First Snow

 I missed the start of the first snowfall of the season this morning.  I didn't wake up until 8:00 and noticed that it was pretty quiet to be garbage day but didn't think much about it.  I then went to the living room and got in touch with people by email since my phone is not able to be repaired.  The new one won't be here until Friday.

I got an email from Noreen mentioning vaguely some snow, but still I didn't pick up on it.  I'm used to getting the news capsules and weather report before I get up, so I was off schedule!  I finally raised the blinds, and there was a small blizzard going on.  The grass was already covered, and it was COLD.  School started as usual at 9:00 though, even though they let them go home an hour early.  

I had a pretty productive day, catching up on cleaning my emails and texts and redoing some passwords.  I also got out some Christmas decorations and gradually brought them in from the garage.  The table looks nice, but I didn't get much further than that.  

And I have no camera to take pictures of the snow or my festive table.  Oh well.  Let's hope it rains tonight and melts it all so I can get my hair cut tomorrow and bring in some groceries in case we have a bigger storm.  I love for it to snow at Christmas, but it is such a mess and so hard to get anything done.  For me, that is.  The whole town gets out and plays and has fun in it, but I don't dare walk out on the sidewalks unless someone is with me.  I don't plan to fall again!

A few more Yuletide Express pictures.

The Spirit of Christmas kept these running smoothly.  I think her name was Peggy.  She seemed to be having such a good time.  Maybe when she retires, Emily could take the job!

Good-bye Phone

 I had become over-confident about watching my phone.  It's such a part of me that I stick it in every pocket and carry it around with me.  Sad!  This morning I was feeding the cats and had it in my pants pocket - the soft and baggy pants that are so nice to wear around the house.  Unfortunately, the pocket is not very secure, and it slipped out on the laundry room floor.  It made a louder sound than usual.  I have always trusted my cover.  I guess it is still the Otter - don't really know.  But I do know I've dropped my phones a LOT and never broken one.

I could still hear sound, but the screen was black.  I fiddled with it, thinking one of the buttons had jammed, but I could sometimes get a flash of light, others times blackness.  That meant no way to make phone calls or even answer them.  Lately, Emily has been getting impatient with my letting my battery die and her not being able to get in touch with me.  Even Noreen was worried one day when I didn't answer texts for a long time.  I'm not complaining.  I like to know people are looking after me, but I just get into my own little world and forget to charge that phone.

Of course, the first thing to do was call Ryan who stopped by and picked it up on the way home from taking the girls to school.  If he can't fix it, he'll see that I get a new one - or newer one.  I sure don't mind getting second-hand ones, as long as they are reliable.   Oh, I was able to call their house with the Duo thing - so nice.  Graysen answered - such a sweet big girl.  She went and told her dad about it and we talked a few minutes. 

I then had to figure out how to tell Noreen why I would be not sending texts or calling for a couple of days.  There is a Message deal on Facebook that I figured she would see, but on my new computer, it just didn't look the same.  I could find her name but not a place to write my message.  So frustrating.  I did manage to call her from my computer, but I have no idea what that looked or sounded like.  She wasn't able to answer but was aware I was alive.

I was about to get on my coat and head over to leave her a note on her door when she came walking past the window all ready for the day - on the way to PT.  We managed to exchange email addresses - can't believe we don't have those already - so we can keep up with each other.  It's not the same though.  I used to hate texting, but now I depend on it.

I decided not to get my hair cut, because you have to make the appointment and then check by phone to see when to head over there.  

I can't say what I did all day.  I started slowly on picking up all things orange and fall-themed and put them in the garage.  I just realized I still have my fall wreath on the door though.  I brought in a few things slowly and started thinking about where to put everything.  Then I wrapped a few gifts for the girls.  Books and games don't make very big or exciting-looking gifts.  Most of the other things are for their new American Girl dolls and will also be small and simple packages.  I guess the biggest boxes I'll have are for the kitten and puppy.

