Monday-6:15am

Was a gorgeous day yesterday!! And supposed to have more of the same for a couple of days. Have had the place wide open, day and night, nice breeze (of course--it's North Dakota), cool at night and not too hot during the day--ahhh!!! Been spending time on the porch writing bookcards and reading.

This was the view yesterday from the porch.

Couldn't ask for a better day!

Supposed to have more of the same for a couple more days, too. I will be taking advantage of it.

Jennifer posted a picture of her embellished cover on the journal she made when she was over. You can see it here:

http://jenifleur-de-lis.blogspot.com/

I am planning on getting back to the second secret project today. :)

It might not be so peaceful, I suppose. We got a notice that the construction company is starting repairwork on the roofs and siding on both buildings today. I am in building A--they are starting on building B.

Nobody has been here yet about the leaking from the bedroom window. It stopped on its own. ??? Hasn't been leaking in the subsequent rain. Odd. I told the maintenance man when I saw him outside last week. Probably why I haven't seen anybody. No rush on mine any more. :)

Anyways, the construction company was also supposed to go around and put that seal around each of the windows in both buildings. I haven't heard anything going on or seen any vehicles--but then I haven't really been looking. Karma probably knows. She's always spying out the windows--her Cat TV. Sometimes I wish she spoke English--hehe!

Have a good one!

Sunday-11am

This is the new car Dagan and Leah got--in a silver color.

http://www.nissanusa.com/versa/

It is soooo cute--has a lot of room inside for a small car! They love it!

I finished the first secret project (can't post anything until after mailed in July)--but I am so happy and excited to be done! :) Now I can get on with the second secret project--hehe!

Leah made a card, Dagan worked on my laptop, Leah made cupcakes, and we watched a couple Netflix movies. They left around midnight. I didn't get to bed until 1:30am. Tired but happy--so this is it for today--short and sweet. :)

Saturday-6:15am

Good Morning!

My goodness! Lots of excitement yesterday! Since Dagan and Leah have two older cars and no car payments--and if they file bankruptcy their payment will be based on their expenses--and since they will probably be paying for five years on a bankruptcy and will certainly need a car before five years--and since they have been talking about getting another car anyways, because the Paseo won't last forever--they got another car! They need good transportation up here, since the bus system isn't the best (I can attest to that!! Majority of the buses don't even run past 6pm!)

Dagan called about 8:15pm last night--won't tell me anything about the car. Says I have to wait to see it. (I probably couldn't picture it if they told me, to be honest---hehe! I know so little about cars.) They would have come and showed it to me last night, but I was fading away at the time--ready to crash. [Was in bed by 9pm! Still on this "early to bed, early to rise" schedule--wonder if it will make me healthy, wealthy, and wise? No--that's "makes a man", right? hehe!] Anyways, Dagan and Leah will come over this afternoon and show it to me. Another big worry taken care of. :)

And--they told me--hold on to your seats--I can keep the Paseo here and drive the Paseo! I would have a car!! It would be good for just around town here. I could get to my doctor's appointents and such--by myself again! Wow! I am still absorbing this!

Dagan bought the little red Paseo for like $3,000.00 back around 2001 maybe? I can't remember how old it is. Still runs well. Would have been practically worthless as a trade in. Wow! I am overwhelmed!!!

Guess this means I have to finish cleaning the garage and call for a donation pick up! Dagan and Leah will help me, they said. Wow! I need to make room for a car!!! :)

Friday-7:30am

First of all, before I get into Karma and the Treat Game--Leah has added more pictures to the Picasa album. You can see all the pictures they took of the house and read all Leah's comments along the way. There are examples of more shoddy workmanship, but if you scroll down you can see the last and final fiasco they had to deal with--water in the basement! OMG! I didn't realize it was sooo bad!

But then, after all the pictures of the house--Leah has all the pictures she just took of the new townhouse. They have to wait until the first of July to move, BTW. Can't get in this weekend. Oh well, it will definitely be worth waiting for!

