Mar. 31 - A Rainy End To March

The last day of March already?!  Dang, this month flew by!  It's hard to say how that old 'in like a lion, out like a lamb' thing ended up for us here in Wisconsin.  It's so up and down, what do we consider the lion or the lamb?  It's lamb-like in the 40 degrees already at 6:00am, but has all the rain we've had during the night and the storms we're expecting today mean lion?  lol

The end of March means it's now been six weeks since I fell and hurt my arm.  It's doing quite well and I'm back to doing most things normally now but there are still certain motions or positions that are sensitive.  I'm pretty much convinced there was more damage all around than just the one crack the ER doctor spoke of.  But overall, it's getting there!

The end of March also means that Easter is next weekend.  How did that sneak up so fast?!  I have some candy bought for the menfolk and my mom, still want to get a few more things though.  I'm undecided on Easter dinner.  The boychildz aren't fond or ham or carrots.  We've tried doing nontraditional dinners for holidays a couple times recently and while it might be a meal everyone likes, it sort of takes away from the holiday feel.  So, not sure yet what I want to do for Easter.  Well, then there is that whole thing about how it seems like the boys don't stay very long anymore.  *sigh*

Yesterday was sort of a mixed day for me.  Hubby had his doctor appointment early in the morning.  I rode along and we went to spend those two gift cards after.  One was for Piggly Wiggly grocery store right there in the town we were in.  The other was for a very popular local meat market in the tiny little town we live closest to.  He picked a variety of things that I don't often buy.  He kept telling me to pick some things too and I was just blank, like I wanted a bit of everything and nothing at all.  I ended up just being like, 'Nah, you pick.'

It was a chilly day yesterday so when we got home he decided that no, he did not want to work in his shop.  We played our wizard game instead.  Or at least we tried to.  My eyes were giving me such grief, not only with my new large squiggle floater but also just feeling tired and dry in general.  I usually don't have a problem with dry eyes so I really don't understand what the heck is going on lately.  I had bought some cheap eye drops earlier in the week, so I put some in yesterday afternoon but it only seemed to make things worse.  Ugh.  It made concentrating on the game difficult and we called it quits earlier than we would have liked.

Back to Hubby's appointment for a bit.  The one thing that really bothers me about the clinic/hospital we go to is their registration process.  For some things you go here, for others you go there, and for some others you might get sent back to point A when you're already at point C.  And then the stupidest part of all that is you can't simply go to the lab for bloodwork before or after the appointment that has you there already, even if you and your doctor know ahead of time it will need to be done.  Whyyyyyy?!  Nope, you have to call them and make an appointment.  And what do they say when you call?  'Oh, when would you like to stop in and do that?  We can fit you in anytime, it only takes a few minutes.'  So yeah, he has to head back to have blood drawn at 7:45am this morning.  Maybe next time we'll call while we're sitting in the registration office and say 'I'm here right now.'

Hubby's hoping to work in the shop today because it's warmer and he keeps putting it off, but it's also supposed to be stormy.  I guess we'll see what he decides after he gets back.  I know what I'd like to do if he's out there but my eyeballs are already being difficult so any time I'd hoped to spend on the computer might me cancelled.  This is really starting to aggravate me!  I even tried searching for relief ideas on Google last night.  One thing it said is that if you're dehydrated it can sometimes make eye floaters seem worse.  I don't think I'm dehydrated, I drink water all day long, but maybe my electrolytes are out of whack.  I don't know but this is really starting to bother me.

Well, I guess we'll see what this day brings, huh?

Mar. 30 - A Trip To The Eye Doctor

It's a sunny but very chilly Thursday morning here in Wisconsin, only 15 degrees as the sun is coming up.  We're heading for a high in the mid-40s though, with rain this afternoon, so I guess that's not so bad.  Get rid of more of that snow!

 

Yesterday was interesting.  I'd mentioned in my post that my eyes have been bothering me.  Well, it's been my left eye in particular.  Over the weekend I'd been having big problems with it.  There were tiny black 'pepper' dots in my vision, and later a large sort of blurry line that would move across my vision.  Of course my friend Google sent me to all the worst case scenarios like retinal tear.  From there it became a building fear, one of those situations where you know you should do something but you're afraid to hear what they'll find.  Or is that just me?  Anyway, the black dots eventually went away but that big squiggle area remained.  It seemed worse at some times than others.  It did not seem like a regular 'floater,' which I'm very familiar with.

 

My eye doctor is not very far away.  I absolutely hate making phone calls of any kind, so when Hubby was getting ready to head out to his dentist appointment yesterday I decided to just drive to the eye doctor's office and talk to them directly, see if I would need an appointment or if he had some suggestion without an appointment.  I was in the right place at the right time because although yes, he wanted to actually take a look at my eye, his current appointment was running late so they snuck me in quick.  He asked a million questions, looked at my eye with his little light and machine, said everything in front looked good but he wanted to dilate the left eye and have a look at the back.  Ugh.

 

Things continued to work out because the guy that was running behind was there now, so they put the dilation drops in my eye and had me wait in the waiting area while they did that guy's appointment.  Then they took me back again so the doctor could have that deeper look.  He asked a million more questions, took a very thorough look, and concluded there were no signs of retinal tear, and that it looked like a really big floater had made it's way into my line of vision.  It was both a 'Yay!' and 'Ugh!' moment.  lol  Not really much can be done about it, but it's also not anything serious like the retinal tear would have been.  He also gave me an interesting lesson about just what floaters are and why they are there.

So I returned home greatly relieved that it wasn't something more serious, and glad I'd gone to the office to talk to them directly instead of just calling for an appointment.

Hubby picked up slices of Rocky's pizza on his way home from the dentist, so we had a delicious late lunch then played our wizard game a good part of the afternoon.

I did not work on my picture scanning project at all yesterday because of all that stuff going on.  Not sure I'll get anything done on it today either because I'm riding along with Hubby to his doctor's appointment this morning and then we're going shopping at a couple places because he has two gift cards from work (one from Christmas and one from his birthday).  We'll probably play our wizard game again after that.  He's off tomorrow too and I think he's hoping to work in his shop, so I'll probably get back to the photo project then.  If my sqiggly eye will let me.  It's really annoying this morning!

I will get this posted now and get ready to leave with Hubby.

Mar. 29 - I Want To Go Back To Bed

It's a very chilly morning here in Wisconsin, only 25 with a 'feels like' of 12.  Well below average temps for this time of year here.  And we got a very light dusting of snow last night.  It's only supposed to get to the low 30s today but there are many 50s days in the forecast so I'll just keep looking forward to those.

