Candy is at the train station and her train leaves around  8:30.  She will get to Pasco, WA around1:30 on Monday.

Hi Everyone.  It is an overcast morning here but it will be a nice day going only into the mid-70's. I didn't leave the house yesterday except to get the mail. I will go to Sunday School and Church this morning.  Pat hasn't told me yet whether she is going to go or not.  If she does we will eat out and if not I will stop and get something to bring home.  I have my devotional material ready for the Sunday School class. 

This is finally the day when Scott and Jennifer will get to see at least two of Jennifer's four children.  The meeting will be at a mall.  When that is over Scott and Jennifer will head back to South Carolina, driving throughout the night.  They expect to be home by noontime tomorrow.

Pat put the first drop in my eye this morning and I have two more to go today.  This is a compounded formula of eye drops and only deal with one bottle until it is gone and then will use a second bottle until it is gone.

Joan, would a new two week period start if Candy stays one night with someone else or is that two weeks within a given period.  It sounds like winter is headed your way. Was it Candy's car that bit the dust and was sold?  Do you have a good bus system where you live that she can use to get around?

Marilyne, we lived in a new mobile home park in Illinois when we bought the mobile home.  After about 15 months I was transferred to Kentucky and the only place we could find to set up the mobile home was in one of those parks out in the country that give mobile home parks a bad name.  Within a matter of months a small new park was setup in Frankfort, where I was working, and we moved the mobile home to that park.  We lived there until I was once again transferred to work in Washington, DC and we left the mobile home and eventually sold it.  Later it was destroyed in a tornado.  I hope you all do get some rain.

Patricia, maybe today will be your heavy snow day when the two fronts collide.  It is nice that you continue to help with the good boxes for the three residents.  I hope they appreciate your efforts on their behalf. Nice you were able to sell your TV for what you paid for it.  Joyce Meyers is a woman minister who has her own TV program. 

Mary Ann, when I retired last evening I reset the bedroom clocks and my watch.  I think the stove clock is the only one yet to be reset along with the clocks in the cars.

MarsGal, I hope the vet appointment for Shan goes well.  It will be a whole new ballgame when he is able to join the family in the house.  The other two cats will probably be a bit unhappy to have to share your attention with a competitor. 

deAngel, I am with you not liking to have such a short afternoon and it getting dark so early.  Nice of your Red Hat friends to remember you and bring you a meal.  You certainly live in a big mobile home park.  I saw many very large mobile home parks when I would visit my folks in Apache Junction, Arizona for a few days each of the seven winters they spent there. 

Larry, I have now reset most of the clocks; only two remain (that I can think of).  One is on a wall and I think the battery needs replacing and when I do that, I will set the clock at DST because March will come along too soon.  The other is my Westminster chime clock (small) and I will do the same, change the battery and leave the time at DST.  Both clocks are not easy to replace the battery, then reset the time.

I am surprised that our temperature is 50 degrees.  Rain is not in the forecast, but it is foggy out.  I think Dot will have no trouble getting to church.  By the time we go out to eat after church, things should be clear and maybe even the sun will be out.  Because it is communion Sunday, a former minister will take care of that today. 

I didn't hear him go out, but I think Tom is out driving now.  I can tell by the way the front door is locked - the deadbolt is unlocked. 

It's time to look for Dot.

Mary Ann

My sleep patterns are erratic, so the time change doesn't really bother me that much.  I just wish that they (whoever "they" is?) would settle on either DST or Standard time, and then leave it alone.  No changing back and forth.  Did we vote on this switching back and forth?  I don't remember?  I know the states of Arizona and Hawaii both voted for Standard time.

Larry, I do not have the answer to your question about Candy spending one nite elsewhere or what.  Am sure we can ask Mgr. tho come next week.

It was Candy's car that finally gave up the dust.  Her steering  broke and that was that.  Then Candy was of no use to her sister.

Dot and I are back from church and also Mr Burger aka the Cholesterol Pit.  We had the Tuna Melt today along with Lemon pie.  Both were very good.

