And everything falls apart.....

Or so it seems, with the house....

This past two weeks have been hellish.  Started with a call from a carpenter I used in the past, he put in the fireplace, asking if I needed any work done.

Interesting timing, as he is a good worker and I was thinking about hiring someone.  Most of you know that Chris' son painted our house back in 2015, however he didn't do the best of job and it's been peeling in spots ever since. I have been scraping and repainting several spots already and now the peeling is getting too high for me to reach and I had been thinking about hiring someone to repaint spots that are peeling.  Also want to paint a back bedroom, which needs it badly. Was thinking about doing it myself, but with so much plaster repair etc. and suddenly I'm older and get dizzy when I am on a ladder for too long of time, thought just pay someone to do it....

So I tell him to come by and take a look at the projects.  I'm thinking he's just going to spot scrape/sand/re-paint etc. the bad parts outside. So he gets his crew over and I tell you, seems they are doing the whole damn house and every day they arrive at 8:00 a.m. and everyday I am bombarded with the noise of sanders and pressure washers and pounding and, thus, the dog barking every few minutes thinking someone's at the door or just that someone is outside messing with our house. It's so noisy I can't think straight --- forget about writing.... and I have to get up early every day, so I'm showered dressed by the time they get here...

Then, I wake up one morning and the thermostat on my AC is blank (it's digital). And we are in the biggest heat advisory yet this year and the house getting warmer and warmer, I call the AC company I use and someone comes over, discovers a cracked drain pan which is why the system automatically shut off. That service call cost $214.00 and they arrange another tech to come in a few days to replace the pan (another $975) and that tech is here in the attic from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. so now I have pounding in the attic and outside....

On top of this, the outside workers have my windows sealed with plastic, so can't even open a window for fresh air...

Then I go outside to talk with one of the workers and we are standing by the fence near the pool and I think, why is the pool so quiet? Go back and check and find the pool electrical system not working. Try to check the breaker, can't get the breaker box open, have to have one of the guys open it for me, find the breaker switch tripped but it will not go back in place. So have to call an electrician to have a new breaker installed.

Get that done and the next morning wake up and the pool is shut off again. It's on a timer, so I open the timer box and switch it manually on, that works, but something's off with the damn timer...  aargh. But I manage to jerry-rig that one myself....

The next night, I wake up at 2:00 a.m. and in my half sleep/awake state I think, gee it's raining. Then I totally wake up to find it's raining on me! from the ceiling! The bed is soaked, I am soaked. I call the AC company which says it has 24/7 technicians on call for emergencies, get an answering service who says a tech will call me. And I wait and wait. I do have enough sense to turn the AC off, so finally the water stops pouring down. No one calls, so in an hour I call back and get a different person at the answering service, explain my issue and the guy says "Is this an emergency?"  WHAT? Why the hell would I be calling at 2:00 a.m. if it's not an emergency. jeepers. I don't want my ceiling caving in, for crying out loud. So he promises to call a tech, who does finally get back to me, by then it's 4:00 a.m. and he says he'll send someone out first thing in the morning (huh?) and I ask what time that would be and he says 8 a.m........

Well, I'm already up, dressed and stressed and can't go back to bed as the bed is soaked.... Do you what awful junk is on TV at 4:00 a.m.?

I get that fixed... only to find when I open the front door: termite wings. Also in the closet, termite wings... So now I have to have the termite company come, scheduled for July...

Then, yesterday, I go take my morning shower and there is no hot water. Damn! After a cold very quick shower, I dress to check if my gas on, it is. Check breaker box, everything looks okay there. I do get it open but can't get the damn breaker box closed. Go out to the water heater (it's tankless) on the side of the house, slip in a pile of dog poop! (thanks Kona) and find the guys have it taped and covered the water heater with plastic, take the plastic off -- hear the heater, it's working but the gas wasn't getting any oxygen.. ... jeezus, good thing my house didn't blow up or something!

Meanwhile, I feel trapped in this house. The guys working outside during the day, like ants crawling all over the house: pounding/scraping/sanding -- my shades pulled down for privacy, and they have all my porch furniture stacked up and tools, ladders and equipment blocking my pool, so can't get in a good swim or relax on the porch -- even now when they are gone for the weekend, but at least it is quiet today.....

I tell you, it's going to be an expensive month..... and I am stressed.  Have a great 4th of July!

Happy Solstice & Happy Birthday Zenith!

Happy Solstice which is the longest day of the year... the height of the sun and Zenith, our Siamese was born on the summer solstice.

(sorry, started writing this way before midnight, so yesterday was the summer solstice.)

Happy Birthday Zenith.

She would've been 12 years old.

Bob wanted her to have "sun" name -- we came up with Zenith as when the sun is at the highest point of sky it's called the "zenith of the sun."

Also the word "zenith" came to mean "highest" as in highest quality therefore you have Zenith radios and Zenith TV's back in the day....  and as Bob said she was "best highest quality" cat at the shelter when we adopted her. But people always asked us why we named our cat after a TV? ha!

Bob had always said he wanted a "cool" cat, a Siamese or Himalayan or some such exotic cat and I had always argued that there are too many homeless cats to buy a pure breed.... so...

One day, we woke up and there was a program on the radio that said cats were being discounted at some local shelters from an over abundance of kittens and Bob looked at me and said, "We have to go to the SPCA" as he KNEW there was a Siamese kitten waiting for him there.

