Brief Update

I don't think I've ever taken this long to post a new blog entry. (Except maybe for the time when my computer quit working.) I just haven't felt like writing. I don't really feel like writing now either, so I'm going to keep this brief. I'll try to write in more detail at a later date. Hopefully in the next week or two.

 

My car: Charlie is still working on it. Slowly. :-/ The major stuff is done, but he keeps re-sanding and repainting parts of it. And he still needs to add some trim pieces.

 

I've bought some clothes since my last entry. I'll probably write about that later. I'm currently trying to find something for Easter.

I got a jury summons, I think for some time in October. I told them that I couldn't because I watch my granddaughter Lydia, but instead of getting out of it, they postponed it to December. (19th, I think.) I didn't know if they'd give me a hard time about it if I told them I still had to watch Lydia, so I didn't try to get out of it again. Thankfully, when I called the night before, they said I wasn't needed. Yay! I despise jury duty.

 

Hurricane Helene hit the NC mountains (as well as SC, TN, VA) in late September after slamming into Florida. The devastation is unbelievable. All these months later and there's still so much destruction up there. :-(

A few weeks before Helene, there was a lot of flooding in and around Southport. 

Ancestry had a DNA update in October. 

 

My results:

 

England & Northwestern Europe 58%

Wales 12%

Cornwall 6%

Denmark 6%

Scotland 6%

Germanic Europe 5%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

Charlie:

England & Northwestern Europe 68%

Scotland 13%

Germanic Europe 11%

Cornwall 2%

Wales 2%

Benin & Togo 1%

Norway 1%

Eastern European Roma 1%

Sardinia 1%

Mom:

Scotland, Scottish Highlands & Northern Isles 44%

England & Northwestern Europe 36%

Wales, northern & western 11%

France 3%

Germanic Europe 3%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

An update on my aunt Wanda's DNA results. When I'd checked her results last March (because her DNA is the only one that shows where our African ancestors came from), it said 2% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples. Now it says 1% Nigeria. The rest of her DNA is England & Northwestern Europe 61%, Wales 15%, Scotland 14%, Ireland 5%, Cornwall 3%, and Iceland 1%.

Milo had a vet appointment on January 9th. We had to have Milo put to sleep on January 16th. That was very hard. I'll post more about that in a post just for him.

We had a few snow days this winter. More than we'd had in awhile.

Friday, December 13th, my car died on my way home. I had just been to the DMV/license plate agency to pay my vehicle tax and my car was sounding awful on the way home, so I pulled into a gas station on the corner of Holden and Vandalia. It was then I noticed it smoking from the front. I turned it off and called Charlie. It wouldn't start anymore after that. It was big ordeal that ended up with Charlie having to run jumper cables from my car battery to another battery in the back floorboard of my car. I think Charlie said it was the alternator or something, which he ordered a new one of and replaced.

Charlie got a raise in December, plus extra money (each month?) to keep his truck maintained since he drives it for work.

Lydia started crawling on December 26th. She started standing some time after that. She's not walking yet.

January 5th was communion at church and Lydia's dedication.

 

 

My aunt Kathy died suddenly Sunday morning, March 2nd. She was one of my dad's sisters. Her funeral was this past Saturday, but I was too sick to go.

And, of course, our 30th anniversary on December 17th, Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, Kelly's birthday, and Charlie's birthday. Lydia's first birthday was yesterday.

 

Again, I'll try to give more details later.

Car Update, Storm, Carne en su Jugo

Charlie has had some issues trying to paint my car, which has been frustrating for me - I expected it to be done by now. He thinks he may have it figured out now (something about the moisture in the air effecting how the paint is applied to the car), but probably not in time for me to drive it this weekend. I really hate that. He's going to move my car from the canopy/tent in the backyard and into the garage (where he's had his project car, a '68 Camaro, for years now; he'll move that into the canopy) and hope that it will be better protected from the humidity (all that moisture in the air from the tons of rain we've been getting - even before tropical storm Debby came along) and then hopefully the paint will come out better.

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Speaking of tropical storm Debby. It came ashore recently and has been dumping tons of rain on eastern and central NC since Wednesday night or Thursday morning. It's still going now as I type this. There has been some wind, but nothing too crazy in our part of the state, and some flooding. There have been several tornado warnings, mostly in eastern NC, and a few tornados. Last I heard, one person has died - in Lucama. A tornado caused his house to collapse in the middle of the night.

