Thanksgiving 2020

We opted to spend the holiday in our home with only the five of us. Before the big day, Darcy had a five-minute exposure to someone with COVID. She panicked, called us crying, and then spent precious time searching for (and getting tested) testing sites. She was negative, but she and Oleg opted to wear their masks for the first twenty-four hours of being in our home (and when around Grammy the next day).

A very chill holiday. We agreed it was one of our better holidays--very relaxed and zippo in the stress department. Here are some of the highlights:

• Virtual Turkey Trots were run by Tom and Oleg, who ran the route of what would've been our local trot had COVID not happened, and Darcy, who ran the neighborhood early in the morning. Madison and I ran ours in our dreams.
• Honey Baked Ham made our meat this year. We had a turkey breast and a half-ham.
• We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade while we had a mishmash of breakfast items purchased by the runners on their way home.
• Oleg made pecan pie, Madison made pumpkin, and Darcy made a smores pie. This was done one at a time throughout the day.
• Football was not as exciting without the Steelers playing.
• I pulled a Connie and got out the china. My daughters pulled a Cara and whined and shouted and refused to do the dishes.
• Tom obviously ignored (or heard the ocean) when we discussed (Wednesday night) what time to have dinner. When he got hungry, he went into the kitchen and cooked. Oleg helped him. By the time I got to the kitchen to prepare our appetizers and cocktails, it was too late to stop them.
• We were stuffed far too soon but ate again as the evening progressed. 

NFL 2020 picks week 12

Last Week 5-9

Overall 102 -60

Houston over Detroit

Washington over Dallas

Vegas over Atlanta

Buffalo over Chargers

Giants over Cincinnati

Tennessee over Indianapolis

Minnesota over Carolina

Arizona over New England

Miami over Jets

Cleveland over Jacksonville

New Orleans over Denver

San Francisco over Rams

Kansas City over Tampa

Green Bay over Chicago

Seattle over Philadelphia 

Pittsburgh over Baltimore

Out of the mouths of my babes - Madison Part II

Me: "NOOOOOOOO!"

Madison: "What?"

Tom: "What's wrong?"

Me: "The Steelers game was pushed back to Sunday because too many damn Ravens have COVID."

Tom: "So, they're not playing on Thursday? We get a peaceful holiday?"

Madison: "It's a Thanksgiving Miracle!"

Out of the mouths of my babes - Madison

Maddy: "Did the Steelers win? They must have because you're happy."

Me: "Ten and 0, baby! Ten and 0! Gotta enjoy it now because we have a short week and a tough one on Thursday. I'm afraid we might just face our first loss in that game."

Madison: "That sounds defeatist to me. What kind of loyal fan has that kind of attitude?"

Tom: "Yeah, it doesn't sound like you're putting much faith in your team."

Me: "It's the Ravens. We beat them once already this year, and they lost for the second time in a week in overtime today against the Tennessee Titans. I'm not sure who I was supposed to root for, but I hate both of them."

Madison: "I know why we hate the Ravens, but why do we hate the Titans?"

Me: "Because they stomped on our terrible towel! After beating us several years ago, a bunch of their players got terrible towels and threw them on the ground, and stomped on them. Wrong thing to do. They've had bad juju every since."

Maddy: "I thought we had JuJu."

Photo: dailysnark.com

Monday morning NFL 2020 recap - week 11

Steelers: My buddy, Scott, was in Jacksonville for the game. We had a lot of fun searching for him, Tom more than me because, of course, he found him (insert eye-rolling emoji) even though in that picture he's pointing nowhere near where my friends were sitting.

• Tuesday, Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf announced athletes, including the Steelers, needed to wear masks while competing on the field. A day later, that was snatched back as the reality of wearing a helmet, a mouthguard, AND a mask might just cause some breathing problems. 
• As usual, more Steelers fans in the stands than Jaguars fans.
• Okay, I'm not a fan of all the celebrating after touchdowns, but I did enjoy Chase Claypool's lighting of the football for JuJu Smith Schuster's birthday. Even more, I loved the analysts pointing out how Claypool's celebration wasn't for himself but for JuJu, which then led to a remark about zero egos in the Steelers' locker room. Finally!
• Bennie Snell Jr. punching it in for the touchdown! Then, in the third quarter, punching it for two yards and the first down. I should be a coach (tee hee).
• The defense kept their sack record going with a sack in the third quarter by Stephen Tuitt, and in the fourth quarter, the defense racked up their 20th and 21st takeaway. Another great defensive game by my boys!
• Ben had some nice throws in this game and a lot of great protection. 

