Today and thoughts of the future

 

Today someone sent two bagels and a cup of coffee to my office via DoorDash, from Brooklyn Bagel. It was addressed to “Cindy B”.

A few problems:

• I didn’t order it.
• I don’t drink coffee.
• My home office, where I work, is 3 hours from our Palm Beach Gardens office where it was delivered.

………………………………..……………………

Used up Ultra gift card on eyeliner and curly hair product

Partially used a B&N card for new Frederick Backman book

Cleaning out my purse is rewarding!

………………………………..……………………

I did not win last week's lottery.

I changed out my purse to a smaller, springy-er one.

I hung up a mermaid towel hook in a bathroom, and made plans for some artwork to make for that ocean-themed bathroom.

I collected things around the house for our Goodwill pile.

I ordered frames for art work I got in Amsterdam in 2023.

I ordered ribs for dinner (a tax day special at Sonnys BBQ!)

Somewhere in between I did a little work and listened to several chapters of Book 4 of Dungeon Crawler Carl.

A good way to end the tax season.

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Post tax season:

I have a massage scheduled tomorrow, plus planning time in a shoe store. I am not normally a big shoe shopper, but my cute shoe ratio is very pathetic right now.

Other things I have planned to look forward to once I have more free time:

1. Book club at local library, reading a new book by Frederik Backman (he wrote A Man Called Ove; new book is My Friends).
2. Sea Shanty singing with a local club at a local VFW. Certain to be a hoot.
3. A board game day with ladies in a local ladies group. I will introduce them slowly to a few easy games. Maybe I will find a couple serious gamers in the group. We shall see.
4. Lakeland Book Crawl, which is a 3-day event exploring 8+ bookstores in the area. I am so excited at the idea of such an event (and living in a place with multiple local bookstores) that I am even volunteering for an event I have never been to. I feel like I might find my people.
5. Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota
6. Bok Gardens in Lake Wales
7. Hanging up art in the house
8. Getting window blinds replaced or repaired
9. More unpacking!
10. More bike riding!
11. Reading Count of Monte Christo in the hammock while it is not yet too hot

Think of a good thing about 5 people you know - if you can, tell them

​1. Mattea: creative, loving, fun, healthy, recovering, honest, vulnerable, generous

2. Cathy Reitz: honest, healthy, generous, smart to get off social media 

3. Diane P: brave, principled, smart, well-traveled, progressive, humble, charitable

4. Jessica: honest, loving, keeps things simple, sees the best of people, curious, open minded, adventurous, brave, strong

5. Stef: adventurous, smart, generous, honest, funny, fun, brave, well-traveled 

What made you happy this week

1. ​Buying a new hybrid car that makes Sean happy and is a great investment 
2. Feeding Peter when he’s hangry, knowing when to be quiet, when to make decisions for him, and enjoying seeing him return after a couple croissants and a glass of milk 
3. Good doctor’s visit. I feel like Dr O pays attention and she gathered info from various sources about my surgery and pneumonia-hospital stay. Helped solve some minor problems
4. Breathing. I really value breathing more now.
5. Cake and birthday with Nora 
6. Slowly better quality of sleep and working on better quality of sleep
7. Support from Darline and other bosses when I’m stuck or just exhausted 
8. My backyard, always 

Things I did today instead of Doom Scrolling

​Things I did today instead of Doom Scrolling 

1. Bought gas 
2. Paid an overdue bill that I almost called to argue until I checked, and oh, it wasn’t on autopay. Ooops.
3. Researched strategic oil reserves ‘cause someone posted something inane
4. Talked about trees with Sean

Enjoying my precious life

​Me, I prefer people who do things, even mundane basic things. Things that make them happy. Like reading books and discussing them joyfully with others. Getting together to play board games and have a good laugh. Riding a bike in nature, away from our online lives. Doing crafts, even not well.

People who just snipe from the sidelines? BORING.

I’ll be over here baking muffins to share with my new Solar Power neighbors club and joining a county committee to advocate for bike safety. I do puzzles to stay in touch with my mother in law; watch foreign films to connect with my son.

I started a community organization that hundreds of people have enjoyed for 11 years (so far) that benefits several local groups. 

I’m not worried about being cool or color-coordinated. I’m filling my one precious life DOING things and making memories and celebrating anniversaries.

Some of us aren’t living with our lights in dim. 

*dancing to Talking Heads in the living room*

Thanks for the reminder of how well I’m enjoying my life. 

Time to stretch & fold the sourdough.

