It's All About Me

Whackadoodle Day already and it's not yet 9!

2026-04-18T16:08:27Z

Yesterday I had a particularly nice swim. My swim sessions are getting longer and longer because they are getting more and more enjoyable. Also swimming was Carl who is a bit of a weirdo. I can't tell if he's neurologically challenged or just thick or what but he's clearly a few pixels off. He sometimes plays volleyball with us but not often and not well.

Shortly after I got home, I got an email that the pool was closed til further notice due to fecal matter in the water. WTF????? Did I poop and not know it?? Erica (the fitness director) and I swapped a few emails and I learned that, apparently, Carl's colostomy bag sprung a leak. It will take until at least Monday and maybe longer to get the water cleaned and chemically adjusted again.

So... no volleyball today. The Mariners took their own sweet time losing last night so I got to sleep late-ish. And this morning I woke up at 5:30... I rolled over and decided to close my eyes for a bit and the next thing I knew it was nearly 8!!! And the cats were having fits.

Then, the second bombshell of the day dropped... I have gained a half pound and lost very little in the past week. So I quit counting calories and for the past two days have just eaten what I wanted. This morning I was down a pound and a half.

This is from yesterday but... wanna see my new comforter?

I got the most delightful email from Scott and Julie - my New Zealand friends - last night. They have their sights on one last grand trip to the US next year. While they were here last year, I gave them a list of places in the Southeast which is one area they have never been to. So Scott turned that list over to CoPilot with some parameters and CoPilot designed a wonderful 3 weeks from Nashville to Asheville to Savannah and Atlanta. With stops at places in between that I hadn't even thought of but will be spectacular. They are planning on arriving in mid-May and then stopping in Denver for Moab, Monument Valley, Silverado and then on to Atlanta for the Southwest Tour and then to here for a week of telling me all about their adventures before they take their over packed suitcases home. It sounds wonderful.

Time now to get dressed and ready for Elbow Coffee. Man, when you sleep in, your day sure gets cut short! (Captain Obvious reporting for duty.)

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Winner winner chicken dinner

2026-04-17T16:16:06Z

Yesterday I went into Target to get Benefiber and came out with Benefiber and a comforter. Hmmm. That's some expensive fiber! My new rule is no more so if I buy new, I have to get rid of a like item. So I did. I put a comforter and two coffee mugs that I never use, out in the elbow with a FREE sign and they were gone in an hour.

The new comforter is wonderful to sleep under. I mean really. My sleep score from last night.

Lately I've been dreaming a lot and dreaming a lot about dead people. My parents, my friend, John, other friends - they have all been dead now for more than just a few years, yet in my dreams, they show zero signs of deadness. It's kind of wild.

Bonny has bronchitis and fairly robust case of it. Today she goes in for her pre hip replacement visit. She's due for surgery in two weeks. I cannot imagine that anyone is going to approve her for surgery - at age 86 - but she can't imagine they are going to object. Should be interesting.

Jan took her arm to the surgeon on Wednesday. It's a bad break and a piece of bone is floating around her arm but, no surgery. They told her at her age, it was not recommended. She was delighted/insulted. They did not even give her a real cast. Once a day she's to take her arm out of the sling and bend it and lift it touching her shoulder slowly 4 times. Come back in six weeks. Without the surgery, her range of motion will be somewhat limited. She won't be able to reach the top cabinets. But, her husband is tall. Her pitching career, however, is over.

And speaking of age, it finally happened. When someone here dies, they put out little framed photos with the birth date and the death date. I always check to make sure they were well older than I am now. Today there is one who was born in 1954. I was born in 1949. My Won't Happen To Me bubble is burst (bursted?).

This morning I need to take down the stack of done or won't ever do puzzles to the puzzle closet and do some shopping.

But, that's about it for chores. I want to watch the finale of The Pitt. And I have the last 30 minutes of my current book to listen to. And the knitting to do. I'm shoring up my doll supply so I can spend some time on my other projects.

But, first I need to get dressed.

Ha. The cats, who usually spend this time of day on their cat beds that are under my bed. This morning, they are wallowing on the new comforter. A win for all, I guess.

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Thursday

2026-04-16T16:21:11Z

Well, the collected Skippy so far on the Facility guy so far is that he got pissed off at the parent company (LCS) and told them where to stick it. And he's now working at a Hyatt resort up the road about an hour. About half the people are 'it's such a loss' and the other half are not saying anything which I'm reading as 'not such a loss'. He had a tendency to make pronouncements about future stuff that then never happened. I was never overly impressed.

The Mariners beat the Padres last night in really the first real win of the series. It's the first game where the opposing team played really well and we still won so that's why it feels like the first win. It's about fucking time.

[edit later in the day... I turned the game off in the middle of the 9th inning. The Padres had done little and the score was Mariners 6 Padres 2. I was sleepy. While I was sleeping, the Padres scored 5 runs in the 9th. so... no win for the Mariners after all.]

