September 16, 2024 Monday--5am

Good morning!

Leah took pictures of the mismatched doors that arrived.  All were supposed to be the style on the left.

Here's a picture of the storage area under the entryway all trimmed out and with a door.

A better shot of my front door.

I didn't make it over this past week, so I didn't get pictures of the pocket doors.  Wasn't feeling that great.  I was feeling better for a while, then worse, and now I think better.  If I get worse again I will go to the clinic.

They went to the kids' day at Home Depot.

This time it was football goalposts!  Just never know what they will be making.

Leah had some pictures of Ian...riding his bike to the park.

They have so many nice parks in West Fargo!

Ian on top of the rope wall.

Ian climbing the angled walls.

I don't know what else to call these.

High up on a platform.

Climbing a rope to the top.

I forgot to ask her if there were only pictures of Ian because Liam was at an appointment (speech or orthodontist).  Likely.

Leah stopped by Friday after work to test how heavy the empty planters are.  Yup!  Somebody is supposed to come to pick them up this evening! Dagan and Leah have a big flat cart over at Arron's, so they will pick that up.  Much easier to wheel them down the sidewalk.  End of an era, eh?  Good thing I just cleaned them out from stray weeds and dead plants.

Has been a really ordinary, quiet week.  Always do love those, actually.  Was extra achy and such, so took it pretty easy.  Just have those times, so it is hard to tell sometimes when you are actually sick-sick--lol!  

Been warmer.  AC days.  Sometimes have had the door cracked open in the mornings for a while or late at night when it is cooler.  Allie will be right there by the patio door, if I do.  One thing that will be nice after I move is they I'll have central air!  Even temps!  In a small apartment with a wall AC unit you can't regulate...you turn it on till it is chilly and then turn it off till it is too warm.  When I try to lower the temp--it just doesn't come on at all.  It used to work better, but it is ten years old now.  Acts more like a typical AC wall unit I've had in many apartments.  Except when this one is on it does actually get it almost cold in here.  I've been in many apartments where you had to run your AC on high 24/7 and it was still never below 80 degrees in your apartment...or higher!  Especially when I lived on top floor apartments.  So, I can't complain.  I may not be able to adjust it, but when it is on it IS still cooling well.  Win-win.

I am currently re-watching The Old Man on Hulu with Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.  Came out in 2022.  I was heavy into the cancer treatments at that time so I know I have probably forgotten a lot of season one.  Season two is just now coming out.  I do remember I really, really liked the show and hoped they would continue after covid and all.  Wasn't sure they would.  First episode...totally remembered why I became absolutely hooked.  Yes, there is violence...but the characters and the acting--wow!   

Miss Allie would say Hi, but she's snoozing at the moment.

Well, I hope the planters are picked up tonight.  I can never complain about ordinary days, that's for sure.  Best to you for a really sweet week of ordinary days.  Till next time... :) :)

September 9, 2024 Monday--5am

Good morning!

Well, Blogger was putting in photos both center or left aligned at random.  The only way I could keep them the same today was left align.  Blogger can be quite temperamental.  It was also just making it difficult to add photos at all, so these are not in chronological order.

Okay.  Tuesday I got out and pulled all the dead plants from the planters.

Was a day for banking, rent check and the copies the Goldmark lady needed slid under the door to the office.  (No one is usually there.)

For Allie it was a usual day entire week of relaxation--lol!

Monday, though, was the day that McFamily painted the accent walls in my apartment.

You can see the boys were helpers with the first coat!

I will know what is underneath the paint. ;)

Blink was observing from the kitchen sink--lol!

Liam using the roller on the studio wall.

First coats done!  A chocolate brown wall in the living room.

You can see the pop of orange in the studio from the living room.

I have two walls of orange in there.

The colors are hard to get correct, but you get a good idea.

Dagan and Leah finished the second coat that night.  It had an extra day to dry because the finishing guy couldn't come until Wednesday.

Meanwhile--Ian finished level three at Haley's Hope (for his dyslexia).

When they finish a level they get to ring this loud bell!  I think there are about eight levels. 

Back on the previous Sunday Liam had his birthday party.

Loved how the rainbow cake looked!

Told you these photos jump around in time--lol!

Friday I went over for the day.  I brought my presents for Laim's birthday for him to open after dinner.  We had a really nice day.  I brought with a book to read to them.  I recently saw Henry Winkler on a talk show and I had no idea he was dyslexic OR that he wrote a series of children's books about a boy growing up with dyslexia!  Did you?  They've even been on the New York Times bestseller list.  Well, ever since I was over to watch the boys that one night I have thought about reading to them...so hello Amazon!  LOL!

