Jim is home for the holiday, and our son managed to get two tickets to the ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. The original plan was that he and his dad would take the Metro, leaving here by 8:30 a.m., to get there in plenty of time for the 10:30-ish ceremony. (Yeah, Jim is of those who would prefer to get to the airport two days ahead of time! LOL...)
Anyway, he decided this morning that he's too old and in too much pain to sit in the freezing rain for hours, so our son went by himself. He had great seats (about 20 feet away from Michelle Obama), and even remembered to take his umbrella. He also decided to drive instead of taking the Metro. (Good decision...) He was going to visit his two sets of grandparents after the ceremony, but the area where my parents are buried was completely blocked for security reasons because they're near the path where the President (et al) have to walk from the motorcade to the Tomb of the Unknowns, and the Amphitheater, so he had to abandon that idea. Jim's parents are way over on the other side of the cemetery, so given the security issues, and the rain, our son had to abandon his well-intentioned plan to visit the graves.
I had lunch with a girlfriend Ann yesterday (a childhood friend), and ate too much... We had a nice time, though, and agreed that we need to make time to have lunch together more frequently.
Jim leaves tomorrow for Arizona so he can take pictures at the Wild Horse Pass Resort. These are the ones that will get us our free rooms next May, which is a good thing since we'll need about four, for about five days!
Am running. Soaking-wet son is coming to dinner in a few hours...
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Well, here it is Friday already!! I've had a busy couple of days and haven't been around much. Ted was also off work on Wednesday but we managed to fill up the day with all sorts of mundane errands, then Thursday came and went amidst Maria's loud banging and vacuuming, running off to parents', all that kind of thing.
Today, again, it's Friday's obligations and I have to admit to being really sick to pieces of it, but complaining is selfish so I'll just shut the heck up. November has been really good to us up here with sunshine and warmer than usual temperatures, a lovely conclusion to an autumn that, in my memory, has been one of the most beautiful, ever. I'm still reeling a bit at how early we have nightfall. For some weird reason it's hitting me harder than it had in the past, not that I can do anything about it, LOL.
Shelly is in the middle of her relocation now. Her movers are coming today, then they head off to the northern peninsula of Michigan to Vinnie's family's place for the holidays before making their way into Virginia. Safe journey, Kandians!! And a happy half a birthday to the twins!
Mike leaves for his winter in NZ in 9 days. He's renting a storage unit for the furniture he has this time, thank goodness. Ted and I are taking him and Maya out for a farewell dinner next Tuesday, a week before they fly off to Calgary, rent a car, drive to Whistler to spend a few days with Nick, then head down to LA to catch their Fuji Air flight to Auckland. How I wish he'd settle down, but alas...*sigh*.
So, Moore, any firmed up plans for Thanksgiving yet? Are you going to cook the big bird and all the fixings? How do you decorate the table for the festivities? Sundancer? What's up for your plans, Jojo and Bran? Still as reported last week?
Shower time for me. I'll try to check in later today.
KaeEll, it's just scary how quickly time is flying by! Weeks just drop away...
Jim is in Arizona, and had a seriously ridiculous dinner with AZ-D, at Wild Horse Pass. The hotel restaurant, Kai, is the one last remaining five-star restaurant left in Arizona. Apparently, there was another one down in Tucson, but it closed recently. Jim said that the food was just amazing, as was the service (four waiters per table), and the crystal wine glasses were like pieces of art. He said that the hand-blown stems were as thin as a piece of wire, and the wine waiter (don't know if he was actually the sommelier) said that they break at least two a day, just washing them. At $60.00 a glass, that adds up!
By the end of the meal, Jim and AZ-D were stuffed to the gills. When Jim got the bill, he discovered that the hotel had also paid for most of the meal; he paid only about $40.00 for what otherwise would've been close to $250.00!
I know you're going to miss Mike. It's never easy letting go, no matter how old they are...
Shelly, if you see this post, I wish all of you the best of holidays, and safe travels. I cannot even begin to imagine organizing a move with three young children in the household, including infant twins!! I'm sure that you'll have a wonderful time in Michigan! Please check in as often as you can. We'll be thinking of you...
KaeEll, I can well imagine that you're beyond exhausted with your Friday routine. Jim had a routine with his parents, when they were declining, and it was really difficult on him. They lived an hour from here, and for a brief period of time, he was spending all day Sunday there, and also spending the night. He would then drive all the way from Hillsboro (which is beyond Leesburg), all the way into Washington, DC on Monday mornings. The first stretch of road was two-lane, and the only artery out of Hillsboro, and traffic just crawled. In the meantime, our kids were still fairly young, so they and I were here with our own weekday (school) routines. By the time Jim would arrive at the office, he was already exhausted from all of the drama in his parents' household, from his very early morning, and from the long commute. Ultimately, he reduced his visits to Sundays (no overnight), unless there were other reasons to go out there (and there were actually plenty of those while his mother was still alive), but of course it was still a two-hour round trip.
Honestly, it would take me pages to describe everything that he was dealing with out there, for a number of years, but the good news is that he managed to forge a very close relationship with his father, and he still cherishes that...
As for Thanksgiving, I talked to NC-D yesterday, and she's decided to stay in NC this year. She, Loren, and two of their closest friends are going to put together their own feast, and I think they're going to have fun doing it! I sent her my usual menu, and a few little tips. I'll pass on recipes and instructions later, after the gang has decided what they want to have. I think she's a little bit excited about it now! AZ-D is staying in Arizona, so it looks like it'll just be Jim, me, and our son.
I have no clue what I'll do with the table, but I probably won't decorate as much as I might if the entire gang were going to be here. We'll see... How about you?
-- Edited by Moore ideas on Friday 13th of November 2009 11:01:18 AM
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Well I am currently in our 1 moment of downtime while Vinnie takes the cable boxes back to the company. Our house is empty. The movers were fast, I couldn't believe how fast they got everything out.
Anyways, we don't actually leave CT until next Wednesday. This weekend will be spent cleaning and then we have our inspection Monday.
