5:30 p.m.: I've been sitting at my desk since about 3:00, wrapping presents for our family holiday party tomorrow, and making good headway. The only people I have left are my sister, Debbie; my son, Alan; my brother-in-law, Steve; and my grand-nephew, Eddie. Oh yes, and my niece, Karen, but I can't tackle Karen's gift until Samantha, my ( Read more... )

Yesterday was unproductive. I knew it was going to be, early on: I was draggin' my wagon, despite coffee and a bowl of steel-cut oats. You get to be 81, and these days come along with some regularity. When I know one is upon me, I run errands. That way, even if I don't do any laundry, I never make my bed, and dinner is a sandwich from the ( Read more... )

1.) Winter cometh: See the icon? We tried, here in Philadelphia, to have snow and failed. We did get the polar vortex: two days where the temperature didn't go over freezing and was frequently ten degrees below it, but we didn't manage snow. What we managed, today when the temperature was already up and hovering around the freezing mark, was nasty ( Read more... )