Awful Offal

The other day I was washing dishes and cleaning the sink when I noticed there was still a...smell.  So I put baking soda in the garbage disposal and added vinegar.  I love when it froths up, and it's suppose to clean real well.  After I rinsed, well, there was still that...smell.  I had to dig further.

Time to pull out the drain guard.  That rubber insert that protects you from debris when you run the garbage disposal.  I've cleaned this before--even ran it through the dishwasher.  It's very difficult to clean.  I guess it had been awhile since I'd last cleaned it.  Disgusting would be an understatement.

I worked it out of the drain and turned it over.  Ugh!  I couldn't take a picture (no camera).  I don't know if I'd want to post that anyway.  It was like old Jello--thick, jiggly and slippery.  It varied in color from tan through brown to black.  It was fascinating in a "car-wreck" kind of way.  Yeah, yeah, I'm weird.  I also like to look at forensic shows and medical mysteries.  But I digress.

I let the thing soak in bleach, which did absolutely nothing.  Then, in a moment of silliness, I poured salt on it.  Salt chases away evil.  Yes, I know--weird.  But this stuff was even weirder.  I was about ready to buy some lime.  No, not the fruit.

Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. --Wikipedia

This is the stuff murderers use to destroy dead bodies.  You can get it at a garden center, but it's not cheap.  So, not an option at that point.  I was going to have to do this the hard way.

Gritting my teeth, I got some paper towels and started wiping the drain guard.  The pieces started falling and jiggling.  Really gag-worthy.  Fortunately, I don't gag easily.  Although, when a piece fell off the paper towel and I was tossing it in the garbage, I almost lost it.  Bloody thing bounced!  I must have gone through a dozen paper towels.

Once it was clean I had to wipe the the drain.  Not any more fun than cleaning the guard had been.  After I reinserted the guard into the drain, I had an epiphany.  Next time, I'm going to just buy a new drain guard!

Relief, Interrupted

Tabitha Darling likes to come upstairs.  She doesn't come and lay by me.  She doesn't come in my room very much at all.  At least, not when I'm awake.  If I happen to fall asleep when she's up there, nine times out of ten, I'm awakened by caterwauling, hissing and spitting.  Because cats know when their humans are sleeping.  And Tabitha is nothing if not opportunistic.  She'll come in my room and pick a fight.  Usually with Bebe, but sometimes Jessie.  Whichever opportunity presents itself first.  Monday I had let Tabitha come upstairs and she was very well behaved.  I fell asleep for 45 minutes or so and, when I awoke, she was still in the storage room.  So Tuesday, I felt kindly toward her and let her come upstairs.

Now Tabitha is not stupid.  In fact, that cat seems to understand most of what I say.  She just ignores the stuff she doesn't want to hear.  When I bring her up here with me, I tell her "Be nice."  It's not the words, but the tone of voice I use.  It's partly remonstrative, partly soothing.  When I say that and use that tone, she proceeds very cautiously up the stairs.  If she gets up here without me, well, she flies up the stairs and makes a beeline for a cat to pick on.

When we came upstairs in the afternoon.  I said the usual "Be nice" and she proceeded slowly, and went directly into the storage room.  A quick look showed me that Bebe was in my room already.  I assumed that Jessie was under the chest of drawers--her most recent hidey-hole.  I needed to use the bathroom, so I closed my bedroom door to keep Tabitha from going in there.  If I know one of the cats is not in my room, I take Tabitha into the bathroom with me and close that door.  Most of the time, I leave the bathroom door open.  Especially now, since I'm up here alone.  It's an old habit, formed from years with cats and having a small child.  Cats hate closed doors as much as any two year old child.

Right across from the bathroom is my closet.  So I had a ring-side seat, as it were, for events that began to unfold as soon as my, er, guard was down.

Tabitha was in the hallway--right in front of my closet.  What possessed Jessie to emerge from said closet right then, I have no idea.  Didn't she see/hear/smell Tabitha?  I mean, all those senses are supposed to be so acute in animals.  I know Jessie's senses still work.  I also know she's old.  Maybe she has feline dementia.  It was, at the very least, a very stupid thing to do.

