I am exhausted. I won't go to bed until I know where we are headed in the morning.
But, this is just another example of 2020-itis.
On top of that, I worked on my Bean&Ham soup for four hours and it came out seriously not right. I am certain it is because I used the vegetable Better than Bouillion. We ended up dumping it out and eating Rice Krispies Minis while watching the election results come in.
This is very brief but I'm anticipating my heart being broken. Good night.
I'm going to keep this brief. I didn't sleep at all last night. I mean, I seriously was awake from breakfast yesterday until like 9:00 AM this morning. I napped for an hour and then started looking for CaDiva. As I walked downstairs I was bent over the stair railing to tell her I was coming down. Then stood up too fast and smacked my head on the corner of the first floor ceiling.
This knocked me for a loop and I sat down rather suddenly on the steps. CaDiva is used to me yelping as I walk down stairs so I called out, I hit my head.
Where she said. On the ceiling I said.
Pause
I didn't know you were that tall she said.
I married a smart aleck.
Anyway, given that the election is tomorrow, I think this my last chance for sleep for about a week. So, I'm not going to sit up tonight to blog.
Thank god it is November 1st. We are almost out of 2020.
Yesterday we actually did some errand running and visited HRH. I offered the bag of items I cleaned out of my desk to little hrh. By the way, hrh is going to be 10 this year, so she may need her own nickname.
HRH sifted through the bag and determined she didn't want any of it. A reasonable reaction as the canvas bag included things like markers, post-it notes, old Covey planner binder, and pom poms. I was assured by hrh she would give the bag to her grandma but the other items (especially the markers) were very fun.
If you wonder why I had such items in my desk, I was a quality manager with certifications in instructions and process analysis. You may remember my career ran over 32-years. This means I as use to doing flip charts as Power Point. In fact, I am still just as comfortable doing thing on papers as putting it on-line. So, if I did have a computer, a data show projector and a network, why do I still have these archaic items? It is just that over three decades, well, things will pile up. In any case, even if I cluttered HRH's house, it counts as decluttering mine.
When we got home, CaDiva started with laundry and I began to sanitize and package the treats for potential beggars. At the appointed hour, I took position on the porch with a graciously prepared thermos of Chai Latte (thank you CaDiva) to await our little beggars. Within the first half hour, I got to visit with my neighbors include one who had three little ones. I called out that the goodies were packaged and sanitized. She was impressed by my three-foot long grabber used to drop the Zip Lock baggies.
Unfortunately, they were my only beggars. Well, 2020 bites another beloved tradition. However, the Mom and I agreed to pool our fermented resources on Tuesday. She has wine for maintenance and celebration and I have bourbon and scotch in the event things go south. My next-door neighbor perked up at hearing Scotch. I told him the mother from across the street was now my favorite since her husband is a chocolatier. It is true he and his brother share from the garden, but it is autumn so a person needs to draw a line. Gardens go dormant, chocolate is forever.
Today I put on Ocean's Eight and kicked back with popcorn. Well, I had the popcorn and CaDiva finished the cinnamon rolls because popcorn is not kind to her mouth. The two cats were taking turns irritating me no matter how often I explained to them I am a Dog Person. The Maine Coon mix was sitting on the arm of my chair and CaDiva was starting to chortle. This brought my attention to the intense stare from the cat as her head followed my hand from the bowl to my mouth and back again.
I will admit I was moving my hand up and down at different speeds, watching the cat's head following the rhythm of my teasing until I noticed she was stalking her quarry across the expanse of my torso. Ok, it wasn't much of a stalk given that she is the size of decent sized frozen turkey. But it was the intent more than the implementation.
Then she leapt with a thud to the middle of the floor, Now, CaDiva was laughing full-out. She pointed out the cat was chowing down on a popped kernel of corn. I swear on the head of my dear late Lab/Shepherd mix that silly cat was eating Orville Redenbacher's Theater Buttered microwave popcorn. I mean, ok, she has eaten poached salmon , triple-cream brie, angel hair pasta and seaweed salad. But seriously, popcorn????
