Volume 16 - Day 31/335, 2024 - Wednesday

It's here, and it got here a lot quicker than I expected it. The last day of January, 2024. Hmmm. It was another beautiful day, I think it was about 77 degrees, lovely. We had a nice walk this morning, and I had a leisurely time getting ready to drive in to Austin. There was a BIG wreck on IH-35, and it took a while to get past it, but when I did, it was smooth sailing. While in the office, we all did end of the month stuff, and I left for home about 2 o'clock. I had no chores on the way home, and when I got to the Curious House, I trimmed back four of five plants in the front beds that suffered from the freezing weather of a couple weeks ago. I hope I knew what I was doing, I am pretty sure it looked like I knew what I was doing. Tomorrow is trash and recycle collection day, so I wanted that done so I could be rid of it. Maybe next week I will trim back the frost killed morning glories that had grown up the arbor in the back yard. I bought more seeds the other day, so I will plant those in a month or so. I will get my walk in tomorrow, take the cans to the street, and then head in to Austin. I have a 9:30 appointment to give blood, then a 1:30 and a 2:30 appointment. I made appointments today for the girls to get their vaccinations later in March, so they will be ready for international travel. I need to find out if American Airlines requires the girls to also have Health Certificates...those are only good for ten days. This little Amaryllis bud accidentally fell off the stalk several days ago, and I put it in a shot glass of water, sat it on the window sill, and it opened up nicely. It was quite a tight little bud, so I am glad it opened up and got to complete its' cycle.

Volume 16 - Day 30/336, 2024 - Tusday

Another picture perfect day in central Texas, but we are not that easily duped. It was 76 degrees today, and hardly a cloud in the sky. But, it is going to start raining overnight Friday and next week the high temperatures will be in the mid-60s. Still, not bad for February. The walk was good this morning, and then the ROMEOs met up for breakfast. More good. Then off to the office, where there was even more good. More gooder? Not sure. It is hard for me to comprehend that the first month of the year will soon be over. I have not had a real nap since Sunday, and I kind of miss my nap time. Maybe tomorrow. I stopped at HEB on the way to breakfast this morning, and took a King Cake in to the office. I love me some King Cake. The girls got themselves some travel accessories yesterday, their new carriers for traveling by air. We are planning a trip to the condo in May, and I am making sure everything is ready. I may actually try to get to Playa before May, but without the girls. There are lots of rules to follow when flying 'Internationally' with dogs. Whatever. I know one thing for sure, it will be an adventure! One person, one dog!

Volume 16 - Day 29/337, 2024 - Monday

Another beautiful day in central Texas, temperatures in the middle 70s, and a beautiful blue sky. We had a good walk this morning, and tomorrow will be a walk and then breakfast with the ROMEOs I headed in to the office kind of early this morning, because I had an appointment at 1PM to have a dash cam installed in the little white car. After that, I stopped and had the car washed, so I am ready for the rest of the week. The rest of this week looks pretty calm, I have a couple meetings, and I will donate some blood on Thursday. I finished my latest book, Mad Honey this afternoon, and I have to tell you, there were more twists and turns than I was expecting. A great read, so if you are looking for a good book, I recommend this one. I will wait a couple days before I pick another book, but it looks like I will be reading (listening) to at least a couple books a month. I need your opinions, and hopefully they will agree with my opinion. I found this packet of tuna in the street in front of my house this morning, after I finished my walk. I cannot be sure, but I don't think it was there when I left for the walk. I think someone was having a food delivery, and this packet of tuna just fell out of the package and landed in the street. There is a 'best by date' of January 7, 2026. I think it is okay to eat it (there is nothing in my pantry that can beet that 'best by' date), but most opinions say it could be poisoned or otherwise tampered with. What say ye? Just as a point of reference, I am drinking milk with a 'best by' date of early January. Yes, 2024!

Volume 16 - Day 28/338, 2024 - Sunday

I feel tremendously accomplished on this lovely, fake, spring day in central Texas. We had a nice walk this morning, and the phot accompanying this journal entry is the mist rising from the south fork on the San Gabriel River. We have misty mornings frequently, but I think this is a pretty nice representation that  cannot really be captured by photo. You have to see it to really appreciate it. After walking, the girls and I had some breakfast, then I got in the big chair with them, and we watched the news and part of Sunday Morning. I took off and got the red car washed, made a stop at Home Depot, opened the windows to get some fresh air in the house, and, finally, vacuumed. I generally like vacuuming, but I have been putting it off, but now it has been done. This afternoon, Val and Paulina came over, and we drove out to show them the farm, we went in to Bartlett, went to Granger, considered eating at the Cotton Club (but didn't), and went in to Taylor and had a late lunch at Lucky Ducks. Catfish. Can't beat the catfish or the fries, but they ran out of ketchup. Oh well. They brought me back home the long way, and now I am getting ready to call it a night.

