Yes, Fiiorella Is Somewhat Weird, but That's What makes Her Interesting!

 Fiorella's belief is that every PERSON and every THING in this world is born wanting to be of use. Thus, she feels not only entitled but driven to play her old piano, to wear clothes she's had for years, to value anything big or small that her magic fingers can turn into something any better. She tries to do the same with the people around her too, even if for only an instant--a smile can work wonders, you know.

As you can tell, Fio is on a roll. Energy, energy, energy--what will her next project be? Her small bedroom can't hold even a tiny bit more, likewise her piano room, so her somewhat spacious salon will be her next project. She won't be throwing anything away, just rearranging.

Wow! Fiorella and family trampled all over the neighborhood this evening to get close-ups of Halloween decorations--lights, animated figures, and everything else you could imagine. It wasn't a thing your girl was really interested in, and she knew it would be hard for her keep up with everyone else because of her bum leg, but she wanted to be part of the family experience. 

Now to get back to thinking about this year's Christmas cards, how she's going to get a ride to Wednesday's choir practice, and what she can do to save the world.

 

ADAVANCEMENT IN THE OFFING

 Fiorella's HALL-O-WEEN design turned out well so she attached it to the screen of the front door to welcome visitors. Hmm...maybe next year, she could make an even bigger version of it. Wahoo!

Son L just presented Fio with a gorgeous gold and ruby-red throw to warm her tootsies, but she's unsure of the message because he and his wife have already given her two other of the same, but with different patterns on them. Hmm...

Your girl, whom you'll remember is recovering from a disastrous knee surgery and has been taking short walks down the street to the mailbox without her cane, is now proud to announce that she added an extra block to her journey today. Yep, she'll be in the Olympics before you know it!

When it came to moving from her old home, Fiorella thought long and hard about whether she should take her piano, a small electronic model that was the worse for wear and could only play in one of its voices instead of the four others for whom it was built. In the end, your girl figured that if a bedraggled little piano could lived this long, she herself should still have enough pep left in her that she could start playing again. And, as it turned out, she did. THANK YOU, GOD!

Did Fio tell you that she is moving into the next stage of her recovery? She plans to sell some things and be more herself--more creative, decisive, confident, and productive. HI-Y0 SILVER AND AWAY!

 

 

YOU DON'T WANT TO BE AN ARTIST

 Fio gets stymied by the weirdest things--like not being able to find an eraser anywhere in the house when she needs it. Is this a curse, and will Son L be able to take one glance arounfd at her desktop and spot whatever it is that she can't see herself?

The rest of the family went off to visit the other grandparents so your girl spent a couple of hours piecing together a Halloween welcome for the the front dour inside screen. It was all paper of course, and took advantage of the fact that the word HALLOWEEN has three syllables--HALL-O-WEEN. Your girl had a hard time with it, but managed to get the "O" between the two syllables, outline the word "HAPPY" in black above the syllable "O",  then stuck on the sidelines with two-sided tape. Wish you could have been here and watched the show--Fio spoke sharply to the various colored papers, the pieces of orange paper she couldn't find, the fat white cat lazing on my bed and purring in amusement, and her outrage when she suddenly realized she'd put "O" on top of the greeting rather than bottom and would have to remake it all.

Why was your girl so determined to spend so much time on working on her own special Halloween gegaw when she could probably have found something like it--or better--in a store? BECAUSE SHE'S AN ARTIST, BORN AND BRED!

 Enough of that. Instead, Fiorella wants to tell you about her wonderful recovery from the that nasty cold that drove her out of the church choir she's hooked up with. The kudos belong to Son L, of course, the kudos belong to Son, who hauled Fio girl all over central Texas till he found out why she coughed so much and couldn't sing. She's probably told you all about it before, but  your girl is still a little dazed. 

Meanwhile, that big white cat is trying to get Fiorella's attention by nudging her hand and yanking on her earrings.

From Music to Taxes to Alaska to A Confession

 Fiorella didn't realize how wonderful it is that she can sing--and sing well--until this past week and a half when she hasn't been able to.

Your girl came from a singing family. On nice summer evenings, we would go out on the front porch and harmonize. Mom sang alto and the rest of us--Dad, Brother, and Fio sang melody--although after taking a music class in high school and learning how to harmonize, Fiorella  harmonized upwards. Then, when she took college classes, she hit the local big time--musical theater. Sigh.....those were the days.

