Last week was a little rough. When I left for my afternoon bus route yesterday, I told Jim when I got home I was going to lay in the pool. When I got done laying in the pool, I was going to lay on the couch until it was time to go to bed. And I meant it. I did take a momentary break from laying low to cook dinner, but I repurposed leftovers and made some rice. Nobody complained and nobody tried to get me to do anything else. I think they all felt about the same way. My mom used to tell me she was going to give me an attitude adjustment - but she wasn’t here. I think it was just pure physical and mental exhaustion.
This morning, before the sun was up, Carlos was barking and woke me up. I got up in a mood and briefly thought about strangling him. But he has this way of acting like he is my biggest defender that makes me laugh, and I am generally a fairly happy and content person. So I shook myself off and told myself I had been in a funk long enough. Time to bunk up, be productive and stop being a hot mess.
And so I put on my shoes, in the semi- daylight, and went outside to put my hands in the dirt. I propagated strawberries, moved the babies around, filled in the spaces I had left in my raised beds. I did the same with the blackberries. I fertilized all the raised beds. I marveled at the fact that I finally have cantaloupe and squash coming on. I helped the girls with chores and played with the dogs. I picked tomatoes and peppers. I got the pool going. I texted with Cameron which is always funny. I started the laundry and sat on my patio oasis watching the dogs run around. And then I made salsa with produce I grew myself. A happy feeling for me. And I took a break and watched the KSU game with Jim. And all was right in the world again.
I even got Quincy to help me carry in the free tank. I’ve been painting and planning for the set up for weeks, just haven’t had the time to actually do it. And yes, I know the water is black. My intent with this one is to set it up for African cichlids. They like to live with a sand bottom. I had some pool sand left over from changing the filter. I was researching if that would work and found that while it would work, it would also show every bit of fishy poo. They recommended sandblasting sand, which is black. I bought a bag and mixed them. Since it was in a paper bag, I didn’t rinse it. The filter will take care of it. Jim bought me a new canister filter which will work amazingly well to clear it out. I’m still doing some research, they have particular water parameters. I will need to cycle the tank and raise the ph, and I ordered a heater for the tank that hasn’t arrived yet. I am looking forward to trying something new. I have wanted to do this for quite a while. Jim was more in favor of river fish, I reminded him that we do have one unoccupied tank downstairs. I could see the wheels turning. Not sure what I created there.
I helped Jim burn some brush and mow some stuff. And then - time in my happy place. I’m feeling much more human this evening and thankful for a day of work and outside time. And because I cannot be productive all the time, I sent Quincy to oversee Harper driving to town to get pizza for dinner.
I got this photo from my board president’s wife. She ran into Colin and Spencer in Ireland. I think it is funny that in Ireland they ran into people from home. It’s a small world.
I teased Colin that he is the only person I know who goes on a honeymoon and I get photos of him with a different woman! But I also got some photos of him with the right woman. They had fun touring the Guinness brewery. And had tickets to the game. KSU didn’t win today, but they looked pretty good. Improvements will be made and the season is young.
I can’t wait to hear more from these 2 about their trip. I’m thankful they got such a generous gift, and hope they had a great time!
Tonight, Quincy has Landrie over. It is so nice to see her and get caught up on her life. It has been a whole since we have seen her. Quincy has decided to sit out this semester and figure some things out. Which is completely fine. College is too expensive to mess around, Also, thanks to the dismantling of the department of education, financial aide is up in the air a little bit.
Cameron went to Manhattan today to watch the game with friends. I believe he was meeting up and staying with Preston afterwards. It sounded like fun, but not as much fun as staying home was. Today was not the day I planned, but it was exactly the day I needed!