Entries by TATIANA

We have snow in Portland and a winter storm warning in effect. It is super windy and 29 degrees. I can hear the wind outside. I am very grateful that I have a safe place and heat inside. I feel bad for those that don't. People and animals.



Portland is about to start opening up again tomorrow.....that means people can go back to the places that been closed down since the latest shut down in mid November of last year. Including myself. Yeay. I feel stagnant and lazy.
So I will be busy for the next three days with work.
I ordered a phone today. Online. Not sure how I feel about that, it feels a bit sketchy to order a phone online but I am trying to save money and I don't like paying almost $100 more for the same product in the store. Picking out a phone is confusing and annoying. I am annoyed because my phone that I have is technically still working. Although it's not. I can't do anything with it and I haven't for like THREE weeks. That is how long I have been dragging to pick out a new phone. And I will be even more confused if my new phone arrives and for some reason I won't be able to activate it or if there is something wrong with it. If so, do I just send it back and order another one? Last time I got a phone was 2013 and it was free actually. Not this time. This time I was deciding between a Motorola and a Samsung but I picked the Samsung in the end because of more storage space and what I think is a better camera. I like taking pictures after all. And I decided between a white and a blue phone and decided to go with the blue. I wish it came in gold or pink but it doesn't. After it arrives and I make sure it works I will order a phone case. So now I have updated everyone about my exciting phone problems.
That's it....not much else to say. I need to take a bath and wash my hair and prepare a bit for tomorrow.
I know that there are many winter storms across the US and other places. I hope you too are safe and warm.

Hello and welcome back to another update about my boring life.....Not much has happened but let me tell you about it anyways, perhaps someone out there might find it interesting.
It snowed in Portland a few weeks ago and the snow stuck around for like five minutes. Well a little longer than five minutes but not much longer than that. Here is the picture of the snow. Yeay snow.....



This is what I eat often. Penne pasta with this delicious pasta sauce called Arrabbiata by Rao's. It is a bit spicy which I like and one box of penne pasta and a jar of sauce will make two meals for me and costs about $10. Not bad! In fact I will eat this tomorrow.



What else super exciting can I share? Oh I was craving donuts and this box looked so cute that I could nor resist it....let me say this, the box is cute but I won't get those donuts again.



And finally I got a new mask to add to the collection. It's like getting new clothes.....for the face.



There you go....as you can see there is not much going on. Yes of course I do things like go to the grocery store, the post office, pay bills, do errands, keep in touch with family and friends, I have Pet Pack usually two-three times a month and I do office related stuff on a weekly basis.
I also wrote that I have been feeling kind of BLEH lately, to describe that feeling a bit better....I am happy but also not. Feeling unenthusiastic and have a hard time getting out of bed. Perhaps the COVID situation has dampened my spirit.

I am in the midst of a technology failure. First my laptop started acting up, nothing major at first just certain websites stopped working, then certain things that I need access to stopped working and when I tried to update my browsers the updating did not work. This is my second MAC laptop, my first computer was an HP desktop. I also have an iPad that works great. Anyhow, I am not that technical so I took my laptop into a computer place where a smart technician worked his magic and it is now working as it should. I hope. I just got it back and I am not sure if everything is working yet. Again....I am not the most technical person.
And my Samsung S3 that I proudly had since May 2013 also stopped working. And it is done. Not because it is broken, instead the network does not support older models like the S3 anymore. So I was told. Which I think is bullshit. I have zero desire in upgrading my phone as soon as a new model comes out, I could easily had my phone for several more years. It worked just fine.
So I have another Samsung that one of my neighbors decided to leave behind, I was hoping that one would work because it is newer than my S3 but it was a no on that one too. Then I dug out my emergency phone, a GoPhone that saved me a few times when I did not have access to my S3. The last time that happened was in 2017 when a troglodyte decided to take (steal) my phone and held onto it until the police visited him and got it back for me. Anyhow....the GoPhone is not compatible either with the network at this point. Seriously.....
So I have been without a phone for well over a week and I am doing just fine but I know that I need to get a phone sooner than later. I do not want to buy the latest model, I have been looking at older models and even used phones but I don't know which one to pick. There are too many! And I think phones are way too expensive, so overpriced! And spending money on a phone when my S3 technically IS working feels extra sour.
It is annoying. I recall when things were easy and you had a phone at home, hooked up to a landline with an answering machine that took messages in case you could not answer. The only convenient thing about smart phones is the instant access to a camera because I like taking pictures and the map feature. I get lost easy, I have no sense of direction so having that helps. But then again I somehow managed to find my way around in Paris and NYC without access to a smart phone map feature. And many other places as well. Like orienteering back in middle school with a compass and a map somewhere in the forest and I was actually really good at that which is surprising because of my poor sense of direction.
So if you have a phone you don't use you can donate it to me!



