In Case You Missed the Memo ... LOL

In case you missed the memo ... Christmas is coming - LOL. I do hope you're ready for the holiday to come. I'm almost ready - not quite, but about as good as it can be. I'll be at the grocer tomorrow to get things I'll need for the next few days, but I have my lettuce, I have enough fruit for my breakfasts, and we've been eating down a huge ham, and have both a prime rib and a pork roast in the refrigerator waiting for me to cook them. I'm hoping I have all the ingredients I'll need on hand, because I'll have a quick trip to the grocer tomorrow and then, radio silence. 

This looks like a really cute book to read. It's a 
pop-up too. I didn't have books like this when 
I was a kid, but I know I had some Christmas 
books to read - all non-religious, of course. 

I don't feel as if I've gotten sufficient gifts for DH - it's always hard with his birthday being so close to the holiday. I have to apportion things between the two days, and I think his birthday always gets the short straw. But, I've done the best I can. After the holiday we dive into our after-Christmas sale and then I can concentrate on closing the business. I'm already super stressed about that, but there's nothing I can do about it. It has to be done, so it'll get done, and hopefully it will get done well. 

I'm hoping that hiring Travis to help with our 
store liquidation won't turn into a problem. I'm 
just hoping ... it's really all I can do. After the 
holiday is over, I can concentrate on getting this 
accomplished. The contracts have been signed 
and we've sent him a LOT of money. This better 
turn out good! 

There may well be some days upcoming when all of the posting you'll get from me is a quick acknowledgement that I'm still alive and kicking, and positive wishes for the day. I'm just taking this opportunity to warn you - I know some of my long-term friends worry if I'm not posting every day. I don't usually miss. But next year, at least the first half of the year, will be one of the most challenging times I'll have lived through, and there might be times when I'll miss a post, or they will be minimal. It's NOT because I don't care about everyone who reads these posts and comments (or doesn't comment - commenting is not a requirement after all - LOL). It will just be life getting in the way. 

Sometimes life gets in the way. And other times ... well 
life still gets in the way - LOL. Right now, my stress 
levels are through the roof, and I don't expect that to change 
for the next few months. I'm going to try and enjoy 
having two days off this week, and just take things 
one day at a time. 

Like right now - we have a leaking pipe in the floor just past the lower bathroom entrance. DH is going to tackle things today as much as he can, but I'll probably have to call in a plumber ... at Christmas time. I suspect my friend Jack has finally retired, or might even be deceased by now, but if DH can't fix things today, I might have to have a holiday visit or as quickly after the holiday as possible. *sigh* Household ownership ... it's always something or other - LOL. On that note, I'm off to the pool for my swim. I think I desperately need that today - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini! 

A Bit of This and a Bit of That - Missy Celebrates 40 Years Serving the Realm!

It took WAY more time than we had first thought, but we were finally able to get a final email out to our financial consultant regarding allocation of assets after we've passed. At least, the dispersal of income to our various charities. I wrote and sent the email to Corey yesterday afternoon. I have five charities that made my final list: Minnesota Public Radio, The Trevor Project (I've been a supporter of theirs since they only had a phone bank - a very long time ago now), St Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Minnesota State Fair Foundation and the ASPCA. DH had four different charities on his list. He composed the email to Corey yesterday at the shop, and I got it sent out in the afternoon. One more task completed! 

At least that's one task completed. We also got DH's truck 
checked over and winterized at the local car dealership, 
so that's another thing off the list. We're getting there, baby 
steps. Unfortunately, we need to be making more progress on 
the shop, and that's moving too slowly. 

It's a swimming day, and I had a horrid night's sleep. I have a pipe in the basement, almost directly under where I sleep, and it is loud with air pockets on a semi-regular basis. It rattles. Now, I always wear ear plugs, so I'm not waking every time it growls, but it's loud enough that the earplugs aren't always helpful, and it was a night of waking, then sleeping, then waking again. The pipe is going off for about 5-10 seconds every five to ten minutes. It's truly driving me crazy, and I'm not so sure that DH will be able to do anything at all about it. I will, however, attempt to point it out to him before I leave for work because if he can drain the air from the system or assist in ANY way, it would be very appreciated. 

