Six on Saturday

1. I went out yesterday to buy a DVD of Hamnet, which came out this week. Guess what? There are no local places to buy a new release DVD. There’s a place that sells used albums / dvds / books / CDs, but not much new. I tried there, I tried Best Buy, I tried Target. Nada. I had to order from Amazon, which made me grumpy. I didn’t want to just own a digital download. I don’t trust those, since I bought an album on Apple Music years ago, and my favorite song is no longer on the album (removed from my phone and computer). What? I BOUGHT IT. Turns out you think you’re buying them, but you’re renting long term, and if their contract changes, you’re out of luck. Annoying.
2. First I read The Age of Innocence for Engie’s CBBC, and I loved it. I’ve read two other Edith Wharton books, and I loved them too (Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth). Then I watched the movie, which I got on DVD from the library. I had a very slow day at work on Thursday, so I watched it again. Now? I’m listening to it on Audible. Free! I mean, Audible = Amazon, which sucks, but Free! means they are not getting my money (aside from the Hamnet DVD). So far I am loving it. Why am I this way? I did the same thing with Joy Luck Club and My Brilliant Friend, and I loved it. I feel like I get more from it every time.
3. Weather – It’s really pretty out, but that’s not good this time of year. This is supposed to be our rainy season.

After a wet end to 2025 and beginning of 2026, it’s pretty dry around here. I had to water the outdoor plants the other day, which makes me grumpy this time of year. There’s no rain in sight, which means no snow in the mountains.

A quick google search tells me that our snowpack is low, but our reservoirs are in decent shape, which is a good thing. I had to laugh at the ‘Crucial Period’ bullet point. ‘the state is left rushing to catch up to average levels’. What? I mean, we don’t have any control over the weather, and looking at the 10 day forecast above, clearly Mother Nature is not ‘rushing’ to catch us up at all.

4. WordPress is having trouble with the whole numbering thing, since inserting an image threw off the blocks, so formatting has gone to hell. Oh well. I had a slow afternoon at work the other day (that’s two slow afternoons this week…but Monday looks like it will be busy, so that’s a good thing), and got a good start on our taxes. Remember those checking account bonuses I’ve been getting for vacation money? Turns out that money is taxable, they sent me 1099s and everything. Credit card bonuses are not taxable (at least I haven’t gotten a 1099 for it), which is strange. Maybe because they give you points? I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve been putting off this stupid task for a while, and it felt good to have some idea of what we’re looking at.

5. Tomorrow is the stupid time change. I mean, both time changes are stupid, but this one is worse in terms of health outcomes and so on. It means that for a few weeks, I’ll be out walking in the dark again. I really wish we would just settle on a time and stick with it. I’d prefer Standard time, because who wants it to be dark at 8:30 or 9 in the morning? But I’d settle for Daylight Saving time too. Just stop the insanity.

6. Ted’s stepdad found this picture, of a young Ted and his puppy Chameli. Chameli is digging in to his cereal and apparently Ted is letting her. Or trying to eat it quickly before she can. I love this picture.

Bonus content – the picture at the top of the post is a coaster that my brother sent me for Christmas. It has nothing to do with me as a mom, more to do with how much we used to torture and tease our mom as teens/young adults. Some of it was pretty funny, but she didn’t think so.