Insomnia

I've been feeling too good.  So many nights that I've slept well that I wasn't ready for another night of insomnia.  I did all the things I normally do, but sleep just wouldn't come.  I tried listening to podcasts finishing the puzzle Ned and I have been working, and watching Morning Joe, but my the charge on my headphones wasn't working and so I turned off Morning Joe and turned on Monk, for which I don't need sound since I know it so well.  That finally put me to sleep for about an hour.  

I started answering a letter, but was so sleepy, I went to take a nap at 10:30 and slept for a couple of hours, so I was feeling more normal.

When Ned went to Costco yesterday, he bought a box of cans of baked beans, which I love, so I was able to have baked beans for lunch.

I finally did something I've been wanting to do for...years?  Now that I can't wear socks that hug my legs too tightly, I have a whole drawer full of socks I can't wear. And I need drawer space, so I went through all the socks.  I was surprised to realized that most of them were pairs.  I thought they were mostly singles with no mate.  But I filled two shopping bags and gave them to Ned to take to the SPCA or some other thrift store.  And now I have a lovely drawer so things don't have to be jammed into the available drawers.

Listening to reports on the election yesterday was so depressing, I didn't watch much.  I listened to Rachel Maddow, and that's about it.  I simply don't understand all those MAGA devotees.  Ned pointed out that they are angry with Biden for "letting migrants in, who will rape women" but say nothing about the guy who has been convicted for raping a woman running for president.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

I finished this puzzle at 4:30 this morning

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Stuff to do

 Things have been quite busy for me lately.  I've received a surprising number of letters and have a stack of about 10 letters to answer, which remains at that number because as I answer one, a couple of others arrive.  A lot of these came from InCoWriMo, a group that promises to write to someone every day in the month of February.  I've joined InCoWriMo in other years, but never got the response I've received this year.

I've also been making ATCs, or at least getting material together to make them.

Ned went to Costco yesterday and when I came to the table for dinner, discovered he had purchased a huge package of shrimp for Walt and me to have for dinner.  I had an amazing number...they were so good!

We tried to watch Survivor since we hadn't yet seen the first episode, but we only watched an hour (and I fell asleep toward the end anyway).

Though I slept very well last night, tonight was insomnia again...didn't get to sleep until after 5 a.m.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

this is something I got from my

godmother's house, after she died.

I still love it!

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The Election

 There has been a time when I was certain that Trump couldn't win reelection, but lately I'm scared that he's going to be re-elected.  Nobody is paying any attention to the good things Biden has done in office, and Trump is talking about how bad the economy is, how bad unemployment is, etc....when those are all things that are GOOD now.

The republicans are going through cities making it difficult for black people to vote, by shutting voting places and making it impossible for them to get to a voting place.  They are also supposedly checking voting machines and making comments about how they aren't working right, so when Trump loses a state, they can again complain that the machines were faulty.

Ned points out that Trump is saying illegal immigrants are coming into the country and raping women, but the MAGA people don't seem to care that their candidate is a convicted rapist himself.

The news is so depressing that I don't want to watch it and yet I feel I have to watch it to know what is going on.   Seven more months until November.

Groan

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Pancake Breakfast

The volunteer fire department was holding a fund-raising pancake breakfast at Lillard Hall, where Ned works, this morning.  Ned suggested the four of us go for breakfast.

I can't remember  the last time I left the house, but about a month ago, and it was so nice to see that all the trees are in blossom now. 

It was a beautiful day.  With all the rain we've had in the past few days, the sky was a clear blue and the clouds were beautiful.

The pancake breakfast was great.  Your choice of blueberry, chocolate chip, or plain pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, orange slices.  We got to meet a couple of men that Ned works for, and his friend Jon, who is a volunteer fireman, was there with his wife, whom I haven't seen in...years?

After breakfast, we stopped at the Post office to get priority envelopes to mail off journals I've made.  It's frustrating.  I have two of them addressed and ready to go, but I can't find the third journal swap and so I don't know who to send it to!  I guess if I can never find it, I have a finished journal I can send out for the next journal swap.  But I swear I saw that swap this morning, but I've gone through every list and it's just not there.

It was so nice to be out of the house, even for a short time.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Pancake breakfast

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Sunday Stealing

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. Cheers to all of us thieves.

Stolen from Swap Bot

1. What (if anything) are you doing to celebrate St Patrick's Day?
I may or may not make Irish bread, but we will probably have corned beef and maybe cabbage.  Walt will have a drink from his Irish whisky bottle.

2. What is your least favorite color (to wear, to craft with or to decorate with)?
Orange!!!

3. At a yellow light - do you speed up or slow down??
Depends on how far I am from the light.

4. How many pairs of scissors are in your craft room?
I just ordered a package of scissors, so 9 are in my office at the moment.

5. What are the first three items you have 'saved for later' on Amazon?
They are all puzzles that I like.

6. Did you plant any springs bulbs in your garden and if so, have any of them come up yet?
We got iris bulbs from my aunt's garden when she died, many many years ago.  I planted them and have never dug them up, so they bloom every year, but haven't yet this year.

