Thursday, December 15, 2022

Last night's Christmas dinner/gift exchange with Mike was great except that we stayed up until 1 am. WAY past our usual bedtime. We didn't get up until 8 this morning. Not a great plan since we have to be up around 3:30 am tomorrow. We will be back in the Northeast by mid-morning tomorrow but I hate those early flights!

I was just reading the NY Times and it had an article about gun violence in children. "Guns are now the No. 1 cause of deaths among American children and teens, ahead of car crashes, other injuries and congenital disease." "The U.S. has more guns than people."

I can't believe our country is doing nothing to change this.

Today is laundry, packing and probably the beach club for a bit as we may have a record high of 86 today. So funny that earlier in the week it was in the low 70's and some people here had on sweaters or winter jackets.

Time to finish coffee and do a Justice walk. Have a thermal Thursday!

The Christmas tree is up! I'm afraid I chose an overly ambitious tree for the new house. But with 15 foot ceilings, I thought a small tree would look funny. Not sure I understood this one would be quite so big! Oh well, it's up and looks nice.

Today is more box sorting. No other things on the calendar thankfully. It's been a while since I had a day with no obligations. Love it.

How tall and real or artificial? Picture on TT?

It's a Balsam Hill tree. I liked the shape best of all they had, but my choices were 6,7,8 or 10 feet. In retrospect, 8 would have been plenty! But I chose 10 because a tree I could decorate without a step ladder felt short with 15' (guessing) ceilings. I didn't fluff the branches out like they suggested because I like trees that look like noble firs with "layers". It looks slightly crooked, but I need my folks to hold it while I tighten the bolts. Too late to do alone now! I'll post pics on TT.

Hello All

Just finished cleaning the office/kitchen etc. I am hoping to get out around 2.30pm today as Im meeting DH in the city - we are seeing Joseph and the Technicolour dreamcoat at the theatre. He has his work Christmas party at lunchtime so will meet me somewhere.

My DSS has covid, he wasnt well when I spoke to him on the way home last night and I knew his partner was out at a work function so DH and I went over to help get the boys fed and in bed. I got him to test when we got there and hes positive. He is isolating in his room. Time will tell if we end up with it too but whats done is done. I will babysit our grandbabies at our place tommorrow as their mum has another function. Ever changing.

Prior to going to help with the boys last night DH and I went TV shopping. Ended up with a LG OLED TV and sound bar system. It gets delivered on Sunday and Im looking forward to it. My youngest son will come help set it up as DH will be up at the farm.

Thats about all I have......

Liz - safe trip back - those early starts are hard !

Cec - The tree looks stunning

Love to all that follow

S

Greetings all

Sunny crisp day here but cold. I am chilled. I did lots of errands today. Bought DH a new hoodie and flannel shirt at the hardware store. They actually have good stuff. Our whole area is so casual that I don't know where to buy anything like a dress shirt or tie but it doesn't matter. Sweats are good. But my pet peeve is that sizes are not clearly marked on folded items and you have to paw through piles to find the size and color. Fortunately there was a helpful clerk - a rare thing these days.

After that I went to the new pharmacy (my new favorite business) and then to the old CVS to buy a few things. They are so short of staff I actually tried the self check out and of course i messed it up and ended up waiting. I hate those things! I only go there because they have Gevallier coffee. After that I did the studio for awhile and mostly chatted with my friend the retired financier. Then another friend came in whom I have not seen in 2 years or so because she had a broken leg and then cancer. It was so good to see her. She has obviously been ill but no loss of spirit! We reminisced about a trip we took to Mendocino for an art workshop.

CC did I get a peek of your travertine floor in the tree picture? Looks great. Hope its all done.

Shirley sorry you have a covid person in the family. It's really going around here too. We have all the shots we can get and I am hoping that will work. Stay well and hug those kids.

Old Ship is still hanging in there. I had a voice mail from the vet inquiring about him. That was so nice. We might adjust his meds.

And score! I found a pot pie at the hippie grocery. Theirs are the best.

Not much else. Looking forward to a cozy evening.

Diane S

You did! All done!

Re self-checkout, a friend said of it, if I screw up and accidentally don't pay for something, Walmart better not blame me. They didn't give me any training!

Liz, 10 year Anniversary of Sandy Hook yesterday. When little changed after that horrific event, I became very cynical. Nothing will change. Now I think nothing will change until a new generation is in charge, then, maybe.

We had one of those beautiful but sloppy snowstorms. It was the wrt heavy kind that clings to everything. Pretty, but heavy to shovel. News team was weighing average shovelfuls, 15 pounds!! Good exercise for sure. It's been fairly mild, in the low 30s, now we're heading for a brutal deep freeze, and all the slop will freeze into icy ridges. I'm hoping to mostly stay home this weekend.

Tonight we met up with some friends from college. I worked with the two of them at one of my college jobs, and they started dating each other about the same time DH and I started dating. We were friends until they moved away in the 90s. They recently moved back to Minnesota, it's been great fun reconnecting. There's always a nice shorthand when you knew someone very well back when you were young. You know how many siblings they had, where they went to school, you likely met their parents, you know their back story... It's easier to catch them up on your life, and to catch up on theirs with that back story in mind. And the reminiscing, my friend was saying her stove was being replaced and she was using a hot plate, and I said like your apartment on Cleveland Avenue. It's crazy what memories suddenly pop into your head.

The weekend draws near. Our house guest moves on, and our daughter returns. And I will sleep in, my favorite weekend activity.