We Are Constantly Saying....

 ...how strange/weird/different/uncomfortable life is lately.  I still want to blame everything on COVID.  Though I know that's not really the case.  The world has just changed so much. 

I'll never wrap my head around the thought processes that think it's ok to steal.  To steal anything:  money from someone else's accounts (or credit card theft), packages off of front porches, items from stores, things out of cars, even cars themselves.  I just don't get it. 

Civility has taken a back seat to rudeness and selfishness.  

And - but you know what?  I think I'll stop listing things right there.  I don't want this to turn into a gripe/complaint session.  I've just noticed that The Husband and I are aware more and more that we feel disenchanted with things going on around us.  How we don't feel like we fit anywhere (too told, too poor, too conservative, too independent in our thinking).  

Yummy fresh apples.

The new fridge (stainless steel notwithstanding) is growing on me.  We're still unlearning the fridge habits of the past 22+ years (and even the ten years before since we've had side-by-side fridges for that long).  It has affected our morning breakfast dance-routine while we each get our own meal.  But we're getting there, and I like the fridge.

I'm still working on noticing all the ways I feel the Hand of God in my daily life.  It's very interesting how that can improve my mental perspective.  Just when I'm feeling down or envious (I really, really dislike that particular feeling, it's so destructive) I begin to notice the "smaller" things that really provide a sense of happiness to my heart.

The other night, settled in the rocker (in my robe) with a book, the doorbell rang.  Our down-the-street-around-two-corners neighbor was there with a disposable roasting pan filled with freshly picked apples from their small orchard.  I don't know what kind any of them are.  We've eaten several - some are tarter than others.  All have been extra delicious because of the kind generosity of the giver.

This morning my vacuuming was interrupted by a call from The Husband.  Our across the street neighbor handed me a container of smoked (I think that was the cooking method) pork.  Made for a fabulous lunch for the two of us with enough left over for tomorrow's lunch.  And again:  I'm convinced things taste better when that life-sustaining food is a gift from someone.  And someone with zero expectations, just someone being kind and thoughtful in sharing what they have.  I want to be more like that.

I'm grateful today for an unexpected invitation to dinner with my friend.  Just the two of us.  It'll be lovely to just go and chat.  She's a busy person and I am wont to wonder if I'm just an obligation.  I surely hope not, she's very dear to me. I'm grateful for WD-40 to lubricate all the pieces-parts (and just my favorite person to apply it) of the garage door and opener.  I'm hoping to delay replacing or repairing for a while longer.  It feels like we've had much more out-go lately than income.  I'm so grateful for beautiful fall days that are crisply cool in the mornings providing a reason to wear warmer clothes.  (I've always been much more a fan of winter layers than summer clothes.) And I'm grateful for a sock wardrobe.  I seem to always have just the right pair.

Stainless Steel? 😳

Spur of the moment, we ran over to RC Willey after dinner the other night.  Just looking, I said.  Want to see what's out there and how much we can afford. 

Told the sales guy that I wanted a white refrigerator and he just chuckled.  No one really makes those anymore he said, but looked anyway on his computer to see what they had.  Took us over to one (floor model in stainless steel not white, of course) and we liked it just fine.  Looked at a few others but not interested in lots of bells and whistles, just need a good refrigerator.  We wrestled with white or stainless steel.  That particular finish on appliances just feels so "industrial" to me, not warm and cozy like a house should feel.  But clearly I'm in the minority.  I just dislike being forced to follow trends if that's not really what I want.

The sales guy said he is pretty sure the stainless steel approach isn't a trend, it's here to stay. Sigh.  Finally decided to go with stainless steel.  Is this one smudge proof?  Nope, that's the next level up. Another couple hundred dollars.

The only good part was they had them in stock in the warehouse and could be delivered Thursday - that's today! Our old fridge was new when we built the house 22+ years ago.  And I think it was just tired and worn out, too much trouble to keep things cold anymore.

Fortunately it's been a colder day outside - 43 degrees (the upper limit temps for things needing to keep cold) so all our fridge belongings are outside, in bins, on the patio table.  I kept the furnace off on purpose for a while, but now we're toasty warm.  The new fridge is in its place, all hooked up and everything.  3 gallons of water have been run through the water dispenser and the temp inside the fridge is coming down.  So far, so good.  And the side-by-side fridge/freezer that I've so disliked for so long is gone. 

