Category: Holiday

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Thinking, Writing

Anniversary Plans

1972italy

Today is the big day! And we did get hit by the weather. I, and others, were so confused when seemingly all the weather apps said that we weren’t getting anything. But you watch the little radar video they provide and even a blind person could see that we would get hit. We got about 4 inches (10cm) of snow. I think our furnace even went out. I remember it running as I fell asleep last night but when Chris got home it sounded like he had to get it going again. I put an extra blanket on him when we got up. He was all hunkered in beneath what we had on the bed. I didn’t notice anything because I was surrounded by the pups so I was warm.

I am very annoyed though. I have been tracking Chris’s gift. It has not moved since it was taken to the post office according to the Post Office app. I know sometimes it moves and will be delivered but it won’t appear on the app. Well nothing was delivered yesterday and I now have no arrival date for the gift. So now I will be empty handed. Which wouldn’t irk me as much if it wasn’t such a perfect gift to just randomly find. (And I trust the seller, I have dealt with them before.)

I have pulled out Mom’s gifts from Christmas so hopefully I will not forget those when we leave. I showered last night before bed that way we wouldn’t both be waiting to shower. I still don’t know what to wear. Since it is our anniversary I did kind of want to dress up. But with that much snow I’m not sure that the girlie thing is gonna work for me. It might be a cute top with my jeans and boots. I might even throw on some make up. The trick then will be to not rub my eyes.

I suppose that I should get this posted and try to work on my novel, even if it is just research. Thank you to everyone who has commented recently! I love hearing form you! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Thinking, Travel, Writing

The Wow Factor

1972italy

Things are getting crazy here in Michigan. They are shooting things out of our skies and there are shootings on college campus. And that’s just the past few days! Everything seems to just get worse and worse all over. I don’t know….

To add to the oddness of things poor Chris cannot sleep so he is up several hours before he should be. It means I can get started on the last bit of cleaning I have to do around the house but it means he will have a very long day and night at work.

Today is Valentine’s Day. We decided many years ago not to celebrate it like everyone else. Since our anniversary is a few days after we might as well just do one. I am always amazed at the people when they ask me why we don’t do both days. Don’t I want twice as many gifts? No, I don’t. That is not what those days are for. Those days are to celebrate what we have together. Not to spend all kinds of money. But maybe I’m just weird.

Sigh…. now the pups are going at it. Once Chris is up they know they can be loud and play. And they are. Which is fine. I want them to play. But it is very distracting when I am trying to write. I need to put the finishing touches on my article for Women of Horror month and get it sent it. Hopefully it will be one of the early releases. I also need to see if anyone else would like to be interviewed. We have a whole month for articles!

I also need to work on the novel today. Yesterday I focused on cleaning the house a bit. I only have a few more things to do around the house. I also came up with a plan for the bookshelves that Mom is giving me. So when we go into town on Friday we are taking the truck so we can bring it home. I need to order his desktop as well. We might be able to get that as well. There should be enough room for both in the back. While he puts his desk together I can move things out of the bedroom and get the bookcase set up.

Right. I need to get going on that article. I hope you have an amazing day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Trying Again

1972italy

Well here we are in 2023. Yesterday was crazy but fun at work. Inventory went well. I stayed up with Chris to ring in the new year. Barely. I kept falling asleep. But I promised myself that I would. The new year has dawned dark, wet and chilly. Not much above freezing but it looks warmer outside since the snow is melting. I have also awakened with a sore throat. I had planned to try to sleep in but I got a tickle in my throat that would not go away. I think the new year brought a bug from last year with it. Everyone at work has been getting sick (the joys of customers coughing on seemingly everything). I guess it’s my turn. Hopefully I can still function tomorrow. I have Archie’s vet appointment. I had to wait almost a month to get it so I can’t cancel. He needs his first round of shots and I want him microchipped. I also need to set up an appointment to get him fixed. I would prefer that done sooner rather than later.

And craziness at work. I have just spent the last 10 minutes trying to help them at work via text messages. Now Archie thinks I need to be done with this and spend the rest of my time with him. It is play time. But we need to stay quiet because Chris is still asleep.

When I got home from work yesterday Chris had made his famous potato soup. It is amazing as always. It should last us several days. I believe it was the first thing he made in his big cast iron pot. That will probably be my breakfast, lol.

2022 had one more surprise left for me. I found out last night that my former store manager from Younker’s died of a massive heart attack. We butted heads a lot but I still really liked her. I am glad she was able to fulfill her dream of retiring to Floridia. Her birthday would’ve been the 27th of December.

