Third week in August

We started our week last Sunday with the Southerlands coming over for dinner.  We played two rounds of Qwirkle afterwards.  Although Quinn is in the photo, he spent most of the time laying down because he was not feeling well and Monday morning, we found out why -  he tested positive for Covid!  It is now a week later and no one else in either the Southerland family or Steve or I have gotten sick so I guess we dodged the bullet?  But, I might have been a carrier because, on Wednesday, I went with a friend from church to deliver a slice of birthday pie to a woman to whom we minister and she is on immunosuppressant drugs and tested positive for Covid today.  Yikes!

Elizabeth Crippen drove over from Columbia Monday evening to stay the night and to attend the temple with me on Tuesday morning.  Steve didn't get to join us because he had to take Linus back to Open Door for a follow-up on his surgery.   The growth was malignant but the vet is confident she removed it all.  Linus also came home with a "cone of confusion".  The vet wants his wound to be left unbandaged and the cone will keep him from constantly licking his sore leg.  It has been an interesting week with everyone getting used to the cone.  It is quite large which makes it difficult for Linus to navigate.  And walking around Linus gets tricky sometimes.  We slide it off for him to eat and to go outside to potty but the rest of the time, he has to wear it.  

Tuesday evening, we had Sam Carpintero over for dinner to celebrate her thirty-third birthday.  

We also got our Kia back from the body shop on Tuesday but we took it down to the Kia dealership on Wednesday for a routine oil change and tire rotation.  Thankfully, we got it back that evening.  St. Louis had lovely pre-autumn-like temperatures most of the week so driving the Honda with the windows down as we shopped on Wednesday was quite pleasant.

I attended another neighborhood beautification committee meeting Thursday night and was reminded how the more people you have, the more opinions you have and how some people just don't know when to stop talking.  I brought baby hats to work on so I would be able to sit through all of that without going crazy.  

Steve and I went out to dinner Friday night - a very rare occurrence given my dietary restrictions.  There are a few eateries literally around the corner or down the street from us and one of our goals this year is to try them out.  We went first to a place called The Haven but, as soon as we walked in, it definitely gave off more of a bar vibe rather than a restaurant that has a bar.  It took several minutes for anyone to even address us and when I asked if they could provide gluten-free food, we got a flat out "No".  So, bye bye to The Haven.  We drove in the opposite direction to The Royal Kabob and found a completely empty restaurant but a very friendly teen who told us that they could serve gluten-free.  They serve Persian cuisine, 100% certified halal food.  We ordered the mixed grill of lamb, beef and saffron chicken and it was so delicious.  

Saturday was a baptistry day.  We stopped by the Southerlands afterwards but not for lessons.  We needed to drop some things off and dash home to eat and then attend a baptism at the church.  Steve has been dealing with a painful right hip the last several days that has not been getting better (we skipped yoga on Thursday because of that).  So, mowing the front lawn just was not in his wheelhouse.  But, grass waits for no one and our weather forecast is for an excessive heat warning for the next five days which is why I got to mow the lawn Saturday evening.  I am so grateful I had the strength and stamina to do the job.  

All week long, my morning yard task has been to take out the thick cluster of native iris that was there when we bought the house and to spread out the hybrid iris I planted after we moved in.  With a post on Next Door, I was able to give away all of the iris I removed to neighbors within 24 hours.  

I watched two movies this week without Steve - one was Killers that turned out to be a fun watch and the other was Harriet (about Harriet Tubman) which was very well done.  Steve and I both watched a library loaned DVD called With Six You Get Eggroll on Friday night.  It was made in 1968 and starred Doris Day and Brian Keith and it started out well enough but we think the writers just ran out of material half-way through and resorted to stupid, mad-cap shenanigans for the last half of the movie.  It was a waste of time.  We watched an episode of the second season of Strange New Worlds on Saturday night and it was VERY good.