After the rain...comes rainbows

Yesterday I did a whole slew of errands, which meant driving in heavy rain, which I find nerve-wracking, almost the whole day. Finally, at 5:42 PM, while I was going to get my holds at the Tates Creek branch of the Lexington Public Library, I was rewarded. It immediately disintegrated after I took this, so I was lucky. 🥰🌈

I stopped at the circulation desk and asked if they wanted a copy. The librarian gave me her work email, so I sent it to her.

Frustration

It's been really dreary outside, and I've been listening to Ella Fitzgerald on Pandora, so I haven't done much more than my regular PT exercises, taken my meds (well, I'm working on that right now), dealt with the pump (only because it was necessary) and ate a banana. I'm ready to crawl back into bed. I have not done the ROMTech after the frustration of last night. I did not finish my fourth session or attempt my fifth one...instead I need to see if they're open on Sundays and they can help as my feet keep falling out of the pedals whenever we increase the pedal radius. I kept hitting the stop button but it would reset the session and I would lose my progress instead of starting back up so I know I'm doing something wrong. Unfortunately there is nothing on the machine or the website that is the same as the setup instructions given by the rep, just a specifications document on the machine and a brochure for why you have your doctor prescribe it. I may just Google it for YouTube or such rather than rely on the company, but really, not all of us process auditorily well. Why not just give a stupid information sheet, either on paper or online? Have they never heard of a FAQ? But I do want the acetaminophen to kick in before I start that, so maybe 10?

I am more than a little tired of rain...

The heavens opened up just as I was leaving work today. The window of the shuttle leaked on the way to the parking lot, leaving the right side of my skirt quite wet, and then on the way to the car, I was absolutely soaked. The picture does not do justice to the sheer amount of water. I was so very wet down to my skin, and that was WITH an umbrella.

It's been a very wet Fourth so far

so I don't know if there will be fireworks tonight. I got up by 8:15 (but it was lovely to sleep in that much), and while I've been moving slowly, I have paid my bills through the first third of this month, except for two that come out automatically, and I've added that in my cheque register. I'm still coughing and snotty, but I feel better. I'm going to go over to YKWIA's in a couple of hours and we'll do something together. I haven't taken the trash out because the rain has been pouring, although I think it has eased up a little. So I think my next thing to do is work on the book review that's due tomorrow. It's a text on managing electronic resources, so hopefully, it will be a good read. I also need to check the Kentucky library job list--I think there's a job closing tomorrow with the state. I'm going to try to work on the books after spending some time with my friend.

Hope you're having a great and happy Fourth of July.

Well, that was an adventure

I got up early again today (well, 6:45, which is not all that early in the grand scheme of thing, but better than the 8:30 or 9 I was doing). I got up, got ready, had breakfast, took my meds, called the parking office, realised I had books due at the library yesterday (so I got the list of them and put them in a bag to take back before they opened, so they wouldn't be overdue). I then drove to the library, put the books in the book drop, then drove to UK. The drive was pretty light, and I got there at 8:30 or so. Most of the parking was already taken, it looked like, so it's good I'll be going in at 8 in the morning rather than later. The lady at the office had said there was metered parking near a construction zone, but made it seem like it was in the parking garage on Press Street itself, just like they are, and so I went through the garage, didn't see any, and was about to leave and see what I could find when I saw the meters, outside, by the construction fence. Without thinking, I shifted into reverse (I'd encountered no one so far) and promptly ran into the front of the car behind me. I got out, then got back in and move the car slightly forward so we could inspect, but there was thankfully no damage. I apologised, we said goodbye, and I pulled into a meter space and put a quarter in.

Getting the actual hang tag was pretty easy. I paid for the full 12 weeks, and a little more, through August 31st, because I wasn't exactly sure when this will end. So now I have a hang tag, and can park Monday morning when I go in. I also picked up some information on parking, a map, and a Valvoline $15 coupon off an oil change, which I need. Some of my co-workers park in that garage, others in the Orange Lot off Cooper, where there is a shuttle. Either is a fairly short walk, maybe 10-15 minutes for most people, which means 20-25 minutes for me.

