done

prayers for comfort and strength

I used to read xkcd all the time but some how I stopped reading it. Thanks for the reminder of how much I like them.

I have been praying for God's will to be done. And for all the leaders to hear the cries of the people.

Yes, it takes a long build but it really does become heartwarming and funny.

Can anyone recommend a good vacuum cleaner. 😆😆😆

We are also in this situation. My daughter (29) is home for Corona. She does some on line work but her main career is Stage Management and the live performance venues are all closed. No, I do not ask her to pay us for food or rent. She helps out around the house and with my husbands business. When she is running errands for me she stops by Starbucks and pays for coffees. She makes the occasional grocery store run and usually pays for those groceries. But no, she is family, I would not ask my sister or parents (when they were living) to pay expenses. If I stayed with them, I would help around the house and pay for the occasional shopping trip.

No. No. 100% No I knew even knew how much money my dad made. When it was time to apply for college (1970s) he would not fill in that line on the form. He said if they needed to know how much he made I did not qualify for whatever plan they were offering. They were both raised during the Dust Bowl and Depression. No frivolous spending. Always money put aside for a 'rainy day'. They were not tight fisted or broke, we had a nice little house, they let me have a horse and ballet lessons, etc. I know they tithed and gave to charity. I don't remember any arguments about money. They did not discuss it... ever.

I grew up in Arizona and New Mexico both towns were over a mile high, I currently live in Florida (sea level) I miss: Dry thin air. The air here is hot stale pea soup. Really good Mexican Food Green Chile (that might sound redundant but it is not 😅 Clear nights with a thousand stars Ethnic Diversity Actually nice people not just Southern Pretend Nice. (sorry, the South just is not for me)

Starbucks. Yes, I am a stereotypical old lady that loves cats and coffee. LOL Speaking of which, my other frivolous adventure this year was taking in a little black rescue kitten. Really, I don't know how anyone has survived 2020 without a kitten. 🙂

1 and 2: My mother and father. Now that I am older I have so many questions I wished I had asked them. 🙂 Just them, a nice family dinner.

I have a vent I can't really share with my real life friends. I have worked as an election worker for many many years. We are well trained and dedicated to making sure every registered voter gets a chance to vote, the ballots monitored and tallied accurately. The urban myths my friends keep sharing about the 'rigged' system are driving me crazy especially regarding mail in votes. I just want to yell, "if you think it is so poorly run why don't you come try it".

I have several small 'gig employment' jobs. One of those is teaching an after school cooking program at several elementary schools. The schools have reopened but they have not started up the after school programs yet. So still furloughed from that income. My daughter is a Stage Manager for Opera. She has not had a contract since March and was just told her contract with Opera Colorado in March 2021 will be moved to the Fall. Because she normally lives on the road moving from venue to venue she is home with us now. I am really enjoying having her here but I know she is frustrated she has been travelling with live performances for 10 years and now suddenly dead stop.

I keep bouncing back and forth about moving or staying put. On one hand dh and I are building businesses here and I have been working on a permaculture food forest and edible landscaping. We also have a four bedroom house and the girls can come and stay as long as they want. On the 'move' side, I would like to be back out West where our families are. I had planned to downsize if we moved but now I want to keep a larger home so that family can move in if they need to. I have also considered the possibility that we might combine households with my sister and her husband as we get older. Another plus to getting or keeping a large house would be to use the extra bedrooms for air bnb if needed.

The pandemic has forced me to slow down and really consider my goals and where I spend my energy. Before the shutdown I always kept my schedule busy, busy, busy. I still like the thrill of trying 'all the things' but now I am keeping a tighter focus. Food resilence: I am taking the Extension Office Master Gardener classes right now. I am exploring foraging and designing an edible landscape. My oldest daughter, 29, works in live performance theater and has had all contract cancelled through summer 2021. She normally bases out of Denver, CO but had closed down her apartment and was living temporarly in Los Angeles when the venue closed, she caught one of the last flights before shelter in place and came home to stay with us. Daughter and I have been having fun with fermenting, sourdough, kombucha, quilting, carpentry, etc. She plans to buy a small homestead outside Denver when this is over. Trade offs: DH took early retirement about 5 years ago and he and I have been building several small businesses (all local in person stuff) to create multiple incomes. We are now wondering if we will stay in Florida or take the experience we have gathered and move back West. Perhaps Colorado or New Mexico. In the mean time we are trying to speed up building the businesses. Our debt payoff plans and retirement funding have taken a hit this year so we are having to do a lot of reworking. Surprises: I enjoy a slower lifestyle and really like 'slow food' cooking. 🙂 Inspiration: Remembering stories my parents told me. They both grew up on farms in Kansas during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Some of their stories really keep me from getting too 'sorry for myself" and keep me from panicking. These are NOT the worst times ever.

