Snapchat anyone?

Seems like an odd application to me - but so do many of these "newfangled doohickeys!" I just watched a video on youtube about snapchat - and I did learn a little - but not a lot. I will have to do more research at some point.

I started the next puzzle! Huzzuh! I was going to write Huzzle! but that isn't a palindrome. In going through looking for edge pieces, I have found a lot of puzzle pieces that had not been successfully disconnected. What would you do? Rip the pieces apart and spread them out? Or leave them together? I am leaving them together - well, I rip them apart - cause most of them are stuck together - then put them back together again. Sue me.

You know, my life would probably be easier if I slept in my sweats or something. But I don't. Which means whenever mom wakes me up for some reason, I need to basically get dressed - not that I am too weirded out about my mom seeing me naked, but because wearing clothes makes me feel a smidge more dignified, powerful and awake.

Sayings for all occasions

I love language. Well, most of you probably already knew that. In this post we are going to look at a couple of sayings and see which trumps which.

The first is "Hope Springs Eternal!"

The second is "Flogging a dead horse."

So which is it? Does one keep hoping that by flogging a dead horse our desired (or hoped for) outcome will actually occur? Or do we stop hoping for what we were flogging a dead horse for and start hoping for something else? I would have to guess the latter. Hope isn't about one thing, it is more of a general thing - along the lines of "X is like buses (which is probably no longer true in most places since most places don't have a robust public transportation system) - wait a minute and another one will come along" or "There are plenty of fish in the sea" unless the human race continues to destroy them...Gee, these are depressing. Better get back to hoping...

A couple weeks ago I was optimistic that I had found someone who was going to be a major part of my life. I thought that they were going to be helpful and supportive of me while I would be helpful and supportive of them. Unfortunately this is turning out not to be the case. So I think I will stop with the flogging already and change the focus of my eternally springing hope. Life is that way sometimes.

Does anyone know anyone who I might ask to help me with cleaning up and organizing the house? Someone did offer to watch mom sometime if I wanted to go out. Actually two people have offered - though neither of them has really followed through. But the offers are nice.

I think I will start another puzzle today since I have my exciting new puzzle mat thing.

Good things about being woken at 4 in the morning

Ok, there really aren't any good things about being woken at 4 in the morning. I would much rather still be sleeping - so I will type a few words and then slip back into sleep.

First, helping mom to feel a little less stressed is a good thing. I got her a yogurt and put more music on. Hopefully that will help her to feel more relaxed. Anything is possible.

Then, as I was starting to go back to sleep, I looked at my phone and somehow that reminded me (oh, right, there was a reminder on the screen) that the recycling needed to go out. Brrr. But I did get another little accumulated recycling out with the regular weekly amount of stuff. Huzzuh!

Off to sleep land, but first check snapchat - I don't get this app yet - out of the people I know on there, only one person consistently posts anything - and she posts two or three times a day. Then a quick look at a few other things - mostly instagram on my phone - then a game or two of Word Jigsaw. Then, oops, opened my computer - looked at Facebook - and found a cool animation that I shared on my timeline.

Woo hoo. What excitement. Now I am going to try to sleep some more before a long work day at The Smith. Zzzzzzzz

Oops, opened my yahoo home page by mistake - now I have a bunch of tabs open to be skimmed. Sigh.

And up again - mom wanted to tell me all about the messes she has been making. Yay. So I gave her some more fruit and some cold water and asked her to tell me more about it later. Hopefully, I can get another hour of sleep. Right. (I didn't)

Watched The Winter Bone last night and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I was going to watch it with mom, but at the last minute decided against it, which I think was a wise choice. I don't think she would have been able to follow it. I also watched a couple more episodes of Agents of SHIELD. Now I am up to the point where I need to watch a Marvel Movie (Thor: The Dark World - which I think I may have seen but can't remember - if I did see it, it didn't make that much of an impression on me, despite having Natalie heartthrob Portman in it) before continuing on with the series. I added it to my Netflix list anyway - maybe this time I will remember it. I wish Netflix kept track for me...

Closing in Quickly on the End of the Month!

January is weird - it seems to go on forever - at least here in the sort of North. It is too bad that it isn't one of the month with 30 (or fewer) days. Darn knuckle months. Anyway, it is the 28th and I swear that there is still a month left to go of January. But what is weird is February happens really quickly after January is gone. And this February is so short!

Technology is amazing. Last night I was taking a shower and thought about just how cool it is that many people can take a hot shower in the middle of the night in the middle of winter without thinking about it. Just recently - on a cosmological scale - this would have been something unbelievable! I was also thinking about luxury - what makes a shower luxurious - above and beyond the plainly luxuriant feeling of water sluicing grime (etc) down the (now freely flowing) drain. Speaking of which, it was nice to once again be taking showers without my feet being in a few inches of water.

I actually had an adult evening last night. Not as in a romantic adult evening, but an evening out talking with other adults. Real conversation! How weird is that?! I left mom at home watching My Fair Lady. Misjudged the time just a little so the movie had ended before I got back, so mom got a little anxious. But otherwise, it was a great evening!

Ooh, got a package from Amazon today! How exciting is that? Pretty darn exciting. Season 5 of Downton Abby - which I will still watch on Sundays with mom if I we can. But we will be able to rematch any of the episodes or all of the episodes whenever we want! Yay! But there real excitement was the other item in the box - which to my surprise, came in a square box. I thought it would be in a tube.

I never noticed the inflatable tube

And there's the trick! Right there! Cool!

That's right, I am ready to puzzle! I have a couple in my closet which I think I will tackle next. I also think we have a few puzzles in the attic (and I think I have a few in my boxes of crap, er belongings). We shall see.

Was going to be a mom venting post

I had all these things to write about last night - mom stuff - but I just can't do it. Too tired. Mentally and emotionally. So instead, I will write about, toasters. Ok, not really, can't think of that much to write about toasters. Except to say that my toaster oven has been doing great duty as an actual oven, all things considered.

The long and the short of it was that mom woke me up at 1 am, then at 3 am and then kept me up for two hours from 6 am until 8 am complaining that I wasn't helping her. My guess is she was just hungry, so next time I will get her some food. I think I will buy a container of pre-cut fruit and whenever she is hungry, offer her some.

