Update

Turns out I just have pulled muscles in my lower back. Had a cortisone shot in my hip, instructed to continue with the muscle relaxers at bedtime and Motrin through the day. The shot hurt like hell. Came home, still hurting, and discovered that our a/c has died again.

Lovely.

So much for that!

Well, I won't be getting that perfect attendance bonus this year at work. I had to leave early today. I have an appointment to see my doctor about my back at 2:15....yes, I finally broke down and called the doctor. I'm not sure what they're going to be able to do for me, since I already have muscle relaxers and no one ever wants to prescribe good pain medicine these days. I asked the school nurse (I have a lot of faith in her) if it was worthwhile to go, and she said yes. She said it wouldn't hurt to have an x-ray done to make sure something isn't really wrong.

I hate missing work and losing out on the bonus this early in the year, although honestly I suppose it's better that way. I'd really be mad if I struggled all this year to go to work, sick or not, and then was forced to call out during the last few weeks! Last year our band director dragged himself into work with the flu in early May because he was determined not to lose out. That's going too far, in my opinion, when you're risking getting others sick. He had plans to use that money for his honeymoon spending cash (he got married in June) and so I didn't blame him, but honestly he should have just stayed home.

Since sick time can only be used in half or whole day increments, I left work at 12 even though my appointment isn't until 2:15. If they make me do x-rays there's no telling how long I'll be there. I hate going to the doctor! I'd much rather still be at work.

Oh, well.....wish me luck. Hopefully it's just a pulled muscle or something equally minor, and hopefully they'll have pity on me and give me something decent for pain relief. Motrin just isn't cutting it!

I'll check in later. Thanks for all the responses on my last post!

Is there a cure for this?

I'm becoming one of the most clumsy, accident prone people I know. I keep hurting myself!

Remember how I thought I had a broken toe this summer? It was definitely broken. It took a full two months to heal and is still slightly tender to the touch. I did that by walking into the bottom of our exercise bike on the way back from the bathroom one night.

Two weeks ago I tripped in the bedroom again. I was walking into the room to turn on the light, and I didn't see Ginger lying beside the nightstand. She's a black dog, you know? So I tripped and went down hard, catching myself in the belly on the wooden corner of the nightstand. I hurt the big toe on my other foot that time (thankfully it isn't broken, just "sprained") and also got a big purple bruise right above my navel.

Last January I fell while walking on the nature trail with some friends, and hurt my knee. I also had extensive bruising on the back of that knee that worked its way down my calf over the course of the next month or so. That hurt a lot.

So what prompted this post? This morning I was messing around in the back yard and decided to plant something in the ground I'd had growing in a pot all summer. When I lifted the second shovelful of heavy, moist dirt, I felt a distinct "pop" in my lower back followed immediately by painful spasms. It was so bad I wondered if I was going to be able to get myself back in the house! I was soaked in sweat and trembling like a leaf by the time I managed to get inside. I immediately got an icepack (a big pack of frozen vegetables) on it and took 800mg of Motrin. I've been icing it all afternoon. It was so bad I even took one of Gregg's leftover pain pills in addition to the Motrin. All that seems to have helped a lot. Still, I'm dreading tomorrow morning and what it's going to feel like after sleeping on it. And I really, really don't want to miss work....the district is offering a $2,000 bonus at the end of the year for perfect attendance. I'd hate to lose out on that this early in the year.

What can I do to stop being so damn clumsy? I'm sure this happened today because my muscles and tendons were cold and I hadn't really properly stretched or moved around much prior to breaking out the shovel. I guess I could be more mindful of that in the future. And more careful when I walk in the dark. Sometimes I just fall out of sheer clumsiness, though, and I have terrible balance. Does anyone recommend anything to help with that? Some sport or exercise that will improve my balance and flexibility?

In the meantime...I'll keep you posted in the latest edition of Times When I Hurt Myself. Sigh.

Book review: Hollow Kingdom

You guys, I read the most incredible book this past week. It's called Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton.

To start, here is a short summary from Goodreads:

One pet crow fights to save humanity from an apocalypse in this uniquely hilarious debut from a genre-bending literary author.

S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®.

Then Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn't quite right. His most tried-and-true remedies--from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis--fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring each other and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow whose knowledge of the world around him comes from his TV-watching education.

Hollow Kingdom is a humorous, big-hearted, and boundlessly beautiful romp through the apocalypse and the world that comes after, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero.

Admittedly, this book might not be everyone's cup of tea. Hell, if the narrator hadn't been a crow I'd probably never have given it a second look (being a crazy bird lady as I am). S.T. (short for Shit Turd, named by Big Jim, his human) loves to swear, and then there are zombies. I know, I know...... it sounds absurd, doesn't it?

Here's a couple of excerpts from Ilana Masad's review from NPR books:


The novel is largely narrated by a domesticated crow named S.T. — short for something unprintable — who has spent his life with a beer-drinking, junk-food-eating, sports-loving, breast-obsessed man named Big Jim, who raised S.T. from a hatchling. A dopey, lazy dog named Dennis rounds out their little Seattle-based family. When Big Jim's eye unexpectedly falls out of his head, S.T. knows something is very wrong, but it takes him a good long while before he gives up on his beloved MoFo — S.T.'s term for humans, learned at Big Jim's bosom — and leaves home, accompanied by Dennis.
…….

Soon enough, it becomes clear that humanity has been seized by something awful. The MoFos wander around aimlessly, their heads bobbing, their fingers swiping at objects without screens, their flesh rotting off them indiscriminately (honestly, don't read this book while you're eating if you're squeamish. Buxton is extremely talented at writing the more horrifying descriptions of the MoFos' physical condition). They don't seem very intent on eating or drinking, they've lost their language, and they become incredibly violent towards living creatures if disturbed — in fact, it's Big Jim's attempt to take a bite out of S.T. that sends the poor crow off to discover what's going on.

S.T. is a brilliant narrator, partially because he has reverence for human things like Cheetos and baked goods and football fandom, but also because he has only half a grasp on what certain human things mean. The book is laced with little jokes referring to pop culture and human idiosyncrasies and narratives...

…..

