Things Are Progressing, Snow and a Busy Day

I was able to get the Etsy order downloaded on my home computer, but wasn't able to do it on my laptop at all.  Very frustrating, and an unfortunate delay for my customer. I'll be emailing them today to update them and the order will go out on Thursday. Late. GRRRR. I might just do whatever I can at home today in hopes of dropping it by the post office later this afternoon. 

For some reason I couldn't access that order 
on my laptop at all. But, I was able to grab 
it from my older computer at home. Now to 
get that sent out with apologies! 

It's an early start for me today. We got snow starting just as I was pulling in to the driveway last night. I don't think we got a lot, but I need to get the driveway shoveled before heading to the pool, so I can't chat a lot this morning. 

We didn't get a lot of snow last night, but I still need to get 
the driveway cleared off. Hopefully the streets won't be 
too icy. 

Travis sent me the mockup of our postcard that will be sent to 15,000 people in the Twin Cities area. I actually like it quite a bit. It's very eye-catching, bright, brilliant, and very busy. There were a few small changes we requested which will be put into the final, but I'm happy. I was smiling all day thinking about it. At least some things are working correctly. 

It won't take long to get the driveway shoveled, but I'll 
have to get that done before taking the trash and recycling 
bins down to the end of the driveway. 

Of course, one thing works and another doesn't. He wasn't able to get access to one thing that I had sent to him - an important thing. So, I sent him the link once again, and made sure he had all of the permissions required for him to access the material. Hopefully he was able to do that yesterday afternoon - or someone on his team was able to. I'm sure I'll hear from him if access is still restricted. 

With only one day off a week now, I'm SO busy on that 
single day. Oy! 

And ... today is a "day off". Load 1 of 3 is already in the washing machine, and I need to figure out what I want/need to cook today. I don't have my Sundays any more - they've been spent at the shop getting things ready to go. I'll be VERY relieved when all of this is over. I have no idea if I'll make any money on it, but really, it's impossible to actually lose money on this. So, with that said, I'm plugging in pictures and heading to the driveway, snow shovel in hand. Have a great Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

GRRRR - And Once Again, A War

It's Wednesday, my "day off" and it's going to be busy, busy, busy! I awakened early - 2:30 am instead of my usual 3:00 am, and I decided "what the heck, I might as well get up now and be unrushed". So, I went ahead, watered the fountain and settled down for my morning meditation. Half-way through, DH awakened and suddenly my calm was disrupted, although he knows to not bother or interrupt me when I'm doing my "morning thing". But, he's the TV addict. When he's awake, the television is on. Let me tell you, there's nothing more of a downer than awakening, calming my body and mind, and then going down to collect the laundry when he's up. The TV was on, the news was all bad, the volume was high because he's hard of hearing, ... generally speaking, I'm not on rhythm this morning. 

*sigh* I really do hate listening to the news on the TV 
first thing in the morning. And, of course, DH is also 
hard of hearing, so the volume is up. GRRRRR

But, despite that, my first load of laundry is currently in the washing machine, my shopping list is almost ready for the day, I've got bills to pay, I've got food that I need to cook, and in general, it'll be a very busy day. Of course, the big news story is the war in the Middle East. I'm very much on the fence for this war. I don't disagree that Iran was rather like an infected wound - supporating and infectious. However, warfare these days takes the personal out of combat and puts the button pushers into it. Yes, we have actual people involved and have already had casualties, but the vast majority of casualties are innocent people. I have big problems with that. My personal preference is direct hand-to-hand combat, not missiles and rockets. I certainly understand modern warfare, but it really makes war rather impersonal, doesn't it? It doesn't seem that a person is killing hundreds of people if you're hundreds of feet in the air pushing a button. 

War is war from a distance now. Missiles are used instead of 
hand-to-hand combat (these particular missiles are from 
North Korea, but every nation has their own arsenal). The 
act of actually being responsible for the life or death of another 
person is less immediate if you're pushing a button instead 
of swinging a blade. 

