R.C. MacDonald's Blog, page 12

4th of Shevat

Finished the V. Modal unit in Duolingo's Italian course. Started and almost finished with the Cond. Per. one. Only had a few mistakes this time. Oh, now every time I see my Dove body wash and shampoo/conditioner, I think of the Italian word that's spelled the same way but pronounced differently. (Pronounced: doh-vay.) It means 'where' in English. Feels like it's asking me where every time I use

National Apricot Day!

I love apricots! I don't get them too often, though. Used to get dried apricots all the time years ago. It's even more rare for me to have the fresh kind. The fresh ones are nice and soft, and have a more intense flavor.  I'm trying to stick more to my diet this week. The last few weeks have been odd, because of holidays and so much good food. I didn't stray too much from it, at least. My 'diet'

2nd of Shevat

I'm trying to stay off of social media for the most part until the weekends, which didn't work out too well last week. Only checking notifications, and posting personal stuff (statuses, pics of my food/cats/places, blog posts, at some point drawings and such on dA, etc.). So far, I'm following it closely this week. Been feeling even better because of it. I'm not even watching TV while I eat.

Rosh Chodesh Shevat

It's the beginning of the month of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, aka Rosh Chodesh (lit. Head of the Month) Shevat. On the 15th of Shevat, there's Tu B'Shevat, which is our New Year for the Trees. Another new year...It's basically to celebrate nature. We eat a lot of fruit and nuts, some people plant trees, and others just go for a walk or hike. There's also a seder, which is set up similarly to

Happy New Year!

First post of 2019! Yay! It's probably going to take me a little while to get used to seeing that. Hopefully, I'll post more often this year. Did much better last year. Close to twice as many posts than the previous one. Also, hope it'll be a good year.  Went to a couple's place for a party to ring in the new year. They've been family friends for most of my life, and we usually go to their place

12th of Tevet

Saw my primary doc on Monday. She seemed like a different person this time. Not nearly as rude and ignorant. It's most likely the last time I'll see her. It was for my next batch of refills for Lamotrigine and annual physical.  We started talking about my family history of breast cancer. My mom had it, her mom had it, and one of my mom's sisters had it. So, I'm at a huge risk. I came out to her

4th of Tevet

Hanukkah started the night of the 2nd and ended on the 10th. I used one of the biggest menorahs that we had. We have quite a collection. This one was free, since my mom worked at a Judaica shop, parts of it are bent, and it leans to one side. They couldn't sell it like that. It's hard to light towards the end, because some of the cups bend inwards toward the shamesh. The shamesh candle/cup rests

18th of Kislev

Got through all of Adject. 2 in Duolingo's Italian course. There were a lot of lessons to this one. I only missed a couple of questions. One was because I couldn't see one of the translated words in a word bank. For some questions, they give you an Italian sentence to translate using that word bank. I noticed it a second after I pressed 'continue'...The next unit is Infinit. 1. That one is

12th of Kislev

Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR). Went to a TDoR vigil on Sunday. I haven't gone for a few years, and I think the last time was my first. That one was at a park in the rain and cold. This year it was in an auditorium at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. Much more comfortable venue. I'm reluctant to go every time and have mixed feelings about it. (I even felt weird about 'TDoR' as

National Doughnut Day!

This holiday was yesterday. Interesting that there are 2 donut days. I prefer to spell it 'donut', but the more traditional way is 'doughnut'. Even spellcheck is saying donut is wrong...but, both are used by Americans. So, both are correct here. Donuts are great, and perfect for when it starts getting colder. We have chocolate donut holes, so I had some last night, celebrating it that way. Didn't