Ah, well, back to the present, instead of walking the boards, your girl has been wrestling with getting her taxes ready to mail.... and will probably run late. You know how it is with theater people. 

Why all the nostalgia about times past? Partially because Fiorella is able to sing again, and partially because Halloween, in which everyone is not just permitted, but urged, to come up with some wild costume. It's also, of course, the definite end of summer--at least in Texas. No more jumping into a nice outdoor pool unless you're from Alaska.

By the way, when your girl was in her freshman year of college, there was one girl who sunbathed or swam most of the year around, a very pretty blond girl from.....DRUM ROLL--ALASKA. The dorm "mothers" considered her behavior to be a show-off to attract boys, but couldn't do anything about it, and, after all, that's how eighteen year old girls act when they're set loose in college far way from home. Not that Fio went that far, but if there was a good looking boy in her class, she did try to make a minor play for him--and not with much success. Your girl was usually at the top of the class, and that scared guys off.

Ah....now Fio is telling you all.

Pre-Hallowen Update

 YES! Fiorella is on the mend! She even spent an hour limbering up her muscles at her favorite Physical Therapy store this morning--and when she's in shape again, she hopes to be able to return her left knee to semi-normal. It's no fun having to pull herself up by a table leg every time she goes down to pick up something she's dropped on the floor.

YEP! October is getting colder--and windier-- every day. Fio piled on the covers last night and, in the morning, stayed snuggled under them until she got hungry enough that her belly started making xxxxxx sounds.

HOORAY! Your girl is at last over her cold and SHE CAN SING AGAIN! Wonder if the Methodists will still let her back in their doors? Wonder if they'd be interested in her compositions? (Is Fio repeating herself?)

HMM... About half the houses on the street are decorated, the most prominent being a plastic skeleton about ten feet high that's surrounded by random skulls and other body parts, none of which seem to bother the many children on the block. Are they that blase or what?

WONDER IF the kids around here will go door-to-door or gather at the community center.....

 

Catch Up

 This blog will probably be short because Fiorella has been sleeping most of the day. Let's hope that means she's getting better and might even be able to attend choir practice tomorrow. 

In the meantime, the bug-spray man is dousing the area below her bedroom window--HONK! ACHOO! 

Oh--Fio forgot to tell you that she is planning one more item to her "Halloween Parade," a paper cat that she's designed and will twist around the the three middle alphabet letters of "HALLOWEEN. "

LET'S GO DOWN TO "TODAY DAY!" Yes, your girl is a Halloween mess. She's also still snuffling against a cold, still fending the giant cat off rubber bands, still trying to find a way to find out a family wealth distribution, and yet, she's bored, bored, bored. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Son L took Fio out for a hamburger this evening because he was not in too good a mood himself.  Maybe tomorrow will be better for both of us. 

One thing that Fiorella is down in the dumps about is that, after she's laughed her way through the TV movie SoapDish for probably about 100 times, she's just not interested in it any more. 😢

Technically, your girl could have gone back to the choir this evening, but it would have been a bad choice because her high notes aren't as reliable as they should be.

Did Fio tell you that her piano practice is actually baring fruit? Yep--she's now able to play through a three-page waltz in "John Thompson's Second Grade Book." Hmm...wonder if there are some third grade books lying around. 

And again Fiorella asks--DOES ANYONE OUT THERE STILL PLAY THE PIANO?????

 

 

 

 

OOPS, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED EARLIER SO NOW FIO'S REWRITING IT

 Music teachers live in their music long after their deaths, even if their names are forgotten. Fiorella hopes that whatever meager influences she herself might have instilled in her own students will also have a good effect.

Granddaughter, who's having a great time in kindergarten, decided to play school with Fio this morning, and guess what five-year-old took the roll of teacher and what Ph.D. was assigned the roll of student?

Fall is here and the branches of the trees next to Fiorella's bedroom window are beating a tattoo that's keeping her awake at night. Time to haul out the saw and shears.....

Okay, your girl will admit it that she read her calendar wrong and, because the 30th and 31st of October are on the tail on the calendar this year, thought Halloween was a week earlier. BLUSH!

