Thank goodness. Been sleeping a lot, though. Very, very tired, breathing not great. Allergy pills. Inhaler. These things are your friends. LOLOL Woke to another gray day, with rain this time. After so long drought conditions, we have been inundated with rain. Trees do not seem to be turning in a normal way, making me remember this spring, when there was not even one single blossom on the trees across the street. I have also noticed the past couple of days articles mentioning ‘global heating’, and yes, it is not longer ‘global warming’ as is evidenced by the horrific conditions happening all over the planet. We were warned, and we chose to do nothing. Now it is too late.

That’s another rant I have. How we are told it’s our fault because we use plastic straws and other ridiculousness. When it is the corporations, you know, the ones that are running our country through their paid-for politicians, are the real polluters.

Waiting for the new homemaker. She was meant to be here at 9, her work called to say she was coming at 10, and it is 20 past 10 now. I need her to mail my rent check and get my mail and take out the trash. The essentials. I am pretty much not very mobile right now, or I would attempt going to the post office myself. It is only maybe half a block away, but I am having trouble just walking to the kitchen, which is maybe 10 steps away. Fun time, people. Fun times.

Today I want/need to call the vet, the potential therapist, a cleaner recommended by friend, the dentist, and the physical therapy center down the street from me. How many of these will I actually do?

I cooked yesterday, too. Actually, the day before I roasted some small tomatoes, and yesterday I roasted some cauliflower. Roasting is soooo easy. Toss the veg in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at around 400 til they look like you want them to. Very done, almost burnt. Try the halved brussels sprouts this way. Like a completely different veg. I did slow-roast the tomatoes on 250 for a few hours, because I forgot about them. But they came out great. Wish I’d known about or tried roasting veg long time ago, because they are so much better than any other cooking methods I’ve done. Except broccoli. Broccoli is better steamed til bright green and still a bit crunchy.

I had blackberries and raspberries, and still have some fresh figs to eat. I like fresh figs. They do not seem to have a very long season. I do try to eat seasonally if at all possible, but some things like berries are imported when not in season and I like berries, so….

I am awake and relatively alert as you can tell by my wordiness. 🙂 Have been watching some French-language programs. There is even a channel with French shows, called, amazingly, The French Channel. There are some really good shows on MHz Choice, too. Not just French language.

Anyway, rambling Jean is done rambling for right now. Wear your masks, people. Covid is still here. I know. My two friends are pretty sick from it. Even with taking the paxlovid.

Homemaker just came. Opened the door and there are boxes. I was totally unaware that anything had been delivered, and way surprised that someone put it outside my door instead of leaving in the lobby. Was it the delivery service, a kind neighbor? IDEK It’s a good thing, though, as it is not really possible for me to go down and bring items up right now. 🙂

Have tested negative twice now. Am going to wait a few days before taking the last one I have. Getting new ones Oct 2 or so. Cancelled new homemaker except hoping she will come Friday for a hand-off of get the mail and take the trash out. Waiting to hear. Do not want to kill any of her other clients if I am infected. I mentioned to her boss that she was not masked, too, and was told it is no longer a requirement. Even without covid, it should be a requirement, and it is in my home from here on in. No mask, no entry. The end. We are living in scary times, but denying it won’t make it go away. Covid, climate, unbelievably stupid politicians and citizenry. I mean, people still worship the orange disgrace and want him to be president again. IDEK Stay safe, people. You only get one life. Don’t lose it from being stupid.

Seriously, weren’t we just sweltering? Now it’s sweaters, blankets, heater fan, hot drinks. This is so much better than hot and sticky. This is right now:

New homemaker came Friday, finally. Kind of disappointed, but it was a first day, and not the usual routine since she did not come Tuesday, so it was just shopping (very small list), had her run the vac which did not go well by my standards, which are pretty lax, and trash out. Hope once we establish a good working routine it will work out. It is really hard to get people to do this kind of job because the pay sucks and who wants to clean toilets for a living anyway? It used to be mom’s wanting some extra cash while the kids are in school, but I don’t know what it is now. She says she does food prep (not cooking) though, so that’s a bonus.

I also found out there is (I hope it’s still in business) a sort of taxi service in my town, which means I would be able to get places without relying on a friend or using the dreaded Dial-A-Ride, which takes tons more energy than any other method of getting anywhere. I have been left stranded a few times in the past.