Our part of the big Juno snow storm looks to have been about 4 inches of snow. At 10:30 pm last night, I put on my boots and a hat (I never wear a hat)(well, not never, but extremely rarely), gloves and a coat and my scarf and went out to snowblew. I found a plug closer to the back door - ok, I knew the plug was there, I just hadn't thought of it before - and got the machine out into the snow. I couldn't, at that point, figure out how to turn on the headlights - yes, it has headlights, I know, how cool and spiffy is that? - if I had gotten the headlights on, I would have loved to have someone take a picture of me out blowing the snow around at night - but I couldn't get mom to do it - and there were no students wandering around out in the snow at that time - poo - so I blew all by my lonesome sans picture. It is soooo much easier than shoveling! And it is electric! (With a cord, boo - but better than a gas one...) I don't know that I will break it out when I head out in a few hours (I didn't) work on the newly fallen snow - there isn't that much of it and a broom ought to do the trick (it did - and two shovel fuels). It is pretty fluffy snow. Oh, and I did figure out how to turn the lights on - it just necessitated me taking off my gloves.

Did a bunch of Smith work from home today. Yay. Soon it will be dinner time - a night of mostly leftovers and tater tots.

Scary

Last night, I was feeling a bit exhausted for some reason or other. So I got mom upstairs and put Sound of Music on the tv for her. Earlier I had gone to Walmart (ewww) to look for pull up diaper type undies for her - they didn't have a great selection so I will have to try Rite Aid and see what they have - though they are considerably more expensive - and while there, I decided to look at Blu-ray players for mom's room. Found them, eventually, picked one and set it up when I came home. Anyway, I then went to bed and to sleep - figuring that I would wake up (or be woken up) at some point by mom and would turn off the player and the tv at that point. Sure enough, mom woke me up and wanted to go downstairs - at 2 in the morning. I was not amused. And that scared me. Just how unamused I was. I know I could have answered in more loving and reasonable terms - or just let her go down stairs - there are boodles of reasons why her going downstairs at 2 in the morning was not a good option for anyone concerned - but I didn't. Eventually I got the real reason out of her for why she wanted to go downstairs - she wanted more food. Not a big surprise. Got her to agree not to go downstairs and to go to bed. Got her cold water and some fiber bars and tried to go to sleep myself, which I eventually did, I guess. Since I eventually woke up again (to find her "reading" in the orange room/room at the head of the stairs). Sigh.

That was part of my exciting weekend. Woo hoo! The good thing is, I didn't have to go into the Smith  on Sunday (though I did help one of my projectionists with an issue over the phone). Not quite a day off - but less time spent Smithing than I did most days last week.

I love that I live in the "snow belt" and we are getting maybe 3 inches of snow in the next big storm, while people south of us are getting feet of snow! Yay! Then again, boo. I haven't gotten to use my snowblower too much this year. But I will probably go out and use it at some point tonight.

My hair has been shedding in the shower a lot - no, not getting bald, thank you very much mom - which is normal. Sadly, the drain had gotten very clogged. I tried to plunge it, to no avail. I tried using a little cheap snake I had gotten (it actually wasn't all that cheap) which didn't work effectively (probably user error) and thought a lot of "free flowing drain" thoughts - which also didn't miraculously clear up the clog. So, at Walmart (ick) I went to the plumbing area and looked for a more professional snake - found one but it was designed for toilets and I wasn't sure if it would fit through the metal thingies (technical term) in the drain so I opted not to purchase it. There was, though, in a big red bottle, a drain cleaning product called "Hair Clog Remover." Hmm, I wonder what it does...so I bought it and brought it home and followed the instructions and just now ran some water in the tub and it drained immediately! Huzzuh!! Hairless! (The drain, I mean)

TIAA - mom's retirement company - just sent her a note saying, amongst other things, that they think her life expectancy is 99 years old! Eeek! I should live so long.

My life is now complete. Again. Still?

I have seen Taylor Swift's belly button! Ok, she made this big thing about never showing her belly button - ever. Then she had a picture taken of herself wearing a bikini that exposed her navel! Eeek!! I don't think my life will ever be the same...

Yesterday, I was minding my own business, noticing that it was almost time for the movie at the Smith to start playing, when I got a call saying that my projectionist hadn't shown up. Why are they telling me this at 7:25 pm? Why didn't they tell me before that point? When I threw on some shoes and hustled over there - I live 5 minutes from the Smith by car - the volunteers told me that they hadn't noticed that there was no projectionist - despite there being no sound from 6:30 to 7:00 and then no pre-film slideshow from 7:00 until when they noticed. Grrrr. And grrr for my projectionist who forgot to add the assignment to their calendar. I started the movie, told the volunteers and a person I knew in the audience to call me if anything went wrong with the movie. Nothing did. Yay. I came home and played for a bit before heading back to the theatre to turn everything off and put out the ghost light and lock all the doors. The only thing that made up for this was getting to have a beer out at the Red Dove.

I actually had a nice, though brief, time at the Dove (or the Squab). Chatted with some prominent Genevans and one of my favorite bartenders. The beer I had was a Naked Dove Scotch Ale. I generally like Scotch ales - though something salty would have been nice to have with it.

Before all this, though, it was Pizza night!! Which means that I got a slice of pizza and mom got stuffed shells. We shared onion rings - Cams has delicious onion rings.

One of the things I have done for mom was to buy paper toilet seat covers. Unfortunately she is unable to use them anymore - a combination of a lack of dexterity and a lack of understanding how they function. So I get to put them down for her. And if I don't, well, she isn't happy. So, they are a mixed blessing. At best. Today, I think I need to look at adult diapers or depends or something. Maybe start with light pads. I bought her a lot of thicker pads, but she doesn't remember how to use them, and she put at least one in the toilet bowl. Eeek!

Egg Snow Soup

I think this is the second or third time that I have tried to make egg drop soup. Maybe second. I doubt the last, unless my situation changes radically in the next month. Mom liked what I made. I thought it was bland and scary looking. Not like egg drop soup at all. Well, not like Chinese Restaurant egg drop soup.

Not clear and the egg became particlized and not streamer like

I had to go back and doctor mine with some soy sauce to make it more palatable to me. I think next time I might double or triple all the spices and see if that helps. And I just looked online and found some thoughts on how to make the egg be more streamer like. So, maybe I will revisit this in a couple of weeks. For now, mom will get soup with some of her next meals. Huzzuh!

Today is bill paying day - and working on my retirement (hahahahaha) day (i.e. putting together Publisher's Clearing House mailings). I love that I can pay most of my bills electronically. Yay! No stamps!! Or envelopes. Or any of that brew hahahaha.

Got the bills all paid - now I have a bunch of things to mail on Monday. Yay. Off to do a light yoga and work on lunch. Then a shower - then off for some Smith work and some shopping. (Maybe not any shopping...)

Lunch is done - I couldn't face eating last night's leftover, leftover, leftover Chinese food for some reason. Hmm. Now time for a shower. Yippee!

