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three day weekend +
May 28, 2013, 6:13 P.M.
Called in sick on Monday, the 20th. My first "real" period (not just a day or two of spotting)
since January was a hemorrhage, and I spent Sunday night all the way through Tuesday
morning
bleeding out at an alarming rate. This was once it actually, finally started--it preceded by a
week
of what I didn't realize at the the time were steadily escalating PMS symptoms. I hated to miss
work (yeah, right...hated to use a sick day to actually be sick, is more like it) for something like
that, but it really was so monstrously awful that I couldn't leave the house.
Spouse was home evenings all last week, which didn't help my mood any. He said he
was covering for vacations and had to work days, but my spidey-sense is tingling lately and I
think he may have f***ed up another job. Especially since he pulled more funny business last
night and came up with how he had to get up early and go open up the place all of a sudden. I
really am never going to be able to trust him when it comes to this stuff, and anything out of
the ordinary really screams out to me that he's screwed up again. I may be way off base, but
you
know what? HE did this to me. If I am suspicious, he has no one to blame but himself.
Weekend:
Went to the dentist for a cleaning on Friday after work, then went and picked out a nice
memorial wreath for my father-in-law's niche. Since Spouse was home for dinner, we ran
down to Roma, picked up a pizza to go, and brought it home for dinner.
Saturday morning, we got up early and headed down to my parents for the great tech support
fiasco. Stopped first at the Walmart in Harvard, to pick up a wireless router and cables. (And a
new rug and nightlight for the bathroom, and a new slots game for my computer.)
First stop was at Dad's office, where we just were popping in to say "we're here", but I got
blindsided into what ended up being round ONE of tech support--setting up a company
facebook page. Which would have been a snap if one of his employees hadn't tried--and
failed--multiple times already. I was able to take the most recent attempt and rescue the
situation, but there are still a couple "early prototypes" floating around out there. My dad's
web
host has a feature where he can link the inventory on his website to his company FB page, and
he has been trying to get it to work for over a year. Well, that employee of his apparently
wasn't
aware that going about setting up a business page is distinctly different from doing a personal
page. And one can only import the inventory data to a business page.
Anyway--I spent a furious hour and a half converting the page and setting it all up--ran out
and
took a picture of the sign with my phone, for a profile pic, and ended up doing the same with
his business card for lack of a better "cover" photo. (I kept the login info, and when I got
home, I took the logo header from his website and cleaned it up & resized it, then put it up as
a
proper cover pic.) Wrote an "about" for the business, plugged in his hours, location, etc. so it
looks like a proper business site, and told him to see if that dolt he hired can remember the
info
for the other two stillborn pages he spawned so he can go in and delete them. I also explained
to him that he has to PROMOTE the business through FB; that he should post, often, and
with proper attention to punctuation, spelling, and grammer. (Or, he could call me or email me
with what he wants and I WILL HAPPILY DO IT FOR HIM.)
End result: He was so damned happy he giggled. Actually sitting there watching me fly around,
going from me in the parking lot, pointing my phone at the sign, to a profile picture on fb in
less than 5 minutes blew his 76-year-old mind. And when, at long last, he was able to click a
tab
in FB and have his inventory come up, with live links to his website...I think he just about
peed
his britches!
So. After that, I really could have used a nap, but we rolled onward to the house and round
two-slash-round three: wireless installation, and Kindle Fire setup. Spouse, with some basic
assistance from me, handled the hardware end of things, and got everything pulled together.
He
said that the router we bought was super-easy to set up, and he had the whole thing done and
working fine in no time. I helped Mom understand what she had to do to charge it, walked her
through setting up an Amazon account, synced up the parental email account, walked her
through the tutorial, and made her promise she would PLAY with it and get to know it. Her
first question was, as Spouse predicted, about accesorizing it. She wants to go shopping for a
cover! I told her she would be better advised to buy an AC charger for it.
All in all, the whole batch of tech support went very well, and I can't complain. Spouse even
played with her tablet and kind of got a crush on it, which made me laugh because that's what
always happens. He talks down every piece and part of technology until he actually puts his
hands on it, and then he's in love. He also gave Dad a talking-to about how bad the internet
service is for what Dad pays, and he should call about getting cable.
The visit was pretty pleasant, too--Daddy had made two sales before he closed at lunch time,
so he was chipper, and Mom was pretty well-behaved, although she was getting tired and
crabby at
one point. She actually cooked us lunch--she made her fabulous homemade BBQ beans, a
crockpot full of pulled pork, and had some pretty decent deli potato salad to go with. She
seemed to be feeling okay, but oh, my ears and whiskers...she looks awful. The two bad falls
left
her a mass of abrasions and contusions, she's nothing but wrinkles and bones, and she can't
even lift her arms at the shoulders. Her hair is getting thin, and she is just so damned frail.
She
can't get up by herself if she isn't at the table. Hard to take, but I try not to let her see how
shocking it is.
