NAUGHTY or NICE?

My favorite part of Christmas is giving a Christmas tree ornament.

We started when Kate was born (1986) and have given her one every year.  We started out with pink and white booties made with delicate China.  I can’t believe they are still intact!  It was fun to take an idea of each person’s interests during the year and find an ornament to go with.  One year we had trouble with raccoons messing with out outdoor fountain and I found the cutest raccoon to hang on our tree.  Kate went through phases of Sesame Street, American Girl dolls and different sports/hobbies.  Dogs, bugs, cats, horses and I should have gotten her a SPIDER ornament this year (yes, we have a pet jumping spider).

As I traveled with Mr. Ralph, I always found something I could use as an ornament.  A tiny Eiffel Tower (we had to add a paper clip to hang it, Big Ben in London, the Sydney Opera House, hand blown glass ornament from Murano (Venice, Italy), a tiny boat from Suzhou, China (the Venice of the East).  So so many I don’t want to bore you.  Australia, Vienna, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and so on.  Several cities in each country.  (So lucky I got to travel!)

(the teenager rarely smiles ... when Santa rolled up his sleeves it happened!)

Fast forward to the grandboys.  Every year when we decorate they screech when they see one of “theirs” to hang or ask for the story behind a different ornament.  I love the hand made ones from when Kate was in preschool and the boys when they were Kindergarten and First Grade.  I applaud teachers who do these projects as they are so precious as time goes by.  

I have two ornaments from my childhood and some cute ones my sister made.  So special.  Every one here knows which ones I want to hang. This year we only have sentimental ornaments.  We got new living room furniture so our tree is much smaller than usual.  But I think it is in a better spot so we can see it from kitchen, hallway as well as living room.

The good news is that when my local ornament shop (within an Ace Hardware of all places), closed … Etsy came on the scene.  Now you can find anything!  Do you have any holiday traditions?  We do and maybe I’ll share those next week.

P.S.  When we downsized from house to condo ... Mr. Ralph took the WRONG two boxes of Christmas stuff to Goodwill.  ALL of the travel ones are gone .... Than goodness I still have my memories!

HOLIDAY BUSY-ness

Thanksgiving week was a flurry of activity.  I was secretary for my daughter for a few hours over several days.  She volunteered to write a letter of support for immigration for a coworker at the native plant nursery.  Thank goodness for word processing software!  And an online thesaurus.  After four iterations, she was happy and it conformed to the specific guidelines.

She is also my propagation princess, harvesting seeds from native plants (for free) and following precise steps for each kind of plant.  Self taught!  Some have to be stored in the dark in the refrigerator.  Some have to be soaked first and some can just be planted.  There are a million black containers in all different sizes, from 1” to 10”…on our patio and in the patio storage room.

She has tall racks with shelves and grow lights (I can’t believe the HOA hasn’t complained).  There is a smaller rack with larger plants right next to our front door.  

Now that she is also growing some at Jesse’s Mom’s house, she decided to do a spreadsheet with estimated dates of when they are ready to give away or sell.  In the past, she offered seeds and plants at no cost to other hobbyists.  Now she sells them to the native nursery where she works and this summer went to an event selling native plants!

The family goes over to Jesse’s relatives for Thanksgiving and we celebrate later.  As usual, I buy a slice of turkey, some kale salad and make my three bread stuffing (Ala Pioneer Woman).  Late on Wednesday afternoon my local niece texted me to see what I was doing and when I learned they had nowhere to celebrate (friends all went to their families) I invited her and her wife over.  They are vegetarians so they brought three dishes to share.  I set a fancy table for three, made a small plate of crudités, plucked some greens from the yard to make tiny white vases for each place setting.

We were barely getting started when the family came home (they celebrated around noon and we started at 5pm as Audree worked til 3:30)  We got to have a nice family chat session and great fun watching our Aura Frame and telling stories about the photos.

Friday I changed my tiny living space into Holiday mode (pictures last week’s blog) and that’s where my week went.  Speeding by. 

TIS THE SEASON

 Sorry I ran out of time to write my blog!

My happy place!

He keeps me company

Everything by candlelight!

WALKING PNEUMONIA

Well, it became more than just a nasty cold with lots of coughing.

Tuesday was my scheduled semi-annual visit with my wonderful PCP.  We review my prescriptions (of which there are too many), he asks about past annoyances and current issues (usually none) and through out the 30 minutes, I coughed and coughed.  Apparently bronchitis and pneumonia are running rampant in Portland.

He talked me into a chest x-ray and wouldn't you know it!  Walking pneumonia.  Yes, I have had the pneumonia shot but he explained it's like a flu shot ... only good for a couple of types.  He prescribed a Zpack, five days of antibiotics.  By noon on Friday, I was remarkably better.  Still not much energy so this blog will be brief.

Here at the condo, the news spread and the Chair of the HOA texted she had been to urgent care TWICE and was still down and out, with coughing.  She finally got in to see her PCP, was also prescribed Zpack and it also worked for her.  She is in contact with almost all 112 homes here and told me more than 20 neighbors had bronchitis and/or pneumonia!

I wish you GOOD HEALTH and a Happy Thanksgiving!

OUR POLITICAL NIGHTMARE

Every day, and sometimes several times a day, my heart skips a beat.  Trump and his choices of cabinet and advisors gives me a migraine.  I still cannot believe he will once again be President.

Most of the choices will be working counterintuitively to what America needs, in my humble opinion.  Environmental integrity will probably be threatened by Doug Burgum (Interior Secretary) as he has strong ties to oil and gas.  Pretty sure he will be pushing for more drilling.