I have no idea what, if anything, can be done to 
eliminate the growling noise from the pipes below 
where I sleep. I don't recall this having been an issue 
in prior years, so this must be a new wrinkle that 
the house is throwing at us. *sigh* 

My friend Melissa was honored last weekend at Renaissance Festival for 40 years of "Service to the Crown" Her daughter received her 10 years of service certificate, and her daughter isn't a whole lot older than that - LOL. I've known Melissa forever, it seems. I remember her as an exciting swordswoman, using a rapier very skillfully against much larger and stronger opponents on the Festival grounds. After having her kids, she settled down a bit and became "Mother Nature" teaching natural sciences and animal identification to the general public. She has a degree in that, and her father was a naturalist as well, so she's got the experience on all sides, and she's got the patience (and the required permits to own and display some of the animal bones and feathers she owns). Bravo for her, though. Forty years of service to the Realm is an achievement not many attain. 

This is the third year for Park and Ride for the Renaissance 
Festival. Parking on the grounds requires purchasing a parking 
pass (which I do every year because I prefer parking on the Fest 
grounds). Having the Park and Ride, however, has been 
FABULOUS and really cut down on the traffic jams in the 
surrounding towns, as well as allowing easier access and 
exits for those of us who pay to park on the grounds. Park and 
Ride is no charge, and there are two different places for 
people to park their cars there. One of which is quite close 
to Mystic Lake Casino, which I'm sure is also a draw. LOL

So I'm going to pay a couple of bills really quickly, and head out to the swimming pool. I think I need to swim off some of this sleeplessness that I experienced all night. Damned pipe! Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Plumbing, Hockey and the Trivet - Going Into the Weekend With Some ARGH

DH gets the "joy" of dealing with the plumbing today. My bathroom sink has been backing up really badly, and needs a serious cleaning out. Because of the way the house is made, the upstairs bathroom (DH's bathroom except when I share while Sharon's visiting) extends south from the pipes, the main floor "hostess" bathroom (that's a bathroom with only a toilet and a sink, but no shower or bath) extends north of the pipes, and finally, the lowest level might also be tied into this. I know the piping down that wall also has the pipes extending off it for the shower in the lower level. All of these pipes come together in the ceiling of the sub-basement (the craft room) and we've had to go into those pipes too many times to attempt to get things cleaned out. That's when we usually call Jack - LOL. 

Bathroom sink clogs really suck. Usually they're caused 
by a mix of hair and dirt. I suspect a great deal of mine 
is due to small food scraps that I get rid of via my water 
pik and brushing. I'm putting the blame for this firmly 
at my braces. *sigh*

DH might end up texting me to call Jack. The bathroom sink may end up being too much of a job. He'll start by snaking the pipe, but I'm pretty sure he'll have to disassemble the catch-pipe (the "U") and do a thorough clean. DH HATES doing plumbing work, and I don't really blame him. I'm just grateful that I'll be at work while he's dealing with this mess. I'm sure I'll come home to a lecture about turning the water on higher when I brush my teeth (which causes the water to back up in the sink). *SIGH* 

I've been talking about that beaded trivet, but haven't 
shown you the finished repaired item. So, this is it 
before I steamed it to get everything completely even. 
It turned out really nicely, and was actually rather 
fun to work on. Now to just get in touch with her - she 
hasn't answered any of my Emails, so I might have 
to phone her. 

So, that's what DH will be doing today - oh joy! LOL I, on the other hand, will be at the shop trying to figure out what he left for me to do and trying to get in touch with my trivet repair customer. I've emailed my customer about her trivet a couple of times, and she hasn't returned any comment. I'll phone her today if I don't find any response in my emails. Thanks to the generosity of several of my readers, I'll be able to get her trivet to her for the original $20 that she THOUGHT was the quotation (somehow not hearing or ignoring the "per hour" that followed that dollar amount). I'd love to get this into her hands and off my backroom printer, where it's sitting until pick-up. 

Marat Khusnutdinov is an exciting acquisition for the 
Minnesota Wild. I'm quite sure he'll be playing with 
our "farm league" team in Iowa first, to get used to 
our system, but the coach is already planning to start 
him at Center as soon as possible. He's supposed to be 
very fast and good on both sides, important for a 
forward. 

