Thanks for all the well wishes on my last post. That night I was feeling a bit more energy, but waking up the following morning, I felt just as sick again. It reminded me I've always experienced this pattern of feeling sicker in the morning but better in the evening, and this worked in my favor as a child since my mother would see how I was doing in the morning before deciding whether or not to send me back to school.

But today I am definitely feeling more energy and have a load of clothes in the dryer. It was on my list of things I really want to do, along with my state tax return and shoveling my driveway. Doing the laundry is easier, so that's where I'm starting. Now I've gotten real ambitious and am laundering my bedsheets and duvet cover.

One thing I really appreciate when not feeling well....I can sign into my US Postal Service account and use Informed Delivery to see what mail will arrive/has arrived in my mailbox today to see whether I need to walk down the drive and collect it or not.  I recognize the sound of the mail truck engine coming down my street so lazy me, I can check what mail he is leaving me WHILE he is leaving it.

I'd also like to walk down into the front yard and see if there's any sign of pussy willow catkins yet. Probably too early, but last year I was too late. They are very much an early spring arrival. I'd like to cut some to bring indoors, plus cutting them back helps keep them a reasonable size.

I see so many tracks in the snow. I know I have opposums and bobcat and not sure what else is roaming around. I keep a heated water bath for all. Last night's full moon illuminated the yard.

My plumber hasn't yet gotten the "sausage" anode rod he wants to use as replacement, if needed, in my heat pump hot water heater. He was here to do some annual maintenance but inspecting the anode rod was the one thing he couldn't do because I have very low ceiling clearance in the basement. Hard to pull the rod out from the top when you have just 6" or so. The "sausage" rod apparently fits in differently.

I like this plumber because he explains everything he's doing to me in great detail and will patiently answer my questions.  I'm one of those people who tries to listen and learn as much as I can about what any contractor is doing. Knowledge is power and all that. He said most people don't care to hear it all, but I do. The more I know, the less likely some other contractor is going to rip me off, and believe me, many do, in different ways.

I also think his pricing is fair, and I like the discount they offer on furnace cleanings after the first one. He is from a local town, and his wife manages his scheduling via text. There are two plumbers in my town that have a lock on business, or so it seems. People on the town FB group recommend these two over and over again, almost to the point where you wonder if they are the only 2 plumbers in town. "Best in the business, hands down" and all that. I have hired both of them and found them lacking for different reasons.

Actually, there is another local plumber I discovered when a rusted-out pipe end cap burst in my basement last summer, whom I also liked. It's nice to have 2 plumbers in the mental Rolodex for any future plumbing issues.

Given the Felon-in-Chief's abrupt, autocratic, bull-in-a-china-shop style of decision-making about wide-ranging programs, I am feeling more nervous about my future Social Security income. My plan all along has been to wait another 3 or 4 years before collecting, but will it be there, intact? I had always reasoned in the past that if one Administration or another started making changes that I likely would be grandfathered in to existing rules given my age, but I'm feeling less certain of that now. If I felt changes were imminent, I would move to start collecting sooner, but would really rather wait.