This could’ve been a no-shopping day, but it didn’t turn out that way. I hit Walmart, Price Chopper and Agway while I was downtown. Walmart was to pick up some things for mom, both Price Chopper and Agway were quickies for GCs. I figured I’d check Price Chopper to see if they had gotten in more Texas Roadhouse GCs and it just so happened the woman was refilling all the GCs when I arrived! I asked her about Texas Roadhouse and she pulled them out of the bin for me, so that was nice.

I also got Alaska!niece’s box packed up and went to the post office to mail it! Then I stopped at mom’s to drop off the shopping and GCs I’d picked up for her, as I knew she was eager to get some into the mail.

Sister S was at mom’s and while I was there L called because Addilyn wanted to talk to her. (She tattled about seeing me at BK. *g*) They’re currently down at CHOP for Addi to have a bladder scan to make sure it continues to work well. Apparently lack of sensation in that area is common with the spinal injury where she has it from the spina bifida. All good thoughts welcome.

I did three loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, went for a couple walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, hit the bank drive-thru, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I baked chicken breasts with a honey mustard sauce for supper.

I watched an HGTV program, wrote out a couple more cards, and wrote ~400 more words on my second fandomtrees fic!!

Temps started out at 17.6(F) and reached 32.7. There was more wind, so once again the walking trails were drifted in a bit and it made for difficult walking.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay when I saw her. ( more back here )

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit the Pharmacy for myself and Price Chopper to pick up some things for mom while I was downtown.

I stopped by mom’s briefly to delivery her groceries etc, but didn’t stay because of the snow. I also hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, e-filed the sales and tire tax for the garage, wrote out a check for my aunt, and scooped kitty litter. I made a wacky cake because I’ve been in the mood and put together the ziti for supper.

I got more Christmas stuff done: I placed two orders and made a list so I could make sure I was on track with GC purchases. The big thing will be if I get things wrapped or bagged ahead of time. I also watched some HGTV programs.

ETA: I forgot to tell you about a poll I saw on Tumblr today. Thinking about my answer to it made me chuckle. It was the last song you heard as a tattoo. I've been listening to the Top Gun CD so the last song I actually heard was the instrumental theme song, which would not make a good tattoo. But I got thinking, it would've been cool if it had been 'Danger Zone'!! And then I thought, it would have been appropriate if it had been 'Playing With the Boys', since that's what I do here on DW. *g*

Temps started out at 30.2(F) and reached 36.3. The snow started about 7:45am, but the roads were coated by the time I left downtown and picked up the dogs (on the way home so I didn’t have to make another trip). It was basically over at 3pm and we only got about 4 inches (out of a possible 8, so that doesn't hurt my feelings). The first time I shoveled the snow was pretty light, but by the second time it had gotten heavier, probably because the temp went up a bit.


Mom Update:

Please see this post for today’s update. I’ve since put in a cut for those who won’t want to read it when scrolling.

I hit Walmart while I was downtown. (I got to see Baby A – should I change that to Toddler A now?!! *g* – again when I was at BK and Sister S was going through the drive-thru with her. Apparently she loves the hash browns. *g* They were on their way to PT, then school.)

I drove mom to her appointments, did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a walk with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I also hit the post office and the bank.

I ended up making a crustless broccoli and cheese quiche for supper. I'll put the ziti together for tomorrow instead.

I read the Amelia Peabody book and watched an HGTV program.

Temps started out at -3.3(F) (why so freaking cold already?!!) and reached 25.9 (that I saw). BRR!


Mom Update:

Mom was not feeling great today. ( more back here )

I had a dr appt this morning, my annual. I had been putting off several appointments I need to make while taking care of mom and driving her to appointments, so I made several today, including two ultrasounds and my mammogram. I also got a tetanus shot (which I later completely forgot about until my arm started aching a bit in the evening). I was told I could get the pneumonia vaccine, but turned it down for now. (For those of you who get it, what are your thoughts on it?)

