Resolutions 2023 - eight month check

It's check-in time. One point a month for each resolution I've worked on. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll have 12 for completion. A score of 2 means I worked on it each month. 

• Paint my home space - My ceilings haven't been painted since we first moved in. My living room and my hallway need an overhaul. My bedroom could use it too, but that isn't as important as the first two. -  COMPLETED Score - 2

• Entice Tom to build my shelves to display my playing card collection - I collect playing cards. I need somewhere to display them, and Tom drew out plans for what I found on Etsy. He claims he can knock it out, "don't waste your money." Once I get the paint done, this comes next. -  I'm not sure how much enticing I did, but he has built them! They still need to be stained and hung, but technically, this job is complete! - COMPLETED Score - 2 

• Travel - Can't let those Wyndham points go to waste. - Too much happened this summer for me to get away. But my kids did.  - Score - 0 

• Lower my cholesterol - I retake it in May or June - Yes! I did it! But I'm keeping this resolution open since the bad is still high. I plan to retake it again by the end of the year. Still, technically, it is completed. Score - 2

• Exercise/Healthy eating habits - This goes with the above, but I do need to shed some weight for my own mental health, not to mention the flip side of the coin. - A bit here, a bit there - Exercised this summer in the pool - Score - 1

• Catch up on my blog - Writing has kept me from this. My readers are complaining. I need to catch up! - I am going to come home big here at the end! - Score 1

Total - 8 out of 12 - But two (and a half) completed!

The rest of summer birthdays

Last year, Oleg was sick on his birthday, and this year was no different. Due to illness, we had to celebrate it days later and without certain COVID-19-positive family members. 

Then, Maddy went down with a sinus infection. Next went Tom, so we couldn't celebrate his August birthday. Their illnesses lasted a solid two months. I had never heard so much coughing and sniffling in my life! I made them wear masks during their most severe days, and I moved into the guest room to avoid catching anything by sleeping with the hubby. 

Maddy fractured some ribs during her illness, lost her voice at one point, and had to teach using her iPhone's text-to-talk feature. The kids thought that was hilarious.

I represented our family during Brea's birthday celebration because the other two couldn't be around people. I've never done so much disinfecting, including during the pandemic, when I kept everyone indoors and away from germs. 

I dread to see what winter will bring.

Summer visitors

My SIL and my niece arrived Wednesday for a week. When Susan is here, she has a list. She wants to hit her favorite restaurants, has to see the beach and the sunset at least once, and must have her picture taken with any palm trees. 

She got three in the first full day. 

This time, my niece had a list. She loves exploring coffee shops, and she loves foxes, and she'd found this place in Cortez that had both. So, on Friday, we took a road trip.

The weather was lovely, and the drive was under two hours long. The Fox Mercantile was super cute. Upon entrance is the shop. It sells homewares, local jewelry, and other accessories, usually with a fox theme. A small coffee/tea area with small snacks is at the back of the shop, and there is an outdoor area with native plants and trees for a tropical oasis vibe, scented by fragrant jasmine vines. 

We sat out there with our coffee. The owner was friendly, and Gabs got some nice stuff.

From there, we ventured downtown and had breakfast, and heading home, we stopped in downtown St. Petersburg, where we wandered and had tea at another little coffee shop Gabs wanted to visit. 

It was a lovely day, and for us, something new.

Repair job 1,456

We need to redo our kitchen. It's been on the list for some time, and we had gotten estimates at one point. But two kids were in college, then the pandemic came, and it all fell by the wayside. But our mauve (need I say more) formica is detaching from the wall, the cabinet doors break, and Tom has repaired the pull-out garbage can several times.

When it broke again, he shrugged and said we'd have to live with it. This break was the worst. Before, the can either didn't pull out far enough or it was hard to push in. In this break, the damn thing just fell every time we used it--right on our toes. 

After a few days of this, I decided I was fixing it. Blog readers and family know I had a dad who repaired everything. We rarely called in an expert because my dad was one. A few days before he died, I called him about a repair job in my home. 

He was the man.

I have his genes. Plus, I spent a lot of time watching him work. That was more interesting to me than cooking in the kitchen. 

So, I set about repairing it. The garbage can sits inside an encasement that slides into a hole in the cabinetry. I pulled the encasement out to assess the situation but got distracted cleaning the recess. It was gross. That took considerable time, and I had to crawl into it, which meant getting on my hands and knees. 

In there, I found the issue. The encasement runs on a track, and the track had pulled away from the sides--multiple times, by the look of things. The screws were goners, sliced in half, and worthless, so I hunted for new screws in the garage. It's a little bigger than a one-car garage and organized by Tom's hand, meaning I'm clueless. But I found screws, retrieved the electric drill, and worked inside the hole. Madison wandered into the kitchen.

Maddy: "What is happening?"

Me: "I'm putting an asshole on a hobby horse."

See? I even talk like my dad.

Maddy: "Oh, good, because I can't tell you how many times that can has fallen on my foot. Do you want some help?"

I did. She's young. She can get down on the tile floor, and she did. It wasn't easy. We needed the drill to start the holes, and we switched out the electric screwdriver for a manual, which I did before turning over the electric screwing to Madison.  

We had to do it three times. The first time was a smidge off, and the can closed but needed a firm hand. We opted to try again. It was too high the second time, and we had to unscrew and start again.

