Loss, Birthdays, Park, and Sick Milo

On January 21st, my aunt Nelie passed away. She was 90 years old. She was my maternal grandma's youngest sibling and the last surviving of her siblings. My grandma passed away in 2003 at the age of 78. The other siblings were James (1915-1968), Horace (1917-1972), Lester (1919-1994), Pauline (1923-2004), and Ruth (1928-1997).

 

 

Aunt Nelie is the one with the doll. Behind her is her mother Lessie. Beside her is her sister Ruth. Behind Ruth is my grandma/Nelie and Ruth's sister Doris.

Aunt Nelie and her husband Richard.

 

Left to right: James, Nelie, Lester, Grandma (in the back), Pauline, Horace, and Ruth.

I hadn't seen my aunt Nelie in many years, but it was sad to lose the last of my grandma's siblings. That generation of our family is gone and now we can't talk to them about times past and things they lived through and experienced. 

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On February 1st, the baby wasn't moving as much as she normally does, so Ashley went to her doctor. He or she then told Ashley to go to the hospital. Charlie and I arrived at the hospital awhile after they did. We were there for an hour or two while they monitored the baby. Thankfully, all was fine. They said she was probably sitting on/leaning against the umbilical cord and/or playing with it.

After leaving the hospital, we went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. I got the herb crusted chicken. It was delicious.

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My birthday was February 7th. I'm 51 years old now. I was 35 when I started writing in this blog. Hard to believe. For my birthday, I made a chocolate blueberry cake. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (not enough of a sweet blueberry flavor in it), but it was still good.

Charlie gave me money to shop with. I mostly ordered skirts. A few black denim skirts (two Lauren Ralph Lauren, one Land's End), a brown pencil skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), a green, flowy silk skirt (Calvin Klein), a green corduroy skirt (St. John's Bay), white denim skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), and a green Tahari cardigan. (My favorite color is green. :-) Red is a close second.) All for low prices off of eBay and Poshmark.

 

Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 24 years old now. She wanted strawberry pie instead of her usual cookies and cream ice cream cake this year. She doesn't like actual cake, except cheesecake.

 

Charlie's birthday was February 21st. He's now 55 years old. I made him one of his favorite meals - fried pork chops, macaroni and tomatoes, corn, and great northern beans. The cake he wanted this year was lemon cake (instead of yellow with chocolate frosting) - I put buttercream frosting on top.

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I had to renew my license by my birthday this year. Last time I got it renewed, I was able to do it online. This year I had to go to the DMV to renew it. I had to read the top line of some letters and get my picture taken (probably the worst picture that's ever been taken of me in my entire life). I went a day or two before my birthday and was there for about an hour or maybe a little longer. It felt even longer than that. :-/

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On my birthday, Kelly and I went to the dam at Company Mill Preserve and to Hagan-Stone Park. The temperature wasn't bad (about 51 or 52 degrees), but for some reason I was about to freeze. I wished that I had gloves with me, a thicker coat, and had worn boots instead of tennis shoes. I did finally warm up, but it took longer than I thought it would.

 

The gap in the dam wall is to the left of this picture.

Dam wall gap. Kelly took this picture for me while I stood in agony after falling. lol

 

Anyway, we went to the dam at Company Mill first. I took some pictures and short videos and then noticed a small open area in the wall to the left of the dam. I told Kelly I wanted to get up there. We found a stone wall about 3-4 feet tall and decided to climb up. There were gaps that made good footholds. Kelly got up quickly and then I tried to get up. Actually, the getting to the top wasn't hard. But I asked for Kelly's hand and when I got to the top (pretty quickly), I somehow fell and came down hard on a big, sharp, white rock that was stuck in the ground - right below my right knee. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to throw up. It took a couple minutes for the nausea to pass. The place where I hurt my leg quickly bruised and swelled up. It stuck out as far as my knee. I joked that it looked like I had two knees on my right leg.

When we decided that we were ready to move on, I said that I probably couldn't jump back down those 3-4 feet with my leg hurting like it was. So I found a very narrow, overgrown path that lead away from the lake and dam and back to the path. If only I'd seen that path before trying to climb the wall, but it was pretty well hidden.

We then got back in the car (because the walk to the next area we wanted to go to was about 2.5 miles away) and drove over to Hagan-Stone Park a few miles away and made the walk over to that side of Company Mill where the creek is. Such a pretty, peaceful spot. We saw a couple deer take off in the woods when we got to the creek. I didn't try to take a picture since I knew that with all the trees and them moving you probably wouldn't be able to see the deer in the picture.

