Category: Holidays

March Recap

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03/01 (Fri) – The kids came over for dinner. We got takeout from our favorite Mexican place and played a new version of UNO they gifted us (it was our belated Christmas gift exchange) – UNO No Mercy, which was brutal, but fun. I’m now the proud owner of the Funko Pop 5-pack of The Cure. Joe received a Nightmare Before Christmas vinyl LP and a Jack Skellington Funko Pop.

03/02 (Sat) – I finally got an eye exam, at LensCrafters, which I had been putting off until I was told by my allergist that my daily Flonase use could cause eye issues and to have my retinas examined. They try to upsell this digital retina imaging where you don’t have to get your eyes dilated so it’s quicker (but you have to pay out of pocket for), but after some quick googling I learned they see less of your retinas that way, so I opted for the old school method which insurance covers. Sure, it requires you to spend more time at the exam, and then wait a few hours for your eyes to return to normal, but it’s free. Also, my eyes are perfectly healthy, so that’s good.

03/03 (Sun) – Visited the baby owls and on the way back visited Armstrong Park to see what it’s looking like since they started restoring the creek bed. It’s awful now! All the trees that housed the northern flickers and attracted migrating birds are gone. I understand the need to repair the erosion but it’s really disappointing. It was one of our favorite places to visit, not to mention closest to home, and I don’t think it’s going to attract many birds now. Total bummer.

03/04 (Mon) – Spotted some mourning doves hanging out on the abandoned robin’s nest on my neighbor’s light outside their door and called the association to ask them to remove the nest. I debated asking the neighbor directly, but we’ve never spoken and I didn’t want to chance her refusing, so it was better this way as they sent out a pest control person the next day to remove it. Neighbor has a video doorbell or I would have done it myself, honestly. Neighbor rarely uses their front door but we use ours often to walk Wookie and it was not fun getting dive-bombed by the mother robin last year. Not sure if mourning doves are less aggressive, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

03/09 (Sat) – Joe filed our taxes (refund small, but better than having to pay) and we tried out a new to us Polish deli that’s been around for years. While we didn’t like everything we tried, we like enough (pierogis & stuffed cabbage) that we’ll definitely get food from them again.

03/16 (Sat) – So there we were, driving along the west side of the Morton Arboretum with the windows open, taking in the sights and listening for birds, when we heard what we thought was hooting in the distance. It was too faint for the Merlin app to identify, so we pulled over and decided to investigate on foot because it didn’t sound familiar like a great horned owl. Luckily the hooting continued and we were able to track it to a group of pine trees where this barred owl was perched.

Talk about exciting! Neither of us has ever seen one in the wild before. The funny thing is just minutes before we heard it, I was thinking about how we should look for a barred owl, but I didn’t say anything to Joe because I don’t know why that thought even popped into my head. It’s not as if anyone had mentioned seeing one there recently. So strange.

Also, I’m shocked at how well the photo came out considering just how overcast it was on this day, not to mention windy, and how high up the owl was.

03/19 (Tue) – Finished the black oil sunflower seed and started feeding safflower seeds to the birds. While it has lessened the pesky squirrels trying to climb the feeder, it’s just as messy as the other seed. The bag is only 8 lbs, so I’m sure we’ll be out of it quickly. We also bought a small bag of sunflower hearts, which I suspect the birds will tear through in a matter of a week, maybe two. Which is fine, because by the end of April I plan to remove the seed feeder and put up the hummingbird one. Moving forward, I will be using the suet feeder only in the late fall and winter months. I hate how messy the seeds make the patio. Luckily my favorite birds – chickadees and woodpeckers – are the ones who primarily use the suet feeder.

03/30 (Sat) – I had heard there was a common loon hanging out at West Branch forest preserve recently, but hadn’t had the opportunity to look for it until this day. I texted my birding friend who just so happened to be going there and she was kind enough to text me back when she saw it, so we decided to look for it despite the overcast weather.

