Working Wednesday, February 3, 2021, UPDATED (with chocolate complications) UPDATED with Amazon photo

~ Jenny

This week I’m shoveling snow.

What have you been up to?

Oh, I also googled a lot of snow memes.

Yes, I am a little squirrelish. First it was ten months of lockdown, and now I can’t even get to chocolate with a mask.

Update:
On Monday, I ordered chocolates from Amazon. Delivery date: Saturday. Argh.

Today, Amazon delivered my chocolates. On the hood of my car. Which is out by the road.

Reminds me of that scene in You Kill Me, where Ben Kingsley plays an alcoholic hitman shoveling snow in upstate NY. He takes a swig from his bottle, throws it forward into the snow, shovels to the bottle, takes another swig, lather, rinse repeat. (I love that movie.)

So today I will not just be shoveling snow, I’ll be shoveling toward the chocolate. And a towel rod and some pet-safe ice melt, but let’s be real, I’m shoveling for chocolate.

Here’s the photo the Amazon guy took:

Every time I see it, I laugh out loud.

Also, really good movie no matter what Roger Ebert said:

73 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, February 3, 2021, UPDATED (with chocolate complications) UPDATED with Amazon photo”

  1. I’m working away on writing a drabble every day for Lee’s challenge and enjoying it. Some of them seem to be coalescing into a linked story and I’m enjoying them but resolutely sticking to my format and writing just a short scene every day and not trying to tie them together. I have too many unfinished works in progress to get serious about another one right now.

    I have another project I really like and I’m really proud of in an obscure fandom and I want to post it tomorrow. That is logistically possible, but we’ll see if it happens. Possible and probable are not always the same thing. Working on it right now while younger one snoozes in a chair.

  2. I have also started Lee’s challenge and done two pencil drawings so far. They are absolutely terrible and I am definitely not putting them on Instagram but I am enjoying drawing them very much.

    1. Same here. So far got two pencil sketches done. Dear son joined in.
      He also agreed to be my model.
      I won’t put it up on instagram but have put it in my whatsapp status. Much to my mum’s delight who misses her grandson a lot.

      1. Third one done. Daughter wants to sit for me tomorrow again and has taken the sketch for her whatsapp profile. I take it as a compliment.
        It’s great fun to sketch eithout my glasses on. I’m rather shortsighted… 🙂

    2. You can post stickers on your calendar for the days you draw? I really love seeing people’s progress through the month, and that’s a nice way to demonstrate progress without having to show the results!

  3. I’ve been trying to figure out which option I’ll take for Lee’s challenge. I had originally thought I’d put together the little squares I made last February – but that ship has sailed. Then I thought I’d write a haiku a day. So far so good. I haven’t posted them anywhere, but I have them. Then I thought I might take a picture and post it on Instagram, so I’ve done that too. We’ll see which one I stick with.

    In the meantime, I finished the quilting on a quilt. I had made the top back last May, and quilted it in January, so not quite a year in the making. I used each square as an outline for the quilting inside, so it is much more detailed than the usual all-over quilting that I do. I like how it turned out. (ps – one of my February challenge pictures is a close up of the back of this quilt.)

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CKsFynKhu72/

    1. My haikus.

      Feb 1
      Freezing rain on my
      window pane. My cat wants to
      go out anyway

      Feb 2
      Little by little,
      Stitch by stitch and row by row,
      my quilt gets finished.

      Feb 3
      birds are singing and
      taunting feline predator,
      safe beyond the glass.

      Apparently, I write what I know (or at least experience.)

  4. We started work on Monday. It was the 1st, so I simply forgot about Daily Feb.

    I’m trying to get a work-life balance going. So far I have already had two moments of work -related anger an one of home-related anger. I suppose for balance I need another home one. 🤔 /Sarcasm.

    I did do regular yoga on all three days so far. But I missed the kundalini yoga Kriya that I want to do for a sustained time. Have to figure out how to work that in.

