Thursday, July 13, 2006
More from flare-ville......
I got up at 6:50am yesterday, believe it or not. While that may not be impressive to some, please remember that not only was I a night shift person for 11 years (right up until Dan left at the end of May, actually), I have been told by sleep specialists that my circadian clock is off, so doing anything before 10am is difficult for me. I got up that early because the sprinkler repair guys showed up at the crack of dawn. They replaced the broken sprinkler head in the front yard and then checked all the rest while they were there. You know the dead spot in the back yard? Turns out there was a tiny blockage in the sprinkler that covers that area. I had missed it when testing the sprinklers. So they cleared that right up for me. Now everything's aligned and working fine!
After they left, I was gonna make some calls and do a few things around the house, but I simply could not stay awake. I did make one call to the dentist to make an appointment to look at my broken crown on Wednesday afternoon, but that's it. I went back to bed for an hour and a half.
The cleaning people DID show up yesterday! Yayyyyy! Had a bit of a language barrier. The three cleaning ladies knew very little English, and I know very little Spanish. But the owner came by with them to go over what will need cleaning each week (floors, main bathroom and bedroom, kitchen) and what will need cleaning only occasionally (ceiling fans, spare bathroom and bedrooms, etc.). Luckily, he speaks Spanglish well enough so everyone could understand him at the same time! And I was amazed at how much got done in only an hour and a half! It would have taken me at least three DAYS to do it all myself, and I don't think I could have done it as well. The shower, the stove, the sinks, they all gleam! I felt a little weird at first, sitting around reading a book while three ladies worked their butts off (obviously, I've never hired anyone to clean before). But it was also a huge relief to know that I'm not gonna have to worry about injuring myself wiping down ceiling fans, scrubbing the bathtub or vacuuming the stairs. So they will be coming by every Tuesday afternoon until we get an offer on the house. Now maybe I'll get a chance to start feeling better if I'm not cleaning all the time.
Don't know exactly what's going on with Chip. He apparently had an upset stomach while the cleaning people were here. I had him in the garage with his kennel and a little area fenced off with baby gates. When I went to the garage to let him back in, he had knocked down the gates and was hiding behind the car. I could tell he'd had an accident because the whole garage smelled like you know what. I kept him in the back yard for a little while until his stomach appeared to settle down. I cleaned the garage, but the smell wasn't going away. I got a bit freaked out....I mean, the last thing I want to do is show a house that smells like poop! After a few frantic calls to Dan, who had always been in charge of the cleaning supplies, I tracked down some enzymatic cleaner, which I used liberally. Haven't checked yet, but I'm hoping the garage is no longer smelly. In the meantime, I'm not sure Chip's tummy has fully recovered. He woke me up at 3am, frantic and demanding to be let outside. I of course had taken sleep meds and was too out of it to follow him into the back yard and see what was going on. I guess if he has any more trouble today I will be calling the vet. Maybe this is all being caused by stress??
Decided I needed to run a few errands, stuff like TP and detergent at Wally World and some food basics at the grocery store (with my restricted diet, any time I run out of eggs constitutes a crisis). But when I started to turn into the parking lot of Wal-Mart, there were two cones in the entrance. Since the area is still new, I figured they'd been painting stripes or doing some construction, so I drove around them. Got into the parking lot and was surprised to find hardly any cars in the lot. But it wasn't until I'd parked and headed for the door that I saw the front doors were blocked with benches? What the heck? On a 24 store? You'd think they could have put up a sign saying they'd be closed. Decided to just head to the regular grocery. Found out later that the six-month-old Wally World had had an electrical fire!
Anyway, it seems I wasn't the only refugee from Wal-Mart to show up at the grocery store. Driving through the store in an electric cart was basically like traipsing through a minefield. Little kids running right into me, adults suddenly stopping in mid-stride and nearly causing me to hit them with the cart, people who very clearly saw me coming but would not move so I could get around them. There were a few times I got caught in gridlock with me trying to get around an end cap display and four people with full sized carts coming from different directions simultaneously trying to get in a checkout line. My little trip to the store ended up taking me an hour! Luckily, the grocery store staff were courteous despite being short-handed, and the checkout lady who helped me with my groceries let me drive their electric cart out into the parking lot to my car! Most stores won't let you go outside with them.
A former co-worker invited me to her 35th birthday party. It's downtown on the 20th at P.F. Chang's, so I would be able to eat there because they have a gluten-free menu. But I think I will have to decline because I'm just not that confident I'll be able to drive myself back home afterward safely. I'm just too exhausted too easily. I'm bummed because I'd sure like to get together with some of my old friends from work.
Guilty pleasure admission: I know I said I wouldn't watch anymore "reality" competitions on tv after that horrible ending to "Rock Star: INXS". But I was flipping channels a few weeks ago and stumbled upon "Last Comic Standing", which I had never seen before. I was reaching for the remote to turn the tv off when I saw someone I recognized! Yep, there was a contestant named Josh Blue onstage. I recognized him right away as the guy with cerebral palsy whom I'd seen several times in person as the opening act at the local comedy club! While he does work his disability into his act (such as describing what it's like to be mistaken for a drunk), he's also just funny as hell! This week, he's in the top five finalists! The finale, where the winner will be picked, airs next Tuesday night on NBC.
