Day 158 On Coincidence

When I opened this page this evening to write my post, I noticed that it had   been exactly one month since my last entry.  I've struggled with aspects of this post for a couple of weeks now.  

Almost two weeks ago, I received a phone call and text message from my daughter telling me that one of  my favorite college professors had passed away. I wasn't surprised.

Day 157 New Year New Start

We're not New Year's Eve party-goers.  About the wildest thing we ever did to say good-bye to the old year was go to a Red Wings game at Cobo in Detroit.

Low key.  That's how we end the year. Sometimes we're lucky if we make it to midnight - although the fireworks usually alert us to the change into the new year.

Day 156 Ending the Year

                                                                                                    Wow, we just left the past year in the dust.  Was it a good one?

Did you manage to accomplish any of last year's resolutions?  Can you find at least three bright spots?
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Did I focus on the negative, no doubt about it.  But, the layoff also allowed me to attend my nephew's wedding and visit my oldest son in Baltimore, not restricted by return dates.

Day 155 Something Pithy Later

We've been rocking some high temperatures of late; this is the driest December on record.  The cold finally hit and it hit with the force of a Mike Tyson punch, dropping some forty odd degrees overnight.

That's okay, it is winter after all.  We had our first measurable snowfall a couple of days ago, and a little bit more today.  When the sun is out, though, it's easy to forget that the outdoor temperature is a mere twenty-three degrees, and with wind chill considered into the equation, colder yet.

Dat 154 Back to the Books!

Life is busy.  Shopping for holiday gifts, wrapping, mailing and going out and doing it all over again another day.

I don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but I think there are wonderful "finds" in gift shops.  My favorite gift shops are those associated with an art museum, but interesting shops abound, just about anywhere there is an "attraction."  My lovely sister-in-law got me these lovely Monet inspired water lilies from the Chicago Art Institute.

INow there is a new type of store I can add to my shopping list - antique shops.  C and I had great success yesterday at a shop that held about a hundred vendors. We found awesome stuff for the people we care about and made some interesting discoveries as well.  One vendor had, in perfect condition, newspapers from the early 1950's.  We discovered an attempt on the life of President Truman that neither of us had ever heard about.

A trip like this is great fodder for conversation as well.  It's an amazing time to find out how old your kids really think you are (LOL).

Day 153 Holiday Cheer

Things have been busy around here, as is often the case once Thanksgiving hits and the holidays arrive.

I can tell I am overall feeling better because I am finally getting things done.  I've foregone the usual Christmas letter in lieu of personalized hand-written notes in the cards. I've contacted insurance carriers regarding COBRA and Open Enrollment (which currently ends this week). I've attended three doctor appointments, baked cookies, shredded and tossed a good three waste baskets of unneeded paper items, gotten Christmas linen washed and onto various table tops, painted the deck, and have been consistent with drinking my concoction.

I've lost two for real pounds, and my blood sugar overall is a WHOLE lot better - we're talking 130 for fasting.

Last night, a group of us (nearly twenty) rented a limo bus and toured town looking at Christmas lights. 

One of the ladies used to own this company, and when it was sold she maintained connections with the buyer.  We got a great deal on this ride.  We were in the bus for about three hours, going all over town.

Day 152 Potporri

A little more of this and that.

C is stuffed up, feverish and in general, just miserable. He needs a couple of days of sleep which is not going to happen since they need every breathing body available for the close of open enrollment.

Hopefully the computer systems will be working properly.  It hearkens back to the days of the first open enrollment  where the state exchanges had massive web failures.  You'd think after all this time, properly working web sites and programs wouldn't be an issue.

This sort of thing is not uncommon, unfortunately.  Little tweaks have to be made each year - things like changing the plan year date, or the rates.  But, in two different companies now, I've seen that what should be simple isn't.  Updates break programs.  A little planning and a whole lot of testing should prevent overload failure but it doesn't.