Just Sayin

Hibernating

Or at least I was until I received a notification of activity on my credit report.

It was down the rabbit hole after that … tracking the source of the activity, heading out to one bank to have a card cancelled, replaced with a new card.

Drive over to a different bank to start the process of getting an account I did not open closed and off my credit report.

Then two hours online talking to Customer Service, who talked to their fraud people, who communicated back who I needed to fax to get the mysterious account removed.

Fax? I haven’t faxed anything, wouldn’t know how to fax because I haven’t had access to a fax machine since I retired 15 years ago.

We have the internet … email. Do people really still fax things?

Given a snail mail address, tomorrow I’ll knock out a letter indicating what they told me to indicate and that should be that.

At least I got some good quizzes out of all that hassle.

One was from a few weeks ago that I didn’t get around to posting.

Why did the apple join the gym?

Todays was … What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

In other news, the rains are over for the time being, but now we’re having strong winds … street signs are down, trash cans are rolling down the street.

Made for some scary driving and, I must head out into the wind again tomorrow for a dental appointment.

Good thing I managed to get Christmas back in storage, otherwise decorations would have been blown to Kansas by now. The side table and patio’s faux grass are taking a beating, knocked about but still there.

Cable was knocked out for a few hours but, knock on wood, we’ve not had any power outages. With the price of groceries, what I have in the freezer costs way too much to be spoiled by a power outage.

Plan for tomorrow is to survive the wind to and from the dentist, after which I can return to hibernating mode, put in time on my new read that grabs the reader’s attention right out the gate from the Introduction and Dedication.

Why did the apple join the gym? To work on its core.

What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted flakes.

After the Storm

Woke up Christmas Eve to rain and flash flood warnings that extended well past midnight.

A rough day for Santa to begin his run, and for last minute shoppers, thought I.

Unlike some areas, we were lucky ... did not lose power. A Christmas Miracle considering some areas flooded, experienced mudslides, eleven inches of rain and, sadly, loss of lives.

Taking advantage of a Christmas Day break in the rain, I headed out to drop off trash today, pick up mail.

Just as I began to exit the mail area, I saw Ernie and his son heading down the walkway, walking the dog.

I quickly stepped back into the mail area.

Me hiding in the mailroom

Waiting for the coast to clear

Replying to a comment by Jan F about having socks like Holly the Elf .... Here they are Jan.

I spent the remainder of the day lounging around, snacking on popcorn sprinkled with dried seaweed (try it, you’ll like it), wearing those socks. Dinner will be two of my self-made tamales.

At one point, I glanced out the patio window, marveled at how beautiful the clouds looked after the storm.

By 3:00 in the afternoon, outside once again began looking dark and gloomy. I expect another bout of rain, which means it will be a while before everything dries, and I can put Christmas back to bed.

Mystery Solved

It’s rocks.

The landscapers returned yesterday, began placing tarp over the dirt that used to be grass.

They returned this morning, began placing rocks over the tarp that used to be dirt that used to be grass.

Other than that, it seems my life of quiet and reflection has returned after a week of twice waking up at 3 am and once at midnight to let Twin 1 into the gate, attending Tuesday’s Management hosted Christmas Party, Friday’s Residents’ Hosted Christmas Party, and manufacturing needs from the grocery store so I could hunt for the elf.

I’d actually planned to attend Saturday’s Breakfast with Santa, but couldn’t pull myself together in time.

With no plans to get on the road, travel to Long Beach, spend time with the Great Grandbabies, for all intents and purposes the hoopla of the Holiday season is over as I return to my regular schedule.

Though I managed to keep my hunts for the elf current on FB and Instagram, so much was going on that I didn’t get to post the hunts here on the blog.

On the 16th Day of Christmas, I was in a hurry, had just popped in for celery, as I was making potato salad, didn't put a lot of effort into hunting and just happened to spot Holly as I was about to leave without finding.

Evidently, elves need TP just like us humans.

On the 18th Day of Christmas, I was working the perimeters of the market, recording section by section, when I finally spotted Holly.

Do you see her?

On the 21st Day of Christmas, store management got tricky with it.

In case you missed it, the first video captured Holly fishing over the fresh fish.

That was cute.

The second video finds Holly hanging on for dear life over Produce.

That's probably it for Holly. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I doubt I'll be making another trip to hunt before she has to pack her bags, meet up with the other elves to help Santa prep for his midnight run.

Don’t Hug Me, Don’t Hug Me, Don’t Hug Me

That was my mantra yesterday when, around 11:30, Crafty Lady called, said she was on her way to my unit, that she had something for me.

My first reaction was Oh Sh!t.

My second reaction was She’d better not hug me. Better not expect me to hug her.

Repeating the mantra, don’t hug me, don’t hug me, don’t hug me, willing it to be so, I began setting the scene.

First, I left the door unlocked, so I could just call out "come in" when she arrived.

Then I sat on the couch, put the laptop in my lap, as a barrier to a hug, make it look like I was working on something important …… an excuse to not stand up when she arrived.

What she brought was a t-shirt she’d purchased and personalized with a stencil.

Turns out, there was no creepiness involved. She was passing out a bunch of tees she personalized to fit the personality of each member of the "team" (the event organizers). Said that (as the photographer), I’m part of the team.

I’ll take it.

