Day 301, 302 of Sheltering In

Friday, Saturday. Ugh! Friday was paperwork day. All darn day. After dinner I hurt so bad. Saturday I was still hurting so I stayed home and didn’t go to my father-in-law’s to do laundry. With traffic an hour each way, not gonna happen with this knee pain. 

I’m reclining (with my knee elevated) at home reading all day and periodically icing my knee. Nope, not buttercream, reusable ice packs.🤣 I now have 6. If 6 isn’t enough then we have a problem. Reading the news? Nope! I was being good! I just chilled out all day by myself. Not even the kitty cats bothered me! I was reading books on my Kindle. Finished one, started another. 

After 5pm I get a call from Anastasia. (She never calls me. So it must be a big deal if she’s calling me.) Here is a synopsis of the convo:

Lola: Hello.

Anastasia: Where is your son’s phone?

Lola: Either on him or in his room.

Anastasia: Well where is he?

Lola: At his Grandpa’s house.

Anastasia: Where are you?

Lola: Home.

Anastasia: Are you sure he didn’t lose his phone?

Lola: I don’t think so. Why?

Anastasia: Cuz I called him and some foreign guy answered the phone, then he passed it to another foreign guy so I hung up and called you.

Lola: Huh?

Anastasia: I didn’t dial the wrong number. I’m going to try again and I’ll call you back.

Lola: Ok, I’ll run the Where’s My Phone App. 

So I run it, the phone is where my son is, at his Grandpa’s house. I try texting my wife, no reply. I try calling my wife, no answer. I’m starting to get concerned. 

Just as I was about to call my brother-in-law (lives with Grandpa), my phone rings, it’s a call from my son’s phone. It’s my wife. She’s laughing her ash off! Apparently my wife’s brother and father were pranking Anastasia. He answered my son’s phone talking with an accent. Then he passes the phone to their Dad who does the same! Anastasia freaked and called me.

Anastasia eventually calls me back and she’s kinda laughing, but also kinda pissed off because she said she was getting ready to leave the house to go to the “hood” to save them.

 

She thought my son either lost his phone or my wife and son were kidnapped! Kidnapped! 

I don’t think we’ve all laughed that much since before the pandemic! 

For those keeping score:

...If you’re late to Lola’s party...Anastasia is my ex.

...Anastasia originally called my son to see if he got the package that was delivered today (birthday gift).

...My father-in-law and Brother-in-law and Anastasia all know each other from my wedding. I asked Anastasia (and her wife) to attend as photographer because the woman my wife invited (relative of her bff) canceled. My wife’s sister stepped up at the last minute (she was refusing until she found out the original photographer canceled.) So Anastasia was back-up photographer. Yes, it’s all very strange, but that’s how they all know each other.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Day 299-300 of Sheltering In

Wednesday, Thursday. Wednesday I had my knee MRI. I’ve had lots of MRI’s shoulders, back, brain, all of them several times each, but the knee MRI was excruciating. I had to have my left leg absolutely flat. It was an open MRI and my head was right before, but not under it. Holding my leg flat like that with no movement for 2 hours was incredibly painful. I forgot my anxiety meds. I usually skip the morning and then take it an hour before an MRI. I took a 1/2 pill in the morning and was going to take the rest an hour before. Didn’t! Did my usual backwards counting, but it wasn’t helping. I was asked what kind of music I wanted (not that you can hear it much from the machine clanging, and you can’t dance). I chose classic rock. Here are the first few songs I was treated to while getting an MRI of my knee:

     1.) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme 3 Steps”

     2.) Journey’s “Wheel In The Sky”

