Thursday After Christmas

Yesterday was a leisurely day, including dinner out. Today took on a more frantic pace as I realized all that needed to be done to get ready to go to Jenny Lake tomorrow!

Both yesterday and today had slow starts as I managed to roll out of bed at the crack 

of 9! Truly an unusual event for me. Planned the menu for the next few days at camp and made my shopping list. Wegmans and Sam's Club had everything I needed. Now I just need to pack up all the food in the most efficient manner.

Today was a running day for me. We (most of the us and the K's) are racing in a New Year's Eve race in Saratoga and my training has been sketchy. It didn't help that I was sick

 for a couple of weeks. I am confident that I can run the 5K, but it won't be fast and all my family will be long done by the time I cross the finish line, and I fully expect to hear them cheering for me!

Today the mailman delivered a package for Jim from Denmark which looked like every longshoreman had drop kicked it from one guy to the next. Fortunately, the contents were not damaged. One of Jim's bosses lives in Denmark and sent Jim a gift set of cookies, candies, and a beautiful teak cutting board. See the first photo.

We had dinner at Gram and GrandDad's tonight and got to see their Christmas decorations and enjoy a delicious chicken dinner.

 

From there we went to Grandma and

Grandpa's to see Jim's Uncle Bob and his friend, Patty. It was nice to see them, even

though we could only stay for about 15 minutes. Our time is limited because Tucker and Corey are both allergic to the cats in their house and start sneezing after about 15 minutes. 

We had to be home by 8 PM tonight because Corey was having some friends over for a jam session. Matt, Pat and Mike are here now with

 Corey and they  are working their way through a Beetles repertoire. We have 3 guitars and an electric keyboard all going strong. They are having fun and sound good.

Have you ever tried to see how far you could drive on a tank of gas, when the indicator is on "E" , the light is on, and the estimated mileage left on the tank is on "0"? We did tonight and it was very exciting as we decided how far we could push the car if needed. We were all a bit disappointed when Jim filled the approximately 20 gallon tank with 18.5 gallons, which mean that we probably could have gone another 20-25 miles! 

I don't know if I will be able to blog while at camp because we have slow internet, but I'll try. If not, Happy New Year!

Hope all is well.

Christmas Review

I hope you all had a Christmas Day that was all you hoped. I know that we did here. On Christmas Eve, Grandma and Grandpa came over and brought a chili dinner. It was delicious! 

We four went to the late service at church, which seems to get later each year! Corey and I rang in a bell ensemble and Corey was a lay liturgist (and the best dressed at church!). Gram and GrandDad and the Kuehls joined us at church. We were home by 12:30 AM and went right to bed!

Tuesday morning the Oster grandparents came over with gifts and a breakfast casserole.

We all had fun opening gifts that were fun, thoughtful, useful, but most of all, most appreciated. We have many blessings and

Christmas is a wonderful time to pause and be

grateful for all that we have. Some of us got some exercise in the early afternoon but we were all back home and showered in order to get ready for our dinner guests, who arrived in the late afternoon.

Our challenge this Christmas dinner was to have all the food come from within 50 miles of our house and we met that challenge. Bob, Sally and Liz started the evening off with

 local appetizers of Zwiegles white hot dogs (sliced and grilled) and saurkraut, apples and cheese. Perfect! The main course of dinner was a crown roast of pork from a butcher just east of here. To the pork we added mashed potatoes, squash, carrots, applesauce, and a green salad. For dessert we had apple pie and grape

pie. It was a great meal (if I do say so

myself!) and I thank everyone who brought something.

Some of us took a walk after dinner and Corey and Tucker ended the evening for us with a guitar concert.

All in all, a great couple of days. Thanks to all.

Now to say I was tired last night was an understatement. I slept the sleep of the dead until Jim's alarm went off this morning(he had to go to work today), then I rolled over and slept until Jim called me on the phone at 9:00 AM!! I cannot remember when I last slept that late! I might still be sleeping if he hadn't called! 

Tonight we are going to the Brookhouse for dinner using a gift certificate that my student teacher gave me as a thank you gift. The certificate value was more than Jim and I could use at one meal so I figured we'd use it when the boys were home.

Now we have to start thinking about going to camp for New Year's. I think we are going to go up on Friday and come home on New Year's Day.

Time to go give the  boys some jobs to do.

Hope all is well.

Weekend Happenings

Go 'Cuse! Our trip to the SU basketball game was great fun, especially since they soundly beat Cornell. The Orange had some great plays in the first half and were less impressive looking in the second half. In the photo below, notice that we all are wearing Syracuse Orange t-shirts. These were Christmas gifts from Corey and we all wore them proudly. The back of my shirt said, "Real Moms wear Orange". The weather cooperated and we had an easy drive.

This morning we got up to temps moving up towards the 50's, with the promise of wind

 and rain, and that is exactly what happened. Now those conditions are not good for snow fort survival and sure enough, we had melt-down. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted!

Tonight I gathered the manly men of this house to help make the table decorations for Christmas dinner. We made S'Mores snowmen similar to the Christmas tree ornaments that are for sale. Each snowman has a name written on the graham cracker to mark the table place for our Christmas dinner companions. The boys did a great job. Now we will move on to decorating the Gingerbread house. 

Liz K. is due at our house in a few minutes. That should liven things up! She can tell us about their trip to Toronto.

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, is going to be a very busy day so I probably will not make an entry until after Christmas. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Hope all is well. 

Winter Solstice Success

Our spur of the moment Winter Solstice party was a great success! Between 7 and 11 PM we had about  25 people here, fortunately not all at once because when we had about 12 people in the fort, it was quite crowded! Tucker and Corey added a snow bar to the snow fort, decorated the top edge of the fort with ice-sicles and Christmas lights. We put a few benches and chairs around the fire pit and were set to go. 

We served hot and cold beverages with the cold beverages stored right in the walls of the fort. For snacks we had chips, gold fish crackers, candy, cookies and the makings for s'mores.  I had a "Martha Stewart" movement earlier in the evening and made cut-out designs of the sun in some brown paper bags in which we put a candle to make luminaries to light the way from the driveway to the fort! 

Jim kept a big fire going in the fire pit and the fairly warm temps of high 20's made it quite a pleasant evening to be outdoors. The skies cleared off and we had a ceiling of stars with the moon shining down like a spotlight on our party. It was quite festive!

Thursday night we went to GEVA theater to see a show called Plaid Tidings. For 2 hours we were thoroughly entertained by 4 guys singing and dancing. We had many laugh out loud moments and were sorry to see the show end. It was a nice holiday event.

