The Wow-October is Over list of W's

 

     Wow-October is coming to an end, and I'm not working in m basement. Well, not quite my lower level and I have  natural light form a couple big window. Once we really get snow, that will be a different story perhaps.  I'm so happy there was no debates. Even if you are are a "fan" of the orange narcissist, you have to be getting sick of his big mouth that never stops telling everyone how great he is, how awful the other guy is. I didn't know a President has "fans". I though the people of the United States were constituents and the president is supposed to work for the entire United States, not just those states with governor's he likes?

        We added a cell line for our home, but just put a cheap phone. It's mostly so we didn't lose our home number, and I do have a few relatives that use it  before using cell numbers. If I answer one more call-and virtual prize if you know how to successfully stop calls-that start with This is "Donald Trump" I may scream. May? I have screamed. Had I known what would be coming through and the frequency, I'd have splurged for one with caller ID. Well that's another story and I said I wasn't going to get political in this blog-so take this as just an annoyance rant that would have been equaling annoying if it was  Biden calling me all day and if I would have seen him primping and pandering in front of the camera. Enough-and sorry if I annoyed you, but my blog and I'm feeling particularly  riled today. To capture my recent thoughts, here's my W's for the week.

What's top of mind: Top of mind is two fold. I have a couple intersecting major task at work that are related to the Minnesota  Covid response. I went to bend noodling around meeting details and next steps. Simultaneously, now that holidays are sort of settled, top of mind is trying to make our season as special as possible despite the difference. As was suggested, maybe we'll find some new scaled back ways of doing things that we will actually enjoy much more, with less extended family stress. 

Where I've been: Last weekend I picked up an on-line order, I got a few groceries, and stopped at the brewery. I'll admit, the brewery made me anxious. Even though all I was doing was picking up some Crowlers of seltzer to take home, there were so many people, yes, tables spread out, and  those not sitting at tables masked, but it is really not an environment that made me comfortable. I know I will not be eating out and definitely not in a bar for the foreseeable future, 50% capacity or not. 

Where I'm going: Tomorrow is my daughters birthday. She has a friend for the weekend, one who also has been following the recommended protocells, and they are doing an outside, socially distanced activity for her birthday tomorrow. As it is supposed to be super nice and we can have a beverage outside, we have tentative plans for me to take her out to the Coffee/wine  bar in town owned by our extended family relative. Other than that, I'll likely go grocery shopping, but after DH's crowded Sunday afternoon experience, I may go as soon as the store opens on Sunday.

What I'm watching: We watched two of the premier movies on Hallmark-Chateau Christmas and Jingle Bride. The Jingle Bride was cute but silly premise of a wedding coordinator having to travel to Alaska the week of Christmas for a certain flower for a celebrity brides bouquet. I thought the Chateau Christmas was duller than dishwater. I caught the last hour though of one of my favorites last year, I think it was called  Christmas Under the Stars, It has all the makings of a classic-families dealing with recent loss, decades of friendship, new friendships, discovery the true meaning of a good and happy life...all the clichés checked, but in the good way for a cheesy movie. .

What I'm reading: Other than the newspaper and some work reading, nothing for pleasure. That is quite sad when I think about the number of hours I have alone each week and how much of an avid reader I  have always been. . 

What I'm listening to:   I finished the podcasts while getting other hosue tasks from Oprah's Book Club  , and the discussion of Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent. I had both BBC and Public radio streaming a bit but this week was so packed with meetings, I did not have much listening space.

What I'm eating: The butternut squash-apple and caramelized onion  pizza.  was a good success last night. We each ate two slices, I sent a big slice home with my daughter for her lunch. DH got home form working an extra day on someone's behalf, he polished off the remaining three slices. It was putzy to prep, but I think it was on par with the pizza we both enjoyed last year at the Twin Cities Veg Fest from Pizza Luce. My daughter is going to do some volunteer work using her film skills for next years festival. 

Who I'm paying attention to:  I can't ignore the politicians, but I can try and give them smaller head space. My family and their health and well being continue to be the most important people who I am thinking about. DH and I had a conversation about all the scams happening right now. His mom is pretty savvy-I don't worry about her so much. I do though think about my oldest sister and hope that anything questionable she gets she runs sit by one of us, or her daughter and son-in-la. My sister is very involved in advocacy and volunteer work on behalf of veterans and has the softest heart imaginable. There has been a slew of scams representing veterans  groups that do not exist and I could see her getting a call or stuff in the mail that was not legit and acting on it.  

What I'm planning:  Other than my daughters meet up, I'll have treats for the end of the driveway, and that will be our Halloween. I may go get one of the Papa Murphys' Pumpkin shaped pizzas. Yes, we just had pizza but the  pizza I made is nothing like the  pepperoni and gooey cheesed filled pepperoni. I'll do some on-line looking for shopping and research some options near my son to send him a Thanksgiving basket to help him and his roommates out with enjoying  Thanksgiving. I looked at what is near him for Grub Hub-lot's of locally owned businesses he can use, so if I can't find a direct  source, I can go with that.

     Our snow has pretty much melted from the week before and with the warm weekend. the last should go. On my walks I see the remnants of a few big snowmen or snow forts created, but surrounded by green grass! Apologies again for my  rant at the start, but I think I redeemed this as a more  friendly post as it went on.  Please share anything that's up in your life because I really like to hear from you all..