Saturday: Still Too Hot to Trot

It was supposed to have been cooler, today, but it was still hot!  I have been seated in front of the fan, most of the day, not wanting to move, let alone vacuum!  Dancer has been trying to keep cool under the laundry rack:

Cool Cat!

Friend R called in the morning; apparently she is having some plumbing problems (leaky kitchen sink), so she's waiting on the plumber to come.  She hadn't noticed the leak (no water on the kitchen floor), but the tenants in the apartment below her had complained to the management and they had contacted her.  She said she called me because she needed to tell someone and her children (back in Sri Lanka) would be sleeping due to the time difference.  So, I commiserated with her and we chatted a bit; I asked if she was OK for lunch and she said, yes.  We rang off after promising to call again, later.

I put away the laundry from yesterday and did three more loads, including the dust sheets from the family room sofas as part of the ongoing war against the fleas.  I should probably remove the sofa cushion covers and wash them, too.  In the next go around.

My washing machine was purchased back in 1992; it is still going strong!  The turning knob for the wash cycle dial is broken and I turn it with my fingers; sometimes, the machine stops midway through the cycle and I need to open and close the door to get it started, again (there is a plastic pin on the inside of the door that triggers the washer mechanism to start), or, occasionally, poke at the mechanism with a chopstick I keep nearby to get it going;  and, every now and then, I need to do a second spin cycle to remove all the water from the clothes (especially when I do big loads).  But it is still handling all the laundry I keep throwing at it!

The afternoon was too hot to do anything, other than laundry and doing a blog post!  That's my excuse for not vacuuming, although I really need to vacuum, tomorrow.  I did finish cleaning my bathroom and I dusted the dining room.  The dishes were washed, too, and the kitchen counters and stove top wiped.  I took the recycling to the big bin outside, combed Dancer, and will do his litter box before I go to bed.

In between, I watched various programs on TV, mostly cooking shows, and I read a little.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being the type of friend my friends feel OK to call when they need a sympathetic ear.
- My washing machine - still going after 26 years!
- Fans to help me stay cool
- Electricity to run the appliances
- Texting and video chatting with my daughter

Saturday's To Do List:
- Finish cleaning the bathroom - DONE
- Vacuum
- More laundry - DONE (3 loads)
- Paperwork
- Dishes - DONE
- Dust dining room - DONE
- Wipe kitchen counters & stove top - DONE

Sunday's To Do List:
- VACUUM!
- Put away the laundry
- Change my bed sheets
- Launder bed sheets

I have other things I would like to do, but I am not going to list them all and overwhelm myself.  The vacuuming and changing the bed sheets will be the two main tasks

How was your Saturday?  Did you have a good day?

Card Making/Scrapbooking Supplies

Susan, who makes some of the most beautiful cards I've ever seen, was asking about my card making supplies, the other day.  I am an occasional card maker, doing so only as and when I need a card for a birthday or a shower, etc.  For the most part, I use leftover scrapbooking material for my card making and, when I sit down to make a card, these are the two containers I take out, because they contain the majority of my card making supplies:

Containers of Card Making Supplies

The clear plastic box contains card stock, scrapbooking papers, stencils, some stickers, and the package of pens (some of which have dried up, I noticed, the other day).  The round box holds all the pairs of scissors, some embellishments, glue, etc.

Containers and their contents

The various pairs of scissors, including two pairs of daughter's safety scissors (blue as well as pink!).  Most of them are decorative edge scissors.  Sorry about the glare from the window (even with the drapes drawn); the plastic bags in the foreground contain assorted sequins, the card of rhinestones, and a bag of "gold" rings (bought years ago):

The Equipment and Embellishments

Everything fits into the box, but, I do have to dig around to find what I need:

Everything Back in the Box

Other embellishments, such as buttons and lace, are stored with my sewing supplies, and are pulled out as needed; fabric flowers are stored separately in a bag with wreath making supplies (I have an empty drawer in a stack of plastic drawers that I plan to put them in, one day).

The cardstock and scrapbooking papers, and the colored pens:

Papers and Pens

I try to keep the different things separated by type, so all the stencils are in a plastic sleeve:

Stencils

It does mean that I have to pull everything out, when I want to find a particular stencil, but that's fine with me. 

