Why I No Longer Read Books

 I've been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I would read anything and everything I could get my hands on. My mom told me that she once found me hiding in the closet reading from the Better Homes and Garden Family Medical Guide.I was just 6. The one we owned looked just like the one over to the left. And it was well worn. I loved that book. It had pictures. Lots of pictures with over-lays. The ones that fascinated me the most were the ones of the pregnant lady and the baby.(Probably why I was hiding) I wish I still had that particular book. I have a newer copy from the 1970's. But it's not the same. Or else I just grew up. One or the other. 

Then I went on to other books. My favorites were the Nancy Drew Mystery series. These aren't mine either. I didn't own them. I got them from the library. But they looked like these, This would have been in the 1950-1960's. I still like  mysteries or thrillers. I just don't like to 'read' so much anymore. 

I am not sure when I stopped liking to read. Now I prefer to listen to audio books. I didn't use to like them, but once I trained my mind not to wander from the story, it is the only way to go. I can turn off the lights. I can set the book to play for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or whatever. And if I fall asleep it is okay. There isn't a light to turn off. I don't still have my glasses on my face. And the book hasn't fallen to the floor, with my place lost, and pages often creased. And when it comes to finding myself waiting somewhere my book is always with me. I have the app on my phone. And I always have my phone.

Some books aren't ideal to listen to. But those are the ones that are stacked on my coffee table. The ones I flip through. Like the Martha Stewart Organizing Book. Or that Better Homes and Garden Medical Book. Those are books made for browsing. Not reading!

So I just don't read books anymore. I listen. And I like it. What about you? Do you like to read a book? Hold it in your hands. Sniff the pages. Or have you made the switch to audio books? Or do you do both? Curious minds like to know. 

The End of a Miserable Year

 Finally, we are coming to the end of this very odd and horrible year. It wasn't all bad but what was bad was very, very bad. Wouldn't you agree with that? 

I am over this damn virus crap. What about you? I have stayed home, almost entirely, since the beginning of March. I order groceries online and go pick them up or have them delivered. Depends on my mood. I have not missed grocery shopping because it wasn't something I liked to do anyway. But, I do miss Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby. And an occasional trip to Wichita to Target and Michael's. I don't miss restaurants because I don't like to eat out alone. But I do miss the occasional dinner out with my son or my grandkids. I don't miss going out to visit other people. Because I am really a loner and a homebody. But I do miss having people come to my house. I miss going out to see my little brother. (He is more of a homebody than me). I miss rational people. You know those times before people became so angry at being asked to wear a simple piece of cloth over their mouth and nose to prevent infecting others or themselves. So much ignorance and selfishness in this world. Other countries have been so much smarter than the United States. And we are supposed to be the 'greatest' country in the world. I am wondering if 'our rights' have really made us dumber and sicker. We have certainly had more deaths than anyone else.

Can you believe it is almost Christmas? Once again we will have a very small gathering of just the immediate family. Paige came over and decorated my tree. I don't know that I would have even bothered this year. Here is a short video she took after she was finished with it.  

Thanksgiving was interesting this year. I got up early to put the turkey in the oven and soon noticed that my oven was really, really hot. I have a little oven temp guage so I put it in the oven and the current temp registered at 500 degrees. Jerked out that turkey and fiddled with the knob. No luck in lowering the temp so I turned the oven off. No problem. I have double ovens. Same thing happened in that over. My turkey cooked in under 2 hours. But it was still good and with careful monitoring I managed to complete the meal. The bad news is I am being told the ovens cannot be fixed. They were put in this house when it was built back in the early 70's. The repairman told me they can no longer get the needed thermostat to fix this brand. It is a GE. He attempted to sell me new ovens. To the tune of a starting price of $1200. I am not one to make rash decisions and decided to call another repairman to give me a second opinion. This is the only other repairman for wall ovens in our area. AND HE HAS COVID. So I guess I will just wait until after the new year. New Year, better news. Cross your fingers.I just won't be doing any baking. We are having soups for Christmas. YAY.

