Hallo blog! I am blogging from the new laptop that my sweet lil husband bought me for Christmas. I didn’t ask for one, particularly–I just wanted a way that I could use the computer at home without horrible back pain, and voila! This laptop is the solution. I am BLOGGING from BED (the dream!).

I sold a painting! “Little Edie Flag Dance”, a fun painting that just happened to be the first painting I completed after having Covid last year. I sold it to a gay man, who was giving it to his partner for Christmas, how PERFECT!

My father drove into town with his rambunctious 6 year old Lab, Lucy, to spend the week with us for Thanksgiving. My mother decided she needed to be as far away from Dad as possible, so she spent Thanksgiving with Aunt Lisa. Everything is weird now after the divorce, but I try to think as optimistically as possible when I’m around my parents. Life is short.

The first walk I went on by myself after Bear Cub died ended with me bursting into tears after petting my neighbor’s Black Lab, but to my relief each walk got a little easier.

Lucy is a typical Lab–very loving, very energetic, and 100% obsessed with fetching a tennis ball. I mean, OBSESSED! We only ran into a little problem when the baby reached for a tennis ball she was fetching and she nipped him on one of his baby fingers. I was pissed; my dad was nonchalant. Grrrrr.

This was my outfit for Thanksgiving at GG’s house–black and white sequin top, black skirt and tights, and pearl necklace made by Aunt Lisa.

It was a low-key affair at GG’s–everyone brought a side dish, but GG still spent the entire evening fussing around the kitchen, despite everyone’s pleas for her to sit down and (HA!) relax. The boys had fun with the zillions of tiny Legos.

Back to the gym after Thanksgiving, and guess what? Despite the “masks required” sign on the door, only about 4 people (myself included) were wearing masks. Exasperated, I asked a guy I recognized what the deal was. He told me that his wife quit going to the gym because the owner was “a Trump supporter” and had ZERO interest in following any sort of mask mandate. Guess what? NO THANKS. I went back to the gym the following weekend and quit, and I told them exactly why.

Dad and Lucy drove back to Idaho. No matter what happened between my parents, I refused to let it ruin the relationship I have with my father. It’s sad, but it’s life.

Besides, I gotta think about the future. With these dudes.

Goo christened me with a new nickname: “Yum Yum”. I love it.

When I woke up the morning of my birthday, I was pleased to see this giant glittery 39 on the kitchen table! I love my husband. HE GETS ME.

What did I do on my birthday in 2021? Took myself out like I normally do! Went to the mall and stopped by MAC (disappointing and out of all the glittery stuff), Nordstrom’s (for a bra fitting–I’m the same size after two kids and gaining and losing 60 pounds with each pregnancy…really?), sushi lunch (mmm) and about an hour of sunshine in the afternoon, which always lifts my spirits.

Joshy bought me the big ol’ gay rainbow fan of my dreeeeeeams…

Goo gave me the sweetest little rhinestone octopus necklace (AFTER telling me what was in the box)…and then Josh took me out for crab legs! It was a damn good birthday.

We even put up the Christmas decorations early (for us!) this year. I mean, uh…last year. 2021.

I’m not really sure what the deal was with the top of the tree, but we couldn’t get my vintage plastic Hallmark angel tree topper to work, and the glitter star we replaced it with didn’t really work either. Oh well!

Hey, at least one parent is capable of throwing our children in the air without back pain!

This self-portrait of mine was chosen on “Explore” (I don’t know what that means) on Flickr so it has thousands of views and over 100 likes and lots of comments. Random Internet popularity, and it’s not even of my feet this time! Ha!

ALRIGHT BLOG our hot water heater AND dryer have decided to go out during the same week, isn’t that fun? So now Josh and I have to drive over to the appliance recycling center to choose a new dryer. I’ll be back!