Spring yard work

 We FINALLY got a good start on some yard work this weekend!

There was a dead shrub, and a small tree, that Dave got cut down, and I cleared out the herb bed.

A friend came over and raked out the front flower bed for me, and then I spread fresh bags of soil in the herb bed and the flower bed.

It felt really good to get out there, and to be sweating in the sun. 

We had Friday off, and got out to the woods in the morning, and did the yard work yesterday.  Today, Dave will finish cleaning up the messes he made, and HOPEFULLY get part of the back yard mowed, before it rains tonight.

I was at the office on Thursday for the office party, and am going back tomorrow.

Not much else going on... We got some rain last week, and are grateful to see more in the forecast for tonight.

Next weekend, we are heading up to Arkansas for the eclipse.  We will be meeting members of my family, who are coming down from Illinois.

Hopefully, the full cloud cover that's being forecast will NOT be part of the scenario by eclipse day!

We don't celebrate Easter, but if you are one who does, I hope you have a happy holiday!

Out like a lion

 The wind today is absolutely brutal.  We went to the woods this morning, because we had not been in months, and I NEEDED it.... but the wind forced us to cut our walk short.

We did see three deer, resting on the ground, and that was quite peaceful to see, despite the violent gusts.

They are calling for us to have severe storms later today, so we shall see what happens.

Fortunately, I don't have to go to the office until Thursday this coming week, so if there are limbs down, or whatever, in the morning, there will be time to get things cleaned up before I have to make my commute.

My treatment this past week went just fine.  Only two bouts of cold sweats on the night of, and the usual headache and steroid side effects the next day.

We had a day of GLORIOUS rain this past week.... hours and hours of it.... 

Yesterday, I worked a lot outside, trying to get started on the spring yard clean up, and WOW, are my arms and legs SORE!  

Even though I lift small hand weights, use resistance bands, and do weighted squats, 4 days a week, that kind of work is just... different.

I got some native butterfly weed planted, and managed to cut back the artemesia, the dead rosemary (that ONE DAY that was really cold in February killed it at last), and some of last year's sunflowers.  I also used the string trimmer on some of the tall growth around the patio.  The back yard hasn't been mowed yet, and it's like a jungle.   

Dave got a couple of things done, too, so it was a good day.  

He had hoped to do more today, but the wind is probably going to prevent most of it.

Last weekend, my corned beef and colcannon turned out perfectly.  Everything was so delicious, especially our Reuben sandwiches!  

I made corned beef hash for breakfast yesterday, too.  I wasn't as fond of it at Dave was, so he gets the left overs!

Next weekend is a three day weekend for my office, and we are having a luncheon on Thursday, so everyone is expected to do their office day on that day.

I don't relish the idea of being there with all of the loud people, HAHA.  It's AMAZING how many of my co-workers don't have "indoor voices."  They only have full volume.  Ugh.

Anyway, Dave will take Friday off, too, and we will continue to get stuff done outside.  Hopefully.

Have a good week, and happy Palm Sunday, if you celebrate it.

Singled out

 The upgraded hot tub is definitely smaller, but it's SO nice.... The material it's molded out of is really non-slip, which is important as we age, and as my bones are damaged by the cancer.

I've been in it three times already! I need to tweak the chemistry a bit more, though, as it is about a hundred gallons less water than the old tub.

In other news, this past week, my job pulled a fast one on me.  

Every week, when I get home from my office day, I go into my home office, and fire up my computer, which has been turned off since Friday.

When I did this on Monday afternoon, the computer would not connect, so I messaged my supervisor, who was still at work, and she put in a help desk ticket for me.

The I/T guy who called me first thing Tuesday morning, was clueless about why this might be happening.

After multiple calls, the I/T guy told me that my home office computer was dead/broken, and that he would have to come get it.

I disconnected the box, and had it ready when he arrived, so he would not have to come into my house.

He's a blatant Trumper, evangelical/fundamentalist, and conspiracy theorist...and I did not have time to put everything in my house away, or out of sight, before his arrival. 

Since I had already had my office day, and was scheduled to have the afternoon off for my oncologist appointment, I had to stay home.  

SO, I spent the rest of the morning hiding things, and preparing for the guy to come back.  I wasn't sure where all of the cords needed to be plugged into the new computer, so I had to allow him in upon his return. 

I messaged my boss, and asked her if I was going to be paid for these few hours, and she said I would have to either make up the lost hours, or use my vacation time!!  

THIS made me angry... needless to day.  

Anyway, when the I/T guy came back with my new computer, he had information that was not available first thing in the morning: 

The I/T department PLANNED this!!!

They told NO ONE, and they only did it to ME.  The I/T guy said it would be happening to everyone, as the new security requirements made it necessary.

HOWEVER, by the end of the day, everyone else in my department was told to bring their computers to the office to be replaced on their next office day. 

NOW, I was furious.... 

No one else had to be surprised like this, and no one else would have to use their hard-earned time off in order to get paid....

Anyway, he got the new unit hooked up, and then he had to sit right next to me, in the room where I keep 90% of my Pagan identity.... to get everything working.

Once again, EVERYTHING was wiped clean.... and now things work differently than they ever have, and I HATE IT.

I was pleased that my oncologist visit ran on time, and I was home by 2:30, so I clocked back in and worked until 5:00, to make up some of the time I had not been able to work, and would not be paid for otherwise.

