My Busy Day

It feels like I've broken a bone in my foot...all the feelings of a break, but without any swelling or bruising, so go figure. Maybe the joint has deteriorated to the point that the bone disconnected. My pinkie toe doesn't move when I will it to. After a restless night, I was miserable this morning, but tonight things are much more tolerable.

Today was a busy day for clearing stuff out. Sure, my foot is a pain (hah!), but life goes on. I cleared out the cabinet over the stove. Standing on a ladder, I found a bunch of junk that the tall men in my life have stashed up there...cough drops melted with age, kitten formula that expired in 1999, ancient sunblock, and dozens of rolls of Ace bandages. I kept what we needed and then filled the trash can. Now it's home to a glass teapot and teacups with diffusers. I don't want to drag a chair over, I can always ask a giant to reach.

I have a green thumb and my houseplants are taking over! With two porches full of hungry overgrown plants, I just couldn't face repotting. In fact, I decided don't want plants anymore! I put an ad in craigslist for free house plants and posted some pictures of a couple of plants, plus a glider/rocker that I a friend gave me, but I decided I didn't want it either. Gliders make me seasick.

The nicest young lady replied to my online post and happily drove off with a truckload of potted plants. She has two very well behaved little boys, and offered to "do anything" to repay me. I've been dreading cleaning out my overflowing pantry and freezer, and so this is truly her lucky day. She plans to come by tomorrow or the next day with a big cooler and boxes and will go home with quite a bit of food. After recently losing her job, and with little boys at home, she was overjoyed at the prospect of free groceries.

For dinner tonight I made a chili-potato bake that Rachael Ray made today on TV, served with a simple lettuce salad and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. It was unusual, as I normally try to avoid potatoes and additional starches in our meals. Everybody liked it, but Mark complained about the kidney beans. For dessert we had carrot cake that Mark brought home yesterday. It looked alot like the Spanish Bar Cakes that daddy used to often buy when I was a kid, except this one had an icing carrot decoration on top.

My dog Juliet is taking weekly AKC dog behavior classes. Being a four-pound peanut, training is difficult for me. Other dogs in this class are a german shepherd, boxer, bishon, a herding dog, and a few other mid-sized dogs, but no other tiny Yorkie doglets like Juliet. The instructor tells us to hold a piece of treat in front of the dog's nose and lead them across the room at your left ankle. Have you ever walked across a room holding a piece of chicken four inches from the floor? Use your imagination - my rear end high in the air, all the way across the room. Not very ladylike, and terribly uncomfortable. After watching a dog training show tonight on TV, I got an idea! A quick trip to Lowes, and now we have a half-inch dowel with a small ping-pong sized rubber ball on the end. She follows it anywhere I point it! " Juliet, sit!" plop. "Juliet, down." plop. "Juliet, walk with me." walk walk walk, right at my left ankle. The stick is a charm! She loves it and understands to follow it. I can't wait for tomorrow night's class!