Category: Food

2025 1st Quarter Recap

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01/25 (Sat)
We attended a LEGO train show at the arboretum.

01/27 (Mon)
Deactivated/deleted all my X accounts because F you know who.

01/31 (Fri)
Decided The Pink Stuff is a scam. I’ve owned it for years and I’ve yet to find a single thing it can clean better than the other products I own. In fact, it barely cleans at all. If someone knows what I can use this stuff for, please let me know, because it was a waste of money as far as I’m concerned.

Got a photo of the Rock Dove (aka city pigeon) that started showing up recently. We decided to name him Vinny (and as time would go on, he invited his friends and we’d have up to 8 of them at a time under the feeder).

02/01 (Sat)
Finally found a use for my E.T. TV tray from the 80s – to hold my Sonic order while I eat in the car.

The Philly Cheesesteak at Sonic is pretty good, by the way.

02/02 (Sun)
Put out a new welcome mat. I realized I didn’t have any for that time period between Christmas and spring, and this one suits my sentiments exactly.

02/04 (Tue)
Loving these pretzel twists from Trader Joe’s. Not quite the same as the ones Sonic sells, but still quite good when made in the air fryer.

02/14 (Fri)
Celebrated Valentine’s Day like the romantic couple we are by getting Mexican takeout (ironically from the same place as last year) and finishing the Dexter prequel, Original Sin.

02/15 (Sat)
Went to an ice hockey game at an arena close to home. A longtime friend and her sister are on a team that was playing an exhibition game that night. Joe and I sat by her husband (who happens to also be my ex from the mid-90s haha), his friend, and their two kids. It was nice getting out of the house for an event even though I hate going out at night. It’s also really cold inside the arena so I was so happy to get home and under the covers with my heating pad to warm up my cold feet! It was nice seeing everyone, though. I met my friend, her hubby, and her sister in the 90s on a BBS; and while the friend and her hubby have been to our house for a game night, I hadn’t seen the sister in decades.

02/16 (Sun)
Had to contact Discover to get a new account because someone got ahold of the card # and was making fraudulent charges labeled as Apple.com

02/21 (Fri)
Migraine City! That is what this month has felt like as I’ve had one every week. Typically I get at most two in a month so this is concerning. Not sure if it’s due to tight muscles in my neck, dry eyes, or hormones, but it’s annoying nonetheless especially because over the counter headache medicine isn’t making it go away like in the past, so they last two days.

02/24 (Mon)
Had my longtime ComEd electric account hijacked because someone can’t do their job correctly. Apparently someone in the same town called to put electric in their name and somehow ComEd wasn’t listening properly and changed my account instead of the correct address that has the same number but a totally different street name (that doesn’t even sound like ours so how they made the error I’ll never know). They couldn’t reinstate my old account so I had to get a whole new account # too. So annoying!

02/25 (Tue)
Received my new Discover card and had to go through all my auto-pay accounts to update the payment information. At least it was relatively warm outside (60 degrees) so I could open the windows and listen to the birds.

02/26 (Wed)
Had to contact Amazon a second time about getting a refund for a gift I returned over a month prior. When I spoke to them the day before they assured me they would process the refund, which they did, but they shorted me $4.42 for some reason, so I had to get them to fix the error. They acted like they were doing me a favor which infuriates me. I returned the item. I got confirmation I returned the item. The confirmation also listed what was paid for said item. So why didn’t they refund the full amount in the first place?

02/28 (Fri)
Tried to get Paczki from a local bakery called Hannah’s that everyone on Facebook was raving about, only to arrive and find they had two flavors available and wouldn’t have any others until later. Call me crazy, but as a bakery shouldn’t you have all items available upon opening? We left empty-handed because I didn’t want to give them our business. We got some Paczki from Caputo’s for $2 each and were labeled as also being from a local bakery but they were quite dry and I didn’t care for them.

03/02 (Sun)
Tried a Burger King iced coffee for the first time and wow, it was not good. I asked for a plain iced coffee but I swear it tasted subtly like mocha to me. In any case, for almost $3 I’d rather get an iced coffee from McDonald’s; it tastes much better and is only $1 via the app deals.

Although now that I’ve found the perfect products, I’d rather just make iced coffee at home.

03/03 (Mon)
Had a new hot water installed. You can read about that debacle here.

