I didn’t write before going to bed last night, but a quick recap of yesterday. Willie went on a morning walk and had an odd experience with a guy walking in the opposite direction, passing him, crossing the road after kneeling down to “tie his shoe” and turning around to head the same direction as him on opposite side of the road, then crossing back over to Willie’s side when the sidewalk ran out, following him towards the neighborhood, losing him when Willie took a loop, but then coming out of it finding the guy disheveled with his shoes untied almost out of breath as if he had tried to keep up with him. Eventually he went another way, but once again it set Willie on edge. So odd and probably just a coincidence.
We went to a “pre-sale” garage sale and bought some old comic books, a set of nesting Longaberger bowls and pie plate, and a few records. That was kind of fun seeing old things – they had needlework magazines from the 1920s, Life magazines from 1941/42, and a few other titles I didn’t recognize.
C had her first Spanish class. It will be a lot of work, but I think it will be a good experience for her.
Willie slept poorly last night due to fretting over the car-tailing yesterday. He was even more bummed because he was looking forward to continued hiking every day. The hiking of hills is not the same as taking a walk through our neighborhood. He did however decide to simply take to walking an extensive route in the neighborhood, at least for now. Hopefully whatever he inadvertently got caught up in gets resolved and he can go back to the trails.
We did not go to the motor vehicle office to change anything. If we don’t plan on living here forever do I have to change my license? Rhetorical question. Why am I so resistant? I do not know why I feel it so strongly. Sigh.
I did hang a couple pieces of artwork today. The one below is me when I am one and a half, drawn by my Papa’s cousin.
Willie was followed today and it still has him irked. He started going to a nearby park yesterday to get in some hiking. Yesterday there was a car with a guy hunched down in it that gave him the heebie jeebies. Today while the same guy wasn’t there when Willie first arrived he was there when he left. This was not the person who followed him. As Willie pulled out of the parking lot he noticed a police car up the hill facing down where Willie pulled out and he just assumed he was there to catch people speeding off the hill. As Willie continued down the road he came to an intersection and noticed an unmarked dark SUV pulling up to the stop sign. Willie turned and this vehicle pulled in behind him. Now it isn’t entirely uncommon to have someone going the same direction as you, except this person followed Willie all the way into our neighborhood. By this time Willie was suspicious so he didn’t drive to our house and instead took a different route and eventually pulled over. The person went up the road a little farther, turned around and started heading back towards Willie. As he drove by Willie looked at the person and they refused to look his way, but they continued on. When Willie finally got back to the house he was annoyed and concerned, so he decided to call the non-emergency police line to see if he had been followed by an undercover officer. The lady was less than helpful and gave him the runaround, so much so that he finally just hung up on her because she was being so unhelpful and ridiculous.
Alas, he has decided not to go walking at this place unless I come with him and he isn’t going to drive the car he drove today. Yesterday he was in a different one.
The incident made us decide it is time to change out our plates. Alaska plates are a little obvious so it it now time to begin blending in. I have been resisting as I don’t really want to become a Minnesota resident. Part of me wants to claim Alaska forever, but we have no intention of moving back so that is an unrealistic plan. I spent part of the evening gathering the documentation we need to transfer things over. Thankfully items were in my Important Papers binder and in two of the vehicle glove boxes. Perhaps tomorrow we will take care of that. More to come.
At practice C was told her time for the 2-mile yesterday – she ran it in 13:58. The coach said it was the first time since 2017 (I think that was the year she said…it has a seven in it and I don’t think the program existed in 2007) that seven girls ran the 2-mile in under 14 minutes for this team. Or perhaps I am getting the seven confused with the seven girls. I will have to ask C tomorrow.
C started school today, though it didn’t seem like she was too excited for it. I’m not sure why.
Willie and I went to her practice today to cheer the team on during their two mile time trial. She was holding strong until near the end and then she ended up with a major belly cramp. Willie did some research and we think it was due to having too much protein too close to practice. Apparently when running your body directs blood flow to where it is needed and protein takes a longer time to digest so when it is present and you are exerting yourself, your body can become unhappy. The situation resolved itself not long after she completed her run, but it did greatly affect her time. She still finished in a satisfactory place/time and she didn’t give up in spite of the pain and urge to throw up.
Willie met a couple more dads at the run and that was nice. He is going to have friends here, I just know it.
Yesterday the cross country team had a service project packing food at Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit out of Eagan, MN. All three of us went and we drove our neighbor and two of Cs teammates. After an introduction and instructions we all went back to start packing food. Initially I helped label the food bags because only two people – one of the mom’s and a younger boy – had stood up to help and I figured one more would be good. What I didn’t realize was that we weren’t labeling the bags the group was using right then – they were for future groups. About 3/4 of the way through I went over to Willie and Cs group and traded out with him. Our table was C and two of her teammates, Willie/me, and one other mom. One girl was putting the vitamin mix and vegetables down the funnel, the other the soy protein and rice, and then C or Willie were taking the bag, weighing it to ensure it wasn’t too heavy or too light, and then handing to the other mom to vacuum seal. Once the requisite number of bags was complete they were packed in a box.We were only there for just shy of two hours but the group packed a total of 108 boxes!
