July Musings

    Here's a recap of some of the events of the last two weeks. 

    One noon our microwave suddenly stopped working. Ray checked the fuse box but couldn't find a problem there. Our landlord stopped by to figure out the problem on his way home. After exploring several options, he looked at the plug (in a cabinet above the microwave) and discovered it was loose. After securing the plug, the microwave has been working without a problem. 

    On another day I found an envelope in the mailbox returned for no postage. Embarrassing for sure but I affixed the correct postage and sent it on its way, a week late for its intended destination. That same day we celebrated our 58th anniversary. We had an offer of a free anniversary dessert from a local restaurant and decided to head there. Some tables were marked not available to maintain social distancing. We chose the free carrot cake and asked for a carryout to enjoy back at home. This was not an ordinary carrot cake but the supersize piece was scrumptious and more than enough for two people.

    Through some kind of mix-up with our old phone company, we no longer had a land-line after our move on July 1. After several long phone calls, we now have a VoIP phone and a new number. It seems to work pretty well and only costs $10/month compared to the $45 we paid for our old service. I call that a win!

    For a long time, I've had the idea of putting all my spices in alphabetical order and I finally achieved my goal.

Easier to find when in alphabetical order

    Our biggest disappointment was learning that our new washer/dryer set wouldn't arrive on July 21 but was delayed until August 26 (Typo: should be August 6). Another trip or two to the laundromat seems imminent.

    I was disappointed that I couldn't donate blood on Friday because I didn't meet the hemoglobin guidelines. I need to get more iron in my blood! On my way home I stopped to have the car checked because the AC hasn't been robust most of the summer. The shop was swamped and couldn't take any more customers but we have an appointment for Wednesday and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have a major problem.

    After our big shopping trip yesterday I asked Ray to make an angel food cake and he did! It's really a simple but delicious dessert. One box of Betty Crocker Angel Food cake mix combined with 20 oz. of crushed pineapple. Mix well and spoon into a 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350. 

    Until next time, enjoy the rest of July and I'll see you again sometime in August.

We've Made the Move

For about 10 days Ray and I made an average of three trips to our new home. The car was filled with bags and boxes and small furniture items each time. We also managed to maintain our regular workout schedule just about every day.

A few days before our move, after our worship service, I spoke to several friends from church and asked if they'd be willing to help us move. All four agreed and using the truck of one of our volunteers we moved all our final pieces of furniture in about 2 hours on July 1. We provided sandwiches for lunch when they had finished and enjoyed a bit of visiting before they left. [For their help we've made a donation to Concordia's Pack Away Hunger fund.] We returned to Copper Chase to pick up clothes that were in the dryer and to run the vacuum where needed and then turned in our keys. We were back in our new home by 3:30 and celebrated with a glass of wine.

The next day I picked up my iMac from where I had left it several days before. The computer is five years old and has never had a check-up. As we planned our move I decided it would be a good time to take it to a local computer repair place for a tune-up. The news was not what I wanted to hear. The tech dude said that the hard drive is in the early stages of failure. How long before it completely crashes is hard to know.

Greenwood's annual Freedom Festival, held the last Saturday of June, was canceled this year. However, a local businessman decided to provide fireworks for the community last Sunday, July 5. We invited our "movers" to join us for ice cream and strawberries followed by a fireworks show. They arrived at about 9 p.m. and an hour or so later we enjoyed nearly 30 minutes of a spectacular fireworks display from our patio.

We've had mostly 90+ temperatures last week, but yesterday and today it's been much nicer. To beat the heat for our daily walk, we decided to retire an hour earlier and for the last several days we've been getting up at 6 a.m.

On Wednesday we played pickleball for the first time since March 16 at Craig Park. When we arrived, a few other players were already there. We stayed around for about two hours and were able to play several games. The conditions were pretty nice. Not windy and early enough that the heat of the day was still mild.

When we purchased our new washer and dryer we learned that it would be about a three-week wait before delivery! We should have ordered sooner. We assume the pandemic has caused manufacturers to fall behind. A couple of days ago we took a loaded basket to the laundromat. It's been a long time since I've gone to one and was surprised at what it costs to operate a washing machine. It cost either $4.25 or $6.25 depending on which size washer one chooses. However, the washers were all front loading with many machines available. I think we'll be conservative on what we wear this week and maybe our laundry basket won't be overflowing before the new washer and dryer arrive.

One of the first items to arrive in our new mailbox was a small black box that contained a puzzle. In about an hour or so we had the puzzle finished--it's a photo from our hike at Turkey Run Park last summer.

Look closely and you can see it's a Zigsaw puzzle.

My goal is to make a dent in unpacking and going through some of the boxes in the next two weeks. I hope you'll hold me accountable!