A Couple More and Yet to Come!

 Yes, Fio knows she owes you a poem or two more so here are a couple more-----

         There once was a governor named Abbott

        Who had the deplorable habit

        Of letting us freeze or letting us fry

        Without a blink of his Trumpian eye

        And as for a heart, he lacked it!

(The poem above is an arrow aimed straight at Abbott's heart (if he has one) because your Fiorella was caught, alone and very, very cold, in the first big ice snow. Four days is a long time to go with minimal food, heat, and contact with the outside world.) 

And, on another tone---

         I am a mermaid, and no one knows

         I hide my tails 'neath calicos

         I hide my scales 'neath long, loose clothes--

         I am a mermaid, and no one knows...

              A ship comes near--

              And sees me here--

        I am a mermaid and no one knows

        A crash, a wail, a conch shell blows

        Thrice around she sails and down she goes-

         I am a mermaid, and no one knows...

 

 

Coquette 

While it please me, I shall linger

While it please me, I shall stay

Kiss your mouth and bite your finger

But that is only for today.....

WHAT A DAY!

 SPRING HAS SPRUNG and we don't need a calendar to prove it. Fiorella went outside to take a late afternoon stroll to the mailbox and was panting AND SWEATING, SWEATING, SWEATING when she came back. Whoopee! Unpack your shorts, people!

Earlier in the day, your girl had skipped through one of her favorite romances from years ago....and thought it sounded STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, so now she's afraid to re-read the romance she wrote and had published because it might sound stupid too. Ahhh...., the joys of being an author 💘

 One thing Fio DOES have going for her is that that she's been able to reduce the number of messages and pictures that are now Scotch Taped/pinned to the wall opposite her big bedroom window. You can even see some of the cork charts now!

 HELP, HELP! THE COMPUTER WENT OFF, BUT EVERYTHING IS PLUGGED IN..................except at the wall.......😞😞😞

FALSE ALARM: Fiorella is outside on the back patio now, enjoying a beautiful evening with her son's family, an evening that reminds her of when, as a child, her family would often get together on the front porch in the twilight.  Fio has already suggested that we could do something like that, but no one seem interested.  Ah well, there's always tomorrow. 😕

Just as Fiorella was adding her last touches to today's blog, her computer went haywire and she, of course, panicked. WHAT HAD SHE DONE OR NOT DONE? Luckily, Son L came in the door about ten minutes later and he knew exactly had what had happened--an "update," and it took him only about fifteen minutes to bring her computer to life again. WHEW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INSPIRATION NEEDED!

 

     

 

 Everything is in a mess right now so Fio is re-running her Christmas poem from two years ago for inspiration, yours and hers--

FLYING HIGH

    I cannot write a merry poem this year

Too much has happened in my life--

Uprooted from a home that I held dear

And now a widow, who was once a wife

     Change is not my forte, my options few--

A clock cannot run backwards, nor can I,

Thus I must gird myself and start anew

To see how high my warming kite can fly

     Too late, they say--your day is almost done

Put down your kite and rest yourself a while--

Go take a break from shining in the sun--

Enjoy yourself before your final mile,

     And as they lecture, I slip quiet by

     And launch my kite into the eager sky 💗

 

 

 

SPRING HAS SPRUNG--at least in Central Texas

 Birds twittering, a Black Lab being trained, and dandelions sprouting out of the lawn--those are the joys that Fiorella encountered on her walk up the street and around the cul-de-sac this morning. Can there be any better way to begin the day?

Fiorella was unable to interview the dandelions, but she's always thought they were beautiful and regretted them having to be pulled up to protect the lawn. (Why couldn't someone have bred those pretties to a less vicious plant so our lawns could be interspersed by bright yellow?)

This was the first time your girl had met the black Lab, but it won't be the last if his owner, a young woman who seemed wary of Fio's interest in her dog, takes the same route every day. Asa you know, your girl likes big dogs, and she might even be able to soften up his owner. 

Regarding the birds, they sounded like heaven, but Fiorella is also aware that, because they'll be nesting,  we will have to put out a mat at the front door to collect and deposit their feces every day. 'Nuf said.

