If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.
All of the clouds were gone so sunset was pretty much a repeat of the past several nights.
Daughter made “orange chicken” for Ben’s dinner. She had to tell him several times that it was done, and cool enough to eat before he finally grabbed the container and started to eat.
Meds, bath and bedtime followed… stress free. Mostly stress free, anyway. It took waaay too many prompts to get him away from his chalk and into the bath. I got tired of asking and just started picking up the chalk. I told him that he knows we have a routine, that we do the same things in the same order, and we gave him plenty of time, but now it was bath time.
The Boys were tucked in around 7pm and Daughter went to her room. She was asleep by 7:30pm. I did the usual Things and Stuff… yadda yadda yadda.
Younger called, said she was picking up a pizza nearby, asked if she could get some greens for her Bearded Dragons so she didnt have to go to the store. I told her of course, that Sven was still in brumation anyway. So she came by around 8pm. She got the greens, and a few other things while she was at it. Shopping at Mom’s is so much more convenient, and cheaper too.
I nuked some food, finished the email I was writing, ate the food and read through some of my backlog of email newsletters while the food settled. Food Coma. I was sitting up, I thought that might help keep me awake for a little while. I woke up at 12:17am stiff and cold. I took my pills, burrowed under my blankets and slept.
I woke a little after 5am. I heard Daughter moving around, but Sophie Cat was still laying on me, so Ben and Zeus were still in Ben’s room. I tried to go back to sleep, but Nature called. Dang!
Since I was already up, I decided to look at the sky, see if it was worth going out and freezing my fingers in the 37°F (3°C) cold. It was. I spent the next ninety minutes going back and forth between taking pictures outside, and defrosting inside.
Venus was shining brightly and the sky kept changing. Then Georgie and Gracie, crows, other gulls… it was a fun morning for me. I was freezing my jingle bells off, but I was filled with awe and communing with Nature, a fantastic way to start my day.
Ben and Zeus got up around 5:45am and Daughter called Ben into her room, Zeus of course started following me. Daughter got “cuddles” for about fifteen minutes, then she was commanded to the living room.
The day went by with only the med alarms marking the time. Daughter did Couch Sittin Duty and I spent the day mostly Horizontal on my bed, getting caught up on my WP Reader, and following the occasional Royal Commands. Ben did Ben Stuff… chalk, dirt hole, tablet, “I need tape”… going back and forth between the living room and my room, with occasional jaunts outside.
He found his white button down, vest and jacket (they were “hidden” behind his other suit coats on the row of hooks on his bedroom door) and decided to wear them. He “snuck” them into the bathroom to put them on, like we weren’t going to let him wear them. It’s amazing how well he can dress himself when he wants to. We told him when he put them on that he should save them for school tomorrow, but he wanted to wear them today, right then! His choice, we didn’t care.
Daughter got a delivery of Christmas lights today, and a lawn ornament came a few days ago, so around 3:45 she hung up Christmas lights. We discovered that we need a lot more strands. There’s a mess of lights in the Christmas Box in the shed, but that won’t come in til we get the tree. The next time I’m at Rite Aid I’ll need to get a few more strands of lights.
And now it’s sunset time… time for me to spend some time looking at the sky. It would be nice if it wasn’t the same old, same old. Of course, then you’d be stuck skimming past all the pictures.
Excellent band, today’s groove…
Thanks for doing not very much with us all day today. I think we needed a “lay around” day. It’s been pretty mellow at the Casa recently, but the Driving Miss Daisy days are difficult, especially when Ben is having sleep issues on those nights. Tomorrow is a GLYSB day! Happy Dancing at 7:30am PST. I don’t know what else is planned for tomorrow. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow, together. ¡Hasta mañana!
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HUGS!
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King Ben's Grandma 
A “lay around” day sounds completely awesome. I am glad you got one and it was as chill as I had hoped! We did the tree yesterday and had the same problem. No lights! I guess they had so many broken lights in the strands we tossed them at the end of last season but didn’t remember, because all the decoration bins were empty. And then, of course, all the stores were sold out. Of course! We finally found some at Home Depot and got a couple of strands. It was enough to start, but we will probably get some more strands of lights soon too!
GLYSB tomorrow!! I hope you have an awesome day tomorrow, free to do whatever you choose! Have a great day!
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I’m pretty sure we bought lights last year for the tree, but to be on the safe side, I’m going to buy like 6 strands if they have them. I don’t want to open the Christmas Box and find out the lights dont work. Especially after Ben threw a fit for the last hour and a half before bed because we wouldn’t go buy a tree right then. I’m thinking about getting a tiny fake tree to put in his room. It might save us from a week of him buggin about the big tree. And it HAS to be a BIG tree🤦🏼♀️
Thank goodness for the GLYSB! We survived the months without it, but we really like that it’s back! 💃🏼🎉💕
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Why is decorations and lights so complicated every year….. hope you have a great week. Love this song. xxx
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I think the lights must have a built in self destruct that’s set to go off 6 months after they’re activated. I swear we buy strands and strands of new lights every year. I know we lost a couple strands last year when Ben decided to whack at them with a broom handle, but still… 🤷🏼♀️ Just like everything else, built to break, so it has to be replaced.
