karenmarie - glad to be here in 2022, part II

Welcome to my second thread of Two Thousand and Twenty-Two!

The Good: Family, friends, kitties, books, in constantly-rotating order. Modern medicine, too. Cardio rehab continues, low-sodium diet gains traction, I’m happy it’s winter. The government has charged 11 people with seditious conspiracy, including one Oath Keeper who only organized and didn’t attend the insurrection. Nail ‘em!

The Bad and the Sad: No one is safe until everyone is safe. The unvaccinated are still ruining it for responsible people who respect public health policies. The social and political rift among people in the US is more entrenched and apparent than ever.

The Ugly: Supposedly law-abiding Republicans flouting laws because all of a sudden it’s okay to do so, encouraged by top members of the Gang of Psychos. The Republican Party continuing to evolve into The Gang of Psychos.

I am so glad I’m retired, and am beyond grateful that I don’t have to venture out to work to earn a living ever again. I’ve paid my dues. Every day I don’t have to get up to an alarm is a cause for celebration.

I read and am a charter member of the Redbud and Beyond Book Club, started in 1997. We haven’t met since March of 2020, met July 11th of last year and decided to ramp back up in September. However, Delta and Omicron have put the kibosh on those plans. I am President for our local Friends of the Library (henceforth abbreviated FoL). The Board still meets enough times to keep in compliance with the By-Laws. We’ve recruited two new members, who will join the meeting on Monday the 24th of January. We have tentative plans for a book sale in late March 2022, but who knows if that will happen.

I have been married to Bill for 30 years and am mother to Jenna, 28, who lives in Asheville now. Bill and I live in our own little corner of paradise on 8 acres in central North Carolina USA. Last year we got a planned-for new roof and new gutters, and TWO not-planned-for new hot water heaters.

We have three kitties. Inara – 14 1/2, Zoe - 3, Wash – 2. Inara co-opted the heating pad the other night. She stopped purring when I moved her. *smile*



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I was looking around my Pictures folder and found this pic of my office. On January 29, 2022 I’ll celebrate being retired for SIX years.

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My goal last year was 100 books and I exceeded it by 3. This year’s goal will be reduced to 75. I haven’t been in much of a reading mood since my heart attack and setting a lower goal will keep the stress down. If I exceed it, great, if I just meet it, great, too. I’m going to reduce my pages read goal proportionally, to 25000 pages per year.

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Poetry is not a go-to genre by any means, however, I am going to choose a short new poem for each new thread. A little bit of relevant whimsy for this second thread, a favorite since high school.

The Germ by Ogden Nash

A mighty creature is the germ,
Though smaller than the pachyderm.
His customary dwelling place
Is deep within the human race.
His childish pride he often pleases
By giving people strange diseases.
Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.

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2022 - it has to be better than 2020 and 2021, right?

Books Read
1. The Guncle by Steven Rowley 12/19/21 1/2/2022 324 pages hardcover
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 9/29/21 1/6/22 audiobook 19 hours
3. Some Die Nameless by William Stroby 1/3/22 1/12/2022 337 pages hardcover
4. Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver 1/14/22 1/24/22 266 pages hardcover
5. Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb 1/25/22 385 pages trade paperback
6. Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb 1/29/22 2/1/21 388 pages trade paperback
7. Midnight in Death in Silent Night by J.D. Robb 2/1/22 2/1/22 90 pages mass market paperback
8. Interlude in Death by J.D. Robb 2/2/22 2/3/22 92 pages mass market paperback
9. Remember When by Nora Roberts 2/3/22 2/6/22 243 pages mass market paperback
10. Big Jack 2/6/22 2/8/22 287 pages mass market paperback
11. Haunted in Death in Bump in the Night by J.D. Robb 2/9/22 2/10/11 100 pages mass market paperback

Currently Reading:

Eternity in Death by J.D. Robb in Time of Death Anthology 2/10/22 108 pages trade paperback 2007
Ritual in Death by J.D. Robb in Time of Death Anthology 2/xx/22 88 pages trade paperback 2008
Missing in Death by J.D. Robb in Time of Death Anthology 2/xx/22 96 pages trade paperback 2009
The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong by John Mitchinson 1/21/22 288 pages hardcover Kindle 2007
An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten 1/12/22 174 pages Kindle 2018
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk 1/8/22 413 pages trade paperback 2001
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1/7/22 audiobook 21.5 hours 2007
How To Be Champion by Sarah Millican 1/2/22 296 pages trade paperback 2017
Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams 1/23/21 422 pages trade paperback 1982
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson 10/16/21 489 pages hardcover 2021

Adds. Last year was supposed to be a year of controlling my insatiable need for books, but I fell off the wagon big time. 316 books acquired last year, which was ridiculously high compared to the previous year's 128.

I won't make any promises for this year although I don't anticipate any Friends donations that make their way to my shelves (with permission of the donors).

1. Kindle - An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten and Marlaine Delargy
2. Amazon - The Longevity Plan by Dr. John D. Day and Jane Ann Day
3. Amazon - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
4. Amazon - Should We Stay Or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver
5. Kindle - Sam by Lonnie Coleman - RD
00 The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong by John Mitchinson - bought December, just added to catalog
6. Amazon - Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Amazon - Forgotten in Death by J.D. Robb
8. Kindle - Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegül Savas
9. Jenn - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
10. Kindle - Kohinoor by William Dalrymple
11. Kindle - Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
12. Amazon - Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd
13. Kindle - In the Presence of Absence by Mahmoud Darwish
14. Kindle - Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria
15. Kindle - South Sea Fever by D.A. Horncastle

Culls. Last year I culled 72. While looking for some books for friend Louise today I saw two very poor quality mass market paperbacks that I should cull... perhaps I can focus on culling unreadable books if they don't hold sentimental or intrinsic value, of course.

I am toying with the idea of culling a book for every book I acquire. Toying only, but I did just find 3 mass market paperbacks with print too small or too yellowed.

1. Kissing the Gunner's Daughter by Ruth Rendell
2. Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh
3. A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine (pseudonym for Ruth Rendell)
4. Some Die Nameless by Wallace Stroby reasonable, but not enough to award it permanent shelf space
5. Cold Shot to the Heart by Wallace Stroby
6. The Heartbreak Lounge by Wallace Stroby
7. The Devil's Share by Wallace Stroby
8. Kings of Midnight by Wallace Stroby
9. Gone 'Til November by Wallace Stroby
10. Suite 606 - contains an Eve Dallas novella, duplicated in another book on my shelves
11. Out of This World - contains an Eve Dallas novella, duplicated in another book on my shelves
12. Dead of Night - contains an Eve Dallas novella, duplicated in another book on my shelves
13. The Lost - contains an Eve Dallas novella, duplicated in another book on my shelves
14. Big Jack - duplicate of a copy in Remember When

YTD Statistics Through January 2022

5 books read
2 of them on my shelves before 01/01/2022 and not rereads
0 books abandoned, 0 pages abandoned
1312 pages read
19 audiobook hours 19.00
Avg pages read per day, YTD = 42
Avg pages read per book, YTD = 262

Book of the month: Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver

Books By Month
January 4 paper books 1312 pages, 1 audiobook 19 hours

Author
Male 40%
Female 60%

Living 100%
Dead 0%

US Born 80%
Foreign Born 20%

Platform
Hardcover 60%
Trade Pback 20%
Mass Market 0%
Audiobook 20%
e-Book 0%

Source
My Library 100%
Library 0%
Other 0%

Misc
ARC/ER 0%
Re-read 20%
Series 40%

Fiction 100%
NonFiction 0%

New to Me Authors 1

Author Birth Country
England 20%
US 80%

Original Decade Published
2000s 20%
2010s 20%
2020s 60%

Category
Adventure 0%
Biography 0%
Chrestomathy 0%
Contemporary Fiction 40%
Fantasy 20%
Historical Fiction 0%
Humor 0%
Informational Nonfiction 0%
Memoir 0%
Mystery 0%
Poetry 0%
Science Fiction 0%
Suspense 0%
Thriller 40%


Book Acquisition Date
2007 - Joined LT, added 1853 books 1
2021 2
2022 2
borrowed from friends 0
Library 0

Rating
2.5 - Average 0
3 - Good 1
3.5 - Very Good 0
4 - Excellent 2
4.5 - Stunning 2

4 - YTD average

January Lightning Round

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 9/29/21 1/6/22

After 2 reads and 4 audiobook listens, this book holds up marvelously. Harry works with Dumbledore to track down information on Voldemort and horcruxes. Shocking news ensues as evil forces converge at Hogwarts and a heartbreaking promise is kept. My word, this series is good!

Some Die Nameless by William Stroby 1/3/22 1/12/2022

I wish I’d liked this more than I did – Devlin is an interesting protagonist, Tracy Quinn, a reporter, is a reporter in a dying medium. Forces from the past come back to haunt Devlin, involving Tracy, but the emotions were rather shallow and two-dimensional, the action predictable.

Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb 1/25/22 1/29/22

Another solid entry in the Eve Dallas series, where we run into the murder of a young woman, which expands into the investigation into a cult that does unspeakable things in order to get its way. Last one I read, #51, Shadows in Death, was in September of 2020, and it’s nice to get back. And, there was only one sex scene, which I skipped because they’re all the same, and after 51 books I know the narrative. *smile*

103 books read

0 Masterpiece
17 Stunning
51 Excellent
28 Very Good
6 Good
1 Average
0 Bad
0 Very Bad
0 Don't Bother
0 Anathema

Best Fiction
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
The Mandibles: A family, 2029 – 2047 by Lionel Shriver

Best Nonfiction
Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves by Marie Jenkins Schwartz
Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

Top five overall for the LT Top Five Books of 2021 list:
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves by Marie Jenkins Schwartz
A Promised Land by Barack Obama

…

Welcome to my second thread!

I'm hopefully first to wish you a happy second thread, Karen.

You are, Paul, and thank you!

>11 karenmarie: Yay!!! And I'm second too!

Happy second thread, Karen!

>1 karenmarie: I like the picture of your office, in some ways all offices are the same.
You mentioning nearly six years retired, made me look back. My last day in office was a long time ago, must have been in July or August 1995.

>12 PaulCranswick: Why, yes, you are. This will spoil you:



>13 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita! Thanks re the office pic. Most modular-type offices are similar, for sure. What I always found interesting is that most right-handed people kept their phone on the right, and mine was always on the left.

...
Well, something strange happened to my right knee late yesterday. My orthopedic doctor is no longer with UNC and they suggested their walk-in ortho clinic. Weather isn't good but round two won't start 'til mid-afternoon, so off I go, about 25 miles one way. Crapola.

Happy new one!

>14 karenmarie: I hope whatever it is that happened with your knee is temporary and/or readily fixable.

new-thread *smooch*

Happy new thread! Hope your weather isn't too bad and sending healing to your knee!

Happy new thread, Karen. I am also retired 6 years, though my *office* never looked like that. It was a classroom and it just meant that my mess just had more room to spread out. Not that yours is messy, it isn't.

I don't miss it at all.

Happy new thread, Karen, and good luck with the knee! I hope it's something minor and easily treated.

I'm here. You are there. Channeling good vibes in your direction.

Love the topper shot of your desk. I retired just over six years ago too, and I had a somewhat similar set up, though with actual walls and a door I could shut (full glass in that, though). I regret having no photos of it...not sure why not. But I can't say I miss it. At all.

Happy new one! Six years since your retirement... wow, time flies!

>15 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>16 richardderus: Apparently it was an arthritic flare. They took x-rays, showed me the bad arthritis in both knees, which I already knew. She suggested, and I took her up on, steroid shots in both knees. Home again home again jiggety jig. She said I need to keep my knees as flexible as possible and there should be no problem in my going to rehab on Monday. *smooch*

>17 witchyrichy: I have beat any weather, fortunately. The roads were fine. We might get from 1.5" to 3.5" of snow by tomorrow morning, starting later this afternoon. sThank you for the healing thoughts, Karen.

>18 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I usually had piles of papers on the desk but knew where everything was. I don’t miss work at all either.

>19 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. As much as the new xrays, evaluation, and shots is the relief in knowing that there’s nothing new wrong. I hope the steroid shots kick in sooner than later.

>20 weird_O: Thank you, Bill. I’ll take all the good vibes I can get.

>21 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. Wow, a lot of us retired ~6 years ago. I envy you the real office, but I didn’t mind the open plan. I haven’t ever missed it. Not one day, not one minute.

>22 drneutron: Hi Jim! Thank you. Yup. Time’s flown, mostly positively. A few hiccoughs here and there, of course…

Hi Karen my dear, happy new thread, dear friend.

Glad you got some relief for your knees! I love when doctors treat me like an intelligent person, a partner in the whole mess.

Keep those knees flex-ey! 8>)

Karen O

Happy New Thread, Karen. Yep, Jack is still here. Napping at the moment. Sue is loving every second of it.

>24 johnsimpson: Hi John! Thank you. Sending love and hugs to you and Karen. Kitty skritches for Felix, too.

>25 klobrien2: Thanks, Karen. I just hope the steroids kick in sooner than later. 🤞 Yes, ma'am! Flex-ey knees.

>26 msf59: Thanks, Mark. So glad Grandpa Mark and Grandma Sue have custody of the kidlet today.

>23 karenmarie: Oh, arthuritis of the kneesles, well! If *that* is the issue, paaatooey on the pain, just get on up and power through.

Then medicate, because while suffering may build character, it does nothing whatsoever for kindness and sweet-temperedness.

My MiL used to talk about Arthur, and it took me a long time to figure out what she was talking about.

I'm medicated through 9 p.m. with the opoid and through midnight with tylenol. *smile*

Interesting news - in March I had an x-ray of my right knee. The tech and my GP thought it was a loose body, the Dr. of Osteopathic Medicine interpreted it as a fabella. I then had cortisone shots, meloxicam, celebrex, and hyaluronic acid injections on both knees, none of which worked. More x-rays in August, no indication of a loose body. Now, the PA has interepreted today's x-rays as a loose body in my right knee. I'll have to get in touch with her Monday to see what this may or may not mean. I'm going to be really pissed if the DO misdiagnosed me and some of the pain in my right knee could have been alleviated with arthroscopic surgery last August.

Yikes, Karen! I'm sorry about the knee. I'll be angry if the DO misdiagnosed you in August too, but grateful if you finally, finally get some relief now!!!! (That's Arthur Ride Us, isn't it?) (Not really a subject for jokes.)