Other:

• Apparently, there was some trash talk in the pregame warm-ups when the Tennessee Titans met on the 50-yard line for a team meeting. Suddenly, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was interrupting said meeting, and boy, he was not happy with whatever the Titans had been yelling. Words were exchanged with most of the Titans players laughing at Harbaugh's behavior. Then the Titans coach appeared, and it was all so ridiculous. One thing one can say about the Harbaugh family--they are competitive, and they are certainly hot-headed.
• The day's craziest play came in the Washington/Cincinnati game with twelve minutes left in the first half. The Bengals went for it on fourth down in the red zone. Not able to find a receiver, quarterback Joe Burrows ran and got stuffed at the goal line. Burrows fumbled the ball, and Washington recovered. Or, so we thought. There was a flag on the play, and the ref told us TV watchers, "urhglshgry, rrurkdgnv&, blah, blah, blah." I was saying, "What?" and the analysts were saying, "What?" and Redzone Channel's Scott Hanson was saying, "What?" In the end, it went something like this: Burrows fumbled, Washington recovered the ball in the field of play, then Washington fumbled in the end zone and got tackled, which resulted in a safety for the Bengals. But--the Bengals were called for holding, Washington accepted that penalty, and the safety was removed, and the Bengals got a second chance at fourth down, planning to kick. But, before that could happen, the play was reviewed. After the review? The ruling was a touchback and not a safety, the hold still applied, Washington declined it and got the ball. I mean, my head was spinning!
• After the loss of quarterback Drew Brees for a couple of weeks, the Saints went with the newbie instead of the oldie, playing Taysom Hill over Jameis Winston, figuring there was no time like the present to see if the kid had what it takes to replace the legend.
• The Bengals QB, Joe Burrows, had to be carted off the field after getting hit low on a sack, and we'll have to wait to hear the news on how bad the injury, but Burrows, despite the Bengals record, was making big strides as the number one draft pick his rookie year.
• Yikes! Major misses on the kicking today, including the Steelers Chris Boswell. 
• It rained the entire game in Cleveland, playing against the Eagles. The kind of steady, miserable weather where you just want to be home snuggled under a blanket. 

NFL 2020 picks week 11

 Last Week - 8-6

Overall - 96-51

Seattle over Arizona

Philadelphia over Cleveland

Atlanta over New Orleans

Washington over Cincinnati

Detroit over Carolina

Pittsburgh over Jacksonville

Baltimore over Tennessee

New England over Houston

Miami over Denver

Chargers over Jets

Indianapolis over Green Bay

Minnesota over Dallas

Kansas City over Raiders

Tampa over Rams

Writing in November 2020

In the writing world, the National Novel Writing Month--or NaNoWriMo as it is affectionately called--is in November. Before last year, I'd never heard of it, but it is an internet-based creative writing project that takes place every year, and participants attempt to complete a 50,000-word manuscript in thirty days. I joined last year, wrote a little over 27,000 words, and then I petered out. 

I don't even remember why. It just wasn't there.

This year, after not writing during any of my COVID quarantine, I got up off my ass--or really, I sat down on my ass--and signed myself up to GET IT DONE! I started with the manuscript I'd begun last year, Book 2, as it has been referred by, and I jumped back to the beginning, tossing out quite a bit of those 27,000 words. I joined a local writing group on the NaNoWriMo website hoping for inspiration and participated in their first night of speed writing, a fifteen-minute timed event, where I learned that sprinting is not for me.

On Facebook, having gone there for the first time in weeks, I saw that one of the writers from my monthly romance writer's chapter was also doing NaNoWriMo, and I asked her to be my buddy on its website. She responded by adding me to a messenger group of other authors attempting this feat, and this group ROCKS. These ladies chat daily, encouraging and pushing, and other than one day, where I wrote zero words, I've written every day in November. I'm currently sitting at 32,248 words, and I'm halfway through my book.

