April 7-13, 2019

Weather | 4/7, 0.16" rain, 49°, 75° | 4/8, 49°, 74° | 4/9, 51°, 73° | 4/10, 50°, 69° | 4/11, 52°, 65° | 4/12, 36°, 54° | 4/13, 34°, 56° |

Sunday (4/7): Lots of dog training at work today, with classes at 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. Fortunately, my 1:30 class canceled, because the pet parent was sick. A real fun class is Aggie, a Basset Hound puppy, who is learning fast. The 4:30 class is new...Lizzy, a white boxer, and Theo, a beagle mix. I also sold a Level 1 class to a woman with 2 dogs, who will be in a new class starting next Sunday at 11:30 am. Mary vacuumed gobs of beetles today. Thunderstorms from 5:30 pm, onward. Mary got photos of a complete double rainbow.

Monday (4/8): Two dog training classes at work with Rufus (great dane mix) at 6 pm and Cupcake (yellow lab) at 7 pm. Finished reset of cat towers that Cory has been working on for 2 days. It's only about 2-3 dozen items! Also, put extra cat towers on top-stock (highest shelf), which really wore my butt out wrestling heavy cat towers up a tall ladder to the highest shelf in the store. Cory is 21 and can't be bothered. I'd fire his ass if I was store manager. Forgot I was to leave at 8. I was mopping floors at 9 when Bill Fawcett asked, "Aren't you supposed to leave at 8 today?" Oops! Texted Shane that I must really like work. He said it was OK. Back home, Mary sucked up a gobs of bugs and made kindling.

Wednesday (4/10): Mary and I sawed up part of the trunk of a maple tree east of the house, across the field. It's wood that's been curing for a year or more, so it's very hard. I dulled a newly sharpened chain in one afternoon. Big slices have to be sawed in half. Loaded the wood in the wagon and took it home. I discovered that the boots I've had for 2 weeks have cracks in them. Rubber bands have thicker rubber than what's in these cheap Chinese pieces of crap. Watched the movie, Twister.

Thursday (4/11): Saw 30 white pelicans and 2 great herons fly over the house while walking the dogs in the morning. Texted Katie about her birthday. We'll try to send her money, electronically, for her birthday. Went to work early so I could buy chainsaw oil. Tried to buy boots at Farm & Home, but they were out of my size in the type of boots I wanted. Trained 2 dogs at work, Ruby (labradoodle or lab/poodle mix) and Roe (goldendoodle or golden retriever/poodle mix) for class 1, level 2. Both are horrible at jumping, a common trait of doodles. At home, fewer bugs are coming into the house and grass is growing with great gusto. Got a nice card from Mom with a clipping from the Circle Banner with a photo of her flipping pancakes at a Senior Center event.

Friday (4/12): Balanced checkbook from 1st of the year. Looked into how to send money to Katie. Called bank and can't do it through them without paying a fee. Checked out Venmo, a subsidiary of PayPal. Asked Katie and she wants to go that way, so I set up an account. When both of us have a free account set up with Venmo, I can send money from my bank to her through the Venmo app.

Saturday (4/13): Went to Stark Brothers nursery customer appreciation days in Louisiana, MO. Before we left, Shane texted me, asking me to call him. He fired Mary and wants me to close, even though it was my day off. He said to go ahead and enjoy our visit to Stark Brothers, then show up at work. It was a sunny day at Stark Brothers. We bought 4 blueberry plants at $9, each, 75 strawberry plants at $18, 2 key lime trees at $16, each, some citrus fertilizer, and a French tarragon plant. I took in a wine brewing seminar. It was a blast. We saw walnut, peach, and pecan trees that we'd like, but first, we need to get areas built up with soil and compost (a project for this year), and buy those trees next year. Ate at a burger joint in Hannibal on the way home and I got to work at 6 pm to close at 9 pm.