Currently

We are experiencing an unexpected thunderstorm that has cooled a hot, humid day down to a comfortable 73 degrees. Tomorrow and Wednesday will bring more of the hot, sticky weather before rain and storms move in on Thursday and drop the temperature a bit. We should be looking at decent weather with temps in the mid to upper 70's for the Memorial Day weekend.

Reading...Call Me Hunter, a novel by well-known hunter and guide, Jim Shockey. It's not at all what you'd expect. It's about a secret society that basically runs the world, starting wars, assassinating political figures, etc., all in the name of acquiring the world's greatest art to sell to the world's richest collectors. The society, called Our World, accomplishes this though its agents, all people with special abilities, people the world has deemed "different," but whose skills and gifts make them uniquely suited to the task.

Watching...tonight it's Great American Road Trips on Prime Video. It's a bit dated, from the 90's I think, but I'm seeing a lot of places I'd like to visit one day.

Listening...mostly to the local 80's radio station.

Feeling...tired. For some reason I didn't sleep well last night.

Thinking...about my planned day for the consumers on Wednesday. We each have a day to plan the lesson and activities. Some do a very random sort of day. I usually try to have a theme to focus everything on. This week I am going with pirates! I have hats and eye patches for them to wear, a "pirate-y" snack mix, pirate themed worksheets, and if I can get it to work out tomorrow when I try it, our craft will be a parrot that can sit on your arm. I'm even searching for pirate themed exercises or games.

Celebrating...nothing right now, but this weekend we will celebrate Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer. Saturday and Sunday will be busy. Monday will likely be more low key with us relaxing at home or possibly cooking out with Mom and John and our daughter's family.

Looking forward to...taking a train ride with our daughter's family this Saturday. It's a 2-hour round trip through central Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Tim and I are taking the gentleman I do companion work for to a local winery. They are having live music and have a beautiful outdoor area to sit an enjoy the entertainment and wine as well as several food options. I'm hoping to do all 5 of my weekly hours with him that day to free up the rest of the week.

Giggling at...

And that's it for this week. I need to get the dog outside and head to bed. Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday

I'll begin with a praise...the laptop seems to be cooperating, so I'm able to participate in Thankful Thursday. It was mentioned in a comment on yesterday's post that Microsoft was having some problems and I should hang in there a bit longer and see if it gets better. It seems to be. It's not great, but it's better than it was both yesterday and Tuesday.

I'm also thankful I'm able to link up with Jen who continues to fill in for Rebecca Jo. Now on to the "real" list!

This week I am thankful...

** as mentioned above, to be able to post on the blog.

** to live surrounded by my family and have them as a daily part of my life.

** to be able to help my daughter out with childcare quite often. What a blessing it is to have the grandchildren be such a big part of our lives and to be part of theirs.

** for all the used books I picked up earlier this summer and for the unintended and unplanned theme of so many with librarians as the main character. All the book talk has helped me get back into my reading groove. Well, that and being stuck at home with Covid....but Covid is gone and the reading continues!

** Tim and I had a good visit with Mom and my stepdad Monday night when we drove up the ridge for Tim to get something from John. Mom is at her house nearly every day so we don't often drive up to John's (they spend summers at his house and winters at Mom's). 

** for a fun lunch with some of the ladies from church. It was a crowd I don't know well so it was nice to get to talk to them. It was nice, too, that a young girl of 24 actually came with her adorable 9 month old twins, Genesis and Magdelina. Lots of grandma's around that table willing to hold and entertain babies!

** Leah had a wonderful time at her birthday party and loved everything she received. I was really glad our son-in-law's parents were friendlier and chattier than they usually are. Maybe one day we will be able to have one big family Christmas so the kids don't feel so torn every year.

** for cooler temperatures this past week and lots of rain...even though it meant no time in the pool.

** though she gets frustrated with a lot of things and some co-workers, Megan continues to like her job. (Frustration just seems to be a natural part of working in a nursing home. I always found it to be, anyway.)