I thought the first one was funny cuz it was an MRI of my knee. The second one was kinda funny cuz the machine was basically above me. Ok, ok, it’s just me, but I had to find some humor somewhere. They also played “Hotel California” and a Genesis/Phil Collins song I can’t think of. The rest is a blur because I was concentrating on counting backwards, while also breathing in through my nose and slowly out through my mouth. I needed to calm down because the pain was starting to cause my eyes to well up with tears. I fought it, I didn’t cry, didn’t embarrass myself. Thank goodness! I have to go back there in December for my annual brain MRI. I kept having shooting pain down my butt to my ankle. Sciatica. It was bad. I kept trying very slowly to shift my weight off the left side. I’d tense up my left butt cheek, then the right. I was doing this super slow, making sure my knee didn’t move. This alleviated the pain only slightly. I did call out to ask for a break but he didn’t hear me, or ignored me. The very second he started to say we were done I bent my knee. I was still under the machine, not much room, but damn! It felt good to bend it even though I couldn’t fully bend it until the table was moved back. The tech helped me get to a sitting position. My foot was completely numb. I held onto my walker and had to keep stomping my foot on the floor to get some feeling back. Normally when I’m done with an MRI I fly outta there as fast as I can. I sat there, still doing the anti-anxiety breathing. The tech lowered the table all the way because I had told him how I injured myself at my brain MRI getting off the table. He could tell I was distressed and in pain. He waited patiently and walked alongside me and walked me to the waiting room where I waited for my MRI CD. When I got to the car (which took forever, even though it was parked in front of the door), I got in very slowly. My wife could tell I was really hurting. I asked if she had any drugs on her. Painkillers! Not street drugs. She didn’t. I told her about how when I was in the machine, struggling with the pain I thought about having her drive me to Walgreens and get one of those ice packs that you snap and it freezes up and a bottle of booze. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We were far from home and were doing errands afterwards since we were out. We wouldn’t be home for 2 hours. I sucked it up and we skipped Walgreens and finished our errands. At the grocery my wife pointed out that my drink of choice was on sale. 🥃 Jack Daniels. I had Christmas money in my wallet, took out a twenty and gave it to her to pay for it. I took out some singles too since it was $19.99 + tax. I haven’t seen the price that low in a long time.

While I was getting ready to leave for my MRI, my daughter was first in line to get the Moderna vaccine. They were giving the shots in the community room of the apartment building where my daughter will be moving into. She got a tour and was over the moon! She just could not stop talking about it, though she did to give me an update on her items that were stolen while she was on home visit. She has a lock on her bedroom door, but all residents had to pack up all but 1 week of clothing because they were treating for bedbugs. All other belongings, even wall art, was put in bags in the basement. Apparently 1 or more people went shopping. These are just some of the items missing:

Nebulizer (machine for asthma treatments, cost me over $100 because someone broke her previous machine. I’m not paying for another. Either they do it or I call the Office of the Inspector General and file a complaint.)

Several boxed DVD sets, a bunch of DVD movies she borrowed from her brother and me.

Her Bible. (Who steals a Bible? Apparently they never heard of the 7th commandment. I told my daughter to have a random conversation at medication time the next morning. Something like “my Bible is missing. That’s stealing. The 7th commandment says “Thou shall not steal”. The person who took it broke a commandment. If that person puts my Bible on the dining room table some time today, I won’t tell staff about it and I won’t talk about it again.” Apparently the guilty party doesn’t care about the 10 commandments.)

About a dozen stuffed animals given to her by special people in her life. One of them she used to snuggle with when she’d had a bad day.

Cubs hoodie that isn’t a common design. We are thinking a staff member or maintenance person took it because if a housemate wore it, it would be obvious it was my daughter’s.

My daughter is working with the team lead to get these items replaced and a check for $100 to reimburse me for all the canned food and beverages I bought for her that were gone. I’m not holding my breath waiting for this. It took weeks to get reimbursed for the Nike duffle bag that was destroyed due to a rodent problem that was not promptly addressed. That bag was not cheap. The Nebulizer needs to be replaced right away. From the sound of her, my daughter may be starting to have bronchitis again, so she will definitely need it because Nebulizer treatments are better than inhaler treatments.

I can’t get in to see the orthopedic doctor until the 25th. The report from the MRI place was sent to him and my primary care doctor. I’m hoping my primary care doctor sends me a message in My Chart or calls me to let me know what’s up with my knee. If I tore ligaments I don’t want to make it worse.

Time to get some fresh ice packs from the freezer.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Day 293-298 of Sheltering In

If you want to skip over what I’ve been seeing and hearing about current events, scroll down 3 paragraphs or so.