I'm thinking about running a couple of errands today - I need to stop at Safeway but I just saw a new sandwich at Trader Joe's that looks interesting and I could use more Mandarin orange chicken. I need to inventory the fridge before I go.

I got a new United Health Care insurance card in the mail yesterday with some different numbers. No explanation why. The instructions said to activate, so I did and now I have no access to the data from the old card and the new card isn't valid til May 1. Weird. Oh wait. I just logged in again and now I can choose between the old and the new. Very weird but ok.

I've really got nothing else to report so I think I'll go get dressed and head on out.

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Ok, let's try this

2026-04-15T16:12:48Z

I'm over watching calories. I learned that if I eat what I want when I want, I'm at or under what I need to lose/maintain. And I'm still eating way less than I was before Wegovy and I'm still fine with it. So I'm back to whatever. I will say, after 3 full months, the other bits of me that have actually shrunk any are still my wrists. Not on my top 35 body places to lose inches but then I didn't really specify originally.

Also, here's a fun old lady situation. My left wrist is way smaller than my right. My right ankle is way smaller than my left.

The Mariners, turns out, have a tough time winning unless they are playing a team that sucks worse than they do. It's going to be a looooooooong Summer at this rate.

Today is the monthly public Food & Beverage meeting.

Oh, I before the other meeting yesterday, the CEO dropped out so I ended up not going at all. Nice.

The CEO sent out a letter yesterday saying that the head of Maintenance left as of last Friday. As in the corporate world, when you leave a company on good terms, it's generally with a few weeks of goodbye and a little reception. When you are fired or Take This Job And Shove it, your departure is announced after the fact. The last two major departures here - Food and Beverage Director and Facilities Director - have been after the fact. This time there won't be a lot of tears. He had issues. But he had been here a fairly long time.

I ran into Jim Down The Hall yesterday. First time since he and his girlfriend got back from their multi week road trip. He said it was a good trip. I said 'can't wait to hear about it at elbow coffee on Saturday'. Then he told me they were leaving tomorrow for a long weekend in Oregon. Holy fuck, man. Time to stay home and do laundry!! He is 90 and she is 85.

I need my hair cut in the back but my brother is not coming back until June and Bonny is sick. I may have to mangle it myself.

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Tuesday

2026-04-14T16:22:39Z

So Jan's down an arm. And Dick (her husband) is suffering from 1st year at Timber Ridge Tax Return which is a real thing and painful. Now Bonny has bronchitis. And Joan has increasingly severe dental issues. This place is a mind field of old people fails.

Crap. Bonny just reminded me that we have a meeting of the 3rd floor today. Fuck. I went once and it was so painful. But the CEO is speaking today and talking about the near future plans for rearrangement of the first floor common areas. It might be worth going. Maybe. It's not til 3 which is way too late in the day for me to get interested in anything outside this apartment. Grumble grumble grumble.

At least today is cleaning day. Also the Blue Bin is outside Jim Across The Hall's Door. They station this big blue bin outside the door of any apartment where there is move in or move out - for boxes and trash. So maybe we'll see some action today.

They have a very delicious giant tortilla wrap on the lunch menu this week - it has all kinds of stuff in it and is delicious. 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner = perfect. I'm going to do it again today. Easy and handy and tasty!

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A new printer... kinda

2026-04-13T18:38:52Z

So. I sent a PDF down to the front desk and asked for 2 copies and told them no hurry. About 30 minutes later, I got a note that it was ready so I went down to pick it up.

Then I decided to fiddle with my printer and see if I could match it. It took a lot of fiddling and help from Gemini but I'll be darned if I didn't come exceedingly close. And now I know the tricks. If close works, I've got it. If not, the front desk works. I don't need a laser printer.

So... yeah me. Then I had to go back down to pick up lunch. So steps. But, now I'm done.

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Monday

2026-04-13T16:45:09Z

Yesterday was lovely - good TV and good knitting. And, really, today will almost be a mirror. There is a very rare Monday afternoon Mariners game. I'm kind of out of scripted TV shows to watch but am making up for it with a house flip series that I found - Zombie something or other. It is out of Seattle and is very Seattle and enjoyable. And I'm catching up on some old Project Runway series that I skipped when they were current.

No swimming today. My skin needs a day off. I've got weird little patches of itchy dry flaky - one at my eye, one behind my ear, one on my hand, one around one corner of my mouth and my whole back. I need no water on any of it for at least a day. Probably a week would be way better but a day will be fine.

And I need to get out in the elbow and work on the puzzle and catch up on neighbor news.

I spent a long time this morning researching color laser printers. There is nothing really wrong with my current desk jet except the colors are too muted, it is often quite fiddly to connect up and actually print. But, it does scan and fits nicely in my space. And I can't find a laser printer that has high enough reviews to satisfy me and is small enough for my space. The front desk has a giant printer that does excellent work and they turn around stuff pretty fast. So when I want pretty colors... maybe I'll use theirs. At least, the buy decision is not punted for today.