Meanwhile, everything else in my life is on hold. My house is filthy, clothes sit longer in the washer and dryer than normal, dinner is usually via the crockpot, and email is rarely checked and often not answered. My family, however, is behind me, including my MIL, who is waiting patiently for November to end so I can return to finalizing her memoirs. 

As a pantser--one who does not plot on paper--I have most of the scenes in my head, except for the important climatic moment full of major conflict, and concerned that would halt me in my progress, I've even jumped ahead willy-nilly, writing future scenes. Perhaps my romance group of peeps, who meet on Tuesday night Zoom, will assist me with that tonight. I'm crossing my fingers!

If anyone is interested in following my progress and shouting out words of encouragement to keep me going, check me out on the website. I'm under my new pen name--YES, I HAVE A PEN NAME--Caragh Leon. I also have, thanks again to the Tuesday night Zoomers, a TITLE--Tender Secrets. 

I'm so close...

No NFL recap but Steelers are 9-0!

This month I'm writing daily--no excuses--with the intent to have a complete manuscript by the end of the month. The blog post on that is tomorrow's entry. Since the Steelers played later in the day, I did not watch the early football games--gasp!--but instead wrote. I have eight hours of the Redzone Channel recorded, but this morning I'm back at the computer writing.

For years, I've spent Steelers Sunday with my buddy, Scott, and usually one other fan. First, it was Grandpa Bob and then when he married and moved, Vince. Sometimes it was just the two of us, on our spots on the couch watching our boys. Scott's wife, Krista, told people I was Scott's football wife. Like Tom, she watched the games, but it wasn't live or die like it is for the rest of us. 

For week one this year, I didn't go to his house for the first time in years. Vince was in Pittsburgh for several months, Grandpa Bob was quarantined, and I was contemplating the Sunday NFL ticket purchase. Maybe too, I had some apprehension about visiting the house where Krista would no longer greet me with one of her hugs. 

Then we won. My superstition immediately kicked in, and when we kept winning? Yeah, I was content to maintain the status quo and communicate via text with my guys. 

Saturday, Scott texted the group, all three of us, and invited us to come for dinner and watch the game. The others accepted. I whined about my superstition and had every intention of not going. That morning, I rose and began writing like a fiend, and two hours before the game, while I was doing some procrastinating research, I ran across the comment section of my blog.

It's a section I forget about. It used to alert me when people commented on my entries but somewhere that disappeared, and I rarely think to look at it. Oops. People are so nice! Thank you for your comments!! 

I should be checking this daily because it made my heart sing! I read the comments, and then I re-read my entries, especially regarding Scott's wife Krista, and suddenly I heard her voice. She gave me a stern talking--something along the lines of phooey on the superstition, so they lose a game, isn't friendship more important, life is too short, I should know--in her voice that I hear so often. 

So, after a bit of a cry for his loss, my loss, our Steelers Sundays where we caught up with one another, and the fact I'd never hear another story from her lips that would have me laughing so hard my sides would hurt, I texted I was coming. 

Sunday was spent with my Steelers friends social distancing six feet apart, eating pulled pork sandwiches and other stuff, and watching our boys (please, we are the worst undefeated team) add another W to the win column, and I didn't once take notes about the game. 

All of the above is my excuse for no Monday NFL recap this week. Because I was hanging with my Steelers peeps and enjoying the day. 

Nine and O BABY!

NFL 2020 picks week 10

Last Week - 10-4

Overall - 88-45

I forgot to make Thursday's pick. Holidays, a possible hurricane, and canceled work days threw me off schedule. Unfortunately, Yahoo counts it as a loss, so ERG... Although, if I'm being honest, I probably would have picked the Titans.

Houston over Cleveland

Detroit over Washington

Green Bay over Jacksonville

Philadelphia over Giants

Tampa over Carolina

Vegas over Denver

Miami over Chargers

Buffalo over Arizona

Seattle over Rams

New Orleans over San Francisco

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati

Baltimore over New England

Minnesota over Chicago

October pictures in quarantine

 

I needed a pic of myself for some writing gig so I took a few selfies

Florida's fall foliage in my neighborhood on my daily walks

Peep the palm tree

An early business meeting for the birds 

In Florida, we have early voting. I did by mail-in but took it in person and got my sticker. Also, here in my county, we can track our ballots, which we all did--arrived and counted.

