A Slow Start

I'm still convalescing but each day gets better.

I didn't have the energy to do much this week but a little bit here and there helps.

I haven't even been cooking and don't much feel like eating. There is a Chinese noodle house very near me so when I feel hungry I've been eating congee (rice soup) and the most wonderful fried rice with shrimp and BBQ pork. 

On Friday I went to the post office to pick up a parcel and ran into a friend who had come to check her mail. She lives rather far but retains a mail box in my neighbourhood from the days she used to live nearby. She took me out to dinner as she too wanted soup. So we had an unexpected and very nice catch up.  Another friend called with distressing news. He lost 3 toes to gangrene over the past several years and was calling to let me know his leg will now have to be amputated. He'd been hoping to avoid this but the doctor gave him a stern warning, that it was either his leg or his life.  We didn't get to chat very long because another friend of his happened to drop by to visit him but I encouraged him as best I could for what he is about to go through.

I've set a modest reading goal this year of only 25 books because I want to do other things.  This number will likely go up but I'll keep it low for awhile as it will help temper my reading habit a bit.  This autobiography by Barbra Streisand came available as an online loan so I checked it out.  The book is over 2300 pages long and I think it might be the longest book I've ever read.  At this point, I've only completed 20% of it.  If you are a fan of Barbra Streisand's movies or her music, I recommend this book because she tells her life story in great detail.

I found a series on Netflix called Wild Wild Country which was very interesting. It's about the Rajneeshpuram, a international religious community headed by it's guru, Rajneesh from India who later changed his name to Osho.  I recommend it if you are at all curious. The other film I watched was a documentary on Warren Buffet called Becoming Warren Buffet.  I really enjoyed learning more about him and his family. 

I've been trying to use up bathroom products now for some time as I've got far too much. We've managed to empty 8 containers of various sizes. Some of it can go into recycling and some will have to go in trash. 

I also decluttered some music books and song sheets (4 items). I'll be donating these.

In December, I did a major purge of Christmas decorations and managed to give away a bag of items (36 items in all) to two different friends.  I'm glad to have cut down on the decorations in storage.

I took down the Christmas tree and decorations on December 28th but was only able to retrieve the storage boxes from downstairs on January 5th. I've packed everything away and will take it back to storage in a day or two.

I wrote about my new air fryer/oven combo which was my gift to myself.

I haven't made too much in it yet but did put together this blueberry loaf on Saturday. I was going to make muffins but the muffin tin is too large for the small oven. It's okay because slices are just as nice.

Last but not least, I've thoroughly cleaned the master bathroom and washed all the towels stored there as well as the shower curtain and liner.  I usually put my efforts into the master bathroom. but it always feels good when I can get both bathrooms nice and sparkly clean.

It seems like I've done a lot but really I have been taking everything very slow and easy. I'm just glad to have gotten a few things done so the week doesn't seem like nothing got accomplished at the start of the new year.   It helps when you don't have to cook every day and have all the dishes to wash because those two chores take a lot of time in one's day.  I hope you all had a good start to your week and wish you a wonderful week ahead.