Warmer today, lots warmer. Ninety degrees hurts worse now than before that stretch of unseasonal cool weather we’ve had for the last week or so.
I identified my shoulds early. Like, I really should finish weeding the front. I should tie up that sagging morning glory vine on the porch. I should text my cousin James. I should sort all the fabric and notions I lifted out of Mom’s sewing room chest. I should clean up one area of the storage area in the garage. I should make sure I do physical therapy with Murphy at least three times. I should re-vamp my calendar for August and September and print copies for Mom and Dave. I should toss out that dried bouquet on the dining room table. I should gather tomatoes, peppers, okra, melons, and the last of the blackberries. I should re-pot some failing plants from Mom and Dad’s porch. I should do some more work on the unused clothes in my closet. I should make a final trip through my novel and send out query letters. Or letter. I should fold the clothes in the dryer. I should plan Sunday dinner, I should cook Saturday dinner! There was more, so much more.
I know I’m not that much different from anyone reading my shoulds list. We all have lists too long for any human to accomplish in fifteen hours.
Dave called me out of bed a little after 6:00 A.M. On Saturdays, we leave for a meeting at 7:30. I usually refer to these meetings as “my WW meeting.” Before leaving, I lifted Murphy, secured her head in her cone, and gave her physical therapy.
My hair this morning was somewhere in the middle of Rod Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, and Phyllis Diller in her early years. I sprayed wax finish. I resorted to the curling iron. I got decent enough to go to WW, where I learned that I lost 1.6 pounds this week. We stopped at Wholly Chow for breakfast, a Saturday tradition.
What could I mark off my Should List today? I finished watering about noon, after re-potting two plants. The front beds were still too hard to weed. Dave put more water on them. Mom and Dad din’t want lunch today. Mom was cooking for the church potluck tomorrow–chicken and dressing in the slow cooker–and she thought she’d just fry some chicken for Dad for lunch.
I lifted Murphy from the floor and pulled her cone over her head. She snarls and snaps when I want to move her legs so this is just a protective measure. She’s walking very well today.
I talked with Dave about lunch and dinner. We decided we’d scrounge for lunch and I’d cook stuffed peppers for dinner. I returned to the yard to do a little more and, within half an hour, I was too hot. I sorted the fabric all over the floor in Mom’s sewing room and ate some peanut butter and crackers.
“Dave,” I said, “I’m going to Deborah’s house.” Deborah is a woman who has been helping me with gardening. When I realized that she made every bag and purse that she carries, I told her we should set up an Etsy shop.
“I’ll do the computer work,” I promised her, “and you make the stuff.” We determined that she would start with bags and purses. I assured her there was enough fabric at our house to inventory a small factory. She’s been making some incredibly beautiful purses. Yesterday she made a market bag in just a few minutes. I took more fabric over to her house (remember I got a new supply from Mom’s sewing room) and got a good look at the most beautiful bag I’ve ever seen. It’s a pink rose fabric with garden green trim and lining. Wow.
When I got home, it was time to cook dinner. The stuffed sweet peppers, not bell peppers, were wonderful. I microwaved a couple of Dad’s red potatoes and mashed them up, a perfect and quick complement.
After dinner, I went next door to visit with Mom and Dad. I hadn’t seen them much at all today. One more PT session for Murphy. She didn’t thrash around and throw her head and snarl this time. She made a couple of low growls but I put those legs through their paces. She stood and walked all the way home.
“I’m done,” I thought, but I put dishes in the dishwasher before I settled in.
I didn’t address three-quarters of the list today, but I’m tired. Was I successful? I don’t know. I’m just bound for re-runs of The Big Bang Theory and early bedtime. Hey, not every day is exciting, even the countdown days of Birthday Month. And, by the way, I didn’t tell everything that happened today.
Jameson and Carly are coming tomorrow for a Grammy night!
On the Ravine 