The One, Two Punch…

I was awakened at 6:45am to the sound of Tracy taking a shower. She had to be at work at 8:00am this morning. I noticed Wheezy was asleep at the foot of the bed. I drifted back off to sleep barely remembering Tracy kissing me goodbye. Then, there was the loud, raucous noise of a leaf blower at 8:00am. Yes, Lopez Landscaping had arrived to manicure my lawn and clean things up. I was awake by then. There was no turning back and sleeping some more. I always worry when they come so early that they are waking up my neighbors as well.

On an interesting note, my neighbor to the right has always been an enigma to me. I walked outside to head out for my daily walk and she was letting her dog potty on a leash in her yard. I gathered up some neighborly courage and walked over to introduce myself. I shook her hand and she said her name was Sunny like the sun.

“My name is Andrew. Nice to meet you Sunny,” I said, smiling goofily with a bumbling nature. “If you ever need anything then let me know.”

I know she must now think I am nuts as a fruitcake I was so bumbling! I was just nervous as social situations like that are hard and ungainly for me.

Spring Has Sprung in the South!

On my walk, I noticed all the daffodils are blooming as well as the tulip trees. My neighbor, James, down the street has a yard full of blooming daffodils and it is a glorious and invigorating sight! A few trees are budding and leafing out as well. We’ve had an uncommonly warm winter here. It is supposed to be in the seventies later in the week with thunderstorms to grace us.

Sept. 10th Tablet Scribblings… Finished With My Day…

It is time to hit the road folks. I didn’t get to sleep until 2 am last night and I feel a serious nap coming on. I also almost forgot to take my medications and was wondering why I felt a little jittery and nervous come noon.

This morning started off FUBAR. Lopez Landscaping showed up to mow my lawn at 7 am. I was just leaving to head to the Humane Society. I had to scramble back inside and lock the dog door so Maggie wouldn’t escape when they mowed the back yard. I hope there aren’t any accidents when I arrive home. Maggie can hold it with the best of them, though.

“Y’all can’t come at seven,” I told the foreman. “You’re going to wake up all my neighbors. It’s inconvenient for me as well.”

I am very excited about the weather. We have a 70% chance of thunderstorms today. I hope to be awakened in a few hours by the clap of thunder. A line of storms is already forming to our South.

Hectic Goes the Morning…

About the time for me to leave for my injection, the HVAC guys and Lopez Landscaping showed up in front of my house both at the same time.

“I’ll be back in 30 minutes,” I told the both of them. “I have a medical procedure that must be taken care of.”

“I left the front door unlocked just please don’t let Maggie out,” I told Tony, the HVAC guy.

Thankfully, the house was presentable.

I quickly locked the dog door, threw on some much nicer clothes, and headed down through the Valley. I also prayed to the gods that be that everything would go smoothly with my injection.

Old Fuss and Feathers was standing at the front of the pharmacy with my injection when I pulled up surveying what I was wearing. He told me my shorts needed ironing. Things were looking up. Rebecca and Trina were waiting on me when I arrived at Kamath Medical as well. That was another notch in my belt.

“Come on back,” Rebecca said, showing her pretty pearly whites and standing at the door to the examining rooms.

She didn’t even give me time to sign in. I smiled, very glad to see her. I told her what all I had going on at the house and she said you poor soul. I laughed. It was a good kind of laugh. Not a nervous laugh. I am just so thankful that these things are getting taken care of. I sweated in my bed last night until the covers were wet and everything in my house is damp from the humidity including me and my clothes. Talk about a bad hair day!

My new air conditioning heat exchanger. Shiny and new!

Don't worry! It's a Good Thing. Not a Bad Thing...

It is happening again. I am cycling mentally. For the past few months, I've been going to bed at 4 am and sleeping to 4 or 5 pm in the afternoon. Today, I am up and wide awake at noon.

Let's hope this means I am moving towards a more diurnal existence. The sunshine feels fine and wonderful shining through my window onto my face. 3 am in the morning was beginning to depress me. Amazingly, I feel fine right now after only five hours of sleep.

I am also keeping a keen ear out for my Guatemalan yard care extraordinaire Lopez Landscaping who usually come by my house on Tuesday Afternoons. I want them to spread pine straw in my flower beds. They always keep a few bales of it on their trailer. Last week, they trimmed my shrubbery and trees and it looks very nice.

The day just gets busier and busier. The meter reader must be in the neighborhood as Maggie has barked up a storm all morning -- vicious, snarling barks. She's a little dog that wears big dog pants. She will bark like this until the meter reader has moved on to another neighborhood.

I Abhor Knocks on the Door...

A few days ago, it was the Morman missionaries knocking loudly on my door. This sent me into a tizzy. Maggie found them as distasteful as did I and raised hell. I hunkered down behind my computer monitor until they headed back to the street to get on their bikes and peddled away.

