And Now It’s Thursday

[Colliemom]

Morning everyone. Popping in to say hi. Been reading, but not posting. Pretty much same old here. Weather being crazy from rain to snow to Weather Advisories etc. seems like we are in a stretch of snow, freezing drizzle and whatever else wants to mix in, through Sunday. Not every minute, but nonetheless. That time of year. So yes, OSharon, I have been dealing with snow but The storms seem to track north. The U.P. has been taking the brunt of them. It poured rain here on Monday though. Not welcome as it turns snow covered side and back roads to ice when temps drop.

Judy, glad your kidney stone passed. Why don’t you get some MaxAir vents installed on your roof. They will protect your vent covers from Wind, UV deterioration etc. love Ve mine as I can keep my vents open all the time, even in rain. They aren’t that expensive.

Beth, hope your audiologist can shed some light on your ear issues although you might have to see an ENT doc. Velda, so glad your implant is working for you, albeit a little at a time.

Seems as lot of us can’t get into the Christmas mood. Probably cause it’s gotten so commercialized and we have been fed a steady diet of it since before Halloween. It’s gotten to a point where people are placing too many expectations on themselves, have to do that that “perfect Christmas”, get a ton of gifts under the tree etc. juggling all this between parties and work. Well, what is going to happen if you don’t get the house decorated to the hilt or all the cookies made like you did last year, or have less gifts than previous years. Once the holidays are over, it’s all forgotten anyway. Instead of buying gifts galore, buy a couple special ones, tell family and friends to do same and pool rest of your money to buy for Toys for Tots, get a gift for somebody from a giving tree list, donate food to a food pantry, adopted a family facing a bleak Christmas. You will be surprised how “do unto others” makes you feel. I already did the Toys for Tots. Now to shop for food pantry. Hopefully a family will have a nice Christmas dinner on the table. Many children up here are getting backpacks of food to take home on weekends cause there’s not enough to eat in their homes or wherever they are living.

Keep telling myself that I should start getting those summer reservations going. Right now people aren’t doing many with the holidays around, but by end I’d month when the 4th of July window opens, they will.

Guess I should get busy around here. Doing a little heating pipes insulating in the basement, so time to get to work for awhile. Then maybe this afternoon I’ll get back to my scrapbooking project. Have a nice day all.

[JudyJB]

Sue, I actually HAVE the MaxAir vent covers!! I got them about five years ago. Except I am directly camped in the dunes next to the Atlantic Ocean, and the wind is blowing directly from the back and side of my rig, which means it is hitting the vents at just the right angle. In fact, I got so tired of the rocking that at 3 am, I got up and started my engine so I could put the one slide that was facing the ocean in. Did not stop the vent flapping, but it helped the rocking!

Got to dump my tanks and check out and then head to St. Augustine. Not so windy there, according to the weather reports. Temps dropped from 78 on Tuesday to 65 yesterday and even colder today here, but warming to 68 in St. Augustine.

If you think Christmas is commercial around northern Michigan, you should see the expensive subdivision my younger son lives in. These people who live in these huge homes pay designers to decorate their houses, inside and out! You see the vans parked around the place in October when the designers come and take photos so they can put their final designs together for homeowner approval. And then in early December, they bring crews to put up their decorations! No such thing as hanging a few strings of lights themselves. My son puts up his own lights, but he and his neighbor are the only ones in the neighborhood who own lawn mowers and mow their own lawns!! Summer days are full of lawn maintenance companies in the area.

[Cudedog]

Interesting posts this morning, thank you Sue and Judy.

Anne

[Irmi]

Anne, your family has drug you through the wringer more than once and I like your idea, about doing something just for you. You deserve it! Please start thinking about the next time you want to get away, especially when you might otherwise be thinking of waiting on others. It's okay to be kind to yourself.

[BarbaraRose]

So sorry Ann! That is so disappointing and heartbreaking! I do like your last idea tho, to just do your own thing next year and go where you will be happy and peaceful with your dog! Christmas isn't always what it is cracked up to be and things certainly change over the years.

I am glad to have a new group of friends here to spend the holidays with. I doubt I will hear anything from my brothers. Sometimes you have to find your own "family" with friends (or pets) and start your own traditions.