Tabitha, knowing I was, um, temporarily incapacitated, immediately attacked Jessie.  With my bedroom door closed, Jessie had nowhere to run.  I started yelling at Tabitha to stop and tried to finish my business quickly.  Tabitha backed off a little and I was finally able to stand up.  Before I could get my capris pulled up, she attacked Jessie again.  I yelled again, reaching down for my pants, and started toward the two cats.  With my pants still around me knees, I managed a quick shuffle out of the bathroom and, jerked my bedroom door open, while holding onto my pants with one hand.

Jessie flew into my room with Tabitha hot on her tail.  With another shuffle-step, I managed to push the bedroom door closed before Tabitha could get through it.  She got clipped in the nose by the door, which gave me a small measure of satisfaction.  With the two cats on opposite sides of the door, I was able to--finally!--pull my capris up all the way.  Not taking the time to button and zip, I chased Tabitha down the stairs, scolding her all the way.  The little hellion hissed at me!  Me!  I grabbed the stairway door handle with my foot and pulled it closed.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed the stairs, buttoning and zipping.  I finished my ablutions and opened my bedroom door.  Jessie was nowhere to be seen, but Bebe was sitting by her food bowl.  Now it was my turn to be scolded, as the fracas had delayed her afternoon meal!

Return to the Great Clean-Out & other stories of mischief, madness and mayhem

Back in March, I received a card in the mail for the Epilepsy Foundation.  They were offering to pick up donations.  I went to their website.  The next pick-up date was too soon, so I scheduled a pick up for the end of April.  I don't remember why, but I had to change that to mid-May.  When that was coming closer, I was sick.  In the first throes of it, too, when I was miserable.  So, I changed it again.  The next date was June 29th.  I was just getting my strength and stamina back, but the piles of give-away were threatening to overwhelm the back room, so I left it for the 29th.

I spent the four days before the 29th working my, ah...fingers to the bone.  My fingernails to the quick would be more literally accurate!  I did some final cleaning out of the space-behind-the-other-closet.  AKA, the Cubbyhole.  It seems that at some point during her high school days, my daughter decided to clear the unwanted memories of Jr. High by tossing everything into the Cubbyhole.  Then, when she broke up with her first boyfriend (that's a great story, but I don't think I could tell it here), it appears she shoved all the momentos of her time with him also into the Cubbyhole.  Then--in a moment of pure ditziness--she dumped her hamster cage (sans hamster) in there.  WITHOUT cleaning it first!  Ugh!  There were pine shavings and hamster terds (hamsterds?) everywhere!  The capper to all this?  Because the used shavings and hamsterds were in there, some cat (probably Jessie) used it as a litter box, er, hole.  You get the picture.

Actually, there are no pictures.  My camera has evanesced.  Decamped.  Disappeared.  My suspicions are that a cat, in their sprawling on my table, knocked it off into the garbage.  I, obviously, didn't notice and disposed of said garbage.

 

Odds are 50/50, it's either Bebe or Jessicat.  (Above pics were taken using my CyberLink YouCam.  On my laptop.  )

I still need to wash in the Cubbyhole, but it's been much to hot to crawl around in there.  Then, I get to pull out all my parents' old Christmas decorations.  Who feels like doing that during the dog days of summer?  Not me!

Um, back to the donation pick up.  "D-day," as I'd come to think of it, was closing in fast.  The evening prior, I hauled everything to the driveway by the corner of the house.  Note: I hauled it. Me and myself.  I had very carefully read the acceptability reqs for "small" furniture and there wasn't anything there that I couldn't move by myself.

D-day dawned bright and clear.  We were breakfasting when the truck came, so I didn't run out and watch.  When I did go out there, I was flummoxed.  Perplexed.  Vexed.  The driver had taken all the boxes and bags, a mirror and...nothing else.  The lackwit had the audacity to pull the rocking chair pad out of a bag and leave it with the rocker that he refused to take!

