How is it Possible

To be happy

When the sun hasn't shone since January 8th.

When immigrants with visas can't come home.

When the threat of war looms in the Balkans, or anywhere, for that matter.

To Smell or Not to Smell

A long time ago I learned that I must use unscented detergent and unscented fabric softer or I will be coughing and wheezing. My husband wants his clothes to smell nice, so I wash and dry his separately with scented products.

I do OK with most candles, unless they are very strong.

I'm not OK with Glade Plugins. My daughter in Indiana had one plugged in when we came to visit. After an hour my eyes were burning and red and I couldn't stop coughing. I had to ask her to unplug it.

My husband, who is not phased by perfumes, told me he wanted something to make the apartment smell nice. He said one of his co-workers got an oil diffuser.  Red flags waved in front of my eyes when he suggested we get one. I told him I would look into it.

My other daughter bought a wax warmer. She had just turned it off before I came over, and she said we both didn't think it bothered me. I thought, OK, maybe I will try that.

I bought one, which I didn't like the look of when it was plugged in, so I returned it. I bought a second one that looked like it should be gorgeous, but it was ugly when turned on. Back it went. I kept the wax,

Today I decided to warm some wax in my potpourri warmer. It's one of those where the a candle heats up water that has herbs or fruit peels in it. I added a little water, the wax, and lit a candle under it.

I've tried two different scents of wax and I don't like either of them. They just smell fake and stinky. 

Maybe I will just stick with apple peels and cinnamon.

Small Things Bring Joy

Sometimes I have the greatest gratitude just watching the sunlight soften into a sunset. I feel it even more so after a run of gloomy, cloudy days that finally break into sun late in the day. What a gift that is, one I do not want to miss at all.

Another small joy is my hair is growing back. I have odd tufts of hair sticking up all over. They are finally growing long enough to lay down. I was not kidding when I assumed I had lost about half my hair (maybe 40%...?) after the surgery.

August 2016

January 2017

My blood sugar is returning to more normal (for me) levels. I think I will be back in the 6.5 A1C range again soon. That has been my normal for years. The best part is I don't need any new or different medications. I'm not sure to what I can attribute this success.

Multi-vitamins - I threw out the old and bought new, and I began taking them on a regular basis. My food tracking program told me I wasn't getting enough vitamins.

Tracking my food (not just calories but nutrition as well) - My daughter in Indiana recommended My Fitness Pal, now that I have a smartphone. Since I don't need to loose weight I use it to track nutrition. I am learning to eat more protein and less sugar.

Getting rid of stress - I don't know where that curve ball came from, but I am wondering if it was from my thyroid medicine being too high. It was increased after my doctor discovered it was too low. Now I am at the proper dose and am feeling relaxed and normal again. FYI---the only way to tell if the dose it too high or too low is by a blood test, unless one were having oddball symptoms.

I had another surprise. My strength has returned. Maybe I finally built up after carrying bags of clothes up and down the stairs to be washed. I can now carry a gallon of milk AND bags of groceries at the same time, almost like normal people. Woot!

I-Pass is for Anyone

The worst part about driving between Wisconsin and Indiana is navigating the tolls through Illinois. For some reason I don't remember it being that confusing years ago when we would drive up to the family cottage. But that's when tolls were 35 cents for a car, and everyone went through them.

It's even more confusing when the GPS is saying to stay left but we need to merge right to pay. One time we took an exit because there was a sign to pay. We didn't know it was a darn exit. It is also frustrating when you are in the left lane and must merge across all those lanes just to pay the toll. We discovered were weren't the only ones. My daughter and her hubby had encountered similar frustration. We both independently decided to order I-Pass. Our's will arrive in about 2 weeks.

Since hubby had 3 days off and work was slow, we made another trip down to Indiana. We visited some old favorite stores and discovered they weren't a big deal anymore. We also visited my former neighbor, the gabby one. She behaved herself and didn't gossip. It was a rather nice visit. Before we left I walked across the street to knock on my other neighbor's door. She didn't answer. She might have been in the back of her house or the garage. I knocked again, louder, and then left. She hasn't reached out to me. At least I tried.

