I’m still positive. 
I just got off a two-hour phone conversation with a former colleague. Though I miss teaching, I’m so glad I’m not doing it now. What a mess. My daughter will be upset to learn that there is no longer a school newspaper. It was an excellent publication that won awards. She was editor her senior year. And there’s no longer a journalism course. Taking that course inspired her to become a journalist. The teacher shortage is real, folks. Poor pay, increasing workloads, and public contempt/hatred = lots of turnover.
This colleague was diagnosed with the same kind of breast cancer I had three months later than I was, and now tests show it might be back. But it might not be. Medical limbo is not a fun place.
The buses within my city are free, which I applaud. Most of the people who take the bus are poor folks. It used to be 1.25, coins or pre-purchased books of tickets. Supposedly they don’t lose any money because charging people also incurred costs or something.
It’s The Hour of the Wolf. I can’t recall Ingmar Bergman’s explanation–something about insomnia and something-something. And that’s zero help. It’s what I think of when I wake up at 3-ish.
Hooray!!!
Their school motto has always been my favorite: “Omnia Extares”: let it all hang out. Can you tell it opened in 1967? 
I love this!
shoe, can you send your dad an e-card, or is he not tech-savvy enough?
Pretty sure God understands the confusion with time changes.
flyboy, yay on Mrs. LA’s test result! See? Miracles DO happen! Tomorrow is your turn.
The weekend is winding down. Sunday dinner was sausage - cornbread stuffed acorn squash and some fried cabbage with caraway seed. Now it’s warm in the apartment.
Dinner was chili-mac topped with cheddar. Harkening back to the high school cafeteria, minus the bullies. The wife’s been feeling poorly since the RSV vax, but her appetite is still good. If this keeps up, though, I’ll have to hogtie her and take her to the doctor.
Howdy Y’all! We deheathenated and then came back to da cave for chili/cheese/onion/slaw dawgs and fries. Nappage and fartfest followed. The biiiiiig trash can has been hauled all the way down to the road for pickup tomorrow. ‘Tis just after six p.m. and gettin’ dark out. Netflix and chill begin shortly.
FlyBoy yay for the missus. Hope you test negative tomorrow.
BooFae hope you don’t feel to banged up and sore.
Boo Diet Poopsie/Poopsie One are the soft drinks available at da cave, but I’d get some Diet Coke for you. Also, you can have the whole sofa to yourself, as I like to lay back in my recliner. One sofa has recliners on both ends, and both sofas are easy to lie upon and watch teevee. We live for comfort.
I have to admit, the geoduck is a kinda cool mascot.
I’ll test again Tuesday or Wednesday.
I’m starting to wonder if it is. I told my dad about the conversation and he was pretty upset. I don’t know if he’ll say something to my sister, who will say something to my mom, but I’m trying to take the attitude of if she doesn’t think of me as her daughter, I can’t put the mental energy in to get upset at what she thinks.
Same. It’s my dessert of choice. I really auto’s learn how to make my own one of these days.
They were! We had princesses and space men and a cowboy… they were all just adorable! I’d have taken pics but not without parental permission and we were a bit full to ask.
Now this
made me tear up with happy tears. Thank you.
Everyone else that had offered hugs and support regarding my mom’s remarks, thank you. It did really help keep me buoyed.
I wonder if i can talk Hubby into dumplings for dinner…
Now I want to stop by your irk for dumplings…
I’ll second this one!
And by mid-week, we’re supposed to be back up to the 80s. I want my winter weather, dammit!
And I hate that it is this way. I try to give the teachers in my area as much support as I can, though what they really need is for our state to get is head out of their collective assess and fund education. But keeping education hampered fits in with the governor’s desire to promote charter schools and school vouchers.
I was awake for the time change last night. I’ve been waking at around 2 every morning, regardless of when I go to sleep, whether I’m wearing my CPAP or not or anything else. Luckily, it wasn’t too long and i did manage to get a good 7 hours.
