Welcome to November, the penultimate month in the Year of the Rat Bastard. As I pulled my garbage can to the curb at 6AM, I saw my neighbor Allan doing the same thing. I said, “We have to stop meeting like this.” He said, “I heard they’re cancelling daylight savings time this year.” I said, “Really??? Why?” He said, “Nobody wants an extra hour of 2020.”
2021 is going to be better and it’s only eight weeks away. Plus there are gift-giving and getting holidays in there, and I might even finish writing a book or at least get closer to the end of one. And maybe Emily the stray cat will stop looking at me like I’m a limb of Satan and come into the warm. Once I get the heat fixed. Nothing but good times ahead.
PLEASE let there be good times ahead.
What made you happy this week?
Oooh. I hope the kitty komes in from the kold.
I hope your heat is fixed asap!
Happiness is turning myself into the stichbitch I always want to be but can never concentrate long enough to do it. Secret – video tutorials. I made two of these masks yesterday and cut two more. https://youtu.be/brV751_yAXk I cut another today. So excited. First two were wonky but still happily usable and hello NO FOG!
Happiness is finally getting Netflix and binging The Witcher. I woke up on 3 hours of sleep feeling wonderful!
I didn’t realize that when I’d stopped watching series, I lost a pressure valve. I was still reading a lot so I didn’t feel the escapism lack but I obviously need some entertainment delivered to me without my imagination having to fill in. Good lesson to learn.
Back to work tomorrow. It’s a split class of 38 grade 2s. So 20 on one day and 18 on another. I’m sort’ve looking forward to it. Except yanno, for Covid risk.
Working the polls has made me happy, surprisingly. Most people have been really kind and patient and excited to vote. It makes it feel rewarding. Fingers crossed there will be no snafus on the big day and I will get out at a reasonable time.
My heated matress pad makes me happy. I could probably say that every Sunday until March, at least!
Homemade pumpkin oatmeal cookies (that I made with younger son) made me happy.
Thank you for reminding me of the existence of my electric blanket. I’ll be hauling it out of the cupboard tonight.
Happiness this week is remembering that I’ve forgotten what happens in the Vicky Bliss series (Elizabeth Peters) so I can read them all again.
That is a fun series!
This was break week at school, so I spent a morning at a friend’s flower farm, which always makes me happy. Plus, I came home with a beautiful late season bouquet of dahlias and zinnias.
I spent a few hours every day working on assignments, which puts me in pretty good shape for this week. I figured out that while school is contributing to my elevated anxiety, the underlying cause is the ongoing pandemic. I can’t do anything about the high rates of Covid in my city, but I can manage my anxiety through exercise, crafting, etc.
I spent some time with two friends yesterday through a socially distanced walk and FaceTime. I really miss seeing my friends so it was lovely to connect.
I’ve had an exciting idea for the rear corner of my garden, involving growing a dwarf apricot tree, which I’ve been longing to do. Went for a walk with my friend (and fellow photographer) Pam, to show her the area round the cottage where I used to live: it was fun to share it, and to see it again.
The PM announced another lockdown, starting at midnight on Thursday, for a month. Pam and I are planning to form a mutual support bubble, which should make it more fun. And my friend Jenny is going to come over in the next few days, while we’re still allowed.
I managed a walk in between the rain and wind this morning; I’m planning to take my little camera with me more often this winter, and post to Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/CHDUKNWHtH3/), because I’m finding the gardeners and artists I follow make me happy, and I’d like to try and do the same.
Your leaf photo is lovely, Jane!
They are such lovely autumnal scenes but I agree with Judy: the leaves are the most beautiful.
Thanks, both of you.
Loved all the photos, especially the first heap of autumn leaves.
I bought flannel pajamas on sale at CostCo last week and they are so, so cozy. It’s making it very hard to get out of bed in the morning, but in the good way. In the “I am so comfortable and content” way, not the “I cannot face the day” way. Also, I discovered gluten-free bagels at the store, and I was dubious, but I took the chance and they’re really not bad. Not nearly as bad as most GF bagels have been.
