Checking off to do's

Many of us have bucket lists of places we want to go, things we want to do, and tasks we want accomplished on the home front. When I was working, I was rarely home and with the rate of call backs and time waiting for service people, it takes a retired person to get many of these tasks accomplished. I don't know if it is because I am home more, or what, but things seem to be breaking at an alarming rate as well. We have now had I-Rooter out twice, and I highly recommend Brian. All drains are running smoothly throughout the house. I couldn't say that Tuesday when I bailed 6 buckets of water out of the downstairs kitchen sink.

We have a new garage door opener and my sprinklers are all now running in peak condition. Matt Collins from

Collins Sprinkler Repair and Landscape Services was back to finish the job he started with my new sidewalk. He saved the day then, but I wanted him to come back after everything was done, so we could make sure all zones were covering what I needed covered. Now he has my sprinkler system working the best it has since we have lived here--over 20 years! He replaced one zone station,

moved a couple of heads, and reset all of them to my specifications. I now have a system that should manage all my raised beds along with everything else. I cannot recommend him highly enough. Very knowledgeable, pleasant and courteous, and he comes when he says he will--high marks from me and another task marked off of the list.

I also love my new sidewalk. Smiley and his crew did a fantastic job.

Another major project checked off the list. Now I just need to bring in soil and mulch and get everything planted.

Another task I have been putting off is getting one of the new enhanced drivers licenses. My old one expired on my birthday, so the time was right. If you haven't heard, anyone wanting to fly on an airplane, or enter a federal building will need one of these enhanced licenses by October 2020. It does take some legwork to be prepared for what they want in order to get the star on the top of your license.

You need a lot of proof that you are who you say you are. I went loaded with more than I thought I needed, and still had to go to my car to get more. I took my passport, birth certificate, social security card, a household utility bill, and my W2. The W2 and Social Security Card were basically the same so they only needed one. Same for passport and birth certificate. For some reason, I had to go get my car insurance card, and then I was golden. They prefer that everything has your name the same way--which isn't necessarily true for me. Of course my birth certificate does not have Carson, and some things have Janet B. Carson while others have Janet Biermann Carson, but I guess they believed me and I passed. My drivers license is good for 8 years and I can board a plane whenever I want. While I was there, several people were in line to get their licenses renewed and knew nothing about the enhanced card. Obviously, they also didn't have all the items needed to get it. They were told you can come back with the right paperwork and get the enhanced version for an additional $10 whenever you want. So I would recommend taking: a current passport (if you have one) a birth certificate if you don't. Take your social security card, a utility bill (in your name--phone, water, electric, mortgage, etc) and your car insurance (up to date of course). Then you too can be enhanced! Another thing checked off.

As I was out with dinner with friends last night (excellent cheese, spinach souffle by Margaret

and fresh salad from my garden)

, Clay turned on the oven and all dials worked, lights came on, but nothing heated up. I must have worn the ovens out on Easter! Today my son and I were preparing for a large catering event tomorrow, so I used the downstairs oven until Clay can figure out what is wrong.

Just another day in the Carson household! Next comes solar power!

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