I've never been one to leave the television on all day for "background noise". That would drive me batty for sure! But throughout the years, I've generally had a handful of favorite shows I enjoyed watching. The last commercial television shows I've actually looked forward to were West Wing and The Good Wife, and they go back a few years. Right now I believe "Call the Midwife" on PBS is the only show I look forward to. I watch Forensic Files often, but it's mostly just something to kill time. The other evening Cliff asked if there was anything, perhaps something on Netflix or perhaps a movie on DVD, that I'd like to watch. I thought awhile and finally said, "Honestly, I couldn't care less about anything on television these days."
Never have there been so many choices when it comes to watching television: If you can afford it, you can bring any sort of entertainment into your living room. Most people have cable or satellite television, plus several streaming apps like Netflix and Prime. We do, and I'm not sure we aren't wasting our money on those. We paid an extra ten bucks a month to watch Country Road TV until we'd seen all the Country's Family Reunions several times, and when I realized we weren't watching it much, I discontinued it. With all the choices available, I still find very shows that interest me unless you count old reruns from past years, shows like "All in the Family", "Taxi, "Andy Griffith" (only the black-and-white episodes), and "Frasier".
Probably at the root of the problem is this: I have unlimited books in my life now, thanks to the iPad and our public libraries. With books, I can pick the genres I enjoy, read the reviews online, and generally find a book I can read and love. I also pay attention to what my online friends are reading; if there's a good book someone says couldn't put down, I immediately see if it's available at the library and check it out or put it on hold. Here are some of the books I'll be reading in the next several weeks (if you aren't using the Libby app, you should):
I'm glad my next book will be John Sandford's, and it features my favorite character... Virgil Flowers! Right now I'm reading "Olive, Again", which I saw mentioned online. I almost passed on it because it was an Oprah's Book Club selection; sometimes there's an agenda behind their choices, but I'm enjoying this book. The waiting list is longer than just the books you can see pictured here. There's a John Grisham book, The Guardians; This Tender Land; Garner Files; and The Whisper Man. Those all have a six-week wait time.
Yesterday I was undecided about what we'd have for dinner. I have a little chili in the freezer, enough for us to put over a couple of hot dogs. Being in the middle of an interesting book, I thought chili dogs would be simple and quick for lunch, but I could tell Cliff was less than enthusiastic... not that he said anything, but after over fifty years of marriage, you learn to communicate pretty well without saying a word. Anyhow, I decided, since Cliff has been pretty patient with my wanting to eat out lately, to make hamburger stew instead. That made a hit, and there's plenty left for today's noon meal, too. (More reading time for me.)
Yesterday was a lovely day that started out cloudy, but cleared off nicely by noon. Cliff spent a lot of time piddling around outside. I got my walk in, but I did it in two parts, since my timing on the soup was a little off. I like to walk mid-morning; I'm more energetic in the early part of the day. But I didn't have time to do the whole walk before noon. Yes, we eat promptly at noon around here. I'm telling you, with my belly full of delicious soup, part two of the walk was slow and draggy!
I believe that's it for today. Have yourselves a great day, won't you? I intend to.
I suppose that isn't saying much, since winter just started a couple of weeks ago. But in my mind, winter starts November first and ends the first of March. So we're well on our way through it, right? We had one significant snow storm in December, but it only affected us for a couple of days. I've seen winters that have been so much worse!
I'll just talk to myself here, since I really don't have anything major to tell.
The other night Cliff and I were looking in vain for some movie that might interest us. We were browsing through what Netflix had to offer and I noticed "Rain Man" was available. We discussed it; we'd both liked it. It had been years since we'd seen it, and decided it would be fun to watch it again. As it turned out, we had forgotten most of the story. Oh, we knew the guy kidnapped his brother, hoping to get his share of his dad's inheritance, and that everything worked out in the end. But all the little things that made the movie so great? We had no recollection of those whatsoever.
I'm telling you, it was the best movie we've watched in years.
On another note, Gabe has been bringing me presents. I guess the spirit of the Christmas season must have gotten to him, First, I must explain that he can easily hide something in his mouth and it doesn't even show, thanks to the Schnauzer beard. I let him outside four days ago; when I called from the door, he was in a corner of the yard sniffing around and ignoring me; when I got really loud and threatening, I saw him scoop something off the ground into his mouth. I figured it was a berry from the Bradford pear tree, or maybe an acorn. Yes, he eats that kind of junk. Is it any wonder he takes a puking fit every few days? I assumed whatever he'd gotten into his mouth was on the way to his stomach and let him in when he got to the door. I shut the door, turned toward the center of the room, and didn't see Gabe anywhere. "Gabe?" I called. I walked down the hall toward the guest bedroom, back to the living room, and then through the kitchen. As I walked in our bedroom I saw Gabe sitting proudly in his kennel with a dead sparrow at his feet. Somebody just shoot me! Then this afternoon, I had let him out for awhile; I went to call him in, and as I called, I saw him once more scoop something into his mouth: This time when he got to the door, I forced his mouth open before I let him in. Out fell as large a mole as I've seen lately.
Cora, the kid we babysat for so long, spent Monday and Thursday here this week, and we're always glad to see her. Her grandparents were watching her during her dad's week of the school's winter break; so we got to spend time with her, and the grandparents had a couple of days to themselves.
Now that it's all said and done, I guess it's OK to mention that Cora's parents have divorced; they each have her every other week. It seems to be working out for everyone at this point, and I think Mom, Dad, and Cora have all settled into their "new normal".
Cora told me about some of her Christmas gifts; one grandma got her lots of Barbie Clothes, and two huge Barbie houses. I saw an opportunity to have a discussion with her about the collection of "Little People" stuff I accumulated while I was babysitting her. "Now that you are into Barbies, you're sort of too big for Little People stuff, aren't you?" She agreed. "Really," I told her, "the Little People are more like baby toys, don't you think?" She nodded in agreement.
"Well then, since I don't have a lot of room here, and I really don't need all these toys around, don't you think it might be a good idea to let Monica and Natalie (two of my granddaughters who are expecting) have them for their babies?" Cora agreed with me, and I thought, "Wow! That was easy!"
Unfortunately, it only took her about ten minutes to have a change of heart. She decided she might not be done with Little People after all; in fact, she thought we might just play with them that very day.
I'm pretty sure that the child will be willing to relinquish them before too long. The seed has been planted. Once she has time to think about it, she will come around. I'll keep suggesting that Little People are for babies and toddlers, not for big girls like her who like Barbies.
Moving right along: The book I'm reading now is "Burial Rites". It's set in Iceland on 1829, inspired by a true story (and soon to be a movie). Now, if ever a nation screamed "boring" to me, Iceland would be that country. I started the book wondering just how interesting such a story could possibly be. However, I'm over halfway through it and it's holding my attention just fine. I have done several Google searches on Iceland, simply because I can't imagine why anyone would live there; why would anybody even settle there in the first place? (Hint... they didn't like where they were living before.) The climate is cool and dreary-sounding. It seems incredible to me people can raise crops in such a short summer where it doesn't normally get all that warm.
And there you have it... just small glimpses of my life, nothing earthshaking today. Nothing hilarious, nothing sad... just me. My work here is done.