But S.T.'s love of MoFos, and the deep ache he feels for Big Jim and the life he used to lead read as incredibly sincere. He mourns our loss like few other animals in the book do:

I thought about the other Dennises out there. How many more of him were there, creatures who'd been loyal and good to the MoFos? [...] Creatures with scales or bristles or down, slobbering tongues, good hearts, gentle souls, and soft mouths. Creatures who knew the magic of MoFos, what they give us in protection and affection, what it means to love them with all of your heart and nose and beak. The feeling of those funny bald fingers that can open books and cans of refried beans gently sliding down your back. MoFo is family.

Ultimately, though, S.T.'s real challenge is learning that wild animals, like the murder of crows that roosts at the nearby university campus, are just as creative, resourceful, and lively as the humans he loves. His identity crisis — he so wishes to be human, but isn't and can't become one — is never quite resolved, but he learns, slowly, how to work with his own kind, how to live in this new version of the world.

While it's deeply disconcerting, reading about our own extinction, there is a lot we can learn from S.T. and Dennis the dog's symbiotic relationship in this novel. There's a lot we can learn from S.T.'s getting over his own prejudices about other animals — like seagulls and penguins — in order to work with them. In his wholesale love of us, a species a fellow crow calls "a plague on the earth ... not able to control their numbers or their consumption of the land, and so Nature did it for them," S.T. ultimately gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, we still have a chance to turn things around before Nature is so fed up that she really does set her sights on destroying us for good.

I absolutely loved this book. I laughed literally out loud over and over, and cried several times, too. This book is incredibly touching at times. I fell in love with Shit Turd and the dog Dennis. Maybe it's because of my 12 years of living with a parrot, but S.T. and Dennis' longing for Big Jim and their old life with him really struck a chord. The author has a relationship with two half domesticated crows and has been surrounded by all sorts of other animals, both wild and domesticated. It really shows, too, especially in all the little vignettes told from other species' point of view that she scattered through the book.

If you don't mind a quirky read that's kind of a cross between The Walking Dead and The Art of Racing in the Rain, I think you just might love Hollow Kingdom! 

5 STARS

Wednesday...still waiting

I got off work two hours early today because of the approaching storm. School is canceled for tomorrow, and the district is taking a "wait and see" approach to Friday. I raced around when I got off, going by the bank, the grocery store for some last minute supplies, and the ABC store for a bottle of Kraken rum. If we lose power I'll drink rum and Coke for as long as the ice lasts!

Once I got home, I spent two hours cleaning and finishing up the laundry so that if we do lose power for a few days, the house will be tidy and all of our clothes will be clean. Speaking of which, I had so much help!

Supervising the laundry progress...one of his joys in life.

Something funny happened with Marco this morning. We had the bathroom window open a few inches, and a small bird (a Carolina Wren) flew into the house. It buzzed past my head and made it all the way down the hall, around the foyer, and into the dining room. Gregg and I managed to catch it when it flew between the blinds trying to get out of the living room window, and took it outside and let it go. A few minutes later, when I was applying my makeup with Marco on my shoulder (he loves supervising all personal grooming, too) I said to him, "Marco! There was a little wild bird in our house!" And I kid you not, he replied, "I know!" Crazy!!! That's one of the phrases he knows how to say, obviously, but his timing is just too perfect sometimes. That's a smart little parrot!

So we're still waiting on Dorian to pass through. Late tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be the worst of it, so I'll let you know how we fare. At least we'll have a little feathered comedian to keep us entertained if we lose power!

Inching this way

What waiting for this current hurricane feels like:




I wish it would just come on already and do whatever it's got to do. It stalled out as a Cat 5 over the Bahamas for a day and a half, unleashing hell on those poor people. Now it's finally moving northward, thankfully a good bit weaker now (although still a strong hurricane). I'm not really worried about it. The coastal areas are likely to get hurricane force wind and rain, but we're far enough inland that only tropical storm force weather is predicted for us. Of course, that depends on the current track holding true, and that's iffy at best.

Tomorrow is a half day at the school. We'll be dismissing 2 hours early ahead of the first bands of the storm rolling through. We've heard that we probably won't have school on Thursday or Friday, but that hasn't been officially confirmed yet.

Meanwhile we've had some beautiful blue skies and clouds lately. Yesterday was Labor Day and Gregg was able to take a rare day off with me. It was fun to be at home together with Ginger, George, and Marco. We spent a large portion of the day sitting on the back porch, enjoying the nice weather. We may end up having a day or two more off together this week, but if we do the weather won't be nice.

Take care, my east coast friends.

Dorian

That damn hurricane is actually headed this way. Instead of a direct hit somewhere in Florida, it's supposed to move along the coastline and threaten everybody between Florida and North Carolina. No one is sure yet exactly what's going to happen.

I've been saying that Florida is going to be mostly fine, and I stand by that prediction. Why, you ask? I'll tell you why. Evil always seems to flourish. Trump's precious Mar a Lago is in Florida, and so is my brother in law's horrid evil shrew of a wife. They'll both sail through without problems, while good and innocent people everywhere else in the southeast will suffer. I've seen it happen time and again.

My husband texted me from work a little while ago and asked about the latest storm updates. I replied with a headline, "Dorian Crushes Bahamas". He texted back: those poor people. Yes. It's terrible to think of a Cat 5 storm (sustained winds over 175mph) leveling those islands. I'm fearful of how much death and destruction is going to be left in the wake of this storm.

And we have to wait to see where it's headed next. I'll keep you posted about South Carolina.

Oh, and happy September. Sigh.

Farewell to summer

This is how I spent the last day of August....drinking mimosas with several friends at the pool.

Since I was the one taking pictures, I turned the phone around and got a still-wet selfie.

Onward to September!

Change is in the air

Summer seems to be on it's way out. The signs of fall are undeniable now. It's not just the cooler weather (although that's my favorite part) but also the rapidly shortening days and the difference in the angle of light, mornings and afternoons. The leaves on the trees, while still green, have started to turn a more golden shade of green. There are red berries on the dogwood tree. The very air seems different.

