Thanksgiving weekend

It's Thanksgiving weekend coming up. I got the vegetable part of my shopping list done on Wednesday. I have the turkey and stuffing to get on the weekend, and I'm all set to go.

I am looking forward to the longer weekend. I like making Thanksgiving dinner. I also love leftovers.

Happy Friday! I'm so glad that there's one more workday to go.

White moth visit

On Thursday night, I ran a few errands. I normally go grocery shopping on Wednesdays. This past Wednesday, I headed downtown for Beyond Monet. As a result, I delayed my grocery run till Thursday.

After having completed my errands, I was unlocking the front door to my home when a white moth came over. A white moth generally represents someone deceased who has come to say hi.

I knew immediately that it was my friend who passed away in early January. I have been thinking about her more this past month than usual.

I opened the door and the moth followed me in.

"I miss you," I said out loud, looking right at it.

I then headed indoors. I felt happy seeing a good friend.

Pay and my bank

I like payday. It's supposed to happen every consecutive Thursday.

I also like my bank. It has always deposited my pay directly into my account on Wednesday night instead of Thursday before I wake up. It used to be after 10 pm on Wednesday. These days, it's at 5 pm.

Crazy. It's also perfect. I go grocery shopping after work on Wednesdays. I feel rich.

Getting a compliment that I'm thin

Last Wednesday, I was doing my usual grocery store run after work. There was a woman taking up the middle of an aisle while looking at something. I wanted to get past her, so I could stand behind her. We were both waiting to pay for our items at the checkout.

I was my usual self by excusing myself to get through. I indicated that I didn't want to plow through and hit her. She was nice. We struck up a conversation.

She was telling me that during this pandemic, she has consumed way too much chocolate and that she was chocolate. She wished that she was as "thin as [I was]." She was so sweet!

I am not known to be thin. However, I'm thinking that my cutting out sugar has made a dent in how I look. I know that I feel much better and I tend to sleep better these days. My pants aren't as snug when I wear them. I thanked her for making my day.

She had a lot of items in her cart. I had a handful. I passed by her on my way out the door and she waved to me. I wished her a good evening.

It's nice meeting friendly folks, especially during a pandemic!

Glee making ghee

Yesterday, I did something different. I made ghee.

I bought a jar a few months ago and have since been in love with the nutty taste of ghee. I was down to the last few tablespoons and went looking for a jar last week. The supermarket that I was at did not have any.

I met up with a friend afterwards and mentioned it in passing. She told me that she makes her own ghee and it's pretty straightforward.

She was right. I made mine in thirty minutes.

I use ghee all the time. It's keto-friendly and it's nice that the milk solids are gone because I am borderline lactose-intolerant.

I won't be buying ghee. It's enjoyable making my own.

Masks

In Toronto, it is mandatory to wear a mask in indoor public areas, such as grocery stores. In my area, this bylaw takes in effect next Friday.

I have eased into wearing a mask, even when we didn't have a bylaw. I find that when I'm in a store that has one-way arrows on the floor to let you know in which direction you should be walking, most folks don't follow them. I'd rather have a mask on in such circumstances.

I own a total of four masks. Three have the same pattern. All four are cotton and have small flowers. I definitely stand out in a crowd. Everyone either has solid black cloth or the blue disposable ones.

For some reason, I can't see myself getting disposable ones. I am good washing my mask and reusing it after every use.

Grocery shopping on a holiday and fireworks going off at this hour

I typically go grocery shopping on Wednesdays. Canada Day landed on a Wednesday this year. I don't recall doing grocery shopping a ton of times in my life on Canada Day, but I did this year.

It was surprisingly busy. Perhaps folks didn't know what to do with themselves. Most festivities were either cancelled or done virtually.

As I write this post, some neighbours are setting off fireworks in their backyard. I am fortunate to be on vacation this week, so I don't mind. I do feel bad for others who need to head back to work tomorrow. Setting them off at 12:30 am isn't exactly being respectful to others.

