Aaaand... we're off!

 Tomorrow morning, we leave for a destination birthday celebration!

I will be 60 years old on Thursday, and it's a momentous occasion, since, statistically, I am an anomaly of stage 4 cancer survival. 

We will arrive in Frankfort, Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon, where we will meet my bestie, let's call her Mags, from Michigan, and some of my family from Chicagoland!

Mags arranged this whole thing, and is paying for my part of our lodging, and a cool river boat history tour.

My sister, brother in law, their son, and his girlfriend are coming. The four of them will ride share.

Their daughter had a vacation last month for HER birthday, and was not able to get off work again.

My brother couldn't justify the expense, as he felt that he would have to drive alone, and lodge alone, because he smokes.  

His son never said why he and his wife weren't coming. They just said no.

SO, I am very happy that some decided to come. Very happy indeed.

Mags got an Air BnB for the 5 of us "old" people, and then the "kids" got their own place.  We will be together for most activities, including cooking dinners together all three nights we are there.

I can't wait!!  The area is so beautiful, too, with hiking trails and gorgeous parks.  

We hope to do a distillery tour or two, but they are very expensive to do anymore.  Tours used to be free, and then you get to the end where there is a tasting room, and a store, and THAT's how they get your money!

Some have not re-opened to tours since closing for covid, too, which was disappointing.

So, we will play the distillery tours by ear.

Dave and I will have to pay for lodging on the way, and on the way back, because it's a two day drive, longer than to Chicago.

Yesterday, Dave and I started the week of celebrating by getting our mani/pedis, mentioned last week, and I started to pack, and make lists.  

I got the back yard mowed, too, but Dave still needs to do that stupid raking project in the front, and has now put it off for over a month, and has to do it today.

Anyway, the house we are staying in is supposedly fully equipped, but I am bringing my immersion blender, and some spices I will want to have on hand, and Dave is bringing the SodaStream, and some bottles for it.

REALLY looking forward to getting away, and to seeing loved ones, and  new sights!!  I have not been to Kentucky in probably 25 years.

I just hope my pain levels don't prevent me from enjoying things.  I started back on the hormone blocker a while back, so the pain is ramped up again.

In other news, the past week has been just awful with noise from the new neighbors (who moved in back in December), starting last Sunday night, Easter, when it sounded like they were having a drunken, full-volume karaoke party --with all the windows open!

They were not singing, they were yelling.

Now, mind you, I appreciate singing that sounds like yelling... and... this was NOT that!!!  

Even the neighbors across the street, who can be pretty loud themselves, were out on their front porch to see what was going on.

We ultimately called the police around midnight, and things finally stopped around 1 am, but I was so stressed out by it that I could not sleep until some time after 4.  

My alarm goes off at 6 for work.   Last Monday was really rough because of that.  My eyes are dry from my meds, and being up all night made it worse, and the heat was on at the office....it was torture.  I actually left early, it was so bad.

Then, almost every night this past week, there have been multiple incidents, mostly starting around 2 am, when the bars close.  

Every night, around 2:15 am, there have been several people showing up, with loud voices in the driveway, car doors slamming, car alarms being set, coughing, dogs barking...it's been absolutely terrible. 

And it wasn't ending there.... as the hours passed, they'd  come back out to their cars, to get stuff or whatever, slamming the doors again. Sometimes in groups, with more talking, coughing, etc.

Mind you this is about 6 feet from our bedroom windows, which are from 1927, and have no sound insulation. (More on the window situation later in the blog.)

Of course, Dave has slept through it all, except for last Sunday night, when I woke him up to call the cops.

I messaged the owner of the house, since we are friends, and she said she would have the property manager issue a warning, but I only told her about Sunday night.  She doesn't yet know about what's happened since then. 

Either they never got the warning, OR the people who come and go do not care.  

My guess is that the one adult (40-ish) person who we think is on the lease cares, because the one night she was here this past week, it was quiet....but she doesn't always stay in the house anymore. 

