My plan exactly. A life-changing traumatic brain injury in 2017 and then Covid drove that home to me.
Carry on.
Awww. So many of us are “damn fireworks { grumble }” / “fireworks were over mercifully quickly” / “I’m deaf anyway” and @SuntanLotion haz a sad for missing them.
Kinda like snow, and cilantro, I guess: love it or hate it, in the absence you either miss it or are relieved.
catglove wasn’t kidding about the chill, but Monkey still insisted on outside time. Now he’s back inside & I have the heat back on … and the mudroom door open under direct supervision by both me, sitting on my chair nearby, and by Monkey, who’s on the prowl and still wearing his jingle-bell collar to simplify reconnaissance.
That room got damn chilly with the door closed overnight, but at least one damn ASF has taken refuge in a boxed-up mirror that’s too big to hang in my current hobbit hole rental home, so we’re balancing having that little escapee on the lam vs. trying to warm their room a bit.
I may hafta unbox the damn mirror. There really isn’t a big enough wall for it. It has some sentimental value, plus it lools really cool.
There are actually two boxed mirrors in that room, and I’m really hoping the other one isn’t inhabited. That one, the frame has tremendous sentimental value, but the mirror part audibly broke/shattered during the move, so I’ve been paralyzed about what to do.
Meanwhile, I’m hungry, dammit (the more I eat, the hungrier I am … I swear, when I go through those “ah, fuck food” spirals, my grocery bills go way down) but I’m too lazy/distracted to cook right now.
I wonder if Timmy Horton is open on NY Day? They have those little breakfast snacker things I like, and I think they keep serving breakfast later than 
like McD who think nobody wants hot, fast, cheap(ish) breakfast food after 10:59 a.m.
I think imma put on a warm sweater and go find out.
… so of course, Monkey just curled up in my lap, all warm and soft and purring …
I refer to them as rats, but what I have now are ASF (African soft-furred rats) which are a completely different species. As in, cannot interbreed, are native to different continents, and by all accounts will fight to the death if placed together. (ASFs are vicious little shit-kickers, but “standard” rats, a.k.a. brown rats or Norwegian rats from which domesticated fancy rats descended, are WAY bigger.)
I’ve had pet rats in the past, and they are such sweet, intelligent cuddlebugs.
ASFs are cunning, and have been described as “razor blades with fur.” I breed them because ball pythons really, REALLY like to eat them, and because their small size and almost complete lack of odor - rats get stinky, and mice absolutely reek - makes them comparatively easy to keep.
Until they escape, and they are notorious about that.
This reminds me.
A month or two ago you told us you had made overtures to your boss or grandboss to move into a more responsible role. With some discomfort about whether the new gig would be worth the incremental hassle.
Any news?
Happy goyishe civil new year, y’all!
My lovely wife announced that she will prepare the ham this year. Weather is intermittent sunshine, environment is medium juniper pollen. My hope is to put in several hours of writing, then play with my cover design.
I don’t do resolutions lately, but I try to set a theme for the year. This year’s theme is: self-care.
I made a lot of sacrifices in this regard in 2023. In the push to get my son into therapy as soon as possible, I really didn’t have much time or energy left for myself.
So this year I just want to be more attentive to my own needs, whatever is going on with me. And that’s going to include a balance between the work of fiction writing (which I can get obsessive about) and recreation without a purpose. Last year I didn’t do any writing and now I’m writing again and I definitely want to keep it going, but I don’t want to burn out again.
I’m really happy with my life. There was a point in my life I wouldn’t have been able to imagine that possible. So I just want to enjoy my life more, in all its facets. My family, my work, my creativity, my leisure. Worry less. Engage more.
Afternoon all (or at least it will be by the time I finish). Did my moanday morning shopping, stores and streets were pretty empty, and got my Jersey Mike’s #3 as usual–did make a new resolution there, instead of buying 2 bags of potato chips with the sammich, I will only buy one this year…so far I am 1-for-1 in keeping that resolution… Will head off to the gym for swimming and sauna relatively soon, they close at 4pm again today so need to start early.
Checked my annunites for the end of the year and they both had good returns for December, so I made up some ground from the disaster that was 2022. And that was about as constructive as I plan to be today. Will watch some tackleball here in a bit (expecting the state of Ali-bama to shut down completely around 4pm today…). Up to 40F now and not many more degrees to be added.
Pilot, sounds like you had a great New Year’s party with good folks and fun.
Spice Weasel, good words and intentions, hope they all fall in place for you.
