Blue Sun Moving Team

Inspirational song: Don't Mess With Doctor Dream (Thompson Twins)

If the tracking on FedEx is to be believed, the base to my new bed should finally arrive tomorrow. In anticipation, I told my foster daughter that it was coming, and I'd probably be able to have the old bed delivered to them today. (The old king still has years of life left in it; it just wouldn't have worked with the split king adjustable base.) Without verifying this morning that we were ready to move, her husband moved out their dead-dead bed, and cleared space in their room for it. By default, that lit a fire under my butt to get ready here.

The Mr was in the mountains all weekend, so I was left to my own devices to prep for the switch. I stripped all the sheets and mattress cover off to wash, and tried valiantly to lift the mattress to lean it against the wall. Well, that never happened. I pushed and pulled and eventually got one of the box springs out and into the living room. Then I died. It was just too heavy. It stayed there until early evening, when he came home and wrestled the big stuff into submission. He loaded the bases into the truck, and we set out for the kids' house. I got to hold the baby some while the two men went back to the house and put the mattress on top of the truck, Beverly Hillbillies style. As they were leaving to retrieve it, I noticed both of them were wearing the same shirt, a Firefly-cosplay thing I had made years ago. "You're twinkies!" I yelled as they left. They didn't seem as amused as I was.

Once I got home, I swept and steam-mopped the floor under where the new bed will go, and I set down one of the new mattresses to have someplace to sleep tonight. Man, if this doesn't harken back to college, on a mattress directly on a floor. Get me some big, baggy clothes like we wore in the 80s, and crank up the Thompson Twins. It's a flashback night.

(Rabbit did all that shredding years ago. It's now covered with stronger fabric.)

TCM

Inspirational song: Someone at Last (A Star Is Born [1954])

It was just too hot to leave the house. I have a few things I need to acquire to keep making this AIP diet work as advertised, but stepping out on a record-setting (or maybe it was just tied) hot day was more work than I was interested in. I stayed in and read ahead to the phases yet to come, after the liver cleanse I'm on, through the adrenal reset I'm entering, to the gut rebalancing I'll attempt in a month. I sure hope I get even half of the results promised: reduction in pain, inflammation, and weight, with improvements in skin, senses of smell and taste, and mental clarity that has been non-existent for years. Of all of that, so far my skin feels pretty soft. So I've got that going for me.

One of my old library friends said something about it being a good day to watch the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice. Once I'd had my fill of reading, I thought I would give that a whirl. I looked for it on Netflix, and it was a no-go. I tried Amazon Prime, but it was with purchase of BritBox, and since I am using one of the kids' logins, I don't have the chutzpah to add subscriptions to it. I remembered that my cell phone plan gives me access to HBO Max. I just had to remember how to add apps to my television, and then remember my login to AT&T. I was pretty proud of myself for successfully navigating tech stuff I never touch, and then I got distracted.

I was scrolling through the offerings (slowly, and I don't know whether the app was glitchy or the tv was), and I saw that it had Turner Classic Movies. I dropped in to see what was there, and the 1954 A Star Is Born was featured. I thought it would be fun to compare it to the more recent two that I have seen. It was interesting, but wow, is it hard to watch a movie from the 1950s with 2020 sensibilities. It was going along just fine, and then casual racism and sexism would just fall out of it. In the abovementioned song (Someone at Last), no one was safe. Judy Garland was pretending to be from different countries, and as soon as the "China" section started, I visibly winced. You know, I was thinking about pulling out the 1970s version to watch after, and now I'm nervous about it. Was 20 years enough to filter that kind of thing out? Fingers crossed.

Good Trouble

Inspirational song: Sunday, Bloody Sunday (U2)

Just as I was sitting down to write, they announced the death of Civil Rights icon John Lewis. More bad news we didn't need right now. He is one with the angels now, where he belongs. Time to rename that damned bridge. I can think of a much better name to paint on the top of it.

I was going to lead with a story about Miss Crabby Pants. She had her first (first?) set of vaccinations this morning. I went over at noon to hold and cuddle her while her parents cleaned house. She was fine at first, but her mood distinctly soured over time. As she was screaming in my ear, refusing to be soothed, I didn't take it personally. I'm sure she was melting down over all the extra work her little immune system was putting in. If anyone understands, it's her safta. I get crabby on vaccine days too.

I should have taken pictures of her crying. It's how I'm feeling now, as the tributes are starting to pour in on the news.

Swinger

Inspirational song: The Muppet Show Theme (The Muppet Show)

I don't like to whine all the time. But I stressed my back so hard it's hard to focus on much else. I spent all day outside, spraypainting one of the two Adirondack chairs, and its corresponding footrest. It was hot today, but mostly cloudy, so I thought I could handle it. I worked in bursts. Those bursts got shorter and shorter, and my rests in a lawn chair under the porch awning longer and longer. By late afternoon, I was making it through about three minutes of standing, bending, and spraying, for every fifteen minutes of sitting. And now I'm playing our weekly D&D game, my back too sore to hold the grandbaby. This is unacceptable.