Sure enough, it was there, but it was so far across the lake that the best photo I could get of it is not so great. I’ve never seen one before, though, so that was exciting.

On top of that, while walking around the lake to see if we could get a better vantage point (spoiler alert – we couldn’t), we saw two more water birds we’ve never seen before – buffleheads and horned grebes. The buffleheads were in a group of three, and there were 7-8 grebes, although the one I got the best photo of was off by itself not too far from the shoreline.

So that’s three more birds added to the life list. I’m at 78 and hoping to hit 100 this year.

03/31 (Sun) – We had a low-key Easter this year. We didn’t go anywhere or invite anyone over. Heck, I completely forgot to decorate until three days beforehand! We made the last of the ham from Christmas in the crockpot, and had mashed potatoes and green beans with it.

Wookie

Throughout the month we’ve been taking Wookie to her internal medicine specialist & local vet for her chronic kidney disease. She’s not doing well, unfortunately, although after starting her on subcutaneous fluids she did perk up. Her decline in energy was rather slow so we didn’t realize she was acting differently until she started feeling better. It’s been super stressful trying to figure out ways to help her and come to terms with the fact that she might not be around come this time next year if things keep progressing the way they have.

I think I was in denial when she was first diagnosed back in mid 2022, because even with knowing this would shorten her lifespan, I didn’t think about it too much because she was acting perfectly normal. Now that things have changed, it’s becoming too real and I’m already suffering from pre-emptive grief.

To make matters more stressful, she fights us when we try to give fluids at home (we’ve tried multiple times), so I’ve been taking her to our local vet daily (except Sundays since they are closed) to have them administered, and will continue to do so until her next follow-up appointment with her specialist in mid April.

I’ve joined a couple of Facebook groups about her condition but all the information is overwhelming. She’s on a special kidney friendly prescription food that she doesn’t like so I keep having to add stuff to it to encourage her to eat and I worry I’m harming her kidneys further in the process. Logically, I know that ultimately she needs to eat, even if her diet isn’t exactly the best possible thing for her condition, but I feel guilty anyway. I just hope the new medication the internal medicine specialist started her on helps.

January Recap

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01/02 (Tue) – Purchased the lifetime subscription to UpNote and moved all my notes over.

01/03 (Wed) – Made some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup. For years this was Joe’s specialty, but when he got COVID the first time I decided to take his recipe and tweak it. Now we can’t go back to the original because my version, while more time consuming, is so much more flavorful.

01/06 (Sat) – My friend came over for us to celebrate Christmas and my birthday.

01/07 (Sun) – Visited Morton Arboretum

01/09 (Tue) – Finally got around to trying this spiced chai (tea) we got at Trader Joe’s last year. It’s very good! One of the best teas I’ve had, in fact.

01/10 (Wed) – Nearly got run over in two separate parking lots while shopping.

First at Costco was an old lady backing out right as we were walking behind her car. Joe had to punch her trunk to get her attention. Luckily she wasn’t going very fast.

But the scarier incident was merely ten minutes later at Aldi when a lady in a giant SUV literally started peeling out of her spot, almost turning right into us as we were walking alongside her vehicle. She must have stomped on that gas hard because when she heard us yelling she ended up skidding in the spot trying to stop.

What the hell is wrong with people?

01/12 (Fri) – Did a major paper declutter/filing which was overdue (when isn’t it?)

01/13 (Sat) – Purchased Nintendo Online membership for the year so I could play some of the old Nintendo and Super Nintendo games. Namely, F-Zero and the Japanese version of Planet Puzzle League. What can I say, I like simple games.

Also installed a new Apple Watch screen protector after realizing mine had disappeared from my watch without me noticing right away.

01/14 (Sun) – Joe installed the new corner shower caddy, which we got from Costco for $60, in the upstairs guest bathroom.