OOOPS! Fio said she had THE FLU, but she looked over all her papers again, and what she's got is a COLD!

Has Fiorella made any sense at all during the time she's been sick?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fio Is Coming Up To Speed!

 How can a body manufacture so much mucus? Fio can hardly wait to get on a scale again and see how many pounds she's lost. The Kleenex stock must be riding high these days.

O M G ! Covid strikes again--it just dawned on Fiorella that she was so involved in getting her Covid shots that she forgot all about getting a flue shot. Oh well, only about a week to go--snort sniff, a-a-a-CHOO!

Despite everything, your girl is determined to walk up to the community mail box this afternoon, drop her bills in the slot, and maybe even make a little light conversation with anyone coming by. She needs the exercise and....she'll admit it: she wants to show off her cute outfit.

You can tell it's fall because the branches of the tree in front of your girl's long bedroom window keep slapping against it, which, of course, excites the big, white cat enough that he/she makes a leap for it. (Fio does not give the cat a sexual identity because (1) it's fixed, (2) although "it" was once a cat, it acts more like Fiorella's still-mourned Sonja Dog, and (3) it is of special solace to yours truly.

HEY! FIORELLA HAS ACTUALLY LOST WEIGHT, more than five pounds, which is of no wonder with all the snorting and heaving that the flue has put her through. Now, as she rides the recovery road, let's see if she can keep it off.

 

Six little pumpkins sitting in a row

And when the house is dark, where do they go?

Rolling through the house to see each other's face

And who will be the winner of the pumpkin race  

(Fio lined up six small pumpkins in the family's front hall, then wondered about them....)

 

FIORELLA IS FINALLY GETTING BETTER

 Your girl had a bit of a relapse today, but now, in early evening, is flying high again. Isn't it amazing how "just a cold" took her over so completely! Hmm...maybe Fiorella's constant prayers and the family's big white cat, who kept licking at Fio's nose, had something to do with her recovery. Whatever, THANK YOU!

Now Fio has to look around and figure out what's next on her palate. She has to pull her bedroom back together again, of course, and check out the study. Also try to remember that idea she had about luring people to the Senior Activity Center by advertising courses people would like to take, like piano, guitar, art, and languages, also gathering together a choral group, even performing some plays--all of which (except for the guitar), your girl herself has experience in, but would love to learn more. 

Come to think of it, how about an "each one/teach one" set up in which people don't have to pay  if they are teaching a class themselves!

Her only problem, of course, is transportation, but she's looking at a new angle in that regard. Wish her well.

If you heard someone weeping when she was out in the street buying a treat from the Ice Cream Lady, it was Fio, because she can't help but remember when she was a kid and the ice cream wagon would  come down the street every summer's day. A boyfriend of hers drove it one summer and Mom would usually invite him up on the porch for a little rest--the wagons weren't air-conditioned back then. 

P.S: If it sounds like Fiorella is discombobulated, she is. Have pity on her....

 

 

 

 

 

GOOD NEWS, HOPES FOR THE FUTURE!

 How weird. According to all the tests your girl had yesterday, she is in perfect health--no problems  with her chest x-ray, and she doesn't have Covid or the flu either-- just "some kind of virus," whatever that means. Hmm...will they name it after her? 😁

The nurse did give her a suggestion for treatment--something called Prednisone, which indicates that the medical community might have met with this situation before, so Fiorella will try it out. Let's face it: she has been very sick and will check ANYTHING out!

Now that Fio is settling into recovery, she's looking around at the wreck of her bedroom, which Son L threw a big box of old socks into for her to sort out, and which, of course, she didn't feel like doing. Instead, whining all the while, she searched every area of the house she usually frequented for those Christmas cards from long ago that she told you about, one of which she is thinking of making a new card out of. 

And, SURPRISE, toward the end of the day, she found not only the piece she'd been searching for, but all the others! Now to figure out how to revise herself. To be honest, there's no way she could compose new music as easily as as when she was just out of her composition class, but she hopes she can put together a card that at least has a musical background behind it.

On the other hand, who knows what will happen? Your girl has been seen tramping into the piano room more frequently of late, so let's hope there will be a total revival of her compositional talents!