Anyone on FB with me knows how horrible Friday was for me, to the point that I’m refusing to accept the day existed right now. I was going to share all the BS that happened but decided I’ve been focusing too much on the negative. So instead, I’ll mention yesterday going to a class on Polyamory at a local club. It was scary for me because I don’t like going places that I don’t know the layout of or anyone there. But I decided that I was going to take a chance and go. I was still shy, hiding in the back of the room, but I did speak up with some of my experiences so that was good. I’m proud of myself for this.
Today I was finally able to get back with the D&D group. It’s been a couple of months since our last session so it was more a catch up thing, but it felt so good to slide back into character, even if my rolls sucked at the times I needed them to not. But we all laughed and joked and just had a fantastic and much needed good time. Not sure when we’re meeting again but I’m hoping it won’t be as long.
I was supposed to drive out to pick up my dad for his doctor’s appointment but he just called to tell me he’s been pretty sick today - vomiting, diarrhea and sharp pains. Personally, I think it would be the best time for him to go to the doctor, but then, would be be able to keep everything in for the hour it would take to get to his doctor’s office? He promised he’ll talk to the dialysis nurse in the morning. So am extra good will that can be sent to my dad, I’m grateful for.
Now I need to figure out dinner since Hubby is not up for dumplings. And I need to decide what to do tonight, now that I don’t need to be up as early. Hope everyone has good night! See you in the new MMP tomorrow!
I was betting on a screw myself.
I’m happy your water heater didn’t cause a fire. We had a furnace guy misconnect our furnace once and it was pretty scary to wake up smelling smoke.
CUTE! Do they lock together well enough to be hung on a wall?
Can you afford to send flowers? If so, call the local to them mortuary and ask them to recommend and emergency florist or two. Call them and ask about their non-floral options and throw yourself on their mercy. You might be happily surprised.
Hurray! May you do the same quickly!
We have several Ruggables and plan to buy more as the other area rugs need replaced. We’ve had ours for a couple of years and they aren’t showing wear despite GG loving to peel out on them.
GG was very clingy yesterday and when we went out with BFF and hubs we could hear him wailing at the door 
but we still went out and had fun.
I called Mom yesterday and mentioned that I was loving my new mixer and about the divinity disaster. When I mentioned that I would be doing it again because I was planning on sending out a couple of care packages to folks in December, she automatically assumed that she would be one of the recipients.
By her request, I stopped sending her “stuff” for gifts and moved on to consumables like chocolate covered strawberries, gourmet cookies and flowers. A few years ago, she told me to stop doing that because she never ate the sweets and my sister’s cat chewed on the flowers. I started donating to her local cat shelter in her name because I can’t just not give her Christmas or birthday gifts.
Soooooo, I never thought she would want a care package. Oopsie. That’s OK, I’m just getting started.
Today it in the mid-80’s so I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen but the temp is dropping quickly and I’m going to be making a quiche which means turning the oven on, so spritz cookies will happen.
I suddenly realized that after all these years, I don’t know if Hubs likes his cookies soft or crisp. When I asked, he said he liked soft better because crispy ones are so messy to eat. When I said something about them being for dipping, he agreed that dipping ginger crisps in coffee is the best breakfast ever, so ginger snaps will happen after a trip to town for molasses.
I watched 10 hours of handegg, I was 2/3 disappointed. I went to HT to pick up some fish. They have skipped Thanksgiving, and had gone full Christmas, inducing the bigger wishing me a Merry Christmas. This what Hell must be like. But this Wisconsin Old Fashioned makes it all better. 
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Happy Sunday!
It was a bit chilly at the park this morning, but the day warmed up pretty quickly.
Nobody there again except for us and Petey dad.
We didn’t get much done again today.
Richard was out of commission. Which is fine, he deserves a day off. He got into a big fight with his friend and now he is not moving to Tennessee. I don’t know what it’s all about, nor do I care, but I know he was pretty upset.