Things I want to do in our new town:

• Join committee about bike safety and transportation
  
• Start a solar panel club in our neighborhood
  
• Go to events at the library
  
• Volunteer at Book Crawl 
  
• Organize a board game retreat for Flamingocon
• Keep writing birthday cards and postcards
• Bake sourdough bread and cookies 
• Listen to a lot of REM and Natalie Merchant and Talking Heads and folk music
• Go to board game events organized by other people, teach and learn games 
• Organize Sean’s books into a small publishing organization
• Monthly craft days 
• Do volunteer tax prep
• 
  

What made you happy this week

• ​Peter driving
  
• Getting my meds
  
• Getting my docking station  
  
• Unpacking 
  
• Sunsets and reading 
• An Italian tv show 

Things I did today instead of Doom Scrolling

​Things I did today instead of Doom Scrolling 

1. Fixed a mistake
2. Canceled duplicate internet
3. Chose a D&D race and class for every workman who’s been in our house this month inspired by the obvious dwarf/wizard electrician who came today 
4. Recognized I’d reached limits of my stress tolerance and laid down for an hour 
5. Begrudgingly took training on AI program being foisted on us by employer 
6. Bought four wee liquor bottles
7. Created a new family birthday tradition to celebrate the celebrant’s accomplishments of the year
8. Built the perfect sized table and created a “landing spot” for foyer
9. Learned a lot more about solar panels and learned how much more I have to learn 
10. Read first two chapters of The Count of Monte Cristo 

Think of a good thing about 5 people you know

​1. Sean: hardworking, clever, adores me for some reason

2. Peter: clever, smart, pushing his boundaries

3. Eleanor: resourceful, helpful, creative, gorgeous, loves her family

4. Barbara: organized, a leader, confident, loyal loving friend 

5. Warren: resourceful, hardworking, knows his own worth 

Today — selling a house, keeping busy

​Short version: Imma sit outside and read and sip wine for a little while. Wine is Coopers Hawk Riesling. The book is a regift from my son from his Literature of the Occult class. Outside is 74°. 

Long version:

Today we signed papers virtually to sell our old house. The virtual notary process was *not* smooth, but at least our part is now done. I also worked more than 3 hours for the first time in a couple months (don’t be jealous, the paychecks have been atrociously small). 

I managed to also:

• *bake bread
  
• *supervise a handyman putting up 4 fans, 4 mirrors, one ceiling light and other things
  
• *take all the ornaments off the Christmas tree
  
• *schedule an appliance repairman and a birthday dinner
  
• *pay the pool guy for THE LAST TIME
  
• *pay new lawn guy for the first time
  
• *and tidy up enough to find 3 Hershey nuggets with toffee and almonds 

It’s now wine and chocolate and sitting down time.

LONGER version of the virtual closing as told to my friend Stacy:

Oh it happened. It took 2 1/2 hours because we had to fill things out three times, the third time on a phone screen because their software could not work on our computer. WTF

And the lady was a dingbat. Gold star to me because I only yelled at her once for continually talking over us as we struggled to fill out forms on a phone screen. WTAF

We did this virtually because their office is in Broward. But OH OH OH guess what I discovered between attempts 2 and 3? They HAVE AN OFFICE IN LAKELAND where we could’ve done this in person.

The lady on the phone, in Broward, was not aware there was an office in Lakeland and suggested maybe it had been closed and merged with another office. So I called the Lakeland office in front of her (via camera) and proved they had an office here and it was open. But by then the software finally worked by phone and we decided to grit our teeth and finish.

Biggest real estate transaction of my life and I’m PISSED OFF.

Also we don’t get our money until buyers do their part which is … Weds, so they say this time.

I wandered off a couple times for stretch & fold the sourdough because she kept having to do things on her end and find witnesses on her end (why were there no witnesses planned for a scheduled meeting?)

And she got annoyed I wasn’t on camera during those parts. Whatevs. My sourdough is not waiting 2 1/2 hours, lady.

And there were so many debacles, i forgot the first one: she scheduled the meeting for noon. So she set the timer for the zoom-like software for 11:59 pm. Which is… MIDNIGHT. Had to cancel and start over.

What made you happy this week

​What made you happy this week 

• Window clings from Nora
  
• Gaming vacation with friends
  
• Otter! 
  
• Rembrandt again 
  

What I made you happy this week

What made you happy this week

1. new lights
2. good handyman
3. painting started
4. Fence installed
5. Back with Sean
6. Packing party with friends
7. so close to finishing
8. Knives Out movie
9. good exhaustion

List of what made me happy this week

What made you happy this week

Of course, buying a house. But more specifically:

1. meeting some great local tradesmen who’ve done good work and/or given me confidence about changes
2. baking bread again — I have missed it so much the past two weeks
3. Nora spearheading a project all on her own to make our house better
4. ripping down ugly “tile” wallpaper
5. napping with Skitty
6. discovering that past me planned our trip to Gainesville so well last week that we were able to walk to the Post Modern Jukebox concert and back
7. other people taking the lead to plan our mutual holiday celebrations
8. *finally starting my Enrolled Agent continuing ed. I need at minimum 7 credits by Dec 31, but ideally 21. At least I’ve gotten logged in and started tonight!
9. Oh and discovering from an official survey that our yard is bigger than I thought! We are teeny tiny land barons now!
10. organizing house projects in my To Do list, figuring out what to put off, easing my stress
11. re-organizing Things 3 To Do list
12. People responding happily about birthday cardA

Can’t believe this was all the same week.

