Saving a Gift from Tunga for My Birthday Month...a Smoker for Bourbon Drinks (as I Had in Birmingham, Alabama &, More Recently, Milford, CT)

There was a mishap, a minor cluck-up, where a gift for me was not given to me because it was hidden in a place that was easy to forget about. Either way, the gift was found yesterday and given to me while sipping soup. A bourbon smoker, which I can't wait to try out, but I'm seriously putting it aside for a month. I want a life cleanse of everything (and I'm thinking back to my 30s & 40s where I ran every day and that was my therapy...I want to run again....miles and miles and miles...without any pain). Addictions are weird. Sipping bourbon is beautiful, but it's not exercise. 

We shall see how it all goes. Class tonight, tomorrow night, and Thursday night. I need to be on my A-game to get everyone to the end. I am starting to feel their panic, although they have this...I just have to get them to do the parts and be comfortable with each one. The literature review comes this week and a data plan next week and it is all done. They're then unleashed to collect materials for the semester. 

I am admitting here, I hit more stores for Clearance racks. I did pretty good, in fact, and am proud of my frugal purchases...spending money without spending money.

The report is that Alyssa made it to Syracuse by 10:30 a.m. and Tunga spent last night with Sue & Dave and is venturing back to Iowa this morning. I'm channeling the 13 years I did the same, driving back and forth to Syracuse from Louisville during my holiday break...this of course is different, because he's in Des Moines and she is in central New York.

I've also decided to keep the Christmas stuff up for another week. I like the lights and there's something about the three wisemen arriving with gifts weeks after the birthday of Santa Clause, so I can keep my tree up longer if I want. I truly love staring at it in silence (no t.v....just lights and my laptop and keyboard finger-tapping)

I finally made it to the grocery store but didn't stock up too successfully - just enough to tie me over a couple of days. I have milk, so back to Cheerios I will go. It might take a couple of days for the bananas to ripen, though. And I had pumpkin samosas for dinner....little late in the season, but they are always delicious. I need to get a good dipping sauce for when I make them.

New goal of falling asleep earlier and getting up earlier is on the radar. The last two days I've slept until after 9 a.m. and I'm thinking, "What is going on?" Of course, the sinuses/allergies/cold is still clogging me up, so it might be that, too. I wonder what it's like to have normal nostrils and no pressure...seems I live yearlong with the crud in my mid-life.

And as for the rain while I was gone, it must of been a downpour, because the sump pumps are still doing their thing all over Stratford. Because the ground isn't frozen and it's over saturated, it's coming up through the basement floors. We need a freeze or 90 degree weather soon.

Happy Tuesday. I like when we have Monday's off.