It's fairly quiet at the office so I took the opportunity to catch up. How about a few belated comments? As to the discussion about first grade and learning to read, until I read someone else's comment, I had forgotten that my mother bought me some "learn to read" workbooks before I was in 1st grade, and my mom and dad had a big arguement about this - my dad thought that teaching reading should be left to the school. I also remember feeling like I was looking at something "illicit" when I did get my hands on those workbooks. And the 1st grade nun impressed upon me so well that we needed to stand still by our desks when we prayed at the end of the day, that on the one day I had to throw up, I did so very quietly, right at my desk. Sister Albert was kind enough to tell me later that day that I could have "broken rank" and run for the garbage can in that situation. And a belated Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians. Sounds like a lovely day was had by all of you. Sometimes I think that gratitude is a muscle that we forget to exercise. At church this past Sunday, I unexpectedly pinch hit for the reader who was a no-show. If I had had the time to think about it, I would have been nervous about reading some lengthy passages cold. As it turned out, one reading was one of the rare passages that I know quite well, and the gist is to focus on the positive. (Rather timely for most people after last week, and these readings are set well in advance.) Anyway, I was reminding myself of all this on the way to work yesterday, but I still let a relatively minor incident (the lunch fiasco) all but unhinge me. So I shall try again today! Kathy, sorry to hear about the RIF's. That's always an unsettling experience to go through, even when you are are the lucky side of the equation. I think one of the reasons I feel so out of kilter lately is that I think we are a bit overstaffed at the moment. The boss says we finally have the right team in place and he wants to have everyone still in place come selling season, but if it was my decision I would be very concerned about our level of payroll. So then I wonder that perhaps there will be a payroll reduction - as in me. There's an uncomfortable situation with an employee who is a good friend of the owners; this person has a habit of working quickly and not checking the results, and I end up doing a lot of clean up. Well, I made an error this year, which was easily fixed, but I've heard an awful lot about it. At another company, I once worked with someone who was trying to have me fired. I felt like I was being paranoid about it as it was happening; it was very hard to deal with on a daily basis. After the other person was fired and I had to clean up her files, I found some correspondence she had sent to someone else that actually said she wanted to have me fired. It was somewhat of a relief then to know I wasn't imagining things. But now those same little alarm bells are going off in my head. The owner here is far more ethical than at that previous company, but I'm still uncomfortable. Contingency plans may be appropriate? So now I am looking back and thinking that this post is not in keeping with the Soaring Spirits title, but it does make me feel better to get this all off my chest. Someone take it away with a hew thread, and I promise to be upbeat on that one! V.

Good morning.... Eden, what an adorable conservatory! I can't imagine how DH put that together in a morning. I'm impressed! I do like the idea of the twinkle lights...a fairy house is a great theme. So can you keep plants inside it for the winter, and which plants are you trying? Hope you won't be out of commission with the kitchen for long. Brad is a gem and I hope he knows it. I agree with Denise, you make a great team. Well, Hello Cindy! Mystery solved! :-) We've missed you, nice to see you back. It sounds like you have been very busy. I know how hard it is to catch up once you've been away....we all know [g]...just jump in and don't worry about catching up. Gardenbug...so sorry about your quilt. I hope it can be repaired too. It sounds like a very frustrating situation with DH, but if you realize he is like this about a lot of things, then it does sound like it is the way he is wired. Maybe right now, the grief you are going through has to be magnifying everything else that is a usual problem too. It just makes it so hard to solve problems from a position of strength, so it might be better to let yourself get to a better place with your grief before you tackle problems that can be deferred. Problems have come looking for you for sure and I'm really sorry about that. As for Phoebe chewing everything in sight, I watch that show 'It's Me or the Dog' with a dog trainer solving dog problems and one I remember she suggested for chewing was to take a wet hand towel [old socks?] and roll it up and tie a knot in the middle of it and freeze it and give it to her to chew on. Julie....Loved hearing about the Rideau Canal and what fun you and the kids had when they were little. We would have loved that. I have heard about the Beavertails too, what a treat with hot chocolate, yum! Deanne....glad you liked our fall color. :-) I think it is great you are planning on working from home. Wonderful that you and Doug get along so well that you both can work from home and not drive each other crazy. I can only imagine what gorgeous photos you will be taking with the new equipment. Hard to imagine you could improve over what you have already done. Michelle...that is very close to what Eden has started, how funny. I do love the embellishments and I can just picture Eden with the jigsaw already, Chelone. [g] I forgot that Kenzie and Bella are almost the same age. I hope someone is recording some of the cute things she is saying. You will love having it later. Denise...sorry about your Succulent Orb. I've had very similar incidents and felt the same way. Like the time DH helped me weed and pulled out a small blueberry bush that had just been planted recently. How could he not realize a bush was not a weed?! lol That was a long time ago, so I can laugh about it now. :-) Kathy....you have hit the nail on the head, curious and analytical. I wish I could turn it off sometimes, but it's not so easy to do. [g] I think that is why I enjoy gardening so much, it is a physical activity that does turn it off to some degree. Glad you enjoyed my fall colors. We will be getting rain soon and bare branches will be right behind it I'm sure. I was just wondering, hearing you talk about frost...I had the impression your growing season was a lot longer than ours and assumed frost would be a lot later than us. How many days is your growing season, and from when to when? Wow, on those brugs..I can just imagine how fragrant they were. I thought of Deanne as well. Chelone...do you have a long 'commute' to work every day? Well...nothing new to report from here, except it is very warm for November. Sleeping with the window open still. No new foliage photos today, but here is a Hellebore that has finally settled in from it's move a few weeks ago. I moved it closer to the kitchen door, under our Japanese Maple and I am already liking it there. They really get big! I've added more bulbs and some Japanese Painted Ferns. That area will need a nice sprucing up in the spring with a fresh layer of mulch. Have a good day... :-)

Raven, could you let me know what version of the update you get when you get around to redoing it. I got the same email today. I updated mine for the 1st time yesterday. I wonder if it's the same firmware version. According to the info in my settings, the firmware I now have is S10_09_23_B_PD......... I used the PC version and thankfully got it right the 1st time. I hope it's the latest version, tho I had no problem with the update, reinstalling my WiFi is a pain, usually takes me several tries-many many numbers and letters.

I don't like purses that interfere with my outfit so anything around my neck I would not like. My two friends I was with brought very small purses but still did not want to wear them and especially not dance with them so they ended up just on the table. I do feel I can now move to a much smaller purse. I liked being purseless except for having to keep watching my phone when dancing. My daughter has a phone case that you can put in your id, a cc or two and some cash. That would be convenient but still the size of the phone just doesn't fit in pockets well. At least not in jeans and its too warm now for jackets. Vests are interesting. I don't remember if I have ever owned one. I didn't actually need my ID, unfortunately I wasn't proofed.