Perry is the king of odd Christmas gifts… things you wouldn’t think of in a bajillion years. For example, this year, one of my gifts was a leather bound “everyday” book from Turkey, a fountain pen, and violet ink.
Evil eye charms and fountain pens… 🧙🏼♀️
Within the book’s package was an evil eye charm. The evil eye charm — a Nazar — came with instructions. Handmade in the small village of Nazar (near Izmir, Turkey), its concept is thousands of years old (dates to 3300 B.C.E). Wearing the talisman or hanging it in your home is supposed to protect you by warding off negativity while bringing you good fortune and peace… blah blah blah.
The fountain pen came with NO instructions. It only took about 30 minutes to figure out how the heck to fill it, but now I’m writing away like a boss. I thought I’d be some expert calligrapher with a little experience, but it writes pretty much like anything else (except with incredibly thin lines) and my poor penmanship is exactly the same.
Pen pal applications now being accepted!
I remember having a pen pal in grade school. I can’t remember the country, but I remember the teacher passing out a random letter to each of us that contained a name and address (of their school), and we were required to reply. That was fun. If I’m going to use this stuff, I need a pen pal!
Dearest Convict…
Evidently, even Federal prisoners have access to email through TRULINCS on a computer in their housing units for email — and TextBehind for texting family and friends nationwide.
So now what, Perry? I wonder if I could use it to design tattoos. 🙂 I have plenty of awake time to do that. Every. Single. Day.
Now you know: Subway spokesman Jared Fogle’s charity, which was worth $187,000, got dissolved by the State of Indiana in 2012 for repeatedly failing to pay a $5 charity registration fee.
Over the past couple days I’ve been working on updating websites — personal and business. Primarily this consists of checking and sometimes updating the copyright year, and making certain everything is current. I updated a few photos on the main page of shelleyerwin.com and that was the reason I fell into the Photoshop rabbit hole.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a bajillion photos.
It’s always fun to scroll through the many photos from years past, isn’t it? What’s even more fun is opening up a photo and simply playing around with it. For example… when Perry brought in the most awesome ham ever, I wanted a photo. At the second I clicked, Mom stuck her head down to smell the smoked creation.
This is what was captured…
I snickered when I saw it on my computer’s photo stash. I figured it might be fun to change the background scene.
Show us what ya’ got AI!
I selected the subjects, and then did a reverse selection so the background was open to be generated by whatever text I typed in. I tried ‘Oregon Trail’ and ‘Santa’ and even ‘New Year.’ I gave it up for something simple… ‘Central Park.’
This is the AI generated photo:
Next I laughed and laughed and sent it to those pesky neighbors by text. The reply?
“Looks like someone dropped their false teeth in bushes.” 🤣
Now you know: Sarah Knauss, who was the oldest American to ever live (born 1880), saw three centuries in her lifetime. She died on December 30th, 1999, at the age of 119.
Poor Perry is pulling a double today. He runs a store that’s about to be torn down to build back bigger. One employee was terminated recently and one quit to take care of child care needs. Their work week starts on Friday and at the end of today — Saturday — he’ll already have worked 32 hours.
He’s burning his candle at both ends…
Excuses.
Just in the past 2 days, one employee couldn’t do a shift because of a family emergency — the husband was struggling with their child. The double today is because the employee scheduled had to pick up their daughter in Fort Wayne. Wouldn’t you think you’d pick a different day/time or arrange for someone else to do that if scheduled to work? Nope.
Thing is… some help is better than none, so the risk of repercussion is zero.
And then businesses wonder why they can’t keep the good people?
No help from corporate for reliable ole’ Perry. They’re even dragging their feet on getting back with a background check for a new hire because of the holiday season (that translates to others are actually taking time off to spend with families). So he’s scanning other job opportunities in his limited time not at work. Do you blame him? Sure, he’s compensated well, but that’s far from everything.
Now you know: The hacker group anonymous tried to hack a Mexican cartel and had to back down after the cartel hired counter hackers to hunt them down.
Yesterday began with a trip to Rising Sun to see Perry’s Mom for Christmas.
I think I’m a deer magnet.
I could barely stay awake on the drive there and back, but did manage to open my eyes just enough to see two deer at the side of the road. This time, they crossed directly AFTER we passed them. The drive beside the river is beautiful, and you know you’re in Madison by the iconic view — it’s almost the 1/2 way point.
Even though Perry’s Momma doesn’t look thrilled in the photos below, the surprise visit from Perry’s nephew, Coty, was the highlight of everyone’s day.
Our family Christmas is in the books – sort of.
Last night was our Christmas with Coco here. The presents are all unwrapped even though we’ll still get together Christmas Eve minus the granddaughter. My photos last year were awful because we didn’t have walls — this year, they’re lacking for other reasons…
I have lots of photos of Katie’s butt since she played Santa — and this one. 🙄
Here’s when things went downhill.
Carl’s TV needed Perry’s expert repair capabilities so we forgot to do our standard “all together” photo. Ben had to be at work early this morning, so they couldn’t stick around too late… he had to get some sleep.
Next, Perry’s scheduled worker had a family emergency so he had to cover the store overnight. After a busy day already, he left pretty darned ticked off… and sleepy. Carl was the only person that remembered the stove probably needed wood, so he came back and did that so I didn’t have to go out there myself. Perry got back by 7:00 AM, knowing he has to be back to work at 1:00 PM for another shift.
It was a crazy day, but we’re still grateful.
We had a good time for the time we had, and although not perfect, we all were grateful for one another and what time we did get to spend together.
Here’s hoping your holiday is smoother than ours, and you, too, get to spend it with loved ones.
Let me begin this post by letting you know that I’m typing EARLY this morning while listening to the wind HOWL. Snow squalls are possible today. Yes, seriously. Y’all know I want snow. You probably also know I want fluffy stuff that sticks combined with no wind or ice, and I want the temp to be right at 32° F. Not gonna happen today.
We’re doing Christmas when?
Everyone in my family (except for me and those pesky neighbors) have challenging schedules this Christmas. Perry’s and Ben’s work schedules cut back on the options for planning our family holiday gathering. We’d still be ok with the long-standing Christmas Eve date if not for the fact that we had Colette last year for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day — so this year, those days she’ll be with her Mom.
Perry and I will be going to his Mom’s house on the 21st this year. As luck would have it, that’s the only evening Ben and Perry both have off where we can schedule our get together. Not sure how I’m supposed to do this — especially when it means 3 hours in a car to Rising Sun and back… only to get home and be ready serve a meal — but guess we’ll manage.
And then there was light!
Late finishing up inside decor, I had Perry’s help to make the kitchen festive. Good thing it’s small, right? 🙂
Now you know: The Nike logo was designed for $35.00 US but the company gifted the designer stock that is now worth millions. She held it all without selling.
