- boop! *
Assorted cat crud has been sucked up from the floor. I even cleaned the glass on the pellet stove, so when it fires up again, we can see pretty orange flames. The dishwasher is empty and I’m showered and clad in garments that won’t disgrace my family should I wander out in public.
FCD will be back from PT soon. If he’s up to it, I’ll ask him to come to the basement with me and discuss placement of the grow light. I figure that’s safer than doing something and having him ask “Why didn’t you…??” We’ve been married almost 38 years - I know how it works. 
Before the week is out, I need to make a convenience center run - not too worried about the recycling, but I don’t want the garbage sitting for a week while we’re gone. So maybe Firday… I need to make a list for the trip and pre-trip.
My children are still waiting for me to open my “Nothin’ But Gravy” restaurant.
Happy Tuesday, everyone. We got back from North Carolina and the Grandparent Tour Sunday, did a shitload of laundry, and packed Mrs Magill for her trip to Rhode Island this week. All last week, she had been asking what she should wear for her award ceremony with no clear answer. We decided to pack business attire. Monday evening (six hours after she’d gotten there), they sent out an email saying they recipients should wear formal attire. Now she’s in a mad scramble to find something to wear.
Last week, we went to North Carolina to see the Grandparents. My parents are really slowing down, but that’s what happens as time goes on. The In-Laws are doing well. I’m surprised they haven’t killed each yet. FIL retired two years ago, before that, he was in sales and on the road 300 day a year. This is the first time they’ve really lived together full-time in nearly fifty years. With the amount of snipping and grousing they do, if they don’t kill each other, Mrs Magill might just do the job for them.
Yesterday morning, I took Mrs Magill to the airport bright and early. Fang and Squeaky did me proud, and got up, dressed, ate breakfast, got out the door, and locked it behind them on their own before I got back.
Blessing counting:
- I’m blessed that I am no longer married to The Ex. That marriage was a disaster from start to finish. However, if I hadn’t had married her, I probably would not have been volunteering at Raleigh Little Theatre in the late Nineties, where I met Mrs Magill.
- I’m blessed the *Mrs Magill browbeat me into seeing the doctor and telling her about the constant intrusive thoughts. Now I’m on Trazadone and Bupropion. No one should have to go nearly fifty years feeling like the only proper solution to any minor snag is to hang oneself.
- I’m blessed for you all, and letting me bore you with Mrs Magill’s HCL diagnosis this spring. (She’s in full remission as of her three-month check-up).
- I’m blessed that I have (most of) my hair.
I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what has sprung to mind. I hope everyone has a good week.
(boops the pink nose, provides scritches)
No significant planned activity today, other than contacting Amazon for a refund on the shipment that will apparently never reach me at this point.
A lovely fall day here in Chicago – sunny, warm, not humid.
It’ll be a typical work day for me, spending a lot of of it on the phone with clients, and trying to do “real work” while those meetings delve into areas which don’t involve me. 
I’m not far from you - just on the other side of that big ol’ pond LOL - and it’s the same here.
I keep thinking it can stay like this for, oh, the next eight or ten months would be fine.
Welcome back, Hippy!
There are so many things to be grateful for. There’s abundant food, the ability to purchase it, and the trees - oh, my gods, the trees. I could sit in the back for hours and just watch the light change while it filters through the trees, which implies I am fortunate enough to have the time occasionally to do so.
And as much as I complain about them, my husband and kids are incredible. And, I’ve gotten to that point in life where the meaning of happiness has changed from some ill-defined perfection you reach and then stop trying to attain to many smaller moments where things are just…right. It’s like when you’ve been feeling pain for weeks on end and that one morning when you wake up and realize that the pain slid away while you were sleeping. Or you’re sitting outside in the summer with friends and family on a perfect evening listening to the tree frogs sing and breathing in the peppery smell of trees.
They’re such small things and they imply a ton of privilege, but I hang onto them every single time they happen. Things will inevitably start sucking, but right then, in those moments, however tiny, they don’t and it’s just wonderful.
Afternoon, mumpers! Another crazy day over this side of the really big pond! It’s apparently 17C/62F although it’s grey, cloudy and very windy out there. Proper autumnal day.
@kenobi_65 welcome to the MMP…we might start Monday with a topic but we can’t stick to it for more than five minutes. Feel free to share whatever you want. Especially pics and tales of cute kittehs. Merry and Pippin are gorgeous! We have three cats, Ophelia (white) and Shadow (black) are a pair of old nanners, and there’s the tabby Whisper who’s our whippersnapper. The oldies are 17+ and the whippersnapper’s 10 
Been busy again doing stuff I shouldn’t get involved in but there’s nobody else to do it. That’s how it is at the moment in the land of academic admin. We have our final postgrad exam board next week so I’ve got to sit through a scrutiny meeting tomorrow which may or may not result in the need for a nap.
