Volume 18 - Day 122/243, 2026 - Saturday

Today (as I predicted) was a beautiful day in central Texas. Right now, it is sunny and about 71 degrees. When I got up this morning, and did the walk with Richard, Paul and James, it was 48 degrees. When I made it to the blood drive, it was a little bit warmer, and I had on a light jacket. The blood drive was very good, we had 27 donors show up, and we have 25 qualified to donate. That was better than the blood banks' goal (23) and a little bit short of my goal (30). BUT...I think we are on a good track for doing this on a quarterly basis, and I came home with some cookies. Today was our third blood drive, and I think everyone is happy with the results. After the blood drive, I came home and napped for a little while, and just within the last hour, Paulina is home from Poland. She was on the same flight today that I was on a week ago today. She has already started unpacking, and half of her suitcase was stuff I bought. The plan, the whole time, was that her checked bag to be mostly empty on the way over, and very full on the way back. It worked! I don't have a lot on my chore list for the next week, and I will not be complaining about that at all. 

Volume 18 - Day 121/244, 2026 - Friday

I'm feeling pressured to vacuum the Curious House, and it is pretty intense. Silly people tell me I can choose to clean one room at a time, and I assume that is something that people less compulsive than me are capable of doing, although I may give it a 'go' at some time in the near future. I bought a few cleaning supplies last week, but I can't really remember where I put them. Likely in some logical 'cleaning type' of a place. Here is something that I bet you have never experienced. Earlier this week, I bought some scones for breakfast, and I had the last one for breakfast this morning. I put it in the microwave for two rounds of 15 seconds each, and retired to the office to do stuff. As I was almost finished, a house fly crawled out from under the scone. Apparently, I had microwaved the fly along with the scone, and I am surprised that the thirty seconds of microwaving did not cause the fly to expire, but the kleenex crush did the trick. Worst case, I expect house flies are mostly protein, so... It did rain off and on all day long today, so I did nothing at all, and only went outside to take the girls out. Gina called me to see if I was at home, and brought me some homemade chicken noodle soup. I have already eaten about half of it, so I have to other half to look forward to in the next couple days. It's delish! I think the rain is over for the next couple of days at least, and tomorrow is our neighborhood blood drive, so I will hang out there for most of the morning. Everything has really benefitted from the rains, and we at the Curious House have received a little less than two inches in the last couple days. No complaints!

Volume 18 - Day 120/245, 2026 - Thursday

We finally did get some rain, but not until this afternoon. It was a platelets day, and I donated double platelets today, and I left the blood bank at about 2PM. I am not in the least ashamed of the fact that I drive like a little old lady when it is raining outside, and the ride home proved that point. It rained 'cats and dogs (see the earlier post about how that phrase originated)' and I am always surprised to see other drivers acting like it is just another day in central Texas. The generally accepted speed on MoPac this afternoon was close to 40 mph, and rain water was flooding the lower parts of the roads. Carefully, I made it back to the Curious House, and so far, my gauge records about 0.27" of the wet stuff. We are expecting more overnight, and tomorrow is supposed to be really wet. I have nothing on the chore list except a note to give the girls their pills, so I think it might be a good day for being lazy. The temperature did not get out of the 60s today, and that is just a little bit lower than it should be this time of year. I started reading a new book today, Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klume. It is our book club book, and one of the book club members said he was not particularly fond of the book, so I was prepared not to like it...BUT NO! I am about a third of the way in to the book, and I am finding it pretty interesting...if you like books about ghosts.

Volume 18 - Day 119/246, 2026 - Wednesday

We had a 'trace' of rain so far today, but there is more expected overnight and for the next couple of days. The only thing I had on my list to get accomplished today was an appointment this afternoon, and so I spent the morning doing a couple things around the house. It was not a typical day, very cloudy and overcast, not the kind of day that is conducive to feeling perky. I did get the grape vines removed from the front bed, and over the weekend I will work on taking control of the morning glories in the back. Tonight was the neighbors dinner, and it was fun. There were ten of us, and we met at a pizza place in Georgetown. Everyone swears by the meat balls, but I had calamari and pizza. I have enough left over for at least two more meals. I am not counting on a walk in the morning, it may be raining, according to the radar forecast. I do have a couple appointments in Austin tomorrow, so I will do my best to avoid the rain. 

Volume 18 - Day 118/247, 2026 - Tuesday

I'm having a hard time not being tired. I am getting plenty of sleep, I just feel tired. I think it is just from the last couple weeks of traveling, but I don't like it. I did do a few things today; I went to the ROMEO breakfast, went to HEB on the way home (I needed some dog food and ice cream), came home and watered new plants, put some rings around the three new trees to keep the mulch from washing out (I hope), planted some seeds in three pots, repotted the sweet potato vine I was given last year, and went to the Neighbors dinner place to confirm our reservations for tomorrow night. In between things, I took a nap for about an hour. I don't have a lot on the list of things to get done for tomorrow, but I am pretty sure I will find something to do to pass the time. Since I am all stocked up with ice cream now, I am relatively confident that there will be some ice cream for me in the near future. It's a hard life!

Volume 18 - Day 117/248, 2026 - Monday

Contrary to what my watch reports, I think I had a pretty good nights sleep last night. My watch says had a low 'sleep score' of 59, and that I should try to get to bed at the proper time this evening, to increase my score. Whatever. As usual (usual for being at the Curious House), I walked with Richard and Paul, and when I got home, I did more catching up. I am pretty close to being caught up, and as usual, I am putting some stuff off to another day. I had to ask James to help me get my printer going this morning, and it was kind of fascinating to hear him interact with AI about how to get the printer and computer to work together. One thing about the AI person, he talks WAY TOO FAST for me to follow the commands, but James was in his comfort zone, and everything is working as intended now. The landscape folks were here at about 9 o'clock, and they got everything done by about 1 o'clock. I did go to Home Depot while they were here, and I brought back some mulch for the flower beds. I also got some new light bulbs for the kitchen; nothing is easy anymore. There are no more incandescent bulbs, so what I got are LED bulbs, and you can set them between 75 and 110 watts, and you can decide what color light you would like. I set these to 75 watts, and they are all set for 'daylight,' and I am very happy with the result. Now I can see what I am doing in the kitchen. I noticed the first morning glory blossom of the season, so I hope you enjoy it.

Volume 18 - Day 116/249, 2026 - Sunday

I hope I am just a victim of jet-lag, because I really do not feel good. I just got up from a nap to take the girls out, and post this entry. My sinuses are providing me no respect at all, and I am not all that in favor of blowing my nose every twenty minutes. I am actually exaggerating, I am blowing my nose every 15 minutes. I did manage to get quite a few things accomplished today; I cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeders, filled up the dog water bowl in the front of the house, updated the letter board, wound and set the clocks that I stopped before my trip, bought a mop (that was not easy), and Val and I went to Farmer's Nursery in Leander on a quest for two peach trees. I realize that I am being compulsive abut the peach trees, but I would really like a couple producing peach trees. I found two very healthy looking trees, and the man at the nursery said it would take five or six years for them to be the size of the trees in the photo accompanying this entry. I would have thought it would take much longer than that. I expect I still have five or six years in me, so I got them. Tomorrow, the landscapers are expected to work on the front and back beds, so I will have them plant the two trees, and transplant three other trees I have. I also need to go in to Austin to pick up prescriptions, and check a few other things off my list. AND, I hope I feel better tomorrow.