Thursday, January 30, 2020

Temps this week have been the average for here, 20-25 degrees and cloudy, so we have been able to get some decent walks in. It’s a good thing that Tom brought most of the warm clothes that he owns so he could layer up and stay warm. On Monday, we went to Minnehaha Falls and walked the paths around there. A light snow was falling, making for one of those quiet, calm wintry days.

We went to see the movie, “Doolittle” on Tuesday afternoon and found it to be fun and entertaining. After the movie, we had dinner at Applebee’s before heading back home. Again, a light snow was fallling but not sticking to the roads.

On Wednesday evening, we decided to walk to the nearby Agelgil Ethiopian Restaurant across the street from my apartment complex. Neither of us have ever eaten Ethiopian food, so we had an Ethiopian beer and Tom ordered a lamb dish and I ordered a vegetarian sampler.  The seasoning was delicious and the sampler included some grains, roasted carrot and cabbage, roasted plantains and beets, a spicy thick sauce, and collard greens - all were served on a spongy bread that you tore and used to scoop the food and eat it with your fingers. Everything we had was tasty and delicious. I can now say that I have tasted Ethiopian food and I wouldn’t hesitate to have it some time again.

After a nice walk yesterday, we went to Costco and Tom bought me a new 50” TV, he thought my little 32” was way too small. He had fun getting it setup and then we binge watched the last 4 episodes of the latest and last season of “The Ranch”. The TV fits well in the room and I like it a lot!

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Friday night, I sat here in anticipation, waiting for Tom’s call that he was ready to be picked up at the airport. I watched the progress of his flight, watched a couple of Frankie and Grace episodes, read, took a shower, and tried to nap until his call came in about 11:15. The drive to the airport is about 10 minutes and it sure was exciting for us both.  Naturally, we were up until about 2am talking and unwinding.

A text from Ben on Saturday morning inquiring as to our plans for the weekend ended up in deciding that Tom and I would go out for dinner that evening and the family would come over and join us for lasagna on Sunday.  We went to Lucky’s 13 in Mendota, just across the River from my apartment complex. The parking lots and streets were full of vehicles, so we were not quite sure if we would have a long wait, but it turned out to be a wedding party in a different part of the building and we were seated immediately. I chose the Minnesota Bowl that was wild rice, jasmine rice, corn, carrots, mushrooms and onion topped with a nice sized piece of blackened walleye topped with hollandaise sauce - very tasty! Tom was a little disappointed in the fish and chips, he said they didn’t have much flavor and the fries were soggy. 

We planned to meet up with Ben and Jill and the girls at the St Paul winter festival this afternoon. Tom and I got there, found a parking spot and walked a couple of blocks to Rice Park where the ice sculpture competition was held. We were both a bit disappointed, expecting much bigger sculptures but those that we saw were pretty detailed.  Other than the sculptures, there were food and drink vendors, a huge warming house, and some live music, but we got cold and decided to leave, sending a text to Ben to tell him to meet us at the apartment instead of Rice Park. 

Ben and the family stayed long enough for the girls to pose for a photo and then they headed to my apartment to join us for dinner.

We had a nice dinner and a good visit with the family and then it was time for them to get home and prepare for school and work in the morning.

Friday, January 24, 2020

I’m sitting here watching Grace and Frankie waiting for Tom’s arrival. His flight lands in about 2 hours. I’m not usually awake at this time of night but a nap this afternoon should help.

I hope I’m not getting another sinus infection as I have had a pressure headache since yesterday morning when I bent over to pick something up off the floor. I had a conversation with Dawn, who has practiced homeopathic medicine her whole life, and she recommended the usual saline rinses and also suggested hot and cold pack treatments. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning but have kind of gotten worse as the day. We shall see.

I worked about 16.5 hours this week learning new things and continuing my module training in prep for a drop off class in a couple of weeks. I have no hours on the schedule next week and only a few the next week - so no talk of work for a while.

Our weather turned and we are predicted to be in the 20s and 30s for the next two weeks. We have had an inch or so of snow each day and it was so pretty as it stuck to all of the branches and glittered in the sunlight.  It was nice enough that I got a couple of nice walks in too.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

A big storm came through here yesterday with about 6 inches of snow, high winds, and a big drop in temps. It was -7 when I walked Frisco yesterday morning. The ground is covered with clean white snow once again. It was starting to look bad, with all of the dog pee and dirty snow. The ice, cold, or salt is starting to be problematic for his feet, so I have been washing his feet good every time we come in from outdoors. I need to pick up dog food on Monday, so will also get something to protect his feet.

I ended up working for 3 hours yesterday as one of the other techs got rear-ended in the storm and couldn’t make it in. So I met and worked with Raphael, the new Pharmacy Manager and that all went well. Sometimes they go through the training so quickly that I miss a lot or don’t get the complete picture. But I’m learning and feeling like it will be a fun job. I also worked my first 6-hour shift today.

