Catching Up

I am writing from Indiana. My hubby is in Kosovo for a couple weeks. It will be nice to spend the holidays with my daughter. Her and her hubby are on vacation this week, so we will be busy having fun.

Today we went shopping. My daughter and her hubby always cook dozens of cookies and pans of fudge as gifts for family members. This year I get to help out with this monumental task of baking and packing. 

Afterwards we stopped by Anderson's Winery. We listened live music, had some wine and cheese.

I started to write this post several days ago, so I am behind with the news.

I found this metal and glass table for $8 at a second hand store. It was covered in dust, dirt and some cobwebs, but I wanted it. It cleaned up pretty well. 

For now it's going there, because I need to put a couple plants on it. The window sills have been wet from condensation so I don't want plants on the sills. Besides, if it gets down to minus 10 again there will be ice on the windows. 

Speaking of minus 10, I woke up cold Saturday morning and discovered the apartment was only 67°. That feels cold to me. I checked the baseboard heat with my digital thermometer and they were barely warm. I turned the thermostat to 80 but no improvement. I texted maintenance. He asked if I thought the thermostat was not responding and I told him I thought it was ok. He said turn it all the way, which is 90°. After some time the heat responded. The baseboards were 95° to 98° and the rooms were 70°, so that was ok. Thankfully that super cold weather is done for now.

The side effect of the apartment being so chilly is now my orchids are growing bloom spikes.

This one is always in bloom

That's all the news for now.

Settling In

 I would say the biggest benefit to living upstairs is stronger legs, besides the extra privacy and awesome view. Our utilities are lower than they were in Greenville. We have Alliance Energy from Fond du Lac, more affordable than WE energies.

I had my first doctor appointment with my new doctor. She is a short pleasant Polish lady. Nobody can pronounce her last name so she goes by Dr. Ewa. The clinic is upstairs in our very nice hospital that is literally 3 minutes away. She ordered labs, and since I was fasting, I was able to do them that day. Everyone is pleasant and efficient. I had my results online that evening. I had my refill ready the next day. No more calling the clinic in Greenville because they forgot to put the order in.

Hubby and I feel very much at home in this area. Hubby is happy with his job and enjoys the people he works with. He is still in training and doing well. He is in the Union now.

We have found ourselves to be fairly equidistant from all the places we enjoy and visited when we lived in Hartford. We are much more comfortable with hills. The Fox Valley bummed me out from the first time I saw it. It's ---Flat--- Appleton does have a nice area of parks and older homes near the college. I didn't like Grand Chute, it's all parking lots and congested roads. Kimberly and Kaukauna had their charm in spite of the stinky paper mills. We drove up to Green Bay a few times. Shopping is good there. The town is literally Green . Bay . Packers....everywhere. We drove up to Door county 2 or 3 times. It's neat but to really enjoy it you need to pick a town and stay there a couple days. My friend told me we can see the Niagara Escarpment next to Fish Harbor, so that will be a destination at some point. 

I have rearranged my plants several times (and again since taking these pictures.) I also unpacked my turtle collection and placed them around my plants. I added some rocks and other random stuff. I don't have a fireplace mantle so I placed some stuff on the shelves under the TV

Gift from my daughter!

I love this plant. Common name "Lavender Steps"

The blue one in the middle is one of my favorites. It's so blue!

Lithops have been blooming

My health insurance is ending the plan I am currently on, so I have been shopping for a new one. I have not had any issues with Medicare Advantage plans. I started out with traditional Medicare with medigap plus a drug plan in 2015. At first it was doable, but as the years passed, it became more and more expensive. I was paying hundreds of dollars per month and only seeing my doctor 3 or 4 times per year. Eventually the yearly deductible with an advantage plan was less than my premiums, so I decided to switch. Everyone is different, so if you are shopping or switching, I hope you find the plan that works best for you.