Looks innocent

Teddy is doing good and brings me lots of joy. I got up to let him out in the middle of the night and right at the end of my driveway stood, not one, but two big deer. Teddy took off after them. Just like a good hunting dog. With his nose to the ground and flying as fast as he could. I didn't even have shoes on. I put on my shoes and took off after them. What a sight this would have been for my neighbors. But, thankfully, it was 3 a.m. Eventually, he stopped chasing them and came to find me. He was full of burrs, twigs, dead leaves...took me 30 minutes to pick it all off him. Needless to say he only goes out now on the end of a tether. No more chasing the wildlife in the middle of the night. 

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let's pray for some semblance of normal in 2021.

See you next year!

 

Never Another 2020

 How is it even possible that I stopped blogging?? It has been the craziest of years hasn't it? I think about all of my blogging friends a lot but I just don't have the gumption to sit at the computer and compose. Has anyone else felt this way? Any how I will try to catch you all up on what is going on in my life. 

 I am pretty much still in 'quarantine'. Our town opened back up and the people went crazy and we are now suffering for it. We have more Covid here right now than months ago when it was bad everywhere else. Our hospital is full and turning patients away. We have had 28 deaths. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but we are not a big city. Just a town of about 40,000. The fools here will not wear masks. It is a Republican town so they think it is a hoax.  I haven't much left my house since all this nonsense started. I get my groceries through ClickList with Kroger's so all I have to do is drive down and get them loaded up. I have been doing this for a long, long time so that really isn't new. I have driven to the post office and went inside ONCE to mail a package. I wore my mask and social distanced. The cost of mailing the package was almost more than what I was mailing. That is a crime, isn't it? I have been to one funeral. I told you about that in my last post. It was my ex-sister-in-law who died. She was the reason I became a nurse and I really loved her a lot. Saw a lot of the ex's family members. Even saw the ex, but didn't get close enough to talk to him. LOL! Went to one wedding (more on that later) where there was NO social distancing and NO ONE wore a mask. But, thank the good Lord, I did not get the virus. I have been to Walmart once. While there I got a haircut, bought some bread and a can of hairspray. I wore my mask and everyone in the store (except one man and one teenage boy) had a mask on. And that is the only places I have been. It is a good thing I like to stay at home because I cannot imagine what people who like to gad about are going through. My sons have been here a few times. The grand kids have been here when I let them come. I talk outside in the yard with the neighbors, the mailman, the UPS dude and that sums up my social contacts since March.

This is a 'first peek' 

Some of you may know that Harley got married. It was a tumultuous beginning of the year for her and her man but they went ahead and decided to get married. I mentioned that too in my last post. I did NOT help with most of the wedding plans. She has a pretty pushy mother-in-law who wanted to do a lot of it so I said let her. The wedding took place in his parents church in a little town about 10 minutes from here. It wasn't as big as she had hoped but it was nice. I walked her down the aisle. They had a reception/dinner after the ceremony and that was the end of that. She and Isaiah went to Colorado for a few day honeymoon and now both are back to work. I guess everything is okay. I don't hear a lot from her as she is working 12 hour shifts and they are the night ones. So if she is not at work she is asleep. I remember those shifts from my 25+ years of working nights at the hospital. The nursing home she is working in has several cases of Covid-19 so I do not encourage her to visit. To be honest, I forbid it.

