Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 24: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 23: Calmly through the day

Apologies that the prior thread filled up before I could create this one. Hopefully everyone will find it. Lurkers are of course welcome to unlurk.

@Silkierabbit ·

Floof is certainly not the only nosey cat! He cannot have been around many. My Dad's (RIP) nickname for our cats (RIP) was 'nose ointment!' They had to supervise all of his jobs indoors and out!

Berlin got slightly warmer, too.
I am back home again.

Got told today I look lighter and happier since changing jobs. Last three days now before breaking up for Christmas on Wednesday.

Had a prang of guilt today DH cuddling a small baby today and made me feel guilty as DS will be our only son. I know I can’t do IVF again. Mentally too much for me

Had a bit of snow today so baked a banana bread. Added dark choco chips + white choco chips; 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Love and support to those here who've shared their struggles. 🌹

Lemons, I'm so glad you are taking the new job and feel less stressed. Sometimes you really have to make a fresh start somewhere else.

Not much news here. DS is still poorly. DH has done the shopping for all of the food we are taking to my brother's house for Christmas. I still need to buy some stocking stuffers for DH, so any suggestions are welcome.

We're off to Massachusettes tomorrow to pick up DD at uni. She wants to bring a rowing machine (called an Erg, short for Ergometer). It will just fit in the back of our bigger car with one of the rear seats folded down. She needs to stay in shape for the start of rowing again in the spring.

There is a small but mighty Lion guarding the Christmas tree.

Lovely pic MissC Floof was just trying to sleep on the top of my headboard but has now relocated to the bed and purring away. He has started to talk to me.

Glad job is better Lemons and I did IVF for DD and DS was a surprise, hope you get that one day too, no idea how that worked as male factor.

Glad you are home from chemo Prok

Had a lovely evening out with DH at a Cambridge University college for a Christmas Dinner with disco. Food was lovely, 3 courses with coffee, mints and mince pies and sparking wine. We both had the Christmas roast for our mains and gig, walnut and blue cheese for starter and I had Christmas pudding with brandy sauce for dessert. It was snowy everywhere. The car got a puncture so we got a taxi back and dh will go back tomorrow morning.

The silkies refused their coats but rabbit loved his advent calander.

That banana bread sounds delicious, Havoc

Silkies your dinner out sounds very enjoyable. Too bad about the puncture, but it's a good thing it was spotted.

Prok wishing you a smooth recovery from the chemo round.

Lemons - onward and upward!

MissC sending wishes for a speedy recovery for DS. Dcat loves her little tree cave here. No guarding, just sleeping.

I spent the evening making a fewbdozen cookies for a cookie exchange and general catchup with friends that I'm going to tomorrow. I decided to make a recipe I've never made before, called Vienna sugar cookies.

The recipe involves a dough made from butter, flour, and yeast dissolved in a little water, and you pinch pieces of the dough and roll them in sugar, flatten them in the sugar, turn them over and flatten again a few times, then bake. I used some golden decorative sugar along with castor sugar. I had red sugar but thought it would look like measles. They turned out very well and I'll be making then again.

They sound delicious maths!
I’m up early for a long trip North to visit my elderly grandparents for the day. We’ll be having a full Christmas lunch together.

Those cookies sound lovely Math

Have a lovely visit Helena

I was woken in the night by Floof snoring, sounded like a small lion snoring but then he stopped. Its quite snowy outside. It was the car that spotted the puncture, we did not notice anything, the roads were icy on way up. The frozen trees were really beautiful and nice to see the villages Christmas lights.

Those cookies sound fab Math. Do you have Christmas cookie cutters?

We got home about half an hour ago. Traffic was a breeze going up, heavier but not a problem coming home. DS suggested having a roast dinner to welcome DD home, and while we were on the road, he got the roasting chicken seasoned and in the oven, so it won't be a late dinner. DH and I didn't really have lunch, as we didn't want to take the time to stop.

One of the dear cats isn't thrilled DD is home, as the cat had claimed her room while she was away. The rowing machine is now set up in there. It was pretty easy to take apart and fit in the car nicely, but it's a pretty big car (a Forester).

It's nice to be home and have that trip done.

Floof is getting to sleep like this.

What a cat! Magnificat :-)

Glad you have your DD home MissC. Mine is driving home Tues but did hand in two final essays today and has nearly finished everything. Did you get hit by the snow where you are?

I have husband and two children arriving home over the next two days then it might start feeling like Christmas. So far I’m feeling a bit meh about it all.

Who rhought organising a dinner out would be so exhausting?

Have had to send out numerous emails. Narrowed down to Wednesday lunch or dinner or Thursday dinner. We were talking about Thursday dinner but typically the last one to reply wants Wenesday evening. I wouldn't care but I sent around 3 emails asking what date and time which she ignored!

Like wrangling cats but not half as .ugh fun!