Having escaped the office, I proceeded carefully down the street, past the medical centre and the Orange lot, through the roundabouts on Alumni, and over to Kroger on Chinoe, got a couple of things, and made it back before it started raining--and had the forethought to take one of the umbrellas in the car (there are four) with me. It is now raining really hard, but it's coming in onto the window boxes, so I'm fine with that--it was time to water them again. Still, I don't think I'll be going to the pool any time soon.

My plan on Monday is to get up at 6 am, be parked by 7:30, and then work my way to the medical centre and report for duty by 8. I need a short orientation and then I need to fill out the paperwork they're preparing. I don't need a TB skin test--I'm good till the autumn, and they have that record. I need to find out what exactly is the dress code for the department, as it varies. (Clinic was never supposed to have open-toed shoes, for example). It's not direct patient care, but it might have that. Also, most of the people in the department wear scrubs or T-shirts and scrubs, but I doubt they'll have me buy scrubs for the short period I'll be there. I think my normal office casual things should be okay, it's just a question as to whether I can wear sandals, really. And I need to make sure they're still doing the jeans on Fridays. :)

Wow, we're actually getting a little thunder. I can barely see through my screens, they're so wet. Nice. I've been so intent on typing and the rain, I forgot my TV was still 'connecting' to Pandora, and I had some sort of morning show running in the background. Got that fixed, anyway. Okay, I guess I should continue to be productive, although I don't have anything I have to do at the moment, so I may just take a break and watch the rain. :)

A rainy sick day

There's a fairly decent, steady rain falling right now, and it's gloomy and cool. I've got the windows open because I'm still running hot, with a small desk fan on me. I woke up about 5:30 am coughing pretty badly, got up at 6:45, took the over-the-counter medicine and fed the fish (they're getting the hang of the fact that food comes from the heavens after the light goes from nighttime blue to daylight), and went back to bed. At 9:30 I called YKWIA, because I have some medicine of his, but he said to just bring it later when I take someone over there. I also called the pharmacy, which had left a message with my home phone. They forgot to put one of my medicines in the bag (which explains why it wasn't there; I was afraid it had fallen somewhere in the car), so I'll have to go get that later, too, as it's a cough suppressant that I need. They'd tried to get me before I left the parking lot, but the number they had was at the apartment, so I gave them my cell phone for future reference. I then took my antibiotic and steroids, all my regular meds, and waited a few minutes (one of my medicines requires that before eating to work), then ate some burritos for breakfast.

Even the golden algae eater is out. It's doing a great job at uncovering the rocks, which were green and are now their normal colours.

So I don't have to be anywhere till about 3:30 pm. I feel worse today, actually. I'd like to watch something like 'The Handmaid's Tale' or 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', but I'm just not up to that, or reading. I may listen to some music. But I don't want to sleep the whole day away, even if I'm not up to doing much of anything, including working on the apartment.

I've watered the inside plants (the outside ones are getting a pretty good dose of rainwater, even the ones under the porch near the living room, as it sometimes blows in). All five of my umbrellas are in the car, so hopefully it won't be raining quite so hard when I go out.

Yes, I know, it's time to deadhead.

I just feel awful. I'd like to start adding news stories here again, but I just am not up to that today. And I'm trying not to whinge. Sorry, I'm not particularly interesting in my writing today. But at least I didn't have any appointments today or any real plans.

I think I'll go put some soothing music on and go back to bed for awhile. I can get up in an hour or so and take a shower, anyway, get ready, and then maybe I'll feel better, or at least clean out some of this nasal congestion. Take care.

I have the windows open

and it has been so long since it rained, that I didn't immediately recognise the sound of raindrops. :)

Wow

I just went from one side of town and back during a robust rainstorm.  The lightning and thunder weren't too bad,  but there was lots of standing water and it was very hard to see even with the windshield wipers going full speed.  I'm glad to be home,  even though I am a bit damp (well,  more than that) from the dash into the apartment building.  I'm glad the pharmacy has an overhang above their drive through,  though.  :)

There's a torrential downpour outside

and it's very dark and gloomy; without the lights on inside I could barely see where I was going. It might as well be dusk. I'm glad I got the stuff to go outside taken out and taken care of. The geraniums are being watered, at least. I just hope the power stays on. I've got the windows closed and the air conditioning back on, as it was very muggy.