Generally speaking, I've been a "peacenik" since I was young. I was protesting the Vietnam war in the 1960's and 1970's and have been sickened by the conflicts continuing in the world ever since those days. War is never a pretty thing. The USA has been lucky over the centuries. Our wars have been fought by people in our area against other people in our area. The battles were much more personal. The casualties have been horrific in some cases - just think of the death toll from the Civil War as an example. But the majority of wars the USA has been involved in have been overseas. Then again, we're also using air attacks - so not direct hand-to-hand combat (which probably has rarely been used since the Middle Ages to be honest). 

Peace doesn't seem to be in the genes of humanity. We 
automatically strike out at others. We're a contentious 
lifeform, inclined to strike out rather than work on ways 
to join together for a common goal. Just looking at 
conflicts the USA has been involved in since my birth, it's 
an impressive list - Vietnam, the Lebanon Crises, the Bay 
of Pigs Invasion, the Granada Invasion, the Panama Invasion, 
the Persian Gulf War, the Somalia Intervention, the 
interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo, the War in 
Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the Libya Intervention, the 
Syrian Civil War (ongoing), and Yemen (ongoing), 
and now we're involved in another conflict. Want a job? 
join the armed forces. There's always a battle somewhere for you. 

But, I'm a "Give Peace a Chance" person. I participated in many protests about the Vietnam War. (Since every war we've been involved with since then have been titled "conflicts" rather than "wars", I still think this is a matter of semantics.) In the middle of this war, we've still got a nation that's pulling apart from each other instead of bonding to one another. Welcome to the Second Trump White House. GRRRR Despite the news, I do hope you have a good day and look for the good in people and your environment today. We all need positivity to help balance the fear and hatred around us right now. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Going To Be A VERY Busy Morning

We're working very hard to get the inventory accounted for to sell it, and there just aren't enough hours in the day. I've already given up my Friday's off, and I have a feeling my Wednesdays will soon follow and I'll be working 7 days a week. EXCEPT, I really can't do that. I have a crammed schedule today, for example. Not only do I need to make my next batch of baked fruit, as well as tonight's dinner and three loads of laundry, I also have a 9:30 am appointment to get my enhanced driver's license. The website quite pointedly states that I have an appointment that guarantees me a spot in the line, but not the actual time. I'll be there early - probably much closer to when they open at 7:30 am. If I'm going to waste time on my phone, I might as well waste it there - LOL. 

I filled out the pre-application documents this 
morning. It's a good thing I couldn't sleep, because 
that took almost an hour of filling out the form and 
finding the documents they're requesting. *sigh*

I did double and triple check my envelope to make sure I have all of the things I'll be called upon to have - bills that have my name on them, for instance, and of course my Certified Copy of my legal name change, which is the whole reason I had to go through this in the first place. I couldn't just renew the way I've done for the past 20 years. Now the drivers licenses are specialized, and I plan to want to travel abroad once I've finally put the shop behind me. I can't do that without the highest tier driver's license, the one that I have to ring all the bells for and blow all the whistles. *sigh* I guess it's actually a good thing, though. It pushed me to finally get the name change (and deal with DH's complete anger at my doing that). 

It's a good thing I did fill out the pre-check in forms. I 
would have forgotten my income tax return, and there was 
one other thing I needed that I would have had to go 
back home for. 

Among that, and grocery shopping, and making my next batch of baked fruit, I also have three loads of laundry to do. For some reason or other, I think I'll be just a bit busy today - LOL. It's a good thing I can take some of my frustration and anxiety out in the swimming pool this morning. There's nothing like a good workout to start the day out right. Hopefully our roads won't be icy. We had a small storm come through yesterday leaving a lovely coating of ice on everything, including, of course, the roads. Really NOT a good thing. 

We had freezing rain yesterday morning, but it started right 
after I got to the shop, and was gone by the time I left 
last night. I'm hoping things didn't ice up a lot today, though. 
I have too much to do for icy roads and walkways. 

