Daily Ooos: June 11-12: Birthday Party Weekend Editon

[faerywings]

Good morning and Happy Saturday. Today is the official start of the party but I can see we are wearing our crowns and ready to go!
it is much nicer seeing me here as a Queen than it is IRL. I am stiff and sore this morning, not very regal at all. I spent a long time steam cleaning yesterday. The machine was giving me trouble so I had to do them twice. After that, I had to dig a hole. Caitlyn made an appt for Evie on Tuesday, it's time. She is 2 1/2, old for any rat let alone one who has lipomas and bone cancer. Since we are running out of places to bury the rats, I needed to clip through tree and vine roots- and ended up finding a tarp buried about 10" down. I attempted to uncover it but there was no way I could so I ended up cutting a piece of it off so I could keep digging the hole.

My dad is home although I still don't know the reason for the delay. Doesn't matter why as long as he is there.
I don't have any plans today, other than housework/yardwork/scrapping and partying!

Have fun today whatever you do!

 

[faerywings]

@BrightEyes even if those aren't your plants yet, they are going to be gorgeous. Love the color!
Is that a grass/plant? MIL has one in her backyard that started out really small and now it is so large, that even with trimming, it's too large to do anything with it. If they wanted to take it out, they would probably have to rent a machine.
Hope that you get some rain to clear the air.

@taxed4ever Thank you, Trudy-- I liked the crown idea too. (Obviously or I wouldn't have used it LOL)
How was the post-fasting coffee? I bet it hot the spot!

@tanteva so sorry that Stockholm didn't have the answers you were looking for. It sounds like you don't have any other leads?

@bcgal00 How cool to get the baby bird photos, it is to be really amazing to see your gorgeous photography all over the walls!

@Cherylndesigns ugh, sorry that there was a big mix-up with camp plans. Hope you got them straightened out.

 

[tanteva]

@tanteva so sorry that Stockholm didn't have the answers you were looking for. It sounds like you don't have any other leads?

I might. But that means we have to go to another archive, in central Stockholm. And I absolutely HATE central Stockholm. Too much people, and stress, stress, stress. Fact: no one walks in Stockholm, everyone's running. I'm happy in the boondocks. LOL



However, I've found a web site about one of the camps from WW2, and I will e-mail the creator, and see if he has any ideas.

Hugs to you all, Cait especially & give Evie some extra cheese!

 

[tanteva]

Yay! Feels like I just won the lottery. So tired after this week. Asked Urban what he wanted for dinner, and he suggested we'd get some thai take away. Yes please! No cooking for me!

 

[LSlycord]

Good morning. I have been trying to create a new avatar and I absolutely cannot figure it out. Every time I resize it, I lose all of my picture. I really want to scream. So maybe I'll have a new avatar before this party is over and maybe I won't. It depends on whether my brain fog leaves. I need to make a template the next time I do an avatar and a new siggie. But, I do LOVE seeing all of the crowns in the gallery!

No big plans this weekend except to attend the birthday bash! Kids both work and it is too hot to do anything of substance. We might make it to see Top Gun today. I really want to see it but I really don't want to head to the theater. We will see which of my "really wants" wins.

@faerywings so glad that your dad is home. To have both your mom and dad having their surgeries finished must be a huge relief!

@tanteva I am so sorry to hear that you didn't uncover some new information in Stockholm. Genealogy is definitely a roller coaster.

@Cherylndesigns how in the world could they have made such a mess of the camp? But it sounds like Asher has had a good time and that's really everything! Do you know that 30 years from now, he will probably be talking about the summer he visited CiCi (sp?) and did camp.

 

[tanteva]

@tanteva I am so sorry to hear that you didn't uncover some new information in Stockholm. Genealogy is definitely a roller coaster.

Sure is. Urban is happy as he can be. He finally found some information about one relative, more or less in a side note, when he was researching another relative. I'm complaining about not knowing where my granddad was for a couple of years. Urban's research is a whole other thing, He's father's ancestors where travellers, hence Urban has generations of people that he has no idea where they are. LOL

 

[bcgal00]

Good morning ladies. It is hot and sunny out so I am going to head out soon for a morning photo walk. My frames should be ready to pick up mid morning so I'll grab those on the way home and get another section of wall filled with photos. I will be back later to play the scraplift challenge game.

