Shopping at 3 a.m.

When I couldn't sleep in the wee hours, I decided to shop for a waterproof mattress pad for the bed in my guest room (for benefit of the grandbabies). I meant to go to Amazon but instead went to Ebay. It was 3 a.m. after all. Since I was there, I typed my request into the search field. Here's the description of the first one I saw (edited somewhat in the interest of good, or at least mediocre, taste):

Application:

1. For infants used to bed-wetting and sicking-up;

2. For women ... to prevent besmirch of bed mattress;

3. For patients and elderly confined in bed, who usually humidify pillow and mattress with their perspiration due to long time stay in bed;

4. For school dormitory and holiday entertainment houses, where gatherings are often held to entertain a large number of people, which might cause spattering of liquid or food on pillow and mattress;

5. For hotel rooms during tour to prevent people from bacteria or other attacks caused by dirty mattress.

OK, then. I think that more than covers it. Pun intended.

Peachy Keen Part Two

I took my camera to my mom's house yesterday so that I could get pictures of the peach-buying trip, but I also went out to her butterfly garden and made these photos:She also has several hummingbird feeders. A few years ago someone from the Department of Natural Resources came out, observed, and if memory serves (which is often does not these days) caught and banded a few hummingbirds. At the time, he estimated that about 200 hummingbirds per day were visiting these feeders! I managed to take these halfway decent pictures from about 15 feet away, and from inside the house through a glass door.

Hair's Not Fair

Hair's Not Fair
or
You Can Pick Your Jeans, But Not Your Genes

My dad, who is a number of years older than me (in case you wondered) has very little gray hair. My older sister has very little gray hair. Me? I hit the jackpot. I've had some gray since my early twenties. I've thought once or twice about coloring it, but you know the old adage, "Know Thyself"? I know myself, and I know that I'm too lazy to want to have to deal with hair coloring every few weeks. I also know that I'm just vain enough not to want to walk around with bi-colored hair from grown-out roots. So, I didn't get my dad's genes for late-in-life graying.

But there is something I did get from dad's hair genes. His hair is thinning at the temples, and guess what? So is mine. Here's the daily routine to keep my bangs swept back from my face and not falling forward and exposing the baldness. I have to heavily gook my bangs with styling gel, comb it over the balding place, let it dry into a stiff, straw-like texture, and then gently comb through the hair. That's good for several hours in the winter, and several minutes in the humid heat of summer. But since I rarely look in a mirror after I've executed my morning routine, I can pretend that I have hair. And that it stays where I glued it. And now the world knows that I at least tried.

My Kind of Dentistry

I don't know of anyone who enjoys going to the dentist. For me, it's an unpleasant, but necessary, nuisance twice a year for cleanings. I take good care of my teeth, and it's been years (maybe 20+?) since I've had to do anything more. However, a cavity was found when I had my teeth cleaned a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday was the appointment for the filling. Here's the timeline:

• 12: 56 - Arrived for 1 p.m. appointment
• 1:00 - Escorted to "the chair"
• 1:01 - Dentist began working
• 1:17 - Dentist finished working
• 1:19 - Checked out at the desk
• 1:26 - Returned home.

Really now, if you must endure an unpleasant experience, then surely it should be made as brief as possible. Thank you, Dr. Pitts! (That really is his name, by-the-way.)

Signs of Spring

After a few days of teasingly warm temperatures, followed by another cold and dreary weekend, it looks like spring truly may be just around the corner. Our yard doesn't get enough sun to grow many flowers, but I did (past tense) have one lone jonquil springing up. It looked so sad all by itself that I picked it and brought it inside. Since its little head was hanging down, I put it up on the shelf over the fireplace so that it could smile down at us. And up there, the cat won't eat it.

Expired

Do you pay attention to product expiration dates? I pay attention. Whether or not to discard a product that is past its prime is considered on an item-by-item basis. Even food. It depends on what it is, how far gone the date is, and sometimes what it smells like! We haven't expired yet by consuming anything expired. Recently while cleaning the bathroom, I used up a bottle of bleach, rinsed the bottle, and smashed it up a bit for the recycling bin. That's when I noticed this: Yep, the bleach expired five months ago. Now really! How can bleach go bad? (Unless you mix it with ammonia, which is never, ever to be done. Trust me.)

Clothing doesn't expire, but if it did, my cotton, long-sleeved, favorite tee-shirt type Lands End nightgown is oh-so-close. Here's what it looks like: (It is very difficult to take a good picture of your own shoulder. Try it sometime just for fun.) There's another hole in the front, and what used to be a very pretty blue is sort of a faded, yech non-color. I must admit it is exceedingly soft and comfy, though. I was happy last week to find a replacement on clearance. And to sweeten the deal, I had a free shipping code.Ah, this one looks much better. I'm sure I'll get several years of wear from it, too.

Wazzup with the Winter Weather Weirdness?!

