Bits of Randomness....

Target is deadly for me. I go to pick up just few things and this is what I come home with. I sort of look on it as the store where I can afford ANYTHING I want.

Along with all that stuff, comes the bill. Realistically, what I needed to get should have been under 50 bucks. But you can't blame me for getting a little Christmas shopping in too.

Of course, I needed those cute little grey rats for Steph's Halloween project that I'm "teaching" for her friends tomorrow.

Why is it that this mess doesn't bother me nearly as much as Butch's table next to his chair? I think it's just that my stuff is more important---or that you can actually see his table when you walk into the room. I will admit, he does a much better job of cleaning it up than I do. When I start knocking stuff around, I'll take a minute and get a handle on it.

Oh my gosh! What can I say about these two dudes?? They have been an important part of my life for about 15 years now. Jim and Bob are my painters. Upon the completion of all this renovation work, Jim (the one on the left) said to me: "well, I guess this is about the last time we'll be seeing you." What??? I gave him a puzzled look---I actually remember my face squinching up. He said, "you know I'm retired (they were/Bob still is---firemen). I'll be too old the next time you need me." Again, what???? What's happening here? I actually teared up! These guys have been so good to me---bumping me to the top of their list whenever I needed them. I told them I needed to take their picture and that I was really sad. My parting words were, "well, I guess you'll never get to see me cute again!" I'm forever hopeful about that! He said I was still cute and that it's been a pleasure working for me all these years and thanked me for all the business I sent his way. Still, sad.

This age thing is really starting to sneak up on me. While sitting in the dentist's chair last week, it occurred to me that my dentist is about the same age as me too. I've been going to him for 27 years now---since moving to Nashville. I asked him if he was going to retire. He said that he had already gone to just 3 days a week and was totally loving it. Beyond that, he has no plans to cut back further. Whew, at least I don't have to worry about finding another dentist. 

I'm starting to think I have a problem. I look upon all these people in my life---my plumber, Jeff, my garden girls, Missi and Sara, Margarita, my arborist, Aaron and too many more to mention---as very important to me. They've become "quasi" friends. I like it that when I need them, I call them, they know me and leap to my rescue. 

When I called Jeff about the leaky hot water heater last week, he dropped everything and came right over. I've always been really friendly with all the people it takes to run this place. I really try to treat people right and be appreciative of what they do for me. This time, Jeff was sporting a buzz cut. I said to him, "Jeff, I've been through 3 hair styles with you over the years---ponytail, regular cut and now this buzz cut." He laughed and said that since he was balding, it was time to let it go. When he finished the job, I was all, "Jeff, thank you for always coming to my rescue!" Sort of flirty---but right in front of Butch, so he could see how I've always handled the household. 

I'm going to start taking everyone's picture. By now they know me, so it won't seem to "geeky!" I just feel a need to document ALL the important people in my life.

Back to the "old" thing. A couple weeks ago, I went to a reception for a friend who recently married. When I met her new husband, all I could think was, "OMG, he's really old." As we were talking---and he was so nice---it occurred to me that he's just our age. It's just that when the "old" people are all your regular friends, you don't notice the age. Just like the picture of Jack and Connie in my previous post---I don't see them as old at all---until I look at us in pictures. Same with family---I don't really notice until I'm looking at pictures. This age thing is a definite bummer. Add to that---medications---well I don't want to go there. But let's just say it really hit me last night when I stopped by to pick up Connie for the theater. Amanda and Analise were there. I said to Connie and Pam, "don't let me forget to take my medicine at dinner."Amanda, said something about medicine and being old---in a funny way---not offensive, but it hit me again. We ARE getting old. I don't like it. Enough of the depressing stuff.

Saw this t-shirt on Facebook and loved it. Sounds like a solution Butch would have been happy to try. After all he's put the fear of God in to the squirrels! That's really working for him. (The neighbor's cat is taking care of that for us).

I'd been putting off this phone call for quite awhile. Comcast Cable has our account all screwed up. I tried to get it straightened out last month. You can see by the phone how many numbers I had to press on the automated menu to get where I needed to be. Basically, they came out at the beginning of August and changed out our box. Now they are charging us for 2 boxes, dvrs, and digital whatever and now a $6.00 late charge. When I called last month, they wanted the serial number off the box. I told them I couldn't get it---too much trouble. If they need that, then they'll have to send someone else out to get it. I'm supposed to hear back about it within 5 business days. I told the guy, "yeah, right---that's what they said the last time and I didn't hear a word." What a pain. I'll have to call again next month. Then I'll try to get a supervisor. During this call, one of the selections was to take a short survey within 30 minutes of the call about my customer satisfaction. Anticipating my lack of satisfaction, I was eager to share my experience with them. I agreed to it so that I could really let them know what I think about their service. I wanted to be able to report on "Peggy" (you know, the cable company guy that works from India). They never called. Figures.

Enough for now.