WELL HELLO HIP FLEXOR!

 There must be something in the air.  It's a lovely 54 degrees this morning.  I've no idea what got into me, but at 6:30 I was out in the farmland walking like I knew what I was doing.

Suddenly I remembered the days of old when I was running in preparation for the next marathon.  Hmmm I wonder if I can still do that.  Something in my head should have said H-E-Q-Q NO ... but that didn't happen.  Instead, I began to run.  More like jogging actually, until my breathing became short.  That's when you take one HUGE breath and begin to feel like you can run forever. 

I distinctly remember my legs saying NO NO NO, but I kept going anyway.  I don't know what got into me, other than to say I just had to see if I could still do it.  

Two miles later, I had a long shadow heading back home.  Well, I DID IT, but a few hours after than, I got the wake up call.  HELLO HIP FLEXORS!!!  My how you are complaining and wreaking your revenge on me.  I was okay as long as I stayed SAT on the couch, but standing up was another story.  Advil was my friend.

Kitters could have cared less.  She slept most of the day, having confiscated her chair back from company.  She could barely keep her eyes open.  It must have been a fun night between 10:00 when she went out, and 4:00 when she came back in.  Cooper goes out at 4, so it was a win win!!

Though I really wanted to go to Costco and get my cash-back cash, I had to wait at home for this delivery.  I placed an order on Saturday, and received all of it except the oil.  I followed my phone app which showed the guys car coming my direction.  Suddenly it changed directions and went off roading.  What the heck?  

I better wait outside to be sure he doesn't leave it down the street.  He got here ... I saw the bag full of oil ... but he didn't want to relinquish it.  He spoke VERY little English.  I think it was some Indian language, or maybe Punjabi ... I've no idea, but truly I could not understand a word he said.  

He could not get his phone to work to say it was delivered.  No kidding ... his phone had a screen that was so badly damaged, I'm surprised it worked at all ... and he just would not give up the package until he could get the app to work.  Finally he called his boss ... and there was not an English word spoken.  At long last they told him to take it to the back door.  Well ... I'm right here, but okay.  He laughed and said something, but all I got out of it was 5-star review.  Okay, that's what I did because he was really trying hard and I DID end up with the oil.

By then it was lunchtime, and I had this brilliant idea to make a Taco Bell crunch wrap with a hamburger.  Surprisingly, I barbecued the burger to perfection.  Almost.  I should have flattened it like a pancake.  I added cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and avocado, then fried it up.  The mustard and ketchup on top was a BIG mistake.  The thing came out HUGE with condiments dripping all over the table when I tried to eat it.  Not bad really, but better luck next time.

Trying not to stiffen up so I couldn't walk at all, I grabbed the box of Blue Def.  You all know what this is ... diesel engine juice.  I swear these boxes used to be MUCH bigger.  

I was a little concerned about holding it up this high to fill the money guzzling tank.  It was weird that I got a dashboard message the last time I drove that it needed a drink when the gauge said it was HALF FULL.  Thankfully they have changed the fill spout and I was able to lift it with no problem.  Glug glug glug.

I checked the gauges and it now said 3/4 full.  So 2.5 gallons is only 1/4 of a tank?  That can't be right.  I do keep a two quart container full in the back just in case I run out completely, since it appears the gauge is wrong.

With that done, I took more Advil and cursed my hip flexors ... and my stupidity for running WAY too far ... before cuddling with Mr. Cooper on the couch.  

The moon came out early with another weird ring around it.  I grabbed my camera for a FABULOUS picture, only to find yet another battery dead as a doornail.  What is it with me and batteries?

I grabbed my phone, so this is the best I got.  The battery is charging and maybe I'll get another chance tonight.

On BINGO night, there should be an amazing RARE full worm moon with a full eclipse.  Lucky for the East Coast, that will happen between 6 and 7 in the morning.  Here, it will be at 3:33 am they say, so unless Kitters is crying at the door, I doubt I will have a change to photograph it.  Especially considering it's on BINGO night.  

Yes that's right ... the worst kind of full moon will be experienced at the Magic Castle Tuesday night.  Pray for me!!!!!