 

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There has been a little more progress with the new flooring in the front hall at church. I don't know what's taking so long to finish it, but I reckon slow progress is better than no progress. 

 

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In mid-to late July, a Facebook friend who pastors a church in North Wilkesboro, posted a picture of a bowl of carne en su jugo, which I'd never heard of before, and it looked really good. I looked up a few recipes, watched several YouTube videos (only one of which was in English), and then finally made it this past Friday night. It was delicious! I was like, "That's definitely going on the menu!" I'm trying to wait a reasonable amount of time before I make it again. lol

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $110. I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax. I love the colorful flowers and birds.

I wore this to church this past Sunday (with a white shrug and nude heeled sandals) and when I was holding Lydia in my lap, she couldn't stop staring at all the pretty colors. :-)

 

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I've purchased one new (to my iPod) song since my last entry.

No Way, No Way (You Won't Lose) by Fred Hammond.

 

 

Photos of Storm Damage

 Pictures of our yard and car after a storm hit us on August 15th.

My car is under that tree.

This was taken a little over a month ago. It looks a little worse now. lol

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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New Truck, Redbud Gone, and a Lovely Saturday

Charlie bought a truck from work a couple months ago - a red F150. 2013, I think. They sold it to him for $1500 and he's making payments. We're not Ford people, so his plan is to fix it up, sell it, and use the money towards a different truck. I told him he could just remove the Ford emblems and replace the motor with a Chevy motor. lol 

For now, he's only driving the truck on the weekends. He drives it to work on Monday, keeps it there all week, drives a company truck during the week (they pay for gas), and then drives it home on Friday.

I'll post a picture in the next entry if I remember to take a picture of it.

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Friday, September 30th, tropical storm Ian (or was it a tropical depression by then?) came through. We had a lot of large sticks in our yard, but the worst damage was the loss of our redbud tree. I had suspected it was diseased for a couple years because not all of the branches bloomed in the spring. When it blew over, the roots weren't connected to the tree. I wonder if we could've just pushed it over ourselves. :-/

 

 

 

 

It makes me kind of sad. I loved that tree. We plan on planting a new one in the spring.

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This past Saturday, Kelly and I went to the fall festival at Bur-Mil Park. It started off pretty chilly (mid to upper 50s), but warmed up a little into the 60s. There weren't a lot of activities, so we didn't stay long. We ate some funnel cake, walked around a bit, rode the hayride, and then left.

 

Bur-Mil isn't far from the Old Mill of Guilford (which, surprisingly, I had never been to even though I've lived in or near Greensboro for the better part of 31 years), so we went there next. I took some pictures and we browsed the shop. I couldn't decide on anything I really wanted, but I also didn't want to leave empty-handed, so Kelly got some pumpkin spice scented wax for her wax burner.

 

 

 

 

After leaving the mill, we went to Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and Tannenbaum Park, which we've been to a few times. We walked around a bit and I took some pictures, including a few of a hawk.

 

Statue of General Nathanael Greene at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.

 

We then went to Chick-fil-A to eat and then to the church to vacuum.

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Kelly and I are hoping to go to the mountains this Friday. Charlie will try to get the day off so he can go with us.

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Purchases since my last entry:

Banana Republic dress. Purchased from someone on eBay. (This is their photo.) I paid $33.57 after shipping and tax.

 

L.L. Bean dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) I paid $26.33 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Sonoma dress. Purchased from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) I paid $29.87 after shipping and tax.

 

 

 

Dream Pairs heels. Purchased from Amazon. (This is their photo.) I think I paid less than $40 after tax. I think shipping was free.

 

Keds. Purchased from DSW. (This is their photo.) I bought these at the store and paid close to $60 after taxes.

 

 

Blowfish Malibu shoes. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (These are their photos.) I paid $24.55 after shipping and tax.

 

 

The reason for buying the Keds and Blowfish shoes is I needed shoes for when it's too cool for sandals, but not cool enough for boots. (Comfortable flats are almost impossible to find.) Plus, I can wear an insert for the plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I wore the Keds to the places Kelly and I went to this past Saturday. My foot still hurt, but not as bad. My right foot also usually hurts after awhile, but didn't hurt at all this past Saturday.

