Got a call from the furniture folks (roughly 24 hours after they'd picked up the recliner, instead of the week that had been predicted) that my chair is already fixed; that sure didn't take long!  Of course they can't deliver it until Saturday - when I will be at Sandy Warren's memorial.  So Tom gets to deal with that yet again.

My headache was not too bad yesterday morning, 

and by afternoon it was gone!

I had a hair appointment with Shelley yesterday morning, but when I walked over she was heading out on her daily dog walk with Mimi (& Ed.)  My appointment was for 9:30 (and a check when I got home showed that's what I'd written on my calendar) but for some reason I'd thought it was at 9:00.  No biggie; I went on the walk with them.  Mimi and Ed had their two dogs, along with a 14-week-old "puppy" they are dog-sitting for a week.  Shelley had her three, one of which I walked.  All of the dogs behaved well - except for the puppy, who was rather rambunctious.  On the plus side, he sure is a handsome dog. <g>  I got a nice dog fix before I got my hair cut (which looks much better now.)  

They walk every morning, and I've been invited to join them.  Was thinking of doing that today, and bringing Tyga - except it poured last night (the expected storm arrived pretty much on schedule) so it's not only cold but will be muddy.  Plus Tyga was never dropped off here last night, and I know he doesn't sleep with his collar.

Alex had a good dental appointment, with no cavities; he reports that the dentist is much happier with how much better he's taking care of his teeth.  (Pretty sure motivation for that came from having to pay for his own fillings!)  However one tooth that they've been keeping an eye on now needs a crown, so Alex needs to check and see if his new medical insurance includes dental coverage!

I was on the phone much of the morning, making all sorts of arrangements (like a replacement dental appointment, setting up a date for the tree trimmers, etc.) and thus was able to cross a whole bunch of things off my long list.  That always feels good - except I seem to be adding items at a higher rate than crossing them off!

Matt called in the early afternoon to say my car was ready, so I picked that up.  The diagnostic sheet has a few more items that need replacing (some belts, fluids) but at least with a new starter and brakes it should start - and stop - fine for the time being.

The cleaning ladies were here when I got back, and now the house is nice and clean again.  I was going to have them keep an eye out for the earring I lost Wednesday evening - but Alex had already found it earlier in the day.  Since Tom isn't going to put up a tree this year (he hasn't for the past several years) Alex had come over to borrow the tree stand and box of ornaments, and he and Aja decorated a tree at the back house.  It looks lovely and cheerful, considerably nicer than the one below....  

Not sure what's going to happen with Alex and Aja, since she's moving to Madison, WI in January for a job.  They did have a wonderful hike up Camelback on Wednesday via the Echo Trail, though apparently it's quite tough scramble.  Nice view, though!

In the late afternoon they came over to "borrow" our microwave.  The new one Alex had bought (not that long ago!) to replace the original one over there died!  As a bonus I got to taste some of his chicken pasta dish, which was scrumptious.

I finished up on Marilyn & Don's gift last night.  It took some folding (and refolding) but Tom "arranged" it so it will fit into one of the post office boxes.  I see a trip to mail it, hopefully this afternoon, in my future.   

I have the gym this morning, and another rush-hour foray to the chiropractor this afternoon.  In between I absolutely need to take care of a few financial things on the computer that I've been putting off "successfully" for months now.  However the end-of-the-year deadline is fast approaching.

 Both Josh and Cory at Gaylor said they will be there today "in case" I need help.  Pretty sure that's a given, which is why I've put it off and put it off.

I'm continuing to make progress listening to These Truths each night before drifting off to sleep. (The timer setting is wonderful.)  This morning I was awake, but still snuggled under the covers deciding if I 'wanted' to get up and start my day, when the iPad turned on for a few seconds, lighting up the dark room.  Weird - but then I'm never surprised by the actions of any electronics around me...

Hung out at the Acura dealership for three hours while they conducted the diagnostics on my RDX.  Turns out I need a new starter (quite pricey), new brakes (not quite so pricey), and my rack-and-pinion system is leaking.  While the leak (the cost of the other two repairs combined) can wait, the others can't.  Of course they have to get the parts, and won't be able to fix it until tomorrow.  I did leave there in a nearly-new MDX (pretty snazzy) so that was nice.

