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Sorry, dear reader, Monday was boring. I was feeling better, but there is so much to do before I leave for the holiday. I started on much of that on Monday.

I rose around 8 after some disturbed sleep. I kept waking up all night. Still, Monday is not a busy day, much like Saturday without cartoons when I was young. Coffee was waiting for me.

I spent the morning assembling my memories into a narrative describing my experience on Sunday. These blogs are about my voyage through life and how I experience that trip. I am careful to tell only my story and may leave some things out — I try to be a good storyteller and cover what makes the story important.

I remember, and often have to remind myself, that I do not have control of the voyage, that it is how I react and what I do that I can control. The events are not mine to change or make. Cancer, death of a loved one, brain tumors, loss of a vehicle to ridiculous bad engineering, and the usual daily grind of living in 2025 in the USA are not mine to control, but to experience.

I watch my unrealized losses reverse in a few days. The churn on Wall Street reminds me of the start of the Internet. It is hard to understand. I called Sam at US Bank Wealth Management, and we talked. I said I had decided not to withdraw anything this December from my IRA, but instead ‘let h’r ride.’ I see some losses in mid-cap funds (likely the churn impact). I believe the mix is conservative, as Sam told me (15% cash), and will likely gain over the months. It is essential to not look at my balances every day (but I do anyway).

A tiny hummingbird zipped here and there on the dry moments and seemed to find lunch in my roses and various pine trees. I try to avoid using poisons on my plants, as I don’t need perfect roses to enjoy them, and so many animals and bugs enjoy the bushes (some of the bugs are most unwelcome).

I wrote and finally published my story, the next blog, and found that I had two new readers (welcome!) from WordPress. I sliced cold steak for a late breakfast and early lunch while I finished up. I went through all the bills, the mail came in (and some emails), and I paid all the outstanding medical bills now, so they count towards 2025. I believe, and that is what CPAs are for, that my employer-paid, cash-insured payments, not before taxes, count towards my health care total for tax purposes. I believe I can itemize this year and get pay nothing to the state and Federal. Which is quite a change from last year!

Aside: I could have withdrawn more money from my IRA to cause more tax events to consume all my write-offs. But I prefer that US Bank Wealth Management keep the before-tax cash invested. I will miss out on some of the tax benefits, but I think staying invested is better.

I did some light housework, getting the laundry going on Monday, stripping the bed, and then found I was shaky, like I needed more food, and decided, though it was late, to try Happy Panda. In the mail, I finally received my new solo board game, Plague of Dracula. I brought it to read the rules during lunch.

The food was nothing to remember; the Orange Chicken tasted plain to me, but I know that my tastes are not good, and so I would not recommend listening to me. I did read the rules, and the staff remembered me. I try to get there once a week for lunch. I have many happy work lunches there with Michelle S and Michael G, and I still get a warm feeling, even alone, when I eat there. I will be back.

I returned home, and never made dinner, and swept and mopped, and watched more of the Halo episodes. The show is getting better. I finished up Monday’s laundry on Monday (instead of Wednesday or worse): Towel, clothing, and bedding. Bathroom floors got swept and mopped. More rules of Plague of Dracula were read (and some confusion as I began to get the structure).

I baked Babka too (from King Arthur Flour). I used the bread machine to mix and rise the dough. I then rolled it out, ‘chocolated’ it, braided it, and put it in a pan to rise. I used a larger loaf pan and thought the rise was slow. The pan was too tall. Finally, I baked it and tried a slice. Good!

And soon I was nodding off while reading the rules (reading about vampire attacks is not a time to nod off!). I turned off the light and was happy to sleep without any impacts, that I remember, from reading about vampires. I do remember a flash of a dream or two about traveling with friends in my dream world, and Amsterdam might have been in one of them. It was easy travel in this dream.

And that was my not-that-interesting Monday. Thanks for reading.

 

I rose late again and was happy to find the coffee (from Steve and AJ; thanks!) waiting for me. I was up a bit early to write the blog before church, but with the service now at 11 for Beaverton’s First United Methodist Church, it was not a hardship. I wrote and had a banana for breakfast with the coffee. Deborah and I spoke a few times. I did my usual doom scrolling. I sense that President Trump is looking to control the news cycle with all sorts of outrageous behavior; anything to coverover Epstein and affordability reporting; Wallpapering President.

Here in the local area, and across Northern California, it is a mess of rivers overflowing their banks and roads breaking up. I am not headed to the Oregon Coast anytime soon in Air VW the Gray (and I try to find a working charging station there). I am staying home of late.

With the blog done, I showered and all of that, and dressed in a tie and my newest hat from the UK. It is more my usual look and fits well. I put Pastor Ken’s gift in the car and headed to my church.

