Wednesday dec 2 Long day today and I am tired! Went over and watched the kids this morning so my son and daughter in law could go out to breakfast. The kids were pretty good but I think remote, online school and no activities along with the colder weather has begun to take a toll. They seem to fuss with each other so much more and be short tempered. I took the two youngers ones out for a walk...bike and tricicles for them. The older one came out for a bit on his break from school. Then back in for snacks for all and took the younger two downstairs to their basement where they have a kids trampoline they play on. Of course they jumped into each other and the little one was crying and had a bit of blood in his mouth just as his parents got home! That is always the way it works. She was very calm and knows how it is but I hate that it ended up with tears! Then to Macy's to try to get a new dress for the Nutcracker trip. I picked one I really liked and brought it home but it looked terrible on me. Needless to say I was disappointed. I took it back and got a differnt one and I like it much better. You are not allowed to try one at the store now so it makes it very difficult! I was glad to get that done. Tomorrow I am finishing my Christmas decorating in the morning and then have a hair appt in the afternoon. Then home to pack! My hair is the longest it has been in years thanks to COVID but I am kind of enjoying it. I had been coloring it myself but the salon is open now so I am glad. My daughter went yesterday though and she had highlights and cut and it was 135.00! These things never fail to amaze me!

Tuesday 12/1

Sorry to have been missing for so long. It certainly is easy to get out of the rhythm. I have been gone for a few days up to my sister's in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to help her with her Christmas decorations. We had a great time and got quite a bit done. She is an absolute nut when it comes to decorating for Christmas...I can't even begin to describe it! We usually go to a differnt city each year to see the Nutcracker Ballet and shop with our daughters. Its become one of our favorite traditions. This year we were going to go to Salt Lake City and stay in Park City but the ballet there was cancelled so we decided to stay home due to the pandemic. Then just two nights ago she texted me that she found a ballet that was still ON and wanted to go. She was so excited and so much did not want the tradition to end I could not say no. So we are going to San Antonio TX. We are flying out on Friday and coming home on Tues. We are staying right on the riverwalk and it should be a good time. The ballet is Saturday. We will spend the rest of our time doing the Riverwalk and other 'touristy' activities. I am sure we will see the Alamo. Shopping and eating out will be in the cards too! We usually do a 'high tea' at a Ritzy hotel but does not seem to be a thing in San Antonio! Hope to do a better job keeping up with my journal here!

Thursday 11/5

Busy day today! First went to Christopher and Banks to pick up my new outfit that I ordered and argue with them about the cancellation of the jacket on the first order which they cancelled for no reason and I had to reorder at a higher price. Of course, the lady who took care of me was really nice and took care of me right away and even apologized for the customer service woman who could not/would not help. Took the wind right out of my sails ;-) Then to Meijer to buy 4 pints of strawberries for my Granddaughter who 'cannot live' without them. Then back home to mow and bag all the leaves that are everywhere. Got the worst of it done. Will probably need done one more time and the landscaping cleaned up but we have a few more nice days ahead so should be fine. I hate it when we get winter early and all the leaves are still in the yard! Made a nice dinner even though I could not find the recipe I wanted and used previously to make these chicken bundles that everyone really liked! I hate it when I do that. This is not the first time. Not as good making it from memory so hopefully I will be able to find it again and either bookmark it or use the old fashioned recipe cards and put it in my recipe box. I don't think anyone does that anymore.... Oh well. I am old fashioned. The election results drag on. I don't think anyone is going to end up feeling good about this one!

Tuesday 11/3

Voted....I won't say who for. That would defeat the purpose of secret ballots. But whoever wins, I hope all goes smoothly and there are no protests, riots etc. We really don't need that right now with all the COVID things we are already dealing with. Let's hope all goes well!

Monday 11/2

Another quiet day today. Ran to Carters to pick up an order for the Grandkids and then to Christopher and Banks to pick up an order for me! Beautiful sunset tonight...pictures never do justice!

Sunday 11/1/20

A long quiet Sunday and not a bad thing after such a busy day yesterday. Went to church at 8am and had to run back home to get a mask as I had decided not to drag my purse along and of course, did not think of my mask being in my purse. I wish this was all behind us but then who doesn't? I was a few minutes late but not the end of the world. Came home and did a quick clean up from yesterday. After that it was reading the Sunday paper and having a quiet day. It was COLD outside.. we had a lot of wind last night and the trees are much barer this morning. It will be nicer the rets of the week after today so hopefully I can get some outdoor chores finished. Today was a day of reading, knitting and just relaxing.

Saturday 10/31

Busy day today! Babysat little Samuel this morning while the other two went to their respective activities. Eleanor to tumbling and Alexander to jiu jitsu. He came to our house this time as we were expecting a delivery of firewood and I knew he would love to see the big dump truck come and drop it on the driveway. Unfortunately he had to go home before it got here. Then TJ our some and Alexander came to help Papa haul the face cord of wood from the driveway around to the back deck to be put on the wood rack. Papa gave Alexander 10.00 for helping and I think he was pretty excited! He picked up every piece of wood and handed it to Papa to be stacked! Later in the I made two recipes of homemade apple cider donuts for neighbors and us when we were out handing out trick or treat candy tonight. They were very good if I do say so myself! We moved the firepit to the front driveway and had a bonfire. After the kids trick or treated their own neighborhood they came over and we had hot dogs cooked outside and mac and cheese. I also cut up a big plate of all differnt fruits in the hopes they would snack on that a bit. Seemed to work as the plate came back in empty! They trick or treated out neighborhood and then I brought Sam in and gave him a bath while the two older kids went back out again. It was a good day and though it was very windy at least it was warmer than the snowy Halloween we had last year!