For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning everyone! Happy Saturday to you all as well! Hard to believe it is only a week until Christmas. And I haven’t even had any Christmas posts yet. Well, we will change that today and I will share another story of my dad and I going out to look for a Christmas tree. We always had real trees back then, and so we went out around the end of November to find a tree. With all the trees we have, it should be an easy thing to do. Not so.
One year we went out, the snow was about 2 feet (60cm) deep. We had snowshoes, but dad never liked wearing them, he always had a problem staying upright while wearing snowshoes. But he put them on and away we went. He was doing fine, I was in the lead which made it easier for dad to follow, at least that was the idea. Because we were beside a lake, the wind would blow the snow off the ice and into the trees along the shore, where we were. So the snow kept getting deeper as we went along. I measured at one spot, it was 4 feet (120cm) deep.
I spotted a nice looking tree to our right and pointed it out to dad. “Looks nice,” he said, “let’s go take a look”. He decided to go first. That didn’t work so good. There were a lot of smaller willows in that area as we headed to a nice group of spruce trees. Actually we wanted a balsam fir, they smell so nice and they don’t lose their needles like spruce. Somehow dad got tangled up in some willows and down he went, face first, into the snow. It always happens. I go over to him and I guess a little snow from my snowshoes dropped on his head and got down his neck.
Dad went into panic mode at that point trying to brush the snow off his head. I tried to help and pulled his head up out of the snow. He claimed I almost pulled his head off. A slight exaggeration. Now, I had to turn dad over to get him out of the snow and that was not easy. Dad was a big man. And the snow was deep. As I finally got him on his side I accidentally kicked a bit of snow on his face. He went into panic mode again. He claimed I covered his whole head. It was just a little snow on his face really. I told him to put his hands on my snowshoes to give him something solid to push on so he could get up.
He did so, but pushed a little too hard and I went falling forward. The look on dad’s face as I fell on him, those eyes of his got so big as I landed right on top of him, my left knee landing on his stomach. He let out this big “OOOOOOOOOOO!” To keep myself from falling face first in the snow like dad did, which would not have been good, I got hold of a willow and pulled causing me to move over and sit down on top of dad. Um, that kind of pushed his head deeper into the snow and he went into panic mode again with arms waving around in the air.
I quickly moved myself over and sat on his stomach. He went, “OOOOOOO!” again. For some reason that got me laughing, loud and long. As I tried getting up I managed to kick a bit of snow on his face again. Poor dad, he just was not having a good day. His face was getting so red from brushing snow off of it so much. “You need to be more careful,” I said. “I need to be by myself,” he said. “But what would happen if this happened to you all by yourself?”, I asked.
“It couldn’t happen if I was by myself,” he answered. Finally he was standing again. “The saw must still be buried in the snow,” I said. Dad just looked at me. “I thought you had the saw,” he said. “No, remember you were going to carry the saw this year because last year I forgot it in the car,” I reminded him. He just looked at me. “We won’t tell mom this, will we?”, he asked. “Not a word,” I answered. We went back to the car. Right by the car there was a real nice tree.
“Too bad we did not see that on the way in,” said dad. “I did see it,” I said, “but you said you wanted to get a tree from back over there.” Dad just looked at me. “Next year we are buying a tree,” he said. “That’s what you said last year,” I reminded him and started laughing again, loud and long. “How do you manage to laugh so much?”, he asked. “Lots of practice,” I said. We used to have a lot of fun together, and dad would laugh at this misadventures too, later. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Dad had it right ! It wouldn’t have happened if he was alone ! It is hard not to laugh and once you start you cannot stop it ! A tree by the car ? But then you wouldn’t have had any “ fun”…Right Steve ? …have a good time remembering ! ☕️☕️🙂😻😂🎄☕️☕️
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But just think if he had fallen in the snow like that without me around to help him get up! We did have our fun times together! Too bad there are only a few winter stories.😂😹☕☕🎄
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You’re such a patient son..🤭🤭 sitting on him to pack the snow down for him to sit on was very thoughtful!😂😂😂😂
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It did help for getting him up again. That snow was just too soft otherwise!😂😂🤣🤣😹😹
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Easy on his old bones though
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That’s why I sat on his stomach instead of his bones!😂😂😂
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I’m sure he felt very fortunate!😂😂
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I’m sure he was feeling something!😂🤣
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Being hungry wasn’t one of them!😂😂
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Oh I don’t know, dad was always hungry.🤔🙄
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Even after you jumped up and down on his stomach??😳
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I only jumped down, not up. All I did was squeeze the air out of him.😂😂
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Lucky guy😏😏
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More room for food that way, so I’m actually helping.😁😁
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Gives a whole new meaning to packing away the food!!😂😂😂
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Yep. For some reason dad didn’t want to bring coffee or food with us that time, he said it would be safer to stop at a restaurant on the way back. Not sure what he meant by that however.🤔🤔
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More people around in case you cause him to choke!!🙄🙄🤭
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Actually he said something about actually wanting to eat his food for a change.🤔🙄🙄
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Can you blame him??
