The New Water Cooler
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We've chosen a house paint color (dark dark green) and now to choose the roof shingles. We decided on a roofing company so they will bring out larger shingle samples to compare with paint so we can choose and put money down on materials. Prices may go up after new administration gets to Washington so we want to lock in on price of materials now. We would have roof done in April/May and schedule painters for early summer, hopefully. Biggest project will be done if we can get it scheduled and completed.
Haircut this morning and may go to nursing home to see Sarah this afternoon. Hope Covid has not gotten to her. I need to get a lot of rows done on Ellis' poncho today too.
Hump day!0 -
Started feeling sick yesterday. Feeling worse today. So far it’s a sore throat. Just what nobody ever wants0
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Gargling with hot salt water always helps my sore throat. Icky but effective.
I did a little Christmas shopping for the littles this morning after swim class.
Rainy day here. Hope you feel better soon.0 -
Ooooh. Dark green! That sounds beautiful. I would love to maybe change my house color someday.
Feeling a bit better today. Hopefully on the mend.
Friyay0 -
I hope you feel better and have a good weekend. Rest and watch Hallmark movies or something lazy.
I'm working on Christmas gifts for the grand kids. Next week I will go to a great book store in Traverse City and choose some books to put in the Christmas box. 29 rows left to knit and then I sew the poncho pieces together. Very possible I will be done by early next week.
Deer season with guns began today. I've been hearing lots of gun shots. I haven't seen any deer around here in months. I did see two on the other end of the county when driving. They get good at hiding I think. Does Bernie or the boys hunt? Do you?
I got Russ to give up some of the Thanksgiving food and let the guests bring dishes to share. We will have 8 adults at our table on Thanksgiving. Russ will roast the turkey, make stuffing, mashed potatoes, Rory and Hannah will make the sweet potatoes, Hannah and I are making desserts, and guests are bringing vegetable casseroles, rolls, cranberry relish and wine. I will only have to set one table.
Gray, cold day!
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That’s great that you get to have Rory and Hannah for thanksgiving! There have been so many gunshots around here this weekend and it’s so weird. I have never heard gunshots in this place before. I can say I’m not thrilled they are close enough that I can hear them. Bernie used to hunt. Zach has no interest and definitely not the stomach for it (like me). Caleb got his youth hunter education years ago but only went out a couple of times and then other things became more important. He never “got one”.
I have to find out what Michele wants me to bring. And then plan other food for the weekend. I feel much better. Aside from the fact that I probably gained five pounds this weekend. I have eaten and eaten. Back on track tomorrow and hopefully enough time to undue the damage before the long weekend when I’ll have another food palooza. It’s never the one meal, it’s having extra days at home and lots of snacky times0 -
Russ doesn't hunt. David does up in AK and Rory really hasn't hunted either. Lots of gun shots around here too.
I volunteered for Power Book Bags today for 3 hours. They gave us pizza while we worked. I will go back tomorrow afternoon for my usual time. I also visited Sarah at the nursing home. She was really slurring her words. I assume that happens when she is tired because it isn't always the case.
Busy week getting ready for Hannah, Rory, Christmas boxes for grands, Thanksgiving grocery list and going through more boxes in the pole barn. I got through half of them yesterday. Mouse poop in many of the boxes. Gross! Those suckers can get into anything.
I may try planting garlic in my garden tomorrow and see if it comes up in June.
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Garlic is planted! It should come up by August if it grows.
I volunteered at Power Book Bags today for a couple of hours. I was there last night for 3 hours. We got a lot done for the holiday give away of books.
Tomorrow the guy from the roofing company is bringing out shingle samples for us to look at and we will have him go ahead and order for our house so we lock in at prices now. If we wait to purchase in the spring, tariffs might be in place and our price would go up or just inflation could be up. We don't want to pay more. It already costs a small fortune.
