2024 Project 365 – Week four

I’d like to start off by apologizing for the number of selfies in this post. Sometimes that’s just how the week rolls.

Sunday, January 21^st          
Went by dad’s for lunch and a puzzle – and more turtle pie. That stuff is the devil amazing.

Monday, January 22^nd
Sent this photo of my office poinsettia to Dr. M letting him know I was bringing it home. It’s huge!
 

Tuesday, January 23^rd                         
Jillian’s twin sister Jackie made the artwork. We are still so sad. Her dad shared a story about her that made me smile. She was trying out softball when she was 11 and all the girls were wearing masks. She came over to where the parents were sitting to get water & was wondering why all the masks. One of the moms said that it was so they don’t get hit in the face. Jillian (under her breath) said, “Well I just catch it.” She went back to baseball after that.
 

Wednesday, January 24^th                                 
Didn’t feel well, but looked cute. (Well at least until I tried to do a pouty face.)
 

Thursday, January 25^th                             
Walked into work this morning with my skirt tucked into my underwear. I was informed that the duster hid the horror, but since a (very kind female) coworker is the one who noticed I’m not convinced.
 

Dr. M celebrated Burns Night by having a wee dram of his favorite single malt, a gift from one of my nephews & his lady. He also watched the American Rogues perform The Gael from Last of the Mohicans. The female drummer goes by the nickname “hammer of the gods” btw. She is fabulous!

Friday, January 26^th                           

I’ve been feeling run down so I took the day off from work. I had texted a coworker about some work I did & she said I hope that at least you’re in your recliner so I sent her this.
 

Saturday, January 27^th                        
I’m on church council again this year & we had our annual working retreat today. Our opening meditation was about disco balls & I put this headband on. I forgot I was a wearing it & wore it into Dominos later. I also saw a very cool bird feeder.
 

I’m taking Monday off from work too because the next 6 months or so are going to be crazypants at work. I guess that’s one way to make the winter (and spring) fly by. Do you have anything challenging coming up?
 

2024 Project 365 – Week three

While other parts of the country have been socked in by snow and ice and frigid temps, we here in the foothills of NC have had relatively milder weather. Not milder by our standards, but it hardly bears mentioning to anyone outside of the state. Of course that won’t stop me from mentioning it. After all, my cousin told me that she saw about 4 flakes of snow one day!
Sunday, January 14^th         
From the socials: My [Enneagram] 1 wing won’t let this song go without editing. Nonsensical? Perhaps. But at least it doesn’t make me grind my teeth. (Yes I’m still listening to Christmas music).

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
That Jesus my Savior did come for to die
For poor on'ry people like you and like me
I wonder as I wander out under the sea
 

Am I right that the line "For poor on'ry people like you and like I" is grammatically incorrect? Because it hurts my soul to sing it. (Dramatic Much Bug?)

Other things from Sunday: I was lector, the heat wasn’t working in the sanctuary so we met in the fellowship hall & the music director had to pull out his accordion, we had a visit from our newest member (the cutest little squish nugget), and I got a word for the year. My word made me a little weepy because that’s what the world is all about, right?
 

Monday, January 15^th
The Rhyne boys do Lincolnton. Party animals!
 

Tuesday, January 16^th                        
My two chins and I went to the dentist for a routine cleaning. They checked out the problem area but didn’t see anything of concern. If it flares up again I’ll go back.
 

Dr. M needed an incandescent bulb for his father’s water system (to keep the switch from freezing), but those are very hard to find these days. Turns out he just needed to look at the pet store!
 

Wednesday, January 17^th                                 
You know, people think southerners are wimpy in the cold. It was 14 degrees when I left my house so I dressed like I would have in Ohio. And then got laughed at by my coworkers in their cardigans & blazers. Hmph. 😣
 

Thursday, January 18^th                             
Had a little oatmeal as a snacky snack. Which reminds me that I need to make some more!
 

Friday, January 19^th                           
I’m part of poet Lori Heteen’s Patreon community. Two years ago she designed calendar pages for us to print out. She’s also the one who came up with the little booklet idea that I used for Thanksgiving. Anyway, this year she’s going to try to give us a print a week that we can use as we see fit. I printed out two of them because they really struck me. The one on the left says, “Sift through these ashes, warm with possibility. Life remains. It waits.” The one on the right says, “I, for one, would like less blatant stupidity and more quaint nonsense.”
 

The Soup King strikes again with a variation on the jambalaya theme! People, this was REALLY good soup.
 

Saturday, January 20^th                        
It was a Very Cold Day and I had tuna melt for lunch.
 

This morning I learned that my friend’s 16 year daughter passed away (I wrote about her last week). She was very proud to be an organ donor, and her family is honoring her wishes, so she’s still on life support until that process is complete. This has been grueling for all of them, and I am full of so much sadness. This year has just not been going well for so many folks around me. How about you tell me something good from your corner of the world?
 

