The joys of living in a . Phoned a local electrician who sent someone round to look at my plug socket within 10 minutes. He needed a new facing for the socket so popped 6 miles up the road to get one at Screwfix and was back within 20 mins. Rewired the socket. All done. Also turned out that he was the son of a lady who has gone to school with Grant
went to contract on a book translation time to go have a happy hour (or two)!
What's on my mind Tea. How good tea is, specifically, is on my mind. Tea. All day. Every day. Everyone thinks I have too much tea. No. There's never enough tea and all teas are different.
Nettle tea, dandelion tea, ginger tea, Earl Grey tea (caffeinated and decaf), Chai, Rooibos, Orange Spice, Oolong, Tumeric, Licorice, Butterfly tea, matcha, peach, berry, Irish Breakfast
Yes, there's a lot of tea in my tea pile, but they're all different.
One of the kids calls it my "leaf water" because I don't drink it with sugar. I blame McDonalds for calling their affront against tea "sweat tea". It should really just be called "syrup".
Tea is good. Yes, I have probably 10-15 boxes of tea around at any given time, but that 'leaf water' is good for what ails you. So there.
Good ThingsHey People!
Did you have a tough week I did!!
We made it to Friday!
Woot!!!1!
Im not sure if its still going, but our county library bookmobile was still going in the 1980s.
Best thing I did today was quitting my job.
I've worked as a school psychologist in a city and a small village, very far apart. I hated working at the village school, mainly because of the claustrophobic countryside culture that permeated the place.
I'm so relieved.
Bring it, 2024, bring it on ,,,,
Happy New Year and all the best for 2024!
May 2024 be a year full of good health, lots of happiness and beautiful experiences for all of you
+ Ein bisschen weiter renoviert
+ Gearbeitet
+ Hbsch gemacht
Reusable fabric bags for the win! After spending 16 hours last year wrapping presents only to have them open and in the trash in less than one I decided I was done. I instead spent more than forty hours making reusable fabric bags and now have a tradition to keep with my kids for years.
My favourite noise in the whole world is hearing my littlest nephew say his breathy "wow" in my ear while I hold him and he sees something he loves (like the vacuum cleaner, a car, or Christmas lights).
It was his first word after "Mum" and "Dad". It sums him up pretty well.
Big day. Hustle time.
I get to invent my next job and persuade the people who would hire me that they need that function.
Plus, I get to interview an interesting man.
And I have time for a great museum inbetween.
To top it off: sunshine bike ride.
Rediscovered the teachings of classical Stoicism.
on :akkofistup: :BigBlobhajHug:
1. New hot water bottles arrived! They have cute little sweaters to keep them extra warm. Now me and the kids each have our own again.
2. An unexpected new delight: Michelle Sagara's Shards of Glass. Magic school/dark academia, and no need to have read anything else set in that world first. Loving it!
3. Fiiiinally got my market list out, and replied to a few long-overdue emails. .
1. If the day's not going well, you can take a nap and when you wake up it's a whole new awesome day. And by you I mean me.
2. When the gives me potatoes and cabbage, I have to make borscht (see pic) or my ancestors would disown me. Oh noes. And the chive cheddar buttermilk biscuits turned out AMAZING, too.
3. New clothes for the fam arrived (thanks, Old Navy's Black Friday sale...) and they all fit properly!
Today, we picked out a Christmas tree, had gluhwein (wei!), shared a slice of Stollen, worked out. I finished knitting a hat I started 2-3 years ago. We checked on our folks. We watched some football. We admire the snow.
Currently working, courier driving and picking up pathology samples.
Just went to a reproductive and IVF clinic to pick up specimens.
There was a tradie down the road playing Led Zeppelin full blast. Walking out of the IVF Clinic and hearing "I'm Gonna Give You Every Inch of my Love!!!" Seemed weirdly appropriate.
1. I climbed on the roof and put up Christmas lights! In Minnesota, getting this done before Thanksgiving is a victory, because soon ice and snow will make roof-climbing ... inadvisable.
2. SFWA weekly Zoom writing dates. Camaraderie + writing productivity = what's not to like
3. My kids' Sunday School assignment was making protest signs and doing a peace march along a busy street, and that warmed my Mennonite heart. Very proud of them.
1. I fixed broken wiring on my desk's fairy lights (I NEED their light and hygge now!). It took 20 minutes and was very fiddly and I really thought I was going to fail, but I did it!
2. I scheduled a plumber to fix a leak in the basement slop sink.
3. I tackled editing the written-incredibly-out-of-order, missing bits, important beginning of my WiP's final act. Gotta get it straightened out before errors iterate.
1. Election Day tacos at Cocina Latina! Years ago, we were promised a taco truck on every corner if Hillary won. We keep that dream alive with tacos every election day.
2. I rewrote the Amazon description of my post-apocalyptic steampunk western, A Circus of Brass and Bone. I am SO MUCH happier with it. Reader quotes FTW.
3. 4theWords' special NaNoWriMo event is awesome. I'm more productive, even though I'm not NaNoing!
1. Helped a friend dig her yard up, with my 12yo son, and my bad knee is not even angrier than usual at me today!
2. Actual blue sky in November.
3. My ridiculous cats continue to be ridiculously amusing. Yes, Creamsicle was trying to sleep *literally* upside-down.
So, yesterday was my one year anniversary of being here on Mastodon. I have to say, I have not regretted being here, or leaving the "bird site," for even a nanosecond. Here's to more greatness with more great people, for years to come!!
