To-Do List....How I Did for May 2024

 

My To-Do List and how I did......

*  Pay Bills  DONE  Always paid first and early or on time

*  Have Bloodwork Done  DONE  Had labs drawn before I saw my PCP in May.  Everything was good.

*  Start Shoulder PT  DONE  Started and continued through May.  

*  Go to 3 Dr. Appointments  DONE  It seems all I do is go to medical appointments.  Saw the PCP, Orthopedic Doc and medical safari to MS to see my Dermatologist.

*  List 12 Items to Sell  FAIL  I just didn't get to this.

*  Take Box to One Kid  DONE  I drove over and left it on the front porch as Daughter didn't even have the courtesy to answer the door.  So I taped a note to her front door and she has made no attempt to contact either of us.  Sad.

*  Finish Arrangements for Trip and Cruise  FAIL  Well, I finished paying for the cruise but we still have to make plans for the flights out to Idaho.

*  List 2 Items on Facebook Marketplace  PASS  I DID  list 2 items on FB Marketplace.  I listed the two derelict boats in the back 40 that the previous owners left here.  I put them up for free.  We don't have the titles to either of these boats but previous owners have not made any attempts to come get them(so they have been abandoned here).  I got deluged with folks wanting one or the other or both, even in the bad conditions they are in and one of the boat trailers has no tires on it.  So Hubs looked up what is involved with actually selling/giving them away legally and it's quite a lot of paperwork involved so we are going to find another way to get rid of them where we don't have to pay fees and such to the state.   So I DID list them but we still have them. 8-((

*  Go Through Old Photos  PASS  I had to go through photos in order to put photos in Daughter's box.  

*  Contact Lawyer with Changes  FAIL  Ran out of time before we left.

*  Read/Finish Two Books  FAIL  Just hadn't felt much like reading.  Some days it's hard to hold a book still enough to read words with this danged Essential Tremor.

*  Buy Stuff for House(Always)  DONE  Hubs bought something, even if it was just kerosene for the burn pile. lol

*  Giveaway/.Donate Clothes That are Salvageable  DONE  I treated all the baby clothes I've been carrying around since the 1990's with Biz and everything that got cleaned went to Goodwill and anything too stained went into the garbage.  I gave each kid the outfit them came home from the hospital in and sent a box of boy clothes to my new Great Nephew, born in March.

As a Bonus I was able to donate some shirts and a new bra to Goodwill too. 8-)

*  Have Bone Density Scan  DONE  That wasn't much of anything other than laying on that hard "bed" at the scanner place.  ouch  Was done with that within 5 minutes and my bones all look dense and good.

*  Take Food to Food Bank  DONE

Everything pictured above got hauled to the Church Food Bank in May.

*  Edit More Photos  DONE  I got more photos on my computer edited but, I came back from the cruise with even more of those type of photos. I don't think I'll every get all these done.  lolz

*  Post About Old Trips  DONE  Worked on the 2017 Trip Out West and got near the end of that saga(finally).

*  Work on Genealogy  DONE  I was contacted by a 3rd cousin 1 x removed on Find A Grave, concerning some work I had done there putting up some memorials of relatives.  I didn't know she was my cousin until we got to corresponding about some errors in my FAG memorial placement.  Perhaps we'll stay in touch once we get this FAG issue hashed out.  We share my 3x GGrandfather Vassar but her Grandmother's maiden name is Snead and she is my 1st cousin 3 x removed too.  See what I mean about having a family macramé and not a family tree. lol

*  Buy Poly Mailers to Ship Fabric  DONE  I ordered and received the poly mailers.  Now I just have to photo and actually list fabric so I can sell and ship it. ugh

*  Photograph Fabric for Listings  PASS  I only got 3 pieces of yardage photographed before the month ended.

May turned out to be a busy month and June is about as busy.

Sluggy

February 2024 To-Do List.....How It Turned Out

Here are things I wanted to get done in February.....

*  Pay Bills  DONE  Always done first, Always!

*  Go to 4 Dr. Appointments  DONE

In February it was 2 x the Painful doctors(Pain Management)for test injections and then the Ablation, the Orthopedist for x-rays of shoulder issues and the creepy Eye doc for an eyeball check(where he found the secondary cataract).

*  Have Shoulder Injections  DONE

I had the injections.  They didn't seem to help however so the Orthopedist put me on an oral steroid pack in March at my follow-up, while we waited to schedule MRIs.  Of course, they scheduled the MRI for when we will out of the country, even after we told the doc and office staff when we wouldn't be here. sigh

*  Begin Going Through Merchandise to Sell  FAIL

I just didn't get around to this yet.  I have certain projects/things I need to finish before starting on this one.  I doubt I'll get to it until late April.