 

 

 

It's been almost a month and my leg is still bruised and I can't put pressure on it without it hurting.

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About 2-3 weeks ago, we started having a hard time getting Milo to eat. If I added something new to his food (he's supposed to be eating prescription food for his liver - hepatic), like rice or corn, he would get excited about his food and eat most of it. But after 2 or 3 days, he would stop eating it and I'd have to find something else to add to his food. Eventually he was eating almost nothing. He had a regular appointment (yearly check up) on February 21st and I told them about him not eating. He had lost nearly a pound in those couple weeks. Nearly every test (blood, urine, feces) came back normal and his heart sounded good. The only thing that came back not so good was his liver values are elevated more than last year (he has liver disease), but not so much that he's in liver failure or so bad that he would stop eating. So we don't know why he wasn't eating.

Charlie started giving him boiled chicken tenders about a week ago and he's loved that, but I really wish he'd start eating his dog food again. Protein isn't good for his liver.

Last Saturday, he seemed kind of lethargic most of the day and hadn't had much energy in the weeks that he wasn't eating much (naturally), but he's back to full energy now - barking, running, playing.

He's supposed to have an ultrasound done this Friday so they can see his liver.

Milo turned 13 this past September. I think Jack Russell's typically live 12-15 years, so we know he probably doesn't have much time left. I'm praying he'll be with us for at least another year though. I saw my husband's eyes fill with tears a couple times when things were looking really bad for Milo. Not only am I not ready to lose Milo (not that you're ever ready to lose a pet), but I don't want Charlie to lose him. He loves Milo so much. That's his buddy.

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Other than the clothing items I bought with my birthday money, here are purchases I've made since my last blog entry.

Talbot's dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally $149. I paid $45.87 after shipping and tax.

L.L. Bean dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.

Long Overdue Post

On June 19th, my computer started messing up - turning off and on, and off and on, and off and on, etc. I haven't been able to use it since then. I've put off taking it to get repaired because I'm afraid it might cost a lot and we've had some other expenses to take care of. (Of course, it could also not cost as much as I'm afraid it will cost.) Anyway, it's been sitting in my office (which has become more of a storage room than anything) since then. I've been afraid that my blog would get deleted (unlikely, since my first blogspot blog still exists) and since Charlie brought a laptop home from work, he's letting me use it to check and update my blog.

A lot has happened since June. I've tried to keep notes on my phone. I'm going to try to keep this as short as I can, but that could be difficult.

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Sean had training with FedEx from July 31st to August 4th, started working for them August 7th (deliveries), and was fired the next day because he said the job was hard and wasn't sure he could handle it. (Long story there involving 2-3 different people training him, each with their own method.) A couple weeks after that, he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis, mild intermittent asthma, and something else. He had started getting sick a few days before getting fired. He thinks that may have made the job harder because he was feeling weak and coughing.

Sean began searching for a new job soon after getting fired. He applied many places. It was frustrating when jobs that said "little to no experience necessary" or said they would train would then tell him that he didn't have enough experience. :-/ Ashley works, but doesn't make enough to cover everything. My mom gave Sean money every week (I didn't know this for awhile; I didn't know they were struggling that much because they didn't say anything to us) to help with food, gas, tires, etc.

Finally, at the end of October, he was hired by Napa to work in parts. (A warehouse or distribution center.) He started on October 30th. He should be getting health insurance through his job and a raise by the end of January. He seems to like his job so far.

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On August 4th, Sean and Ashley told us that they're having a baby. Due April 12th - 3 days after Sean's birthday. They've since found out it's a girl. 

Still feels weird that I'm going to be a grandma. I don't feel like a grandma. lol

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Sometime in July, my brother married Shari. She's originally from Canada and has two kids from a previous relationship. A girl (Sofia) and a boy (Remi). Del and Shari are trying to get partial or full custody of Del's son Drake from his previous marriage. A long story I don't want to get into, but I'll just say that his ex is being difficult. Apparently, even her lawyer is frustrated by her tantrums/defiance. There's a court date in January, I think, and they want me and Mom to be there.

