Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #49 – Seeing Family Off, a Hectic Thanksgiving, & Then Her First Dance!

 

             

Sunday, November 19^th., 2023……  Mary leaves tomorrow so she wanted to go spend some time with her son so she was gone for most of the day. She said she also went to visit an old friend as well. We hung around the house until it was time to head off to church. Today I went with Cat. They have a Thanksgiving dinner after church and it was delicious! We got back home and rested for the afternoon then headed off to our class. Afterward, we went to Gametime for the afterparty. Then home to take a dip then off to bed.

Monday, November 20^th., 2023…… This morning we had plenty of time. We walked and fed the pups then rested for a bit. Mary was already packed and ready to go. Her flight out today wasn’t until 1:00pm. She wanted to be at the airport around 11:00am. So we left around 9:00am to drive down to Eugene for breakfast and then it would be on to the airport. I chose Prairie Schooner this morning. We like the food and Cathye likes the gaming!

We enjoyed a nice meal then headed off to the airport. After saying our goodbyes, we headed back home.  We had a lot of fun with Mary here. They spent some quality time together and she saw all of her NW family. But, I’m sure she was happy to be heading home. When we got home, we did some laundry. We needed to make over the guest room for Randy and Maryanne who would be coming in late tomorrow.  I took the Honda out and saw that the check tire light was on. I brought it back home and added air. I checked all the tires and found I needed more in the left front than the others.  I just hope that it was just low.  

Tuesday, November 21^st., 2023…… After walking and feeding the girls, I went out and got us breakfast and coffee. The tire light went out (phew!).  While I was at Starbucks, I texted Randy to check on his arrival time. He told me first off that Maryanne would not be coming up. He also said he was struggling with a back that was out. So he had a decision on his own. It was either drive up here by himself - which he probably would need an overnight stop to do - or stay home and rest. I helped him decide. Since he needed to be back to work on Monday, I explained that it would be a quick turnaround with a whole lot of driving, and that he should stay home and rest his back. Both Josh and Tait were invited but Tait was invited to join her boyfriend and his family and Josh is spending time at his new place with his buds, so neither of them will be coming down. So, it will be Jamie, Cherrelyn, Penny, Corey, Vikki, and Brandyn and Bailey plus us for dinner. We have a 19 lb. turkey so we’ll now have some serious leftovers!  We drove over to the senior center for our afternoon square dance lessons and then came back and had a nice dinner and watched tv until we went out to the spa and then to bed.

Wednesday, November 22^nd., 2023…… Pretty cold here still. 36° when we took the dogs out this morning. I had a few things on my agenda today. But first Cathye had me running to Walmart. She is baking today and needed a few things. I came back and rested before my task. But before that, I needed to run back and get another item she forgot. No worries!  I was then able to get out and jack up the truckster and pull the tire and wheel. When Corey was last here he worked with a flashlight well into the dark. I guess he didn’t notice the flat tire on the Cushman. I saw it was flat and got it removed and took it to Les Schwab. It was really tweaked on the rim and when I showed it to them, we noticed that it had a large hole that was not repairable. So, I have a new tire ordered.     

Thursday, November 23^rd., 2023…… HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Cathye and I both were up early this morning (5:00am). We got the roaster out and got the turkey going. I went back to bed and slept for an hour or so, then got up and showered. Cathye needed celery and onions for the stuffing so she went out to get that while I showered and then walked the dogs. When she got back, she said 1) she saw a lady face plant in the Safeway parking lot (they had called paramedics), 2) McDonalds said after she was in line for 10 minutes that their grills were out, and 3) the check engine light was back on on the Buick!  Heck of a morning. Regarding the Buick, this is the second occurrence for that light. I took it in last week to O’Reilly auto parts and the scan showed it was an emissions error. They said it could be a sensor or a canister and reset it. If it occurs again, I should take it in. Well, it was back on again this morning, so now I will have to!  Penny and Cherrelyn got here early and helped us get everything set up. I went and got Jamie from his care facility. We waited until Corey and family got here. The turkey was cooking slower than we expected, so it was just getting done around dinner time. We both found that we each like to have dinner early and we set the time at 1:00pm. So, if we were a little late, it was ok.  Dinner was wonderful! We all ate too much!

After that, we all found spots around the house and relaxed and watched tv.  Brandyn and Bailey braved the cold and went outside to run around. Folks all finally left and we spent the rest of the day resting and relaxing after the long day.     