Sunday night was delightfully cool after the awful heat of the summer. I actually slept with two bedroom windows open, and it got down to 69 degrees with a good strong breeze. I put freshly laundered sheets on the bed, took a shower, and then settled down under the covers with lots of fresh cool air circulating in the room. Heavenly. I woke up a couple of times during the night, still feeling all nice and comfortable, and was reminded both times of hurricane weather. The gusty winds stirring the trees outside and the fresh cool air felt just like when a hurricane is approaching.

Speaking of which, there's the storm Dorian down in the Atlantic right now. The latest forecast predicts that it may strengthen to a level 3 hurricane and approach Florida (most likely) or else maybe Georgia or even South Carolina. It doesn't seem like a big deal yet, although my husband thinks I should go ahead and stock up on supplies early. The stores will be overrun in another day or two if Dorian continues to head this way. There won't be a loaf of bread or gallon of milk left anywhere! Ha! People make jokes about "milk sandwiches" around here for a reason. Those two things sell best in the grocery store right before any kind of weather event and I once saw two middle aged women get in a screaming match over the last loaf of bread when it was supposed to snow.

(Southerners are crazy.)

Moving on...…...since we had cooler weather last weekend, I cooked a nice pot roast in the crock pot and made mashed potatoes for the first time in months. It wasn't really pot roast cool outside, of course, just cool compared to the rest of the summer. I was finally able to cook a meal like this without worrying about breaking a sweat while eating it:

Moving into a new season is always exciting in the kitchen. As much as I love sweet corn, fresh tomatoes, peaches, new potatoes, grilled chicken, and summer salads, I'm longing for soup, stews, chili, and beans. Apple pies and pumpkin bread.

And oh, how I love sitting on my screened back porch these days! Now that it isn't quite so hot in the late afternoon we've been sitting out there every day after work. There's a ceiling fan, so even on warmer days it's pleasant, and the birds are becoming more active at the feeders. We're seeing three hummingbirds right now, but I know they'll be leaving soon. It's a fact that hummingbirds will travel the thousands of miles from South America and back and often will return, year after year, to the exact same feeders. Maybe these three will be back in March. I hope so! As to the seed eaters, their feeders have been invaded by a giant flock of Cowbirds. They're greedy and loud and pushy and I wish they'd go away! And some of the Cardinals have a second brood of fledglings which are pretty cute to watch. I usually have a glass or two of wine while we talk and watch the sun go down.

 The dogs like to hang out on the porch with us in the afternoons. George watches the feeders with us, but Ginger naps a lot these days. It's hard for me to admit that she's getting old. But she's definitely slowing down a little and is maybe a little hard of hearing, too. But she's sweeter and smarter than ever and a truly great dog. We're trying hard to notice and appreciate every day with her right now, while she's still healthy and engaged and sassy. Who knows how many more good autumns a twelve year old dog will have? It makes me cry to even type those words. We love her so much. But we're conscious of the passing of time and the need to make the most of the time we still have with her. And George is getting to be a better dog by the day. He's improved so much since we moved here; now he lives inside and never has accidents, or chews anything up, or does anything bad, really. Quite a change from when we first adopted him from the shelter as a wild, undisciplined, mistreated youngster! He's really growing up to be a good dog, too.

I find I'm  really looking forward to my last new season in this house. We bought it and moved in last November, so autumn is the only season left that we haven't seen in our new home. I'm trying to notice and make the most of every single day of it. We're finding that we really like it here.

The Notorious RBG

She's tough as nails and I'm confidant she'll beat cancer again and stay in her spot as long as it takes to see this administration out. And then I hope she retires and enjoys herself..goodness knows she deserves it.

That face

What are you looking at? --Marco 

Whew!

These first two days of the new school year have been hectic. I'm sipping my second glass of wine right now, so I feel nice and relaxed, but I'll need to go to bed extra early again tonight to keep up with the demands of this week. The district rolled out a new registration system this year, and it's an utter nightmare. A large chunk of our sizeable student body still doesn't have the registration process completely done, and enrollment is way up. Our classrooms are bursting at the seams. And the bus department....what a nightmare. I remember Ms. Moon talking about her grandsons being stuck on the bus for two hours on the afternoon of their first day of school. The same thing happened here yesterday. Some of the bus kids were still getting picked up at the school over an hour and a half after dismissal. Some of them didn't arrive home until after 6:00pm! We have almost a thousand students, and about half of them ride the bus.....so can you imagine how many frantic phone calls I took in the front office yesterday? I stayed almost 2 hours late to reassure parents that their kids were fine, just really late. And then this morning the pissed off parents started to call. I'll bet that altogether, between the bus fiasco, the registration problems, the requests for schedule changes, the new parent questions....I took several hundred phone calls over the last few days! I stayed late again today because there was so much left to do. It's been a lot of work.

I had some embarrassingly nice compliments from the principal and one of his assistants this afternoon, though. We were talking in Mr. Oates' office late this afternoon and he said something to the effect of: "Mrs. Barlow, you have one of the most stressful jobs in this school. You have to juggle demands and people asking you for things all day long, and you always keep a great attitude and go the extra mile. You deserve a raise, and I wish I could give you one. (Raises come from the district office, and I actually did get one this year). I appreciate you and I want you to know it." And then the assistant principal, Mrs. Frierson, starting talking about how much I do and how she knows she can count one me if she needs anything, and how I always smile and make the effort to be pleasant to everyone no matter what--I'm able to keep my composure. Well, after all these compliments, my head might have started to swell!!! Haha. But seriously, it feels so good to work somewhere a serious effort to do a good job is noticed. That's worth more than money, honestly.

Well, off to feed the dogs their supper (ours is still in the oven, but it's almost ready), take a short walk, watch some tv, and go to bed early. Tomorrow promises to be another busy, busy day. My apologies for being somewhat slack in commenting on your blogs right now--when the weekend arrives I hope to catch up with you all!

Have a great week.

Domestic stuff

This is what I did earlier today:

Pickled peppers and garlic

I like to have some spicy vinegar on hand in the fall and winter, for eating on greens.

