Hubbub of Activity

J. is doing a treadmill walk and then will head out with the Rav full of donations.  He drove to the donation site yesterday but they were closed - forgetting that many businesses were closed yesterday to give their employees the holiday they missed because Christmas was on a Sunday this year.  Same thing will happen next Monday, too, for New Years Day.  

After careful consideration I decided this is the year I will donate all the Cow Parade figurines.  54 figurines in their original boxes including the Styrofoam to protect them in their box.  I held back 2 which I will put somewhere. 

It was hard to let them go but made easier by having very few places I could display them here.  Sure, I could put them all along the top of the kitchen cabinets as well as the top of the linen cabinets in our hallway - but they will get dusty and be very hard to clean.  At our age, avoiding anything that requires a ladder is a goal.  

I loved them very much and enjoyed them for many years but it feels good to let them go.  I toyed with the idea of trying to sell them - did some research on secondary market sellers but then pondered the logistics of shipping that many items.  What I would have to spend to get them there while risking breakage, etc. just made it seem not worth the effort it would take to try to do that.  I thought about finding a collectible shop here in Carson that might take them on consignment but....again, never a sure thing.  I like the idea of donating them to our local charity that helps homeless people in our community and having someone come upon something they will treasure available for a bargain price.  

Or maybe the thrift shop person who prices items will do what is needed to get as much money for them as possible.  And that's totally fine.  They blessed my heart with joy for many years and it feels right to pass them on now.  

It's raining today and it's 'warm' rain because it's doing a great job of melting the snow we've had around the yard for three weeks.  The gutters are dripping away.  

Tomorrow is Atlantis for free play and then I will head there again on Friday for three nights.  J. will join for NYE on Saturday.  I'm taking one of my Woobles crochet kits to keep me busy.  

I forgot to mention in my previous post that J. won his very first hand pay on Christmas Day.  A six spot on Keno paid off handsomely.  He was super excited! 

Life Seasons

Christmas 2022 was low key.  Just me and J. and the cats.  

We kept gifts to a minimum - we are gifting each other some fun money to make our New Years weekend epic and super fun.  I did get a small thing which J. unwrapped when he got up.  

 

It's just us - me, J. and the cats.  This season of our lives is such a sweet one.  Christmas was low key and easy.  And Santa did put some gifts under the tree which was a complete surprise.   

We had a wonderful dinner at Atlantis - they really do know how to do a party.  We went at noon this year which was earlier than we did Thanksgiving dinner.  It was way less crowded at that time of day so that might be our new normal for attending the Grand Ballroom holiday events. 

A little play and then home.  I made some hot cheese dip to go with chips as a 'dinner' and we're winding down the evening watching "For All Mankind" and enjoying some eggnog with a little rum in it. 

B. traveled from Nashville to Destin, Florida today via his car.  The friend he was visiting in Nashville invited B. to join his family at the beach for a few days.  B. messaged last night that he was missing us and missing being here with us.  He didn't think about how most places are closed on Christmas Eve so he was spending a quiet night in his hotel room.  We miss having him here....but we always miss both our sons on a pretty regular basis so that's nothing new.  

Holidays are quiet and low key and while there were a few moments this morning when I missed the magic of having young(er) kids at Christmas time, it is very nice to skip a lot of planning, shopping, wrapping, cooking, etc. .  I hope there will be a season in the future where littles are a part of our world and I can't wait to spend time spoiling grandchildren rotten.  But I'm in no hurry - that season will arrive when it's supposed to in it's own time.

We received a save the date card for our niece - the only child of J.'s late brother B. .  She and her boyfriend V.  - who we met at the Celebration of Life we had for J.'s brother four years ago - are getting married!  They've lived together for years, bought a house together and are making it official.  We are thrilled to be going and looking forward to a busy weekend in mid-June.  We've decided to make it a road trip - it's only a six hour drive from Carson to Paso Robles and while we could fly, it makes sense to just drive.  Road trip.  Sounds fun.  

And I'm even thinking the Alaska cruise at the end of June also sounds fun.  Fingers crossed I can maintain that change of heart about going.  I know J. really (REALLY) wants to see Alaska and I don't want him to go alone.  So we'll see.

