Where Did November Go?

Absolutely cannot believe today is the last day of November, 2021.  The month flew by so quickly. 

J. asked 'what are plans for the day' and I said 'piddling around the house'.  He said 'Christmas decorating?'.  My reply was yes.  But then realized it would be better to start with getting all the Goodwill donation stuff out of the garage and to the donation center(s).  So we tackled that.  Felt good about having way more stuff to donate than I thought we would - partly because I finally was ready to let some things go.  Lots of Crate and Barrel area rugs - some new with tags and even a couple of the underlayments to keep the rug from sliding all over the place.  Also finally let my Nespresso machine and accessories go.  I bought that machine just before Nespresso introduced a Keurig-like machine and it really pissed me off to have spent so much money on something that was now sort of 'out-dated'.  Nespresso espresso is delicious! and I loved making lattes every morning but the Keurig we have now is just so much easier.  It took me two moves and a couple years to be ready but someone is going to find a real thrift store find.  

Also finally letting go of the bins of clothes I have for my (then) larger self.  I've stayed pretty much the same size since losing a little weight and actually many of the pants I wear around the house these days are too big.  It's time to let the clothes bless someone else and get them out of the overhead storage.  (They are stored in flip bins).  

It's the day before our cleaning ladies come so I walk around identifying things that need doing but then think 'but I'm paying someone to do those things tomorrow so...I shouldn't worry about it today'.  There's a two week break in between their visits so there's always stuff to do - but I'm trying very hard to not pre-clean the house they are being paid to clean.  

(I just went to the kitchen for some water and I had to wipe the counters.  I just couldn't leave crumbs from our sandwich making on the counters until tomorrow.  And now the sun is hitting the under-TV cabinets in the study just right to show all the dust inside them - they remain empty so far 'cuz we haven't organized DVDs yet.  So I'll be wiping those cabinets out shortly.)

And I think I might go to a casino when they are here but will think about it.  It's so easy when 'more flush than usual' to play way more and I do want our extraordinary wins to last a while.

I've done my part for cyber shopping - I can't resist a sale!  I ordered so many things I had to create a list so I can keep track of what's arrived and what's still in transit.  I also scored J. the Turtle Beach Velocity controller for his Microsoft Flight Simulator!  It took constant reloading of the website page but I finally successfully got one!  Last week, the same process resulted in me having one in my cart but as I looked at a text for my Shopify code to enter, the item left my cart and went to someone else.  I gave some feedback - especially when they sent emails about 'you've left something in your cart'.  Um, NO I DID NOT.  In fact, you TOOK SOMETHING out of my cart.  Grrr.  But we got one this week so....  Next week, we try for a second one (J. will buy that one to comply with the one per customer) for B. .  His work schedule isn't allowing him to set up and reload over and over at a specific time so we'll try for him.  

It reminded me of Christmas' of the past when I'd move mountains to get the kids what they most wanted.   

We talked to B. last night who was off yesterday and spent the day flying.  His instructor is still with him but all the flying is being done by B. and he's pretty excited about that!  It is exciting!  Today starts his new assignment with his new company and he was looking forward to experiencing something different.  I think he was ready to move away from Infantry work.  He enjoyed it but he's been doing it a long time.  Change is good.