I'm also preparing to grill some chicken breasts this evening for work lunches this week. I bought some more of the wonderful local sweet corn to put on the grill, too, and a ripe cantaloupe to slice and refrigerate for dessert. Cantaloupe isn't my favorite summer fruit, but Gregg likes it.

Besides kitchen stuff, I'm doing laundry and a few extra house chores this afternoon. Tomorrow the kids are back at school and this week is going to be hectic. I'm trying to enjoy a quiet day at home to prepare for the craziness of the next few days. Another school year is about to really begin!

Rain dance

It's been so terribly hot and dry here lately. I heard on the radio the other day that most of the state is experiencing mild to moderate drought conditions. Not only has there been very little rain this summer, but it's been incredibly hot for days on end, more than once. Today it got up to 101 degrees with high humidity outside....it doesn't get much more miserable than that.

Driving home from work this afternoon I heard about a chance of severe thunderstorms in the upstate. Despite the fact that we're east of that, the sky is turning dark as I type this. Oh please, oh please, let it rain tonight! It's hot in our house since the a/c is having a hard time keeping up again. I'm sweating as I type this. The grass has turned to dust outside and the late summer flowers seem to be fading fast. I'm so ready for fall....but a good hard rainstorm would be such a relief in the meantime!

My mom swears that one of my great grandfathers on her side was over half Native American. Do you think if I go outside and dance it would help matters? If I thought it would.....I would!

Original painting by Sylvia Zalmanson

First day back...

This is how it started:

Marco loves to hang out with me in the morning. Sometimes he showers with me, sometimes he just perches on the shower curtain rod while I get ready. That's what he was doing this morning when he decided to jump down and land with a *plop* on top of my towel-covered head. I had to go grab my phone and get a picture. It was too funny to resist.

Then I went to work, and as soon as I sat down at my desk and started answering the phones it was like the last several weeks off never happened. The district rolled out a new online registration process that has a lot of parents confused and frustrated. It's beginning to look like next week (when the students come back) is going to be a bit...chaotic. We'll see.

It's still crazy hot outside. Putting on makeup again in the morning is unpleasant, since it's so easy to sweat it right off just walking to and from your car. As one of the local meteorologists put it on social media today:




That's as good a description of life here in the summer as I've ever seen!

All in all, it was an "okay" first day back. And hey, there's only 189 more work days to go until my next summer vacation!

Ready

It's the last day of summer vacation. Sunday isn't my favorite day of the week to begin with, and so today just felt kind of sucky. There was a mountain of laundry to do, and I gave the kitchen and bathrooms a quick scrub. Tomorrow will be a better day if I come home to a tidy house after work.

I'm actually ready to go back to work. I like my job, which helps. Also, I'm ready for fall. We've begun another period of awful heat and humidity, and I'm just done with this weather. Sick of it. I feel trapped in the house, but when I try to go outside to get a little exercise I'm immediately wet with sweat and miserable. Cooler weather will be, as always, a welcome relief.

Yesterday I went to visit with an older lady friend of ours whose husband died a few months ago. She's very lonely and had been asking us to come visit, so yesterday I did. I had never been to her house, and what a surprise. First of all, the house is gorgeous, filled with lots of custom details and glowing wood. There are stained glass windows all over the house, because that's a former hobby of hers, and watercolor paintings she had done as well. I never knew she was such an artist! But best of all was the outside of the property: 18 acres, most of which is wooded and slopes back to a portion of a creek. There's about 5 acres of cleared and landscaped land immediately around the house, and she had the most wonderful trees and flowers. Old roses, lilies, gardenias, and spring flowering shrub, and masses of annuals that reseed themselves every year. There were oak and magnolia trees dripping with Spanish moss, crepe myrtles in bloom, and even a giant, magnificent Brown Turkey fig tree. When she found out that I plan to plant a fig tree in our back yard, she insisted on giving me some cuttings of that even though it's the wrong season to try to root them. She said that if it doesn't work out, we can try again later, and she also gave me two types of flower seeds: Rose Campion and Hummingbird Vine.

Rose  Campion

Hummingbird Vine

I found both those images on the internet. I didn't take many pictures at Carol's house, but I wish I had. It was beautiful. And she's offered me bulbs, shrubs, rose cuttings, or anything else I might like to have for our yard--how generous!

That's been my whole weekend, right there. Visiting with a friend yesterday and doing a little bit of housework (but mostly sitting around being lazy) today. Another friend invited me over to her house to swim this afternoon but I decided I needed to do the laundry and prepare for tomorrow, instead. I won't have to cook tonight; we grilled out yesterday and have leftovers: pork chops with honey chipotle bbq sauce, corn on the cob cooked in it's husk on the grill, fresh farm stand tomatoes and cucumbers, and I may make a side dish of mac and cheese. That only requires boiling water, after all. We'll eat as soon as Gregg gets home from work, probably in another half hour or so. He usually works until around 7pm at the pet store on Sunday nights.

As I type this, I'm having a "farewell, summer" gin and tonic with lime. It's been my go-to cocktail these last two months. Easy, light, and refreshing. I may have another after dinner.

Have a good night, everyone, and wish me luck tomorrow--a new school year is about to begin!

 I'm ready.

Last four!

I'm down to my last four days of summer vacation. When my husband was leaving for work this morning he said, "Better make 'em count!" and he's right. I'll be craving some time off in a month or two once we're back into the full swing of things.

Working the first three days of this week during registration was super easy--not like my regular job at all. Sitting in the gym with a book, selling a t-shirt or two here and there, was actually pretty fun. And I ended up selling over $2000 worth of shirts so it definitely wasn't a waste of time! I got to meet a couple of new teachers and the two new additional guidance counselors joining us. I spent an hour catching up with the band director and hearing about his summer wedding and honeymoon trip to Holland. The science teacher/4H leader/beekeeper that I buy eggs and honey from gave me some advice on my plans for landscaping our small property (I want to make it pollinator friendly) and that was an interesting discussion. Here's a new photo of the zinnias her students planted in front of the school last spring, still going strong in August:

I must plant some of these lovelies here at home next year. They're bright, cheerful, and seem to require very little in the way of care. Plus, the bees and butterflies love them!

