Yay! Picked up the car! Had a tutorial from the salesman who went thru all the many menus the new car has. I also bought a 10 year warranty that covers nearly everything because there are so many electronic parts.
D looked it over after we got home and seemed to really like it and is especially pleased that it’s top of the line. She can see us possibly handing the car down to her when we get a new one in a bunch of years if she moves home. :>
I wasn’t sure where to post this.
But a really nice, lift your spirits story. Something I needed today. It was shared all over Twitter today.
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/12/14/lin-wang-charles-barkley
There’s audio of this story also on the website
Time spent with my aunt who is in some stage of dementia is always interesting. I knew she was having a good day today when she took my hand and strolled through her memories of attending the RKO many years ago.
She asked if I remember going to this or that show, something she saw at its earliest showing a decade or so before I was born.
Today, her reverie complete, I was happy to tell her that yes, I did.
H bought me Michelle Obama’s book yesterday. Totally unprompted.
My mom, who had a strange and mysterious string of physical and mental symptoms starting in the spring and culminating with a month in a mental health unit August/September, has been able to reduce her meds gradually since coming home. Hadn’t been seeing a whole lot of change but this past week she has really improved to the point where I would say I have my mom back. The spark and personality have returned, she’s moving faster, and gaining some weight back. Just in time for Christmas!
Prayers for safe travels to our youngest and his wife as they embark on their delayed honeymoon trip to NZ and Australia.
The nice woman at the rug store in SF gave my mother a huge break on a beautiful new rug. My parents lost several very expensive rugs last month and any insurance money is months away. It was just so nice and made Mom cry.
The love they are getting from people who barely know them, people from their far past (and the nice rug lady) has been the best.
This year, at D’s request, weare stretching out the holiday season and I’m giving her little edible & other treats for all of us to share throughout the season instead of all on Christmas. As she says it feels more festive than all on 12/25. There will still be enough for 12/25 as well and it’s easier for all of us, so we can enjoy it longer.
We have received multiple boxes from Zingerman’s this week full of tasty treats for Christmas. Our relatives know what we like. 
My S who has ADD and learning disabilities( didn’t learn to read until he was almost 10) is now almost 30 years old. He came over last night and was excited to show us some animations he is working on and is so excited with his job. He loves his work and they love him. He has thrived out in the real world. He is on 4th job since college and each job change has brought him more challenges and nice pay increases. He continues to challenge himself and push his design work.
This is my kid who school was never a fit for him. Traditional school made him feel like he wasn’t smart. It was a challenge finishing high school and I didn’t think he would last a semester in college. He proved us all wrong and graduated in 4 years and a summer. Part of that was due to the fact that his program was small and his professors got to know him. He still isn’t a strong writer and is still at times absent minded. He has confidence in himself that I would have never thought possible.
For those who have kids who struggle in school I hope this gives you hope.
@intparent, we got one too yesterday - CINNAMON ROLLS. A friend always orders us something from Z’s and has it addressed to our dog. 
Saving them for Christmas breakfast.
Yesterday my D finished up an intensive two and a half year masters degree in speech pathology. Today she had an interview and was offered a job. I am so proud of her hard work, dedication, and desire to help others.
D has been looking for a swap gift for $30. Today, we went to Costco because needed them to fix my glasses (lens popped out). While there, found wireless charging pad set of 2 for S’s newish iPhone. Also found $30 ihome cordless speaker after $10 discount — D is thrilled!
Yesterday was my 250th Jazzercise workout of the year! I started in October 2017 wanting to drop a few pounds and tone my arms. I set a goal to get to 150 workouts this year (they provide cute workout shirt incentives for this level) and ended up going way over. Super proud of myself - hadn’t done any cardio since practically high school (I’m 55). It forces me to battle my workaholic tendencies so my stress level is also way down.
We needed our church hall painted. It had been 14 years, and it looked very tired. The church hired painters who gave us a quote of $5600 which included paint. They thought it would take 2 weeks. Today, they finished 4 days early. So, they knocked off $1000 from their final bill!!! Who does that these days? Everyone is thrilled!!
The paper my kid is listed as a author on got accepted by a peer reviewed physics journal today for publication. Her first, and it has taken ages (literally years) to get to this point.
D is one of the students featured on her MBA programs “ Meet the Class of 2020” on poets and quants.
Wish I could share it on Facebook, but she would kill me ?
D1 just received a milestone promotion at work and also moved on to a new position with additional responsibility. She is one of youngest at her firm to have such title. Likewise, not something I could share on FB.
We needed our church hall painted. It had been 14 years, and it looked very tired. The church hired painters who gave us a quote of $5600 which included paint. They thought it would take 2 weeks. Today, they finished 4 days early. So, they knocked off $1000 from their final bill!!! Who does that these days? Everyone is thrilled!!>>>>>>>
Great P.R. for them, I would imagine. People will remember this when they need painters.
When we told all our friends that Comcast had a deal whereby they could get a $430 iPad for $120 and a 2 year service extension and asked that anyone who didn’t need an iPad consider letting us pay them the $120 so we could bring the iPads to Mexico to be used by underserved schools in remote villages we expected a few people would take us up on it. What we didn’t expect was that a whole bunch of people would drop off iPads and every one of them would turn down any reimbursement whatsoever. Times like this remind me that there are a whole lot of truly generous and kind people in the world.