Grocery shopping tonight, I don’t have much on my list and these days what comes home with us depends on what makes it through the brexit blockade
Off to another pointless meeting now!
I am taking notes. 
hippie Ralphie is adorable.
wizard Congrats and best wishes to you and Mrs Magill for the clear results!
A nap or a pint.
I didn’t do a blessings count earlier, so I’ll try one today.
- I am grateful that I had disability insurance. Life right now would be very different if I had not.
- I am grateful that we finally found a good school for 'Beamer. He is moving through high school and we’re starting to look at a programming track for him when he graduates.
- I am grateful for my daughter. She’s had some rough times due to her head injuries, but she is pulling into a better space.
- I am grateful for my husband. After over 30 years, he still thinks I’m hot stuff, which is both sweet and concerning
- I’m grateful for my animals. They bring a lot of joy to my life.
The news report from the East Bay: It’s actually chilly this morning. I’ve got the door open and am enjoying it. We’re supposed to get rain this week, which we badly need. Pixel (chi-hooah-hooah) seems frisky, even though I think he is getting worse. His breathing gets labored, but he was playing with both big dogs this morning. This is a somewhat difficult proposition when they are standing up, because sooner or later they get so excited that they start trying to paw at him or to pick him up, neither of which he particularly enjoys.
I’ve got a phone call with my neurologist today. Otherwise, I’d like to putter a bit and set up my new Instant Pot. I’ve never had one before, but my slow cooker died and my husband starting asking about a rice maker. I don’t want too many gadgets, so I thought I’d give this a try.
Happy Toesday everyone!
I’m fond of my Instant Pot (just did a pot roast yesterday). Friendly advice on making rice in it: make sure the Keep Warm function is OFF unless you enjoy scrubbing the bottom of the pot. I recommend amindfullmom.com for great tips on using the IP and recipes.
Happy Toosday!
No park this morning. I slept through multiple alarms, and felt like hell.
I took them to daycare instead.
They were super excited since we didn’t go last week. Echo started crying as soon as I turned off towards the daycare. The normally chill Ripple was standing in his seat and tried to climb over my lap before I even got the door open.
It was 42 degrees when I got up this morning. Now it’s a bright 64 degrees outside.
Last evening was annoying. My son was running late, which irritates me. Shouldn’t really matter as he always gets to irk in plenty of time.
However, last night there was a truck broken down in the intersection and I had no idea of an alternate route to get to his job. So, I followed some other cars and drove a bit down the road and made a u-turn to come up on the other side. By the time I got back from dropping him off, the intersection was clear. I know an alternate way home, but it takes a lot longer and I was afraid I’d be late logging in to irk. Then my low tire light came on. At least this truck tells me which tire.
Then at 10pm my son sent me a text that he might get off at 11, but it could be 12 or 1. That is not helpful. If he was getting off at 11, I would stay up. Otherwise, I was going to bed.
He got off at 1:15.
He was freezing cold when I picked him up. I told him if he got his license he would not have to sit out in the cold. He says he’ll be okay; he’ll wear his hoody next time.
Uh huh, that hoody isn’t going to keep you warm when it’s 16 feels like 0.
Today I ordered groceries to pick up later. I’ll get gas and put air in the tire while I’m there.
I need to go through my jungle subscribe and save and cancel the stuff I don’t want.
Sure don’t want another 140 rolls of TP.
I’m debating getting a new coat this year. Nothing wrong with the one I have, but it’s about 10 years old. I need to order toe warmers for this winter. I think they have doubled in price though.
I already went through a stack of papers and tossed a bunch of junk. There’s more mail at the door, but I’ll leave it for Ripple to bring to me when he gets home. He is always so proud of himself when he brings me the mail.
I have a bunch of online paper irk that needs to be done.
Not in the mood today.
My son dried all my clothes for me. I still need to carry them upstairs and put them away.
I’ve used my Instant Pot once. I don’t know why I don’t use it more, it’s sitting right there on the counter.
Shorthanded again. In fact, there were times I was the only one in the Smalls loft. Then they pulled me. First to load in 69(nice), then to 200 to cover since the senior clerk is on vacation. I also had help from the senior junior clerk.
< Boops Ralphie >
Morning all. Violent dreams of fighting and war last night, considering I’m a peaceful person who hasn’t raised a fist since high school I find it surprising, but stayed in bed until nearly 8am to get my sleep. Need to head for the pharmacy and post office. My credit card is changing as the bank has been bought out, so now I have to mail the payment to Philadelphia instead of Charlotte. Outside of that, no issues with the changeover. 63F already heading for the mid-70’s, so may be able to keep the heat on low today.
boo fae, kudos for you for doing what needs to be done, just make sure they give you credit for it (or they’ll add it to your responsibilities without more compensation).