Yesterday was the last day of school for me and we now have 2 weeks off. The students were barely able to contain their excitement for a vacation and Christmas so I decided to end each class with 20 minutes of yoga and it was perfect. The kids did a great job and it seemed to me that they were glad to have a chance to rest and relax away from all the holiday stimulations. I will remember this for next year.

Tonight we are going to Syracuse to see SU play Cornell in basketball. Three of the four grandparents are going with us, Grandpa is staying home to keep his cats company. We are hoping to see a good game, and SU should be able to beat Cornell (sorry Sally and Sandy!).

This morning Gram and I went to the public market and picked up our "local" crown roast of pork and some sausage for stuffing for our Christmas dinner. We got a few other locally grown produce items to go along with the pork. We are doing pretty good with our local menu, but will need a variance to serve coffee, since I know of no one who grows coffee beans in western New York. Jim and Tucker had to go to Eastview Mall this morning to take Tucker's computer to the Apple store so I had them look at the Williams and Sonoma store for those little booties that have traditionally gone on a Crown Roast of Pork. The woman at W-S told Jim that booties were outdated and no longer used! Jim thought she was telling him that he was old! So I guess to be hip and happening, our pork roast will be bootie-less!

Gram told us a funny holiday story the other night and I will share it with you to give you some holiday cheer. Gram and 16 of her "Silver Sneaker" friends from the Y (think old ladies in sweat suits!!) went out to a local restaurant for a holiday lunch. They all started singing Jingle Bells at the table (Jim O. and Bob O., please stop rolling your eyes!). Shortly after they finished Jingle Bells the waitress came over to their table and said that the little girl at a nearby table wanted to know if they would sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!" How cute is that!

Time for a nap and a road trip to SU. Go 'Cuse!

Hope all is well.

Winter Solstice Party

Tucker finally made it home on Monday night after spending 2 nights in Dallas! He loves travelling by plane in the winter! We're glad to have him home.

Yesterday Corey and Tucker worked for 3 hours on an impressive snow fort. See photo. 

After reading an e-mail from my brother, Bob, we have decided to hold a Winter Solstice party this Friday night, starting at 7 PM, in the fort. You are invited. Please note that this will be an outdoor party with a campfire and hot beverages. This party is to celebrate our great snow fort and the lengthening of the day light hours. There will be live music! Stop by to say hi and have your picture taken by the fort!

I'm starting to feel better after being diagnosed with a sinus infection and taking 2 of the 3 antibiotic pills at $18 a piece. I better be feeling better at that price!

Time to go plan a party. Hope you can join us!

Robinson 2007

Merry Christmas to all and welcome to my family blog! We thought we'd try something new this year by putting our 2007 Christmas letter on the family blog that

I (Marji) started writing in July as a way to keep in touch with the boys now that they have flown the coop! Hence, the name of the blog, The Empy Nest.

Our status as "empty nesters" did not start until we dropped off Corey at Syracuse

University in the middle of August and we had a lot going on in the seven and a half

months before that occurred. 

Getting out of town seemed to be a theme in 2007 and we probably should have kept track of the miles we travelled. Some highlights include a week-long trip to see Tucker out

west. We flew into and out of Colorado Springs but spent most of our time in Utah and New Mexico. Tucker was our tour guide as he took us to several of the sites where he has done or is doing archaeological work. We hiked numerous miles in beautiful, unspoiled country, got to meet many of his friends and colleagues, and thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. If you are looking for a great place to hike, that is relatively unknown, consider the Four Corners area - you won't be disappointed!

As soon as school let out we travelled to Idaho to do another 6-day Main Salmon

 River trip, and Corey and Tucker served as 2 of the 7 guides on the trip. We were joined by some

friends and travelled down river with a delightful group of folks from around the world. These river trips are always a great vacation for us.

Shortly after returning from Idaho, we packed

up again for a 10 day trip to Iceland with our

dear friends Bob and Sally. Wow! Here is

another place you need to put on your "Things

To Do" list. Iceland has glaciers and volcanoes and puffins and ice-caps and flowers and sheep and hot springs and fjords and tunnels and mountain passes and hiking galore, and horses and waterfalls and history and geysers and mudpots and an endless coastline. You gotta go!

We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a weekend in Toronto, where we went to a Yankees/Blue Jays baseball game. As a Yankee's fan, Marji loved it. As a reluctant

baseball fan, Jim put up with it. That must be the success of our 30 years together!

Syracuse University was Corey's college choice and we are quite pleased to have him only 90 miles down the road. He ran one race for the SU XC team, did quite well, and then was "red-shirted." This was done so they can have him run as a fifth year senior, when he is 22 years old, a more prime running age. He continues to train and will be part of the indoor track team this winter. He is enjoying the whole college experience and seems to have adapted quite well to life away from Mom and Dad! 

Jim has taken a new job within the Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics division of Johnson and Johnson and is liking his new responsibilities. He has had a bit of international travel for this new job, but not enough for it to become tiresome. Jim continues to run competitively all around the country. 

I am thankful to be teaching 5, 6 and 7 year olds because they keep me laughing and they think I'm only 29 years old! I run if there is a race that everybody else is doing, but I prefer to get my competitive high from rowing crew. Quiet times around the house or in the car will find me with knitting needles in my hands as I continue to learn new things about this craft that brings me joy.

Speaking of joy, Jim, Tucker, Corey and I wish you peace and joy this holiday season. We hope that you will have time to spend with the people that mean the most to you. Feel free to leave us a comment about your holiday and what brings you joy. 

Peace. Hope all is well. 

One Home, One to Go.

Jim and I drove to SU late this afternoon, picked up Corey at his dorm, and then went to Alto Cinco for dinner  In the above photo, Corey is enjoying his appetizer of sweet potato fries with Chipotle ketchup. We were home by 8:30 and Corey found the Christmas cookies by 8:35 PM (not that they were hidden). The weather was perfect for driving and the trip was uneventful, just the  way we like 'em. Now we'll see if we can be so lucky with getting Tucker home tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

The next two photos are from Porge's 91st birthday party at their house on Tuesday night. Maw made a great dinner of BBQ chicken, potatoes and apple pie. The cats were our entertainment for the evening. 

Tomorrow is a shopping, baking, candy making, wrapping, knitting day. 

Hope all is well.

Wintery Thursday

Winter returned today with just enough punch to remind us where we live and who is in charge. It snowed good from about 8:30 AM until 4:00 PM and we got about 4-5 inches. I think there was a bit of over reaction to this "storm" because most evening activities in the Greater Rochester area were cancelled. I went out shopping tonight and the main roads were wet but clear and getting around was not a problem. The good part of this over reaction was that a PE meeting I was supposed to attend after school today was cancelled! I did my dance of joy when I heard that news! Instead of going to a meeting, I came home, revved up the snow blower and cleaned out the driveway. I would much rather snow blow than go to a meeting! It stopped snowing just as I put the snow blower away so we should be good for the morning drive out. 