 

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Sean's Car, Uncooperative Loki, More Hail

On Saturday, May 21st, the A/C in Sean's car quit working. He brought the car to our house to get Charlie to help fix it. Charlie pulled a fuse, which basically caused the car to quit working. (It was so much easier to fix cars when they weren't computerized.) Since the car wasn't driveable, Sean and Ashley rode with me to church that Sunday. (My mom brought them home.) 

 

I drove them to work on Monday (they both work at the church), but Sean didn't stay. He came to my house with me so he could call a tow truck and have his car taken to the dealership. He rode in the tow truck to the dealership and when Honda was unable to give him a loaner (they were out of loaners), I picked him up and drove him to Enterprise to rent a car. (His insurance covered the cost.) Sean dropped off the rental car at Enterprise on Tuesday morning and I drove him to the dealership to get his car. A new compressor arrived that week, but it's making noise. I'm not sure if that's been fixed yet.

 

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Loki had a vet appointment for Friday, June 3rd to get a booster shot, but Kelly and I couldn't get him in the carrier no matter how hard we tried. I called the vet and they rescheduled his appointment for Tuesday, June 6th. I went that Monday to get some pills that would help calm him and went to Petsmart to get pill pockets for cats. But he wasn't interested in the pill pockets. So then we tried cheese and he wasn't interested in that either. Then Kelly held him while I tried to get the pill down his throat, but he spit it out. So then I opened up one of the capsules and poured the medicine onto his food and he wouldn't eat that.

 

We tried getting him into the carrier anyway and we couldn't. So I had to cancel his appointment. I told them that they'd probably never see Loki again. lol

 

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Thursday, June 16th and yesterday we had thunderstorms with hail. (Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90s for several days now, but today is supposed to be about 83°.) The one we had yesterday was crazy! It hailed for several minutes. And it was a lot of hail coming down at once. We were kind of shocked. The wind was also really crazy and we wondered if there was a tornado nearby (I haven't heard that there was) or straight line winds. We have a few small branches in our yard (including a branch from our redbud tree that ended up several feet away from the tree) and a bunch of leaves. And the top part of a forsythia that Charlie planted a couple weeks ago lost some of its leaves.

That's the third hail storm in a month.

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Purchases since my last entry:

Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Brand: A New Day. $5 before shipping and tax, less than $16 after. (Not my photo.)

Purchased from Macy's. Brand: Jessica Howard. Almost $80 after tax. Shipping was free. I haven't spent that much on a dress in awhile. (Photo from Macy's website.)

 

Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Brand: Lauren Ralph Lauren. Less than $34 after shipping and tax. (Not my photo.)

 

 

Purchased from someone on eBay. Brand: Naturalizer. A little over $25 after shipping and tax. I used to have a beautiful, sparkly pair of silver heels that I had to throw out a few years ago. I finally got some new silver heels. (Not my photo.)

 

 

Navy lace top purchased from ThredUp. Brand: Vince Camuto. Less than $24 after shipping and tax. (Not my photo.) I bought it to go with the green and navy/dark blue leopard print skirt I bought in April. I wore it with a navy shrug and patent nude heels. I thought it looked beautiful.

 

 

Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Brand: Talbots. Almost $51 after shipping and tax. Which I thought was a good price for a Talbots dress. But the person I bought it from sent a ten dollar bill with the dress because they were expecting someone to make an offer and possibly low ball them. (She said it's happened to them quite a bit.) They didn't think anyone would actually buy it at list price. (Which was $40.) The lady who sent it said that with gas and groceries being so expensive, she didn't feel right not giving me some of the money back. I was really surprised. What a nice thing to do. (Not my photo. Photo is from the listing.)

 

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Hail Storm, Mother's Day, Loki, and Music

Friday, May 6th, I needed to go to a few places and was getting ready when I heard it start raining. I knew it was supposed to rain and didn't really think much of it, not even when I heard a few rumbles of thunder, but then I heard hail. I quickly left the bathroom and looked out the living room windows. I then got my cell phone and went outside to record it. Most of the hail stones were pea sized to marble sized, but a few were bigger. It went on for about 6 or 7 minutes. I don't think I've ever seen hail last that long.

When I came back inside, I turned on the news to find out if or when I could leave the house. While I was watching, they said they saw rotation over McLeansville (about 15 minutes or so east of my house) and not long after that a possible tornado hit Mebane (less than 40 minutes from my house). The meteorologist said that he believed it was a tornado. It made me wonder if there'd been rotation over us when the storm came through here. Thank God it didn't touch down here, but I feel bad for those who were hit by a tornado.