A beautiful gown and veil

This sign hung on the end of the pew where I sat

Last minute advice

Paige was her maid of honor

Putting her veil on

My oldest son, Harley's dad

Paige, Harley and me with Papa's picture

This charm was tied into her bouquet
Her favorite picture of her papa

These are my bonus grandkids with their 
mom and dad at the wedding

Now for the bad news. On August 28 my precious

little Charlie died. We were at home minding our own business and having a good day. He had eaten normally, gone outside a bit, had normal bathroom habits and mostly a good day. He seemed a bit quieter than usual but I wasn't really concerned about him. That evening he was in his bed (which was at my feet) when I noticed he was sitting up and panting heavily. I was immediately alarmed and placed a call to the vet. My vet does not offer in town emergency services and I would have had to drive him to Wichita. I was NOT going to do that. So I called another vet and after he talked me through a few simple observations told me to meet him at the office IMMEDIATELY. Harley happened to be coming to my house and we set off. Sadly, little Charlie died in my arms just as we got to the parking lot of the vet. (It was about 15 minutes from my house). The vet thinks he had a heart attack. It was a muggy, hot day and he said that often takes little old doggies like Charlie. Needless to say, I was devastated. That little guy was the reason I got up every morning. This vet thought Charlie was probably older and sicker than the vet I was taking him to believed. But nevertheless, my heart was broken. I vowed right then and there to NEVER have another dog. It is just too damn hard to lose them. First Bailey, and now Charlie.

 BUT, just five days later (yes, 5 days) the

The picture she sent

rescue person I had gotten Charlie from reached out to me. She wanted to know if I was open to seeing a picture of a puppy. I was pretty damn sure I didn't want a puppy but I said, "sure, send me a picture." And that is how I fell in love with Teddy Magoo. He is a 20 month old Havanese puppy whose owner was needing to re-home him. She had paid a bit of money for him but was willing to GIVE HIM for free to a good home. She brought him for a visit and I knew almost instantly he would be the one who would heal my heart. And, boy, has he. He is not fully housebroken. But we are making great strides. He has not been neutered but that will be happening soon. He needs to be caught up with his vaccinations and that is coming too. Right now the vets are running behind because of Covid-19 so we might wait until after the holidays. His previous owner's reason for re-homing him was she had recently gotten a divorce and was needing to go back to work and Teddy (she called him Zeke) used the dog door to go out but wouldn't use it to come back in. She also simply didn't have the funds to have him neutered and vaccinated. He was starting to mark inside her house. I keep him with a belly band on when we are inside but I rarely see him try to mark. He does have accidents and the belly band helps with that. He is such a joy. Much more rambunctious than either of my previous Yorkies. He loves to play. He loves to run after 'anything' I throw and he brings it back. He loves to sit in the bay window and watch the world go by. He loves to walk on the leash. We have had a few adventures that I will write about in future posts.He doesn't like riding in the car. Yet! We are working on it. And he doesn't really like other people or other animals. That will have to change too. He barks more than the Yorkies did but that is a behavior I am working on too. I am smitten, once again. 

Teddy Magoo

He loves being outside. I don't have
a fenced yard and he runs off so he has 
a tether for now

Adore this face

Such a good boy

 So that is my life right now. I am happy the election is over. Now we just need to have a grown up President that will admit he has lost the race. I think things will be peaceful once we get Joe and Kamala rightfully installed in the White House. It has been exhausting. But none of the crap he has pulled has surprised me. I am sorry if he was your choice. I am not sorry that he is going to be gone. So much division caused by his hatred. It is time to move on.

Hope everyone of you is happy, healthy, and looking forward to this God-awful year to end. Looking forward to getting around to all of your blogs and seeing what all of you are doing. 

Holy Moly

I cannot believe I have not been here since the first of April. Doesn't time fly when we are having so much fun??

So what is everyone up to now days? Are you still in isolation? Social distancing when out and about? Wearing a mask? Times are crazier than anything I ever thought I would see in my lifetime.

I am pretty much still staying at home all the time. I have stopped having groceries delivered and I venture out to pick them up with Clicklist at my local Kroger's. (It is called Dillons in my neck of the woods). I still prefer this over in-store shopping and probably always will. For the most part I am getting most of what I order. There are still many things unavailable. It remains a mystery to me why this is so, but it is. What I have noted is that my grocery bill has increased. And I don't think it has a thing to do with me eating more. Have you noticed that too?

