Down Time

I always think of the week after Thanksgiving as "down time". The house is quiet-the last kids and grandkids have gone home and even though we're a little sad to see them go, we can relax a bit. I even took a nap yesterday afternoon, which I almost never do.

Today will be the ceremonial throwing out of the last of the leftovers and a trip to the dump with several more than usual bags of garbage! (Amazing how much trash 12 people can generate over a long weekend.) This week,I need to get tons of laundry put away, take down all of the fall decorations and give the house another clean. (I thought I said this was Down Time?!)

This weekend, we will be traveling up close to the Texas panhandle to celebrate "Christmas in the Foothills" in a little town called Matador. A friend, my son and I have a folk/oldies group that sing at events from time to time and we have been asked to sing for this. My husband, who has a lovely tenor voice (though he won't admit it), will be joining us. The local stores will be open late, and there will be food, crafts and we will be singing Christmas carols. In true Texas fashion, Santa will be arriving by stage coach and I know our 2 youngest grandsons (our son's boys) will be very excited. Yesterday, I asked the 5 year old what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas and he said "I'd like a scooter to give to my friend and then...just whatever he wants to bring me." He is a real sweetheart!

I will probably start decorating next week. I've been so excited to finally get my piano moved back to my house and I've really been enjoying playing again, especially my Christmas music. I have, however, found the one flaw in having it back. It's taken the corner where the Christmas tree goes and I can't for the life of me figure out another place to put it! I may have to invest in a table top tree this year.

It Was a Good Day

There were 12 of us yesterday-us,both of our kids and their families and my brother. We laughed and talked and ate too much. The kids played until they were worn out, and the turkey actually got done before we were ready for it! (That NEVER happens!) I had so much fun and was so busy, I forgot to take any pictures. My brother and I reminisced and laughed about everything! I forget what a funny guy he is.  Our house is quiet now. Our daughter and son in law and their crew live less than an hour away, so they went home yesterday afternoon. My brother lives a couple of hours away and left this morning. Our son, daughter in law and their boys have gone to visit her grandparents in the area. They will be back tonight, and tomorrow our daughter and family will be back. (We may get through those leftovers yet!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Veteran's Day

November

I found this poem and thought it describes November beautifully:

Happy Halloween!

When I was little, this was my favorite holiday-dressing up, getting candy, going to parties, what's not to like?  I remember when I was 4 or 5, my brother had chicken pox on Halloween, so I took his trick or treat bag and asked for candy for him too. My mom said I would tell people he had "chicken pops" and they thought it was so cute they were happy to give us extra candy! I remember several Halloween parties too, one at our house.  One year when I was still young, my uncle (who was young enough to be more of an older brother) set up a big sheet covered ghost on the front porch and then rigged it with a hidden speaker in it.  He could peek through the curtains on the window to see when kids came up to the door and talk through a microphone and make the ghost talk to them. Had more that a few screams that night, but I don't think it scared many away! My parents took me back to the room where he was sitting so that I could be in on the joke and not be scared! Lots of good memories.

We'll be going trick or treating with 2 of our 3 local grands tonight. The oldest is 12 and I think she's going to dress up and hand out candy. Before we moved close to the grandkids, we would turn out all of the lights and pretend we weren't home, but being here where we can be with them has made Halloween fun all over again!

Vacation

We have always wanted to go to Nova Scotia and we finally did so last week. We only had a week so it was kind of a whirlwind trip. We flew out to Portland, Maine on Oct. 20th, rented a car and spent the night, then drove the loop around Acadia National Park. 10 years ago, we made a trip to New England to see the fall foliage and didn't make it to the park. Now we have our Golden Age pass and got in free! It was beautiful.

(I have so many photos from the trip, but I'll try not to overload you!) After Acadia, we drove into Canada and spent the night in St. John, New Brunswick. We drove to Whycocomaugh, Cape Breton the next day. We were afraid we might have missed the autumn leaves leaving so late in October, but this year they lasted until we left!

We drove the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton on Tuesday the 23rd. It was amazing!

We returned to Whycocomaugh that night and then drove to Halifax, NS Wednesday. These falls were on the way.

The next day, we drove around the southern tip of Nova Scotia-we saw so many beautiful places and met some lovely people.

We spent Thursday night back in the Halifax area and then headed back to Portland Maine Friday.  Saturday we were able to visit the Portland Head and Cape Elizabeth Lighthouses before we had to head for the airport. It was cold, wet and windy as we caught the season's first Nor'easter.

We got home about 11pm Saturday night. We enjoyed this wonderful trip so much, but there's no place like home!