Well, happy new year to all. I promised three posts this week and I guess this is the third, even though it’s Saturday.
I hope you all had a peaceful and pleasing Eve. We’re feeling fine, and it seems we may have dodged Covid. Kate’s illness flew in and out the window in about 48 hours, and so far, we’re symptom-free. I got a PCR yesterday — no results yet — and Alan got a PCR and instant, with the latter coming up negative. So you see? It’s true! Covid is just big-government mind control!
I’m still self-isolating until my results come in. It’s supposed to be warmish today with a snowstorm later tonight, then bitter cold, so I’m planning a long outdoor walk, maybe on Belle Isle. I walked three miles yesterday, to the grocery for a few supplies and back, and was amazed by how it wiped me out. Three miles! Of course, having slept four hours the night before probably didn’t help. But Dry January starts today, and I might as well make it comprehensively healthy.
I did a fancy surf ‘n’ turf dinner for my last night of wine consumption for a while. Beef tenderloin and scallops, with individual spinach soufflés and chocolate lava cake for dessert. Then we watched “The Lost Daughter” (recommended) and I folded my tent early. Even the usual midnight fusillade of gunfire couldn’t wake me. Man, I needed to sleep.
Resolutions? This year? OK, just some easy ones: Read more ink on paper, fewer pixels on screens. Listen to more new music. Don’t look back. Get to Spain (or maybe Italy). So I best get moving, eh? See you Monday.
beb said on January 1, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Our Saturday was interropted around 11 am by someone sending off about twelve rounds of automatic fire. Nice way to wake up in the ‘Hood. I’ve been reading about the fires in Colorado. Terrible disaster. So much wind running through the canyons. Global Warming has stopped playing nice.
No resolutions for me. I never keep them so why bother. I feel sad that Betty White passed away just a few weeks before her 100th birthday. I don’t have much memory of her except that she was a game old lady.
I hope we don;t get a lot of snow. I got a foot in a cast so won;;t be able to do any snowblowing. The foot is a terrible inconvenience and worse I have no idea how I broke it. (Stress fracture I suspect).
Happy New Year to you all.
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Deborah said on January 1, 2022 at 6:02 pm
Tomorrow is LB’s birthday, we’re having cocktails and cream puffs with the neighbors coming over in the evening. I haven’t made cream puffs in ages, they’re easy but I’ve never made them in altitude, so I hope they puff up properly. For lunch we’re getting takeout sushi, LB’s request, from a local restaurant. We’re just not comfortable eating in the restaurant because there are still a lot of tourists in town.
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Deborah said on January 1, 2022 at 11:15 pm
Dorothy, you asked about The Lost Daughter, we watched it tonight. As you said Olivia Colman didn’t disappoint, but I have to think about the movie more. It kept my interest but I was puzzled by Leda’s motivation to keep the doll. And what in the world happened to Ed Harris? He looked washed up to say the least.
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Dexter Friend said on January 1, 2022 at 11:49 pm
Winter arrived. I have not worn gloves once since early 2021. Tomorrow I’ll wear them. I went out at 10:00 PM for a sandwich and to walk Pogo around the park a little. The van windshield and wipers were frozen and coated with ice, all other windows same, doors frozen shut. I finally got inside and thawed out the ice, then as I drove, the ice built up again on the windshield as the heater wasn’t fully hot yet. At the park the icy winds and ice pellets from the sky were most unpleasant; Pogo relieved herself and that was that. Amazingly, my fast food fish sandwich was good, so all is well.
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Julie Robinson said on January 2, 2022 at 10:47 am
Happy Birthday to Little Bird, hope you have a great day. Condolences to Alex on losing Pussies, the feral who found her way into your heart. And beb, sorry about your foot. It makes me wonder if men can also develop osteoporosis. Did the doc suggest getting tested?
It’s hard to feel excited about the New Year while hunkering down again. Last January we looked forward to getting vaxxed and going places again. This year, meh.
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Little Bird said on January 2, 2022 at 11:36 am
Thanks Julie! It’s still early yet, but so far I’m having a great day!
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Jeff Borden said on January 2, 2022 at 1:21 pm
I wish Dry January wasn’t in January. After walking Cosmo a mile or so, then shoveling front and rear sidewalks, I really wanted a couple of fingers of brown spirits to warm my innards. Instead, I had a cup of decaf green tea. No comparison.
This year is off to a good start simply because Cosmo is his old self. Watching him race around in the snow, it was hard to believe just two months ago we thought he was dying. Yay veterinarian science!
Wonder what our country will look like next January? I shudder to think. Hope I’m wrong.
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Deborah said on January 2, 2022 at 4:09 pm
The cream puffs puffed just fine. I haven’t filled them yet, I have to make the whipped cream yet, some I’m putting a raspberry pushed into the cream, some a strawberry, some get grated chocolate mixed into the cream and some get a dollop of lemon curd, and some plain. I’m cutting the top off of each and filling then putting the caps back on. It’s been ages since I’ve made these, I hope they taste ok.
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Dorothy said on January 2, 2022 at 6:44 pm
I’m not sure that Ed Harris looked ‘washed up’ but he certainly looked a little rough. This made me wonder how old he is – he was 71 in November. If he smokes that could explain the condition of his very wrinkly face. But he’s good in any role he does. He’s money in the bank.
