Glad to have the Medicare stuff squared away.

OYB!

Español!

Scrubbed my shoes.

Walked 2.05 miles. So beautiful outside.

Hilly.

I had a good talk with Pat today. She’s going through some challenging times.

Grandgirls helped me clean the opening into the kitchen. It’s basically their gym. There’s a pull up bar at the top and then they climb the opening with one leg on one side and one on the other.

We normally do drive through when we go to Chic-fil-a. Today, I said we could have a picnic there. Perfect weather for it.

Helped the kids at the mission. I’m teaching some of the 5th grader boys some 6th grader math.

Cooler day. I needed an extra jacket. I left it at the house. VERY unlike me. I usually have a back up for my back up.

Listened to the Faro podcast in Spanish from Madrid.

Picked up the groceries. I still don’t understand why people don’t use the pick up. Saves SO much time.

Deposited checks. Amen.

Challenging group this week.

OYB!

Español! Walked 1.29 miles.

Got through to my SSA agent today. He was very helpful.

Told my insurance guy about the progress.

Chatted with my treasurer Jon Paul about when we started with Paychex.

Had a great lunch with my friends from NAMB Trey and David. We ate at the Buford Highway Farmers market.

Went to my office to finish labeling and stuffing the newsletter envelopes.

Checked the mail while I was there.

Got the letters in the mail.

Miles and the girls helped me plant the pink magnolia tree. It was a labor of love. Glad Miles was there to help me dig!

I enjoyed introducing the community to the new tree.

Helped the kids with their homework.

Gassed up my car and checked the oil.

Lovely evening.

Ordered more envelopes.

Real competition this week. We’ll see what happens . . . .

Studied hard last week.

Big thunderstorms rolled through all night long. Lots of lightning and thunder.

OYB!

Looking forward to Nana coming into town!

Español!

Walked 1.26 miles while I studied Spanish.

Put more ant killer out.

Gorgeous afternoon.

Listened to radio from Spain.

Texted the church secretary about the newsletters.

Dropped the newsletter off at the church.

Lots happening soon.

Took the soil and the mulch to Azalea. I forgot to take old shoes to work in, plus the ground was really saturated after the rain last night, so I didn’t plant her today. I should be able to put her in the ground tomorrow.

Keeps changing.

Muscle girl. They are both super strong.

I fixed Everly’s squishy. Basically, just got all the stuff that had come out and shoved it back in.

I got this email the same day that I received a package from the Social Security Office in Norcross. It said that they had received all the documents that I had sent (registered mail) including copies of my W2 and the 2022 tax return as well as an original birth certificate. So everything should be in order.

She’s such a joy.

Helped the kids at the mission. It was wild. One of the girls is just so wired up. Wow. I had to put her in time out with her nose to a tree for a few minutes. I think tomorrow I’m going to make her do jumping jacks to burn off some energy.

Went to the Post Office to get stamps for the newsletters.

Deposited checks.

Rained slightly over 1″ yesterday.

Definite competition this week. I’ll probably come in #2. We’ll see.

I thought this was interesting.

I’m a big Van Gogh fan.

And this.

Español! I’ll win #1 again this week.

Rainy.

I liked this.

OYB!

I will go see this exhibit. It’s by the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

Filled out a revised version of Kathy’s W-4.

I love this pileated woodpecker!

I released a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Split Personalities.” Excellent.

I wrote and produced my newsletter this afternoon. I already printed the labels.

I had to put a new HP61 Black ink cartridge in the printer. Also had to run a utility to clean the print heads. Then it worked fine.

I’ve really enjoyed listening to !!!. What a weird name for a band, right? It’s pronounced, “chk, chk, chk.”

I repotted twelve plants this afternoon. It was a pretty big mess. Even when I try and be careful it still involves a clean up.

I didn’t take many pictures because my hands were filthy.

Filled up water bottles.

Dried out my gloves.

Cleaning my outdoor rug.

Rained about .75″.

Transplanted these succulents.

Watered the rest of my plants.

Just keep going.

Push!

OYB!

Español!

Sharp-shinned Hawk watching me study.

The ATL is just so beautiful. Shots from my walk while I was studying.

