Writing From My Phone

I didn't know I could. I've been quiet lately. Alot going on. The floods in Texas saddened me. We have financial troubles. Not ready to elaborate. Random thoughts.....we are impressed by the abundant roadside native flowers blooming all over the Fox Cities. De Pere....blooming butterfly gardens on the riverfront. Appleton.....roadside ditches overflowing with native flowers. Neenah....even more flowers. I will end with some pictures, since I'm on my phone it will be easy to add them. These are from a nature retention pond in Neenah.

 

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.

Still Not Fixed

Update on our truck as of Friday....front seats out and dashboard removed and sitting on the floor. No update today (Monday).

I got some more unpacking/donating/ tossing done. Have some more papers to go through, and more clothes.

We had a thunderstorm last night with torrential rain. Things are greening up, finally. Today I heard some cranes so I grabbed my phone and rushed out to the patio. They were circling around and calling loudly. I wonder if the former habitat that is now being filled in was their nesting place. Anyway, they flew away. 

Hubby was off Friday so we took some time to drive around, because it was sunny and mild. There are some interesting buildings along the river by Lawrence University. They are former factories converted into apartments and restaurants. We would like to explore the area more if we can figure out where to park. The Historic District around the University is really pretty. 

I edited my "Dreams" statement. I don't think my life has any more dreams. It just sets me up for disappointment. Unless we win a lottery we are never living in a house. My dreams of living with a view are fading. I'm hoping spring will cheer me up. I hope we can find places to walk that aren't a swamp. There seems to be a lot of swamps and flat, boring land with no hills around here...well....Fox Valley. Don't tell me "bloom where you're planted".

That's all the complaining for today. Need to vacuum the dead pill bugs out of the hall closet. I don't know why we have pill bugs. 

Oh Blinkin' Lights and Blaring Horns

Our truck's electrical system must have gone haywire. Friday hubby called me from work. He was on break and notice the blinkers were on. Then he noticed the horn was honking. He rushed over to the truck to find that the doors were locking and unlocking by themselves, ALL the warning signals were flashing on and off and the ear-splitting horn wouldn't shut the f up. He was kind of freaked out, and going deaf from the horn. By now I was freaked too. He disconnected the battery and all the noise shut off. Of course he had to leave the truck unlocked, because now the key fob had no effect. 

He was able to drive home without the horn going off again. He disconnected the battery and left it as is for the rest of the night. Saturday morning I called Service. I called Ford Service everywhere and NOTHING was open until Monday. 

Hubby watched YouTube videos, consulted the manual, and decided to pull the fuse for the horn, because who wants a horn loud enough to wake the dead honking continuously. We decided to stop at Auto Zone so they could diagnose it. Battery was ok. No codes were picked up by the handheld tester they use. The Alternator seemed to be questionable.

We have a service plan with excellent coverage, but service must be performed at a Ford Dealership. I was able to make an early appointment for Wednesday.

In the meantime, hubby figured out that it was fine to drive, but when parked, he had to disconnect the battery in order to shut off the lights. If we were only going to be walking around for a few minutes, we figured it was fine. For any extended time the battery would need to be disconnected and the truck would be unlocked. That was ok for work (parking is fenced in) or here at the apartment (nothing so far has happened).

We did drive around over the weekend and checked out some parks. They will be pretty once they start the green up.

We got as far as Kaukauna before the rain and sleet started. What an interesting town. They have preserved many old buildings and factories and converted them. We want to go back when the library is open. It used to be a paper mill. Here is a picture.

The Ahlstrom-Munksjo Thilmany paper mill is down river, in this picture. 

The river is wide and swift in Kaukauna. I looked it up. There is a 50 foot drop as the water races toward Green Bay. So the water runs north out of Lake Winnebago and into the Fox River. For some reason I thought it flowed the other way. Kaukauna generates electricity from the river.

On the way home I started to smell something. It smelled like dog poo. Just then hubby asked, what's that smell? Just then I noticed he had opened his window slightly. I also noticed we were downwind of the paper mill. 

It's the Paper Mill!!!! Your window is open. He promptly closed it. After we were down the road more, hubby opened his window again to let in some fresh air. Honestly, it was like sticking your nose into a bag of dog sh*t.

I always heard people say, don't live downwind of a paper mill. Sometimes the wind shifts and there's nothing you can do.

I looked up the paper mill's page, out of curiosity. Headquarters are in Finland, the mill has Swedish owners. They have quite an operation. The smell is explained, and they try to vent it out away from town, but sometimes the wind shifts. 

We got home just as it started to snow furiously.