I eventually chose a Wisconsin program, Network Health. The plan I chose has a $24 part B reduction, which means my part B will be $178.90 instead of $202.90. That's important because my medications are higher this year. I checked all the plans available to me and I'm confident this plan will work well.

I noticed all Wisconsin Medicare plans (at least the ones I looked at) have ground and air ambulance coverage. My deductible for both is $300. ER $130, worldwide emergency $130, max $100,000 (on the worldwide ER). It's a PPO with in and out of area coverage. Monthly premium $0, primary doc $0, specialist $50, drug deductible $300, basic vision and dental, telehealth, bunch of other stuff. Hubby added me to his dental plan because Silver Creek Dental is awesome but not accepting Medicare next year. I'm seeing them again this year because I have a loose, broken tooth that needs to come out, and my current plan pays 100%, so better to do it while I still have it.

In other news, I've been baking bread for my hubby quite often. Here is my latest loaf:

Speaking of bread, I finally bought a Keto bread. It's ok, toasts up nicely, and doesn't spike my blood sugar, as long as I remember to eat eggs in the morning. Yes, the bag is half empty lol

And lastly, my ONE blooming orchid is blooming again. The other four...nothing. 

I've been writing this post for a few weeks now, so I think it's time I finish it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things Are Looking Up, Except For Unpacking

The old apartment has been rented, starting November 1st. That's a big deal because that gets us off the hook for the rent and the utilities (because we broke the lease). 

We took our first good walk since moving. It was very enjoyable. We climbed a hill and followed a path to the 5G tower. From there we could look across town. Next time we will walk in the other direction. The area is quite large, all property of Ripon College. 

Then we stopped by Green Lake to watch the sun set. 

Green Lake is Wisconsin's deepest natural inland lake. It has two temperature layers, supporting both warm water and cold water species of fish. Lately it has been struggling with fertilizer runoff which causes mucky algae in shallow areas. They are trying to remedy that. In contrast, Lake Winnebago, which is bordered by the Fox Cities (Neenah, Menasha, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac), is shallow and brackish, covered in green all summer, and is unsafe to swim in.

Typical summertime Lake Winnebago

  I have a doctor appointment next month, an eye exam next month, and a dental appointment next week all in town and easy to drive to. No more Appleton nightmare traffic!

The local grocery stores are a bit expensive but we shop them when needed. On weekends (when needed) we drive to either Berlin or Fond du Lac to stock up.

I have unpacked kitchen stuff. I have hung up clothes. I have unpacked the bathroom stuff. I cannot unpack anything else. There is no linen closet. There is no utility closet. I have no extra shelves because I'm using them for my plants. Because the windows are a different height, I cannot use any previous configurations. Until I get shelves I cannot unpack the bins. Because everything is in bins I can't find anything half the time. Then I just get sad and frustrated and give up.

I wanted to hang pictures. The lease says I can't put nails in the walls. I asked for clarification. They don't want nail holes because "then they need to patch and paint". Ridiculous. Never had to paint after filling a tiny nail hole. Besides, the walls in this place are full of patches and even a few nail holes that were just painted over without filling.

There were some other issues the new maintenance man fixed. The old maintenance man mostly fixed nothing. We replaced the toilet seat ourselves (before the new maintenance man was hired). They reimbursed us.

Two of my plants have died. One was on its way out for a long time. The other was probably my fault.

Hubby is flying to Europe in December and I will be staying with my daughter in Indiana. Looking forward to that.

I never found my pan lids. 

That's all for now.

Unpacking

 We took possession of the apartment August 30 and completed our move September 13th. We went back last Sunday to clean. I hired a young couple to clean. My back couldn't take anymore. They only wanted $100. We brought soda and tips. They were super happy and did a good job.

Our backs are sore. Hubby hauled all my plants upstairs. I tucked most of the rocks into the bins so the movers hauled them up. They were little rocks.

Unpacking in this new apartment is a challenge. There is No Storage. Literally. I am becoming more creative at figuring out where to put things. 

