I don't really have a lot to update you on that I haven't already done in previous posts this week so on the Update Day I am turning the blog over to the readers and posters. Tell me anything you want about what is going on in your life. I don't even care if is just about a great deal you got on Black Friday, about your relatives in addition to the elderly parent you care for, tell us about a book you just read that you want share with us, a movie that you have seen that you want to tell us about, traveling anywhere fun for Christmas, what your goals are for 2009 if you have any, what your week has been like, if you have a joke you would like to share with us that would be great, if your new to the blog and want to introduce yourself that is great too, or if you just want to ask me someting I promise to answer any non x-rated questions.
The one thing I will tell you is I didn't get any good deals on Black Friday because I just never participate in it. I actually like to shop but I avoid Black Friday at all costs. Parking is never a problem for me because I have amazing parking karma and really every where I go a parking spot appears. The problem I have is with the crowds and waiting in line. No thank you.
The secondary caregiver is off this weekend so Friday and today is my cargiving days. Like the week I did earlier in the month, I am going to make it as fun for mom as I can.
Ok, time for me to hear from you!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
24 comments:
I don't have much of interest to say, so I'll just rattle on. I also didn't participate in Black Friday. Never have, never will. Had lunch with some friends that day, and one of them and her daughter had been to the Y for a swim, had breakfast out, then went shopping. Went to 4 or 5 stores and got at least one real bargain. And this was all *before lunch*! She amazes me.
Worked at the used bookstore this morning and made $85 for the library in 3 hours. That's respectable for one shift there, but not particularly good. Lots of browsers, lots of 25 cent purchases. Now home with a load of laundry in, doing computer stuff and avoiding studying Spanish. The online final exam closes on 12/5, so I really MUST do some studying. My daughter and I both aced Spanish I and II, but III has us both scratching our heads. Flunking the final will be a downer, but at least it's not for credit.
I just finished reading Jack London's THE CRUISE OF THE SNARK, an account of his building a boat and sailing it with his wife and a small crew. He intended to go around the world, but pretty much did the South Seas and quit. They had a good time, with the usual problems, more with the building than the sailing. His wife wept when the voyage was over.
Off to visit mom this evening. Not a very exciting life this weekend.
Hi Pat
I like it when you ramble, your weekend sounds more exciting than mine,I always find what you have to say interesting, and as soon as I post this message I'm heading to my mom's to spend the night!
All the stores here open at 4 or 5 a.m. so you can accomplish a lot if you want to get up that early and stand in line.
Way to go at the bookstore! That is a lot of work to sell that many book.
Good luck on your Spanish final exam! Now get busy and study!
If you aced I & 2 I know you will ace 111!
THE CRUISE OF THE SNARK sounds like the kind of book my brother would love!
Bill
Been a relatively quiet week here, too. I did get to the pool twice (closed for T-Day, closed due to a leak Friday). Line dance is great fun, preparing for the Christmas show. Otherwise, it was daily checks on Mom's b/p and doing her shopping and errands and various little things around the apt and working on the ms, which I'm finally near to finishing, thank goodness (it's not been a stellar project).
We had a nice Thanksgiving, despite one fiasco after another (I told Al, the day seemed to be some sort of Chinese water torture test), but were able to laugh about them and dinner actually came out well and Mom was able to stay for almost five hours.
Good news is Mom's b/p is coming back to normal the last couple days, which is a huge relief. And she was a little perkier today, another big relief. So, if I can three or four days of relatively normal readings, hopefully, I can cut down the daily visits to three or four times a week and she'll be able to keep her new app'ts with the ortho and MD specialist next week.
Himself and I decided we did not want to get gussied up and go out into the cold and rain for our anniversary, so celebrated with his famous taco salad and a quiet night. He says that means we now have two nights out to celebrate, whenever we're in the mood - my birthday (when we also stayed in) and the anniversary. We'll pick a night and do a big, expensive splurge (g).
