Gazebo

We had 2 boxes for the gazebo.

The first one we opened seemed to have everything but the metal top.

We just left that for when we got to that step.

We began with the directions. We were both sitting on the floor of the deck.

We are reading this together and we stopped and looked at one another at the same time and burst out laughing. While even though we were reading this to ourselves, we obviously read that last line at the same time.

YOU WILL NEED 4-5 PEOPLE TO ASSEMBLE THE GAZEBO. 

4 to 5 people? We don't know 4 to 5 people here. Well at least not well enough to have them come over to help us.  

I matched all the pieces up with the type of screws they needed.

I had everything laid out for him as well as keeping him feed and hydrated. I read the directions and got the parts that were needed for the next step. He claimed this was helpful, especially when he was on the ladder. He didn't have to get down to fetch another piece. It made me happy to do something.

It only took 3 days. This was a beast and he did it all alone. (10x13) 

He began early though and never stopped before 5:30p. The only thing left is the screening and the drapes. It's raining now so it will be another day.

But when we got the 2nd box open the frame was now up. It was the roofing as we assumed. But it was not metal. The roof was to be metal, not polycarbonate.  I have an email to the company. We are not taking it down after all this. Can they switch the tops out? If not, refund me because this is cheaper. We shall see.

I have to share what I heard today.

I came inside to make Rick something for lunch.

The back door is open in the kitchen so I can hear him on the deck as I make him a burger.

This happened once about 20 yrs ago when he was doing crown molding in another room. Rick isn't a swearer, that is me with the fool mouth. 

Similar to that day long ago, I hear something fall and I hear, "Shit!"

A minute or so later I hear, "Damn it!"

Then some pounding and "Son.of.a.bitch!"

"Mother Fucker!"

I'm laughing now. 

Do I dare go out and ask if everything is okay?  He's gonna be cranky.  

I finish his lunch and bring it to the patio table.  

I asked, "Running into issues?"  And off he went...

It doesn't matter what they were, I was just highly entertained by his swearing fit of frustration! Bad Wife. 😉

Planting Season

Mr. Green Jeans got the back 40 planted on Friday and then it poured for 2 days. 

It was perfect

I did little except spread mulch. Can't rake so did it with my good hand. It's high I kept telling Rick but he insists his walking on it will pound it down. Okay then. My work is done.

Rick power-washed the old deck Friday. It is in good shape but the wood looks bad in comparison to the new one. Next year I think we'll take out those boards and replace but in the meantime Rugs help. 

Everything I do normally I can't right now. Powerwash, lay landscaping paper, mulch, plant flowers etc. Those are my jobs. I hate this so much.

My fingers are moving without pain if I just move them and don't grip. I can't grip yet. I made a huge boo-boo yesterday and moved my wrist and I let out a scream that startled me. I can't believe I could move it in this brace but I did and I won't do that again. It is nowhere near healed yet!! That set me back a week.

Rick is out there seeding the area we had removed. They wanted $600 to do that and we said for $200 we could do it ourselves and that is buying a seeder.  Just paid off the lowes charge so my husband decided to use it I guess. :-)

The gazebo arrived today while Rick is busy seeding. I think that will be tackled tomorrow. How many days do you think?  LOL

The Fed Ex man brought them to our back deck, and I thanked him. 

I asked if he wanted to stay to help us put it together. 

He looked at the two boxes and said, "I think this is going to be difficult." 

I said, "I think so too, can I bribe you?" 

He asked if I cooked. OMG, that struck me as so damn funny.

I laughed and said, "Sort of, and my husband is a great cook." 

He said, "Hmmm as tempting as dinner is I think I'll pass." 

I said, "Okay I see how you are, no more water and treats for you!" (told you we leave them drinks and kind bars, etc in a cooler for them on our porch) 

He laughed all the way to the truck and yelled thank you as he held up his kind bar.

Tomorrow it will be another nice day then 3 days of rain. So we would really like to get this put up in 1 day. I laugh as I type this expectation. It didn't take us long when we put up the one at our old home. We shall see. 

We're retired, we've got time.

Speaking of things I can't do with this damn wrist - I can't press my deodorant can to get the spray out with my right hand. 

I tried with my left for my left armpit, but I am not a contortionist. So I asked Rick to do it. He picked up my bottle of deodorant and began to spray under my arm like he was spray painting. The short sprays you know? OMG, I was howling and said, "You aren't spray painting my pits, just spray it all around" 

For some reason he couldn't and we had another gigglefest with that one.

A Ramblin' Rosé

Without my right hand being able to function things are getting done slowly.
Very slowly for impatient me. If I had my right arm all power washing would be done. The deck would be done except for the gazebo. Aargh! I am a very impatient person. I've tried to correct this but even if not saying anything about it I am filled with anxiety inside. So while Rick thinks I'm handling it well I'm telling you I am not! Inside I'm a mess.