I like that the shelves cannot slide down the pole like the old one that was using a rubber ring to keep it in place. It also looks nicer, and hopefully will not rust like the previous one. The thing I don’t like, however, is how the lowest shelf cannot be installed all the way at the bottom so that it sits on the corner of the tub. It holds the heaviest products, which makes it sag a bit, so all the bottles want to slide to the front. I find that irritating, and didn’t realize it would work that way until everything was put together. When Joe renovates the master bathroom, he’s going to put a large cutout in the shower so no caddy will be necessary.

01/17 (Wed) – Recycled and donated multiple items and did some shopping.

01/18 (Thu) – Joe works across town so we took advantage of that and met up at our village hall to check out a small bimonthly indoor market where we purchased tacos, salsa (verde), egg rolls, and cupcakes. All items ended up being underwhelming except two of the cupcakes.

The flavors from top left to bottom right are vanilla bourbon, whatchamacallit, chocolate malt, and cannoli. We’d only get the first two again.

01/20 (Sat) – Joe did some more work on our dryer. The slides keep deteriorating, so earlier in the month he replaced a piece on the top inside portion of the door that had worn down and put in new slides. The dryer was still squealing a lot, so he replaced the bearing in it as well. They no longer sell dryers like ours so we’ve been really reluctant to replace it as not only would we lose precious space in the laundry room, which is already cramped enough, but most of the dryers we’ve looked at have sloped tops on them. Why, I do not know! Our laundry room is also the entrance into the house from the garage so the dryer is a makeshift table for us and needs to be flat (we have a liner on top to protect the surface).

01/23 (Tue) – I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy. One polyp was found and removed, and even though the doctor thought I had issues with my esophagus, the biopsy results indicated otherwise. It’s a bit confusing, and I’m planning on making a follow up appointment with him to discuss everything further.

01/24 (Wed) – Cancelled Amazon Prime. It’s gotten so expensive at $140 annually, we rarely watch shows on Prime, and packages tend to get delayed so you’re not getting them in two days anymore. The breaking point came when they announced they’d be adding commercials to their Prime content unless you paid them $3 more per month for ad-free viewing. WTF? Even though, like I said, we don’t watch much Prime, it’s the principal of the thing. They keep jacking up rates and giving you less in return for your money. I think this will save us even more money in the long term since we won’t be placing orders until we have multiple things we want to buy.

01/27 (Sat) – Went to Woodfield Mall. It had been nearly a year since we’ve been in any malls at all (and the last time was Woodfield too, in fact). We no longer shop out of boredom (or for “fun”) and only when we need something specific.

They added a new anchor store called Primark which is based out of Ireland. I picked up a cheap pair of sneakers for walking on the treadmill since my old ones are literally falling apart. Was crossing my fingers they fit well (spoiler alert, they didn’t); these are the fourth pair of shoes I’ve tried. Not sure what is going on, but finding a comfortable pair of walking shoes has been difficult lately. Even the more expensive ones have been duds (such as the Pumas I got from Costco that I ended up returning). I did learn that I need the shoe to fit snugly (so even though I wear a size 8, I’m better off with a 7 or 7.5) and one that has a shape similar to an hourglass instead of just a wide toe box but narrow everywhere else.

The mall got pretty crowded by noon so we high-tailed it out of there and back to the safety of home, but not before picking up Bibibop. Luckily that location made everything as ordered!

Enjoyed the following movies and series in January:

Leo (Netflix) – An animated movie about a lizard (voiced by Adam Sandler) who talks to school children and helps them with life’s issues. Super cute and funny.

Self Reliance (Hulu) – Starring Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick, this was a pretty unusual movie that had you guessing what was really going on the whole time. Truthfully, the main draw was Andy Samberg’s cameo, which was a bit disappointing.

Interstellar – I’ve been meaning to watch it for years and after a recent discussion with a friend, who said it was one of their favorite movies, I felt it was time. Was it good? Yes. Would I ever watch it again? Doubtful.

