Hitting The Big Six Five!

I made it to 65! Whoopee!! It was a great birthday week. The sweet ladies I've been working with surprised me with "traditional" birthday punch and pumpkin cream cheese sandwiches. Both were delicious. The punch is a tradition in my cafeteria manager's family, that was started long ago by her mom. It's made with orange juice, pineapple juice and lemon-lime Kool-aid. Well, it was delicious! I felt so special! I love subbing at this school. Very soon the vacancy will be filled and they will need me less often, but in the meantime, I actually look forward to going there, imagine that!

I didn't work on my actual birthday. Instead, hubby and I pre-planned a lunch out at a restaurant that recently opened. It used to be the yacht club associated with our housing complex, but it always lost money, so the property owners association board decided it was best to lease it to a restauranteur who actually knows what he's doing. 

It was remodeled and renamed The Waterfront and we finally went and checked it out. We arrived when they opened and got a table on the back deck overlooking Mobile Bay. It was cloudy, but still a nice view. Lots of seagulls and pelicans on those poles out there.

We got an appetizer of Street Cauliflower which was grilled with an oil and balsamic vinegar dressing topped with cheese. Oh, my, it was delicious!

For lunch, we both ordered tacos. I got mine made with fire roasted chicken thighs and hubby got his with shrimp. They were topped with a spicy mayo and mango bits. We ate every morsel!

The inside of the restaurant was also remodeled and a local artist painted murals on most of the walls. I had to get a photo in front of the main one. That's me, the birthday girl! 

Here is what the outside looks like.

We did a little shopping at Target and relaxed the rest of the day. We had a video call with our daughter in the evening and I blew out a candle on a single slice of carrot cake that we bought at Fresh Market.

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In other news....

Remember the Starry Night rock I painted for charity? Well, it didn't end up fetching as much money as I had hoped and I was feeling sad about it. I wished I could have bid on it and bought it back for myself! Then I realized I had a nice photo of it and that it would make a great Christmas card if I had it printed. So I went to Vistaprint and ordered some cards. While I was there, I decided to order a canvas print as well. It showed up yesterday and I was thrilled!!! 

So now I will have it forever! 

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And finally, if you have Hulu, there is a new show called "Love in Fairhope," which was supposed to be a romance reality show, if you're into that sort of thing. Well, preceding a show is a statement that says it's a mix of fantasy and reality and when I tell you the locals are going insane over it, I'm not lying, and it's because the whole thing is so contrived. The opening sequence describes Fairhope as a small town with only 1000 residents, one bar and two traffic lights. Then it talks about a 50 year traditional Magnolia Ball, which doesn't and has never existed! It's crazy! They also show a beach which is actually in Gulf Shores as well as other oddities that are making Fairhopers nuts. The local Facebook pages are posting lots of funny memes about it. I could only watch the first 5 minutes and had to turn it off. I thought it would be fun to see the local area featured in a TV show, but it's way too gag provoking for me to sit through. Here's a link to a funny article about the show. Love in Fairhope


I took the week off before my birthday week and did a lot of work in the yard. I will do a separate post on that later. As always, thanks for checking in and reading my blog! 

Everything, All At Once.

 Things are falling into place better than we could have every hoped for. Our new roof is scheduled for this coming Monday. We're so excited. In the meantime, we've been trying to get a tree service to come to trim our big oak tree. A few limbs hang very close over the house and we wanted them cut so they'd be out of the way of the roofers and also because we didn't want them falling on our roof in a storm. Hurricane season is coming, but we also get these storms with straight line winds that come across the state this time of year and sometimes they do a lot of damage too.

This photo best shows how the tree limbs are no longer a threat to the roof. It looks a bit odd, I agree, but I wanted to keep the lower hanging branches on the street side as they create a buffer and also block the view of the house directly across from ours that is not in the best shape. 

Here's what it looks like from the street...

This is the way oak trees look in winter. They have some leaves, but not all. It will be much fuller come summer. 

Sooo, Monday is roof day!! Here is the color we chose for the roof. It's called Weathered Wood. We chose a brown drip edge to go with it.

While they are replacing the roof, they will also rebuild the chimney box and use hardy board which is made of some kind of cement material that doesn't rot. That will be an extra cost for us. After all is said and done, it looks like we will have to pay about 3 thousand dollars for the project. On top of that we have to pay the inspector his final fee upon approval of the roof which will be $400. Then we have a termite inspection coming for termite insurance. Another $300. Then we have income taxes we will most likely owe this year. It's a lot all at once, but soon it will be over and we can face the rest of the year with a bright outlook. I can't wait for summer!

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"We are each unique, but together we are a masterpiece."
A wall in a school I worked at recently.