03/15 (Sat)
Visited my parents for the first time in nearly a year. It was actually a pleasant experience without Brother #2 there (which is why we chose a non-holiday timeframe). We worked on everyone’s computer (what else is new haha), got some food from the local Burger King (the location of my first job in the 90s), enjoyed some of my mom’s food as well, and played a game called What’s Your Like?

03/17 (Mon)
Made corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot for St. Patrick’s Day. We splurged this year by getting Vienna from Woodman’s which was $27.79 but it was the most tender cut of meat with almost no fatty pieces.

It was a bit on the saltier, side, though, so if we get it again next year I might rinse off some of the spices (the meat was marinated in it instead of having a spice packet).

03/21 (Fri)
What the hell happened to McDonald’s Shamrock shakes? They are awful now! We usually get one every year, but missed out last year, so I’m not sure when they changed the formula but I will not ever get one again – it tasted medicinal.

03/24 (Mon)
Learned our association hired a new landscaping company. I really hope they actually stick to a schedule and not show up on random days multiple times a week making noise with their leaf blowers like the last company.

03/28 (Fri)
Joe took the day off work and we ran a bunch of errands before visiting the arboretum in the afternoon. We were delighted to see not one, not two, but three belted kingfishers by Sterling Pond, but I was not able to get a photo of any of them that I liked because they were way too far away and kept getting spooked whenever we got closer.

I did get a photo of this bluebird, though.

And this Northern Flicker peeking from behind a tree.

03/29 (Sat)
Joe’s son, E, and his girlfriend, A, paid us an early afternoon visit. I made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch which they really seemed to like. So much so, A wanted the recipe (apparently neither one had ever had chicken salad before).

03/30 (Sun)
Paid a visit to West Branch Forest Preserve to get some fresh air where I was finally able to photograph a Brown Creeper!

We timed our visit perfectly – it had rained in the early morning and started to drizzle as we made our way back to the car. We stopped and picked up Bibibop on our way home.

The next morning someone posted about a loose dog they saw about four miles from the preserve. The dog looked a lot like the dog we saw that afternoon. The lady with it didn’t have a leash on the dog, so now I’m wondering if it just got ahead of her and lost, or something happened to her. I had been tempted at the time to tell this lady to leash her dog, but I don’t think it would have made a difference.

Notable series this quarter:

Shrinking (Apple TV)
We finished season two which I thought was even better than the first season. We binged it hardcode during Apple’s free preview weekend.

Dexter: Original Sin (Showtime)

I wasn’t expecting to like this prequel but Patrick Gibson really picked up on Dexter’s mannerisms beautifully. The actors playing a young LaGuerta, Batista, and Masuka looked a lot like their older counterparts as well. We were hooked and had to stop ourselves from binging it too quickly. Once we were finished we were inspired to watch the original Dexter series which we fell in love with all over again. There was so much we had completely forgotten in the two decades since the series originally aired. And while seasons 5-8 weren’t as good as 1-4, overall it’s still an 8/10 for me.

My Birthday

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I’ve always disliked my birthday due to how cold it is outside and this year was no exception. There’s so much pressure to do something special to celebrate but the options are scarce because I can’t do what I would like the most – spend time in nature – and I also don’t want to gather somewhere indoors and risk catching something. I’ve gone five years without catching COVID, or any illness, in fact, and I’d like to keep it that way. What I went through in 2019 will forever be imprinted in my mind, and I suspect it was triggered by a virus, so I’d rather avoid all the viruses as much as possible and not risk becoming chronically ill.

Needless to say, we didn’t do anything special this year other than grab some birthday freebies from various fast food places. I’ve noticed over the years that most places have gotten stingier. Beef Shack gives you a $5 off coupon as if they don’t send those out regularly. Starbucks is still giving a free drink of any type and size, but only on your actual birthday. I keep bamboozling myself by trying one of their coffee drinks and hating it every time, including the pistachio latte I tried this year. The only thing I truly like on their menu are the shaken green tea lemonades but I’m usually not in the mood for one when it’s freezing cold outside.

I told Joe I’d rather he just go into work next year since it was a wasted day off. Either that, or I want to be on vacation somewhere warm since I will be turning 50 and should probably celebrate that depressing milestone. It doesn’t even need to be exotic so long as it’s above 60 degrees. Maybe we’ll finally make it out to Arizona to close his parents’ safety deposit box.