We called.  The lady said that it was left to the drivers' discretion.  I told her there was nothing there that I--a fifty year old women--could not move by myself.  Any reasonably healthy adult male should have been able to handle it.  But then, I stopped myself and said "I'm not going to argue with you.  I'll call someplace else."  And I unceremoniously hung up.

I lugged the rocker, two end tables, head- and foot-boards, rails and slats for a twin bed, a sewing chest (which I could lift with one finger--use your imagination as to which finger) and some other odds and ends, into the garage.  Just when you thought it was safe to go into the garage.  Well, easier to go in there, anyway.  I haven't yet called Salvation Army (the only other place around here with furniture pick up), but I will.  When they come, they'll take the love seat and dining table and chairs that are in the garage, too.  Maybe even the buffet and hutch.  Wow, maybe, someday, I could park in the garage!  Huh.  Well, I can dream.

The overhang over the backyard door is still...hanging over it.  I need a reciprocating saw.  AKA a 'sawsall'.  Today I was outside and my northerly neighbor waved and asked me how my mom was.  We got to talking about all kinds of things.  Very suburbanite--talking at the fence.  We were looking at the overhang, which now lists sadly.  He said I should tell my southerly neighbor that I needed/wanted it down and it'd be down in no time.  I hadn't thought of that.  That was the neighbor who helped cut up the half of a tree that lightening knocked down.  I don't want to impose, though.  But...I thought maybe I could ask him to borrow a reciprocating saw and tell him what I want to do.  I'm sure, being male, he'd think I couldn't handle it (which is questionable) and offer to do it for me.  If not, well, I'd have the sawsall and would just start cutting the darn thing apart!

Yeah, baby!

Over the last few days, I worked in the storage room.  I finally assembled the last bookshelf.  Tabitha came up to help.  Bebe hid under the spare bed in there.  I brought a fan up, removed the floor register and placed a piece of the old hamster cage over the vent, set the fan right by the register and turned it on high.  It was tolerable to work in there.  Once it gets to mid-afternoon, it becomes too hot.  But, after the last bookshelf was put up, I was rearranging books mostly.  Trying not to let myself get sidetracked reading the backs or flyleafs of the books took some willpower.

Today, as I mentioned, I went outside.  It was hot--about 88 degrees.  But there was a steady breeze and I was just checking the yards.  I pulled some weeds.  BIG, tall weeds!  About 4 feet tall.  No kidding.  I got the bypass loppers out and...  No, really!  That's what they're called!

Bypass Loppers

Anyway, I cut down the suckers growing by the fence.  Suckers?  You know, when a tree or bush has shoots growing near it?  Yeah, those.  I lopped them off and hauled them to the front.  Tomorrow is yard waste pick up.  No time like the present!

When I got back inside, I poured myself a full 16 oz glass of water, added a splash of ReaLemon and drank the whole thing in just a few minutes.  I had really been sweating.  Since I had done such hard physical labor and had sweated so much, I figured I deserved a treat.  So I did what any hard-working, middle-aged, menopausal, chocoholic would do.

I made chocolate chip cookies.

And, since they were warm and I didn't want to raise my body temperature I...  What?  Wait until they cooled?  Why?  I like my cookies warm and mushy.  Just past pudding-like.  Besides, I had ice-cream with them!

Well, I have virtual crops to harvest and cyber babies to feed!  Til next time...

Keeping On--Part Three: Surmounting Obstacles and Set-Backs

Six weeks from when I first got sick.  I'm a lot better, but my energy ebbs and flows.  But it's my eyes that keep bothering me.  They're red and itchy.  Some mornings they're still gooey, too.  The photosensitivity is the worst, since I love the sun so much, and it makes me feel so much better.


Not that we've seen the sun as often as we usually would in June.  So much rain has made it difficult to get anything out of the shed.  I really wanted to go through more of that stuff and get the space cleared so Brittany could use the shed for her stuff.  And, when it's not raining, it gets to 100° heat index.


Then, our washing machine broke down.  Again.  This time, it was the transmission.  To fix it would cost as much--or more-- than a new washer. It died 11 days before my payday.  That was a loooooonnngg 11 days.  A week later, I acceded to cleanliness and went to a laundromat.