Volume 16 - Day 27/339, 2024 - Saturday

It was touch-and-go for a while, but it ended up being a really pretty afternoon. It started with a nice walk, and then we hit three estate sales. After that, I went down for a quick nap, and after the nap, it was time to take the girls to the beautiful parlor. I had an errand to get accomplished, and then I made a quick stop at Costco. I am unhappy with Costco at this moment, because the coffee pods I have been buying for at least the last 15 years (maybe) are no longer carried in the store. I ordered on-line, but it is still disturbing that you cannot even depend on coffee anymore. The girls are back home and we have all been fed. I have accomplished everything on my chore list for the weekend, except the vacuuming part, but there will be plenty of time for that tomorrow. I think it was Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday, that Jimmie and Linda invited me down to share the King Cake that they received from friends in New Orleans. Yummy, and of course Linda rigged the whole thing so I got the baby, which means, I have to buy the next cake. They are looking pretty good at HEB!

Volume 16 - Day 26/340, 2024 - Friday

This week could easily have been nicknamed wreck city, because every day, there were multiple wrecks seen while commuting here and there. The last three or four days have been rainy and/or foggy. Interesting and really fun to experience while we are walking but not too much fun for many folks driving back and forth in it. This morning, I thought the exit I needed to take was blocked because of a wreck, but the exit was open and I avoided a lengthy detour. Speed, damp roads and fog are not something drivers are used to here, but they could just leave five minutes early and make it to their destination on time. Whatever. There were five of us for the walk this morning, and I had a couple errands to run after that, on the way in to the office. The office was quiet, and that was nice. One of our former agents, Clayton, stopped in to visit with us, and that was fun. He relocated to San Antonio, and he is doing very well, and gets to see his son almost every day. Congrats to him! Even though there is nothing on tv, and it is cold and damp, I am going to get this entry done, and then go pile up with the girls. Don't tell them, but they are going to the beautiful parlor tomorrow, after we do the Saturday estate sale tour. It'll be fun, and hopefuly, the sun will make an appearance!

Volume 16 - Day 25/341, 2024 - Thursday

It was not raining this morning, and there is no rain in the forecast, except a 30% chance for tomorrow. We actually walked, and that was great! After the walk, I got ready to go in to Austin in a casual manner, no need for hurrying, I had nothing on my schedule until 12:30. On the way to the 12:30, I took some signs and a lockbox off a property, and took the key to the title company for one of our colleagues. Then off to ABoR. We were meeting with one of our State Reps, James Talarico. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018, representing District 52, which includes me at the Curious House. I have met him a few times before, and I have always found him to be personable and open. And he likes to laugh, which is something I am really fond of as well. He is going viral in Brazil, but it is up to you all to figure that out! After that meeting, it was back to the office, and then back home. I was going to make two stops on the way home, but I didn't do the HEB run...there is plenty of time for that, and there is no way I am going to starve. Tonight was book club night, and that is always fun. Now, it is past my bedtime, and this is it for me! There is not a lot on my plate tomorrow, and that is not a bad thing! It's a full moon tonight, so go outside and look at the moon!

Volume 16 - Day 24/342, 2024 - Wednesday

You can believe whatever you want, but let me be clear; I am NOT complaining about the rain. I might be (I can neither confirm nor deny) complaining about the time rain arrives, but I am not complaining about the rain. We did not walk again this morning, it was raining. It was actually okay with me, I would have most likely done only half of the walk, I needed to be in Austin early. I was scheduled for a continuing education class, and a committee meeting, which took me from 9AM until 1PM. Then it was off to the office, speaking with a couple clients on the way, and trying to stay dry. I got what needed to be done in the office done, and headed home. There was some traffic on the way home, it was raining and we in Texas can hardly drive when it is NOT raining. Once I got home, I had some dinner, and I was just getting ready to have some cheese and crackers, when Linda called. They had received a King Cake from New Orleans, and asked me down to have some. Linda also put some in a zip-lock for me to bring home, and, naturally, I got the baby. I think Linda actually rigged that. She also professes NOT to cheat at Words with Friends, but I am not too sure about that. Whatever. Tomorrow and the rest of this week should be calm, nothing too much pressing, and no overscheduling. Not sure that is a word. Book club is tomorrow night, and I am reading a new book that, so far, I think is worth sharing. Mad Honey. If you are so motivated, take a look and let me know what you think.

