Monday was a very Monday Day

Monday morning, as I was leaving for work I pulled the door shut behind me and realized right as the door clicked shut that my keys were still inside my house. We don't have a keypad on our door lock, so I was well and truly stuck.  

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I had left a kitchen window unlocked.  Thankfully, this was not the one over the kitchen sink.  That one is a tighter fit, and the last time I climbed through that window, I barely got through.

I pulled a lawn chair over to the window, and I got myself part way through when I lost purchase on the chair and I was hanging at a tipping point, not able to go in or out.  I had visions of Winnie the Pooh in his Honey Tree.  Fortunately, there was more than enough wiggle room, I just needed to get past the tipping point.  Somehow, I managed to pull my left leg through the window - I looked a little like I was riding a horse, except that my horse was a window sill.   I finally managed to hitch myself the rest of the way in through the window.  Even on the inside of the house, it's still a bit of a drop from the window to the floor.  But, I got in.  I was a mess, and had to run and change clothes before I grabbed my keys and left for work.

Where was the cat?  Glad you asked.  As soon as I stuck my head through the window, she took off for parts unknown and wasn't seen again until I got home from work Monday night.

I got in the car, and the engine refused to turn over.  This was NOT the morning for this nonsense!

I ran back into the house, grabbed the keys to the OTHER car, it turned on and off I went.  I noticed as I was sitting at the light to get out of our neighborhood that the Low Gas light was on.  According to the range display on the car, I had 11 miles of gas left.  I work 8 miles away from home.  And I didn't have time to stop for gas on the way in without being late.

I got to work - with 1 minute to spare, and 3 miles worth of gas left in the tank.  

That moment felt a little like the scene in the Blues Brothers, where they are sitting in the car getting ready to go to Chicago.  I did have my sunglasses on.  No half pack of cigarettes since I don't smoke... but you get the idea. 

Oh, and the leg I pulled through behind me?  I've got a bruise that runs down my shin from my knee to my ankle, and it turns out that I skinned my shin half way down on the brick. So, it was not a flawless entrance by any means. 

The car is at the mechanic.  Wouldn't you know, husband got into the car Monday night and it started up with no problem at all.  Fortunately (for me) the mechanic couldn't get it to start yesterday morning. So no, I'm not losing my mind. Not today, anyway. Even better? Husband carpools to work. This was not his week to drive, so I have a car that I can use until the CRV gets fixed. 

Crazy, crazy start to the week. 

Random Pictures

 As I was heading out earlier this week, I had to stop in a parking lot to get this beautiful picture of the sunrise!  I didn't use a filter on this at all! 

Hydrangeas as the Farmer's Market for Easter!

The oldest child's graduation tailgate in the parking lot!

Sparkling Cider and Ginger Snaps!

Do we know how to party, or what?

I know you can't see it, but trust me - there's a Pileated Woodpecker in this shot - just to the right of the hole in the tree with her nest. It's about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the frame.  This tree is just outside of our carport.

Life as a cat is so difficult.  She absolutely loves fleece blankets.

I stopped at the reservoir to eat my breakfast on the way into work this morning. (Oatmeal in a travel mug.)  I don't know if you can see the goose and her gosling?  They are hiding down around the bottom of the big trees on the left.

Glorious sunrise! I pulled off to the right to take this picture.  (Just so you know I don't take pictures while I'm driving. I find a safe spot to pull over and THEN I take the picture!)

Husband and I went out to a big, fancy restaurant for dinner. This is our big, fancy meal. I wish I remember what it was.... the restaurant is a farm to table restaurant and you eat what the chef makes that day - and he makes what he can find at the market that morning.  Good food!

The High Cost of... EVERYTHING

I'm sure you've noticed the absolutely phenomenal cost of everything from milk to gasoline. It seems like you go to the store on Sunday, realize you forgot something for dinner on Monday night, stop in at the grocery store on your way home to pick it up, and the price has gone up overnight by a dollar.

Years ago when I started this blog, I was a stay at home mom with three kids and we were living on one income.  Much of that older content was about cooking from scratch and the other things that we did in order to save money and cut corners.

It's time to get back to my *blog* roots.

I'm going to take one day a week to post on what to do to save money.  While I'm not saving hundreds of dollars at the store, I'm saving dollars, and over the course of a year those dollars add up to hundreds of dollars.

If you're willing to play along, I'll be posting a tip (or two) on Thursday.

Together, we've got this. 

So Many Things Have Happened

 I don't even know where to start.  

My Mom is still with us. It's been 3 months since she entered Hospice Care. She's lost all mobility, and she is eating minimal amounts of food. But most days, her mind is still sharp as a tack. Yesterday, she was telling us that she was going to get a pair of crutches and "walk right on out of that place". We tried to let her know that using a walker was easier than crutches, but she is adamant that she is going to walk right on out.  My sister finally gave up attempting to reason with her and told her "Just remember to put your pants on before you leave."

Oldest son has graduated with his PhD.  He defended his thesis back in December, but he finally got to walk across the stage and get hooded earlier this month! So once that happened, his PhD was retroactively applied back to his defense date in December.  But, he wasn't officially a PhD until graduation.  Go figure?  He's had a job in his field. It was offered to him in November, and he started after he successfully defended his thesis.  So now, all 3 of the kids are offically launched!

Covid.  After 2 1/2 years of feeling like I was playing a crazy game of Dodge Ball, I finally got covid.  It wasn't fun. I felt like I had the flu. My throat was on fire.  (En Fuego!)  I woke up the first morning I had symptoms and said to myself "Wow, I feel like I just had a covid sho.... oh ****." One at home covid test later confirmed my suspicions. That was a very boring week of not going anywhere or doing anything.

House repairs and improvements...

The house is full of black mold, lead paint, and asbestos floor tiles. We're moving out soon and then the house will be stripped back to the studs. As long as they're taking everything out, we're going to have them add some extra square footage and make the house "make sense".

Did I mention that all of our stuff has to be out of the house?  We are cleaning it out like crazy people. We've given a lot to the "ill" sisters - Goodwill and Landfill.  Can you believe that I found a paperback first edition of the Handmaids Tale in the basement? What am I going to do with that? I don't feel like I can throw it out.   

And there is the even larger question - where are we going to live for the six months that it takes to fix all of this?

There's more.  Oh, so much more. But that's the stuff that's been dominating our lives lately.

I'll write more when I get a chance. Thanks for checking in!