Friday, January 10th, 2025
Friday Five
TGIF! I guess it’s good it’s Friday? But with storms ravaging other states, wind and fires here, it’s feeling a bit forced right now. Quick note: Wizard and I are still far enough away from any fires to be safe. I hope all of you in the path of the cold and storms are safe as well! But let’s try to do our best with Friday Five. Here’s my five random things about my week:
- Maggie went to the Vet Tech yesterday for some standard care and was such a good girl
That’s what they tell me. Obviously, we can’t trust my opinion because I’m completely biased, LOL. - After the vet, I had to run to Macy’s to exchange a watch I got for Christmas that just stopped working. They are sending me a new watch and I appreciate that customer service! I’d already had the watch sized and they could have refused, so that’s a positive on the week!
- I made pepper steak from my new cookbook this week and really loved it. I think Wizard liked it fine but wasn’t nearly as ecstatic as me. I’m pretty sure that had something to do with my enthusiastic inclusion of extra veggies But he had homemade sourdough bread with it so he was happy enough. I love cooking these days, but dang it’s tiring.
- We have begun shopping for a dining room table. I don’t mind looking in person, but it’s hard to know if stuff we see at online stores is a true reflection of the pictures on the websites. It’s a big purchase and hard to return so we’ll probably ponder this for a long time, if we do it at all. On the upside, while out shopping in real stores, we accidently found some side tables for our living room in our price range that we’ll probably get. That’s a bonus!
- Wednesday the plan was to go see Baby Girl while her mom did some errands. We cancelled that since the winds were too wild. Instead we are going out there tomorrow (hopefully) and will watch her while Middle Son and Daughter In Law take care of a few tasks. We are so looking forward to seeing her after our self imposed ban while Wizard was sick!
Okay that’s my effort at a fairly upbeat FF. Feel free to be as happy or not as you wish to be! I look forward to hearing whatever you wish to share! Have a great weekend!
January 10th, 2025 at 7:34 am · Link
:HUGS: I’m glad you guys are safe. Yay for Maggie! Yay for an easy exchange process on your watch! Yay for yummy food! Fingers cross you find a lovely new dining table and yay for the right side tables! Fingers crossed you get to see Baby Girl tomorrow. You did a good job being upbeat. Go you!
1) We’re fine here. We’ll have to wait until it’s light to see how much snow we actually got, but it looks like 3-4 inches as of now.
2) Even with the snow, the Starlink is still screamin’ fast. Woot.
3) I made sure we were all stocked up on groceries, etc. yesterday. Sadly, the Walmart was out of donuts. =o(
4) I finally finished the first edit pass on my latest book. I’ll start the next pass today. The hope is to have this thing out to the world no later than Valentine’s Day.
5) Sawyer and Finn are feeling their oats this morning. They’re running around, doing ninja moves on each other. It’s too funny.
January 10th, 2025 at 11:03 am · Link
So worried for you guys and the extended family! Those fires are scary-horrible. Maggis IS a good girl! Wow–good on Macy’s! Yay for cooking! Yay for bonus furniture! I don’t do furniture on line. I want to see and touch and sit. Yay for Baby Girl Time™! Enjoy. And STAY SAFE!!! Okay, my five:
1. SNOW! We got some! 4.5″ for a new 1-day record and more than we got in the entire year of 2024. It’s pretty to look at. We don’t have to get out. Stormy and Baseball Boy were out of school yesterday. Only had a half-day. They’re all home today doing virtual.
2. Speaking of cooking, with the cold weather, we’re all about the comfort food–chili, beef stew & cornbread, beef stroganoff. Yummers.
3. My Hamilton Beach “beta tester” thingy came through again. My new toaster/broiler oven was delivered this week. It’s been sitting on the kitchen table while I figured out where to put it. I did that this morning and in the process, ended up clearing out my “spice/condiment” shelf. Hoo boy. I should be embarrassed at the age of some of the stuff. I toss a whole bag full. Heck, I had almond flavoring that had evaporated.
Pretty shelf now and room to store my handmixer so it’s no longer on the countertop.
4. In the oops-Imma-klutz column, I faceplanted Wednesday bringing in groceries. The good news is, no groceries were injured or destroyed in the escapade. The bad news is I conked the left side of my face (forehead at the eyebrow, cheekbone) and hit my left knee and left arm. Jake helped me get off the garage floor (LG was gone) and I managed the rest of the day. I’m fine if a little sore.
