November 26th - Black Friday indeed....

Yes, this morning began drizzly and dreary.  At least that's what I saw at 7 am - I don't know what those midnight or three am shoppers experienced.

Me, I was up because I had a repairman scheduled to arrive between eight and noon to replace my faucet.  They called me about eight fifteen to say he was on his way  - and I guess he arrived about quarter to ten.

Not the same guy as before but still a very nice and competent plumber.  He really liked  my house and the neighborhood - seems he'd lived across the river back in the eighties, so he knew a lot about the area.  But like most people, he didn't know this street existed.

He appreciated company as he liked to chat while he worked, and although I probably could have saved money and replaced the faucet myself - considering it took an expert about an hour to get it all finished - most of that time spent rather contorted under the sink -I'm just as glad I splurged and paid to have it done.

So now I have hot as well as cold water which makes handwashing greasy pans much simpler....I only hope the oven repair goes as well.

The repairman left about 11 am, and I decided to go see if my hairdresser was working.  For some reason my hair is growing really fast, and so even just six weeks between appointments is too long.  Although I had to park at the far end of the lot, all the shoppers were at Best Buy - the Hair Cuttery wasn't busy at all.

While she worked on me she told me about how for the first time she'd gone shopping at midnight at Walmart where she broke a nail struggling over bargain towel.  At least I "think" that's what she said - her english isn't the greatest and my vietnamese is nonexistent.

If I was to come into a lot of money, I think the first thing I'd do is hire her to blowdry my hair every morning, because I always leave there feeling good.


So then I had to head over to the liquor store because I was out of rum....and that just cannot happen.


The winetasting wasn't anything exciting, but of course I took a few samples anyhow....which must be what gave me the idea to try a bit of shopping.....that, and the fact that I found a prime parking space right in front of Target.

Athough the store wasn't very crowded - it looked as if a bomb had gone off in a couple of departments, so I imagine it must have been quite an experience a few hours earlier.  I was really only in there to pick up some shoe inserts (I'd read an article suggesting they might help with my knee pain) and a loaf of bread.....but as I was wandering through the grocery section (ours has fresh fruit and vegetables and meats)...I came across a nice sirloin steak already on sale for 4 dollars a lb and then marked an additional 3 dollars off because it was close to the sell by date.   It ended up costing me 1.63.

So I guess I did end up finding a Black Friday bargain after all.

Hope all of you had a great day......and even if you didn't - the good news is that we get two more shots at it before it's Monday again :)

November 14th - Right here, right now

there is no other place I'd rather be.

I can't take credit for that thought - it comes from Jesus Jones (quite appropriate for a Sunday, isn't it?)



Anyhow, if you've ever been sitting somewhere and felt totally and completely in tune with everything around you and just known you were where you were supposed to be....then you know how I felt last night.  And that feeling has stayed with me and colored today a lovely pink - much like the rosebud that surprised me this morning.

I'm hoping that the warm temperatures continue so that the little thing has a chance to flower. 

But whatever it does, I know that I'm flowering......I've reconnected with the joy that comes from a job well done.

After considering everyone's advice about the leaves I decided to take the middle road and mow everything but not worry about the bag, my mower is a mulching one.

Goodbye mower - see you in the spring.........

Which reminds me - I was talking about my sense of accomplishment - here is how my yard looked when I moved in last June.

Slightly different angle but the same trees.

I had a coupon for 15% off at Ollies - which is a local version of Big Lots and a wonderful place to wander through.....like a flea market but of good stuff.  The good stuff I found this time was a stainess steel landscape lighting set that includes a couple of spotlights so I can highlight the base of that giant pine as well as have some better lighting around my garden and hot tub area. I paid 25 dollars for it :).

I also found this kit to put wheels on my wheelbarrow.  I know, it comes with a wheel, lol - but these wheels turn it into a three wheel cart which is easier to push than having to hold it up and just use that one big wheel.  It looks like this and it cost me all of six bucks.  The box said it could be finished in 10 minutes, it took me a bit longer - but I got it done and it looks just like the picture.  (Kinda wish I looked like the picture, but that's a different blog).

All that and I also managed to get my paper done for class (yes ANOTHER paper - seems like we have one every two weeks.  This one became a last minute problem because I spilled coffee on my keyboard last night and it quit working....so I had to buy a replacement.  I went with a wireless set on sale at Best Buy and it was a mistake.  For whatever reason the L and M keys tend to stick, so I have to keep going back and making sure a letter didn't get left out (it just happened there, sigh).

So as nice as it is to have a wireless keyboard - I do NOT recommend the Logitech S520.

And if you do notice missing letters in my posts - just fil in the banks :).