I have a friend/former co-worker who is divorced with two small kids who is always complaining she doesn't have money for food or things for her kids and yet she recently got a bird and a dog and talks about things she has bought for herself. Last Easter, she posted on FB that she couldn't even afford Easter baskets for her kids. I offered to pick some up and bring them to her house but I never heard back from her. Now she is saying she has no money for gifts for her kids for Christmas. I suggested there are places like Toys For Tots and other organizations she can go to to help her with that. Haven't heard a response yet. Makes me frustrated and a little angry that she has her priorities all messed up and the kids seem to come last over her and the animals. Not much I can do tho. She doesn't seem to want to accept my help or suggestions.

Need to get moving along here! Lots to do today! Nice sunny day with highs in the low 70's.

[JudyJB]

Barbie, I had and still have a cousin like that. (I finally defriended her on Facebook because of the racist things she was posting.) Anyway, she currently has and has had for many years a horse, several dogs, a goat, a pig (pet, not for meat), and she keeps chickens in her entryway during the winter so they don't get cold. She never had enough money for things for her daughter because of all her vet and pet food bills, so my late aunt mostly raised her daughter! Now she will retire with a nice 401K from the county job she has had for 35 years. Drives me nuts because I was very close to my aunt. She also has two granddaughters she has never seen because she does not like to fly and they live 1,500 miles away.

[monik7]

So sorry for your disappointment Anne. Your upcoming Christmas sounds like mine will be, minus the visit of children after Christmas. I hope you can realize your dream of a beautiful Christmas next year.
Sandi

[BarbaraRose]

I pulled something in my back again today. Not as bad as before luckily but it is sore when I move certain ways. Maybe from lifting laundry baskets? Got 3 loads done of clothes (really need to do it more often!) and got dishes washed. My dishwasher doesn't do a very good job and I end up rewashing what I take out of there anyways so I just washed what I had today by hand. Am thinking of getting rid of my dinky little washer and dryer since they are so small and the dryer takes forever to dry even tho there isn't much in it. I can use that space to put a cabinet for more storage for my bathroom stuff since there isn't much storage in the bathroom and this space is right outside the bathroom door. I usually just take my laundry down to the laundry room by the pool and get it all done there anyways.

I signed up for a table to sit at for our Christmas Day dinner and party. Yesterday I got a text message from the hostess of our table to come over and discuss the plans. Wasn't sure what "plans" she meant but I just went over for the meeting. Apparently each table of 12 is responsible for appetizers for their table and are supposed to decorate their table as well and provide their own dinnerware, etc. So I volunteered to decorate and make some floral arrangements/center piece for the table since I used to do floral design. I also need to come up with a decent place setting for myself. I might be able to find something at a thrift store that will look nice and not cost a lot. I just own plastic plates with bears on them so I don't think that will fit in with the nice Christmas decor! Will be fun to work on the decorations and flowers tho!

I made an appointment to get my Andersen Hitch system installed on January 3rd. I have to take the trailer all the way to Banning (they are an Andersen hitch dealer) which is just this side of the LA area. Not thrilled about towing that far with no sway hitch but if I take it slow, should be OK. At least now I have the right ball size! No one around here knows anything about that hitch system and I don't want someone who is just gonna try and "figure it out" (which 2 places told me they would do! ). Meanwhile I will get the tires replaced just down the street from where I store the trailer.

Am now just laying on the couch with an ice pad on my back. Last time, cold worked better than heat. Still have things to do but will do just a little at a time. Was gonna go shopping for some cards, etc but will do that another day. Might make some chili today yet tho.

[Bethers]

Anne, I really like your idea of going somewhere on your bucket list and making the time special for you. Any way you can do that still this year, even if on a smaller scale?

As for my ear, there's no infection so I'll see what the future brings. After that one day it's not been bad. I have no question what happened.

Today I got to catch up with a friend who lives in Phoenix. She's one of the children of my "2nd mom" who passed in September. We were fitting this gtg in her work day and thought we'd steal an hour. Haha. We met at a Starbucks. I don't drink coffee and she had her own, but sat there I'm guessing 3 hours. Losing her Mom has been very hard for her. She's always been super close and the last three years years her life totally revolved around work and her Mom. Some of you may remember that I stayed with her for awhile 3 years ago while we checked out and found a senior living home for her Mom. I'm glad I got to spend time with her and am considering trying to gtg again in the spring if it works out. She's strong but I know she welcomed my ears today.

I can't remember the last time I had anything alcoholic. A beer during last summer? I bought 2 cheap bottles of wine today. One for Christmas Eve and Christmas and the other for New Year's Eve and New Years is my thinking.

Barbie, take care of your back! I'd get rid of the dishwasher personally.