The new Department of Government Efficiency headed by Elon Musk (I have no words for my fear of his legacy)(net worth 298 BILLION) and Vivek Ramaswamy (net worth one BILLION) who is a critic of “new secular religions” like Covid-ism, climate-ism and gender ideology.  He seems to have no positive view on environmental, social or corporate governance initiatives.  These billionaires sure know how to budget and reduce costs (have they ever even been IN a grocery store?).

It’s worrisome that Musk is already talking with other world leaders at Trump’s side.  Nothing has been thought out or discussed with others or planned.  Let’s hope the rest of the world can just bide their time for the next four years without some global consequences.

I’m especially dreading the deterioration of immigration to our country.  So many of the current choices have no empathy (or morals).  It really is almost impossible to muddle through the red tape to be here legally.  

My hope is that Trump will push many of these advisors away quickly as he did in his first term.  For instance Labor secretary, Energy secretary, Head of EPA, Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs all left after a short stint.  There was a scandal with Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, during the first term but Trump is bringing him back this term regardless.  Duh.

In 2005, Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote the most interesting book (later made into a movie) called “Team of Rivals” the political genius of Abraham Lincoln and how he chose advisors based on their skills.  He tried (and mostly succeeded) to reconcile political factions and conflicting personalities to put the country on a path to abolition and victory in the American Civil War.  He was an amazing man and a true leader based on this historical account.

She has written several other books that I think I will now read, based on my research into this blog.  https://doriskearnsgoodwin.com/books/ if you want to peruse.  I think I will rewatch the movie today!

I’m not sure how to be heard at the high levels of government, so I’m going to be more active locally.  Oregon is such a liberal state and could be doing a better job.  I’m grateful that my little city (35,000) is just the opposite.  Our Mayor (second term) is also a successful businessman and is active in several local nonprofits (he’s on the Board at Hunger Fighters Oregon, our local food pantry.  And not as just a figurehead).

One day at a time, folks.  Just one day at a time.

OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

THE IRS

I’ve been in a mood since Tuesday night.  But that is best set to blog after I’ve returned to my senses.  It is so bad that I have unfollowed several people on social media.  Not UNfriend which might give them some satisfaction.  Just so I don’t have those posts in my face when I do log in.

The mood declined further today when our mail was delivered.  A notice from the IRS dated October 30 with response required by today.  Um??  They claim I did not file a 1040 in 2017.  Really?  Six years ago and they just discovered this oversight?  With my big bucks and all?

Ah, not to worry Aging Awkwardly JB.  You have an IRS online account so you can pull the file and email it to The Department of the Treasury!  I’m pretty handy with my Apple Macbook.  I also have a password manager which comes in handy for sites I only visit on occasion.  Confidently, I log in to IRS.gov and blithely click “Open and Fill”.  WHOA now.

The page read “The IRS now offers sign-in options with Login.gov and ID.me. Both offer access to IRS online services with a secure account that protects your privacy.

Login.gov is an account created, maintained, and secured by the U.S. government. ID.me is an account created, maintained, and secured by a technology provider. Currently, Login.gov can only be used to access IRS Form 990-N (e-Postcard), the Qualified Intermediary Application and Account Management System (QAAMS), the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Financial Institution Registration System (FATCA Registration).

If you don’t have a Login.gov or ID.me account, you must create a new account.”

Lucky me, I have my account and log in information.  Except when I filled it in, it asked to verify me via text or phone call.  Being a Saturday, I opt for text.  It was sent promptly but when I went to the site sent as part of the text, it directed me to ID.me.  TO CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT. Well, times change and maybe the new site will be new and improved from the IRS site.

What an adventure it was to sign up for ID.me so I can access my account proving I mailed in my tax returns.  I have to take a photo (front and back) of my drivers license.  Then take a selfie using their app. Type in my Social Security number (gosh I hate doing that).  Have Password Manager dream up a strong password (similar to DRB6dgn!vka1qzp@zdh).  Even then it took several tries to get to my IRS account.  ID.me wanted to email me first to be sure I was who I had already verified.

When I finally arrived, this was waiting:

Immediately following this was the message that they are working on the system and check back Sunday morning at 6am.

I think I will wait until Tuesday and then just CALL the IRS.  Apparently they don't accept emails but at least I can tell them I can mail them all 30 pages ....

P.S.  Sorry for the white background in some sections ... I can't remember how to change that in my word processing software ....

LADY WINDERMERE SYNDROME

Boo hoo!  I caught a cold that has knocked me for a loop!  Brought home by the fifth grader who spends 6 hours a day, 5 days a week in a petri dish called school.  My daughter was next in line and lastly, little old me.  

I can't get warm

My sister caught a wicked cold after traveling from Oregon back to Kentucky.  After two weeks of no energy and horrible coughing she finally went to her doctor.  An x-ray showed PNEUMONIA!  She was prescribed two antibiotics and a cough expectorant.  After a few days she felt better but not back to her regular busy self.  And it never improved from there.  She went back for a lung CT and finally an appointment with a pulmonologist.

He advised that she most likely has “long pneumonia” (lasting six months or so).  She turns 65 next June and long pneumonia factors in during our dotage years.  Most likely it is “community acquired” pneumonia meaning acquired outside hospitals and medical facilities.  May be caused by bacteria, fungi, virus …. including Covid.  She did a few Covid tests and thankfully that was not it.  The cough has lessened but is still there (now we email or text rather than talk).  Fatigue is still a big issue (she’s usually getting in 20,000 steps a day) and she goes back for another lung CT in three months.  This all started two months ago.

The specialist also brought up Lady Windermere Syndrome which is pretty serious but when we did our research we had to laugh.  It's named after a fastidious character in an Oscar Wilde play. It’s more common in thin (low BMI), tall post menopausal women who have never smoked.  She is tall, thin and almost 65.  I now call her Lady Janet.

P.S. I highly recommend Mucinex-D.