Monday, October 1 (Happy Birthday, Mom!)

I apparently went to bed too early Sunday night and woke up at 3:30 AM. Try as I might, I could not get back to sleep. I kept thinking about my Mother (because it should have been her birthday today) and things that happened when I was young.

I gave up at 5:00 AM, turned the news on and proceeded with my day. I went in early again (I have therapy today and, hey, I was up anyway) and it was chilly enough to need my coat.

I did leave at 11:30 AM and went to therapy. I left there with my back feeling great (the last 15 minutes is spent lying on heat pads) but my stomach muscles hurting again. With my rotator cuff surgery and the knee replacements, I am more used to hard core machines, so I still can’t believe those wimpy little exercises can make you so sore!

I stopped at Westborn for some soup. Now they always have like six different kinds, but you never know what they will be. I thought I died and went to heaven when I saw they had clam chowder! Other than me, they make the best clam chowder I ever tasted. But, I forgot it was almost 1:00 PM and when I went to get some, the container was all but empty. DAMN!

I toyed briefly with getting the vegetable soup, but settled on my old favorite, the chicken noodle soup. Then I paid my money and hit the road back to work.

I ate my soup while I worked. It dawned on me later that I would never be able to eat the huge Honeycrisp apple I brought, so I offered to split it with Michelle. Vicky had also found out they were now on the market and brought her own. Even though it was just half, it was enough and absolutely delicious!

I got home after work and treated the cats, then changed into outdoor gear. In spite of my dear brother’s comment about his flowers all doing well, mine aren’t. And, all the computer models I’ve seen so far say this is going to be a very bad winter here in Michigan. Which is okay, I guess, as we certainly need the snow and rainfall to get out of this drought we have found ourselves in.

So, I took the line trimmer and cut down all the dying hostas, etc. in the front gardens (all except for one new, little hosta I planted this year that never did well. I want to give it every chance I can.) The I emptied out the porch rail planter. The planter (with its pea gravel) went into the garage and all the raked up garden refuse went out back onto the compost heap.

It was almost dusk when I finished up. So, I made sure everything was locked up and went inside for the night.

I had my third cup of coffee for the evening while the meatloaf and the last sweet potato heated up in the microwave. I was either hungrier or less judgmental than Sunday night, as the sage didn’t seem SO overwhelming tonight (I still used too much, though).

I watched an episode of “Breaking Bad” and then, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t, I watched another one (I had to know what happened, lol!) Then I went to bed at about 11:00 PM.