From happiness to saying BOOOO

 The cabins at Osage Hills State Park are PERFECT!  They even have ALL DISHES, UTNESILS, POTS AND PANS!!!! A BATH TUB, and NO TV!! 

We REALLY enjoyed the cabin, with the real fireplace, and an actual kitchen.  The firewood is only $5 a bundle, and it's PERFECTLY dry and seasoned (not wet, and half rotted, like the stuff we got at Greenleaf the last time).

We looked around the cabin area, and determined that we would try to rent cabin #1 for Thanksgiving, but.... the moment I tried to book ANY of their cabins, all dates for Thanksgiving were booked already.  

BOOOO!

So, we will go back to Robbers Cave again this year, and we got the cabin (which, coincidentally, is their cabin #1) that we WANTED for last year.  

It's NOT been "updated" inside, so it's still got the warm wood paneling, and actual cabinets in the kitchen.  

While they did close all of the real fireplaces, at least this cabin is not all white, lacking character, and sterile inside, like the one we had last year. It's also at the end of the road, so there should not be cars coming and going at all hours.

Weirdly, it costs more because they call it a "specialty cabin" due to it NOT being renovated.  What the hell ever.

It's booked for us.

Maybe I can get on the website for Osage Hills early enough to get a cabin there for 2027.

A friend suggested we go on a different weekend, but that sort of defeats the purpose of escaping the "black Friday" frenzy in the media.  

We go away to a place where we aren't tempted to turn on a tv, or to scroll the internet, and be inundated with hundreds of "BUY THIS NOW" ads, etc. 

In other news, we got our covid boosters on Friday, and mine hurt REALLY intensely when she gave the injection.  

I felt a weird "thump" or dull "pop," like the needle poked into something other than the muscle.  It left a bruise, and my shoulder started to really hurt within an hour of getting the shot.

I tried ice, and ibuprofen.  The ice helped while it was on the spot, but as soon as I put the ice back in the freezer, the pain was back.  The ibuprofen only took the edge off.

Anyway, that was the only side effect, and, though it hurt quite badly yesterday, it feels better today.  

I was able to sleep last night.  Though it still hurts to touch, and to lie on, it's not as intense.

Dave had no issues other than a slightly sore arm.

Our Covid immunity will be boosted by the time we go to Chicagoland.

Some little green things are popping up in the gardening boxes!  Beets and radishes are sprouting, and one of the herbs (I don't remember where I put which herb seeds, so I am not sure which herb is sprouting).

The little tomato plant is twice the size it was when I put it in the soil, so it's happy.

We are back in an extreme drought.  The rain we got for a couple of weekends is long soaked down and dried up, with none in the forecast.

This is supposed to be the rainy season down here, and this does not bode well.

It's reminding me of the year (2015) our water supply lake went virtually dry, and the water came out of the faucets stinking of algae.

Next week, I will get my labs drawn on Tuesday, and have my bi-monthly bone treatment on Thursday.

Scans, and doctor, are scheduled for June.

I've been markedly less active since finishing the wellness study, and have already gained 2 pounds back so, this coming week, I hope to get us out walking in the mornings, and get back on the pedal machine at little, too.

I HAVE done some yoga and strength training, but not as much, and certainly not the level of cardio I was doing during the study...and I do not like seeing these pounds returning!

I will get a head start on that by mowing the back yard today, before it gets too hot out.   I'll do some strength training after that.

Have a great week!