Cleaned the comforter for the couch on the front porch. I wet it down completely, then sprayed the spots with PineSol and then scrubbed. Did that with both sides.

I repotted one of my Napenthese plants. She wasn’t happy.

I used sphagnum moss soaked in distilled water.

I’ll repot a few of my succulents tomorrow. I mixed up the soil and vermiculite and put a paper barrier so the soil won’t come out of the bottom of the pot.

Lovely weather!

I returned the pants I got for K. Still too big.

I enjoyed wearing my trigonometry shirt for the first time today.

I thought the reflections in the pool of water were beautiful.

My hose burst. Not a surprise. Went to Lowes to take it back. Got a new one. I also picked up some edge bricks and red mulch for the pink magnolia that I will plant on Monday.

Beautiful plants there.

While I was waiting to get my replacement, I watched an elderly guy try to get back money for a faucet that he’d had for over three months, had no box or receipt and wanted his money back. It was so crazy talk that I found him later, told him I was impressed by his restraint and wanted to send a note to corporate. He told me how to do it, which I did. Typical for me.

Dried off and folded up my tarp.

I spilled a wax melt in my room. Had to scrape the wax off the floor cover.

Got my new water hose hooked up.

Listened to radio from Spain.

Dried the comforter in the dryer. Then put it on the couch outside.

Cleaned my bike and aired up my tires.

Rode 6.06 miles. Hard ride. My legs were tired from all the yard work.

Such beauty this evening!

Just keep going.

I’m glad mine is still pretty new.

Digging these guys.

OYB!

Español!

Walked 1.08 miles.

There are a lot of leaves in my yard. I did something about a section of it today.

Before.

After.

Put some seat covers in Kathy’s car.

I used my new ear buds today. They fit great and really don’t come out.

I use a big tarp to get the leaves on. I folded it in half.

I used a combination of rake/tarp and the blower for the fine stuff. Seemed to be a good strategy. The blowers are great for getting leaves out of shrubs.

I normally try and keep my yard work to a two hour maximum. I went over that by about an hour. Hope I’ll feel ok tomorrow!

Getting the tool and supplies together to plant the pink magnolia sapling at Azalea.

Had a good talk with my friend Piper.

I may go see this tomorrow morning.

Beautiful weather to be outside.

Listening to podcasts and live radio from Cadena Ser in Spain.

Push forward.

I work with a lot of Muslim friends at the mission in Azalea.

Ordered groceries.

OYB!

Español!

The garage clock stopped working properly. I put a new battery in it and taped it back together.

Seems to be working now.

Blew the garage and driveway.

Walked and studied for 1.41 miles.

Got really warm today. Short pants weather for sure.

Seven years ago I was invited to speak at this convention. I was super excited to do it and I think I did a great job there. I don’t like the format where there are five other speakers talking at the same time. Shrinks the crowd at presentations.

My earbuds haven’t been working properly lately. Left ear would have trouble staying powered up and the right ear last night wouldn’t pair with my iPhone. Ordered a pair of Tribits. They’re supposed to be really good, especially for sports use. I’m looking forward to wearing these while I’m biking. My other ones would want to fall out all the time.

Good some new expo markers. These were the best deal. They’re ultra fine which is kind of weird feeling but work just fine. Get it?

Worked on a shirt for K. It was a long sleeve shirt, which I cut the sleeves off of. Now I sewed up the arm hole some. It was kind of revealing. K tried it on and thinks I need to sew it up even more. Makes sense.

Went to the Buford Highway Farmers Market for lunch. Always something interesting to see there. I wondered if these were boxes of bras.

Don’t see me using these.

Been listening to this podcast. It’s from the station from Madrid I listen to all the time: Cadena Ser.

Today I went to Walmart and bought a pink magnolia tree to plant in the backyard of the mission. They are my favorite tree and I’m super excited about the spot I’m going to plant her in. LOTS of sun which I’m sure she’ll love. My three PMs at my house have been so beautiful and they hardly get a couple of hours of full sun a day. This one should really thrive.

The girls know how much I love plants. They were very excited about this tree!

Everly enjoyed reading a book about cats to me.

My Mom is coming to visit soon. Finally! We had some illnesses that have kept us from getting together. The grandgirls will be off for Spring Break so that will be double fun.

