Paul & Mary's Daily Diary

Mary kept thinking about her vintage dresses!

It’s January, and Alexa just reported it’s going to be 85 degrees today!  I thought to myself, ‘Maybe we’ve had a pole reversal, and summer came in like a boss!’ I half expected to see palm trees sprouting in my backyard and someone at the neighbor’s BBQ flipping burgers in a Hawaiian shirt.

So, naturally, I dove into the internet like a kid in a candy store, hoping to find the reason behind this meteorological madness.  Turns out today’s historic high average is 69.5 degrees, the historic low is 48.8, and the landmark average daytime temperature is a cool 59.2.

After several minutes of manipulating my fingers and toes (I swear I’m not trying to summon a rain dance), I concluded that today is a whopping 36.8 degrees warmer than usual!  At this rate, I should probably dig out my sunscreen and make a snowman out of ice cubes—because who wouldn’t want a frozen margarita in January?

Mary made a great breakfast, and I decided to reactivate my food vacuum system that I bought when Sue passed; I was alone, and you can’t cook for one, so I sealed everything up.  Bob Duda was going to call and assist me since he uses his all the time.  I fiddled around for quite a while and finally figured it out (I admit, I read the instructions).

FoodSaver V4400 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine with Automatic Vacuum Sealer Bag Detection and Starter Kit

On a serious note, during our cleaning activities, we found a bible given to my Aunt Opal and Uncle Jimmy by my grandmother in 1936.  It was in good shape except that the leather cover was drying out.  I put it into the vacuum machine, and now it is sealed!   I did the same with the Bible given to me 76 years ago by my Aunt Edith and Uncle Claude.

OK, back to work!  I replaced several LIFX bulbs with the new Govee lights and changed the security camera power supply, so we now have a view of the living/TV room and front door online.

I finished re-bulbing the critical lamps in the house, with only two bedrooms left to go!  In case you wondered, IF the wifi goes out, the bulbs will work with Bluetooth!  If all power goes out, who cares?

Govee LED Smart Light Bulbs, 1000LM Color Changing Light Bulb, wifi & Bluetooth Light Bulbs, Work with Alexa and Google Assistant, Dimmable RGBWW A19 75W Equivalent Smart Bulbs.

The greatest surprise of the day?  The mailman delivered a card from Colleen that looked like it could compete in a family reunion photo contest!  We opened it up, and BAM!  There it was: our family immortalized on a card, like some Hallmark miracle.

I did that????  Oh my!!  My Spirit Animal is now a RABBIT!

I squinted at the picture, half-expecting to find a stranger or someone I could pass off as ‘that weird cousin from out of town,’ but nope!  It was just the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids – all there.  It felt like I’d stumbled upon an accidental game of family bingo, and I was one card away from winning a trip to the Bahamas!

I mean, how did we end up with so many people?  Just yesterday, it felt like it was just Mary and me arguing about who was eating the last piece of pizza.  Now we’re basically a small army.  And let’s be honest, if family photos were a reality show, this one would definitely win an Emmy for ‘Most Awkward Poses’.

We continued working all afternoon and well into the evening.  Mary made extreme progress going through all the costumes and hats, and even donated several.  It did amaze her that the closet contained little bugs that ate the dresses and made them smaller; after all, it had been almost 20 years since she wore some of them.

Paul was puzzled by many of these devices!

No pictures of us today—we looked like a couple of raccoons after a dumpster dive!  After hours of cleaning and rearranging, I’m pretty sure we could win an award for ‘Ultimate Messy Makeover.’ My hair was doing its best to look like a tornado.

Honestly, we were one step away from creating a new trend in ‘post-apocalyptic chic.’ Instead of capturing our radiant smiles, the camera would have just caught the chaotic energy of us trying to find our sanity among the clutter.

We watched “In Harm’s Way” in the “new” TV room while sipping on some vino.

