Little White Table

When my mother, step-father, and I first moved to Southern California, we brought with us only what  we could pack into our car, as we drove from Florida to California.  Mostly clothes, bedding, small items of sentimental value, and my mother's pothos plant!  We disposed of everything else - whatever furniture we had, most of my books, other bits and pieces.  We arrived in California without any furniture.  And with very little money.

Our very first apartment, which was a studio apartment, was furnished entirely with other people's cast-offs.  Family and friends who were already here, gave us what they could.  An aunt (the very same one who is now recovering from a stroke) gave us two single beds that my parents used (I slept on the floor on a quilt; much later, we were given a sofa bed, which I used), someone else gave us a patio table that we used as our dining table, and when one of the shops behind our apartment building remodeled and threw out a couple of chests of drawers, my step-father and I carried them home for our clothes!  We used cardboard boxes, covered with my mother's table cloths, as night stands, for storage, etc.  Why?  Because we didn't have money for furniture.

Then, one day, when I was walking to the nearby library, I spotted a small, brown painted wooden table someone had tossed by the sidewalk.  It was still there when I came back from the library.  I told my step-father about it and we went in the car and picked it up.  It was dirty, so we washed it in the parking lot and brought it up to the apartment.  It had a little drawer in the middle that I lined with some wrapping paper and a little shelf at the bottom. It served as a night stand/side table and, when we moved to a larger, 2-bedroom apartment (in the same apartment complex), we took it with us.  There, I stripped the brown paint and refinished it with a brown stain.

When I bought my house and moved from the apartment, the little wooden table came with me.  It stood in the corner of the hallway, and served as a telephone table.  Shortly after my mother died, I painted it white (and the hallway lilac):

Little White Table (yes, I dusted and tidied it for the picture!)

As you can see, it is my little telephone table - the phone (yes, I still have a regular phone in addition to my cell phone and I actually use this regular phone for my calls more than I use the cell; just call me old fashioned, or a stick-in-the-mud!), answering machine, phone numbers and addresses, a repurposed candle holder for a couple of pens and a small note pad to write down a message or phone number.  Telephone directories (yes, we still receive paper directories!) on the shelf at the bottom.  A wall calendar up on the adjacent wall (a corner of which can be seen to the right, in the picture).  And wires everywhere (there is an outlet on the wall a bit to the left of the picture).  I need to work at keeping the surface looking like that!  Usually, there are bits of papers with phone numbers and notes scribbled on them scattered on it - I shoved them all into the drawer to take the picture!  Going through and organizing that drawer will be another project for another day! 

I thought a white framed mirror would be just right on the wall over that little table, but, true to my frugal nature, I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a decorative mirror.  So, I admit I didn't look very hard for a mirror, but, whenever I saw a white framed mirror, I checked its price.  In the meantime, over the years, I hung photographs, a white message board, a cork bulletin board, or a wall calendar over the table.  Each of these items served its purpose.  But it wasn't quite the look I had envisioned when I painted the hallway and the little table.

And then, yesterday, I saw this mirror for sale for $4.99:

White Mirror

The frame is plastic, but, as I said in yesterday's post, I don't mind.  It is the right size, the right shape, the right design, and, most importantly, the right price!

Today, I put it up on the wall:

Seen from the living room

I have the table facing the living room and the mirror can be seen from the living room.  I tried having it facing the hallway, but I didn't like it that way, as much.

I also took the wall calendar off for the above picture, to see how it would look, but the calendar is back on the wall:

With the calendar on the wall

The calendar is essential for me, because I like being able to see, at a glance, which dates I have appointments scheduled, and I am able to write in any new appointments at once.  Yes, I know, use my cell phone, but I prefer a regular paper calendar.  I bought this one for $1 from the dollar store, with pictures of gardens.

So why did I want a mirror over the table?  I didn't need it, but I thought the table sort of looked incomplete by itself.  Or, maybe, I just wanted to be able to admire myself in the mirror when I make a phone call!  LOL! 

What do you think?

Saturday's Happenings

Today, I was woken up, at 9:30 a.m., by the sound of the phone ringing; it was cousin P calling to say she has a plant cutting for me from another cousin's garden.  She apologized when she realized that her call had woken me up and told me to go back to sleep!  But I told her it was OK and we chatted a bit.  She said she had gone to see the aunt who had suffered a stroke.  Aunt is receiving speech therapy and is able to talk (and sing!) a little.  Cousin brought over the plumeria cutting and left it by my front door, because she thought I would go back to sleep.  However, I couldn't go back to sleep after that, so I got up, had my coffee, and got dressed. 

Then, I checked my email.  For some reason, I hadn't checked it yesterday - imagine my surprise when I saw that there was an email from my former supervisor!  She had sent it yesterday morning!  She said she had wondered how I was doing and remembered I had a blog, so she checked my blog and saw that I was stressing out about the retirement paperwork and reached out to me!  Such a kind, generous thing to do.

