wittenlover

Not necessarily true... There are legal limitations/ramifications on parts of my job that I simply cannot do from home. I'm OK with that. That said, "just running to my office" to accomplish some tasks would waste half my day in packing up office/driving/resetting first in my office then back home because of where I live in proximity to my office. Sooooo.... I'm actually more productive being in just one place or the other on any given day. Fixed hybrid schedule gives my plants that I deal with the confidence of knowing when I'll be in office to accomplish tasks there vs when things might need to wait a day because I'm WFH. Urgent matters are always the exception to the rule and I will drop everything else on a WFH day to attend to those types of things, no matter the inconvenience. (Comes with the territory of my job and something I've known would be the nature of it from the very beginning.)

While we officially started back up for work last Thursday, today was first day back in the office. So, of course I woke up with a splitting headache. On a WFH day, I would've simply taken some ibuprofen, left most of my lights off, turned the brightness down on my laptop screen and been fine. But noooooo... I had to come into the office where every last stinkin light is on, the air is drier than heck, and people were being noisier than normal (since it was our first day back). I've made it through but I truly cannot wait to get home and become a hermit for the night. It's been a LONG day... That said, hope everyone that got snow/ice dumped on them in the last few days is OK. My bestie down in Indiana definitely got hammered, though she was blessed to not lose power (truly insult to injury for those that did with the frigid temps).

Dang... Lost 10 already... That's a shame. December does tend to get away from us quickly, though. That said, Happy New Year, GD fam! Rang in the new year with a bunch of the church family at our annual NYE party (that I host). Good times were had by all and, if anyone left hungry, it was ABSOLUTELY their own fault. We had a huge spread of snacks and treats to enjoy and the largest group since pre-covid days. Yay! Christmas was enjoyed with my dad at a local Chinese buffet. He got a kick out of the fact that I bought him exactly what he said he wanted (an electric staple gun) - guess he wasn't sure his daughter was paying attention when he mentioned it was something he could really use. LOL Winter will be returning with a vengeance in the next week or so, so I am very glad my outdoor decorations come down even more quickly than they go up. That will all come down early next week. Tree will be down by end of next week, most likely. The winter/holiday painting that my grandmother made years ago will remain on my wall till spring when it'll get switched out for one of her other paintings more reflective of warmer weather. (It was one of her many hobbies and I am blessed to have several of her canvases to enjoy and remind me of her. ) Officially back to work today, though we are WFH today and tomorrow with a return to our normal hybrid work schedule next week. Allows us to ease back in a bit before we jump back in to the full regular routine and all of us are appreciating that.

Pre/post unwrapping pics Thanks so much, ytmomof4!!! Such fun stuff! Lotions are already coming in handy and I will get great use out of the pot holder/oven mitt/towel set. Those Andes mints won’t last long, either… The NKOTB sticker was a great add-on, too - now to find it a good home on display somewhere… Merry Christmas! (Cats very much enjoying chasing the balled up wrapping paper as well )

Got my box today! Waiting till Christmas to open! Thanks, SS!!!

Congrats, winners!!!

Same, but I'll be putting the ornaments on mine throughout the week this week. The boxes of ornaments are in a handy location for easy access. Finished my outdoor decor yesterday since it was 50+ degrees out. Perfect to get the inflatables set up and staked down properly.

I've thought about them but my issue is their "zoomie" sessions when they're not paying attention to where they're going or what they're knocking over while they're chasing each other around. Hence, Wallflowers. Safest and no cleanup involved, as they can't knock them out of the outlets I put them in.

Some of the candle scents they have make me wish I didn't have two klutzy cats I don't dare trust around open flames... LOL I make do with Wallflowers. Maybe the next fuzzles in my house will be more graceful and I can enjoy the candles that have long been packed away once again.

I feel this. I have piles of baking to do but the "want to" just isn't there yet. I did, however, put myself on a bit of a clock for at least getting my much-loved peppermint brownies baked - sent out a "peppermint brownie advisory is now in effect" to two of my good buddies that most look forward to these and said they'd be available next week. Basically gave myself a kick in the tail to at least get things started. Best of luck finding your "want to" and give yourself grace if/when you don't. You've been through some things lately, to put it lightly. Those who love you will understand if the "want to" just doesn't come this year.

You can definitely order online for delivery/in-store pick-up, at least with PetSmart.

