Day 7: New Year’s Eve

We took care of the transfer station run, laundry and bedding yesterday (Sunday).

I’ve been frustrated with power settings on the pc that’s running my current project.

The complicated page I’ve been toiling over for days, works. It’s based on a technique I found two years ago that uses ViewState as a data source for a datagrid.

The SQL proved to be tricky.

I’ve tried to like it, but canned spinach is just not my deal.

I cleaned the toaster oven and it works fine. Ron used it the other day to bake potatoes.

Second day trying to do without Omeprazole.

Cranberry Bread; Day 3

Cathy dropped off cranberry bread yesterday; it’s scrumptious.  She’s had another hellish week with her mother.  There has to be a better way.

We had stir fry for supper last night.  Good, too.

This is day 3 of my being sick.  Laryngitis but otherwise doing okay, with the Nyquil.

Damnable Stop & Shop gas still has a $100 hold on my bank account, even though the actual charge for gas cleared days ago.  Cost me $5.  I threw money in this morning to cover the Fallon premium check, which had been refused, and the $8 or so that the account was supposedly overdrawn.

Ron is in a tizzy about being sick for over a week.  I’m just glad to have stayed healthy so I could make Christmas a little less grim for us.

Christmas and Thoughts on Wealth

I finally found a definition: wealth equals the difference between assets that can be liquidated and debts.

Median wealth for White families is somewhere around $116,000. That includes equity in properties. We may be close to that even with no investments other than two houses. It’s kind of a meaningless, dumb measure, though, since it doesn’t take into account income streams from retirement plans and Social Security. I think so anyway.

Speaking of which, I keep my fingers crossed that Ron’s retirement plans remain financially stable. He keeps an eye out for this.

Made chili for Christmas dinner with a pile of different vegetables – onion, garlic, green pepper, spinach, black beans, celery, carrot, tomatoes – and started a tofu stir fry.

Connie dropped off a beautiful plate of sweets yesterday, and I’ve devoured most of them by now. Feeling guilty.

Quiche; Transfer Station

I loaded the truck and got to Peter’s early enough that he could help me with their transfer station materials.

Transfer station was a zoo. The bins were overflowing and 2 or 3 guys were on the ground cleaning everything up.

Stop & Shop was a zoo as well. I got a can of cocoa free, a bunch of candy bars for less than 30 cents each, and half & half was on sale.

Stir fried the gorgeous box of riced broccoli and made quiche.

Picked up 3 quarts of ice cream at Polar Cave.

Ron says he’s feeling better this afternoon.

Patriots won the AFC East title.

Down Like a Stone

I stood out this morning with M2R and picked up OTC cold meds for Ron on the way back.

Drove to Yarmouthport to get a toaster oven for cheap.  Used the slick FB app that lets you pay via PayPal.

I’d been working on the page for MRS and suddenly ran out of steam.  Crawled into bed and slept like a stone for a couple of hours, dreams and all.

Ron had fussed that the meds weren’t what he wanted, but they seem to have worked very well, so he’s pleased.

We didn’t get to socialize as planned this week.   Ron was sick and today Cathy messaged that she’s coming down with a cold as well.

Good Day

I finished Christmas shopping.  This has been on my mind for weeks, glad to be done.

Made two eggplant meat loaves, mashed potatoes and salad.

Ron is still sick, but making progress.

Stopped by to say hello to David Vieira and Kathleen Palmer at their holiday event.   Could not have been more graciously received!

Sat in on the “Guitar Circle”.  Quite a large group!  Enjoyed it.  They made me feel very welcome.

Ron Is Sick

Ron mentioned a day or so ago that he was getting a sore throat, probably from one of his ‘Fit and Strong’ cohorts.

Today, he’s sick as a dog.  Got up briefly, then went right back to bed.

I’ve been working around him, minimizing disturbance as best I can.

Paid a bunch of bills.

I put up the tiny tree the other day and have been fiddling with the ornaments.  It’s pretty!

Made pumpkin soup today for lunch.  Good, too.  Splurged on wedding cookies.

Christmas Brunch; Groceries

I was able to talk C&C into coming here for our annual Christmas brunch, which takes place this year on Festivus.

We figured out a menu, and it sounds like it will work out well for all of us.

As hosts, we’ll provide drinks and the main course (bagels and cream cheese, quiche).

I realized today that I’d neglected to take account of two big bills, which has thrown my budget into shreds.  So, it looks like we’ll be patrons of the Service Center Food Pantry for a while.

We stopped by the Pantry this morning, but it was chaos.  We told them we’d be back and did a small shop at Shaw’s; a good idea since the Pantry didn’t have several items we needed.  I saved a few dollars with Shaw’s iPhone app, first time use.

We did go back to the Pantry after Ron’s Fit and Strong, and it was much quieter than the morning.  I sat with the director for a few minutes to re-register.

Chores; Rain

It’s been raining off and on most of the day, which is good for replenishing the aquifer and bad for our solar.

Did the transfer station and 3 loads of laundry, changed sheets.

Used up the box of Glutino gluten-free pizza mix that expired over two years ago.  The yeast was still active, although the flour may have been “off” a little and was very messy to handle.  Still, it made a beautiful pizza: olives, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, spinach.  We ate 1/3, froze the rest.