I admit I know very little about Dry January and why people think it’s something they need to do. But just a reminder, Jeff, you could have some brown liquid to warm yourself up and the world won’t end. Which I’m sure you know! My husband has not been sleeping well for the whole Christmas break, despite using some prescription meds (not every night – he usually tries 2 or 3 nights without meds and then must have a boost with the meds). On New Years Eve he had a little glass of bourbon around 9 PM and slept much better (no meds were taken with the bourbon!!). I’m confident this sleep difficulty has to do with our moving in a month. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes – first move we’ve done that we’re paying for and doing mostly ourselves since 1992. We’re packing everything but of course are employing a moving company. But for all the moves we’ve done since 2002, they were corporate moves. So we barely lifted a finger for packing stuff. Makes a big difference, especially when you’re 64.
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Heather said on January 2, 2022 at 7:20 pm
Happy New Year to everyone. May it be better than the last two.
I made cassoulet for NYE, which was supposed to be a three-day process but I compressed it into two (since I belatedly realized I should have started earlier). It was very good! Luckily I halved the recipe because there was a ton left over. It also gave me an excuse to open a bottle of wine I bought from in Lisbon maybe six or seven years ago. I was visiting some friends who go there every summer–the husband is Portuguese and he knows a lot about the wine there, and I accompanied him to a tasting. I was afraid it might have gotten corked as I stored it upright for a while, but it was great.
I am sorry about your cat, Alex. Sounds like she was lucky to have you. I started mine on her chemo pills and she seems to be tolerating them well, but the tests will show whether that’s true.
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David C said on January 2, 2022 at 8:29 pm
Alcohol does nothing to help me sleep. One beer early in the evening is OK. It neither helps nor hinders. More or later than that and I sort of sleep but it’s so light and I wake up so often that I feel the opposite of refreshed in the morning. I read a book on sleep (“Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker) and he says there’s a difference between sleep and sedation and alcohol is a sedative. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t work for me but it seems to work for others. My aunt had horrible insomnia and she takes half of the lowest dose cannabis gummy before she goes to sleep and her insomnia is gone.
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Deborah said on January 2, 2022 at 9:21 pm
Dorothy, washed out was a poor choice of words to describe Ed Harris, he just seemed so much older.
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Icarus said on January 2, 2022 at 10:58 pm
Dorothy, you likely know this but take it from a guy who just moved almost 600 miles: purge, purge and purge. Sell, give or throw away as much as you can.
Dry January is in response to overindulging during the holidays and dry out. One could do dryish January according to Twitter. Personally I think February is easier with a couple of fewer days and no nfl playoffs but that is me. We are giving it a go again after too many stops and starts last year.
Speaking of Twitter, Scout you are a star (see image 7)
https://www.boredpanda.com/landlord-tenant-told-friends-break-in/?fbclid=IwAR10tAq6MB3RByvmJAJBLiBXEVFLOjWEIh1a7seL9nZ2qYD4lQwVv5OxF7I
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Deborah said on January 3, 2022 at 12:33 am
I too have sleep issues and I’ve tried cannabis gummies and they don’t work for me. I’ve tried 1/2 of the lowest dose and even 3/4 and it feels like it keeps me more awake. The ones that I’ve tried are indica which are supposed to be relaxing. But where it does work for me is when I have to fly, I always have a lot of anxiety about the whole airport experience, it gets me through that.
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Dexter Friend said on January 3, 2022 at 3:41 am
Ed Harris looked pretty darn nimble on the dance floor. He’s looked wrinkled/old for a long time now, really since right after the classic “State of Grace” 33 years ago. His appearance on-screen hasn’t noticeably changed in the past 20 years. Leda …did anyone cheer her for what she did regarding her 2 daughters, so she could “explode” into herself? The fixation with the stolen doll, the worm coming out of the doll’s mouth…geez, Maggie, what the hell?
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Suzanne said on January 3, 2022 at 6:06 am
We watched Nomadland last night. It’s not new, of course, but a truly beautiful, thought provoking movie. Frances McDormand deserved every accolade. I slept soundly after, woke up, and am still thinking about it.
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Dorothy said on January 3, 2022 at 6:33 am
Oh Icarus we’ve been pitching/purging/donating since March or April, right after we did our design appointment on St. Patrick’s day 2021. We’ve thinned out photo albums, fabric, shoes, a piano, lawn equipment, tools, clothing, you name it. Someone in our neighborhood here in Dayton collects used shoes which somehow benefits a local dog shelter. I dropped off 20 pair of shoes at 9 AM yesterday. And I have a feeling when we unpack at the new house there will be more purging. Linen closets can only hold so much. We had a discussion on this site months ago about how many sets of towels and/or sheets everyone owns and I realized I had way more than most of you. So towels and sheets have been donated too. Dog shelters can always use towels. You accumulate a lot of crap in 42 years of marriage, even if you move several times and thin out stuff each time you move.
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alex said on January 3, 2022 at 7:32 am
Dorothy, in reading one of the NN.C dates in history recently, I came across a post in which you were contemplating this eventual move and weighing exurban versus city, acreage versus small lot. So if I missed it I’m curious what you and your husband decided on.
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Julie Robinson said on January 3, 2022 at 9:08 am
We just donated 3/4 of our linen closet to the local shelter. It was so cram jammed it was hard to find anything. So we
relentlessly purged, then our lad made labels for each shelf. It’s a small thing, but since we moved life has felt out of control and having order, even in just one closet, makes a difference.
I thought it might take half a year to get settled in and now we’re there and nowhere near. Womp womp.
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