Wednesday was a late night due to watching the news about the Capitol. Every night is a late night for me due to chronic pain, insomnia, and the knee/leg injury. I’m used to it. But this was different because of the events of the day. Since that day I have seen videos online of someone who likely is a member of the tin hat brigade. One in particular went on for a long time and was repetitive. Military planes are in the air...as he spoke. Marshall Law is going to be invoked in the next few days. Not likely, wouldn’t someone have seen at least one of these planes? Yes, I’m a geek...a former accountant...I took notes and then Googled to find out what likelihood any of what he was saying was true. For starters, inconsistencies in the timing of when he was told the information. Fear mongering aplenty. He advised to prep for any event that may happen. Enough food, gas, cash for a minimum of 2 weeks, to a month. I’m good, but I don’t do cash. I just need to fill a gas can for the generator and I’ll be good. I should be doing that now for use of the snowblower and the generator in case of ice storms bringing down power lines (not China hacking into the electrical grid~where do they get this stuff from?) Allegedly 🍊 is moving from military base to military base, (like a chess piece one article said) because he is afraid of getting caught 🤷🏻‍♀️ Dunno. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. Allegedly secret forces were dressed as BLM and Antifa and confiscated the democratic members of Congress’s laptops. Allegedly these laptops have secrets on them that will take down 🤷🏻‍♀️those members of Congress. Allegedly all this stuff has been loaded onto Wikileaks. These laptops allegedly contain Hillary’s emails (hasn’t that ship sailed? What would disclosing them now do?) Other laptops have details about pedophiles in government office. This isn’t a 3rd world country, I would think the laptops would be protected against hacking, would be heavily encrypted, etc. The speech 🍊gave about a smooth transition of power is being translated to mean a smooth transition to 🍊’s 2nd term with a new cabinet. 

My wife’s friend HAD to talk to her today. More of the above. She also called Vice President Pence Judas and went on a long diatribe pointing out/connecting the dots between Bible prophecy and current events. I’ve read the “Left Behind” series, so I’m familiar with its take on “end times”. 

All of the things being “allegedly” leaked to the media, or the media refused to cover make me think 3 things:

     1.) It’s all true.

     2.) Parts of it are true, but not to the extent of the stories.

     3.) None of its true and its all in 🍊’s head and he’s got his staff and the military believing his every word and going along with it all until...until I don’t know what. All the conspiracies, all the military, 🍊having to keep moving to avoid 🍊 being....what? Captured? Is this a game of Capture The Flag?

My daughter is getting the Moderna Vaccine Wednesday. They are making it an event of sorts at the New Apartments! My daughter is so excited! I think the excitement is blocking her usual fear of shots. We have no idea if this means occupancy will be soon. (Gosh I hope so! I’m tired of being a storage facility. Had I known this would drag out this long I wouldn’t have been so overzealous in getting/saving for her furniture and stuff.) 

Wednesday I am finally getting my knee MRI. Gee, only a month and 4 days since the injury. I hope it works out because I’m tired of playing the in network/out of network game with every provider my insurance has referred me to. A rep I spoke with today is going to call the facility that the insurance specifically sent me an approval letter for and she’s going to remove them from the system, after a supposedly terse reprimand for the rudeness of the staff when I called. Unfortunately I can’t get to see the orthopedic doctor until the 25th. I’m hoping my primary care doctor can get a report and let me know a little of what’s going on. I started PT Monday. M had wanted me to use the push bike. I declined because right now if I move wrong I have piercing sciatica, not to mention extreme muscle cramps. I had visions of yet another PT injury. I think it’s prudent to wait until my doctors, therapists, and I know exactly what is going on with my knee/leg before I do anything too ambitious. I’m perfectly willing to do just about anything other than the push bike. Oh, and definitely no sideways skipping. Wtfork? 3 people were doing that while I was there. Obviously they are near graduation/near the end of their recovery. I had an excruciating deep tissue massage behind my knee where the Baker’s Cyst is, along the sides and the outside of my thigh, where the muscles/tendons/ligaments feel like they’re being stretched much too far and just a touch or the wrong position/movement sends me nearly into tears. I said nearly. I’ve been going to this PT place for 4 years, I know the staff, no way am I going to embarrass myself. 

Stay safe everyone.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-January

10 January 2021

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. (Past hosts include: Our first - Judd Corizan, Mr. L, Kwizgiver and Bud) Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

 

 

Taken from League of Extraordinary Penpals

 

 

 

 

 

1. What are your plans for January?
I better be getting my knee MRI soon and find out what’s wrong with my knee/leg. Due to ridonkulous insurance snafus I have to wait again for insurance approval. First my doctor sent me where I always go, but currently they don’t take my insurance. Then my insurance sent me an approval for a different place, I call them to schedule and they don’t take my insurance (how is that if my insurance sent me an approval for them?)

