Starbucks Holiday Cups

LIAM LICKING A STARBUCKS HOLIDAY CUP

What?

 A day later than usual!  I have photos of them  from every year and it is always Nov 1 but this year it is Nov 2 and
this year 4 styles.
Liam likes the four designs... as he is four designs as well. As we say all the time #fourdogsinone
beagle, dachshund, dalmatian and Irish setter.
A designer mutt.
We have four holiday drinks to go with the 4 designs of the cups. See following photo

and story in the link following

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/business/starbucks-holiday-cups/index.html

Securing all four was a challenge as we do the mobile app and I was not sure how the cups were rotated. Since we go every day I suspected we had a shot at the full set fairly quickly (we also have Paul's coffee) and it happened in 3 days. See the following link... this is my drink...a chestnut praline latte
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/chestnut-praline-latte#size=11033006&milk=63&whip=125
I lopped off some calories by deleting the whip cream and one pump of syrup. From 4 to 3... also I drink half...
I got it down to the low 200's.
add more Fitbit steps and I am good to go.
see photo

MY ADAPTATION

LIAM WITH THE MOBILE APP LABEL

 
Liam illustrates


he is licking, not drinking the latte

don't report me to the ASPCA

I swabbed the inside with peanut butter to ensure his blockhead remained inside for an appropriate amount of time for the photo-shoot

actually it was way too long and one cup ended up eviscerated 

MORE, MOM?

woof, woof

CokeHead

COKEHEAD NOSE EXAMPLES

My ENT doctor asked if I were a cokehead

WHAT! WHY?
Do you know what it is?
read 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cokehead


Background
As a child I was known as Carol McSniff to the ENT doctors in Manhattan
I spent a great deal of time there
I had trouble breathing
had frequent long lasting drippy colds
they removed my tonsils and adenoids
no change
I missed a lot of school
It goes on

in my twenties I discovered a miracle spray
and as I do with items I love I overused until my nose swelled and nostrils closed and I had to wean myself off
This is it

I gradually went back to my usual stuffed nose and colds and slogged through life as Carol McSniff

When I turned 50 I joined AARP. They suggested tuning up your chassis. I made some wellness appointments... and one was a visit to a new ENT...my nasal issues were still there...

My doctor upon looking up my nose asked
"are you a cokehead?"

no, I was not a cokehead

I knew what it meant

I said "why do you ask?"

He told me I had a hole in my septum...that is the grizzle in the middle of your nose between the nostrils which holds your two nostrils together and keeps your nose from falling flat on your face

official definition

Definition of septum:

a dividing wall or membrane especially between bodily spaces or masses of soft tissue

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/septum

cokeheads suffer from this hole in the septum issue
I told him I never had the opportunity to sniff up the white stuff
and
had I been offered
I am sure I would have tried it

and
become addicted as happens with me

I told him of my ferocious prolonged irresponsible Afrin use
Yep, he agreed my abuse of it could have caused it

He recommended Neti pot
for nasal irrigation
irrigate
irrigate
is the mantra for
crusty bloody noses like mine
here it is

and its uses
https://www.everydayhealth.com/products/reviews/how-safely-use-neti-pot/

I tried
several times
the using of it nearly drowned me as it went from one side to another and down my throat not out my nostrils
it is supposed to go up the nostril and come down
since I have a big hole across mine the water went down my throat and I choked

DROWNING FROM NETI RINSE

At some point I noticed my nose had fallen
become crooked and wider
I guess with no support it is falling and within a few years may lay flat on my face

I recently decided I should fix it
and maybe get a designer nose
should I request one of these noses?
Liam illustrates nose choices

LIAM NOSE EXAMPLES

but it sounds dangerous and possibly fatal
see story
should I risk my life for a nose?
https://todaysface.com/What-Is-A-Septal-Perforation
so I remain with a wider crooked flat nose

and dream of my nose when I was young
see photo left
Liam and I
young pups

Me on the left and Liam right
puppies with erect noses

older, bigger and flatter
 and wider

Woof, woof

Fit-bitten

LIAM WAITING FOR HIS WALK TO ADD 2500 STEPS TO MOM'S FITBIT

I am coming up to the one year anniversary of purchasing and wearing and incorporating Fitbit into my life, October 20, 2017
I have been Bitten by the Fitbit device. It is an addiction. It controls my actions. I love that it does. I  am an exhausted controller of me. I need someone else to help. I got it with my Fitbit.