YOU ARE WATCHING HISTORY

 March has officially arrived.  In like a lion with lots of rain, out like a lamb with 70 degrees days and strange looking skies.   Better to be here than on the other side of the world.  I try to remain non-political as much as possible, but on the other side of the globe, history is being made.  

I remember when the Berlin Wall was torn down.  We watched it on television for days.  On this day, Cyndae and I watched for hours as the most evil man in the world was taken down.  I am not about war, but he brazenly killed over 30,000 of his own people who only wanted freedom, and he just came to a fitting end.  The people who left their country in order to stay alive, are scattered all across the globe and are celebrating today.  Hopefully they will know the freedom we experience very soon.

WE on the other hand ... we sat glued to the couch all morning.  This is truly a familiar picture.  I did a few little things ... like sneak a bag-o-Sees candy into Cyndae's to-go bag so I wouldn't eat it, followed by her Costco purchases of butter and ribs.  I've eaten WAY too much on these two days to try and finish up an entire rack of ribs.

I'm not sure whose idea it was to head out to THIS place at noon.  I was positive it would be packed to the gills.  I mean truly, Habit Burger has the best food around.  It seems however, that everyone heads to the next town over for the new Whataburger or In-and-Out.  This place was EMPTY.  

How can that be?  They have BY FAR, the best burgers in the country, not to mention the best onion rings and sweet potato fries!  I'm not one to branch out and order something different, but we decided it would be better to order one sandwich and split it.  That was the best idea ever!

There was a little trouble ordering.  With only TWO employees in the entire building and one dumb walk-up computer to order with, things came to a screeching halt.  Maybe that's why no one is here.  Cyndae put in HER phone number to be notified of our order, but she left her phone home.

Instead of one sandwich and two sides, we got three sides and no burger.  I finally walked right up to the gal at the drive up window because they were ignoring us completely, and asked for help.  She had just as much trouble getting the burger to show up as we did. 

Anyhoo ... here is the Santa Barbara Char burger.  Two patties, avocado, caramelized onions, cheese and all the fixings.  It was HUGE!!  The only thing we did NOT get (because this picture came from the internet) was the onion rings.  Who knew deep fried green beans were rather tasty?  

And that burger?  It's my new favorite!!  No big bready bun, but sourdough grilled to perfection.  Those sweet potato fries?  They were on my side of the table and disappeared in a flash.  

Sadly, there were only six people in the entire place, including us.  I expected it to be crazy busy at noon.  What is going on?  I'm guessing it's not the cheapest place around.  This lunch cost me $21.00, the burger being $10.99 of that price.  I guess nothing is cheap any more, but maybe that's why everyone goes to In-and-Out because they are less expensive.

And so ended a very nice day of great food with a little bit of amazing history thrown in.  It ended with a crazy looking not-quite-full moon, but a spectacular Moon Dog.  I'm sure this is to make up for the Bingo full moon that is soon to create havoc at the Castle.  Even weirder, I have never seen clouds that looked like this.

It's Sunday and time for a little cleaning.  James the robot vacuum lost its mind last week, and went around in circles caught on a piece of paper.  After beating him half to death, I finally discovered he would not run unless my phone WiFi was turned on ... which I NEVER do.  Maybe I'll even drag out the REAL vacuum for one dance around the carpeted floors today.

We did not pick up the quilt because luckily I discovered it was End Bolt day a the quilt shop.  That means if you buy all the fabric on the bolt (no matter how big or how small), you get 40% off the price.  I mistakenly stopped in there once on that day and literally could not even get in the door because of the 50 ladies standing at the counter trying to get checked out.  No thank you ... I'll go this some time this week.

Time to take Mr. Cooper for a walk.  Have a great Sunday!!

Applebees is OUT!!

 Oh my Great Aunt Jane!  Another month has flown by in less than three days.  How can that be?  This time I actually HAVE a Great Aunt Jane ... or at least I DID HAVE.  Sadly, I never met her in person.

This day started out at a lovely 60 degrees.  Wow how the weather has changed.  I would put my electric blanket away, but I'm sure at some point Mother Nature will change her mind.  I mean really, we went from winter straight into summer!

Here's Miss Kitters who has decided MY couch is the place for her.  Company has taken up HER chair, and she is not happy about it.  Me either since she is laying on one of my "extra" Veterans Quilts.  

