Your dead body

What a gruesome thought; what's going to happen to your dead body??

Eaten by wild animals at the bottom of the cliff you fell off of while trying to take the perfect selfie? Nibbled to the bone by the fishes you were forced to sleep with. Blown to bits and pieces in a war torn country. 

Or, if you could choose, will you be buried? Cremated? Well there's a new choice on the horizon!

https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=31323334-50bba2bf-31367a34-4544474f5631-aaaeb36ffd4a43ea&q=1&e=42856d72-930f-4ba1-9c64-e9eedad02b90&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcnb.cx%2F3lIpYf7

I don't know how I feel about this. It makes sense but it goes against traditions. Where will the proof be, that you existed? You would just be a story. Oh! This is SO WEIRD! 

How much is enough?

I saw something a couple years ago that said, When you have more than you need, build a longer table not a higher fence. I love that. Even as a country, we can be so giving and so selfish at the same time. On crowdfunding pages alone, like Go Fund Me, over 17 billion was raised last year in North America alone!

My fella and I talk about that often, in regard to corporations, etc. How much money do you need anyway? I mean, I don't begrudge Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk or the Walton family. They worked hard to get where they are. But personally, how much money do you have to have to be happy? As an athlete, why is your skill worth 20 million a year and how much of that do you really need to live a happy life? What drives people to want to have ALL the money? Greed? Fear? And I'm not saying everyone who has a lot of money is like that. 

Also, I'm not talking about the criminal element in immigration or the effects of big government, blah, blah, blah. I'm just asking on a very basic level, but think about how brave a person has to be to leave their home, all of their belongings, their friends and families, to endure unknown hardships to come to this country, for a chance at a better life. It's heartbreaking, the way we're told to think about it. 

DIY yourself

Arts and crats fairs/shows are very different if you're artsy craftsy. If you aren't, everything is pretty cool because none of it is something YOU could do! If you are artsy or craftsy, you look at people's work differently. for instance, I can walk by a booth and think, oh yeah, that's cute - and not have to stop. I already know what it took for them to create their art or craft and that I could do it too, if I wanted. But if they have something that's super cute or really creative, I want to stop and look at it. I want to try and figure out how they did that. I'm interested. Plus, I really appreciate their talent, patience, skill...etc.

I read a delightful little book once called, Steal Like An Artist. The author talks about finding your inspiration. About copying the work of the people you love until you eventually find your own style. He also says, nothing is original. Everything comes from something else. You have to start somewhere! On Instagram, you can find people who create art and things, in just about any category. Sometimes I save a screenshot of something they've done because I like the colors they used or the way they twirled the paper in a leaf.

Some artsy people or small businesses are totally transparent about what they do and/or how they do it. Others are super secretive! When I participated in the art fair a couple years ago, several people asked me if they could take a picture of something I had for sale. I always said, sure! A couple people asked me what kind of paper I used. I told them. It doesn't hurt me to share that knowledge with them. If they want to make it themselves, they should! Anyway, it always kind of surprises me when people keep their process a secret. For instance, I follow a quilling page on Instagram of a woman who makes quilled earrings. She's amazing! I like to see her art. It's not something I'm interested in doing though. Another follower asked her if her earrings were waterproof. She said, yes. And it took her many, many attempts and many, many different products to achieve the waterproof coating that she was satisfied with. Then she said, but don't ask me what it is because I won't share that with you. Do your own research and figure it out yourself. Dang. I thought that was kind of rude. I mean really, what's it going to hurt her to tell someone? Geesh.

Random things

* First up, the Super Bowl. Oh you know, I'm not a sports fan...but I love an event. I used to be a big NBA fan, so I remember how exciting the championship game(s) is. They worked hard to get there. Their fans are excited. So I watched the score on Google. It looked like it was a pretty good game, not one sided. 

Today everyone is talking about the ads though. Which ones were hits and which ones were meh. AOC criticized the Christian ads saying, Jesus would not fund commercials to "make fascism look benign"

Here's one of the ads;

https://youtu.be/QEEq5VTfmic

Webster's says fascism is;

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

I wish she would shut up.

