2025 1st Quarter Recap

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.

August Recap

08/04 (Sun) – We attended Carol Stream’s annual charity dog show. I was disappointed that our vet and former groomer didn’t have booths this year as it would have been nice to see them. We watched a few events but it was quite hot out without much shade so we didn’t last longer than about an hour.

That evening at 11:30 pm I was in bed when I heard what I thought was hooting. I thought I was hearing things since I’ve never heard an owl in the summer before, but sure enough, it turned out to be a Great Horned Owl in the pine tree behind our house. I sure hope it makes this area part of its territory and has babies.

08/07 (Wed) – I started feeling frustrated with the guy who was temporarily staying with our neighbor in order to attend said neighbor’s son’s wedding. In fact, he got married on the 3rd but the guy was still there. The problem – he would sit out on their patio all day smoking, effectively ruining my ability to relax out on my own patio because the smoke smell is disgusting. He’d be in and out all day long. Just when I though it was safe to go out there, he’d be back lighting up another cigarette.

One day I was already out there and had to leave when he lit up. I feel like if you see someone sitting that close you should go somewhere else to smoke, but I guess not everyone thinks about or cares how their actions affect others.

08/09 (Fri) – I noticed a distinct size difference between the cherry tomatoes growing on the plant in the planter (left) vs the cherry tomato plant we planted in the ground (right).

The in ground plant is smaller and took longer to produce tomatoes, but they’re much larger. They’re both the same exact plant too. Very interesting.

08/10-08/11Weekend recap

08/12 (Mon) – Joe replaced all 4 dampening straps in our washing machine. This is the second time this year they’ve needed to be replaced and the frequency is only increasing. I told him we need to bite the bullet and get a new one – the current one is 14 years old now.

08/13 (Tue) – I made Mexican cornbread casserole for the first time since spring of 2019. My weird health issues began one night after eating some leftovers of the dish so I couldn’t stomach making it again for years. Luckily I was able to eat it with no ill effects.

We found some unique canned coffees at Dollar Tree, like this Twinkie flavored one, that are actually really good (although it just tastes like vanilla, not a twinkie) and have some respectable ingredients which was surprising.

We also tried a Snickers flavored one which actually does taste like a Snickers. I’d buy them again.

08/14 (Wed) – I finally set up the RAID system on the NAS Joe bought last month and tested it by transferring over some files. It’s going to be a big project to get everything on there but luckily I started a spreadsheet a few months ago to track where certain files are stored and backed up, plus I cleaned up a lot of folders on my hard drives as well as Google Drive and Dropbox, so it could be worse. I think I will relegate that project to late fall when it’s too cold to be going outside much.

08/16 (Fri) – After much research and frustration, I ordered a new GE washing machine from ABT. I didn’t want another GE appliance, but they were the only top-loading machine (front loaders don’t work in our space) that could comfortably fit in the space we have and still offer the features I wanted (most notably, being able to choose the water height instead of relying strictly on auto-sensing). Most manufacturers have increased the physical size of their machines while keeping the capacity inside the same. They also have made them so tall that most don’t clear the wall cabinets when you open the door, so GE was our only option. That being said, it’s actually bigger inside than our old machine and has a lot more features, but didn’t break the bank ($500 after price match, Rakuten rebate, and manufacturer rebate), so hopefully it lives at least as long as the last one. I considered a Speed Queen but the price was more than double and the capacity was actually smaller than what we had so that killed that idea.

08/17-08/18Weekend recap

08/20 (Tue) – My friend C came over and we were able to enjoy the patio without any smokers (that guy finally went home) or landscapers (who lately just show up on any random day they please instead of the days they are supposed to be here) interfering. The hummingbirds were quite active, putting on a show of quarreling and even buzzing around us in curiosity. The weather was perfect too! I just feel awful that my friend is having a lot of cognitive issues. She’s in her late seventies and has been having severe memory issues to the point where she had to stop driving, so her husband drove her to my house and we drove her back home later once Joe got off work. She forgets what she’s saying mid sentence and gets understandably frustrated. It’s scary to witness because the same thing happens to me and I’m like 31 years younger than she!

08/21 (Wed) – At the end of July I ordered $300 worth of swimwear from Kohl’s because they barely carry anything in store. Out of the nine things I ordered, two worked out – a pair of swim shorts and a top that looks like a sports bra – which will replace my swim skirt that annoyingly floats up and my bikini top that was murdering my neck having to tie it tight enough to keep things in place. Now I have to return $220 worth of the rejects to the store and I’m not looking forward to it. I would much rather try things on in store and walk out with only what I need. Crazy concept, I know!

