Currently, 1.4.2017

Dear ones,

Today I am super excited to be linking-up with a host of big time bloggers for this Currently post. Waaaay outta of my league, here.  But studies show…my informal glance at last year’s blog stats…that my most popular posts were those where I linked up with other bloggers.  Hoping some of my stand-alone efforts will make the top ten this year but that’s a bit premature.

I am honored, even tickled pink, to be connecting with the lovely Anne, who blogs at In Residence, and my new friends to share what we are following, gathering, resolving and sipping (alphabetized for your approval) – Currently, 1.4.2017.

Following

“The Bachelor”, of course!  Silly!  If you missed the first episode and the “Countdown to Nick”, watch them here on ABC.com.

“The Bachelor” airs on ABC on Monday nights.  “This is Us” returns to NBC on Tuesday nights, next week.  Finally, something to watch on TV.

Gathering

Pennies.  Actually, penny-gathering isn’t new to me.  I have been looking for and picking up pennies for YEARS.  And then I put them in my left shoe for good luck.  But guess what?  If I put them in a jar, they will multiply and turn into $667.95 in a year’s time.  Like rabbits, huh?

Now I didn’t figure out that math all by myself.  I got a little help from a pin on Pinterest.  A pin that I discovered this morning when looking for my old pin about saving money for a Christmas Fund.  Didn’t find my old pin but did find this one.

Apparently, if you put a penny in the jar on January 1 or Day 1 (I’m already behind), and then two pennies on Day 2, three pennies on Day 3, 100 pennies on Day 100, you’ll wind up with $667.95.  To my way of thinking, you’d have 365 pennies or $3.65.  But, hey, math was never my strong suit. Call it a mini-Christmas Fund until I find my original Christmas Fund pin.  Going to try it.  Skeptical, too? Check out the pin here.

Resolving

Where do I begin?  I created this exhaustive list of winter goals which are actually the same old goals I have been aiming at for months.

So in January, I think they can be considered resolutions.  Then in February, they’ll go back to being plain old goals.  Just reading them makes me tired.  And want to eat.

Over Christmas, I learned a lesson taught by my granddaughter Cady.  In my loft, I have a lot of little knick-knacks (ok, nick-knacks…why doesn’t nick have a silent K, too?).  Little things that have precious special meaning to me, including two paper butterflies.  One cut from patterned green paper, the other from plain white.  They are part of a traveling art exhibit called Reflections of Generosity, that PC and I were helping with a few years ago.

Anyway, Cady came downstairs saying she had a surprise for me.  She held out her little hands and there was my white butterfly.  No longer white.  Cady had decorated it for me.

She was so proud.  For a split sec, I was a little…umm, surprised, taken-aback?  It wasn’t really like Cady to do something like that.  Color something that doesn’t belong to her, without asking first.  But a sec later, I snapped out of it.  No biggie.  And she did a great job.

Cady had spotted some “bling” that I use in scrapbooking among the things in the loft. She asked if she could add a few of the rhinestones to the butterfly.  I helped her peel them from their backing and put them on the wings.  Cady took the finished butterfly to my room and put it on my dresser.

Later that day, I realized she had colored the butterfly on my hobby desk.  Smudges of crayon or marker had gotten on the wood.  For just a sec, I got a little nervous…would it come off?  Had it stained the wood?

And then I got a grip.  Or my OCD meds kicked in. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things whether the smudges come off?  Cady taught me to not sweat the small stuff.  Then when I cleaned house the other day…the smudges lightened when I dusted the furniture.  But in some ways, that made me kind of sad.

Sipping

Over the holidays, we went to Ruidoso, New Mexico.  Visited the Noisy Water Winery. Partook in a wine tasting, sampling one of their newest wines, Mango Tango.

Here’s how the folks at Noisy Water describe this sweet white wine:

A gorgeous bouquet of orchard fruit has danced with sweet, tree-ripened mangoes to create one of our most seductive wines to date!  Jo Mamma’s Mango Tango will give you the liquid courage you need to dance the night away. A powerful combination of mango, apple, and stone fruit will do the tango on your tongue and help bring a tropical paradise to you, wherever you may be.

The winery is a fun little store with clothing and gifts in the front and wine-tasting, cheese-tasting and food in the back.  Next trip, I want to buy one of their cork holders.  Maybe this piggie?

“Jo Mamma’s Mango Tango” is sinfully delicious and refreshing.  And what we should have had on New Year’s Eve.  But no, I had to buy a (cheap) bottle of pink champagne at Walmart.  Korbel Brut.  >$5.00.  Only the best for my PC and me.  At 11:45 pm, I tried to peel the gold foil off our bottle of bubbly but it flaked in tiny pieces.  PC came to my rescue, skipped peeling the foil and went straight to popping the cork.  Only there was no pop.

Not to be deterred, we poured two glasses and headed out to the hot tub.  The water was clear and hot, the sky was mottled with clouds.  In every direction there were flashes of fireworks.  We toasted the end of a less-than-stellar year, then took a sip of champagne.  And it was flat.  Flat as a pancake.  Flat as a board. 2016 had its last laugh at our expense.

So, there you have it.  What I am up to…currently.  Won’t you share what you’re following, gathering, resolving and sipping in a comment below?  Or join us for the link-up!

Hugs and kisses,