We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We didn’t do anything special we just did everything TOGETHER. I feel fortunate that we had the whole family together. One never knows when we all will be together again—hopefully soon.
The star of the weekend was, of course, Sophia. With 6 adults at her beck and call (and no ear infections to spoil her mood) she was on her game and eating up every minute of it.
Penny made fantastic food, recruiting help where necessary. Christian added his tradition of baking bread for the Thanksgiving meal. We all ate ‘till we were stuffed on Thursday.
Thursday night Karen organized our Black Friday commando teams, assigning each a location to hit early in the morning. We got up at 4 AM on Friday and headed out after a quick breakfast. My assignment was Bass Pro Shop and a meat smoker to replace my ailing one. We purchased Karen and Tim’s gifts on-line on Thursday evening so that eliminated the store Penny was assigned. So Penny stayed home and watched Sophia while the rest hit their targets or should I say their target which was Target.
My experience was interesting. The people in line waiting for the store to open were pleasant. The guy in front of me was hoping to get a fleece jacket. He explained that he was a Baptist and this was as close to playing the lottery as he could get. The woman behind me was hoping for a GPS. Then it began to rain and then pour. I had an umbrella in the car and I got it while the others saved my spot. They had already sent their partners to get their umbrellas. I heard the woman behind me call her daughter Christina so I mentioned that I had a daughter named Christina. She proudly informed me that her name was spelled with a “K”. The rain caused about half the people in line to leave their place and take shelter under the big roof over the boat area of the store. That got us a lot closer to the door. They also opened up early to get the folks out of the rain.
As I entered the store I saw 3 guys coming down the stairs carrying smokers so I knew where to go to get one. I asked one of them where the smokers were as I passed him on the stairs and he said to go left at the top of the stairs and they were along the railing. Having that information got me there just in time to grab the last one. Now all I had to do was carry it down the stair through the check-out and out to the car. The thing weighs about 50 lbs, which would have been ok except the box it was in was about 4 ft high and 18 inches wide and deep. The box had no hand holds. Add to that the complication of carrying a wet umbrella and having wet hands that did not grip the box well and it made for quite an experience and workout. I managed OK. I only skewered one person on the stairs with my umbrella and a very nice woman let me borrow her cart when I reached the bottom of the stairs.
My next stop was Sears but on the way we used our commando communication network (cell phones) to check on how the other missions were going. We experienced 100% success.
The rest of Friday involved a meal at Harbordock’s, shopping some more and a great picture taking session at the beach.
Saturday was football and church day.
Sunday everyone went home.
I picked a few pictures from the weekend and put them here so you can see them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gugliepb/TGVG08
I am very thankful this year.
KITTY UPDATE: The dogs visiting had little effect on the cats. All 4 showed up tonight.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Lou Flys, Penny Buys
Lou is off. The trip to Pensacola went fine. As usual, Lou had a few errands to run before we left Niceville. We had anticipated this and built a nice pad into our timeline. We had provided all the airlines rules for baggage to Lou. He “borrowed” a carry-on bag from us for this trip.
We had lunch at a Steak and Shake before we went to the airport. We all had a shake with our meal—any excuse to have ice cream.
Lou hasn’t flown in 25 years so all the procedures were new to him. Lou is like a little kid sometimes and needs to be taken care of. Fortunately we were at the airport early and there was no rush or lines. Everyone was understanding and helpful to Lou. Watching him go through security was both funny and worrisome. I’m glad God is watching out for him.
We told Lou that we would stay in Pensacola for a couple hours (until his flight left) so that we would be there if he had any problems. We had just left the Airport when my cell phone rang—it was Lou. He said they put him on an earlier flight and he was off. So he was off!
Penny wanted to go to the Joann’s store in P’cola so we did that. I got a kick out of the sign above the urinal in the men’s room. It said “do not flush diapers…” I guess some men just don’t know what to do with diapers.
We also went to T J Max -- so Sophie has a new outfit.
We had lunch at a Steak and Shake before we went to the airport. We all had a shake with our meal—any excuse to have ice cream.
Lou hasn’t flown in 25 years so all the procedures were new to him. Lou is like a little kid sometimes and needs to be taken care of. Fortunately we were at the airport early and there was no rush or lines. Everyone was understanding and helpful to Lou. Watching him go through security was both funny and worrisome. I’m glad God is watching out for him.
We told Lou that we would stay in Pensacola for a couple hours (until his flight left) so that we would be there if he had any problems. We had just left the Airport when my cell phone rang—it was Lou. He said they put him on an earlier flight and he was off. So he was off!
Penny wanted to go to the Joann’s store in P’cola so we did that. I got a kick out of the sign above the urinal in the men’s room. It said “do not flush diapers…” I guess some men just don’t know what to do with diapers.
We also went to T J Max -- so Sophie has a new outfit.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Reproducing Razzleberry
Penny made a razzleberry pie today trying to copy the pie we liked so much in Montana. She did a good job, it is a great pie. It’s not exactly the same pie as we ate at the Park Café but it is close enough that we can eat and remember and not have to go to Montana to have that taste again.
Karen said Sophie may be getting sick. I talked to my sister today and she is catching something. Her Hubby Joe already has it. Last night I felt like I was getting a cold, too. I flushed my sinuses with salt water last night and this morning and I didn’t feel bad all day. But as I sit here this evening the throat is starting to feel funny again and my sinuses feel a little congested. I’ll try the salt water again. I don’t want to have a cold for Thanksgiving.
Today we made the sunroom ready for company—well, mostly ready. We also did the first shopping trip to get provisions for the upcoming family weekend. Our fridge now has a thawing 13 lb turkey in it, 3 dozen eggs, assorted fruits and vegetables a pumpkin pie, Grands and , of course, 2/3s of a razzleberry pie.
