The leaves are D-O-N-E!
Now there's something to celebrate!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Black Friday
I know many people would stay as far away from the mall on black Friday as they possibly can. A few years ago I would have said the same. But, my friend Renee talked me into going out several years ago and we really had a great time. Not being a morning person, it's hard for me to slip out of my warm bed to do anything. I don't like mornings, and I don't like crowds, but I do enjoy going out to shop on black Friday.
I have my shopping list, I gathered all the flyers, and put together my itinerary. Neighbor Deb was game, despite the fact that she had to be at work by 9. Crazy! We agreed to meet at 4 a.m. and head for Walmart. I was shocked when Kera called at 3:45 and said she'd be at my place by 4. The three of us set off for the madness that is Walmart at 5 in the morning. Honestly, I'd had enough of it in pretty short order, but we were finding things on our list, so I did my best to tolerate the chaos.
Moving on to Target where the line went through the entire store, we walked in and walked right back out, and headed back to the East Shore. We found a few things at Five Below, and Game Stop where Deb left us. Kera and I c ontinued into Target, where we shopped, and walked right up to a cashier. Good deal! Went to Toys R Us and then to Neato Burrito for lunch. We ended our shopping day and I only need two items to have all the grandkids gifts purchased.
Yeah, an early morning, lots of craziness, but fun with Kera and Deb and lots accomplished. A good day.
I have my shopping list, I gathered all the flyers, and put together my itinerary. Neighbor Deb was game, despite the fact that she had to be at work by 9. Crazy! We agreed to meet at 4 a.m. and head for Walmart. I was shocked when Kera called at 3:45 and said she'd be at my place by 4. The three of us set off for the madness that is Walmart at 5 in the morning. Honestly, I'd had enough of it in pretty short order, but we were finding things on our list, so I did my best to tolerate the chaos.
Moving on to Target where the line went through the entire store, we walked in and walked right back out, and headed back to the East Shore. We found a few things at Five Below, and Game Stop where Deb left us. Kera and I c ontinued into Target, where we shopped, and walked right up to a cashier. Good deal! Went to Toys R Us and then to Neato Burrito for lunch. We ended our shopping day and I only need two items to have all the grandkids gifts purchased.
Yeah, an early morning, lots of craziness, but fun with Kera and Deb and lots accomplished. A good day.
Happy Thanksgiving
Despite the dreary weather, our Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ten of us gathered, intending to devour our 25 pound stuffed turkey with all the trimmings. Everyone looks forward to our annual traditional meal.
We are so thankful that three of our four parents are still here to celebrate with us. The clan elders, my parents, picked up the big bird and made the most delicious pumpking cheesecakes. Brent's mom seemed to enjoy alk the chaos. My brother made his famous cauliflower casserole, and I'm quite disappointed that there were no leftovers. We were delighted to meet Travis's friend, Jessica. We're not quite sure where he found such a nice girl...LOL! Finally, we were thankful to have friends, Deb and Loren, join us again this year.
Our large bird was taking an extraordinarily long time to cook. About an hour later than we anticipated, we began pulling everything together and getting food on the table. The back door opened, and Kera, Chris, and Gwen walked in. If you didn't know, they were spending two weeks in India and were going to miss Thanksgiving. I've done nothing but worry and miss them since the day they left. I was so surprised, and tremendously thankful to have them home safe and sound five days earlier than we expected.
What a great day. All our family (except Kylie) together, friends to join us, and a holiday meal with plenty of leftovers. We have so much to be thankful for, unlike so many people in the world. We are tremendously grateful for all that we have.
We are so thankful that three of our four parents are still here to celebrate with us. The clan elders, my parents, picked up the big bird and made the most delicious pumpking cheesecakes. Brent's mom seemed to enjoy alk the chaos. My brother made his famous cauliflower casserole, and I'm quite disappointed that there were no leftovers. We were delighted to meet Travis's friend, Jessica. We're not quite sure where he found such a nice girl...LOL! Finally, we were thankful to have friends, Deb and Loren, join us again this year.
Our large bird was taking an extraordinarily long time to cook. About an hour later than we anticipated, we began pulling everything together and getting food on the table. The back door opened, and Kera, Chris, and Gwen walked in. If you didn't know, they were spending two weeks in India and were going to miss Thanksgiving. I've done nothing but worry and miss them since the day they left. I was so surprised, and tremendously thankful to have them home safe and sound five days earlier than we expected.
What a great day. All our family (except Kylie) together, friends to join us, and a holiday meal with plenty of leftovers. We have so much to be thankful for, unlike so many people in the world. We are tremendously grateful for all that we have.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A Busy Week
Don't you wonder why time is flying by so quickly? It seems to me that not all that many years ago I seemed to have so much more free time. I'm trying to figure out what has happened to make life so complicated, difficult, and stressful.
Renee invited me to see Michael Buble on Tuesday. While I knew who he was and the type of music he performs, I'm really not very familiar with his music. Well, the concert was quite a pleasant surprise - Michael Buble is awesome. His band was great, he has a great voice, he's very funny, and he really plays to his audience. It was a great evening.