Here's the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/leahmcgregor/McGregorManor

Okay--Miss Karma and the "treat game". Warning! Those of you who dislike/hate cats or are bored with people's "cute" animal/baby/children stories--spare yourself the torture--stop right here and go no further. For the rest of you or even the mildly curious--read on--hehe!

This is what the endtable looks like next to my chair. I always have scratch paper pads, jars of pens, the remotes, and a coffee mug or water thermos nearby.

The top drawer holds Karma's treats, which I transfer to jars.
Now, she had completely forgotten about them (me, too) for over a year! I remembered them a month or so ago--and Miss Karma has become obsessed with the new treat game. I take treats and throw them here and there around the apartment--make her run and search--from the porch door to the kitchen. In the past, I just handed her a couple--no thrills, no excitement--no wonder she forgot about them--hehe!

But playing the treat game--well, it was getting to the point where she'd rather eat the treats than her dry food. (So much more fun, right?) Saying no to Karma when she has her mind set on something --- well, she's a character and I'm kind of like a bad grandmother. She cracks me up and I let her get away with things I would never have let my other cats do. I made the mistake of laughing and giving her the treats when she did the following--and there was no going back!

First, Karma sits right under the treat drawer and stares at me. She usually does this at night. Not too often during the day.
If I do not respond to her "polite" entreaty, the next thing will be a paw whipping up to wipe the scratch pads onto the floor!

If I tell her no or ignore her--then she starts seriously threatening to swipe other things off the endtable!

She has discovered, by trial and error, which items would keep me chuckling (an empty coaster, a pen, or the remotes) and would eventually get the treat game started--and which items would really upset me and were off limits (the coffee mug, water thermos, my pen cups) and game would be over before it started--and she would also be out of luck for a day or two until she was off my list--hehe!

But the treats are too rich (too many can make her barf), not to mention too expensive. I tried taking her regular dry food, putting it in a jar, and pretending it was a treat. She can smell the difference! When I was out of treats and trying to pawn off her own food on her--well, she would sit on the side of the endtable (where a getaway would be much easier), glaring at me, and that paw would come up between the pen cups--just threatening to pull my pens off--over and over again!! Just to annoy me! She never actually made a move to swipe off the pen cups--just would lay her paw up there and glare at me like a defiant toddler. We were not on good terms when there were no real treats and no treat game--chuckle!

So, I went to PetSmart to find some kind of dry cat food that she hadn't had in her food dish. This was not an easy task, because I buy up several kinds and mix them all together in this big tub. I did find a couple bags she hadn't had before--Eukanuba and Whiskas!

Now normally, if I have some left over parts of bags that won't fit into her tub, I can leave them sit on the floor in the pantry and she doesn't pay any attention to them. But her excellent sniffer told her these were different--and she was constantly in there pawing at the bags and pushing them around the pantry floor! She sure does have a good sniffer! (She can tell the difference between regular cat food and the diet stuff, too--hehe! She'll eat it eventually--but the diet kibbles will be the last ones in the bowl. And they are mixed all together--so she can sniff them out!)

I finally had to find some containers and jars and put it all of both those bags up and away on the shelves in the pantry. So--this idea worked really well! She believes they are treats because they smell different. And I have treats to last a long, long time--and yet it is just regular cat food--hehehe! We are both happy. I just have to remember to never buy these and forget and mix them in her regular cat food bin--hehe!

I took it easy yesterday. Pretty sore. Better today. They're supposed to be coming to look at the windows--had a notice on the door for yesterday (9am-5pm), but they never came. So probably today. Had thunderstorms early this morning--but it looks like it has stopped raining. Got to go get decent in case they come early. :)

Thursday-6am

Pictures of Dagan and Leah's new townhouse! I could only fit 17 pictures on my camera and it was full. Leah took some more, so I can show more when I get those--but this is what I got. That's Dagan and Leah's car in the driveway.