The couples just keep coming. The deacon dropped off paperwork for the next couple we will do FOCCUS with. This one’s going to be a multi-session deal. We have many topics for discussion.
Tomorrow will be taken up by a trip to the airport with Lou. That should pretty much take the day.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Cold Tomatoes
I finally did some web research on growing tomatoes in colder weather. The news was not good.
For example, covering plants works well for nearly red tomatoes, but not as well for mature green ones. Though foliage may sometimes be saved, research shows that chilling injury on green fruit occurs at temperatures of 50 degrees and decay losses rise markedly on fruit exposed to 40 degrees F. Red ones well on their way to ripening tolerate colder temperatures.
And:
The shorter sun exposure shouldn't affect the growth too much (they'll get leggy if there's a real reduction in sunlight), but it definitely will reduce the developing sugars, resulting in a less sweet, almost sour flavor.
So I should probably give up on them.
We had a nice one-session FOCCUS session with a couple last night. Penny likes to provide a meal now when we have a couple over and she made some excellent portabella mushroom ravioli with a butter sage sauce. There were no issues that concerned us with this couple. We hope they have a long and happy life together.
Today our neighbors had an after-wedding shower for their son and daughter-in-law. Penny made fried ravioli and little twice-baked potatoes. Again she did a great job. On top of it all she’s felt good for 2 days straight.
We usually end up trashing the kitchen when any cooking is done but this time around we managed to do 2 major rounds of cooking and the kitchen is OK.
We’ve been driving Brie crazy. We have to squirt medicine down her throat twice a day and she has become weary of us. She spent most of today hiding from us under our bed. I couldn’t get her out. She finally came out around 1 or 2 PM and I promptly closed up all her hiding spots where I can’t extract her. When we looked for her to give her her medicine we still couldn’t find her. She was under a folded comforter in the sunroom. We gave her the meds and then lavished her with attention, brushing her and petting her. That is what we are doing to keep her calmer. It seems to work- she’s been with Penny all evening. Of course she knows she can’t hide. It’s going to get interesting at Thanksgiving when all the people are here and the dogs and we are still giving her medicine. She’s going to want to disown us.
Penny begins buying food for the holiday tomorrow. So grocery shopping is the main event on our Sunday calendar.
I talked to brother Lou today and we are all set to take him to the airport on Monday. He doesn’t know if he will be coming back here next year or not. As he says, it’s in God’s hands.
For example, covering plants works well for nearly red tomatoes, but not as well for mature green ones. Though foliage may sometimes be saved, research shows that chilling injury on green fruit occurs at temperatures of 50 degrees and decay losses rise markedly on fruit exposed to 40 degrees F. Red ones well on their way to ripening tolerate colder temperatures.
And:
The shorter sun exposure shouldn't affect the growth too much (they'll get leggy if there's a real reduction in sunlight), but it definitely will reduce the developing sugars, resulting in a less sweet, almost sour flavor.
So I should probably give up on them.
We had a nice one-session FOCCUS session with a couple last night. Penny likes to provide a meal now when we have a couple over and she made some excellent portabella mushroom ravioli with a butter sage sauce. There were no issues that concerned us with this couple. We hope they have a long and happy life together.
Today our neighbors had an after-wedding shower for their son and daughter-in-law. Penny made fried ravioli and little twice-baked potatoes. Again she did a great job. On top of it all she’s felt good for 2 days straight.
We usually end up trashing the kitchen when any cooking is done but this time around we managed to do 2 major rounds of cooking and the kitchen is OK.
We’ve been driving Brie crazy. We have to squirt medicine down her throat twice a day and she has become weary of us. She spent most of today hiding from us under our bed. I couldn’t get her out. She finally came out around 1 or 2 PM and I promptly closed up all her hiding spots where I can’t extract her. When we looked for her to give her her medicine we still couldn’t find her. She was under a folded comforter in the sunroom. We gave her the meds and then lavished her with attention, brushing her and petting her. That is what we are doing to keep her calmer. It seems to work- she’s been with Penny all evening. Of course she knows she can’t hide. It’s going to get interesting at Thanksgiving when all the people are here and the dogs and we are still giving her medicine. She’s going to want to disown us.
Penny begins buying food for the holiday tomorrow. So grocery shopping is the main event on our Sunday calendar.
I talked to brother Lou today and we are all set to take him to the airport on Monday. He doesn’t know if he will be coming back here next year or not. As he says, it’s in God’s hands.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Support Your Local Vet
We brought Brie to the vet’s today to get that smelly discharge she’s been having checked out. After I washed her butt last night I did some research on the internet and every reference I found to brown smelly discharge said to “get thee to the vet”. If she wasn’t neutered this could have been a life-threatening infection. Since she is neutered and has had this issue since at least January it is likely a less threatening bacterial infection. She’s got some antibiotics to take and if that doesn’t clear it up she may have to have surgery. The theory is that they could have left a small portion of ovaries in her and that is lead to the infection. The vet would have to go in and essentially do a re-do of the surgery. We will hope the antibiotics do the trick. The good news is—except for a healthy and growing appetite Brie is acting normally (for Brie).
We spent a lot of time at the vet’s. I think they forgot we were there. We treated ourselves to Chick-fil-a on the way home and I spent the afternoon making the picture shelf. The basic shelf is now made, the glue is drying overnight. Tomorrow I will finish it up by painting it and then it should go up on the wall Friday and Penny can put pictures on it.