On a less cheerful note, the office assistant who spoke Spanish has found a new job and will not be coming back this year. That puts me back in the hot seat when dealing with our many, many Hispanic parents in the front office. I've neglected working on my Spanish this summer and need to spend the next week before the students return brushing up on it as much as possible.

Yesterday afternoon when I got home it seemed like our air conditioner wasn't working very well (again). It was 80 degrees in the house (82 in a couple of rooms that are always warmer) even though the thermostat was set on 76. Folks, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I nearly had a panic attack over it. I'm not sure if I blogged about the last night of the last time our a/c went out, but it was...dramatic. It was during a sweltering heat wave, the temperature in the house that night was 87 degrees, there was no breeze to catch in the open windows, and the humidity was so high the air felt like thick soup. We had brought in our portable a/c and had it running in the den to try to get some relief, but it wasn't helping much at all. Sleep was impossible. And then about 1:30am I discovered the portable unit was leaking water all over the rug, which led to a mad dash to move furniture, take up the rug and move it to the porch, mop up the water, and resolve the leakage issue so we could continue using the only source of cooler air we had. "Miserable" doesn't even begin to describe it. I suppose I'm a little traumatized by it all. Thank goodness that last night the a/c cooled down to where it should be. What a relief! I suppose because it got so hot outside yesterday it just had trouble keeping up in the late afternoon. I'll be glad when summer is over, honestly. I hate being sweaty all the time. I hate worrying about the a/c. Next summer, we need to just replace the damn thing and be done with it.

Well, off to find a way to "make today count". :) I tried to sleep in, but Marco had other plans. After only three days of me working again he decided getting up at 6:30am is now our "thing". The dogs have already gotten up, eaten breakfast, and are now starting their midmorning naps. What a life, huh?

The crepe myrtles are still blooming, too.

Hello from the t-shirt table!

I'm at work, stationed at the t-shirt table in the gym. I've already sold several and it's only 8:30am!

It sure is nice to see everyone. Coming back to work doesn't feel bad at all. And it's nice seeing returning students and how much they've grown over the summer!

Thoughts from the porch...

While I sit out here and watch a thunderstorm:

Our power sure seems to go off more often and for longer periods of time than at our last house. At least it's cooler outside and I can open windows. It's been 2 hours already from a puny little storm.

We have some picky spoiled birds that eat here! Money was tight the last time I went to buy seed for the feeders, so I got a cheaper mix than we normally offer. These fat bastards are snubbing the feeders, in what I can only assume is a bid to get back their fancy boutique bird feeding store gourmet mix. 

Speaking of spoiled animals, Ginger and George are LIVING IT UP this summer and have had me at their beck and call. Lazy, spoiled, and entitled...that's them.

And let's not forget Marco T. Barlow, the Terrorist in Feathers.

And finally....

How is it August already? And why doesn't time fly like this during the school year?

Extra cash

Yesterday I got a text from the secretary of the school where I work. It seems that our superintendent has done away with "comp time" this year. Basically "comp time" was when you worked extra hours off the clock that could be used later as needed. I guess it was too easily abused. So instead of a bunch of people getting in comp time next week during registration, anyone who works will be clocking in and getting an extra paycheck for the time worked. The secretary asked me if I wanted to work any or all of the 3 days of registration, and when I found out that I could make some extra money, I decided to work all three! So on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week I'll be working from 8am-3pm and earning a small extra paycheck. And after that I'll still have Thursday through Sunday off before I start back for real. I'm happy for the chance to make some extra cash.

Speaking of extra cash, Gregg is getting ready to sell almost 200 pounds of old dried coral skeleton we've had sitting around in buckets in the garage. One of the nursing homes where he maintains the aquariums is switching their 180 gallon tank over to African cichlids and they're totally redoing the aquascape, and coral skeleton will be perfect for it. Gregg has offered them a deal on the coral: $1.50 a pound, when it normally sells for at least double that (if you can find it at all). So that will be another extra check for us. We decided yesterday (when I was considering whether or not to sacrifice three days of my summer vacation) that we could combine the extra money we'll be earning to buy a piece or two or furniture we still want for the house. We still need a desk, two barstools, and a new chair for the living room. This will give us the chance to knock an item or two off that list.

I don't really mind giving up the three days. Last year during registration my job was to sit at a table and sell school t-shirts. For part of that time the band teacher hung out with me and we had a good time trash talking Donald Trump and exchanging funny student/parent/school stories. It wasn't really like work at all. I was already planning to work a day or two for comp time, so getting paid is a nice surprise! The last few days off will fly by no matter what I do, anyway.

Today I'll be hosing off the coral Gregg's about to sell and letting it dry in the sun. It's been in the garage for so long it's a little dusty. I'll have the house to myself until 7 or 8pm because Gregg has two aquarium jobs to go take care of after he finishes his shift at the pet store. I'm trying to decide if I want to meet up with some friends this afternoon for coffee and conversation. It's something I do fairly often on Wednesdays since that's his day to work late. I haven't spent nearly as much time with friends this summer as I'd planned to; somehow with one thing or another I've been busy with other things. The new house has been the focus of almost all my energy this time around. I imagine that by next summer we'll be more settled in and I can turn my attention to other things. Not that I mind pouring time and energy into our new home! I love it and want to make it as nice as possible.

Catching up as summer slips away

I've really not done much blogging this summer, at least not as much as I'd planned. All this time off has been filled with housekeeping projects, cooking, reading, watching tv, and spending time with the dogs. It's been really nice, actually. I'm not ready to go back to work yet; it feels like the summer just got started, and yet it's already almost over. I have two weeks left. I've worked hard to finish up the list of tasks I had set for myself this summer. Among them are things like:

• Cleaning the porch. The wooden beams were dirty and cobweb-y, and the tile floor was really dirty. I spent a whole afternoon washing down the painted wood and mopping. 
•  Rearranging the kitchen cabinets, and unpacking and storing the china my grandmother gave me before she died. I have some really fancy large collections of two patterns complete with teapots and serving pieces. I guess I'll have to have a tea party one day! Ha.
• Cleaning and oiling all of our wooden furniture. We have a beautiful teak dining table and credenza that were badly in need of it, and several other pieces (end tables, nightstands) that I took care of too on the same day.
•  Organizing and decluttering the laundry room. 
•  Giving all of the floors in the house a good cleaning. We have pretty original hardwood floors in most of the rooms, with the exception of the den which has laminate floors (which are also very pretty). 
• Washing all linens in the house, which included a trip to the laundromat for machines big enough for bedspreads and comforters. I just did that yesterday.
• Plenty of yard work. Gregg has done all of the mowing and most of the weed-eating, but I've trimmed hedges and taken truckloads of yard waste to the dump. I've also pulled weeds and regularly scooped up dog poop from the back yard.
• Cleaning out closets, although I didn't get as far with this one as I'd hoped.