All clean and ready for more of my day. Heading to the Smith in a little bit. I probably won't do the shopping - I need three things - 1) A new to us stove - need is a bit strong for this - the oven doesn't work, but the burners on top do. Who needs a functioning oven, really? 2) Something to help me unclog the drain in my shower - I am thinking to try a small plumber's snake if I can find a reasonably priced one at some point - has anyone noticed that I have quite a bit of hair? (On my head - and not a lot in weird places on my body - so far) and 3) A new disc player for mom and her bedroom. The one I bought at big lots was worth what I paid for it ($25). Just not overly motivated to do any of that shopping at this point. Sigh.

Games I Play

Yes, I am a player. If you didn't know that before, know it now. I like to play. I believe that play is part of what keeps one young at heart. Unfortunately, I do play the badder sorts of games as well. Let's start with those.

I need to play games with my mom. Most of them are for her own good. Whenever I go out, I am "going to The Smith." Even if I am not going to the Smith - that is where I tell her I am going. I sometimes add Wegman's to the places I am going and to the things I am doing. More information than that just starts her brain whirring - and that can be sad. I try to keep mom as calm as possible.

At home, whenever I need to "escape" from my mom - because if I didn't escape, I would go even crazier than I already am - I say I am "going to the bathroom." She can't really deny me going to the bathroom(even though she sometimes tries to). When I eventually return, I might tell her what I was actually doing - within reason. Playing xBox is just "playing," working in the kitchen is just that. Working on the computer (which includes checking Facebook - I mean, come on, that takes a lot of time and effort...)

Next is the answer game. Mom used to ask the same question over and over again. She still does, but the question has become "What am I doing?" or some variation of that. It is really hard to answer that. I am not one for giving her activities - when I have given her activities she gets even more stressed out. She doesn't do much, so my answers are pretty simple most of the time: You are going to the bathroom, you are lying down thinking happy thoughts, you are eating your lunch.

Just for your information, mom's cognitive skills are declining appreciably. I can say a sentence I said six months ago and today she can't parse it. I need to keep my sentences down to about five words to maximize her listening comprehension. No allusions, no big vocabulary words. Sigh.

I play games when I make meals. Ok, not so much play games as sometimes make two meals - or one and a half meals. For instance, if I make salmon for my mom, I will make something else for me. Or tonight, we had salad, hamburgers and sweet potato tots. On my salad I added green olives and mild banana peppers - two things that mom has made clear she doesn't like. And for our hamburgers (which I marinate in Worcestershire Sauce and stuff with cheese) and tots I added a few pizza pockets - again things that mom doesn't like. And I play with recipes - making things I have always wanted to make. Mom says she loves the egg drop soup from Main Moon on Exchange Street. Well, we are out of it - and there is still Chinese food left over - so I am going to make some egg drop soup for her. Yippee?

I try not to play relationship games, but I am a gamer, so...

Ours (which is in the attic) looks like this

Speaking of gaming - I love all sorts of games - from tic tac toe to chess, from old maid to bridge, from Stratego to well, anything. I own an xBox. Our first video game console was the Odyssey. I have had two NES's - both stolen - from the same house - on successive years (sad story that). I love to play pool. I wasn't a big arcade gamer, but did enjoy a few. Played lots of games on the computer and still like to. I don't have a lot of games on my phone - but the two I have currently (well, I have three but I don't play one of them too frequently) are bridge (yay!) and Word Jigsaw. I love them both and use them as rewards or time fillers.

Anybody want to play?

Tried and Blue

After posting that gratitude blog bit yesterday, an attack of the blues came upon me. Luckily not a huge one, but a little one. Sigh. This too shall pass. And then for whatever reasons, I didn't sleep well and got up really early. And stayed up. I did, at least, have a nap - well, I sort of meditated  - after I got back from an early morning at The Smith. And I am feeling a bit happier today - though exhausted and sore around the eyes. So, a quiet night at home is called for. Hmm, I do that most nights....

Last night, I wanted to finish the puzzle, so I put on a movie that mom and I could watch together. She was awake for most of it and liked it overall. It was Robin and the 7 Hoods - one of my favorite movies from my childhood (it came out in 1964). Stars Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bing Crosby!

Yes, the puzzle is done. And I won't be starting a new one until I get my puzzle transporter thingie. Which won't happen until February.

Just enough pieces!

At some point last night, the geek me had a thought - how many times did I touch each piece on average? Who cares? I do. I know that I touched each piece at least once. 1000 touches. I probably touched each piece 3 times. Some pieces I probably touched as many as 20 times. (Maybe? I will have to give that some thought). Anyway, lots of touches.

I really do have it good, all things considered

This is an obligatory post. A post of gratitude.

Life is, in general, great. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly. I am not particularly sick. I do not lack for acquaintances and friends. Yippee.

As far as mom goes, I am grateful that she is not displaying a lot of the behaviors that I read about here and there - she is still, overall, quite a nice person. She sleeps a good bit. She eats on her own. She still has an appetite. Ok, maybe too much of an appetite, but that is still a good thing. She can manage better on her own than she lets on when I am around, but that is ok as well. I feel ok leaving her for a few hours at a time. All in all, I am lucky that mom isn't more worser.

That being said, I am feeling really, really, really frustrated with my mom just now. Sigh.

Second topic: I realize that I am hug deprived. I love my mom, and hugs with her are ok. But they are just sort of dim versions of comforting hugs. Or even dimmer versions of hugs with a romantic partner. Or so I seem to recall. Yes, I am that hug deprived. I am thinking of buying one of those hugging robots - does anybody want to buy one of my (slightly used) kidneys? - or something like that.

Puzzledom - I am almost done. I am now at a point where I think they sent me too many puzzle pieces and they aren't all going to fit!

Nubbins

When working on a puzzle, there are, of course, many different ways to do so. Color, or patterns on the pieces - sometimes looking for the "right" shaped piece with the right number of "nubbins." I don't think everyone calls them nubbins, but I do. A puzzle piece in most puzzles can have anywhere from no (or none) nubbins (the protruding round bits) to four nubbins. Recently I sorted my puzzle parts into the number of nubbins - and in the case of two nubbins, into three distinct piles - nubbins on opposite sides, two nubbins next to each other pointing one way, two nubbins next to each other pointing the opposite way. Am I crazy or what? There are probably twenty or thirty pieces that I ought to be able to find this way - which still will leave me with a tenth of the puzzle that will be better served by color or pattern matches (until nubbin matches again make sense). Baby freakin' steps. Mom has started to ask me what I am going to do after I am finished with this puzzle. My glib response - start another one. Right now it is a bit of a slog - but if I do a few pieces each time I sit down...

No picture of the puzzle today - it would be hard to really tell what has been changed since last time.

And that's it for today's post. We'll see if more inspiration occurs tomorrow...

Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily...