Tomorrow, we tackle taking a bunch of stuff to donation sites.  I've decided to let most of my Cow Parade figurines go.  Holding on to a few that I love - the one H. gave me for Christmas one year a while back and a couple others that I treasure.  I'll find a place to display the few I'm going to keep.  We will clear out a ton of boxes from the overhead storage in the garage.  

Merry Christmas!  

Fun Filled Day

Our neighbors on both sides are truly epic.  Epic humans.  Epic neighbors.  And wonderful friends.  

Our newest neighbor hosted us and our other neighbors at a holiday brunch this morning.  It was a delicious, fun-filled time and so lovely. 

I broke out my baking skills and made vanilla scones and they turned out really well.  I think that's one of the first things I've baked in the new kitchen (except for trying bread now and then) and it really revealed some reorganizing I will try to do at some point - getting baking stuff in it's own space.  We had to really hunt for the flour sifter and I could have totally skipped that step but was getting stubborn about 'where in the heck is it'.  

Sometimes where things are around here is still a challenge even 32 months in.  

J. reminded me today is the official 'we are now Nevada residents' anniversary - the day we registered the cars and got Nevada drivers license and registered to vote.  Three years!!  It's flown by. 

The morning brunch was loads of fun and such a nice way to spend time with friends.  

Today is the 20th and the local casino here in Carson - that I haven't been to in over three weeks - gives me $100 in free play on the 20th of each month - so I trekked there today to give the Dragonlinks a spin.  As I was exiting our neighborhood and turning onto Carson Street to head south, I realized I didn't have my phone - I'd left it on the counter where I dropped the goodie tray and gifts we received from our friends.  I thought 'I should go back' but then my next thought was 'but you are only going to play a wee bit and then head home so it's fine - just go, play, get this 'errand' done and head home'.  

I hit $270 on free play which is a great win.  Because I had won a bit, I switched over to $1 denom.  Nothing happened.  Then I moved to $2 denom and the minimum $10 bet.  A few spins in, I got an orb round and was THRILLED when the $500 mini dropped.  Totally stoked.  Figured I'd be leaving with another $600ish and would go home with some cash.  

The 15th orb dropped and I'd won the Grand!  Epic.  TOTALLY EPIC.  Wasn't even considering it a possibility when the lady next to me said 'you won the Grand'!  BOOM!  Nice handpay and so welcome as I headed into New Years pondering how we would fund multiple days of play.  Problem solved.  (There really was no problem to solve - have plenty of fun money so I knew we would be OK).  But the 'freedom' of being REALLY OK is very nice!  Especially because I am playing way less these days so the win will last a lot longer. 

The lady next to me was very kind and took pics with her phone and (bless her heart) made four attempts at texting them to me.  She finally added me as a contact then sent all of them to my phone.  And then let me use her phone to call J. - I had told him I intended to be lighting speed and back soon but paperwork takes awhile so....I wanted him to know why it was taking so long. 

Great, wonderful day! We will head to Atlantis for our usual Wednesday free play and then again on Saturday, too.  And attending the epic ballroom Christmas buffet on Christmas day which is always a treat.  

I always feel blessed - even when the slots are mean, I still appreciate this incredibly blessed life that allows us to play and have fun.  Feeling so grateful this evening.

Reconnecting with the Amazing Bug

I've been pondering relationships and friendships a lot lately.  They say the friends from work usually last two to five years once you stop working.  I am finding that to be a little true.  I still have a handful of friends that keep in touch regularly - if you are reading this and think 'is she talking about me'? probably not - but I am/have losing/lost touch with people I never imagined I wouldn't be in touch with.  

My handful of friends (some go back 30+ years) are treasures and I'm blessed.  I know I lean more toward reclusive vs. social and it's a constant struggle for me.  I get so much in my head - pondering/feeling the effort to be in touch seems/feels often unreciprocated so my psyche convinces me 'people don't want to hear from you.  They don't care about you anymore'.  I know it's not true - but that's another thing that I've been experiencing post-retirement - my mind can convince me of really stupid shit.  And when it's not convincing me about a bunch of nonsense, it's creating staggering anxiety which is also about stupid shit.

