Currently

On a Monday evening in October... it's a cool 47 degrees and the forecast says we're going down to 38 degrees before the sun rises tomorrow and warms us back up to 63 degrees for a high. Fall is finally here!

Oliver (Ollie) Twist, my bathtub dwelling kitty, still spends a good bit of time in said tub, but he's getting braver. Tonight he is sitting with me, purring loudly, and making it difficult to type. I think he wants to tell you all "hello." He's such a gentle, lovey boy. I'm glad he's coming out. I just wish we hadn't had to say goodbye to Daisy for it to happen.

Feeling... incredibly blessed as the images from the areas devastated by Hurricane Helene continue to flood the news and social media. I saw an article yesterday that showed a list someone had come up with ranking the states by the likelyhood of a natural disaster. My state of Pennsylvania came in smack in the middle of the pack. The safest state (as far as the likelyhood of a natural disaster) is Vermont. All the states along the Gulf coast are at the bottom of the list as the unsafest places to live in terms of natural disasters.

Celebrating... all those who are making sacrifices to go to the areas in Helene's path bring truckloads of supplies, hope, and muscle for the hard jobs that need doing.

The Weekend... was busy. Saturday was my employer's annual bingo fundraiser. It's our second biggest fundraiser. I took the gentleman I do companion work with and my mom and daughter went, too. My daughter won $75 on a bingo and Mike, the man I work with, won $100 on a bingo and a gift basket of fall decor and wine.

Saturday evening Tim and I, along with our daughter's family, went out to dinner. Sunday we had the grandkids all day and had a ball with them. 

Work... is a bit of a Murphy's Law kind of deal right now. Every department continues to be short-handed and it will only get worse as lots of people have scheduled vacations and time off during the next couple of months. I did not get offered the supervisor position. They decided they want someone from outside with a degree in social work (not really sure what benefit that will be in what we do, but there you go). I don't mind. I really don't think I'd want the job. Too many headaches and duties for not much more pay.

Excited... (kind of) about going to the dentist tomorrow. Back at the beginning of the year I lost 2 crowns. Both took some of the tooth with them. There isn't enough tooth under either of them to put new crowns on. My dentist is an expert at dental implants and pushes them. I told him I didn't think my insurance would cover it (few do) and asked about a partial plate. He wasn't thrilled but told the girl to run the insurance and let me know. 

Well, the months dragged on and I heard nothing. They finally called...to tell me implants were not covered and the cost would be $4000/tooth. I said that would not be happening and asked what the insurance said about the partial. I was told they didn't get an answer (I'm guessing that wasn't submitted) but she'd get right on it. A couple more months went by and they finally called to say what my cost for the two extractions and the partial would be. I let them know I was fine with the cost and we scheduled an appointment to have my mouth scanned so the partial could be created. A month later and I'm finally going to get what's left of the two broken teeth removed and my partial. So, I'm not looking forward to the dental work, but I am looking forward to not having gaping holes in the side of my smile...chewing will be easier, too.

Laughing at...