Rockingham County got the worst of it, from what I saw. Either one tornado that hit several towns or more than one tornado, but obviously from the same storm/rotation. I've seen a few photos and some video.

Because of the storm and the time I spent watching the news, I ended up leaving the house about 30-45 minutes later than I had planned. First I went to the vet to get Milo's food and one of his medications. Then to Goodwill to drop off some stuff. And then the pet pharmacy (on the other side of town from where I live) to get Milo's other medication.

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Mother's Day was May 8th. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to church because I woke up after an hour and couldn't go back to sleep. (I actually woke up several times in that hour.) I finally fell back to sleep around 7:00 AM.

None of us (me, Charlie, Kelly, Mom, Sean, Ashley) made it to church that day. :-/

For Mother's Day, I got flowers from Charlie and Kelly and Sean and Ashley. They and my mom also got me cards. My mom gave me some money. We gave my mom flowers and a card.

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Kelly and I brought Loki to the vet this past Friday. (Only I could go in. They still have some covid rules at the vet's office.) They did the usual checks, took blood, and gave him two shots. I told the vet that sometimes Loki is a loud breather and when she listened to his lungs with a stethoscope she said she could hear a bit of a whistling sound. She said it's not bad enough to do x-rays, but if he starts coughing, panting, and/or struggles to inhale or exhale, to let them know. He could have/be getting (?) asthma.

They called yesterday with the results of his blood work and said that it looks good.

I have to take him back to the vet on June 3rd for a booster.

Loki did pretty well at the vet. I could tell he was a little nervous (I cracked up when he tried to "hide" between the cabinets and the little trash can; he often "hides" in full view next to doors and bathtubs lol), but he was cooperative - he didn't fight or try to get away or hiss or growl. He just laid there with big eyes.

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I've made a couple purchases since my last entry.

I bought this CC Couture top from someone on eBay. (This is their photo. I take no credit for it.) I paid $17 and change after tax. Shipping was free.

I bought this Jessica Howard dress from someone on Poshmark. I paid less than $31 after shipping and tax.

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We have a pretty good music team at our church. There are a few songs they sometimes sing that aren't my style (and that's fine, even though there are a couple songs I absolutely hate! lol), some songs that are okay or that I like, and some I absolutely love. A few weeks ago, they sang kind of a medley, I guess you'd call it, that just blew the place up. Such anointing!

The first song was Throne Room by Kim Walker-Smith. I had heard it once or twice before, thought it was okay, and never really thought about it again. But when our singers sang it, Lord, have mercy, it was powerful! Kristin did the lead and she was awesome!

 

As that song was ending, they went into part of Lifeline by Hillsong Young & Free - the part that goes, "You're all I want. You're all I want." (repeated several times) and then "Oh, You are my hope. Jesus forever, You've forgiven my failures. And oh, You never let go. Jesus forever, You've forgiven my failures." Kaley did the lead on that one and was also awesome. 

Then they went into part of The Blessing. "May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations. And your family and your children and their children and their children. May His presence go before you and behind you and beside you, all around you and within you. He is with you. He is with you. In the morning, in the evening, in your coming and your going, in your weeping and rejoicing. He is for you. He is for you." Then repeat "He is for you" several times.

 

 

It was beautiful and powerful and anointed! Many were crying, praying, worshipping, hands lifted. Many went to the altar to pray. I absolutely loved it!

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Corona Update, Quarantine Life, New Desk, and Other Things

This quarantine/corona virus is going on much longer than I thought it would. I thought maybe a month and then they would gradually lift restrictions. It feels like it's been forever since they shut things down and told us to stay home as much as possible. If a homebody like me is sick of it, then it's bad. lol

The last numbers I saw (updated after 9:00 last night) said that nearly 12,000 people in NC have tested positive, about 500 are in the hospital, and 430 have died. I wish they would tell how many have recovered.

In my county, 443 have tested positive and 31 have died. About 5 of those deaths were people who lived in my zip code.

I think I read somewhere that of the 430 deaths, over 200 are people who were in nursing homes, other long-term care facilities, and prisons.