I will update Wednesday, after we find out what's wrong with the truck.

Door County and Random Stuff

We took a trip to Door County, our first time there. Sturgeon Bay was fun. We drove more north just to take a look. Most everything is still closed and the bays are iced up. We had coffee in Sturgeon Bay, visited a resale shop, and I bought another rock from a gem shop. We ate a very expensive pizza in Fish Creek. Well, hubby had pizza, I had cheese curds. Here I am in Sturgeon Bay. It was a fun drive, would be more fun if it wasn't so cold, but by then I'm sure it's chock full of tourists.

 

My bread machine fell apart back in Harford and I didn't buy a new one. Last week I decided to try making it by hand, kneading for 10 minutes...the whole nine yards. It was ok but didn't rise very well. Hubby said it tasted good (I don't eat bread). Saturday we bought new jar of yeast and bread flour. Hubby worked half a day on Sunday (double-time...yay!) so I set about trying to make another loaf. This one was better, but still needed something to make it better, maybe more flour. It seemed to slump down a little even though it rose great at first. 

Unfortunately my wrist is swollen now and I can't be kneading any more dough.

I'm finally doing a little painting, just practice to get back into it. I'm going to try to stay with it now that my plants are fairly settled in. I say fairly because I have to keep the blinds half closed for privacy reasons, so most are not getting enough light, even though I bought supplemental lighting.

I tried to clean the walk in whirlpool tub. It was stressful and not something I will try again. In fact, I do not ever plan to turn that damn thing on again. I followed the instructions, fill with hot water to a few inches above the top jets, add two or three tablespoons dishwasher liquid and turn on the jets for 10 minutes.

Ten minutes later I come back to turn off the jets. 

NOTHING

I press the button again, harder, firmly, all the way down, in case I didn't do it right the first time. I wait a few minutes and try again. Am I turning it on or off? I try again, just in case.

FREAKIN NOTHING THEY ARE STILL RUNNING.

So I'm looking at this mess, large dirty flakes of dried crap that blew out the jets is swirling around in a tub I can't empty because you can't run the jets dry, and I can't turn it off. See picture below (most of the water is drained out). It's obvious it hasn't been cleaned in ages!

I called maintenance. They don't know diddly about this thing because this is the only apartment with one of these things. By now an hour has gone by and I try again. Finally the piece of sh!t turned off.

To me, the terrifying scenario would be getting stuck in there. You can only fill it with the door shut, meaning you need to lock yourself in there. You can't get out until the water is out. Nope, not doing that.

 I'm so thankful hubby loves to go places to shop or walk on his days off. The towns of Greenville and Hortonville are pretty and remind me of what used to be home, rolling hills and trees. Even though I didn't say anything, hubby has apologized for putting us where I have nothing to look at except a garage. I told him it wasn't his fault, that was the only apartment available in January in our price range. It's going to be very difficult to find an apartment with a view, on our budget. The place in Hartford was probably a one time deal. I miss it. I miss Hartford. It was easy to drive around there. I never cared for Appleton. Hubby loves his job. It's a good company. The airport is 10 minutes down the road. My plants are not happy. I have nothing to look at. Life is a mix of good and things that suck.

  

I don't Know Where to Put Anything

 This apartment is warm and quiet. I don't hear traffic like when we lived in Hartford. I hear an occasional jet or plane in the distance. The windows aren't icy with freezing drafts like the apartment in Hartford. Wind doesn't blow in around the air conditioners like the one in Hartford. The carpet isn't an ocean of waves like the one in Hartford (it needed to be stretched). It's not dusty because the one in Hartford was "painted" with tinted plaster that has been shedding dust particles since day one seven years ago.

I still miss the view. I miss the hills. I miss the places we walked. I miss how easy Hartford was to drive around in. I miss West Bend and Grafton and Delafield, so many familiar places.

I'm not sure how much I will be able to drive here, although I have Walmart figured out. It's easy, only 3 miles and no highways. I am hoping the clinic is not far. I like to be able to drive myself to the doctor or for labs. I asked on the Appleton group for recommendations but that one is across town by expressway. I have never felt comfortable on major highways. Hartford was easy. Appleton, Grand Chute, and all the others that make up the Fox Valley cities are sort of the same type of mayhem as Indianapolis and Madison.

My hubby loves the area. He grew up in a city. He feels comfortable here because he is surrounded by dozens of jobs. Thankfully they aren't stinky. Green Bay stinks. Hartford had a few jobs but the one that paid well died.

