Okay. I’ve chosen my dental insurance – Delta. I know my dentist takes it and I don’t want to change dentists. It’s a bit pricey and I’ll review it at the end of the year to see if I want to go with a cheaper plan, but the important thing for this anxiety-ridden person is that I did it. It’s done. It isn’t weighing on me any more and believe me, it has been. (I got it through AARP, by the way.)
I can either stay in anger mode about the fact that we are getting much less and paying more because the union screwed up, or I can write a letter to them (which I’m going to do) and then let it go. Because there’s nothing else I can do. It’s a done deal and I doubt whether my letter will make a bit of difference but I’ll feel better having done it.
There’s a lot of activity going on in the dollhouses. (I listen in at times.) Christmas trees are up in both Hummingbird Cottage and the Modern Dollhouse. It looks to me as if there is still more decorating to be done but I’ll leave them to it for the time being.
They’ve inspired me – we’re going to get our tree later this morning. Don is really excited. Usually, he is much more laid back about the whole thing, but we desperately need some Christmas around here and that is fueling his excitement. I’m going to find the Christmas tree stand and get things prepped and we’ll drive over to our local nursery/farm stand and be there when they open. The neighboring town (which is a college town) has fairly high – this is relative, of course – COVID numbers at the moment, so we’re being very careful.
But oh! A tree! The smell of pine! Sparkly vintage ornaments!
We’ll decorate it tomorrow after it settles.
I’m pondering whether to create another Christmas tree for the Lake House. I almost did that last year but ran out of motivation. It’s very finicky work, involving lots and lots of glue. And I’m not sure if I have anything around that I can use as ornaments. But something tells me I do. I’ll have to do some searching.
Too soon for a tree for the English Cottage. The owner is abstaining this year as the house is being renovated.
Thanks for all your support, my friends. It means a great deal to me. I’m overwhelmed by everything that might be facing us, but am trying to stay in the moment and appreciate what we have. I know that if we do that, we’ll find a way.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
That is great that that you picked a dental plan. Have you decided on health insurance?
My husband will retire next year so we will have that decision to make.
When you are older it covers less-go figure
Enjoy your tree. We plan to get a tree this weekend. We put the wreath on the door and it looks wonderful.
Celebrate Advent each day
Now if I could get some energy for making those Christmas cookies😊
Yes, we had already picked health insurance. But Don still has to check on how much they will cover on the shots he has to get in his eye.
I’m going to put our wreath up today, Linda!
Stay safe.
I believe our dental plan is Delta, but it’s through Brian’s work. It’s not the best plan – it’s a HMO dental plan – but we don’t have a choice. My crowns still cost about $500 – $600 out of pocket, even with coverage.
I started putting up Christmas decor the day after Thanksgiving. We don’t do a regular size tree, just a table top. I can’t do a real tree because I’m allergic to pine. But even our little table top tree with its lights and ornaments looks so pretty and cheerful. Something we all need these days.
xoxo
We got the tree and we’ll decorate it tomorrow.
Stay safe, Melanie!
I think that this year I am also abstaining—even though I probably do need a little Christmas. Just the thought of having to put it all away in a few weeks does my head in. I’m so glad to see your “littles”, though, and will be glad to see your tree and cottage when you decorate it. So glad that you will share it with us.
You have a lot on your plate, Shanna. Do what is right for you.
Stay safe.
congratulations on getting an important decision made so it’s off your list and off your mind! and for soon having a Christmas tree to enjoy decorating and looking at. i’m happy for you!
my Christmas decorations are locked in my storage bin in the basement. it’s a dry basement, but still i want those decorations up here year-round. as of today, it would mean asking someone to get it for me. there are kind people here (including keith carradine’s “twin”), but i’m not asking anyone to help with that. one of my grandmothers made a ceramic Christmas tree ķthe kind with the lightbulb to light up plastic ornaments) and it’s in an easily accessible and safe place up here. maybe i will get that out today. 24/7/365 i have on a table (from my sister) in the living room a wire tree (also from my sister) holding all the ornaments my parents have given me and a wreath from my parents is on an inside door so i do have some Christmas decorations full of love and memories here. :) <3 i love my family!
need to go do something … can't sit for long.
happy wednesday. stay safe and well!