Their door is the one to the right of the car. The double garage is completely finished off inside.
This is the entryway and closet. [Note: What you can't see--to my immediate left is the door to the garage and behind me is the front door.] You go straight ahead and to the left are some stairs up to the living room and kitchen--and the stairs down to the lower level.
Here's the living room--has a fireplace! Leah was taking pictures at the same time--hehe!

Big windows and a nice size deck off the sliding glass doors. There's Dagan giving a thumb's up! Gorgeous view!!!

It is beautiful and amazingly peaceful outside--considering they are still pretty close to the freeway. Can't hear the traffic as well because of all the trees. This is the direct view off the deck.

This is the view to the right--the Sheyenne River is back in the trees there, so they won't ever have neighbors back here!

This is to the left--still sodding. It is just beautiful back there! They will definitely use this deck! Hopefuly they'll have nice neighbors.

This shot is from inside the sliding glass doors. Nice large kitchen.

Here you can see the stairs from the entryway to the left and the stairs to the top level in the center.

Upstairs there is a bedroom to the right.

And the master bedroom to the left.

The master bedroom has a walk-in closet.

And here's the bathroom.

We walked downstairs--and all I got was the laundry room with the furnace and waterheater. Ran out of room on the camera.

But there is another bedroom with a bathroom and a den-like room, too, on the lower level. They picked up their mail key last night--already getting their mail sent there. (Had a Netflix movie--hehe!) They might be able to move in on Friday!

When we were inside, it looks pretty much done--mostly clean up left to do. All the carpeting is laid now. They need to stain the deck yet. But the staining has to wait until it has been dry long enough for the wood to be dry and then that it will stay dry long enough for the stain to dry. Been so rainy this spring--as everybody well knows who has had to deal with the flooding, etc. We have been lucky!

I couldn't get over all the trees in this new neighborhood! They must have left as many trees as they could and paid to buy larger trees to plant, too. Has a very homey, residential feel to the development. They will be very happy there, I think.

We went on to quickly shop a couple of places (one I can't tell you because it is related to the secret projects I am working on right now--hehe!). But the other one was PetSmart--for Miss Karma. Can't remember if I told you about Karma and her treats? Well, maybe tomorrow, okay? :)

Then Dagan and Leah treated me to Red Lobster! [I had our popcorn shrimp, Mary Lou!! Haven't been to a Red Lobster since I was there with you in Minneapolis many years ago, now. They are still delicious little things!] I have another meal still in the frig for today--with rice pilaf and broccoli--yummy!

Then we came back here. Dagan ordered me a disc from Dell for my laptop. One didn't come with it for reprogramming it, I guess. They went back to the little house for sale they are staying in. Hopefuly they just might be moving this weekend! It would be perfect timing. Leah is not on duty for the second job this weekend. I am saying a prayer that they can move in. :)

I was in bed by 9pm. :) Those of you who know me well must be getting a kick out of me being on this schedule--hehe! Anyways, after all the walking and stair climbing--will be taking it easy today. Thank goodness for these new pain pills! I could take one before I left yesterday--and do all that walking and not be limping and in pain--until today--chuckle!! They are very good for when I am out and about. Wonderful, in fact. Take the edge off. I will have to tell my doctor that when I see him next month. I'm on an R&R day--hope you are having a good day, too.

Wednesday-5:30am

Well, for as crummy as I felt when I got up yesterday--it all seemed to subside to a very tolerable level within about five hours and I actually got quite a bit done yesterday on one of my secret projects--tada! (Eventually I will post a lot of pictures on the whole process--let you know what I have been up to--hehe!)

I am still going to bed really early and getting up really early--greeting the sun. :) Today I am supposed to call Dagan around 4pm and let him know how I am feeling and if I am up to a quick shopping trip and seeing their new place. Since I missed the opportunity last week, I am hoping this will be a better day for it. And if we do go over to the unfinished townhouse, I hope to have pictures to post tomorrow. :)

In the meantime--back to the secret projects today.....

