off to a good start

 I know it isn't the new year quite yet, but, based on today, I have high hopes.  Good things have been happening all day.  In no particular order:  I got a good hair cut.  I had brunch with a friend (pancakes and bacon, yum).  Ball State won there first ever bowl game.  My niece texted me that she and her long term boyfriend got married over the Christmas break.  Also she and her new husband are buying a condo in Myrtle Beach SC as an investment property.  I'm hoping that, if I and some friends want to vacation there, we can get the friends and family discount.  Also, and this is a big one, my grandson shaved for the first time all year.  No, he didn't get a hair cut but one step at a time.  Happy New Year everyone.  2021 here we come.  

shopping spree

 Every Christmas for the last 12 years I have gifted each of my four grandchildren with an after Christmas shopping spree and lunch. One on one.  Over the years we have lunched at Chuckie Cheeses, Cracker Barrel, Red Robin, and many more.  We have shopped at Glenbrook and an antique mall and Menards and on and on.  Over the years interests have evolved from Build a Bear to Victoria's Secret and shopping for soldering irons and car repairs.  This year we had to make a change.  Since shopping anywhere in public is still problematic, I offered each of them a virtual shopping spree.  They can shop on line for whatever they want (within their set limit) send me the list, with all the order information, and I can  order and pay for the items and have them shipped directly to them.  We will find time for lunch later in the year.  Two of them have taken me up on the offer so far and I have been able to order everything on their lists.  Approximate delivery times vary which should keep them entertained with anticipation for a while.  Ho, ho, ho.

a word to the wise

 This morning on the TV news there was a short segment about new and unfamiliar words that have become commonplace this year.  Words like Zoom, Covid and coronavirus are no surprise.  We've learned about live streaming, social distancing and of course masks but my favorite new phrase is 'doom scrolling'.  Doom scrolling refers to spending hours on social media and other 'news' sources absorbing all the worst news about politics, illness, etc.  When I heard the word, I immediately thought of a good friend of mine, a retired nurse, who spends endless hours reading the sad posts of nurse friends and then wants to tell me all about the people they know who are sick or have died.  I don't mean to sound callous but I just think a steady diet of gloom and doom can't be good for a person.   So I am going to focus on the uplifting.  Here we are, swiftly, gratefully sliding into 2021.  I may even invent my own new phrase.  How about Happy hunting?  Serenity searching?  Polling positivity?  I'll keep working on it but you get the idea.  Let's turn our minds to something positive.  And if that makes me an ostrich, so be it.

return time

 I went to the mall today.  I know, I know, I was taking my life in my hands but I needed my calendars.  I wore my mask of course, and stayed six feet away from people whenever I could.  It's pretty easy in the mall which is a big place.  Every year I get two 'day at a time' calendars, one Sudoku and one of a variety of brain building puzzles (approved by Mensa no less) so I can work on puzzles while I eat breakfast.  I always wait until after Christmas to buy these puzzle calendars in case someone in my family takes the hint and buys them for me.  But this year, as you know, they all invested in my Roomba so I bought my calendars myself.  In case you're wondering, Rhoda is feeling well since I cleaned her rollers and did a great job vacuuming the guest bedroom.  Sadly, when I sent her the message to stop cleaning and go home she bumbled around a bit and then admitted that she couldn't find her way home.  When I carried her into the living room she managed to dock herself perfectly.  But I digress. While I was at the mall I noticed that a lot more people seemed to be returning than buying.  The longest line I saw, people carrying packages and waiting patiently, was outside Victoria's Secret.  So then I started wondering what people were returning to Victoria's Secret. Lacy bras? Fancy panties? Slinky pajamas?  Those all sound like great gifts to me, or would have in my younger days.  Of course maybe they were returning thongs.  That I could totally understand.

catching up

 Rhoda explored the guest bedroom (my weaving room) today and got all choked up.  Possibly a reflection on my housekeeping but I'll ignore that.  I have learned how to empty its little bin.  Tomorrow I will learn how to clean its beaters because it spoke to me and told me to do that.  

On a totally unrelated subject, today is National Fruitcake Day.  I am one of the probably four or five people in the United States who like fruitcake.  I've heard all the jokes about using them as doorstops and regifting them year after year.  There is one legend that says that there is really only one fruitcake that just gets passed around from person to person and year to year.  When I told my west coast brother that I actually like fruit cake he admitted that so does he.  We decided it might be genetic.  Sadly, when I did some grocery shopping at Kroger's today I couldn't find any fruitcake.  Maybe I should check Trader Joe's?  

continuing the adventure

 Well, I plugged in my Roomba and followed the 'simple' on line directions to get it set up.  Then I realized my wifi connection wasn't good in the bedroom so I moved the whole set-up to the living room and did the set up all over again.  I still don't have all of the possible programming finished but I was able to get it (sorry, that's Rhoda, I had to give it (her?) a name) to vacuum the living room.  Sort of.  I envisioned Rhoda rolling slowly in straight lines back and forth across the room.  Instead she zigged and zagged around the Christmas tree and several other obstacles.  She did a fine job of vacuuming under the couch but had to be rescued when she got stuck in a corner under there.  All in all I only spent twice as long as it would have taken me to vacuum the whole apartment.  

Ho Ho Ho

 Well, I got my Christmas wish.  My children went together and bought me a Roomba.  What, you may ask is a Roomba?  Or you may not ask if you see the TV commercials.  A Roomba is a robot vacuum cleaner.  It's small, round, less than 4 inches tall and about 13 inches in diameter, and, once I have it programmed, it will zip around and vacuum my whole apartment.  I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the programming.  I think it's good to be awake and alert for something like that.  I did. however, take time to read the warnings and instructions and I learned some interesting things.  First, the instructions are written for young people with good eyesight.  But I found my handy dandy magnifying glass and overcame that obstacle, I also learned that it's so simple even an eight year old can operate it (after he's properly trained).  I also learned that I mustn't ride on it and I shouldn't let it out on the balcony.  Friends who have these devices tell me they are wonderful and assure me I will love it.  Check in again tomorrow evening.