Tuesday, December 13th

[Colliemom]

Good morning g all. Still dark out there this a.m. shortest day of tbe year is fast approaching. Nothing exciting on the weather front here. Has been cloudy and damp and in the upper 20s too low 30s these past days. I don’t remember when the last time was we had sun, but that is nothing new this time of year. Did have about an inch or less of snow Saturday night but no big deal. There is roughly a couple inches on the ground right now but yet under some of the thicker trees it’s bare. But that big monster storm is heading this way. They are not sure just exactly what it is going to do because the temperatures are going to be in the 30s. Right now we are looking at a possibility of some icing followed by maybe a couple inches of snow. My area is low as far as the ice is concerned. So I am going to run my errands this morning and then I can just hunker down and watch what happens. I am so glad that I decided to get that generator install because no worries now.

I am still working on my woodcraft projects and I am waiting for a couple of patterns to get here. I wound up moving my base of sawing operations back to the garage. I just don’t have the right type of lighting in my basement. As long as the weather stays like it is, I can work out there for a couple of hours if I want to and at the moment I do not have any patterns to cut anyway. Got my house cleaned on Saturday, so that’s done for the week, other than running the vac again.

I am not going to come in on anything right now as I am still playing catch-up with the posts. It’s been pretty busy these past few days. Hard tobelieve that Christmas is just over a week away. I have my cards are mailed and one one to put out today. No plans here for Christmas yet. I actually would be content just to be here with my dogs and enjoy the day and if it’s nice we can go for a walk. I took them for a walk in the woods yesterday before it snows begin to get too deep and we can’t do it anymore. Although sometimes in mid winter if we have a little bit of mild weather, the snowmobile trail hardens up and we can walk on it.

I need to get a new computer as mine is going to be unsupported next month and too old to bother updating. So my debate is whether or not to buy a new laptop or get a new iPad that has got all the features that are almost equivalent to a laptop. Rarely use my computer because I spend so much time on my IPad except when I am doing Genealogy work which I haven’t been doing for the past few months. So doing some research and eventually make a decision. There are pros and cons to both. My battery is slowly wearing out on my iPad so hopefully that will not go on me too soon because I cannot afford to buy both right now.

But I’m rattling on about a whole Lotta nothing right now so I think it’s best that I get out of here. Have a nice day everyone and those affected by the storm, stay safe.

[BarbaraRose]

Just woke up to get ready for putters. Then looked at my phone...it is 39* out! Yikes! Nope! Going back to bed! Even for a native Minnesotan, that is way too dang cold to be playing golf!

That storm moving east across the country is a doozy! Hope you all are hunkered down!

Will drop in later...

[Bethers]

Rattling on is good, Sue. Barbie, good decision.

I'm proud of myself. I was on for the Zoom board of directors meeting. Now I know what they approved for our annual dues. I don't know what I'll have to offset them from my lot in the rental pool. I think, except the tax, they'll be covered. That'll be good. And they raised rates for visitors. They haven't done that for the long term visitor sites in too long, so that's very needed. When a long term visitor tells me it's cheaper to rent than pay the dues on an owned site, the deal they are getting is too good! So I'm glad I "attended". That said I'm not going shopping. I'm afraid I'll spend too much lol

It's windy here today so I'm waiting for it to calm some before Ty gets his off leash run.

[chalet05]

Good morning!

It's beautiful and the snow is sparkling, but the clouds are rolling in.

Barbie, I chuckled that 39 degrees is too cold, but I don't blame you for skipping. Sue, you are busy as always. Beth, there are 11 vacancies here and none seem to be moving so they are offering $500 off the first month's rent. I hate thinking about the next rent raise to cover that and snow removal! On top of that I saw multiple law enforcement show up yesterday so I turned on the scanner. They were serving an eviction notice.

I woke up to a text that the kids and I had exceeded our allotted GB on our phones. Seems I somehow turned Wi-Fi off on my phone! My brother just called and even though he has one more test, the doctors have found open heart surgery is his only option. Not what he wanted to hear.

