songbird's crazy world

I looked at my Fitbit stats last night.  It seems my little trek to the mall last weekend counted as a one-mile walk. Oh my … My Omada scale should arrive sometime today.   Oh, yeah, I haven’t mentioned Omada before.   Omada  describes itself as a digital health program. It’s sort of like Weight Watchers meets Noom, but designed specifically for individuals who are at risk of developing diabetes or hypertension.  The emphasis is on behavior modification, developing healthy habits.   It’s an on line program.  It involves weight management, healthy eating, exercise and “de-stressing” (i.e., mindfulness).  You’re assigned to a coach and a peer group.  You track your meals, you set goals, you track your progress. You get a scale that not only records your weight, but reports your weight to your Omada coach.    That part is a bit scary.  I already own a scale, I record my weight.  But sharing it?  Well, I did that back in my Weight Watchers days.   In fact, none of the components of the pro

 So I ran into the supermarket for three items and wound up with a cart full of food.  Too much for the self-checkout, so I got onto line for one of the cashiers. And that’s where I saw the rudeness. Two women who obviously knew each other, one with a full cart of groceries, the other with just a few items to purchase, so two separate transactions.  They were talking to each other as the first woman loaded her merchandise onto the check stand.  They were talking to each other as the cashier rang up each item.  They were talking to each other when the first woman paid the cashier.  They were talking to each other as the cashier rang up the second woman’s items.  They were talking to each other when the second woman paid for her items. Did you notice who they were NOT talking to? You don’t have to have deep, meaningful conversation with the cashier, but at least acknowledge her existence.  

Update on Drew.  He now has a nasty-looking black eye.  He looks like he was in a fight.  It looks a lot worse than it is … He got a lot of attention from his coworkers and he’s getting a lot of love on Facebook.   I’m still enjoying Thanksgiving … last night I had turkey, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, cranberry sauce… tried another version of gluten-free stuffing.  Meh.  I miss the real deal. And I’m not sure I really need the substitute, there are so many other foods we enjoy at the holidays. My Halloween pumpkin is still outside, on the front lawn (see photo).   Drew is surprised that none of the local wildlife ate it, that none of the local kids smashed it … Though I should take down the rest of the Thanksgiving decorations … People in the neighborhood are starting to decorate for Christmas.  I really love the lights!  I’ve got my Hanukkah lawn decorations and I’m going to start putting a few out … we’ll see how it goes … I hope I, not setting us up to become victims of a hate c

 And todays theme is “Thankful songs” Very broad topic, isn’t it? Well, since we’re still eating leftovers from Thanksgiving around here, let’s start with the Thanksgiving song from Holiday Inn        And since we’re in a Bing Crosby mood, how about one from White Christmas ?    Now let’s talk about friends     And let’s get rocking’    Maybe a couple from Kelly Clarkson       I had to include  one from the Monkees And we’ll end with a song we all know, but a very different version of it   

All’s well that ends well, but …  If you ever read my friend Alana’s  blog  you’ll remember she’s very good at giving advice about falls and fall prevention. Pay attention to her sage advice. Trust me. You don’t want to be dealing with the aftermath of a fall. Sunday afternoon I was upstairs, just hanging out.  Drew was downstairs, taking a shower.  Suddenly I heard him yelling for me at the top of his lungs.  He slipped and fell in the shower.  He thinks his face hit the faucet because he’s got a gash over his left eye.  There was a lot of blood. Very scary. We live about a mile or so from the big county hospital, the one with the huge ER.  It’s a level one trauma center.  Not that he needed that level of care. But he did need a CT scan to rule out a concussion. Luckily it was negative. And they had to close up the gash.  Sutures, not glue, because of the location of the cut.  We think it was six stitches — I couldn’t see what the doctor did, there were med students watching. So we sp