Just woke up from a pretty full on dream - most intense dream I have remembered in a while - holding a set of auditions for a musical of some kind. Had a really great turnout - which is always a good thing - probably 60 kids. Huzzuh! Weird thing is, I am not anywhere near directing a show right now in my life. Maybe it is a sign that I will get to do it again one day. That would be nifty indeed.

I finally plugged one of my mom's Christmas presents in - her clock that tells her what time of day it is. She said she liked it. I hope that it gives her some reassurance! (She thinks it has something to do with keeping her room warm. Sigh)

I thought it would be bigger for the (crazy - demented even) price but it seems to be big enough for mom

Also, mucho progresso soup (o) on the puzzle. Huzzuh!

Closer and closer! All pieces are now face up!

New Obsession

Who hasn't had at least one or two obsessions in their lives? Not addictions, at least, not in my case. I don't think I have ever been addicted to anything. Obsessed? Sure. Lots of times. The good thing about obsessions in my life thus far, is that they often end and that they haven't been particularly life threatening. My new current obsession is a teeny game on my iPhone called Word Jigsaw. I may even splurge on it and buy the pro package. We shall see. Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying playing the medium size - over and over and over again. Each game seems a little different and they last between 25 seconds or so to 5 minutes or so depending on how difficult I find them.

Nice day yesterday, besides a Smith SNAFU. The sound system didn't want to work, though it eventually did. After I had to let everyone go home. Sigh. Other than that, though, I had a pleasant day.

It started off with hot chocolate with a friend. Yes, an actual hot beverage. One of the few that I will occasionally enjoy. At Opus. I don't go there a lot, but have never had a bad experience there. I do sometimes still miss the Asian restaurant that was there, though...

I did a little grocery shopping (actually asked the scarf receiver to send me a selfie of her wearing the thing - though I doubt that will ever happen), bought a new pair of kitchen scissors (though these too have plastic handles - sigh) and partook of all sorts of free samples of food stuffs at Wegman's.

The time at home was pretty pleasant, too. Mom ate her lunch easily. I played her music on a CD player - our new thing. Napped a little (didn't sleep particularly well for whatever reasons). I did some work on the puzzle (no picture today), cleaned the kitchen, later heated up leftovers - I really need to pull the trigger and get a new to the house stove. I can't decide whether to go for Lowes and a new, new one - or go to Universal Appliance and get a refurbished one. I am leaning towards UA because they are local and weird. We shall see on Monday or Tuesday. Later, I let mom watch Doc Martin while I went to my room and watched the second Percy Jackson movie. I tried to find out if the third was scheduled, but apparently it was canned. Oh well. The PJ movie was decent - as long as one had no expectations of great art.

I keep forgetting that tomorrow (Monday) is a holiday. I hope an aide comes, since we didn't have one on Friday...

It's a start

Yesterday, all my troubles...no, that's not it. Yesterday, was the first day of the rest of my...nope. Hmm. Anyway, the good news is, it has started. Well, restarted. Started again. Decluttering the house, that is. A kind person came and worked for a couple of hours in the red room (linen closet room) to try and figure out what was going on in there - it had become sort of jumbled and pile-y over the past few months - a year maybe? - since last someone made use of the room as a place to sleep. Now if only the kind person will continue to help and I don't piss them off somehow...

Puzzle progress - getting there - I am at a different point where I am sure I am missing at least one piece. That almost never happens, but there is this one piece...

One piece eludes me there on the middle left (the bottom left I am sure will turn up)

The rest of the day yesterday was spent Smithing - a looooong and productive meeting with Kelly, then a quick look see at a rug remnant that we might use for our upcoming Oscars event and then some more meeting with Kelly - over a beer at Lake Drum. Happily Victor isn't sick of me. Yet.

Ladybug what?

I have had a house guest for a long time now. I don't know how long Ladybugs live, but this winter, I have had one as a house guest. (I could do a lot of googling and figure stuff out about ladybugs, and maybe I will one day - for now, I am going to just make the lady bug a she - ok?) She spent a long time in the kitchen - seemingly with a death wish. I first found her when she was crawling around and trying to be anywhere I was working. She kept putting herself on my cutting board - so I would carefully shoo her off and go on with what I was doing. Next, I found her in the sink a lot - so I removed her to a safer location - on the counter near a trash can. For a few days, I didn't see her. Last night, as I was heading to my room for some reason or other, I noticed a spot on the wall. My unconscious told me it was the lady bug. I didn't believe it. So on the third of fourth trip past the spot on the wall, I decided to take a closer look. Sure enough - the lady bug. Weird, right?

My pal the ladybug

I have been doing some really good procrastination lately. Part of the reason is because the weather has been so abysmal here. My composting is piling up a bit, though...

4+ tubs of composting material and counting

Four Sweaters Day

I'm I'm I'm just a-washin machine, baby don't work for nobody but me...

Because of the yogurt mishap yesterday, I ended up washing not one, not two, not three, but four, yes four sweaters. Two of mom's, two of mine. Yay clean sweaters. Boo brrr-y cold water on my little hands. And I can't find (ok, I barely looked) the second (I know we have another one, we have at least two of so many things)(like books, we have at least two books)(and I have at least two socks...) sweater/clothes drying rack like thing. One sweater is almost dry, a second is getting there, one doesn't seem to have any interest in being dry and the last is still relaxing in the tub, waiting for final wringing out-age before being stretched (hopefully not actually stretched beyond its original proportions) out to start the drying process. Yippee!

I am a computer god! Ok, not really, but I got to feel like one for an hour yesterday. A friend was having problems with her mac and I, Dudley Do Right (Jr.) rushed in to save the day. At least I hope so. We shall see if her problems persist. And I got cookies! Huzzuh!!

As far as the puzzle goes, I actually did combine a few loose pieces in various ways - too each other and to the bulk of the puzzle. Really, though, not much forward motion was accomplished. The year is young.

Two weeks (plus a day) of doing yoga - some meditation, some swinging, some complete breaths, a couple of sun salutes and a bit of a shoulder stand. Lots better than nothing!

Somethings always change

That is a working subject line. And it is a fact. Change is the only constant.

So, where was I? Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent a good part of it puttering around (at home and at work) for the Smith. There are a couple of projects that I am looking forward to getting started and finished - small jobs - one is lighting fixtures, one is assisted listening. A third, about which I am really excited is a set of boxes that will allow everything technical to talk to everything technical from all over the theatre. Yippee!! Dreams do come true. Though I would really like 20 movable LED lighting instruments and a new light board (and a couple more updated light racks...) Lots of email, an email blast, some web work etc. Yay.

I cleaned my bathroom yesterday. Yes, I really did. I did not scrub the floor - or the bathtub - ok, I really just cleaned the sink and the toilet. But those are the most important bits, right? I admit it, and I probably have admitted it before, cleaning is not high on my priority list. I would rather nap than clean. Heck, I would rather do just about anything than clean. I do, though, like to organize. And I don't mind having things be clean. I just don't like to do it. It always surprises me that there are some people out there who actually enjoy cleaning. Weird.

