SO I WILL TO IT

 2 of 100

January 12 10:44 pm

The smell of baking banana bread is permeating the house. I am about as far as I can get from the kitchen, but it still smells great. And I don't even much like banana bread. There were, however, bananas to be used and other people seem to like banana bread a great deal. The recipe was interesting (and easy) as well, sort of a riff on chai. Janet is amazed at the baking going on. I figure I should just go for it. I don't over indulge with what I make as I readily give the goods away. I just like baking. 

Now, bread would be another story.

So this means I accomplished my three things today. That was another of my NY resolutions: do three things that need doing every day. The bar may sound as if it is set low, but we live in amorphous times where days can be spent rewatching all of Downton Abbey in a couch potato trance. I dropped off the vacuum cleaner to be serviced, got the oil changed in the Fit (although, troublingly the engine light is on), walked Janet around the block, cleaned the kitchen, AND BAKED. I am surprised I am not out of breath.

Janet and I have done a block walk probably six or seven times this year. I am truly amazed at how much progress just a bit of walking has accomplished. She is steadier and more sure-footed, she walks faster each time we go out. She doesn't even complain or balk at my getting her out, as long as it is relatively warm and dry outside. 

Here's the real win of the day, though. I did the New York Times Crossword puzzle all by myself with no hints from the outside world. I have never ever completed one. The big puzzle requires a subscription and I finally succumbed so that I could play other games. 

Janet just hollared at me that the baking banana bread smell was keeping her awake. She also vowed to eat a lot of it. We will see.

Earlier today there was a lot I wanted to muse on, but, as experience has told us, late night is not necessarily the best time for me to write. 

My friend Karen and I went to Ikea yesterday and if you were wondering about the supply chain breakdown, Ikea is proof that that is real. There were very few people in the store (good), but many of the shelves were empty and there was very little that was appealing. We actually had a mission to find specific things and were partly successful, but it was rather depressing. These are those times.

Just checked on the bread and it has a while to go. The bottom was not crumbly at all, so the top will likely be verrrrry toasty, which is fine by me. 

Tomorrow, one of my tasks will be to try to find a three-way bulb for my beside lamp that the damn cats, particularly Fox, like to knock over. And that random statement came from me needing to read instead of watching something before I go to bed. As I have mentioned, I can have a very hard time falling asleep which delays the waking day.

In the meantime, I think tooth care will help me into bed sooner, so I will to it.