 

I'm getting a very late start this morning.  I do my 'dailies' on each of my three games each morning before I blog and do other stuff.  One of the games had a huge update this morning, and with our slow internet it took about an hour to finish.  Now it's just after 8:00am and I feel like everything is out of synch.  lol

 

I'm hoping to do more picture scanning today.  I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped yesterday but did get nearly 80 scanned.  I still have to edit them a bit, crop some of the tattered edges that old photos tend to get, maybe lighten some.  I gave up early yesterday because my eyes have been bothering me.  Well, one eye, really.  I'll be calling the eye doctor this morning to see if I can get in and have it checked out.  I usually don't mind going to the eye doctor but this visit is really stressing me out.  It's one of those situations where you avoid it because you're afraid to hear what it is.  I need to just do it though.

 

Hubby is off work the rest of this week.  He has a dentist appointment this morning and a doctor appointment tomorrow morning, and then took Friday off too just to have a nice long break.  He's hoping to spend some time in his shop.

 

I didn't do much yesterday after giving up on the scanning project.  I don't know how much I'll do today either.  The eye thing is kinda driving me nuts.  I'm also feeling rather blah, like I just want to go back to bed and sleep for about 80 hours.  This up and down weather absolutely does not help things.

 

Alrighty then, get this posted and see what I can manage for the day.

Mar. 28 - Photo Scanning Will Begin Today

Hello.  It's 26 and clear on this Tuesday morning in Wisconsin, heading for a high in the low 40s today.  Yay for more melting!  They say we might get an inch of snow tonight, which sucks, but it keeps getting warm enough during the day to keep the melting going.  And 50s by the end of the week!

Yesterday was rather uneventful.  I went to my mom's and took care of all her usual things like groceries and laundry.  We played Yahtzee.  Brother3 kept talking about dictators and communism.  I have no idea what's gotten him on that kick.  I'm so not interested in that stuff and tend to just nod and let him talk.  Brother1 is like that too, always wanting to complain about the government.  My mom just blames everything on the president, and I mean everything.  It's no wonder I don't talk much with family anymore.  lol

No word yesterday from the garage that's working on Hubby's truck.  I suggested he call them, but he's all "Nah, they're probably still trying to track down the problem."  Maybe, but considering the appointment was at 7:30am I would think they'd have called with some sort of update by the end of the day.  Maybe they called a wrong number and have waiting, and now it's sat there a full day when the work could have been done?  I sent him a message to call them on his first break, just to be sure.  He probably won't.

I will finally be starting my photo scanning project today.  I have it partly set up here next to me, just have to clear some things off my desk and move the printer/scanner a bit closer, then I'm ready to go.  This will get done!  I'm not worried about printing things yet.  I just want to get all the old physical photographs scanned and saved on a flashdrive for easier access.  At some point later I will start printing stuff to make photo albums for each of the boys.  They've never been into looking back at old photos or sentimental about things but when I think of the fact that they don't have any family photos in their homes it just doesn't seem right.  Maybe they'll just shove the photo albums I make into the back of some dark closet, never to be seen again, but at least they'll have them.

So now that I've said this scanning project will begin today, I am going to post this and begin it.  Let's see how far I get!

Mar. 27 - Winter Strikes Again

Wow, Mother Nature is losing in the struggle of winter vs. spring.  That snowstorm they were talking about Friday, the one most people around here were skeptical of . . . ?  We got 10-12 inches in our area!  Hubby said there was easily 8" in the flat, undrifted area of our driveway when he went out to plow.  Other areas got over a foot of snow.  People are soooooo not liking this.  The storm was nasty during the early part of Saturday, but by later in the afternoon as it was easing up, the temps had already climbed and melting was already happening.  Yesterday (Sunday) was sunny and warm, lots of melting happening again.  There are already lots of bare spots in the yard again.  Good!

So yeah, we flip-flopped our days this weekend because of the storm.  Saturday we just stayed home, stayed inside, and played our wizard game most of the day.  Hubby went out to plow the driveway in the afternoon.  Sunday we did all our usual Saturday things.  I went grocery shopping, then he took his dad's groceries over to him and played cards.  While he was gone I did laundry.  Boychild2 showed up to do his laundry just as I was finishing ours.  We chatted a bit but then I had to leave to go pick up Hubby in town.  His truck is having work done today, so he dropped it off at the shop last night.  He and Boychild2 chatted for a while when we got back home, while I tried to do some things on the computer.  I've been feeling super stressed and anxious the past few days, so I couldn't really concentrate.  Even my games couldn't hold my interest.  I gave up and went to bed early.

Today is sunny but a bit chilly, only 23 as I write this, but still supposed to hit 40 today.  More melting, yay!  And by Friday they're saying we'll be hitting 50.  Yes, please!!!

It's Monday so I will be heading to my mom's.  You all know that routine by now.  lol  Not much else to say at the moment.  Oh!  I did finish a puzzle on Saturday and started another right away.  They're not new ones, just digging through the pile to redo ones we already have.  I'd thought about buying a new one while shopping this weekend but in the end decided not to because we're suddenly slammed with a bunch of extra bills (my arm, Hubby's truck) and I was able to place a wax order with a vendor who doesn't open very often.  So I'll stick with redoing the puzzles we already have, or just switch to coloring for a while.

But anyway, yeah, Monday = Mom's, so I'll post this and get ready to head over there.

Did winter nail your area yet again??

Mar. 24 - Rambling On A Friday

Well, I'm very late in posting this morning because, honestly, I wasn't sure I even wanted to do this anymore.  But I'm going to keep plugging away at it for now, so let's get into this.  It's a sunny 25 degrees this Friday morning in Wisconsin.  There is a very pretty layer of frost across the yard.  Actually, it's already starting to melt as the sun is up now.  But alas, what do we have coming tonight and tomorrow?  Yes, another snowstorm.  Predictions are all over the place once again.  At one point they were saying we could get up to eight inches.  The TV weather dude at noon yesterday showed lesser amounts though, and we are on the edge of the system, which means we'll hopefully get even less.  Predictions for this immediate area were more like 1-3 inches.  Even so . . . UGH!

 

I finished the latest puzzle yesterday.  I thought I would done with puzzle season but once again I felt like I wanted another to work on.  So I looked through the piles of puzzles upstairs and picked a new one.  Well not new, but starting over with the options we have.  Maybe I'll go ahead and buy a new one this weekend when I'm shopping.

 

I did laundry yesterday, and got the Easter decorations put out.  I just sort of plopped things around without thinking too hard about it, just to have it done, and with the thought that I'd tweak it all in coming days.  As the day went on though, I started thinking maybe I like it as is and will leave it.  lol  Or maybe I'm just being lazy about it.  I'm going to give the Easter aisles at Walmart another look this weekend, see if there is anything I think will help fill in spots.  I'd gotten rid of so many of my decorations several years ago during a huge purge phase.  I was content with my barely there decor for a good while but this year I'm wanting more again.  Of course I do.  Probably just another element of my current 'not satisfied with anything' frame of mind.