It took Rick 4 days to build the deck.

It took Rick 4 days to put together a sofa for the deck.

That made us laugh. He wasn't building it for Pete's sake,  just assembling it. Too funny.

I got a small sectional sofa that was on sale on Amazon. 

We could not agree on the color of the cushions. I know I could have gotten my way BUT this guy just built the deck and he has spent a year being an awesome, albeit, somewhat overbearing caregiver. 😍 I let him have the awful turquoise he thought was lovely. I loathe it!  I'll make it work... in time.

On Funday Monday we finished the sofa. I say WE as in I handed him things. That's what a person with one hand does. I also fetched. :-)

He did this in the garage so no small pieces went down the cracks of the deck. I suggested a drop cloth along with the rug but he said the garage was far cooler than the hot sun as well. With no gazebo yet the hot sun was beating down on him. He's doing it alone for the most part, so wherever he wishes is fine with me. But now he had to carry all the pieces of the sectional to the deck. I can't lift so he was on his own again. Poor guy.

After we got it onto the deck we sat for a minute. Rick was happy. 

We joked about how long it took to put together. 

The reviews said 1 hour to put together. One reviewer said 1 hour if 2 people are working on it. Okay, it was just Rick so 2 hrs? Not even close and that's why we found this so funny. I told him it would have been faster for him to build the sectional. 

Monday was a cooler day and it is what is called at my house and in my family as a Peggy Day. It was not humid, it was in the low 70s and there was a delightful breeze. (God, please give me this weather at least until June, I'll be good!!)

We sat for a moment on our new cushions and Rick said, " Know what it feels like? It feels like happy hour to me!"

I said, "It's barely 1pm." Ha that never stopped me he proclaims.

He laughs and goes into our home. He comes out with 2 outdoor glasses and a bottle of rosé along with some cheese and meats, etc. He made a charcuterie board and it made me giggle. 

Now I have not really had but 2 glasses of wine in 13 months but boy that rosé looked great. (my fave - whispering angel) At our home we call this rosé, Peggy's summer water.

So, Peg, had two glasses & Peg had a great nap outside on her new sofa. 😁

Rick had a Monday fun day nap outside with me. In the middle of the day - I'm getting the hang of this retirement thing!!!

A car went by honking its horn for a full block. That woke us.

We laughed and we went inside. It was now after 5:30p.

No need for dinner we had eaten all the charcuterie board he made up.

The best part of retirement is spontaneous napping I've decided!

Rick is busy building planter boxes for me as I type this.

Hey, I didn't even ask - he suggested it. I wasn't going to say no to that.

The old ones in our old home stayed there, the new owners begged for me to leave all the patio furniture but they were not willing to pay for it so we took the furniture and left them the flower boxes and the gazebo because it was screwed into the Trex deck. 

I enjoy the weather here a great deal. (not much else so far)  February thru May are perfect for me. Summer is my least favorite season here, hot as hell and humid as the Caribbean. Spring, fall, and winter are perfect. 

Everyone tells me San Deigo is the place for Peggy Day Temps. Well I know I've been there and while lovely I don't want the same weather every day. I mean it's like groundhog day. I like a cool rainy day. I prefer 4 seasons, even though the winter ones here are mild it's perfect.

I can't have it all and I'm not moving to San Deigo, so this is the next best thing. Well...

And who made that stupid rule that I can't have it all? I don't like them or their stinkin' rules!!!

Frontier Lady

If you watch the Food Network you know who the Pioneer Woman is.

I sometimes watch but on mute.

I do not care for her. Go ahead, watch her first season - she has a different voice. 

Not the shrill she has now. Can someone explain to me how that happens?

I also remember her saying she was a city girl who lived in NYC and she met a cowboy so she moved west. She talked about what a transition this was. Oh you know, the city girl a fish out of water (like me here!) Fancy clothes and great nightlife to a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma. Yeah, not buying it. 

This woman is a city girl from NYC as much as I am flat-chested and tall!! 

That can't be 100% true or the way it happened. I'd say that either all the articles and interviews got it wrong or someone is fibbing. Maybe a little of both. Hmm....

Anyway...

Rick says to me the other day, "I saw the Frontier Lady and she made a soup that looked really good that I want to try." 

I asked,"The Frontier Lady?"  

"Yes, isn't that the name of her show? The lady that annoys the shit out of you."

"Oh, Oh, that's Pioneer Woman Rick." 

I laughed at his 'frontier lady', hey he was close. 

"Yes, her with the shrill voice and plastered fake smile."