She shared her own experiences with me and she had some advice for me, both about filling out the forms (she said it was OK not to have it all done by the counseling date, you can turn them in later, if needed) and about one or two other things that daughter had suggested, but, I, in my haste to retire, had not thought through as much.  I emailed her back and she replied with even more information!  She has been such a blessing to me!  What are the odds that she would choose just this time to wonder how I was doing and visit my blog?  As a result, I am now reconsidering some of my choices and decisions.  I will still attend Wednesday's counselling session, however.  But, nothing is definite until I turn in my papers! 

Today was the anniversary of my step-father's death.  It has been 31 years!  The first time I met him, I was 8 years old and seated in his dental chair.  He was my dentist before he became my step-father.  I've more memories of him than I have of my father, because I knew him longer; my father died when I was 7.  I gave a donation in his memory, today, and said a prayer for him. 

In the afternoon, I put gas to the car (managed not to bump into any barriers!), went to the pharmacy, and then, to the adjoining dollar store.  I bought 2 containers of yogurt (2/$1) and a mirror:

White-Framed Mirror

I have been wanting a white framed mirror for a long time, but I didn't want anything too heavy or expensive.  This mirror's frame is plastic, so it is light and at $4.99, the price was just right!

There was a "bronze" framed one, too, and I was tempted to buy it, too, but I didn't!

The "Bronze" Framed Mirror

I am hoping that, once hung on the wall, the mirror will give the effect I've been picturing in my mind for years, but I won't hang it till tomorrow.  In the meantime:

"Mirror, mirror, not on the wall, who is the handsomest kitty of all?"

After I came home, I planted the plumeria cutting I received and called that cousin to thank her.  Later in the evening, I video chatted with daughter.  We had much to discuss, today.

Today, I am grateful for:
- My former supervisor emailing me, sharing her experiences, and advising me
- Cousin sharing a plant cutting with me
- Cousin P bringing it over to me
- Aunt is regaining her ability to speak
- Memories of my step-father

How was your Saturday?  What have you planned for Sunday?  Will you be celebrating Fathers' Day? 

Friday: Mid-June, Already?

We are already half-way through June!  When I went in to the office this morning, one of my colleagues called out, "One day closer!"  LOL!  I guess they are counting down the days for me!

I had a productive day at the office.  I completed a section of a project well before the estimated date, so I feel good about that.

Today's lunch was another salad, similar to the one I made earlier in the week, but with pieces of chicken breast added and the cashews omitted:

Friday's Lunch

My big accomplishment for the day, however, was the retirement paperwork!  I have now filled out all the forms and made copies of all the documents.  I still need to make one or two phone calls on Monday to get some additional details required on the health and dental insurance forms and there are one or two blank spaces on a couple of forms to be filled out on the day of the counseling session, but everything else is completed!  I also filled out a couple of extra forms because I wasn't sure which ones applied to me.  This way, rather than fill out an entire form at the counseling session, if the one I filled out was incorrect, I can hand in whichever form that is applicable and tear up the other.

Tomorrow, I will make separate file folders for the different paperwork I will be taking with me, as well as for the copies I made for my own records, just to keep them all sorted!  Once that is done, I can tidy up and clear the dining table, which is covered with papers and files, right now! 

Friend M was tending to the garden when I came home from work, today.  So we sat on the short stone wall between my drive way and neighbor T's garden, and chatted for awhile.  Later, friend R called for a chat.  Still later, I video chatted with daughter.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Getting the majority of the retirement paperwork done!
- Photocopiers!
- A productive day at the office
- Chatting with friends and daughter
- A restful evening

How was your Friday?  How is June going for you?  Do you feel that the days are just flying by?

Quiet Thursday

Three nights of not enough sleep meant I was rather tired when I woke up, this morning.  I emailed my supervisor to let him know that I'll be in late, today, and that I'll use some of my accrued time off to make up for it; he emailed back saying that was fine.   I walked past the farmers' market on my way to the bus stop and bought a crusty bread roll even though I had packed a lunch.  I had the bread roll, sandwiched with some sliced chicken breast, for my dinner, tonight. 

I had a productive day at the office.  I took one of the packages of cookies I had bought, earlier, to the office for a treat for my co-workers.  People enjoyed them, as there were only a few cookies left at the end of the day. 

During my lunch break, I called the retirement services people to ask a question about something on one of the forms.  I was told to discuss the question at the counseling session.  When I mentioned the fact that the instructions say to fill out the forms before the counseling session, I was told they just want us to fill out as much as possible, but a counselor would go over the forms with us and we can fill in the rest, then.  Well, that's a relief! 

