Not today, but a few days ago I had my first trip around the neighborhood with Little One (my baby niece) in a pram, and mom (aka. Granny). Little One screamed her lungs out at the start of the trip, two minutes later just out the door, she slept peacefully.

The trip went mostly fine, except for it being way too warm for walking around (imo - I'm not good with heat), a very pesky wasp, a pram that went every other way than straight forward (wheels acted a bit like those on shopping carts), roads that definitely weren't flat but more tilting sideways - with enough bumps to shake up a veggie smoothie, plus a "backseat driver" granny with opinions on my "bad" driving (not so much when she took over and almost immediately headed straight into the bushes on the sidewalk, though - Little One didn't notice anything, and was perfectly safe, just so it's said).

Little one slept most of the trip, but started getting a little antsy when we headed back, making some noises, and spitting out her pacifier about 5 times a minute. Started wailing when we opened the door. The moment (and I sincerely mean the moment) her daddy lifted her up, she immediately stopped wailing, went completely silent, and pulled a *surprise Pikachu* face, as if *well, I've never cried in my life, I'm the nicest baby in the universe! What are you all staring at me for, who are these people? Do you have any milk for me?*

Babies

The dog has definitely peed somewhere on the livingroom carpet while we were away

I'm breaking out in hives. It's nice out for a change so I've been picking weeds. The gardens have been neglected this year. I've been watering, picking off any dead leaves I come across and that's about it. We've also been mowing the lawn despite being given the side eye from the resident wild rabbits.

Last year I had idea and for once, it actually worked.

I ordered a bag of a grass seed mix called Cabin Grass to see if it would knock out all the crab grass as I don't like using toxic weed killers. It took awhile to take, but the problem area is no longer covered in crab grass. I'm not really picky about the lawn, but crab grass is a PITA. It spreads like wildfire. How many times can I say crab grass?

This particular seed mix isn't cheap coming in at almost $22.00 for a one pound bag, but I'd have to spend more than that on weed killers as they have to be reapplied. In the end, I think I made the better decision on multiple levels.

https://www.trueleafmarket.com/prod...-grass-seed-mix

If this ends up being my only win for the year, I'll take it.

Taking it easy today.

I did some cleaning to donate items I don't need anymore.
I worked on my accordion files sized for coupons.
I finally used some decal stickers on my accordion files as demarcation.

Otherwise, simple work.

Today is yet another Walmart run. Because some of the items are frozen and would spoil in the heat, we're having brunch at Taco Bell first.

Along the way, I need to pick up some meds.

Another day spent supply shopping. I bought some groceries on the cheap at Amazon. (Sometimes, they have stuff on the cheap and I wouldn't argue about bargains in our economy.)

Doing chores and getting the normal adulting shit one needs to do to be a functioning member of society.

Trying to come up with a way to get myself self-sustaining and self-sufficient in terms of money and food.

I am finally growing up as a person, but I had to do it kicking and screaming. With my parents both working 10 hour days on wacky weekly schedules, I need to pick up the slack.

Cole and Lincoln are being needy today. They've had two bowls of pig salad, they have plenty pig pellets, hay and water. They've been out in their pig pen ( It's a small kiddie pool that they can't get out of), which Sterling did not appreciate. She started clucking at them, but wouldn't stop watching them either. Dingus has started calling her Gargoyle Chinchilla because she acts like one, unless there are treats or carrots around.

We went to Costco. It is the first time I've been out of the house in couple of weeks. The store wasn't a total shit show, but it could have been better. I miss going during the middle of the week and getting there when the store first opens. We didn't buy anything exciting. We stuck with the things that the regular store charges a arm and leg for. I'm not willing to spend $6.00 for a 1 lb bag of rice kind of thing. I bought trash bags at Target a couple of weeks ago. They charged me $10.00 for 100 bags. I spent $16.99 for 200 of the Kirkland bags.

