Patti, do you have other people decorate your tree? Sounds like a good plan....I'd like someone to put the lights on...I don't like that part! The wind was bitter cold today. Heard snow coming in for Tuesday...I could use a good snow day to catch up! I suppose I have to let him have the car so he can make the big bucks for me to get new things! haha...the sacrifices we make! happy Thoughts to all......................

Hi folks, the weekend is here again! Dave and I are leaving early Monday morning for Los Vegas and that'll be relaxing. I like it out there. It's tough to miss school though. I guess that means I'm getting to like my new position so that's a good thing.

I'll be doing a bunch of decorating this weekend and we'll put our tree up before we go. It'll be a busy weekend but fun. Then when we come, I'll be having a cookie swap and tree decorating party. That'll be a lot of fun. Our school party is set for The 16th. Seems too soon but the time goes by so very quickly as you all know.

Take care all - Pat

Happy December everybody. Let the decorating and shopping begin. Personally, I haven't done much of either yet. Will start this weekend, decorating anyways...my husbands car is being worked on and won't be ready until Monday...so he is taking my car....during the week I really don't mind because I can get a ride to school and back but weekends.....guess it'll force me to get things done here. Real excitement here....I have a new washing machine...How pathetic to be excited about watching the clothes go around in the front loader...guess we could pretend to be watching tv....but its very quiet which is some diffferent from the 20 year old one! Guess it doesn't take a lot to please some people! Have a great weekend everybody...and happy thoughts...

Travel safely Lori. Let us know when you get back.

I cooked myself a big turkey dinner this afternoon. So let the eating of leftovers begin!!

Thanks, Kathi. I guess all I can do for her is listen. I know from my own experience that advice is the last thing anyone wants.

I hope things work out for the best.
Have a wonderful trip to Isreal. I am sure that your friend will welcome your friendship now. I think visiting a while after is nice because people do tend to "forget" to help you through and sometimes you just want that acknowledgment. I had a nephew that committed suicide in 1992 when he was 18....so I am sure she will be glad to see you. Enjoy your family and relax! Travel safely and Happy Thoughts....

So did they notice you don't eat lobster, Patti?!

Getting up early to go shopping on one of the busiest days of the year is definitely not something you'd find me doing. I barely go to the mall on regular days. There's always something else I'd rather be doing than shopping.

Thanksgiving was good. I thought we'd have close to 30 people, but I think it was 24 in the end. I had a lot of help, so things went pretty smoothly. The only thing that put a damper on it was that Avi and his business partner haven't been getting along lately, and our minds were on that part of the time. If things don't work out, they might have to end the partnership and the business. I think it's a problem of communication, and I'm still hoping they'll be able to reach some kind of understanding. Avi's partner is not an easy person to work with--he's critical and judgmental and negative. Everything always seems to be a problem for him. A lot of drama. They're really different, but somehow have managed to build up a good business together. In the past, Avi has given in on things that are important to him, and he's just not willing to do that anymore. His partner feels threatened every time Avi wants to hire someone who's more of a self-thinker, not just all these "yes men" types his partner feels comfortable with. Anyway, we'll see what happens....

I'm off on Monday to Israel to see that friend of mine whose son committed suicide. And also my family, of course, and other friends. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of you!

No traditional Black Friday shopping for me. Just a fun trip to a local Christmasy shop on the commons. It was a very pleasant experience just the owner and myself. Leaned lots about the area. It was a treat. Later we went downtown to a fabulous knitting store, and wandered on the piers. Very pretty and quiet, but wicked cold!

Kevin ships out at 5:30 tomorrow so we leave whenever we are up and at 'em I guess. The visit here was nice. Good to get away and see how and where Kevin lives. I even had a chance to see the tiny cabin he lived in for over a year. You can see daylight through the walls. I don't know how he did it. At least this winter he's warm and safe in a three bedroom 2 bath with no roomates but his dog Dodge. He'll be home for Christmas.

