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.