In any case, much like Christmas, I felt depressed on my birthday and was happy when it was over.

Stupid parents for getting pregnant in March…

December Recap

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We both got our passports in December, although mine came over a week after Joe’s even though my application was submitted prior to his.

We also had to pay a $35 speeding ticket that was issued for the day we went to Lincoln Park Zoo in October. Apparently there are speed cameras all along Irving Park Rd. Now, Joe was in fact speeding, so I’m not angry about that. What I am angry about is they sent a warning a few days before sending a ticket for the same day. How is it a warning exactly if you’re still going to issue a ticket? Yes, they were for different locations, but all part of Irving Park Rd. If you’re trying to warn people about the strict speed limit on a particular road, shouldn’t they get a free pass for that entire day, thus getting enough time to actually receive said warning? Seems logical to me, but not to the city of Chicago, thus rendering the “warning” useless. I saw on Reddit where people were saying the whole speed trap near parks is a bunch of bullshit anyway because the city is loose on the definition of a park; it includes an empty lot that happens to have grass on it. In any case, we won’t be taking the “scenic” route home again. It not only takes longer with all the lights, but the traffic is pretty heavy, which makes being able to “speed” pretty hard to begin with (he was 6 mph over, which is the bare minimum for a ticket).

12/02 (Mon) – Put out the new Christmas welcome mat we snagged at Lowes in November.

12/04 (Wed) – Watched my Spotify Wrapped and wasn’t the least bit surprised that my top two artists – The Cure and Sofi Tukker – haven’t changed.

12/05 (Thu) – Put up the Christmas tree, and I mean that loosely because the lights and ornaments didn’t make it on the tree until 12/14.

12/07 (Sat) – My bestie’s birthday party. Always a fun time because her friends are fun to talk to, as is her brother, well usually. But for some reason he felt the need to go on what felt like a ten minute lecture about why he doesn’t like The Cure, because of Robert Smith’s voice in particular, after I mentioned they were my favorite band. It was rather uncomfortable, but K and I had a good laugh about it later because he truly didn’t mean to be offensive.

We had Shake Shack for lunch earlier in the day. It was our first visit to the relatively new location in our neighborhood, thanks to a “deal” through T-Mobile Tuesday, if you can call it that. Even with a free burger each, our total OOP was still $12 for two burgers, fries, and a lemonade. Regular price would have been nearly $30! Totally not worth it, either. None of the food was all that great, so I can’t see us ever going there again.

That morning I finally located the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes ice cream at Dollar Tree of all places.

I had to reach out to the manufacturer, Hudsonville, to ask if they were being sold because they weren’t listed on their site, or on Walmart’s site, and they used to be a Walmart exclusive. They replied back with a list of stores which did not include Walmart. I’m glad, because I’m still boycotting Walmart. The last time we shopped there was in early June. If they don’t care to respond to my feedback about my poor experience in their store, then they don’t care if they lose me as a customer I guess. Although to be fair, I will probably buy more leggings from them at some point since so far I like their No Boundaries brand of leggings the best. But I’ve done my best to not buy anything else from them whereas we used to shop there at least once a month. Suck it, Walmart!

12/09 (Mon) – Won 100 stars via the Starbucks For a Year sweepstakes which was enough for a free handcrafted drink (which Joe used for a latte on 12/28).

Found the best cold brew coffee (which only our local grocery store, Woodman’s, carries) which pairs perfectly with Aldi’s peppermint iced mocha “coffee” which tastes more like flavored milk. It gave me just the right amount of peppermint without aggravating my acid reflux and I didn’t have to deal with Dunkin who can’t seem to make a good iced coffee these days if their lives depended on it.

Also learned there had been a Happy Endings podcast that was now on Spotify.

Very timely, as Joe and I just finished a re-watch of Happy Endings. Every time we watch it I’m so sad it was cancelled after only three seasons. Or more like two and a half since the first season was shorter than normal. They were truly ahead of their time. It’s no surprise that some of the writers on that show also wrote for my favorite show of all time, Brooklyn Nine Nine.

12/10 (Tue) – I’ve been searching for a green hoodie, so we went to Savers for the first time in probably a year. It was a total bust. We looked at clothing, as well as other items, and nothing was appealing. Painted Tree and Half Price Books were a bust as well.

