Here is the wallpaper I am putting up today in OH's closet. He is totally against it but I'm doing it anyway and getting him to help. It's easier to cutely decorate a small space. I am intimidated by a large room. I have lots of furniture and clutterey personal stuff but the whole thing doesn't come together well. Anyway, yesterday I put sizing on the wall and waited an hour, got all my stuff ready to wallpaper, but realized that the wall was not yet dry.
Today our house is getting power washed. This was put off from last week because of hurricane Erin.
I joined the quadrille practice on Sunday. First time for me, second time for group. I rode General, my old lesson horse. He has arthritis and so owner gave him some bute. He was favoring his right hind for the warm up and beginning of the lesson and was very sluggish. He did, however, get better and join in the group nicely. It was fun and OH filmed Next week, if it's good weather and we have the lesson, I will ride one of K's horses. However, I just saw a special for flying to Florida and if I go, I will miss the lesson. What to do???
I have to admit that I am kind of bored staying home. I need to ignore OH who is constantly turning on the TV and it distracts me. Today I will do my own thing. I also must go to the yoga class at the gym tomorrow and find out when the sire classes start. I plan to go to the first few just to watch and get to know people. I didn't see any kindred spirits there when we went but u never know.
I have several projects started. I must keep jettisoning all my stupid junk. I plan to give away all my hotel pads. OH had the idea of giving them with gifts to other people to use as note pads and I think I will do it.
Must get wedding gift for steph. I would like to get her the same salad bowls I got myself. Well, they are really rice bowls but I like them as salad bowls since they are big enough for a decent portion of salad. You do have to wash them by hand - would that be a problem?? I guess I will ask her and see if she is registered at Target again. Maybe she would like something else.
I need to get on the phone and straighten out my start date at the city of houston. crap, I hate trying to figure out who to talk to and now I have no fax.
Coffee pot broke and we got a French press which is irritating. We didn't get a coffee pot because it was tax-free weekend and the thoughts of going toward the mall was appalling.
Still waiting for Terri to get back to me with the heinous price of the breakfast room drapes. I will get those done, the kitchen chairs covered and Jack's chair recovered and then that's it for Terri. In future, I will use Ethan Allen people I think.
I want to figure out what to do with my closet, get rid of more clothes, figure out what to wear to steph's wedding reception, and call a bathroom remodeler. Anderson remodeling I think. Also, must get the picture framing under control, choose a carpet for upstairs and pick out some paint for my room. I need to get rid of the area rug in the dining room too. I could put an ad in the HH. Kind of sad to see it go but the bottom of it has left a stain on the current carpet. I could roll it up and save it for some future house, but where would I store it??
blah blah blah
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
a long time later
I haven't posted in a long time. Since then:
I've retired from my job
My second grandson was born
My parents have gotten very senile and my mother keeps falling
Daughter has hurt her back and is using wheelchair again
I've switched riding instructors and actually have a good one now
Retirement- a huge relief. I got the company to hire someone new to replace me and did 3 weeks of training with him. I wasn't too keen on this guy but now I don't care anymore. He is the person the other 2 librarians chose so they have to work with him. I think the whole office is falling apart anyway. At first, it's all I could think of but now it has faded to a distant memory. My replacement has never called me with questions and never answered my phone call. I will miss Bloomberg and my printer (Sudoku books!) but not any of the people except Pat and I will probably see her. No more dressing up, no more commute on the bus, no more sitting at the computer all day (well, not too much anyway), no more interacting with a bunch of people that I have nothing in common with, no more faking that I know what I am doing a lot of the time.
How to structure my time now?? I have not been home enough to get into a routine. First, 3 weeks in CA, then home for a week or so, then FL for 2 weeks. This week, I have felt kind of sick with a cold or allergy (most likely) and have slept the last 2 afternoons. I keep waking up at 4:30 a.m. and not being able to go back to sleep. I would rather get up than lie there thinking the same old thoughts. Haven't you ever wished that you could just get your own thoughts out of your head????
Main projects: horseback riding, get house organized, plan trips, get parents situated, exercise.
