My everyday life

They let me sleep all night long. I woke up - one eye only - at 1:30 to realize they were not waking me up. I could feel the smalls against my back and see Biggie on the floor, awake and staring at me. I when right back to sleep and woke up again just minutes before the alarm. It was heaven.

Now they are playing with an old ball that has been around this house for years.

On the down side, I bought 24 5.5 oz. cans of a cat food brand/flavor/texture they liked and now, apparently, after 1.5 cans, they have decided they no longer like it. It's ok. It won't go bad and they will like it again eventually.

Yesterday was not a good day for a whole bunch of reasons. Today will be way more better. I could use some cash. There's an ATM at a county office building a few blocks from here. I've been meaning to try it (to make sure it's a free one). Today may be the day.

Otherwise, the usual. I'm running out of stuff to watch on TiVo. Which means I'm basically paying for cable services I do not use. I go back and forth in my brain about switching from cable to something like YouTube TV. The baseball coverage is the major showstopper and so far, I can't get around that easily/legally. But, I sure do spend a lot cycles thinking about it.

I do have Prime and Netflix and Britbox and Acorn so it's not like I've got nothing to watch. I haven't even finished the latest season of The Crown! geesh.

The cats are energized after letting me sleep all night, too. They are finding new (to them) toys and playing with old ones. Biggie just spent 5 minutes playing with The Small's tail. They are just busy beavers this morning.

I think I'll go get dressed.

1 fucking 30 in the morning they start. They took a breather from 2:30-3. But, all night long, in my face, biting my nose, jumping all over me. I was not and am not amused with either of them. Biggie has gone off now somewhere to nap but The Smalls is here beside me still causing me grief. He wants to get on the keyboard and is having tremendous difficulty with the concept of NO!

I seem to be very low on patience.

Also I have tennis elbow which may actually be knitting elbow which would really piss me off because no knitting?!? Fortunately knitting and crocheting use different arm muscles and different sized needles/yarn have different impacts but still ... PIA or actually, I guess, PIE. Icing has helped.

I am grumpy. (she says redundantly)

At least my swim was good this morning. Four of us in the pool - all regulars. The regulars thing is important because you know what they are going to do, how they are going to swim and for how long. It just makes it easier and nicer. Also I made a playlist of some of my Broadway favorites and today was mostly Come From Away with the first few songs of Book of Mormon. Not swim thinking, just reliving the stories. Nice. Also on that playlist - Jesus Christ Superstar and Kinky Boots. Kind of an odd mix now that I think about it.

Nothing on the agenda today. There may well be some day sleeping.

Last weekend, at the new Jewish deli, we had latkes that tasted like they were made from tater tots. Not good for latkes but it put the idea of a ham/cheese/tatertot hot dish in my head that I cannot get out. But, no tater tots in the house.

After my swim today, I decided to give the new Whole Foods a try. It's just across the street from pool so pretty handy. I'm not a Whole Foods person. To me the label 'organic' means over priced with a really short shelf life. I have great affection for processed foods.

But, the store is pretty. I got eggs because I always need eggs, and cottage cheese and coleslaw and a slice of meatloaf and... tater tots. When I got to the cash register, I discovered that one of the eggs was broken. The cashier tried to get me to wait while she got a replacement. I said no. She said yes. I said no. It nearly got uncomfortable. There was a line. I was holding up the works and I wanted out. I finally won. But, really Whole Foods is not me. I'm way more a half foods or less kinda girl.

Oh, BUT, they do have the sister of Butter Turkey!



And, on a sad note, that place where I got the great Thanksgiving meal... I was so hoping for a repeat at Christmas but nope. They have lots of great options for 8 or more. But, none for less. Buggers.

Home now and all is fine. I'm all caught up on everything. I have good stuff for lunch and good stuff for dinner already to heat and eat. And cookies for dessert. (I did try the cake I bought yesterday. Dry as a bone. There was kind of a weird flavor to it, but, Paul Hollywood would have choked on it due to the dry alone.)

I think I'll knit and TV today. This new pattern is getting interesting and I've got no where I need to go or anything that has to be done.