October in the hood

A tired full-time worker whose mother made her pain after hours

I stole these from SnapChat pics. My daughter and her guy in pic one and my niece in pic two. Aren't they all adorable?

Bye, bye Rainbow Fish...we did Darcy's room in this motif based on the book, which Madison memorized from so many readings when she was two, and she'd impress people and read it to them. I used a projector to trace most of it on the walls and then my good friend Veronica came in and painted it. It lasted twenty-one years!

We had some cooler weather in late October. Elliot was a huge fan!

Monday morning NFL 2020 recap - week 9

Steelers: I worried about his game. We play well against the good teams and give the yuck teams our worst. That was ugly football, and we're lucky we won it. I'm not expecting an undefeated season--don't want one, to be honest, because I think a reality check makes for better play--but we need to play better football if we're going to get to the end.

• The Steelers had their first positive test this week when a staff member tested positive. Contract tracing was put into place, and fans kept getting the daily negative testing count update until game time. Meanwhile, Coach Tomlin was fined $100,000, and the Steelers organization was fined another $250,000 for coaches not wearing their face coverings at all times on the field. I guess that's one way for the NFL to recoup their losses. I wonder who got the job watching each sideline for violations? I can say that every time Tomlin was shown on the screen, unless I missed it, he had on his gaiter. I know because every time I saw the gaiter, I wanted one, even going as far as searching for one online. But seriously, wear your damn masks!
• The offense came out sluggish. The defense was sluggish. We looked like we didn't know how to play football, and then with less than two minutes to go in the first half, Ben went to the locker room hurt. Ugh. I hate four o'clock games.
• My annoyance of the game? Our defense stripping the ball with less than a minute left in the first half and then spending precious minutes celebrating as if they'd won the Super Bowl. Hate it--one of my pet peeves--no celebrating unless you're winning by a large margin.
• The Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed a PAT, had one blocked, and missed a field goal that, lucky for him, was ruled a dead play, giving him a second chance. He made that one. But add kicking to the sluggish column.
• In the fourth quarter, the defense came up big in the red zone with pressure on the Dallas quarterback and an interception and seemed to give the Steelers a jolt of life.
• Steelers fans on Twitter whine about Tony Romo rooting against the Steelers, and although he annoys me (pretty much all analyst do), I don't see that--until this game. But, then again, Romo is a former Dallas Cowboy. 
• No pass interference calls in this game (and there was a lot of touching), so maybe the refs are reading my NFL updates?
• In the last five minutes, both the offense and the defense did just enough to eke out that win. Wow. Crazy.

Other:

• COVID was rampant this week in the NFL. Several teams shut their training facilities, and several teams had a player testing positive. The NFL, however, has made it possible to continue playing by giving teams more players to replace those out with the virus. Nothing is going to hinder the owners from making bank! The NFL gave new COVID protocols requiring players to wear mandatory masks during pregame and postgame interactions with the threat of eventually going to mandatory masks for everyone except those on the field. Well, duh. But what will be the rules, and how will they be enforced? I mean, a player pops off the field for one play--must he put on a mask? Are the water peeps going to bring masks along with the Gatorade bottles? Are those mask spies at each game going to start a timer before they mark players in their books to fine them? Maybe the NFL should've considered a whole slew of things before they pushed for the season to begin.
• Carolina pulled a fake punt on a fourth down with Joseph Charleton throwing a great pass for the first down. I always wonder why more teams don't try these special team plays. Mix things up.
• Washington's quarterback Kyle Allen had this week's gross injury when his ankle went one way while his leg went the other. Word is it is only dislocated, but he'll have an MRI today. Alex Smith came in as the back-up--that would be Smith, who had his own gross leg injury that kept him away from the game for almost two years.
• I couldn't help but notice that Mike McCarthy looks like he's put on some added weight. I can say the same with the Bucs Bruce Arians and Kansas City's Andy Reid. I'm not one to talk, but then again, I'm not coaching an athletic team. Are these athletes not some kind of motivation? Jeez, if I was surrounded by these guys, I'd be asking them to whip me into shape. These fat, white coaches need to step up and start getting healthy. 
• The Buffalo Bills were on fire this week while teams usually on fire like the Colts and the Seahawks struggled. Poor teams--the Falcons and the Giants--won while good teams like the Steelers and the Chiefs were lucky to pull out their wins. Week 9 was all over the place.
• The early games came down to some exciting endings with less than two minutes to go. Jacksonville had a shot to tie the Texans but missed the two-point conversion. After being down 20-3 at halftime, Denver came within a touchdown of tying Atlanta but was too tired to pull it off, and the Carolina Panthers kicker Joey Slye missed a 67-yard field goal by booting it wide right to lose 33-31 against the Chiefs.
• Thank you, New Orleans, for not only taking out the Bucs but KILLING them and embarrassing them on their own damn field. They lost my respect with the AB addition, and no, I will not change my opinion of Tom Brady. He almost had me, during a weak moment in wanting Tampa to have help with their young receivers, but NO MORE. What was I thinking? Brady is all about himself and winning, and he doesn't care how he does it legally or not or who he has to do it with. Yuck!

