Weekend Recap 32/52 I Am Not A Cheap Junk Stealer

JP had a rare 3-day weekend which was really, really nice except for the part where we couldn't do much of anything because it was too freakin' hot.

How are people outside in the inferno weather we've been having?  Because my lungs have not been the same since my double lung collapse (pneumothorax) in 2009, I literally cannot breathe once the temperature hits more than 80°F-ish and especially when the dew point and humidity are at the Saharan desert levels even though the Sahara desert is 5,863 miles away from my location in Delaware.

None of this weather stuff wound up mattering much on Friday. We awoke with excitement and a "seize the day" outlook. Yay, 3-day weekend! kind of thing.

Then, as we were enjoying our morning coffee, we noticed that our well pump wouldn't stop cycling after the yard sprinklers ran.  This prompted a bunch of phone calls, then a visit from the emergency plumber because our regular plumber was on a jobsite and couldn't get away right away.

The emergency plumber inspected the situation and said "oh, big problems" and "you have 3 options", then provided three quotes for those 3 options - $2000, $4000, $6000.He also advised that financing was available!

Thankfully, JP realized he was a crook and sent him on his way.  Our regular plumber came by a few hours later, laughed heartily at the 3 estimates we were given, then proceeded to upgrade our entire system (which did not have "big problems" afterall) for the very fair price of $1600. 

Those emergency service companies have their place if, let's say, you are in a real bind/emergency, but know that they will always charge you excessively.  My advice is to get in touch and establish a relationship with a local guy who also handles emergency calls before you have any problems.

That was our Friday, which ended with wine time inside the house because it was too hot to be on the deck.

On Saturday afternoon after spending the first half of the day asking each other multiple times "what do you want to do?" and answering with "I don't know, what do YOU want to do?", we decided to take a ride to an antique place we've been to before that's just over the border in Maryland, thrilled that it's just under 30 minutes now from our new Delaware house.  Nothing makes me happier than walking around these kinds of antique stations looking at a bunch of junk things that I could possibly buy and clutter my house with.

When we arrived and entered the store the lady at the counter said "Hello..." and before we could respond in kind, finished with "....here is a key for you to lock your bag up" as she extended her arm toward us with some kind of key dangling from her fingertips.

"I'm sorry, what?" I queried.

"You have to lock your bag up in a locker," she stated.

"Uh, I don't think so," I stated back, sweetly.

For an awkward moment, she stood looking at us as we stood looking at her.



I was contemplating just leaving during that awkward moment but I wasn't sure what to do because sometimes I'm a hothead and I can sometimes overreact a teensy tiny bit when I think someone is being an &*$#* unreasonable person and also, it was Africa hot outside and we'd already wasted half the day not knowing what to do with ourselves and I didn't want to go home and go back to asking each other what we wanted to do.

Instead I said "well, no, I'm not locking up my bag" and then I took my wallet out and JP put my bag back in the truck. 

I then proceeded to walk around the place telling JP sort of loudly not to touch anything because I didn't want anyone to think he was trying to steal one of the very many $2 garage sale junk items valuable and priceless antiques the place is overly filled with .

I was a little bit mad.

Then I got a little bit madder when I saw a couple of other ladies who were customers walking around with their handbags over their shoulders.  Granted, mine was bigger than theirs but it wasn't as if I were walking around with an empty IKEA bag slung across me.  

At one point even JP said that he was pretty mad, too.  

Because, here's the thing:  if the first thing that happens when I walk into your store is that I am made to feel like you think I am a potential criminal, I'm not feeling warm and welcomed and it is very likely that none of my many credit cards are going to be used in your establishment on that or any other day in the future.
  

Also, I'm not handing over my handbag to a stranger to handle. What if there's a fire while I'm shopping and my handbag burns up? Who is going to reimburse the $8,294 I had in my wallet (yes, I carry that much around with me ALL the time!)? What is the store policy for that? What if I have an asthma or heart attack at the back of the (dusty) store and have to now walk through the store to get to the counter and wait even longer for someone to unlock the locker where my bag is being stored so I can get the inhaler or nitroglycerin and hopefully not die in the meantime?  

The point is that people keep important stuff beyond money and credit cards in their bags and if a store has some kind of "hand over your bag because we think you could be a thief with that thing" policy, then I'm not shopping there that day or any other day.

