A Better Day

Today wasn't quite as blah and dreary as yesterday. I know there was more light because the Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up this afternoon and when I edited its picture, I didn't have to brighten it up. Definitely an improvement. I'm surprised I haven't seen either the feeder-invading squirrel or the chubby squirrel lately. They must be around because there's footprints in the snow around the feeders but I haven't seen them.

 

I painted a few more Christmas postcards today. Two wreaths and one tree. I'm getting slightly better at painting the little leaves on the wreaths. For some reason they're hard for me to paint with one stroke like I see people demonstrate. Maybe I need to paint a whole lot more of them?

 

Tonight was the Writer's Guild Christmas meeting. We do a secret Santa book exchange. I wrapped up one of my novels and also one of my favorite books of writing prompts in case someone didn't bring one to swap. They played Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and we passed books from hand to hand, singing along, until the end of the first verse. Whichever book we had then was the one we kept. I got a copy of Mitch Albom's book The Little Liar. I look forward to reading it.

 

I went to the grocery today for bananas and grapes and also found 25lb. bags of ice melt salt. I was down to my last bucket of salt and with my slanted driveway that's something I can't be out of. So I bought two. Twenty-five pounds is heavy--twice. Fortunately the checker scanned them on the cart so I didn't have to hoist them up again. And the bin that I store them in is close to the rear of the car so I didn't have to carry them far once I got home. Whew. I'm glad I'm done with that.

Writing went a little better today too. I wrote 1,021 words in about an hour. I sent Cecelia, the grandma, off with her family and then Arturo, her Italian boyfriend wannabe, showed up to gum up the works. Her daughter-in-law, Sheila, definitely doesn't approve. Should be fun to write.

I also stripped the bed and put on fresh sheets. It'll be nice to sleep on a fresh-made bed tonight but I've gotta say that having a king-size bed is getting old. I feel like I need a golf cart to stretch the sheets around it. And there's only one of me so it feels like a lot of bed for one little old lady. Maybe in January I'll go to Verlo and buy a queen-size bed. I'll get a queen so I don't have to buy new sheets since there's a queen-size in the guest room. 

--Barbara