Friday, November 24^th., 2023…… BLACK FRIDAY!  Did we got out shopping?  No way! Neither of us has anything on our Christmas lists this year. We have nothing else we want or need to get that would cause us to have to go out today and get into the shopping frenzy. So, we hung out around the house and enjoyed the quiet.  I did stop by the GMC/Buick dealer in town where we bought our Enclave. As mentioned, the check engine light is still on and I needed to get it serviced. They ran a diagnostic and, yes, it is emission related. We can still drive it but I made an appointment to take it in next week. Next trip out was to Walmart for fixins for chicken pot pie. Cat has a new recipe she wants to try out. I will gladly be her guinea pig! That done, we were in for the day. We have been watching the weather to see if we can get enough sun to dry out the lawn so we can mow at least one more time this season. Temps got up today (high 50s) with a full day of sun, but nope, still too wet.  

Saturday, November 25^th., 2023…… Today is Cat’s first dance!  The alliance here in our area really does a good job in scheduling beginner’s dances. Each club that had a September class will host a dance. First up was tonight at the Silver City Squares in Silverton. That is about an hour’s drive for us. They had a ham dinner (extra $4.00 ea.) at 6:30pm prior to the pre-rounds and then the dance at 8:00pm. Earlier, I had received a call from The Square Circlers Treasurer that my Club badge was in!  So, we went and got that. I hope they know what they were doing when they let me in the Club!  Later, we picked up Lynn (Judy still had family in town) and made the drive to the Bethany Christian School gym. I must say we were impressed!  The club there has recruited about 50 home-schooled kids to learn square dancing as an extra-curricular activity. The other clubs in the area also have children and teens so we were definitely outnumbered!  The meal was ok and we also took advantage of their clothing sale where Cat got some belts and a dress for cheap! The first tip had 16 squares on the floor!  That’s impressive this day and time in the square dance world!  Cathye and Lynn were a little intimidated. Rightly so, since those kids are sponges and learned quickly. But, aside from them, the girls held their own, and enjoyed the experience. The caller (Ian Craig) was used to the younger group and called a faster tempo, which didn’t work too well for the adult group. So, our squares broke down quite a bit. But, Lynn and Cathye got used to the speed and did better or as well as the other adult dancers that were at their level with their clubs. We only sat out one tip so Cathye could get a picture of the dancers from up at the top of the bleachers.

Next up on Friday is another kid’s group in Salem. They also have Ian as their caller so we expect more of the same fast tempo there too.  But the girls will only get better as they get more floor time. We left a little early and dropped Lynn off and got back home at 11:40pm. Long day and we were both tired from the fast pace so I think we crashed pretty quickly.        

 

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #48 – Saying Goodbye to Some of the Family & A Serious Surgery

 

                                       

Sunday, November 12^th., 2023…… We slept in bit this morning. Cat and I took the girls out while the rest of them slept in. She made breakfast for us and waited. Mary fixed her own and then Cathye cooked for Heather and Charlie. They watched tv together for a while. Might be hard to see but Mary has Charlie on her lap.

Then made plans to head on home. I took a couple of pictures and we said our goodbyes and they left. The drive would get them back home in time for Charlie’s concert tickets for tonight!  We hung around the house (no church today) and watched tv for the most part. Cathye worked on finishing up a shoe bag for her square dance shoes that Mary sewed up yesterday. Mary worked on a baby quilt for one of her husband’s expectant chiropractic patients. I worked on the blog and watched football and finished up the last of the taped Mecum auctions.  No races today.  Later, we headed off to class. Mary came by later and took a couple of pics. Here’s one….

We went to the pizza parlor with the group afterward then came back and hit the spa before bed.      

Monday, November 13^th., 2023…… Gym for us this morning.  After that, we met Mary for breakfast at Kevin’s then they took off for the day. They were headed off to Spirit Mountain Casino. The Gambler Sisters on sabbatical!  When they returned (with less money than they had when they left), they had already had a meal so I went out and picked up mine. Tv and spa until bedtime.

Tuesday, November 14^th., 2023…… We had our class at the senior center this afternoon. There was only enough beginners for one square but afterward there was enough to do a bit for us experienced dancers. Mary went over to visit with Justin and we spent the day working on removing all of the Thanksgiving decorations. Yeah, I know – that was too early! But we wanted to get things put away so we could get out all of the Christmas stuff and get it going. Randy and Maryanne are coming up for Thanksgiving but not for Christmas. I wanted them to see the house with Christmas decorations up this year!

