Thinking Thankfully on Thursday

[Ramblinrose]

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood but I’m still in Miami. Sunny with gentle winds and low humidity. We just got back from eating lunch with my son. The neighborhood we are in is very Cuban and so are many of the places to eat.

My son is fluent in Spanish and lived just a mile or so from here for a year at an Extended Care until he found an apartment for his job He was the manager for Lisey Spices which produces Hispanic spices for most of the east coast grocery stores. His plant had over 300 employees and only 6 spoke Engish.

Anyway we went to a Cuban cafe for lunch and my son explained to us what was on the menu. I ask him to order for us because I love the bear him speak Spanish. Most of the people who work at the Marriott speak Spanish and he always talks to them in their language. He also can read and write in Spanish as his MBA is in international Business and was required to attend a Mexican university for a year while getting his degree

Reports from him are that our community did not suffer much damage. 2/3 of my community have power, but my section does not. That means even if power is restored by tomorrow I have lost everything in my refrigerator and freezer.

That’s one way to clean them out and restock them. Course the grocery store will be short on food as well. I have plenty of dry goods to get me through until I get power, and I can always head to my sons house for
A cup of hot coffee.

Will take a shower and wash my hair before we leave in the morning. Might be a while before I get to do that again. We plan to leave around 7am in hopes of beating all the traffic as every on heads home. That will be an adventure as well!

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Thanks for checking in Rosie!

Glad to hear your home didn't suffer much aside from the effects of a power outage.

My sister's partner, Joy, still hasn't found out about her vacation mobile home but a picture of her daughter's shows the carport down, taking with it siding and possibly part of the roof.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I need to get moving.

Last night, when I went to bed at midnight I rolled up the jigsaw puzzle so it wouldn't tempt me this morning. Didn't work. As a compromise, I unrolled it on the kitchen bar and so had to stand up while finishing it, which I did by 11:15 this morning.

I've now s2s and finally (after two poor starts) have a good fire going. The cottage wasn't nearly as cold this morning as it has been so I'm assuming getting it so hot (just 72) yesterday warmed up the walls and the furnishing so it was a few degrees warmer when I got up this morning.

The sun is out now which helps with heating the place up but I'm out of wood inside and almost out of wood on the porch so I need to fetch some from the two woodsheds (birch for starting fires and hardwood for heat.)

It would be good for me to go for a short walk too.

Hmmmm, there is a pickup truck coming down the driveway, backwards, towards me now,

edit: It was the guy from next door coming to say goodbye. He came in yesterday and fixed the GFI for me so I don't have to worry about the fridge anymore. The bear woke them up last night between 1 and 2 running by their cottage. I want to go out to watch for the aurora tonight but I'm afraid to. Hmm... Just realized I can drive up to the hydro line by the highway and watch it from there. The car will keep me safe enough (I have no problem driving into a bear with it if I have to, which reminds me, I have to empty the mouse trap from last night. Got another one while I was brushing my teeth.)

[Ramblinrose]

In a strange coincidence I just discovered a girl friend of mine since first grade just purchased a condo on an island 5 miles from my home. My other childhood friends who are moving two towns over from me just let me know as they had a farewell dinner with her last night.

I asked them for my other friends phone number and text her. The road the leads to island wher her condo is is located right by my community. The road to the island has water and sand damage and the Publix is not allowed on it. I told my friend if she would send me her Island address I would check on her condo for her as soon as the road is safe to travel.

The girls were in all my classes with me in grammar school and in both my Brownie and Girls Scout troops. I went to summer camp for many years and all of us, including my one friends husband went to high school together. Some times life can be be interesting :

[Lady Maverick]

I so love this SHE village and the sharing of our experiences.

Decluttering today was focused on DH and my clothes. We discussed how we tend to hold onto clothes that we don't wear instead of releasing them. We both got busy in our closets and each pulled out a big pile of clothes. For me this was influenced by going down 2 sizes in pants.
I can't wear most of my pants because they won't stay up. ANYway, these clothes are packed and ready to be dropped off at our favorite charity. Two 50 gallon bags of clothes and a big box of homeschool books will soon be leaving our home.

I just got text that my prescriptions are ready to be picked up. I like that the doctor sends them before the surgery instead of having to go to pharmacy afterwards.

DD48 has invited DD13 to spend fall break with her. I hope this visit goes well for DD13.

[Twins' Mom]

Wow, RR, small world isn't it?

Nice afternoon here. I did some genealogy work, listing out some of the connections between the children of William White (1742-1831) that together prove they are his children and siblings.

