What I'm Doing What I'm Reading Where I am

Christmas Is Officially Here: Let The Fun Begin

Christmas is officially here: Let the fun begin. I’ve patiently waited all year and I am ready for the magic! I love Christmas. Almost everything about the Christmas season brings a smile to my face.

I had Thanksgiving dinner with family at my mom’s house yesterday for the first time in 10 years. The turkey had its moment and then Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance. We usually wait a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving for Santa and Mrs. Claus, but due to personal issues it was better to do it today.

So, now that Thanksgiving is over for me, bring on Christmas books, music, and movies. From now until Christmas night I will only read Christmas books, listen to Christmas music, and watch Christmas movies.

Once again, I am starting my “Christmas Read-A-Thon” with Letters From Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien. I begin with this particular book every year because I love how Tolkien made time to give his children a little extra magic to believe in every year. My Christmas Reading List will include a wide variety of genres. Everything from children’s stories to Rom-Coms to ghost stories. And yes, I will be re-reading several Christmas books once again this year. 

Did you ask about Christmas music? I must say that I prefer the music from the 1930’s thru the 1960’s. With that being the case, I am a Gen Xer, so I do appreciate original Christmas music from the 80’s and 90’s. Chances are, anything after that is probably not going to do it for me.

Now let’s talk about Christmas movies. I prefer the original Miracle on 34th Street. Give me George C. Scott in a Christmas Carol, but I do like several other versions of the story as well. Christmas cartoons are always appropriate, and no one should ever leave The Polar Express out of their Christmas movie repertoire.

I honestly don’t have the time or inclination to list every book, song, or movie I will include in my Christmas entertainment lists. But you can be assured I will always prefer the classics over the modern. The point is simply that Christmas has officially begun for me and I will be in that mode until Christmas night. I have waited all year for the magic of the season and I am going to get every bit of magic out of it that I can.

Do you have a Christmas reading list? A playlist just for this time of year? Do you wait until after the turkey has its moment, or do you start right after Halloween? There is no right or wrong answer, just a personal preference.

What I'm Doing

Thankful Thoughts

T

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, This particular holiday encourages us all to stop and take moment to consider what we are thankful for. For me, Thanksgiving is the official beginning of “the holiday season”. Therefore, I do try to take time to give thanks for what and who I have in my life before I get too busy to stop and think about anything.

Family

My family is very important to me and I am very grateful that four of my five siblings are still alive. So I occasionally plan their demise. That’s what siblings do! We aggravate each other and come up with creative endings for whichever sibling is most irritating at the moment.

My daughter has always been a joy to me, and I am very blessed to have a strong relationship with her. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we have a very solid bond now. I appreciate that she has made good choices as an adult, but still needs me from time to time. I have also been blessed with a most    excellent son-in-law, and two of the most beautiful grandchildren ever.

Most of all, when it comes to family, I am extremely grateful that my parents are still with us. I acknowledge that I won’t have too many more years with them, and so what time we do have….I cherish more than I can possibly say.

Last, but certainly not least, I can not begin to tell you how thankful I am for my Hunny Bun. He makes it easy for me to be me. Does he irritate me beyond measure at times? Absolutely! However, he mostly makes me laugh out loud. And laughter is the greatest gift we can give and/or receive.

Friends

Let’s be completely honest with each other. I have TWO people I actually consider friends. As an introvert, friends are not a necessity for me. With that being said, I love these two women as sisters. One friend describes herself as “crunchy”, and she is. Smart, creative, loyal, loving, and  The other friend is loud, audacious, unapologetic, and always up for another adventure. She is my road trip/girls trip buddy and we have a lot of laughs together.

Health and Athena

There is absolutely no way I can leave without giving my most profound thanks for the good health I have. There is no small pharmacy in my medicine cabinet for a myriad of health issues. I count my blessings everyday for that one small fact of my life.

I couldn’t possibly forget Athena in my list of who and what I’m thankful for in 2025. Athena has brought Hunny Bun and I so much joy and laughter in the 4 years she’s been with us. The unconditional love and adoration I see in her eyes is worth every hair I sweep up.

Uncategorized

Social Media: The Death of Originality

A few weeks ago I started this blog for my own personal reasons. Are they good reasons? Maybe and maybe not! But the reasons are mine and the one thing I am refusing to do is follow the latest “social media trend” in order to accumulate followers. I have never been one to follow the latest trend or fad in any way, shape, or form. With that being said, I need to vent about the lack of originality on social media anymore.