I did not work on it at all on this day.  We were both lazy as could be.  Cyndae was recovering from a return trip from Hawaii.  I think I've mentioned before that her daughter is a Pilot for Southwest.  That means she gets employee parking and standby flights for pennies, but they may not be the flight you really wanted to take.  She had jet lag big time.  We struggled to keep both of us awake all day so we could sleep at night.  Coffee and Sees candy did the trick.

Cyndae was off to her hair appointment while I finished up more accounting, including my own.  Sadly, my check register still sits beside me on the desk ... UN-BALANCED.  I hate it when that happens.  How can the bank be $3,000 off when 28 days ago it was perfect?  It's probably my fat finger calculating.

The plan was to pick up that quilt at the quilt store BEFORE her appointment, but I didn't think we had time.  Maybe later.

It was 2:30 by the time we headed out to lunch.  Applebees just got scratched off our list.  I was wanting to try out the Tri-Tippery sandwich shop until I discovered their sandwiches are $23.50 EACH.  That's a little high for a sandwich ... so we went to Applebee's instead.  A nice kid greeted us and we sat down to two huge menus.  

Doesn't this look good?  $11.99 for a big bowl of deliciousness.  We ordered the shrimp.  

First off, this is false advertisement if you ask me.  Look at the shrimp in the above picture ... as big as the little cup of dressing.  Look at the shrimp we GOT!  The dressing was some kind of cheesy pasta sauce ... not really conducive to the shrimp and andouille sausage.  Truly, you could not even taste the shrimp.

When we got the bill, it had two BEERS on it.  Ummm we didn't have beer.  We had water.  After 10 minutes of three people running back and forth, they decided we had been given the wrong ticket along with OUR ticket.  I told Cyndae to check and see if that was HER credit card on the receipt.  

Why is this picture here again?  Because they charged us $18.99 for that shrimp bowl.  Doesn't it look like both of these bowls are $11.99?  VERY deceptive if you ask me, both the picture and the price.  I'm absolutely SURE I won't be eating there ever again.

By the time we got out of there, it was too late to head to the quilt shop, so we came back home for more Sees candy.  I'm sneaking a bag into Cyndae's luggage when she leaves this morning so I don't have to eat it all.

That's it ... not a very exciting day, but a good one since we got to chat most of the day.  It's good to catch up, trade secrets and relax.  

Today I'll hit the quilt store, bypass Applebees and try to think up something I can air fry.  I suppose that would be chicken ... but maybe I can find something else more exciting.  

Hope everyone has a GREAT DAY!!

Company and Kids

 Something is wrong with this picture.  Every morning I have to get up at 3 am to let Kitters out, 4 am to let Cooper out and 4:02 to let ME out.  There is NO going back to sleep for me, but Kitters and Cooper go right back to LaLa Land while I sit on the couch and wonder how they programmed me so well.  Actually, I have no choice because I don't have a cleanup crew if I'm even 5 minutes late.

With company coming, I made the bed, added a heavy comforter because I don't keep the heat up very high and otherwise tried to make the house look a little more organized.  Okay, mostly I just hide stuff in the cupboards and the sewing room, out of sight.

There was an accounting problem called Employment Development Department who wanted my clients first born child or they were going to jail.  Weirdly, the company they sent the letter to has never HAD employees or payroll to report.  Did I mention there are now 12 companies under one roof?  

I ran back and forth for the first four hours, finally pawning it off on the NEW accountants.  I'll let them figure out that mess so I'm not stuck deep in the mud of explanations and penalties.  Besides, my company was on their way.

Back home I fixed a quick lunch of leftover potatoes and air fried chicken.  Thank you Patsy for posting pictures of your chicken, which prompted this meal.  The first problem however, was that Walmart gave me BONE IN chicken thighs instead of the BONELESS I ordered.  

I whipped up my own batch of shake-n-bake and hit the GO button.  Not sure how long to cook it, I went for 15 minutes, turned it over and gave it 15 more.  I like my chicken DONE.  

I will never fry chicken again.  This was THE BEST!!  Crispy outside (who knew?) and so tender inside.  This is my GO TO from now on.  This is actually a VERY small plate, so just ignore those potatoes.

