I had a date with Carl yesterday. Very pleasant. He’s an interesting conversationalist and not threatening like some guys. (He didn’t give me the feeling he’d attack me, but he definitely showed an interest.)

We had a couple glasses of wine and a nice lunch. He left at an appropriate time.

He is a couple years older than me which feels right. He was widowed about a year ago. He talks freely about his late wife (Diane). It makes for a very comfortable situation.

I hope he calls again.

I am housebounnd (mainly because I prefer staying in). My view is lovely. I really don’t care to leave my place.

Sure I like people but I prefer solitude most of the time.

There’s always stuff I should be doing. I don’t accomplish much. Today I swept the lanai and cleaned up the kitchen. I washed my hair, emptied the waste baskets and got my new small router working. Sophie has gotten a lot of attention. I also watched some TV: a movie, Dr. Pol, and played some online euchre.

I have a gentleman friend stopping by tomorrow. I need to have my place ready for company. He seems really nice and I’m looking forward to being with him. I’ll add more info after our “first date.”

I had lots of problems yesterday:

Car wouldn’t start,
Jumper battery didn’t want to cooperate,
Computer didn’t have sound,
Computer’s wi-fi failed,
Toilet was leaking,

Everything’s ok now.

I started new lettuce seed pods on June 2nd. They should have sprouted within 3 to 8 days but it had been more than two weeks and they hadn’t germinated. I ordered new pods and started them today. Hopefully this time they’ll take off.

On the days when I work at the Emergency Squad I’m up about 6:10 a.m. so I can be in place by 7 a.m. Waking up at that time is no problem but by 1 p.m., I’m tired.

I also get up at the same time every two weeks when my cleaning lady comes at 7 a.m.

This afternoon I realized I was really exhausted. Going into my bedroom and messing up my “made” bed didn’t appeal to me. I tried the couch and thought about the loveseat. Nope! Not comfortable enough.

I have a “guest room” which I’d prepped for Linda’s cancelled visit. I went in there and tried it out. I didn’t peel back the blankets, but I grabbed a nice big robe from the closet to use as a blanket. Pillows, and quiet. It was perfect.

One of the ladies who lives on my court called me. She’d lost the keys to her condo and wondered if I knew of a solution to her problem.

I suggested Rick Miles, the handiman. He came over but the place was locked up tight.

I invited her to wait in my place. (We went inside, cutting through my garage.) As she was preparing to call a locksmith, I asked her if she’d checked her purse and she firmly said, “Yes!” Then she checked again and there they were!!

After my neighbor had left, going out the front door, I proceeded to fix my dinner. It was then that I realized that the door from my storage room to the garage was wide open and so was the door from the garage to the outside.

I quickly looked around and couldn’t find Sophie. She was missing!! She never goes out alone. Calling her didn’t get her to come. I was frightened!!

I wasn’t sure if she was still inside or if she was exploring the neighborhood. I looked at all her favorite places to hide inside. Then I went back out looking for her.

She wasn’t in the garage, nor close to my condo.

Then I spotted her laying on a lawn about half way to the entrance of the court. Thank heavens she stood out with her primarily white coat. I called her but she just got playful. At least I knew where she was and it didn’t take me long to get to her and scoop her up. She doesn’t seem to understand how scared I was. She’s my baby!!

It may have been an adventure for her but not for me. She’s sleeping it off now. I’m enjoying a glass of wine.

I prefer a place with very few or NO nick-nacks. I hate clutter. But little by little I have been adding to my decor. Seems like clutter is creaping up on me.

The past couple of days I’ve added an African violet and a framed photo of John. Now I need to see what I can remove.

Looking around my great room I see several items I can eliminate to regain my space. Once I get back to a place that’s not as cluttered, I’ll promise that if I add anything, I’ll remove something else. I think I’ll move the artificial flowers Kelly sent me, the three candles by the TV, the two “fairy trees,” the old vase in the corner and the small ceramic dog.

Once I get rid of those things, I’ll see about emptying more (like the white lantern, the green leaf bowl, things hanging from the fans.)

I have founda shelf in the storage room to put extras to recycle. I’ll take the cardboard box from the garage and fill it with stuff to go to Nearly New. I need to purge.

My eye doctor flirted with me today. Told me I was pretty, mentioned how nicely I was dressed (including a comment about my neck chain) and was overly chatty. I was flattered. He is lots younger than me but it still felt good to be complimented.

I also found out today that the president of the Sportsman’s Club is a guy I’m sorta interested in. He’s nice. He’s the guy who sat by me and kept my phone number at the Sportsman’s Club’s dinner on May 8th and contacted me afterward.

Maybe my social life will pick up.

I have very little desire to socialize. Dances don’t appeal to me and even calling friends and having phone conversations is a struggle.

Seems like I always have a list of “to dos” and no energy to do them.

I’ve even applied to make Sophie an emotional support dog. Some folks might fake their need to have their pet with them, but not me.

Today I woke up thinking that I wanted to hit the road so I could attend Connie Miller’s estate sale which started at 7am. I was having an intestional problem so I didn’t leave home until after 11am.

Before I left for the sale, I wanted to start my car but the battery was dead (AGAIN!!) I’d started it two days ago but just let it run in the garage. Apparently it needed to be driven.

I tried my small auxilliary battery but it didn’t start.

I went to the sale by golf cart, and then got a few groceries.

About 6pm I tried to start the car.

I used the auxilliary battery (after studying the instructions). I don’t think I was grounding the battery sufficiently. Also I needed to pause after pushing the start button. Finally it started. I took about a 15 minute drive around Kings Point to charge it up. I’ll do it tomorrow too.

Kings Point offered a covid blood test to determine the presence of antibodies for the disease.

My results came back yesterday:

The message said, “You have antibodies for COVID and the Amicron variant.”

My response was “Yipeeeeee!”

I have a total of five cameras hooked up to my security system (Simplisafe). A motion sensitive camera watches my front door from the lanai. I also have two in my great room and one in the garage. Recently I added a wireless camera which I’ve had aimed toward my Aerogarden. With it in place I can keep track of when the lights turn on and off.

Unfortunately for the past few days, I couldn’t get the wireless nor the motion sensitive camera to work.

I called Simplisafe and with the help of a technician, we got them working again. It was a problem with an out-of-date app systen. Once the up-date was loaded, everything is working perfectly.

The other day I had a slow-cooked pot roast. I’d cut the meat in half before cooking it. Today I fixed the other half with onions, carrots, and mashed potatoes. It was yummy!!

I guess I can’t deny that some of my cooking is great!! I could even serve it to a friend or date. My little slow cooker is perfect for one person.

The left over meat and gravy can be served with biscuits.

I’m stuffed!!

Several months ago, I sold my huge Aerogarden Farm. I knew there was no way to move it and the exterior of my condo was going to be painted which would present a problem. Besides I’d found it was more heavy work than I wanted. (Carrying gallons of water every day was difficult.) I kept a small Aerogarden Harvest Slim which only holds six plants but I only plan to grow lettuce so that size should work for me.

I planted it today with lettuce seeds I had left from my previous gardening attempt. Hopefully they’ll work.

Within 10 days to two weeks I should see green sprouts.