Calm Before The Storm Wednesday

[Colliemom]

Morning everyone. 31° outside already at 7:22 AM. Quiet day before Winter Storm Diaz moves in late tonight. This is quite some monster storm. Especially in the southern states where tornadoes breaking out like crazy. We are supposed to have a mix of snow, sleet, rain and freezing rain from with some gusty winds. Snow accumulations of maybe up to 2 inches. Promises to be a messy day tomorrow, at least part of it anyway. Martha, judging from what I see on The Weather Channel, it looks like most of the bad weather way to your north, but I assume you got rain. Thinking about Pat out in SD, supposedly having blizzard conditions. Stay safe everyone as this storm moves east. Barbie, 39° is a bit chilly to be out playing golf.

Beth, that must’ve been an interesting meeting that you were “attending” yesterday. It sounds like things are going to work out very nicely though. Rentals are out of sight here too and we have a very bad housing situation for affordable housing. We have a bad house in situation here in general and people are having a hard time finding places they can afford to buy even if they are for sale. Lots of people looking for homes and can’t find any. People get new jobs up here and they can’t find a place to live. The problem here is is in northern Michigan is that when the cheaper places to come up for sale, they get snatched up by people who buy them for short term rentals and throw them out on Vrbo, AirBnB etc. because of Northern Michigan’s tourist and recreational sports industry. The tornado here, did not help matters any either because it has displaced some people and also damaged a few houses that were turned into apts., and the owners decided not to repair them.

I watched one of the best Hallmark movies that I have seen this Christmas season so far last night. It was called “The Gift of Peace” p. Artist Tracy lost her faith after tragedy, but begins to find inspiration, hope, and peace with a new community when she joins a grief support group at Christmas. It’s a really good movie for this time of year especially, because in the course of the movie, these people became closer as they share their stories of grief and gradually learned how to let go. Even though it is a movie, it does strikechord in those of us who have lost loved ones and also our Christmas spirit per say. It was filmed in Vancouver and there’s some beautiful scenery in there too. If you have a chance to see it watch it, because I know that you would really enjoy this one. It was on the hallmark movies and mysteries channel.

Nothing much planned on my agenda today. Want to do a load of laundry and I need to run in the vac. I’ll do some work on my Woodcraft project that I’m doing. Going to redo one part of it because I’m not happy with how the paint colors turned out. So I’m going to send that part off and redo it. Kind of hoping that maybe my patterns that I ordered was arrive today so I can start on them too.I did pick up some plywood while I was in town yesterday so I have it here just waiting.

Need to do just a little bit of work work and also some more research on the computers, as if I’m going to get one I should do it now before all these Christmas sales are off. I guess I’m going to have to order this one, because Otber than Walmart, there’s no place here to get computers here and they don’t have much. I don’t have time to drive to Traverse City to Best Buy or any of those places between the weather and appointments next week. Have a nice day all.

[Shirlv]

Morning Sue and All, 37° and sunny. Big storm to bring rain to Marylands Eastern Shore. I have no travel plans so will stay home. Going to bake the batch of frozen cookie dough since it’s overdue. Need to check Sam’s and see if they have their coconut cake, my Christmas sweet treat. Everyone in the path of the storm take care. Be safe

[Acadianmom]

I am under a Tornado Watch until 1:00. My area is just inside the bottom of the red box. If it has rained any it's not much yet. It's still 77 and will be in the 60's after the storm comes through. I think I'll wait until the storms pass to go to the hospital unless my son calls for me to come get him. I doubt he is getting out today.

They were building houses all around Lafayette when interest rates were low and houses were selling like hot cakes. When I was looking at the real estate sites houses would be on the market for only a few days. I don't know how houses are selling now. I don't know that I would trust the quality of a house that is built so fast.