Volume 16 - Day 23/343, 2024 - Tuesday

We were all cowards this morning, afraid of (the chance of) a little rain. We did not walk, and it did not rain during the time we would have been walking. Not sure if we will walk tomorrow, it is uncertain exactly when it will be raining. There is an 80% chance of rain right now. Starting on Saturday, we are looking forward to at least a week of no rain. Don't get me wrong, we need and are happy for the rain, but I would like it to rain and get it over with, not drag it out over a week. The rain did not stop the ROMEOs from having their weekly breakfast, and that was good. After breakfast, I retreated to the office, got some work done, and left for home at about 2:30. It was reported this afternoon that someone had broken in to our office cluster box, but apparently the postal carrier just forgot to close the doors. No complaints from me, sh*t happens, and even thought there was a rate increase on Monday, I think postage is still a bargain. Once I got home, Linda called and we left for ice cream at 4:30. Life is short, have dessert first. We always have a good time when we go for ice cream, and tonight was no exception. Plus, I have now re-downloaded the Words with Friends app, and that will make my daily time spent online to about 13 hours a day. What can I say? I have an early class tomorrow, and a committee meeting after that. I expect I will get in to the office about 1:30 in the afternoon, and that will give me plenty of time to get some stuff done. The overnight fog is really kind of interesting, and pretty to look at everything shrouded in mist. Go look!

Volume 16 - Day 22/344, 2024 - Monday

Since my last post, about 24 hours ago, the gauge at the Curious House has registered 3.33" of rain. We really need the rain. I did not even know it was raining during the night, it was really quiet and sneaky. There was no walk today, and on my way to the office, there was no shortage of car/truck/stupid wrecks for me to document. I quit counting after a while, but there were at least five. I can't remember if there were any on the way home. I had an early appointment in Austin, and it was a very disappointing appointment, and that is being generous. A total waste of going in to Austin early. When I got to the office, I had some stuff to do, to prepare for our telephone rep to come in a see what the heck is the deal with our system. Preparing meant taking files out of a couple lateral file cabinets so we could access the phone jacks behind them. It was not really as much trouble as I am making it sound, but that is because I had a plan, so there. Everything got put back together and that chore was done and the phones were all working again by 2:30, at which time, I left for home. No rain on the way home, but we are expecting more for the next two days, at least. I hope some of this rainfall makes its way into the lakes, we are still about 50 feet below the normal lake levels, and we are all still in seroius drought conditions.

Volume 16 - Day 21/345, 2024 - Sunday

It is not freezing cold outside anymore, although it is definitely not warm. We are not expecting any more freezing weather for the next ten days or so, at least, but now it is raining. Okay, dribbling. Annoyingly so. I had brunch tacos at Alisha and Reuben's house, after a nice walk this morning with Richard, Paul and Jack. Before leaving for brunch, I did some laundry, and then some more laundry, and then some more laundry after that. Everything is clean now, so that is kind of an accomplishment. I'm not sure where I came up with the initiatives, but I got quite a few menial things done around the house. The Piglet got her face washed, which is something she is NOT AT ALL fond of, and I even gave myself a hair trim, and I have to tell you, it did not turn out too badly. I think it looks much better now than it did when I started. the before and afters are quite impressive. Val and Paulina and Oliver came to retrieve me about four o'clock and we went in to Georgetown for dinner. The Golden Rule, which is a place none of us had tried before, and it was good. I had an Elk Burger, assuming it was Elk meat, but you really could not prove it by me. It was good, though. I bought a bunch of waxed Amaryllis bulbs over the Holidays, and gave them away, and I kept several. I know of two that were gifted that turned out to be white, and I do not think I had ever seen white Amaryllis before, but now I have one blooming as well. I know commonly they are red, and some are kind of candy striped red, but not I have white. I will put them all in the ground in the spring, and look for them to bloom again when they are ready.

Volume 16 - Day20/346, 2024 - Saturday

It was too cold to walk this morning, it was 24 degrees when I crawled out of bed. Tomorrow is going to be cold again, but not AS cold as it was this morning. The low forecast for tomorrow is only 31, so I expect there will be a nice walk in the morning. We made it to five estate sales this morning, three in Sun City and two more in TeraVista. I managed to buy about $30 worth of treasures, and overall it was a lot of fun for me, Diane and Marian. On the way back, we stopped at the Volkswagen dealer, to see if they had any new information about the ID. Buzz, the all electric bus. The answer, in case you are wondering, is NO. There should be more information later this year, and I am used to waiting. I waited on the Chevy Volt and both Teslas, so I can wait for the new bus. After that, I took a nap, and then headed off to Costco and HEB. I could not find an apple pie (for Val and Paulina) at Costco, so I asked about them, and they say they only make apple pies now for Holidays. That's odd. I also could not find the coffee that I usually buy, so sometime before I go again, I will take a picture of the box and take it with me. I got home, fed the girls and myself (pimento cheese flips), and then watched the news. That about takes care of it for this day, but these clouds were interesting this aafternoon. I think there is a front coming or going, not sure which.