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I don’t get it.🤔
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That’s what he was trying to prevent!! You getting his food!😂😂😂😂
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I’m back, Muffin wanted her bedtime snack, then I got something for me too.
I never took his food.🤨
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No he always gave it to you after it was smashed or you threw it over the cliff!😂😂
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But those things weren’t my fault! Dad sat on his food, or squashed it when I tossed it to him, or he missed it when I tossed it to him, things like that.😂😂
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So you’re saying he gave up trying??🤔🤔🙄🙄
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No, when on one of our hikes he still had to take a chance with bringing food along. No restaurants out there!😂😂🙄🙄
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No wonder he was a thin man!!🤭🤭
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I was just trying to help his dieting.🤣🤣
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It seems to have worked!!🤣🤣
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Really? I didn’t notice.🤔
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He did!😂😂😂
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He just had a snack when he got home, as long as mom didn’t catch him.😂😂
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While she was making you a sandwich 🥪 😒
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Hey, I got hungry on those hikes!
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Oh I can imagine!!😂😂
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It’s not like we brought a lot of food with us on those hikes.🙄🙄
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Ya brought enough food… you just destroyed most of it!🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Wasn’t my fault.
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Not the way you tell the stories!! I’ll bet your dad’s version might be different🙄🙄🤔🤔🤔
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🤔🤔🤔🙄🙄🙄😛😛😛
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You still sleeping 😴 💤 🤭
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Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells!🔔🔔🎶🎵🎼🎤
Dashing through the snow…🎶🎵🔔❄❄⛄🏎
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Okay there Santa 🧑🎄 😂😂
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They didn’t have a sleigh.😳 Sigh.🤔🙄
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Did you have you deer friend Major or Colonel or what ever his name is, Gove you a tug?😂😂
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Haven’t seen him for awhile. But Junior was here yesterday, he’s getting bigger all the time, but his antlers are still small. I haven’t seen him for a long time but he came right up to me when I called him.😁🦌
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Very Cool 😎 He’s probably hanging out in the woods
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Yep, I’m sure he’s not far away.
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How did the guest Pastor do today?
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Very good, it was nice having him out again. He actually comes out once a month. He and his wife sang a special for us, they sound very nice together.
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Fun!! It’s always nice to have a bit of a change now and then…
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Yep, that is true enough.😁
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Did you ever go to a tent revival occasion? Those were always fun and interesting. Always around mid to late August around here..
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Yep, our church used to do one of those tent revivals here each August. It was a great time!
Well, I’m signing off for a while, but I will be back soon.😁
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Okie Dokie let know!😁
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I’m kinda back…and a little forth too!
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Rocking horse huh?😂😂
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🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️huff,huff,huff, I’m back again!
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Good to see you’re getting lots of exercise 😉😂😂😂
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Yep, got to do that now and then, Especially eating all these cookies.