Martha

[Othersharon]

Good morning! It’s cold outside this morning! I’ve already been out a couple of times so far with Buddy! Not looking forward to tomorrow morning when we’re forecasted for ice and snow. Sue, sounds like you’re going to have what we’re supposed to have too. I have a feeling the 4:30 vet appointment tomorrow isn’t going to happen. As much as I want to keep it I want to be safe more. But I’ll just have to wait and see how the roads are. I’m still laughing that we’re having this since I was teasing my neighbors before they left about just this! We had a storm like this one other time while they were gone. Timing is everything! I finally got to the store to pick up what I forgot the other day. Of course I got more then I went for! Buddy is settling in pretty well. I’ll be so glad when we get over this teething phase! Karen, I think I still have a harness like you mentioned that I used on my other dogs. Of course right now they are to large for him plus by having the leash attached at his back gives me the ability to keep leash out of his mouth. But as headstrong as he is I can see using the other one to teach him to walk with me and not against me! Working on that now too. Not much going to happen today, just some vacuuming and laundry plus need to decide if I want to bother putting the garbage out tonight or just wait until next week. Sure was glad I got my recycling taken care of earlier this week too. Beth, good that you were able to attend the meeting the other day. Sounds like changes will aid the owners. And the church finally put out their nativity display so tradition continues! Little things make me happy! So not much else happening here so will just wish you all a good day and hope those of you in the path of this storm are safe.

[asirimarco]

Good Morning to All - glad we are in Mazatlan - though we are also getting a cooler spell - high yesterday 87 today 77 and will remain below 89 for a few days. even getting down to 49 for a few nights.
On Monday we went into the historical district to see all the children dressed up for the Virgin of Guadalupe day. Thought I'd share some pictures with you. Always good for a smile



I love the look on her face not sure if she enjoys being there

We are keeping busy, thank you all for the comments on the blog. I have fun sharing things from here.
Hope every one gets through that storm okay. They might get snow in Vegas!

[Irmi]

Good morning ladies!

Pat, Sue, O'Sharon, Anita, BJ, Martha, Shirl and all in the path of the storm, please stay safe. We are going to be much cooler starting this weekend with winds bringing the cooler temperatures starting tomorrow. But right now, it is still mild here and our windows and doors are open.

For those not on my FB page, we are trying to get Steve's pickup truck repaired, but the body shop can't find the parts because it is 24 years old. A friend of mine from Michigan, whose hubby restores old cars and trucks, is trying to find parts for us so we can get the pickup fixed. Steve bought it new and it's in great shape, other than a huge boo-boo on the bed of the truck on the drivers side where a semi got us. I got a copy of the estimate for the parts in the mail today to my friend in Michigan with hopes she can locate what we need. I have been stressing over this big time, especially since the body shop was paid in full for parts and labor and they aren't being very cooperative.

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning, not too much on the agenda for today except a little cleaning and swiffering the kitchen and bathroom floors after a good vacuum. Have watched a couple of Hallmark movies............meh. Going to look for a real movie on Roku or a tv series I havent watched yet. I dont have Netflix anymore for about a year and my Hulu subscription for the $0.99/month ended. I didnt watch it too much so will just be content with Prime Video. I get irritated tho because they let you watch the first season, or sometimes just one episode and then they want you to pay for the season or episodes. Nope not doing it so I always make sure I can watch the whole season for free before I choose one. I do love streaming, so many darn options for free out there.

Martha I have 2 Blink cameras one on the front deck and door, and one on the back deck. I bought mine quite a while ago and I am grandfathered in so I dont have to pay to save the video recordings. They used to be free. The video doorbell I got uses an SD card if I want to record the videos so I put one in and it works great. You also have the Cloud option subscription if you want it.

Anne this is the one I bought, so far so good.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09GKCBR56? ... ct_details

When I was a nurse administrator I had to buy some "grown up clothes". I went to our thrift shops and Goodwill and found some really nice wool skirts, jackets, sweaters. I also bought some from stores when on sale. If you want Holiday clothes tho you have to go way ahead of the holiday as they sell out quick this time of year. I much preferred my scrubs LOL

Going to make another quiche today and another batch of my stir fry as it was really good.
You all stay warm and hope your weather isnt too bad.

[chalet05]

Good morning!

Beautiful sun and 29 degrees. I was surprised we got a coating of snow overnight. Friday was looking like snow, but they changed it to Saturday and Sunday.

