I've stopped charging my iPhone every night once I found out that would lesson the battery life.  Most days I only use up 1/4 of it, so that hasn't been a problem.  However I hadn't thought to charge up my ear buds - and if there's a way to see how much battery life is left Alex left that out of my tutorial.)  I have been using them a fair amount, on my walks with Brownie, weeding out front, etc.  So I really shouldn't have been that surprised yesterday when they died early into my 20-minute trek on the treadmill at PT.  I 'compensated' by upping the speed from 2.5 all the way up to 3.0 (halfway between '2.0 walk' and '4.0 jog') which may explain the reason I struggled a little with some of my other exercises.

The day I went to Target I stopped in at Sally's to see if any of the little orange buffers I like so much had come in.  (I haven't been able to find them anywhere since before the pandemic.)  They hadn't, but the clerk said they were expecting a shipment of stuff on Wednesday.  On the way home yesterday I needed to stop by the lab (to confirm it was Sonora Quest so Dr. Guice's office could said over a lab order) and since that was right by Sally's I popped in.  Long story short - still no buffers, but the substitute manager (named Roberta also) said she had some at her store, would be back today and bring some with her, and then someone would call me. 

Tom and I watched Jeopardy in real time last night - 

so guess what taped last evening?

 I was on the phone with COX for a while this morning, and may have resolved the Jeopardy issue by tweaking the priority section and moving Jeopardy to the number 1 position, with the highest priority.  Unfortunately we couldn't find any way to delete things that are no longer available (like the winter Olympics!) 

Still, they have been moved to the bottom, with the lowest priority.  Obviously won't know about Jeopardy for sure until tonight, but it could happen...

While I was on the phone with COX I missed a call from Joy.  The mare foaled last night, which Dick discovered when he went out to feed this morning, and she knew I'd want to come over and meet the new arrival.  Mama was very relaxed, and didn't mind me getting up close and personal.

 A second night on the atorvastatin, and the good news is that I slept better!  Still woke early, but figured Brownie and I could take our walk in the relative coolness.  He had other ideas, and though clearly excited to see me getting things together (and excitedly barking his approval) he kept just out of reach and I couldn't put on his harness.  I finally gave up and tried again an hour later, and while it wasn't easy I did eventually 'catch' him.  We had a nice walk, and enjoyed a somewhat lengthy visit with Lucky along his fence line - but Brownie clearly has been exhibiting 'those' leash issues again.  Sigh... 

 

Back home I did more scraping/digging in the driveway 'cracks', and am making good progress on that project. And now that I have more vinegar I can forge ahead with the rest of the driveway.  

While I was working out front the pool truck pulled up.  I'd been expecting him yesterday (and even got the usual e-mail saying that he was on his way) but he never showed.  Now we have a new person (Paula) who is taking over his route, and she said they are really behind.  I asked about the repair, so she called the office - only to be told that they still have no mechanic on staff.

Then she added "maybe we should look elsewhere for someone to do the repair."  Not sure if that was her take, or the office had suggested that. 

Still having issues with the TV, and <sigh> a new one cropped up yesterday.  Now, when I find a movie in progress on one of the 200-level channels and go to the Restart option, it tells me that channel isn't paid for through our subscription - though we (obviously) do still have it.

  And while the DVR does record some things (like the news), it still doesn't record Jeopardy and - horrors! - didn't record the Suns' game for Tom Tuesday evening so he could watch it a little later and fast forward through the commercials.  

Tom thinks we need a new box; he could be right.  This one hasn't worked correctly since the switch to 'new' channels a month ago.

I hate making these repair phone calls.  Which is why I was always jealous of Mom's ability to just make a simple call to General Services at Riderwood for things like that.

At least I did (almost) get the main part of the Jellyroll Sizzle together yesterday before I ran out of steam early after a poor night's sleep.  But I still cannot figure out why 7 of the 'remnant' pinwheels came out one way while the 8th isn't going to work.

Since I don't have anything on tap until this afternoon (a haircut, and then PT) I expect to get some sewing done in between my time on the phone trying to set up repairs.

 Took my first atorvastatin last night at bedtime (as recommended) and did not sleep well last night.  But since that's not such a rare occurrence I can't blame it on the meds - yet.

I completed a bunch of yardwork this morning.  After I gathered up all the piles I cut yesterday, then raked and filled in some holes, I tackled the hedge between the yard and drive-thru.  Even early in the morning it was fairly warm in the direct sun, so I did take a break to cool off and hydrate (and catch up on Words With Friends)  

Before too long I headed back outside to continue with the hedge.  My progress was temporarily halted when I heard Pokey dragging something heavy and went to rescue it - though as it turned out that she was high-centered and looked like she needed rescuing!

Luckily she eventually scooched herself over, 

and without getting her back foot caught under the heavy cement lid.

On Sunday Mary had suggested setting a plant atop the lid, but I'd told her Pokey often bumped the lid and a plant likely wouldn't survive the frequent falls.  This, however, was the first time Pokey had  'removed' the lid entirely, and as a result gotten herself somewhat stuck.  At least it wasn't a major disaster-in-the-making, like in the following video!

A zookeeper had to rescue a giant tortoise on March 13, 2021 after it scaled the wall of an enclosure and became stuck. The huge African spurred tortoise climbed onto a low wall at Afamosa Animal Safari in Melaka, Malaysia but found itself unable to move with all four legs grasping at thin air. According to the keeper, the hefty reptile was attempting to get back to its former enclosure. The tortoise now roams free around the zoo. The African spurred tortoise, also known as the sulcata tortoise, is the third-largest species of tortoise in the world.