However one of my friends is now negative for Covid so that is something to celebrate apart from Christmas. She wasn't at our last (non) book club so we will bring her presents to the restaurant.

II will have to ring later, will be rather peed off if we cannot get it after all that!

It is nice to hear of people coming together with family for Christmas. Sadly it no longer happens to me. My two brothers have their own family now and my Aunt, Mum and Dad have passed.

But I prefer that to being the Aunt they feel they have to invite. I can amuse myself anyway! Plus I am working Christmas Eve and the Day itself. The rest of the days I have my Cds, DVDs and colouring books.

@Silkierabbit I hope your son gets better and hopefully will be with you for Christmas.

ZZ, my DD has one paper left to finish and submit by tomorrow, but she can do that from home. She's done with everything else. We did not get the big snow here on Friday, it was all rain. DD got some snow at uni.

Deathray, it is a lot of work to organize a get together! I hope yours comes together and that you have a lovely holiday.

I'm taking a day of leave today and will do some present wrapping. I might run out to the posh Italian supermarket and get DD some of their French bread and a few other treats she likes from there.

Got my pate a crusty bloomer so happy.

Was released from the hospital on Saturday, side effects much less than before.
DH has aquired one of those infects that fly around. So he moved out of the bedroom and I am isolated in there. Luckily it is a multipurpose room with all my books, wifi, laptop and puzzles. And I have my own bathroom.
So it looks as if we are going to have a zoom christmas across the flat and the country.

Fluff is indeed a cat among cats.

Glad you enjoyed your dinner out @Silkierabbit . I am hoping ours will eventually be good. I panicked because I rang them and no answer and the website said closed but I looked properly and they are closed Mondays! So hopefully come Wednesday all be well. I do love a,Thai. My favourite cuisine!

Haven’t officially started the job yet. Just feel excited to be leaving in two days time.

Floof is lovely Silkie

Thanks Lemons Hope job start goes well

Hope you have lovely meal Death Thai is my favourite as well.

Hope you are feeling ok Prok

Hope you had nice day off Miss

Hope you enjoy Christmas more now ZZ

We are staying tonight at Holiday Inn got a free night on points, been swimming and been to see DS and he laughed quite a few times. Looks really fed up in there and looks like they are keeping him for Xmas and his birthday but will know more tomorrow. He apparently started taking lots of wires out of things on Saturday so now in bare room. He laughed at Floof in butchers box.

So sorry he won't be home for Christmas or his birthday, Silkies

Lemons I hope your last days will fly by.

Prok glad you're not suffering the worst side effects.

Safe travels to ZZ and MissC's DCs for Christmas.

We're gearing up for quite a storm here, beginning on Thursday and ending late on Friday. They were predicting 18 inches of snow but that's been revised to 4-8, with dangerous wind chills and 50 mph wind gusts, downed power lines, etc. DD3 flies in on Thursday in the teeth of the storm. She rearranged her flight from a 10pm landing to 5.30ish, but either way I'm not sure her plane will leave DC on Thursday.

Ahead of the storm, the entire population of the metropolitan area went out and raided the supermarkets today. I went out too, with DS, and after a car wash we did the remainder of the Christmas grocery shopping. I like grocery shopping with DS as he's very focused and he also spotted the Savoiardi biscuits on the top rack of the eastern European sausage stand after we had given up on them in the International aisles and were making our way to the parsnips. I don't know why they had been put among the sausages. There was room in the Italian cookie section. We bought a nice rump roast for Christmas, and we'll buy potatoes closer to Christmas, and also wine.

I still have to get a gift for DD2 (cozy slippers) and also one for DD1 so I'm heading out to Target tomorrow and maybe a couple of other places. I also have to get something for DS's GF. She's a teacher so probably not a mug. Maybe a nice pair of gloves but not from Target.

It seems the person function doesn't work any more?

That is asterisk person asterisk - no asterisks are posting...

What a lovely cat. 😻

Finally finished work for the term and meeting an old friend for coffee in 5 minutes. I predict we’ll still be talking hard in 2hrs time.

Well, this is going to mess up Christmas. After dodging the bloody virus for over two years, I tested positive for covid this morning.

I started feeling poorly last night, had a terrible night's sleep, and thought I must have a cold or possibly a mild case of the flu. I had the flu jab in September. I thought, just to be sure, I'd do an LFT. I was shocked when it was positive, so I did another from a different manufacturer. That one was positive too.

So I've emailed work to tell them that I'm out, and I've rung my lovely GP to see if she thinks I should have a course of Paxlovid. DS is better, DD is fine, and DH is a bit poorly too but had two negative covid tests this morning, so he probably has a mild case of the flu. He had his flu jab in September also. I'm not going to be able to go to my brother's house for Christmas, but hopefully, everyone else can.

I'm not feeling great, but it could be worse. Thank god I had the bivalent booster.