Friday, December 19, 2025

You absolutely are a savvy shopper to be prepared to feed all those people for $300! Do keep warm though! I used to work with people in offices in the mid-west and would hear how cold their winter was. Made me feel guilty complaining when the temperatures are in the 20s in Massachusetts.

Greetings all

Light rain today. What was reported to be an atmospheric river has instead been an atmospheric tinkle. They keep saying it is coming big soon but we shall see. This place is odd because it can be only misty here and 5 miles away pouring. There is some localized flooding in the usual low spots around cow pastures but nothing terrible.

So it looks like I do have a cold but so far it is not horrible. I am lazing about with an unusual second cup of coffee. DH is at the romeo lunch and is then taking one guy to the airport to go to Reno. Why anyone wants to go to Reno at this time of year is beyond me but this guy really likes casinos.

We stayed home all day yesterday and watch the movie "Cocaine Bear". It was even stupider than I remembered. We may do another one today. I would like a classic silly movie like Caddy Shack. We shall see.

Lordy LIz you have gotten so much done! Enjoy the indoor dog park that you will be having.

CC your cookies are truly inspired. They look like a magazine cover. We are all proud of you for making them taste good. Pretty food is often icky; (fondant). And a sparkly diet coke can!! Where can one find such things?

I do have gallery duty tomorrow afternoon so I guess I will wear a mask. If it is raining it will not be too busy so I will take the iPad for sure.

DD stay warm. Score on The Wiz tickets, love that show. $300 in groceries!! Remember 20 years ago when a whole cart would have not been half that?

Big walk Paula - the Justice walk indeed. Do you take a dog? Yeah seems like an already built house is the best deal. New construction always has super dinky lots.

Peps way to go on the low weight. very soon....

Not much else. More chili tonight. I need to make a holiday schedule. Though I don't do all that much, I need to plan the timing so that the chicken liver pate is made the day before as well as the apple sauce.

Cheers.

Diane S

No dogs on the long walk. In fact I had to carry Emma dog on the short walk today!

I hope that cold stays at a low level. I actually think it is good that people now wear masks when they have something like a cold. I feel like we used to go to work and shed all kinds of germs (which is why I was always paranoid about touching doorknobs and stair railings at work). But it was unacceptable in those days to work from home and we were expected to be in the office unless we were incapacitated.

Update on the man who fell while climbing: "Great news in regard to the GoFundMe campaign for our friend and longtime contributor (to Arizona Highways magazine) John Burcham. As of this morning, we've crossed the 60 percent mark in the current goal to raise $100,000. That money will help with the mounting medical expenses that John and his wife, Bernadette, are facing in the wake of his John's tragic climbing accident in Sedona.

John was about 40 feet up a new route he was pioneering when the sub-pillar within the rock collapsed violently, sending John careening down in an uncontrollable fall and causing all of his protection to rip out. After crashing to the ground, a coffee-table-sized boulder landed directly on the upper part of his body, breaking nearly every bone in his face. Because he's a veteran climber and the consummate professional, John was wearing a helmet, which split down the middle (swipe to see it). Nevertheless, it did the job. And saved John's life."

Oh my goodness! How awful! So glad that helmet saved him!

Wow! Life turns on a dime.

What a horrifying accident. I hope he is able to have a decent recovery. We have a friend whose son had a terrible motorcycle accident several years ago and broke an uncountable number of bones in addition to losing an arm. They didn't know if he would live or not for several weeks. But he did survive, is doing great with an advanced prosthetic arm and can mostly walk on his own (though he will use a wheelchair for long distances). Since then he has collaborated with the designer on his arm, became a motivational speaker working with others who have had similar traumatic injuries, and met and partnered with a wonderful woman.