Today is laundry and get Christmas cards done - I don't send very many anymore.

[chalet05]

Martha, forgot to comment on your son. I'm glad he is getting looked after and hopefully an answer.

[Bethers]

Thank you Anita, I also forgot to mention Martha's son. Martha, I too hope he is doing better and the cause can be found.

[BarbaraRose]

Anita, how much is the rent there? Rent everywhere is super high now days. Many people just can't afford it unless they have someone to split it with. Even back in MN the rents start at around $1000 for just a studio.
Open heart surgery is a big one but now days it is very successful and most patients are much better off afterward and get back to their regular lives, with just a few changes in diet and exercise. I am sure it is scary to hear you need it though! Hope everything turns out well for him!

It is warming up nicely now. I have a haircut to do shortly and then I might just stop at the putting course and play a round. I wonder how many gals showed up this morning?

Haven't heard from Lyn for a bit...if you are lurking, let us know how you are doing!

[chalet05]

I've been wondering about Lyn as well.

Barbie, rent is considered very high here. Studios start at $1175 (283 sq ft); 2 bed/2 bath start at 2185.00. Price goes up depending on the floor - there are 3. 2 bed/1 bath in my section are 2040 for 2nd floor and 2100.00 for 3rd. I'm assuming that is for 1 year lease. They do offer by the month and, of course, charger higher rents. My 1st floor 2 bed/1 bath is currently $1805 - started at $1655. Housing is hard to come by here. Winter ski employees are having trouble finding something available and affordable.

We obviously have a newbie here. He's in athletic nylon pants and tennis shoes clearing 18+ inches of snow off his BMW. Left the driver's door open and shoveled snow off the roof. Spinning his wheels trying to get out. Entertainment!

[OregonLuvr]

Evening is approaching.....getting dark already at 4:30 soon our days will be getting longer and I cant wait. Not much happening here at my house. I did get my new video doorbell installed and it is working great. I sent the previous one back as I didnt like their app to manage it. This one also comes with a battery operated chime that I can take outside with me if I am working in the back yard, or the back office, it is perfect. The only down side for me is it doesnt work for Alexa. My Blink cameras do tho and I can see the back deck and front deck easily by just asking. I purchased this video doorbell because it doesnt have a subscription service attached to it. Just put in a micro sim card and you are good to go.

Time to get something to eat then park myself in the recliner and watch some tv.

[Acadianmom]

I got my motorhome to the shop today. I was so worried that the straps holding the compartment up would slip. We are suppose to get a lot of rain tomorrow and I sure didn't want to get them wet. They are cancelling classes tomorrow for all the schools in the area. A bunch of sissies. We had to go to school in the rain. lol Right now all the storms are in the North part of the state. It was 81 and is still 73 now. I had turned the air conditioner off this morning but think I will have to turn it back on.

They finally moved my son to a real room about noon. He called his room yesterday his stall. It was 3 walls and a curtain. It looked like where they put you after surgery. There is so much construction going on at that hospital. It's a maze to try to find your way. I stayed all afternoon hoping to see the doctor but he hadn't showed up by 5:00 so I came home. He is still on an IV with potassium and they added some antibiotics before I left. His white cells are a little up. So far he can now keep food down.

I have 2 blink cameras, one on the front porch and one that points across the back yard. The cats set them off all the time. I didn't read the information about them very well before I ordered them. I didn't know I had to pay amazon to be able to use them. I probably would have ordered something different.

Anita, hope you brother has a successful surgery. It would kill me to have to pay that much rent.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

I went and did the haircuts and then stopped at the putting course. There was a group of 8 people playing all together on the same hole so it was taking a long time for them to get thru each hole. I started on one a little ahead of them but got caught up to them pretty quickly so I didn't finish the whole course. No problem, still was fun.