I am going to tell my family that they are not to talk politics on Thanksgiving at our house. I want a politics free zone for the day. I don't need Donald Trump to be the talk of our dinner table. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I don't want it ruined. They don't like him but sure love to talk about him. Drives me crazy. Russ and I haven't watched the news since Nov 6th. I can't listen to all the analysis, crazy appointments for his cabinet, etc. I will stay
in my bubble as much as possible.
Watching Hallmark movies for Christmas!0 -
My niece took my grandmother's china! Yay! It is in her car, not my pole barn. She is interested in my Mom's punch bowl and cups. I just need to get it out of it's box and see its condition first.
Abby, my niece, and I hiked a trail outside Suttons Bay I did not know existed. It is preserved land by the Leelanau Nature Conservancy. Quite the hike up and down hills. I'll go back there again.
I'm chilled right now and am watching Hallmark movies. I need to go out to the pole barn and tackle a couple more boxes today. Tomorrow I have Christmas errands to do.
How is your week going?0 -
How wonderful that your niece wanted the china and maybe the punch bowl. I bet that makes you feel!
Ugh, this week. Bernie is sick this week. Probably because of me. 😞. The dryer took a poop this weekend so Bernie is trying to figure it out. Hopefully he can fix it.
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Zach has an interview on Monday! Thank you God for the opportunity. If you are of the mind I would dearly appreciate a prayer for Zach. It’s at BD again. The department that he interviewed with a year ago and was moments away from an offer before they had to give it to the closed plant person. The place that Zach was so excited about (I can see myself doing really well there). Please God let this be the time and the place0
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I will pray for Z and his interview. They are calling him back so that is a great sign, isn't it? Fingers crossed, best wishes, prayers, and good luck!
Yesterday I hiked a nice trail nearby with my niece. She took the china, and I have to repack the punch bowl and Halloween costumes she will take off my hands. Yay!
I did a lot of Christmas shopping today. Just a few more items and I'm done. Tomorrow I clean the guest bathroom and get ready for Hannah and Rory on Saturday. I need to wrap their gifts so they can take them back to Mpls.
I have told family no talk of politics at the Thanksgiving table next week. Politics free zone!!
I am going to make manicotti on Saturday for dinner and also 2 extra pans for freezing. Rory and Hannah can take one home.
TGIF for you!0 -
Ooh manicotti sounds good. I remember Caleb wanting it during the pandemic and it was one of the recipes we tried out. I think it was just a recipe off the internet. Filled with some sort of ricotta filling. Hmmm0
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I can’t even imagine Christmas yet. Great job on your shopping and preparing.
We are planning to get up early to do our grocery shopping tomorrow and hopefully miss the crowds of the pre holiday weekend.0 -
Oh yeah, Friyay0
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It is helpful to shop as much as possible ahead of time. Russ will do his main shopping on Monday or Tuesday but he has been to the store a few times because Rory and Hannah arrive today. I will spend my afternoon stuffing manicotti shells and making 3 pans of manicotti. We will have the big pan for dinner tonight with Caesar Salad and garlic bread. The 8x8's will be frozen, one for us for later, and one for them to take home. Rory loves Manicotti!
I need to make a list of my ingredients for pie and cupcakes for desserts Hannah and I will make on Wednesday. She plans to make her chili for us one night for dinner. She is a keeper!
Rainy here for the past 3 days. Gray and dreary. I hope we see sun this weekend.
Do you have to work through Wednesday? How is Z feeling about upcoming meeting for the job?0 -
Great day for Huskers yesterday. Volleyball swept Wisconsin for the second time this year. One more ranked game in conference play and then tourney starts. We should stay hosting a regional bracket until the semifinals. We’ll see how it goes
Tomorrow is one of my least favorite days getting all the scanned hours ready for payroll extra early due to early cut off because of the holiday. Extra anxiety on a Monday that is always stressful anyway. And anxiety for Zach too. Phew. I need to go to church tonight and bump up the prayer. I know God hears me at home too, I just know I need to do it anyway. It gets hard to go if I don’t get there monthly0 -
Well the interview is over. He thought it went well. They said it would be December before a decision. Sigh. Please God. This time.0
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I hope Z gets the job. It must be so discouraging. Is he doing any other work right now? Prayer always helps!