Wednesday, November 15^th., 2023…… Mary took off in our Honda this morning and went and picked up Justin. The plan for them is to drive up to Portland and stay in a motel tonight and then check in for Justin’s eye surgery tomorrow morning. Then they will come back to the room for the night and then go back in for another exam before he is allowed to come home on Friday. We didn’t have too much going on today. I went out and got us KFC for dinner. I also got enough for tomorrow. Tv and spa and then bed. Sometimes it is pretty cold when we head out to the spa. But the brief encounter with the cold is no problem and the spa is so warm and relaxing!   

Thursday, November 16^th., 2023…… Not much on the agenda today. After we got home from the gym and breakfast (and trips to Wilco and Walmart) we spent some time working on bringing Christmas boxes off the shelves in the garage. We hung around after that until it was time to go for our massages. I went first and Cathye came later. We had our KFC dinner early in the afternoon. We found out later that Justin’s surgery went well. They have him bandaged up so he doesn’t know how well he can see (and won’t until he goes in tomorrow morning). We have been catching up on some of our taped shows. Tonight was Survivor and The Masked Singer. Mary is caught up on the Golden Bachelor so we will wait until she gets back to watch the next one together. 

Friday, November 17^th., 2023…… Cold morning today. We walked and fed the girls then ate leftovers from Kristi’s. Later, I spent a few minutes hauling all of the boxes out of the garage and up onto the porch. The first step for me is to put together my Christmas Village. Every piece is still in original packaging so it takes me a while to get it all out and set up. With Cathye’s help, we got all the village people (no, not those village people!) set up and got everything plugged in and we were done!

The tree will come together tomorrow. Mary got back here and we got an update. She said that she got Justin back home and he was resting comfortably. Surgery went well. The vision should improve. But he has to be very careful for the next several weeks. Amy will be there now to take care of him. Mary was beat and spent the day recovering from the chaotic past few days. She has a few days to rest because her flight out isn’t until Monday. I’m sure she is tired and ready to go home but she made such a difference for Justin and I’m sure he was extremely thankful to have his mom here for his traumatic experience.     

Saturday, November 18^th., 2023…… The weather is still pretty chilly and this morning was no exception. Temps in the high 30s. High today will hit 50°.  We had the dogs out and walked and Cat made breakfast burritos. Yummy! Mary went back to visit with her son for the day and we worked on the Christmas tree. Our tree is pre-lit but I found a few missing bulbs and on one section we can’t find the bad or loose bulb. I need to go get bulbs but if there is a good deal on a nice tree – well maybe we’ll change it out. Ok, it’s later now and I found the problems on the tree and resolved them. But we think we will now look for a new tree, maybe an after-Christmas sale. Cathye went out and ran a few errands while I worked on this blog. Later, we fed the dogs and headed out. We have tickets for another play at the Hult Center in Eugene. We left early enough to go to one of our favorite fish restaurants in Eugene – Fisherman’s Market. Not a fancy place and one where you order from the counter, but the food is really good. But this time I was not impressed. While Cathye had a delicious crab mac and cheese, my scallops were disappointing.

This time of year they only have bay scallops which are not my favorite and were rather bland tasting.  We left there and got parked at the Hult. We are seeing Dirty Dancing.  This is not a play though – but rather a film-to-concert experience.  It is a digitally remastered film on a cinema screen, with a live band and singers performing the film’s iconic songs. We had seats on the main floor in row L so we had a nice view. The group of seven came out in period costumes and even changed at intermission to fit the final scene. They were really excellent and it made the film even more enjoyable. I think it was 10 to 1 girls in the audience to see Patrick Swayze on the big screen.  Every time he came on screen, the girls would sigh! Cathye was in love!  

After the show, we got out of the parking structure pretty quickly and on the road. We were home by 10:30pm. Mary was still up but sent pics of her and the dogs on her bed.

 

Long night but really nice to get out.

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #47 – Saying Goodbye & More Family Time!

