All Signed Up!

It took some doing but I finally got everything in order for our cruise.  We will travel over Thanksgiving next year for about 3 weeks.  We start in Barcelona so we opted to fly in a day early 1) to be sure we arrive on time and 2) to have a day to look around Barcelona.  They have a three route hop on/hop off bus tour that will work just fine to make good use of the short time we have.  We will be transported to the hotel from the airport and then to the ship by the cruise line.  This is our itinerary.  It is a good mix of things we will see nowhere else and enough cruising time to be be totally relaxed a good bit of the time.  I always have wanted to visit Dubai.  

It was a quiet week overall.  Our yearly heating inspection was done and we need a new thermostat.  Ours will not work with 5G Wi-Fi which is what our home and phones are.  We were ok until Ted got his new 5G phone.  Now it has a mind of its own and we are constantly having to adjust it.  Patrick will put in a new one when they come down for Christmas.  We also have a light switch that needs attention.  Son in laws are great.  Bill always finds things to fix when he comes too.  Keith and Steve did a couple things while here also.  Maintenance just never stops when you own a 20 year old home.  We are so grateful for their help.  Some things are so minor you can’t find someone to hire.  Ted is not much of a handyman; in fact, I try to fix things before I ever bring it to his attention because he will make it worse.  Good thing he has many other qualities!  

We had a delightful visit at our friends Thanksgiving dinner.  There was so much food!  My apple pie was exceptional if I say so myself.  Ted proclaimed the pumpkin excellent too.  I only ate a sliver of apple pie just to be sure it was ok!  I am hating these hormone pills and their crusade against me and the scale!  

I found myself with time to set some decorations out.  This coming week starts an extraordinarily busy month so I am using every lull in my schedule.  I don’t normally decorate at all but the Duda’s are coming so I am doing easy things because I need to put it all away before we leave for Mission, TX.  I tackled the linens in 5 drawers and tossed some in the Paralyzed Veterans Bag.  I had tablecloths that fit no table I have and sets of napkins with stained or missing ones.  Now I have some empty drawers!

Then I decided to bake some cookies.  I had ingredients for peanut butter ones so I made them.  I will make three more kinds - haystacks, macaroons and butter cookies.  Only the butter will have gluten so Cassie will be happy to have a selection to choose from.  I hope they eat them all!  

The house next door has sale pending.  I know nothing about the purchasers and depending on their closing date, we may not meet them until March!  I do hope it is empty nesters or retirees.  It has been such a pleasant, quiet neighborhood for these past 20 years.  

Here are a few photos of the gatherings we missed by not flying to Michigan. CeCe obviously thought if some candies were good, more would be better.

Kara hosted family and friends at her house in Michigan using Grandma Kennedy’s Royal Doulton china she inherited.