I continued watching White Princess yesterday.  It's my least favorite of the three Tudor series: White Queen, White Princess, Spanish Princess.  It's the shortest of the three, and rushes through the story at a much quicker pace.  I also don't care much for the way the actors/actresses portray the characters in this one.  I'll go into more detailed thoughts in my actual White Princess post, which will be coming.  I know I keep mentioning posts I'm planning but they never show up.  Hopefully recent blog related enlightenments will go ahead and kick these planned posts into gear.  Anyway, I'll probably finish White Princess today and dive right into Spanish Princess after that.

When I went out to get the mail yesterday I took an extra little walk around the house to check out the flowerbeds.  The one in front (west side) has nothing happening.  Its just a couple hostas and a pretty purple plant whose name I don't recall in that one.  The main one though, along the south side of the house, has lots of things coming up already.  Of course it frustrates me again, like it does every year, that I did not take care of this flowerbed last year.  It's gotten so overgrown from neglect over the years, but flowers still manage to come up.  And every year it's one of my biggest goals, to get it cleaned up and maintain it, but every year I fail spectacularly.  My arm is feeling so much better now, so I should get off my whiny butt and start getting to work out there.  It's still chilly, but the ground is probably soft from all the snow that we keep getting and keeps melting.  Quit talking about it and just do it, I know.

Alright, I have a bunch of random little things piled up on my desk here that need to be taken care of, so I'll stop my rambling and get this posted.  I'd wanted to talk (whine and rant, really) a bit more about the frustrating blog realizations I'm struggling with but this post is already longer than I'd intended and really, what good would it do?

I'm writing for myself here these days.

Melted - Lemon Sugar Bundt Cake (Beezy Tarts)

 

Lemon Sugar Bundt Cake - 'Sweet lemon, buttery cake, with a French vanilla drizzle on top.'

 

I love love love lemon scents, so it was obvious that I would order this scent from Beezy Tarts.  And oh my, what a lovely lemon scent it is!  It's sweet and slightly creamy, more lemony than bakery.  The lemon is bright and cheery, reminding me of Lemonheads candies.  The cake and vanilla notes are soft and slightly warming, toning the lemon down just a bit.  This is a great spring scent, a great pick me up scent on a rainy day, or just a great scent for any time.

I melted about 0.6 oz. worth of this tart and had medium-strong scent and throw.  I do wish Beezy's tarts were a bit stronger in my house, but I have my warmer sort of centrally located for scent to hopefully drift into adjacent areas.  If you are a 'warmer in each room' type of melter, Beezy's tarts are probably going to be plenty strong for you.

I would gladly buy this scent again!

Mar. 23 - Snow Again?!

Okay, what?  Guess what we woke up to this morning.  SNOW.  Ugh!  It's still dark out so I can't see just how much is out there but I can tell it's covered the ground.  Temps are supposed to get into the 40s though, so it should all melt.  But then, yeah, more snow coming Friday night/Saturday.  They're saying up to four inches.  Noooooooo!

Well, my mom's appointment was fine yesterday.  It was an eye exam.  She's been going every six months for quite some time now, but yesterday her eye doctor said she could go back to just yearly exams.  She has mild (?) glaucoma that has not changed in years, so he said "At this point it's unlikely to change or get worse so yeah, yearly exams should be fine."  Yay!  I mean, it was only two days a year, not a huge burden on me.  She chooses to go to an eye doctor a couple towns over though, and it's very hilly over that way.  The direct route highway has three or four extreme hills that my wimpy little car can barely make it up, and the downside of one of those hills comes out in a fairly sharp curve.  It scares the heck out of me.  If weather is not clear and dry, I won't even attempt driving there.  Brother1 told me an alternate route, and we considered taking it yesterday but decided not to just in case we got lost and ended up missing her appointment.  But those hills . . . yikes.

The appointment was a little later in the morning than when I'm usually over there, so I got home later than usual.  I didn't bother doing laundry (Wednesday is laundry day) or putting Easter decorations out.  I'll work on all that today.  I worked on the puzzle and watched more of White Princess.  I noticed the DVR was recording Spanish Princess yesterday.  I do have the series on DVD but it will be handy having it on the DVR again for when I finish White Princess.  Yeah, it's such a chore to get up and switch discs, I know.  LOL

So, I noticed something at Walgreens yesterday and I'm trying to wrap my head around it.  We had to stop and pick up a prescription on the way back from my mom's appointment.  The prescription wasn't quite ready so I was looking at things while I waited, and I noticed something that had me doing a double-take.  Let me explain.  I've said multiple times here on the blog that the needles for insulin pens are the most expensive of all my diabetes supplies/meds.  Our insurance barely pays anything for them.  I've always wondered why, and have mentioned here it seems like they want people to use the glucose monitors instead.  I just picked up a refill of needles about a week ago and have the receipt right here.

A box of needles costs $66.96.  Insurance only pays $11, so I'm paying $55.23 per box, out of pocket.  When I first got out of the hospital and we went to pick up all my prescriptions for the first time, needles were not included.  We had to go back to the pharmacy when we noticed this, and they said the doctor had not included a prescription for it.  They did call and get the mistake fixed but the point here is that the pharmacy said needles are not OTC because you need a prescription, or something like that.  Okay fine, it hasn't been a problem since that first time.  But what I noticed yesterday was boxes of needles right on the shelves in the diabetes supplies section.  And they were only $9.99 a box!!!!

Whaaaaat?!

I had to go actually pick up the box and double check that I was seeing the right thing.  I was.  Only $9.99 per box, and right there on the shelf.  These were only boxes of 50, and I get boxes of 100 with my refills but still, even to buy two boxes to equal the 100 I usually get comes to only $19.98, instead of the $55.23 I've been paying.  I'm just blown away by this.  How did I not know?  Were they always available OTC and I just never looked?  I'm thinking they're maybe not as good quality as the needles I'm used to but that might still be alright.  The needles my sister-in-law gave me recently are an obviously cheaper quality but they're working out alright.  But geez, if I can save myself $100 or more, I'll use the cheaper needles!

I also wanted to briefly mention that I'm saddened to find people don't care if I reply to their comments or not.  True, I've only heard from a couple of people but I could already tell that people weren't coming back to see my replies.  It seems totally wrong and rude for me to not reply, but it sure would make things easier to skip those pleasantries.  So sad, and just another thing that proves to me I'm not getting what I hope for out of blogging.

Okay the sun is up enough now that I can see we only got a dusting of snow.  Still, any snow at this point is too much.  Grrrr.

And with that, I will go get busy on all the things I've been neglecting this week.

