hither, tither, and yon....

 Yesterday, my son Joseph and his wife Bethany came over for a visit with Bella and Bucky, their two pups.  Bella is 2 or 3, a black Lab/mix, and Bucky is half Mastiff, half St. Bernard.  She is huge for five months old!  They ran around with Suri and Sunny in the snow for a while, then came inside for a bit.

So Bucky at the top (she is SO sweet!), then Bella with her Batman ears, Sunny, and Suri...

Bethany, giving them a treat...

After our visit, we picked Miss Charlotte Claire up from school, and went to the thrift store.  She found one t-shirt, I found some grandchildren clothes, and a nice Bruder snow removal truck for them.  We went to Aldi for a few things, and came out with a set of magna-tiles, because I love toys, and shh, the grandkids will like them too.  (I totally opened them and played with them last night...)

Home, ahh home.  Camille made barbecued chicken pizza, her favorite kind, while I heated up stew, which is the third time I've had it...it was still good, but...wow are we spoiled, ha.  Paul had leftover steak in a low carb panini, the kids ate the pizza.  Stew is gone, I am glad I did my fair share of not wasting it, now tonight it's on to a new meal:  stuffed peppers.  Hot sausage and burger and a chopped onion, all browned up, with tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and a can of diced tomatoes, with onion powder, garlic, oregano, Italian seasoning, simmering...rice in another pan, will heat up some cauliflower rice too, then add it to the pepper halves, cover with cheese, and bake...covered, right Billie Jo?  At least until the peppers soften...I wouldn't probably have thought of this, as this is new to me, and I don't usually follow recipes, so I'm glad for the tip!

This fine morning, I was sitting in my comfy chair, drinking my coffee, when my second oldest daughter, Abigail, called.  She has recently started her own accounting business, and she had to drive to the small city to check her mail and do a few things, and would I like to go with her?  I'll be ready in five, I said.  

Just to ride along and catch up...so nice.  We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond:  they're closing!  wah!  I've loved that store through the years, especially when I was a member and got 20% off everything, even clearance...when they started to not include clearance, I stopped renewing my membership.  Anyway, it's closing, and everything is 20% off or more.  The shelves were stripped, not totally bare yet, but oh my goodness...the cashier said they couldn't believe how quickly everything went, it's as if there's a supply chain issue, and people can't really get things anymore, then they go on sale, and wow.

I bought two candles, that's it.  Ab got some really nice slippers and curtains for her office.

We stopped for coffees, mmmm, (which I brought home with me, and Sunny toppled when she jumped up to bark at something...it spilled all over the floor but thankfully not on my computer, which I do keep in the case, just in case)...the first third of it was good though. 

Home...ahh, home.  Samuel had called me while we were out, and asked me if I would watch Grant...for a week to ten days!  Oh, this Covid stuff:  one of the kids in his daycare tested positive, so Grant was in close contact, and has been booted for ten days (which they still have to pay for).   Samuel does not get paid time off, and Grace has no time off left, as she had a baby at the beginning of the year, ect. ect., so they thought if they drove him up to me, and of course I said YES!  Then, they picked him up from school, and he had a fever, so....he's staying with his mama and papa, and they're taking time off unpaid.  It's rough, but I hope Grant is okay.  His parents just had Covid a few weeks back, so maybe he has something different, but who knows.  So I feel bad for Sam and Grace, it's so hard to get ahead these days, but Sam seemed to be taking it all right.  

Sonja was due back in the morning, from Oregon, but her flight was rescheduled, she gets in at midnight, blah.  My favorite, driving in the night in the winter...but I'm glad she's coming home...:)

Friday night, we have plans to watch one of the Psyche movies here, as Paul and Camille are going to the symphony with Emily and Mariel....(wait, why am I not going to the symphony?  hmmm.). 

Here's some good news, interesting news, wait-is-there-a-catch news:

I looked it up, seems to be true.  Next Thursday, mandatory face coverings in public places, and Covid passports both dropped...Boris Johnson believing the Omicron wave has peaked.  The health secretary said, "..."we must learn to live with Covid in the same way we live with the flu."  

I'm wary, what's next?   

I got a few new dresses in the mail today from Target...yes, I love to online shop.  I put things in the cart, see the total, and nope, usually don't order.  But sometimes, there is 30% off!  The dresses fit so nicely, are so lovely, but the plunging neckline, ugh.  I would need to add something, and I'm not that clever....I cannot see wearing a tank top underneath, I'd get so hot, and be pulling and tugging on the tank top, oh dear.   To be fair, on a normal person with a normal chest, it wouldn't look so bad, but when you have cleavage up to your chin, which is NO FAIR, it looks trashy, at least to me.  And Lord help us if I lean over in it.

Ah well, dinner isn't making itself!