Silly things and Fire

A general ‘update’ post for the past few weeks. Not much going on here, so I’ll try to do a few Subtitles to break down my thoughts and make it all just a bit more organized, if not interesting.

General
Still waiting on a measurable snow here. Several dustings and some ice, nothing serious. I was sick a week ago, some stomach virus. Ick. Max and Matt are well. I’ve joined Facebook. Ordering seeds for spring, check the garden blog for that stuff.

Visit
Matt’s brother came out from San Diego for a week between Christmas and NY with his wife and their daughter, who is 12. We don’t like or get along with Bro. By ‘we’ I mean the entire eastern seaboard. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but only a little. They couldn’t get gone soon enough for me. I get along OK with the Wife, and the 12 year old is a blast, but the Bro is a….piece of…..work.

Fireplace
I may have mentioned this before, but we (ok, Matt) installed a propane fireplace in the house which has helped tremendously with heating costs, as propane is cheaper than heating oil right now. Propane makes me nervous, and I was concerned about this unit, but all’s well.

New Car
So far, the new car is very nice. We’re averaging about 32 MPG. There are a few things I don’t like. I hate the security system. I keep accidentally setting it off, and I don’t know how I do it. I think once I accidentally hit the PANIC button on the keyfob, but otherwise I don’t know.

This car has an automatically adjusting rearview mirror. It senses light and automatically dims, which is pretty nifty, with the exceptions of the following:

• It doesn’t do it during the day, so if you are getting tailgated by anyone with their lights on you just have to live with it
• It doesn’t do it during dusk, see above.

I would happily rip the thing off and replace it if I could. I’m still adjusting to the controls for everything being different and apparently designed for a space alien with arms at least 1 foot longer than mine. When I’m sitting in the car and need to close the door I have to practically get OUT of the car to reach the door handle, which defeats the purpose.

Mom
Mom recently had her first cataract surgery. It seemed to be easier than just about any other ‘procedure’ out there nowadays. She goes in for her second one the beginning of February.

Business
My jewelry business is slow, and I’m to blame. I did do some sales before Christmas and have been doing some restringing for friends. I really need to get over my shyness and get out there to some shops and schmooze.
I also can’t seem to get into the Business Blog I started, and the last time I updated it was before Christmas. I just don’t know what to write about. I need to get on the bandwagon for this again.

I’ve also decided Etsy is a lost cause for sales….but a really nice option for a cheap online showcase that looks professional, so I’m going to stick with it. It is just not my market. I have

I did pay my 2nd round of PA state sales tax ($5.05) successfully. And I’ve got my books done for tax season, so yippee for me.

Work
We have a new administration with new leadership on the DHS level, but so far nothing has really changed here. There are some presidential appointments still needing to be filled (FEMA and USFA administrators, their deputies, etc), but I don’t expect some of them to be filled for months. Probably little will change here.

Our contract is up this year, but I’m going to do a separate post about that special, special process.

Food
I haven’t been cooking as much as I usually do, I’m just too tired by the time I get home from work. I MEAN to cook, but I just never get there.

We found a new, really nice restaurant called Café del Sol. They do salads, wraps, Panini, pasta, specialty pizzas, and the best homemade potato chips I have ever had. Really great place.