Tuesday-5am

I tried to leave the windows open yesterday. But it got uncomfortably hot in here and I finally had to relent and turn on the AC.

I had a bad headache yesterday--right side of head really stuffed up. Woke up this morning and I'm dizzy. I think my ear is plugged up, too. If it doesn't get better in a day or so, I suppose I'll have to go in to the doctor. Might have sinusitis, I suppose--have had that before. I'll be taking it easy today. :)

Update: 10am

Much less dizzy and headache not as bad now. Feeling markedly better than when I woke up. :) And the AC is on already--hehe!

Monday-5am

Karma was in no mood to be disturbed yesterday. She had been sitting looking out the open window, appreciating the beautiful day--I went to get a picture of her and she immediately acknowledged I was there and she sounded a little peeved. She does this thing where she throws her head back and talks to me--a cat over-the-shoulder greeting type of thing. If you add tail flicking to it and that tone in her voice.....

She was annoyed. I maybe scared off a fly on the screen--or just plain ruined her meditative state. Doesn't she look sad. She left in disgust.

Found herself a secret place to have a nap (under the bed) where I wouldn't intrude. She was in a much better mood after her nap--chuckle!

Funny--she does the same throwing the head back thing when she is all lovey-dovey and wants to cuddle with me. She talks away and purrs. Part of the head tossing thing then is she wants to be scratched and petted--trying to charm me into obliging her.

Cats! Gotta love em'!

Sunday-8am

Another cool, sunny morning!

The temperature climbs and I end up having to put the AC on, but beautiful first summer days.

Been busy with the secret project. Watched the last episodes of Ballykissangel yesterday. Not quite as good toward the end because too many of the main characters had left the show. The next series I will be renting is an old one from 1971--Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson. I think I watched it many years ago. But right now I am watching The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. I'm taking a break--can only sit in the same position for so long--but it is really good so far. I seem to be on an English streak lately, don't I? hehe!

Such a calm, bright morning with the birds singing and the swallows diving in the wind...it is nice to be on days again. :)

Saturday-8:45am

Sunny morning. Was cooler, but it's heating up already with the morning sun beating in the windows. Supposed to be another AC day in the 80s. :)

I've been busy working on one of the secret projects since yesterday afternoon. Stayed up straight thru the day and was in bed at 7pm! Slept till 3am--that's close enough to being on days for me--hehe! I watch episodes of Ballykissangel from Netflix and work sessions on the project. Finally getting things done again. I hope to be done with this particular project by the end of the coming week.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Friday-11:45am--Cogitation on positives and hidden blessings

I was thinking lately about how my life has changed. I mean once you get past the obvious differences--health, transportation, finances--how it has been altered for the better. When you have days (occasionally weeks) where you can be basically non-funtional due to pain or exhaustion or both, you have plenty of time to think and be observant of change. And recently my "optimism" and "positive thinking" has been brought to my attention by several people--hehe! (Thank you all!)

Some of you may remember Karen--met her when I was at MSUM. Karen helped Leah and I with the Everything's Handmade craft business we tried a few years ago. Karen would bring our crafts to her work's annual craft fair they have before Christmas. Anyways, her boss was writing an article on chronic pain for their newsletter--it's a family health center--and Karen said she thought of me. She called and asked me if her boss could interview me--sure. We connected on the phone and chatted for quite a while. Was fun! People seem surprised at how happy I am, I guess. That I have such a "positive attitude".

Made me think about why--and how I feel now vs. when I had been so depressed about being forced to quit college, losing my apartment in Moorhead, and worried about where I was going to live. BUT--students and teachers back then still told me I was positive and always laughing. ?? (They should see me now! hehe!)

