Merry Blogmas Day 31 Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year's Eve to all of my bloggy friends!  We made it!  2020 seemed like the unending year from hell but I am hopeful that 2021 will be better for everyone.  Overall 2020 wasn't terrible for us (fortunately, the same can't be said for everyone) but it was certainly different than any year previously.  

In a way it was nice to be forced to slow down, focus on what was most important, and simplify our usually overly complicated lives.  On the other hand, I realize how fortunate we are both financially (being debt free and having solid sources of monthly income is the best possible way to face a pandemic or any other disaster) as well as socially (we are still able to keep in touch with friends and family and fortunately the few people we know who have contracted covid have only had mild cases).

I have no idea what 2021 will hold--probably why I have refrained from making any specific resolutions--so we will continue along as we have been doing by taking each day as it comes (and trying to inject some fun and levity here and there to keep things on a positive note) while remaining cautious with the virus.

I wish you all a safe, fun, prosperous, and happy new year!

Merry Blogmas Day 30 Wrapping Up the Year

 Today we did a lot of small tasks to kind of wrap up this year and get ready for next year...

• we cleaned up the yard which really needed it.  It's lovely being able to do yard work in the warm sunshine at the end of December.
• we had lunch at Olive Garden and finished up a gift card.
• the daughter called with the good news that she just got engaged and is planning a wedding in March (we are excited for her and like the guy but we hope they stream the wedding because no way are we traveling anytime soon!).
• I tried watching Bridgertons on Netflix because it was supposed to be based on one of my favorite book series by Julia Quinn.  Unfortunately I was expecting more Downton Abby and less Hamilton and it ended up being more Hamilton and less Downton Abby.  I'm a stickler for historical accuracy but give musical theater a pass.  Needless to say I like the books much better than the Netflix series version.
• the son called and the grandson dropped out of university.  The entire family is horrified, no less because his entire university education would have been free.  Some kids would kill for such an opportunity and he is like "meh I don't like school."  Ayayay
• I checked the bank today and so far no stimulus checks even though the news said the checks would be deposited today.  Fortunately we aren't in a hurry for the money but it will be a nice little bonus to add to our mortgage payoff.
• our walking club will have a quick meeting this evening (via Zoom which is so much more convenient than in person).  I am really looking forward to the group resuming their walks after the beginning of the year!
• we will spend tomorrow evening at home and ring in the new year (if we even stay awake until midnight!) by watching the festivities on TV.  Even though there are no events planned for New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, they still plan to have 200,000 people wandering the Strip and Downtown.  We will opt out this year for obvious reasons.

I like how this year is winding down to a close.  It seems like in just a couple days we will be able to get past 2020 and start a fresh, hopefully better 2021!

Merry Blogmas Day 29 The Do Nothing Day

Today, in a wind-down to the end of the year, I didn't do much of anything.  I went for a walk, cleaned the house, talked a friend into visiting her son for a bit longer (she is elderly and her son is trying to get her to move in with him by trying out a few month stay...she has been at his place for a few weeks and wants to get back to her own house NOW.  So she will stay for a couple more weeks unless she really can't stand it and runs away from his home. Yikes.).  Also, biggest of big news, I got a lump sum payment for the pandemic unemployment I applied for back in April.  Our goal for the coming year is to get the house paid off (it would be a miracle) or significantly paid down (more likely) so this money will go a little ways towards this goal.  Overall a nice, relaxing, sunny, enjoyable day today!

Merry Blogmas Day 28 Stocked Up!

Last week when we deep cleaned the house in preparation for the new year, I made a shopping list of all of the things we needed, from toiletries to food to other stuff.  Today hubby and I took the list, hit up a half dozen stores (early in the morning to avoid the crowds) and bought everything we needed to completely stock up our fridge, freezer, pantry, toiletries, and other consumables.  Hopefully we wont need to do much shopping except for produce for the next couple months!  I always hate running out of things (especially recipe ingredients when I am in the middle of cooking something!) so we make it a habit to have a back up of everything we use, from toilet paper and coffee creamer to toothpaste and canned foods.  I think we are completely ready for the new year now.  Hopefully the new year will be a much better year for everyone!

