Coffee Chat: And It Most Surely Isn't Spring!


Hello dears...Do come in and yes, we are a bit more formal this time around.  I think this is such a pretty image and much happier than what many might see at the moment.  The winter weather continues, even here in the deep South.   We're due more rain but have had sunshine chasing clouds several days. Today we are back to dull brown and gray clouds.  What do you think of the 'outside', the new fresh spring look for the blog with a bit of greenery and daffodils?  I suppose some might leave their pages pretty much the same but I love changing the look up just as I do in my home.  Do the same for my facebook page, too.  It's like a new wreath for the doors to put up a fresh photo and alter the backgrounds a bit.

I would love to tell you that all my being quiet that week of the illness allowed me contemplation of world matters and great moments of insight resulted from all that silence, but no.  I was too tired and weary of fighting off that rotten cold to do any deep thinking.  I slept.  A lot.  And I rested and I rested and I slept.  I have learned to give my body what it asks for.  Years ago, I suffered from severe and repeated bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia.  I truly believe that the push to keep going was what kept my body ailing.  Well, that and depression which is an auto-immune suppressor...did you know that?  I've many and many blessings to be grateful for, not the least of which is the freedom from depression.



Miserable though I might have been physically,  great joy was mine one morning when John came in with the mail.  I found two letters from North Dakota.  Both my grand-daughters had written!  I'd little idea in writing Jo that I'd have her little sister jealous.  So the younger wrote me quite a mature thank you note for something her Grampa sent and let me know she'd like to write and be written to.  I'll look for some suitable cards and envelopes for her stationery and send them to her.  I laughed and cried reading dear Jo's notes.  I didn't feel I could write her back right away.  I'd have left too many tear drops on the pages, and certainly didn't want to chance putting any germs on paper either,  but I shall most certainly enjoy corresponding with this lovely girl of mine.  She attended her first dance this past week.  Her dad posted this picture of her:

Isn't she the loveliest?  I was thinking of her mama's first dance and how lovely she looked.  Not an evening dress for her, but a pretty dress all the same and at about the very same age.  You know it doesn't seem at all that long ago and yet it was!  23 years ago...

And just for contrast here she is with her little sister the very last day we saw her:


So the week was a struggle and a joy... joy because there were good things.  I ceased being a criminal of the U.S.   I joined the ranks of the insured who can't afford to be insured before the deadline was up.  We read articles and looked at plans until our heads ached with more than colds and compared this and that and noted who offered subsidies and who didn't.  I admit we struggled with internet programs that didn't work and one hateful site which said it would compare plans for us, took my phone number and offered up nothing but multiple rapid fire phone calls from computerized call centers.  Finally we settled on one company that had a decent enough website and a plan we felt we could manage payments on and I broke down and called them.

The application was painless and the person who helped truly was nice as could be.  I admit feeling a bit put out when I was told that I didn't have to be an American citizen or legal alien or pay taxes or have a social security number in order to qualify for health care, but then had to verify that I was a citizen and did have to give a social and permission for the insurance company to requisition my IRS and financial records and so much more.  I asked if I had the right to withhold permission and was told that I could indeed...but I couldn't apply for coverage.  Something in that equation is all wrong, don't you agree?

 The amount before subsidy made me gasp hard enough to bring on a coughing fit.  The amount after the subsidy is manageable compared to the first.  I'm not really sure where we'll find that money in our budget.   We will figure out as we go along how we'll pay this because we have to.  Necessity is the mistress of all sorts of things isn't she?

When the call was nearing an end,  I was told that if we earned more than we'd figured I would have to pay back the government the difference.  It was suggested but not said out right that earning MORE is frowned upon.  I asked if reporting it as soon as it was known we were might be surpassing that range would help.  It would mean refiguring what we were paying and again was suggested that the option of not earning more was for the best.  At end of call I was told that the paperwork would go right away.  It is now more than a week.