Granted, I am especially happy right now due to the fact that Dagan and Leah won't be tied for years to that dreadfully constructed house and I feel like a fountain of joy--but I have noticed that I have changed a lot these past few years from dealing with all the health issues. It was very hard at first to deal with losing my independence--to have my body take over and totally control my life--in major life's path ways and even in the smaller matters of daily living. I had to learn acceptance of this new, limited body--to see myself differently in the physical world, I guess. Wasn't quick or easy to change my self-image, but you can't fight it forever--hehe! Well, you can, but it makes life a pretty miserable trip.

I think a huge part of how I deal with life--good and bad--is that I really have always believed that everything happens for a reason--long before I had a broader view of what those reasons might be--hehe! When I was young I thought that I must have been a really bad and horrible person in past lives and I was just getting what I deserved--so I needed to learn how to go through all these things in my life as positively as I could. Basically, I still believe that is probably true--hehe! But I am not so hard on myself about the past lives. :)

I was much more black or white in my younger days. The older I get, the more I see grey, zebra stripes, and polka dots--hehe! I think I always thought there was positive and negative in everything--but I had to search harder for the positives and used to feel I was drowning in the negatives at times. The more I realized that happiness is a choice one makes, the easier traveling through life has become. I say traveling through because life itself never gets any easier--hehe! But it is not what happens to you in life--it is how you live through it, right?

As the years have gone by and the events have occured and the lessons were learned the hard and slow way--I have finally gained some perspective over time, I guess. Okay, I still believe that the good and bad--the black and white--the postive and negative--they are always there--all the time--in everything and everybody. The hardest thing for me to learn was that the "bad" (the negatives--the traumas--the pain--the sorrow--the failures--the horror) is also a gift--a blessing in disguise. Not just something to flee, to endure, to crawl away from, or try to rise above--but to embrace. In fact, most all the monumental, important lessons are learned because of those very negative things! Very likely couldn't be learned any other way. I feel like I have been learning this lesson my whole life. I have weak areas that I still panic over (like my "losing the roof over the head" fear), but I am sooo much better than I was. And (interesting to me) the less I have allowed that fear to control me, the longer I have stayed in one place and the quicker I find a new one when needed.

Funny--the more I am able to embrace my dark side, the lighter I become! :) The more I face my flaws, weaknesses, blame, participation, and responsibility in all aspects of my life--the more contented I become. It is all wrapped up in forgiveness--of myself and others. And the more I stop fighting against and judging the negatives in myself and others--the more I react with love and forgiveness--the freer I feel. This has been a long process--my own personal spiritual path. (I am 57 years old and I remember my first spiritual crisis was when I was five years old.) I have made more significant progress the past 15 years--especially these past few years as my health totally declined. So, probably the biggest spiritual gift I have been given recently has been all my physical limitations! (Before that--it was Dagan and all of his health issues. He has been a blessing in my life in so many ways I cannot count them all!) And it continues--into my next life--hehe!--till I get it right. :)

So--where was I going with all of this rambling? I was thinking how these past several days, when I have been in a basically non-functional stretch again, I have been feeling sooooo peaceful, contented, grateful, and blessed. This is a common occurance for me the past few years here in Fargo. :) Even tho I might not be able to "do" that much these days, I can just "be", you know? My life has taken on this kind of living meditation most of the time--like carrying a smile in my chest. True--it might be because I don't have to deal with the rest of humanity much--hehe! I only leave the apartment once or twice a month--can pick and choose my visitors--and the same with the people I chat with online or write letters to. :) I have always enjoyed my own company--luckily!! I can still enjoy my arts and crafts--reading--writing--well, here and there anyways--when my body allows it--hehe! :) I can still learn new things--connect with people--have people and a cat I love. I can slowly accomplish things--but even when I can't, I can always work on my soul. And what is more important than that? :)

Thursday-5:15am

Best laid plans--hehe! First of all, my body wasn't cooperating with what my mind wanted to do last night. And then it turned out Dagan and Leah tried to bring their friends over to see the new place before they came over here and couldn't get in to see it anyways. The lady from the office wasn't there and they don't have a key yet, of course. My shopping was small and could wait, so we'll try again next week.