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On August 15th, a bad storm hit our area. I was outside with Milo waiting for him to potty when I saw dark, angry-looking clouds coming our way. I let Milo in and then went back outside to record it, not realizing how bad it would get. After a few minutes, the wind picked up and got so bad that I quickly went inside and closed the door. The wind had already blown the bird feeder off one of our trees and the look and sound of the wind was so scary I thought a tornado was about to hit. 

Kelly looked out the window and saw that both of our trees had cracked in half and fallen. One of the trees fell on my car. I handed Milo to her and told her to get in the bathtub. I ran around for a few seconds trying to find Loki, but I couldn't find him and ran into the bathroom and closed the door. I was shaking so bad and terrified that the roof was going to get blown off.

When the wind finally stopped, I went outside and recorded the damage. I was crying, not so much from the damage to my car, but I think from the panic and fear I had felt. I was afraid my car had been completely smashed in, but it wasn't. The windshield was busted, a small dent on top of the car, a couple dents on the front above the driver side tire, back wiper broke off, scratches all over the top and sides. (Of course, I couldn't see all of this until the tree had been removed.)

After I finished recording, I called Charlie and told him what happened. He came home with a chainsaw and he and a few of our neighbors got to work. We got it the worst in our neighborhood. About 4 or 5 of the homes on our street (all in a row with our house) lost a tree. No one's home or car was damaged. 

Pleasant Garden, and a few places between our neighborhood and Pleasant Garden, had quite a bit of damage as well. The meteorologists said that it was a down burst with some rotation and the wind speed of an F-1 or F-2 (can't remember which) tornado. It was so scary!

Our trees have been completely cut down, with just stumps remaining. Charlie said he's going to get rid of them, but he hasn't yet. Our yard looks so weird with no trees.

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My friend Phyllis (called "Sis") died on September 3rd. We first became friends online in March 1999. She was quite a bit older than me (early to mid 70s) and had had a stroke. While in the hospital, she had a heart attack and they couldn't save her. I'm glad I was able to visit her in the hospital before she passed. I cried quite a bit when she passed. Especially for her husband Steve. 

Sis and Steve were originally from Minnesota and moved here in the summer of 2020. (After having lived in NY and VA.) When Steve retired, they decided to move here after visiting and loving the location and our church. Steve didn't stay fully retired for long though. He teaches music at NC A&T and is also in a local orchestra.

I sometimes forget that she's gone and then I remember and feel sad. I miss seeing her at church and sometimes feel sad seeing Steve there without her. 

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Kelly's friend Rene (aka, my "second daughter") and her husband had a baby on September 18th, 19th, or 20th. (Can't remember which. lol) A boy they named Anthony. He is so freaking cute!

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On October 3rd, Charlie brought my car to a repair shop. (Took long enough for the insurance!) Our insurance company decided it was totaled and we picked the car back up on October 6th. They sent us a check (we used part of it to pay off a couple doctor bills) and Charlie is slowly fixing the car himself. The windshield and back wiper have been replaced and Charlie is in the process of getting rid of dents and scratches and preparing it for paint. Not sure how much longer it's going to be. My car looks rough! lol Sanded, stuff put on it where it's been sanded, many of the pieces that can't be painted have been removed.

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Kelly went to her first therapy appointment on October 4th. She wasn't able to make her second one in November and the next available appointment wasn't until January 4th. So, she'll go back on that date. Hopefully, they can figure out what's going on with her.

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Charlie, Kelly, and I (and Milo) went to the mountains on October 18th. The color was gorgeous! We went a different route this time instead of our usual. Instead of 40-W to 52-N to Fancy Gap to the Parkway and then head south to Boone, we took 40-W to near Mt. Mitchell, went to Mt. Mitchell, then got on the Parkway. We were going to take the Parkway to almost the Linn Cove Viaduct and then take a different road to Boone, but somehow we got turned around and ended up heading back south and didn't realize until we were near Asheville. lol

So Kelly and I went back to the mountains on October 23rd. We got on the Parkway near Mt. Mitchell and I made sure we went north this time. lol We went to overlooks we had never been to before and loved it. We got off before the Linn Cove Viaduct, went into Blowing Rock, went to Shoppes on the Parkway to get cherry cordials at Kilwin's, drove into Boone to eat supper at Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant (the mashed potatoes were delicious!), and then came home.

Sean and Ashley went to the mountains on October 28th.

