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.

Starting off the year

 It's a chilly, rainy day here and I'm grateful for my snug, warm house. A couple of friends asked if I wanted to hang out/go get coffee/get lunch (knowing that Gregg works an almost 12-hour day on Saturdays) but I think I'd rather spend the day at home with the dogs and Marco. I certainly appreciate everyone's kindness and concern, but all I really want to do is stay in my pajamas and read, watch old episodes of Bake Off, and putter around the house. 

I went back to work yesterday. I'm glad I chose Friday as my first day back; I got the questions about dad and expressions of sympathy out of the way but was so busy catching up on work that there wasn't much time for talking. I was also able to get caught up on everything which will make Monday a lot easier.

These past three weeks have seemed so long, what with Covid, finding out my dad was ill enough for hospice, finding out dad was actually dying, the death, and then the holidays going on during it all. So much has happened in the last month. Resuming a normal schedule is going to feel really good. 

A belated Happy New Year to you all, and thanks again for all the kindness and support. I look forward to being more present here now that things are starting to settle down.

Frustrations abounding

What a week it's been! I guess you could say it's not been the most auspicious start to a new year.

My car, which wouldn't crank on New Year's Eve, had to be towed half a mile to the Toyota dealership for repair. This couldn't happen until Monday because of the holiday, so I took a personal day off work (the first day after the break) to deal with it. We thought it seemed like a dead battery, but we own an electric charger, and it showed the battery as being fully functional. That wasn't the case, though. Apparently, a battery can be so dead that it won't show as being bad on a meter and it can't be jumped off. Or so says one of the mechanics, anyway. After the towing fee and a new battery, I was out $350--but at least I'm back on the road again. 

I decided last month that I was going to attempt to eat better, walk a whole lot more, and give up alcohol entirely from now until my birthday in late March. I know I need to take better care of my health, and I definitely need to lose weight, so (as is my wont when I make up my mind about something) I jumped in whole heartedly last Sunday. Well, I haven't missed the alcohol, but the sudden change in my eating habits has been difficult. I'm afraid of developing diabetes; my mom did about 10 years ago, and it's been hard on her. With that in mind, I decided to cut way back on empty carbs devoid of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. No chips, sweets, wine, sodas, or meals heavy on pasta, bread, or white rice. I'm not doing the super low carb/keto thing; I think those diets are dangerous and not for me, but I'm still eating way fewer carbs than ever before. The first few days have been rough. Mild depression/flat mood, difficulty falling and staying asleep, vivid (and unsettling) dreams, and worst of all...bouts of painful diarrhea the past three mornings. (Sorry if that's tmi). I've been eating well but the changes to my diet have been so drastic that I guess it's been a shock to my digestive system....and all my other systems, too. Today seems a little better, fingers crossed that my body is starting to adjust. I want to feel better, not worse!

I've been looking forward to telling you about this next thing. Everybody seems to love my bird Marco, and I'll admit he's a real character. Everyone loves a good Marco story! Well, here's one for you.

Thursday afternoon I was on my way home from my weekly allergy shot, and I got a text from Gregg. 

Let me show you that picture close up. 

I was horrified, because I knew that meant that Marco had somehow escaped his cage while we were at work.* That's only happened once before since we've had him, and he'd gone on a rampage. I knew it was going to be bad. 

He'd started in the pantry. He tore into the bag of walnuts (his favorite) and made a mess all over with them. He also chewed holes in the bread bag and an oatmeal cream pie wrapper. At some point he hurled the chewed-on oatmeal pie, a can of salt, and some spices to the floor.

If the damage had ended there, we'd have considered ourselves lucky, but no. He moved on to the dining room. That's where he really did some damage.

Behold my (former) best orchid, the one that had a long stalk of flowers getting ready to open.

That was heartbreaking. That orchid was my pride and joy.

For his final trick, Marco had flown over to a floor lamp and knocked the shade askew. That actually turned out to be a good thing, because when Gregg went over to straighten it, it shot sparks straight up in the air. It was an old lamp and there must have been a short in the wiring, because the shade getting knocked around couldn't have caused that. Thank goodness it didn't start a fire**, or electrocute Marco, or both. At least something good came of Marco's adventures, but despite that Gregg and I were both pretty pissed off in the moment. 

So that's how 2023 has started for me. 

*Just like last time, the latch on the front door of Marco's cage hadn't been firmly closed, and he was able to push the door right open.

**Our second recent brush with faulty wiring that could have started a fire (last month it was the pre-lit Christmas tree). Could this be a sign?

Today's the day...