It's now nearly mid morning and I haven't even made the bed yet.

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this is for Meowmensteen

2026-04-12T21:56:42Z

meowmensteen may be the only person other than me who appreciates this...

So then Mariners are doing this new thing with the copy-write notice - they are having different people recording it for playback during the game. Of course, Jay Buhner gets carried away reading it when he does it. Drama queen. They do not identify the voice - they just play it.

Yesterday Dave Valle was doing the play by play and they play Bruhner's version, at the end of it, with no spare beats, Valle says - almost under his breath - 'I feel like I need to buy a truck.'

Spit take for sure.

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Random stuff

2026-04-12T17:14:48Z

My mp3's are all mixed together and I just dump a random group onto my player for swimming. It could be country, it could be Beatles, it could be The Big Bopper, it could be gospel or even a Sousa March. There is no order, whatever one is next, is next. It's a playlist with a neurological disorder.

In our family, we sang a lot. We took a lot of road trips and singing was required. Plus just around the house. Sometimes real songs and sometimes made up songs. A family favorite was What a Friend We Have in Mother. Well, maybe not the whole family but Mom loved it and burst it out often. Another one that I have no idea why or when we sang often and in jest was Love Lifted Me.

This morning, in the middle of my swim, just after a Bob Dylan song, I got Love Lifted Me.

It is very hard to swim and LOL at the same time.

The Mariners and Houston played horribly last night. Houston cannot pitch and the Mariners have no offense so it's pretty hilarious. BUT finally Houston ran out of time and the Mariners won in the bottom of the 9th. a walk off by my favorite player so I wasn't too made about having to stay up late.

Jim and Gayle - that's Jim Down the Hall and his girlfriend who lives on the other side of the Timber Ridge complex - got back last night from their very long road trip. Jim was born and raised within true spitting distance of where my brother lives now and that was a spot on their trip so they had lunch with my brother while they were there. I haven't seen either of them yet, I hope the whole trip was fun.

On down the hall a couple of more doors is Jan and Dick. They moved into Myna's apartment. They walk a mile every day. Last Thursday, on their walk, Jan tripped over a curb and seriously fractured her right arm. It's now stabilized until it can be surgically repaired. The soonest they can get in to see a surgeon is Thursday. Massive Ugh. And she's right handed. And they have a huge important trip to see family graduate on the east coast planned for the end of this month and she has been so looking forward to it.

At the end of the hall is Bonny who is getting a new hip on May 4. She has everything planned - help coming in and stuff - and I sure hope it goes easily.

All of the above was in case anyone wants to know what's new in my 'hood.

Today I will be glued to my knitting needles in front of the TV. First is Tia Watson's (YouTube) update on her house renovation, then CBS Sunday morning, then the Mariner game. BUSY day.

I tried the safety eyes on my mini monsters and Love them! But, then they didn't seem so monstery so I went with a smile instead of monster teeth. There will be more like this.

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Saturday

2026-04-11T16:29:52Z

Yesterday I was not at all hungry. I ate fewer calories than most days by quite a bit. Today the scale says I gained a pound. You know how when you are on a strict diet and you go off of it for a few days and suffer no consequences? I think this is the opposite. I have had a long think about whether, if my current trajectory - same or gain - continues, whether or not I'd keep taking the drug. 1. It's not going to continue. I will lose. and 2. I think I'd leave it up to my doctor to decide. So, I'm not going to worry about it.

The baseball game last night was fraught with all kinds o' shit. First of all we are playing the Astros - the cheating Astros - who, this season are the LOSING Astros. Of course the Mariners are also losing but that, we can live with. We are enjoying the heck out of the Astros' slide down. Their pitcher last night walked in a run in the first inning and did not make it to the 2nd. We won but only because the Astros are so bad.

BUT the really good news is that the only broadcaster I like - Dave Valle - does not do a lot of games but did last night's and it was so good. Plus, because they generally use the same color guy for the series and we are playing the Astros for 4 games, we have him for the next 3! He makes the bozo regular guy better, too. So very nice.

Google, can we just agree that any email I get written in Hindi is FUCKING SPAM?????

Volleyball this morning was exceptionally excellent. It was just a very fun game for everyone there. Massive laughs and some good play, too.

One of the players is 96 year old retired OB/GYN doctor, Tina. In the locker room after, she told me she had gotten one of my rabbits (Martha's distribution). And she loved it so much. She gave it to a dear friend who loved it even more. But, now she didn't have one. Any chance she could get another?

I decided last night that the chickens were no longer doing it for me and I wanted to go back to mini monsters. But, now, I will need to stop and do a bunny. I'm sure glad I took pictures because I can barely remember how I made them!

Time for elbow coffee.