Melted - Vanilla Frosted Grahams (Beezy Tarts)

Vanilla Frosted Grahams - 'Vanilla frosted graham crackers with hints of raisins and cinnamon.'

 

There was a popular scent back in the day called Hansel & Gretel's House.  It was sort of a gingerbread scent, and I loved it.  When I saw the description of this, the mention of raisins in particular, I thought for sure this was that same scent.  Well, I don't have Hansel & Gretel's House on hand to be sure but I guess that's okay because this is an awesome scent regardless.  It does strike me as a gingerbread scent, the slightly sweeter style that I prefer.  I should have saved this for Christmas!

 

This is a warm and cozy bakery scent, some soft spices, and a gentle sweetness.  I don't know that I'd ever recognize it specifically as graham crackers.  I don't know what raisins smell like so I can't say if there is a distinct note of it in this.  The frosting and the cinnamon are not distinct either.  All of the notes are nicely combined to form this delicious scent that would be a great holiday scent, but is just as good any time.

 

I melted about a third of this tart (approx. 0.7 oz. worth) in my tea light warmer and had medium-strong scent and throw.

 

I would absolutely get this scent again, and am already considering ordering a few to set aside for the holiday season.

Mar. 22 - Pt. 2 - Back To Normal?

Hello again!  It's still 37 degrees this morning here in Wisconsin, still cloudy, but light rain has started since doing my previous/first post today.  I knew it was coming but was hoping it would hold off because I have to take my mom to an appointment this morning.  Ah well, it's better than snow, right?

 

So to backtrack a bit since I rudely skipped posting yesterday, on Monday I went to my mom's as usual.  I did her grocery shopping and her laundry, and we played Yahtzee for a while.  Brother3 was there, as usual, and we were talking about old music like KISS and Alice Cooper, even The Monkees and Barry Manilow.  It was great.  lol  When I got home from her place I'd hoped to get my Easter decorations out but ended up vegging on the couch and getting caught up on some shows.  Last of Us is done for the season but I did have Y&R and Snapped recorded.

 

Tuesday (yesterday) I had wanted to try some different things from what my usual daily routines have become, because of all the mind swirlies I talked about in the post just before this one.  I failed on all levels and actually wasted more time just sitting around trying to figure out what's making me feel this way this time around.  I ended up starting another puzzle, finished watching White Queen, and started watching White Princess.  Hubby and I played our wizard game when he got home from work.  After supper he went to watch his shows on TV (usually Simpsons and wrestling or Battlebots), and I played my other game for a bit, watched my current favorite Youtuber's latest video, then headed to bed.  Mixed with all that were scattered conversations about my current frustrations, which I didn't expect to lead to any solutions, and they didn't.  Still nice to just unload troubles sometimes though.

Now today (Wednesday) I will be heading back to my mom's since she has an eye doctor appointment this morning.  I probably won't stay after we are done with that.  I'd like to get back home and decorate for Easter.  I did haul the box out of storage yesterday but didn't actually decorate.  Not quite sure how I'd like to do it this year, if I want to put all the usual things in all the usual places or change it up a bit.  I have about an hour before I need to head to my mom's.  You'd think I could go ahead and get started, right?  lol  But no, I'm going to log on to my free game for a while instead.

How is spring showing up in your area?

Have you decorated for Easter yet?

Mar. 22 - Pt. 1 - Why I Skipped A Day

Hello.  It's 37 degrees already before 7am here in Wisconsin.  They say we might hit 50 today, but chance of rain is good.  That's fine.  Warm and no snow!  It looks a little foggy at the moment as the sun is trying to come up.

I skipped posting yesterday because, yes, I'm once again confused and frustrated with all sorts of things.  I know this is probably boring to anyone who has been following for a bit, same old story.  I know I was just talking about 'leaving court and living quietly in the country' and referencing a bible verse about something similar.  I guess I'm just trying to figure out what changes I need to make to be able do this.  The blog is always the first target in the This Must Go category, and I'm not sure I understand why I think that way.  I skipped blogging yesterday but did it buy me any extra time or ease my mind?  No, I just sat here looking at other sites more mindlessly, and did not get busy on any of the millions of other things I tell myself I'll do.

My oldest brother (Brother1, as I've called him here) deleted his Facebook and Messenger accounts a couple days ago.  I'm in awe.  I've been wanting to do that for so long now but can't seem to take that final step.  I've trimmed down my friends list and how many groups I'm in or pages I follow.  I've somewhat given up on the hope that maybe someone will actually post some family news instead of just reposting stupid crap or vaguebook whining.  I need a personal FB account to be able to run our Achy Joints Creations business page, but I could run it through Hubby's account if I had to.  But for some reason I just can't fully step away from it.  So when he said he has, I was like 'Oh my gosh, I can do it too.'  But so far, nope.  I did uninstall if from my phone though.

I guess I just really don't know what I'm looking for at this point in my life.  I'm perfectly willing to just live a quiet life here in the country.  I've always been a homebody, and it's probably a factor in why friends I've had over the years have drifted away.  I think I hang onto my internet habits and interests because I feel safer, more comfortable with those interactions and friendships.  I don't have any desire to meet or hang out with people I chat with online, but I love internet friendships.  I find I'm really missing the old days of chat rooms and chat programs like ICQ.  (Anyone remember that one?!)

So while I'm content to just live my life old school, plant some flowers and enjoy them when they bloom, decorate for holidays, watch a good movie . . . I still feel like I want to share those things with someone besides Hubby.  So no, I don't think I can just dump my internet life.  What is there to change then?  That's what I'm trying to figure out.  My expectations maybe?  Probably.

Back to Achy Joints Creations for a bit.  If you're new here, that is the little craft side hustle Hubby and I have.  He does woodworking projects to sell, and I was making soap to sell.  We did two years of local farmers markets and have an Etsy shop.  Events of late 2021 sort of slowed our Achy Joints activities and for most of 2022 we were on a total break.  Scattered discussions about it have us deciding to continue to put AJC on hold for 2023, possibly all the way until Hubby can retire.  So in recent days I've been thinking about just putting our Etsy shop into vacation mode, or maybe completely closing it.  Then yesterday afternoon, out of the blue because the shop has been absolutely dead for a long time, someone purchased a bird feeder.  We were both like 'Wowwwww, is that a sign to keep going?'  lol

Anyway, just a lot of mind swirlies happening again.  

