Monday, October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023 Monday--11am

 Good morning!  (Big news at the end.)

I just stayed put, drank a lot of water, and cuddled up with Allie on Monday.  I never did call again on the breaker--but to my surprise, Gerald showed up at the end of his day about 4:30pm.  AND--of course--the overhead lights in the pantry and hallway did not trip the breaker!  They all worked!??  I was baffled.  But--Gerald believed me and decided to change the breaker regardless.  No issues since.

Leah dropped me off some oil of oregano on Monday.  She knows how hard antibiotics are on my system, I did not want to go in to the clinic unless I got worse, and the oil of oregano is supposed to be the best natural thing for UTIs.  So I have been taking 3-4 of the caplets every day.  Was sick--but no worse till Wednesday.  That night I had bad diarrhea and the temp was back up to 101...but after that the fever basically broke I've been feeling better than I did.  Since then, I might run a low temp in the evenings (99.4), but no temp all day.   Just tired.  But nothing like where I was dozing off for 5-10 minutes here and there all day, taking naps, and still sleeping 8-10 hours at night before Wednesday.  So I have felt on the mend now.

Leah and the boys dropped off some groceries on Tuesday.

Wednesday Leah dropped off some pre-made foods for me.

Thursday she and the boys dropped off some cat food for Miss Allie before their trip and the boys went down to check my mail for me, too.  :)  Leah even said I looked better and perkier than I had been.

Friday morning woke up to this.


Very pretty!  That little bit of snow has never totally left.  Too cold to melt away, really.
As you can see, as soon as I put out food and shut the door there were flocks of small birds at the Critter Cafe.
I figured it was time to switch to that last shower curtain--lol!
It is very pretty!  You're looking at a small clear pathway through a tall snowy forest where there is a light beyond...
 ...and light above.
It's how I feel in the forest.  Safe, small, and quite appropriately awed.  :)

On Friday McFamily left for Warroad, Minnesota (up by Canadian border) for a visit with Dagan's half-brother and his family and a birthday for his little niece who is just five, I believe.  They did hit some snowy roads and took it slowly.  Each of the boys picked out a present for Evie.  They'll be driving home on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, I have been just on R&R.  Other than doing laundry and dishes, been taking it really easy and just glad I am feeling better and better.  I see the partridges several times a day, too.

I watched all the seasons of Rebus on BritBox, a complex Norwegian serial killer murder mystery on Netflix called The Snowman, an odd assortment of historical documentaries on YouTube (ancient Egypt, life in Medieval England, and witch trials), a few movies, and my usual YouTube vloggers.

Even by today the snow isn't gone.  Although by my patio all the grass has been pecked and trampled free of snow by the partridges--lol!  Allie has really been keeping an eye on all the activity.  Seems to calm her to watch her CatTV.
The flowers fought bravely for the first day or two of the freezing weather, but they are all goners now.
I have missed these guys and gals.  But today there has only been five.
And I didn't see anyone limping or hopping.  ??  
Could be another covey, but it could mean those two injured birds have given up the trip into town?  Best case scenario, of course.
They do often hang about nearby now that it is cold enough that humans are rarely ever using the sidewalk.
When the snow and freezing weather arrives it gets very quiet on the backside of our buildings without the runners, skateboarders, roller-skaters, joggers, bicyclists, walkers, and dog walkers.  They can hang around and relax.  I love to see them all calm and just chillin' nearby.  :)  Winter is here!
We can't forget Miss Allie.
Like most cats, when it gets cold out they get even cuddlier--lol!  
We are their human hot water bottles!  LOL!

So, Keanna comes on Tuesday to clean.  McFamily will be driving home on Tuesday.  

Beginning this coming week our lives will be changing BIG TIME!  

I couldn't say until it was a known fact...but Leah got a job where Dagan and Trent work!  She'll be doing basically what she used to do over a decade ago before Ian came into this world--lol!  All this wasn't totally planned but was one of those opportunities that fell in their lap.  They'd been looking for someone for over five months to fill this position.  And it just so happened they were looking for someone with Leah's particular skillset!

Long story short--Leah applied and got called in for interviews a couple weeks ago.  She had back-to-back interviews--four of them--with two people at once in one of those interviews.  She stopped here afterwards.  You know how you don't want to jinx things--but Leah really liked it there and liked all the people (we already know how good they have been to Dagan)--and she could imagine being happy working there.  It is a type of job she is quite familiar with and she'd get paid well so that the boys can go to Montessori.  (None of us wanted them in public school right now...Montessori goes through 6th grade, anyways...will have to figure what comes next for them at that point.)

