Staycation Has Started

            Brace yourselves.  This is almost as exciting as having a pantry/office.  Roland started out his vacation by washing the cars!  I know.  I can hear the envy.  We really do know how to live it up.  As a result, I may not be posting as often until he returns to work.  Meanwhile enjoy the pics.

Bouncing Bonnie

                 When we had initially brought Bonnie home back in September, she spent her first morning running from room to room – anxious to greet all of us.  Man, that dog was hyper!  She still gets excited like that whenever we’re about to go for a walk.  Other than that, she seems to have adjusted to less bounce until last night.

            I allowed myself to accompany Roland and Jenna to Roseburg as he was insistent on buying some new clothes for her and she is never all that thrilled when the very word “clothes” is mentioned.  Not your average teenager by any means.  I knew she didn’t want to shop for clothes.  I don’t like to shop for clothes.  We made a few moments of our night being miserable together.

            Poor Bonnie.  Left alone for over three hours.  And once we had pulled into the driveway, she was going nuts.  Jenna opened the door so that she could run out on the deck.  She ran to my room, Roland’s office, back outside.  Always a fun challenge putting groceries away while trying to dodge an overly sensitive animal. 

            We have an assembly line method for bringing in the groceries.  Roland always unloads the car – bringing items from the trunk to the deck.  Jenna takes said items from the deck and brings them into the house.  I put the groceries away – or at least a large majority.  Jenna will take care of the items that go into the back and Roland will put away whatever gets piled into his office (which has been doubling as a pantry since we moved here; cool, huh?  Most people just dream about having their office in a pantry but don’t get to experience the luxury first hand).

            Bonnie was so focused on the joys of having humans in her life again that she neglected to see what food had fallen to the floor.  I count that as a blessing that I was able to save the food than watch it disappear as she inhaled the products which overall would not have been good for her.  I mean it’s not like Bonnie is withering away.  Bonnie could really stand to lose weight.  She is like a three year old child.  Her vocabulary is quite limited (unlike Jenna who was using four syllable words and really did have understanding) and I am always reminded of that Gary Larsen’s Far Side cartoon in which the master is reprimanding the dog  in the first frame and seeing what the dog is hearing in the second:  “Blah, Blah, Blah Ginger” only in our case it’s:  “Blah, Blah, Blah Bonnie”.

            Such a sweet dog.  Loves human affection.  She does NOT like the vacuum cleaner.  Runs away from it before it is even plugged in or turned on.  But she doesn’t seem to have a problem with the lawn mower or grass trimmer – which produce a more powerful noise – but they are both outdoors and perhaps she doesn’t even notice.  She just notices the person who is outdoors more in hopes of getting to pet Bonnie than maintain the lawn.  Or so that is what Bonnie seems to believe.

Our Letter/Card Assembly Line

  

            Shortly after Roland and I had married he had invested in a sales program featuring Roger Butcher.  

He had tried a number of suggestions, but the one we used the most was for sending out letters to home owners whose physical addresses were different from the property itself.  We would form an assembly line as someone would write the letter, another would fold it, another would insert it into an envelope.  One would adhere the mailing lable, stamp return address and add a stamp. 

            The more hands that got involved, the quicker the process.  For the most part it became an activity that we would force the boys to assist.  Often we made it a family home evening project.  There was at least one time we had involved the YW of our ward.

            Roland had started out by folding, sealing, labeling, addressing and so forth – each letter one at a time.  I told him that to do just one thing at a time.  Fold ALL of the letters and then stuff each into its own envelope before moving on to the next step.  That way I can assist.  I refuse to do one letter at a time from beginning to end.  I think assembly lines are so much easier.

             We haven’t done letters since living in Utah but have moved onto greeting cards.  At first it was only a couple a year, but the pandemic seemed to create more time for Roland to come up with cards which aren’t the norm to send out in multiplication.  We have not done an assembly line for the birthday cards but all else.  Someone folds (except last night as Staples had done it for us) stuff the envelope, address, and so forth.  Last night’s project: Earth Day.

Trying a New Method

             I don’t know how many times Roland has cleaned up after the chickens which aren’t even ours.  I don’t mind them in the yard.  I really don’t.  But I do not care for arrogance or assumptions.  We purchased netting for the deer a few years ago and the chickens have gotten entangled in it.  I asked Roland if we could use it to surround the deck.  Last night we went out and he used a staple gun which is holding thus far, but seems like it would be easy to tear.

            Roland decided to repurpose the green wire shelves that were once a part of our cheap greenhouse.  He had stapled those to discourage the chickens from getting under the porch.  Now it just looks more like we are trying to capture them and keep them – which isn’t the case at all. 

            Roland continues to feed them and we do collect the eggs that are deposited (that is if we are aware of where they have been laid.  I don’t know if the neighbors have complained any further as nothing has been done with either the pigs or the chickens.  I know there are less pigs and perhaps there are less chickens.  I don’t know anymore. 

            We’re planning on demolishing the deck and creating a back room.  We just need to find someone who will commit.  Meanwhile I have these lovely photographs to view.

