how about drinking?

illimae

Sandy, the variety isn’t my doing, it’s the Aldi wine advent collection but I do enjoy the surprise. When Dec ends, I’ll check all the bottles and note the empty ones for future purchase. DH was made wine before from fruit juices and we may try a little wine making on the mountain, those cute little bottles will come in handy.

NativeMainer

Quick poop in. Internet connection is through the phone only just now, will get better when some of the ice melts off.

karen1956

NM - when will you hear about the School Nurse position? You will love it and be great at it. Never boring. And not really dramatic kids. Yes, some sick kids, but you will be a part of the special education team, working with special needs kids, connecting with outside medical specialist etc. I have a girlfriend who is a health para and work with some great district (vs building) nurses. All the district wide nurses are masters level and specialist with lots of experience. No newbies!!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Needless to say, I love the schools.

camillegal

JCSLibrarian

The gathering yesterday was really fun. Nice drive out to the country and a beautiful house/land. We sat around a huge fire pit for a few hours to enjoy the weather and sunset. Then we ate (safely distanced) in a heated garage. All ended up staying until 7:30pm just talking and telling stories. So we were out there close to six hours! It was wonderful to be around other people and have the social experience. I was unaware how much I really missed that.

Plan today is to walk three miles, hit the grocery store and get my Christmas tree up. Also need to do laundry and bay bills. Hope to get most of that done! LOL! It is spitting rain, but should clear up. I need to get the stocking stuffers sorted out. Kids are all getting some Covid related stuff; sanitizer, masks, etc. Also will get some office supplies. DH found a bunch of staplers and tape dispensers in a desk in the basement. Doubt they “need” them, but it will be funny to gift them. More Pandemic shopping in the basement! The fun never ends!

Stay safe!

camillegal

Mornin ladies,

Wow lots going on.

Oh Kim like everyone has said we''re all crossing our fingers for u. This job sounds so great for what u are looking for.Not only for the hours but for going to a job that wouldn't take so much stress on you. Kids have a way to just make it better. And u need this now, u have crazy scary hours. Sadie will love it too.

Illi I like that the wine is all yours now I also thnk u and ur DH would really enjoy making it too. So ut that on ur list. LOL drinkable

Lori 2 MONTHS holy chit, u've been doing all this for so long. No wonder why ur so tired, plus ur treatment can't be heling for sure. I know u like to drive but not for these reasons, so often. Oh what a great idea to freeze ice cubes for recipes, I've never heard of that. Ur always so clever.

JC not only do u and ur DG enjoy hiking and enoying ur friends so much but sports too. Awesome.

Misty I don't understand why r u going back to work so soon. There is still so much going on, it seems worse this time.

Karen u always are so happy about ur work, it's great to hear that.

Jazzy things are going well for you and it's always great to hear that. And yes that's why I wasn't here for 2 days between Santa's girth and my age it took that long to complete everything that the mistle toe represents.

Sandy I still think Drs. should be first on the list no matter where they work in th hospital, all nurses an everyone working in them. There's such high rate it's hard to keep up with this crap., An singing in the closet??? Lots of people have been known to be in the closet for very long, we'll see what happens. But good luck for that experience. Sounds strange.

Celia where r u???

Hello to anyone I missed, I never mean to.

LUBS U ALL

NativeMainer

Good afternoon, Loungettes! Finally have internet connection again in the house and not just on the phone. The contract company called just before noon, they haven't heard from the school yet. She'll let me know as soon as they hear something.My stomach is tie dp in knots waiting.

Also waiting for my neighbor to get his skidder out and break down the snow/ice pile at the end of the driveway. And get the jeep unstuck. I texted and told work I wasn't coming in today, needed to get my driveway cleared, haven't heard a word from the Director of Nursing, just got an "OK" from the scheduled. Guess they didn't need me to cover for anyone today. I had entertained a little fantasy of getting the call and getting the job and turning in my notice today. Tomorrow I'm working from 7 peeyem to 3 ayem, maybe I'll get to put my resignation in the DON's mailbox when I get to work.

Sadie likes having mehome, she's been keeping my feet warm all morning!

Now to play ketchup!

Goldie/Jazzy--that peppermint bark liquor looks very yummy! I'll have to see if I can find some!

Illi--where are you getting these little bottles of wine? Fun to try new tastes, even if you wouldn't go back for more!

