Blather & Whatnot

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

Okay, all caught up on reading, so it's time for me to check in.

The weekend went well. The funeral service was very quiet and genuine. J's burial was on their own property, and the pretty much the entire funeral party processed from the funeral home to the burial site. The funeral home must have contacted local law enforcement, because at each intersection on the route there was an officer directing traffic and keeping the funeral procession together. It was a long procession.

We didn't speak much with E, but we caught up with other people my husband used to work with. I had a nice long chat with one of the wives with whom I have a good rapport. Friday was a very long day: we got on the road around 8am, the viewing and chapel service started at one, and the burial was around 2pm. The gathering (while alcohol was offered, it did not have the gusto of what I think of when I think of wakes, so let's just call it a gathering) was a slow-paced event, which E & J's adult children orchestrated. We left around 4pm, and I was in pajamas by 5pm. We didn't bother with dinner, as neither of us were hungry. We ate breakfast on the road mid-morning and then had something to eat at the funeral reception in the late afternoon.

Saturday morning was breakfast with E and the same friends we chatted with the night before. It was good to have that time with E. He looked absolutely exhausted, and mentioned that he needs to see his doctor because he thinks he has a double ear-infection. We told him to go home and take a long nap, even if his kids and his mother tried to keep him company. After breakfast, we headed back home. I did my Christmas Shopping on my phone in the car, then took a short nap. We got home, unpacked, and my husband took a well-deserved nap. I puttered around the house a bit, did lots of Sudoku puzzles, and listened to "Philosophize This." It's a great podcast, walking through the history of philosophy. I find it very relaxing. We ordered dinner in from a local pizza and sub place. It felt like a Sunday instead of a Saturday, so yesterday felt like an extra Sunday.

Sunday was yard work -- I started trimming back to overgrown shrubs, removed everything from the front garden except for the hostas, and weeded and mulched the back host garden. I've decided that for the rest of our time here, I'm just planting hostas. They are about the only thing I don't kill. I still need to mulch the front gardens. There was additional putter around the house, more listening to Philosophize This, some more puzzles, and I gave myself a manicure. It was very Sunday sort of Sunday, which was perfect for an "extra" Sunday.

Today is Monday, that means errands and groceries. I have my grocery list set up and need to see if my husband wants his suit dry cleaned, or if he just wants me to air it out. I might pick up sheets for the guest bedroom. I also want to set up a charitable giving pick up for the giant flat screen TV that is parked behind the guest bed. Our daughter and her husband will be down from New Jersey for Thanksgiving, and I want the guest room to feel welcoming for them.

I have more stuff rolling around in my head this morning, but by now I'm probably boring you, so I'll let it keep tumbling. ;~) I hope you find something beautiful in your day, and as always, thank you for being here!

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

Allegedly, I did the laundry yesterday. Well...I started the laundry. And then my ADHD brain took control and decided that the best way to spend my time was to work hard at limiting how much data my iPhone was sharing with Apple and the apps I use. So I checked out Payette Forward on YouTube (yeah, still the place to find videos, but I no longer have an account there, as part of my attempt to get Google out of my life as much as possible), and reviewed my settings to see where I could cut off the information market in the bud.

Then I struggled with my ongoing relationship with Microsoft and wondered if I should cut as many ties there as possible. That one would be much more complicated, as I have a PC, and I use Microsoft 365 for just about everything. But I did find a website that offered information on what to toggle off/on to keep the Microsoft data mining to a minimum (https://www.pctips.com/disable-these-windows-settings/ -- if anyone is curious), so I figure that will have to be my best option for now.

Part of me wants to be a Luddite and only read books that I can check out from the library, watch movies on DVDs, and write with a fountain pen or manual typewriter (yes, I own both, but don't use them very often). But that is only one part of me -- I am also quite fond of doing things the easy way and having nearly immediate gratification.

Anyway, that's where my brain was yesterday. Today, it's focused on completing what didn't get done yesterday and light cleaning. Tomorrow, my husband and I will be traveling to the southern tip of the state of Virginia for a funeral. His best friend's wife passed away earlier this week. After the funeral, we will do what we can to support E during his time of loss, and then will stay at a hotel, and return home on Saturday. My heart really goes out to E -- his wife had been suffering from severe dementia for the past year, so this is a particularly hard time for him.

And that's where my brain is today -- focused on getting the chores up to date so that we don't come home to chaos, while holding E and his family in my thoughts. I'll still look for something beautiful, and I strongly recommend that you do the same. As always, thank you for being here!

Good Evening, my Beautiful Friends!

I forgot to check in this morning -- oops! Today has been a bit odd in terms of time, but the things which needed to be done were done: finances reviewed, voted, poems written, a bit of housekeeping, updated a bunch of passwords, and groceries picked up. I still have a couple of medical bills to pay. I need to stop dragging my feet on that -- they are the little medical bills, not the big ones, but they are still supposed to be paid on time, ya know?

I'll take care of them tomorrow, which is primarily about laundry. All is good.

I hope that everyone noticed their pocket of beauty today, and as always, thank you for being here!

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

Today is the last Friday of the month, so it's doggie day care and a bath for Ted. After dropping him off, I'll vacuum my car, pick up candy for the trick-or-treaters, and pick up sandwich buns for burgers for tonight's dinner. After that, my weekend begins! I have a few things I want to take care of around the house, but all the official chores are taken care of, so it's completely a matter of what I'm in the mood to do. The only other "must" is picking up Ted at the end of his doggie day care adventure.

I hope all of you have a beautiful Friday experience, and as always, thank you for being here!

I am wearing the uniform of procrastination incarnate: still in my pajamas. I have even accessorized with a cold cup of coffee.