 Saturday night was a success … a house full of friends, family and food…jokes  about “first world problems” as we had to find room in the refrigerator for everything.   And my daughter Becca admonished me about my “crazy cat lady” persona “because you already have children.”  But I asked “Do you live with me?  No.  Does your sister?  No.  Do I have grandchildren?  Not yet.  So let me lavish attention on the furry ones.”   Both cats were scared of our  guests at first.  Can you believe it, they were both hiding under the bed.  The same  bed.  United in misery, I suppose.  Even Jen the cat whisperer couldn’t coax them out. Eventually, however, each cat overcame her fear and timidly investigated the new people.  The turkey was wonderful, the sides were incredible.  Well, except for my gluten-free stuffing.  It was too dry and bland, so I tried to “doctor” it but completely ruined it.  I wound up tossing the whole mess.    Drew made regular stuffing for everyone else, and there were plent

 So you should know that I am not a “shopper”.  I live in shopping mall heaven — I’m ten minutes from the Broadway Mall,  15 from Roosevelt Field and 25 from Whitman Shoppes — but I seldom go to the mall.  I prefer to shop on line.  And when I do venture into a store, I usually know what I want and buy it as quickly as possible.  I’m not one to browse through stores just to see what’s for sale. There’s a local chain,  Baked By Melissa , that specializes in mini cupcakes.  They’re primarily in Manhattan.  A few years ago Becca introduced me to their product - delicate little cakes, exquisitely decorated, very tasty.  I walk past their shop on 7th Avenue whenever we go to the theater. Well, last week I remembered that they used to have a second shop on 7th, right next to the original shop, but selling gluten-free versions of all their cupcakes. The gluten-free shop closed, but the company continues to make a gluten-free version of their product. So I thought that gluten-free cupcakes wou

  Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) 1972 Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) This week's song begins with Hollies' lead singer Allan Clarke telling us of a Saturday night trip downtown, taken at the behest of the FBI. What are your plans for Saturday night? (No, we don't expect you to tell us you'll be working undercover for a government agency.)  We’ll be doing a second Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  Drew is coo

 And the nightly drama continues with the Battle of the Chair.          So … who won the Battle? I think the Duchess has reclaimed her throne.

 

Typical day at the office yesterday.  It’s so quiet!  Most of the staff still works from home full time.  And many of my coworkers who do come to the office didn’t bother to do so yesterday because it’s a short week.  We have a half day today, and we’re off tomorrow and Friday for Thanksgiving. I actually overheard a coworker tell a friend,  “ I don’t plan to do any work tomorrow.” I was hoping to leave the office before the bad weather hit, but no such luck.  It was dark as night by 4:30 because of the rain, and it was cold.  Cold as winter. I stopped at Trader Joe’s on my way home.  The store was very, very busy.  I hate supermarket shopping just before a holiday. But I need things for Thanksgiving.  My contribution to Saturday’s feast.  I’ll be making stuffed mushrooms, scalloped corn, and mini cheese balls.  We’re having turkey with gravy, two kinds of stuffing (one will be gluten free), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole…we got a few bottles of Riesling… and

 And it’s a free choice week. How about songs about cars? Queen was in love Aretha had a Pink Cadillac.   Springsteen had one, too The Beach boys liked their Little Deuce Coup: But they also liked T-Birds Sir Paul will let you drive his car: Gary Numan feels safe in his car. And Joe Walsh loves his Maserati.    You have to include Prince    And we’ll end with some Rascal Flatts

 I’m sad to hear former First Lady Rosalynn Carter died.  She was a wonderful First Lady and a philanthropist and humanitarian in her post-White House life.  She represents kinder and gentler times, when people wanted to work together, before politics became so tribal. President Jimmy Carter has been in hospice for months.  I don’t know how much longer he will live, especially now that Rosalynn is gone. The great pine needle invasion is coming to an end.  There are still a lot of pine needles on the lawn, but I think the trees have stopped shedding.   Fall foliage is also coming to an end; some trees still have leaves, but we’re definitely past peak, and a lot of trees are bare. We have our first freeze alert later this week.  Winter is on the way. So it’s almost Thanksgiving and I’m getting excited for the dinner we are hosting Saturday.  We finalized the menu, but we still have to buy some of the groceries. Thanksgiving, the start of the holiday season.  Hanukkah is early this year,