Rough night - I was tossing and turning a bit - mom was calling for me off and on and after a nap this morning,  I woke to find that a yogurt I had given mom at 7 or so  had ended up well distributed between her stomach, her sweater, her nightgown, her table, her chair and the floor. Yippee! Washing with Woolite in water that is almost freezing is so much fun! And poor mom, she thinks she did something wrong. Sigh.

Here is the latest puzzle progress.

Two thirds done, I would reckon

When I am not doing a puzzle, I forget how much I like them. I just ordered myself one of those "roll up your puzzle" things - though it won't be coming until February - at the same time that my Downton Abbey season 5 dvd is shipping!

Puzzle Point

Hey - I am at that point in the puzzle where there seem to be pieces missing. I have been through the pieces that remain any number of times and a few of the pieces that seem to be obvious in nature - because of color combinations or shape or both - just don't seem to be anywhere. I am pretty sure I am just not seeing them. But still - it is a frustrating point. I think I am about 60 percent of the way through the puzzle. Soldiering on! (I found one of the pieces! Huzzuh!)

I was all set to go into the Smith yesterday - and I do need to go in - well, actually, I don't need to go in, I can do the work I need to do from here - as long as no one is trying to use the computer. Turns out that Kelly was sick, so we didn't have to/get to meet. Yay! I stayed home and did a little Smith work.

I eventually went out to the grocery store and got the makings of tacos. Well, tacos without the taco shells - soft or crunchy (I like both). Unfortunately, mom can no longer navigate either a soft or hard shell - so I just put the taco stuff over rice. It had been so long, I had forgotten (mostly) how to use my rice cooker. But it was just like falling off a bicycle. We had taco stuff and salad for dinner. And it was pretty tasty. Huzzuh!

Yup, short post today.

Fear of feeling fearful - is there a phobia of fear? Phobophibia.

I hope, that as I age, I maintain a modicum of fearlessness. My mom is afraid of everything - including everyday stuff - like breathing and walking and, well, everything. I don't know that I would be able to live in a such a constant state of fear...

My right ear is blocked again. Poo. I will adjust or it will get better or both or neither. Grrr.

When I first came to take care of my mom a few years ago, she was pretty autonomous. Now, I am a little worried to leave her alone for more than an hour at a time - maybe two or three depending on the day - but four makes me really anxious. And I can't really tell her where I am going as a) she just forgets and b) gets anxious if it is someplace new. OK places for me to be going are: grocery shopping and The Smith. So if I am headed out for whatever reason, I am doing one of those two things in her mind. Luckily, right now, there isn't a lot happening at the Smith, so I don't need to be there for long stretches of time. We shall see what happens come the Spring.

I took most of the day off from the puzzle yesterday. I got a couple of pieces put together and a couple of pieces added to the pieces already attached in the puzzle - but not the leaps and bounds that occurred in the past few days. Moderation and patience - always working on those two "virtues."

The Smith did get a bit of my time yesterday. One of my projectionists was really, really late. Got there at 1:45 when he was supposed to be there at 1:00. Sigh. So I got to go in and be there for a while. Which was a good thing, since it seemed like he had also forgotten how to run the movies. Double sigh.

Oh, I did get to Lake Drum's chocolate and beer and BYOV (bring your own vinyl) event. Sadly my copy of Court of the Crimson King is totally messed up. Maybe all of my records are. I don't know. I haven't actually played many of them since, well, for a long, long time. Why the heck am I holding on to them still? Silly Augustus. Speaking of which, I did decide to let go of some plastic baggage that has been accumulating for years and years (and years and years).

But I got away from my subject. There was quite a crowd at Lake Drum - especially for a Sunday afternoon. My enjoyment was spoiled a little because of my ear being stuffed up. We early muggers got a yummy taste treat as well - I think I posted a picture of it on Instagram - pulled pork plus! The taste of chocolate was pretty yummy, chocolate with bacon. I did think that there would be more chocolate tasting than just the one little tidbit, but there wasn't. The tasting of beers that Victor and Jenna shared more than made up for it, though!

I didn't end up buying any of the chocolate that was for sale. Lake Drum was out of the beer I have been partaking of there most recently, so I made do with the Smoked IPA.

Next stop yesterday, grocery store. Yippee! I love going to the grocery store. Is that acutely weird?

I spend a lot of time on Facebook. And recently on Instagram as well. And I comment and "like" a lot of posts. I do worry (a teeny bit) that people get tired of me always writing on their posts. But I like to feel like I am actually engaged in something, rather than just sitting here passively and not interacting. If they don't want their crap commented on, don't post it. Anyway...

Successful Failures?

Experiments need to happen occasionally. Lunch has been pretty straightforward here for at least a year - maybe two: whole wheat bread with salami, jarlsberg cheese and lettuce, some orange glop (sweet potato) and a piece of fruit. Yesterday, I tried something completely different. And it did not work well. First, I hadn't made a grilled cheese sandwich in forever. So I over cooked one side. Mom kept saying "What is this burned thing? I'm supposed to eat this?" She managed to choke it down eventually. Personally, I ate the crusts and thought it was delicious. Whatever. Next was the soup. I thought mom would like some nice soup. I had a can of Wegman's Chicken Noodle soup - I know it isn't mom's favorite, but I thought soup was soup and was uniformly not too bad. Well this soup was "Disgusting! It's slimy!" So I had to make two or three trips to replenish her orange glop. Sigh. Maybe if I try it again, I won't overcook her sandwich and will feed her new England clam chowder - which I know she likes.

My ear was starting to feel full, so I used some H2O2 - only to have it feel even fuller. Sigh. We shall see what the rest of the day brings.

It was a nice, relaxing day, yesterday - except for about an hour of Smith emailing and such. Yay. I tried to get mom to watch a Hitchcock movie (The Man Who Knew Too Much) that she had purchased at some point - but she couldn't follow it. So I put on Doc Martin for her. And I watched The Wolverine. I enjoyed my movie. She didn't enjoy hers. After that I put on Top Hat for her - which she only really used as an excuse to stay up later (which is fine) which gives her an excuse to eat ice cream and cookies (which isn't as fine - I think all that sugar can't be good for her - but at 84...)

Dinner was, as predicted yesterday, mostly leftovers - with yummy roasted brussel sprouts and some new mashed potatoes - mixed with the used mash potatoes from some other day. Mom got left over salmon. I had left over pork. Yay dinner! All in all a nice day. Oh, and I worked on the puzzle a bit.