Of course my baby Chhaya is the profile picture on both my phone and my laptop. She is the only one worthy of that.

Who else can not believe that we are more than halfway into January already? I know I can't be the only one.
I am kind of sad that Christmas is over. Christmas is like a fuzzy, cozy, nice, traditional bubble to crawl into and then it is New Year and shortly after that you are ripped out of that nice bubble into the often not so fun realities of life.
I finished the gingerbread cookies and I am definitely saving the tin they came in.....I love it. KISA Pepparkakor from Sweden! I have a dear friend in Germany that I call KISA - so KISA if you read this, HELLO! ❤️



A friend came over for a sleep over, we stayed up until late and talked and talked.



Since mid November when things started shutting down again here in Portland (due to COVID) I have watched the following series on Netflix......
Love & Anarchy. Which I watched only because it was filmed in Stockholm and I love seeing footage from my hometown. The series itself was a bit strange. I could not really relate to much of it besides the Stockholm parts.
Emily In Paris. I liked it, fun scenarios and the French are so French. Emily definitely has a dream job (can I have that job please?) and her neighbor is a very good looking guy.
Bridgerton. Fun costumes, too many cringey sex scenes (I guess some of the sex scenes ended up on porn sites -LOL), Daphne is pretty and Simon is hot but I am more fascinated with the narrator Lady Whistledown. That would had been me.
Cobra Kai. I did not think I would like it but five minutes into watching I was hooked. I freakin' LOVE Cobra Kai and I have not even seen any of the Karate Kid movies. It has too many fight scenes for my taste but it is still amazing. And what else is amazing is that everybody from the original cast could make it back for this. Well, not Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) but I am sure he is present in spirit. My fave is Johnny Lawrence as an adult. And I love the 80s flashbacks. I can't wait for season 4!
Now I do not know what to watch anymore.....what a dilemma!
Besides watching Netflix I have also been feeling down for about a week and a half. Like I said, no more Christmas. Therefore no more cozy bubble. Everything just feels BLEH, I feel like BLEH. I had about four or five days when I just wanted to sleep and not get up. Nothing felt fun. I did not want to be a responsible adult, I just wanted to sleep and not think or feel and do.
Then I had some persistent headaches and felt miserable because of that. I forced myself to drink more water.
I wish I could get a job as a bed or pillow tester or professional sleeper. I would excel. I love sleeping and the state in between sleeping and being awake. It just feels good.
Yesterday I started feeling better and today I finally put all my Christmas decoration away.

We are almost one week into 2021 - how does it feel? We live in crazy times. I predict a wild ride, so be prepared.
Anyhow I have some pics from the year that just passed that I will squeeze in. So here they are.
I saved a squirrel.