*  Find a New Dentist  FAIL

Like I detailed in that recent Frugal Friday post, using that AARP United Healthcare Dentegra Discount Program didn't pan out.  Even after informing UHC they don't seem to want to update their providers who accept Dentegra NOR care about this old ladies' terrible weekly long experience finding out that Dentegra is a NO GO.

*  Re-organize Pantry  DONE

We had a mouse in the massive kitchen island last Summer(found how it was coming up from below the house and corrected that). Since then Hubs has been paranoid about another critter getting inside(especially in the laundry/utility room as that is where we store the dog food.  Got a metal can for that now and he bought tubs to keep all the boxed/packaged food in-stuff in glass and metal, etc. is safe he feels.

So other than a couple of tubs for the boxed items, we have shelving for the canned goods, plastic bottles, beverage bottles, etc.

In the nook by the door to the hallway we have a larger shelving unit which holds dish soap, trash bags, baggies, laundry and cleaning products as well as some boxed dog food.  12 packs of soda as well as some bottled water sit stacked in front of the shelving.

Two upper shelves hold canned, jarred, bottled pantry staples and above it the tp stash.  After 1+ year here I think I bought 1 pack of tp but all you see in the photo was what I brought from PA when we moved here.(Hey, it made great packing material for some fragile items. lol)  I could probably go another year or so before we had to buy anymore tp. 8-))

And this is my auxiliary pantry space.  Since I can't use my sewing room for that purpose, I set up another shelving unit to hold more items in there.  I have a Rubbermaid tub in the kitchen where I put food bank donation items.  I probably need to go through what's in here and add to the donation tub.  The dish soap should be in the laundry room with all the other soap and the Kleenex should be in there as well.  There is more work to be done.....

*  Schedule RFA procedure  DONE

I had it and it was about as painful as the test injection nonsense I had to undergo to get approved for this one. ugh  I am 2 weeks+ out from having this done and the improvement is still barely perceivable. 8-(

*  Send Youngest a Birthday Present  DONE

I made sure I sent his package waaay early since the "Cajun Pony Express" operates around here with it's own unique set of rules and work hours.  I also Paypal-ed him some cash too.

*  Buy Stuff for House(Always)  DONE

I can't for the life of me think of what was bought but something is always needed to be done here(and money spent).  I believe Hubs had to buy some lawn tractor stuff and fire ant killer for outside projects.

*  Help Hubs reorganize his half of the Closet  DONE

Hubs has been living out of 3 Rubbermaid tubs for 1+ years now.  He left his dresser in PA(the bottoms of the drawers were falling out)and he hasn't felt the need to buy another dresser here.  He has a much smaller wardrobe than I do and he felt he had a system that worked with these tubs.

I picked up a hanging organizer on clearance for $3 at Kroger in February and helped him move most of his clothes out of those tubs into a more accessible configuration.  He now has one tub left for out of season clothing.  Hanging everything on hangers or in the organizer seems to be working for him.

*  Reorganize Master Bathroom  DONE

The vanity/sink area was piled high with stuff.  I found better places for all that(other rooms, drawers in the vanity or under the sink doors, etc.)and here is what is left, which are mostly items in use.

We have containers, boxes and a basket of excess items strewn all around the bathroom.  Now it's all contained and tucked between the vanity and the ginormous bathtub.

I still have these items perched around the tub and this container of items I still need to sort through and decide on where it needs to go.  I'll call this a win and mission almost accomplished. ;-)

*  Go Through and try on all my Clothing  DONE

I tried on every stitch of clothing I own.  3 piles got donated as they were hopelessly too big and not worth altering.  The stuff hanging together in my closet(23 items)are clothing I hope to save and wear again.  A few only need hemming but some are big projects but I LOVE the fabric(rayon)and can't bear to toss them.  I hope to get 3 dresses hemmed/re-hemmed before the cruise.

*  Edit More Photos  DONE

Always doing this and filing them away afterwards.

*  Post About Old Trips  DONE

I posted 3 installments of the trip out West in February.

*  Work on Genealogy  DONE

I did a smattering of genealogy work that month.

