Hello everyone!
I cannot believe that May is already almost over! What the heck happened?!
Let me see what I can update you on...
Earlier in the month, my family had a little shindig, which Mike and I were not invited to, so we didn't go, but after hearing how some things went down, I was upset and wanted to head to the Springs. Unfortunately, I would have to wait, as everyone had plans during the time I was going to show up, so I waited.
On the Friday before Mother's Day, I headed to the Springs to see my mom and just spend some time with her before the little get together for Mother's Day. I packed that Friday morning and was running around the house, making sure that I was gathering everything that I was remembering to bring with me. When I rounded the corner, I saw this...
"Mommy, don't go!"
Kitty was not happy to see the bag out of the closet again. He climbed onto my bag and gave me dirty looks the entire time I was gathering things. Eventually, he hopped off my bag and pouted in the spare room. He was really depressed that I was leaving, and I guess he was moping around the house the entire time I was gone. When I came home, he snubbed me for a few hours, but then cuddled with me at night, so all was forgiven. I know that he takes it hard when I leave, and I always feel guilty when I do, but...what can I do? I can't take him with me...and I know that Mike was here to keep him company and give him some reassurance. Mike said that Kitty would meow at him every night, and he would tell him that I wasn't coming home yet. Then the night before I was coming home, Kitty meowed and Mike told him I was returning in the afternoon tomorrow. Kitty seemed to be in better spirits after that.
The drive to the Springs was nice, aside from the crazy people who drive like idiots, but the roads were all clear. When I drove through Rabbit Ears Pass, I was driving through snow filled areas. The roads were still clear, but the snow was on the side of the road, throughout the landscape from Rabbit Ears Pass all the way to Idaho Springs...lots of snow.
As I was driving down I70, before Eisenhower Tunnels, I saw a stunning image of the mountains, and had to get a picture of them.
How I like to see snow...far away and off the roads!
When I arrived to the Springs, I had some alone time with my mom before my brother showed up. I tried to get him to go out to dinner with me, but since we couldn't agree on a place to go, we ended up calling it a night.
The next morning, my mom and I watched half of Bridesmaids, as my brother and his daughter showed up, so we had to put the movie away. I made some of the Chocolate Bread Bites for mom and we spent some time shopping and hanging out.
On Mother's Day, we met up with my mother's parents and one of her sisters for yogurt. My brother and his little family were there as well. We had our yogurt and we talked with them for a while. Willow played with bubbles, getting everyone with them.
I surprised the family by my being in the Springs, but hey, I was invited. I don't live in freaking China, so it's not like the drive down is going to be an inconvenience. Granted, I wouldn't come down every time there was an event going on, but I have people there that I was going to see, and I needed some things from stores there anyways. I have learned that the only time that I get invited to come down is through my mother and friends and that is all I need, I suppose. There's no reason to get upset over spilled milk, as the saying goes.
My mom had sent a text to both my brother and me informing us that she didn't want anything for Mother's Day. So I replied with a text of my own..."No money spent on you, got it." What she may not have realized was that I had already made her something. I have been doing a lot of crayon art projects and made her a painting. I also gave her one of the cards that I made and was selling at the craft shows. I know that she was not happy that I had a present for her, but I know she really liked what I gave her too. It's the little things that mean the most to me, and I'm happy to do it. She deserves the best, and if that is something homemade from the heart, then so be it.
I talked to my grandfather about a lot of different things, and discovered they were returning to Arizona for his health, but decided to stay in the Springs. It's kind of humorous as they were going to move back to AZ, but then decided to stay, but then couldn't find a place in the Springs on the side of town they wanted, so they decided to go to AZ....haha, I know, that's a mouthful to say! The latest update that I have gotten through numerous grapevines is that they have made an offer on a place in AZ that they like. It wasn't the perfect place they wanted, but this one is approved for the reverse mortgage that they wanted/needed? So, I am hoping all goes well for them and that the move will be a permanent one for his health.
One of the shopping trips that my mother and I made was to a craft store. I picked up more canvas for my crayon art and some materials to make a dishwasher magnet. I had seen a couple of neat designs for a dishwasher magnet, and figured that Mike and I could benefit with one, as Mike usually has a hard time finding out when the dishes are clean or dirty, so I made one. I think it turned out really well, and since using it, Mike has stated that he now knows when they are dirty and clean because the magnet tells him so!
