Wednesday, December 26

[karlinann]

Good morning Rounders! What a moon this morning, big and bright. This year is coming to a close, but I'm looking forward to the new one with much anticipation. I will strive to be a better person and to have more patience. Hey, we can dream, right?

Since I've stopped picking up leaves and working outside my leg feels better. Maybe the sciatic nerve just needed a rest. We'll see.

JoGee, wish I lived closer cuz I could help you organize and pack for your move. I consider myself an expert at moving due to the fact that I've moved so many times in my life.

Beth, you've peeked my interest in the mandolin now for doing vegetables. I like the sound of replacing those big flat lasagna noodles with veggies and since DH is diabetic and we both love Italian food it's a no-brainer! Thank you Beth. Now, I wonder if they sell mandolins at the Dollar Tree?

I'm going to AARP.org now to play games. Have a good un and I'll be back.....

[cookielady]

Good Morning! It's a dreary one here for now, but yesterday was a very pretty sunny day.

Yesterday was definitely a different Christmas for us. It was strange not having Blaise here. It was just me, Cork, & Becca. Becca & I got our Monkey Bread in the oven before we started opening gifts. It was the year of air fryers. Becca got me one and I got both of the girls one. Anxious to try it. After breakfast Becca & I created a very large dice for our gift exchange. It was a game I saw on FB, and it was very well received by everyone, and we'll do it again next year. Other years hardly anyone would steal from someone, so this forced it. There was one gift wrapped all pretty in shiny gold paper & blue curly ribbons. Well Kathy wanted it so bad. She stole it back every chance she got, but in the end Becca ended up with it. It worked out though because Kathy LOVED what she got and would have been disappointed if she got the gift she THOUGHT she wanted. I forgot one of the secret gifts at home, so I just hosted the exchange. DANG!

Becca & Cork napped, and I just plugged along. I got the plastic storage containers that I used for cookies all organized and back into the pantry. I can now walk through the pantry w/o stumbling on something. Still needs a little more work, but it was a good start. Then it was onto making a pasta dish and the oyster cracker snack that I didn't get made earlier in the week. Baked the lasagna.

We had a nice evening all together. Kathy, Matt, & Blaise showed up after dinner. Matt wasn't his normal jovial self, and Kathy warned us not to ask a bunch of questions....like we really would have. (rolling eyes) We did get a few laughs out of them. Most of them was when we were having dessert. Kathy wanted to get moving, but Matt HAD to have dessert, so the pie was served and they had fun picking what cookie to try next. Blaise wasn't in the mood for any of the fun because he wanted to get home & have his Christmas with us. He missed his Grammy!

This morning I've already got a pie in the oven for a customer. I will deliver it later on this morning. She fell around Thanksgiving time & broke a hip. She's currently not driving, but she finally got home. I need to get to the bank, so I think Blaise & I will do that after the delivery. Becca & my nieces are going shopping. I want to take Blaise to the thrift store and hopefully find him some bigger clothes. He's growing! It's like he skipped size 8's. Typically we have leftover night the day after Christmas, but my SIL was him hawing around, so I just dished out the leftover lasagna and sent it home with everyone. I wasn't in the mood last night to beg anyone to do anything.

Have a good one all!

[bethina]

Good morning. Karelian if you do get a mandolin please be careful with it. My mom took a couple layers of her skin off in a place on her thumb. It’s still bleeding if messed with.

My plan for today hide out in my room just me and cori. Then this afternoon some shopping with person that helps me. Just me and her.

I am headed back to my parents tonight. One more gathering on Saturday for Granny. Fingers crossed for no wind or rain. My uncle is frying fish if the weather works out. Uncle Jerry’s fish is amazing.

[karlinann]

Thank you for the heads up. I figured they were very sharp. Ouch!

[maxie]

Morning..late start today. Don't know why I slept so deep last night but a goods night sleep is always welcome. Today is the command attendance at my brothers. I will go but hate being out late at night even if I do not have to drive. Just getting to be an old grandma I guess!

Yesterday was a super quiet day. I must only say once a year but I am so tired of eating ham and cookies!!!! My car is heading toward fast food as soon as I get dressed. But first I am going to check on a mandolin too. Jon ask for something for Christmas and I picked up something that spirals but wonder if he didn't really want a mandolin thingy? We may get two thing of a bops!

Jon is off tomorrow and then not again until next Monday so getting the urge to take the tree down. I will leave everything else up but am over the tree although I still have gifts under it. The last of the gifts will go on Saturday.

Hope all of you can sit back and relax today. Do you ever have a day without something baking Cookie. Going to check on mandolins. I am not big on resolutions but this year we must eat healthier!! Just as soon as all the cookies are gone so we can get a clean start.

Have a great one all you wonderful people.

[bethina]

Change in my plan for chilling out in my room until time to go with Jill. I guess we are all meeting up for lunch.

[JoGee]

Good morning. ☕️
So yesterday the pre-melted snow never did happen. What else is new! But is was windy. The overcast clouds prevented any sight of that fantastic moon.

E took me to a theater across town where we saw Mary Poppins Returns. It was cute, and didn’t lose the “magic” that Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews created in the original version. Meryl Streep was a surprisingly delightful character in the movie.
It seems like a million kids were in that theater enjoying it, as well behaved as children could be having fun....but the first row was entirely empty except for E and me. Now I know why. It’s just too darn close, even with the reclining seats.
We had planned to eat out, but decided we weren’t so hungry so went home and had a hotdog in BBQ sauce, and fruit.

E might want to see another movie there. I’d go again to that theater just because of its cleanliness, especially in the bathrooms, where the toilets are nicely sized for adults (as opposed to the very low, almost baby seats) that you feel stuck on if you have bad knees. A handicapped person would be comfortable in any stall, and only wheel-chair users need the big stall.

