October Challenge -- Day 31

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 31: Favorites for Halloween

My best trick-or-treat memories ...

•  My favorite candy was Mary Janes. My mom couldn't find them in any store -- and, come to think of it, she wasn't one for having candy in the house anyway -- so the only time I got them was trick-or-treating, or at the penny candy store we visited on our way to the little lake house we visited every year. My older sister thought I was a geek for loving Mary Janes, so she willingly traded them for my chocolate. (I thought she was dumb; you can get chocolate any time.)

•  The convent gave popcorn balls wrapped in blue cellophane. That was pretty cool. But even better, after they ran out of popcorn balls they handed out quarters. I could buy a Beatles 45 rpm record for $1 or a copy of 16 magazine for 35¢, so that quarter helped bring me closer to Sir Paul.

October Challenge -- Day 30

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 30: What's in my bag?

Oh, good goobies! How much time do you have?

Wallet, makeup bag, a hairbrush, planner, lotsa pills (anti-diarrhea, Advil for aches, Naproxen for migraines, Xanax for just in case, Vicodin in case my kidney stone suddenly bedevils me again), wipes, prescription glasses, reading glasses, contact lens solution and case, my phone and a thumb drive.

I always carry my train pass, work ID and keys in my pocket. If my purse is stolen, I want to be able to get home or to the office.

October Challenge -- Day 29/REVISED

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 29: What's the best way to celebrate a birthday?

I had originally posted a rather pitiful tale about how no one wants to spend my birthday with me this year. It's close to Thanksgiving ... everyone is busy ... boo hoo. Oh, Gal of little faith!

Just now, Mindy shot me an email, asking me if I could spend my birthday with her. Could I?

So now I can answer the question as posed. I like spending my birthday often. With friends one-on-one. It gives us a chance to catch up, and it spreads the joy.

October Challenge -- Day 28

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 28: How are the yearly goals going?


OK, I guess.

I'm a wee bit ahead on my finances. I've curbed my spending and am thrilled by this bit of financial serendipity: I took out a short-term loan in 2016, which will be paid off in January ... just in time for the building's special assessment to kick in. It's a relief to not have to worry where I'll come up with that extra $95 each month, and a nice lesson in how planning can help me stave off monetary chaos.

I'm feeling better. My right leg is fine. I seldom have hip stiffness, the stabbing pains are gone, and my toes no longer tingle. My chiropractor is a genius!

BUT I'm still not working out regularly, and I must. I've started going back to the gym twice/week, which is a start, but it's not enough increase my endurance (I get winded on stairs) and help lower my blood sugar.

And then there's the clutter. I'm still drowning in stuff.

October Challenge -- Day 27

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 27: Current music fave/rave. Lately I've rediscovered Patsy Cline. While watching Judy, the Renee Zellwegger movie about Judy Garland, and it occurred to me that the only other woman* I'd ever heard whose voice literally cuts straight through to my heart is Patsy. I started listening to her again. And, as luck would have it, Lifetime just did a biopic of Patsy! So it seems I'm not the only one enjoying a Cline-aissance.

*Sinatra and, when he's at his best, Elvis can, too ("Kentucky Rain").

October Challenge -- Day 26

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 26: Fall bucket list

Before I answer, I'd like to change it to "Fall To-Do List." After all, the term "bucket list" refers to things you want to accomplish before you die ("kick the bucket"). I don't intend to die before year-end, so ...

I want to organize my books. I tore the bookshelves apart back in 2016 and have never put them back together in any real way.

October Challenge -- Day 25

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 25: I will always have.


I love this quote, because no matter what happens, I'll always have these.

October Challenge -- Day 24

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 24: Staple grocery items.

•  Paper towels. Viva or Bounty. White. Full sheet (I do NOT want to choose a size).

•  Coke. I am loving the smaller 7.5 oz cans.

•  Gerber baby food. Turkey. Perfect for dissolving the powdered supplement Connie has twice/day. There are other flavors (chicken, beef and ham), but they make Connie sad.

October Challenge -- Day 23

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 23: Cooking or eating.

Eating!

Since I battled c. diff in 2016, I have become more careful about what I eat and I've been preparing more meals at home. My gastrointestinal tract and cholesterol are better for it. But I don't enjoy it.

One of my favorite things to do is still sit in a booth with a good book and enjoy a nice, quiet, coffee house meal.

October Challenge -- Day 22

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 22: Modern or Traditional.

Yes.

I like reading old school. Words on paper. I read magazines and books and the newspaper.

On the other hand, I prefer Uber to taxis. Ride shares make it so easy.

October Challenge -- Day 21

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 21: My favorite shopping spots.

This one makes me a little sad, because my favorite shopping spots are gone. I loved shopping at Marshall Field's on State Street. It's a beautiful building, and it had higher-quality merchandise than the other department stores. Shopping there was an experience. The windows! The fitting rooms! The restaurants!