In ice hockey (or just hockey in my house) the Minnesota Wild just signed Marat Khusnutdinov to a two year entry-level contract. The Forward (that's the position he plays, for those of you not into hockey), is an exciting player who came to their attention when he was playing with the SKA Saint Petersburg team before being traded to HC Sochi in October. He's Russian, from Moscow, and he's fun to watch. We've got him on a two-year contract, and the higher-ups are expecting great things from him. 

I have a feeling DH will end up having to actually pull 
the U-trap pipe out to get it thoroughly cleaned out. 
That'll put him into a foul mood, for sure. He hates 
dealing with plumbing issues, and I don't really 
blame him. Still, he's got all of the necessary equipment 
at hand, and I cleaned out the vanity last night, so he 
has open space in which to work (somewhat, since 
the crappy shelf in the cabinet will get in his way). 

So, I'm going to wrap this up, catch up on some emails, and head out. I don't want to be anywhere near DH while he's dealing with plumbing - LOL. Have an excellent Saturday and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

I Love My Plumber - Jack Is a Treasure!

My amazing plumber, Jack, apparently finished his morning job sooner than expected and phoned me around 12:30 pm to ask if he would be able to come over and handle my sink clog. After checking with DH, I gave Jack the go-ahead and he went over to deal with my sink. It didn't take long until everything was working properly once again (thank goodness). Jim then asked about a new kitchen faucet. 

This is very similar to what Jack found for us. The  
hot and cold handles are slightly different, but the basic 
configuration is identical. It's not brushed nickle, and 
it has that large, high base which is a problem for 
us as well. DH wanted an adjustable tip on the end 
of the faucet to direct the stream of water, and it 
doesn't have that feature either. But it will work 
fine until we can find one that's perfect for us. 

We've been wanting one with a high, curved spigot for quite a while. Jim requested one in brushed nickle, but I guess there's a shortage of faucets also, because it took Jack more than 90 minutes until he returned with a faucet that was bright chrome - the right configuration, but on a mounting platform that stands above the sink level higher than we had hoped. Still, he got it in, and added some additional fittings onto the pipes to allow us to turn off the water below the sink (handy thing, that!). Now, however, I need to find a new dish drainer since our current one blocks the hot water spigot. 

So, here's the new faucet installed. The next item on 
the agenda is a new kitchen sink and faucet, hopefully 
this summer sometime. But this will do for the 
time being. I need to get a new dish drainer, though. Our 
current one gets in the way of the left-hand water 
control so that we can't turn it off and on. I'll check 
Target today. Hopefully I can find one to fit our 
dimensions. 

I'll be adding "finding a dish drainer" onto my shopping list today. At least, although it's plenty cold today, it's not the constant sub-zero temps we'll have tomorrow. I'm grateful. I'll be out in the weather both days, of course, just to get to the swimming pool and errands today, and to swim and get to work tomorrow. But tomorrow will be the bone-chilling day. Ugh! Today, though, I'll be at Target, and the grocery store, and I want to drop a box of books off at Half-Price Books. The books themselves are worthless, I'm quite sure, but they'll recycle them for me so that's a total win. 

I'd like something similar to this, but if you take a close 
look at the photo and then look at the sink above, you'll 
see that high base for the faucet controls won't allow 
a width like this. So I'll have to find one that will 
fit into the bottom of the sink on legs, which cuts down 
on my dimensions a lot. This will take some hunting, and 
maybe buying a couple of choices and returning the 
one(s) that don't work in my kitchen. 

All of these errands are going to take some careful scheduling. Ideally, I want to be the first or second person in the door for Half Price Books. It's a lot faster if I don't have to wait for them to handle someone else's books ahead of mine. So I'll start my day out at Target, then Half Price, then the grocery store, and finally home to make ogre juice and enjoy my beautiful new faucet. It may not be 100% what we wanted, but we can take our time finding one that will be exactly what we envision, and I can use my kitchen sink again - Hallelujah! A plumber like Jack is worth everything. He's one in a million. Have an awesome day and I'll be back in time to freeze tomorrow. LOL Happy Groundhog Day. 

