Giving Tuesday

If one goes to Facebook one will see many many Giving Tuesday fundraisers !! My elder daughter is a director for a Kansas City non-profit ( Phoenix Family) and has set-up a fundraiser in her brother's name...

https://www.facebook.com/donate/991331654402004/2217048721653234/   

#BuildABridge is its name.

Robb believed in what Phoenix Family was doing and was always ready to help his sister in whatever he could do... from food from Quik Trip's kitchen to sponsoring Phoenix Family's events.

If you have been reading this blog, you know Robb was killed last February being a "good Samaritan"....  His passing left a big hole...


The fundraiser was a big success! The goal was exceeded ....Robb would have been pleased!! I will be watching to see how the money is used.

wreath and "blizzard"

Saturday my DH and DD abd I took a class at the local nursery on wreath making. I've always preferred real evergreens but unless I want to stand on the side of the town roads here and trim the city's trees, I can't get any to use. So class it was ...
I hung mine on the front door just hours before our well publicized blizzard hit. I guess the roads are awful and even the interstates have been closed. My daughter's and her kids schools are closed tomorrow and the lists of closings on the television are long.  But we are " stay at homes " when the weather is bad and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon watching the snow fall and listening to the wind. We ended up with about 5 inches of small flake snow...

The tv weatherman says we are going to have another storm next weekend... so mid-week I'll do a grocery store run for milk etc.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all ! 

Stole this from MacQue blog ...  I think my DH and I are all set for everyone to arrive this afternoon! I went to the grocery store for the "I forgots" and he blew all the leaves from the deck and put out the chair cushions. It is supposed to reach 60 F this afternoon and the smokers will enjoy being able to sit outside.
My daughters and their families decided to take the cooking burden off  my shoulders this year. All I had to do was pre-dinner cheese and crackers and veggies and the stuffing in the slow cooker . Thanksgiving dinner will be somewhat of a surprise!!  Feels strange...

The next question is whether to go with my DD and grand daughter Black Friday shopping which now starts here as early as  2pm today.  If I went to that store I'd miss the turkey dinner and all the visiting... so guess not!  But maybe much much later places??

Saturday my DH and DD and I are headed to a local nursery to make fresh evergreen wreaths. We are really looking forward to that!
Sunday DH and I are heading out to a train show/sale. My DH is a train collector.  Maybe I can sneak a purchase or two for his Christmas present??

Fun busy morning

My younger daughter arrived while I was still in my pj's wanting to go to JoAnn's ( fabric store) to buy fabric for a lovely loose top for herself and another for my granddaughter. I know I will become the teacher again... but we will have fun making them. She found a dark burgundy knit for herself and a darker emerald green for my grand daughter.
We went next door to Dollar Tree ( everything is $1.00 and I mean everything) where we bought "lovely" Christmas socks to put our "stitch and bitch" Christmas gift exchange things in... Some of the little things I am going to put in my socks are Christmas pencils and erasers, Christmas candy canes, chocolate and a handmade Christmas tree  ornament. I will then tie a filled pair of socks together with a bow... This the first time my group has done this... another member and I saw the idea on facebook.

On our way home we stopped at Starbucks for Chai Lattes... after chatting awhile, she had to leave. She is using her time off from teaching this week to edit a grad student's papers. She says the student's work is improving... my daughter makes sure she comments on where changes in content and grammar need to be made.

Then it was off for a haircut and a grocery shop... think there are still things I need for Thanksgiving. Even with a list...I miss some things!

new rug

Bob and I managed to empty out the master bedroom and its closets... putting everything wherever we could find space!!  LOL  But when we got up this morning it had snowed a bit and was still snow/raining. We were sure the installers couldn't cut the new rug and padding on the wet driveway and they would put things off!!
But no... they would be here at 8.15 ! And they were. Jack ( the gray/black/dtiped cat) has not shown a single whisker this morning. Tigger ( the orange tripper cat) would dash out the front door if I didn't close him up in our computer room. Tigger is fascinated by the noise and hurrah the installers are creating as they take up the old carpeting and bring the new stuff in !
( BTW the old carpeting is 40 plus years old)

Our installers brought their stuff in a small school bus!

To be cont'd...

Here's their little school bus and one laying the rug!! They did a nice job ... quick.... tidy... and professional!! And did it even with the lousy weather. We ended up with 2 - 3 inches of soft fluffy stuff.

Lili's artwork

My granddaughter is 16 and in her junior year of high school. These are two of her latest pieces. The upper one was done in white chalk on a black background.
She did them in her school art class. She brought them to my house so that I could take pictures of them for her portfolio. Next year she will be applying for college/art school.

I've been watching her draw ( or whatever)  forever and have seen a big step forward lately. It's interesting to watch her advance.

Surprise... it's snowing

I'm not ready for snow!! Currently we have just enough to look like the grass has dandruff!!. It was cold this morning when we went out to "sell books" to 1/2 Price Books. We didn't make much but the pile of 35 plus boxes has been dwindled down to just a few boxes of keepers! Hooray!
I think I may ask the DH to turn on the gas fire... for a little warmth plus I like the flames!!

The next online bear show starts tomorrow at 11 am Eastern... I enjoyed making Christmasy ones! We will spend the weekend watching for sales ( hopefully) and boxing them up for the mail. We will also be moving furniture and stuff so that the carpet layers can get to work early Monday morning. The carpet in the "Master" bedroom is the original carpet ( laid in 1976)... definitely replacement time.
I am looking forward to it...

btw ... we have been " discussing, loudly, where to put the bed, dressers etc. while the carpet layers are at work!! Not sure which of us won!