I got this for the kitten after studying a lot of cat toys on Amazon.

Sadly, I just noticed this pink one after I had ordered a green one.  It was hard to decide.  With a new puppy too, he'll be picking up and chewing things, so I wanted to avoid little things like the spirals that look like so much fun, and little mice and catnip things.  I'd hate to think what would happen if a puppy swallowed those.  Anyway, this runs on batteries, and there is a mouse that runs underneath and over the top at various speeds and should be fun.  Who knows though?  This baby kitten might never be left alone long enough to play by himself.

The puppy I haven't even seen a picture of, but he's going to be pretty big one day, I think. 

It's a French breed, Barbet.  I think all that hair is going to drive me crazy.  I chase the girls around with a hairbrush a lot, and I guess I'll do it with this puppy.  I'm not sure what color he is.  All I know is that he's very child friendly and doesn't shed.

 I found these chew toys without stuffing.  I know Darby loved to tear off a toy's ear or make a tear and pull out the stuffing.

I'm sure both babies will have tons of toys, but I thought these were just weird enough to be cute.  They also have embroidered eyes, so that's one more thing not to swallow.  I'm not sure about the squeakers.  What a madhouse Christmas is going to be.  I'm going to go over there and sit in the midst of it and just enjoy.  Until I can't any more, and then I'll come home!

I wanted to include the train ride in today's post, but it's not easy to get pictures without my little routine of getting them from the phone.  

I sent this picture to Emily last night, and it made us sad, but this girl is going to have to conquer her fears and bothers by herself in spite of our wanting to hover and make everything all better.  Her feelings are very real to her, not just a funny "scared of Santa Claus" things.

I don't think she was that worried about there being a Santa on the train at that point.  She was just extra aware of where he was and didn't want to get into a situation of having to have a conversation with him.  She has gotten quieter and more reflective lately.  I guess that comes with the age.  Her mother never got quiet and reflective much.  She was busy being festive in this picture - running around the train, laughing with people, singing along with Santa, and getting the most possible out of that outing.

Katherine was very interested in the decor, especially the stained glass windows.  She pointed those out in the old depot before we left and was thrilled to find them on the train windows.  They've done a great job preserving this train.

These are the people across the aisle, just to get a good view of the stained glass.  The Falls was there too, but I couldn't capture it.

I'll do some more tomorrow and maybe a video if I can figure it out.

Thanksgiving and Train Riding

 The Win-Bins had a packed week and weekend, and I managed to hang out on the edges just enough to get a good holiday vibe but not overdo it.  They had teacher conferences and doctor visits last week plus getting their Christmas tree up and running in a Turkey Trot in Issaquah.  I'm going to have to ask for pictures because Emily hasn't had time to send me enough.  

I did take some on Thanksgiving night though.  Emily and Ryan cooked throughout the day and enjoyed that about as much as eating, so the time for dinner kept getting put off.  I did some cooking the night before and that morning, so I had no duties except to be placed on the couch with a refreshing glass of Prosecco and cranberries and watch all that energy take place in front of me.  

The girls did their dress-up thing - without shoes, because you can't run and dance and slide and twirl with shoes on.  So sweet and so active.  They missed their hair-combing, but it was fine!

The table was pretty, as usual, with the 1967 wedding china.  I love to see it there in the candlelight.  The girls had added their decorations too - a bowl of perfect little acorns and a plate of crackers by Katherine.  She called our attention to it several times.

The new kitchen cabinets are all stacked up in the living room, ready to be put together soon.

The girls had their big glasses of Alabama Sweet Tea - decaf - and were thrilled with that.  I'm not sure which is worse, the sugar or the caffeine.

My contributions were vegan brown rice, two recipes of dressing and the lime congealed salad that only the females in the family - probably the only one in this town or maybe state - will eat, and we all love it.  The girls have their own bowl without pecans, and Emily and I take care of the rest.  Ryan's comment at the table - "Maybe we should move the salad just a little bit closer - to the garbage can."  It wasn't vegan, of course, but they allowed a little cheating for one meal.