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Christmas Cookies??😋😋😁😂
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No, that’s not until Saturday. Muffin and I are trying to figure out which cookies taste best to leave out for Santa.🤔😋😋🥮🍪🍩
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Oatmeal Raisin or Chocolate Chip!! Oh and don’t forget the milk!😋😂😂
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I can’t drink milk, he will have to settle for hot chocolate. That way he stays longer and leaves more gifts.😂😹
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Good Luck with that! Why not just lock the door and chimney when he’s there so he can’t leave!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
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I don’t have a chimney. Hmm, maybe that’s why he never comes?🤔😳
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Maybe you weren’t good all year long??🙄🙄🤔🤔 just a thought..🤭🤭
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What a strange thought.🤔🙄😳 Obviously it’s the lack of a chimney.😁
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Yeah ok😏😏🤭🤭🤭
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I’m glad you agree!
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I’m easy 😌 😳
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No comment.
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🐔 🐥 🍗 🐤 🐣 🐓 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Oh I wouldn’t call you that!🤔🙄🙄🙄
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What would you call me??🤨🤨🤭🤭
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Anytime!😂😂
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Ah ha …I see🤓😂😂😂
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Good, wasn’t it?🤔😂😂
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Only if you think so!!😁😂😂
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Thank you for agreeing with meeeeeeeeee!!!😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
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You’re Welcome!! If you’re happy so am I!😁
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Fantastic, terrific, super, wonderful, smilingly smileful, and all that sort of stuff!!😁😁😄😄😃😃
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Aweeee😊😊😊😊😊
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What time to you get home from work?
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Today? I didn’t… It’s Su b day
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Very funny. I mean like when you go to work during the week. What time do you get home?
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Around 330
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I ask because my doctor wants me to try an experiment for a couple weeks.
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This sounds Interesting..🤔🤔
What do they want you to try?
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He says I’m not getting enough sleep. I really didn’t need him to tell me that, I already knew that. Anyway, he wants me to cut off all screen time 2 hours before bed and be in bed no later than 10. That means signing off at 8. So I thought maybe starting to chat earlier than usual.
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Yeah, that works for me.. what time do you think?
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Not sure. We usually go from about 7 to 9, so maybe start at 6, maybe even chat a bit before supper. I can even chat while I’m eating.
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Sure whatever time works best for you..😁
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Thanks! I hope it works good. Right now with cutting screen time an hour before bed doesn’t seem to work, my brain is still too active and it takes me too long to get to sleep. This way it should give more time to get settled. I might have withdrawal the first couple nights though!😂😂
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Yeah… me too..😲😬😳
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Right now I’m always thinking about stuff on the computer and on my blog and all I see is bright lights.😳😳🙄🙄
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You definitely need to give you mind and brain time to calm down before trying to sleep.
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Yep, that’s what my doctor said. I thought an hour would do it, but for some people that is not enough apparently.
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I think it’s actually lime 90 minutes I think.
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Makes sense, my clock is always slow.🤔😂
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Here I thought it was wound too tight!!😂😂😂
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That’s my brain! Probably why it is wearing out so fast.🤔🙄
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I think you’ll be fine… not too much for you to be concerned about…😉😁
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That’s true, there wasn’t much there to begin with.😳🙄
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I don’t think that’s true… but I’ve learned you do need to sleep to think and concentrate effectively… 😉
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Yep, so true! These new ideas they come up with are really exciting, don’t you think?🤔😁
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Do you mean the earlier bedtimes? 🤔
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Actually that’s an old idea that is coming back in style, sort of somewhat slightly a little bit.
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Yeah, I always heard that before… didn’t believe it much until now!! But I am sleeping better with cpap.. it isn’t easy to get accustomed to though… but I wake sooner in the morning generally and feel more alert during the day
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Yep, sleep is a good idea for sure. I used to go okay on 4 or 5 hours sleep years ago, but I think age is telling me I need a bit more now!
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Yes indeed… you need to regenerate 😁😊
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Hmm, mostly I just refrigerate!🥶🥶
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It’s easy in your climate!!😂😂🤣🤣
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Precisely! Oh my, that wind is sure howling tonight!
