If We Were Having Coffee…Plans For January

If we were having coffee today you would notice that the “view from the porch” is a snowy and fridge one.  I think temperature today here in south Jersey will top out at 21 degrees (brrr!). A story in the paper this morning said that they may even postpone the Philadelphia Mummers Parade tomorrow because the brass instruments keep freezing up.  Hard to play “Golden Slippers” when you have to keep breaking icicles off your  trombone!

Anyway, if we were having coffee today you might also say to me “Where the heck you been, Lady?!”  According to my WordPress dashboard, its been five months since my last post.  I could blame this on my iPad which kept freezing up and crashing every time I tried to post or I could blame it on a lack of time, motivation and ideas.  All of these would be true.  However, thanks to Santa, I now have a new IPad and a nifty Bluetooth keyboard that will make posting less technically challenging and since  the holidays have passed, or at least our hosting responsibilities which wrapped up with a gathering of friends last night, I have gobs more time.

So this morning I noticed that every January I find myself in this same weird state of mind.  For months before (since we also hosted Thanksgiving this year as well as Christmas) my mind is full of details and plans, a nonstop whirlwind of things to do and remember.  Then the week after Christmas when all the gifts are given, all the food is cooked and serving dishes stowed away once more my brain says, “Hey, what’s with all this room in here? Where are all the things we need to arrange and acccomplish?  What am I suppose to do with my time now?!” Although its nice to let my poor tired brain rest for a bit, I also know we will both go bonkers without some kind of plans for the cold months to come so I am dedicating this “Coffee Share Post” to listing the things my brain (and body) can acccomplish now that things have slowed down.  This blog post is the first thing on my list as will be (hopefully) more regular ones in the future.

Number two on my January “To Do” list is creating a scrapbook from the pile of 112 (yes, 112) photos stacked on my desk.  In November my sister and I took a trip to Hollywood to visit my nephew.  It was quite an adventure, which I plan on doing a series of posts about, but documenting it in paper form is also a goal.  I’m one of those weird people who actually still prints out photos and puts them in books.  I love being able to leaf back though the memories.

So there’s that to accomplish.

Next, D-man’s stepmom has been asking me to paint a portrait of her son’s dog.  Poor Oscar passed away a few months back and she wanted a portrait to give her son in memory.  This is a lovely idea and even though animals aren’t my best thing, I will give it a try.  I’ll keep you updated on that.

Another plan is to start an indoor herb garden.  I have a box that will fit in my kitchen window sill.  Now to work out the logistics.

I also need to work on getting my feet fixed.  To explain, thanks to family genetics, I have incredibly flat feet.  No arch what so ever. Nada.  This translates, with age, into bunions, the result of the bones in your feet pushing apart to compensate for their flatness. Ouch, right?  I have orthopedic insole that I have worn for years that help with the pain but they are in need of replacement and even with them, I am going to have to break down and have surgery eventually. Six weeks in a boot is not my idea of fun and also even less fun,  here in the U.S with our wonderfully inefficient healthcare  system, the first step in all of this is dealing with the insurance company. Ugh. That’s why I’ve put it off as long as I have but January is the end of procrastination!

Well, my brain feels much happier now.  I’m sorry I’ve run on so long but now that I have a plan I no longer see the cold months ahead looming like a black hole!  Thanks for listening.   Let’s warm up your coffee and you can fill me in on what’s been going on with your brain!

Many thanks to “Eclectic Allie” for hosting the Coffee Share.  Stop by and check out the rest of the posts.

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If We Were Having Coffee…1/8/17

If we were having coffee…I would thank you for slogging through the snow in order to come visit me today! I’d usher you in and help you off with your boots and mittens and immediately thrust a mug of something hot into your fridgid paws. You would have noticed already that here in southern New Jersey we have collected three or four inches of snow and that the tempeture outside is hovering around freezing.  Brrrr! Let’s just stay indoors with our coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) and a selection of fresh baked cookies (courtesy of my hubby) and have a nice long chat.

If we were having coffee…I would ask you how your week has been? What is the weather like at your home. I have a retired colleague who is spending this week in Jamacia. She keeps posting photos of her and her husband on the beach or at the beachside bar. Meanwhile I’m looking out my window at squirrels digging through the snow for food! I may have to block her posts till spring. 😊

You would probably guess that I’m not much of a cold weather person. I tend to hibernate, curling up with a book or my iPad and ignoring the outside world (and anything productive I might be doing). Yesterday I did manage to take down all my Christmas decorations. I felt the pressure to get it done while Miss Dee was at work because she doesn’t take the whole “undecorating” thing very well. The idea of Christmas being over tends to make her wimper a bit and immediately go into denial, so my mother-in-law (who is now getting around quite well with her walker and expects the doctor to give her the all clear to move to a cane tomorrow) packed it all up and put it away while she was gone. Everything but the tree. I’m not ready to give that up quite yet. It is still looking pretty and fresh and losing hardly any needles so I’m keeping it till next weekend. Besides, look how pretty it looked next to the backdrop of snow yesterday…

If we were having coffee…I would tell you that we had a bit of a scare last night. Mr D called to tell us that on his way home, his car had been side swiped by a hit and run driver who had been swerving all over the road! Thank goodness he and his passengers were unhurt and that the car has only minor damage. He was able to pull in to a parking lot and call the police. A witness in a pick up truck was clever enough to follow the other car home and came back while Mr D was talking with the police to tell them right where they could find him. As it turned out, the other driver had been drinking! Could we BE anymore stupid?! “Hey, let’s have a few drinks then go drive on the snow covered roads!!!” That other young man better hope he and I never meet or he is going to get a very large and angry piece of my mind.  It is  certainly unnerving to be reminded how vulnerable our children are when they are out in the world.

If we were having coffee…we would probably notice the sound of the snowblower down the street and realize that other people (including my husband who ducked out a few minutes ago), have gotten on with their Sunday while we’ve been chatting. I suppose I should as well so, although I hate to hurry you out, I must wash the mugs and get myself moving. Thanks so much for coming by if you are still in the mood to chat there are lots of other wonderful folks sharing coffee and conversation. Stop by and visit.

The Weekend Coffee Share is hosted each week by the lovely Diana at Partime Monster.

Snow Day Dilemma

When I was a kid, snow days were like a gift from the weather gods. I’d eat cereal and watch cartoons till mom said I could go out. Then I would spend hours with my friends building snowmen and snow sculptures and snow forts untill my toes and fingers were numb. Mom would call me back in and I would peel off my wet socks and sit with my feet over the heating vent with my toes tingling till she brought me a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies. Then I would spend the rest of the day drawing pictures of the snow and watching more TV. Absolute PERFECTION!

 Today, as an adult with teenagers at home, my husband and I both work for schools so we still get snow days and I still get excited about them. But now, as I sit here looking a the winter wonderland outside, I try to think of the most productive way to use this unplanned day off. I could catch up on the laundry? I could start working on the tax returns? Lord knows the kitchen floor needs mopping!!?……….You know what? I think I’ll go see if my kids want to go out back and build a snowman. I mean, why mess with perfection, right?! 😊