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Monday, March 16, 2015

Spring cleaning

Life is weird sometimes.  It’s getting to be spring or at least the weather thinks so and it is only March.  We still have snowstorms in our future.  What the heck?  It was in the 60 and 70’s over the weekend. It was nice to have windows open and made me feel like getting things done in the house.  It is supposed to be in the 30's and 40's this weekend.  That's typical for us here in ND.
 
I started early Saturday morning in what we call the computer room.  There hasn’t been a computer in that room in probably 7 years but we don’t know what else to call it.  There is a desk, filing cabinets, portable storage for dance costumes, Christmas decorations, photos, totes of the girls school papers, misc pieces of furniture, lake laundry and things that will need to go back to the lake, craft supplies, left over wedding things and, well you get the idea.  It is a ‘catch all’ room.  Needless to say the desk is piled about 2 feet high.  The desk is made of 2 filing cabinets and the sliding doors that used to close the room off.  Also keep in mind that this desk is 7 feet long and about 3 feet deep.  I tackled the chair first so I at least had a place to sit (seriously!).  Then, knowing that the piles on the desk top would have to go into the filing cabinets, I decided to tackle what was already in the drawers.  I went through years and years of old papers and cleaned out everything.  Then, when I had made room, I dug into the top of the desk.  I got a ton of stuff sifted through and in the end I was able to put the doors back on the room.  We had taken them off because with small kids there were always fingers getting pinched in them.  I don’t have small kids anymore so I had no reason not to put them back.  Because the cable, wifi, internet and whatever else we have comes in through that room, I needed a desk of some kind to put it all on.  A year ago, when I had purchased a new coffee table for the living room, the old one ended up shoved into Erin’s old bedroom for lack of anywhere else to put it.  The legs are all broken up but the glass top is in decent condition if you don’t count nail polish and scratches.  So I stole the top and put that on the 2 filing cabinets and taadaa:  a much smaller more efficient desk.  I had Rylee get down some photo boxes (yes, from a top shelf) so I could put a bunch of photos away and decided I was done for the day in that room.  The photo boxes will have to be put back up and I still have a long way to go before the room is considered finished!  But I got a start and you have to start somewhere, right?
 
Sunday came along and for some reason, the cleaning bug was still in me.  This time I started upstairs.  Opened windows, dusted, polished wood, cleaned floors, vacuumed, tidied a little, wiped down the whole bathroom and did the floor in there too.  For some reason, this took me most of the day.  OK, so it has been a while since I did a real good cleaning.  I need to do the kitchen counter where I dump stuff and the end of the dining room table where I also dump stuff yet.  By the time I got that far, I was limping pretty good on my bad hip so I took a shower and went to the grocery store to get something for Jim to grill for supper.  Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
 
All in all, a great weekend.  I got a lot accomplished, went out to eat on Sat (Seamus Fries at Blarney Stone are yummy!!!) and even took in a hockey game with friends (Thank You Dave Lynnes for the tickets!).  I just need one more like it to finish the cleaning.  Ok, maybe two! 
 
Rylee is finally done with basketball.  Her teams took 5th in state.  Now she has her afternoons free.  Hopefully she will attempt to find her bedroom floor now that she has some time.  Darn teenagers!   I took her to orthopedics this morning to have her knees looked at again.  We are going to try knee braces, orthotics and physical therapy.  If that gets us no where, we will look into surgery.  Bleh!  This is the second daughter to inherit my knees.  Poor girls!  Hopefully they don’t inherit any of my other problems.
 
Not sure if other cities do this but we have what we have what we call Clean Up Week.  It is usually the first weekend in May.  It is the opportunity to put all our crap on the curb that can't normally be thrown out; like appliances, electronics, mattresses, building materials and other random crap and not have extra charges.   The downfall of clean up week is the people that scrounge through your garbage and take scrap metal and other things that they can sell and break stuff and tear your piles apart.  Other people go through and shop.  One mans trash is another man's treasure. 
 
Tomorrow I need to call Sanford, unless I get a letter in the mail today.  I would do it today but Rylee’s appointment took too long and I have to skip lunch to make up my time. Anyhow, the 45 days for the claim are up.  This is to see if I can get any back wages.  Still have an inkling of hope.  We could really use the money especially if Rylee actually gets her license next week.  I don’t think we can afford another loan and she would be able to take herself to physical therapy but that will leave me with no car at all.  Not that I am all that sad, since I haven’t actually bonded to either of our vehicles.   The 2nd mortgage that we had to take out to repair the foundation a few years back is more than I want to handle already.  The money part of life, I could really do without.  I wish I were independently wealthy so I didn’t have to be bothered with the worry.  If that were the case I would hire someone to finish the bathroom that Jim started 2 years ago!  LOL!  Money always runs out before intentions do. 
 
So, let’s talk menopause.  WTH??  I have been having hot flashes for a month or so.  Holy Heat, Batman!!!  First you start to feel a little warm then your skin starts to prickle.  Not painful but irritating.  Like little needles or maybe like being trapped in a mild sand storm.  Then everywhere that prickled will turn red and then sweat.  Of course, the normal areas like your forehead, underarms, back, chest and groin area are soaked.  It’s the areas you don’t expect that throw you.  Your forearms, calves, thighs, ankles, elbow and knee creases will all be beaded with sweat.  I get up, shower, dry my hair, get dressed and by the time I go to work my clothes are soggy.  I have it so bad I actually have a heat rash on my chest!!  I have read that Red Clover helps.  Has anyone tried this?  Does it help??  Inquiring minds want to know.  I am open to tips and suggestions as well.  I read to stay away from caffeine and spicy food but I really don’t see that happening.  I also read that dairy and meat can trigger it.  I have to be careful how many vegetables and fruits I eat in a day or I pay for it so I don’t see me winning on the eating side of this battle.
 

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