Last night I checked iChat and found Corey was connected and we were treated to him and his friend Jordan giving us a mini-concert! Jim and I will drive to SU tomorrow late in the afternoon, pick up Corey, stop for dinner at Alto Cinco, and then head home. The weather is looking OK for that drive. 

We are watching the weekend weather as Tucker is scheduled to fly in on Saturday night. Our trusty (but overly enthusiastic) weatherman on Channel 10 is terribly excited about another winter storm that is headed our way this weekend. However, it sounds like the high winds and heavy snows are supposed to start later on Saturday night. So, if Tucker doesn't get delayed somewhere else, he should get here before the s*&# hits the fan (that's snow, get your mind out of the gutter!). Now, if he gets delayed, all bets are off as to when we might see him because right now the pending storm sounds impressive. I have learned that the forecasts are usually blown way out of proportion and it is rarely as bad as predicted-this will be the time I am wrong!

The thefts at my school are continuing which is a bit unsettling. We are being told to lock up everything. 

I had to have a filling replaced yesterday and the dentist told me that this latest filling may not last too long as the tooth it is in is not in the best of conditions. I do not like these subtle (and not so subtle hints) that I am getting older (or falling apart!). 

Tonight I continued my search for pull-on hooded sweatshirts (pink and blue) for the older girls in our Christmas Hope family. I thought this would be easy and it isn't. I have one more store to try and then I am giving up. Under Armor makes one for about $60 which is more than I am willing to spend. 

Jim is taking some time off from running to hopefully clear up the heel pain he has had for months. He has visited the running guru physical therapist and is getting treatments from him and has purchased some heel cups to wear in his shoes. We'll see how long

 his running break lasts, historically he gets antsy and gets back into his running routine sooner than originally planned. 

Here is a photo of a couple of the blossoms on my Christmas cactus. They are winter joy!

Hope all is well.

Weekend Wrap-up

Sunday was a busy day for me and I accomplished a great deal. First off was Christmas tree shopping with Gram and GrandDad. We got an early start, trying to get ahead of the crowds and the weather and we were successful on both accounts. We got a close parking spot at Wilbert's Tree Farm and fairly quickly found trees that we liked. There was about an inch of snow on the ground and the ground was firmly frozen which was perfect for

walking through the tree fields. GrandDad and I each cut down our chosen tree and then loaded them into a tree wagon which made getting the trees back to the pay hut much easier. See the photos below that document our efforts!

After getting the trees home and in buckets of water I went about  my usual Sunday chores, getting home in time for a late lunch. I had a lot of work to do in the kitchen but I also wanted to watch the Buffalo Bills game so I carried the TV from the living room

into the kitchen and set it on a chair. I was good to go! I watched some football while boxing up Candy Cane Candy and putting the chocolate on some Christmas cookies.

 

I got a good bit of knitting done on the third and final scarf for my custodians. I still have a ways to go, but I'm not stressing about the deadline yet. I'll be glad to be done knitting scarves when I complete this third one, ready to move on to a long list of other projects.

I drove to LeRoy, where 490 meets the Thruway, to meet Jim's bus from his race in Ohio.

They arrived about 7 PM and Jim got me caught up on all the excitement of the weekend. Apparently the police were called to the post-race party and one guy ended up being tasered by the police! Those runners are nothing but trouble! The photo below is of Jim's teammates (50-54 year olds), Jim is in the red coat.

Our friends Terry and Sherri called to see if there was a time we could go out to dinner with them and another couple, but no dates in December would work. We'll try to do something in January when we may have fewer things on the calendar and our kids are all out of the nest once again!

Hope all is well. 

Frosty and Cookies

I had a Saturday that got me into the holiday spirit. I was at school early and enjoyed my time helping the students pick out gifts for their family members at the PTA Holiday Shop. The Holiday Shop was one of the activities families could do at the Breakfast with Frosty event. Of course there was breakfast, and a photo op with Frosty (see photo), and the Holiday Shop, but there was also a craft corner and a face painter decorating the kids' faces with snowflakes, snowmen, and Santas. The kids were all having a good time!Gram and I baked cookies for about 3 hours with a short break for lunch. We made all the usual favorites and we work like a well-oiled machine. GrandDad stopped over early in our cookie marathon and we sent him away, telling him to come back later and join us for lunch, which he did. Gram and I had the Christmas music going and it was a fun time and I now have all these cookies waiting for the boys to come home. 

Jim left me a message on my phone and I checked his race results on-line, so I can report that he and his team had a good day. Jim was the 5th Master's runner, out of a lot of runners, and his team of 50-55 year-olds took third place out of 13 teams. In his message, he said that he was quite pleased with his run and his team placing. I will be anxious to hear the details when he calls or gets home tomorrow night (which ever comes first!). 

I went for a nice run this afternoon and after a quick shower headed out to Marketplace Mall and the surrounding stores. After tallying up all my receipts, I think I returned more merchandise than I purchased-an unusual circumstance at this time of the year!

Tomorrow is the day I am going Christmas tree hunting with Gram and GrandDad. We'll go to Wilbert's Tree Farm and see what we can get. The weather is questionable for later in the day, so hopefully we'll have our outside work done before it moves in. Watch for a photo update in this blog.

Hope all is well. 

Friday-Yippee!

Friday's are great and we got the most out of this Friday by getting up at 5:30 and driving to Eastview Mall. A front-end loader moving snow in the mall parking lot nearly drove in front of us as I'm sure he never expected another vehicle to be driving around the mall parking lot at 6:45 AM! So Jim races tomorrow (don't remember what time), but think about him some time and send him some energy!

I had a great day at school. All my second grade classes are terrific groups of kids (for the most part) and they worked and played hard this morning. In the afternoon I have 2 first grade classes which can be challenging, but today we had more pluses than minuses so it was a good day all around. Here's a funny school story: a second grader came into the gym near the end of the day, to share his birthday treats with me. He had one very sad looking cupcake left on his tray and he was licking his gloved hand when he offered this cupcake. The frosting was half off the side and there was a fingerprint in the top of the cupcake. He then informed me that the cupcake only fell off the tray twice! Oh, they make me laugh. I have always accepted these birthday treats, and never eaten one! 

I talked to my nephew, Zach, today. His birthday was yesterday and I wanted to see how his special day went. When I first called he was outside making a snowman so I called back later and had a nice chat with him and my brother, Jim. It makes me happy to know that my 14 year old nephew still likes to make a snowman-he's a great kid! 

