2025 Project 365 – Week Forty-two

It’s cold (ish) and damp and I’m getting ready to hunker down for a long winter’s nap. But wait! Did you know that fall/early winter are the times when All The Things happen? I keep having to leave my house to do things. Yes, they are things that I signed up to do, but that doesn’t make me any less salty about it.

Sunday, October 12^th        
I was getting ready to leave dad & Sue’s house when I saw this album and had to take a photo. Have you ever heard a Jerry Clower routine? You should check him out – it’s a treat!

Monday, October 13^th  
Dr. M made a delicious vegetable beef soup. 
 

Tuesday, October 14^th    
From the socials: I had to have a tooth extracted today & really throughout the process I was a rockstar (other than some whining before the pain meds kicked in). But I read the “post-surgery” instructions & apparently, I can’t brush my teeth for 24 hours. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I’m not a drama queen, but I play one in real life.
 

Wednesday, October 15^th    
My newest shirt from The Happy Givers.
 

Thursday, October 16^th  
Dr. M says: “…I just love these shoes! I gambled with $100 or so and ordered two pairs, as pictured. No, this is not an ad. My feet are complicated, my budget is tight, and the hassle of getting insurance approved diabetic shoes is real. I know firsthand from trying to get good shoes for Pop. So when I saw the ads on instagram for these, I took a chance. So far, so good! I have neuropathy, not from diabetes but from lumbar fusion surgery. In short, I could feel my feet before surgery, but I couldn’t after. My favorite $100+ Merrell mocs just didn’t give me a wide enough base or elasticity that allowed for swelling feet. In fact they cost me a big toenail earlier this year. I don’t know how long these shoes will last, and yes, the factory is in China, but they really work for me in terms of walking around grocery stores, etc. again, not an ad, just a very pleasant experience.” 
 

Friday, October 17^th          
Another gorgeous meal by Dr. M (there are chicken thighs under there somewhere). 
 

Saturday, October 18^th
Dr. M & I and thousands of our closest friends decided to go leaf peeping on the Blue Ridge Parkway today. It was bumper to bumper, and we both started feeling a little claustrophobic. I’m glad we got to see the loveliness, but as I told Dr. M – Hickory has pretty trees in the fall too!
 

I didn’t make it out to a No Kings rally yesterday, but reading about all the peaceful demonstrations and the millions of people participating gave me hope for the future. If they have another one, I might have to make an effort to attend. First, I’ll need to get an inflatable frog costume though… Where is your hope-o-meter these days?

2025 Project 365 – Week Forty-one

You’ll be happy to know that after starting antibiotics & steroids my tooth has calmed down. But this is its last hurrah – that sucker is coming out on Tuesday. If I’d known we were going to eventually pull it, I probably wouldn’t have gotten that root canal in 2021.

Sunday, October 5^th        
I saw this Jeep on my way home from church and thought What Fresh Hell is this – you just never know what a giant flag might mean, but it’s often something awful. Turns out it’s about suicide prevention! Made my heart happy.
 

I finished the blanket & had its photo shoot today. Simple scallop border, which I think is better since the blanket is so busy. (Note – it’s a little whoppy jawed because I was not going to crawl around on the deck straightening it out).

Monday, October 6^th  
I’m doing my best to help out the Girl Scout Economy. In fact, I’m so invested in it, I might have to order a couple of more boxes of these very delicious sea salt caramel dealios. 
 

Tuesday, October 7^th    
The only photo is this shot of the palmetto cheese sandwich I had for breakfast. It was delicious!
 

Wednesday, October 8^th    
Things I learned this week: I have a CD player in my car! It still skips when I hit a bump! Nostalgia! I should have the Christmas cantata memorized by next choir rehearsal. (Note: I will not have it memorized.) 
 

Thursday, October 9^th  
I’ve been struggling with my glasses ever since I got new lenses in June. I’ve wondered if my eyes had changed since my previous eye exam (last October), or if they’d used the wrong prescription. This week I became convinced that they’d put the left prescription in the right lens & vice versa. They definitely work better upside down in some cases (in fact, I have them on upside down while writing this). Weird. I have an exam tomorrow so I’ll have the doc check it out.
 