Goldie--no, nothing has been said about vacation time. The hours switching up all the time is starting to really wear me out. Hope DH starts moving more soon, before complications have a chance to catch up with him!

Very Pretty Winter Sea Breeze!

Karen--thanks for the good wishes. I'd love to hear your input!

Librarian--I hope your country house gathering was fun.

Jazzy--Glad to hear your friend's surgery went well. Praying for a good path report. Covid cases are skyrocketing here in Maine, and in my county. A specific start date wasn't discussed, but the school calendar shows Holiday Break starting Dec 23rd, classes resuming Jan 4th. I'm guessing Jan 4th would be the start date.

Chi--every year I try a new brand of alcoholic eggnog, and every year I have to cut it with cream or half and half. You'd think I'd learn to just make my own!

Karen--I hope to hear today about the school nurse job. I'm getting more and more nervous as the day goes by!

Cammy Cat--keep your fingers crossed, I'm still waiting to hear. I'm hoping it's just hard to get 6 different people in 6 different places together at the same time to make the decision.

Librarian--sounds like the get together was just what you needed! Love the idea of pandemic shopping in the basement!

Pins & Needles

Ingredients

• 1½ parts Rosé wine apéritif
• 1 part Rhum agricole blanc
• ¾ part Pineapple syrup
• ½ part Lime juice
• 1 dash Aromatic bitters
• 1 part Sparkling water

Instructions

Shake everything (except the sparkling water) with ice. Strain into an ice-filled wine glass or short glass. Top with sparking water and garnish with a lime wheel and a pineapple wedge.

From <https://cocktailpartyapp.com/drinks/pins-needles/>

illimae

NM, it’s the wine advent calendar from Aldi. I hear it’s 1/2 price now that Dec has already started.

illimae

Tonight’s DOTD is the 2nd Rose in the batch, so far it’s meh...

CeliaC

Quick pop in to say hello to all.

illi - That Aldi advent calendar looks like fun. My Aldi in KY sells beer but not wine. Next time I am across the river for a Trader Joe's run, will have to check out a nearby Aldi that does sell wine. Chardonnay is one white wine that I have never been able to tolerate. Looks like you have had some good ones of other types, though.

NM - Hope you get some good news about the school nurse position! You surely deserve a break on the career front!

Goldie - Hope things will begin to settle down with all the doctoring and caring for your husband.

Everyone else - if you somewhere cold, stay warm and if you are somewhere warm, count your blessings!

ChiSandy

Bob brought home some fried chicken from the office (now open only for tele-"visits" and closed to patients because the nurse & echo tech are both quarantining. The tech, after 10 days from suspected exposure, just tested negative today; the nurse is awaiting test results--she let her college-student kids come home for Thanksgiving and her DD tested positive). We've been taking our temps and pulse-ox several times a day now. Anyway, Cami, he promises to try Fry The Coop next time because it's en route from Christ Hospital to his office in Hickory Hills.

I've decided better safe than sorry, and will follow CDC advice not even to go shopping except for meds I can't get delivered. So much for Thursday's mani. It's only fingernails, and who's gonna see 'em anyway? The monthly mani-pedi is still on (assuming the salon doesn't get shuttered) because of my chronically ingrown toenails, which I must take care to keep them from getting infected. The salon is safer than the hospital where my podiatrist's office is located; though his topical anesthesia is stronger, my pedicurist/salon owner does a better job (the lidocaine spray I bring along does help a bit).

Cami, LOL about the "closet." But the reason we have to record our vocals inside one is to avoid hard surfaces that create echo & reverb--the music director wants our vocal tracks absolutely "dry," so he can be the one to add any effects. You can always add reverb to a "dry" track by duplicating it and applying reveb, but you can't remove it from a track recorded with it. I briefely contemplated recording my vocals in GarageBand--putting the instrumental backing on one track, my plain dry vocal on a second, then "monitor mix" with reverb in the headphones on a third, so I could hear myself the way I want...and then send him only the dry vocal. But then I'd have to spend all day doing that, and trying to convert the result to a file format his software can read. The stressful part about singing into a phone is that it has to be perfect: tone, volume and especially pitch. For a 30-second vocal, it takes me 3 or even 4 "passes" till I find one with which I'm satisfied. (That's because the music director doesn't have the time to edit from alternate takes, so we can send him only one track per vocal part--one for melody, one for harmony). On a phone, you can't seamlessly edit together the best takes (much less surgically pitch-correct individual notes) the way you can on a computer using a multitrack program like GarageBand, Logic or ProTools. (Oh how I miss the studio and my engineer)!

