Good morning Kitty.  Chilly 23 degrees here this morn.  Getting ready to put our tree up.

Have to figure out how to fit it in with the elliptical and the dog kennel.  My wife made up

the bay window very well for Christmas.  Haven't started our shopping or cards yet.

A mouse got into the house somewhere and was in some dresser drawers so wife is washing

clothes or whatever is in them and cleaning them out.  I fixed some of the drawers that

needed it.  We caught a mouse in a trap.

Guess we're ready for Winter, would come anyway.  Always good to get everything ready

though.  I still have to put those heated mats out yet, that cover the one deck and steps.

The wall switch is still running the second sump pump but will transfer it over soon.  Trying

to keep our grocery bill under $200 a week for two people, can you believe it?  Lots of things

like paper towels, tissues, hand lotion, over the counter med, stuck in with food though.  I don't

even want to say what I remember paying for groceries for 3 or 4 of us in days gone by.  I am

grateful Wegmans moved in 3 miles away though.  Their fruit is much fresher than the store that

was here before them.  Hated to even buy it from that other store.  Store is much cleaner too, and

not easy to beat their prices.  If you run around to 3 or 4 stores looking for bargains but we don't

bother.  Grocery day today and it's partly sunny.

The soup sounds goo Kitty and hope your daughter has a happy marriage and life.

Enjoy the day all, weather not bad here and we're in good health.

Ernie

Brandy and grandsons.

adorable pic.....and daughters marriage has lasted....they are now grandparents.....we are ready for Christmas....just have to wrap some stuff.....hope your day is great...it is 19 out there now....brrr.....

Good morning Kitty.  A little warmer this morn at 32, northeast is supposed to be warmer

than average until the middle of the month.  I see your area is even warmer than ours,

forecast anyway.  It's a good thing because I saw that the outside tread of the rear tires

on my Baja is worn out.  Thought it was the alignment I got in January after replacing so

much of the rear frame and suspension but read that there's no camber adjustment on

the Baja.  Jacked it up to take a look at bushings and bearings, bushings on the upper control

arms are worn out.  Ordered them last night and will have to replace them outdoors.  I

try to get larger maintenance jobs done before cold weather but don't always see them coming.

They are so bad I can see gaps just looking at them.  I took a picture but can't get the angle to

show the gaps.  Was trying to save money on groceries and now over $200 for these arms with

new bushings, not to mention the tires are almost shot.  They had 8 mm tread on them when I

rotated them to the rear last Spring.  Hard to believe I bought this Subaru new back when we

stopped smoking.

I have our garbage and daughter's to take care of today, nice to see daughter and family.  We

don't have pizza night until our dogs mature some and get along with hers.  Our dogs go nuts

with other dogs in our house.  Her border collie has extreme separation anxiety so she rarely

leaves her.  Expensive to, have granddaughter's tuition and books coming up again soon.  She's

married now but don't think that will get her any aid for tuition.  If it did many college students

would marry just to get a discount.

Hope you all are doing great.  We are here.  Some rain today but it's warmer.

Ernie

Wife and granddaughter maintaining Summer flowers.

Good evening, all. 

A cousin's daughter goes to Performing Arts HS. I went to their rendition of Chicago tonight. Most of the cast was very talented and everything at a professional level. Not the normal HS play. 

Stay warm and dry. 

Good morning Paul.  Warm 48 degrees here this morn.  Lucky the rain front has moved away.

Have to think about what to wear on our walk/jog.  Did I tell you?  I've been jogging again for

the last 15 days or so and seem to be getting away with it.  Either the Termeric Root I started

taking or maybe I got bad bruises 6 years ago and they healed.  I tried 4 years ago and had to

limp home.  My jogging isn't really that fast but it's much more exercise and helps Diabetes

much more.  My doctor said jogging has oomph in it.

I never played in a high school play or watched one but I can imagine.  I wasn't much focused

on anything back then.  Most things that came up were shocking or I was ignoring them.  Was

a world apart from now.  I'm still learning after all these decades, about life and technical problems.

Nor do I know the play Chicago. 

I haven't spoken to any cousins in decades.  My family I grew up in split apart when I was very young.

The one uncles family we were close to, he sold his farm and became a preacher.  Moved away and

we rarely saw any of his family again.  I don't think I've ever seen any of my cousins children.  Went to

one cousins memorial in January of 2021.  I did talk to a cousin there that I hadn't seen since the 60s,

come to think about it.  Our kids are all grown and approaching retirement age if not already there.

That cousin lives in Colorado and worked for a printing company.  When they went out of business he

purchased the printer and kept it going for a few more years.  PC's have taken over for printing.  I could

smell cigarettes on him and his beard was discolored from smoking.

Would be nice if the parts for my Baja were here today.  Could do the repairs in 50 degrees inbetween

the rain showers, that is.  Our temperatures forecast to be above normal next 7 days.   

I have a coupon for 35% off at Pennys, might go there for couple pieces of clothes today, last day of sale.

Hope everyone is doing well, we have relatives not doing so well but doing great here.

Ernie

Have another of these coming up but won't be Cocoa, will be Chloe and Belle, with birthdays 10 days before mine, Cocoa was 9 days.

