Binge Watching

Hello. Is it binge watching if I watch three hours of TV in one day? I have decided to watch All Creatures Great and Small as well as Downton Abby. I was planning to watch it on the TV. Because we contribute to the station that airs it, we can watch older programs. For some reason that ability stopped and it says we need to contribute again. I could still get it on the laptop. Don’t have a clue how to resign in on the TV. For a while we were casting to the TV from the laptop. That worked just fine. For unknown reason we can no longer find the TV listed to cast to it. So, the library was the next solution to the issue. The only thing is that the shows are in season packages. I like to return things on time hence more watching than I usually do. We can renew, but some of the packages are from other libraries so they cannot be renewed. I might get used to a lot of screen time. Leroy is ok watching All Creatures, but prefers not to watch Downton. There is not a lot of room for him to go else where with a good reading light. It means when he is not home, I spent a bit of time. It has doubled or tripled my screen time. I will have the other tooth extracted tomorrow. That will mean some quiet days. More screen time? I do have about three books to read. I started one of them and I am not sure that I really like it. Paula

Does a Nap Help

Hello, When there is a lack of sleep in the night, is the sleep need rescued by napping? I am not sure. I almost never take a nap. Today’s nap almost helps me feel a bit more rested, but a bit groggy as well. It seems to me night sleep is the best. Volunteering was good this morning. I like being busy and feeling like there is a purpose. I helped put some things on the shelves. One person said, “I knocked a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese on the floor at the back of the shelf. Someone else will have to get it.” I squatted down to look under the shelf. Then I needed to get to hands and knees. I found several boxes of the mac and cheese. There was also a box of mashed potatoes in packages along with several cans of things. Someone was quite surprised to see me down on the floor. It is all the moves that I do during the week that help me be able to do this with a certain amount of ease. I have done it for much of my life. I should rest easy at night. but if we have been out for anything it seems to get my sleep pattern off. We have church choir on Wednesday nights and those nights are always hard for me. Paula

Volunteering

Hello, We volunteered at the Saturday evening meal at church. The team was a bit different. A boy was working for his Eagle Scout Badge. He recruited seven other scouts to help him. Only three of us were part of our usual team. That was a clean up crew. It seems to be a bit more specialized. As it involves running the dishwasher. Leroy and I scraped trays put dirty glasses and cups in the proper trays, and sorted the silverware, I guess it is still called silverware even though it is not silver. I will admit to being a rather tired. Leroy did eat a bit of ham and some bread when we were mostly done. I am not much of a ham eater so I did not. I dragged behind Leroy on the way home. Perhaps it was because I was hungry. If any salad or vegetables had been left, I would have eaten some of them. There were more than 150 servings tonight. I have 14,218 steps. Leroy only has a bit over ten thousand. In the morning, I got some groceries since we were out of bananas. Leroy stayed home and did some cleaning which does not get so many steps. We have had a bit of rain the last couple days. It was nice to be able to walk tonight without that. The wind made it rather daunting at times. Paula

What’s In the Attic

Hello, The person that we often help at church gets empty 32-ounce yogurt containers from me. I like to recycle things and she has a need for them from time to time. Just recently, she asked if I would give her some of them because she wanted them for freezing blocks of ice. At the time we were having lunch with two men who were working around the church. “I think I have some in the attic, but I might have gotten rid of them when I found them the other day.” I commented. “Who would keep empty yogurt containers in their attic?” one of the guys asked with a grin. He then started to laugh as did the other man. Leroy joined and I did too. I explained that I had been saving them when the pandemic closed things down as well as church remodeling. There was no room to store such extra items. Then I forgot that I had them in the attic. I found them in a plastic bag. We washed all of them again before taking them to church. I feel good about another use for a throwaway item. I thought my tooth saga was about done. However, next I am going to have another tooth pulled which should make it easier to put in the permanent bridge. I am getting to know my dentist with all of these visits. Paula

Great Forgetting

Hello, Leroy and I had books to return to the library. The plan was to return them on the way to do some shopping. It seems all we do is go to the library and then shopping. But we were out of figs so it was necessary. A week is long enough without a fig. I forgot and turned the wrong way at the end of the alley. That necessitated a bit more traveling. Not impossible, but I was disgusted with myself. Then on the way to the store, Leroy kept not hearing me when he confessed that he had not put in his hearing aids. At least now I could understand his lack. At the store I realized I had forgotten to bring some returns. We only go to this store about once a month so again, I was disgusted with myself. At least it was not so busy when we arrived. I do not like to shop with a lot of people moving around. Generally, I avoid Saturday. Leroy says we are perfecting our forgetting skills. When it was warm, I did not put out the suet for the birds as it was quite soft in the heat. Today I put out a block. It was impressive how quickly they found it and pecked away. Later we refilled the seed supply. That attracted many of them. A squirrel came a bit later and claimed the space. The birds and the squirrel remember quite well where food is. Paula

The Joys of Technology

Hello, I listened to a concert with Sarah singing in the chorus. It was great to be able to hear her and see her. I am more than one thousand miles away. But can almost be there for her. It was the same for Natalie’s piano recital. Technology allows us to connect to family and friends at a distance. We can discuss world events as well as things that are more personal. Paper and pen are also technology that has not totally gone away. I like to use them. At one time in history, they were only available to the wealthy. And now they are almost a throw away item. We can find movies and TV programs that we would like to watch. It does not matter if we see them at the time they are aired. Course sometimes things happen that we do not understand and the source stops. We had been watching some older programs on TV, but it just stopped. We can still get them on the computer. It had worked to cast that to the TV, but just recently it has not worked. Some of today’s technology is a mystery to us. We are grateful for the benefits that we have from technology. We can find open hours, schedules, address, maps, phone numbers and menus. Lots of times we have no excuses for missing something. I forgot to save this letter when I left the computer. Then I did not click on the right button to save it when it opened on my return. My memory did a good job of getting most of it. But you know my first run was much more entertaining. Paula

Breaking and Entering

Hello, We got to Tai Chi and no one was there. The guy who leads it came with a key. Unfortunately, there was a new deadbolt on the door. He did not have the key for that. I called the library person who lives in town, only to learn that she was at an appointment in another city. I called the library person who usually lets us in. There was no answer so I left a message, but did not hope for much result. There is another person in town, who would have a key, but I did not know her phone number. I called another person who would have a key. She was several states away. She gave me instructions about getting into her house. A door had been left unlocked because they were expecting someone. She also gave careful instructions for finding her key. It is a short drive from the library. Leroy went with me in case I did not remember any instruction. All went as planned. It felt a bit or quite uncomfortable going into someone’s home when they were not there. I have no such compunction going into downstairs friends’ place because I have done it so often to water plants while they are gone. There were only seven of us at tai chi. Some were on line and some in house. Usually there about eleven there. It was still worth it. I did have a challenge to calm down and move into a more meditative state. There is always more work to be done. At the end of class, I put the key back where it belongs. Someone saw me coming out the door. Did they realize I should not be there? Paula