Most of the stickers are in a bag, too:

Stickers

I also keep some of my papers separated for ease of use.  All the Christmas themed paper are in one plastic sleeve:

Christmas Themed Papers

All the larger pieces of patterned papers are in their own sleeve:

Larger Pieces of Patterned Paper

All the bits and pieces of patterned paper leftovers are in one plastic sleeve (top sleeve in photo, below), all the bits and pieces of solid colored cardstock leftovers are in another (middle sleeve in photo, below), and there is also a bag of assorted bits of papers I had bought for $1 from a specialty paper store I had visited when I accompanied daughter on a field trip, when she was in high school (bottom bag in photo, below):

Smaller Pieces of Papers

Yes, all the papers fit into the box:

All Back in the Box

And the lid can be closed:

All Contained!

Everything is sorted and organized by type, but, everything gets pulled out of the sleeves when I need to find the items I want for a particular project, and then, the table gets messy!  Maybe, one day, I might organize things by color, but that's for later on, when I have more time to sit and really fine tune my organizing!  For now, I am just glad that things are somewhat sorted and contained.

I have some additional cardstock, scrapbooking papers, and stickers stored on a shelf in the spare bedroom:

Additional Supplies

They include some scrapbook pages from which daughter removed the pictures because she needed them for scrapbooks she needed to do as high school assignments for her AP Spanish and AP English classes.  It is my intention to do them over and put back into my scrapbook albums; yet another "when I am retired and have the time" project!  LOL!

I haven't scrapbooked sinced daughter turned sixteen.  We started taking pictures with our digital cameras and cell phones around that time; daughter wouldn't print out the pictures for me and I couldn't figure out how to do it, myself.  That's when I decided to make cards to use up the scrapbooking supplies.

I used to buy scrapbook papers and stickers, etc., when they went on sale, often for $.10 for the 8" x 11" and $.20 for the 12" x 12" papers.  Once I bought a 100 sheet packet of 12 x 12 paper for $3.00.    At those prices, it was hard to resist!  I have promised myself that I will not buy anymore scrapbooking/card making supplies till all this stock is used up!  Most probably, I will donate some of it, especially the stickers, one of these days (when I get around to really going through and organizing stuff).  Until then, they take up about one linear foot of space on that shelf.          

So, that is my stash of scrapbooking-turned-card making supplies!    What about you?  Do you scrapbook or make cards?  Do you have a big stash of supplies?  

Friday

Today marks three weeks since the start of my vacation!  I know I've done things, but I feel like I haven't accomplished half of what I had wanted to do during this time!

Cousin P's phone call woke me up, this morning.  She wanted to know if I had a stamp I could give her to mail a payment; I said yes and she came over right away.  I gave her two stamps, just in case she needed an extra one before she could go to the post office. 

Then, I had my morning coffee and replied to blog comments.   Later, I called to r.s.v.p. an invitation to a friend's 66th birthday.  They are doing a Route 66 theme!  So, of course, I am already thinking of how to incorporate the theme into the card I will make!  I have some road map themed scrapbook paper, but its not specifically about Route 66.  I wonder if I can cut up part of the invitation and incorporate it into the card, or would that be tacky?

In the afternoon, I did a load of laundry and a bit of this and a bit of that.   But very little that was on my to do list!

Later in the evening, I went to the temple to participate in the Friday evening meditation session.  I spoke with friend R before I left to ask if she wanted to go, too, but she had just come home from work and was tired.  The meditation session was nice.  I took a package of cookies I had bought some time ago and the package of wafers Aunt C had given me.  I made friends with a Cuban American lady who was also participating in the meditation session.  She had visited Sri Lanka recently and was telling me all about her visit, about the fresh fruits she enjoyed and drinking fresh King Coconut water (King Coconut have an orange colored outer husk and is considered the best type of coconut for drinking).

After I came home, I turned on the sprinklers at the back to water the back yard and video chatted with daughter.   I also watched "South Pacific" on one of the public channels on TV.  I have the VHS tape of it, but I enjoyed watching it on TV, too.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being on vacation
- Laundry drying quickly in the heat
- Being able to participate in the Friday evening meditations
- A visit from cousin P
- Having sprinklers to water the back yard.

