Good morning

Once again I woke up early, about 6 am, then went to bed until I woke up again a little after 8. I actually got out of bed at 8:45. So much for sleeping in on a rare Saturday off.

I went straight to taking down the decorations from the tree and trimming any dry branches off (that's a downside to Norfolk Virginia pines--they dry out and shed easily). It took about 45 minutes. I know, Christmas isn't really over until the 6th, but mine isn't a Christmas tree but rather one for Yule, so it was time. I didn't want the tree to dry out too badly, because I'd like to keep it for awhile. I kept one alive for about four years. It's now sitting on an end table near the window but not central to it, and I've watered it thoroughly. I did keep up the window lights, because I like them and I've done so in the past, but my old lights stopped working. These new ones are multi-coloured and cheery. I left the star at the top, too, the one that's really the tree topper that wouldn't fit on the small tree.

I moved the clock back to its position and decided to put a black multi-photo frame on the other side to balance the black of the CD player. Since I was doing that, I took out a couple of pictures of D, since we're really not friends anymore, mere acquaintances, and replaced them with one of Cerys and another of my grandparents at my graduation from college. There's also one of a couple of friends with their pets and one of Tracy and her husband Ted (whom I've never met).

I checked the fish tank earlier and everything's fine for livebearers except there's a little too much ammonia. I'm going to stop by the pet store and get some liquid for that and maybe some plants to start the nitrite cycle going and maybe introduce some good bacteria (although plants often bring in snails, but I don't mind so long as they don't take over). I'll ask Brenda and Margaret if they have extra fish. Each has several tanks, so there's a good chance. If not, I'll get some in about a week or so.

I ate an unconventional breakfast of vegetarian chili with cheese, then made the bed, swept the kitchen and bath, and took my medicine, adding Claritin for my allergies, which have been bad the last few days. Since I called the leasing office about my faucet yesterday, I got everything accomplished on my to-do list and more. Yay!

At noon I'm going over to a friend's to help him with a couple of projects. I've got some things to do before that, so I should get ready. Have a great day.