If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.
Sunset was kind of a dud, but then the Parrots came…
after the Parrots landed in my Pecan Tree (yes, it deserves proper noun status), I switched to video. I have a five second video, but even though I upgraded from Freeloader, I still can’t play videos unless I go for “premium”. Fuck that noise! WP is WAY too glitchy to give them more money.
Anyway, the Parrots hung out in my tree for about five minutes, and I was barely containing myself. I wanted to jump up and down like I’d been called to “Come On Down!” I’m kinda bummed that I can’t play the video for you. Maybe I can figure out a way to use Google Drive and just include a link… if I have time, and if I remember. Big IFs! *
Ben was chill the rest of the evening. He ate most of his steak, had his meds and bath, then off to bedtime with Dogzilla. Daughter went to her room, and I started going through my WP Reader. SOOOO behind!
Younger called me to tell me after waiting over an hour at a drive-through testing site, she came to a sign that read “3 hours wait from this point”, so she found a place that made appointments. She and Partner will be tested Wednesday, I forgot what time she said. Hopefully she will get her results soon. When Older had the bronchitis that turned into pneumonia, her Kootie test results came back really fast. The next day, I think.
I got through my Reader around 9pm then I nuked some food, ate the food, let the food settle, took my meds around 11pm and konked until 5:15am when the Bounce occurred.
Ben “cuddled” with me for a while then ran off. I dozed… then he Bounced and “cuddled” again… then he ran off again. He came back once more to command me to Couch Sittin Duty, but Daughter took first shift. She was reminded via phone notification that she has a Zoom with his med doctor this morning…. “before 10am, I can’t remember”. I got up and went to visit my friend, Coffee Dragon. Then I went to look at the sky…Meh… and c-c-cold! It was 38°F (3°C). TOO dang cold for Meh!
I heard the call of gulls around 7:15am, so I braved the frigid weather and went to look. Georgie and Gracie were playing in the sky over my house. They were joined by some friends (?) near the market, and they landed for a minute, but then they were off again. Ya know… places to go, dumpsters to dive…
At 8:30am I took over Couch Sittin Duty so Daughter could Zoom with Ben’s med doctor. She couldn’t find the paper with the Zoom info on it. I asked “Don’t you have a number you can text her at?” Daughter said she’d just texted. Ben was doing his chalk thang, mostly just making a pile of chalk dust. UGH!
At 9am Daughter announced that she’d found the paper, the meeting was at 10:15am. I told her “Whatever you want to do. All I have to do is change my shoes.” about getting the tree. She hemmed and hawed… I seriously get SOO freakin’ frustrated. I was ready at 8am, I’d been waiting on her. At 9:20 she put her clothes in the washer, then we put slippers and a jacket on Ben, grabbed his mask and we headed off. Luckily the store is right by the hospital where she works, super close.
It was nearly empty, so we rushed in, Ben said “That one!” pointing at a net-wrapped seven foot Douglas Fir, Daughter grabbed it. I grabbed gift wrap and clear tape, and onward to check-out. Self checkout, Ben dancing and making faces at himself in front of the security camera and monitor, Daughter paying, then back to the car.
We got home and got the tree into the stand, watered and boughs relaxing, just in time for Daughter to make it to the 10:15am Zoom. Younger called while we were getting the tree stabilized in the stand. She had just done her Kootie test, she and Partner both. They will have their results in two to five days. Hopefully two, so she can help decorate the tree on Friday evening… her birthday, actually.
The Zoom went fine. They are switching Ben’s morning Adderall to an extended release pill. That’s excellent. Hopefully the coverage will be longer. Daughter hung up her laundry, then took over Couch Sittin Duty. I went back to Horizontal Time.
The Honey Baked Ham was delivered around 11:30am. Tree AND ham in the house. Christmas was officially a GO! Hopefully that will be the end of Daughter’s worries and tears about Christmas. I hate when my girls cry!
At 1:15pm Daughter asked me if I would please, please go to In-N-Out. Of course I said yes. They are ALWAYS hella busy, but they’ve got the waiting line system down better than amusement park rides. With driving time to and from, the total time was forty-five minutes, so I waited twenty-five or thirty minutes for the four Double Doubles – three no onion, one animal , and four fries, two for Ben cuz he doesn’t do burgers and he’s a bottomless pit these days. I ate the fries right away. I don’t know of anyplace where the fries are good cold. Rally’s aka Checker’s big bucket of fries is okay a few hours later…edible, but I wouldn’t say good.
Anyway, I gave Ben his fries but he didn’t seem interested. I gave Daughter her bag o’ Salt and Grease Burgers which is what we call them, and went to get Horizontal after eating my fries. I’ll eat the Animal Style burger later.