    There is yet another flatbread attempt on Instagram, tho’. From yesterday.

  5. Thank you for those memes, Jenny, even though they make me laugh in a way that clearly indicates I am not writing about precision mechanical components.

    For Daily February, I’m pulling a card from Roi Solberg’s Spirit of Archetypes deck to get the word of the day. I use the word to inspire an index card collage, and DH does a sketch.

    Since this is all new to DH, the first day I thought, “I hope I pull a card that he can relate to.” And the card was Reporter/Scribe (key word “truth”).

    Which was perfect, because DH started his career as a journalist.

    1. that sounds so cool! I love those kinds of idea joggers – someone recently called it “casual pareidolia” and explained we are inherently pattern making people, and if a pattern doesn’t exist, we will invent one.

  6. Today is pup shower/bath day. Then it’s back to work getting my next book ready to go out. To that end, I have been learning new software (fun & pretty easy) and endlessly debating cover options (not so easy). But all in all a nice way to stay cosy & warm inside on a winter day:)

  7. This week I previewed an auction (social distancing and masks- so it took a while to get in). Then I bid on-line on three things I wanted. And of course on the one I really wanted, my lap-top acted up and did not post my last bid until after the item closed. Oh well, it’s not like I don’t have a ton of stuff already.

    But it has been a stellar week for meals.

    I have a very good dishwasher that I have had for about 8 years. It has a crystal/china cycle that actually does a good job without etching my crystal. So I wash ALL of my crystal, including antique and fine crystal in it. And after going to auctions for forever and realizing my good Minton china which has gold trim so it gets washed by hand has virtually no resale value and none of the family is interested in ever owning it because it doesn’t go in the microwave nor in most dishwashers. So I did an experiment. I bought two identical china plates with gold trim from Goodwill ($1 each – sheesh) and I put one in my dishwasher and one in the cupboard. At the end of a month I compared them. There was no difference between the two. The gold trim on each was just like new. This leads to my deciding that at least once a week we use the good china and just put it into the dishwasher to clean it.

    So we had a great meal on Sunday using the good china (steak, broccolini and apple pie), then last night I made scallops with a lemon – wine sauce reduction, caesar salad and a lemon curd tart with raspberry coulee and whipping cream. And the nice thing about making a production of dinner is that we actually have a conversation and took our time. It is almost as good as going out to a restaurant.

    1. I use my grandmother’s Limoges china every day and put it in the dishwasher. Half of the plates which are at the back of the cupboard are still pristine, on the others the gold and decor are slowly disappearing but every time I use them I think about my mamie so that’s ok with me. I’d rather use it than keep it in the cupboard. Also, I can’t remember the last time, I did a formal dinner for 24… Let me think… euh… never actually.

    2. Yes, use the china and the silver to enjoy meals and life more. Or for some of us when we live alone, don’t eat out of the pan, use a bowl, for God’s sake.

  8. Life got in the way (among other things, my lovely sister-in-law died less than a month after her lung cancer diagnosis), and I just couldn’t deal with #DailyFeb this year, so I’m punting until #DailyFeb22.

    On the plus side, I am successfully getting back into writing consistently, so that’s going to be my daily creativity for the month.

    On thetopic of memes and dog-sled-racing, I highly recommend the Twitter feed of Blair Braverman. She has such great threads about her dogs and racing and life in general, even if you’re not all that interested in dogs or racing: https://twitter.com/BlairBraverman Highly recommend following her, or visiting her feed when you need a pick-me-up.

    1. I’m so sorry about your sister-in-law. We just had a horrible year and now this. Condolences to your family.

    6. Thanks, everyone. We lived far apart, but I really liked her. I should find a picture of one of her gingerbread houses and put it at Instagram. They were amazing.

      2. Sorry to hear, Gin. No matter how far someone may live in distance, they can live close in your heart and sound like your sister-in-law did. Big hugs.