Good night Dusty!😴😴🌙
Chatter again tomorrow!😁
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Good Night
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Good morning Dusty! You there? I’m here! I’m late, but I’m here.🙄🙄🙄
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Kinda I guess
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Have a good day relaxing in the cold?🤔
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Not really… went and picked up the glasses I ordered. Filed for Social Security…. for good or bad… only time will tell. I don’t feel real at ease with it though… but need to do something or nothing will change and that’s worse if you ask me.. at least more painful might be more accurate.
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I understand the feeling, but sometimes we have to take the best path even if it doesn’t seem perfect. I know when I first went on disability my income dropped by 75% and that’s the truth! That took some serious adjusting, but I survived it and I certainly can’t complain today.
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That’s encouraging to hear.. I just hope I have the wear withal to find something I enjoy doing and the monetary means to be able to afford it. Otherwise I will regret this.
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Well, you can still get a part time job doing something I’m sure if you get too bored. But it is important to have some kind of a hobby, I think anyway. My brother in law took up playing tennis when he retired and found he really enjoyed it. Sometimes you might have to try a few things to find something you really like. Hiking, mountain climbing, wait, they might not have mountains close by. Fishing, golf, just look around.
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Yeah, I’ll see.. I want to just decompress for a short while try to adapt and see what peeks my interests..
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Yep, that’s a good way to do it. Always good to take time to relax first, get used to your new home and just breathe a bit.
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Yep, being isolated is going to be difficult for me. I sure hope my landlords don’t become too interested in me. They are very fine people but at times I enjoy not being interrupted.
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Yep, that’s why I say you can always look for a part time job if you don’t want to be by yourself all the time. Yep, I can understand that too about landlords. I had one like that once, she was very nice, had several kids and they were always around, or invited me over. For me, most of the time I prefer to be by myself. I don’t mind an occasional invite or visit, but not all the time.
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Yeah, so how did your day go?
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It’s a cold one out there today! That wind brought the temp down to -30 today! Went shopping this morning, that went good. Still fighting my allergies today, can barely see out of my right eye.
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That’s kinda odd having allergy issues this time of year?
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Problem is I’m allergic to dust and I have been doing a real good cleaning getting rid of huge amounts of dust under/behind furniture. But I also cleaned up some mouse droppings the day before this started and that is something else that bothers me.
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Yeah, dust is my issue and some summer plants..
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Dust, mouse droppings, mould and some paints are the worst for me. I hope there is no mold showing up in here.😬
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No kidding.. dust you can clean up but mold is hard to find sometimes..
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Yes, I lived in one place and my allergies started going crazy. My landlord said maybe that mold is back again in that one wall. I moved out and everything cleared up nicely. It was easier to move back then however, there were actually places available to rent.
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Yeah, can’t afford to stay that’s for sure..
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Yep, not worth it.
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4 sure
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Maybe even 5 sure.
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Maybe if there is such a thing??
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With me around? Always.😂
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Can’t argue that!
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Rats, forgot to watch my time. Sigh. Might take a few nights to remember this new time.
Good night Dusty!
More chattering tomorrow, and I’ll try to be earlier too.😁🌙😴😴
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Good Night..
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Maybe I’ll take an island vacation if covid permits!
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That would be a good thing to do for sure, just get away from things for a while. Covid is getting bad again here, thousands of new cases each day in our province. Now we have more restrictions that started again yesterday, not too bad yet though.
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I hope it calms down again.
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Yep, that would be nice. Winter seems to be a bad time for it.
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Like the flu… sounds like that’s what it will be going forward.
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I hope so, but some worse variant could yet show up that evades our vaccines. That would be bad. And it could easily happen.
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That’s fore sure… just need to keep washing our hands ✋
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If people would just do the basics like that it would help get this thing under control a lot quicker.
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That’s for certain….
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Yep, that’s for sure.
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It’s very cold here today!! Balmy for you I suppose at 20 degrees but with the wind It’s cutting right through me!!🥶🥶
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Hey, that’s the same temp we have today and a strong west wind which does make it rather chilly. Going to be worse tomorrow.😳😬🥶
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Oh great!!🥶🥶🥶🥶
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And here I didn’t think you liked cold weather.🤔🙄
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I don’t like here either!!😂😂😂🥶🥶
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Very good come back, very good!!
