I have a new page on this website called COVID 19 Diary. It is a standard web page and easier to post numbers and daily info. I will post on the blog now and then and return when the crisis is over. meanwhile, take a look at the COVID 19 Diary page.
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When we finished our kitchen in December for some reason the chandelier did not hang straight. So they ordered a new one......Of course it was back ordered and finally came in this week. I drove down to get it. They put it in my car and the electricians came today and installed it. Perfect. It hangs the way it is supposed to. So we are very happy. I then hopped in the car and brought the defective one back. I was afraid they would close all the stores and I didn't want to have it hanging around my house. They took it out of the car and I was out of there. I also had the electrician add an outlet in the garage. There is an outlet on one side of the door into the house but I wanted to be able to mount and plug in the charger for my Dyson hand Vac on the other side of the garage so we were not bumping into it walking around the car which just fits in the garage with a little room to walk around it.
Happy to be back home in my own bed! I have become a terrible traveler. Not sleeping well and eating differently than normal seems to take a bigger toll on me than when I was younger and traveled all the time.
The flight home was delayed due to a minor mechanical issue and then we waited on the plane while the storm front passed. The pilot actually had them bring the jet bridge back and opened the doors and told anyone who wanted to get off this was their chance. Apparently there is a two hour limit of how long you can sit on a plane with the doors closed before they have to deplane everyone, so he essentially reset the two hour clock. Pretty smart pilot. No one got off! LOL Finally we were underway and arrived almost two hours late. Spent the last two days resting a lot, doing laundry and a little cleaning and getting some basics at the store after being gone for a week. Where do all those dust bunnies come from!!!! All the activities and sporting events are cancelled here. Many restaurants are offering free delivery so they can stay in business. I feel for all of the people who have been impacted by all the snow birds not being able to spend their money. Many restaurants and services make the bulk of their profit at this time of year. I went to Costco yesterday to pick up my new glasses and figured I would get a few things while I was there. I am not out of TP so I did not stand in the long line to get some. I did score some paper towels which I didn't really need but figured I would take a package. I can't understand the run on water. The tap still works, of course we have a filter for our cold tap water in the kitchen so I can just fill bottles and have nice tasting drinking water! The store was so packed by 11:00 the lines to check out went all the way to the back of the store on both sides. You could barely even shop! They finally closed the doors for 15 minutes to allow the people to check out and clear out the store a bit. I am sure it had to have been a huge fire hazard to have that many people in the store. I just wanted to get some staples and now I am done going out to the store for a week or so so. Deb and Joe are coming tomorrow to visit. I am so excited to see them. We are going to go to the outdoor tour at the Turtle Museum. That't it for today. We spent the day at a fun place with ropes, rock climbing, trampoline, zip line and Sky Flying. They had an incredible spring break price of $60 for the kids and one adult and included a full size pizza. SCORE! Kids had a ball! It was not very crowded so it worked out well for us. Everyone (but me) did the sky flying. the kids went twice! So awesome to see Cass and Jim and the grand kids, Zoe, Violet and Macie. It has been too long since our last visit and they have grown by leaps and bounds. Not little girls anymore. Pedicure We all went for a pedicure on Monday. They had a nice private room and served soft and hard drinks! Bowling After the pedicure we headed to the bowling alley. After the first game, we had to have them put up the bumpers since non of us got even close to 100! The second round was better. LOL High Tea We found a cute little place nearby that served High Tea. Richard has taken Charlotte and Ginger for tea in the past so we wanted to start that tradition with the Wagner girls too! Dinner at Chuy's We all gathered at Chuy's for dinner. After our group picture, on the way to the cars, we discovered a cute goat in the fenced lot next to the parking lot! Very friendly and loved the tortially Zoe had saved to bring home. Hanging out at the Hotel BJ's Brewhouse for dinner
I stayed in Texas an extra two days after Richard went home. I have some friends that I never have time to see so I took an extra day to visit with them.