Dagan and Leah came over and we had a wonderful evening, tho. :) Leah was baking away. Dagan didn't have the right software to fix the laptop and will try again next week. (Was just a night where things were postponed in general--chuckle!) Leah drove Dagan home around midnight. She just left about half an hour ago--with bags of bread and ice cream pails full of cookies!

Was a good night! You can tell we are all relieved they will be out from under that house--come hell or high water, as they say. I don't think any of us realized what a weight this has been. :):)

The sun is coming up. Supposed to rain later. I'll be going to bed here pretty soon. Poor Leah is going to be tired working today. She was getting a lot done on her laptop during the night, tho. Getting a leg up. :) Was so nice just hanging out together last night--all of us. Laughing often again. The birds are singing. Life is good!

Wednesday-8:30am

Going to catch a few hours of sleep before Dagan and Leah come over tonight. I am going to get to see the place they rented! Hopefully will have pictures to post tomorrow. :) Have to run to JoAnn's and PetSmart after that and then we'll come back to my place. Leah is going to be baking and Dagan is going to get my laptop in working order. Will be a fun night! It is sooooo nice to have my Dagan and Leah back to their old selves again! I can't even tell you what that means to me. *big, big grin*

Once again it is supposed to be nice and no rain today--tada! So I can leave all the windows open again--ahhh! Been so nice the past three days. :) Well, off to catch a few winks.....

Tuesday-3:15pm

My "nap" at 9:30am yesterday lasted until almost 8pm! I didn't expect to sleep that long (but was thrilled I was able to keep getting back to sleep) so I didn't cover up the chair. I was lucky it didn't rain. :) Karma discovered she could stay out on the porch in the chair and still keep an eye on me--hehe! Every time I woke up she watched me to see if I was going to go back to sleep.

I know she would have loved to be able to see the kids and all the action, but she just has to park herself someplace where she can know if I get up to go to the bathroom or blow my nose--hehe! That place is usually either right on the bed with me or in the hallway where she can see the bed. It is usually so seldom that I am sleeping during the day with the porch door open and the chair uncovered--seldom?!--come to think of it, never has happened that I can remember. Karma thought it was the bee's knees!

What woke me up, actually, was the garage dad. There's this one dad that spends his time outside with the kids sometimes in the evenings. He paces about or sits in his lawn chair inside the front of his garage--and he is a shouter. Since he is always shouting and yelling, the kids get really loud, also. They generally do not respond to his demands and instructions. But--at least he is out there. The children are supposed to be supervised while they are outside. They aren't. Except for the garage dad and the occasional dad-buddy he knows. He kind of keeps an eye and gives a voice to all the kids who are outside playing at the time. :) I am glad he is out there. Some people drive awfully fast thru the parking lot when little ones are out on trikes zooming about on the pavement. Karma was missing her Kid TV just to keep an ear open for me.

Then Leah came over at around 9pm and left around midnight. She showed me how to use my new mixer! Leah made banana bread and the first tray of chocolate chip cookies. The rest of the dough is in the frig for when she and Dagan come back on Wednesday or Thursday.

She is making up cookies and bread for this weekend gathering they go to every year. But I got the first tray of cookies. :)

I have been up since then except for a one hour nap. I brought out the trash and empty boxes this morning. Also hauled some things back down to the storage area. Got a little something done, anyways. Less cluttered around here. Right now, I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Caroline came to clean this afternoon--and now I am going to go lie down again. I suppose I should check the weather online to see if I can leave the chair uncovered for Miss Karma--hehe!--just in case I am lucky enough to sleep a long time again.....

Monday-8am

One advantage to not sleeping well and cat-napping around the clock--I got to watch beautiful sunny sunrises the past two days. Karma and I have been taking advantage of the nice porch weather. :)

The heat of the sun works like a sleeping pill for Miss Karma--hehe!

