November 2021

It was a month of medical appointments. Rog and I had physicals for the first time in 2 years and we are good to go. We also had eye appointments and Rog is ready for new glasses. Overall, good reports for a couple of old folks. We topped it off with COVID booster shots. We got to spend some extra time with Karissa the week of parent teacher conferences. Minimum day schedule so we picked her up every day at 11:30 and her dad picked her up at 2:30. She spent most of the time working on her homework but it was nice to have her around. Karissa was a pirate in Peter Pan with the local theater group. The show was incredible and Karissa did a great job. After the show, we all went to Handel’s to celebrate with ice creams.

The kids came for a busy day of cooking before Thanksgiving. We made gingerbread cookies as place settings for Thanksgiving Dinner and then made pretzels for our weekend in Yosemite.

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner here. We started with the family picture but decided we would try again in Yosemite. The kids helped me set up and clean up and the gals made a couple of dishes so it was much easier on me. Everyone stayed and chatted after dinner which made it super enjoyable. The grandkids also had a blast with the poppers they gave me and Pops for birthdays this year.

Karissa has a new hobby of crafting earrings and she made a pair for each of the gals at the dinner. Mine were a pair of chocolate chip cookies. I love them!!

The day after Thanksgiving, we all headed up to MIdpines to spend a few days. I had rented an AirBNB and the weather gods were nice to us. The Blooms spent Friday at Yosemite, then joined us at the house for Beth’s taco dinner. We played Taboo together then hit the sack. The next day, we all headed to the park after breakfast. The Blooms hiked the Mist Trail and we spent the morning with Ryan and Beth. Rog had a ball showing Beth the sights and she appropriately oohed and awed at the major landmarks. Eric, Beth and Karissa had never been to Yosemite before so it was a lot of fun showing it off. That night, back at the house, Michelle made pot pies for dinner. We played a riotous game of “Heads Up” with a lot of laughs and loud clueing. It didn’t take long to clean up the next morning and head home. What a great weekend!

We got home by noon on Sunday and after unpacking, I started putting out the Christmas decorations. The next day, Rog helped me finish the tree and we were set for the holidays. Fall is in full swing and Rog and I have weekly leaf pick-up duties. Rog blows the leaves into a pile and I suck them up through the mulcher into the garbage bin. We even helped our neighbor mulch her leaves. Other than trimming, there isn’t much to do outside. We were able to finish laying stones on the side of the house, a project that has been partly done for over a year. Nice to finally finish it. Rog also caulked a couple of leaks in the gutters.