So DOTD was Georges Duboeuf Beauj. Nouveau. Bob & I agreed that while the Momessin is a far superior wine, the Duboeuf is more like the archetypal B.N. (No surprise there--the late Monsieur Duboeuf cooked up the whole concept of marketing B.N. outside the region, complete with hoopla starting with reporters meeting the flight from France every Nov.). And at Binny's, it's the cheapest--about nine bucks.

camillegal

goldie0827

A couple days behind. Thought we were headed back to the ER on Sunday, DH's BP was 170/116 and then just like that, it went to 98/60! Been nice here, nice enough to get some gardening stuff done. More doctors tomorrow in Flagstaff, 2 and a half hour drive!

JCS, you and DH sure like your sports! We watch NONE, Nadda, Nil! I find it quite special when meeting a breastie. LOL at pandemic shopping in the basement.

Jazzy, glad you are there and able to help your friend out. I'm hoping the Native Americans can get those numbers down with the lock down of the Navajo Nation.

Sandy, I was going to ref. the asparagus in your comment about the wine, but you beat me to it! Fresh asparagus will do it too.

BG, how's all those bottles of wine fit in that little box???

Cami, it's been more than 2 months. DH was supposed to have back surgery mid July, so I have been doing quite a bit since even before then do to his inablility to walk well. Where is this Santa/Mistle Toe picture of you? Did I miss something? I will freeze wine like that for cooking, as you usually only need a half a cup or so.

NM, love your little fantasy of getting the job, now to make it a reality.

Sandy, hoping you and Bob stay Covid free.

DOTD:

Christmas Coffee Cocktail

4 oz strong coffee
1 1/2 oz amaretto liqueur
1 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 oz creme de cocoa
fresh whipped cream
grated chocolate, for garnish

Combine strong coffee and liqueurs in a glass. Stir to combine and top with fresh whipped cream. Garnish with grated chocolate.

Serve warm or over ice.

NativeMainer

I got the job!

goldie0827

Shut the front door!

How exciting NM, so very happy for you. But did you say it was for the next school year?

Beaverntx

Yea, NM!! Details to follow???

illimae

NM, congrats 🎉🍾

Goldie, the wine bottles are stacked in the box and small, only 10 oz maybe. Here’s how they fit.

goldie0827

BG, that picture is helpful. Seeing it in your hand, they looked much larger.

NativeMainer

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Happy Whatever day it is! Just before 9 ayem I got the call from the contract company (the school staff call them the nurses' "Handlers" with the offer for the school nurse position! At the pay rate aimed for, which will mean, for me, making as much money as I was at 40 hours while working 35 hours. I've finished the forms and called HR at the nursing home. I'm working tonight 7 peeyem to 3 ayem, going to drop off my resignation letter in the DON's mailbox, collect up the few items I want to take home with me from the office, and drop off the office key and my badge in the HR director's office. Oh, yes, got a text telling me that I would need to be working overnight both nights this weekend. So my last day is tomorrow. The school wants me to start on Monday. Now I'm just waiting for the on boarding packet to come through and get all those bits and pieces put together. I am so excited! Sadie is excited, too, and I'm not sure she even knows why, she's excited just because I am!

The neighbor who normally plows my drive has just has hernia surgery, so his son is doing the plowing. He finally got my drive broken out today, and got me unstuck. Bonus, he does driveway work, and mine needs work BADLY, so we did an informal estimate and I'm on his schedule for spring. I thought it would cost all outdoors and then some, but it will probably be less than $3K depending on the cost of gravel in the spring. I keep being amazed by how much less it costs to get something done using a local person than one of the big companies.

Illi--I was just looking at the Aldi site, the wine advent calendar is sold out! There are a couple of others that I am going to look at though, one looks like chocolate, one mentions dogs. . . .

Celia--thanks for the good wishes and it worked! Things will be moving fast now.

Chi--fascinating info about the vocals and effects and such. I never knew it was so complex.

Goldie--boy DH's blood pressure really bounced around! What was that all about? The fantasy of a new job is now a REALITY and starts NEXT WEEK! Love the Christmas Coffee Cocktail! The job is for the rest of the current school year, so through June. With a very good chance of renewing for the 2021-2022 school year.