It's SNOWING after a day of nothing, freezing rain, and then sleet. I do wish my ma were able to see it. Shoot. I wish I were able to see it except through a hole in a fogged-up window in order to look at a street light. This is the first snowfall I've seen since Obama's first inauguration day when I cycled from window-with-snow to TV and back.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. We enjoyed our Jackson marathon yesterday. Nearly 12 hours for Grandpa. Pure torture, I'll tell ya. I have a memorial service to attend to today, (a good friend & co-worker) and the rest of the weekend will be books and football. Enjoy your day.

Happy Saturday's reads, Horrible. May they each lead you to a dozen more to put on your TBR.

>30 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy. I have good news on the steroid shots front - last night I started noticing relief and this morning I'm about 85-90% pain free! I'd do a happy dance but I don't think the poor knees could actually handle it. I wasn't expecting relief for several days at the soonest. I'll let Calvin and Hobbes do a happy dance for me.



I'm sure you'll have seen the snow by now. Wow. Since January of 2009?! Had to look that one up. Stay safe.

We got about 3" of snow last night. Teensy flakes, not even as big as sleet. We're childishly happy to have it, glad we can stay in and really need to, too. High of 34F for less than two hours late this afternoon, then down to 16F tonight.



>31 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Saturday to you, too. Yay for a Jackson marathon. I'm sorry about your friend/co-worker. Enjoy the books and football. Chiefs, my backup team, play tomorrow at 6:30. I'm sure Bill will watch more of the football. 2 games today, 2 games tomorrow.

>32 richardderus: 'Morning, RDear! Saturday's orisons, to borrow a phrase. I'd like to get some reading done today. With less pain, no impromptu jaunts to the walk in ortho clinic, and no chance of getting out of the house day with the snow and below freezing temps, I have a good chance of getting in some good page flips.

That's great news about the pain relief, Karen! Now be sure not to overdo it :)

Thank you, Katie! You're right - I may actually cook some dinner tonight, but other than that I need to just get up and down enough to not get too stiff, and work on flexibility in getting my knees bent back. According to the specialist I saw yesterday I really need to make sure that I can extend and pull in my knees enough to make eventual knee replacement surgery successful.

Fun to see your stats and best reads from last year.

And snow! That is kind of sticking around. It was
-18 this morning here, making it very hard to even think of getting out of bed!

Hi Lucy!

I'm a stats person for sure, and loved thinking about best reads and all.

Snow sticking around here in central NC is unusual. In fact, it may be interesting getting out Monday morning for rehab, although I'll make the attempt regardless.

-18. Mind boggling. I honestly don't think we've gotten below 2F here ever, and the most snow during my 30 years here was 18 inches one year when Jenna was little.

>33 karenmarie: Ohhh, lovely! I think knowing it's in North Carolina makes it extra pretty because it's both rare and fleeting.

It's 25° here, but not a shred of any precip. I'm fine with that. It looks so nice from my window!

Hooray for the steroid shots! I tore my meniscus a few years back, wore a brace and tried PT before the doc finally said, "maybe you should get a cortisone injection." The effect was almost immediate and it was so wonderful after dealing with pain for some time. You've had it worse, for longer, so I'm really glad you are feeling relief.

>38 richardderus: Rare and fleeting in this part of the state, RD, the more so because of climate change and global warming. Bill remembers getting at least one or two good snow events in the winter when he was little - the late 1950s and early/mid 1960s, just a bit further north of where we live.

>39 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I'm glad your doctor finally suggested a cortisone injection - should have done that sooner, obviously.

I just did 3-lb weights exercises from a video sent home from cardio rehab and the cool down stretches we do after every rehab session. On top of feeling chipper I'm feeling virtuous!

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. I see you got some snow. We got about 4 inches overnight. It looks beautiful out there and the feeders are bustling. Of course, this means I have to shovel a little later but then most of the day will be books and football. How about those 49ers? Those Packers fans were shell-shocked.

>41 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! I do believe it's Sunday...

It does look gorgeous, doesn't it? My feeders are still bustling, with the usual suspects.

I didn't watch the game, but watched the 4th quarter highlights after seeing that they'd beat the Packers. Texted my 49ers-loving aunt and uncle with congratulations. Made me happy, since, as I wrote on your thread, I do not respect Aaron Rodgers. That translates into a feeling of schadenfreude that his team lost.

We're now at 17F. Lowest temp recorded here at the house was 9F, fortunately before I woke up. We'll get 8-9 hours above freezing today, which I hope translates into a clearing of our concrete and gravel drive. Then, as long as our road and the next two roads are clear and I can get to the state highway and there's no standing water on the roads to refreeze tonight, I can get to rehab tomorrow. 🤞

I got a lot of good reading in yesterday afternoon on Should We Stay or Should We Go. I was wondering where it could go based on the description and the number of pages I had read, but once I hit page 71 things perked up. It took a 90-degree angle and away we went!

Hi. I'm draggin' tail feathers around trying to figure out why this book's resisting being reviewed, so I've decided to move on to a novel: Red Milk by Sjón. It's terrifically interesting. Apparently there is some scumbaggery in the human soul that attracts some of us to fascism/authoritarianism. *shudder*

Hi, RD! *shudder* Nazism, fascism, authoritarianism. Why are there followers? Why are there leaders? Off with their heads!

>29 karenmarie:, Hi Karen my dear, i also refer to Arthritis as Arthur and also if i am eating something that can be left, i say i will leave it for Ron, Later on.

Happy New Thread!

>4 karenmarie: I'm trying to eliminate books as I get new ones, too. My goal is to get rid of 2 for each one I acquire, but often it slips to 1 or even 0 discarded. I'm also trying to declutter other items each day, too.

Darn knees anyway! I've seen this Scoop exercise machine advertised fiercely since the beginning of the year.
It gives exercise to lateral muscles to stabilize knee joints without being weight bearing. Almost any lateral exercises set off my knee - although I know I could wear my huge four strap calf to thigh brace while doing them to probably eliminate lateral over extension.

I love that you were conflicted about continuing a book called SHould We Stay or Should We Go. How appropriate!

It's amazing to me that you are dealing with the cold and ice, too. I expect it in Montana, but the Carolinas?

>45 johnsimpson: Hi John! Great minds, eh? And yay for Ron. Later on.

>46 streamsong: Thanks, Janet. I don't have a buy-one-get-rid-of-two book goal, just look through my books periodically and consider ones I own't read or the old, tatty, yellowed, too-small-print books. I haven't done enough of that this year so far.

Bill's making noises about a recumbent lateral trainer, but frankly I want a treadmill. Something that I can do when it's under the desk is something I won't do when it's under the desk. I need to dedicate time away from books and sitting to exercise.

I can't seem to declutter because frankly, I can't seem to get the time home alone I mentally need to do it. I really needed Bill here after my heart attack, but things keep conspiring to keep him home. Like he was going to go in tomorrow but they have done something they've NEVER done in 5 years - implement a winter protocol so they don't have to go in. I'm slowly going crazy. Maybe Wednesday he'll go in to work.

This book is a stunner. I only have two chapters to go, but the darned football's been on since 3 p.m. I'm going to give up and go upstairs now, because I'm tired of football, even the Chiefs, my official backup team because almost 6 hours of TV and I'm getting twitchy. I think the Bills just scored, so I guess it's 24-17 Bills. I was very happy that the Bucs lost to the Rams.

I ate too much today although I've kept within the low-sodium parameters. Sigh.

Karen was flummoxed that we had such officially Winter weather, and commented that we'd made the national news with an airplane sliding off the runway.

...
Well. Of I go. Upstairs to read a bit of a book called The Book of General Ignoranace by John Mitchinson. It's short chapters with titles like "What noise does the largest frog in the world make?" Answer tomorrow...

Morning, Karen. Yep, I typed the wrong day yesterday. Surprising, since I got it right on a few other threads. Snowing here again. We had 4 inches Sat nite and may get that much again today. We are so bummed we can't use our garage. Sad faces.

Great football games yesterday. The Bills/Chiefs game was one of the best I ever saw. I was rooting for the Bills but the chiefs played their butts off.

>29 karenmarie: >33 karenmarie: I was sure I had left a message here, Karen, now I see I did on the health thread.
Reposting now on the right place.

That would be highly annoying, Karen, if that previous doctor misdiagnosed you.
On the brighter side, there might be a way to alleviate (some of) the pain.

Glad the steroid shots did help this time.

>33 karenmarie: Beautiful snow! It's funny, isn't it, how it brings out the kids in us? I had no plans to leave home but felt like now it was official.

Sorry about the knees and the issues with diagnosis. I was so fortunate to connect with orthopedist for my hip as he indeed treated me as a partner. We talked about everything including diet and mental health. I wonder if part of the appeal is that we are the same age.

>46 streamsong: >47 karenmarie: I bought a treadmill right after we moved to the farm and I have never regretted it. I went through Craig's List and set up notifications. I suspect as people begin going back to gyms, they will be on the market. When my hip had gotten too bad for the treadmill, I did use the under the desk wheels. I gave them to my mother and they are perfect for her as she can't get on their exercise bike or stand well enough to do a regular treadmill.

>48 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Happy day after Sunday. I saw that you’d gotten more snow. And are getting more today. I hope you can get some of the work started on repairing the garage soon even though I remember you saying that the brickwork would have to wait ‘til spring.

I gave up on the Chiefs/Bills simply because I was TV’d/footballed out, but Bill kept texting me, and then a bit after the end I found highlights on YouTube. Absolutely amazing. OT rules suck, but Mahomes delivered.

>49 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita, and thanks! I was going to simply start posting all health stuff on the health thread, but that would get cluttery over there and some of my friends wouldn’t see it. So I’ll be posting most stuff here although I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, and just post thread pertinent/major health news over there too.

Thanks for tracking my comments down. I’m so grateful for the steroid shots, you can’t believe it. I can walk without staggering around, wall walking, and being in major, MAJOR pain.

>50 witchyrichy: Hi Karen, and thanks for the comments about the snow. I didn’t put one foot outside in it, but enjoyed it from the house. I’ll be going out this morning. We still have snow on the north side of the house but not on the concrete, and I don’t anticipate any problems getting to rehab.

Good idea about Craig’s List. I’ll check it out. Thanks!

…
Coffee, meds, a bit of reading, brekkie, rehab. My daily routine three days of the week.

Morning, Karen!

There was snow last night. There are gloppy, sloppy patches of it here and there, which is apparently the way it was when they were new, too. Just not a great showing, was it.

I am late to your newest thread, Karen. I love the snow photos - thanks for sharing. So full of fabulous!

Sorry about the knew but it is happy making that the cortisone shots are working. I'm crossing my fingers that you get the house to yourself at some point this week.

>52 katiekrug: Hi Katie!

>53 richardderus: Snow is always good when you don't have to go out in it, right?

>54 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie. You're welcome re the photos. I'm hoping for Wednesday.

4. Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver 1/14/22 1/24/22





From Amazon:

When her father dies, Kay Wilkinson can’t cry. Over ten years, Alzheimer’s had steadily eroded this erudite man into a paranoid lunatic. Surely one’s own father passing should never come as such a relief.
Both medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril have seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Although healthy and vital in their early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal. To spare themselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they should agree to commit suicide together once they’ve both turned eighty. When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades together.

But then they turn eighty.

By turns hilarious and touching, playful and grave, Should We Stay or Should We Go portrays twelve parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. Were they to cut life artificially short, what would they miss out on? Something terrific? Or something terrible? Might they end up in a home? A fabulous luxury retirement village, or a Cuckoo’s Nest sort of home? Might being demented end up being rather fun? What future for humanity awaits—the end of civilization, or a Valhalla of peace and prosperity? What if cryogenics were really to work? What if scientists finally cure aging?

Both timely and timeless, Lionel Shriver addresses serious themes—the compromises of longevity, the challenge of living a long life and still going out in style—with an uncannily light touch. Weaving in a host of contemporary issues, from Brexit and mass migration to the coronavirus, Shriver has pulled off a rollicking page-turner in which we never have to mourn perished characters, because they’ll be alive and kicking in the very next chapter.

Why I wanted to read it: Lionel Shriver is one of my favorite authors. Her books are quirky and thought provoking, always challenging.

This book is not for anybody who can’t face the idea of death and/or can’t face the idea of musical chairs about how one's life ends. There are twelve scenarios as mentioned above, and they get more and more preposterous. Shriver’s perceptions of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, dying, living, longevity, long-term-insurance, mortgages, a cure for aging, a future with 8' humans with feathers, and the workings of a marriage are told deftly, intelligently, and scathingly.

Six word review: Pick an ending, each is possible.

Eight-foot-tall superchickens with people-brains.

Oh nay nay nay.

Another place La Shriver misses me with her stories! I think this reminds me too much of Orn for me to be able to read it.

I admit that was the weirdest scenario, what with the cryogenics and incalculable thousands of years in the future. But it was sort of fun, for all that. I really got into it after about the 3rd scenario, wondering where La Shriver would go with it. Since you are nay, nay, naying, the last scenario is the one where they actually go through with it after a loving discussion of their lives, their marriage, their children, and Life in general.

>58 karenmarie: That sounds like the proper payoff, to me at least.

I had no idea what to expect, so was pleasantly surprised.

...
My kidlet isn't feeling well, thinks it might be Covid. She has been vaccinated but not boosted (I know, I know...) and is trying to get hold of a Covid test. I told her to speak with her manager and see if the people who've lived in Asheville forever can help her get hold of one. I'm hoping it's 'just' the flu...

Given that y'all's neck of the woods is where bird flu has just recrudesced... https://www.wired.com/story/bird-flu-is-back-in-the-us-no-one-knows-what-comes-n...

>60 karenmarie: oh dear. I hope she can get tested quickly either to put everyone's mind at ease, or to allow her to deal with it in whatever way necessary. I am sure it's worrying you, Karen, so I'll keep you in my thoughts as well.

Morning, Karen. Keep us updated on Jenna. Fingers crossed. Only 1F out there at the moment. I do not think I will be doing any birding the next 2 days, (despite getting the itch) but Bree needs me to come over and help with Jack this AM so that will warm me up.

>61 richardderus: I guess it could have been bird flu, but her boss found a pharmacy with test kits, she got one, and it's covid. Damn.

>62 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura. It's worrisome for sure. I haven't spoken with her yet this morning, so hopefully she feels a bit better than she did yesterday.

>63 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and thanks. 1F. Brrrr. No birding for you, but Jacksoning indoors with that sweet baby is a definite win for the day!

...
Not a rehab day, so will be sticking close to home.

Sending good thoughts to you and healing vibes to Jenna!

Thanks, Katie!