Sickness, Sickness, Sickness

 Things are looking better for your girl. Son L drove her to the local regional clinic and she got examined right, left, and sideways, but there haven't been any calls back so far. The nasal problem is what she is most concerned about, but there are probably some other things she will also have to attend to. After all, Fio's no spring chicken--although she does her best to look like one.😊😁😁

Fiorella's rooms--the study and her bedroom--are a mess, but that's what happens when you've been sickish. Give her a couple of days and she'll have everything ship-shape...well, ALMOST ship-shape, being that your girl is always coming up with new ideas to try out. Sigh...

Her next project will probably be experimenting with the city's transportation program for older people. It's cheap, and would take a lot of pressure off Son L, her current chauffeur, but will it be reliable? After all, your girl got herself all excited about the city's Senior Activity Center, but it turned out to be a bust. (IF FIO, WHO'S HAD A FAIR AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE WITH VARIOUS PROJECTS HAD BEEN IN CHARGE, SHE WOULD HAVE MADE IT WORK!)

Son was clearing out storage today and Fiorella got a a big load of socks--probably dating back to the stone age--dumped on her bed today and now she has to sort them out and tuck the winners away. But where? Her bedroom is so small that she doesn't even have a chair in it, and the study/studio is lost in its own mess. Yep, it's amazing how quickly a room goes awry when one gets sick.

Cough, cough.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a Great Day...

What happened? Fiorella wrote out five long paragraphs yesterday and then somehow they all got cleared away! Is there some kind of taboo against describing her constant coughing and horrible dreams? Has her computer turned against her? To bring you up to date, she is still sick, but Son L has bought a humidifier and put it next to her bed, which has helped her with breathing and the bad dreams. Now, if the the coughing would disappear.

Whatever, Fio treads on--but now, it appears she has tromped on the calla lilies she thought she had taken special care to avoid. And to top it off, she sent one of Granddaughter's friends away from the door because she thought the rest of the family was away from home when they we outside looking at the calla lilies. Ah, the problems of communal living.

Wish your girl well--she'll be seeing a doctor tomorrow, hopefully not one of the tribe she dealt with earlier. There's got to be some way to heal her!

Fiorella would like to end this issue on a high note, but when she was packing away the groceries that Son had bought for her mini refrigerator, she tried to balance on her bad knee, the one that's been operated on--she learned it was STILL a bad knee. Yeah, she couldn't stand up from it and, after crawling out of her study, had to scream for help. 

Well, at least your girl keeps the Facial Tissues people in business.....

 

Up and Down and Round About!

 Don't expect much from Fiorella today--she is sick, sick sick, and so is the rest of the family, except they aren't quite as sick as she is. Son L thinks our plague is the result of not drinking enough water, but Fio blames it on those nasty germs. 

The only good thing about the situation is that your girl must have lost a couple of pounds or two, but she's also lost her voice, is sleepy all the time, and has used up almost a whole box of Kleenex. 

She also, obviously, can't sing with the church choir she's adopted right now, so Fio being Fio, she's hoping (and praying) she gets better in a couple of days. In the meantime, she's learned a few things that might come in handy for you some day--like that a can of Coke drunk slowly can clear that nasty taste that piles up in your mouth when you're sicky. (Actually, your girl's mother taught her that years ago and she just now remembered it.) 

Whoopee! Son just asked Fiorella a question and she was able to gargle out a couple of words in response! Is the worm turning?! How exciting! 

Whew! Now to clean up her bedroom, which had turned into a teen-age-like dump during your girl's time of terror.

ICE CREAM WINS AGAIN!

 

 

The fingernails on your girl's left hand 

Are shiny, long, and beautiful 

While the fingernails on her leftover hand

Are industrious and dutiful

*

This has been 

A crappy day

And that is all

Fio wants to say 

*

The past couple of days, Fiorella's been studying some Christmas cards she'd concocted long ago when Husband was still alive and she was taking an advanced music class. Our girl had bound together her talents--music and art, languages and literature--and the cards were her heart, but she doubts anyone who received her treasures as anything but homemade cards with neither a Santa nor a bit of sprinkle on them anywhere.

*

Fiorella received the instructions about how to use city transport for cheap rides yesterday, but having been horribly disappointed by the so called Activity Center, she's holding back on her enthusiasm. We'll see.