It took most of the rest of the week to get things up and running, so to speak, and much of the changes are permanent.  

We are no longer allowed to save our log ins on the websites we use.  I use more websites than anyone else, so I have a three page print out (which I printed the first time they wiped everything clean, a few weeks ago).

Now, I have to manually type in my user name and password dozens of times a day.  Some of the websites "time out" and shut you out after a very short time, so I have to log into the same ones over and over.

We are also no longer able to PRINT anything that we keep in our Outlook folders, which is where I keep all of my passwords.  Needless to say, I am very grateful to myself for having the foresight to print that list last month!

This coming week, I will create a new document in WORD, and save it in my permanent drive, where I CAN update it, and print it, if I need to!

And, as if we are being punished, now we can't have nice pictures in the back ground on our monitors, either.  We are allowed plain blue.

I suppose I will get used to it, but this switch to a new "brain box" was REALLY poorly handled.  For ME, anyway... not for anyone else.

Anyway, it's been a lovely weekend.  Coolish weather, and some gentle rain yesterday.  

Today is sunny, so Dave can get out and clean up the mess left behind by the old hot tub being taken away.

There was a lot of rotted wood underneath it that he shoved off of the patio into the grass, and that needs to be cleaned up.

I am cooking my first ever corned beef today.  So far, so good.  I remember my mom's smelling AWFUL, but this one smells pretty good so far.   

I brined it for three days, and then boiled it twice this morning, before putting it in the slow cooker.

I will make Colcannon later on, and got swiss cheese, marble rye bread, and Thousand Island salad dressing, so I can make Reuben sandwiches with some of the left over beef!!

I'm not catholic, and only a small percentage of my family's ancestry is Irish, but I'm doing it anyway!

If you're celebrating today, have fun!

Spring is springing

 It's a bit earlier than usual, as I said last week, but there are new "usuals" in the world, when it comes to seasons and weather.

We, in most of the U.S., are forced to change our clocks this weekend, by losing an hour of sleep, in order to gain an hour of daylight in the evening.

Many of us hate this transition, Dave and I among them.  It serves no practical purpose.

So, it's suddenly nine o'clock, and we have to get showered and out the door to be at Costco when it opens at ten.

I am going to return that horrible vacuum, and we are going to pick up a few things, and then go out for brunch.

Our annual windfall has arrived in the bank, and we are making various improvements around the house.

I got a new set of pots and pans recently (donated the old set to the youth shelter, so they can have lots of equipment in their kitchen), and yesterday, we put a deposit down on a replacement hot tub for the patio.

The old one is on its last legs, leaking, and falling apart.

It's been our faithful companion for 11 years, and it's time to get a better (not bigger) one.

This coming week, Dave has scheduled estimators to come out and give us bids to continue the window replacement project.  We will have to finance that, of course.

I see the doctor on Tuesday. Actually, I will see the physician's assistant this time.  Just for my every-other treatment check in.

Have a good week!

Cookin'!

 It was in the 80s again yesterday, and will be again today.

The daffodils are in full bloom, and the flowering trees are blooming.  The irises are popping up, and the trees are putting out buds and leaves.

We didn't really have a winter, per se.  It's going to be in the 70s all this next week, with the potential for some MUCH needed rain by the end of the week.

Had a friend over last night for a cooking lesson, and I am pretty sure her dish turned out better than mine!  YAY!!

Today, some friends from California are passing through, and we will be cooking together, too!

SO, that being said, the house is pretty clean, having just had company a couple of weeks ago.... and maybe I can keep up with it better if I keep having company for dinner, HAHA!

Speaking of, my old Shark stick vacuum was pretty worn out, so I bought a new Bissell vacuum a few weeks ago.  I can't remember if I posted about it in my blog or not.

Anyway, that new one turned out to be awful, so we are going to take it back to Costco, and I have ordered a newer, bigger version of the one I used to have.

Let's hope THAT one does the job!

The Bissell has to have a different brush for the area rugs, so I have to change the brush every time I clean, and move from the hardwood and tile to the area rugs.  This was not made clear in the product description. I even had to purchase the area rug brush separately, because it did not come with the unit.

This vacuum also leaves clumps of cat hair, and dirt/litter, behind that I have to go after with the hand vac.

The bedroom area rug looks filthy, because our cats all have black fur, and I go over it at least twice, with the right brush, on the rug setting, every week.  

The light colored areas of the rug just look like I have not vacuumed at all.

I am sick of having to clean up after this thing, so BACK IT GOES.... 

The new Shark will arrive next Thursday, and we will take the Bissell back to the Costco warehouse on Sunday morning.

Same price and everything, so it's almost like making an exchange.  The refund for the Bissell will cover the cost of the Shark, so it should be a "wash" on my credit card.

Not much to report on for the past week.

My treatment went just fine, and I am feeling pretty good.  Seemed to have less of an issue with the steroids this time, which was most appreciated.

Tech issues at work continued to smooth out as last week went along.  Everything finally works again, but now they are forcing us to change all of our passwords, and our main password, every 60 days. Ugh.

No appointments next week, which is nice.

Hopefully, we will be getting out to walk.  We both need the exercise.

I am taking dance classes on line, since I will just be in the way if I go to class, at this point.

I won't be here for the show, so I can't really be in the staging aspect of class and rehearsal without screwing everything up.

Wishing you a good week, Gentle Readers!