Estoy Nueces

I really like routine. I am not a spontaneous person! I'm glad this Saturday morning is beginning with routine once again. The coffee's cooking, one cat is outside, one has eaten, the other is meowing. I'm writing in my diary and then I'll get my day underway and hope I can get things done. My sister's in-laws are arriving today so this week will be full of spontaneity. I need to get my mind and soul prepared for that. I may go see my sister's gig tonight with all of them. I don't WANT to necessarily, but I probably will. I doubt if much would get done if I stay home.

Re-reading last week's diary makes me realize how much has gone on since then. I continued to feel pretty lousy for the next few days, but I finally got all of my medicines Thursday and my blood pressure readings are lots better so it really made a difference. I feel much more "settled" in my body.

The Superbowl was Sunday, of course, with Kansas City beating San Francisco in overtime in the most back-and-forth exciting Superbowl I can even remember (not that I EVER can remember football games). I did go to my sister's and she had 7-layer dip and chips.

Before the fourth quarter ended, our young cousins from Arkansas arrived. The husband is our cousin's son and he had his wife and two of his four little girls. Really personable, nice people. I bet they could walk in any house in America and have a lovely conversation. So easy to be with. They had just been to a funeral for her uncle (WHO has a funeral on Superbowl Sunday?). But they were mainly in DFW for their little girl's surgery. Their five-year-old was born without a HIP and nobody noticed it until recently. How does that even happen? Poor child. They did catch it at a better time than it would be later. She had surgery Tuesday morning to put in a hip and they had to lengthen her femur. It was a five-hour operation. They put her in a big two-legged cast (in glittery purple - she got to pick) and they drove back to Arkansas Thursday. Amazing how fast something like that can go. I hear she has improved tremendously since she got to be home with her sisters and normalcy. I think she'll be in this cast for several months. They spent Sunday night with my sister and I know she loved getting to have little girls for breakfast (since her own granddaughters have never spent the night).

Our big big project at work (due Monday) is mostly done now. They did extend the deadline a bit, but there were still many things that just could not be done during that time frame because they depended on too many other factors. So there is still more to be done, but the huge crunch is over. It made for long tense days and my arm and shoulder and thumb FEEL it.

And as all of this "real" work geared up, I was talking to my friend about this sidegig I have on tap. I must delve into it deeply today so I will KNOW that I can meet the end-of-the-month deadline for it.

And porch drama continues. The company I was going to hire is going OUT OF BUSINESS. What lousy luck! But the guy that gave me the estimate SAYS he can be the contractor and get it done. More nervousness, but I've told him I would hire him, but I haven't heard back from him.

This week I have been watching more episodes of NYPD Blue. I had been watching Northern Exposure. And, of course, I'm always watching old episodes of Dateline. It dawned on me that when Mom and Dad finally got cable when they moved down here to North Texas in their 60s, they watched a lot of Gunsmoke and Bonzanza and old cop shows. Now I see the appeal!

Today is cold again after some beautiful weather this week. I see buds on the redbud getting ready to bloom. My sister has daffodils up and blooming. I've seen dandelions, but things aren't getting green yet really. I'm sure Austin is already hitting true spring. I miss that. We'll probably have another freeze, though, so I don't want things to get too warmed up and springlike.