Just need to talk to my friends (200)

Good morning

Been cloudy here in Ohio too. Did not get to see the full moon.

Good morning. Still unseasonably warm and dry here. We might get a little rain Thursday. I do hope so— it's so dry. I may try to wrap up prepping the front beds for the winter.

Mint— I suppose he could be ill, but it sounds more like he's got something in his personal life going on. The young man who works with him is a nephew so if the shop's closed maybe it's one of his parents. But it could be an emerging medical issue for him that's requiring appointments and tests.

The homemade Velveeta looks fine to my eye. I wonder if the additives you're looking to avoid are associated with the firmer texture— so much of food chemistry is aimed at consistency of texture.

Lorita— I loved Forrest Gump. Just an FYI, the director has recently released a new movie "Here" with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the lead roles. It works around the gimmick of the action taking place in a single place that is the living room. It's doesn't get fabulous reviews, but I'm interested. Trigger warning: the trailer hints at Wright's character having dementia.

David— If the VA home near you is like the one here, it'll be a good fit for someone as busy and social as you like to be.

Carl— I hope today is a better day for you and your DW. I'm sorry you missed the Beaver Super Moon. It was beautiful.

Eagle— I'll have to check out that app. DS and I once saw the ISS driving south on Rt. 1 in southern DE on a clear autumn evening. It seemed to almost glitter. I've not seen it since.

Iris— Congratulations on your new Starbucks! My little town is bougie enough have 3— the one in the middle is >1500' from the one on State Street and about 700' from the one in the supermarket. Not to mention the Dunkin and several independent coffee shops. It's crazy.

Beth— I hope the cruise is going well. My friend who started a 6-day dive boat cruise off Belize on the 10th was unable to fly home yesterday because of weather. She's stuck in Belize City until Wednesday night. She's retired, so it's no biggie for her aside from an additional 5 nights in a hotel assuming she found a room. Her son is traveling with her and probably wasn't prepared to work remotely for an additional 3 days.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DH is driving DS to work today. Yay! Turns out he needed to be in at 8:30 so it was an earlier start than usual. Kid had to wake me up which is unusual. Today is the first of the Christmas-themed trains. They seem to start earlier every year— they even ran a couple "Christmas in July" specials this summer. It's a license to print money.

I got a rare phone call from my mother yesterday at 8:30am. She was flustered about her new freezer. She was under the impression that she needed to "do something" to make it work now that it's been plugged in for the minimum 24 hours. She claimed she was reading the manual and was confused. I asked her if the delivery team hadn't set it up for her and she said she wasn't sure, but they said something about not opening it for 4 hours. I said I'd come by. It never goes well when I try to offer tech support over the phone— I stopped trying after spending 40 minutes once trying to explain how to send a photograph via text. When I got off the phone DH asked casually "why were you yelling at your mom today?" as if it was regular occurrence.

I got to her house, and she was more rattled than I knew. I asked if the freezer was cold inside. She said she wasn't sure. Turns out she was worried that the freezer might overheat and cause the canister oxygen in the garage to explode. And yet, she was encouraging me to check it. Turns out the freezer is fine and ready to be filled. Lately her short-term memory has been a bit better than in the spring before her Lyme treatment. The flaking is no better, but I still wonder if I'm imagining a cognitive slide. Yesterday was something of a splash of cold water in the face.

HB

I am now going through memory boxes. Just finished my scrapbook from my 7-8 grades. I laugh, then sigh then shed a tear. Came across my certificate for Pro-Marksman…National Rifle Association. What a kick. I know one grandson who will really appreciate the "honor".

Rainey inside day…perfect for memories.

JeriLynn, I'm so sorry about the sheep! How is the little kitten doing?

Lorita, my father was born in 1915.

Beth, this was my second time seeing the Space Station, that's enough.

It's chilly but with clear blue skies. I envy you in being in the Caribbean with the warm breezes.

I'm going to try to get my flu and COVID vaccinations today.

HB, you are so busy, do you have plans for a big Thanksgiving Day dinner?

Iris

HB…the freezer story is priceless. What are the Christmas trains?

I got both my flu vaccine and my COVID vaccine this afternoon, so far no fever or sore arms or any side effects.

Iris

I'll bet Yellowstone is great, but I've never seen it. My wife is frightened watching Westerns, cop shows, the news, anything with violence. I watched the news tonight, with her sitting right beside me because she shadows me, and she was upset by forest fires thousands of miles away because she feared they would spread to our house and leave us homeless or kill us. She loved Law & Order and NCIS for many years, but she can't separate fiction from reality anymore.

