Not having to wake up to an alarm is a glorious thing for my “night owl” self. Eyes peacefully open at 9:15 with my heart and mind full of praise. “I love you lord, and I lift my voice, to worship You, oh my soul, rejoice…”The sun is shining as I roll out of bed and habitually check my phone. I note the temperature and get dressed for some yard work. I pop open a can of Bing – caffeine, fizz, and fruit juice so no guilt – and search for a podcast to listen to while I mow. I choose an episode from The Bible for Normal People. The mower is being contrary about starting. Thankfully my neighbor comes to my rescue and is able to get it started. I’m grateful for good neighbors. The grass is still frustratingly wet from all the rain. There are areas of the yard that squish beneath my feet. I wonder about how extreme the weather seems to be these days and am frustrated by people’s lack of understanding about climate change. I finish mowing and use the mower to blow the grass off the sidewalk and driveway. I’m relieved that it is done. I head in to shower and listen to another podcast.
I get dressed and wonder whether or not to put in earrings since I have a hearing test at noon. I opt for the earrings since I am rarely without a pair. It’s part of the “leave the house” mantra – Earrings ? Mascara ? FitBit ? Phone ?. I’m a little apprehensive about the hearing test. I am, on one hand, hoping maybe they’ll have an answer to my life-long ear pain that doctors haven’t and, at the same time, hoping I don’t need hearing aids yet. I hear okay but it does seem some people/ranges are harder to hear than they used to be. Jimmy Fallon – please quit mumbling! My husband meets me for the test since they said to bring someone with a voice you recognize. The audiologist is pleasant and explains everything clearly as we go through the testing. One part involves repeating compound words that you hear. I’m amused afterward when he says that one of them I missed was when I responded stoplight and the word was cowboy. He says that lots of people give that exact same wrong answer! My hearing is in the normal range so I feel relieved. Still it is worse in one ear than the other and he offers lots of suggestions about how to keep my hearing from diminishing any faster than normal. (That podcast loud enough to hear over the mowers is apparently a bad thing.) We leave and realize they never had my husband do anything. We assume that they only do that for more testing if your hearing is below normal. He heads back to work and I head to the McDonald’s drive-thru for a diet coke and fries. I have mixed feelings about my bad food choice and the part where salty things are one of the few things that taste normal. Last week’s cold still has my taste buds a little off.
I get home and check my email and play a few games of Words With Friends then head to the mailbox to get the “real” mail – ads and junk mail. I recycle that mail and then begin the mental battle of deciding whether to do what I should next or what I want. Want wins! I grab my book and head to the porch swing for reading time trying to ignore the shoulds of needing to pull weeds, the swing needing painted, the trim work needing to be done, etc. After about an hour I come in and get started putting together a shelf I bought for the porch. I’m feeling contemplative as I listen to my Nicole Nordeman CD. My thinking is interrupted by furniture frustration. Why is there always one screw that does not fit right in any put-together furniture? I do the rest and hope that hubby will have an idea about the table issues. After a couple more rounds of WWF, I fill the bird feeder and am pleased at the number of sunflowers that have sprouted underneath. I’m feeling productive now as I star a load of laundry and wash the dishes that can’t go in the dishwasher – why do I even own such things?
I head to the bank before it closes and then to take my malfunctioning computer to my geek friend in hopes he can figure out what its problem is other than being 10 years old. I wait for the train lamenting that they no longer have a caboose. I head on only to get stopped again for construction that leaves me sitting under the train overpass which kind of freaks me out. I notice all the cracks in the cement and hope that a train doesn’t come while I’m stuck under there. Muncie and trains – seriously. I drop off the computer the head to Fresh Thyme to grab more Bing and a couple other things, then home to fix dinner. I’m glad it is finally grilling weather! Burgers and brats are ready to go and I slice zucchini and butternut squash to grill too. Hubby gets home and we eat on the back patio – yeah! After dinner we walk around the yard discussing plans for things we’d like to do. We come inside and crash in front of the TV in time for him to watch his favorite show – NCIS. When it’s over he makes popcorn which I love the smell of but don’t like to eat. I grab some of the sesame sticks I got at Fresh Thyme as he bounces around stations until time for NCIS New Orleans. He heads to bed after the news and I stay up to watch Stephen Colbert. His monologues are keeping me sane right now. I check my FitBit before the stroke of midnight – 14,429 steps. It’s been a good day.