Last night Jim and I went to holiday party with his work group. Since he is new to this group, I didn't really know anybody (and he didn't know everybody), but we sat with 3 other delightful couples and laughed a lot. For dinner, there was a large table with a variety of hot and cold appetizers and later 2 pasta bars were set up. There was a chef at each one who would prepare the pasta combination that you wanted. The chef had 2 different kinds of pre-cooked pasta, 3 different sauces and a variety of mix-ins. He had 3 skillets going and he heated up whatever you wanted. It was delicious! So, we had a good evening, not getting home until 9 PM (on a school night!!!), and then Jim had to spend some time packing.

After school today, I got some Christmas shopping done. We have adopted a local family for Christmas through an ecumenical association and there are 6 people to shop for so I went to Target hoping to get lots of things there. I got less than I hoped, but am pleased with what I got. Two of the girls in the family asked for pullover, hooded sweatshirts and I thought they would be easy to find, but no, everything I saw had a zipper! I'll keep looking. 

Tomorrow Gram and I make Christmas cookies! Before we do that, I am going to school to help out at the PTA Holiday Shop. I will sell little kids mugs that say "Mom", screwdrivers that say "Dad", flashlights for uncles and photo albums for Grandmas! It is heartwarming to watch the kids carefully consider each gift and then pulled a few balled up dollars out of their pockets to pay.

Sandy sent me an e-mail photo of her Christmas cactus and it (or I should say, they) put my plant to shame! Her photo could be a Christmas card photo. And no, I am not going to share that photo with you because in the near future, I am going to make you look at my plant (it is my blog!). 

Time to go to bed. I want to be rested for the cookie marathon tomorrow!

Hope all is well.

Wintery Wednesday

Here we are mid-week. I went back to school today, after trying to go to school yesterday and feeling so rotten during our staff meeting, that a sub was called for me so I could go home. I slept a lot yesterday and feel much better today. Good enough to tackle 3 of my kindergarten classes (not literally!). 

Both Tucker and Corey called tonight which was a nice treat. Tucker called just to check in and said that the weather in Utah and Arizona is making his work schedule a bit disjointed. He is hoping to go to Arizona at the end of the week for a 3 day job, but that may be weather dependent too. Corey called to see if we could pick him up on Friday, Dec. 14th. I think Jim and I will leave here late in the afternoon that day, drive to SU, and bring Corey home for the holidays. Corey thought that would be a great plan because it would have us at campus in time for dinner at his favorite mexican restaurant before we drive back to Rochester! Tucker will get home on the next day (in a perfect world!). 

My Christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom and it always brings me great joy when I see that once again, it is going to bloom for the holidays. This particular plant had a very trying time as a youngster. Many years ago, I was admiring a large Christmas cactus plant at the house of our friends, John and Ann, when they lived in Iowa. They told me that even I could make that plant grow and they broke off a couple of the leaves(?). I put those leaves in a zipper sandwich bag with a bit of water and then left it in the car while I rode by bike across the wonderful state of Iowa (a week-long ride). When I finally got home, I stuck the poor leaves in a glass of water until some roots started to grow, at which point I put it in a pot with some dirt. Sure enough, that little plant, grew one beautiful blossom that first year and it has been growing strong ever since, in spite of my feeble attempts to nurture it. I do not have a green thumb, only a love of pretty flowers. I am thrilled every winter, when this plant forgives my neglect and decides to send out those delicate pink flowers. So, if you are looking for a hardy indoor plant that will add a bit of color to your life during the winter months, I highly recommend a Christmas cactus. As a matter of fact, I would be happy to break off a piece of mine and pass on the joy because every time I look at those lovely flowers and realize how tough that plant is, it makes me think of my lovely and tough friends, John and Ann.

Tomorrow Jim and I are going to a work soiree with Jim's colleagues. On the invitation, the menu was described as "grazing stations and beverages", sounds like dinner to me! After that Jim needs to come home and pack because he needs to be at Eastview Mall before 7 AM on Friday, to go to his National XC race in Ohio. He and his teammates are all riding a big bus to Ohio, which sounds like a good time! Guess who gets to get up real early on Friday to take him to Eastview?

I finished another scarf for another one of my custodians. Two down, one to go. 

Today at school, I discovered that my school iPod was missing. It was on my music cart in my office when my sub left yesterday. The iPod was added to a list of things that were missing in the past 24 hours, including an envelope that was being passed among the staff to buy gifts and a meal for a few of our neediest families at school. That envelope had at least $200 in it. My 2 PE colleagues then noticed that the air compressor that we use to inflate basketballs was missing and a GPS unit on loan from another school was not in the desk drawer where it is usually stored. WE'VE BEEN ROBBED! We met with the principal and she was going to contact the head of district security, who would bring in the police on this one. We have some idea of who was in our building yesterday afternoon and evening, but no real leads. My school iPod is one that I was awarded last year in a technology grant. It is pretty identifiable because the back is engraved with the words Greece Central School District. Stay tuned-I'll let you know of any updates I get.

Time to go to bed.

Hope all is well.

 

Sick Day

I called in sick to school today because my cold finally got the best of me. For a week or so I've had a mild, intermittent sore throat and an occasional stuffy head. On Sunday, all those symptoms came together and I woke up this morning feeling rotten and run down. So I called for a sub, went into school early to leave lesson plans and then came home and hunkered down for the rest of the day. I didn't even get any knitting done until later this afternoon because I wasn't up to it. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight so I can get back to school tomorrow.

We have had some blustery winter weather today. Lots of wind and snow. Those conditions are supposed to continue through the night and we might end up with 8-12 inches of snow. 

Here it is Monday night and no Dancing with the Stars! I miss it! I guess it's OK since I am going to bed early anyway. 

Tomorrow I have yoga after school and then I have to come right home because the Sexual Misconduct Policy Task Group (SMPTG) from church is meeting here at 6:30 PM. Jim and I will have to make sure the driveway and sidewalks are shoveled right before folks are supposed to arrive. I have a crock-pot dinner in the crock and will put the crock in the pot tomorrow morning so Three Bean Turkey Soup will be waiting for us when we get home.

Hope all is well.

Snowy Sunday

Welcome to winter weather! We awoke to about 5 inches of snow which propelled Jim to pull out the snowblower and rev it up. I like to shovel and snowblow, so if time and circumstances permit, I do it. The temps rose to around the freezing mark later in the day and it rained for a brief time so the walks and parts of the driveway are down to bare pavement. The forecast for the week shows snowflakes on every day so I may be out there with the shovel or snowblower again in the near future. 

We had a nice dinner with our friends Tony and Ann last night, staying for about 4 hours. Ann has painted the rooms in their home in bold, bright colors and it was very energizing. I liked it! 

