November 2, 2025 Sunday

Greetings!

How can I have been so busy all week and got so little done--lol!  I have uncovered some gifts from old friends, though.  The two little red vases I got when my dear friend, Ruby, and I would go browsing in antique stores.  I still miss her.

She surprised me for no reason one day with this crazy looking cat figurine with two birds on its back.  Said she thought of me the instant she laid eyes on it.

Was very top heavy and fell over sooo many times.  The tail has been glued back on, the post has been glued back into the wooden cube (it is loose again), and the cat has been glued back into the post.  One year I finally glued the whole thing on to a heavy glass coaster and it hasn't fallen over since.

What a joy to see my two angel figurines I was surprised with (on two separate occasions) by my friend, Lynnette, I have known since before Dagan was born.  It is his birthday today!  My miracle baby is 51 years old!!  Truly a blessing!  

I remember his neo-natal nurse, Osa, (we've stayed in touch all these years) got all serious with me..."you do realize he'll never live to be five years old".  People always seemed to think because I could find joy in him just being here that day and find things to laugh about that I wasn't accepting how bad his heart was.  I knew.  I most certainly did.  Plenty of time to deal with problems when they come up and I didn't want Dagan to be surrounded by negative energy.  Positives!  Positives!  As long as he was going to be here...he was such a joy to me.  We smiled and laughed as much as possible.  I wanted him to have the best life he could have and be the best person he could be for however long he was here.  Life is too precious and too short.  

When I do stop talking and laughing and smiling...then you know things are really bad.  I know I am not right.  I have to deal with whatever it is that is stealing my joy, kick myself in the butt, and make a choice to get it back.  Life is truly too precious and too short.  :)

Also this week...look at this strange blossom on my cactus.  No, no petals fell off.  Have you ever seen one like this?

Looks like a more normal one is coming along.  Weird or normal, I will enjoy whatever blooms!

I got my letter telling us SNAP was put on pause.  

Without any notice, I discovered Amazon reimbursed me for the two sets of trays that never arrived!  That was such an unexpected and pleasant surprise!!

I unloaded all the living room boxes...

...but they are still there on the folding tables...

...making me feel like I didn't get anything done this past week--lol!

But I was busy.  Honest.  Took my usual couple of days off when I got too sore, but I was busy.  Ask Allie.

Made more where-are-things-going-for-now decisions.  Leah constructed this carpet enclosure we planned to use to for Allie's litter box to corral the litter...but we know how that turned out.  

So I asked Dagan to come down and move it into the storage area that is overflowing with stuff anyways.

Then we moved (or Dagan did--lol!) all the bins from the corner of the studio...

...into the corner of the maintenance/laundry room!

While that was being done, I spied three large boxes... 

...that said "L satchels" on them!  TaDa!

Yah!  Unloaded them.  There were four satchels that didn't have to go in with the living room correspondence satchels, so I put them in the studio for now.

Meanwhile, Leah had another brilliant idea for peace of mind!

She hung a little 3M hook down low by the shower so I can hang my watch there while I take a shower.  In case I should ever fall, I could reach it...hopefully.  You may remember my sister collapsed in her shower from a brain tumor and laid there for three days with the water running on her.  Wouldn't have helped in that case as she was unconscious, but you never know.  I have definitely felt safer since I have this new smart watch, I can tell you.

I worked at getting the living room satchels organized and put away.  Allie rolled on the floor sometimes to get my attention for some occasional petting.  Luckily, she will accept foot pets, too.

Love it!  Filled the one...

...a couple thin ones in the other hutch, but those other four may end up in here, too.  I also can't remember exactly how many satchels I have that go in the studio hutches.

The lazy susans are in place and as organized as I could get things.  I thank my friend, Bonnie, for sending me a set of clear acrylic lazy susans as a housewarming gift a couple years ago.  They hold more and fit in the kitchen.  I am using lazy susans in the bathroom cabinet, too...but haven't gotten in there yet.

All the climbing up and down on the stool--well, kind of put my knee out or sorts.  Hence the two days off this past week.  Becoming a pattern--lol!  But that's okay.  My body makes sure I take lots of breaks--lol!

Because I got into all the correspondence satchels I found my birthday cards!!  Therefore I was also able to send off belated birthday cards to the people I missed in September and October.  They went out in the mail!  Nice!  Makes me feel better.

Halloween--my knee was not in a good mood, but Leah snuck me down a couple of large keto white chocolate bars for the boys and they came down and rang my doorbell. 

