Chilly!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the paper I am stripping today, comes down in big sheets rather than little pieces. But if it comes off too easily, then I will be finished before customer gets home from work and I won't get paid. Dilemmas!!!

Rather chilly this AM. 38 degrees Brrrrrrrrrr............

Refreshing

I am having a good time just passing the hours of each day. It's amazing how refreshing it can be. I have always had the idea that I need to do as much productive stuff in a day that I can, but if I get 1 thing done now, I still feel fulfilled.

Yesterday I finished papering the bottom part of our powder room with a wallpaper that looks like bead-board, which I have been going to do for probably a year. Then I went on an estimate to Springfield which will be a $600+ job consisting of stripping kitchen paper and repapering after new countertops are installed. The stripping I scheduled for Thursday and the papering after construction is done.

Today I repaired some seams here in Centreville in a house that is on the market and the people are getting desperate to sell.

It was so hot and muggy today that I turned the A/C on for a few hours to get some dampness out of here. I usually don't do this until someone else asks "when are you going to?" Decided to be comfortable today.

More.......

Time really flies when you forget to update your blog!!!

Kaleigh's team lost all their games on the 17th. They didn't seem to want to be there but it was fun watching them anyway.

Teri came over on Sunday to take me shopping for a digital camera. She insisted on buying me one for my birthday so I got one. It's "pink" and wasn't too expensive and I guess I'll have to learn to use it now. Need to start selling my junk on e-bay.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Greg the electrician, was here and got all new fixtures installed and a new circuit breaker box. Now I can SEE again without blowing a circuit.

Was going to go to OC this weekend but opted out when I remembered it was Memorial Day and everybody else would be on the roads also. And it would take $60 in gas which I didn't want to spend right now.

Worked one day this week, worked in the yard, puttered around, took back unused fixtures, bought a cabinet (which didn't have all the parts) and exchanged that. And in general just got piddling things accomplished but needed to get them done. Went on a paper estimate Friday and have another for tomorrow, Monday. A small repair job is scheduled for Tuesday here in Centreville so it looks like another leisurely week. Hurray!!!

Backtracking

Saturday, Mar. 10, I went to my dad's again to visit some more with my brother before he left on Sunday.

Went to Deb's to spend the night and enjoy the Mother's Day lunch on Sunday. They were calling for heavy storms, so I left there at 3:30 to beat the rain, but it caught up with me in Frederick. From there till I got home it was coming down by the buckets. Got home, unpacked and laid down to watch TV at 9:00. And about 9:30 hopped up and noticed that my feet were cold and wet. At that point, there was about 1 1/2 inches of water halfway across the basement. I kept my cool and got the wet vacuum out and started pumping water until about 1:40 AM. It seemed to have stopped coming in so I quit and laid back down so I could tackle it again in the morning. What a mess!!!!

Cleaned and pushed things around all day and at 5:00, Greg Lucas, and electrician, came to give me an estimate on upgrading our circuit breaker box and adding various other electrical fixtures. I am so tired of blowing circuits everytime I turn on my blow dryer or the toaster oven. Surprisingly, Mike is agreeing that this needs to be done and has given me the go-ahead. Greg is going to start on Tuesday the 20th and finish in a few weeks when he gets another free day.

I am off to watch Kaleigh play basketball now at Mt. Vernon HS so I'll continue later.

Rainy days

The job with Susie on Wednesday was a "go". We met in Aldie, VA. at 9:30 AM to paper what was described as a tray ceiling in a bedroom. It turned out to be a 10' high ceiling in a dining room and extended into a small hallway. (Susie never quite remembers details of jobs) Very difficult to maneuver around dining room furniture with the scaffolding over a huge round dining room table. It looked okay, even though I didn't think the paper looked good on a ceiling, but it took us until 4:30 to complete. By this time we were so stiff and sore from all the stretching that all I could think of was crawling into my bed and sleeping.

On Thursday, the rains did not cooperate and came early along with bad storms including tornadoes South of us, which could have moved this way. In any case, I opted not to take a walk in the woods in the rain and chance getting pneumonia. Whimpy, I know but still sore from working. The rest of them went and, I'm sure, got great pictures that I will enjoy in a dry place.

Today , I am trying to put together things that I will need for the weekend. Going to the Boy Scout Flea Market on Saturday morning and then head to my dad's again to visit with Butch before he returns home on Sunday. Then I will go to Deb's for the night and enjoy their Mother's Day cookout on Sunday.

Alas

My father is getting more cantankerous all the time. My brother came in from Seattle with his son, Matt, to "clean" dad's house. Unfortunately, Butch was met with the same hostility and fits of rage over touching dad's prized junk. Much cursing, screaming and stomping around took place between Butch, my sister Vicki, me and our dad. Last night Vicki told him to sit down and shut up or she would have him committed and, by gosh, he did it. Drastic measures but necessary sometimes.