Exercise, have not done much. Planned to go to the yoga class at the gym yesterday but it was at 9 am and I went back to bed and woke up again at 8:45. Instead, I boxed up a bunch of things I had to send out in the mail, went to the drugstore and bought some baby wrapping paper, came home, finished boxing and then went to the Hallmark store and mailed. OH came with me and did our car registrations and then we got a few groceries. That was pretty much the end of my day as I slept all afternoon. Did watch a DVD by Mark Rashid called Finding the Try. Be gentle with your horse and only ask for what he can give, set him up to succeed and reward every try on his part.
Plan trips: one planned and tickets bought to go to LA for niece's wedding reception. Must buy gift. Go to SF in Sept when la is back at work? That would be 2 trips in September. Go to parents in October? go there for Thanksgiving/Christmas? sigh
Get house organized: must get rid of junk, organize the rest, and follow thru with the decorator on the drapes. Have lots of plans but it is hard to get started. Have thought about it so much I know what I need to do but getting OH to part with money is like pulling teeth. He has a point but we do live here and it would be nice to have a comfortable, FUNCTIONAL place to be. Must get paperwork under control. This would just be so easy if I would just sit down and do it. Plus I am a saver. We got rid of the old herculon sofa and hideous large, square, chipped formica coffee table. So in the room upstairs, there is only 4 bookcases and a rocking chair (bought when la was born to feed and rock her in). So we bought a cheap ($40) folding plastic 6-foot table and it is up there with 2 of the dining room chairs and has a bunch of recipes on it that we have spent 2 sessions organizing. Set up a cardboard file folder thing and have broad categoris of food groups. Have stacks of cooking mags to go thru still (about a third done). Will finally get the ones I usually use into a separate folder or notebook so they will be handy.
Still thinking about buying my china and actually went to purchase but was giving the run around by the salesperson and so have put it off again. Do I really need it? no no no. Do I want it? yes yes yes. But I am trying to simplify with the goal of moving to CA some day. Okay, I could get rid of the stuff I am currently using and just replace it and use the china every day. Does anyone do this? If something breaks, I could just replace it. Should I buy some of it at a time and mix it with another pattern that I have seen that I like? Should I just get real and admit that it's a waste of money and my lifestyle doesn't admit to using china??? the whole question is so pointless.
Horseback riding: Finally went to the RDA training and it was cool. Well, it was actually sweltering but I mean I enjoyed it. Will they ever call me since I just put myself down as a substitute? I wanted to be a barn buddy and just go be with the horses but you have to have worked there for a year first.
Lessons: How in the world did I ever stay with Janice for so long??? What a bitch. What must my self-esteem be like to have put up with her-
K is the best person ever. She is such an excellent teacher. Always encouraging, makes the lessons fun (that's what it's all about for me), and has a good sense of humor!!! When I apologized for not wearing jods but always wearing jeans because I had "outgrown" all my jods, she said, "Did you get taller?" hehe
Anyway, last lesson I had with Marlene, she had us do a pas de deux. omg, it was sooo cool. We sucked of course, but it was our first try. Then Sunday, I had my long reining lesson at 8 am and then at 9, she had all her other students do a quadrille. There were actually 5 people but there was no horse for me so I just watched and took a few pics. I h ave asked Gretchen if I can use General on Sunday and she said yes! I used to ride General a lot in my lessons with Janice. I had my best canter (in the arena) ever on General in my last lesson before leasing hunni. I have to sort out a saddle tho. Alternatively, I could use the horse of one of K's other students which she would bring in along with her own for the lesson, but if General works out, maybe I could 1/2 lease him from her and have a horse to practice on. I could ride W (my usual lesson horse) an extra time a week, but he is a little nappy and spooky and it would not be much fun. I will see how it goes with General and go from there.