I had thought Tom was driving when I left and maybe he was, but he was home by the time I got home from church; he just came up the stairs. 

It was foggy when we left for church, not so much we couldn't see, but bad enough.  When we got out, the fog had lifted, but the air was hazy.  I had expected the sun to be out, but it was not.  I'm not sure we'll even see the sun today.  It will just be cloudy.

Mary Ann

Good midmorning from the Interior. As usual, this winter, neither the easterly nor the westerly storm materialized much less collided. The snow on the ground and the temperatures are almost the same as yesterday. We did have some heavy morning fog yesterday morning that cleared off and in the afternoon, snow clouds built up only to sail out over the valley and onward to the south.

Farrah has been very affectionate lately, leaning on me, grooming my hair from behind on the couch and following me from room to room. This is all feline family behavior, and it makes me believe I'd be sure to find a dead rodent on my pillow or couch if she had access to such things!   

Joan, I hope everything with Candy works out but will she still want to wander? One of my sisters is like that in her mid-fifties and is often moving around the Pacific Northwest. She presently manages an emergency room hospital office in Coeur 'd Alene. But previously owned two scrapbooking stores and before that managed a grocery store in Portland. She wants to move again yet her daughter just married this spring, and she wants my sister to wait awhile.

MarsGal, I'm sure you're looking forward to finally getting Shan inside. The kitten, Lizzie, that I've watched on Youtube's live stream will be nine weeks old next week but still has a couple of ounces to go to meet the two-pound spaying requirement.

Part of that is attributed to she never seems to stay still. At less than two weeks she scaled a two-foot containment fence, and they ended up taking it down. At six weeks she climbed a four-foot containment fence and hadn't stopped yet. One toy she and her mother love is a man's bright orange heavy duty shoe or boot string. I have been looking around for one for Farrah as both Lizzie and her mother Shelby love playing with it.

Larry, and everyone, you reminded me about the time change. I saw remarks around the web and heard them here, but somehow it never connected, and I never reset anything! Here in Alaska, we used to have four separate time zones that worked. Then in order, so "they" said, to do business with the states, they changed the entire state to one-time zone. In the summer, you know how the sun is supposed to be directly overhead at noon? With this AKDST zone, it is directly overhead at 3 PM.

MaryAnn, I love Lemon pie!

Patricia, Lemon Pie is probably my favorite, which is why we had it today.  Dot and I alternate paying and today was my day to pay.  I also chose the Tuna Melt.  Dot always asks me what I want regardless of who pays so I am trying to get her to choose when she pays.  Next week is her turn.

I just got up from a nap and I slept hard; I haven't really woke up yet. 

Kendrick is walking back and forth, rubbing on my shins and I have on black slacks.  You know what that means.  Cat hair.

I thought we'd have sunshine after our fog, but it hasn't appeared yet and probably never will.  Our temperature is 51 degrees.

Tom asked me to get my Christmas card list in order and I have done so.  I don't send many cards but I have to have the labels for family so I can send them Christmas checks early in case they need the money.  It used to be such fun to look through the catalogs and get things for the "then" kids, but they've all grown up.  I will try to find something for the four little kids who joined the family in the last couple years.  I don't think they will appreciate money, but their parents will.  (Tom will print my labels as my computer and printer are not compatible.)

I see a couple of kites being flown at Grand Haven and they're being flown from the water.

Mary Ann

Angel, no she is thru traveling now.  She will settle down here.

HUGE snow flakes coming down.  Gonna be another white Winter I am guessing.

It is a rainy day again, today with the temps staying mostly in the high 50s. They are predicting as high as 62 for this area.

Larry, you description of Lizzy's antics remind me of the Siamese cat I had long ago. She would take to running down the hallway, taking a flying leap, and hitting the wall about a foot below the ceiling. I'd hold a toy as high as I could and she would grab it from a standing leap. She also liked to ambush ankles when a kitten.