I'm glad we'll make our whole trip back to P.I. in the daylight. Travel safely everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful, tasty Thanksgiving with family and loved ones. As usual, there was way too much food and too many leftovers, especially desserts! We had fried turkey which was delicious. It took an hour to cook a 18 pound turkey. It was very moist and the cripsy/skin was golden brown and yummy. The only bad part of the day was the weather. It was very nasty traveling in the snow. We got 5 inches of snow, which is too much on Thanksgiving! The ski areas were glad but I wasn't! It is now 13 degrees out but the good news is 50s by Sunday. Did anyone go out and get their holiday shopping started on Black Friday. My son had to be to work at Best Buy at 3 am. He said there were people camped out in the cold and snow waiting until they opened at 5. Personally, I can't imagine needing anything that badly! How about you??? If you are traveling back home this weekend, drive carefully. Happy Thoughts...

Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone! We've made it Booth Bay. The boys are downstairs playing pingpong and Dave and I are relaxing. The roads down were very icy and there were cars off the highway every couple of miles. We took a long time getting here. Feels good to be off the road.

Kevin said the lobsters are in a cage in the water down at the pier. My word. This is different. So tomorrow we have a little field trip down to the pier to pick up dinner. It has escaped everyone that I never eat lobster. I am really looking forward to the dawning moment when my boys (men) realize this. I'm planning to eat lots of veggies and dinner rolls!!

I hope everyone is surrounded by the folks they love this week and enjoy every minute of Thanksgiving! - Pat

Everyone enjoy those special times with your families....its suppose to snow here on Thanksgiving. Hopefully, not! We missed the snow today. I heard up north got some but here it was just rain and wind. Suppose to clear for traveling tomorrow with snow on Thursday. Remember to eat lots of good food....luckily for us their isn't an aquarium around here! Happy Thoughts and be sure to count your blessings....Thank you for being my friends!

Last night Dave and I ordered tickets to Zumanity Theatre. It's a Circ du Soleil show in Vegas. We'll be in Los Vegas the 5th through the 9th. Dave has a Credit Union function and I'm going along. I always like to go to the fun places when he travels. We're staying at the Mirage. This is our 3rd trip out there.

We also bought tickets to see Les Miserable in Boston in Feb. A friend bought a block of them and sold them to whomever wanted them. We just happened to hear about it and got lucky. We'd been wanting to see it for several years and hadn't done anything about it.

To those travelling ove the Thanksgiving holiday this week, please be careful out there.

Hi Lori, Windjammer is off the road somewhat on the left not far from the airport. Technically, its S. Burlington I think, though not really. Used to be easy to see but everything is so over developed and crowded now. It's surrounded by other buildings. (a little editorializing there) I remember when Tafts corners in Williston was mostly a neat old white brick homestead and farmland. Not anymore, though the house is still there.

The Lincoln Inn is in what folks call the 5 corners in Essex. Very eclectic. Definately a local hangout in the bar area. Several TV's and loads of folks.

That's pretty amazing, Kathi, that you've know each other for so long...

Patti, I don't remember seeing those 2 restaurants. Are they outside Burlington? I'll have to try them next time I'm in the area.

Yes, we lived one house apart.....I've known him forever. He is 5 years older so I hung out with his siblings when we were younger. His sister had a baby the same time my mother had my little brother and she moved back to her parents house. I used to take Kevin up to play with Chip. We were just friends for a very long time..then dated when I was in High School...and here we are today....with lots of history behind us and hopefully, in front of us! When to a craft class yesterday and got inspired....so I spent this afternoon making my Christmas Cards.....hope everyone had a good day. Chocolate is so.....necessary in life! Happy Thoughts...

