Perhaps it’s the Mistletoe

 

          I have had a cough since mid October though I don’t know why.  It isn’t bronchial or viral I don’t think.  I wonder if it is an allergy cough.

          Here in Oregon we have trees which produce parasites or mistletoe.  I am allergic to mistletoe and have wondered if that is what has been creating my cough. 

 

from dictionary.com

I have never had a hairball lodged in my throat but the feeling is something caught between the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage.

          As I have looked into possibilities and researched  the throat names and positions I have also wondered if the cough may be caused by a drug prescription that I have been taking for just a few months.  I will have to ask the doctor at my next appointment.

My Two Shoes

 

          Ever since we put the rocks in the yard, Bonnie has climbed the hill to do her thing – which is nice – at least to a degree.  The winter months have been so cold and wet that Bonnie has not wanted to be on the hill – or even outside for that matter.  She does her thing on the rocks – next to the doors, next to the gate.  Blech!!

          Eight hours after I had dressed I went outside to clean up after her.  When I got inside I removed my shoes as I could sense debris and mud on the bottom.  It wasn’t until then that I noticed I had been wearing two different shoes – a green one and a gray one.  I don't even know where the mate to the gray shoe is. 

Boy, am I observant!

Thick Wet Fog

 all up and down I5

I never thought about how much 

moisture is brought through the 

fog but that seems to be what 

is making our porch wet

Angels Are Crying

 So the weather has been bleak overall.  Today it has been raining - enough to remind me of the floods that happened at the start of last year. . . .

Just now I decided that it is the angels crying over this nation and what a disgrace we've become.  I didn't vote for Trump!  Not a once.  I am certain that he cheated all three times he's run.  I can't prove it.

I hope all my readers know this.  I hope others know that I do not stand for anything he does - like with Venezuala or renaming Panama or trying to con those in Greenland to become a part of us.  Why in the hell would they want to be a part of us?  I don't want to be a part of us.  I am ashamed of our government - or those who do support him and continue to keep him in office.  How many times does one need to be impeached before he is removed from office?  He's already started a civil war and is dragging other nations into it.  I hope they take their outrage on him and not the civilians who didn't even vote for him.

Worse Snowstorm

 Richard and I were watching documentaries of the worst snow in the nation - starting with the snowmageddon  in 1978 Ohio  followed by snowmageddons in Chicago.  Oh, my!

I was in junior high with a different perspective than I have right now.  I did KNOW about the snow that seemed to shut down the north east part of our nation but hadn't known the details.  

I was corresponding with a penpal from Germany.  The snow had delayed up our correspondence.

The Fog Has Swallowed Our Neighbors' Houses!

 We took down the decorations down on Tuesday instead of holding out for the new year.  Good thing.  Yesterday was rainy.  Today there is fog.  This is the thickest I've seen it since we came to Oregon .

(I have seen it worse than this when I lived in Utah)

Lost Pet

 I just received a call from someone 

I will be having lunch with on Friday.  

She said that two dogs showed up in her yard - 

one a Great Dane mix and the other a Pit Bull Mix.  

She said the two dogs are well cared for and 

probably their owner must be frantic.  

She was calling to find out if I could post the info on facebook.  

With some struggle, I finally landed on a Tri City page.  

Close enough.  

Now my info is pending.  

I hope the dogs and owners are reunited soon.

I should ask her to take a picture to post.

She is technically challenged and probably doesn't know how. 

 Her husband will.

Enjoying a Tradition of Another

 

When it is near Christmas there are occasional stands or trucks parked selling oranges.  I hadn’t noticed tamales offered in the past but along with the oranges there have been vendors pushing tamales.

          When we saw Freaky Friday we had stopped off at a Mexican kitchen in Roseburg and that is what Richard had ordered.  He was disappointed with the results and thus reluctant to buy from vendors - though it does seem to interest him.

          We were surprised when Domingo and Maddie showed up on our doorstep sharing their tradition of warm tamales.  A dozen freshly made tamales.  It’s been eons since I’ve had tamales.  They taste delicious.  Thank you for that share. 

Every Sticker Tells a Story

           Well maybe not every sticker . . . but perhaps one day it will.

          I don’t know how long ago it was  when Jaime gave me a tablet that she had collected from another.  She gave it to me so that I could replace my kindle.  Truth is I used them both simultaneously.  I would play on one while the other charged.  I don’t know how old either product was, but my kindle outlasted the tablet.  And then Richard purchased a new tablet for me. 

On Christmas morning I received a skin to protect my tablet.  Along with the plain skin was a set of stylists and several stickers which I could decorate my tablet skin.  

These are the stickers I chose.

I definitely wanted the landscape in jar.  It fits my personality.  The coloring app that I currently use contains several choices that combine outlined pages with a mysterious inside.  This picture reminds me of many of those color-by-number that I have played.

I do not have a reason for the fish or sad cheetah.  Not as of yet anyway.  Although the sad cheetah could be me representing my idleness this month.  Hopefully it will be a thing of the past and I can return to a normal sleeping schedule and not feel so fatigued all of the time.

Although Bonnie is a different breed than the one pictured in this sticker, it reminds me of her as Jaime and I had settled on a flower illustration for the first name tag we had given her dog.

Two years ago our youngest son sent us a game called “What’s the Point”  

The cactus sticker reminds me of the many times we have played and enjoyed the game

Jaime and I have always had an inside joke with the elephant as mentioned in this post.

Alpacas and Llamas almost look the same to me.  I just thought the sticker was cute but I am reminded of a time when Jaime said she wished she were a llama.  I asked why and she said because then she could stretch her neck like this (demonstrating) It made me laugh. 

We also saw some alpacas on our initial move to Oregon.  I thought they were weird looking llamas.  

Jaime also loved giraffes when she was younger. I will include a now and then favorites closer to her birthday 2026.

No interesting story for the kangaroo.  Just thought it was cute.

Golden Gate Bridge always reminds me of visiting San Francisco and my mom as it is where she had been raised.

 

Though we never had a camper, these two stickers remind me of road trips.  And there have been a LOT of road trips.

Utah – my home state

The witch was added last as the flower I had selected seemed to get lost on the black background.  Jaime has dressed as a witch for Halloween.

Meanwhile I tried putting my flower on the water bottle but found I liked it against the background of my rolling desk

Gifting Themes

             In the beginning we had exchanged Christmas gifts with all three boys and their children.  That seemed to taper off as it never seemed important to our eldest or youngest – but we still exchange gifts with the one who lives in Utah still. 

This year they decided that all of our gifts should be themed.  So of course Richard’s gifts were superhero themed, Jai was Beetlejuice and for me they decided to do a peanuts theme.  Each of us received a deck of cards and travel throw blankets.  I had also received a neck pillow and a small peanuts scene which I will display next year.

They did send Jaime on gift that was NOT a part of any theme;  the movie “Klaus” as it is her favorite.  Richard and I had also contributed to the Bettlejuice theme.  She also received two calendars featuring Coraline (from them) and The nightmare Before Christmas (from us)

Warm

 I have several posts in the making.  None yet complete. 

Tradition on Christmas morning is to open our stockings first.

Santa Jaime had been filling them ever since they were hung.

She had asked what I wanted for Christmas.  I told her a package of fuzzy socks would be good.

She stuffed my sock full of fuzzy socks.  

The scarf, gloves, earmuffs and scrunchies came later.  

Merry Christmas!

After a month of mostly dismal weather, 

we were blessed with sunshine 

on Christmas day!  

Alexa says it is only 45 degrees outside.  

It feels much warmer.