*  Move Video Files to New Computer  FAIL

*  Contact Church Food Bank to Make a Donation  DONE  Boy i never thought I'd have the trouble finding a Food Bank like I've had down here!  I contacted one of the few I could find(that weren't affiliated with the state government-who only want cash).  Called and left a message as their website said they were only in the facility/church 2 days a week(Thursday, Sunday)so I waited until Thursday during the hours they listed they were there.  Again, my call went to voicemail.  Since they never returned my first voicemail I just said, "I left a message (date)and still have not received a reply about making a donation.  You people sure make it difficult for someone to be charitable.", and then hung up and crossed them off my list.

Hubs made a call to a different church and this one was overjoyed for anything we could donate!  BTW-not to bash a religious denomination, but the first unresponsive church was Baptist and the one that welcomed our donations was Methodist.  I don't know if this means anything but because there are so many Baptist churches around here(can't swing a dead without hitting one)I want to think it's that particular Baptist church that was the exception. 8-(

*  Finish Gathering Donation Items  DONE  

Like I said, we made a food bank donation to the church that responded they would happily take our stuff.

That's all that got accomplished in February that was on my To-Do List.

Sluggy

DECEMBER 2023 To-Do List

Here is how the TO-DO List turned out for December.  We had a lot going on last month and I really need to lay December to rest before heading into February. 8-)))

DECEMBER

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always at the top of my list of things to get done.

* Do Christmas Cards Early  DONE  I didn't send out many this year but I did get them all sent(plus a Birthday card)before we left town.

* Find a New Neurologist  DONE  My new PCP's office informed me that around here once you have a neurologist it's practically impossible to get a new one.  I explained that the one I was given was quite lax in contacting me and communicating any information to me and/or following up in any way with me and was always changing his mind(we need to do more tests, then no, we don't need to do more tests, etc.).   He does not instill confidence in me that he knows wtf is going on and there is always an excuse for these lapses in contact(he's out of the country, he has Covid and had to leave the hospital before putting my RX through to the pharmacy, then he was out of the country again-but I was on a waitlist and got offered a closer date for an appt. while he was supposedly out of the country that time and the last time in December he was again, out of the country dealing with VISA issues. oy vey!

* Go to a Ridiculous Amount of PT Sessions  DONE  Not really a ridiculous number of them really, only about 4 before we left the state for the Holidays.

* Have a Sleep Study  DONE  Was done and we all know the outcome of that already. yeah!

* Have Dishwasher Installed  DONE

Finally got on the handyman's schedule to get this done.  The HVAC/electrical folks we have a contract with wanted over $600 to install this dishwasher(which cost $400 at Home Depot).  Being a manufactured home it had to be hard wired in so HD wouldn't install it(or couldn't).  The handyman outfit charged $160.  Good deal.

* Finish Xmas Present Buying  DONE  Got everything bagged or wrapped and thrown into the car for the trip.  We gave Daughter and Son In-Law their presents once we got home.

* Celebrate Daughter's Birthday  PASS  I gave her a card and a gift card.  She didn't want me to take her out to eat or make her a birthday cake.  Suit yourself.

* Buy Stuff for House(Always)  FAIL  Other than paying to have the dishwasher installed I can't think of anything we bought to repair or had to replace in the house in December.  This is a GOOD fail I think. 8-))

* Finish Making Travel Plans  DONE  Obviously, this got done. lol

* Follow Up on Back MRI  DONE  This one was "iffy".  The NP said if the MRI showed I needed an injection I'd get one BEFORE we left on our trip.  There were calls back and forth about what kind of injection I could get(first I had to wait 3 months after the TKR for one, then I didn't)then the scheduler called and said they needed 2 weeks lead time which meant I could have it the day AFTER we left town. WTF??  Finally we got through to someone and the issue was if insurance(still on private health insurance at that point)approval didn't come through we had to accept responsibility for payment of $600.  Seriously?  They jerked us around for 10 days over $600 instead of telling us this outright?!?  So we said of course, we'll  sign for it..... Insurance pre-authorization came through in the end so we didn't have to fork over the cash but really?  I am so over the way in which medical care is handled down here.

* Go Through and Try On all my Clothing  PASS  Well I HARDLY got everything tried on, I concentrated on shirts as I knew the pants weren't going to pass muster.  Found some shirts that didn't make me look like a stripper(so low cut in front my bra showed), bought a shirt along the way at Buc-ee's and bought smaller pants at Walmart here before we left.  January and February it seems will see me finishing up the "Great Try On of 2024". lolz

* Edit More Photos  DONE  I'm trying to stay up to date on photo editing.

* Post about Old Trips  FAIL  While I didn't post a single Old Trip Post on the Blog in December(a bit busy with other stuff)I DID work on some trip posts as January posts show.