It'd been 25 years since I was in a laundromat.  The number one thing I hated about laundromats was that they were so dirty.  The floors, walls, even the exterior of the machines were messy.  The bill-changers were usually broken and the soap dispensers empty.  Now, I knew there were nicer places, but I'd have to drive quite a ways to find them.


My brother told my mother about a place he used when he would travel.  It's a drop off & pick up place, but also a coinless laundromat.  It was clean (relatively) and neat.  So I went there.  Holy rip-offs, batperson!  It cost $3 just to get a card!  Then you had to load it with money to operate the machines.  The double-capacity front loaders were $2.89.  Dryers were 39¢ for ten minutes.  I was going to wash AND dry, but I ended up having three loads instead of just two and I was out of money.  Ah, so I had to lug three double-loads of laundry home to dry.  Well, I should've known when I saw that the place had a website and several locations.  On top of that, I forgot the laundry detergent and had to buy some at Ace Hardware.

But I had to keep on keeping on.

I can keep my eyes fairly comfortable with allergy eyedrops.  I change my pillow case every day and the pillow cover every other day.  And I have an appointment with my ophthamologist at the end of July.

There is little I can do about the weather, except pray.  I try to take advantage of any break, but I've resigned myself to leave the shed for another pick up time.

At the Soap Opera Laundry, the clerk was very polite and accommodating.  The clerk walked me through buying and loading the card, gave me tips on the best machines and the best deals.  The washers took about 30 minutes.  After I had loaded the wet laundry into the bags, I realized how heavy they were.  I left them on the cart and wheeled it to the front, intending to get the car and bring it to the door, since there was a sign that said "Carts Must Remain Inside".  The clerk, however, said I could take it to the car.  That was very helpful.  And when I brought the cart back to the door, the clerk came out and got it.  It was also a pleasant day.

Sometimes, just getting up in the morning is an achievement.  Keeping my mouth shut when I want to scream is an accomplishment.  And--sometimes--keeping on is...

...a monumental effort.      

Keeping On--Part Two: Accomplishments

More than four week after first getting sick, I'm still recovering.  I finished my antibiotic Saturday night.  On Sunday night I noticed a new manifestation--a swollen Mastoid gland behind my left ear.  I'm still a little weak, although able to do most chores and such.  My stamina levels ebb and flow from day to day.  So I googled all that on MayoClinic.com.  Wowser!  Possible conditions include mononucleosis, tuberculosis, lupus and cancer.  But, no worries.  I really don't have all the symptoms for those illnesses.  Most likely it's my body still fighting infection.  Viral or bacterial.  Whichever.  Self care?  Warm, moist compresses and NSAIDS*.  Got it.

Today I made the trip up to Target again.  I needed pseudoephedrine and I was not going to pay the $8.29 for it at CVS.  It's $4.54 at Target.  Can you say "duh"?  I needed to restock my medicine cabinet with ibuprofen, too, since it's the only NSAID that works for me.  So I made a list and got a few other things, too.  I went to the back of the store for the pet supplies and grabbed a box of Arm & Hammer scoopable cat litter.  The 28 lb size had 3 free pounds.  Great!  I had a coupon, too.  That always makes me feel good.  Until I realized the coupon expired--yesterday!  Arrrgh!  Oh well, deep breaths.

The irony is that yesterday I had felt pretty good and ran several errands.  Pet store, book store and Jewel.  I avoid Jewel, usually, but they had the Yoplait yogurt on sale and they have a big selection of flavors at Jewel.  Target is kind of hit-or-miss with the flavor choices.  I had printed a coupon for the yogurt (on my new printer--yay!), but forgot that at home.  There is just no way I can go to the strip mall at 87th and Harlem and not go to the book store.  Anyway, there isn't any Target in that direction from my house.  So, I've been able to get more shopping done, which is an accomplishment.