I left today with them still pushing forward with the cleansing and the AC repairman had arrived. This set off another temper tantrum which I didn't care to participate in. Dad's excuse for not turning the unit on is that it was broken and he didn't want to pay the $100(?) it would probably take to fix it. He is definitely lost in the past. Vicki is determined to get some things repaired around there so that he can't use this excuse anymore. Now she'll have to work on getting him to turn it on. Good Luck Vicki!!!

Anyway, I am back home and going to work with Susie tomorrow. Hope that works out. Then on Thursday, Butch, Vicki and Matt are meeting me out in the Shenandoah to hike to a Field of Trillium which Vicki found fascinating on the Internet. Hope the rain comes later than predicted but should be a welcome respite.

Insect bite

On Sunday, I had to clear the way in the unfinished laundry room for the Fios install on Monday. Things went well untill I reached the bottom shelf and noticed my hand was itching. Scratched and to my amazement the backof my hand was was swelling and bruising badly. Spider Bite??? Still don't know.

This sent me into my usual frenzy of dressing, makeup, Xanax, etc. And then off to the Urgent Care to have a look.

Centreville U C closed on Sunday..........Inova U C on Rte. 28 had a back-up of patients for at least 3 1/2 hrs. The nurse said from looking at my hand, I had better go to the new and less busy Inova U C in South Riding. So back in the car but the Xanax had calmed me down enough to drive another 12 miles.

Doctor there saw me immediately and said it could be spider bite or that I broke my knuckle. ?????? I said I think I would have known if I had hit my hand hard enough for that so she agreed to prescribe an antibiotic and Prednizone (which I refuse to take) and said that if that didn't work she would exray my hand to see if I might have forgotten that I hit my hand hard enough to break a knuckle. Another genius!!!

I really don't know how hard you have to hit a knuckle to break it, so maybe a slight bumping could do it???????? We'll see!!!

At this point, on Thursday AM the swelling is down and the whole back of hand is one big, ugly blob of dissipated under the skin blood. Looks soooooo bad but I have 10 days worth of Amoxicillin to take before we decide on "amputation". HAHA

Time flying by....

Sunday, Apr. 20, I went to see my new and latest "customer friend" Constance Williams. I get so involved with some of their lives because am around so much that we can bond. They sometimes call and relate the most personal things, which is amazing to me, and I just feel that there are a lot of lonely people out there who have no one to talk with. I had some finishing touches on the work that I had done there until the rest of her paper arrives. Also some other little things that she hasn't done after 7 yrs. of living in this house and had no idea how to do them. Little things to me, like lowering the 2 chandeliers from their tied-up positions close to the ceiling, where the builder puts them so they don't bump into them during construction. Just a matter of untwisting a wire. It must be a helpless feeling not to understand things like this!!!!!!

Tuesday, I went to Deb's and saw Felicia play a fast-pitch softball game. They lost but redeemed themselves on Wed. by winning big against Westminster HS.

Wednesday , I drove Cassidy to her Field Trip at Farm Market Nursery in Hampstead, MD. We had fun planting flowers and seeds in a pot to take home and she got to ride a fleabitten old nag around a circle. The poor horse was so old and ragged looking that all he wanted was to get back to the stable and tried repeatedly to head that way. He was forced in the heat of the day to circle twice with each of 80 little munchkins. In the evening we went to Cassidy's first ever t-ball practice. These kids are so cute and she was appropriately nervous but did really well.

Thursday I spent the morning altering Cassidy's t-ball shirt which she decided was TOO big and didn't feel right and she pitched a real ranting fit until we got it just right. The joys of a 5 year old temper!!! Then I returned home to find out that Cox Cable had still not gotten our cable fixed for internet and cable. God I hate that company!!! Service went out Sunday AM for at least 4 of us supposedly because a tree fell and split a cable. I heard that tree fall on Tuesday so something else was definitely involved. I had premade an appt. for Thursday evening knowing I would be gone until then but hoping that I would be able to cancel because it would be fixed. "DREAMER" Long story short, they had arrived for my appt. 7 hrs. early, left a note in the door and I hit the roof. They returned to tell me there was nothing they could do...........I suggested since it only involved 4 of us, why not tap into another pedestal temporarily until the cable could be fixed. Much to my surprise, they liked the idea and had it done within the hour. Where are their brains? They sure don't send them out on service calls.

All of the Cox experience I knew would be ending soon because I had set up an appt. 6 weeks ago to have Verizon Fios installed on Monday, April 28. What a difference in customer relations!!! The man showed up on time, got everything installed, sufficiently explained it to me, worked dilligently and neatly from 9:15 AM till 4:45 PM and all is great so far.