I've been subbing again and it's going pretty well. I tried working at a different school last week. I hadn't been there since 2013 and was a little hesitant, but it turned out to be fine and fairly easy, which was great. I hope they call me again in the future. I have an opportunity to cover for an open position in another school until it's filled for a couple of weeks. I told them that working full days, five days a week, was too hard for me, so they are giving me the opportunity to work from 6am to 10am instead, which I agreed to. It's not been finalized yet, so we shall see. 

The weather here has been crazy. Warm, then cold. Sunny, then overcast. It makes planning things more difficult. We like to go walking and hiking and it's been putting a damper on that. We try, though, to get our whenever we can. Walks re-energize me and also calm my brain.

Me, in the woods with Zoey.

We like to hike through the woods in a park near our house. We have the trails all figured out, even though they're not marked. We nicknamed certain landmarks and call them out when we pass them, so we know we're not lost, lol. I leave painted rocks on the trail. Only the truly adventurous can find them. Most people take the main dirt road in the park, but not us. 

So we've been busy with a lot of stuff lately. I will post pics next week after the roof is done. 
See you soon!

Where's The Beef?

 63 work days left to go! I'm still giving 110%. Thursday I made spaghetti for 500. It started out with 80 lbs of ground beef. Cooked that down, drained it and added onion,  diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, tomato paste and seasoning. 

We served it with a roll, broccoli, frozen strawberries and they got a gummy snack on their tray also.

The week before I made mashed potatoes. We use Potato Pearls, add Butter Buds and hot water and whip them in the floor mixer. 

I've been asking my coworkers to take pictures of me doing these things since this is my last year that I'll be doing this kind of work. When I become a sub, I will be doing easier tasks. Even though I didn't get that other job, I think it was just as well. I will finish out the year where I have worked since 2016. Tensions have eased and we all seem to be getting along better these last few weeks and for that I am really grateful. 

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I have some good news. Hubby and I both got approved for SS and will be getting our first deposits next week! Once I finish out the school year, my medical bennies will extend to Aug 31. I'm thinking I will get COBRA for a couple of months as hubby will be enrolled in Medicare about that time which is also the window for ACA open enrollment. Then I can just sign myself up for that until I turn 65 next year. That's the plan. Anything can change or happen between now and then. I'm so looking forward to retirement!

In the meantime, we discovered some issues with our roof, so we will need to replace ours which will probably cost about 12 thousand bucks. We need to have peace of mind, so it's going to have to happen. Hubby is in charge of getting us some quotes. He has already worked on the house a bit. We had porch posts that were rotted at the base and he replaced them.

BEFORE: 

We decided to remove the post on the far right because it was not structural and it also made the door look more off center.

AFTER:

Hubby bought three new posts to replace the old ones. They look great, plus they are pressure treated and rated for being in the ground, like fence posts, so they should last a good long time. 

The weather has been very cold here, so we haven't been able to do much of anything outdoors. Hopefully spring temps will arrive soon and we can work on the yard a bit more.

So that's the latest! If anyone has any advice about Medicare enrollment, please comment or send me an email. Is it working for you? Did you decide to enroll in an Advantage Plan? I don't understand much about how it all works, but I have read both good and bad stuff about it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Changes Ahead!

 

"Every Day is a Winding Road," so sings Sheryl Crow. 

This has been the hottest summer we've had since moving to Alabama in 2013. At least it feels that way. It's been hot and humid like some kind of tropical forest nightmare. We are so thankful that we installed a new air conditioning system at the beginning of the year. It was so worth it because it not only works well, but it has cut our electric bill down considerably. 

Working outside every day has taken its toll on hubby. He had decided earlier this year that he would retire at the end of this upcoming school year (June 2022), but he has decided to do it earlier and make December 31st his last official day working full time. He checked into social security, saw what his payments would be and how much he would still be able to earn and decided it was worth doing it sooner rather than later. He will continue to work as a crossing guard and he's making arrangements to work for the church on a part time basis where he would strictly take care of just their sports fields. That would mean no more pruning or taking care of the school grounds and other properties the church owns that he's currently responsible to upkeep. It's a massive job for one person and he has hit his limit. 

Hubby overlooking one of the two sports fields he maintains.

So that was a big decision and ever since he made it, it's been like a clock counting down the days. I have to continue working because I carry our health insurance through my job. Hubby turns 65 next year, so he will be eligible for Medicare, but I have to wait another year after that for myself. Ugh! Hope I make it! 

Meanwhile, another dig decision happened....

At the end of this past school year, hubby learned during crossing guard duty that one of the students at the school was going to be moving with his family overseas. The mom who picks him up drives a car that hubby has always admired and he asked her if she was planning to sell it when they relocate. She said yes and he told her he wanted to buy it, so they made arrangements for the sale to be in July. He picked it up this past weekend. It's a royal blue 2014 Mini Cooper and it's in excellent, almost new condition. 

