12/31/20 2021 Goals/Hopes & Dreams

 I'm trying to be thoughtful about the 2021 Resolutions and part of that process is looking back at 2020 and reflecting ...  

2020 -- the good the bad and the ugly

1.  Not many bad "weather" days ... compared to prior years.
2.  Early on in the busy season - we were all healthy ( and remain so )
3.  The crew pulled together and propped me up in March
4.  I (we) spent hours on the phone regarding the EAP --- touched base with a lot of clients>
5.  Regular contact with clients though out the year.
6.  Technology worked.
7.  Kept up with the mowing -- weeds were outta control.
8.  None of the exterior building projects got done.
9.  Switched direct deposit payroll providers -- slick conversion
10. Switched cell phone plans --
11.  No one has caught Covid - or had symptoms 
12. Lots of virtual meetings/continuing education
13. Never missed a County Meeting all year.
14. Christmas cards got done w/personal notes
15. Took less pictures
16.  Did not sew enough ... no long arm projects

1.  Enjoyed every minute at the cabin
            even cleaning up Evergreen after the mouse invasion
2.  Blessed to find Maple Drive Cabin - the future is fantastic
3.  Surrounded by good people -- every day I'm reminded how fortunate I am

2021

1.  I just want to survive tax season
2.  I want to be healthy
          walk more -- wear that damn fit bit and make changes
          eat smart - be smart
          sleep smart
          keep avoiding COVID
3.  I need to sew more. 
          little steps -- 
                pillowcases for the nursing home
                throws -- sensory blankets
4.  I need to learn to not sweat the small stuff

5.  I need to get down to one vehicle
6.  I need to shop less - less stuff, clothes, fabric, toys
7.  I need to take more time off from work
8.  I need to garden more - it is good for the soul

9.  I need an office / practice website.  
10. Keep upgrading technology

If nothing else 2020 has taught me to look back, reflect and enjoy all the little things in my crazy life.  I spent a couple minutes this morning, just reading old 12/31 blog posts.  I have to admit -- pre pandemic and pre craziness we all had it pretty damn good.  We still do - just in different ways.  This blog is really my personal diary ( at least the public one ) since mid March it has been my sounding board to self for the good, bad and really tough days.  I need to keep reminding myself that the good always outnumber the bad -- no matter when - no matter what.  I have so many blessings in life.    

I will probably blog less in 2021 -- journal more with my other technology -- I pulled all my notebooks, calendars, to do notebooks out this morning and started prepping the 2021 materials.  In addition to fabric I have an addiction to paper journals, notebooks, pads ...  

Be well ....

12/30/20. One more day

 

yep, it snowed .... I have a new snow plow dude, elder #1 retired from the job -- although #1 was up before me and asked "do I need to plow your snow this morning"  no, Ryan came at 2:15 am and set off the alarms -- I need to turn off the volume on my phone during snow events.  

I snapped this one about 9:00pm Tuesday night ... all is calm in the entertainment district during a mandated pandemic shutdown.  I can't imagine what that feels like -- our self imposed closed door policy is irking people.  I think the neighbors serve take out between 4 - 8 ... and deliver ... 

elder #1 updated his tablet and lost his gmail account --- damn, none of us could remember the password -- well an hour later I think I got it .... 

spent most of last night surfing the internet -- loaded up on the library books via the "overdrive" account it's kind of a weird system -- you "check out" the book and then it directs you to kindle to download the book and it sucks it off your device when the time is up ...  I'm getting some variety ... Christmas Day, I downloaded ( is that one word) "The Thorn Birds" .. I hopscotched my way thru it ... it's been at least 15 years since I read it ...  every summer I used to read/re-read "Gone with the Wind" .. I have a hard cover version that was my Grandparents -- it's in tatters by now -- 

I found a 31" tall plant stand to anchor the drop box onto -- and I found a cheep bedframe at Home Depot -- I think my cabin bed is going to be a 'bed-in-a-box' gizmo -- time will tell -- I received gift cards for Christmas for purchasing "cabin stuff" .. 

my friends at Amazon are delivering yet another webcam -- who knew I'd need 5 of the buggers.  Zoomed most of the last 2 days with clients.

12/29/20 ... argh Tuesday

 I spent most of my day on the phone .... answering the goofy thing, calling people on it, texting people on it, surfing the internet on it....

There's been a rush of "tax planning" .. like 4 days gives one the opportunity to actual be thoughtful in the planning.  

And then Mother Nature found it okay to snow.  Seriously, I don't have time for snow.  

I have 1/2 of my homework completed ... the other 1/2 is staring at me.  

The cat felt the need to misbehave.  badly.  really bad.  