1. I got my car back!! It's been 1 1/2 weeks, thanks to trouble getting a part for the old rustbucket. Highlights included an epic bus/walk to get my kid's school computer to him yesterday morning.
2. The unparalleled commentaries of noted giallo horror historian Tim Lucas (If you like horror and you haven't heard a Lucas commentary, treat yo' self!)
3. IKEA. Tins of Christmas ginger cookies are out! And their veggie dogs are sooooo goooood.
Evening run. Its dark early, but we have a nice place to run near home that is well lit and always busy even in the evening.
I found out that a Korean book I read last year and loved had been recorded as audiobook, so I listened to it that while running. Even though I already know the stories, I dont mind listening to them again.
Received my agenda for 2024. Now to wait two whole months before I can use it
1. The feel of wrapping my electric lap blanket around my back and feeling that radiant warmth seeping in.
2. Made a new hoisin chicken stir-fry recipe using CSA veg. including mibuna greens and jicama (great sub for water chestnut), plus okra (fried) and ALL MY PICKY EATERS LIKED IT. Miraculous.
3. Wrapped up listening to all the Author Ad Challenge Q&A and bonus videos before they disappeared. Learned some stuff.
1. Friday! I didn't have to browbeat the kids into doing their homework that evening--I have the whole weekend for that.
2. I wore my winter coat to the kid's bus stop. So when I also accidentally locked myself out of the house ... I didn't freeze. It was only mildly inconvenient to wait for Phil's rescue with his keys.
3. Publication! A Halloween-themed quarterly anthology, including my "You Are in the Heart of the Corn Maze."
Wore my favourite oversized hoodie.
Bought a new Nebula notebook because Im reaching the end of the current one. Ill start the new one just for November, its perfect!
Ginkgo trees are turning yellow. It was really a beautiful sight this afternoon.
1. I went to the school's parent-teacher group and helped plan future things in the face of despair. Adulting! Also, I got to be Idea Person, one of the roles that I'm good at in organizations.
2. Misty autumn days. The best.
3. I am very grateful that my little robot vacuum goes and cleans up spilled cat litter so I don't have to!
What was the best good thing from your day
Oct 24
1) Dancing. I am still loving learning to dance. Today was the start of a tango.
2) I've decided which blanket I want to make next
3) Tiny Dog burrowing into my dressing gown for a snooze. Yes, I was still wearing it.
1. Finally dropped my car off to have a broken headlight replaced (case broke last winter, though the light still functioned).
2. Vigorous discussion with spouse over lunch date. Good Internet vs. Bad Internet, differences from Doctorow's Enshittification Hypothesis. (How) can we fix it
3. Stayed up till midnight to wrap up an Amazon Ads for Authors series of videos, and learned some new tricks.
1. We went to a jack o'lantern extravaganza that was SO worth it. Excellent for the season. I have so many photos, you can't imagine.
2. Getting kiddo to finish her homework just in time.
3. Sambusas and Somali tea in a little cafe while waiting for my kiddos to finish Sunday school. They were playing a loud livestream of an imam reciting in Arabic, so not sure I'd recommend it as a get-work-done cafe, but the food and tea was really good.
1. The kids earned extra screen time from all the outdoors time leaf-peeping at the Landscape Arboretum on Friday, so we had a nice relaxed Saturday.
2. IT Lash Blowout mascara. I found a mascara that I don't even feel when it's on!
3. Halloween party! Alas, I didn't get a photo, so you'll have to take my word for it that my Morticia Addams costume turned out well.
today - buying a new to me sofa, lemon drizzle cookies from Lidl, soup, catch up (via text) with a friend, a huge mug of tea thats sitting next to me now.
We will ignore the bad things, they are pretty much my usual.
Soon going to be time to crawl into a cosy bed with a good book and wait for the arrival of The next few days will be spent at home and hoping family and friends that live in the red warning area are okay.
1. Watched the first episode of the new season of Loki with spouse, and it is AMAZINGLY CHAOTIC. ::chef's kiss::
2. Free carton of La Croix from my co-op, thanks to their "owners" freebie coupons. In my middle age, I have started actually drinking this stuff. Weirdness. But I love freebies!
3. Installing freebie curbside storage shelving under my kid's lofted bed, where it fits perfectly.
1. Took a very short bike trip to get my daughter to her free tennis activity. Not as recovered from Covid as I thought I was. It wiped me out I slept until almost 11am today. But getting her--and me--on our bikes is still good.
2. Coffee shop writing and a Pumpkin Spice Lawsuit (their version of a PSL, with actual pumpkin).
3. Scouted murals for a future photo walk.
1. Watching Moonlighting (old TV mystery show with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, now on Hulu) with the kids while folding laundry before bed. I'd never seen it before. Pretty fun show! The kids liked it too: I'm now forbidden from watching it on my own.
2. Bought a new phone to replace my broken one. Not the model I wanted (too expensive), but it'll do. Pixel 6 Pro, refurb.
3. Halloween decorating with electric votives + a dozen tiny jack o'lanterns.
1. Our new Roomba did a great job on the carpet in the cat porch.
2. I got an extra 300ish words written in the evening, over my word goal, thanks to 4theWords.
3. Figured out who is going to end up a corpse-puppet, and why it will wrench the hearts of my readers.