Her temp is 100-101F, with Advil. She sounds like crap and is extremely irritable. She just started a new job 2 weeks ago and they're asking her to remote in and work. Just now her iphone's hotspot isn't being recognized by her computer, so she's even more irritable. Sigh.

There's no way I can go to her because of my situation, which makes it even worse.

I'm so sorry, Karen :(

That is crap that they are wanting her to work. Speaks volumes, IMO...

Aw dang, I'm sorry Jenna's been covided, and that her work is being a butt about it. Here's hoping she's better very soon!

>67 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! She probably got it at the office - she used to work in an airy hotel lobby and even though she was around a lot of people, the contacts were short. Now she's in an office 8 hours a day with the same people, and I'm convinced she got it from someone there. I do hope they get everybody at the office tested. It's a small office, so of course they need her to work. Blech.

>68 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

Morning, Karen! I'm so sorry about Jenna testing positive. And also that you can't go to her. I agree with Katie and Amber about her work. Hoping she feels much better very soon. Keeping both of you in my thoughts and sending along some healing mojo.

They want her to work. Hm.

Well, it's hellish to have the gorram stuff, but it's better to know and her chances of being seriously ill (as opposed to seriously miserable) are poor.

I'm so sorry about the frustration of being far away and unable to go to her! That is about the rottenest feeling of them all.

>70 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. This work thing sucks, for sure. Thanks for your thoughts and healing mojo!

>71 richardderus: I know. Not very considerate. And I'm just wild with not being able to get to her. Trying to keep my perspective, of course, but just wanting to be there so bad.

...
They do not know this, but Jenna's lease expires in June and her sweetie lives in Fuquay Varina, near Raleigh. I think this response to her illness will cause her to feel No Pangs At All about turning in her resignation if her sweetie and she are still an item and she lets her lease expire, moving back this way. The red check is about where we live.

>72 karenmarie: I sort of hope she does, for obvious reasons.

>72 karenmarie: ooh, fingers crossed, Karen! No doubt it would be nice to have her closer. That's pretty much the only regret I have about our move, that we are now further away from Kate & Julia.

Hi Karen my dear, sorry to hear that Jenna has been Covided and that her work are being assholes. I can imagine your frustration of not being able to get to see her, Karen would be and has been the same with Amy.

Sending special Yorkshire healing love and hugs to Jenna and special Yorkshire Hugs to you and Bill and of course, Inara, Wash and Zoe, from both of us dear friend.

I'm dreadfully sorry to hear that, Karen. That's some office to be the likely origin of the infection and to tell her to work from home. Obviously, the boss is squirreled away in a private office and hasn't gotten it yet. I know that you're talking to her as often as you can. Let her know what incredible long distance support she has from your friends here. Love and healing prayers for Jenna and love and patience for you and Bill!
(Asheville is lovely, but she can always visit. Raleigh is a great place for a young woman to be, especially when there is a sweetie in the mix.)

So sorry to hear about Jenna, Karen. I am sure this causes you stress but hopefully, it will be a mild case and she will be on the mend soon. It's a pity that *bosses* can't have a bit of sympathy. Of course, if said boss gets infected, will he/she still be present at work?

>73 richardderus: Ah yes, love, true love. 🤞

>74 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. It’s hard being far apart from the kidlets, for sure.

>75 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. I can see your Karen feeling exactly the same as I feel. Thank for special Yorkshire healing love and hugs for all of us, and sending special North Carolina love and hugs to you, Karen, and Felix.

>76 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. Thank you for your kind and supportive words. I do hope everybody in that office is getting tested. I’d be surprised if they’re all negative… and yes, she can visit Asheville and live closer to Mom, Dad, the kitties, and her sweetie.

…
I just had a wonderful conversation with my sister and it’s time to head off to eat the second half of my grilled chicken salad.

I hope everybody has a good evening.

Sorry to hear about Jenna and sending all the healing thoughts I can! I know how happy you would be to have her closer to you.

Sending best wishes to Jenna. Sorry you can't be with her -- being a mom is hard sometimes.

Sorry to hear about Jenna. I hope she’s feeling better soon. It’s appalling though that they’re expecting her to work when she has such a high temperature.

Sending healing vibes to Jenna, Karen, sorry she got Covid, and her new boss is not considerate at all. So hard for you, that you can't be with Jenna now.

Thank you Karen, Kim, Rhian, Anita.

As Jenna’s been saying, ‘it is what it is’; trite though that is, it is actually comforting to me.

…
I slept 6 hours straight, woke up at 5, couldn’t get back to sleep, and here I am. I may take a nap before rehab, but after a certain amount of time in bed trying to sleep I give up and do something else. I’ve already taken a first sip of coffee. Bill’s emerged from the master bedroom, and it truly seems like he’s going to go to work today. *smile*

Best wishes for Jenna’s health, Karen! So frustrating that you can’t go to her now.

Sorry for your bad night, hope that nap later works.

Hi Ella!

Thank you re Jenna. I told her yesterday that I was spending most of my effort in talking myself out of just getting in the car and going to her and she basically said "Don't be stupid, don't come, stay safe." I had to hear it, of course, but am still not happy about it, although I'm getting a bit more reconciled.

The night was actually good - I haven't had 6 hours straight sleep in months. Instead of my knees complaining, I woke up to a stiff back from probably not moving for 6 hours straight. It's loosened up now, though, so I'm good to go.

Sorry to hear about Jenna. Hopefully, she ends up with mild symptoms that go away quickly.

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for keeping us updated on Jenna. I hope she rebounds quickly. I hope some stretching and more coffee have helped that stiff back.

I had a great visit with Jack yesterday. He was such a good boy and I got to feed him some cereal too. Too darn cute. Only -7 out there so no outside birding for me but I am meeting a birding buddy for breakfast.

>86 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

>87 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Wednesday to you, too. Thanks re Jenna. Coffee and some homemade buttermilk pancakes using no-sodium baking soda and no-sodium baking powder with real maple syrup hit the spot, although it may be nap time for an hour...

Yay for your visit with Jack. Wow. Up to cereal. And yes, you're looking at another super cold day, I see, with a high of 11F.

Hoping the stiffness and soreness inherent in the condition have succumbed to your caffeination regime.

*smooch*

Caffeine and scratch buttermilk pancakes have eased the stiffness...

I've just written three over-due thank you notes. They're addressed, stamped, and ready to go. I'm feeling virtuous.

*smooch*

Virtuous and caffeinated. Your day sounds like it is off to a good start. ; )

Virtuous, caffeinated, and rehabbed. And after getting seriously distressed with how loud the treadmill room was (a relaxation video, a loud mouth newcomer, AND dear Bob talking with his VA nurse on the treadmill behind me), I wasn't going to use the weights. Fortunately loudmouth left pretty quickly, I calmed down, and did the weights. You know how some people's voices are piercing? Just about made me ill. Even with that my BP (after resting when done with the treadmill) never got above 101 over 60-something.

Now I'm home and will head back out in about 35 minutes to get my car inspected.

>92 karenmarie: I sometimes have this problem in class when we're supposed to be writing something but people just will not shut up. My solution is my airpods on noise cancellation and some wave sounds. Shuts them out and also calms me down!

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. Boo to loudmouth! Glad you survived it. Nearly 20 degrees warmer right now than yesterday at this time and will inch up to about 30. I win join my birder buddies this AM. Not a lot of walking but we are visiting nature centers where there are feeders set up. Looking for a couple of FOY birds.

My feeders have been hopping with the usual suspects, although I had a red-tail hawk stop by briefly, to break up the party.

Happy Thursday!

>92 karenmarie: Hopefully that loudmouth won't be there next time!

Morning, Karen! I know what you mean about the noise distractions - I hate the waiting area at the dentist's office because they always have the tv on. Why must we be constantly be bombarded with noise? What happened to just sitting and reading quietly while waiting? Anyway, often I take my noise cancelling headphones just to use while waiting. When the weather is nice, I wait on the porch - they have rocking chairs, and I like the peace and quiet out there.

Hoping Thursday is kind to you and that Jenna is feeling better.

Happy Thursday! I think you're out of the snow zone: I'm still hoping for a few inches. Sunflower seed and suet are ready to fill the feeders for my feathered friends.

>93 ursula: Excellent solution! That reminded me that last September I bought some TOZO NC2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, because TW suggested Tozo for Katie. I just pulled them out, fitted the right size earcups, synced them with my cell phone, and I’ll probably try them today. I am continuing to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. *smile*

>94 msf59: Hi Mark! Sweet Thursday to you, too. Thanks. I have A Plan – the Tozo earbuds, because I’m blessed if he’s going to chase me away from the time I want to be there. Yay for 20 degrees warmer. I hope you have a great birding adventure and get some FoYs for sure. Ooh for the Red-Tailed Hawk. I had a hawk somewhere nearby recently – here’s what I wrote on my last thread on January 4th:

I was looking at the bird feeders through the Sunroom windows and noticed a White-Breasted Nuthatch hanging upside down and motionless on the suet feeder. I then realized that there was a house finch not moving on one of the sunflower seed feeders, and all the Cardinals in the Crepe Myrtle weren't moving either. Must have been a hawk or other predator nearby, because this went on for about 2-3 minutes. Then the finch moved its head, the nuthatch moved its head, but then everybody went still again. Finally, about amother minute or so later everybody started moving around and coming to the feeders - it was almost surreal.

>95 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. I’m pretty sure he’ll be there today although I now remember them saying he’d only be here a week or so. One can hope…

>96 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I hate TV being on in doctor’s/dentist's offices, although I’ve noticed that the TVs have been turned off in the office/clinic I go to and they never have had one at my dentist. One was on in the cardiologist’s office the other day, but now with my earbuds, I can either just block it out or even listen to NPR or music while there. And on the subject of being bombarded, why does every you tube video have one or more commercials? I wonder how they can interpret how successful a commercial is? I can’t remember the last time I bought something because of a commercial, and at this point I deliberately DON’T buy things because of commercials. Oh how nice – rocking chairs on a porch at your dentist’s office. Luxury.

Haven’t heard from Jenna yet.

...
Peanut butter on whole grain bread for brekkie, along with some OJ to wash the meds down. I'll be leaving in about 35 minutes for rehab, earbuds with me.

Hey Horrible, hoping this bombogenesis event turns into a fizzle but still heading out into the sunshiney chill for a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. *smooch*

I just saw a bit about your weather but have to get ready for and leave for rehab... will check it out later. Of course peanut butter and bread are absolutely critical in bad weather! And they go so well with coffee, of course.

*smooch*

Rehab went well. I used my earbuds and rocked out to Queen for 30 minutes. Loudy McLoudster was there but I didn't have to hear him. He left before I got into the weights/checkout room but rehab friend Joyce came up to me when I got in there and said "I met your friend today and made sure I didn't make eye contact." *smile*

Upped the pace, stretched when done, and left feeling happily whupped and virtuous

Edited to add:
Jenna is a bit better. Her voice sounds much better. No joint pain, no clothing-on-skin sensitivity, no fever, less congestion. Not well, but better.

I'm happy beyond words that Jenna's better-ness includes being joint-pain-free!! That is a source of enormous misery for sure.

Happy as well that you're ready to level up and get whupped while caring for your health.

*smooch*

Jenna's report sounds GOOD!!!! I'm totally delighted! Also happy to hear that you're solving your own rehab challenges. GOOD!

>102 richardderus: Thanks, RD. Joint pain is the pits, as I can attest from recent atorvastatin woes. I think that either the steroid shots have reduced or eliminated the joint pain or the reduced level of atorvastatin has eliminated them. Either way, I'm ecstatic. Yes, happy whupped-ness. *smooch*

>102 richardderus: Thank you, my dear Peggy, from Jenna and me.

Today I splurged on a taco salad. With brekkie and a snack that leaves 490 mg sodium for the rest of the day. Doable.

>98 karenmarie: I deliberately DON’T buy things because of commercials
That is what I am doing too, Karen, for many years. Have an ad-blocker for my laptop, and any commercial that breaks through is put on the "never buy" list. Sadly we still seem to be a tiny minority.

>101 karenmarie: So glad to read Jenna is dong a bit better!

Hooray for headphones that help you ignore the loud guy and an even louder HOORAY for Jenna!!

Exactly what Lauralkeet said!!! : )

>105 FAMeulstee: The next thing I need to figure out, Anita, is an ad blocker for my laptop and for my cell phone, if possible. I don't like being in a minority, but I do like that we think and act alike!

Did I ever mention that the M&Ms Superbowl ad for 2021 had a hateful bit about Karens and that I wrote to them complaining and told them that I'd never buy another M&M, much less eat one, got back an automated email thanking me for my email, and that was it?

I've boycotted M&Ms ever since. Bill likes them and knows he has to buy his own if he wants them.

>106 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura! It's been a good day for sure.

>107 Berly: Thanks, Kim!

-Harry Bliss

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. I like your hawk/feeder story up there. My covey of doves is sure getting fat & happy on all my bird seed. We mostly did "car" birding yesterday but we did get an Illinois Lifer. Yah! And to top that off today will be a Jackson day. Bree will drop him off about noon.

>109 msf59: Ooh, I love that one! In our house, it's Inara, although she's getting pretty senior and usually just exits stage left.

>110 msf59: 'Morning! Happy Friday. Thanks re my story. It was just one of those moments that I rarely notice but enjoyed. I haven't heard any dove lately here, but right now I must have 8-10 Cardinals and perhaps as many finches at the feeders. A Tufted Titmouse is on the sunflower feeder, left, and a Carolina Chickadee just took her/his place. It's hoppin' right now!

...
Coffee, reading, usually Saturday-but-Friday errands (dump, grocery store, take out), and then, at 2 p.m., a house cleaner is going to come to give me a quote on mopping all downstairs moppables, vacuum the entire downstairs, and clean 3 bathrooms and one utility room/half bath. If the quote is reasonable, he'll do the work right away. Wish me luck! I really need this work done. The pandemic is the only thing that's keeping me from writing writhing in embarrassment because we aren't having anyone over.

Morning, Karen! I'm glad to read that Jenna is feeling better. Crossing my fingers for a reasonable quote and excellent service from the cleaning guy.

>111 karenmarie: I hope he's reasonable, there's no better feeling that a clean living space.

*smooch*

>112 Crazymamie: Thank you, Mamie! He's due any minute.

>113 richardderus: Me, too, RD. Let's hope he doesn't see 4000 square feet and think ka-ching.

edited to add: Alex arrived 2ish like promised, and said he'd do the work I wanted for $140. That's eminently fair to me, and we did a bit of discussing about how things might work if I had him come every two weeks. He's cleaning the upstairs bath right now.