I would like to proudly brag about my achievements today. So far the most constructive thing I have done is realize it wasn't Wednesday.
We promised to visit with HRH tomorrow to start planning for Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow is also Beggar's Night. This falls before Halloween in the Midwest. We aren't expecting a lot of little beggars. We also won't be asking for tricks in exchange for the treats. Still and all, you know it is tradition.
I'm going to have to explain a few things. First off, in a lot of communities the kids go trick or treating the night before Halloween, so-called Beggar's Night. I think they started the practice to avoid the kids encountering adults who celebrate even Halloween with a bit too much exuberance. This probably about the same time the powers that be banned ice cream trucks but maybe two decades before they started censoring the Saturday morning cartoons.
We also require the kiddies to perform some tricks which usually involves barely understandable riddles, frequently repeated jokes, cartwheels and gymnastics. No kid was ever denied goodies, but it was the implied contract between the beggar and the beggee.
I'm going to miss the Floppy jokes. For those of you are not from the WHO-TV viewing area and don't know of Duane and Floppy, they were the font from which all Halloween jokes and riddles flowed.
waiting for the gales of laughter
Oh, well, I guess you need to be a Hawkeye to get it.
So we will get out the Clorox wipes and pack small bundles of candy in snack size zip locks to have them ready for 6:00 PM and pull out the grabber to hand these bags out to whoever shows up. It won't be normal, but it is still 2020. The kids will have this as one of their milestones to remember in future years.
You all remember that one Halloween when we couldn't eat the candy until Mom wiped it down?
I know I said I was starting with my closet when it comes to the declutter and reorganization process. That made the most sense after all. I mean I have all those work clothes. I'm telling you most of the dresses and dress suits haven't fit me for a few years. They are in good shape too. Not sell at the consignment shop but really good for donation to a women's shelter.
The thing is I spend a few minutes a day on Facebook. Don't give me that look, I have seen Rent. 525,600 minutes is a valid way to measure a year. So don't judge me.
This is my little commercial to remind you pick up a couple or twelve women's PJs to drop off at your local shelter for women and children. These women will grab clothes and toys for the kids but never think about their basic needs. A nice clean, new pair of pajamas is so nice. Betcha there are going to be some pretty good sales on ladies PJs in the next few weeks.
So, there is this page on book of faces that hooks local people up with other people who have a need. I saw a post from a young mother who wanted to start her decorating early. Yeah, it is pre-Halloween but I don't question parents of a toddler.
The point is we downsized to a smaller tree and no one in the family was in need of our old tree. This is a good fit. Well, pulling the tree out led to going through the tubs in the basement.
That didn't empty any of the boxes but that was a six foot tree in a huge red nylon bag, so now we can get to the back of the space under the stairs. No it isn't a cupboard and we never got any mail from an owl.
We did find a tub with old jeans obviously intended for donation. We just added those sweats too long for anyone not in the NBA to wear to the jeans. We found a half-filled Chewy box that obviously was set aside with donation things. So we tossed them in to fill up the tub. Now, all we need to do is load the donation tub into the Highlander and take it to the Goodwill.
I think I'll haul the Chewy box up next week to hold the work clothes from the closet. It will be an easy drop off to the shelter.
Oh, and the young mother will stop by tomorrow to pick up the tree and a few decorations we don't need.
So you see the productivity continues. And I didn't spend all day on June's Journey or Slotomania.
Day three of retirement was odd. I know I'm in a transition but the only other two retirements I experienced is The Mom's and CaDiva's.
With the Mom, I had been telling her she should retire since she was 62. With her health issues it would only make sense. She just plugged away until until one Friday when she was closer to 65 than 64. I wasn't there for the event, I had been traveling for work and drove up into the driveway to find her standing at the front porch door. Since it was a full hour before her normal business day would end I climbed out of my co-worker's truck and lifted out my luggage before I asked, "Have we retired?" She just answered, "I think so." Then she started banging her head against anything above 5'5" high.