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Friday

2026-04-10T16:38:51Z

I ended up making a Costco trip yesterday. They now have this little graphic on my digital card that says, rather loudly, 34 years! And when you beep in, the little lady says "34 years?! Wow and thank you!" They are, clearly, counting the Price Club years which is kind of funny. Google confirms that the Costco/Price Club deal was in 1993. Anyway, I needed coffee and chicken wings and I also got some eggwiches. 3 things. I always consider it a win when I can carry out my Costco purchases in a normal grocery bag. They moved the self service area to the complete other side of the checkout so that you cannot even see it and assume they killed it. I was in line and griped about their removing it when a chipper Costocoian piped up, oh it's just over there! Bite me, lady, I'm already to the front of this line.

It is really ridiculous for me to pay for a Costco membership and I think this may be the last time. 34 years is enough.

I got up this morning and had coffee and an eggwich and was internetting and thinking about not going swimming when I just stopped and put on my suit and went before the not going thought could fully form. It was a very good swim. I've increased my time a little so that I am now swimming at least 1/2 mile without stopping.

My Peacock subscription is running out at the end of this month. I paid $60 for a year which I'd gladly do again except now they want $170. And, honestly, there isn't enough shit there to justify. I like Law and Order and Jeopardy. Are they worth $14 a month? Nope. If their baseball coverage didn't suck so much, I might even consider it but nope. So at least for now, it's buhbuh Peacock. I did resub to Netflix. I haven't had it for nearly a year so I have a lot of lovely catch-up to do.

My cell plan ran out of data yesterday which means once I leave the lovely confines of wifi, I've got a dead phone... until tomorrow when it rejuices. I think I can make it. No plans to go anywhere today.

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Thursday

2026-04-09T15:56:02Z

All my Thursday stuff is done.

It didn't flash with me until I opened the fridge this morning. My doctor put in the new Wegovy prescription and NovoCare (the pharmacy I use for it) sent me their text. They send a link for me to use to pay and tell them when to deliver it. I've always picked the first available date and did that yesterday. This morning, when I took out the next pen, I realized that next week, I'll get 4 more pens and there are still 4 pens in the fridge. I think part of my mind believes shortage - like when Spiffikins had to work so hard to find Mounjaro. There is currently no Wegovy shortage and I don't really need to bank 8 weeks! Next time, I need to pay better attention.

The Mariners will be safe from another loss today only because they do not play. I am not happy about the game play but I'm actually enjoying the new broadcast. They gave up their own network at the end of the season and now have all their games on MLB.TV which has a feature that is great and works great. You can watch the TV broadcast and, simultaneously, listen to the radio broadcast and easily flip back and forth. It makes the games so much more palatable.

Nothing much going on today. I'm falling behind in my chicken making. The demand is outpacing the production. So there will be chicken making.

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Calorie-orama

2026-04-08T16:20:51Z

I had my appointment with my doctor yesterday. When last we met, she said that the Medicare coverage of Wegovy was looking like April. Almost immediately that changed to July and now she's saying maybe Januaray and it's based on your BMI. BUT, they are planning on using your BMI as it was when you first started on the drug so if/when it ever happens, I'll be qualified. $350 to $50 will be a nice change but until then, I'm thinking of it like a car payment.

I can get a faster car for the same payment so she's going to increase the dosage for the next go round. I'm still several weeks away from the next go round so I thought I'd go back to tracking my calories for a while. Apparently she has lots of Wegovy patients. During our call, once we decided on dosage, my phone text beeped. Without thinking, I looked down. She said "Oh, that will be me - or my prescription rather." and it was. She said she's done enough of this that she now has a rhythm to how it all goes. I do like that she has good experience with the whole experience! She wants me to exercise more which I assured her was not going to happen. We'll meet again in July.

And so today I start the tracking - new app - Journable. This one really only tracks what you eat. It also can track exercise and weight but it's easy to ignore those bits. Very simple, and easy. The photograph nailed my breakfast.

I noticed yesterday that the Google Play Store has a new feature - AI ask a question about this app. I've been asking "how much does using this app in the US cost?" - it's a lot better than downloading, installing and then digging around for what happens when the trial is done or your xx free times are over, etc. Also it tells you if there is a way around the stupid video ads. Quite nice.

I put the laundry in before I went to swim. And now between swimming, breakfasting, cutting Biggie's nails and generally futzing around, I have 13 minutes til it's time to hang and fold.

The baseball game is at 11 today. The Mariners have lost way more than they have won so far this year. Not pretty. The Food and Beverage meeting is at 2.

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Tuesday

2026-04-07T16:28:07Z

The Mariners lost... again. Volleyball was good. It's house cleaner day - yeah! Another lovely day at the cult.

Yesterday was the first morning that daylight hit my bedroom before 7. The next few or really few plus months will require sleeping with a blindfold which is annoying but it does the job. I think, today, I'll switch out my comforter to the one that's not quite so thick.

