Just because I had this photo on hand. This is what I see as I work up in the office/studio.

It’s my happy cabinet.

Thanks for all the input on dental insurance. We had great insurance through the union and now, through mishandling things on a massive level, we don’t. We were told this would be in place for the rest of our lives but we had it for only four years. The anger and rage I feel toward SAG/AFTRA is real. I don’t know what to do. We also don’t know how much will be covered in terms of Don’s shots for macular degeneration. I understand that some of you pay out of pocket – some mentioned that they do that for implants and crowns.

That’s not really possible for us, at least on a long-term basis. And we won’t be working until well into next year.

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts and though I’m constantly worried about this, and so is Don, we decided to take today and tomorrow off from worrying and then on Friday, we’ll get back into researching it. Frankly, after we were told that we had insurance with the union and I cried with happiness when the woman on the phone told us we would always have it, I never expected this to happen. I even wrote about that phone call on the blog. I somehow kid myself that we’re in good shape now, that we don’t have to worry anymore, but that isn’t true, is it? We’re still paying a mortgage because we purchased our first-time home so late in life, insurance can be taken away from us, and we’ve certainly see people who paid into their pensions all their working life, suddenly lose them. And of course, there are the devastating losses so many are experiencing in the pandemic; loss of loved ones, loss of jobs, loss of small businesses nurtured for years. None of that was expected, and so many are grieving.

I’m a pretty positive person but I don’t mind saying that I’m having a hard time of it right now. I fantasize about winning just enough money to pay off our house, which would free us up a great deal. Hey, it’s not impossible, right? Anyway, enough. I have to trust that I’ll be guided in the right direction on all of this.

Today we’re going to remove the window air conditioner units (about time, right?) and do a small amount of organizing in the shed. But that’s it. We went grocery shopping yesterday after determining that the guy coming to pick up the dumpster was at least an hour and half away from arriving. The store was packed, of course. But we got everything we needed, came home, disinfected everything, washed all the veggies, made some lunch, washed the sheets. Then the guy came to pick up the dumpster and carried it away leaving yet another huge rut on our front lawn – in addition to all the ruts he made in the back while trying to maneuver the truck. Between this truck and the vehicles that were used in our tree trimming and removal, we have a big mess around here. I’m not sure how to deal with it; I suppose we’ll leave it until spring.

But the dumpster is gone and we’ve patted ourselves on the back for finally doing something we’ve been threatening to do for several years. We did it! It was a massive job, but boy oh boy, it was worth it. And when we’re gone, no one will have to deal with it.

We’ll have our version of a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Vegetarian, of course. We use the Holiday Roast made by Gardein. It’s delicious. We’ll steam some veggies, I’m going to try a crock-pot version of mashed potatoes, I might make my biscuits, and Don will make that incredible no-sugar apple pie. We’re looking forward to it.

Thought I’d share this photo we found in the shed. This is me on our honeymoon (which was just two days long as Don was doing a show and I had to get back to teaching.) We were in the Sierras and I was wearing my boot. I broke my ankle a couple of months before our wedding and much to my dismay, it hadn’t healed completely enough for me to go without it at our wedding. So I pulled a stretchy white sock over it and came down a flight of stairs in a wedding gown and white boot. I think I’ve shown a picture of it before on the blog.

I just tried to find it on the blog to no avail. I’ll share it with you another day.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

There was some discussion yesterday in the comments about the Scotch Cellophane Tape rack, so here it is. I got it in the Berkshires a few years back. I love vintage and I love graphics, so I bought it.

We waited all day yesterday for the dumpster to be picked up, but it didn’t happen. Today is the day. I suspect we will have to pay a bit more because of the excess weight. We’ll see. Anyway, I’ll be glad to see it gone. We have several things to do around the property this week. Clean the floor of the shed, arrange things, put a tarp over part of the shed roof where there are some leaks, do some caulking around the front door, and remove the air conditioners for the winter. And I have to store the pots that I use on the front porch. When all of that is done, I’ll put up the Christmas lights on the porch.

I have a question. I’m wading through info about dental plans since the dental insurance that SAG/AFTRA supplied is no longer being offered. I’m shocked at how little these plans offer compared to the one I had. I know I have to get at least one crown and most likely there will be more. One of the policies allowed one crown where they paid half of the cost and no more coverage for 84 consecutive months! That’s 6 years. When you’re a senior citizen, that seems ridiculous. So my question is for those of you who pay for a dental plan: are there any you can recommend? I’d love any and all suggestions. I have to firm this up soon. Thanks so much.

We were going to order groceries from the store and pick them up but there are no slots available until tomorrow and I assume things will be picked over by then. So, we canceled it. Hopefully, the truck will come to pick up the dumpster soon and then we can go shopping.

Feeling enormous relief now that the Transition has formally begun. Not complete relief, of course, because OM is up to no good, but still…shoulders are dropping. I’m going to completely ignore OM because truly, that’s the thing he hates the most. He has to be the center of attention. Let’s make him irrelevant.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

How much can two creative people cram into a smallish room that contains all of their stuff?

Answer: A lot.

I put the work table together yesterday. Then I did some reconfiguring. Space is always at a premium and the addition of the Boston fern (the office is its winter quarters) doesn’t help. I went in there this morning and I have to say I’m excited about the new U-shaped work zone.

Now I can paint on the table in the foreground (where the dollhouse was) and construct on the work table.

Note large fern, beachballs from Escape to Margaritaville, and toilet paper and paper towels.

This room has everything.

On the other side of the table: 6 guitars, 2 ukeleles, and a mandolin, camera equipment, the French cabinet (which holds miniatures) and houseplants.

I’m not even showing the big old reading chair, side table, Don’s desk, the printer, etc.

And this a small room.

We’ve had this vintage yellow kitchen stool for years. We ran out of room for it in the kitchen, so it’s been stashed in the closet in the den. Actually, it was while I was wondering if the stool would look good in the bathroom (it wouldn’t) that I started to think about using it somewhere and from that thought moved on to the idea of a taller work table. Don brought it upstairs yesterday and I wrestled with a configuration that could include both my desk chair and this taller chair/stool. Much to my delight, the stool fit nicely under the white table (formerly my sewing table.)

Happy camper. Trying to work on the dollhouse while sitting at the white table, having to lean to the side to look/work on the rooms on the lower floor resulted in back pain the next day. So happy to have this new addition.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.