 * 

On the other hand, your girl LOVES the way she's decorated for Halloween inside the house--the back of the front hall is lined with small pumpkins, she took the silly black paper chain that she'd made (then didn't know what to do with) and draped it over the entry doors to the piano room and added a laughing paper pumpkin to each side of it. Also, she used the double swoop of black bats she'd cut out (then didn't know what to do with) to make a sweep across the wall toward an orange moon. WOW!

 *

Here's a positive to end the blog with: the Ice Cream Girl came jangling down the street and, with the dollar bills and lesser change that Fio had stopped in at the bank to pick up last week, she treated her granddaughter and son to--well--their treats.

 

Moving On Again

 Sigh--no newspaper today, just when the Luann comic strip was warming up to a new plot--but there's always tomorrow. Besides, Fio is feeling quite pleased with herself because this morning she took her first walk up to the community mailbox since her knee surgery and, although she was equipped with a cane, she didn't need it. Yahoo!

She should add that the sweetest part of the walk were the chalk drawings on the sidewalk, just like when she was a child. Some things never change. 💗💗💗

Chariot, at one time Fiorella's major source of transportation, seems to be going down hill, and Son L can't always work her into his schedule so Fio's searching out other ways to get around town. Hmm...maybe she'll give that city transportation program for people her age a try--and then, there are always taxis. 

Sadly, your girl might have to quit singing. Her throat has gone bad and her nose is running like a leaky faucet. Please wish her well.

EEEEK! Christmas is fast upon us and Fiorella has yet to even start thinking about her yearly poem/picture/composition or whatever. Hmm...maybe that's what she should be working on rather that belly-aching about her runny nose.

 

 

 

 

 

From Halloween to Politics

Fiorella is still in love with the line-up of small pumpkins against the inside wall which are bound to be seen when one opens the front door--and she's added a black paper chain to the door of the piano room too. Ahh, Mrs Ruebright, Fiorella's kndergarten teacher who could make anything out of paper, rides again.

Your girl dropped by her bank today and picked up some vital supplies: nickels, dimes, quarters, and one-dollar bills. Yep, it's hard to flag down the ice-cream girl who drives up an down our neighborhood every afternoon when you don't have cash in hand. (They don't take checks or credit cards.)

Speaking of banks, Fiorella will soon be visiting the first one she signed up with when she came to Austin right after high school. Of course, the bank has grown through the years so she doubts anyone will recognize her unless he/she looks up her records--but you can bet that mouthy Fio will educate him/her as to her tenure!

Sadly, Fio seems to have lost her singing voice. She could barely sing at the practice last night and doesn't think the situation going to get much better, which makes her very unhappy, especially since she had just taken singing up again and even gone to a throat doctor for a little help.

Just watched a show on TV about Trump's build-up to January 6, and it's obvious that he won't get away with anything this time around. Personally, every time Fio thinks of all the people who died because of him, she wants him to get the chair. How different our country would be now if Hillary had been president then.

From Pets to Halloween

 Fiorella has never really been an animal lover. Her family had a string of felines when she was a kid, but because her parents were of the generation that thought animals should stay outside no matter the weather, our kitties always disappeared into the night--as did any of the puppies. Fio's mother even accidentally gassed  a canary that  Husband and Fio had given her so she'd have company awhile she ironed on the back porch.

But in this generation, the situation has changed. Husband loved dogs so we always had plenty of them around in either number or size. In fact, we even sold a of litters of beagles before we switched into larger dogs. A Farmers Shepherd, which Husband rescued from the side of the road as he drove home from work was the first dog that was taller than your girl's knees, but later, after we'd taken in a couple of other rescues, we switched to thoroughbreds--Wendy the Weimeraner and our much beloved Sonia, a mastiff.

The reason Fiorella is telling you about her trail of doggies is that now.....DRUM ROLL.....she has a cat--A CAT, your girl said--who acts just like a dog! It's big white Persian male who strides around like he's king of the world, but--and this is the sweet part--then he comes into your girl's bedroom, he purrs at her, settles down beside her, and licks your girl's nose with his rasping tongue, which Fio has been told means that he loves her.💗

Changing the subject, after a slow start, Fiorella is having a great time with Halloween decorations--like lining up seven pumpkins on the entrance wall to one side of the front entry, which, if she says it herself, looks really cute. (She also managed to save the sweep of paper bats that she'd stuck on a wall earlier but never liked until now that she added a paper moon to their spread.)