I took two pans of dressing, one vegan and one regular.  I could hardly tell the difference.  There were eggs and sour cream in the cornbread, and I used real chicken broth for mine, but the vegan one got its flavor from some bouillon cubes called Better Than Bouillon by Swanson.  One teaspoon per cup of boiling water made something closely resembling chicken broth.  It was also seasoned with a teaspoon of mushroom seasoning - umami - I'm not sure what was in it, but all the dishes tasted great, so I might have to get some just for regular cooking.  

Dressing, stuffing, and Brussel's sprouts along with the lime salad and two kinds of gravy.  I didn't try the gravy, but everyone said it was good.

The meat has been a few years evolving.  I don't think I remember it being anything special, but this year Ryan managed not one, but two meats:  Ham and a roast.  In the past, he coated the outside of a "real" ham with a gingersnap mixture that made it amazing, and he did something similar to that this year with the fake meat.  If you take a bite without looking, you would swear it was the real thing.  The Celebration Meat - pork or beef, I'm not sure - was also good and a very good substitute.  I wish I could hear Mike's comments about all this!

There were mashed potatoes, dressing, Brussels sprouts, Emily's lovely cranberry-orange relish, and stuffing that they tried for the first time from Purple Carrot.  That was my least favorite.  It tasted just fine - actually pretty good - but it just had too much of a chopped vegetable look for me - and there were so many other things.  Oh, the rice was just the same except for the canned beef broth and bouillon.  I renamed it beige rice because the fake beef bouillon didn't give it much color.  It needed a little salt but was pretty close to the old favorite in taste.  

We all tried a little bit of everything and had seconds of things and declared it a delicious and satisfying meal.  I don't love turkey, so I didn't really miss anything.  No one left the table stuffed, and no one wanted dessert.  I think there was one somewhere, but I didn't have any - an apple crumble, i think.  Some friends brought over a few pies left over from their huge family celebration later, and I know those were good.  

It was a great Thanksgiving, full of lots of laughter and thankfulness and love.  Elise didn't make it this year but maybe will at Christmas.  

I've gotten too sleepy sitting here by the fire in the middle of the night to write anything about the train ride.  It deserves a whole entry anyway.  The wind is blowing and howling, and it's just so cozy inside with the cats for company.

Weekend Before Thanksgiving

Saturday was unremarkable.  If the kids are not involved, nothing much happens in my life.  Or I try to keep it that way!  I'm not sure how I passed my time, but I did just what I wanted to.  Emily and I texted back and forth about Christmas gifts.  I have somewhat of a list today.  

The next three days, I will pick them up from school at 12:30, and we'll have a nice long afternoon without interruption since ice-skating is cancelled this week and soccer is over for the year.  They want to learn to crochet, but I haven't found any yarn in the sewing room or garage.  I think Emily took a big bin of it to her house, so I'm asking her to send some back.  I'm a little worried that I can't teach Graysen since she is left-handed, but I'm sure there are videos on the computer that will help us.  

I'm sure we'll do a little school work - not much - and hopefully clean out a toy area and give away or throw away things.

I still don't hear anything about a Thanksgiving meal.  Maybe because Emily is sick today and can't think about it.  I think I enjoyed their Brussels sprouts last year.  I really, really tried to go the vegan or at least vegetarian route, but it was too hard for me.  I admire their family for sticking to it so long.  The girls don't seem to have any trouble now that they can have dairy and eggs.  Sometimes Katherine really wants a cheeseburger but not Gray.  Its hard to find things they like.  I got a grade of 2 on some dish I prepared for them last week.  Even the pineapple pizza they didn't like.  Good grief.  I'm going to have to find some better recipes.  The did love my cranberry bread, so I have a mini loaf apiece for them to eat tomorrow along with PB&J and mac & cheese and fruit.