Company arrived and we watched television for most of the afternoon.  We were both pretty tired, but trying our best to stay awake.  Kitters was NOT a happy camper when she found someone was sitting in HER chair, not to mention she is afraid of any other human except me.  She promptly disappeared.

I try to keep close tabs on her because despite the expensive kitty litter box, she refuses to use it.  I finally found her in the Red Whorehouse Couch room.  If you remember, this gorgeous furniture came from Jan and Bill Mains.  Obviously Kitters likes it too!!

Lucky for me, Cyndae brought a huge rack of ribs from Costco for our dinner.  That was accompanied by the last of the potatoes and the last of a bag-o-salad.  That almost put us both to sleep by 5:00.  I brought out the Sees candy ... maybe that will keep us awake ... and finally coffee because nothing else was working.  We both crashed at 8:00.  It's terrible getting OLD.

The good news is the weather is cooperating quite nicely.  It's looking like I even may have to turn the sprinklers on the lawn.  No doubt many will need repair.  I am NOT looking forward to that at all, but there's only two days left in February and we have only had maybe 9 days of rain all season.

I'm sure that will be accompanied by lots of frustration as I find things like my drip lines not working because they have been hacked in half by the weedeater.  C'est la vie!!

While company has an appointment today, I'll be heading off to the quilt shop.  They called to say my Veterans quilt is done.  Hurray ... now I can start on twelve new ones for this year!!  Still no word on my longarm quilting machine computer.  It's been 8 weeks, so their 6-8 week return time estimate is in the trash.

It's okay ... all of it ... because even though I live in California, I DON'T live in New York City!!!

Have a WONDERFUL day!!!

No Diet Food Was Eaten On This Day

 Summer has arrived in sunny California.  We have a low of 58 degrees this morning with a high of 74.  I don't know what happened to spring, but I guess we skipped right over it.  Still cloudy every day with weird looking patterns, but at least my electric bill will cease to climb.  This is my chance to lower my PGE true-up bill.  

Sadly, it doesn't help with the natural gas part, which is now up to $260 a month.  Heck, ten years ago my ENTIRE bill never went over $150, and that was BEFORE solar.  Just goes to show you how much we native folks have to pay to rebuild from all those fires they had because they refused to manage the forests.

Step DOWN from the soap box Nancy!!

Breakfast was pretty simple.  Ice cream!  I know, it's not good for the diet, but I made it, so I should eat it.  This is the last little bit of vanilla.  My advice on this one is to NOT use Mexican vanilla.  The flavor is a little strong.

I had lots of things to do today, but sleep deprivation got the best of me.  I crashed on the couch with the kids for over an hour.  I was rudely awakened by the gardener's weed eater.  It's been three weeks since he's been here due to the rain and not one, but two bouts with the flu.  Poor guy looked a little worse for wear, so I told him to just mow the lawns and take off.  I'll put that money towards the electric bill.

No kidding, I was a slug most of the day.  I did clean the house since I have company coming today.  The Kissack Hotel will only be open for two days.  I still have one whole sheet of accounting questions to answer, so I cannot take too much time off at the moment.  Sometimes it's hard to get the answers when the ANSWER person doesn't know what you are talking about.  I will surely celebrate when tax season is over.

While looking for cleaning supplies, I discovered a bag-o-potatoes living in my toolbox drawer.  How did THAT happen?  Oh I remember ... I thought it would be good to keep them in the dark to delay potato eyes from growing.  I guess that wasn't such a good idea.  I cooked up the entire sack and had mashed potatoes for lunch.  Not exactly diet friendly, but I hate being wasteful.

Dessert was Sees candy.  I know, I know ... I was a bad girl.  Here's the thing ... when Bingo receives a donation from the local Sees Candy store, because they are wonderful members who also need a write-off, we take full advantage.  I think we got something like TEN huge bulk boxes of five varieties.  Five of the boxes were given out to the kids at the children's Valentines dance.  The rest ended up in the safe on top of my bingo cards.

Hey ... someone has to eat it!  I grabbed zip-lok bags and filled them to the brim, passing them out to any volunteers that would take them.  I ended up with two bags.  Now really ... you just can't throw away Sees Candy.  It's sacrilegious!!  I stuffed it in the freezer and limited myself to ONE piece a day.  Except yesterday when I had TWO.  No worries, I hid it in the far back reaches of the freezer so I can't see it.  Hopefully that works.