TOTAL CHANGE OF TOPIC: You won't believe this, but Fio, a mere mortal, got herself into trouble by overpaying her mortgage seven months in advance. Apparently, the all-knowing machines didn't understand what she, a mere mortal, was doing.

 SORRY--THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO OUT YESTERDAY!

MAYBY.....

 Fiorella had her first migraine in years, and it was the visual kind, but what else do you expect from an artist?  Son L thinks the migraine occurred because Fio doesn't drink enough water, but your girl did some research and it looks like most people in the know think that tension is the cause of the fuzzy--but beautiful--migraine rainbows.

But, Fio, what are you so tense about, you might ask. Well, for one thing, Fiorella wonders if she's already talked too much about the recurrence of her migraines and doesn't want to bore you. The second  is that the migraines themselves interrupt her OWN contemplations.  Your girl is trying to carve out a new life for herself, you know. It's been quite a time since her husband died and she got caught in the governor's ice storm, sold the ranch, then set up housekeeping with her younger son and his family. What is next on her plate?

Right now, your girl is trying to pull her own health together by making sure her heart is recovering properly and that her left knee continues to repair itself. Then she has to check herself in case there's anything that can be done regarding her eyesight--remember that Fiorella's left eye has been half-blind since she was in her early twenties. 

Plus, your girl wants to get her everlasting "cold" taken care of so she can sing again. She also wants to be able to play around with languages, the joy of her life. How about also starting with German, Russian, French, and Spanish? Later, she can add in Telugu and whatever else she'd like to revive her knowledge of.

To finish off the show, of course, Fiorella would pick up her brushes and decorate, decorate, decorate, and the whole world would be happy!

 

KEEPING UP WITH FIORELLA AS SHE MOVES FORWARD AND UPWARD....SHE HOPES

 Haven't heard anything about What's-His-Name lately. You know who I'm referring to--Trump. Must mean he's been pushed down the table this go-around. 

Congratulate Fiorella! She finally got through to the Cheriot people and has scored a ride to her new eye    doctor on the week after next. She's also hoping she can pick up a ride to her blood-draw vampires (the nurses who check her out at the heart hospital) the same day, which will be tricky. Dang! Why can't doctors come to the house to treat their patients like they did in olden days? Of course, back then, the dregs of WW2 were still lingering in the air and not many people even owned cars.

Your girl was sort of upset today so she took her daily walk early to get away from everyone, but instead, she ran into a middle-aged Hispanic woman who was going door to door with her card advertisement seeking employment. Fio has her own helper, but she took the woman's card anyway because it might come in handy someday--and also because it was in Spanish on one side, a language which Fio would like to learn (along with every other language in the world.

OMG, OMG, OMG--the time gets closer to when Fiorella is going to mail out her "late" Christmas cards and she's sort of nervous about it. What will their receivers think of them? What will they think of your girl in general? 

Anyway, Fio is hoping to receive a response of two--or twenty--from people she used to know who would like to get in touch with her again.

Not the Best of Times, but It Will Do

 

Fiorella has just spent half a day putting the final touches on her two-week labor to get in touch--by mail-- with any  old friends who still remember her, so we'll see what happens next. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to dig up many names and addresses that she used to know, but maybe a match will light a fire.

It's weird: Fio has always been curious about how many people are following her shout-outs, but she's also been afraid to ask. What if her numbers are low--so very low that she's talking to herself? Or on the other hand, what if they're so high that they frighten her? 

SWITCH OF TOPIC: Fiorella has scheduled herself for Chariot, our city's preferred local transport for people her age people, to take her to her eye appointment next month, but she hasn't received a conformation from them yet, which makes her nervous. Maybe she should call again tomorrow to make sure the machine she spoke to is still working. (Pray for her.)

Fio doesn't know where you live, but where she lives, it's getting warmer--so much warmer that your girl slipped into shorts this morning and danced around a little. Hello Spring! 

Our minister, who lives halfway across the city, dropped by to visit today. How many other pastors pay that much attention to their their members, especially if they're way across the city?