At some point this morning, I rethought my plan of attack for the house. I was so zombie-like this morning from lack of sleep, and it's not like I plan on going anywhere else today except the fireworks tonight (unless it's doing this outside), and I'm also off for two doctor's appointments a very short distance away tomorrow, and the first one isn't till noon. So I went back to sleep from about 10 am to noon, and feel much better. I need more caffeine, though, and I'm not going out right now. :) The rain and gloominess are making me sleepy.

Apparently having my power off reset both the boom box radio (which isn't a big deal, as it has a numerical indicator of what station it's on) and the tower speaker (which is, as there is no indication whatsoever as to where you are on the dial). I tried syncing them up by sound, but couldn't get the station I wanted to come in on the speaker. I'll try later.

A few random things from today

1. I discovered my betta had died today. I'm not sure if I'll replace him; it's only a three-gallon tank, and while it has a filter and bubbles and all, it's not ideal for a fish, and one can't go in the same tank (a 29 gallon long) with the goldfish because he'd probably fight with them, as bettas are terribly territorial.
2. I went to move my flamingo plant today in order to open the window and there were hundreds of ants (with pupae) underneath. Gross. I put the saucer on the windowsill next to the ant bait so they can either go outside or take the bait that's nearby. It was swarming too much to take it out through the apartment and the hall to the outside, so I just used the window screen.
3. I have a terrible sinus headache that has lasted for hours. It looks like it'll storm, and it's definitely supposed to rain tomorrow, I think. I'm going to lie down in a little while and see if that helps, after taking some ibuprofen.
4. I've visited a friend and helped him with a few things. He wasn't feeling great either and decided to lie down, so I came on home. I'll go back about 7 pm to help feed the animals and see if he's doing better.
5. I saw a great interview by a young woman with autism with Channing Tatum earlier. She uses a pad to communicate. It was her first interview, and she did a great job. She's got quite a sense of humour. Her name is Carly Fleischmann. YKWIA showed it to me, and we both liked it.
6. I usually pick a grey horse for the Kentucky Derby, if there is one running. This year, there are actually four on the roster, at least three with the same sire. I'm going to go with Creator, I think. Yesterday the odds were 10-1. I'm going to make sure I get up in time to watch the Derby. What can I say, it's a big thing here in Kentucky. Even if you're not partying or at the tracks, you're probably going to tune in for the actual race if you can.
7. I learned that I am incapable of using a 2-bladed razor, apparently, without doing bodily harm to myself, so I went to the store and got a five-bladed razor and some more shave cream to prevent 'cuts and nicks' in the future. I had a time stopping the bleeding, and finally slapped a giant Band-Aid on it. Maybe I should have looked for a styptic pencil as well.
8. When I went to open the window, I also discovered my aloe had lost its root structure, and while it is still alive, has nothing to anchor or nurture it, so it is essentially the unwalking dead. I rather like aloe, so that's sad. On the other hand, I took some bits that had fallen off my Christmas cactus and put them in dirt, oh, a couple of weeks ago, maybe, and one is budding. Yes, budding. So not only has it rooted, it's getting ready to bloom.
9. Having a headache is detrimental to my grasp of grammar--I had to make three corrections to this post, and two weren't typos. :( Hey, it happens sometimes when I'm tired or in pain, what can I say. At least I proofread both before and after I post.

I guess that's it for now. I'm going to go rest and see if I can take care of my headache. I'll probably write later.

Well, one nice thing

I have reached my 60 minutes of daily activity goal, and surpassed it by 24 minutes, and it's not quite 5:30 pm. I have also recovered, and made it through a fairly large grocery run without feeling run down, tired, or short of breath. I rested a lot between exercising and say, 2 pm, then went over to my friends' house, went through the grocery list, took A to the store, got a fair amount of groceries for me (yesterday's run was a small one; now I have enough for several days), put everything away, and then left them to a walk now that the rain has stopped (at least for now), and came home and put my groceries away. I think I finally feel caffeinated and ready to do stuff around here. The rain's really made me sleepy all day. I've put on some peppy music, and now I'm going to make a battle plan of what I want to get accomplished today. Tomorrow we decided to cancel the game, although Brenda could have played, so we can go through some things and get them ready for Monday. YKWIA and I are also going to watch a movie I have out from Netflix, The Wicker Tree, which is done by the same folks who came up with the original The Wicker Man, which I love. It will be interesting to see what they've done with this. It'll be a good thing to watch for Beltane/May Day. :)

When we were coming from the store, I saw across the road in a grassy place a crow trying to attack a bunny rabbit, the latter of which channelled the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and basically it jumped at the crow and told it to f*ck off. I'm thinking it was a mother rabbit protecting her babies. I do love the bunny with the big gnashy teeth from the movie. YKWIA has a stuffed animal version of it.