Karen, I wish your Alex could come "do" my house. Like you, we don't have many visitors so the housework has been pretty slack recently. When it warms up, I will probably be in the mood to do a real Spring Cleaning. Until then...as my grandmother used to say..."a lick and a promise".

I'm glad Jenna is recovering nicely from Covid. For me, the headaches and coughing were the worst symptoms. The headaches were severe but only lasted a couple of days, while the coughing went on for almost two weeks. I am A-okay these days.

Keep up the good work at rehab and have a relaxing weekend.

Hi Donna!

We have absolutely no visitors right now, and at our house the lick has cat fur on it and there was never any promise. *smile* Kitchen has stayed reasonable, as have bathrooms, with the occasional vacuuming when we started wading through cat fur.

Thanks re Jenna, and I'm so sorry the headaches and coughing were the worst for you. Jenna's still got a persistent cough. So glad you're A-okay.

Thanks re the rehab, too. I'm feeling a bit whupped right now because of errands in N95 masks and keeping a mask on here in the house with Alex here.

Hooray for Alex the cleaning guy! I'm so glad you found someone.

Hi Laura! Alex is a young guy - I was expecting middle-aged for some reason. He spent 3 hours and about 20 minutes on 3 bathrooms, 1 utility room/bathroom, vacuuming 2 rooms and 3 area rugs and mopping 3 bathrooms, the utility room, and all the downstairs hardwood floors. I liked the work, and the price was reasonable. He's going to come back in 3 weeks for an every-two-week clean.

Glad you found some help! I could have used him today as I spent hours cleaning the two downstairs bedrooms and bathroom since my son and his girlfriend are moving back in to our house in two weeks. It took so long because I was purging stuff as I went. It looks clean and I feel victorious!

>118 karenmarie: Happy with the work...happy with the price...all sounds like it's headed in the best direction.

Yay! Saturn's-day *smooch*

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. We enjoyed our Jackson day yesterday and Sue enjoyed feeding him cereal for the first time. Not much planned for the weekend, other than getting the house in order and packing. Getting excited about the trip.

We had a pair of starlings in the bird bath yesterday. I still see flocks of them along the roadsides but they rarely visit the backyard.

Snowyday orisons, Horrible! *toasty smooch*

>119 Berly: Hi Kim! Me, too. I wish I still had the energy and stamina to do what you’ve done – I know you’ve quite a few health problems and are recovering from COVID – my hat is off to you! You’re a great person and wonderful mom.

>120 richardderus: Hi RD! Wow. Late posting at 12:34 a.m.! I’m cautiously optimistic about Alex. He’s coming back in 3 weeks to start an every-two-week cycle. I see that you’re supposed to get 6-10” of snow today with a high of 27F. Unbelievable. Even if the internet goes wonky, at least you’re safe and warm.

>121 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Happy Saturday to you. Yay for Jackson coming along with cereal. I’ve lost track – when do you leave for your trip?

Nice to see starlings. I remember having a huge flock of them in our yard in 2018, and I’m talking upwards of three hundred. Their iridescent feathers and spots are beautiful. Nice that you had a pair bathing and/or drinking.

>121 msf59: ‘Morning, RD. Snowday for sure for you. We only got about an inch of snow overnight, but won’t venture out today. I can see that our concrete is icy in spots.

…
I actually finished another book this month, Faithful in Death, #52 in the hit parade by J.D. Robb. I had so much fun with it that I’m going to immediately start #53, Forgotten in Death.

>123 karenmarie: Abandoned in Death comes out February 8th, Karen.

I just came by to say "Thank you" for dropping by my thread while I have been sick. Not even trying to catch up though :)

Hi Stasia! I just pre-ordered it. Thanks for the heads up.

I don't visit your thread as often as I want to - heck, I'm so far behind on most threads that I'm going to have to start drawling lines in the sand - but I was and am worried about your being so sick with Covid.

Jenna didn't improve yesterday, but didn't have any type of relapse, and for that I'm grateful. We haven't spoken this morning yet. Today reveals that once again no improvement, but no relapse. Still grateful.

I washed the area rug that lives at the bottom of the media room stairs, saw that one of the braids had separated about 6”. My sewing box didn’t have the right color thread, so I got Bill’s grandmother’s sewing box out. Score for the right thread, and the rug is once again at the bottom of the media room stairs. The sewing box is a time capsule for the 1950s/1960s…

..

>126 karenmarie: *chuckle* And there you were in my thread, aspersing the hell outta A Spool of Blue Thread.

Yup, dear RD. ATD, as we frequently do. I rarely say anything snarky, though. I was feeling a tad snarky, though, as I was going to force myself to do core strength training with weights (THREE pound weights, mind you!) and was unhappy at the prospect. However, they're done. I'm now feeling virtuous although not virtuous enough to retract what I said about ASoBT. I've read exactly one book by Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist, which I read pre-LT and loved. Contemporary fiction is not my go-to, as a rule.

Looks like you've still got snow happening. Can you see out of your windows?

>127 richardderus: Yeup! I see whitish cold-looking things all over out there.

Oh, and snow as well. *smooch*

Wordle 224 4/6

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Hooray! I finally figured out how to sync to my clipboard and then copy from there to here. Who, me a Luddite? I think not!

>130 karenmarie: I must be Karen, because I haven't figured out how to do it yet!

Well, YAY! for getting Wordle on here. That's a pretty startling process that you have for yesterday's puzzle. I think I also did it in four, but mine looks a lot different. What a good game!

I hope that by tomorrow Jenna will be feeling a lot better and that you will have only the normal motherly concern for her. I hope that you enjoy your freedom from rehab tomorrow and read something good!

>130 karenmarie: Well done, Karen -- both with the game and getting results posted on your thread. I agree with Peggy, your solving process yesterday was pretty dramatic.

Hoping Jenna is on the mend ...

>131 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Let's not talk about the hour or two before success across multiple days. I can't share what I did because I know you use Apple and I use Dell.

>132 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy. A logical guess. I played for 5 days before figuring out how to share, so have started to get the hang of it. Yesterday Jenna was 'just' fatigued and sounded like she had a moderate cold. Right now my Motherly Concern Meter is down around 4 or so. She's probably going to need another test - negative this time - before they allow her back to work. She'll figure that out with her boss. At 28, that's her issue, not Mom's. *smile*

Ah yes, no rehab today. It's Sunday, and we're looking forward to the football. I'm also reading #53 in the Eve Dallas series, Forgotten in Death.

I made a low-sodium buttermilk biscuit recipe and the results are sitting on the top of the stove cooling. They are a bit more effort than my usual buttermilk biscuits because they use the pie crust folding technique I use, and butter instead of Crisco, and, surprisingly, the addition of 1 T light brown sugar.

>133 lauralkeet: 'Morning, Laura, and thanks! Jenna's on the mend, but like I wrote above, I don't know about her work situation. If they were super employers, they'd pay her for the time she's missed, but I have no idea if they'll do that or not.

Wordle 225 4/6

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...
I spent about an hour making those biscuits. They had just come out of the oven, I was whupped, and my dear husband says "I wonder if you could make me a couple of eggs over easy to go on top of them." I got pretty irritated and said "I suppose so if you give me a while to get my energy back" sarcastically. He then backed off and is making Stouffer's Chipped Beef to go on them. If he'd waited just 15 minutes or so, let me get my breath back, I'd have probably been happy to do it, but his timing absolutely sucked.

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. Of course, this will be our packing day. Glad we are going somewhere warm, so it will mostly be lighter clothing. I also hope to get in some reading along with plenty of football. In the Chiefs/Bengals, it would be kind of nice if the Bengals could pull it off but I like the Chiefs too. In the second game, I will be rootin' for the Rams.

and my dear husband says "I wonder if you could make me a couple of eggs over easy to go on top of them."

Oh boy. Rookie mistake. *tsk*

Perhaps Bill should learn how to cook an egg :)

With all the talk of your low sodium diet, the chipped beef mention was a shock!

>135 msf59: Yay for Sunday packing and football, Mark! I was rooting for the Rams against the Bucs and of course they came through, but I'd like the 49ers to win for my 86-year old aunt. The Treasurer for the Friends' son is going to the Bengals/Chiefs game. They're Bengals fans. I wouldn't have gone even if given tickets, but was envious anyway.

>136 scaifea: Yup, Amber. A rookie mistake, and we've been married 30, almost 31 years. AND I made the Vegetable Beef Soup and garlic toast last night, which he oohed and aahed over and thanked me for. I went back into the kitchen a few minutes ago and told him that his timing sucked and had he waited 15 minutes I'd have been happy to oblige.

The biscuits are, frankly, a disappointment. They're a tad chewy and I pride myself on my light hand with biscuits and pastry. I'm going to figure out how to make my own low-sodium self-rising flour (easy enough with the internet), just use my regular recipe, and see how they come out. But not today. *smile*

>137 katiekrug: Hi Katie! He should, shouldn't he? A couple of weeks ago he said that if there were things he could learn in the kitchen he'd give it a try, but by the time I cooled down and explained the timing issue to him, he'd gotten the chipped beef out and had started eating. That in itself is unusual, because usually I drink coffee for an hour or so before even considering Sunday breakfast and he usually just has some Nabs to take with his meds first thing and is perfectly happy to eat Sunday breakfast around 10 or so.

...
Bill's been pretty good at adjusting to my new low-sodium regimen, but when he saw 2 large and 1 small jar of Armour Dried Beef on the breakfast table, to be donated to the food pantry or otherwise gotten rid of, he realized that his homemade chipped beef days were over. We bought 2 frozen Stouffer's two shopping trips ago, and he used the second one this morning.

I just analyzed homemade chipped beef - 4.5 oz jar, 3 cups homemade medium white sauce with regular salted butter and fat-free moo, SEVEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTEEN mg of sodium. One serving is more than my entire daily sodium allotment of 2000 mg. *shudder* The frozen stuff is 1350 mg sodium for one small package. Still *shudder*. It's like 'wasting' calories on things - I've started thinking of 'wasting' sodium milligrams.

I am very much a calculator now when it comes to my food, Karen.
I have never eaten so much salad and certainly I have never enjoyed it so much either.

Have a great day.

You're really doing a good job, Paul, and I'm sorry I haven't mentioned it more either on your thread or the Health thread. I must admit to a bit of envy - men tend to lose weight quicker than women - and your 19.1 lbs loss since January 1 is marvelous. Congrats.

I love salads, too, but I love salads with lots of dressing, and unless it's oil and vinegar, which only goes with some of the salads I like, it's hard to justify the sodium content. My current favorite salad is a taco salad, sort of - lettuce, crushed unsalted tortilla chips, 4 oz cooked ground beef, and 6 T of my favorite salsa. Normally I'd use half again as much salsa, but it's very 'expensive' sodium-wise. I really need to figure out how to make my own low-sodium salsa. I do have a recipe from a California friend that I can probably adapt, and just added the ingredients to my shopping list.

...I have never felt more grateful for a healthy heart than I am at this moment...

I'm glad you have a healthy heart, too, RD!

Mine's getting there, but I have no idea if they'll want to keep me on the low-sodium diet or not in the long run. Probably, although even if they don't there are a lot of things I won't go back to, for sure.

>142 karenmarie: After years of simply not drinking (no, not gout, pain meds...alcohol plus fentanyl equals a muuuuuuuuch too large chance of unplanned death, thanks!), I took a sip of whisky...fine Ardbeg!...and realized I'm a tee-totaller now. Glorious flavor, *hideous* sensation of falling (vertigo!), dreadful and overpowering desire to sleep right now...not worth it.

And so are abstainers made.

Good early afternoon, Karen, which feels like late morning to me. That's how we go.
I'm really glad to hear that Jenna is coming out of it and wish her speed and complete recovery. Hooray for getting the MC Meter back in what I take to be normal range.
Kudos to you for taking control of your diet. Sodium is a problem that I haven't addressed. Mama will simply not eat low-sodium seasoned food. I don't salt a lot, and her feet don't swell, so I'm continuing as we've been.
Wordle! I started with the wrong set of vowels today and was afraid I was going to miss it altogether. I know the day is coming.
I love the ordinary give and take and irritation and forgiveness all around of marital bliss. Real life!

Happy Sunday, Karen!

I must try out this Wordle game. Looks interesting.

Karen. I am following along with your adventures, but just lurking. I don't believe I have anything productive to say, so I'm on mute. January 2022 is been great for reading. More books read than ever, I think. (Not going to check, since it isn't that big a deal.)

Just. . .just keep on chooglin'.

Good to see that Jenna is on the mend, Karen, and that you are doing so well with your diet and rehab. Interesting that you had snow, our snow is rare here too but it struck just before Christmas and stuck around for almost 3 weeks. It's gone now and I just hope it stays away.

>143 richardderus: I can understanding becoming a teetotaller because of nasty side effects, RD. I got tired of hangovers in college and so although I occasionally have wine or the occasional glass of sambuca or kahlua or Chambord or … you get the idea… I don’t drink to excess any more. My cardiologist says a glass or two of wine per week, red wine, is okay, and I’ve been doing that for a while now.

>144 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Jenna’s so much better! She’s got a persistent cough but no temperature. She did sneeze most of Saturday for some reason. I don’t know whether she’s going to work tomorrow or not. And re your mama, moderate salt and no edema are all signs that you and she are doing something right.

I’ve started Wordle with different words, and am wondering if that makes sense or if I should always start with the same word. Decisions, decisions!

Yup, ordinary give and take and irritation and forgiveness. We were fine by mid-morning.

>145 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Thank you. It’s been a good day. Wordle irritated me the first few times I played because I didn’t really understand it, but now I’m enjoying it, along with half the world.

>46 streamsong: Hiya, Bill! Thanks for de-lurking. I’m glad you’ve had such a great month. Aye, aye, sir! I will keep on chooglin’.

…
The Chiefs lost, silly men – their own fault at the end of the first half, then the Bengals changed how they played Mahomes. Mahomes didn’t look like the same guy in the second half and couldn’t come through even when he won the coin toss for OT.

I’m for the 49ers for my aunt, and am happy that they’re up at the half. Realistically, either team winning is fine, but it will make my aunt happy for the 49ers to win.

Off to read and sleep! Tomorrow’s rehab, joy of joys.

Rehabitate well! And that glass or two of red will actually do you positive good with your heart health.

I finished another review, bringing my January total to...THIRTY! Go me!

Have a wonderful week, Karen!

Morning, Karen. We shove off in a bit, so this will be my last visit for awhile. Of course, I will check in when I can but that will be spotty. Hold down the fort, my friend. Adios!