NFL 2020 picks week 9

Last Week - 9-5

Overall - 79-40

Green Bay over San Francisco

Denver over Atlanta

Seattle over Buffalo

Tennessee over Chicago

Baltimore over Indianapolis

Kansas City over Carolina

Detroit over Minnesota

Giants over Washington

Houston over Jacksonville

Vegas over Chargers

Steelers over Dallas

Arizona over Miami

New Orleans over Tampa

New England over Jets

Home improvement quarantine project #2

Simultaneously with my painting project, Tom jumped on the fence project. 

Years ago, we installed a fence around only two sides of our property because our neighbor Howard asked us not to erect slats on his side. Now that Howard lives in Texas, Darcy and I voted to enclose the rest and add two matching gates. Tom was not a fan of the fence idea until he went outside one day to see our neighbor's overgrown hedge poking through the chain-link fence on to our side and way over the association's six-foot requirement on top. 

It took him an hour to cut it, and by the end, I had him on board the fence project. 

Unfortunately, no local fence company wanted the job because it was too small, and most companies had a backlog in ordering the fences. The materials were just not there. Even getting a response to our inquiries was a chore, but finally, my friend gave us the name of the company who put in her fence, and when Tom called, they were very helpful.

He drove to Tampa that day and ordered the fence and parts--the downside, he had to install the fence. It took a week for the materials to arrive.

First, he removed the chain-link gates we had on either side of our house, installed not long after we moved in. I was thankful I was on the painting project because our weather was in the low 90s and the poles were set into the ground with concrete. It was sweaty, dirty work, took him two days to accomplish, but he did it. 

The accompanying fence instructions and YouTube helped assist Tom with the rest. Every night, he skipped working out in the gym to come home and dig a hole or two, using a shovel and his gloved hands. 

Me: "What you need is a post hole digger."

Tom: "I'm impressed you even know what that is and that you know the terminology."

Me: "Please. My father taught me more than how to get along with people. If I weren't so busy on this other project, I'd have that fence erected!"

We both knew that was a lie, but I took the points on knowing tool terminology, and he took the satisfaction of having a wife that was not only gorgeous, smart, and handy but well versed in most subject matters.

Over the weekend, he really went to work. Borrowing a post hole digger from our neighbor down the street, he dug the rest of the holes and set the poles in concrete. I assisted in making sure the poles were straight, he second-guessed me and brought out the level, and it proved I knew my shit. Once the poles were ready, I hauled the slats from the driveway to Tom, who put them together like a puzzle until we had ourselves a fence line!

The gate took longer than I anticipated and required some assistance from me, but by the time Tom was finished on Sunday night, I was damn impressed. My man can put up a fence! He had to cut some slats when he got to the end, but getting to wield a power tool made that worthwhile. In the end, Tom was filthy and covered in dirt, but the fence looked great!

The next week he started on the opposite side because while we have a fence there, it ended at our neighbor's fence, so that every time her lawn guys came to mow, they could see us in the pool. There wasn't a lot of privacy, and I convinced Tom we might as well finish the job correctly. Out came the chain-link fence, and Tom extended the line to go past our pool pump with added slats to install a gate.