"Yep, that's the one who annoys me. What kind of soup?"

So off he went detailing the ingredients of this Mexican soup.

It did sound good & I am certain he will make it & I am even more certain I will love it. 

I don't care as long as I don't have to listen to her I'm fine with just her recipes. 

It's Tuesday, Are you Naked?

This was our little deck between our home and the garage.

The steps you see to the right just went down into our yard. 

We thought it was wasted space.

The 2nd pic is from the backside where the steps went down to the yard.

The holes you see are the cement thingys. That is the professional term, I swear.

Yes, his pants kept falling down. He had on a belt. I don't know the issue, but he didn't wear those jeans the next day! This was going on when I walked out there. I asked if he was sucking his gut in for me. That gave him a laugh,

As you can see the old deck needs to be power washed. 

Believe it or not, it's in great shape and put in just before we moved here. 

So 3 yrs ago roughly. 

After power washed, cleaning, and sealed, along with the area rugs it should be okay.

Those posts are for the fence that will be going up. That wood is cedar though.

I can sit on my patio in my birthday suit now without anyone seeing me. 

Not that I would, but I can now.

Rick loved the storm. It rained nonstop on Friday and he was happy for the break.

Now comes the fun part -- dressing her up. 

 --

I LOVE power washing and I couldn't wait until he was finished so I could power wash the old deck and seal them both. but now I can't damn it. 

I got my brace on Monday and for the first time, I was given pain meds.

My wrist is not broken. According to my doctor, I'd be in far less pain if it were broken. 

It is the Scapholunate ligament. It's the main stabilizer of the scapholunate joint, or wrist.  Per Google, this joint is between two of the small bones in the wrist. the scaphoid and the lunate bones. Normally, these two bones are held closely together by the ligament and move seamlessly together. They took x-rays of both my hands to compare. My right is the one showing how far apart those two bones are. Thankfully my left wrist is how it should be.

Because they see this they don't think it's a ligament tear but a very bad sprain.

I told them that a sprain sounds so light and nice compared to the pain I am experiencing. My hand is bruised and colorful, swollen, and very weak and when I take off this cast or brace the pain is horrific, so no taking that off again for a few days. I put a plastic bag over it to shower.

They say in time and with this immobilized it will go back together. We shall see.

The first thing I was asked was if I was taking steroids like prednisone. 

So I shared the ugly story of chemo and high-dosage steroids. He shook his head and on we went. how many things is that now from steroids and chemo, 3 so far.

Now you ask, how the hell did you do that? Damn good question.

I do not know how this happened.

Thursday is when the pain started. 

My Thursday went something like this.  

Rick had a few 10ft boards that I was walking over each time id go to the garage to put another coat of paint on the 2nd storm door. The 3rd time I decided to slide them over to him to get them out of my way before I tripped or something. 

I picked up 2 boards. 

The 3rd one hurt my hand and I dropped it and said, "Nope, I'm using my girl card cuz that hurt and those are heavy."

Rick laughed and I continued to work in the garage. 

At dinner time my wrist hurt but no big deal. As the evening progressed so did my pain and swelling. The pain made it difficult to sleep.  

That night in our king-size bed Rick rolled over my hand and I let out a squeal. Now what is odd to me about this is that once Rick is in his corner as he calls it, this big bed is empty in the middle so I lay out my arm straight across because for some reason it feels better like this until he rolled over it. Now I was awake, ooh, really awake because my wrist has a heartbeat all its own now. But everything I did was harmless so I didn't understand what the hell happened.

By morning Rick is convinced it's broken. Urgent care here is by appointment which I find silly. I couldn't get in and I was damn sure I was not going back to the ER!! I said I'd wait until after the holiday. I had an appt for urgent care that only deals with ortho. I figured if I had to wait I might as well see an orthopedic because that's what I needed.

I have to stay in this brace for a minimum of 4 weeks. Then I go back to see him and where I am.  I'll tell you where I am. 

I'm in ugly and pain Hell. 

I couldn't file my nail that had ripped. 

Rick said, Let me help. Oh boy. He filed it so short that I made him cut all my nails so it didn't look so stupid. It feels weird.

I can't blow dry my hair without the right hand to hold the brush or dryer. I'm tired of scarves and ball caps

I can no longer get dressed or undressed alone.

And just like Jean said in a comment yesterday, if one is right-handed, wiping with your left hand is awful as well as awfully difficult.

Today I asked for help taking off my long sleeve t-shirt and bra so I could shower. I grabbed my clothes to head to the shower when he pants me and proclaimed, IT'S NAKED TUESDAY.

My God, he's tenacious, and that makes me laugh. 

Geez, he really wants a naked Tuesday. I told him to go for it I don't have to partake. He insists I do. 