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I think that's all of the main things that have happened. There have been clothing purchases since May, but it may be easier to add pictures from my computer. If I even bother. I'd also like to post pictures of our mountain trip, storm damage, and maybe ultrasound of Sean and Ashley's baby.

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Food Search, Birthdays, and Music

January 3rd - Charlie tested positive for covid. He had been sick for a few days or so before taking an at-home test. His oxygen got lower than I would've liked (stayed between 90 and 92 for a few days after testing positive), but of course he wouldn't go to the doctor even though I told him he should. But he wasn't sick very long.

 

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About the third week of January, the prescription food that Milo eats (for his liver) was out of stock almost everywhere. He was getting very low and I looked at every store website I could think of (Royal Canin's, Chewy, Petco, Petsmart, Amazon, etc.) before finding a few bags at the Petsmart in Burlington. (We normally buy his food from the vet, but when I'd called to order his food, they couldn't get it because it was out of stock/on back order.) I ordered it and had to wait for them to get authorization from the vet. They didn't hear back from the vet in time and cancelled the order. So I reordered it the same morning it was cancelled. 

 

I got an email the next day (I think) telling me it was approved/confirmed by the vet. I went to the Petsmart in Burlington the next day (January 25th), but they hadn't heard from Petsmart headquarters about it. Thankfully, I had gone to the vet that day to get a written prescription in case I needed it and had brought it with me. They printed out a Banfield (the vet at Petsmart) prescription card and I was able to buy a bag since they had a few on their shelves. Whew!

So Milo didn't have to miss a day of eating his prescription food. On the 28th, Petsmart contacted me about his prescription being ready for pick-up that I had ordered from them online and Charlie picked it up that day. So Milo had/has two bags.

 

By the way, the people who helped me at the Petsmart in Burlington were helpful. I don't want to come across like they were being difficult. The store manager (James, I think) was very nice. 

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Clothing purchases since early January:

Lauren Ralph Lauren skirt. Bought from someone on eBay. (This is their picture.) I paid $30.95 after shipping and tax.

 

J. Crew shirt dress. Bought from someone on eBay. I paid $44.18 after shipping and tax. (This is someone else's picture.)

 

Lauren Ralph Lauren shirt dress. (I do love a shirt dress.) I bought this from someone on Poshmark. I paid $45.90 after shipping and tax.

 

Blowfish Malibu shoes. Color: cherry smoked. Purchased from Amazon. I paid $38.59 after shipping and tax.

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February 7th was my 50th birthday. Gah, that seems so crazy to me. 5-0! I feel like I should still be 25 or 30.

 

Anyway, Charlie made me a chocolate cake with no frosting. (One of my favorites.) He bought me/I bought myself a couple dresses and a pair of boots.

J. Crew dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (Some of the smaller photos are theirs.) I paid $26.33 after shipping and tax.

 

Banana Republic dress. Blue leopard print. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) I paid $49.05 after shipping and tax.

 

Black Remonte boots. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (These are their photos.) I paid $102.43. They're brand new, still in the box.

My mom gave me money. Sean and Ashley got me a box of cherry cordials from Loco for Coco. I love their cherry cordials.

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Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 23 now. She didn't want cake, so I told her I'd get her whatever kind of dessert she wanted. She considered cheesecake from Cheesecakes by Alex and then she remembered the strawberry cream pie she'd had on Christmas, but we couldn't find it. So she got cookies and cream pie.

 

Charlie and I got her a Squishmallow black bat (Emily), a Squishmallow black cat, a Squishmallow green dragon (Desmund) with two small hearts on its belly, a mushroom tapestry/wall hanging, and the God of War:Ragnarok video game. And maybe something else, but I can't remember.

I don't remember what Sean and Ashley got her. My mom gave her money.

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Music purchased for my iPod since my January 4th blog entry:

I didn't put all of the songs from the "Jesus at the Center" album on my iPod. I put these songs on it -  Rez Power, No Turning Back, Te Amo, More Than Enough, Speechless, It's Not Over, Your Presence is Heaven, and More and More. I had to buy the whole album in order to get some of the songs I wanted since they were only available as "album only" purchases.

 

One of my current favorite songs is Lion. We sang it at church a couple times last month (our singers did an awesome job!) and then I had to have it for my iPod. I listen to it a lot on YouTube as well. It's one of those songs that has to be played loud! :-D

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Taxes Done, Ancestry Stuff, Easter, Etc.