I got some packages ready for Jim to take the post office tonight. The self-serve station at the post office is so very handy! Unfortunately, we're not the only ones who love that option because Jim was able to get the postage stamps for the 3 packages, but the drop box for the packages was full, so one of us will have to take the packages over in the morning. I have been there around 7 AM and have seen postal employees there that early, so hopefully we can get these boxes out tomorrow. Tucker and Corey, check your mail in a few days.

I finished one of my gift scarves this afternoon,

when I attached the ruffle to each end of the scarf. See the photo. I am happy with how this turned out, especially since I designed it myself. I have two more scarves to complete, and I don't see a problem with doing that.

Gram and GrandDad did not go to Syracuse today because of the weather. We video-chatted with Corey this afternoon and he said that today was not a day to do a walking tour of campus with your grandparents! They will plan this for another time. 

T and C, mark your calendars. I bought some tickets for a holiday show called Plaid Tidings, at GEVA theater for Thursday, Dec. 20th. It is a musical revue that has gotten good reviews. For any of you  local readers, if you want to join us, give the GEVA box office a call and see if you can get tickets for Dec. 20th. It is in an adjacent theater to the main theater and it is a general seating performance. Leave me a comment if you get some tickets. There is an article about the show in today's Democrat and Chronicle. You might be able to view it on-line if you don't see the Sunday D&C. 

The Buffalo Bills pulled off a win in the final seconds of the game today, which messed up my pool at school, but I was happy for all the local fans.

Jim got the Christmas Pageant out in the front bush this afternoon, and I will try to remember to include a photo later this week. 

Time to knit.

Hope all is well.

December 1

Wow-it didn't take long to get through November! I imagine December will fly by. 

I haven't blogged for a few days because life has been normal, not boring, just not really blog-worthy. Although I'm sure there are some readers that will be saying, "There is rarely anything blog-worthy in this blog, so what's new!" 

Here's an update on the drainage project that the town wants to do in our yard. I came home from school on Wednesday or Thursday (I can't remember!) to find that 2 exploratory holes had been dug and filled in in the front yard. One was just south of the drain grate the other just north of the apples trees. All the little flags are now gone. Jim talked to the town engineer (John) again and apparently the town was looking for the water main and they found it. John said that the project probably wouldn't get underway until January and could take up to 2 weeks. The guys who drive the snowplows are the guys who will do this project, so if we have a snowy winter, it may never happen! We couldn't be so lucky as to have a snowy winter (I know that is a minority opinion). 

Mattress update: The new mattress and foundations (not called box springs anymore, because there are no springs) were delivered on Thursday and we are pleased with how comfortable the new mattress is. Because the new mattress is so much thicker than the old one that I now need to literally climb into bed. That is something I have to get used to.

 

We've had  a taste of winter here with cold temps and a dusting of snow. Tomorrow we have a winter storm warning in place because it is supposed to snow, then sleet, then rain. Could be exciting!

Tucker called this afternoon and he is doing well. He was supposed to do a week-long survey project next week, but that has been cancelled because they are supposed to get some serious snow. He will have to do desk work! He is hoping to get some downhill skiing in before coming home in 2 weeks, and Mother Nature seems to cooperating because Colorado and Utah are getting a good deal of the white stuff.

This morning Jim and I got up early and went to the public market. We were on a mission to see what we could find for a meat supply for our 50-mile Christmas dinner. We talked to a man at Joe's Meat Market in Ontario and he seems to be able to get what we may want. I'm not going to tell you what that  is in case we don't end up getting it. The photo is from a vendor who was selling wreaths. One of the men working there was the father of an Odyssey XC runner. He recognized us, in spite of being bundled up!

Tonight we are going to some friends' house for dinner. Jim volunteered us (me) to bring dessert so I made a grape pie and some cookies. I also unwrapped and smashed 156 candy canes so I can start producing my Candy Cane Candy. The house smells nice and pepperminty! I will have a slight delay in my candy production because I discovered that I used up all of my candy boxes last year. There is probably a note around here somewhere reminding me to order some more boxes, but I haven't seen it! So I found a place on the internet that has what I want, but when I tried to call them to ask a few questions, like how fast can you get me the boxes, I heard a message saying that I would need to call back during regular business hours. But I want those boxes NOW! 

Some folks around here are getting their outside Christmas decorations up and I love the lights! Last year I discovered two places that had exceptional light shows and it was fun to take the family and friends to see them. I hope I hear about some more light displays. There seem to be more of those inflatable lawn decorations up this year-I even saw some inflatable turkeys out for Thanksgiving! I think some of those inflatable things are kinda cute but I think they look soooo sad when they are uninflated, just laying on the ground in a cold, wet heap. We will once again put out the Pageant-an inspirational display of lights on our bush by the light pole! 

Hope all is well.

Mid-week Review

Here it is Wednesday, which for me at my job is like a Friday, because the students have the next 2 days off for Parent/Teacher conferences. Because it is rare that any parents come to conference with me, I will get a lot of desk work and storage room work done tomorrow and Friday. I don't even have to wear my sneakers if I don't want!

It looks as though we may have part of our yard dug up as part of a town drainage project. Over the years the drainage in our side yard has become a problem during heavy rains. We (meaning the boys) have kayaked several times on the lake that has formed during heavy downpours. The last time this happened I called the town a couple of times because the water's edge was approaching our garage and the ducks were starting to call the pond "home!" The town did some short term maintenance to alleviate the problem and we never really expected to hear from them again. However, on Monday when I got home from school there was a message from a Town of Greece engineer briefly describing what they wanted to do and asking us to call him. Jim returned the call the next day and the guy was quite surprised to hear from Jim. Apparently, nobody ever calls this poor guy back. He told Jim that he would send us some papers that we needed to sign so the work could be done. When I came home from school on Tuesday, the front and side yard had all these yellow and green flags marking gas lines and who knows what else. It looks serious! I imagine I might come home some day to find backhoes, ditch-diggers, dump trucks, etc., all over our property. I'll keep you posted and will take some photos when things get exciting.  

Tomorrow our new mattress gets delivered. We have one set of sheets for the new oversized mattress, and will have to keep my eye out for sales for another couple of sets. I once heard it said that you should have 3 sets of sheets for each bed, one to have on the bed, one to be in the wash, and one to have ready to go in an emergency. Maybe that is something I learned from my mother!

In our continuing quest to have a "greener" Christmas this year, I read an article on Yahoo news about the "greenest" Christmas tree you can buy. The choices were between an artificial one, a live, potted tree, and one locally grown and cut down. The winner was the locally grown one for a variety of reasons. So, I guess we will plan a time to go cut down a tree at the place in Webster/Penfield that we have been supporting for the last 15-20 years. 