That's about it ... I really didn't do anything worth talking about.  The kids are driving me cray-cray, especially the black one who likes to crawl over everything in the early morning, knocking things to the floor, including herself.  She is obsessed with getting in the cupboards and demanding attention.  I thought cats were aloof ... never coming around when you wanted to pet them.  This one, it's hard to keep her out of my face!!

My watch pup on the other hand, just loves to sit on the couch with his Mom.  Sadly, his eyesight is failing and I have to lift him up and down a lot, in spite of the now TWO steps I made going up to the couch.  I imagine I will be in the same spot in a few years!!

The good news of the day came via phone call.  The lost car keys were finally found the next day, wedged underneath the big rolling pull tab table in the back room.  It saved him a chunk-o-money by not having to get all new ones from Toyota.  Not that it matters, because that particular bingo volunteer loves to play the slot machines once a week in a nearby Indian casino.  He rarely brings home less than $4,000, and last week he won $15,000.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Oh yes ... I'm definitely going with him to learn the secrets of slot machine playing!!!!!

BINGO 2.0

 Oh my goodness ... it's morning and I think I only got about three hours of sleep.  Things can really go south quickly when you are on the cusp of a full moon which will happen NEXT Tuesday.  I think last night there was a little early bleed over!

The day started off looking like this.  Quite cold it was, meaning Miss Kitty Kitty wanted in at the terrible hour of 2:00.  It was very cold, so what could I do.  It didn't take long for the rain to come down.  

While Mr. Cooper slept on the couch, I fielded a few phone calls.  What about the Lodge Budget?  Yes ... what about it?  It's not done yet.  Oh GEE ... that's too bad!!  I guess you should call the other trustees.  See, I AM LEARNING!!

Then I got the text message that my right hand gal didn't feel good, so she was staying home.  I immediately called the NEW Lady In Waiting and asked if she was available.  She said YES.  Boy am I liking this!

Unfortunately, the good feeling didn't last long once I got to the lodge.  Right off the bat, one of the Knights in Waiting (new guy volunteer) decided he should run the show.  He volunteers, but also plays.  He thought he could charge his way to the front of the line and buy all his bingo cards FIRST.  We are not set up for that, and I asked him to wait.  He wanted to argue.  Is it a full moon?  It's not like he has to work right up until the games start.  

Next up, we have a rule.  NO SAVING SEATS.  I walk out into the main room and I see three tables with dobbers in front of every chair.  That's a NO-NO and they know it!  The dobbers were removed.  We are just SO MEAN!!

That's when the kitchen crew came up with a complaint.  Instead of leaving our nacho chips in the Bingo cupboard, they have been leaving them in the kitchen ... on a rack ... right next to the oh-so-hot ovens.  Apparently they have been snitching bucket loads and NOT closing the bags up tight.  STALE chips did not go over well with the peasants.  They were brought back, and refunds made.  Note to self:  Talk to the kitchen staff.

Not to be outdone, the Bingo players and the Mini Me Debit Card Machine went toe to toe!  It didn't like their card, so it locked itself up.  We rebooted.  Next card ... decline, decline, decline!  It locked up again.  The THIRD time, we told that guy NO TAPPING, as evidenced by not one, but TWO signs this big.  He did it anyway.  It took me 10 minutes to get it to reboot once again.  Is it a full moon?

The rest of the night went sort of smoothly.  There were the normal flaming torches and pitchforks that appear out of nowhere when someone calls BINGO and they don't HAVE a bingo!  That makes the peasants MAD!!  They have to RESET and begin calling numbers once again.  A delay that put us 30 minutes later in the game.  Folks were not happy ... me included.

The infernal machine ran one on me at the end of the night.  It didn't print out the total number of bingo payouts.  The problem was mine since I was paying more attention to training the new girl than watching the payouts.  Okay, I was really not paying attention at all because I wanted to go home!

I finally yelled UNCLE and sent the cash box to the safe $250 short.  It's just too noisy to be able to concentrate and figure things out.  That's when disaster hit! 

One of the volunteers ... a very nice guy, but a little "out there" ... lost his car keys.  Really?  Where have you been in the building?  Well, OUTSIDE.  Three of us spent the next 30 minutes trying to find his keys in the parking lot across the street.  We found nothing.  