Our wifi, last night, was wonky. I finally had to abandon the library book I was listening to and pick up the audible one. Most of the library books I want to read cannot be downloaded so wonky wifi means wonky listening or no listening. And due to the power outage a few weeks ago, I'm running perilously close to my cell plan data limit. It gets revived on Thursday so I don't really want to pony up the $10 needed to get more data. The plan is for 5 GB. Usually, I use way less than 2. I had already downloaded the Audible book so I just listened to it.

I miss Jim Across The Hall. It's still weird to open my front door and know he's not even there. Not a peep from anyone about his stuff or when they will start moving it. They only have a couple of weeks. They may be able to 'buy' extra time. I don't know.

I have three different yarn projects going. The toys - currently chickens but I could go back to monsters at any time. An afghan - knitted in very large mitered squares and a vest with a funky waffle pattern - crochet. I'm enjoying the diversity. My plan is to do two toys every day and then pick up which ever one of the others I feel like. Both are pretty good for TV watching - I can do them mostly by feel. When I hit a spot on any of them that needs eye, I just turn the TV off and turn the book on.

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Slacker

2026-04-06T15:35:07Z

I am not going to the pool today. I am taking the day off. For no good reason.

A few months ago, Jim Down The Hall had a weird experience. His apartment is very large and has two full bathrooms but he rarely uses most of it. His housecleaner was working in there one day and came to him and asked "what do you want me to do about the bathroom?" Completely confused, he went to the bathroom she was talking about - his second one that he never uses - and saw that the glass shower door had completely shattered all over everywhere. Weird and Wild.

Yesterday, Bonny came in and said "come see my shower door"... ??? ok. And, yep, it had shattered, but mostly in place. She said she called security as soon as she noticed it and the security guy came up immediately. There was a towel hanging over the door and as soon as he touched the towel to move it, some of the glass fell out so he stopped. So mostly it was all in the door. On a Sunday. Easter. But, maintenance was up there getting ready to at least make it safe to go in. Wild and grateful for quick responses.

She said the security guy was the new one and it was his first day. Welcome!!

I just got a text from Martha. Martha has a daughter I have never met but said daughter is always sharing cute little knitted and crocheted toys with me through Martha. The original bunny idea came from her and at least one other one. Anyway, Saturday, Martha took several of the chickens and took one to her daughter yesterday. When she got there, her daughter has a surprise for her, a chicken she had crocheted! hahaha

Tomorrow I have my first Wegovy checkup with my doctor. I'll be very interested to hear what she has to say.

Wednesday is a Food & Beverage Committee meeting - the agenda is very short. The current jihad is salt. Everyone knows what's best. And I don't care.

The Mariners are playing in Texas which means 3 days of early games which is lovely.

I finished Proof by Jon Cowan. It was a decent story not very well told. The audio book had this hilarious quirk. The reader was good except. One of the characters was a police woman from Scotland and he made her sound like she was from Cape May, New Jersey and had a speech impediment. It was very jarring.

I have the next of the five that the librarian recommended checked out and queued up.

Time to get this day started.

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Easter

2026-04-05T16:48:25Z

One Easter tradition around here is kids. Little ones and big ones. We get a few every weekend but on Easter, it's like a kid convention. There were clearly a bunch in the pool yesterday - it wasn't as bad as I've seen it but clearly... No big deal, just different. The other person there this morning was walking to help loosen up her back "I have very small grandchildren coming today and I want to be able to move." And, also, as I pointed out yesterday, around here, mentioning very young grandchildren is a way to brag about how young you are!

They are having a massive Easter brunch and I walked by the dining rooms on my way back this morning. All the tables are set and ready and they each have a napkin folded into a bunny. Very cute.

Last night's baseball game had a feature... The Angels have an outfielder who is good at the bat but very meh on defense. During the early innings, he caught a fly ball that would have surely been a home run. He leaped up and grabbed it as it went over the fence. Very impressive and he was, of course, delighted. And then later in the game, he did it again!! Now this is a 1-0 game. And the 1 was not ours. We needed those fucking home runs. But, 2 catches like that in a game, ya gotta respect. As we got to the end of the game, our shortstop him a ball out of the park - this time over a low fence with spectators sitting there, but this same outfielder ran and reached and went completely over the wall into the lap of one of those spectators and disappeared from view... and then, rose up... with the ball and a grin that had zero stoppage.

I hate that we lost the game - especially that way - but ya just gotta love that one human, and one who has not had a lot of success, has a night like that. I hope he celebrated so hard that he cannot fucking walk today.

And speaking of walking, I would like to note that my foot - the one that needed two more steroid shots recently - is now enjoying a bout of painlessness. It's such a joy to put on shoes and not have shooting pain. It took longer for the shots to work their magic this time but magic it is. woot!

Time to watch my Sunday Morning TV. Game this afternoon. More hens to make.

