Monday Daybook

Good morning, friends. Another week has passed since my last visit here. Thank you for all your comments on my previous post about struggling to keep up with every single post on my feed right now, and thank you for understanding. I'm behind again after the weekend I've had.

Outside my window... It's currently 56 degrees and a bit chilly inside. It's forecast to be a sunny day with a high of 72. Perfect weather!

My weekend... Friday evening, the whole family attended my granddaughter's preschool Christmas recital. It was so adorable, I wish I could share photos. We went to dinner afterward at a fun little place with good food, great service, live music, and an open area that served as a dance floor right next to where we were seated. The singer was excellent, and they played rockin' Christmas music in between sets. We danced the night away with the girls - and by danced the night away, I mean until 8pm, lol. We all had a great time.

The rest of the weekend didn't go nearly as well. Get a load of this - my washing machine sprang a leak, my ice maker stopped working, one toilet won't stop running unless I open the tank and jiggle things around - no, just jiggling the handle doesn't work. The other toilet is leaking slightly around the base. Then my oven died. It looked like only one little inch or so of the bottom element was heating, and it was white hot with sparks flying. If I hadn't been right there in the kitchen, I probably wouldn't have noticed and likely would have had a fire. 

As if that wasn't enough, I started my car to go to the store, and the engine was making a clicking sound. I recognized the sound from when I had an oil leak many years ago. I turned off the car and checked my oil. It was almost completely empty - way too empty to attempt to drive it, even just around the corner to the gas station to buy more oil was too risky.

*Insert a loud sigh and throw in a WTF here*

I was grounded for the weekend and still grounded now until one of my boys can get over after work to put some oil in my car so I can try to figure out if it's leaking or what's going on. I'm not sure what to do with all the other stuff at this point. My older son is pretty handy, but it will probably be after the holidays before he has time to deal with such a long list of things to see if he can even attempt to fix them or not.

This morning... I'm having a cup of coffee and chatting with you. I'll be getting some beef stew going in my slow cooker in a little while. 

I am wearing... Yoga pants and another concert t-shirt. This one from Rockville, Daytona Beach, 2021. I have my robe on over the top to keep myself from flipping the heat on. It will warm up quickly now that the sun is coming up.

I am cooking... The beef stew will last me for the next couple of days. After that, I'll probably just use up some leftover freezer meals. I still need to plan some fun holiday meals and snacks for my girls for Friday. That will be the last regularly scheduled day I'll be watching them until after the holidays.

This week... Today, I'll be putting together a doll crib and highchair that I got for my girls for Christmas to go with the lifelike baby dolls I got for them. I think they will really love all of it, especially with their new baby brother or sister on the way.

I need to come up with some holiday activities for them for Friday, too. I had planned to bake cookies with them, but no oven, no cookies. I'm glad I hadn't purchased all the ingredients yet. Maybe I'll buy some store-bought sugar cookies for them to decorate instead. Other than that and giving them a few of their Christmas gifts, I'm not sure what else we'll do yet. Either way, I want to be sure it's a fun and festive day for them.

I still have a few gift cards to buy and a couple of gifts to wrap. I did a good cleaning while grounded over the weekend, so that's out of the way. We still need to figure out a plan for the actual holidays, too, which is difficult with my new grandbaby due on Christmas Day - not to mention the lack of a working oven. 

I think that just about covers everything for me this week. How's your holiday season going?

Sidetracked

If we received grades for blogging, I would have a D for this past week. I started out strong but quickly fell behind when I had my girls on Thursday. Friday was another busy day, and then I had the girls again all day Saturday and Sunday. I'm completely exhausted and have fallen too far behind to even make an attempt to go back to catch up with anything I've missed from all of you.

It looks like I'm going to have to change my blogging style - at least for a while. This is a busy month to begin with, but my calendar is piling up with extra days with the girls and lots of appointments and activities I hadn't planned on. So much for the simplistic holiday season I had in mind. 

I've always been one to catch up on my blog feed reader before I post again, but after some thought, I'm going to have to just pop in to visit when I can. I'm not really comfortable with this decision, but unfortunately, I just don't have the time to keep up on a daily basis right now. It's either this way or take another blog break, so I guess I'll give this way a try first.

I would love to know more about your blogging routines. Do you just wing it? Do you post without thoughts of who you have or haven't visited? Do you keep up daily with blogs you follow? Do you use a feed reader or only visit or reply to those who comment on your posts? How do you manage during busy times? 

I know, too many questions, but I would really love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you might have.

Have a great week. :)

Monday Daybook

Good evening, friends. I bet you didn't expect to hear from me again so soon. I'm sticking with my old school Monday Daybook for now. I think it's something I can keep up with even during busy times - fingers crossed anyway. 

Outside my window... It was a hot, sunny day. It's almost sunset as I'm writing, and it's still 81 degrees out there. So much for that nice little cold front that came through on Thanksgiving. Such is life in Florida.

The weekend... I wasn't feeling very well and was just completely exhausted the entire weekend. There were plans to get together with my family, but I just wasn't up to doing anything. My kids still got together and took the little ones downtown to watch the Christmas parade on Saturday evening, so it all worked out ok. 

This morning... I was still dragging, but finally got myself up and moving. I had some calls to make, made my to-do list for the week, figured out a plan for meals, and then went to do my grocery shopping. 

I am wearing... I'm back in comfy clothes now - Jammie pants and an oversized t-shirt, another one compliments of my son. Today, it's an old Nintendo t-shirt featuring all the original characters.

I am listening to... Silence at the moment.

I am thinking... About starting a new blog - a private one. There are so many pros and cons to consider. The only real solution for doing and sharing everything I want to would be having two blogs, one public and one private, but when I think about that, I have to ask myself if I've lost my ever-loving mind!

I am feeling... Sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't know if I picked up something from the girls last week or if it's just one of my health issues kicking my butt, but I'm still feeling so lousy today.  

I am reading... Blogs, as usual. Unfortunately, I'm currently not able to see well enough to read books. I have cataracts and need surgery, but I have been putting it off. I've tried audiobooks, but I somehow forget to pay attention when I'm listening instead of reading. Does anyone else have that problem?

I am cooking... I'm making egg roll in a bowl with ramen noodles for this evening, and there will be plenty of leftovers for the next day or two. I'm planning to make some breaded Italian chicken cutlets, macaroni and cheese, and roasted broccoli on Wednesday. That way, I'll have a good lunch ready for the girls on Thursday - just heat and eat. I have everything I need to make Chana Masala late in the week if I'm not still working on leftovers.  

I am watching... I've been watching movies on Tubi lately. Check it out if you aren't already familiar with it - it's a free app. Here are a few that I thought were pretty good - Grandma, Fireflies in the Garden, Welcome to the Rileys, and I'm in the middle of A Good Person, which seems good so far. All have great casts.

I am going... Nowhere other than out for a nice long blog jog this evening.

This week... Other than a doctor's appointment tomorrow, I'll be checking things off my to-do list, and then of course, I'll have the girls all day Thursday. I try not to plan anything on Fridays or over the weekends if I don't have to. There's always a lot of cleaning to be done after a day with the girls, and besides that, I'm always worn out for days afterwards.

That's all for me for today, and possibly the week - we'll see. Now I'm off to see what you've been up to. Enjoy the evening! :)