Saturday, Mar. 26, 2022 12:19 pm
Post birthday
My birthday was good. On the weekend before I went to see my sister sing a gig at a bar and visited with friends of my brother-in-law. All very nice people and kind of fun to be out in a bar with live music again. Sunday we went to see the musical Come From Away. We didn't sit together (they had had their tickets for two years!), but I got my ticket sort of cheap... the seat only $9, but the fees bumped it up to about $27. It was a wonderful musical and I would go see it again. It is on Apple+ so I may see it there sometime. It had a good sound system so I don't think I missed any dialogue or important lyrics.
I took two days off and was glad I did. Just rested up on Monday and then on my birthday I visited Mom a long time and then my sister and I went to a restaurant in Grapevine that is named after our family! They were the early settlers and this restaurant has taken their name. They had their history on the menu and on a plaque at the entrance. Very cool. Just a typical restaurant/bar in a hotel (with expensive drinks) but it was fun.
Yesterday I had a guest in my home! A first! A coworker from Austin is up here taking care of her mother after she (Mom) had foot surgery after a fall on ice in February. I feel bad for her. She's dressing wounds and disposing of pee and gross nurse duties, plus her dad is diabetic and can't walk so she's probably taking care of him a lot, too. I don't know if she's cooking for them or they order food or what. She has a husband and cats in Austin, but she hasn't seen them in a month (and it doesn't sound like he's been up here either...hmmmmmm??).
I cleaned my house for her visit so it is clean today and I love it. I wish I could keep it clean longer. We'll see how it goes this time. I will soon be able to put a lot of the plants back outside and that will help a bit. We sat outside a little while yesterday and that was really nice. I'm getting "new" outdoor furniture (maybe today?) from my sister because she bought new furniture! I was hoping that would happen.
This month (April) I am trying to live within my means. I'm not sure it is possible. I've already budgeted exactly what I bring in in a month and everything else is assigned to savings (in my app). We'll see if it works. Already I've received the electricity bill and it was about 50 less than I budgeted! Hooray. But then the gas bill came and it was 70 more than I budgeted. Boo. They haven't cleared the app yet, but I will pull money from booze or groceries and move forward for the month. I was thinking about buying some bird seed, but that will "blow the budget" so I'm rethinking. But the birds are HERE right now and I want to feed them so I'll figure something out.
I'm always kind of at a loss for what to do with a Saturday. I have 2 and a half hours until I'm going over to my sister's to go with them to see the kids play soccer. I have a project in mind with sticks.... And I have a bunch in the side yard right now from trimming back the bushes. I want to cut them to "wand" length and paint them brightly. I don't know if it will come out like I imagine or not, but I can't know unless I try. I'll drink my coffee, pull on some clothes, and gather some sticks today.