The day after

This was a nice way to wake up. It's 6:30 a.m. and the china and crystal from Thanksgiving dinner were washed and drying on the dining room table. Then I did the not-so-fun job of putting away all of the fall decorations. Why is putting up decorations so much more fun than taking them down and putting them away?

While Andy was working from home I got a start on the Christmas decorations. We're going with a red buffalo check theme this year. It's the same we did in 2020 but Danny was our only guest because of Covid.

I did go to work but we were told to come in at 1 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. Found out that while I was at work, Andy went to the local golf practice range for a couple of hours. So I spent the morning cleaning everything up when I could have been enjoying myself, but he takes the afternoon off and plays? I won't make that mistake next year. Puts quite a damper on his early morning dish-washing.

Thanksgiving

There will be seven of us for Thanksgiving dinner today so that gives us to spread out.

I set out water goblets and bread plates. We usually don't have space for that. Andy made fun of me for trying out different napkin folds the other night then deciding to go with a boring triangle fold. I think he will be on napkin-folding duty for Christmas.

Our pre-gathering tradition - a margarita when the house is clean, the table is set and everything is ready for the family to arrive.

Our next-door neighbors (and their dog) stopped by and surprised us with an Armenian dish - rice and spices baked in a pumpkin. So pretty. I believe it's ghapama.

All cut up and ready to serve.

So much food.

Ready for dinner.

Good thing I used two plates.

August tries to convince Julie to share her pie. Interesting tidbit I heard on the news: Thursday's high temperature of 35 degrees made this our coldest Thanksgiving since 2014. And temoeratures are expected to get colder this weekend.

L sent this picture of her and T's Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving prep

We've been getting ready this week to host Thanskgiving dinner. I tried quite a few failed turkey napkin folds before settling on the triangle fold.

Found the electric knife! Sometimes it requires a bit of a hunt.

My pecan pie is baked.

Stuffing is assembled.

Founders Day

My sorority sent a cute card and a sticker for Founders Day, Nov. 26. I got it a day late and, of course, it came with a request for money. I'm sure they'll accept a late donation lol.

Ready for winter

An unnecessary (but adorable) purchase for winter - a new phone clear case with snowflakes. And just so I remember, my sparkly case is in the little table by the front door. I'm sure by time spring comes I'll have forgotten where I put it.

L’s update

Look who passed Disney's proficiency test to receive a Japanese-speaking designation on her name tag! Yay, L! Interesting that the tag now has her hometown on it instead of her university. Andy and I thought the designation might say "I speak Japanese" but, no. B said it just says "Japanese."

L had this picture taken to show me the pretty Christmas tree at the Beach Club villas. I'm glad Disney will still have its Christmas decorations up when we visit her in January.

This guest liked L so much she left two great reviews!

She took this pretty picture when she was at Hollywood Studios on Sunday for a College Program event.

L with her coworkers at the oarty. Looks like they're having fun.

Satisfying Sunday

Our Sundy afternoon started out with Andy raking leaves and trimming the ivy and accidentally cutting the cord to the Christms lights we hung with the kids last Sunday. So we hung new lights.

We put up just one snowman because the others are missing pieces. (Allison is going to take those two for her back yard.) And we set up a new Christmas tree by the snowman. I decorated the flower boxes and we hung a sign.

We even put lights around the back porch and there were some extra so I decorated the Chicken and Hen we have on the back stairs.

And we had a fire. We haven't sat outside much this fall because of the oak mites that have been biting.

This was Andy's creative way to re-hang some of our string lights that had slipped off the wire. It worked. We're debating whether to put more lights on the front porch but it wasn't happening Sunday.

Thankoffering dinner

I made corn casserole and stuffing for the church's Thankoffering dinner last night. B said he'd come with us to eat the stuffing. He filled his plate with turkey and many different stuffings that were there. He said mine was the best. Aw.

My friend Maureen decorated the tables and did a fabulous job, as usual.