It's crazy to me that toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies are still difficult or nearly impossible to find. Rice is also almost impossible to find. Pasta (including macaroni and cheese), pasta sauce, ramen, some Mexican foods, some seasonings, flour, chicken, eggs, butter, milk, bacon, and a few other things are in low supply. Ground beef hasn't been difficult to find, but they're saying there's going to be a meat shortage soon because the places that process the meat have had corona outbreaks among their employees and have had to shut down.



They say to get two weeks worth of groceries and supplies in case you or someone in your home tests positive and you can't leave your house for two weeks. But few can afford two weeks worth of groceries and supplies (especially with so many out of work). And milk and bread don't last two weeks, so you have to go to the store every week for those two items at least. Plus, if you can't find some things one week, you have to try again the next week. So you end up going grocery shopping every week anyway. :-/


Anyway, enough of that. I'm sick of hearing about corona and thinking about corona. And sick of having to wipe down things in the house every day and wipe down everything that comes into our house (including grocery items). Ugh.

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On Monday, April 13th, in the wee hours of the morning, a bad storm system that had devastated other Southern states swept across North Carolina. There were several tornado warnings. Including one just a few miles from my house. Shortly before that tornado, a crazy strong wind started blowing at my house right after the meteorologists said that they were seeing winds of over 100 mph in the area near where I live. Thankfully it didn't touch ground here.

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This past Friday, May 1st, Charlie broke his right pinky finger. He and Kelly had gone to get Zaxby's (I was going to eat a leftover taco and enchilada) and while they were out, he somehow broke his finger by wiping his hand on his pants. When he called to tell me (I missed the call, but called him back a few minutes later), I wasn't sure I could believe him. He likes to joke around and exaggerate.

When they got home and he showed me his finger, I busted out laughing. I wouldn't have laughed if he was acting like it hurt or if he had hurt it in some traumatic way. It was a few minutes later that he told me how he broke it, and I lost it! I laughed so hard I thought I was going to die! Kelly was laughing hard too and Charlie was also laughing. I said to him, "What a lame way to break your finger."

I helped him splint it later that night.

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We've been working on turning Sean's old room into the library/office. Kelly and I moved my two bookcases and all of my books out of my bedroom and into that room, as well as the glider rocker, and a small table that had been in the attic for years. I needed the table to put the books on it that had been on my nightstand and on the floor between my nightstand and bed.

We ordered a desk yesterday from Office Depot. (My current desk is very large and would probably be difficult if not impossible to get through the door. And the desk top itself is a bit worn out.) Estimated delivery is May 15th. I hope it looks as nice in person as it does in the picture. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but Charlie found a coupon online and that saved us $70.

The desk is by Sauder. Harbor View Collection. Finish is called Antiqued Paint. Originally $349.99, we paid about $299.00 after coupon and taxes. Delivery is free.

 My current desk has been in the dining room for many years. It'll be nice to get it out of here. Especially since Charlie bought an aquarium back in February that is also in the dining room. And, yes, there's also a dining table and chairs in here. Oh, and also a large kennel for the dogs and a tall box that has some kind of car part in it. It's quite crowded and it's driving me nuts.

As far as what I want the library/office to look like, I had been thinking of a world theme with little things representing various countries, but couldn't decide on a paint color. Then I remembered a picture of a room (library, I think) I saw that had a celestial theme - dark blue walls, shiny gold stars, etc. So now that's what I'm going to try to do. I probably won't do the little gold stars on the walls, as beautiful as it was in the picture, but I'm thinking of maybe star-shaped string lights in the room.

I've also been looking online for art work that might look good, but I haven't found anything I like. Neither have I found a ceiling fan or chandelier that I like much. I mean, nothing that really grabs me anyway. I usually only buy things if I'm like, "Yes! That's the one." I haven't had that trying to choose a ceiling fan or chandelier.

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Since the last time I talked about books (late February), I've read Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin and The Wicked King (second book in a trilogy) by Holly Black. I liked Wolf by Wolf and will eventually order the sequel. The Wicked King was very good. Better than the first (The Cruel Prince), in my opinion.

I'm currently reading Still Me by Jojo Moyes. It's the third book in a trilogy. I liked the first one a lot (Me Before You). The second one (After You) was okay. I'm liking this third one so far.

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 I've bought a few songs for my iPod in the past few weeks.