 

[BrightEyes]

Morning, gals. Can't believe that it was in the mid-70's at 6AM and now 2 hours later is in the 80's. Could only have the house opened for just over an hour. Going to be another HOT one - 100*+F. And the smoke is still hanging around. No rain in the forecast yet. I need to get the laundry sorted soon and get as much of it done I can before noon. We were asked to conserve on electricity during peak demand hours.

@BrightEyes even if those aren't your plants yet, they are going to be gorgeous. Love the color!
Is that a grass/plant? MIL has one in her backyard that started out really small and now it is so large, that even with trimming, it's too large to do anything with it. If they wanted to take it out, they would probably have to rent a machine.
Hope that you get some rain to clear the air.

Chris, Salvia Furman's Red Sage is considered a shrub. There are a few of them in my neighborhood and are so beautiful. They do well in dry and semi-arid areas. If mine get to be really large, it will be okay as the spots they are going into are at least 10' from the side and back fence and more than 10' between the spots and trees.

I did get my errands ran yesterday morning but it was so hot out I came back home before noon. Got all the drip system hose and parts at Lowe's. While I was there, I found some potted Day Lilies which is what I used to have in pots in the front yard. Also saw some Asiac Lilies in different colors. Decided to not get them until after the yard clean-up and spraying for weeds is done... since they will go in pots in the backyard and that area will be sprayed. Would hate to lose the new flowers if the spray gets on them. Ended up having to go to Big Lots for the large 10 cu bags of Miracle Grow potting mixture. Lowe's only had the smaller size bags. And to make it sweeter - they were on sale. I bought the last 3 bags that weren't torn open! So, I think I have everything I need for when the yard guys get here on Wednesday.

I got the Day 1 Birthday Scraplift LO uploaded along with the Boho Summer LO. #birthday

So I am off to a good start on the Birthday Bash. Will be back later to do a few personals. Have a great day.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Morning, Lovelies,

Chris, @faerywings sorry about Evie, but she's had a good rat life. It's so sad to lose any of them - I hated losing my fish when I had them. Glad your dad is home, even after the delay.

Linda, I don't like to go to the theater, so I'm waiting for Top Gun to come on Paramount. We watched the original Top Gun last night - I think I've seen it about 10 times over the years. I know everybody says you need to see Maverick on the big screen, but it's SO loud. Blockbuster movies are always packed and if I have to sit very close, it loses it's "punch" anyway.

It was a mess with about the Ninja Final Day - we found out, last night, that it was in Arkansas - over an hour away. Anyway, Asher got invited to spend the night with Casey and her daughter Sophie and he chose doing that instead. They had a blast - they live in a neighborhood where all the kids play together and there were 4 other boys there. They have a big above ground pool and a trampoline. He loved every minute of it. Sophie's birthday party is tonight at 5:30 and tomorrow Ava is taking him, Sophie and two other girls to the Zoo in Tulsa.

I used my free evening to work on CT stuff - so it worked out well. We have to go shopping today - Asher wants to get Sophia a gift - I already have one, but he wants to take her one and we haven't had any time, so I probably won't get a whole lot done around here until tomorrow.

I'm going to get off here - he's home now and will start bugging me to go to Walmart soon.

Hugs to all.

 

[LSlycord]

Good morning ladies. It is hot and sunny out so I am going to head out soon for a morning photo walk. My frames should be ready to pick up mid morning so I'll grab those on the way home and get another section of wall filled with photos. I will be back later to play the scraplift challenge game.

Hope you get some good pictures. I realized the other day that I really don't have many of my pictures on the wall. I'm going to get that changed soon. After 2 1/2 years, it is time. Can't wait to see your scraplift. What a great challenge that is!

 

[LSlycord]

Morning, gals. Can't believe that it was in the mid-70's at 6AM and now 2 hours later is in the 80's. Could only have the house opened for just over an hour. Going to be another HOT one - 100*+F. And the smoke is still hanging around. No rain in the forecast yet. I need to get the laundry sorted soon and get as much of it done I can before noon. We were asked to conserve on electricity during peak demand hours.