Aaaaaaand, that's about all she has to say right now.......

 

 

 

Closer and Closer to Halloween

Fio had her eyes-ears-nose-throat check up today and, interesting enough, she recognized the place as the same one that she had patronized twenty years ago--except that now it was being run at a snail's pace--  even though Son L had explained the time crunch he was in. Your girl, who was alone in a cubicle by then, was somewhat perplexed too because when she had originally called about the check up, the person on the end of the line had emphasized the importance of her and her Son being not even a tiny bit late.. 

The good news is that your girl got a couple of drugstore prescriptions to keep her throat clear, which is exactly what she wanted. However, she didn't also want to hear that she'd have to make an appointment with a skin specialist to treat a small bump on her cheek which she thought that anyone with a medical degree could handle. Hey--what happened to the old fashioned family doctor, the one who came by the house lugging a big leather bag that treated everything and all?

Dang that kitchen scale! Fiorella has gained weight--but what did she expect with the way she'd been eating? And it hasn't helped a bit that the stove isn't working correctly so she has had to replace salmon with chocolate! 😋

Did you know that way back in your girl's day, mothers would make their children's Halloween costumes themselves? The computer might not have been invented yet, but the sewing machine had!

Hooray! Today, Fiorella picked up the names of three different stores that could run off her Christmas cards or anything else she decides to duplicate like  Christmas cards, musical compositions, drawings, etc. Sigh....  Her only problem would be--as usual--transportation.  Anyone want to volunteer?

 

 

 

 

Halloween Frenzy.

 Armed with cardboard bats and and paper pumpkins, Fiorella has been running back and forth around her area of the house like a madwoman today. So far, she's decorated the front wall leading to her room with a small bevy of bats and made a chain out of black paper to hang across both sides of the xxx door. Also, that small, uncut pumpkin she mentioned yesterday is now situated against the front hall and it will soon be joined with about four other pumpkins the same size and line up. To top it off, Daughter-in-Law has lit up a small section of the outside of the house so we have some light shows at night.

What's next, you say? Obviously, the costumes--and Fio can hardly wait! Hmm...wonder if any of them are home made, like the prize costume Fiorella put together for herself when she was in elementary school. Your girl has mentioned it before, but it's worth repeating: a gypsy skirt, a pair of bedroom slippers with their cotton-edged sides pushed up, a Brownie cap, and her treasured baton. (which must have weighed a ton).

It suddenly dawned on your girl that she herself must have a penchant for homemade Halloween costumes--re, the old photo secured to her bedroom wall this very moment of a UT freshman Fiorella standing in the middle of the hall with her roommate, who was dressed in her slick, slick, swimsuit, while Fio stuck with a put-together costume that was supposed to be somebody from a book she had just read.

It's time to put the photo back in place. Sleep well!

IS "THREE" THE MAGIC NUMBER?

 Why is it that there are always at least three people in line ahead of your girl when she calls into Walgreens for a prescription refill? And why is it that the magic number never changes and the only way Fio can get through is by whimpering so much that Son L grabs the phone and takes over? And why is it that "NO REFILLS, DOCTOR AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED" is always written in tiny letters towards the bottom of the bottle so that Fiorella misses it, especially over the weekend, when doctors insist on being real people and not taking phone calls even though Fiorella has only three pills left in her bottle?

Speaking of that number, has Fio ever told you that she has THREE adult children? And that, while your girl and her brother missed the mark themselves, both their father and mother had two other siblings? Hmm........

This is sort of embarrassing, but Fio can't play--or even read--most of the music she composed when she was taking a UT music class for fun back in the dark ages. Not that she'd written anything major in major or minor 😜, but being unable to read her own work devastates her. It also challenges her--but does she have the time--or the transportation--to take a class somewhere? Sigh....her world would be so much better if she were younger and had better eyes.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Fiorella could post pictures on her blog illustrating what she is talking about? On the other hand, it might drive you away. Your girl is...um...not a very good housekeeper.

Daughter-in-law had Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo on in the other room and Fio, of course, burst into tears. Wouldn't you?

 

Sleep Well

 And again, Fiorella is working on remaking her bedroom--it's too small because your girl misjudged the yardage by two inches last year when the living quarters were being dealt out. On the other hand, she was able to grab the large front window for her art studio.