After I started on the antibiotic, I began to gradually gain strength and endurance.   Not a lot and some days were better than others, but it was improvement--even with the side effects from the antibiotic (which were not inconsiderable).  I was back to doing most chores and I sporadically picked away at cleaning out.

One day I grabbed a couple of big garbage bags and got behind the storage room closet.  I filled two of those big black bags and got them out to the bins.  Another day I assembled another bookcase.  Then I began to bring books into the storage room as I felt up to it.  I also boxed up more books to sell.  And I boxed up some items I was able to rescue from behind the closet.  After a week or so, I had cleared enough books from my bedroom that I was able to bring my printer upstairs!

One day, my daughter said she found a second-hand sofa that was in better condition than ours.  Oh yeah?  A few days later, while she was out, she called to say they (her and the bf) were bringing the newer sofa home.  Would I move the other out of the way and vacuum?  It took a supreme act of will to not only move the old sofa and vacuum there, but I wrestled the old sofa outside (during a rare lull in the rain) and covered it securely with a tarp.  Several hours later, they come home with the newer sofa.  In the driving rain they brought it in.  It's deeper (front to back) than our old one, so more room for the kitties to curl up next to me.  Nice.  I was ready to collapse on it and stay there for a week!  We just had to get rid of the old one that was sitting to one side of the drive way.  Fortunately, this occurred just before the "big item" garbage pick up.

Once a year, our waste management services will pick up large items at no extra cost.  Maximum of two items.  ^snort^  Two?  Like that would do us much good!  Besides the old sofa, we had a mattress, box spring, large mirror and a bulky outdoor chair.  But I remembered that last year we were the only house on the block that had large items for pick up.  So I asked my neighbors--just the ones directly next door on each side--if they were going to take advantage of the pick up this year.   If not, could I put items with their garbage?  I got the go-ahead from both sides, so that was great!

Pick up is on Tuesday.  Regular garbage pick up has usually come and gone by the time I get up at 8:00 a.m. or so.  This means I have to put the garbage out on Monday.  So Monday afternoon I started dragging the stuff to the end of the driveways.  I took the mattress and box spring (two trips) to our neighbors on the left, because I could pull them across their front yard without tearing up their manicured lawn.  The sofa I shoved down our driveway.  Then I pulled out the hand cart and put the large mirror next to the sofa.  Last, but not least, I went to the back yard (where I discovered we had wasps again!) and took the bulky wooden chair and it's cushion and tossed it over the fence to the right of the house.  Then I walked--more like slogged at that point--around the house and dragged the chair and cushion to the end of that neighbor's driveway.  Whew!  We have a wooden bench in our driveway against the side of the house.  I had thought I wouldn't like having a bench there, but I have used that thing several times while working outside.  It's a great place to catch my breath and work up some more energy.  I certainly used it that day!  I could have found something else to get rid of, but I had no more energy to pull, push or drag anything else anywhere, except my self into the house.

When the garbage came the next morning, I was still upstairs.  I thought about running down and making sure they took everything, but I really wasn't up to hurrying.   When I went downstairs, I was dismayed to see the old sofa still sitting at the end of the driveway!  Everything else was gone.  Maybe they would be back?  Was it too big?  I had removed the tarp but put clear plastic sheeting over it because we were suppose to get more rain.  Did they not realize it was garbage because the sheeting was over it?  After breakfast, I finally called the company.  The lady was very nice.  She took the information and said she would contact the truck for our area.  She thought that it was likely they ran out of room and would be back for it later, but she'd make sure.  Well, they came back for it--at 7:30 that evening!  But it was gone and I felt like I had lost 200 pounds!

Over the last couple of days I started bringing some of my daughter's stuff from the storage room to her bedroom.  Tabitha and Khai think it's great because I leave her bedroom door open while I'm doing this.  They rarely get a chance to go in her room anymore.  So they run under my feet as I'm carrying boxes and bags.  Until I want to close the door.  Then they scurry away and I have to round them up and drive them out.  There's a good reason that doing something difficult and frustrating is said to be "like herding cats."

The truck to pick up donations comes on the 29th.  I really need to be a lot better before then so I can haul everything out to the driveway.  That pick up will be like losing 500 pounds!  I can hardly wait!


