Day 285 of 365

The achoo and bless you days are done. I've had enough and tossed them in the trash.

I'm talking about salt and pepper shakers.

I'm a collector. I have probably a hundred or so pair. Gas station pumps, tractors, dump trucks, cars, and trains. Characters like Mr. Potato Head, Gumby and Pokey, Smokey the Bear, Cat in the Hat, and Winnie the Pooh. Some made of marble, antlers, and Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash.

When I first started collecting, I bought just about any salt and pepper shaker set I could find. When others found out I collected salt and pepper shakers they bought for me as well. After a few years my collection was beyond what I had room for, so I stopped buying and only kept the ones I absolutely loved.

One pair that was given to me was a plastic set of old folks. When the grandpa-y one was used it achooed and when the grandma-y one was used it said bless you. I eventually put those noisy ones in the donation box I kept in the back of the car. Every time I turned a corner, stopped, or started, the grandpa would go off. We wound up bringing the set back in the house and stuck them in a drawer until we knew we were going to drop them off at the donation center.

That was years ago. Those noisy shakers have been in the drawer ever since. Never been used. But ever since then, the grandpa goes off randomly. If you walk by the china hutch. If you're eating dinner. If you're sleeping in the middle of the night. The batteries aren't easy to take out, so we've just lived the random achoo occurring all times of the day and night.

So as I was sitting at the table and the achoo hit again, I decided enough was enough. Out to the garbage. Now.

I don't need any sneezing around when I'm decorating cookies.

Day 284 of 365

We used to have dial up internet long after everyone else moved to high speed. We knew it was slow, but we weren't on the computer all that much anyway. We didn't realize how slow it was until we switched to cable internet. It's a whole different world! Now I can't ever imagine going back.

Like my new bed linens. We've always had multiple layers of blankets, quilts, and comforters on the bed during the winter, along with flannel sheets that never fit right on our extra-deep mattress. Some years we might add in an electric blanket. No matter what combination we use, it's heavy. It's hard to turn over and we fight for each layer to stay on the bed evenly.

Not anymore. After sleeping in hotels like Hampton that have amazing beds and linens, I finally get to have the same experience at home. Our new flannel sheets that are made for thick mattresses are wonderful. Our new plush blanket is wonderful and my new down comforter is even more wonderful.

What's not wonderful? The time I'm wasting because of the problem with my iron. It's slowing down my quilt-making process and now that Sunday night is here, I have to report that I didn't get even one quilt finished. I can also report I never got around to getting my Christmas cookies decorated.

Here's hoping today's cookies will be prettier tomorrow.