Definitely fallen in too deep

I hit Price Chopper and Agway while I was downtown. I picked up fixings for lasagna and lots of dog treats (that won’t last as long as they should *side-eyes Pip*).

I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I hit the library when it opened in the afternoon to pick up a book (and got two for my efforts!), then also stopped at Stewart’s. We finished up the leftover beef veggie soup (that I made with the leftover chuck roast) for supper.

I added ~1,000 words to my fic for smallfandomfest!! And I did it at McD’s! This is the first time I’ve gone back to McD’s in weeks! Possibly even months. (When was that time I was told the heat was fixed, only to show up and it was still freezing? That was the last time I was there.) The heat was not only working today, it actually got TOO hot at times, lol! But I wasn’t going to complain about that.

I tried the Apricot tea today. It wasn’t bad, but it won’t be one of my favorites. Why is tea so soothing when you don’t feel your best? Speaking of not feeling my best, I’m still in the drawn-out stuffed/runny nose stage with the fun addition of a sinus pressure headache from time to time. (I spoke to Pip’s employee who went to urgent care; he was diagnosed with a major sinus infection, so not exactly what Pip had. Weird that he got that, Pip got what he thinks is the flu, and I’ve got this half-assed maybe-a-cold thing going on. It seems like I have to have gotten what Pip had, so maybe the flu shot was good for something, in that it mitigated the symptoms?!! IDK)

I read both fanfic (and even left comments without procrastinating!!!) and from a book! I also watched more Secrets of the Zoo. AND I placed an online order with another Christmas GC, which included a pretty box to hold tea bags for myself!!

Temps started out at 12.9(F) and reached 30.7. Once it hit that high, at around 1pm, it turned right around and started going down again. At 3pm it was already 21.7. The temps drop so quickly this time of the year.


Mom Update:

Mom sounded good when I spoke to her. Sister A had visited her earlier (and pulled out another puzzle), which was nice. (Sister A’s visits will be curtailed when school starts up again on Monday, though.) She told me that eating was going okay, but she’s been relying on the protein shakes mostly. (Makes me wonder why she hasn’t made herself something like the instant mashed potatoes again.)

I have now seen eps 1.10 through 1.15. My comments include spoilers for all of these eps in no particular order. ( spoilers )


( The Pitt Season 2 Trailer )

My goals for 2026 are not a whole lot different from any previous year. o_O


1. Write more fic. Circumstances this year conspired to keep me from writing, but I’m hoping I can find make time to do more writing this year. According to AO3 I posted 21 fic and 14 half moon ficlets for a total of over 101,000 words in 2025. I didn’t do half bad for not having a lot of time to write (or type things in), but I’d still like to do more.

Immediate fanfic goals for January: I need to finish one more fic for smallfandomfest, finish my fic for smallfandombang, write one (hopefully two) more fic for fandomtrees.

I have more time for this, but now that my recipient has been in contact with me, I need to write a fic for sunflower_auction. And even farther out, I have a fic I’d like to finish for wipbigbang. I originally signed up to finish it last year, but the summer went to hell in a handbasket, so it never happened.

Besides that, I just want to write! More Jessica Fletcher, no doubt. Especially crossovers, as I love throwing her into other fandoms.


( more back here )

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve! (We were in bed long before the ball dropped, as usual.)

I had a chiropractic appointment and a pedicure this morning. I don’t drink champagne, but since it was New Year’s Eve I suggested champagne bubbles for the design. She had no idea how to do that, but googled it and came up with something she could do without fancy stickers.

Since I didn’t get there yesterday, I hit Walmart, Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown. I picked up Chinese for lunch. And that took up my entire morning!

Chores were minimal; I hand-washed dishes, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter. I made shake ‘n bake chicken legs for Pip’s supper. I made spinach dip for the first time in years! I picked up a round loaf of pumpernickel for the occasion.

I had planned to read, but I remembered that one of my HGTV programs (Fixer to Fabulous) had aired Tuesday night, so I watched that. And when I went to the DVR I remembered that the final three eps of season one of The Pitt had aired Monday night, so I had to watch ~that as well. And then I watched-watched an ep of Secrets of the Zoo.

No tea today because I wasn’t home in the morning, which is my prime tea time. I did pick up a package of Lindor’s raspberry cheesecake flavored truffles, only to be like, wow, how can raspberry be so tasteless? Now, it’s possible that my taste has been affected by my cold, or whatever it is, so I’ll try them again later, but man, so disappointing.

Temps started out at 20.1(F) and reached 32.5. There was some sun, but it didn’t last long.


Mom Update:

Mom sounded good when I talked to her. Sister A and Ian had visited earlier, and Sister S was there when I called, so even though I’m unable to visit, she is still having visitors.

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.


What I am Currently Reading: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher.


What I Plan to Read Next: I have another library book on my shelf and two requested, so probably one of those.

---

Book 113 of 2025: Boyfriend Material (Alexis Hall)

I'm not sure I have the words to tell you how good this book was. I mean, I was wary because more than one person on my f-list has said it was really good and I was like, but what if I'm the one person who doesn't like it? I did not have to worry about that because I liked it a great deal. So much! ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so got up and fooled around on the internet. (You might have noticed an early comment from me. *g*) The original plan was to go downtown, even though it actually felt weird to do so after three days staying home, and hit Price Chopper and Walmart. That plan changed when Pip called to tell me that the main road I’d be traveling was closed in at least three places (due to the heavy winds all night blowing snow onto the road). Easy decision to stay home. I’ll just have to do my shopping tomorrow, so *fingers crossed* I’m still feeling pretty good.