 

 

WHAT NEXT?

 Did Fio write something, then accidentally erase it? She wouldn't be surprised....she's doing work on come cards to mail out to her friends and followers, and more information will leak out as time progresses.

In the meantime, if you know any sure-fire way to lose weight, please pass it on to your girl, who'd like to shed about ten pounds.....or maybe twenty. They crept up on her this past year when she stayed inside most of the time and didn't get much exercise, and then then there was the  little fridge that was big enough for her to store a couple of pounds of chocolate in....

Don't hold your breath, but your girl is at last be going to get her eyes examined, something she's want  to do for about two years. Her appointment is March 7, and, in the meantime, she's is biting her lip. You know her left eye is half blind--just like her mother's--but she hopes the right eye is still on point. After all, Fiorella has a lot more paintings in mind that she wants to present to the world.

Your girl has been watching Soap Dish and O Brother, Where Art Thou to rock her to sleep every night, day in and day out  for about half a year, but she's tired of those shows and needs recommendations for some other ones--or maybe just a new activity.....knitting? 

OK, Fiorella confesses that she's pulled out some of her favorite romance books from years ago (including the two she published), but somehow, the stories aren't hitting her now, not even her own. Her weight, her eyes, her sleep pattern, her lack of interest--Actually, FIORELLA IS BORED and pawing in all kinds of directions, which can be dangerous...... 

Pray for her.

.

Not In Her Best Shape

 AAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Fiorella almost forgot to enter her trials and tribulations of the day onto her blog for you to gawk, enjoy, or shudder at, and the first of her complaints is that she's going to have to travel down to City Hall--or whatever--to get her driver's license renewed even though she doesn't drive anymore. And then there is that (SURPRISE!) half-threatening letter from her mortgage holder even though she has a habit of doubling up the house payment every now and then so she's ahead of the game, But even worse is trying to obtain an insurance card, which every private doctor, etc., seem to expect you to flash before you can waltz through the door.

Guess what? A youngish friend has decided to take up painting and Fiorella would like to think that looking at your girl's studio wall, which is covered with various kinds of paintings and artsy decor, was what inspired her. Hmmm....maybe, as time passes, Fio could set up an active studio. After all,  Mrs. Fisher, Fiorella's own teacher, taught oil painting out of her kitchen.

Hoping to hear from my older son again soon. It makes me nerves when he's so silent. 

That's about all there is to say today. Will try to be wittier tomorrow.

(Did I tell you I'm considering writing another romance?)

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

   Fiorella has been a little droopy lately. She can't drive any more so it's hard for her to get transportation to her doctors' offices--or anywhere else. Also, her nose is running non-stop. Also, she is lonely.  What she needs is a half-time driver standing by and ready. She also needs friends, which is particularly peculiar because your girl has always been the kind of person who easily attracted people. Take, for instance, this poem written by one of her colleagues a while back:

     Here's to Fiorella

     Who entertains us so well-a

    She writes and she sings

    And does satiric wingdings

    And makes our day brighter

    And our load a little lighter

    Her students all love her, and so do we--

    In fact, let's vote her Ms. Conviviality! 

              Fio is embarrassed to admit that she can't remember the name of the person lauding her or even which college she was teaching in at the time Further, she has to add that she altered the first line of the poem to fit the verse and altered the second line so it would rhyme with your girl's name.

     HEY, OUT THERE!  IF YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR POEM, ALL FIO CAN SAY IS THANK YOU, AND SHE'D LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU!

 

 

TOO MUCH AT THE SAME TIME....

 Okay, did Fiorella just wipe an existing blog off the screen while she was looking for another blog? If so, let's just give up and sail on.  Whatever Fio has said once will probably leap out of her mouth yet another time.

Your girl spent a lot of time in a play-sport palace where Granddaughter was enjoying her birthday today and, as they say "a good time was had by all," although as soon as the family got back to the house and Fio opened her mail and read it, she nearly fell to the floor. The bank seemed to think there was something wrong about her house payments, but since your girl often DOUBLES them, she was startled, although she knew she was in the clear....she hopes.

