An ITEM! list for this 6th day of January

ITEM!: We finished the Tobey Maguire Spider-Mans yesterday, and today, we watched the first of the Andrew Garfield movies, "The Amazing Spider-Man." It was, to be honest, much better than I remembered. Or at least, still much better than the Maguire movies. Granted, in my eyes, there's really no room but up from there, but this movie was entertaining and well done. The graphics were better, as expected, and the visual quality of the picture was deeper and more detailed. I'm dreading tomorrow's movie, because I know how it ends, but today was a pleasant remembrance.

    ITEM!: We're also comfortably in the midst of watching "The Witcher," and have finished five episodes.

    ITEM!: I managed to get Sydney an appointment for her booster in a few days, and once that's taken care of, I'll feel better again. I hate that we all have an extra level of protection that she doesn't have yet. But that'll change soon, and in well enough time before we venture into another amusement park in Southern California. Yes, plans are afoot for spring break.

    ITEM!: I agreed to Panda Express for lunch tomorrow, and I find that I'm actually kinda looking forward to it. I'm thinking orange chicken, for sure, maybe fried rice, and perhaps some cream cheese rangoon. If not the rangoon, maybe spring rolls, if they have them. It's an opportunity ripe with options.

Our home is a testing site now

So Brian took his first at-home COVID test tonight, as he's had some members of his office staff test positive, and he's negative. I hate this damn virus, for sure. I'm confident and feeling good about our vaccinated status ... up until the damn virus gets too close. And possibly being in my house is way too close.

    It stressed me out, and I was very relieved to have his test come back negative. I knew if he was negative, I would be too, since he's the only close contact we've had lately. So we're able to hold on to the second test in the pack for future use. As well as the two I ordered from Amazon that may or may not arrive before the 18th of this month. There is a run own at-home COVID tests and that is no joke.

    Anyway, as of now, count us safe in the pandemic.

The Maguire viewings have begun

It's the third day of the year, and I'm writing out my second blog post of the year, and that is a good sign. Also a good sign: I got everything done this weekend that I wanted to get done. Tree is down and out of the house, and Sydney got a haircut. Done and done.

    Let's talk entertainment. We watched the second episode of "The Witcher" second season tonight, and I'm digging it a lot. What hasn't happened yet is a viewing of "The Book of Boba Fett," but we'll get to that. And my list of other series that need to be watched is growing, exponentially, and I'm not sure I'll be able to cross 'em all off my list. 

    Also today, Sydney and I watched "Spider-Man," starring Tobey Maguire. I did not enjoy the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, nor did I enjoy the Andrew Garfield versions, but Sydney and I are going to see "No Way Home" again this weekend, and we decided she needed the right background before seeing it the second time. I mean, she knows the stuff she knows, but she hadn't actually seen the films, so there is ... nuance? ... that she doesn't appreciate in "No Way Home." Having said that, I still am not enjoying the Maguire films. Nor will I find some unappreciated love of the Garfield movies, I don't think. But the plan is to watch each movie one night this week so she can be ready on Saturday.

EXPECTATIONs for 2022! Happy New Year!

Well, Happy 2022, people!

It's been a while, and I'm sorry about that, but I'm here now, and hoping to be a better blogger this year. And in that air of hopefulness, I bring you my EXPECTATIONs for 2022.

EXPECTATION 1: Save money, and pay off my American Express card. I managed to pay off Brian's AmEx last year, and have a good plan for my card this year. No student loans through April will help a bit, as well as my raise from last year. Also, I'll try to budget better. I need to remember that a hundred dollars here and there will be helpful, and then put that towards the card.

EXPECTATION 2: Read one book, watch one movie and binge one show per month. I had this EXPECTATION last year, and while I did well with the movie and binge portions, I really faltered with reading, which is totally not like me, I know, but this year, I will do better. I already have my January book, and will perhaps get started on it tomorrow.

EXPECTATION 3: Write two Mystic and Boysen books. Whether I publish them or not is unsure at this point, but I have two story ideas, and would very much like to get them written out before the year closes out. I took a break last year and really didn't think much about the books, because no one buying them makes me sad, but I really just want to get a couple more ideas out into the ether.

EXPECTATION 4: Create a greeting card company. This is a new side hustle I'm thinking about, and I'm kind of intrigued to see if I can make something out of it. That commercial from Google about how people can learn to do and create awesome stuff after Googling instructions on how to do it has been unexpectedly motivating.

EXPECTATION 5: Purge/organize/replace house stuff. This is an EXPECTATION from last year too, but there are a few purging places that I still haven't gotten to, such as Brian's closet, the bathroom cabinet, and the file cabinet and office cart in the loft. Other areas: I'd like to go through my bag bin perhaps; replace the pink quilt on my bed; replace some sweaters; sell my wedding china; get a new printer; and "to be determined."

EXPECTATION 6: Also again, jump back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon. I managed to unknowingly lose a couple pounds in early December, but when I weighed in this morning, those pounds had returned. I want to get back into those other jeans, so that means getting back into a relationship with WW.

EXPECTATION 7: Blog more, eat better, cook occasionally, and be a better person. Easy peasy.

EXPECTATION 8: Embark on one adventure per month, be it a trip to the zoo or botanical garden, or spend an evening/weekend somewhere. I'm bummed we spend so much time at home, and would like to shake that up a bit.

I think that's it? I mean, that's enough, isn't it?