Family

Summer Is Lovely

Summer is lovely

It is here, finally, I think.  Warm, sunny days.  I am potting plants, and nurturing little plants that came back all by themselves.  What I am not doing is trimming or weeding.  I haven't gotten any mulch yet, and the gardening guy (lawn mowing guy, really) has not come to do his thing to my bushy evergreens that are stealing all the light from the catnip and spearmint.   But the flowers in pots are doing so well!!! Plus I have 3 bright red poppies.  I love them, but they are very gangly.  Maybe I should stake them.

The pool is another story - I now have a new pump, smaller than the last one, which lasted 11 years.  It is giving me trouble priming, and the heater is off and on.  Sigh.  The joys of pools.  This is not even a large one - it's an on-ground 10 x 16.  Lovely, though.  It is pretty clear, and if I can get that sand out that seems to be all over the bottom, it will be ready (albeit cold.)  One thing at a time.  Vacumming to waste makes me lose prime, and then I can't get it back.  I wish I understood this whole thing better!  And I cannot get in when it's 64 degrees. For me, it is 10 times easier to vacuum when you are actually IN the water.

Anyhow, the other thing - the gas grill still doesn't light.  I have not had the nerve to try it with a lighter.  I am just so afraid it will go "boom" in my face.  Usually, isn't there a hissing when you turn on the gas, before you even turn on the burners?  It's a brand-new tank of gas. I wish I weren't afraid of things that can be very dangerous......like gas grills, outer space, knives.  I hate not having someone to ask besides my son, who has less experience than I do with these things.

So, here it is my 2nd day off (My "Sunday") and I am faced with so many chores.  I did a lot around here yesterday, and it tired me out - I thought lots of exercise is supposed to energize you!  But by 8 I was pretty far gone.  And I do stupid things.  I went out with my daughter to get strawberries earlier - the first ones!!) and saw a cell phone on the floor of the car, and just thought it was mine, so tossed it into my purse.  Then, the poor kid goes home at 11 (I am snoring on the couch) and I go to bed, and then about 1/2 hour later, I hear a car pull in, the dog goes nuts, and there she is.  I said "OH, GOD, what happened?" (moms do that) and she said so sweetly, "I'm sorry, mom, I could not find my phone and so I came back and it was in your purse."  Oh, God.  I never even looked at it - yes,, they are the same phone, but mine (being an "older" person) has my address label on it!  I just didn't look.  She went home with her laundry, got up to her apt and then realized it.  And it's her only phone - she, like most young adults, does not have what we call a "land line."  And I just said I'm sorry, and she left, and the dog got out of my room (she didn't close the door so the cats could come in but he couldn't get out) and the dog therefore slept in the living room all night, and did the nasty on my rug!  OOOOH.  And nobody to blame but myself.

Luckily, both kids have apartments less than 15 minutes away.

I want to be more positive, but I tend to beat myself up about what I have NOT accomplished.  It is hard, when you are alone, because you have no one to regularly boost you, cheer you up, pump you up to do more -  you know.....that is not a huge thing, but it is a factor.

OK - 10:30 and I am going to read the paper!  My circadian rhythms, or whatever they are, seem to want to do small chores (bills, phone calls,) during the earlier part of the day.  I seem to have more energy between 12 and 4.  Then I drag or even nap for an hour (20 minutes used to do it!) until supper, then I do a few more things,, and then, having that 5:15 wake-up call, I like to sit and stare, or read.  Unless I have a rehearsal, in which case I manage to get all these same things done, but without the nap more times than not, and still be "up" for rehearsal.

Am I a freak or am I just getting older?  I weigh less than in many years, but it is slow to come off and I don't see an increase in energy.  I do find that some things are easier, and when bending over at the store is a heck of a lot easier (getting up, that is.)  Now I just need to get into my pool and start my water aerobics!~  Heater, please work today!