Actually, after contemplating, your girl checked on her bookkeeping to be sure the some of the payments were not only double but TRIPLE, an action which, judging by the purrs emitting from George, the family's big white Persian cat, he seems to agree with.

It was interesting and sort of sweet that Son remembered the play-sport palace from his own youth. Fio had a slight wave of remembrance from back then, but was mostly interested in becoming more acquainted the newest addition to our family, who, despite all the the hullabaloo in the background, smiled at her like an angel.😌

Your girl has been a little nervous about writing this blog so she might as well tell you what's going on aside from a birthday party, house payments, and a baby---Fiorella will be soon sending out letters to people she used to know, people who sent her Christmas cards, to see if they can get acquainted again.

 

 

What's Going On Here?

 Fiorella usually doesn't have time to do what she WANTS to do because she's always doing what she NEEDS to do, but right now, she's halfway-on, halfway-off her bed, waiting for her driver to pick her up for their weekly visit to H-E-B, the grocery store that practically owns Texas. In fact, there are rumors that some of these fabulous stores have crept across the line to a couple of border states--but Fio would guess that they are just rogue stores that couldn't quite touch the line that Ma Butt drew when she walked into her very own store. 

Speaking of.... your girl personally knows of two worthy women who set up a little shop in a small Pennsylvania town to supply things like butter or whoostershire souce that their neighbors might otherwise have had to drive into town for other. The ladies got away with if for a couple of years, but after a complaint, the State closed them down. How does Fio know about all this? Because whenever her family visited Dad's childhood home, Auntie would end up sending your girl across the yard to their neighbor's side door for salt or something else we weren't supposed to talk about it.

An entirely different topic: Regarding those new reading glasses that Fiorella is hankering for, she wonders if since she was born with blue eyes which later turned gray and are now greenish, is there any chance she's going to end up with eyes of red? 😍

 Please forgive Fio for such a short blog today. She's tired.😓

 

This and That, but Nothing Important

 I freely confess

My life's a mess

And gets worse every day

So all I can do 

Is smile at you

As you go on your way

Yes, it's a bad day for Fio. She unknowingly scheduled her blood draw too late for Son L to drive her to the blood hospital because he has to pick up his offspring from school at that time, which means that Fiorella will have to put off her blood check for two weeks (the only time available) and which then will give your girl just half an hour at the blood doctor's office before her appointment with the eye doctor. GOT ALL THAT?

Now that she's complaining, Fiorella would really like to have her bedroom closet remodeled. As things stand now, the poles are over-tall, which is weird because the whole room looks like it was designed for a child. Maybe a ladder used to be in there.....

When Fio was digging through the closet of her study, she found her old sewing machine and acouterments. It's nice to know that, like her, they are still extant. 

Thanks for bearing with your girl today. She'll try to do better tomorrow.

UP TO PAR, HOPEFULLY....

 THIS IS THE REAL POST FOR TODAY:

Mark a "win" down for Fiorella because she took the opportunity to go out onto the street in her neighborhood and introduce herself to a woman who was explaining to a long-haul truck driver that her husband was inside the house on an important business call. Your girl was quite pleased with her socialization until the woman asking questions back like "where do  you live?" Yep, the panic took over and all Fio could do was stutter, which is why she's going to attempt to meet up with the woman again and establish herself better.

Yep, your girl is starving for friends who will cheer her on and someone she can cheer on, someone to talk with and laugh with, someone who will care if she doesn't show up one day. Sorry to be repeating the same sad story, but it's your girl's life, and she wants a better one.

Hey, hey--good luck is coming Fio's way!  The blood-drawing depot is open and working again (you should have seen it in the tornado) and guess who's signed up for it already? 😀 

After the above, the next thing that your girl has to tackle--which will probably take a while--is getting her eyes and her glasses checked out. This is especially important because Fiorella's left eye has been half-blind since she was in her early twenties. Strangely, her mother had the same problem, but her daughter doesn't have it 😁

What is Fio's next move, you ask? Actually, she's thinking of making another move....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ONE NEGATIVE AFTER ANOTHER!