Vt was beautiful as always. I just love the look of the mountains and we both miss them very much. We talked about going back to live but the housing costs are monumental in the greater Burlington area. We had a couple of terrific meals. Particularly at the Windjammer. the dinner at Lincoln Inn was pretty good. It's a strange restaurant. Each room has a different theme. We'll be going back after Christmas for a few days and a trip down to Rutland to see my sister. Dad isn't able to make the drive himself and has asked me to drive him down.

I have the Death By Chocolate cookbook., Marcel Desaulines. (spelled that wrong) It's pretty amazing. I use the recipes quite often. Dave is gluten intolerant and there are several excellent deserts he can eat there. The recipes are pretty long and involved. Well worth the effort though.

We'll be heading down to Booth Bay to spend a few days with Kevin for Thanksgiving. He is serving lobster with the "usual" Thanksgiving sides. I'm bringing down my pies and will cook up the other dishes down there. Just the 4 of us this year. It's the first time we haven't had the meal at home in P.I.

Congratulations, Kathi! That's a long time. We've been married 27 years. You said your parents and Neil's parents used to live on the same street--so you grew up together?

Neil and I just celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. Seems like yesterday...hahah. I thought getting married in the middle of deer season was pretty funny. All my relatives had to miss a Saturday of hunting...How many years has everyone else been married? Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend~ Happy Thoughts...

Can't you all just make these things and send them to me? I'm too lazy to make them myself! And they sound really good--though I seem to be hitting new highs on the scale lately and have to be careful...

I have this Rueben Casserole that's pretty tasty.
1 qt. drained sauerkraut
8 oz. cooked noodles, drained
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. dry mustard
l/2 c. mayonnaise
8 oz. grated swiss cheese
l/2 c. chopped onions
1/2 c. rye bread cubes (cut up loaf of rye bread into cubes)
1 lb. deli corned beef

Grease oblong casserole, then place sauerkraut in bottom. Add cooked noodles
Mix soup, mustard, mayonnaise together; spread evenly over noodles.
Layer onion, corned beef and swiss cheese.
Sprinkle bread crumbs or cubes over top; cover with foil.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated.

Happy Thoughts!

Karen, have you ever marinated black olives in lots of garlic and olive oil (for a couple days), drained them, chopped and add to cream cheese. Spread on the little toasty breads....really good.
It was in the low 20s this morning with black ice on the interstates....the beginning! Hope everyone has a great Friday! Happy Thoughts...

It could get quite interesting hosting the post it note party, especially if you knew some pretty good stuff on people! People would either end up loving or hating you. We used to have a lot more family get togethers but Neil's side is spread out now so we don't all get to gether that often. We got married in November right before Thanksgiving. Our parents both lived on the same street and We didn't want to choose whose house to go to that first time, so we went to my parents house for dinner at noon and his parents at 4....needless to say, we then decided that two Thanksgiving dinners in one day was stretching it just a little. We shifted the Thanksgiving meal to his parents and just visiting mine for dessert. We then had Christmas dinner with mine and dessert with his. That worked great for over 20 years. I always make Rice Pudding....my favorite.

we sometimes observe a little different tradition when we have lots of people at our house, especially when we are concerned that people are not likely to mix with each other enough or if we want to be left alone to drink and makeout in the pantry. we write unique information about each person on post-it notes- something that only they and we know about them. then we apply post-it notes to guests as they arrive, being sure that "wrong" post-its go onto everyone. then we ask people to make the rounds, staring at each others' breasts until they find that delicious morsel that we wrote about them. when they find it, they trade post-its for their own and the hunt continues for those who are still looking. it is fun!

I don't think I have much to offer in the way of recipes, Karen. We have Thanksgiving at our house with Avi's family, but his sister always makes the turkey. I think the stuffing is more Israeli style--rice mixed with spices and some vegetables. I make the other things, but nothing you'd need a recipe for--sweet potatoes, corn, rice, etc. You really go all out with decorations, etc.! I don't have energy for that. Anyway, we have the Friday night meals every week with all of Avi's family--we take turns hosting--so that takes care of my hosting energy...