We drove on to do a little more shopping, pick up pizzas and drove out to my daughter's. Since it was during the week we all went to bed early. We were up and ready to go by 7:30 am because my daughter needs to lock the door with a key. There were thunder storms and rain all night. It turned to sleet. The roads were Ok, though. We visited a couple antique stores but didn't stay long. The forecast said the weather would get worse throughout the day and the icy slush was supposed to freeze solid. It was just sunny and cold in Wisconsin, with a couple inches of morning snow, so getting north of the bad weather was a priority.

Following the salt truck on country roads in Indiana

On the way home, driving past the enormous Amazon Fulfillment Center in Kenosha Wisconsin

In spite of the weather it was a good trip. As usual, we had fun laughing and sharing stories. 

Letting Go

I am not letting this follow me any further into the new year. I need to get this off my chest. I am not the type to give up on people easily, but some people are no longer worth the effort.

I left these two "friends" behind when I left Indiana. I occasionally touched base with them.

One lady, older than me, would often ask my help when we were still neighbors. I helped her with computer things, financial things, all manner of things. I tried to help her set priorities so she could reach her goals. She is a hoarder, to some extent. She dresses like a bag lady, for the most part. I gave her my mom's clothes. She always thanked me for being her friend. I shared my leftovers with her. We took walks together and talked a lot. She has a daughter and friends from church, so I was just a friend, but not a Church Friend.

I was only in her house a very few times. During my last year there she would not let me in her house at all because, she said, it was gutted down to the studs and wallboard was stacked up along the walls as she tried to gather the money to pay a carpenter (fellow Church Member) who wouldn't even give her a break in his fee. Her dream was to get it fixed up so she could quit the telemarketing job and babysit in her home.

Then I moved away, hubby and I, we moved to California. Thinking back, I'm just now recalling how she was sitting on the floor in our (then sold) house as me, hubby, my daughter, her hubby and his kids helped us pack up the last of our stuff and got it all clean and vacated before noon. I was so exhausted, but thinking back, I recall she seemed really sad and said something about me not being there for her.

It was time to go. We hugged and took pictures and I said I would keep in touch, and stop for a visit if we ever got back that way.

I called her from California. She was cross and curt with me. I promised her pictures, I sent pictures. After we moved into the duplex I called her again. That time she seemed to be happy to hear from me. We talked quite awhile.

After we moved to Wisconsin I called her again. I asked if she were still working at the telemarketing company. She said no, she got her house finished and she was now babysitting in her home. I knew that was her dream, so I congratulated her. I sent her more pictures.

Then we drove down to Indiana to visit my daughter and her family. I figured we could stop in on our way home on Monday. Well, heaven forbid that I call her on a Sunday when she was going out the door to church.

"UH!" (say that with your mouth open and force out the air) was the "hello" I got. "I'm on my way to church, she stammered".

Ok, but can we stop in on Monday? We are down in Indiana.

(Flustered answer) "Umm, maybe, no, I won't be home but, no, maybe sometime, but I don't know when. I can't let you into my house because it's a disaster, wallboard stacked up everywhere, but we could meet out in the car."

Mic drop.

The other lady, well, she posts a lot on social media about how much she loves her husband and how she loves being a Christian, but when I would visit, all she would talk about was gossip and how she wanted to leave her husband.

I'm done. Really.

I have two wonderful daughters. We get along great, have fun together, laugh together. Same with my husband. He is my best friend.

First Post in the New Year

I hope you enjoyed ringing in the new year. Hubby and I celebrated by driving down to Indiana to visit my older daughter, her hubby and his two kids. It was our first time back since we moved away in 2014. We stayed at their apartment in Hebron, Indiana.

View from the kitchen window

We had a great time, and will go again. The kids are fun, smart and engaging. After they went to bed we rang in the New Year with some drinks and Champagne and watched some comedy.

Sunday we went shopping and out to dinner. We drove home Monday morning as hubby didn't need to work until Monday night.