The one thing I did buy that I'm going to regret is the Tide detergent. Tide and my skin typically do not get along. I didn't feel like going to bunch of stores, so I guess crusty skin and Benedryl are in my immediate future.

Can't complain about it. I earned back about $10.

Either way, $10 is $10 more in my pockets.

With my parents both working, chore duty is my situation and with it, I have quite a bit of work ahead.

So, for those keeping score at home?

My Dad: Personal Shopper for Wal-Mart
My Mom: Pick, Pack, Pull Wall Worker for QVC
Me?: Maid Duties for my family and Servant to our Geriatric Cat, Gemini

Yes, I am helping out around the house while my parents are at work and I want to earn back money I normally surrender at the beginning of the month and if feeding the cat helps keep the cat quiet, mom and dad can sleep.

I used to surrender $100 because I hated to do dishes due to dirty dishwater making me feel sick.

My new bedding came today
My bedding is sage green (1x plain, 1x green with silver leaves. I have also seen some online I really like but I should calm down lol) with dusty pink cushions and throw blanket for the winter. Also got the toddler some rainbow sheets for her new bed now she has finally graduated the toddler bed. Also got her a cute cloud cushion.

I love it. For the first time in my life I will eventually have a colour coordinated room rather than just random furniture and sheets thrown together.

Had to get an eye exam and glasses. I was able to haggle a 25% off discount for 2 pair of glasses and special lenses with scratch resistance and blue light filter. Ended up getting some money back.

Bought split rings, a 36" ball chain, a new toilet brush, a pair of rubber gloves for cleaning my bathroom, acetone nail polish remover, a new hairbrush, Keto friendly foods, sandpaper, industrial paper dust masks, milk flavoring straws, milk*, plain seltzer, ginger ale, and a physical copy of Pokémon Violet. I got to Uva Academy and talked with Professor Turo. I'm not going to spoil my first impression beyond saying that it's an overhaul of all things Pokémon right down to options in the option menu.

Generation 10 is not even officially announced and people are begging for new element types, new evolutions of temporary and permanent types, new conditional and regional forms, regional variants on starters, the ability to travel through the Pokémon world in time and space...the return of old gimmicks.

(*roommate agreement in our home states responsibility for food for one's self is the sole responsibility of that person and if someone else depletes the supply, they're responsible for reimbursement. My mother enjoys a bowl of cereal and so, I have milk for drinking and cooking. She has milk for cereal.)

Ugh. Husband working so much is just making everything so difficult. He's gonna look for a new job, because he's so tired of working so much. They're understaffed and then getting blamed when not everything gets done even though it's 3 peoples worth of work thrown on 1 person. They have him working every day I'm not working and even when he sometimes gets a "half day" he's still not home until about 5pm because of the buses. I'm tired of him coming home so tired and I'm left to pick up all the slack around the house. The washing up is taking over the sink, the laundry basket is FULL. I've had a baby on my boob all day nonstop and I've been trying to sort through the bags of clothes we misplaced when we moved. I'm honestly tempted to just throw it all in the bin. We didnt need it in the past 3 months so do we really need it? We rebought so many things that we thought we'd lost (mostly just socks and underwear) and now there's no space for the stuff we found. Also some of it seems to be dirty clothes that I presume were in the clothes hamper when we moved and have just been thrown in a binbag with other clothes and now they all smell like feet. I'm currently naptrapped right now though so none of it is getting done.

I said a thing that I probably shouldn't have said and now there are consequences Surprisingly its a good thing but right now its annoying me so so much.

Prevented a person from having their lunch snached by a vicious seagull today, and met a dog that knows how to give high fives! Also got me the good ice cream

Played Pokémon Violet.

Started with Sprigatito, very close to evolving to Floragato.
I won a few Tera Raids.
Collected Gimmighoul Coins

Hopelessly lost trying to find the Titan Pokémon and\or the Gyms.

Otherwise, I tried Magic Spoon cereal (Foodgasmic salivating.) Peanut Butter was the flavor of choice and it stayed crunchy, even in milk.