I have lost my pan lids. Not the pans, I have the ones I didn't loose in the last move (the ones I lost never turned up). I have two lids that I use to cover my frying pans. I cannot find them. What is it about moving and my darn pans?

In spite of the challenges with the apartment, both of us feel at home here. There are rolling hills and woods that are not swamps. The traffic is light and easy to drive in, unlike the total chaotic mess in Appleton. We are closer to the things we left behind when we moved in January. 

There are Black Walnut trees all over town. There is one next to our apartment. It drops nuts on the driveway. When cars drive over them they crack. We had rain and some wind the other day and the driveway sounded like popcorn. With all the hardwood trees around, the chance of me seeing a Luna Moth next spring might be good.

Hubby's job is going well. He won a vacuum at the employee appreciation day picnic.

I'll write more later. I'm getting tired. Here are some pictures:

Ripon at night

Plants on the balcony

Lithops bloom

College football practice just across the road

The vacuum hubby won

We're Moving to Ripon!

We got the apartment! Now all the legal stuff needs to be completed and then we can pick up the keys.

7 minutes from my hubby's work, a quarter mile from walking trails, cute town, union job, and a pretty good view.

View from the balcony

Big area for my plants in the living area

Kitchen

Mini blinds! Not the vertical murder blinds!

Brand new water heater

New washer and dryer

 

It's Nice!

 We saw the apartment today, 2 bedroom upper, clean, washer and dryer are new, A/C is new, water heater is new, and there is a view. I am trying to be level headed and controlled because we still need to submit our applications. Our credit scores are good, background checks spotless, but still, until that lease is in hand, we are waiting to celebrate.

I have been dreaming of a place like this. There are a couple of trees that block little bits of the view, but it seems good. Two windows face west (for my plants) and one bedroom window faces north. Storage is a little tight but I'm going through stuff again. Papers can go, stuff I don't use anymore and don't need to keep can go, and some of my rocks can go. I mean, how many rocks do I really need 🤭. 

It's also in a quiet area (although we can watch college soccer ⚽️ 😅 from the balcony), and it's 7 minutes from hubby's work. The maintenance guy said two other people from the same company also live there.

Fingers crossed and prayers we are accepted 🙏 

No pictures until we are approved. 

Apartment Hunting

 We are going to look at an apartment on Saturday. The location is good, facing the road and looking out over the fields with a clear view of the sky. The area is quiet. However, it's in the same building that we looked at before. The apartment we saw was dirty, and the refrigerator was old and very small. There is no way we can be sure if the apartment we will see Saturday is just as bad, or worse. If so, slum lord comes to mind. If this one is ok, it will be available the end of September, and since it's not listed in the paper or on any apps, we would be certain to get it, pending approval, of course.

If it's not good, things will be more difficult. We might be able to get into this place, if we are lucky.

Stanton Street Estates are in high demand. They are across the street from my hubby's work. They are also busy. Families with kids and pets gather on the lawn around the pond. I would be fine with the other side, even though those apartments face the garages. I am hoping it is possible to see over them well enough from the second floor. One came up as available but before I had enough of hubby's employment history, so I was unable to apply.

 

Hubby's work on the left and to the right, the 5 buildings that make up the apartment complex.

Hubby's 40 mile drive is easy when he leaves at 3 am but absolutely terrible when coming home. There is construction everywhere on the expressways, with congestion and sometimes accidents.

I have begun to pack. Not so hard this time, because I hardly unpacked.

We Spent The Day In Ripon

The drive isn't difficult, but it's 40 miles from where we are now, that's 80 miles round trip for hubby when he starts work next month. We decided to make a fact-finding mission to check out apartments, the grocery store, etc. 

The downtown area is very walkable and has tons of local businesses. It is charming. It has not fallen into decay like some other cities we have visited, such as Stevens Point and Sheboygan, where the downtown businesses left and the storefronts are filled with tattoo shops and arcades. 