Hijack (Apple TV) – Starring Idris Elba, this drama mini-series had enough intrigue and drama to keep my attention, although I didn’t find his acting in particular all that engaging.

Queenpins (Netflix) – Kirsten Bell is entertaining, which was no exception in this comedy about a pair of women who create a fraudulent coupon empire.

Ted (Peacock) – I wasn’t sure at first how I felt about this limited series, but after two episodes I really got into it. It’s amazing how far we’ve come with CGI these days. Ted looks amazing and blends in seamlessly with the actors. Plus the show is just funny.

School Spirits (Netflix) – What a unique premise – Maddie, a teen stuck in the afterlife, investigates her own disappearance with the help of her fellow dead schoolmates whose souls are also stuck on school grounds. It keeps you guessing until the last episode which still leaves you with questions, hopefully which will be answered in season 2.

My 48th Birthday

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My friend K came over with her dog on the 6th to celebrate my birthday and exchange Christmas gifts. She got me some really cool stuff, although I can’t remember which were birthday vs Christmas now.

Dog calendar
Notepads
Change purse made from recycled materials
$15 Bath & Body Works gift card
Happy Endings complete series on DVD
Plush chickadee that sings when you press the button (Wookie hates it)
Heather grey (looks more navy blue) bird t-shirt
Not pictured: a set of loofas that came inside a fabric bag with dogs on it

I like the bird related gifts the most.

Speaking of, Joe got me this awesome owl for my birthday. I had put it on my wish list and I love how it fits in with the winter decor I have currently in the house.

I hate having a winter birthday because the thing I want to do most is be in nature. This year we decided to drive around the arboretum since it had just snowed the night before. It looked really pretty and was the best option all things considered.

We also ate lots of takeout for my birthday weekend. We got fajitas Friday night, Just Kabobs with my friend on Saturday, and Thai food on Sunday. I didn’t have to cook at all and we enjoyed the leftovers for days afterward too. So overall it was a nice low-key birthday with my favorite humans and dogs. :)

Here’s a list of all the birthday deals I received this year. Some of them just appeared in my mobile app (like Dunkin, Jewel, and Starbucks), so it’s always worth checking your apps for any rewards on/around your birthday.

** = rewards I’ve already redeemed
* = rewards I might still redeem
x = rewards I’m not bothering with

* Bath & Body Works – free $10 item – expires 2/6
* Beef Shack – $5 off – expires 1/31
x Cafe Zupas – free dessert w/ $5 purchase – expires 1/14
* Chick-fil-a – free brownie – expires 1/31
x Chilis – free dessert – 1/14
* Culvers – free sundae – expires 1/21
x Dunkin Donuts – 3x points
** Jewel – $5 off $5 or more – expiration date unknown
* Jimmy Johns – free side item – expires 2/6
** McDonald’s – free item from a choice of 7 items (3 breakfast or 4 lunch ones) – expires 1/14
x Nothing Bundt Cakes – free bundtlet – expires 1/15
x Red Lobster – Chocolate Wave Reward – expires 1/30
x Red Robin – free birthday burger w/ minimum purchase of $5 (dine in only) – expires 1/31
** Starbucks – free food or drink item of your choice – only good on your actual birthday
** Target – 5% off – expires 2/6

If it wasn’t so cold/snowy this weekend, I would have gone to Nothing Bundt Cakes but it isn’t worth the drive. They closed our local Red Robin (plus we’re still not comfortable eating inside restaurants) so that’s off the table. I should probably delete my Royalty account with them as I don’t foresee eating there anymore. The quality has taken a nosedive while the prices continue to rise, so as much as I used to love them, I’m not a fan anymore.

December Recap

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12/01 (Fri) – I woke up at 12:28 am to the faint sound of hooting. Excited, I ran to the bedroom window and opened it. Sure enough, the great horned owl was back! I could see it across the courtyard at the top of the same pine tree as back in mid October.