There were about 120 people there and eight at each table and for some reason our table was chosen first to go get food!

My plate. We brought home some turkey leftovers so we can use it for sandwiches. The deacons provide the turkey and people bring sides and desserts. There was a lot of food. I did notice there were no rolls so maybe next year I'll just bring rolls?

Andy's plate -- funny that someone brought the antipasto "turkeys" that Andy made for his work party.

B and our table companions.

Ready for guests

L's room had the worst ceiling fan. The light would shake whenever the fan was turned on. I think she hit it a lot when she would get in and out of her loft bed. Not the best idea to have a loft bed next to a ceiling fan. This new fan we got sits closer to the ceiling and looks so much better ... and it doesn't wobble.

We're not the neatest painters so we wanted to replace the carpet that was in L's room. Her rug was about 6x9 feet and we found some that were 7x10 feet (a little bigger) but not many patterns to choose from.

We settled on this because it has the blue to match the walls. I'm hoping the pattern grows on me. We'd still like to put a full-size bed in but that may have to wait.

Fitzgerald’s open house

I saw this posted on Facebook by our local nightclub and thought it could be interesting so I asked some friends and we got a group together to go Thursday night. The club has been trying to get on the National Register of Historic Places and this was their opportunity to share what they've done toward that goal with the community.

This was how they promoted it on Facebook: Welcome to the "BEST ROAD MUSEUM YOU'VE EVER SEEN." On November 21, we invite you to come see Fitzgerald's Nightclub in a way you’ve never seen before. We'll combine live music, delicious food, good drinks, and lots of fun, including an on-site tarot card reader; all while you tour our "museum-style" stage on the property's history. ... Each participant will receive a complimentary copy of the application used in our Landmark Landmark Registration process. Whether it’s your first time visiting or you’re a regular, this is a “one-night-only” opportunity to learn the full history of this one-of-a-kind music venue, over 100 years old. And guess what... it's free!

They had a tarot card reader. Here's our friend Renee being "read."

These are Renee's cards but I did it too. I said I didn't want to hear bad stuff. The reader asked if my mother was strong and opinionated. Nailed the opinionated part lol. L, though, who likes to think she reads tarot cards, said that's not something a tarot card could convey.

I was there more for the history and socializing. Here's a bad picture of our group of eight.

This is the application that was submitted to see if they can get on the National Register. There's a lot to read in there.

This band was playing jazz music from the 1920s and '30s.

Our first snow

It's been a mild fall but they said the snow was coming today and they weren't kidding. This was the snow outside the museum around 9 a.m.

It's hard to see but there's a snow plow in this picture taken at 10 a.m.

Andy worked from home today and sent this around 11 a.m. The weather forecasters were saying we wouldn't have enough snow to stick around. We're thinking they were wrong. Andy and B thought we got at least three inches. By the time I drove home from work it was mostly melted off the car and the streets were clear (but still slippery).

And yet, my Black-Eyed Susan hangs on. I think its days are numbered.

Gummy frog amputee

Andy bought a huge bag of gummy frogs on the way home from our Tower Hill weekend. We've been eating them since and he threatened to take the remainder of the bag (a little less than half left) to work so I put some in a sandwich bag and took some to work for myself. The bag was sold as "goof-ups" but neither of us could find anything wrong with them. Then, the other day, I pulled out one missing a front leg.

They’re turkeys

Andy's office Thanksgiving was today and he decided to make "turkeys" out of salami, pepperoni and provolone cheese with a pepperocini for the head and body.

This is the picture we've seen everywhere online. It looked cute and easy enough. Looks a little like a dinosaur head but on a Thanksgiving buffet you'd assume it's a turkey, right?

This is how Andy's turned out. His coworkers did realize they were turkeys so that's a win. Due to a mix-up with the caterer, the turkey and mashed potatoes never showed up (caterer thought the delivery was Friday). The caterer did send over some chicken, which Andy said wasn't good. At least they had everyone's potluck contributions to eat.