Friday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathroom - STARTED
- Laundry - DONE
- More paperwork/filing - DID SOME
- RSVP a birthday party invite I received - DONE
- Some tidying and dusting - DONE
- Water the back garden - DONE
- Temple for Friday meditations - DONE

Saturday's To Do List:
- Finish cleaning the bathroom
- Vacuum
- More laundry
- Paperwork
- Dishes

I am going to keep Saturday's to do list short.  They are forecasting a cooler day, tomorrow.  Cooler as in being only 95F! 

How was your Friday?  What are your weekend plans? 

Thursday: August Grocery Shopping: Week 1

8/9 Groceries

I stayed up doing some paperwork until 3:30 a.m., this morning.  Then, I slept till 10:30 a.m.  I hadn't set an alarm, and I didn't hear the ping when my daughter texted to wish me a good morning; it was the text from the pharmacy saying that my inhaler refill was ready, that woke me.

There was just enough milk to make my mug of coffee, this morning.  Usually, I put a little water into my coffee mug, fill it up the rest of the way with milk and then, microwave it to warm it up, before adding the instant coffee, sugar, and a little of the creamer.  Today, I added the little milk I had, filled up the mug about 3/4 of the way with water, and added a little extra creamer!

I checked my emails and replied to blog comments while I had my coffee.  I like this new morning routine!  It lets me ease into the day.  The only problem is, because I am getting up so late, by the time I finish responding to blog comments and check one or two other blogs, it is already noon before I get around to doing other things!  Obviously, I need to reset my internal clock!

At noon, I watched some news on TV and then, planned my afternoon - the pharmacy to pick up my refill and then, the grocery in the same strip mall for milk and other items.  I went through the grocery ads for the store I was going to and saw that they had my daughter's favorite coffee on sale at our "stock up" price of $4.99 each, provided you buy five.  Earlier, it went on sale for $6.99 each, and daughter and I decided it wait and see, as she had enough coffee to last her a bit longer.  I am glad we waited!  So, I texted her to ask which flavors she wanted (I knew four of them, but didn't know what she'd want for the fifth one.)

Then, I took a shower, washed my hair, got dressed, took out the trash on my way out, and went to do my errands.  I briefly considered putting gas to the car (I have half a tank), but I decided it could wait another couple of days.  I generally like to fill up when it gets to half a tank, so that I am prepared for any emergencies, but half a tank is enough for right now.  I will fill up when it is a bit cooler.

I drove to the pharmacy, first, and picked up my inhaler refill.  Then, I went to the grocery store, armed with my shopping list:
- 1/2 gal. milk = $1.99
- coffee creamer = $2.69
- coffee for daughter, @ $4.99; buy 5 = $24.95
- pineapple = $.99
- cantaloupe = $.88
- bananas @ $.59/lb = $.65 (I bought just 3 because they ripen too fast in this heat)
- bleach = $3.49 (not included in the grocery budget)

The only item I bought that was not on my shopping list was a piece of steak, @$4.99/lb; the piece I chose was a little under one pound and was priced at $3.74.

My total came to $39.71, but that included the bleach and tax on it.

Receipt

The food only total came to: $35.89

Without daughter's coffee, it came to = $35.89 - $24.95 = $10.94

My August grocery budget is $100; however, I went over my July grocery budget by $12.92 ($96.22 - $109.14 =  -$12.92), which will be deducted from the August grocery budget.

August Grocery Budget = $100 - $12.92 overspent in July - $87.08
Spent to date = $35.89
Balance remaining = $87.08 - $35.89 = $51.19

I might decide to pay for daughter's coffee from either the gifts budget or the miscellaneous budget!  On the other hand, we are already almost one third of the way into August, so the balance $51 just might do for the remainder of the month.  I think it should be OK.  But, I do have the option of switching the coffee purchase to a different budget category.

After I came home and checked the mail, I found an envelope of coupons the grocery store sends me, and included in the coupons was this one:

Coupon for Coffee!