Not today buddy, besides, I wouldn't be naked with a big black brace on my arm.

I know, I know, if I'm naked he doesn't see my arms anyway. 

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

 Picture of right hand.

Swollen much? This doesn't even look like a hand. Where are my knuckles? 

The hits just keep coming. What terrible thing have I done to have all this fun and pain? 

I'm right-handed, so Rick tried blow drying my hair for me. Oh my. 

I threw on a baseball cap.😕 4 weeks.

Can't type. Moving my phone for my one finger on rt hand to do this. 

I will have to figure something out.

The deck is done in good news. Pics to follow. 

I'll be back when I figure out how to do this in an easier way.

Slow Day

This morning our big posts arrived from Lowes. 

Rick can now finish the deck and fence. 

Lowes no longer does residential deliveries, they outsource them. 

The company who delivers for Lowes has been difficult but the man who delivers is the BEST!

He arrived today and I had just made coffee and offered him some. 

He said, "really? man thanks." I have some promotional travel mugs from my corporate job many years ago. I gave it to him in that. He kept asking if he could really keep this. I told him I had more so don't worry.

I brought out the cream and sugar to the porch and he mixed it his way. 

He kept thanking me as if I had given him money.

Rick was eating some berries and he offered him some. 

He said, "gee what are you guys doing at lunchtime?" 

That made us all chuckle.

This man said, "what the hell is wrong with my company? When I went back to the shop I told him what was delivered and I also took photos if you recall."  Rick did indeed recall. 

The delivery man then asked the dispatch, "why wouldn't you just put this on someone's truck and drive it out to him?"  Boy oh boy was he livid. 

He kept apologizing to us. Rick told him it wasn't his fault, but he very much appreciated his help. Today when loading his truck they put the whole order on again. He told them, NO, just the 9 4x4 posts. They fought with him about this he told Rick.

I said to Rick if they had delivered the whole order again you could build me some flower boxes etc. He laughed and said, "Oh thank God they didn't"

Damn.

I started painting this morning the storm door. It is currently white. 

The front door is black as are the shutters and accents. This white storm door has bothered me since moving here. So Rick took it off and I sprayed one side and it is drying. My goodness, it took me more time to tape off the handles that wouldn't come off and the bottom silver piece. Seriously I was laughing because it was taking so long to just do the taping. I sanded, cleaned it down, and then began to spray. It looks great and I think it should be dry by now so I can turn it over and do the other side.

So I leave you with some memes.

Remember when President Kennedy was Catholic and how it got everyone's panties in a twist. Yeah, now anything goes apparently.

I don't accomplish this all on the same day all the time. Sometimes the folded things sit on the dryer for a few days. Talk about laziness. 

This is retirement's fault.

I was never like this before retirement. Weird.

I may need to have this after I hear about the 34 counts he has been indicted for, or if you are the orange bastard then you say and write, indicated instead. 

He never stops showing his stupidity, does he? Lying and stupidity are his calling card.

I wish this were true but sadly until they shave his head and he is wearing orange I don't believe WE will be saved. He falls into shit all the time and lies and pays his way out of it. 

I am not sure how parents can send their children to school. I don't have children but if I did I know I would want to find an alternative solution. I can't fathom sending them off and not sure if they will return. I don't know how you do it. If your child is too scared to go back to school then what? Frightening.

To me, this below is all kinds of stupid and scary. Men.

Rick did something similar on this deck stuff. I said why wouldn't you want to put this board here so you can walk out easily instead of having to jump hurdles? He laughed and said, Oh good idea. 

Honestly, if there is a longer route to take somewhere or a more difficult way of doing something 

Rick will always choose the longer route and the difficult way because he thinks he thinks it through but he never does. Silly boy. 

Then I share another way and he laughs heartily.

He does amuse me.

Family Tree

I have a 3rd cousin I hardly know who contacted me for some photos because he is putting together an ancestry family tree. He showed me two pictures of what he said was my mom. They were not my mom.

He swore they were. Finally I told him I would know her more than you right? That is not my mom's face whether 12 or 40 it was not her. She had a long face and she was thin and short. This is a person who was very large tall, heavyset, and has a round face. 

So I sent him some photos and he said he showed them to his dying father and I was right. I mean c'mon. I was right? If you showed me a photo of your mother I wouldn't know her but you would. I couldn't believe he didn't believe me. Then my next thought was why ask me to do this then if I don't know my own mother I could be giving you pictures of anyone willy-nilly. Weird right?

Anyhoo, I dug out the old photo albums.  Who knew this was going to turn into a fun afternoon with piles of photos and Rick and me on the floor going through them all. Laughing, sharing, making fun, and just darn right giggles over hair and clothes back in the day.