  Last Train to Clarksville Welcome to Saturday: 9 .  What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every  Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer questions, however, and here are today's questions! Saturday 9: Last Train to Clarksville (1966) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here .   1) When did you most recently take a train? I commuted from Long Island to Manhattan for work until March 2020, so I rode the Long Island Railroad almost every day.  I don’t work in the city anymore, but I still ride the LIRR occasionally, like when we go to a Broadway show.  We saw Camelot  in April, and took the train. 2) The lyrics promise "coffee-flavored kisses and a

Interesting how cats have different temperaments. When I come home, Shadow usually greets me at the door and wraps herself around my ankles, as if to say “You’re home!  I’m so happy you’re home!  I thought you were never coming home!  I missed you!”  She’s so excited to see me. You would think I’d been gone for days, not merely a few hours. Duchess, on the other hand, will look up from her nap, glance at me briefly, as if to say “Oh, it’s you”, and then she’ll go right back to sleep.  She does the same to Drew, barely acknowledging his presence … her display of indifference is underwhelming… although I am certain she misses him. But my favorite story is about a cat named Cookie.  I’ve told  this story  before, but it’s a really funny one, so it bears repeating. Before there was a Duchess at Drew's house, there was a Cookie.  A sweet ginger cat. My favorite Cookie story? Drew's father was living in a nursing home in Florida at the time, and Drew flew down for a visit.  He left h

 Well, I got the COVID booster.  I took Advil before I went to the pharmacy, and took some more just now as I’m getting ready for bed.  So far I feel fine.   The pharmacist had to inject the vaccine into my left arm because my right arm is all scratched up.  Shadow panicked when she saw the workmen in the house… But at least the repairs are done.  We’ll get the house back in order in the next few days.   Now I have to finalize the Thanksgiving menu and figure out when I’m doing grocery shopping. I’m excited to finally host a celebration in my home.

 I’m getting my COVID booster shot later today.  Got my flu shot at my doctor’s office a couple of weeks ago, but I have to go to a pharmacy for the COVID vaccine. Funny how the COVID vaccine has become part of our routine health care. Could you ever have imagined that in the dark days of 2020?

It’s taken months, but Shadow and Duchess are finally starting to get along.  Well, not all the time…but it’s a good sign when they’re sitting in the living room at the same time and not hissing or chasing each other.   On Sunday night, another miracle:  both cats sitting on the bed together.   To be honest, Duchess has her back to Shadow and was pretending she couldn’t see Shadow, but I take my victories in small doses.   I was concerned about Duchess, she tended to stay in the room where we set up her bed and food bowl, with occasional trips to the living room.  But since she’s getting along with Shadow, she’s investigating more of the house.   Broken pipe update.  After the repairman left, there were little bits of drywall all over my kitchen …so much fun to clean up …was it really just a week ago that I wrote “I finally got the kitchen set up the way I want it”…ugh … but at least the repairs are being done, and should be completed later today. The repairs had to be completed fairly

A special video before we get into today’s theme.   Bring Them Hone: A Broadway Prayer, in which  Broadway Stars Raise Awareness of Hamas Hostages . Now to the lighter side, the fun side.  Today’s tbeme? Tunes regarding food, family or friendship I’m going to focus on food. Let’s start with something from Broadway    A little something from the Stones    Want some popcorn?    I want candy    How about a slice of American pie?    A little more sugar?    Unless you prefer honey    Too much junk food?  How about some fried chicken! Bananas?    Let’s end it with some more humor   

 So I’m having flashbacks.  Last year a pipe burst at Drew’s s house, which was an absolutely miserable situation.  I didn’t mention it at the time (not my house, not my story), but I’m also flashing back  to  broken pipe 1990 .  I previously blogged about it.  Here’s what I wrote: My story goes back to 1990. We had a one bedroom apartment on the 5th floor, our building was part of a three-building complex.  Great apartment, sunny, clean, rent stabilized. I loved that place. We moved out of that apartment in 1991, we needed a second bedroom for our baby Jennifer.  Otherwise I would have stayed in that apartment forever. But in 1990, we had a water damage situation ... Ours was in the bathroom.  I went into the bathroom one Sunday night and noticed a bit of water on the ceiling. The water clearly came from outside of our apartment.   At the time, I was handling a lot of insurance claims where water had damaged an apartment or a business, so when I looked at the ceiling and saw water, I