I actually liked the tee a lot, but it was way too big …… a tee I’d ordinarily wear as a night shirt; but thinking it too cute not to wear at today’s event, I pulled out the sewing machine, stitched a seam up both sides, shortened the sleeve a little, turned the tee into a fit I could live with, and paired it with Disney Nightmare Before Christmas Ears.

I was successful in getting to the Community Room before the crowd arrived this morning, hid the White Elephant Gifts (Box, Shopping Bag, Santa Stocking) under the tree without being seen and watched as my contribution was further hidden in a sea of other gifts, and later transported to a table.

There was one little snag when MAGA, true to her sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong, got herself involved in transporting gifts from under the tree to the table, made a decision to leave the Santa Stocking under the tree saying, "There's nothing in there but paper".

How does she know what is or is not hidden in the stocking?

Who died and gave her the right to make that call?

I hope I didn't blow my cover by glaring at her, saying "No it's not!".

"Oh, is there something in there? asked she.

I didn't answer, just glared; so, she picked it up, added to the table.

Stay in your lane lady. You've already annoyed, gotten into it with the Talker, I'm nearing the end with you as well, and I heard other in attendance whispering about how bossy you are.

So anyway, theme of today’s festivities was the Grinch.

Lunch was lasagna. We had Cookie Decorating — I didn’t have the patience (I think that 4 years, 4 months, 3,391 hours' project has used up my patience); a Guess the Number of Candy Canes in the jar game — I guessed 75, there were 100; a Drawing for gift bags with prizes inside — my number was not called, an Ugly Sweater Contest, the White Elephant Gift Exchange, and we even had a visit from the Grinch itself.

I’m guessing that, by disguising the money in a Box, Shopping Bag, Santa Stocking, those expecting a money box were thrown off because no money was uncovered until Player No. 6 stepped to the table, chose the Shopping Bag.

The Box wasn't chosen until Player 19, after which Player 21 chose the stocking.

Of course, there was a lot of back-and-forth good-natured stealing of the Box, Shopping Bag and Stocking, each of which reached the limit a gift can be stolen.

Seeing how my brain children were received, I was a proud mama, and even more pleased when I heard a few of the newer residents say they’d never seen anything like it at a gift exchange before.

Before all was said and done, MAGA ended up pissing off another resident.

I'd mentioned previously that those of us a little better off than others bring extra gifts for those who, for whatever reason, didn't bring a gift. No one is ever left out.

So when it got down to three people left to choose a gift, myself and Robbie and another resident, MAGA approached Robbie and said, "You didn't bring a gift. We have people that brought gifts that need to choose".

I could see Robbie getting immediately angry, but he stayed calm, said "Talk to B" (the Baker told him to get in line).

I said, "We always have extra gifts, don't worry about it", so MAGA walked away.

THEN, at the end of the event as we all began to rise, she said, "No one can leave. We have to help clean up".

I believe that's considered holding others against their will.

Of course, folks helped clean up, because that's who we are, what we do; not because MAGA said so.

I promise you, the very next time MAGA catches me outside, cries on my shoulder because she's had a tiff with anyone, I'm going to tell her why it is people stop talking when she approaches, so as to not engage with her; walk the other direction when they see her coming.

Oh, and P.S. Ernie made an appearance at the door. He didn't come in, just stood their making goo goo eyes at me. I was busy, didn't acknowledge him, so he went away.

Earthquake, Money Boxes, Fresh Hell

Shortly after 8 o’clock Wednesday night, I heard what sounded like the girl downstairs having a fit … slammed her door to where the floor shook.

On the off chance she might not be off her meds, but instead what I'd heard/felt was an earthquake, I quickly logged onto Earthquakes Now.

Sure enough, a 3.1.

Twin 1 rolled in at 3:30 am yesterday. I once again had a senior moment, forgot she was here, later let out an audible gasp when she appeared from the bedroom.

In addition to these senior moments when I’m prone to forget, I’m just not accustomed to having someone in the unit with me.

Perhaps, I should tie a string around my finger or write a note to myself, as a reminder next time she’s here.

Though Twin 1 had liked the idea of money boxes after I’d described what they are/how they work, had requested one to thank someone for helping her out when she was ill, she had never actually seen one in action. So, I pulled up video of last year’s Christmas event, showed her boxes being opened, the crowd reaction.

I think I’ve started a trend, because after leaving a few hours later with the money box she’d asked me to make, she thought of two volunteers who'd worked with her a number of years in servicing the homeless. Thinking they'd get a kick out of a money box and wanting to gift them something in appreciation of their selfless work, she commissioned two more money boxes.

If this keeps up, I may end up in the business of making money boxes for birthdays/holidays.

While in the bedroom yesterday, I spotted movement out the corner of my eye through the window.

It was the landscapers doing something odd.

What fresh hell is this, I thought to myself.

First, they attacked the trees, now they’re attacking the grass.

Looking out the window this morning, I see the grass is completely gone, and they seem to be continuing along the walkway — digging up all the grass.

I guess management doesn’t like anything green because it has to be watered and will be replacing the grass with something else.

Tomorrow is the Christmas Party us residents host for ourselves, and I am exhausted. My energy tank feels low. Maybe from having been around the people twice already this week, maybe from awakening 3:00 am, maybe from shampooing the carpet yesterday.

Today I'll be doing nothing but pumping myself up to get through tomorrow — drinking coffee, watching Chinese Dramas, napping off/on.