Chris, Salvia Furman's Red Sage is considered a shrub. There are a few of them in my neighborhood and are so beautiful. They do well in dry and semi-arid areas. If mine get to be really large, it will be okay as the spots they are going into are at least 10' from the side and back fence and more than 10' between the spots and trees.

I did get my errands ran yesterday morning but it was so hot out I came back home before noon. Got all the drip system hose and parts at Lowe's. While I was there, I found some potted Day Lilies which is what I used to have in pots in the front yard. Also saw some Asiac Lilies in different colors. Decided to not get them until after the yard clean-up and spraying for weeds is done... since they will go in pots in the backyard and that area will be sprayed. Would hate to lose the new flowers if the spray gets on them. Ended up having to go to Big Lots for the large 10 cu bags of Miracle Grow potting mixture. Lowe's only had the smaller size bags. And to make it sweeter - they were on sale. I bought the last 3 bags that weren't torn open! So, I think I have everything I need for when the yard guys get here on Wednesday.

I got the Day 1 Birthday Scraplift LO uploaded along with the Boho Summer LO. #birthday

So I am off to a good start on the Birthday Bash. Will be back later to do a few personals. Have a great day.

Oh Kay...the heat you guys are enduring combined with the smoke and no rain. It just makes me sad. Hope that it breaks soon! And I love day lilies...but good idea on finishing up the spraying before getting the lilies. Don't want to lose them.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Good morning. I have been trying to create a new avatar and I absolutely cannot figure it out. Every time I resize it, I lose all of my picture. I really want to scream. So maybe I'll have a new avatar before this party is over and maybe I won't. It depends on whether my brain fog leaves. I need to make a template the next time I do an avatar and a new siggie. But, I do LOVE seeing all of the crowns in the gallery!

No big plans this weekend except to attend the birthday bash! Kids both work and it is too hot to do anything of substance. We might make it to see Top Gun today. I really want to see it but I really don't want to head to the theater. We will see which of my "really wants" wins.

@faerywings so glad that your dad is home. To have both your mom and dad having their surgeries finished must be a huge relief!

@tanteva I am so sorry to hear that you didn't uncover some new information in Stockholm. Genealogy is definitely a roller coaster.

@Cherylndesigns how in the world could they have made such a mess of the camp? But it sounds like Asher has had a good time and that's really everything! Do you know that 30 years from now, he will probably be talking about the summer he visited CiCi (sp?) and did camp.

Linda, here's what I did for my avatar - I kept the design mostly in the middle of the page. If you go out to the edges, it gets cut off by the circle. Start right in the center and keep it kind of "tight"- also, I started with the 3600x3600 and "resized it for web" at 500x500. Hope this helps. Here's what my "layout" looks like, but I was able to capture the cat and Happy Birthday and a couple of the balloons inside the circle.

 

[LSlycord]

Linda, here's what I did for my avatar - I kept the design mostly in the middle of the page. If you go out to the edges, it gets cut off by the circle. Start right in the center and keep it kind of "tight". Hope this helps.

Thanks Cheryl! I've almost had enough coffee to try again...and your hint makes sense. Thank you!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Thanks Cheryl! I've almost had enough coffee to try again...and your hint makes sense. Thank you!

You can do it, I have faith. LOL Got a cute picture of one of your dogs?

 

[taxed4ever]

Sorry to be quick in and out of here again today! We are on our way up to the In-Laws. When I got home from getting groceries yesterday they were waiting for me at the bottom of the driveway. They had to purchase a new microwave and its one of those really huge ones that weighs a ton. LOL. So they want my Gary to come up and help them install it this morning. MIL asked if I would do some weeding for her. Seeing as they hardly ever ask for our help, we figured we better get there bright and early. So off we go... I hope to catch up with all of you a bit later today.

 

[felis]

@faerywings Chris, this is really sad time! Give a strong hug to Cait!