Laundry is happening.  

12/27/20 and the race is on

I took most of these Christmas morning

it was nice and crisp :)

this dude was waiting his turn at the feeder 

sitting on the wind chimes

I got Mom this hummingbird chime that lights up -- it has a solar charger on it ... the goofy thing didn't start lighting up until the 12/23 blizzard -- it's been hanging out there since August ... 

Mrs C ..

she didn't like the crispness either

sunset

 

12/25/2020

 

12/23/20 Blizzard Day

I bugged out to home

Blizzard Warnings scare me

Ice scares me more ... it has turned over to snow and the wind is picking up

the cave does not have the same view as the office

although all the office windows are covered up 

 these two items will get me thru the next couple of days

a thumb drive of American Patchwork and Quilting/Quilts and More from the first issue thru 2019 --- I had purchased one several years ago and I was cruising thru the magazine and I could update my "drive" for all years for $20 -- merry christmas to me

the "pinch me" is adult play dough -- has a lavender scent to it and it is awesome stuff -- Kate gave it to me for Christmas -- and I left in such a hurry I forgot to give Kate her treats ... argh.  life is spiraling 

virtual doctor appointment tomorrow -- should be fun 9:45 lets hope the internet works :)

12/22/20 Tuesday ..

pictures from our sightseeing trip to the cabin on Sunday -- frozen lake -- small ice heave next to our beach .... and mom working her way up the stairs ... the dock makes a perfect slide to the water ... or whatever ...

sunset on the the darkest day -- pictures never do it justice -- or phone pix .. my camera has dead batteries -- and tonight's project is to get them charged up -- so it's laundry and battery charging

I drove out of town to see the Bethlehem Star -- and found it when I got home .. no ... the bright light is the water tower the star is just left of dead center ( phone shot ) I'm glad I went looking for it ... we all need to take advantage of the little moments during our shitshows.  

So a couple weeks ago I decided I needed a chair in my office -- a nice comfy chair -- Target had them on sale -- I've never bought a chair without first sitting in it - and I looked again and they were cheeeeper .... so I ordered it.  -- kind of matches the rugs.  And it is comfortable.  During a shitshow every Diva needs a comfortable chair.  So this weekend -- I'm moving out a file cabinet of stuff and moving some other things around and my chair is going in the bay window of my office.  Now I need a pillow, blanket and footstool .   The Fed Ex dude was less than happy having to deliver it ...  and if they are still on sale I might need another one.  

 

12/20/20

 ok -- the introvert ended up on the front page of the Free Press this morning. ( here's the link ) my conversation with the reporter was 7th or 8th and I had hoped it would never materialize.  certainly not on the front page of the paper .. me and my really messy desk.  wisdom for the week -- keep your chargers, sanitizer and coffee close -- 

worked all weekend -- or worked a lot and very productive.  managed to copy data off of the vpn to a local drive and restore it back into the tax program stored on said local drive and it worked.  running out of room in the cloud and I'm too cheap to purchase more space.  $100/month gets spendy.  I really wanted local access to it also.  

I watched Christmas in Christ Chapel on the iPad this morning while working -- always a beautiful production -- hit up the grocery store -- $95 later -- not exactly what I purchased but there were several bags ... 

mom and I took a drive out to the cabin and checked it out -- and the ICE!!!  the bay in front of the Boondocks was loaded with fishing people -- nut jobs,  across the lake from us the kids were skating and some guy was walking out from the pier drilling test holes -- while carrying his gear ... really enjoying this season of lake -- before ( we'd close up, the landlord would turn off the water) I'd leave in October and not return until late April -- 

perhaps after the Christmas meal we need to load up our skates and head east -- a couple of hours of fresh air might be good for all of us.  

on to Monday -- we got this :)

12/18/20 argh

 to put it bluntly -- my ass is dragging ... 

first zoom meeting started at 7:15 ... 

BNCHB - 9 - 11:30 via zoom .... 

2:00 telephone conference call with an idiot and his mother 

4:00 zoom gig with the Nicollet crew 

5:15 home for left overs for supper

it's 8:52 and I'm headed to bed ... a new day starts tomorrow ... my girl, Ruby went into storage today ... #1 told me yesterday that I would have the honors of parking it in the limited space -- but he did it himself -- he hates my Ruby, hates driving it, hates getting in and out of it, hates it in his shed.     he'll adapt -- twice a year he drives it.  

might sneak out and see the lake tomorrow .. check out the ice and the nut jobs fishing on it ... 