 Fiorella is still trying to figure out how to get hold of the local blood-drawers, all of whom disappeared after what looked like a baby tornado whipped through their building almost a month ago. Let's hope your girl will have better luck in locating someone tomorrow. She's grown accustomed to being shot up.

Changing the subject: Granddaughter's birthday has now been celebrated by her mother's side of the family, her father's side, her kindergarten class, her neighborhood playmates, and her immediate family. Hmmm...did Fio leave anyone out? Well, actually FIORELLA HERSELF WAS LEFT OUT! She couldn't even find anyone to drive her to a certain doctor's office, a visit she she had looked forward to for quite a while. 

Egads! Fio just noticed that her den  is almost out of Kleenexes (snort, sneeze, cough achoo) which is more likely to happen in this household because your girl never fully recovered from that bad cold she wrestled with last winter. She has to get to a specialist some how....

As you know, Fiorella has been so taken with Brother, Where Art Thou and Soap Dish that that she often puts herself to sleep at night with them, but, well, it's time to move on, which means that Fio's been trying out other movies--all comedies, of course. Most of them were duds, but last night she landed Kindergarten Cop, which wasn't perfect but made her wake up smiling the next morning. 

If you're wondering, Fio still doesn't have new reading glasses, but they're still on her list.

 

EEK--FIO FORGOT TO POST THIS MESSAGE YESTERDAY, WHICH MAKES YET ANOTHER NEGATIVE !

 

 

 

 

 

BALANCING ACT

 Fiorella will admit that she is somewhat out of balance right now--but when was she ever ON balance?  Right now, she knows that (1) not only are there are too many birthday celebrations in the family for her to keep track of and (2)  she has to contact the Eye people and tell them that she finally found what she thinks is a letter saying saying that, "yes," she DOES have eyeglass insurance and it's still active.

Just in case they don't accept her letter, she'll be accompanied by her checkbook, which seems to be able  to solve all problems.

Speaking of solving problems, Fio is happy to announce that (1) she is at last learning how to cook on a somewhat different stove and in a somewhat different manner than she did at home on her own stove. and (2)  she is now dealing with the expanse of the supermarket itself much better now as opposed to when she hadn't been inside one for two years because of Covid fears. (Do you think anything will be ever be "normal"again?)

Don't tell anyone, but your girl has decided to start dieting because, while she doesn't have a scale to check herself out on, her undies and jeans seem to be a little tight. Her method, you ask? Cutting down on the chocolate and taking a nice walk up to the mailbox each day every day. (Let's see how long this lasts.)

Oops--a problem. The date that Fio wrote down for her to reappear at her favorite doctor's office is a week later than the date that his nurse quoted to herl on the phone just now, and it cuts out Cheriot, which needs to be notified a week in advance for transportation. Hmm....wonder if Sister-in-Law could help?

An Adventure of Fiorella's Earlier Days

 Wow! What a way to wake up this morning----a phone call from Elaine H, who had lived next door to Fio during your girl's childhood and on up, and whom she'd kept in touch with through their college,  employment, family, and widowhood years--and and her friend sounded great! They talked and talked, but dang it, Fio didn't think to tell her about The  Blog, where she could get Fiorella's day-by-day low downs.

A little background here: Elaine's mother was Louisiana French and quite willing to teach Fiorella as many bits and pieces of the language as your girl could handle---and years later, when Fio was faced with a graduate school requirement for linguistics, that background came in VERY handy. 

Fiorella knew that neither her one semester of German nor her two semesters of Russian were strong enough to pass the test so she chose French, which, she had never ever had a class in, but knew was derived from Latin, which she'd studied for five years previously in high school and done quite well in.

Besides, her best friend in Grad school, Nichole D, was French, and Fio had picked up the accent and some of common phrases from her.

AND IT WORKED! Your girl passed the French test with flying colors! In fact, Fio was the first one in the room to turn in her exam for any of the languages! But DANG- the proctors wouldn't let her out the door, despite her explaining she had a beagle at home about to give birth and that she wanted to be there😠

 (Later, she learned that anyone turning a test in unusually early is suspected of being a hired hand.)