Back to the apartment. I have a decent view of sunsets now. There are birds singing! I heard a chickadee this morning. Did I mention it's quite? I can't even hear people running their appliances. In Hartford we could only run them between 8 am and 8 pm because we could hear each other's washer, dryer, dishwasher and disposal. To think that place was advertised and being sound proof! Here the water is soft and I have the cleanest dishes ever! In Hartford the water was so hard everything was encrusted in white, no matter how often it was cleaned. I have more counter space, and more cabinets, but less usable space. For some reason the cabinets have a poorly placed shelf that makes me practically stand on my head to see what's in there.

That middle shelf means I can't reach more than what I can see. I can bend over just fine, but because of my neck surgery I have to tilt my head sideways and try to reach in. It seems to be a mechanical difficulty.

Normal cabinet. I can see and reach everything

The bathroom has no storage and is butt fuggly. It has a walk in tub with jets. Haven't used it yet, just the shower. Taking a shower in there is like standing in a box.

WHY are the bathroom walls textured like this and WHY are they Sh-t color??

The entry way is narrow. I put a chair in there so we can sit to remove our shoes/boots, but I want it one place and hubby wants it in another. There is hardly room to do anything in there.

We can't decide on the placement of stuff in the living room. I have to consider that the A/C will blow down the hall from the front door, and the sun shines in from the southwest, and we are only comfortable sitting certain directions in relation to the TV.

Our bedroom has a fairly normal closet. The second bedroom has no closet, but it has a large laundry room with a full size washer and dryer. The hallway has a dinky "linen" closet. We are missing at least 100 sq. ft of storage compared to the old apartment. When I say I can't unpack anymore it's because I need to re-evaluate and re-organize EVERYTHING.

That's enough complaining for one day.

Getting Settled

 It's been a hard journey, all the packing and unpacking. The apartment is decent but the storage SUCKS. I have gone from roomy, walk-in closets to dinky little useless things. I guess cabinets and or shelving will be in order. Today I gave up unpacking and admitted defeat, for the time being. This was literally the only apartment available in January at our price point. Then some special watercolor paint I ordered (and gave the seller my new address) was still delivered to Hartford. Some of my friends are sad, depressed, etc. I shed some tears. It's just been so much to deal with.

On a better note, hubby's been in training all week and things are going well. 

Once the weather gets better we will take some walks, somewhere. I'm not familiar with the area.

Appleton has everything and people are nice. One of my friends always told me this area is the headquarters of the John Birch society and stay away. We have instead found a college town with people from everywhere. 

Now that I have vented a bit, here are some pictures.

Morning view, sunrise over Amazon fulfillment center 

Patio, facing south and west. I can see sunsets now, and hear lots of birds

Kitchen

Bedroom

Plants, south window

Plants, west window

That's all I'm willing to show right now. The second bedroom where my plants are has no closet, but a large, walk-in laundry room with a full-size washer and dryer, which is nice.

It's very quiet here. We can just barely hear the airport and hubby is only minutes from his work.

Take care everyone.

Finally We Are Moved!

Moving during a polar vortex is no fun, but we are done! Actually the weather turned quite nice, with today being in the 50's. Our new place is cozy, with no cold, drafty windows. The storage space is quite a bit smaller, which made for a more difficult move, sort of like trying to pack 10 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound bag. We got rid of mountains of stuff. Our old apartment was bigger than my house in Indiana, so after 7 years of living there, quite a bit of stuff had accumulated in those big, deep closets.

Here is our new place. I'm not showing you the inside until we finish unpacking. We are on the 1st floor.

We are so tired, and sore! I can't wait to get unpacked. Will show you more later. Hubby starts his new job on Monday.

Outagamie County

 What a cute county name. It's also neat that we will be living on Technical Drive. Yes, we got an apartment, in Greenville! It has the middle-of-nowhere, in the county feel that I like and is only minutes from the amazing Appleton airport, hubby's work, and the city of Appleton.

Natural areas around Greenville

Appleton airport

The apartment is first floor and has a patio, slightly smaller than the one I have now, but we have one, and management is great, and says I can put flower pots anywhere. The kitchen is twice as big as the one here, the living room a bit smaller, and only one bathroom. However I will have a giant laundry room with a full size washer and dryer! We will have two bedrooms with bigger windows that I have now. The second bedroom with two windows will be my plant and craft room. It has two sunny windows that my succulents are going to love.

There has been a boatload of work to do, packing, hiring movers, finding cleaning help, signing the new lease, breaking our current lease, but things are coming together. We are driving up next week to pick up the key and set up my plants in the second bedroom. I just want them out of the way before the movers come on the following Monday. Then before the end of January we come back here to clean. I hired a cleaning service to help with the difficult things, cleaning the stove, fridge and bathroom.

