We walked around the yard yesterday. There’s chunks of dead grass in the front under the hawthorne bush (Bush Must Go! Bush Must Go) from the actions of voles. There’s dead grass in the back (looks like moles). There’s a hole back there something dug – probably a toad – behind the star magnolia. Voles and moles and holes. Oh my! We’re calling somebody to come out and do something. Blech. Meanwhile, the rosemary in the “herb garden” didn’t make it because I didn’t mulch. The rosemary next to the house (big clue here, near the dryer vent) made it,…

It’s been a miserable day today at work – I’ve had some sort of allergy blow-up. The air quality at the office has always been horrible. I went looking for statistics and found Allergy.com – Pollen Graph. I’ll need it – although several of us complained all day about stuffy air, and specifically mentioned that it was hard to breathe, my team leader looked totally blank when I asked if she could check with the building management people and have them check the air circulation. I’ve felt all day as if I had my head in a slightly warm oven,…

Well, half of one. We started cleaning out the basement (AKA “The Black Hole o’ Computers), which was getting to look too much like the “before” segment on shows like “Clean Sweep” or “The Life Laundry“. And it’s a lot better, because before it was an utter tip, and now it just looks like… something less than an utter tip. But it’s better. We’ve thrown out (or are donating or selling) a lot of stuff we haven’t used in years. I’ll even be tossing out a big box full of home-made videos of favorite shows of the past… representing years…

Oy, we’ve got a lot of errands today, and then dinner later with David’s parents… about that latter item, more later. This is one of the last two weekends before we take off for Utah, and there are a lot of doodads and things we needed for the house that we wanted to get before then. So in mostly logical order, we’re going to Eddie Bauer at Woodfield (David), Costco (me), Bed Bath & Beyond (both of us, for a lot of house-y stuff we need to replace), Toys R’ Us (UGH!! The Hellmouth! Need to buy a gift card…

I’m going back to bed. I went to bed really, REALLY early (it started out as an afternoon nap). I woke up a couple of hours ago; my back was hurting so much that finally I came downstairs for a sandwich. As much as I liked our mattress when we got it, I have to admit I’m not getting the kind of back support I need out of it. It’s a pillow-top… probably should have gone with something firmer. Dammit. On a related note, we went out and bought a new sofa and chair for the family room. It was…

It was nice enough Sunday to get out in the yard and do a little cleanup. We have an ornamental trash-catcher bush in the front yard – I think it’s some kind of hawthorn, and I think it’s some kind of ugly nasty encroacher that’s going to see its last spring. Not only is it overgrown and ugly 11 1/2 months of the year, it shelters a merry little band of voles that have been feasting on the grass for a couple of years – I figured out what they were at the end of the summer, but then it…

It occurred to me again that I can only be sick on Tuesdays, Fridays, and alternate Saturdays, because those are the days my doctor is “in” the office nearest to us. He has two offices – one that used to be convenient before we moved, and one that was inconvenient before we moved (and is now even farther away). Every now and then we talk about changing. I’ve been pretty fed up with his “15 minutes max” approach to medical care – that’s how much time I get with him. Really need to do something about it. Otherwise, the next…