Today is going to be one of those days where it's just mushy outside. Snow has already started falling (it's that heavy, wet stuff, too), then I think we go back to rain, then cloudy and damp and cold. It's a combination of blech and blah, for sure. We do have a nice silver lining, though - the frigid temperatures that were being called for in the near future seem to have given way to much better temperatures. Still cold and seasonal, but not nearly as frigid. Very grateful for that. When it gets so cold that the air makes skin hurt, then it's too cold. It does look as if the next two weeks are pretty much complete cloud coverage. I'll have to try to make my own sunshine, as that constant cloudiness can get depressive for me after a while.
This beautiful boy sees his cardiologist this week in Knoxville. Praying for a good result. Hard not to worry about him constantly, but he seems well enough and happy. I'm hoping that his eco-gram and other tests reflect that his heart and lungs are holding their own. He will be three years old in March. He's absolutely precious to me, and we are very attached to each other, my Baby Oliver.
Valentine's Day is nearly upon us! Not my favorite holiday, but I do get a few people some little doo-dads. As I've gotten older, I've progressed to getting people useful, consumable stuff, or even a small bouquet of cut flowers. I try to think "what could they use that they would enjoy but would not be around forever?" Nothing to dust, in other words.
I do have a couple girlfriends at work for whom I generally get flowers. I save up Dr. Enuf bottles and buy a pretty bouquet of daisies or miniature roses and split them out among the bottles, then tie a ribbon around each bottle. Those bottles are so handy. They are a pretty, green colored glass and they fit perfectly in a car cup holder, so when they take their flowers home, there is zero hassle. Nobody has to sit on the passenger's side and hold them, and they don't have to be secured against spills if you don't have a second rider in the car. It doesn't cost much, and it's so cheerful.
Speaking of holidays, they can be a ton of work, can't they? I must admit that during Covid, the reduction of the holiday fanfare made me very, very happy. While I was not happy canceling Christmas altogether with family, it did feel so much easier this past year. I was able to truly focus on Christmas and what it means. There was no last-minute rush the day of Christmas, nowhere to be. Gifts had been delivered to various family members with strict orders to not open until Christmas day! When the actual day arrived, it was a day of quiet simpleness - soft, traditional music; some good but very simple food for Christmas lunch; and a leisurely day watching old movies around our normal, daily activities. Plus, we had quite a bit of snow, so it was a white Christmas! When you work full-time and then some, the holidays with all their planning and places to be can be exhausting. A quieter holiday is like being handed a gift to us working gals.
The temperatures for Halloween and Thanksgiving were decent enough that we were able to gather strictly outdoors for a meal, but even that was miles better! In the past decade or so, I find that there's just been too much food, too much flurry and too much of everything else for my taste. There are some things that I love during the holidays and hope to always do or have, but overall, the skinnier versions are much more to my liking. I'm really hoping that, once restrictions are lifted, we stick to those pared-back versions.
I do think that some things that I missed doing last year will continue to be placed on hold this year - a couple festivals that I always attend, the county fair. If I'm honest, my family has come this far without anyone being endangered or contracting Covid, so even if they do have those events, I may skip them for one more year. I miss going to them a lot. They're tradition for me, but giving up tradition a couple years in a row is a better trade-off than getting sick. We'll see how it goes and wing it sensibly.
Signing off, as we need a new outdoor fireplace, and I plan to research those today. I'm thinking a chimnea may be the way to go this time, but there is also a pagoda style that I think I may like even better, fully screened, but one side has a screen door that you can open so that you can roast your marshmallows and other goodies. We'll see what I come up with, if anything.
Happy Sunday to you and yours. If it's anything like mine, the more snow you get, the more creme brulee coffee you drink! I happen to have dark chocolate peppermint creamer to go with it, so that's a double yummy!!
2 comments:
My current morning/daily coffee is creme brulee, Great Value brand and surprisingly good. And a good buy too. Valentines is the halfway mark for FEB and then bam: it's MARCH!!! And the means spring, which represents to me, hope eternal b/c the earth is renewed after a long winter's rest. And life as we know it improves, in many ways too. Like being warm when you step outside, and hearing the birds sing, and the bees buzzing, and flowers bloom as if to say 'isn't it a joyous day?!!".
My creme brulee is the great value brand, too, and yes! It's VERY good. My creamer is the Aldi brand, and it's good, too. Very rich and thick, you don't need a lot.
I don't care much for spring, too windy and the threat of tornadoes just makes me cringe. Plus, spring flowers are perennials, and those never bloom for long. I prefer summer and the longer-blooming annuals that hang on with constant color for at least three months. I do like a warm spring day, though. It means that Sonic Ocean Water is probably on the menu.
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