Sink Repair is Backed Up But Swimming On Tuesdays and Thursdays is a Dream

Yesterday I phoned my plumber, Jack, to request him to come out and deal with my kitchen sinks. He and I finally linked up shortly after noon, and he told me he was in Covid quarantine until Tuesday. He was feeling fine, a little restless because of the isolation, and was tired a bit more than usual, but he seemed fine. Although he recommended another plumber to me, I like Jack. I've used his services for years and he's always been very good to us. So, I scheduled him to come out on Thursday, the 3rd and take care of the sinks then. It will be inconvenient, not having a kitchen sink until Thursday, but I dearly want to get it done right, and I know Jack will be reasonable on the charges and responsible as a workman of integrity. I'll manage a week of inconvenience. 

Inconvenience is temporary, not permanent. It's a minor 
obstacle, but not a regular detour. To get upset at an 
inconvenience is a waste of effort. I'm not thrilled 
to be without a kitchen sink for a week, but I know 
Jack will do a good job and I trust him and his work 
ethic. 

DH is stressed out, so of course he's internalizing his stress and self-focusing 100% instead of paying any attention to anyone else. It'll do him good to be at the shop cleaning today. At least he can get some physical exercise while rummaging through paperwork and old software. I actually wanted to run a couple of things by him last night regarding the Etsy website, but talking to him would have been a waste of time and effort, so I'll go ahead with things as I see fit. I'm going to grab a personal portal as well. When I'm finally able to start making things once again, I want to be able to list them on Etsy and offer them for sale. 

DH is supposed to be handling Ebay while I handle 
Etsy. I'm almost ready to go live with my first items 
on Etsy, but suddenly he needs me to figure something 
out for him on Ebay, and he's not super clear about 
what he needs. I'm not doing it today, that's for sure. 
Today, if I have time, I'm working on Etsy. 

I'm a bit over-stressed right now, though. Between the store, Etsy, the various photographs that still need to be worked on, and of course, the kitchen sink (isn't that the saying? ... Everything and the kitchen sink?), my life is in somewhat organized chaos and I don't do extremely well with chaos. I'm going to try to find a spare 1/2 hour today to sit and meditate. I really need that extra calm, if I have any time to grab it. 

This looks like an adorable book to read. It does appear 
that the young child indeed has everything but 
the kitchen sink. 

Today I have to make my alkagizers for the next four days. Although most of the prep work is general washing of vegetables and cutting them up, there is the blender that will have to be dealt with. My general process for dirty dishes right now is to wipe them down extremely well, toss the toweling into the trash and then wash the almost clean container in the bathroom sink. I'll be able to do that with the blender too, but it's not going to be quite as convenient. But as the saying goes ... "I Will Persevere". 

I normally make four days of Alkagizers at a time, keeping 
them refrigerated in containers or my carry-all glasses 
until needed. It's a lot of work to be doing every day, so 
I've got the recipe nailed for a full 72 ounce batch at a 
time. I've got to do that today, so I'll have to clean the 
blender thoroughly in the bathroom sink. Quite a bit 
harder to do, but not impossible. 

I really enjoyed swimming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. The Tuesday and Thursday sessions were empty enough that I actually got a lane to myself for the entire hour. I think I'm going to stick to that schedule for now, so I warned Rosemary that if I'm not at the gym doors on Monday, I'm shifting to the T, W, Th schedule instead. Although alternating exercises is good for the body, I get a better workout when I don't have to fight through as many waves created by the other swimmers in the pool. 

I adore my swimming days, but think I do better for my 
body when I have three days in the water and three days 
on the treadmill each week. I probably get a bit more 
exercise in my one-mile in the water, but my body isn't 
fond of the chlorine, so I can't go too overboard. 

Oh that note, it's time to start my day. I hope you have a great one. It's cold today - below zero - but not as bad as Wednesday was, and I only have a single grocery store on my shopping list today. All in all, I should be able to spend some quality time with Photoshop and also watch my stream of Project Runway. I do love my fashion - LOL. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Peace! 

Holocaust Remembrance Day - Everything BUT the Kitchen Sink - Another Thing for Jack

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, so I'm remembering my Aunt, who survived Terezin, and my grandparents who did not survive Auschwitz. "nuff said. 

Yesterday ran quite smoothly - swimming, the dental visit, shopping at all three of the stores I needed to visit, even getting gas ( a totally miserable and COLD experience). Of course there were stumbling blocks - mainly consisting of the outside temperature. I was in the outdoors a minimal amount of time, but at -13 F (-25 C) with a wind chill actually bringing temps even colder, it wasn't a lovely walk around the block. It was a hurry up and get into the next store ASAP day. 