The way they lock up the expensive vinyl records at HPB really bugs me.

See how narrow the slot is to flip through the records? Like they couldn’t have made that bigger but still small enough to stop anyone from pulling out a record. Plus they pack the box so full it’s difficult to even look at each record. I don’t bother with that box anymore because it’s too infuriating.

Tried some discount chicken strips (thanks to T-Mobile Tuesday) from Popeyes. They were pretty good, and easy to reheat in the air fryer. The breading on them reminds me of Long John Silvers, although the boneless wings (without sauce) taste even more like LJS’ chicken planks.

12/14 (Sat) – We decided to have a Polish feast for lunch, so we visited two different Polish delis to collect all the good things at each. I wish the deli closest to us had the best food, but unfortunately thus far the only thing they have that is better than the one further away is their stuffed cabbage. And truthfully, I think my own stuffed cabbage rivals both places. Too bad I’m so lazy about making it!

Finally finished the tree. Decided to switch things up this year with multicolor lights, a hodgepodge of ornaments, and the tree collar flipped opposite than usual.

12/18 (Wed) – I heard a rumor that Costco is switching to Coke products in their cafe. Guess I won’t be getting food from them anymore. I know I’m the minority, but I love Pepsi and it’s getting ridiculous how hard it is to come by a good fountain Pepsi these days. Culver’s had the best before they switched. Taco Bell’s is watered down garage. What a bummer.

12/19 (Thu) – Baked maraschino cherry chocolate chip cookies for the first time. While they didn’t come out looking anything like the recipe, they were quite tasty, so I will be making them again. In retrospect, I should have known something was off looking at the recipe photo.

Without red food coloring, there is no way to make the cookies that pink color. And there’s also no way with the amount of cherries called for to get such a large chunk of them in a cross-section. False advertising!

The recipe made 50 cookies, so I put some in the freezer along with the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I baked earlier in the month (in order to give some to my bestie for her birthday).

And this is what they actually looked like:

I think it’s safe to say looking at Nintendo’s year in review that I am not a console gamer.

I do enjoy playing the Nintendo Switch, so I’m not sure why I do it so infrequently. I play Disney’s Tsum Tsum game on my phone and iPad quite often, though. It’s too bad Apple doesn’t do a gaming year in review. I’d be really curious to see how much time I spend playing that game.

12/20 (Fri) – I quickly became addicted to these mini cranberry orange bisconies from Costco.

Although I think they should be called scuffins instead because they’re more like a cross between a scone and a muffin and not a biscotti and a scone like they claim. The funny thing is, I suggested we try them because Joe likes the cranberry orange Belvita biscuits, but I think I ended up liking them more than he did.

We decided to stay home on Christmas Eve this year instead of going to my parents. There were multiple reasons for this, not the least of which feeling depressed over Wookie’s absence, and getting anxious over the thought of being on the road during a time when people are more abt to drink and drive.

I made my famous three cheese grits casserole for breakfast and for early dinner we pulled leftover mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and cranberry sauce from the freezer (originally made at Thanksgiving) and added a 1.5 lb pre-sliced ham.

It was so good! Flavorful, not too fatty, and easy to heat up by the slice. I swear we’re just going to get one of them moving forward even if we have company in future years. It was plenty for several people.

Christmas Day was much of the same after we exchanged gifts, including watching multiple movies. I got Joe some grey sweatpants (IYKYK), a set of silicone tool trays, and a pour over coffee maker. He got me two bird shirts (which I’m going to exchange for a different fit), a bird calendar, and a set of 30 something buttons featuring The Cure.

After all the electronics spending recently (computer, TV, iPad) we decided not to go crazy on a present exchange this year.

Dinner was nearly identical to Christmas Eve except with the addition of green beans.

12/27 (Fri) – Got annoyed with Amazon’s subscribe and save which thought it made sense to double up on one of my items just because I kept pushing back the delivery. I assumed when I changed the delivery date it would be smart enough to know that was for a single item and not to send me two, but I guess it is more profitable if they pull that crap instead, right? Needless to say, I cancelled the subscribe and save on that as well as one other item that I probably don’t need on a strict schedule either.

