Friday the 13th

 

True - why wouldn't you pet a black cat - or any cat - if it will let you???  For the record, during my life I've had three black cats and they were anything but unlucky. 😊

So Happy Friday the 13th to everyone, and happy Friday if you don't like cats (but seriously???).  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I took today off.  It was kind of a last-minute decision, but a good one.  Also, I realized that if I don't start taking some days, I'll lose them when the fiscal year ends on June 30.  Of course, a lot of that is because it's hard to get the time off approved, which is a whole other situation.  It was lovely to sleep a bit later this morning and know that I have the day to myself.

I was thinking yesterday and last night about what I might do today.  I have put a load of winter things in the washing machine so I can put them away nice and clean until next year.  And as I'm sure is the case with most people, there are a ton of things I *could* do, but that is not a guarantee that I *will* do them.

This cartoon says it all.  I'm not necessarily in the mood to do anything, even if it's something enjoyable.  For the past couple of months, actually, I just haven't been able to stick with anything much.  I've had spurts of wanting to do things, but otherwise ... not.  I've done some reading, but that's about it.  My knitting hasn't been touched for weeks.  I think about doing it, but don't really have the desire to even pick it up.  I see patterns I would love to try, but that's it.  

Same with my needlework.  I love the idea of it, but don't feel like picking that up either.  

So here is my plan for today, as it stands right now.

1. Finish the load of laundry currently in the washer by drying the stuff and then folding it and putting it away.  

2.  Spend 1/2 hour starting on cleaning out my closet. I am in the mood to make serious decisions about keeping or donating. And if I set a timer for 1/2 hour, I won't get overwhelmed and just give up.

3.  Take a walk.  It's supposed to be rainy at times today, so I'll look for a time when it's not raining, and take myself for a nice walk.

As for the rest of the day? Well, if I decide to do something else - useful or not - I will.  But otherwise, I'm just to enjoy a day off and do nothing.  Everything will still be waiting, and I'm not putting anyone in any danger as a result of not doing any of the many other things I could be doing.

Most importantly, it's a day off.  That's reason enough to just be. 

Have a lovely weekend, whether you are crazy busy, or just relaxing the whole time.  I'll see you next week.

Ha, Ha, Huh?

Thursday - for me, my last workday of the week.  Suddenly on Tuesday afternoon, I decided I was taking off Friday, and since no one was around to say NO, it became a plan!  

Today I'm joining Carole and others for Three on Thursday - I have two amusing things and one thing that I had never really thought about that kinda surprised me.

1.  This amused me because sometimes I think if one more person tells me about an app I will scream!

2.  This story and embedded video on the local news made me laugh way more than it probably should have.  A local newsperson said after airing it, "They say every rose has its thorns, but in this case, every rose had its thong." 

3.  This kind of amazed me, because I had never ever given it any thought at all.

WHAT???? How could George Washington not know about dinosaurs???  He was the Father of Our Country!  😉

Anyway, I hope you can manage to get through the day with the knowledge that our first president did not spend his childhood obsessed with T Rex and friends ...

Small Things

Hi all.  I hope everyone is doing well, or at least as well as you can be doing.  This is not an easy time to keep your chin up, with so much happening all at once to try and stomp down any little bits of happy and/or contentment you may feel.  

I have been feeling quite bereft lately, not just for myself (which I am prone to, unfortunately, whether or not it's really real), but for the world at large.  Election crap, Putin's determination to ruin Ukraine, climate change, almost all of the -isms and -ogyny are at an all time high, abortion rights, guns, guns, guns being the answer to everything.  For me, there are times when even though a lot of it has been ongoing, it all seems to be a punch to the gut and it's hard to not just stay a little positive, but to feel that anything you are trying to do to help is not even worth it anymore.

Sometimes there is nothing that can really help me feel better, no matter what I try or how others try to help.  But other times, small things can at least make me smile and even give me a genuine laugh and so for those few minutes, things are better.

Two examples from recent days:

Saturday was the Kentucky Derby.  Growing up, we *always* watched it on TV, as my parents were die-hard fans of horse racing.  When they would go to the track in person (usually we went as a family), we always hoped my dad's horse would win, because if he won, he would generally give us a share of his bounty.  But my mother had two hard and fast rules about horse races: 1) ALWAYS bet on a gray horse, and 2) always bet on the long shot, because "you never know what might happen."  Even if she placed a bet on another horse more likely to win, she would also always place a $2.00 bet on a gray horse and/or a long shot.  Which of course my father thought was ridiculous.  

Anyway, this year a long shot horse came from behind - last, actually - to win the whole thing!  The odds were 80-1, meaning that my mother would have come away with her $2 bet yielding $160.00 and some change.  This pleases me even now, thinking about it.  Along with the comment she would likely make to the effect of "Shows what your father knows."  Even if it happened once every 5 years, she would make sure to point out that my father was not always the expert he thought he was ... 😏

The second thing making me smile arrived in the mail yesterday:

I ordered these earrings from an Etsy shop mentioned on a podcast I was watching last week.  They were very inexpensive, and the kitty and the goldfish in the bowl just really amused me.  I figured they would be a fun pair to wear, and the colors are so summery, they just appealed to me.