As much as I hate spending money (and we've had to get some from our retirement funds) I admit I'm excited to have something new.  That's kind of a rarity for us.  I hope this fridge will be a decent one.

Update:  The shades came on Tuesday.  I think the installer was here for roughly 40 minutes.  Easy - peasy installation.  Interestingly enough, the sport court (bright)  and patio (they're the ones that aim at our house) lights were on that night so we had cause to try them out.  Sweet relief!! The fit is pretty snug so light incursion into our house is so minimal I eventually had to get up and open the small one up just a smidge so I'd have some ambient light when I got up in the middle of the night.  (Doesn't everyone have to get up once at night?) 

So two problems.  Two solutions.  So grateful!

I'm learning as I age that I get overwhelmed easier when I'm getting too much input at once.  Today was a bit of a challenge for me.  Between the usual chores and getting the fridge stuff ready (so grateful I had just enough plastic bins in the basement) then finishing up the cleaning.  But things are calmer now and I'm feeling a bit more chipper.  It's been raining out most of the day so we had some floor cleaning up to do when the delivery guys/installers left.  

Heard someone on Sunday talk about praying to notice God's blessings in her life, even the small ones.  I think I'm guilty of feeling overlooked by heaven a lot of the time.  I need to be more aware.  It was truly a blessing to go find a fridge that could be delivered quickly and was something we could manage financially.  (There was one on display that was upwards of $20,000-I can hardly fathom having that kind of money to spend like that.)  It's been a blessing that things have been so chilly outside today that I'm hopeful we won't have to spend some money replacing all that food.  We didn't intend to be buying a new fridge quite so soon, otherwise I might have let our food supply dwindle a bit more.  Though we don't usually have a ton of food around these days.  It's a blessing to have the new shades that will allow me to sleep in spite of inconsiderate behavior around me. 

And I'm grateful today for the rain.  The air feels fresh and clean.

Monday, Monday

Last week was busy.  Catching up on all the stuff leftover from our trip.  When you travel, time seems different somehow.  But life for everyone else just goes on the same.  

And here I am again, on a Monday, doing laundry.  That's one constant in life.  So grateful for plenty of clothes to wear.  Was chatting with a friend yesterday at church - mentioned that lots of my clothes were purchased before we built this house.  That would be 22+ years. (It's kind of interesting that I can still fit in them.) Since my clothes are all so old it means I'm not "styling" these days, I'm kind of old fashioned (as probably would be expected of a 72 year old) and look like a fuddy-duddy.  She said, "I just don't care anymore."  She said she's no longer interested in looking like the younger women, the styles these days just aren't that appealing.  As long as she's comfortable, clean and tidy, and covered she's perfectly content.  In theory, I'm right there with her.  In practice - well, let's just say sometimes you just want something new to wear. 

The garden is all ready for winter.  The Husband spent the morning cleaning out/cleaning up and wearing himself out. I keep saying next year the garden will be smaller; we'll see what happens. 

I've been trying to get the shade situation resolved.  They texted and said they were ready to come install the room-darkening shades we finally had to order.  The time came and went (with zero contact from the company) so I got on the phone.  Somewhere along the line, someone lost those shades.  Took several days and lots of phone time on hold to get any kind of answer.  The lack of communication from the company is disillusioning.  Someone should have been tracking the order (and every order) making sure things were progressing properly.  And keeping the customer (me) informed every step of the way.  I've had three people tell me they'd call me back to let me know what's going on.  Not a single one followed through.  Finally this morning I was told (by yet a different person) the shades were re-done and arriving at the installer today and as soon as he's checked them in they'll be calling to set up an install time.  And these are the same installers that lost them before😧, if my meager information is correct.

I was up front:  if this issue isn't resolved by the end of the week, American Express will be contacted and payment will be reversed, since I still  don't have the shades I ordered back in August.  Frustration is not even a complete description.

Great Book.

I did read a great book.  It was published posthumously. Which, in my mind, often lends a certain amount of gravitas to a book; things that meant so much to this author that she was anxious to have it mostly completed before she graduated this earthly life.  

