Hi CriticalMass

A good nights sleep always makes it easier to handle things.
I hate it when the router refuses to obey.
Without internet I am completely cut off from the world.
That was amazing teeny tiny snow flakes wasn't it?
Nice you had some too. :D
Just do the best you can with the complicated pet care. From experience I have learned that as long as it's done with a loving heart the animals are happy and also survive.
It would be a lot less stressful if you just made up a variety of doll clothes and let people choose from what's available.
It would be fun to just design and sew a lot of different outfits to your own liking. :)


Hi Tatoulia
I understand what you mean (((HUG)))
You want the relationship but not with him as he is now.

You better not be getting sick again.
Hope it's just too much holiday fun.

WAY TO GO!!! finishing ALL this year's work!
YEA!!! for a 4 day weekend!
Hope you have fun and lots of rest planned.

Hi Subclinical
Hope you have had LOTS of sleep & rest and are feeling 100% better (((HUG)))


Today I hot glue gunned the sisal on Scooter's scratch post back on.
Last night I washed a load of some of my dark clothes and this morning they were dry & I put them away.

I need to figure out a plan/schedule/system/routine.
Without one I just wander aimlessly through the day.
The problem is he is erratic, here & there, no rhyme or reason.
The cats have a regular routine and they keep me on a schedule as to when they want food, what kind of food, snacks, fresh water in the bowl and when and where they want to nap.

I hope you get a good, restful sleep tonight, CM. remember, your routine is messed up even though you've been looking forward to some time alone in the house.

I'm sorry you were having internet troubles. It can certainly be disconcerting. I hope that tmr is much better for you, and that you can tackle some of the things you were looking forward to doing.

Today I did finish all my work for the year. I haven't ended a quarter with all my paperwork done in many years. I even had time to walk up to my favorite little diner to get my favorite little salad. I also completed my self-evaluation and got it submitted.

We have Monday off in addition to Tuesday, and I'm pretty happy about that.

I got my four miles in. I've upped the ante for how much I want to walk each day. I only count the walking I do outside, I am not keeping track of each day's steps, just the outdoor walking. I was dead tired. I had finished everything at office by 5, 5:30 then I just sat around the office for some reason. I didn't get home til nine. I stopped on my way home for a ginger ale because I wasn't feeling well. But I pushed myself to walk home, and I'm glad for that.

Grey and rainy here. Doesn't bother me in the least.

Tillie the parmesan zucchini sounds lovely. I'm so sorry that he's home now. That must be so terrible.

I realized tonight that although I was a little bit sad not seeing brother over holidays, I was a lotta bit glad to have him gone from my life. What I miss is the him I want him to be, not the him he actually is. Very sad. Bf sent him an envelope with money in it for Christmas.

Hey all

Grey day here and COLD. Got some of those teeny snow bits like you did, Tillie. One on my car window was indeed a baby flake with six arms and probably the tiniest formed snowflake I've ever seen.

But the cold is dreary. I'm in charge of the house while roommate's out of town and my post-holiday fatigue is catching up with me. The doll clothes I ran into a glitch with on the last two pieces yesterday, and ground to a halt. Thought I'd pick them up today and finish but never did.

About an hour and a half ago I was so fatigued I was going to have a limited time nap. Made the mistake of checking Facebook one time and saw something I wanted to reply to. Wrote a long post and then was having trouble posting the emoji I wanted, and suddenly the entire post disappeared. Grrrr. So then I got up and came to the laptop here, thinking well, it's just my tablet being hinky.

Then the Internet was out on the laptop too! So off to have a talk with Mr. Router. Several talks, in fact. I was getting worried, because I'm kind of alone here and the Internet provides me with a sense of connection to the world and a distraction that keeps me from getting into anxiety territory. The thought of going all night and maybe until my roommate comes home on Sunday was frightening.

Finally was able to get Mr. Router to see things my way, and then Miss Computer needed a hard shutdown reboot by then. Probably her cache was full. Hmmm. She must be a hoarder too. LOL! :D

Okay, so, as Scarlett O'Hara said, Tomorrow is another day. I'm going to learn one of these days not to say yes to ANY request for a custom order of things I make. This should turn out all right, the gal is easygoing - but I just hate the feeling of being unreliable.