Guess I am feeling kind of down, but it’s gray and cold and I turned my sun on, which should help. Full-spectrum bulbs in the overhead light, which I normally do not use. Makes it seem like a sunny day in here. It’s a good thing.

Just found out my friend has COVID. She does not mask any more, nor does her husband or her peeps, as I call them. Her friends from the Senior Center. Still have a couple of in-date tests so am going to take one. Just in case. She was just here a few days ago. I don’t need to be sick on top of everything else that I have, so am going to institute the ‘no mask, no enter’ rule again. Even the new homemaker was not masked, which I was not having a good day and didn’t even realize til she’d been here awhile, and by then it was too late. I even forgot my own mask that day. I can’t think of everything, especially when I am in pain. It really messes with your brain working, pain does.

But it’s autumn, my favorite season. I love the smell of fallen leaves when you crunch your way through them, and the colors. New England has absolutely astoundingly beautiful fall colors. In Colorado, the leaves turn yellow, then brown, then fall off the trees.

Stay well, everybody, and wear your masks. It matters again. It’s a different world we are living in. I miss the old one.

But happy, happy. Apple pie, stuffed cabbage, so many fall foods I like. Now, if I could only get someone to cook them for me. 🙂

I am getting really bad at this. Either feeling like crap, or a lot going on. Am having a good day so far, after about 4 hours sleep. Woke up before 7, no brain fog, not much pain. What happened? No idea. Beautiful day, again. Today the new homemaker is starting. She’s coming around 9. A.M. In the morning. 9 in the morning is for me like 4am is for normal people. It’s a miracle I am up and functioning at this time (8:15). Not complaining.

I have an Outlook email address and recently I have been getting loads of spam, after hardly ever getting any. Not sure what I did, but it is very annoying. I would dump it, but a lot of Microsoft things have it as my address. Looked it up, fiddled a bit with settings, time will tell.

Have decided to get a computer person to come and see if my old printer is fixable. Miss G murdered it two or three years ago, and it will not take in the paper to print. Tried everything, nothing worked. Bought a cheap Canon from Walmart, which works very well, but the old one is wireless and I’d really like to use it so I can move the laptop back to by the window. Seeing out while working is a good thing. This is the new one.

Hoping to get things done today, hoping the new homemaker is nice and we get along and she does a good job. I’m going to let her do her thing today, and then based on how she does, will talk it over next time. Hope that won’t be necessary. Wish me luck.

I am better. Not spectacular, but better. Actually cooked a couple times. Easy stuff. Chicken soup: box of chicken broth, bag of froz cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, bag of Buitoni chicken prosciutto tortellini. Yum. Grilled cheese. Low and slow, that’s how you make good grilled cheese, I have learned.

Getting a new homemaker. Question if it’s temporary or permanent, old homemaker says temp, her work told me permanent. Will call tomorrow for confirmation of which one. New one may cook. We’ll see.

Not my homemaker. LOL

Beautiful day. Especially nice after the really unpleasant September we have been having with 90% humidity and tornadoes and all. Sunny, breezy, 75 F. Windows open. Happy Jean is loving it.

is just weird. Days of 90% humidity, 3 tornado warnings (oh, wait, one was in August), day after day of having the a/c on and the windows closed, and today I have put on a long-sleeved shirt because it is 63, and was in the 50’s overnight. Much more my kind of weather. Tornado warnings were fun. Not. I could not carry Miss G in her hard crate, and DD2 suggested I put it on the seat on my Rollator thing. I changed to a soft crate, which was much more doable, but still hard to carry her, so I did put it there, and poor baby was in the crate on the seat for well over an hour. She did not make a sound the entire time, was very well behaved. It was so long because right after the tornado warning was cancelled, there was almost immediately another one. I discovered I can watch Boston and Providence news of my Firestick, and WBZ, the Boston station, had excellent coverage. Continuos, specific, and reassuring. At one point the anchor was saying things like, ‘If you’re here, you’re safe, if you live near (and mentioned specific businesses up the street from me, seriously) you need to take shelter. It was the best coverage I have ever seen of anything. Unfortunately, the Rhode Island station kept going to the cutsy anchors chatting inanely. Why I stopped watching news even when I had cable

