Thursday - This is your moment!

[helia]

Hello manatee!! Welcome! It sounds like you're being productive.

[helia]

Yes - Neither weird nor caffeine follow that rule. Seize does not follow it either. I'm having fun!! The i before rule is for when the vowel sound is [ee]. Lots of other words are spelled ei with different vowel sound, like [ay] - their, reign, weigh (a lot of eigh words), veil, etc. It would be interesting to look up the etymology of words with different spellings. Maybe there are patterns in terms of which older languages they came from.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Back from the walking tour. It was fairly interesting but not blow me out of the water. Unfortunately, there was a charge which I did not know about so I was embarrassed at the end. I figure any tour that takes me to so many stores and points out so many restaurants shouldn't also charge me.

On the other hand, I've now seen the mysterious stairway so that's off my to-do list for today. And I got to see 109 E. Palace which was the highlight of the tour for me.

Dh is the last of the committee left and is working away on the tasks assigned to him down in the meeting room, all by himself. He looks very lonely. I took him his V8 drinks for his lunch (pay wayyy too much for them from the hotel tuck shop) and am having my leftover pizza and a Dr. Pepper. Once I've rested a bit, I'll head off to the State Capitol to look at the art there and then get some fruit and veggies from the grocery store.

Helia I drove past a slough with OKay and asked if it was pronounced sloo in the south or did they have another way of saying it. They don't.

[helia]

Interesting, Kathryn. Slough is not a word I'm all that familiar with. Ough words are another fun category of words to pronounce: tough, cough, though, slough, bough, rough. . . The stairs. . . I'm not sure I've seen them - or I just don't remember them. That is more likely.

I did a very little (and very unofficial) poking around, and it looks like many of the words with "gh" in them, including slough, have roots in some form of German. Sleigh is one exception, but it goes back to old Dutch, which is at least related to German. --Not official results by any means, but a nice distraction for me!!

Time to stop being distracted by all you interesting people!!

I will NOT post again until I have gotten some things done. Girls will be home in about 30 minutes.

[CathyS]

Happy anniversary to Harriet and HRH! (Does it mean His Royal Highness to you or is it something else?)


And a MASSIVE ta da! (insert sarcasm here) Finally! After 23 years and 8 months, the city in which I live considers me (trumpet blare for effect) a "Professional driver". Yippee! (Still inserting sarcasm.)

I've been very productive today. I was walking out the door as the Grandfather clock chimed at 9 a.m. Drove to Yorkdale mall in Toronto and got there just before 10. Went to Starbucks with my dd. Walked around a bit and got on the bus to come home at 12. She now has her car and my keys. I'm a bit sad that I won't be home on the first to help her move, but I think a 27 year old and her boyfriend should be able to get some friends to help. A 52 and almost 55 year old can't really get up and down 3 flights of stairs very well moving beds and couches and other heavy stuff. (Dd's building has no elevator.)

[Nancy]

Back from carpool granny duty has begun.
Eggs have been gathered.
Laundry has been switched over.
Lunch is done.

[Harriet]

((lucylee)), are you feeling okay? Slaving over an ironing board like that, bless your heart. Please be sure to drink extra water. Turkey dressing? Oh sure, not a shock.

Cathy, some call their dhs "Mr. something" here, like Mr. Indiana, but for a feminine name, maybe not. (smile) In response to the question of whether he could be called "Mr. Harriet", he said yes, but he'd like his full title, "His Royal Highness, Mr. Harriet". And Indiana shortened to HRH.

helia, as I recall, the producers/directors didn't really try for an introductory episode, but just jumped right into the middle of the show. I have little knowledge of Louisiana, swampy land, or even ducks, even though I am southern (from a different region). It's probably because the personalities and eccentricities are familiar, and the outdoor predicaments and rural-vs-urban struggles seemed universal, that I like the show. How interesting that your amazonPrime gives benefits like this - eventually, I may have to take my dd33's advice and pay for the Prime membership. She's had to buy so many diapers for so many years that she says she would have been silly not to pay for Prime.

gh chat - school being built in our area was to be named for an admired educator, deceased, whose last name was Hough (rhyming with rough and tough). Some children (and their parents?) began a campaign to change the name because it might be pronounced with the "oh" sound and there might be teasing. There was a big commotion over this. I even wrote a letter to the school board and commissioners saying that lots of children in our school system might have names which could elicit teasing, and what kind of message would we be sending to them if we showed them we would change plans for such a reason. The commotion finally settled down when a reporter thought to interview the Mayor of the town where the school was to be built. Mayor Tarte.

[helia]

Harriet, that is very interesting about the school name - and the mayor name! Yes, kids will make fun of whatever they can - if their goal is to make fun of something. We order so much from Amazon that prime is worth it for us too.

Well, isn't that how it goes. I had a full afternoon - and I didn't get much done beyond look at some interesting videos (What Does the Farmer Say, take off of What Does the Fox Say), snack (still doing OK with points, though), keep towel laundry going and finish the a.m. routine.

So, my parents and brother and niece are coming up here for Thanksgiving!! They're planning on driving up Wed. and leaving Monday. My parents will stay in a hotel, which will be better for them; they will appreciate their own space to retreat to, and Mom is allergic to cats. I'm not sure if dbro and niece will stay in our home or not. I'm both excited and terrified! LOL! So, we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 10 at least. I'm not sure if we're also inviting S and R. The numbers don't phase me; we've cooked for large numbers before and dh will help me cook. I'm just hoping different sorts of people get along well and that we can figure out some things we can do together. My Dad has a bad hip, so he can't walk too far. Dh won't want to stay home for long b/c he'll feel cooped up. Dbro also will want to be on the go. Dniece has a mental disability and shouldn't get too tired. Teens will want to be on their laptops. . . . It will work out, I think.

I'm going to go clean the main bathroom now. S and R are joining us for dinner, a quick one, before dh and I head off to the Veritas Forum lecture on campus tonight. I'm hoping to see ds there. Dd18 is going too, but with the church youth group.

http://www.veritas.org/campuses/university-michigan/

[Norma]

Concerning Prime Membership on Amazon. Everyone who does online shopping needs to have this. We do all of our shopping at Amazon and last February signed up for Prime. I think I paid $79 for a year and the benefits have far outweighed that amount. Not only free shipping on most things, but you can "borrow" a lot of books. Cowinkie's Sweetie was the one who filled us in on this and we have not regretted it. I have not added up what we have bought since last February, but the shipping costs it saved us has been phenomenal. Go check it out.

[blessedw2]

so interesting! d helia.. wish I could go too.