Speaking of cranberry bread, I had an impromptu coffee visit from Noreen and Mary.  Mary was going to come over at 9:00, and I asked Noreen if she wanted to come too.  They know each other but don't get together much.  I usually see them separately.  They brought their own beverages, and I served a slice of cranberry bread, and it was so nice.  We laugh at ourselves for starting off with our various orthopedic surgeries and share various PT stories and exercises, then progress to grandchildren, especially the things they say about us:  "When I was 3, I used to think you were pretty."  "What do you think about me now."  Long pause.  "I like your earrings."  There are 8 of them, so we usually have some stories to tell.  Our oldest ones all know each other from school.  

I have one picture from today, or maybe yesterday because of the sweatshirt.  Katherine had another accident where she hit her new front teeth on a chair.  With all the blood and crying and panic, I figured Graysen had been upset too.  I asked her about it, and she said, "Katherine was trying to kick me.  That's why she fell off her desk chair."  K said, "Yeah, Graysen hit me, and I was trying to kick her, and my foot just slid out from under me, and I fell."  They love to tell stories of their battle scars.

This cuddly ball of fur is coming to Steller Way soon along with a puppy.  Happy days!

I can't wait to hold him, but I might not get a chance if Katherine is around.  I can't see her ever putting him down.  They didn't plan to get a kitten and puppy at the same time, but there kept being holdups on litters being born or other things, getting to know the breeders, and all of a sudden they're both going to be ready at the same time - two days before Christmas.  I can't even....  I don't have a picture of the puppy.  He's a breed I had never heard of, but I think he's one of the curly long-legged ones that are so cute.  

They tried getting a kitten for the girls a couple of years ago from a shelter, but they picked wrong. Luna means well, but she doesn't like children!  She doesn't even like to be in the house with their noise and shrieks and running.  She allows herself to be picked up outside and petted some but much prefers being a loner.  She has a heated little igloo-like cave, and most of the winter is spent curled up in there or growling at the next-door cats and stalking bunnies.  She seems content, and I hope she is.  My cats don't like the girls either, so Emily and Ryan decided to invest in a known "sweet and patient" breed, the Ragdoll.  I know this one is cute and bouncy and cuddly from his videos.  Keeping our fingers crossed he gets along with his new puppy brother.  

I get nothing done when I start writing here.  I had planned to do several things when I sat down with the computer, but now I can't remember any of them.  

One Cold Week Almost Over

 It's hard not to want to just mark off the days of winter lately.  I've done plenty, but I just haven't been in the best of moods.  The sun will be shining all day, but as soon as I step outside to go to the school, that wind starts blowing around the corner to freeze my face, and clouds all of a sudden appear.  The snow on the mountains doesn't help the feeling of being frigid. 

I would enjoy cooking if I didn't have to go to the grocery store.  I would enjoy walking if the wind would die down.  I would enjoy visiting with friends if I didn't have to get dressed and go out.  Noreen and I did have such a fun visit the other day.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it here, but just walking next door with a cup of coffee and getting greeted with a smile was enough to make the rest of my day good.  It wasn't enough to make me want to go with her different places this week.  I know I would enjoy these little trips out, but somehow I can't muster up the energy.  Nothing seems to be wrong with my labs, and I'm taking my meds and eating fairly well. Nothing suits me better than checking out all the things I like to read on the computer, playing a game of Scrabble with the computer, having that one good cup of coffee every morning, doing minimal housework.  Then I just want to close my eyes and drift away.  Definitely something wrong there, but no one seems to know the answer.