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Saturday

2026-04-04T18:49:36Z

People around here are really into Easter. About half are religiously into it and the other half are Easter dinner into it. I am so not into it. I like the spring pastel colors but that's as close as I get.

We had to cut volleyball short today - only by 30 minutes - because Wally had to go to his great grandson's baseball game. I took a poll this morning at Elbow coffee. "How many of you every met one of your great grand parents? Joan's last great died when she was 3. Same with Bonny. I had one that lasted until I was 6. And that was it. But, more than half have great grandchildren. And some are teenagers. Wally's oldest great grandson is 15. I just think that is all fascinating. And a bitch at Christmas.

Last night I was borrowing into my comforter when my finger slid into a hole! What?? It's a dark cotton fabric in a very busy pattern so I had not seen a hole and turns out there are several. I'm thinking cat claws. The good news is they are easy to mend and you can't even see the fixes. I like the comforter and I cannot find one that I like better so I need it to last.

Another Google fail - if I search for 100% cotton comforters twin size brightly colored print - I get a vast range of microfiber quilts for queen size beds in ugly muted colors. It's pretty hilarious. Also many many stores label their goods cotton but when you click on contents, it's like 4% cotton. So I patch.

Elbow coffee was good and volleyball was good and now I have nothing on my calendar until 6:30 when the baseball game starts.

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Google major fail

2026-04-03T15:58:47Z

The other day, I was looking for some granny square chicken ideas. I googled and then clicked on images and fairly quickly found a viable candidate but, on the way, I also spied a very cool looking fish. Made with a granny square base with nose and tail added and then outlined in black. I thought it was an Etsy image but I could have been wrong about that. It was not a professional image. I noted my search terms and figured I'd go back and find it later. Only now, after two days of searching, I cannot find that sucker anywhere! I have googled the universe looking and nope. Nada. Nothing even close. I no longer care about the fucking fish but I am major bummed about my personal fail.

I just tried again and Google suggested I try Gemini. Fair suggestion. And an even bigger fail. Now I need to see if I can stop looking. It's obsessive.

I had the entire pool to myself this morning, not even the sun joined me. It was lovely.

Before I left, I loaded the laundry in and got it started. It's now got about 40 minutes til done.

I made Bonny a welcome home sign.

And that's about it so far today. No big plans - no little plans for that matter. But, probably I should get dressed anyway.

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Thursday

2026-04-02T16:11:45Z

Thursday - volleyball, Timber Ridge Times distribution, Wegovy. Done. Done. Done.

I have thought a lot about but not written too much about the Wegovy "journey". I'm not sure why but now it is beginning to feel like the elephant in the room and has there been a more/less apt metaphor?? In the old days, when I would go on a diet - aka reduce the number of calories I consumed, I'd starve myself and dream of the day when I was thin and could eat all of the stuff I was denying myself. This time is different. For two reasons. I am really not starving and I have every intention of taking some sort of GLp-1 drug for the rest of my life. It's been a bit of a learning curve. I've learned to eat when I am hungry. Even just a snack. And not eat when I am not. This latter takes a little more learning but I'm getting there.

I weigh myself the first thing every morning. Last month, I got really bummed out because I was not losing enough and not fast enough. Initially, the goal was just to be able to move and walk more comfortably. My years of watching the numbers was a muscle memory and not having them go down quickly was depressing. But now I have remembered my original goal and I'm on track again.

I'm very comfortable with what I can eat when I can eat it and enjoy food. And my weight loss trend is downward so that's fine, too. Plus, I've learned that if I use my big ole fat belly for shots, I can barely feel them going in.

I have a check in appointment with my doctor next Tuesday and I'll be interested in hearing what she has to say about it all. I am grateful to her for suggesting it in the first place. I would have never considered it otherwise.

In other news... I get headline alerts from the Seattle Times and the New York Times. And I have a Google news feed that scrolls on my phone. And none of that even hinted at the strong (nearly 4.6) earthquake in northern California early this morning - near lots and lots of people. I read that here on Dreamwidth thanks to Spiffikins. Yes, I know Trump is a racist, rude idiot and is doing unconstitutional things and random judges are trying to stop him. I do not need that particular headline 5 times a day. I would like to know things about shit flying off shelves south of here. Thank goodness I have Spiffikins!

I do think I'm going to FedEx today to do that Amazon return.

Oh and speaking of returns... The cats won the food fight. $85 worth of food that they will NOT eat. I was looking on Chewy to see if they had some kind of 'my cats hate this food' policy and they do!! But, apparently, not for this prescription food. But, I hopped onto chat to see if there was some kind of something. Chewy chat is either the best AI in the world or real people who are sitting there waiting to talk to me. I've only used it a few times and never had to wait more than a minute. Last night was no different. I explained that my cats hated the new food and he immediately gave me a total refund and told me to keep the stuff or give it away - no return needed. Every once in a while, I feel like ordering their food from Amazon would be better, easier, more efficient. I get a discount on Chewy which matches the discount I get on my visa from Amazon orders so the price is the same to the penny. And while I love Amazon, Chewy wins the customer service award. Every time.