*non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Keeping On--Part One: Aquisitions

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. — Albert Einstein

 I've been sick.  A virus that morphed into Sinusitis.  Not particularly unusual for me, but the virus laid me flat for a few days.  On about day 5, I realized I had Conjunctivitis, which I tend to get when I have a bacterial sinus infection.  The doctor would not prescribe an antibiotic over the phone, which really frosted my cookies.  Twisted my knickers.  Annoyed me.  I decided to ride it out without benefit of antibiotics.

The first week was a complete loss as far as being able to do anything beyond making breakfast.  My mother stepped up to the plate--kind of.  She unloaded and loaded the dishwasher.  My only accomplishment that week was to get my laundry done.

I got paid in the middle of the second week.  I ordered groceries from Peapod.  I fortuitously received a "Free Shipping" coupon via email.  Then, when I opened my account, I also had a "Take $10 off" promo because it was my second time ordering from them.  I found a few sales and bit the bullet for a few regular priced items.  I was a little dismayed by what they didn't have.  They did not have No Sugar Added Nesquik nor Cream of Wheat.  There were some items I just refused to buy though them since the price was outrageous.  Like the Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula.  I get the big bag--approximately 17 lbs--from Target for $12.49.  Last time I bought it at WalMart, they had it for $11.99.  I've seen Jewel have it on sale for $13.99.  I was prepared to grin and bear it at the $13.99 price.  But Peapod's price was $17.99!  Holy catnip!  At this time, nearly two weeks later, I still have not gotten out to get that cat food.  The bin is getting mighty low, and I think the cats have started plans for a mutiny.

Towards the end of that second week, I was feeling a bit better, although I had lost my voice.  So I went to Target.  I had a list and was pretty good at sticking to it.  When I got to the cat food aisle, they were all out of the Indoor Formula!  Arggh!  They did not have Brawny paper towels, nor Angel Soft toilet tissue.  I looked at lamps because my mother needed a better reading lamp in the living room.  The one I wanted--or rather, was willing to get--was $70.  We had agreed to only go to $60.  It was a torchiere (a style I am not fond of) with a task light in the middle.  It was a bronze finish with a little marblizing in the shades.  More tolerable that all that chrome junk.  (If you like chrome, fine, buy I make no apologies.  I abhor chrome.)  Anyway, I passed on it, thinking I'd do some internet research.  But, on a whim, I figured I'd stop at Menard's since it is just down the street from Target.  Thankful that I had no frozen goods.  With a surge of excitement, I entered the yawning portal to DIY heaven.



I grabbed a basket, optimistically planning to need it for the lamp I was sure I would find.  That was when I remembered where the lamps were.  On the second floor.  Yes, this Menard's has two levels.  No biggie, you would think?  I go up to second floors in stores all the time.  Carson's has two levels.  So do Sears and JC Penney and several other places.  But Menards has only half-walls around the second level.  And those half-walls are glass.  My stomach gets squidgy around half-walls on upper levels.  Glass half-walls are a whole extra level of squidginess.  More like squinky.  (I don't know if "squidgy" and "squinky" are in Webster's, but they work for me.)  I zeroed in on the elevator and my squinky stomach lurched.  Tough tootsies, I told it.  We're going up to look at lamps.

The elevator made horrible groaning sounds.  And three sides of it were glass.   I kept my face to the doors and held my breath as we groaned and grunted to the second level.  I had to make my way to the lighting section in a big U.  Surrounded by glass half-walls.  I stayed as far away from those walls as possible, my stomach lurching every time I had to swerve close to those glass half-walls.  Fortunately, the lamps were not near the glass half-walls.  I found one very similar to the one at Target within minutes.  The lamp was on sale for $26!  I looked it over carefully, making sure it was what I wanted.  Yep, similar color and style.  Done deal!

I meandered through the light bulbs, buying the newest, long-lasting bulbs for the lamp.  I opted for bright white for the task light.  And the new bulbs are now available in 3-way!  Awesome!  With my purchases ensconced in my basket, my stomach was better behaved for the trip back down.  Although I still kept my eyes on the doors of the elevator.