In preparation for this blue baby's arrival, hubby cleared out the garage because I insisted that this vehicle be garage kept, the same as it was by the former owners. My Fiat has been ruined from being parked outside, faded by the sun and stained by pine sap. Hubby has tried various products to bring the color back up, but they only made a small difference. I didn't want anything to happen to this new-to-us vehicle, so hubby went to work in the garage which was no easy task, believe me. Plus he has two motorcycles that he needed to house as well. There's a door inside the garage that leads to a small workshop. I suggested opening up the wall leading to the workshop so that he could put the bikes in there, which he did. It worked out well even though it's cramped. 

Prior to that, we held a two day liquidation sale of hubby's steampunk parts inventory. We didn't get much of a turnout, not even 20 people, but the ones that came all bought something and were very interesting to talk to. I even made a new friend! Everything was packaged and organized before the sale which took a lot of time, but was worth it because when the sale was over, we just put everything in big storage boxes and tucked it away. Our complex is planning another neighborhood yard sale event for October, so we will try again then. 

Now that the Mini is in the garage, hubby gave it some thought and yesterday he decided he's going to sell one of his motorcycles. I'm secretly happy about that. Okay, well, maybe not so secretly. lol. I'm also happy and relieved that he was able to finally part with so many things he had been saving "just in case he needed them." He threw out a lot of stuff while clearing out the garage and I'm proud of him for doing that. I know it was really hard.

As for me, well, I spent most of July walking 3 miles every morning, and I painted a bunch dominoes while watching television, most recently all 8 seasons of Weeds. Here are some of my dominoes that I made into magnets.

I made a couple into pendants with some glue- on bails.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with them. Right now I'm pretty attached to them, unlike my rocks which seemed a lot easier to part with, but I did make these cuties below specifically for my co-workers. They are magnets to put on their lockers.

I go back to work on August 3rd. Students return on August 11th. The Covid crisis is rampant in Alabama, so who knows what will happen between now and then? There are people for and against mask wearing in schools and both sides are very vocal about it. Every day we hear of another restaurant or store closing temporarily because of a Covid exposure. Vaccinated people are angry and I don't blame them. I'm angry too. We worked so hard, sacrificed so much and were so careful for a whole year to keep ourselves and the kids at school from getting sick and now we are back to square one, maybe even worse this time. 

Stay safe. 

This N' That.

Being a child of the sixties, the image the sun with a face on it has always appealed to me. I think it was because I remember those bright and colorful pop art hippie posters from back then. Hubby and I were out and about hopping from yard sale to yard sale yesterday as there were many happening throughout our community. We hit one one very early and saw this giant metal wall hanging. I snatched it up and handed over $20 before I could change my mind. We thought it would be great to hang over our fireplace.

Once we got it up there, however, we felt it was too overpowering and you couldn't see the detail of the words that were cut into it.  So, after taking the above photo, I though we should try it on the big wall just to the left of the fireplace and swap it out with the painting.

That seemed to work out much better.

It's definitely a focal point. We're enjoying the new look. 

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Friday night there was some excitement down the street. I was in bed and never heard anything, but I got a text from a neighbor and went outside to see what was happening. A house down the street was fully engulfed in flames. This house has been the subject of much speculation because questionable activity has been going on there for a couple of years. Those of us that live nearby affectionately call it "The Crack House." Across the street are some homes that back up to another neighborhood and people have been seen coming over the back fence of one of those homes and going into this house, presumably to buy drugs. I was told that two people living in this house called 911, hopped in a car and fled. So, no telling what was going on in there that started this fire. Needless to say, there isn't much left of the place now.

The chimney fell down into the backyard which you can see is filled with trash.

Our town doesn't have a drug task force, so calls made to the police were a waste of time and callers were referred to the Sheriff's office. They said to take photos of suspicious activity, (basically do their work for them). so nothing ever happened because nobody wanted to get caught taking photos. Our homeowner's association wasn't very helpful either even though many covenants were broken, including multiple cars parked on the front lawn at any given time. 

They had dogs that didn't make it out. One was a pit bull that got loose one day and charged at me and Zoey. I cursed a blue streak at the owners. Yeah, not too sorry those people have been displaced. 

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Things with our new addition are going well. Manny makes us smile every day. He has run of the house now and so he gets into everything. It's like having a toddler around. 

He likes to sploot!

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And now for some really big news.

The Friday before last was a big day where Megan works. Kevin Smith, (of Jay and Silent Bob fame),  stopped by the studio. He wants to bring back the cartoon, Masters of The Universe. They posted some photos on Twitter.

See that group shot in the upper left?

Look who is in it!!!

How exciting is that?

I got a great text from Megan Friday night saying that last week was really good. The studio has discovered her strengths and she's now working on projects better suited to her wheelhouse. She sounded really happy. I'm so thrilled, I cannot tell you, plus she's coming home for a visit next week. We can't wait!

