I'm A Voracious Reader : AVR Weekly News ~ 574th Edition

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.
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Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 573rd Edition

Monday ~ Tour Review ~ The Legendary Mo Seto by A.Y. Chan (US Release)
Thursday ~ Meme ~ 2024 BBNYA Tour Round Up
Friday ~ Meme ~ Friday Featured Spotlight ~ TWR Ultimate Blog Tour: The Legendary Mo Seto
Saturday ~ Meme ~ 2024 The Write Reads Tour Round Up
Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 575th Edition

Hello and Happy Sunday!

Happy Winter Solstice!!

Take heart! The days will now be getting longer!

On the Home Front: Another busy week of Kyle working OT so up at 4:00am including yesterday, picking up Ellie at school, a vet app't for Captain Kirk to get bloodwork (which revealed he is in Stage 2 of Chronic Kidney Disease), grocery pick up, wrapping presents, the cleaning, laundry, and 101 other things that have to get done around here. Weds I made snowball cookies (or Russian tea cookies, or whatever you call those cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar) for Kyle to take to his friend at work on Thursday. I didn't think they turned out that great (not like last year) but she said they were good. lol I also made some 7-Layer cookies, and 2 packs of those premade Grinch cookies from Walmart.

Jess went into work Tuesday morning then started throwing up. She had to wait for someone to get in to cover for her then she went to the hospital to get fluids via IV and was there for hours but never even got to see a doctor, only nurses. When she quit throwing up she came home, but the next morning she was hot with fever then cold and nauseous, so she went to Urgent Care where they gave her nausea meds and let her sleep. Her fever broke and she came home and slept the rest of the day and night then went to work Thursday. No idea what it was other than some kind of stomach bug, I guess. She tested negative for norovirus.

Yesterday I made some wonton soup that I saw on a friend's Facebook post. Turned out pretty good except the wontons got mushy. I should have taken the pot off the burner after I tossed the wontons in because the burner stayed hot (I have a glass top) and that's when the mushy happened. lol Anyway, here's the recipe I used (no measurements though). You can do it any way you want with any veggies you want.

2 boxes of low sodium chicken broth (about 8 cups)

1 small bag of baby carrots chopped into smaller pieces to cook faster

3 green onions chopped

a bag of frozen broccoli

some cabbage thinly sliced

a splash or 2 of soy sauce

a squeeze of ginger paste

a squeeze of garlic paste

Cook on med-high until carrots are tender then add a bag of mini frozen wontons and a bit of toasted sesame oil. Remove from heat! (lesson learned) Wontons do not take long to cook, about 2 minutes. I also made 3 cups of rice in the Instant Pot to go with it. I let everyone dish up the amount of rice they wanted to the amount of soup. Delicious! Anna added a bit of Aji Nori Furikake, cayenne pepper, and Los Calientes hot sauce to hers. I just added some salt and pepper to mine.

Today I hope to finish wrapping. I just have Anna, Trip, and Kyle's stuff to do. I also need to open the box that I got from my eldest spawn in Ohio. I asked him about a month or so ago to build me a gaming computer before Trump's big beautiful tariffs hit (sarcasm) and I expected to go up and get it maybe in February or March. But he built it and sent it for Christmas! 😍 The boys and I are thinking of streaming us playing games. Maybe calling it Two Guys and a Mom or something. It might be entertaining since they've been gaming their entire lives and I haven't gamed in forever. Especially considering the games out now. We won't be doing that until the new gaming area is set up, so probably Summer of 2025. Speaking of the new gaming area...

We are now down to the final 2 weeks before the papers are signed for the sale of the family farm. This year has equally dragged and zoomed and the end of an era is nearly upon us. I'm sad, but what were we going to do? None of us wanted to take on the job even if we hate selling. Change must come though and we're moving on. My brothers would have a cow if they knew how much I'll be putting into the house. I'm anxious myself, but I've crunched the numbers. Multiple times. Even now I keep crunching. Its cheaper to add on and upgrade this house than it would be to sell and move elsewhere. Besides, we like this area and don't want to move. So, yes, I looked at resale value compared to what I'm putting in and original buy price even though we most likely won't ever sell. At least, not until I'm dead. Then the kids can do whatever they want. Land is finite. There is no making any more of it. I anticipate real estate prices will just keep going up and up and up over the next decades. Prices are already ridiculous as my wasband can attest since he's been searching for a house to buy. Makes me appreciate what we paid for this place and the much lower interest rate. So, while I'm still anxious, I'm also satisfied with the decision. I have to consider our quality of life as well and we need more room (adding a family room and expanding Anna's room), the kitchen is horribly unsatisfactory for our needs, and the carpet is 24 fucking years old. I think Kyle, with all his allergies, will benefit from laminate flooring more than any of us though I'll appreciate how much easier it will be to clean. Since the kitchen is a top priority, I'm holding off on doing the bathrooms and hope to upgrade those in a couple years. There will be a lot going on outside, too. The next few months are going to be stressful, but I anticipate that we will be much happier when the work is all done.

The work will begin mid-January when I have a service come out to remove some big trees that are next to the house. Including the best tree on our property, a giant white oak. Waaaah! But it's too close to where the family room will go and we're all agreed that the footer for the addition will almost certainly damage the roots. And apparently, according to the tree guy, oaks are very touchy on normal days. lol I do intend to have the new mantel for the wood burning stove made out of it and I will have the rest planked so I can make something from it. Maybe bookshelves. I also gathered a good portion of the acorn crop it produced this year, so maybe we can sprout at least a couple of progeny. After the trees are done, then the outside work will begin, probably end of January.

Touching Nature: Warmed up then got cold and nipply. We're using the fireplace again.

Book News: I finished the 4 books I was assigned for BBNYA2024 with a day to spare. Whew! The winner is in and will be announced tomorrow. So exciting!

Don't Touch That Dial!: CSI I'm getting tired of this show only because I intensely dislike Sara and mildly dislike Sofia. I may do some CSI: Miami before going to CSI: NY. lol We've also watched Scrooged, Elf, and Die Hard.

At the Flicks: Nope

Cyberspace Playground: Wordle, Word Lots, Crossword Jam, Solitaire, jigsaw puzzles, the Finch app - is anyone wants to be friends just let me know.

Randomness: It's that time of year, so probably sleighin' right now.

Carol's Nuggets of Wisdom: The older I get the more I realize that many of society's so-called rules are just bullshit. Don't let anyone tell you that how you do something is dumb. If it works for you, then it's not dumb. Short circuit and rewire your brain when it comes to "rules." Do things your way and live your life.