I’ve yet to find good gf bagels–brand name, please?
After a dog scare that involved a 3 hr wait and appt at a 24 hr vet around midnight Friday, I think he’s ok, which makes me practically fabulous. Check up on Monday to be sure.
Halloween was thrown off bc of said visit, but still saw family, did pumpkins, baked and watched 3 Halloween movies – a record for my family. It was nice and I hope we do it again next year.
Today, relaxation and veg, it will be nice and low key. Starting a bath here momentarily, and I will be at peace today.
And, AND, elections are almost over. I need Wednesday to just be here.
Celebrated daughter in law and eldest granddaughter’s birthdays this weekend. Next year double digits, she is growing up. Still naive and sweet preteen. She is becoming a good baker, made her own birthday cake. Two coloured layers of delicious yummyness.
Garden is almost put to bed for the long winter’s nap. Weather is clear, rain, rain stay away, at least for another week.
Also, the results of my heart tests results show no damage, no signs of a heart attack, function is normal and no sign of blocked arteries. Very pleased. Hopefully I take after mom’s side.
I am happy with the work accomplished on Latest New Novel Project; my main character is well established and I have a plan for introducing him to his love interest.
Have gotten mostly over the anxiety flood occasioned by soliciting reviews and beta reads. Am over the hump of ‘what next’ with what may be my NaNoWriMo Project (with three – no, four – no, wait, 5?! – novel projects percolating ye olde brain has been very erratic about what to work on). I was kind of expecting brain to choose the project that is most solidly plotted out and also most straightforwardly a romance novel, but no. It went with a different one. All I can do is follow.
Did some minor housekeeping which mostly serves to emphasize what a tip the rest of the place is, but the plants are alive and it’s not like we’re having company. The husband agrees that tidy is more important than spotless. Need to visit his mancave to see how we compare. 🙂 Also sleeping better with the cooler nights.
And I am on day 3 of a 5-day ‘vacation,’ scheming about how many more days to request off in the next 2-3 months. The pile of unused PTO is beginning to off-gas.
Happiness is a visit from my out of state friend-who-organizes. I have 3 full grocery bags full of paper I don’t need to put out in the recycling tomorrow night. Plus, flotsam and jetsam more revealed and contained. And of course in the process, I found things I’d “lost,” including some writing.
I received an email from a friend I haven’t talked with since the early days of the virus; so nice to hear from her. It is inspiring me to reach out to more of my friends from the senior center. We’ve also sold my dad’s house, and the proceeds will be distributed this coming week, so figuring out what to do with the money is making me happy. So many choices! But I’ll probably be sensible and save it. Most of it. Maybe.
Got about 3/4 of my halloween decorations taken down before the SLEET hit.
Have yet to deal with the two biggest inflatables which I was planning to do last, trying to get them dried out before repacking, but then, you know, sleet. Since these two boxes are stored under other decorations no other progress can be made, but it gives me the excuse to say “done for today” and eat leftovers and read. So not really repining.
I suppose it’s the excessive number of clocks I own that makes me hate Daylight Saving Time – or at least, it’s a contributing factor. As I type, my laptop and my alarm clock agree that it’s a bit after 1 P.M. Not which minute after, mind – anyone that owns more than one timepiece will never know the exact time. The microwave is right twice a day, whenever 0:00 rolls around. There are three wall clocks (I’ve mentioned living in a garage, right? So there’s a clock on three of four walls.) Anyway, the big clock over the outside door says 2:15 (it’s the fastest). We’ll call that the East wall. On the South wall, my fancy electronic time/date/alarm/temperature clock is just a little behind, 2:12. The clock on the West wall reads 3:24 and like the microwave, is right twice a day. I’ll change the battery when I adjust the others.
My employee appreciation desk clock/calendar/alarm/temperature agrees that it was 2:12. I was going to say that was all of them, until I realized… three cordless phones all said 2:13. That reminded me f the several Kindles and my cell, and I’m not looking at any of those. Yet.
