Friday, February 19th, 2021
Friday Five
TGIF! I hope all of you in the path of the freezing and dangerous weather have power, heat and water. This is just brutal, and shows us that Mother Nature can kick all our modern conveniences butt when she chooses. But seriously, Mother Nature, take a chill pill and give these folks in Texas, Oklahoma and all the other regions a break.
Okay onto Friday Five:
- I went to lunch with Biker Witch today. Great to see my sister! I had a tri tip wedge salad that sounded good, but wasn’t
But that’s okay, ordering dessert made up for it. - Wizard got his first Covid shot. Yay! It was super easy, he got up early, went online and made an appointment at out local pharmacy and did it. I won’t be eligible to get mine for another month or two, but at least people I love are getting it.
- Wizard is building a model car (small scale). And he’s a perfectionist…and I’m laughing my butt off. He’s already ordered an exact replica because this one isn’t coming out good enough. He’s laboriously redoing parts, and describing it all to me and I finally said, “All this pain, doing it, redoing it and endlessly obsessing, then buying a new one and starting over? IT’S LIKE WRITING MY BOOK! He gave me a sheepish grin, acknowledging that he may have told me to just write the book and be done a time or two.
- I am writing tons, but no farther in the book, LOLOL! The book I originally planned wasn’t good enough and I’ve done months of work to retool the story to where I think it will be…someday, but still hoping for summer
I think I may make it. I really want to get this book and Ram’s written this year. - The last few weeks were a combination of stress and not feeling well that landed my butt in the doctor’s office. Really long and boring story short: one theory is that my funky gall bladder is being set off by stress. This week we started some tests…and of course I feel better. I can hear my gall bladder taunting me, What? I’m totally cool, dudes. Nothing to see here! Anyhow, I have an ultrasound scheduled next Friday (a week from today) and I’m going actively try to set off another attack before that with spectacularly bad food choices. Will it work???? Probably not. You all know my gall bladder is laughing gleefully, right? Still I’m feeling so much better this week that I’ll take that as a win
That’s my random five things about my week, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a safe, warm and happy weekend!
February 19th, 2021 at 11:12 am · Link
Yay for Biker Witch, boo on food, yay on dessert, you and Wiz make me laugh, boo on stupid body parts, a yay/boo on books decided to switch up but become better because of it. We came through mostly intact. Weather is slowly warming up. The sun’s out. This is a good thing, though blinding on all that snow. My five:
1. 10 inches of snow, 265+ hours of sub-freezing temps, shattered weather records. Mother Nature is either PMSing or she needs to get laid. Just sayin’. 🥶
2. I’ve been worried about the ferals. Lucifer (who I think is Loki’s sire) moved into the cat house usually occupied by Shylock. I haven’t seen Shy since then. Nor have I seen BG, the other big, black male. Luci looks to be in bad shape so I’m not fussing at him. Finally saw Mamacat, Hi-Jinx, and Smudge last night, and again this morning. I don’t think Mamacat has had her kittens yet. That’s a good thing! Still no Shy or BG, though. 😟
3. We’ve had heat, electricity, and water throughout. BIG YAY! Between rolling blackouts due to energy emergencies and broken water mains/lines, it’s been a challenge. A little space heater left on top of the washing machine, aimed at the hoses and lines, has kept our big garage (which is insulated but not heated) at a steady 40-50 degress so no freezing of hot water or washer lines. The family who built this house were Czech refugees and they built in “fail safes”–like the gas wall heaters in addition to the central gas heat, and running air vents under all the sinks BUT the one in the master bath. The lines are in the slab and only one short run is on an outside wall–the one to the toilet in the master bath. Some time with the hairdryer on high fixed that. I do have buckets and large bowls of water in reserve so we can flush toilets–just in case.
4. Writing? Pffft. What’s that? Brain freeze this week. I’ve managed a paltry amount of words despite telling myself that I need/must/have to write. Yeah. Brain and Iffy are snuggled up under a pile of blankets ignoring me.
5. I should have divided #3 into two parts. That way, I’d HAVE five things. 🤣🤣🤣
Stay safe, warm, and happy weekend, y’all! 🥰
February 19th, 2021 at 3:00 pm · Link
You are so right about the weather needing to hold off a bit. Silver, you made me chuckle. Mother Nature needs something😄.
1. Sorry the salad wasn’t as good as you hoped but dessert is a good consolation prize :). What did you have?
2. Wizard must be very happy to have received the first shot. That’s really cool that he could make the appointment and get the shot in the same day! Unfortunately for us, we have to wait a while.
3. So you and Wizard a similar 🤣😂. Being perfectionists is not a bad thing.
4. Even though you had to change things around from your initial plan, it’s great that you are writing so much. As we keep saying, it will all come together as it should. You are the vehicle for the characters and it’s nice that you allow them to often take the lead.