>149 richardderus: Thanks, RD! I'm up for it, and I also have a note, thanks to Susan, to ask to use the elliptical trainer today, at least a little sample, to see if it works better for my knees. My knees are in good shape, but I can only get the cortisone shots every 3-4 months and I'll be surprised if it doesn't wear off before then. THIRTY reviews is stupendous. *smooch*

>150 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. I'll check in on you in a bit to see if you're getting better.

>151 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! I'm going to say it - Happy Monday - because I know you're thrilled to be heading off to Costa Rica. Have a wonderful time, see lots of birds, drink lots of whatevers, get some good R&R, and be safe going, being, and returning. I'll definitely hold down the fort.

...
I got some good sleep, am enjoying my first cup of coffee, spent 15 minutes filling my med and vitamin containers, put the last of the sunflower seed in the bird feeder, and here I am. LT for a bit, reading for a bit, rehab for a bit, etc.

edited to add:

Wordle 226 4/6

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Hi Karen, I am aghast! I didn't star your thread and only just realized.
Have caught up now and glad to see that you are doing well with your diet and rehab. Good for you.

In reading, I am using the Bruno Courrèges series (Martin Walker) to soothe my pandemic brain with comfort reading. I'm on book 3 now.
I have errands today and better get on it quickly ~ blowing snow sort of blizzard warnings! Yukky-poo.

Hi Sandy! Nice to see you here.

Your poor pandemic brain - you've also got nasty winter weather to cope with, too. Comfort reading can't be dismissed lightly and I'm glad you're indulging.

Be safe!

...
I'll be off to rehab in about 20 minutes or so.

Rehabilitate well, Horrible dear. Hope the elliptical works out for the knees. That's a pain one doesn't have a good way to cope with and remain upright!

Well, RD, the elliptical didn't happen. I asked Deanna if I could try one out for a few minutes, asking her what her opinion was re treadmills vs elliptical trainers and she said some people with bad knees did better on treadmills and some people with bad knees did better on the elliptical trainer and that if I wanted to try the elliptical trainer to let her know. I just looked at her, said "I just did", and walked over to the treadmill. That, on top of getting there at 10:40, supposedly getting checked in, seeing rehab buddy Chris get checked in at 10:50, get called in immediately, and Rebekah saying "Oh, Karen - I didn't see you, come on back" totally pissed me off. All Rebekah had to say was "We're running behind and I'm sorry we couldn't get to you when you checked in, Karen" and I wouldn't have liked it but been okay with it. Either they didn't check me in, or she didn't notice that I was checked in. So by the time I got on the treadmill I was mad, which translated well into upping the pace and keeping it higher for longer. Deanna gave me the thumbs up a couple of times and asked about difficulty level, as she should, but we weren't chatty today. Weights and cool down both went well.

I stopped off at Louise's to give her an N95 mask - Bill bought 10 for us and 10 for Jenna. Louise called just before I was leaving for rehab to see how Jenna was, and I mentioned them to her and then mentioned having difficulty getting the free ones. Bill said we should give her one so I offered it. She immediately said "I'll pay you for it" and I immediately replied "No, Louise, that's what friends do". When I took it over we chatted outside for a bit and she gave me some macaroons - carefully explaining that there was only 1/4 t salt in 18... so sweet of her to be cognizant that it would be important to me.

Now it's time to figure out some lunch and read.

>156 karenmarie: What an irritating experience all the way around. Barring the good time with sweet, lovely Louise, it would've rated as a serious Mmmday fail.

>126 karenmarie: My very first sewing box as a child was a smaller version of that sewing box! Talk about memories!

>157 richardderus: I was definitely cranky, RD. I really had to bite my tongue. My time with Louise was, and is, always special.

>158 thornton37814: How wonderful, Lori! I'm happy to have brought back a childhood memory for you.

Annoying, to say the least! I'll add that I'm also annoyed at how annoyed I get when something like that happens to me, as it seems to do more and more often. Isn't paying attention supposed to be the job???? (And if you care to know, I get really annoyed when I thank somebody for doing his job and he says, "No problem." Hey. I'm the customer. Am I supposed to worry about whether doing what he's supposed to do is a problem for him? No customer service training. ACK! Where did that rant come from?) (Sorry) I'm sorry you were treated poorly.
Glad that you have masks and that Louise has one too now - and that you have macaroons!
I also think you'll be interested to know that I'm reading *Porter 2* to Mama. In college! I had forgotten that Sams went to Mercer, a Baptist college in Macon, Georgia (Porter's Willingham) as a freshman when John Birch was a senior. We've just finished the chapter devoted to JB's guiding a group of fundamentalist ministerial students who charge a large number of the faculty with heresy.
I'm happy to hear that Jenna is so much better. I hope every day shows that much progress until she's completely well.

>156 karenmarie: Sorry the rehab was such a bad experience this time, Karen.
Very sweet of Louise, to make macaroons with less salt for you.

>140 karenmarie: I have suffered for years with a sort of lethargy when it came to taking care of myself but I sort of woke up to myself on 1 January trying on some shirts and being completely unable to wear any of them comfortably.

>156 karenmarie: Sorry and a little narked to see you treated so shabbily at your rehab. Not the best way of keeping up enthusiasm but do it anyway for you, yours, all of us and to spite them!

>160 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Well, for myself, I call it old lady fussiness, but I wouldn’t put that on anybody else. *smile* You’ve got 9 years on me but your energy levels, walking, and care of your mother really put me to shame – and I’m talking about BEFORE my heart attack, much less after.

I love to hear the words “You’re welcome.” I found myself starting to say “Thank you” after someone said “Thank you” to me in the early 1980s. I don’t know how that happened. My boyfriend at the time, Mark, said that was ridiculous and “You’re welcome” was the correct response. I've been a "You're welcome" person ever since. I’m totally sensitized to it now, especially on NPR, and roll my eyes. Sometimes a “You’re welcome, and thank you for _______” is appropriate, but not frequently.

A separate rant is that sometimes at the grocery store the cashier is chatting/flirting with the bagger if I’m lucky enough to get one, and I’d say that perhaps 1 out of 6 transactions has no words exchanged between me and the cashier unless I initiate it. Sometimes not even a Thank you from them when they hand me the receipt.

Yes, we’re happy with the masks, and I’m glad to report that treadmill/weights/stretches did not seem to be harder using the N95 mask. I was worried, and had a backup medical-grade yellow mask.

Yay for Porter 2. Interesting about the John Birch connection. Well, actually, *shudder*

I admit that I’m in a reading funk and am only reading Eve Dallas. I’m halfway through the most recently published, #53. #54 is due out, and due to arrive at my house, on February 8th. In the meantime, it seems that it’s finally time to read the Eve novellas and short stories I have on my shelves and have never read:

Interlude in Death, 12.5
Big Jack, 17.5
Time of Death

Eternity in Death, 24.5
Ritual in Death, 27.5
Missing in Death, 29.5

Midnight in Death, 7.5
Haunted in Death, 22.5
Possession in Death, 31.5

Thank you re my Jenna – she is going back to work today, N95 masked, Kleenexed, and still feeling a bit crappy but fully quarantined. I have no idea if the folks at her job got tested or not – I sincerely hope they all did. 🤞 that she has the stamina to get through the day.

>161 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. Louise is a very dear friend, I cherish her. And rehab on Wednesday will be fine – I will simply not ask about the elliptical trainer and not grumble if they call me in late. Old lady fussiness be gone! I think the Senior Center in town has elliptical trainers in addition to the treadmills. I’m going to ask a woman I know who is on the Board what she thinks about going there, what with Covid and all.

>162 PaulCranswick: I think you’re doing splendidly, Paul – whatever it takes, eh? Shirts for you, a heart attack for me! I used to subscribe to the Sarah Millican theory of clothes – when they stop fitting buy the next size up – but two days ago I bought 2 pair of jeans in the next size down.

Oh yes, - rehab is for me and as a rule they do a wonderful job. Monday was a fluke, and thank you for being annoyed on my behalf.

…
Got almost 6 straight hours of sleep and the lure of coffee dragged me downstairs. It’s almost time to let the kitties out – it’s beginning to get light and they are restless.

Edited to add: Epic fail.
Wordle 227 X/6

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January statistics in >5 karenmarie:

January lightning round in >6 karenmarie:

>164 karenmarie: 100% sourced from your library, 0 rereads?! Excellent result! Good start to the New Year's reads. Your, um, alarm tocsin in November would excuse a far greater numerical drop than you've had and you've used it to make inroads into the dark recesses of the TBR. Wonderful!

*smooch*

Thanks, RD! *preens*

>163 karenmarie: Yep. Annoyed at being annoyed is my recognition of the old lady effect. What can I say?
I agree 100% about "you're welcome." I think, "You're welcome; I appreciate the opportunity," might often be appropriate on NPR, but the "you're welcome" part puts the focus on the customer or the other person in a way that even "my pleasure" doesn't do.
(Grrrr..... to any clerk who answers the phone and takes an order or complaint or whatever with a customer - me - standing in front of him in person.) (I've worked retail. It is not hard to say, "Can you hold please while I help this customer? I'll get right back to you.") (O.K. I'm really through with this.)
Hope Jenna cuts herself some slack in trying to make up the work she missed. Glad that you can exercise masked.
Meanwhile, you make me blush. YOU are the one who keeps her house and cooks and volunteers in a meaningful way. The world and I are very grateful to have you in it!

(I got the Wordle today mostly because I chose the correct vowels for my first word and a common consonant too.)

>167 LizzieD: ^^^What she said

Sorry to hear that you had such a tough experience at rehab today and that Jenna has been ill (I realize I am very behind on that one!)

I hope today turns out better for you than it started.

>167 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Thank you for your kind words.

Jenna's at work, a bit foggy brained but happy that she remembers so much of the job after only being on it 7 days before getting Covid. I'm sure she'll be VERY happy when 5 o'clock rolls around. Going back to work after being so sick is exhausting.

Well, now that I've got Alex, the house will get back under control, but I do admit that I've been cooking and working on low-sodium things pretty well recently. Either Bill or I will have the last of the Vegetable Beef Soup tonight. Tomorrow night I'll probably cook again.

I've been alternating between two starting Wordle words, but that didn't work today.

>168 richardderus: Hi RD! Thanks.

>169 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. The bad rehab was on Monday, but I'm resolved to be pleasant and not cranky tomorrow. Jenna got sick on the 23rd, tested positive for Covid on the 25th, and her fever broke on the 27th. She had so many symptoms, but is down to fatigue, copious amounts of snot, and the occasional sneezing fit. I'm sure she'll be exhausted when she gets off work today.

Karen! I hope things turn around at rehab and I'm sure they will. I've personally found that it's never a good idea for me to lose my temper because it makes me feel bad, but it does sometimes feel very good to set someone on fire. You would have been perfectly justified in pointing out the situation to them. As I'm sure you're aware. It's not like I can give life advice to anybody.

Did Jenna lose her sense of taste and smell? I know you were so scared and so frustrated but the worst thing you could have done would have been to go to her.

I have to pick up bird food again. This afternoon I saw a small brownish bird with a super pointy beak staring in the kitchen window. It would have not been more poignant if it were wearing a 'starving orphan' sign around its tiny neck.

Every now and then Parker will tear through the house, thumping like mad on the hardwood floors, because he thinks a bird or a deer or that damn neighbor cat is in his yard mocking him. I swear one of these days he's just going to claw through the window pane.

Hi Larry!

Thank you. Rehab has mostly been good, if tiring. It was just two 'off' things in one day. I agree - losing my temper makes me feel bad - and I usually tamp my extremely bad temper pretty far down. All I said to Deanna was "I just did", meaning that I had expressed my desire to try out an elliptical trainer. I might have glared...

Jenna did not lose her taste of sense or smell. I should ask her if things taste strange, although she hasn't mentioned it. Not going to her was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Damn! We're both on the same pick-up-bird-food schedule. I need 50 lbs of black oil sunflower and 40 lbs of wild bird seed plus a 6 pack of suet. Ah! An LBB - little brown bird - looking at you angrily. Wait a minute - Angry Birds are at your house! I am currently addicted to Angry Birds Friends. I like the idea of the birds wearing signs so you know what's in their beady little brains.

After rehab today I'm going to CVS to see if they have some of the free N95 masks friend Louise told me they did, and then stop in at the Southern States there in Siler City for the above mentioned bird seed. Also the grocery store and the pharmacy. This will use up a precious extra hour of my home-alone day, but is all necessary.

Poor Parker. He does have his pride, doesn't he? I hope you have double-paned windows to make it harder for him to claw through!

Wordle 228 6/6 Whew! I forgot to include one of the letters identified in 2 and 3 in 4, silly me. Nailed it at the end, though.

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>173 karenmarie: Well done you! What a good feeling, not having a last-minute brain fog cheat you of a win.

>126 karenmarie: I love the sewing box. My mother has her aunt's sewing tin and I am hoping it gets passed along to me.

>173 karenmarie: I have begun Wordle as well. Glad you're having fun! I also sometimes forget the letters or that they are in the right place already.

I had wondered about Jenna's taste and smell too, and I'm glad that they aren't affected enough for her to make a comment. Hope she was able to rest enough yesterday to make today at work easier.
I also hope that the rehab experience is golden today. Enjoy the rest of your time Home Alone!
You and I squeaked through a wordle win, and I'm proud of both of us.

Kerry and I did not lose our senses of taste and smell either. I know a lot of people have though. Glad Jenna did not!

>174 richardderus: Thanks, RD! *smooch*

>175 witchyrichy: Thanks, Karen, and I hope you get your aunt’s sewing tin. I love having these things from Bill’s family, because my parents were both serious declutterers. I have few things from either of them. I've made noises to my mother's brother for the maternal-side photos since none of his sons seem interested, but haven't heard back. A different cousin has expressed interest in the paternal photos, but frankly I didn't know that side nearly as well. Yay for Wordle!

>176 LizzieD: I haven’t heard from Miss J today, which is good news, actually. We’ll talk on her way home from work at 5 p.m. Rehab was productive. I am a tad worried because I had to use a treadmill closer to the ceiling fan, and I Hate Air Moving On Me At Any Time (unless it’s natural airflow/light breeze). I usually get a cold from it, so here’s hoping I don’t this time. Grumble, grumble…

I went to the Pitt for bird seed and eucalyptus shower bombs on the way back and was only 1 for 4 – they had black oil sunflower seed but no wild bird seed and they didn’t have the suet I wanted AND Walgreens was out of the eucalyptus shower bombs. I’ll turn left out of rehab tomorrow and go to the Southern States and Walgreens in Siler City, the big town!