Last year, I wrote a story about it. Here is a refresher.

https://liamlicks.blogspot.com/search/label/Fitbit

An excerpt from it

 What I have Done to Get Credit for my Exercise on Gym Equipment

Swung one arm while on the treadmill, using the other to type on my iPad...precarious

Hooked my Fitbit on the handlebars of my home row machine

Exaggerated hand motions while walking on both gym and home treadmills

Strapped my Fitbit to the pedal of my home row machine

Stuffed my Fitbit in my sock for all machines

These have been mostly successful...still working on the sock insertion 

Really???
I did all that???
crazytown

A year later I have discarded all these tricks

 and figured out a doable step-accruing routine

What works

walking in place 

while waiting on a line

  

plants
 one a time, taking to sink and back (I have many plants)

laundry 

increasing trips up and down stairs

parking
 far away from my destination
  
LIRR

walking the platform at the station when train-waiting

regular health club workouts

http://www.pushfitnessclub.com/new-hyde-park/

here I am below

PUSH FITNESS SCENES

 home gym workouts

BASEMENT EXERCISE VENUE

and walking Liam

who rests everywhere in the house between walks

                                                 

 most recent 7 day stats in screenshot below

I average 17,000 steps a day

this keeps Liam and me in shape

he maintains his 5 pound weight loss

MOST RECENT ONE WEEK STAT SUMMARY

Liam accrues steps by traveling to every chair and sofa

Liam resting

 


 and we are ready to go

LET'S GO MOM

 Woof, Woof

An Addiction Pops

LIAM LICKING LIPS AT THE THOUGHT OF ANOTHER BOOK

I rotate my addictions...try to keep them all even. I realized long ago this is the way I work to reduce my debilitating anxiety.
Occasionally, one pops out and attempts to break from the pack

What are they?

exercise/Fitbit

food

reading
plants

social media

wine

these are in alphabetical order

sub categories

are 
blogging

Crabtree's 

photography

the reading one is currently ballooning
see collage of borrowed books which all have temporarily resided in the house in the past month

my Kindle (below) is loaded with the borrowed eBook versions of the hard cover and my iPad (Right) can be loaded
And on my Kindle I have a purchased book, a rarity, author is a friend's niece
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39976003-must-have-faith


some books are sucked back before I get a chance to look

the books are almost all 14 day loans
how do I manage?

1-Paul is my human audio book

    he reads a share of them and after each chapter summarizes for me

2- In some I pick select chapters of import and skip ones of unnecessary description

    stop, skim, digest

3-I read all night

    I have restless leg, insomnia and all its accoutrements

    and Liam requesting a 2AM trip outside and a greenie

   these afflictions and distractions afford me hours of reading others may not have because they are sleeping 

pluses

less wine drinking

more knowledge

 reading builds writing skills
and I am a blogger
anxiety reduced by comfort of books
and immersion in stories, lives and worse problems

Minuses

others might want a book I have

book hogging is kinda selfish
anxiety heightened by book backlog
book due deadlines cause stress

solution

for book anxiety

have a Jack Reacher ready to download
he always works

and are you thinking

maybe she should go to therapy

or

be on meds

therapy-30 years, done

drug-cymbalta, current

this is as good as it gets

and it goes on

woof, woof

It Goes On

Everything changed in an hour.
Paul had a medical  emergency and we had to cancel our planned vacation.
Heart health comes first

He had classic disturbing symptoms
We got an immediate appointment at our internist
she prescribed a cardio cath.
There were several appointments and
No stents, no surgery
PVC is the diagnosis
premature ventricular contraction 
meds were prescribed

And then on the way home from the hospital the person who never sleeps (me) fell asleep and sideswiped a telephone pole knocking off my passenger side view mirror.
I had 3 hours sleep on a klonopin.
more appointments to fix the mirror.