On Fridays, school is early release at 1:30, but for the next 4 school days, we're having early, early release at 12:30 for teacher conferences.  On Friday mornings, Graysen has recorder lessons 30 minutes before school starts.  I can hear those recorders in my mind right now!  Ryan drops Katherine off at my house, and I walk her to school 25 minutes later for breakfast, a real treat for them on those Fridays.  This morning he texted and said there was something they needed to do at home, and he would take her to school.  Somehow it made me sad, because what could be so serious that it had to be done before school?  Cleaning her room?  Hardly!  It makes me feel bad when they do, so I don't like to know about it!  Thank goodness they're usually happy kids.

I found out later that there was a unicorn emergency to be fixed.  Katherine won a trio of unicorns, which were llamas with glued-on glittery horns, for getting a Cub Card for outstanding kindness/ responsibility/helping, etc.  You'd think they were the best thing EVER.

I'm not sure if she was going to give some to friends or just have them admire them, but it was a major setback when one of the horns fell off.  Ryan took her back home for 20 minutes where she made a unicorn horn from clay, rolled it in glitter, and glued it back on.  Good as new!  From this picture, it looks like the blue one had the accident, but it looks better than ever.  They're crafty people over there! I'm so glad Ryan understand how important it was for that unicorn to have his horn today.

The three girls walked home and then had a couple of hours to play before Emily and Ryan came to get them to go pick out their Christmas tree.  Graysen told me later when she called me about some matter that the tree was outside because, with all the remodeling they're doing, there is no place to put it this year.  I wonder what they expected!  It will be fun to get all involved in their Christmas celebrations.  

I was asleep early, and Graysen called me about an embroidery I had done on Fourth of July shirts at least two years ago.  She remembered that I had printed out the design on paper, and that's what she wanted - the design.  I have no idea why, but I'll do my best.  My designs are on my old computer, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.  The things they store up inside their little minds!  I hope prime and composite numbers stick during our week off.  

I'm not sure what the weekend will bring.  Or what we'll do for Thanksgiving.  I'll make anything I'm asked - within reason - but there won't be a turkey for sure.  Or any meat.  And very little dairy.  I'll sneak some dressing into my home menu.  I don't think we liked the vegan version last year.  Who knows what we'll decide on, but I know it will be good - and fun.  

My only event today at home was that my coffeemaker refused to work, and my little kitchen counter  lamp was dark.  I went and poked around the breaker box for a couple of minutes with no results and then put in a maintenance request.  We have a wonderful young maintenance manager, Chris, and he called within an hour and said he was putting me first on his list.  I walk along with his wife and little girl and dog Xerxes some days to and from school.  Such a sweet family.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he stays long term.  He's knowledgeable about the repairs and as cheerful as can be.  That helps a lot and makes me realize this is the place for me where I can just pretty much snap my fingers and have someone show up and fix what's bothering me.  Most things.  I'm too embarrassed to tell him about my vacuum cleaner clog.  That's going to take a little maintenance on my part to find the problem.

That's about all the boring stuff I can find to write about.  I see a couple of 60-degree days around Thanksgiving so that should cheer me up!  I slept from around 5 pm to 9:30 with only  3 disruptions.  I've gotten used to sleeping with my bedroom door closed since Elise moved, and the cats can't stand for there to be a closed door in the house.  Layla was lying on the cat tower watching me get in bed, find just the right pillow and covers, and close my eyes.  Then she decided it was time to yell for me to open the door and let her out in case she needed to eat something.  Then Elise came by to borrow something.  Then finally Graysen called from her phone and woke me up for the third time.  I think I slept another few hours, but now I'm up at 3:30, my usual time, with plenty of time to do what I want to.  It's my new normal.  I'm working on it, but it's going to take staying up a little later!

Week Before Thanksgiving

 I didn't even realize Thanksgiving was coming up next week until we got the girls' schedule from the school.  They are out only two whole days, the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving and, of course, Saturday and Sunday.  Starting tomorrow, they will go from 9:00 until 12:15 the next four days.  That's not bad.  The afternoons after school are so short, and they're always having to run off somewhere - soccer, ice-skating, etc, so it will be good to come home and relax.  

