Catch-up Time

I feel like this has been a busy week, but there was nothing really unusual going on. We went to work, some nights had the usual evening activities, and then went to sleep only to repeat that protocol the next day.

We did have a new double bed delivered on Wednesday and Friday nights (one part was missing when the bed was delivered on Wednesday, so the guys had to come back on Friday) and Tucker's old room is now all set up for our guests which arrive on Tuesday. Here's what it looks like now. Someday I will make new drapes for the room so they coordinate with the bedspread.

Friday night I got Jim to help me prepare all the candy canes for making candy. He does good work.

Today we went out to Eastview Mall so I could order some new living room furniture and Jim could have our laptop computer checked out. Jim had tried to upgrade the operating system on our Apple laptop and had a series of problems, ending with a completely unresponsive computer. He made an appointment at the Apple Store in Eastview Mall for a time when I was going to be out there to order a new sofa and chairs. I spent an hour or so looking through lots of fabric samples.

I ended up selecting these 2 fabrics. The striped sample is for the 2 chairs and the textured solid colored sample is for the sofa. I really like my choices and think the new stuff will look good with our 4 year old carpet and the green wall in the living room. The furniture will be delivered in 12-16 weeks! I guess I had better forget about it for the time being. Here is a photo of the fabrics I chose, the colors are not quite true due to the flash, but it will give you an idea.

The laptop that Jim took back to the Apple store, was no stranger to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store. This laptop has had its troubles since we bought it almost 4 years ago and when the store employees reviewed the repair history of the laptop and heard about its current problems, they decided to give Jim a whole new computer!!! He walked out of the store with a new 15 inch Mac Book Pro. He was very pleasantly surprised and most pleased. So he has a new toy and is loving it!

This afternoon Gram and I made Christmas cookies, lots of Christmas cookies. We are a pretty efficient team and have a good system to get 4 or 5 different kinds of cookies made in an afternoon.

We went to the Greece Family Restaurant for dinner tonight and were a bit surprise to see some live music when we walked in! These 2 guys were playing country western music the whole time we were there. We recognized a Johnny Cash number and one by Willie Nelson. On our way out of the restaurant we noticed the sign that said this duo was there every Saturday night.

Tomorrow we are going on the hunt for a Christmas tree. We will go to Wilbert's in Webster with G & G and search for the perfect tree, or at least one that Jim and I can agree on! Stay tuned for a photo.

We are looking forward to next week's visit by Jeannie, Mark, Britni, Michal, Elizabeth and Terry. Jim is taking some time off from work while they are here so he can spend some quality time with them. We will have a 93rd birthday celebration dinner for Grandpa on Wednesday night.

Happy Birthday to nephew Zach, who turns 16 on the 6th! We will be glad to see you here for Christmas.

Hope all is well.

Rock and Roll in Albany

Jim and Corey made a quick trip to Albany on Saturday to see a Phish concert. After the concert they drove up to Jenny Lake to spend the night. It was a beautiful Jenny Lake day when they got up on Sunday morning. Here are a few photos from their brief adventure.

I stayed home and got some work done around the house. Next week Jeannie, Mark, Britni, Michal, and Elizabeth are coming into town to help celebrate Grandpa's 93rd birthday. They will be staying at our house so that was a great excuse to rearrange the boys' rooms and make room for more guests. So, while Corey was home he helped us move the twin bed that matches his twin bed from Tucker's room into his room. This involved cleaning up, which Corey did without too much resistance and a bit of help from us. I then bought a new double bed which will go in Tucker's room ( or the Yarn Room, as it is now known!). I spent a great deal of time going through the closet and throwing away stuff in there as well as moving several boxes of Tucker's stuff to the basement. I figure that stuff is one step closer to the trash barrels and when Tucker is home at Christmas he can go through all that stuff and decide what he wants to save and what can be thrown out. I also moved some furniture around and took the small desk to the garage. I will try to sell that on Craigslist. I have now cleared out a space big enough to accommodate the new bed that gets delivered on Wednesday evening. I think this new arrangement of both rooms will make our house more user-friendly for guests, so book a room now! We'd love to see you. We may even turn up the heat while you are here!

The wildlife is taking over the grounds around my school. This morning the staff received an e-mail saying that coyotes had been spotted on our athletic fields and to be aware if you are coming into or leaving school when it is dark! Later in the day we received another e-mail letting us know that the district had hired some "goose wranglers" to deal with the ever-growing problem of the Canadian Geese in our fields. These wranglers are some guys who bring their labrador retrievers to the fields and let them run free. I guess that discourages the geese from getting too comfortable on our school grounds. Apparently this is a problem at many of the schools in the district because the memo was originally sent to all the principals. I wonder if there are "coyote wranglers" we should look into hiring too!

Now that the cold weather is upon us, Jim is volunteering at a local men's shelter tonight. Our church provides coverage for this shelter a couple of times a month and give usually goes once every 6 weeks.

Speaking of cold weather, snow is in the forecast! Not much accumulation is forecasted, but snow none-the-less. The weatherman predicted bitter cold temps for next week so all you southerners who are coming north next week, you have been warned!

We received some good news yesterday and that is that Jim, Maryanne and Zach are coming here for Christmas. They will arrive a couple of days before the big day and stay until a couple of days after. It will be great to see them!

Hope all is well.