Here Again and Never Lost are new songs. I've had the CD that Mercy Tree is on for a few years and decided I wanted that song on my iPod.


Well, I reckon that's it for now. I could actually probably talk about more and probably go on more about quarantine life, but this is already kind of long.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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No Air, The Park, Tornado

Tuesday afternoon, April 10th, I noticed that it was feeling kind of warm in our house. I turned the air down, but it didn't come on no matter how low I turned it down to. So Charlie contacted someone and they sent out a repair guy the next day. (It got down into the 40s that first night and was chilly in the house that Wednesday morning, but warmed up later.) He said something about a transformer and a fuse maybe and whenever he did get it running, something would trip and it would quit working. They had to order some parts, which they said could take two to three days for them to receive. So, we'd have it fixed by Saturday or Sunday? No. No weekend delivery or something. They weren't able to come back and fix it until this past Wednesday. We went more than a week without heat or air.

It got pretty warm in here during the day and we had a lot of fans going. Most rooms had two fans each. Of course, it was only cool in front of a fan or below a ceiling fan. But thankfully it's not summer yet or an above average spring. We've lost our air a few times in the summer (and at least a couple times in winter) and it was kind of miserable. I don't know how people survived without a/c or fans before they were invented.

Saturday and Sunday were the warmest days in the house. (About 77° or 78°.) Saturday night was pretty uncomfortable, too. It only got down to about 74° inside. We live in a one-story house and can't leave our windows up at night. It was either Monday night or Tuesday night that it got down into the 30s. It was kind of cold in the house when I got up the next morning (about 66° inside), but tolerable with the proper clothing and blankets.

Anyway, as I said earlier, the repair guy came back Wednesday afternoon and got it fixed pretty quickly. It's been nice having a/c (we'll need the heat at night as it's supposed to get down into the 30s and 40s) and not hearing multiple fans running in the house.

The repair guy said that since our heat pump is so old (20), the next big thing to go wrong, like a compressor, could be it and we'd have to buy a new one.

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Thursday, April 12th, Kelly and I went to the park. We brought Milo (Charlie's Jack Russell) with us. He's getting fat and needs the exercise. lol Plus, he enjoys it. We didn't stay long, but it was a nice walk. I took only three pictures. Here's two of them.

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Sunday, April 15th, we had some wind and rain. They said there was a chance for hail, severe lightning, and possibly tornadoes. Sometime after 5:00 that evening, I heard a strong gust of wind (stronger than how it had been blowing), but didn't give it much thought. A few minutes later, I looked out the living room window and saw that the chair that's normally on our front porch was gone. It had been blown into our side yard. We get strong winds from time to time, usually with thunderstorms, but that chair has never been blown off our porch. Even with gusts in the 40-60 mph range.

Shortly after that, a tornado touched down about 10-15 minutes northeast of our house. It was a high EF-2, nearly an EF-3. It's not unusual for us to get tornado watches every spring and occasionally there will actually be a tornado, but rarely one as big and strong as the one that hit our city this past Sunday. Over 1000 structures have been damaged, some schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year (possibly longer) - students from those schools are being sent to other schools, many are without power and can't live in what's left of their houses. I imagine some houses will have to be bulldozed because there's not enough left to just repair. The worst the thing about it is the tornado hit a mostly low-income area of the city. Thankfully, only one person died. Though even just one death is too many.

It's quite a shock, not just because of the damage, but because it's so rare for this area to get a tornado like this. Even with tornado watches, tornadoes don't usually touch down and when they do, they're smaller than this one and short-lived. I read that tornadoes here usually only stay on the ground for about 5 miles. This one was on the ground for either 16 miles or 33 miles. (I've heard both.) A tornado touched down in South Carolina from this same line of storms that came through here. After the tornado in SC and then the one here, a tornado also touched down in a town north of here. It did some damage there too, but it's a smaller town with much fewer people and didn't destroy as many structures as it did here.

Clean-up will take some time - weeks or months. Places are being opened as shelters for those who can't stay in their homes. Churches and other groups are cooking meals and providing water, clothing, and other necessities. People are donating money to the Salvation Army. Money that will go directly to the people affected by the tornado. The electric company is working hard to get downed power lines up, poles fixed or replaced, and the power back on.

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I'm almost done reading After You by Jojo Moyes. Less than 100 pages to go. It's not as good as the first one (Me Before You), but I like it.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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