Thanksgiving Escapees

Time for Mom to Go Home

When I realized our jigsaw puzzle was finished, I told Mom it was time for her to go back home because I didn't have any more puzzles.

Sadly, she had to fly home yesterday. We had the best visit ever so the time just flew by us.

We sat and put this 1,000 piece puzzle together and chatted and chatted. One thing would remind us of something else. We brought up old memories, good times, great laughs and loving people. (Sigh)... I miss Mom already!

Happy Black Friday

Whoever came up with the name "Black Friday" anyway? We are NOT going shopping today. I refuse to even look at the sale papers. If I truly needed something, I might take a peek. But at this stage in my life, I'd rather get rid of stuff than buy more.

Jack has a different opinion. He and Mom poured over the papers. I think they compared ads... for what, I have no clue! They would shout out to me something they'd found like a special Michael's ad with 50% off your entire order. I'd shout back, "not interested."

Shopping under most conditions is NOT an activity I prefer to do...it is at the BOTTOM of my bucket list!

Thanks Thanks Giving Giving

We get two Thanksgiving Days!!

Danette and her family couldn't make it up as they got some nasty bug. I decided I had so much food and only one extra person to help eat it, we'd have our Thanksgiving dinner a day early. We'll eat leftovers today and be twice as thankful as we were yesterday.

 The potato peelers.

 We didn't know Jack was standing over us with the camera...what a goof.

Nothing fancy...just thankful for being together.

Package in the Mail: Priceless

Oh. My. Gosh.

My girlfriend Judy's daughter, Shannon, has become a good friend as she grew into a beautiful woman. I have enjoyed our friendship over the years. I have especially enjoyed knowing Shannon since she was little.

She was a toehead blonde, spunky, inquisitive, bouncy like Tigger, ready to jump right into whatever we were doing. (She also was a "rocker" like me....private secret.) The only thing that bothered her too much was driving in a car. To this day, Shannon is pretty much that same person - only now she takes meds before going on a road trip. Oh, and she is blind.

She lives about 1½ hours drive away from Santa Barbara, California. There is a blind institution in SB. Since Shannon can't drive, she did take a bus to attend classes given for the blind. Unfortunately, this year, funds were lost and the bus stopped running. Shannon got creative. She enlists help from friends and her mom and gets rides to a neighboring city then hops a public bus to SB. I don't know how she gets from the bus stop to the school, but she does it.

I have to explain that Shannon is not what most folks would call "normal" because she is nocturnal! At least I think she is....she stays up way past my bedtime and sleeps way past the time when my feet hit the floor. I'm not sure if that makes her nocturnal or not, but it sounded fun.

In other words, for Shannon to get out of bed before the sun comes up is a major deal. She does it in order to make the trip to SB. I have to ask her how long the trip takes with the way she has to travel. I know it is way over 90 minutes. Bless her sweet heart. She is a trooper!

Okay, now that you have some history of me and Shannon.....imagine my surprise when this HUGE box arrived from UPS. I started to open it and Jack said, "Um, you have to call Shannon first. She wants you on the phone when you open it." Silly me didn't even look to see who the package was from, I just saw my name on it and started opening the box.

I called Shannon and after much bubble wrap and tons of peanuts, I opened this most beautiful sailboat that she had made in one of her ceramic classes. She made it just for me. I can't believe she is blind. This is stunning. I couldn't make it with my eyes in working order let alone if I were blind.

She is amazing.

My sailboat is amazing.

Shannon, you rock!

Skies

Who doesn't love clouds?

It's Strong to Me

I think I drink strong coffee; that is until I visit my girls and see how much coffee they put into their "mud brews". I'm going to let you be the judge. (This bag is not the brand I buy...I buy fair market, shade grown organic coffee  but for some reason, the only bags available for the ground up coffee beans are the Buckmaster bags.)  Anyway, this bag held one pound of grounds.

I decided to find out how long it lasts me and how many 11-oz cups I get from one pound.

When I make a pot of coffee, it will last 2-3 days. I drink 2 cups of coffee a day and some weekend days, I may drink an extra cup. So let's say I average 2.25 cups a day.

One pound of coffee cost me $7.95.

I got about 70 cups out of this bag. Again, those were 11-oz cups.

That makes the cost of my coffee about 11 cents a cup.

At our local drive-thru espresso, Brewed Awakenings, plain coffee is 50 cents - an Americano is $1.00

I buy the Americano and give a 50 cent tip whenever I buy coffee there.

Dutch Brothers, closer to and in Medford, is $1.50 for the same Americano.

Starbucks in Medford is almost $2.00 for the same Americano - (it's been about two years since I've been there as it is at a book store and it's 22 miles away, for crying out loud!) It may only be $1.80.

Of course, when I'm traveling or in town, I don't drink more than one cup a day. That's another thing, it can last me 4 hours before it's gone!

Brewing your own coffee certainly does save.

And the part about what is strong? I most likely don't drink mine strong at all. Considering just how many cups I get out of that one little pound of coffee.

I think it is all in how much you enjoy that cup of java.

And I do enjoy mine. Mild, hot, cold, days old..... I still like it.