I'm A Voracious Reader : AVR Weekly News ~ 629th Edition

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer.
~ Recap the past week ~
~ Show what's upcoming ~
~ Share news ~
~ Display book hauls ~

Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 628th Edition
Friday ~ Meme ~ Friday Featured Spotlight ~ Kittiwake Stormhaven and the Pirates of Portolano

Friday ~ Meme ~ Friday Featured Spotlight ~ The First Sin
Sunday ~ Meme ~ AVR Weekly News ~ 630th Edition

Hello and Happy Sunday!

On the Home Front

Sunday ~ Puttered around too long before starting undecorating in the afternoon. Which meant I didn't finish until about 9:30. Ugh. Anyway, we got all the Christmas tubs out of my closet then took everything off the tree. Trip carried it out and left a trail of needles behind. So glad I had him go out the patio door instead of traipsing through the house to the front door. Anna and I packed away all the plushies and what few other decorations were out. Then we sorted through ALL of the decorations. I haven't done that in quite awhile and there are some I just don't use and haven't in years. I managed to combine 2 tubs leaving me with only 1 empty. Yet, I added 2 tubs of plushies. For fucks sake. lol I haven't put everything back in the closet yet. That's a project for tomorrow since I'm going to pull a bunch of stuff out to donate then rearrange since I have lots of pillows, comforters, linens, etc. from the farm. I really need to give my bathroom a make over because what I have in mind would give me a huge linen storage area. Oh, well. I've spent enough money for now. Anyway, when all of that was done I rearranged the furniture, sweeping and mopping as I went along. I like it better, but it still needs a bit of tweaking. For another day though. It's livable and that's the important part.

Monday ~ I woke up at 2:30am to pee and couldn't go back to sleep. Around 3:30 I was just starting to doze off again when Sugarcube jumped up on my bed and stuck her face in mine. Bitch, it is not time to eat. lol I got her settled on my pillow and finally fell asleep again to her purring. Up with the 8am alarm. Put my clothes in the wash, fed the furries, walked the dogs, ate some breakfast, then showered. I hadn't showered since 12/31. Oops. I made a trip to CVS and Trip rode along for some Pokemon spins. The Pilot's battery was dead so I used Kyle's car. I helped Trip get the ladder up on the back deck then he took down all the Christmas lights and put away the rest of the outside decorations. He changed the water filter under the house. He found the ladder to the bunkbed. He took the cans up the drive for pick up tomorrow. I started on my closet. O.M.G. It's like a fucking clown car. I spent HOURS pulling stuff out and sorting it before stopping to make dinner (Hamburger Helper for the boys, meatloaf for me and Anna) then went back to work. I stopped around 9:30 because I was mentally and physically exhausted. I had no idea how mentally taxing it is to sort out what needs to stay, donate, or trash. I did get all the Christmas tubs back inside, but there is still so much to do. At least I can get to my bed and that's all that matters.

Tuesday ~ My brain absolutely couldn't face working on my closet or my room today. Instead, Trip and I worked a bit outside since it's so nice out. First we took Kyle's car to the post office to drop off Trip's disability forms. We got them in the mail yesterday (I had to stop what I was doing to fill mine for him out) and the date they wanted them back is this fucking Friday. Like, wtf?! So, I dropped them at the nearest post office and asked to have them hand cancelled then I took a picture. Because I know SS will try to fuck him over for sure. I had brought a recycling can down when I walked the dogs, so Trip brought the other down and the trash can. Since the cans were empty I took nearly all of the recyclables on the porch (there were A LOT) and managed to get them all in one of the cans. Trip burned some trash (I know, we really shouldn't burn trash 😬), we took apart a shelf and put the pieces under the house, we fed the critters, and we hung some of our sports banners up on the security light pole (probably breaking some rule of Duke Energy's), and tried to jump start the Pilot - first with my brand new jump starter then with Kyle's car. When those didn't work I just called AAA. Why have the membership if I don't use it, right? A young guy came out and tested it then got it to jump start. The test showed 2 dead cells, so it was pretty much a given that it probably wouldn't start again on its own. I had him replace the battery. Once it was out we could see the sticker: Aug 2020. Well, that explains things. lol It cost me $229.50 with my membership. When I said, Wow!, he's like, batteries are crazy expensive now. I said everything is crazy expensive now. After he left I looked up O'Reilly's and he was right, most of their batteries are $260, Autozone $180. I'm sure I could have gotten a better deal somewhere else, but I just didn't want to mess with it. It was safe here at home, he had a battery, and he put it in. Done. It even has a Jan 2026 sticker on it, so it's about as fresh as a battery can get. I'm good with that. Hospice Thrift Store called me back about picking up the bunkbed. They'll be here Thursday morning. Yay! I'll work more on my closet/room tomorrow so maybe they can take a couple boxes of stuff with them, too. Leftovers for dinner.

