Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Small pleasures & annoying things

Small pleasures: 

  • Spending time with Little Great-Nephew. Even his occasional tantrums are kind of adorable (maybe because it's not up to us to deal with them, lol). (He's generally a very happy little guy, though!)  I know he will only be little (and in his grandma's care, before he heads off to school) for so long -- so we are enjoying every moment with him that we get...
  • Having some rare "me alone at home time" while dh is on jury duty. (But I hope it doesn't last too long...!)
  • I weighed myself yesterday morning, and I've lost more than 5 pounds since the beginning of November -- almost 9 pounds since my all-time high weight in late August, three months ago. (I wouldn't recommend this weight-loss regime, though!)(i.e., not being able to eat certain foods because they trigger gout and/or gallstone/digestive issues). 
  • Speaking of my gallstones, my bloodwork all came back normal. :) 
  • Rare (lately...!) sunny days with clear blue skies!  
  • The first snowfall, on Advent Sunday, just in time for us to decorate our Christmas tree. (It DOES look pretty, and Christmas-y, as we enter December!) 
    • We did have some flurries/flakes in the air before this, but nothing that stayed/accumulated. 
  • Having my advent calendar personally delivered on the weekend by my favourite sterling silver jewelry maker (which I mentioned in my "Right now" post earlier this month), and looking forward to finding out what's inside each one of those 24 beautifully wrapped packages, starting tomorrow! 
  • Realizing that with 6 more posts after this one, I will have published 200 posts (so far!) in 2021 -- the most ever in 14+ years of blogging! Not bad, eh?? (I guess this pandemic has been good for something, lol...!)  
    • And! -- 11 more posts (after this one), and I will have reached 2000 posts since I first started this blog on October 31, 2007!  

Annoying things: 

  • Knowing the snow we've had (however pretty it looks right now) is just the beginning...! (And that dh has to drive 40+ km in it to the courthouse every day for the next while.) 
  • Despite the normal bloodwork results, I'm still not feeling 100% re: my gallstone issues. :(  I haven't had a REALLY bad day/night like I was having a few weeks back (thank goodness!) -- and I've had some days that have been pretty normal overall -- but I'm still feeling unsettled and twinge-y from time to time (including today). Lots of gas too (ugh). :(  Ultrasound this afternoon (it's nearby, so I'm walking there while dh is in court), and then I'll discuss what's next with my family doctor once we have the results. 
  • Having to fast before the u/s. (Only four hours, but still... and I find that an empty stomach sometimes exacerbates how I'm feeling...) Soup at 11 a.m., anyone? 
  • Discovering that sections of the lights on the bottom part of our pre-lit Christmas tree are dead. :p  (Not all of the bottom, but parts of it -- which is somehow almost more annoying than if the whole thing was malfunctioning!  lol)  We turned the tree so that those unlit sections aren't *quite* so visible. But I'm conscious of those dark spots, and it drives me nuts. :p 
    • What would be more annoying, though, would be having to buy an entirely new tree! (and I hear there are shortages of those this year too, along with everything else...!) -- so we'll muddle along with this one for at least another year! We bought it six years ago for our first Christmas in this condo, and it was the first pre-lit tree we've had. 
    • Another annoying thing:  Did you know the average lifespan of a pre-lit Christmas tree is just six years??  
  • Our electric kettle also conked out last night when dh was making me a cup of tea. (He switched to a saucepan on the stovetop instead.) He plugged it in and switched it on, but nothing happened. (He only realized this a few minutes later.)  He tried plugging it into another outlet and that triggered the surge protector. Obviously something wrong with it (it was working only a couple of hours earlier?)  ...oh well, it's a pretty old kettle. I forget how old, but at least 10 years, and probably more like 15-20. Better to be safe...
    • Small pleasure: I had a brilliant idea:  I realized the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales were still on, went online and ordered a new kettle (same brand, similar style) that was on sale at a local retailer (Canadian Tire, for those of you who know it ;)  ) -- originally $59.99 (Canadian)(which I think is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for an electric kettle), on sale for $24.99.  They will email me when it's ready for pickup at the local store. Score!  ;)  Till then, the saucepan will suffice. ;)  
  • The uncertainty of dh's jury duty and how it might affect our travel plans for Christmas. 
  • Not getting to see Little Great-Nephew as usual while dh is on jury duty. :(  (We may see him this weekend, though.) 
  • So many great books... never enough time...!  I was hoping to finish one more before the end of November, but that's not going to happen. 
  • Starting to run out of time generally to get everything done (& bought) that needs to be done before Christmas.  (Dh's jury duty is not helping in that respect...!) 

5 comments:

  1. I bought our pre-lit Christmas tree in 2006, and finally had to take off all the lights last year. I can't remember if I left the new set of lights on or decided just to restring them this year. However, I think I only had to remove the colored lights - the tree had a white light and colored light (or both) option, and my husband always chooses the colored lights because the white ones are too bright for him. I guess we'll see what's what when I take it out of the box this weekend. I'm just happy it's lasted this long.

    Meanwhile our 16 year old dishwasher may have bit the dust today. Or maybe it just needs a little attention to recover from our latest power surge (I hope).

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    1. Ugh! I guess after 16 years, your dishwasher has had a good run, but...! I had one (at our old house) conk out after a little more than two years. I had someone come to look at it, and the first thing he said was "That didn't last long, did it??" It was a problem with the motherboard and he told me I might as well buy a new one, for what it would cost to replace it.

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  2. I love love love the idea of a jewellery (yes, that's how non-Nth Americans spell it) advent calendar! I hope you will show us all your goodies from it.

    Even though our induction stovetop heats water at exactly the same speed as our electric jug (kettle to you), I still prefer using the electric jug. Much nicer. Glad you got a good deal.

    Yay to good blood work. Hope the ultrasound goes well (or at least, easily).

    I second you on the "so many great books, never enough time" sentiment. Though you're better at finding time (or perhaps, better at not wasting time) than I am!

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    1. I had a friend on FB ask if I was going to post photos of the daily treats from the calendar. I know some people do, and I'll think about it, but I must admit I'd feel a little funny doing it. It was fairly pricey (albeit a great deal when you consider the full value of all the contents is more than double what I paid!), and I am well aware that not everyone can afford to treat themselves this way.

      If you're really curious, you can follow her on Instagram... she will be posting every day in her Stories there as to what the treat/gift of the day was! She get a huge kick of watching it all unfold!

      The ultrasound was... well, let's just say, it's done, lol. I may post about it later this week.

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    2. P.S. I can never remember whether it's jewelry or jewellery?! Being Canadian, I suppose either way would be acceptable! lol

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