Friday Randomness – 5 Things
Today’s post will be 5 Things I’m thinking about.
- Fabulous Fridays – My company started giving us 3 Day weekends in July, at first for the summer, then extended through September, now extended through the end of the year. There is talk of making this permanent, but I’m not sure whether that will happen or not. I have been loving it. I love having a day off during the week, when I have the day to myself and if I decide to go out and about, the world around me is not so busy as it is on weekends. I always walk my dog, Mulder, in the mornings, but on Fabulous Fridays, we have time for a longer walk. Sometimes we walk to a nearby park, above, and look in this pond to see if we can see any turtles. Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes I drive him to another neighborhood and look at other people’s houses/lawns/decorations. The best walks, though, are when we drop Maya off at work and then walk around downtown. I like this better than looking at houses, because inevitably if I want to walk for more than an hour, I find myself needing a bathroom. I know where to go downtown before the shops open (Capital One Cafe, which has a great upstairs where you can sit and relax for a bit if you are so inclined. We have taken advantage of this a couple of times, if Mulder seems a little off from his chemotherapy treatment. They will give him water and a cookie, so I know he’s welcome. He likes the elevator, too. I have a Capital One card that I use for almost everything, for the points, but you don’t need one to use the premises.) After our walk, I sometimes go visit my Great Aunt Flo (haven’t been in awhile, need to make a plan), who is 98 and lives in an assisted living facility about 1.5 hours away. I can’t really talk to her on the phone anymore, her hearing is such that when I call, she just says, “I’m sorry honey, I can’t hear you”. Her world is getting smaller for sure, which must be frustrating, though she is a basically cheerful person.
- Masks – I ordered some new KN94 masks today. Are you still wearing masks? I do when I go to the grocery store. When I go to a restaurant, I will wear it from the door to my table, but then I take it off. I see more and more people not wearing them anymore, but I still want to be careful. I wouldn’t mind getting through the winter without getting the flu, COVID, or anything else. We’ll see.
- Lists – Are you a list person? I find that if I hold myself accountable by making a list, I am more likely to remember the things to get done, and actually do them. I don’t generally need a list for work items, unless my day is going in different directions, or I have something really boring to work on and the list gives me that nudge. But a list for personal things works well for me. Today’s list includes: Walk Mulder, order masks, submit FSA reimbursement for masks, pay for upcoming doctor appointment, grocery store, push-ups, crunches, yoga/stretch, laundry. I’ve done the first 4, working on the rest. Do you like how I separated out the 3 physical items? That’s so I will do all of them, not just one.
- Housekeeping – A recent commenter mentioned that she had read my tab titled ‘My Blog Philosophy’, and that she agreed with it. So I reread it, and yes, I still feel all of those ways. My blog has meant a lot to me over the years, and I am so glad that my mom started up her own blog and we had that to share for two years before she died. It also reminded me that I have some tabs that are pretty much defunct. I have one for recipes, where I used to link to recipes I liked, so I wouldn’t have to search for them by name if I wanted to find one. Some update or another in WordPress messed up the formatting, and I haven’t bothered to update it or fix it. I should probably either delete that page, or remove the tab. Or I could update and maintain it, who knows. Then there is one for book reviews, which is reading challenges that I participated in over a decade ago. Maybe I should delete that one, or as I said, at least remove the tab. We’ll see. Thinking about blogging, and about NaBloPoMo, I went back and looked at the post where I won an iPad, and was reminded that at one point, I inexplicably was included in a list of Top 100 Mommy Blogs (I’m number 68). What? I have never had that many commenters, not a huge community, and while I am a mom, I have never considered this a Mommy blog. It was exciting at the time, though! Also, wow, I’ve been blogging a long time. When I started, I was 39. The picture that pops up when I comment on some of your blogs is from my 40th birthday party. I’ll be 57 next month. Crazy.