When my kids were babies, we had a wind up swing that saved our sanity and our ears. The kids loved it. I don't know how we have made it two full months into Dino's babyhood without getting the modern version of that. I went to Target last night to correct the oversight. I brought it to the game to assemble, and boy was I glad I had a team to help me put it together. I managed to bash my knuckles twice on a part that refused to connect, the second time so hard I gashed it open. That's the second time today I drew blood on myself. I need to be swaddled in bubble wrap. 

I don't have the grandma juju tonight. Dino hasn't wanted to cuddle with the old lady who can't bounce her much. But on two tries, she seemed to take to the swing like a champ. Her mommy is sold. This one is to be my babysitting aid, but she wants to get one for her own house too. 

Inching Along

Inspirational song: Edelweiss (Sound of Music)

Oh, thank goodness for a couple of cool days in a row. It was lovely not having to hunker down in a closed-up dark house to be comfortable. It won't last, but it seems rude not to note and express gratitude for it.

I took advantage of the mild weather to go outside and move forward another few steps on something I've let fallow for too long. More than a month ago, the Mr acquired some Adirondack chairs from one of his friends who was moving, and didn't have space or desire to keep them. They were in rough shape, dried out and needing all screws and bolts tightened. I had started fixing one up weeks ago, including trying to patch some of the bigger cracks before I was going to paint them. I chose painter's putty to patch with, and when I discovered that it refused to dry enough to be sanded, I got frustrated and walked away. After all these weeks, it eventually dried. Today, I sanded and started painting. I used an entire spray can of gray primer, and sort of had okay coverage. I used two-thirds of a can of turquoise on the first coat of color, and so far I like it. But it will need a whole lot more paint. For free chairs, I'm going to end up paying as much for spray paint as I would have for brand new chairs, already painted. Ugh. Pictures to follow when the whole set is done.

What did I say yesterday about cats being magically attracted to any flat object set down on any other flat surface? Mr S-P opened another rug tub to inspect. Within two minutes, this had happened:

 

Look for the Helpers

Inspirational song: Bastille Day (Rush)

Cats are so helpful, all the time. Anytime something new appears in a room, especially when it appears on the floor, they are right there, ready to offer assistance. Back in my active sewing days, I used to cut everything while sitting on the floor. Not once did I ever do so without a cat on the fabric. Last night, the Mr pulled out one of his several carpet tubs, the plastic bins holding the dozens of carpets he brought home from Pakistan, intending to sell them here. (BTW, does anyone want to buy a really pretty rug? HMU) It hadn't been inside more than half a minute, before Jackie was camped on top of the open stack of carpets. (Harvey had jumped up too by the time I got my camera out.) In our family, we say that cats "play the on-something, on-something game." It's that instinct that sends them leaping onto piles of folded laundry. My daughter saw this picture of Jackie, and said that she was winning the game. All those layers of rugs was the equivalent to rolling a natural 20.

The rugs went on the floor, so they could be inspected and vacuumed, and naturally Harvey was all up in that. The ones that came out of the tub not needing much vacuuming quickly were covered in blush-orange and beige fur. Little helper man.

I've been closely watching the tracking progress of the bed I ordered two weeks ago. It was divided into four separate order numbers. I guessed that was two mattresses, and the base was divided into two because of bulk and weight. I got all excited when it said it would arrive by Wednesday. I clicked on a tracking number link, and it said it left Anaheim Sunday night. As of this morning, it was on the truck, out for delivery. Then I looked at all of the links. Two were on the way, two were still "being processed," unmoved from wherever they are warehoused. I had no idea which would arrive. It was the mattresses. The Mr pulled one out and unwrapped it, in order to evaluate whether this was the kind of bed he wants to haul up to the cabin. So now it's on the living room floor, puffed up to full size, just begging the cats to climb all over it.

After thirty years, and all of The Troubles (as it were), we don't do much to celebrate our anniversary these days. But we do usually go out to dinner on this day. Well, neither of us have the reckless impulse to eat in a restaurant right now, so I went and got a couple of T-bones. With my restrictive autoimmune protocol cleansing diet, I couldn't make the usual sides, so I made a mountain of veggies, cooked and raw, to accompany them. It was a quiet marking of time, which I am okay with. Quiet is fine in the time of Rona.

Strike Two

Inspirational song: Tequila Sunrise (The Eagles)

Out of the house before 5 am. Clear of city limits moments later. And no ability to see the comet. If we had been on the road 30 minutes earlier, maybe the skies would have been clearer. As it was, clouds rolled in just as we were getting up and throwing on clothes. It was clear to the east, and there were thickening clouds directly above us as dawn crept up. 

Still, we had a lovely drive. We wandered over two counties, on tiny mountain roads, up and past Carter Lake, until the county roads ended, and big no trespassing signs appeared. We each took some lovely sunrise photos. The Mr scooped me, and made his the cover photo and profile picture on his Facebook. Still, I am undaunted. I will post mine here, and people can think I stole his (and they will be wrong).

The kids came over to read more chapters in the book we have been going through as a family. The action really started to pick up during this session. Although right when it got going, Dino was sound asleep on her sound asleep Grandpa's chest. The rest of us took a break while they snoozed. This is the problem with getting up before dawn two mornings in a row.

Believe it or not, he even suggested trying again tomorrow! This time I checked the hourly forecast. It says there will be clouds again. Maybe Wednesday.