Day Five - I am using the bottom of the puzzle to work on other parts of the puzzle (click on the pic to enlarge)

Just let those expectations go

My expectations got the better of me this morning. I thought I was going to watch SpaceX try to land its reusable first stage on a teeny barge in the middle of the ocean. Instead, I just got to watch a launch - which is still cool, but...finally read that the first stage hit the platform - but not sure if it will be reusable or not - it or the platform. I will have to wait to hear more, I guess.

Today is Saturday. A day of rest. Gotta figure out what we are having for dinner. I do have a few leftovers, so it will probably be mostly made up of those. Yippee!

Puzzle update - please note that I am one day behind in my puzzle picture updates:

Day four?

You can, if you squint, see the two moose making out! Just wait until you see how far I got last night! Yippee and huzzuh! Seriously, though, the rest only gets harder as it seems to be all shades of green with no straight lines anywhere. Poo.

I just read an article that reinforced my belief that love is more of a choice than it is anything else:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=2

And the actual questions: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

Now I just need to find someone with whom I have an interest in trying this. I have at least one idea, but she doesn't seem all that interested in going down this road with me. Just keep waiting, that's what I'll get to do. Huzzuh and yippee.

Short post for now - we will see what the day brings.

Quite a Day

Most of the day was spent on Smith stuff - lots and lots of Smith stuff - meetings, meetings everywhere. When I wasn't meeting at the Smith I was working at home on Smith stuff. Yay?

Right now, I am working on trying to figure out who has the domestic theatrical rights to Arsenic and Old Lace. My contact at Warner Bros. was not very helpful. She told me that they have the rights to Arsenic and Old Lace for Canada and that's it. I asked who has the rights domestically and have not received an answer. I have tried a variety of other sources and so far, no go. I wish there was someplace one could go to find out who has what rights to which movie - a nice big database somewhere that was searchable - then when you found who had the rights, their contact information - phone number, email and snail mail address - would be right there. Wouldn't that be nice? So, I have some more phone numbers to try tomorrow. I wish I knew someone who knew the answer to these questions. Sigh city.

So, that was a large part of my day. Oh, and meetings. I had three meetings yesterday, one of which was about Arsenic and Old Lace. One was the monthly Film Committee meeting. And one was the Programming Committee Meeting. Gotta love good meetings.

In between, I kept coming back to the house. Mom actually asked to have a shower! That is weird. But good. Though she has been complaining all day that her aide washed her with especially drying soap. Sigh. I am thinking of trying a new lunch - maybe grilled cheese sandwiches with soup. Though she is eating the lunches she has currently well enough. For some reason, I get the impression that mom doesn't like grilled cheese. Does anyone know?

Dinner was from Cams. I have been jonesing for pizza for a long time. Ever since mom announced that she didn't like pizza (who the hello (sic) doesn't like pizza?) I haven't served it to her. I have eaten a little here and there, but it is infrequent. Last night, I ordered stuffed shells with meatballs (which mom ate decently) onion rings (cams onion rings are great!)(who knew?) and two slices of pizza. I ate too much and was basically immobilized for the rest of the evening. I sat in the living room and worked on the puzzle while I put things on for mom. Through two movies! One was Pat and Mike with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Um, no. Not a movie I am going to look forward to watching again any time soon (or in this lifetime). Not terrible, but not worth my time. The second movie was the 1,263rd playing (in this house) of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet.

Here is a picture of the change in the alcove so far:

Recycling

Nope, I didn't take a picture. But I will take a picture of the progress that I have made in the alcove. At some point. Hopefully. Anyway, last night, in the bitter, bitter cold, I put out a tub, a small waste basket, a big garbage "can" (it's plastic) and two piles of broken down cardboard boxes. Again, here's hoping the wind didn't blow it all over the place. Still, at least it is out of the house!

The puzzle is progressing. There are, apparently, some people who really don't like doing jigsaw puzzles. Or puzzles of any kind. Weird. For me, I find it relaxing and engaging at the same time, working on a jigsaw puzzle. My father used to say it was cheating to look at the picture of the finished puzzle. Me, I look at it all the time.

The Secret to Quick Yummy Cooking is...

I had this epiphany the other day, while making my version of Tuna Casserole. I love epiphanies. They feel so good. But they can't be forced. I have yet to have an epiphany on demand. Anyone else find that to be the case? Lots of things in life can't be forced. Locks, though, they can often be forced. At various times in my life I have wanted to learn how to be a locksmith. I am sure that is a skill that would be cool to have. But where was I?

Oh, right, my cooking epiphany: Cream of Mushroom soup in a can! That's right, when in doubt, dump a can of cream of mushroom soup into your meal and voila! Instant yumminess. When I bought the cans for the tuna casserole, a recipe I ought to have halved, actually, I bought an extra "just in case." Another yumminess adder - for me at least, not being too lactose intolerant or anything, is our cream. Nectar of the gods! And the beef stroganoff recipe I use has both cream of mushroom soup and sour cream in it! Huzzuh!!

I didn't do a lot yesterday - or so it seems. One thing I did do, though, was clean off a counter in the kitchen that had gotten super cluttered. That particular counter was neat and wide open a few years ago, but over the past couple of years, stuff built up on it again. Then last night, for some reason, I proceeded to clean it off. Which is the way I seem to roll. Doing one bit of neatening every few years! Go me! (Rah, rah) At that rate, the house will be clean in, er, well, never. Sigh.

Ah, right, I did some Smith work yesterday. And I am doing a bit of that today. I need to go in and test all of the film stuff to make sure that it is happy - so the projectionist who comes in doesn't experience anything too weird to handle when they come in tonight.

Watched American Hustle last night and enjoyed it. I love Amy Adams and mostly watched it because of her. Mom didn't understand it at all.

Almost a Week!

Yes, I have almost posted every day for a week! Yay!

My nephew, Sam, told me that google has made it hard to comment on my blog posts. Has anyone else tried and failed? If so, please send me a direct message - if you don't have my email address, please find me on Facebook (there aren't that many Augustus Schoen-Renes on Facebook) and send me a message there, please. Sam would like me to move my blog to wordpress, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon...

Yesterday was back to the grind. Yippee! I got a little work done at the theatre (after running a few errands) and then had two meetings. The first, with Kelly, to go over the coming weeks and months and to talk about up coming events and such. Good stuff. Then a Marketing Committee meeting where we talked over a bunch of the stuff we had talked about but with more people. I hear to the "t" meetings! Sometimes.

Just now, though, I really enjoyed doing some of my work from home - I have set it up so that I can connect to work from my computer and do four different activities:

1) Set-up the heating/cooling schedule. We want our patrons to be toasty or cool and to not spend too much money heating/cooling an empty building.

