and my reason is today was a total bust. The expected high volume didn’t arive and I spent nearly 11 hours at Da Jungle to only be on the clock for a little more than 6. :smack: Wanting to reclaim my usual good mood and it being too late to run up the range and blow something up, I turn to my “happy place” - the SDMB and all ya’ll Mumpers.
So the question of the week; what is your favorite way to give your mood a boost when you are short of time and stuck at home or close to it?
A cousin died at the end of December, and his mother, my aunt, 94, died in January. Saturday there was a funeral service for my aunt, a potluck for remembering my aunt and cousin, and a ‘cousin-style’ after-party. Mrs. L.A. and I drove out to Coeur d’Alene Friday – which is a bit of a haul, because you can’t get there from here. Mrs. L.A. is a Baptist (or something), so I wondered how she’d handle the Catholic ceremony. (Personally, I found there was a lot of standing up and sitting down.) She really liked the church, the ceremony, and the priest (who is polish and speaks with a fairly strong accent).
Mrs. L.A. insisted we bring something to the potluck, so we stopped by a supermarket after changing into more casual clothes. I bought five pounds of cubed watermelon, five pounds of some sort of bean dip (refried beans, cheese, sour cream guacamole, salsa… I didn’t have any, so I don’t know what-all was in it), and a bag of Juanita’s tortilla chips. I don’t know about the chips, but the watermelon and dip were obliterated. I don’t know how many times we heard, ‘You look just like your dad!’ I get that a lot, every time there’s a gathering. A cousin’s granddaughter said I looked like… someone. Her uncle or someone. I didn’t tell her she looked like Verruca Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), though she really did. Oh, and I had lost 70 pounds since the last time we were all together (for another aunt’s 90th birthday party in 2016), so I got ‘You look great!’ comments. My cousin whom I think looks very much like Laurence Fishburne, said he was very annoyed by my weight loss, since he would like to lose weight himself.
After returning to our hotel for a couple of hours to recharge, we headed out to Spirit Lake. From the name, I thought the lake was filled with rum. My assumption turned out to be incorrect. We didn’t stay long at the after-party. Mrs. L.A. was being harassed by mosquitoes, and her back was hurting her.
We drove home today, stopping to pick the cat up from Cat Country Resort. Anyway, I got to see my relatives, they got to meet Mrs. L.A., and Mrs. L.A. got to meet the family.
Sorry to hear about your aunt and cousin, Johnny, but glad the family get together went well.
Ruble I’m all too fond of reading a book, perhaps with an adult beverage, and enjoying some quiet time with my creature collection. Right now, of course, I wish a certain creature would go to bed. grumble
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 75 Amurrkin out and clear (as opposed to murky?) with a predicted high of 97 (and no doubt some kind of og awful heat index) and N.O.S. for the day. Methinks some quality cee-mint pond time may be had followin’ the usual Moanday spiff of da cave. Sup shall be beastloaf, which I took outta da freezer and put into da fridge last night, field peas 'n snaps, butter beans, and okra cooked together, mac 'n cheese, and cornbread. Kinda in the mood for some down home grub.
Ruble I don’t think of bein’ in da cave as bein’ stuck. I am more wont to be here than about the public even though I do suck it up and go about the public when I must. Like Sunny I like to read. Also binge watchin’ sump’n good on Netflix or, as y’all have figured out by now, quality time at the cee-mint pond durin’ Summer are good mood boosters. I don’t have any compellin’ reason to leave da cave today, so YAY!
Flyboy sorry about your aunt and cousin. However, glad the Mrs. and you enjoyed the family reunion. I generally enjoy family reunions especially knowin’ that there is a finite period of time I will have to be there.
Now I need more caffeine and rumbly tummy demands sustenance. Then, onward into the day. Rah.
Happy Moanday Y’all!
Three days in a row, I woke before 5, which means tomorrow, when I have to go back to work, I’ll be dead asleep when the alarm goes off. Of course.
Like swampy, I don’t leave the homestead too often. Lately, it was because all of the work we did on the shop, but now that that’s done, who knows? I will occasionally hit Netflix and I enjoy knitting and crocheting while watching. Sometimes I’ll futz in the yard, sometimes I’ll do sudoku on the computer, and after this weekend, I’ll have my studio back, so I may start playing with clay again. For the most part, I’m easily amused.
Daughter took Roxy to the Franklin Institute and she came home with a stuffed DNA model. She wasn’t interested in the stuffed animals - just the DNA. So my granddaughter is either a budding genius and a little whackadoodle. 
My plans for today include making a batch of sketty sauce with the Polish sausage that didn’t get et at the non-open house. Supper will be pot roast - I’ll build that after the sauce is bagged. And I’ll probably push the vacuum around the living room and dining room. Good times!
Happy Moanday!
The physical path of my world is a triangle. Home, irk, the barn. Lather, rinse, repeat. I rarely feel “stuck” at home. I like to read (got 4 books from the liberry yesterday), craft, watch tv. The barn is the big social part of my life but I have a handful of friends outside the horse world. I’m at the age where I’m fine just chilling. Today I’m suffering from post migraine no doubt brought on by a sinus infection. I’m on antibiotics and Prednisone. I think I will work from home. I’m lucky that I can do that when I don’t feel like appearing in public.
I consider myself more stuck at irk. Home is my happy place.
Blurf I am stuck.
ruble, when I’m stuck at home and feeling gloomy, I just calculate how much money I have and that makes me smile…
:p:D Seriously, I pull out a good book and read awhile; usually pulls me out of my funk or lets me think of a way to get out of it.