I ran downstairs to get my camera and got a few photos from the bedroom window. There’s no detail thanks to distance and darkness (although thankfully there was some decent moonlight), but the silhouette is pretty clear.

It also made a squawking sound I’d never heard before, which I was able to capture as well. I later learned it’s likely a female trying to find a mate. I was so excited it took an hour and a half to get back to sleep. I hope it comes back again soon!

12/02 (Sat) – Saw a Cooper’s hawk trying to hunt the neighborhood birds, but unsuccessfully.

Went to K’s birthday party which was even more fun than last year because 1) her extroverted neighbor wasn’t invited (she dominated the conversation) and 2) I felt more comfortable around her family and friends having already met most of them before. I particularly enjoy talking to her brother and his wife. They have similar interests and are so nice! K set me up with her heated blanket too so I was much less cold than last time which helped me stay relaxed. There’s nothing I hate more than being cold.

12/03 (Sun) – Sometime in November I was watching a TikTok where the person was showing how stirrup leggings are back in style. My eyes zeroed in a pair of adorable black leggings with dogs on them, however, and I could tell the person was at Walmart. I immediately went to their site only to learn the leggings were sold out both online and in store. Fast forward to us needing to visit Walmart for specific grocery items. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look for the leggings anyway, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a single pair all by it’s lonesome, that just happened to be my size! Obviously I was meant to have them. They are so stinkin cute!

They do fit a bit tighter than their other leggings, which is a bummer, but I still love them. They are ridiculously warm too, so they are best worn when lounging.

On the same Walmart trip I picked up two boxes of Christmas Tree cakes, plus two pints of the Christmas Tree Cake ice cream. Yum! Also decided to try these gingerbread ice cream sandwiches, but was not overly impressed.

The flavor was definitely gingerbread, but the size for the price ($5 for a box of four) made them not worth it (and I believe there’s still two in the freezer at the time of this post).

We also received a shipment of Monin Syrups I had ordered.

Verdict – I do not care for the French Vanilla (will be sticking to regular vanilla moving forward) and the Toasted Marshmallow has a weird aftertaste that I do not love. The Pistachio, however, is good, as is the cane sugar, although I might just try liquid sugar from the store once it runs out.

12/05 (Tue) – Had a very frustrating experience with America’s Best in an attempt to get an eye exam. Part of the review I left online is below:

When I first called to confirm whether they accepted my vision insurance, I asked whether I should make my appointment online or with them on the phone. The woman I spoke with said she could do it. I made my appointment for 5:30 pm, and the woman said everything was set up in the system, including my insurance info. Shortly thereafter I received a text confirmation as well as an email. So far, so good.

Fast forward to the day of my appointment and I received two emails – one asking me to confirm my appointment, and another asking me to fill out some paperwork online. I completed both requests in the early morning hours.

Mid morning I received a call from them asking me to confirm my appointment and for my insurance information. I explained how they should already have that because I was told they set up my account during my initial call. The woman claimed there was nothing in their system for me, so I gave them my insurance information again and told her I would be there that evening at my appointment time.

At 4 pm I received another call from them asking if I could come earlier, at 5 pm. I told them I could not and the girl replied, “ok, see you at 5:30 then”.

I arrived at 5:20 and there were three woman at the counter. One asked me if I was using vision insurance, which was quite annoying. Why did they keep asking me this but never take down my answer?!?

Then some other women asked me what kind of exam I was there for. Once again, why did I fill out the form online if they weren’t going to retain that information?

I informed her that I was there for a glasses exam and also needed to have my eyes dilated. This woman SIGHED at me and said they probably won’t have time to do that because it takes an hour.

(Note: I had noticed when I came in the hours posted on the door say they are only open until 6 pm despite the website saying 7 pm).

I got fed up, told them to cancel my appointment, and left.

Honestly, it was difficult enough with Joe’s vision insurance to even find a place who could confirm we had coverage. His medical insurance is awesome, but the vision is total crap because it’s as if none of the chains (which is mostly what it covers) has never heard of it, despite them being listed as being covered in the plan.

