Black Friday

Just went down to Fred Meyers for a grande latte.  The place was jammed.  Holiday shoppers doing the Holiday Shopping thing.  Juneau's Walmart was open all night with the super duper electronics sale due to kick-off at 5 AM.  The only thing I want to be doing at 5 AM is sleeping.

Turkey day was busy.  Cooked most of the day.  Made chicken stock for future use.  Made cauliflower au gratin and carrot and sweet potato puree for supper at mom's.  Supper was the traditional turkey with all the trimmings and mom's famous chocolate sundae pie for dessert.  Yummy.

Amanda and Leah called yesterday morning and I had a very pleasant chat.  They both seem on top of the world at the moment.  Leah LOVES her new job at the winery - with the exception of the one hour commute each way.  The folks working at Sokol-Blosser are young and fun.  The winery just released their new pinots and it sounds like Leah is rapidly acquiring a substantial personal wine cellar.  This weekend is the biggest of the season at the tasting room so she will be very busy.

Amanda and her beau, Daniel, are now living in their new apartment in the Hawthorne District.  Sounds like they like the place.  Amanda went to a job interview at Portland State University last week and is extremely hopeful that she is about to be offered a job at the student health center.  They were checking her references within a half-hour of the conclusion of the interview.   Decent salary and great benefits including the employee discount on tuition and use of university facilities including the gym.  I've got my fingers crossed!

Otherwise life continues at a very sedate pace.  We got a couple of inches of snow early in the week which resulted in the typical first snow demolition derby on Egan Drive.  I believe there were eleven fender benders with four hospitalized - fortunately no life-threatening injuries.  Then it turned to rain for a couple of days before clearing-off somewhat last night when the roads turned to ice.  It was a mite treacherous when I took auntie and nephew home after supper last night.  The forecast is for real winter to start after the first of next week.  Snow followed by clearing and plummeting temperatures.

Well, gonna de-fat my chicken stock and then mosey over to mom's for coffee. I leave you with a link to an amusing tale from the wilds of Virginia featuring an Australian, his dog, and an officious bureaucrat.  Very amusing.  Thanks to Dougie for the link.

Garbage Bears