Friday, October 10^th          
Dr. M had his first eye exam in a while on Thursday (that’s him driving home post dilation). He posted this to the socials on Friday: PSA: if you’re 60+ years old and haven’t had a comprehensive eye exam in a while or maybe ever, get one and be sure they photograph your retinas. Yesterday I was diagnosed with Atrophic (dry) macular degeneration. I suspected they would find it in my eyes because Pop has it. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with the news! At present it’s a life sentence. The grid and Areds 2 vitamins are now a way of life for me as I self-monitor for changes. So is getting my eyeballs dilated and photographed every six months. AMD is real, but so is the effectiveness of these vitamins in mitigating long term damage from dry age-related macular degeneration.
 

Saturday, October 11^th
Another busy day in Buglandia. First up was a Bridal Brunch with my cousin/best friend Kim’s daughter. The theme was Abigail’s Next Chapter (she’s a big reader) & it was very bookish so I loved it.
 

Then I went to a baby shower for another cousin’s daughter, which was a lot of fun.
 

Finally, WeenWear in action! (I stole that phrase from Kim). Isn't Ruby adorable?

Dr. M’s diagnosis had a sobering effect on the week, despite the return of hockey (the Canes are 2-0 baby!). His dad was diagnosed at a later age, so that’s worrisome, but here is hoping that it progresses so very slowly that by the time he really needs it, there’s a cure. I don’t want to make light of things, but when I read that it’s mainly found in white men I figured that they were working Very Hard on things. Also, there’s the chance that society as we know it will entirely collapse. So we’ll see!

2025 Project 365 – Week Forty

Nothing to say this week. Well, lots to say, just not HERE.
Sunday, September 28^th       
The sign outside my church. Makes my heart happy. 

I made a dinosaur cowl for a friend’s wiener dog.

Monday, September 29^th  
You just think you’ve seen this outfit before – I’m wearing a different sweater with it!
 

Tuesday, September 30^th    
Changed out my calendar for October. I laughed at myself – this square represents me and three friends (the ones who’ve been getting together every Christmas since college). I decided to use it for Mental Health Day. Ha! 
 

Wednesday, October 1^st    
I posted this in my crochet group because I was second guessing this border & everyone agreed that it was too open for a blanket (it might catch toes & such). So I frogged it & did something different, which you shall see next week. 
 

Thursday, October 2^nd
No photo.
 
Friday, October 3^rd            
We had a skeleton crew at work so I bought us some cookies. Not pictured: the chocolate chip that we scarfed right up.
 

Another fine meal by Dr. M. Yum!
 

Saturday, October 4^th
No photo, but we basically watched post season baseball all day.
 
How many times have I complained about an infected tooth? Also, how many times does it act up heading into the weekend? Oof. There is practically no pain as annoying and excruciating as tooth pain. I have an appointment with the dentist tomorrow morning so hopefully I can get an antibiotic and be back to whining about other things. Also, hopefully they can figure out what’s causing it. Because this is VERY ANNOYING. What’s annoying you these days? (Other than The Politics because that’s a given.)

2025 Project 365 – Week Thirty-nine

At work we all agreed that this was The Longest Week Ever. We weren’t sure why, but we were sure glad for it to be over. On the other hand, other than a sore arm for a few days, I had no ill effects from my COVID booster – AND the cortisone shot has definitely helped with my shoulder pain.
Sunday, September 21^st      
Took take-out to Dad & Sue’s (Dr. M joined us!) but Tragedy! I cut both thumbs opening the aluminum container that had my shrimp and grits in it. The food was good, but apparently dangerous. (Note: my thumbs were fine after a couple of days.)

Monday, September 22^nd  
I bought myself a Mary Engelbreit calendar for 2026. She is actually a very fiery advocate for all the peoples. Check out the empowerment section of her Amazon store here!
 

Tuesday, September 23^rd   
I’m currently reading David Gate’s  book “A Rebellion of Care” and it is fabulous. Every page is an ah or a kick in the gut or a happy sigh. You should check it out! I shared this because of the Tylenol kerfuffle (and that makes it sound like no big deal, but why are all these medical decisions hurting women in particular?) 
 