I had never gotten a dental impression before, but my breath 
work from my daily meditations certainly helped me here. I 
had to breathe through my nose, and to stay as immobile 
as possible. It only needed one try to get a good mold. 
Leonard will work on it and with luck, I may be able 
to pick up my new retainer on Monday. 

I started out with my dental assistant, Leonard, at 7:30 am to get an impression of my upper teeth for a retainer that I will wear each night as I go to sleep. I'm hoping this will help my teeth keep their alignment without having to go for more intensive procedures like braces. Right now my left front upper tooth is constantly hitting my left front bottom tooth, and I doubt that can be good for either tooth over the long run. I'll get a call-back, probably for a Monday fitting. 

I live up here in the Frozen Northlands and I know how to 
deal with our cold temperatures. I had my hat, my scarf, the 
hood of my parka and my gloves, but my nose still 
was plenty red by the time I got to my third grocery store, 
and the air was so cold it took my breath away. Today will 
be a bit warmer, and then we'll dive down into the cold 
once more. 

Since it was too early for Whole Foods, I headed over to the first of my three grocery stops - my co-op. I hadn't really intended to get a lot there, but found several things I needed, and got the first of the four "Damn! That's an amazing tattoo, Did it hurt?" comments I got yesterday morning. It's always nice to have my winged scarab seen and acknowledged. It was pure happenstance, my hat kept falling over my eyes as I was looking through the shelving, so I pulled it off and had it in my basket along with my gloves. I got three more positive comments when I was at my second stop at Whole Foods, and then had a nice conversation with my favorite produce guy at my local grocer (he headed to Florida last night to spend several days with his extended family in a warm climate. I'm envious of the warm temperatures, but I'm not really that fond of Florida in general). 

My kitchen sink as I went to bed last night. Maybe 1/4 to 
1/2 inch of water had drained in the previous hour. 
DH couldn't sleep last night - stress - but the water finally 
did drain and he wiped the sinks out and got them nicely 
clean for Jack. I only hope Jack can get out sometime 
soon. It's a pain to not have a sink to work with in the 
kitchen. 

Finally I got home, and got everything put away. The sink had been acting up, draining slowly, so I was very careful, but I did have to use it a little bit, and yeah - it was a problem. By the end of the day, it had turned into a BIG problem, it really drained slowly. DH said he couldn't be bothered with fixing it until next week, and I wasn't very happy about that. I made it his responsibility to handle the dishes after dinner, and that's when he realized things had gotten so bad that it really didn't drain at all. After a lot of cursing and more than an hour trying to snake out the pipes, he gave up. I'm calling Jack this morning to try and get him out today, if possible, tomorrow, if not today. Maybe I'll get a new faucet out of the whole thing. That would be lovely. 

I've started a new Masterclass with MindValley called the 
"Art of Astral Projection". I remember wanting to do 
astral projection a lot when I was much younger, but never 
had any luck with it. Maybe I'll have better luck this 
time around. I'm trying to blend this into my morning 
meditation. I may have to do my actual meditation at 
work, and my astral projection practice in the early 
mornings when I'm generally uninterrupted (except 
for today since DH couldn't sleep). My early morning 
time is limited because of my exercise schedule. 

So, there's a lot going on this morning. When I awakened at 3:00 am and started my morning meditation (actually my second class in the Astral Projection masterclass), I heard DH come down and check the sinks. They hadn't drained at all last night, but they were clean and dry now. He said he couldn't sleep and had cleaned them out, so I guess the water eventually went down, but VERY slowly. I'm going to hope that Jack can get over today, but of course there are no guarantees. I'll be using the bathroom and laundry room sinks until the kitchen is back in operation. Sucks to be me sometimes! Have a totally excellent day and I hope temperatures and plumbing issues are not a problem in your life. *Hugs* to all and I'll be back tomorrow for the next stage of my life's never-ending soap opera. LOL

A New Toilet and the Paralympics

After having left a phone message for Jack, our plumber, on Sunday night/early Monday morning, I phones him again on Monday morning shortly before 8:00 am to give him an update and tell him we had to replace the toilet too. To my surprise, he answered the phone, and I had a chance to give him the update personally. The minute he heard a toilet was involved, he assured me he would push us into his schedule for Monday and get us fixed up. I, in turn, assured him that even though we were both at work, if he phoned 15-20 minutes before he would arrive at the house, DH would go home and meet him there. 