Me: "You should put that screw somewhere safe so you won't lose it. That's something your dad is always telling me."

Maddy: "I'm putting it right here next to me."

Me: "That's not exactly safe. I had my screws in a bowl."

Maddy: "And I have mine here next to me." 

Okay, I let her be. Instead, I washed the garbage can, stopped to assist Maddy for a minute, returned to it, finished it, and dried it. Something was poking me in my slipper, and I took it off and shook it out. 

You see where I'm going, don't you? God, I love foreshadowing. 

Maddy: "Where's the screw?"

Me: "What screw? The one I told you to put someone safe?"

Maddy: "Yes. Did you take it?"

Me: "I did not."

She found another one in the garage and returned to drilling. Since we were near the end, I began cleaning up the materials.

Me: "Dammit! Something is in my slipper. I can't see a thing, but I feel it every time I put it on and walk."

Yep. 

I couldn't stop laughing. Because if you knew my dad, this is precisely the stuff that happened to him when he did repair jobs.

I learned well at the master's knee. 

We finished and didn't tell Tom. He found out when he pulled out the can to throw something away. He was thrilled, if not a bit judgmental.

Pfft.

And another leaves the nest

August started with a bang. Oleg's mom had a health scare that required calling an ambulance, and she was hospitalized for several days. I had the weird eye/tooth thing. By the middle of this month, anxiety was a daily thing in my life.

It was a relief to be active. Sydney moved into her USF dorm yesterday, and her mother and I led the charge. The day was hot and sunny. We got a rain shower that lasted for minutes, and it was humid. Perfect weather for moving furniture. 

Having done this more recently than SueG, I knew to go first to the volunteer tent and score some college kids with a bin. They were standing under the tent, waiting.

Me: "Who wants us? We have a shit ton of stuff, but we're fun with a capital F."

Immediately, a girl named Moe threw up her hand.

Moe: "We got you!"

She and her female counterpart pulled the bin to the car, and I got her story. She, too, was a freshman but had volunteered to move into the dorm early, avoiding today's fuss. I liked her immediately, and boy, could this girl haul ass. 

She climbed into the van and lifted, pushed, and pulled furniture. She loaded and organized things into the bin and directed us, giving me pillows to carry and Sydney suitcases. It took them three trips to get everything into the room, and we laughed and entertained both girls so much that they were sorry when they had to move on to someone else.

Alex and Sydney's dad appeared and were given building jobs. The roommate and her mother and grandmother arrived. Sydney and I moved furniture. I made the bed, and SueG and I unpacked suitcases and hung clothes. We had the room looking damn good in record time, and then we sent the men home, went out to eat, and then shopped for all the things Darcy had listed that Sydney needed. 

I kept commenting about how we'd see her at Thanksgiving, and I'd fake cry. Both of them claim they are not emotional, and while that's 75 percent true, there is that 25 percent. However, once it was time to go, I did not expect either of them to cry.

And they did.

One minute, they were at the van door saying goodbye, while I paid scant attention, more focused on my missed phone message, and then the next minute, I looked up, and both were crying. 

Me: "What? Are you crying? OMG, are you two crying?"

SueG: "Maybe."

Ah, the empty nest. I know it well. Good luck, kiddo. Happy adventures!

Do your homework!

Weird medical stuff

For two weeks, my right eye has bothered me when reading. It's as if something is blocking part of my vision, sometimes blurring it. I let it go, thinking it would resolve itself, but then I discovered something odd on the right side of my mouth under my upper gum. I immediately went down the traumatic rabbit hole of all the horrible things it could be, and then I called my dentist and eye doctor. 

The dentist saw me immediately. He wasn't overly concerned, but he suggested I see an endodontist and made an appointment that day. I hung around Starbucks, worrying until it was time, and had the cone beam computed tomography (CBCT image), where the scanner rotated around my head, obtaining distinct images. I've had this once before when I needed a root canal, and I loved that endodontist. But he retired, so I waited for the new guy to appear to tell me one of the many things I feared. 

Endo Guy: "The images are perfect. I'm not concerned."

I liked him. He believes it is a bone, an exostosis, and it's common. Truthfully, it may have always been there. How can I be expected to remember stuff at my age? I told him I was worried because it was on the same side as my weird eye issue. He said sinus stuff can cause weird things, but this wasn't that.

Endo Guy: "You're cured."

I could also see a periodontist, but I've decided not to worry about this anymore. 

I wanted to see the ophthalmologist who did my cataract surgery, but the appointment lady didn't even consider him, instead giving me a newbie optometrist because mine, whom I'd seen recently, was on vacation. Great.

She was not helpful, although they did retinal imaging to rule out a detached retina. She gave me another thorough eye exam, told me to purchase an eye wash, use warm compresses and eye drops, and she'd see me in four weeks. She also took out her hair clip, flipped her head upside down, gathered her hair into a ponytail, and rewound it to attach it with the clip she held in her teeth. All while talking to me.

I tried to make that next appointment with my regular eye guy, but he had another vacation scheduled. Jeez.

I did everything she told me to do, and by the time I went back, it was more blurry than blocking, and I could get rid of it by looking to the left before it would reappear. And it wasn't a steady thing like it had been. She gave me some doctor speak about it being an aging thing with the fluid in the back of my eye and took another retinal image. 

In essence, live with it. 

As I do with all my other ailments. 

That is good enough for now. I've decided not to worry.