09/11/24

23 years ago I bought this old house ... 3 years ago I blogged about it ... I always blog about stuff.

Last week, I met with a building contractor for exterior work on this old house .. the take aways from our walkabout --- 1) "this was an expensive house to build" and "it's really well built" .. which translates in Marie speak to 2) expensive to repair.  I am so lucky to have this building it has suited my needs really well over the last 23 years .. my desk is now situated so that I look north towards my first office -- where I spent the first 15 years of my working career ... 

The contractor was impressed that Chaska brick was used to build this house evidently that is rare ... okay ... I googled Chaska Brick it is kind of a big deal ... see #2 above "expensive to repair" .. they will also be fixing soffits/facia/molding and a complete exterior repaint.  Ka Ching!  

38 years of this stuff.  I'm feeling old today -- I volunteered at produced distribution and actually lived to tell about it ... by the end of 3 hours my feet/knees were burning.  my cheeks were pink and I needed a beverage/bathroom.   I left and went home for a shower and prepped for my next meeting.  

I'm not sure I'm a Bernie fan but it's a nice pix of the building 

I need to wander with a real camera and take some new pix .. maybe tomorrow -- my feet and knees won't be burning as much 

PSA to self

             So, on the homebound tonight (7:30).   This character was in the lane next to me.  I need to learn to express myself as well as this cyclist.   Ripped leopard leggings, moto jacket, cranberry dreadlocks, hat.  Harley.  Chuck Taylor knockoffs   

              GO GIRL !!!!

      Tomorrow, I clean off  Ruby’s dash and get her washed.  I’ll be the commissioner in the orange Hawaiian dress, denim jacket and sneakers.   Plain adidas - chucks hurt my feet. 

 

Weekend Warrior Part 1

I become a weekend project warrior ... just my new normal weekend activities on steroids ...

1.  laundry 

2.  work at the office

3.  lawn mowing 

4.  lake time

 ( and all the normal stuff out there)

home for more laundry 

it was beautiful at the lake -- the crazy jet ski, wake boat, water skiing tribes were gone ... quiet, peaceful, and a nice cool afternoon ...

the lake is finally dropping and the beach is reappearing

the plan was to eat the frozen pizza for supper

evidently we'd already eaten it ... 

options were kind of sketchy -- so it was frozen waffles 

floatilla of pontoons .. it was just a nice spot of r & r

I have a goofy rest of September -- a lot of running around like a madwoman and getting nothing done ... so I'm going to take advance of r & r whenever I can .... 

 

TGIF (?) maybe

Mom had a test for Parkinson's today and .. it's weird -- take a pill, wait an hour, get an IV injection of dye and 3 hours later have a brain scan ... so we had some time to burn in Mankato ....

so....after the injection

1.  went to the bagel shop and got bagel sandwiches and tea

2.  headed out to the park and drove the bison drive ... 

          the bison were near the road and the park was almost empty

3.  went to Sibley park and looked at the flowers and ate the bagels 

          nice day for lunch in the park

4.  went to the Hubbard House and toured the flower beds 

5.  went to tractor supply for cat food and new live traps 

6.  went to TDS so I could sign checks

7.  back to the clinic for the brain scan

8.  back to the office by 2:30 ish ...

I did manage to get some quality reading time in while sitting in the waiting rooms for almost 2 hours ... we've had a ton of appointments this year -- this was rather mild compared to some of them ...

TGIF ...

 

and the days after adventurers

I'm not leaving again -- chaos upon the return .. utter chaos

random pix from adventure 

 I took less than 10 pictures

traffic jam in Kimball  -- the meat market was smoking things downtown smelled pretty darn good 

firepit .. we never used it ... too windy, raining or buggy .. screen porch was handy

downtown International Falls --- Rachael needed coffee and there was an interesting coffee shop ...took forever -- they must have dashed to South American to get the coffee beans first ..

riding out the storm near the bridge with my new friends ... it was wicked for a while 

and the cc hanging out with one of it's furry friends.  seriously the damn critters have no fear of the cc when it is parked or running .. I can't begin to imagine how many hours I've spent on this thing this year ... I mowed everything Wednesday night before we left .. 

 

Adventure Day 3 - the reason

    Dad was very explicit/reflective/intuitive in his last weeks.  We (I) didn't realize how close the end was but those last weeks were filled with a lot of life lessons, wisdom and wishes.

    Today - we fulfilled one of the wishes -- we left a part of his ashes at one of his favorite places.  The resort they spent most of their time --- some next to a rock and Lee/Nick & Rachael are leaving some near a favorite fishing spot.

     As much as I looked forward to this family trip -- the ultimate reason was to leave a piece of our hearts here.  Grief is such a funny emotion -- today, a little over 18 months and damn, the loss feels more real than many other days.  Generally, those moments hit when I'm in hour 5 of mowing the damn lawn.  

    Mom did pretty well with our moment today -- or at least I think so -- the whole journey has been loaded with memories and since she rode with me all the way ... it's been a constant stream.  I'm sure tomorrow on the voyage home she is going to crash.  Her health is fragile and this has been a lot .. a lot of memories, a lot of physical -- (not her bed, not her chair, not her bathroom) change.  Leaving tomorrow will be rough -- I think she know in her heart this is her last trip up here too ....

   

    

       We're kind of rookies with this closure thing -- but I'm learning/adapting every day with emotions -- not only mine, but everyone elses -- our world kind of flipped and the growing into the new one is taking time.  I just didn't realize how much time .. and how much change --   Yes, the big changes were expected -- but the little changes. They are the ones that zap when least expected.  I think those zaps are okay -- 

    I just don't do change well -- I'm learning, I think, I hope, I know ... I will always work on it ...

Adventure Day 2

Friday afternoon, this guy wandered down to the dock and casted out for an hour, it was calm, sunny -- fun to watch (while sitting, napping in a lawn chair).

I didn't sleep well, moved to futon in the dining room -- mom's snoring is a bit distracting at times ... but I got up to go to the bathroom (1 bathroom - 6 people) and saw daylight was cracking -- grabbed iPad and blanket and watched the early sunrise

Not sure where these guys were -- but the came in at 5:45 --