Shoe, interesting info on the ASF breed; hope you can corral that last bugger.
I have heard (I think via a You Tube channel that is moderately reputable) that Coke products at McDonalds do taste different than the usual canned ones or even other restaurants. Enjoy them Fairy Chats
Don’t think I’ve watched a parade in person since many years ago in St. Louis, MO for St. Patrick’s Day…met my first Newfoundland dog there, wondered why someone brought a Bear to a parade…but love that breed.
SLOTH, Woman!! The answer is always Sloth!!!
Cookie, hope the knee review is as positive as your attitude.
Well, it is afternoon now as I expected, so time to get the swimsuit on and the gym bag packed and head over to the swimmin’ place. Catch you all later today.
I thought McD did breakfast all day - was that just a limited time experiment?
Mine, too! Altho one is designated for the grands’ education, assuming we don’t need to use it for some great catastrope before they start college.
I’ve taken care of my houseplants, then vacuumed up the detritus after, clogging the hose with leaves, dammit. It took a little cussing and fussing, but I got it cleared and managed to rollsuck a goodly amount of cat and dog sheddage. FCD got bored and headed out to the marina, just because. I’m about to run to Food Lion. Since the holidays are over, I need to get back to eating better, so I’ll get at least enough to get me to the 18th.
FCD called his mom today - she’ll be in the hospital at least one more day, but he said she sounded better. Unfortunately, we fear the weight gain that we cheered may have been largely the fluid that accumulated in her lungs and around her heart. She’ll weigh herself when she gets back to her sister’s house and see.
OK, stop distracting me - I need to head to Leonardtown!
Words to live by.
I suspect most of us here will need to be storing up sanity in the first half of the year, because election season will produce plenty of extra insanity in the second half.
Good move. FYI Jersey Mike’s is by far my fave major franchise sandwich shop.
My dietary issue is more with carbs than with total calories, but if you haven’t ever tried it, you might consider having them make your sandwich once as a tub.
It’s a take-out container with a good sized bed of the shredded lettuce in lieu of the bread, then all the same quantity of all the meats & cheeses piled on that.
Plus all your favorite add-ons & seasonings. Since the container is bigger, you can get about double of that stuff; far more than will stay on the bread. And since you’re not trying to keep the bread solid enough to pick up, you can also go wild on the liquid toppings and dressings.
I do a #13 floating in oil & vinegar with the yellow banana peppers and 3 scoops of the hot red relish-like stuff, plus a bunch of their other accessories I can’t now recall without looking at their display. Tres delish. And one tub makes two whole meals.
Yeah, the annual Dogtown parade was one the best. It’s real amateur and small-town hokey, but just wonderful. When we lived down in the city we went every year it wasn’t raining that day. Watched one parade in the falling snow. 30F & snowing is far warmer subjectively than is 40F and raining.
Yes, this. There’s some concrete progress to be happy about for sure.
On Wed the wife of one of my long-time pilot pals gets her first knee replacement. She’s been crippled for a year or more, and is profoundly looking forward to being able to walk again. The plan is to do the second as soon as healing allows. She’s ~68 and generally of strong constitution, so everyone is optimistic they’ll be doing knee #2 a month-ish later.
Fingers crossed for all of us, both pre- and post-op.
Oh, I intend to ignore all of that. Other than voting, obviously. That said, I should probably write some letters to my representatives this year.
As I said earlier, dinner is cooking. It’s been simmering for five hours, so I’ll check soon to see if the ham hocks are ready to be de-boned, de-skinned, and shredded. Half an hour or so ago, I mixed up the dry ingredients for the cornbread and put them into a zip-top bag.
Quoting myself from this morning for context
Welp, that was a bust.
Getting sheveled this morning I discovered some confusion with my new contacts I was about to break into. So decided to hold off on using them and visit the eye doc in person with all my boxes and records along with doing the groc & carwash; they’re all nearby one another.
So mid-afternoon I gathered up all my eye stuff and off first to the doc. They’re closed. Off to the carwash. They’re closed. That’s when it hit me. This is Monday of a three-day weekend; of course they’re closed. 
. Surely I’ll at least have success at the groc store. Surely.
Get there and note that nearly all the other stores and eateries in the strip center are closed. Groc is open; Publix can always be counted on in the clutch. Or can they?
I need two things for me and one for Her Ladyship. They’re out of both my items. I get her item and snag an impulse purchase for me that should stay in my car. Which impulse purchase I ended up forgetting to leave in the car and instead carried upstairs. So now it’s underfoot until carried downstairs again. Sigh.