* Next up, headlights. For many years now, I've been complaining about how bright car headlights are. Honestly, ever since I had cataract surgery they are blinding me at night! Well damn, it turns out that it's not just me!!! Yay!!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/american-drivers-have-a-blinding-headlight-problem-it-could-last-for-years/ar-AA17qXoS?cvid=ac493adb7e7446499fe594c82213bc5f

* And what the heck happened to the Westminster Dog Show?!?! I'll tell you...they moved it, permanently, to May 6th. At least I haven't missed it.

* In Vermont, the ice-fishing tournament was canceled after 3 fishermen fell through the ice and died. I don't know - shouldn't someone have known that the ice was too thin before l
they let people compete on it?

* And this doesn't have anything to do with anything but it's so puzzling to us! The lady across the street, who loves to decorate her yard for every holiday? The crazy Halloween one? Currently she has 2 sheds in her back yard and a 2 story playhouse and maybe a small pirate ship. Today she's having another shed built. It must look like a tiny house neighborhood back there! 

We need to figure out our drone so we can spy on our neighbors :-)

Aging

When did I become an old person? Older person. Oh, a "mature" person. A senior citizen. What? I've started getting mail from our benefits department about my milestone birthday. Hold up there people!! I know they do that to prepare for you for getting ready for retirement and Medicare. It's still weird.

A long time ago I saw a little sign that said, How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? That's a fun question. I think I'm still in my 40's somewhere. In my head. Now, my body is a different story! My body says, yep, definitely not 40's! I guess this is when things start to wear out. I'm ok with that as long as it doesn't hurt. I suspect that's why some 'seniors' are grumpy...they have chronic pain. That would suck. I injured my back putting up the Christmas tree, and for 2 MONTHS it hurt me. It's exhausting to be in pain all the time. 

It takes longer to do things. Physical and thinking things. I saw some dumb humorous story about old people and bird watching - that when you're younger you could care less about the birds in your backyard. Then I realized, well of course! When you're young, you're busy making a life for yourself...taking care of your kids/spouse/partner. You don't have the time to watch the birds, or smell the roses.  That's the part of getting older that I like. Now I have the time to do those things. Watch the birds. Watch the snow when it falls. Take leisurely walks. Spend more time cooking and trying new recipes. Reading. Learning new hobbies.  

My brother said he misses all his friends getting together and the big parties at holidays and game days. Now everyone has moved away or they just don't do those kinds of parties anymore. I told him, of course not, they're all old now! You've already had that kind of fun. You can't party forever. It's a pain in the butt. Move on! "Fun" becomes something different when you get older. Lots of mature people find out that they like things they never knew they liked! Like reading, or doing puzzles, or cooking, or sewing, or gardening! Lots of mature people find out that doing some kind of volunteer work, gives them purpose. 

As long as you're in good health, getting older is pretty great.

What are you watching?

Over the holidays, we caught up on a lot of the newer movies. 

Top Gun; Maverick. It was good action movie. If you liked the 1st one, you'll like this one too.

The newest Elvis movie was a lot better than I was expecting. It was actually more about him than his tabloid life. Also, Tom Hanks was pretty good as Colonel Parker.

The new rom-com, Ticket To Paradise, with Julie Roberts and George Clooney was just that, a rom-com. so typical and a little dumb. But, it was light and breezy and that's nice sometimes. Samaritan with Sylvester Stallone was a pretty typical guy revenge movie-meh. 

The Glass Onion  was fun. I liked it better than Knives Out. Maybe I felt like I had to pay too close attention in Knives Out? Honk For Jesus was interesting. It's about a black couple that run a Baptist church. Quirky. Proof again that religion is a show. Moonfall - meh. We watched the whole thing but mostly because it didn't suck and I didn't feel like looking for something else. Bullet Train, with Brad Pitt was fun in a campy kind of way-lots of over the top fights and shoot em ups though. Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson was another cute rom-com.

These aren't new and they're both with George Clooney and we liked both of them; Money Monster and Up In the Air. Both of them, good dramas. Also, an older movie, (2014) called The Hundred Foot Journey, was delightful.

