Most of the games that I play are on the computer and online, but I decided that it would be nice to have a chess set in the house. So at WalMart I looked in the toy section and even with 12 aisles of toys and games, I could not find a chess set. I guess WalMart does not attract the smart people who like to play chess and other intellectual games.
Critters Today
What a day!
This morning as I went to get in the car and go to work, I stepped off my porch step and over (thank GOD!) a snake. It was about two feet long and was just laying across the bottom step. I thought it was a stick at first, but then it moved. I about had a heart attack! It was a black snake, so it was not a venomous type of snake, but it still startled me!
Then I came home at lunch and found a big brown rabbit in my front yard. He hopped away as I got out of the car. I wonder if he will come back after I leave? I wonder if the snake has high hopes of catching that rabbit and feasting on that big bunny?
Fasteners
I decided that I will fix the deck out back myself. I just went online to order the fasteners that I will need. I started expanding the deck with the help of a friend last summer. He was supposed to finish it, but then had to move out of state for work and was unable to. We had already bought all of the wood, which has been stored in the shed over the winter. The base has already been up and all I need to do is the rest. It shouldn’t take me very long.
Monthly Duties
There’s a lot of things that I have to do every month. Maybe not all on the first day of the month, but the first day is a good reminder to get started on them. Some duties can be scheduled but others depend on receiving things in the mail before you can start on them.
Water the cactus
Get a mani/pedi
Hair cut and color
Balance the checkbook
Change the air filter in the furnace
Change the oil in the car
Pay bills
Toss last month’s magazines
Heartworm pill for my dog
Change Your Clocks! Spring Forward!
If you change all your clocks to be an hour ahead right before you go to bed tonight, then the time should be right when you wake up. If you don’t do it until morning, you might forget and end up being late for church.
Don’t you just hate losing that hour of sleep in the spring?
I love the new silent instruments
Back when I was in school, taking band, there was no such thing as a silent electric instrument of any kind. At least, not that I’m aware of! When a kid decided to learn how to play an instrument, everyone in the house got to listen the that kid practice, whether they wanted to hear it or not! I was really pleasantly surprised recently when I learned that almost any and every instrument ever made now seems to have a silent version – like the silent electric yamaha violin at WWBW that I found online a few minutes ago. I think that it’s fantastic that now people can learn how to play an instrument without driving everyone in the house crazy!
Happy New Year!
I am looking forward to a year of more healthy food choices and more outside activities. I promise to take my dogs outside for longer, faster walks and some romps across the field by the cabin as often as humanly possible.
Best wishes to you for a very Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to all
Today we had a good, large, family Christmas dinner at a local Masonic Lodge dining hall. All of the extended family members that could attend brought food to share, and nobody went away hungry. Much to my surprise, there were no family fights that I was aware of, and everyone had a good time. We sang a few songs (Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and played a few games. We exchanged a few gifts here and there. Everyone chipped in with setting up the tables and buffet, and everyone chipped in with the dish-washing and cleaning up.
My mother said she thought it was a lot more work than when the dinners were held at someone’s house, but I completely disagree, since the dinners have been held at my house every year for the past six years. This year I didn’t have to run around the house in a panic, cleaning, de-cluttering, and worrying about the pets being upset, or about my things being broken (or stolen) by someone.
I really hope that all future family dinners will be held there. I liked it a lot.
70’s in November!
Wow! What a weather perfect weekend this is going to be! The forecast is for sunny days with temperatures in the 70’s and no rain for several days in the foreseeable future! This is perfect weather for doing fun things outdoors, like rock climbing, exploring the lakeshore, or even raking leaves and pruning shrubbery. This is the weather we should have had last month – it’s very unusual for November.
There is football on TV this afternoon and tomorrow, but the weather is too nice to be sitting inside watching a TV. I’m going to make the most of the nice weather and stay outside as much as I can!
AA Batteries
For some reason I can never find good AA batteries when I need them.My digital camera is the biggest battery hog and I am always having to change out the AA batteries in my camera – it is a real nuisance.
I have tried rechargeable batteries – but they have a lot of disadvantages. Every time you recharge them you get a little less life and there is no way to tell how many times you have left or how much life you have to use. It’s very frustrating to charge the batteries overnight and then get only 10-15 minutes worth of charge.
So I bought a big value pack of regular AA batteries. But evidently they go bad from sitting on the shelf and each time I put innew batteries I would get less and less use. Arrrgh! I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and pay the extra money for lithium batteries. I hope they are worth it!