* Work on Genealogy  DONE  Always finding time for this hobby....sometimes it's a small amount and sometimes it's a lot of information gained.

* Move Video files to new computer  FAIL  I just ran out of time and the inclination to do this one.

* Go Visit Folks I Love/Like  DONE  I REALLY needed this trip!  I've been massively depressed living down here with no one for company but my dogs and Hubs, trapped in this house except going to medical appointments, PT and the grocery store. This trip had massive challenges at times(riding in a car for 3 days straight on the way up with a broken coccyx, climbing long staircases, a tense evening out, obnoxious hotel guests, freezing to death in bed while still wearing all my clothes, barking dogs in a hotel at 3 am, unsuitable hotel rooms, etc.)but I'd do it all again because the joys far out weighed the pain.

Sluggy

NOVEMBER To-Do List

What I planned to get done in November and what actually got done.......

*  Pay Bills--DONE  Always

*  Sign up for Medicare Medigag/Part D Plan--DONE  Got two plans though it required me to sign up for AARP(hate that group!)but those AARP branded plans through UnitedHealthcare were the best deal for my needs in this are.

*  Go to a ridiculous amount of DR appointments--DONE  Can't even remember how many now....Neurology, Sleep Medicine, Podiatrist....

*  Go to a ridiculous amount of PT sessions--DONE

*  Have an EMG/Nerve Conductive Study--DONE  Things didn't go well there and damn!  it hurt.  It was like being tasered but by medical people not the cops.  I failed the Nerve Conductive thing so they didn't bother doing the EMG.  good times.

*  Have Dishwasher Installed--FAIL  The handyman guy couldn't get to us in November to install it so it's been living in the ex-sewing room after Dixie decided to start ripping piece of the cardboard box it was in.

*  Clean and Organize Stuff in House--FAIL  Other than doing the bare minimum there has been no cleaning and organizing here.

*  Buy Stuff for the House--DONE  I am sure Hubs has been continuing his love affair with The Home Despot/Lowe's as he tinkers and replaces shit around here.

*  Have Fake Thanksgiving--DONE  Had fake Turkey Day with daughter and son in-law and their dog and cat.  We didn't get any leftovers to bring home.  I made yeast rolls and pumpkin pie as well as the raw turkey to contribute.

*  Do Something Fun--FAIL  I did nothing fun.  It's hard to have fun when you have no friends here.

*  Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie--DONE  I am discontinuing this item as I hardly have/get paper coupons anymore.  The world is quickly turning digital.

*  Edit More Photos--DONE  Got more photos edited.  Haven't even started on the British Isles cruise photos from May.  I am so far behind. ugh

*  Post About Old Trips--DONE  If I remember correctly I got one whole post up in November from an old trip(still working on the Western Road Trip of 2017).

*  Work on Genealogy--DONE  As it so happens the PT guy has a first name that is usually a surname so I asked him how he got that name.  His Great Grandmother was a Mason.  I've got a ton of Masons on my mother's ancestry side.  Then he said his mother had been born in Williamsburg, VA so you know I had to dig into that. lol

I worked on his tree and added to mine along the Mason line and so far the closest we are related is straight 18th cousins.  We share a common ancestor in John of Gaunt, "The King Maker"(1340-1399), the Duke of Lancaster and the third son of King Edward III.  John's son, Henry IV, eventually deposed Richard II and took the crown.  All English monarchs to this day are descended from John of Gaunt.  Not sure if we share the same 18th Great Grandmother yet, as John had three wives(mine is his third wife).

I found some old photos of his ancestors on Ancestry(2 and 3 x GGs who he knew nothing about)and made copies to give him, as well as a high school yearbook photo of him, which the receptionist posted on the wall at PT.  So I asked if I got a family discount there since we are cousins. (No.)

He is a 4th cousin 8 x removed of George Mason IV(the famous George Mason-GMU, writer of the Bill of Rights, etc.)  I am sure we are related closer than 18th cousins but real genealogy takes time to do properly.  I know one of the succeeding George Mason's sisters married a Stith(John Stith-my 9 x GG, son of Robert Stith and Mary Washington)which ties us in an ancestral knot together-Stith and Washington lines are related to me too.  So funny.

*  Move Video Files to New Computer--FAIL  Didn't even try.

*  Thanksgiving Alone--DONE  We sat home on Thanksgiving and grilled steaks in  the cast iron pan and made baked Sweet Potato Fries in the oven.  Go us.

That's all I got.

Sluggy