I made quickie trips to Dollar Tree and Price Chopper while I was downtown. I had planned to stay home tomorrow morning, since I’ll be driving mom to her appointment, but now I’m not sure what I’m going to do. We’re supposed to get snow on Wednesday, so perhaps I need to get food to plan more meals, just in case. However, we’re only supposed to get 1-3, and as long as they don’t close school the roads should be fine, AND I have my chiropractic appointment Wednesday morning, which I don’t want to miss . . . Ahhh! *pulls hair* Decisions!

I visited mom, did a load of laundry, browned ground beef for tomorrow’s ziti, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I also hit the post office to mail more cards and Stewart's (for gas and milk). I shake 'n baked chicken legs for Pip's supper and had some cheese tortellini with butter and grated cheese for mine.

I watched Tracker and read more in Amelia Peabody.

Temps started out at 10.6(F) and reached 17.4. Cold.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay when I saw her. ( more back here )

I hit Price Chopper (yes, again; yesterday’s visit to the other Price Chopper was unplanned and I didn’t get everything on my list *g*), the Bakery, and Agway while I was downtown. I stopped at the Post Office on the way home to mail the rest of my Christmas cards.

I visited mom, did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I made an oven pancake with bacon for supper. Yum! (Thanks, kat_lair!)

I finished the new In Death and watched an HGTV program. Dr. Pol was my background tv in the evening.

Temps started out at 19.9(F) (which was odd, because it was 9.7 before I went to bed) and started going down until it was 15.1 when I left the house). Better than -7, but still cold! Temps reached 38.7, but there was a breeze and it didn’t feel very warm.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing pretty good when I visited her. ( more back here )

I had a pedicure this morning. I went with a red-red polish. For the design she painted white stripes, so it looked like a candy cane. After that, I hit Walmart to do my regular weekly shopping. On the way downtown I remembered that I needed a blood draw for my doctor appt on Monday. (I didn’t forget about the appointment, I knew it was coming up in December, but December seemed to leap upon me suddenly!) Then I remembered that I needed to stop by the pharmacy, as well!

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I finished up chili for supper and made cornbread. (The chili was not my best, disappointing.)

I stopped at the library to pick up a book. Our library didn’t have the new In Death book yet, so Librarian #2 (not the head librarian), who has already read the book, took it out from a different library where she also works, for me. I need to get that book read quickly and take even better care than usual since it’s not even signed out under my name. There was a surprise book that I had actually requested waiting for me, too.

I hung my wreath! Wreaths used to come with a little wire thingy that you could loop over the hanger, but no more. I had to wait to get a piece of wire from the garage to use.



I lit my scented candle, turned on the few Christmas ornaments that light up, and put the shuffle on my old iPod that barely works these days so I could listen to Christmas music and did a good number of Christmas cards! Very pleased with myself.

I started the new In Death book I got today and Zoo Tampa was my background tv in the evening.

Temps started out at 30.2(F) and reached 30.9. When I got home around noon, it was 29-something and just kept hovering in that vicinity, 28, 29, 30 . . . It was also very windy. Very. We weren’t supposed to get any snow, but suddenly I’m getting warnings for snow squalls from TWC app. We got enough snow that I had to go back out and shovel after supper clean-up, while Pip was out blowing open the trails again. (Between the snow and the wind, the trails had gotten pretty clogged in certain places.) It had already fallen to 15 degrees by that point, so it was chilly out, and still windy.



Mom Update:

Mom was doing the same, sadly. She’s still eating, thankfully, but not all of it is sitting well. She tucked herself away in her ‘den’ where she is hidden from seeing what the weather is like because she didn’t like seeing more snow coming down, and watched a Hallmark movie that she enjoyed, then her usual Love Boat and Mama’s Family. *g* One of her friends from work called her, which was nice.

