life

I took this pix Monday morning (early -- 7:30ish) while have breakfast, coffee and reading the paper at the cabin  -  down by the lake.  Nick was still sleeping so I abandoned my usual deck chair/perch.

I don't think this fishing dude caught anything -- there was a steady stream of fishing dudes that morning ....

a peaceful pix of downtown hooterville  -- the SPPD had on their facebook page ... the main drag looking south ...my office building is almost dead center ...

yesterday was a day -- I spent 8 hours watching my computer screen with a live webinar - on the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act -- it was good -- I had a R9 meeting in Mankato, got drenched between the car and the door (with a raincoat) back to St Peter and listened to a presentation from Secretary of State Steve Simon on election security .... 

and thru all of that nonsense and chaos -- I learned of the death of a client -- most of my clients are favorites -- I truly like my clients ... seriously  

my heart is heavy -- I didn't know of his illness or struggles and the sense of hopelessness

or his demon - depression 

it hurts.

peace

so ....

   I spent an  hour with a client yesterday - she needed to vent about a situation with her employer and wanted my opinion.  All I can say about our visit -- this is 2018 peeps -- certain behaviors should not be tolerated as "normal" or acceptable.  wth.  make that wtf.  No one, male, female, minority should ever be treated in that fashion.  Never. Ever.

  The sun tinged areas of my body seemed to have "browned" -- namely my feet -- the gnat bites are still a bit itchy -- attacking them with anti itch antiseptic ... that too seems to be working -- and gee -- in 3 days it starts all over again!  

tuesday, the day after Monday

   oh my melting body -- well, my sunburnt, bug nibbled (chewed) body -- a bit of sun on Saturday and Sunday left a few pink patches .. by Monday I had sticky sunscreen slathered everywhere  ... then the no see'ums and gnats arrived ...

   i react to no see'um and gnat bites -- so lots of anti itch stuff -- the pink patches have faded ...

  it was a hot one ... I went to the cabin yesterday at 7:00am .. had my coffee/cookie/newspaper on the beach -- me and a bunch of fishing dudes -- who all felt the need to speak to me ... wth -- Nick took me fishing -- he fished -- I took pictures ... it was even hotter on the water ... 100' by 3:00 pm.  wtf.

  came home before lunch -- washed off the sunscreen and went to the office and worked on a couple of projects .. I have many projects started and none finished.  go figure ...

  one more day and the heat will break ..

  pix at home on home computer .. me and the ants are hanging out at the office

 Happy Tuesday!

ahhhh Friday

ahh the last Friday before the summer season begins .... it's hot and it's sticky and I caved and turned on the a/c just to get the humidity out of the office.

the pix above is my monthly box of goodies from the Fat Quarter Shop ... a ruler, 2 spools of thread, a jolly bar, a couple of patterns and some row marker gizmos.  I like the surprise of the monthly box ... but sometimes ... some of the gizmos are kind of unusual.  With my new "less is more" outlook -- 

spent 8 hours at a continuing ed seminar yesterday -- 8 long hours ... Mankato ... at least it was close to home ... 8 more hours on Wednesday (starting at 6:00am) ... oh boy!

i'm a hoarder ...

they probably couldn't film a tv episode about my hoarding habits.  but some things I never toss until they're well used.   Above is the front half of a tattered birthday card from my parents.  It's been holding credit card receipts in my desk since 1996.  22 freeking years.  it finally wore out and split in half.  I almost taped it together ... instead I tossed it.  good grief -- it's been thru a desk change, a tornado and a move .... egads.

I also tossed all the old credit card receipts that I hadn't matched up to a credit card statement.  At least they weren't 22 years old.  seriously peeps, I don't know what gets in my head.  I keep shit.

I hoard paper too ... cute little note pads, post it's with funny quips, lined, unlined.  there must be a therapy program for said addiction. argh.  

I bet some of that fabric in my stash is at least 15 years old.  ya, it's a disease, there is no cure.  

and the beans are up!  got to see them on my evening walk.

must walk more 

must walk often

must must must

life amid the birds

I may be a discombobulated mess ... but I've been lucky with the bird pix ... way to lucky .. there are a lot of not so good bird shots too.

Finally took a road trip to Mankato to my least favorite places, Menards (just drives me nuts), Joann Fabrics (I spend too much) and HyVee (all grocery stores are evil) ... 

so, I bought RoundUp (must eradicate burdocks), 

flannel (new quilt technique) and 

food (which included takeout Chinese) ..

I went to the cabin this morning with the intent of cleaning -- I put away groceries and read the paper and finished my book.  The windows had already been cleaned.  The plan is to spend the entire weekend out there just doing nothing.  Well, nothing significant ...

Lots to do before the weekend ... the project list is the next item on my weekly to do list.  

Happy Sunday ...

discombobulated

def: (Marie's version)

the art/ability to  ---  topic/job/project hop, the inability to finish a task before hopping to the next task -- argh.

the solution -- I don't have a clue ..



restlessness
fatigued
bored

edit/addition/more chaos 
so I took my evening stroll -- truly -- strolling not walking, just out looking for critters .

