Friday, November 29, 2013

Giving Thanks

Another Thanksgiving come and gone! I think everyone enjoyed themselves, and the food was okay, too. I'm grateful for my family and all the blessings in my life. It's a good thing to feel content!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Night Before Thanksgiving

I'm feeling pretty good about having quite a few things done the night before Thanksgiving. I'm really trying to not have to spend the whole time in the kitchen while my guests sit and chat in the living room without me! So far I've already made the special mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberries, and green bean casserole, they just need to be heated up. That leaves the turkey, which I'm roasting from a frozen state, the stovetop stuffing, corn, and candied yams. Oh, and put together the apple cider punch. Mark will bring bread (and hopefully a relish tray) and Mom will bring the pumpkin and apple pies. The house has been tidied and the table has been set. Yay! Jake is already home from college, Katie drives home tonight, Nick will come over for the dinner tomorrow. And,I think that's enough for today. Bruce and Jake plan on performing open mic at a local coffee house tonight and I want to be there!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

New Glasses

My new glasses arrived from Zenni Optical, and I love them! Four pairs of prescription eye glasses for about $17 a piece, can't go wrong with that. I tried to take close enough pictures so that they can be seen, but it's hard to not feel like a dork when you're taking pictures of yourself. I think my favorite is the pair that is black along the top and clear on the bottom, though I do like the ones with bling on the sides, too. One pair reminds me of church stain glass windows.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Better Get Moving

The holiday season approaches, and I'm in slow motion. I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet and I haven't figured out the Christmas cards yet, either. I do know what I am cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, though, and today I stopped at Aldis to stock up. I think this weekend will be house cleaning and MAYBE a little shopping for presents if I get my act together. I'm strangely calm, though. I think the hardest part was thinking through the dinner menus and once I wrote out my list, I settled down. Tristin continues to get into mischief. Today I arrived home to find that he'd chewed up the cardinal that sits in the gerber daisy plant by the sink. I kind of think that our Christmas tree will suffer this year, and I'm not sure what to do about that. I send Katie pictures of the naughty things he's done, just so she can keep up with him. He's a little booger, but he's cute.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Visit With Mom and Dad

We drove out to see Mom and Dad today, bringing fried chicken and salad for lunch. Mom recently found out that she has some stress fractures of her pelvis, and they're painful for her when she's walking. She's been using a walker Dad rigged up for her, maybe not a perfect solution, but her appointment for physical therapy isn't for another couple of weeks, so she's making do for now. (I think it's kind of cute that Dad created one for her. They're both people who like to make do with what they have at home.) Hopefully the pain will decrease soon and she'll actually feel like getting out of the house. On a similar note, I just found out that my Curves will be closing at the end of the month. This makes me sad and wondering where I will now go to work out. I've really liked the circuit training at Curves, and I like that it's a small, comfortable place for women. I feel healthier and stronger for having gone there these last few years, and I want to take care of my bones! We stopped by at Williston and were told that they weren't accepting new members unless they actually live in that city (we were rejected!). We stopped by the YMCA, and though the new facility looked good, it was also really loud and crowded with kids. (Plus the classes that looked even remotely interesting to me were only offered in the morning when I'm at work.) We stopped by the Anytime Fitness close to our house (we could only peek in the windows) and saw mostly young guys working out in muscle shirts, probably not my kind of club. There is another Curves a bit further away and I'm thinking I might need to transfer there, but if that one closes, do I then drive to Rochester or Duluth to work out??? :)

Saturday, November 16, 2013

No More Beard

Bruce sent me this picture of Nick from work today, no more beard! I probably stepped over the mom boundary lines because I immediately texted Nick to tell him he has a beautiful face ... I couldn't help it, he does. And I now have more options for our Christmas collage. :)

Friday, November 8, 2013

Quiet

Bruce has been out of town for work this week and the house has been extra quiet. He's on his way home now, though, so all is well. Besides working and going to Curves, not a whole lot has been happening, but Debbie and I did go out to lunch, and she gave me a photo of us taken at her wedding last Spring. I have been wanting a photo of Bruce and I for quite some time, and was so thrilled to get this one! It immediately went into a frame and found it's place on the piano with the others. (I don't know why it's so difficult to get a picture of the two of us.) The grandfather clock ran down and needed rewinding, but that was good timing because it needed adjusting to Daylight Savings Time, anyway. And I ordered some new prescription glasses online from Zenni Optical. I was able to get four pairs for about $75, including shipping, which I'm feeling pretty good about! I'll post pictures later on after they arrive.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Heart Shaped Vegan Cake

Katers wanted a vegan cake for the birthday celebration and I decided to give it a try. I like to keep things simple so I looked and found a recipe using a cake mix and, instead of using eggs and oil, you throw in a can of pop! The cake was pretty, and people said it tasted fine though it did sort of fall apart when it was cut, but that wasn't too big of a deal. Mom turned 80 this year, though you can't tell by looking at her, and Katie turned 23. I feel lucky that we can still celebrate their birthdays together! Jake and Nick came home for the party, and of course Uncle Mark, Dad, and Bruce. Next gathering will be Thanksgiving and it's going to be here.