Ben invited me to join them for chili this evening and that turned out to be very nice. I had an opportunity to have a nice talk with him and Jill while the twins played together nicely. Jill and I polished their fingernails and then we watched “The Little Prince” movie. But only until I was getting the glare from Frisco - his time to go out for his final potty break - and so I left before the movie was finished,

Friday, January 17, 2020

I had some on-the-job production (filling prescription) training at the store on Tuesday and got a good feeling about that activity and process. I also learned that I will have a new boss when I show up for my first scheduled shift on Sunday. The pharmacist who hired me will become a staff pharmacist, as a pharmacy manager has been hired. I hope I like him as much as I like the guy who hired me.

I always find things to keep me busy, although none of the activities are very physical, so I have been doing the Walking videos regularly. I read, work on puzzles, clean, watch TV, and read Facebook.

I scurried out to the grocery store this morning as I was completely out of produce as there is a big winter storm in the forecast for the next 2 days. We are expecting 6-9 inches of snow, high winds, and bitter cold on Sunday, then it looks like a decent warm up for Tom’s arrival next Friday - nothing like a heat wave, but 20s to 30s are pretty tolerable.

Speaking of Tom, we had another nice, long phone conversation yesterday and I’m really looking forward to his visit. We don’t have a lot of plans but I’m sure we will find some fun things to do. I do miss having people around me, but I feel like I’m doing a good job of coping with being a loner.

Monday, January 13, 2020

My weekend was low key, especially Saturday when I didn’t leave home except for Frisco walks. I had planned to groom him, including a bath, but he was having intestinal problems again, having to go out more frequently, so I started feeding him chicken and rice and put off the bath until today. He seems to be doing much better today.

I went to a couple of estate sales yesterday morning and it was like going back in time. Both homes were probably built in the 1920s or so and neither had been upgraded to today’s standards.  One was the home of a local hockey star from the 1950s The flooring and wallpaper were dated and the objects for sale were too - clothing, kitchen items, and toys from the 1950s and older. My only purchase was a can of Liquid Gold and one of leather treatment, both were on my shopping list.

I wanted to see Ben and family this weekend, so it worked out that Sunday afternoon/evening was going to be best for them. Jill’s parents came over too and we all had a nice time hanging out. We had Jill’s Grandma Quinn’s Mulligan Stew and blueberry muffins for dinner and Ben made a delicious flourless chocolate cake and served it with Raspberry sauce - no complaints from me on the dinner or the company for that matter.

We drove back home in the snow - only a light dusting but I thought it was slick. The other drivers around me didn’t seem to be bothered as they cruised down the freeway at the speed limit. Not me - guess I’ll stick to the city streets in the future.

Guess what my project for today was - giving my wood furniture and leather seats on my dining room chairs a much needed cleaning, polishing, and treatment. The Liquid Gold just soaked in, I hardly had to be concerned with buffing off the excess.

Friday, January 10, 2020

I have spent about 12 hours this week on training, some of it was on-the-job training in my store. I worked the pickup counter, the register, and gathering stock bottles for filling scripts. Ism feeling good that this will be a positive thing for me. My boss got some points when he bought pizza for the technicians who were working that day - he seems like a good guy to work with.

Other than that, the weather has been pretty decent and I got some outdoor walks in, but not enough to even get me close to a mile, so I did my indoor workouts with Leslie Sansone videos in addition to that.

The curtains that I put up when I first moved in finally got hemmed the way they should be. So many  times, I looked at them and said that I have to get on that project - so it happened this week. I think I avoided it because it meant that I had to get out the sewing machine, ironing board, and the 6-foot ladder. Lazy? Guess so.

Lois texted me yesterday morning to see if I wanted to meet up with her to see “Little Women”. I had nothing else on the calendar and was glad that I went. The movie was excellent, just as you would imagine when reading the book. We were both wondering if it would be a good one for the girls and came to the conclusion that Charlotte, after reading the book, would be able to enjoy and understand the movie.

Yesterday would be Baby Owen’s 10th birthday and it brought sad, sad memories to me.

Monday, January 6, 2020

It has felt real good to just stay at home for the last 2 days and not leave the house except for walks with Frisco. I have done some rearranging, worked on a puzzle, house cleaning, and just enjoyed being at home.  Speaking of puzzles - I finished the one that I started just before Christmas and have another to get started on.

Saturday, January 4, 2020, MN

Happy New Year! This was my first year ever of spending New Year’s Eve alone - that is hard to imagine considering that it represents 71 years of celebrating in a variety of ways - many with family or friends but some quietly at home with Mike. I spent a good part of the evening on the phone with Tom and the calendar changed to 2020 while I slept soundly in bed.

Good news this week! Tom is coming for a 2-week visit at the end of the month. I only hope that the weather does not turn severe during that time.  It has been pretty mild so far - the last few weeks have been in the upper 30s and we have even seen some days in the 40s. Now, I hope it stays around.

The last week has been one of being at the store doing training modules for at least 4 hours every day. I was supposed to complete 24 hours worth and was about 98 percent finished (mostly due to some confusion and technical issues. Unfortunately, when I went to my class this morning, I learned that they have to be complete before I can move on - so, back to the store for a few hours this week and then to Coon Rapids next Saturday to take the class that I missed this morning. No problem since the deadline is still a week away.