FYI - the current state of The Stickie is sad. The feather is lasting way longer than Stickie I but the stick is taking it on the chin.

Recently, I've come across two new places - one cookies, one cakes and donuts. Both not far from here and near each other. Today I decided to try them both. Meh.

ljtourist is always looking for The Great Donut. This will not end his hunt but I haven't tasted the cake yet. I had a bite of cookie and it was good but neither place is worth a return trip.

When I got home I realized that I meant to use an upcoming Saturday to go check out the place where meowmensteen works and today would have been perfect for that and way better than these two places.

Next week.

My road to quash the check engine light has finally gotten me home. The third on board diagnostic device did the trick. The first 2 and the elcheapo one I had on hand all failed. One gave me no codes but cleared the light. The next one gave me no codes and turn the check engine light on again. Finally today, I got the perfect combo. The plug in reader with the phone app and got the code P103. It's an air flow thing that I'm not real worried about and it has now been cleared. YEAH!!

So now I'm going to pull out the knitting and turn on the TV and enjoy...

It is now 9. These two are exhausted. As well they should be. At 3 am they decided it was time to PAAAARRRRRTAY! Plus, apparently, no party can be complete without my full involvement. We've all had breakfast now and they fell over into this coma...



It does amaze me that these cats, even in a coma, are hilarious. A never ending source of amusement.

I spent last night working on my new knitting project. It will be this cowl.



But, of course, in way better colors.




Today there will be more of that. But also house chores as usual. And, I found out about a new cookie bakery not that far from here. I think I'll go check that out. Not an action packed day but, of course, I have no problem with that.

Oh, the kibble update. So Biggie, particularly was delighted with the kibble. I don't think it will be dinner only. I put a handful onto the breakfast platter. He was appropriately grateful. The Smalls really doesn't seem to care. They both are still way into their Wellness wet food, no matter what kind. One or the other is going going to get a bloody nose one day the can. They stick their nose right in there every time I open a new one. sillys.

Always before, when I got out the cat carrier, I had two "GOODIE!!!" willing participants. Today I had zero willing participants. I got The Smalls in and then Biggie was having none of it. I got him and The Smalls got out. I told The Smalls, he was totally optional and could stay here if he wanted to be left out. But, I knew Biggie would be freaked without him so I finally got them both stuffed in and away we went.

They were perfectly happy once they gave in. We had zero waiting time. Biggie got his shot. I asked the vet about food. She said "everyone has their own theory". She said she was a fan of variety for them and suggested that a small offering of kibble at dinner might work. So that's what we're going to try. Wet in the morning, wet for lunch and snacks and a little kibble at dinnertime.

They don't drink nearly the amount of water they used to. She said not to worry that they were getting plenty from all the wet food.

So, excellent. See you next July!! (annual visit)

Then we stopped at Popeyes where I not only got my favorite dark chicken - not spicey, BUT they were out of biscuits at the moment and she asked me if I wanted extra chicken - Oh yeah baby! And I thought I'd try their pecan pie.

We got home and finished up the laundry. The washing machine and dryer worked fine. in fact... the dryer guys yesterday fixed a problem I've had since I got the machine! It's a one piece stacked unit with the dryer on top. The damn dryer door never stays open and I always end up whacking my head on it when transferring stuff from washer to dryer. I even had the original installers come out to fix it when I first got it and they tried hard and long and got it 75% there. But yesterday's dude took it all the way home. Door stays open on it's own! It's a Christmas miracle.

And it that was not enough joy in mudville, I discovered that the bulk of my Good N'Plenty stash is fresh! I had two batches in plastic bags. I dipped into the smaller one earlier in the week and they were so stale they had to go. But the much bigger batch is fresh and tasty! Yeah!!

The laundry is now all folded and put away. Dinner is fried chicken - YUM. I have a new knitting project - legalmoose talked me into making a cowl that I have no use for but promises to be an engaging knit so why not?! It calls for a special stretchy first set of rows (cast on). I knew how to do it but thought maybe there might be a new better way... And, sure enough, You Tube had a couple so I even learned a new thing.

