Lucky Me!

The stars were certainly aligned correctly for my well-being on Saturday. Friday night when I came home from buying groceries, my oil light came on as I pulled into the driveway. Then immediately went off. How weird. I thought it was just a loose wire or something. But hot and tired, I unloaded stuff and called it an evening.

Saturday morning, it was all about getting to Petsmart in the next town. I pulled out of the drive and the light came on..went off..came on, etcetera. So I drove to the oil change place a couple of blocks from my house. Check the oil, please.

The guy pulled out the dipstick, called his friend over, did it again..

"Ma'am there isn't enough to even show up on the dipstick" What??? OMG! He went down in the pit to see if he could see where it had gone; then came back up and told me I needed an 'oil sending module'.

Oh great..just what I need. Vehicle repairs. He said it wouldn't take long to put one on, but I'd have to go get one. So they poured in some oil, and I headed downtown. Remember, I live in a small town, so this isn't far. I walked into the NAPA place with debit card in hand and purchase one. Cost? $5. I didn't know there were any car parts that cost that little.

Back to oil change place. They put it on and fill the oil up. Cost? $20!!! And off I went to load up on cat food.

As I was checking out, I saw the daughter of a former coworker. She's a manager at that store. And, before I left she had my email address. Apparently, they occasionally have specials for friends and family of their associates.

Afraid to push my good luck, I then headed home and cleaned house and was ever so grateful. A very nice day indeed.

Yum!

Lots of scrubbing and laundry and sweeping and mopping happened here today. And, I put that fuse back in the car and now the lights work properly. A strange noise that has kept me company on the way to work and back is still there. I thought it was the antenna trying to go up, but apparently that's not it. Oh well, so far it's just annoying and everything major is working. I'll have to try and see my mechanic sometime this week.

But the highlight of the day was this..



It's been forever since I've made bread. I had a bread machine for a long time and initially I used it a lot. But when the new wore off it just gathered dust so I traded it for a dust buster and something else that I can't remember now. I really prefer doing it by hand but I wasn't sure I remembered how. Well, I can read a recipe, but the part I was concerned about was just knowing when the dough felt right. It was soooooooo good to knead that dough. And you know what was even better?

Having a warm bread/butter/honey supper. A cold glass of milk just made it perfect.

Good Luck, Bad Luck

That's what Friday was about. I had a cardio appointment in the City and it's a given that I take the whole day off to do it. (I got med samples yea! And he wasn't nearly as concerned as my PCP is about my leg swelling. He thinks most likely it's related to crashing it on the step back in April) I love going to see him. He seems to be one of those docs that you either love or hate and with me it's the former. Usually these days turn into mega shopping days since I'm very close to lots of choices. But I was good. I bought one ball of pearl cotton and a magazine. And yummo lunch at Cheeseburgers in Paradise. I could only eat half of my cheeseburger but the fries were history. And yes, my doc said that was fine...only not every day! On the way out of the City I stopped and got a big cup of iced chai latte at Panera Bread and headed back west. One more stop and I would be home for a long afternoon. I stopped in Yukon..a town about 10 miles east of me to pick up some stuff at the drugstore and then made a decision to skip the interstate and come home on Route 66 so I could enjoy my drink and look at cows and barns and such.

I'd just got into my city limits when I heard this really loud noise. It was the right rear tire which had just sorta disintegrated. I was barely off the pavement and pulled up a bit further at which time it just basically fell off the rim! Bad news!! And it was one of my 'good' tires. But good news..I wasn't stranded on the interstate! Fortunately I found a friend that was home. Long gone are the days when I could change a tire by myself. He got the spare on and I limped to W*mart for a new tire. Bad news! Jeez! Tires are expensive. Even the low end of the scale. But since there is no public transit here, quite necessary. Good news! I just got paid!So, with Lily waiting in line, I proceeded to do the grocery shopping for the week.
Bad news! Everything just keeps getting more expensive. Good news! I didn't need a lot. Finally after standing in the tire center for what seemed ages, I was ready to go home. I was exhausted! I was soooo glad to see my little home.

But all of this saga pales into comparison when I think of Mama Squid's day! Shewweeee! See I was right. NYC IS all about YOU!

Saturday, I ended up dragging much of the stuff in the living room into the dining room and shampooing the carpet. I can't say that it's perfectly clean but it's a lot cleaner than it was that's for sure. I managed to block the computer so I didn't have that to get lost in. I didn't take out the big bookcases or the old cabinet tv that holds my little portable. Or the love seat, as I can scoot it around. And ya just need to sit down sometimes! But everything else was out including the cedar chest that serves as my coffee table. The little bookcases. The bead bookcase. The knitting baskets etc and the two chairs.



I put my current knitting (a scarf), the tv and dvd remotes, and the book I was reading into a little sqaure box and set it up on the dvd player.



You know, I rather liked the emptiness. Maybe because it's summer and in summer things need to be lighter. Later that night, as I got ready to go to bed it took all of 5 minutes to clear my space. Fold up the wooden tv tray that had held my drink. Knitting and remotes into box. Glass to kitchen sink. The end! No random pencils, piles of magazines or patterns that needed to be put away. Since the dining room was still all piled up with stuff, I tried not to look at that. :-)

Yesterday was all about putting things back and doing laundry and watching movies. And now finally I can get to the computer without trying to read/type standing up.
All's well that ends well. And it would really be 'well' if I could find the paperwork to my new tire. I still have hope. I didn't find my regular set of car keys until bedtime last night. I'm not sure why I used them (apparently) as a bookmark in a library book that I finished last Wed. /shrug!

Back to "Normal"

whatever that is. I woke up feeling almost zoomy this morning and I'm hoping that it lasts for awhile. I really tried to stay awake all day yesterday but it just didn't happen. But also, I found myself needing to do something besides relax, and I'm thinking that's a good sign. LOL I talked myself out of it though and went back to reading a book. :-D

So, Heigh ho, heigh ho it's off to work I go. Word is someone (probably a DME company or a rehab place) is bringing us lunch and it's allegedly lasagna! Ummmm yum. Maybe not heart healthy but certainly soul healthy.

Also, I need to run an errand. I really screwed something up. In my need to "get everything done before Monday", I rather hurriedly put my new car tag on. I don't know how it is in your state, but on the license tag there are two stickers. One has the renewal month and one the renewal year. So, as I checked off the list, I went by the tag agency and got my new tag and put it on the car Saturday. Yesterday, while standing in the driveway visiting with a friend who had brought me a cup of ice from work (love love love crushed ice) she noticed that I'd put the new year sticker on top of the month sticker instead of where it belonged. You cannot get those things off even if you try immediately. So it's off to the tag agency again. In the meantime, I'm going to carry the paperwork that came with it.

Hope your day goes well. Especially you, Devorah!

Love, Susan XOXO