As I stated in one of my very first posts here, I have had a love/hate relationship with the internet and technology since the very beginning. Anyone could say or be anything they wanted with complete anonymity. But then Zuckerberg and his ilk gave us social media. Now everyone wants to be “an influencer”. What I don’t understand is, how can you influence anyone if all you’re doing is the same things everyone else is doing?

THIS IS WHAT’S TRENDING ON…

It never fails that when I get ready to share anything on social media, I am first bombarded with one video tutorial after another. How many “make up tutorials”, “fitness tips”, “cooking tips”, “crafting tips”, etc., do we really need out there? Especially when they are all literally the same! What happened to being original and trying something  no one else has? Why must we all want to use the same white make up stick that changes color to match our own skin tone when we start blending? Does every have to lip sync the same damn lines to the same damn song? Come on, people! Do something different!

I AM GOING TO BE ME

As a 55 year old Gen Xer, I won’t be following the latest and greatest on social media. Why? Because chances are, I’ve already seen whatever it is you’re trying to convince me of, and I am probably already following that other person. I am not about to give up my skinny jeans for the latest fashion in jeans. Why? Because I have very thin ankles and have been blown down by the wind catching on wider leg pants (yes…that has actually happened to me multiple times!). I am not going to go for the latest tips for “frizz free” curly hair. I am not spending 2 hours and hundreds of dollars on a dozen different hair products (Thank You, Rodan and Fields for a simple 3 step hair care system that actually works to keep my hair frizz free). Do you see where I am going with this?

If you see me posting something that is “trending”, you can bet there is going to be a damn good reason for it. Good reasons would be: it looks silly and I like doing silly things, or it is raising money for a charity I actually believe in and want to support. What I am more likely to do is post things that actually appeal to myself. I don’t care if anyone else likes it. I don’t care if anyone else is doing it. I am at a stage in my life when I honestly do not care what anyone else thinks of me.

I WILL NOT CHANGE TO FOLLOW A FAD OR TREND

I am more interested in doing things I like to do. Things like continuing to check off items on my “Bucket List”. One thing I will do is continue rereading my favorite books. I will also continue to walk for fitness instead of jogging or whatever the latest fitness fad is. I may, or may not, change my hair because I want to and not to have the “latest style”. I know you all get where I am going with this. I do want to add that I will absolutely NOT be influenced by people on the internet doing what everyone else is doing!

If you read all the way thru this, thank you. If not, thank you. I just needed to vent about the lack of originality in society today thanks to “social media trends”.

 

What I'm Doing

Holidays Are For Family And Mayhem

It’s November 13, and Thanksgiving is a mere two weeks away. That means it’s the season for mischief and mayhem. And this year is going to be filled with plenty of mayhem for me.

Most of my family live in Georgia. But I moved to the Washington, DC area 10 years ago and don’t normally go home for Thanksgiving because I don’t want to have to deal with Atlanta Hartsfield airport madness during the busiest travel week of the year. I also don’t want to deal with holiday traffic getting in and out of DC by car or bus. But, if I want to go home, and I do this year, I can always take the train.

Now the train ride from DC to Atlanta takes 14 hours. That’s a long train ride. However, you don’t have the same hassles that you deal with when flying. For example, I can check two full size suitcases for free and not have to worry about my luggage getting lost. I am also allowed two carry-on items and a personal item. If I need to carry-on more than that, it’s a fee of $20 per extra item, that’s cheaper than checking a suitcase when flying. Also, the train is an overnight train. That means the train is schedule to leave at approximately 6:30 p.m. and arrive in Atlanta at approximately 8:43 a.m. the next day. For the return, departure is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. from Atlanta and arrives in DC the next day at approximately 1:47 p.m. If you’re not in a rush, and I’m not, it’s doable.

I’ve taken this train trip several times over the years. At first, I always booked a ticket for coach. Three or four train rides to Atlanta and back ago, I upgraded to booking a roomette. Why would I pay a lot more for a roomette? Because I’m an introvert wanting to avoid other people. In a roomette I can close and lock my door in order to cocoon myself from the rest of the world. It’s perfect! The two seats in a roomette fold down flat to create a bed, so I also get to sleep laying flat. Those two things alone make traveling home to visit family a much more pleasant experience for me. Another benefit of having a roomette and being able to shut and lock the door….I don’t need my earbuds to listen to music or a book. I am one of those people that can’t read or watch a movie while in motion. I will literally get motion sickness whenever I try.