 ATTENTION: FIORELLA HAS REWORKED THIS PAGE SEVERAL TIMES

BUT STILL HASN'T GOTTEN IT THE WAY SHE WANTS IT--

Too many tears and memories involved.....

PIECE BY PIECE.....

 Egad! Fiorella's Daughter-in-law celebrated her birthday today and her whole family--plus Fio and her whole family--were there, but unfortunately, while everyone else was having a good time cuddling the new baby, Fio was trying to keep an eye open for her driver, who had postponed your girl's weekly grocery trip from  Friday to Saturday because of a celebration at her house. (Got all that?)

Continuing: When, a couple of hours later, Fiorella got back to the house lugging all her groceries, her relatives were all heading off somewhere, and she ended up having to having to put most of them in place herself, which took a lot more time than she had thought it would.

Then, already in a turmoil, Fio couldn't spot the pre$ent she had bought for Granddaughter, no matter how much she tried. Deciding to relax, she turned on TV--and was greeted by some weird programing that took over her TV screen and wouldn't let her return to Soap Dish or O Brother Where Art Thou?, her current  favorites.

Deciding to take a breather, your girl stepped outside and watched the teenage neighbor boy practicing getting his basket ball into the net for a while, then stepped forward and asked him if he knew how to re-program a TV........WHICH HE DID! 😊

Oh, and in case you wondered, Son L, Granddaughter's father, spotted the gift Fiorella had misplaced--in plain sight, of course! 

A LONG AND TIRING ROAD

 Birthday parties are usually a lot of fun for everyone--child, adult and anyone even half-way involved. The same does not hold true regarding the preparations, at least in your girl's situation. How about having to deal with two members of the cast who have birthdays just two days apart--and a third member who sets up the celebration for the duet on the same day that Fiorella has claimed as her own grocery shopping day?

Ah, well--Fio will survive, and it won't hurt her to miss out on the chocolate every now and then. Besides, there's the nostalgia aspect. Way back when, Fio and Husband put together a lot of these parties for the family tribe, and it warms her heart that our offspring are continuing the tradition. Fiorella doesn't know the details, but apparently, the whole local family has been invited, which warms Fio's heart.

In the meantime, Fiorella will have to start cleaning up her bedroom and art/library/writing studio, then turn her eyes to the foyer. Luckily, the piano, which is located there, doesn't attract much more than Fio's on-and-off tinkling with the keys and a little dust.

Changing the subject, Fiorella has stared at herself long and hard in a wardrobe mirror, and there's no way to get around it. Your girl has gained weight and needs to lose it unless she's planning on buying herself a  new, more, er, uh--exPANsive--wardrobe within the next month--which she isn't. PRAY FOR HER, BUT DO--NOT--SEND--CHOCOLATE!

Again, Fio has to urge you to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou, even if you've seen it before. The story is set in Mississippi about eighty years ago (when cars didn't have locks) and the writer/writers have woven a story, a comedy, a pot full of history, and fabulous music, if not more, into it. As a student of Miss Osberon (Waco High School), your girl couldn't hep but notice a thread of Homer's odyssey traveling through it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIGRAINE TIME

 Fio had worked hard all day, and suddenly, at eventide, when she had finely finished up and was about to go on a walk, her vision became a blur of frantic colors. What was going on? 

Your girl panicked--she's been half-blind in her left eye for years as it is--but was she going to lose full throttle in her right eye too? What could she do to prevent further damage?

Suddenly, Fiorella realized that the rainbows were vaguely familiar, a migraine, and that what she was experiencing had been a fairly normal at one time in her life--but that was before her brain had encountered her last five years: her husband dying, family troubles, selling the house, nearly freezing to death, her dog's dying, etcetera....

But why should she get a migraine now?  Should Fio she insist on being examined in a hospital or assume that she's recovering? 