I found the complete Season 9 of the Canadian Bake Off yesterday on YouTube and have been wallowing in it. I do like the judges on the Canadian version. And it's great crochet TV.

I have enough chickens now for Elbow Coffee on Saturday. Everyone else always brings food to elbow coffee - everyone but Ingrid. When she comes, which is, thankfully, not often, she just brings complaints. I bring Krispy Kreme donuts once a year. And I supply all the paper plates and napkins. But this Saturday, I'll bring a platter of hens. And then, once everyone on this floor has what they and their grandchildren want, I'll start putting them on the shelf.

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Wednesday

2026-04-01T14:52:28Z

The cats and I are having a food fight. They do not like the latest acquisition but 1. we have 24 5 oz cans of it that we are going to eat come hell or high water and 2. it's especially formulated to relieve stress. So they do not have to like it but they are going to eat it all up. It could be a long cat food month.

Amazon is ever increasing its options for returning stuff. I remember when my nephew first moved to his teeny tiny NW Iowa town, the first thing he told me about it was that the closest Amazon return site was an hour away in Nebraska. That's living off the grid in my book. Anyway, around here, they have now added Fed Ex. Like UPS, you just take your item in with a QR code and they provide the package and the label and the shipping. It's a schosh more convenient than UPS. So I thought I'd try it. I have one item to return but I also have 30 days so I'm in no hurry.

It probably won't be today. The Mariner game is an afternoon game today. Chicken TV!

I'm now reading the second of the 5 books that the librarian offered up. Proof by Jon Cowan. It had a rough start - lazy plot development/writing but now I'm at the 50% mark and he's hit his stride. Interesting plot and I'm hooked. So far, of the 5, 1 was a huge success, 1 was a total fail and now we're on this one. I'm still on hold for the other two.

I was debating skipping the swim today but now I've changed my mind. I think I'll just suit up and head on over. Such a luxury to have such a lovely pool such an easy walk from here.

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Chicken details

2026-04-01T14:28:22Z

I spent all of yesterday tending to my flock. Trying this and then trying that and then, finally, I think I have a pattern I'm happy with.

One issue was the eyes. They end up needing to go into where there is a hole in the crochet. Summersgate said she's been sewing over that hole and I tried that and it kind of works. Another issue is that there was still too many holes and the stuffing shows through. So I dropped a size in my crochet hook but then the chicken was too small. Then I added a row and then the chicken was too big.

So I had a think. And changed my granny square to a granny round square with a special corner for the eye. I like the results a lot. There will be a lot more chickens, I believe.

Here's what I'm doing.

1. 12 double crochet (12)
2. 2 DC in each stitch (24)
3. 2 DC, then 1 DC, then 2 DC, etc (36)
Then I make a square
4. 2 DC, ch 1, 2 DC in 3 corners, [2 hdc, 4 sc, 2 hdc] on 4 sides. In the 4th corner, 5 DC's.
5. 1 DC in every stitch and 2 DC, ch 1, 2 DC in 3 corners and fill in (1 or 2 DC's) in that one corner.

That one corner becomes a nice, stable area for the eye.

I put an eye on each square and then put them wrong sides together and do a single crochet around the three edges leaving the one opposite the eye open.

Then I add the top comb. With the eye on the top left hand corner, I count 8 stitches over from that corner and start - 1 sc, 3 DC, 1 sc, [1 DC, 1 TR], [1 TR, 1 DC], 1 sc, 3 DC, slp the last stitch.

Then round the eye corner I skip one stitch from the comb and start the beak. 1 DC, ch 2, 1 DC in the first of those 2 chains, 1 DC and then a slip stitch to end.

Then I stuff her and close up the bottom and add the chicken feet: [ch 3, TR] 3 times in the middle of the bottom.

DONE!

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Tuesday

2026-03-31T16:07:15Z

I got the official word yesterday when the Director of Health Services replied to my email. Jim Across The Hall is no longer Across The Hall. He has been taken to a memory care facility "until we have room for him here". So he's history. Our memory facility really stays booked.They only have room for 20. They can't remember shit but still they live on. I got to thinking about it this morning and think that moving him will be/is so disconcerting for him. He won't know anything. BUT moving him out of Timber Ridge is probably his best bet. Nothing will be familiar. Moving him to our memory care unit might have been way more confusing. He'd be locked in and not able to wander about like he liked to do. But, not understanding why.

So now, his sons will need to clear out his apartment. That should be interesting. Also new blood in the hood!

Yesterday was chicken day and today will be, too. Except for when the house cleaner is here.

I'm not totally happy with my first crop. BUT I have plans for chicken improvement.