I don't think I even told you that I have a door bell!!  There were lots of sounds I could have chosen, but you may not be surprised to know I chose the good old-fashioned ding-dong!  LOL!  I couldn't always hear them knocking with my bad hearing, but I can always hear the doorbell.  I love it!!

 

Also--wanted to try a different kind of a watch band...and I LOVE IT!  

I didn't think I would like one of the more plastic-y bands but I found out they are really just fine.  And they don't have the end of the band sticking out!  It tucks in behind!

My new constant companion.  I used to wear a watch all the time every day for jobs and for school.  Haven't worn one since 2005...but I was surprised at how quickly I feel naked without it now.

Time to find my Christmas bags.  Who knows where they might be.  I don't have many decorations at all, but last year I bought a Charly Brown Christmas tree on sale after Christmas and a couple of winter swags or whatever you call them.  I know they are somewhere in a white trash bag with Christmas written across it in Sharpie marker--lol!  I could use some early Christmas this year, I think.

Today I am doing laundry.  I don't think I ever showed you the colored dryer balls I got long before I moved in--lol!  I love them!

Well, I keep plugging away.  Keeps me out of trouble, eh?  Hope to continue to have progress this coming week, too.  And to finally move the pantry into the laundry room.  That was the decision on the pantry whereabouts--lol!  Plan to eventually--after can move those bins into the storage room--have some shelves where those bins are now where I can store dry goods, appliances, or whatever else I need accessible.  More storage space will be available eventually.  That's good.

I hear a mower going.  Not sure if it is Dagan or a neighbor.  Allie is listening intently...apprehensively.  She has nowhere to run and hide...but it also doesn't sound as close as it used to at the old place.  She hasn't moved.  The dryer has stopped so it's time for me to go fold and hang laundry.  Love my new washer and dryer!  Till next week, my friends.  Choose joy!!  Relentlessly!!  :)

October 26, 2025 Sunday

Greetings!

First, the good news!  Highly unlikely that I have ovarian cancer.  The fluid area got smaller and there was nothing solid whatsoever.  Not even a follow-up ultrasound because she figures if anything changes it would show up in my next cancer follow-up visits in my CT scan in January--and she doesn't expect it will.  What a relief!  Thank you for every prayer and positive thought!!  Happy dancing over here.  :)

 

Well, this past week...after I finished unpacking all the kitchen and pantry boxes I worked at switching summer and winter clothes.  Being housebound for over 20 years and sometimes in flares where I can't do laundry for two to three weeks or more...my wardrobe is pretty darn simple but plentiful.  For example--from left to right piles--long sleeved t-shirts, mock turtlenecks, and turtlenecks--ROFL!

While I was taking breaks from switching clothes...let's just say I am doubly glad I am stocked up on coffee!!  

Dagan came down and moved out all the bathroom boxes for me after I finished with switching clothes.

Turned out I basically had to keep the three bathroom bins as they are.  If you recall I had shelves over my washer and dryer at the old place where I had these bins.

I had five empty bins when I was done switching clothes!

Used the side shelves to hold folded summer blouses in the right wardrobe.

Longer clothes and big pullover winter tops in the left wardrobe.

All the rest fit in the drawers on the left side of the 12-drawer unit...even though they are shallow drawers!  No more clothes bins to store!!!  Whoohoo!

Allie didn't find it all that exciting--lol!

I went through all the bathroom boxes...but I was missing one.  I am a bar soap girl and couldn't find my bar soaps!  Turned out there was a misplaced "B" box on the bottom of a stack of "L" boxes.  Dagan came and moved out the entire stack for me!

After I unloaded the bathroom box, I just cut open the other L-boxes to get an idea of what was in them.

Realized that this stack of miscellaneous bins in the studio was probably going to grow some more.  (Note--Dagan found my two-stepper stool in the garage.)

Oh!  Also, in that wrapped package on the table in front of the boxes...is another set of those small red trays that were so hard to find in a size that would fit my paper shelves.  I had ordered three sets.  Only one came.  But on Amazon it says they were all delivered.  But it looks like they had divided them into two boxes--one with one set and one with two sets.  If I tried to click on return or refund it said I couldn't because they hadn't been delivered yet. ??  Checked my bank and they took the full amount out already.  No way to contact them through my Amazon account.  I sent an email trying to explain using the email I got saying my order had been delivered (and showed only one set).  Kept hoping another box would show up...or they would respond.  Nothing so far.  Going to be a pistol to get this sorted out, I think.  

Also, before they left Leah came down to try to attach one of my other colorful watch bands from that set of three she had surprised me with.  First one--wouldn't work.  Second one--wouldn't work, either.  Didn't bother to try the third one.  Have to send them back.  Let's just say it wasn't a good Amazon week.  Do you think it will be better with half a million "cobots"?