I received a phone call from the company last week.  I was offered the option of 'completing' enrollment online but the page that came up was NOT the page for new enrollees but for those applying for COBRA which is another kettle of fish entirely and when I called the office I was told they were sorry.  They offered to "let" me make a payment over the phone, but I needed my identification number.  I explained I didn't have one.  I was told I could just wait for the paperwork which had been delayed in going out but they would be happy to take my payment right away and apply to my account when I had the id number.  Uhm...No.  This past weekend I received a letter welcoming me as their customer and it told me that I could expect my paper work for payment soon...I still have no idea who is in the accepted network of medical professionals to visit or what I need to do to finish things off.  My confidence in this system is being put on hold at present.  Nevertheless it is a blessing to have been enrolled if not actually covered just yet because the policy doesn't go into effect until I make a payment.

Another blessing is that I have daffodils blooming here and there around the back yard.  I planted bunches of bulbs in two big pots that I shall empty after they are done blooming and plant in other areas of the yard. I have a set of wooden steps up against the pecan tree and I put the pots there where they are visible from my seat in the living room.  I planted about half the bulbs in various places about the yard.   I do have a tendency to focus hard on the backyard rather than the front.   When we moved here I had planted the front yard in several areas but after living here for a number of years I realized that we most often looked out over the back yard and I relinquished those front flower beds.   I smile every time I look out the back window right now.  These are the big King Alfred daffodils with trumpet shaped cups deep enough to drink rainwater from. I think the dogs have laid upon the tiny old fashioned jonquils too much to allow them to bloom. And the one muscari I've found blooming is barely an inch high.



John is not your typical man when it comes to illness.  He's worse than those guys who feel perfectly horrid and whine.  This man of mine is a positive thinker, a believer that healing is just around the corner of his next breath and he acts accordingly. When he is sick, he doesn't slow down or stop or acknowledge the illness unless it gives him a really hard knock and literally puts him OUT, which has happened exactly four times in 23 years.  He is cheerful to the point that it becomes disgusting, especially if I also happen to be sick.  He will tell me ninety five times an hour how much better he feels and how he's believing I'll be feeling just as good myself in a few more minutes.  I love him to pieces but honey, I'd kinda like to be the one that comes up and knocks him out myself after about two days of it.  I always feel, though he never ever says it, that I'm disappointing him horribly in not getting well right away, indeed that I have some how let him down just getting sick in the first place,  and I do struggle to keep on with the daily stuff for a bit.  But after a while I have to admit that I feel lousy, I haven't stopped feeling lousy, and while I covet wellness I must just give in and rest and medicate and give myself the time it takes for me to heal.

John was terribly sweet during my time of giving up and giving in.  He isn't much of one for cooking but what he does cook he does very well.  He didn't complain when I'd go lie down and sleep hard for two or three hours or head to bed at 8pm.  He helped with housework.  If I had any complaint at all it was his cheerfulness and perhaps his reaction when I said "Happy Valentine's Day" to him.  "Well if you're into that sort of thing, I suppose it could be a happy day," was his snippy reply.  I hadn't expected flowers or a card or anything but I sure expected a lot nicer response and told him so.   We splurged on KFC that day and a new round of cold meds and popped open a fresh box of tissues.  We know how to really celebrate a romantic holiday in this house!

Of course, he did buy me chocolates once the heart shaped boxes are 50% off.  Two.   This is the only time of year I get these sort of chocolates and he knows I enjoy savoring my bon bons as he calls them.  It's a nod more to the fact that I work hard here at home than to Valentine's Day.

We broke down and went to the grocery after payday this past week.  I don't think I have ever spent as much at Aldi at one time as I spent that day.  The buggy was loaded into a rounded mound of foods in the basket and we packed stuff under the basket as well.  I was not shocked at the total.  I was grateful.  I mean that truly.  I was grateful that we could buy them in the first place and grateful that Aldi gives me so much food for the money.  Had I shopped elsewhere, spent the same amount, the buggy wouldn't have been full and I'd have been lucky to have two big bags full rather than the five we took out of Aldi.  That's five double sized grocery bags, by the way.   It was such a joy to have fresh fruit in the house once more and oh the menu possibilities when you have an onion in the house (or two full bags of onions)!