I Want Candy

             Roland has purchased several 3 pound jars of peanut m&ms over the years.  We all snack on them, but do so in moderation.  The candy will gradually go down to empty at which point we will refill with dog food and refer to the jar as “Bonnie’s m&ms”.   

She is fine with our feeding her a handful of her "m&ms" while we are trying to eat our own food.  Catch is, we need to pour it from the jar onto the floor or give Bonnie her own plate.  Tastes so much better than eating it out of her bowl.  Yet she has no problem eating hearts or scrambled eggs from her bowl.

            We had dropped some jelly beans on the floor which of course went into Bonnie’s mouth the second they hit the ground.  She is not the fussy dog that we had in West Valley.  She’ll eat almost anything – whether we intend it that way or not.  Jenna says that Bonnie doesn’t seem to care for fruit.  But she does love pumpkin, peanut butter and any kind of meat. 

            I took a picture of the remaining jelly beans two days after Easter

 and finally the end of the week. 

 

There are five black jelly beans left.  I think they may end up getting thrown out.

 Jenna brought me the remainder of her chocolate bunny.  Quite a lot actually.  Could it be that she has become all candied out? 

Comatose Weather and Downright Lazy Weekend

           I remember the weather when we first went into lockdown last year.  It was nice.  Jenna and I would walk around the neighborhood (or just our yard – pre the neighbors' arrogant chickens and Bonnies) and take pictures.  This year has been overcast, windy and cold – except when it’s not.  It’s like mother nature has a endless case of PMS and is wreaking havoc with the skies.  Sending awful turbulence and bleakness – at least in my neck of the woods.  Strange, but as I write this, the sun is shining like it has been there all this time.  Never enveloped with clouds or darkness.

          I have blamed the weather for my being tired - though I have probably OD’d on sugar since Easter.  It did not help matters when yesterday after feeling bloated, Roland insisted I take some Alka-Seltzer -which would be fine but the only Alka-Seltzer we have is for cold medicine and as if I wasn’t already feeling comatized, the medicine only added to my tiredness and weakness and desire to do absolutely nothing but sleep.

          Roland and I have been taking lots of naps – sometimes intentionally, often not.  Poor Jenna.  Reminds me of something I had posted to facebook last year (though I have not come across the memory as of yet)

           Me:   “Help! I am stuck in the house with a business freak and a drama queen!”

           R:       “Help!  I am stuck in the house with two drama queens!”

           J:       “Help!  I am stuck in the house with two old fogies who think sleeping is the greatest thing ever!”

           Jenna doesn’t understand sleep.  It’s not in her vocabulary.  She’ll be up at 2:00 am texting whoever else happens to be awake.  She’s awake before Roland’s alarm goes off.  I doubt she gets more than 4 hours of sleep per night (she has ALWAYS been an early riser) and she is still one of the happiest people that I know.  Wouldn’t it be great to get by on only four hours of sleep and have that much pep?

           I hope she may continue and not let her parents sleeping habits bring her down.

Where was I between 2013 and 2016?

 

        Every once in a while I will click on Ancestry just because it’s there.  For the most part I don’t know if the information is accurate or not.  My passion isn’t there to remember if Uncle Harold was born in one place or another.  I mean, I think I could narrow it down to state or region that I could figure out the inaccuracy such as knowing the birth took place in Utah although I don’t know exactly where in Utah, I think it is safe to rule out Texas or Florida should they come up.

        Today when I went into Ancestry I noticed that there were hints for my dad.  Okay, I can do that.  I can break it down more easily than any of his uncles or cousins.  I clicked on the census and grave information.  Both were correct and I added to others as well.  And then I found my own name.  I clicked on my name – which came up as my maiden name.  Eleven hints.  Wow. 

Okay, nine of them were high school photos of someone who lives in El Paso – or did at the time when she was in school.  Also the photos are someone with my married name.  Ignored all of the photos. Then I clicked on one that said public records.  The addresses of the top three are correct but only one of the dates is accurate.  We have lived at our current Myrtle Creek address from 2016 to now.  But I don’t understand the specified years – especially since they overlap. 

         Do they really believe that I house hopped during those years?  Like one was a summer home and the other a winter? Not that the zip code made a huge difference that I would have really used one as a summer home and the other for alternating season. They are, after all, less than ten miles apart. I grew up in the house in Midvale (maiden name) and was married at the other (though I guess I did technically make the purchase in my maiden name) 

I’ve never even visited North Dakota, let alone lived there. Interesting that there is only one year listed at that.  Except for Myrtle Creek – the beginning and ending dates are inaccurate – for me personally.  The homes/addresses still exist.  Just not at those times.  I ignored the hint but took a picture and made the corrections – sort of.  I put the corrected screenshot into my gallery in the event I do pass and someone else is trying to find me they will know the public records are not 100% accurate.  But are they ever?  Many of my ancestor names aren’t 100% to information provided.  There a lot of “could be”s.  As of now no one would have access to my photos because I am still living.

Anyway, I just found it interesting and so decided to share.