I had an appointment to get our taxes done on Wednesday, April 13th, at an older woman's home in Asheboro. (Almost 20 minutes from my house.) My mom somehow knew her or found out about her, had her do her taxes, and recommended her to me and Charlie. When I got to her place and she started going through our papers she told me that Charlie's W2 was not in the folder. *sigh* So I had to go back the next day. Everything she needed was in the folder this time and she was able to do our taxes.

Charlie did our taxes last year and we owed federal. We were supposed to get a refund from state and we were going to use that towards what we owe federal (it would cover most of it), but we never got the refund. When Charlie contacted whoever, they told him to re-file. So hopefully now we'll get our refund from state so that we can pay federal. I think we'll end up with a little bit of money after all that. (From this year's taxes.) I expect Charlie will put it in savings - he's trying to save up for a truck.

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The 1950 census was released a couple weeks ago. So far I've only been able to find my mom's dad's parents and a few of his siblings. I haven't spent a whole lot of time searching because the number of pages is overwhelming. Hopefully I'll find some more relatives soon. In 1950 my grandparents and great-grandparents lived in North Carolina, Massachusetts, and California.

 

Charlie's parents and grandparents lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, and California.

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Sean's birthday was Saturday, April 9th. He's 25 now. Hard to believe. Charlie took him to a drag race in Dunn for his birthday (a couple friends went with them) and bought him a racing (NHRA?) jacket. I got him a card. Ashley made him a cake. I don't know what she got him.

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Ancestry DNA recently had another update. I lost Norway again. Dang it! lol Here are our (me, Charlie, my mom) new results:

Mine.

 

Sardinia was a surprise. We haven't seen that one in Charlie's DNA before.

Mom's.

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Easter was Sunday, April 17th. It was a beautiful day - sunshine, about 71°. I would've preferred a couple degrees warmer, but it's better than the low to mid 60s they had been predicting about a week earlier. I kept praying for it to get into the 70s and I would cheer every time I checked my phone app and saw that the forecasted temperature had gone up.

I wore the green floral dress that I posted a picture of a couple blog entries ago. I was going to wear the pink floral Jessica Howard, but since everyone wears pink (or white, purple, light blue) on Easter, I decided to wear the green one. Plus, green is my favorite color. 

 

I wore my blush (so light they're almost a nude color) patent sandals/heels (Dream Pairs; I bought them on Amazon), a white Talbot's shrug with lace trim down the front (along the part where it's open), wore my hair up (as I always do on Sundays), and carried my Etienne Aigner straw purse. All but the shoes were bought from either eBay (the dress) or Poshmark (shrug, purse).

 

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Church was awesome! It was basically just a worship service. Celebrating the Resurrection! Pastor did speak for about 10-15 minutes after we had sung several songs. And then we sang a few of them again after he was done.

I can't remember what all we sang, but some of them were Awakening by Eddie James, Take This City by The Pentecostals of Katy, This Means War by Charles Jenkins, Name Above All Names by Eddie James, Something Happens by James Wilson and Cortt Chavis. I think we may have also sung a couple others, including I Won't Let The Rocks Cry Out for Me. Each song flowed into the next with little to no break between songs. They did a pretty good job of keeping it moving. Most in the congregation were really into the worship.

I don't think we've ever had an Easter service like that (there's usually skits and/or songs that are all about Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection), but man did I love it! lol

After service, there were some give aways, a cook out (it was a nice day for eating outside), and candy for the kids. (Kelly had filled a lot of the plastic Easter eggs when we'd gone to clean the church on Saturday afternoon/evening.) We didn't stay for any of that though. We went on home and I made French toast and bacon.

I don't know how many people we had at church, but it looked nearly full to me. The most people we've had at church since covid.

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The last time I posted about new songs on my iPod was in November. Here are the songs I've purchased since then.

Click on the picture so you can see it better.

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I think it was this past Monday that Kelly's TV cut off and wouldn't come back on. So Charlie took her to Walmart yesterday after he got off work and bought her a new one. I don't know how much he spent. (Probably not much.) I forgot to ask. Using her PS4, she uses her TV for YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+, as well as video games.

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Sean was sick with a stomach virus Thursday, April 14th until this past Tuesday. He was also running a fever. I don't remember how high he said it got. I think the fever part was done by Sunday. He felt pretty awful and weak. I'm glad he's doing better now.