Volume 16 - Day 19/347, 2024 - Friday

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. We did walk this morning, but tomorrow is kind of iffy right now. I had a ten o'clock meeting with (they whose names shall not be said), and there were some ups and downs there as well, but everything ended up okay. Then it was in to the office. I did some office stuff, and took a car load of file boxes to storage. I also took a look inside my personal storage space, which I intend to move to a new storage facility in Georgetown, as soon as the place opens up. I think it will take me three or four trips to move everything, and I will most likely need to recruit Jimmie or someone else with a truck when it is time to move the shelf units. Overall, it was nice to visit with the stuff in storage there. I cannot remember the last time I looked inside that unit, but it has been a while. A couple years? Maybe. I got home this afternoon, and had a less than satisfactory meeting with another person, and that is not going to work out at all. Interesting. I have five estate sales to visit tomorrow, and it will be COLD. With a little luck, I hope to find a few things that I am not aware that I need. Yet. On the way to one of my errands today, I passed this wreck. It looked like about four different cars/trucks were involved, but I doubt that anyone was hurt, the vehicles got the worst of it.

Volume 16 - Day 18/348, 2024 - Thursday

Another relatively excellent day in central Texas, all things considered. It was a top down day, 76 degrees officially in Austin, compared to 14 degrees yesterday. The warm will not be long lived, there is a cold front coming in overnight, and another hard freeze expected Saturday morning. That could possibly mess up the estate sales on Saturday, but probably not. The ROMEOs walked this morning, after having missed two or three or four days, and it was nice to see the guys again. After the walk, there was not too much time to waste, I had an in-person meeting at ABoR at 9:30. I got there with 15 minutes to spare, and it was an excellent meeting, because I made a new friend, her name is Julia. Always nice to make a new friend with shared interests! Then it was off to the office, with two stops on the way. As I was driving down Guadalupe, this little black box was zooming itself down the sidewalk first, then down the bike lane. Not a care in the world, obviously delivering something (maybe pizza), and just minding its' own business. It and I played tag for about two miles, before I went left and the little black box turned right. All was good in the office, got some stuff done, and then it was back to the Curious House. Today was trash and recycle collection day, and it still has not been collected, so I took advantage of that, and kept putting more and more stuff in both bins. Life is good, let's see what tomorrow brings!

Volume 16 - Day 17/349, 2024 - Wednesday

For the most part, today was a really good day, but the last hour or so is trying to negate that. Again this morning, there was no walk, no meander. It was 14 degrees when I wakened, so walking was a no go. I did a three hour zoom class, continuing education, and that was good. After the class, I headed in to the office, and all that was good. After I got home, I got some more business taken care of, and all that was good, too. The emergency (?) pager has gone off two or three times in the last hour, and at least two of those times, the digital pager gave us the tenants zip code, and once the tenant just entered the number 1. It is really kind of difficult to return a call with a zip code, but we have been known to narrow it down, depending on how many of our tenants live in a particular zip code. But just a number 1, even we can't figure out who that might be. Maybe they will think we are not paying attention, and try again. Maybe. I am still eating food from my neighbors, tonight was a nice salad and some baked chicken from HEB. The chicken, not the salad. Tomorrow is trash collection day, so I may go through the refrigerator and see what even I think has no life left. Oh, and this evening, I did kill the paper shredder. It has been getting kind of sad, I've had it for a long time, and it is time for it to go. Amazon is amazing, the new paper shredder will be delivered tomorrow. Sweet!