And truthfully, people are busy.  Busy living life.  Busy doing all the things we all do.  And then some in the case of the many work friends who are still working.  Time flies by so incredibly quickly and I'm always saying that.  Pondering 'what day is it today' and realizing I think it's mid-week and it was Saturday.  Crazy.  Our days are full of doing whatever we do and they are flying by.  True for us and true for others as well. 

I reconnected last week with a former boss - my boss from the Community College I worked out from August 2002 through December 2007.  He is retiring from his job as the President of a Bay Area community college (not the one we both worked at way back when).  The call was....perplexing and hard.  I realized during the call that the friendship I thought would be there no matter what - wasn't.  True, we hadn't been in touch much - and maybe I should have realized the relationship would have most certainly morphed in all that time.  I don't think he felt the same about the experience but mostly, that's because he was aloof and guarded which may just be his constant mode....so the call didn't seem off to him in any way, probably.  He kept his guard up, said some things that made me feel bad and that's where we left it.  Dredging up things that happened decades ago....way to kill any kind of re-connection.

Anyway, it was a hard call I regretted making and I've been beating myself up about it for a week.  I don't know why I do that because I'm pretty much a 'let it go' kind of girl.  But retirement has freed up brain cells and apparently, they keep firing in ways to focus me on things that perplex me.

My dear friend Bug is who gave me my former bosses phone number and encouraged me to call.  She also suggested the two of us do a catch up call soon - and when I messaged her a couple days ago to set up a call, there was a part of me that was not sure I should.  My heart couldn't take another not great phone call with someone I've always treasured and I was really afraid.  I needn't have been.  We picked up right where we left off - and talked for two and a half hours straight.  

Oh my goodness, she is a gift.  Truly, I don't know how she is always so spot-on and wise about the things she says.  I wish I had recorded the entire conversation because she said so many on-point things about so many situations - each one helping me more and more to let stuff go.  I've got lots of things to find - books she uses to focus herself daily and also some local happenings in her area (related to a community college where she lives) to spend time reading and pondering.  She and her family moved to Coure 'dAlene, Idaho a few years ago.  She wasn't working when they first moved but now is working full time at a chiropractor's office - a job that pays the bills and she enjoys.  

She suggested some books she reads daily - positive affirmations and ways to start the day intentionally.  She suggested a lot of other stuff and as always with her, I marvel at how truly wise and grounded she is.  God is her focus and she ties all things around Him.  I needed that regrouping around faith.  

I hope we will reconnect again and again.  She has two young kids so her busy quotient is considerably higher than mine but when she heads out to Target and has dropped off the kids at her parents (who live nearby), it will be great to chat again! 

Love you, Bug.  Thanks for being the most amazing friend even after a long gap from contact.  True friends are never, ever apart. 

Christmas Memories

Taking a walk down memory lane today decorating the Christmas tree.  Lately, even the simplest tasks turn into projects - culling through ornaments and letting some go.  If an ornament isn't immediately triggering a warm, fuzzy memory, it's worth considering letting it go.  Thankfully, there are SO MANY with memories attached.  

I bought small silver box ornaments ages ago fully intending to use them for a Christmas gift to co-workers back in the day.  I've moved them into the donation box along with a bunch of others.   We also ended up with four glass stagecoach ornaments from J.'s former employer - they are all identical and I honestly have no idea why we purchased so many?  Probably thinking he would share them with co-workers, too - but we never did.  Destined for the donation box.  Keeping one of each and passing the others on.  Someone will be blessed to find them.  J.'s going to take them to thrift store this week so someone can find them to use on a tree this year. 

Anytime we're culling things out, it feels good.  It really does.  It will consolidate  ornament storage quite a bit to finally let go of some.   

Muf headed to the tree skirt and is convinced they are hiding from us as her fuzzy tail hits the lower branches as she 'hides'.  Nala has made herself at home in the empty plastic storage bin - it's the hugest box and she is blissfully content (also) thinking she is hiding.   

Now that we've started, I'm determined to go through every single box of Christmas stuff in the garage - something we did before we left Tracy and again when we were in the rental before moving to the house.  So much stuff!  

The weather forecast said snow all night as we headed to bed last night.  It looks like the hills around us got quite a bit but we didn't have any new snow on the ground when we woke up this morning.