Beaver--I think it's an elementary school about 30 miles from where I live, so about a 40 minute drive. A bit longer than the current commute, but with the benefit of snowstorm/icy roads = no school = no work. The flip side is that it's hourly pay, so no work, no pay. The hourly pay is better than I'm making now, so even with a shorter work week I'll probably clear more than I have been at the nursing home. The school I think I will be in is an elementary school, school hours 8:45 ayem to 3:00 peeyem, grades 3 to 5.

Illi--I just checked back on the Aldi site, almost all the Advent Calendars are sold out. I've got to try to remember them for next year, though!

MinusTwo

CONGRATS NM. Looking forward to your story about resigning the current job and the details about your new start date.

illimae

NM, yes, they sell out fast. The friend who gave it to me works at Aldi, so he snatched it up before that could happen.

camillegal

I want it every word for word what happen.

Jazzygirl

I am SO HAPPY for you NM about the new job. And I love that you are going in with your resignation letter, and telling them you are finished and starting right away. No reason to stick around for a job that is mistreating you and making you work all kinds of God awful hours.

I think you said there are benefits with the new job too through the contracting agency?

Happy Days are here again, congrats and hope you enjoy the new gig!

ChiSandy

YAAAAY, Kim!!!

No DOTD for me tonight: stepped on to the scale and...well, it's not the "quarantine 15," but pretty worrisome, especially since my next official weigh-in is just a month away. Wine almost every night, no exercise due to backache (and no walking to restaurant patios or shopping--getting everything delivered due to pandemic restrictions, colder weather, & pain), and giving in to carb-cravings (eating the crust from quiche, not peeling off the breading from fried stuff, Thanksgiving ('nuff said), eating cornstarch-laden stir-fries, having pity-party pie last week, midnight snacking on chips & cereal, etc.) have all taken their toll. So tonight, with a cauliflower pizza--not eating the crust--I'm drinking more water. And cutting back on even the low-carb breads and ultra-filtered milk in my coffee creations. Still fitting into my size 10s, but more snug-ly. Not bingeing by any means, but with my letrozole-impaired metabolism even the most modest carb-cheating can do damage. So it's back off the Mediterranean maintenance diet and back to near-keto again.

illimae

DOTD was just a sip and as I suspected I didn’t like it. I’ve never tasted a merlot I liked, although this one wasn’t the worst. Excuse the language but in the words of Paul Giamatti in Sideways, “I’m not drinking any fucking Merlot!”

goldie0827

Well NM, at this point you should be DONE at the nursing home. I bet there will be lots of shocked people there! Sadie feels your excitement, therefore she is excited. As for DH, I have no idea what is up with him.

Sandy, sorry for that weight gain, but sounds like you got it early and getting it taken care of.

LOL BG on the Merlot! Tell us how you really feel!

Plans changed today, no appts. They called and canceled. Which is fine by me, since it's supposed to be around 60 today!

karen1956

NM - I'm so happy for you for the school nurse job. If you want to chat, message me your phone number on fb, unless you are comfortable putting it here. I've been in the schools for 30 years and I still love it even with all the challenges. I did private practice and gave it up once I was full time in the schools. I work directly for the schools so I'm salary, but I know special service providers who work for contract agencies. You will rock the job!!!! Karen

goldie0827

POINSETTIA POMEGRANATE MARTINI

• INGREDIENTS
  • 1.5 ounces gin*
  • 1 ounce pomegranate juice
  • 1 ounce fresh lime juice
  • .5 ounce simple syrup
  • pomegranate seeds and sliced lime to garnish

JCSLibrarian

Congrats, NM! You will be so good at working with children.

I live in a suburb, but close to the center of a larger (the state capital) city. Anyway, for many months the water department has been replacing water lines in my general area. Since yesterday they have been directly in front of my house. They did ask if they could park the numerous backhoes and other equipment in our empty lot. And now they have moved a porta-potty there as well! Last night they attempted to park a smallish backhoe in our front yard. DH went flying out the door without shoes to say “No!” They did move it. This morning it is so loud! They are drilling, sawing and otherwise tearing up the road. No naps today!

Beaverntx

JCS ouch!! This too shall pass???

NM, when you make a change you move right ahead! I gather you did not have to give two weeks notice.

Goldie, glad you got a chance for some well deserved downtime even though that now means the hassle of rescheduling appointments.

Ill have you been trying your wines both with food and without? I find some that I do not like alone are very good with food and others I enjoy alone.I

Hi to everyone.