This is for the larger bag of coffee which costs more, normally selling for $17.99; the bags I bought for daughter are 12 oz. bags, and normally sell for $9.99.  I can't remember if the larger bags of coffee were also on sale, but I can always check and the coupon is valid till October.

After I came home and took the pictures of the groceries, I had a banana and then, I decided to cook the steak for a late lunch/early dinner (around 4:30 p.m.).  Steak with caramelized onion, sauteed zucchini, and boiled frozen corn:

Late Lunch/Early Dinner

There is half the steak, half the zucchini and a little corn left for another meal.  Afterwards, I had a cup of tea.  Later in the evening, I had some yogurt.

Today, I took a short nap on the sofa - I think the heat tired me out.  The weather forecast says we are heading for a cool down; tomorrow's highs will be only in the mid-to-upper 90s.  Yay!

I spent the rest of the evening doing some paperwork - mostly sorting through piles of mail set aside for filing.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to sleep in
- Drama-free refills at the pharmacy!
- Stock-up sale prices on daughter's coffee!
- Afternoon naps!
- All that I was able to accomplish, today.

Thursday's To Do List:
- Clean the other bathroom - FRIDAY
- Buy milk - DONE
- Pharmacy to pick up prescription refill (if ready) - DONE
- Do a load of laundry - FRIDAY
- Paperwork/filing - DID SOME

I took a break from the laundry, today.  I have at least two loads to do, tomorrow!

Friday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathroom
- Laundry
- More paperwork/filing
- RSVP a birthday party invite I received
- Some tidying and dusting

How was your Thursday?  Have you gone grocery shopping in August, yet?  Have you found any items on sale at "stock up" prices?  What is your stock up price for coffee?

Wednesday's Accomplishments

Thank you for all your kind comments about the card I made, yesterday.  Nil asked if I used a special paper cutting tool to cut the strips and Susan was surprised when I said, no, I drew a line with a ruler and pencil and cut along the line with a pair of scissors.  I thought I should take a picture of the pair of scissors I used:

My Paper Cutting Tool

They were my daughter's safety scissors when she was in pre-school or kindergarten (and, yes, that's her old Barbie ruler, which I also used, at the top of the picture)!  I do have a more adult pair of paper cutting scissors, but I think they are in my bedroom, somewhere, and this small pink pair is what I keep in a round box with my other scrapbooking scissors, the ones with fancy edges; I think I put this pair in the box because, sometimes, I need a pair of straight edged scissors and the other pair is too big to fit in the box.   I know, I'm a bit ridiculous, but, hey, it works, OK?  LOL!

Today, in the morning, I called Aunt C to thank her for a lovely afternoon, yesterday, and to wish her a safe flight.  She was stressing because they still hadn't finished packing!

These are the pairs of pants I received from my aunt, yesterday:

New Pants

Four pairs of new pants, with tags still attached: two blue denim, one beige, and one black; all in a denim/twill fabric, with elastic waists.  I tried on the pair of blue denims that is draped on the sofa and it is a bit on the loose side; I didn't try on the others, but they are all the same brand and size.  I don't mind that it is a bit loose - it's better than being too tight!  They are also a little too long for me (they are "average" length and I need "short"), but I can either cut and hem them or just turn them up.  The funny thing is, I had bought two pairs of pants in the same brand and style, several years ago!  Mine were beige and white; I wore out the beige pair and I still have the white pair!  In fact, I wore it to water the garden, today!

The new pants will be good for cooler weather, I am thinking, unless I cut the legs off one of the denim pairs and turn them into shorts to wear around the house (I don't wear shorts when I go outside, not even to water the front garden!).  I currently have one pair of shorts, in a similar twill fabric, with an elastic waist; a second pair of shorts might be a good thing, especially in this heat!  It's been another record breaking day, temperature-wise, with a high of 106F (41C); tomorrow is supposed to be between 104F to 108F.  I planned to go into the bedroom and turn on the window a/c, if it got over 90F inside, but the family room went up to 88F, only, and I was fine with just the fans.

In addition to the four pairs of pants, aunt also gave me a new pair of shoes:

New Shoes

An online search described them as Cobbie Cuddlers Della brown suede and mesh casual sneakers with memory foam inserts; they fit me well, are comfortable, and will make a welcome addition to my shoe collection!   