But then, in 2006, it became Macy's. It's fine, I suppose. But I don't get enthusiastic about Macy's like I did Marshall Field's.

And then there was Carson's. Twice a year -- spring and fall -- I shopped their Goodwill Sale. Every item I donated to Goodwill through their store got me a 20% coupon. I stocked up on skincare, sunglasses, clothes and an umbrella. (I'm always losing or breaking umbrellas.) It closed for good more than a year ago.

The empty Clinique counter at Carson's, days before the store closed for good.

But that was then and this is now. I find myself at Kohl's and the aforementioned Macy's. Target opened just blocks away from my home, and that's nice. There's an independent bookseller here, too, and that beckons to me.

But I'm shopping a lot more resale these days. A couple times a month, there's a fundraiser in a fabulous old Victorian and I always find something (a cardigan, a t-shirt) there. Last year I got a terrific find -- a like-new belted, hooded trench from Nordstrom that I got for $14. It's nice to shop there because it benefits local charities. And ThredUp is fun. It's the hunt, you know.

October Challenge -- Day 20

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 20: Good habits I'd like to have.

I'd like to be more disciplined. When I'm engaged, I can be successful. But I'm so lazy and I waste so much time.

 

October Challenge -- Day 19

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 19: Favorite color combinations.

I love these colors together, but I can't wear them. They make me look sallow. But my living room is the light green and my kitchen is the bright yellow. If I ever move, I'll decorate with this palette.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my closet! I have a few pink blouses and a raspberry coat, but this is really pretty much me.

 

October Challenge -- Day 18

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 18: Words I love or hate. 

Love:

Deuteronomy. I love saying it. Go ahead. It's fun!
Gubernatorial. So much fancier than saying, "all governor-y."

Hate:
Trump. President Pussy Grabber is a depressing disgrace and I literally cringe when I hear Christians defend him. How exactly do his lying, bullying, self-absorption and graft reflect my faith? I live for the day when we go 24 hours without hearing about his twitter feed.

 

October Challenge -- Day 17

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 17: Pet peeves. I have two big ones.

1) Space hogs. We all share this planet. Please respect that and don't take up more space than you must. For example, this girl is taking up a seat for her bags, while the man in the yellow shirt has to stand. She sucks. I have ridden the el many times with parcels under the seat, protected by my legs, so someone can squeeze into the seat next to me.

BTW, it's not only rude, it's theft. If you didn't pay for two seats, you don't get two seats.

2) Noise polluters. Now that we have open seating -- which means no offices -- it makes me CUH-RAZY when anyone listens to music or videos without headphones. People do it on the train all the time now, too. What makes you think we're all interested in what you're listening to?

Oh yeah, and there's the woman hear who sneezes really loud and in a very loud pitch. She thinks it's adorable. Sometimes I fantasize about strangling her.

My, but this has left me feeling anxious. Can we go back to Day 5, when we gazed upon hot men?

 

October Challenge -- Day 16

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 16: My bad habits. I am lazy, and I can't stay focused on a task or subject that doesn't grab me. This is a very immature way to go through life.

 

October Challege -- Day 15

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 15: What causes a feeling of insecurity?

I'll approach this not with what, but with who, because I can think of two women who make me feel endlessly insecure about my femininity.

1) My all-time idol, JBKO. She was strong, but she made strength feminine. And then there was her visual sense.As First Lady, she restored the White House and designed the iconic exterior of Air Force One. Personally, she personified glamor -- and I have no glamor.

Not me

And here's a poem she wrote at 9 1/2. Pay attention not only to the rhyme, but to the carefully drawn border and her lettering. This was Jackie Bouvier as a fourth grader. I couldn't do this now.

The other is my friend, Joanna. She can be rather Jackiesque, in that she always knows how to tie a scarf, add a bangle, and look put together, even for an afternoon lunch at a diner. She also knows architecture and classical music (I do not).

Oh, I know I'm better informed and more astute about current events than Joanna. So it's not like I don't feel the playing field is, at least in some ways, level. But Joanna is more powerfully and conventionally feminine than I am, and that makes me insecure.

 

October Challenge -- Day 14

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 14: What makes a person lucky? As Bruce Springsteen sings in "Lucky Town" ...

And though I believe Bruce, I still have a Lotto ticket in my wallet because it pays to cover one's bases.

 

October Challenge -- Day 13

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 13: Good at keeping secrets? My own or others'. Quick answer: no. I don't like secrets, as I believe they are corrosive. On the other hand, I do respect privacy (my own and others'). So it's good that many of my friends haven't met. I can complain about Henry to John, and rail about John to Henry, get it out in the open and off my chest, without worrying about betraying them.

 

October Challenge -- Day 12

I'm joining Ms. Kwiz for her October blogging challenge.

Day 12: Words to describe me. Cat mom, aunt, friend, writer, citizen, Christian ... I answer to them all.