We have one more book to go in the Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker.  Graysen is now old enough to start the Babysitter's Club, and she's really excited about that.  If Emily doesn't get her a bunch of them for Christmas, we need to start putting some on hold for the holidays.  They have a lot of Christmas books already, but I like to get them a new special one every year.  

I found their ornament for 2022 at Target online and quickly ordered them.  Katherine's was a no-brainer, if quite silly compared to her other tasteful and original gifts through the years, but it's here, and we knew she would flip out over anything with cats.  What is more Christmas-y than a cat nutcracker.

I was disappointed they didn't offer any other cute animals Graysen would be interested in, like hedgehogs or woodland creatures.  There is a penguin that I think she'll like.

I've stayed up too late finding these images and downloading and cropping them.  Emily is also texting me and receiving texts about various Christmas gifts each one is responsible for.  We love loading them down with books and crafty things and games, and they had probably rather have their own phone and video games.  That day will come, I'm sure, but right now we can control it, and they'll get those books and games and love them!

Carly and Katherine came in after school and immediately started crafting.  I didn't pay much attention to what they were doing.  They pretty much know where all the craft supplies are, so I let them have their fun.  They amazed me at the cute little hearts they made for their friends.

She had a collision with some piece of play equipment on the "optical" (obstacle) course and had to have three Band-Aids on her shin.

They didn't even bother to move the placemats out of the way.

I think Carly already had hers in the envelope they created.

Lots of cat faces all over the envelopes.  All you really have to do it give them a pile of odds and ends and stickers and markers, and they'll do the rest.  I've had those wooden hearts in my craft area for years and never used them, but they became gifts for friends this afternoon.

So it's really too cold to enjoy being outside, but i did sweep the porch and try to neaten up a little.  The wind is howling at night and in the early mornings  I think I would have been one of those prairie women who went crazy after listening to it day after day.   

I moved the little cabbages into the pot with my tiny little tree.  I guess I should put some lights and ornaments on it this year.  It would have only about 5 ornaments.  

I've requested a sleepover on one of these school days off, so that should be fun.  It's been a little while.

Snuggly Weekend

 I don't usually have the girls on the weekends.  They usually have a lot planned, and I like a couple of days all my own.  Graysen had a soccer game, the last one of the year, early Saturday morning, and Katherine didn't want to go, so I agreed to keep her.  Then Graysen came in unhappy that they didn't get first place and needed some hugs and snuggling, and who doesn't enjoy that?  Emily had plenty of stuff to do around her house, so they ended up staying pretty much all day.

I can't even remember what we did.  We read several chapters of one of the American Girl doll books that I inherited from someone.  It was quite good.  Then they wanted to play school.  I was the willing troublemaker in the back of the room that they pretend to get exasperated with:  Nutmeg.  Katherine was the new girl from Japan who didn't speak English, so they kept yelling at the Duo, "Hey, Google, what's good-bye in Japanese?"  Or what's I don't speak English?  

At some point, they wandered off and got involved in something behind the couch, so I was able to catch a quick nap.  Everyone was a winner!  

I took almost no pictures.  Katherine was all in cat attire, and I learned (from Google) how to tell the difference between leopard spots and cheetah spots.  

The cats weren't quite sure if she was their girl or a new cat, but they didn't seem worried about it.

I worked a little bit on the garage after they left.  Ryan took down some boxes for me to label and replace. I think I've downsized about as much as I'm going to at this point.  

I wish I would get interested in sewing again, so I'll save all my stuff I've collected, but I just am not right now.  

The Auburn-Texas A&M game came on at 4:30 p.m. here, and I checked the score a few times.  It looked like neither team was running away with it, but AU was ahead when I checked.  I was extra tired around 7:30 and just went to sleep then, waking up about midnight and not knowing what day it was.  I thought I remembered that Auburn lost the game 30-24, but that was another game, and we did win 13-10.  I don't really even know who the players are lately or watch any football, just checking on the score sometimes like it really matters.  