 

  

Sunday, November 5^th., 2023…… Yep, it was an early morning!  We were up and going by 5:15am! The drive to the train depot was pretty easy and there was no rain – yet – it’s coming later today. They say Monday we will have the most rain of this cycle. But, so far, it’s not too bad. We have decided that we will need another mowing before the season ends. But we’re not sure if that will happen. Oh well!...  We said our goodbyes to the kids and then headed home. After we walked and fed the dogs, I went out to get us breakfast. Cathye is doing the communion intro/reading/message so she needed to research to find some passages before church. I printed out some she had found and she edited and picked and chose her message and got it ready for today. She left and I began working on the blog. After that, I was able to relax and enjoy the last three Nascar races of the season. I have also been interested in the F1 race in Las Vegas. The tour hits there on Nov. 19^th.  It has really impacted life there. This is a street race so for the last several weeks, they have prepped the area. They now have monster grandstands occupying the sidewalks on the strip. That impacts the water shows and venues viewed from the strip. The overcrosses are completely covered and shielded so fans cannot occupy the bridge to try to view the race. The folks going there to just enjoy the city and gamble are not happy! But Vegas will get big big bucks from the organization and the event. Glad we’re not going though!

Monday, November 6^th., 2023…… The weather is cool and wet.  Temps in the 50s. But everything stays wet so no mowing for now. Forecast shows more rain in the next several days. Today was gym day. We headed off after walking and feeding the girls. Breakfast after at Kevin’s. We forgot to bring Jamie’s typewriter ribbon and his new Medicare card so we’ll have to take those to him tomorrow.  Not much going on after that. We hung around the house most of the day and worked on cleaning up. We discovered ants in the kitchen and in my room. We are spraying Windex on them for now. If they get too bad we’ll have to call our service out to address the areas.  Chicken soup for dinner and tv and spa until bedtime.

Tuesday, November 7^th., 2023…… No rain this morning but still a dreary day. We have been watching our neighbor’s house for them while they are away. He has asked me to keep an eye on the ditch out front. He has the main drain grate that goes to the river across the street. It tends to get leaves running through that clog it up. I have to rake it out every other day or so. But not today.  Today is laundry day. We got that going and stayed around most of the morning to take care of it. Cat did go out to take Jamie his stuff but that was about it until we left for our senior center square dance class. Having Charlotte offer that up for the seniors (at no cost) gives Cat more floor time and she gets to review lessons from Sunday.

Wednesday, November 8^th., 2023…… The weather has been on and off. Mostly off!  We get a little break and some sunshine, then it clouds up and rains. Temps in the low 50s. Even with the colder mornings we still get out with the dogs. We were up and out and got that done with no worries.  Mary comes in (from Tucson) later this evening. She is here for her son Justin’s eye surgery. It’s a rather serious one so she wants to be here with him and will go stay at the hospital in Portland with him later next week. We made the drive down to Eugene and got her and brought her home and she got settled in our guestroom. We visited for a bit then she headed off to bed. It’s only one hour time difference but she had a long layover on her flight.  So we hit the spa by ourselves then went to bed.    

Thursday, November 9^th., 2023…… We are winging most of the schedule now. We gave Mary the Honda to use while she’s here. The plan today was for her to go get Justin and Amy from their home in Sweet Home and they will meet us at Kristi’s after our workout. They brought Amy’s son Skyler and we all had a nice meal. But we did have to order before they got there because we had to dash back home and change for a funeral service we needed to be at by 11:00am in Sweet Home. We made it to the service and the luncheon and paid our respects and came back home. Mary went back with the kids and spent most of the day with them at their house. Later, they all came here for a bbq and we had a nice visit. Her daughter lives in Seattle and may come down but those plans aren’t firmed up yet. After everyone left, Mary came out and joined us in the spa before we all called it a night. Long day!        

Friday, November 10^th., 2023…… It was raining pretty hard so we skipped the walk with the girls this morning. They got out and did their business in the backyard and we got them fed. Cathye made breakfast and I cleaned up the dishes. Then we cleaned the house.  Mary pitched in and helped Cat. in her part.  As I was finishing up the vacuuming and was getting ready to hot mop the floors, they headed off for a day out. They had some shopping to do in Albany and then planned to hit some yard sales on the way back. They found Shaun’s estate sale and got to visit with him. Cathye placed a bid on a nice wool rug but won’t know until tomorrow afternoon if she wins it or not. She hopes to put it in the entryway and take that one out to the deck to replace one out there that has seen it’s better days. Pretty good plan. Hope she gets it! Leftovers from yesterday and then the girls headed off to the high school in Sweet Home to a show presented by an African children’s choir kids on a fundraising tour.

