Yesterday, I had a Pileated Woodpecker at my suet feeder. It’s the largest N. American woodpecker, about the size of a crow! I had a tiny nuthatch (smaller than a sparrow) continue to dive bomb that big woodpecker the whole time it was eating the suet. Then chased him to the other tree!

Español!

Turns out my exemptions for my house were already set up. Sounds like something I’d do.

Emailed my health insurance guy about the name on my SSA account. He helped me set up the medicare account and the full legal name wouldn’t work. Now I’ll have to go down to their office and get it squared away. Shouldn’t be that big a deal. I have another issue with my SS that I’m trying to figure out with my tax guys before I go down there. I have about five years where the SSA doesn’t have me paying any taxes into SS which is ridiculous.

OYB!

Español!

Watered my upstairs plants.

Put out ant poison.

Walked 1.26 miles while I studied Spanish.

Learned how to take screenshots on my Mac Air.

Ate lunch at Cicis. It was really good. I don’t go there very often. I noticed their location a few weeks ago.

After I ate, I went to Goodwill to try and find shirts for K’s work. No luck.

They had some beautiful wisteria, however!

Cloudy and cool day.

Listened to radio from Spain. The last few days I’ve really felt like I’m understanding a LOT. Makes me feel good.

Always learning new words that I hear.

I stopped at the Goodwill by my house. They had four shirts that K likes! That’s major success.

I cut K’s toenails. Also looked at a small cut under one of her toes. Cleaned it out and put antibiotic on it.

Picked up my groceries. Just had a few items I needed.

Sent my sister-in-law Ann a prayer.

Changed the clocks in my house in anticipation of the time change early tomorrow morning.

Ordered some pants for K.

Just keep going. Study works!

OYB!

Colder and rainy today.

Got up around 6:00 AM. Got to Azalea at 7:00 AM. Studied Spanish.

The girls had a Virtual Day of school at home. We got everything accomplished in about 1.5 hours. They did great.

I taught Everly how to use the scissors properly. She’s a fast learner!

When we were finished with the school work, we went to Waffle House.

We had a good time at Good Will. Found some cool art stuff.

Perimeter Mall for cinnamon sugar pretzels. And a fountain!

Plaza Fiesta is always fun!

Diffraction attraction.

After Miles got home, I went to my office to check the mail and water my ficus tree.

Listened to radio from Spain on the way home. I did better at translating what everyone was saying into English.

Stopped at Walmart to pick up some distilled water. For some reason the Walmart by my house is always out!

Deposited checks.

Got a “new” umbrella at Goodwill. My old one was pretty beat up.

Aired up the tires of my Gorilla Cart when I got home. One of them instantly went flat again.

Used my cart to carry all the water.

Tied my little Wisteria trees to the trunks.

Got about 1/2″ of rain.

Cleaned my bike, refilled my water bottle, and pumped up my tires.

Rode my bike 5.87 miles. I cut my ride short because it was getting cold.

Wisteria is really blooming.

Got some new short pants.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Just Be.”

Good effort this week.

I got the receipt for the tree cutting today.

I may have to send in more documents for the exemption, although I’ve lived in the house more than a year, so I don’t think it’s necessary.

I got some inserts for my shoes. Although later today, I decided to get some shoes because they were on sale. I can still wear the old ones for another few weeks and having the inserts will make them more comfortable. I’ll use them for bike riding and yard work. They last about a year before the soles start to get slick and they become a slipping hazard for me.

OYB!

Cloudy, much cooler and rained some.

Set up a doctor appointment for Jessi to have her ear looked at for possible surgery.

Español!

Got some ant poison in. I’ll set that out soon. It’s a gel. I wasn’t sure where the problem was. Had to check with K.

I bleached all my hummingbird feeders yesterday. Cleaned them out and made fresh solution for them and put them in their spots. Looking forward to my little friends coming back soon. Who knows? They may already be around. They usually fly around my window looking for the feeder. The same birds come back every year!

Also cleaned out my rain gauge.

Reset my windmills.

I walked 2.52 miles today while I studied Spanish.

Kathy went with me to the mission today. Always fun to have her around.

Rainy and cold so no students today. We had pretty much all the work done yesterday, so it wasn’t unexpected.