We will likely go to Target tomorrow in order to be home on Friday to listen to Karen host a show on the radio on Friday morning.
It appears that the tomatoes made it through the freeze last night. A small portion of 1 plant was left uncovered and it wilted. I’m hoping for a few more weeks of above freezing weather but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
We spent a lot of time at the vet’s. I think they forgot we were there. We treated ourselves to Chick-fil-a on the way home and I spent the afternoon making the picture shelf. The basic shelf is now made, the glue is drying overnight. Tomorrow I will finish it up by painting it and then it should go up on the wall Friday and Penny can put pictures on it.
We will likely go to Target tomorrow in order to be home on Friday to listen to Karen host a show on the radio on Friday morning.
It appears that the tomatoes made it through the freeze last night. A small portion of 1 plant was left uncovered and it wilted. I’m hoping for a few more weeks of above freezing weather but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday With Louie
Most of my day today was spent with brother Louie. We had a nice lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall Cajun restaurant (not very good) and lively conversation about –would you believe—religion? I played the devil’s advocate and posed some questions to Lou to see what answers he had. He did well. All his journaling has provided him with an extensive knowledge of the bible and a firm basis for his belief.
He had good answers for all the classic arguments and questions that people have about why God has arranged the world in this manner. I don’t agree with everything he said but I am glad that he is very secure in his faith and in the answers he has found. He is happier now than he ever seemed to be in the past.
After lunch we went in search of ice cream that was recommended by one of Lou’s friends. The only problem is the store that sold it is no longer here. We went all the way to Destin to find that out. There was another ice cream shop now occupying the building so we got ice cream there. We each got a banana split in a big cup. That was a lot of food to have on top of lunch and we both drove back to Lou’s place feeling quite full. I did make a stop at the beach on the way back so Lou could use the rest room. I also wanted to get him to the beach one more time. He likes the beach here with its sugar white sand.
Lou is flying out on Monday to go to Oregon. He wasn’t sure if he would ship some of his stuff or check it on the plane. Penny and I looked up the airline’s baggage policies regarding fees, weight and size of bags; printed them out and gave Lou a highlighted copy. We measured his bags and they are the right size to be checked. He just has to keep the weight on each to under 50 lbs.
We will next be seeing Lou on Monday to drive him to the airport and send him on his way.
When I got back home I went about covering the tomato plants once again and sticking the basil plant in the shed to protect to provide protection from the freezing temperatures tonight.
Tomorrow I actually have a project to do. Penny has moved the buffet out of the dining room leaving a big bare wall and needing a place to put the pictures that were on the buffet. I going to make a crown molding picture shelf to go on that wall and hold those pictures.
He had good answers for all the classic arguments and questions that people have about why God has arranged the world in this manner. I don’t agree with everything he said but I am glad that he is very secure in his faith and in the answers he has found. He is happier now than he ever seemed to be in the past.
After lunch we went in search of ice cream that was recommended by one of Lou’s friends. The only problem is the store that sold it is no longer here. We went all the way to Destin to find that out. There was another ice cream shop now occupying the building so we got ice cream there. We each got a banana split in a big cup. That was a lot of food to have on top of lunch and we both drove back to Lou’s place feeling quite full. I did make a stop at the beach on the way back so Lou could use the rest room. I also wanted to get him to the beach one more time. He likes the beach here with its sugar white sand.
Lou is flying out on Monday to go to Oregon. He wasn’t sure if he would ship some of his stuff or check it on the plane. Penny and I looked up the airline’s baggage policies regarding fees, weight and size of bags; printed them out and gave Lou a highlighted copy. We measured his bags and they are the right size to be checked. He just has to keep the weight on each to under 50 lbs.
We will next be seeing Lou on Monday to drive him to the airport and send him on his way.
When I got back home I went about covering the tomato plants once again and sticking the basil plant in the shed to protect to provide protection from the freezing temperatures tonight.
Tomorrow I actually have a project to do. Penny has moved the buffet out of the dining room leaving a big bare wall and needing a place to put the pictures that were on the buffet. I going to make a crown molding picture shelf to go on that wall and hold those pictures.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Cherish What You Have
I read e-mail from one of my fraternity brothers today. He forwarded a copy of e-mail he received from his son who currently is deployed on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East. Like everyone else the Navy is cutting back and that means he has fewer people to do the work so he is very busy. He will be at sea through the end of the year. Then they will hit a port for a few days and sail again. He has a wife and 3-month old baby back in the states. (I don’t know if he has seen the baby) Like many other new mothers his wife is blogging about their baby boy so at least he has that connection. The Chaplin on the ship has a program for parents to record themselves reading children’s books. He records them on DVD and sends them home for free. So far this sailor has recorded 13 books.
Imagine what it’s like missing seeing your baby for months at a time—all the changes he’s missing—all the bonding that is lost. Be thankful there are people willing to make those sacrifices for us. Pray that he and others make it home safely.
We take so much for granted. Everyone we know is a unique and precious gift. As I’ve always reminded the girls enjoy what you’ve got—you never know what tomorrow may bring.
On a lighter note, I made a more accurate count of the tomatoes growing on my plants and it is more like 60. We are going to see our first freezing temperatures tomorrow night and I will cover the plants. It would be neat to get a crop of December tomatoes.
Christy’s camellia plant is beginning to bloom. It usually blooms on her birthday but for the last 2 years it’s been late. It is full of buds and should look nice for thanksgiving.
Tomorrow I lunch with my brother Louie. In 1 week he will be leaving for Oregon. Next weekend we will be helping him ship some of his stuff and on next Monday we drive him to the airport in Pensacola.