What else can I be though, with this chaotic life? The high maintenance cats, love 'em to death but I don't know how my roommate does all their routines morning and evening and I keep forgetting things, and it feels like the morning routine just gets done and it's almost time to start the evening round. And the bunnies. Glad again for many reasons that the dog went with her.

I know the things that come second nature with pet care, or kid care, husband care, plant care, whatever - are second nature to the person who established the routines, and if tweaks are required they integrate because the base is already there. But I, though knowing what she does to some extent from the outside but not all the fine tuning, and having a forgetful distractible brain, have to jot down notes. And then remember to look at the dang notes.

So I was really tired and that nap would've possibly refreshed me, but I spent that time fighting with internet and computer, and it feels too late (and I'm kind of wound up and aggravated now) to start a nap. Guess I'll just push on till bedtime.

At any rate, I'm sure thankful the internet is back. I think the cats may be why it was going out - they probably bumped the cords to the router! I can't prove it, just a hunch. Hopefully if I can relax my way through the evening, get the routines done without rushing, and sleep reasonably tonight, I'll be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. Phew!

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
I like to sauté zucchini in butter till it's just done and not mushy then sprinkle parmesan on it.
Good luck getting whatever that worrisome thing is done & gone.

Clear blue skies today with a low of 26 and a high of 32.
No plans to go outside at all.
Need to develop a whole new schedule/system for everything now that he's home ALL the time.
Like figure out when to clean house, take a shower, do activities, etc. for when he is not underfoot and in my way.
The Japanese have a word/saying that is living with a retired man is like trying to sweep wet leaves.
It would help if he developed a system/schedule and work ethic for ALL the time he now has here at home.

Tess! Great to hear from you! We can do this!

Tillie, squash is so delicious. I really enjoy it. I'm not a fan of summer squashes but I do love the winter squashes. And in a pinch, I will eat zucchini. Just not my first choice.

Mom had the white chocolate raspberry truffle! I had vanilla and the brownie fudge ice cream. We had a few that we didn't open. It was funny that when he said he had six flavors, he really did.

I am late for work. I know exactly what needs to be done today. Hoping to get rid of it early so I don't have to worry so much.

It appears to be a rainy grey day here. Not sure if the temp.

I shredded papers last night. Very good feeling to get things up and out.

Thank you Tess :)

Nice to "see" you!
If you find the time we all would love to hear what you've been up to.
(((hug)))

Happy Birthday, Tillie!

Good mother feeding her children squash & green beans.
When I had my daycare I discovered that the toddlers had never had squash and they all loved it.

All those ice cream flavors sound delicious.
If I had to choose I would have the white chocolate raspberry.

By Saturday I will probably be fasting too.
Ate too much junk yesterday and had pizza and soda pop today.
It was all good but enough is enough. LOL

Originally coming from Detroit where it was called "pop" and relocating to Tucson where it was called "soda" I always call it soda pop.
But then I used to call saguaro cactus "saguaro trees".

I will have to investigate that "shrub".
Sounds very refreshing.

That Pepsi sounds so refreshing, Tillie! I drink plain seltzer all the time, occasionally adding a blood orange shrub to it or grenadine. I had no idea what a shrub was til I bought the bottle. It's muddled fruit with drinking vinegar. Delicious.

That Pepsi sounds so good. We have new vending machines at work and the root beer caught my eye. But I didn't partake. Root beer used to make me sick as a kid and I've never been one for pop. (My Midwestern roots are showing).

Yes, too many sweets. I baked and decorated a delicious cake for Christmas Eve. You won't believe this but BF has six flavors of ice cream in the freezer. Pistachio, vanilla, white chocolate raspberry truffle, Belgian chocolate (all Haagen Das) and a Ben and Jerry's vanilla and chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. It was madness. Oh, and mango ice cream. Completely insane and so tasty.