They said our boxes were going to children in Guatemala.
We got home just in time to make potato salad and head to a friend’s house for a get-together. The weather was beautiful and the company wonderful.
Today we went to church for the first time in over two years. The entire time Willie was sick we couldn’t go due to his immune system and while it isn’t fully mature yet, he is doing well. We felt like it was finally time to step out and try one. A number of our new and old friends attend this church so we decided to try it first. I think we will continue attending.
Not long after we got home another friend texted to see if we wanted to come over to play/have a work party. Of course we said yes and went out to their place, met some new friends (who actually live really close to us), and had a great time outside. We built a nest out of old structure fire hose down in “The Pines”.
We are loving meeting new people and experiencing new things here. Oh, and I got called today to say the police in Edmonton found my bike! I’m not sure the logistics to getting it back to me, but will find out more tomorrow when the officer who reached out is back on shift. Anybody going through Edmonton any time soon?
Mama and I were able to hang out this morning before C and Willie woke up.
Willie had to fast before his blood draw so I didn’t make his breakfast.
On his way to his blood draw he called to say there was a large free sign down the end of the road and a lot of stuff – like a garage sale. Mama and I decided to take a walk down while C went to practice. We arrived and discovered that the FREE sign was for a white rabbit named Latka. She was enjoying her fenced in area on the lawn. It was quite funny since there are rabbits galore running around the neighborhood. The rest of the items were part of the garage sale. We found a nice circle swing to hang off the back porch.
The results for Willie’s blood draw came back excellent. His numbers remain in the normal range with his platelets up to 165 – higher than they were last time. The shoulder x-ray showed minor arthritis in both shoulders. I think we can manage that.
Another great day. Thankful to have some time with my mama.
The photo below is for my “ranch” dip that C enjoys. I wasn’t quite sure the ratio of ingredients and she had just about run out, so I mixed up a batch this afternoon. 1/2 cup no salt seasoning, 1/2 cup granulated onion, 2 TBSP granulated garlic, and 4 TBSP garlic salt. I then mixed 2 TBSP of the seasoning with 1 cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup of avocado oil mayo, and 1 TBSP of yogurt, with a dash of milk to adjust the consistency.
The small snippet of today included an annual skin check – where the doctor only sent one image of a spot on my back to dermatology. Last year I had a spot on the inside of my arm removed that was determined to be basal cell so I have to be aware of new and changing spots on my skin. The scar from the removal has healed quite nicely and the PA thought it looked good.
Mama came over midafternoon to drop off things that she has been storing for us since we last lived here, as well as a couple new things, including two boxes of our favorite taco seasoning from her local supplier. Willie wants to try to reinvent the recipe himself.. I started to make dinner – steak tips and veggies – but we ended up deciding to take Mama to our favorite little Mexican restaurant instead.
Tomorrow (now today) Willie has a blood draw and x-ray. I think the x-ray is for his shoulders. Will let you know how that all goes.
I unpacked a kitchen box today! Of course it reminded me that I have things in some of the kitchen drawers that I need to get rid of and highlighted that I still have one drawer that has nothing in it because the drawer is stuck and we haven’t fixed it yet. The new slides did arrive last week and are waiting for installation.
Willie and I went to the hardware store to pick up some tools and wood and after picking them up, picking something else and putting the original items back, and then not finding the actual wood we needed, we returned all but the wood glue and tape measure. It was kind of funny how we flip flopped and changed our minds.
I’m becoming snobby about the screws used to put things together. I was putting together something I ordered online this evening and it was obvious the screws were not the highest quality. If I had realized it I would have considered buying good screws to use instead.
This evening we listened to a webinar on applying for scholarships. Ultimately it was a sales pitch, but there were a few nuggets. We may decide to pay for their services even after we were scoffing at the idea. C is currently entertaining becoming a chiropractor and that costs a pretty penny. Our goal is to have her graduate debt free, so scholarships are key. More to come as we travel that road.
This afternoon there was a short-lived but very loud storm that passed over. I didn’t look out to see the clouds, but I think they looked pretty amazing.
Cs team ran laps around the track today for a fundraiser – she ran 21 laps in 45 minutes and she was not excited about it. Running in circles or over the same area over and over again is not her idea of fun running. I didn’t ask her where her laps landed with everyone else’s, but that is just over five miles.
C had her first Algebra 2 lesson today. It sounded like it went well overall, though on of the questions on her quiz said she got it wrong, but we are pretty sure she got it right. I reached out to the TA to ask about it. I am interested to hear what they have to say.
C had her first official cross country practice today. The team back in Fairbanks started back over two weeks ago with their official practices. The timing of the seasons makes for different starting times and season length. I very briefly entertained going for a run too and then decided not to as I have not run in ages and I think my body would be pretty mad at me if I tried. For now I will stick to brisk walks.
Willie and I had productive work days. C hasn’t started all her classes yet. She is preparing for Spanish and starts Math tomorrow.
I didn’t unpack anything today, but I did get some things organized.