Volume 16 - Day 16/350, 2024 - Tuesday

I'm doing penance, and I'm not even a Catholic. Not only has it been really cold this week, I have three zoom calls scheduled. This morning, it was 14 degrees when I wakened, so there was no walk for me, and I was overscheduled, so no ROMEO breakfast, either. So I went back to bed. I got up to keep the girls breakfast on schedule, and ran a comb through my hair. Today's zoom was scheduled for 9 o'clock, and expected to last an hour. I gained 17 minutes of my life when the call ended early. Tomorrow, the zoom is from 9AM until noon, and fingers crossed... The weather is causing some issues for some people, but nothing really concerning for me. An in-person meeting that I had scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled because of weather related issues. I have another in-person meeting scheduled for Thursday at the same place, so we shall see if that goes off as scheduled. I drove in to the office after the zoom meeting, and there was not a single issue to be dealt with on the roads in to Austin. The only issue was that I left my cell phone at the Curious House, and I had to turn around and retrieve it. I was not far into the drive, so that was not a real issue. Once at the office, I was all alone, and got a little bit of work done, posted some late rents and made a couple bank deposits. There was nothing that needed to be done on the way home, so I got there, made a couple phone calls, and called it a day. It is now 6:30, and I have checked the mail twice, and it had not beed delivered yet. I will go and check again once I post this entry, so I hope it is there. It is a cold (but short) walk to the cluster boxes. Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder than today, so I expect I won't be walking. Maybe Thursday, and another cold front is expected to come in on Friday, and make a mess of the weekend.

Volume 16 - Day 15/351, 2024 - Monday

Knock on wood, we may have experienced the worst, even though it will be colder tomorrow that it has been today. There was no walk today, not even a meander. It was about (as I recall) about 16 degrees this morning, so I decided to go back to bed. Last Friday, we had already decided that the office would not open today, and everyone worked from home. We think that the barrage of warnings we sent out every day last week avoided a lot of problems. Knock on wood. I ate the last of the rice and black eyed peas (thanks Pam) this afternoon, and now I am working on ten day old pizza. Tomorrow I will work on more of the spaghetti and meatballs that Teri brought me yesterday. I also have part of a baked chicken that I got at HEB last week. I have plenty of food, the house is warm, no pipes have broken, all is right with the world. I expect there will be no walking tomorrow morning, and I have a 9 o'clock zoom call. I should be able to head in to the office after the zoom, with probably no challenges. There was just a little bitty dusting of snow at the Curious House, and I did actually see a few actual snowflakes, which is not something you can hear me say every day! Stay warm!

Volume 16 - Day 14/352, 2024 - Sunday

My walk this morning was more of a meandering. When I got out of bed this morning, it was 24 degrees. When I went out to walk, it was 23 degrees. When I finished my meander, about a mile and a half, it was 21 degrees. It stayed 21 degrees for most of the day, it got up to 24, and now it is 19 degrees. Not sure how much colder it will be overnight, but I might meander again in the morning. Maybe not. After my meander, I did a lot of nothing. That was the vow I made yesterday, and I pretty much kept the vow, until Linda called and asked me if I wanted to go for ice cream. So, Jimmie and Linda and I went for ice cream a little after four o'clock. I had intended to have my last meal of rice and black eyed peas that Pam brought me on January 2nd, but soon after I got home from ice cream, I was presented with a spaghetti dinner; cheese, salad, spaghetti, sauce and meat balls, and a big loaf of bread. I am so lucky to be here at the Curious House, looked after by all these wonderful neighbors. Not sure what it was, but I must have done something right, somewhere along the way.

Volume 16 - Day 13/353, 2024 - Saturday

I am pretty sure this sunset is just Mother Nature messing with us, because overnight, we are going to be down to about 25 degrees, and worse on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Next Thursday and Friday, we will be just at freezing or a little bit below. The shelves at HEB are bare, but I am in good shape. I shopped on Thursday and Friday, and bought NOTHING with any nutritional value. I'm getting a head start putting on my winter weight. It was a chilly walk this morning, and I expect it will be much colder tomorrow, but as long as there is not a lot of wind, we will all be okay. We hit four estate sales this morning, and Deb joined us from Vancouver, WA. I spent about (maybe) $20 on stuff that I could not live without. One was a package of Dead Sea Mud, that I intend to use on my face to open up those pores! After the estate sales, I had vowed to do nothing else (and maybe nothing else tomorrow), and I was very successful with that goal. I am threatening to learn how to access Netflix and Prime Video over the next couple days, because there are about six or seven movies I want to see, and they are not playing anywhere around the Curious House. Stay tuned...

