Snow Moon

Such a huge, beautiful full moon last night! 

10 Random Things

The suckyness continues...

1. Alex Pretti was executed by ICE a few days ago. What a horrific video; it also showed what an evil liar Kristi Noem is. The entire administration should be marched out in handcuffs. FWIW, I contacted all of my congressmen and wrote sharply worded emails explaining our system of checks and balances which they all seem to be unaware of.
2. And the Doomsday Clock is nearer than ever to doomsday.
3. And the government may shut down next week. Again. This page from the White House website is totally delusional.
4. I hope you all made it through the recent snow and ice storm unscathed. The only way I like to see snow is in pictures!
5. FWIW, here is a good after action report about the storm.
6. Our weather has been warm and sunny with roiling sunsets (see photo above).
7. On a sad note, there was a horrible small plane crash in Maine a couple days ago. I always check Captain Steeeve's YouTube channel for an explanation of what happened (not that I would ever fly a plane, but it is interesting knowledge to know).
8. Here are a bunch of tips to help you stay safe.
9. I think I improved my sleep quality by at least 50% recently just by NOT using my tablet before bed. I used to doomscroll and watch the algorithmic mess that is YouTube for a couple hours before I went to sleep and now I just watch an hour of Bloodline Detectives before I fall asleep and sleep like a baby.
10. On a happy note, I love pictures of well-organized things!

A Quick Update

It's been an age since I posted anything, mostly because it's been a kind of sucky month so far... 

• Hubby and I were sick on our cruise, felt better by the time we got home, then caught some sort of respiratory virus lite edition which lasted about a week
• Some friends came to visit; both caught the flu and were sick for about two weeks
• People I work with: one was just convicted of killing his wife, one just got arrested for a long list of horrific crimes against children, and one young mother was just got a terminal illness diagnosis  :(  :(  :(
• Our country is careening towards tyranny (I certainly didn't have invade Venezuela, Greenland, and Canada on my bingo card this year!)
• And prices are out of control (we took our friends out to dinner and the wife ordered a steak with a lobster tail as an add on. It was listed at market rate but since when is market rate $48 for a three ounce lobster tail??? Fortunately the entire bill was free with hubby's poker comps but $50 for parking at the casino (free for hubby), $400+ for a basic dinner for four people, $10 for a Starbucks drink, and minimum play on the blackjack table was $50...no wonder people are avoiding Vegas like the plague!

On a happy note...

• One friend was worried a biopsy she had done would be cancerous and it wasn't so that was good news
• Another friend gave me a bulb in a wax ball (above) which said not to water it, just leave it in a warm, non-sunny spot and two months later these pretty flowers bloomed
• Our weather has been amazing good all winter. If you are in the path of the winter storm set to hit the US this weekend, I hope you are warm and safe in your home!

Dollar Day at the Goodwill

Mondays are Dollar Days at the Goodwill...

So of course we only picked items with blue tags and ended up with these items...

An Old Navy dress and shoes for $2 total...

A simple black dress and heels for $2 total...

Pants and a top for $2 total...

And another top to go with the same pants for $1...

I love shopping at the Goodwill!

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!