I did get ant bait, so we'll see if it'll work. It's the stuff made by Hot Shot. I hate using poison, but hey, I'm tired of the little bugs crawling all over the place (and me).

Okay, time to create a battle plan.

No good deed goes unpunished

So I came home after a day of feeling like I'd been beaten down (usually I love my work; today, it involved lots of problems with the copiers, and that was not fun), talked to a friend on the phone, played on Facebook for awhile, ate eggs, and basically got myself in a better mood, so much, in fact, that I decided to go over to the gym and work out. I put on clean workout shorts and my Angry Dalek shirt (it's a 'Doctor Who' version of my Soft Kitty shirt), and then I walked over there. I didn't bring an umbrella, because it wasn't raining yet, and I decided if it started, I'd just stay and work out longer. A woman was there in the gym, I said hello. She was taking a picture of herself in the mirror, and in trying to stay out of her way, I went to the treadmill that had her glasses and keys on it. She came to move her stuff, I apologised, went to the other treadmill, and as soon as I was about to punch up my workout tracker, I got a phone call.

Sigh.

I knew A was out and about after work, getting a massage, but I thought he'd be on the bus by then. No, he missed the bus, and if I didn't go get him, it would probably be about two hours before he got home, as the buses go to 70 minutes between runs, and if you don't get them right during the changeover, it can mean sitting at the transit centre for a long time. So I went, of course.

Ten feet out the door and the heavens opened up. I walked over to the car, soaked to the skin--my socks, my hair, my bra, everything, pretty much. I got in the car and drove down Alumni in the driving rain. Fortunately, it eased up by the time I got to the double roundabouts. Meanwhile, I was nervously looking at my gas gauge (on empty--I get paid late tonight/early tomorrow), waiting for the gas light to come on. I got A, took him home, and the gas light came on as he was going through the door. Fortunately it just sprinkled from there. I got home (I live 10-15 minutes away), came in, got out of the wet clothes and into my sleep shirt. I don't really feel like working out anymore tonight. I've been trying to do it in the mornings, but while I have been getting up early (as in 7 am), I haven't been getting up by 6 am, which is what I need to do that. So I figured I'd try to work out this evening, because, after all, I didn't have to be at an appointment, I wasn't planning on going over to my friends' house, and I figured A was on the bus. I think I'll go back to trying to do things in the morning; the afternoons just don't ever work for me.

At least it didn't rain into the windows--I didn't stop to come in and put them down. The windowboxes got a good soaking, though, which is good. I went ahead and watered the indoor plants as well.

I just listened to a couple of messages on my home phone. Apparently a hospital from another state is looking for a man who owes on his bill, and he needs to call his insurance and give them information before they'll pay. Mind you, I'm in an area code hundreds of miles away, but with cell phones, that's understandable. On the other hand, my message identifies my number and my name, makes no mention of this person, etc. Bad hospital, leaving personal information on a complete stranger's voicemail. They also did not leave a number to call back, and I can't trust the one that showed up, as those often are wrong, so I can't call to tell them that they are leaving messages at the wrong number. I'd be surprised if they ever get paid at this rate.

I didn't have any mail earlier, but when I came back, there was a mail truck outside the building. Apparently it's a new mail carrier--after he did deliver to our building (I still didn't get anything, but hey, at least there were no bills), he got a new batch of mail and started to come down our stairs, then realised the numbers on the building didn't match. Poor guy; I'm sure he came around with someone else at some point, but things are often hard when you start flying solo on the job. Our mail normally comes at 3:30 pm--I know because of three months laid up with a broken ankle, when our regular guy came like clockwork. It was about 7:30 pm when this guy came, so that's surprisingly late. Oh, well, I wish him well.

For awhile now, cool Indian music has been coming from above me (I have my windows open). It's stopped now. There are a lot of South Asian families and singles here in the complex. For awhile someone was doing home-cooked Indian meals for a very reasonable price, which I never took them up on, and now I regret that.