Almost an hour late now, you-know-who had to give him a ride home.  Not that that helped much, because apparently six months ago, he lost the OTHER set of keys.  It was a long drive because he lives on the other side of Timbucktu!  

Midnight ... it was midnight before I got home, and suddenly it dawned on me.  The cash box balanced after all, because of the amounts we paid out all night changed.  I'll call the Bookkeeper today.

Lucky for me, it was a very weird, very warm night and Miss Kitters spent the entire time outside.  Cooper on the other hand was up at 3:54.  It's okay, hopefully I'll catch up on sleep this afternoon.

This is this morning's sky at a lovely 60 degrees at 4:00 am.  What's up with THAT!!  And so ended another night of rousing Bingo!  I am NOT looking forward to next Tuesday and the Egg Moon slash Fish Moon slash Breaking Ice Moon that's coming.  I can feel it in my bones and it's NOT good.

I'll be on the couch trying to catch up on some ZZZZZ's.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

 Our spring was short lived.  We had two nice days of sunshine and 65 degree WARM.  Sadly, it passed too quickly.  We are back to rain and clouds.  On the other hand, I'm glad I'm not in New York City.  I've no doubt many more homeless will not survive, followed by piles of garbage and snow.  What a shame.  The East coast is taking a licking from Mother Nature.  So as much as I'm not liking California any more, at least we only have to deal with sun and rain.

And Midnight Kitties!!  This girl craves attention and gets into trouble at every turn.  I'm constantly walking around the house and putting things back up on shelves and tables.  Then she sits at my feet and stares at me for an hour.  I'm sure she is invading my brain, because soon I've got the dog brush out giving her a good grooming.  I've never heard her purr so loud!!  I guess I'm an easy mark.

So here's the thing with the battery minder.  The battery is BEHIND my feet when I'm in the drivers seat.  The disconnect is right by the accelerator, in a barely accessible compartment.  The battery CONNECTION is under the hood at least four feet away, covered with a spring loaded cover that has to be pushed back for connection.  The ground is two feet away on the side of the fender.  None of that is conducive to charging the battery.  It's fine for a jump start, but none of the three battery chargers I have tried, will work for more than a couple of hours.  That means the battery does NOT get charged and it dies. 

This one is wired directly to the battery with a connection 12" inches away.  So far the minder is still charging after 24 hours.  So unlike all the other connections, this one actually seems to be working.  Maybe we should talk to Mercedes about the stupid way they have designed the battery posts in the engine compartment, while the battery is back under the front seat.  I mean really, why not put the battery under the hood like any other vehicle?  It would be SO much easier.

Next up I was on the phone for an hour trying to explain to the NEW company accountant about the books I've been working on.  She laughed, then apologized.  No apology required.  I've been an accountant most of my life, and truly, many folks do not know to keep their business separate from the personal stuff.

That was followed up by a quick trip to the dentist.  I'm SO very lucky to have been raised on property that had water containing lots of fluoride.  It means I have great teeth, which is a very good thing.  I'm scared to death of dentists ... have been since that guy drilled with no pain killer ... no novocaine of any kind ... when I was 7 years old.  I was out the door in 30 minutes!!

On to the Chevy dealership for a light bulb.  This is a picture of what I need.  See that one little tab on top?  The other guy gave me a bulb that had TWO little tabs and insisted it was the right one.  

I also took a picture of the actual info this time, just to be sure.  I think the first one from Napa had the number 9005 on it ... and it was not the correct one.

The nice man in parts only had one bulb for a whopping $25.97.  YIKES!!  I made him take it out of the box to check for ONE tab.  Back home I put it back together, being sure not to touch the bulb at all. 

I got smart this time, and turned on the key to be sure it lit up BEFORE I put it all back together.  Then I turned it on AGAIN just to be sure.  LET THERE BE LIGHT!!  Woohoo ... I did it!!  I have no idea if one is pointing to the sky or not, but at least I have two lights now.  I'll check it out in the dark tonight and see if it's wonky or not.  No doubt that would have cost me a nice $100 bill had I not done it myself.