5. I really feel for you if it’s your gall bladder giving you grief. I had issues with mine when I was pregnant for my first. The pain is awful. Food choices make a big difference. The no chocolate was the hardest for me to follow.
1a. Still cold here. We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow. It should warm up into the 30’s Tuesday and I will try and get my car washed.
2a. Had the Kinetico guy out yesterday to do yearly maintenance on our water treatment system. Well he left and the system has never shut off. I have acid water so I can’t put the system into by-pass because I don’t want acid in my pipes. So, the water has run none stop for about 24 hours now. I am waiting for a guy to get here. Note: I called at 8:01am this morning. I can count on one hand how many times they have NOT had to come back after service. And they’re the best company 😡.
3a. I have Spunk on a diet. His yearly is the first week of March and I know he has to be over 12 pounds, which is where he should be. I don’t want the vet to have an issue with him.
4a. It’s Lent and I’ve been feeding hubs fish but tonight he offered to get pizza. Since I like mushrooms and onions and no meat on pizza, it works great.
5a. I told you about my best friend and her dog passing last Friday. Well, he led them to a shelter Monday and they adopted a little boy pitt. He’s super cute and looks nothing like Ozzy. Jackson came home on Wednesday and is loving his new digs. My friend’s husband just couldn’t deal with Ozzy being gone and had to go rescue another pup. They will be coming up in March and I am so looking forward to meeting the new little guy.
Sure hope you have a great weekend!
February 19th, 2021 at 7:25 pm · Link
Silver, glad things are warming a bit.
1) Can’t argue with that about Mother Nature.
2) Hope Shy and BG turn up soon. With any luck, they found a warm pace to wait it out, and had enough winter fat on them to hold them over. Yeah, good mamacat hasn’t had her kittens yet, I don’t know how she’d keep them warm, and likely wouldn’t let you close enough to move her and her babies to a safe warm spot.
3) Wow it’s been an adventure to get through it so far. I’m glad the house had “fail safes” to help, plus your own ingenuity.
4) Not surprised words were scared this week.
5) You did great with 4 things
Hope all stays well in your world, and the missing ferals show up okay.
February 19th, 2021 at 7:37 pm · Link
Viki, thanks on all. I’m really sorry you went through that with your first pregnancy’s
In my case, it could be more stress than anything, the last couple weeks were a trial of a zillion things, this week was much better.
1) Hopefully the “warming” trend will continue. LOL on getting your car washed, I know it’s really bothered you. I get that.
When I’m not around, Wizard gets pepperoni.
2) Wow, that’s like the worst customer service ever. I mean I’m sure the cold is overwhelming them, but since this appears to be a pattern, maybe you can find another company?
3) Poor Spunk. I bet he’s complaining. But you’re doing the right thing to give him the best chance at long lasting good health.
4) Pizza is a great option for Lent. We usually get olive pizza these days, which sounds weird, but we like it
5) How sweet! Pitties are such cute and usually very sweet dogs! I have two pitt grandpups that I adore. You’ll have so much fun getting to know the new guy. But I’m still so sorry they lost their other dog.
Hope the guy showed up for your water treatment system so you can finally turn it off. Enjoy your weekend!
February 20th, 2021 at 9:14 am · Link
Sorry to see you aren’t feeling 100%. :hugs: LOL about Wizard and his model – it does sound a lot like your writing process. Yay for lunch with Biker Witch!
1) We’re both well here. No major freeze-related problems to speak of. Not that we know of anyway. Today is the day things will unfreeze, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
2) All the critters have been on extra rations through the freeze. Thus, we are getting every deer in the neighborhood stopping by. AND dozens of birdies.
3) I do not want to think about what this cold has done to my gardens.
4) I didn’t do any work this week. Bad me. Today. Today I will work.
5) Last night, I had no clue what to do for dinner. I’m pretty tired of the same things over and over. So I took some chicken breast, potatoes, and mushrooms, sauteed them all in butter and seasonings, then covered it all in cheese. I ate mine with BBQ sauce and Hubs had his plain, but we both really enjoyed it.
February 20th, 2021 at 5:38 pm · Link
Quick update: Temps ABOVE freezing. Luci is still lurking around but BG and Shy did show back up yesterday evening and this morning. All in the cauldron* are present and accounted for. Yay!
*Since they’re all black but for Smudge, I call their colony a cauldron rather than a clowder.
February 21st, 2021 at 12:14 pm · Link
B.E., thanks on all.
1) I hope everything unfroze safely with no lasting damage. I know some people have significant problems
2) That’s so awesome of you and Hubs to give them all extra rations. They need the calories to keep warm.
3) Your poor gardens. I imagine the plants are not happy. Hope they survive.
4) You had a lot of real life to worry about this last week!
5) Your improvised dinner sounds good!
Hope you’re having a nice weekend.
February 21st, 2021 at 1:03 pm · Link
Silver, that had to be a relief that the other two ferals showed up. They must have found a warm safe spot to wait it out.
LOL on the cauldron!