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Speaking of Sean, I haven't been to his and Ashley's place at all yet. They moved into their place this past December, but I've yet to make it over there. They work during the day and by the time they get home, I'm cooking supper (or about to) and then we eat and by then it's kind of late to be hanging out at someone's house. They're hardly home on the weekends during the day. I reckon I'll make it over there someday. lol

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Since my last blog entry, I've bought a couple skirts.

Ralph Lauren (Polo Jeans Company). I bought this from someone on eBay. Less than $30 after shipping and tax. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) I bought this because it's 100% cotton. The vast majority of modern jean skirts have stretch in them and it can be unflattering if you're not skinny. They hug you in places you don't want hugged. lol

 

 

Banana Republic leopard print skirt. I bought this from someone on eBay. I paid less than $22 after shipping and tax. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) Green is my favorite color and it can sometimes be difficult to find cute green clothes.

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Well, I reckon that's it for now. :-)

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Dead Mango, No Babies, New Dresses

 March 2nd or 3rd: Our orange clown fish Mango died. Early on the 3rd, Charlie had gotten up for work and said he didn't see Mango. I looked on the floor on the back right side of the aquarium and there he was - dead, dry, kind of crispy. *sigh* I flushed him down the toilet. I can't believe we lost Mango. He (or she) was so pretty, but also picked on our black and white clown fish Gerard a lot.

In other fish news, our orange clown fish Poppy and our white clown fish Friga have laid eggs about 5 or 6 times now (well, I guess one of them has laid eggs and the other one isn't doing his job?) and then eaten them after a few days. Charlie had read that they will do that if the eggs aren't fertilized.

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March 11-13: Kelly was very sick with nausea and nearly vomited a few times. She spent a lot of time in bed. People keep saying it's going around. I had nausea and vomiting starting on February 25th.

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Sean and Ashley left late yesterday afternoon for their anniversary trip to Southport. (Their anniversary is the 21st - married 2 years.) They're coming home on Tuesday. I hope they have a great time and pray God keeps them safe. Mama worries.

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Lately I've been loving the song Same God. I listen to this video over and over.

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I've made several dress purchases in the past month.

I ordered this dress from someone on eBay. (New, never worn.) Brand: Jessica Howard. I paid less than $51 after shipping and tax. I think it was originally around $80.

I ordered this from J.C. Penney. Jessica Howard. I paid about $56 and change after shipping and tax. Originally around $70 or $80, I think.

I've had this dress in black for several years. I saw it in navy on Poshmark a year or so ago and recently decided to order it. (Partly because I think it's pretty and know how it will fit and partly because another navy dress I saw was gone before I could order it.) I paid less than $35 after shipping and tax. Brand: New York & Company. Originally around $100, I think.

I ordered this from someone on Poshmark. Brand: Tahari. I paid less than $31 after shipping and tax. I wore it to church a couple weeks ago with a cream shrug and nude sandals/heels. The dress was originally over $100. Maybe $145? I've had a thing for big florals lately.

I remember seeing this dress at Dillard's several years ago. I thought it was beautiful, but maybe it was more than I wanted to pay then? I bought it from someone on Poshmark. Brand: Antonio Melani. I paid less than $35 after shipping and tax. It's a little shorter than I prefer by about an inch, so I've ordered what's called an "extender" (basically a slip with pretty lace at the bottom that should give me about another inch of coverage; the lacy part will show below the dress) from Amazon. I also ordered a white shrug from ThredUp ($15.99) that buttons at the top to help cover my chest. I will also wear a camisole for modesty.

I ordered this from someone on Poshmark. She was originally selling it for $29, but she dropped the price to $15 and I couldn't pass it up. Brand: Lauren Ralph Lauren. I paid $24 and change after shipping and tax. I wore it to church last Sunday with a pink shrug and nude sandals/heels. The dress was originally around $100 or more.

I'm planning on wearing either the green dress or the first pink dress for Easter.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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Covid and Other Sickness, Broken Machines, and Birthdays

I keep notes on my computer of stuff to blog about so I don't forget. (Because I will forget.) Here are the things I've made note of since my December 30th blog post. Fleshed out for my blog.

January 3rd - Took the Christmas tree down and threw it out. It was a pre-lit artificial tree with many burned out lights that would be too much of a pain to figure out which lights needed replacing. The tree also wasn't big enough. The height was fine (6 feet), but it wasn't big enough around for all of our ornaments. I could only fit about half of them on the tree or less.