Long story short, The Mom finished payroll after double checking about paying two of the employees who didn't work before or after holiday. Of course the office manager changed her mind later. The Mom said she would do as told, but she would have her say and then she would leave. That's exactly what she did. She redid the whole payroll, refigured the taxes, redid the tax deposits and packed up her things and walked out the door. She was so miserable for days after that. I, being the most noble and best of daughters, not to dismiss my other siblings except there is documented proof I am the favorite regardless of what they say, assured her all was well.
I was unsuccessful until I pointed out to her that she had the premium exit that all wage slaves dream of and if she can't enjoy that then she might as well give up coffee, cigarettes and chocolate. (for an analogous situation, read the interaction between CaDiva and her former gentleman friend in the Omelet Express) I may be paraphrasing but this is how I remember it.
Now CaDiva just sort of eased into retirement. She moved to Iowa and managed her first winter. I taught her to drive in snow and that things stayed frozen after 10 AM and sunshine didn't mean warm. (Remind me to blog about her first winter. It was hilarious.) Then she worked temp jobs but the more I traveled the more I needed her to, you know, tend to my every waking desire. So up until 10 years ago she mostly traveled with me and tended to our finances. Yeah, she took that time out for the whole "I have cancer" thing. She worked her way slowly into retirement.
Now here I am, trying to figure this thing out. So, bad night sleep. Not unusual, my hip has been bugging me since that last fall. So I got up at 7:00 am. As the Tylenol kicked in, I started to drowse in the chair. Then CaDiva decided to go start some laundry. I followed her down and walked the treadmill.
Ok, that sounds like I really exercised, which I totally did, but it's not like I used the incline. Or walked faster than a meander. But I could almost have made it 10 minutes, except it was more like six. But, you start from where you are, you know?
The important thing is I'm still retired. And I remember to blog.
The weather had the good graces to be cold and snowy. No alarm was set as per the edict from CaDiva. But I still woke up at 5:00 AM. I got over it fairly quickly.
We ate the left over from our curb-side-to-go IHOP from yesterday. This was our first time doing doing the pancake thing for dinner. Well, that's not true. Usually CaDiva mans the griddle and I open the syrup. This time the inter-global home of fried bread made our meal and CaDiva picked it up. I did the ordering. And I had to make decisions and all that such there. So I still get credit.
I was able to eat a couple of pancakes, some sausage, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. But my appetite has been suppressed lately. What? I'm a Midwesterner. What I just listed is from the light menu in the Midwest.
In fact, I have actually not put on the Covid 15. I'm down 21 lbs. So, if you add the 15 lbs. I didn't put on, I have lost most of a toddler. Anyway, that's not what I planned to discuss today. It was sort of an ew-look-a-chicken moment. It is a lot like squirrel but this t-shirt came out before the movie and I really think it is funnier. Except that was a really great movie and you have to love the dog. And don't get me started on the opening segment love story. Shoot, there I go again. Back on track.
What I started to tell you was we ate the left overs from yesterday's take out for lunch. In the process we found a package delivered at our door. For those of you who don't have access to See's chocolates, you don't truly understand why I didn't feel the need to eat dinner tonight. For those who do make the stop at the Denver Airport or a mad dash out of your conference in Anaheim, it was a pound mix dark and milk, nuts, chews, and soft centers. And that should explain everything. Thank you Cathy, great retirement gift.
As to productivity, I thinned out a lot of the clutter on my kitchen table from my desk at the office. I also joined a challenge on my June's Journey game on Facebook. What can I say, it is day two of being retired and I wasn't really motivated yet.
I did match a good pen to my new journal and I'm going to start my notes about my mother's book. So that counts as productivity too because it was on my list of my things-I'm-going-to-do-when-I-retire list.
Also I have already voted and confirmed it was received and acknowledged. And I posted the first of my openly political comments on the previously mentioned book of faces. So there is my first non-working day. I can guarantee you a week from today I will be discussing why someone owes me an hour, but that is for another day.