 

[faerywings]

Happy days!
Oscraps birthdays are the best! I think my head is spinning trying to keep up with commenting on everyone's avatars. *reaches up to steady my crown*
I really wish I was royalty on occasion. Or at least rich enough to have a personal assistant who could bring me coffee in bed. Man, I am still very stiff, I think I overdid the physical activity the past few days. We thought we were having a big septic issue on Friday. I ran a load of laundry yesterday morning and went out back to watch the area around the tank. Instead of simply sitting out there or perhaps reading a book, nope, not me, I needed to pul up some of the bricks by the back steps, even out the dirt, scrape off the moss, and plop them back down. When my friend asked if I wanted to go for a walk, I said sure-- 2 miles later, I realized that my legs were going to be sore. More sore. Sorer. Whatever.
I am looking forward to a nice hot shower to loosen the muscles up today. No yard work for me. (It's raining hehe)

have a fantastic day, my lOvlies!

 

[O Birthday Fairy]

Good morning ladies! I so enjoy each of you lOvlies. And Sister @faerywings, to us you are real royalty! The queen of the fairies for sure!

 

[LSlycord]

Good morning all! Why hello Birthday Fairy! Glad to see you are out and about this morning!

Oh Chris, I feel your pain. I don't even have to do anything anymore to hurt when I stand up after sitting too long. I'm sitting here on the lanai and it really is a beautiful morning. But my mind is racing a 100 miles an hour with things that need to be done. Like buying dorm items for this fall. That is crazy! She said to me the other day, "I cannot do this. I am not ready." Sydney hasn't said she can't do something since kindergarten when I drew a heart on her hand and one on mine so that we would stay connected during the day. It broke my heart. I hugged her and told her that she is ready. I assured her that if she decides at the semester that she doesn't like it, she can move home and go to UNF where she would be a big fish in a small pond instead of a little fish in a big pond. I reminded her that she is 90 minutes away and that there is no shame in coming home on weekends. I told her all of those things while all I could think is "I cannot do this. I am not ready."

Well, on to more constructive thoughts. Kids work this afternoon, so what is for supper? They will be hungry. I wonder how frozen pizza would go over. LOL I think that Brian wants to go to breakfast so I guess I should get dressed in something presentable. And I am going to do my avatar today...because it came to me what I was doing wrong...@cherylndesigns helpful hint got me back on track.

 

[faerywings]

@tanteva Sorry that you have to go into central Stockholm. I am guessing that is more actual city and where you were on Wed was more suburban? Good luck with the website, hope that the creator gets back to you soon
You have a very good man- takeaway is always a good thing!
I am happy for him that he was able to find a lot of good info on his family. But man, your grandpa's story feels like it is just waiting to be uncovered. I am so intrigued

@LSlycord Drat--I know the circular crop on the avis chopped off a lot of mine too but don't give up, you totally deserve your queenly crown!
What did you decide on in the movie? I hate theaters and would much rather wait until it's available to stream. Although movie popcorn is a *big* plus on that side LOL

@bcgal00 I am so happy that you are getting so much done with your photography in the house! How is the pool, almost ready to swim in yet?

@BrightEyes Sending you my cool and damp weather to your state~~~ wish you could get it!
heh, my brain got the best of me and didn't include the salient part of my question to you. The grass I was asking about was the one in the photo by your house. The stuff that looks much taller than me
The salvia is going to look just stunning! Soo excited to see how the yard looks after Wednesday!

@Cherylndesigns It is sad about Evie, but she definitely had a better life with Caitlyn than otherwise. She was one of the hundreds that were dumped in the woods in Dec 2019. She was never 100% comfortable being handled by humans but loved being with her sisters.
cripes, that sounds like a mess for the camp plans. I imagine that he had a better time at Casey's anyway.

@taxed4ever That is weird to have your MIL ask for help. Hope that you were able to get lots done without too many aches and pains afterward.

Thank you @felis I will give her that hug when she wakes up

Hugs to everyone!

 

[faerywings]

Good morning ladies! I so enjoy each of you lOvlies. And Sister @faerywings, to us you are real royalty! The queen of the fairies for sure!

You make me blush!! <3

 

[faerywings]

Linda-- oh how my heart wrenches for you and Syd. I can go on and on about how that is natural and normal for her to feel that way (you as well) but dang if my mama's heart doesn't hurt anyway.
I didn't want to leave for college either and that was my deal, I was giving it 1 semester and then was coming home. Thankfully, my parents let me think that and didn't kick up a fuss because after that 1 semester, I was happy to stay LOL
I think knowing that I *could* made it easier for me.
Absolutely no advice on how *you* will get through it other than to let you know I am here when you need to cry and/or worry or do other normal mom things.