Like Bill and Pat, I don't do Black Friday. For one thing, most everyone appreciates money at this point and I've already gotten gifts for Bro & wife and little things to tuck the money into for others, so my shopping is done, except for something more for Mom.
Bill, hope you have a great, fun weekend with your mom.
Pat, what's the deal with working at used bookstore and making money for the library? This sounds interesting.
If you're into suspense, I recommend Mary Jane Clark, having just finished her "Nowhere to Run" and planning on ordering more of hers from the library. If you're into soft and comforting in the end, Emilie Richards' books involving quilts (called the Shenandoah Album series) and if you're into just fun and fluff, Beverly Brandt is great escape reading.
Best wishes for a great weekend and upcoming week for everyone. No goasl for 2009 -- right now my goal is getting through each day with gratitudes and positive thoughts about all the blessings in my life.
DR, good news about your mom! I do hope you can manage to cut your visits down to 3 or 4 a week, that should be a help. I'm also glad your T'giving went well and wish you well for a giant birthday/anniversary celebration when you get around to doing it.
The bookstore is in our new branch library and is completely staffed by volunteers. We try to keep it open whenever the library is open, and that's 7 days/week. Right now, we have lots of volunteers, so it's open almost all the time. The money goes to the library for book purchases and it turns out to be quite a lot by the end of the year. We also have two giant booksales a year.
Bill, forgot to comment on your comment. The bookstore runs 3 shifts a day 5 days a week and two shifts a day on weekends, so while the take per shift can vary anywhere from about $35 to over $200, cumulatively it makes a lot of money for the library, which is very badly needed.
The problem with the job is that when you work there, you buy books you might not otherwise find, so it's kind of an expensive job since we don't even get a discount. But the prices are $1 for a lot of very recent novels and 25 cents for paperbacks, with some "special" books going for more and "coffee table" art books for up to $20 or so. So you can pick up a lot to read for very little money, and you can get nice gifts for special occasions, too. We also carry books on tape, CDs, videotapes, cassettes and DVDs.
Pat, I love the bookstore idea. Our county system has nothing like that. Twice a year, they do a big booksale at a warehouse facility, in order to raise money and the bargains are terrific, if you're willing to brave the literally thousands who converge there. I like your system better and it sounds like it's profitable for the library.
I take hardcovers in good shape from garage sales to the library to be shelved and others I put in a bag and periodically drop off for the semi-annual sale. I may take your library's idea to mine. The idea would be to pick the branch or main library, depending on where they have the most traffic, right? Or does all the money raised go to your local branch? This really sounds like something to be pursued.
Everything's fine on the parental front. Mum's new domestic helper started on Wednesday and it's early days yet so everyone is making an effort to get along. This time next week, however, things may be different...
On another note, this incident may interest the accountant in you, Bill. Some of my colleagues and I have had to attend a three-hour course once a week for the past weeks as part of our ongoing work training. It's a course on corporate governance, conducted by professors from the local university's business school. One of them, an accounting prof, gave us a worksheet -- it has five columns of annual report figures from five companies. The companies are not identified, but you are told which five industries they are from, and you are supposed to match the company to the industry just from looking at the annual report figures. I don't even know where to start. I've failed math since secondary school. I can't even do sudukou. I just wanted to fold my worksheet into a paper aeroplane. And the prof, somewhat kindly, said that this was an abridged version. His original worksheet had 30 columns of figures for 30 companies -- it's an exercise for his MBA students!
I think I'll just feed this homework to my dogs...
DR, our proceeds go to the whole library system, which consists of Central and two branches. It's run by "Friends of the Library", who do other outreach things like arrange lectures and kids' activities.
All our branches had books for sale in the lobby, but when they built the new branch, they set aside a room and a storeroom for the bookstore. It's right inside the front door, so it's attractive to browsers.
Hello Lady DR
Really good news about your mom! Not only her b.p. but that she was able to be up for give hours!
Glad you got to the pool twice at least this week. Glad the Line dance is fun, maybe I will try it some day!
