A good and productive day

Today I decided to clean out my closet. What a mess! I had no idea I had so many clothes. Spring and summer are all mixed with the fall and winter clothes. They were packed in boxes and bags and lying loose on top of a little dresser inside my closet.

I worked for hours on the piles and boxes, sorting them out into summer and winter piles. Each pile went into a bag or box labeled summer, winter, or donate.  Some were hung back into the closet to be worn soon.  I’ve got a nice selection of tops and sweaters.

I have a lot of leggings and jeans. Those were sorted into piles of jeans that fit now, and the ones that don’t fit were put into the donate boxes. I am donating a couple of summer housecoats that really are too tight and aren’t comfortable.

T shirts! I have a mountain of T-shirts. I’m donating a lot of those. I found a lot of Ruby Ribbon Camis, demi cams, and other items that are nice yet and quite expensive to buy. I’m thinking about sending some of the nicer stuff to one of those resell shops.

I’ve got a bunch of blankets. I’m going to put a couple into the car for those frigid mornings when I just can’t get warm, even with the heater on. The rest will go back into the closet for the cold winter nights.

A lot of stuff went into the laundry room to be washed. I’ll have to be careful with some of the delicate stuff that can’t be dried. I tend to dump everything together into the dryer from the washer.

I think I’ve finally gathered up all the Christmas sweaters. I put them in a plastic tote and sealed them up. They’ll go on the back porch until next Christmas season.  I’ve got one Thanksgiving turkey sweatshirt. I might wear it occasionally since it doesn’t have the word Thanksgiving on it.

I packed away my two swimsuits. I don’t think I’ll need them anytime soon, if ever again.  I really don’t look attractive in a swimsuit and haven’t for about 40 years at least. I still remember that little yellow polka dot bikini that I used to wear when I was in college. I looked good then. But that was more than 50 years ago, before having babies. Sigh!

I still have a mountain of clothes to go through, but I ran out of time, so the pile is back in the closet. But the pile is smaller than it was, and I feel good about what I’ve accomplished. I knew I’d never get it all done today. Maybe I can work on it again tomorrow.

I also did some laundry and got my floors swept. So it has been a productive day. And as you see, I found time to write in my blog. YES!

Now I need to get a painting sketched onto canvas so I can get another one done for the bank. With only 3 members at the present time, I must display a different painting every 3 months. That’s going to keep me hopping.

So, here’s to having a good day! It was a good one and I feel good about it. I hope you have a good day too.

January 26: Big Day in Our Family

Tonight, we are going to Becky's house to celebrate the birthday of her daughter Whitley. Her birthday isn't until the 26th, but due to some bad weather coming in, we're doing it tonight. We'll probably have a meal, soup or sandwiches or something similar. Whitley will open her gifts, and we'll have cake and ice cream after singing Happy Birthday to her. All of this is accompanied by laughter, visiting amongst the adults, and a rip-roaring good time by the kids playing with their toys and competing for attention from the adults.

Whitley will have her boyfriend, Blake, with her, and depending on weather conditions, may leave after the party to return to Manhattan, or stay the night. Hopefully, Colin and his little family will be there, as well as other family members.

This has been a tradition since Colin was a baby and extends to all family members. What some may not remember is that January 26 is also my mom's birthday and her wedding anniversary. Mama would be 96 years old, and it would be their 76th wedding anniversary. An aunt of mine also shared a birthday on the 26th.

Traditions are a huge part of my life. Most of them relate to milestones in our lives: birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, graduations, funerals, and religious holidays. We usually try to get as many family members together to participate in these activities. Photos are a large part of these activities also.

My mom was a big one for collecting photos of all of us throughout our lives. She had boxes, bags, albums, and scrapbook pages of all of us. She could usually tell you who we were and characteristics of each of us. She pointed her camera toward us every time we came to visit, even after we were adults. It was her way of making sure we were living fossils, I guess. I treasure most of the photos, but I really wish she would have penciled in who the other family members were on the backs of the photos. Because I may have known them when I was very young, but I can't remember their names any more now that I'm an adult with beginning senility. 

Well, almost time to get this party started. Maybe I can do an "Opal" and snap a few photos of my own. If I do, I'll try to post them on here. Digital photos take up a lot less space and last as long as I don't accidentally delete them or lose where I saved them to.

Party time!