Not too shabby!
When I was making the magnet, I realized that in my head, I was thinking the letters would be in calligraphy. One small hiccup...I don't know how to write in calligraphy style. So, I pulled up a letter map on my phone and drew with a pencil on a piece of paper each letter that I needed, then traced it once it was finished. I thought it turned out pretty well for not writing with a calligraphy pen, or knowing how to do it.
I met up with the girls for dinner one night and spent some time talking to them. It was nice to catch up and see them again. I know that we have a lot of ideas to get together again soon, and I so look forward to it! Hopefully, I can convince them to head out my way once or twice this summer for spending time out here, but we shall see!
On my last day in the Springs, I met up with a dear friend that I worked with at Checks Unlimited and she became like my second mother. She gave me lots of advice as I grew older and pushed me in ways that I needed to be pushed. I became the person I am, partly because of her. It had been 8 years since I've seen her and it was nice to catch up with her again. Mike wanted to meet her as well, but because of the day that we were meeting with her, he was unable to make a trip down. We have plans in the works to get together again soon, so that Mike can meet her.
After spending about five days in the Springs, I headed home. The roads were still completely clear and the snow was disappearing. When I got home, I unloaded the car with everything that I had picked up from the stores as well as my things, and when Mike got home, we went out to dinner.
Poor Mike has been suffering from a nasty cold/allergy for a while. Last night was the worst night I've seen him suffer since I've gotten home. I don't know what to do for him, as it really is just a cold. I think lots of rest and fluids will help.
A couple of days after returning home, we had code enforcement on our steps. I shook my head, letting out a couple of curses as I was remembering how it was back in the Springs when our jerk of a neighbor would call his buddy in code enforcement to tell us that our weeds were taller than 6 inches. Of course, taking our ruler outside to measure our weeds, they were just barely taller than 6 inches. Anyways...once the guy left the property, I headed outside to grab the slip he left us. Turns out that our half acre lot was littered with Dalmatian Toadflax. It's a noxious weed. Of course, Mike and I had no clue what it was. With the slip the man left us, was a flyer for a weed removing/pest management company. On it was pictures of 7 Noxious Weeds. The one we were dinged with was also on it. Of course, the pictures have yellow flowers on it. I looked outside to see our bush with yellow flowers on it, and I'm thinking, "If he thinks our bush is this weed...this is stupid!"
So, I call Mike, who called me back and I explain the situation. He told me to look at google images to see if I can get a better picture, and agreed with me to call the number on the flyer to have the people come out and take a look to see if it was the bush or if there was something else we weren't seeing. I hop on google images and I see this picture...
Dalmatian Toadflax...Noxious Weed, Pain in the Arse
I see this image and look outside again. I now see why code enforcement was at our step. The whole country is littered with them! So, I go outside and start to pull some out. Of course, the ground is dry and it's hard to get them out. After doing a grid of 5x5, which took me about 30-45 minutes to do, I headed back inside, out of the sun and heat and called the number on the flyer. As luck would have it, the company was open Monday through Thursday...this happened on Friday. So, I would have to wait until Monday to call. In the meantime, we were getting rainstorm after rainstorm.
Saturday, I was invited to a friend's house for breakfast, and it was a lot of fun. After a couple hours hanging out and talking, and when there was a break in the rainstorm, I headed home and began to clean and organize our garage and basement. Now, what I forgot to mention earlier/above, when I was in the Springs, my niece and I were playing. She would knock me down, giving me a knee to the ribcage and then would help me up, only to knock me down again. (she's two, by the way). When she knocked me down, I grabbed her before she could run away and I lifted her a couple of times, like a bench press before releasing her. What I didn't realize at the time, was that by doing that with her, I created several micro-tears in my shoulder. Certain movements would cause pain in my left shoulder, and of course, it just needs time to heal by doing light duty activities...
Now, with that in mind, I start cleaning and organizing our garage and basement with this hurt shoulder. Mike gave me a small lecture about light duty, but as I explained to him, I want to have some down time, to have fun playing games with him, and not having to worry about all of the things around the house that has to be done.