Did you watch Dancing with the Stars last night? Thank goodness that Marie took third. Her freestyle dance on Monday night just emphasized the fact that she was not in contention for the big prize. I really didn't care who won, I liked both of Mel and Helio. I did enjoy the whole 2 hour show because I missed the first 3 episodes and was able to catch up with the couples who left early and see some highlights from the whole season. I will watch for that show to return again, it was great!

The 2 photos shown above are from school today. The first one is of one of my classes with their heads under the parachute, a favorite activity! The second one is of a recent bulletin board that I put up that is getting rave reviews. This showcase has lights on each side and the lights illuminate the cottonballs that outline the snowman giving him a magical look! It is quite striking when it is first viewed from a distance. There are snowflakes stapled to the board and some suspended from the top of the showcase and each flake has something written on it about a way to have a happy and healthy holiday. 

I'm still knitting away on the scarves for my custodial staff, but am pleased with how all 3 are coming. 

Hope all is well.

Monday, Monday

Here we are in the last week of November. December is right around the corner which means that Christmas will be here in no time. As I mentioned, we got the leaves raked up yesterday so we are now ready for snow!

Our neighbor to the south of us never rakes his leaves, usually leaving them until they blow into our yard or until he hires someone to do it. So yesterday as we were raking and hauling all of our leaves, I was warily eyeing his leaves hoping that this would be the year that we did not have to rake them up. Today it has rained most of the day, weighting down

those leaves, so hopefully they won't blow into our yard! I know that this is a very poor attitude, but I am tired of taking care of his leaves! Oh well, if we do have to rake more leaves, I will try to look at it as a good opportunity for some fresh air and exercise.

I am including a photo of Gram and GrandDad's new car! They picked it up on Saturday and it is fine looking. They liked the Avalon that they had so they bought another one. They have talked about taking a trip to Syracuse to visit  Corey and to see how the car does on the open road. 

The second photo is of a crock-pot of vegetable soup that I put together last weekend. It

was delicious and as you can see from the volume, we will have it for several more meals. Soup is such a wonderful winter dinner, that I have to look for a few more crock pot recipes for soup. Any favorites out there?

Corey went back to school on Saturday afternoon. I thought he might have stayed until Sunday, but we weren't very exciting around here and the guy he wanted to ride back with was leaving on Saturday. He has 2 more weeks of classes before a week of finals and then home for Christmas and New Years. 

Took a short break from writing this to video-chat with Corey. He really couldn't talk because he was in the study room and could get thrown out if he wasn't doing work! I did IM with Tucker, so it has been a good evening-I got to touch base with both boys!

I got a lot of knitting done this weekend and finished knitting the pieces of a scarf for a colleague at work. I knit the scarf part and then 2 edging pieces for each end. They need to be sewn on, but I think I will wait for lots of daylight to do that. I'll post a picture when I am finished with the sewing.

Hope all is well.

Just checking in

This will be short because I am heading to bed in a minute. 

Jim and I spent over 3 hours raking and hauling all the wet leaves in the front and back yards and we are both exhausted! We probably won't be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Where was the boy to help with the leaves, you may ask. He went back to school yesterday afternoon.

Night night......

Sunny Black Friday

Happy Day After Thanksgiving! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and got to spend time with family and/or friends. We 3 along with Maw and Porge had an enjoyable dinner at Gram and GrandDad's house. Gram made a fabulous dinner with all the extras. While at their house, I got to talk to my brothers, Bob and Jim and their families. All is well with them.

Thanksgiving morning we all went our separate ways to get some exercise. Jim ran in a

10K race in the freezing rain and Arctic winds and won his age group so he brought home $75! Corey went for a run a little later when the rain had turned to snow and I wimped out and ran and rowed on the machines at the gym! We all got home about the same time and raked some leaves into piles as the snow was falling.

One of our conversations at dinner was about some friends of Gram and GrandDad's, whose

Thanksgiving dinner was "local," meaning everything came from within 50 miles of their

home. Jim thought this sounded interesting and 

we began brainstorming what we would

be able to eat if we went with this 50 mile challenge for our Christmas dinner. Apples, potatoes, and hydroponic lettuces were the easy foods, but the main course was a bit more challenging. There were suggestions for squirrel and woodchuck! A visit to the Public Market will probably fill our needs and Jim and I will take a run down there in the next couple of weeks to see what kind of local meat

we can find. Jim did a quick internet search and came up with some farms within our 50

mile limit that raise chicken, turkey, pigs,

and cows for meat sales. So, I think this is something that we can manage! A note to the Kuehls-you have been warned-re-read the above paragraph before you RSVP for

Christmas dinner!

I went to the mall this morning, at 8:30, and was amazed by the lines in some of the stores. I talked with one friend who waited in line in Bon-Ton for 1 hour and 20 minutes to pay for her stuff! No way! I saw those lines and walked right through the store. I did buy a few things, but never had to wait in a long line.

Jim and I walked to City Mattress (about 1/2 mile down Ridge Road, definitely the fastest way to get there today!) and bought a new mattress. There were no lines at City Mattress, as a matter of fact, we were the only customers there most of the time. We tried out 4 different mattresses and decided to go with a Simmons Beauty Rest of some type. It has some kind of plush top and because each spring (coil) is individually wrapped, I shouldn't feel it when Jim is rolling around! The mattress will be delivered next Thursday, which will give me time to purchase new sheets! Jim said that mattress shopping was probably the kind of shopping he enjoys the most, lots of laying around! 

Hope all is well.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish each and every Empty Nest reader a Happy Thanksgiving.

I started to write a list of things for which I am thankful and it became very long and I was worried that I would leave something off that was important to me so I will keep the list in my head and heart and continue to mentally add to it. Be sure to know that my loving family and friends are at the top of my list.

Enjoy this day of Thanksgiving and take a moment to count your blessings.

Today's photo is from the archives, specifically April 2004, Colorado Springs, CO. Just one more pretty photo.

Hope all is well.

Short Work Week!

Corey is home! Yea! He got a ride as far as Eastview Mall and we picked him up there shortly after 7 PM. He was home for about 15 minutes when he was into a bag of chips and was out to see his friends in under 2 hours!! He visited both sets of grandparents, had dinner with us and will now go out with his high school friends for the evening! 

So the Dancing With the Stars finals will be next week and the 3 best couples will not be

there. The 3 most popular couples will dance, as once again Marie managed to get enough votes to stay. I nearly turned off the TV when she and her partner were the first names called to be in the finals! I'm glad I stayed tuned because Michael Flatley's dance was amazing! I loved the precision of it! So I will watch next week's Dancing Finals, to see the great dancing, but I cannot cheer for Marie.

