My Christmas tree’s been up since Wednesday, Today is Sunday. I keep working to “fluff it up.” When it’s first assembled, there are crushed branches that mean holes so little by little I unbend the branches and it fills in. I do it a little at a time. Right now, it’s about half done. I can still see through places but eventually it’ll look like a beautiful, well-shaped spruce tree.

After it’s perfect, I’ll add the ornaments. (Can’t do it until the branches are as they should be.)

I also need to get my outside projectors working so my place looks ready for the holidays.

My handyman, Rick, moved most of my furniture from the lanai, where it was stored prior to the two hurricanes, and put it back on the back patio. It sure looks more welcoming than it did bare. I’ll finish up with the tables and lounge pads.

She’s still totally undressed, but even naked, she looks nice. I’m arranging things like I had them last year. My small glass table is in the open space to the left of my TV. Harp is by the tree and my palm is at the end of my loveseat near the TV.

I will decorate it tomorrow (Thanksgiving). And put out my outside lights.

At 2pm I’ll enjoy a carry-out dinner from Palm Court (the South Clubhouse). I did buy the ingredients for my cranberry salad, and a small frozen turkey breast. I think I’ll plan on them for Christmas. I’ll miss leftovers.

It’s too early to be this cold!

I’m used to 80’s but for the past few days the highs have been about 60!!!

Right now I have on some heavy green sweat pants and a various shades of green and white striped tee shirt. It’s one of my go-to outfits for chilly temps.

I hauled out my fuzzy rose-rust colored couch throw yesterday and Sophie loved it.

Last night I was trying to find my favorite Emergency Squad tee shirt. I have been given several. I have two or three that are blue (because they were getting rid of them), a bright green one, a light gray long-sleeved one, and my favorite which is a nice gray one made of nice fabric). Two of the blue ones are huge and strictly for sleeping, and the light gray one doesn’t fit (too small).

I’d been invited to a lunch for Emergency Squad folks with the instruction that we should wear a Squad tee shirt. My plan was to wear my favorite one which is comfortable and attractive.

I couldn’t find it. I was sure I’d seen it in my closet but it had been a while. My first thought was that it was on the right side near the front. I couldn’t locate it. I looked throughout the small closet and eventually took nearly everything out and placed it on my bed but still I didn’t find it. Looked everywhere I could think of.

Today I went back and started over, looking more carefully in the first place I’d checked. It was there!

When looking for a lost item, I have found it’s almost always where you first thought it was. Instead of taking everything out of my closet, I should have slowed down and looked more thoroughly.

Nine times out of ten my memory is good. I am just impatient.

I must learn to stay at the first search site and use more effort. It would save time in the long run.

My hearing isn’t great, but better than lots of folks my age.

Nevertheless it could be better. So I had an appointment with HearX to have my hearing tested for the first time in probably six or seven years. I have no hearing in the right ear (just as it’s been since I had the acoustic neuroma removed in 1980.) The test said I have total loss in the right ear and minimal lost in the left.

I’ll get new “cross hearing aids.” The right one will send sounds to the left one. They are really small and fit totally inside the ears. After a 45-day trial, I can decide if I want them or not. I’m sure they’ll be about four or five thousand.

If I spend that much, I’m going to wear them. Maybe I’ll find them helpful.

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Well that experience was short-lived.

I got my hearing aids the day after the testing (several days early). The cost was just shy of $4,000. The person who’d tested me put them in my ears. The right one fell out. He put it in again. It fell out again. It happened several times. He worked with it until it finally stayed and I left the office. In the parking lot, I found the right one in my hair. Obviously the fit wasn’t right but after practicing a bit, the next day I felt confident enough to wear them to a meeting at the North Clubhouse.

As the meeting was winding down, I realized the right one was missing. I back-tracked but didn’t find it. I called the HearX office where I’d gotten them and told the receptionist that I’d lost one. I have an appointment on Tuesday.

Yesterday I hosted a meeting to plan the Nantucket V Christmas party. I was concerned about Sophie who can be a real pest when folks visit. I found a solution. I put a decorative gate across the doorway to the small hallway outside my bedroom. It is about 4′ x 4′ which was big enough for her bed, water, food, and a puppy pad. She didn’t like being shut in, but she was good. Her expression showed her disappointment. It didn’t take long for one of the ladies to take her out of her confined area. She ended up beside me on the couch but she was quiet and didn’t bother anyone. I was a proud mama.