Fio is enjoying the cooler weather of fall. Maybe we'll even have SNOW by Christmas--but of course, your girl always says that--after all, she lived in Ohio for the first six years of her life. But born-and-bred Texans also enjoy snowfalls, especially if their summer played around with hundred.

Halloween is coming upon us and your girl has already cut out and cut up a black paper chain for the front entry. It looks like last year's bats will win the day.  

Soapdish may be an oldie, but it's also a goody, with giggles and guffaws all along way. Fiorella has never had to watch a movie so many times to figure out what was going on, but her waiting was worth it to see top notch Hollywood actors produce the comedy of the century.... all about themselves. Try it--you'll like it.

Good night and sweet dreams😊

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping On Going, (despite bad proofreading)

 Your girl is full of tears today--she's been gathering together old and new photos, drawings, and tablets, plus and every piece of paper not yet pinned or framed, then either affixing them to her bedroom wall for further review or tossing them into the wastebasket. So far, the the wall has won, which means even more work.

Some of her finds have been a surprise. Fio knew that somewhere along the line, she had taken a music composition course at UT, but DANG, she even impressed herself with the scores she had written. Hmm...maybe she should take another go at it....

Speaking of music, Fiorella is in love with the Methodist choir she's hooked up with, and they seem to like her too. Luckily, she wangled a seat between two very good  sopranos last week, which really helped her find a good tone for herself.  THANK YOU!

Wish your girl well--she's set up an appointment with a nose-and-throat doctor for next Tuesday. After all, one can only honk and snort so long before deciding that enough is enough, and getting her runny nose treated should not only help with her singing, but cut down on the number of Kleenex boxes the household uses each week.

Of course, there's more to Fio than art and music. In fact, there has to be because a lot of people have Fiorella's same talents. So...tell the world about yours! 

SORRY THAT FIORELLA'S PROOFREADING WAS SO BAD TODAY.  WILL TRY TO DO BETTER TOMORROW😝

 

Talk about a Dull Life.....

 What do you know! Fiorella has nearly wiped out no only her everlasting piles of medical appointments, but one high-powered double-dose pill too.  The next thing you know, she'll be floating in the air with the greatest of ease like the daring young man on the the flying trapeze! Whoopee!

In the meantime, your she's mulling over decorative ideas for Halloween, which is coming upon her faster than she thought. Of course, with a young child in the house, one has to choose themes carefully--smiling pumpkins, "good" witches, and defanged bats--all of which scaredy-cat Fiorella admits she herself also prefers.

Fio's not living on 5+ acres of untamed wilderness anymore, nor does she have a happy-faced mastiff trotting along beside her. Yep, time marches on, and, sometime soon, she has to go shopping for city clothes.

Your girl's left knee--the one in which the tibia got cracked while under the knife--is still warm, and Fio's physical therapist told her that, as a replacement, it would always be bigger than her other knee. Fiorella is not happy, but what's done is done and she'll try to make the best of it.

 

 

This and That Again

 Your girl is in a crunch again, mostly because she doesn't drive any more and Son L, a busy father, has more important things to do than cart her around to her various doctors, physical therapy sessions, grocery shopping and bank visits, plus choir practices. The ideal situation would be that Fio would be able to hire a driver on a regular basis, but such jobs do not seem to exist so Fiorella has to use either Chariot, which is super nice, but has to be arranged for about a week ahead, or her former maid, who is reliable, but, again, not always available.

Yes, Fio has thought about calling a taxi or Uber, but she's not sure the driver would wait for her while she did her shopping or whatever. Ah, for the days she could leap into her little car and drove anywhere around that she wanted to.

One of the sorrows of your girl giving up driving is that she has also lost touch with most of her friends.😟

Fio had a wonderful time with the Methodist choir again last night so she'll probably be singing with them at a service soon. Again, wish her well😊!

 

It's All About Me, Me, Me!

Not much going on right now but anxiety--what about that test that Fio's heart doctor has scheduled? What if Son L won't be able to take your Lutheran girl to the Methodist choir practice tomorrow evening? And what if she does get in and the legitimate choir members toss Fiorella out? Ah, for the days that Fiorella used to ride her bike a couple of miles down a back road to her catechism class every Saturday morning. Ah, for the days she would drive her sweet car, a MIATA😋, down the highway from Georgetown to Austin for church service.

