My first goal was accomplished this past weekend - my attic project. For those who read my previous blog about my summer projects, you know that I started by cleaning out my attic and going through all the boxes. I have saved only 3 totes (out of the 18 brought down from the attic) of items and the rest is either donated or ready for auction. I have so many empty totes stacked in the garage, it makes me proud that I finished my June goal ahead of schedule.
I had a light schedule this week, and chose today to stay home and celebrate my birthday alone, just doing what I wanted to do. I decided today was the day to fill my hot tub. Monday I scrubbed the tub down inside and cleaned the left half of the back porch. Tuesday the right side of the porch got cleaned and vacuumed. All that was left was to put water in the tub and plug it in. Since I didn't use it last year, I decided it was time to put it back in service and let the soothing water help my lower back aches.
The tub holds about 140 gallons of water so after hosing off the 3 yard chairs to clear the water from the hose, the tub was filled. Then I put the first chemical in the water to protect the liner, waited an hour or so and put in the second chemical as called for in the instruction booklet that came with the tub five years ago. It is now plugged in and going through the heating cycle. It will be 36 hours before I can actually get in and relax, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm patient. The cover is on and the temperature is set to a lower number to help the initial heat cycle.
I will monitor the progress until Friday and be ready to enjoy some hot tub time alone. I am taking the rest of the week off from my cleaning chores. The first week of July will begin my second project - cleaning out the back yard shed. There are many boxes out there to empty to lighten this household load. Declutter and downsize are my new watchwords.
I had a double-whammy surprise in the past twenty-four hours. HAPPY TUESDAY! Sort of.
I had my day planned and scheduled. So much for great planning. Yesterday, my phone rang with a reminder call that I had a dental cleaning scheduled for today at 1:00 pm. I had forgotten (after six months) and don't know where my reminder card with the little tooth sticker disappeared to for my calendar. I was verbally surprised, but said I would rearrange my schedule and be there.
When I got there about eight minutes early, I sat to wait until the office lunch hour was over. It was Dr. Greg's birthday and they had a cake to celebrate the occasion. Of course, I kidded him about being one day older than I am...calendar-wise but not year-wise.
I expected the dental technician to come to the door, but was greeted with the best surprise EVER, under the circumstances of going to the dentist! SHE'S BACK my mind screamed and when I stepped into the exam room I gave her a big hug. Dr. Greg's wife Christie is also a dentist and used to do my cleanings, but took the last six years off from work to have a baby and stay home with her three children for a while. Now that the youngest is six years old, she is back to work full time. YEA! I was SO happy to see her and know that I would get a professional cleaning and safe treatment. She is so good at her job!
She spoiled me ten years ago when I first started going to that dental office, because she is so careful and never hurts my mouth (like some past hygienists used to). The office had a very good hygienist for several years after Christie got pregnant the last time, but she moved on to another job in the big city. I remember one of her many replacements who could not seem to get the technique of using the suction at the same time as the water cleaner. I had to remind her a couple times. The next replacement was too rough for me, even when asked to take it easy. She attacked my mouth with a vengeance and I had to complain to Dr. Greg when he noticed the tears on my face when he came in to check on me.
Today's cleaning was painless, swift, and we were able to talk a little during my visit. I sure missed her! Going to the dentist is not always a pleasant duty, but she makes it great. Since she herself is a licensed dentist, Dr. Greg doesn't have to come in to check on any hygienist and can have another patient at the same time. Better for both of them.
When I made my appointment for six months down the road, I made sure she would be there on my scheduled day. I'm spoiled to the best and now don't want anyone else but Dr. Christie to touch my teeth. They are in great shape and I want to keep them that way.
A guy in a bar was sipping beer and munching on peanuts. All of a sudden, he hears a tiny voice say "nice tie." He looks around and sees no one close. The bartender is at the other end of the bar on the phone.
He goes back to sipping his beer and munching his peanuts. A minute later, he hears a tiny voice say "good haircut." He looks around an still sees no one else.
A few minutes later the tiny voice says, "you're handsome."
At this point, he calls the bartender over and tells him he's heard these voices saying nice things to him. "What's it all about?" he asks.
The bartender says, "Oh, that. Those are the complimentary peanuts."
While going through some of the boxes in my garage, formerly in my attic, I found a few rare books I didn't know my mother had put away many years ago.
The first was a 606-page book entitled "The Golden Way - To The Highest Attainments" by Rev. J. H. Potts, D.D. When I looked at the first page, I read the inscription, written by my maternal great-grandmother that stated this book was given to my grandmother by her mother on August 30, 1902 in Washington Court House, Ohio. Another page had the copyright as 1887 by J.H. Potts, D.D. My grandmother was born in 1892 and died in 1989 at the age of 97. This really old book is in very good shape for its age!
The second book I found was "Hurlbut's Story of the Bible" by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, D.D., copyright 1932, with my maternal grandmother's name written on the first page. The book is about 800 pages with illustrations and maps. This book is also in very good shape.
The third book stored away was a hymnal from 1911 that belonged to my paternal grandmother who signed the first page with her name and the year in Warren, Ohio, where my father was born. The "Gospel Hosannas" was copyright 1911.
I now have 3 books for my collection that belonged to both my grandmothers - a TREASURE for sure!
A fellow bought a new Mercedes and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. "There's no way they can catch a Mercedes," he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100.... Then the reality of the situation hit him. "What am I doing?" he thought and pulled over. The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. "It's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go."
The guy thinks for a second and says, "Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!"
"Have a nice weekend," said the officer.
Miss Kitty - I'm home!