Wednesday ~ Trip and I went to Food Lion for groceries. It was a fairly large re-stock trip. We also stopped at the jeweler's (same plaza) because the leather piece on Trip's birthday bracelet broke again. She had sent it back and they sent a replacement right before Christmas. Like, wtf? She was not happy. I wouldn't want to be that company when she calls them. Anyway, she has a leather guy she's going to show the bracelet to and see if he can work up a new strap for it. The bracelet itself is metal, but it has a leather loop to fasten the fish hook to to wear it. He loves fishing (though he doesn't get to go very often), so he really loves the bracelet. The weather was gorgeous so we cleaned out the garden shed instead of working in the closet/bedroom. Took a couple of hours, but it looks so nice now! I made breakfast for dinner for the kids and I ate the last of the meatloaf, corn, and pierogies.

Thursday ~ Hospice Thrift Store picked up the full-sized bunkbed and a box of stuff, but I forgot to give them the moving boxes I had emptied. Luckily, I was heading that way to drop a box of stuff off to the wasband along with some of his Marine clothing, so I just dropped them off. The truck that picked up the bed was just backing up to their dock. lolol After leaving the wasband, Trip and I then stopped at Pano's for a drink (we were very thirsty), drove around the park to get some Pokestops, checked out a gaming chair (again) at Office Depot (I'm still thinking about it), hit Lowe's for some things for the garden shed and 2 paintbrushes for staining the porch tomorrow, B&N to spend our gift cards, BJ's gas then BJ's store for a few grocery items, Smithfield's Chicken because we were starving, PetSmart for cat food and styptic powder, the bank to make a deposit for him and a withdrawal for me lol, and finally Food Lion because yesterday I forgot distilled water for Anna and bleach for the laundry room. We were gone 4.5 hrs. Ugh. Came home, put stuff away, Trip took the dogs out, and I went to pick up Kyle at the hospital (well, offices adjoining the hospital) where Anna had an appointment and he didn't want to wait around. Don't blame him. He got out of the car, setting off the alarm. Oops. He texted her, I drove up to the door just as she was walking out, I zipped her over to her car so she could re-lock it, then dropped her back at the door. lol Then we went to get his ice cream at Dairy Queen before heading home. Bagged up the trash because it was starting to stink up the house and Kyle dumped my compost can. Made rice in the Instant Pot then put in the Mississippi pot roast. Uh, oh. Gonna be after 8pm by the time it's done. Kyle likes to go to bed at 8pm. Whoops. He should have let me make the pork roast I bought instead. Oh, well. Fed the furries, did up the dishes in the sink, then worked on a post for tomorrow while noshing on some of the chocolate from my stocking. It was after 11 before I went to bed since I had to wait for the bubbling pot of pot roast to cool down enough to go in the fridge then do the dishes and my night time routine.

Friday ~ Up at 8am. Fed the furries, walked the dogs, piddled around on the internet for a bit (mostly sorting emails and doing Wordle) then woke Trip up to start on the front porch. It looked like rain all day and was in the 50's. Nice that we weren't sweltering and there was a decent breeze, too. We did the ramp first (about 2 hrs for that!) then stopped for lunch and he took the dogs out for a potty break. Then we started staining the front first because if it started to rain later we would be dry doing the inside portion of the rails and pickets. We worked from about 1:30 - 4:30 and got it all done before the rain moved in. Well, there's the small bits up high on the posts where I need a barrier (like a thin piece of cardboard or an old folder) before I stain that and not get it on the new siding. We already got some on the old siding. Oops. I also need to figure out how to get the downspout off the one post so I can do that side. I just have to find the right driver since the screwdriver wasn't doing the trick. We listened to Trip's music for the ramp, but for the rest of the afternoon he talked about gaming with Kyle. lol Apparently Kyle is ruthless and makes Trip do all the "bitch work". Also, Trip isn't a very good painter, but he was a big help and kept me entertained. 😂 Leftovers for dinner. Went to bed too late, around midnight. Why do I do this to myself?