The new toilet is slightly smaller than 
our previous one, which is great. The 
bathroom is still original 1960's decor - 
floral wallpaper with matching drapes, 
and yellow ceramic tiling. I can 
live with the tile, but wouldn't mind 
re-doing the wallpaper and window 
treatment. We'll replace the vanity 
within a year and Jack will replace the 
sink at that time. 

To our surprise, Jack phoned shortly after 10:30 am and off DH went, to deal with plumbers and toilets. DH got back to the shop in mid-afternoon. The toilet was replaced, the drains were cleared, and all was well. Total for the job was approx $725, so DH rounded up and made it an even $800 to thank Jack for managing to push us into his already-full Monday schedule. What a great guy and also a good plumber. We've had similar work done by other plumbers that ran as much as $1200. Jack works quickly and charges fairly. He was a great find, years ago, and I've recommended him to other friends. 

We've always gotten First Class service 
from Jack. He first entered out lives when 
I needed an emergency water heater, and 
he's been my go-to guy for plumbing 
ever since. 

So one more crisis resolved. We're still running a fan on the soaked carpeting. I think we'll be able to remove the fan after today, certainly after tonight. There's nothing worse than mold in wall-to-wall carpeting, though, so we'll keep the fan running as long as necessary. 

I'm almost dancing for joy. After today, I won't be 
back at work for a week! It's a shock, but it's a 
good shock - LOL. 

Today is the last day I'll be at work for a WEEK! I'll be off from tomorrow until next week, Tuesday. I haven't had this many days off from work since Covid shut-down, and before that, since Sharon's last visit in 2019. I'm already reveling in it, even though I have a ton of work still to do in the house to make it "presentable". I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the house cleaned, the boxes of books out of my trunk and into the hands of Half-Price Books, and more stuff out of my over-crowded life. Everything I let go makes me happier. 

Have you been watching the Paralympics? There are some 
amazingly talented athletes competing and I love watching 
the various competitions. It's been wonderful to watch. 

Are you watching the Paralympics? They come on in my area at 5:00 am every day, and since I'm already up, I always turn it on. I'm amazed by these athletes and their accomplishments - so many wonderful stories and talented athletes. I hope you're able to catch some of the events. I'm becoming a total Paralympics Fan Girl! 

Have an excellent Tuesday. I'll be back tomorrow to start my "days off" and do some serious housecleaning. Meanwhile, please be kind and stay safe. 

Today It's Back To The Gym

I'm dressed and ready to go back to the gym today. OMG, I can hardly wait! Yes, I'm stuck without the swimming pool for weeks still, but I can work on endurance and stamina on the Elliptical and the Recumbent Bicycle while listening to either a book or some good music on my Sirius, so I'll consider just getting back to exercise a total win. I also had fun with my writing over the three days, and fun with my characters in LOTRO, who are slowly making their way over Middle Earth. 

DH lent me the assistance of one of his dwarves, and we
headed down into the Gorge to kill trolls and huge spiders.
We succeeded, and my repair costs were minimal. My little
human only has 12,000+ points, trolls are more than
100,000, so it's not really a battle as much as running away. 

We are now entering the final week of this year's Back 2 Middle-earth Month event. I was coaxed into writing for it because it was Bingo, a format that I adore. I have to admit it's been a joy writing within the Tolkien universe once more. I've crossed paths with some old on-line friends, and been unfriended by one who probably should have done that years ago, so all is fabulous and fantastic on my end. Sometimes things just work out for the best. 

I enjoy the Bingo format, and I've actually gotten reasonably
good at the tags, but I'll be happy to see the month end
and return to the other projects I have pending. 

Last night, DH and I had a minimal dinner, but when I was cleaning up afterward, I noticed a large amount of water on my flooring. After drying things up, I opened the under-sink cabinet to find that we had a leak in a hose, thus the water on the floor. It took a bit more than 2 hours, and a trip to the local hardware store, and a LOT of cursing, but DH finally managed to replace the leaking tube and it's ALMOST 100% resolved now. We'll be getting a new sink and counters within a year or two, so I'm hoping the repair will work that long. Crossing my fingers, for sure. 