I brought a large container of green beans to work and a large container of acorn squash. Everyone kept telling me how delicious it smelled. I kept telling people to help themselves (no one did) and one woman said, I think I'll pick up a roasted chicken for dinner and serve it with these as my sides. I was thrilled, as I still have two more large containers of squash left over. She has four little kids in her house. That made me so happy. I explained that everything had been cooked once with no reheating so still fresh. Great solution.

I think on Saturday I'll do a quick fast/36 hours or so. Walking today certainly helped, although I really need to get in four miles a day. I came in at 2.8 today. Tmr I should be walking to and from work which will bring me pretty close to 4.

Tillie happy birthday. You are wonderful in a million ways and you have changed my life.

Hi Tatoulia
Thank you ;)
WAY TO GO! with those papers!!!
Hope your healthy eating and walking helps with the sluggishness.
Did you have too many sweets for XMas?
At least it's not sugar plumbs dancing in your head like last year. ;D

Getting things all sorted out helps quiet all the noise in our brains and allows us to relax better.

Steven has some kind of ugly disease.
I am hoping it is a variety of influenza that my flu shot covers.

My pizza is delicious and drinking Pepsi is magical since I don't drink soda pop and the fizziness is so wonderful.

Tillie!!!! Great birthday surprise on the bonds! Great work! The pizza sounds so yummy!

Someone at work organized pizza in my department. I had my green beans and squash instead. I'm feeling so sluggish. I was grateful to walk in today and then I walked halfway home, met up with BF. He's car shopping.

Cm and Motown! Great to hear from you! Cm I'm glad you'll get a little time to yourself. I am sure it will make your life easier to have a little breathing room.

Motown we are always here! Next year will bring more peace to your home. Bit by bit, you will get there.

My goals for tonight are to keep reducing my papers. I'm going to see what else I can get rid of. There's some mail that needs to be addressed.

I need to keep sorting in my brain. The more I can get rid of, the happier I will feel. This has proven to be true all the time I've been on here.

Thank you CriticalMass :)

Well, it had been so long since I had looked at or even thought about my EE bonds that I was mistaken.
They were 1000.00 not 100.00
Anyways...
I cashed in all six of them and have an envelope with 11,047.20 now.
I made 8,047.20 in interest over the years from my 3,000.00 investment.
I got a "Take&bake" pizza that is in the oven now and I have a Pepsi to go with it.
Thin crust, pepperoni, mushroom & black olive.
It snowed a little bit.
Teeny tiny little snow flakes that blew around in the wind like fine sand.

Meant to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TILLIE! 😊

Thank You All for the bday wishes :D

Hi CriticalMass
WTG! for getting the doll clothes done!
Good luck with your organizing plans while roommate & dog are away.
Please find someone to answer your financial/disability questions. That would really help to ease some of your worry. (((HUGS)))

Hi Motown
:D

Hi Tatoulia
YEA! for taking out Mom's "trash", I guess.
Happy the can wasn't messy and "no harm, no foul".
Sorry she will never allow you off the hook. (((HUG)))


Hi Subclinical
Please spend the two days in bed and leave this nasty bug behind.
How is your iron level?
We do NOT want you getting anemic again.

Beautiful sunny day with a few high & scattered white fluffy clouds.
Yesterday I didn't feel like cooking so I just ate random junk while I watched online videos all day.
Been thinking that maybe I should cash in my EE savings bonds now and put the money in the safe?
I bought them about 30 years ago for my "old age".
It's not much, just six bonds bought at 100 each.
I wonder what they are worth now?
Still sitting here in bed drinking tea and have no idea what I'll be doing today yet.

Hi, sounds like most had a nice Christmas but SubC I hope that bug you've been fighting will decide to pack his bags and get outta town and not come back!

Tillie I have learned so much this year about cats and their territorial behaviors. Your guy who claims four beds is kinda like our boy, whose motto seems to be "What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine."

Tatoulia, I saw on Facebook about Sister Wendy's passing. Lucky you for having the chance to meet her. My roommate's degree is in art history, and I took a few classes back in college. Makes me want to watch Sister Wendy's shows because I've only seen a few.