I think Shan is going to be a climber and jumper. He likes to take flying leaps at things, including me. Right now, he thinks I am a giant toy that dispenses food. Once inside, he will have more toys and cat furniture to climb. He is gaining a little weight, but doesn't look any larger yet.

Lucy is going to the vet with him this afternoon because she is relapsing with the sniffles and sneezes she got last month. Doc said she had a sore throat and mentioned kennel cough, but indicated he thought it was allergies. A shot seemed to clear it up for a while. I hope Shan won't pick up anything, but Oscar, Lucy and I all suffer from sinus drainage. I really need to get a better HEPA air cleaner for downstairs.

Hi Everyone.  We awoke to a very dense fog this morning but it is to burn off by 10 am this morning so it won't be a problem by the time we head to the eye surgeon later this morning.  Scott and Jennifer left New York about 4 pm yesterday and Jennifer drove all night until she had to pull over and now Scott is driving.  She had driven 14.5 hours and they were in Charlotte when she wrote and in the rush hour traffic.  So they should be home by mid-morning and will get the rental car turned back in.  I will be very glad to get the message they are safely home but after Charlotte the rest of the traffic shouldn't be a problem. It appears from a couple of pictures they sent that they were able to see all four of the children.

Marilyne, I think the Congress had to pass a law to establish the Daylight Savings Time but apparently each State had the option whether to adopt it or not.  I have trouble remembering whether we are in DST or Standard time.

Joan, I hope Candy had a good trip from California to your city. 

Patricia, it sounds like your weathermen waste their efforts in issuing the alerts.  Glad to read that Farrah is taking good care of you.  You obviously have won her full trust.  It sounds like your roving sister has a lot of talent but loses interest and wants to go on to new challenges.  It reminds me a bit of my wife who worked in secretarial positions, nursing and real estate before she had to stop working outside the home due to her fibromyalgia.  Dealing with four time zones in one State would be a bit difficult.  I am with you and Mary Ann in loving Lemon pie. 

Mary Ann, I haven't sent Christmas Cards in the regular mail for quite a few years.  If the person doesn't have email they do not get a Christmas letter from me.  However, when I did I also used printed labels on the envelopes.

MarsGal, I like your description of being a giant toy that dispenses food.  The other day I mentioned that sometimes I feel I am an ATM machine.  It sounds like Shan may just always be a small cat.  I don't think I ever heard of a cat with sinus drainage. 

Larry, some of my friends do not have computers and I still want to exchange Christmas cards with them.  I don't send many cards any more and many of the cards go to relatives in other parts of the country.  I'm not in contact with them other than at Christmas.  I had so few relatives to begin with, as an example, I have only one first cousin left.  I now am the oldest relative my family has. 

Last year it was funny.  I exchange cards with a deceased cousin's son who lives in Colorado.  He usually sends a picture of his family and his older son looks so much like James, Tom's son.  I'm not going to take time to figure their relationship, but it is distant.  They are almost twins.  I just did some arithmetic and they are third cousins. 

We had your fog yesterday morning.  I expected the fog to lift and the sun to shine.  The fog lifted but the sun did not shine yesterday, but it is shining nicely this morning.  Our temp is about 40 degrees and that's brrr weather.

MarsGal, I like reading about Shan.  He sounds like he will be a very interesting addition to your family.

Mary Ann

Larry, Candy slept at the train station all night outside.   They messed up on her ticket and now will not be her til 9 tonight.  She says she will be a Zombie by the time she finally gets here.

Good morning from a colder Interior. Through all the almost hourly alerts, forecasting colliding storms and heavy snows even thru yesterday, we have gotten drier. There is reported 0.01 inch of snow on the ground and ice underneath so it remains problematic.

Not much to tell on this end. The frequent fliers for holiday meals, special events, signups, Bingo ceasing for lack of interest. Folks are moving in or out, one way or another, The guys hanging out in the first-floor common room, playing cards have all passed on, and people are hibernating. And we've dropped ten to fifteen degrees out there.