Imagine what it’s like missing seeing your baby for months at a time—all the changes he’s missing—all the bonding that is lost. Be thankful there are people willing to make those sacrifices for us. Pray that he and others make it home safely.
We take so much for granted. Everyone we know is a unique and precious gift. As I’ve always reminded the girls enjoy what you’ve got—you never know what tomorrow may bring.
On a lighter note, I made a more accurate count of the tomatoes growing on my plants and it is more like 60. We are going to see our first freezing temperatures tomorrow night and I will cover the plants. It would be neat to get a crop of December tomatoes.
Christy’s camellia plant is beginning to bloom. It usually blooms on her birthday but for the last 2 years it’s been late. It is full of buds and should look nice for thanksgiving.
Tomorrow I lunch with my brother Louie. In 1 week he will be leaving for Oregon. Next weekend we will be helping him ship some of his stuff and on next Monday we drive him to the airport in Pensacola.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Just Like Old Times
Today found me counting punch-buggies (Volkswagen Beetles), cleaning a high chair and playpen and paying $1.88 a gallon for gas. This could be a day from 25 years ago—until I look in a mirror or feel my achy thumbs. (I know gas was cheaper but $1.88 feels like cheap gas now.)
We did more prep for Thanksgiving today and went to church this evening.
I stashed one of my basil plants in the shed and covered up the tomatoes to protect them from the cold tonight. The tomatoes are coming right along—a couple about the size of golf balls and one about the size of a lemon. Overall there are more than 20 growing and the plants are still blossoming. I have no idea how cold hardy they are but I think if we don’t get a hard freeze they will ripen. Pasta Cruda in December with fresh tomatoes and basil?
Our day is full tomorrow with pre-canna. Penny made it through today without major health issues—the first day in a while she’s done that. I’m hoping tomorrow won’t wear her out.
Kitty Update—all 4 cats were back tonight. This week has been a mixture of onesies and twosies until today. Marmalade comes back for the weekend and everyone else shows up. How does she know it’s a weekend and why does she spend them here? Brie is sleeping on the computer desk right now with my left hand scratching her tummy. This is one of her standard actions when she is in her Paul moods. She will follow me around and plop down and watch me as I do things. If I’m opening cabinets she wants to go in them. If I’m sweeping the floor she likes to sit in the dust pile. If I’m exercising on the floor she’s in my face—usually with her butt. Other times she is in her Penny moods and wants to be with Penny. She likes it best when we are all in the same room—as long as I’m not paying too much attention to Penny. She wants the attention. She doesn’t want us paying attention to each other.
We did more prep for Thanksgiving today and went to church this evening.
I stashed one of my basil plants in the shed and covered up the tomatoes to protect them from the cold tonight. The tomatoes are coming right along—a couple about the size of golf balls and one about the size of a lemon. Overall there are more than 20 growing and the plants are still blossoming. I have no idea how cold hardy they are but I think if we don’t get a hard freeze they will ripen. Pasta Cruda in December with fresh tomatoes and basil?
Our day is full tomorrow with pre-canna. Penny made it through today without major health issues—the first day in a while she’s done that. I’m hoping tomorrow won’t wear her out.
Kitty Update—all 4 cats were back tonight. This week has been a mixture of onesies and twosies until today. Marmalade comes back for the weekend and everyone else shows up. How does she know it’s a weekend and why does she spend them here? Brie is sleeping on the computer desk right now with my left hand scratching her tummy. This is one of her standard actions when she is in her Paul moods. She will follow me around and plop down and watch me as I do things. If I’m opening cabinets she wants to go in them. If I’m sweeping the floor she likes to sit in the dust pile. If I’m exercising on the floor she’s in my face—usually with her butt. Other times she is in her Penny moods and wants to be with Penny. She likes it best when we are all in the same room—as long as I’m not paying too much attention to Penny. She wants the attention. She doesn’t want us paying attention to each other.
Friday, November 14, 2008
The Shuttle Jumped Over The Moon
There were 2 events today that I considered going to. One was the night launch of the shuttle, the other the Blue Angels homecoming. I passed on both. There are only 9 more shuttle launches planned so maybe I’ll decide to make one of them. We’ve got pre-cana on Sunday and I didn’t think driving down and back was a good idea. Any delay would make it so I’d either miss the launch or be late for pre-cana. Of course the launch went off on time. I watched it on Fox News and it was a beautiful launch with a full moon for a backdrop. NASA should have some nice pictures from this one.
I didn’t go to the Blue Angels primarily because I didn’t want to spend the day fighting the traffic. I saw the Blues in Jacksonville and their show is great. We can go see them practice several times each year in Pensacola and haven’t done it so it’s just not that important.
The temperature reached 75 today. It is currently raining and a cold front will be passing through such that we are expecting a low Saturday night of 35. B-r-r-r-r.
I’m still not doing anything worth blogging about so this will be short. Tomorrow begins with our visit to Waffle House. Then it’s back to house and yard work.
I didn’t go to the Blue Angels primarily because I didn’t want to spend the day fighting the traffic. I saw the Blues in Jacksonville and their show is great. We can go see them practice several times each year in Pensacola and haven’t done it so it’s just not that important.
The temperature reached 75 today. It is currently raining and a cold front will be passing through such that we are expecting a low Saturday night of 35. B-r-r-r-r.
I’m still not doing anything worth blogging about so this will be short. Tomorrow begins with our visit to Waffle House. Then it’s back to house and yard work.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thursday Evening
I’ve been cleaning out the sunroom on and off for the past couple of days—clearing out a years worth of stuff gradually piling up there and putting it away in a permanent spot—mostly in the shed. For that reason I haven’t had much to write about.