7. What book, if any, are you reading right now?
I'm reading two books by Jane Goodall.

8. Do you prefer ball point pens, gel pens, or thin tip markers to write with?
I'm not sure I have a preference.  I like markers, but they bleed through the paper, so I normally write with a Bic blue thin tip ball point pen.

9. What is your favorite crafting item - the craft item thing you use the most or can't live without? (Exclude basic items like scissors and glue).
stickers.  I have hundreds and use them on many craft items.

10. What are the first 3 items on your grocery list and what is your favorite grocery store?
The 3 things we always get at the store:  bananas, mandarin oranges, butter

11. What unfinished craft projects are you working on (or not:) at the moment?
I have partially designed ATCs.  I was working on 3 journals, but completed them all this week.

12. What was the last item you pinned on Pinterest? Or hearted on Instagram
Haven't pinned anything on Pinterest in a long time.  I heart bird photos that a friend of mine takes.

13. What is the biggest tourist attraction where you live?
We are a university town and the biggest  tourist attraction I would take people to see are the head statues by Robert Arneson placed around the university

14. What color is your favorite sweater?
I only have one cardigan; it's blue.

15. How does your family react when you get a big pile of mail??
It happens all the time; nobody says anything.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

I really like this one

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My dream

 I don't often dream during my daily nap, but before I forget it, I must write down my dream today.

I'm not sure where I was, but somehow in a hospital setting and I was taking care of a baby elephant, who was about the size of a cat.  I was carrying the elephant around and we came to the office of the head of the hospital and the main doctor and the man surgeon were both on a couch, sound asleep.  It was so funny I  wanted to take a picture but realized I'd left my camera back where I had been so went back to get it and by the time I returned, both men were awake.

Then I was in a room, carrying the elephant, and saw something out the window I wanted to take a picture of so I put the elephant on the ground and when I turned around to get him, he was in bed with Marta.

Finally I was in a house -- no elephant -- and I was making dinner with Martha Stewart. . We were sharing a table. She was putting together a casserole and I was decorating a cake.  I realized that I had to take a picture of Martha with my decorated cake and went to get the camera.  When I got back, someone had sat down in front of my cake and I couldn't take the picture.

I'm sure there is a message in that dream!

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here are today's questions!

Saturday 9: Blame It on the Bossa Nova (1963)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song tells the story of a girl who found love at a dance. Share a happy memory from a party, prom or dance you attended.

I attended 3 proms, 2 with my boyfriend and 1 with a guy who lived upstairs from us because my boyfriend had entered the Jesuits.  I don't really remember an especially happy memory, but I remember that I didn't enjoy going with the boy upstairs.

2) This record was a big hit for Eydie Gorme, which surprised her. When she first heard the song, she disliked it and had to be convinced to her record it. Tell us about a pleasant surprise you had recently.
A weird pleasant surprise.  I had a colonoscopy recently and I was convinced they were going to find cancer.  They didn't.

3) "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" is about love at first sight on the dance floor. Eydie's husband Steve Lawrence maintained he fell in love with her the first time he heard her sing. Have you ever felt a sudden, powerful attraction to someone? If yes, did you act on it?

When I was in grammar school, I "fell in love" with a guy who was at the playground and I knew we were going to marry.  I never met him, but watched him all the time.  I never found out his name.  And I didn't marry him.

4) While this was a solo success for Eydie, she was also known for recording and performing with Steve Lawrence. He was just 22 and she was 29 when they married. Eydie admitted she was self-conscious about the difference in their ages. Do you think age matters in a romantic relationship?
Depends on the ages.  As a general rule, no, but a teacher and a student?  Those Mormon relationships where the old guy marries several wives, all in their early teens....I don't approve of those!

5) Eydie was fluent in Spanish, which enabled her to pay for her classes at City College by working as an interpreter. Tell us about one of your early jobs.

My first job was babysitting.  My first "professional" job was washing test tubes at a medical lab.  I hated it.

6) In 1963, when this song was popular, The Rambler was Motor Trend's car of the year. It was a 9-passenger station wagon, perfect for families. What do you remember about your childhood family car?

It was a Plymouth and I still remember the license plate number, which I sometimes use as my password on line.  There were no seat belts and when we drove somewhere, I used to sleep on the shelf in front of the back widow, until I got sick and had to get out to vomit.  (My father hated to drive anywhere with me!)

7) Also in 1963, President Kennedy made a state trip to Ireland. Have you visited the land of your ancestors?

Yes, Ireland.  I've been there 3 times and each time I feel like I belong there.

8) The pilot for Gilligan's Island was filmed in 1963. Were you a fan of the show?

I have seen some of it, but I was never a fan.

9) Random question: Crunchy, smooth or organic peanut butter?

Smooth.  Skippy.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Working on our Paris puzzle

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