Pictures and presentation from Isreal at our church was awesome. I want to go next year!! We have a missionary that oives there and acts as a guide for us. Soooooo much history. I would just like to be able to see and touch the land Christ walked. Pray for me please. thanks.

Pictures from the NEKingdom arrived from my friend Libby yesterday. Wow, snow and coloured leaves!!!! She lives up in W Newbury. Has a great place atop the mountain even has a working sugar house. (when the sap runs of course) Still pretty warm here. Staying home this year and babysitting my favourite dog (pit boxer mix).

Karen, ifinterested I have a great recipie for cranberry-orange relish that you marinate in spirits. Its sweet n tangy. Also a traditional meat pie recipie that has been handed down in my dads family. thats something easy to make and either people like it or they don't. I made it for friends in Barre one year as her husband provided me with venison and told me not to tell anyone. they loved it and now thus partake of venison in various recipies.

Patti, hope you had a nice visit to VT to see your Dad and that everything is fine. Did you get to visit with anyone? It was a beautiful weekend here. Suppose to get a little nasty tomorrow...rain/snow/turning to rain in the afternoon. Got the leaves mostly done in the yard. Just a little more raking....but maybe not until Spring! What's everybody doing for Thanksgiving? We are going to my neice's new house in Weatherfield. Her husband owns Crown Point Builders and they just finished their new house. It'll be nice not having to cook the whole meal for a change..I told her I'd bring the "chips and dip"....that's what she always brought. Well, enjoy your week and happy thoughts!

The weather has been on the mild side here for us too...but a cold front and rain coming in tomorrow night. Hopefully, not the beginning of winter. We have Friday off from school this week...an Inservice for teachers. I am looking forward to it. It was my oldest daughter's birthday yesterday...she turned 29, I really can't believe I am the mother of a almost 30 year old...I am probably the only one not doing any traveling! I would love to go and see the grandbabies but...don't see that happening. They are coming up for Christmas. Travel safely everyone and Happy Thoughts..

So many folks travelling here and there these days. Always great to get home though right??? Dave and I are heading to Burlington for the 3 day weekend. We'll be there noonish Friday and head back to Presque Isle after breakfast Sunday. We're taking Dad to the Sirloin Saloon either Friday or Saturday night. We have some free time available this trip and look forward to doing some "wandering" around. Checking out our old neighborhood in Essex and that sort of thing. Would love to see any "old friends" who might be around. We're staying at the Fairfield Inn -Colchester. Let's do supper some night.........Or maybe just drinks .............

so glad everyones well. yes Richard, that cheese and liquers are great!! Yodel hugh? Never tried that.... NJ airport has always been the pits, so glad I don't have to go through there anymore. Delta has revamped their attitudes despite the bankrupt declaration and they are again pleasant to fly. If I go oversears I use Icelandic (called something else now) and have been pleased too. Do you guys have snow yet? Summer has decided to make a full returen here and will probably stay around till Turkey Day. We usually deep fry one outside in our shortsleeves. Its sort of a southern tradition.

I'm going to be traveling again soon, too. It seems like I just got back from Vermont, but I'll be leaving for Israel on November 28. I'll be seeing family and friends, but mainly I'm going to see my friend Wendy who I mentioned a while back--her son committed suicide in mid-September. I know I can't really help her, but I still want to spend some time with her. She's divorced, and he was her only child. Luckily, she has a boyfriend now who's been really supportive. Her son was 20 and was in the army, but it's not really clear what happened cuz it didn't seem like he was in any kind of major depression, just the usual ups and downs of life. Anyway, I'll be there for 2 and a half weeks, until Dec. 17. I'll be here for Thanksgiving. This probably sounds ridiculous, but I didn't want to miss Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday, mainly cuz I LOVE turkey and cranberry sauce.