Ignore the mattresses and boxes. The mattresses will need to be picked up by a junk removal service at some point (with a bunch of other stuff), but I don't want them to get rained on. Rained on = very heavy then probably moldy. I'll hopefully be getting a quote this week on that. The boxes are what's left of the recycling and one box of shitty Christmas lights that need to go to e-waste.

Saturday ~ Up at 8. Morning routine complete I started on the cleaning when what I really wanted to do was go back to bed and hibernate. It was warm, rainy, foggy, and humid. Gross. Since Anna and Kyle were going to a co-worker's birthday party in the afternoon and it was her turn to do the litterboxes, I abandoned my start on my bathroom and did the laundry room. So, after that was cleaned and litterboxes dumped, washed, dried, and refilled I went back to my bathroom. I cleaned all day. Many loads of laundry. Sweeping and mopping. Dishes. Every time I thought I was done and could relax, something else caught my eye. When Anna and Kyle left, Trip was like, "Kyle left! What am I supposed to do now? We usually game on Saturdays." So, I figured he could help me with the rug by the front door. It needed shaken outside and washed, but we had to move the shoe stand/bench (that Kyle calls the guillotine" lol). We did all that, swept, and mopped, emptied a box in the livingroom, and had some blackberry tea. Then he napped in his chair while I boiled eggs in the Instant Pot, did more laundry, and washed the dog waterer, dishes, and pad. Anna and Kyle got home just as Trip was done walking the dogs after their dinner. Trip ate leftover Mississippi pot roast. Kyle and Anna ate a the party. I munched on junk food throughout the day. Worked on this post in the evening until about 9:30pm. Got my 2nd wind, so had some cheese, crackers, & peanut butter for nibbles while watching tv. Will probably end up going to bed at midnight again. Since I'm winding this post up, you wont' know. lol

Today Thinking about doing nothing. However, I know I won't be able to. lol Kyle's room really needs to be reorganized and tidied up. Trip still has some things in there and I want to remove the 2 white cubes (with 9 cubbies each) and replace them with the brownish gray 9 cubby cube that's sitting in my way in the livingroom. The white cubes can go in the craft area. I just need to make room to put them there because we didn't work inside nearly all week.

New Year's Resolutions/Goals

I thought I'd keep a weekly record of these so I can see if anything is getting done. 😆

More reading, less tv ~Not yet. My brain just needs some mindless favorites right now.

Go back to the beginning and revamp old blog posts ~ Not yet. Other things have priority at the moment.

Exercise ~ Technically no. But I've been very busy, so lots of moving around.

Tidy up outside ~ Trip did the Christmas decorations, we tidied the garden shed, broke down nearly all of the recycling on porch, tidied porch a bit, stained porch

Sort through everything (keep, donate, recycle, trash) ~ Christmas decorations, most of my closet, 5 boxes unpacked

Touching Nature: It was super nice out most of the week, so we took advantage of it. Rained Friday evening and well into Saturday.

Book News: Trip and I bought books with our gift cards.

Don't Touch That Dial!: More Bones. Though I'm getting a little bored with it. Which means I'm close to switching to reading.

At the Flicks: Nope.

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

Randomness: Or it's 1576 days long. Take your pick.

Carol's Nuggets of Wisdom: It's Day 11 of the New Year. Maybe you made resolutions (maybe not), but you've already "failed" one or more. This is a reminder that resolutions put undo stress on people. If you want to make resolutions (or goals) I want to let you in on a secret: They do NOT have to start on 1/1 or even on the first Monday. You can start your goals any damn time you feel like it. And if you miss a day or more, it's not the end of the world. Just pick up where you left off. You don't need anyone's permission. Well, ok, if you feel you do then I give you permission to: continue on, start again, adjust the goal, or, if it's just not working for you, then drop it altogether (you can always revisit it if you want).