While standing a couple of rounds in ... at the location of the last patch ... I came to the realization I kind of miss the patch ... I miss planting, I miss the nightly walk thru's looking for "stuff" -- blooms, bugs, fruit, whatnots ... I miss picking ...  I miss getting my hands dirty ... 

and then I saw this when I got back into the yard -- I was headed to the lilac to pick some blooms to bring indoors ... and ya -- the four legged buggers where watching me ...

I don't miss fighting the four legged buggers -- or the gnats, mosquitoes or chiggers ..

my nightly walk

Happy Mother's Day !

so my Mom has been drooling over this 6' tall chicken at Tractor Supply for a couple of years .. on Friday afternoon -- elder #1 bought it for her for Mother's Day -- and since they had the Envoy --- it was a return trip on Sunday with the truck to retrieve it ... and then began the "where should we put it?"  

well the front yard won - it's sitting on a couple of landscape patio blocks - it's anchored with rebar ... it is close enough to the house to keep the nosy deer away from it ..  well, it's large and larger ...

epic equipment failure

(this is the new version)

my adding machine of fifteen years -- lost it's ommph yesterday -- 15 years ago it was a $400 adding machine ... amazing, simply amazing that I paid $400 for an adding machine.  Several years ago they were on clearance and I bought 4 -- (home, office, offices) and well, it was good to have a spare ....

even though it is almost the same -- it doesn't have the same snap/feel/pop to the keys -- give it 15 years and it will feel the same!

so I wonder just how many ink ribbons and adding machine tape rolls I burned thru in 15 years .. 

oh boy!

and the birds have arrived

the Oriele's have arrived and oh my they are hungry --- my camera battery died -- but when I left this morning there were 6 of them fluttering at the jelly feeder ... one was even attacking an apple.

i tossed a wrinkly apple out the back door for the deer on Sunday and it was still laying in the grass .. who knew the Oriele would be going after it ...

first day

at the happy place for this season ... we should have been cleaning ... but alas ....

it was just too nice to clean

and Mom was taking a nap ... and the vacuum is really annoying while napping!

I walked down to the beach!

and Nick & Jean picked me up for a ride 

Mom was reading her book and not paying attention 

here they come -- new motor 

needs to be broken in gently ..

or so I was told ...

before we arrived -- there was 5 loads of laundry, the dishwasher got ran, the porch got cleaned -- and 5 bags of trash got hauled out ... 

I actually had a homework project and sat on the deck for 3 hours spreadsheeting life away ...

road trip!

a mini road trip today -- first stop Mineopa State Park to scope out the bison herd -- they were a long way off but my cheap camera picked them up!   Next up was lunch and .... hold your breath --- the China Buffet ... per the request of my passengers ... ain't going there again -- just saying ..

a mini shopping expedition at Hobby Lobby (what was I thinking?) ... a not - so - quick stop at McDonalds ... seriously, they pulled me over and made me wait for an iced coffee... w t h ...

finally on the road again for the cabin with a stop to check in with elder #1 ... he's farming near the cabin .. he likes farming.  he and the green machine get along quite well   finally -- the cabin ... it's been spiffed up on the exterior!!   I plugged in the fridge and am ready for a day at the lake -- Sunday the day of rest --- at the lake!!!!!  

And how about that turtle -- he (she) was crossing the road from the lake to the slough!

omg as in

o m g ... I'm a clothes hoarder ... yes, I am.

went home after a day of office projects (8:00 ish) and began the "great closet swap" ... as in swap out the winter clothes for the summer clothes (also known as small closet syndrome)

my winter wardrobe of Lands' End fleece is legendary -- all colors all patterns -- enough for one a day and a spare for those "just in case" moments ... well -- I found 6, yes, 6 unopened new fleece pullovers in my upper closet -- 6 -- w.t.h. 

it gets better -- those idiots at Kohls keep sending me coupons for 30% off -- I have a summer stash of tek gear shorts, capri's and pants -- a freeking stash.  and oh ... our friends at CJBanks had everything 50% off last weekend -- at least I purchased dress pants and a jacket (or two), then I'm going thru the mail and what do I find

freeking 30% off at Lands' End -- I threw it out. 

a bit more of purge tonight -- and will deliver all to the thrift shop tomorrow .. w.t.h.

Thursdays .. on 3rd

well, this Thursday involved a whole lotta nothing. 

my goal of the week was to be uber productive. 
hmm, one can always dream

tomorrow is another day ...
actually it is the day Emily arrives
that would be Emily, the cleaning diva ...

ahhh

ahhhh it's green

on my first trek to Karen's Flowers I purchased this little jewel -- it's a bad phone shot --- but it has the coolest texture to it .. it's an aloe of some sort -- so, yesterday I thought I needed another one ... so I bought another one!

upon closer inspection - need to remove a few things from the front office --- look at all that "stuff" in the background --- eeeks -- although a lot of my life needs to be de-cluttered ... seriously why do we allow ourselves to be cluttered (with stuff/people/work and needless whatevers)

The grass has greened up overnight -- the rain last night was wonderful -- 

a new birth -- a new beginning

I'm off to de-clutter ..