Thursday

DH didn't have the boards needed to do the floor part of the garden bridge or the hand railing. He also did not want to spend the ridiculous amount of money they want for wood. What he did have was still some wide beams of enough length, but no way to cut them down to thinner pieces. He asked our retired friend (who cut all our tree boards in the first place) if he could cut them down to like 2 inch thickness. He picked them up Tuesday and brought them back all done yesterday! We paid him for his time and I'm sure it was cheaper than buying at the lumber store now. Plus, we got more of those beams out of our space. DH also had some bigger flat pieces he had no need for and friend did, so he gave him those. He's so funny. He was apparently talking last week to Mrs Neighbor and told her that we (me and dh) sure do make good brownies. So she made cookies and took them to him Sunday. Then yesterday he says "did you hear Mrs brought me cookies?" I said ya, you are a scammer! LOL.....he just giggled while I handed him some brownies I had made the night before....

He spent the rest of the afternoon cutting to size and sanding. It was almost 6pm when he got done and said they were ready for staining. So, to make dinner quick, I just made some sandwiches so we could eat fast and I could get out there to stain. These will also need another coat, but there is barely any stain left, so he will have to go get another gallon in town today, as well as he will need more screws. It should be close to getting done soon, other than he also wants to add some wood wagon wheels to each side. I was going to order online, but he hasn't decided which size he wants, yet.

Yesterday, our neighbors had the guy who lives down a mile and has that strip of property across from us, to use his new (old/used) machine to level off some of their ground on the other side of their house. I guess Mrs wants it more leveled, so they can plant grass over there, rather than just natural looking. So, he was busy doing that for quite a few hours yesterday morning. I was wondering what I was hearing from my office! Then I realized what was going on when I went outside to check for eggs around noon. DH also talked to our other neighbors last night (while I was staining) and I didn't realize he works for the place you call when you need something located before you build/dig, etc. He said, so the guy who owns the strip called in for locate....and apparently the reason given was something to do with leveling some areas....so still who knows what that could mean. DH told them about his comment years ago to the other neighbor about cabins.

This change to a new mortgage company before I even get my first payment out is confusing me. First I get a letter that says the official transfer date is 5/1, so since my payment is due that date, I need to mail it to the new lender. Then this week I get another letter saying the official transfer date is 5/3, so now I'm supposed to send my 5/1 payment to my old lender. Then yesterday I get an email saying it's been transferred to the new lender earlier this month and to send the new lender the payment. Which is it?! I'm just going to mail a check on Monday to the new lender. They should have it around the 1st.  

Today all the new gate opener stuff is delivering. The past couple of weeks our UPS driver has had us on the early end of his route, rather than the end, so he's been coming around 1pm instead of 7 pm. Hopefully, that is the same schedule today. Tomorrow I have the day off and we are going back to that vet to pick up ashes and also have our other dog a check up. He has a little lump growing on his chest we want checked out, as well as his front legs are really stiff after he's been laying down, so maybe there's something we can start giving him for that. I started giving him the Cosequin DS about a year ago (I had given it to the other dog for several years, per vet advice, and it worked good for him) but it doesn't seem to help with this. One he gets up and moving, he seems fine, but getting up from laying down is a little hard for him. He is going to be 9 this summer.

It's open enrollment for benefits at work. I wanted to do some comparisons on what it would cost to add dh (though I always end up not, due to the high cost) but for some reason it's not letting me choose him as a dependent and find out. He's already in the system as my spouse and also the beneficiary of my life insurance, but no option to add him to insurance. I keep getting an error message. I thought maybe it was a glitch on day one, so I waited a few days to see if it was fixed, but it's not, so I'll have to call. Usually he's listed as an option for me to add to the plan and compare costs. At a minimum I am considering doing the HSA plan for myself, with the higher deductible. I'm not sure that's what I want to do or not, but I have about a week more to decide. We have 3 options, all at no cost to the employee. A $500 or $1000 deductible plans or the HSA plan which has $2800 deductible. For my annual checkup and mammogram I have never had to pay out of pocket or even the $500 deductible, so any plan I choose that's covered. My 2 prescriptions would need to apply to the deductible, but I think they are pretty minimal cost, but I need to check that, too. With the HSA any money I put in there I can use towards any medical costs we might incur for dh, tax free, plus my company puts in $50 a month. I'm thinking with my good health (at least for now) I should take advantage of that and also put some in myself, that way if we need it for dh's high deductible plan, I have it saved up. Anyhow, that's on my to-do list today, call and get help.