The dotter just said “It’s time for shopping and dining,” so I’m leaving all the clocks to their own devices. TTFN
I am happy that our Portugal visa appointment went swimmingly (staffer really appreciated my complete and very orderly paperwork) and that we got to have 2 socially-distanced visits with dear friends on the way home from San Francisco. Now we wait.
I’m happy that I sorted my yarn stash and set aside two bins of yarn to give to a friend (who will then share whatever she doesn’t want with her stitch ‘n’ bitch group), so that one drops off my very long to-do list.
I’m very happy that our cats decided not to move while they were being incredibly cute and I was able to get this shot: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHByYoJAoao/
Carol, you are so lucky to be moving to Portugal! I love the variety of amazing people and sites all in one small package. I look forward to your posts on your progress in making this huge change.
Happy it’s almost election. The work will continue past that day but I’m hoping the atmosphere will be less wrought.
Happy it’s raining so I can’t rake leaves or dig-up my Nile lilies. The night temps shouldn’t go too far down so they can wait. I really didn’t want to work outside today. I get to be lazy.
Amazing red-gold blue moon rise over the ocean last night. Little kids being hauled in a wagon with bales of hay for Trick or Treat. Cat on the lap a lot. Made some really pretty darn good beef stew (with a bit of chilis and coriander, which worked out very well.)
I’ve decided on a project for my own NaNoRiMo, but instead of a book, I’ll try for a painting/drawing a day, as small or a large as I have time for. A big one can go for several days. I’ll check in Wednesday, because I just thought of it.
I’m happy that I pulled out the blanket and put it on the bed last night. It made for great snuggling under the covers this morning. We also had a nice little neighborhood socially distanced Halloween yesterday for the kids. The neighborhood decided that tables outside on the drive would be better than having kids come up and handle doors and doorbells. So, I set up a table and had a big bowl of goodies that I doled out with salad tongs. When we were close enough to running out of candy, I forced some additional on the last couple of kids. My DH and I finished off the rest after retreating into our house.
I’m also happily preparing for next weekend, when I’m going on a quilting retreat with some friends. We’ll set up the machines on the screened in porch and enjoy the fall air. It will be nice to take some time off work.
Happiness has been bedtime reading The Last Continent by Pratchett with my eleven year old. Lots of hysterical laughter to finish the day, and some rather deep discussions about evolution, time travel and literary inference. And wizards.
Started my holiday shopping early due to mail delivery problems. I have been having fun browsing online. I’m looking for a really cool knitting shop for gift certificates as both my kids are knitting through the pandemic. (My daughter is also posting #copingkitchen recipes and making some fascinating things—maybe I need new cookbooks to go with the approximately 50 i have already.)
And today my sister and I realized we really need to get my mom an outdoor heater and some lightweight outdoor furniture for her deck so she stops entertaining people indoors.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that she was a scientist—she is blithely ignoring Covid precautions if they stop her from doing what she wants.
I also read this article that shows that the downside of libertarianism is bears.
https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project?fbclid=IwAR0N-XIFJCETGNZ7XwYOcj0bPljzIKHzSEYtU9tRg6OPKi3Fs8FJ3-IslTM
Normally, Instagram is a great source for knitting inspiration. (I don’t knit anything other than chemo caps, but I still like seeing what others are doing, and wishing that there were interesting hand-dyed cotton yarns.) It’s not great right now because of the hiatus on showing “recent” posts, but this too shall pass. I bet you could find all sorts of cool stuff by using the #yarnshop hashtag there.
It’s the first sunny day for almost a week here, and my brain has finally emerged from the fog that always seems to follow a death in the family. A kind friend took me to the garden centre yesterday to take my mind off things, and now I have planting and mulching and trellising to keep me occupied. Summer vegetables going in the ground will make me very happy indeed, as will Lily the rescue greyhound who is keeping me company at home today.
Also my home state returned a Labour (progressive) government majority in the recent election, with a sizeable swing away from the racist lunatic fringe, so that was cheering.