 .... when it all comes down. 

The Christmas tree (again), the glass poinsettia candleholder, the snowman cookie jar, the lighted greenery on the mantle, the cards displayed on the credenza, the seasonal dish towels and candy dishes. Yes, my friends, I'm making my house a Christmas-free zone today!

Although it's early by a lot of people's standards, in my family (and in the place where I grew up) it was considered bad luck to still have the tree up on New Year's Day. Plus, to be honest, I'm always tired of it all by the end of December. I like going into the new year with a clean and uncluttered house. And I've already started the first of several loads of laundry today, because washing clothes and bedding on January 1st is considered very bad luck. My grandma always said that if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'd "wash away" a family member in the new year. Of course it's silly, but there's no need to risk it, is there? :)

The only thing I really hate about taking down the tree this year is that we're going to have a big empty space in our living room, in front of the fireplace. Before the holidays we moved the large sofa in that room over by the windows, and it looked so much better there that we decided it would stay like that. Now we need some new seating to go in that spot, either two comfortable chairs or a single "chair and a half". A loveseat would work, too. Unfortunately, we have champagne tastes on a beer budget; whenever we look online to try to find furniture we like, only the really high-end stuff (that we can't afford) ever seems to appeal to us! Not that we can afford even cheaper furniture at this point. We're still catching up from all the job turmoil and missed paychecks Gregg had recently. I think we'll just have to live with the hole for a while.

When do you remove seasonal decorations? Do you clean and tidy your house before the new year begins, to start on a good note? Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve Eve

 Today I took down the Christmas tree and all of the holiday decorations. I carefully packed away the delicate glass icicles first, followed by our most treasured and fragile ornaments, then the sturdier wooden/fabric/shatterproof ornaments, then the tree itself. Next came the candleholders, the decorative plates, the candy dishes, the lighted garlands and wreath. All that's left to do is to have my husband crawl up into the attic when he gets home tonight so I can hand the boxes up to him. Christmas 2021 will be in the books.

The house looks so dark and devoid of sparkle, now. It's a relief to get everything packed away, but I'll miss the warm light in the house. We still have the rest of the winter to get through. Speaking of which, it's been a freakishly warm Christmas this year. An old Southern (originally English) proverb says, "Warm Christmas, fat graveyard". With Covid cases spiking dramatically again it's (sadly) almost bound to come true next year. So many people still refuse to get vaccinated or to take proper precautions. Winter weather should return by this weekend, with below-freezing temperatures at night. I, for one, will be glad to see normal January temperatures. It just seems wrong to run your air conditioner over Christmas!

Tomorrow night will be our typically quiet New Year's Eve. We'll be at home, staying safe from Covid and drunk drivers, watching movies and maybe opening a bottle of champagne around 11pm. Since I'm the only one who drinks, part of the bottle will be saved for mimosas New Year's morning. I bought black eyed peas to cook (with the bone I saved from our Christmas ham) along with two large bunches of fresh collards for our dinner. That's supposed to take care of our luck and money for next year. 

When do you take down holiday decorations? Do you have plans for tomorrow night? I'd love to hear about it!

Thoughts on a new year

Happy New Year! 

Things have finally settled down here at Casa de Sparrow. Illnesses seem to be on the wane (ours and Marco's), guests have cleared out and gone home, the Christmas decorations are packed away for another year, and everything is getting back to some semblance of normalcy. What a relief! The holidays are exhausting for me, and this one was particularly stressful.

I still have until Monday to rest, relax, and recover from it all. I'm so grateful for that. 

What are your plans/hopes/goals for this new year and decade? I don't care about making resolutions but the beginning of January seems to be a good time to take stock and to think about where you'd like to be 12 months from now. Yesterday I was giving this all some thought as I cooked our lucky New Year's Day meal:

Fried pork chops: good luck, looking forward (pork).

Hoppin' John: abundance, prosperity, coins (rice and black eyed peas).

Greens: money (leafy winter greens). I had the traditional collards, but I had to do green beans for my greens-hating husband, which is what you see in this photo. It's the intention that counts!

Vinegar (on the greens): good health, life, weathering changes.

Cornbread: Gold and riches. The rich color and round shape makes the reason pretty obvious.


As I approach my 45th birthday in March, I've decided that this year needs to be about making myself (my happiness and well-being) more of a priority. I tend to defer to others, to worry about their comfort and happiness more than my own, to be a people-pleaser. I want to treat myself more like....a friend. To take it easier on myself and not be so quick to give, give, give to others. To speak up more about what I need, even if it's uncomfortable. Those are my goals for 2020.