Almost every day, I've given myself tasks to do over and above ordinary maintenance cleaning. Which is all I plan to do for the next two weeks before I go back to work--maintenance. I want to enjoy these last few days of freedom as much as possible. 

I got a new phone yesterday! I finally dropped mine one too many times, and it was toast. We had had our phones for years, and they weren't the latest thing when we first bought them. So now we have the latest Samsung Galaxy--the S10. It will take some time to get used to it, but already I'm loving the extra space, the much improved camera, and the longer lasting charge. Speaking of the camera, here is a video I took of a hummingbird visiting our back porch feeder with it yesterday: 

And here are a couple of pictures of our Crepe Myrtle trees, which are covered in blooms:

We have a line of five of these trees along the southeast side of our house. I just love them.

I'm reading a new book: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It's set in Old Testament days and is the story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob by his wife Leah. If anyone asks if I've done any traveling this summer I can tell them "Yes!"....time travelling, that is! Between the Philippa Gregory books about the Plantagenets and Tudors, and now this, I've been living halfway in the past these past couple of months!

I've also gotten hooked on True Blood and try to watch two or three episodes a night. It's dark and funny and outlandish--vampires and shapeshifters, maenads and werewolves, anyone?--but it's so much fun! It's bloody and sexy and soapy...a perfect summer tv series, in my opinion. And the music is good, too. I've been having a good time watching it.

Weather wise, the past week has been wonderful. Cooler and less humid, with blue skies and pleasant breezes. Of course, it would cool down as soon as our a/c was repaired. :)  It's funny how around here 90 degrees F for a high and 68 for the low feels almost like the onset of fall! All of a sudden it's nice to sit out on the porch in the late afternoon, again. We've been enjoying it out there each evening, sitting with the dogs. They're going to be so unhappy when I go back to work. They're more spoiled than they've ever been right now!

Well, that's about all I've been up to. What about you?

Emerald and gold

A dead beetle we found in the back yard yesterday. 

That vivid green color sparkled in the grass.

I made my husband hold it for me while I took a picture to share.

Resolution

After a terrible night, I'm happy to say that our a/c seems to be fixed. The guy that came out said that the compressor overheated and quit working. It's still not very cool in the house, but he said it will take a few hours to cool things back down again and to not turn the temperature down too low all at once--to try to drop the temp in the house a couple of degrees at a time so as not to overwhelm the works. Whatever, I'm just grateful cool air is coming out of the vents again. And we didn't have to pay anything even though the last time the a/c broke it was for a different issue.

Last night at about 1:30 in the morning we discovered that the portable a/c unit was leaking all over the rug in our den. We had to scramble to move furniture, get the rug up, mop up the water, etc. We ended up dragging an old plastic kiddie pool from the garage to put the unit inside of to protect the floors from leaking water. It must have been after 2am before we were finally able to  (try to) sleep, and Gregg had to get up early for work. The house is in disarray still, but I'm exhausted from 2 nights of hardly getting any sleep. I'll have to deal with all that after a good nap.

Not again!

Our central ac unit quit working again last night. Of course this would happen during the weekend when it's impossible to get anyone out. And who knows how long it will take to get our home warranty company to send someone out to repair it.

We have a portable ac unit we bought several years ago for our dogs when they lived in the garage at the old house. We're thankful to have it today. The temperature is supposed to reach 98F today with a heat index of 108F. Without this backup unit we'd be forced to leave home in this heat. As it is, we can only cool one room with the portable. I won't complain about that, though. It could be so much worse!

Hopefully we can make the company that repaired our ac in May to come back and make this right. The fix should have lasted through one summer, at least. I'm about ready to raid our savings and just replace the unit altogether and to hell with the cost. South Carolina in July is no place to have a continually breaking air conditioner!

Binge

Whew! This summer is flying by! I have exactly three more weeks left before I go back to work. I'm not complaining--I never expected to have a job where I get so much time off and I'm so very grateful for it.

It's been hot hot hot here. The temperatures and humidity have been so high that the heat index has been hovering between 105-110F. That's insane. Stepping outside is like walking into a sauna.  So much for spending time outdoors in the summer!

Since I've been in the house estivating for the past few weeks, I've been taking the opportunity to binge on books and tv. It's been a real treat to spend hours every day reading and discovering new tv shows. Here's what I've read and watched so far this summer:

Books:

As I've mentioned here already, I've been on a Philippa Gregory kick since May. I've read several of her Plantagenet/Tudor novels and since she's such a prolific writer, there are plenty more to choose from. I'm on a small break from them at the moment. Here are the ones I've read, in the order in which I read them:

The Red Queen
The White Princess
The Lady of the Rivers
The Constant Princess
The Kingmaker's Daughter
The Other Queen

All of these are set prior to the reign of Henry VIII, with the exception of The Constant Princess, and that one is mostly about Katherine of Aragon's early life, her brief marriage to Henry's older brother Arthur, and the lie she told to be allowed to marry Henry after Arthur's death. And now that I think about it, The Other Queen is set after Henry had died and his daughter Elizabeth was on the throne. I forgot about it because it was my least favorite of the six books I've read so far.

I've read a couple of other books this summer, too.