But--you know cats! They sleep with one ear open--hehe!

The sun didn't last more than a few hours yesterday in the early morning. It clouded over and stayed that way most of the day.

Whenever I vacate the padded chair, Karma immediately stakes claim--it's her favorite, too. :)

Been just trying to sleep as much as I can and get well again.

Writing letters.

Watched "Juno" and more of "Ballykissangel".

Patience.

Fibro has taught me patience. :)

Sunday-5am

We had quite the storm pass through last night. The tornado sirens went off and it got dark as night. I threw on some clothes and shoes (nightgown days when I am sick), put Karma in her stroller (no protest whatsoever), threw essentials in my red bag, and Karma and I even spent about ten minutes in the bathroom--waited until the wind died down a bit. With the storm traveling 70 mph, the worst of it passed over pretty quickly.

Funny how Karma seemed to know. I had her zipped inside the stroller for maybe 30-40 minutes and she never cried or complained. I kept her next to me where she could see me and rubbed her head through the mesh screen now and again. Went outside on the porch a few times to look things over--she never cried once. (Cats have great survival instincts, don't they?)

It was very eerie looking outside. The sun came out so brightly, glaring off the buildings--and yet the sky was dark as far as the eye could see to the east--like a dark curtain! It was like a wall--you couldn't see into it. The automatic night lights were still on, too. See the start of a rainbow?

A few minutes later it was weirder looking. The sky had turned green, but we had a double rainbow for a few minutes!

I don't think I have ever seen a sky change so rapidly! Ten minutes later the sky looked like this! No lie!! That quickly!

The one rainbow stayed for a while. :)

Rainbows always seem like a greeting from the heavens. :) We were lucky, as far as I know, there were no more tornadoes sighted and not too much damage--just some wind damage. The funnel that was seen might not have touched down or didn't touch down near any buildings or anything. A lot of "country" up here. :) Anyways, was an interesting night.

Hard to believe I have lived through violent, destructive tornadoes and yet I don't get too nervous about tornado sirens. Just didn't feel like one was coming right here--can't explain it. (If I didn't live on third floor I probably wouldn't have even gotten dressed--hehe!) I am still in awe of nature and love a good storm! Just don't want them to get destructive, of course. Much rather Mother Nature just stuck to her awesome thunderstorms.


Oh! And--for some mysterious reason--???--the leaking stopped from the bedroom window frame? With all the rain we have been having--no dripping? Maybe the wind was just the right direction and getting water under the shingles for a couple of days? I have no clue. Maybe it healed itself? It definitely is a mystery! ??? They still better check the roof.


I am slowly recovering. Not sleeping all that well yet--except that one night (probably sheer exhaustion!). But am sleeping better every day. The sleep & pain roller coaster ride is such an issue with us fibro people, so I apologize for always talking about it. Things are improving--I'm feeling better.


And I am just tickled to death that Dagan and Leah have a place to live again!! Soon!!! That living out of suitcases can get really old, really fast. I will be so happy to see Leah this week--doing something more normal--baking! And Dagan will probably be here some time, too--to work on my laptop (needs some reprogramming, I guess). They said they'd fill me in more about the lawyers and such this coming week when they come over. Neither of them like to write--even emails--or talk on the phone. You'd never think Dagan was related to me, would you--hehehe!!


Just feels like this huge weight has been lifted! Even though they still have to deal with all the fallout, of course--the tide has turned and I believe they will find a way to extricate themselves from this nightmare--come what may. No matter how long it takes.


The birds are singing the sun up. Going to be a good day. :)

Saturday-6:15pm

I called Leah yesterday. The bowl--you have to press on the back of it to click it into place, I guess. Duh! I've been feeling too crummy to read the instructions yet--hehe! Leah said she'd like to come over and do some baking--and then she could show me how to use everything--maybe this coming week. She has been without a kitchen, basically, for a month and a half--and she was used to doing a lot of baking! So--she will be over to bake banana bread and cookies--and whatever she wants. :) I told her I am not going to be in any shape to play with my new toy, anyways, for several days.