Have a safe trip home! Happy Thoughts...

i thought sugar on snow was strange with a donut and pickle. try raclette. it is cheese that boils over a flame that you eat with baby potatoes, pickles, bacon, and cocktail onions. and, then the appenzeller liquor with 48 secret herbs, oh my god! yeah, i was yodelling that night. i could definitely lose weight here- no vegetables or fruits to mention, the meat is bad (except for ostrich) and the only saving grace is the beer. that would be the one that would get me.

well i say goodby to the hill and the lonely goat herd early tomorrow morning. i went to basel friday and saturday, then swung through bern and walked in the footsteps of einstein, and then spent last night and today in lucern. it was incredibly beautiful. i saw great art, heard a choir practicing in a magnificent church, drank many liters of beer, and lots, lots more. i am ready to go.

landing in newark, nj and sitting for three hours tomorrow to catch my flight to burlington is going to be awesome. it's only been a week but i miss jersey girls. it's the accents that i can't understand, the constant talking on cell phones, the strange hair! hey, wait, they are just like swiss chicks. wow, maybe i am becoming swiss . . . . . this IS serious!

So how's the yodeling going, Richard?

Love your suggestions, Karen! I was wondering where you had disappeared to, Richard. That description of the Swiss people doesn't sound too appealing--sounds like something my parents said after they were there once. So maybe there's someplace better for you to go, Karen--though it does sound really beautiful in Switzerland. Hard to find a place more beautiful than Vermont, though.

i am here cuz i work for a swiss company. i will have fun this weekend. i am going to a couple of cities that i have not been to before. i will only be here for 8 days total. my body clock is not on swiss time yet. it is 1:30 in the morning in spfld right now, but it is 7:30 am here and i have to get moving. woof.

What are you doing in Switzerland? How long are you are you there for? Sounds like you've really been reading up on the survival guide! I am sure you are making the most of your trip! Hope things go smoothly and get a bit more lively! Happy Thoughts!

Richard, obviously if you think its called the internut! What are you celebrating???

just kidding about internuts. i am really lonely, living in an apartment in eastern switzerland. send me some good feelings, please. i love the sound of music beauty of this place, the people that i am working with each day are really nice, but i don't have the option of screaming like tarzan. you see that doesn't fit with swiss life. here are some tidbits i picked up from, "living and working in switzerland, a survival handbook". "the typical swiss is scrupulously honest, narrow minded, indusrtrious, pessimisstic, boring, hygenic, taciturn, healthy, insular, tidy, frugal, sober, selfish, affluent, arrogant, consrvative, isolated, private, strait-laced, neutral, authoritarian, formal, . . . and a good skier"

yeah, okay dude, things are getting way gnarly in the mountains. let's wax our boards and go big! love ya, richard

i have had way too much wine to be writing on the internut.

Well, I guess I should learn from you guys and buy the candy I don't like--but I do the opposite; I buy ONLY the kind I like! We don't get that many trick-or-treaters so I don't want to be left with a lot of candy we don't like. So I get fat instead....

I was so excited....we had 1 trick or treater! There are no kids in our neck of the woods anymore and we are off the beaten track for neighborhood dropoffs. We had a big schoolwide Halloween parade down Union St onto Park and circling around sidestreets and back to Union. It was really fun to see the kids trailing down the street. Then back to school for "parties". They were actually pretty calm today....tomorrow will be another story! Hope everyone had a safe Halloween.
Glad you are busy painting Karen! Have a safe trip to VT...sorry about your brothers accident and about your cousin. As I've said before ...life is short, cherish every moment. Remember, happy thoughts!

Boy, Karen that sure sounds familiar. That's about how we do it here also, the traffic, the candy I don't want to eat myself. Otherwise, boy we might not have enough for the kids who come!!

Kevin headed back to Booth Bay yesterday afternoon. The parts came for his boat and so he and his captain went out this morning. Hopefully they had a good haul today. It's not been a good season. First no lobster then the lobster came in but so did the weather and they couldn't go out. Then most recently the boat broke down and a part had to be ordered. Poor dears.