Educated by Tara Westover
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Educated is the true story of a young woman raised by mentally ill, violent, dysfunctional parents in the mountains of Idaho. They were fundamentalist-leaning Mormons, survivalists, poverty stricken, and "end of days" preppers along the lines of the Ruby Ridge family. Tara never saw the inside of a classroom until she was almost an adult, and the family never saw doctors even when truly horrific accidents and illnesses struck. Despite all this, Tara ended up going to Cambridge and Harvard and traveling all over the world, eventually earning a Ph.D and writing Educated about her jaw-dropping life story. It's incredibly compelling and I highly recommend it! This is my book club's August selection but I finished it in two days this past week. I couldn't put it down!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was a loan from a book club friend that I discovered while dusting and organizing my bookshelves last week. I finally got around to reading it, and it was...meh. I'm not a huge fan of light mystery novels, and that's what this is. Apparently it's the first of a series of books about a brilliant 11 year old chemistry loving prodigy girl named Flavia de Luce. It's set in 1950s England, which was my favorite part of the book, but otherwise it wasn't my cup of tea. (Cup of tea! Ha!) I doubt I'll be reading any other books in the series.

TV:

I got a cheap 3 month trial of Starz so that I could watch their series based on the Philippa Gregory books: The White Queen, The White Princess, and The Spanish Princess. All three are gorgeous to look at (the settings, the costumes) and the actors are all pretty good. I'm through with the first two, and have just started The Spanish Princess.

We've also been watching American Gods on Starz. The book by Neil Gaiman is one of my all time favorites, and the show is pretty good, too. The casting is spot on and the way it's adapted for television is well done. I think Gaiman is one of the executive producers.

HBO  has been knocking it out of the park with some of their new series. We've been watching Big Little Lies (season 2...with Meryl Streep!) Euphoria, Years and Years, and most recently (and we're binging this one) True Blood. Yes, I know I'm extremely late to the True Blood party, but that just means we have the whole series to watch at our leisure. I always thought the premise sounded kind of silly but it turns out the show is very fun to watch. Speaking of fun....and the lack of it.....Years and Years is set 15 years into the future, and it's uncomfortable to watch as it's almost dystopian, and then the shocking surprise ending of episode 4 didn't sit well with me. I doubt I'll be watching any more of that one.

So there you have it: How I've been spending my summer vacation! Have you read or watched anything on my list? Or anything else good I should know about? I'd love to hear about it if you have.

Helper

This bird loves nothing more in the whole wide world than "helping" with laundry.

He loves it so much, in fact, that he'll scream with outrage if you dare to turn on the dryer or fill the washer without his Feathered Highness in attendance. If you want to preserve the peace in the house you have to let him come into the laundry room and supervise every step of the process.

Life with Marco.

Junk out, junk in

The campaign to organize and pare down the stuff in this house continues. I didn't know we had so much pure junk stashed away! Yesterday I pulled everything out of the closet in the office to try to get a handle on it, and I quickly realized I wished I had never started! What a mess! Holiday decorations (not just Christmas), gift wrap supplies, old coats and sweaters, framed awards received from my job in 2009-2011, old calendars I kept for the artwork, 10 years worth of Gregg's aquarium job receipt and record books, knick knacks, and on and on and on. I was overwhelmed. But I got most of it sorted and there's three boxes of stuff to either donate or take to the dump today. There's still more to do: we have stacks of old CDs and DVDs in the office that need to be sorted, alphabetized, and either stored someplace handy or donated. Then there are two more closets in the bedrooms that need the same treatment, and lots of stuff in our laundry room cabinets too. Arrgh!!!! I've had enough for the moment, though, and I'm taking a break from it today.

Ironically enough, what I plan to do today is to go start scouring thrift stores for some items we need for our house. I know, I know: didn't I just complain about all the junk I had (and still have) to sort through? Yes, but there are items we need and I've resolved to shop at thrift stores to try to find treasures for cheap. We need things to hang over our mantle, above our sofa in the living room, and something for the wall in the foyer. While we have several small pieces of art painted by friends that we intend to get matted and framed, none of it is large enough for those three spaces. We also need lamps, and we'd like some that are both interesting and inexpensive. It would be great if I could find a few larger items, too, as we're still looking to add two barstools to the kitchen counter and a real desk here in the office. I kind of doubt I'll find big items like that in thrift stores, but you never know: a new Habitat for Humanity home store just opened right down the street. I resolved at the beginning of the summer to browse some of these shops at least once a week or so to be on the lookout for all the things we want. I hope I'll get lucky and find a few good pieces! I'm not usually one to find the really great deals in thrift stores so we'll see. I wish my mother in law was still alive. She was the queen of thrift store/yard sale/discount shopping and could find really good stuff for a song--and she wasn't afraid to haggle over the price, either! Part of the reason she was so lucky at it was that she was retired and had lots of time to look. Right now, I have way more time than money, so starting today I'm going to go do the rounds of treasure hunting.

Hey, part of the reason for cleaning out the old junk was to make room!

Do you like to go thrift shopping? And if so, what kinds of good stuff have you found? I'd love to hear about it!

The bounty of summer

I went by the school where I work the other day to drop off some honey and egg money. I buy them from the 4-H Club leader, one of our science teachers who not only keeps lots of hens at her home, but she's also a certified beekeeper who maintains our school apiary. Yes, our school has our very own honey to sell! Here is a picture of our "Spring Honey" (on the left) and "Autumn Honey" (on the right). Check out the difference in color!

While I was there dropping off the money, I observed that several of the small pollinator gardens scattered around the campus (planted by the 4-H Club and Environmental Action Club students) were blooming like mad. Here is one of them, right in front of the entrance to the school.

There were several bees buzzing around, and if you look closely you'll see a butterfly sipping nectar from the coral colored flower just left of center.

Last week Marla called me up one afternoon and said her husband was coming by to give us something. I knew right away that her grandma must have sent us some fresh vegetables from her garden, and I was right! Look at these beauties!

There's nothing like fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, and honey in the summertime!

Coming around

Good morning everyone! Thank you all for the supportive comments on my last post. I started back on my medicine a few days ago and I already feel a whole lot better. I've been trying to decide if the meds can really make a difference this fast or if I'm experiencing a placebo effect. After trying hard to be objective about it, I really think the meds are doing the trick. Within two days of taking the Zoloft I lost the emotionally fragile feeling I'd been walking around with for the past month. I'm also sleeping much better now and finally feel like I'm shaking the fatigue that's been dogging me so far this summer. Yay! I won't be so foolish as to simply stop taking the meds again without consulting my doctor.