Ok, back to work! Will share pictures later.

A Cup of Coffee Before the Work Begins

 It's nice to sit here and reflect a bit before I need to get busy again with packing, sorting, donating and more packing.

As much as I'm going to miss my view, I do have dozens of pictures, some quite beautiful, to remember it by. Truthfully, I have been quite lonely here. People move in and out like changing underwear. This apartment has a dust problem, from day one, because the walls are spray painted with tinted plaster, a problem which will probably be fixed once it's properly painted, for the next tenants. We have been here since 2018.

My thoughts on Appleton. It's more city that I'm accustomed to but we would be living on the edges. There is ample green space, lots of trees, fall colors, and nice people everywhere. There are companies and jobs in abundance, and unlike Green Bay, it's clean! Green Bay smells like Norhtwest Indiana. It's gritty with industries that stink. And, honestly, unless you are a Packer's fan, you will be overwhelmed with Packer stuff EVERYWHERE. If hubby's job would have been in Green Bay, we would make sure to live outside of town. 

Finding an apartment has been more difficult than I hoped, but Monday I am calling a property management company that was recommended to me by someone on the Appleton facebook page. They manage quite a few apartment complexes in the area, and we are hoping for a first floor, two bedroom apartment, Appleton or Neenah. The problem is, not many places are available this month, and since the company is paying hubby to move, we don't want to wait until February or March.

People are NICE. I was surprised at how nice and welcoming they are. We did look at an apartment in Greenville, just north of the amazing Appleton airport. The location was great, but the apartment needs so much work. They said they could have it ready in a week, but it involves paint, and I cannot handle paint fumes AT ALL. I asked about low VOC paint but they use the same paint and painter for all the apartments. She admitted it would smell like paint for at least a week. I can't, I just can't. On top of that, the apartment needed repair, which they said they would do, but it was just too much. The manager and her friend (manager from another complex) tried to help by calling their business friend to see if he had an apartment move in ready now. He did, but the rent was $1,300, too steep for us.

As I mentioned before, hubby had a successful interview, They told him they would let him know in a week. We were afraid to be hopeful (thinking back to the company in Jefferson), so we both took a deep breath and put it in God's hands. We stopped for coffee downtown and went home. The drive is slightly more than an hour, and we were 5 minutes from home when hubby's phone rang. He pulled over in a parking lot so he could talk. They were calling with an offer!

I can't tell you how happy hubby is to get back to working with metal. Two plus years with the company here in town introduced him to a new career. He and his coworkers became a team, friends as well. It was a sad day when all this was broken by the sale of the company. An exhaustive search turned up nothing suitable around here. That's how Appleton came into focus.

Did I mention people are nice? We already feel quite welcome there. There are so many things to do and places to see, nature to explore, etc, etc.

I just finished my 3rd cup of coffee. Time to get to work.

Fire Trucks

 Hubby got the job! He will be working for Pierce who builds fire trucks in their Appleton facility. So excited, and exhausted from searching for an apartment.

So Far, Looking Promising

 Hubby had a good phone interview and is scheduled to have an in-person interview tomorrow, including a plant tour. I will go with him and wait in the truck.

I am tired. The apartment search long distance is exhausting. I have most of my little things packed, going through some bins and creating donation piles. 

Short post today. Don't want to count the chickens before the eggs hatch (remember what happened with Nestle).

Later.

A New Direction

We have been searching far and wide......as far south as Kenosha (closer to Indiana), up the coast to Sheboygan (love Kohler-Andrae State Park), northwest to Baraboo (breathtakingly beautiful), but one area keeps holding the promise of good paying jobs....Appleton. We have been to Appleton 3 times, counting today. We wanted to drive by two of the companies hubby has applied to for work. He has a phone interview Thursday with one company. 

Appleton is on the north end of Lake Winnebago and the Fox River runs through town. Appleton has every available shopping one might need, and parks everywhere, and excellent healthcare. Between Appleton and the lake is a cute community that we have gravitated to each time we have visited, Neenah, Wisconsin. We wanted to move there before, but a steady job here in Hartford prevented that. Now......??

I will certainly update here if something is promising. I am actually looking forward to packing. So many adventures up there, and Door County is about an hour northeast. SO much more nature to explore that we haven't explored yet. More north...more cold? Cold is cold. Throw on warmer clothes. It's more north, more of a chance to see the northern lights. And there are a few apartments for rent, reasonable.

Here are some pictures of Doty park. It's beautiful in the snow or frost (none of which we had today, only bitter cold)

I have Hope again