Funny school story: The children did a jump rope warm-up today and the kindergartners are just beginning to get how to jump rope. One very hyper, ADD-type 4 year old boy (just made the Kindergarten age cut-off, should have had a year of Pre-school) was wanting me to watch him as he started running and jumping rope down the length of the gym. By the time he got to the other end, his too-big pants were down around his ankles and he was all bent over giving us all a nice view of his Superman underwear! He has made good progress as a rope jumper, now I just need to give him my "loaner" belt next time we jump!

I came across this website which analyzes other websites and blogs for their reading level. I typed in the info for The Empty Nest and it got a Junior High Rating.  Corey says that if I want to up my rating I should just cut and paste some pages from a dictionary into my blog! 

It was a cold, dreary day here and the weather is forecasted to be worse tomorrow. Jim is racing in a 10K race at 9:00 AM tomorrow and  the rain should be changing to snow or sleet about then with strong winds out of the north. The first 3 miles of the race head straight north! In the past he has won the Veteran's division and picked up the $75 award! 

Jim and I may go mattress shopping this weekend. Some friends will know that we have been talking about needing a new mattress for years! I  have been trying to prepare Jim for the sticker shock that he may experience when he first walks into City Mattress, but I'm sure he will still not be a happy camper about the price of a decent mattress. We think our mattress is about 18 years old!

We do need to make some headway on the leaves this weekend too, now that Corey is here to help. Hopefully we won't have to shovel first to get to the leaves!

Have a great Turkey Day and go for a walk after your big dinner!

Hope all is well.

Mundane Monday

I'll jot  a quick entry before Dancing with the Stars starts. Is this the week that Marie Osmond goes home? I hope so. The other couples are so much better than she is-I think she has survived on the sympathy vote.

Jim had a good race yesterday and came home with a couple of awards. 

I rang bells during the worship service at church and the piece went well. My part was very challenging and I was pleased with how I rang.

Did any of you see the crushing of the Buffalo Bills by the Patriots last night? There was so much hope in western New York that Bills could pull off the upset of the century, but the realists knew better. 

I went to the fastest PTA meeting at school tonight-35 minutes! I had time to make a trip to the library before coming home.

Jim is spending the night as a volunteer at a men's homeless shelter tonight. He does this about once every 2 months during the cold weather.

Corey called tonight to say that he wasn't leaving Syracuse until 9 PM tomorrow because the guy he is riding with has a class until then. We will pick Corey up at Eastview Mall about 10 PM and we will be glad to have him home for a few days.

Here's a funny school story. Today during one of our games with first graders, every time this one girl bent over, all this fabric would pull out of her pants and she would stand up and try to push it back down her pants. When I asked her if everything was OK she said that when she got dressed this morning she forgot to take off her pajama bottoms and they kept "popping" out of her pants! You gotta love these kids!

Hope all is well. 

A November Saturday

It's been a cloudy, cool day here, but the afternoon rain or snow showers  never materialized. Jim got the leaves in the backyard raked up and hauled away. We've decided that we would wait to rake the front yard until Corey gets home, I mean until more of the leaves on the maple tree have dropped. 

Our project this afternoon was to figure out how we wanted to  arrange our Iceland framed photos on the wall in the corner of the living room. The photo to the right is the result of that figuring! We think we like it, but after not having anything on those walls for a bunch of years, we have to get used to it. We are pleased with the photos, the mats and the frames. We got the frames at Michael's Crafts, but we had to go to 4 different Michael's stores to get all that we needed. 

Last night we went to the University of Buffalo with Sherri and Terry T. to see their son, Travis in the lead role of a student production of The City of Angels. Travis is very talented and we enjoyed the musical. We didn't get home until after midnight and were glad to sleep in until 8:30 AM. 

If you are looking to get some new Christmas music, I can highly recommend Josh Groban's new Christmas album, Noel. I downloaded it from iTunes and have now broken my own rule that I don't play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!  There is a nice mix of religious and secular holiday songs, the highlight for me being a soaring rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

We talked to Tucker a couple of days ago and he was off for a weekend of hiking with some friends. The field work for his current job has ended, but he has another project in the same area lined up for the near future. While talking with Tucker, the topic of a Christmas tree came up and Scrooge (aka Jim) said he didn't think we were going to get a tree this year! So that got us discussing our tree options. Has anyone ever had a live Christmas tree that they planted outside after the holidays? Leave me a comment if you have any experience in that area. 

Here is a personal greeting to Grandma, who called today to let us know that she successfully used the library computer to access this blog and her gmail account-with no help from the library staff! We knew that with some practice, she could navigate cyberspace. She said she didn't have any new gmail, so you may want to send her a note of congratulations!

Jim confirmed with Gram that there will be no deviations from the usual fare at Thanksgiving this year. It is a concern he has had every year since the year of the Apple-Raisin stuffing fiasco many years ago. The new stuffing wasn't bad, just different, and that wouldn't do for some of the more traditional members of the family!

T & C, just so you know, I have moved the printer onto the computer desk, into the space to the right of the monitor, where there were many CD's. Those CD's are now in a sneaker box on the sewing porch. The printer fits on the desk perfectly and I have put one of my plants on the end table where the printer used to live. The plant may not live there permanently. 

We went out to dinner tonight with the intent of using the Simply Certificate that T & C gave Jim for his birthday. We tried to go to the newly remodeled Davinci's, but there was a 30-45 minute wait so we left. We decided to get away from Ridge Road and headed to Ricci's where we were seated right away. Plus we could use the certificate there. In order to use the full value of the gift, we had to share a delicious dessert-a peach and cherry cobbler! The whole meal was great and we both thank you!

I am including the World's Cutest Baby Hat photo again, because some of you let me know that you couldn't view it when you read this blog. Hopefully you all can see it now because they are so cute, they will make you smile! Tucker tells me he wants one in his size! 

I am now working on a couple of scarves for people I work with. By starting now, I should have them done before our Holiday Recess. 

Did any of you see the Yahoo story about the Santa's in Australia being forced to say, "Ha, Ha, Ha" instead of "Ho, Ho, Ho" because "Ho, Ho, Ho" could be offensive to some women? Unbelievable!! Leave Santa alone!

Tomorrow Jim races on a course at Finger Lakes Community College and then has an End of the Season Party for his XC team. It really isn't the end of the season, because they are going to the National Club XC race in Ohio in December, but they will celebrate their achievements to date. I am ringing bells in church and we are ringing a really challenging piece so I, too, had better get a good night's sleep!

Hope all is well.

