what are you doing right now?

[chiver78]

Dec 20, 2022 17:25:21 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Dec 20, 2022 13:31:34 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

that's an odd looking butternut, from the pic you posted. glad you made it work! I typically peel and cube it up, tossed in olive oil with cinnamon and nutmeg. roast at 400 for about 40-45min. bonus - my dogs both like it as well, so we share

I didn't post a pic of a butternut.  I posted an example of a squash. Someone said courgettes are zucchinis, and I posted a pic of a courgette that's not a zucchini.`
Hmmm, nutmeg. I should try that.  Thanks.

oh cheers, I just remember seeing a pic overnight while I was in a "move from he couch to bed" haze. my bad!

[Deleted]

Try zenni.com. You need to key in your prescription details so it's a bit messy but since 100% of eyeglasses seem to be made in China you may as well go direct to the source. I was happy with the ones I got from them. Keep in mind, though, that if they do need adjustment a local firm may not want to adjust them since they didn't sell them to you.

Bonus: they don't have any restrictions on how old the prescription is. We have a Nanny State law that protects the optometrists more than the consumers. In DH's last months he broke his glasses and I didn't want to make his existence even more miserable without glasses. His prescription was over a year old so I had to bring him into Costco Optical in a wheel chair so he could get an exam. Really maddening.

[chiver78]

Dec 20, 2022 17:54:54 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I'm drinking a cup of coffee with rum in it, and Sushi is watching BBC Earth, about sloths.
God, they're adorable!

they really are! my last music cruise before COVID, we ported at Roatan. all of us that got off the boat rhat day found an excursion that let us hug sloths.

the pics I have, my face is visible. happy.to share via PM if anyone is interested. 🙃

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH got me a box of tea for my birthday. The main box is shaped like a book.

It's got 8 different teas based on various countries. The boxes the bags are in have pretty designs based on said countries.

It's an Uber nerd present. DH nails it every once and awhile.😁

[weltschmerz]

Dec 20, 2022 18:25:59 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Try zenni.com. You need to key in your prescription details so it's a bit messy but since 100% of eyeglasses seem to be made in China you may as well go direct to the source. I was happy with the ones I got from them. Keep in mind, though, that if they do need adjustment a local firm may not want to adjust them since they didn't sell them to you.

Bonus: they don't have any restrictions on how old the prescription is. We have a Nanny State law that protects the optometrists more than the consumers. In DH's last months he broke his glasses and I didn't want to make his existence even more miserable without glasses. His prescription was over a year old so I had to bring him into Costco Optical in a wheel chair so he could get an exam. Really maddening.

I want to keep the old lenses I have. They're pretty new, actually, I paid a lot, and I see well wih them. Do I send Zenni my old lenses? They pop them into new frames and mail the new glasses back to me?
I don't know how that would work.

[weltschmerz]

Dec 20, 2022 18:26:51 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Dec 20, 2022 17:54:54 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I'm drinking a cup of coffee with rum in it, and Sushi is watching BBC Earth, about sloths.
God, they're adorable!

they really are! my last music cruise before COVID, we ported at Roatan. all of us that got off the boat rhat day found an excursion that let us hug sloths.

the pics I have, my face is visible. happy.to share via PM if anyone is interested. 🙃

Sure, I'd love to see them!

[countrygirl2]

Made good progress today. Our beds had everything washed including the mattress pads. I got hubs to flip the mattresses around, can only do end for end not over. While I was ironing hubs made up the beds for me. DD's pillow cases and blankets washed, clean sheets and pad yesterday. Still need to wash our lap blankets.

My hips have been bothering me when I get up in the mornings. I've been thinking of a new mattress for some time but we both need to get them at the same time. Hubs thinks his is ok.

Got DD's pills set for 2 weeks so we don't have to take all the bottles. Going to do mine next.

Dinner is over. Hubs 3 shirts and pants are ironed. I cleaned up the spilled litter box downstairs  and there was a broke jar in a pile from a month ago I cleaned up also. Then swept part of the basement.

So drying that stuff, throwing some stuff away in the fridge or freezing it. We are eating Subway for dinner tomorrow evening, so I don't have to cook or clean up. Kitties going to vet tomorrow for boarding, I will miss my babies. I like to come home to a clean fridge, kitchen and bedrooms. Would like to have mopping and everything done but doubt I will this time.

Hubs was not happy with Smoke. He was trying to fix the TV and Smoke was fighting with him I guess. Saw 2 scratches on his arm, little ones and he said a bite. He sure blows it out of proportion. Cat draws a bit of blood and its like he was eaten alive. Kitty was likely trying to play. My baby is beside me all curled up and asleep, my little sweetie. They are beautiful kitties now, so soft and velvety.

