  Daughter and I both struggled to get him to swallow the pill.  He kept it in the side of his mouth, between his cheek and gums and drooled most of it out!  I should have opted for the injection or asked the vet if a technician could have given the pill!

Afterwards, I went to the Armenian ethnic store to buy groceries, including the pork chops I posted about, earlier.  

On Wednesday, September 3rd, I collected a stool sample from Dancer and took it to the vets' clinic.  What the vet omitted to tell me was that it had to be collected within 3 hours, although it could be refrigerated for up to 12 hours.  I had collected it within a 4 hour window and I couldn't tell exactly when he had used the litter box.  So, the sample had to be discarded.  

In the afternoon, M came to tend to the garden.  In the evening, I cooked some of the pork chops I had bought the previous day for our dinner.

I stayed up all night on Wednesday!  

On Thursday, September 4th, I collected Dancer's stools when he used the litter box at 6:25 a.m.  By 6:30 a.m., I had collected the stool sample, sealed it in several bags and containers, and stored it in the bottom drawer of the fridge where I don't keep any cooked food.  I went to bed at 6:45 a.m. and woke up at 8:00 a.m., after just over one hour of sleep, and I took the sample over to the vets' clinic by 8:45 a.m.  I handed it over, paid the fee to have it analyzed, and came home.  I suppose I could have gone back to sleep, but, instead, I chose to watch the Senate hearing where the Secretary of Health and Human Services was being questioned.  However, later in the afternoon, I did take a long nap.  It had been another hot and rather humid day, but, after it had cooled a bit in the evening, I took the last of the moving boxes that daughter had flattened and filled the recycling bin with them.  

Friday, September 5th, was a slightly cooler day with the highs in the low 90s.  Very comfortable as far as I was concerned.  I did some mending and laundry.  I picked the first of this season's corn and moringa pods.  I changed the sofa dust sheets, did laundry, and did a few other things around the house.  In the evening, M was here to tend to the garden.  

On Saturday, September 6th, the vets' clinic called to inform me that the lab analyzing Dancer's stool sample had said that the sample size was not sufficient for their tests.  Well, I took all what he had produced that one time and he generally doesn't go more than once a day!  I was told I could submit another sample and there would be no additional charge if I do so within 30 days.  I will do so in the week ahead and maybe third time will be lucky?

I ordered and picked up groceries on Saturday (need to post about that) and I vacuumed the living room.  I tried to move the electric keyboard and stand aside with one hand to vacuum in that area and the keyboard and stand toppled over!  When daughter and I picked it up again, we discovered that one of the keys was sticking up.  The keyboard is quite old as I bought it in the late 1980s.  Daughter had taken it up with her and had brought it home carefully wrapped in bubble wrap to make sure it survived the journey without a mishap and I was careless and now, one key was knocked out of place.  I told myself it was okay, it was an old keyboard, and I could probably dispose of it.  It'll be another item decluttered.   But, daughter looked up a video online and took the back cover off:

Keyboard Innards

Then, she pried off another panel: 

Disassembling the Keyboard

and pushed the dislodged key back into place!  Then, put the whole thing back together again:

As Good As New!

We plugged it in and tested it; it worked just fine!  I told my daughter that she could start a side job repairing old keyboards!

After that, daughter put together the second item of furniture we had ordered and which had also been delivered on Monday:

A New Sideboard

Our original plan had been to put it in the family room, but we decided that it would function well in the dining area and provide us with extra storage space.  It fits in behind the love seat.

On Sunday, September 7, daughter and I started to add items to it.  The drawer in the center had a divider in the middle.  I put my placemats and the crocheted hot pads on one side of the drawer and the majority of daughter's bento boxes fitted into the other side of the drawer.  Then, we took down some items I had stored in the kitchen cabinets and stored them in the sideboard, which made room in the kitchen cabinets for the everyday items daughter brought back with her.  She helped me go through the mugs in the cabinet and we pulled out some to be decluttered.  

I also sorted out the cabinet where I store my kitchen towels, table cloths, cloth napkins, and pot holders, etc., incorporating daughter's items with my items.  We are still in the process of merging our household items, but, we are making progress.

In the meantime, Dancer has his own ideas about the open shelves in the sideboard:

"This is Dancer's Shelf"

Daughter has been rearranging her room, too, and I did some paperwork, paid some bills, and did some laundry.  

This week, I've been grateful for:

- Daughter being home
- Daughter setting up the new furniture and repairing my keyboard
- Medicines for Dancer
- M's help with the garden
- Electricity to run the fans and other appliances (it went out for a few minutes, last night)

Plans for the week ahead include doing more paperwork, paying another bill, taking Dancer's stool sample to the vets' clinic, and going to my dermatology appointment.

How was your week?  What are your plans for the week ahead?