I so wish I knew who some of these people were and the years. 

Some pictures have info on the back. 

I loved when they did that. 

Even if nothing more than a date it was helpful. 

I saw one with the date and looked at the front of it again. 

It was of my mom. I wondered about her age, she was dressed so stylishly with her nails painted red (black and white photo but you can tell) and the jewelry and that favorite black onyx ring. I turned it over and it said the year was 1945. She was all of 21 years old. Don't you just wish you knew them before they were moms? I'd love to talk to this young person in the photos.

I also found my mom's engagement announcement in the paper in her photo album. It was pasted on there so I couldn't get it on my computer to scan it for you. What a hoot. The verbiage in this announcement would never be used today. They made her out as a spinster who was finally getting married, the poor thing. My God, she was only 26 on the date of the announcement. 27 when she got married.  She used to tell me they called her an old maid because she hadn't married yet or had children. Apparently, at that time all her friends had done both. 26 years old to me is too young to get married but it was a different time and these articles in the paper sure prove it.

There was also an autographed picture of some guy named Phil Brito. 

I, of course, never heard of him. I googled him to see why she had this. 

He was a singer in the 40s. I listened to a song they said was very popular - it was horrendous to me. I suppose that would be like my Grace Slick autograph when she was stuck in an airport and I was given out vouchers for free meals. HA.HA. I never asked for an autograph before or after so to this day I do not know why I asked her. And no, I no longer have it.

 

Digging through the pictures I found this photo of my Aunt Eleanor and my Mom. Aunt Eleanor is her youngest sibling. 

I was happy to show him who they really were.

This is them in their very early 20s. 

I love that those dresses are in style again but my mom needs to unbutton the top 1 or 2 buttons.  My mom is the one wearing the sunglasses.

My Dad got married at 23 or 24 and my goodness he looks like a baby in grown-up clothes. He also was always holding or smoking a cigarette as was my mom in most photos. Everyone was. 

It was such fun to sit and look at these pictures. 

My parents in their 20s slay me. They look so young and yet so much older than a 20-something of today. Rick and I were sitting on the floor going back and forth handing pictures and laughing. At one point I said to him, "from the looks of things I got my mom's boobs and my dad's waistline and that's just not right"

Well, he laughed his ass off at my comment. It wasn't meant to be funny I told him it just seems to be a sad fact. He was quiet for a minute and said "Hey, at least you didn't get either one of their noses and for that you should be thankful."

Point taken! You're correct on that one.

Friday.

Some musings of my week - 

Yesterday was a good retirement day.

It's this kind of thing when I realize I am retired and it's not about just doctor appointments.

I watched Opening Day of baseball in the middle of the day.

I wasn't so ill that I couldn't sit up and watch it to really get into the game. 

Everything worked out just perfectly. We even won.

I don't think there will be a lot of that this year but it's a nice way to start.

Especially with Boston losing. I always love to see that and the cheatin' Astros lose. But enough of my baseball pettiness.

Rick is now so damn sore it's funny. His wrist was sore yesterday. 

He moans when he sits and moans louder when he gets up.

I made a sick comment about his sore wrist and while he laughed he said, "I wish, but it's the way I was holding the drill and yada yada yada."  

I didn't hear it all but I knew what he was referring to. 

He said it feels very good to be so active again. Apparently, standing at the lathe making jewelry boxes, bowls, etc is not so tricky on one's body. 

He says he misses this kind of labor. 

Oh heavens, I don't, but good on you Rick. 

Lowes called and now we get the big posts on Monday. 

They called at 6:30am. Rick was still asleep and I look at who was calling on his phone and if I should pick up. I saw it was Lowes so I picked up.

After the news I received, I told him he should be thankful he was speaking with me and not Rick this morning. 

I too was livid, I just speak far more kindly than Rick would be speaking to him about now.

Rick is at a standstill on finishing the deck and fence, can't get more done until he has these posts and he is so angry about this. 

I kind of think it's a nice reprieve on his body. 

So he is not working on the deck on Friday but in his workshop. 

Saturday will be very high winds and rain so no work outside on Saturday. 

I think by Monday he will feel great and then get to do it all again. 

We actually had the last landscaper who arrived last week on the day scheduled and within 5 minutes of the scheduled time - How about that?

He sent the estimate via email within 24 hrs just as he promised. 

Again, Imagine that will ya!  I called immediately after downloading the contract and signing it. I paid the deposit of 50% and we are scheduled on April 14th. They tell you all the things that can make this change like the weather to CYA themselves and I understand. Then they sent me a paid receipt for my deposit. All professional and nice to work with. I pray they continue this streak of professionalism and show up to do the job.