Hannah and Rory have been here since Saturday. We are having a nice visit. Hannah went with me to Aquafit this morning. She and Rory are doing errands today. Russ is brining the turkey, I will make my gravy base, and Hannah and I will begin baking holiday dessert tonight.
We have had gray, rainy days for several days. It is so dark and gloomy outside. There was a dusting of snow on the orchards and farm fields on the way to the Y.
Do you have to work through Wed?0 -
I’m done for the week!!!!!
Enjoy your visit 🤗0 -
Happy Thanksgiving!0
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Happy almost thanksgiving! I made the old family favorite layered lettuce salad, a three bean salad, baby food bars (it’s just a carrot bar recipe that uses some baby food which keeps them really moist) and some brownies for Caitlin. Ready to go and enjoy the meal. Caleb came home this morning and we are all enjoying visiting with him.0
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It sounds like a nice Thanksgiving all around. Ours went well except my middle sister Becky sat down on a dining room chair and it collapsed and she fell and bumped her head. The chair is a goner too. Luckily she is ok as far as I know. She has fallen off her bike a few times when she continues to ride on rough, gravel roads or goes too fast. She doesn't learn from these incidents. She was cutting the pumpkin pie I made for everyone to pass out pieces. I have that Pampered Chef pie cutter that has a plastic protective sleeve. She did not recognize that the sleeve needs to come off and cut the first slice with it on. It got all clogged up with pie inside and out. Later she was carrying Lynn's bag of salad stuff she had brought out to her car and dropped the bag. Not sure if anything in there was broken or not. Then she was suppose to let Lynn follow her home because Lynn has poor night vision. We got our first snowfall yesterday evening and it accumulated fast so roads were slippery and snow covered. Not a good situation for Lynn at night. Becky took a shortcut home on a hilly, curvy road knowing Lynn was following her. Lynn chose not to follow Becky on that road and took the main roads instead. I don't know if Becky is having issues with coordination and/or cognitive stuff or if she is just unaware and all about her. Very weird to watch my sisters age. I know I will be their age in 6-10 years but I hope I age better.
I am making turkey stock from the carcass. Eventually I will use it to make soup. Tomorrow Hannah and I go to the holiday boutiques in each village in the county. We will also go view the gingerbread house display and do some soup tasting at the end of the day (restaurants are submitting soups and the public can taste and judge).
I have heard of those carrot bars but haven't tasted them. I'm glad you are enjoying your visit with C.0 -
Good food, pretty good time, a few feelings bump- when someone asked if we were drawing names this year and looked at me I said I decided not to bring it up again since it seemed like not everyone was happy about it last year. Everyone denied being unhappy and drawing names was decided including using an app. Then the next day Zach and I butted heads about his wish list when he wouldn’t put anything but socks on it. So I wasn’t feeling great after that. Zach apologized later. Caleb left this morning after Bernie went to the Bomgaars Black Friday madness to get him on work coat for like 60-70 percent off normal price. It was nice to see him. He will be back 12/19 to go see an oral surgeon and most likely get his wisdom teeth removed. He’ll have to stay home for several days after that.
Sorry your sister fell. Hopefully she feels okay
Your visit with Rory and Hannah sounds great! Will you see them again for Christmas?0 -
Did you use Elfster? We did that the last two years but aren't exchanging gifts/choosing names this year. David is in Guam and Japan for work over Christmas, Karah is due any day with the baby and they are trying to stay low key, but we did exchange gifts with Rory and Hannah this past week which was fun. Getting the boys and DILs to complete their wish lists took lots of reminders. I was tech challenged with Elfster and Hannah had to help me access it last year.