Today, I realized that I had forgotten all about the library's Tuesday evening knitting class, yesterday!  It would have started just as I got home from visiting my aunt!  I could have still gone to it (or gone there, directly), if I had only remembered it!  I even forgot to put it on my To Do List for today!  Oh, well, next week, I suppose. In any case, I had just spent the afternoon with aunt and cousin; that was enough social interaction for one day. 

I had a scrambled egg and toast for brunch, today.  Then, I did the dishes - rinsed and put some in the dishwasher and washed a few others by hand.  I removed the burner liners from the stove and put them in the dishwasher to wash, as well.  In the meantime, I cleaned the stove top and the area under the burners with baking soda and wiped down the counters.  Then, I did some paperwork and tidied and wiped down the family room coffee table (it was looking messy and I was getting tired of seeing the mess!)   

I had an ice cream bar in the afternoon, to cool off!  Later, I had a cucumber salad and a cup of tea.  A beef tamale, from the freezer, for dinner:

Tamale

In the evening, I ventured outside to water the front garden.  I took the flea spray with me, just in case, and wore a pair of long white pants and a light blue top.  I wore them over the clothes I was wearing (white tank top and my olive green shorts), so that I could strip the outer clothes in the garage or in the back garden, if I needed to (i.e., if they were full of fleas), before I came inside!  But, I was surprised to see that I only got one or two small fleas on my pants, and I was able to get rid of them, at once.  I kept pausing my watering to check my clothes (I even wore my reading glasses to see better), but I didn't see any fleas on me.  The walkway to the front door got wet when I watered the plants that bordered it, so I made it a point to spray enough water to wash the area - a little water will enable the fleas to thrive, I had read, while a lot of water will drown them!  Tomorrow, I will go back and spray, again, since washing the walkway probably removed the pesticide.

As soon as I came inside, I removed my clothes and washed them, immediately, just in case, using the "Very Low" setting for water.  And I sprayed the pair of sneakers I wore outside when watering.  I think I should buy another container or two of flea spray and keep on hand!

I should make a shopping list:
- Flea spray (indoors and out)
- Vacuum cleaner bags
- Bleach

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being on vacation!
- The new clothes and shoes
- What I was able to accomplish, today
- Video chatting with my daughter
- Being able to water the front garden without becoming a part of a flea circus!

Wednesday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathrooms - DID ONE
- Buy milk - THURSDAY
- Put away laundry - DONE - but I don't have any more room in my linen closet for all these quilts and blankets, I am washing!
- Do another load of laundry - DONE
- Do the dishes/run the dish washer - DONE
- Empty the dishwasher - DONE
- Clean the stove top - DONE
- Clean the kitchen counters - DONE
- Tidy family room coffee table - DONE
- Paperwork - DID SOME
- Water the garden - DONE
- Clean the litter box - will do before going to bed

In between these tasks, I combed Dancer (found 1 flea on him), read more of my library book (finished the second section), watched some news on TV, read other blogs, etc.

Thursday's To Do List:
- Clean the other bathroom
- Buy milk
- Pharmacy to pick up prescription refill (if ready)
- Do a load of laundry
- Paperwork/filing

I might add other items to the to do list, as I go!

How was your Wednesday?  What have you planned for Thursday?

Visiting on Tuesday!

Birthday Card

Today, I visited my aunt C and cousin N.  It will be aunt's birthday, later this week, but they are leaving on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, tomorrow, and I wanted to give her a card and birthday gift before she left. 

The first item on my to do list for the day was to make a birthday card for my aunt.  One of these days, I am going to plan ahead, sit down, take my time, and make half a dozen cards to have on hand, rather than rushing around an hour or two before I need to leave, trying to put something together and hoping the glue will dry before I have to give the card!   The card was made entirely with items I had on hand - card stock and scrapbooking paper, bought on sale, several years ago; a piece of twine from a package I had received; a fabric flower from a party favor; and rhinestones bought for one of my daughter's dance costumes back when she was in high school.  The card design was inspired by a card I had received from a friend, at the end of my cancer treatments.  The card I had received had been square, with a die cut butterfly in the center.

