Whirlwind Week

I am going to be so ready for our next trip. I am meeting myself coming and going.

A couple has joined the Boomers and realized from the roster that we lived about a mile apart. They wanted to meet us so I invited them over Saturday evening after church for pizza. Cynthia is still working so their camping will be limited to weekends but Boomers will give them many opportunities. Right now we are not signed up for any upcoming outings with the Boomers. It was a pleasure meeting them and we look forward to a camping trip including them "down the road."

Both Terry and Ted were scheduled to play cards this week so we set up practice time. We met Terry and Carol and John and Irene Sunday at the country club for a bite and then went back to their house to play some Shang Hai.

I hosted afternoon Canasta at my house on Monday and that evening Terry and Carol came over to practice Canasta. Both fellows know both games but needed refresher courses.

Tuesday I rode with Cathy and Suzy to "Operation Independence." This is a non-profit that sends goodie bags with encouraging messages to the military. We packed 19 boxes containing almost a thousand bags. We were putting Christmas cards with greetings that are written by people from pre-school to adults in each bag . I turned one over from a boy named Mike and on the back he had written "kick some butt."  We all laughed at that one. I am sure the soldier receiving it will too.

With my "funeral deviled eggs" in hand I made my way to church on Wednesday for the funeral of Rose, our own funeral luncheon director. She was 5 days shy of her 62nd birthday when she died of brain cancer. It was only six weeks from beginning to end. I have only seen one other lay person given the pomp and circumstance that Rose was given and that was Ted's uncle who worked at the Cathedral in Chicago. What a wonderful tribute to a life well spent.

I met my neighbors for our monthly birthday luncheon on Thursday. We discussed the election, the water bills, the flyover scheduled for construction and some new info on a commuter train. We are all in agreement that we don't want to become a city. We are fine as a township. Jeanette brought birthday cupcakes for Gracie and me and I was able to celebrate one more time!

Just to be sure I didn't starve, we were off to Macaroni Grill to play Shang Hai. I ate my salad and one piece of my chicken parmesan. Ted ate another piece and I brought the rest home.

No one can sit with their spouse when playing cards but Irene said Ted did fine at her table. We had two fellows that were really slow at my table and we ended up playing only 5 of the 6 games in more time than it took all four other tables to play all 6. We chose not to play the last game. We only were subbing so it will be up to Irene to figure out how to correct this.

Tonight we are meeting the fellow I worked for at Celanese and his wife for dinner. They are in town from Michigan visiting their son. If my week hadn't been so busy I would have cooked dinner but they want to try the New Orleans Kitchen restaurant.  Works for me!

We have plans for the weekend and it includes cards, food and church. This is all sounding repetitious.  We need a change of scenery.  My November blogs will be way better as we do our five days in Rome, visit the ports along the southern coasts of France and Spain and throw in the Canary Islands and Bahamas.  There should be lots of pictures too.

It is sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew ~ Henry Rollins

Rest in peace, Rose.  You will be missed.