Currently

The weather... is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Again. We began the day with rain and a temperature of 50 degrees. Then the wind came and blew in a cold front dropping the temperature to 26 degrees as I write this. That of course changed the rain to snow. So now there is a layer of icy muck covered by 3-4 inches of snow. I'm not sure how much we may be digging out from under by morning. Yay...something to look forward to.

Reading... the Holy Bible again. I picked up a journal (at CVS of all places) called Praying Through the Bible in One Year. It's a lovely book of guided prayer and a plan to read through the Bible.

Watching... Ghosts on Paramount+. 

Listening... to the wind, the furnace, and the blower on the electric fireplace.

Loving... that our daughter has discovered a love for jigsaw puzzles and we are working on one together.

Thinking... my doctor and I are going to have to have a talk when I see him in March or April (I scheduled the appointment last year and need to check when it is). Rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family and I am really beginning to think the cause of my pain is either that or another auto-immune disease.

Feeling... happy, but not great physically. I'm in the middle of a pain flare up.

Celebrating... nothing at the moment, but we just had our big Valentine's party at work. If you're my friend on Facebook you can see photos there.

Grateful... Tim is finally nearing the end of his current project. It has been a nightmare for him and he's been frustrated, crabby, and exhausted. We are all looking forward to him working a little less in the coming weeks.

Enjoying... the extra moments of daylight we're starting to see.

Looking forward... to the whole family (minus Tim) going to see the high school's musical at the end of the month. They are doing my favorite...Grease!

Giggling at...

Goodnight! Y'all have a blessed week!

A Stolen Sunday Stealing

I saw that Country Dew over at Blue Country Magic broke an old Sunday Stealing out of the archives and decided to "steal" it from her...which makes me ask, can you steal something that's already stolen? Anyway, thanks for giving me something to post today!

From the Sunday Stealing Archives (2009)

1. What is your occupation right now?  My actual job title is "Direct Care Worker." What I do is actually a little bit teacher, a little bit companion, a little bit nurse's aide, a little bit activities director/party planner/decorator, with a twist of whatever-else-they-need-me-to-do.

2.  What color are your socks right now?  A marled brown and white.

3.  What are you listening to right now?  The Super Bowl, but it feels more like endless commercials.

4.  Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?  My husband.

5.  How old are you today?  I'm 60 years old.

6.  What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?  Football, though I don't watch much sports these days.

7.  What is your favorite drink?  Diet Coke

8.  Have you ever dyed your hair?  Up until about 3 years ago I dyed it all the time. At this point, it's mostly gray and it turns out I'm okay with that.

9.  What is your favorite food?  I'm torn between anything with shrimp in it, pizza, and Chinese food.

10.  What is the last movie you watched?  I watched Robert Downey Jr's Doolittle with my grandchildren this afternoon. We'd never seen it and really enjoyed it.

11.  Favorite day of the year?  I guess I will stick with Thanksgiving. I like that it's slower paced and just about the food and being together before the craziness of Christmas. On the whole, though, the holidays just aren't what they used to be. The kids just don't care about keeping traditions going and now that our son and his family don't come around our gatherings are pretty small compared to what I grew up with. We don't even get together with extended family because there isn't any left in the area. They are spread all over the country.

12.  How do you vent anger?  I write. Then I throw it away. That gets it out, but keeps me from saying something I'll regret later.

13.  What was your favorite toy as a child?  My bike. I spent hours out of each day riding. Back then a kid could go pretty far and parents didn't worry.

14.  What are your living arrangements?  I live in a house with my husband.

15.  What was the last thing you cried about?  I have no idea. I rarely cry. I went through a really rough stretch of life a while back. It was just one major thing after another. It felt like my life was imploding. I think I cried through those years until I just don't have any tears left to cry.

16.  Who is the friend you've had the longest?  My high school bestie who still lives in the neighborhood, too.

17.  What did you do last night?  Watched TV.

18.  What are you most afraid of?  For myself, ending up in a nursing home. In general, snakes. For others, anything happening to my grandchildren.

19.  In how many areas of your country have you lived?  Two

20.  What is your favorite flower?  Sunflowers

A Quick Update

Thank you for the prayers and good thoughts. I thought I'd give you a quick update. 

Tim saw the doctor this morning. He didn't tell me what he has, just that it isn't pneumonia and that they prescribed an antibiotic and a pill for his cough. He doesn't have them yet since he went to work right afterward and got home after the pharmacy closed. It will be tomorrow night before he ever gets any in him. Of course these days he's been falling asleep before he even gets his bedtime meds in. Anyway, if the prescribed meds don't help then they will jump to steroids.