Well... that's my front yard at about 1:30 p.m. on March 2nd. Normally in Atlanta, we'll have, on average, one measurable snowfall (meaning about .25") each winter. This is our third snowfall this season. I don't think we've had any snow for the past two or three years, so I guess the law of averages is catching up. Yesterday at this time it was about 55 degrees and sunny. I took a walk around the neighborhood and didn't even wear my coat. Here's our "measurable" amount.
I think a lot more than that has fallen, but the temperature is around 33 or 34 degrees, so the snow is melting even as it's falling. The bigger problem may come tomorrow when any remaining moisture on the roads will freeze, with temperatures in the upper twenties expected. It's pretty though, and I enjoy it as long as I'm not compelled to go outside.

Darned If You Do

As a general rule, I don't darn socks. If one springs a leak, into the trash it goes. However, this morning I put on an almost brand new pair of knee socks, only to find a hole near the ankle. I doubt if I've worn these socks more than a half-dozen times. Since the hole wasn't in the normal wear spots (heel, toe) I have no idea how it got there. My cat may have been involved. Anyway, I decided to darn the socks. My first thought was to do them on the machine. However, because these are knee socks, and the hole was so far down, I couldn't get all the rest of the sock out of the way in order to get the damaged part under the needle. Darning by hand was the only solution.

Sock-darning used to be a regular past time for the thrifty housewife, and they used what they had on hand. Sometime back, my mother gave me this sock-darning gourd that was used by her paternal grandmother. (Mama even labeled the plastic bag so that when someone goes through my personal effects, they won't have to wonder.) This great-grandmother of mine lived until I was a teenager (or close to it) so I remember her quite well. The gourd was used inside the sock to isolate the area that needed darning, and to provide some shape as well.

Here's my holey sock with the gourd inside. And here is the start of my repair work. As a side note, I really like cold weather and have enjoyed the little bits of snow we've had this season. The one thing I don't enjoy are the dry, chapped hands that I live with every winter.

Finally, here's my mended sock. I could have done with a darker shade of blue, but I don't expect the darning and/or fashion police to inspect my hosiery. Anyone protesting can buy me a new pair of socks.

I have done some sewing lately, but for the life of me, I can't remember to take pictures before the item leaves my house. I made a birthday card for Phillip, a thank-you card for my nephew's girl friend who sent me a book, and I made (and mailed) a single quilt block in this pattern. A blogger I read is putting together a quilt for an injured Marine, and since I have several friends with Marine sons, I decided to make and send one. That's a first for me, especially since I consider myself a dabbler rather than a real quilter.

Finally, I made this birthday card for Emily. I already punched a hole in it and attached it to the ice cream scoop I'm giving her before I remember to make a picture. But at least I remembered!

More Snow Pictures

Here's what our landscape lighting looked like last night.Then this morning the sun came out, the sky was blue, and everything was so pretty. We took a short walk through the neighborhood.With the sunshine and temperatures in the upper 30s, the snow is melting pretty quickly, and thank goodness the roads are nearly dry.

It Doesn't Happen Often

We're getting snow in the sunny south. And now you know that I drive a navy blue PT Cruiser. My driveway going down to the garage is very steep, so I'm ensuring that I can get out in the morning if I need to.

Small World Happenings

My brother-in-law called me this week. Technically, he's James' brother-in-law, since he's married to James' sister. Anyway, I don't believe he's ever called me before in the 34+ years we've known one another. By way of background, his hometown is Milledgeville, Georgia, about 120 miles from Cobb County where I've lived virtually all my life, and where he has called home for over 30 years. His family still lives in Milledgeville. He called to say that he'd visited a dermatologist in Milledgeville because he could get an appointment much more quickly there than he could closer to home. As the appointment was concluding he mentioned that he thought Milledgeville had gotten a lot more rain than he'd had at home. When the doctor inquired where "home" was, one thing led to another until pretty soon he learned that his appointment was with a high school friend of mine, one with whom I am still in infrequent touch. If I was considered smart in high school, then she was off-the-chart-smart. She went on to college and then medical school, and has practiced dermatology in Millegeville for many years now. We're all still in the state of Georgia, but still, Small World!

My college-aged niece, who lives near Columbia, South Carolina, is studying in the Dominican Republic this semester. Since she's a tall, slim, blue-eyed blond, you can imagine that she attracts a lot of attention wherever she goes in the Dominican. As she was running (presumably for exercise) one day, a gringo driver who was stopped at a stop sign rolled down his car window and asked her where she was from. (Kristina, if you read this blog post, the previous sentence is an example of when it would be thoroughly awkward to NOT end a sentence with a preposition -- since we just discussed this a few days ago.) Turns out that he was also from the U.S.A., more specifically, Columbia, South Carolina. Now that really was a small world happening!

The Dots are Connected

Sarah was correct that my "tools" are homemade (somewhat) exercise equipment, but not because I have any desire to go to the gym. Any gym. Emily got it exactly (but she has an insider's edge), namely that I am trying to "unfreeze" my frozen shoulder. Dave gets points for originality of thought.