I also regret never going to the restaurant Coba Cocina, with its jellyfish tanks, because they closed for good yesterday. It's so hard for restaurants to make it, of course, even ones run by experienced restauranteurs (the owner is also the one for the Lexington Cheddars, and a couple of others). Everyone I talked to who went said it was decent, but didn't really wow them. So I guess that was part of it. One of the main reasons I didn't go, even though it was one street over from work, was that it always looked terribly busy when I went by. So I was surprised in a way, even though I've been telling myself since it opened that I should go see the jellyfish before they inevitably close, because restaurants are such a risky business. I wonder what will become of the jellyfish?

Oh, well. It's almost 8 pm. I should do some dishes and some straightening up, as the Terminix people come tomorrow. I'm not on my last legs in terms of being tired, but I must admit, the rain has made me sleepy. It's too late to take a nap, and it's too early to really turn in for the night. So maybe I should just listen to music and work on the house for a bit. Or read. Reading sounds great, even though there are other things that should be done. Good night.

So, between all the activity yesterday and the caffeine I drank to get through it

I think I slept something like three hours tops last night. Now I'm up, I've just finished some Greek yoghurt and raspberries, and I've turned all the lights back on. It's gloomy outside and grey, raining, 57 degrees and thundering. What an odd Christmas!

When I was a kid, one of my friends, Jody Sauers, I believe, got to open presents on Christmas Eve, and when I found out I argued the case for doing so in our house, too. We compromised. I was allowed to open one present each year on Christmas Eve. It was always my paternal grandmother's, and it always had new pyjamas or gowns for me to wear that night. It became a tradition. We lived all over the country, and were rarely home in Kentucky on Christmas, but my grandmother's presents made me feel closer to family. My grandmother's been gone since 1993. I still miss her, and the others in my life who have passed. And every year, I think of her and our tradition.

Okay, time to get ready to go out into the gloom and dreary day. Merry Christmas.

TGIF

I'm so glad it's Friday. I already have a request with friends to sleep in tomorrow barring any urgent matters coming up. Having three positions in the hospital right now is kicking my butt (I'm subbing for an ill co-worker, so I work as a librarian, a revenue cycle data entry clerk, and now I'm scheduling.) I've been doing it for about 3-4 weeks. Next week promises to be super-busy. It's nice to demonstrate that I can be flexible and darn near indispensable, of course. But I feel like I'm constantly juggling with several balls in the air at once.

This morning I was lying in bed after my alarm went off. Even though I'd slept from 11 pm to 7 am without waking up once, I felt drained. But not sick. And I so desperately wanted to call in, take a day to just rest. The clock was ticking away (Friday I'm supposed to be there at 7:30 am). And then I realised that if I did call in and take a mental health day (which isn't something I would normally even consider), I'd have to call three different bosses, and I decided it was just easier to get up, get a shower, and hope I felt less achy and tired by the time I got there. It took less time to do that than call in. I got to work and did feel better. But I definitely plan on trying to get some rest this weekend. I think I was picking up on the rain coming in and the change of temperature, and that's why I was aching all over (I don't normally dwell on it, but I do have fibromyalgia, and that can make you feel like you've been hit by a truck when the weather changes quickly.)

Anyway, I think I'm going to take a little ibuprofen, and then I'm going to try some reading. Good night.

Today I:

1. Had a hard time waking up.
2. Forgot to put my dentures in (I retrieved them later).
3. Got criticised for my hair (back with a band that looks like braided hair) and an earring with a cuff that has a butterfly on it.
4. Got half a tank of gas, as I was on my gas light, which was good, as gas prices went up later in the day.
5. Took a friend to the doctor and laboratory.
6. Took him home.
7. Went to work.
8. Had a spicy grilled feta cheese sandwich and some fries at my desk.
9. Drove through a torrential downpour, with lots of water on the road, accidents, trees down, lights off, stalled cars, etc., but with minimal trouble, as I was just careful. I did almost hit someone who came out of an apartment complex across two lanes of traffic while I was coming up into the turn lane to the side of them, as I almost didn't see her in time, but it was all okay.
10. Went and got three medicines for two friends, plus mine, at the pharmacy.
11. Brought over the meds.
12. Got tickled. A lot.
13. Took a friend to the grocery store. Got plums, soda, and a pint of chocolate milk for myself. Failed to get fish food, and the goldfish are out of theirs.
14. Came home and got in before it started raining again.
15. Ate a plum and a can of lima beans for dinner.
16. Checked out Facebook, the news, and Google Play.