  

Knowing I'd be there for a while, I'd thought to bring along my handwork, so that last binding is now about halfway done.  (Also enjoyed lunch while I was there.)

Need a gate key for zanjero Terry (and thought I'd also get one for Alex for his van keychain) so this afternoon I popped up to Ace Hardware to take care of that.  When I got back home the keys didn't work <sigh> so I cruised back up there -  this time with the lock.  The new keys he made worked, and he even gave me an extra one for my trouble.

Marcie did a professional job shortening the back of Alex's stretchy shirt - much better than I could have done.  No idea why they made the tail end so long; he'll be much happier with his 'new' shirt.

Tyga tagged along; we have him while Alex and Aja are climbing Camelback Mountain.

 

Having visited there several times now he turned right up into their driveway.  It's clear that he's quite comfortable there and made himself right at home, despite the fact that Latina wasn't much of a hostess.

Have been dealing with a headache this afternoon, along with a slight toothache, and now a weepy eye and earache.  Looks like another cluster headache.  Sigh...

+On the way to the gym this morning I caught part of an NPR segment about Fake News.   The were talking about the difference between "Iffy sites" (that don't seem to care about the truth), as opposed to those that are simply biased.

I got a surprise on the leg extension machine today.  In the beginning it had been quite a toughie, burning my quads on the tops of my thighs.  Happily it has gotten a lot easier over time..  But today I had new "fun"- intense burning in a new spot, the inside of my legs just above the knees.  Likely that is the result of (finally) pedaling while standing (admittedly for short periods) on the spin bike at Boot Camp on Sunday.

Then I got quite the shock at the library, when it turned out
my account was frozen because of a $32.50 fine! 

Since I had put Michelle Obama's book on hold way back when, I was the first one to get the brand new book when it was released.  I cherish books, and thus never lay them on their 'stomach' (that hurts the binding), always use a bookmark (NEVER dog ear pages), basically treating all books with respect. So I was bummed when I bumped my coffee one morning and splashed a little on one page of the pristine book.  Turns out that 'water damage' ruined the book (they worry about mold) and now I am the proud owner of my own copy.  So if anyone wants to borrow it...

Patti called from Kentucky today (where it was snowing) to chat and give me an update.  The holidays are traditionally not a time when most people choose to put their houses on the market, so pickings there are quite slim.  She said all the houses they've looked at have been old, and small.  As a result they are going to rent an apartment for a bit and try again in the spring.  She and Gary are flying home on Sunday to do some final packing, so she is going to pop over on Monday for a visit.

Alex did a great job
of putting up some of the green privacy mesh on the gate.  

--

I'll be more comfortable getting in/out of the hot tub 

without worrying about people walking/riding by getting a peek.

My recliner got picked up for its repair this afternoon.  The big question is: will we get it back before we all head out next week, or will Murphy's Law kick in and it won't be ready until the next day...

Managed to change our automatic irrigation time from 2 hours to 90 minutes, and yes, it did turn out to be more of a production than it should have been.  Of course we won't know how that next cycle goes since we'll be gone, and zanjero Terry will be taking care of it for us.

I feel considerably better after today's visit to the chiropractor - but am still going to keep Friday's appoint.  Definitely want to be all tuned up before my trip!  

Driving there that late in the afternoon traffic was heavy, as expected (so I'd allowed extra driving time) though I was surprised when it came to an actual standstill on the 101, waiting to get onto I-10.  Then leaving his office (at Dysart & McDowell) I always take Dysart the few blocks to I-10.  But that on-ramp turned out to be closed (as I discovered just as I missed my opportunity to take McDowell to the 101), and by the time I could get someplace to make the turn and come back up to where I started, it was 20 minutes later. SO glad I don't have to play in rush hour traffic very often (though my Friday appointment is at the same crappy time.)

Yesterday I was sore in a number of places, pretty sure <g> a result of Sunday's Boot Camp.  While I'm not any better this morning, I will still be heading to the gym for my usual Tuesday session.

