Looking for the positive...

Today was a CRAPPY day looking at it from here. But really not as bad as it looks at the moment. It just took me THREE HOURS to get a return label printed and figured out just what to say so it would actually be accepted for return. I ordered what I though were clear canisters to display dolls. The ad said see through on detailed reading, but they were cloudy, not clear like the picture. 

All of it made me feel REALLY STUPID AND OLD. I mean, I spent my career working with and on computers. Something dumb like I can't get it to print from my phone and I tried a lot of times. Then of course remembering it's a new phone and not set up for printing yet. DUH. Went to the printing service, now they want $18 a month. Got on Judy's computer, got the printer added, finally got it to print, but since I had not reset the printer, it printed many copies. I got it stopped at SEVEN double sided copies. 

I may have done some yelling during this process. Reminding me of the time I went down the hill (when living UP the hill) and screamed about something or other. The next day, one of my neighbors, who lived a mile or so from my house, called me and asked me if I had heard "that wild animal" in the night. I just said no. LOL but I knew who that wild animal was. I did not ever scream at the reservoir again. 

I did have a shopping spree at Dollar Tree today. I wanted some more notebooks, and since Judy's kitty loves to play fetch I got some more hair rubber bands so I don't have to search on the floor for one. I also got a couple sparkly notebook pockets for projects and a birthday card for my grandson. So had a little fun although it was HOT out.

My favorite drug store closed. That really makes me sad. A sign of the times I guess. What comes in my head is that there are worse times to come. But no more Thrifty's Ice Cream in Lodi. And those clerks are the best in Lodi. I am really going to miss their cheery faces. 

Some pictures of what I have done recently and a few of the cat. 

The first is a sweater designed for Bratz dolls by Tree Change Dolls. I made it with bigger yarn to fit the bigger doll. She is a Unimax doll from the Dolls of All Nations collection that came nude at the thrift store. She was the very first doll I collected as an adult. Her pants are made from a Dollar Tree sock!

The second picture is another sweater, the doll is a Ruby Red Fashion Friends doll named Kayla. She does not come with glasses LOL! I found them on the floor in Judy's craft room and didn't know who they went to. She collected some dolls, but mostly Disney Princess ones and other Barbie type dolls. There were some teddy bears too and that's who they probably belonged to but alas the bears were already gone. I figured the glasses would fit someone. 

The rest of the pictures of the cat Judy had to leave behind. She hid for a month or so but has turned into a lover kitty. I am glad she's ours but sad for the reason. Judy's house is now all remodeled and beautiful, I saw it online. She would have loved it. Wish we could have done it for her so she could have stayed home. So it's bittersweet. I miss her every day. 

Have a positive day! I'll try too. 

Losing my cousin...

 We've had an off and on kind of relationship, we both had very busy lives for a long time, me raising kids then working full time and her having a full social life while working full time. We lived together off and on growing up, and we kind of shared parents, since I got along better with her mom, and she got along better with mine! 

After she retired, we talked more often, and then I retired too, but COVID hit. We got together occasionally, but mostly phone conversations. She came to see me Thanksgiving 2023 but refused 2024. I didn't think much about it, but it might have been a clue if I had been looking for one.

A friend of hers called me and said she didn't think my cousin was telling me the truth about how she was doing. She was right. She could hardly stand. So we worked on convincing her to go to the doctor. But she kept refusing. I understand, I'm not great about going either. She finally decided to go.

She got diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in February. That's how my husband and I celebrated Valentine's Day this year, in a hospital waiting room for 12 hours! She was there for a few days, but it was clear she wasn't going to be able to go home. A few days later, she was transferred to a care home, where she stayed until she died in early April. 

Sad because she's gone, glad she's not in pain. Sad because I can't call her, or be with her, or sit by her bed, or sing to her, or any of the things I've been doing with her the past 2 months. 

But she left me her computer, so I'm back on the blog. 

That's life, sad, sad, glad, sad, glad. They exist together. 

Then there's the cat (the black one. She lost her sister last year). She is still terrified and hiding. Yesterday and today she didn't run as fast, or hade as deeply. We may come to some kind of a truce at worst and become friends at best. Time will tell. The bad part is how scared she is without her sister or her mama. The good part is her name is Boots, same as the last Tuxedo we had. I won't call her the wrong name...