How about you?

Welcome 2019!

Welcome to 2019! We saw the New Year in quietly at home on Monday night. I made homemade pizza for a late dinner and then opened a bottle of champagne to sip afterwards. We spent most of the evening watching NYE parties and fireworks all around the world on YouTube, and occasionally checking out CNN's coverage of the party at Times Square. I adore Anderson Cooper and he's become essential viewing on NYE around here. 

Yesterday was low key for the most part. My crazy Southern family have instilled the superstition about not washing clothes (or you'll "wash away" a family member in the next 12 months) in me and so all of our laundry was done and put away. I had also cleaned out the refrigerator--all those leftover scraps of Christmas food--and taken out the garbage, swept the floors, and wiped down the bathrooms. So we started out the year with a clean house, which is a nice way to begin, all superstition aside.

Oddly enough, Gregg and I did go up to the school where I work first thing yesterday morning. He maintains a 90 gallon planted aquarium in the library and needed to check on it since we've been on break so long. I have my ID to scan at the door so I was able to let us in, and just as we suspected, the water level of the tank was very low. If it had dropped much lower, the filters would have run dry and that will do them in, so going was a good idea. The hot water wasn't on (I supposed they cut it off during the break to save energy) so we had to stay for longer than we meant to, to give Gregg time to heat water with a submersible heater he carries with him for just such emergencies. We still finished up in about 30 minutes and came back home, and Gregg's mind was at ease about how the tank was faring in the absence of staff for nearly three weeks!

After we got home, I cooked the obligatory Southern New Year's Day meal that's supposed to bring us luck and money:

Black eyed peas (made with the leftover Christmas ham and bone), rice, collard greens, and fried cornmeal cakes. My mom had brought me several Ziplock plastic bags of cooked collards at Christmas to freeze, so I only had to heat those up. She knows how much I like greens, but rarely cook them because they're so much trouble to make for one person. Gregg won't touch greens. Which is fine, because I ate a double portion to cover his share! We can use all the money we can get this year, and greens are supposed to be about money. The ham cooked into the peas is for luck, and the cornbread represents gold. I used Gregg's mom's recipe for hot water fried cornbread cakes, and although they were okay, they weren't nearly as light and crispy as hers. I did my best, though.

Today I'm working on doing some extra house work....my sister in law is coming on Friday to stay over the weekend. Gregg is excited to see her and to have her see the new house, and I'm really happy for him to have some of his family come for a visit. So far over the holiday season he's not seen any of them, and so it will be very good for him to have his sister here. She will be our first visitor in the new year!

Speaking of visitors, I noted yesterday that I have three new followers--hooray! Welcome! Please feel free to jump right in and tell us more about yourself and the place where you live. I look forward to checking out some new blogs in the new year as well!

Last day of the year

Since today is New Year's Eve, I spent some time mentally reviewing the past year while drinking my morning coffee. 2018 has been all about big life changes around here. It will definitely go down as a most memorable year!

January kicked off with us mourning my dear mother in law, Edythe, who passed away in early December of 2017. I believe she was ready to go...she was very, very tired and had been unwell for several years. She had always been so active and bubbly and fun loving that I truly think she lost her will to go on as she became more and more disabled. Although Gregg misses his mom a great deal, nothing about his love for her has changed since her death. And now we can remember her in happier times when she was always laughing and up for any adventure. She was a dear, good woman and a fantastic mother in law. 

My grandmother also passed away this year, at the good old age of 92. She also seemed to lose her will to go on after a health scare prompted my aunt to insist that she sell her house and move in with her and her husband. I understand that my aunt was trying to look out for her, but grandma seemed depressed and sad about it. A year later, she was gone. 

There were gains this year to balance out the losses. My dear friend Marla gave birth to baby Carsen at the end of May, and that has been a wonderful thing. More so since Marla and her husband lost a newborn baby girl (their first child) a couple of years ago. Little Carsen is a healthy, happy, curious baby girl and a total joy to be around. She may not be my niece by blood, but I'm still one of her "aunties". 

I spent the middle part of this year working hard on getting in better shape and losing weight. I strictly counted calories for several months through the summer and into the first part of the fall, and then got a little less conscious of it when we started working on buying the house. I lost just over 35 pounds (and have kept it off) and intend to resume my calorie counting in January.  I still want to lose another 30 pounds. Just yesterday I saw someone I used to work with and she said, "Wow! You look like you've lost a lot of weight!" It made me feel good, especially since I haven't dared step on the scale for the last couple of weeks! I'm sure I've put back on a few pounds over the holidays, but I intend to blast that back off right away in January....and to continue the hard work.

