A little corner in the den.

Yet another TBR pile, including a book by Andy Weir that Deb sent, and another book written by the daughter of a longtime blog friend, Chevy in the Hole.

I moved the aqua McCoy vase in here when I was setting up the putz house village and I haven’t moved it back. I’m enjoying it in this corner. I didn’t plan it this way but Wren and Lily seem to be color-coordinated with the house and the vase and the blue bottle.

It’s a quiet week here at the cottage, which suits us fine. The extremes in the weather have impacted my troublesome sinuses. I’m just now feeling better as we hurtle into more extremes; temperatures in the fifties. Last week, wind chills well below zero, drips from the faucet to keep the pipes from freezing. This week and next, positively balmy weather. Go figure.

We watched the Kennedy Center Honors last night. Beautiful. We always feel uplifted by this testament to the power of the arts – to lives dedicated not only to the arts, but often to service, as well. It was just what we needed. Both of us have spent our entire adult lives in the arts. It certainly isn’t easy and the pay isn’t always great, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Other than that, my friends, I’m going to finish a book this morning because…you guessed it…another one just arrived at my local library. I’m stacked up and holding. I have to search for coconut cream to make the Linzer Tart Cookies. I have to buy caulk for the bathtub. Things like that. Not very exciting, but that’s just fine. Soon enough, I’ll be commuting into the city for Darko’s project.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

• Flowers from Don.

I needed some cheering up, I suppose. I came up against the same thing I almost always have to deal with as a dialect/text/voice coach in the theater; an offer that is problematic. I don’t want to go into details, but it’s for a workshop so the budget is understandably low. I get it. But it will require me to commute into the city for several days and at about $50 a day, the travel costs add up. I would be earning far less than my standard fee – which, by the way, is much less than many other coaches. I thought I had a way to get around it, which would have been to stay at my former student’s apartment in Brooklyn, but she has already rented it for January. Living far from NYC is always a problem when negotiating a contract.

Sometimes when I’m wrestling with something, I turn it over to my Higher Power and wait for guidance. And I did that. The next morning, I received the clear thought to contact my former student. Since this seemed like what I call a God-Shot, I was sure it would work out. But no. So I was a bit crestfallen and Don got me the flowers.

This is a job I want to do because it’s for a longtime colleague and friend of mine. I don’t have an answer yet and I know I’ll be talking to the person who is arranging this today. I don’t need advice. I’m just sharing this particular struggle. Theater budgets are, by necessity, small. It’s just the way of the world.

• I had a paragraph or two here about success and applauding each other’s achievements, but it’s being misinterpreted – most likely because I was clear enough in my intent. So I’m going to delete it as I don’t want it to be overblown. Sigh. Moving on…

• Don has a YouTube channel and he has begun posting his new work and some of his older songs, as well. If you have any interest in his songs and are so inclined, would you subscribe to his channel? If he reaches 100 subscribers, he will get his own URL instead of the very long address that he has now. This is the link to his channel. Thanking you in advance.

And finally:

The girls in the slammer. (Late afternoon sun and the blinds in the den.)

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Forgot to post the sunset on my birthday. It was pretty spectacular.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a lovely day yesterday. We made a big dinner that didn’t seem so big until we ate it and then we figured out we ate too much and were uncomfortable the rest of the evening. And I fell asleep in my chair, just like my dad and grandfather always did after a big meal. But it was delicious! And – always the best thing about a holiday meal – we have leftovers.

I finished the puzzle yesterday, having not had time to work on it the day before.

A true challenge. Let me tell you, the final pieces didn’t just fall into place, this sucker kept me on my toes until the very end.

I like it. And it sure put me in the Christmas spirit.

Shopping the other day was dreadful. It ended up being a very hard day for me emotionally. First of all the mall that I chose isn’t nearly what it used to be. (I suppose that’s happening everywhere.) Many of the stores were empty and the clothing stores that were there were geared toward young people. I’m not going to find something at Forever 21. I went into Macy’s first. I was simply looking for black pants that were dressier than my black jeans. And there were some on the racks but, again, they didn’t fit right or weren’t the right size. I would expect Macy’s to have a bigger selection of clothes, but not this one. I walked from one end of the mall to the other several times and remained frustrated. The only thing I purchased was Christmas tree lights at Target.

The hardest thing – and I’m going to be perfectly honest – was seeing myself in the mirrors. I have gained more weight than I thought. For most of my life, until my fifties, I was very thin. Now? I don’t recognize my body. I don’t recognize myself. I drove home. And then I cried and cried in my husband’s arms. We’re going to go to another mall on Sunday. It’s in Connecticut, and has more stores.

I know this is rather a universal thing – aging and coming to terms with body changes. Usually, I’m okay. But on Wednesday, I simply fell apart. Even though the premiere isn’t wildly dressy, it’s a premiere of a Hollywood movie and there will be lots of cameras and people with much more money than I there. I have to look relatively put together.

I know it will all work out. But the stress is there and it’s very real.

Today, I’m going to take it easy, but I’m realizing I need to walk/exercise more, so I’ll go outside and walk the property several times. Hopefully. It’s raining right now.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.