Ok, off to the shower!

[countrygirl2]

DD's new glasses $899. They are remaking them AGAIN. Never had issues like this before. Something to do with the coating not passing inspection. The prescription for her is complicated. And the optometry shop is closing so may not be the same. Never had issues there before.

I have butternut squash but not often. I cut them in half clean out the seeds. Add syrup and brown sugar to the cavity with some butter and bake. Sooo good.

[chiver78]

Dec 20, 2022 18:45:03 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Dec 20, 2022 18:26:51 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

they really are! my last music cruise before COVID, we ported at Roatan. all of us that got off the boat rhat day found an excursion that let us hug sloths.

the pics I have, my face is visible. happy.to share via PM if anyone is interested. 🙃

Sure, I'd love to see them!

I'll try to figure out how to attach pics via PM here, in the am. are you on any social media? bc that would he super easy as the pics are on my phone. if not, I'll figure something out. 🙂

[Pink Cashmere]

I’ve been in a sort of cranky mood all day. Which means I didn’t do too well with Mister’s Dad and all that talking and repeating himself so I avoided him a lot and I feel bad about it.  I wasn’t mean or rude in any way, I was just “busy” doing stuff (nothing) in other parts of the house.

Idk why I’m cranky, I do feel a bit overwhelmed, so maybe that’s why. Besides all the other stuff going on with me personally, Mister and I don’t have a plan for his Dad or his parents in general. Mister seems to think this situation with his Dad being here is just for a week or so, then his Dad will be okay to get back to his normal life. I’m not nearly as optimistic. And maybe I’m just borrowing trouble, but say Mister’s Mom goes to rehab and gets back to where she was before all this started, she was still dependent on Mister’s Dad for a lot of stuff before all this happened, because of her health and mobility issues. So if Dad isn’t okay, what happens then? I guess I’m worrying that they may never be able to live independently again.

I looked into adult day care for Dad today, and none of the places tell you in their websites how much it costs. Google says that the average cost in this area is around $70/day, but could cost as much as $115/day. I Googled the Older Americans Act that cooper88 said paid for her Mom to go to adult day care, but today must just not be a good day for me to figure things out, because while I did read about the Act, I couldn’t figure out how it applies to real life needs. I’m not saying Cooper didn’t give me good information (she did, and I appreciate it!), it’s me that’s the problem today. 

And I’m feeling some type of way that my job is making everybody work Christmas Day. They started making people work on Christmas a few years ago, when all the years prior, that was the ONE holiday that we knew we’d be off if we didn’t volunteer to work. They made do with whoever volunteered to work, and more people volunteer to work on Christmas than any other holiday because it pays even more than the other holidays. And now they are forcing everybody to come to work on Christmas, even though nothing is going to move out of the building until Tuesday morning and Mondays are typically slow. Heck, Sundays are usually slow. I will not be surprised at all if Sunday, we have a building full of people that were required to work the Christmas holiday and we don’t have anything to do but twiddle our thumbs all day.

It is our busy season, but whatever we don’t get done by Friday night won’t go anywhere until Tuesday morning.

Us old heads will make around $90/hour working Christmas Day, but I’d still rather be at home that day and just get paid for 8 hours of my regular salary. It’s going to be a huge waste of money for my employer if I’m right and we don’t have any work to do, because once we hit the clock, they are stuck with all the extra money they have to pay us for the day. They can’t say “never mind, we don’t need you” and send us home. Management can’t even stand at the time clocks when we get there and tell us to go back home before we clock in, so they don’t have to pay us. Once they said we have to work, if we show up, they have to pay.

Anyway, I’m going to stop bitching and complaining now.

[cooper88]

Pink Cashmere It's through the senior centers. Just call the one closest to you and they can give you the closest location that offers it. They don't have it at every location.

Barring that, many of them will pick up seniors and bring them in for lunch daily, then drop them back at home. That's also free.

By the way, everything they do comes with a "suggested donation". That's to increase their funding, but the actual programs are already fully funded. There is no obligation to pay.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 20, 2022 16:50:26 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Dec 20, 2022 16:04:13 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Annoyed with my kid.  His Thursday final got moved to take-home due to the blizzard so students could get home and I offered to come pick him up tonight but he doesn't think that would work because he wouldn't be ready to go yet.  It would be at least 4 hours before I got there.  How much time does it take for a college kid to be packed up for a 3 week trip home? 

I would be annoyed, too.

I made my dad drive me back to school in the snow once. I don't know what he or I were thinking.