So, as you can tell, it's a busy day for me today. I hope all of you have a day that's a bit more restful than mine will be, and that you go to bed tonight feeling accomplished and pleased with how your day went. I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully with only good things to report about my crazy Wednesday. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Wednesday - A "Day Off" With a Ton of Stuff To Do

I have a stack of bills to be paid on my desk, an empty refrigerator that needs populating, and 10 audio credits that need to be used up before April. I won't listen to the books that quickly, but I can get them purchased and into my cyber-library within the next week or two. I'm on the final audio book of a 30+ book series, and I'm starting another huge series after this one. I just need to see which book of that second series I left off with in my purchasing and get the next 10 bought and processed for the proper audio file type. I also have bills to cyber-pay. It'll be a busy day all around and DH is in a total frump. 

I have a bunch that needs doing on my "day off", not 
even including the three loads of laundry and making 
the beds that's standard for a Wednesday. My "day off" is 
almost busier than a work day. 

It's a bad time of the year for DH, and adding closing the store to his mix and he's at boiling point all the way. But, he still has time to lie back in the evening and watch the Olympics. Not double-tasking the way that I do with the TV on behind me and me on the computer getting things accomplished. No ... he's kicked back in bed, watching the TV like a slug. *sigh* GRRR

I enjoy "watching" TV, although it's rare for me to actually 
pay a lot of attention to the screen. I'd much rather be 
reading a book. He's a TV addict. Maybe that comes from 
being the third child when I was an only child and had to 
self-entertain. He needs outside stimulation to be entertained, 
I'm happy with a book. 

I can work out some of my frustration in the pool in an hour, but really? For example, I got home last night, ate a quick dinner, and then gathered the trash together to take out to the bins. Today is trash and recycling pickup day. Then I grabbed my tea and went down to the computer to catch up on emails and notifications while listening to the Olympics on the TV behind me. I even watched a little bit of them. He went up to bed, settled down and watched the TV, then came down to yell at me about something I had apparently done incorrectly when I picked up our income taxes last week, and then went back upstairs again. Good grief! GRRRRRR

I'm really tired of getting yelled at all of the time. I understand 
his stress levels are high, but so are mine and I don't yell 
at him. GRRRRRR Retirement isn't looking like it will be 
any fun at all. 

Today I have to ride him hard about getting the shelving photos sent to me. I need to get that file populated ASAP and a "day off" is a great day in which to get some serious computer work done (between a quick run to the framers to get a mis-cut frame redone and another one routed out. I may not get the frames back until next week, but maybe they can have it on Friday. I might be able to take a quick run out there, although I really don't get my Fridays off any more. 

This is my YMCA from the air. Obviously in the summer, when 
the outdoor pool is open. The black square is the main building 
which houses the gym, the building connecting the black roof 
to the pool area is the rest of the gym - basketball court, running 
track, weight room, lots of machines, etc., and the indoor pool. 
It's a big complex with a little bit of family for those of us who 
meet at the front doors every day. 

Enough bitching, though. I have a swimming pool waiting for me to work out my frustrations in, so I'm wrapping this up and heading to the YMCA. Have an excellent Wednesday. Be kind, enjoy the Olympics, and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Olympics and Cooking - It'll Be a Very Busy Day Off

I was up late last night watching the finals in curling at the Olympics. We didn't win Gold, but we did win Silver and that's great. I'm very proud of my Minnesota people. They stepped up to the plate and played brilliantly. 

I am very proud of our Minnesota winners. They played 
brilliantly, and even though they had a couple of rocks 
that simply didn't cooperate, they won Silver. Bravo! 

But, since I was late, I texted my swimming buddy and let her know I was blowing off today's swim. I was still up early, but at 5:00 am instead of the 3:30 am that I use on swimming days. I needed that additional sleep. 

I really don't use Facebook ads to keep in touch 
with my customers, but Travis does, so he needed 
this and that from me. Which I gave him ... but apparently 
it's not working properly on his end. When I want to 
contact my customers via email, I use Constant 
Contact because I want each person I contact to be 
someone who voluntarily signed up with us at the shop. 