During my cleaning in the garage, I didn't run into any issues, aside from some old moldy boxes that I threw away, but I knew the basement was going to be a different story. As I started moving things and cleaning, I moved a blanket that was used to keep pictures safe, and I see movement. I groaned and cringed, just knowing what was under the blanket. Of course, I was holding one of my swords as I was using it to move the blanket around. As I got it turned over, I saw what was moving and cringed again. Black widow spider, sitting on the blanket. Ugh! I freaking hate spiders, and it's even worse when you know how dangerous they can be! I grabbed a shoe that Mike left by the back door and used it to kill the bugger numerous times. Ugh! Double ugh!
After running into that wonderful surprise, I continued on my quest to clean and organize the basement. As soon as I pulled out on of the big boxes that cannot be broken down, to use to place more boxes inside, I pulled back the flap to see a big wolf spider. AH!
I grabbed the bug killer that was sitting on the stairs and sprayed it until it was sopping wet, and of course, I was coughing from the fumes, and then I slammed the flap down onto the full box several times, making sure to kill the spider. Once I was satisfied that it was dead, I put the box into the garage, just to be safe that no more eight legged friends could surprise me like that again...If you haven't guess, I hate spiders! I don't care how big or small, how harmless...you come into my house, you die. Plain and simple. Of course, I know our unfinished basement has a lot more than what I saw, and I hate the basement for that reason. I need to figure a way to keep them out of the house!
Anyways...so on Monday, I call and leave a message for the weed people, and Mike went to have his eye appointment as well as a couple other errands. I started making some gluten free pudding from scratch when I hear him come home. In his hands, he is holding coffee for the two of us. It made my morning. Once we finished making lunch and the pudding, we played some games and just enjoyed having a nice down day, which we both really needed!
The day went by, no return phone call from the weed people. Okay, we are on a time crunch, people! I'm not sure if it is a small town thing or what, but we have had issues with calling people/companies and not getting any sort of reply or if we set up an appointment, they don't show up or call that they aren't coming! Mike got himself a free membership with Angie's List because no one here had one. So, he's been writing reviews on places!
Anyways, so because we are pressed for time, and no one called, I got up yesterday and headed outside to start my project of pulling those stupid weeds. It would have been nice if the deer would just eat them, but I guess they know that those weeds are noxious and not good for them. As I opened the garage to head outside, I noticed something moving quickly into the garage, and I looked down, heart beating fast. I laughed as I saw what was just booking it to get inside. I thought something was after the little guy, but he was just on a mission!
Walking with Purpose!
I took the little guy back outside, where he was determined to head back towards the house again. I scolded him again as I placed him further from the house. I'm sure he found his way back to the house and in the garage, but I was busy working in the yard to keep tabs on him.
So, I started where I left off the other day, and it helped that the ground was still slightly wet from all of the storms we were getting. 6 hours and some sunburns later, I finished pulling the numerous weeds out and bagging them. As my luck would have it, as soon as I plopped the bags by the road, weed guy calls me. I didn't answer, and he left a message. I was so angry! I think it's just stupid that this would happen.
This morning, I am walking like an old man. My legs are stiff and hurting, after doing squats for 6 hours, I guess that's just what happens!
I forgot to mention earlier, but I picked up a small window herb garden so that Mike and I can have some basil for pesto, and they are starting to sprout! I'm so excited to see that they are growing! I was doubting the window planter, as it was something that I picked up at Barnes & Noble, but I guess they are doing well. They will take a while before growing to full size, but at least they are growing!
When I was in the Springs, Mike texted me to tell me that our garbage disposal wasn't working. We both decided that it was time to just replace the kitchen sink and faucet and look into replacing the disposal and getting a water purifier installed as well. We've picked out the sink and faucet, but we are still working on getting this in the works. I think tomorrow we have a guy coming out to look at the sink and pipes for the purifier. Depending on what happens, I guess will depend on how much longer it will take to replace. I'm looking forward to having them fixed and in better condition than what we currently have.
I've made a lot of new things, and I have posted the recipes already. I've got a few other things that I am going to be trying soon, so keep a look out for those.
Um...I'm not sure what else, and I'm sure that I've left some details out, but I'm all over the place today!
I've been keeping up on my writing and reading, and have been getting a lot of great feedback! It's been helping me perfect my skill and continue with the works for publishing!
Well, I think that's it...
Until next time!