I usually listen to an audio book as I work and today I was listening to one I had on my mp3 player. About 3 weeks ago, during the WOOT-off, I bought an accessory package for our Sansa mp3 players. Both Penny and I have one. We didn’t have protective cases for them. This accessory pack had 3 cases and an armband carrier in it and was cheap so I got it. I was using the armband today and the little rectangular piece of plastic that allows you to tighten the strap simply fell apart. It broke into 2 identical “L”-shaped pieces so I suspect the bond these together to make the piece. Mine must have been defective.
I checked my receipt and found the case had a 1 year warranty on it so I called the manufacturer. They sent me a form to include when I return the item to them. They will supposedly swap it for a new one. I was pleased that they responded nicely to a rather insignificant product they sell.
Most days we have an apple snack in the afternoon at 3 PM. We cut up an apple (we currently are eating Macintosh) and some cheese and watch the Ellen Show as we chomp. Each day when I cut around the apple core I think of my Mother. When she ate an apple all that she left were the seeds. She seemed to be proud of this and we always made a big fuss about it. In honor of my mom I usually take the square cut core that I remove from the apples and gnaw away the top and bottom to make a traditional apple core and not waste any of the meat of the fruit. If I remember accurately, mom ate everything but the seeds so as not to waste anything –a habit developed when food such as apples was more precious.
There is a Thursday night NFL game tonight. Last week one of my quarterbacks was playing so I had to decide who to play that week on Thursday. Tonight I checked again to see if I had any decisions to make. I didn’t but Christy had a quarterback decision to make. I called her about an hour before the game. She was still at work. I told her what was up and she said she would decide and take care of it. She also thanked me. One never knows how a player will do on any given week. Now that I alerted her to the situation I saw that she changed her quarterback to Bret Favre. At the 2-minute warning in the first half of the game he has made 14.72 points for her so far. That is good. I’m a little more relieved that I called her. I would have hated to be the cause of her losing a game. She has risen nicely to 3rd place in the league.
I usually listen to an audio book as I work and today I was listening to one I had on my mp3 player. About 3 weeks ago, during the WOOT-off, I bought an accessory package for our Sansa mp3 players. Both Penny and I have one. We didn’t have protective cases for them. This accessory pack had 3 cases and an armband carrier in it and was cheap so I got it. I was using the armband today and the little rectangular piece of plastic that allows you to tighten the strap simply fell apart. It broke into 2 identical “L”-shaped pieces so I suspect the bond these together to make the piece. Mine must have been defective.
I checked my receipt and found the case had a 1 year warranty on it so I called the manufacturer. They sent me a form to include when I return the item to them. They will supposedly swap it for a new one. I was pleased that they responded nicely to a rather insignificant product they sell.
Most days we have an apple snack in the afternoon at 3 PM. We cut up an apple (we currently are eating Macintosh) and some cheese and watch the Ellen Show as we chomp. Each day when I cut around the apple core I think of my Mother. When she ate an apple all that she left were the seeds. She seemed to be proud of this and we always made a big fuss about it. In honor of my mom I usually take the square cut core that I remove from the apples and gnaw away the top and bottom to make a traditional apple core and not waste any of the meat of the fruit. If I remember accurately, mom ate everything but the seeds so as not to waste anything –a habit developed when food such as apples was more precious.
There is a Thursday night NFL game tonight. Last week one of my quarterbacks was playing so I had to decide who to play that week on Thursday. Tonight I checked again to see if I had any decisions to make. I didn’t but Christy had a quarterback decision to make. I called her about an hour before the game. She was still at work. I told her what was up and she said she would decide and take care of it. She also thanked me. One never knows how a player will do on any given week. Now that I alerted her to the situation I saw that she changed her quarterback to Bret Favre. At the 2-minute warning in the first half of the game he has made 14.72 points for her so far. That is good. I’m a little more relieved that I called her. I would have hated to be the cause of her losing a game. She has risen nicely to 3rd place in the league.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Weather Wins
Penny and I ran off today and took pictures along RT 30A. We’ve had a string of beautiful days that we had spent doing everything but enjoying the weather. Penny has had health issues which are holding her back and she has been working on many projects. She finally reached a logical break point so I suggested we do the picture thing. We like driving around together so stopping and taking pictures was just a bonus.
We drove down 30A to Seaside (the planned community where the movie ‘The Truman Show” was shot) wandered around and took pictures until we got hungry and then ate at the Seagrove Village Market.
We also took care of some business. On the way out of town we mailed Christy some stuff Penny embroidered for tailgating next weekend. After lunch we did some shopping for Christy’s birthday present and to get some items from Oneida in preparation for Thanksgiving. They were having a great sale.
We drove down 30A to Seaside (the planned community where the movie ‘The Truman Show” was shot) wandered around and took pictures until we got hungry and then ate at the Seagrove Village Market.
We also took care of some business. On the way out of town we mailed Christy some stuff Penny embroidered for tailgating next weekend. After lunch we did some shopping for Christy’s birthday present and to get some items from Oneida in preparation for Thanksgiving. They were having a great sale.
We got back home about 3:30, boxed up Christy’s gift and I headed to the post office to get the package in the mail. (Today is Christy’s birthday-Happy Birthday!) Tomorrow is Veteran’s day and we wanted to get the package into the system before they shut down for the holiday. I mailed it at 4:15 and the final pick-up of the day was at 4:30—so we made it!
Earlier in the day I noted that it looked like a good sunset day. After the post office, I headed to the beach to do a sunset beach walk. It was pleasant walking the beach again. I had the whole place to myself, too. 3 miles of beach without a soul in sight.