Maju, this morning, talked about various Easter traditions and it reminded me of ours growing up. Easter Sunday outfits. New clothes, new shoes, little girl hats and little girl purses and little boy suits for my brother and a fairly bad photo of all of us in front of the house. We did some Easter egg hunting but it was not a huge thing. We were really into the Easter Parade in New York City although I'm not sure how or why. We were a church going family but not that religious actually. But on Easter we were sure fancy.

I also remember we had this very modern strip mall. It was the first of it's kind. It meant that now you didn't have to get dressed up to go downtown if all you needed was a spool of thread. (You ALWAYS got dressed up when you went to town.) Anyway, this strip mall which we called a Shopping Center, had a very large Woolworths Dime Store and a really large grocery store. And both of those stores, every Easter, set out a large sales area outside stocked with chicks and bunnies. And the chicks were died Easter colors. And we always wanted one of each. Not every single year but most years, Mom relented and let us get a chick. Never a bunny. We kept them in cardboard boxes with grass. It was very exciting for about a week. They either died or Mom rehomed them.

ahhhh Easter!

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A new week

2026-03-30T17:06:29Z

It's so foggy here this morning that the end of the part of the building across the drive is no longer visible. It feels like we are in a cocoon. In the pool this morning, it was just like swimming with the shades down. Cozy.

No news on Jim Across The Hall and there may never be. It occurred to me that they may have moved him to the same place where his sister lives which is about 45 miles north of here. They apparently never got along at all when they had marbles but their disorder is genetic so now that they neither one have any marbles left, maybe they will be friends. At least it would be easier on the family. We will know when his stuff is moved out but that may end up being the only news we ever get. Bonny comes back on Friday and she's a good dirt digger so maybe she'll unearth something.

If you are weary of my bitching and moaning about baseball broadcasters, I have some seriously bad news for you. I have found a group - an entire group - that is way way way worse than our own Mariner broadcast team. The guys (and on field chick) that Peacock sets up to run their games are just hilariously worse. In every possible way. They spent most of the game bitching about how cold it was. Apparently, they confused Seattle with Miami when they were packing for the trip. They tripped over each other all game long. And, they had clearly only met a day or two ago and had no plans whatsoever. It was pretty excruciating except the Mariners were winning. I hope we don't have any more of Peacockium.

I did end up going to Safeway yesterday and laying in some snacks and some zero gaterade which is now my go to thirst quencher. So today have no errands which is fine by me.

I made some little chicks like summersgate has been making but I couldn't finish because I didn't have any eyes. I could have embroidered some on but Amazon is bringing me eyes today so I'll finish up. I played around with different granny squares and found one that I really like so there may well be a whole lotta chicks this Spring.

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I think Jim is gone

2026-03-29T14:55:47Z

Jim Across The Hall was not across the hall all day yesterday. And he's not there today. I think they have re-homed him. I'm going to ask tomorrow. It's so weird to have him just disappear but there is no reason why they should tell us - his neighbors - except to say he's ok. Yesterday, during elbow coffee, the security guard who makes checks* was by and we asked him to check and he came back and said that Jim was fine. He did not, in retrospect, say Jim was there. IF Jim was on his list of People Not Home, then he would say Jim is fine.

Yesterday's and today's newspapers are outside his door and the door has not been opened since Friday.

*The doors have a sensor and if you do not open yours by 10 am, they are alerted and call you or come find your dead body.

I sent the head of Health Services a note just now asking about him. We may never find out a thing. Oh well. He was a nice neighbor to have.

The Mariners lost again last night. It's kind of nostalgic. Like the Mariners of old who rarely won a game.

Today's game is on Peacock which is weird. As basically a non-sports person, I see no reason to sprinkle sports shit on every single airwave. For real sports people, it must be a nightmare. For me, it's just annoying to have to wade through sports shit to get to real TV streaming on every single stream. Get off my lawn.

My Peacock account runs until the end of April and I haven't decided whether or not to renew. But, at least I have today's game. It will be interesting to see if they use local commentators or bring their own.

I do want to get a swim in. And I might want to go to Safeway, but there's nothing on my list that can't wait so I might hold off.

It looks like the sun might come out so I think I'll go swim before it does.

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And the rest of the day is mine

2026-03-28T19:03:47Z

Volleyball was good and elbow coffee was not as bad as it could have been but now it's all done and the rest of the day is mine. There will be TV and knitting and crocheting and baseball and no doing anything I don't want to do.

I was sitting here playing a daily challenge on my phone and I heard all this yelling. I could see see where it was coming from. On a hunch, I went down to Bonny's apartment. Here's is on the very end of the building and overlooks a play field for the middle school that is just below Timber Ridge. She's always talking about the stuff going on on that field and, yep, today there is a wild lacrosse game going on with a fair number of sideline cheerers. Fun and nice to have the mystery solved.

Baseball slashes my normal book reading time. And I have a good one just checked out from the library so I think that may be the start of my afternoon. But first some lunch.

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