On a good note, I get paid every other Thursday. My bank tends to deposit my pay Wednesday night at around 10:10 pm. Because Wednesday was a holiday, my pay got deposited on Tuesday night instead. It feels good to have an early payday.

Don't touch my car!

I tend to go grocery shopping on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Every other Saturday, I head to a supermarket in Toronto where I can get popsicles with a banana base in them. It's the closest supermarket that sells them. They are yummy!

To make a long story short, when I backed into a parking spot in front of this store, there were cars on either side of me that were roughly the same size as mine. When I was done shopping and headed to my car, there was a pickup truck to the left of the driver's side. A man was loading groceries in the backseat of his truck. The door was pretty close to my driver's side.

I was putting my groceries in my trunk when I heard someone talking to me. It was the guy who was loading the truck. I couldn't hear him when he was standing practically at the front of my car.

"Pardon me?" I asked, as he walked from between his vehicle and mine over to the passenger side of my car.

"I pushed your side mirror in so I wouldn't hit it and fixed it. Hope that's okay" he said.

I put my hands up in the air. What?!

"I guess so," I said

"I think it's better than my door hitting it," he said.

"Not really. I have to wipe down my mirror now," I replied.

I was not impressed. I didn't articulate how annoyed I was. On a normal day, I'd be okay. Things aren't normal these days for these reasons:

• We're in a pandemic. He came up to me to talk to me without a mask and far from being six feet apart. Jerk.
• How is it okay to touch someone's property because you can't park for beans? Your germs are now on my car. Even though you appear okay health-wise, you may not be. Now, I have your grubby fingerprints on my car and need to sanitize that part of my car. Geez, thanks.
• Why couldn't you have loaded your groceries from the other door? How about finding a parking spot where you can swing your doors open freely to load your groceries because you know that you won't be using your trunk?

I seriously dislike when folks adjust my car's side mirrors when I take my car in for servicing. It takes me forever to get them back to the way that best work for me. The fact that I had a complete stranger do it unexpectedly irks me.

It may seem like nothing to this guy, but it's not okay to me. He drives a huge truck, but it doesn't mean that he has every right to adjust other people's property to suit his lack of consideration for other people's property.

Grocery shopping, cart return, and car compliment

On Saturday, I went grocery shopping. Every couple of week, I drive into Toronto to hit one particular grocery store that has specific items that I can't get in my neighbourhood. I like this store a lot.

I had a small cart. After I had paid for my groceries, I rolled a small cart with my items over to my car, unloaded them into my car's trunk, and proceeded to put my cart away. There was a nice man who spotted me returning my cart.

"I can take that," he said cheerfully.
"Thanks," I said, leaving the cart a few feet from him so he could sanitize it.
"That's a beautiful car," he said, looking at my blue Corolla hatchback.
"Oh, thanks so much!"

I have to agree with him. It i a good-looking car.

The weekend and change

I am thrilled that it's the weekend. Friday was busy work-wise. I managed to train someone on a major task that my entire team has handled for years. Frankly, I have done this task since I joined this company.

I am happy to hand this task over to another colleague in an entirely different department. The problem? My manager has difficulty letting go.

When this change was proposed by another manager, he asked me for my opinion. I said that other units across the company do not have folks like me do this task. We should follow suit. I personally do way too much work and would be more than happy to stop working on this specific task.

My manager was adamant that we should maintain it. Well, we went into a meeting and he completely caved. He definitely does not have a backbone.

Recently, a project manager created a transition plan. He wrote to me and suggested that we delay the handover until we are "back in the office." I had to level with him and say that this pandemic could last longer than a couple of months, which is what he thinks. So, I went ahead with training the woman who will take over for me.

I do enjoy training people. I like creating training materials. I feel that I am good explaining concepts. I also have the patience.

It's just a shame that I have a manager who doesn't seem to get with the program. Oh, well.