I get that shoplifting is rampant and stores need to take actions against that. We were in the grocery store the other day and the laundy detergent was secured in plastic boxes that had to be unlocked if you wanted to purchase any!  When I was a manager at a Borders bookstore, the hotspots for the highest incidence of theft had more cameras and were monitored more closely by employees plus some of most stolen items were locked up and had to be asked for (the religion section was #1 for theft, not  kidding).  I do not get arbitrarily treating some customers as potential thiefs - i.e. requesting that I lock up my bag but other ladies didn't have to.

By the way, here is a picture of the handbag I was carrying that day:  

12" ruler and Perrier bottle for scale. So, you can see that it's not a gigantic bag in which to steal antiques (:::eye roll:::).  That set of vintage china is probably not going to fit in there.

More info: Is It Legal For Stores To Force Me To Leave My Backpack At The Front Desk
https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-for-stores-to-force-me-to-leave-my-backpack-at-the-front-desk-whele-I-am-shoping-front-What-if-I-have-valuables-in-it-and-I-dont-wish-to-leave-it-with-strangers

We tried to go to Rehoboth on Saturday night but the traffic was insane.  We moved one block in 20+ minutes so we skedaddled out of there and decided that we wouldn't go back until season was over. Instead we drove through Lewes and wound up running into these two:

I got a new graphics tablet that beats by a mile the more expensive Wacom ones I've been using. 

Now that summer is starting to wane, I can feel my mood lifting and recently felt my creativity stirring to create photo art again.  Summer is so terrible for me and I genuinely spend my days just existing. It's wonderful when I start to feel hopeful again and more myself.  It kind of took me by surprise when I felt the need to create a new photo art piece but I went with it. The Wacom tablet I had is terrible and messes up my computer so I had to create this piece using the mouse. It's not my best...but not my worst either.  

Flickr featured it by giving it the Explore award, which is a really high honor.  Having an image chosen for Explore means that your work was singled out for its excellence.  It's given to 500 members each day and considering that on average 25 million (!!!) pictures are uploaded to Flickr each day...you can understand why being chosed for Explore is such a really big deal.

You can see it on my Flickr account by clicking HERE and see all of my art on Flickr HERE..

"The Odd Uneven Time*"

"...and all at once, summer collapsed into fall."

- oscar wilde

such a melancholy time, isn't it?

the fading of long summer days and the anticipation of september with its new beginnings (no matter how old you are!) and soft, soothing light. 

i'm ready, how about you?

(*original photo credit: sherrie buchner)

Weekend Recap 29/52

A mixed bag weekend for us - a little bit of work, a little bit of play, a lot of sitting either in the air-conditioned house or truck because it's too hot to actually be outside doing anything.

The truth is that I have been counting the days until Fall since before summer even started...but we've already had about four wicked heat waves and even JP is now counting the days until you can go outside and breathe properly again...and he isn't a summer-hater like me.

He had several outside projects on his to-do list but it was too hot to do them so we poured some cocktails and sat inside where we could look out the door at the patio we can't use because it's too hot to be out on it 😄  Yay, summer!

On Saturday, after he gave up trying to accomplish any yard work but before the above-mentioned  cocktails, we went for a ride to a place I've been wanting to check out since we moved to Delaware in April:  Ole Vintage Finds which is just a few miles from home. Lucky for us it was their open house event - which we didn't even know until we got there - but it just made our visit that much more special.

And let me tell you, this place really is special! It's in an old Southern States building which is the perfect setting for all the old and wonderful stuff crammed inside. My entire house is furnished and decorated with antiques and vintage items so this place will be a regular stop for me and they will no doubt wind up with a good deal of my money. 
Did I mention how nice everyone there was? I had a strong sense of deja vu when I was there as it took me right back to my North Carolina days and the southern hospitality and kindness that was everywhere you went. What a relief to find that there are still places with that vibe. It's just one more thing to love about Delaware.
(If you go, please take note of the wonky wooden floors which I found to be very endearing)

I forgot to mention that we also got a free gift with our puchase. How sweet is this cup?

 

I made a really nice dinner on Saturday night but I've decided to make that its own post.
I've been giving some thought to posting recipes that work for me as someone who is anosmic and I spent some time this weekend jotting some notes about how I'd like to do this.   

