Need a laugh?

Gregg and I stumbled across this video on YouTube last night, and we laughed so hard tears streamed down our faces. 

Enjoy!

Twelth night book exchange

The holidays are well and truly over now. There are only one or two holdouts in the neighborhood as far as Christmas trees and lights, and what's left just looks...tired. It's back-to-work day for me, although I won't go in until noon because of conflict between the car situation and Gregg's appointment. I was able to sleep in a bit this morning and I still have some time to sip coffee and blog before heading out. A nice gentle way to return after more than two weeks off!

Yesterday afternoon I had my first and only visitor of the holiday season, my friend Martina. We've started a tradition over the past two or three years of exchanging books at Christmas. Normally we get together as close to Christmas Eve as possible (if not on Christmas Eve) but this year we both had a lot going on and couldn't manage it any sooner. 

It was nice to have something to look forward to on my last day off, though. Since any holiday treats were long gone, I went to the store and bought an assortment of cookies and a chocolate babka to serve, along with hot chai tea and iced tea. It was good see my friend and spend some time together, and the dogs were beside themselves with joy. They love Martina and all the attention she gives them. Marco likes her just fine, but since she occasionally helps me trim his nails (which he loathes) he always keeps a slightly wary eye on her! 

I'm really excited about the books I got! We both try to make sure our "want to read" lists on Goodreads are updated about a month prior to Christmas, and I like the two she picked for me this time. 

The first has gorgeous cover art.

And the other is a "slow building neo-Gothic" which sounds

 like something right up my alley.

A few loose ends

We're getting off to a cold start in this new year. For the whole first half of this month temperatures are predicted to be well below freezing almost every night, with some really intense cold starting in the middle of next week. Intense as in 20 degrees for a few nights, which is really cold for us. There's even talk of possible snow next weekend, but I'll believe that when I see it.

It looks like I may not start back to work until Tuesday. Gregg's radiation treatments (the two he's had so far) have been easy and he's able to drive himself home after, but he's got an appointment on Monday morning and we're sharing a car until late Monday afternoon. The oil light came on in Gregg's van on New Year's Eve and he took it to the shop yesterday. After diagnosing the problem(s) they told us it would take that long for them to get the work done. 

I'm supposed to spend part of the morning at a bookkeeper meeting across town (all staff have professional development on Monday) before returning to the school around 10:00, which is Gregg's appointment time. It just won't work out with one car, so I guess I'll have to use a personal day. I didn't come back immediately after last winter break, either, because my dad had died on New Year's Day. (I'm not liking this trend).

So, this is how the year is starting for us. The van repair is a real blow after a tough holiday season, because it's expensive. We knew when we bought a very late model van with a lot of miles that there would be repairs to deal with...but this first repair job is more than we spent on the car itself! The one consolation is that we'll get to write off the initial purchase as a business expense (Gregg uses the van for his aquarium gigs) on this year's taxes. And we're still better off repairing an old van than with a car payment! It is, after all, just used for hauling aquarium gear and as a second (backup) car.

I'm hoping next week we can tie up all these last bits of unfinished business from 2024 and then move forward. The van should be done on Monday afternoon, and next Friday will be Gregg's fifth and (hopefully) final radiation treatment. I'm hoping for at least a short period of smooth sailing after that! 

January 1st

Happy New Year everyone!

It's a crisp, blue-sky kind of day. I've got black-eyed peas simmering in a crockpot with the leftover bone from the Christmas ham, and we'll have some sort of greens to go along with them. I actually bought two nice bundles of collards, but if I decide to not bother with them today, I have some seasoned collard greens in a can I could heat up. It would certainly save time and effort. I also need to bake a couple of loaves of banana bread to use up some overripe bananas languishing on the kitchen counter. There's a container in the fridge with chopped pineapple leftover from the weekend, so it may end up being pineapple-banana bread. 

So for me today, I'm planning a little bit of cooking but not much else. I've also finally restarted a knitting project I began some years ago, and I may work on that for a little while. Gregg went out to clean aquariums at the nursing homes (so he won't get behind on them during his treatment). As for his treatment, yesterday was a bust. He got himself all nerved up to go have the first round, and when he got there found out he was mistaken about the day he starts. He actually starts tomorrow. That was a real letdown. He also woke up yesterday with a toothache, so as you can imagine, he's not having the best start to the new year. I told him we'll hold off for a few weeks and then have a small private New Year celebration. Maybe even that late winter/early spring weekend getaway we've been talking about...I have more time off coming at the end of February.

But for now, I'm off to stir the peas and then maybe take Miss Poppy for a nice long walk. George is asleep, so we'll let him snooze, and then later I'll take him out for his own (slower) walk. Georgie will be 12 years old this year and likes to take his time these days. He still loves his walks, though.