Fingers crossed!

I have to go to Walmart today. I don't care for Walmart.

I never went to Walmart in my life but once. My dad was a Walmart greeter.

Oh the stories he would tell me. Some offensive but that was my father.

One day he said to Rick he saw a woman with all these kids she is trying to wrestle into carts and grab their hands and he went to help her. He said when he saw her she was so fat and ugly he couldn't understand how she got those kids. OMG. Rick said something to him about it not being nice and my father made a grunting noise and poo-pooed Rick. 

Anyhoo, I went to see him at the store once.

Otherwise, I was not a Walmart shopper.

Sadly upon moving here that is less than 2 miles from my house so I tend to go a lot now. Oh, it's a fascinating place. I think this is a hillbilly haven.

I should be sending Rick, this is their home base it appears to me.

OH, the things you see there. Rick still talks about the woman who used duct tape to hold her buttons closed on her blouse. 

Anyway, neither Rick nor I can get our health insurance to cover our thyroid medication. So without insurance even good rx is more than Walmart so we go to Walmart and pay $20 instead of $65. Rick's is a higher dose so he pays even more but still far less than his original $95 for 30 days.

Insurance doesn't cover it because it is not a pharmaceutical pill like Synthroid. You know they grease the palms of congress so you know how it works. Too bad that drug didn't work for me because it is cheap. Oh well.

Wish me luck. If nothing else I can take photos of poorly dressed individuals with duct tape holding them together for your entertainment. 😁

Beach Chairs Baby!!

We bought new beach chairs. So that means, it's official!

I'm going to the beach soon. I see it on the horizon.

Rick promised me beach time after my surgery and head to the shore.

It's only 1.5-2 hours depending on what part of the shore and yet I haven't gone since getting here because I have been ill.

I am a beach person. 

Sitting by the water and just smelling it will be heaven for me.

On the water, in the water, or near the water, yes it's just the water. 

It is my happy place.

Thankfully Rick loves this too. Whew.

Oh, the fun beach vacations we have had over our 36 years. 

We got married in a flower-filled gazebo on the beach in the Carribean. 

Yep, beach people.

We bought these great chairs about 20 years ago at Costco. 

We had no intention of purchasing chairs when entered, but you know how it is once you enter Costco. 

Hell, you don't need 3/4 of the shit in your Costco shopping cart and you know it.

But somehow while walking your cart the size of an economy car down the aisles those throw pillows just fell off the top shelf into my cart. 

Rick saw them first. He did his sales pitch to me when I said, "aren't those a bit expensive for beach chairs Rick?"

"Look they fold up to nothing. We can put them on the boat and when we decide to park on an island we can pull these out and be comfy. 

Look you'll have a footrest (only if I slump in the chair my feet don't easily touch that footrest) and a place for our beverages and a pocket for sunscreen or your sunglasses etc. You know you love organization."

Well, let me tell you that last line of his made me laugh out loud and people looked at me. Boy, he was selling it. Okay, fine, let's get them. I thought they were a bit expensive but in those days we had high-paying corporate jobs so I was thankful it didn't hurt us. 

I ended up loving these chairs. We used them all the time. 

For the amount of use, they were a steal. 

Now I would be thrilled to only pay $59.99 a piece!

We finally had to toss them when we moved. The straps were frayed. The mesh pouch ripped. My footrest broke, not from use that is for sure. 

And the bag had a piece that held the back to the rod of the chair and it broke off. Mine was a hot mess. It was obviously time. They were Eddie Bauer chairs that are no longer made it appears. The chairs were great and the nylon case that they folded up into was great for storage on the boat.

Rick and I looked for them all over the internet but nothing out there could be found for less than $250 each. Nope, not gonna spend that. Rick said that is a helluva inflation price what did we pay? I told him they were $59.99 a piece + tax so whatever that is, is what we paid.  

Rick said, "God I sound like your father don't I?"

"Yep, you are an old man now and everything is expensive to you (us) just like Dad."

We continued to both look when we had a minute for reasonably price lawn chairs for my spoiled Big Guy. I found 2, not the same but nice. They were $89.99 for BOTH. I hit order and after I hit enter it said sold out. Gee it said hurry almost out of stock, I just assumed that was a ploy. Oops nope. They had one color left (red) and I really didn't want a bright red and they were $10 more. 

I showed this to Rick. 

He said to get them before they are gone. Ok, I did and they are on their way.

But I have my concerns about a zero-gravity chair. 

For some reason, it appears to me to be a lot of ab work until you get this figured out?  No? Only me?

I'd sit in one of these plastic beach chairs that fold into 3rds. 

I am fine with these. This is all I wanted. 

