Getting Busy

With Nuria living with me, my personal time has taken a hit. For example, this week I took her to a bank to open an account, and that should be simple, right?

Why does she need an account? Because she wants a Virginia ID. That is part of establishing who she is so that she can do other things. To obtain a Virginia ID, you must go to the Virginia DMV and submit various paperwork, including:

One proof of identity (she has her birth certificate)

One proof of legal presence (she has her passport)

Two proofs of Virginia residency (she can't use a phone bill)

One proof of your social security number (she has her SS card)

Proof of name change if your name appears differently on your proof documents (her birth certificate, her marriage certificate, and her husband's death certificate)

For proof of Virginia residency we decided to open a bank account. So on Monday we went to my bank. After the banker found out she has a social security number, things went more smoothly and the process only took an hour. Maybe 90 minutes. The copy machine broke down. The initial deposit was more than she expected, so I had to leave the bank and drive to an ATM, despite the fact that I'm a customer of that bank.

There was a lot of paperwork, and she needed the one document that showed her Virginia address (my address), but guess what... the banker forgot to give it to her. He does not respond to my emails nor to her emails. So we'll have to go back to the bank, perhaps tomorrow.

Yesterday Nuria decided she wanted to make a flower garden in the front yard. I drove her to a florist and we looked at their wares. I learned something there. There are basically two kinds of flowering plants, called annual and perennial. That much I knew. But annual plants, which die at the end of fall, bloom during spring, summer, and fall, whereas perennial plants, which live year after year, bloom only for a few weeks in early spring. After those few weeks, the flowers disappear until next year. It was interesting but we were in shopping mode, not buying mode.

Then we drove to Walmart. Then we drove to Home Depot. We decided to buy plants from Home Depot, and Nuria created her flower garden. I gave her a few old bricks I had, and when we go to the store again we'll get something more suitable to surround the flowers.

This flower garden is an experiment. Neither of us has created an outdoor flower garden before this one, so we're both in the process of learning. For example, I've learned that flowers are expensive.

The dark flowers in the center of the circle are called Heuchera, and they're annual plants. We bought a hybrid called Evening Gown. I don't know if it's the afternoon sun or the color of the leaves, but the photo does not do the plants justice—they're very pretty. The colorful flowers around the Heuchera are Begonias, and they're perennial plants. 

Today's weather forecast calls for rain, so we got them in the ground just in time. After today's April showers, and maybe tomorrow's, we'll have sunny days for a while.

In further news, Nuria and I began a morning vegetable juice regimen. I have a juicer, and on our last trip to Sam's Club we bought carrots, celery, seedless cucumbers, apples and black seedless grapes. I juiced enough for both of us for two days. The juice drink was out-of-this world delicious. Really. I hope it's as healthy as it is tasty. I'll look for some other juice recipes. Gettin' healthy, y'all!

After the juice, we ate breakfast (prepared by Nuria): gallo pinto, eggs, and link sausage. 

Gotta go now, it's almost lunchtime. I've been making sandwiches for lunch. Sometimes BBQ sandwiches with coleslaw. Sometimes sliced ham or turkey on whole wheat or whole grain bread.

Nuria makes dinner for us, on those evenings when I don't defrost a frozen meal. Last night, dinner was spaghetti topped with homemade sauce, and a salad. All good. 

You have a great day!