What a Thanksgiving! dS2 left today to drive back up north to college, dd and boyfriend left Thursday evening to back to their homes and jobs, Auntie left yesterday afternoon, still have MIL and DS1 and his gf. DH and his mom are tending the bonfire, DS and GF are playing tennis and I am taking a break in the library :-). We took MIL who has advancing dementia to local ballet school matinee performance of the Nutcracker today and she LOVED it, much to our surprise and delight! Biggest excitement--- daughter's boyfriend asked DH for our permission to ask her to marry him! We are keeping quiet as he plans to do this in a few weeks and we don't want spoil the surprise! We could not be happier as the young man is exactly who we would order as a SIL and he is truly devoted to our girl. Tired of cooking and serving, that's for sure! Mtn, I realized -- finally-- that I used a 9.5" springform pan instead of a 9" or 8", which is why it looked so flat. It was still delicious, though, and the apple pie from our local Methodist youth group was fantastic! And do you know, I am sending people home with their gingerbread house kits. We were having such a good time talking and visiting that the afternoon sped by with no need for a planned indoor activity! We will save ours for Christmas Eve when my nephews are staying over. Chibimimi, you are a veritable pioneer! I cannot imagine cooking over an open fire and really admire you for not giving in and running to the nearest restaurant. Bbstx, wine was definitely involved! We had a Viognier and a Beaujolais for our turkey dinner, and shooters of hot wassail spiked with spiced rum in mini christmas mugs. Let's just say it was pretty cheerful oPattyxlynn, what a great idea for a dessert/snack---- caramelized apple chips----and I'll bet your apple cinnamon loaves were delicious! I am often dubious of the photos I see on Pinterest.......they look like the product of a craft room staff, not a single harried individual with a pair of scissors and a roll of ribbon. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Wow, the rough estimate the HVAC gave me yesterday was between $350 & $450 but the company is supposed to call with a real estimate. I got a call today from the company and the lady said they can't find a roof vent or jack (new one to me) in 8", only 4". I asked if they had ever installed a duct for a vent hood before and she said yes, but not this size. As popular as the Modern Aire is on this forum, I can't believe it's so hard to find the parts. I had sent them the same link and asked if they could order from there, and she said she called that company and was told she had to buy from their local distributor and the local distributor only carried 4". But they gave her another name and she'll call it Monday.

CUTE! I too, love the stockings, those are really unique and so fitting for you, Rita. If you google "Christmas stocking cowboy" you get a lot of hits but I didn't find Rita's. Most are not as cute, but I bet you could make one with some effort, if you sew. On ebay, look for a pattern called "Boots and Spurs". christmaspeople.com has a cute one, too. Oh, finally found some cute ones- Here is a link that might be useful: These are pretty cute.....

Well, here's a bit of an update, finally. After being sick, getting distracted, and plain old procrastinating, the photos have finally been dealt with. First of all, thank you all for sharing your ideas and what you would do with them. It's interesting to get the different perspectives and look at our situation through them. It was surprisingly easy to sort the good from the bad after summoning the strength to just face them and whatever emotions they might bring with them. Many were blurry, there were a number where the people who were the most prominent subject of the photo were not even people we knew (like the guy who drove us to the chapel). Some were outright awkward, like I mentioned before, and I hadn't realized how unhappy I looked in many of them- not sure if that was so much the truth, or just poor timing of a photo. Either way, the small 'keep' stack ended up at 15 photos. In going through both stacks again, it felt clear that one stack was photos worth looking at, and one stack was photos without much to offer; I was surprised at how clear the distinction was and that I wasn't waffling about whether to keep more. There were two or three that ended up in the keep pile, that I wasn't real sure about. Maybe we will revisit in a year or two, and ditch them if they still feel wrong. For now they are in an envelope in the back of the file cabinet. It feels good to have finally dealt with them. They were one of those things that would turn up, get stuffed somewhere else, and then turn up again later- an exercise in denial. Now it feels like a tucked away envelope with the acceptable, and maybe even good memories, of the day. Thanks again to everyone who weighed in.