BTW- Caitlyn's favorite book was The Kissing Hand. We still kiss each other's palms when we need that boost. Your hearts made me think of that! <3

 

[LSlycord]

Linda-- oh how my heart wrenches for you and Syd. I can go on and on about how that is natural and normal for her to feel that way (you as well) but dang if my mama's heart doesn't hurt anyway.
I didn't want to leave for college either and that was my deal, I was giving it 1 semester and then was coming home. Thankfully, my parents let me think that and didn't kick up a fuss because after that 1 semester, I was happy to stay LOL
I think knowing that I *could* made it easier for me.
Absolutely no advice on how *you* will get through it other than to let you know I am here when you need to cry and/or worry or do other normal mom things.

BTW- Caitlyn's favorite book was The Kissing Hand. We still kiss each other's palms when we need that boost. Your hearts made me think of that! <3

Love you my friend! I'll count on you being around for sure! I've been a little nostalgic with this birthday party. I looked at my first layout...and wasn't that a great challenge?! Anyway, I looked at some of the comments on my layouts, opened an old thread of quotes, opened some of the games, saw a layout with TaylorMade products...and boy am I homesick. We sure did have a great time back then.

 

[tanteva]

@tanteva Sorry that you have to go into central Stockholm. I am guessing that is more actual city and where you were on Wed was more suburban? Good luck with the website, hope that the creator gets back to you soon
You have a very good man- takeaway is always a good thing!
I am happy for him that he was able to find a lot of good info on his family. But man, your grandpa's story feels like it is just waiting to be uncovered. I am so intrigued

Yes, the war archives is in a smaller suburban town north of Stockholm, so when we get there, we only see a tiny part of what traffic in Stockholm is like. But the other archive is jam smack in the middle of central Stockholm. If we go there, we don't drive, but takes the train, cuz driving in Stockholm is crazy & parking fees are outrageous. So just getting there is a mess. Car, train, sub way and/or bus. I'm not made for city life, that for sure.

And yesterday Urban mentioned he might want to go to Gothenburg to their archive. I'm getting confused here, cuz I'm pretty sure we decided just in May, that we weren't going anywhere this summer. LOL

(Maybe it was the same kind of decision that I made about not buying any digiscrap supplies this month??? LOL)

Working tomorrow, but I hope I will get to do the challenge tomorrow when I get home.

 

[bcgal00]

Good morning ladies. I was busy loading photos into lightroom this past week after the corruption and guess what? It was almost done 2021 photo files and it corrupted again. So at least one of the files on the drive is corrupted and I am afraid to lose photos on that EHD so will now switch to creating a second EHD of the photos and forget about LR for now. I am going to find another large drive to start copying and if I don't have one I will be heading out to the store soon.

Spent last night at the hospital. D has Crohn's and a few times has developed a fistula that needed surgery to remove and developed another one these past few weeks. He has been feeling tired, sore and cold (as infection was in his body). He was hoping it would burst and then heal (as has happened before, not always requiring surgery). He decided he needed to go so we hopped in the car and went to the hospital at 10:00 last night. He came home about 3 hrs later, it had burst at the hospital so they cleaned him out and sent him home with antibiotics. They are going to get him a specialist here for the Crohn's management so he won't have to deal with his doctor in Vancouver. I hadn't said anything but he smacked up my car a few days ago. In hind sight he probably shouldn't have been out driving when he was feeling poorly but I didn't realize he felt that bad and he should have said how bad he felt IMO. We'll need the back panel replaced and have an appt next month for an appraisal and then will set up the appt for body work.

It's been a crazy week. I am going to go see if I can get some photo copying done, fingers crossed I don't lose the drive, that would be devastating and totally my fault b/c I should know better and have another copy made. Wish me luck.

 

[BrightEyes]

Woke up again before sunrise! UGH!!! Not sure why. I did manage to get some CT scrapping done. Temps are not going down like they should at night. Was 70* at 5AM... could only have the house opened up for about 2 hours. And yes, it is still smoky but not quite as bad as it was yesterday.

