all alone...

 Sonja slept, Paul worked, the house echoed with dogs snoring.  Out the door I went, all by my lonesome.  Someone had to get the ever-exciting yearly Dump Pass, for a mere $130.  But hey, I got a free calendar!

Next stop, thrift store!  A few grandchild clothes, a few toys...a Baby Alive baby-grows-up doll with some accessories, looks brand new, for four dollars.  They sell for like $60-70.  I bought a waffle-bowl maker, an electric pencil sharpener, a driving toy with a steering wheel (the grandkids like them!), a brand new in the box play dough set, and a small pair of Vans.  

Aldi:  coffee cream, bread, salad stuff, mini cucumbers, cherries (they were a huge disappointment.  There were cherries in the other store ads for like six bucks a pound, then Aldi had them for $3.49...I was so excited, but they taste like when you have Covid, and there's texture and they're nice and juicy, but just bland!).  I bought popcorn and some frozen veggies and lemon and lime juice.  Then one more place, a grocery store across the way, that had burger buy one get one free, and just a few other things reasonable.

Dunkin had medium coffees for $2, so why not?  A nice hot drink on the way home, but oh it was bland.  It tasted like coffee flavored hot water with cream, which isn't the worst thing, ha.  

Paul made meatloaf for dinner.  He learned a new trick for breaking and skinning the garlic, and it worked.  I had bought the bagged salad mix ($2.99 at Aldi), he poured it in the bowls, I added some blueberries and craisins to mine, I don't like salad dressing, yes I know I'm weird.  It's nice not to have to make dinner every night.  Sonja woke up, ate, and went to work for her third 12 hr. in a row.  

I stopped writing this post last evening because the girls came home!  They told me the condensed version of their trip, then went to bed.  It's a long haul, a two hr trip to the airport in Oslo, then a layover, then the long Atlantic flight, then the shuttle to the car, and the five hour drive home from the airport.  Jon arrived even later, he was on a different flight.  So I'm looking forward to hearing all the adventures today.   I'm thinking to bake some bread...

My swim class was an hour earlier this morning because the pool is shared with the school, and there are January swim classes for elementary kids.  We wanted to be done before they came in.  What a big deal it is to change up the routine, but I'm all for it, simply because it IS so difficult.  I didn't have time for the morning coffee, just made some and had it on the way.  It was too hot, so I only had a few sips.  But oh dear, when I got back into the cold car after the pool, that coffee was just right.

Well, it's the third day of the new year, and I'm still seeking to practice diligence.  I didn't have chocolate last evening, but oh I wanted some.  I went to the pool, even though I tried to reason out that maybe I'll just go on Friday, because because because.  No, just DO IT.  Why, oh why, are we our own worst enemies?

We finally got the Christmas tree out to the deck.  It looks nice out there, in it's stand.  Sonja took all the ornaments off it, days ago.  We left it with the lights on it, looked so lovely.  The needles were really falling off though, and we didn't want to start a fire, so it was time.  I took the lights off, and Paul brought it out to the deck.  We should have/could have wrapped it in a sheet to save me the needles everywhere mess, but we didn't.  I swept first, then threw the dustpan full over the side of the  deck, there were so many.   I moved my big comfy chair back to it's correct place, and things are back to normal.  We did leave a few little plain trees, and some warm white lights around.  (It always seems like the Grinch came, after Christmas.  Hooks and some wire, and the gifts you don't have a place for yet...)

Ah well...I think I'll go bake something to warm up the house, and make it smell heavenly in here...