Anyways I'm now just beginning to be able to see into the studio a bit.  My rollie carts!!

Miss Allie loves Dagan because he will always come over and pet her and get down on the floor with her for a visit...so she watches the door for a while after he leaves to see if he'll come back.  (Note: I ordered these double-stick triangular carpet tapes to hold down the corners, but after falling and not being able to get down on my knees, Dagan and Leah said they'd put them on for me...at some point I guess...when I remind them and they have the time--lol!)

Okay--why will there maybe be more stuff shoved in the corner of the studio?  Because when I opened a couple of the boxes for the living room I could see some of that needs to go in the hutches.  No more procrastinating, right?  I needed to choose.  (Never fear--I have managed to procrastinate all weekend--lol!)

I've known I need to empty these two bottom shelves in the back of the laundry room and get the stuff off the floor also if I can.  All that would have to be stored someplace (studio for now)...

...so that I can empty the hutches and move all the pantry stuff in there?

I had thought that would be where my pantry would be--in the laundry room back there...but then...

...would it be better to use the bottom of the hutch as my pantry?  Then I could set up those shelves in the laundry room for dry goods and cat food and possibly even my appliances I have no room for in the kitchen? (Some of that is already on those shelves.)  But I can only use one bottom of a hutch because I have satchels to go in the bottom of a hutch that won't fit anywhere else.  Do I have too many satchels for only one of the hutches down below and need both?  Should I try to find the satchel box or boxes?  Been so long I can't remember how many were for the living room and how many were for the studio.  I had a lot of satchels.  They will only fit below in the hutches.  The bookcases are too narrow.  Would all the pantry stuff even fit down in the bottom of the hutch in the first place?  Be harder to get to things down there.  Decisions.  Decisions.  My mind spins.  

 

Feeling overwhelmed by choices...by all the additional moving of things I have already moved ...laid low by the sight of the White House being destroyed...and then the Amazon issues...well, I was just needing a longer break for a couple of days while McFamily was out of town for the weekend for a cousin's birthday party.  I watched Pie In The Sky a lot.  Cozy mysteries are a favorite escape.  Haven't started dismantling those shelves yet

But I was sick of the mess on the window dressers and cleared them off!  TaDa!!  Felt good to at least do something.

It had been full of all kinds of odds and ends--instruction manuals, cords, plugs, parts, hooks and a variety of things needed to finish projects around here.  They are now in a smaller bin that has no cover. 

Got the kitchen counters basically cleared off, too.  All set up to make my pour over coffee, though, when I am done here.

Where will all this end up?  Some of it will go in the storage area across the hall where all my studio boxes are right now.  Who knows?  I have already started a big donation box.

 Have I made a final decision as to where to move my pantry stuff?  Nope!  But regardless of which I choose, I need to empty those two shelves and clean them off first...no matter what ends up back there--lol!  I have to decide.  I know.  I know.  Things can be moved again needs be...but it wears me out, you know?  LOL!  

I have made progress, though.  Kitchen boxes, bathroom boxes, and clothes switched!  At least the clothes don't have to be moved any more.  (At least not until spring--lol!)  This week I need to move the things I have to move before I can start on the "L" boxes...and hopefully make a dent on all those stacks of boxes.  I know these living room boxes are going to be even harder to decide where things will go.  Dagan and Leah are busy every night this week and there's also Halloween.  Goodness!  Where has the time gone!

I know it's been cooler outside because I have had to run the space heater again.  I love my new smart watch.  I still don't have cancer.  I found my shower bar soaps.  I can finally grind coffee beans again.  Am actually enjoying chamomile and other relaxing teas at night.  I don't have any appointments at clinics or the hospital until January!  Whoohoo!  I didn't break any bones when I fell.  My cactus actually had a bloom.  And even if I get screwed by Amazon at least I have two sets of trays.  I will really appreciate them.  (I can't stop daydreaming about painting transparent flowers.)  I am focusing on all those wonderful little things.  Life is good.  Until next time, my friends...enjoy the heck out of every little thing!!  :)    

October 19, 2025 Sunday

Greetings!

Been a busy week.  My smart watch came.  In order to get the matte black watch you had to get the matte black wristband.

Of course, I wanted a colorful, rainbow band--lol!

Yes, my next collection will be an assortment of watch bands I can switch out--lol!

Leah started me out right and surprized me with this set of three colorful bands I had also showed her. 

The following are random pictures in chronological order of the week of unpacking.  There was a constant emptying of boxes and things piled everywhere as I gradually had to shove things here and there temporarily.

