Dorothy, it sounds like your son will have a lovely view of the Olympics!

This morning I woke at dawn and I fed the dogs, then back to sleep for a while. And when I finally got up I decided I need to work on something I've been putting off ages, replacing the annoying burned-out florescent bulbs in the bathroom and dressing room. I will eventually replace those fixtures, they're a pain as far as removing the lens and putting them back up (you have to disassemble whole thing to put it back up each time.) One bulb replaced, and a note to order two more (curbside pickup). At this point it's lunacy to go inside any public building for more than a few minutes. I have standard base LED bulbs for replacing around the house, but need the stick halogen ones for the bright motion-activated fixture on the side porch (also curbside pickup - the last ones from online cost less but were junk & fell apart quickly.)

Those fireplaces and wood burning stoves sound inviting. I'd love to have an insert in my fireplace, but I really do need to rebuild the hearth so wouldn't do anything until the whole problem of the fireplace is dealt with.

I'm reading about Charmion's good work on the computer stuff, and having assigned my daughter the task of retrieving data, makes it feel all the more imperative to begin my scanning project. And I am thinking of Art Thieme, who over the years Mudcat members supported in his research work by crowd-sourcing the funds to replace his computers. He scanned and converted tons of tapes and turned the whole thing over to the Smithsonian Folkways folks when he completed it.

Out in the yard, an early task this year is assembling another dog-proof compost bin. The last one was defeated by the puppy contortionist. I need to dig one bed and plant potatoes. The broccoli is growing, but went in very late (I saw photos of a friend's cauliflower picked this weekend - they got a timely start on their winter garden, probably planting in August, not November).

It's the toughest time of year as far as the big family holidays being behind us, but since they were pretty messed up and the dark winter days are ahead, I'm hoping everyone knows to reach out for help if they're feeling really down. And look into the lights that help with SAD if you think that could help. (I wonder if they have special lights for Susan in her nursing home? We haven't heard from her in ages now.)

Take care, have a good week. Counting the days until the inauguration, the advent calendar that really counts these days. I anticipate a big boost to my mood right there.