Rob and I still go out every Saturday night. We've kind of gotten stuck in a rut, going to the same place week after week, but when you find something comfortable and where the food is good, it's easy to get stuck in a rut. Anyway, Saturday evening was rainy here (yay!!). When we got there, it was packed and there was a wait, so Rob asked if we could sit on the patio and get a table quicker. This was a mistake, but a mistake we were able to laugh about. They sat us at a dry table...there were tables that were getting rained on...next to the tarp wall. It was cold and it was wet and the wind kept blowing the wall in so it humped over our table like a man with a big belly resting it on a counter. And, we laughed and joked and enjoyed our drinks and ordered heavy, high fat entrees. We made it a dinner adventure. And, we agreed we are not patio people. We'd like a table inside, please.
We've had a re-org at work. I generally work for two people, one is experienced and stays, one is in the role to learn and changes about every 18-24 months. I'm kind of in a transitionary stage where I'm still supporting the former manager as he winds up projects and the new manager as he starts new projects and the experienced manager who needs me to do all the stuff I normally do. It's been a lot. But, I'm able to work steadily, moving a project forward until I can't anymore and then working on something else for a while. It's nice to stop and summarize the work I've done and get it ready for a fresh mind with a new set of ideas to look at and contribute to. We have this issue that's been going on for years that we haven't been able to solve. It's been nice to see each manager's contribution and fresh ideas that either bring us closer to a solution, or prove that what we thought might work ain't it.
Yesterday ended up being a big cooking day. I made the egg casserole (sausage and veggies with salsa and four kinds of cheese) and a tamale pie, half of which goes in the freezer, a vat of beef stew like my Mama used to make, and a pan of cornbread that's better than hers if you ask me, but she said mine had a bad taste from all the ingredients I put in it...Aunt Lucille's cornbread didn't need all that...but it reminds me of my paternal Grandmother's, so I keep making it. We don't do a lot around here, but we do eat good.
Rain, rain, rain, rain. We woke up the other morning and looked at one another and said 'I can't breathe.' We are both allergic to mold and all the rain has awoken all the mold that went to sleep during the dry months of summer. It'll be worth it when we get next month's water bill, tho. Our water bill includes a chart that compares our water use to average use in our neighborhood. We look crazy high, but then if you look up from the water bill and look out at the lawn, it feels worth it.
I gave away a sewing machine this weekend. Our neighbor has decided she wants to sew. She's played around with machines a little and has the bug. On Saturday, I pulled out three machines that I thought she'd like and let her try them. One had a knee control instead of a pedal and she didn't like it and the other was kind of a complicated machine and she didn't care for it, but my friend Linda's old Kenmore worked perfect for her. Yesterday morning, I opened it up to clean and oil and it looked brand new inside. There was no cleaning, except around the bobbin case, so all I needed to do was oil. And, it works perfect. I only have a straight stitch foot for it, so she's shopping eBay for more feet. I made up a little maintenance kit and some sewing supplies and extra bobbins. I explained how tension works and the point of perfect balance so the threads cross to form the stitch between the layers of fabric instead of above or below them. And, I gave her a pattern for boxer shorts and explained they're about the easiest thing in the world to make along with some fabric and a spool of thread and some elastic. I hope she enjoys sewing as much as I do.
Since Rob and I talked about counting Bella's good days compared to bad ones, she's only had good days. It's like she heard us talking and decided she better get with it. She gets a monthly injection to help with hip pain and she's half way between shots this week, so we'll be watching to see if that affects her quality of life. The vet says we have room to expand that as she needs it, and it may be time to ask for more.
I feel like things are starting to close in on the administration and I fear that's going to make the orange trumpette more and more desperate and that his actions will get more and more outlandish and authoritarian as a way to distract the public from 'losing, losing, losing, we're gonna lose so much you may get tired of losing.' We've all watched TV enough to know 'follow the money.' But, nobody is following the money. Occasionally, there's a story about the graft and corruption, but that should be on blast all the time, every hour. It will be interesting to see if they can beat the law and humanity and avoid paying SNAP benefits this week. Also, there are going to be a lot of stories soon about medical insurance price increases. Those should be the top stories with the shutdown receding into the background. We'll see.
Everybody have a great week! I'll be working on keeping everything moving in the same direction...because sometimes, that is achievement. Achievements don't all need to be great things. Sometimes just keeping on is enough.
Lane