 

 

Rivalry

 Hello, again! Fiorella woke up to a cold, cold house this morning so her first move was to grit her teeth, leap out of bed, and make a run for the clothes closet in the hall to grab her jacket. 

Well, it's actually anyone's jacket who can get to it first--but Fio  was on the move and she wanted to do some rearranging in her studio, like, shoving around the chairs and desks in yet another way to make the place more comfortable--at least until the next time she got another brilliant idea.

In the meantime, your girl been gloating over receiving that mid-morning call from the eye doctor's office that sister-in-law Patsy recommend.  Fiorella's appointment isn't until next month, but the wait will give your girl time to shuffle through her many insurance records to find the one that validates her coverage for glasses and whatever.

Actually, your girl was hoping she could get an eye appointment on Friday--any Friday--when her usual driver is available--but that's not going to work out. Never mind, it  looks like Fio will be able to make use her friends at Cheriot, who have always been good to her.

To end today's saga, on the way out of her bedroom, your girl (true to form) knocked her cute little pink plastic bedside lamp onto the floor and, as one of the components danced away under her bed, you could almost hear it say FREE, FREE AT LAST! 

But that lamp didn't knows who's daughter they were talking to! Just like Mom would have, Fio swept her arm under the bed, found the lamp, determined where it should go, interpreted the instructions on the bottom of it, and settled everything into place--then showed her workmanship off to Son L so he'd see that he wasn't the only one around who could fix things!

WHAT A MESS!

OMG, OMG, OMG-It's seven o'clock at night and Fiorella forgot to check in with you for the day! Instead, she has been working very hard to spruce up her studio and make her new paper blog more presentable.  

By afternoon, her attempt wasn't too bad so she thought she had plenty of time and  accompanied Son L to Walmart to pick up presents for an up-coming birthday. However, come eventide, when everyone was home and discussing the final preparations, your girl suddenly realized that weird feeling in her stomach wasn't hunger, but something inside of her trying to remind her to write a blog.

     And now she can't pull her print down to a normal-size, no matter what buttons she pushes, which probably means she should give up for the night. The only good thing that is coming out of this mess is that now you know for sure that Fiorella is a real person, not some sort of a machine operated by a clown....or do you?

Attention: sanity will return tomorrow, but at least you've been reassured that Fiorella is a real person, not some sort of mechanical doll!

P.S. Fio just got off a l--o--n--g wait trying to get herself in line for an appointment at an ophthalmalogist's office. Apparently, there were a lot of other people on their phones too, so your girl finally just gave all her information into the crackly mechanical voice, returned her own phone to its place, and prayed. 

Double PS: Yes, Fio knew she wasn't spelling the name of the eye doctor correctly, but she got tired of trying!

 

 

 

From Confession to Action--with a Steak in Between

Fiorella messed up. Between having to explain to herself what she was trying to do with her newest wacky project and her usual aim of of saving the world, she turned her studio into a maelstrom that took half a day to pull back together again.

After cleaning up her mess, your girl spent most of her time doing things like washing her clothes, emptying the trash, and cleaning up her bedroom--which also included gritting her teeth over her closet hangers, half of which she can't even reach. (Yes, Fiorella complained about the situation when they first moved in, but to no avail. Maybe it's time to launch a new attack.)

The tension of the day was palpable, at least to Fio--because the blood people still haven't gotten any word out on when they'll be open for business again. 

Ah--the highlight of the day: Fiorella turned on the stove this afternoon, grabbed a kitchen knife, and started in one of the cuts of beef she'd bought the last time she'd gone to H-E-B--and you can bet your booties that it was FABULOUS--even better than the salmon, which had somehow lost its taste. Let's hope the rest of that cut tastes just as well tomorrow.

Back to the project mentioned in her first paragraph, Fiorella will admit that it's a blatant attempt to attract old friends, but new ones would also be welcome. 😁

 

See You Tomorrow

 Fiorella is taking a rest today because her big idea went sour. It happens sometimes.....