I did have to venture out for a funeral last month. My ex-sister-in-law died of heart problems. She was my hero and the reason I became a nurse. I always loved her even when I could no longer stand her husband's brother. LOL! The funeral was interesting. It was big. About half the people there wore masks. They passed a microphone around for people to say what their favorite memory of Ruthie was. Interesting in a global pandemic, to say the least. I didn't participate. They had a type of social distancing. Every other pew was left open. But people sat side by side on the pews. Mostly in family groups however. Was a beautiful service and a fitting tribute to a wonderful woman.

I also went with Harley to order her wedding cake. I know I told you the wedding was off. Well, it's back on. (for now). Yes, she moved into her own apartment the first part of April. Wedding was off. They were broken up. Then they were dating again. Then wedding back on for September 2021. And now it is for September 26, 2020.(and no, she says she is not pregnant. I just shrug!She is really on the run to get a weeding planned in a short time.(One of the reasons for the break-up is he was stressed out with wedding plans) See me shaking my head again. Live and learn for everyone. Right?? Anyway, the cake is ordered and I have a dress coming. That is about my part in participating. Her future mother-in-law is crafty and helping her with a lot of it. Stay tuned.....

I wake up every morning to see if Trump is still the president and how he has embarrassed America today. He has so badly mishandled this Covid-19 crisis we are in. And now he is just pretending it has gone away. I cannot believe (yes, I can) how he allowed Putin to get by with paying bounties on our American soldiers. And the race war he is trying to start....and the Roger Stone BS. Surely all of America's good people will see the need to replace him in November.

Little Charlie is still by my side. He is the sweetest thing ever and provides me with a lot of love. I did finally get him in for a grooming after going without for three months. He really, really needed a haircut. We spend a good amount of time lying around.

 Hope you are all well!

The Times They are Changing

I've tried to write a blog post several times over the past couple weeks. It is just too hard. What is going on in the world? Things have certainly turned upside down. Things we never thought we would ever see in the greatest country in the world. We are so behind the times. Other countries are so much better at this than Americans. What will happen here in the next few months is anyone's guess.

So what are you up to right now? Are you in isolation? Social distancing? Laughing it all off? Disbelieving?

Here in Kansas we have 482 confirmed cases as of this morning. That doesn't sound like very many when you compare us to New York or California. But we don't have nearly as many people. So far we have seen 10 deaths. And there are 8 people with confirmed Covid-19 here in my county. So I don't think we are really taking it that seriously yet. And there probably isn't that much testing being done. Hopefully we will before it is too late. 

All of our schools in Kansas have been closed until next year. Necessary, I think. But so many upset abut it. My bonus granddaughter, Piper, is a senior this year. And she is grieving over the loss of prom and graduation. I told her she will have a great story to tell her kids someday. It will be a much greater story that the one we told. You know where we had to walk to and from school. In knee deep snow. All uphill. Without gloves. But, right now she didn't think it was too funny. 

Things for me haven't changed all that much. I already stay home most of the time. And I have very few visitors. So none of that has changed. I no longer go pick up my groceries. I pay the extra and have them delivered to the front porch. There are a lot of items not available. But that doesn't really bother me. I'm down to a case and a half of water. So I now have two choices: venture out to get a case or suck it up and drink the nasty tap water. Might be time to buy a filter. They will not deliver water. I am not sure why. And they don't deliver toilet paper either. But I won't run out of that for a time. 

Charlie is getting pretty shaggy. I think this week I might bathe him and see if I can trim some around his face. I didn't go for the last grooming appointment and I will have to see how I feel about going to this next one. So far she has not closed. So many businesses are closed here in my city. 

Update on family: Justin is busier than ever. Quarantines have brought the crazies out. He is dealing with more murders. (He is a deputy sheriff). We hear very little from Darian. So I hope he is well and taking care of himself. Harley is working in the nursing home and has changed her hours to night shift. She moved into her own apartment this week. The wedding is off. They are still trying to decide if the relationship is off. I'm just shaking my head. Paige lost her job. She was working in a restaurant/bar. But she quickly found another job at Aldi's. The girls have finally gotten it through their head that grandma doesn't need them to come see me. They don't stay home so I don't need them to bring me their germs. Know what I mean? How is all your families doing during this time?