Housing inspection is today. Sometime before 11am, I was told. I was awake all night AGAIN, and fell asleep in daylight. Hoped to get a few hours before the inspector comes, but kept getting woken up. Very noisy street today and I am on the second floor, a sidewalk’s width from the street. Having coffee. Had to put on a long-sleeved shirt because COLD in here. Yay. My new ‘therapist’ agreed with me that I do not need her services and is going to recommend a regular therapist, my doctor sent me a message to say my blood work is good and my A1c number was on the way to being great, but that was before the increased dose of Prednisone, which raises blood sugar, among other damaging side effects. It is a miracle drug, right up until it kills you, it seems. I also found out yesterday that today is my homemaker’s last day. She didn’t come Tuesday, and I ordered a grocery delivery which for once went exceptionally well. No idea why she ‘asked for reduced hours’, which sounds specious to me. She has never mentioned anything like that. I will find out what the story is today, I guess She is not the best cleaner I have had, but we get along really well and laugh a lot and have fun, and I will miss her. Life is change. Adapt or die, is what I always say. Having even one chronic, debilitating illness teaches you to adapt pretty quickly. Having 3 just reinforces that to the nines.

Got to go out with my friend Tess yesterday. We went to Michael’s. Have not been there in some time. I bought some cute little individual flowers in three colors, and a set of six about 2 inch long nutcracker stick-ons. No idea what to stick any of these things on, but hey. I always do that when we got there. Find really nice crafty things, buy some, and never actually use them, because it is eons before I have a day good enough to do crafts, and I have forgotten what I bought them for in the meantime. LOL My life is SOOOO interesting. LOLOL

It appears I did not post at all in August. It was not a great month. So much pain,slept a lot. Rheumatologist recommended upping prednisone from 5 to 7 mg, which I did on Monday. Slowly getting slightly better. This means there is no hope of getting my A1c number any lower so have had to give in and take metformin,which I also started Monday. Unlike the first time I tried it, there are no bad side effects so far. First time was major stomach pain. I have weird body chemistry. Fact. I always get the side effects or have strange reactions to meds. Still pretty non-functional, but hoping it will get better soon.

Meanwhile, weather has gotten really nice. One day and night with the a/c, but otherwise nice days in the 70’s and no hot and sticky. Autumn for the win. Yes. It is September! Fall is my favorite time of the year. Then spring, winter, summer. Summer would be higher on the list except for the aforementioned hot and sticky. Fortunately, it is not all summer long. We have days and even weeks that are decent weather. I could not live where it is just hot and sticky day after day after day.

We had a tornado warning a couple of weeks ago. TAKE SHELTER NOW, said my phone alert. Closed bedroom door, because once Miss G is in there, no hope of grabbing her. So she was right by the door and right by the crate, so I crammed her in. Twice, as she got out the first time. Amazingly, she did not try to bite or scratch during her ordeal. Poor baby. Was going to go to the basement, but I could not carry her. She is heavy, since she will only eat dry food, and that apparently causes fat cats. She only gets 1/4 cup a day, and six treats that I make her chase around for. LOL Anyway, was going to just stay in the hall as it is completely enclosed with fire doors on each end, and apartments on both sides. Well away from glass. But too much pain, needed to sit, so just put her inside the door and sat in the rocker and waited. No tornado, thank goodness. It touched down farther east of me. Poor Miss G whined pitifully for five minutes, tried mightily to get out of the crate, and then was quiet for the rest of the half hour we waited for the warning time to pass. Was not even mad at me when I let her out. It was kind of scary, but I am good at keeping calm. Hope that does not happen again. Tornadoes are so dangerous.

Am having housing inspection next week, because I am on Section 8, subsidized housing, and there is just clutter and more clutter everywhere, and I cannot physically deal with it right now and there is no one to help, unfortunately. Just hope the landlord does not come. He never has before, but you never know. Anyway, I know he wants me out, so this is anxiety-making. Oh, well.

Hoping to go out tomorrow. I can sometimes, but I am very rickety and hobbling with my cane and need to hang off a carriage in the store. It is very painful, but I really like getting out. I am here inside by myself at least 90 per cent of the time, so if I can get out, I am going to. Went out to eat with a friend last week. First time without eating outside since before the pandemic started. Was kind of not happy, but she really wanted to go and I decided to be either really brave or incredibly stupid. So far I am fine, but do not want to do that too often. You cannot eat with a mask on.

Hope any readers are well and staying safe. Enjoy every day. Right now is the only time you are alive, so be in this moment.