I stayed up for several hours in the middle of the night and enjoyed listening to an audio book and working a little more in the garage.  It's so cold it was hard to stay out there.

Sunday I did nothing until Noreen invited me over around 2:00 for a visit.  I ended up staying until nearly 5:00 and enjoyed it so much.  We are able to laugh at ourselves and each other and needed to catch up with the Echo Ridge news - who's moving in and who's moving out.  Glad it's not us!  I feel really lucky to have a nice roomy little place of my own with a good friend next door.  I'm sure I won't enjoy this winter that much, but it's just something to get through and complain about.  It's nice to have a fireplace and good-smelling candles and cats and grandchildren.  

Emily texted last night that Katherine fell off her desk chair and hurt her poor mouth again.  I got the close-up picture, but I won't post it here.  It's painful to look.  It looks like there's a cut right over one of her new front teeth.  I think it looks better this morning with the swelling down, and we're hoping the tooth is not damaged.  

I ended up discussing that and talking about a few Christmas gifts with Emily, and that was the end of a nice weekend.

It's Monday morning and cold.  Since I woke up at 3:27 a.m., I'll be settling down for a nice nap by the fire when I finish this.  As long as I'm awake by 3:30 to pick up the girls, I have nothing else to do all day.  Pretty boring entries here, but I'm glad it's boring.  If anything exciting happens, I'll come back and mention it.

Pretty Perfect Day

 My standards are somewhat lower than they used to be, in that a perfect day is when no one asks me to do anything I don't want to.  I got up early for a change.  Usually I'm up several hours in the middle of the night and can't quite get up at 7:00 or 8:00, especially since Ryan walks the girls to school, and I'm not needed except on Friday mornings.

I started this on Thursday and didn't finish until I noticed I had not published it.  

My friend Mary came over 9:00 for a visit.  She's so organized and always is off on an errand after an hour or so.  I think we're both at the point of feeling better, so our conversation wasn't totally about our ailments.  It was fun, and she brought the girls some chocolate chip cookies.

After she left, I was in the mood to bake cranberry bread since I had found a huge bag of cranberries in Safeway last week.  

It's easy to make, and the only thing that takes time is chopping the cranberries in half and breaking a few of the pecans that are too big.  

The loaves turned out just right.  I had to cut one in half to test the middle since it's been so long since I've made them and never on this little apartment stove.  So I got a taste, and they were perfect.

I shared this with Mama once, and it turned into her go-to recipe to make for everyone she knew.  It has nearly a cup of orange juice in it, which makes it have a different taste.  I always hated grating the tablespoon of orange peel the recipe called for and sometimes left it out, but lately I found a jar of dried orange peel that makes it so easy.  I can see that I'll make more of these, next time using some little mini loaf pans.  

And I did make another batch in the little loaf pans to share.  I'm surprised the girls liked it so much, but Katherine came in the door today asking for "that cranberry bread stuff."

Today was Veterans' Day so no school, and the girls spent the day with me.  I got them a strawberry milkshake and fries at McDonalds, and that was a nice treat.  We don't go often enough to get tired of it, and I love how that trip to North Bend with them in the backseat just brings out the best conversations.  I just listen and love it.  We stopped at the closed library on the way back to take back some books, and Graysen got out and put them in the drop box for me.  What a nice thing to have a big kid to help me, especially when the cold wind is blowing my hair all in my face, and we're all freezing.

We came back and had a picnic beside the fire and did nothing special the rest of the day, just whatever they felt like doing.  They re-discovered the under-the-bed toy box and spent a long time sifting through the old toys.  I'm always optimistic they'll work on cleaning it out, but they still love all the old Shopkins and Polly Pockets and crazy unexpected things.  

I see the My Little Ponies and bath toys from 1985 or so.  They hold up well!