 

January 4th and February 1st - Milo got his pain shots at the vet.

 

January 10th - Sean was quite sick (vomiting, headache, body aches) and was diagnosed with covid for the second time a few days later. (He and Ashley had it back in early summer 2020.) By then, he was feeling fine. Ashley, my mom, and I were sick soon after that. Ashley and my mom didn't have covid. (Would've been Ashley's and my mom's second time if they did have covid.) I didn't get tested because I'm pretty confident it was sinuses since I always lose my voice with sinus infections and I lost it for a couple days this time also. Plus, I hardly go anywhere, I didn't leave the house while I was sick, and I wore a mask when I left the house before getting sick and after getting better.

 

 

Around mid January - both our dishwasher and our washing machine started acting up. Charlie was able to fix the washing machine (once the part arrived a few days later) and we ended up getting a new dishwasher. Our old one was 24 years old and had had problems in the past. This time it had 2 or 3 things wrong with it and I said we should just go ahead and get a new one. It was delivered on February 1st.

 

 

February 10th - Milo had a vet appointment. Charlie was off that week and brought him to the vet. Milo got two shots (bordetella  and lyme disease vaccine) and they tested his stool for intestinal parasites. Test results were good.

While Charlie and Milo were at the vet, she told told Charlie that she and the other vet feel like it would be best not to do the liver biopsy on Milo. I had called them about a month or so ago telling them that we were very nervous about the surgery (could he die during?) and I asked some questions about the procedure, results, treatment, etc. So it was kind of a relief when they decided against it. (Though they might have done it anyway if we'd told them we wanted it.) He's in the last years of his life and whatever's going in his liver doesn't seem to be affecting him. He acts like he feels good - runs, plays, eats, drinks, etc.

 

Birthdays:

My 49th birthday was on February 7th. I would say, "Gosh, how am I 49 years old?", but I know that's a silly question because obviously it's because I'm still alive. Ha ha. My mom gave me money, I got cards from the family, Charlie decorated for my birthday (I think I was a teenager the last time birthday decorations were put up for me) and made me a chocolate cake, and I got a few things - a couple dresses, a couple jackets, and a black T-shirt from Amazon that says "Middle Earth's Annual Mordor Fun Run. 'One Does Not Simply Walk.' " I'm waiting on the jackets and one of the dresses to be delivered.

 

J. Crew dress that I've been wanting for a couple years. I found it at ThredUp (still had tags). Originally $98, I paid less than $33 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Alex Marie shirt dress. (I love a shirt dress!) Not sure how much it originally cost, but I paid less than $29 at PoshMark (after shipping and tax).

 

 

Sonoma jacket. I paid less than $19 for it at PoshMark (after shipping and tax.)

 

 

Levi's military jacket. Originally $180, I paid $88.01 at Poshmark (after shipping and tax). I already have it in army/olive green. I don't have a black jacket and I've really wanted one over the past couple months when I've wanted to wear a black jacket (and not my black coat) on days when it was chilly, but not cold.

 

 

Kelly's 22nd birthday was on February 8th. She got money from my mom, cards from the family, a strawberry cheesecake from Cheesecakes by Alex, a video game (waiting for delivery), rose gold PS4 controller, house pants, and a flannel shirt.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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Birthdays, Surgery Scheduled, Loki, Corona

February 7th - I turned 48 years old. I got a few dresses and a cassette player. (I have a lot of cassette tapes I still enjoy from time to time and the player I had doesn't play well anymore.) My mom gave me money. 

 

I've heard for a few years how good Cheesecakes by Alex is, so I had Charlie get me their blueberry cheesecake. It was very good. Charlie, Kelly, Sean, Ashley, and I went to Cugino Forno for my birthday dinner (it was afternoon and not many people were there) and it was delicious, as usual.

February 8th - Kelly turned 21 years old. Hard to believe I have a 21-year-old and a soon to be 24-year-old. We got her a couple games, a black T-shirt that says "Social Distancing Expert" with a picture/drawing of a game controller on it, a stuffed black wolf (she loves wolves), and a new PS4 controller. Possibly something else as well. She liked the idea of cheesecake for a birthday cake and wanted strawberry, so Charlie got one for her from Cheesecakes by Alex. My mom gave her money.