The sunset wasn’t spectacular but it was pretty. The beach was littered with small shells and I took a few more close up shots with the steep sunset lighting.
Kitty Update—Meredith showed up last night skinny and very hungry again. All 4 cats were there again tonight. I don’t think we will ever learn where they disappear to for days at a time.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Three Dog Night
There certainly are a lot of commercials in an NFL game. I did some yard work and aggravated my foot so I decided to take a break and watch some football. I had to see if my buddy Drew Breese was doing any good for my fantasy football team. He didn’t have one of his better days but he still got 14.94 points, which is good.
Yesterday I mailed a CD with wedding pictures to Meme. Today Terri put over 1100 pictures out on a photo site. There were many good shots. Tory and Sam have a well-documented wedding.
I did start the day with pancakes. I brought Penny her breakfast in bed. We relaxed this morning, read the paper and watched Sunday Morning before I got going and cleaned out the garage.
We’ve had a long stretch of cool clear weather and we have had our windows open to enjoy it. Last night Three Dog Night had a concert at the fair grounds that are about a mile from our house. The sound of there performance boomed throughout the neighborhood. I didn’t know that group was performing and I commented to Penny that they sounded like Three Dog Night. I didn’t find anything in our newspaper about the event but a short Google search quickly turned up that it was in fact the group and the performance was connected with a fundraiser 'The Loud One' Motorcycle Ride and Concert. This motorcycle ride raises money for the Special Operations Warrior Fund, which benefits local children of servicemen who where killed in action. I always joke about old men singing rock and roll songs when I see it on PBS. To me it is sad to see them trying to perform their old hits. It’s nice they had the hits but it just seems a little pathetic to try to hold on to something that isn’t there any more. From the sound of Three Dog Night I don’t think I would have felt that way about them. They sounded good—their voices were sound and the singers could still hit the high notes. You could feel the energy of the performance from this distance. I did a little more research to see if it was the original members in the group and found that 4 of the 6 members were the originals including the 2 lead vocalists. Good for you Three Dog Night. I won’t find it easy to be hard on them as they bring joy to the world.
I didn’t close the window when we went to sleep and I got chilled in the middle of the night. It made me think of the band’s name and how I could have used even 1 dog. Brie wasn’t doing me any good, she was with Penny.
Yesterday I mailed a CD with wedding pictures to Meme. Today Terri put over 1100 pictures out on a photo site. There were many good shots. Tory and Sam have a well-documented wedding.
I did start the day with pancakes. I brought Penny her breakfast in bed. We relaxed this morning, read the paper and watched Sunday Morning before I got going and cleaned out the garage.
We’ve had a long stretch of cool clear weather and we have had our windows open to enjoy it. Last night Three Dog Night had a concert at the fair grounds that are about a mile from our house. The sound of there performance boomed throughout the neighborhood. I didn’t know that group was performing and I commented to Penny that they sounded like Three Dog Night. I didn’t find anything in our newspaper about the event but a short Google search quickly turned up that it was in fact the group and the performance was connected with a fundraiser 'The Loud One' Motorcycle Ride and Concert. This motorcycle ride raises money for the Special Operations Warrior Fund, which benefits local children of servicemen who where killed in action. I always joke about old men singing rock and roll songs when I see it on PBS. To me it is sad to see them trying to perform their old hits. It’s nice they had the hits but it just seems a little pathetic to try to hold on to something that isn’t there any more. From the sound of Three Dog Night I don’t think I would have felt that way about them. They sounded good—their voices were sound and the singers could still hit the high notes. You could feel the energy of the performance from this distance. I did a little more research to see if it was the original members in the group and found that 4 of the 6 members were the originals including the 2 lead vocalists. Good for you Three Dog Night. I won’t find it easy to be hard on them as they bring joy to the world.
I didn’t close the window when we went to sleep and I got chilled in the middle of the night. It made me think of the band’s name and how I could have used even 1 dog. Brie wasn’t doing me any good, she was with Penny.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Just Like the Good ol’ Days
I just filled up with $1.99 a gallon gas. I can’t remember ever seeing the price of gas drop so rapidly in conjunction with the price of a barrel of oil. The normal was that it rose quickly and dropped slowly. The high price of gas seems to have pushed the world economy over a cliff and now everybody, including oil countries has lost control.
We successfully held our FOCCUS session with the engaged couple today. These two have a long distance relationship; he is here she in D.C. They looked like a good couple, communicating well and willing to work at their relationship. She was a very emotional person who easily cried—even more easily than Penny cries. We’ve learned to have tissues handy when we do this. I think she went through half of the box--but it was cute, not worrisome.
As I write this I have the Florida / Vandy game playing in one corner of my monitor. Florida is just romping over them with 3 touchdowns in the 1st quarter. Time to get Sophie doing the gator chomp!
Now that we have the house in shape I will have the opportunity to get some of the other tasks done around the house. Between our travels and FOCCUS and trying to keep up with the house I’ve bumped a number of should-do tasks down the road. Starting tomorrow I’ll be hitting the do list. Some of this is preparation for Thanksgiving visits by the kids; part is just doing maintenance on the house and yard that needs doing. This assumes I can keep up with the house.
My new flash unit came today—I played with it a little and it looks like it will be a great improvement for the type of pictures I was taking at the wedding last week. I had problems with recovery time on the pop-up flash integral to the camera and with the range of the flash. This new unit solves those issues. Thank you Karen and Christy!