I enjoyed this article:  Happier Life  I wish I had the capacity to choose every minute to be happy.  Sometimes that's a bit hard for me.  I want to choose happy, just like I want to choose hope.  

I came home to a stack of six books, another three were added in just a couple days.  I'm down to 3 now.  I'm so grateful for a library that keeps me supplied with good reading material.  Even if I don't actually finish a book (for whatever reason, even if I'm just not in the mood for that particular writing style) I still am blessed to have access to books that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to buy (or want to store). I have loved immersing myself in some good books over my lifetime, even this last week.

Am grateful today for getting back to class at the rec center.  It's an exercise class - mostly older people attend - some are in better shape than others and after this morning I'm feeling quite old and completely out of shape.  Two weeks off didn't do me any good.  I've made a bit of progress on a sewing project.  Yay! so grateful to have some enjoyable things to do - not talking laundry / vacuuming / bills, etc. here.  And grateful to have leftovers to enjoy for tonight's dinner.  I so love when I don't have to think too hard about what to serve for meals.

Post Vacation Wrap Up and Too Many Pictures (In no particular order, I haven't the skills to make it look nice)

 We had a great time.  It will probably always be our very favorite beach, and we've some great memories of our times there.  It's been about 4 years since we've been there.  Since then there was COVID, several really big storms, and lots of changes.  Some of our favorite eateries are gone or changed too much to enjoy.

The reason it's called Sunset Beach

This year was very different for us - we kept busy and left the house for the mainland at least once a day.  We rode a boat tour to see the dolphins (the pilot cheated and found a shrimp boat where there are always dolphins swimming around, but it was still very fun, we both came away soaked to the skin), walked through a beachside forest state park (the mosquitoes weren't quite so fun), drove an hour so we could take a car ferry over to an old fort, ate at an open air restaurant (up two flights of stairs, overlooking the intracoastal waterway, just beautiful), walked on the beach - over and over - and ate more than our fill of shrimp. 

Low tide, far end of island

We had ice cream three times over the week, enjoyed some fabulous southern bbq (twice), tried Maryland style crab cakes for the first time (and it won't be the last by a long shot), and again - more shrimp and hushpuppies than we probably should have.  Everything in the south is deep-fried, which I grow tired of really quick.  All that grease/oil (stomach rumbles).  Tried some fabulous fish stew.  And we drove a lot. 

The huge storms that had been through seemed to have pulverized all the shells.  I came home with only a few, and none of them big ones. 

We had a very tight connection coming home.  I was worried.  The pilot we chatted with as he got on the plane at the same time as us, told us not to worry, leave the worrying to him.  We arrived 20 minutes early, but because we were early, took the ground crew by surprise and waited for them to open the plane door for 15 minutes.  Still, though, we made our connection.  Our bags did too, thanks to the rapid transfer tags the woman checking them in had thoughtfully applied.  Not only that, the flight attendant was handing out cards with the gate of the connecting flight to most of the passengers, saving valuable time (and worry).  Delta really came through for us on this trip.

Today I've done 7 loads of laundry (folded and put away all that was dry), vacuumed the main floor (The Husband very kindly did the stairs which is for me the worst job around the house). Got caught up on bills, and mail (also renewed the license on the subaru) and have been to the dr.  (tests to be done).

We spent some time at the park with our daughter and son-in-law, and our granddaughter and her family.  Met our newest (the third) great-grandchild.  He's a very sweet and calm baby - 6 weeks old.  Came home to a "heart attack" on our garage door.  That's kinda been a thing around here, but of course, it's only for the elite so we've never had that happen to us.  It really did touch my heart.  And I'm leaving the little hearts up on the garage door even though it's raining like crazy.

Came home to six library books that I had on hold - they all came in at once while we were gone.  Then today two more arrived.  I better finish here so I can get some good reading time in. 

So very grateful for the luxury of a vacation.  We've not had near enough of those but every one has been so valued.  Grateful for my own bed to sleep in and a washer and dryer that do their job without (so far) complaint.  Grateful for The Husband's forgiveness to me for all the times I'm truly a brat.  Grateful for a stack of books to read, even if that stack comes with some time pressure.  And grateful for family - that makes it a point to visit / text / give hugs and take care of things while we are gone.  My heart feels good today.