Tomorrow the plan is (I'm off from work):

1. Go to my psychologist at 8 in the morning to get the full results of my testing.
2. Go get my friend and take him to Frankfort for an errand.
3. Go to my ophthalmologist.
4. Go by the library and return two books I should have returned today.
5. Go by the pharmacy and exchange a medicine that was accidentally switched with another one that was needed.
6. Pick up a friend at work.
7. Take said friend home to eat some dinner himself, as well as feed his animals.
8. Take said friend to class.
9. Teach the Wednesday night class.
10. Take him home.
11. Check on my other friend.
12. Go home and crash.

I really should go over the material for class tonight. I may. Or I may just turn in early and hope to get it done while I'm waiting at various waiting rooms tomorrow. :)

Cool!

Lynda.com is here!

Holders of Lexington Public Library cards can now take courses at Lynda.com (a LinkedIn company) for free. From the Lexington Public Library's description at the above link:

Lynda.com helps anyone learn software, creative, and business skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Users receive unlimited access to a vast library of high quality, current, and engaging video tutorials taught by great teachers who are also working professionals.

Why Lynda.com?

• Access to 3,599 courses and 274,000 tutorials.
• New courses added every week to keep your skills up to date with the fast-changing pace of technology.
• Switch back and forth between devices without ever losing your place.
• The playlists feature lets you create and manage a list of courses you want to watch, and bookmarks tag specific videos for reference.
• Courses are presented in small chunks, so it’s easy to find quick answers to specific questions. You can also watch an entire course from end to end if you choose.
• Instructors are respected professionals in their fields, and passionate about sharing their expertise.
• Compelling videos use screenshots, narration, live action, smart boards, charts, graphics, and audio.
• Creative Inspirations series goes behind the scenes with creative professionals and industry veterans to show how extraordinary products, ventures, and careers come to be.
• Read along with closed-captioned transcripts—or search the text to quickly find information within a course.
• Earn certificates of completion for each course viewed, and show coworkers, friends, and potential employers what you’ve accomplished.

The link to get there is at the page above, or you can click here: http://www.lexpublib.org/sites/default/dbforward.php?dbname=43220 and save it to your browser favourites/bookmarks. Apparently library access is not available through their mobile application, so check out the caveat at the bottom of the announcement page on using it on a mobile device through the broweser. Hope you enjoy this! I've looked through it and there's a lot on Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, some on personal finance, lots of technology stuff.

And it is now raining cats and dogs. Time for a nap, caffeine be damned.

I need caffeine

So, I slept till 10:45 am today after getting to sleep about 12:30 am. But still, a good amount of sleep. I got up, ate the last two breakfast sandwiches I had, and called my friends to see if I needed to come over at some point today for a project that we need to do together. I investigated it a little, and we could either order something online and it will take it up to a month to get here, or I could take him to another city in the state and get it within a couple of hours, and I'm off a day next week and could do it in between my two doctors' appointments, I think. It was all gloomy outside, and I hadn't heard back from them, so I went back to bed until A called me at about 1:45. I told him the options, and he'll get them to my other friend, who also asleep, as he'd had insomnia last night. So I decided I wasn't getting much of anything done, so I'd go in search of caffeine and also check the pool out.

The Coke machine in the laundry room was out of Diet anything, and since I had locked the apartment already and was unshowered and in just an old shirt and shorts, but otherwise presentable, I drove up to the Circle K nearby and got a couple of Diet Sunkist drinks and some ice. It should jump start me somewhat.

The pool was deserted. It's cloudy, and not as warm and muggy as I thought it was. The sun keeps trying to peek out, but fails for more than a few minutes, so I haven't decided on the pool. It's only 76 degrees and there are scattered showers popping up all over the radar map around us. In fact, all of the weather applications on my phone report rain for Lexington at the moment, so it may be raining nearby. Maybe later this afternoon.

