December 11, 2023 Monday--5am

 Good morning!

Monday I had great news!  Minor bacteria--not enough to be considered an infection even!  NO ANTIBIOTICS--Whoohoo!!  I was absolutely giddy!  The past couple years every time I was a little better or even on an even keel--some setback occurred to knock me backwards.  I was fully expecting that to happen again with antibiotics doing a real number on me.  Not this time!!  Which also means that the oil of oregano worked!  Surprise!  The week started out on that high note!  That night I started back working on Christmas cards.  :)

Tuesday I was cleaning fountain pens and writing Christmas cards.  Dagan dropped off a few groceries.

Wednesday I did laundry, filled the clean fountain pens, and worked on the Christmas cards.  Leah dropped off a few things from Cashwise and Target.  The drop offs are quick these days and later in the day.  But it is still good to see them, even briefly.

Thursday I finished ALL the Christmas cards and got the last of them out for the mail!  TaDa!!  Finished before the first full week in December was over with.  

Friday I went through the card projects that had been sorted onto trays ages ago--but those sets of birthday cards (had Christmas, too) were too complicated and/or time consuming to possibly finish by the end of the year.  So, I picked out a very, very simple birthday card to make--50 times--lol!  Started stamping.  (With the wonderful Misti that was worth every penny.)  

Meanwhile, the inexpensive humidifier I ordered from Amazon arrived and I could hardly get it set up fast enough!

Has been so dry in here I have gotten bloody noses, Allie has dandruff, and I have had electric hair that sticks to my face.

It's not the greatest humidifier, but it is keeping it more like 35-40% humidity in the living room--ahh!  (vs. 20%)  It is kind of a pain as you can't just turn it on and let it go till it runs low on water.  You can only schedule it to run 8 hours, but at least it does have automatic shutoff if the water gets low.  I am learning to fill it as soon as I wake up and before I go to sleep--and to glance at it regularly during the day to see if it is still working.  Doesn't put out a lot of water for all it appears to when running at full blast on high--lol!  But it will get me through the winter.  My old one had bit the dust, so to speak, and gone to the dumpster last spring.  They never seem to last very long, regardless.  I am thrilled to have it!

I worked all day off and on stamping the birthday cards.

Dagan and the boys came by for a visit after Dagan picked them up from school.  Dagan had done a Fleet Farm pickup of wild bird seed for me and brought it to the garage.  The boys showed me a Bluey cartoon show they watch...about a dog family.  They wanted to show me that the cartoon dogs ate chocolate!  They know real dogs aren't supposed to eat chocolate.  The cartoon dogs eat it regularly, I could see.  Smart of them to catch how wrong that is. :)

Not only did I stamp the birthday cards, but I used up some very old cardstock I had from many years ago that I had bought a ream of from Target.  Was already pre-cut and pre-folded--the last of it has just been around for years because it is super thin so I don't actually like using it for a card base at all.  But I had already cut and folded them--some folded from the top and some from the side.  They've just been shuffled about for years.  Anyways, it is now finally all used up!   They will be flimsy cards, but they will be new handmade ones for 2024. 

Stamped the insides, too.  Finished stamping them!!

Needed to do a sample card to try out the markers just to make sure they wouldn't bleed through the thin cardstock.

Well, I decided not enough to be terrible.  

I could always use some lighter colors, too--so I decided to go for it.  Markers are faster and easier for me than colored pencils...and bolder in color.  But that meant that on Saturday I needed to go through and test that entire big bin of the Tombow dual brush pens because one of the first ones I picked out was all dried out.  

Considering how many years ago I bought the full set of Tombows (maybe a year or two after I moved to West Winds when I had to drop out of college--so around 2006 or 2007?), I was absolutely shocked that I only needed to replace 13 of them and all the rest seemed really good!  Whoohoo!  So I made an order to my trusty JetPens for replacements. :)

Sunday.  We had snow and high winds during the night Saturday night.  Not much snow, but Allie was in seventh heaven...

...because the 45-50mph winds had plastered the snow against the patio door...

...and she had a good-sized spy spot at the bottom.  She can rarely get up that close to do her bird spying.  Made her day.  Well, her morning...for several hours.  Not much interrupts her naptime...all afternoon!  

Due to the high winds there was still grass peeking through the snow beyond my patio.  There was mostly drifting, but not much snow.  Enough that the plows were out in the parking lots, though.

They've been waiting for an excuse to plow.  Those companies live off of mowing and plowing, so they must have been raring to go.

My patio captures snow and makes pretty drifts, of course, so there was a good bit out there.  

I have an alarm on my phone to put out more seed at 3pm so that they can all come eat before dark.  Since I'd put out some extra mid-morning (can't resist putting out some extra food when it is 20 degrees and snow on the ground), there was still some left.  Tossed out some more and within minutes...

...there was a crowd at the Critter Cafe!  I swear they listen for the sound of me opening and closing the patio door--lol!  I wondered where Allie was.

Well, I figured.  Her usual spot.  

Dagan asked me why I don't open the blinds open for her...but this is why.  She loves sleeping in here in the quiet, darkened room.  Once in a while I will open the blinds--but only a few inches so she can spy.  Then she is happy.  But if I do open them and leave them open she gets all disgruntled because she can't sleep well then--lol!  Too much to keep her awake.  Cats!  Gotta love 'em.

So, another productive week--do you believe it?!  Got my Christmas cards all in the mail and have a new set of birthday cards stamped and ready for coloring.  On Tuesday Kenna comes and we will tear apart the pantry.  I don't have to go back for CTscans till the end of May!  No antibiotics!!  I already have presents for the boys--just need to wrap them.  We have a little bit of snow!  I am stocked up on wild bird seed that was on sale!  I have a fairly functional humidifier for the winter.  The boys are happy with school.  Leah really likes her job.  Everyone is getting into the new routine.  We're all healthy.  Life is good!!  What more could one ask for?   I wish you all a stupendous week filled with the holiday spirit!  :) :)