Ripon is charming, friendly and happy. It's easy to drive around in, no crazy expressways. They have hills! That makes me extremely happy. There is a hospital in town, plus every other service we might need. The grocery store is Hy-Vee. It's pretty good. The prices are almost the same as Walmart. There is no Walmart, which I imagine is part of the reason the town is so vibrant. The Walmart and Aldi stores in Fond Du Lac are only about 20 miles to the east, making them an easy once a month stock-up trip.

What we need is an apartment. Our fact-finding mission came up short. There are apartments there, but with a wait list, or nothing available, or just for seniors, or income restricted, or too cheap (dumpy), and one "maybe". We hope to be able to find something by October. We will be paying for two apartments until the end of the year. We could break the lease, but we would still need to pay the rent here until it had a new tenant. Because of the stupid walk-in whirlpool tub in the bathroom, this place stood vacant for a year until we came along. We took it because we couldn't find anything else in January.

This is the only picture I took, maybe because I was too busy taking notes.

Very similar to where we live now. The only available apartment was downstairs, like we have now. It had not been cleaned. There was dust everywhere. The older gentleman who showed us around is also the maintenance man. What I noticed is that the upper apartments have that extra big window in the living room. The apartment building we are in now also has the extra window upstairs. 

For some reason only some new apartments have the extra window, many are built with a big storage area there instead. In any case, none of the new apartments have any vacancies. One has a wait list into next year. Another doesn't use a wait list, after applying and getting approved, one must call, text or email and ask if there is a vacancy coming up. It's first come, first serve, and there are over 100 applicants waiting to jump in.

Anyway, back to the apartment above. It has mini blinds (that open upward instead of murder blinds like here.) The area seems quiet, although there is a soccer field across the street. Other than the soccer field, there are just fields and tree-covered hills in the distance. Might be peaceful, except when they have a soccer game. The school year could be a mess of lights, noise and traffic. Below is a screen shot of the street side.

There are a few apartments downtown, upstairs in those ornate, historical buildings. I only found one listing, and all of the apartments are studio or one bedroom, nice but tiny, and no balcony.

We really need to find something by October.

New PCP and Other Stuff

 I saw my new primary care provider today. Her name is Sally and she sat down and talked quite a bit to get to know me. It was a pleasant visit.  The drive to downtown Greenville was easy. She put in an order for me to have my annual mammogram, but I will need to go to a hospital that is all the way across town. Two issues....I don't drive expressways and I don't have transportation except for a short time in the morning. It's for the end of July. Maybe I can figure it out before then.

My test results are in, A1C 6.6 (better than I expected after all the stress), thyroid looks ok. Blood pressure 124/80 (no meds), weight 134, height 5'7" (still, after all these years!! No shrinking!) It's interesting that they consider me underweight. I'm not starving myself!

Next in news...my son-in-law broke his wrist. First X-ray seemed to show a hairline crack, but the next X-ray revealed a complete break at the wrist of the larger arm bone on the pinky side. He now has a cast to above his elbow and a hard time sleeping with it.

The air conditioners got cleaned and the sliding screen door fairly fixed.

My hubby's work sucks. Stress and back biting.

My daughter suggested a UV blocking semi-sheer curtain for that hot west window. She uses them on her west windows and they help a lot to block the heat. Here is what I ordered from Amazon:

I hung the curtain sideways because I don't want it to cover my plants or block the sunshine from them.

Here it is with the blinds drawn

In other news, I have been looking for a pedestal pot for my philodendron. I just think it would look cool since it trails nicely. Hubby and I were out shopping and I spotted one. I questioned the only color choice, but decided to try anyway.

I am not liking the color

The color clash is barf worthy. That's a fake distressed area on the stand.

I don't know if I should try to sand it down and repaint it or just return it and get my $12 back. I'll never get all the glaze out of those details.

And lastly, I'll leave you with a bunch of pictures of my Gasteria blooms.

The plant

That's all for tonight.