  10. I finally tried the recipe for Cranberry Orange Bread that I have been eyeing for the last month or two. I didn’t have the right size pans so it came out a different shape than in the picture, but it was very moist and rich. I think I would like a bit more cranberry in it. I could simply add more dried cranberries, but that would just make it even sweeter. Maybe I should poach some fresh or frozen berries and use them half and half with the dried(sweetened) ones.
    I delivered all but half a loaf yesterday, but that still left far too much for me to munch. I think I’ll just make cranberry sauce with the rest of the berries and usa my oven for roasting veggies , instead

  11. On Monday, I ordered chocolates from Amazon. Delivery date: Saturday. Argh.

    Today, Amazon delivered my chocolates. On the hood of my car. Which is out by the road.

    Reminds me of that scene in You Kill Me, where Ben Kingsley plays an alcoholic hitman shoveling snow in upstate NY. He takes a swig from his bottle, throws it forward into the snow, shovels to the bottle, takes another swig, lather, rinse repeat. (I love that movie.)

    So today I will not just be shoveling snow, I’ll be shoveling toward the chocolate. And a towel rod and some pet-safe ice melt, but let’s be real, I’m shoveling for chocolate.

    1. The Amazon guy’s picture!!!

      One of the horrors 2020 visited upon me was an allergic reaction to chocolate. Now I have to enjoy it vicariously. Shovel away, Jenny!

      2. A scratch test said I was allergic to chocolate, but through careful in vivo testing (worth every reaction) I learned I could eat dark chocolate: it was milk chocolate and dairy I was reactive to.

        2. I knew the Argh people would come through for me!

          I do miss my hot chocolate. On the bright side, my jeans fit better.

  12. I’m on day 12 of #dailyfeb21, doing some drawing every day. I got inspired and started early. I haven’t missed a day yet and I’m loving doing it.

    I want to become the kind of person who gets things done by doing a little bit often, and this is a very good start.

    And I’m making February into admin month, where I get on top of the outstanding paperwork in my life by trying a new strategy of just doing the blasted stuff. My previous strategy of ignoring it and hoping it goes away has been less than successful, for some strange reason.

    1. I want to know how you reached Feb 12 before any of the rest of us? I want Feb to be over faster, but it is still only the 4th for meee….

  13. My brother was stationed at the now-closed Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan in the late 70s. I remember him telling me August was the only month of the year it had never snowed there. The first year he was there, he sent my Mom a photo of his mailbox located across the road from his home situated in a WALL of snow. No idea how tall that wall was; the photo was just filled with snow and one teeny little mailbox opening. Shudder.

    1. Daniel V. Gallery, who wrote a bunch of screwball naval comedies (otherwise “sea-going yarns”), a couple of more serious works, and some memoirs, was stationed in Reykjavík during WWII. He described it as a place with a reputation for being fifteen feet deep in snow year-round but actually pretty pleasant — it’s SOUTHwestern Iceland — and said they always sent back photos taken whenever it snowed, so the folks back in the US made every effort to provide the boys with anything possible. [I just checked his titles, and think this was CLEAR THE DECKS.]

  14. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. I am determined to get it done early. And a little writing or a little drawing for Feb. so far only writing. Go me.

  15. I’ve got an unfinished seascape going for #dailyFeb2021, so that’s good. I haven’t really thought too much about what to paint. Dedicate myself to working on skies? Paint fruit some more? Maybe that’s too structured.

    Had a great snow day, and shoveled enough, but not too much. The snow plow guy takes care of the driveway, but that leaves plenty of cars and steps to dig out.

  16. I’m hoping to finish the notes of the book I’m editing tomorrow, and send them to the author to deal with while I edit the main text – not how I’d normally do it, but should help with a tight schedule. The notes are a real mess, and are doing my head in. Talk about dots and commas!

    Also doing half an hour of photo editing first thing for Daily February, plus sorting one of the pix to post on Instagram at the end of the day. And I’ve got to sort out my gas and electricity supplier, since my current one seems to want to put their price up 20% – and won’t answer the phone. Feels a bit last straw – I’m getting rather overtired, mentally, at the moment. Maybe I can take a step back this weekend and wind down.

