aKathy's What's for Dinner 9/30

I am determined to get back outside to finish my yard work. I mowed, but there was one patch that had tons of clover in it. We had rain last week and it was still so wet and the clover was high enough that it kept choking out my lawn mower. It helped me to make the decision to go ahead and spray the lawn on that side to kill it all. I have done the far side of the garages in preparation for setting up my vegetable garden.

I went across the street to talk to my neighbor when I saw him out front as I was mowing. He had decided to give up on his crappy lawn too and was putting in new beautiful sod. The man had got the golden touch for growing the most gorgeous flowers out front. When he was talking about how bad his lawn was, filled with clover and odd types of weeds all over, like mine currently is, he suggested that I redo the sod too. I explained that I really don’t want grass and I explained my plans for killing the grass and planting something like the creeping rosemary that I did in California. And he offered to bring his rototiller over to churn it all over to prepare for the new yards. I sure appreciate that because as handy as I am, running a rototiller scares me a bit.

I also wanted to find out what had been going on last Wednesday. My dog was upset at something later in the day after the mail had come so I looked out front to see what had him riled up. There was a police car and an ambulance in the street in front of my house. I was immediately worried for my neighbor because in the last year, he has had a heart attack and two strokes. Just a few months ago he was in his front yard hand watering when he just fell over unconscious. Fortunately he was out front because the next car to drive by saw him and called 911. He might not be here if that had happened inside his house. When I saw the ambulance pulling away, I saw his garage door was still open and I was going to go close it for him. Then I saw him standing inside the garage talking to an officer. I was relieved that he wasn’t the one in that ambulance, but who was?

I asked him what had happened to bring the police and ambulance out. He said he was just quietly working in the front yard when he heard someone come up behind him. It was a woman that he did not recognize from our street. He said she could not talk so he went and got her a glass of water. She still was acting quite out of it and unable to answer any of his questions so he called 911 for help for her. He thinks she had overdosed on something. The police didn’t recognize her and they couldn’t figure out how she got there. There were no strange cars on the street and we are tucked back into the community from the main roads. He said someone must have just dumped her out of a car and she saw him and stumbled over for help. There is no way she walked in from the main streets to where our homes are located. I doubt we will ever know what happened, how she got here, or whether she survived. He was still very shook up by it. I was just glad he hadn’t had another stroke.

In addition to finishing the little strip of yard out front, I am going to start spraying the grass killer on it and shut the sprinklers down. The grass would have died back during the winter anyway so it won’t look too odd being yellowed. I have not done much since I overdid it during the week. Yesterday was spent in bed in extreme fatigue and pain because of it. I just don’t seem to be able to adapt to being easy on myself. I am so used to running a house, doing my yards, and cleaning my pool by myself, all while working two jobs, that when I feel good, I push myself too hard and end up in bed to recover. It really angers me. I can push through pain, but not the fatigue. Fibromyalgia sucks.

Once I finish out front, I am just going to put away some things in the kitchen from the boxes I had unpacked during the week. I am trying to only bring things into the house that I am keeping, but it is hard to decide on some of it. Especially the decorative things. Things that I bought while on vacations that worked with my decor. I had so much more room in my old house and lots of shelves. I may end up getting just a few shelves for the wall in the living room to display some real favorites.

I have already packed up several servings of the taco soup for the freezer so today I am having a vegetable soup that I made last month. It is so handy to have healthy homemade things to grab when I don’t want to bother with cooking. And I do love soup. I had some squash soup in my Costco order that was from Panera. It was delicious. I want to find a good recipe and make that soup next.

Oh, and I have to find a handyman to work on my sink. It started leaking underneath as I was doing up some dishes on Friday. I tested the dishwasher and that didn’t leak. But when I turned the faucet on, it did. I went ahead and ordered a replacement kitchen faucet just in case it is needed for the repair. It might be just the water lines, but I didn’t like the existing faucet anyway so this is a good chance to trade it out during the repair. Now I just need to get recommendations for a reputable handyman to do it as soon as the new faucet arrives.

Hi my day got awesome when the kids came over and visited. My heart swelled with pride. We talked all about Thanksgiving that they are hosting and got the roasting pan. Dexter would not leave me alone. It was as though he was guarding me against this other guy (who he knows well). He is not affection starved.

Dinner tonight could be a burger and vegetables. Dad has book club.

You too. Stay cool!

I just want to be clear that I've been doing Finn's vet care for almost 7 years including this entire time we've been estranged. She did not get back in contact with me for this reason as I never stopped. Every month I have picked up his meds and delivered them. He was due for his annual check up/heartworm test/vaccines last Friday. She is banned from the vet because she took him in there when she was unstable and made a huge scene so she cannot go there. And even if it were a manipulation because of the dog, I would not care because I would never leave the dog hanging to suffer because she's not responsible.

Like many of you, I am feeling totally wiped out today ...

I will give you all the low-down on Speed Dating tomorrow!   

Hang in there everyone!

Looking forward to it! Get some rest!

scrapmaven we had sloppy Joe’s as a kid, but I’m betting my mother made them differently because they were really good. I had friends who ate it out of a can and my mother was homemade. My dad was a very underpaid teacher so she had to find ways to stretch ground beef. Her best way to do it was to make hamburgers like she was making meatballs. So it was a meatball burger. They were delicious.

I blame the crappy weather and no sun here in Western New York.

we thought our phone problem was the national issue.. but it wasnt. verizon says that it shut down my dh's phone and the car esim and a few other things due to a fraud alert.

getting the auto frozen lockdown on all the devices off.. and getting the devices back working and in order, took all the run around and multiple phone calls. thank god my phone worked most of the day.

we still haven't gotten the esims off the account.. and each one costs $10 a month. that will be another day.

teddyw....thank you for asking....it was extra-awful today but getting better this evening.
Was intrigued by your yummy-sounding dinner, and googled "pinion", not knowing it
meant "pine nut". Did the sweet corn foam enhance the dish, or was it too sweet?

Today was all sorts of awesome. Tonight for dinner I had a Keg burger, a Smokie and cherry tomatoes. I got my calories and carbs in and everything is good.

I walked the dog this afternoon and holy cow there was a baby snake on the property. I screamed. That was a bit over reactive I thought it was a leaf or something. No it was a baby snake. I am the snake charmer on the property. I call them and they take care of the bugs!

scrapmaven, you couldn’t possibly insult me. The very thought!

Thank you for caring. I know you all do and I appreciate it. I know that's why I have been on edge too. I'm waiting for it to happen again. Other than some really terrible text messages during this time, I've been able to catch a break from it and it's been alright maybe even a little bit peaceful. And how do you as a mother say that? I love my child. Its terrible to have lost one like I did and then to think I might not be able to have a relationship with my remaining one. 😪 The thing is I know she has it in her to get her shit together. She is considering going in the navy. She told me the Navy recruiter told her that all her court fines must be paid and her driver's license must be reinstated in full and then she can go. I am hoping so much that she does.