We also got an updated tax assessment which means higher taxes next year, ugh!

12/08 (Fri) – When Joe got home from work we went to Cosley Zoo to see their Christmas lights. They were about as meh as always, unfortunately. Then we went to the decorated park by the Wheaton library. It was cute and mostly peaceful besides one screaming kid. We also drove to a nearby house that always puts on a good light show for Christmas. We just haven’t felt like driving too far to see Christmas lights this year, so it was a relatively short outing that ended with us picking up food from the Mexican place near our local library. We recently discovered they make some really delicious chicken fajitas at a reasonable price and can’t get enough of them.

12/10 (Sun) – Decided I was fed up with T-Vision streaming device in the bedroom, so we got a Roku from Target.

We installed it in the living room and then put the older Roku in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the new Roku remote was having issues, so we ended up exchanging it for a new one a few days later. Other than that, I love it! The new Roku remote has the ability to control the TV power and volume which makes it even more convenient than the older one.

Joe put up the Christmas tree and added lights.

12/13 (Wed) – Found out Andre Braugher passed away from lung cancer at 61.

This one was a gut punch. Celebrity deaths don’t usually make me cry, but this one did. I’ve been obsessively watching Brooklyn Nine Nine recently and it’s sad to think there will never be a reunion. There probably wouldn’t have been one anyway, but now it’s certain, because it’s not B99 without Captain Holt, one of the best comedic characters EVER, and definitely my favorite character on the show (followed closely by Andy Samberg’s Jake Peralta).

12/14 (Thu) – I finally got around to decorating the Christmas tree. In a stroke of good timing, I received a package from my cousin of a custom ornament featuring our late grandparents on their wedding day. Such a thoughtful gift! I immediately added it to the tree.

We also received two gift baskets from my parents which is not something they typically send. One was all Ghirardelli chocolate and the other a combination of things. My mom later asked me to review them and I was honest that I think they’re overpriced for what you get, particularly when the chocolate one is mostly milk chocolate and I prefer dark.

12/23 (Sat) – Placed a mobile order with Bibibop and ended up with entirely different ingredients than we asked for. I don’t know what was going on with that, but apparently I need to check the entire bowl moving forward, and not just glance at the part you can see through the lid since the proteins were the only things they got correct. They did end up issuing me a full refund when I complained, but that didn’t change the fact that my lunch that day, and the next day (they give you enough food for two meals) was ruined. I can’t wait until they open up a closer location so it’s not an hour round-trip.

12/24 (Sun) – We went to my parents for Christmas Eve. Brother #2 (B) didn’t come, so it was just me, Joe, my parents, and Brother #1 (J). We had a good time, even played a round of Aggravation before leaving at 8:45 pm.

12/25 (Mon) – A Cooper’s hawk visited us in the morning.

We exchanged gifts and then enjoyed leftovers from my parents (and into the following day). Joe got me a Cure t-shirt (A Forest), a monocular, some candy, and a few items from my Amazon wish list (screen cleaner, the Pink Stuff, and a protective wrap for my camera). I got him a Star Wars poster, LED gloves, and some candy. Lame, I know. He’s very hard to buy for and luckily doesn’t really want anything, so he wasn’t bothered by the gift inequality, but I still felt bad.

12/26 (Tue) – Headed to Target to see what after Christmas sales we could take advantage of. Sad to say they had nothing in terms of reasonably priced Christmas cards, which we needed, so we found ourselves at Meijer where everything was marked down 50% and the selection was great. Got three boxes of Christmas cards and some gift bags, so we’re set for years to come.

We also went to Bath & Body Works to check out the semi-annual sale where everything is 75% off. It was crazy crowded and we didn’t see anything worthwhile, so we left empty-handed. Other than the foaming hand soaps, I don’t really love BBW like I used to, and I have enough soaps to last me awhile.