Lots of Swifties in my area and one of my best friends needed a hand getting the TSwift items, as she is a fan, though not insane level. (Her nearest Target is over an hour away from her and she had to work at 7 am on BF.) That said, I planned accordingly. I set my alarm for 2:30 am. Got up, put on my BF is dead shirt (thanks, Brad!), layered up for the cold and snow and headed out the door. Arrived at my Target around 3:30 am. There were about 5 or 6 other cars that weren't employees and all of us were temporarily content to stay in our nice warm cars, though there were three brave (crazy?) folks already lined up at the door. Right around 3:45, a slew of cars rolled in within minutes of each other. People immediately started piling out of those newly arrived cars (dang rookies). Oof. Two gals in car next to me who had quickly figured out I was a BF veteran were watching to see what I would do. I resigned myself to being stuck standing outside for over two hours and zipped up my coat, giving them a distinct look of "well, not happy, but here we go". They began preparing themselves to get out as well. We joined the line with about a dozen or so in front of us. Found out first one in line had been there since midnight. The two behind her had arrived around 2. Snow kept falling the entire time we stood in line. Felt like BFs of old in some ways. Line quickly grew very long behind us. If I'd waited till 4 to show up, I very likely would have been too late. About 20 minutes before the doors opened, the store manager came out to have a look at the line and inform us that the vinyls would be limited to 1/person and that they would have folks inside to direct us to the area where the merch was. 6:00 hits. Doors open. They allow the first group in, stopping the line briefly just before they got to me. A minute or so passes and they let the next group in, myself included. I headed to the line for the merch. Turned out the store manager himself was handing out the TSwift items to each person. He had the process down to an art form and the line moved quickly. I got one of each item (Vinyl, Book, CD) and headed straight for the checkout, as that was all I needed in-store at Target. It was now roughly 6:05 am. (Sent my buddy a pic of the stuff and told her "you're welcome". LOL) Next stop was Home Depot for the Grinch and Max (dog) inflatables. Crowds were light here. HD was also, as always, passing out munchies and drinks in the form of muffins, fresh fruit, water, juice, and coffee. Score. I grabbed a couple other smaller items and headed for check out. Quick and easy (and now my tummy was happy). Headed over to PetSmart for their 7 am opening to stock up on kitty litter. Grabbed about 300 lbs worth (should last me most, if not all, of this next year), picked up a few other things for the furbabies, and headed for the check out. Again, crowd was light here. Had everything loaded in my car by 7:30. Off to Menards. It was busy, but not really any more than a typical Saturday crowd. Grabbed the power banks, some electronic hand warmers, phone charging cables, cheap fleece throws to donate to local animal groups, batteries, and a few other little things. Wandered a bit, knowing they were my last stop before my first off-load at home. Left Menards around 8:30 and headed for home. Unloaded at home and prepared for my Torrid shift that began at 11:30. Knowing I wanted to hit Bath & Body Works first, I left my house around 9:45. B&BW was busy (as I expected) but I made full use of my multiple coupons and walked out with darn near $200 worth of stuff for $63. Not bad. Clocked in at Torrid on time. Worked till 6. Snow continued off and on throughout the day, making road conditions treacherous on my way home. I hit the nearest Meijer, as I needed some grocery items and then started the slow trek home. What normally takes me roughly 25-30 minutes from that point took me well over an hour. Black ice everywhere. Was relieved when I finally walked in my door safely around 9 pm. Whew. All in all, got what I needed/was hoping to get while I was out.

Happy December! Now starts my busiest time. Added even more to my pile when I got rear ended Wednesday night. Now I'm navigating having to get my car in for repairs, securing alternate transportation, and still juggling all the stuff that was already filling up my schedule. (I'm, thankfully, fine.) Oof. I'll manage but I expect to be exhausted for the foreseeable future. Such is life. So ready to start my baking and prepping for Christmas/NYE, though. That'll keep my mind off of all the other stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving, GD fam!

Unlike last year's killer $399.99 deal for those SWA gift cards, they're only marked down an additional $20 right now ($429.99). So, while still a solid deal, I definitely liked last year's deal better... LOL

PetSmart is doing 50% off everything holiday, deals on various other things as well. Their BF sale is live online today if you want to peruse it. Here's one snuffle mat that popped up there for $15.99: https://www.petsmart.com/dog/toys/plush-toys/joyhound-classroom-snuffle-puzzle-pizza-burrow-and-play-mat-dog-toy-76716.html

My shopping for my SS is well under way. Should be able to wrap things up (literally and figuratively) by the end of the weekend. Yay!

Side note: I've not had corrosion issues with the HDX batteries myself. I use them in my NASCAR scanner and only need to replace them about once/race weekend. For reference, I go to four race weekends/year and they are each a couple to a few months apart from each other. [I do not remove them in between races (though maybe I should).] YMMV.

So what I'm seeing is I should get the Ryobi deals I was looking at today. Nothing better on those for what I need/can use in the BF sale. Might add the Grinch inflatables to my collection for $20 each if they still have them when I get over there (after I battle Target). Otherwise, yeah... Meh...

Got my shirt yesterday! Thanks, Brad! Can't wait to wear it proudly on Friday! Might honestly even wear it for my retail shift on Friday... Guessing it'll draw a fair amount of amusement/bittersweet-ness from folks once they realize what it says. I actually miss going into some of the stores that are no longer with us (Bon Ton, Pier 1, etc.) even though I wasn't always looking to buy something directly from them - was just part of the overall BF experience for me.

Right. Just means the bag itself isn't part of the B3G3 sale. Whatever else you're buying (even B3G3 items) will count toward getting the bag for $40 , as long as the other items you're actually paying for (B3 part of B3G3) add up to at least $40 themselves (as Bopeep said above). Make sense?

Right. Mine was set to renew on 11/22, so I cancelled it and prepared to need to use a different email address (I actually have and actively use at least 3, so... options) when sale went live this week. Luckily, since I was now a "former" subscriber, I was able to re-up on my current email addy registered with Peacock for the deal.

Update: I was able to renew with my existing (expired) email address using the deal that went live today. (REALDEAL code) Hooray!!! No need to establish a whole new account (and I missed nothing over the weekend because I was busy). Win!

I am, as usual, slow to get going on my SS shopping but... I do have a couple things already. The rest, I'll be getting this week/weekend. Dad and I are to a point where we trade gift cards to our fave stores (he's a fisherman, gives him an excuse to replace worn out gear/lures/etc.), so he's easy. Brother and his wife live out of state and are just getting settled into their finally finished new house, so they're not sure what else they may need just yet. Therefore, GC for them as well, to use as they see fit. Likely will send some homemade cookies along with it, just because. Got baking to do for basically everyone else on my list, so not quite time to start that yet. That'll get started next week.

Yep. Menards. And the full Home Depot ad. Also... PetSmart. What. The. Heck? Come on already! I need to know my best cat litter deal!!! lol