When I come back from this Thanksgiving trip, I will dive into the mayhem of holiday cooking/baking. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, I can usually be found in my kitchen making peanut brittle, baking cookies, and cooking holiday meals. It’s constant chaos.

But wait….there’s something else in the mix this year. Hunny Bun and I will head back to Manhattan via the train for two nights. We’re going to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at the iconic Radio City Music Hall (we went two years ago and loved it so are going back to see them again). We will see Hamilton on Broadway. And I will check off another “bucket list” item….ice skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park. Two years ago I checked ice skating at Rockefeller Center off my “bucket list”.  And as time permits, we will see and do a couple of others things that are on our “Can Do Only In New York” list.

And thru all of that, I must have my Christmas music, Christmas movies, and Christmas books. Trust me, once Thanksgiving turkey has been consumed, it will be all Christmas all the time until the day after Christmas. Lucky for me that Hunny Bun doesn’t seem to mind. Our one disagreement is over whether the movie ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie. Now before I get inundated with opinions on that subject….I honestly don’t care what anyone else’s opinion is on that.

So what you can expect over the next few weeks are blogs about my traveling experiences, the antics my family gets up to during the holidays, blogs about time spent with my two grandchildren, my adventures in holiday cooking/baking, and what I’m reading/listening to. I have jam packed holiday season ahead. What are your plans this holiday season? Let me know what you’re up to, I might want to add one of your holiday traditions/experiences to mine.

Feeling Better Journey

Getting Older Bites, But We Don’t Have To Let It Keep Biting!

When I was young I could do anything. Well, I thought I could. I didn’t think about nutrition and exercise and never thought I would. But then I got older and realized….bumps and bruises take longer to heal, recovery after a workout takes longer, and nutrition has a huge impact on how you feel.

I went through menopause rather early. By my 50th birthday I was officially post menopausal. Hooray! Let’s be honest with each other, having a monthly cycle is aggravating on many levels. But I’m done with that and rejoice in the fact every dang day! But with this joyous change, I needed to make some changes in my life if I was going to “feel good”.

First, it took a while for me to fully understand why my body stiffened if I sat too long. But, a friend of mine made some major changes in her nutrition. When she told me what she had changed and how she felt better, I decided I would do some research and see if the changes she made were right for me. Let me be clear, this is personal research. Neither one of us is a doctor, nurse, dietician, or any other medical personnel. After doing my research, I changed my diet. Did I do the exact same thing my friend did? Absolutely not! We are two different individuals and therefore needed to adjust our diets to our own personal needs.

Second, I was not sleeping well. It wasn’t night sweats or hot flashes (I didn’t have much of that at any stage during menopause), but I was HOT! This blew my mind since I am always cold. But at night, my body temperature would rise and I couldn’t sleep. So I researched what I could do and came across a solution I thought would work….the ChiliPad by SleepMe (formerly known as Ooler). It was a total game changer! I can literally set a schedule for the temperature that allows me to climb into a warm bed, then gradually cool down after I’ve fallen asleep to keep my body temp at a comfortable temperature, and then wake up to a gentle warming. I sleep soundly all night!

Last, I noticed I was lacking the energy I used to have. Now this was a combination of not enough quality sleep, poor diet, and lack of exercise. I solved the first two issues, but I am not one to go into a gym and lift weights, take a yoga  or aerobics class, and I’m certainly not a jogger/runner. So what were my options? I live in one of the most walkable cities on the planet. I started walking. Then I got a dog and I started training/playing with the dog (training/playing with you dog(s) should most definitely be counted as exercise). And while Athena and I are out and about, we take breaks to stretch, drink more water, or maybe just sit and watch the world go by.

The end result is I feel better because I’m taking more care with my diet, sleep and exercise! My body doesn’t stiffen up quite so much, I’m getting a minimum of 7 hours of quality sleep every night, and I have more energy! WooHoo!!!! I’ve shared all of this with all of you, because I will be writing about all of this more in depth as we go along. Feeling good is a never ending journey and we’re all on that journey. We may take different paths, but we’re all headed in the same direction….feeling good. Getting older may bite, but we don’t have to let it keep biting us! So, what have you done, or are thinking about doing to feel better? Let me know.

What I'm Doing

I Have Been Left Unsupervised

My Hunny Bun works in IT, as I briefly described in a previous post. During the pandemic he was able to continue working from home. But after the pandemic and his offices were open again, he had to start going back into the office three days a week. Not a problem! We adjusted to his working from home full time during the pandemic, so adjusting to his having to go into a office three days a week was no big deal. It actually works out great for us.