kathy in iowa
It’s hard to ask for help but good to know you have it when you need it. People are often pleased to be asked and be of help. Still with Covid, better safe than sorry. Your grandmother’s sounds precious and how. lovely to have the tree with ornaments your parents made. We were not careful with our ornaments and we had cats who shattered many of them. Sometimes that makes me sad and other times it feels OK that we used them the way they were intended to be used. Enjoy the preparations!
hej, nora mills …
thank you. and i agree … good to be able to ask for help when needed and good to have people nearby who could help … but i am not willing to risk exposure of possible covid-19 and don’t want any of them to feel uncomfortable with my request.
i love my family very much and as a deeply sentimental person, i am so pleased to have the ceramic Christmas tree made by my maternal grandmother and the ornaments (nearly all are angels) and live-cut wreath from my parents on the old wire tree from my sister!
are you decorating for Christmas?
hope you are having a nice night and stay safe!
and thanks again.
kathy in iowa
I’m sure your neighbors wouldn’t mind at all. It feels good to help someone in need – remember that.
Stay safe, Kathy.
thanks, claudia. i agree … there are several people in the building that i know well enough to ask, people who are kind and would help. also, the landlord would help … but i don’t want to risk that social distancing/possible exposure nor have any of them feel pressure to do something kind of close during the time of covid-19. besides, when my back is better, i will bring up the rest of my Christmas decorations … and i am both happy and grateful with what i have up here. :)
hope you were able to get a tree today!!
and have a nice safe night.
kathy in iowa
xo
Trump will be gone in 49 days! If we can do that as a nation we can do anything. Real trees are special. I hope you enjoy bringing that loveliness into your home. I’m looking forward to seeing the beautiful ornaments you used last year. Thanks for all you share. 😊
Thanks so much, Janet.
Stay safe!
Dear Claudia, I am glad that you have made a decision and can move on from that concern. I have been sad to hear about your money woes. We got to the fixed incomes stage, and then quarantine factored in unexpectedly. We have to adjust, there is no choice. I decided to forgo the live tree this year, and have used instead inverted tomato cages. I have two separate “trees.” They look quite festive! I know that the presence of the Christmas tree will bring peace and joy. Feliz Navidad!
And the dollhouse looks beautiful. The coffee mug on the table gives it the lived in look. (-:
I’m glad you like your ‘trees’ Leslie!
Stay safe.
Great choice re: your dental ins. We used to have Delta Dental when I was working.
Maybe now you can take a deep breath & begin to enjoy the holidays. You (& all of us,) have had more than enough stress in our lives!!
Best wishes for a good day and rest of the week.
Thank you, Priscilla.
Stay safe.
Love the tiny , warm welcoming tiny house. Wish I could somehow transport there….for a little while. i AM NOT LEAVING THE HOUSE TODAY
What a charming miniature Christmas vignette. It would make a pretty card. Glad you are sorting out all the health insurance mess. I remember all the surprises when I went on Medicare primary and found out that my great health coverage would no longer cover preventative procedures like acupuncture and dental. I took it for granted. I decided today that I was going to stay home. I had a meltdown yesterday in the parking lot of CVS. It was a full blown, crying and shouting , sobbing event. I was truly shaken. I was trying to do everything right and safely. I picked up my prescription and then purchased two gift cards for my grandchildren and all the while wearing two masks, gloves and my fogged up glasses. Somehow I managed to throw out my debit card along with the balled up gloves in the trash can outside the store. I wont go into all the details but after retracing my steps and going back into a crowded store checking counters and floors I realized what might have happened. I had to ask the pharmacist helper to lift the lid and there I was combing thru coffee cups circulars. I saw the blue glove and it was wrapped around the card. I came home and stayed in the shower for an hour, took one of my husbands sleeping pills and mercifully slept. The most exciting thing I will do today is organize my purse.
I’m so sorry that you had to go through that! If it’s any comfort, Don thought he lost his phone the other day. He had stuffed in the shallow pocket of a sweatshirt, then he took all our garbage and recyclables to the dump and realized he didn’t have it. He looked everywhere at the recycling center, everywhere. Then he stopped on his drive home, yelling at himself because he knew I would be angry (he’s lost 2 pairs of glasses, his phone was stolen last year in Paris, etc.) He came home and told me about it. I said I would go the dump, but he knows the guy who runs it and he was looking for it. I went out and looked in his car – couldn’t find it. Finally, after we were ready to see if the phone insurance would cover it, he went back outside and found it in the car. On top of it, on his way home from the dump, the muffler fell off.