Wednesday, September 24^th   
Another beautiful (and tasty!) meal by Dr. M and his iron. 
 

Thursday, September 25^th  
I saw this tiny little sticker on the car in front of me & it made me smile.
 

We watched a documentary about Tecumsah & William Henry Harrison & I remembered all over again that our nation was founded in blood by men who just took what they wanted. And that many religious leaders at the time found justification for the bloodshed in their Bibles. Sound familiar? As Dr. M is fond of saying, Jesus Wept. And so do I.
 

Friday, September 26^th             
I’m gonna go out on a limb here & say that it’s possible that I added a smidge too much cinnamon to these apples. Perhaps. 
 

Saturday, September 27^th
My dad made jam from his grapes and it is FABULOUS. Its tartness curls my tongue in just the right way. I might have to have another piece of toast for dessert later!
(Glimpses of my water bottles for subversive purposes.)
 

I was going to get my car inspected today & rootle around the Goodwill, but after my Very Long work week I decided that I just needed to be at home all day. I wound some yarn, crocheted an orange and brown dinosaur cowl for a weenie dog (photos next week), washed sheets, and read a book. And it’s not even 3:30 yet! Happy sigh. What have you been up to?

2025 Project 365 – Week Thirty-eight

I had my Covid booster today & I am choosing to blame any and all errors in this post on that fact. Despite the fact that it was only an hour ago & couldn’t possibly be an issue.  

Sunday, September 14^th      

Dr. M made the best stir fry for dinner – yum! The best part is that he’s pretty sure he remembers how he made it so we can have it again.

Monday, September 16^th
Sheep! Dr. M actually gets to see sheep all the time, but can’t usually get a photo. So this was a treat.
 

 
Tuesday, September 16^th  
I’ve been stewing about this for a while now.
 
 

 
Wednesday, September 17^th   
It was my dad’s birthday! But I didn’t take any photos of him because I’m the worst. Instead, you get this. Had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor today. He was very impressed by how much arthritis was in my shoulder. Bone on bone! And the bone looks angry! So I got a shot & if that doesn’t work it’s shoulder replacement for me. Yay! I consoled myself with Bridge Mix. Bonus photo of my watch after I had used the apparently Very Loud hand dryer.
 

 
 
Thursday, September 18^th
My latest haul from The Happy Givers – two t-shirts and a bag. I loved all of it!
 

 
Friday, September 19^th             
Dad sandwich alert! Peanut butter, banana, & chocolate covered raisins. He said it was kind of dry & I said he should have added jelly. He agreed & that’s how you know we’re related.

 
Saturday, September 20^th
This bout of rage dusting is brought to you by cortisone & my friend Evan’s most excellent playlist.

 
The news these days has been so very terrible. I hear glimmers of hope & then I hear of another just awful thing. And now the rapture is happening on Tuesday! I’ve backslidden so much (according to my relatives probably) that I don’t really need to concern myself with that. I’ll probably miss them though. Do you know anyone who might be raptured?

2025 Project 365 – Week Thirty-seven

It was another busy weekend around here & I am just now sitting down to write my blog post. But also it’s almost bedtime, so we shall see what kind of sense I make!

Sunday, September 7th  

Church picnic! It was a great evening!

Monday, September 8th

I stayed home from work and had a fabulous day. Dr. M joined me on the deck for a while.

Tuesday, September 9th 

Found a new way to use a gift bow.

Wednesday, September 10th

I kept trying to get a good picture of these toppers. They’re my favorites, even though I don’t wear them very often.

Thursday, September 11th

Dr. M says, peace be with you…

Friday, September 12th    

Dr. M found some sunflowers! And then he found some House of Bug flowers.

Saturday, September 13th

I spent the morning at a bridal shower. 

And then the evening at a surprise birthday party for my oldest friend (as in we’ve been friends a long time - she’s younger than I am - ha!). It was a good day, and now I need to be people free for a while.

I think that is QUITE ENOUGH for one post. How was your week?