It's the weekend. It means that I do grocery shopping later on today.

Stay safe and have a good one!

Warm, sunny evening, with few people around

After work yesterday, I did my usual grocery run and picked up some takeout before coming home. It was 13°C outside. Sunny. Warm. There was a breeze.

It was such a nice evening. Hardly anyone was out. It still seems odd, but it's becoming the norm.

I will do another grocery run on Saturday. I hope to get a turkey for Easter. The leftovers will last for several meals. I don't get tired of eating turkey. I've had it twice already this week.

Thankfully, there's one more workday to go. I hope you are well, safe, and healthy.

Recovering from food poisoning

It has been a while. Here's the scoop.

I got food poisoning on Wednesday. I was working from home and wasn't feeling great. I ended up vomiting on four separate occasions. It wasn't fun.

On Thursday, I was starting to get better. I had a couple of crackers with water for a couple of meals. I was happy that I could hold food down.

I graduated to soup on Friday. Chicken noodle soup tasted so good from a can. I had to go to the supermarket. I felt weak walking to my car from my home. Luckily, I did much better walking around the supermarket.

Saturday left me exhausted. I went to run a few errands and took breaks, My stamina and energy are not fully there.

I took it easy on Sunday. I also have a cough. Raw honey helps soothe a sore throat.

I go back into the office on Monday. We'll see if I survive. I am thankful that I am on the mend.

Here's hoping that you're doing much better!

Staycation and my home away from home for a week

My staycation has started. This one is longer. My thinking was that since I am in the office all this week, the drive would be easier if I stayed closer to work.

I love this hotel. It's my first time staying here. It's roughly twenty minutes away from the office by car. It's a nice change from my hour commute!

I am in a suite. I lucked out and got an upgrade. It comes with a kitchenette. I am looking forward to getting some groceries, so I can fix myself breakfast.

It feels like home. It's great so far.

Striking up a conversation over blue cars

Saturday was a great day chatting with two friends whom I haven't seen for a bit. I have known each of them since grades 8 and 9. I also enjoyed chatting with a fellow shopper.

I had parked in front of Best Buy and went in to browse. There was a grocery store across the parking lot. Instead of driving over there after I was done at Best Buy, I left my car where it was and walked over.

When I came back, both the person who had parked next to me and I were thinking of getting into our cars. We were both parked such that the driver side required one of us waiting for the other to get in. I broke the silence.

"Did you want to go in first?" I said, as I needed to put my groceries in the trunk.
"Sure. Is that your car?" he asked me.
"Yes," I replied, putting my groceries into my trunk.
"I love the colour," he said, admiring the flame blue.
"I love your car's colour, too," I said, as his was a darker blue.
"I really love the colour. It's nice," he said.
"Thanks! I love blue and it looks like you do, too," I replied, noticing his baby blue t-shirt he had on.
"It's my favourite colour, too," he said, with a huge smile on his face.

I wished him a good day. He said goodbye. It's nice that perfect strangers have something in common and great taste in car colours.

Thoughts, winter storm, and cuddles

I have a lot to say. The problem is that I said a ton on Monday at work that I am too tired to write about it right now. I'll give it a try in a future post.

In the meantime, a winter storm is brewing. It starts in a few hours. When weather forecasters recommend that you work from home, you do just that. It's estimated that 15 to 20 centimetres of snow will fall. Add to this mix strong winds and freezing rain, and it makes sense to just stay at home.

On Monday night, I went to the grocery store to stock up on food. I enjoy cooking at home these days. I make the time.

My guy is still in India. He is fortunate to not endure all this wintry weather. He told me that he prefers sleeping, especially on snowy days. I like the thought of cuddling up next to him on a snowy day. I wish we had a fireplace!

Bending over has a time and a place

My guy and I went grocery shopping together on my first night in Dallas. We both like shopping together. It's simply a fun outing.