The one time I met her, she introduced herself, and said she teaches school.  The person we think is her daughter (20-ish) was with her, so we met briefly as well.  We think these two are the only permanent residents.

But who knows?  With as often as different people have been coming and going and staying overnight, there's no telling.

The cast of characters changes pretty often.  

Sometimes there are 5 or 6 cars in the driveway, and in the street, including one time when our driveway was partially blocked.  Sometimes, there's a little boy here, and sometimes not.

Anyway, Dave has asked me to get him up from now on, so he can witness the noise in the middle of the night, too, but we are leaving town tomorrow, so it will be really nice to get the hell away from this chaos.

Thursday this past week was unusual, as there was noise and activity all day.  The icing on the cake that day was the car alarm actually going off, for at least 2 minutes (which felt like an eternity), while I was trying to work. It was directly outside of my office. 

Dave was at his office that day, so he missed the day time chaos of that day, too. 

I will message the owner again, and ask if the warning has been given yet, and maybe update her on the shenanigans since I messaged her the first time.  Maybe ask her who is actually supposed to be living there.

If the terms of the lease have been broken, she may have recourse to evict.

Sigh. The noise and disruption has been very stressful this week, even for our cats.  

I mean.... I understand that people work nights, or that they work at bars, or hang out at bars, until closing.  I understand that most of the people coming and going at this house are much younger than us. 

However, this is a quiet neighborhood, not a dorm or youth hostel.  This kind of activity, in what is LITERALLY the middle of the night, almost every night, is unacceptable. 

SO--yes, it will be very nice to get away.

Oh, and on the window fiasco... no word. Nothing. Nada.  They acknowledged Dave's complaint, and started a new work order. There have been no further updates.

Apparently, it actually WILL take 3 more months to get the one they didn't make for us.

Unbelievable.

On that note, I am off to get some breakfast, and to figure out what needs to be done today, and what can be packed. 

Have a good week, and we will be home before next blogging day!  

4 day weekend

 We've had a lovely long weekend, so far, despite new window issues, and the unpleasant weather yesterday.

Took Thursday off to meet up with friends travelling through Oklahoma on their way home from Texas to Ohio.

Got the office/guest room prepared for the new windows to be installed on Friday morning.

Then, the window guys came on Friday, but were only able to install one window.  

We ordered them in January, the installer came to DOUBLE CHECK the measurements in February.

But, when he finally came to install our pair of windows, only one window was the right size. 

The installer was quite upset about this, and could not get anyone to answer the phone, so he left, and said he would either be back with the correct window, OR call and let us know.

Needless to say, he did not come back, and said that our window was nowhere to be found in the warehouse.

We wondered if maybe whoever loaded up the trucks for the crews mixed orders up, and maybe our window went to the wrong house, and we had someone else's window.... but we never got an answer on that.

Dave called the original guy at Lowe's who quoted the job, and he told Dave to call someone else to open a work order to correct the situation, but no one ever called back.

So. It could be three MORE months before we have the window we paid for in JANUARY.

MAYBE, just maybe, someone will call tomorrow with an explanation, or to say that our window was found on another truck.

We got all of our errands done Friday afternoon, and enjoyed the hot tub on Friday evening.

It was 86 degrees on Friday, and 56 yesterday, with a wicked, cold wind.

Because of the biting wind, there was no woods walk yesterday, and probably won't be today, either.  This disappoints me, but we have had a good time off anyway.

Our friend Jules came over yesterday to refresh her memory on house sitting stuff for our vacation the last week of April.

Later today, I am getting my first hair cut in almost a year, and then I have a lecture I want to watch live on Facebook.

I'm hoping the hair cut will make the most of my waves, so that my hair looks less thin.  

Next weekend, before we leave on our trip, we're going to treat ourselves to mani-pedis!

Dave continues to put off his job of raking up the front yard, that has been a mess for a full month, since the bamboo was cut back. He said he might try to get to it today.

