Couch 222: Create, Cooperate, Harmonize

That's cool! Yeah, ours will be a parent or guardian picking them up. The toy has to be wrapped and labeled. Then the entire family's gifts are put in a gift bag with a tag with the family number on it. So like I have family number 13 lets say (I don't but I'm using it as an example) and so if that family has 4 kids, I need a big enough gift bag to put all four toys in it.


Usually we do something different. We usually just buy a ton of toys like 250 to 300 and we don't know who will be coming, ages, or genders, so we try to have enough of each category. Then the parents pick up the gifts while the children are watching a video. Then we donate any extra toys to like Christmas Cops for Kids or something. But with Covid we had to get more organized. So we actually had to sign up families and get phone numbers and stuff like that. It does make it easier to shop for in a way because you know exactly the child's age and gender and the parent or guardian had space to put what the child likes "like cars or my little pony or legos" stuff like that.


So I got my newest list and I'm heading to Target after work! These latest children are close in age so it's going to be a bit difficult but it will still be fun!

Ah, the Annie Oakley School of Etiquette!

This is so SWEEEET!!!

Hugs, Lost

Just talked to my son, he's going to pick me up in the morning and we're going hiking! Can't wait for some mother-son time. I miss my boy!!

Watching last night's Grey's Anatomy, and Jo says, "I am super-broken, like virtual therapy three times a week broken," and I was like, "It's me!"

Date with the geneticist went really well—dinner and a nice walk. He invited me over to cook dinner for me on Sunday, which I accepted... I hope that’s not code for SIM card shipping. He says he wants a relationship not a random hookup, so we’ll see.

ETA: Not that there's anything wrong with SIM card shopping, mind... it's just that that's not *all* that I want.

Regarding chocolate. Norwegian chocolate is amazing. Way better than everything I've tried.

Ugh...H and dad keep fighting over politics. So irritating.

I'm glad the date went well!

Scrabble night was fun tonight! Both of us got our highest scores since we started playing again, h had 304 pts and I had 267. My strategy is improving but unfortunately so is his haha

Did a short gentle yoga class this morning and now my body feels amazing. I don't know why I don't do this every day.

That sounds difficult, Scarlet. Especially since neither one is likely to change his mind about such a topic. It's just so much wind and hot air.

My son and I went on a 4 mile hike this morning in Sabino Canyon. It was SO beautiful!! I took tons of pictures, I can't help myself. The sky was soooo blue!! It's hard to believe this is so close to my house. Here are some:

...and a couple more.

Glad you had a nice time with your son.

Will he be spending Christmas day with you?

I watched the trailer for Norsemen. It miht be something I might watch.

I started the Barbarians on Netflix before. Liked the Roman invasion better. xD

Thanks, Lemon! It was great spending the morning with him hiking and talking and taking in the beauty of nature.


We haven't talked about that just yet, I imagine we'll see him at some point on or around that day. I'm making slippers for his gf to match the afghan I made her awhile back, and already have a gift for him, so we'll need to get them to them somehow. We did talk about next year though, he said he and his gf were talking about going back to the midwest to visit his grandma & aunts and I told him we'd been talking about doing the same thing so I think it's gonna turn into a big trip! so excited! this is all assuming there's a vaccine by then and stuff.

Trigger warning: more sad pet news

It's been a cozily dreary day--gray and rainy--and it's just now started to snow. It's lovely to be so safe and warm inside.

I'm going to re-approach my NaNo novel. I only managed 33,000 words during the actual month of November (that week of 14h shifts really got to me!), but I want to make it to 50,000 before the end of the year. I think I can do it! The problem is that I have to re-read what I've already written in order to figure out where to go next and it's sort of, um, bad haha, so the re-reading process is little cringey.

I think that 33,000 words is a huge accomplishment!!


To me anyway, it's important to just start and get the words down on paper - whether it is quote good or not - because you can't do a rewrite from 0 words. (This of course is only my opinion.) I applaud your perseverance. I did not get nearly as far as you did.

oh yeah I took this pic of the moon while I was sitting outside waiting for my son to pick up me up this morning.

Just finished putting together a meatloaf it's in the oven now, and made a batch of sugar-free orange jello.

this prof is cray cray. she took 1 point off one of the sections of the paper I turned in yesterday because I did not include interpretations. Her instructions for this section clearly state "don't include your opinions or interpretations, just the results themselves." So, that's what I did. HUH?

We picked out a tree and decorated it today, plus put our little bit of lights outside on the porch. It's nice to feel like it's Christmastime. So much of this year has just felt endlessly the same.

UGH. I am at the point of the term when I have a massive mental temper tantrum: Why on earth did I decide grad school was even remotely a good idea?!?!?!?!?! Clearly I was not thinking clearly. Now I am so far in that I can't give up. GAH.

I went and bought more candles and a poinsettia and cheapo cheesy Christmas decorations, and I Extra Christmased the house. The boys even brought up our Halloween skeleton and set him on the porch with a Santa hat and tinsel garland draped all over. At least it's festive around here, and they made me laugh.