Christmas day (so far):

I awoke to the sound of birds twittering.

At first I was confused, then I remembered I had bought myself a new alarm clock and 'bird sounds' is one of the alarm settings.

It was pouring down in rain outside (no snow this Christmas), but I watched the local weather just to see when the rain would cease.

That done, I did a couple of loads of laundry.

Real exciting stuff, huh?

Once the clothes were in the dryers, I made myself a big mug of coffee, settling in to scan some local news.

Getting tired of the shootings and thefts, I figured I would prep for this evening's dinner instead.

That accomplished, I drove down to the local convenience store and bought a couple of scratchers -

Who knows? Winning some cash would be a nice little present to myself.

Came back home, folded laundry and decided to check on messages via the 'net.

All that remains to be done now is to shower and shave, cook dinner and later call my family in California.

When my conversation is finished, I'll have a drink or two and watch a movie before I call it a (by now) night and hit the hay.

All told, a quite relaxing day.

Oh yeah... it is also Jesus's birthday. I'll have to remember to include our Lord in my after dinner toast.

~

For her, I'd do anything to be her Santa:


Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!

~

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!

I received an email today from my insurance company about my claim.

I now know the name of my local agent assigned to my claim and I know that said agent has seen my claim.

I returned information regarding the estimate I had done and who to contact about it.

The ball is now back in their court.

~

So I got an estimate on my dented bumper.

Over $1,300.00!

I had done a little research on costs before I took my car in.

Generally, it costs $250.00 to $500.00 to fix, but around $2,000.00 if the bumper needs replacing.

I was willing to pay out of pocket if it was around $500.00, but $1,300.00 will be turned in to insurance.

Like the guy who did the estimate said:

"It's why you pay for it, ain't it?"

And yes, I expect my rates to go up.

'All in all it's just another brick in the wall'.

~

I put a dent in the rear bumper of my car.

Today the process of filing the insurance claim for repairs has begun.

I got up today, showered & shaved, had my morning coffee, prepared my lunch to take to work, answered emails and checked the weather.

Another tedious day, but I like tedious.

After so many years of living moment to moment, with no plans every day when I woke up,

tedious is comforting.

I like having a routine, finally.

~

My Christmas cards are done and will go out in Monday's mail.

With the rate of 'snail mail' nowadays,

I'm expecting delivery to be made a few days AFTER Christmas.

Oh well,

at least I made the effort.

~

I like it and I'm eating it tonight.

On sandwiches,

with Velveeta shells and cheese.

Me likey!

I'm talking about a different kind of selfie, as in

Self Promotion.

My friends like to self promote on Facebook.

Whether it's promoting their business, or eatery, or even a book they've written,

they unabashedly post pictures of what they're selling,

which is themselves.

On the one hand, I'm happy to see an old friend doing well.

On the other hand,

its a bit of bragging...

with a touch of rubbing it in your face because they've become successful (at least on the surface).

Am I jealous?

A little - that's human nature.

But when the puffery becomes constant,

I tend to get the attitude of 'yeah, yeah, so what's going on in your personal life?'

And then I think:

If this is what they want, to be defined by accomplishments,

then so be it.

I can be happy for them...

and scroll right on by.

Life is too short to linger on, in my opinion, trivialities.

And so it goes.

~