Wizard, I know a little what you mean on the In-Laws front; my dad worked in trucking most of my life, when he finally retired he would either sit around the house or ‘help’ Mom with things that she had been doing for many years…Mom always said “divorce never; murder maybe”. Hope things go well for Ms. Magills trip.
Seanette, sounds like you’re adopting another cat, sort of, at arm’s length. Have fun.
obi, I’m North of Birmingham (around Huntsville area), and I was…skeptical…of moving to Ali-bama in 1997. But this area is very mixed and more cosmopolitan than most people imagine (hey, we got a Whalburgers !!). I’m happy here.
nellie, guess we’re showing our age, I remember Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy cartoons too. And “Hardware Wars” was a staple at SF conventions when I attended those in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s fun.
Edit: Apparently I forgot to hit the reply button so the above has been sitting here for the past couple of hours. In the meantime, mailed my bills and the pharmacy will call in for my refill, but it’ll take about 6 hours (no problem, I have my does for tomorrow available).
My maternal grandfather worked nights forever - it paid more, and in the early days they definitely needed it. He stayed on nights till he retired, and suddenly he was awake when my grandmother was doing her stuff.
He decided he wanted to take over cooking. That wouldn’t have been bad, but he hated putting in his teeth, so he didn’t make anything that required serious chewing. His meatballs were more like balls of paté - they tasted OK, but the texture was wrong! He’d also get on seasoning kicks - like the time everything got rosemary added.
I heard about all of this second hand, as I’d long since moved away. He was a character…
The grow light is installed and hooked up on the timer, set for 12 hours a day. The various planters are in place in the tub. We shall see how it works. As things grow taller, I’ll put the cages in to support everything.
My daughter texted me - her appt is at 5, not 5:30, so I had to reset my reminders. It’s so hard to be me!!! < pose of woe > 
I’ve still got a couple hours to kill.
Home from picking up the groceries. The tire is full of air again.
Grocery order messed up; I think they forget to look at quantity. Just as well, the freezer is packed full and I couldn’t fit anything more in there anyway.
MetalMouse, I often forget to hit the reply button. I often forget to hit send when texting, then get all pissed off because I haven’t gotten an answer.
My father drove my mother crazy when he retired. Mostly though, because she was still irking. She’d come home and he hadn’t done a thing and wanted to know when dinner would be ready. Until some family stayed with them temporarily (they were between houses) and he cooked big dinners every night. Once they left, he went back to being lazy.
I suppose I should put the rest of the groceries away. So irritating though when I buy quantities to match and I’m missing part of them.
My son will be getting a steak dinner at irk on Thorsday. Their reward for having no serious injuries for six months, although I thought there was one serious incident. He is looking forward to it, but I don’t know how they are going to do it when they are getting off irk before lunch every night.
If you irked where he irks Doggio, you would never have to worry about being shorthanded. They don’t have enough irk and he gets off early every night now.
Roxy and I are having a pizza party!! They live in a neighborhood that gets delivery. And I got a coupon for a free pizza! Woohoo!!
Her parents should be back within the hour and I can go home. Yay.
I’m glad that Pixel is feeling frisky sunny.
There is much orange tabby love coming from Tennessee. They are all gorgeous!
For my fortune list, my pupper Nelson would have to be at the top. The next thing is the most recent transition at irk. It has allowed me to get my head in a better space for submitting resumes for jobs more in my field. I’m also fortunate for family and friends (even my imaginary intertoobz ones! 
).
Irked, came home, walked Nelson and et. Fixing to do KP and clean up a project in the studio.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Wrapping up work for the day. We had a pretty contentious conference call with a client earlier today – he was asking some very direct (but hard) questions about our agency’s recommendations, and was looking for black-and-white answers to his questions; the people on my team who were qualified to answer those questions (i.e., not me) were struggling to answer him, and that was just making him crankier. I had to fight my inner urge to step in and help out, because I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer those questions, and I wouldn’t have made things any better.
Going to go for a walk now, and enjoy the lovely fall weather!
FCM: now I want pizza for dinner. 
I’ve got all the IPs. Don’t use the ‘slow cooker’ feature. Stuff never gets done properly. Just cook it under pressure. There are tons of IP recipes/instructions/etc. for just about anything. Right now, I’m air frying a 6 pound, whole chicken, in my IP Vortex oven. As for the rice cooker? Don’t bother! The rice (I’ve only used Basmati and Jasmine in mine, with this recipe) is FABULOUS from the IP. I just use 1:1 rice and water, with butter, salt, pepper, and whatever else you like. I cook it for 4 minutes. Let it natural release. Perfect every
time. Without fail!