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Things at my job are going better as far as all of us getting along. Hooray! It sure makes for a better day. Last week though, it was my turn to be at the register. I don't do very well on it as I get overwhelmed very easily. I have tried to be excused from it, but the principal wants us all to rotate. She won't let my manager have any leeway as far as taking me out of the rotation, which stinks, but oh well. It's in my job description, so I have to suck it up. My brain can only handle so much input now that I'm older and with only one register and kids coming up on both sides of me, it's a whirlwind. I feel close to having a panic attack at times. Luckily I only have to do it once every 5 weeks. I am super thankful to have Monday off as I could really use the break. I have Friday off as well because I need another crown. I broke a tooth last week eating some glazed pecans. Argh!!!

Hoping all is well with my bloggy friends. Have a great Sunday!!

Updates on Our New Normal.

At first our new normal was becoming empty nesters in July. We are still getting  used to that. Then we lost our sweet Muffin kitty a few weeks ago and that left another big void in the house as her personality was a very big presence. Now it's just Mister and Zoey and they seem perfectly fine with being our only two pets, Mister especially. I was worried he'd miss Muffin but he is quite content being the only cat in the house. He is becoming more affectionate with us now that he doesn't have to compete with Muffin who was an attention hog. lol There's a little less fur around the house, less kitty litter, food and flea treatments to buy, but there's also a little less love. We're adjusting.

On weekends, hubby and I get up really early to walk Zoey in places where we can see dramatic sunrises. It's nice to be out in the cooler morning air with nobody around.

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Last week we went to Orange Beach to visit a friend who lost her husband. He died very unexpectedly. He was watching TV at home and had a heart event. She went to check on him and he was unresponsive. He was only 55. I attended the funeral and it was very sad. She is utterly heartbroken and inconsolable as you might imagine. It sure does make you stop and think about life. She has a condo right on the beach so we went down to the water and put our toes in the sand. There were red flags up indicating rip tides so we didn't go in the water, but it was nice to watch and listen. It was a cloudy day, but very warm out.

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A couple of weeks ago we made the decision to buy an air fryer. We hated that we had to turn on our oven just to cook a small amount of fries or a couple of slices of garlic bread. We don't have a toaster oven, but we heard good things about air fryers and thought buying one would be a good idea.

We got this one on Amazon. It was about $66.00. So far we really like it. The very first thing we cooked in it was fries and they came out perfectly crispy. 

The other night we made chicken wings with a dry seasoning. I did half with lemon pepper and the other half with a barbecue seasoning. They cooked quickly and evenly and tasted great.

So now we're not using the oven as often, using all that electricity or heating up the whole kitchen. This thing cooks food in less time and it's easy to clean. I haven't cooked cutlets yet, but I can't wait to try. If it can cook them nicely without frying in oil, that will save a lot of calories and be much healthier too.


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I know my long time readers have been waiting for an update on Megan. I was waiting a while to post until she was at her new job for a bit longer. It's been about 7 weeks now. She is working really long, hard days as a background artist for Powerhouse Animation Studio. She is currently working on cut scenes for a video game that will be released in 2020. It's a well known franchise, but it's top secret so I can't reveal what it is, nor do I even know more than that. Sadly, she probably won't be credited for her work and if she is, it will be in the credits at the very end of the game. She tells me that she works sometimes as long as a week and a half on one shot because there is so much detail too add. Then, after she finishes that, they tell her to do the same shot from another angle, so it's very tedious. It's not really what she likes to do, but I guess she has to pay her dues. Once she is there 6 months, she will be eligible to transfer to another department if there is an opening and if she is qualified. Luckily the studio is located close to her apartment, so at least she isn't spending time and money on commuting. 

She has also been intermittently working on backgrounds for an animation that is currently out on Netflix called Gods and Heroes and she said her background work will definitely make it into that show. Right now the studio is very excited about their latest release on Netflix called Seis Manos. 

She didn't work on that show as it was already completed before she got there, but if you like animation, martial arts and Mexican culture, you will really enjoy it. Hubby and I watched the whole thing and thought it was very good. We are hoping it gets picked up for a second season. The studio also makes Castlevania, another Netflix adult animation. Their shows are all on the violent side, so not for kids or the tender hearted! Anyway, we are just super proud that our daughter got this job. She says the artists there are amazing and she learns new things every day. Every Friday the studio puts out a featured artist interview and we look forward to the day when it will be Megan. 

Mister has been sitting right here with me as I type this post. I'm sure he misses Megan and I know she misses him too. I send her a photo of him every day. She was going to come for Thanksgiving, but the airfare prices were ridiculous. Instead she will be coming the week before to celebrate hubby's birthday. We are super excited and counting the days!