Daily Archives: November 18, 2016

To Decorate or Not to Decorate

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There are two sides to this issue. There are people who want to get the decorating done so that they can enjoy the entire season, and those who feel that we should not consider anything having to do with Christmas prior to Thanksgiving. I’m one of the latter.

I realize that it makes sense to get your outside decorations up when you have a 70 degree day in the middle of November. I don’t mind the lights so much, especially when they remain turned off until after Thanksgiving, but other things, like candy canes lining the sidewalk, and lighted reindeer grazing on the lawn surely could wait another week!

We drove past a farmhouse today that had a lovely Christmas tree in their front window, with the lights on. Rushing it, a bit…. Three of my nieces started decorating their houses for Christmas the day after Halloween. We see pictures of their children in red and white striped pajamas on Facebook, daily. I KNOW they love Christmas, and that it’s a job to decorate the ENTIRE HOUSE. I just think we need to show some restraint.

Perhaps we need to move Thanksgiving to the first Thursday of the month. No….that would be too close to Halloween. It could be the day after Halloween, which would never work! Maybe the second Thursday of the month. Or, maybe I’ll just stay at home and close my eyes to all that early decorating. It may be the only way I can resolve the issue to my satisfaction.

When I am Queen, we will not decorate for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving!

Odds and Ends

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Today was a day of odds and ends, errands and good deeds.

At exercise today we said goodbye to a member who is moving to Texas to be close to her children. She, too, is a quilter, so we occasionally had the chance to talk about our favorite pastime. Our exercise guru brought a big platter of cookies, and encouraged everyone to help themselves and take the time to say our goodbyes.

I started taking pictures of class members in groups of four. I want to see if this is a possible way to put together a picture album so that class members can learn each other’s names. If I can do them four to a picture, the cost would be much more manageable, given that we have over forty in our class. I need to work with my computer to learn how to “tag” people in a photo, for this to work.

After class, four of us gathered baked goods the class donated and dropped them off at the Army Reserve unit. One of the women in our class encourages us to let the military know that we support them. We mailed 15 boxes overseas to three servicemen related to class members, and we collected baked goods for the local reservists who will be on maneuvers this weekend.

Because of the wind, the soaring association didn’t meet today, so Dear Husband was willing to give me a hand with errands. Our next stop was at church. The Empty Nesters are gathering items to fill four laundry baskets for women being helped by a shelter the church supports. We donated large containers of Tide, sponges, kitchen scrubbing sponges and zip-type storage bags. I was really grateful to have the help carrying everything in. And, while I was there, I got to meet the interim pastor and give him a quilt from Scraps on a Mission (two more things I really needed to get done.)

I thought we might stop there, but Dear Husband was willing to make a 60 mile round trip so that we could pick up my sewing machine. With Scraps on a Mission ending for this year, it was time to get the machine cleaned and checked out. I take it back to the shop where I bought it, so we’ve made that trip twice in about a week. It’s good that he was able to get to it so quickly.

We had lunch and then made our way home. Naps seemed like a really good idea, but we got caught up in a movie that lasted until dinner time. Ah, the life of a retiree.

I’m delighted that we got so much done, ahead of the worst of the bad weather coming our way!

The Good Thing About High Winds

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…is that you may not have to rake your lawn when they die down. Of course, while your leaves may be in the next town, you might gain someone else’s leaves. You just have to wait to see how things settle. I figured that we might have to rake part of our neighbor’s lawn because our leaves were being blown into their yard, but we may luck out.

Dear Husband has a flight test to take to finish the requirements for his pilot’s license. It was scheduled for tomorrow, but it’s been put off until Sunday. That’s a good thing, because the winds will be so high that there won’t be any flights tomorrow. Unfortunately, Sunday is the day the association will be taking the gliders apart for winter storage. Fortunately, they are receptive to Dear Husband’s need, and will save his glider for last. Keep him in your prayers and positive thoughts, please. I hope that he will accomplish his goal and not have to carry this over to next year.

The winds are really gusting tonight. I think the noise may make for restless sleep. For sure, we will have to keep an eye on the roof to see if any shingles need to be replaced after this weekend. It could be worse. Somewhere to the North, they reported 33 inches of snow. At least we have just the wind!