Once my Paramount+ and Showtime discounted rate ends in February and we’re finished watching the latest Dexter prequel, whichever comes later, I am once again cancelling Amazon Prime. It’s $144 annually for what exactly? Free shipping you can get if your order is $35 or more even if you’re not a Prime member? Sure, you get Prime Video, but half the stuff in there is an extra rental fee and they now play commercials before a movie and multiple times during unless you pay them even more money. F that! There is nothing I need to watch that bad that I can justify paying them so much. We managed last year from March through November not having Prime and we can do it again. When I signed up it defaulted to the monthly subscription so I’m fairly certain we won’t be stuck with them a full year.

12/28 (Sat) – Found out I was one of the winners of the fall photography contest held by our birding club. The prize was bragging rights.

That afternoon we went to my bestie’s place to exchange Christmas gifts. I got her multiple items, but the funniest is she got me the complete series of Brooklyn Nine Nine on DVD, which I almost got for her, but I know she hates getting up to change discs, so I gave her a USB drive with the entire series on it instead, amongst other TV shows she likes. She should be able to watch them through her PS5.

12/29 (Sun) – Picked up some Christmas lights that were 50% off at Home Depot. We grabbed a few different style/lengths to try as a replacement for the ones we had around the patio door all year before I had the audacity to take them down in early December to put up multi-colored lights instead. When I put the previously flawlessly functioning lights back up, they wouldn’t turn on. We couldn’t find a loose bulb, and replacing the fuse did nothing. Such a bummer as they were the perfect length (approximately 25 feet). The replacement we ultimately chose to use (an incandescent set) are only 21 feet in length. I just didn’t care for the LED set (which was 28 feet long) because they seemed so bright even though they were a nice warm light. I cannot stand the pure white light LEDs that some people use.

I reached my reading goal this year with only two days to spare!

I always start the year out strong, even getting ahead of schedule, but once the weather warms up it goes downhill because I’d rather be out in nature or editing my photos. Next thing you know I’m behind on my reading and feel pressured to race through books to reach the goal I set. Therefore for 2025 I’m going to set a really low goal of 10 books so that I can enjoy reading when the mood strikes me without any self-induced pressure. I want to enjoy reading and not feel like it’s a chore.

12/30 (Mon) – Cleaned our seed bird feeder after hearing there’s an avian flu going around. It seems to be primarily affecting waterfowl, but the feeder needs regular cleaning anyway and it had been three weeks since I last did it. I don’t want my lovely birds getting sick!

12/31 (Tue) – Joe picked up a Mike’s Hot Honey pizza from Lou Malnati’s and we enjoyed a movie. Afterwards we flipped through some of the streaming services that were broadcasting live New Year’s Eve content, but it was all terribly boring, including Peacock’s year in review show hosted by Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. The fireworks around the world broadcast was interesting for a short time, but overall it was lame. Joe was falling asleep on the couch by 9:30 and we moved upstairs where he went to bed while I surfed online and chatted with my brother until the fireworks died down around 12:30 am. And I wish nothing but stubbed toes every day in 2025 for the person who thought blowing off more fireworks at 1:15 am was a good idea.

Notable movies this month:

The Advent Calendar (2021) – Really enjoyed trying to guess where things were going in this Christmas horror movie.

Secret Santa (2018) – Yet another horror film centered around the holiday. This one turned brutal, but it was also quite engaging.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Most people are familiar with and have seen this movie before, and I thought I was one of them, but it turns out I only remember the very last part of the movie and don’t think I had ever seen the movie from start to finish. It’s quite good.

Carry-on (2024) – Were there are a lot of inaccuracies between airport operations and how planes work? Yes. Was it engaging regardless? Also yes. And honestly, isn’t that the ultimate goal of any movie, to be entertained? And I was.

Juror #2 (2024) – This one really made you think what you’d do in the main character’s situation. My biggest gripe was how they left the ending open to interpretation.

Ricky Stanicky (2024) – I’m really loving John Cena in comedic roles, and this movie was no exception. Sometimes a stupid fun comedy is just what you need.

They Came Together (2014) – I was recently listening to Max Greenfield on the Happy Endings podcast when he mentioned working with Jason Mantzoukas on a movie. I took to IMBD to track down the movie in question which was this. It seemed familiar, but also not, and had a lot of actors I like so I gave it a shot. It was a little more slapstick-y than I care for, but still entertaining enough. The most disappointing part was how normal Jason Mantzoukas’ character was in it. He truly shines when he plays an insane person.