I had wanted to go to the old house around 2 today to do some irk in the yard and cut back the crepe myrtle. Instead, I started the dishwasher, and I won’t leave the house with appliances running. I also fell asleep; my son woke me at 4 when the dishwasher finished. We got there around 430, I forgot my jacket and was too cold to do much. It gets dark pretty early now too. We got very little done.
We got lots of trash and recycling out though. I don’t live there anymore, but it’s still my house and I’m still paying taxes on it, so we are taking our trash over there for now instead of paying for somebody to pick it up here.
We used to put out one kitchen sized bag each week, sometimes two. Now we are putting out 5-6 huge garbage bags and overflowing the recycle bin.
We don’t know what to do with Adam.
I know he loves us in his way, and he always comes running when he hears my truck. However, Misiu got him the other day and pinned him down. I know Misiu is playing, but he plays too rough and I am concerned for Adam’s safety, especially while we are keeping him in the house. He’s our cat, and our responsibility, and my son, for all his bitching, does love Adam. He wants to keep him.
My neighbor also loves Adam to death, and her nephew who moved in with her really loves Adam and Adam adores him. They have taken him into the house and there are no problems between her two cats and Adam. They would really like to keep him.
I want to do what is best for Adam. If we bring him with us, it’s a change of turf. I know he has other people in the neighborhood who feed him, and he makes his rounds. He has cat friends too, that he hangs with. It’s his home there and I know he will be loved and cared for by the neighbor.
On the other hand, I miss him. He is a sweet cat, and I will miss his sweet little face. I know he misses us; we are his family. I worry about his safety here. The neighbor to one side has dogs, and one of them totally ignores the fence and rushes over here every time she sees us. She’s a sweet dog, and those neighbors have an outdoor cat, but that doesn’t mean she won’t go after Adam if she sees him. There’s not a lot of escape places here like there are at the old house. The gate between the neighbor and us is low enough for him to jump, and her back porch is pretty cluttered with lots of hiding spaces for a cat.
I don’t know how he will adjust to here. I know he will hate staying indoors.
Maybe we can build a catio.
I want to do what is best for him.
Tomorrow looks to be a busy day, and then my son goes back to irk.
I like having him home.
.pshaw, diet poolside is just fine by me, don’t go to extra trouble on my account.
Extra strength night nurse good will sent. Will repeat every chance I think of it.
I was gonna make a smutty remark here but then thought better of it~moooom is not that kind of girl.
She did have a child…
I’ve been thinking of this all evening. I’m a big fan of catios, we have had them since well before they were a thing (30+ years). They are great for cats who like to spend time inside as well as outside. If a cat is afraid of the dogs inside, then it will just be a cage in the yard and cats aren’t happy in cages.
If things are as good at the neighbors as you say…I am forced to sadly suggest that you leave Adam there.
Maybe you could ask the neighbor about long term fostering and try again next year when the GRs are older and better mannered?
Young animals are PITAs but most of them mellow out with age.
GG will probably break his neck first.
It started with him climbing walls and hanging off the door headers, now he’s learned that he can climb the wall and use the header to get up on the narrow decorative rail that’s about 10 feet up off the hard laminate floor for a nap. The rail is about 4 inches wide, every time I see the jerkface up there I find myself happy that I don’t have to worry about falling iguanas.
Well, the LEGO Christmas tree wound up getting assembled this afternoon vs sometime this week or next weekend. 
Sitting at the dining room table with a bunch of bricks, an instruction booklet, and a Gatorade — and with a random TV show on in the living room for “company” — has become one of my favorite things to do on a quiet weekend afternoon. Anyway, doing the photo hosting thing on my iPad is just annoying enough that I’ll wait until the new thread to post the “after” pic (when I’ll be on my computer again). All assembled holiday sets are in out-of-the-way places until I do my Christmas decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving. And today I decided that I’m ready to get the big jazz club set, even though I won’t start putting it together until after New Year’s (when I undecorate): I’m going to let my “nephew” order it using his LEGO account, so he can get the points for buying an expensive set (of course I’ll reimburse him), but right now he’s dealing with an upper respiratory infection and exams. His mom wants the “Santa’s sleigh” set (which I recently put together), so she’ll mention both sets to him when he’s feeling better.