Merry Blogmas Day 27 The Big Rig Jig

My mission today was to find the Big Rig Jig--I'd heard it was in downtown Las Vegas somewhere but for some reason, and after all of my walking downtown, I'd never found it.  It's located a bit further down Fremont Street than I usually go but it was worth the extra hike just to see it.  Yes, it really is two full-sized tanker trucks posed and welded together!

Along my way I also photographed a lot of street art, graffiti art, and even a parade of bicyclists.  Here's a few pictures below and you can find more at my other blog.

Merry Blogmas Day 26 New Year's Resolutions

I've been wracking my brain to put together a list of new year's resolutions and have come up with exactly nothing.  I could make a list of things I want to do--go there, do that, etc--but with the way 2020 has gone, it seems kind of futile to plan things that may be impossible to achieve (I would love to go to Japan and other countries in Asia this year but as of two days from now, Japan will close its borders to everyone because of covid...so there's that).  

Instead, my new year's resolution will be a sort of theme for the upcoming year.  My theme for the upcoming year is to be a simple-living, whole-food, plant-based vegan minimalist.  I will focus on anti-consumption and zero waste as well as cutting way back on all things internet-related.

Of course any cool experiences, great opportunities, and other exciting things that come along will be appreciated and enjoyed but I think dialing back expectations will be a good theme for the year.  Taking time to be present and enjoy little things sounds like a nice frame of mind to strive for and the zero pressure of just showing up each day in a healthy body and healthy frame of mind sounds like a win as far as resolutions to carry me through the year go.

Merry Blogmas Day 25 Merry Christmas!

With no big plans today, the hubby and I took a walk around downtown Las Vegas to see what was going on.  There weren't many people there yet (it was morning so it will probably pick up later in the afternoon) but it was nice getting out for a walk.  We made a simple Christmas dinner at home and will probably finish up the holiday with another Christmas romance movie or two.  I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Blogmas Day 24 Movie Marathon

Merry Christmas Eve!  We spent a quiet day at home watching a marathon of movies.  The first, Midnight Sky, was a sci-fi movie (a genre we never watch) which was an OK movie.  The second, Christmas Chronicles 2, was a cute movie that would probably be more appealing to kids.  And the third is yet to be determined but we will watch it this evening after dinner.  Since I am not much of a movie person, I think this is the most movies I've ever watched at one time, but it is a nice, relaxing way to spend a Christmas Eve.  Along with cookies and hot cocoa :)

Update: we watched 'A Prince for Christmas' in the evening which was a really nice movie and made homemade hot hot chocolate using this recipe which turned out amazing!

Merry Blogmas Day 23 Genealogy Done!

It was another very long day of sorting and uploading genealogy documents but I am finally done!  That was the one big project I wanted to finish before the end of the year and now it feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Now all of the documents that have been on my computer for years are out in a public space where other people can see them and use them for their own research.

The photo above is of my great great grandparents on their wedding day in 1898.  This was a sad story because she died in 1905 from tuberculosis and a month later their first child died at the age of six years old from the same disease.  A year and a half later he married again and they were married until he died at the age of 96 years old.  I love history and family history is even more fascinating!

Merry Blogmas Day 22 More Genealogy

We are wrapping up our year with lots of cleaning and organizing.  Hubby finished cleaning out the garage today (several hours of work), we sent a box of stuff to the Philippines this afternoon, we have a pile of stuff to drop off to the Goodwill, and I spent about seven hours uploading my genealogy files to Family Search--only two more generations to go!  Hopefully we will get out and do some fun activities after Christmas (hubby asked if I wanted to go shopping today and I said "three days before Christmas?? No way!"  Our stores get super crowded just before Christmas and I'd rather avoid people so after the holidays should be a better time to shop).  Here's another family photo.  Notice how they all have guns?  My family is pretty much the same today!

