This and That

 Whoa! How did that happen? It's been over a week since I've checked in here.

I won this Thanksgiving box from a raffle at my bowling group. A lot of nice stuff.

I guess I've been busy transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Thanksgiving with Ward's family was nice, but alas, we had no leftovers since we didn't host. Any food that was left from what we took, we left for Ward's father. 

The next day, I promptly changed the fall wreath on the front door to a Christmas one. And the next day after that, I realized that I still had two pumpkins on the porch. It was time to retire those, which I did by roasting and freezing them as puree. But, gosh, those things are messy from slimy seeds to stringy pulp. I found orange strings around the kitchen for a few days, and a few pieces in other rooms as well. Pumpkins are sticky!

Seeing pumpkin stuck to various things reminded me of when Wally and Theo were young and decided to play boomball in the dining room (which was really a toy storage room with no dining table). Boomball, for the uninformed, involved a cantaloupe and two excited boys in their own version of handball. Even though we made them clean up the mess, we were finding seeds and cantaloupe for months after that--on the walls, the chandelier, etc. Where were Ward and I while this was going on? Not sure, but I think we were upstairs doing something. Wally and Theo were definitely old enough to be left alone at that point. At least we thought so. :)

And pumpkin wasn't the only thing that has been loose in our kitchen recently. When I was cutting open a round, net bag of cranberries, they all spilled out and went everywhere. They were in the sink and rolling all over the floor. For the next couple of days, I was finding them under things, and one ended up in the knife drawer. Not sure how that happened.

But all is well, and after my adventures in the kitchen, I moved on to Christmas cards. I write some form of a letter every year and usually just send it out on holiday stationery without a card. But this year, I decided I wanted to include the card. I had a few, but needed more. And what a surprise, Walmart only had a handful to choose from. I remember when they took up an entire aisle. I know the way we communicate has changed vastly in the last few years, and fewer people are sending out cards, but I was surprised all the same. Despite this, I am mostly done with that task. 

And Ward, bless his heart (meant in the nice way, not the mean way), has almost finished the outdoor lights. He braved the cold, so I didn't have to. Next up will be the tree, mantel, and other indoor decorations. I'm not sure when those will come out, probably in the next week or two. 

In the meantime, I have a friend visiting from out of town, and we've been having a lot of fun. A couple of nights ago, we went to an open mic night where her son sang. He was good! Very good. I wish we didn't live on opposite coasts.

It soon will be time for bed, so I'd better wrap this up. Hope everyone is staying safe in whatever kind of crazy weather is happening where you are. We're on a winter advisory for tonight and tomorrow.

Until next time...