Keep smiling! And run down and hug that tree😉💌💌💌
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A mellow day is just what the doctor recommend. Awesome sunrise pictures. Here’s wishing you a mellow and relaxed tonight and tomorrow.
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Thank you, Sadje! The evening was going good until the “sundown SpazmaTaz”🤦🏼♀️ it wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t the perfect ending to a mellow day either.
It seems like early morning and sundown are just difficult for Ben. It’s probably related to his medication. Still… one or two hours in the morning and evening versus the rest of the day… I’m not gonna complain. Not much anyway😉😂😂
I love Mondays and Tuesdays! 🚍👋💃🏼🎉✨😂😂
I hope your Monday is off to a great start and stays good all the way through!🤗🥰💕💫🦋
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Any time which is relaxed and quiet is a blessing. Wishing you a lovely day tomorrow Angie.
My day is off to a late start. I hope to catch up soon.
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Good Luck🍀
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🙏🥰
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Eagles’ songs are always a nice touch 🎶😻
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Yep! They are all so talented and I love them! I thought of you when I picked the song… “Paula will like this one”😉💕🎶💃🏼
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Too bad you don’t live a smidge closer. We have tons and tons of Christmas lights, all kinds, slumbering away in various stashes throughout the two attics and the backyard sheds. Many of them haven’t seen daylight in years…
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It would be wonderful to open a transportation portal between Bonnywood and Casa Cuckoo! Imagine the hijinks… maybe involving Christmas lights 😉😂
I masked up, put on my “public” hoodie and went on a Mission today. We now have a strand of 200 icicle lights, a strand of 300 multi-colored, 2 strands of 100 multi-colored and a 3′ lighted & decorated fake tree for Ben’s bedroom… all on sale for half off!💃🏼🌠✨ (cue Queen – We Are The Champions).
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You’ve gathered the light so beautifully in your photographs and the music complements them perfectly 🎶🦋. Happy GLYSB day!!! 🪅🎊🎉🧸💖
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Thank you! 🤗🥰 I missed a glorious sunrise this morning☹ I found out by receiving pictures from Younger’s Partner. And it’s been super cloudy and cold here all day 54°F at noon. 🥶 I don’t know if there will be a sunset to see tonight🤷🏼♀️
I kinda take it for granted that the sky is mostly clear, most of the time.😂 I’m spoiled… no doubt about it.
I cant wait till Christmas when I can have my camera. It was delivered yesterday, but Daughter says I have to wait😣😔🤷🏼♀️
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Aargh! It’s in the house! 😀🌟
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Right?! She even offered to let me look at it. I told her to just put it away. If I started looking at it to learn about it now, I wouldn’t give it back. HIDE IT!!! Especially since my phone camera is acting up and frustrating me🙄🤦🏼♀️😂💕
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Beautiful skies. I think people are decorating up good and early for Christmas this year to bring some much needed light and cheer.
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Yep, here too. It’s been kind of a “rule” not to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but people started early. We hate that it gets dark at or before 5pm… we’re used to Sun in SoCal. Plus, COVID is a bummer!
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Nice to have a mellow day. Love the new graphic art logo! It’s amazing.
Congrats on writing every day. I miss writing my food blog. It seems there is always something else to do that is more important. And pre pandemic, I would write at my gym. They had a great quiet area next to the hotel lobby. I could order an appetizer, have a beer or wine, and write! It was my fav part of the gym. Lol. Expensive too, so I don’t miss paying for it.
We have a burial for Ken’s great uncle today. I don’t think we should go, but Ken is determined to be there for his cousins.
Take care
Teri
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Goodness… another death? I’m so sorry. Poor Ken and his family! It IS part of life though… just sucky. And so much more difficult in the middle of this dang pandemic! All the rituals, the gatherings and food and sharing of memories is so dangerous now.
Sending hugs!💌💌💌
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Three cheers for smooth evenings! 😁😁
My mom had to prompt me a whole lot too. It’s tough to explain what was going on in me that she had to do that. I do remember it. I did hear her, and it’s not that I was being obstinate or disrespectful on purpose or anything. I can best describe it as just being in a zone I wasn’t ready to come out of yet. My brain sort of works on its own time schedule lol. Even now in my 40s, it’s still a Thing, but far less so. I often do run late (oops! 😳) because of it, but not by too much. I can’t really explain why; it’s like I’m watching the time but still lose track of time lol 🤔💗
You’ve seen Bob Rivers comedy group “12 Pains of Christmas”, right? 😉💚💙🍂🌺🌸☯️❣️🧘🏽♂️🏝🌠
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I haven’t seen the comedy thing. I’ll have to check it out.
I get that Ben is often “in the zone”, so we give him LOTS of Warning, lots of time… It’s just super frustrating when we have a schedule, a time deadline. Plus, Ben is Ben… just as obstinate and contrary as his mother. He’s autistic, yes. But he’s also a 12 year old kid.🤪🙄🤦🏼♀️🤣🤣
💖💖💖💖💖🥰🤗🌈🦋✨
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