Sorry to hear about your cousin Karen.

We're expecting over a hundred kids tomorrow night! Dave just left for the store to pick up his candy.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight! I guess getting an extra hour of sleep is exciting to most but to me it means waking up at 4 instead of 5! haha. Guess we know that winter really is just around the corner. It'll be dark when we go to work...almost...and dark when we get home. Just have to appreciate when the sun is out! Only in the 40s here today and windy. Leaves are finally falling off the trees and we can rake....
I have some pumpkins to carve tomorrow...they actually came up by themselves in the garden. Must have been where I threw the insides of the pumpkins last year! I like making jack-0-lanterns...brings back memories and happy thoughts..

Kevin is home for the weekend and I'm playing with his brand new laptop. It's a Toshiba brand. 17 inch screen, heavy but really nice size keyboard. Not the sort of thing I'd want to lug through and airport though.

Supposed to be warm here this weekend. High of 48 Sat. Ha Ha. Still need to get out to my gardens one last time. Just to clean up the dead leftover "stuff"

Enjoy the weekend everyone!!

I'll tell you what Kathi, the ice scraper I finished in class a few days ago is sure gonna come in handy a lot early in the season than I was expecting.

34degrees here this a.m. brrrrrrr

Some places in Springfield got 6 inches...Up north it was very nasty. Lots of accidents and cars off the highways. People also "forget" how to drive and that you have to S.L.O.W. down. But the sun actually came out here today which was great...even though it was windy. Some kids came to school today with boots, hats, mittens, and one boy came with just a sweatshirt...go figure. Half the kids can zip their coats the other half just wait for me to do it....told them their homework was to practice zipping their jackets! Mean, huh! Suppose to warm up to 50s again by Sunday....We have a well in our basement if we ever needed extra water. Guess when they were building the house back in the 40s digging the foundation they hit a well, so they just incorporated it into the basement. Has a spill off so it doesn't overflow...has a steel cover. So in an emergency, it would come in very handy. I am sure your house doesn't have that convience Lori...hahah. Nice that you get to build all those nice things Patti! And steeled toe shoes with a dress would look lovely!
Remember, Happy Thoughts!

I guess we got about 4 inches but not far from us they got many more inches than that. So soon. Very heavy with the rain the came also and the wind. Lots of power outages and tree limbs down. I understand Rutland got a foot?

Guess we'll put our trailer under cover bore things get much nastier. We like to take care of it before Halloween actually so it's the normal-ish time, I guess.

I'm enjoying my new position at schoolk but it's quite a challenge. Osha regs apparently state that I should be wearing steel toed boots everyday. I actually have some and was wearing them the day we were having our inspection but I often wear sandals (in warmer weather) or heels. Just whatever I feel like based on our plans for the day. Guess I need to plan to "dress down" regularly.

I'm currently working on a copper art project that will eventually become a framed clock. I'm also building a 3 shelf wall unit for my collection of "little bears". The idea here is to do as many projects as possible to get practice using everything and have the kids observe this for their own willingness. If I can you can!!

I guess we got about 4 inches but not far from us they got many more inches than that. So soon. Very heavy with the rain the came also and the wind. Lots of power outages and tree limbs down. I understand Rutland got a foot?

Guess we'll put our trailer under cover bore things get much nastier. We like to take care of it before Halloween actually so it's the normal-ish time, I guess.

I'm enjoying my new position at schoolk but it's quite a challenge. Osha regs apparently state that I should be wearing steel toed boots everyday. I actually have some and was wearing them the day we were having our inspection but I often wear sandals (in warmer weather) or heels. Just whatever I feel like based on our plans for the day. Guess I need to plan to "dress down" regularly.

It's nice that you're spending the time on making an original birthday card, Kathi. It means so much more than getting a standard one from the store.