As I got off the elevator, I saw mirrors nearby.  I had looked at mirrors at Marshall's and TJ Maxx's Home Store, but they had been a little pricey.  I found a nice simple walnut-look framed mirror for the hallway leading to my bedroom.  So I got the lamp we wanted, a mirror, and expensive lightbulbs--all for less than the lamp at Target.

When I got home, I assembled the lamp and set it up for my mom.  It's not too bad.  I really don't like torchieres.  Did I say that already?  Well, it bears repeating.  The bulb for the task light said it was equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent bulb.  Well, when my mother turns that task light on to read, you could land a 747 jet in our living room by that light alone.  If we were anywhere near a large body of water, ships would be coming aground in our front yard.  You think I'm exaggerating?  We live in a flight path for Midway airport.  I am seriously concerned about small planes crashing into our house.  My mother, however, loves it.  She says it's the best reading light she's ever had.  O--kay.

After my shopping adventures, I felt horrible again for two or three days.  Back to dragging myself around.  The beginning of the third week was Memorial Day weekend.  My daughter and her significant other were going to hit the sales at Best Buy and other stores.  She announced that she was going to buy me a new laptop.  I thought she was joking and just smiled.  She looked at me and said "I'm serious.  I'm buying you a new laptop to pay off the rest of the loan."  My heart stuttered.  I had loaned her money for a down payment on a car five years ago.  She'd been paying it back in dribs and drabs and still owed me a few hundred dollars.



I am now the proud owner of a new HP Pavilion laptop.  The screen is a bit smaller, but I love it!  I have to laugh when I play some of my Facebook games.  This has so much power, the little avatars in the games look like they're on speed!  Like someone hit the fast forward, they scurry around the screen.  I especially like it in Treasure Isle, where the little figure digs for treasure.  When a treasure chest is uncovered, the avatar jumps for joy.  On my old laptop, the jump was like slow-motion.  On this laptop, it happens so fast I can barely see it!  It has Window 7, Blio (which is for eBooks, yay!), and so much more!

My brother was going to send me his old printer.  When we found out what my daughter was buying, we discovered his old printer wouldn't work with my new laptop.  My mother insisted I get a new printer.  I kept saying it would have to wait until the end of June.  I had just gone to the doctor (finally) and didn't even have a day's worth of antibiotics in me.  To appease her, I said I'd research printers online.  I selected HP printers, since I knew it would be a snap to set it up with my laptop.  I had only one firm requirement: it had to have photo-quality printing.  I also had a couple of preferences:  it would be a printer-scanner-copier; and it would be wireless.  With a little research on the HP website, I found two I liked.  After searching a few sites like Amazon and Google Shopping, I was finding the printers to cost around $75 or so.  A big problem is that when you buy a printer nowadays, you don't always get the USB cable with it.  That cable is what you use to connect the printer to your computer.  Why are they not including it?  I have no idea.  Sounds stupid to me.

Anyway, a couple of days into my printer search, I went on eBay.  I found quite a few of the model I wanted.  I selected only new printers.  When I sorted the list by price, there was one that was quite a bit cheaper than the others.  Hmmm, what was wrong with it?  It was listed as "new--other" meaning it was not used, but may not have all the packaging.  I read the listing carefully.  The seller was including the USB cable AND ink cartridges.  The seller had a return policy and the purchase would be covered by eBay's Purchase Guarantee.  The pictures showed the printer and accessories and even the packaging that comes with a new printer.  It was a Buy-it-Now price of $38.99.  Why so cheap?  The original box was beat up.  Dented and torn, they couldn't sell it in their retail store.  Even with shipping of almost $18, the total was less than $57!!  I reread the details and checked their return policy again.  And I went for it.