Currently.....Winter

Outside my window...

It is a beautiful day in my neck of the woods. Currently, at 1:00 p.m., it is 52* under a clear blue sky. A few days ago we got down to 10* at night. At this time of the year we are either warm or freezing. Climate change?? You know our president doesn't believe in such a thing. LOL!


Pondering..

Oh my goodness, since I was last here we have impeached a president. Only the 3rd one in the history of our beloved United States. And the Senate decided not to have a 'real' trial but to continue to protect him and his shenanigans. I wonder what it is they are afraid of us finding out?? So he thinks he has been found NOT GUILTY when, of course, it was acquitted. Not quite the same thing. Remember OJ Simpson was acquitted and we know that most of the country thought he was guilty as hell. Now we will live though our childish president get on with 'getting even.' Sigh!! I can't wait to vote him out of office and get a more grown up man to be in charge of America. And I think, not only is there a majority of America, but of the world, will agree with me. As long as they don't have to say it out-loud and admit they were wrong.  

Watching...

I have been watching some of my favorites. Like This Is Us, New Amsterdam, A Million Little Things, and Grey's Anatomy. And also getting my reality TV fix by watching 90 Day Fiance. Oh the drama of that one. I also watch Sister Wives. What are you watching? 


Reading/Listening...

Since I have discovered Audible, I mostly listen to books. I spend enough time reading on my phone that I am just not interested in reading books anymore. And I have figured out how to 'quiet my mind' and really get into the books I listen to. So what have I listened to this past month?

  1)P. S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. This is a book club selection. I gave it 3 ***. It was okay. Not great, but enjoyable. 

  2) The Hallows by Victor Methos. A freebie off of my Kindle Unlimited account. This is one of those books that offers both the reading and the listening version. I mostly listened. A good story. I enjoyed it. I gave it 3 *** on Goodreads. Maybe I need to rethink my star system. I enjoyed this book more than #1 above. This is a legal thriller. 

  3)Live Simply, by Hazel Simpson. This is another declutter and simplify your life book. I enjoyed it.

My One Little word...

I have chosen a word of the year for a few years. In the past I have halfheartedly done the One Little Word. I have had the words Hope, Change, Forward, and Fight. This year I am taking a different approach to the word. I have joined up with Ali Edwards and her One Little Word (OLW) workshop to delve into my word and to keep it my focus for the year. This year my word is SIMPLE. I want to make my home simple, my diet simple, my life simple. I will share more with you as I go along. This month we are working on vision boards.

Creating...

I am creating my vision board for my OLW challenge for the month. I have torn up a bunch of magazines. Just need to figure out how to put it together. 

Learning...

I am still learning and I still have much to learn. This living alone and being a widow is not a fun place to be. I am wondering if I will learn to love it someday. Only time will tell. I am an introvert so there's that!!

Planning....

This coming month of March, hopefully, will find me back in the bedrooms with the de-cluttering to continue. I have been working in the laundry room, the dining room and the reading room. Little changes with becoming SIMPLE. 

What's in the kitchen...

I have about given up on meal planning. Planning for one is much harder than it ever was to plan for a family. Now, I eat what I want when I want. It is not unusual to find me eating a bowl of cereal at 9 p.m. as my dinner. Or a slice of banana bread at 4 a.m. as breakfast. I am still making a batch of those egg muffins (that I talked about in my last post) every week. Love them! Are any of you single people willing to share how you handle meal planning??


A quote to share...

Photographing...

He loves to soak up the sun

My Ruby red slippers

puppy tracks in the snow

Aren't I the cutest

Snuggling in his bed

A final thought...