So we wrapped things up there about three, and headed home--with a stop at our favorite
Rockford grocery store to get some shopping done and pick up a couple bags of Mrs. Fisher's
Potato Chips. When we got home, Spouse ran back out to take a friend to Sam's Club, then we
crashed early after a quick bite to eat because we were beat and we knew Sunday was going
to be another busy day.
Spouse ran out Sunday morning and picked up fast food breakfast, and we spent the day
getting many things done--although P had been over on Saturday to finish up some stuff in the
bathroom, Sunday was Nephew's day to come over and make some money. Since the weather
was cooperating for the time being, he helped his uncle outside, mowing, trimming, pruning,
raking, sweeping, cleaning, and bailing (the water off the winter pool cover). They did a great
job, and while they were at it I was scurrying around trying to get the laundry and housework
done, in the fond but futile hope that I could possibly have a day OFF on Monday.
Once everybody had their chores wrapped up and Nephew was paid, we were sitting around
chatting and Spouse suddenly announced two things: he wanted to grill burgers for dinner,
and he was going to get in the car and go to Best Buy and get himself a Kindle. Not a tablet,
mind you, but just a simple, basic $70 e-reader Kindle. Yeah...weird, but whatever. Apparently
playing with Mom's new toy made him jones for a new toy of his own. So we ran out to BB,
where he got his new plaything and made the discovery that he could charge it using his
phone charer and didn't have to pop an extra $20 for an AC adaptor.
And then we went over to Woody's for stuff to make dinner. Leave it to Spouse to decide on
cooking burgers so late in the day that we have to go buy more ground beef, instead of using
one of the many packages we already have in the freezer. But since we were at Woodman's
anyway, we were able to score a number of things that are particular to that store, like Iams
sauce for the dog, and Land-O-Lakes ice cream, and the good fruit cups at the cheap fruit cup
price. And on the way home, I ran in to GFS to pick up vegetables for the B, as well. We made
dinner as soon as we got home, and then I played with my new computer game while he set up
his Kindle. He really wanted to get into using it, too--but he was just too beat from a long day
of hard work. He disappeared to bed, and I fiddled about for a while and then followed.
Monday should have been a day off, but Spouse was up with the chickens, because he
was determined that the bathroom was going to be DONE by the end of the holiday weekend.
So while I finished off the laundry and some various household chores, he sanded and painted
the last bit of wall that needed attention, and then had coffee and hot cinnamon rolls. After
breakfast, we undertook to hang the new light fixture--which turned out to be a bit of a
wrangle. First, he realized that he wasn't going to be able to put it up without a specific tool, so
we got cleaned up and ran out to do the rest of our weekend errands & get this tool. Went to
Lowes--they didn't carry taps & dies. Went to Ace, they didn't have an 8-32 tap on the peg, the
guy had to go in the back and dig for one. Finally got the tool, went home, and Spouse did what
he needed to do with the tap...and we got the fixture up, only to realize that the anchor screws
sticking out of the base plate were too long. So down it all came, Spouse cut the screws off,
and back up it went, mounted at last! It looks lovely, too.
Next up was to take down the old roller shade, remove the hardware from the woodwork, touch
up the paint, and once it was dry, mount my brand new custom window shade. I guess I
measured correctly, because it is perfect! We also hung the brushed nickel robe hook I
bought--instead of the back of the door itself, we mounted it to the wallboard behind the door.
There was just enough clearance back there for a hook, and it is much nicer than on the door.
Now, aside from some final decorative touches I'm working on, and SOMEBODY needing to
deal with a persistent leak in the sink drain*...WE. ARE. DONE. (cue the confetti and ballons)
So. Once that was finished, I snapped a bunch of pictures while Spouse started dinner--he
made his ribs in the house, because the weather was crappy, so he slow-roasted them for four
hours. For my end of things, I chucked a couple of bakers in with them to slow-roast, and
shucked fresh corn-on-the-cob which I steamed to perfection. I cleaned up afterward and he
went to lie down and read, then started his fuss about how he had to cover for some guy and
open in the morning. I don't like it I tell you. It stinks. It stinks on ice. He woke me up this
morning at four, banging around and running the shower. Yay. At least the B saw the writing
on the wall and decided he needed to eat his breakfast or he wasn't going to get any. That was
a relief; he's been giving us a lot of trouble with that lately.
But, anyway. That was the weekend. Never got to the cemetery, what with the weather, and
with it being a military cemetery, the crowds. But I have the wreath, and we will get it done
soon. June tenth was his birthday, so maybe we will do it on Sunday, the 9th.
*I am so pissed about this, because it messed up my brand new vanity already. But I am
trying not to be a bitch about it. I have a bucket under there, and I know it will get sorted...but
damn. Really?! All this work, and STILL dealing with leaks ruining things?!
Reading: "It Pays To Smile" (1920), by Nina Wilcox Putnam. An amusing story of an upright Boston spinster and her adventures chaperoning a free-spirited California beauty.
Listening: Psych Furs, The Fixx, Adele, Jill Scott, Soft Cell, Tears for Fears
At Random:
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