5. People are sending pics and videos of their pets being cute out in the snow to the local news. Pete made it as far as the cat door in the garage. He popped it open, took one look and high-tailed it back inside. Loki goes to the window in the Florida room and watches for Jake to come back inside. Jake just goes out and lays in the snow. No frolicking for him, just “ooh, soft and cold. Yay!” Yeah, I’ll never be internet famous for my critters.
Have a great weekend, all! We have no plans. I need to play catch up on my editing because the deadline BE and set for each other is fast approaching!
January 10th, 2025 at 3:51 pm · Link
1. Glad Maggie had a good vet trip. She is a sweetie!
2. Macy’s did good!
3. It’s really great that you are enjoying your new cookbook. Yes, cooking is tiring.
4. Great find on the side tables. Hope you have fun finding your new dining room table.
5. You and Wizard are going to have so much fun with baby girl.
1a. Had a Dr. appointment today GYN. All good.
2a. I am so sorry for all the people in those fires and the animals.
3a. A letter came from IRS today and I immediately got tense. Thank heaven it was only the filing PIN.
4a. The electric bill also came today and it was double last year. The rates have gone up a HUGE amount and I can’t get hubs to turn off lights. He is so much like a 2 yr old.
5a. It’s been very cold here but heck it’s winter and we have heat.
Have a great weekend and tons of fun with baby girl!
January 10th, 2025 at 4:46 pm · Link
B.E., thanks for the props on being upbeat — I tried
On the dining room table, we can take all the time we need. Our very old one is functional so…wants aren’t near as important as needs, right?
1) That’s a lot of snow!! I saw that your area was going to get hit hard. Hope it’s all manageable.
2) It must feel amazing to have fast reliable internet now! I’d give up a lot of things before I gave up my internet.
3) What??? Out of donuts! How can they do that to you when you’re facing a snow storm! Seriously, I’m glad you were able to get the essentials, but still…donuts make everything better.
4) WOOT!! That’s great news! This next pass should be much faster now that you got the major stuff sorted out. It’ll be live in no time!
5) I crack up at cat videos, so I imagine it’s even better when you get a front seat to a live show!
I really hope you and hubs have a great weekend!
January 10th, 2025 at 5:02 pm · Link
Silver, thanks so much. We’ve been very lucky. Even with power — much of our city was shut off to prevent fires, but we kept our power. And the rest of stuff is all good…especially see our granddaughter tomorrow!
1) That’s a bunch of snow for sure! I’m glad you don’t need to go out in it and can enjoy it from inside your warm house! Virtual classes make sense in all that snow.
2) Good choices from frigid weather!
3) LOL on the out of dates on your spices! I’ve had that happen. Now I **try** to go through them once a year. Hope you love the toaster oven your beta-testing!
4) OUCH! That’s scary!! I’m really glad nothings broken or requires treatment, but still…ouch!! Jake of course was a hero in helping you up. He’s a good boy. Now please, no more falls! At least for me, it gets a bit more worrisome at my age. I just don’t heal as fast. I sure hope you show me up and heal super fast!
5) Oh Jake!!! Well I’m glad he likes the snow! Pete’s way too smart for that cold and wet nonsense. Loki already knows he’s prefer a window view
Hope you have a great weekend striving to make the mutual deadline you and BE agreed to! That’s some pretty good motivation!
January 10th, 2025 at 5:11 pm · Link
Viki, it was such a nice find on the side tables. We’ll get those soon. We actually need those more than a dining room table. And thanks, we’ve really missed Baby Girl.
1) All medical good news is a win!
2) I know. Moving all those animals is a huge challenge, but so many people are volunteering with physical help or spaces to board the animals like horses. Restaurants are helping feed displaced folks. There’s glimmers of hope in all that tragedy. But it really is sad and scary because there was so little that could stop it.
3) I get that with the IRS. Yay for being housekeeping stuff!
4) WOW that must have been a shock when you opened the bill. And doubly frustrating that you can’t get hubs to help you get the costs down.
5) That’s a positive attitude for the cold winter! You seem to have good backup systems in place too so you should be set for the cold. Still a nice day or two would break up that gray feeling that sometimes settles over the long winter months.
Stay warm and have a great weekend!