Parents: ma is falling and has basically no balance and no sense of safety and is forgetting words so it's hard for her to have a conversation. Daddy seems normal on the surface but doesn't know wtf is going on. We are seriously looking at moving them to RI but N is being a stubborn ass about it and from talking to several homes there, it seems that ma would just about qualify for an actual nursing home and they would be separated which would be the end for both of them. As it is, I have set up an aide to come in from 9-12 every day to give her a shower, get her dressed and give her her meds and breakfast. The aide also cleans up the kitchen, does laundry, etc. to keep herself busy since ma then proceeds to watch TV. She broke a rib in her fall 3 weeks ago and finds it hard to bend over. Plus her back hurts all the time and the physical therapy the back doctor recommended has only happened once because then she fell and now her rib needs to heal. We have Jules coming in once a week to go over the groceries, clean out the fridge and shop and re-stock. She does the cleaners and is taking them to all dr. appointments. This way, they do not have to take the bus anymore. In a way, this is a negative since it takes away some of their independence, but ma is too unsteady to risk the but thing and J has to make several phone calls for each trip reminding ma when to get the bus. Daddy could never go on the bus alone since he is in wtf land. He had a key made for his car and has tried to drive. I told him I was going to park the car someplace he couldn't find it but totally forgot to do it so I hope he doesn't get the idea of driving somewhere.
Well, that's where I am. I feel quite overwhelmed with the parents frailties looming over me constantly. If it were not for that, I could get a grip. Oh no, I was up at 4:30 again this morning. Will I make it thru the day without falling asleep? Lesson tonight but I think it will be stormy and so said lesson may be called off. Big storm coming thru.
Must get to my paperwork today and fill out some forms to roll over my City of Houston pension stuff to my new Fidelity account that I rolled my Jefferies ira into. money, lovely money, can't have too much.
I've retired from my job
My second grandson was born
My parents have gotten very senile and my mother keeps falling
Daughter has hurt her back and is using wheelchair again
I've switched riding instructors and actually have a good one now
Retirement- a huge relief. I got the company to hire someone new to replace me and did 3 weeks of training with him. I wasn't too keen on this guy but now I don't care anymore. He is the person the other 2 librarians chose so they have to work with him. I think the whole office is falling apart anyway. At first, it's all I could think of but now it has faded to a distant memory. My replacement has never called me with questions and never answered my phone call. I will miss Bloomberg and my printer (Sudoku books!) but not any of the people except Pat and I will probably see her. No more dressing up, no more commute on the bus, no more sitting at the computer all day (well, not too much anyway), no more interacting with a bunch of people that I have nothing in common with, no more faking that I know what I am doing a lot of the time.
How to structure my time now?? I have not been home enough to get into a routine. First, 3 weeks in CA, then home for a week or so, then FL for 2 weeks. This week, I have felt kind of sick with a cold or allergy (most likely) and have slept the last 2 afternoons. I keep waking up at 4:30 a.m. and not being able to go back to sleep. I would rather get up than lie there thinking the same old thoughts. Haven't you ever wished that you could just get your own thoughts out of your head????
Main projects: horseback riding, get house organized, plan trips, get parents situated, exercise.
Exercise, have not done much. Planned to go to the yoga class at the gym yesterday but it was at 9 am and I went back to bed and woke up again at 8:45. Instead, I boxed up a bunch of things I had to send out in the mail, went to the drugstore and bought some baby wrapping paper, came home, finished boxing and then went to the Hallmark store and mailed. OH came with me and did our car registrations and then we got a few groceries. That was pretty much the end of my day as I slept all afternoon. Did watch a DVD by Mark Rashid called Finding the Try. Be gentle with your horse and only ask for what he can give, set him up to succeed and reward every try on his part.
Plan trips: one planned and tickets bought to go to LA for niece's wedding reception. Must buy gift. Go to SF in Sept when la is back at work? That would be 2 trips in September. Go to parents in October? go there for Thanksgiving/Christmas? sigh
Get house organized: must get rid of junk, organize the rest, and follow thru with the decorator on the drapes. Have lots of plans but it is hard to get started. Have thought about it so much I know what I need to do but getting OH to part with money is like pulling teeth. He has a point but we do live here and it would be nice to have a comfortable, FUNCTIONAL place to be. Must get paperwork under control. This would just be so easy if I would just sit down and do it. Plus I am a saver. We got rid of the old herculon sofa and hideous large, square, chipped formica coffee table. So in the room upstairs, there is only 4 bookcases and a rocking chair (bought when la was born to feed and rock her in). So we bought a cheap ($40) folding plastic 6-foot table and it is up there with 2 of the dining room chairs and has a bunch of recipes on it that we have spent 2 sessions organizing. Set up a cardboard file folder thing and have broad categoris of food groups. Have stacks of cooking mags to go thru still (about a third done). Will finally get the ones I usually use into a separate folder or notebook so they will be handy.