They've asked Santa for a new American Girl doll this year.  We've bought used ones for them and the Target brand, but this is the first genuine AG doll for both of them, and Santa is paying the price!  I'm going to get them some pets and accessories but not the furniture they want.  If I had $200, I would not spend it on a doll trundle bed.  Although it IS cute.  There were fascinated by an allergy emergency kit - doll-sized - with an inhaler and an Epi-Pen and medications.  I think we can make up some first aid kits for their dolls if they come sickly.  

Good news.  Target has a much more affordable set for around $8 instead of buying crutches and casts and all the other AG stuff for $32.  Pretty cute little inhaler.  Now I'm sure both dolls will arrive with asthma.  Correction:  I found a diabetes kit also, so that might be a neat thing.  Last year, Graysen's teacher and a student in their class was diabetic, and they had many discussions about diabetes and other diseases people might be suffering from.  I'm also sure they will fight over who gets which set.  

This is why I never get anything done.  I'm always off chasing ideas and forgetting what I'm doing.  I'll end this tonight with temps in the 20s and the idea of an early morning soccer game sounding less and less exciting.

Good Tuesday

 I worked so hard around the house yesterday that I was exhausted at bedtime.  With Elise moving, I'm sorting and re-positioning things that had been moved to make room for her stuff.

It doesn't take much to excite me, but I was so happy with one of my discoveries.  I pulled down a Christmas gift bag from the shelves in the garage and found it was full of other Christmas bags, which was nice enough on its own.  But I noticed there were some books in there too.  Not Christmas books, but children's books - the ones that we had lost in April or May.  Emily and I both had the stack of books in our hands and in one of the cars (we thought), but they never made it to the library.  I ended up paying $75 for those books and have been mad about it ever since!  Now I'll get a refund on them just in time for Christmas, so it was a great discovery.  

I have a good bit of room on the shelves Ryan put up for me.  I'm sure it won't take long to fill them up.  Elise will probably bring back her box of china from Grandma Ray and other things from Grandma Windham that she's not ready for yet.  Ryan and Emily may want to store some things too, but I'm not going to let it get filled up this time.  It's easy to do!  

Things against the wall either have to go or be hung on  the walls.

Ryan did a great job on these shelves, and I'm not sure what I'd do without them.  It needs a little work!

It's a nice cool day, not cold at all, but we're about to have some nights in the 20s, so I'm trying to enjoy it.  The girls have ice-skating in about 30 minutes, so that will be pretty chilly.  I really don't like driving after dark, so this won't be fun for me.

The cabinets for Steller Way were delivered today, so Ryan has his hands full getting those sorted out and ready to be built.  It's what they've been waiting for, so maybe that will be one more thing to finish this year.  He moved the fireplace from the corner to - really nowhere yet - but centered on the den wall when it's finished.  I wish that could be ready this winter.  

I got my ballot in.  The drop-off box is in front of the library, so I was able to get two things done at once.  Then in the grocery store where I had only two things to buy, I ran into my friend Phil, the former leasing manager at the apartments.  He and Marie lived across the landing from us, and I was sad to see them move on to another job and a place a little farther away.  It seems I run into them in Safeway when I do see them, and he always has questions about how we're all doing.  I'm glad he spoke first, because he has a beard, and I'm not sure I would have recognized him.  

Garbage and recycling have all been picked up, three packages for Christmas stockings have been delivered, and I'm on the way to having a clean house.  I even have plans for getting rid of two pieces of remaining furniture in my garage.  Things I hate to let go but things I know will never fit in my small place, either by size or by style.  

I ended the day getting the girl to the ice rink for their lessons and then driving home.  I had Emily pick them up because of the lights and pedestrians.  I'm afraid of running over someone! Guess it's time for an eye exam.

It was a nice day overall.  Tomorrow we have nothing planned after school.  We have to get home and tackle the homework.  I dread these next few cold nights.  There's snow on the mountains, but we aren't expecting any.