** I have received a couple of birthday cards already, even though my birthday isn't until the 15th. Someone asked me today if it was a big one. I said, "Yes, I'm not 60 yet!"

** Tim's latest round of blood work showed his cholesterol is through the roof and his kidney function numbers are high. Those are not things I'm thankful for, but in knowing it the doctor was able to prescribe a new cholesterol medication and he will have the kidney numbers checked again in a couple of months. Oh, and he heard from the sleep doctor. He goes on Sept. 13 to get the monitor to use at home for just one night. I am very thankful we are finally moving on that. Lately his snoring has been, not loud, but filled with the strangest sounds.

** Jasper, my naughty kitty, seems to be (maybe) calming down a bit finally and not getting into trouble quite so often. I was worried we'd never see the day! Our s-i-l's parents had gotten his brother and he was so bad for them they gave him up (to someone Megan and I know). It was good all the way around. Their scratches can heal and Charlie (that's the cat) loves his new home and isn't bad at all. He is even friends with a cockatiel.

Jasper's latest photo.

** as I am each and every week, for all of you!

Cats On Monday

Good morning and welcome to my new blog home! It's nothing fancy, but I hope it will be more reflective of me and my life. The old blog was created in a hurry in response to the one before it freezing up and it just never really was what I wanted. Previous content tended to be mostly memes and that's not what I want. The memes will still be here, but I hope the fresh start will shake loose the writer's block that's plagued me for quite a while.

So, come on in and visit for a bit!

I am feeling like it was a long day already and it's only 11:00. Megan, Leah, and I had to drop the Maine Coon kitties off at a mobile vet clinic at 7:45 this morning. They are both getting neutered, vaccinated, checked for mites, nails trimmed, and chipped. I really hope it goes well, but it was the best option financially. Our vet wanted close to $600 for the same things vs. $100 through the clinic.

Megan's cat, Oakley, is my Jasper's older brother. They have the same parents, but Oakley is from the litter before Jasper. He is massive. A real tank! He weighs in at 22 pounds and is at least 32 inches long not counting his tail. And he's only 10 months old! 

He was in a BAD mood this morning because of not having any food since 9:30 last evening. He was sure he was being starved. Then he got shoved into a carrier that wasn't big enough or strong enough to hold him. He yowled halfway to the clinic then pushed the door off the crate and escaped into the car. I had to pull over so Megan could corral him and get him back in the crate. When she did, she discovered that he'd broken the clips holding it together. Surpisingly, we made it to the clinic on time and they had zip ties to put on Oakley's crate to hold it together. Jasper, by the way, was a very good boy.

Once the cats were dropped off we decided we were hungry and went for breakfast at Valley Dairy. From there we went to Walmart "just to get Colton a pair of overalls he needs for school" and ended up wandering around looking at St. Patrick's Day and Easter decorations. Both kids got new sneakers, a couple of outfits, and a pack of St. Patrick's Day beads.

I'm not working today. My Monday client has a doctor's appointment. Actually, my schedule is pretty light this week...winding down to my last day on March 9. I'm feeling sad, I really love my clients and will miss them, but I can't justify the time and expense when I don't get reimbursed for mileage and expenses and claiming them on our taxes helps but not that much. 

I will still see a couple of them now and then as friends and I will be working privately for a couple of weeks for one client in the next month or two. His grandmother is his caregiver and she is having some surgery done and won't be able to roll or lift him for two weeks afterward. She asked me if I would come for 2 hours every morning to help get him ready for school. I'm not normally an aide and admit I'm a little nervous about it, but he is very excited I will be coming to help.

It's a beautiful day, clear blue skies, lots of sunshine, and temps in the 30's...but there's no wind today so I'm not complaining. I am, however, going to go enjoy it. 

Happy Monday, everyone!

Have a wonderful week!