Sulcata Houdini

(great clip, though will have to sit through a 30-second ad first)

I'm done with hedge-trimming, at least until the sun is on the other side of the sky so I won't be looking into it when I tackle the inside of the hedge.  And while the organics can is now quite full, our second green can is virtually empty - so I can't use that as an excuse.

But now that we're approaching the heat of the day, it seems like a good idea to stay inside and sew.

 This morning I walked Brownie while it was still cool. Originally the prediction was to reach triple digits today (for the first time this year), though as of yesterday the forecast had been changed to 'only' 99 (and that did end up being today's high.)  We took a different route around the neighborhood, and he took his time sniffing and peeing.  I listened to the end of my book, finishing up when we'd returned home as I was literally walking through the gate to the back yard.  

Before it got too hot I trimmed several bushes behind the hot tub, and also did some gouging of the 'cracks' in the driveway where yesterday's application of vinegar had already worked.  Since Pokey was out and about I fed her some watermelon, and refreshed her phone number.

After a shower I headed to the gym, first stopping at Walmart to pick up my new statin Rx.  I was not happy to read that one of the possible side-effects can affect sleep, but will hope for the best!  Did think to grab a gallon of vinegar while I was there, so weeds beware! 

At the gym I warmed up on the elliptical, but when the time for my session came and went, without Devon showing up, it dawned on me that he'd changed today's time from the usual 10:30 to 11:30. 

 So I headed home and did a few things around the house 

before heading back to the gym.

In the afternoon worked more on the Jellyroll Sizzle quilt, 

and it's shaping up nicely.

 I used up last of the gallon of vinegar 'weeding' the driveway yesterday, so it seemed like a good time to make a Target run and work on that list.

When I pulled into the shopping center I was surprised to discover that Claim Jumper seems to have closed; the sign is off the building, and there is major renovation going on.  Chik-Fil-A was also down, with serious work going on.  I can only hope they are actually closing, though Tom thinks they're just remodeling.  

While I will miss the Claim Jumper, with their varied "something for everyone" menu, I certainly would NOT be sad to see Chik-fil-A go; cars waiting in line at their drive-thru always snake out into the main thoroughfare, royally impeding traffic through the shopping center.

I did pick up potting soil at Target, so I'm all set the next time I feel motivated to repot plants.  But unfortunately the vinegar shelf was bare, so additional 'weeding' will have to wait.  

Since the staff was busy restocking shelves I did ask one of them to check in the back for some - which she did.  But apparently Easter activities wiped out their supply.

In the afternoon the doc's office called with the results of my recent bloodwork.  Most was fine, though my potassium was a tad low, registering 3.5 (normal range starts at 3.6) so I guess I will make it a point to try to add more of certain foods to my diet. 

Which yesterday wasn't so good.  For 'breakfast' I had some of Mary's cookies, and each time I walked by the counter I scarfed down another.  That went on all day, and by dinner time I realized I hadn't eaten anything else!  

Tom was really puffed by dinner time when he noticed that all of the cookies had been eaten. 

My glucose number, worrisome at one point several years ago, was nice and low (though maybe not after yesterday...?)  However my cholesterol stats remain high, so I will be starting on a statin to deal with that.

I worked on the Jellyroll Sizzle quilt yesterday, and have started to join the blocks together.  But during dinner, when I was admiring my progress on the design wall, I noticed a mistake on one.  Which means that this morning I will have a date with Jack.

 Sunday morning was  productive morning.  I started by loading pix from Wednesday's Busy Bee meeting, and then working on the blurb for the AQG Chatter.  At least I've got plenty of time to tweak it, before the next deadline of May 15.

Mary, my gardening guru, arrived mid-morning and helped me repot as many plants as we could until we ran out of soil.  (I only had two bags.)  The lucky plants that got new (and roomier) spaces should be very happy, and (if I remember to pick up more bags of soil) the rest could get an upgrade soon.  

I'm curious to see how the philodendron experiment turns out, and hoping that the firestick plant is happy in its new home out front.

During the afternoon I got back to work on my Jellyroll Sizzle, which had been sitting for a while.

Tom and Alex and I dined at Carrabba's last night.  It was delicious (as usual) and I ate way too much (as usual) but at least it was (reasonably) healthy stuff: salad, broccoli, and salmon.  Unfortunately I negated much of that good work by pigging out on the bread with the olive oil and herbs beforehand while waiting for our dinners to arrive - but on the other hand I did pass on their decadent chocolate dessert afterward.

At home the three of us played some Rummikub, and I was the lucky winner of both games.

This morning I woke 5 minutes before my alarm went off at 6:00, and was ready to leave for the airport when Alex arrived 10 minutes before our planned 6:30 rendezvous.  Brownie came along for the ride, happy to be going anywhere.  Traffic wasn't too bad in either direction, which was nice.

When the MailBox place opened at 9:00 I got Mel's and Sandy's packages into the system, and on the way home dropped off water jugs for Dave and the latest Chewy box for Joy.  There is nothing 'official' on today's agenda, so I'm hoping to get more sewing and yardwork done.  

I started off my day yesterday by taking Brownie for a morning walk around the neighborhood, enjoying our lovely weather.  We had a leisurely walk since he 'needed' to stop/sniff/pee constantly, and I got lots of 'reading' done via my ear buds.  Thank you, Marilyn!

  

Unfortunately I didn't get nearly as much accomplished the rest of the day as I'd hoped/planned, though on the plus side <g> I did skip a mega fabric sale in Scottsdale.  

At least I did sew the 2022 AQG Show label onto my book quilt; "too often" (aka always...) those labels come home from the show and then sit around for a long time.  

In fact I'm pretty sure I have a label from a previous show still waiting. 

Mostly I dragged through the day, and had difficulty getting motivated.  

Hopefully today will be better.  

Mary is coming over to 'supervise' the repotting of some of my plants.