Yeah, it IS getting a little scary. All these hurricanes and rain and snow. And earthquakes. That's the scariest one for us here in L.A. Avi keeps talking about replenishing our stock of food and water, but we haven't done anything about it yet. Guess I'd rather bury my head in the sand like an ostrich.

Luckily here in Springfield we just got a dusting. Nothing like 2 feet! Thank God. I am certainly not ready for winter. The leaves are still on the trees in my yard, bulbs still in the ground, pumpkins sitting with snow on them...oh well. Guess we are suppose to be prepared for anything now a days! Some places have a snowday today. Unheard of in October! And of course, nobody remembers how to drive in the first snow. Tons of cars off the highways last night. Sun maybe tomorrow! It'll be interesting to see how many kids have boots, etc. for school today. Lori, nice that you are writing. We did a remake of a song at school yesterday to make a Halloween song....that's the extent of my creative writing. I did spend a couple of hours making a birthday card/book for a friend last night. That's what I enjoy doing! Have a wonderful day. Happy Thoughts!

cold, windy, wet, 2 feet of snow headed our way!! What the heck is going on here???? I'm not ready yet. My gardens are a mess and I have yard work to do. What a weird weather world we have now.

Hi Kathi. This seems to happen to the blog every once in a while--it almost dies and then suddenly there's a new burst of energy and it's alive again! Not much new here. I'm back to my writing. Today I have a meeting with that small poetry group I'm in. There are 5 of us. We meet every 2 weeks to have lunch and then give each other feedback on our poems. It really helps! Sounds like it's really wet in Vermont. It's been really gray and rainy here, too. I don't mind it cuz it's usually sunny here, so the change is nice!

Everyone must be very busy! Hopefully, in a good way. I miss reading what everyone is up to. It is raining again here in VT. Flood advisories out with a Northeaster coming in on Wednesday. You guys up north might be getting snow! Be ready....I hope all is well, remember Happy Thoughts.

Guess the warm weather is gone and fall is officially here. Frost has killed all my annuals and the ground was snowcovered going to Claremont this morning. The colors were not very vibrant this year. Mostly yellow and rust colors, not bright orange and red. We haven't even raked yet. Still lots of leaves on the trees. The furnance is on....fleece has made its way out of my attic along with the Halloween decorations. Apple crisp is cooling on the counter. Glad to hear that Wilma has been downgraded. Happy Thoughts.....

Happy Anniversary from me, too, Patti. That sounds nice--a converted castle in Canada. And Karen at the racetrack! Exciting weekends. But I guess I can't complain--Vermont was really fun, too. The only problem is I gained weight there (despite all the walking) and it's sticking like glue.

Still raining boy oh boy it's so wet and the waters are high. Glad I live on a hill. A quiet Sunday night here in P.I. Watching West Wing, polish a pair of boots for school tomorrow. Drinking a lovely watermelon martini. Thinking about another one. .....

Dave and I enjoyed a nice anniversary weekend last weekend. Our 26th. We went to a converted Castle in Canda. Very relaxing and romantic. Felt good to get away even for just 24 hours.

Springfield went through a rash of bomb threats a couple of years ago. Very nerve racking on everybody. It always amazes me that kids would even think they can get away with bomb threats. Hopefully Patti, that will be the end of it.
It is pouring here again today. Flood warning out again and evacuations in a lot of places. 8 straight days of rain but they say nothing like the 10 inches in 2 hours like last weekend. We all hope not. Everybody send some sunshine this way!
Neil had to work out of Maryland this week and got to delivery into NC....he got to stop at our daughter's overnight and see the grandbabies. I was glad that he got to see them but very jealous! We have some cute pictures of Papa and the kids sitting in his tractor trailer....he will be back home tomorrow! I have been breaking in his new recliner while hes been away....maybe I'll just call it mine!
Its always a letdown to leave your family...that might be part of the problem Lori. I find it hard to get settled down once everyone leaves our house. Glad that you had a great trip. Happy Thoughts....