Karen, thanks for posting that doorbell link. I keep thinking I'd like something out on the patio with a view of the parking lot, off leash dogs, etc. Sue, I agree that was a good movie. I think I'm starting to turn off more Christmas movies than I watch. 2 most recent were about neighborhood decoration rules - hate watching people be badgered. Irmi, what a scavenger hunt! I had to Google to see what is out there. Anne, I'm sure we could all fill pages with various spam issues. Barbie, when it comes to family, sometimes it's just good to leave well enough alone. I am envious of those who can find clothing at a thrift store. I always pick things with tears, broken zippers, etc. Shirl, stay dry!

Martha, hoping you are safe along with your son getting a diagnosis.

[Shirlv]

Carol, the picture of the little sister with hands on hips is my smile for the day.

[JudyJB]

Anne, I just watched a program on the Oroville Dam overflow on the Engineering Disasters program! A lot of good detail about cause and fix.

Spent the last few hours trying to find a care manager for my aunt, and a different caregiver company. She is doing better in terms of eating and PT--wants to use her walker and get out of the wheelchair, which is very good. Also, she is no longer refusing medications, which helps the staff, to say the least!

I have given up on trying to spend a few days on the Florida Keys. I hate the new Florida reservation site, but at least it told me there were 49 people looking at one site the other day!! This was for a date in November 2023, believe it or not. And the other available sites had 20+ each, so that is pretty difficult. Made reservations at Jonathan Dickinson instead--not as nice, but am going to try for the COE places when they open up in a few months.

Have been indoors all day today searching for websites of caregivers and making phone calls, plus ordering a few last minute gifts. Time to get out and go for a quick walk, I think!!

[dpf]

Well, so far we’re faring pretty decent through the storm. It rained with a little wintery mix all day on Monday and Tuesday while other parts of the state were getting blasted with snow. We’ve had about 2 inches of snow today. The roads were good this morning and Missy and I decided to drive to Tyndall to the Wellness Center. The schools in our area have only been posting late starts in the evening just in case conditions change during the night, it gives them time to access the situation in the morning as to whether to call off. They are forecasting that we could get quite a bit of snow and wind tomorrow, so they might get a snow day. I think we're past the power outage stage. Martha, I’ll take a blizzard before a tornado.

I buy most of my clothes at a local thrift shop. A couple years ago I came home with about $700 worth of winter coats for $15. A Lands End parka, a Nordstrom’s dress coat and a black lambskin Worthington leather jacket from Penny’s. All of them were like new. I’ve found quite a few $2 name brand tops that still had the tags on them. I always laugh to myself when I get compliments, and someone asks me where I buy all the cute tops. I’m so spoiled that I think clothes at Wally World are too expensive!

I tire quickly of Hallmark Christmas movies. Lately I’ve been watching a quite a few movies on Tubi. It’s a free channel on Roku. There have been several Nicholas Sparks movies on it. I had Netflix through Ryan and Ashley’s account….but the company caught it and discontinued it. I might sign up for it after the holidays. I do have Prime. I only have Sunday thru Wednesday nights that I have something I like on network channels. I admit that I am a Yellowstone junkie.

Irmi, When I was in an accident with one of my work cars the insurance company totaled it, but it was still drivable and in good condition mechanically. They let me buy it back for $300 and I continued to drive it work and didn’t have to worry about parking lot dings on the good car. There has to be parts for Steve’s pickup in a salvage yard somewhere.

Guess I’ve rattled on enough.

[Acadianmom]

The tornados missed me but one did damage to New Iberia, about 20 miles East of me. I was watching the local weather. They can see on the radars where there might be a tornado. I was ready to go in the old house if needed. It would be better than a trailer on a hill. Harold's daughter that lives in New Orleans called to tell me they were ok but out of power. Something hit near her. The temperature is 52. That's a shock after all the warm weather.

I stayed at the hospital until 6:00 tonight and still didn't get to see the doctor. My son wants to go home but I want him to stay until they find out what's wrong. They have been giving him potassium in his IV for 2 days and his potassium has only gone up a little bit. He is still getting antibiotics.

Carol, those kids are cute in their costumes.

Irmi, hope Steve can find the parts he needs. I hear people with new vehicles have trouble getting parts.