Anosmic/anosmia means I can't smell a single thing and can no longer taste flavors since I lost my sense of smell in 2009. 
Becoming anosmic has changed my life so dramatically, it's difficult to put into words, and goes WELL beyond simply not being able to smell. I want to write more about this on this site...not only to help myself as I maneuver life with this massive loss but to maybe help others who are anosmic. Especially those who might be new to it since anosmia became a more mainstream thing thanks to stupid Covid.

I'd like to post the recipes that I come up with that allow me to get some semblance of enjoyment from food.  Maybe I'll even give them a 1-10 rating in different categories. 
You would be surprised to know that I still can cook well and that the food I cook for others is highly regarded. Thank God for still having that.

Anyway, Saturday night's meal was grilled chicken over egg noodles with a creamy lemon garlic sauce.

That will be my first recipe post upcoming some time this week.

It was a low-key weekend overall but this, friends, was the absolute highlight:

We were out on the deck and this little guy was flying around.  I put out my hand and told JP to watch..."I have a way with dragonflies", I said.

He is used to me and my weird proclamations but, man, you should have seen his face when this beauty came right over and landed on my hand!

He flew off (dragonfly, not JP) and then came back a minute later. Again, I held out my hand and again, he landed right on my finger. JP couldn't believe his eyes! 
Little dragonlfly stayed sitting on my finger long enough for JP to run into the house and grab his phone so he could take this picture and then watch as I held a long conversation with it, my face just inches from his little blue/green face as his little head went from side to side as I talked to him.

I love when magic happens, don't you?!

Crop Dusting & Helicopters

I woke up way too early this morning and after packing JP's breakfast & lunch (yes, I do that almost every day; he works hard, it's the least I can do) I decided that the best way to get through this day and the inferno that it is outside (we are in yet another heat wave), is to spend the day in bed.
My bedroom has black shades and is as dark and cool as a cave - you literally cannot tell if it is day or night in there - which makes it the perfect place to hibernate until November the current heat wave we're having subsides.

There I was languishing luxuriously in bed, just started to drift back to slumber and blissful ignorance of the outside temperature and the incessant, oppressive sunlight when, from a distance, I could hear a buzzing consistent with that of an airplane. 

If, let's say, the airplane was headed straight toward your house.

Here is where I will segue into the story about when I was younger and wintering in Miami Beach and I decided to go out and get the Sunday paper for my parents who were still sleeping.

Every year just after Christmas we packed up and headed out of New Jersey to Miami Beach where we spent the next couple of months avoiding cold weather and living la vida loca*.  We always rented a place on Collins Avenue which was the place to be if you were a yankee snowbird. 

If you are not familiar with Collins Avenue, here is what it mostly looked like although there were more high-rise buildings that had been built where some of the iconic motels once stood:

So there I was, walking along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, while my parents were back in our hotel sound asleep having no idea that I was off on a solo Sunday morning adventure**. 

Algorithm Fail + National Donut & Chocolate Ice Cream Day

An ad for this keeps popping up in my feed probably because the algorithm knows from posts I may have made or reacted to that I have a morbid fear of even the idea of tornadoes.

But what it maybe doesn't know is that I am massively, cripplingly claustrophobic thanks to some 'swell' people who locked me in a metal closet (and banged on it) on more than one occasion when I was around 5 years old, so there is no way on earth that I'd ever be able to save my own life by getting into one of these things.

So the ad, which is meant to be helpful, is actually a trauma trigger for me

Did you ever hear those stories about people who locked themselves in a bank safe during a tornado? Yeah, I would be there going "thanks but no thanks, I'll just hold on over here and hope for the best but you guys go ahead in". lol

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Happy National Donut & Chocolate Ice Cream Day!

New House Semi Move-In Day & Anxiety Fun

I should've been doing this all along through our new house journey and all the ups and downs that came with that...plus the multitude of other turmoils that have been happening simultaneously.  It probably would have helped with the stress and angst if I'd been writing about throughout but, oh well, I'll just start now and going forward will tell the story backwards, I guess.

Today we are moving the important furniture from old house to new house which means that I will transition from living in one place to (mostly) living in another place. 

So, a whole bunch of new-ness.

All week I've been excited for this. I've been packing feverishly and chomping at the bit to get to the new house.  I excitedly put in my change of address for the post office to forward mail starting Monday. I ordered a new toaster and a new tablecloth for the patio table the previous owner of the new house left behind.  I was oddly really excited about the new toaster 😁

Today? The day it's actually happening? The day I get to set up my new toaster on my new counter?