As for my client at work...he did pretty much whatever he wanted all day, but no one (including me) got hit so I'm calling it a win!

Now I am off to bed.

Currently

It's 10:00 on Wednesday evening. I will be heading to bed soon, but I wanted to check in. It's been a while. 

I came down with a nasty cold this past Saturday and have been fighting it ever since. It's not gone, but I am doing much better. Tim, who got it and brought it home last week, has a horrible cough and body aches. His breathing is terribly raspy. On Monday I finally convinced him he needs to see a doctor and tomorrow (Thursday) was the first opening they had. They are that swamped with folks fighting various respiratory ailments. MedExpress and the ER are the same way.

Anyway, let's talk about what's currently happening.

Reading... nothing. I haven't been able to concentrate to read. I hate that aspect of being sick.

Watching... Gutfeld at the moment.

Listening to... Tim's snoring. It's awful due to his cold.

Loving... my pretty new Valentine's manicure.

Thinking... about tomorrow. Due to one staff member being off for his birthday and another being off sick, I am going to be paired up with arguably the toughest consumer we have. He is a one-on-one and while I get along with him just fine (when his regular person is present) I have never been alone with him for more than a few minutes here and there. He is unpredictable and has to be handled carefully. He's better than he's ever been, but there's a long history of violent responses and you never know what will set him off. (Last week during a retirement luncheon for a department manager, he chased down her 10 year old grandson and took him down.) I'm praying that our usual "friendship" allows him to feel calm and settled and he doesn't take it to mind to test me.

Feeling... better than I have in nearly a week.

Celebrating... we have a Super Bowl lunch/party at work on Friday. That's all I've got right now.

Grateful... the much-hyped ice storm blowing through tonight is looking to be a case of "nothing much." It hasn't started yet and it's supposed to be over and turned to rain before sunrise tomorrow. Our area is supposed to get the worst of it and that shouldn't be much. Unless, the weather folks get it wrong. Ha!

Enjoying... getting to know our new supervisor. She is young. Very young. But she seems to be nice, genuinely interested in what we have to say, and most importantly, more than competent. 

Giggling at...

Currrently

The weather...the It's a bit breezy, making a perfectly acceptable 38 degrees feel more like 28 degrees. It's still a darn sight better than the temperatures we experienced last week. We saw the mercury hit 44 degrees this afternoon and with the sun out it felt like spring. We were outside with our coats unzipped! Tomorrow's supposed to end up being 40 degrees, but we may have to endure snow squalls in the morning that put down up to an inch of snow. Key word is may. If we are lucky, it will miss us.

Reading... I finally finished Melania and started Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey. The First Lady's book was interesting as I really didn't know anything about her before reading it. Now I know more, but I don't know that I feel like I know her. While the book relayed the facts and her reasoning behind many things, it felt very formal. That may just be the result of Melania's sophisticated, European upbringing. She lived a rather cosmopolitan life even as a child. I don't doubt that she views her position as a sacred trust and strives to do her absolute best. I just wish I felt like I knew more about her as a woman, a wife, and a mother. She is someone you would want in your corner in a crisis, but maybe not hanging out and spending time with as a gal pal.

Watching... with interest as President Trump flexes his administration's muscles and begins to carry out his campaign promises.

Loving... the milder weather and watching all the snow and ice melt.

Thinking... about our daughter, as usual. She is having such a rough time of it, lately. On top of her issues with anxiety and the (many) panic attacks she's been having for the last month or so, she now has an abscessed tooth. She's been in a lot of pain since Saturday. She got antibiotics yesterday and saw a dentist today. Unfortunately, the infection is so bad and she had a panic attack while at the dentist's office that they didn't do anything and do not want to do anything. They gave her 2 referrals to oral surgeons who can remove the tooth under general anesthesia. They told her there could be a lengthy wait.

As for the panic attacks, she had one on Friday while taking her son to his therapy session. She was upset, but it was actually a good thing as his therapist is also her therapist so she got to see what's going on first-hand. The therapist wrote a small prescription for something to help and scheduled her to come in on Monday. Unfortunately, she's had to keep postponing and rescheduling due to the tooth pain. I'm not sure when the appointment is rescheduled for now. Soon, I hope.

Feeling... accomplished for the first time in a bit.

Celebrating... every good moment, no matter how small.

Grateful... for my mom who has stepped up to take our daughter to late night ER visits and so many doctor appointments so I can work and not have to use up my PTO days.