- Fire Prevention – Mulder and I walked past a house fire the other day. It was on one of our regular routes, and when we passed by, it was mostly under control, with a few smouldering flames on the roof. Scary to be sure. Ted works as a Public Information Officer (PIO) for the county DA’s office, and he contacted the PIO for the fire department, who said that there were 2 fatalities. There were 3 people in the town home, the father was asleep downstairs, and his wife and son were asleep upstairs. There was a pipe and an oxygen machine, which is not a good combination and was the cause of the fire. That reminded me of my days delivering for Meals on Wheels, which I haven’t been able to do since COVID started, but did for almost 11 years. There was a man on my route who smoked and had an oxygen machine, though he said NEVER at the same time. I was always worried delivering to his house. Anyway, in the place we walked by on Monday, the man downstairs escaped the house, but the wife and son upstairs died from the smoke. The PIO said that if their bedroom doors had been closed, the smoke would not have overcome them and the fire department likely could have rescued them. Do you sleep with your bedroom doors closed? We don’t. We leave them open so Mulder can go from room to room as he wants. I’m not sure I want to lock him in/out that way. But I had a couple of thoughts, which are that we should get more fire alarms. We have one in the hallway upstairs between our bedrooms, but we could probably have one in each bedroom, and at least one downstairs as well. That could give us time to get all in one room with the doors closed, if it didn’t give us time to get out of the house. We have a fire ladder in our bedroom, and a harness thing to carry Mulder down the ladder if we need to, and an extra leash for him, and a fire extinguisher upstairs. But more alarms sounds like a good idea to me. I think I’ll go to the hardware store for this week’s Fabulous Friday and pick some up. Another idea is a fire blanket. I just ordered a pack of 4. I’ll put one in the kitchen, one near the grill, and two upstairs. For a small fire that is just starting, I don’t think it hurts to have more than one option.
18 Comments
nance
I’ve decluttered my blog a few times. I used to have a ton of sidebar elements that were worky and required a lot of upkeep. I got rid of them. Like you, I’m thinking of getting rid of my tabs, too, because I’m not entirely sure that anyone really goes to them/uses them. (For the record, I don’t refer to yours.)
It’s snowing here right now, and I wish that I had nicer weather for a walk, or a dog that made me have to go out to walk. I cannot pop down to the corner and get my granddog Zydrunas because he is too strong and reactive for me. He has already drug me face-down across several lawns at the lake, once because he saw a fake dog (a goose repellent), and another time because he saw a golden retriever that was obviously a horrific threat to my safety. So I’m forbidden to take him out on a leash at all.
We all sleep with our bedroom doors open as well, and I know it’s a fire hazard. I just feel so stuffy and airless with a closed door. I’m hoping that our many smoke alarms will help us.
I’m so glad to see that Mulder is very much in his routine and doing well. (And I doubt very much that I could do ONE pushup.)
J
Nance, I was proud of myself that I did 30 pushups, though they were definitely on my knees. I have middle-aged woman arms, and they are flabby, which I would love to fix. We’ll see.
Z is a big dog, and when they are reactive like that, it is very good that you don’t take him out. Your experiences sound scary and painful. I carry pepper spray on the off chance that another dog attack Mulder. I haven’t needed it, but we had a friend whose dog was attacked by an off leash dog, and the friend’s dog died. It was horrible. Not that Z would do that, but it’s good to know your limitations and your dog. I tell Maya that my next dog will be small, which she hates. She’s not a fan of small dogs. She will concede to a shiba inu, so perhaps that will be the way forward. But not for a long time, we are a one dog at a time family.
Sorry about your snow. I heard they’re going to get hit hard up near Buffalo. Ugh.
Ally Bean
Yay to long weekends. Not wearing masks anymore, but reconsidering that as we get closer to the holidays. I keep lists. This is not a Mommy Blog, never has been. I like the fire blanket idea, very much.
J
Thanks Ally, for your support on the Mommy Blog, and also for your support on the fire blanket. I think I should have kept a work list yesterday, because I forgot something that had to be done, and paid for it by working late. Blah. The good news is, that means I didn’t have to cook, Ted and Maya did that, so I went downstairs to find dinner waiting. Not so shabby after all!
Jenny
You have Fridays off? How nice! I have Wednesdays off and I love having that day in the middle of the week. It’s nice having a day to get things done where places aren’t as crowded.
I like how you know exactly where to use the bathroom on your walks- I also am always aware of bathroom options travels. I remember during Covid, discovering many bathrooms were CLOSED, and that was very… inconvenient and disconcerting. On that subject, I haven’t worn a mask in quite a while. I’ve thought about it- I don’t want to get sick for the holidays- but I hate them so much. When we had to wear them at work I had headaches every single day. So I guess I’m taking my chances… hopefully I won’t regret it.
J
Jenny, yes, I have three day weekends right now, and I love it. I don’t know that it will last, but I’m enjoying it while I can.
Regarding the masks, I really feel for people like you who had to wear them all day, every day. I work from home, so only wear it when I go in to the grocery store or the drug store. And even then it sometimes gets a little uncomfortable. You’re a massage therapist, right? So while there is a risk of being one on one like that, at least you are not in big crowds like a grocery store checker.