On the way to my aunt's house, I stopped at a Japanese fast food restaurant; I had coupons for buy one, get one free rice bowls.  I was able to buy four teriyaki chicken and vegetables rice bowl for the cost of two ($13.12, with taxes); one each for aunt, cousin, cousin's husband, and myself.

I spent a lovely afternoon, visiting with my aunt and cousin (once her piano students had left).  We had lunch and sat around talking until tea time.  I left after tea.  Before I left, Aunt gave me four pairs of new pants and a pair of shoes that cousin had bought for her which aunt claimed didn't fit her.  The shoes fit me perfectly; I haven't tried on the pants, yet.  I was told I could give them away if they didn't fit.  She also gave back the containers from when I had taken her soup and egg salad, and since the custom is to not to return a container that is empty, she filled one of the containers with cookies and included a packet of wafer cookies, as well. 

After I got home, I brought in the trash cans from the curb, combed Dancer (didn't find anything on him!  Yay!), checked the mail (weekly grocery ads), watered the indoor plants, put away the laundry from yesterday,  and did another load (two knitted blankets).  I think I am getting "laundry fatigue"!

I called cousin P to check on her shoulder and friend R called to thank me again for taking her to get her shipping boxes.  Daughter called to share the good news that she's receiving a cost of living increase! 

Today, I am grateful for:
- A lovely visit with Aunt C and Cousin N
- "Buy one, get one free" discount coupons
- Daughter receiving a cost of living increase
- Electricity to run the fans and other appliances
- A safe drive to aunt's house and back

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Do a card for aunt C - DONE
- Visit aunt C - DONE
- Water the indoor plants - DONE
- Bring the trash cans in - DONE
- Put away the laundry - DONE
- Wash another blanket (or two) - DONE
- Maybe buy milk on the way back from aunt's? - WEDNESDAY
- Clean the bathrooms - WEDNESDAY

I felt too tired in the evening to clean the bathrooms.  The heatwave is on-going and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter than today was!

Wednesday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathrooms
- Buy milk
- Put away laundry
- Do another load of laundry
- Do the dishes/run the dish washer

I am going to leave the list at that, although there are at least a dozen other things I want to add to it!  I might do a few more things if I am up to it, however.

How was your Tuesday?  Are you managing to stay cool during this hot summer? 

Keeping Cool on Monday

Last night, before I went to bed, I did a little paperwork, even though I had planned to put it off till today, and gathered the papers I needed to take to my appointment with the financial planner, because it was bothering me that I hadn't done it and I couldn't fall asleep with it on my mind!  Sometimes, it is easier to just do it than worry if I will have enough time to attend to it, later!  This morning, I woke up when the alarm went off at 9:00 a.m., and felt relaxed, because I had got my papers together, the night before (well, very early in the morning).

A short while later, my cousin P called.  Apparently, she was having tendinitis in her shoulder and had made an appointment with her doctor.  She said she had tried to get Access transit to take her, but they needed 24-hour notice and, although, they are sometimes able to fit in a same day transport, they were fully booked, today.  So, I asked her how she was getting to the doctor's and she said her husband will take her.  I would have offered to take her, but I had my own appointment scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and I didn't want to be late.

After I spoke with my cousin P, I called Aunt C to ask if I could come to see her, tomorrow.   She will be going to France on a pilgrimage, later this week, and I wanted to drop off something, including a birthday gift for her.

Then, I checked my emails, responded to a couple of emails and emailed my daughter, responded to blog comments, and commented on a couple of other blogs.

By which time, it was almost noon and I had to rush a bit to get dressed to go to my 1:00 p.m. appointment!  I was glad I had gathered my papers together last night!

I got to my appointment on time and met with the financial planner to go over a couple of things, pertaining to my retirement planning.  Afterwards, she invited me to stay and have lunch with her, as the company had ordered in Middle Eastern food for everyone and there was a lot of food.  Over lunch, we chatted about ourselves, our children, my pre-retirement vacation, her recent vacation, etc.  I've been with this particular financial planner for the last 4 years, or so.  Prior to that, I was the client of one of her partners.  Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident and that's when I was reassigned to my current FP.  We work well together, so I have stayed with her.