One evening, a very cold evening, I saw something laying still in the middle of the road. As I approached I saw that it was a squirrel that appeared to be injured because it could barely move and when it moved it only scooted sideways. Luckily I was not too far away from where I live so I ran home and got a dustpan and a large paper bag. The squirrel was still in the road when I got back. I managed to get it into the paper bag and took it home. I made Squirrley (by now it had a name) a temporary home with soft rags and a little basket to curl up in. I got Squirrley all kinds of nuts to eat and one of those water bottles that hamsters and pet rabbits drink from. The first couple of days she (or he?) slept, warmed up and ate a lot. And pooped and peed. I had to change the bedding and clean Squirrley's temporary home a few times. And then Squirrley started to move around more and also tried to get out. When I was almost sure that Squirrley was healed I decided it was time to let her go in a large park some distance away from roads with cars. A park full of squirrels. Of course I wanted to keep her because she was so cute but that would had been wrong. And when she got out and felt the grass under her feet she took off and jumped up into a tree. I watched her for a while and she seemed healed, I hope she is OK.



I tried facial acupuncture. Around 40 needles in my face, small silver ones that look like little dots (barely visible) in the pic and some thicker ones. It did not hurt. And it did not do much. At least nothing that I can see now. I was hoping to look like 15 again after a few procedures but no, perhaps after I have a face lift.....
There is no surgery, botox or fillers in my face. Although I might do something about the glabellar lines in a few months....maybe.





2020s physical shape. When you wear stockings or leggings nobody can see that you are too lazy to shave your legs.





2020 was the year when I wore masks on my face outside of Burning Man. I hand wash masks now instead of underwear, well I still hand wash some of my undies and other delicate items.
Mask requirement to go into any sort of store, bank, post office etc in Oregon since around April 2020.





Mask and mascara for the more glam look.



And the awake for ten minutes and it's cold outside mask. With my last latte of 2020.



You can also wear a face shield sometimes for fun. Especially fun are the face shields with cartoon or animal characters. Perhaps you too need a unicorn face shield?



Unfortunately masks mean more litter. Please don't be this person. Don't litter.



And that was that. Some 2020 pics. Last Year. A year that went by so fast. And changed a lot in the world.

Well......here we are, 2021 has arrived! Happy New Year! How is your first day of 2021 going? I hope excellent! 🙂 So since I have this idea in my head that I have to start a new year on a somewhat organized note I made sure to get some much needed stuff done the last day of 2020 (which in turn led to me not being able to blog anything yesterday which I wanted to but more on that later). Therefore I spent yesterday afternoon getting stuff done and that felt good. When I got home I took a bath and washed my hair because you also need to welcome a new year perfectly fresh and clean. Then I went for a long walk and it was so nice out yesterday evening. After that it was time for dinner and I enjoyed falafel, hummus, salad and pita bread. The clock started inching towards Midnight so the champagne came out, I wanted pink champagne. Cheers and Happy New Year with great company and one of the best groups ever - ABBA. Gott Nytt År! I spent my first hours of 2021 watching music videos (I love watching music videos btw), I cried a bit when I put on my favorite song of all songs, it is the most beautiful song of all to me, Caruso sung by the great Luciano Pavarotti. Then I laughed a lot cause I watched comedy. My latest fave is Sebastian Maniscalco and I also like Daniel Tosh. But at the very end I put on Eddie Murphy's Delirious and laughed until about 4 30 am and that is when I decided to go to bed. Music and laughter...can't get much better than that. Today, New Year's Day has been spent relaxing and feeling cozy. No plans of going anywhere besides for a walk later on. I will play backgammon and watch Ivanhoe (it is a Swedish tradition after all). I heated up dumplings (these are good, Trader Joe's Thai Vegetable Gyoza in case you wonder) to eat and I will have ice cream later. A perfect start of 2021 if I might say so myself. I feel happy and grateful. Let's hope for a good year! 2020 went by very fast for me, I recall New Year's Eve 2019 as it was as recent as about four months ago. So I mentioned that my plan yesterday was to write a blog, the last blog entry for 2020 but I got too busy to actually do that so I will save it for later. It will be a belated 2020 blog. But I am still enjoying this wonderful New Year's Day 2021.