My hearing is bad.  I thought Henry said the boy's name was Hank Zipper when I saw him on TV...but it is Hank Zipzer--lol!  But now I can't get Hank Zipper out of my head--lol!  Anyways, the story was perfect for Ian...who is also in 4th grade like the boy in the book.  Liam lost interest.  (Well, I think maybe he takes every opportunity when his big brother is occupied to play whatever video games he wants to--lol!)

I read three chapters.  This was the perfect book.  It appears to be written about Henry Winkler's time in school...so the olden days for Ian.  I think it was in New York--so a different type of atmosphere than Minnesota.  Dagan was listening, too, so we got into discussions about the differences between when I went to grade school, when Dagan went to grade school, and what grade school is like now for Ian and Liam.  I found out they don't have blackboards anymore.  They have two huge whiteboards in the front of the class with a big TV between them!  How times have changed.  It was really fun.  I'll be bringing the book with me when I go over for visits.

I took a few pictures of the finishing work that was done when the guy was there Wednesday through Friday.  Love the windows all framed!

And the baseboards.

Makes such a difference.

Here you can see the front door over on the far left.

All three pocket doors are in but I forgot to get pictures of what they look like closed--duh!  

It was quite the mess, I guess.  The pocket doors were okay, but the three regular doors...mismatched styles or made to swing the wrong way...and the maintenance door (where Dagan is standing above) was too large and they have to completely remake another door. Oh, and I think he ran out of the baseboard trim, too.  So it will take a while to re-stain and paint and remake a door...I think he comes back this Friday.  It will all get sorted out.  Since my deep dive, none of this is bothering me one bit--lol! ;)

Before Leah got home for dinner and after we watched Inside Out (which I had never seen and thought was very good)...Liam playing a game... 

...Dagan starting dinner...

...Ian trying to scare me as Darth Vadar--lol!

After dinner Liam opened his presents from me.  This year it was a small Lego Minecraft set and a card game.

Blink was there for the action.

Dagan ran me home.  I was there the longest I have been yet--(well, since covid/cancer and all)--from 2:30 till 9:30pm...so I took the weekend to semi-recover.  But I actually did laundry on Saturday and then was cooking up food on Sunday (beef stew in the crock pot--one of my favorite standards).  So that is the week that was.  I also almost got caught up on letters!  Only a few left. (About time!)  Plan to keep getting some food made up ahead of time the next couple of days.  

Our cooler days in the 70s are done for a while, I guess.  Supposed to be back to 80s to 90s this coming week.  I will try to get back over to visit the boys...because I can hardly wait to hear what Hank Zipzer, the world's greatest underachiever, is up to next--lol!  Maybe the finishing guy will actually finish up this coming week.  We'll see.  I'm in love with the windows with their deep windowsills!  I'll have to get better pictures and include the pocket doors--or have Dagan or Leah send me some pics.  Anyways, that's it till next week, my friends.  *love and hugs from Fargo*   

September 2, 2024 Monday--5am

Good morning!

Well, it was definitely a recovery week.  Temp broke last we talked but I didn't start feeling more normal till about Saturday.  Managed to get caught up on all the regular stuff, though--cooking and laundry and such.  Since I wasn't up to anything extra (not even letter writing and journaling), I managed to wash the bathroom rugs to make myself feel better--lol!

We had some darker days, but usually hot and humid enough to be closed up.

The poor petunias have croaked.  It rained so much they were drowning in that self-watering pot.  Leah did tip it over and drain a lot of the water out for me a week or so ago.  After drowning it was hot and dry, but they never recovered.  I actually am hoping to get out there and pull up all the plants out there--even the alien stuff growing wild in the planters here and there.  (I'm not going to say this week and jinx myself--lol!)  

My favorite skies--blue with white fluffy clouds.

Allie was pretty happy when I was able to get back up to the table for journaling again.  Just makes me chuckle when I think back how upset she was when I started doing that beginning of the year.  She thought something was wrong with me back then.  But now she thinks something is wrong when I don't get up to the table to journal--ROFL!  She's adaptable to a degree, shall we say, but still a creature of habit.  Kind of like me--lol!

The boys are loving riding the bus to school, Leah says.  Liam forgot his lunch bag on the bus on Friday afternoon so they're hoping they found it and he can get it back on Tuesday when they go back to school.  

The flooring people came to do epoxy on the crack under the stairs on Friday.  Liam had his birthday party on Sunday.  Dagan and Leah are painting the other accent walls today.  (Off for Labor Day holiday.)  The Finishing guy is coming to install the doors and trims on Tuesday.  Things are moving along!

This last week I got a call from a lady from Goldmark about doing annual paperwork?  I told her I've been sick--so she made an appointment to come over to my apartment at 1pm Friday afternoon.  I expected this to be about the lease--which they never bothered me with this year in June (for my July lease).  Of course, I am not signing a new lease.