I'm trying to figure out what's not working for Travis and our Facebook advertising account. I have the codes that I passed on to him, but for some reason or other, he can't access our Facebook account to be able to post ads to my FB followers. I'll delve deeper into that today on my "day off", but I also have a LOT to do around the house and only one day to get it all done. 

I'm still having my veggie alkagizers at least four days a 
week, usually for my lunches at the shop. It's keeping my 
nutrition at high, and my weight at low. All good! 

I'll start the day out by grocery shopping - I have to make "Ogre Juice", my baked fruit for my breakfasts, and also my meals for the next week or so. I think stuffed peppers seems like a winner for the week. They are easy to make, minimal muss and fuss, and it'll give me the kitchen time I need for my baked fruit, which is a bit more labor intensive. 

I used to make stuffed peppers by hollowing out the pepper 
and keeping it upright. I've switched to half-peppers because 
they cook easier and they store easier in the refrigerator. 

So that's my plan for the day. I'll try to have the Olympics on in the background too - I know I can get it on the downstairs TV, but I'm not sure about the kitchen TV. That reception is quite a bit more limited. Still, one does what one can - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Music - Because Someone Sent Me Something Online and I'm Passing it On

It's still cold, Trump is still trying to manhandle my state (and isn't getting very far with it), and a friend sent me a lovely clip of Mozart's Requiem from the movie. That really made my morning! I hadn't listen to the Requiem for quite a long time. It was wondrous to hear, even in the small clip from the film. It totally lifted my heart from the mundane and the cold into the hope that stunning music can bring. 

Mozart's "Requiem" is one of the great pieces of music. It's 
rarely performed - it requires a LOT of people - vocal as well 
as symphonic. Plus, it's funeral music - people don't always 
respond well to funeral music. But, given my feelings today 
and the fact that this was in my in-box and really struck a 
chord with me, today you get marvelous sound. 

I'm not often a Mozart fan - I acknowledge his immense talent and ability, but Mozart generally needs to be played with a lightness. I was a cellist - light comes harder on a larger string instrument like that as opposed to a violin or even a viola. I was always being scolded for not being "light" enough on Mozart pieces. I suppose, for my style of playing, Beethoven was the better choice. 

Classical music is a huge genre of its' own, just as 
popular or rock or country musical styles are. I've been 
a classical music junkie for most of my life, and also 
love rock so, I guess I'm versatile. 

But there is something magical about Mozart - the undeniable and incredible talent, the tones that blend together to carry you past the years and into a different dimension. That's what good music will do, and good music - truly good music - will still be played decades or millenia after it's original composition. Great music will cross the centuries, good music will cross the decades, pop music will last for a year, maybe five if it's really catchy. 

Classical music was what I was exposed to - opera, chamber 
orchestras and quartets, and full symphonies. It runs in my 
blood. I might listen to rock in the car, but my heart will 
always belong to Beethoven. 

Where do we put nursery rhymes into this? "Mary Had a Little Lamb" has been sung to children for a long time. It's a catchy, if somewhat boring tune, but I bet every one of you now has that running through your head. I wouldn't call it classic, I can't put it into the same boat as the great compositions, but still ... it holds on to a specific age group - the parents and their small children, who eventually outgrow the nursery songs and move on to the symphonies. So, I guess we all started our musical journeys with those songs that our mothers or caregivers sang or hummed to us to get us settled at night or during the day. Thank goodness for these people showing us the power of music before we could even speak. Have a glorious day and treat yourself to some exceptional music today. And thanks for the Mozart film link - it was a fabulous way to start my day. Slava Ukraini. 

It'll Be a VERY Busy Morning

It's going to be hectic today, at least for the early morning. We have an 8:00 am appointment with an attorney to sign the final documents for our Trust Agreement. That's (of course) completely across town. So, in sub-zero cold, we'll be joining the lemmings as they move from one part of the Twin Cities to a different part within a very constricted time frame on possibly icy roads. Current temperature is 16 F, which isn't as cold as the past few days were. 