When we go home earlier, I pulled the zipper back slowly and instantly had two prisoners escape.

Donna, the woman at the pool who jogs was there today. She told me that my pace is hard to follow 'because of your interval work'. She says she can keep up with me sometimes but sometimes I'm just going too fast... Interval work???? We finally figured out that my strokes follow the beat of whatever music I'm listening to. Some of the music is lively and some is not.

I know I should take better advantage of my swimming. Use more strokes, tighten up my technique, get faster, work towards a goal... But I hate to ruin a good swim. Now i figure I'll just beef up the playlist and call it good!

I normally keep my pool bag in the car and only bring up my wet suit and gloves each day. But, I noticed this week that the bag seems to be taking on a musty odor so I brought it up today to empty it and give it a good airing. Good time to inventory and make sure I'm not packing more than I need.

I'm also doing a couple of loads of laundry. The dryer vent guys were here yesterday to check, clean out the line from the dryer to the outside. They (the home owners association) do this every two years. The guy giggled and juggled my washer/dryer combo around so much, I wanted to check and make sure it's still working perfectly fine. The dryer guys are doing the lower two floors today so if there's a problem, I know where to find them to fix it.

Today's big action is a visit to the vet's. Biggie gets one more vaccine shot. And, that, hopefully, will end vet visits for a long long time.

I don't want to go until about 10. It's around the corner from Popeye's and they don't open til 10:30. My plan is to stop there after and get lunch and dinner there and maybe a snack.

Oh! I was also going to have to stop by the cat food store except Amazon just sent me a text that the cat food order they were going to drop on Monday, is coming today. Thanks, Amazon! I do want to check with the vet on food. All wet? Wet and dry? How much? I have noticed that since I took away the dry, they are no longer drinking as much water as they were.

Oh and other cat news... They have developed the most adorable way to greet the housecleaner. She opens the door (which is maybe 50 feet from the living room) and sings out 'good morning!'. They bolt up and run - top speed together - to greet her. It is just the cutest thing ever. I saw her yesterday after she had finished my cleaning and she reported that they also have a new-ish and growing fascination with the toilet. 'I can hardly squeeze in between them to clean it - they are such helpers.'

This was earlier this morning.

So. I have a long credenza by the front door. It serves as a boundary for the foyer, a place to put stuff come in and and of the condo and storage. It has a table runner, a small basket (sunglasses, etc) and a lamp.

The cats believe this is a runway as in launch pad. The basket is a no brainer for them to knock off. The table runner has only come all the way off once - mostly it just gets bunched up. But, the lamp - an elcheapo from IKEA - gets knocked off several times a day and the part that supports the bulb pops out and I know, I will not be home and they will knock that onto fabric or curtains or the carpet and start a fire.

I looked for lamps that would work there that I could hang on the wall. I didn't find any that I liked. And then I had a thought...



I nailed the damn thing to the wall! I like it! And... it has not been knocked off since. I feel like I won one.

Ok, I sliced one up and tried it.

It's way more tart than I like. (I like a really sweet apple.) It's very juicy. It's crisp.

I put slices in the plastic bag in the fridge. Will monitor for how well they fare.

I don't think it's going to be my favorite. But, I do have some carmel dip and I will try it with that for dessert tonight.

I decided to hoof it over to China town for cat toys and lunch.

Daiso had FIVE! Stickies. Of course, now they have none.



(They actually had a few pink ones, but I didn't want to chance it with a color change.)

Of course, both boys were waiting by the door when I got home. I did not want Biggie to see what I had or where I hid them... My nice, long, scarf did the trick. I need to remember to go liberate the scarf when he's napping.



Also, great lunch at the Thai food counter. Also, Uwajimaya had Cosmic Crisp which are all the rage right now. I got three. Not too many to carry and enough to get a good idea of what they are like. Supposedly they will only be available for a few weeks.

My Fitbit finally got the update but now the service is slow so I'm letting it rest before I dig in. Plus, I just heard a crash at the other end of the house. Better go see what that was.