I'm finishing up the Barbie doll clothes and hope to deliver them today. We had a nice quiet celebration here. Got a large order of barbecue meats from our fave place and I had a package of butter flavor instant potatoes which weren't bad at all. Watched National Lampoon Christmas Vacation and Charlie Brown Christmas.

She is soon to depart for her family out of town and I hope to take advantage of the chance to pull a bunch of stuff out of my bedroom and put what goes back into some kind of order. Some items I'd hoped to work with - doll crafting mainly - I may decide to park in the storage unit. That and quiltmaking I sometimes get excited and gather a bunch of stuff then don't have time to get to. But keep hoping, and feel confident I will. But in the meantime it may need to be shifted so I can cope with the day to day in my limited space.

Also want to catch up with some writing and being in touch with friends I'd hoped to write Christmas cards/letters to but time ran out. Maybe just call them.

And of course there will be plenty to do riding herd on the two cats, four bunnies, and one frog. The dog goes with her and that's good because the scope of decluttering I want to do would be difficult to accomplish with him around.

So, happy last few days of 2018 to everyone. What a crazy ride it was. I'm thankful to be starting a new year in a little better shape with the van that actually runs. Now I just have to find ways to recover from the financial blows the old one dealt, one after another. Drained me dry, basically.

Hoping maybe selling stuff like the doll clothes will help until I can figure out if it's possible to have a steady income stream to make ends meet without jeopardizing the disability. It's sad to admit, but with no living family and the mental health issues that dog my heels, I'm beyond terrified ever to let go of that, shy of winning the lottery or something. My track record with jobs has been abysmal and thinking about relying on being 100% self supporting feels like tightrope walking the Grand Canyon. That's even assuming I could GET a full time job in today's market. People with flawless employment histories often can't.

Sigh. I need to find some people to talk to without being locked into anything too scary too quickly. The senior center maybe, or someplace. I had a bellyful of therapy in the past and really don't want to go down that rabbit hole anymore.

Okay, enough. Been carrying all this around in my head so I spewed. But must stay positive and not get discouraged. God's got my back, must have faith! Iced tea clinks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TILLIE!!!!!
Hope you celebrate it just the way you want and have a nice peaceful day!
More later but just had to say that in case I don't get a chance back on here today.

Peace, love and happy birthdays!

Motown

Happy birthday, dear Tillie. You are dear to us.

SubC I do hope you can rest up. You poor thing! You haven't caught a break this winter, I'm afraid.

I am already late for work. I need to walk in to work since I am terribly sluggish from the holidays. And exhausted.

I brought some groceries and supplies to mom's last night. Mainly stuff I had but she needed, like butter and paper goods. I stopped to get some milk and bread. I got to her house around 10 PM and we visited for a moment then I took her garbage out and came home. Around 11:30 she called to find out what I'd done with her laundry. She'd gotten her laundry all together in a white plastic bag for her aide. Oops. Luckily the trash can was empty other than a new liner and no one had put more garbage on top.

Unfortunately mom will now use this to decide that whatever's missing was thrown out by me. She still challenges me weekly on things I moved when she was in hospital in 2017. Even Christmas Eve she was upset that I'd gotten rid of one of her bookcases. She had done that with me, but had forgotten, and I was able to remind her that we'd done that together in order to make room for a table for kitty to eat on (mom is unable to bend over to feed the kitty, so I bought an end table at a consignment shop. Works out perfectly for the two of them).

Ok I'll dry my hair now and make it look like I'm going to the office.

Happy birthday, Tillie.

Happy birthday Tillie!

Kids are gone except dd2. We're heading east with youngest in tow to see our birth families.

I am still very sick. Plan to spend the two days at his mother's house in bed so that I will hopefully be well for my family.

Hi Tatoulia

YEA! Miss Kitty's new bed!
Happy she is enjoying it.
My big orange tabby boy officially has 4 beds and he insists he needs all of them.
He does sleep in all of them equally too.
My cat "sleeps around". ')


So sorry you lost someone special to you (((HUG)))

Must be so quiet there in the building all alone.
Living in a big city it's not often you get to enjoy the sounds of silence.

When people would comment on my always being busy doing things I would always explain to them that I do so much so nobody will ever realize that I'm truly just very lazy.