And to prove me right, we went to Kroger later in the week because I needed dog food.  I had a shorter list than the one I took to Aldi and the total was HALF exactly what I paid for the huge amount of groceries.  I'm not complaining.  I couldn't buy the items I bought at Aldi because they don't have them (or we don't care for the substitutes they do have), but it was three small grocery bags and two bags of dog/cat food that we walked out of the store with.  We carried the items from the carport to the house in our hands, rather than backing up to the porch and unloading as we do an Aldi haul.

When I went into Aldi last week,  I had to rush to the ladies room.  Usually it's not a busy spot.  Just as I reached out to open the stall door, a voice said, "Gee there's only one stall..."  I nearly jumped out of my skin because I hadn't realized I wasn't alone.

When I was a girl, it was seldom I went to the restroom alone.  There were always a bevy of girls with me, either cousins or friends.  Somewhere along about the time I had children, alone time in the bathroom became a rather coveted thing.  I have always appreciated since then the ability to go into the restroom alone.   I realize that in a public restroom this is not always possible but  I had not counted on a running conversation while I was utilizing the facility.  I told John that from the utterance of her first words when we walked in, until I walked out, that woman talked, asked questions (that weren't too personal) which, if unanswered, made me seem horribly rude and made comments.  I was a bit put out.  I'm not the person who wants to discuss things while I am in the restroom.  I didn't hang around to talk while she went about her business.  I figured it was a good time to get out of there.  And honestly?  It made me think back to last Spring in that stacked up little thrift store when the owner was speaking to me from the back office while I shopped and then I realized she was not in an office but in the bathroom with an open door the whole while...

I've got something on my mind at the moment and you might think it the most petty thing you've ever heard but here it is all the same.  I am in possession of a couple of items that are just ugly or unpleasant to wear and I am fighting my frugal side hard over them.  It happens at the moment both are wearable items with lots of life in them but one item is so ugly that I avert my eyes each time I see it and the other is scratchy and itchy and unpleasant.  I've had this problem before , not with clothing but with, of all things, a colander that Granny gave me.  It was convenient and handy.  It was also school bus yellow and jarred my soul every time I looked at it or used it.  I kept it twenty years before I finally gave myself permission to donate it because by that time I had five colanders of various sorts and sizes which I'd bought for the sole purpose of replacing the ugly one, yet I kept it because Granny gave it to me.

I don't want to waste twenty years loathing these two items.   But...my natural instinct is to be reasonable.  They are warm, they fulfill a purpose that other items don't, they are practically new!  Yet I tell you honestly that just a moment ago given the need of warmth, I chose an old ratty looking  but comfortable piece of clothing rather than put the itchy one about me.  And if, later, I walk into my room and open the drawer, I will choose an inadequate substitute for the warmer but so very horridly ugly one that makes me cringe.  Now sharing this makes me see that in reality I need to just donate both pieces and be done with them.  Somewhere someone will be delighted to have them while they are more or less in style and more than serviceable pieces.  But oh the struggle I've had over those things!

Have you ever noticed that when you adjust your budget on the positive side that immediately negatives adjustments are necessary?  Late last month we removed the truck from our insurance and cancelled the tag.  The plan is to sell the truck and that's definitely going to happen.  We adjusted our budget to the positive.  Insurance and the tax amounts both fell and opened up an additional sum for wiggle room in our budget.  It felt really good to see that happen. Ha.  Over the past two weeks I've had to adjust amounts on bills that increased, add in health insurance payments and pay two unexpected fees.   That wiggle room?  Gone.  What I'm left with?  The need to tighten our belts even harder than before we generated that 'savings'.   Isn't that just the way it seems to go?  Well no complaining will do good so I'll just keep looking to see where I might take a few dollars from this or that and call it well done, right?