12/31 (Sun) – Received an email from Nintendo about a sale on a game I haven’t thought about in years – Lumines.

I used to play it on the PS2. Since it was only $4.50, I decided to buy the digital copy of the Switch version. I immediately lost two hours playing it. Just as addictive as I remember! I love puzzle games.

New Years Eve isn’t really exciting, so we went to bed before 11 pm. Of course all the fireworks going off had us awake again at midnight. Bah!

Enjoyed the following movies and series in December:

Violent Night – This was on my watch list since last year because I heard about it after Christmas, and I just can’t watch Christmas movies once Christmas is over. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting – it was better. Fun movie!

Spirited

I forgot how good this movie is (saw it for the first time last year). It’s too bad it’s only available via Apple TV because a lot of people are missing out on the fun. Do I like musicals now? Because I love this movie and there is a lot of singing! Who can resist charismatic Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds though? I would buy this on DVD if it was available.

Obituary

Turn Dexter into a woman and take away his meticulous research and planning, and the need to dispose of the body, and you’ve got this show. It’s so good! I am sad we blew through the first season as quickly as we did but am looking forward to a second one.

November Recap

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11/01 (Wed) – Started the month off strong by getting our flu shots at the CVS in Target.

11/03 (Fri) – Joe’s daughter made us dinner (stuffed pepper soup), which we ate at his son’s apartment.

11/04 (Sat) – Visited my bestie, K, and brought Wookie along since she tolerates K’s dog, Teddy.

11/05 (Sun) – Woke up to a layer of fog which is always cool to see.

Visited the marsh and saw the great horned owl again.

Joe put up the new white cellular blinds in the living room. We had purchased them at IKEA in late September but left the paper black ones up in October for Halloween.

11/06 (Mon) – Saw an Eastern Chipmunk for the first time ever by our house!

11/07 (Tue) – Enjoyed some avocado toast for breakfast. I was never a fan but I recently cracked the code, at least for me – Ezekiel bread (from Trader Joe’s), salt added to the avocado, and Aldi’s asiago cheese everything but the bagel seasoning sprinkled on top.

Donated clothing to a place I found called Repeat Boutique. I like them because they allow people in need to “shop” for clothing for free, unlike Goodwill or Savers who keep raising their prices and seem to attract resellers more than anything.

We also saw a new gastroenterologist as we’re both overdue for colonoscopies. We really liked him and scheduled our procedures.

11/11 (Sat) – Had our first chickadee visitor to the feeder!

My dad messaged me online requesting help as their landline was down (and no one has a cellphone) so I put in a repair ticket with AT&T.

I found out there was a new update for my Apple Watch, but when I went to install it, I was told I need to update to the latest iOS (iOS 17) on my phone first. There’s a bit of an issue, though, and I’m so happy I thought to look into it before it was too late – the reminder app I use multiple times a day isn’t compatible with the iOS 17. In fact, the app hasn’t been updated in 8 years, so I guess we’re all lucky it’s worked this long. The developer doesn’t have a way to contact them (although I did @ them on Twitter recently and they kinda blew me off) and doesn’t seem interested in keeping the app going. So I guess I need to now find a good reminder app before I even think about updating, because everyone is saying it crashes and won’t let them edit reminders, etc, and I have reminders well into the future I do not want to lose (stuff like when to cancel a free trial and whatnot). UGH!

11/12 (Sun) – Another marsh visit and another owl sighting. It usually hangs out in one particular tree, down to the same exact branch, but this time we spotted it in a different tree altogether, and even saw it flying around because blue jays and a kingfisher were chasing it.