This is the anniversary of the day I got my tiny little blue eyed white baby cat.

Tomorrow is my bday.
Today I watched a LOT on Youtube.
Right now I am watching "The Birds".

Still me. I've showered but not much more. Awaiting a package from fed ex. Must be a gift basket with champagne or wine as the phone message told me I need to have ID.

I'm very sad to learn that Sister Wendy, the art historian has died. I met her many years ago and she was just so dear.

I'll do some more work now and await my fed ex guy.

I forgot to mention that I shredded an entire folder of my brother's paperwork last week. I kept just enough out of that folder in case he tries to sue me at some point. I have plenty of other folders to go through.

Very quiet here. No one's in town and I'm the only one in my building. Kitty got a new bed and she's snuggled in it now. She doesn't need two beds so I'll have to decide what to do. I had just gotten rid of one of her beds and was blissfully down to one. This new one was a gift from a neighbor child. His mother uses my car to get him to and from school. Pretty sweet gift and the colors go with my house.

Hey it's me! Not late for work today, the opening at noon helped with that.

I am so tired. Mom called me a little while ago and said, I wish I had known you had a half day. I think she doesn't realize that I'm a sloth.

I just wiped up the kitchen and I changed kitty's boxand wiped up in bathroom. I hope cleaners can come next week. The house misses them.

I'm going to brew some coffee and take a shower and get dressed.

Great gift for husband! I love how Tillie worded it!

We ended up going to our favorite little spot and getting a chowder today. I'm still full from last night. I came home and slept, now up so I can go back to sleep. I'll feed kitty and take my pills. Already washed up and in pjs.

Work starts at noon tmr, which I think is pretty nice. I'll be working from here, but the soft opening will really help me along.

YEA! for three months of trash service!
Instead of being "the gift that keeps on giving"
that's the gift that keeps on taking. :D
So nice you have your family with you (((hug)))

Hi Tatoulia
Enjoy your peaceful relaxed day (((hug)))

Merry Christmas all!

All my kids are here, and dh loved his gift.

Bright sunny cold day here. I'm finally out of bed and dressed. Going for a walk up to see BF then back to bed.

No garbage pickup til Friday. I will put my recycling in bin.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Yea! for having a lovely evening. :D

Scooter is being crazy cat again this morning.
Keeps putting cat toys on me so I will toss them and he fetches them back, and so on...
Cold dark dreary with a mix of snow & rain.
Nice day to be inside doing whatever strikes my fancy.

Merry Christmas 🎄 🎄 🎄

Still in bed. We were out late last night great time at BFs. Food was delicious and it was a warm and wonderful time with Mom, BF and his neighbors.

Take and bake for birthday sounds perfect!

Hi CriticalMass

LOL SO TRUE ;D

If somebody wants to pay my bills
I happily give them permission to do so.

Been gently drizzling most all day.

Talked to Steven about the clothes.
Suggested that he looks through them all and throw away the really worn out/tattered ones and get rid of the ones that are not his size.
There was one Tshirt in the wash that would only fit a 10 year old boy but he bought it because it says "Grateful Dead".
He has lots of other Tshirts and regular shirts in his closet/dresser that he never wears so it's not like he really needs the worn out rags.
He dresses like a hobo/bum/homeless person.

Since Netflix is eliminating "The Shining" in January I'm watching it now.
The book was so much scarier.

Tillie, when you mention having to sign authorization for his pension, I'm reminded of a meme - hopefully the link will work

Good Morning Everybody
Iced chai masala "Clink!"

