. Oh, wow, I see everyone is posting their net worth. Since the market is doing so well, I may as well post mine, which has risen to $1.6 million (including the house). Nice. This figure does not include my monthly-for-life annuity payments or Social Security, which I won't claim for another 4 or 5 years.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I must confess to a bit of a spending spree starting, I guess, in November. Here's what I've purchased so far that "feels" wierd just becus I've had a lifelong frugal mentality:
* Replaced my office chair, something I got 4 years worth of use out of after rescuing it from the dump! I also went outside my comfort zone and got the new chair in turquoise to match much of the art in my office. 
* Replaced 2 kitchen chairs, which also had been acquired secondhand and were a little banged up. I brought them to the dump and a man grabbed them, which made me happy. The new ones are mid-century modern (love, love) and have a lower profile, which I think works better in my small kitchen. 
* New wool blanket
On their way: An organic cotton guaze blanket for summer, a metal 3 in 1 bird feeder (compartments for 2 types of seed plus suet) to replace an old wood one that's missing one panel so seed tends to fall out) and a Kandinsky t-shirt for the gym.
I discovered a fun FB group devoted to people who feed and shelter wild opossums. 
It led me to start leaving food out, though since they are nocturnal, you wouldn't be able to see them without leaving a light on and rechecking throughout the night, or having a wildlife camera, which is the next thing I want to buy myself. We'd had a light snowfall, so I could in fact confirm that an opposum stopped by.
Conveniently, I'd caught a mouse in one of my basement traps, so instead of tossing it in a certain spot in the pachysandra I knew I wouldn't be venturing into, I deposited said dead mouse near my other food offerings and the heated water. It gobbled up the sliced overripe banana and took off with the mouse but left the organic dates and whole wheat pasta.
Opossums are said to reduce local tick populations since they kill them when they groom themselves. They will also kill mice. Two good things, in my book, and also small snakes. While I like snakes, I don't like them in my basement, and they seem drawn to the warmth of my foundation in winter. (Ever notice how the snow melts surrounding your house before anything else?)
I have documented no fewer than FOUR snakeskins shed in my basement. I've done a lot of mouse-proofing under the lowest row of shingles, and that seems to have reduced mice getting in. I hope it does same with the snakes. I need to go around again since I caught that last mouse just yesterday after going mouse-free for a week or so.
I never got around to posting pix of the beautiful bobcats I saw here in my yard 3 or 4 weeks ago. Since they don't spend time together except to mate, I am guessing these 2 are mother and offspring. I watched them flush a rabbit out of the brush with ease and teamwork. Felt bad for the rabbit, but... This was a very rare and special sighting, and definitely a highlight of my 30 years here, as I have never seen 2 together, and I was able to take photographs for about 30 minutes before they disappeared.
December 7th, 2024 at 07:59 pm 1733601551
Good for you with the opossum feeding. I am "jealous" of the bobcat sighting. I haven't seen one in an age!
December 8th, 2024 at 01:18 pm 1733663918
December 12th, 2024 at 05:00 pm 1734022830
Those are beautiful chairs! Mine is just a plain black one I think I got from like some office supply store clearance sale over 10 years ago. Really, I should consider replacing it soon seeing as how it is getting wobbly and it's basically all I sit on.
Please, by all means share some pics of the bobcats when you get them.
December 12th, 2024 at 09:03 pm 1734037389
December 16th, 2024 at 05:17 pm 1734369461
I like your chairs. I think we often take chairs for granted unless they are really uncomfortable or super ugly. Yours don't look like they are uncomfortable or ugly. I like your wallpaper in your kitchen too!
Good job on the opossum feeding!
December 16th, 2024 at 07:09 pm 1734376195
December 17th, 2024 at 02:45 am 1734403512
I never would have thought of the positive aspects of opossums, definitely worth having them around to keep the snakes away!
December 18th, 2024 at 02:46 pm 1734533161
First, let me just say Congrats! I think it's so wonderful, and I am so glad to see that your net worth appear to be on a very good financial footing. Again, I am very happy for you.
In the interest of fairness, my own net worth is currently $1.2mil. However, and maybe this is just superstition or unjustified anxiety about it, but I am concerned that it might not hold, that something bad could happen into the near future that might torpedo everything when I badly need this to work out to maintain my on-going "retirement" life. So, that's what I meant in my original comment, and not intended to seemingly disparage you in any way.
December 18th, 2024 at 03:49 pm 1734536944
January 1st, 2025 at 01:59 am 1735696753
Your opposum pix remind me of another online friend on Facebook who has gotten into filming a video of a raccoon who has been invading her garage. It started with films of the raccoon breaking into her dog food stash (she runs a basset hound rescue), but once she figured out how to secure the dog food, she started leaving out treats and even games for the raccoon (which she named Rocky) himself and now she posts those videos on Facebook. Rocky even brings a friend sometimes.