What makes me happy is deciding not to follow the news until Wednesday morning or possibly very late Tuesday. I will miss any chance at that building euphoria but I will also miss the incitement to hysteria that the media currently is engendering. And I have cats that are putting on a floor show nightly and books to read or reread as the case may be. As I once said to my husband in the middle of the night when he woke me to tell me we were experiencing an earthquake “Wake me if we have to evacuate” and I turned over and went back to sleep. Well, I had to work the next day. Also, Jane lived or is living through Brexit and is surviving just fine. Go, Jane.
My mother was born in Ohio and spent most of her married life in California. Every so often she’d ask me whether I felt That Earthquake Last Night. I’d say, “what time last night?” and would find out that it was 2:30 am, and say, “Nope, slept through it.” Eventually I’d point out that if I felt the bed shake in the middle of the night, I’d think a cat had jumped up or down on it.
I love this
I’ve been through more hurricanes than earthquakes. The only one I really remember was in 1971, while I was in Vallejo, CA. I was walking from the barracks to the Navy Exchange and found myself doing the Teabury Shuffle. For those who just said, “Huh?” I offer this video on YouTube – Teabury Shuffle
Oh, yeah!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jessie, but it’s premature: Brexit is due to happen in
January. I think most of us have our eyes closed and our fingers in our ears.
I certainly do.
Technically we left the EU earlier this year, but the ramifications will only start to kick in after December 31st when the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement (intended as a grace period for trade negotiations to allow a smooth transition) ends. Well, everyone’s been rather preoccupied elsewhere with coronavirus, so there’s no meaningful negotiation achievements and we have a PM who seems to prefer there are none.
So yeah.
Realised that wasn’t very happy…
I will be very happy if anybody who is not the current US President wins the US election tomorrow. Anybody in the world.
It would make me feel that the ship was starting to right itself, even though I do not live in the US, and am not American.
And today my toddler and I decorated gingerbread men with icing and sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles. Toddler’s technique was ‘one for the gingerbread, three straight in my mouth’ and we both had a fabulous time.
Happiness for me this weekend was going on a mini quilting retreat. Two friends and I rented a quilting retreat place in Chesaning, MI (Creative Passions), their 4 person space. They specialize is retreats for quilters and scrapbookers. It was delightful. We arrived Thursday night and left today. I was gable to complete 2 baby quilt tops and a bunch of blocks for a larger quilt (https://www.instagram.com/p/CHEO9r8pLEP/?igshid=laovbuszbmaz ). It was a real treat!
I also called my nephew today. It’s his 8th birthday. He was a hoot! He read us Get Fuzzy comics and was a big ham.
There was also sunshine on Saturday. That made me much happier than the snow flurries today. 😉
What made me happy today is that after a busy day yesterday, I got that extra hour in bed (with cats) and then a quiet day with cousins watching some episodes of a Great Course on Mayan history — I now know a bit more about the calendar than I did before. Now reading my way through stuff with a kitten curled up and purring above the keyboard, while a Get-Out-the-Vote texter offers to help me vote — happily the vote is long deposited in a local drop box and the tracking system assures me it was received and will be Counted.
My cousins plan to shop for enough groceries tomorrow to be able to hunker down completely on Tuesday . . . can’t blame them.
I got a beautiful puzzle. worked on a commercial and had a couple of auditions by Ecocast. It’s weird because my son has to film me while wearing his nine-month-old in the Baby Bjorn. If you put Eugene down he gets very loud. But it’s a bit weird looking through the ring light and seeing this baby face smiling at me. Especially if I am supposed to be doing a sad scene.
I Lunched with a critique partner today – the first time since March. I wanted to pick her brains about self-publishing and catch up on everything.
It sounds like self-publishing is a bad idea financially. I am going to have to do it for my children’s books because Guardian Angel Publishing closed its doors. I bought the are for the Santa book. But unless it becomes a classic I am unlikely to make it back.
Back copies are on sale on Amazon for 5.15
Tomorrow I have another COVID test because I am working Friday and Monday on a show called Station 19. What I am not doing is writing. And yes, I feel guilt. Oh well.