I was home for a break when I was in grad school.  I made him drive me back and forth to a basketball game in a snowstorm.

He was not happy with me and I don't know what I was thinking.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 20, 2022 19:14:59 GMT -5 cooper88 said:

Pink Cashmere It's through the senior centers. Just call the one closest to you and they can give you the closest location that offers it. They don't have it at every location.

Barring that, many of them will pick up seniors and bring them in for lunch daily, then drop them back at home. That's also free.

By the way, everything they do comes with a "suggested donation". That's to increase their funding, but the actual programs are already fully funded. There is no obligation to pay.

My parents got Meals on Wheels through their local senior center.  They both thought the suggestion donation amount was way too high, but they did send something every month.  They got two meals out of each meal for each one.

When they moved here and I was handling the finances and they refused to pay even half of what the suggested amount was and they were paying $5 at Dairy Queen, my sister and I told them we would have that bill come to me and I paid $5 per meal.  They could at least pay what they paid DQ.

I don't know what those lunch deals cost at DQ these days but DN3 said there are only two offerings and neither one are what my dad got so I don't know what he would be doing. 

[Deleted]

Dec 20, 2022 18:42:55 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I want to keep the old lenses I have. They're pretty new, actually, I paid a lot, and I see well wih them. Do I send Zenni my old lenses? They pop them into new frames and mail the new glasses back to me?
I don't know how that would work.

Sadly, I don't think they'll do that. It's a throwaway world.

Dec 20, 2022 19:00:28 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

I have butternut squash but not often. I cut them in half clean out the seeds. Add syrup and brown sugar to the cavity with some butter and bake. Sooo good.

You discard the seeds? That's the best part! Sprinkle with a little salt and roast them on a cookie sheet, same as pumpkin seeds.

[weltschmerz]

Dec 20, 2022 19:05:48 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Dec 20, 2022 18:45:03 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Sure, I'd love to see them!

I'll try to figure out how to attach pics via PM here, in the am. are you on any social media? bc that would he super easy as the pics are on my phone. if not, I'll figure something out. 🙂

You mean like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok?   No, I'm not on any of them.
There's no rush, but would appreciate seeing them.

[lurkyloo]

Congrats finnime!  

[lurkyloo]

Complained mildly at team meeting today about how much I need to get done and coordinated for Christmas.  Coworkers, who are all older white men, were politely puzzled, bc none of them have ever heard of the concept of “mental load” 

DH told me yesterday that someone had proposed a cookie swap at his work.  I asked whether he’d told them his wife would divorce him if he suggested it, he responded that that was why he hadn’t told me about it until it was over.  Good husband 

[Pink Cashmere]

Dec 20, 2022 19:14:59 GMT -5 cooper88 said:

Pink Cashmere It's through the senior centers. Just call the one closest to you and they can give you the closest location that offers it. They don't have it at every location.

Barring that, many of them will pick up seniors and bring them in for lunch daily, then drop them back at home. That's also free.

By the way, everything they do comes with a "suggested donation". That's to increase their funding, but the actual programs are already fully funded. There is no obligation to pay.

Okay, thank you so much for the additional guidance!

I would have no issue with making donations to a place that’s helping us with this kind of stuff. I would hope that would help their funding go farther so they help as many families and individuals as possible. Because these issues with elder care are REAL.

Again, thank you.

[cooper88]

Pink Cashmere Best of luck!

[Deleted]

Dec 20, 2022 19:54:41 GMT -5 lurkyloo said:

DH told me yesterday that someone had proposed a cookie swap at his work.  I asked whether he’d told them his wife would divorce him if he suggested it, he responded that that was why he hadn’t told me about it until it was over.  Good husband 

No reason DH couldn't bake cookies himself if he were so inclined (DH was a WONDERFUL cookie baker) or bring something fancy from the bakery.

[cooper88]

Looks like my grocery store has prime rib on sale starting tomorrow at $5.97 per pound. I guess I now know what we're having for Christmas dinner.

[Artemis Windsong]

I'm relieved. The passenger train from ND to WA state has cancelled travel. My GrS1 was going on the train. I know how disappointed he is not visiting relatives after looking forward to it for months.

My big issues were 1. driving the bitter winter highway. 2. Where will he plug his pickup in. 3. Just dawned on me the train might not get through the drifts.

Concerns all erased with the cancellation and his deciding not to drive.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 20, 2022 19:42:28 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Dec 20, 2022 18:42:55 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I want to keep the old lenses I have. They're pretty new, actually, I paid a lot, and I see well wih them. Do I send Zenni my old lenses? They pop them into new frames and mail the new glasses back to me?
I don't know how that would work.