Merry Blogmas Day 21 Genealogy

My task today was to upload all of the genealogy records that are on my computer to the Family Search website.  I've already spent many hours on this task today with many more hours to come as I have thousands of genealogy records for my ancestors going back 15 generations.  And I have to do this manually.  Yikes.

Fortunately Family Search is both free (yeah...one reason I don't like Ancestry is because if you stop paying them you lose access to any records you have uploaded to their site!) and collaborative which means everyone can add to people's genealogy records and fortunately I have some relatives who are amazing genealogists so for many records I just need to see that the records I have (birth, census, marriage, death, etc records) match records that have been uploaded by them which makes the process much easier and faster than painstakingly recording and uploading each and every record I have.

If you are at all interested in your family genealogy, you should really check out Family Search.  You need to set up a free account then once you are in the site, you can search records and build up your family tree or, much easier, search family trees and see if someone has already created a tree for your family.  Like I said, my amazing relatives have uploaded everything from the basics (birth records, census records) to family stories, newspaper articles about the person, and best of all, pictures!  Unfortunately, I have very few family pictures but I have found generations of family pictures on Family Search which is an amazing find!  The photo above is my third great grandfather and fourth great grandparents.  Cool!

Merry Blogmas Day 20 Prepping for 2021 Part 2

Operation 'Ready for 2021' is well underway.  Today hubby and I spent about ten hours cleaning and organizing the house.  Hubby cleaned out his closets and got rid of a bunch of clothes he no longer wears, I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom including taking everything out of cupboards and drawers to clean as well as cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator.  Hubby also cleaned part of the garage and got one big box packed and ready to go to the Philippines.  

Last night I got all of the files on my computer cleaned up; deleting files I no longer need, relegating files I am not ready to totally delete but basically no longer use to a thumb drive that stays in a drawer, and backing up all of my current files that I still use to the thumb drive I keep in my emergency bag (this way if something ever happens to my computer I will have at least have a copy of all of my important files that I could put onto a new computer if needed).

Needless to say, we are exhausted!

Merry Blogmas Day 19 Prepping for 2021 Part 1

Our "activity" for the day was less than exciting but necessary to start 2021 on the right foot.  Today I scrubbed the house from top to bottom--minus the kitchen which will be tomorrow's project--as well as decluttered, reorganized, made a shopping list of any supplies we were missing, and generally did all of the little things I have been putting off so we could start the new year all organized and ready to go.

My goal for the next few days is to clean, restock and organize the house, clean out the garage, clean out closets, clean the car in and out, get all of my blogs and websites updated, clean out, organize, and purge if possible my computer files (a huge task), put all of my genealogy research online on Family Search (an even huger task), and tidy up the front and back yards.  I have files on my computer from years ago which I no longer need, the garage has become a catch-all for stuff that either needs to be shipped to the Philippines or donated to the Goodwill, and the kitchen deserves its own deep cleaning because somehow everything from coffee cups to junk drawer items seem to multiply without my knowledge!  

Hubby won't be bowling for the next couple weeks and we have no plans for either Christmas or New Years Eve so now is the perfect time to do all of the little tasks I have been putting off.  Of course we will still do some outings to local parks and other outdoor attractions along with getting ourselves organized and ready for a hopefully happier New Year!

Merry Blogmas Day 18 Cheesecake Factory

We had no activity planned for today so we decided to wait and see if something interesting came along as we did our errands and hubby bowled with his league today.  Then a friend of ours gave us a gift card for the Cheesesteak Factory for Christmas so we instantly had our activity for the day!  Serendipity like that is pretty cool!  So off we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner and it was a fun experience since we never go to restaurants like this unless it is a gift.  The food was good, the service was OK, and the restaurant, although at 25% capacity, seemed pretty busy.

In other good news...

