Thursday, December 5, 2019

Thursday This n That

One week from Thanksgiving and I am almost done with the turkey.  We have one meal worth of leftover turkey-n-gravy.  And, of course, the turkey noodle soup I made yesterday which is now in the freezer for any time we're feeling like hot, homemade soup.

I'm making hamburgers for dinner tonight because I am just about turkey'd out.

Yesterday, I made two loaves of pumpkin pie bread to give away as gifts.  Today, I'll make two loaves of apple-cranberry bread, also for gifts.  With the scattering of gifts I already bought for the Kid, I'll be done with Christmas as soon as I can get it all baked, packaged, and shipped.  This is what comes from not living close to family.  Everything Christmas has to be done and shipped well before everyone else is done.

I have a new tree:
Isn't he pretty?  He has all my favorite ornaments and the topper is a pine cone with a pretty red bow that I've had forever. The box in front is Christmas cards.  I'll get those out soon.  And the jar is filled with starlight mints (which sit in a bowl the rest of the year).  There are never any presents under the tree anymore.  We don't give each other gifts.  What's there now are ornaments too heavy to hang and ones that don't fit.  What I'll also do is put Christmas cards all around him as they come in.  It's very festive and happy-making.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can listen to Christmas music.  I can't tolerate it before Thanksgiving, but after is totally cool.  And once New Year's Day is over, I'll stop it again for another year.  I think it makes the season more special to keep it down to one month.

Standing in the checkout line, I got attacked by the candy.  I'm usually pretty good at holding out, but this time I got a bag of English Toffee Peanut M&Ms and a big Hershey bar with Whopper bits in it.  Yummers.  I'd recommend them both.

We like to watch documentaries on air disasters.  It's interesting to see how they figure out exactly what happened.  What can I tell ya, I like mysteries.  Yesterday, one of the channels was having a marathon of a series I hadn't seen before, so I settled in.  And then they got to the one about a plane at the end of the Vietnam war that was evacuating children out of Saigon in 1975.  That was a hard one to watch.  The babies in the passenger area all made it out fine, but the older kids in the cargo area...  None of them survived.  All due to a mechanical failure in the locking clamps of the ramp at the back of the plane.  Yeah, I cried.

My knowledge of history is woefully inadequate.  By the time I reached the point in school where they would start teaching history, they had changed it to 'social studies' and nixed the history part.  Therefore, I find myself ignorant of things like WWII and Vietnam.  Hell, most everything I know about the Korean War, I learned from M*A*S*H, which is just sad.  So, I watch documentaries and try to fill the gaps.  But I'm wary of a lot of documentaries because instead of telling the damn story, they insert their own little spins and opinions. Sorta like the news these days.  Just give me the facts and let me decide what to think of them. 

Prepping for next year, I already bought the calendar that'll go above my desk and a new day planner.  Woohoo. 

Well, I think that's it for today.  What kinds of this n that have you got for me?



2 comments:

  1. I've worked with the NTSB/FAA and photographed air disasters. I remember that particular crash. It was covered extensively on the news. VN was a nightly feature when I was in Jr. High and High School. Yummers on the yummies. Pretty tree. And OMG! English Toffee (a fav) and peanut M&Ms??!?! How did I not know this thing existed! Must go hunting!!!

    As for my this-n-that. We've had some crazy "trees" in the past. Our Rottie took out one tree so we ended up with a swag that ran the length of a beam between the living room and the dining room/hallway. We hung the lights and ornaments on it. We continued that when we got our chili-pepper light/barb wire cactus tree because it didn't have much room or ornaments and we've collected those suckers for YEARS! When we bought this house, we did small trees in each room, dividing up the ornaments by category. Only's tree had all the ornaments she'd gotten each Christmas plus softball. The kitchen had kitchen themes. Our bedroomm had LG's Snoopy ornaments. Dining room had antiques. Family room had fire themed. Guest room had the travel/vacation ornaments and the then formal living/now dining room because old dining room is the library had what was left over. Now we have one tree and it has all the state ornaments. The Friends of the Governor's Mansion started a fundraiser 30 years ago. We have every ornament and add the new one each year. Also, it stays up year round because I'm lazy. 🤣 The rest of the ornaments are packed away. We just don't have the time or energy to decorate like we used to.

    I fell down on writing this week. It's like I hit the end of NaNo and all the oomph just leaked out. I'm getting at least one chapter done today or else!

    I'm fixing patty melts for dinner. Grilled in butter Texas toast, lean burgers, grilled onions, sharp cheddar for me, peperjack for LG. Total yummers!

    I won a flashfiction challenge Monday. It was a sadly-sweet story but Abhean was in it. I need to sit down and reread the Faerie Reign books. I thought of him (and he fit the 3 prompts PERFECTLY!) because my old publisher tweeted about his Christmas novella, FAERIE FAITH. I really should see about getting my rights back to all those books and the others I wrote for Wild Rose. That said, the idea of pulling them, rebranding, and republishing just makes my head explode. 🤯

    What else...there's not much. Life is pretty boring. Jake is awesome when dealing with the People of Walmart. OU and OSU are both in the top 25 bowl list so that's good for bowl season. How many days until pitcher/catcher? 😎

    Alright, time to finish the email, get more coffee and settle in to get words done.

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  2. The candy corner ambushed me, too. Chocolate and almond butter, so yummy! On clearance, thank goodness. I'm trying to stay out of sugar.

    Mom's new computer is going to drive me insane. It doesn't help that she asks the same questions every couple of weeks, or when she has a new problem she doesn't tell me *which* program she's in. Quicken and Word are totally different, but somehow she makes them sound the same.

    Churchill started wailing half an hour before the alarm went off this morning. I knew he had kibble, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. I'm tired all the time without his help! But getting soft food has become the highlight(s) of his day. He gets 1/4 can every few hours because he won't eat if it gets crusty.

    What a darling tree! I put up my Christmas nutcrackers instead of a tree. All my Christmas shopping is done except for Dad, who is bed-bound and has no interest in anything. I'll probably get him candy, since he still likes sweets.

    Oh, man, I'm worse than you are! I had forgotten that MASH was set in the Korean War. I thought it was Vietnam. But then, anything more recent than 1888 rarely holds my attention. ;-)

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