It’s just after 11pm, and frankly I’m surprised that I’m still awake. I’m about to go to bed, though. It’s so nice to not have to set an alarm! I’m happy to get as much sleep as I can before Tuesday, when my alarm will go off at 3:30am (Election Officer duties start at 5am) and I won’t get home until ~9pm.
I’m kinda proud of you, too! 
I’ve been putting off posting in my neighborhood’s FB group about looking for folks to play poker with; this nudges me to revisit the idea sooner rather than later. I worry about finding people I “click” with, but I really miss playing.
(That’s also pretty much how I feel about jumping back into online dating…which I’ve also been putting off. LOL!)
Yes; the set actually came with a built-in string for hanging the wreath! That’s how I’m planning to display it.
The dried flowers centerpiece has built-in hanging hooks on the back of it, and so does the Van Gogh “Starry Night” set that I put together earlier this year. The latter is pretty heavy, though, so I prefer displaying it on a shelf. I might move the centerpiece to a wall after my Christmas decorations take over the dining room table, though.
I know someone else who has them, too, and she loves them. I’ve always stayed on the cheaper side with my area rugs — especially the big LR rug — because eventually Bailey would poop/puke on it one too many times and I’d want to replace it vs cleaning it again. That has become less and less of an issue over the years, though, so these days I’m willing to spend more on nicer rugs. Especially if some padding will help the doggy be more comfortable when jumping off the bed and couch.
We’ve always bought cheap area rugs for the same reason.
One of ours is in front of the stove. That is on the direct path from my room to the catio and gets much claw abuse. GG uses it for traction and VBC likes to kill rugs (lay on her side while tearing it up with front claws and bunny kicking with back feets) and food gets spilled on it. Of course puke has happened on it as well…no pet owner is ever allowed to have a new rug for more than a day sans puke.
The rug looks like we just bought it.
I seriously recommend them.
Evening all. Ended up refereeing 4 games today, only one of them was I the center ref but you run almost as much in doing the Assistant ref job. Home about 3pm so i changed and headed over to the Golden Corral, had to detour as the cops had the road cordoned off (Apparently a guy shot someone in a robbery and then tried to escape so the cops had shut down the road he was traveling on). so it took a little longer to get there, but the Pot Roast and rice, soup and salad, and pecan pie, all for about $20, made it worth it. Then home and finished up a couple of things and have finished packing for the Great November Adventure. I am probably forgetting something, of course, hopefully it will occur to me during the night. At least the flight doesn’t leave until 12:15pm. Am only up and awake now because I’m waiting to see if the ‘night-light’ thing like shoe’s will work and turn off when it’s supposed to. Then off to bed.
I have read all but am too tired for comprehension. Will try to do better tomorrow morning before travels begin. Catch all y’all on the next MMP (or somewhere down the road).
It works, good night all.
Holy socks, Batman, we were sllooooowwwww tonight. So “Panic Hour” … the last hour of the night, when everyone goes, “Ah, shit, they close soon!” and we get slammed?
We had ONE order. For ten buck’s worth of fryer food.
Oh, wait, I lied. Ten minutes before close someone else finally woke up and called for a small pizza.
Oooh. /s
Fast-ass close, though.
Big bin has been dutifully dragged out to the curb. Whoops, missed emptying one of the household bins - oh, well.
Once the big bin is empty & returned to home base, I need to toss Monkey’s 
box and set up a new one. Which will use up all the remaining litter, which will mean either schlepping thru Wally World for more or seeing what I need/can afford from my Amazon cart.
In the wise words of a certain FCM it’s always something.
Reading everything you wrote & knitting it all together, it seems to me that the best thing from Adam’s P.O.V. is to let him stay on his familiar turf, with all his local friends and other “families.”
You’re always gonna miss him.
(Psst. There are other cats hoping to go to a nice, loving home. Some of them are even sweet!)
Woot!