Writers Village University

 I renewed my membership in Writer's Village University; a writer's group I have called my second home since 1998. It's an online group with writing courses for beginners through professional authors, poets, playwrights. 

Yearly dues are very reasonable, much cheaper than paying for college courses that require traveling and attendance in stuffy classrooms. All of these classes are online, and assignments can be completed in your jammies in your recliner, or wherever you are most comfortable. Once your dues are paid, your classes are free of charge, unless you need a book (rare) and those can be obtained anywhere at very reasonable rates.

I signed up for a class today, too. It's called Creativity in a Box. Most writers must learn to use rules and limits set by the editor, publisher, etc. Word limits are the most common and come from the editor's need to fit the story or article into a tight space. There can be other rules as well. For instance, topical or genre limits. An editor might not be happy if you turn in a child's poem when what the editor is looking for is an editorial on a political controversy. 

My assignment will be to write a story using exactly 1000 words, and there is a list of other rules that I can choose from. I need 3 rules. I haven't chosen those yet, but I will later this afternoon. The class will be 2 weeks in duration, so I can't waste time on playing online games, which are a weakness of mine. I can't procrastinate either, because with these rules, it's going to take more time to write than if I were to just, say, write my blog. 

Sometimes in the past, I have chosen my art and writing as procrastination crutches, tools to avoid doing something I really should be doing, like income taxes, paying bills or housework. I don't suppose any of you have procrastination crutches, do you? Well art and writing are mine.

So, while the rest of you are slaving away at your income taxes and other odious chores this next month or so, think of my doing my crutch chores in my recliner, with a cup of hot chocolate and a snack close by.

Sometimes procrastination can be good for the soul. More fun anyway.

What do I see?

What do I see when I look in the mirror?

A face only a mother could love.

I see hazel eyes that reflect the colors in my clothes, eyebrows that are unruly and straight, with a couple of hairs that obstinately stick straight out and are white or gray in color. My eyes are not as strong as they once were. My vision is gradually deteriorating, a consequence of my gluttony: lots of fatty foods and delicious but deadly sweet treats. I do have kind eyes, though. At least I always have strived to look kindly on others.

A mouth that once was delicate, with soft pouty lips, now is either a thin straight line or compressed into a downturned angry expression.  It’s not the face of my dear mother, more the face of my dad, who kept his smiles to a minimum, and only briefly allowed them to peek through his serious persona. Life has not always been kind to me. I do need to work on that expression though.

My ears are rather small, something I’ve always appreciated. I inherited them from my mom. My dad’s ears were considerably larger. My hearing is diminished now too.  Most sounds are garbled and my tinnitus is so loud I can’t understand what I do hear.  I know it is frustrating for hubby to have to turn up the volume on the tv for me. Most of the time, I simply tune everything out and use my earbuds for my phone or computer, where I can have the volume that I need. It’s frustrating, to say the least, but it’s my life.

My skin has aged rather suddenly. I used to use skin products on a regular basis, but now that I’m retired and basically a hermit at home, I don’t bother with the skin creams and ointments that kept my skin supple and soft and wrinkle free.  Age spots appear all the time, with a new crop showing up at least weekly.  Maybe someday they will all join together and I’ll finally have the “tan” I’ve always wanted but always eluded me. Wrinkles are like thieves, stealing my looks and my youth. They surround my eyes and my mouth so far but are creeping upward to my cheeks like a thief in the night.  Too tired to worry about such vanity anymore, I just watch and curse them. I do have some moles that I watch closely, especially since having a cancerous squamous cell lesion removed under my left eye a year ago. The scar is healing well, and I have to look closely to see it now. My glasses also help to hide it.

My hair is straight and a mousy light brown with gray streaks around my face. I think it makes me look tired and old, but my hairdresser thinks my hair color is attractive and “suits” me. Whatever. I stopped coloring my hair back in 2020, after my mom died. I just didn’t have the desire to do it anymore. It does save money to go au naturelle.

So, what do I see when I look in my mirror? I see a woman who is 74 years old, a woman who has led a life of work, sorrow, pain and frustration, but also a woman who has had many joys in her life. My husband is a retired truck driver, who has dedicated his life to “taking care of me” and sometimes that is wonderful, and sometimes it adds to the frustration.

My family, children, grandchildren, and now great grandchildren, are the joys in our lives. Their photos line our walls from top to bottom. My little dog, Maizie, makes me laugh but also annoys me when she snoops around the house and finds things to chew.