Too low for the Big Guy he tells me. I take him at his word because what does this short gal know about being too tall for this low chair. I think he's just too old to get down in the chair and back up, but I let him think whatever he wants. 😉

So these are the ones I just ordered.

Because the above chairs are zero gravity chairs I fear me having a "learning" curve. Just me?

To me, It seems like this would go back if my feet don't go down far enough. I fear it reclining me when I just want to sit!

I will practice at home so I don't have another beach day of falling off my chair and no one helping me get upright. That was a damn good laugh but I'd prefer to have these problems in my yard than at the beach in front of everyone. 

As Rick said, "Oh this will be fun to watch" 

Thanks for the confidence you little stinker. (I know he's right damn it)

The Gray one below is the Eddie Bauer Chair. 

We had two, but mine was beginning to fray at this point so I went with the red one on this day. 

Rick enjoying his chair.

Our new Chairs

No, I will not post the video of my butt in the air after I can't sit upright. 

OH, I know he'll record this he is mean like that. 

He will tell stories for years of how I couldn't get out of this because my knees don't reach where the chair begins to go down. 

I see it all coming. Mark my words. 

You know how I always whine that I have no talents? 

I lied, I am very gifted at clumsy Lucy moments. 

Oh, who cares? I'm at the beach in my mind already. 😎

Soon...

Books

I know what I am going to write about will get some panties in a twist. 

Remember this is my blog and just my opinions.

I read Spare in 2 days. 407 pages. I couldn't put it down.

Here are my takeaways. 

• The Crown it appears is incredibly accurate.
• Camilla is as awful as she has always been portrayed. I have always found her to have an unfortunate face and hoped her insides were at least pretty but nope. She is inside as she is outside it seems.
• The Brits sure don't think too highly of Americans.
• Jealousy and the fear that someone can get ahead of you are ugly traits in all companies. And the monarch is a big corporation/company.

I feel like I know Harry. I understand Harry to my core. I think what his family did to him is shameful. I hurt for Harry. I get why he did this. I don't understand how people think he is whining. Oh my goodness, hardly. 

I did have to look up words that I didn't know along the way while reading the book.  'Biro'.  That is a pen I learned and in the UK it is called a biro. There were several words I had to look up. I did know the word boot was the trunk of your car and that was written several times. That is how they hide from the paps, getting in the trunk or book of the car. But for the most part, I had to google things which I found pretty funny. 

I was on a waiting list at the library for this book. I was number 548. 

I can't believe I got this so quickly. I was a bit bored during all the military shit but I really understood why it all meant so much to him. It made such clarity of that whole situation and I was so glad he got that life for himself no matter how short it was for him.

Knowing myself well I know I could never ever be in that fish bowl. 

I wouldn't want to be told what I had to do each and every day. May I join the military? What I can wear? What lies must I tell today? What truths must be buried? What family member will sabotage me to make themselves look good? It's just like any other firm, corporation, or office politics. It's horrific.

It did so remind me of office/company politics and games.

And to never hug your child just boggles my mind. 

I'd be a Harry. Don't lie to me that is the biggest sin.

I have never thought the monarch was something we should have in the 21st or 20th century. But then I'm not from the commonwealth. So what do I know except for what I read, learned in history class or see on TV.

That and what my friends from the UK share. 

They too dislike the monarch but tell me stories of their parent's generation and their love of all things King and Queen. It fascinates me. It seems so cult-like.

I had an American friend who married someone within our company from the UK. She moved to the UK after they got married. She couldn't take it. She said they were cold, pretentious, and self-righteous. They were mean to her because she was American and her children were ridiculed. Then she added and I will never forget the tone, "and boy are they racist bigots"

I was shocked. I was convinced she wasn't reading her situation right. 

That was my thought but I always kept that to myself! I just listened.

Perhaps she was right all along.

I do know she is happy to be back in the states.

Then I met Bruce from Ireland who spent 23 yrs in the UK. He agreed with my American Friend. I don't wish to believe it. It would be like saying all of America is gun-happy and racist. To the outside world, we are just that. 

But there are some of us who don't own guns (because I'd use them) and who aren't bigots. We just don't get the attention as much as the loud rednecks. 

Reading this book made me think my friends were correct but I'm still holding out hope that it isn't that bad. 

But damn it was a good book said this ugly American. 😁

Wanna Bet? Will they Show Up?

Rick has built 5 decks. Family, friends, neighbors, and our own.

This is one he built for a neighbor in NoVa and her dog Mattie who was almost as much our dog to be honest. She traveled so we got Mattie most weeks. It was perfection!

We have a tiny deck off our kitchen between the house and garage.

Here it is right after we moved - I'm standing at the back door in the kitchen.

Well, Rick wanted to build a bigger deck. 