The printer came today!  I immediately set it up and installed the software.  So simple!  I printed the test sheets and alignment page and it works!  Also, an extra power cord for my laptop came today.  I could use the laptop without the power cord--for awhile.  Actually, a long while.  It lasted more than three hours on it's battery.  My old one lasted 30 minutes--if I was lucky.  But I like to have any extra cord, just in case.  Now I have to get a cover for the printer.  Too much fur and dust in this house to leave it uncovered.

I've had plenty of excitement during my illness!  Keeping on shopping isn't all that's been happening around here.  Part Two will tell more.  Keep on checking my blog!

The End is Near

No, not the end of the world.  Not even the end of The Great Clean-Out.

Bookends.

I know what you're thinking.  "Bookends?  She must be losing it."  Well, to set the record straight, I can't lose something that I was never in full possession of!  But yes, bookends.

To say "I have books" would be the ultimate epitome of an understatement. To say "I need books" might be closer to the obsession I have for bound, printed material.  Now that I have bookcases in which to store them, I need something to keep them from falling off the wall shelves and tops of the bookcases.

Hence, bookends.

So I shopped.  Google Shopping.  eBay.  Amazon.com.  And so many websites devoted to my goal: justbookends.com; book-ends.com; decorativebookends.com and so many more.

On eBay, I found some simple plastic bookends which were very inexpensive:

  I received yellow and pale green.  They're nice, but I wanted something more decorative.  I went back to eBay.  I was fortunate enough to find these magnolia bookends just after they were listed and I bought them immediately:

There are two identical bookends.

I continued to look online, but everything I liked was very expensive.  The shipping costs on such heavy items were astronomical.  When I sent my daughter some ideas for Mother's Day, I included a couple of sets of bookends.  She came to me and said if I really wanted to find decorative bookends I should check out Marshall's and T. J. Maxx's Home Store.

So last Friday I went to the strip mall that has both of those stores.  It was a nice spring day so I didn't mind if I had to park far from the door.  I'm trying to walk more, anyway.  As I went up and down the aisles in front of the Home Store, it began to look as if I wouldn't get in!  When I finally parked, I realized I was in front of Marshall's.  Okay, I started there.  Since my daughter is always trying to get me to "think outside of the box" or "go beyond my comfort zone", I opened my mind to the possibilities around me and thought "what does a bookend have to do?"  Well, keep books from falling, obviously.  So they need to be heavy, right?  Right.  With that in mind, I went up and down the aisles looking at all the decorative items that were heavy.  In the outdoor decor, I found these:

Not identical, but matching!

I loved the shapes and the colors of the marble.  Not really bookends, they were a little more expensive than I had planned, but I just had to have them.  I left Marshall's and decided that I would go to T. J. Maxx only if I could park.  Lo and behold, I found a spot just two in from the end closest to the door!

In the Home Store, there was a lot more to choose from.  I browsed (it had been years since I was last there) and found this little gem that I just could not resist:

I'm not sure where I'll hang it, but my mother wanted to put it in the living room!  Uh, no.  Probably in the storage/book room, but it's hanging in the kitchen for now.

There were so many bookends to pick from at T.J. Maxx!  I spent a good hour going back and forth, up and down the aisles.  I'd pick up a pair, find another and go put the first ones back.  At first I wanted something different than what I'd gotten at Marshall's.  But as I pondered all the choices, I decided to go with my gut and got two more marble bookends:

A half-sphere and a half-column. 

Again, I went with choices that are not identical, but go together.  These were in the clearance aisle, AND, I can mix and match them with the other marble pieces.

I wanted just one more pair of somethings,  Keeping with the natural substances theme, but something other than marble, I found these soapstone candleholders:

You can't see the holes for candles from this angle.   I'm thinking maybe some fake flower sprigs.

Mission accomplished!

I have a couple of sets of bookends downstairs that I think I'll switch out with the cheap metal ones my dad had.  There are pictures in front of the books down there, so you don't see them anyway.  One set is of brass musical symbols that my brother gave me many years ago for Christmas.  They are special to me because I know he put some thought into it.

I'm still waiting for Brittany to finish her room and get the rest of her stuff downstairs so I can assemble the last two bookcases and get the rest of the books out of my room.  Patience.  Aaaaagh!