2) Work on the Film server - for those of you who don't know, we show films at the Smith. Most of them are loaded on a server (we only show digital films currently) and playlists need to be created that show the people what we want to show them in the order we want them shown. Having the ability to do the work from home is great!!

3) Work on the pre-film slide show. I don't know how effective the pre-film slide show is - mainly because we have no real way to judge its impact (does anybody else do the his/it is thing to remember whether or not there is an apostrophe (the crux of the biscuit) in "its"?) - but I think it is a good thing. Luckily, no changes will be necessary until Thursday (after our first movie of the New Year plays).

4) The kiosk programming - last year, the Geneva Business Improvement District group got the funding to get the kiosk replaced - a tri-electric sign near The Smith that we can use for upcoming events, announcements and advertising. I don't actually do any of the programming, but I can access it if I need to remotely. Which means that the person (Amanda) doing the day to day work on the kiosk also doesn't need to be present at the Smith to do her thing. Yay!

But, once again, I got away from my narrative thread - I was talking about yesterday. Good meetings. I think that was it. We are mostly planning our Oscar Event, which hopefully will be more fully realized than our Oscar Event last year. Speaking of which, at some point, I need to see if the television antenna is working and that we can indeed show the Oscars...

I cooked a delicious, if I must say so myself, tuna casserole last night for dinner - with Salad for our veggie. There is way too much of it, so I am sure we will be enjoying it again on Wednesday night. Mom was eating up a storm yesterday - a yogurt, lunch, dinner, two bowls of ice cream (with cookies) and some marzipan - and a couple of fiber bars as night time snacks. That isn't a bad thing - just an observation.

I need an oven. I hate spending that much money, though. Oven/$$$, $$$/Oven. Hmm...But I probably will. At some point. Sooner rather than later. Maybe even today! Nah, not today - way too cold outside.

Oh, and I forgot to show how the mountain was transformed into many mole hills.

Look! Mostly folded! Now I just need to put the clothes away...

Also worked on the puzzle some and made a little progress.

Mom asked what percentage done I am - 10% maybe?

By the way, my fears were not realized. I found no trash blowing around my yard. I did find my two trash cans knocked over, one in the street - though I think that was just careless rubbish people...

ABC with VIB

For a while now, I have been doing the A(pples) B(eets) C(arrots) juice thing. As I mentioned elsewhere, I don't know that my hair is any shinier or that my eyes are brighter or anything, but I am pretty sure it isn't hurting. Though it is a bit pricey, all things considered. If I were really truly poor, I wouldn't be able to afford it. Anyway, to make the juice go down more smoothly (I don't really like the taste of beets), I add other fruit. Most recently, I have been adding a lemon, which helps a lot. Recently, I finished off some Vodka Infused with Blueberries. During that sip-fest, I ate a few of the blueberries. They weren't terrible or disgusting. But when the vodka was gone and just the blueberries were left, I was thinking about recycling them, and realized that the ultimate in recycling would be to add them to my ABC juice. Woo hoo! Just sayin'. Can't wait for my morning juice now!

Did I write about mom's echocardiogram experience? I have this feeling I did. I know I could check if I weren't feeling lazy. Suffice it to say it was pretty cool (until I fell asleep). We got the results back and there was nothing wrong there. We have to go and do more tests. Once we get her insurance straightened out. I got a bill for $80+ dollars for health insurance, which is supposed to be a monthly bill. How did mom's health insurance from RIT go from free to $80+ a month in less than a year? ACA? I hope to have everything figured out this week. And a little rant - what the hell is it with Open Enrollment? Grrrrr - why isn't health insurance available whenever someone wants or needs it rather than for a couple of weeks or months whenever the insurance companies want to let people have access to it? Get insurance companies out of Health Care!!!

Oh, I and I have done 1% of the year's worth of daily yoga! Woo hoo!

Back to the grind today - Smithward bound at some point today. Wish me luck!

One more thing before I sign off - I put out trash last night and we had a lot of wind. I am dreading looking outside to see if the trash is all over the place. Sigh.

Laundry and so much more accomplished

It was a Saturday that was, weather wise, miserable and weird. It was cold in the morning, then icy in the afternoon and started to get warmer at night. We are supposed to reach a high of 50+ degrees Fahrenheit today. And then plunge down to the teens on Monday. Joy and rapture. Weather is being really weird.

Despite the weather, I was determined to go out and get some things accomplished. A dvd player that I bought for mom at Big Lots is terrible and it needs replacing. Though she says that she is having trouble watching dvds as she can't follow them anymore. This is sad and scary. I don't know what to do about this at all. Just keep moving forward I guess. And in mom's case, a slow spiral downward. Sigh. I was thinking of heading to (ick) walmart to get her another one. Two things stopped me. First, I hate walmart. Second, the weather. I will keep thinking on it. I also wanted to buy a replacement pair of kitchen scissors. The ones we have had for years and years (and years?) broke this afternoon. The plastic just gave up the ghost. Why they were made of plastic is anyone's guess, but there you have it.

I got about a block away and realized that I had forgotten to put the laundry detergent in the car. It doesn't pour well when frozen (liquid detergent that it). I went back and got it and it wasn't until I was almost at the laundromat that I realized that I had left my phone at the house! Oh my god! Panic, panic, panic! What was I going to do without my phone for an hour or two?! What exciting messages might I not be able to respond to instantly? What about my food shopping list? What about playing bridge endlessly while waiting for my clothes to dry? Eeeeeek! But I chose to do my best to survive without the silly thing.

First stop, laundry. I stuffed my clothes into A washing machine (yes, I do not sort), put in some detergent and beat a hasty retreat - or rather an advance to the rear - to Wegman's. I had the realization that they must sell kitchen scissors. And they did! Except they were out. :( Until Friday. Can I live until Friday without kitchen scissors? Time will tell. I got my groceries - mostly my Apple, Beet, Carrot stuff to make juice with. Yes, I am still doing that juice thing, despite not noticing a sleeker coat or more sparkly eyes. I have no external mirror to tell me if there is a change. Which is one reason I seek a life partner. Oops, digression. Sorry, back to the narrative through line. All shopped and no Walmarting - since part of the reason I was going to go there was to get kitchen shears. Still thinking on how to get a DVD player without going to Walmart for it. If I lived nearer an urban center...Anywho...

Here is the mountain of Laundry that will become many mole hills

Back to the laundromat. My clothes were spinning as I arrived. Scoping out the space, I saw that many, many dryers were in use. Sigh. Last time, I was a little underwhelmed with how the lower dryers performed, so I was seeking all upper ones this time. I found three, not contiguous, but that was ok. I have some distinct clothing, so I knew could find them again. Without my phone, I basically people watched (one of my favorite pastimes) for half an hour. Then I tossed all of my laundry into the baskets - saving the joy of folding for mom and home.