2. What do you want to see happen in 2021?
I want to see the coronavirus gone. I also want to see more vaccines for the coronavirus that are more effective with little to no side effects with faster immunity and broader distribution. Saturday I had to decide if my daughter should get the Moderna vaccine. Sunday I have to get up too early to run over to my daughter’s group home to get the paperwork done. I’m still waiting to her from her doctor, but she has asthma so I’m certain he will approve. IDPH counts group homes in Phase 1A, so she can get the vaccine this coming week. I want to be able to see my daughter for weekend visits. The 2 week visits are just too long. I don’t want hear, see, or read about 🍊.

3. What would you give a 5 star rating?
Hmmm. Would be easier to answer what I would give zero stars. Zero stars to Apple. I got a new battery 2 months ago and I’m always charging my iPhone and it’s constantly crashing. It’s a 7 and I’m NOT getting a new phone until my wife’s phone is paid for. I refuse to have monthly payments for more than 1 phone! I can’t afford it and Apple needs to stop junking up older models to frustrate you into upgrading. 

4. Do you have writing goals for 2021?
I don’t do goals.

5. How do you feel about memoirs?
Memoirs/biographies/autobiographies are my favorite kind of books to read. Katherine Hepburn was a favorite of mine. I’m still reading Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself”. It’s very good, he’s fascinating, but I find myself having difficulty with it. Never had this issue before, but I get lost on a page several times and end up reading the same paragraph over and over. I’ve got several memoirs in my Kindle waiting for me to get to them...Betty White, Audrey Hepburn, Debbie Harry, Steve Jobs, Grace Kelly. I have over 100 unread books in my Kindle thanks to Bookbub and The Fussy Librarian. Both send a daily email of book offers. Bookbub has some free, others from $0.99-$4.99. The Fussy Librarian are all free. Both allow you to choose the genres you like.

6. If you could join any musical group who would you choose?
I don’t think I’m the musician type. I was an accountant. I just don’t see it.

7. What are your favorite genres across all media?
Memoirs, mysteries, some true crime. I find myself reading a lot of Lesbian Romance novels lately. I also enjoy nonfiction.

8. What candle scents are your favorite? More musky scents, or fresh linen. Not a fan of florals.

9. How well can you mimic other accents or voices?
I'm can do some. I think it’s been awhile.

10. What books are on your TBR list in 2021?
See #5 above.1

11. When do you decide it’s time to upgrade/buy something new?
I am not eager to upgrade or buy new because more often than not, new is cheaply made. Example, I just had to replace my Jenn Air gas range last month. I bought it used and got just over 10 years out of it. My new Whirlpool Gas Range just seems cheap. The one I bought for my previous home was sturdy, well built and I was really upset when my agent included my appliances in the contract when I sold the house. Already had service out for the new one because the top section that has the clock and oven controls seems flimsy. When you go to set the oven temperature that section moves unless you are super, super delicate when using the buttons. The service tech said that’s the way all the brands are making them now. Very disappointing. But I do love the 5th burner and the high BTU burner.

12. Why is your favorite color your favorite color?
This is embarrassing and when I answer this you can pretty accurately guess my age. Favorite color is purple. Because Donny Osmond’s favorite color was purple. At least that’s what Tiger Beat magazine said. (SEE! Embarrassing!)

13. Who understands you the best?
My wife.

14. Do you write letters?
Not in a long time.

15. How do you keep going when times are hard?
If I figure it out I’ll let you know. I seem to find a way, but depending on the situation, keeping going involves different approaches.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021 

Days 275-292 of Sheltering In

Christmas was nice, ok. I bought a 4 foot silver tree from Meijer. My wife wouldn’t get the 7 footer from the attic and that’s just not something I can do. It was less than $15 cuz it was on sale and my son is a genius. Ok, not a genius, but he’s paying more attention to things than I think. The box was all badly taped and ripped, so he asks if he should go to customer service and ask if they have any more in the back and if they don’t, should he ask for a price reduction cuz we don’t know if all the pieces are there, we’ll have to get different box for it, etc. Probably seems like no big deal, but you have no idea how hard I’ve had to work to get both kids to go ask customer service when there are none of the item on the shelf that THEY want, or different size or whatever. I can’t always be around when they need to ask customer service or an employee on the floor. It used to be like pulling teeth to get them to ask for themselves, now he volunteered to ask for me. Progress. Baby steps.