We had some difficulty setting up the account for the Social Security website. I got a question about it today. I’ll probably send them a letter. I need to talk to my tax people about why the SS shows a $0 for some years. That’s not right!

I find the rain water and the pollen interaction interesting and beautiful. Reminds me of cloud patterns.

Got a response from the North American Mission Board today. I hope to re-establish relationships with them to generate teams working with us during the Summer. We’ll see.

Push to learn.

I like the artistic style of my buddy Jim Pirtle in Houston.

I talked with a friend of mine who lives in Sacramento. Glad he’s ok!

I always thought this was one of the coolest holidays ever. Holi is the Hindu festival of color.

OYB!

Español!

It was great to see my pal Doug Allison today! We go WAY back! Took him over to Masala in Decatur. Since today is Holi, I wanted to go do something Indian. I actually bought a set of color powders at the Patel Brothers grocery store.

We went to White Windmill for dessert. It was super good. Tiramisu and lemon pound cake.

Good to see my new checks are on the way. They are kind of expensive, but I get the ones with a carbon sheet attached so I always know what checks I write.

The girls were intrigued by the brilliantly colored powder.

I helped the kids with their homework while we waited for Ashley to get home. Miles and I figured we’d better let Mama get home before we did anything too crazy.

The girls had a lot of fun. Their friend Tasfia from Bangladesh also joined in the festivities.

The kids at the mission found a juvenile squirrel. I tried to let it got. Crazy squirrel kept coming back. Finally, put it up in a tree. Still don’t know for sure what happened to it.

Cleaned my shoes after the Holi fun.

Verified that my taxes got to my tax people. Amen.

Just. Keep. Going. Didn’t spend as much time today on Duolingo because of my lunch with Doug. Listened to radio from Madrid for about 45 minutes. It adds up!

Got a check cut to our neighborhood leader to help cover taking care of the front part of our subdivision.

Wednesday is the festival of color in Hinduism called Holi. They throw colored powder at each other. I always thought that was cool. I’m looking forward to doing lunch at Masala tomorrow to eat Indian food with my buddy Doug Allison.

OYB!

Ordered groceries.

Another milestone accomplished.

While on a walk a couple of days ago, I met up with Mr. Miller. He was a long-term supporter of ours who dropped off years ago. I’m sending him a letter to hopefully get him back in the fold!

Walked 1.27 miles while I studied.

My friend Tim Deter is my insurance agent. He did a fantastic job getting me signed up for Medicare. MAN! Was it ever a challenge. The website is crazy talk. We had to set up the account multiple times and log in about five times to get it working. I sure was glad I had his help!

Listened to radio from Madrid.

Deposited checks.

Gassed up my car and added oil.

Picked up the grandgirls and fed them dinner.

I found out today that I’ll be watching them on Friday morning as well. They have a virtual learning day.

Everly is really climbing well!

They both are very athletic.

Helped the kids with their homework. They are all uptight about the Milestone Test.

Went by my office to check the mail.

Picked up my groceries.

Fantastic moon.

Keep moving forward.

I liked this take on the phrase, “I don’t know,” by Seth Godin.

Hard to believe that Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday!

Worked out more this February than most for sure.

Came in #1 last week in the Duolingo Leagues. It’s the largest community of language learners in the world. By far!

My sister-in-law Ann asked me to come help her today, which I did this afternoon.

OYB!

Español!

Mileage.

Went to Lowes to get a new water hose nozzle. I usually use Jet, Full and Shower.

Gorgeous weather!

Listened to radio from Madrid.

Went to Ann’s house before going to Chamblee. Worked on her mailbox, took out all the trash, installed a new microwave, checked on some lights that weren’t working and took a look at her porch that got hit by a tree.

Ordered some ant poison.

Walked 1.41 miles this morning and 1.53 miles this afternoon while I studied Spanish.

Incredibly warm!

Beautiful Wisteria on my walk.

I liked this star.

Picked up the grandgirls. They enjoyed opening the boxes for their Mom.

Penelope’s toe is much better.

Construction keeps going up across from Azalea. It’s massive!

Took the girls to QT after feeding them supper from Taco Veloz.

Helped the kids at the mission. Big group.

Lovely sunset and full moon!