I had a chiropractic appointment this morning. I hit Walmart while I was downtown and made a quick stop at Dollar General on the way home. This was not my usual Walmart trip; I needed to pick up a new vacuum cleaner and some cute outfits to send to Alaska!niece for Hazel. (I already bought Hazel a Green Bay Packer’s t-shirt, because that’s her mom’s favorite team. *g*)

I immediately put the vacuum cleaner together and used it in the living room. My old vacuum has not been able to do that rug in ages. Even raising it as high as it goes, it feels like it’s sucking the rug in and I need two hands to move it. This vacuum moved over that rug like a dream! I may actually start to enjoy vacuuming now! (Haha, no, not really!)

I visited mom, then stopped at Sunnycrest (to pick up the wreath I’d ordered) and Stewart’s (for milk) on the way to pick up the dogs at the garage.

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. I used the leftover chicken and broth to make chicken and gravy over rice for supper.

I napped and watched an HGTV program. I also ‘started’ my Christmas cards! (Since I got to it late in the day, and Pip came home early, I managed to get two written out, but it’s a start!!)

Temps started out at 22.1(F) (when I got up, but dropped to 15.8 before I left the house) and reached 36.7.


Mom Update:

Mom was not feeling well when I visited her. ( more back here )

I did not go downtown today. I did put a pork roast in the crock pot so I could make pulled pork for supper, though. *g*

I shoveled snow, whee!! I was smart enough to do it over three times, instead of all at once. Much easier to do an inch or two at a time. It helped that the snow was dry and light. I not only did the sidewalk, I did the deck! (When the snow is heavy, I can barely get the sidewalk finished without killing my back, there’s no way I could do the deck.)

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, went for a walk with Pip and the dogs (after Pip blew out the trail), cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I lit a scented candle! I made myself an actual breakfast (ham and cheese scramble with toast). AND I read through, edited, and posted two fic!! (One won’t be revealed until Jan 8, though.) I also read the newest Andy Carpenter book. Zoo Tampa was my evening background tv.

Temps started out at 22.6(F) (which was a surprise, because it was 12 when we went to bed last night!) and reached 29.2. The forecast had changed from 3-5 to 3-8 but my estimate from the shoveling is that we only got about 3 1/2. Not upset about that.


Mom Update:

Mom did not feel great today. ( more back here )

I have several fic that I have started and not finished. I need to get working on them. I’m listing them here to get them out of my head and down on paper so I have an idea of what I need to concentrate on.


Small Fandoms Fest Fic: Due by Jan 31

I have one started. Naturally a Murder, She Wrote fic (crossover). *g* But there are several other prompts I’d like to write, too.

EDITED & POSTED!! ETA: I knew I was forgetting something! I had also written a Hudson & Rex 'fix-it' fic that just needed a read-through and edit.


Fandom Trees Fic: Due Jan 8

EDITED & POSTED to AO3! I went with this one first because it was the closest to finished. Now just need to wait for reveals!! Fic #1: I finished typing the first draft, just need to give it a read through and edit.

Fic #2: I have an idea, but haven’t started writing it.


Small Fandoms Bang Fic: Due Jan 31

I’m about 2,500 words in on this fic. I need to get cracking on it.


No deadline Fic:

And finally, that Top Gun fic I started writing. I’ve reached the final scenes, but as often happens, now that I’m near the end, motivation has left me. I know where I want it to go, but getting there has become an issue.

And it is December already. How did that happen?!!

I hit Price Chopper while I was downtown. Monday is usually my Walmart day, but we’re expecting an unknown amount of snow tomorrow and I wanted to be prepared. (TWC app has said 3-5 for the last few days, but other weather apps are forecasting higher amounts.)

I visited mom, hit the bank drive-thru, paid a bill online, did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, baked chicken for the dog’s meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved.

I watched Tracker, a Hallmark Christmas movie, and some HGTV programs. Dr. Pol was my evening background tv.

Temps started out at 32.5(F) (but had dropped to 30.9 before I left the house; weirdly it had dropped even further and was 30.4 when I returned from downtown o_O) and reached 34. There was some wind which made it feel even colder.


Mom Update:

Mom was not feeling great today. ( more back here )