Tuesday-12:30pm

Good Afternoon!

Yes, my hours are still a bit messed up but I am feeling much better.  I even caught the sun peeking out one dark, cold morning.

Have had two humidifiers running.  Borrowed this one from Dagan and Leah.  It makes a lot of noises sputtering and gurgling.  Karma wonders if there's something alive in there. 

The grouse family was out trying to peck a meager meal after the big snowfall. 

Suddenly they noticed Karma and I in the window and ran down the walkway... 

...little legs a flying.  I think these chubby little birds are Karma's favorite channel on her new CatTV.  ;) 

The snow revealed evidence of a visit from the family at some point when the blinds were closed.

Right now--Karma is next to me here in her own chair as I type at the kitchen table...or she cries.  But then she sleeps after a little petting and belly rubbing.  Silly girl. 

 It's gotten into the 30s so the snow has slowly been melting away.  First to ice, of course.  (Was tricky making it to the dumpster.) 

I've been using my cell phone for pictures and had a bunch of fuzzy ones.  Could have been a dirty lens.  Sorry.  Anyways, I was late getting in the cushions off the patio chair, right?  So I was going to take them in after most of the snow melted off and bring them to the garage.  Despite being piled deep with snow, the cushions on the chair were dry.  But when I went to take up the ottoman cushion--OMG!  It was completely soaked!  So I tipped it up against the side of the apartment to let it drain.  Meanwhile I tossed the two chair cushions into the pantry. 

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And so it began.

Karma loved being back on even part of her old chair...so I added a towel...and then one of the memory foam pieces (plan to make cat beds with, if you recall) and another towel... 

...eventually we ended up with this.  Both chair cushions piled on top of each other, memory foam pad, and towel--so she sleeps like the Princess and the Pea--LOL!  She's loving this. 

And it will be around for a while because I had the ottoman cushion draining for three days outside and then even after another day drying in the shower...that cushion is STILL wet!  I moved it into the pantry but do you see the wet streak all along that one side? 

Of course, Karma loves this cushion adventure.  She'd probably prefer I keep them all in here for her to lie upon for the whole winter--LOL!  

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 Leah gave me a little tabletop tree that she said they haven't used for years.  We got it up on a bookcase on Sunday.  :)  I know!  Decorations!  Do you believe it?

Not that having no decorations has ever, ever dampened my personal holiday spirit--LOL!  But since my old tabletop tree broke beyond repair a few years ago--it is nice to see a little something again.  :)  Now I just need to replace my lights around the patio door (the ones I had around the picture window at the old place finally died, too).  They'll have some sales this month.  :)

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Leah came over to stamp her envelopes on Sunday (we ran out when she was stamping mine).  We ordered some return address stamps this year.  We ended up just hanging out and gabbing about card ideas and watching card videos (KWarner) and next thing it was 2:30 in the morning!  We haven't done that for at least a couple years.  Was such fun!!

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She had to come over late after Ian went to bed because Dagan was home from work since Wednesday.  Nope--not the super virus.  Worse.  He was dealing with sciatica!  When he went to the clinic he had x-rays and he's got a couple almost bone-on-bone vertebrae already.  Poor guy!  He really drew the short straw in the family gene pool!!

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Dagan checked with his cardiologists and was okayed to take the muscle relaxers and pain medication--so he was mostly catching up on his sleep for a couple days.  Was feeling better and back to work yesterday.  Last I heard his leg & back were behaving pretty well and he was doing okay.  I wish I could just have all my crap be worse and take on his for him.  You know how you feel like that with all your loved ones...but it doesn't work that way.  At least he could call me and know he was talking to somebody who really, truly knew exactly what he was going through.

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He's a positive guy, though.  

More positive than his mother.

He wasn't and won't let it get him down.

Not that you don't have down days now and again--but you get back up.  That's what matters.  The destination.  The journey.  The span of the whole trip.  Not the bumps in the road or even what you may have to drag along with you.  ;)

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Anyways, it has continued to melt.  

Just took this picture this dark morning.  

We need more snow!  ;)  

I forgot to take pictures of our Christmas cards this year.  Super simple again due to illnesses and such...but we LOVE the new MISTI.  Without it we'd still be stamping, I think, and they wouldn't look this sweet and solid on the front.

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We did discover that when we double stamp with the MISTI to get the sweet, even, deeply colored stamp on the front that we should not use pigment ink pads.  Pigment ink takes longer to dry and these never seemed to fully dry.  You can still smear them if you rub against them with your fingers, so I'm sorry about that to those of you who got them or will be soon.  (All done and in the mail--whoohoo!)

So we'll use dye inks from now on because they dry fast and don't smear.  Lesson learned.  We are just so drawn to these kind of tree scene stamps and actually loved the way they turned out...if we could keep from smearing them--LOL!  

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We used a dye ink pad for the "Let It Snow" inside. 

Oh, and we actually ordered a stamp for the back this year--tada!  With all the years Leah and I have made cards together you'd think we would have done this a long time ago.  :)

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"Created for you by Leah and Rita"   

And all of you from Elizabeth's T Stands For Tuesday--did you notice the card was propped up against my red thermal coffee mug?  Yup!  That big red mug and Karma are my constant companions--ROFL!  That's why I have to roll a chair over right smack dab next to me when I am at the kitchen table in the mornings doing my journaling and letter writing and catching up online (or blogging as today).  She has to be right there next to me.  I think she was a dog in her previous life.  

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Does that stack of cushions look like a dog bed to you?  LOL!

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Anyways, I'm a bit slower today but I made it!  Just thrilled to know my cards are in the mail, I have a tiny tree sparkling on the bookcase, Leah and I have lots of ideas for card making starting in January, I'm feeling more human, and the fog is lifting in my brain (less snot--LOL!).  What more could one ask for?  

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Best to you this holiday season!!  Be well and happy and safe.  May you days be filled with song and joy!  :) :)

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   "Happiness is to appreciate what you have; unhappiness is to dwell on what you don't have."

Rabbi Shimon Ben Zoma (2nd century)