On Monday, he came in from working at his office and informed me that he had to go out of town to his company’s second headquarters in Florida. He would be flying out the next night. OK, short notice but not a problem. My mind immediately went into….what do I need to do that would be easier while he is out of town for three days? Cull and organize while listening to an audiobook without needing earbuds!

So here I am, culling and organizing our small apartment. It’s time to donate items we don’t use or won’t use again to an organization that can make good use of them. It’s also time to trash items even charitable organizations wouldn’t take. Why is this time easier when he’s out of town? Because I won’t have to rush. And I won’t have to answer, “What are you doing with that?” I also won’t have to listen to, “But I use that”, or “But I wear that” when I know damn well that he doesn’t use or wear whatever item is in my hands.

I am not the only one who waits for times like these to cull and organize, am I? Come on, admit it! You also wait until the spouse or kids are going to be gone for a significant amount of time so you can cull and organize without rushing and/or listening to complaints and questions about what you’re doing. It’s ok, you can tell me. It’ll be our secret.

What I'm Reading

So Many Books, So Little Time

I spent many years as a single mom. This means I had little time and/or money for myself. As a result, one of my favorite things to do, reading, was way down on my “to do” list. Do I regret being a single mom and not having the time and/or money for just myself? Absolutely NOT! My daughter is my greatest blessing. But she’s grown and has kids of her own so….bring on the books, movies, and things I want to do just for myself.

Reading Is My First True Love

I fell in love with reading at a very young age. It is my first true love. And I am one of those people that can read a book multiple times, so I want to not only read them…I want to own them. I want to own books because I am someone that will reread books multiple times. Every time I open a book I’ve read before, it’s like visiting with old friends. The problem is, I don’t have the space to create a physical library in my home. The solution to that problem….my Kindle!

My Personal Library Is Digital

My Kindle has saved me from the disappointment of not being able to have a personal library. Thanks to it, not only do I have a personal library, it goes with me everywhere and I can revisit old friends in stories I’ve read dozens of times. I also have the ability to listen to a book via my Kindle. This is a huge help when I’m walking the dog, traveling, doing chores, or whatever because I don’t have to pause the story. I can switch between the ebook and the audiobook seamlessly. Hallelujah, and thank sweet baby Jesus in his manger!

I Still Borrow Books

I not only have the ability to purchase books, I have the ability to borrow books from my library via the Libby app and thru my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Borrowing digital books allows me to try out new authors, as well as established authors I didn’t have time to try out before. As a result, I am loading up my digital library every week!

As of this moment, my personal library has a little over 500 books in both ebook and audiobook formats. I own most of what is in my Kindle and Audible library and I’m adding to that as often as I can without bankrupting myself. My friends tell me I have a problem and threaten me with an intervention. I tell them I’m perfectly fine with my reading/listening addiction and don’t feel an intervention is necessary.

Over the course of writing this blog and sharing my daily adventures with you, I will be sharing my reading adventures via book reviews. I will share with you my thoughts on the book itself and the narration of the audio version of the book as well. Some reviews will be of older books because I’m just now getting around to having the time to read them. Some reviews will be of new releases just out. Either way, I hope you’ll hear me out and let me know if you read the book or not. And if you have, I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts. But please….do NOT send me a review. I just want to know if you like it or not, and why.

What I'm Doing

The TV, Hunny Bun, & Me

My husband is an awesome human being. He’s incredibly smart, incredibly generous, and incredibly supportive. He works in Information Technology. He started in the field BEFORE the internet was a thing, and the cloud wasn’t even a gleam in the eye of anyone yet. And although he works in IT and is extremely smart, some tech totally confuses him.

A few years ago he started waxing poetic on how frustrated he was with how high our cable bill was when we only used maybe 10% of what we were paying for. So I suggested we cut the cable and go with streaming. His response? “What about football and baseball? I want to be able to watch sports, and we can’t if we go with a streaming service.” We eventually did cut the cable. Now we have streaming services tailored to the content we’re interested in.

Enter our “smart TV” phase! He wanted the latest tech in TVs. We got the latest tech. Then he got totally frustrated with the set-up process.  I guess he didn’t realize we would need to install the apps for our specific streaming services. This is where I come in. I’m far more tech savvy when it comes to navigating the streaming universe. I took over the set-up and got us logged into our services. He was happy. No more cable and he can still watch sports and movies, or he can binge watch entire series like ‘The Morning Show’ on Apple TV+.