We've had to replace/repair the sink sprayer in the
past. Our sink doesn't have this much space, we
have a garbage disposal attached as well. It
made for very tight working conditions for the
wrench work. 

I'm looking at the elements for today's story. I think I almost have it resolved in my head. I'll probably push the actual writing off until I'm at the shop and just do it on my laptop, but I think I know where I want to take it. We're nearing the end of the Event, and two of my favorite elves are nearing the end of their current stolen time together. Since I don't know which of my cards might come up in any Bingo draw, I may not be able to attain the conclusive resolution I'd prefer, but I'll do my best. I also noticed that at least one of my friends has now achieved Bingo! Congrats! 

Congrats to my friend, Linda Hoyland on
getting Bingo in the B2MeM event! 

On that note, I'm plugging in photos and heading out to the gym. YES! Have a wonderful Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. At least, that's the plan. 

Snow Returns and Unusual Christmas Trees

Snow had to return to my area, after all, I'm in the northern part of the US and snow is our norm for winter. I wasn't particularly anxious to have it return, but it arrived overnight despite my desire for it to stay away a few more days. That means I'll start my morning up by shoveling, but the snow should be finished for the next few days. Tonight as soon as we close at work, Chickie and I are heading off to see "The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies". I'm sure I'll have lots of fun watching it and if there is no snow, so much the better for driving to our preferred theatre (considerably farther away than the more convenient one). Now if I could just find my movie membership card.....

It looks like everyone is showing up at the front door of the Dwarven kingdom.
What fun! 

As promised, here are Christmas trees, alighted and beautiful, for your enjoyment. The final items have been purchased, the cards from friends and relatives are making their way into my mailbox, and all is right with the world (except I have to shovel snow - *sigh* - LOL).

This lovely Christmas tree is French designed but is erected
in Dublin, Ireland. 

This stunning, large tree is in Sao Paulo, Brazil. You can
get an idea of how large it is by the people clustered at
the bottom. It's HUGE! 

This lighted tree is from Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately, I can't
tell the size of the tree, but it is quite the showboat, isn't it? 

This very modern tree was displayed in Madrid, Spain. It
looks alarmingly sharp, doesn't it? 

This is a Christmas tree made entirely of shed deer antlers. It was
erected in New Mexico, which is in the southwestern part of
the US. I don't think it's too large - probably somewhere between
six and eight feet tall, but it's an impressive pile of antlers. 

And for my final unusual Christmas trees from around the world
entry, I offer this wooden tree from Kalamaria, Greece. This one
would be a lot of fun to climb, don't you think? 

So there you have it for today. Now I'd better get my boots on and get going on my shoveling. I have a lot of snow to move before I can head out for the day... Happy Tuesday everyone. Oh! BTW, the plumber is scheduled for today so if all goes well, I'll have unplugged sinks and two upgraded toilets by the end of the day. Crossing my fingers....

Excursions Through Retail

When I was much younger, Joni Mitchell was top of the music charts for a song called "Both Sides Now".  That's rather what I will be experiencing today; the good and the bad from the retail side of things. I have to get a bit of holiday shopping done, and I ran out of one component for my holiday cards resulting in an emergency stop off at Michael's or JoAnn's Crafts. In other words - I must pass through the slavering jaws of retail hell.

"Welcome to Michael's. Can we help you find anything for
your crafting needs today?" Hell hath no greater portal than
walking into Michael's or JoAnn's Arts and Crafts stores. 

I really hate going to Michael's and/or JoAnn's. Not because it isn't fun to see what new things I can pick up for next year's cards, but because at this time of the year, the lines are long and their checkout process is as slow as molasses on a cold day. I'll start out at Michael's because I have a 40% off coupon for there, but then I'll probably have to switch over to JoAnn's to get more of what I need since I doubt Michael's will have enough quantity.

Yes, I'm a bit over the top with this errand, but really. It will take twice as
long to check out than it will for me to find the single item I actually need
to purchase. Melodrama can sometimes be the perfect vehicle for disgust. 

On a more positive note, however, once I have made my way through the surly holiday crowds and purchased my small amount of goods, I'll be able to return home and begin formatting and printing the final portion of my holiday cards - the envelopes. Yes - I'm into the final stage and even though there is still work to be done, I'm seeing the finish line beckon and tease from the fog when the breeze tickles it. I have hope that I will reach there by the end of next week and mail my cards by Solstice - always my goal.