  17. I had a stressful day today and did it all to myself. We’re down to one car because one son’s car is on the Fritz, so parents to the rescue. It’s ok except when we realized we had doctor’s appointments in opposite directions. I called and moved mine up a half hour, so he had enough time to complete his and still go to the grocery store come back home and off I went. He had an echocardiogram and mine was a blood pressure check. There was talk of sending me to the cardiologist if it didn’t come down, so I was very apprehensive. But to my shock today my readings were great. I celebrated by stopping off at T.J. Maxx on my way home.

  18. I’ve made it to the driveway. It’s dark outside now, so I may until tomorrow to get to the boxes. Or not. There’s chocolate out there.

    If I only knew which box it was in.

      1. The bears are probably snoozing under the dock off the boat house. Or in other places they’re used to. Lots of woods out here.

        It’s going to be 40 Friday. Above freezing in the day time for four days. The bears are fine.

        Unless you mean my chocolates. No idea. I know bears don’t like mushrooms; they always left them behind when they hit my trash. Maybe they’re not so much for chocolate, either.

  19. I’m shoveling snow too, even though we didn’t nearly get as much (4-6″) and it was light and powdery mostly. We also called in the big guns – the guy with the Bobcat to clear out the parking pad because the one truck was packed in up to the running boards and I could barely get my car in there was so much loose snow.

    Yesterday I won the award for the worst wife in the world when the weather was total crap and Paul drove me to my periodontist appointment in the city right after he got off work when he had been up for 16 hours at that point. Yup, worst wife. The fact that he insisted on driving doesn’t make me any less the worst wife in the world because I had a chance to change the appointment and missed it.

    Other than that I’m working on deep cleaning and reorganizing the laundry room. Honestly, I’m just a party in a box.

  21. The past 3-4 weeks were Day Job Hell so pretty much all my working was day job working. This week has been much less hell.

    Have done another polish on the thing I plan to publish this month (collection of three novellas, two of which were significantly revised since their original publication).

    Have crossed 60K on the ‘February WIP,’ which is novelization of 2nd-written novella. It is probably going to be 80K-ish when finished.

    Have scanned through the completed new novel I will publish whenever designer/guru and I figure out a cover for it. Have organized our shared ‘2021 WIP’ folder on Google Drive to make her life easier.

    Published a long-ass blog post about how to rewrite ‘Show Boat.’

    Next up: continue work on WIP, scan through the completed new novel I plan to publish in March.

  22. I posted yesterday that I had ordered chocolate from Amazon. Then I got emails for each order (3) when they shipped. They should be waiting for me at home. The snow left, moved to New Jersey, so it’ll be right there on the porch.

    I stopped at Dollar General on the way home from picking up the dotter’s groceries. They had chocolate, but I had my heart set on Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Nuggets with Almonds. No gots. Gotta wait for the Atkins snack chocolates.

    1. I stopped at a different Dollar General on my way home, early. Headache. They had my nuggets. And other stuff.

      When I arrived at home, the first of three Amazon orders was there. Russell Stover sugar free Chocolate Covered Peanuts (5 packages.) I set them aside in favor of the Hershey Nuggets. The nuggets are not sugar free nor fat free nor dietary in any way. My fasting glucose is going to do such a spike!

  23. I would shovel for chocolate too. Luckily (or not), I always have a somewhat ridiculous stash.

    I’m trying to master Instagram giveaways and Facebook Live to promote my upcoming cozy. Shoot me now.

    2. Every time I see this post…

      I told the story of how I came to write a sort-of fanfic named First Impressions. One of the things that came from that was acquiring an editor/proofreader, DennyW who lives near Seattle, and is nearly as big a chocoholic as I was.