MarsGal, that was me talking about Lizzie. They weigh her every two days so when she reaches two pounds, she and her mother can be spayed and then they will be accepting adoption requests. I believe the fostering home is afflicted with "The Critter Corner" from Everett, Washington. I have become addicted to the live stream and following video clips. They will not be adopting them together as they haven't bonded. And most of that is due to Lizzie, trying to comfort nurse long after the milk bar has closed. Those sharp pointy teeth hurt and Lizzie is persistent.

I hope Lucy will be okay. I totally understand about sinuses!

Larry, Farrah has come a long way from the cat who spent May thru November 2016, hiding under the bed. But there are still effects from that time she was abused. She remains hyper alert and cautious on the one hand and the other, she sails through the air, four or more feet without a care. Many of the behaviors we associate with cats just are not part of her responses.

MaryAnn, I make some cards of my own though PSP but usually less the ten or fifteen, sent through email. Any gifts I send out are cash and already done for the year. So my Christmas is inherently low key. My daughter's birthday was/is December twelfth, so I don't make a huge deal about the holiday.

My maternal side of the family has a strong resemblance, so much more than my father's side.

Joan, I hope Candy's problems end soon, and she can be in your building soon. She needs a break!

I am still debating if I need to go out and pick up what groceries I forgot the last trip or if I can procrastinate again.     

The weather has turned cold here as well.  We don't get the low temps that you folks have to endure in Fairbanks, or Grand Rapids or Richland, but very cold here in N. California for so early in the season. 

Today I'm going to go to Whole Foods, to order Thanksgiving dinner for eight people.  We liked the one we had last year, which was the most reasonably priced.  It costs $119, and easily serves eight people.  Includes the turkey, turkey dressing, gravy, two kinds of potatoes (mashed and sweet), and a cranberry/orange dish.  Does not include rolls or pie or other veggies.  I don't care for the pies from WF, so I'll  get them at a bakery, or Marie Callendars!  The only thing I will cook here in my kitchen in recent years, is the green bean casserole.

Sorry to say that I don't cook the big holiday dinners anymore.  I did it for most of the years that my husband and I have been married, (61 years), but I cannot stand on my feet, long enough to cook a decent meal.  Actually I AM sorry that I can longer handle the big dinners.  I really enjoyed preparing the special occasion meals that come around throughout the year, but getting old changes a lot of things.  I am impressed with the women my age on S&F, who continue to prepare the big meals, plus all the goodies that go along with the holidays!   

Marilyne, when I was married and then when I had my daughter, I cooked large holiday meals using old family recipes. My older sister liked to change it up and serve things like sushi or octopi which seemed to me to be a waste of a holiday and expectations. My younger sister studied in Florence for some years and is a wonderful chef who at 56 still cooks a full meal.

Nowadays, I either go out with friends, go downstairs for the holiday meal or skip the whole thing and stay home.

I grew up with a mother who made holidays fun such as making homemade presents and homemade wine, liqueurs, or peppermints and other candies, cookies, and fudge. She always invited friends and neighbors over for a feast and Christmas Eve, the husbands got together and cooked Chinese for five or six families. I miss those days.

Marilyne, I haven’t been to Whole Foods since Amazon bought it.  Have you noticed a difference?  My son in law usually cooks the Thanksgiving dinner.  He might like a break.  I’m going to suggest Whole Foods to him.  Price sounds very reasonable.

Patricia - I also grew up with a mother and grandmother who prepared all the holiday meals, and everything that goes along with them.  Many different pies, fruitcakes, cookies, and dinner rolls, plus my mom made a persimmon pudding with a lemon sauce, that was delicious!  Neither she nor my grandmother ever made candy of any kind?

