Ornaments and Updates

Check out our new ornament from the White House Historical Society!  It honors the state dinners that are held there, this one a representation of the plates used during the Reagan administration.  The other side is a representation of the Clinton administration.  These are always really nice ornaments each year.  Typically, they honor a different President each year as they move forward in the Presidential time line.  Last year was Jimmy Carter, so that being said, we'll see Ronald Reagan's ornament next year.  This one here could have really been Reagan's ornament though, couldn't it?  These come with booklets that do a great job explaining the history behind the ornament.  Usually, it's about a particular President, and usually what Christmas was like in the White House those years.  In this case, there's an interesting history of state dinners at the White House. 

Okay, moving on!  Today was a fall day, as seen by this leaf.  Okay, it's not falling.  It is actually suspended by this web that must have been made by a juro spider.  These webs are very strong, because the wind was blowing this leaf over the road at such a low angle from such a high place - it looked to be just floating there.

The view in the other direction?  Cars lined up early for the chicken food drive.  It's a big deal at Free Chapel. We've been giving away a lot of food lately, and the cars here have been numerous.

Speaking of food and Thanksgiving, I'm still plugging along on this virtual path, each day writing something I'm thankful for and occasionally passing markers that get these recipes or bits of facts about Thanksgiving.  I've got the ingredients to this cranberry sauce, and I'm looking forward to making it for a tasty snack!  

Kind of a quiet day today.  We've got a resurgence of birds on our back deck, including a return of the bluebirds, which delights Mom very much.  We've got all there too of course.  And at the front porch, we've got three cats now, neighborhood cats that think they'll get food from us or something.  Okay, one cat does.  The other cats we can't feed because their owner wants them to hunt rodents or something.  So we have to shrug our shoulders and say sorry!

As for the other lifeforms in the house, I have to say our sea monkeys are doing well!  Yes, they are still swimming about and they seem to be thriving.  They're certainly making more sea monkeys, although I'm not entirely sure why those other sea monkeys don't seem to grow up so much.  Part of me suspects that they're getting eaten, which is weird.  I feed these guys pretty well, right?  Don't eat your kids!  Especially on holidays!  Anyway, here we are over two years later, and that same initial package of eggs has spawned a few generations of descendants.

This morning was super, super foggy.  Dense fog alerts and big accidents out there.  We were out a little later, and that was good of course.  Later on tonight it was still a bit foggy as we went to taekwondo.  Maddie had fun helping out initially, and then going to her leadership class.  Afterwards we were watching more Christmas movies - it's been quite the marathon this year, with so many movies to see.  And of course there was reading "Hogfather" before bedtime, and then prayers.

It was a decent day today - we spent a lot of time working on January's theme and messages, and it should be a lot of fun.  It's going to be a really new and different series!  Okay, time to head to bed.  Crazy to think that Thanksgiving is in one week!