Not Much

69, with 92% humidity this morning. Rain all day yesterday, sometimes heavy. High of 84 today, felt hotter because of the humidity.

One blessing of the cloudy, stormy day yesterday: a lovely pink fog in the evening that made the whole world look pink. 

I stayed in yesterday, didn't do much except a little cleaning and a little work on this monster dresser that is, thankfully, almost finished. The color is called Haint Blue, a popular color in the American South for porch ceilings, believe it or not. It is a very pale blue that looks darker when not in direct light. I am doing the drawers in an hombre style, with each row a slightly darker shade than the one above. It looks pretty good, and I will be glad when I finish with the poly finish and can get it out of here, because it sure takes up a lot of space.

Larry worked in the gardens and yard all day today; he's made of tougher stuff than me. I need to get out and weed but could not bring myself to go out. So I stayed inside again, worked on the dresser and a small table, made three quiches, and did housework. At least I am beginning to feel rested up again; one more good night's sleep should set me up well. The quiches have bacon, sausage, kale, onion and cheese in them, and are delicious. Two will go in the freezer; the other--well, you can see what happened to it. I cooked the kale in chicken broth, then drained it well and patted it dry before putting it in the quiche. I kept the cooking broth, though--that will go into a soup this weekend. 

I've also been catching up with people via the phone. Some calls weren't happy ones--two friends who are losing loved ones in the near future. I feel so badly for them. One is losing a parent to cancer, the other her husband to dementia brought on by his exposure to Agent Orange. It's hard to feel helpless to do anything, but I can at least listen. Also talked to sons and one of my sisters, and to Lowe's about the bathroom vanity we were supposed to have had last week. At least that one problem seems to be resolved, and we can pick it up tomorrow. 

Another time-consuming but fruitless effort was trying to figure out why we owe double on our car insurance for the next pay period. The new-to-us truck didn't make the rate go up much, so I tried to contact USAA, our insurer, with no luck. I looked around on their website and tried the chat function, but found no answers. The frustrating part is that the chat agent wouldn't talk to me because it's my husband's account--which I set up for him, manage, pay the bill, etc. Such things cause Larry a lot of anxiety, so I do them, but USAA makes it next to impossible. One more problem for another day.

I am still working to reduce our spending, as the high price of gasoline and the increase in grocery prices and pretty much everything else is really impacting our budget. Now I buy bacon and sausage only once a month, if that, and only one pound of each; I've stopped drinking wine except on weekends--a good thing, probably, but I did enjoy my evening relax time with a glass of Chardonnay--and am looking for other ways to cut back our spending. I have to wonder how others, who much buy more of their food than we do, are managing to make ends meet. One friend said her electric bill doubled over the same time period as last year, and I am hoping that we won't feel the same hit. At least gas prices are going down a little, but it's still not enough to really help. How are you all managing? Are you feeling this pinch too?

No writing today. Seems like when I have to deal with business stuff, it makes me go into part of my mind that just doesn't allow creativity.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.