My faith in God is my rock. The Lord has been good to me, and my Guardian Angel has been busy trying to keep me out of trouble. When our youngest daughter was killed in a house fire at the age of 21 in 1999, God gave me the strength to carry on. Without Him, I would have dissolved into a mess of quivering sobs. I’ve cried many tears for my Teresa, but we’ve learned to cope and move on with our lives. Having her daughter, Regan and granddaughter, Maliyah help us to see joy in our lives again.

So, I look in my mirror, and see a daughter of God, a wife, sister, mother, grandmother and great grandma who finds joy in her family, enjoys her art and writing and animals in her life.

I see a life well lived.

 

Today was catch- up- on- sleep day. We both were exhausted. We went to church of course. We have to be seriously ill to miss that. But we decided to miss the after-Mass lunch date we usually do, at Clifton's County Divide Cafe, which is the best meal for the money to be had around in several counties, or Concordia's Easy G's Sports Bar & Grill, where you can watch your favorite football, basketball, baseball, hockey, or other sports teams duke it out every day of the week, while chowing down on some great sandwiches, hot or cold, along with some awesome house fries or tater tots, or a huge salad, and coffee, tea, pop, or your favorite alcoholic beverage. Wow! Is that a run-on sentence, or am I just hungry?

Anyway, as I said, we by-passed all of that tasty goodness for a long nap at home in our recliners, which would have been great except for the dog, Maizie, who was so excited to have us back home that she kept jumping all over me and licking whatever skin she could find.

I've been sleeping a lot lately, almost too much, I think. Sometimes I think I have narcolepsy.  Thursday night I struggled to stay awake at our Catholic class session, and it wasn't because it was boring, because it most certainly was not boring. Fr. Andrew makes all of his homilies and lessons very interesting and we get some lively conversations going sometimes. I've been a Catholic since 1969 and I've learned more about the Church in the past three months than I did in all the years before that.

Today's homily was about the Baptism of Jesus Christ, and Fr.  said Jesus's baptism wasn't the same baptism that we all get. Because with our baptism we are freed from Original Sin and Jesus didn't need redemption, because he was perfect already. 

In the bulletin each week, there is a mini lesson, Catholic 101. This week it was on the importance of attending Church every weekend and why missing it was a serious sin. We already knew that, but sometimes a reminder just hits home a little bit. How did Fr. Andrew know that we both had been tempted to stay home this Sunday?

Dennis wasn't feeling well and hasn't for several days. It's nothing like the flus or other viral bugs going around lately, just a common physical ailment that strikes him several times a month. And I was fighting my chronic sinus congestion. I didn't really have a headache, but felt very congested and sluggish, and I have brain fog on a regular basis.

Such is life in the elderly. Now at almost six p.m., I finally coming alive and getting a little laundry done and writing my blog.

I hope everyone reading this hasn't fallen asleep in boredom. I promise to share some new writing I'm doing in the next few days, so please keep reading.

Have a Blessed Sunday!

OCIA Returns

This post was from Thursday evening. I forgot to post it. Ooops!

After having my pupils dilated this morning, my vision was like looking through a drop of water, very distorted and ultrabright and blurry. So, when we had OCIA (Catholic lessons for adults) tonight, I had a few problems copying from the whiteboard. 

We learned a few things though. Even Dennis claims to have learned some things about his faith. For instance, we learned that there is a difference between Sisters and Nuns. Nuns are primarily cloistered (kept separately and in private in convents that are not open to the public, and they have a vow of total poverty. Sisters can inherit some property that is kept in the Church's accounts and Sisters can mingle with the public, doing God's work in schools, hospitals and other areas, while nuns are kept isolated and silent. Nuns may only see family members every few years in some instances, and even then, only through a veil.

We were discussing Mary, the Mother of Jesus and how she was born without Original Sin and died but was "assumed" body and soul into Heaven, still a virgin. 

We discussed a little comparison between Catholicism and Protestantism and how the Protestants came to be separated from the Catholic faith. It was all very interesting.

The weather all day was chilly and rainy. The chill went right through my bones. I couldn't get warm enough. I wore a hoodie to class tonight and my legs were still chilly. But I'm glad I went, even though I was tempted to stay home and warm.