Kids got stuff they liked. I’m still missing some gifts. They are here somewhere. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve been in so much pain, or medicated to keep track of things. I ended up not wrapping a single gift because I was in so much pain from the leg injury and my back issues. I did “department store fold” the clothing, which was perfect because we decided to take 4 boxes and recycle them. I had a tub for each person and I’d toss an item to my wife, she’d put it in a box (cuz it was already neatly folded) and hand it to the recipient to open. It worked out well and since each gift landed ever so briefly in a box, there was still a bit of mystery and it wasn’t like giving them a bin of not wrapped, unfolded items. 

My wife picked up my daughter Christmas Eve night after her day program holiday party. At that point I was prepping healthy apps and on major pain meds and steroids, so I wasn’t gonna drive. I also thought it might be nice for my wife and daughter to have some time together, maybe so they might get along better. Oh...SILLY ME! It did not last until my son’s birthday on the 28th. Since New Year’s Eve it’s been hell. The arguing, the yelling, the swearing and bad name calling. Yup. I heard the “b” word many times. Once is too much. My daughter wouldn’t dare call me the “b” word, but apparently it’s ok to call my wife that and vice versa. I really don’t understand the need to yell and be so...snippy.

I took my daughter for her COVID-19 test Wednesday. She’ll get the results Friday or Monday and she’ll be going back to the group home probably that same day. Had warranty service out last week because of a few issues with the new Whirlpool gas range. Rubber in between the cooktop seam which was just for transport and should have been removed when delivered. The person I talked to at Whirlpool didn’t know that, so she added it to the service order. My floor got scratched up so we thought the feet might be missing. Turned out there was a piece of glass stuck to a foot. The last item was the top of the stove where the electronic controls are was wobbly. The tech said all the stoves are like that now. Nice. Way to save money by making it flimsy. I got the 5 year extended warranty, so if there is an issue, it’s covered. They just don’t make stuff like they used to. My old Jenn Air gas range which I got used, I got 10 years of use out of it. That was money well spent. 

My wife and I installed our new Whirlpool gas range. My wife would have done it, but she couldn’t loosen the nut on the old gas line. I thought I’d give it a go. Wrench on the bottom nut, 2nd wrench on the top nut. What my wife didn’t realize is that for gas lines it’s not righty tighty, lefty loosey. It’s righty loosey, lefty tighty. So she was tightening it instead of loosening it. When I went to give it a go it immediately loosened! Oh man! She was not happy. She takes pride in DIY stuff, as I do and she was not liking that something she struggled with for an hour took me 1 minute.

I still haven’t had my knee MRI. It’s scheduled for next week, however, my insurance sent approval for an entirely different MRI place. Thursday I will be on the phone with my insurance to get that fixed before I contact the hospital to pre-register. Then I have to talk to them regarding issues with PT balances due. This should have been resolved before I ran out of shoulder visits. (I got more visits approved, but haven’t had a visit due to the knee injury.) I went for the PT evaluation appointment where they keep insisting I have a co-pay. I don’t, so I have to talk to the insurance about that and ask them to conference call the PT place with me...again. If this doesn’t get resolved I am not doing anymore PT unless there is an in network provider that is not the one next door to my doctor. In the past every time I went there I was injured within the first 3 visits and had to see my doctor and stop PT for a couple months. I don’t like the therapists there...can you blame me? I’ve gone there for 3 separate injuries/conditions and all 3 times I was injured because they made me do exercises or movements that I had no business doing. Example: I shouldn’t have been made to lie on the machine where you use your legs to push a weighted barrier. Instant sciatica. I had severe back pain after my surgery and the weighted barrier was too much for me. Also, the 2 therapists that work there split their time at 3 other locations, so, going to a different location I would still be seeing them. Nope!