She told me they were looking at another condo last night and then were heading to Dagan's dad's for a kind of delayed Memorial Weekend gathering this weekend.

I got an email today--they took this place they looked at in West Fargo last night! Brand new! Similar floor plan to the townhome/condo I saw in Fargo, but instead of looking out at a man-made pond it looks out onto a forest and the Sheyenne River (narrow part)!! It is still close to Interstate 94 but, because of the trees, it isn't as noisy. They were just laying the carpeting!! Has more square footage, too--even larger! I am so happy for them!

We kept trusting that they'd know it when they saw it--to trust their gut feelings and find a place they would look forward to living in--and they have! They are all excited about this place--even if it is in West Fargo (separate town to the west of Fargo--like a suburb). They will be able to move in July 1st or earlier if it is finished ahead of schedule. Hurray!! I can hardy wait to see it! Sounds like such a better atmosphere--being by the woods--the river... I am soooo happy for them! :):):) Oh--and they got all Leah's tools (that they bought separately with their own money) out of the house on Tuesday.

They'll be okay--everything will work out in the long run. Things are falling into place.

Anyways, I realized that I have been using my new pens for some time and forgot to take a picture--hehe! Not that it is important, but I love my Cavaliers! My new favorite pen!! I am using one now as my constant desk companion here by the computer. I also purchased a disposable brush pen from JetPens.com--and it is a nice one.

Been playing around trying to learn to write my name in Chinese with my brush pens. They really seem to help me with consistency. I suppose they would have to, wouldn't they?

When I feel well again I will be back to my secret projects--hehe! I have turned the corner, so to speak. Am on the mend now. :)

Friday-2:15pm

Both my orders came yesterday--very late for UPS--6:45pm. Somebody must have been on vacation--as they're usually here between 2-3pm. The lady driver seemed exhausted--poor thing!

Anyways, from Hollanders I got my smaller screw posts and extenders.

They look like this. I have a plan to try to use them to just finish the holes in the red leather journals--since I couldn't find eyelets long enough. I hope it will work. :)
And the mixer came from Bed, Bath and Beyond! TaDa!!!

I thought it was supposed to have the silver, metal attachments and not the coated, but I guess that's okay.

I don't have a large kitchen, so I have to decide where will be the best place for the appliances. Might have to juggle them around some. Too tired to do much else yesterday. Hadn't slept much for four days.

"Caviar" is not matt black. It is a metallic black. Not what I expected, but it is fine for me. I like it better than the plain shiny black. Kind of space-agey--hehe! This won't show the fingerprints as easily.

New booklet to read.

New boxes for Miss Karma to investigate. She makes no sense to me, at all. She let me pull her across the floor--inside this box--from the kitchen into the living room and didn't make a sound and wasn't scared at all. She lets me push her around in the stroller inside the apartment--a little more nervously now that I took her outside that time--but take her out into the hallway and she cries and howls!? What is the big difference? She is just afraid to leave the apartment--period. It can't be just the movement.

I let her have boxes for a while. Until she's bored with them after a couple of days--or I am feeling well enough to move them out of the apartment--whichever comes first, this time--hehe!

She has another one. The mixer box was packed inside of this bigger box.

I have to call Leah and ask her if the bowl is supposed to be tilted on the mixer? I have never owned or used a stand mixer before in my life--so this is all new to me. :) Leah grew up using a KitchenAid stand mixer.

Dagan and Leah have been looking for a place to rent and meeting with lawyers. They are going to visit his dad this weekend. Me--sore as hell, but I think I am finally on the mend. Nose plugged up enough for me to sleep last night and I crashed for 14 hours! Only up 4-5 times. I have a couple of new Netflix movies to watch today. I am all set and thinking positive! :)