November Recap

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11/01 (Fri) – The new Cure album, Songs of a Lost World, was released and I listened to it on Spotify because despite pre-ordering it from Amazon in September, it was not delivered on the release date as promised.

I was apprehensive about a new album, because I have not fallen in love with any new material since Wish (1992), but it’s pretty good. Not an album I would listen to all the time, and devoid of any songs I would add to my “Cure Faves” playlist, but it has a very cohesive sound. If I had to compare it to any of their earlier work I’d say some songs sound like they were written at the same time as Bloodflowers, but the album’s sound flows similar to Faith or Seventeen Seconds. There are no radio hits on this album, but I am looking forward to listening to the instrumental second CD from the deluxe version of the album whenever Amazon feels like sending it to me.

Later that day The Cure streamed a live show on YouTube. They played the new album in it’s entirety and then moved onto songs they always tend to play live, with two encores, totaling three hours. It was amazing! They really do put on a fantastic live show – they always sound good and play for a very long time. I can only hope they choose an outdoor venue for any upcoming tours so I can see them live again (not willing to risk COVID or more damage to my ears at an indoor venue).

11/02 (Sat) – Decided to attend Crabtree Nature Center’s Waterfowl Watch which was a bust. Why are the birds always on the opposite side of the lake from any viewing area? It’s so frustrating! Needless to say we didn’t stay long. We stopped at a nearby park with a pond which was completely empty. The only highlight was stopping at Pita BBQ on the way home to get some delicious food for lunch.

11/04 (Mon) – Saw what I think might have been a juvenile red-headed woodpecker on the suet feeder but it flew off as I approached the window for a closer look.

11/06 (Wed) – Woke up feeling extremely sad and disillusioned over the election results and could barely pull myself out of bed. I naively believed Americans were smarter than this. I thought more than half the country had more integrity and empathy for people. Clearly I was wrong. I should have known better after what happened with the COVID pandemic, but despite my “negative attitude” I’m actually a pretty optimistic person. I really didn’t think people would rather see a convicted felon who is downright idiotic and a compulsive liar in office than a black woman. Look, I’m not a fan of any politician (although I dare say our governor here in Illinois is pretty great), but people really believe Pumpkin Spice Palpatine is the best choice to run this country? I weep for our immediate future and the long-term ramifications of this awful decision. Shame on America.

I ended up drowning my sorrows in a Chicken Big Mac from McDonald’s. I think they are better than the original Big Macs, mostly because I find McDonald’s burgers off putting these days. They changed something in them a year or so ago and now I hate them.

11/07 (Thu) – ABT came over to look at the washing machine that we had purchased in August because during a load it made a horrible loud noise and was shaking quite noticeably during each spin cycle ever since. The technician, David, was very knowledgeable and knew right away it was the shocks. ABT has great service, but the downside to their warranty repairs is having to wait for them to come out to diagnose the issue and then come back once the necessary parts come in. David explained these machines are made with very cheap parts and not to expect a lifespan of 15 years from them like we had with the previous washer. He also recommended I use the highest water level possible to reduce the strain on the new shocks once they are installed. So much for a water-saving efficient machine, am I right?

11/09-11/10 – Weekend Recap

11/10 (Sun) – Picked up a few different Christmas Tree Cake items from our local grocery store.

While the muffins are better than the donuts, I didn’t think either one deserve to be purchased ever again. I cannot find the ice cream anywhere, and after doing a little digging, found out it was a Walmart exclusive but even they don’t seem to have it (or at least their website isn’t indicating it’s available). I’ve been boycotting Walmart since they ignored my feedback a few months ago and will only shop there if I absolutely have to (like to get the ice cream or another pair of my favorite leggings).

11/11 (Mon) – Saw a white-breasted nuthatch for the first time in the backyard.

11/14 (Thu) – Saw a red-bellied woodpecker in the backyard for the first time this season, and the nuthatch came back so I was able to get photos of it.

11/15-11/17 – Extended Weekend Recap

11/15 (Fri) – Fell in love with these horseradish potato chips from Trader Joe’s. They aren’t overly spicy but have just the right consistent flavor to make them addictive.

11/19 (Tue) – The new Cure album was finally delivered. Thanks, Amazon.