I wanted new floors in the house this year. 

Rick wins, of course.

The weather here is so nice all year long I know we'll use it. We loved our deck at home and lived on it spring, summer and fall.

He decided to begin measuring. He calculates how much wood and accessories he will need.

The wood was delivered yesterday (Monday)

Last week he dug holes for the footers or whatever they are called.

Because this will be seen from the road and the neighbors across the street Rick is also putting up a fence for privacy across the back in cedar.

Now, usually, a deck would take Rick a weekend.

This one will take a month at the least. :-)

Rick was putting those cement footers in the ground. He was carrying them from the car to the yard. He drove the car onto the yard so he didn't have to carry them so far. After he was done putting those in he came in the house for some more water and proclaimed, "This is my last deck I've got in me"

I knew that but it was nice that he knew it as well. He told me that this was easier in his 40s compared to 68. I told him he has 8 weeks before he is 68. He said, my body doesn't know that!

But he loves this shit. He is out there this morning singing his little heart out to some rock 'n roll on his headset. I opened the back door and asked if he needed anything. I brought him some water. He said he was fine. I asked if he was cold. He said it is the perfect weather to work outside. (61)

Okay then. 

To me, it's a bit chilly but I'm sure busting your butt doing this physical labor keeps you warm. 

Lowes delivered the wood and the cedar for the fence yesterday. 

But they didn't bring the fence posts and some other big posts. 

Rick was livid. He called them and they said they could have them there in a few days, hopefully, this week. He told them he needed them for his contractor to get started today. So with that big fat lie he is having them delivered today sometime. He was so angry because he said he went over this order so many times. He went to the store. He felt he did everything right but got the wrong things. 

He can only work so far until these big posts arrive. He may not be singing for long.

In other news. 

We have this big mound on the corner of our property. It has a sign saying, South Ridge. It is our neighborhood.  Last year we weeded, planted, and mulched all year long to keep this looking good. It was such high maintenance. The guy across from us has the same sign but he let his juniper grow up above the sign. When we first moved here we heard comments from other neighbors about that. They were happy we were keeping our sign visible to visitors. 

Here are some pics I got off google -  This is the neighbor across the street. See the sign under that mound of snake-filled brush? yes, the neighborhood has sent him a letter asking him to fix it. We shall see.

Here is my mess below in the dead of winter. I should have taken photos in summer/spring when everything was lush. But you get the idea. It's maintenance I don't wish to have so we are leveling it and leaving the sign that will be lit. I bought solar lights for it. 

It's time because we've I've had enough. I was always out there weeding, watering, and pruning. Remember Rick wanted land. I'd have been happy in a condo. But if it's messy and looks awful you know I'm gonna clean it up and he wouldn't. Aargh!

We contacted 4 landscaping companies. All worse than the one before them. No one shows up. Or when they do show up they do so days later than your appointment. They won't give a price in writing. We accepted one offer to never have him show up or hear from him again.

He said it's a small job I'll do this at the end of my day if that works for you. Sure. He said he'd call that evening when he got home to get us on the schedule. But he didn't call. He never showed up. We tried him by phone and text but he has vanished. What the hell? I guess only $1500 isn't enough to entice them to work. 

Now we are on our 4th one & we hope it is the charm. They are going to remove the big mound and level it with our yard. Seed the area so it grows grass and put the sign back. This needs a big ole piece of machinery that we just don't have. We considered renting one but I said to Rick have you ever driven one? Nope. Do you think you can? Oh, sure I can. No, just because you think you're Bob The Builder does not mean you are.  Well, that was all I needed to hear. He's not doing it. Besides the cost to rent was several hundred dollars, (almost 600) just suck it up and let some young buck do it for the money. I could only see forking out the money for this and then Rick messing it up, hitting something he shouldn't, getting hurt. All costing us far more than 1,500. 

We signed off on the project today. We'll see if they show up!

When we were in business we showed up and we showed up on time. That was our most often comment in a review. We showed up at the time of the appointment and the men were professional. Imagine that. If the boys were running late they'd let me know and I'd call the customer for them. Sometimes they just did it on their own if only running 15 minutes late or sitting in traffic on the beltway. 

I guess everyone has too much money and just doesn't care about making any more. I wish I had that problem. I get it, it's a small job. But like Rick used to say a small job can lead to a far bigger one. It always did for us. 

I recall a guy who only had a chip repair ($200) He was so blown away we ended up doing their kitchen and bath. So that little $200 ended up being a 5 figure job. We showed up. We were professional and we did good work. Is that out there anymore?

I'm taking bets. Will they show up? Will they set an appointment after I sent them my signed contract? We shall see. Odds are not in my favor.

Anyone wanna bet if they show up?