I got caught up on my auction while they were gone. Tv until bedtime.

Saturday, November 11^th., 2023…… More rain expected for today. We hung out at the house this morning. Heather and Charley were on their way down and would be here alter in the afternoon. Penny came by. Today was two years since she lost her dog Quincy. She was going around and spreading her ashes in all her favorite hangouts. She had been by the Santiam River by her house where they walked, and then came by here since Quince spent a lot of time here playing with Rylee as a pup. She was a great dog and it was sad. But she lived a full life. 

Afterwards, Penny came in and met Mary and visited. Heather and Charlie got here in the afternoon. Cathye got the call that her bid ($75.) was accepted on that rug), so we headed over to pick it up. We got everything moved and it looks great in the entryway!

Later, the plan was to split up. Cathye had Lyn’s birthday party to go to. 

Justin and Amy came here and then the five of them went out to dinner at Bigfoot Grill. I had already eaten and stayed home and let them have family time. After Justin and Amy left, Cat got back and joined me in my room. Mary had never seen the Golden Bachelor and wanted to watch it from the beginning so we found it on demand and she settled in the living room to get caught up.  Heather and Charlie joined her. They don’t get to see each other that often so this was a good time to spend together and relax. Later, they all hit the spa and after that we called it a night and left them to watch tv.

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #46 – Enjoying Halloween and A Visit With the Portland Grandkids

 

                              

Sunday, October 29^th., 2023…… We are doing great health wise. Cathye still has a cough that keeps her up at night. But other than that, we are good!  We slept in this morning. No church today. So, I took her to Elmer’s in Albany for breakfast. She hasn’t been outside in a while, so she enjoyed the morning! It’s still cold though. We are wearing hats and gloves and – yes, I am in shorts - but will wear sweatpants for the morning walk!  Temps in the 30s for that. Today we relaxed and watched tv most of the day. A lazy Sunday. Until it was time to go to our square dance lessons! Cathye has been watching videos (teaches and workshops) to go over all of the calls on the Mainstream level. She is starting to feel more comfortable about the calls now. But having missed last week, she is not sure about the new ones. They give us a weekly list so at least she can go find them and review them on tape. We had a late lunch and then waited until it was time to head out. She did really well on the first go round. Charlotte reviewed the calls from last week and she had them down. The problem came with the second session. I think she got tired and her concentration went away for a bit! She missed some of the easier calls. And having a corner who is also new and confused doesn’t help.  😊  But she did great for the next one and I think she is really getting it now!   I turned in my application so I may be a Club member before too long.  The class only goes for 20 weeks to get through Mainstream level so she’ll get to join soon too!  We went to the after party and enjoyed the group camaraderie.  When we got hone, we skipped the spa and just watched tv for a bit before bed.    

Monday, October 30^th., 2023…… Today was Costco day. Also gym day. So, we walked and fed the dogs and then headed out for our morning adventure. After the gym, we went to breakfast at Kevin’s and then drove over to Albany and got the Costco run done. We are having a little Halloween party tomorrow night so we needed some stuff for that as well. Where better than Costco!  After we got home, we had our Costco chicken for lunch and she cut up a bunch for sandwiches. The rest went into a pot for soup for dinner. Yum!

Tuesday, October 31^st., 2023……  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  There will be no square dance class today at the senior center because they are having a Halloween party. That’s ok, we have work to do to set up our place for our own party! We were up and out with the girls and got them walked and fed. The weather is supposed to be chilly but dry tonight so we put back all of the chair cushions and such. We set up some decorations and got ready for later. Then we could relax for a few hours. Penny and Judy and Lynn came by. Cherrelyn was going to another party with friends in Salem. So, we just had a small group. But – everyone came dressed. Here is the group….

And our potluck feast!....

We ate and then Penny left to go help out her neighbor give out candy. We get zero trick or treaters here but they come by the carloads in Sis’s neighborhood. She said last year there were over 400 kids out in costume. Anyway, we settled in and visited and had some drinks and enjoyed spooky music and it was really fun!  After they left, we watched our taped Dancing With the Stars show. They were doing a Halloween Horror Night. We were shocked to see our name on National TV! One of the celebrity dancers - Alyson Hannigan - had a short video where she showed how she decorated her house. She acted in many horror movies and said they gave her items from the sets, which she puts out in her yard as decorations. One of which was a headstone, showing a beloved daughter of Charlene and William Kinkelaar

Not sure why these names were chosen to be used in a movie set but they are real. I don’t know them but searched Google and found they were from Bellflower, Calif. And she was born on Sept. 11, 1931. Wow!   Small world!

