Tomorrow I must go back to work after a little more than a week off. I don't wannnnnah. I do not! Alas, if I want to get paid, I guess I'll have to gird my grid and get my act together. I've reactivated my alarm. Joe went out and started Chicolini; he deserves a medal for doing this. It almost didn't start, thanks to the frigid weather, but Joe insisted. He ran the car for... Read more →
The snow started before dawn and lasted until almost noon; my best guess is that we got about three inches of the white stuff. At one point during the storm, we looked out on the balcony and saw this lonely mourning dove. At least the wee bird was out of the snow. However, the cold was biting and bitter, so the dove took shelter under the chair on the porch and hunkered down. Seeing the... Read more →
Many stores are impossible to leave with just the one item you need. Target. Home Depot. Barnes and Noble. I hear that Costco falls into this category too. For us, IKEA is a trap. Not so much the actual furniture part - we can pretty easily avoid buying sofas, bookcases, beds, and kitchens. The trap is the Marketplace. So many small things that are so inexpensive just kind of jump out and land in the... Read more →
One of the nice things about the Sunday New York Times is the crossword puzzle. I love doing it. And yes, I do it in ink. Sometimes this results in smudges where I've had to overwrite a wrong answer, but I still do it in ink. Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago, the Times published its Super Mega Crossword Puzzle. It's almost a full two-page spread! I knew that this would be A Project, so... Read more →
We're having lovely holidays. The family Christmas Eve party was wonderful, as usual. My sister makes the. best. prime. rib. Don't even try to argue with me. This stuff melts in your mouth. It is perfectly medium rare. If you look up prime rib in the dictionary, you will see a picture of my sister's prime rib. Anyway - we also exchanged gifts. I gave her an Alex Ovechkin ugly sweater t-shirt; she gave me... Read more →
On this Christmas Eve, Joe and I wish all of you peace, happiness, and above all, love. Read more →
Today was holiday grocery day. Check it; it's on all the calendars. Even though there's a Giant and an Aldi closer to us, we go to Wegman's. It's worth it. The Giant is right across the street from the mega-retirement community, so it's crawling - and I do mean crawling - with those folks. The Aldi is just weird, with its rental carts and odd assortment of goods and pack-your-own-damn-groceries policy. So Wegman's it is!... Read more →
I managed to actually do some work today - pretty decent work, too! At 4:30 I packed up my purse, wished everyone (all two of them) a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and headed out the door. I am officially on vacation. Paid time off. The best benefit! Tomorrow will be the wrappening and the grocery shoppening. Saturday I may (or I may not) bake something. If the shoppening is too stressful and angst... Read more →
Here it is - our teeny tiny tree! It did not come with lights, actually, but it did come with eight cute little ornaments. We will supplement them with our own wee ornaments tomorrow. And look! A star! It will do just fine. Read more →
Today the Wendy Weetabix question on Facebook was: While the holidays are joyous for many, there can also be moments of extreme stress, disorganization, and sometimes depression. What is your Life Pro Tip for surviving the holidays? My answer: “You don’t have to do any of it.” Repeat this mantra as needed. As I've gotten older, I've realized that the best thing I can do for myself and for my family is to let go... Read more →