Catsup on Random Bits

Texted with V briefly yesterday. We would have talked rather than text, but they had very high winds in her area and the reception was ghastly. She seems to be feeling a little better after having slept a couple of decent stretches and having a relatively low-key Saturday.

Like me, it may take a few days for it to take its toll, but exhaustion has always created a health challenge for her. Besides sleep, as Tonjia said, Advil and hydration are the AF's miracle cure-all! I'm just relieved that V's feeling better. Thanks so much for the prayers.

She's on Blocks 8 and 9 now and every minute needs her full attention. No time to be sick. Next launch is the 25th of May and she's geeked about it already!

Me? I'm geeked to be back in my PT Cruiser. Wow does it look great again. The collision shop guy laughed at me when I saw the car all fixed and was awed by what... The new tailgate? The gleaming glass and perfect rear bumper? Noooo. I had to caress the left tail light!

Do you have ANY idea how stressful it is to worry about getting a citation for a tail light you can't afford to repair?! Not to mention stressing over the red and yellow 'light tape' and its stickiness ~ or LACK of it in wet weather. And I didn't even know til now that I had developed the bad habit of not signaling left! (You're less likely to get a ticket for not signaling than for having a colored light cover off.) Ghaaa! It was driving me nuts. Now I'm just driving. :)

I wore my new FitFlops to drive around and do errands with Joshua on Saturday. It was more than the hour a day I had planned but the darned things are so comfortable that I didn't want to take them off, even at the end of the day! Oh to have shoes, especially sandals, that support my arches and cradle my heels - what a delight for my tootsies! On the other hand, I was getting in and out of the car, strolling and stopping, etc. They did say that the shoes are effective during your normal walking day so I should be fine with this as an experiment day, right?

I didn't notice muscles 'working harder' or soreness or anything different while wearing them. However after I took them off, while walking around the house barefoot, muscles deep in the backs of my thighs started to say 'hello'. And with the FitFlops off ~ tiny muscles in my feet were sore. Good sore, I think.

Today is another chance to wear the oh so comfy FitFlops. I'm planning on wearing them twice today. Once during my regular day off type stuff (dishes, laundry, gardening) and then later tonight at work.

How can I wear them to work, you ask? Especially when I posted that they are not footwear that is allowed nor fashionable enough to be worn there. HA! My work hours tonight START at 9PM when the store closes and run til 2AM. The dreaded inventory night has arrived! Ugh! So if nothing else, my feet can be happy and I can get more exercise than I would otherwise.

Speaking of work... my 15-20 hours a week has jumped to about 25-30. Some of it is by design, my managers like me and the job I do and I recently asked for more hours, but the rest is by default. I got called in two hours early on Sunday to make up for someone who had to tend to another store, then ended up staying an hour later getting the place in order. So 2-6 turned into 12-7!

The only complaints I have is my sore back and feet. Other than that, I'm happy that they're happy. As plebean as it is, I enjoy the work. Heck, last Friday I ended up in the stock room for an hour so I got to listen to the MP3s on my phone! *hee hee*

As for day off type stuff ~ The garden looks pretty good so far ~ for an utterly untended garden. It really needs to warm up and dry out here in SE MI! The trees are leafing out well, the pear and ornamental cherry tree both bloomed, the peony is already 6" tall and the perennial flowers and hostas are all coming back strong ~ especially the daylillies. One exception is my azalea which seems to have gotten too dry over the winter. I'm trying to decide whether to cut it back and nurse it along or take it out and replace it.

My garden "to do" list is growing faster than my garden!

The little Red Maple has found its home in the back yard and is doing well. It has lovely reddish leaves that dwarf its tiny frame but tell of grand days of shade and fall color for years to come.

Next to find a home is a perennial Flame Grass plant and a sunny location for an Elephant Ear tuber. Last year's Elephant Ear was a joy to watch grow. It even bloomed (5x)! It's not supposed to do that in my climate region!

Then again, I get teased about my "nuclear garden" all the time. Things that shouldn't happen, do. My Dusty Millers, supposedly annuals, come back year after year and are enormous. My Shasta Daisies have taken over one whole (3'x3') corner and are typically 4' tall. The Chameleon Plant I inherited with the house and only discovered (uncovered) after two summers here thrives and blooms and is spreading like crazy.

Ok, I could go on and on. Right now it all needs weeding! So...

On with the day!!