Today was scary exhausting. My wife and I were glued to the tv watching the chaos that unfolded at the Capitol. After several hours I started checking Facebook to see what was being said about it. That’s just not a rabbit hole you want to enter. Wild, crazy conspiracy theories, smack talking and nastiness. I pretty much stuck with the activist group I’m in. No...I’m not an activist and I don’t play one on tv. I stumbled across the group and discovered it was a better source for local news/politics than the local groups I’m in. Also, virtually every group member is like-minded. In fact I don’t think I’ve checked any of those groups for nearly a month. Too much nastiness, Karen-talking, and fighting. It was just too stressful to read and I really wasn’t getting any local intel. I have some Facebook friends strategically on “30-day snooze” because of politics. One of the first to get snoozed was my wife’s elder sister. In general, she’s pretty “out there”, but it’s the tone of her posts and her attitude. Apparently the party she belongs to is the only correct party and she just bulldozes anyone that disagrees. (Very much like her God is THE only God and if you don’t believe in HER God...well you know where you’re going.)  Since she’s on snooze I didn’t get to see her take on the day, but my wife read to me her posts about it with the comments. They were comments from older relatives whose viewpoint did not coincide with hers. She was just NASTY. And not in a Janet Jackson way. She was very disrespectful to them and then in a huff she took her ball and went home. She blasted every commenter and when she figured out she was alone in her view of the day’s happenings she got huffy and swore off Facebook for at least the 10th time since thanksgiving. Whateves! If you can’t have a polite discourse, don’t bother. I’ve mostly stopped commenting on Facebook. Not because of any ugliness or any issues. I just feel so stressed and depressed that I just don’t want to bother. Most of my Facebook friends are my wife’s relatives, or people from my neighborhood or from high school. The neighborhood and high school “friends” are very clickish. Like back in high school where I was always the odd one out. The neighborhood “friends” are all over the country, but you can tell they all communicate outside of Facebook and those communications often spill onto Facebook. Like plans to get together. I really should graduate to not reading their posts. It’s taken awhile to go to not commenting, so maybe I’ll gradually stop reading them and just read stuff in the cooking groups I’m in. This no friends in real life sucks. It’s hard enough trying to make friends as an adult. Throw in a pandemic and it’s just impossible.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-The End of the Year

  

 

Hi! Your host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This a feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves! on WTThe Blog. Here we will steal 10 ​ 11 4 12  

 

I may have posted this last year.  

It's a questionnaire I answer every year. 

some of the answers are quite different this year!

  

First things first, did you have a good year?

It wasn’t horrible. Just different. I was used to my daughter working part time as a bagger at a grocery store and picking her up for weekend home visits nearly every Friday. Due to the pandemic and her asthma she had to take a leave of absence. She was told last week that she was let go and they would love to have her apply and return when it is safe for her to do so. It was a Spring and Summer of driving to her group home with take-out food once a week and having lunch at the patio table, socially distanced. Visitors were not allowed inside the group home. I also dropped care packages for my daughter and a couple of times lots of crafty stuff for all the ladies from The Dollar Tree. There was no Halloween party so I dropped off frozen deep dish pizza, snacks and pop. (How can you not celebrate the holidays, especially when that’s all you’ve got?) My daughter’s first home visit was for Thanksgiving. The last day she had a home visit prior was March. She is on a home visit now from Christmas Eve through, I think, until the end of next week, or sometime in the week after. 

What was your favorite article of clothing this year?

My Adidas track suit because the legs are wide enough by my swollen knee that it doesn’t get strangled like all my jeans and jogger pants.

What song sums up this year for you?

I don’t know.

What was your favorite movie of the year?

I don’t know. I watch an awful lot of movies. I can tell you what wasn’t my favorite...Wonder Woman 1984. The only thing that kept me from turning it off was Kristen Wiig. Her role was small, but she killed it!  Happiest Season was probably my favorite.

Did an actor/actress catch your attention for the first time this year?

I don’t think so. Maybe Kristen Stewart, because I saw quite a few movies she was in.

Happiest Season was good.

Favorite new TV show?

Wynonna Earp was pretty good. Kind of strange, but good.     
Did you make any big permanent changes this year?

The only big permanent changes, are we finally got the transmission rebuilt on the Odyssey and sold it immediately. The Pilot will likely be sold to a junkyard. Can’t seem to get our mechanic to have a look. It’s either the power steering pump or the rack & pinion steering. If it’s the latter, then we will sell it. We already have a junkyard that offered a fair price. Not happy about it, but I can’t see spending the entire amount the Pilot is worth to fix the rack & pinion steering. Over 230,000 miles. I more than got my money’s worth. I just wish the new tires on it would fit the Buick, but they are too small. 😕

What was one nice thing you did for yourself?

I tend to not buy myself ONE nice thing. I buy myself more than one nice thing because my wife isn’t the best when it comes to selecting gifts, and I usually find a deal and don’t want to miss out. She says she has no idea what to buy. I pay attention all year and make a note in my phone when I discover a good gift for my wife or kids. This year I even edited my Amazon lists with notes (she has access to my lists).🤷🏻‍♀️

Did you develop a new obsession?

