@MaineLonghorn Brava !
Oh, thank you. We are fortunate to have such wonderful parents. They’ve treated us so well our entire lives! My husband would say they’ve spoiled us, actually.
We got a lot of stuff sorted today! We’re a little frustrated with Dad, because he just says he’ll go through his huge collection of books “later,” but that’s life. He’ll have to do it sometime! Mom is giving up a lot of her dolls much easier than we expected.
And even though we did a lot, we barely scratched the surface. Tonight, we opened the door to a room we hadn’t entered in awhile. Oops!! Kind of a disaster. We both realized we’ll need outside assistance - the two of us don’t have the time to go through the entire house, sorting everything.
Hugs, @MaineLonghorn. We are working hard to make sure our kiddos will not have to do this painful exercise of going through the mementos.
On the tell something good front, the weather was absolutely stellar! Have not had such beautiful November weather in a while. We dumped household chores and went for a long walk.
S sent me a WhatsApp photo of his first attempt at Yorkshire Puddings (a firm favourite in our Yorkshire home) that were his contribution to his dorm’s Thanksgiving dinner. They looked great!
It’s my birthday! I’m enjoying this time of my life between youth and wisdom 
S17 is home for the holidays! He has been writing a paper and helping his sister (older but just taking her second college class at CC) with her paper. He has told us he is now acting VP at his fraternity and will be president in January for a one year term. He is very mature about it and has been meeting with alumni to come up with ways to keep the fraternity members safe and prevent problems. He is getting a 4.0 again this semester unless something drastically goes wrong in the next couple of weeks! I’m proud of him. He will have just 4 more prerequisites for vet school after this semester.
S19 and D22 are both home for Thanksgiving!! This empty nester has so missed her baby birds!!
My dad had already told me he would buy a used car for our daughter this Christmas. When I was home last week helping my parents start their downsizing process, my sister and I found an uncashed check (made out to my dad) for $8,100 (my mom has gotten forgetful)!! It’s from 2017, but the company that wrote the check said they will issue another one if the bank won’t cash this one. So I think it’s cool that the money we found will go towards their granddaughter’s car! (and yes, this was a wakeup call to Dad that he needs to get involved in their finances)
Oldest son made “regular” at the post office, meaning that he is now in the pension and retirement plans, has union protection and is able to get better medical and dental insurance. He is thinking about finishing his UG degree now that he will have a consistent schedule.
I am turning in my application for the chaplain residency tomorrow. First huge step in new beginnings. Life begins at 60!
My client just extended my contract thru Q1 of next year. I really like them, so this is good news.
@KKmama my H did a year of CPE several years ago. He found it very intense and yet rewarding at the same time. I hope and pray it goes well for you!
D3 took her last antibiotic today. I’m glad she’s better because she’s graduating in just 9 more days!
I carelessly missed the statutory renewal deadline for a limited liability company owned by DW’s and my retirement accounts. The deadline was 11/30, and here it is December 5th. Luckily I remembered, went online, confirmed the bad news that I was late, and commenced the renewal process. To my amazement, 5 minutes later, renewal completed, no late fee, no problems.
the christmas hallmark movies are cheesy, but they make me smile. Glad they are on for the next few weeks
On the plane, I watched cheesy movies on the plane: Mama Mia, Here We Go Again, The Holidays (2006 movie about house swap) and Overboard (amnesiac playboy has a very different life—hallmark ready). Also saw incredibles2.
Want to finally tackle that closet or junk drawer you’ve been meaning to clean out? Here’s a tip: watch an episode or two of “Hoarders.” Watch until the commercial break, clean for 15 minutes. It’s amazing how effective it is to channel all that disgust into action. I’m on my 3rd episode and just loaded my 6th box/bag for Goodwill into my car.
Almost finished Christmas shopping. Just have stocking stuffers to buy. Oh, and a Christmas tree :))
@Sue22, my DH used to do that after we’d visit his mother, who was a near-hoarder. We’d come back from a visit with her and he’d fill up two big garbage bags.
Sold our 20 year old TOYOTA van to my mechanic’s niece for the price the dealer was offering as credit for a trade in toward a new car, $600! She’s thrilled and it only has 120,000 miles on it and is mechanically pretty sound.
I’m glad she will get good use out of it and it’s not going to the car auction.
Will be picking up the new Toyota Prius Prime as soon as we all get over our dang colds—hopefully very soon!