Our week was revamped
and the next week of vacation cancelled

Our planned vacation was a car trip south
first stop to Wash DC to visit my parents
who reside in
Arlington Cemetery Columbarium
https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Visit
and then to
Southport. NC
https://southportnc.org/
to visit my childhood friend Lynne and her seaside town which features water, seafood and sunsets

Liam was to have been lodging in  
Best In Show Pet Resort
https://www.bestinshowpetresort.com/

At home
Life changes were instituted
New routines
I have accrued the job of pan-scrubbing wench (I am a star)
we do joint food shopping (I am in training)
curtailed wine drinking schedule (I am on board, sort of)
substitution of decaf for caf (not me)

and as for current travel...plans on hold...so
I found cloud porn and sunsets in my own backyard.
Not a sub for Southport, merely different
and took pleasure in our garden and its offerings

Incorporated 
A birthday outing with food and drink

hmm
a little black dog seemed to adjust to his cancelled vacay just fine

our fave restaurant, Crabtree's, reopened after their annual vacation

and we were able to attend its first Friday
August 24
we saw the regulars
we were all overjoyed to have our Garden Room reunion
All of us were there

and since
we had some sad news
Our dear friend, Dennis, whom we saw that night
died suddenly last week
Had we not been home we would not have seen him on his last visit to Crabtree's
Fridays will change
a beloved regular is forever gone
we will honor him each visit

I think I have found my next tattoo

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life:

It goes on."

—Robert Frost.

Woof, woof

The Ring

LIAM WEARS MY LEGACY AS AN EAR-RING

I had some surprising news. My friend, Barb, who passed away unexpectedly Dec 1st, left me her birthstone ring in her will. 
I was notified August 1 
Start of our birthday month!. 
And serendipity! Just in time for my birthday.

Received a document from her estate to be notarized 

If you look under "a"

You will see birthstone ring

We shared the same August birthstone- the green semiprecious peridot 


know anything about The peridot?
A friend sent this along
surely enhanced its preciousness for me
Traces of peridot are found in volcanic ash and Hawaiians believe they are the tears of the volcano goddess, Pele...
tears of a goddess!
see rest of story in the photo following

PERIDOT HAWAIIAN LEGEND

Despite such whimsical stories
Barb still hated the peridot.
In fact it may have brought her to volcanic
tears.

I love it

Was a running joke for years that had her mother waited another half hour she could have had the precious sapphire 

Her bday is 8/31...she was born 11:30 pm
So close

On Thursday  August 2, the day after receiving the notification, I sent off the notarized document. By doing what was legally required I trusted I had to set the ring on its journey to me. 
Would it have a chance to reach me before my birthday on Thursday August 9th?
YES
My inheritance arrived August 7th 
My dear friend Barb made it happen
This birthday would have been my first birthday without Barb. 
But it is not

I have her birthstone ring
she is here
we celebrated our birthdays jointly each year.
This year I will again and wear her ring and toast to an unforgettable friendship

Below see the ring in three views.

I am astounded. It is from Cartier.
Rubies on the side.
Very Large
Cannot be sized
Will wear on a chain.

It is kinda a chameleon
Changes colors
I am pleased and touched she left me her ring. 
I have something personal.

PAW RING

Liam wanted to pose.

It is his blog

Liam models the ring

look close 

you will see 
the peridot popping 
up on his
right foot

He tried to display it on his paw
as a bracelet




Woof, Woof

Fine Wine Art

I love wine
I love art
I love social media
these interests dovetailed to bring me to Leanne
and then follow her
on Twitter
on IG
on FB
Leanne paints pictures of wine for clients
and will put you in it with your wine. Or only your wine.
or several wines with women
her link
http://leannelainefineart.com/


I am on the left toasting my first
Leanne Wine Art Painting

And Liam enjoying sitting beneath it

Liam permitted me to have my photo first this one time. Usually his photo opens the LiamLicks blog story. A birthday allowance for his Mom.

Continue below his photo for the story

here is Leanne's Twitter page
there you can see all her URLs

and I might say we are now friends...and that she and I retweet each other. In the Social media world this is a sign of support and mutual respect. I have friends from Social Media. It is possible

I bought my first LeanneLaineWineArt for my birthday.
it is entitled Rich Summer Plum
and its story follows

and here it is on our wall...no frame...that is our cranberry wall color

RICH SUMMER PLUM

Liam had been advocating for a wine art painting. One of his fave relaxing places is the love seat. The unadorned wall above had a haunting emptiness. Here is Liam sitting and wishing for a wine art painting.

SPACE ABOVE LIAM NEEDS A PAINTING

and now we have it filled.
see below

Paul and Liam switch seats at times. Liam likes looking from a different vantage point.

the family loves it
Thank You Leanne
Woof, Woof