2024 Project 365 – Week two

This wasn’t a particularly fabulous week. We had three more days of computer training. I think I’ve been calling it the wrong thing though. We’re replacing the City-wide computer system (that handles everything from human resources to payroll to utility billing to job tickets…) with a new one & we’re actually BUILDING it. The framework is there, but we are customizing it with our codes, etc. Once it’s complete it will be amazing and good for everyone (I hope), but until then it is requiring a good bit of braining.
Sunday, January 7^th         
I went to church but as I mentioned last week, I was in a lot of pain from yet another tooth infection. I posted this picture and asked the interwebs to give me their tricks for calming down a toothache (the overwhelming winner was cloves), but we live 15 minutes from CVS so I just continued to use what I had on hand: saltwater. Orajel didn’t really do anything. Someone did recommend adding Tylenol to my NSAID & it helped for a while. I was able to sleep until about midnight & then slept fitfully until morning.  
 

Monday, January 8^th
I went to work and did payroll and a couple of other things, then went to see the City nurse. She prescribed the same thing my dentist did the last time (steroids and antibiotics) so I went to have those filled & then went home for the day. I took my first dose of steroids, took a nap, and then woke up already feeling about 100% better. The miracle of modern medicine!
 

Tuesday, January 8^th                        
I slept so well that I woke up at 5:00 a.m. & was at work by 6:40. I got so much done! What I didn’t do was take a picture.
 
Wednesday, January 9^th                                 
It had poured rain on Tuesday, so on Wednesday Dr. M took his dad for a ramble to check out the flooding in Lincoln County. It was pretty impressive.
 

Meanwhile, during a break from training I went to Dad & Sue’s for lunch, where I got to see a woodpecker at the feeder and eat turtle pie. (The pie was VERY GOOD.)
 

Thursday, January 10^th                             
Leaving the office late (almost 6:00). The sky was lovely though.
 

Friday, January 11^th                           
From the Socials: The sky on my way to work this morning. It was a wild week that started with tooth pain (100% better thanks to modern medicine), had longer work hours than usual, and ended with the news of the death of an old friend. A hard week and a week full of the privilege of the kind of life I get to live. I think about all the people suffering in the world. I think about the people in our country who are still being oppressed by systems that have been in place for hundreds of years. I think about the life of Dr. King and wonder if we’ll ever get it right. Will we ever get it right?
 

Dr. M fixed yet another fabulous soup. Included here is a photo of me getting ready to eat it, but the real star is Charlie Horse who has turned into some sort of postmodern art installation. He’s got a lot going on. One of these days we’ll get a better picture and break it down for you.
 

Saturday, January 12^th                        
I had a lovely day with a few chores and a lot of not much else. I didn’t even take a photo until late in the day when I was dusting & got inspired to send this one to my best friend. She gave me the ornament and the bear, which is upside down for Very Important Reasons.
 

I’m sitting here feeling guilty that I didn’t go to the MLK service in town, but I’m still feeling a little wonky from all the drugs. I'm also spending a lot of energy thinking about an Ohio friend (my first boss up there) whose 16 year old daughter had a medical event & is in Cincinnati Children's PICU very very ill. Added to that there have been several deaths in my orbit, and I am very inside my head. Very happy that I have tomorrow off from work. How are things in your neck of the woods?

2024 Project 365 – Week One

Fresh Clean Year! At least it was at the beginning of this week. Right now it seems to be exactly the same as last year (which was only last week for heaven’s sake).
Sunday, December 31^st        
I DID go to the party – stayed until about 10:30 & was in bed by midnight. The only photo I took was this one where Bruno was desperately hoping that someone would drop the ping pong ball. And they did, to much hilarity. Really, I should have been videoing it.
 

Monday, January 1^st  
Dr. M was playing with one of his Christmas presents, a new flashlight from my brother. Dr. M loves flashlights so he gets them as gifts a lot – which was a good thing when we lost power a few months ago. This one is really cool!
 

Tuesday, January 2^nd                        
From the socials: This wasn’t the new me I envisioned when I heard about New Year New You. This me seems eerily familiar.
 

Wednesday, January 3^rd                                
The stem on my amaryllis has broken in two places – can’t tolerate the weight of the flower I guess. It’s still pretty, but not probably won’t last for much longer.
 

Thursday, January 4^th                             
Dr. M says, “Had to see a man about a cat.”
 

Friday, January 5^th                           
My sister-in-law Bren came by my office so I could refresh her memory on crocheting during my lunch hour. She’s starting on a VERY ambitious project – a temperature blanket for her king size bed.
 

Saturday, January 6^th                        
I was inspired by Bren to keep working on this WIP that has been stuffed in a bag for a while. Every year I have a formal or informal resolution to finish all my WIPS before I start new projects. And every year I fail rather spectacularly. Here’s hoping I can at least finish one of them!
 

I’m currently suffering with yet another infected tooth. I don’t know what the heck is going on – it’s most tender where I have my implant (and the tooth beside it has had a root canal). All I know is that I am a great big whiny baby when my teeth hurt. I wish we could get antibiotics over the counter (and no, I don’t really wish that but it’s very annoying that I have to wait at least until tomorrow to get some relief). So, how are YOU doing?