Crash time this evening was 10:30 pm.  Good night, you all!

We are on Day Four of our Spring Cleaning activities!

No, we have not arranged for hired help!  Mary and I work like 3 1/2 people, each having the effect of seven!  Mary did another flyby on her closet while I attacked my two small file cabinets.  We have taken our four waste baskets full of useless paper and created four box loads of clothes, belts, shoes, etc.   Mary began the attack on her “costume/vintage” closet, removing several outfits to consign to a vintage store.

We only had one meal today around noon because we were on a roll and didn’t want to stop the momentum.

We spent the afternoon tackling the office closet shelf above the clothes racks, and let me tell you, it was like diving into a time capsule of bad decisions! I managed to clean out six boxes of things we definitely didn’t need. I mean, who knew we were hoarding accessories for two flatbed scanners? It’s like keeping a box of VHS tapes when you’ve switched to streaming!

And those massive printer manuals? What am I supposed to do with a 200-page guide on a printer that went extinct before dinosaurs roamed the Earth? I half expected to find a long-lost sibling in there. Honestly, if anyone needs a manual on how to avoid clutter in their lives, I’m now an expert in what not to keep!

Tomorrow I plan to load the van and take things to Goodwill.  Goodwill was founded by Rev. Edgar J. Helms in Boston (1902) with the “not charity, but a chance” philosophy, using donated goods to train people for jobs.  Key facts include its non-profit status, that it’s a network of independent local agencies, and that donations fund job training, not corporate profit, with some stores (like Seattle’s flagship) being huge retail hubs for these programs.

Colleen is well known at the store after she helped us move into the new house!

Around 4:00 pm, I set the sump pump in motion and drained the swimspa, sending 600 gallons of water down the drain.  Then, I began the refilling process, which took almost twohours using a single hose.  We are expecting a brand new swimspa cover to be delivered and installed within the next two weeks!

We finally stopped around 6:00 pm and watched two westerns in the newly reorganized “Exercise Room” where we store our 60″ roll around TV and stand.   We watched two movies with Willie Nelson, including the remake of Stagecoach (1986) alongside Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, playing Doc Holliday.

Stagecoach was great.  Here is one clip:

We also enjoyed the musical western Red Headed Stranger (1986) based on his album.  Willie is a preacher gone bad.  The music was terrific.

We finally hit the sack around 10:00 pm, for tomorrow is another day, and we have an attack plan in place!

That is so cheesy!!

Another day has foisted itself upon us, and we will weather the storm.

But first, we must go to the gym and get our bodies moving again after four days of straight dancing!  The hot tub yesterday helped, but now the professional pain-givers step in and twist the muscles back into shape – round is a shape.

Immediately after the gym, we went VFR to the post office to give Uncle Sam a bunch of money for the US Treasury to waste on useless programs.  To recover the money, Mary and I just opened a Somali Lernin’ Center and filed for free money from the good old USA.

My Valentine’s Day flag has yet to arrive.  The last US flag and the Valentine’s Day flags bit the dust in the wind.  The ends fray, and you can hear the flags whipping in the strong breeze.  So, we replaced the US flag (we keep spares) and are now flying the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag, commonly known as the Gadsden flag.

We stayed home today, and Mary attacked the office bookshelf with a vengeance.  I carried out two boxes of books to the van, Mary rearranged many books into a proper order, and I worked on the website, getting St Patrick’s Day 2025 fixed up!

Everything is in subject matter order, and we have a lot of room now.  Mary is now the chief librarian.

Tomorrow we will go back to work, finish off the books, and then attack the closet.  I have decided I do NOT need 50 pairs of pants, 60 T-shirts, and 25 pairs of shoes!

We had a nice dinner of leftovers, which was wonderful because we could now see the back of the refrigerator and go back to cooking.

We settled in and watched some TV, though Mary’s need to check for light leaks made her nod off quickly.  I watched “The Final Countdown”.