I’m sorry I’m not more bright and shiny for the new year. I’m hoping my three days off will help. I wish all of you the best 2023 you can have! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

anxiety, Creativity, Emotions, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Almost There

1972italy

I only have a few minutes before I need to get ready. It feels like I just got home. I did get my inventory done with the exception of the damages. I had two vendors nice enough to count their own stuff but they did not put any prices so I had to do it anyway (good thing I did since he put some of the beers together that were different prices).

I do get a three day weekend this weekend. I just need to make it through today. I will go in and do my liquor order and then crank through my damages. Hopefully the back won’t give out. It was a near thing yesterday. Too much heavy lifting and doing that lifting in cramped spaces.

I guess I’ll wrap this up. I still need to take photos for the newsletter for work and get that written up. I will try to remember to take the photos today. I have been hauling my camera back and forth for three days now. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Plotting

1972italy

I am becoming frustrated with WordPress. I seem to have problems almost daily. And it is the same set of problems. They fix it for a while and then it comes back. They have tried to tell me it is my system, but I have done what they recommend, and nothing works. Some of my computer savvy friends have suggested that it is too many changes on their end are causing the issues and that the problems I am experiencing are not being addressed just temporarily fixed until another change comes down the pipe. Regardless of the what and whys it makes me want to change servers.

I did manage to sleep in. I didn’t make it very late last night. I tried but my body refused. Right now I have two tiny bundles behind me. Great big Archie is in the same size ball as Stella. Both are snoozing away. I’m not sure what today’s goals are. I do want to work on my novel. I am still waiting on the last of the delayed Christmas gifts to arrive. They should’ve been here yesterday but no one seems to have gotten any mail yesterday. Another project is my plants. All need to be watered, some need to be repotted and I think it is about time that I replace the food spikes from 6 months ago. My tomato plant that I was so proud of seems to be on the way out.

Gah… I have a catch or fluid build up on the right side of my neck that I can’t seem to get rid of. It hurts and inhibits me turning my head. I am not sure what to do about it. I have tried rubbing it out but only seems to last as long as I am rubbing. Hot and warm water do not help. As a matter of fact that seems to make it worse.

The big push through this week is going to be inventory. It has to be done by Friday. I get several deliveries Friday so that needs to be stocked so I can get it counted. My distributors have been over ordering my stock (despite me leaving several notes as to when our inventory was) so it is going to be a major pain. I already told Chris that I am not sure what I am doing on Friday. Since it is a major delivery day I am also getting the kids who are supposed to stock said product from the distributors. They don’t arrive at a set time so I need to figure out when I can count my beer backstock (having inventory the day before a major alcohol holiday is a bad bad idea). I don’t want to have to come back after my shift but I may have to. I can get liquor done easily (but I order my own stock so…). I received three pallets of beer yesterday. That is not all going to fit out. I am getting more Friday. I also need to educate everyone on how to use a deduction sheet. Once my backstock is counted nothing should go out. But with New Year’s this weekend that is going to take a big chunk of my sales. So I have to put up a deduction sheet. Not everyone knows how to use them. Sooooo my work will be cut out for me.

Archie is letting me know that I have been at this too long. He is sighing and his paw is on my shoulder nudging me. I have a few new photos to share. It has been dark and dreary here. I hope you have a great day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Holiday, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

The Morning After

1972italy

My week is going to be off. My brain is telling me I should still be asleep in bed. But someone at work is out sick so I am actually going to be working the gas and courtesy counter today. It has been several months since I have been scheduled on the floor.

I meant to call both my parents yesterday but I ended up spending time with Chris and the kids. The pups loved their little Christmas bags of goodies. Each got two toys and three treats. Chris and I had a simple Christmas as well. He got a gift set with 10 year old scotch and the fixings for rice crispy treats. (The rest of his stuff should be here today. I had to improvise as his gifts got delayed in the storms.) I got a new tactile pen (LOVE IT) and a pasta maker. I will probably use the pasta make for New Year’s dinner. I am very excited about doing the pasta. Now I don’t have to borrow Mom’s machine.

I ought to get myself together and get ready for work. I might have enough time to download some photos from yesterday. A big thank you to everyone that has reached out over the past few days! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Holiday, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Writing

Holiday Angst

1972italy

Bah humbug. The Blizzard warning stopped at 7am today. The only thing that has changed is that the wind is not as bad. And that is a very slight change. Trees are still sideways with some of these gusts. I woke up grumpy. I am trying hard not to be. I still need to wrap Chris’s gifts (don’t judge). He is still sleeping. Well, for now. Archie is desperate to play. He has just hauled a rope toy into the bedroom. It is quiet though.