The squirrels chewed the crap out of our oldest squirrel baffle to the point where both the piece that wraps around the pole of the shepherds hook and the baffle part itself (both of which were made of plastic) was compromised, so it kept sliding to the ground. When Joe got home we went to Menards to get a new all metal baffle. The problem? It wouldn’t fit properly on the squared off shepherds hook we had been using, so we ended up getting a new rounded one from Lowes. The problem? The stupid baffle still wouldn’t fit securely to that either! The baffle looked to be the same exact one we had gotten from Menards a few years ago but clearly they did something to it to make it suck. Joe ended up adding some neoprene between the pole and the fastener to get it to grip it tightly enough that it wouldn’t just slip down, so now we have two identical shepherds hooks and two almost identical all metal squirrel baffles to keep those pesky squirrels away from the seed and suet feeders.

In-between Menards and Lowes we got Taco Bell for dinner and it came with this retro looking cup which I thought was cool.

11/21 (Thu) – Sometimes procrastination pays off. Our passports expired four years ago and we had been dragging our feet over going somewhere to apply for new ones. Then the rules were changed and we learned if you were still in possession of your old passport, and it had expired less than five years prior, you could apply online for a renewal and use a photo taken with a mobile phone, so we did just that. We don’t have any international trips planned, but you never know when we might want to move out of the country. ;)

I also ordered a new iPad from Costco. Well, not a new model – I got the 10.9″ 10th Generation model from 2022 as it was on sale for $250 to replace my iPad that has bright spots forming on the screen. I use it primarily to watch YouTube when I walk on the treadmill and play Tsum Tsum, so I didn’t necessarily need the latest and greatest model.

Update: As of 11/30 it still hasn’t been delivered even though the estimate was 11/29. I chatted with Costco who is looking into it. I’m worried because the one I want, the silver, is now showing sold our everywhere. I hope they don’t try to give me a blue one. I already ordered and received a purple case for it which will not look good with the blue since you can see that in the cutouts from the ports and along the screen on the front.

11/22 (Fri) – Our new TV was delivered by Costco.

11/23 (Sat) – We got breakfast for super cheap from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

Thanks to T-Mobile Tuesday all that was $6.

We had to go inside a bank for the first time in years so I could cash a check my mom randomly sent me; she had made it out to my maiden name for some reason so I needed to show them my marriage certificate.

11/25 (Mon) – A few days prior I got an email from FedEx about a package that was coming, but I didn’t recognize the “sender”, so I was very confused and kept racking my brain trying to figure out what it could be. The package arrived today – it was my free gift for donating to the American Bird Conservancy. This full color coffee table book is really cool!

What I can’t seem to understand is why the shipping companies will often only include the shipper and address of a warehouse or third party instead of the entity responsible for the shipment when you check the tracking details. I would have known right away if it said “American Bird Conservancy” as the shipper, but it had some weird name and address that tied back to a printing company even though American Bird Conservancy was on the outside of the package.

We had something similar happen with a lost package through USPS and to this day I have no idea who the package was from or the contents due to the limited information. USPS even admitted they delivered it to the “wrong business”, but never did a thing about it after claiming they would try to retrieve it.

11/27 (Wed) – David from ABT returned to repair the washing machine. It’s not as bad as before, but it still seems to shake a bit during spin cycles, although it could have always done that since I don’t stand around watching it during the cycles unless I hear something weird.

I might take a video of the shaking and the other parts of the cycles where it makes what to me sound like abnormally loud mechanical noises and ask ABT their opinion on if that is considered normal by GE’s standards. I’ve already been told it’s normal for it to release a small amount of water into the drum hours after a cycle like it’s been doing. I think that’s bullshit and GE just has a poorly designed washing machine, since the old one never did that. I keep the lid open all day after a load anyway, so it shouldn’t cause any mold to form.

David encouraged me to buy the extended warranty with ABT for $200 which will cover an additional four years past the measly 1-year warranty with GE. The machine only cost $550 to begin with, but the repair if not under warranty would have cost a whopping $415! I cannot believe these companies with their cheap parts charging so much to repair stuff that breaks so easily. We truly are living in some shitty capitalistic times. No longer will your appliances live for decades because corporate greed is way too strong.

11/28 (Thu) – Watched the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving parade and National Dog Show, as is tradition, even if both often leave something to be desired.

Also put up the new upside suet feeder we bought from Amazon. We’re hoping this will keep the sparrows away.