Oh!  Another thing that has frustrated me with the blog is that I can't get AdSense to work.  I've submitted it for review three or four times now and it keeps coming back saying I have things that need to be fixed, but of course it does not specify what or explain how to fix those mystery things.  One of the results keeps saying something like 'low quality content' or 'not enough content/site still under construction.'  What?  It's most definitely not under construction, and as for 'low quality content,' I see other blogs that are just as boring or worse than mine but still running ads.  So I just don't understand what they're looking for?!  Things were sooooo much easier years ago with my original blog.  Kicking myself once again for deleting it.  And if you're going to suggest ways to improve content quality, don't bother.  I took a blog course several years ago and know about all the little tricks, but that's not the kind of blogging I want to do.

I'm rambling now and have lost track of what points I'm trying to make.

A question though . . . I love when people take the time to leave comments, but do you click notifications for follow-up comments?  I reply to every comment and often ask questions in return, trying to start conversations, but 99% of the time that's where it ends.  Once again, it's just so sooo different blogging this time around.

Okay, I'm going to do a quick 'normal' post as soon as I get this posted.  I skipped one day so now you get two posts!  lol  If you've made it to the end of this blah blah whine whine post, thank you.  I'm not looking for advice.  I just wanted to document this struggle for myself, to be able to look back on it.  I do appreciate you taking the time to visit though!

Mar. 20 - First Day of Spring!

 

Happy First Day of Spring!  It's looking to be a nice day for it too, 29 degrees and sunny at the moment, heading for a high in the mid-40s.  Yay!  Winter was holding on as long as it could this weekend though.  We had a another very light dusting of snow and yesterday morning when I went out to fill the bird feeders it was only like 9 degrees or something crazy.  And windy!  Angry, cold winds as winter was pushed out.

 

The weekend was okay around here.  The usual Saturday routine of grocery shopping and Hubby going to his dad's.  Sunday we celebrated Hubby's birthday (which is actually today).  The boychildz + friend were here.  We had sloppy joes and chips for lunch, and a large piece of store bought cake that we cut into five tiny pieces, because none of us need all that sugar.  He got a lot more presents than he normally would, because he sort of got snubbed at Christmas.  One of the presents was a fun card game called Loot 'n Loaded.  Of course we had to try it out.  It's an old west themed game, mainly a card game but sometimes circumstances call for a duel and for that there are two Nerf-style 'pistols' and a cardboard liquor bottle 'target.'  It was pretty funny whenever it came to duels.  At first we were all kinda hesitant, like 'This is dumb and awkward,' but after a few duels it was a very serious battle.  LOL  And of course the menfolk were all talking about ways to turn it into a drinking game.  lol

 

It was fun to have the boys over but later I did get down about things.  It seems they like to head home earlier each time.  When I sadly mentioned this to Hubby later he said, "Yeah, but they have their lives to live too."  I know, I know . . . but I'm seeing now how it got to the point with our own parents where we just stopped getting together for occasions, and I'd hoped and tried to keep that from happening with us.  I did shed a few tears about it all.  I know things will never be like when the boys still lived at home, or in the first couple years after they'd moved out, when we'd still get together on weekends and play Munchkin all day, eat meals together while we played.  I'm not willing to just give up though, which I think our own parents did.  I don't think we started declining their invitations . . . I think the invitations just stopped coming.  And I'm not going to do that.

 

But anyway, I'll move on before this becomes a total pity party.

 

I've been watching White Queen again.  I happened to catch part of it on TV last week Thursday and it sucked me in enough that I put my own DVD in on Friday and started from the beginning.  I've seen that show miniseries  probably three or four times already since it first came out.  I just love all those Tudor era shows!  Anyway, I want to do a post just about White Queen so when I watched last summer I'd been writing down my thoughts and notes in a notebook.  As I've been watching it this time, I had that notebook with me to write my thoughts again, then went back and read my thoughts from last time.  I was kind of happy to see my opinions haven't changed, glad to see I'm consistent.  lol  But while writing about the show this time I realized my biggest frustration can be applied to my own current life situation.  I will go into a lot more detail whenever I eventually do my White Queen post but in short, it keeps baffling me and frustrating me, the lengths those people would go to for power, or in Elizabeth's case, to win.  How many chances did these people have to step away from court life and live quietly in the country?  But no, they were power hungry or revenge driven, and sacrificed happiness and family.

And then it hit me.  I also have the option to leave court life and live quietly in the country.  I can quit stalking social media in hopes of news and contact with family members that obviously don't want it.  I can let go of that stubborn hope things within my dysfunctional extended family will change.  I can find my own peace and joy in quietly living my own life without the constant struggle and drama to stay connected.  A YouTuber I follow recently posted a bible verse as she was going through some sturggles of her own, something about living quietly and minding one's own affairs.  (I do not know the bible, so if you know the verse, let me know.)  When she posted that I was like, 'Hmm, I like that,' and now this realization during White Queen . . . maybe it is indeed time to 'leave court life and live quietly in the country.'  Perhaps my peace and joy truly is in letting go.

With that, I must get ready to head to my mom's for the usual Monday routine.

Hope you have a sunny and warm first day of Spring!

Mar. 17 - Gaelic Storm

It's a wet, windy, and cold St. Pat's Day morning here in Wisconsin.  It's still dark outside but from what I can tell, we did not get that inch of snow they'd been predicting.  We did get a ton of rain though, which is good and bad.  The snow is mostly gone, but it's so sooooo muddy and sloppy now.

 

So, St. Patrick's Day.  Do you celebrate?  We don't.  I mentioned in a previous post that I do have a chunk of Irish in my ancestry and I've always sort of embraced my Irish side because I was into great Irish bands like U2 and Boomtown Rats.  Then I found out I was more Scottish than Irish.  Doh!  Ah well, what's that saying, 'Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!'

 

I have my Gaelic Storm CDs playing today.  Are you familiar with them?  They were the steerage band in the Titanic movie.  I'm sure you know the scene . . .

I couldn't find a decent pic online that actually shows the Gaelic Storm members more clearly.  Not all of the musicians you see in that scene are from the band.  The man to the left of the lady on fiddle on the far right is Patrick Murphy, singer and leader of Gaelic Storm.  The lady might be Kathleen from the band.  The black hat guy mostly blocked by Patrick in this photo is Steve.

 

Gaelic Storm had a small following already but Titanic really made them popular.  The first thing I did when we finally got internet at our house back then was find a Titanic message board and became completely obsessed.  Those were the early days of 'social media,' before Facebook and Instagram and all the evils of today.  I made many friends on the Titanic boards and had sooo much fun!  And we all learned so much about Gaelic Storm through all that.  They were touring a lot, playing Irish Fests and small towns, making them easily accessible.  Band member Steve was also known to hop on the boards and chat with fans.

 

The height of Titanic chaos was 1998 but carried on for quite a while after.  It was 2002 when I finally saw Gaelic Storm live, and yes, we were all still chatting on the Titanic boards online even then.  I saw them in a tiny little town near me called Green Lake.