FlaJean - Whole Foods is exactly as it always was, except the prices have dropped on the organic produce.  As far as I can tell, everything else that I buy is still the same price and the same quality?  I shop there a lot, because it's close to our house.  It's one of the smaller WF's . . . certainly the smallest one that I have ever seen.  The turkey included in the $119 Thanksgiving dinner, is only 10 lbs.  That is supposed to serve eight people, and we will only be having six people this year, so I'm sure it will be enough.  Google Whole Foods Thanksgiving dinner, and you will see different prices, for the dinners . . . different sized turkeys, etc.  I'm curious if the pricing is the same on both coasts?

Marilyne, I have never tasted persimmon pudding. The one time I tried persimmons, as a child while visiting family, they were bitter and nasty, so I've never tried them since. I may have missed out.

My mother was a real Renaissance woman, cooking, sewing, weaving, farming our acre lot, and winemaking. She grew up on a Kansas farm during the Depression. The peppermints were the white ovals with red and green stripes. She would make several types of cookies, fudge, and candies while my sisters and I were willing helpers and tasters.

Shan is now officially in the house. He is busy finding his way around. I didn't need to worry about him getting up and down the stairs. He did just fine. Oscar and Lucy are doing the hissy bit when he gets too close.

Jean and Marilyne , I was checking our local grocery store and they have a 10-12 lb,  Butterball turkey, 2 kinds of potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, Hawaiian dinner rolls  and pie for $69.99.   My grandchildren are supposed to be coming down from Connecticut and another grandson here has offered to have the dinner, so I am considering ordering one of these dinners.  Supposed to serve 8-10 people.,  There will only be probably about 8 grownup's and the little ones don't eat that much.  I would still probably make some kind of an appetizer and another veggie. 

I have gotten them in the past and have always been happy.  Better than going out to eat because then you don't have any leftovers.

I have never shopped at Whole Foods, but I do know they are more expensive than most of the other chain grocery stores.  We have stores named Wegmans, which are very nice.......on the same order as Publix and WHole Foods.  I know when we used to go to FLorida,  I just loved the Publix store.  We have Giant Foods in our area and they, also, are on about the same level as Publix and Whole Foods. 

Joy

Patricia, I have donated to the American Lung Association for many years and they send me more than note pads and address labels.  They send me flat calendars that I tape to the side of a cabinet and an assortment of stationery things, actually things that I can use so I continue to donate to them.  They also send me greeting cards and wrapping paper for all seasons.  I also received cards from DAR.  I feel I am half way to the few cards I send.  I can also order cards from various catalogs if I need more.  I don’t have a bus near me without Tom taking me to the bus stop and if he takes me that far, he might take me to the Meijer store, not much further.  Not driving is not much of an inconvenience, only sometimes.

Patricia, I envy you having had a family that had such fun preparing holiday meals.  When my mother was alive, our holiday meals featured chicken because turkey wasn’t a big thing then.  She died before turkey took over.  There were only three of us left and we probably ate chicken for a while but eventually bought small turkeys.  I won turkeys at company Christmas parties; one year I won two (another party) and they barely fit in the refrigerator freezer.  Sometime during the year I fixed the second turkey and invited my retiree friends to share it with me.  I forget what we had with the turkey, maybe the usual, but I made a cherry pie from bought crusts and canned pie mix. 

I notice our temperature tonight is to be 31 degrees and 27 tomorrow night.  Later this week it will be 22 degrees and it seems winter is coming.  When it gets down that far, I want the temperature to stay in that area because I don’t like the fluctuations.

Marilyn, that sounds like a good idea to order Thanksgiving dinner from Whole Foods.  We don’t have Whole Foods here but we do have Trader Joe’s.  Trader Joe’s is about 15-20 miles SW of us in the SW corner of the city (we’re far NE).  I don’t know if TJ has a Thanksgiving dinner and I’ve also hear not-so-good things about some of their foods.  Since we don’t go there anyway, it doesn’t matter.  We get good turkeys in our supermarkets and we’re going to give James and Alicia money for the turkey and let them buy it in Holland.  In other words we’re furnishing the turkey and we’ll also take the green bean casserole.  Last year we joined Annie and her friend at a restaurant far south of town.  The food was good and there was plenty of it, but no leftovers.  I would do some of the cooking, but Tom has assumed it is his responsibility and I let him.  We don’t make the green bean casserole the same, but they taste the same, so what does it matter.  I know how you feel about getting older!

