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This never happens

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Thursday. Sunny and cold.

Firefly came to join my in the comfy chair this morning, and spent some time gazing up into my face, and kneading, and rubbing her cheek on my hand, and offering her chin and belly for rubs. She's never this demonstrative. After she had expressed her devotion, she curled up on my lap and went to sleep, which, yes, also never happens. She'll sleep next to me on the couch or on the bed, but she hasn't been a lap-sitter.

Needless to say, I spent an extended time in the chair, thinking thoughts, and trying just to Breathe. It was nice. She did finally stretch and jumped down, with a very high tail, and we both got something to eat.

Before I forget: Chocolate tea is much improved by a dash of half-and-half, but I think it will not become a favorite with me.

Today, I am on FedEx Watch. They're being cagey, and will only say that the package is on a truck and will be delivered "today." They usually come by between 11 and noon -- in fact, yesterday's note was left at 11:11, so -- fingers crossed. I don't, of course, dare to go into the back of the house or downstairs, but it's not like I don't have things to do.

. . . like go down the rabbit hole of new Motorola phones, because I have never bonded with the free Pixel 9 Pro. I mean, it's a phone, and it does the phone-like things that I need done. It weighs too much, and it gulps down battery power like a chimp with a crate of bananas, but apparently all the new phones are power-hogs, and Seven! Days! Between! Charges! is a thing of the oh-so-long-ago.

I was briefly tempted by the Moto G Power, but -- yanno, the Pixel works, and whatever it did yesterday to produce that spark of "Yanno? You can be replaced." has already faded.

So, late getting started here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory -- call it half a writer's day off. I do very much need to call the CPA, and work on my talk for the Waterville Public Library in a couple weeks. And play with my new tablet if/when it arrives.

Realsoonnow, I'm going to have to start doing my read of the WIP, but that can wait another day or two. I also need to put some serious thought into how I expect to stay solvent after this contract is finished -- that was one of the subjects Firefly and I touched on. She likes this house, as I do, and wanted to make sure I wasn't thinking about moving. I'm not. I mean, yeah, it's too big for one old woman and three cats, because ghosts don't take up that much room, but the reasons for the house -- this house (all on one level, in town, near shopping, the cats' vet, and the not-exactly-a-hospital) -- are still good. Plus the ghosts. Steve put a lot of care into making this a Lee-and-Miller History House.

So, that's where I am at mid-morning.

How's everybody doing?

More morning pics:

Wednesday. Sunny and cold. Minus three F when I got up. Minus 1 as I sit here in the comfy chair in my office overlooking the Long Back Yard with Tali on my lap, taking full advantage of the electric blanket.

FedEx seems quite sure that my package, which even it acknowledges I have to sign for, will be delivered tomorrow.  I have no less than three emails in my inbox assuring me that this is the case.  So! That means today I'll be going to the grocery and the post office and do another errands out in the world, after it gets a little warmer.

Breakfast, when I get around to it, will be oatmeal with something. I still have chocolate chips, I think and I certainly have almond butter.

Right now I'm drinking a cup of chocolate tea, which is interesting, but probably needs milk. Well, I'm going to the grocery today. I'll pick up some creamer. The possession of tea infusers has widened my horizons considerably.

I'm feeling a bit less oppressed today which is a good thing. This is usually the result of taming piles, so well done, me.

I think that's all I've got.

How's everybody holding up?

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All righty, then!

Breakfast et, first load of laundry drying, email answered, some phone calls made -- haircut, annual check-up appointment for Firefly, PT -- blinds ordered.

Time to put on my boots and go do some errands in the sunny 17F-feels-like-6F day.
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So, FedEx, which swore three times in my email that it would be delivering my package tomorrow, Thursday, February 29, so I arranged to go out today so I could be home tomorrow to receive and sign for that package?

Yep, came home to find a note on my door from FedEx: "Sorry we missed you!"

A company that can't even keep track of its own schedule is ... useless. As I explained at length to poor Muhammed, who won my phone call.

The theory is that they will try again tomorrow. I just hope nobody decides to use the package for a football in the meantime.

Here have a portrait of the snowbank along my driveway.  Subaru provided for scale.

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Well, except for the paperwork I haven't gotten yet, I think I'm finished the tax questionnaire. I still need to double/triple check, get hold of the Actual Accountant who will be working with this form, and then input everything into the Blessed Portal, but for values of having gathered all the information, I'm done.

February has somehow become completely full with appointments for me and the cats, which is -- kind of astonishing.

In other news, I thought I'd gotten off easy yesterday what with SnowJoeing the deck. May I just say -- Ow? Back, arm, knees, shoulder, wrists and hands.

I have achieved an item for my When It Gets Warm Enough to Walk Up and Down on the Earth List -- I wanna take an alpaca for a walk, and it turns out that I can do that right up in Unity.

I've had Tali with me all afternoon. Rook was holding down Steve's office for most of the day, but just recently came in to quiz me on my progress with the taxes before he took over my chair in the dining room. Firefly . . . Firefly has apparently been reading Belle's Book. She located the heated and often-sunny bottom shelf in the built-in bookcase that Belle used to favor and has been tucked in very contentedly napping since just before lunch.

I b'lieve that the last load of towels has just finished drying, which means the only laundry left to do -- tomorrow! -- will be the cat blankets. Progress, so they tell me.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I'll check in tomorrow.