LJ Idol, Phone Hell and an Early Christmas Gift

It was a real disappointment to pull out of LJ Idol. I might have not had the votes, but I think it was very close. But ... I looked at the time schedule, my own schedule, and the fact that I'm still dealing with minor/major irritations such as getting our new phone system completely up and operational and a small health issue, and I decided to lower my stress a notch or two. Not that writing is necessarily stressful, just that to write in LJ Idol, I have to bring my "A Game" to every entry. 

I loved writing for LJ Idol again this time. There's 
something wonderful about writing to a prompt 
that comes out of nowhere. I'm not sure where 
Gary finds all of these prompts, but damn ... he 
finds some really good ones. 

Looking back on the season, however, I'm very happy with what I produced. There was some solid writing in some of those tales, and I got farther this time than EVER before. In the top six! I'll continue reading and voting, of course. I have friends in the group of five that remain, but I always base my votes on the actual writing offered, not alliances or friendships. It's the only fair thing to do. 

We have two new digital phones from Nextiva. 
The phone on DH's desk is connected and 
can be used. The phone at the cash register, 
however, is an attractive paperweight, right 
now. *sigh* 

I spent an hour or more on the phone with customer service yesterday. We're trying to figure out why one of our phones is connected, but the other phone number (the main line to the shop) is still on copper wiring instead of WiFi. *sigh* I resubmitted some contracts to the customer service department at their request, and spoke to a couple of the agents there. Really lovely people, with the same goals that I have - getting everything up and running properly and switched over from our old phone service to the new one. I have a much better feeling about things after yesterday's calls. We'll see if things are better when I'm back at the shop tomorrow. 

I love having a container of baked fruit with my 
breakfast. I only eat fruit at breakfast, per WildFit 
recommendations. It works for me, and I love 
living my WildFit life. It's been several years now, 
and it just works for me. 

Meanwhile, back in the mundane, I need to do a batch of baked fruit today. A container of baked fruit is part of my usual breakfast, and I ate the last of my current batch a day or so ago. I didn't have the time to deal with fruit on Wednesday - I did a large crock pot soup and my alkagizers that day. So, today I shop and I bake fruit. 

Happy Holidays to me! I've wanted one of these for 
a long time, and I think I will use it enough to justify 
the cost. Black Friday savings dropped $100 off the 
cost, so I felt it was do-able. 

I'm also going to take a nice, careful look at my Christmas gift - LOL. My postal person (who probably hates me forever more now because the box is HEAVY) delivered my new Kitchen Aid Artisan Mini 3.5 qt Tilt Head mixer to the shop. I've wanted one for a long time. I THINK I have the cabinet space for it. That's a requirement in my kitchen - I must have the room for my appliances. I'm figuring DH actually bought this for me. He usually gives me holiday cash and I've been saving up for this for a few years now. I'm very much looking forward to trying some gluten-free bread recipes. 

So, that's the news from my end. I hope you have a lovely Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.