My mother did a lot of the things Patricia mentioned but that was the way in those days.  Things are convenient for young people today what with all of the Fast Food places, but so much available in the supermarkets.  I learned to knit, crochet, tat and embroider but do young people do that these days?  I know none of Norm’s granddaughters do.  My dad could do all of those things too.  In fact, he is the one who taught me to tat.  My mother tatted beautifully and I tried to learn, but it didn’t take at that time.  When my Grandmother Tock lived with us, one evening, Grandma, Dad and I sat in the living room and Dad showed me how to tat and that time it “took”.  I still know the principle, but arthritis prevents me from tatting. 

I’m near the end of my page and a book has formed.

Mary Ann

Joy, my son loves to cook so he insists on doing it twice a year.

Candy is now on the train again and will be arriving in Pasco at 9 tonight.  Finally.

Joan,  my oldest son is a great cook.   However, he tends to go overboard.  He always has so many different things that it is hard to choose.  He likes to cook fancy things, too.  He always has a duck for Christmas, along with the turkey.  And, he always has several different kinds of appetizers. 

When the grandchildren were little,  they used to ask me "why  can't Uncle Jack  just have regular food".  Sometimes their mother or I would fix peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them.  They just didn't appreciate all that fancy food.  However,  I love to try something different.  I might not take seconds, but I sure do like to try different things.   And, my son know this. LOL 

His wife does very little cooking, but she doesn't mind cleaning up,  so they work quite well together.  I am usually the one who brings the dessert. 

Mary Ann,  I have always wanted to know how to tat.  We had a real good friend who tatted beautiful doilies . I have one that is quite large.  They had so hard to do up, tho.   I used to have some table pads that were really thick and I used to lay a towel on them and pin the doilies after I washed and starched them.  Very time consuming, especially when they had those little peaks on the edges.  But, they looked so nice when they  were finished.  She used to make edgings for  hankerchiefs and towels.  I still have a couple towels with the tatted edging. 

I had tried to learn several times, but just couldn't get on it.  It is one of those lost arts, I'm afraid.

Joy

Joy, my mother had several tatting shuttles of different materials.  The one I used was metal and I knew it would last!  Others were tortoise shell and  some similar material.  Plastic was not around and any metal shuttle I bought in more recent years were too utilitarian.  The one I used had my mother's initial (M) on it and other engraving.  I asked my mother's sister if their mother had tatted because her initial was also M but my aunt said my mother picked it up by herself.  It was fun to watch her tat while she talked, not looking at her work  I do have a few pieces of her work and I also have a few I completed. 

Mary Ann

I can tell this is going to be another of my books. My mother and Mrs. Hubner, our longtime neighbor, taught the three of us girls to knit, crochet, embroider, tat, weave from a loom and sew. We also learned to hoe, plant, weed, and harvest and can the garden, as well as dress the game my dad brought home.

Fairbanks in the nineteen fifties wasn't that different from the nineteen forties, and both parents came from sizeable Depression-era farming families, so they made sure we knew how. They also took us out along the rivers while dad taught us to track and mom taught us to live off the land. The only way in or out was by plane or by paddleboat or barge. The state highways were still 20 years down the road.

We complained as we wanted to play, but almost all the kids were in the same boat. We were expected to keep the house up as both parents worked. Again, not uncommon for the city and neighborhood back then. Nowadays, I believe only Becky remembers and practices half of what we learned. I know I gave counted cross-stitch when I got my first computer and never looked back.

Speaking of lost homemaking skills, I have a question. I offered to make a liqueur for a party.