Hannah and I had a nice day shopping the holiday boutiques and soup tasting. When we were done at the last boutique we texted Russ and Rory and they met us at a restaurant for dinner. We had a nice time and bought a lot
of stuff. By the time we got to the last village the gingerbread house viewing was done for the day. I will try to make a trip there another weekend.
They leave for Mpls in the morning. It was a fast week. We won't see them again until Spring. I've heard removing wisdom teeth is an unpleasant recovery.0 -
Hannah and Rory are on their way home:( It is always hard to see the kids leave knowing it will be months before we see them again. We also worry until we know they are home safe. Luckily they had an alternate route to get to the Mackinac Bridge. Hwy I-75 where they would typically use to get to the bridge is in a snow belt and has had two feet of snow since Thanksgiving day. They are taking the lake road to the bridge and their should be less snow falling and accumulation. The U.P. is clear today so that is good news. Hannah's car is having issues and was checked by a mechanic while they were here. They said they should be able to get home and have it fixed with their mechanic there. Fingers crossed...
I'm feeling lazy today but need to feed my starter. I want to make small bread bowls for turkey soup this week.0 -
oh dear, car trouble is the worst. I hope they made it back without any snow issues or car issues.
Having five days off last week sure was nice. Made coming back even harder. I could happily have a five day weekend every weekend.
The app we used is just called drawing names and they picked that because Caitlin said that is what they used with her husbands family.
I honestly don't get why Caleb is all fired up to get his wisdom teeth out. I think the dentist must have made him think he should do it. Caleb has never mentioned having pain from his teeth and that is why I had mine done over the years, but both Bernie and Zach still have theirs because they never had issues, so I thought Caleb would be the same since his face/jaw is like theirs. I think he is going to regret it in the sense that it will be a lot more uncomfortable than he anticipates.
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They got home safe but were delayed by accidents on Hwy 94 as they entered St. Paul. Long trip!
I had two wisdom teeth pulled that had popped through my gums. They didn't bother me but the dentist recommended they be pulled due to the possibility of cavities/rot since they are in the back of the mouth and not easy to brush. I still have two that never came through, I think.
We have a lot of snow and more expected tomorrow. December is the same as last year. Snow falling and really pretty until it stopped and the winter was brown. It is suppose to warm up next week so it will all melt.
I made the turkey noodle soup in the crockpot and baked the sourdough bread bowls. The bowls tasted good but the dough was hard to work with and hard to shape the bowls. They baked well but the seal on the bottom of the bowl was pretty amateur and allowed leakage. I put the bread bowl inside another bowl and then filled the bread bowl with soup. It was tasty but I need to practice the bread bowls. Sourdough is a challenge...
Tomorrow I need to wrap AK and FL family's presents and get ready to send to them.
Karah will be induced on Thursday if baby hasn't arrived before then. I don't know why but doctors seem to do that for some reason. Two of mine were induced. I don't know if they have chosen a name or not. They haven't said anything to us about it.
Will Z hear something this week?0 -
I keep praying for news, good news, but nothing yet
Sending healthy baby wishes. I wasn’t fully induced, my labor had started but I guess it didn’t progress like they wanted so I did have to get hit with whatever that drug was, pitocin?
Grinding through the week0 -
The snow keeps falling and the wind is blowing. Tomorrow wind gusts are suppose to be around 40-50mph which will create blizzard conditions if it happens. I haven't been on the roads in the past two days. Snow covered and lots of accidents. Winter came in like a lion.
I started wrapping presents for FL and AK today. I will finish tomorrow and get them packed to mail. My goal would be to mail by Friday if possible, otherwise Monday at the latest. I'm not sure if I should use UPS or post office. UPS is more dependable but might be more expensive.
We need to get busy making reservations for our winter road trip. Only FL is confirmed so far. This weekend...
Fingers crossed for Z!
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