Went by my office to check the mail and process checks. I’ll deposit them tomorrow and gas up my car. I didn’t get home till after 8:00 PM, which is not that unusual.

The person I’m competing with this week has over a million points. Pretty sure I’ll come in #2 this week. As I’ve said before, Duolingo only really counts Top 3.

I enjoyed these articles on Einstein and O’Gieblyn.

Another gorgeous weather day.

OYB!

Español!

Walked 1.44 miles while I was studying. Had two pit bulls interact with me. They got out from some guy’s yard. He was really mean to them. No wonder they wanted to escape. They were friendly enough with me, but I didn’t trust them.

Looking forward to my Mom coming to visit next month. We’ve had to put her trip off for health reasons. Glad we’re all feeling well again!

Had a nice chat with my buddy Anthony. Always good.

Went to the Post Office to get my taxes in the mail. It really is amazing what can be done on the self-help machine. I used to get really up tight about mailing these documents. What if they got lost? Last year, I started taking a picture of every page on my iPhone so if worse comes to worst, I just print them up again. Took the pressure off for sure.

Deposited checks. Another automated job that used to take an interaction with people.

Put the sheets on K’s bed for her.

Rode my bike 7.88 miles. I’m still taking it easy and letting my legs get back in shape. Biking is way different from walking

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called, “Split Personalities.” Excellent.

Looks like I’ll be coming in #1 again this week. Not surprised.

I’ve been in the Top Three nearly fifty times. Now that is surprising. I remember seeing other people with that score and just being in awe.

I’ve been enjoying playing Borderlands 3. It’s a fun game.

Push.

OYB!

Español!

Walked 1.35 miles while I studied.

I call this “Nakuru Weather.” Glorious.

Watered my plants.

The weather got me psyched up for taking my first bike ride of the season! This has been an unusual year for me because I walked pretty much every day during the winter. Glad for that.

Spent some time prepping my bike after the long lay off. Lubiricated all the moving parts.

Pumped up the tires.

Wiped the entire bike down with a lightly oiled rag. I put some terry cloth rags on my handles. I prefer that since my hands get sweaty. I’ve had this bike around twenty five years!

Got dressed out.

Rode 8.03 miles.

It really was so much fun. And beautiful!

Decided not to try and jump these logs blocking the sidewalk.

Moon flowers.

Great day!

I’ll be #1 again this week. No one’s going to make up over 5,000 points. And I’ll keep going tomorrow!

I got some things clarified about a 1099 form we received. Turned out to be ongoing education that Kathy is doing.

I’ll be talking to my health insurance guy on Tuesday to get the Medicare stuff started for me since I turn 65 in July.

OYB!

Cooler and drizzly.

Español!

Had a chat with my brother in law Bill about his web site and web name domain.

We had a good meeting with Jessi’s ENT Doctor Hoddeson. J’s really breathing great now!

J also had an auditory test to verify that her auditory nerve is functioning properly. We will set up an appointment soon to talk with another doctor to see what can be done to help her hearing situation.

Powerful thunderstorms narrowly missed us. Sure am glad I had those trees trimmed. Those big dead limbs were a disaster waiting to happen.

Studied Spanish and did a 1.27 mile walk.

Paid bills.

Did my taxes. PTL! That’s always a relief. I’ll get that in the mail on Monday.

Ordered more checks.

Made the application for the Homestead Exemption. Another big job!

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery called,
“What I Am.”

Jessi is helping my brother-in-law with his website hosting.

Enjoying Mountains Between Mountains.

OYB!

Español!

Drizzly, mild weather.

Great talk with my Mom. I’ve missed connecting with her the last couple of times I’ve tried.

Talked to Bill about his website and got his check to Whirlwind Missions.

While I was talking to my Mom, I also got some random vines out of my azalea bushes. Hard to believe how much little stuff like that can bother me.

I ate lunch with K today. While I was in the parking lot, I saw these two large military aircraft fly over in formation.

Got a good note from a supporter. Always great to see that!

Helped the kids at the mission. Rainy day. We were under the overhang of the apartment.

Poor sweet Penelope has a horribly infected ingrown toenail. We managed to pop it and get some of the puss out, but it still looks very painful. Pray for her.

K helped me at the mission today. She worked with the grandgirls.

We went by to check on the mail at the office.

Just keep learning.