Another thing added to my list today is to schlep a ladder over from the shop to change a hard-to-reach light bulb over the back door.  It's been out for about ten days now, and I asked Tom to do that when it first went out.

In the days since then I have "reminded" him an additional four times (and he always agreed to do it...) but obviously it's not a high priority for him, and I'm tired of 'nagging'.

Alex did help get Netflix "fixed" last evening to show a picture and not just sound - all it took was restarting.  However, we went round and round (as usual) when I tried to get him to define "restart", which means one thing to me (turn it off, turn it on?) and something entirely different to the tech generation.  

But it literally took more than a dozen times of me saying, "I don't understand what you mean by 'restart', please explain" before he actually did - and then only after saying, "I've already told you a million times."

When I think of how patient I was with my kids during their childhood (even my mother was flabbergasted) telling/showing/explaining things to them over and over and over again, it would be nice if they extended the same courtesy to their idiot mother.

At 5:00 I called about jury duty, and listened to the somewhat lengthy recording about parking, dress code, etc. before they started listing the groups required to appear by 9:00 tomorrow.  My group was not one of those listed.  

Then they started naming the groups that need to call tomorrow morning at 10:15 to see if they will be required to appear at 12:30.  As they went through that list of groups (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) I fully expected to hear my group, 2010, included.  But they stopped at 2007, and then added that "all the other groups had fulfilled their duty" and would not be called again in the next 18 months.  If it wasn't such an extra-busy week (along with trying to get ready to head to Maryland early next week) I really wouldn't mind being called.  But getting a pass this time is a relief.

I'm especially happy 

that now I can keep my chiropractor appointment tomorrow afternoon.

Finished one of my holiday gifts this afternoon, and made more progress on the remaining one.  

The end is in sight!

After my morning soak (and jet massage) I added water to tub (Alex thinks the lights should be underwater) which of course lowered the temp some.  But I expect it to be back to toasty by the time I'm ready to soak later.

Did some sewing while I waited for Tom to appear this morning, and then I got a pot of turkey soup simmering.  That always reminds me of Dad, who loved making soup.

While working on the soup, which took a while, I had Animal Planet on in the background.  I especially enjoyed the segment on the absolutely adorable Aussie puppies.  The episode followed the three red tri-colored and three red merles from one week (eyes still closed, helpless) to eight weeks (when they practiced herding ducks) until they headed to new homes at twelve weeks. (I'm jealous!) Mom Rosie really reminded me of Echo. 

I've made a chiropractor appointment for tomorrow (in case I find out at 5:00 today I don't have to show up for jury duty tomorrow) but also one for Friday (my next available time slot in case I do end up having to discharge my civic duty tomorrow.)

I went with Alex and Tom over to Mike & Marcie's to load up buckets and crates of rocks (from the pile they had saved for me) and now the guys are busy filling in the gaps around the new irrigation outlets.  Tyga is supervising.

Alex taste-tested a mini-bowl of turkey soup beforehand, and approved.

* * * * *

FYI - I just checked the hot tub, and it's already back up to temp.

I actually did get around to mucking off my desk yesterday (WAY overdue!), tossing much from the pile, filing quite a bit, and (bonus!) finding missing stuff - like Anita's postcard with the dates of their trip through Arizona in March.  There's still a pile of "leftovers" - but it's considerably less dense than it was!

Also did more sewing, making progress on the two remaining holiday gifts. Despite a rather busy week ahead, I do expect to get them finished in time.

Alex has chastised me for not pushing through my tiredness at Boot Camp (I'd love to see how energetic HE is at my age, though it's highly doubtful <g> I'll live to see 110!) but I still only made it through the first half hour yesterday.  Not only is my left tricep still sore from Friday, but my neck/left shoulder is out.  I'd love to visit the chiropractor sooner rather than later - except this week is jammed with extra appointments.  

The jets in the hot tub do feel good, but don't get to the root of the problem.

Sunday the furniture store called to let me know that the part has come in for my recliner.  They want to pick up the chair on Tuesday (when I'll be on jury duty) so Tom has the privilege of hanging around the house (instead of playing in the shop) to wait for them.  If I said he was thrilled at that prospect, would anyone believe me?

Had some weird dreams last night - including a dream within a dream!