08/22 (Thu) – As soon as Joe got home from work we headed to the grand opening of the new Bibibop.

Luckily at 4:20 pm the line wasn’t too long. Outside there was a booth with a Plinko type game with prizes; I won a bubble pop fidget bracelet/keychain. Once we got to the front of the line outside, we each got scratchers and won a free cookie and a drink and then were ushered inside. They were also giving away free Bibibop for a year, which two people won while we were there, but we weren’t so lucky.

Everyone was really nice and the whole event was very well organized. I was impressed! You could tell they were prepared, and we only waited about a half hour total.

08/24-08/25Weekend recap

08/30-08/31Labor Day Weekend recap

February Recap

02/06 (Tue) – Took Wookie to an internal medicine specialist this morning regarding her kidney disease and got total sticker shock when they presented us with an estimate for all the testing they wanted to run. But how can you say no if one of those tests might put you on a better path to managing her condition? So of course we agreed. They did a thorough ultrasound and lots of blood and urine testing. We have a plan going forward to manage her health as best we can.

We tried drowning our sorrows at the Costco food court later that afternoon and got a strawberry sundae and their new chocolate chip cookie. Both were very disappointing. The cookie was baked far too long and wasn’t good at all. We ate less than half before throwing it out. As for the sundae, I’m not sure if there was something wrong with the soft serve machine, or if they switched to an inferior ice cream, but it wasn’t nearly as good as it usually is. The taste, texture, and color were all off. I hope it was a fluke.

02/14 (Wed) – We don’t exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day anymore which is fine because I don’t see the point in getting stuff just for the sake of it. Plus we just had Christmas and my birthday, so it’s gift overload. We did order our favorite Mexican takeout for dinner, though!

02/17 (Sun) – Went looking at tile and flooring for the master bathroom renovation that we’ve been putting off. Honestly, I get overwhelmed just thinking about it. I am having such a hard time finding wall tile I like! The Tile Shop had the perfect white tile on display when we first walked in and wouldn’t you know it, that tile has been discontinued for three years. Because of course it is! I cannot catch a break, and with other stuff going on with my health, Wookie’s health, and the house, I am feeling stressed out. None of it is the end of the world (except for worrying about Wookie), and will eventually get worked out one way or the other, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like too much is going on at once. I’m thankful I’m not working because that’s an added stress I just can’t deal with right now.

02/21 (Wed) – Saw baby Great Horned owls! Apparently there are three in the nest, but I was only able to see two at any one time. The parents were in trees nearby as well.

02/23 (Fri) – Woke up with nerve pain in arms that as the days progressed turned into my legs hurting and feet burning. Tried to remain active and not give into the pain, but it freaks me out when this happens. Looking back through my notes, it seems to happen once a year and lasts longer each time. Do I have some weird Fibromyalgia that comes and goes? A lot of the symptoms seem to fit. It also seems to get triggered by periods of high stress, which is really hard to keep at bay being a Type A person.

02/29 (Thu) – Saw my gynecologist to talk about how I’ve been feeling lately. She ran a bunch of bloodwork that came back normal, although I did notice some things were on the low end of normal and could explain some of my issues. I’m going to try taking birth control to even out my hormonal fluctuations. I’m definitely in perimenopause at this point and tired of the unpredictable cycles and moodiness.

Note – as of March 10th, most of the nerve related issues have almost completely gone away. Interestingly, I’ve started taking Emergen-C again after discontinuing it last year. It must contain the right combination of vitamins that makes me feel good. Or it’s just an odd coincidence, but I started taking it shortly before all my issues from 2019-2020 went away, so I’m convinced it does something good for me.

Enjoyed the following movies and series in February:

The Breaker Uppers (Netflix) – For the right price, BFFs Jen and Mel will ruthlessly end any romance. But when one grows a conscience, it threatens to derail their relationship.

The Now (Roku series) – Starring Dave Franco, a man decides to turn his life around after learning that he is the third member of his immediate family to be suicidal.

2023 Recap

I’m not going to link to specific events this year since my blogging has been terrible, but I did want to create a separate post to document a few of my 2023 goals.

Goodreads 2023 Reading Challenge

Clearly I underestimated how much I would read this year. I was going by past goals that I never completed, so do I aim higher in 2024? I’m thinking of 52 books (one per week) since I know summer can be a bit crazy. I will have time to read on the patio during the week, but the weekends will have me out in the forest preserves much of the time.

Fitness Recap

You can thank my Apple Watch for the motivation to exercise so frequently. It has become a habit now. I literally feel better, both mentally and physically, one the days I walk for 30 minutes or more.

December Recap

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.