 

My sister and I went, and even got to meet the band after because it was such a small venue and they were well known to meet and greet. 

This photo was actually taken by band member Steve.  That's my sister on the left, singer Patrick in the middle, and me on the right.  Steve had said, "On the count of three, give him a kiss!"  We all laughed like 'yeah yeah, whatever,' but he really did count to three and my sister really did kiss him.  It was hysterical.  I even got their autographs that night.

Their third CD had just come out shortly before we saw them live.  It's called Tree, which is actually a play on the strong accent making the word 'three' come out like 'tree.'  (Actually, not all members of the band were even Irish.)  Everyone's favorite song at the time was An Poc Ar Buile, about a goat on a rampage.  Tree is still my favorite of their CDs.

Band members started coming and going shortly after this.  I saw them I think three more times back around that time.  I do have their first seven CDs but was losing interest by then.  Not only were most original members gone but they'd sort of started to change their style, taking on a bit more of a modern music style instead of the more traditional Irish jig type stuff.  Bands change and evolve, I know, but I just lost interest along the way.  I do still love those first three CDs though!

 I'm wearing a green t-shirt today and listening to Gaelic Storm, and that's about the extent of my St. Patrick's Day celebration.  Oh, and here are the almost nothing decorations I have for the occasion . . . 

Are you celebrating today?

Melted - Apple & Oats (Beezy Tarts)

Apple & Oats - 'Apple slices, steel cut oats, raw honey, tart apple peel, vanilla extract, and a hint of maple sugar.'

 

I loved this scent!  That surprises me a bit because on cold sniff it was rather blah.  Warmed though, oh my gosh, it really blooms into something more.  I usually save apple scents for fall but like I said, on cold sniff this wasn't doing anything for me so I went ahead and melted it now.  The apple notes are soft and sweet, not spiced or heavily fall-like.  The oatmeal notes add a sort of bakery base to the overall scent.  I do get the vanilla but the honey and maple are not distinct.  It's all just rolled together into a very cozy, slightly sweet bakery scent, and I loved it.

I melted half of this tart (about 0.9 oz. worth) in my tea light warmer and had medium-strong scent and good throw.  I would have liked it to be just a bit stronger because I enjoyed this scent so much.

If this scent is available next time I order from Beezy Tarts I will absolutely be grabbing more!

Mar. 16 - A Bird In The Car

Another cloudy morning here in Wisconsin, 37 degrees already and heading for a high of 41 with rain expected.  They're still saying about an inch of snow is coming tonight but they're saying 'mixed precipitation' more often now.  I guess we'll see.

So I had an appointment early yesterday morning.  When I got in the car to go to it, I noticed what looked like bird poop on the steering wheel.  What the heck?  Then I see some more spots on the dash, and some smudge-like spots on both doors right by the windows.  Whaaat?  I didn't have time to fully explore so I started the car to get going to my appointment.  I thought I heard something in the backseat area and when I turned to look back to start backing out of my parking spot, sure enough, a little sparrow was hopping around on the top of the back of the backseat.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. I quickly put the car back into park, opened my door and ran to the back of the car to open the hatchback door.  Of course the bird was alarmed and flitted around, landing on the backseat passenger door, kinda bumping up against the window.  So I ran around to that door and opened it.  There were three doors open now and I stepped away from the car a bit to let it feel safe enough to come out.  Of course, I didn't see where it went, didn't know if it had gotten out, so I sort of slowly crept around looking.  I did see a sparrow on the ground near my opened driver's door and guessed it was him.  I did a quick look in the car, felt pretty sure it was indeed him, so I closed the doors and hopped back in so I could make it to my appointment.

As I was driving I was trying to figure out how the heck that happened.  It was probably the day before, when Boychild2 and I had gotten home from shopping.  I had opened the back of my car and waited while he backed his car up closer and we transferred his bags of groceries from one car to the other.  So that poor little birdie had been in the car all night!  Then I realized it was a good thing I'd had that appointment or I wouldn't have gone anywhere till my regular Saturday morning shopping.  Poor little birdie would have been trapped almost four days if that had been the case, and I don't think the outcome would have been as nice.

Still, what a crazy little situation!  The inside of my car definitely needs some cleaning though.  LOL

Other than that excitement and my appointment, the rest of the day was pretty boring.  I never did do the laundry but have it started now.  I worked on the Lost puzzle and dealt with a clingy kitty, then played the wizard game for a bit when Hubby got home.  He ended up not working in his shop because his knees were so sore from work.  I didn't even have to make supper because his boss had brought pizza in for everyone as a birthday treat.  So Hubby wasn't hungry and I'd eaten too much earlier in the afternoon.  

I need to get back on track with my eating.  I've had high suppertime numbers the past couple days, and then they fall by my bedtime check.  I'm quite sure it's my own reckless eating and not a situation where doses need to be adjusted again.  So I need to just crack down on things, especially since I was just complaining the other day about diabetics who don't take care of themselves.  Doh!

I already mentioned I have laundry started, but other than that, I really don't know what today will bring.  If the rain holds off, I should get out there and clean my car while it's fairly warm.  I'd like to get at the flowerbeds while the ground is soft with all the melting snow and rain, but my yard tools are in the scary garage and I haven't sent Hubby in to get them yet.  lol  Puzzle day again?  Probably.

Oh, and today is Cinnamon's 6th birthday.  That is Boychild2's cat, my grandfurbaby.  =)

Mar. 15 - Shopping With The Boychild

 

A sunny but chilly morning again here in Wisconsin, but we're heading for a high in the mid-40s so that's good.  Rain coming tonight and tomorrow, which will help melt that last round of snow we got.  But who are we kidding?  Forecast is saying another inch or two is coming Thursday night/Friday.  *sigh*

Boychild2 and I did indeed go to town yesterday.  He'd wanted to look around and get some things for his apartment to make it more homey.  Plus, I had that Target gift card from Christmas that I wanted to spend.  So it was to Target that we went first.  Our Target went through a complete remodel about a year or two ago, and now they're redoing and expanding their grocery department because they're going to be having fresh produce and everything starting in April.  That will be interesting.  Maybe I'll start going to Target more.

Anyway, we wandered around pretty much the whole store because it's been years since Boychild2 was in there, and I rarely go there myself.  I was saddened all over again by how much they've downsized several areas like video games, movies, fandom collectibles.  Everything is digital and/or online these days.  It was fun to go through the Easter section, but also depressing because those days of super fun candy filled baskets are over for me.  We were almost through the whole store when I realized I hadn't picked anything to spend my gift card on.  I considered just hanging onto it, maybe using it for Christmas shopping this year, but in the end I did find a couple fun little things.