First, for anyone who doesn't know, I played softball every summer from the time I was eight years old, up until I was eighteen. (And lots of other sports, too.) Then I played softball off and on until the ripe old age of 41, when I broke my foot and decided that was a sign that it was time for me to give it up. So, in late September, I thought nothing of chucking rotten tomatoes off the vine and trying to land them in the compost pile just beyond the driveway. A short throw meant that I'd have to clean tomato paste off the driveway, so I was really giving them the old heave-ho. Until the "Oh, no!" when I knew I had injured my shoulder. I put off going to the doctor hoping that it would get better on its own. Well, it did heal (I suppose) but adhesions apparently form during the healing, and coupled with the fact that I hadn't been using it much for almost four months, it became "frozen." I have pretty good upward motion, but I couldn't reach behind me without excruciating pain. Tucking in a shirt was misery. I finally went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, and started an eight-week course of physical therapy. Here are the tools as I use them.

There are two stretching exercises, and two strengthening exercises. Here are the stretching: While lying on my back off the edge of the bed, I slowly drop the roll of gift wrap over my head, bring it back, and try to stretch a little further the next time. And the time after that, and... well, you get the picture. And you can tell from this picture that the right arm doesn't want to go as far as the left did.
I throw the scarf over my left shoulder, and use it to pull the right arm up behind me. This is about as far as it goes, and I can't go that far with only my right arm because the muscles have grown weak.
For the strengthening exercises, here is the one piece of equipment being used as intended. For this one, I have to go to the guest room, AKA the daisy room, because I have to hang my arm off the side of the bed, and my arms are too long for our bed. (Or our bed is not tall enough!) I bring the 1.5 lb weight straight up and back down, and then I have to swing it toward the back, too.
Finally, the yellow, stretchy band (given to me by the therapist) is under my left foot, and is pulled from hip level up across my chest more times than I want to do. Lots more. But I can tell there's been a good bit of improvement in two weeks.
Blinky thinks this is a game for her.Now you're in the know. If you ever have a frozen shoulder (and I hope you don't) you know exactly the exercises to do. And I won't even charge you for the information.

Connecting the Dots

Do you know what these items have in common? Here's a hint: They're all tools used for the same purpose.

Trade-Offs

I usually get my hair cut at a salon at the mall by Mona who has been doing it for years. The cost for a shampoo, cut, and blow-dry is $36. I could go elsewhere and pay less, but since it's only a couple of times a year, I don't mind paying a little extra. The last cut I got there in September is growing out rather raggedy, and it's been bugging me for a couple of weeks. This morning I decided that I would run in one of those "quick cut-no-appointment-needed" places and get it trimmed up. And they might as well shampoo and blow-dry it, too, and save me the trouble. It cost $25, which was a bit more than I expected, but it's done. During the thirty minutes that I was there, Rosa tried to sell me (in this order) shampoo, hair color, eyebrow waxing, manicure and polish, a gift set of salon products, gift certificates, a fluff-up blow-dry prior to parties, and hair spray. Mona, with our long history, doesn't try to sell me anything I didn't ask for. As a matter of fact, she always comments on how pretty my graying hair is, and discourages me from ever coloring it. I think having to schedule an appointment, driving to the mall, parking at the mall, and paying an extra $11 are worth not having to listen to a thirty-minute sales pitch. What trade-offs in life are you willing to make?

Feeling a Little Foggy

This is the view off my screened porch this morning. Forty-eight degrees and 100% humidity. Monday is when I usually do my grocery/drug store shopping, but I'm going to wait a bit until I can see more than ten feet in front of the car!

The Problem with Inflation

A $20 bill isn't what it used to be. It's apparently only worth $12.80 now.

Nothing, Zero, Zilch, Nada

I have nothing to blog about and I have no desire to prattle aimlessly. But if you must have something:

• There's a new Food Lion being built in Austell.
• I went to a baby shower today.
• It didn't rain this week.
• A branch fell off my pepper plant, so I harvested about eight peppers a bit early.
• The only sewing I did was for a Christmas gift so I'm not showing it.
• Angi came by for a few minutes today.
• I paid some bills and balanced the checking account.
• The letter at story time this week was "L" and we read a book about a library cat.

See? A waste of my time and yours!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

My haircut is a couple of weeks old now, but here are the before and after shots. You can see how long it was, but I never wore it down. If I didn't feel like taking the time to braid it (yes, I did that all by myself) then it was clipped up.

Spell Checker?

I had a good laugh this week when I came across an order from an American Vision customer. He wanted us to know that the book he ordered was to be shipped to a prison inmate. For that reason, the spelling of the recipient's name was "cridical."

Favorite and Not-So-Favorite

To me, this was a great week as I had three days where I didn't go anywhere. Thus, no make-up, hair in a ponytail, and wearing my ratty, baggy, denim capris.

One of the reasons I didn't go anywhere was that we had both cars in the shop for maintenance. The yellow part is definitely not among my favorite things.