On a Ferry just leaving the dock at Digby, Nova Scotia, for a 2-hour cruise to St. John, New Brunswick. I am slowly falling in love with this area, but of course it is spring/summer, not winter…maybe two homes, one here and one i Ali-bama…
So far vacation is fine, am tired a lot but it’s a good tired.
LA John, sorry about the deaths; it seem that is what brings families together in one place most often. Glad you had a great time and picked the right snacks.
All y’all take care. Need to go out and take some more pictures of Fundy Bay.
Up caffeinated and sheveled. Off to work. Closing shift tonight.
If I am ever “stuck” at home, i have whiskey, pets, and a laser pointer.
Moooooooommmmm!, maybe **Roxy ** ends up at The Miskatonic University College of Genetic Engineering (Motto :The homework ate our dog).
**Flyboy **, sorry about your cousin and aunt.
So the other day, my neighbour wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I wasn’t wearing pants. If we were combined, you’d get a fully-clothed person.
Oh hi, everyone. Haven’t been here on the boards in a while. I haven’t chosen to stay away, it was more just a thing that happened.
Been sick. Malabsorption. Extreme weight loss, exhaustion, weakness. Wasting away. Fading. Not getting better.
I have a cold, but it’s nothing compared to my ongoing failing health.
I try to enjoy life as much as I can, though. But it’s not always easy.
My son did this once. We went to the science museum and he wanted the cold virus molecule. 
Midget - good to hear from you! Do they know what’s causing the malabsorption?
Another 100-ish day to come here. I think it cools back down after this. My haid officially hates me. My goal for today is to work on a diet plan. I’d like to work out a week’s worth of meals, so I have less room to stray (invention being a straight line to ice cream, at least in my case). I’m also going to try and do a walk a day with the pup. The morning is cooler, but has light. I think it will be evening. Darkness for the win. 
So, along the lines of a gun range, there are actually “bomb ranges” where you can go and blow things up? 
For some reason this made me flash back to good old Father Ted from the church the non-OR-Orthodox branches of the family attended. At some point around when I was 9 or so he started doing one service a month in English rather than “Church Slovak” which he spoke all the time; even outside of Mass. For us kids it was all fine and dandy until the end when he solemnly chanted “May the Lord bewitch you”.
We all kept looking for his nose to twitch. 
Home is an OK place for me; most days. I’m just too used to space to be myself and with the house basically sitting on the sidewalk and the next door house being close enough that I can pee on it from the second floor window (yes — I have. I just had to see if I really could) and since my really-most-relaxing-things require booms --------- when I really need to decompress ------- road trip! 
Kinda and sorta. There are “artillery parks” where you can shoot up to and over 1000 yards and private land where anything goes as long as the owner is cool with it. I can’t do my bigger stuff at my local club (they won’t even allow .50BMG because of how close we are to downtown) but with an hour or so each direction I can pretty much “run what I brung”. And a couple strip mines closer but I need to coordinate with the land owners. Clubs though, and even private land, are almost always “dawn to dusk” at most. Night-time means heading up the old homestead where everyone within 7000 acres is related and used to me.
Reading – I like but sometimes I just get my brain too “going” to enjoy it. Doesn’t happen often but when it does the SDMB is a good fallback. Not just reading but formulating a response helps me a lot times like that.
I was confused for a moment, thinking you were talking about Father Ted.
Happy Moonday!
Well, it’s Moonday.
It’s a N.O.S. 84 degrees outside.
Going to be hot at the dog park, so the pups probably won’t play too much.
One of Ripple’s best friends was there yesterday, if you didn’t know the two of them, you would have thought they were going to kill each other when I opened the gate to let Ripple into the park.
We made it to Brusters, and I stupidly I got an ice cream cone (waffle cones made right there, they smell so good), and paid for it all night.
MY tummy still hurts. My son wants to go back since we have more coupons.
I know I will stupidly get another cone.
If he could drive he could take himself and I wouldn’t be tempted. I don’t even like ice cream, but Brusters is good.
This morning has been a grumpy morning, but I think most of the time my grumpies are a mood, not because of something external. Anyway, staying home makes me happy.
I do enjoy the dog park. I’d be happy not to go everyday, but I don’t like to disappoint the brat.
He’s waiting for me now, he’s sleeping, but the first sound of a key and he will be right here ready to get dressed to go.
He heard me move, now he is awake and watching.
Good to see you Midget - I hope you get to being better soon.
Sorry Flyboy
Still have lots of ham and broccoli leftover since last night’s dinner was an ice cream cone.
So that is lunch and dinner for today, and probably some ham left over for breakfast tomorrow.
I figure it’s from a poor diet and extreme stress I’ve had lately, plus the depression and celiac disease that have plagued me since about a year ago.
I’m seeing my doctor (GP) next week. I hope he’ll take me seriously. I did get a note from my psychiatrist saying that I’m so sick that I lost a job because of it, so there’s that.
Howdy Y’all! I spiffed da cave and am now chillaxin’. I decided against the cee-mint pond cause it’s way hyoooooooooomid out. Plus looks like there could be a tboomer brewin’ in the distance, I hope. I should also get sup goin’ in a little bit.
{{{Midget}}} hope the GP gets ya goin’ on the right track to get better.
Ours “aired” much earlier than that one. 
Incidentally, what is ‘non-OR-Orthodox’?
Horribly humid outside.
Good to back home and in the AC.
I think I’m going to take a nap before irk.