Speaking of doctors, I probably should go see one about my foot. Specifically, the middle toes on my left foot---I think one of them may be broken. Yep, Miss Graceful strikes again! I got up the middle of the night last week to use the bathroom, and on my way back to bed I smacked my toes on the bottom of the exercise bike in my bedroom. Holy moly, did it hurt! And when I woke up the next morning the top of that foot underneath the toes had swollen and turned blue. I can't bear to touch the middle toe, and walking hurts pretty bad. I'm limping along taking Motrin and trying to walk on the side of my foot to accommodate the hurt toes. I hope it's just a couple of sprained toes and not a fracture, but even if it is a fracture I'm not sure there's much a doctor can do. Gregg suggested maybe I need one of those boot things. Wouldn't that be funny? A real summer fashion statement!

Today I'm going to work on starting some of the home projects I've got planned for this summer. Until I started back on the medicine I just couldn't muster the energy or will to do much of anything. All of a sudden I'm a month into my vacation and if I don't get a move on the summer is going to slip past. I'll be disappointed if I don't accomplish my list before going back to work. I've been making that list since we bought the house in November.

That being said, it's time to slurp down the last of the coffee and get to work. Today, reorganizing the kitchen cabinets is on the agenda. Everything got kind of crammed in willy-nilly when we were moving in last fall. Now that I've had time to use the kitchen I have a better idea of how things should be stored for maximum convenience. Another thing I need to do today (the first thing, in fact, before it gets too hot) is go out front and finish trimming the hedges. Gregg had the afternoon off yesterday so we did some yard work together, but it started raining when I was about 3/4 of the way through trimming the wildly out of control bushes in front. It shouldn't take over 30 minutes or so to complete.

Have a great weekend!

Withdrawal

It's been almost a week since I posted here, and now June is just about finished. I wish this summer would slow down. It's passing by at lightning speed and I'll be back at work in no time.

I've been in a weird place, emotionally, for a couple of weeks now. Remember how I said I couldn't stop welling up with tears at our niece's wedding? I've been like that pretty much nonstop, over everything, recently. I alternate between tearful and emotional and irritated at the world. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I have an idea. About three weeks ago I stopped taking Zoloft. I've been taking a maintenance dose of it (50mg) for almost 20 years now. I think that's what's wrong.

I began Zoloft in desperation in my mid 20's after a particularly terrible, long lasting episode of OCD symptoms, crippling anxiety, and black depression. OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) can be a horrible, debilitating mental illness although very few people take it seriously. I still have to bite my tongue when people say, "I'm so OCD!" when what they really mean is that they have a penchant for order or cleanliness. It's so not that. And it's not a joke, believe me.

 It would be painful and embarrassing to describe my symptoms here, and so I won't, but I'll leave you with just one example of what the hell of OCD is like. One time when in the throes of it, I hit a pothole in the road while driving my car. I could not (could not) shake the irrational fear that I had hit a person. I drove back around the block probably dozens of times, trying to reassure myself that it wasn't a human being and just a pothole that I had hit. No matter how much my logical mind told me that it was absolutely ridiculous and irrational, my anxiety was kicked up to a level where I was powerless to stop myself. When I finally managed to get myself back home that day, I spent hours obsessing over that damn pothole, still trying to reassure myself that I hadn't killed someone. Imagine this scenario, and now imagine dozens of scenarios just like that happening every single damn day....for months. I was a wreck, y'all. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep more than a couple of hours a night, just.....couldn't. Couldn't function. Couldn't shake it. Add in the fear of losing my job, exhaustion, unrelenting emotional misery....well,  those months were hell. I've had OCD since I was a small girl  (my dad has it too, it's a genetic thing) but never like that. I finally had to go to the county department of mental health (I couldn't afford a private psychiatrist and had no health care coverage at the time) and get myself prescribed something to try to crawl back out of the hole I was in. Eventually, slowly, over a period of two or three months, my symptoms subsided, my depression lifted, and I became a normally functioning human again.

Eventually, I cut the dose down to only 50mg and fast forward to now, almost two decades later. I've been (mostly) symptom free for years. I like to think I've found other ways to cope with my weird brain chemistry. I began to wonder if such a small dose as 50mg was really making much of a difference. I still have no psychiatrist; my family doctor (and in years past, my gynecologist) will happily write the script for my refills. While I appreciate the refills, I've started to think maybe I need to speak to someone who specializes in mental health before I continue to take SSRIs. A couple of weeks ago, I ran out of pills, and had not taken them for a few days before realizing it. I considered getting reupped, but then thought maybe a break (just to see how things went) wouldn't hurt anything, especially now since I'm off work for the summer.

Well, I haven't had any OCD symptoms (yet)  but I'm definitely experiencing withdrawals. There's the overly emotional responses to everything, like at the wedding. There were very vivid, weird, sometimes frightening dreams most nights for a week or two. There are the "electrical brain zaps" that you sometimes read about, the momentary dizziness that comes and goes, and worst of all there have been two instances where I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack. Both times I woke up from a sound sleep feeling a strange tightness, a panicky fluttering, in my chest and the feeling of not being able to breathe right. It was scary.

Today I'm just feeling irritable and out of sorts. It's why I've been mostly absent from blogland this past week, since I have nothing good or positive to say. I'm wondering now if this is still withdrawals from Zoloft (how long could those possibly last, you know?) or if I'm just starting up my PMS week. Hormones and brain chemicals can be hell to deal with.

And I wonder if I should call in a refill of the meds, or if I should give this break from them a little more time to see what happens? Overall the worst of the withdrawal symptoms seem to have subsided a little. Of course, I worry about the return of the old OCD monster and depression, but I'm trying hard to be vigilant about that. Maybe I need to find myself a psychiatrist. Maybe I'll get lucky and Dr. Spo will read this post and give me a word of advice.

I'm not quite sure where to go from here. If anybody reading this has any experience with stopping SSRIs, I'd love to hear about it.