I'd like to mow the back yard again, but we'll see.  It for sure needs to be done before we leave town.

On that note, I am off to eat breakfast (Dave has started cooking breakfast again on the weekends!).

If you're celebrating Easter today, enjoy!

Oh look, it's windy again

I am so tired of the raging Oklahoma wind.  It hasn't eased up for days, other than for a couple of hours on Friday night.

Most of the state is in extreme to exceptional drought, and the one day of rain that we had a little while back did very little to help, as the wind has swept all of that moisture away.

I am not at all surprised by the tales of pioneer women, (brought out here by their husbands, and left to fend for themselves when the men went back to civilization to bring back more supplies), would actually lose their minds- because of the wind. 

It has a name... Prairie Madness.

Civilization has now spread across the land, but that crazy-making wind has never changed.

Next week, there could be hail and tornadoes! Yay.

This past week, we got two of our planned-for home improvement things completed.  The water line from the street to the house is now made out of pex instead of copper, and we have a real couch.

Next week, new windows are being installed on the back-facing wall of my office / the guest room.  That is the third, and last planned-for project for this year, and we will continue to put aside money for windows every pay period.  

There are 23 of them in this house, and we can only afford to do them a pair at a time.

On Thursday of next week, some friends from Ohio are passing through Oklahoma, and we will be meeting up with them for lunch, so I took a floating holiday for that, and Dave took a vacation day.

My office is closed for Good Friday, so Dave took a vacation day for that, as well, and that is the day the windows will be done.  That gives us Thursday afternoon to move furniture, take down blinds and curtains, and make that room ready for the window project.

It will be nice to only work three days next week, and then be off for the last week of the month.  I need a break.

As much as I need to be seen around the building, that week off won't seem any different to my co workers.

Today will be sunny and windy, but I want to go out and look for at least one clematis plant.  The beautiful red one I had died.... and then the beautiful lavender one I had died....but I want to try again.

Gardening in Oklahoma sucks, but I keep trying.

I also want to refresh my smaller planters today, and get my herb seeds planted.

Wishing you, gentle readers, a lovely week, and a happy Eastertide, if you celebrate.

Dust

 What is it about the light in early spring time that makes ALL of the dust in the house more visible?

I've had a cold the past few days, so I didn't get much done yesterday, but today... I have a feeling there will be some serious spring cleaning going on!

Stayed home last night, and missed the dance show I had to withdraw from.  I had really wanted to go, but Dave did not, and I was sick, so... dang it.

Oh, and when I say "sick," don't worry.  I have not had a fever at all, and my symptoms have been manageable with decongestants and ibuprofin. 

We do have those free tests in the cabinet, too, so if I HAD been worried enough to use one, they are available.

I thought it was allergies, but the Clairtin I've been taking isn't doing anything, so I think it's just a cold. My body is doing some spring cleaning of its own.

In other news, Dave got the word that his return to office starts the second week of April, and he can just choose which two days he goes.  

They have to get him a work station set up first, though.  It's not feasible for him to have to transport the one he brought home two years ago back and forth twice a week!  

Now that we know he can choose his days, we don't have to worry about buying a second car just yet.

In other news, the accountant I hired to do our taxes this year has finished up.

Selling the condo continues to stab me in the back...at least one last time. I owe the state of Illinois over $1K, and federal around $400.00

I never should have let myself be pressured into selling the property when I didn't feel the time was right.

But, done is done, and this is the last time it can hurt me.  I hope.

I'll make my weekly trip to the office tomorrow, and then plan to start going for a full day on Mondays during the second week of April.

I will get to go twice before the week of vacation, to see how it works out.

Tomorrow isn't really an option because I would need to set it up with my co workers the week before, so that they don't do the tasks that I am going in on Mondays to do!

Plus, I have my injection appointment tomorrow, and would have to leave extra early, since I am 15 miles further away from the clinic if I leave from the office.

That's about it for this week.  It's supposed to rain later, so it will be a good day to stay in and do some tidying.

Have a good week!