I took it easy after I came home, today.  I should have put gas to the car, but I decided I will wait until morning; I didn't want to risk getting more dents in the car because I was tired!  Instead, I came home, had a cup of tea, and ate a snack.  Then, I replied to a text a cousin had sent, asking if she might borrow my big brass oil lamp (a traditional Sri Lankan ceremonial lamp) for her son's wedding; I said, yes, of course.  In fact, she had borrowed it, earlier, too, for her daughter's wedding.  These lamps are decorated with strands of jasmine flowers and lit at weddings and other ceremonial functions. 

I exchanged emails with a friend and video chatted with daughter.

And I looked through this week's grocery ads.  Nothing much that I need, other than bread and milk and maybe more fresh produce.  Zucchini is on sale for $.39/lb., cabbage for $.20/lb. (but I still have the cabbage I bought a few weeks ago!).  But, here is why it is important to compare prices and decide where to shop - this week, unhusked corn is selling for 4/$1 at one store and 5/$2 at another store (and packaged corn, which has been cleaned and trimmed and packaged in a plastic wrapped tray, is selling for $2.99 for 4 at that same store).  Peaches are $.69/lb. at the Armenian store, $.89/lb. at the warehouse type store, and $1.49/lb. at the chain grocery store.  Papaya is $.49/lb. at the Armenian store and $.79/lb. at the grocery store.  Usually, I decide based on the price; but, sometimes, time and energy come into play, too.  If the price difference is $.10/lb., I might shop at just one store and pay the slightly higher price than drive to the cheaper store.  So, I will buy bananas at $.59 at one store, even when I know they are $.49 at the other store, if I don't need anything else from that other store. 

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to go in to work late on those mornings when I can't wake up on time
- Having enough accrued time off to use to account for my time on those days when I go in late
- Crusty bread rolls!
- I was able to take cookies to the office to share
- A quiet, restful evening

How was your day?  Do you do price comparisons and "cherry pick" or do you just go to one store as that works best for you?   

Productive Wednesday

Or, maybe I should say, "Sleepless Wednesday"!  It was 3:00 a.m. when I last looked at the clock, this morning!  Then, much to my surprise, I woke up at 7:00 a.m. feeling wide awake!  Not at all tired!  Didn't even feel like drinking a full cup of coffee!  I drank half the cup and put the rest in the fridge and had "iced coffee" when I came home from work, although I had a cup of tea, as well!

I had a productive day at the office and got a bunch of work done!  A lot more than I thought I'd be able to complete!  I did feel a little sleepy around 3:00 p.m., though.  If I had been home, I might have taken a nap around that time.  But, because I was at work, I couldn't do that!  Instead, I walked around a bit and drank some water.  It was freezing inside the office, as usual, but 90F outside!

After I came home, I put water to the front garden.  Then, put away the laundry from yesterday, did another load, and hung it up to dry.   Then, I cooked the chicken breasts I had bought, earlier.  I just pan sauted them with some onions, salt and pepper.  They will go well with salads or cooked vegetables or even in sandwiches.  Later, I did the dishes.

I filled out more retirement paperwork, today.  And made photocopies of all the documents I need to submit (birth certificates, divorce papers, etc.)  Later, when I was video chatting with daughter, I was telling her about the paperwork involved and she said I sounded stressed.  I was!  Some of the decisions I am making will impact her; even though the ultimate decisions are mine to make, I want to be able to discuss some of the details with her, so that she is involved and informed, as well.  We have decided that she will come down, next week, to go with me to the retirement counseling session.

Today, I am grateful for:
- A productive day
- My daughter will be able to accompany me to the retirement counseling session
- Water for the garden
- Safe commutes to the office and back
- A warm summer-like day

How was your Wednesday?  Does paperwork stress you, too?

Getting Through Tuesday

Very late, last night, I decided to look for another document that had been listed on the retirement papers.  Strictly speaking, I was not required to produce it, as it was just one of several items I could submit as proof of identity.  I don't know what made me decide that I needed to look for that document at 2:00 a.m.  Except, it seemed urgent that I did so.  So, I looked in the folder with the documents and I couldn't locate it! Oh, no!  Where else could it be?  When did I become this disorganized?  Finally, I had to admit defeat - that document wasn't in the file folder, I must have put it somewhere else, but I will look for it later, because I needed to get some sleep! 

This morning, I woke up when the alarm went off, had my coffee, texted with daughter, and made a salad to take for my lunch:

Salad for Lunch

Two types of lettuce (1 red, 1 green), one Mediterranean cucumber sliced, one carrot grated, a handful of grapes, some strawberries cut up, and a handful of raw cashews.  I took the dressing separately and poured it on just before eating. 

I brought the large trash cans in before I went to the office and my neighbor T's daughter saw me and came over to chat for a bit.  The company she works for does business with the office where I work, and she was asking me if I had moved to the new building and so forth. 