Pip called me again around 6:30am (it was early, but it felt later since I’d already been up for over 3 hours) to tell me that one of his employees was headed to urgent care with the same thing Pip had. He admitted that at one point he’d felt bad enough that he probably should have gone to urgent care, but he doesn’t like to admit to things like that in the moment. I hope I don’t start feeling like I want to head to urgent care. o_O But if this guy gets diagnosed, at least I’ll know what’s going on. Also, we’re guessing that Pip probably caught it at the garage Christmas party. Arrgh at people going out when they know they’re sick!

I have the stuffy AND runny nose today. How is it fair that you are stuffed up so you can't breathe, and also your nose is running?!! So far nothing worse. *fingers crossed*

I did three loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet bowl, went for a couple walks with the dogs, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, returned a book to the library (when I was already out, I didn’t make a special trip!), placed a Chewy order, and shaved. I put a pork roast in the crock pot and made pulled pork for supper.

Since I stayed home I was able to type in one of my fic; I added 1,800 words to my Murder, She Wrote/Hudson & Rex crossover! AND got it posted, which is a nice bonus. I went with the Earl Grey tea today because I wanted something familiar and comforting. I sat down on the bed to write and ended up taking an hour nap with Midnight on my lap. I also watched-watched more Secrets of the Zoo.

Temps started out at 16.9(F) (interesting because the high is forecasted to be 18!) and reached 24.1. The wind was seriously ridiculous! In some places the walking trail was blown clear, and in others the snow was at least six inches deep. And walking into the wind felt like it was trying to push me backwards. Also, the roads weren’t great when I went out to pick up Ti. We live off of Route 20, which is a four-lane ‘highway’ here. The snow usually covers one lane when the wind is blowing, maybe edging a bit into a second lane, but today it covered all four! And visibility wasn’t great because of the blowing snow. I wonder when the wind is going to stop?!!


Mom Update:

I talked to mom and she sounded pretty good. I sound like a broken record, but it feels weird not to see her at least a few times a week.

I did not go downtown today because of the expected (and received) ice. I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, placed a B&N order for myself using a Christmas GC, and showered.

I read fanfic and watched Secrets of the Zoo (like, actually watched, it wasn’t just background tv). I also re-watched the first two eps of Mistletoe Murders to gather some information for a fic I’m planning to write (for smallfandomfest; if you guessed that it’s a crossover with Murder, She Wrote, you’d be right *g*).

Today I tried the Ginger Peach tea. At first I didn’t like it, perhaps the ginger, or the combination, but it actually grew on me.

Temps started out at 32.4(F) and reached 46.8. We got a lot of ice, as you can see from the pics, and wind later in the day. The warm temps melted the ice off the trees before the wind hit, thankfully. But Pip discovered that we have a lot of branches down on top of the hill (aka, above the pine trees).

~*~



Mom Update:

Again, mom sounded good when I talked to her on the phone. She’s been eating and keeping it down. Sister A was there when I called. Also, Sister S showed up yesterday and she and Sister A got out one of the puzzles I gave mom for Christmas. I hope it encourages mom to do some of it. At least she still has visitors, but I feel bad I can’t be one of them right now.

fandomtrees has some needy trees! If you’ve got the time and the spoons, please check out the spreadsheet linked in this post to see if there are any prompts you can fill.


Fandom Asides:

~The first time I saw the challenge frattweek mentioned, I thought it was a college!AU.

~I’ve discovered that in addition to Bluey, Toddler A (known formerly as Baby A *g*) loves Wicked and K-Pop Demon Hunters.

I did not go downtown today. Instead I was out shoveling the sidewalk by about 7am. (At least the snow was over so I only had to go out and shovel once.) Pip, sick as he is, was blowing snow (the driveway and walking trails). And then he went up to the garage to plow that out.

I did two loads of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, swept and mopped the dining room and hallway, went for a walk with the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. We had more of the chicken noodle soup for supper.

I read fanfic and watched some HGTV programs. Dr. Pol was my evening background tv. Today I tried the pomegranate tea. It was good, though I was familiar with the flavor because I've had pomegranate tea before when I went to the local coffee shop (that is no longer there). It came in a tin, I think Harney & Sons, or something like that? I looked it up, their Pomegranate Oolong.

Pip had cold sweats this morning and wasn’t able to keep his breakfast down, but he seemed to do better as the day progressed.

Temps started out at 17.4(F) (a whopping 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning!). According to the ruler I stuck in the snow in different areas, we got about 8" of snow overnight. Thankfully it was not wet and heavy, but even light snow is a pain when you’ve got go shovel 8" of it! Temps reached 25.3.


Mom Update:

Mom sounded pretty good when I talked to her. She’s actually eating more! More being relative. She had some protein drink for breakfast, and some mashed potatoes and peas for lunch. Eating anything solid like that has been a real trial. She was thinking about what to have for supper when I called. One of her friends visited and Sister A called her so she did have some social time.