Hi Tatoulia
Hope all your baking plans have gone smoothly.
Have a wonderful time at BF's clean home. :)

Hi Subclinical
WTG! DS for sorting out and organizing the Lego bins.
Have a wonderful time with all your family, dogs too. :)

Hi CriticalMass
Wishing you a peaceful stress less holiday :)

Hi Motown
Enjoy all your holiday activities and keep dreaming about your brighter future. :)


Scooter has been being crazy cat this morning.
Running & jumping all around playing and singing.
I'm still sitting here in bed even though it's 10:30am.
Soon I will get up, shower & wash my hair.
Still have not decided what I want to eat on my bday.
We need to get to a notary for me to sign a form allowing automatic deposits to the bank account for his pension payments.
For some reason I have to authorize this transaction too, not just him.
We will probably do this on my bday since the holidays makes it hard to conduct business this time of year.
So since I will be in town that day I could easily get a "take & bake" pizza. ;P

Merry Christmas Eve to y'all!!!!
Working half a day and then off to cook pies and cornbread for dressing and then celebrate Christmas at my mom's this evening and then at my house tomorrow all day.
Hope all your Christmas wishes come true and each of you has a blessed day.

Will check in after Christmas.

Love all of y'all!

Merry Christmas everyone - going to Mass this eve and then again in the morning. That has been my pattern in recent years that makes it register in my mind and heart that it's really Christmas.

This month hasn't yielded as much time for quiet reflection and Bible reading as I'd hoped, but once again I'm extremely grateful not to have the seasonal depression. It'll be okay.

The preparations are getting down to the wire and even though ours are simple, I can feel my ADD disorientation kicking in, and am praying I won't start stressing. The gal I'm doing the Barbie clothes for said don't worry, between Christmas and New Years is fine, which helps. Because they aren't done! Hoo boy!

Good morning!

Still sick, but I woke up hungry, the cough is a lot better, the head is barely stuffy, and the coffee actually tastes good today.

Yesterday dd1 came over on her own and baked cookies all afternoon, so my house is full of cookies (and also covered in dog hair, which I do not like, but I love my kids and I like their dogs, I am just not a dog person. I can vacuum later.)

The kids have really been wonderful to me. Other people have been keeping up with all the dishes and food and I have been keeping up with washing spilled on tablecloths and post muddy walks doggy towels.

Today ds is going to visit some of his local friends. Deli might stay here and work on the puzzle, because she doesn't like some of them, it will depend on what group gets together. Dd2 also has friend plans, so dd1 is not coming over. She has an in-law event this evening anyway. I'm hoping to use the window to finish wrapping the presents for tomorrow.

Ds has been sorting through our many bins of legos making them more usable (dividing out pieces needed to build special kinds of sets from standard blocks) and finding lots of things mixed in that weren't actually legos. We even have a plastic grocery bag of non-standard knock off blocks to donate and a race track set to give to d❤️Gs.

Tillie, I hope you enjoy your quiet day and that Steven respects your laundry.

Tatoulia,
Have a lovely dinner!

Do what you enjoy, Tillie! We will be at BF's very clean house! Fingers crossed my meal goes well.

I haven't finished baking. I went to sleep after being at mom's.

I rubbed it in. I wanted some decent protein and I got it. So delicious. Would have loved for you to be here with me.

Hi Tatoulia

Yep, the laundry is not done until it's put away.
You have really been doing fantastic with doing the laundry from start to finish.
Really makes life a lot easier when stuff is where it should be and smelling fresh.

YEA! for royal icing success!

Yeah, rub it in that you had a shrimp po'boy. ;P


So is everybody who does XMas all ready?
Wishing you all peace joy and love.

For me, life will continue on as just another day.
Some people find this hard to accept but this truly is the way I have always wanted it to be. :)

You are a saint, Tillie.

One comment about the laundry reminded me how I used to leave it draped on a chair. Then the clean would mix with the dirty, and other things would fall to the floor, then because my house was dirty, I'd wash it all over again and keep the laundry draped on my chair, on a dresser, etc. since you've all taught me to wash and fold and put away, I have no such problems any more. I do hope he puts it away. And takes the rest to the laundromat.

I consistently try to reinforce my good habits. I have to.

Fun at mom's decorating the pre-made gingerbread house. OH I just love my new kitchenaide mixer!! I made the royal frosting here, and put it into tubes here, and brought the tubes over in a large ziplock. Great fun and it turned out absolutely beautifully. I brought home her two dish towels I used to protect the table, since that dried royal frosting is akin to cement. I'm also running the dishwasher right now.