Volume 16 - Day 12/354, 2024 - Friday

I don't know how fast the wind was blowing this morning, but it was blowing hard. We were nearly knocked over a couple times, but we persevered. It was in the 50s this morning when I got up, in the 40s when I left for our walk, and in the 30s when I got home from the walk. Odd. I took my time going in to the office this morning, and there was a question in my mind about taking a little white car or a big red car. I decided on the little white car, because I wanted to get gas in it just in case the world, as we know it, comes to an end next week. We (at the office) are all in freeze warning mode, and we are not going in to the office on Monday. We are not expecting icy roads, but it will be really cold, and we can all work from home with no problems. I, on the other hand, am really good at eating from home, and watching movies from home. On my way home, I made a couple stops; HEB to get gas, a cherry pie (whole pie, there were no half pies of anything but pumpkin), and a case of bottled water. Then it was off to Home Depot, where I bought some light bulbs (to add to my collection) and two of those tools you use to turn water off at the street. One for me and one for Carrie. As long as I have the tool, I will never have to use it. That is my theory. If I don't have the tool, I will need to go cut the water off somewhere, and use a pair of pliers (not really that easy with pliers). SO, that is my insurance theory. The little Mini-Me depicted in the photo accompanying this entry, arrived in the mail today. I think it honestly captures the alert attention I pay when having my morning coffee and reading the paper. I am one of the few people that still has a subscription to the newspaper. Not sure who sent it, but I have a list of the usual suspects. Somebody will spill the beans, and that will take care of that mystery!

Volume 16 - Day 11/355, 2024 - Thursday

I did my part today to clear the shelves at HEB in anticipation of the freezing temperatures we are expecting next week. It all starts on Sunday and should be over by Wednesday or Thursday. If you take the low temperatures in the seven day forecast, the average low temperature is 27 degrees. The worst is 16 degrees, and that is not something we are used to here at the Curious House. SO, stay tuned here, and you will quickly become bored with all the talk about cold weather. It was, by comparison, a warm walk this morning. After the walk, I left for the office relatively early because I had a couple appointments, the first on at 10 o'clock. You just never know what the traffic will be like. The refrigerator repair people were supposed to show up today, also, and the appointment window was between 9AM and 6PM. I told them that I would not be home until after 2:30. They are very detail oriented, and they called at 11:47 and said they were on their way. I told them to call me when they got there, and I would open the garage door for them remotely. AND IT WORKED. I think it is pretty cool that I can open the garage doors remotely, and this was the first time I ever had to do it, but it worked, I did not have to see them, they did not have to see me, and everyone was happy. On the way home, my escapade at HEB was fun, there was plenty of stock on the shelves, and I bought lots of things that I expect I can use when the power goes out. I was looking for an apple pie (half a pie), but I may have to stop again tomorrow to see if I can find one. Half a pie or a whole pie, it will all be consumed, so I am not sure who I think I am kidding. Still, since it was 73 degrees today, it is hard to comprehend that it will be 16 degrees in just 4 days.

Volume 16 - Day 10/356, 2024 - Wednesday

I used to be much better at taking photos everyday to be included in this journal, but I am becoming more and more lax in that discipline. I had a perfect opportunity this evening, too, at the neighbors dinner, but nope, I did not even think about it until I got back home. No matter, with my marketing background, I know that photos of cute pets and ugly children always catches peoples attention. And, since I don't have any children, ugly or otherwise, you can relish with this photo of Callie and the Piglet. We had a chilly walk this morning, but it was not a real problem. I made it in to the office, got some work done, and headed home about 1:30 or 2 o'clock. I had a couple things to do around the house, and I headed down to Jimmie and Linda's at 6 to head off to the neighbors dinner at Bella Sera in Liberty Hill. I ordered calamari and Eggplant Parmesan, and it was all good. There were probably 15 neighbors attending, and it is always fun to get together. Shelley is in charge of the February dinner, and I may volunteer the month after that. Everyone is preparing for the three days of cold weather we are expecting next week, the grocery shelves are becoming vacant of food stuffs, and it is the most frequent topic of conversation. It will all be okay, and we will all survive it. We'll complain, but we will survive.

Volume 16 - Day 9/357, 2023 - Tuesday

We are going to have a couple days of seasonal weather, but early next week it is going to get cold...too cold for me anyway. At least one day next week will see temperatures that do not get above freezing. Houses and buildings in central Texas are not really built for this kind of weather, but it is not as bad as it was when I lived in New Orleans. Generally, if we take ordinary care, drip faucets and protect outside pipes, we should be okay. It was a cold walk this morning, and it was not helped by the fact that there were strong winds blowing no matter which way we were walking. After breakfast, it was time for our ROMEO breakfast, and that is always fun. I had an appointment with an appliance repair company, and they got her at about noon. A total waste of time, and there will be another appointment in the next day or so. UGH. After that, I stopped at Home Depot on the way in to the office, and bought thirty hose bib covers, getting ready for the freeze next week at our management properties that are vacant. Tonight will be a good night for tv, a new episode of Finding Your Roots, and then there will be another few episodes of Only Murders in the Building. YAY! 