However, every so often I will hear him say, “What the f****?” Whenever I hear that, I stop whatever I’m doing and go find out what the problem is. But what happens if I’m already in bed and sound asleep? Rather than wake me up, he takes a picture with his phone and backs out of whatever he’s in. The next morning/day, he sends me the picture via a text.

Usually, I will have a solution for whatever he shows me. Not last night. Hunny Bun sent me the following picture: 

I have no idea why we would need to update anything on the TV when we are “0” days out of date! It did give us two options to update a TV that is not “out of date”. So, I asked, “Did you restart the TV?” He told me he did what he always does when confused by a message. He backed out of whatever he was in, then clicked on one of our streaming apps and continued to watch TV.

I know we are not the only household where this kind of thing happens. What kinds of weird messages has your latest tech sent you?

Athena's Adventures What I'm Doing

Going For A Walk

I live in one of the most walkable cities in the world, Washington, DC. But going for a walk, especially with Athena, takes some prep work.

First, we have to go out at the right time if we really want to enjoy our walk. This means getting up early and getting out before everyone else. Lucky for Athena, I’m an early riser. Our preferred time to go for a walk is between 4 and 5 a.m. We’re definitely up and out before most of the rest of the city. This allows us to avoid runners/joggers, cyclists, and people riding those irritating scooters.

Second, I have to prep for the season. Right now, we’re heading out of Autumn into Winter. This means I need to have my thermal underwear, thick socks, thick leggings, a thick top or jacket, gloves, a hat, and ear bags. All of that is just to keep me warm. Athena is good with just her fur coat. This means that before I go to bed at night put together what I need the next morning and stack it neatly in the bathroom where I will change. If the weather forecast calls for rain or snow, well we have to add appropriate outer wear for that.

After getting my clothes ready, I need a couple of other things because Athena and I are going to be out for a while. What do we need? A water bottle for me, a water bottle for Athena, and the treat bag full of dried beef liver for her. These things are also prepped and made ready the night before.

Last, we need lighting. Athena wears a lighted harness, we use a lighted extendable leash, and I add “runners lights” to me. Yes, we live in an urban environment that is well lit but there are places where the lighting isn’t so good. We need to make sure runners/joggers, cyclists, and scooter riders can see us if we’re in a place that isn’t so well lit.

After all that, plus something I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention, we’re ready to go for a walk. Now, which route do we take? Do we walk along the Potomac River? Maybe we should walk through all the monuments on the National Mall? We might even walk down toward the Pentagon and back up. No matter which route we take, we’ll walk a minimum of 3 miles. That’s a minimum! We’ve been known to walk 9 or more miles in a day.

Do you take walks? If so, where and how far do you walk? Do you go with a buddy, or do you go alone? Let me know in the comments.

What I'm Doing

My Love/Hate Relationship With The Internet

My feelings on the internet have not evolved over the years. I started out saying, “The internet is the best thing to be invented, and it’s also the worst thing ever invented!” I sincerely doubt that opinion will ever change. I will always have a love/hate relationship with the internet.

With that being said, here I am with another blog about anything and everything that appeals to me. And I love it. I love being able to share all my adventures with all of you. What I hate about it is coming up with graphics, or at the very least, that won’t infringe on any copyrights. But I’m not a “visual” person. I’m a “language” person. Don’t show me a diagram of something to build and expect me to be able to do it. Show me the actual instructions written out.

So how do I overcome the issue of graphics for this site? Artificial Intelligence to the rescue! I came up with some pretty good images, but my friend did even better. Both images in my header are thanks to her. She’s more of a visual person and she had a lot of fun creating a lot of images for me. She saved me a ton of time, and I no longer fear going bald from pulling out my hair.

As helpful as AI can be for people who can’t even draw a stick figure, I get extraordinarily frustrated by it. Social media is inundated with images and videos created using AI. And they look real! You can’t believe anything you see anymore…literally! Yes, AI has a place and can be useful. It can also be dangerous and harmful. One more thing to add to the love/hate list of the internet for me.

Building this site was an exercise in frustration. Creating the social media accounts for it was not quite as frustrating. And using AI to help me get the look I was going for was educational. What about you? Do you have a love/hate relationship with the internet and AI? Are you frustrated by the amount of AI you see on social media? Leave me a comment and let me know if it’s just me, or if others out there feel the same way.