Last stop, Lake Drum, the new place that has opened in town. I play a game with myself where I make a rule, and depending on the result, I make a choice. If x, then y sort of thing. In this case, if there was easy parking near Lake Drum, I would stop. As luck (fortune, kismet) would have it, there was a spot almost directly in front. Huzzuh?

Lake Drum is a pleasant place, all things considered. Nice atmosphere, interesting beer options - Victor does his best to pick only NYS beers - and I get to drink out of my Saucer #8 stein. Chatted with nice people and stayed way longer than I had intended. Oh well. Mom survived my absence, which is, I guess, the most important thing.

Dinner and then the coin sorting.

After dinner, I wanted to wrap my coins in their little paper sleeves. I had remembered to remove the coins from the car's center console (one of the things I did while waiting for my clothes to dry at the laundromat). So, I got the coins all together and realized that I had no idea where I had cleverly put all of the coin wrappers. They used to be in with the coins - in the collection box - but the box was too crowded so I moved them. Cleverly. I must admit that I was mildly concerned that I would have to end up cleaning (eeek) my entire room to try and find them. I did look in a few places, overturned piles of papers and such, to no avail. I basically gave up on the idea of accomplishing coin rollage last night.

When I couldn't find the rolling stuff, I just put the coins in these

Over the next couple of hours, I sat and thought - ok, tried to nap, but couldn't. Sitting, thinking, looking around my room - when what did to my wandering eye did appear? A tower fruit cake tins. I don't know where I got them - four of them - all pretty and flowery and such. Hmm, why were they there? What could their function be, now that the fruit cake had been ingested, digested and er, eliminated? Why not get off my butt and see? Yay and ta dah! The coin stuff! Inside each of the cans was the coin sock for the coins and one of the four coin denominations generally in use: pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Huzzuh!!

Tins o'coins and wrapping materials (and socks)

I guessed that I would roll about $60 worth of coins. Anyone wanna guess? The rolling was made a little more difficult because mom wanted to chat the entire time. Which we did. Though some of my answers took a while until I got to a memorable stopping place.

More than $60! Rich, I tell you, rich!!

 Quite a day!

What day is it?

I know I have a weird schedule, so figuring out what day it is can be something of a challenge, even in "normal" times. But the past two weeks, with two sets of weirdnesses in the middle of the week, I just couldn't really get my head around yesterday being a "Friday" and today being a "Saturday." It feels like Today ought to be Sunday. Hmm.

Yesterday, laundry didn't happen. I got there and someone was sitting in front of the three huge machines stuffing them full of clothes - all three of them! Grrr. Well, I guess she had a lot of laundry. But still. Looks like today is now Laundry day. Huzzuh.

All this time off from The Smith has been weird as well. Sure, a meeting here, a scary filter removal there, but mostly no Smith work. I hope I can get back in the swing if it come Monday.

Our days look like this - Morning time do stuff - mom rests - Lunch (this is a bit of a process but it usually lasts noon-2ish) - Afternoon - do more stuff till about 4 or 4:30. Go to the grocery store - Come home, do a little bit of stuff - get mom situated in the living room (help her down stairs, see that she does her teeny exercise thing, etc.) work on dinner - news (which mom really no longer comprehends) - a couple of Big Bang Theory episodes - then evening stuff - put things on tv that mom enjoys - sometimes I watch things with her, sometimes I putter around and do stuff. Eventually head to bed - around midnight or later - hoping that this will tucker mom enough so that she sleeps for a while. Yay!

Thinking about crushes (what else is new) and how they often really amount to nothing (at least that has been my experience, percentage wise). But they do make me feel which is a good thing. If you want to read more about this - check out my relationship blog.

Why do I not like to have my mom see me doing yoga? Is that weird?

Onward into the Future!

Here it is, Friday already, and the second day of 2105. Has anyone already dropped off the resolution bandwagon? Failed to do something they promised to do all year? I haven't, yet, but the day is young.

I was thinking about posting a picture everyday - like I did a few years back. Something, anything, to keep me posting for a whole year. I was sad to see that I only posted 75 times in 2014. Still, seventy five isn't too terrible. That averages to around 6+ posts a month. Not everyone is that prolific. Should I be content or not? (I chose to be content - and happy).

Oh, I am thinking of re-writing my match.com profile. If I do, I will post the updated one in my super stagnant relationship blog.

Does anyone else find it interesting who wishes who Happy New Year? My brother and sister both called to wish mom a Happy one! Good for them! True, we missed Karl's call (mom was otherwise engaged and I was shopping at a deserted Wegman's), but the thought was there. A couple of my friends wished me Happy New Year and I wished a couple of the Happy New Year. First that is - I replied to most all of those who wished me happy new year first...

Instagram - do you all like it? I have an account and I have posted 40 pictures so far. I though I had posted more. Still, I am thinking I will continue to post there - too bad that there isn't better synergy between Google and Facebook - but they are rivals, I guess...

Today is laundry day and I can hardly wait. Yippee! Laundry! Woo hoo!!

One of my goals for this year is to clean out this alcove - again:

Less than a 6 months accumulation of boxes (I think)

And here are two pictures of the puzzle in progress:

Got the edge done

Got some foliage done

One last thing - I need to remember to get the coins out of my center console in my car so that I can do my annual coin wrap-up. I don't remember how much I wrapped last year - but I think I average around $60. That is a few beers worth of change. Or some laundry...

2015 In Review

So, it was a good year. I cured Alzheimer's, won the lottery (twice) and found my forever-soulmate-partner. Oh, and I got some socks for Christmas (again - which is great, by the way - I love socks).

Seriously, who the heck knows what 2015 will be like. Hope springs eternal and I do hope I can look back and say that these things happened. Though the first is pretty unlikely (since I am not a research scientist), the second is a 600 million to one chance and the third is a one in 3.5 billion (assuming 7 billion people on the planet and that about half of them are women). But the last is almost a gimme. Yay socks!

I do hope to get back to a few things - like daily yoga - fell of the yoga wagon for a few months - blogging - I think I did maybe 25 last year - learning, growing (well, those two things will most likely continue to happen). Maybe what I need to do is to pick some project and go for it. Re-learn the trombone? Play more piano? Re-learn programming for the iPhone? Cut my hair? (Hahahahahaha) Though, have I mentioned, I have thought of going to school for hair styling. Or  maybe if I can find a school that teaches it, sonography? Finish one of the many books projects I have started? Or write a completely new one?

Most planning is difficult (probably impossible, really) since the future is uncertain. And I do have some issues at home to take care of. Like a really cluttered house (still looking for a friendly, helpful declutterer - maybe my future life partner?). And mom.

Anyway, 2015 will be what it will be. And hopefully it will be amazing. As 2014 was.