For today's Thursday Thirteen I thought I would randomly blurt out 13 things that have been on my mind in one way or another this past week.
1 - This past weekend I finally got out and about and was finished with quarantining just in time for the last minute mad rush of Christmas Shopping but I'm thankful we were able to get out prior to Christmas to do it and that it's done. My niece is 4 and a half now and we did get some pretty neat things for her. DH's brother also got her something pretty cool. I might wait until after Christmas to blog about them, tho.
2 - Speaking of my niece - her Pre-K Class did a short Holiday Show that was recorded and posted on YouTube. They did 3 songs and the first one they all looked confused by by the last song she was totally rocking out. It certainly put a smile on my face.
3 - Last night - DH, his brother, and his 94 year old grandmother and I went driving around the area looking at Christmas Lights. It was nice. There is one place right near with Gram lives that decorates their land with throwback 70s/80s lighted plastic characters which is really cool. Since I didn't get out of the car I was only able to get a few photos from the window. BUT...I was thinking about blogging about that separately, too. I'm still thankful we were able to get out and do that. The roads were a little slick because we did get some snow. We were just really careful.
4 - A few updates - My cousin's husband is now home. We are thankful for that. He had been in COVID/ICU for a couple of weeks with COVID pneumonia and it was really scary we weren't sure what was happening or if they were going to have to put him on a vent or not. My husband's cousin had been on one for a couple of weeks, too, and they are slowing trying to ween him off of it. We feel he will be in the hospital for a while longer and I hope he continues to improve but it will take time.
5 - My heart goes out to those who are hurting and missing their loved ones this time of year. I have had many people I know that have not made it thru COVID. I also know several people who have lost their battles with cancer lately. And our community is still trying to wrap their heads around TWO 15-year olds who recently took their own lives in the last couple of weeks (and roughly 24 hours from each other). Our area has seen a large jump in suicides the last several months. I know it's not just our community that is facing this problem. Regardless, my heart goes out to everyone missing someone.
6 - Alexa Music & Spotify - They have been getting me thru some days, weeks, and months, let me tell you!
Now at night I have to have some sort of sleep music or meditation or zen music going and Alexa has been helpful with that, however, last night it was on the fritz, I hope it works itself out so I don't have to troubleshoot.
As for Spotify - they released the 2021 Wrapped on the app with stats from this past year. Apparently, I spent 11,715 minutes listening to Spotify which was more than 61% of the other in the US. The song that was most repeated was "After The Rain" by Nelson. And there is a reason for that. This past summer they were one of our concerts at our fair and I am on the Entertainment Committee, helped backstage, and worked their Merchandise Table. I will try and blog more about that down the road. I was a HUGE fan in the early 90s and it was so funnot only hearing them do their music but their father's music - Ricky Nelson. Other popular 'repeats' were "Fire Off Another" by Authority Zero, "Santeria" by Save Ferris, and "Flowing" by 311. Yes...I did a lot of flashing back to some old faves this year. But I also listened to 124 different genres so as you can see I have quit the eclectic tastes in music. My least favorite is country music, I have to admit. BUT...I was told that my most listened to genres this past year in that app were Punk, Ska, Reggae, Alt Metal, and Modern Alt Rock. I'm not surprised by the first 3 but am surprised by the 4th and 5th spots. I listened to 2,094 different artists and the 5 top artists I listened to on the app were 311, Nelson, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bowling For Soup, and Authority Zero.
I do find this interesting but it's only giving me stats for this specific app. The other platforms I have listen to music on aren't included. I know I have listened to a lot of show tunes. Bob Marley is always on my MOST LISTENED TO list and it didn't appear here at all. Neither did 90s R&B, or music from around the world. But that's ok.
7 - Roundabouts. I hate 'em. There. I said it. Our very small city has been going back and forth about building one for years and years and it's getting closer to becoming reality. I'm not happy. Neither are the vast majority of people around here. It's going to cause a complete mess for the entire downtown area, truck routes, businesses, travel time for work, and much more. That's all I have to say about that right now but I'm sure I will rant more about it in the future.
8 - Snow - we did get some snow last yesterday. It wasn't all that much but we are starting to see the 'season' that's for sure. And the cold temps are here, too. It was roughly 24 degrees when I got to work yesterday and when I left work yesterday. Uggg.
9 - I have been thinking about a couple of days get-away but still really concerned about COVID so it won't be to a largely populated area. And I'm not really a fan of traveling in the winter unless it's to some place that is warm. But I will certainly NOT be getting on a plane anytime soon, either, so we might need to get creative. It won't really be anywhere too exciting but at least it will be a place away from here with different scenery. Now that it's just DH, myself, and Cricket we have been thinking about trying to bring Cricket with us and do more pet friendly travel. This all might be a hoop dream but I can still blog about it, right?
10 - Online Shopping - I think I am finally to the point where I am going to bust down and finally do more shopping online. I think I have blogged a little bit about this before but as a recap I usually don't because I don't want to use our main account to do so and we no longer have other credit cards as we eliminated them years ago. PLUS...I do like to shop local but it's becoming harder to find stuff here consistently. And we don't live in a great area for packages to be left unattended. I can get them at my work/office but then I have to wonder if our crappy elevator will be working or if I have to lug them down 3 flights of stairs.
11 - I haven't gotten away from rocks and crystals - I just haven't gotten anything new lately and haven't focused on my displays. I'm sure that will be something in the coming weeks and months during the winter while I hibernate. I'm kind of a hermit in the winter. It will give me something to do. That...and I have been taking an online course and once that is complete I'm sure I will be blogging about that, too.
12 - Unicorns - I've been collecting them since I was 2 or 3 and now my niece is into them. I have been giving her some from my collection each Christmas and she's been collecting them on her own since she understood what they were, too. Even before that thanks to myself and other family members. This year I asked her how many unicorns she wanted from my collection and she matter-of-factly said "6". So...while wrapping tomorrow I will be choosing 6 unicorns from my collection to be giving her.
13 - Thursday Thirteen - I'm thankful for this TT Blogging Prompt. Most of the time I will be highlighting things I am thankful for but it also really makes me think about what to type and write and in a way it's sort of like a form of meditation and mindfullness.