(my new hat after church)

I checked out the new counter and saw that the sink and dishwasher were installed, but not ready for use. I did receive, and I knew this time would come, complaints and statements that the work made the church feel more like a Funeral Home than a church. That we should redesign the cabinets, I heard questions like why were the windows not redone, and other lesser complaints. Why do I avoid doing projects and teaching at churches? There was no wonder in my mind about that again.

Still, most folks loved the refreshed spaces, and I was happy with the work. The work incorporated everything I covered in the plan and matched the drawings. Just a few items and I am free!

I ushered and was not too busy with various folks who walked in from the street. We had our usual folks getting coffee and some donut holes. I welcome them.

Dondrea gave a marvelous sermon about it being the shortest day of the year and that we should seek light and those things that bring light into our lives. That, despite all the terrible news and events, both nationally and personally, we need to seek the light, and it will be better for the search.

With that and all the ‘input’ I received, I left a bit early after church ended. I went home, talked to Deborah for a while, and then had a late lunch or early dinner. I fried a steak in a cast-iron pan and then baked it in the oven until it was medium (I was aiming for medium-rare, but I didn’t time it right). While I liked grilled better, my grill needs to be replaced (it is rusting away now), and it was interesting to try this method. Just salt and pepper. This method is also reported to work for frozen steaks.

I baked and microwaved a potato and chopped veggies for a nice dinner salad. The steak was huge, as was the potato, and I cut them in half when done and put them away for another meal (the cold steak was good for breakfast). Deborah and I reached the current Matlock episode and enjoyed it together, making comments on the phone while we watched a nearly synced play in Oregon and Michigan.

I planned to clean and pack, but my colon and its contents had other plans. I spent most of the day reading and going slow (and never far from the bathroom). And while I would prefer a more normal process, the choices were few with colon cancer, and my truncated colon most of the time works as expected. And it could be my diabetic meds reacting to the heavy dinner and wine with gaming, and my lack of sleep.

I watched more Halo and liked it better as the story started to make more sense and the characters became more sympathetic. I did the sweeping and mopping in the kitchen. I got the Friday Laundry finally done (just in time for Monday’s).

I had some cheese (I have an excellent selection from the Cheesemonger at Market of Choice) for a snack. I paid my Delta Dental bill. On Monday, I have the last of the year requirements, as I am booked for the rest of the days of the week and then I am in Detroit. I returned to my polite British murders and read until I nodded off (imagine me wandering through the British village where the murder is set).

I turned off the light and slept most of the night. No dreams are remembered.

Thanks for reading!

 

I rose on Saturday to a dry and sometimes sunny day, but one of the shortest as the Winter Solstice is here. My decorative jars hung from the deck rain shelter, filled with solar-powered ‘firefly’ lights, some never lit and others lasting only an hour or less. The gray and short days make them short-lived. Yes, as was said in a Doctor Who Christmas Special with Matt Smith years ago, “We are halfway through the dark.”

I washed three of the jars’ lids with the solar panels, as dust and mold can block charging. I left them in the house to charge, but forgot that the kitchen light is a motion detector, and they soon were discharged. I will move the solar-powered lights to the eight-hour light system for the plants to ensure they get a full charge. Hopefully, they will recover (or their inexpensive light system failed).

I had not bought any liquid softener yet, so laundry was delayed.

I wrote the blog and chatted with Deborah, sharing some of our morning. We would connect here and there all day. We are counting down to seeing each other on Christmas; there are five days left.

I took the leftover chopped veggies from making jambalaya and froze them. We will make gumbo next month for 2026. With the blog done, dressed, and all of that, I headed to Beaverton in Air VW the Gray. The puddles are still there, and everything is shiny and recently washed by the river-of-rain. More roads are washing out, and rivers are high. I was surprised to see how high the Willamette River was in Portland when I drove through Portland later.

I stopped by the framing store to pick up Pastor Ken’s gift, which was not that expensive until I had it framed. Next, I decided on lunch out and stopped by Red Robin to discover that the bartenders had quit, and ‘Shy’ was my new twenty-something bartender. She informed me that “my name is Shy, but I am not shy.” That left me with no guy-over-60 appropriate comeback. Refusing to be trapped or shocked by those words, I ordered lunch without looking at the menu, which earned me a smile, having thus avoided any comeback she is sure she has heard before. Toche!

I learned that she was hired last month, that four bartenders had left, and that she was immediately promoted from server to morning bartender. I have been visiting the bar since before the pandemic, and it has undergone two remodels since I first sat at the bar. She shared that she hated the shake machine; it sucks to clean and breaks all the time. I have heard this from her predecessors before.

