Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 87/279, 2024 - Wednesday

Well, today did not turn out too much like I expectd it would. It started out like most days, we had a nice walk, and then I had a bit of breakfast, and then headed in to the office. I have one zoom scheduled for 10 o'clock, and another scheduled for 11:30. I decided to do the 10 o'clock call at home, and then I would go in to the office. The 10 o'clock lasted longer than I expected, so there was not enough time for me to get in to Austin before the next zoom started. The second zoom lasted until 1 o'clock, so it was really no use to go in to the office. Okay, no issue. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few things in the office at home, and a couple errands. There was a nap involved, too. By then, it was time to feed me and the girls, and then book club was tonight, too. Book club is always fun, and tonight was no exception. I think there were eight of us there, and this months book was The Secret Life of Sunflowers. I think it was pretty unanimous, we all liked the book, and we all learned some things abut Vincent that we had not been aware of previously. Next months book is The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules. It sounds pretty fun. I still have about an hour to go on the book I am currently reading (listening to), and then I have another book in que before I start the Book Club Book. 

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 86/280, 2024 - Tuesday

It was chilly this morning, somewhere around 45 degrees, but it was a good walk. After the walk, all the ROMEOs met for breakfast, and we solved many of the worlds problems over omelets and pancakes. Every Tuesday, I also choose a victim of a photo with a perfect stranger. Today's victim is depicted in this journal entry. After breakfast, it was off to work, and that was nothing too taxing. I have resumed reading The Women which I think is a very good book. I had to set it down for a while, because it kind of took a toll on me, and I felt that I was getting really depressed. I sat it aside, took my trip to Miami, and took it back up when I got home. It is not quite as emotionally taxing towards the end of the book, but it is still kind of concerning. These veterans, men and women, suffered a lot during their time in service to their country, in the late 60's and throughout the 70's. I recommend it to you, but be ready. I had one errand to run after I left the office, and got that taken care of. Tomorrow, I have two zoom meetings, and that will occupy a pretty good part of my day. On Thursday, I am scheduled to donate my first batch of platelets. I have always donated whole blood, but now I am starting platelets, and I am a little bit nervous about it. I feel confident, however, that it will all be fine.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 85/281, 2024 - Monday

Okay, I have been plagued by first world problems today, but it will all be okay. I will not even share the problems with you, because there is the definite possibility that the problems were caused by me. Crap! There was no walk today, it was raining when we would have taken off. Not walking gave me a chance to do a few things (home office wise) that I have been putting off. Then, it was off to the office. I got in, touched all the papers that needed to be touched, and that was the end of that. It is very comforting to know that I can leave town for a week, and life goes on. Maybe it is also a notice that I am not really needed in the office anymore, and that is not a terrible thing. I had a few errands to run on my way home, a stop at the pharmacy and a few other things, but I made it home by about 4:30. I took about a ten minute nap, and then fed the girls and myself. I am on a streak of cleaning things out of the freezer, and tonights dinner only expired in 2022, so I am getting better. Coming home this afternoon, there was a school bus on the other side of the Parkway. If a Parkway separates you from the school bus flashing red lights, are you supposed to stop. I probably knew that when I got my drivers license, but not sure any more. I stopped anyway, just to be safe. You can never be too careful!

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 84/282, 2024 - Sunday

Okay then, as Sunday's go, this one turned out to see more accomplishments than usual. As per the routine, we started the morning with a nice walk. I won't necessarily share with you everything I got accomplished today, like sitting on the back porch trimming my toe nails, but there were other things. Fixed breakfast for the girls, washed clothes, made an egg loaf and shared that with the girls, went and bought some donuts, moved a couple pots of morning glories, took a nap, went to the movie I mentioned last night, went to AT&T, and then went to HEB. Oh yeah, I also bought MegaMillions tickets, just in case. There is still one thing on the list I haven't finished, but it can wait. A couple weeks ago, Jimmie gave me some bluebonnet seeds, and I bought two small bluebonnet plants at HEB, and planted them. They have taken in to being planted nicely, and hopefully the seeds I put under them will germinate in the next year or two. Pam also gave me a few packets of wild flower seeds, and those are in the ground too. Now I am home, ready to settle in for the evening. We have chances of strong rain and winds overnight, and not too sure how long it will last, but I am ready. The sprinklers have remained off since before I went to Miami, and it looks like they may be able to stay off for another week or so. Fingers crossed.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 83/283, 2024 - Saturday

