(no subject)

All the masks are in the mail, with the last one to go out currently sitting in my mailbox waiting for today's letter carrier to pick it up and start it on its way to Wisconsin. Yesterday's two were priority mail, so even though I'm currently waiting for their tracking numbers to show up in the click-n-ship interface, they're slated to arrive in Michigan and Queens before the 25th. (If I am very lucky the Queens ones will arrive before the end of Hanukkah but with the way things are postally I cannot be sure of that.) The ones going to Maine are due to arrive sometime today, although the tracking interface hasn't been updated since the 14th. Same deal for the one to my mother. The ones going to Virginia are due to arrive tomorrow but reached the Richmond distro center this morning around 3 AM so who knows. The ones to Boston and Washington State are already delivered.

The Christmas card to my sister and her kids is in the mailbox with today's mask package. The gifts I ordered for her kids on Redbubble and Etsy have mostly arrived at my parents'. The ones I ordered from Target arrived at her place. Dad's gift was shipped, although I should probably order him one more 'cos Mom suggested it and I may be able to get it to him on time.

I should package up that necklace and send it to my mom. I'd been considering it even though my sister and I already bought her something like a month ago.

I have a Christmas gift for a friend in New Hampshire but there's the slight problem of getting the thing packaged and sent as it's a fairly large box and I don't have the shipping packaging for it, much to my sorrow. I'll apologize to her later. Also I'll give her the silver-filled and turquoise necklace I made her a while back, it's got a central piece that's a bit tricky to fit in a standard necklace box. I may buy myself a little time by sending her something from potatoparcel.com if they can deliver by Christmas, because nothing makes a Christmas splash quite like receiving your holiday message engraved on a potato.

Made a contribution to the Boston Globe's Globe Santa fund this year. Soon as my new bank card arrives (some knob stole my number and used it on Priceline) I'll make another one. Probably one to the Home for Little Wanderers, too, and just to be fair, make a donation to Masbia back in New York.

I'll call my other family members if it's feasible to do so (Dad has seven living brothers and sisters, virtually all of whom are married and have kids, many of whom have kids of their own) this weekend, since in non-plague years the weekend before Christmas is the weekend when Dad's family celebrates Family Christmas. This allows the individual siblings and niblings* to go to their spouses' families or have Christmas at home with their own families as they choose.

Think I've got everything more or less settled. I might actually be able to see about working on learning to sew knit fabric now.

(no subject)

I'm not normally one to talk about my workouts here (unless there are stairs involved). I'm not one to normally politicize my workouts beyond a generic use of "FOOLS! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!" as a motivational slogan. That hardly counts. There's fools on every side of every issue who need to be shown.

But I'm doing the Hundred Pushups training program at https://hundredpushups.com, and today was my second attempt at week 5, day 2, column 3. This specific day's workout requires that I do sets of 19, 19, 22, 22, 18, 18, and 22 consecutive pushups each, separated by about 45 seconds of rest, and conclude with one much larger set. The number is not specified, but in order to go on to the next day of the program, one must do at least a certain number which varies based on which column of the program you're doing. I couldn't hit the goal number last time; my arms and will gave out around 31 or 32 pushups.

But yesterday the Electoral College met, and today Mitch McEvilTurtle acknowledged the result, so I managed to will myself all the way through to 46.

The goal for week 5, day 2, column 3, is to get past 45.

Note to self: ras el hanout flavor syrup recipe

Ras Al Hanout simple syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Ras El Hanout spice
Bring to a boil constantly stirring. Remove from heat, let sit for 20 min. Strain through a cheesecloth into air tight jar. Store in fridge for up to one week.

Also: vegan eggnog recipe, no booze

Author: Monica Davis | The Hidden Veggies
Ingredients
3 cups soy milk or any plant-based milk you want
1/2 cup vegan sugar or any other sweetener you choose like maple syrup.
1 tablespoon canola oil or any neutral-flavored oil (optional to make it creamier)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 dash cinnamon (optional)
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Pour 3 cups milk, 2/3 cup sugar (or less to taste), 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon into a blender.

Blend for about 1-2 minutes until it’s foamy, and all the sugar has dissolved.

Serve in a pretty glass with a sprinkle of nutmeg!