Turning to my food, my chicken breast lunch and salad were good and spiced up (perfect), but I spoiled its reasonable calorie count with a side of fries, but I did not get a refill. They had a beer I had not had since Von Ebert’s had closed in the Pearl District in Portland: Volatile Substance IPA. I am not usually an IPA guy, but this one is interesting.

I checked out with Shy’s help (the table machines were not correctly set at the bar, I was told), who was busy with about six tables, good for a Saturday, but she said they were slammed at night this week with all the holiday shoppers buying dinner.  I was happy to hear that the economy in Beaverton was moving for the holidays.

I stopped at Market of Choice, bought paper products, softner, and a reasonably priced, for what it was, steak for a later dinner. I returned home, read for a while, and nodded off a few times. I am not above sliding in a nap here and there.

I had yogurt for dinner after a large lunch. I boarded the EV and took it through the drying streets of Beaverton and Portland, but soon the Oregon Mist returned, and we were cold and damp. The VW does not have a heated steering wheel, and my hands were missing that warm caress of Volvo warmth I used to get.

I brought Chateâu Greysac 2015, a Médoc, to share. Chris, Laura, Richard, and I met at Richard’s basement to play Ada’s Dream, a new Kickstarter board game. This is a dice rondel-style game and engine-building (including ‘gears’ and ‘cards’ to program your engine). I liked this one because it avoided illogical goals, secret objectives, and grabbing super-powered cards (that a new player cannot know), which I find so frustrating with some engine-building games. The dice and programming were fun. And while I scored at the bottom (with Richard and Laura fifty points ahead of me), I learned that I did need to upgrade my cards (there is a light deck punning pruning mechanism) and that I need to program more. Still, I missed third place by two points. It is a heavy game with more iconography and rules than most, and is definitely a hard-core gamer option. We played for about three hours (with the ‘teach’ for me adding thirty minutes).

With that game done, we played a rushed (it was getting late, and we ended after midnight) Fate of the Fellowship LOTR Pandemic-style new game. We lost, and there was a bit of nervousness from that, but everyone enjoyed the game. We had lost Helm’s Deep and could not retake it, and we focused too much on fighting and taking strongholds rather than on objectives. Still, it was fun.

I drove home in no traffic, but Beaverton’s Finest was on patrol, and I passed at least two of them. I drove ‘casual,’ and they left me be (and stayed under the speed limit — looking very law-abiding). I made a grilled cheese and had half of it with my pills. I find I sleep better, and the pills are less impactful with food. I woke up often and slept for only a few hours. I did dream of other choices and programming in Ada’s Dream.

Thanks for reading.

Going backwards, I got home around 10 at night in Air VF the Gray from Lake Oswego and the Lake Theater. Dondrea bought us tickets to John Nilsen‘s Christmas Concerts there. Donna (Dondrea’s mother), Z, Dondrea, and I met there and enjoyed John’s solo concert. I recommend his concerts (see the link) and his appearances as a guest piano soloist at local churches.

I had a few drinks and some popcorn for our table as we watched John. We got one of the last four-person tables that was not already reserved and could see through the crowd. It felt like a very personal concert and an intimate space. Again, recommended!

I had picked up Donna, and we got there in the EV early to grab a table. Parking near the site was hopeless; I found a spot in a neighborhood behind an electrician’s truck (figuring it must be legally parked). Donna, I had walked her to the theater before finding acceptable parking, waited inside, and she was ready to grab us a 4-person table. I did climb up and down a hill in the wet and dark. My dress shoes are rubber-soled and work well for the Pacific Northwest.

After I got there, I got to talk to John a few times. We agreed we needed to get a drink together, but the bar closed after the show, so we’ll do it another time. But yes, we need to do that!

Before this, I was at the house and watching the waters recede in the backyard. The rivers, receiving the waters, are now high, and some are flooding. There are local evacuations near many rivers. The storm dropped two inches in less than twelve hours (not quite like a Florida Hurricane, but pretty destructive here in the Pacific Northwest). The storm game with wind and that, and the volume has mudslides and trees down all over the coast (they had dangerous winds and more rain), and to a lesser degree, inland. Tillamook, on the coast, I heard, has only one road left for access, and that is over a large hill.

Moving the story to earlier and home, I sent out an update on the Church Refresh project, which is winding down, and everyone seems pleased with the changes. We are about down to punch-list items as the last appliances and sink are installed. The space will be available for Christmas Eve.

Corwin stopped by, but I was headed out to John’s Concert.