 

Got myself a new Harry Potter shirt, and was completely blown away by the Lost Hot Wheels type car.  I've mentioned before that I looooooved Lost, was absolutely obsessed with that show back in the day.  I watched the whole series again just last year, first time since it ended way back in, what, 2010?  I don't know if I've talked about Nerdhaven here on the blog, but it's an idea I've had for turning Boychild2's old room into sort of a library and display room for collectibles from the various things I've been totally into over the years.  Things like Lost, Harry Potter, Supernatural, Lord of the Rings.  So when I saw that little car I was like "Nerdhaven!" and Boychild2 laughed at me, "There ya go."

Boychild2 only got two random things at Target, then we headed over to Walmart.  We'd wasted so much time just wandering around Target that it was getting late in the morning and we were both feeling ready to head home.  Still, we wandered through Walmart at a quicker pace and I made him get groceries for himself since we were there.  He was trying to be all, "I'll get them another day so you can get home."  But I was like, "We're already here.  Just get your groceries."

I didn't get anything at Walmart.  He got two small, cheap cat beds because he'd seen something online about helping a cat feel relaxed and safe (or something?) by putting beds in multiple rooms.  I don't remember exactly what he'd said.  Being soft surfaces though will also help reduce the empty, echo-y sound in his apartment, which is one of the things he wants to finally take care of.  Other than that, he didn't get anything to make it more homey.  He said he got ideas by looking at stuff, so I guess the trip wasn't a complete fail.  And I know he has food for a while.  LOL

I didn't do much when I got home.  Watched Y&R and a recorded episode of Snapped, and by then Hubby was getting home so we played our wizard game for a bit.  We haven't been playing as much the past several days.  With today's warm weather he wants to work in his shop for a while, so we probably won't play at all today.  That's okay.  My arm is feeling strong enough to start doing some other things again, so I'll see if I can putter around.

I have an appointment this morning and will do laundry when I get back.  Not sure what else I'll end up doing today.

Have a good Wednesday!

Mar. 14 - Bad Diabetics & Last of Us

It's a cold Tuesday morning here in Wisconsin, just 7 degrees.  It's supposed to be sunny and dry though, so that's a plus.  And tomorrow we start our warming trend into the 40s.

 

Yesterday was rather uneventful with my usual Monday trip to my mom's.  I did her shopping.  We played Yahtzee.  There was no drama this time.  She gave me some insulin needles that my sister-in-law had dropped off for me.  I'm not sure why she has so many to give away but I'll take them!  The needles are THE most expensive diabetes supply I use.  The ones she gave me are 6mm size though, and the ones I've always used are only 4mm.  I'm still going to give them a try.  My SIL is like, 'They'll be fine.  I use them.'  Well if you're used to 6mm, sure, they're fine.

 

Mom and I also had a bit of discussion about diabetics who eat whatever they want and just rely on the meds to do the work.  I will have times where I make a bad choice because I'm craving something and am just tired of the diabetes limitations, but even then the bad choice is usually still small scale.  I'm terrified of the long term effects!  I know people all around me dealing with the horrible complications and it scares the heck out of me.  So if skipping that drool worthy custard filled sweet roll will help, I will sadly do it.  This same SIL does not seem to be one of those people.  She admits she eats "all the garbage" and treats accordingly.  She's having tons of problems, but still doesn't seem to care.  Maybe she's at the point where 'it's all downhill from here' and is going to at least live happy . . . ?  I don't know, but it both scares and angers me when I see people like that just eating what they want and acting like diabetes isn't that hard.

 

Mini rant over.

 

So, this weekend was the season finale of Last of Us.  First of all, that was a very short season!  Only nine episodes!  Second, what a very underwhelming and disappointing finale.  Joel flat out lied to Ellie and I'm pretty sure she knows it.  Pretty sure she asked him that at the end because she had already been piecing things together from his earlier story, and she was testing him.  A couple episodes ago, Tommy's wife told Ellie to be careful who she puts her in trust in because those are the only people who can betray you.  I'm pretty sure Ellie has that in mind now.  I also don't like how Joel's personality has totally flipped towards her now.  He's all perky and chatty, pretty much being daddy-like.  I liked his gruff and distant form of caring much more.  And where he wouldn't talk about Sara before, he's now openly nattering on and on about her to Ellie.  That can't be comfortable for her.  The whole dynamic between them has shifted.  I understand it's supposed to be that way because they're both struggling with the situation now, but I don't like it and I'll be glad to see how the second season handles this.

 

If you watched Last of Us, let me know your thoughts.  Della!  I know you've been a fan!

 

Well, Boychild2 and I are supposed to be going to town this morning.  He wants to look for some things to "finally make the apartment a home," and I have a Target gift card from Christmas that's itching to be used.  I mother-lectured him to get to bed after work and not stay up all night (he works 2nd shift) so he can get over here early.  It's just after 7am now so I should probably get myself ready to go.  Plus, my phone is struggling to do one of those huge system updates, so getting to town and using the store's wifi will allow that to zip right through.  lol

 

Have a great day!

Mar. 13 - Me Griping? Nooo!

Hello!  Winter continues here in Wisconsin.  It's 24 and cloudy this morning, but windy too, so it only feels like 10 out there.  We got a bunch more snow this weekend.  I can't even remember now what came when, it's all becoming such a frustrating blur in my spring-craving mind.  We must have gotten a bunch Friday and Hubby plowed the driveway when he got home from work.  Of course it warmed up and melted a bunch of it, but have no fear!  We got a fresh layer Saturday night and through most of the day Sunday.  Hubby plowed again Sunday afternoon, and I had gone out to tend bird feeders.  It was already warming up and by evening a lot of snow was melting again.  There were bare patches in the yard again.  But yep, we got snow again last night.  It doesn't look like much but those bare patches and our footprints are covered again.  UGH!  We're supposed to have a couple cold days now (in the 20s), then it looks like we'll warm up to the 40s for at least the next week, with rain scattered in, so maybe maybe this will be the end of our wintery weather . . . ?  Pleeeeeease?

Nothing too eventful happened this weekend.  I did the grocery shopping and Hubby went to his dad's, all the usual stuff.  Boychild1 was here Saturday for laundry.  His friend (our 'adopted' third son) was here too and conversations when he's around always turn crazy.  My complaining about the black birds outside earned me a racist badge apparently.  LOL

Had a bit of a snit with Hubby again this weekend.  He mentioned he wants to build a ramp for our porch, so of course we butted heads on where it should go, how to incorporate it with our current porch/steps.  His plan was to just replace the steps and come straight out.  I was like no, I still want a step option, and why can't we come along the side of the porch?  And he got all pissy.  Grrrrr.  He wants a ramp because his knees are getting so bad.  I think I've probably mentioned somewhere along the way that he is very overweight, which is probably the biggest problem for his knees.  His parents have had a ramp for many years because of his dad's mobility problems, and hubby's commented that it's so much nicer walking all the way up that ramp than even trying to climb our three porch steps.  I'm not against the ramp, I just don't want to plop some ugly eye-sore thing halfway down the walkway when it could come along the side of the porch and blend in much more nicely.