Squeaking the wordle win in was a relief, because I didn’t want to bomb two days in a row. If I’d just used an M instead of an H – moist instead of hoist – I’d have had it in 5. Glad I didn’t try J for joist next…

>177 alcottacre: I’m glad you and Kerry didn’t lose your sense of taste and smell either. It’s sadly interesting that of the 5 people I know who have had Covid recently – you/Kerry, Katie/TW, Jenna – all 3 households have had different symptoms, all purportedly from Omicron.

…
Lunchtime, then some bird seed for the birdies. I dragged the 50-lb bag from the car to the metal trash can, scooped enough in so that I could hoist the rest in. I know, I know… but no tweaks or twinges.

>178 karenmarie: - I read somewhere that the loss of taste and smell was not as common with omicron as with earlier variants. I think I only lost mine because of the extreme head congestion - it often happens to me with head colds. Anyway, it's come back a bit as today has worn on, so that's good.

Ah, interesting. I'm glad it's come back a bit today.

Jenna wearing her handy-dandy N95 mask at work today.

>181 karenmarie: My goddesses! You should be thrilled, Horrible, she looks like she's almost smiling back there!

>181 karenmarie: Glad Jenna has recovered, and without losing her sense of taste and smell!

You all have got me interested in Wordle. Turns out it’s very like the game that has been on dutch TV for countless numbers of years, Lingo.

>182 richardderus: LOL, RD! Yes, my stoic daughter actually almost smiled behind the N95 mask.

>183 EllaTim: Thanks, Ella. Yes, we're so glad that she's doing so well after being so sick. She did say that things occasionally tasted funny, but that's not the same as losing her sense of taste, is it?

Ah, yes, Wordle has become my newest game addiction.

...
Well, Bill and I caught the US-Italy Mixed Doubles Curling at the Olympics, and although they didn't win, the US mounted a serious challenge and the Italians had a hog line violation and burned a rock. Who'd a thunk it? And Jenna loves curling and as soon as I texted her, she started watching, too.

>181 karenmarie: HOORAY!!!!

Curling? I love the sound of "a hog line violation"!

Sleep well! I'm off to try my best.

Hi Peggy!

We've loved curling for probably 16 years or so - we only watch it during the Olympics but really enjoy it.

I hope you got a great night's sleep. Mine was pretty good, a couple of times awake, but no second sleep effect; i.e., I was only up for a few minutes before going back to sleep instead of hours.

Morning, Karen!

Thanks for mentioning the curling. The Wayne gets very into curling every winter Olympics...

>186 karenmarie: Hi Peggy!

We've loved curling for probably 16 years or so - we only watch it during the Olympics but really enjoy it.

I hope you got a great night's sleep. Mine was pretty good, a couple of times awake, but no second sleep effect; i.e., instead of hours awake in the middle of the night, I was only up for a few minutes before going back to sleep each time.

>187 katiekrug: Hi Katie, and good morning to you, too!

You're very welcome. Good for TW!

edited to add: blew it again:

Wordle 229 X/6

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Hope rehab was strengthening and satisfying, Karen! I surely do wish I were nearby to enjoy some of your culinary experimentation today. I'll make a good spinach salad for us and maybe devil a few eggs, but otherwise, it's likely to be a Stauffers something. Once in awhile won't hurt, I guess. Then there's tonight, and we ate the last of the cabbage soup last night. Oh dear.

Afternoon, Karen! Love the photo of Jenna, and I'm so happy she is feeling better.

The curling made me laugh - Birdy is a HUGE fan of curling.

I got today's Wordle in 3. I have no idea how to access or post that graphic everyone is posting.

>190 Crazymamie: - I'll butt in here. To share your Wordle result, when the screen comes up with your stats after you solve it, you click the big SHARE button. You'll see a message at the top that says copied to Clipboard. Then you just paste it wherever you want, such as a text box on LT :) Not sure how to paste with a Mac, but on my PC, I just right click or Ctrl+V.

>191 katiekrug: I have a clipboard?

Wordle 229 3/6

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Oh! I did it! Thanks, Katie!

>192 Crazymamie: - Yup, just like David.



It's just where things go that you copy before pasting them.

>192 Crazymamie: - Yay!

>189 LizzieD: Rehab was good and tiring. I've just finished half a grilled chicken salad (and 3 pieces of red licorice) and am pretty tired. I just finished an Eve Dallas novella, though, which also feels good.

Bill decided to take me to rehab to pick up the wild bird seed. Can't fault him for wanting to help, but I didn't go grocery shopping. And, since I have half a grilled chicken salad left, I won't cook tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

A Stauffer's something does not hurt every once in a while, for sure.

>190 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. Yay that Birdy is a huge fan of curling. Congrats on getting Wordle in 3. Depending on where you play it and how you post on LT, it could one of a dozen ways. It took me a long time to figure out out for my Dell laptop and Firefox and syncing my devices to the clipboard.

>191 katiekrug: - >194 katiekrug: Yay Katie and Mamie. And David's adorable.

>195 karenmarie: Took me a fair while to figure out how to post up the results too.

>188 karenmarie: How do you get the first two right at the beginning and then the last three right but don't solve the puzzle? Seems like really bad luck.

I struggled with the same puzzle and made 5/6; I'm excited to be on 17 game winning streak

Wordle 229 5/6

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>193 katiekrug: *belly laugh*

>195 karenmarie: I just play it on my laptop, so it was easy once Katie explained the basics. I am ridiculously pleased that I was able to do it.

I was so pissed off by Wordle!
Wordle 229 5/6

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Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Wordle 229 4/6

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>196 PaulCranswick: I reversed the first two letters, which was arbitrary and obviously didn’t work. The last three attempts used three sets of consonants that obviously weren’t right.

I’m humbled. All y’all did way better than I did.

Ah, well, tomorrow’s another day.

>178 karenmarie: Even living in the same house, Kerry and I did not have exactly the same symptoms. The whole thing is weird.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Morning, Karen! We made it to Friday, so hooray for that.

>201 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Weird for sure. I hope to have a fantastic Friday, thank you, and the same to you.

>202 Crazymamie: 'Morning, Mamie! Yes indeed, we made it to Friday.

...
Yesterday was one of those days where I was more tired than I expected to be. I took a two hour nap, which doesn't always mess up my sleep, but last night it did. Not pain, just not able to sleep well.

Bill went into the office today, my coffee tastes particularly good this morning, and I redeemed myself with Wordle:

Wordle 230 3/6

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Life is good.

I also got it in three today:

Wordle 230 3/6

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And you got the house to yourself on a Friday!! Life IS good.

Hi Karen. I got it in 4.

>204 Crazymamie: Congrats, Mamie! My starting word was adieu and my second word was stare, and then I got logical and lucky.

I spoke too soon - Bill came out of the bedroom about 15 minutes ago. I love him and I'm gutted.

>205 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Congrats.

A near thing...

Wordle 230 6/6

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Whew! You just squeaked by.

Not my finest effort!

My starting word was steam. My second word was wheat.

>209 katiekrug: Yes, but you got it.

Hi, Karen. My wife and daughter are Wordle everyday-ers, but I haven’t succumbed yet. Man, what a hit that game is! I see the NY Times bought it.

Happy Friday! I hipe you have a great weekend.

I got it in 4.
Wordle 230 4/6

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Way too close to giving up, though!

*smooch*

I. Got. It. In. TWO. (2) I'll never do that well again. first word: roast; second word: the right one! Did you read the CNN newsletter, Karen? A friend told me about it.

You and Bill have a good day!

>213 LizzieD: I hate you.

>213 LizzieD: Peggy, congratulations! Brava. I did not read the CNN newsletter... what's it about?

We had a good day. I was very busy, with Friends check writing and errands: Library to pick up a free box of 20 N95 face masks, Post Office to get stamps for Friends, grocery store, pharmacy, and bank. I'll have to ask Rita the Librarian how many boxes they handed out. It was steady when I got there and it was busier when Louise went a bit later.

I made low-sodium teriyaki chicken and air fryer fries - I found some very low sodium frozen crinkle cut fries and was in the mood for those tonight.

We have been watching the replay of the US-Sweden mixed doubles curling match. I unintentionally saw a headline with the result but Bill didn't. They're tied after 4 ends. However, I'm heading upstairs to read, veg, and sleep.

>214 richardderus: I can't imagine getting it in two. Just can't imagine it at all.

I forgot to mention: the latest QI episode is genuinely back to form.

Karen, my friend apparently gets a CNN email. A recent one recommended words as first guesses for Wordle, based on the most-used letters in English. "Adieu" was one of them (this is English?) along with "arise" and "arose." Good for you for thinking of "adieu" all on your own! I can't remember the others. My strategy has been to try vowel-rich words for the first two with "s" and "r" and "t."

Good for you for getting your N95 masks. My DH hasn't tried the library yet, but we have a box of old ones from the time when he was putting insulation in our attic. Our gov. issue COVID tests did arrive today.

Glad you had such a good day. Your food, as usual, sounds yummy!

>214 richardderus: I'm grinning, Richard. *smooch*

Have a wonderful weekend, Karen!

>216 richardderus: ‘Morning, RD! Ah, I can see QI XL S19E13 Series S – Sun Sea & Sandi on a youtuber's channel I follow. Glad to know it’s back up to form.

>217 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! The CNN Start Your Day Newsletter. I have the CNN app on my phone, and it occasionally pops up but for some reason won’t open when I click. However, I just checked it out on duckduckgo and see the Wordle cheat code on February 2nd.

I wish I could claim adieu, but there was a lot of chatter on … Katie’s thread, I think… Richard's thread about start words. Some of them were adieu, audio, atone, aeons, with second words if one vowel only of north, thens, and mirth. I’ve still got them written down on the back of a University of Chicago Press envelope. *smile*

Speaking of which, the U of Chi Press is having a sale – it might be annual, because I took advantage of it last year –

U of Chicago Press Book Sale

>218 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia! The very same to you - I hope you're continuing to get over the nasty bout of Covid.

… no errands today. Reading, perhaps a bit of the Olympics, but only curling for me.

Coffee, and watching the birds attack the sunflower seed and suet feeders. Bill bought wild bird seed for me the other day but I have to clean out the metal trash can before I can put it in. Somehow it got some moisture in it and the last 2 inches or so is moldy.

Off to Wordle...

Wordle 231 5/6 - nothing like forgetting you have a vowel you haven't used ... not enough coffee!

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>163 karenmarie: Good for you! Not that I’m glad you didn’t solve the word puzzle but that you are brave enough to post results. I’ve been playing Wordle for 12 days now. Long enough to realize that chance is a big factor in getting the correct answer. It’s a fun diversion not an IQ test.

So glad that Jenna was able to return to work. It takes awhile to get rid of that brain fog, at least it did for me. I’ve been using it as my excuse for an aging brain.

I’m glad you have Eve Dallas in your life to get through a reading slump. I might order the second one in the series from the library later this month. Baby steps…

Ahhh, more Wordle. Can’t say as I’m hooked but it does give me something to check off my list each day. I’m much more interested in keeping my daily streak going. Kudos to Paul for his 17-day streak.

Keep on taking care of yourself, Karen. You are doing great in your recovery. Enjoy the weekend!

>219 karenmarie: I'm so pleased I've perverted introduced you to my secret joy, my darkest shame, the Chicago Book Sale. They, and Penn State, also send monthly links to unlocked scholarly ebooks. Penn State's latest is one on clothing in medieval French romances (not the modern kind!), and while it's dense and scholarly I'll finish it before I'm dead.

I hope.

Wordle 231 3/6

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::nailbuff::

>217 LizzieD: I Am Not Speaking to the Wordle-ator.

Morning, Karen - I just made it! I am just now on my second cup of coffee because I actually slept in this morning - this hardly ever happens. Must be some kind of magic in the air.

>221 richardderus: I also got it in three!

Wordle 231 3/6

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>220 Donna828: Here I am again, Donna, with a proper response to your lovely message.

I figure if I don’t post my Wordle result every day, then I shouldn’t post any day. I’m also woman enough to admit when I can’t get it.

Jenna got through the 4 days of the week she was back, has a few errands to run today, then will do a whole bunch of nothing for the rest of the weekend. I hope your brain fog is gone.

I do hope you continue with Eve Dallas. I’m doing something interesting right now – reading a book by Nora Roberts called Remember When, which is a romance with the hook of missing gems. It’s also got Big Jack in the same volume, which is Eve Dallas 17.5. I’m having fun with Remember When and am looking forward to Big Jack.

Good luck on your Wordle streak. Funny, I don’t think about a streak with Wordle, just enjoy it each morning.

Thanks for the encouraging words re my recovery. I’m proud of myself. So far I haven’t missed a day of rehab and haven’t knowingly gone over 2,000 mg of sodium since November.

The weekend is looking to be good, although Bill had a heck of a time running errands – first off he couldn’t find a single gas station with windshield cleaning fluid, a senior had gotten beaten up at the dump by two Hispanic teenagers because he wasn’t unloading his trash fast enough (but they got hemmed in and were caught by Pittsboro’s finest), AND he witnessed two white guys yelling at a waitress and throwing a table at the hamburger/shake joint because she accidentally charged them $1 too much, couldn’t figure out how to reverse it, and had to wait for the manager to come back from break. The restaurant can’t keep people long enough to train them. I don’t understand people not willing to work for $18/hour. It just doesn’t compute. So poor Bill was really upset when he got home.

>221 richardderus: RD, my books from the U of Chi Press are on their way.

Penn State... here's an interesting tidbit - I will never watch, listen to, or give financial benefit to Penn State in any way, shape, or form because of their handling of the Sandusky sex scandal, lo these many years ago.

Bravo on today's result!

>222 Crazymamie: ‘Morning, Mamie! So glad you were able to sleep in. Three. Impressive.

>223 karenmarie: An admirable stand. I don't know about that one.

>222 Crazymamie: I'm more impressed by yours! I had all those letters in the right places and you had to make bricks without straw!

>219 karenmarie: Typical of me, Karen, I always start Wordle with a random word taken from the cover (front or back) of a book I have at any given time on my table. Today I took the word from In Memory of Memory which had been delivered earlier in the day.

My complete absence of a system is working for me as I have played and successfully guessed all my 19 games so far.

Have a lovely weekend.

>224 richardderus: Joe Paterno turned a blind eye. Sandusky raped young boys in the basement of his home, and his wife was either completely oblivious (which I doubt) or turned a blind eye.

>225 PaulCranswick: Paul - what a wonderful lack of system way to start Wordle. I'm reading so much slower these days that I'd have to use the same book for many days. I've got my list of starting words, which I added to this morning with a word from Peggy, and go from there.