After I got home, I washed the quilt from daughter's bed.  Then, Dancer decided that the floor of the laundry closet (it is not big enough to be called a room, it is the size of a large closet) was the coolest spot in the house for him to nap:

Sleepy Cat

Of course, he heard me taking a picture of him, and raised his head (but his eyes are still closed):

"What?  I'm too sleepy to open my eyes, OK?"

A couple of minutes later:

"Zzzzz"

I called cousin P back, in the evening, to ask her how her appointment went, but she didn't pick up the phone, so I left her a message.

My daughter called when she got home, and we chatted for a bit.  Then, I made a cup of tea.  I was having my tea when Aunt T called for a chat.  I owe her a visit!

Later in the evening, I cleaned out the fridge, emptied the waste baskets, took the kitchen trash out, and took the big trash can to the curb for trash pick up in the morning.  I also sprayed the area in front of my front door, again.  I had dressed all in white again; this time, I didn't get as many fleas on my long white skirt, but there were a few.  I am using the indoor spray, since I finished the outdoor spray.  I need to buy another container of outdoor spray and ask M to spray again, the next time he comes to do the garden (next week, as he is on vacation, this week).  In the meantime, I am hoping the indoor spray will be effective.

As soon as I came in, I removed the white clothes and did a mini load and hung them up to dry.  I also sprayed the family room sofas, again, just in case.  While the spray dried, I sat in the living room and went through the mail and played the piano, a little bit.  One of the things I'd like to do once things have settled down a little bit is to learn to play one or two songs, properly, meaning, following actual piano music, as opposed to picking out a song by ear and fitting in a few chords to go with it!  I did take piano lessons when I was a child and I can manage to read music (although I flounder a bit with the notes below middle C and more than an octave above it!)  I have my daughter's music books from when she learned to play and I can give myself a refresher course.  If I get stuck, both cousin N, and my neighbor S across the street, teach music; they will both help me, I'm sure.

Then, I put away the quilt that I laundered in the afternoon, remade my bed with sheets from the linen cupboard, and washed the sheets I had been using.  They will dry overnight.  I am glad I have two sets of summer sheets for my bed (the third set is flannel, for the winter), so I can alternate between the two.  In the winter, when I wash the flannel sheets, I put one of the summer sheets on the bed, but I can't imagine putting the flannel sheets on the bed in the summer!

Cousin P called back in the evening and we chatted for a bit.  She saw the doctor and he had given her an injection and told her to ice her shoulder, take ibuprofen, and switch to a lighter purse!

Still later, I video chatted with daughter (again, the video froze after the first few minutes, and, at one point, the audio stopped working, too, but it came back).  I was complaining to her that I was too busy with errands, cleaning, and laundry, during my so-called vacation/retirement, and she was laughing at me.  She asked me what I expected and I said, "Lie on the sofa, read, watch TV, relax", and she laughed even harder!  She said it was my fault for postponing so many things to do after retirement!  She might have a point, there!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being where I am, financially
- My washing machine
- Phone calls with family
- My daughter
- Time in which to do things

Monday's To Do List:
- Change my bed sheets - DONE
- Put away laundry - DONE
- Do more laundry - DONE
- Paperwork - DONE
- Appointment with financial planner - DONE
- Clean out the fridge - DONE
- Take trash cans to the curb - DONE
- Water the indoor plants - TUESDAY
- Check and spray the front walkway again if needed - DONE

I got most of my to do list done, today.  I didn't get to watering the indoor plants, but I am tired, now, and I don't want to climb on the stepstool to water them, because accidents tend to happen when I am tired!  The plants can wait one more day.

Tuesday's To Do List:
- Do a card for aunt C
- Visit aunt C
- Water the indoor plants
- Bring the trash cans in
- Put away the laundry
- Wash another blanket (or two)
- Maybe buy milk on the way back from aunt's? 
- Clean the bathrooms

Today, it was over 100F where I am.  Tomorrow, too, it will be 100F.  I still haven't turned on the room a/c, but I might turn it on, one of these afternoons!

How was your Monday?  What have you planned for Tuesday?