Well since I'm griping about things this morning I'll go ahead and gripe some more.  I got an EOB (explanation of benefits) from insurance for part of my ER visit.  I noticed one of the charges was listed as 'apply forearm splint.'  I was like wait, what?  I never received a splint.  They handed me a sling.  $375 to hand me a basic fabric sling?  I got on MyChart and sent a billing message asking about that, asking them to please double check charges.  I mean, the doctor did originally talk about putting a splint on my arm but then decided to do the x-rays and changed her mind.  Had she originally written it up as a splint before receiving word from the ortho doctor that evening?  Or is 'apply forearm splint' going to be some generic code for everything they did that night?  UGH again.

The sun is finally coming up now.  Shifting back and forth for Daylight Saving Time doesn't bother me.  It definitely doesn't throw off my whole day or take days to adjust like a lot of people like to claim.  I think people just get caught up in the idea that it's worse than it is, like a psychological thing.  I mean, get up and go about your normal day.  There is nothing much that's changed.  The 'change' happened while you slept.  It's not like stores open at different times now, or work starts at a different time.  TV shows are all still on at the same times.  All the usual things still get done in all the usual manners.  I don't know, it's just one of those things that irk me.

And before I find something else to gripe about, I'll post this and get ready to go to my mom's for all the usual Monday things.  Here's hoping it's not as frustrating as last week was!

How was your weekend?

Did winter taunt you once again?

Mar. 10 - Snow, Geese, and Puzzles

 

Happy Friday!  Actually, I don't know why I say that.  I'm finding weekends stress me out lately, so Friday is just sort of the beginning of that cycle.  It's kinda like, while the rest of the world looks forward to the weekend so they can relax and have fun, the weekend is when most of my work and hassle happens.  I'm finding I really look forward to Tue/Wed/Thursday as my own sort of weekend.  But anyway, I know most of the normal world is all about 'Friyay!'

Well, we did indeed get a ton more snow.  I haven't been outside yet but it looks like several inches, probably at least that minimum 4" they'd been predicting.  And now I'm worried about the robins, like I mentioned in a recent post.  I think I'll be outside later, scraping some patches of yard free of snow to expose the grass for them so they can get to the dirt and bugs below.  Luckily there was some wind and drifting, so there are some barely covered areas of yard already.  If we get any amount of sun today, it should help melt those areas and make them robin ready.

Hubby had to plow the driveway early this morning to be able to go to work.  He considered just staying home but in the end he ended up going in about an hour late.

I finally got some pics of all the geese in the 'spring pond' across the road from us.  This pic was taken from an upstairs bedroom to get the best overall view.  The 'spring pond,' as mentioned in a previous post, is just an area in the field across that road that fills with water as snow melts and spring rains come.  Surprisingly, with all the snow and melting we've had already, this is nowhere near as big as it usually gets.  Tons of geese stop here during their migration.

A zoomed in look at some of the geese.  The other evening there were tons of geese out there, something spooked them and they all took flight.  It sounded like freakin' helicopters going over, all their wings flapping frantically, and being so low overhead.  I love it though, just listening to them or watching them to distract my thoughts and let my mind settle sometimes.  Ahhh, the perks of living in the country.

 

I finished this latest puzzle yesterday.  This was just a 500 piece one, and these types of designs are actually pretty easy to do.  I thought I would be done with puzzles after this one, and I did try to just sit and read, but nope.  I couldn't focus on reading and ended up digging through the piles of puzzles upstairs and even looked through the closet to see if there were any I'd missed.  I found an old Lost (TV show) puzzle I'd gotten way back in the day and decided to go ahead and do that one.  So I guess puzzle season is still not over.  lol  Although I am getting an urge to do some coloring . . . 

My dad died on this date back in 1987.  He was 63.  I was 20.  He's been gone 36 years now, longer than I ever knew him alive.

I slept a bit better last night.  Still feeling very sluggish this morning though.  Minion was settled in for his morning sleep but has already gotten up and was totally absorbed in sitting by the window, watching the birds in the snow for the longest time.  He's redoing his morning routine now and will hopefully settle back into 'his' chair for a few hours.  I think I'll get some game time in before I do last night's dishes and see what else this day brings.

Did you get another round of winter where you live?

Mar. 9 - Nothing Exciting

Hello!  It's a cloudy morning here in Wisconsin, 33 degrees at the moment.  This week's weather advisory starts at 6pm tonight and runs till 9am tomorrow morning.  They've stopped saying snow totals in the forecasts on the radio, and now just say "snow showers likely."  Hmmm, does that mean it could be less?  Or that they've given up trying to guess?

I got my boring, uneventful day yesterday.  Yay!  I played my games all morning, then Minion kicked me out of my chair so I switched to the puzzle and TV.  I got the laundry done throughout the day.  I realized in the evening that I'd never even gone outside to get the mail.  Ha!  Oh well, there is never anything fun in the mail anymore anyway.

Today looks like much of the same thing.  Actually, maybe I'll take a good nap.  Last night was horrible.  My whole body was tense and achy, couldn't get comfortable, couldn't sleep.  The bits of sleep I did get were plagued by weird dreams that would jolt me awake.  About halfway through the night, a raging headache added itself to my list of troubles.  UGH!!!!  I stayed in bed an extra 45 minutes this morning but that was probably more harm than good.  Now my whole routine is about an hour behind, and I still feel like crap.  Well the headache has eased up at least, being up and moving around has definitely helped.

Saw an article about House of the Dragon last night.  The new season will introduce five new dragons and fans at whatever convention this was announced at were crazy excited about that.  Still no word when that season will be on though.  The dude said they're starting production soon.  What?  Why didn't they start that like, you know, immediately upon knowing you were getting a second season, knowing how long it would take and all that?  It's so frustrating when big shows like that need so long in between seasons.  Still, seeing House of the Dragon in the news has made me want to watch it again.  And I do have the first season on DVD soooooo . . . maybe I'll start that today.

Speaking of big shows, I think this coming Sunday is the season finale already of Last of Us.  I'm still enjoying the show but it's very little about the creepy fungus factor now, and more of the journey to get Ellie where she needs to go.  I'm loving the growing bond between Ellie and Joel, it's made me cry many times now.  I'm looking forward to the second season of that show too but it's another that will probably be well over a year in between.

Well, I guess I don't have much to talk about today, and since I'm already an hour behind on everything I'll just post this and hop onto my game for a while.

Hope all is great with you!