Completely filled with anxiety and what if's. 

Man, I hate the what if's...but my brain seems to adore them.

Also, no matter how tired I've been every day, I've been waking up at 4-4:30am with no chance of going back to sleep.

Exhaustion and anxiety.  Yay.

Next week I will be mostly at the new house, unpacking stuff but mostly just resting a lot and trying to start the reset after months of high anxiety.

Overdue Small Update

Will I ever write consistently on this blog?  Who knows. Life got chaotic, again, then I got overwhelmed which renders me frozen and I can't do much of anything so the calendar pages

 

 

fly by and nothing gets posted here. 

I'm currently thawing but I'd like to think I'll be unfrozen very soon.  Writing this today is a step in that direction.

The chaos?  Both the good and bad kind.

The big news is that we bought a house.
Or, a second house.
A second house that will eventually be our only house.
The plan is to keep our current house in NJ and transition slowly to the new house in DE, dividing our time between the two places for the immediate future. 

This is all very exciting and great and wonderful, while also being scary and did I mention scary?

I don't know why I'm scared. I guess it's because I'm usually scared of everything, thanks to having an anxiety disorder.  I've come to realize that it's really, really hard for me to be happy about anything because my anxiety likes to ruin everything for me by switching on the part of my brain that stores all the what if's.

It is not fun, having this kind of brain, by the way.

And I am actually very much looking forward to moving out of NJ and getting back to DE even though it's bittersweet to leave NJ - a place that I love so dearly. 

Like so many others, we're leaving NJ because we're getting priced out; that is to say that the state of NJ and its ridiculous property taxes is just too expensive.  Example: NJ house property tax is 8K, while the DE house is $1200.  Similiarly sized houses.



The area that we're moving to is sort of rural and farm-y, and it's close to the beaches on one side and the Chesapeake area on the other.  I won't run out of things to do and places to visit. Not too shabby.

If only I could shut off the all the what if's that keep popping up, putting a damper on what is a very exciting time.

Part of the getting unfrozen plan is to get back to doing some of the things I used to be passionate about.  Making videos is one of those things and I'm hoping to document the chaos of having two houses, the slow transfer of too much stuff from one to the other, and all the in-between things.

Stay tuned.

Journal Fun Continues...

I'm not going to analyze this too closely to try and figure out why journaling like this is so much freakin' fun...I'm just going to keep doing it and painting and marker-ing and focusing on nonsense while unfocusing on life crap and world crap, etc.

I keep getting older and I still keep on playing (even though society doesn't put a lot of emphasis on playtime for adults. Listen - society is not doing so great right now so I wouldn't put a lot of faith in what "they" say you should or shouldn't be doing!)  

Seriously, don't stop playing. 

Or, re-start playing if you've already stopped.

Making Play Part Of Adult Life

Watercolor Journal - 02.19.24

Watercolor journaling has taken over my life!

I've been struggling with the kind of depression that lets me function but not in a high functioning kind of way and as a result I've no interest in many of the activities that I used to love. 
Except when it involves having a paintbrush or marker in my hand. 
A lot of the time I still struggle with finding the motivation to start a new journal piece or paint an ornament that I'll leave on a park bench for someone to find...but once I find the will to force myself to start, it's easy for me to lose myself in it again.

Oh, I know my watercolor artwork isn't great and I don't care one bit. Because it's fun. Really fun. And calming. And some of the stuff I'm coming up with is amusing the heck out of me and, right now, while I'm living with bleakness, I'll take whatever level of happy I can get.

I have not been able to create any new photo art in a while because I can't get to the mental place* that fuels the creativity I need for it. 
And - I can't lie about this - I hate when I spend a significant amount of time creating a new photo art piece and then I release it to the world via social media...and people just hit the like button and move on.
I need so much more interaction than that.  I'm not saying I need adoration - that actually makes me uncomfortable; I'm saying that I want people to really look at the art and say something - anything - about it. Things like "this reminds me of _______" or "this makes me feel _____"...that sort of thing.

My lifelong affliction - craving connection.

Ironically, "social" media is actually not the place for that or, apparently, for people like me.

]

*Medication is not an option because
(a) I hate taking medication, and
(b) I actually gave in and tried a few and had to come off them immediately because my system is "medication resistant".

Watercolor Journal - 02.14.24

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