Sadly, I don't think they'll do that. It's a throwaway world.

Dec 20, 2022 19:00:28 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

I wanted my new prescription lenses put in to my old frames.  That was not covered by the insurance I then had so we priced it out.   It was still cheaper for me to have that done than buy new frames.  

I always keep glasses with my last two prescriptions so I was sort of okay for the time they sent them off until they returned.  

It's a business and the money is obviously in the overpriced frames.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I found a blown glass Rose from The Golden Girls in a shop in the Old Market.

They had Blanche and Dorothy too.

[cooper88]

I don't know why the Golden Girls memory came up, but several years ago I spent the night in the ER with my friend. Technically, I spent the night in the waiting room while she was in the back. I ended up talking to this other couple that had also moved to New Mexico from very near the same area I moved from. We spent the night talking about places we both knew and watching Golden Girls. My friend was so apologetic about me being there all night. I assured her that I actually had a fun night. She still thinks I'm weird.

[Pink Cashmere]

I took Mister out into the garage because I had something to say that I didn’t want to be overheard.

I reminded him how when my Mom came to stay with me, he stopped even coming to visit me for a while, let alone help me with any of the new stuff I had on my plate, and I reminded him of how upset I was with him during that time. Which he said he remembers.

I told him that I’m not trying to be a bitch, and I’m not interested in tit for tat, I just wanted the record to show the difference between what he did back then, and what I’m doing now when his parents need help and his Dad is staying with us.

He said that he just wasn’t comfortable continuing as we had been when my Mom started staying with me. I asked if he thinks I’m comfortable with his Dad wandering around the house in his boxers sometimes and feeling like it’s on me to try to make sure I don’t see him nekkid. Never mind that even though he does prepare meals for his Dad, him being here is still more work for me. And I’m okay with that. I just want it to be acknowledged that he handled me differently when it was my parent.

I told him it reminded me of a coworker whose Mom was really sick the last year of her life. My coworker and some of his siblings (there are 9 of them, I think) took turns going home (a couple hours away) on weekends to give their sisters that were caring for their Mom every day a break. This coworker’s wife bitched and complained about the weekends he went to spend with his Mom. The wife refused to go with him, she just bitched and complained about it. His Mom died. Less than a year later, the wife’s Mom got sick enough that she couldn’t live by herself. The wife moved her Mom from out of state, to live with them, and didn’t think she should at least have a conversation with my coworker, her husband, before doing all of that. Like her Mom was more special or important than his Mom was. And her Mom living with them was a lot more and totally different than when he’d been going to spend a weekend with his Mom once a month.

So my point to Mister was how things look different when it’s you and your family, and you expect whatever you do to try to see about them, to be okay. And how he didn’t give me the same grace with my situation with my Mom, that I’ve been giving him.

I don’t want him to do anything differently, I’m good with his Dad being here if we can care for him properly. I just wanted to make a point. I’ve let it go how he did me back then, but I haven’t forgotten it. That’s one of my “toxic traits”, I don’t forget SHIT. So, I just wanted him to know that I haven’t forgotten and I wanted him to acknowledge the difference in how we’ve handled things.

[giramomma]

I'm going to have to start keeping track of extra spending taken from my bonus. It's a nice problem to have for once. But I'm going to nickle and dime my way through spending it.

[Pink Cashmere]

And now Mister is trying to be all kissy face and lovey dovey with me. Man, if you don’t get TF outta my face

[chiver78]

I dozed off downstairs again. trying to motivate myself to get up and move to bed. daycare for pups tomorrow, maybe I can run laundry while I work.

[countrygirl2]

My joints are hurting, even getting pain in my thumb at times tonight. I'm not sure why, the barometer is steady at 30.45. I'm usually ok when it's like that so wondering what is going on.

I'm also tired, need to go to bed shortly.

Hubs wanted the cats to be put up as Tigger jiggles his door, so I had to give him a snack and shut him in the kitty room. It was only about 9:30 and he didn't want to stay, I felt sorry for him. We couldn't find Smoke anywhere. But once Tig was shut in and hubs went to bed, here comes my baby to lay down beside me. He knew what was going to happen, so must have hidden in the Christmas presents, LOL. He doesn't bother anything; he just lays beside me and before I go to bed, I put him in his room. 

I'm in pretty good shape on what all I need to do. I have 2 small presents to wrap and a few things to add to our suitcases. Need to emtpy all the waste baskets before we leave, clean the litter boxes and leave them clean. Clean cat bowls. Just leave everything clean.

I have our ticket info, parking info, and rental car info ready.