Starting With a Contrary Cow

When Fiorella drove past the neighborhood cattle ranch recently, she noted that all the cows were facing the same direction as they industriously cropped the springtime grass--all but one, that is, who was catty-corner to the others. Wonder if her nick-name is Fio.
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Fiorella was having lunch in Austin when hijo mayor got dropped off at the door, but he had his own key and by the time Fio got home, he'd spiffed up the riding lawn mower and put it up on eBay.
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With Son accompanying her, Fiorella will talk to a probate lawyer this morning. Husband left her everything in his will, but that apparently isn't good enough for Uncle Sam. Fio feels like she's in a carnival funhouse and can't get out.
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Fio's glancing through thebooks in her floor-to-ceiling bookcase to figure out which ones to keep and which ones to donate to her local RWA (Romance Writers of America). Her taste has changed over the years, of course. She liked harder-hitting books now, ones with a purpose.
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And yes, after a four-year lull, Fio plans to start turning out books head over foot, and she hopes you will buy them, not only because it would be nice for her to have a few extra shekels lying around, but because she has important things to say that she thinks everyone should hear.

Fiorella Has Hopes and Plans

One thing Fiorella has been able to accomplish in the middle of the chaos is the reorganization of la despensa (the pantry) to suit her own needs and arranged everything to her own convenience. The bottom shelf is now for storage of plastic bags, paper towels, and the like. The next shelf up is devoted to dog goodies and grooming, Above that is Fiorella's shelf, which is at just the right height for her, and the fourth shelf will be for Son when he arrives today, while the top shelf is for the storage of plastic containers that often prove useful.
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On the negative side, Fio is still sludging through the mud on the finances and may have lost an insurance policy. She's also behind on thank-you notes. And laundry.
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The good news is that all of Husband's CDs will have appreciative homes. Fiorella sent a shoebox stuffed full of classical music home to friend Raquel's son, and nephew Barrett will take the rest of the collection off Fio's hands. And did she tell you that neighbor Michael has offered to fill in her outdated koy pond in return for the flagstones built up around it? She'll probably take him up on his offer later in the spring.
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As soon as she knows what her finances will be like, Fio wants to straighten and extend the backyard chainlink fence. Also to build a retaining wall to keep the sloping back yard from ending up in the dry creek a couple of yards behind the fence. and, in the front yard, Fio is contemplating protecting her iron plants from the inevitable armadillos by installing a removable metal fence.
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Fiorella has noticed that las piedras along the driveway need shoring up again, which means that as soon as the weather clears, she'd better be trundling her little red wagon out onto the acreage and loading it up. She's spotted some good rock sites further into the woods.

Strictly Fiorella

Fiorella puts her watch on first thing every morning so she can get a-tickin', but sometimes she doesn't want to arise, arise, shine. She's had to do all her life--get up for school, for work, to take care of the house and the family, and now that she's all alone, you'd think she'd get a break. But Sonia Dog and her own urinary tract think otherwise.
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Fio has narrowed her interests as she has gotten older. Obviously, running hurdles in the Olymipics is off the table, but Fiorella was never much of an athlete anyway. She's also lost interest in being rich and famous. Wealth comes with all sorts of complications, and fame is a two-edged sword. Strangely, she isn't that interested in food any more either--not that she ever cooked that much, but she did eat a lot more at one time. Now she just wants to write, be artsy, play around with langauges and music, and hang out with friends and family.
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Elder Son is scheduled for a Wednesday arrival this week so Fiorella is scurrying around the house and trying to get everything in order, which is a bit difficult at trhe moment because she's bound and determined to down-size, down-size, downsize. La despensa (the pantry) has undergone a total overhaul, and los estantes, cajones y armarios (shelves, drawers, and cabinets) in the kitchen are next in line.
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Fio filled two trash bags with Husband's collection of herbs, spices, sauces, and the like. Her cooking is minimal, the kids have already taken what they could use, and food closets don't accept anything that has been opened.
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Whew--it looks like Fio is half through the legal stuff. She's paid off the funeral home, squared herself with the bank and the car insurance people, sent off her claims to the insurance companies, and this week, she'll meet with a probate attorney. Now if she could just remember where she put the list of the people she should have written a thank-you note to a month ago.
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Did Fiorella tell you that she is trying to cut way back on chocolate and cookies? Yesterday was her first "dry" day, and it was hard, but she's determined to take off those five pounds she's put on since the Christmas candy hit Walgreens. (It'll give her leeway for Easter.)