He lost it too. He was angry with himself and frustrated. It happens to all of us.
Glad you got home, took a shower and slept.
Stay safe, Maria.
Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry you had to go thru this! It’s because it’s an abnormal way we’re having to live, having to think of too many things at one time, when at another time before Covid it was just a simple shopping trip. We always worry now (I do, more than my husband) that we’ve forgotten a step, maybe cross-contaminated, forgotten something else; did the mask slip below the nose, was I too close to that person, on & on & on. Nags on the brain! Being out in the world and trying to remain Covid-safe is STRESSFUL because nothing is NORMAL. And the constantly fogged-up lenses on eyeglasses drives me nuts; it’s disorienting, and then of course you don’t want to touch the glasses, so…groan, cuss, scream; yep.
oh, maria!
i hope you feel better.
i am so sorry you had that experience.
upsetting anytime and extra-gross in these times. glad someone could help, you found your card and took a long shower! hope you stayed home and just did fun or at least relaxing things and had (have) a better day.
and stay safe!
kathy in iowa
That room looks so real. I feel inspired to go work on my dolls house. Christmas decorating is lifting my mood too. I think I’ll put on some Holiday music. Best Wishes Elaine from Luray Virginia
Thank you, Elaine!
Stay safe.
Oh I love the Christmas tree! So glad you are getting your tree today. Hang in there, we all support you. xo
Thank you, Maureen.
Stay safe.
My hubs just asked the other day, if, when we put Christmas away in January, if there is the chance that we will still be sheltering next Fall, could we just leave it all up for the year. He said he likes the lights in the evening. Too funny. And yet too sad to even think about.
I was wondering if Caroline was going to decorate this year. When we can’t entertain, some people seem to think that is a reason to not do so. For me, it is the opposite. I need the familiar things around me so I get some sort of feeling of normality and a bit of joy. I know I won’t rush to take it all down, though, as we don’t mind, and no one else will be visiting for a while, I am sure!! We have an artificial tree, so it is ok to leave it up for a bit. I hope you found the perfect tree and I can’t wait to see it!!! Take care.
Too sad, but I get his point!
I need all the joy I can get right now and decorating for Christmas is just what I need – what we all need.
Stay safe, Chris.
I want to move into that dollhouse! It looks more peaceful than my house.
We are doing virtual school here with 2 granddaughters. 2nd grade and 6th grade. This new math they teach is crazy!
They spend most of the day online in actual class with teachers and students, or completing work they must submit. The 8 year old had to draw a floorplan of her house and show an exit plan in case of a fire. She did all this with a stylus and tablet. If nothing else, these kids are learning to use technology.
I am starting to put out some Christmas stuff. The tree will go up tomorrow. I will have little helpers to decorate.
I’m glad you got the insurance decision out of the way. We have had Delta dental in the past and were always pretty happy with it.
Have fun decorating you tree.
Stay safe
Thanks so much, Marilyn!
Stay safe.
What a relief to have chosen your plan. I hope it works out well. The tree is very inspiring! I haven’t had a big full tree in many a year and it’s a delight to see this one generously bedecked. The smell of pine really does something for me. Walking among the trees should start out the holiday season on a pleasant note. Stay safe!
No smell of pine from the mini tree, but we can imagine it, right?
Stay safe, Nora.
I love imagining the people in your cottages, imagine them decorating, setting down and enjoying that pretty tree! And now I can imagine you and Don doing the same. I think you will be having a lovely evening decorating the tree and so look forward to seeing it.
Rick placed one of mine the other day. I still don’t dare use the stairs, though I think maybe tomorrow I can. But it has the lights and that’s what I need right now. I moved a few things around to get shelves open for pretty things and pretty much have fall completely packed up — just need a few trips down below to put it away. One day at a time.
Is your back really bothering you, Jeanie? I’m so sorry!
Stay safe.
I so love seeing your doll house interiors at holiday time!
Thank you, Vicki!
Stay safe.
I saw this on another blog and thought of you. I wasn’t able to cut and paste so I’ve just rewritten.
In 1606, Shakespeare’s theatre was forced to close because of the plague.
So he wrote King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra.
Wash your hands
Be grateful
Get better at what you do.
Copyright Matt Logan 2020
Yes, I’m aware of that.
He also was able to leave London with his company and work in towns where there weren’t any cases of the plague. But if definitely was a prolific period for him!
Thanks, Gail!
Stay safe.