@BrightEyes Sending you my cool and damp weather to your state~~~ wish you could get it!
heh, my brain got the best of me and didn't include the salient part of my question to you. The grass I was asking about was the one in the photo by your house. The stuff that looks much taller than me
The salvia is going to look just stunning! Soo excited to see how the yard looks after Wednesday!

That huge plant in the photo is some type of yucca. Not sure why the one I have is so big as the across the street neighbor's one is not nearly as big and only has one stalk. It was planted the year after mine. The stalks on mine actually are now at least 12' tall. The stalks on it last year grew to be as tall as the roof line! And, yes, I am sure the yard will look much better after they take out the yucca and the wild elms/cottonwoods and clean it all up. I am hoping they will be able to finish it all in one day but think they may have to come back early on Thursday to do the spraying when the winds are calm.

@bcgal00 Oh, no!!! Hope you are able to save the photos onto another ExHD and figure out which one is corrupted and get rid of it. I need to switch over the 5TB ExHD and save everything on "MY" computer so I can eventually move over to "DH's" computer. I did discover what was going on with MY computer that affected the sound. For some reason (think it was when there was Win10 updates) it would turn the sound off. I finally noticed what was happening with the sound, so not as worried about the computer failing on me. So sorry to hear about D's problems with Crohn's and having to go to ER. The good part is they are going to refer him to specialist near-by for care.

@LSlycord Had to LOL over both you and your DD feeling like you are not ready for her to go away to college. Think you are right to encourage her to give it a semester trial-run. I am sure she will do fine once she gets settled in... and it isn't that far away so she could come home on weekends.

@tanteva Sorry you didn't find much about your dad after the long trip to the capital. Glad your DH found some on his family. And it was so nice of him to suggest getting take-out so you didn't have to cook.

I have been busy getting the house set-up for the Red Hat chapter's brown bag lunch on Tuesday. Got the dining room table set up with placemats and centerpiece. I was going to bake a peach cobbler for dessert ... but it is too hot to use the oven. I am going to buy some donuts and have ice cream instead. So all I have to make is the coffee and ice tea to drink. For some reason, my right knee has been hurting since last evening. Guess I must have twisted it when I was moving the dining table at an angle or when I was cleaning the kitchen floor. Time to dig out the knee brace and wear it for a few days. PITA when the body acts up on me.

My sister called yesterday and we had a nice long chat. She said she had just talked to her son who was at the Albuquerque airport. His flight to TX got over an hour delay... and he watched Air Force One land. Yep... the president flew in and then took a motorcade up to Las Vegas, NM to tour the fire area. They had warned everyone that there would long delays on I-25 as his motorcade traveled up there and then back. Sister is doing well but is sorry that her brother-in-law and sister-in-law sold their place in the park near Sister and will be moving to be near Sis-inLaw's daughter in South Texas in a couple of weeks.

Time to get off the computer and get my leg elevated after I dig out the knee brace.

 

[LSlycord]

Good morning ladies. I was busy loading photos into lightroom this past week after the corruption and guess what? It was almost done 2021 photo files and it corrupted again. So at least one of the files on the drive is corrupted and I am afraid to lose photos on that EHD so will now switch to creating a second EHD of the photos and forget about LR for now. I am going to find another large drive to start copying and if I don't have one I will be heading out to the store soon.

Spent last night at the hospital. D has Crohn's and a few times has developed a fistula that needed surgery to remove and developed another one these past few weeks. He has been feeling tired, sore and cold (as infection was in his body). He was hoping it would burst and then heal (as has happened before, not always requiring surgery). He decided he needed to go so we hopped in the car and went to the hospital at 10:00 last night. He came home about 3 hrs later, it had burst at the hospital so they cleaned him out and sent him home with antibiotics. They are going to get him a specialist here for the Crohn's management so he won't have to deal with his doctor in Vancouver. I hadn't said anything but he smacked up my car a few days ago. In hind sight he probably shouldn't have been out driving when he was feeling poorly but I didn't realize he felt that bad and he should have said how bad he felt IMO. We'll need the back panel replaced and have an appt next month for an appraisal and then will set up the appt for body work.