Talked to the host of our table for the Christmas dinner. Each table does their own decorating of the table and provides their own dishes and flatware, etc, plus appetizers or side dishes. There will be 12 of us. I got a bag of wrapped Ghirardelli peppermint chocolates to put one at each place setting. Last time we each brought our own dishes and flatware but the other co-host is supplying those for the whole table. The host I talked to is bringing a cole slaw salad so that takes care of what I was gonna bring, but I will still get some for myself. I was thinking of getting some strawberries and dunking them in chocolate and filling the middle with vanilla cream frosting. Will also make the small floral pieces for the table. One mistake most people make when they create a centerpiece is they make it too high so people sitting across from each other have to try and look around it to talk to each other. That happened at the last X-Mas dinner at our table (not my centerpiece) and finally one of the guys at the table just moved it to the floor!
Most people get dressed up in nice Christmas outfits but I can't afford to buy something like that, and I usually won't buy specific holiday clothing since it is only worn once per year and just takes up space the rest of the year, and who wants to wear the same outfit every year? Will see if I can come up with something nice without spending money.

I keep thinking I should call my brother and SIL in Tucson but then I talk myself out of it. I am the one who always calls them, they have never called or contacted me. She doesn't even respond to my text messages. Then when I do call, she says "well hello, stranger!" like I am the one who never calls. Phones work both ways! Part of me wants to be the bigger person and call, but part of me isn't sure I want to talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to me. I can't ever seem to do the right thing with my family. It makes me sad.

Glad I have good friends tho.

[Cudedog]

Evening is approaching.....getting dark already at 4:30 soon our days will be getting longer and I cant wait. Not much happening here at my house. I did get my new video doorbell installed and it is working great. I sent the previous one back as I didnt like their app to manage it. This one also comes with a battery operated chime that I can take outside with me if I am working in the back yard, or the back office, it is perfect. The only down side for me is it doesnt work for Alexa. My Blink cameras do tho and I can see the back deck and front deck easily by just asking. I purchased this video doorbell because it doesnt have a subscription service attached to it. Just put in a micro sim card and you are good to go.

Time to get something to eat then park myself in the recliner and watch some tv.

Karen, what kind did you get? I'm thinking about getting one as well.

Thanks.

Anne

[snowball]

I think I wouldn't be able to have life i I had to pay rent... we are about the same here in Jackson Anita no rentals for the seasonal workers and if they could find it wouldn't be able to afford it...
it does get dark earlier because of that I left the garage light on as I really hate coming into the dark... so I get back fortunately before it got dark by about 10 minutes... if I'd gone to the post office I would not have made it back and I would have had to do stuff in the dark as mom turned it off... why in the world she went to the back door anyway... just have to shake my head...
I hate having the tree in the other room as you don't see the lights... and the tv is in this room... I should have taken myself in and worked on that wreath... I made one last year never liked it so I decided I'm going to dissemble it and redo it hopefully it will look better... spent too much to just throw it away... I sorta think I made it upside down.. so will try that...
your low Barbie was higher than our high...
it really does sound like a horrific storm going through we didn't get the amount of snow that we were suppose to which is too bad it's desperately needed...
I got to the store bought too much it really adds up so quickly eggs are 4.00 a dozen
you all have a great day
sheila

[BirdbyBird]

Barbie my dress up clothes that I used for dog shows almost always came from Thrift stores. I have very few other reasons to need to dress up but I have a couple pairs of nice black slacks (also useable for dog shows at my age) and just pair them with one of my dog show sparkly jackets. I would think that the Thrift stores in your area would have options for a reduced cost. When ever Jane's co-owner gets compliments on her outfits at dog shows she just gives credit to her favorite GW designer store...... She usually has to actually explain..... GW=Goodwill

[Redetotry]

Barbie I know how you feel. I haven't seen one of my brothers except once since the pandemic and before that not very often. My other brother's children wouldn't recognize me on the street and they all live within 25 miles of me. It is sad but I guess some families just don't connect. My brothers and I all have such different memories of our childhood that I sometimes wonder if we were raised by different people