I had to go out to pick up dh's shirts. I've walked the dog and need to get in the shower now.

[blessedw2]

happy birthday to your sweet dd!! d helia!!

[blessedw2]

so cool about your d son d rose!!!
I love cuban restaurants - dd younger took us to her favorite cuban restaurant the last time we came into Florida.
dd younger took some amazing pictures of people working and playing in little Havana. Truly beautiful photos. My favorite was of a woman making cigars.(not in the touristy part)
How wonderful that a friend you knew since first grade has moved so close to your home!!!

hi d Kathryn,
hi d Harriet
hi d helia
hi d lady
hi d rose
hi d Nancy
hi d Cathy
hi d twins
hi d Lucy
hi d everyone that I missed!!!

took my mom to buy cloths - she didn't find pants as much as she found tops
she also bought groceries
I bought a new bowl scrapper thingy because it got dogified

my cold is hitting me - but the sore throat is now just an itchy throat

spoke to family that went through the storm - no power and terrifying

my dd's friend unfortunately went into labor as the hurricane hit the west coast - she was in Miami but her baby gestation is only 22 weeks. We are saying lots of prayers for this sweet baby and his parents. I don't know how much he weighs -usually 1 pound and 7-1/2 inches. I have seen a 1 pound 2 oz baby. So tiny.

her other friend survived the storm in Venice Florida. She hid in her closet but they have flooding. But they are ok. house no but them yes!

[Harriet]

Gleaned these very welcome updates on Milton today and put into J and C. Hopefully brief but not forgetting anyone.

Cathy, so good to hear from you. Thanks for the reminder that Canada will celebrate Thanksgiving in just a few days.

LadyM, just think... .. tomorrow this time you'll be able to remember this bout of dental-chair time as "something I used to do" and KEEP remembering it that way. Think about the garden while waiting - about a 2025 garden plan, etc. Walk down rows, does something need extra support next year. Plant some marigolds where they would help with bugs or make animals turn up their noses. Choosing between the different shades of marigolds takes a lot of consideration.

I am thankfully thinking this evening that I have done well with pulling my sleep/wake schedule up by its bootstraps. I did nap, but it made sense and worked within a plan of being asleep tonight.

An additional TaDa for the day was taking the car to the shop, where it will stay a bit. The front brake job is due, so we will bite the bullet on that bill. Considering tires. The trip there was so nerve-wracking that I specifically asked let's just go home and regroup. So, no other errands.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Because of poor cell service here, the car isn't responding to the app. This afternoon I increased the charge level and set a departure schedule (to preheat the battery while I'm connected to power so that I'll get better range on the trip home.) Tonight I went to check if the instructions had been sent to the car and discovered the app wasn't connecting. So I had to go outside to check. I could unlock the car from the cottage because my phone is connected by bluetooth so I did so and took a load out to the car. The new charge level was entered but the departure schedule was missing. So I set those and turned to come back into the cottage and a fox ran across the lawn.

I decided to take another load out and this time while coming back I felt movement behind me. The fox had come back and was following me about 5' away. Now, the car is parked against the side of the cottage and it is no more than 15' from the car to the porch steps and door, all of which is either gravel or a wood platform, but the fox was sticking close to me and when I closed the porch door behind me, he walked to the bottom of the steps and stared at me. He didn't stick around long enough for me to get a photo.

All this to say, I may not bother to try to see the aurora since I obviously will have to unplug the car and drive out to the highway in order to have a clear view of the northern sky from my car. Walking over to open space just 100' away would be too nerve wracking to me. I did note I can see the moon and stars so the sky is clear.

I made a bake potato to go with my meatloaf tonight so I feel like I had a 'cooked' dinner. The fireplace has not gone out since 11 and the cottage is now 74. I put the last log on for the night. Before doing that, the fire had burned down to intense embers, perfect for toasting marshmallows. So I did that before putting the log on and getting flames back.

I watched Tetris (a movie about the fight over the rights for Tetris over dinner and into the evening. Now I need to clean up the kitchen, take a photo to send to the kids of the finished (minus 3 missing pieces) puzzle, and then decide what I'm going to do about the aurora.

I need to vacuum and dust some of the rooms and perhaps pack a few more things. I've put the stepstool we used from the dock into the car (I washed the mud off it this afternoon) and the last of our folding chairs. I can use the deck chairs if I want to sit out and 3 places to sit on the porch is more than enough and I'm not expecting visitors.

Next trip up, I have to drive 2/3 of the way towards home to meet up with some cousins for lunch. The timing of that will give me just enough time to recover my charge level in order to get home without having to detour to a charger.