It's one of those days that will be MASSIVELY 
hectic first thing, before it settles down into the 
usual routine. Nothing like dealing with rush hour 
traffic to and from the opposite end of the Twin 
Cities to start a day out right - LOL. (NOT!)

Speaking of cold temperatures, the house has recovered and is cozy once again. My furnace guy is amazing. I wouldn't have known about him at all, but my shop landlord recommended him for our old furnace there when it quit within the past year. I still had his number, and I had liked his professionalism at that time, so he was my contact this time also, and he came through for us. I'm delighted to not be shivering in the house any more. 

Our furnace is closer to the bottom right photo in 
this montage of old furnaces. But we have zone heating 
in this house - meaning a set of piping that squirrels off 
in a variety of directions to heat a variety of rooms. It 
was state of the art in 1964, but it's OLD now and not 
everyone is capable of fixing it. My dude absolutely 
ROCKS! Old furnaces are his thing. 

So, today will start out very busy. After the legal appointment, I'll drop DH off at the shop and head to the grocery store. I'll only get my Wednesday off this week, so I have to pack a LOT of cooking into my day. I'm totally out of "Ogre Juice", so that's a MUST, but I'll also need dinners for the next few days as well. I'm not sure what I'll make. My fall-backs have been stuffed peppers and BBQ pork chops, and I still have two portions of pork chops left, but I'm thinking maybe a nice stew. Maybe. I'll have to see what looks good at the shop. It's chicken for tonight, so I may be lazy, pick up a cauliflower crust pizza from my secondary store, and let dinners ride until Sunday. DH will have to live with my cooking on a Sunday since I don't get my Fridays off until after we've closed the store. 

Hubby has been eating a lot of frozen pizza lately, so I 
decided I'd give Clo-Clo pizza a try. It's a cauliflower 
crust pizza. I tried the Margherita flavor and I'd definitely 
buy and eat this again. It was VERY tasty and totally fir 
my dietary principles. They're a local firm, too. So it's 
a total win/win. 

We have our next payment due to Travis, our guy who's handling our closing, on Monday. I was in touch with him yesterday and also had Chickie write out the exact directions for me to get the check sent to him - it's a photograph/Dropbox/email kind of procedure that is a bit convoluted because of the various programs that have to be used for a successful transfer. Since Chickie doesn't work on Mondays, I had her write the instructions out, step-by-step. We had all kinds of problems getting the last check to him in a format he could receive and I could send. Old computers and up-to-date electronics don't always mix well. 

It's always interesting to put the trash cans at the curb 
during winter. The sides of the drive are filled with large 
piles of snow, so the can actually has to sit at the side of the 
driveway, restricting our access in and out. Still, we 
have learned how to do this dance over the years. 

So ... life progresses. At least I was able to get the trash into the can early this morning so that I can put the can at the curb when I leave for our appointment at 7:00 am. I hope all of you have a more relaxing day than my day will be - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a VERY Busy Day Today and a Wellness Check

Today is VERY busy, and fortunately the roads seem like they'll be good. I have to get up to the clinic in the Northern part of the Cities for my semi-annual infusion, and then I can actually go grocery shopping. I also have to get a few things at the local Target if I can squeeze in the time between doctor and cooking. 

I get a subcutaneous injection twice a year to help 
keep my bones intact. Today is the day for this six 
month period. 

My friend Rosemary has been MIA from the pool. That's concerning because she's as regular as clockwork. I knew she was spending her after-Christmas with the extended family - her three sons and their families come in from out of town/state and everyone rents a large house together for a week. Well, that's her three sons, their wives, and their assorted kids. A LOT of people. It's a tradition and she looks forward to it every year, but she often will catch whatever flu or cold has been going around because kids are germ machines. 

If you ever want to get sick for any reason, hang out with a 
bunch of kids. They're germ machines! 