Still thinking about buying my china and actually went to purchase but was giving the run around by the salesperson and so have put it off again. Do I really need it? no no no. Do I want it? yes yes yes. But I am trying to simplify with the goal of moving to CA some day. Okay, I could get rid of the stuff I am currently using and just replace it and use the china every day. Does anyone do this? If something breaks, I could just replace it. Should I buy some of it at a time and mix it with another pattern that I have seen that I like? Should I just get real and admit that it's a waste of money and my lifestyle doesn't admit to using china??? the whole question is so pointless.
Horseback riding: Finally went to the RDA training and it was cool. Well, it was actually sweltering but I mean I enjoyed it. Will they ever call me since I just put myself down as a substitute? I wanted to be a barn buddy and just go be with the horses but you have to have worked there for a year first.
Lessons: How in the world did I ever stay with Janice for so long??? What a bitch. What must my self-esteem be like to have put up with her-
K is the best person ever. She is such an excellent teacher. Always encouraging, makes the lessons fun (that's what it's all about for me), and has a good sense of humor!!! When I apologized for not wearing jods but always wearing jeans because I had "outgrown" all my jods, she said, "Did you get taller?" hehe
Anyway, last lesson I had with Marlene, she had us do a pas de deux. omg, it was sooo cool. We sucked of course, but it was our first try. Then Sunday, I had my long reining lesson at 8 am and then at 9, she had all her other students do a quadrille. There were actually 5 people but there was no horse for me so I just watched and took a few pics. I h ave asked Gretchen if I can use General on Sunday and she said yes! I used to ride General a lot in my lessons with Janice. I had my best canter (in the arena) ever on General in my last lesson before leasing hunni. I have to sort out a saddle tho. Alternatively, I could use the horse of one of K's other students which she would bring in along with her own for the lesson, but if General works out, maybe I could 1/2 lease him from her and have a horse to practice on. I could ride W (my usual lesson horse) an extra time a week, but he is a little nappy and spooky and it would not be much fun. I will see how it goes with General and go from there.
Parents: ma is falling and has basically no balance and no sense of safety and is forgetting words so it's hard for her to have a conversation. Daddy seems normal on the surface but doesn't know wtf is going on. We are seriously looking at moving them to RI but N is being a stubborn ass about it and from talking to several homes there, it seems that ma would just about qualify for an actual nursing home and they would be separated which would be the end for both of them. As it is, I have set up an aide to come in from 9-12 every day to give her a shower, get her dressed and give her her meds and breakfast. The aide also cleans up the kitchen, does laundry, etc. to keep herself busy since ma then proceeds to watch TV. She broke a rib in her fall 3 weeks ago and finds it hard to bend over. Plus her back hurts all the time and the physical therapy the back doctor recommended has only happened once because then she fell and now her rib needs to heal. We have Jules coming in once a week to go over the groceries, clean out the fridge and shop and re-stock. She does the cleaners and is taking them to all dr. appointments. This way, they do not have to take the bus anymore. In a way, this is a negative since it takes away some of their independence, but ma is too unsteady to risk the but thing and J has to make several phone calls for each trip reminding ma when to get the bus. Daddy could never go on the bus alone since he is in wtf land. He had a key made for his car and has tried to drive. I told him I was going to park the car someplace he couldn't find it but totally forgot to do it so I hope he doesn't get the idea of driving somewhere.
Well, that's where I am. I feel quite overwhelmed with the parents frailties looming over me constantly. If it were not for that, I could get a grip. Oh no, I was up at 4:30 again this morning. Will I make it thru the day without falling asleep? Lesson tonight but I think it will be stormy and so said lesson may be called off. Big storm coming thru.
Must get to my paperwork today and fill out some forms to roll over my City of Houston pension stuff to my new Fidelity account that I rolled my Jefferies ira into. money, lovely money, can't have too much.
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