It's been a crazy week. I am going to go see if I can get some photo copying done, fingers crossed I don't lose the drive, that would be devastating and totally my fault b/c I should know better and have another copy made. Wish me luck.

Oh what awful luck all the way around. I hope that things straighten out this week. And, I'm at least happy that they are going to get him a specialist nearby.

 

[LSlycord]

Woke up again before sunrise! UGH!!! Not sure why. I did manage to get some CT scrapping done. Temps are not going down like they should at night. Was 70* at 5AM... could only have the house opened up for about 2 hours. And yes, it is still smoky but not quite as bad as it was yesterday.

That huge plant in the photo is some type of yucca. Not sure why the one I have is so big as the across the street neighbor's one is not nearly as big and only has one stalk. It was planted the year after mine. The stalks on mine actually are now at least 12' tall. The stalks on it last year grew to be as tall as the roof line! And, yes, I am sure the yard will look much better after they take out the yucca and the wild elms/cottonwoods and clean it all up. I am hoping they will be able to finish it all in one day but think they may have to come back early on Thursday to do the spraying when the winds are calm.

@bcgal00 Oh, no!!! Hope you are able to save the photos onto another ExHD and figure out which one is corrupted and get rid of it. I need to switch over the 5TB ExHD and save everything on "MY" computer so I can eventually move over to "DH's" computer. I did discover what was going on with MY computer that affected the sound. For some reason (think it was when there was Win10 updates) it would turn the sound off. I finally noticed what was happening with the sound, so not as worried about the computer failing on me. So sorry to hear about D's problems with Crohn's and having to go to ER. The good part is they are going to refer him to specialist near-by for care.

@LSlycord Had to LOL over both you and your DD feeling like you are not ready for her to go away to college. Think you are right to encourage her to give it a semester trial-run. I am sure she will do fine once she gets settled in... and it isn't that far away so she could come home on weekends.

@tanteva Sorry you didn't find much about your dad after the long trip to the capital. Glad your DH found some on his family. And it was so nice of him to suggest getting take-out so you didn't have to cook.

I have been busy getting the house set-up for the Red Hat chapter's brown bag lunch on Tuesday. Got the dining room table set up with placemats and centerpiece. I was going to bake a peach cobbler for dessert ... but it is too hot to use the oven. I am going to buy some donuts and have ice cream instead. So all I have to make is the coffee and ice tea to drink. For some reason, my right knee has been hurting since last evening. Guess I must have twisted it when I was moving the dining table at an angle or when I was cleaning the kitchen floor. Time to dig out the knee brace and wear it for a few days. PITA when the body acts up on me.

My sister called yesterday and we had a nice long chat. She said she had just talked to her son who was at the Albuquerque airport. His flight to TX got over an hour delay... and he watched Air Force One land. Yep... the president flew in and then took a motorcade up to Las Vegas, NM to tour the fire area. They had warned everyone that there would long delays on I-25 as his motorcade traveled up there and then back. Sister is doing well but is sorry that her brother-in-law and sister-in-law sold their place in the park near Sister and will be moving to be near Sis-inLaw's daughter in South Texas in a couple of weeks.

Time to get off the computer and get my leg elevated after I dig out the knee brace.

I did a little bit of art journaling and that actually helped with a few of my emotions. It isn't far and I am so grateful for that. Even with gas near $5 a gallon, we can make it back and forth whenever we want. And I agree...it is a PITA when the body acts up!

 

[BrightEyes]

Just spent the last 4 hours in the recliner with the knee brace on. Got up to get some water and realized that the knee is really stiff and hurting so getting some OTC pain meds and going back to the recliner. Looks like I won't be doing anything else to get ready for the lunch. Plan to stay off my feet as much as possible. I may not make it back in here until after the Tuesday.

 

[LSlycord]

Just spent the last 4 hours in the recliner with the knee brace on. Got up to get some water and realized that the knee is really stiff and hurting so getting some OTC pain meds and going back to the recliner. Looks like I won't be doing anything else to get ready for the lunch. Plan to stay off my feet as much as possible. I may not make it back in here until after the Tuesday.

Get that knee some rest!