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Busy busy day today for you… must be fun 🙃 😁😊
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Actually it’s not very busy at all.🤔
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It seemed like you were rushing around..
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I am, I have to keep going back to the kitchen for more cookies for Muffin and I. To find out why, read the next comment.😂😂Or is that the previous comment? I have such trouble with that.🤔🙄
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I can’t read the other comments on my phone
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That’s okay, I red them.😂😂
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Oh thanks for doing that for me!😛😛😛
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You’re welcome.👅😂
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One less thing for me to do..😂
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Thank you!😁
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I’m welcome ☺
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Me too!
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Hey how about that?? Who would’ve thought?🤔🙄😂😂😂
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Yes, it is amazing, isn’t it?
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All things considered? Yess!!😂😂
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Well, I don’t know if I would consider all things, it would take too long.🤣🤣
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Yeah you’re right… 😂😂
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Thank you for agreeing with meeeeeeeeee!!😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
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What makes you happy makes me happy!!😁😊😂
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Thank you, so kind, very nice, wonderful, terrific, and all that sort of stuff!😁😁😄😄
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Anytime 😊
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So, how was your day?
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Quiet, went to Walmart for a few items came back and that’s pretty much it….
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Not a bad day.
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Yeah, it was alright
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Nice relaxing day before getting back to the rush tomorrow.
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Nope off this week. No work until next Monday..
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Oh that’s right, you mentioned that before. That’s good.
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Yep I deed it is!!😁
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Oh… are you done writing yet??🤔
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That depends on the definition of “done”. Sigh.🙄🙄🙄
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A good stopping point.
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I wish I had one of those.🙄🙄
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Okay, a point at which you could easily begin from again?
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I did that twice already today.🙄🙄😂
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So you have 2 then!!😁😂😂
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Two brains would be better, then one could relax while the other was busy.😂🙄
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Right side left side brains!😂
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Say, you have a point, I already have 2. Hmm, they’re not coordinating then.🤔🙄🙄
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You should talk them!!😂😂🤭🤭
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They don’t listen to me!😒😒
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You’re in deep trouble!😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Oh, I’m past that stage.😳😳😳
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Acknowledgment is the first step to recovery!!😂😂
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But I don’t remember losing anything.🤔🤔
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See how well it works??🤔😁😂😂😂😂
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Sometimes I don’t think anything is working.🙄🙄
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Me too… with my stuff though..🙄🙄
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Good thing you added that last part.😒
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I know!! It was close…😬😬
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Yep, sure was!🤨
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Lucky for me I thought of that!😬😬🤔🤔🙄🙄
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Yep, I agree!🙄🙄
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Steve, I definitely shared a few chuckles in reading about the search for the “perfect” Christmas tree. With too much laughter, I just might be the one walking home. Finding a suitable tree so close to the car had to be a blessing. I don’t think the two of you could have managed a return back to those willows.
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That is so true, we would never had tried going back through those willows, they were thick and tangled, very hard to walk through them! Once I get started laughing, it is really hard for me to stop! Glad you got some chuckles from our story! Yes, it was a blessing getting that tree nice and close. Enjoy your day!
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Never a dull moment reading your stories about you and your dad! I am starting to see Christmas posts and we will probably see more this coming week. 😺🎅 🎄⛄️☕️☕️
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Yep, we had some fun times for sure! Thanks for reading! Yes, I’m sure this week will bring a lot more out.😁😺☕☕❄❄🎄
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😉
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sounds like a comedy skit; glad you can laugh about it…
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Most of our outings together were like that, things always happened! Yep, we used to talk about them later and laugh!
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Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. 🙂 Does Muffin care for the snow?
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Thanks so much Peregrine!
Muffin is strictly an indoor cat. Though she has gone on the deck a couple of times to say hi to the deer, but she runs back in quickly. She does not like the cold!😂🙀
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I don’t blame her. You both take care. 🙂
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Thanks so much! Have a wonderful week!!😀😺
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You two as well! 🙂
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Thanks!😊😸
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😂😂😂
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Thanks Stu, glad you enjoyed it!😂😹
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