Tomorrow, we'll be taking a road trip to Salina to pick up some insulin at my endocrinologist's office. Dennis has a little shopping to do too. Hopefully, the weather will be a little better.

Maizie has been a little pill today. She grabbed one of Dennis' handkerchiefs and tore a big hole in it. Then she grabbed a small box of Immodium out of my pill box and chewed that up. I need to find a spot to hide my pills during the day

I need to sort my books and magazines tomorrow and find a home for the ones I don't plan to keep. I have a lot of catalogs and magazines and instructional books in totes and boxes.

I'd like to open a little library box in our front yard, but not sure if there are rules about that kind of thing, so I'll wait until I know for sure if I'll get into trouble.

Anyone know how to stay out of trouble with books?

Walmart pharmacy

It'd been a long day already at 2:15 p.m., so I was not exactly in the mood to deal with a cantankerous answering machine at Walmart. Yesterday, I called the VA to check on my Tresiba prescription. Well, that was a bust, because I never got beyond the opening message about how it was a government facility and not to be used by anyone unauthorized to use it---blah, blah, blah, then put on hold for the next available representative. I was on hold for 12 minutes and never got to talk to a human, never got beyond the recording "please stay on the line. All our representatives are currently busy taking other calls. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received." After about 15 minutes, I hung up the line and called the doctor's office to check on my prescription from that end. 

 

The call -waiting time with the doctor was much shorter, only about 4 minutes, and I reached the doctor's nurse, Lisa, who was very kind and helpful. She investigated the computer records and came back on the line and apologized because she had never gotten the medication ordered. She said she remembered saying she held off on ordering it from the VA because she wanted to see how I'd do on the medication from the sample she'd sent home with me 2 weeks ago. I explained that I was almost out of the pen she'd sent with me and that it would take 7 to 10 days to get it through the VA unless it was put on urgent request and I would still be out for at least a couple of days. So, she promised to put some aside for me to pick up at my convenience. I explained that I lived about 65 miles from her clinic and I wasn't sure when I could get down there but would be there in the next few days.

 

So, this morning, we left Clyde about 10 a.m. and headed for Salina. 

When we arrived at the clinic, the receptionist was polite and asked for my birth date and name, and what I needed today. I explained that there should be a package waiting for me from my doctor. She disappeared into the back office and soon returned with a package for me. I thanked her and we took my package to the car and I opened it. To my surprise, there was not one pen of my Tresiba, there were five pens, enough to last about a month, maybe more.

After we ate breakfast at IHOP, we went to Harbor Freight where Dennis bought a wheeled cart he needed, then headed for home.

 

On the way home, we discussed stopping at Walmart in Concordia to pick up some prescription eye drops I needed. Dennis offered to go in and pick them up for me. I stayed in the car and read my paperback book.

 

After reading for about twenty minutes and then taking a short nap, I was awakened by Dennis climbing into the car and saying “Well, that was a bust. I didn’t get your eye drops. They told him they didn’t have an order for my eye drops. I knew that was bullshit because I had just gotten an email about them being ready for refill the day before. They told him they have to have an order or refill request from the doctor, then they can refill it. They didn’t offer to call the doctor themselves like they used to do.  

 

So, as we’re driving down the highway, I’m on the phone with the doctor’s office explaining my situation. They said that they would get the medication refill ordered. A few minutes later, I called Walmart again, and the answering machine picked up my call and asked for my name, and I explained what I needed. I’m trying to explain, and the machine is interrupting me with more questions. They wanted me to state my name and date of birth. I answered, “Dixie Barnes and 10-09-51”. The machine replied, “You said June 9, 1951. Is that correct? Say yes or type in 1” I said “No! October 9, 1951” The machine replied “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Is your birthday June 9, 1951? Say yes or type 1”.

 

By this time, my blood is boiling and I’m shouting in the phone. Dennis is trying not to laugh but is shaking his head no. We finally got my birthdate right, then they asked what I needed again. I told them I needed my Latanoprost eye drops. After a moment, the machine replied, “we show that medication is due for a refill. Is this correct? Say yes or type 1.” I replied “Yes! I need my Latanoprost eye drops.”

Finally, the machine said “your order is being processed and may be picked up tomorrow after 4 p.m.”

“Thank God!” I replied.

I think next month I’m going to go into Walmart myself to pick it up after checking it out online. That seems to work better for me and my blood pressure.