Yesterday I went to the post office to mail a package to my son. I waited in line between two people who were sending certified letters. I figured out they were sending their tax returns! On January 11.
What the heck? Who are these people? How can they have their taxes done already? I was mailing pillow cases to go with the sheets I gave my son (I forgot the pillow cases at home) and these other people are done with their taxes?
We don’t have a W-2 yet. I guess I can start organizing what I need. I may get started earlier this year. I usually get them to the CPA in March. I’ll shoot for February this year.
Are you an early tax filer? Or do you wait until the end?
We headed south of the border yesterday for a weekend of beach walks, seafood, and enjoying the Sea of Cortez. What a joy to arrive in time for a beach walk at sunset. I was stunned this morning to wake up and see this magnificent sunrise from our room.
Have a great weekend!
What highlights do you have planned for this weekend?
Did you notice the difference? I turned off the ads on my blog. At one time, years ago, I thought I could make money blogging. So far that is not the case. Blogging is a creative release to express my personal thoughts and feelings. When I first turned on the ads, a blogger told me it interfered with her loading my blog. She said she enjoyed my writing but was no longer going to follow me because of ads.
That should have been my first clue to end the ads.
WordPress help is helpful! I entered a chat box because I couldn’t figure out where or how to control the ads. Within a minute I was given a link to make the change.
I get really upset when my kids get in a fight with me or my husband.
We’ve had a few unpleasant conversations with our kids lately. One was yesterday and it really tears me apart. I feel like a failure as a parent and everything I tried to instill in my kids is for naught. I was surprised to get a phone call this morning with an apology. I’m grateful for that.
It’s hard to go to the pool when the weather is cold.
I’m making myself go at least two days a week. But when it’s dropping to the low 40s it’s hard! I don’t want to get in my bathing suit let alone get in the pool. I do feel better when it’s over. I reward myself with a long hot shower!
I swam yesterday and I never warmed up. I was chilled. Usually the hardest part is getting in or out of the pool than after a few laps you feel warm. My face and arms felt cold the entire time I swam.
Do you have ads on your blog? Why or why not? Would you stop following a blog because of ads?
I love the color of these cactus blooms. I’m surprised to see cacti blooming again.
We’ve had a busy weekend — post vacation. We picked up friends from the airport Thursday and they invited us over to their house for dinner the next day to repay us for our trouble. They lived a stone’s throw from us in Palm Springs and we both moved within a mile from each other in Arizona — without prior knowledge we were both doing that. Our kids went to school together from kindergarten through high school. Now our kids live near each other in the Bay Area.
Here’s a view from our friend’s place up the street from us. Woodpecker standing on the wall. I don’t know how it does that. There’s nothing to hang onto.
We had neighbors over for appetizers, wine and games. We played my favorite card games, Demon and Texas Hold ‘Em. Our friends brought over a game they thought we’d enjoy. My husband and I laughed when we found out it was Catchphrase. That’s a game our kids played endlessly at swim meets with their teammates under the pop-up tent. We’d be at meets for at least four hours and they’d swim a few minutes. Downtime was spent playing cards or Catchphrase.
It’s been years since I’ve played games and it was a hoot. We laughed and had fun. it was a perfect thing to do with people we’ve only known for a few months.
For appetizers I made deviled eggs, stuffed shishitos with honey goat cheese and sweet Italian sausage chunks on toothpicks with honeycrisp apples. Also a veggie platter that was barely touched.
Here’s the gorgeous sunrise Saturday morning.
I enjoyed watching the kitty watch birds and bunnies. The quail families are growing up!
What card games do you like to play? Did you play lots of games growing up? Do you think kids today play games or is everything on screens now?
It’s so hot I’m taking my walks at dawn to beat the heat. The clouds are blocking the sunrise.
We’ve had a hot week and I’ve been swimming rather than walking each day. Our pool in the backyard is a nice temperature so I jump in and kick or swim. I swim laps at the Y a couple times a week too.
It’s weird not to walk every morning after not missing a day since I recovered from knee surgery.
The other morning I woke up at 4:45 a.m. and got out the door for a walk at 5:15 a.m. It was beautiful with birds singing, but I felt a little unnerved with coyotes howling nearby. It sounded like a large pack. I almost turned back to the house, but courageously kept moving on. I actually turned back momentarily only to discover the coyotes howling sounded near my home. Onward and forward seemed like the prudent choice.
Here are the photos I took during my early morning walk.
I love the colors of the mountains and desert in the early morning.A saguaro topped by a bird.I had been watching this century plant waiting for it to bloom. This was a sad sight.This was the century plant two weeks ago.
The oldest quail babies hanging out with their mom and dad in our pool bar. We have three families from wee babies to these teenagers.
If I wake up early enough to beat the heat, I go for my walks at sunrise. If I wake up later and it’s too hot — I jump into the water. Thankfully our pool gets a lot of shade during the day, so the water temperature is still cool.
What is your favorite way to start the day? How are you getting exercise?
I’ve decided to change my daily schedule. It’s time to set my alarm and get out of bed early. For the past months, I’ve been letting my body decide when to get up.
It’s getting hot and my morning walks will go by the wayside unless I get out earlier. Yesterday we walked at 7 a.m. and it was too hot. We decided 5:30 a.m. would be the ideal time to get outside in the neighborhood.
Another reason to get up early is pickleball at the YMCA. When school ends in a few weeks, the gym where we play pickleball will be used by the kids’ summer program. Us old folks will get to play pickleball from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. By walking at 5:30 a.m. for a few weeks, I’ll be ready for the early pickleball mornings.
I wrote about early birds get the worm a few years ago. It’s a story about how many people we define as successful get up each day at dawn. I’m talking Benjamin Franklin to Tim Cook. You can read it HERE.
Do you set an alarm in the morning or do you let your body decide when to get up? Are you an early bird or not?
