I thought of doing Thursday Thirteen, but can't think of 13 anythings. I finally got 13 comments on my last post! I'll just start with my thoughts and see what happens. First I think I'll update you on all the stuff that went haywire a couple of weeks ago.
1. The light/fan above the table - the fan wouldn't turn off - and it wasn't warm enough to need the fan. Dear electrician BIL came over, took the part that was faulty, came back with new switches, and now it works. Yay! Just in time for the heat to finally turn on outdoors.
2. The light under the cupboards that I have had for close to 30 years started flashing off and on. It is not a simple matter of changing the bulb. I REALLY miss it. Same BIL, who installed it 30 years ago, discovered the minor problem and fixed it in a few minutes. It was the night we had him over for dinner while my sis was gone on her celebratory retirement trip to see the grands in Idaho.
3. Both light bulbs in my little office burned out the same day - I know, nothing in the grand scheme of things, but just ridiculous. Easy Peasy - go to the store and get a package of bulbs.
4. My cell phone is acting very weird - I keep having to mess with the SIM card and the battery to make it work. Not so easy peasy. DIL, who owns the account, DC, and I spent about 1.5 hours at T-Mobile the other night after enjoying a nice dinner together at the Lone Star. We thought we'd buzz in and out of there - ha! Nothing is simple in technology. The manager of the store spent all of that time trying to figure it out. He changed the SIM card. Still didn't work right. He called Customer Care - they couldn't figure it out. Finally he got the second tier of Customer Care - they "rebooted" my phone from wherever they were - it worked for a day, then the same thing began to happen. He said I could get a new version of this phone by phoning Customer Care myself. He put a note in my account so they'd see what all had happened in the past. As I said before, nothing is easy in technological happenings. We had to call Sema for permission for me to order my own phone. Ridiculous. Thankfully she was on break and answering her cell phone. The new unit is in the mail - I can't get a better phone for another year when our account is up for renegotiation or some such nonsense. Hopefully this one will work or they WILL be hearing from me again. No doubt.
5. My tires on my car are shot . Care Bear went with Grandpa to get new tires (she likes the smell of new tires, believe it or not!). I have not asked how much they were. They are beautiful - well, they look healthy. I hate spending money on tires. But it is a necessity of life. Especially when you're hauling around such precious cargo!
6. The amount I was quoted for the surgery turned out to be only for the surgery center - it doesn't count the original doctor's visit, the surgeon's bill, the anesthesiologist - I hope that's all. I got a notice from the anesthesiologist - the bill they submitted to my pathetic insurance is $1092! I think that's because I asked to go to sleep. But I'm glad I did, since he did so much more digging and artery tying than he expected. Just think if they'd only numbed my arm and I had been aware of all of that. EWWWW! No thanks. This will go to deductible, no doubt.
7. I finally got to the dentist, after working with insurance for months - turns out there's some serious work ahead after years of clear check-ups. Changing dentists is traumatic without the new one finding much more stuff than the previous one. I went in for what I thought was going to be a deep cleaning - seems one quadrant of my mouth has a bit of gum disease developing. Not good. But, to my horror and surprise, I was in for one of three things, depending on how bad it looked when she got in there - a. simple filling; b. a crown; or c. a root canal. Each, of course, was progressively more expensive. We "dodged the bullet" as she put it, and I needed b, the crown. Still more than I can really afford, but much better than a root canal. Been there, done that. I thought I was doing a better job of taking care of my teeth than that.
8. Our grandfather clock has not worked for awhile. We finally got a clock expert who attends our church to come over and take the works for an overhaul - much more expensive than I dreamed. Still at the clock doc.
9. My dishwasher is full of clean dishes that I can't get out - the door latch broke as I tried to open it Sunday morning. Now I'm doing dishes by hand with this left arm I'm not supposed to get wet. I have a fix-it man (also from church) coming over tomorrow to see if he has to order parts and how long it might be before it is usable again. If you keep up with the nail-biting stuff I share here, you know that it took a second visit by the handy dandy handyman from our church, but it seems that the problem has been fixed. I should have him over for dinner!
A few more things going on around here --
The iris are about to end their reign of beauty in the back yard for this year. I will miss them.
Miss Care Bear is finally getting ready to lose her first tooth - I think she's the last one from her first grade class. This shot is supposed to show you how loose it is with her tongue behind it, but it didn't work out well - oh, well, enjoy anyway.
The old wrist is doing very well - I don't wear the brace any more. It is still a bit weak and at times I have a bit of a twinge. But I think the surgeon will be very happy when he sees it on June 26.
The big girls are going to VBS again this week - a church right down the street from their house. It is the same program that they had at the other church, so yesterday Care Bear got to wear her crazy hat again (posted again just in case you missed it the first time around!) I didn't get to see Feisty's. It is Crocodile Dock from Group Publishing - Group happens to be right here in Loveland. The company began in the basement of the owner, Tom Schultz, about 30 years ago. It now is a thriving entity, employing many people in our town. They do a wild and crazy Bible school every year. The girls don't mind doing it again - it's fun.
Well, I'd better hush for now and get busy on some stuff around here while the littles are napping (other than going out to the patio and read the great book I'm about to finish - more about that next time). Next time I plan to do a post called "Perseverance Personified." Stay tuned! You won't want to miss it.