I guess it's time to admit that breakfast is over (it started at 8am, and is now 11:15) and take a shower and then do human things.

Being human is hard sometimes.

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

It's Tuesday, and that's desk work. The first task will be to prepare an actual budget for November. The second task is actually a bunch of littles tasks: take care of the stuff that had been gathering in my "to do" and "to be filed" folders. It's quite the pile, but I think I can go through it one day. If not, some things will just have to wait until next Tuesday, and I'm okay with that.

Today's breakfast is leftovers from the pizza party. It's been quite a while since I've had pizza for breakfast. It's as yummy as I remembered, so I'm starting my day with a beautiful thing, I suppose!

The morning routine I returned to has been working well. Most days the house is clean (or clean enough) by 9am, if not earlier (funny thing, how when you start doing the cleaning first thing most days there ends up not being that much cleaning to do!). This is definitely a decision I need to remember to play forward on those days that I'm feeling lazy. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to have lazy mornings (particularly on Saturday), but getting something done first thing really feels good. The occasional lazy day is a pleasant indulgence, but perpetual lazy mornings leave me in a motivational desert.

That's what's rolling around my head today. Thank you all for being here, and I hope you find something as beautiful as left over pizza in your day!

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

It's Friday, and Friday is my new Saturday, so it's all about being lazy! Go me! I'll still do some light tidying up and whatnot, but mostly, today will be about doing what I want. I got my StoryGraph and Letterboxd accounts up to date, though I have the distinct notion that there is another book I read, but I can't figure out what it was. I checked my withdrawal history with Libby and scanned over my Nook contents, but I'm coming up blank. Maybe I grabbed a physical book off one of my many bookshelves? Perhaps. I'll peruse the shelves and see if I can figure that out.

After years of not reading much, I've read 40 books so far this year. And I've watched 50 movies. I've been watching movies in batches; sometimes I'll watch three movies in one week, but then in August I only watched one movie all month. Historically, I would watch two movies and read one book most weeks. I don't know if I can squeeze in 54 more movies in 2026, but I can probably hit the 52 books. I'm almost done with the book I'm currently reading, so I'm only behind by one book if I make that a goal. I think I'll pick up the movie goal for next year -- I just don't think watching 5+ movies a week is realistic for me if I also want to squeeze in an extra book.

Anyway, that's what's rolling around in my head this morning. I hope you find something beautiful today, and as always, thank you for being here!

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

Today is Wednesday, and Wednesday is about laundry for me. I already have the first load in, and like yesterday, my current morning routine has my house nice and tidy, my body exercised, and my brain ready to check in.

I think the reason why I fell out of the routine was because when my husband was in a constant state of acute pain with his back issues, I made my primary job taking care of him. Not that I think that decision was wrong, it was more about how I went about it. It involved hanging out in the sunroom with him as much as possible just in case he needed something. That led to meals mostly in the sunroom, whereas in the past, we were kitchen table people for most meals. Weekend lunch was often paired with watching sports in the sunroom, but pretty much everything else was in the kitchen. The change in that pattern led me to eat my breakfast in the sunroom, and I think that was the stick in the wheel that broke my once usual routine. It feels good to have it back.

That's what's rolling around in my head this morning. I hope that you find a little pocket of beauty in your day, and as always, thank you for being here!

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

It is Monday, and that's about errands. I'm still in my pajamas (because I'm lazy!), but I have done some light cleaning already, so it's only lazy-ish, not full-on sloth. ;~) Today's errands will include grocery shopping and dropping off a library book. I might also pick up a towel ring for the en-suite bathroom. I want to give the refrigerator a good cleaning before going to the store because it's been a minute since I've done that properly.

That's all that's rolling around in my brain for the moment! I hope each of you finds a pocket of unsuspected beauty somewhere in your day, and as always, thank you for being here.

Good Morning, you Beautiful People!

Today is about laundry again, because my husband says that every thing feels like "there are monsters in his clothes" and wanted to know if I changed laundry detergent. I have not. I have, however, been lazy about adding vinegar to the rinse cycle and have been eyeballing instead of measuring the detergent, so either of those (or the combination thereof) could be the cause. So the laundry is running now, and I'll shower and get dressed once it's ready to pop in the dryer.

Reading my early posts here (from December 2024 - March 2025) gave me a lot of insight as to where I am now. While I am far from perfect (and never will be -- perfection just isn't a human thing!), I really have grown quite a bit these past two years. My challenge seems to be about consistency. Not so much on the alcohol front, but on the reckless spending and reckless eating habits. And I think that most of that is my ADHD brain, not my addict-brain. I'm not saying that the AUD isn't something at play with the reckless eating and spending but looking over where I was two years ago and where I am now, the AUD aspect of my brain has shrunk dramatically. And the anxiety brain is responding well to the sertraline. I can't change my ADHD brain (well, I guess I could medicate that as well, but is that really where I want to go? Unless the Wegovy counts in that direction? I dunno...), but I can keep working on my systems, to try to get them so that serve me well. And I even have tools in the place for that now, with my quarterly "systems check."

Wow. I really have changed. I'm not saying that there aren't days when I want to crawl under the blankets and hide from the insanity of this world, because there are still days like that. That happens when you live in an insane world. What I am saying is that when I feel that way, I do hide under the blankets (or listen to podcasts while doing puzzles), but I don't do it with a bottle of bourbon, or a box of crumble cookies, or going on online shopping sprees that put me in further debt.

Thank you all for being here. I don't think I can express how much these check-ins mean to me, and I hope you know that you are a big part of the beauty that the Universe puts in my life.