Grateful — end of merc retro

Thank you end of merc retrograde.

1. *Keys to Honda found — and of course, turns out they were never misplaced 🤪
2. *Finally connecting with various workmen for new house
3. *Next steps moving smoothly on sale of old house. 🏡

Small Joys — blessings too many to count

Day 301

#394

count my blessings

Where to start? And it would never end. I am very fortunate and very grateful.

Sean and the kids — how did I get so lucky to have this amazing family.

Barbara — makes my life better. Changed me for the better and for good.

Numerous other friends — I am blessed with abundance. I try to keep up with birthday cards and fb messages and texts.

Financial stability — and even beyond that. We’ve worked hard but we’ve also been lucky. The real estate transactions and home improvements of this year are incredible and I’m humbled to be able to afford them. Money does ease life.

Medical miracles — I wouldn’t be here with them.

A cat who adores me. And is beautiful and fuzzy and lets me pet her incessantly.

A dog who adores me. So loyal and gentle and sweet.

Board gaming hobby and community — really changed my life for past 15 years. Entertainment, friendships, community building, Flamingocon — all blessings.

Sourdough hobby and community — delicious bread, a meditative hobby, and sharing joy with fellow enthusiasts.

Things saving my life right now

 There is this thing with some podcast and Instagram folks (maybe other places, but I don't do Tiktok), where people talk about things "saving their lives" and they mean products or actions or events that are helping them make it through a period of time.

Here is my current list of things "saving my life" lately:

1. Tuna/egg salad sandwiches on homemade sourdough

2. Hanging out with Nora more -- and her *wanting* to hang out with me. I really like this person. Which is a very good thing, since we are uprooting ourselves to live nearer to her.

3. Anne of Green Gables and upcoming book discussion. Love the simplicity of that time, the sweetness of the characters.

4. Massages at SOHO in Wesley Chapel

5. Peter taking on more responsibility for himself

6. Online banking and docu-sign and our buyer realtor's email task reminders. Good lord, buying and selling houses was much harder before being able to do things remotely.

7. British murder mysteries. Current mindless filler: Shakespeare & Hathaway

8. Florida winter weather in November

9. Lists -- and especially the Things 3 To Do list app keeping me organized and reminding me of tasks

10. Sean, always

20 things that made me happy this week

1. The movie Rental Family
2. A love letter from Sean
3. Good visit with new cardiologist
4. Roots touchup and haircut
5. reading Anne of Green Gables
6. Limited mini-series called Death by Lightning, based on a favorite book: Destiny of the Republic
7. Decision on selling house, and repeated information that it was best decision for us at this time
8. Thanksgiving menu coming together with variety of friends and family
9. Surprise online visit with Kamas
10. Sourdough bread and tuna/egg salad
11. Visiting with son in law Jon and Kenji
12. Learning new music, including Jesse Welles and sharing old music, including Marcia Ball, with Jon
13. Playing Untitled Goose Game with Jon
14. Updating digital frames for me, mother in law and aunt
15. Cooking a healthy meal
16. A new cheese-themed tea towel for kitchen
17. Cuddled an otter (toy)
18. Shared lots of memes on Bluesky and FB, and deleted lots of duplicates and unnneeded memes and screenshots from phone
19. Slept in or vegged in front of TV most of the weekend after Laurie's visit
20. Momdani rocking everything

What’s saving my life

1. Making bread
2. Savoring time with friends
3. Lists
4. New mirrors
5. Eating less
6. Audiobooks
7. Good moisturizer
8. Stretching
9. Evening walks

Life Is Good

Breakfast:

1/2 a banana, two slices homemade sourdough bread with peanut butter, tiny bowl of Froot Loops to finish off the box

Plus an episode of My Life Is Murder, a NZ-based mystery starring Lucy Lawless.

On a rainy morning with nothing scheduled all day.

#lifeisgood

Small Joys — enjoy the boring

Day 161

(not so) random number: 459

enjoy boring mundane task with Sean

Worked hard at the office, didn’t have time for the planned SJ. But I did enjoy the heck out of the simple task of searching for and buying shelf liner with Sean at Target. We used gift card so it was free! And we put the kitchen back together after our deep clean. Definitely leaving some stuff out of kitchen. It looks so much nicer. Some of the “saved” stuff may well end up in charity.

Anyway, nice boring task with the one I love, who loves me, making our home better, is a nice little joy. I’m grateful.

Life is good — lazy Saturday morning edition

Am I being EXTRA lazy this Saturday morning? Yes. Well earned.

I got solid 7+ hours of quality sleep. Two days in a row! But i am in no hurry to start the day.

My kind of lazy:,I got my To Do list updated, thought of reasons to visit DC and Austin, texted with my daughter, came up with 9 ideas for parties after we move, wrote a blog post, cuddled the cat. Quality time!

Now I have some fun gift card shopping to do and a manicure and a baking class and a game night ahead… so maybe I’ll get motivated.