Good morning,

Iris, the little kitten has been adopted by one of the great granddaughters who works in a Vet Clinic and is in a happy place. Most of DH's great grands are cat lovers.

Rain begins tomorrow and the forecast keeps changing for the rest of the week. That means outside work must be completed today for next week's company/activities. We'll set up the garage when it rains and have that done. DH and great grandsons worked on the barn at Huntland Saturday. I drove up and what do I see but DH on top of the barn roof! Wasted breath on all those cautions to stay on the ground.

I'm making a strawberry cake today for my Aunt who had the stroke, has been diagnosed with dementia (no one can tell me anything further) and had pneumonia just recently that required hospitalization. I go down the road to her house a few times a week, another cousin goes a few times as well. My Aunt is no longer driving - I did at least get that accomplished.

Well I'm gonna go get that cake started. BBL and have a good day.

Good morning all.

I woke up early for some reason. I've already had a pot of tea and need to make a second. Decaf this time or I'll be buzzy all day.

Beth— I love the pictures. Thanks for sharing. Mural art is a favorite of mine. Philadelphia has one of the world's biggest mural arts programs and I always enjoy when I run into something I haven't seen before. I pass a bunch of them when I get my haircut; I like to walk from the train station so I can check them out. One of these days I'm going to do one of their tours. If you enjoy mural art, they have virtual tours on their website.

Jerilynn— I am so sorry about the sheep.
I can only imagine what your Thanksgiving is like as you seem to specialize in next-level cookery. Do you have a head count yet? When I saw my dentist who has a dozen or so kids, he said his hosting son said they expect around 50. He showed me the spread sheet the host sends out with assignments on it. Yikes.

Mint— How was the cheeseburger?
Dad readily accepted care from his aides once mom weaned him off his need for her to do everything. They were able to provide much better care as he saw them as professionals and allowed them to help him.

Iris— I'm not too sure about Thanksgiving Day. My niece hosts at her house. I'm excited to see her new $50K+ bathroom. It's small and her plumber husband did much of the work, but they had project creep, and a lot of custom stuff made for the space because of the size. Niece is taking her BFF for a gamma knife procedure the day before, so we rescheduled for Friday instead. Her friend was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer which has metastasized. The whole situation has been tragic. Maybe I'll do a dinner at home on the actual day just the 3 of us like the old days before my parents moved back. DS will be working Friday— it's one of the railroad's busiest days.

Carl— My dad did the same thing with TV. Initially, the characters became his friends and family. I think he thought he was Frank from Blue Bloods. Later, I had to put parental controls on the TV because he believed everything he saw was actually happening to him. The news and crime drams were bad, but The Weather Channel was the worst. He'd be sitting next to a window on a beautiful day and describe the snow, ice, hurricane and wild fire happening outside.

Judith— The Christmas trains are a Santa experience. They're very popular with families— we used to do them when DS was younger. Now he gets paid to do it which is a cost-saving for me. They have Santa and Mrs. Claus visit each seat, they have a sing-along, cocoa and cookies. Some people even wear PJs. LOL, he wants me to sign on as a Mrs. Claus. Nope.

https://www.newhoperailroad.com/

I hope all have a pleasant day.

HB

Good morning. Rain, we had rain last night and some this morning. Strong winds howling woke me around 5:15 this morning, blowing in the front. The temp has dropped almost 15 degrees since 7:00am.

David I know its scary, but I know you'll do just fine. People to chat with, stories to tell and hear, and most importantly people to help you. Both you and your wife will have an adjustment period, there is nothing wrong with tears.

Our Chief's just didn't look good from the opening kickoff. Kelce didn't catch but two passes. Personally I think Taylor has been a huge distraction for him. But that's my opinion only. I know he and Patrick just haven't looked like they have in years past.

I'm going to try to get the formal dining room tree undecorated today. So next week I can decorate it with Christmas. I keep two trees up year round, and decorate for the various holiday / seasons. It all started because DH was so very unhappy / depressed 6 yrs ago when I took down our Christmas tree. He loves the tree (its white flocked) and the lights. At that time I just thought to myself if the tree being up makes him happy I'm glad to put it back up. I've slowly gotten the seasons down for the den tree. The dining room tree is more 'formal' if you will. It is a lot of work, kill my knees, is a huge mess but his smile and gratitude that I do it makes it all worth it.

Let's be careful out there everyone. Back later.