I've said that I'd not complain about winter and truly little do I have to complain about.  But I have noticed a certain point each day is just difficult for me and that is the moments leading up to and right after sunset.  I do love sunset and especially if it's a gorgeous one, but it does seem that in that hour surrounding sunset the drafts come in thick and hard, the air is chillier than at any other point of the day and I feel a real dip in my mood.  I've not noticed this before this year, so it may be truth or it may be one of those age related things that appear to be real.

I've always thought the saddest time of day for anyone recently bereaved must be that sunset hour.  Mornings, at least for me, are generally cheerful affairs and especially if the sun is shining, they are easy to swallow.  But evening has a certain emotionality that is all it's own.  End of the day, in the moments before darkness, a general sense of loneliness must be faced.  I've associated sunset with homecoming and when there is no one to come home any longer it does seem to me that moment of expectation is still built into your day and the let down felt doubly because it is unfulfilled.

I generally try to take note of what is going on in the natural world around me.  Right now I am seeing lots of geese headed northward.  Long deep vees of them fly over daily in a steady migration.  I'm not just sure where they are going since everyone I know is deep in snow!  I wondered if perhaps there is some secret lovely sheltered spot where all good geese go and wait out storms? Or are they impervious to cold and snow and ice and just fly northward because it is time to go, the migratory gene a fire that burns in whatever soul they have and the command followed?

There are not many blooms in our area at present, aside from daffodils.  Not even forsythia has dangled a single golden bell from it's branches yet.  Nor is it all that fatly budded either.  No peach blooms either thank goodness, which leaves me hopeful that the cold is still beneficial and not damaging.  I do look forward to spring and spring-ish things, but I am truly trying to embrace winter and all it means.  I remind myself that in many ways, winter is a Shabat of the earth, a time to rest and gather strength and heal and get all the grand benefits that rest has in it.  It's a lovely way to look at it, I think, far less harsh than thinking the earth is being vengeful or mean.  I trust in God's ability to know how deep and long the rest should be and to awaken the earth at the right time, regardless of my own thinking and considerably lesser knowledge.

On the way into town the other day I noted a rather shaggy short dog on the bank next to the road digging away at something.  He turned his white marked head my way and I realized I'd just seen a full grown skunk.  We refer to that particular bit of highway as skunk alley because all too often that is where skunks are hit on the road, more than at any other point.  I was pretty amazed I got to see one but from what I read it is mating season.  I do not think they are anywhere near Pepe Le Pew in cuteness and they are one of the more prolific carriers of rabies here in the South.   Now I shall make a silly confession.  I kind of almost like the way a skunk smells, from a distance at least.  It's a very common aroma in our area and familiar and part of the overall sensory experience of living in the country.

Oh dear...I do seem to have let the conversation dwindle haven't I?  Let's see if I can think of anything else to share and possibly discuss a little more deeply than skunks and daffodils.

Have you ever heard of Donna Erickson?  She had a program called "Donna's Day" that aired for a half hour on weekdays years ago and then she was on PBS for a long time but we couldn't get the local station at all, so we didn't see it anymore.  I can't recall which channel, perhaps it was HGTV or whatever channel Alene's Glue craft program came on, but at one point she was on satellite/cable channel.

She did a short program that included a learning segment, a craft segment and a cooking segment.  Katie and I just loved to watch that show when Katie was around 5-6 years old.  We followed up on a lot of the learning segments and crafted many of the items Donna demonstrated making.  I made many and many of the recipes that were featured and we used them regularly once tried.  Except for the Chicken Ground Nut Stew with Couscous recipe.   I'm sorry to say that is one of those recipes I became infamous for serving that one time and the entire family mutinied the dining table and raced for bowls of cereal.

One of the recipes I recall using was for a cinnamon swirl quick bread.  It was made with buttermilk and was so tender and moist and delicious that I had to make two every single time I made it or I'd never get a slice at all.  My kids would just tear through the bread!  I had the recipe as she gave it on the show and have lost it somewhere along the way.  I hate when that happens!  Of course, I am just longing to have that bread now.  I wonder if it is as good as I recall it being?