I just had a shrimp po'boy and I'm going to nap for a bit. I'm the only one in the building; last person left yesterday. I can pretend it's my own house for a while.


I'll be making a cake tonight and pumpkin bread. After my nap.

Hi Tatoulia

So very glad that cold didn't linger on. :D
People in a school environment seem to always get some nasty viruses.
My brother (high school English teacher) always had something.

YEA! for BF and his cleaning fairies!

Have fun with all your baking and decorating.


Accepted the fact that the only way I would ever get that nasty funky dirty old smell out of the house
was to wash his laundry.
He refused to do it.
Did one load of white socks & underwear
two loads of shirts and
two loads of trousers.
The house finally smells clean.
Now he had better respect all the hard work I did and when they are dry put them all away properly rather than the usual just tossing them all in a big heap with dirty clothes.
Right now they are all on hangers & drying racks in his bedroom.
He needs to take his sheets & blankets & heavy cotton robes to the laundromat & wash them.
The house machine can not handle all the cat fur & etc. on them.

I can smell the breakfast from here SubC. Mind if I stop by? I'm glad the kids did most of the work! Congratulations on having a party! It's still a lot of emotional and mental work and you did it! My cold is gone. This was the first "successful" cold I've ever had. Hope this is a start of a trend for me. I drank a lot of vitamin C and zinc and a lot of juice. I also kept walking three miles a day. I can't say this was the magic combination but next door I'll test this theory. I'm also not around kids and work from home a chunk of the time. At the office, since I don't have a desk, I sit in a desk that is not near anyone. And I sit in a department that is sparsely populated. My own department is too noisy and I'm not perfectly crazy about everyone.

Tillie I bet you are sore. I hope you took your bath and cuddled up with a cat or a book! I've read a lot about Bird Box! You are so brave.

So BF loved the work the cleaners did. He is now thinking of having them do a deep clean of his office. His office is cleaned nightly but now he's seeing what he doesn't see. There were three people who showed up yesterday, the regular two ladies and the husband of one. They may have had a commercial job coming up that day or they may have felt safer with the husband there. In any event BF was thrilled and now sees the importance of having them at least once a month. He also wants me to get them back over to mom's.

We made a lot of changes in my life this year. I cannot thank you enough for getting me to this place. Where will you take me next year??

Tillie I baked brownies last night in my house-shaped pan. I will decorate it later. I still need to make pumpkin bread and a cake.

I am going to mom's soon to decorate a gingerbread house. Then I need to get back to the grocery store as we are both woefully low on kitty food. I had walked to the grocery store last night and was limited by the number of things I could carry. As it turned out, BF called and offered to pick me up. At that point, I'd already checked out.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical
So happy you all had a good time!

Please take advantage of this holiday vacation to get enough rest to shake that darn cold.
(((HUG)))


Cold dark and drizzly day so far.
Plan to cook some food and clean the kitchen.
The cats are happy with the house being cleaned.
They really never make much of a mess anyways.

Hi Tess!
The spa sounds lovely.

Tillie, I am very glad you hit your car back. I hope your hard work lasts a while.

Hi Tatoulia! Enjoy your holidays!

We had a wonderful party here last night. The "kids" from both families did the heavy lifting, but I am completely wiped out.

My cold has decided to never get better.

But my son is here, making breakfast.

Good Afternoon Everybody

HI TESS!
YES! spend the day at a spa!
Wonderful gift for yourself.


Hi Tatoulia
What are you baking?
Yea! for getting in exercise while you do errands.

Was starting to post this morning but the computer insisted on doing updating.
Anyways, I have spent the WHOLE day cleaning house.
Got everything done except dusting the wood furniture.
Too sore to do any more today so I will dust the furniture tomorrow.
But EVERYTHING else has been washed and/or vacuumed.
Hated every minute of doing it but I'm so happy it's been done.
I warned him about all the filthy messes he made and that he had better STOP.

Need to eat soon, take a shower and go to bed.
It's only 4:00pm

Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 Tess! I love your idea of relaxing at the day spa! What a wonderful plan for the day!