San
I have Fridays off too (mostly) and I love it – I don’t ever want to go back to a five-day workweek. Yes, my other work days are long (I still work 40 hours) but you get used to it. It’s nice to have Fridays to run errands. I do my grocery shopping on Fridays, too.
I still wear masks everywhere I go. We are still not really eating out much and if we do, we try to go where we can sit outside.
I am definitely a list maker. I have to-do lists for work and for personal stuff. It’s very satisfying to check things off (even though not everything might get done right away).
I love that you’ve been blogging for such a long time and wonder why our paths haven’t crossed sooner. I am glad we’re reading each others blogs now 🙂
J
San, yay to three day weekends! At this point, I am very fortunate that we are working 32-35 hour weeks, but that may change. I would rather work 4-10s than 5 8s, but part of that is because my daughter is an adult and I have more flexibility.
I too am glad we have met now, funny that it has taken so long. I think the blogging world has gotten smaller, so easier to meet now. Yay for that aspect of it!
Meike
My mask routine sounds like yours. I almost decided to leave them off but of corse the day after I left it off at work for the first time my colleague who sits in the same office tested positive. Luckily I was spared but that spooked me a bit.
I am not a list maker only if it gets very crazy or when we leave for vacation.
J
Yeah, we are in complicated times, right? I wear my mask going places where a lot of people cough and sneeze, and truthfully, I may do that from now on. Who wants flu? Not me. But more open areas, maybe not. Easing back to normal.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Pretty amazing. Also a list maker here. And a mask wearer. Wow that is a long time blogging.
I am thinking of doing some blog updates the end of the year. Its been 10 years of blogging for me.
J
It is a long time blogging! It has been an important part of my life, I would say. Glad to meet another list maker. I’m off and on about it (much like blogging), but feel better about life in general when I do it (much like blogging.)
Elisabeth
I have so many lists going at all times. I have work lists and home lists and Christmas lists. But I really enjoy the process of writing lists and crossing things off. I try to fully embrace that I cannot function (well) without lists.
We mostly sleep with our doors closed, but not because of the fire hazard. All our bedrooms open on to the same hallway, and if we all sleep with doors closed if the kids get up early to shower/putter in their rooms, the other people can sleep.
One of our friends was a fire marshall and my biggest takeaway from him was to NEVER LEAVE TOASTERS plugged in. In that instant, I changed that behaviour forever and I always, always unplug our toaster (we now store it in a side cupboard when we’re not using it).
And I don’t think there is anything as “too many” fire alarms! Modern code requires them to be wired/connected (so if a smoke alarm goes off in the basement it will automatically trigger all the other alarms all over the house. Code also requires them to be in each bedroom.
We don’t have either of those things fully executed in our house (it’s from the 1970’s so things definitely weren’t wired for that), but I really should buy a few more alarms. We have 2 on each level of the house at this point (4 total), but I should get more…
J
Wow, I’m going to unplug our toaster now! I knew that you are supposed to have one in each bedroom, but not that they are supposed to be connected. That’s interesting.
Nicole MacPherson
This was very fun to read! I love the idea of Fabulous Fridays. Fridays are such a great day and I love that you can spend yours any way you wish.
I do wear masks at the grocery store, and if I have a doctor’s appointment. I am seeing more these days, with so many viruses going around.
I make lists all the time! I love a good paper list, though, I seem to not be able to pay attention to phone lists.
I can’t believe you have been blogging all this time and I’m only discovering you NOW!!! I have been blogging since 2008, you’d think we would have crossed paths.
Fire prevention – I am terrified of fire. Just terrified. We have smoke detectors all over the house, as well as CO detectors, as we had a scare when I was pregnant with my second.
J
Nicole, I have tried phone lists as well, and they never work for me. I am definitely a fan of a paper list. I do have some long terms lists (like menu ideas, or gift ideas) that I keep on my iPad, but otherwise it’s paper all the way.
NGS
We keep the door to our stairs closed all the time so the cat and dog can’t go upstairs. We also close our bedroom door in the winter to try to trap heat in the room. We have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers on each level, so I guess we’re going the best we can. We maybe should have fire blankets and an emergency exit ladder near the windows in the upstairs bedrooms. There have been a lot of house fires in our town in the last year or two and it’s always scary when there are fatalities.
I used to be super consistent about masking, but now I pretty much just wear them to the grocery store. I did a job interview yesterday and no one was wearing masks and so I didn’t, either. If I get sick, I’ll know why, though! I’m like you, though, I’d like to get through this winter without getting sick!
J
NGS, I hope your interview went well! Funny, we leave our doors open so the dog can come in, you close them to keep the dog out. Regarding fires, yes, it’s horrible when someone dies that way for sure.