Volume 16 - Day 8/358, 2024 - Monday

BORING. Boring. B.O.R.I.N.G. That is the theme of this journal entry, BORING. This was not a bad day, but it was not a particularly exciting day, either. It was raining this morning, so there was no walk. YES! Okay, I have a love/hate relationship with morning walks. When I crawl out of bed in the mornings, it is the last thing I am wanting to do, but then I do it, and I have fun with the other walkers, and then I am very happy that I did it. The only reason we do not walk is rain. Hot or cold, we walk. Rain? No walk. So, I lounged around the house until it was time to drive in to the office. All was good in the office, and I headed home about 1:30. I had one errand to do on the way, and once I got home, I went down for a nap. I have an appointment with an appliance person tomorrow (the garage refrigerator is not doing right), and I think the window of their arrival is between 10:30 and 6. It was 9 til 6, but I have breakfast with the ROMEOs tomorrow, and I knew I would not be home til after 10. They have sent me about 35 reminders about the appointment, and I do not feel appreciative of their perceived finger wagging should I not answer the phone when they first call to let me know they are on their way. So far, we have accumulated about 0.09 inches of rain, but the winds are pretty crazy right now, and there is a lot of stuff blowing around the Curious House. BORING!

Volume 16 - Day 7/359, 2024 - Sunday

I'm feeling all accomplished with myself this evening. I got everything on my chore list done (it was a short list), but one thing was a bit complicated. One of my more eccentric clocks was in need of repair, and I have been thinking about a few solutions to its challenge for a couple weeks. My ponderance (is that a word) was rewarded when I took a few pieces of the clock apart, corrected the problem, put it back together, and it is working just like it is supposed to. Very proud and satisfied with my old self. When I was pondering estate sales last week, I concluded also, that I have room for more clocks, so prepare yourselves for your next visit to the Curious House. The cold morning actually started with a nice walk, and there was a pretty sunrise, as evidenced by the photo accompanying this entry. I watched Sunday Morning with the girls all piled up in the chair with me, and then headed out to brunch with Alisha, Reuben and Terry. I really look forward to our brunch meetings, because, besides eating, there is a lot of laughing going on, mostly caused by my lack of demeanor and that fact that I can get dressed but no one should really take me anywhere. It is supposed to start raining overnight, and be really windy and cold for the next couple days. It was a beautiful day today, mid-60s and beautiful clear skies. 

Volume 16 - Day 6/360, 2023 - Saturday

It was colder than I would have liked for walking this morning, but it was a nice walk. The photo accompanying this entry was of the moon and Venue this morning, very nice, it was pretty to see. Marge and I went to the one estate sale that was in Georgetown today, Marge bought nothing, I spent $1.50 plus tax. After we got home, I did a little office work, cleared out some files, did a little work on my 2023 tax stuff, and then went down for a nap. I took off to see a movie early this afternoon, American Fiction. It is one of the movies I have been wanting to see, and I thought it was really good, even though Tracee Ellis Ross died in the first 30 minutes. Leslie Uggams is also in the movie, and I can remember watching Sing Along with Mitch (Miller) when I was a little kid. Leslie Uggams was one of the members of that show, and she is 80 years old now. All the cast members did a great job, and if you have a couple extra hours, I recommend you go see it. On the way home, I stopped at HEB and got a few things, and then stopped at MOD Pizza. I had a coupon, so I have dinner now for a couple days. Tomorrow will be a brunch day, and maybe another movie, it depends on if I can find anything I want to see. Fingers crossed.

Volume 16 - Day 5/361, 2023 - Friday

I have not been doing a very good job of taking daily photos to include with these journal posts. At the last minute, I tried a couple things, but I did not like them, so I thought I would go back in history and see what I was doing beck then, this day in 2011. From what I can tell, I was taking hay to the cattle, looking at a new heifer, and listening to what Violet had to say. I am done with shrimp, and I still have at least a couple days of rice and black eyed peas, at least a week of cheese and crackers left to finish. It started off really foggy this morning, not a chilly as yesterday, but VERY foggy. They were predicting no more rain for the day, and blue skies in the afternoon, so I took the little white car in to the office. They were right, and by the time I left for home, it was 65 degrees, beautiful blue skies, not a cloud to be seen, and the top was down on the car. The book club selection for this month is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and I started listening to it earlier this week. I am getting more interested in it as I listen, but it did not grab my attention right to start with. That is not uncommon for me. There is one estate sale tomorrow, and I have a ticket already for a movie tomorrow afternoon. We shall see what else happens, but it looks like it will be a nice weekend. No more rain expected until overnight Sunday. I think.