My BF is hosting Christmas Eve. Mom and I will be there, and we have invited his neighbors. I also invited my friend's Nurse, but alas she will be working. I used to spend every holiday with my friend and the same nurse worked every holiday. Now that my friend has passed, we miss seeing her nurse. I may try to track her down Christmas Day and see if I can stop by.

My errands for the day are done. I am doing laundry and preparing to bake.

Hi friends! Just popping in to wish everyone a happy holiday! It always makes my heart happy to log in and see everyone still chatting. I hope I can keep up better next year.

Today I ran errands, but that's it. No housework. I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. I had to have some work done in my apartment this week. My landlord didn't say anything about the condition, but I still feel embarrassed. So embarrassed. Now that he's been in here, maybe I'll lose a bit of my anxiety about someone seeing. The condition only gets better and better.

What is everyone doing for Christmas? I'm always alone on Christmas Day. This year I'm going to try to spend the day at a resort spa just a couple hours away. They have a wonderful water area and lounging room. I can purchase a day pass without paying for the overpriced services or purchase a service and get a day pass for free. We'll see what happens there!

If I don't pop in again before Christmas, have a very merry Christmas. Love you guys :)

Checking in and running errands. BF was very happy with the cleaners. He was there when they started but not when they left; nonetheless he said he felt lighter knowing they were cleaning his house. He wants to have them at least once a month. I'm glad he was happy. He works a ton of hours and deserves to have this done for him. She also told him she'll help him organize, which he really needs help with.

Going back out there to run some more errands. I'm tired right now. I need the exercise.

That is a surprise! And the cats were all chatty and impatient.

Up very early. Fed kitty and brushed teeth. Back in bed. Cleaners go to BFs today.

We had record warm temps yesterday. So windy and rainy.

Good Evening Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
YEA! for Monday off!
Hope you and Miss Kitty are dreaming sweetly by now.

Well he surprised me.
He brought home the car late this afternoon.
I didn't notice it right away because I had fallen deeply asleep on the couch but the cats kept jumping on me to wake me up to tell me the car came back.
Watched "Bird Box" on Netflix today.
It was good and scary, very well done.

Hey SubC the game sounds like fun! I've only played it a few times and it wasn't fun but the camaraderie you describe sounds like great fun!

Tillie I am so sorry about this turn of events. What a pity that he is no longer working. I'm glad your car is fixed but here you are, stuck without it.

We have Monday off. I'm so excited. I am tired tonight. It is warm and very windy and very rainy. I still managed to walk to work. BF picked me up and he ran errands while I sat in the car.

I'm in my pjs. Going to relax a bit then head into bed.

HAPPY WINTER :)

I have some special treats to put out for all the cats and birds that visit my yard.

The car is fixed.
Still at the garage because he didn't bother to get it yesterday and today he's gone off to Carson City and the garage is closed on weekends.
Good thing I don't need to go anywhere and have all the groceries I need.

House is still dusty and the bathroom needs cleaning & floors need attention too.
Have absolutely no motivation to do anything about this.
I didn't make things dirty. :(

Oh, I like that game, but we always play it with white elephants and some good things from the host and multi ages where we make sure all the children are happy. People are very funny extolling the virtues of their 2006 Champaign flutes or framed catalog cover when someone is trying to chose "steal" or "open"

My cold is fine, but I am exhausted and have no voice. I'm taking a lot of medicine and going to work anyway because so many teachers are sick we are out of subs and still running on a skeleton staff. The director will be manning the front desk tomorrow with a black eye from a house decorating accident.

It's the last day before Christmas break. I think there will be a lot of game playing and art. The elementary science teacher has an exploratorium set up in her classroom, and she told me to just bring my 6-9s down to play in it after lunch if I need to.

Oh I think we call Dirty Santa a Yankee Swap. The good gift keeps getting chosen and you could get stuck with something stupid. I have been places where that happens. I never take the good gift, I find something moderate and inoffensive like Yahtzee so no one takes it yet I'll enjoy it. I haven't done one in years and not a big fan of that.

I'm still not home. Waiting in car for BF. Wanted to check in.

CM there is a cat on twitter who loves Barbies. Really sweet.

Will check in more later.

SubC how is your cold?