This morning was another harbinger to loud knocks on the door. I looked out the window and sighed in relief when it was just Lopez and his yard crew.

"Pull your car out and I'll mow your backyard," he said in easy to decipher broken English.

In my haste, as I was backing out of the fence, I pulled a Martha (mom) and hit my right side mirror on the fence. I got out and looked at it to find it wasn't broken. I sighed again in relief.  This day was off to a very auspicious and convoluted start.

The Dog is Safe. We Can All Go Home Now...

I was abruptly and rudely awoken this afternoon by the sound of commercial grade lawn mowers circling my house. "Oh shit!" I said to myself as I scrambled to get the dog door locked. Maggie wanted to know what all the hoopla was about. Lopez does an awesome job manicuring my yard,, but they always forget about Maggie and will leave the gates open absentmindedly. The last thing I wanted to be doing was chasing Maggie around the neighborhood with a fistful of shaved turkey breast -- the only thing that would get her back in the fence. .

The Sausage Biscuit Express...

Charlie brought sausage biscuits once again this morning. The man never stops. It is go, go, go without relent! Did you know Charlie is 71 years old? He doesn't act his age at all, does he?

"Come in for a second and give Maggie some loving," I hopefully told Charlie.

Maggie was about beside herself to see Charlie. She ate up the attention.

"I am headed to work," Charlie said. "I will be back at 9 tonight to give you your medications. What do you want to eat tonight?"

"A sack full of Krystal's burgers would be nice," I told him realizing it was fruitless to argue with him.

I was going to tell him to take a break from getting me all that food. I've got plenty of food right now since last night was grocery night.

Halt! Stop the Presses!

Lopez and crew started to manicure my yard just after eight this morning. First, they starting out manicuring my shrubbery. I dressed and walked out to talk to my Guatemalan landscaping crew while Maggie sat in the window and watched. I've talked to Lopez about this before. I was still half asleep when they got started going good.

"Lopez? I love the job you do, but y'all can't start working in my yard so early in the morning. It is going to piss off my neighbors royally." I told him. "You need to come around lunch or later."

I don't think Lopez comprehended a thing I said as he nodded his head yes. I let them go ahead and finish with the job they were currently doing. They were spreading pine straw and mulch in and around my shrubbery which pleased me very much. It is when they crank up their commercial grade lawn mowers that things get completely too loud and raucous. They sound like turbines spooling up.

When the McDonald's Biscuit Man Comes a'Calling...

Soon, Charlie will be here with our usual breakfast of sausage biscuits. He said last night that we are going to clean my bathroom this morning after he used it.

"It won't take us just a minute to clean up your bathroom," Charlie told me enthusiastically. "We are going to clean one room each day until we finish. Let's surprise the hell out of your father this week. He will be back Thursday."

I reluctantly said, "Okay." The peer pressure mounting.

"Let me clean the bathroom tomorrow morning and we will get started with the rest sometime tomorrow as well," I furthered in my conversation with Charlie.

Lopez, Oh Lopez. Why Art Thou So Loud, Lopez?

I was rudely awakened by the Magster barking wildly and Lopez and crew mulching leaves in the backyard. I hurried to the dog door noticing Maggie was still sitting on the back of the couch and barking. Strike now while the iron is still hot! I sighed with relief when the dog door was locked. I am wide awake now, and don't think I could go back to bed or sleep if I tried.

Friday and You've Still Got Groceries?

Kroger was all out of the stuff I really like so I bought some tasty items I've haven't tried before. Some of it was good and some some of was sorta good. It is hard to get good and fresh food these days. Most grocery stores are stocked from journeys that entail hundreds of miles to deliver the food.

I still have a gallon of whole milk and a box of cornflakes I bought from the Piggly Wiggly, though. My father said he was actually entertaining trying the Piggly Wiggly next week for our grocery shopping.

"We will give Kroger one more chance," he said.

Disaster Averted...

I woke up in a severe panic this morning. It was 8:00 am in the morning and Lopez Landscaping and his Guatemalan crew were manicuring my shrubs, blowing leaves, and cutting the grass. "Shit! Do they have to come so early?" is what I mumbled to myself as I struggled to pull on some shoes and clothes after a rude awakening.

Then I looked out the backdoor in the laundry room and they had both gates to the backyard open. My dear Maggins was sitting under the pecan tree in the backyard barking her fool head off trying to save us from these evil intruders.

I got both fences closed before Maggie could escape. It scared the bejeebus out of me something terrible, though. I rushed outside to tell them to skip cutting the backyard this week. They come every Tuesday and should know the routine by now. They usually tell me that they are here and I can get Maggie inside with the allure of people food and I promptly lock the dog door.

"Man, we've already got the backyard cut," said the one ruffian looking fellow with the leaf blower.

I explained the situation to him and he profusely apologized to me in broken English. All's well that ends well I guess.