Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Ah, how nice it is to have a gardener.

The temperature reads 107 outside, and the grass is waving in the breeze. It needs cutting. Usually, that means we will dampen our clothes enough to be outside and remain comfortable while we do the job. Today, though, we have a gardener. What bliss. I'm not riding the lawnmower, and Angela isn't doing the edging. I'm not picking up twigs, and Angela isn't trimming the hedge. The broken tree limb is not calling us to care for it immediately. We have a gardener. Angela and I are free to read, write, nap or play with the dogs. Are we? No, we're watching the gardener. Will he do as good a job as we do? Will he be faster than we usually are? Probably. Yes, in fact, when all is said and done. He, after all, has the fancy equipment we don't own. He also does the job for a living and has figured out all the little tricks of the trade. So, by watching, we hope to do better when we are doing it again in a few weeks. We also hired a professional tree trimming service. Guess what, not a single person fell out of a tree or off a ladder. You know, this could become a habit. Now, all we have to do is get a summer job to pay for our professional lawn care. Maybe we could hire out as gardeners.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Busy, Busy, Busy

Who ever said retirement was relaxing? Forget that. So far today, I have trimmed a small tree (taller than me though), and helped Angela mend a fence that lines our property. It's only ninety degrees outside. That's almost cool weather in Fresno for the summer months. We have nice neighbors for the most part, but one of them owns a business he runs from his home that is illegal. He runs big trucks and heavy equipment into his back yard along our property line, and they often knock down parts of the fence. The whole neighborhood is up in arms about his business and trucks, but so far he hasn't budged on moving the business. He will replace a fence post now and then if we insist on it, but generally, it falls to us to maintain it. Can you tell we aren't happy about this? Yes, the county is aware. They fine him every few months and threaten him regularly. None of that is doing much good thus far. I personally think that he believes our complaints will eventually fall on deaf ears as we're just a couple of "those" women. Just being women is a strike against us, of course. Ah well, we carry on. The good news is that we can share a few laughs about having to watch getting sunburns on our bald heads together even though we wear hats. We both lather up with sun lotion, but there is always a few spots that seem to get pretty red from time to time. We share our broken fingernail stories and help put on occasional band aids too. It is nice that we share the house and yard work. In fact, we actually enjoy most of it. Oh yes,we share bathroom and kitchen duties too. you'll have to wait for those stories.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Active Again

Okay, I admit to being a slacker in the blogging arena. I think, though, that it was more of a vacation. I was doing all that Cancer stuff, and it took over my life in a way I had not anticipated. I gio through it without many problems, but blogging took a backseat. I missed doing it, of course, but putting words down correctly didn't always happen. Call it what you will: chemo brain, or just laziness. I'll agree with you generally. I'm on a chemo pill now, but the brain seems to be working, and I want to be involved in blogging again. So, here I am putting words in this little box again.

Since this is supposed to be about being married to a Transsexual, trust me when I say that Angela was a rock through all of this - in the best way (not as poundage such as her being a heavy weight to carry around). She provided wonderful nursing when needed and even better support all the time. She, along with several good friends, made the passage much easier than I expected. Trust me when I say that not all spouses are a help. So, yes, this is another great thing about being married to a T!