Ten Good Things Weekly---Number 10

While I’m sitting here on pins and needles waiting for my 4:30 appointment at the bank, I might as well try to assemble my "Ten Good Things Weekly" list for today. I can’t promise this is going to be great, funny, or witty writing… In fact, I can’t promise it will be at all legible or logical. I’m so pre-occupied with the bank business that it seems I can only apply a weak 12% of my attention to anything else. But, what the hell. Here goes:

1. I took a couple of great power-walks, and did some upper-body weight work. I feel myself getting a little less creaky and flabby. This is a must if I don’t want to hurt my back again like I did last year, doing my teamster act at various venues. Imagine a 5’ 3", 120-pound teamster. Like I said, the better shape I am in, the less likely I am to end up squashed like a bug under a banquet table or a freezer.
2. I accomplished the impossible, and managed to squeeze an equipment list and a P & L statement out of the guy who is selling this business we want to buy. He insisted he did not have time to deal with this information. I told him our "business consultants" advised us our "due diligence" included getting our hands on that information. Talked him into it, silver-tongued devil that I am. Though my husband and I did most of the work, at least Mr. Business owner brought his shopping bag full of invoices and receipts.
3. Finished weeding, amending, and planting the flower beds and containers in the front yard. Up ‘til now, I’ve been focusing on the back yard, which is starting to look nice, but does nothing for the curb appeal of the property. Front yard is now catching up to back yard. If we end up having to have the house appraised to get money, at least the yard won’t have a negative influence on the property value…
4. Made a wonderful salad for dinner the other night. When I make salads, I just kind of throw in everything but the kitchen sink. This time, it was pickled asparagus, garlic artichoke hearts, sliced bell pepper, sliced wine-soaked olives, crumbled feta cheese, chicken, baby corn (like you get in Chinese food), scallions, and I’m sure there was more I can’t remember, with baby greens, spinach and some iceberg lettuce for crunch. (I’m sorry—I like crunchy salad. And iceberg lettuce is really cheap these days, because it’s terribly unfashionable. I remember in its heyday, it used to cost almost two bucks a head. Now it can be had for 49 cents. I imagine it’s grown in South America or something, so I suppose it’s terribly un-PC of me to purchase it. Sigh!) Anyway, good salad!
5. Finally settled on the menu for the event I’m doing next weekend in Yachats (better late than never….)
6. Attended our local peace demonstration on Sunday afternoon! Held up a sign with a peace symbol on one side, and "honk for peace" on the other. I felt like I was eighteen again. Except that, today, my poor arthritic hands and shoulders ache from holding that sign aloft and waving at passing cars. No pain, no gain, I guess…
7. Got the husband to ream the spider webs out of the works of our little propane fireplace on the back deck. And last night, we had a very pleasant evening by a cozy fire with a beverage in hand (Pinot Grigio for me, Pepsi for him…)
8. We put up the canvas cover over our deck. Having that cover up drops the temperature in our family room (which has large, west-facing windows) by ten degrees. Wouldn’t you know, as soon as we put it up, it started raining. So now we start the ritual of having to go outside periodically with a broom handle and dump water out of the canvas. Oh well. It WILL stop raining sometime. It always does.
9. I made friends with the neighbors’ cat, who has taken to sitting quietly under my backyard bird feeders, waiting for the birds to forget she’s there and get careless. I was not too happy when I found TWO dead birds in various places in the yard… And they didn’t die of bird flu. Now I just have to convince Ms. Cat to quit shopping for birdies in my back yard. I’m sure we can come to some equitable, non-violent agreement about it.
10. Only 2 ½ more hours until the long-awaited bank meeting….

That’s it. I’m sure there are one or two sublime moments that have completely escaped me. But I really am in a state of mental paralysis. If I don’t write again for awhile, you can be assured that things are not going well in the "Lisa Buys A Business" drama….