I'm halfway through "The Chronicles of Narnia", which is actually like seven books in one volume. It's quite entertaining and the perfect thing to be reading right now since I've got some much stress going one that I need light escapist material. Kinda like watching a Disney movie instead of thinking about your job, or some sort of analogy like that.
Today started out ok. I managed to keep my promise to myself to be up and dressed by 9am, and even took the time to start working on this blog entry. But then I made the mistake of sitting on the couch for a moment about fifteen minutes before I needed to leave for my aquacise class. Wouldn't you know I fell asleep? So I was late again.
After the class, even though I desperately wanted a nap, I had just enough time to come home and eat a quick lunch before heading to my dentist appointment. They checked the broken crown and said the rest appears to be in good condition and will not likely cause me any problems. So they just filed down the rough edges so I wouldn't cut my tongue again. I was quite relieved to not need a new crown. Best of all, no charge for this visit! So nice to not owe more hundreds of dollars.
Since the appointment took only 15 minutes and Target was kinda sorta on the way home, I popped in there to pick up some things I'd intended to get yesterday at Wally World. But of course everything I needed was in a different corner of the store, and the electric cart (they only had one) hadn't been properly charged. So much to my embarrassment, I completely ran out of juice in the lawn and garden department on the opposite side of the checkout lanes! I had to flag down someone who worked there, and they had to get on the walkie talkie to see if there were any more carts. No such luck. There was no way I could walk all the way to checkout from the back of the store, so one of the guys who worked there had to pull the cart (it will still roll if you keep the lever in the "on" position, even if the charge is completely gone) with me riding in it. At least the poor guy thought it was funny when I referred to him as a human tow truck and was kind enough to open a checkout lane just for me to I could pay and get out of there. So yet another "quick" errand that took over an hour.
After I got home and had some yogurt and soup, I braved the early evening heat and mosquitos to spray weeds in the back yard, trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. You see, while that week long rainy streak was great for the grass, it also brought out weeds by the hundreds! Knowing there was no way I had the energy to pluck each weed out of the rocks and patio, I purchased some weed killer that was supposed to be safe around pets as long as the stuff was allowed to dry first. And I avoided getting any on the lawn since Chip plays there. I will pull the weeds there by hand. But either I seriously underestimated the size of my yard or overestimated the capacity of the spray bottle, because i used every bit of it! A full 24 ounces. What sucked was it was one of those bottles that only sprays a direct stream when you hold it level, a distinct disadvantage when you're trying to spray something on the ground while standing. Had to keep pumping the spray bottle, which woke up the carpal tunnel in a hurry. So I hope I won't have to do another application anytime soon.
Speaking of carpal tunnel, gotta stop typing right here.
After they left, I was gonna make some calls and do a few things around the house, but I simply could not stay awake. I did make one call to the dentist to make an appointment to look at my broken crown on Wednesday afternoon, but that's it. I went back to bed for an hour and a half.
The cleaning people DID show up yesterday! Yayyyyy! Had a bit of a language barrier. The three cleaning ladies knew very little English, and I know very little Spanish. But the owner came by with them to go over what will need cleaning each week (floors, main bathroom and bedroom, kitchen) and what will need cleaning only occasionally (ceiling fans, spare bathroom and bedrooms, etc.). Luckily, he speaks Spanglish well enough so everyone could understand him at the same time! And I was amazed at how much got done in only an hour and a half! It would have taken me at least three DAYS to do it all myself, and I don't think I could have done it as well. The shower, the stove, the sinks, they all gleam! I felt a little weird at first, sitting around reading a book while three ladies worked their butts off (obviously, I've never hired anyone to clean before). But it was also a huge relief to know that I'm not gonna have to worry about injuring myself wiping down ceiling fans, scrubbing the bathtub or vacuuming the stairs. So they will be coming by every Tuesday afternoon until we get an offer on the house. Now maybe I'll get a chance to start feeling better if I'm not cleaning all the time.
Don't know exactly what's going on with Chip. He apparently had an upset stomach while the cleaning people were here. I had him in the garage with his kennel and a little area fenced off with baby gates. When I went to the garage to let him back in, he had knocked down the gates and was hiding behind the car. I could tell he'd had an accident because the whole garage smelled like you know what. I kept him in the back yard for a little while until his stomach appeared to settle down. I cleaned the garage, but the smell wasn't going away. I got a bit freaked out....I mean, the last thing I want to do is show a house that smells like poop! After a few frantic calls to Dan, who had always been in charge of the cleaning supplies, I tracked down some enzymatic cleaner, which I used liberally. Haven't checked yet, but I'm hoping the garage is no longer smelly. In the meantime, I'm not sure Chip's tummy has fully recovered. He woke me up at 3am, frantic and demanding to be let outside. I of course had taken sleep meds and was too out of it to follow him into the back yard and see what was going on. I guess if he has any more trouble today I will be calling the vet. Maybe this is all being caused by stress??