My bag-o-crap from WOOT also arrived today. Inside the medium-sized box was a Go Duster; a battery operated feather duster “as seen on TV for only 2 payments of $9.99” (http://www.goduster.com/index.html?directLoad&uid=054B69F4ACE522575CE4B9F1B6267BB7 ) and a plastic bag with rose bath salts. I think I got my money’s worth. It was worth it just for the excitement of trying to get the order in and succeeding and then the unknown factor of what the heck would be in the box.
Since we did church this evening tomorrow is an open day. I plan on starting it with banana pecan pancakes and take it from there. We may have the first of our Omaha steaks tomorrow, too. We have some food left over from today because we didn’t end up feeding the couple lunch today so I may put off the steaks a day to use the leftovers before they go bad.
Florida now has 4 touchdowns in 4 possessions.
We successfully held our FOCCUS session with the engaged couple today. These two have a long distance relationship; he is here she in D.C. They looked like a good couple, communicating well and willing to work at their relationship. She was a very emotional person who easily cried—even more easily than Penny cries. We’ve learned to have tissues handy when we do this. I think she went through half of the box--but it was cute, not worrisome.
As I write this I have the Florida / Vandy game playing in one corner of my monitor. Florida is just romping over them with 3 touchdowns in the 1st quarter. Time to get Sophie doing the gator chomp!
Now that we have the house in shape I will have the opportunity to get some of the other tasks done around the house. Between our travels and FOCCUS and trying to keep up with the house I’ve bumped a number of should-do tasks down the road. Starting tomorrow I’ll be hitting the do list. Some of this is preparation for Thanksgiving visits by the kids; part is just doing maintenance on the house and yard that needs doing. This assumes I can keep up with the house.
My new flash unit came today—I played with it a little and it looks like it will be a great improvement for the type of pictures I was taking at the wedding last week. I had problems with recovery time on the pop-up flash integral to the camera and with the range of the flash. This new unit solves those issues. Thank you Karen and Christy!
My bag-o-crap from WOOT also arrived today. Inside the medium-sized box was a Go Duster; a battery operated feather duster “as seen on TV for only 2 payments of $9.99” (http://www.goduster.com/index.html?directLoad&uid=054B69F4ACE522575CE4B9F1B6267BB7 ) and a plastic bag with rose bath salts. I think I got my money’s worth. It was worth it just for the excitement of trying to get the order in and succeeding and then the unknown factor of what the heck would be in the box.
Since we did church this evening tomorrow is an open day. I plan on starting it with banana pecan pancakes and take it from there. We may have the first of our Omaha steaks tomorrow, too. We have some food left over from today because we didn’t end up feeding the couple lunch today so I may put off the steaks a day to use the leftovers before they go bad.
Florida now has 4 touchdowns in 4 possessions.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Week in Review
I haven’t written much this week—blame it on a quiet wee and writer’s block. I thought I would combine the past week into a single blog.
Last Saturday we celebrated my 60th birthday and it was good. On Nov 2nd, my actual birthday we attended the Wedding of Tory and Sam, a wonderful wedding despite some glitches with the weather and cake. The most important part of the wedding went fine and Tory and Sam are comfortable with one another and were happy together all day.
Sunday night was spent in Tampa at Kathy’s. Since brother Lou was with us this may be the last time we three are together for a while. Lou actually traveled better with us this time. We were able to make normal stops and even set a record on the way down—Tampa in 6 ½ hours.
Monday’s drive back went smoothly. We dropped Lou at the Church and went home to greet the cat. Penny missed he Kitty all weekend and one reason for the short stay in Tampa was to allow her to get back to the cat.
Tuesday was Election Day. I listened to Karen on our computer as she covered the story in Jacksonville. Our nation elected the candidate of hope. Obama ran a brilliant campaign and showed masterful organizational skills. I know he can’t accomplish half of what he promised. McCain never really had a chance and that probably is good. Obama hopefully will put his skills to good use. He needs to save the economy first and worry about things like health care later. I think he can do it. He has a chance to govern by teaching as FDR did. He has good advisers but he is going to come up against the reality of what power he has and doesn’t have. One thing he does have is a lot of people believing in him right now. We will see how it goes.
Midday Wednesday a big box-o-meat arrived at our door. Kathy and Joe got me an Omaha Steaks gift assortment for my birthday. It included top sirloin, pork chops, stuffed sole, gourmet franks, filet mignon, potatoes au gratin, and steak burgers. This all came in a big Styrofoam cooler—cooled by dry ice—with a cutlery set on top to boot. We are going o be eating well for a long time.
I had to make room in the freezer so I shuffled thing around and removed all the blue ice and cold pads. These I put in the Styrofoam cooler with the remaining dry ice. Our freezer is packed now. It’s a good thing I have some talent in packing things.
I used the cold pads to soak my foot in. I had been soaking my foot in warm water and Epsom salt until now but I found the cold relieved the foot pain better. So the meat coming actually helped relieve my pain by forcing me to use the cold pad.
All this week I have been reviewing wedding pictures, cropping and brightening things up. I finished that today and burned a CD to send to Meme. I also burned a DVD with those pictures and our Vermont and Montana pictures to send to Nana.
I also did some garden work on Wednesday. I’ve got 20 or so tomatoes coming along. Will they ripen before we get a hard freeze? Probably not. The good news is that at least I’m getting some fruit to grow.
I had to make my weekly quarterback decision for my fantasy football team early this week because Jay Cutler was playing Thursday night. Do I play him or Drew Breese? I did some research and while both looked good the predictions were better for Breese. So I didn’t play Cutler. When I went to bed last night the game was into the 4th quarter and Cutler only had 3.6 points. It seemed like I had made the right choice. This morning I look at the stats and he has 26.39 points- 3 TDs and over 400 yards—he must have really been on fire for those last 10 minutes of the game!