I've been thinking a lot about TV of late.  Whatever it was 20 years ago it most certainly is not now. Remember when we actually watched real homes get redecorated on HGTV for families who lived in them?  I was a huge fan of Decorating Cents and had favorite designers that I never wanted to miss seeing work on a room.  And that one program with Matt and Sherry, Room by Room?   Remember Carol Duval?  Alene's Tacky Glue?  And House Hunters and House Hunters International were good programs.  Nowadays, TV is no fun to watch.   It is merely one more real estate show, no different than the one on half an hour before.  I watch two programs on that channel these days.  "Fixer Upper" and "Rehab Addict" and the rare European episodes of House Hunters International.

It's not just HGTV either.  There are so many channels and I can name maybe ten programs we watch each week.  Today I've been listening to music channels through out the afternoon and I realized this is most afternoons for us.  Well what started all this thinking was the new satellite bill which had increased without any warning that an increase was coming.   I told John we've got to think about this and think hard about it.  We are breathing on a three figure sum each month and honestly?  I don't think it's worth it.  I'm not sure what we'll ultimately decide to do but there are plenty of alternatives to consider before we just give in and pay this increase without blinking.  Personally I'm all for calling them and cancelling right away, especially now that football season is over and done, but John doesn't feel that same desire.  I might just write down what we pay annually and show him how much money we are spending.  It's one thing to think of it in a monthly form and another entirely as a yearly expense.

There are three areas we targeted a few months back that we wanted to look into different alternatives and we've put off doing it.  I think we're just going to have to get busy and really look at those three areas and determine what is serving us and what isn't and why it isn't and what might better suit us.  There are also about three big jobs John wants to tackle on home improvements and cutting out satellite alone would cover the cost of the expense of one of the lower cost items.  That might be another incentive to him.

Well, I suspect it's time to rinse out these coffee cups and move on back into cleaning mode.  I'm so glad you had time to stop and sit with me about.  Talk to you again soon!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are such a tease!! Putting up that picture of the daffodils while it was 10 below zero with 26 below windchill here this morning. That only got the kids a 2 hour delay in start time for school. I thought I have always been silly for being so melancholy about the dusk of evening in the winter as being so lonesome, especially if you are coming through the country. Glad it is not just me. I loved the HGTV show with Matt and Sherrie. I always felt I could move right into any of the rooms they redid. Your granddaughter is such a pretty girl. How wonderful that they want to write real letters to Gramma. A chance to drop some "pearls of wisdom" into their lives.
Glad you are feeling better. Gramma D.

PatsyL said...

I'm sorry you have had such a hard time arranging your insurance coverage. I live in Maryland, and this year signing up was a breeze. I don't know if Georgia has its own marketplace or not, but I would imagine that some states that are against the ACA would try to make it difficult for people to navigate in order to make the ACA unpopular. Politics can be an ugly game.
I can also understand why you were cautioned about making more money than you estimated. The subsidy is basically a tax credit, and if you make more money than predicted, you will end up paying more taxes than you counted on, which could mean you are stuck with a tax bill. Further, it sounds to me like a lot of the hassle you got came from the insurance company, not the government. I kept my regular insurance company, and it has been smooth sailing. I hope everything works out for you. Personally, I cannot imagine living without insurance.

Anonymous said...

