Has All The Pieces

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with 5 family members at the dining room of our retirement community. Afterwards they came to our condo to converse, watch football games, and work on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, and eat some evening snacks.

The puzzle is one that I bought at a Goodwill store in Illinois when we went to Starved Rock. You take a chance that it will be complete. This one was!

 We went to bed last night with snow on our rooftops. This puzzle set the tone for Christmas. My husband and I had to finish it this morning by ourselves. Next week I will get out my Christmas decorations and tree and transition to the next holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving

Finished Mandalas

I did meet my goal of coloring 5 mandalas. I have them taped to my patio door. They brighten the view up since I now have a bare tree out the window. I will take them down the week after Thanksgiving in order to put up Christmas decorations.

Today I attended Winona Literary Club. Part of the centerpieces were "cookies" made to look like turkeys. We each were given a small plastic bag so we could bring a turkey home. 

Almost too cute to eat. 

Our speaker was from Ryan's Case for Smiles. These are volunteers who make colorful pillow cases for hospitalized children trying to cheer them and their parents/families. Ryan's mother did this for him and others on his ward. The group has mushroomed so now it is in several states and in Canada. After 5 years of battling cancer (including an amputation of his right leg), Ryan died. To honor him, his parents continued making the cases and word spread.

A chapter of this group meets once a month at Grace Village as well as other places in nearby South Bend. The pillow cases go to many hospitals in the northern Indiana area. The nurses love having them to put on the pillows as they do elicit smiles. 

Early Taste of Winter

We had a pretty steady snow yesterday (Sunday) morning. Because the temperature has stayed at 30 today, very little has melted. In fact, we are having some light snow this afternoon as I type. 

It should start melting tomorrow and be gone for sure on Wednesday when we are in the 50's with rain. However, after Wednesday the thermometer drops into the 30's and 40's for the forecasted future highs. 

My housecleaner took a job in a cabinet factory. I believe she will be doing what her daughter who works there does. She gathers the hardware for the pertinent items onto a cart and delivers them to the assembly line. Her shift starts at 5 a.m. which I never could work. She will be earning twice what she earned cleaning. Her goal is to buy a used RV so she and her husband can retire and travel. I wish her well, but it means I am trying a new housecleaner.

 The former housecleaner recommended this business. There are 2 people working at a time which speeds things up, but also costs more. Today was the first time. They did a good job, but they arrived an hour later than what was scheduled. There were extenuating circumstances. We will see how it goes the next time. They do not clean during winter school break. After my December 13th cleaning I will be on my own for almost a month. Plenty of time to check out others if I am not satisfied with the current arrangement. 

More change in 20 months of change. I should be getting good at flexing, right? Not so much.