I have to tell you, they are even better in person!  I opened the package, and was so pleasantly surprised.  The Tim said, "So ... you bought those for YOU?" and when I said yes, he just shook his head.  You know, because he is NO FUN, people!  These earrings are awesome, and I shall wear them tomorrow to my therapy appt because my therapist has a orange cat named Marmalade, and she is always bringing me up to date on his antics. 

I still don't feel better about most things going on.  But these two small things - one event and one pair of earrings - gave me a reason to smile and be happy.

I hope you find a small thing or two that helps you.

Oh the Hilarity!

As mentioned before, last Friday after work we headed to Baltimore for a weekend with *almost* all of the family.  The only ones who couldn't make it were our four great-nieces and great-nephew in Arizona (all in school of course), and my niece Lauren, her husband, and their two little kiddos.  But everyone else was there at one point or another, and the hilarity ensued.  

We lucked out, because the weather the entire weekend was lovely!  Cool, but sunny and not too windy like it had been here in Philadelphia.

Upon arrival, and parking our car in the back of Amanda's house, we acquired a new hood ornament:

This is our great-nephew Oden, who lives in Brooklyn.  He was THRILLED to see us and then as soon as we got out of the car and said, "Hi Oden!" he yelled "Shingles doesn't care!" and ran inside. (Apparently that is the tag line for a commercial for shingles medication and he is obsessed with that line. Seems about right.)

Once inside, we got to see everyone, and it was so great.  This is my nephew Chad's wife, Liesl, and my niece Julie (Oden's mother):

Liesl and Chad and their kids live in Arizona, and we hadn't seen them for about 10 years!

Here's my niece Liz (aka La Liz) and my sister Nancy who lives in California:

Here are my two brothers-in-law, Michael (California) and Patrick (West Virginia):

The Tim and my nephew Chad (Arizona):

Me, Greg (Liz's husband), and Nancy:

My favorite picture of the weekend - the sisters:

(Please note that I was making myself shorter here so I could fit into the photo.  My sisters are tiny people! We are shown from youngest (me), to middle (Mary Ellen), to eldest (Nancy). My two sisters are Irish twins - born 1 year and 28 days apart.  Then, 10 years later, I showed up.)

The next day, we planned to meet at the hotel where the West Coasters were staying, to spend the day at the Inner Harbor.  

Mary Ellen with Oden and his sister Penn (they are her grandkids)

Lest you be concerned, we almost immediately stopped because my brother-in-law Pat wanted a drink:

(Liesl: "I don't think I've ever had wine at 10 a.m.")

"Paddy" (what the grandkids call my brother-in-law Patrick) making scary faces at Oden and Mary Ellen!

Penn and Oden had to show Pat the fish in the harbor, which were frankly, creepy, but I'm not a kid, so what do I know? Also, Pat kept telling them that he lives in Baltimore, so he was not surprised. Then they would look at him like he was nuts ...

Penn and Oden

Then Annie and her partner Forte showed up, and everyone rode on the dragon boats:

(Oden:  "I LOVE this dinosaur boat!")

Penn, Pat, Amanda

Penn, Pat, Amanda, and Nancy

We finished the day with the whole crew going out to dinner together:

The only person not in any of the photos is Julie's husband Keith - he was busy bartending on Friday night, and then on Saturday spent most of the day in Harrisburg, visiting his mom who is not doing well.  He joined us again at Amanda and Pat's house after dinner, but was again bartending and didn't make any of the photos.  (I sincerely doubt he is too broken up about it ... 😉)

Sunday morning, flights home for the West Coasters were early in the day, so we said our goodbyes on Saturday night, and headed home on Sunday morning.  We were lucky to get back to Philadelphia around 11:30 a.m., so we had the rest of the day to regroup, unpack, and just relax.  

Because seeing the family is fun, and I'm so glad we had the chance to really spend time together.  But to be honest, they're an exhausting group!  

Here's to chances to be exhausted again for years to come. 💗

Fun-Times In Bill-Paying (Not)

Hello everyone - I hope you had a good weekend, and a not-completely-terrible Monday.  We had a great weekend, I'll share some photos later.  Even the weather cooperated, which made it extra nice.  I already mentioned that I took Friday and Monday off work, so yesterday was a day to catch up on laundry and pay bills, since I got paid on Friday.

Me yesterday after finishing the bills:

As I think I've mentioned, our house is finally paid off, as of last December, so there doesn't have to be as much juggling of funds as there used to be, which is nice.  But still, for all of the anticipation of payday, it always turns out to be anticlimatic.

Because I apparently live in a dream world, I always think there will be more money left after I pay the bills than there is.  By the time I'm finished, I always look at the balance and say, "Oh."  

However, in our house, I am the designated bill-payer.  A few years back, The Tim decided that he would take over the bills, because even though my system was "OK," he was convinced he could do it better.  Fine with me.  Well, that lasted a bit less than an entire month because he paid three bills completely that were due early in the month, and as a result, GASP!, we didn't have enough money for the bills due at the last of the month!  "You know, I think you might have figured out how it works best to pay the bills, why don't you take that chore back to be yours."  

Don't get me wrong, we're not in danger of having to move into our car or anything like that.  It's just that every month, I feel like I spend so much time being conscientious, only to end up with so much less than expected at the end.  And really, it's not like we are the kind of people who spend money like we have it.  Sigh.

Maybe we need a financial advisor.

Have a good one, and if you're lucky maybe you'll find some forgotten about money in a pocket!