I asked Kelly if she wanted to go out to eat or if there was something she wanted me to make for her and she said she wanted my stew. :-)

February 21st - Charlie turned 52 years old. He got some things for his aquarium and I made him a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My mom gave him money.

 

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The doctor who is supposed to do Charlie's surgery finally called a few weeks ago or so (well, someone at their office called) and scheduled his surgery for April 8th. They will be removing a couple inches of his intestines where the rupture happened last year. I am nervous about the surgery. They asked him if he was sure he wanted to go through with it (which I thought was odd since it was the doctor who said he needed it) because it's "very invasive" and Charlie told them that he does. He's tired of the pain and doesn't want another rupture/infection ever again. I hope this helps.

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This past Thursday evening, Loki threw up a little bit a couple times. We didn't think much of it. Cats throw up from time to time. But then on Friday, he wasn't eating at all and spent more time lying around than he normally does. Usually in a ball or doing "meatloaf". 

 

I began to worry and prayed for him many times. If he didn't get better, I was going to bring him to the vet on Monday. But by Saturday he was doing a little better. There was more improvement by Sunday. By Monday morning, his craziness and energy was back 100% and I was so relieved. He's my little boy (the cutest and the baddest!) and I couldn't take it if anything happened to him.

 

February 13, 2021

 

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I can't believe we're almost four months into 2021 and I've only finished one book so far. smh I read a little almost every day, but struggle to stay awake long enough to finish a chapter. It probably doesn't help that I read in bed. lol Hopefully things pick up for me soon.

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I ordered this dress from Macy's a couple weeks ago.

Calvin Klein. It was originally $119, but I got it on sale for about $71 before tax. Shipping was free. I love a shirt dress.

 

 

I got these shoes at Macy's. They're by Style & Co. They were originally $60 or $70, but were marked down a little. I paid about $51 after tax. No, I won't be wearing them with that dress. lol
 

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I haven't looked at the corona numbers for North Carolina or my county in many months. I got tired of it. I'm way over all of this - corona, restrictions, limitations, masks, shut downs, all of it. 

 

I still wear a mask, even though I despise it. (I have claustrophobia. I hate things touching my face. And I've gotten headaches from wearing masks. One of those headaches being a migraine because I had worn a mask longer than I normally do.) And I sanitize my hands often if I'm out of the house. (Though that's only a couple times a week.) But I'm really sick of it. The vast majority of people I see wear masks and most try not to get too close to people. 

 

I get why we're told to keep our distance, but it's gone on for so long. (Pandemic fatigue. Restrictions fatigue. Etc. I've read terms like this often.) Two weeks was doable. Even a month, maybe two, I could see. But two weeks has turned into a year and that's a long time to demand people stay away from their fellow human beings. 

 

Again, I get why they tell us to avoid close contact with others, but it still stinks.

 

And I'm an introvert who doesn't need or desire much human contact! lol

I know corona is real and we should be careful. But they keep moving the goal posts and it's annoying and frustrating. Two weeks to flatten the curve and allow the hospitals to handle cases and prepare. Then a month, two months, six months, a year, and now longer. 

 

You hear talk of herd immunity (real, not real) or we just need a vaccine (that we don't know the long term effects of; and, yes, I believe in vaccines) and we can make our way back to normal. Now they say a vaccine won't be enough. 

 

And they said early on that corona will never go away and that almost everyone (if not everyone) will get it eventually. So if it's always going to be here, do we quarantine, avoid people, shut down businesses, no gatherings, no holidays with family, no vacations forever/until everyone has had the virus? 

 

We can't keep up the shut downs and avoiding that basic human need to be with others (especially family) forever or for however long it takes for everyone to get it. And if/when the latter happens, do they come up with another reason to restrict us? "Pretty much everyone has had the virus now, but you can get it again, so keep wearing masks, avoid people, don't work unless you're essential, don't go to church, etc."

I am not a corona denier. (Friends and family have had the virus, including my son and daughter-in-law. Acquaintances, and family and friends of acquaintances, have died from it.) I know it's worse than the flu. 

 

And I am all for vaccines. (My kids got all the recommended ones.) I believe corona can make you a little sick or very sick or not sick at all and there's a small chance it can kill you. 

 

I agreed with the shutdowns and restrictions at first and I agree that we should still be careful, but if the virus is here forever and nothing we've done so far has slowed things down enough and the vaccine isn't enough to get us back to our lives, then what do we do? Keep waiting? For how much longer? It's already been too long.

 

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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