We're watching Bosch on Amazon Prime. I like this one. I like all the characters. It's kind of intense though so whenever we watch an episode, I need something happy...so we watch an episode of Modern Family. We didn't watch it when it was on originally. Sometimes it's just dumb funny but there are enough clever funny moments that I keep watching 😀. Last week we started watching Person of Interest. We've only watch 4 episodes and I like it but I can see how it might become kind of repetitive. I'll keep going for awhile though.

And on Netflix, if you're looking for good stand up, Tom Papa and Jim Gaffigan are the best! We've laughed and laughed and laughed!

Who am I?

I was thinking about what kind of person I am. You know, am I a nice person? A compassionate person? A kind person? An asshole? Am I judgmental? Am I a selfish person or a giving person? Do I care about other people? Do I feel sympathy or empathy for a person?

Hmmm. 

Ok, so someone told me once that I'm a kind person but I'm not really a nice person. I was a little offended, but then I thought about it and it's not entirely inaccurate. I'm nicer to strangers than I used to be though. I make an effort to chat up a cashier at the store. I think that's a hard job so I want to be nice to them. I didn't use to do that. I'm judgmental in a gossipy, surface kind of way-like, ewww did you see what they were wearing?! But on a personal, human being kind of way, I don't think I'm a judgmental person. Also, I can definitely be an asshole sometimes, but it's not my nature. Kind of like, I can be professional at work, when it's appropriate, but that's totally not who I am! I am kind of a selfish person, but not in a narcissistic way. I'm selfish about my time. Being an introvert kind of makes you look like an uncaring person though. I was thinking about that because of a movie I saw recently. It's called 13 Lives. It's about the boys who were trapped in a cave in Thailand, for 18 days. This movie made me cry several times. I cried at the thought of the boys in this dark cave, with nothing to eat, can't see anything, scared, hungry...for 10 days before they were found. I cried for the parents who had to wait until the rescue to find out anything about their children. And I cried in relief for the divers when all the boys were brought out and lived. Just the idea of how stressful and the pressure on them, and the emotions. Whoa! 

Anyway, that made me think, oh, I have empathy and compassion. A few months ago, I was asked if I would help, lets say a Ukraine immigrant - if I were checking into a hotel and discovered that the Ukrainian couple also checking in, needed money. Would I be willing to give them what I could. I wanted to say yes, but I wouldn't know that about them. I don't talk to strangers...so their plight wouldn't matter to me. Not in the sense that I don't care, but because I would not have bothered to speak to them. So my answer is no. I feel like that sounds so mean and uncaring but as an introvert who just doesn't strike up a conversation with strangers, it seems alright. Know what I mean? My brother is a huge extrovert! That makes him a very likeable person. He talks to strangers ALL.THE.TIME. That's just not right! 😆 Sometimes, in a fleeting moment of whimsy, I wish I were a more likeable person - open and warm. But then it passes and I think, I don't like people! Ok, I like SOME people. I've been on Facebook for about 15 years and I only have 36 friends. Does that say something about me? Other than I don't have a lot of friends. They say you'll live longer if you have a couple of good friends. They also say you'll live longer if you have a dog. I guess I'll be ok!

Happy New Year!!

 It's here! It's here!

2023

Have you been waiting for it? Was 2022 a crappy year for you? Or was it alright?

Did you accomplish what you wanted? Do you make resolutions?

In our house, December is all about eating. Good things, really good things. All of which are mostly bad for you. So now that the new year is here, we're going to start eating better...again.

I'm thinking about giving an arts/crafts show another try. I don't think I could have enough inventory to do one this year but I feel better about putting myself "out there" again.

I want to give crochet another try. I want to learn calligraphy. I have all the pens...I have ALLLLLL the pens!!! 😃😄😅😆 I doodled these journals and gave them to the silent auction. They sold for $50+!! Then I gave a few away as gifts. Now, people are paying me to do them! It's so crazy. 