12/16/20 the darkness ...

 evidently no one on 3rd street had paid the light bill for the street lights -- out for 2nd night in a row ... it was dark .... I called this morning -- or had Kate call

another day of zooming/conference calls and general ugliness

when it all gets overwhelming - I take a spin around the block -- I've done a lot of it lately - over the noon hour I meet Linda Z walking the pooch ... I meet T/G around 2:30ish .. they walk several times a day ... it clears the head and is better than eating

food is getting slim -- our self imposed quarantine is almost done -- Saturday will be 10 days and the primary tested negative.  

off to bed -- it's been a day ...

12/15/20 clutter

 the mind is a funny organ -- there's so much whirring around up there that sometimes we lose track of the end goal -- and it is so busy spinning -- I don't sleep well ... 

just when I think I have it all together -- something shifts and we tilt ... just a little tilt -- sometimes it is just a wee pep talk to self to get back on track ... 

and then there is this problem -- especially the electrical cords hanging off the wall -- argh I can relate.  Actually my shit ends up in organized piles on the floor -- yes, they are organized and generally labeled ..since no one gets in here -- they stay on the floor -- I think of them as "insulation"  -- although it is still 59' in the basement --- that handy indoor/outdoor thermometer is in the basement ... 

I managed to haul my tote bag of files and related into the office yesterday morning and forgot the surface pro and thumb drives with the work on them ... so we did other things ...

This morning I toted in a tub of recycling -- I managed to have hard paper copies of this blog from the beginning until December 2017 -- printed and punched in 3 ring binders -- pdf files on a thumb drive take up way less room -- tomorrow's recycling pile is an entire file box of quilt / craft / gardening books ...  see -- I can get rid of stuff ... 

12/13/20 progress report

 1.  I worked on my homework
 2.  I moved the home office desk set-up to a new location with a spiffy rug
 3.  More trash
 4.  lots of vacuum time
 5.  read the paper
 6.  purged a box of garden/quilt books
 7.  lots of tidying in the sewing studio
 8.  only 1 load of laundry - 
 9.  dishes, lots of dishes
10. shopped on line -- Target to the rescue 
11. set up online grocery shopping and started an order

and I should have

1.  taken a walk
2.  vacuumed at the office
3.  

I attacked the long-arm after the picture -- it is no longer a dumping ground for stuff that needs a home 

made it to work and forgot all the thumb drives -- after the day gets rolling -- I'll roll back home and get them -- I knew something was missing this morning.

12/13/20 a day in paradise

does it sound better described as a studio ????

well, my studio is a freaking disaster

I'm sure I could get a federal disaster declaration for the space

ya -- a huge mess

the plan -- there is one -- whether it comes to be is another story ... but the plan is to flip the long arm to the west side ...( where I'm standing ) ... and move my desk/computer/office stuff the the long arm location ... the white bookcase is empty and ready to re-home - the stuff on the left side is thrift shop and Christmas presents ready to wrap, the exercise bike goes to the back room and the vacuum cleaner is going to get a workout.

 snap shot of the elected women's group ... these ladies are the best.  I may not speak much during our meetings (zoom) but dang they are a wealth of information and goodness.  

One of us is battling the sinus bug ( or something else ) -- most likely sinus -- spent too much time in the great outdoors last week and with no snow and weird temps,  one of us may or may not have been exposed to the V, and one of us worked at the office (and at home) and brought home a heap of homework -- and will be attempting to tame the studio today.  

12/11/20

 Ruby and I coming to work this morning .. it still hasn't snowed -- so she's still coming to work .. might get gas / wash tomorrow and then head to the shed ...  always good to pull in and make a big circle in the parking lot ... then back into the garage ...  the open garage door ... 

Life is getting weird again -- listened to Gov Walz's Friday COVID update -- it is such a disrespectful world we live in ... 

Trying to focus on the positive:

. walked everyday this week .. sometimes not far -but I walked

. projects and meetings are happening

. becoming a zoom professional

. it didn't snow

. caught up on the laundry -- tonight is purging bookcases

. the cameras are up and working - chimes next week.

. ate pretty smartly

. carrying on ..

12/09/20

oh, another fabulous sunset -- we have been blessed with beautiful sunsets this week ... and beautiful weather .. I walked at 1:45 ish and it was 50' ... 8 block loop thru the neighborhoods .. it helps clear the mind and settle the dizzies.  it feels good. 

Nick rode my ATV to town and put the snow plow on ... and proceeded to tell me the starter is going out ... well, lets hope it makes the winter.  

Kate and I got the second camera installed on the back door .. so we get even more fun pictures .. 

it was a wild yet uneventful day ...

12/8/20 Ass shot

yes, my peeps, it takes confidence to post a picture of one's ass on the internet.  The ring camera sees all on a regular basis.  The mailbox will be moving -- it is the root of all the evil images.