Our cable bill has actually this month doubled what it started out being. doubled! This is crazy. I have a paper where I list the shows we like to watch. A couple are over for the year. We like PBS and the other channels where reality shows are real people living real lives. Not just people acting up with other people and being what I see as ugly to each other. The different Alaskan shows with families are some of our favorites. Looking at the list though there is only like one or 2 shows a day and some days nothing. Yet we are paying for everything on the stations. Plus stations where we cannot even speak that language or don't do home shopping and such. Plus cable has the same shows on HD and regular channels do that counts as 2 channels..but the same shows. Something is weird about all of this...but we are still paying and have not said no. I am thankful we do not have all the pay movie channels and such at least. No wonder we don't have time for this or that. The tv is on. Even though we love only a few shows the tv stays on too often anyway. :( No one is at fault 'cept us for that.
What happened to the 'affordable" in affordable health care? My sister signed up for it last year. The cost she was told ended up being higher when the insurance actually started. That and the deductibles ar so high!! this year the same insurance is even more expensive and the deductible even higher. To see any specialist she has to use her deductible first!! Or she has to pay 100% for the specialist. Why? We were so blessed to just be able to continue with our old coverage just switching to the senior care part of it. Yes we pay more than we did as before the insurance was a better policy through my husband's work. The blood tests and some other things we used to pay 0 for is now $30 or $40 and so on. It cold be so much worse though. We have a friend who cannot afford any health care and even this year did not sign up. She needs to see a doctor and thankfully we do know of a free clinic that is still in business.
Your mention of the idea that if you made mar $ you had to report it etc. Of course you would but I never thought of a penalty etc. wow. It is like signing up for welfare and they have to know everything about you, Everything it seems. All insurance wants to be Big Brother though but still this seemed kind of extra. I guess that it is the government that is connected to it makes it sound scarier! :) but then Medicare is part of the government too and so all our information is out there for them to see too. Some people still want to see all this repealed. But can it? It has already gone into business and how could you pull it back now? I hope they can make it less complicated and more coverage at a better price though. But then we are talking about the government and since when did they go around trying to save money! lol Your chat was as always a good one and this is not the only thing I wanted to comment on but ended up doing so!! Sorry! Sarah

Anonymous said...

I saw two Women's days from the 50s at an antique store the other day. both cost too much for my budget. Then today I saw several for sale and th price was right! Amazing. I haven't seen any 50s women's magazines for years and then tow times I did! I did get to get the ones that were cheaper. I just got home so have not sat down and enjoyed them yet. I would so love to find many more and different ones. Back in the 40s there were so very many different ones for homemakers. I know you love them too. The boxes of magazines contained some newer paperbacks and another person dug into the box and was so excited to find they were so old. From 1968! ..so old :( ! :) To each his own. I was as happy fining my 50s magazine. I saw one from 1970 and actually remembered that issue. I was amazed it was from 70. It seemed like yesterday I had had that in my hand! :0
You like the same two HGYV shows I do. Have you noticed how Fixer upper never puts actual pictures on the walls..just objects? Do the people actually get those furnishings or are they just to show us the house then the person puts their own things in the home? Seldom do they mention anything was actually originally the owners. When other shows take apart a house they throw out the cabinets and the flooring and such. I can hear these two shows people saying Stop!! I want that!! That can be used!!! Especially Rehab Addiction !!
I want shows that show me how to do things and learn about things. Not shows that just talk and gossip and show me homes I cannot ever afford. and redoes that are too hard to do ourselves.
We have a few things around here we are giving away They are still good too. The memories associated with them are not though. So out they need to go!!
I don't know why people seem to think you want to know personal things about them. Even strangers. Get so tact please. And bathroom humor at the restaurant table is not funny to me either. Sometimes ai wonder if we are not the only ones who think that. You hear it all over anymore. :-((((
I am so looking forward to Aldi coming here soon!!! I am telling everyone to try it! No one so far has even hear of it. I would not have either except women on blogs have talked about how much Aldi has helped their budgets. Thanks for being one of the ones that informed me! Sarah

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

I hope that you keep feeling better every day. I know just what you meant when you wrote of a change of mood in late afternoon or early evening. During the time I was having some health challenges recently I began having some type of mild anxiety set in in late afternoon, early evening. Thankfully that all stopped as my health challenges resolved. I am so glad we are in our final week of February.

Your granddaughter is lovely in her pretty dress.

I enjoy seeing the pictures of your beautiful big daffodils.

As I read about that skunk you saw recently, and how you don't mind skunk smell too much (in the distance), I thought about how here at our house last week late night, all of a sudden my husband and I were rendered near breathless by what we assumed must have been a skunk run over on a nearby busy road. Really, it was a breathtaking experience. I had to use my asthma inhaler.