Aside from singing, what Fio wants to do is shape up her smallish bedroom, which would include lowering the closet rod on one side of the closet repair, re-varnishing the posts that were damaged in transport, replacing the worn-out  carpet with Mother's oriental rugs, and taking an inch off both sides of the woodwork so that your girl can allow her twin chests to face front like they should. Uh, do I hear you voluntering to help? 😃

Believe it or not, the nice lady at the gym who tortures Fiorella's knee twice a week with all sorts of athletic equipment obviously designed to speed football players in their recoveries so they can go back on the field and get pummeled again, congratulated your girl's own recovery regarding her knee sirgery--or is she just trying to get Fio to sign up for another eight-class program?

Dang! Look right, look left, look all around the room! This is kind of scary! What Fio needs is a full-time driver.  Fiorella ran out of three of her pills yesterday and she'll have to wait till tomorrow to get to the pharmacy. 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops! Forgot To Title This Blog

 Aha! Fiorella finally found her Sunday newspaper--half under her bed--where it had landed when she'd dropped e v e r y t h i n g while she was gathering together all the items she needed for the sudden "most dos" of the evening, which--as item after item came up--got piled higher and higher, not only on her list, but also on Son L's. It's like a tornado.

Of course, the scuttling around took a fair amount of time away from your girl's daily attempts to regain her singing voice, but she still has three months to go before she decides to whether on not to try caroling this year. Ah, for the days when Fio would gather together some of her lady friends and lead them from house to house. 

Come to think of it, the church that Fio has thrust herself upon will probably have something of the same planned, and if your girl continues to participate in their practices, maybe she can work something out. She would rather not change her sworn religious allegiance, but she would have no hesitation about dropping some bills into the plate.

Why is Fio talking about Christmas when Halloween is closer at hand? Because, religious references aside, the two images are similar, with one represented by a humanoid figure--a jolly fat man--and the other by a rail-thin old crone. Their behaviors are totally different too. While Santa gives away treats, a witch demands them. They also have opposite ways of transportation: Santa gets around in a prancing sleigh while witches prefer magic broomsticks. 

Getting Ahead of the Game

 October hasn't started out too well for Fiorella--an unexpected problem with the taxes, a last minute rush to HEB, three of your girl's pills bottles running out at once, and a hard time dealing with a bank that had moved out of town, like, I mean, offshore. 

Have you started thinking of Halloween yet? The black and orange decorations? The costumes, which get wilder every year? How about the treats? Fio will be cutting out loads of black bats, of course, and maybe a witches' hat, but nothing that would scare anyone.

One of your girl's favorite childhood memories is walking from house to house in the early evening with a pack of other kids and how, when we got to a house that had a note taped on the door inviting us to each take one treat and leave the rest for the next person----that was exactly what we did.

One year, Mom gave Fiorella and her kindergarten friends a Halloween party in our basement, which was nothing like it sounds. In Ohio back then, your basement was used to wash clothes, store canned goods, and sometimes even live in.

The first time that Fio and her brother tried to trick-or-treat in Texas, our next-door-neighborhood turned us down---and that was when your girl learned that while Ohio considered Beggar's Night and Halloween to be the same holiday, Texas didn't. (You can bet your girl never made that mistake again.)

 

 

 

 

Catch Up

 OMG! OMG! OMG! Fiorella might have lost you forever if Son L, like a hero of old, had not been on site when she messed up the computer when she was trying to deal with the taxes. Girding his loins, Son went through the mess and straightened everything out--maybe not in the twinkling of an eye, but quite quickly.

Hey, hey! Fio has been practicing her singing almost every day lately, and it's in and out. She still isn't up to her top par yet, but with the other sopranos around her and her vibrato occasionally cutting through, she'll do okay. Now, if only her constant cold would go away. Snort, snort, croak......

The resident cat, a large white persian, seams to be trying to claim your girl's bedroom. Maybe she's a reincarnation of Fiorella's darling Sonja dog, whom your girl still mourns.

OMG! I cannot believe I accidentally rubbed out TWO clever comments when I tried to correct a spelling! You're on your own now!

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