I want a dog. Sometimes I want to get any ol dog. Other time, specific dogs. I want one though. I want to travel more. I like it. Long weekends, to visit family, anywhere I guess. But my favorites are places I've never been. I want to read more. I have dozens of books just waiting to be opened! I want to get rid of more things I don't need or have to have. NOT pens...or paper...or books...And, I want to laugh more. Hey! I'm going to be pretty busy!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

as the year ends...

...it's time again for lists! I love lists. I make lists all the time!

I'm always surprised when I see the list of "celebrities" that died. I've forgotten 1/2 of them. 

Sidney Poitier, Loretta Lynn, Bob Saget, Naomi Judd, Angela Lansbury, Kirstie Alley, Ray Liotta, Sally Kellerman, Anne Heche, Ralph Emery, Meat Loaf, Louie Anderson, Howard Hesseman, Betty Davis, William Hurt, Estelle Harris, Bobby Rydell, Gilbert Gottfried, Mickey Gilley, James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Olivia Newton John, Coolio, Robbie Coltrane, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gallagher, Irene Cara, Christine McVie, . See what I mean? 

The top searches in Google were;
Wordle, Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth, Johnny Depp, and The World Cup

The top news stories of the year were;
Omicron and living with Covid. 
Russia invades Ukraine. 
January 6th
Oil prices, inflation hits a 40 year high and the Fed raising rates.
Texas school shooter kills 21.
Roe v. Wade is overturned. 

Boris Johnson resigns. maybe he'll have time to comb his hair now
The Webb Space telescope captures thousands of galaxies in it's 1st color image.
A new Alzheimer's drug shows promise
Hurricane Ian
Midterm elections
The Queen dies
Kroger buys Albertsons
Elon Musk acquires Twitter
Protests in China against the  zero-tolerance approach to Covid
The latest big winter storm!

The highest grossing movies of the year;

#1 Top  Gun: Maverick

#2 Wakanda Forever

#3 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022;
#1 As It Was, Harry Styles
#2 Peru, Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran
#3 Bad Habits, Ed Sheeran

Top Country songs;

#1 Gospel Night at the Strip Club,  Ashley McBryde

#2 Something in the Orange, Zach Bryan

#3 Outrunnin' Your Memory, Luke Combs

Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are the biggest music artists but the highest grossing touring artist of 2022 is Bad Bunny. 

Man am I getting old!!!!

America's #1 drink is....bottled water! The most popular liquor is Whiskey, with Vodka a close second. 

American's spend more on fast food than groceries. The top 3 fast food joints are;

McDonald's, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A. But if you don't want to count Starbucks, #3 would be Taco Bell.

The best selling books of 2022;

#5 Ugly Love, Colleen Hoover

#4 It Starts With Us, Colleen Hoover

#3 Where The Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens

#2 Verity, Colleen Hoover

#1 It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover

At Amazon, their best sellers in their respective categories are;

ThisWorx car Vacuum

Stanley IceFlow stainles steel tumbler

Echo Dot 3rd generation

Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp and Hair Strengthening Oil

Crocs Unisex clogs

Fire HD 8 tablet

Left Center Right dice game

Earth Rated dog poop bags

Atomic Habits, by James Clear

Amazon Basics lightweight super soft easy care bed sheets

The most significant science stories;

#1 the James Webb Space Telescope send back mind-bending images.

#2 and eruption in Tonga creates shock waves

#3 Omicron spikes

#4 NASA crashed a $300 million spacecraft into an asteroid and proves it could save the 

     world

#5 Climate protests escalate

Most popular dog breeds;

#1 Golden retriever - duh

#2 French bulldog

#3 Labradoodle

...and, Meow;

#1 American Shorthair

#2 Ragdoll

#3 Maine Coon

Top baby names of the year? 

HIS                        HERS

Liam                      Olivia

Noah                     Emma

Oliver                    Amelia

Lists are fun.

Words

I wish I was a wordsmith. You know, one of those people who always knows the right words. A person who naturally uses purchase instead of buy; speak instead of talk; completed/finished; grasped/held; profusely/a lot; irreverent/disrespectful; and hundreds more. I can usually find a better word for what I want to say when I'm writing something out. But I don't speak like that. I admire people who do. They're so interesting to listen to. It kind of goes along with being a good speaker. I'm not that person either. 