Before this, I made my lunch. I enjoy the choice of cooking for myself while I am home. I defrosted a porkchop, an inch-thick one, and fried it with just a hint of butter (I also added some water when the pan was very hot to steam it and ensure it was fully defrosted). It had a nice flavor (just salt and pepper this time).

I chopped carrots and celery for a large salad I had with the chop (hmm, that is a lot of ‘chop’). I did not need a starch (still holding at 240 pounds)! I finished the salad as I also finished the awful James Bond movie Moonraker, which I bought instead of renting. Not worth the $15 by any imagination. I remembered it being better.

I also finished Judge Dee’s book and liked some of the stories, and I will have to put some of that in my Dungeons and Dragons adventures.

Before this, I skipped the laundry (I am out of softener and keep forgetting to get some) and wrote the blog. I had risen late, and this made time seem to disappear.

And while it seems I should write more, just making my 500+ words usual for a simple day, thanks for reading!

 

 

Around midnight on Thursday, the rains halted. The water reached my rose bush and was the most we have seen in a few years. It was about two inches of rain in about twelve hours. The ground was soaked by the earlier rains that day, and our usual local flooding, sort of large puddles here, and some local creeks and rivers overflowing elsewhere. Writing this on Friday morning, the waters are receding already.

I got up around 7 and had some coffee I had prepared the night before. I had a 9, and so soon I was in the shower and all that to make the appointment with Jack at the church. There via Air VW the Gray, we soon resolved the outstanding issues (except for a light switch that needs to be fixed).

I headed back home, wrote the blog, and found more coffee. I had made scones the night before (forgot to put that in the blog), a bit undercooked, but the Lemon Ginger was bright. I had that with coffee while writing the blog. Once that was done, published, and decided to let the rain remain outside while I stayed inside.

I had a chicken cordon bleu from Market of Choice, roasted carrots as a side (I overcooked them to near-mush), and couscous as the starch. I like to make a great lunch once in a while, then just have snacks for dinner (if anything). I took the premade, stuffed, and breaded chicken and grilled it on a small non-stick pan until all sides were browned. I then added it to the already peeled and split carrots, which were baking in some oil and salt. The digital thermometer, getting the goods out of the oven, read hot enough. I had cooked raisins and Indian-style spices in butter and set them aside. I added the couscous to that and then hot water to finish. Soon I had a nice lunch.

I decided to buy Moonraker, the old Roger Moore James Bond movie. It had been showing up in my feeds of late. I forgot how dated these old Bond movies are. Though Tim Cook or Elon easily fit the mood for the villain, Hugo Drax. And yes, Dr. Goodhead is the name from the original author. Jaws, not the shark, makes his appearance in this film. It is a ridiculous film.

Corwin appeared. We get out Fate of the Fellowship of the Ring and play until about 3, as Mariah wanted to meet again for the holidays in Portland. At first, I did not want to travel in the wet, but then I thought it would be fine; it had rained here before, and I couldn’t let the rain stop me.

Air VW the Gray traveled in the wet darkness as the sun was gone, soon as it was near the Winter Solstice. Beaverton was slower than the raindrops, and various drivers seemed scared, and there was lots of braking for nothing. We made it through the usual slow spots and crossed a bridge to reach Hopworks off Powell.

Mariah was waiting for us, and she got a present of the presidential library magnets (Nixon, Carter, and JFK) I had been collecting for her, but kept forgetting to bring. I had an Old Fashioned and shared fries and pretzels instead of dinner. We talked about travel, the holidays, and some of our dreams.

We said our goodbyes and will meet again in 2026. The drive back was dark and usual. Corwin and I, once at the house, had more coffee (I had switched to coffee at Hopworks as I had to drive in the dark) and finished the LOTR game. We used different characters this time, and it played well. Corwin focused on destroying the Dark Lord’s troops (we had Gandalf and other characters who were good at stopping them). I played Frodo and dodged the bad guys until I had enough resources to reach Mordor, and we made our roll. A win, though seven dice with six Nazguls! I had three rerolls and rolled almost all blanks, a lucky day!

After that, Corwin headed home, and I watched another Halo episode. While it was interesting, it wasn’t enough of a story to recommend it. It is for fans of Halo.

Deborah sent me a cookbook, The Talisman of Happiness by Afa Boni. This book, finally revised in English and for American cooks, has been the standby, according to what I have read, in Italy, and is now available to Americans. It has over 1,600 recipes! I enjoyed flipping through the book and thinking about cooking a few items! I sent one to Deborah, too, without knowing she sent me one.

Time disappeared, and soon I was reading in bed. Sleeping lightly, at best. I woke at 4 and finally slept after getting up for a while.

Thanks for reading!