Today has been one of those days where nothing went as I planned, but I am finally getting around to writing this post, now that it's almost time to make dinner. Some days are like that.
Last Friday evening, I needed to go to the post office to mail some cards with gift cards in them so Frank and Seth came with me and afterwards we went to Rita's to get gelati. It was a nice day but the sun was going down so we got a little chilly waiting in line wearing short sleeves and no jackets. I decided to get a cherry lime flavored ice with vanilla custard but while we were waiting they removed the cherry lime flavor from their menu board. I was bummed but then they replaced that flavor with Georgia peach, and that sounded good to me, so I decided to try that instead. It was super yummy!!
On Saturday I got my hair done. I don't remember what else I did but I think I did a lot of little things that needed to be done and I got a lot accomplished. Frank had to go to Cumberland to fix something...he wasn't very happy about that...but he also had to go to Hagerstown to get his vaccine, which is in the same direction (just a lot closer than Cumberland) so he did it all in one trip. It turns out he got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, so he doesn't have to go back because it's just one dose.
Frank felt fine the rest of the day on Saturday and he felt fine Sunday morning when he woke up, other than his arm was pretty sore. But by the time we got through our online Sunday morning meetings he was starting to have chills and didn't feel well at all. He decided to stay home from Sacrament Meeting and go to bed, but Seth and I went. Frank was really miserable for the rest of the day on Sunday and on Monday too. He did do some work from home on Monday, though. Thankfully, when he woke up on Tuesday morning he felt fine and he has been fine since. So that wasn't too bad, I guess.
Meanwhile, this week is spring break for Seth so he's been home all week. I was lazy and had a late start on Monday but the rest of the week I have had places to go so I've been up pretty early. On Tuesday I had an appointment to get a holter monitor placed and on Wednesday morning I had to return it by 7:00 am. Frank actually took it back for me, but I had to be awake by 6:30 to remove it. I was planning to take it back too but Frank said he could do it on his way to work so he did that and I was able to exercise instead. On Thursday morning I went to VITA to do volunteer work for about 4 hours and this morning I had to get some lab work done. (More on that in a minute.)
The rest of the week was pretty average...I did all the usual chores. I had a ministering interview by phone with the RS president on Monday afternoon. It was interesting because I have been feeling worried about one of the sisters lately and when I told the RS president that, she said "Well, there's a reason for that" and told me some of the things going on in that sister's life which are pretty difficult. So it's interesting that I was feeling that way...obviously the spirit was nudging me. And even though I didn't do anything specific to contact her, I had started praying for her every day, so hopefully my prayers were helping her a little.
I worked at VITA on Tuesday afternoon as usual but since I didn't have to pick up Seth from school and I also didn't have a YW activity to worry about later in the evening, I was able to stay longer and I got a lot more accomplished. And I actually enjoyed it! I don't know why I enjoy doing income taxes...especially for other people...but I really do. I was planning to do some reviewing from home today but as I said...today didn't go as I planned.
Seth and Frank got haircuts last night and they both look great!! Frank convinced Seth to let the stylist use clippers on him (he usually won't let clippers anywhere near his head) so his hair is shorter than usual and it looks so much better that way.
The one "fun" thing we did this week is we had promised Seth we would take him out to eat somewhere...his choice. But then he chose CiCi's Pizza, which is gross but we promised so we went there anyway. It wasn't very good, just as I expected, but Seth loved it so he was happy at least.
Last night Frank helped me get Turbo Tax loaded onto my "new" laptop so I was able to work on our taxes some more. I'm actually almost done...just have to put in the expenses for the business. I was very happy to discover that we are getting a refund this year. As a matter of fact, we are getting quite a large one. We paid a ton of estimated taxes and we're getting most of that back. The last few years I felt like we were paying way more estimated taxes than we needed to pay and then I was disappointed when we didn't get much back. This year I finally feel we are getting back what we should. Mostly that is because the business didn't bring in very much last year. I knew Frank was doing less work for the business than usual, but I was surprised how much less it came out to be. Some of that was undoubtedly the result of the pandemic, but I also have noticed that the business seems to ebb and flow according to our needs. Frank was incredibly busy with his regular job last year so the fact that he didn't have to do as much for the business was a real blessing. On the other hand, in 2018 when he didn't have a job for a lot of the year, the business was super busy. I don't think either of those situations was coincidental at all!! I am very grateful.