I had a fairly busy day at the office and the day went by quickly.

After I came home, I put away the dried laundry from yesterday and did another load of laundry.

Then, I looked through that folder of documents, again, and, guess what?  The document I was looking for and couldn't find last night was right there!  I guess I must have overlooked it when I checked earlier!  I wasn't so disorganized after all!  Probably need better reading glasses, that's all!

Later in the evening, I cooked dinner.  I made a curry with a package of frozen meatballs, sauteed  green beans, and rice, of course, and had it with some of my homemade tomato chutney:

Dinner: Rice, Meatball Curry, Green Beans, Tomato Chutney

Cousin P called in the evening.  The aunt whose husband died last month, suffered a stroke earlier today and underwent surgery to remove a blood clot.  She is recovering, but unable to talk, although the doctors think there's a 50-50 chance that she will talk again.  My cousin said one of our other cousins had spoken to this aunt's younger daughter, earlier in the evening.  She and her siblings are going through so much, right now!

Later, I spoke with one of my friends (she had called while I was on the phone with my cousin, so I called her back) and video chatted with my daughter, although the screens froze, so it was more of an audio chat than a video chat!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Finding my document, after all!
- A sunny, warm day
- A safe commute to the office and back
- Chatting with daughter
- Family and friends

How was your Tuesday?  Do you sometimes look for things and can't find them then, but later, realize it was there, all along?  Or, is it just me?

Monday: An Encounter with an Angel

Today, in the morning, on my way to the office, I stopped by the bone density scan clinic to pick up a copy of the letter of authorization I had left behind.  They were having a problem with their parking system with the automatic gate not working, so a gentleman who was directing the cars allowed me to park in a side lane as I promised to be quick (in fact, he offered to pick up the form for me, but I explained that I had to sign a release document and it was unlikely they'd hand it to him); because I didn't park in their parking area, I didn't have to pay for parking!

As I was leaving the building, I came face to face with this angel.  This is the Earth Angel:

Earth Angel

Back in 2000-2001, and, again in 2002, there was a public arts project called A Community of Angels.  Some 400 fiberglass angels were painted and decorated and displayed in various spots throughout the city.  They were later auctioned off to benefit two charities.   This one was installed at the clinic and is known as the Earth Angel.  According to a picture I found online, at one time, it was seated in a grassy area, surrounded by flowering plants.  But now, due to the drought, the grass has been replaced with pebbles, the plantings are mostly restricted to the hedge, and the fountain in the background is dry in compliance with our water conservation requirements.  I thought it was a very telling setting for the Earth Angel.

I had a somewhat productive day at the office.  In between, I downloaded more forms pertaining to the retirement paperwork and started filling them out.  Well, I filled out one form, authorizing direct deposit of my pension to my checking account.  They needed a copy of a voided or cancelled check to get the routing number, etc., and that led to the discovery that I had just three checks left in my check book!  So, I called and requested additional checks!  According to the directions on the form, if you didn't have any checks, then, you needed to attach a letter from the bank with the account information.  If you wanted the pension to be deposited to a savings account, too, you needed a signature from a bank officer, confirming the information.  Yay!  One form down and a dozen more to go!  Well, OK, a slight exaggeration.  A half a dozen more to go (plus all the copies of various other documents they want!)  I was telling one of my colleagues that that was it; I wasn't going to retire; there were too many forms to fill out and it was too stressful! 

After I came home from work, I took the trash cans to the curb, took the kitchen trash out and put a new liner, put away the washed dishes from yesterday, put water to the indoor plants, turned on the sprinklers at the back, and did a load of laundry.  I also called the pharmacy about a refill and spoke with my daughter (she is putting together a list of websites for prostate cancer information for her friend, whose father has been recently diagnosed; her friend had called her to ask how we decided on my course of treatment, what side effects I experienced, etc.).  I can't believe that it was almost 3 years ago, later this June, that my mammogram results came back saying, "abnormal"!  And almost 2 years since I completed the chemo.  That was a tough year.

I wanted to take a nap, again, today, but didn't.  Yesterday's nap meant I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 a.m. and then, I didn't want to wake up when the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m.!  The plan is to try and have an "early night" and get to bed by midnight, tonight,

Today, I am grateful for:
- I was able to get a copy of the authorization document
- I didn't have to pay for parking!
- I was able to get started on the retirement paperwork
- I was able to accomplish a few tasks from my mile-long to do list
- A safe drive to the office and back (saw yet another accident on the freeway)

Tomorrow, I plan to go to the office, fill out a few more retirement paperwork forms, bring in the trash cans, put water to the front garden, put away the dried laundry, and do another load.

How was your Monday?  What do you think of the Earth Angel?