Cutest Baby Hats

Here they are! The cutest baby hats in the world! I love the rainbow colors and the changing stitch pattern to give the hat some texture and interest. This hat is called the Baby Marley Hat and the decorative curly-cues on the top are the "marleys." These hats are for a woman at school who is having twins, a boy and a girl. I am so pleased with how they turned out and they were fun to knit. 

Funny story from school today. I was playing a game with my kindergartners called Bunny Tail Stew. The children use pinch-type clothes pins to pick up cotton balls and take them back to their stew pot. I must have had 200-300 cotton balls all over the gym and floor and the kindergartners were very engaged in this activity. When the kids had about 2/3 of the cotton balls picked up, one boy came up to me and asked, "How did you ever catch so many bunnies to get their tails?"!!! You gotta love these little guys!

Tonight my church bell choir did a concert at a local nursing home. It went well and the residents seemed to enjoy the music. 

We are following the Syracuse University basketball team, which is off to a good start. They have won two games that they should have won. Hopefully they will have a better season than the football team. We are hoping to get to some of their games this year, maybe when Tucker is home at Christmas and the 4 of us can go together. 

Hope all is well.

Veteran's Day

Here it is, Veteran's Day and we had the day off from school. I often wonder how many students could explain why they have the day off. I got lots of errands done today and put away the few Halloween decorations that I had set out. 

So Grandma and I went to our last Felted Purse class yesterday, where we completed the knitting and were given a pep talk about throwing our projects into a washing machine filled with hot water! Yikes! So I am including before and after photos to show what

happens during the felting process. Grandma's purse is the blue one and mine is the gray. We were making the same style

purse, Grandma wanted hers bigger so she used double strands of yarn as she was

knitting. In the before pictures you can see each knit stitch quite clearly. After several hot water washes, the stitches have all "felted" together so you cannot see individual stitches. I think my purse is rather dull, so I may sew some decorative buttons on it or look for another idea to liven it up. Any suggestions? If so, leave me a comment.

Yesterday we started raking leaves. Jim did most of the yard and I did a bit in the front

and then did some in the backyard today. The locust tree has dropped all those little, tiny,

annoying leaves that end up all over the inside of our house. The big maple tree has just started to lose its leaves, so we still have some serious raking ahead of us.

We stopped over to Grandma and Grandpa's tonight to get the purse picture. Jim was able to use some wireless internet from one of the neighbors to give Grandma another email

lesson. If you haven't sent her an email in awhile, you could give her some practice by sending her a note. In order to use this free internet, Jim and Grandma had to sit on the cool porch with their jackets on! Grandpa thought that was pretty funny. Grandpa is doing well. His cardiologist thinks his shortness of breath comes from his blood pressure medicine which slows his heart rate. So Grandpa is off the BP medicine and already

notices an improvement. He only had to stop and rest 2 times while cutting the grass, instead of 10 times like the last time he cut it. Of course, his BP is creeping up. He goes back to the doctor in a week or so.

Now that the Christmas shopping poll has closed, I don't feel bad about not having my shopping started. I know that I am in good company! Anybody have anything interesting on their Christmas list? 

Tomorrow I go back to my Yoga class which will feel good. I have started running again so I can be ready for the New Year's Eve race in Saratoga. It has been 4 months since I have run and I can feel it. I stopped running because my plantar fasciitis came back and it took a while to get rid of it. I will continue my stretching routine and hope that I don't have a reoccurrence. 

I don't know if I have ever mentioned the road construction that is taking place on Ridge Road. It is a major overhaul of a major road. The construction has moved to just in front of our street and this morning it was a bit confusing as to where one should drive. Every day is an adventure and this morning was no different. Pretty soon we will not be able to turn left onto Ridge. Hopefully the traffic flow will be maximized by the time the heaviest holiday shopping traffic is trying to get to the mall.

Hope all is well.

Parent's Weekend

We got back from our day trip to Syracuse at about 8:15 PM and it was a wonderful day. We had an extra ticket for the football game when Corey convinced us that he wouldn't need a ticket from us because he could get a student-athlete ticket and sit with us, so, at Corey's request, Bob K. joined us for the day. Bob assumed the role of Corey's "mentor" over a year ago, and Corey felt he needed some time with his mentor!! We were glad to have Bob along with us. We walked into the Carrier Dome on the SU campus just as the National Anthem was playing and got to our seats just as the teams were taking the field. We were happy with our seats and realized that there probably isn't a bad seat in the dome. Unfortunately the SU football team is not having a good year and their bad luck continued today as they lost to the University of South Florida, 41-10. We cheered on the team and enjoyed being part of a Division I football game. At halftime, former SU football star and NFL star, Larry Czonka, was honored by having his jersey raised to the rafters.  We left the game just before the start of the 4thquarter, and neither team scored after we left, so I guess we saw all the excitement. 

We walked around the campus for a while and gave Bob a small tour. We walked through the new Newhouse III building, which is the newest facility for the Newhouse School of Communication,  where Corey will be spending more and more time in the next few years. It is state of the art and very modern. Corey showed Bob his dorm room before we all drove to Green Lakes State Park for a walk. The XC team frequently runs at Green Lakes, and I was there with the boys and the Tabers many years ago. We took a nice 40 minute walk around one of the lakes and then drove back to Syracuse for dinner.

Corey wanted us to go to a Mexican restaurant that he really liked. It was a tiny place, but we were lucky enough to get a small table and then enjoyed a good Mexican dinner. We took Corey back to his dorm and then headed home. All in all, a great day. The weather cooperated and we did a lot in our 7 hours at SU. 

Last night Jim and I went to a party at a colleague's house for the Longridge staff. It was nice to socialize with people I never have a chance to talk to during the school day. We left the party, just as the younger teachers were getting ready to play Beer Pong!

This morning on our way to the Thruway, we stopped at a Michael's Craft store in Victor to get the rest of the frames we wanted for our Iceland photos. We can now start putting photos and mats into frames and figuring out the placement of the photos on the walls. 

One of the TA's at my school was selling a rowing machine that she bought from a TV infomercial, so I bought it. This morning I used it for the first time and it worked pretty well. I will need to have Jim squirt some WD 40 into a few of the joints (the machine's, not mine) that squeak. This won't take the place of me going to the J&J gym, but it will be nice to use when I don't have the time or inclination to go to the gym. I'll post a picture at another time. 

Tomorrow Grandma and I have our the last class in our knitting class and then we can "felt" our purses and see how they turn out. I'll post photos of the purses when we have finished them.

We talked briefly to Tucker this afternoon and he was excited because he had just bought a ski pass to Telluride and some telemarking skis. 

The leaves are starting to fall so I guess we will have to start our raking routine in the near future. 

Hope all is well.