That's what happened this time also, we found out. She's been MIA from the pool, and she NEVER misses except when she's with the family for this get-together. But the family thing ended last week, and she hasn't returned to the pool. We've been worried. My Gate Gargoyle, Sabrina, determined that she would phone Rosemary yesterday and I gave her the information for her to access the e-chart for contact information. She contacted Rosemary's son yesterday and found out that, indeed, she's been down for the count with a case of the flu, or just a cold. Whatever, she's been sick. Perhaps she'll be at the pool today, or not, but at least we know why she's been MIA. 

Rosemary is a regular - five days a week in the pool, rain 
or shine, every week of the year except right after 
Christmas, when she gets together with the family for a 
family celebration of one week in the Frozen 
Northlands. 

Yes, that's the kind of people we are here in the Frozen Northlands. We look out after each other. Rosemary is older and lives alone. She'a also at the pool every day during the week without fail. For her to be missing for something other than the family get-together (which she reminded us was happening so that we wouldn't worry about her) ... well, if she's missing, we'll do a wellness check on her every time. 

Since Rosemary lives alone, we're always super worried 
about her when she's MIA. Hopefully she's feeling better 
today and can return to her daily swimming routine. 

So, I'm out of here. It's a trash and a recycling day, I also have to drive WAY OUT to Coon Rapids for my semi-annual infusion injection, and I need to do grocery shopping and some cooking as well as my usual three loads of laundry for a Wednesday. Whew! I'm exhausted already just reading about my schedule. LOL Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Going To Be a Busy Day and Lost Items!

It's a trash day and a recycling day, a "home" day and a shopping day, a kitchen day and a laundry day, and let's just start the whole thing out by swimming. I'm going crazy - I'm not finding the certificates that DH wrote out for this past holiday season. Every year he gives me handwritten certificates - something as simple as a bottle of my favorite rum, or something more complex like a night out. It's something I look forward to every year, and I know this year was/is no exception. EXCEPT ... I can't find them. I had them organized, and for some reason or other, I didn't put them in the usual place. Now I need one for this weekend (a new set of running shoes from FootLocker - desperately needed), and I can't find them at all. I'm practically in tears, looking everywhere, and I'll continue the hunt between errands, laundry, trash, recycling, etc today. But I'm simply not finding them. ARGH doesn't even come close. 

It's going to be a very busy day today. If I make myself some 
soup or stew, that'll be easy and I won't have to spend a lot 
of time in the kitchen. 

I have my first load of laundry in the wash (yes, I checked all pockets before putting things into the wash). I'm hoping that the roads are a bit less icy today. Yesterday's drive to the YMCA was dicey - it was very slippery out. A road that I'm normally doing 55-60 on at 4:30 am, I was creeping along at 35. Walking into and out of the YMCA was also a slippery experience. And the pool was just me and the lifeguard for the first half hour. Rosemary is off on her annual get-away with her family, I knew Meg wouldn't be there since she's still in her wheelchair, but I've never been solo - LOL. By the time I ended, Mary was in the lane to my right, and an unknown swimmer was in the lane to my left, so it wasn't just me any more, but since there weren't any others, I actually swam 10 minutes longer than I usually would have. That was a very good thing since I'm trying to drop my holiday weight down by about 10 pounds. 

The scale is not really my friend just now. It's the end 
of the holiday season, and I need to drop a couple of 
pounds back down to where I want to be. Getting back 
to the pool is a real plus. I don't lose weight as well 
if I'm just on the treadmill. 

Today is grocery shopping and cooking. My cupboards are bare (relatively speaking). I have food to eat, but nothing cooked that I can just grab and reheat. Maybe I'll make a stew if I can find decent, inexpensive stew meat for one. I'll also continue my hunt for my certificates. It's really driving me up the wall. They're SUPER important for me, and I never lose them ... except maybe I have done so this time. I went through all of the trash last night before bagging it and putting it into the bin. They weren't in any of the trash containers. That gives me hope that I put them someplace "safe", or forgot them in my robe or something silly. I'll be looking today. 

Putting something into a "safe" place is working a bit 
too well this time. I can't find the certificates at ALL. 
What Saint is it who helps find lost items? Maybe I should 
send up some prayers. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back for my final swim of the week tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Bit of This and a Bit of That - It's Warmer Today! Yippee!