This Blog Was Hard to Write, but Stick With Her--Fio Will Get Better.....She Hopes

 

Ever since last year, Fiorella has had a weekly check-up regarding her heart operation, but with the bad weather Texas is having, the timing was moved forward a couple of days--then more so. Each time, your girl notched her calendar, and Son L, Fio's medical chauffeur, did the same. We. of course, thought our quick in-and-out was set to go--but when we showed up at the proper time and place, all lights were off and the driveway was deserted. 

PROBLEM WITH THE POWER GRID AGAIN! REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED THE YEAR THAT FIORELLA GOT CAUGHT IN THAT TERRIBLE STORM?! IT'S A MIRACLE SHE'S STILL ALIVE!

Back to today, Fiorella's sweet driver came by to pick your girl up for her weekly visit to H-E-B and wherever else she wants to go, but--wonder of wonders---everything on Fio's list turned out to be available in the grocery store itself. WOW!

After your girl returned from her shopping, she packed away most of her groceries in her mini-fridge. An hour later, Son L stormed into Fio's room and told her two of her cartons were leaking into the family fridge. Yep, you guessed it--Fio hadn't had enough up-right room for all of her cartons so she'd shoved some into the family refrigerator--sideways.

This is completely off the subject, but have you ever seen the movie "O Brother--Where Art Thou." Fio is running it every night to put her to sleep now. The music! The singing! The acting! (Although your girl doesn't understand how four guys who go through so much supposed punishment can end up without a bruise on any of their handsome faces.) Ahh-Hollywood....

 

 

 

 

 What's

 

 

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Fiorella Schemes a Happy Ending....

 Sorry for running late, but Fiorella has been working hard on writing up her first batch of her own second-hand Christmas cards--the ones she'll be mailing back their senders to let her know she's still alive. It was hard going at first, but all the mail-outs should reach their destinations in a week or so. 

The whole family is in turmoil, of course, because what do you do when all the schools, from kindergarten to high school--even through college--are closed, closed, closed. Not much snow to be seen, but that ice is dangerous. Texans aren't prepared weather like this----especially the governor.....

You should see the rose bushes that are up close to the house. They're covered with cruel-looking glass droppings from top to toe that swipe at your cheek as you try to get down the walk to see it there was a newspaper delivery. Your girl never knew that roses could be so cruel.

Sigh....the weather is supposed to clear up sometime tomorrow, just in time for Son L to take Fio over to the hospital so her blood count can be checked out in relation to the heart operation she had last year. Later in the day, your girl and her driver will take a separate voyage to pick up food and whatever extras Fiorella needs--or wants--for the coming week. Girls will be girls....

One of the things Fio wants to pick up is postage stamps, especially she is going to be mailing a fair number of Christmas cards in the next couple of weeks. Pray for Fiorella that this scheme has a happy ending.💔

 

 

 

 

 

 

From POWER GRIDS to HIDEAWAYS!

Don't you just love it when the power grids go out in stone-cold weather because the governor of your state STILL hasn't installed the recommended fixes?  ESPECIALLY IF TWO YEARS AGO, YOU YOURSELF NOT ONLY RAN OUT OF FOOD, BUT  NEARLY FROZE TO DEATH FROM LACK OF HEAT????!

Fio made a good buy with her giant after-sale black-and-white panda. He shelters your girl's Kleenex box, Remote, and glasses as she falls asleep at night and never complain when she grabs him by an ear or rolls him off their double bed. (Oh, dear--I guess he's a male after all, but no name yet.

As far as Fiorella could tell from the sounds, every little girl from miles around was in the house last night. Don't know if that means they like Granddaughter, they like her toys, or if it was our family's turn to babysit.

Fiorella was thinking about her father, who had failed first grade, then went on to be president of of his graduating class. Later, his personality helped him get a good job, and he was able to quickly move up the line. Dad's outgoing personality did most of the trick, but he also made use of the company library to learn all he could about its aims and projects.

There was some rumbling in the hall so Fio stuck her head out her bedroom door and--surprise--spotted Son L and his wife shoving the last of our Christmas decorations up into an attic that your girl didn't even know existed. Hmm...are there other hideaways in the house that Fiorella doesn't know about??😁