I bought a gallon of frozen cherries, seven gala apples and two pints of blueberries. I also purchased a 1.5-liter Barefoot brand Sangria grape wine and a 750ML bottle of vodka. Since I am more of a VO and water or rum drinker, plus only had one cocktail since a beer in July 2010, I'm not entirely knowledgeable on this. My idea was to pour the sangria wine in the slow cooker, put in the fruit, cook until the skins begin to burst and then add a cup of the vodka. Does this sound about right? I have a week to figure this out.

I had my hair cut today. It is short and off my face and looked okay to me. However, I have had a lot of comments and compliments from several folks including some guys here I never talk with. I'm now beginning to wonder just how bad I must have looked before to draw this much notice? 

Joy, all three of my sons are good cooks.  I guess I taught them well.  I even taught them to sew buttons so they would not have to depend on someone else.  Good cooks all of them.  Neither daughter seemed to take to cooking much.

Angel, I never made Sangria, but my sister has. There are a lot of variations in which wine and what fruits you can use, but basically you marinate the fruit and a little fruit juice (often lemon or orange juice) in the wine overnight in the fridge, The rest gets added in after the fruit marinaded. The only cooking I've seen is if you want to make a simple syrup to include in the recipe. You can use this website as a guide.  https://www.thespruce.com/best-party-sangria-recipe-3511078 As you can see, the wine, fruit, liquor and soda choice is pretty much up to you.

What goes around, comes around department. Oscar is in the habit of chasing/pesting Lucy; she most definitely doesn't appreciate it. Oscar is now on the receiving end with tiny little Shan barreling at him. Oscar does a wimpy hiss, sometimes batts at his nose (claws in for a wonder), but often he takes off with Shan chasing after him. Lucy, so far, is mostly keeping out of sight to avoid conflict. She has also warned Shan with a wimpy hiss (not the full on nasty Oscar receives) on occasion. Shan spent the night in his indoor confined space to keep him out of trouble.

I got Shan in just in time. This week it is turning definitely cooler, down into the thirties at night with Friday and Saturday going down to the twenties. Day temps to be only between the 40's and low 50's.

Voting day. I'll do that on the way over to check on and feed George's cats this morning.

Hi Everyone.    It is another beautiful morning here and we will see about 80 degrees this afternoon with only a small chance of rain.

My eye surgery went very well yesterday.  There was no pain beyond the slight pain in my hand when they put in the IV needle, which didn't even leave a mark on my hand when removed.  I was asleep before getting into the surgical room and so no memories of that.  I came home and ate a sandwich and then took a nice nap.  With the cover over my eye I wasn't able to wear my glasses yesterday so couldn't see every well at all.  Today the cover is gone and I can see again.  The repaired eye has a way to go, which is apparently not unusual and my glasses may be distorting the vision in that eye.  I will go back this afternoon, as is always required to be checked, but can resume all of my normal activities today.

Joan, that is terrible that Candy's ticket was messed up.  I can't imagine trying to sleep outside all night at a train station.  Hope she was able to get some sleep on the train. 

Patricia, with so many of your residents hibernating are you sure a bunch of bears haven't moved in.  I guess each cat is a bit unique as you indicate Farrah is. I would be upset if someone tried to serve me sushi or octopi anytime, much less on a Holiday.   

Marilyne, the price for your Thanksgiving dinner sounds reasonable to feed 8 people a special meal.  We haven't talked about what we will do although sure don't want Pat to try to do very much.  I am sure we will have a green bean casserole as well as that is our son's favorite.  I also like a 5 cup salad, which I can easily mix up as there is no cooking involved.  One thing for sure is we won't starve.  FlaJean, Whole Foods left our area this last year but there are other places where we can get a turkey or ham already prepared. 

Joy, what grocery chain was offering that Thanksgiving dinner?  There will only be four of us so don't need a very big turkey, although like to have some leftovers for another meal.  I remember shopping at Giant Foods when we lived around the DC area.  For several years I have done most of the cleanup. 

A lot of interesting postings yesterday and today.