Of course, I thought he was nuts, I mean, Siamese cats cost money, you don't find them at shelters unless they are older cats.... unless some owner died... but a kitten? no way, those cost money...  even the ones who aren't "show quality" cost money, at least a couple thousand bucks.  Show quality cats cost much more...   anyway

Bob was insistent, so I thought OK, we'll go and there isn't going to be any Siamese kitten but there will probably be another kitten he'll fall in love with and we will take it home.

So we go to the SPCA and look around at dozens and dozens of kittens. No Siamese.  I point out a cute striped gray one. Actually get a volunteer to take it out, so we can hold it and play with it in the "play room" at the shelter. I say, "oh what a sweet kitty, why don't we take him home?" But Bob is still insistent there's a Siamese.

So we look around again, bunches and bunches of mostly black kittens, older cats, no Siamese. A very cute fluffy black cat I convince Bob to look at, and a volunteer let's us take it into the "play room" but Bob says, "I think we  are at the wrong shelter, maybe we should go check the Humane Society." He is sure there is a Siamese waiting for him. And as the volunteer was putting that fluffy kitten back in its crate, a guy comes with a crate of kittens and right in front of us, puts the crate on the highest shelf. And we look up and there is a Siamese kitten with big blue eyes looking down at us. Eight weeks old.  Of course, we asked to see her, the volunteer actually took two kittens out, handed one to Bob (not a Siamese) and one to me (which was Zenith), and we take them to the play room where the one Bob had just runs around like crazy and the other (Zenith) just curls up on my lap and falls asleep, purring.

Of course, definitely, we adopted her.  But how the hell did Bob know she'd be there?

So you know they had a special bond... and she died two weeks after Bob.  I miss them both.

BTW: Zenith was a "Sealpoint Snowshoe Siamese" therefore the white paws....  so not a show quality cat -- but still they cost money when you buy them from breeders, I've heard $850.00 up to $1000 ... she was $25.00 included vaccines and spaying at the shelter...

And must admit, a very "cool" cat.

I tell you, they were meant to be together. I loved her too. So much.

Last week, my shrink (not my therapist) asked me why it bothered me so much about an anniversary  that a cat died?

Today marks the 3rd Anniversary of the death of my best friend, Chris

In loving memory of my dear friend. Don't know how I ever could've gotten through all the tough times without you by my side, helping take care of Bob and supporting me.  Love you, miss you, Chris! (And this is the only picture I have of Chris and me and guess I was having a bad hair day!)

Things you may or may not know about Chris:

1. She swore like a sailor but had a heart of gold.

2. If she called you "bitch" it was a term of endearment.

3. She got a tattoo to celebrate her 65th birthday.

4. She had several tattoos, one of her leg of Snoopy lying on top of his dog house with a think bubble that read "Fuck You!"

5. She wore a ring on every finger, even her thumbs.

6. Even on her tight tight budget of just a social security check, she always sent $19.99 each month to the Humane Society.

7. If you needed a friend you could count on, it was Chris.

8. She took two buses to come over to sit with Bob so I could go grocery shopping or to the pharmacy. She did this weekly for nearly 5 years without expecting or wanting a dime in exchange.

9. She was there every night when I came home from the hospital (when Bob was hospitalized).

10. When we moved into our new house, I let her live in the garage apartment for free. I'll never forget the day she stood in the back yard and said, "Thank you for making my dreams come true."

11. Whenever she was low on cash, she'd have dreams about numbers and she'd play the Cash 3 lotto and always won a couple hundred bucks, exactly the amount she needed.  Never could figure out how she did that.

12. She always told me that my only problem was I was "too nice'.

13. I miss her like hell.

This is Chewie

Chewie

Chewie is the dog I sponsored for training in Bob's memory around Christmas time. His mom/owner lost her partner (wife) in a car accident. They have a young adopted son and both mom and son are dealing with deep grief.

I chose this family to sponsor as their situation was something that I can relate too.

I'm told Chewie did very well with the training that I sponsored and his mom is considering having him advanced trained as a service/emotional support dog for her son.  I hope she does it! As I know how much Kona has helped me.

Meanwhile, I survived May.  Just a few bad moments, like waking up at 4:00 a.m. on "death day" and puking my guts out (stress).  Was glad to have something going on every day that week, Hillary and I saw "A Dog's Journey" at the theater Tuesday, death day, May 28th and shared Chinese for dinner.  Another friend, Tiffany, and I went for a long lunch on Wednesday. Thursday was therapy day and grocery shopping. And Friday, lunch with a widow friend... so kept busy and that helped.

Then it all comes tumbling down when I'm alone.....

Saturday, I spent most of the day doing some touch up painting on the house (outside) figuring manual labor may take my mind off things and Sunday, bought and planted new flowers in my window box.  Now my back is killing me! Gosh, I'm getting old.

This month will be Chris' death anniversary. Three years ago, June 14th.....  And June 24th it will be four years since Zenith (our Siamese) joined Bob.  But June is also the month, four years ago, that I adopted Kona on June 26th. She'll be 8 years old July 2nd.

And July will be Boomer's 4 year death anniversary.

Yesterday, I also bought a wind chime called "Gentle Spirits" in memory of those I loved and lost...

Can't believe how time flies.