Both Dagan and I thought she'd get this job right from the get-go!  Just has seemed meant to be--period.  :)

The boys were over to visit at the Montessori School this past Thursday.  Ian used to go there for preschool before Covid.  Liam was too little to have gone back then, but he loved the visit last Thursday.  The boys are starting school on Wednesday and they both sound really excited.  Leah starts her new job the following Tuesday on the 7th of November.  Big changes for McFamily!!  

So that is what's happening up here.  The little news and the big news...you are basically all caught up.  They predict more snow today.  

I do love the snow but having snow before Halloween never used to happen when I was young.  It was rare we ever even needed to wear sweaters or jackets or long underwear or anything like that under our costumes.  There was a rare cold or chilly Halloween--but I do not remember snow.  Ever.

I do remember the huge record-breaking Halloween blizzard in Minneapolis (we had another blizzard that wasn't as bad on Thanksgiving that very same year) in the very early 90s.  Was over two-feet of snow, if I recall.  Was it 1991?  Anyone remember?    Buried my car--roof and all.  Every inch of it.  Seems anything has become possible these last few decades, though--lol!

Anyways, not a blizzard coming.  Just a little snow.  50% chance of it getting here.  I'm one of the few who would love to see some soft big floaty flakes.  Such a rarity up here in windy country.  One can dream.  ;)  Till next week, my friends...

13 comments:

Far Side of Fifty said...

Yes 1991 was a big Blizzard. We have had some awful cold Halloweens with just a few nice ones in between:) Congrats to Leah, I hope she likes her new job and the boys like their school!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Things that play up never do so when someone is there to check out what is happening only to there not be a problem. I have never heard of oil of oregano but if it works all is good. I like watching birds feed lastly I hope Leah likes the new job

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Rita! Congrats to Leah on her new job. I hope that boys like their new school. I am sure they will and they will do great. They have had a good educational start being homeschooled by Rita. We had some rain here and snow in the mountains but our temperatures dropped. I think our nice warm fall is now a thing of the past. I am so glad that you have been taking it easy and are now starting to feel better. I got your nice newsy letter but haven't yet had an opportunity to respond. I hope you have a good week. :-)

Jeanie said...

this is good news for Leah. And I'm glad you are on the mend -- that doesn't sound fun at all! I'm not ready for snow yet but they say it may be on the way here, too.

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

Great news for Leah and the kids, congratulations! I remember that '91 snow storm well. We were living outside of Somerset, Wisc and took the kids trick or treating in Osceola. I remember one parent coming out and giving us a shot of something, saying we needed it for braving the weather. Great memories.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I enjoyed seeing the birds, but most of all, I am happy for Leah. Sounds like a dream job, indeed.

Rosie said...

Good news for Leah and the boys too, those schools have a good reputation. No snow here and can't imagine what it would be like, but it always looks so lovely but probably harder to live with! Hope you continue to feel better.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Sounds like Leah has found Nirvana. I hope it all works well for her.

DJan said...

All good news, and you feeling better, too. I am happy for Leah and I do hope the kids take to the new school without any problems. Sending you lots of love, Rita!

Divers and Sundry said...

That _is_ Big News!!! Many changes in everybody's lives. So exciting!

Janie Junebug said...

I'm late in arriving at your blog this week. It's been a busy week at work. I hope you've continued to feel better. I wonder what people did about UTIs long ago. Perhaps the same things you did. We had a high of only 62 yesterday. That's very chilly for us. Your snow is pretty. I'm glad the Critter Cafe is open. Princess must be part cat. Now that it's cooler she wants to snuggle and sit on my lap a lot. Congratulations to Leah. I hope the boys will be very happy at their school. They're young enough to make adjustments.

Love,
Janie

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Rita, I've have fallen behind in commenting due to our travels, but hope that you are feeling better after reading about your latest UTI bout. Glad to read that you rested and are feeling better and that Leah, Ian and Liam came to help out with supplies. WOW on the snow, but not so much on the cold temps. The weather in our travels was either rainy or chilly and many times both, of course not unexpected in the UK.

Great to read about Leah's new job and hope all goes well. Hope McFamily had a safe trip and nice to read about the boys' new school too.

We arrived home late Wed and I will be catching up on many things here for the next few days.Your letter was in the mail collected by our neighbors and I will be sending a short email reply within a day or so. Traveling is fun, but all the in-between stuff coming home takes some adjustment once back home.

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

Yes, that Halloween snowstorm was in 1991. My family told me all about it. I was happy I was living in North Carolina at the time. That looked like a challenging way to start winter. Congratulations to Leah! I hope her new job is everything she hopes it to be, and that the boys transition to school well.