At 2:45pm Daughter said she was gonna fold her laundry and stretch out. I told her to set an alarm cuz she was gonna sleep. No doubt about it. She’d just eaten, it was that time of day… she was gonna sleep. She said she’d set an alarm for 4:30. I told her “oooh-kaaaay”. Ben was playing in the living room and outside. Back and forth, so I stayed in my room, waiting for the Royal Command to relocate.
At 4pm Daughter texted me that she was just falling asleep, she set her alarm for 5pm. I sent her a bunch of laughing emojis and “okay”. I am beyond tired of this whole work night sleeping thing. I swear, I’m just gonna tell her to stay in her room all day from when we get home from picking her up, til it’s time to take her back. I will make Ben’s “orange chicken” tonight, I will bathe him and get him ready, I will probably have to wake her up to get ready for work, and then I will drive her to work. But first, I’m gonna see what sunset looks like tonight.
To celebrate the success of The Great Tree Adventure, and because it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs, this version, from Meet Me In St Louis, one of my favorite movies. And don’t these lyric seem to apply to 2020?!
Thanks for coming with us on the Great Tree Adventure. FINALLY, right?! A pretty chill day with some stuff going right. That’s always nice. Human nature seems to put more weight on things that go wrong, I’d rather acknowledge all the good things. It’s make my general outlook more pleasant… makes me happier, more content. Tomorrow’s agenda includes picking Daughter up from work, and a whole lotta Couch Sittin, then Driving Miss Daisy again in the evening. Hopefully the day won’t start at 4am. If it does, the Coffee Dragon will Burble and Hiss super fast for us. ¡Hasta mañana!
*(did it – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ovo9pAZmU8kKDQ_IeRDB5IZ5hqtLT4cZ/view?usp=drivesdk)
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HUGS!
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King Ben's Grandma 
Love your tree adventure!! Score on the Ham too! Meet Me in St Louis is such a good movie. I love this version of the song by Judy Garland. It Does sound like it’s about Today. Timeless. Hope daughter’s test comes back super fast and negative. 💞 Hugs 🤗. Have a super sweet evening 🍪🍰🍬🌷✨❤️
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Took us long enough to get the dang tree! Nothing is ever simple with us it seems🙄🤦🏼♀️😂
I hope Younger’s results are negative (gut says negative, but maybe that’s wishful thinking 🤷🏼♀️) and fast too. She has anxiety already, and she & Partner isolating in the trailer will cause arguments if they are stressed and waiting too long 🙄🤦🏼♀️
🤗🥰🦋🦄🌈💃🏼✨💫
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Since you have a google account, another option is to put it on youtube and post the link. It will show up on your screen just like Judy.
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Oh, thanks Jeff. I didn’t even think about that. I’m gonna try that with the 4 minute one.
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You’re a rock star! Thank you!
My first published YouTube video 😂😂😂
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The tree is finally here. Great! It was so good of the parrots 🦜 to come and say hello, as the gulls. I do hope the new meds work better for Ben. Hope you have a good rest of the day. Sleep well my friend.
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Yes, FINALLY! We got the tree😂 a mad dash that took maybe 30 minutes 😂😂😂 Cuckoo family! Ben is bugging about decorating it now. I told him we’re waiting for Auntie. I’m gonna let him put a few things on tomorrow morning. Patience is NOT one of his strong points🙄🤦🏼♀️😂
Enjoy your Thursday!💃🏼🦋🤗🥰💕
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He is a kid after all and no kid would wait for something as exciting as tree decoration.
Thanks Angie. I hope you sleep well and have an adventure-free day tomorrow 😻🥰
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Yay tree 🌲 in da house! Great pics again today wowsa! I’m starting to crave a cheeseburger 🍔 after reading this… 😋
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Finally the tree🎄 AND the dang ham. I’m starting to feel like I’m in a Dickens story🙄😂
I told Older that I wanna try 5 Guys… she’s a true In-N-Out fan though🤷🏼♀️ They ARE good.💕🤗
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I love In-N-Out but hate that wait…
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Yeah, 30 minutes sucks, but they’re good. And actually, it’s a break for me😉🤣🤣🤣
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So hope that longer release pill helps. Fingers crossed. Whisper it, I like that song. xxx
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I wont tell😘💌💌💌
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First, you are spot on with the Judy Garland lyrics having resonance today.
Second, good on ya for the work-around with YouTube. (“Parrots!”)
