and just like that? on to christmas

 Tim helped me haul this up from the basement.  It was zipped carefully into a big giant bag last January.   Well, yesterday they mentioned to me that one of Julia's friends had FALLEN onto it during a sleepover.

OMG.

I was so afraid it would be broken, but no. Just the star for the top was, so we threw that away and got another one.   She had some flim flam story, but pretty sure it was not MY friends falling on my Christmas tree. That's on YOU.   As it is, I'm ambivalent about not having a real tree.   But I like to have it up for a good long time, and at some point they feel like a fire hazard, plus the watering it over and over twice a day for weeks, and all that.    Last year we tried this, and it's okay. 

If we use it for three years we will have broken even on the cost and can decide from there in the future.

But do not FALL ON IT.

Jay painstakingly put the lights on this tree. Every year the tree gets a little bigger, and it does not get easier.  He has a long pole with a hook.  This took him hours.

 This is a new guy.  Our niece sent the ad to Jay, "You have to get this!"  So he used his Cabela's points and bought it last week. 

It's good, Santa waterskiing, reindeer driving the boat.

 Little Santa is up on the flat roof.  The sleigh is anchored to a board, and Rudolph is too.  We left the rocks up on the roof, the ones that hold the boards down in case of wind, tuck them in a corner.  Well, the board was up there too, under the rocks.

Jay searched that hellhole of a garage for a good while, looking for Rudolph's board, and finally asked me about it.  He said he decided to stop and think like I would, and I don't think that was a compliment, honestly.

Board found. Santa's good.

Onward. In one more day it will be December.    Love, Val

thanksgiving, 2019

 It was a beautiful day, snowstorm was all done by noon yesterday, so the roads were good, the sun was shining.

 The company was easy going and agreeable.  People brought food to share, delicious.

 We used to do name tags so we didn't end up with too many kids in a row, hard to pass the dishes and so forth, but without name tags the kids had their own kid table, and they managed fine.

 

 Some others took control of my camera.  That's just fine.  I wish I'd taken more pictures, but I also don't want to be that lady sticking a camera in everyone's face.  It's a tricky balance.

And that's the end of a wonderful day.

So much love, Val

pictures from thailand

 Kirsten is in Thailand this week, and the pictures she's sent are mesmerizing.

She loves places, and travel, and adventure.

It's fun to live vicariously.

Have so much fun Kirsten!! Thank you for sharing your pictures.

Love, Mom and Dad and Everybody

last weekend, cleaning up this mess

 Curtains in the wash, dusting everywhere--this kitchen was a mess.  It's been a while since I went beyond the surface.

 I love these guys.

 And these:

 And vases hand painted years ago:

 This beast?  Was filthy dusty.  It's all good now.

 I love salt and pepper shakers and have way too many, but aww:

I took a bag of drink cups back to Heidi's house.

 This is what the stove looks like with the shelf flattened out to be a work surface.  I never use it like that, but had it flattened out so I could clean off all the nasty, greasy dust.

And this very important cooky sheet is positioned to point the heat from the oven away from the curtains. It works really well.

Okay, back to cleaning.  Thanksgiving is upon us.  Love, Val

elin is doing well

 This umbilical hernia was about the size of a marshmallow when she was a baby, and was of no interest really for a long time.  Then late this summer it grew and became very hard.  It was concerning, so we scheduled the hernia repair, and also the spay.   I didn't care about spaying her, but might as well deal with both in one surgery.

 Here she is after surgery. They sent us home with a cone, but she bucked like the rodeo when we put it on and we were scared she'd hurt herself.  It took a few minutes of thinking and Julia and Jay dreamed up this. Those are his shirts, one on the back, one on the front, hems tied together to keep her away from the incision.

She wasn't super after the incision anyway, but was caught sniffing it and licking it a few times.

 Anyway, it's been over a week and she is good, all better.  The first night home she stood, staring it to space and wobbling on her heels for four hours.  I have never seen a dog stand for four hours.   Finally about 9:30 at night I noticed she was sitting down by the back door looking out the window.  I turned off the kitchen lights and in a little while noticed she was asleep on the rug, and she did not move from there.

The next day she bounced up like she'd never had surgery at all.

Onward.   Love, Val

a great weekend

We went to Jay's parents for the day, enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by his mom, who has always been a fantastic cook and his dad was fun too, pictured above with our niece who is now a full-grown Spanish teacher.

Dan and Alicia and their kids came too, and instead of driving home Saturday evening, we stopped instead at this water park, pool situation in Brainerd, and swam until late in the evening and slept overnight at the motel.

It was so much fun, squirrels galore.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful day.

Love always, Jay and Val and Everybody