It's much warmer today, which will be excellent since I forgot the battery to my heated vest charging at the shop. I'll be very busy today, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate. At this time of the year, you can never tell about that - LOL. But, being at the freezing point now instead of ten to thirty degrees colder is a definite plus. 

I love my heated vest, especially when the 
temps are sub-zero. It's warm today, though. 
Right at freezing. So the fact that I left the 
battery (and my laptop charging cable) at 
the shop isn't horrible. I'll pick them up 
this morning on my way to the co-op. 

I've got a desk full of things that require attention, and it's also the 17th of December - Christmas is less than two weeks away. I need some stuff for DH, so I'll have to make some shopping time for something other than just groceries. DH has an eye doctor appointment before he goes to the shop, so I might have to go over there to make sure everything is turned on and ready before I head to the grocery shop. I'll also drop by the shop long enough to pick up my battery and laptop cable. Then I might head to the co-op just to see if they have any fresh cranberries left. They have the best bulk cranberries from Wisconsin - they're just plumper than the raw cranberries I can usually get at my local grocery store. I think one more batch of cranberry sauce would be delightful before calling it done for the season. 

There's nothing like cranberry sauce made from fresh 
cranberries, and it's easy to make. But, I prefer the berries 
at my co-op - they're a bit larger than what I can get 
bagged up at my local grocer's. 

All of my holiday cards are in the mail. Once again, I apologize for not making hand-made cards this year - it's been a tumultuous year - LOL. But, we're working through things one day at a time. It's really the only way we can effectively live our lives, after all. 

I highly recommend Andrew Ross Sorkin's 
latest book. I know him from CNBC where he 
is a regular financial analyst. It's VERY 
readable, and extremely well researched. 

I've been reading Andrew Ross Sorkin's book "1929" and it's totally fabulous. I'm familiar with him from CNBC - the financial channel that DH has on from the time he wakes up in the morning. I've always had respect for his insight, and I've always been interested in that period of history. The stock market crash of 1929 didn't just happen in a vacuum. There were a lot of factors that built into it. I thought Mr Sorkin would do the subject justice, and I've been VERY pleased with the book so far and highly recommend it to any who would be interested in the subject, as viewed by someone whose business is finance and the stock market. Fascinating and very readable. 

Have an excellent day. I'll be busy, busy, busy - but 
that's always a lot of fun too. 

So, I'm off to the pool. My friend Meg, who broke her leg more than two months ago, was actually in the pool yesterday. She's still wheelchair bound, but Steve drove her over. She changed clothes in the handicapped locker room, and he wheeled her out to Lane 1, which she shared with Rosemary for a while. It was GREAT to see her - her smile, at being back with all of us - was beaming! So, may you have a day filled with joy. I'm going shopping, then I need to cook, and it would be nice if I could get some of DH's gifts wrapped and onto his chair. We'll see - time will be tight today. Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Today is New Phone Day! Yippee!

Today is New Phone Day and I can hardly wait. As I mentioned in a comment to a friend on yesterday's post, I might not have the protective case for a day or two, but at least I'll have a working phone again, and that'll make me very happy. So, I'll head out to the Verizon store for my 3:00 pm appointment, and hopefully they'll have the color I'm wanting. I can live with one of the other colors, but they're really not me. LOL

I'm planning to get a Google Pixel, of course. That's my 
preferred brand. The Pixel 10 Pro will be a lovely phone 
that should last me for at least two years, which is 
really all I expect from a cell phone. But a cell phone 
is a tool that I'm using every day, all day. It's a super 
important tool in my arsenal. 

Today will be spent in the kitchen, as well as on three loads of laundry and, if at all possible, a little bit on online shopping to get the case I want for my new Pixel phone ordered. What's really amusing is that Chickie and Chickie Mama are also getting new phones tonight. They use Samsung phones, and had been having some problems with their current receivers, so headed over to the store (I think they get them at Best Buy, but I'm not 100% sure about that), and ended up with a really good deal for two new phones for them. The phones are getting set up today, and they'll pick them up tonight. We'll all be totally rocking the communication for a while - LOL. 