I took Charlie to the vet this week because he has a cough (which he has had since I got him) which is getting worse. Charlie came to me with a variety of health problems. One of them is a previous crushed trachea. Well, I guess my little pooch has gotten too fat since he came to live with me....and so have I....so the extra weight is pushing on his trachea causing him to cough more. We are now (and by we, I really mean Charlie) into eating less and trying to walk more. He doesn't like cold weather (and neither do I) so the activity will increase when the weather warms up. So little fatty and I are hoping you are all doing good. See you soon!

Hello 2020!

Hello! It is January. Can anyone believe how quickly 2019 and that entire decade flew by. I know that I can't. And so much happened in a decade. At least at my house. Some good. Some not so good. But, never the less, life does go on. And OUTSIDE MY WINDOW it is winter. We have had some crazy winter weather here in Kansas. We have seen highs in the 70's and we have seen lows in the teens. Today it is cloudy and we have snow on the ground. I do not know if more is coming. But I do know that it is dreary and dreary is not something that is good for me.

As I PONDER what my life will be like this next decade, I look backwards. I always look back. To see what I have learned and to see what I want to take forward with me. Do you do that? What I have LEARNED is I am stronger than I think I am. And that tears still come quicker than I want them to. But that I will never stop remembering and crying for the lost love. There will never be another, of that I am positive. Richard was my soulmate.

What have I been doing in this new year? What have I been WATCHING? I have binge watched the entire three seasonS of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu. The book club I participate in online, The Paper and Glam Book Club  , is going to read Margaret Atwood's The Testament in March. It is a sequeal to The Handmaid's Tale, which she wrote in 1985. I had not read it so I took both of the novels on in December/January. And I was hooked. They are both dystopian works. Not a fan in the past. But I highly recommend both of these books. And the series. WOW! Scary to think something like this could happen. Especially with the administration we currently have in the White House. I am also watching Trump's Impeachment Trail. I don't know why they call it that. He has already been impeached. And will forever be impeached. Nothing he can do about that. This is his "removal trial." But I am sure most of us know that will not happen. Not with the cover-up that is currently in effect.  Are you watching?? Are you worried about the state of our country? Or is this the new norm?

I have also been READING in this new year. I have finished a couple of books that weren't about handmaids, LOL. I read Gretchen Rubin's Outer Order, Inner Calm. This book is about getting your house in order. I am working on that. Hopefully, it will bring me an inner calm. I have also listened ( same as reading in my mind) a couple more Melinda Leigh books. She is good. The titles I have finished in January are: She Can Tell and She can Run. Both thriller mysteries. Both are part of a series. 



In January I CREATED my winter decor. The mantle is decorated in snowmen and valentines and snowmen.  

I am sure you all want to know what is being Planned at our house. Not much. The wedding we were looking forward to this summer is off. Not forever. Just not for this summer. The young ones have decided they are just not yet ready for a wedding. Maybe next summer. I will admit that I don't understand. But it is not my wedding. It is not my marriage. And it is not my relationship. But if they feel they are not ready, then canceling it is the right thing to do. They are still living together in the house they purchased. 

Sunday we had an Earthquake here in Hutchinson. It was pretty darn scary too. The magnitude was a 4.5. It is the strongest we have had so far in Kansas. The things on my mantle were thrown to the floor and the snowman screen was broken. I was able to fix it. I was shaken for sometime afterwards. So was Charlie.  

I have been doing some cooking and some eating out. Harley and I went out to eat at Olive Garden one evening and it was nice. I don't go out and sit down in a restaurant very often. But I go through my share of drive throughs! I did make a batch of these really good breakfast treats and ate them every morning for a week. 

Blueberry Oatmeal muffins

Ham and Egg muffins

Harley and granny at Olive Garden

Now you know I like to share PHOTOGRAPHS of other loves in my life. And here of some of them:

Sweet Charlie

Paige's baby Nova (only 6 months old)
Don't know why she covered her face

Charlie loves my fleece

Looking out my front door at sunset

Justin training some new recruits (he is in the foreground)

And as always, I leave you with a QUOTE. Hope everyone is doing well and know that I think of you often and will be stopping by.