Lounging

We haven't left the house in three days, mostly because the weather has looked like this ^ since we returned from vacation, also because the SIL is visiting and she has been feeling under the weather, and I guess it is also taking us a while to recuperate from our vacation.

It will be back to work mode tomorrow (with a mountain of emails to answer and meetings to prep for) but it will be nice to get back into the work groove.

We really want to buy a single-level home but prices here are outrageous (half million dollars plus, and those houses will need all new flooring, all new paint, etc). eeekkk 

Finally, does anyone know what happened to Linda from Practical Parsimony? I know this question was asked on another blog but when I went back to see the answers to this question, I couldn't find the post. She used to post and comment almost daily but she has been MIA for a but so I am worried about her.

Have a happy rest of your weekend!

Welcome 2026!

Even though we live in a New Year's Eve hotspot, we barely stayed awake until midnight to welcome the new year--safely and quietly--at home. On a happy note, it was pouring rain here all evening so our pyromaniac neighbors were unable to burn our house down, despite their best efforts, with their professional-grade fireworks (it literally sounded like bombs going off right outside our windows but the rain kept the landscaping and homes from going up in flames). So, we are off to a good start!

For the first time in...ever...I have decided that this year I will not set any new year's resolutions. Usually I set a list of resolutions then within days I blow most or all of them, so my resolution for this year is to make no resolutions!

Here are some useful links...

• 2026 Celestial Events
• 2026 Public Domain Day List
• 2026 Free Entry Days to the National Parks
• 300+ Birthday Freebies and Discounts for 2026
• July 4. 2026 will be America's 250th Birthday

A (Belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

First, I want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas. We just got back from a 16-night Hawaii cruise and with internet on the ship costing $35(!!) a day, frugal me couldn't, on principle, cough up that kind of money just to write a blog post  :)

The cruise was actually one of the most meh cruises we have done. We only had four port stops so lots of sea days (meh), lots of people were seasick because we bounced from Hawaii to the US on rough seas, the food was just OK, the entertainment just OK, and hubby and I (along with many other passengers and crew) picked up some kind of respiratory virus that had us coughing and sniveling during a majority of our cruise (meh again). To top it off, there was really no "Christmas vibe" which made for a pretty meh Christmas. I don't want to sound too whiney because many people would love to go on such a long cruise, but for us, the cruise ship "experience" over the years has gone from great to just OK. Of course, the staff was still wonderful as always.

Needless to say, we are happily home and settling back into our routine before the new year. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

A Quick Catch-Up

It's been super busy around here!

• National Finals Rodeo is in town and there are cowboys everywhere!
• Work is busy but should slow down in a week or so. More than a dozen people that I work with are retiring and several have been laid off so the number of bounce-back emails has been startling.
• It's Christmas decor season everywhere (but it is still hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it is sunny and 65 degrees here!). OTOH, I'll take this weather over the weather in New England our family deals with each winter...no more snow blowing or snow shoveling for us!
• We are getting ready for our Hawaii cruise which should be a fun way to spend Christmas.
• The price of food (and everything else) is insane!

Quick Update

Here are my friend's nails all ready for the Christmas season...

And we finally picked a few lemons from our tree...

Early Black Friday Deals are killing me. I tried to do the no spend thing but Best Buy had the Sony WXM4 headphones for $159 (a $190 savings over the normal price!) and I couldn't resist. They are amazing headphones though.

On another note, the Dyson was returned. The charge only lasted for 25 minutes then it needed to charge for 3.5 hours before I got another 25 minutes of vacuuming in. At that rate, it would have taken me 9 hours to clean my house!

The storms in Las Vegas have passed and now we have right, sunny weather. I've had my doors open all day to air out the house and it isn't even cold. I can see why retirees like the desert southwest!

I sent a friend who lives in Japan a birthday gift and for the first time ever, there was a fee that she needs to pay to get the gift (tariff fee?). I couldn't pay it at the post office, and for the exorbitant cost of mailing anything overseas these days, I sent her a quick email saying we should probably skip sending Christmas gifts this year. I can't WAIT until the next presidential election!

I hope you all will have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

10 Random Things

In no particular order...

1) Our sky looked like this ^^^ today (following a couple days of pouring rain). I love storms in the desert!

2) And my friend bought me these (soon to be) pretty plants. I've never seen these start out as just a bulb. The package specifically says not to water them, just put them in a sunny place and let them grow. Hmmm

3) I bought a Dyson vacuum! Our trusty old vacuum has been working well for 20+ years (with a lot of preventive maintenance from hubby) but backing down the stairs and vacuuming each stair with a big vacuum seems like it could end in disaster as I age. The Dyson vacuum was $269 on a Black Friday sale instead of its usual $599 so I ordered it. On the plus side, it is cordless and super lightweight. On the negative side, it is cordless and the battery only lasts about 30 minutes then needs to be charged (charging takes about three hours!?!). The jury is still out on whether we like it enough to keep it.

4) Do you want to be a lighthouse keeper? Click here.

5) Apparently a 50-year mortgage will be a thing? That is a terrible idea!

6) Here is a cheap(er) way to order your prescription meds.

7) I know identity theft is a thing we have to worry about, but even after we are dead??? That is awful :(

8) Here is a great list of preparedness tips!

9) For you younger ladies out there, please commit this list to memory.

10) And here is a list of interesting legal loopholes.

10 Random Things

In no particular order...

1. I was trying to post a picture everyday but my life is fairly boring (plus I am often at my desk all day) so that has fallen by the wayside (along with any sentiment that inspired me to do this after Charlie Kirk was killed and we were told to believe that this guy sprinted off the roof after the shooting, and the 30.06 he used magically left the roof and ended up in the woods somehow because he certainly wasn't carrying it in this video). I hate politics and all things politics-related.
2. Did you know the US no longer makes pennies? This was news to me!
3. I didn't see the Northern Lights here in Vegas last night but I am hoping to catch them tonight.
4. Hubby and I made the rounds yesterday and he picked up several Veteran's Day freebies which included lots of food and a haircut. We went to our usual free buffet for veterans at the Southpoint Casino yesterday but the line was two+ hours long so we skipped it this year.
5. I saw a post on Lorraine's FB page about the differences between Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Since hubby uses the military's Tricare For Life program where everything is free, I didn't know there were so many differences between the two programs. Medicare is utterly confusing to me!
6. I have no illusions that my job couldn't be replaced by AI at a moment's notice (which is why we will never take out another loan for anything because who knows how long I will have a job), but AI as it relates to the job market is looking scarier by the minute these days. eeekkk
7. I'm glad we are not flying, relying on food stamps, or signing up for health insurance this month...what a shitshow our government is these days. Let's hope the Dems run a better candidate for president in the next election (ie: not this one). OK, enough politics...
8. Adding more misery, this month I am getting so many spam calls every day (no idea why the sudden steep increase) and I was bitten by mosquitoes and dozen times despite not even seeing said mosquitoes in more than a decade (apparently I'm not the only one). 
9. I needed something to equal up to $35 to get free shipping on Amazon so I added a Rubik's Cube, a toy I hadn't played with since I was a child. I scrambled the colors and hubby and I tried to put the colors back and now we have a messed up cube because neither one of us knows how to fix it!
10. Finally, if you need any cute cat pictures, here are thousands of them!