Chickie and I are both getting top-rated phones, she'll 
get her Samsung brand, I'll stick with my Google phones. 
When I looked up top rated models, both of our choices 
came up in the top two. Whoot! LOL

DH left the shop early last night to attend our grand-nephew's ice hockey game. I trust he had a great time, he still wasn't home by the time I went to sleep. I left a few lights on for him so he wouldn't have problems finding his bedroom, but I was totally crashed by the time he arrived. Our grand-nephew is professional caliber in a tough profession, and he has a VERY bright future in his chosen field of professional ice hockey. Right now, though, he's still a High School student, and has to share his goalie duties with a Senior, who gets more ice time than he does. It's annoying, because Flynn is more talented than the Senior, but the Senior's parents have money and have been very generous towards those little "extras" that the school needs. 

As usual, I'll be hitting the pavement running 
(or the pool, swimming - LOL). I enjoy being 
busy and active, however, and I'm REALLY looking 
forward to my new phone. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up and get over to the pool. I have a serious need to swim, and I've got to get some cooking done before I head out to the phone store for my 3:00 pm appointment. Marlyn - it's possible I might be slightly late for our afternoon conversation, so I'll call you, OK? LOL Enjoy your Wednesday, Slava Ukraini. 

The Blog Was Delayed By The Oven Repair Guy

It's a very late blog today because the oven repair guy was at my door shortly after 7:00 am, and subsequently tore my oven apart, pulling it partially out of its' wall setting. After running some diagnostics and looking up a bunch of things on his laptop, the conclusion is that two things are wrong with it. The first thing is more mechanical and fairly easy to fix. Cost $500+. The second thing is in the electronics, a bit more difficult to fix, and closer to $600. *sigh* I'm hoping fix #1 will resolve the issue because I really would rather not spend over a thousand dollars on the repair. 

If the oven ends up only needing one thing (which won't be 
determined until after it's been installed and tested), then 
that'll only be about $500. If the circuitry is also needing 
to be replaced, it'll be an additional $500. It's like the 
world has determined that we'll be spending money like 
there's no tomorrow! *sigh*

But that was a solid hour out of my early morning, and then I had to discuss all of this with DH who had understood maybe one of ten words. Apparently both I and the service tech were very soft spoken, and DH just didn't understand what had been decided. Now we're waiting for Step Two. I can continue using my bypass routine which will allow me to still use the oven, just without the safety feature of an automatic shut-down and a functional cooling fan. 

We do a lot of shop expenses on American Express because 
it's really designed to be a corporate card. I have one, and 
I use it for ordering some supplies, but I really don't use it 
for anything else. 

The other thing I have to do today is get in touch with American Express to get a new card sent to DH. His card is set to expire at the end of the month, and I've already received MY replacement card from them, but his hasn't been delivered yet. We use that card a lot for the shop and for orders that we place, so it has to be current. I'll be attempting to get that expedited today. 

I don't have much for salad fixings in the 'fridge right now, 
so I need to get that taken care of today. I'm not going to 
be cooking today, though.

Oh, and of course there will be grocery shopping and a bit of cooking. I don't need much - salad stuff more than anything else. I've got plenty of everything else already in the refrigerator or on the countertop. 

I was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Disorder when 
I took the various memory and brain tests in early 
March. I get occasional bouts of brain fog, and sometimes 
things just aren't quite at the tip of my finger the way 
they used to be. Right now it's a mild inconvenience, but 
if I can learn coping mechanisms and what options are 
out there, that's all for the good. 

Oh ... and yesterday's first class of the "Improving Your Brain Health" class was quite interesting. It's a very varied group of people. All of us have been diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Decline/Disorder. As I recall, I was the first person to register for the class when it opened up. Claire (Chickie Mama) is attending the class along with me. I think we'll both enjoy it - it's eight weeks of learning about ourselves and ways to cope with MCD. 

So, I think I should probably get moving. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up this week. Slava Ukraini.