Decided I needed to run a few errands, stuff like TP and detergent at Wally World and some food basics at the grocery store (with my restricted diet, any time I run out of eggs constitutes a crisis). But when I started to turn into the parking lot of Wal-Mart, there were two cones in the entrance. Since the area is still new, I figured they'd been painting stripes or doing some construction, so I drove around them. Got into the parking lot and was surprised to find hardly any cars in the lot. But it wasn't until I'd parked and headed for the door that I saw the front doors were blocked with benches? What the heck? On a 24 store? You'd think they could have put up a sign saying they'd be closed. Decided to just head to the regular grocery. Found out later that the six-month-old Wally World had had an electrical fire!
Anyway, it seems I wasn't the only refugee from Wal-Mart to show up at the grocery store. Driving through the store in an electric cart was basically like traipsing through a minefield. Little kids running right into me, adults suddenly stopping in mid-stride and nearly causing me to hit them with the cart, people who very clearly saw me coming but would not move so I could get around them. There were a few times I got caught in gridlock with me trying to get around an end cap display and four people with full sized carts coming from different directions simultaneously trying to get in a checkout line. My little trip to the store ended up taking me an hour! Luckily, the grocery store staff were courteous despite being short-handed, and the checkout lady who helped me with my groceries let me drive their electric cart out into the parking lot to my car! Most stores won't let you go outside with them.
A former co-worker invited me to her 35th birthday party. It's downtown on the 20th at P.F. Chang's, so I would be able to eat there because they have a gluten-free menu. But I think I will have to decline because I'm just not that confident I'll be able to drive myself back home afterward safely. I'm just too exhausted too easily. I'm bummed because I'd sure like to get together with some of my old friends from work.
Guilty pleasure admission: I know I said I wouldn't watch anymore "reality" competitions on tv after that horrible ending to "Rock Star: INXS". But I was flipping channels a few weeks ago and stumbled upon "Last Comic Standing", which I had never seen before. I was reaching for the remote to turn the tv off when I saw someone I recognized! Yep, there was a contestant named Josh Blue onstage. I recognized him right away as the guy with cerebral palsy whom I'd seen several times in person as the opening act at the local comedy club! While he does work his disability into his act (such as describing what it's like to be mistaken for a drunk), he's also just funny as hell! This week, he's in the top five finalists! The finale, where the winner will be picked, airs next Tuesday night on NBC.
I'm halfway through "The Chronicles of Narnia", which is actually like seven books in one volume. It's quite entertaining and the perfect thing to be reading right now since I've got some much stress going one that I need light escapist material. Kinda like watching a Disney movie instead of thinking about your job, or some sort of analogy like that.
Today started out ok. I managed to keep my promise to myself to be up and dressed by 9am, and even took the time to start working on this blog entry. But then I made the mistake of sitting on the couch for a moment about fifteen minutes before I needed to leave for my aquacise class. Wouldn't you know I fell asleep? So I was late again.
After the class, even though I desperately wanted a nap, I had just enough time to come home and eat a quick lunch before heading to my dentist appointment. They checked the broken crown and said the rest appears to be in good condition and will not likely cause me any problems. So they just filed down the rough edges so I wouldn't cut my tongue again. I was quite relieved to not need a new crown. Best of all, no charge for this visit! So nice to not owe more hundreds of dollars.
Since the appointment took only 15 minutes and Target was kinda sorta on the way home, I popped in there to pick up some things I'd intended to get yesterday at Wally World. But of course everything I needed was in a different corner of the store, and the electric cart (they only had one) hadn't been properly charged. So much to my embarrassment, I completely ran out of juice in the lawn and garden department on the opposite side of the checkout lanes! I had to flag down someone who worked there, and they had to get on the walkie talkie to see if there were any more carts. No such luck. There was no way I could walk all the way to checkout from the back of the store, so one of the guys who worked there had to pull the cart (it will still roll if you keep the lever in the "on" position, even if the charge is completely gone) with me riding in it. At least the poor guy thought it was funny when I referred to him as a human tow truck and was kind enough to open a checkout lane just for me to I could pay and get out of there. So yet another "quick" errand that took over an hour.
After I got home and had some yogurt and soup, I braved the early evening heat and mosquitos to spray weeds in the back yard, trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. You see, while that week long rainy streak was great for the grass, it also brought out weeds by the hundreds! Knowing there was no way I had the energy to pluck each weed out of the rocks and patio, I purchased some weed killer that was supposed to be safe around pets as long as the stuff was allowed to dry first. And I avoided getting any on the lawn since Chip plays there. I will pull the weeds there by hand. But either I seriously underestimated the size of my yard or overestimated the capacity of the spray bottle, because i used every bit of it! A full 24 ounces. What sucked was it was one of those bottles that only sprays a direct stream when you hold it level, a distinct disadvantage when you're trying to spray something on the ground while standing. Had to keep pumping the spray bottle, which woke up the carpal tunnel in a hurry. So I hope I won't have to do another application anytime soon.
Speaking of carpal tunnel, gotta stop typing right here.
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