Welcome to Chaos !!

I went and had some tea the other day in solitude. So nice to just sit there and not have to engage with anybody besides myself. I went to Smith Tea, first time there.
I picked three macarons to have with my tea. Lemon, chocolate and pistachio.
And my order number was 11. That is my special number as well.



The day after I signed off on a project I have been working on for months. It is now done. There was tea in that Starbucks mug.



It was time for tea this evening too. Ann stopped by so we had some Earl Grey and gingersnaps. In Sweden gingersnaps are called pepparkakor and it translates to pepper cookies. Yummy.



I'm in bed, finished up 30 minutes with my legs inside these compression boots.
I have been thinking about getting a pair for a while, so I decided on these.



I am yawning. I think I will be sleeping soon. Tomorrow it is the last day of the year.....wow. Already?

Today it is Boxing Day here in the US but in Sweden we call this day Annandag Jul which translates as second day of Christmas and it is a holiday in Sweden.
It rained hard basically all day. I did not get up until around 11.
I barely moved all day, I just lounged in bed, ate and then I did decide to go to work so I took a bath and washed my hair, because I felt bored. So I am at work right now in the dressing room. Ready to go home and sleep.
This year I gave away Swedish dish cloths (aka Swedish sponge cloth) to several people as Christmas gifts. I use them myself, they are great.
Read alllllll about them here and you need one as well if you do not have one yet! I mean.....we were using these in Sweden when I was a kid. Less waste. Environmentally friendly.

https://ecologieliving.com/pages/whats-a-swedish-dishcloth



And then I gave away these Swedish Angel Chimes as well. Same here, grew up with these at Christmas time only though, since childhood. Angel Chimes are very pretty.
Tomorrow December 27 used to be called Tredjedag Jul......third day of Christmas and used to be a holiday as well until it wasn't anymore. Well it should, December 27 should be a holiday all over the world. For a very good reason.

Christmas Day or Juldagen as we say in Sweden is almost coming to an end. I am in bed (as usual when I write the blog) with achy legs and feet because I was on my feet for most of the day today.
Spent several hours at the Portland Art Museum with the Pet Pack. One of my few wishes this Christmas is that ALL animals have good lives. Please be kind to animals. And I wish for peace.
No wishes for any gifts, I have everything that I need but I did get myself some things that I have been wanting for a while and I will show you what when they get here.
And when I walked out from the Portland Art Museum I walked out with this little Christmas tree. I got if for free and I will plant it in the forest with all of its tree friends after it spend some time inside with me.
So this is my Christmas tree this year. Cute!

Let me tell you about my Christmas Eve or Julafton like we call this day in Sweden.
I left my house around 12 30 to go pick up a pet food donation. I had to get gas first. I brought some chocolate to the two places that play a large role in Pet Pack's existence (I am a Portland Pet Pack volunteer in case you are new to this blog).



I made it just in time to Stumptown before they shut down for the day - I got an oat milk vanilla latte. The snow had already started to turn slushy.



Then I headed over to where Pet Pack stores all the dog and cat food plus all the rest of the stuff. I met with a couple of my team members and we loaded up about 600 lbs of kibble (for dogs and cats), canned pet food, collars and leashes, toys and other pet related items.
We transported that to the Portland Art Museum that will be hosting a nice meal for the homeless, low income and people in need tomorrow. About 1000 people are expected and us the Pet Pack will be there to make sure that their pets get fed as well.



A Chihuly.



When I was done I stepped outside and noticed this giant disco ball hanging in the park outside the Portland Art Museum. SO NICE! Beautiful!



And then I started walking around some more and see this.....it reminded me of something you see at Burning Man. What is going on? I loved that as well.



I like this mural.



Then I went home and changed my clothes and drove over to my friend's house and had an amazing dinner.



I am in bed now. Going back to the Portland Art Museum tomorrow to give away the pet food.
Goodnight and Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Holidays to everybody. ❤️

It has been extremely cold and windy here today. Five emergency shelters are open so the people in need and their pets (I sure hope so) can rest and not have to be outside. This cold weather will continue at least through tomorrow. I know there are colder places.....so I am not complaining. I recall my first winter in Alaska it got down to below 30 for like a week. Me and Chhaya somehow survived. And I used to live in Sweden and I recall childhood winters with massive droves of snow. Walking to school in the dark then walking home in the dark. Freezing at the bus stop hoping that the bus would come soon so I could hop in and warm up. Going out clubbing as a teenager not dressed for winter. I would never do that now. I bundle up because I need to be warm.
Now I have a car. No more bus. But yea.....I feel bad for the ones without a warm place to call home. It makes me sad to think about that, then I start thinking about the animals that suffer and that makes me more sad and then that turns into all kinds of sad thoughts about all the sad things in the world. SAD. Did I write sad enough times yet? Why are there bad things in the world.....why? Do you ever wonder that as well?
Today was a stressful day. I am trying to relax, the stress will be over soon I hope. I really need to rest.
I picked up some fun pastries that I ate already. I like to drink tea in the evening.



And here are the cute mushrooms that are hanging outside the door.



That is it for tonight. Tired. Sleep is like a wonderful getaway lately.

Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas where you live? Here in Portland the roads are thick with traffic with people frantically hurrying in and out of stores to get the food, the presents, the Christmas stuff done and ready before Christmas. I am one of those people. But I am basically done now. not much left to do. All I need to do now is go to the post office with a few gifts from Santa Tati to be sent off. Which is an ordeal by itself. A trip to the post office is NOT one of my favorite things to do, almost as bad as a trip to the laundromat. The plan is to go there early on Dec 23, better late than never.
No snow. It rained today.
A lot of the homes have amazing decorations outside of them.
I managed to hang a couple of ornaments in the tree outside my place. And I have a string of colorful felt mushrooms hanging above the front door. I might muster up some strength and dig out the wreath too.
I have these bottle to drink. From left to right.....Vintersaga a glögg from IKEA, then three Glühweins which to me is basically the same as glögg except that glögg is a Swedish word and Glühwein is a German word. I think I am taking one of the Glühweins to work next time I work and one I will sip on at home. I put cinnamon sticks, almonds and sometimes raisins too at the bottom of the cup before I add the glögg.



And now some Holiday trivia thanks to Starbucks (where I saw these). And whoever wrote that has beautiful handwriting.....Will you be able to get the right answers?





I am going to end here with quoting a stranger on the internet, I can relate to this, "I just checked out 22 books from the library, I have a full fridge, and a cozy bed. I think I know what I will be doing from now until Xmas. I just wish I had a cat, then my Spinster Crone bingo card would be full."
That sounds like the perfect Christmas to me! Many books to read, a full fridge and a cozy bed. The wish for a pet to cuddle, or a few....the more pets the better. No loud annoying man to disturb the peace. Sign me up!