AMC - Association of Minnesota Counties hosted their annual meeting via zoom on Monday afternoon, 423 of my co commissioners.  The keynote speaker was some motivational dude -- topic of trust -- building trust - etc ..  how one leads during a pandemic and building trust amid the flock -- he led the discussion thru a serious of questions and -- "What can I control" .. and followed up with "What should I do first?"  .... my answer was breathe, just breathe .... somedays it is all anyone can do.

 

and sunset this evening on 3rd was spectacular -- gotta love November/December and January sunsets -- I think it's God's way of helping us survive the winter darkness.  Tonight he delivered  ---  

Note -- cars were picking up goodies at the bar --- it was pretty busy while I stood out there and watched the sunset.  12 more days -- and the light will return.   Just 12 more days.

 

12/07/20

 24 days of this wacky year left ... we'll never describe a year as wacky after 2020.   

 The purge continued today -- a bin and two bags of scrapbooking stuff went on wastebook this morning and by noon -- it was gone.  literally -- gone.  

  I toted a bar stool, a weird chair and a oak dining chair out of the basement yesterday and hauled to town with the intent to put on the curb with a "free" sign.  Kate's taking the barstool ( and it's mate - office basement ) and the weird chair -- the oak one will stay in my office ..

  I have a pile for goodwill also and I'm not done yet.

    walked today ... black dress and boots, rust floral kimono and a red down vest .. kind of looked like a high priced bag woman with no fashion style.  but I walked.  tomorrow might be just as colorful .... or more colorful  -  the goal is to circle the block(s) - 3 times a day ... fresh air clears the mind

  

12/6/20 and on the 7th day

I went to the cabin -- holy bat cats -- ice in 7 days -- fairly smooth ice ... I did not walk out on it but it did not crack when I stepped on it ... a foot from shore

We bagged up two more supersized bags of leaves -- there is more to do -- Spring ..

We (Lee) put together the kitchen island -- it's kind of small but it will work somewhere -- they also brought out the box spring and bed frame -- mattress is backordered

The water heater was drained and the pipes blown out ... so no more water until April.  Which translates to no flushing the toilet until April.  I'll miss the toilet.

it is so weird to see the lake froze and so flat -- all the years we were on Evergreen -- I never got out there after the water was shut off -- so from October - April I never got to see the lake freezing over -- or spend time during the winter ... cannot wait to see all the changes

We've been so lucky to have October, November and now a spot of December enjoying some time away from life

 I worked most of Saturday -- went back to the office after supper and back at the projects.  The list is endless this time of year -- I've tried hard to stay ahead of all the projects in case I, Kate or Robyn gets sick.  We'll start some cross training this week also -- 

The cave revamp has also started -- two bags of trash -- 3 bags of scrapbooking shit is ready to re-home and so far 3 chairs ... there will be a free pile in front of my office tomorrow.  I even have an empty bookcase .. progress --- there is also a tub of empty storage tubs/cases/things.  The end of the revamp is a total reconfiguration of the "stuff" ... I've been playing with graph paper and cutouts of furniture -- dang that long arm is a space sucker.  

The other highlight of the day -- I did my Christmas gift card shopping $ 1100  and 25 minutes later I finished.  Trinket shopping is next.  

12/04/20 operation better living day 2

so on day two of better living 

I walked to the post office and sent $1700 on stamps

one would think I would get a bag to carry them in ... wth

 day two of operation better living ... twice around the block 

it really doesn't take long .. I keep running into people

12/03/2020

Life on Third Street

I ate the whole box -- took most of Tuesday afternoon

on the scale of relativity -- it's not the worst thing to consume

the Wednesday night meeting - via zoom -- 

it's a 5 x a day occurance

and the goat -- sitting in the tree at the lake

one can dream

this goat gets slammed at least 10 times a day -- it's going to need new batteries ....

 

12/01/20

 

I drove ruby to work this morning -- it was 9' on the inbound -- she's not wanted to start very well lately -- I'm not sure if it's the battery going kaput or the battery low from not enough use -- it's the original and almost 7 years old -- alas -- hard starting.  2020 is the year of short "trips" ... she needs to run down the road and get the bugs dusted out of her ... 

I digress -- ruby and I left the garage at 6:30 and by 8:30 she was covered in frost ... and since she got a bath on Sunday night I was less than happy with myself -- 

I think this is the latest I've ever driven her -- usually she comes out of storage around St Patricks Day -- except those 2 years when it snowed in May ...  

I keep telling myself she is an expensive toy -- but according to elder #2 and sister --- "it's paid for -- what's the difference" .. the 2021's are "electric" ... interesting ....