I seem to be obsessed with Adidas track suits. Or just the pants because of my knee injury. I probably look like a weirdo, 59 year old, out of shape woman wearing them, using a walker, but they are the only long pants I can tolerate. Besides, there are worse things to become obsessed about. 

Did you move?

No.

Did you get a pet?

No.

Do you regret not doing anything?

No.

Do you regret doing something?

No.

Did anyone/thing make you so mad it stayed with you for days?

Probably. Just can’t think of it now. Must not have been so mad.

Did you lose anyone close to you?

I found out yesterday an aunt passed away. Don’t know the details because I no longer speak to that part of the family. My sister is still Facebook friends with a few of them, but doesn’t talk to them either. I’m no longer close because apparently she believed she could catch the “gay” from me.

Who was important to you this year but wasn’t important last year?

Can’t think of anyone.

Who wasn’t as important to you this year as they were last year?

Can’t think of anyone.

What was the best moment of the year for you?

Getting that first hug from my daughter when she came home for her Thanksgiving visit. Even though we did get to see her outside at the group home, we had to socially distance and weren’t allowed to hug. That was a long 8 months not to be able to hug my daughter.

What was the worst?

Whenever my daughter got really homesick and wanted to come on a home visit. It just broke my heart.

What have you learned about yourself this year that you didn’t know in the years prior?

That there is a limit to the amount of time I can spend at home, not going out for ANYTHING. When my wife’s asshat friend exposed my son and I to COVID-19, we had to quarantine for 14 days and had to wear a mask and socially distance around my wife because she wasn’t with us when we were exposed and I didn’t want to expose her. Years prior if I spent a week home without leaving the house, that was a lot.

What do you wish for others for the coming year?

I wish everyone good health and happiness. I wish for a peaceful transition later this month, and I wish for better handling of the pandemic after the transition.

What do you wish for yourself?

I wish for myself good health. I wish this knee injury heals and is a big nothing, but I’m afraid it’s a torn ACL or torn meniscus.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-For Those Who Celebrate Christmas #2

For those who celebrate Christmas #2

Bev, at Sunday Stealing, has another page of Christmas questions to answer.

Happy Holidays. 

Star or Angel?

Usually Father Christmas type Santa, couldn’t find it so went with the star.

White Lights or Colored Lights?

White.

Blinking Lights or Still Lights?

Still.

When do you open your gifts?

😂 Christmas Day. 90% of the gifts weren’t wrapped. I just couldn’t do it. The Baker’s Cyst behind my knee and sprained ligaments, and my back pain were too much. I did fold them neatly so they would fit in boxes, but I never got to boxing them until Christmas morning. My wife and I set up a system. I got a tote for each of us and put the folded items for each. We used the lids to block and told the kids to watch tv. I’d toss her an item, she put it in a box. We had 4 boxes we used for the gifts. When we had 2 gifts boxed for each kid we gave them to them and they opened them. Rinse and repeat until all gifts are handed out. It was better than just passing out unwrapped gifts. We opened the wrapped gifts from my sister and my daughter last. A lot less mess.

Do you buy gifts for your pet?

Not always. 

Be honest: What's the worst gift you've ever gotten?

A box of toiletries and cleaning supplies. It was a lean year that year and it was the only gift I received that year. It was with gifts from the kids from a community group.

Have you ever traveled for the holiday?

Yes. Before my step grandmother and aunts passed away, Christmas was at their house, so I drove my family IL to WI. 

Did you see Santa as a child?

I don’t remember, but there is photographic proof:

Can you name all the reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. 

Have you ever gone caroling?

Once I may have joined some friends who were caroling, but I didn’t actually sing.

Do you drive around and look at the Christmas lights?

Yes! I took my kids to see the lights my wife and I saw earlier in the week.

Have you ever left Santa cookies?

We usually do, but this year I guess we forgot. Too much last minute stuff going on. Apps didn’t get prepped ahead, no baking done.

Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Yes. Living in the Midwest there’s a good chance of it.

Have you ever made a gingerbread house from scratch? From a kit?

I bought a kit the 2 previous years but we never made them.

Be honest: Do you think the season is too commercial?

Seriously?

Imagine you were going to create the quintessential holiday soundtrack -- which song(s) absolutely must be included?

Pass for now. May come back to this.

What are your Christmas pet peeves?

Bad manners on the road and in stores.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2020