The news hasn’t hit today’s paper yet. But just as we got out of our car at home, about 7:30pm, and we’re heading to the front door, we heard a huge crash. At the intersection turning into our neighborhood, there’s a 4-way stop with a blinking red light there.
Literally, it’s on the other side of our next door neighbor’s house, just past the block fence. In mere minutes the FIre Department Paramedics showed up with the flashing lights and siren. The last thing they need is a crowd of gawking people around who have no relavent information that might help them. Those crowds occur at all accidents somehow. So we didn’t go there since we actually saw nothing. But I won’t soon be forgetting that “THUNK” of the crash. Sometimes a little silent prayer is the best thing to offer.

Well, we will see what today brings. When I went out to pick up our newspaper, it seems that rain had just recently stopped. I hadn’t heard it falling, though, so I don’t know how much we got. But further rain is not forecasted. The temps today and onward are in the 50’s and nights in the 20-30’s. Winter in the desert.

Cookie, the last time I was at one of those gift exchange parties, the number I drew was second to last. The guy who got the last gift took my gift, which I loved. Obviously anxious to be rid of his. I was horrified....and I think it was the gift he brought...a grayed-out stretched-out jock strap! It actually looked disgustingly dirty, filthy! I couldn’t touch the thing, and I was totally mortified, and very close to tears. I threw it on the floor and left it there. The hostess thought she knew who brought it, and apparently had words with him later. All others brought thoughtful or silly, fun gifts. Everyone else sat there gaping, a few laughed, but I never went back to another holiday party with those people. I couldn’t get over that gift.

Thank you for your kind thoughts Karlinann.

Take care, everyone. Watch for the crazies on the road. People will still be imbibing throughout the New Year celebrations.
Have a very good day and keep warm!

[karlinann]

OMG, that was gross about that gift. I would have done worse than throw it on the floor.

[Paula A]

good Morning! I read the posts and then got distracted and now back to post.
today is usually trash day but I forgot to put it out. then I thought I remembered that Christmas week it gets delayed a day, but since neighbors put theirs out, I got dressed and took out our full can..I have another thatis pretty full and I am counting on being able to fill it and then get it out later. I really think it won't be picked up today: absolutely no sounds of the trucks around at all.

My friend likes her spiralizer so much that I got one. And on my grater there is a wide grating opening that I have used that to make zucchini slices but I haven't used it in a lasagna. I have an antique apple slicer that could be used, I bet...

Well, I have met and come through the two situations I have avoided most of my life: unexpected company! Last month when my friends texted saying they were on their way to visit when I was at church and Christmas Eve when my mother asked me to ask her cousin to dinner and she said yes...I managed to feed us all and it was wonderful.
The tiny 10 pound turkey was not wonderful and I almost feel like Butterball owes me a turkey because I went by their time chart and I thought it was over done, but our guest and my mom both chose dark meat and that was fine. It was not my best dinner but the conversation was great and that was what the meal was really about: welcoming someone who otherwise would have been alone. And that would have made me really sad to hear that later...weather kept her sister from driving up from Sacramento (and really: how would two older women do a dinner just for themselves, anyway?) It was horrible fog down there. Usually, our cousin goes to her granddaughter's for dinner but it has been a hard year with family deaths and it just wasn't going to happen. So, my new rules for myself are: get over it and just do it!

Jo, that sound is awful. Once you here it close like that you just don't forget it. And that game sounds it went horrible wrong. I never got anything I really wanted but I never got anything so bad I couldn't re-gift it, either.
We were just saying again yesterday to our family that we liked the Mary Poppins Returns. The Meryl Streep song was the only one I didn't really understand, but unlike, you, we had no children in the theater and very few other patrons. n fact, I was cold and kept my hands in my pockets of my hoodie!

OUr tree will be up till next weekend. Oh, besides the food, my cousin complimented a lot, the two things I like the most: my tree and my mantel! She was very surprised when I told her I got the tree at Walmart. The fake snow on it looks like real clumps of snow and then she said how much she liked how I ahd my mantel decorated that I didn't even question if she meant it!
The best food of the whole seasonis the cheesecake.
Amaretto and it was not over powering at all. 1/3 cup is not too much and there was none in the topping, just toasted sliced almonds and mini chocolate chips.
Anyway, I am getting some new tubs for ornaments and making room in closet in the daycare for the tree. I am not risking this tree to be out in the shed at all. Some cats got into the shed last summer and I securely locked now, but with yard people and bug spray guys and all, you never know. We always have the yard and shed sprayed for black widows, so they might have not been tightly shutting the sliding doors. Anyway, I want this tree protected no matter what!

Speaking of: the lawn people are at my neighbor's right now. No grass to mow, but the leaves get mulched up and taken away.

Hope today is good for all. I may venture to a sale, but at the moment I am I am doing little things around here. I was thinkingI had to change the calendar in the daycare and the December decortions but just realized Ihave a few more days and another 4 day weekend.
So glad I made this a 5 day weekend!

[JoGee]

E was talking to a neighbor about the accident we heard last evening. It was one vehicle, a woman driver.....she is okay, by the way.
Apparently she was turning right, but ran into the side of the house itself (it is across the road behind us). The area she hit had the owner's husbands workshop or workroom, and the car pushed in the walls out a foot or thereabouts. I hope she and the owners have good insurance policies to cover the damages. At least nobody was hurt in that accident.

i was surprised the rain was a light sprinkle all morning. It has been a dreary day up til now. And windy. And cold. But right now the sun is shining brightly. But still windy.