I did a few chores. Tried out my new long handled dustpan and broom under my seat at the table.

My mother called yesterday. She sounded better but she can't take the meds she was given as prescribed. They warned her about how the medication ( I have no idea what it is) could make her sleepy. If she takes the 2 pills a day like she's supposed to, she feels like a zombie, so for now, she's only taking one a day which is helping. She has another doctors appointment in a couple of weeks. If she starts having more problems, she can be seen sooner.

Other than that, it has been life as usual. I'm waiting for the gross weather to go away so I can stop feeling like a zombie. The want to get fall cleaning done and out of the way is strong, but there is no point of doing it right now. Just when I got everything clean, everything would feel sticky again. It isn't even the kind of sticky from dirty hands or whatever, it's from the humidity.

One day last week I was up before the sun and the heat came on as the house got to 68 degrees with 'normal' humidity levels. I don't want heating bills, but it was nice waking up and not feeling like a soggy sponge.

Since I'm here blabbing about nothing, if anybody uses Frontline as a form of flea and tick prevention for a dog or cat, apparently Frontline is no longer being made. I called my vet last week looking for some for Chica and Jingle, I was told to call during the week. Of course this would happen as last weekend was tax free weekend. I digress.

Tuesday I got a email telling me that Frontline is no longer being made and to either buy from somewhere else while it is still in stock or to pick something else. I asked them for options that were not in the form of a collar, they told me to use either NexGuard or Advantix. I ordered Advantix from Chewy yesterday. I picked that because it works like Frontline, but also keeps mosquitos off the dogs. I've read one too many stories about mosquitos carrying malaria. We've had enough health related crap to deal with this year, we don't need more.

Chores were done where applicable, found something on sale, and downloaded a Kindle book sample on how to create my own country.

It was the only one available and it was aimed at the tweens market. But you must remember I didn't have access to such material because I graduated from school in 2006 and was in job training until June 2009 (the book was released August 1st, 2009)

Still, pet projects are nice. Might help me easily digest the ups and downs of running a country by using unfamiliar terminology that was left out of my curriculum in Washington State.

The way they educated us in Seattle almost seemed dystopian and creepy like we're in an Office Space\Battle Royale\The Matrix-like world where your job practically had your body tethered to the campus or the electronic collar would blow you up if an escape attempt is made.

In the words of the fisher-price telephone from Toy Story 3, "GET RID OF THAT MONKEY!" (A cymbal monkey toy would alert escapees.

Also, there is a SpongeBob reference about Sandy's bosses being primates, chimpanzees to be exact, which are technically apes like gorillas and humans. My mom is like "the squirrels and chimps are trying to kill me" on rough days.

The primate jokes are a director's signature: Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich has a fascination with primates of all sorts.)

Edit: Found another build your own country book. (This one was released May 12, 2014) it is much thicker than the first one as described in the product page.

To the moron ( possibly morons) that keep calling my house, then hanging up...

Keep calling and I'll keep blocking your number (s). I can block up to 1000 of them, so I've got plenty of slots to fill with blocks.

Chuckleheads out in force today.

My father finally passed away earlier this week. You can imagine how I am feeling right now. Grief yes, but also a kind of relief that his suffering is over. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer a couple of years ago. Was it only a couple? I've really lost count of time, and some times it seems like the longest phase of my life. Well, I have been nursing him for however long its been. At first it wasn't so bad: I just had to help him up and down stairs, do all the shopping, cooking and cleaning - my years as a student and on the road prepared me for that. But a few weeks back he was taken very poorly and had to be rushed to hospital. Pneumonia, seemingly. Well, he responded well to the treatment, better than they'd anticipated actually, he was was a tough old sailor.