What fiasco's happened Thanksgiving Day?
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOU AND HIMSELF? How many years?
I'm actually enjoying the time I have with Mom now, it did do wonders for me to take a break!
I wrote down "Nowhere to Run" as it sounds like my kind of book. I just finished fourth in the Camel Club Series by David Baldacci. "Camel Club", "The Collectors", "Stone Cold", and "Divine Justice". I would also really suggest on for Pat by Richard North Patterson, "Exhile" a book that would spark a lot of book club discussions.
I usually do my year's goals on January 1. Right now it is to monitor my retirement mutual fund so it doesn't crash! I've already had it reduced by high five figures.
Bill
Pat
Seven days a week seems a lot for a volunteer library but am glad you have so many people willing to give their time to work there.
Way to give back, Pat!
Bill
Hi Pat
So $85 would be about average. Except if only one person is working wouldn't that be quite a lot to bring in?
I used to donate my time selling hot dogs to raise money to buy poor grade school kids shoes and socks. Like you with books, I ended up buying a lot of the hot dogs myself either for myself or for friends that stopped by to say hi!
If I wanted to donate some books to your library, where would I send them?
Bill
Hi Dr
Our county Library has a sale each year but only use books that are donated by the public for that sale. The funds are used to buy cd's etc for the library system.
Like you I take hardcovers that are in good conditions and like new paper backs and donate them to the system.
Bill
Hi there Ari
I love it when I see your name on a post! Hope the weather in Singapore is good!
I home your Mom's new domestic worked proves to be a really good match for your Mom.
I hate accounting or business seminars they are so boring. Even worse are tax ones, like a two day one that I have to go to on the 9th and 10th!
How did you do in the matching exercise? I would have failed it I am sure. And who can do sudukou? I can't.
The worksheet sounds like good dog food for me!
Bill
Hi Pat
Putting the books in the lobby is actually a tried and trued marketing technique. But attractive things at the door and it will entice the visitors to come in and spend more time looking for books!
Bill
Just dropped by for a "quickie" catch up :)
I'm almost finished decorating the condo for my Christmas Ornament Exchange Party next Saturday. Anyone wanna come? Well, it's ladies only, but if Bill wants to make it, I can assign him the bartender tasks. Usually I serve the sparkling grape juice, hot cocoa (with Baileys if one wants) and some Wassail. I think he can handle that, and the women would be all over him! Think he can handle it? Bill..... Bill?? (did he faint?)
Have a great week everyone!
Hello to all!
It was not a real bad week for me either. I just had to wait until the day before Thanksgiving to actually know what I was doing. Long story but it all worked out fine. We ended up forgetting about the Turkey and leaving it in the oven too long, it was delicious but after the first cutting, you had to use a hammer over the knife to cut through the skin! No problem we just fed that to Elvis. He actually had a great day.
Pat, I also think that idea of the bookstore in the Library is great.
How much fun you surely must have each time you are there to work.
We don't have anything like that here either.
I also don't do the Black Friday thing. Although I did give in and go last year with my SIL and her friends which was a mistake.
I ended up being on my own for the entire day. But in my own way, I had a ball.
This year Hubby and I took a drive across the state line to Illinois and splurged and bought a $1 Mega Lottery ticket. With the gas so low in such a long time we thought we could justify the trip!
LadyDr, glad to hear mom's BP is good and she is perkier. Happy late Birthday and Anniversary and hoping you will have a great time on the Night out soon.
SnugPug, I hope the helper works out great for your Mum and you as that would be one less worry for you.
OH and I can do Sudukou, I love it, its actually easier for me than the crosswords. (do ya'll hate me now?)
And KayeR, the Exchange party sounds terrific. Especially the grape juice and Hot cocoa. Count me in.
Hi Kaye
Thanks for catching us up we all miss you when you are gone for a while.
As to the party, I used to be a bartender in college or to be amongst all women I willing to come in drag
Have a great time at your party!
Bill
Hi There Dona
Another of my favorites checks in!