The last time that happened, a year or so ago, my husband wasn't home, and when the fumes first started they were so strong that I didn't recognize the odor as skunk. I thought there had been a toxic chemical spill nearby. I was about ready to call the fire department to report it, when it became recognizable as skunk. When my husband arrived home, he told me about the very big skunk he saw dead at the side of a nearby busy road. How embarrassing it would have been had I called the fire department!

I possibly should have just left off with the big pretty daffodils in your yard. If I recall, they have a faint but very nice scent.

Kathy said...

aww your grand daughter is beautiful! I am sure that it is hard to live so far away, but I'm glad that you are able to keep in touch with letters and such.
Sorry about the hassle with the health insurance. Hope that it works out ok for you.
I hadn't heard of Donna Erickson, so I googled. She has a website called Donnasday.com although it only works for me in ie. She has a facebook page too. Hope you can find your recipe; it sounds good.
We dropped directv several years ago when we started babystepping, and we don't really miss it. We can pick up local channels. When we travel, we channel surf, but there really isn't anything that we miss.

sparky136 said...

I can not believe how grown up your granddaughter is, I remember you visiting her when they lived nearby. How time flies. Bless the world with the ugly and scratchy clothes. Live is too short and you will feel so much better to let some one else have them to love.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Sparky, get rid of the ugly and scratchy clothes ... Since u asked. 😜

Pretty daffs and lovely granddaughter. What a sweet thing to enjoy writing letters to her. Very cool that she suggested it!

A light musky skunk scent - I enjoy, but a full out assault - run for cover. Or I should say, at least for us, run and close the windows. Makes eyes and throat burn!

I kept reading pretty instead of petty. Just shook my head not understanding. Haha, laugh is on me.

Long ago I decided to invest in DVDs that we could watch over and over instead of Netflix or cable or directTV, etc. We have a nice library we've built up cover the years. Some friends are moving back to our area and we have lots of movie nights planned. Every so often I still find a good show to buy and add to our collection. Our experience has been that when we use a hotel there is hardly anything on to watch ... It reinforces my decision.

Pam

Anonymous said...

We were having supper with our grandchildren last night. They grow up too fast don't they. their parents think they don't but we sure see it! Just look at your pretty granddaughter! A young lady already! Aren't they just the most precious thing. One of ours is off flying right now clear across the country back to work. Now they have lives separate from their family. The words home and family are two of the most special words in a language. They belong together. Your family makes a your home. Your home is where your family is. It all equals love. Sarah

Mable said...

I, too, find the hour at dusk very unsettling. Lonely is more accurate.

To me, skunk smells like lemon. I actually like the odor.

I live in Alaska and hope that your reader who likes the Alaska-based shows realizes that every single one is made up. In fact, the cast of one of them was charged for filing for the yearly Alaska dividend program for residents when they are not residents, just actors who go up for the made up situations and settings. The number of programs should be dropping, though, since the state is about to end its subsidy program that made it cheap to film in our state.

How wonderful that your granddaughter wants you to write to her! Real letters, not texts or emails...

Mable said...

I meant to add a comment about TV. We got rid of cable and find that between being able to get PBS on the computer, the cheapest Netflix rate and a monthly $4.99 subscription to acorn TV, we have more to watch than we have time for. If you like British mysteries and dramas, Acorn really is something you might consider. They have a one month free try-out, so you could see if you would use it.

Anonymous said...

I have decided we must be on the same wave lengths. I just posted on my Facebook page last night and asked for a good tried and true cinnamon roll recipe. I'm excited to say I got 3. Now to choose which one to make. I also told my husband Monday evening that Spring was officially on the way because I had seen several flocks of geese headed North. I'm trying to talk him into getting rid of cable and home phone and just keeping internet. I'm waiting to see what the new plans are they are supposed to be offering soon for individual services. I called about canceling my phone last year and it was only going to save $20 a month AND slow my internet speed which is slow enough as it is.