When I worked for a local cable company, the president of the company use to get ambushed by the media, often/frequently. Usually about the cost of cable TV. He was an excellent speaker/orator. Right off the cuff he could answer any question they threw at him in an intelligent and thoughtful way. It was amazing/remarkable. Maybe that's just having the gift of gab? I think that's part of it too.

Would a story be less interesting if it were written the way someone like me, might talk? Maybe I'm just lazy. Maybe, because I don't like people, I don't like to talk to them so I don't bother? Hmmm. Maybe a good/decent wordsmith doesn't talk like that either! Maybe/perhaps it's just the Editor that has those skills? They say that if you read a lot, your vocabulary just becomes bigger and better words will come to you automatically. That didn't work for me. I love to read. But still, I don't speak like that. Is it what you read that matters? Maybe you just have to care more about words and language? I think that's it. I don't like people who use too many extra words to convey what they're trying to get across. Just cut to the chase already.  

whatever 😄😆😅😉 

the body

 If you have Disney + and you're interested in the body and brain, living longer and being healthy, you should watch the NatGeo series, Limitless. Not just because it's Thor either. Although that was nice :-)

I'm pretty sure they picked him because he's a good age for this series and of course because he is really physically fit...not just because he's Thor! Anyway, it's really fascinating. 6 episodes. And if you're over 50, the last episode is amazing. My fella and I had conversations all day about that one.

Complaining

I just want to complain today. Right after that lovely thankful/grateful post too. Sorry. 

First, are you sick of the term, gaslighting? It's this year's word of the year. Do you know what gaslighting is? According to the Newport Institute, gaslighting is a form of manipulation where the manipulator attempts make their victim believe what's happing to them isn't actually happening and their reality is untrue. These are some examples:

*Telling you that you're overreacting when you call them out.

*Changing the subject or refusing to listen when confronted about a lie or other gaslighting behavior.

*Lying about or denying something and refusing to admit the lie even when you show them proof. 

I don't why this is new. People have been manipulating other people for hundreds of years.

Next up, why are designers and ad executives trying to convince women it's ok to be sexy after 50. We know that already. Honestly, why do you still want to be all sexed up after 50? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with looking good when you're old, but sexy? Sexy looks a helluva lot different on a 70 year old than a 20 year old. Stop it. Just wear what you want to! Geez. I mean really. Is a sixty year old man the same horn dog he was at 20? No. Should a 55 year old woman be trying to look sexy for 25 year old man? No. I just want to be comfortable. 

Also, on a side note, young women should stop saying they're dressing to look sexy for themselves. What a bunch of bs that is. ALSO...designers need to stop trying to sell booty shorts and crop tops to 10 year olds. Seriously. Why isn't the "me too" movement pissed off about sexualizing children?! Hmmmm. Ugh.

Lastly, a recent Gallup poll says U.S. Adults Estimate That 25% of Americans Are Gay or Lesbian. I was a little taken aback by that. It seems like a lot, doesn't it? Then I read the article. It's actually all about perceptions. Americans perceive that there are a lot more gay people then there really are. It's estimated that it's probably closer to 6 to 8%.The US Census says that only 13.6% of the population is black. So, Americans think there are more gay people than black people? Perception. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2022

Greetings all!

Here we are again, at that holiday that gets lost in the shuffle between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving. That holiday to celebrate all the things you’ve been blessed with, and/or are thankful for. While the Thanksgiving meal was originally a get together to celebrate a good harvest, it wasn’t just about the food. It was about sharing. About being together and getting along, despite our differences. About having enough of what they needed. Thanksgiving has changed a lot since 1621. George Washington proclaimed it a “Day of Public Thanksgiving,” in 1789, but it wasn’t until 1863, that Thanksgiving became a national holiday. To celebrate their grand opening in 1924, Macy’s held its first parade. The first Butterball turkeys were sold in 1954. Campbell’s green bean casserole first hit our dinner tables in 1955. Shopping on Black Friday started in 1966. Stovetop stuffing made its debut in 1972. There has always been an NFL game played on Thanksgiving day, since the NFL was started in 1920. I’d like to think that we can still just be thankful though. For over 20 years I’ve been reminding folks to take a moment and be grateful for the little things. Those things that you might take for granted. Things that makes you smile or feel good. It’s important to stop every now and then and think about how much you have.