Thanks re my weekend, the very same to you, half over as it already is.

>226 karenmarie: What.

That is appalling.

>227 richardderus: Yup. Look it up. Penn State Sex Scandal. However, your mention of Penn State related to books may have been the University of Pennsylvania Press - ?

Morning, Karen! Happy Sunday - I'm heading for my second cup of coffee.

'Morning, Mamie! Happy Sunday to you, too. Just finishing my first cup and have taken my morning meds and vitamins with juice.

Wordle 232 X/6 Another fail. I picked P instead of K. Blech.

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>230 karenmarie: Oh dear, that rots.

>228 karenmarie: Nope...PSU. *sigh*

Well, have yourself a lovely little Sunday.

>230 karenmarie: I also failed this one! I tried H and then P and then I was out of space.

>231 richardderus: Hiya, RD! I do plan on having a lovely little Sunday. I'm going to see if I can calculate a low sodium version of Preppy Kitchen's Decadent Turtle Cheesecake. I made the mistake of watching the video last night and want some. However, I didn't realize how ridiculously salty cream cheese is. It might just be that it remains high sodium and I eat really teensy slices of it.

>232 ursula: Sad, isn't it? I love solving it but don't seem to be as good at it as some of our 75er friends.

>223 karenmarie: I'm late to this discussion but 150% with you re: Penn State. As a long-time Keystone state resident, I knew and worked with a number of alumni, who seemed never to have moved beyond the fandom of their college days. This is not unique to Penn State, of course. But the elevation of Paterno to some higher plane was ridiculously misplaced. My oldest was a high school senior when the scandal broke in spring 2011, and in addition to the general shock of it all, we were very glad she had other academic options.

Hi Laura! I was absolutely disgusted, of course, with the elevation of Paterno to some level of godhood and the administrators enabling him and Sandusky. I'm glad your daughter had other options.

Funny story: I don't think I'd ever watched a Penn State game, or if I had, I didn't recognize the Nittany Lions logo. I unintentionally bought a t-shirt at the thrift store with the logo on it, liking it. There are no words, so I couldn't tell it was Penn State. So one day when some friends came over to take some firewood from a downed oak tree, Vanessa said, "I didn't know you supported Penn State." I was horrified, immediately said something along the lines of Penn State? No! Never in this life or the next." I'm looking at the shirt right now - it's pretty ratty, but as soon as Vanessa and Cary left I immediately wrote "I am not a fan. This is just a comfy t-shirt." It was still a wearable-in-public shirt, and I think I got some strange stares.

That's a great story Karen.

Oh, Karen. I'm in total agreement about Penn State and sorry that the sweatshirt is still wearable. I'm off to bed, having banged my head on the corner of a shelf bending over to put something down. (Pupils equal, etc., but it is a sore knot.) What is the school currently in the news for the same thing? I heard the same man on NPR one day last week and on Mama's Dr. Phil. No brain.

>221 richardderus: Oh, come on, Richard (*wheedle* *cajole*). We're at least even now or you're ahead; I took 5 tries today.

Hello, I seem to have lost your thread. Now I'll never get out of the maze. Oh, there, I found it. I hope you've had a good thread II up to now.

Sorry to hear about Jenna's illness and difficulties.

>56 karenmarie: I'm tempted by 8' humans with feathers. Wouldn't that be comfy?

>92 karenmarie: I have a dear friend with a voice that causes my husband and daughter to exit the house whenever she pays a visit. It's not bad face to face, but echoing through the house it's very distracting.

>126 karenmarie: I love that darning egg!

>156 karenmarie: I hope that when you want to try the elliptical that nothing discourages you again.

There I caught up. Penn State bad. Jenna better. Somehow staring your first thread didn't get me signed on here.

Hi Horrible, have a lovely week-ahead's reads!

>237 LizzieD: I haven't done it yet...I might not make it. I'll come tell you.

Morning, Karen! I got up to coffee already made and daughters new and old laughing together in the kitchen, so my day is off to an excellent start.

Have a wonderful week, Karen!

>236 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura.

>237 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. It’s only wearable at home, in the summer – it’s a t-shirt not a sweatshirt. When I wear it I think of Sandusky in prison. He’s eligible for parole in 2042. He would be 98. This gives me lots of satisfaction.

You are not supposed to hurt yourself – Bill tells me that when I run into something or get a cut in the kitchen, etc. – and I do hope that you’re okay this morning.

Duckduckgo’ing ‘school sex scandal 2022’ yielded quite a few results, but here are three: U of Michigan agreed to pay $480 million to more than 1,000 people – mostly men – who were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Robert Anderson.

San Jose State agreed to pay $560,000 to a former deputy athletic director who was fired for standing up for a whistleblowing swim coach. That whistleblowing swim coach was paid $225,000 and promoted him to management.

And, related, Canada’s Prince Andrew High School is changing its name.

>238 quondame: Hi Susan. Glad you found me again! Jenna’s feeling much better, but lost power yesterday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. this morning. At one point she went out to get warm by driving around and getting something from Starbucks.

I’d be interested in your take on Should We Stay or Should We Go. There are 114 copies on LT and 9 reviews. I rarely post reviews on the work page anymore. It just doesn’t seem that important for me to do so.

I wonder if your friend has figured out why Mike and Becky exit stage left when she arrives.

I’ve actually used that darning egg. It’s satisfying solid and cool to the touch.

I may try the elliptical today – Deanna brought up the subject on Thursday and suggested I try it for part of the time. I appreciated that she was the one who brought it up again.

>239 richardderus: Hi RD! Thanks. I’ve just started Big Jack, #17.5, a novella, but that puzzles me, because it’s 287 pages, novel length in my book. That should keep me going for a bit.

>240 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I’m done with cup one, will probably get in a second before heading off to rehab. How lovely to hear your daughters, new and old, laughing in the kitchen. I remember enjoying Jenna and my sister in the kitchen when Laura visited in 2019. I left them to it for quite a while, but eventually couldn’t resist joining the merriment.

>241 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! It should be a good one.

…
Bill’s company is officially quarantined – an estimator, project manager AND his 7-year old son who came into the office on Friday, and half the shop floor have Covid. Bill can and does work from home.

I want to make a Turtle Cheesecake this week – Preppy Kitchen’s version. It’s embedded itself into my brain and I’m determined. I also want to make his homemade caramel for it, too. So I’ll be heading to the grocery store after rehab today for Double Stuf Oreos and 4 boxes of cream cheese.

Does your quest to reduce your sodium get suspended for this, Horrible? Philadelphia makes it best, but there MUST be lower-sodium options like mascarpone around (it has 5mg sodium per serving) that you could substitute for half of the real thing.

Morning, Karen. Mercy! It is still!

I'm fine this morning, thank you. I've always been clumsy, but age and clunky shoes make me worse........ also a thing that my doc named (but I can't remember) having to do with equilibrium. Young people typically recover missteps in a very narrow area. It widens for older adults. Not dizzy or lightheaded, I unexpectedly step way out of line when we walk, and it sort of drives me nuts. I have given up my dream of mastering the balance beam.

U Michigan is the one. I still hear the man's voice telling how at 45, he had his wife accompany him on a visit to the urologist. He said, "When I saw and heard him snap that blue glove in place, I was out of there. Never again." Now at 60, he has advanced prostate cancer. (Sorry. This one gives me shivers, and I heard him twice.)

I do hope that you try the elliptical before you buy a machine of any kind! I haven't said lately, but I am enormously proud of you and equally thankful that you are doing what must be done! Love you, my friend!

>243 richardderus: Hmm. I think you’re on to something, RDear. 8 oz of Philadelphia cream cheese is 880 mg sodium, 8 oz of BelGioioso mascarpone is 80 mg sodium. As a rule, I don’t like mascarpone, but this is a new recipe, so a substitution won't make me compare. Excellent! Thank you. *smooch*

>244 LizzieD: Yes, it was just about still morning when you posted, my dear Peggy. I’m glad you’re fine today after yesterday’s mishap.

My balance sucks although my doctor said it was fine last October at my annual exam. I’ve been holding on with only one hand for a minute or so at a time on the treadmill, something the PTs suggested. I’ll never master the balance beam, either. Sigh. We’re a pair, aren’t we?

I thought about trying the elliptical today, but Deanna was busy with a newbie. I’ll plan on Wednesday. Thank you for the nudge, and thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I love you too.

…
It was raining and 34F when I left rehab, and I wasn’t going to go to the grocery store in that. I might go tomorrow – now I need 2 packages of cream cheese and two 8-oz tubs of mascarpone plus heavy cream for the caramel. I’ll also buy a backup tub of caramel in case I have a Caramel Failure.

edited to add: I have redeemed myself:

Wordle 233 4/6

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>56 karenmarie: >242 karenmarie: Should We Stay or Should We Go is now on the Kindle. For 3 weeks, but there's hope. At 70something these concepts are quite topical.

Oh good, Susan! I do hope you can get to it!

Ss far behind! I couldn't figure out why I missed so many posts. I have you re starred! Now i am all caught up!

I started playing wordle a coupe days ago. I really like it!

Hi Anita!

I like Wordle a lot, too, and today was particularly gratifying:

Wordle 234 3/6

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I have two errands to run - the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions and the grocery store to get a couple of things if I'm going to actually make the Turtle Cheesecake. Otherwise reading and puttering are on the hit parade.

After coffee, of course.

>249 karenmarie: - Well done on the Wordle!

>249 karenmarie: Nice. Took me 5. I had all but the first and fourth letter on my second turn. Took me forever to fill in those last two letters.

Thanks Katie and Laura. For some reason it just clicked with me today.

>249 karenmarie: I took FIVE tries, heavy heavy sigh.

Anyway. Onward! *smooch*

Morning, Karen! Wordle took me four tries today. Good luck with those errands. I need to go to the market, but I might do that tomorrow.

>253 richardderus: I rarely get it so quickly, so am basking for a bit. *smooch*

>254 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Thanks re the errands. I'm a very nasty person, because if I go today when Bill's working from home, I won't have to go anywhere except rehab tomorrow and have that additional ... hour or so... at home alone. That means I won't have to go to one town for rehab and the other town for prescriptions/groceries. We live between the two and I hate backtracking if I don't have to.

I'm only going to the grocery store for 5 things. We'll see how many I actually come home with, but the plan is 5. 😁

Nope. That doesn't make you nasty. That makes you clever.

I'm gonna place my bet on 7.

>256 Crazymamie: I see your seven and raise to nine...with only four of them the original five.

LOL. You guys are a hoot.

>257 richardderus: *belly laugh* This would also be an excellent bet if I was the one making the store run.

Ah, the store run! I think you're smart. (I don't know whether Richard knows you, but he certainly knows me - or the me who used to buy groceries.) I see today's Wordle and know you're smart! I had to have all 6 tries and was reconciled to losing when the letters turned green.
I wish you happy cheesecake and a lot of reading time!

Okay. Here's me being honest. And Richard's revised list is 10 with only 4 of the original list, Mamie's is 11.

Original list:

✔ Double Stuf Oreos for turtle cheesecake
✔ Fancy Feast if they had it
✔ heavy cream, pint
cream cheese x 2 - no cream cheese except for flavored or whipped, not even the store brand
✔ marscapone x 2
✔ Kerrygold salted butter - *added after thinking about it on Mamie's thread.

Ah, er...
Mint Oreos because it was 2/$7 although I know I could have gotten 1 for $3.50.
Frozen Sweet Potato Fries because they had them for the first time in 3 weeks
Caramel dip in case making it from scratch fails. I can use it with apple slices
Apple slices

Don't count: things Bill asked me to get since I was going out anyway
Grapes (not on receipt - new cashier, didn't notice 'til just now)
Bill's bread - we don't use the same bread
6-2 liter bottles of Diet Sprite

So. Richard nailed it on only 4 of the original 5. It would have been 10 had they had cream cheese. 9 total, so you both overestimated my spur-of-the-moment shopping. I promise I didn't deliberately NOT get anything, although I was going to get some Cherry Bubly for me but forgot it in the excitement of having to get Bill his diet Sprite. So one intentional extra?

Plus I got 3 prescriptions and a pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter was 'free', because we each have $70/quarter OTC money from our Blue Cross Medicare Advantage Plan. I'll take it with me tomorrow and try to calibrate it with theirs. It seems to work best on my ring finger.

>260 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I always try to get what's on the list but almost always get more things, as I did today. They didn't have the cream cheese (no effing cream cream cheese? I even asked), so I can't make the cheesecake, but I will probably try to make homemade caramel today, with the store-bought as backup WHEN I get cream cheese and can bake. Bill has a dentist's appointment today so I might putter in the kitchen when he's gone.

Yay for green, even if it took all 6.

Hmmmmmm

Well, it's actually more like a wash, then. What an interesting shopping cart! And what the heck with the grapes?! I guess it's just not that relevant to their bottom line...?

>261 karenmarie: - There has been a widespread shortage of cream cheese, Karen.

https://www.newsweek.com/empty-shelves-leave-cream-cheese-fans-upset-i-cant-go-l...

>262 richardderus: Yes, pretty much a wash. I deliberately did NOT go down most aisles, of course, as this was a hit-and-run trip. The grapes were $2.49/lb, I think, and I got him a medium-sized bag, so probably unintentionally saved ~$5. I'm incurably honest so would have pointed it out had I noticed in the store.

>263 katiekrug: Ah, I'd heard that a while back, but hadn't noticed it at my grocery store. I didn't realize that at least originally it was the result of a cyberattack. Who would cyberattack a cheese company? I'm noticing more things unavailable again, though, in general.

>264 karenmarie: That's exactly why they cyberattack a dairy. To make you think about how even cream cheese can be taken from you when They want to.

Unsettling the populace is a win for these malefactors.

>261 karenmarie: As an aside, mrsdrneutron came across dark chocolate Oreos the other day. They're super!

>265 richardderus: "What a world, what a world." I'm unsettled, but will get cream cheese sooner than later. I have everything else the recipe requires. I might stop in at the grocery store in the rehab town tomorrow and see if they have any cream cheese.

I just spent about 40 minutes making soft caramel. It's sitting in a bowl to cool. Tastes pretty darned good...

>266 drneutron: Jim, I was looking at the Oreo selection at the store today (hence the purchase of mint Oreos) and there were at least a dozen different varieties. Mind boggling. I think I saw the dark chocolate ones today, but I was on a mission for Double Stuf, then saw Mint, and figured I could only buy one additional variety.

>267 karenmarie: I'm pretty sure caramel = gooooooood in all possible meanings and variant definitions.