Each day I get up and go to work like millions of other people. Once again, as it has been for the last 26 years of employment, my job is in jeopardy. I am at the point where I just feel that no matter where I go, all hell breaks loose. This job is no different. The timing for this job wasn't the best as a month after moving there I had my knees done and was off work for 2 months. Now, the organization I moved to looks like it will be disappearing which leaves me in a quandry just about as bad as the one I just came from. Is there a sign on my back? A black cloud floating over my head? Seriously? WTF? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I guess I'll be thankful for having a job at least one more day.
While we made good progress on the leaves last weekend, we still have piles all over the front and side that need to be raked onto tarps and dragged to the street. At least another full day of work ahead and lousy weather on the horizon.
Monday night Travis brought Kylie over. We haven't seen her since July 15, so we were very excited to see her. I've had a gift for her from our October trip to Disney and I bought her Christmas dress. I'm tickled pink that Kylie was thrilled with both of them. She's getting so big I can't believe it. A real tangible example of time going so fast. I stole this picture from Trav.
Renee invited me to see Michael Buble on Tuesday. While I knew who he was and the type of music he performs, I'm really not very familiar with his music. Well, the concert was quite a pleasant surprise - Michael Buble is awesome. His band was great, he has a great voice, he's very funny, and he really plays to his audience. It was a great evening.
Each day I get up and go to work like millions of other people. Once again, as it has been for the last 26 years of employment, my job is in jeopardy. I am at the point where I just feel that no matter where I go, all hell breaks loose. This job is no different. The timing for this job wasn't the best as a month after moving there I had my knees done and was off work for 2 months. Now, the organization I moved to looks like it will be disappearing which leaves me in a quandry just about as bad as the one I just came from. Is there a sign on my back? A black cloud floating over my head? Seriously? WTF? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I guess I'll be thankful for having a job at least one more day.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Happy Nouveau Beaujolais Day!
Yes! Today is the third Thursday in November when the nouveau beaujolais are released for sale. Although the wine isn't great - what do you want for the young fruity stuff that was made this year - but it's a great excuse to get together, raise a glass (or two or three), have a few hot sausages and whatever else I can pull together quickly when I get home.
Don't know what to do tonight? You know where I live!
Don't know what to do tonight? You know where I live!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Beach in November
Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera on this trip, and there wee plenty of great opportunities for good photos. About six months ago my book club started to plan a girls weekend in Rehoboth. While 12 of us committed to go, when the weekend finally rolled around, there were only 8 of us. The good news is that it was a really compatible group and we had so much fun.
Since I missed so much of my summer this year, I was tickled to be at the beach and felt so lucky that we had a fantastic weather. Our place was very nice and absolutely huge. We had 6 bedrooms and Renee and I claimed one on the first floor with a queen sized bed and a bathroom. Renee brought a queen sized blow up mattress so we both had lots of room and were comfortable. Yes, I took my huge body pillow plus my regular pillow!
After some fantastic snacks we selected our books for next year. That's always fun because there are so many books I would never pick to read myself. 2011 will be a good year! After the book selection, we all got comfy and all grabbed some wine and gathered together to play Apples to Apples. Vicci asked lots of personal questions as we played and now, I daresay, I know more about some of my friends than I really wanted to! LOL!
The next morning Lisa and I walked the boardwalk and walked for 15 minutes or so in the sand. My therapist said I could walk no more than 20 minutes in the sand and I was tickled that it went quite well. We hit some of the great eclectic shops then had some famous Grotto pizza. Of course, the highlight for me was getting some Thrashers fries. It's been years since I've had some Thrashers and they were as wonderful as I remembered.
Saturday night we all went out for dinner to a seafood place called Fins. I had the best fish tacos I think I've ever had. They were really yummy. Then we hit a bar with a crazy guitar player/singer. He sang the types of songs we all know the words to so we were all singing at the top of our lungs. A few beers, a few shots, and lots of fun.
I hope we do this again next year. I got to know some of the newer members of our book club and had a very relaxing weekend.
Since I missed so much of my summer this year, I was tickled to be at the beach and felt so lucky that we had a fantastic weather. Our place was very nice and absolutely huge. We had 6 bedrooms and Renee and I claimed one on the first floor with a queen sized bed and a bathroom. Renee brought a queen sized blow up mattress so we both had lots of room and were comfortable. Yes, I took my huge body pillow plus my regular pillow!
After some fantastic snacks we selected our books for next year. That's always fun because there are so many books I would never pick to read myself. 2011 will be a good year! After the book selection, we all got comfy and all grabbed some wine and gathered together to play Apples to Apples. Vicci asked lots of personal questions as we played and now, I daresay, I know more about some of my friends than I really wanted to! LOL!
The next morning Lisa and I walked the boardwalk and walked for 15 minutes or so in the sand. My therapist said I could walk no more than 20 minutes in the sand and I was tickled that it went quite well. We hit some of the great eclectic shops then had some famous Grotto pizza. Of course, the highlight for me was getting some Thrashers fries. It's been years since I've had some Thrashers and they were as wonderful as I remembered.
Saturday night we all went out for dinner to a seafood place called Fins. I had the best fish tacos I think I've ever had. They were really yummy. Then we hit a bar with a crazy guitar player/singer. He sang the types of songs we all know the words to so we were all singing at the top of our lungs. A few beers, a few shots, and lots of fun.
I hope we do this again next year. I got to know some of the newer members of our book club and had a very relaxing weekend.
More PT
Insurance approved 8 more physical therapy sessions. So, I'll be going two times a week. I'm happy about this and am hopeful that this is going to go well.
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