Thank you, this looks fantastic

I found this article about the Scalia/Ginsburg friendship really touching https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2020/9/18/21446272/ruth-bader-ginsburg-rbg-died-pancreatic-cancer-scalia-friends-disagree-better "Ginsburg showed in her relationship and friendship with Scalia that unity and harmony in the United States had little to do with disagreeing less; it was really about learning to disagree better. America is at its best when it is a country of big ideas, competing philosophies and respectful debate."

I don't usually watch TV but my husband does. We decide to watch one episode of something together each night dinner. We have enjoyed Good Omens Good Place Schitts Creek Umbrella Academy Grace and Frankie Haunting of Hill House Ripper Street Hinterlands Broadchurch

I really like After Life too.

I was devastated last night when I heard she had died. We really need her right now. Then I spent time asking myself what I was doing, what parts of the world's problems I was willing to address. I realized that I have already committed to three issues dear to my heart. 1) Food resilence - I teach an after school program teaching children to prepare tasty healthy food. No meat, wheat, dairy, nuts and we still make a wide variety of delicious dishes. 2) Right to Vote - I work as an election worker ensuring the security and access to voting, and I go to farmer's markets and festivals to man a voter registration booth sponsored by the county. 3) Tax Illiteracy - So many people do not understand how the system works, many do not understand basic accounting or number skills. I work as a seasonal Tax Analyst and I make sure the clients that leave my desk understand the returns they are filing. I plan to double down on those things and I hope RBG's life will inspire more people to tackle the issues they are passionate about.

Be very cautious. Many people have a negative experience with the big preparer services. PROS: excellent training and research resources. CONS: Your first year is usually paid hourly at minimum wage, they will either give you next to no hours or ask you to work 12 hour shifts multiple days in a row. My first year I worked 60 hr plus weeks, week after week. After first year your pay is commission based and you will probably see a huge drop in income. It takes a few years to build your certification levels high enough for the returns with top commission. You also need to build a base of clients that prefer to return to you each year. I had an excellent office for my first years while I was learning the ropes. The existing pros were willing to share their knowledge and experience. This is not universal. Some offices simply burn out the first years doing low pay work and do not help them build careers. So much depends on the attitude of the individual office. There is a terrible retention rate for first year employees. Of my entire class of trainees four years ago only two of us are still working in this district. I worked for me because my office mates were fabulous and I really enjoy doing taxes. I love the nitty gritty research and usually take all the training that I can fit into my schedule. No one gets rich doing this, but if you like numbers and reading tax law and have a fortunate first placement it can be a very good seasonal job.

When my children were all grown and out of the house I tried to get back into the workforce but had not worked in years and my degree was very very old at that point. My long ago career had been in Contract Management so I had some long ago skills with accounting. Back when book keeping meant literally books of green lined paper and T-Accounts. 🙂 I decided to take the Tax Preparer class at H&R Block. I was able to take the preparer exam and get certified. I have worked at H&R Block as a seasonal employee for the last four years. I also returned to community college and earned an Accounting Technologies Certificate, and started tutoring Accounting and Economics. I hope to keep expanding each year and end up opening my own Small Business Support business.

We live in a small bedroom community just outside of Jacksonville. I am not happy at all. I plan to remain cautious. Masks, Hand sanitizer, etc. But I plan to add to my emergency pantry just in case. Of course, I already have a good hurricane emergency supply because hurricane season is here too. 😃

Today's dinner was Lamb shoulder chops. I have never cooked lamb before but I had these chops in the freezer and decided to try something new. Browned in a pan with garlic and onion (3 minutes each side), and then poached with the liquid from a can of black olives for two hours. Added red wine and sliced mushrooms at the end. Served with mashed potatoes and creamed collard beans. Yum. So good, my family ate every bite.

My husband's mother was named Beryl and her mother was Zelda My mother was named Naomi and her mother was Copia. Copia was the last child of a large family and her father named her Copia because that was 'enough'.