Third, the Tree has been secured! Relax and breathe, even if little hands want to mess with it more than they should…
Fourth, I think the burgers at Five Guys are decent enough, but I’m not a fan of their fries. They do the “big wedges of potato that are really greasy” thing, which might appeal to you, but they don’t speak to my heart. I like crispy and salty…
Fifth, relax and breathe, part deux, on Younger’s testing. It is what it is, and you deal…
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Yep on Younger’s test. My gut says negative. Plus, she’s healthy, and the strain in San Diego County seems to be less severe than other places. Our death rate is pretty low. People are still having to be hospitalized but the majority are from the high risk groups.
Yes… breathing! Tree & ham in the house. A bunch of who-remembers-what crap in the closet waiting for the “wrap party”🤪🙄 and ALL will be Merry & Bright, dammit(Janet)!!😂😂
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You got the tree! Cross it off the list. I hate it when I have things that we need to do and they just drag. I always feel a sense of accomplishment being able to cross something off “the list.” We got a ton of snow yesterday, which is nice since we didn’t get any last year (which was odd). My list today includes “shovel the driveway and cars so we can join the world again.” I hope you guys have a great day today!
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Yuck, shoveling snow. I like to visit snow. I’ve never lived with it… I can’t even imagine. I’m complaining about “freezing” when its 39-40°🙄 I bet Molly likes the snow. Zeus probably would too. Big Dummies😂😂
Today was Ds last day until break is over, right?
We laugh at 2 weeks now… we did MONTHS!💪
Hope your day is great!💕💃🏼🌠
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Our winter break starts late here – they go to school up until the 23rd which is Bobby’s birthday. He’s never been in school on his birthday before! If he goes, it will be a new experience for him. But yeah, the 23rd this year! Hopefully D will be back IN the school next week when the snow is over!
And yes, Molly loves the snow. Big dope. Penny, not so much. It was deeper than her legs were long today and since she has a thing against water….it took a while to get her morning constitutional done 🙂
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Younger’s birthday is tomorrow, 18th. She was born during winter break of Older’s kindergarten year. Every once in a while her birthday would be right before break, but not generally.
Our home district does 3 weeks at winter and 2 for spring. Another reason I’m thrilled with Ben’s school. He goes back on Jan 4.
I would imagine deep snow for short dogs would be uncomfortable. Especially when they’re “squatting”🥶🥶🤣
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I just laughed out loud 🙂 Yeah, I had to dig her a nice sized area on my deck so she could do her business without discomfort 🙂 The things we do for our fur family!
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Wow, love the parrots and their noise. Yay, you got your tree! We haven’t put ours up yet, waiting for daughter to come home on Saturday.
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We haven’t decorated the tree yet. The girls usually do it, but we’re waiting for Younger’s COVID test results before she comes over. Hopefully she’ll get her “negative” today since it’s her birthday. It would be a nice present for her.💕
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Yaaayy. You got the tree 🌲! Super.
We aren’t putting ip our fake tree this year. My mother in law’s grandfather clock has taken it’s place. The clock needs to be repaired and I’d love to surprise my husband and get it done before Christmas. We’ll see about that…
Fun to hear those birds. So noisy. Lol.
I get ya about WordPress being glitchy.
So cute Ben wants to decorate the tree.
I will need to read previous blogs to learn about your daughter and the cootie test. Hope they are ok.
Lot’s going on around here. My boys came by yesterday and helped my hubby with projects in the garage and garden. It’s their xmas present 🎁 to him. We did a to go pick up lunch at a restaurant that i worked as a pastry chef at 5 yrs ago. A little drama about ordering but it happened. We r on lockdown here, so we ate at benches in this deserted shopping center . The benches weren’t even close together! It’s just a crazy time. Nice not to have to cook for a change. Tasted sooo goood.
Gotta get going. Niece and nephew stopping by with 3 small kids in an hour and it’s freezing outside. They are super safe. Niece is from Hong Kong and was wearing a mask in February.
Take care Angie
Teri
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Younger Daughter is negative for the Kootie, Older Daughter now works exclusively with Kootie patients and will be getting her 1st shot of the vaccine on the 27th… by invitation. There aren’t enough for everyone. At least she has proper PPE and the hospital is VERY serious about safety protocol. So we’re good. We’re on lockdown too. Cases are spiking badly. People were reckless during Halloween and Thanksgiving, and some people just refuse to believe it will affect them until they’re admitted to the hospital.
Ugh! I’ll stop.🤐 it just makes me angry.
I’m glad you’re keeping busy and having some good times. We need to have as much SAFE fun as we can.💕
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Glad your daughter was negative for covid. Also awesome your older one is getting the vaccination.
I’m waiting to hear when my dad will be eligible for the vaccination.
Merry merry!
Teri
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