First full day back home, and things are getting back to normal. A little bit. The day started with a nice walk; me, Paul and Richard. We had all kinds of things to talk about, and it was good to be walking again, even though there was a pretty good bit of walking in Miami. After the walk, I fed the girls, had some breakfast for myself (bagels), and then headed off to the estate sales with Pam, Marian and Diane. I spent about $30 on a few very special items that I did not know I needed until I set eyes on them. I think everyone bought something...maybe not Diane, I'm not sure. I know for sure Pam got a new cake pan! I need (not really) to go to the grocery. I am out of bread and milk, and I ate the piece of apple pie that Pam brought me as a welcome home gift yesterday. I vacillated back-and-forth (get it?) all day about whether to go or not, and so far, I have not. Apparently I am going to leave it until tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, I need to do laundry, get it started during the walk, get if finished during the Sunday Morning program. I also want to go to a movie tomorrow, The American Society of Magical Negroes. I saw the previews for it a couple months ago, and it is now playing, so I will take that in tomorrow. So far there is only one blossom on my Meyer Lemon tree (bush) on the back patio. It has born fruit for the last two years, and I hope there will be more than just one this year. Both years previously, I have harvested about a dozen lemons, and I have shared them with friends. For dinner tonight, I cremated a chicken pot pie, even though I followed all the instructions. Okay, most of the instructions. The only instruction I did not follow was the part where it said to wrap the edges of the pie with aluminum foil. I cut off all the horribly burned parts, and ate the rest. I think I may need some adult supervision every now and then.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 82/284, 2024 - Friday

Okay, I am home, the girls are home, Mike is home, Melinda and Steve are home, Nancy is home, and I think Ben and Tobetha are on their way home. There are probably another thousand or so folks that attended the President's Circle conference with us that are home, too, and I hope all safely. It was a pretty long day today, up early, packed, headed to the airport, finally got on a delayed flight and am back in central Texas, and happy about that. It was REALLY windy in Miami this morning, and it was raining. I think some of the storms that we had in central Texas last week are now in Miami, and they were predicting about 4 inches on the east coast of Florida for today. Having said all that, there is now a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning for central Texas and the Curious House. Soon. I will be back in my normal routine; estate sales tomorrow, regular times for all my regular this-and-thats. Did y'all miss me. No? I didn't think you would.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Volume 16 - Day 81/285, 2084 - Thursday

This trip to Miami and our annual President's Circle Conference has been chocker-block full os small, meaningful and memorable events. It has not been all the conference information and camaraderie that has been the most significant (although that has been very worthwhile), it has been the small moments, barely minutes of interactions that I hope to remember fondly when I am old(er). And I realized this evening, that this trip in particular has been full of those small moments. This morning, I was able to sleep a little late, and when I did get up, I got some work done, and then showered and dressed, and we all headed out for brunch. Mike drove in from Delray Beach, and after that, Mike and I headed back to the hotel to take naps. Later, we went down to the pool and hung out for about forty five minutes, and then we all gathered up and went to dinner. After dinner, we went to a Sinatra Tribute on the hotel. Frank Sinatra played here at the Fountainbleau during much of his career, and this particular show, although sparsely attended, was filled with LOTS of money. The security in the room was not protecting the singer or the orchestra, but they were certainly in evidence. I am not sure of the guy that was the singer, he made it clear that he was not an impersonator, and I don't know if the orchestra has a particular name, but I could have listened to the orchestra (22 pieces) for hours. It actually did transport me back a bit, and it was really cool. The putz that opened the set was a Catskill comedian, and I know that the comedy was true to form in the 60's, but that was almost 65 years ago. But, it was all good. Then we went and had a drink in the bar, and among other things, there was a moment in the bar. Ask me later and I will tell you. Needless to say, I think this place spends (literally) millions of dollars on the music and sounds throughout the facility, and it is something that draws you in and keeps you there.