Enjoying... popcorn. While at the mall today I stopped in at the Pittsburgh Popcorn Co. and bought a couple bags of their freshly made flavored popcorn. They specialize in gourmet flavors, but I stuck with tried and true movie theater butter and Wisconsin Cheddar. Yummy!

Giggling at...    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Saturday 9: A Summer Song

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Are you enjoying winter? Or do you daydream about summer?  No, I am not enjoying winter. Our weather the past couple of weeks has been too extreme for me. When I have to worry about getting frostbite cleaning off my car or falling on my behind to get the mail, it is way too winter-y for me!

 

2) In this week's song, trees sway in the breeze. Is it windy where you are today? Not today. Last night (Thursday) the wind made it feel a lot colder than it already was.

3) There's rain outside their window. Have you more recently seen rain or snow?  Snow, snow, and more snow.

4) This week's artists are the duo Chad and Jeremy. As a teen, Chad Stuart was very versatile in the arts. While he enjoyed drawing, he showed real promise in music and won a scholarship to London's Central School of Speech and Drama. When you were a teenager, what were your best classes?  English/writing, history, and art.

5) Between 1965 and 1966, Chad and Jeremy played British pop stars on a variety of American TV shows, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Patty Duke Show, and Batman. Which of those series do you remember?  All of them except The Patty Duke Show. I don't even remember watching it in reruns.

 

6) While those TV appearances were good for the duo's record sales, they sowed the seeds of dissent between the friends. Jeremy Clyde realized he enjoyed acting far more than music and began threatening to leave the act. Chad finally got tired of dissuading him. Between Jeremy's dramatic aspirations and contract disputes, they broke up. Later they both admitted they regretted the split, but as Chad said, "we were just kids." Is there an old friend you've drifted away from but miss?  My jr. high bestie (and the maid of honor in my wedding) passed away just before Christmas. We had drifted apart over the years. No disagreements or anything, just different life paths and I've been feeling a lot of regret about it lately.

7) In 1964, when "A Summer Song" was popular, the #1 movie in the country was Mary Poppins. Have you seen it?  Of course!

8) One of the biggest news stories of 1964 was Elizabeth Taylor's wedding to Richard Burton. The bride wore yellow, with yellow and white flowers in her hair. The groom wore a dark suit, red tie and yellow boutonniere. What did you wear last time you got dressed up?  It's been so long I have no idea.

9) Random question: When you're in the backseat, do you wear a seatbelt?  Yes, but I rarely ride in the backseat. I don't get carsick, but nothing puts me to sleep faster.

Thanks to Sam over at the Saturday 9 for the music and questions!

Currently...the Baby It's Cold Outside Edition

Wherever you are this evening, I hope it is warmer than it is here and if it's not, then I hope you are snuggled up inside staying nice and cozy.

We've had a lot of winter weather in the last couple of weeks. The whole month of January, really. I took a couple of pictures last Thursday evening after we were hit with a string of snow squalls. We have a lot more snow at this point.

It's actually dark in the photo. It only looks
light because of the snow.

Looking out the kitchen window, through the icicles,
at the backyard and Mom's still there Christmas lights.

My own still there Christmas decorations.

The temperature at this hour (5:30 p.m.) is a "delightful" 13 degrees that feels like 3 degrees. The wake up temperature tomorrow will be right around -8 degrees. The windchill will make it feel like -20 to -30 degrees.

This I have learned: I would never make it as an Eskimo.

Reading... Not much of anything. I'm nearly done with Melania. It's an interesting read and look into where the First Lady comes from and what makes her tick. I just haven't been able to get myself to focus on reading lately.

Listening to... At this moment, President Trump's announcement about investing in Stargate. At work, I've been listening to a wide variety of music as I try to put together a playlist for next month's Valentine's Day party. The consumers like to dance so it's got to have a beat. Plus, the boss says no slow songs because a few of them get up to no good.

Loving... the electric fireplace in our TV stand. I've been sitting near it every evening lately. Even Oliver is curled up in his little kitty house right in front of it.

Thinking... about visiting a new church I recently learned is meeting in the old school building in our neighborhood. The pastor graduated from the local school district.

Feeling...

Celebrating... our daughter, granddaughter, and I spent Sunday afternoon making beaded pens and keychains. As I'd hoped, our daughter loves it and is hooked. Now to find a craft show we can sell them at. Once some of the display stands come in I'll take some pictures to show what we've done.

Grateful... that President Trump is now in office and getting down to business.

Enjoying... the working relationship that has developed with some of my coworkers as staff has come and gone and dynamics have changed.

Giggling at...