4 Scorpions and a Confession

Flipping on the front room light this morning, Fio spotted an adult-size scorpion casually crossing the concrete floor, which called for an immediate squash and flush. That makes two scorpions this week, and Fiorella is not pleased. When her family moved to Texas long, long ago,  her brother was stung by a scorpion sheltering in one of his shoes, which resulted in our mother instructing all of us to clap our shoes before we put them on, a precaution which Fio honors to this day.
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Will Former Friend never stop providing primo fodder for your Fio to analyze? When FF posted about her ailing horse on Facebook recently, Fiorella suddenly realized that the only times FF goes public is when she's angry or depressed.
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Fio has trained herself to avoid the "candy" and "seasonal" aisles at H-E-B, but when she dropped by Walgreens to pick up some thank-you cards, she also picked up a chocolate rabbit and four chocolate and marshmallow Easter cookies. Dang! Foiled by Russell Stover.
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Trump enjoys stirring up blood fury at his rallies, and he's good at it. He could tell his audience to kill everyone around them, and they'd do it on the spot.
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First thing in the morning, Fiorella rubs her face to see if she's still alive.
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Visiting Nephew and Wife

Although, according to her cellphone, all Fiorella needed was twenty-six minutes, she gave herself a full hour to make to Austin and locate the home of Nephew and Wife--but she was still twenty minutes late. She'd tried to follow her phone's directions, but it was hard to hear the speaker over the highway noise, and Fio didn't know how to get more volume, which resulted in her missing vital information and making a number of wrong turns.
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Along the way, Fio saw a man in a raincoat walking two dogs across an intersection. The dogs looked like they would have rather stayed home, and the man did too. Misery loves company?
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Fiorella's glasses moved on and off her nose the whole time she was on the road--on when she was driving, and off when she was tryng to read signs.  Yes, your girl needs bifocals, but she's been told the bridge of her nose is too high for them. La--guess that's one of the problems of an aristocratic bone structure.
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Fio had a great time with Nephew and Wife, their three dogs, and the antique furniture they repair and sell, and she was delighted to learn that, like Fiorella, they think that everyone and everything wants to have a purpose.
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Fio made a point of  talking to Nephew and Wife about ancient family history--good, bad, and boring. It's part of us, whether we want it to be or not.

Personally Speaking

Fiorella gads around town in her Miata and uses the Mercedes to take the week's trash out to the curb. That's just how she rolls🤣
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There's something spooky about your Fio. Apparently, she can control the traffic flow on I-35. Yesterday, when she was driving down the southbound side to meet with friend Jane MP at Fish Daddy's, the flow on the northbound side ran at top speed, while the flow on her side slowed to a stop several times. Then, when she drove home, the southbound side ran at top speed while the northbound flow slowed and came to a stop several times. Hmm....
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The stupid Austin Anmerican-Statesman screwed up its delivery system again, and Fiorella had to drive six miles into town to buy a newspaper, which made her very angry. She NEEDS that paper every morning to get her motor running. To be more exact, she needs the funnies and the anagrams. The rest of the paper can "sink into the ocean."
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Hey, hijo mayor--the local feed store had two riding mowers out in its yard last week, but now it only has one. Prime time to sell off the old mower?
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It's hard to clean out Husband's desk because Fio doesn't know which items were more meaningful to him and should be saved.

Morning Prayer

Help me, Lord, by your grace,
To make the world a better place
Every day in every way
By what I do and what I say