We placed a bunch of our groceries and purchased items on the backseat of his rental car and headed back to the hotel. He had placed a jug of milk in a plastic bag on the floor of the car, behind him. I went over to fetch it once we had parked.

"It's okay. Let me go get it. I want you to bend over for more important things," he said to me.
"I like that," I replied.

Shopping needs to always end on such a spicy, fun note.

Turnips and learning

I had a good Saturday. I slept in and got nearly eight hours of sleep.

I went out to run some errands. I am the odd one who enjoys grocery shopping on a Saturday.

I drove a few towns over to a discount grocery store that specializes in frozen items. I like the frozen, cubed turnips. There is no need to spend time peeling them. They are also uniform in size and cook evenly.

At the checkout counter, I took everything out of my basket. The cashier asked whether the turnips take long to cook. I said not really. I put them in soups and pan-fry them. She liked my answer.

I am a foodie at heart. Perhaps I look like I know what I'm doing. Not really. I learned that I enjoy eating turnips about half a year ago! I am still learning and it's a journey.

The cashier was great at packing all my groceries into my single reusable bag. I was impressed. I need to learn how to bag like she does!

All I want for a gift is you

My guy missed our office Christmas party. I gave him the scoop on our first Christmas party at a banquet hall in three years.

He pinged me on Skype as I was nearly home. I had to swing by my local grocery store to get an item.

I got home and chatted with him. I am always happy when I hear his voice.

"What would you like me to get you as a gift?" he asked me.
"I'd like a good-looking guy with a uniform head and a package that I'd like to open," I replied.
"Yes, you definitely have me waiting for you," he said, conforming my great taste in gifts.

He's so sweet.

Coughing fit after seeing poultry blood at the supermarket

It has been an interesting learning experience when it comes to having bronchitis and how my coughing gets worse when I am mildly stressed out.

On Saturday, I felt well enough to go out and get some groceries. I haven't had much to eat for breakfast, other than cereal and English muffins. Then again, my appetite has been shot until now.

The person in front of me at the supermarket checkout had packages of chicken drumsticks. One of the packages had the plastic wrap torn wide open. I was watching the man try and put it back together. He then had chicken blood and juices on his hand, which he decided to wipe on his jeans.

I used to work in food services. It's not the proper way to handle food. I sensed a ton of food contamination happening, among other things. Considering that I am recovering from being sick, I am sensitive to spreading germs.

I spotted chicken blood that his package had started by the product scanner. Sure enough, the cashier scanned my mixed bean salad across the blood and the scanner. I had to point out that she needed to wipe the blood off her scanning area as well as my bean salad container.

She was good with my request. I was so grossed out, but thanked her. I paid for my goodies, put them in my bag, and headed over to my car.

By the time I had loaded everything in my car, including me, my coughing fit had started. A minute later, I was okay.

I am typically not that squeamish when it comes to seeing poultry blood. However, I am not my normal self, so it was an observation that I found intriguing when I am sick.

Watching Fifty Shades Darker again and saving money on plastic bags

On Saturday, I went to see Fifty Shades Darker for the second time at a movie theatre. I can't recall when was the last time that I have seen a movie multiple times at a theatre. It is rare. I love this one.

Seeing a movie that you love over again makes you pick up details that you hadn't before. I can't wait to get my hands on my own copy. This time at the theatre, there were about five people who stayed to watch the credits and get a glimpse of Fifty Shades Freed.

My guy has returned from his travels and is dead tired. We talked briefly. He asked me what I did after the movies. I told him that I went grocery shopping.

"The woman cashing me out asked whether I wanted a plastic bag for five cents. I declined. If I needed two trips to get my groceries to the car to save money on plastic bags, I would. I have plenty of reusable bags in my car's trunk," I explained.
"You are becoming a true Cheap Bastard like me. I am so proud of you," he gushed.

He's tired, but he's not so tired to recognize CB tendencies.