What have you got people?! 

I’ll start! 

I’m thankful for;

Paper – solid colored, with designs, doesn’t matter. I love it all!

Good walking shoes

Live entertainment, in person, without masks! Woohoo!

Silliness

Fat Dan’s Dirty Tots – potatoes, gooey cheese, bbq pork. What more is there?!

Safe travels

Choices – what to wear, what to listen to, what to believe

ALL the colored gel pens, all the time – sparkly, metallic, neon…just give them all to me

Paved streets

Streaming everything

Videos of panda bears, behaving like little kids with extra padding

Sunglasses

Albanese gummy bears

SiriusXM (Christmas music!)

Turkey sausage

Books

Nice neighbors

Old photo albums

A neighbors little kitty that comes by our house almost every day for head scratches

Hobby Lobby – on the list every year

Flavored moonshine

A good parking spot at the grocery store when it’s raining

Glitter

ALL the seasons, each one a reminder of things to come 

Every single day I’m thankful for; my job, which allows me to work from home 2 days a week. A really great vehicle to get me where I want to go. A roof over my head, complete with heat and air-conditioning. Good health. Great people to hang out with occasionally. Enough of what I need, and everything I want. The BEST mom! My husband, 24/7, who always tries his best. I’ve felt loved my whole life. I’m a lucky woman. 

Bee happy 😊

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Being inappropriate

 It's fun, isn't it? Being inappropriate sometimes. 

I like to say crazy things just to get a reaction out of someone who doesn't know me well. Especially at work. Everyone thinks I'm so sweet and nice. Hahahahahahaha. Hey, I grew up in the 70's, being inappropriate was our jam! And, we swore...a lot. My potty mouth is so much more advanced now. Anyway; at work there are so many things that are inappropriate now. Hugging is SO bad. I'm not really a hugger but when I want to, I really want to so screw your rules! Drinking at lunch. Yep, that's bad. But if you're old like me, don't you remember those bosses that actually kept liquor in their desk? Or all those pizza and beer lunches? Not too long ago, we took a couple coworkers to lunch to celebrate their birthdays. I bought them each an adult beverage. There were a couple people at the table that were really taken aback by that. It might have been inappropriate. It sure was fun though!! I have an apparently bad habit of saying, "that's so retarded," instead of just saying, "that's so dumb." Is it inappropriate to say, "she's a black woman?" Should I be saying, "She's an African American?" I never know. It's inappropriate for me to put glitter, fine glitter, on surfaces that people will touch...and get glitter on themselves. Not to mention immature. I don't care, it's fun. I laugh frequently at how inappropriate my fella can be! Should I stop hiding plastic spiders to freak people out? Maybe. But again...😀😈 It's inappropriate to belch, and not try to hide it. Oh come on! Ok, ok, I swear, I really do have pretty good manners and I can be professional when I have to be. Honest, I can behave! But I'm really thinking about wearing this shirt to work on Halloween;

Update; I did wear the t-shirt to work. I wore a scarf though, that matched in color. That way no one could see my boo bees unless I wanted them to. I delighted in just saying that! hahahahahahahahaha. Wanna see my boo bees? I crack myself up!

Pandemic Life

You know I think it's so interesting, how the pandemic affected people on an emotional or mental level.

Today I read a study that said our personalities have changed! It said, "psychologists have long believed that a person's traits stayed pretty much the same, even in the wake of stressful events." Turns out, that's not really true. "By looking at pre-pandemic levels of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness and comparing that to dat collected in 2021 and 2022, researchers found notable personality changes among the US population." One of the researchers said, "In other words, people are not crazy, it's been a hard few years on all of us. So much so that there has even been a small effect on our personalities."

I see it almost every day. People are more selfish and thoughtless. Imagine how this is all affecting today's little people. Fascinating.