Anyways, they never do seem to know what they are doing.  She showed up at 10am.  I told her I had an appointment for 1pm.  She had to look me up on her clipboard full of papers--apologized and said she'd be back.  Obviously she was going to more than one apartment.

She came back a little after 1pm.  Was quite strange.  They have not done this before, either.  I usually get the stack of paperwork left outside my door to fill out and make the copies for them that they need...sign the new lease...and drop it all off at the office.  Then (last year?) they made me go get a couple of forms notarized.  (Leah had to take me if you recall)  Mainly just signing before a notary that yes, I was poor, I guess.  It was signing what my income was--and how would the notary guy from the bank know--lol!  He wasn't required to check any forms or anything as proof...just watch me sign.  Very odd.

Now this year...this lady from Goldmark shows up (doesn't work at the office here) and we fill out each of the many forms I usually have filled out annually (and a couple of them I needed a notary for last year).  But there was no lease. ??  She didn't seem the least interested about the lease, to be honest.  This paperwork was just to prove I was a low-income tenant. She did seem interested that I didn't get all this similar paperwork and my lease dropped off outside my door this year from the office.  (They have had such turnover ever since Goldmark took over management for the owners, though, I may have slipped through the cracks.)  But she really did perk up when I told her I wouldn't be signing a lease anyways because I would be giving my two-month notice in another month or two.  She started calculating in her head immediately...so you'll be moved out by December or January?  Yes.  

That was another brand-new, unique Goldmark experience.  

I have told you I think they want to get all of us low-income folks out of here now after the ten-year tax break has expired.  Could almost hear the dollar signs clicking in her head.  (The owners got a tax break by having a certain percentage of tenants being low-income.)

Anyways, I still had to make copies of my bank statement, SS amount, and my food assistance amount and turn them in to the office this week.  I've already made the copies.  I just need to drop them off along with my rent check after the holiday here.

I saw a group of people going all around the building checking all the shrubs and talking about needing to plant and trim here and there about a month ago.  Only one bush out of three survived to the left of my patio from ten years ago when I moved into this brand-new senior building...so they suddenly decide to do something about the dead bushes a decade later?  All these odd things they've been doing here the past year or so...well, I am glad I am moving, but I feel badly for the low-income folks who are still living here.  Talk about not feeling wanted.  I still think they are trying to sell the complex...either that or jack up the rent even higher.  Easier to do if there are no low-income people living here--which involves Federal housing knowing what you are doing and putting a limit on rent increases.  (They've raised the rent a lot since covid.)  They can't even keep the door opening function working for the past year...at least in my building.  I'm right down the hall to walk down to let people in but what about the people on third floor with walkers, canes, or wheelchairs?  They are going to have to invest some real money in the place eventually.

Anyways, I am so lucky to be moving...feel kind of guilty, you know?  But I can hardly wait to be settling into my new place.  And to feel useful!  Being able to be there for the boys after school...and next summer...or whenever Dagan or Leah needs to run errands and the like.  Being able to go sit out on the deck to write letters in nice weather.  Huge changes.  But I am looking forward to them.  I can hardly wait to see what it looks like once the finishing guy is done!  Doors, trim, windows framed...gets to looking more and more like a potential home, you know?  Hopefully I will have pictures to share next week!

I've mostly been watching No Offence on BritBox--three seasons and I'm on the last one.  Really do enjoy my British detective shows. ;)  Finally been getting back to writing letters this last weekend.  Getting sick still knocks me back for longer than it used to.  I am so lucky I haven't gotten covid so far.  I'm in better shape now than I was even six months ago so I have a better chance of being okay, I think--lol!  I hope!  You know eventually I will probably get it.  Unless I am one of the rare people who never gets it or never reacts to it?  I'm sure I'll find out eventually.  May be a silver lining to all the delays in the apartment build, eh?  I am healthier now than I was last year, you know?  With the kids in school and Dagan and Leah at work--lots of germs coming home all the time--lol!   I'm in much better shape now than I was last year.  Silver linings are often in those unanswered prayers, eh?

So, not a lot to report this past week.  Just a nice, quiet recovery time.  Am caught up with the usual duties one needs to do (that I didn't do the week before--lol!)  I got through another stack of paperwork with a nice enough lady from Goldmark...though quite a mysterious non-lease appointment--lol!  The boys are liking being in public school for the first time and riding the bus.  The trim/door guy is coming tomorrow.  Dagan and Leah are painting more accent walls today.  Keanna comes to clean tomorrow.  I'm almost back to my previous normal--lol!  Didn't get knocked backwards this time, anyways--whoohoo!  Life is good.  

Till next week, my friends!  Happy September!  :)