      My next five or so short stories were (at his instigation) about “the chocolate couple,” a married pair enjoying the happily ever after. The only name ever mentioned was hers – Jeanine – and most stories begin with, “Jeanine said, ‘One of us needs to go to the store.’ ”

      The first was Chocolate RULES!. Jeanine wants hubby to go to the store for chocolate because they are O U T out and it must be his fault. He bets her they aren’t out. She accepts. He thinks to himself something along the lines of “Luckily (or not), I always have a somewhat ridiculous stash.” You see the tie-in. Anyway, he spends the next half hour (the bet’s time limit) check all his “secret” stashes and finding them empty. Finally, he checks the freezer and finds a package of Brussell Sprouts (Jeanine hates Brussell Sprouts) which actually contains two Mars Bars.

  24. Talking about chocolate… my DD in NZ sent us fantastic chocolate bars my DH got Flat White chocolate and I got Ginger and Caramel. Of course by the time it got to us (Canada). It was broken chocolate but still delicious. My DH and I of course shared, but strangely I got more of his.

  25. I thought about bears, raccoons,skunks,coyotes, but my overwhelming thought, “What chocolates did she order.? I wonder if she’s making pie?”

    1. I was feeling self-indulgent, so it’s boxes of nuts and pretzels and caramels (all chocolate covered) and peanut brittle and . . . a lot of stuff. Never ordered this brand before so no idea how it tastes. I just wanted to lie back in bed and read a romance novel while eating expensive chocolates. I felt I was due.

  26. Today was the busiest day of our busiest week of the quarter, so mostly I sat at my computer day in and day out. I did get a chance to make some banana date walnut bread, which was delicious, though a little sweet for me. If I make it again I may cut the added sugar even more. I mean, it has chopped dates in it—how much sugar could it possibly need?

    Tomorrow I’m going to start the day with a walk, since I’ve been trapped inside by work and also have been to lazy to get up early. I will never be a morning person.

  27. It’s not chocolate exactly, but my cousin phoned me this morning to let me know that she was required to change the password on my bank account (our life is complicated). She mentioned that Girl Scout Cookie season is here again, so I checked it out when I had the chance this afternoon. They have modernized with a vengeance — there is now An App to download and then press “Find Cookies Now!” for the shortest path to feed your Thin Mints addiction. Alternatively, you can go to Cookie Finder at girlscoutcookies.org or text COOKIES to 59618 or ask a Girl Scout for a link to her Virtual Cookie Booth. They have a new flavor which they say tastes like French Toast . . .

    1. My little local store/luncheonette/gas station has Girl Scout cookies. Last night I listened to Pacific Overtures and Into the Woods, reread Mary Stewart’s Thornyhold, drank white wine, and ate Girl Scouts thin mints in front of a roaring fire.

      I was still sore from lots of shoveling and roof raking, but we only received a foot of snow compared with the humongo amounts you guys are describing.

  28. I suppose it’s not that helpful to say that by digging all the way to it, you’ve really EARNED that chocolate.

    We only got a dusting of snow, and today it rained. So situation normal here.

    With all the medical research in this area, a lot of people here have participated in vaccine trials, including me and my mom, who are both in the Pfizer trial. Now we’re getting unblinded (and then offered the vaccine, if we got the placebo). We’re going in the same order as the CDC priority lists. So I am relieved to learn that my mom, who’s 78, has just been informed she was fully vaccinated in Sept. My neighbor Mary, also in the same trial, just got informed she was also fully vaccinated. I’m not in any priority group, so they won’t tell me yet, but they’ve said I’ll be unblinded before Mar 1.

    While I’d rather know NOW, so few people around here have vaccine access so far, it’s certainly not as if I could go get vaccinated now, anyhow, if I don’t want to keep waiting on the research clinic. So I wait.

  29. My job is keeping the house clean until the weekend, at which time we have (currently) 29 back-to-back appointments for potential buyers to see the house. We’re selling at a good time – demand is high, inventory is low, interest rates are low…But god is this whole thing stressful. And keeping the house clean with two cats….

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