It seems like a new tradition now to buy a bird feeder for Black Friday since we had gotten our seed feeder last year during the same time frame. The woodpeckers took to it quickly, and hopefully the chickadees and nuthatches (we have two now) will too.

Update – Still haven’t seen any chickadees on it, but a nuthatch was spotted on it and a red-bellied woodpecker ate from it too.

We weren’t planning on hosting Thanksgiving this year but Joe’s daughter reached out two weeks beforehand asking if we were and offered to bring a side dish (which ended up being a Hello Fresh carrot dish which had an interesting ginger flavor we liked). We decided to go ahead since the only difference would be the size of the turkey we needed; I wanted to make all the traditional sides regardless of who was coming over. Joe’s son, E, could not make it due to his work schedule, and his daughter’s SO, J, was busy with his family, so it was just K and us. She arrived a bit before 4 and we had dinner where I tried this new Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale.

It was ok, but not something I’d ever buy again.

After dinner we chatted and played a game called Mantis she and her SO had brought over last year.

We bought our own copy shortly after. It’s really addictive and we played for hours. We were having so much fun, K didn’t leave until almost 12:30 am. By that point I was absolutely freezing. It’s one thing to have the thermostat set to 68 degrees when you’re already in bed, it’s an entirely different thing when you’re still walking around the house. It took me a long time to warm up once in bed, even with the help of a heating pad. I didn’t fall asleep until 1:30 am and felt like I was hungover the next day.

11/29 & 11/30 (Fri & Sat) – We really didn’t do much except make a quick run to the library and eat Thanksgiving leftovers. It was a very chill couple of days.

Notable movies this month:

Trap (2024) – As soon as I saw the preview for this movie, I knew it was going to be good, and other than a couple of WTF scenes, it was. I was really impressed with Josh Hartnett’s acting.

Bernie (2011) – Starring Jack Black, this movie was based on a true story of a guy who strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow and things turn sour in the end. What was fascinating was all the support Bernie had from the community despite what he did.

It’s What’s Inside (2024) – Wow, this one took a very strange but gripping turn. When I don’t look at my phone during a movie, I know it’s a good one.

Strange Darling (2023) – This was one of those movies that kept you guessing over and over again.

Inside Man (2006) – Who doesn’t love a bank heist? This one took an even more interesting turn than most; don’t let the release year dissuade you.

Jackpot! (2024) – Starring Awkwafina and John Cena, an unlikely duo, this was just pure fun. Not every movie needs to win awards to be entertaining and this was thoroughly funny and enjoyable. Hard to find a good comedy these days.

Thanksgiving (2023) – A horror movie that was a bit too gory for me, but kept me engaged even if I guessed the killer pretty quickly.

Extended Weekend Recap (11/15-11/17)

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Joe took a vacation day on Friday (11/15) so we could join the DuPage Birding Club for a walk around McKee Marsh in Winfield, and walk we did. My watch calculated it was approximately 3.5 miles! Added a new bird to my life list – a Fox Sparrow.

Saturday (11/16) we ran some errands in the morning, including a trip to MicroCenter for Joe to pick up the parts to build himself a computer. His laptop was old and getting slow, so he built a desktop for himself and now World of Warcraft, his favorite game, runs much better.

For lunch we tried a limited time Mike’s Hot Honey pizza from Lou Malnati’s.

We made the mistake of ordering a small thin crust which is not a good value for the price, but we weren’t sure whether we’d like it. Turns out we loved it! My only complaint is they don’t put enough giardiniera on it. Some pieces didn’t have any at all and the pieces that did tasted better.

We plan to get another one, this time a large, before it leaves the menu.

Sunday (11/17) we went on another excursion with the DuPage Birding Club, this time to Muirhead Springs in Hampshire. There wasn’t much waterfowl there during this visit compared to in October, but I did add a new bird to my life list – a Snow Bunting!

Cute little thing.

Sunday evening we had tickets to Illumination at Morton Arboretum. Despite the drizzle, we forged ahead and still had a good time, sharing a hot apple cider while taking in the sights. It even stopped raining about halfway through our walk which was nice.

I’m glad we decided to attend early in the holiday season before it got too cold as that was a big reason we hadn’t gone in years past. Even with the rain the temperature outside was very comfortable. That being said, from what I gather it’s largely the same every year, so we probably won’t be going again anytime soon and will instead try something different next year.