Before this, I did something dumb. We had purchased some Thanksgiving items at Aldi before going out in search of the owl and to the arboretum, including a 3 lb Butterball boneless turkey breast. I placed it on the counter while filling my water bottle, then promptly forgot about it. Didn’t think about it again until hours later when we were driving through the arboretum when it dawned on me I hadn’t remembered putting it in the freezer. Pulled up the security camera in the kitchen and sure enough, it was still sitting on the counter. What a waste of $12, not to mention food. Someone said it might have been ok (it was left out about 4 hours), but I wasn’t going to risk giving people food poisoning. Joe said at least it wasn’t TWO turkeys (which we almost got), so there’s that!

11/16 (Thu) – Saw two chickadees at once! I think they are a couple (a Google search revealed they often mate for life).

11/18 (Sat) – Did a little grocery shopping at Target and managed to procure two packages of the best Milanos Pepperidge Farm makes – the limited edition amaretto hot cocoa flavor.

Somehow managed to get the same nasty Dollar Tree cashier I wrote about in the October Recap, even though it was a different DT location! I immediately recognized her and was sad we’d have to deal with her. She was nicer to everyone before and after us than she was toward us. Perhaps it’s paranoia, but maybe it had to do with the fact that we were the only ones wearing masks? I know some people treat masked people poorly. As if trying to protect my health is a bad thing.

We also visited a store called Wild Birds Unlimited that sells, you guessed it, nothing but bird supplies. It was really fun to look around, but ultimately we left empty-handed. I would like to support a small business such as that, but it doesn’t make sense to pay twice as much for everything either. Perhaps if I was rich I wouldn’t care as much. They clearly aren’t hurting though, as they were quite busy.

11/19 (Sun) – Another trip to the marsh to see the owl (obsessed much?) where we also saw a large flock of sandhill cranes overhead.

11/23 (Thu) – The kids came over for Thanksgiving and K brought her SO. They introduced us to a new card game called Mantis, which we loved. So much so that I ordered it from Target for pickup.

Bonus – it was 50% off for Black Friday, so only $10.

11/24 (Fri) – Joe ran to the grocery store for a few items and came back with a surprise for me – Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes! Apparently they also make them in chocolate (psst, those aren’t great, I recommend sticking to the original flavor).

I also learned I can use the Canon app on my phone as a wireless remote for my camera.

This would have been helpful on Thanksgiving when taking a group family photo.

Enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers, which are truly the MVP of the holiday.

11/25 (Sat) – Received our new bird feeder, which was discounted on Black Friday.

Who needs a new TV when you can get a bird feeder instead? ;)

11/26 (Sun) – It snowed enough to stick. Yuck. I did get some cute photos of the birds and squirrels in the snow, though.

11/28 (Tue) – Joe had his colonoscopy. I didn’t like how I wasn’t allowed to be with him until the actual procedure and needed to stay in the waiting room until he was in recovery, especially because they were running late and he didn’t go in for over a half hour past his scheduled time. They found and removed some very small polyps so he will need to go back in three years. We’re not really sure how many total polyps there actually were, though, because the doctor told him 6, there were only 4 documented on the illustration they included in his aftercare paperwork, and the biopsy report stated there were 5.

11/29 (Wed) – The chickadee couple, who disappeared for nearly a week, came back!

Also viewed my Spotify Wrapped results. These will come at no shock to anyone who knows me. Even the timing was on point – I listened to The Cure most in the winter months because, you know, melancholy, and Sofi Tukker in the summer because of happiness and positive energy.

I do wish you could exclude comedy albums from their analysis, though, because I start an album, fall asleep, and have to listen again over the course of a few nights to finish. I’m not obsessed with these comedians or anything.

11/30 (Thu) – We had our dryer vent cleaned. I chose a company recommended by the association which is different than who we used last year. There were two guys – one who went up on the roof, and one who did things to the dryer, including checking the hose in back and the lint trap, plus checking for gas leaks before and after doing the service. He also made sure the dryer was still heating up before they left. The last company just did work on the roof, sucking up the lint (which was really loud compared to this place) and didn’t check the dryer at all. I think we’ll stick with this newer company as they seemed more thorough (and the price was literally only $1 more at $90).