I am more than a little behind on posting.  

In my defense it has been somewhat of a busy week - 

but also once I start to fall behind I seem to find it harder to catch up.

Tuesday 

While doing some mucking of a 'miscellaneous' box I came across the MIA ear buds (which Marilyn had sent me some time ago but which I'd never tried.)  Alex helped me get them set up to charge while I went to the gym.  Then, after a reasonable workout (my first since before I left for Maryland) he gave me an ear bud tutorial.

I listened to Pandora, took a test phone call from him, loaded some podcasts, etc. While I have no doubt I may <LOL> need some additional "reminders" before I use them effortlessly, at least I seem to be on my way.

 In the afternoon I tracked down some matzoh (at Fry's) and once back home did all the veggie slicing/dicing necessary to make up a batch of farro for the upcoming Foothills potluck.  Yummy!

Wednesday 

Louisa Smith's trunk show of art quilts (focusing on techniques in her Strips and Curves book) was impressive, to say the least.  I'm not 'likely' <G> to attempt any of them, though I did learn a very helpful (yet simple) tip.  

Many of her quilts start with a long strip set (the one in the picture is much shorter than her 'usual') and someone had asked how she keeps them so even. 

After she lines up her strips on the design wall the way she wants them, she numbers them.  When she starts assembling her strip set she sews them in sets of two (#1 to #2, #3 to #4, etc.)  Then she sews the two-sets into sets of four, the four-sets into sets of eight, etc.  

Like most of us, I  just kept adding strips to the 'main' section, but apparently the difference in weight tends to pull the strips.  Who knew? 

(When Mary came over on Friday and I was showing her all of the photos I'd taken during the program I asked if she knew about that hint.  She didn't, either.)

Of course I took lots of photos (75!) during the program.  I needed to choose the key photo for all of them (the live photo option makes it way easier to end up with a good shot, but going through all of them and selecting the Key Photo from the dozen choices for each one is just one more step in dealing with them), then send them (in batches) from the phone to my e-mail on the laptop, label each one, and (finally) upload to the Foothill site on Shutterfly. With the April 15 deadline for the AQG Chatter submission bearing down the rush was on to get that done for Carole 'sooner rather than later'.

The pot-luck was yummy (as always), and with tonnage of food (as always) I ended up being able to bring home a fair amount of leftover farro - which Alex and I have been enjoying ever since.

In the afternoon Brownie 'helped' me return an overdue library book, and afterward as a reward I took him for a walk in the park near the library.  I'd brought along my new ear buds, and while we walked I tried them out on my first solo run.  So far, so good!  Brownie behaved admirably, even when a large dog 'escaped' and came loping over to us.

Joe swung by after work, when Tom and I added even more to The List.  He'll be back on Monday to do the stucco repair under the eaves, so we're getting closer to being able to paint the exterior of the house. 

 

It turns out that the broken doorbell really did just need a new battery, A23.  And while I did find some of that unusual size in the junk drawer, they were dead also.  Guess I shouldn't have been that surprised; the one package that was labeled with a date said it was guaranteed "until 2008".  Obviously we haven't had much use for that particular type of battery!

So I made what I expected to be a quick hop to Walmart for a more current battery - but they only carry the most common types.    The clerk suggested I try Walgreen's - but making the left out of the parking lot onto Union Hills during rush hour took forever - or maybe even longer.  <g>  In fact it's entirely possible that I could have walked the mile from 43rd to 35th in the time I sat waiting to pull out into the center lane.

On the plus side Walgreen's does carry that battery, 

so now we once again have a working doorbell.

Thursday

I started off my morning having my annual visit with my PCP.  My EKG was fine, and though I'm awaiting results of that day's bloodwork I don't expect them to provide any surprises.  So (except for scheduling a routine colonoscopy) she says I'm likely good to go for another year.

That afternoon I was back at PT.  Things just keep getting easier (balancing on one foot, step downs, etc.) but I still scheduled another 6 weeks-worth of Thursday sessions.  Because as long as I'm continuing to make progress (and Medicare is willing to keep paying for them!) I'll keep going.

 

And yes, it was nice to listen to a podcast while walking my 20 minutes on the treadmill. 

About that.  I'm still getting up to speed with the headphones, and experienced technical difficulties with my phone later that afternoon because the headphones had apparently been left on when I got off the treadmill.  

Trying to charge them up presented their own problems - caused by user error, of course, with regard to the cord adapter. Long story.) 

Glad my IT guy was still available even while driving to CA.

Before he headed to CA Alex got to meet "Jack" - and was surprised that such a thing existed. 

 

It took the two of us a LONG time to remove an old RockStar patch from one of his favorite hats before he headed to Coachella. 

Brownie had been been scratching/biting at himself a lot so I gave him a bath with the medicated shampoo.  That seemed to help quite a bit, but since it did not eliminate the problem entirely I see another bath in his future.  (Directions say to use it twice/week - which will not make him happy!) 

His coat certainly looks/smells better - though that bathroom retained the lingering 'aroma' of wet dog until I burned some incense.

Friday

I enjoyed a morning soak (it'd been quite a while) while I checked in with Linda.  The kids are really tiring her out, especially considering the extra long days due to Lindzey's new job schedule.  

While topping off the water in the hot tub afterward (it'd fallen below some of the jets) I used the time to take care of a few yard chores, like watering plants and poop patrol. Then I headed to the gym, where I did some pre-workout on the elliptical.  Which is where Davon found me to give me the 'bad news' that he had to cancel, because before he'd put me on that day's schedule they'd given him someone else.  (He laughed when I was happy about the cancellation.)  I used my now-freed-up-time to do some machine exercises on my own, but (not surprisingly...) didn't work out a full 30 minutes.  

Headed over to Spencer's to shop for a closet-sized washer/dryer, and also a basic dishwasher, for the back house.  They can't be be delivered/installed until Tuesday (I had hoped for today) but will still provide a nice surprise for Alex when he returns (on Thursday?)

Next stop was Farmer's, to ask Deb about 3 insurance questions: $3 charge (with no explanation) on my credit card (one time state fee); new house insurance, now that the windows are in - which is already done, despite no inspection; and Alex's truck insurance snafu (she'd left a couple of messages on his voice mail - which he NEVER checks) so that still isn't exactly resolved.

Mary popped over in the afternoon, and seemed to enjoy the pix of the trunk show.  

Too bad I hadn't twisted her arm to join us that morning!

Passover started last evening, though I didn't attend a Seder (other than 'this' one.)

Billy Joel Passover

Saturday

Today marks 13 (!)  years since Dad died, and at sundown last night I lit his yahrzeit candle.

This morning I took Brownie for a long walk, lasting well over an hour, along the wash - though despite the length of time we only made it as far as the school by the 45th Ave. underpass because of his constant stops to sniff and pee, along with a couple of water stops.  We did come across a fair number of other dogs on their walks, and there was always a lot of tail wagging.  I'm happy to report that he behaved in a gentlemanly manner even when the dog in question was large.  

I also 'learned' (by mistake!) how to pause my ear buds.

No doubt there is a lot that I've left out - 

but before I get even further behind I think I'll just go ahead and post this!