People were very frustrating at work yesterday. I didn’t even get in the door and I had a woman pleading with me to let her in to shop. I repeated told her that we would open at 9am (it was around 8:30am). There were no tills in the registers and I was the only person there. “Please! I just need to get a few things!” Again no. I don’t even have a way to ring you up. She left. Only to be caught sneaking in the door with the staff (no the store still wasn’t open). That is how the day went. Just a bunch of selfish people. And that just makes me angry. I was encouraging people to stay home because it was so bad out and customers were whining because there were no eggs (eggs have been out all over for days due to deliveries not being made because of the storm).

I am trying to be in a positive headspace. I really am. I always get angry this time of year. I have seen people at their worst and is normally this time of year. Everyone feels entitled. I was happy for the whole Santa things because it atleast gives back to the community around here. This is also why I hate tourist season. They are very much the same. This is also why I prefer to stay home most of the time and have lots of animals.

I do have new photos to share. I will probably need to clear some more space in my media. One awesome thing from yesterday, I was able to come in the back door. Chris got out and shoveled the back porch and steps off for me while I was at work. I do need to get this posted and get things wrapped. I hope everyone has a great day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Blizzard Chronicle, Day 2

1972italy

The wind is raging outside. We’ve probably gotten the promised 2 feet (61 cm) of snow and more. The wind is blowing things around just making things messy in general. We can barely get out of the sliding glass door. I don’t think I will be able to get out any other door to get to the garage. That bothers me because I will have to leave it unlocked when I leave if I go out that way.

We closed at 7pm last night due to the storm. This morning we aren’t opening until 9am. Fortunately I got my liquor order done yesterday so I didn’t have to be there extra early today. I think I was able to get ahold of everyone about the time change for opening. Some of the regulars will be put out. They will have to cope.

I just got a message from a coworker asking if we were even going to be open today. She says even the county trucks are getting stuck. I told her to stay home if it is too bad. They live about 20-30 minutes away on a good day. No idea how long it will take them in this stuff.

The pups are having a hard time getting out to go potty. It’s just too deep. Archie seems to like it though, the weirdo. He got sick this morning. Not sure what. Probably the book he shredded while I was at work.

I had better get going. Gonna be a long day. Thanks for reading and stay safe! I do have some photos of this weather but no time to download them. I will add them tomorrow.

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Blizzard, Day 1

1972italy

Well the people that thought the storm was bs aren’t laughing. We have about 5 inches (12 cm) of snow. It is still coming down. The wind is constantly changing. Sometimes it’s not even there. And this is supposed to go through Christmas Eve.

I’ve no idea how work will be. I told some of my coworkers that if it was bad not to come in. I don’t think we will be that busy. Especially if they close roads off. I know my deliveries are cancelled and I am ok with that. I’d rather everyone be safe at home. Especially since many people have a full house for the holidays.

Today is my short day. Tomorrow will be my early early day. If we are slow today I may do my order this morning. It will be better than getting up at 4am tomorrow. And if we get hit as hard as predicted I have no idea if they will keep us open. Especially if they close roads.

Everyone is snuggled in but me. I did not sleep well. Time to put on my big girl pants and head to work. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Holidaze

1972italy

Once again it is dark o’clock. Stella is beside me, she over the heavy sighs. Archie is over on the floor chewing a bone. He is mostly quiet with it. Mostly.

With the combination of upcoming holiday and impending storm work has been crazy. We were steady enough that I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off for pretty much my whole shift. I didn’t get home until around 10:30pm. Much later than I had planned. Part of that was due to me chatting with a coworker. He was going through a very bad patch of depression and needed someone to talk to.

The pot luck was a success. Lots of good food and work even got us a smoked ham. Or rather donated a ham for us to smoke (I love having a smokehouse at work!). Other added bonuses to my day… three awesome gifts from my little sister (we have adopted each other) that included a new Minion tee, a warm blanket (with a heartfelt message on it) and a travel mug (with another sweet message in it). When I got home I had a box from my horror Secret Santa waiting for me. It is a cool little box in the shape of a coffin. I’m not quite sure of all the uses (the description included holding cupcakes) but there is a link to go see. There is an odd piece I have no idea what it is for.

I need to go warm up the car and head to work. Thanks for reading and stay safe! I will try to get photos of the gifts later today.