• I finally got the title to our car back from the DMV today.  It took SIX MONTHS to get the lienholder taken off the title they are so backed up!
• Someone from the unemployment office called me a couple of days ago and set up my case so I would get unemployment for the temp job I was supposed to do this past summer which was shut down due to the pandemic.  While the weekly amount I will get is miniscule ($81...people are supposed to survive on this???) I will also get the $600 a week from the CARES Act.  Whatever amount I get will be a nice little bonus but the tens of thousands of people who actually have to live on their unemployment and haven't seen a penny for several months is terrible!
• Here are some useful websites, several of which I use.
• This was a funny infographic about Asian languages.
• This was a cool pattern guide for cutting out paper snowflakes.
• Finally, here is a cute infographic on how to make rice (I have used this method for years!).

Merry Blogmas Day 17 Visiting!

This morning we packed up all of our baking and headed out to make deliveries (our activity for the day).  We visited seven households, handed over the wrapped baked goods in people's driveway (social distancing and masks of course as everyone is elderly and we don't want to risk making them sick!), and chatted for a bit before moving on to the next place.  Most of these people we haven't seen since February!  Hopefully next Christmas we will be "back to normal" but for this Christmas, I think this will be the extent of our holiday celebrations (besides watching cheesy Christmas romance movies nearly every night!). 

Merry Blogmas Day 16 Baking!

Today's activity was to get all of my holiday baking done. The cakes in the picture above are just the beginning.  Next up brownies followed by sugar cookies and maybe chocolate chip cookies after that.  We have several people to make trays of goodies for and then we will deliver them tomorrow morning.  That is the extent of our holiday activities for this year--no annual holiday fish fry, no Christmas eve party with 50+ people, no Christmas day bowling tournament which we have been doing for nearly a decade...a very low key Christmas indeed.  Hopefully by next Christmas all will be back to normal!

Merry Blogmas Day 15 Sunset Park

The first thing hubby asked today is "what is our adventure for the day?"  Apparently he likes these daily adventures!  I keep his cousin updated with our daily activities and she said as soon as she gets back in town she wants to go with us because we get to see so many cool things.  So today we headed out to a local park--Sunset Park--and took a look around.  This huge park is right across from our airport so while most people who fly into Las Vegas are busy looking at the famous Strip, in the other direction is this beautiful oasis of a park in the middle of the city.  Here's what was happening there today...

Merry Blogmas Day 14 New Tech

That's my new phone!  I wasn't planning on getting a new phone but since my current cell phone is a Galaxy S8 (soon to be four generations old when the upcoming S21 is released) and there was an amazing deal on the Galaxy S10 on Best Buy's Deal of the Day site that took $300 off the regular price, I decided to splurge on a new phone.  It's super fast, super small and lightweight, has lots of memory, and takes great pictures.  The daughter is happy because she will be getting the S8 and the grandson is happy because he will be getting the daughter's phone!

Merry Blogmas Day 13 Western Trails Equestrian Park

Today we explored a local park that we had never been to before.  How we passed this park, which is very near our house, for years and never stopped to check it out is beyond me!  I know a lot of people in our area have horses but when we passed by this park before it just looked like a themed community park.  Today we found out that the Western Trails Equestrian Park was just that--a park for horses!  Behind the regular park which includes picnic areas and a big play area for the kids, there was a huge area for horses including horse riding trails, an arena, several round pens, a trough area...it was huge and really impressive!  The park even has its own Facebook page and, something I've seen in parks around Las Vegas but never anywhere else, "memorial trees" for people who have died.  Wow.

Merry Blogmas Day 12 Downtown Las Vegas (Grid Square)

My activity today was to explore an area of my city and see what is happening there.  I got this idea from Alistair Humphrey who is now challenging himself to mark off grid squares on a map of his area then go out and explore the area in the square and see what is there.  Here's what I found today in downtown Las Vegas...

• A hungry limo driver (that's his Chik Fil A order on the hood of his limo)  
  
  
  
• A cool building  
  
  
  
• A guy way up on the roof of this huge building was pulling a rope up the side of the building (that's him looking over the edge of the building)
  
  
  
• A guy and girl pulled up in front of the jail, they hopped out of the car, then he started taking pictures of her  
  
  
  
• And the interesting sight of a palm tree right next to another tree shedding it's leaves for winter