I find this interesting. I’ve watched it decompose over the last month or so. I actually watched it die.

Helped the kids with their homework.

Checked the mail at my office.

Dogwood!

Picked up the groceries.

Just keep going!

Atlanta dominates the movie industry now.

I talked with the manager at Azalea about planting a Pink Magnolia tree in the area where the old tree was cut down. She told me to go for it. I think I might put a couple of benches in the area, too. Sad to see all the shade cut down.

Always learning words.

Brought some distilled water for K to use in her CPAP machine.

Changed a lightbulb for my plants. Just ordered some more.

OYB!

Milder.

Español!

Yesterday, I completed the entire Duolingo course in Spanish! There are eight units. Hundreds of lessons in these units. Now I’m doing the “Legendary” level through each of the units. I started with Unit 8 which is the hardest. I’ll work my way back through the beginning.

I’m still not sure how I’ll be rewarded with this new “Legendary” status.

Walked 2.19 miles while I spoke Spanish.

I studied how to get podcasts downloaded from the internet radio I listen to from Spain. I’m pretty excited about using this new resource.

I moved J’s old chair downstairs to my room. I used my cart and took it to my door downstairs. Way easier than trying to man-handle that thing down the stairs.

I put my cloth over it.

I took my old, broken chair to K’s room. It’s ok to sit on for a few minutes.

I packaged up a shirt that didn’t fit as well as making the labels to send the chair back as well. Took it to the UPS store after I picked up some meds at Walgreens for J.

I’m glad that J and K went with me to be with the grandgirls today! We had LT for lunch.

The girls showed them their climbing skills.

Everly illustrated how to make letters with her body. Super cute.

Penelope joined in the fun.

Good loving.

Helped the kids at the mission.

Checked the mail at my office.

Team committed to coming! That’s two weekend teams and a full week team.

Pulling ahead. Fairly typical.

I was talking to Anthony about the music I was listening to and he mentioned T Bone Walker’s jazz infused blues. I mentioned Crossroads as my favorite blues movie.

Continue to push.

OYB!

I talked to the my tax guy Tom today. He told me yesterday I may have to owe about $1,000. Today we talked again and first he said “probably around $2,000” and later in the conversation, “Looks like you’ll owe $4,000.” I was like “Are you crazy? I’ve been getting back about $4,000 for 16 years. And now suddenly I OWE $4,000?!” So he reran the numbers and told me I’ll be getting back around $2,300. Sure is better than owing thousands!

Checked on the status of some pants I ordered.

I thought the roots pushing this asphalt up was cool.

I’ve been watching documentaries on ants building things. Then I come to the Mission and see this going on across the street.

Everly always likes to show me her new skill sets.

I liked this sticker.

Helped the kids at the mission.

Fantastic clouds.

Interesting quarter.

Beauty!

I compete against 120 million other learners on Duolingo. There are 19 languages taught. The most popular is American English and Spanish. I am in the league with the best of the best learners. I feel like today was a big deal for me to come in 1st place in the main tournament, and also to have been in the top three 50 times. That’s amazing to me.

Spring!

Just keep walking!

OYB!

Cold! But warming trend coming.

Ordered a new chair. My other office chair is completely broken. The back is nearly horizontal. That’s not zesty.

I thought this was interesting.

Good talk with Mom. Always lively and loving.

Talked with my health insurance guy about some challenges we may be facing in the future. Who doesn’t have challenges?

I called to set up an appointment with Dr. Hoddeson. Jessi hasn’t been breathing as well as she had been.

Gassed up my car and checked the oil. I’ll probably need to add a little more oil on the next fill up.

Indeed!

Had an in depth chat with Tom Halsey, our new tax guy. He’s still trying to figure out our taxes. We had some curve balls thrown our way. Could make us end up paying money. I almost always get about $4000 back. That’s 4 with three 0s.

Hopefully, I won’t end up paying too much money.

Love my girls!

Taught the girls how to walk with a book on their heads.

Listened to radio from Spain.

Helped the kids at the mission. They are all super uptight about the Milestone test.

Went by my office to check the mail.

Little over .5″ of rain yesterday.

Interesting competition so far. It’s funny to think about these language nerds all over the world.