Sandy Riley was my support system after the divorce. We both went to the Beginning Experience Support group and she and I lived in the same apartment complex. We shared so much and helped each other heal along the way. I was supposed to go to Waxahachie to see my longtime friend Shirley Davis. Shirley worked for me at Merrill many years ago and has been my biggest fan for many years. Unfortunately due to a medical issue with her husband Jim, we were not able to get together but did spend some time catching up on the phone. Finally an early dinner with my Texas sister and BFF Dianne Landen. Dianne and I were in a divorce recovery group at St. Elizabeth. We instantly bonded and shared a journey of recovery from our divorce and supported each out in the healing out hearts and souls and creating a new reality for ourselves. Although we have been far apart since I left Texas each time I see her it is like we never have been apart. Then back to the hotel for an early bedtime. The Wagners had gone to FC Dallas event for the day so it worked out perfectly for everyone to have separate things to do. I am thankful for all the people who supported me when I was in Texas and reinventing myself after the divorce. I wish I could have seen more of them. We headed to Texas yesterday despite fears about all the Corona virus and recommendations for seniors to stay away from public places! It has been a year since we have see our precious Texas grandkids and daughter. Flew out of West Palm Beach which is about 20 minutes from our house. I was surprised that the parking lot was so full, we had to park on the upperdeck under the bright blue sky! This was our first time flying out of PBI so I think we have to explore other parking options.
We haven't flown on American in some time, but they had the direct flight that left at a reasonable time. The older I get the more I find traveling to be exhausting for me so getting to an early flight just adds to being even more tired! Since we were coming home on two different days we had separate tickets. Of course I had TSA Pre but Richard didn't. They stopped him to examine his carry on bag. the bag of almonds he brought caught their attention and the agent had to examine his nuts before he could continue on. How random! I booked an aisle and a window seat hoping no one would book the middle and we were in luck. No third person came. Flight was only about 70% full. Then they announced there was a mechanical problem and they were checking it out. Took about 30 minutes before that got resolved. Then just after the pilot said we were ready to go, he comes back on to say Airforce 2 just landed so there was a temporary shut down till they got situated. Finally we got off. I think we ended up about 50 minutes late into DFW. Richard is heading back home on Wednesday and I am going to stay a couple of day so I can visit with some longtime Texas friends and of course my Texas BFF Dianne. Also have plans to see Shirley who was my admin assistant at Merrill Lynch many years ago. She lives an hour plus from where Cass lives and it is too far to go in a normal visit here. We keep up on FB but it will be nice to see her in person. After getting checked into our room, we headed to Cass's house and then to Paleo Pizza for dinner. The girls are getting so tall! and beautiful and heading toward being young women at an amazing pace. Still so sweet and it was awesome to get some hugs. Today we will head back and not sure of our plan but just want to spend some time with them, reconnecting. Cass has Monday and Thursday off. So I will get some one on one mommy daughter time on Thursday. Its cool in Texas today. 50 degrees now and getting up to the 60s this afternoon. Should have brought warmer clothes but the weather report said 70's this week. That's all for today. Stay tuned. On Tuesday I saw a new dermatologist. It has been a year and I had a little bump that I was different and relatively new. In December we started to see a PCP in Florida and he said it was nothing and gave me some cream to put on it. The cream did nothing and so I finally had to stop looking for a dermatologist and just pick one and make an appointment! I really loved the doc I had in CT so I was having a hard time deciding on a new one.
So to make a long story short, they biopsied the bump and froze off half a dozen other places. Two on my face! (bad timing for going to Texas in a couple days). They said someone would call in about two weeks with the results. I was surprised when I got the call on Friday afternoon saying it came back as squamous cell carcinoma and they recommended removing it within the next two months. So on the 26th of March they will excise it and stitch it up. It is on my chest about tho inches below the collar bone. Will update once they so the procedure. Not sure how big a scar I will end up with. Meanwhile, we had already found a new PCP. The one we first used in Florida ended up being mostly about ordering tests they could bill Medicare for. At least that is my impression. In house Ultrasound technician that does scans on every patient. Maybe good preventative medicine, but seemed a little over the top and the fact that he just dismissed my concerns about my bump undermined my confidence in him. Hopefully our new PCP will be a big improvement. We finally have all the reports we need to do taxes. Downloaded everything into TurboTax and of course we owe money! I guess the Good News is that the market was good to us this year increasing our portfolio so the recent decline mostly reset us to levels of a year ago. The Bad news is that we have to pay taxes on some of the gains this year! Assuming we will have losses next year to offset any gains if the market ever recovers.
The other challenge for us this year is to figure out part year resident taxes for CT. After reviewing all the statements it seems all the interest and dividends were fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, so my approach is to allocate the totals based on the number of days we owned property in CT and the balance to Florida. At least I don't owe CT any additional money so that is a relief. Hope to have it all reviewed and sent in this week. Oh yeah, and pay the tax bill. Next year no state tax return to file! Yippee. |
Author: Penny
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October 2020
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