Living in the moment with ice cream

The other day I was eating ice cream with a brownie. Yum! Except that I was almost finished eating and realized I had eaten almost all of it without being present and enjoying it. Maybe I was reading a book, or just thinking of other things. I am trying to be conscious of living in the moment, which would have meant I enjoyed that special treat instead of just no longer being hungry.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our family has the tradition that we spend Thanksgiving day at Shawn and Stacey's house. Several other things have become tradition too: Her Dad makes the turkey (sometimes smoked), other family members make corn soufflé, green been casserole, and jello salad. Stacey makes the mashed potatoes and gravy and of course offers her house. My part is candied sweet potatoes and desserts. This year I am bringing a cherry pie, chocolate cake roll, pecan pie bars and home made dinner rolls.

End of an Era

On Friday I attended a Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast for the non profit I have worked with for 10 -yes 10- years. I have resigned from the Board of Directors and as chair of two committees. What am I going to do with my time?? Anyway, they chose me as Volunteer of the Year. I really was honored. But I know I am just one cog in the wheel, lots of people have given their time and skills to make it the strong organization that it is.

This weekend DH and I worked on a sturdy shelf that he is building in his shop which will hold several motorcycles. Pictures will follow when it is complete. Yesterday we retrieved all the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic. Today we put the lights up on the front porch. Then I will start with the indoor trees. Last year I was so late getting them up that it hardly seemed worth the effort.

My Christmas Cacti are in full bloom. Guess I will rename them Thanksgiving Cactus.

The picture on the wall behind the plant is an oil painting by Gerry's uncle Rudy who started painting after he retired. He now is in his 90s.

Red Hat and Cake

Not to be outdone by my daughter who posted a picture of herself in a hat, I am doing the same.

Today my Red Hat Ladies Group went out for lunch, to a gift/craft store and to a bulk food store.

I had not been to any of these places which are about 20 miles from my house. I bought the purple shirt from Goodwill and Queen Mum gave me the hat. For the Christmas party we are to wear red and purple pajamas. That should be interesting. I may not post pictures :)

For the Foodies in my reading audience I am posting a picture of the birthday cake granddaughter made when she was visiting.

Recap of K's visit

To all of you who have young children, you have my great admiration. I love having my granddaughter here. My expectations are that I will spend most of my time with her, leaving my other projects for another time. Children are such a joy, but a bit tiring to the grandmother.

Shawn posted a picture on his blog of K riding her four wheeler which she calls her motorcycle. I walk/jog beside her when she rides. Actually it is not a difficult as it sounds because she stops frequently to pick every dandelion flower or seed pod that she sees. My job is to carry them so she can put them in a vase in her bedroom. I did convince her to pull the seeds out and watch the wind carry they away. She said the remaining stem was beautiful and put in in the vase.

I left a message for her mother this morning to check her pockets before putting a load in the laundry. I remembered her filling her pocket with rocks. I can't wait to see what her brother will put in his pockets.

Granddaughter visiting

It sure is interesting having a 31/2 year old around for a few days. Her mother and brother flew to Minnesota for the memorial service for her aunt. Her Dad stayed in Ohio and is working during the day. I found out she is quite a backseat driver. Yesterday she kept telling me not to drive into the beach. When we came to a red light she said, "You can turn right on red if you look both ways." She loves trains so noted all the train tracks we crossed. She asked if the trains went in a circle.

I gave her an old cell phone today (not working). With her great imagination, she asked me to take her picture so she could post it on her blog. So, never a dull moment. She woke up before me this morning and was in the laundry room blowing bubbles.

This weekend the temperature was 65 and sunny, making it perfect conditions for outdoor projects. Yesterday Gerry went up on the roof of the house to put roofing tar on several loose shingles. He even tied a rope around his waist to catch him in case he slipped. Today he put a vent in the roof of my garden shed. We also worked on the compost pile. We shredded the large pieces and I shoveled all of the pile that I had previously made into the box he made a couple weeks ago. By next Spring I should have lots of "black gold" to put on my garden and flowers.

Doing My Civic Duty

As all of you who live in the US know, today was election day. I again worked as a poll worker. It is a high paying job. I am paid $100 for the first hour and then work the next 14 hours for free. It is a really long day, but I do enjoy it. I have worked with two of the other workers three times now.

I was really impressed with the voters in our rural township. We had 48% of registered voters voting today. Farmers who were out harvesting,took time to come in and vote. They would come in their dirty, torn clothes, but were there.