Today I got a statement on a small IRA account I have. It’s lost 15% in the past 30 days. Hold on to your hats folks this is going to be a bad time economically.
Tomorrow we have an engaged couple over for most of the day. We have to cover the complete program in 1 day. The woman lives in DC and has flown in just to do this.
Kitty Update—3 cats have been showing up for food for the past 2 nights. Meredith is still gone. It’s raining tonight and there is a big orange tomcat out there so I don’t expect everyone to show tonight. Marmalade is out there and letting me know that she is wet AND HUNGRY!
Last Saturday we celebrated my 60th birthday and it was good. On Nov 2nd, my actual birthday we attended the Wedding of Tory and Sam, a wonderful wedding despite some glitches with the weather and cake. The most important part of the wedding went fine and Tory and Sam are comfortable with one another and were happy together all day.
Sunday night was spent in Tampa at Kathy’s. Since brother Lou was with us this may be the last time we three are together for a while. Lou actually traveled better with us this time. We were able to make normal stops and even set a record on the way down—Tampa in 6 ½ hours.
Monday’s drive back went smoothly. We dropped Lou at the Church and went home to greet the cat. Penny missed he Kitty all weekend and one reason for the short stay in Tampa was to allow her to get back to the cat.
Tuesday was Election Day. I listened to Karen on our computer as she covered the story in Jacksonville. Our nation elected the candidate of hope. Obama ran a brilliant campaign and showed masterful organizational skills. I know he can’t accomplish half of what he promised. McCain never really had a chance and that probably is good. Obama hopefully will put his skills to good use. He needs to save the economy first and worry about things like health care later. I think he can do it. He has a chance to govern by teaching as FDR did. He has good advisers but he is going to come up against the reality of what power he has and doesn’t have. One thing he does have is a lot of people believing in him right now. We will see how it goes.
Midday Wednesday a big box-o-meat arrived at our door. Kathy and Joe got me an Omaha Steaks gift assortment for my birthday. It included top sirloin, pork chops, stuffed sole, gourmet franks, filet mignon, potatoes au gratin, and steak burgers. This all came in a big Styrofoam cooler—cooled by dry ice—with a cutlery set on top to boot. We are going o be eating well for a long time.
I had to make room in the freezer so I shuffled thing around and removed all the blue ice and cold pads. These I put in the Styrofoam cooler with the remaining dry ice. Our freezer is packed now. It’s a good thing I have some talent in packing things.
I used the cold pads to soak my foot in. I had been soaking my foot in warm water and Epsom salt until now but I found the cold relieved the foot pain better. So the meat coming actually helped relieve my pain by forcing me to use the cold pad.
All this week I have been reviewing wedding pictures, cropping and brightening things up. I finished that today and burned a CD to send to Meme. I also burned a DVD with those pictures and our Vermont and Montana pictures to send to Nana.
I also did some garden work on Wednesday. I’ve got 20 or so tomatoes coming along. Will they ripen before we get a hard freeze? Probably not. The good news is that at least I’m getting some fruit to grow.
I had to make my weekly quarterback decision for my fantasy football team early this week because Jay Cutler was playing Thursday night. Do I play him or Drew Breese? I did some research and while both looked good the predictions were better for Breese. So I didn’t play Cutler. When I went to bed last night the game was into the 4th quarter and Cutler only had 3.6 points. It seemed like I had made the right choice. This morning I look at the stats and he has 26.39 points- 3 TDs and over 400 yards—he must have really been on fire for those last 10 minutes of the game!
Today I got a statement on a small IRA account I have. It’s lost 15% in the past 30 days. Hold on to your hats folks this is going to be a bad time economically.
Tomorrow we have an engaged couple over for most of the day. We have to cover the complete program in 1 day. The woman lives in DC and has flown in just to do this.
Kitty Update—3 cats have been showing up for food for the past 2 nights. Meredith is still gone. It’s raining tonight and there is a big orange tomcat out there so I don’t expect everyone to show tonight. Marmalade is out there and letting me know that she is wet AND HUNGRY!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
3 Birthdays and a Wedding
Since I was with just about everyone who reads this blog this past weekend there is no need to provide a detailed description of the wonderful birthday dinner that Penny organized for us at Buca di Beppa in Brandon. I know I had a great time sitting next to my 2 precious daughters, staring into the Pope’s face and stuffing myself with all sorts of Italian food. Of course there was still room for desert—chocolate cherry cannoli cake, one of Penny’s many specialties. Sophie was in a great mood and enjoyed her bite of cake.
Sunday was the wedding of Tory and Sam. We got to see much of the McClure branch of the family (the Shooks and Nelsons). The wedding was nice. Tory and Sam looked very comfortable with one another and despite a few bumps in the peripheral items the wedding ceremony itself was heartwarming. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Nelson.
We have about 475 pictures from the weekend, most of those being of the wedding. I’ll be sifting through them this week and sending the better ones to Meme when I’m through.
Kitty Update—Only Velcro has been out there for food for the 2 nights we’ve been back. I did see Buzz last night but not at feeding time. M&M remain unaccounted for .
Sunday was the wedding of Tory and Sam. We got to see much of the McClure branch of the family (the Shooks and Nelsons). The wedding was nice. Tory and Sam looked very comfortable with one another and despite a few bumps in the peripheral items the wedding ceremony itself was heartwarming. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. We have about 475 pictures from the weekend, most of those being of the wedding. I’ll be sifting through them this week and sending the better ones to Meme when I’m through. Kitty Update—Only Velcro has been out there for food for the 2 nights we’ve been back. I did see Buzz last night but not at feeding time. M&M remain unaccounted for .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