Of course, the highlight of this year was buying the house and moving in over Thanksgiving weekend. We're so pleased with it--the house itself, and the neighborhood. It manages to be very convenient to downtown, but also nestled away adjacent to a nature/walking trail and a small creek. We see all sorts of birds here, mostly a huge flock of cardinals but also woodpeckers (this morning we saw a Yellow Flicker for the first time ever), finches, wrens, doves, blue jays, and we've heard owls at night. And one night we saw deer tracks in the sandy dirt at the edge of our front yard. It's so quiet and peaceful here, and with the one exception all of the neighbors we've met have been friendly and welcoming.

So it's been a stellar year for us, overall. I hope that 2019 continues to bring us more good than bad, and that any life changes are only pleasant ones. 

I wish all my blog friends and visitors a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year! Thank you for visiting my humble little blog, and thank you for being a big and important part of my life 365 days a year! 

Happy New Year!!!

My amaryllis and poinsettia are both still looking good!

Celebrating...finally!

It's been wonderful going back to work this week and resuming a normal daily schedule, free from worry and stress. Anyone who has ever faced a life threatening illness, or the illness of someone you love, will understand me when I say that there is no greater gift than that of an ordinary day.

Since our New Year's celebration was haunted by the fear that Gregg's cancer might have returned, now that we know he's okay we've decided to celebrate the start of 2018 this weekend. It's a three day weekend for me (Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. day and a federal holiday, for my international readers) so I have some additional time off to enjoy. Tonight Gregg and I have a date for a special dinner and champagne at midnight. Tomorrow I'm finally going to start writing in a pretty new journal/planner I bought myself for Christmas.

I have a handful of personal goals and dreams for the new year (not "resolutions", which always sounds so joyless and punitive) that I'm ready to start working towards. The whole holiday season was like suspended animation, waiting to see if the future was to be feared or welcomed. I'm so glad it's the latter!

Happy New Year, everyone! Back tomorrow.

Last of the year!

So the last day of 2017 is finally here. It's been a mixed bag of a year for me; some really good stuff happened, most notably my new job, and some really bad things happened too, the worst of which was losing my beloved mother in law in early December. The first week or so of January is going to be tough, too (please send some good vibes Gregg's way on January 2nd when he has his scan) but after that hopefully we'll have smooth sailing into the new year.

If all goes according to plan this will be the year we finally buy a home of our own. I'll have the summer off to look forward to, and the birth of my friend's baby at the end of May. Who know what else is on the horizon? Only good things, I hope!

Thank you all for being here. Thank you for the friendship, and the support, and the laughs. This community of bloggers that I've come to know mean the world to me. It's been a real privilege to have you here.

I wish each and every one of you health, happiness, luck and prosperity in 2018.

From our home to yours, Happy New Year!!

Love,

Jennifer, Gregg,
Ginger, George,
& Marco

A shiny new year!

Happy New Year everyone! It's been difficult getting time to sit down and blog, but I hope that with the holidays over and done, life will settle down a bit. Did you make any resolutions for 2014? I resolve to renew my job hunt and to find a new job before the holidays roll around again! That is my biggest hope for the year. Besides making a new job happen, I'm not being overly ambitious with making resolutions. I plan to continue trying to take one day at a time when it comes to healthy habits...going for walks, drinking water instead of soda more often, eating breakfast, etc. etc. I would love to end 2014 in better shape (and healthier) than I was at the start!

The past few weeks have been rainy and messy outside, and it's made life difficult with our new dog, George. He's apparently younger than they thought at the shelter, and has so much pent-up energy that long daily walks are a necessity. When it's raining and we can't go, George becomes destructive. He chews through all the toys, rawhides, and treats we give him and then goes on to look for other things to destroy! He also hates getting wet, so instead of doing his business in the backyard when it's raining, he goes to the far side of the garage (next to the driver's door of my car) and poops and pees there! I am happy to report, however, that when we get to go for walks, he's doing much better walking on the leash. Despite being hyperactive and full of mischief, he seems intelligent and eager to please us. He's also a total love-bug. He will lick you all over and attempt to climb onto your lap, and generally just soaks up any ounce of affection you will give him. The best thing about George, though, is how quickly he has become devoted to Ginger, and she really seems to like him back. It's such a relief to us that Ginger seems mostly happy with the new addition to our family.


  Now that January is here, I'll finally have time to sit down and catch up with everyone's blogs. I hope you all had a great holiday season, and I wish for you a wonderful new year!