I'd get the folding tables cleared off enough for another 2-4 boxes...

started putting things in the bins and piling things on the floor.

While I have been unpacking Allie is usually under the tables...

...keeping me company but keeping herself safe from being stepped on--lol!

I was so busy I didn't notice I actually had a cactus bloom until I saw it like this on Wednesday!  So exciting!  I have never been good at getting any plants to bloom.  Well, indoors, anyways.  I take it as a good sign!  

By Thursday I was down to two boxes in the studio and three on the tables...with bins being moved into the studio.

I've had to start using my hutches as a temporary pantry as I unpacked foods.  Still not sure where they will go.

Seemed like endless boxes.

Cleaned the stored large mason jars I use for coffee beans...and found the crock pot!

More food from the pantry...

...got shoved into the hutches for now.

Down to one empty large bin and Dagan took the box of paper out.  

I know you can't tell but there are quite a few boxes now behind my trash can.  Dagan found the three-step stool (we can't find my two-stepper) so that I could reach to put things away in the cupboards.  I can only easily reach the bottom shelves of the cupboards beside the microwave.  I am so short I can't even see inside of this microwave--lol!

Last kitchen/pantry boxes moved out of the studio!

I spent one afternoon organizing and labeling all the new Costco coffees Leah picked up for me.  Wow!  Never had this many at one time before.  Glad I bought the larger shelf unit.  :)  Happy me!

I know you can't tell but the hutches got rearranged again...temporarily.

One of the boxes under the tables has things from my spice cabinet and some other kitchen things I had on my four lazy susans at the old place.  Come to find out those lazy susans are too large for these cabinets.  Need to buy smaller ones.  Can probably use the larger lazy susans in the studio, but don't know until I get to organizing in there. 

The only things I know will not be moved are my plates and bowls in the bottom shelf on the left side of the sink.

I know I need my glasses, cups, coffee supplies, and spices in the right side cupboard...but that is a lot to fit somewhere.  There will be a lot more stool climbing living here--lol!  That and stairs will be strengthening for my legs at least.  :)

How does Allie manage to slide the flat cat bed off that memory foam pillow all the time?  No clue.  But I am always having to reposition it.

After the shorter stack of bathroom boxes and bins...looking into the studio--these are all the living room boxes to unpack.  A lot of letter writing things hidden away in them...and my crystals and such.  I will need my hutches free.  More juggling and shifting things from place to place...but it will all get organized in the end.  :)

Meanwhile...I found my sweaters and coats.  The two coats went upstairs in the entryway.  No clue where my sweaters will end up--lol!  Allie found them unnervingly looming over her space.  ;)

Friday Leah took me for the ultrasound.  Went fine.  They can never say anything.  Just like they never say anything when you get scans.  Have the OBGYN on Tuesday.  Not sure she can say anything definitively or not, either, but I should know something more.  I have to say...I have put the entire possible cancer of the ovaries in the very back of my mind all this time.  I was too sick to think about it and now I have been too busy.  But I do know that it feels like I do not think I can possibly handle hearing the diagnosis of cancer one more time.  Of course, once I got over the shock (and I would be so very shocked) I would deal with it because I would have no choice.  

Going in for the ultrasound...couldn't ignore it anymore.  I didn't sleep well last night at all with cancer haunting me.  Thinking about poor Allie and what her life would be like stuck away in the basement from Blink if Blink still hates her.  Can't do that to Allie.  She'd have to be rehomed again!  That would be horrible for her.  They should bring her to Cat's Cradle again.  Was up till dawn and then just had a nap.  Hopefully will sleep tonight.  Can't happen, right?  Although we know it could happen that cancer keeps at me till it gets me.  I am trying to think positive, you know?  But those are the places my mind goes.  I am responsible for her.  Like babies and toddlers and young kids...critters don't understand when people disappear.  It's hard enough on people old enough to understand.  We all know it's a natural thing...a part of life.  But I am not ready to deal with another cancer battle, to be honest.  I haven't fully recovered (and possibly never will) from my big cancer battle I wasn't expected to win.  

I am not expecting bad news.  But I always do go through worse-case-scenario with life things like this.  Then I feel more prepared...tuck the worse-case away...then think positive until and unless it is time to deal with anything otherwise.  That's how I work.  But during the night I couldn't stop thinking about worse case for my Allie.  

I'd be grateful if you send some positive thoughts my way if you have a moment or two.  

Anyways, there was so much love and joy and kindness and positivity on No Kings Day yesterday!  That really lifted my spirits and gave me comfort.  

Till next week, my friends.  Grab the joy every day!  :)