*sigh* to having to wait for turtlecake.

>255 karenmarie: Strategic thinking is by no means nasty in itself. You are working for the benefit of all as your alone time ultimately benefits your household. I have long been unhappy with the veneration of spontaneity, a practice that works better as life's spice than its staple.

>268 richardderus: This is lovely caramel - water, sugar, heavy cream, unsalted butter, and a bit of salt - I use light salt, so half the sodium. I was worried that it might seize up or otherwise fail, but nope! It's champion, to use Sarah Millican's word.

Wish me luck getting cream cheese tomorrow. If so, you'll get to see turtlecake within a few days.

>269 quondame: I agree, Susan. Strategic thinking and planning are my beacons in the chaos of spontaneity. Bill is more spontaneous than I am, likes last minute arrangements and usually shields me from them. I always thank him for it.

>270 karenmarie: Oh, now I'm hungry for caramel. I all those ingredients. But, but. I'll concentrate on how hot sugar scares the beejesus out of me.

Goddesses' Own Benisons on your Wednesday, Horrible! I am here, however, to boast.
Wordle 235 3/6

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Streak: 100%, 3 tries now 45% followed by 4 at 40%, only 15% at five and no scrubs yet.

*preen*

>271 quondame: Hot sugar can be extremely dangerous, for sure, Susan. I must admit that when I added the room temperature heavy cream to the boiling sugar mixture it really foamed up and a small dollop of cream went onto the stove, scaring me a bit, but I whisked and whisked and whisked and put it back on the stove for 2 minutes, added salt, which didn't foam up, and it came out beautifully. Not one burn, even a tiny one. Good luck if you make some.

>272 richardderus: Wow, RD. Congratulations.

I'm stuck after 3 tries and am going to leave it for a bit. I've got one letter in the right spot and two that aren't. u is in the right spot, o and h aren't. I'm temporarily stymied.

Bill's at work today. I have rehab, and will make a cream cheese run after that.

Bill's birthday presents (February 20th) arrived in the mail the other day, a steering wheel cover and a custom box of See's Candy - a 2 lbs with most for him and 30% for me - also arrived the other day. Sister's broke and we didn't get See's for Christmas, and I wasn't in the mood to spend another almost $100 on Christmas. But now... dark chocolate California Brittle, dc Almond Nougat, and dc Scotchmallow.

So coffee, a bit of LT, then off to rehab.

Rehabilitate well! You'll come back with the solution to Wordle clear in your mind, I'm sure.

Morning, Karen! Wishing you good luck acquiring the cream cheese. I finally got some on my last market trip - they were out the two previous times. Hooray for the caramel success - like Susan, I am afraid of hot sugar.

First you hab then you rehab. But it's all good, tis better to hab than hab not. You got me hooked on Wordly. And talk about rare days, I made it in three along with our RD! I need to buy a lottery ticket!

>276 SomeGuyInVirginia: Not a bad notion, Larry. I'll go kick $2 into the lotto pot, too.

>274 richardderus: I’ve rehabbed and Wordled!

Wordle 235 5/6

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>275 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie, but they had no block cream cheese – only whipped. Not right for the recipe. Sigh. I might have to break down and go to Walmart – it shows available when I look online. I haven’t been to a Walmart in over 2 years. Thanks re the caramel.

>276 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hiya, Larry! Yay for habbing and rehabbing and getting you hooked on Wordle. Congrats on tying RD at 3. Another place I haven’t been in over two years – inside of a gas station to buy a lottery ticket.

>277 richardderus: The lottery is a regressive tax. The only way I think it should work is to not give away rare multi-million dollar jackpots, but lots and lots of $50,000 jackpots that will truly help people. *steps off soapbox*

…
Rehab was successful. I’ve lost 2 more lbs. I tried the elliptical – they call it The Beast – for three whole minutes, and it turns out that I’m one of those people whose knees it hurts more than the treadmill. In my mind I was calling it The F***ing Beast – hurt my knees and is a much harder work out. Good to know, and now I know to continue with the treadmill at the local Senior Center (it appears that they’re open) when I finish rehab. I’d like to have a treadmill at home, but that might take a while. I went on the treadmill for 27.5 minutes.

Whew. I’m whupped.

>278 karenmarie: I'm glad you're dropping the pounds! And no wonder you're whupped. Just *thinking* about Wally-World makes me tired. But they *do* do pick-up if you'll order online.

The lottery is the bad-at-math tax. But it ain't gonna win itself, so once in a blue moon it's minimally invasive.

>278 karenmarie: I'm sorry the elliptical didn't agree with your knees. Was it the standing sort? I'm all for doing what it takes to coddle knees. Well, I live in a house with stairs, so maybe not anything.

>279 richardderus: Thanks, RD, I'm glad, too. Between the elliptical, weights, and cool down, AND going to the grocery store, I was totally whupped. Took a brief nap, then decided to shower, partly to get clean, partly 'cuz I was cold. I'm now warm and clean.

>280 quondame: It was noticeable within 30 seconds of getting on it - and I only stayed on it for 3 minutes total. They called that particilar machine "The Beast" and yes, it was the standing sort. I'm not sure why Deanna put me on the only one that was standing, but I still think the pumping action might be harder on my knees than the treadmill. I will go to the Senior Center soon to see what equipment they have. I remember them having both treadmills and elliptical equipment. I come down stairs in the morning and go up stairs at night. Sometimes easily, sometimes with difficulty.

We bought a pulse oximeter the other day and I took it into rehab to 'calibrate' it, as it were. It was very close but not perfect - 1% different in oxygen and 1 heart beat for pulse. Theirs are hospital grade of course, and Rebekah said it was very good for a Walgreens brand. I figure if it got low enough to worry about my oxygen, 1% would not make a difference one way or the other.

>278 karenmarie: Well done with the rehab, Karen. Was the 27.5 minutes planned or did it just happen to be that long as it seems a quite accurate time?

Nice job on the continued weight loss and the rehab. I am actually jealous of your workouts because I am still fighting COVID fatigue and I only manage a walk once or twice a week right now. No TKD for me! It's all I can do to get through the basics. So work out a little for me, too, while you're at it. ; )

>282 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I normally spend 30 minutes on the treadmill. I spent 3 minutes on the evil elliptical, was only going to go 27 on the treadmill, but pushed 30 seconds just because I could. I've also been doing 13 reps on weights instead of 12 - not huge, but at least something. edited to add: All of the treadmills and elliptical machines have timers to show how many (hours?) minutes and seconds you're working out.

>283 Berly: Hi Kim. Thank you. I'm sorry you're still fighting COVID fatigue. You are doing what you can. I'll put on a burst of not slow for you tomorrow!

It took 5 tries, but only because I tried cause first.

Wordle 236 5/6

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Ah coffee, lovely coffee.

I'm going to brave the dread Walmart after rehab today because I Want Cream Cheese.

>285 karenmarie: "Want", hell! NEED it by now! ...but going *in* WallyWorld? There *is* another way....

Well, I am only 40+ messages behind (again). Hope all is well there, Karen!

>286 richardderus: RD, I have never mastered the technique of ordering online - I made several attempts during the worst of the pandemic at my grocery store and balked at actually pushing the 'place order' button several times. For a true grocery order it ultimately ended up with my not willing to relinquish control. For this effort, walking in for 2 boxes of cream cheese (and now 1 orange, as Katie got me with the idea of Orange Cranberry Scones), in an N95 mask, doesn't phase me. I've been closer to many folks at rehab, some who I know are unvaccinated (Bob, bless his heart, has a true medical reason as his doctors tell him NO because of his mechanical heart valve), and at least one of the PTs, who was missing for 2 weeks and told me it was because of COVID when she returned. Gotta go there, needs must, so I've been keeping my fingers crossed since I started rehab. It is clearly the most dangerous place I visit.

>287 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm so far behind on some threads that I'll either be skimming to catch up or simply telling folks that I'm drawing a line in the sand and moving forward.

Things are well here, thank you. I'll visit your thread later today, after I return from rehab and the Dread Walmart.

Hi Karen

I'm slow today. This is the first day since the surgery that I feel out of it, tired and in some pain. I think it is a signal to do nothing today but sleep..and read.

I note from your above book list that you read Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley. This is an incredible book.

The snow photos are lovely. Any snow we had this week is gone, there is however a large patch of ice at the bottom of the steps where Lilly goes outside. It is stubborn because no amount of product will get rid of it. Lilly's smart and has figured a small path around it.

Winter is here, the squirrels are climbing and clinging to the bird feeders; the fox in the woods in back of our house are giving a plaintive, haunting sound at night, and of course the heating bills are higher.

I hope this is a good day for you.

>288 karenmarie: As you've thought it through and decided this is an acceptable risk, okay, I shall stifle like Edith.

Cranberry orange scones! Das yumm!

>289 Whisper1: Linda, I’m so sorry that you’re tired, out of it, and in pain. Your body’s definitely telling you to sleep, read, and indulge yourself in things that please you.

I can’t say enough about Lily and the Octopus, which I read last year of course. It absolutely stunned me. The Guncle was almost as good but not quite.

Our snow is so infrequent that posting photos makes me happy. Boo hiss to ice. Good for Lilly for getting around it.

I have squirrel-proof feeders. The squirrels have plenty of hickory and black walnuts that they stored in the fall – they’re digging them out now as evidenced by many small holes all around the yard. I love the idea of the fox – I haven’t seen a fox out here in many a year but there used to be a vixen who moved her kits from one part of the woods to another. We were fortunate to witness it three times in three years when we were sitting on the front porch.

This is a good day for me – I put my pace back to what it was on Monday, added a bit of incline, and burned 101 calories – my goal was to burn 100 calories today. The incline helped me do that, and I’ll either keep the same amount of incline or increase it on Monday.

I also successfully navigated Walmart, see below.

>290 richardderus: It is an acceptable risk and actually was less of a risk than the grocery store because the spacing down the side of the store and in the aisles is wider than the grocery store. I also made the decision to use the self-check, something I absolutely abhor at my grocery store, because there were either full carts or many people at every cashier station. I walked into the self-check where there was an employee helping the self-check-out-challenged. She got me through it in a heartbeat, so to speak, and I was out 15 minutes sooner than I might have been otherwise.

In line with Tuesday’s grocery shopping report, here’s today's. 5 total, 2 planned for, 3 spur of the moment:

✔ = item planned before and acquired before going into Walmart
🙄 = spur of the moment item

✔4 boxes of cream cheese, generic instead of Philly but beggars can’t be choosers. 2 for Turtlecake, 2 for Bill’s birthday cheesecake for the 20th. He did say that the Turtlecake could be for his birthday. Maybe, maybe not.
✔Two navel oranges – one for scones, one for me.
🙄 Kerrigold unsalted butter. 50¢ less than at the grocery store, and I can use it to bake with where regular salted butter is called for if I add only ¼ t lite salt, a ‘savings’ of 510 mg sodium per ½ cup. I researched that this morning, so had unsalted butter on the brain.
🙄 Hamburger patties, 85/20, because I ran out yesterday and like using them for a meal better than defrosting a whole lb or two lbs of ground beef to make patties with.
🙄 Two boxes of Hint of Salt Triscuits per Bill’s suggestion. 50 mg sodium for 6 crackers. A definite winner.

You made your trip to Hell count for a lot. I'm all agog at the prospect of photos of turtlecake!

Here's Preppy Kitchen's Turtle Cheesecake. I love your calling it Turtlecake, and it shall be called this forevermore.

>289 Whisper1: Dachshund and octopus, why have I not heard of Lily and the Octopus before?

It is (expletive) 90℉ here! The Russians may be all for climate change, but I am not.

Ah ha! You didn't read my 2021 thread eight, message 237. Here's my review:

Review of Lily and the Octopus

As much as I know you love dachshunds, be warned that this book will have you sobbing at various points.

90F. Yeesh. In LA. In February. Just plain awful.

I've been lurkingly following your rebound from the heart attack. I really admire your perseverance in rehab and all the dietary explorations. I got a little stymied with the reading thing, so I opened the jigsaw puzzle I was given at Christmas. Toucans. Photo at Mark's thread, because I wanted him to know I was doing the puzzle to commemorate his trip to Costa Rica (where there are Toucans, I think).

Lily and the Octopus. Hmmmm. Maybe. I just dropped a bundle at Amazon on Rebecca Solnit books. Supposed to deliver Saturday.

>291 karenmarie: So glad I never do the grocery shopping, Karen. I would take way too many spur of the moment items. I only did the groceries in the years Frank was so ill, he was not able to do it at all. He is way better restraining himself.

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. I will have to do a whole lot of skimming, if I want to catch up on the threads. It never slows down around here. Of course, my feeders were completely empty on my return but I took care of all that, including plugging my birdbath heater back in. No visitors, though.

Sue is going over to Bree's shortly and then will bring Jackson back here. Sue is meeting friends in Milwaukee for the weekend, so it will be me & the boy for the afternoon.

>296 weird_O: Hi Bill! I appreciate the lurking follow and thank you for your kind words. I was and am determined to finish rehab on an up note, and my own internal need is encouraged by all my friends here on LT. It really does help, believe me.

Jigsaw puzzles. I had one that I tried sometime into the pandemic in 2020 and gave up after 6 months of it on a table and perhaps 2 hours total invested in it. I gave it to Bill’s office manager, and she apparently finished it in 2 hours or less.

I do have a jigsaw puzzle here – a Wentworth 40 (yes, forty) piece puzzle of kitties Getting Together, 2012. Have I opened it? No? Will I? Perhaps. I simply do not get the lure of jigsaw puzzles. Lily and the Octopus is a stunner, but not for the faint of heart.

>297 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! Even though I don’t always restrain myself, I’m worlds better at it than Bill. He’ll go out for 2 things, usually soda, and come home with $80-$100 worth of stuff. The amusing thing recently has been him trying to help me with the low sodium bit. Some things have worked, some things haven’t. But I appreciate him trying.

>298 msf59: Hi Mark! Happy Friday, and I am so glad to see you back on your rounds. Skimming works, I need to do some of it myself without the excuse of having been out of the country for over a week. Your birds will come back of course, they just need to realize you’re home and open for business. Yay for you and Jackson for the afternoon.

…
Well, I just spent over an hour making sure my pill box is accurate for the last 3 days of my pill box week (Mon – Sun). Bill has never been able to get the doctor and pharmacy in sync on refills, and I’m discovering that, too. So today I finally added the description of each med to my spreadsheet and confirmed it all. Not a waste of time because I appreciate that these medications are helping to keep me alive, but a serious time sink. Harrumph.

Off to start thread the third!