And so ended a day of accomplishments.  I completely forgot I was going to go pick up something delicious for dinner, so instead I went with the fabulous grilled cheese.  The potato chips are from the big party for one I had planned for the Super Bowl.  That didn't materialize, so now I am forced to eat them.  For some weird reason, the bag THIS time was completely full to the brim with chips.  NO AIR!!

Tonight is ARMOR night, as I head on down to the Castle dungeon for Bingo.  Maybe a full bag of chips is a sign of good things to come.  I certainly hope so, because NEXT Tuesday is a FULL MOON ... ON BINGO NIGHT!!!  I'll be sure to wear EXTRA armor for THAT night!

Hooking It Up

 Welcome back to WHAT CAN HAPPEN TODAY!!  It was a lovely sunny 65 degrees yesterday.  What a welcome sight to see the sun and some WARM after all that rain and freezing cold.  Not that we will see much of the sun for this entire week, but even a little is better than nothing.

Sadly, it's not warm enough for Mr. Cooper to have a bath (which he hates), but he did get his jammies off long enough to get a fur trim so he doesn't get knots.  He doesn't like the clippers any more than he likes water, but he was a good boy and stood relatively still.

This one ... she is constantly in trouble.  Seems it's pretty fun to slide under the chair upside down and claw the bottom as she slides along the floor.  I left her outside last night, but the crying and door knocking was epic, so I got up at 2:00 to let her in.  Not sure how I'm going to stop that behavior.  She's always starving for attention!

It was Sunday, so I had nothing on my plate for the entire day.  Not wanting to be a complete slug, I finally finished up the binding on this quilt.  It's a weird one because it has Bible verses written at the bottom under her feet.  I never noticed that until I was almost finished.  The good news is I really wasn't late for Halloween because it's actually EARLY for NEXT Halloween.

I tried my absolute best to stay out of the fridge because there was NOTHING on television worth watching.  Dish Network has really gone to the dogs, on purpose, so you will buy the pricier programming.  Truly, their lineup includes movies and shows from 2017 to about 2020, and most of those are kids cartoons.  The only current stuff is the news, which isn't fun to watch at all.  Luckily I was able to stave off the urge to cook something ... like a chocolate caramel cake with chocolate chips and marshmallows.  

I finally headed outside to plug in the battery minder and HOOK IT UP.  Somehow I could not get the plastic door to open all the way (like if I was trying to disconnect the battery altogether), but I was able to reach in and blindly find the connection piece.  The main disconnect is just beyond the connector, and the battery lives right under the minder.  Funny place to put a battery, yes?  

To actually get TO the battery, you have to have a special tool to remove the weird bolts in order to take up the entire floor.  Then there is a secondary battery cover to be removed.  They ran the wires from the battery, up through the whatchacallit where you have to fish for it.

It's not hard to set up, and is definitely better than a dead battery ... if it works.  The minder is then plugged into your extension cord.  

Here's my question.  Do I run the extension cord under the door where it will get pinched when the door is shut ..... or do I open the window about 1-1/2 inches and run it through that, leaving the window open?  Will a thinner extension cord work?  Inquiring minds want to know.

That's it ... that was my big project for the day.  After that, I took Mr. Cooper for a short walk outside, whereupon we stopped traffic both ways while he did his business right in the middle of the street.  Good grief KID!!!  I left him back at the house while I went for a nice long walk.

You know how you feel so good you go farther than you probably should?  Yes, yes I did.  I went about 1-1/2 miles before thinking that was probably not such a good idea.  I kept trying to keep up the pace on the way back, but oh did my legs talk to me using rather bad language.  It's okay, I made it back after a total of three miles.  

I spent the rest of the evening trying to stay occupied with another Veterans quilt binding, while showing great restraint at the screaming in my head, calling for ice cream.  Lucky for me, the milk was so sour it came out in clumps.  No ice cream was made or eaten.

That was it for the day and it was a long one.  Today should be shorter ... I have a dentist appointment before heading to the Chevy store and the Post Office.  I still haven't mailed off my taxes.  Maybe if I accomplish something today, I won't be so zoned in on SWEET TREATS!!

Prayers for all our friends who are down in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico.  Seems the cartels are taking a licking and not liking it much.  I took the advice of my Mexican construction crew who came from that area many years ago, and I don't go there any more.   Hopefully things settle down soon.