 

Maddy and I helped with the gate today, and the project is now in the books. Look at us, go! 

Project #3 is Darcy's closet. We found a guy, who showed up Friday to check the area, but he wanted too much money and wanted to use pre-fab crap that wouldn't allow us to do exactly what we wanted. 

Him: "The height is 87, but I can only go 84 or 79."

He also didn't quote doors in the price, and when those were added, it was $700 more. I kept texting my cousin, who has mad skills in this department--well, actually, I was corresponding with his wife--and we all agreed this was a no-go. 

I suggested Tom discuss it with our neighbor across the street--he who we really wanted for the job--and when he heard the news, he agreed he could get to it maybe next week.

Fingers crossed! Project #3, coming! 

Home improvement quarantine project #1

Darcy announced she wanted her room painted, and needing something to do while quarantined, I grabbed it. I love to paint--as long as I don't have to prep or clean up. I see myself more like the paint closer, striding in after the tape is on the edges, corners, and baseboards, and the tarps cover the floor and exiting after I've artistically rolled, brushed, and edged the color onto the walls. Cleaning the tools after the job? OMG, it takes longer than painting. 

So, I procrastinated. 

Eventually, Darcy narrowed down her color choices, and when Tom began making noises about redoing the girls' hallway bathroom, I reminded him we had Darcy's room to complete first. She doesn't have a closet in that room, and after deciding we'd paint, we'd also measured and sketched plans for adding a closet and an accompanying dresser. Our neighbor, a woodworker, was our first choice to hire, but he is very busy with his new kitchen business and couldn't get to it until next year, and I could see this project falling low on the list of Tom's projects. I bought the paint.

However, when I went to rally the troops, Tom told me I needed to clean out the room first, and in his eyes, that was a big job. He was not willing to do, so I bit the bullet during my week of determination to get more than 5,000 steps on my sports watch. 

Tom was correct. Clearing out Darcy's room was an all-day job.

I began by sending her pictures of items, and she responded with keep or donate as we went through her childhood. Once that was completed, I removed her stuff, piling it in the corner of my dining room. Eventually, it overtook the dining table and other areas until it looked like we were hoarders. If there is one thing, Tom can't stand, it is clutter. I figured I had him nailed down as a painting volunteer, just clearing the bedroom.

I thought wrong. 

Moving her furniture toward the center and away from the walls, I discovered why Darcy can keep her small room so neat. She puts things under her furniture--

This little chore took all day to complete, and instead of joining in when he got home from work, Tom encouraged me to get those steps in! The next day, with the help of my SIL, who kept me entertained via Facetime, I taped the edges with the intent of painting the ceiling the next day. The only problem was as I finished one area, the tape began unpeeling. Darcy's room was--we think--originally an exterior porch that one of the homeowners closed in with concrete block, so all of her walls are very course. I had to start over with different tape and use scotch tape to tape the ends of the painter's tape, and then on the advice of my SIL, I began edging before the tape fell off once again.

Madison arrived home from teaching during this and doing my best Tom Sawyer routine, she fell hard, put on paint clothes, and joined me. We got one coat on the ceiling before it turned dark. It wasn't easy. Painting a ceiling hurts one's neck. Maddy decided the Michelangelo way was needed, and when I got back into the room in the morning, that area was definitely well painted. 

The ceiling only required one coat and some touch-up work, and less than a gallon of paint. After much discussion with two different painting experts (roll eyes here), it was determined I needed a tinted prime over the blue paint and sparkly Rainbow Fish motif. Unfortunately, the color chosen wasn't able to be used as a tint, so in went a classic pink, which was darker than the color Darcy wanted. Whatever. It turned out well, I think. 

Darcy came home to vote and painted one wall. I did the rest. I also did all of the clean-up EVERY TIME. Then, I had to put everything in her room back inside. All told, the project took a week. 

Like Maddy's painted room, the ceiling is darker than the walls, but this isn't really conveyed in pictures. Also, it depends on the time of day in this room. The ceiling casts shadows and gives the walls a darker look than they really are. Maddy didn't like the color, but it's growing on her. I like it.

Darcy: "It looks like a pregnancy gender reveal exploded in the room."

Me: "Well, it's a girl!"

Now we just need to find someone to build the closet.