Good morning, Miss Kitty and Ernie and Paul and any who lurk here ~

December is fast upon us.  I celebrated a birthday yesterday....rather low key as spouse has a cold. I have been busy decorating the condo.....mailing packages (the postal service is getting $$$) on our shipping fees, and gift buying.  Every year I say that I will cut back with the budget.....and then Christmas comes and the spirit of giving takes over.  I guess I can understand why some just give money and perhaps some day it will come to that...but for now it is mostly online shopping and a few select stores.  

The weather is very dreary here.  No sun for several days and today a cold, wet rain.  The outside wreaths with their plaid bows look festive ~ just waiting for a bit of snow to look like Christmas.

I am not receiving any emails that there are postings.  Any suggestions, Ernie.  Guess I have to go in to my Settings.

Hope all is well.  Sorry about the death of your friend, Kitty.  Sorry, Ernie for your sister-in-law's move.

We have my late husband's family gathering back home this week-end.  We have not gathered since COVID.  I would like to say I look forward to it....but there are about 100 in attendance and I do worry about getting sick.  On we go...............

Susan

Good to hear you have been able to jog painlessly, Ernie. The speed doesn't matter, I'm certainly not fast. 

Harder to keep in touch with relatives who are not nearby. I have 10 1st cousins in Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia counties. Not that far away, but other than funerals I haven't spoken with them since I was a teenager.  My sister sends them Christmas cards. I see my 2nd-3rd cousins that live in NYC.

Happy Birthday Susan!

Good morning Susan, Paul.  warm 41 degrees here this morn.  Hard to recalculate what clothes to wear

since changing from walking to jogging.  Generates much more body heat.  I'm very happy with no snow

and no salt.  I have to try to determine if I can keep the dogs out of the salt then, sometimes the shoulder

is salt free.  I'm grateful for fairly nice days Friday and Saturday since my upper control arm links are supposed

to arrive today.  Sunny and 40 isn't to bad to work in.  Much better than 20, wind, and snow.  I will probably

do one side, then turn the car around so the other side is broadside to the south where the sun is. 

Susan, you have to go to my account, then to My Preferences to turn on email notifications.  I turned that off

way back in the day when I posted about 20 or 30 times a day when we were younger and freshly quit.  Freshmen,

you might say.  I'm still here every day so it's not necessary, just clutters my email.

I'm not sure what shopping I will do.  We have our grandsons today while daughter goes shopping.  Those were the

days, when we had children at home for Christmas, it comes and goes fast.

Yeah, sister in laws move probably swallowed up the farm.  Even if they don't put liens on it that swallow it up, PA has

what they call Medicaid Recovery Act and they take your property, vehicles, possessions when you die.  Worse than

when they have their inheritance tax on the poor and lower middle class, 4% on your kids, 11% on anyone else, even

grandkids or siblings.  no lower limit.  So a grandkid inheriting a farm would likely lose it.

Wow, 100 people, we don't get nearly that many even for a family funeral. 

I'm very healthy and the problems I do have keep improving as I diet and exercise so not worried about the virus but

hope you don't get it if you attend.

I did go down and get some clothes at JC Penny with buy one get one 50% off and then 35% off purchase.  Works out

to be 50% off total.  Our Pennys owns their store in the mall so about the only large store left there.  Lost Sears, Bradlees,

Montgomery Ward. Macys, Bonton, and others.  I'm only doing small tasks lately except this repair on the Baja coming

up.  I don't remember but hope I had both ends of those links off when I replaced the rear subframe last Fall.  So I don't

have to fight with the bolts, get the torch out to heat them and all of that.

Happy birthday Susan.  Aren't we overjoyed we can breathe so much better.

Like jogging again and my glucose is dropping for now.  My body most likely will get used to it and work around it eventually.

That's how diabetes is, it looks at what you're doing to send it into remission and seems to figure out how to bypass your

efforts.  Also, it's progressive so no matter where you are in it, it's going to get worse, eventually, but that can take years or

a decade depending on what treatment you are using, or steps you took to get into remission and to stay there. 

Hope everyone is enjoying life.

Ernie

A glass sculpture at Corning's Museum of Glass in Corning, NY.

Good morning Ernie, Paul and Kitty,

I am sitting here in front of my mood light enhancer that arrived yesterday. It’s much smaller in size than I had imagined for the cost.  It does have a timer and bright light adjustment with hues so I would guess these features would add to the cost.

Although I would like snow on Christmas Eve thru New Year’s Day, I agree that I am perfectly happy with the 40 degree temperatures and drizzle…

I must make a trip to Costco today to purchase items for the gathering.  Joe came from a large Catholic family with eight children…many of them had large families.   Thus, we are many.  I was an only child.

Enjoy the day.   Susan

Thank you for the birthday wishes.  I would like to believe that it is just a ‘number’.  So, on we go….. doing our best to stay active and healthy. I believe that is the key to staying young.

I have two cousins, one in Highlands Ranch CO and one in Chattanooga. We were all only children, I am the youngest! 

Enjoy the day ~  Susan