So far 2024 can kiss my rump.
The ham hocks have been de-boned, de-skinned, shredded, and returned to their respective pots. The greens have been washed again, and are on the stove in the ham-hock stock. The cornbread batter, in its Crisco-slathered cast-iron frying pan, is in the oven. Ham hock skins have been cut up and put into the toaster oven for ‘chicharrones’. Everything should be done around 2 o’clock.
I forgot to make beans and greens once. Once. It was 2020. I shan’t forget again.
Happy New Year, Mumper chums!
Last night I watched an old movie (“Little Shop Around the Corner”) and went to bed early, as is my tradition. Fireworks woke me, but I fell right back asleep.
I was SO happy to get an Echo Show AND an Echo Dot for Christmas! I had trouble setting up the Show–it kept shutting down on me–but finally got it there yesterday. Today I’ll ahopefully) add the Echo Dot, which will go in my bedroom.
FCM, I’m glad your MIL has improved. I trimmed plants this morning, too! My spider plant badly needed a haircut.
shoe, honestly, I don’t see how you keep functioning on the little you eat. You work a job that’s very physically demanding, yet you contemplate little breakfast snackers instead of something more substantial. I know you have appetite issues, but the Italian mama in me wants to say, “Mangia, mangia!” Does cannabis help your appetite any? Just ignore me if this comes off as nosy instead of concerned.
pilot, what a fun New Year’s Eve! I hope the grocery store gets the items you and your wife need.
spice weasel, that’s the best resolution I’ve heard in a very long time!
Thank you!
@Johnny_L.A that sounds pretty delicious.
I just decided I’m making nachos for dinner tonight.
My husband and I get the whole day off together tomorrow, with the kid in daycare. Huzzah!
Howdy. Did get most of my swimming in, the pool was crowded as the gym was on short hours but did manage to get 1,000 yards backstroked and ample whirlpool and sauna time. Scale still showed me as gaining weight since Sunday, but one advantage on taking my ‘official’ weight on Monday is it is usually the highest reading of the week, given a heavy Sunday dinner and the aforementioned Sub and chips on Monday. Just need to keep whittling away at it. Ali-bama game is starting now so I expect the roads to be virtually empty for the next 3 hours.
Pilot, will look into that Tub idea; and I agree that Jersey Mike’s tops Subway, Jimmy John’s, Firehouse and Which Wich for sammiches, IMHO. And best wishes to your friends wife, so far my knees are holding up but they are the body part I do worry about the most.
My goodness, whatever will you do with the time (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)… 
14:23, and we’re done eating.
It was! And I like how the cornbread just falls out of the pan, and the pan is ready for next time. 
And… Mi esposa had seconds! 
(I would have, but… carbs. Which reminds me that I haven’t weighed myself in a couple of weeks.)
Just spent the afternoon watching the Golden Knights get shut out in the Winter Classic - despite 35 shots on goal. Very frustrating game.
Out neighbor with whom we spent Christmas Eve has informed us that she has COVID. She thinks she picked it up on Christmas Day, so we’re probably OK. Plus, we both feel fine.
I’m tentatively scheduled for a 3-week job in Virginia starting next week. I hope it comes through; that’ll be a nice paycheck. Not much else going on here at Casa de Wheelz. We’ll likely have a quiet evening before real life starts back up tomorrow.
All the best in 2024 to you all!
Your menu is pretty much the same as mine, only I used the bone from the Christmas ham for seasoning and made corn muffins rather than skillet cornbread. That’s the way that I do it unless there are more people here to eat it because it stores better as muffins.
Speaking of which, the turnip greens were killer! I used some homemade veggie broth for what little liquid that was needed and the small turnip that I chunked up was perfect.
The rest of the evening is sloth, as is tomorrow. Wednesday it’s back to irk.
I was just about to give Abbey and Goo their gooshy food, when there was a knock oat the front door. Remember those neighbour cats I’ve mentioned? That was their Cat Dad. One of them, the one who caused Abbey such consternation last week, got stuck up in a tree in the back yard. Catdad came over to ask if he could retrieve him. He had to go get a longer ladder, but Lewis was rescued. The white, Siamese-looking cat came over to supervise. His name is Ballentine. Sweet kitties, and it was nice to meet the cross-the-creek neighbours.
The dinner leftovers have been packaged, the slow-cooker vessel has been scrubbed and put into the dishwasher (the greens pot, I’ll wash by hand because there’s no room in the dishwasher), and the cornbread is in a zip-top bag. Now back to The Twilight Zone.