I left my cat at home and took off for two days with my dog. I would never travel without my dog, but the cat is self-sufficient at home. We got home about 5pm this afternoon and Miss Kitty greeted us at the door to voice her "hello's". After the car was unloaded and I was settled on the couch, Miss Kitty climbed upon my lap to reassure me that she still loved me and was glad I was home.
I traveled to see my nephew for a day (220 miles), then to see a friend for a day (another 75 miles). I must admit, my visit with my nephew was "different" and shorter than expected. Then I traveled into the area of the major storm that was on the news while crossing northern Ohio.
At my friend's trailer, after we ate dinner, his daughter and I waited inside while he went out to close all the trailer windows when the heavy rain started pouring down on the "tin can" trailer. He got soaking wet, of course. (Most of the hand-cranks on the windows were broken - old trailer.) Luckily, my car was parked safely between two trailers and somewhat protected. But, during the heavy downpour of rain, hailstones the size of large gumballs started to pellet the metal sides and roof of the trailer. That's when you really feel like you are in a tin box.
My dog hates thunderstorms so I followed her to the safest room in the trailer - a small room in the middle of the trailer (too small for a normal bedroom - just bigger than a bathroom) and I sat on the floor to calm her anxiety attack. The rain pounded and the hail pinged off the cars for quite some time. It was accompanied by high winds and we watched leaves blow all over the area. It was close to 1am before the torrent stopped and we went out to check the damage. We found no damage, just leaves to remove from the cars and yard. We weathered the storm - in a tin box.
It was a good visit (other than the hailstorm) because we joked, laughed and talked. Today, I traveled the other 200 miles home and found a surprise upon my arrival. When I left Tuesday, my new-this-year rose bush had a large bud ready to burst. I could see by the yards and fields I passed along the road close to home that this area got a good bit of rain also. The first thing I saw was this beautiful red bloom - my first rose of the year. What a joyful homecoming it was!
I hit a mileage milestone on my two day travel also. I finally achieved the odometer reading of 27,000 miles on my 13 year old "babied" car! At this rate, it will outlast me!
For all those who read my past blog about getting my attic cleaned out, I now am going through tote boxes and finding treasures.
Today I went through a box that had my mother's things in it. After she died, a lot of items just got boxed up and set aside because I couldn't go through them at the time.
It was ironic that today is when I found a small white box and when I opened it, it brought back many memories. In the box was the "In Memoriam" signature book from my grandfather's funeral. I sat down to read it and inside the front cover were several items my mother saved, like newspaper clippings and a photo of his headstone. I kept starring at the photo, and I finally figured out why I was so transfixed. My grandfather died June 5, 1967 and today is June 5. I found his funeral memorial book 46 years to the day after his death. I was at the funeral and memories came flooding back.
Under the white box I found an old wooden cigar box. It is marked "Webster Tobacco Company, Inc., Albany - Mild as Mountain Air" cigars. My grandfather smoked cigars - this brand. He used to buy them at The Club, where men used to gather to play cards and buy smokes uptown. The Club was located next door to the Courtview Restaurant. I remember he took me in there once when I was a little girl.
Also in the tote was a photo of my grandparents house on Hinde Street, where I spent a lot of time growing up. The photo was taken back in the 1940s when my father purchased the house for my grandparents to live in after they sold their farm on S.R. 41 South, where they had lived for many years. Grandpa was a farmer most of his life. After they moved into town, he became one of the first real estate brokers in the area and had an office at 105 1/2 East Court Street. The paperwork I found stated that my grandfather was one of the organizers of the former Tri-County Real Estate Board, where he also served as president. The board included Fayette, Clinton and Highland counties.
I think back over my working career and remember when I was living in South Carolina some 40 years ago. I took a real estate class, passed the state licensing test, and got my real estate sales license, which I held until I moved to Ohio. I was associated with a real estate office and worked that job part-time.
I guess I followed in grandpa's footsteps afterall. A second example of doing so was when I ran for City Council in 2002 here in town, but I didn't know it then. Many years ago, someone was renovating a house on Market Street and a friend contacted me because they found a business-type card that had fallen behind a mantle piece many years earlier. It was a pass-out card for my grandfather who was running for City Council somewhere in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I never knew that about him, until I was given the card. I still have that card.
Memories. Good memories! What treasures will I find next?
For anyone wondering why I have not been writing, going, doing, or being myself this past week, I was severely 'outta whack.'
Due to a severe injury on Memorial Day Monday, my pain level went so far over 10, I stopped counting. I realized I needed to see a doctor because walking was a painful struggle.
I made an appointment with a doctor recommended by my health insurance plan, and told him what I thought had happened. After an exam and x-rays, I learned that my self-diagnosis of a sprain-strain of my pelvic area was correct. In simple terms, I had thrown my pelvis so far 'outta whack' that I was unable to walk without severe pain and strain.
I had not been to a chiropractor for more than 12 years, but it was the only way to get relief for what happened. It will take at least six visits to put the bones back into place where they belong, and I have today completed three of those visits. The swelling and pain is still there, but I can walk better. The pain has been reduced to a dull steady ache, unless aggravated by the wrong movement (like bending), and I use ice packs three times a day for the swelling.
Like it has been said: "this too shall pass," and I will eventually heal, but I don't think my back will ever be "right" again. I saw my x-ray and it was not normal. The curvature of my lower back due to my hip misalignment was prominent.
Only time will tell how things will turn out, but my friendly heating pad has been retired and replaced with cold ice packs to keep me moving. I refuse to turn into a 'couch tater.'