Martha

[snowball]

my goal today was to dismantle the wreath got that done and things placed on it to see wht I want to do.. will tackle it about tomorrow...
feel like I am coming down with a cold...coughing and sniffling not fun...
the youth from church came and caroled tonight it was nice... couldn't figure out what the noise was out side it was knocking on the door then the kids sang a song and let mom a gift bag no idea what is in it will have to check it out later
I was just thinking that I am cold looked at the temps on the computer it's 9 degree's yes I am cold and rightly so... although it's supposedly 70 in here I just wonder sometimes...
I enjoyed your pictures Carol but some of those kids sure didn't look happy... but sure cute little ones
Irmi it sounds like you paid the repair place why??? I would think that the one who hit you would be the one paying the bill...
I liked that movie as well one thing with Hallmark you get multiple times to see it if you missed it
I have a pkg of cookies in the fridge that I want to try out in the air fryer... only time I've ever bought cookies to bake ought to do it one day soon
I forgot you all be safe wherever you are in the path of this storm ... saw I80 was closed from Ogallala NB west to Wy border... that was earlier in the day so assume it's open by now
you all have a great day
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

Good late evening!

I went to do a haircut on a Canadian friend down the street today. I was telling her about my new adventure and also mentioned my propane issue. She told her husband about it and he knows a thing or two about propane stuff. He came over to check it out. He pulled the stove out away from the wall and we sprayed soapy water on the valve and hose behind it and there was no sign of leaking. When I went outside to turn on the propane for him to check the inside line, I heard a hissing noise and smelled propane right away. I told him that so we went out there and checked the line and valve with the soapy water. Well, there were bubbles at the valve on the tank. That tank is really old. He said the two lines coming off the two tanks were really old and needed to be replaced too. The tank I had turned on was now almost empty which was about a quarter full a month or so ago so it definitely has been leaking quite a bit! He said it felt like there was still some propane in the other tank so we switched over to that one and tested it. It is a newer tank and we didn't detect any leaks on that so left it hooked up and turned on.

I ordered the dual propane hose connection from Amazon and it will be here on Friday. Will need to fill up the tank I have currently turned on. The other tank will have to get disposed of. I think U-Haul will take that for a small fee.
So meanwhile, I turned on the burners after we switched tanks, and they work fine. Then I turned on the oven for about 5 minutes and waited to either smell propane and/or have the propane alarm come on. Neither happened! I will check it again tomorrow to be sure, but keeping my fingers crossed that the problem is now solved! That would be a good thing for several reasons, one of which is I checked to find access under the house in case someone needed to go under there to check for a leak, and only found one way under there and right in the way were two large egg sacks of black widow spider eggs! I carefully removed them! I did see a couple of little ones crawling around under there, so I need to get an exterminator out to take care of that. Always something!

Also got my laundry done today, so was a pretty productive day.

Tomorrow, I am meeting a friend from my old pot job, for lunch. We are meeting at a local deli/restaurant where Judy and I ordered lunch from when she was here last year. They moved to a big brand new building and their prices reflect that now, but I have a $25 gift card I got for Christmas last year, so will use that. At 4pm is the Christmas golf cart parade in the park here and then the big chili feed right after. Yum!

Glad to hear none of you have had any damage from the storms coming thru your areas yet.

Carol, those pics are adorable of the little kids dressed up!

Off to bed soon!

[Cudedog]

Anne, I just watched a program on the Oroville Dam overflow on the Engineering Disasters program! A lot of good detail about cause and fix.

Judy, do you have a link for that program? I would like to watch it.

Karen, thanks for the link about the camera. I'm giving it some thought!

Yes, Anita, there are enough scams and scammers out there to fill a book. And they seem to think up new scams every day. I almost got taken in a while back (it was an email that said my account had been suspended due to fraudulent activity - click here for info). I was tired, opened the email and almost clicked on the link before I thought to phone my bank directly instead. . .

Hope I haven't forgotten anyone. . .

Anyway, stay safe everyone. Looks like the major storm that passed through here a couple of days ago has gathered steam as it flows across the country.

Happy Holidays to all.

Anne