With the Fourth on a Saturday, it's a little interesting. I'm off work. City offices, trash pickup, etc., are off. I've seen the mail run (I guess they'll be off tomorrow) and FedEx come by. [Yay, this moment, the sun totally broke through the clouds, although I don't know how long that will last!] I'm assuming the banks are on holiday today and tomorrow, as at least two people I know got paid early. [And now I hear thunder. :(]

A said he looked at the weather and while tomorrow may be cloudy, the chance of rain is highest after midnight, so the festivals, cookouts, and fireworks may just go off as planned. I usually go to the Festival downtown, and watch the parade (we're the only ones they allow, with our badges as proof). I'm not sure if I'll do that this year, as it depends on the weather, what my other activities are, and the like. But I definitely want to go watch the Idle Hour fireworks, and I can park at the hospital I work at and then just spread a blanket on the front lawn to watch.

Okay, I've had a couple of glasses of soda. I think it's beginning to kick in. The sun is still shining, and I can hear cicadas. A butterfly just went by the window. It might turn out to be a nice day after all.

Home (and slightly damp)

It's raining, and I took my umbrella out of the office yesterday because it was raining then, and forgot to bring one back with me this morning. I had two gigantic (okay, really big) flower arrangements to get home that were donated and with most people gone from the hospital, they would have just died without any real enjoyment, so they gave them to me to brighten up things here, which is great, because, being single, I pretty much only get flowers when I buy them, and these are much bigger than I could afford. [They're usually donated funeral flowers.] Anyway, they smell wonderful and are a combination of roses, lilies, snapdragons, Canterbury bells, and lots of greenery, and they make me happy. So thank you to whomever. They were a challenge to get home intact, but I did manage, even with the rain. I think there is a high percentage chance that the Fourth of July celebrations will fizzle rather than sizzle due to the weather. I have tonight and all of tomorrow (it is our holiday at work, since July 4th is on a Saturday) as a time to spend some quality time alone, and that makes me uneasy. It's not that I'm afraid to be alone; it's more that I'm uncomfortable by myself. When I was younger, I was so introverted and pretty much alone most of the time, and it didn't bother me at all. Now, I have to really work at doing anything other than just going to sleep when I'm by myself.

Speaking of funeral flowers, I did get some sad news, although I'm waiting to see it in the paper because I don't necessarily trust social media for death information, but it seems that one of my co-workers at the gas station, a lovely woman who was very caring and worked very hard, whom I've mentioned here after her diagnosis when they were trying to fund the chemo for her cancer treatment, has died. A couple of weeks ago the doctors told her she had maybe six months to live and put her in hospice. She was just two weeks younger than I, a mother, grandmother--and just a great person. If this is true, I am so sorry to hear it; I know she struggled through two cancers in her life, and that's a shame. I enjoyed working with her and keeping up with her on Facebook, but I hadn't talked to her for awhile, although I did message her. But I'm glad she is at peace now, and no longer in pain. Rest in peace, Teressa. If I can find funeral information, I will try to go to it.

I wish today had been sunnier and warmer

I know we do need the rain, but I'd hoped to go back into the pool today, but I don't think it even made it into the sixties in terms of temperature, and it rained most of the day and even now is very cloudy and could spit rain at any moment. Welcome to June, after several days of 80s in May. :)

Finally, sun!

After a rainy day of going to the vet and to the grocery store, I am home and have put the geraniums back out on the window ledge, where they are soaking up the newly-arrived sunshine. Earlier today, while over at my friends' house, I watched a somewhat contentious episode of 'The Vicar of Dibley', which tried to bring attention to poverty, as well as dealing with Geraldine's 40th birthday, and followed up with 'The Bishop of Dibley', a one-off for charity on Red Nose Day, which put Jim's tendency to stutter out 'no' to good (or rather, bad) use. I mention the poverty episode as being contentious, as apparently some found it either too liberal, some heavy-handed, perhaps violating impartiality rules at the BBC, or just plain annoying. I really do like the show, although the entire village are insane, save perhaps David Horton, and Geraldine herself, but even she has her moments, and they all belong in an episode of 'Midsomer Murders', I think. They would give the police aneurysms.

The plan is to watch 'Salem' today, but when we got back from the grocery, YKWIA was napping and I realised I did not have my medicine, so I just came on home and will go back over later if and when they call me. In the meantime, I think I may have a nap myself, and then maybe work on the living room.