I love the look of the Royal Mail boxes, even if they aren't as
efficient as the US Mail is. There's just something so nice
about the red color. 

I have started receiving cards from friends and they are all fabulous and so wonderful to receive. I have cards from Shruti, silvertrails, shiremom and alexcat and have started filling my archway. I know it will look fabulous within a week or so.

I wish our sink was so easy to fix. Unfortunately, ours will be more
complex and also more expensive *sigh*. 

AND...just because we can't go a few months without a water/plumbing issue, DH has managed to ignore the slow drain in his bathroom sink so well that it is now completely clogged and he was unable to unclog it yesterday when he made a brave attempt. My plumber apparently is on vacation at DisneyWorld until next week, so DH has to share one of the other sinks in the house for a few days until Jack gets back into town. It's a small sacrifice, but you would think it was asking him to walk over sharp nails. Nonetheless, like it or not, he's sinkless for a few days and he'll have to deal. Plumbing - the bane of our existence.

Happy Wednesday to all...

Life Always Throws a Curve Ball

So I'm planning to spend most of today in front of my computer writing and doing my weekly laundry. Since I knew I'd be swamped with time crunches today, I decided to start my laundry early. When I went down to start the second rinse, the floor around the washer was wet with 1/8" of standing water. Watching carefully with a flashlight as I started the second rinse, I found that the pipe from the laundry tub to the floor drain is now leaking. Since that pipe handles more than just the laundry tub, I'm wondering if the shower also drains through this pipe. Time to check it out and phone a plumber to come by this afternoon and change the pipe. Oh joy! Just what I needed!

Right now the leak is small, but I have to get a plumber out before
it becomes a larger problem like this. 

On a positive note, I'm still progressing with the novel and over the speed bump of yesterday. Thanks to all of you for your encouraging words. Sometimes that's all it takes to get me back on track. My goal today is 5000-6000 words and I've already done 2000 so it's looking good. Now to play detective and discover if my shower also flows down that drain. *sigh*

I'm no Disraeli. If I had to read only my own work, I'd be waiting for years.
I'm a very slow writer, or else this is just a monumental epic of a book. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Second Verse, Same As the First

Remember when I told you that water problems just follow my DH around? Yesterday the kitchen sink was draining very slowly and I also needed to register for my Bead & Button classes (which was successful and I now have my classes and my hotel). DH decided to try and snake out the drain and found corroded pipes and all sorts of problems. *sigh*

This lovely picture of corroded metal pipes looks almost
like abstract art.

So we had no kitchen sink yesterday, and Jack, our plumber, will be coming by this morning to see what he can do to get us back into business again. I'm beginning to think he'll name a child after us, we're talking so much lately.

By this time Jack and I are on a first-name, friendly basis. *sigh*

But that led to discussions about remodeling, and we made the decision to go ahead and get the kitchen remodel that we've talked about for years started. This will be a mess, and expensive. Step one is finding a reliable kitchen contractor and seeing what they can do for us. We do need something. The kitchen we have now may have been fine in 1960, but it is massively outdated now. After spending more than an hour looking through recommendations and reviews on Angie's List, I think I came up with someone who might work well for us so I'll phone them within a day or two and try to get an appointment set up. I'm not going to look this gift horse in the mouth - no sir!

My kitchen is tiny - much smaller than this. We need a new sink, countertops,
the cabinets need to be replaced or refinished and we need a new oven, an
over-the-stove top microwave and new flooring. Oh - and a new dishwasher
(I haven't had one for so long, I've forgotten that I need to replace the
broken one). This will be a real job and a real mess, but could end up beautiful.

It's still cold - although not as cold as Monday, and since the plumber is coming, I'll have to work for at least the morning at the shop which seriously cuts into my day off. But, if I have a functional kitchen sink again after all is said and done, I'll be fine with the sacrifice (and I might push for tomorrow off as pay-back).

It's too cold for pets to be outside for any length of time. Please keep
your pets indoors as much as possible. Remember, they are also members
of your family and they depend on your care.

Try to stay warm, and those of my friends in Europe who are getting pounded with storms, please try to stay safe. Have an excellent Wednesday.