How the dogs spent New Year's Eve. I took both these photos shortly before midnight.

George went to his spot at the foot of the bed early on. He wasn't interested in staying up with us! Gregg went in and covered him up with one of his blankets. Look at that sweet boy!

Poppy stayed close by us in the living room, but it was past her bedtime, too. She slept like this until she got up to follow us to bed, finally. She's a good girl.

The week between

We're in that weird, in-between time that always seems to happen at the end of the year. The break from work has gone by in a blur so far, and I feel somewhat adrift as we approach the New Year. I'm enjoying the time off, but I'll be glad to resume a more normal routine in January with the holidays firmly behind us.

Gregg is currently up at the hospital, having some last scans done and one last consultation with his radiology oncologist. He has his first session of radiation tomorrow. It's going to be a short course of treatment, with 5 sessions in all: tomorrow and Thursday of this week, and Monday-Wednesday-Friday of next week. He's really nervous about tomorrow, since it's the first one and he doesn't really know what to expect. And what a way to spend New Year's Eve! 

I'm thinking any celebrating we do for the New Year will have to happen later in January, all things considered. This year has been full of upheaval, and it's not quite over yet, but I'm hopeful for an easier and calmer time in 2025, at least personally. (World events and US politics promise to be wild next year).

So, what are your plans for New Year's Eve? New Year's Day? Even if you're just hibernating at home, I'd love to hear about what you'll be doing!

 Also, since this is probably my last post of 2024, I'd like to wish each and every one of you a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

 See you in '25...

xx

Christmas Eve morning

Good morning to everyone, and happy Christmas eve! 

We've purposely done very little as far as decorating and socializing this year. We've had a lot going on over the past few weeks, and neither of us felt up to doing a lot of work. So, no tree this year, but we did put a few special Christmas candleholders on the mantle and a wreath on the front door.

We also bought ourselves one nice gift for Christmas: a new 75-inch tv! We'd been wanting a new tv since our old one died this summer, and Gregg's wanted a big screen for years. Yesterday two guys from Best Buy came out and mounted it on the wall, and it looks huge. We're enjoying it already, and the new chairs we bought over the summer make for really comfortable viewing.

Now that we've turned this whole room into a living room (the remodeled room is now our dining room) there's room for one of Marco's perches, and he seems to like watching the new tv, too.

As for Christmas baking and cooking, I'm keeping it really easy this year. I made a pot of chili yesterday that we'll warm in the crock pot later, and I'm also getting ready to bake a ham. Yesterday afternoon I finally got around to making two batches of cookies which will be shared with neighbors. 

Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies and Italian Angeletti

 I may make a third batch of cookies this morning before making the cookie trays. I'm thinking of Peanut Butter Blossoms, the ones that have Hershey's kisses in the center. I also picked up packages of dog treats for neighbors with canine buddies. There's a couple down the street with a cocky little dog called Alvin, and he's getting an extra special bag of goodies from George and Poppy.

After I drop off the neighbor's treats, we're going to enjoy a quiet evening at home with lots of candles lit, good food, and maybe an old movie or two to watch. I hope you all have a similarly pleasant Christmas Eve, whatever your plans! 

xx 

Jennifer

T-minus 6 hours

Six hours from now I'll be leaving work with the long winter break stretching out in front of me! I'm not overly excited about the holidays this year, but the break is sorely needed. I don't go back to work until January 6th.

I'm going to get as many of these as possible!

Silver linings

Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post for your kindness. It was a terrible weekend. Yesterday once I got the diarrhea under control, I had terrible body aches for a few hours, then those subsided too. I was feeling a little better by last night, but even so, I decided not to take a chance on work today. I got in touch with my principal around 5:30 to let her know that I wouldn't be in today. I hate missing work (which is why I have around 50 unused sick days with more accruing every month) but when I've been really sick like this, I try not to feel guilty about it. 

This morning in the early wee hours before dawn I woke up drenched in sweat, twice. Then when I really woke up and got up around 7:30 I felt much, much better. Maybe I was sweating out the last of it. I sure hope so.

There's a bright side to all this, though. I lost 5 pounds! Haha!

But seriously, though, I've been actively trying to lose weight since May or June. I managed to lose 35 pounds by August, then couldn't seem to lose any more. Considering that I've had to take prednisone and antibiotics three or four times this year, a nurse recently told me that I've done really well to maintain the loss and not regain. I know she's right, but it's still frustrating to do all the right things week after week and the scale doesn't budge. Now thanks to this nasty little virus, I've finally hit the 40-pound loss mark! That feels like a win, finally. 

Maybe I'll even get lucky, and this virus will have served as a good purge and reset. It certainly felt like one!