Volume 16 - Day 4/362, 2024 - Thursday

The rain is expected to begin again this evening and in to the early morning. I don't think it will be raining at walk time tomorrow, so that will be good. The grey skies, damp and cold weather is not something I welcome, and it is supposed to be sunny and warmer over the weekend. All was good in the office today, and since I got home at about 3 o'clock this afternoon, I have eaten close to my body weight in boiled shrimp. I am NOT going to discard any shrimp. I bought WAY TOO MUCH for New Years Eve, and tomorrow is the trash collection day, and what is not eaten will end up there. I bought it on Sunday, and it has not made me feel bad, yet. I was encouraged to 'smell it' to see if it was good, but it smells like shrimp to start with, so I'm not sure how it would smell if it were bad. In case of emergency, inform the coroner to see if it was the shrimp that killed me. There is one estate sale to look forward to on Saturday, and I have already bought a movie ticket for Saturday afternoon, American Fiction. I am pretty sure we will have a nice brunch on Sunday morning, and that is always fun.

Volume 16 - Day 3/363, 2024 - Wednesday

Much to my dismay, we had a good walk this morning. It had rained overnight, and it felt kind of rainy this morning, but it wasn't raining. I would have been okay with not walking, but I was outnumbered, so I sucked it up and walked. As usual, we solved many of the worlds problems, and that was a good thing. I made it in to the office, got some stuff done, and went to a meeting just before lunch. The new year is getting off to a nice start, and fingers are crossed that it will continue. I got home about 2:30 this afternoon, and did a few things around the house, and Jimmie and Linda and I went to Olive Garden for dinner. It is always fun to hang out with them, and we spend a lot of time laughing and kidding. After dinner, we went to Dos Mangos for ice cream. I asked for a half-scoop of two different flavors, and I think I ended up with three scoops. I'm trying to cut back. Jimmie said it was just because they like me at Dos Mangos. Whatever. So, now I am back home, watching some tv, and trying to keep my feet warm. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow, 80% chance. Overnight last night, I registered 1.02" or rain in the gauge, so that is not a bad start for the new year. Tomorrow, I will scope out estate sales, and get back in to the weekend routine planning. There are still several movies I want to see, so I will see if there any near to schedule.

Volume 16 - Day 2/364, 2024 - Tuesday

Nobody caught my journal error yesterday, or if they did, they were too polite to mention it. I put the year as 2023, instead of updating my little pea-brain to note the new year. The day started out relatively nicely, with some sunshine late morning. Our walk was a little bit chilly, but it was okay. The ROMEOs met for a nice breakfast, and with my need to shed some weight, I did not have a pancake. You need to smart small, so no pancakes for me. I got in to the office, and it was a pretty calm day, relatively routine. I left the office at about 2 o'clock this afternoon, and it was just starting to rain. By the time I got to the Curious House, it had not started to rain, but within about 15 minutes, it was raining. It is cold, raining and grey outside, just perfect for a long hibernation. I failed to eat black eyed peas yesterday, so at breakfast, I asked if they could find me a spoonful, figuring better late than never. Nope, there were no black eyed pease to be found. Pam brought me rice, black eyed peas a cornbread shortly after I got home, and OMG it is delicious. Plus, I have enough to be eating on it for several days into 2024. I am pretty well set for dinner foods for at least the next several days, and if you know anyone that wants some boiled shrimp, let me know. There are also plenty of cookies and various Holliday treats I will happily share. I have LOTS of Tupperware and other vessels that I need to try and return to their rightful owners. Here is something you don't hear me say too often, the television choices for this evening are actually pretty inviting. 

Volume 16 - Day 1/365, 2023 - Monday

Ugh! Volume 16 of something that was intended to be a one-year stupid thing. 365DaysOfBill.com. It's like the Seinfeld blog, because it is about nothing. Whatever. So, today is the first day of the new year, and it feels eerily like yesterday, if you ask me. 2024 is not that much different than 2023 if the truth were known. We had a nice walk this morning, it was a bit warmer, and it will be a bit warmer yet (I think) in the morning. I have not had any black eyed peas, but I will ask them tomorrow at breakfast if they can find a spoon full in the kitchen somewhere. A day late is better than nothing. I was invited over to Candy and Mike's for dinner this afternoon, and it was delicious. Beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, mushrooms and corn. There was quite a discussion about the corn, and most of you are familiar enough with me NOT to ask what the discussion was about the corn. During one of the many trips outside today, the girls were spied upon by their number one nemesis, the squirrel. All was calm, apparently the squirrel saw them first and there was not barking on the part of any of them. I was nekkid most of the day, because I did laundry, and when I do laundry, I do ALL the laundry. At this time, everything is clean and I am no longer nekkid, which is a comfort to the masses. New day, same old stuff!