So today, as I mentioned, I had to get some lab work done. As part of the stress test on Monday they have to inject me with some radioactive stuff and because I'm under 60 years old they require me to get a pregnancy test done before I can have the stress test. They gave me a lab order and told me to get the test done three days before the stress test. So this morning I went to the lab with the order in hand. When I was taken back, the lab technician looked at my order and said "well, this is going to be a problem". It turns out that whoever did the lab order forgot to put on there what the test was for. She said "there's no test ordered on this sheet." I told her I knew what it was for but she couldn't do it without the lab order. The cardiologist's office was just across the street so I decided to go there. They actually have 2 offices across the street. I went to the first one and the door was locked. So I went to the second one but that door was locked too. I went back to my car and called the office. They are closed today, for Good Friday. So now what do I do??? I know I can't have the stress test done if I don't get the pregnancy test and I'm supposed to be there 8:00 am on Monday morning for that. There was no way to leave a message so I decided I'd better call the doctor on call. After I explained the situation, he said he would call the lab. I went back to the lab and explained that the doctor would be calling. The technician (a different one) said "no one here answers our phone. He'll have to fax the order." So I ended up calling the doctor back and he had actually sent the order electronically and they were able to look it up. So in the end it all worked out, but that took a LOT more time than I had planned. At least the lab technician was really helpful and nice to me, which I appreciated a lot. And the doctor was nice too. The lab tech put a smiley face on my "bandaid":
One other thing I realized today...I can't have anything with caffeine in it for 24 hours before the stress test. I don't normally have anything with caffeine anyway except for chocolate occasionally. Going without chocolate for 24 hours isn't a big deal but today it occurred to me that scheduling the test for Monday was really bad timing because the day before happens to be Easter! No chocolate Easter candy for me, I guess. It will have to wait until later.
After I got home from the lab, I ended up talking to Amy for quite a while (which I enjoyed)...mostly we were talking about her taxes because she had some questions about those. We talked for a few hours earlier this week too, about the same thing. (But we always end up talking about other things too, of course!) Anyway, because of all of that I didn't start working on updating the budget until mid afternoon. So here it is dinner time, and I never had a chance to log on to help with VITA stuff, but that's just the way the day went.
The last few weeks I have been noticing that Seth's voice is starting to change. I don't think he even realizes it, but his voice sounds different...getting lower. Yesterday I called him while I was at VITA and when he first answered the phone I wasn't sure if it was him or Frank! So weird!! I guess he has to grow up sometime. And on that note...I feel like he's been better about helping lately. If we ask him to do something he does it right away and often without complaining. That is a nice change! Also, I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that Seth was late for school one day because he forgot his laptop and I didn't think of it until we were halfway to the school. Seth's first reaction when he realized he forgot was to say "You shouldn't have rushed me!" (I had asked him to go start the car.) This is typical of Seth...whatever goes wrong, he usually blames me for it. I looked at him and said "Seth, it is your responsibility to make sure you take everything you need to school, not mine. I just remind you about things to help you out." Usually this kind of conversation leads to a big argument, but he just looked at me and said "You're right, Mom. I should have remembered." This is HUGE!!! I almost couldn't believe it! He is starting to grow up for sure!!
We've had quite a bit of rain this week and the temperatures have been cooler. The early part of this week was still warmish, but yesterday and today have been cold, with highs in the 40s and lots of wind. Of course! It always gets cold for spring break, I've noticed. It was nice on Saturday and I went for a walk and took a lot of pictures, so I will finish with those. Two weeks ago I looked at the weather for the week coming up (last week) and I thought "I bet by the end of next week, some of the trees will be blooming"...and I was right! I suppose my allergies will really start to kick in soon but they haven't yet and in the meantime I am enjoying the beauty of the world. (It still LOOKS like spring, even though it doesn't feel like it today!) Anyway, here are the photos:
It doesn't show up in the picture, but one of our neighbors hung a bunch of plastic Easter eggs in one of the little trees by the river.
Someone else must have planted some bulbs out by the river at one point too because there were patches of daffodils all over.
These are probably weeds...just little wildflowers growing in the grass...but I thought they were pretty anyway!
Another river shot. In a few more weeks when all the trees have leaves, we will barely be able to see the river!
Buds on a tree
Two more river shots...both taken just a few steps off the walking path. We really love our river!
And finally...a tree in bloom. Beautiful!
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