But they kept him in for a couple a weeks, running this test and that, and I think they kept him in there for too long, because when they finally brought him home he could no longer move around, not even with his crutches or a walking frame. He could no longer get up the stairs to his bedroom, even with my help. so we had to make up a bed for him in the dining room. That did it, I think, he just couldn't stand being so helpless. I had to wash and dress him and even help him to shave. I'm not exactly in the best shape myself, and since my hearing isn't so good, I had to get a baby alarm so I could hear him from my room upstairs.

So I have had a miserable three days. Like I said, my own health is no great shakes and I hadn't slept for three days solid. I've had my brother and sister-in-law here, helping me sort things out and get the house looking more like a home than a hospital ward. And my niece Victoria, who I haven't seen for at least two years turned up unexpectedly. It was nice to have her to talk to.

There is one thing that has cheered me a bit today. You know all those adverts about cheap, quick and easy funerals that (along with over fifties life insurance ads) are part of the reason I don't watch TV much these days? I had long since determined that my Dad deserved better than that, and my brother agrees. He told me today that he has arranged with the Navy for a burial at sea with full military honours: Union flag, bosun's whistles, the works. Yes, he bloody well deserves a proper sailor's funeral! He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 15, and I can't remember all the ships he served on, but there were a lot of them. He also served in the Korean war and in Aden. When he was posted to Singapore, we all went with him and that was a grand adventure for us four kids. Later, after leaving the RN, he served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and saw action in the Falklands conflict and in the Persian Gulf.

We'll have to wait till next year, since the Navy are only allowed to perform two such burials a year. But it will be worth the wait. When the time comes they will take us out into Plymouth Sound, beyond the breakwater, and in the time honoured tradition consign his ashes to the deep. What more fitting end for a sailor? And he will be in good company:-

Oh, that's terribly rough. Wishing you and your family comfort and peace during this time.

@VerDeTerre Thankyou.

Car broke down in the midde of the desert. Took what seems like forever to get back home. :/

My father's father served in the Korean War as a meteorologist for the US Navy, had brachycardia, broke his leg, had fluid drained from around his heart and somehow he is still alive.

My condolences to your father's family, you especially, caring for him. I do admit that judging by your father's will to power through, he was tough, as expected of sailors of any Naval branch worldwide.

If you need us...we'll be here. Come back if you need us for support.

Remember, you're not alone, we all have highs and lows.

@Elynda

I send my condolences to you and your family. May your dad rest in peace.

@PANDAQUEEN

@Gargoyle Cat

Thankyou both for your kind thoughts.

I spent much of today going through all my father's papers. And what a fascinating journey it has been! There is a perfect archive of photographs taken in every part of the world, as well as a huge collection of post cards sent to myself and my three siblings. His life must have been one big adventure, and we shared it as far as we were able. I remember when one of his ships returned from sailing around the world, half of Plymouth seemed to have turned out to welcome her back. That was in the days when people in this city really cared about their navy, and were proud of them. And, as family, we were allowed to go aboard her and got a grand tour of the ship, plus dinner in the Petty Officers mess. Much of the space on Dad's bunk was taken up with teddy bears: one from Singapore for my elder brother, another for me from Malta, a Panda from Hong Kong for my younger brother, and a Koala from Australia for my baby sister.

I also found a rather remarkable document, which I have just finished reading. It appears to be the first 3 or 4 chapters of the story of a boy seaman and his early training at HMS St. Vincent and later at HMS Ganges. Although it is told in third person (with occasional lapses into 'we' and 'us') the 'country boy' in question shares a surname with my Dad and hails, as he did, from rural Herefordshire. And he was at St Vincent and at Ganges. Added to that, many of the incidents and anecdotes tally exactly with things he has related to me over the years. The style is very polished, but I have little doubt they are his own words since I also found a rough draft of a further chapter in my father's handwriting. He often talked of writing his memoirs and it looks like he did make a start. What a pity he never finished it. It would have been a hefty tome if he had - several tomes in fact!

But in a way he has, for there are also his diaries: there two huge boxes full of them! It will take me ages to go through them all, but I shall do so. And then, if I am spared, maybe I can finish the account.