I like well done turkey and the hammer wouldn't have bothered me at all!
Good luck on the Mega Lottery! If anyone deserves to win you do!
You do Sudukou? Well darn my respect for you just increased!
Bill
Hi, Bill (and all),
First, it's very sweet of you to think of it, but please don't donate any books requiring postage. I usually just take my donations with me on the days I work, but one day, I really cleaned out the bookshelves and took several bags to their usual donation place, and I was astounded at how many they had. A fairly large room overflowing with bags of books. They were just inundated and had trouble finding room for mine. Our bookstore back room is so full already that there's hardly room to go in there when re-stocking the shelves. Give your overflow to your local library.
Too much otherwise to comment on, except to say that I can't begin to figure out sudoku, but don't hate those who can. Much.
Hi Pat
WOW! I'm glad they have so many people willing to donate books! OK, I'll save mine for the King City Library!
I've tried sudoku several times, at doctors's offices, at home, etc and just have never been able to do them.
Bill
Snug, glad to hear all is well on the parental front and will hold good thoughts the new domestic worker is a "fit" and all goes well.
Pat, thanks for the additional info on the bookstore at the library. I've copied it all and printed it off to give to our library and see if they want to pursue such an idea. I suspect it's a healthy addition to the Friends of the Library sales held twice a year.
Kaye, you're way ahead of me. I didn't get Thanksgiving decorations up until two days before (wry s). But I do hope to start Christmas this week or weekend. Since I tend to decorate from stem to stern, including the bathroom, bedroom and our offices, it takes a while.
Dona, glad you had a good week and the turkey was great, even if the skin was a bit, uh, tough. And I won't hold doing suduko against you, either.
Bill, you asked about T-day? First, they didn't include the mashed potatoes in the box (this was supposed to be an easy dinner, remember?) Fortunately, I had some instant. Went to fix the green bean casserole and had one can of French cut and one can of regular cut (which no one particularly likes). Tough. The vacuum cleaner died, 3/4 of the way through the house. The washer didn't go to spin cycle with a load of towels, leaving them soaky wet and requiring running another full cycle. Himself was immersed in an e-bay auction, so I went to get Mom and came home to smell omething "hot." The turkey was done an hour earlier than predicted. Turn that oven to warm, throw together sides and get them in second oven. Himself decides to make gravy, in addition to what came with meal -- overflowed roasting pan. Turkey fell apart as we tried to transfer it to cutting boards (it WAS tender and moist). Opened refrig to set pie out to come to room temp while we ate and discovered the stuffing that should have gone in oven 45 minutes earlier. Used instant, refreezing prepared stuffing for later date. None of it major, if it's the worst that happens in my life, I'm in fine fettle, but it did feel a bit like Chinese water torture, one little thing after another (g). Still, as I said, dinner was delicious (if I do say so myself) and we all had some giggles as we went through the day. However, I think it's going to be Cornish game hens for Christmas and the next turkey dinner will be mine, from scratch, with a turkey breast, rather than an entire turkey, since I'm still figuring out where to send the dark meat!
Hi Dr
You must have gotten the easy dinner at Safeway. We did that a couple years and it worked pretty well but I did have to back on year and get the mashed potatoes and another year to get the rolls!
All that sutff combined sounds petty major to me. How great it is that they had you there to make it all work out!
You are amazing! But I already knew that!
Bill
OH boy!!! More guests for my ornament party AND a bartender too! :::yay!!::: (please, Bill.. no drag) lol
DR.. I start decorating for the ornament party (always the 1st Saturday of December) in early November. I do a little at a time as well because of my back issues. I also believe that if it doesn't move, decorate it! Last year I wrapped all the wall paintings so they looked like presents on the wall. Several complained they couldn't see what was really there, so I didn't do that this time :)
Great seeing everyone again!
K
Hi Kaye
But I was so looking to dressing in drag!
I know you will wow them with your party hosting skills!
Bill
Post a Comment