Wednesday, November 1^st., 2023…… We have found that we are sleeping in longer lately. Not sure if it’s because it’s darker longer in the mornings. That will change this Sunday though. Anyway, we were up and out with the dogs. The weather has really changed in one day! Yesterday it was clear, sunny and very cold. High temp got up to 54°. Today it is cloudy and yet warmer. It was 62° when we walked the pups this morning!  More rain in the forecast for tomorrow and they are now saying that it will be a larger front, bringing in up to 2” of rainfall each day.  Well, November IS the wettest month for Oregon!  Around 10:00am or so, Cathye left to go meet up with Omalee. They were going to see Killers of the Flower Moon. 

Neither David or I had any interest so they had a girl’s day out! I stayed home and watched tv and took care of the dogs. When she got back she said it was an ok movie, just sad and very long (3 hrs. 26 mins). TV until bedtime. We watched all of the latest Survivor episode (1½ hrs.) so we decided it was too late and skipped the spa tonight.

Thursday, November 2^nd., 2023…… Today is gym day and breakfast!  We got up (yeah, later than usual again!) and got going with the dogs.  We left after that and hit the gym. We were in and out really quickly as neither of us socialize – just do our workout routines and go! We went to Kristi’s and enjoyed a great breakfast and then went by Jamie’s and gave him his money and paid his rent for the month. We didn’t have anything going until later in the afternoon. We fed the girls a little early and let them out for a bit. Then it was time to head out for an evening with Ron and Teri. We went to their house in Albany and then headed into town. We parked in the downtown area and walked around a bit. A lot of the stores close at 5:00pm but we found a few open. We even found Caesar the no drama llama!

Then we went over to Grazing Oregon for drinks and dinner. This is a new place that specializes in high end charcuterie boards. We chose a couple of boards, one a starter. They made a point in telling us about everything on the main plate and where it came from (some from Europe!).

The food and drink was excellent and the night was great! It is always fun to spend time with these guys.   

Friday, November 3^rd., 2023…… Happy Birthday Vikki!  Not too many things on the agenda today. Corey was coming by to do some more work in the gardens. Later in the evening, we are going to the Albany train depot to pick up Josh and Tait who are coming in from Portland to visit us for the weekend. We have tickets for Les Misérables tomorrow afternoon as gifts for their November birthdays.  After walking and feeding Butthead and The Princess, we made a trip to Walmart to pick up a few things. The train wasn’t due in until 7:00pm. so we had some time to rest throughout the day. We fed the dogs and ate and watched tv until it was time to go. The train was only a few minutes late and we were quickly on the way home, stopping at Wendy’s to get them some dinner. Tv and catching up until bedtime.  

Saturday, November 4^th., 2023…… The plan today included breakfast, bazaars, and a trip to Penny’s to have Mr. Techie. look at her laptop. We walked and fed the dogs then left to meet Penny at Kristi’s. After that, Tait and Grandma took off to go to the Christmas Bazaars in the area. Jodsh and I followed Penny back home and he spent 30-45 minutes working on optimizing her system. She just needs to let some updates download and she should be good to go!  Thanks, Josh! We got back home and rested and the girls showed up a little later. We had a few minutes before we needed to head south. We have tickets to the 2:00pm matinee of Les Misérables at the Hult Center in Eugene.

The kids had never been to this venue before so it was a new experience even before the musical. Cathye was only able to get 4 seats together in the lower balcony. So we had to hike up the stairs to our seats. As you can see, we were waaay up there!

The play was very well done and the sets were amazing. But the singing was the highlight!  When we got out, we decided to skip the traffic and find a local place to have dinner. I had already asked Penny to come feed the dogs so we were in no hurry. We found 2 Towns Ciderhouse and enjoyed a nice meal. We got back home and watched a tape of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, w/Chevy Chase. The kids had mentioned that they had never seen it!

Time change tonight. We get an extra hour’s sleep which is good for us because we have to have the kids at the station for their 6:15am train!  We set a few of the clocks back (most now change automatically) and set an alarm for tomorrow and headed off to bed.