I am so grateful it is November.
Happiness follows closely with working this week. I’m ecstatic (well, I would be if I were less tired) that lamb marking is over for the year. I know there will be a few late lambs to deal with later, but the bulk of them are done. *insert Gary’s happy little teaberry shuffle here*
Happiness is the greeting from 15 poddy lambs at feeding time. 15. It’s ridiculous. I really hope we’re done as I’m pretty sure I’m out of suitable names now. Chase, Chacha, Cherrybomb, Chickybabe, Chilli, Charity, Chuck, Chester, Charlton, Chowder, Chad, Chance, Chandler, Channing and Chutney. Ok, their names make me happy too.
There’s always Challenge (or Challenger), Cheetah, Cheesecake, Checkers (or Chess!) and Chipper.
Or if you’re into US Geography, Chesapeake and Chattanooga.
Yes, I do have a bit of naming things problem, why do you ask? 😉
Charlton is darling. 🙂
For heaven’s sake, do NOT dangle the name Chad before us. Tomorrow is election day!
What did I miss? Who (or what) is Chad? Feeling seriously happy to be watching your (sideshow/trauma/upheaval?) situation from my far away farm bubble.
He’s punning: recalling the notorious ‘hanging chads of Florida’ a few elections ago, where the voting machines didn’t punch through the paper ballots correctly. (Someone should tell the Americans that a pencil and paper are much more efficient than their Heath Robinson machines!)
Oh, god, don’t get us started on voting. We don’t have a central voting process, different states have different methods, and then they have different ways of vetting, different ways of counting, different laws for when the votes can be counted . . . and of course different laws about who can vote and where they can vote and when they can vote . . .
It’s a miracle we’re still a country.
President Obama pointed out some years back that America does not have one presidential election; it has fifty-odd state elections. Well, fifty states and some miscellaneous territories and districts. All of those are managed separately. It does make it a little harder to mess with them because of that, but that’s why you’ve been hearing “win in numbers too big to manipulate” so often. Less often, “paper ballots counted by hand,” from people like me.
One year, I wanted to call my pet lamb Lambchops. Mum wouldn’t let me.
Pretty much living in existential dread until after Election Day. I am certain that Joe/Kamala will get the majority of the vote, by quite a bit, but I am worried about the swing states and the electoral college.
I worked on the Javits Center election night event in 2016, and having to put on my game face while out in the crowd as it all went to hell was incredibly difficult. Just an unbearably painful night.
Hmm. This is not a good happiness post. Let’s see… I am happy that the polls in general are where they are, and I am very happy that my friends who do events are having the opportunity to get out there and create some really pretty and creative sites.
So, I am concerned that my ballot hasn’t been found/recognized. I sent it in I think like the 23rd or the 24th by mail, and I just searched and it didn’t recognize me. Based on everyone else’s comments, it should be recognized by now?? Arizona is the state…
Good news, boyfriend has decided to vote after all! Wheeee!
I would think, but then I’m in NJ. The website there says my ballot has been received but not accepted yet (I sent it late). If Arizona doesn’t tell you they’ve received it before they’ve accepted it, it could be a week or two before they count it.
Did you create an account on the Arizona Division of Elections website? Again, no idea what goes on in AZ but in NJ, you create an account and you can see your entire voting history.
I so appreciate your commitment to voting!
You might want to try to do additional follow up, in some states, if you’re concerned your mail in hasn’t been received you may be able to go in person to “spoil” your mail in and vote in person so there’s no question…and AZ votes are precious!
I’m not sure how that works for AZ, but here are some ACLU resources for you if you want to try to do additional follow up with an expert as to best next steps in your situation:
https://www.aclu.org/voter/az/#vote-by-mail
If you run into any problems or have questions on Election Day, call the Election Protection Hotline:
English: 1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-866-687-8683
Spanish: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA / 1-888-839-8682
Arabic: 1-844-YALLA-US / 1-844-925-5287
For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683
Good luck!