Here's the Oct. 2011 thread.

When we left off, Susan had just put in a new stovetop and remarked that it made the rest of the kitchen look dirty. Alas, she has trod the slippery slope one encounters when comparing new and old appliances in the same room. The remedy can be expensive. And Penny was wondering why there are rat traps in London and not out in the sticks. Makes me glad I'm not in London to find out, considering the history of flu and black death and such . . .

I have a large garage sale on Nov. 5 that should help remove a lot of extra stuff from around here. I don't expect to make a lot of money, but I'll visit with neighbors, hang out with Susie, and hopefully see usable but unneeded items adopted into good homes. Everything I'm working on right now is leading up to that, but it will be a variety of things around the house that will result in access to items that need to be moved outside for the sale. I'll be tidying the garden (so the yard doesn't scare buyers away) and I'll be moving things that I don't want to sell (because people will ask).

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, but for a while it is a truncated holiday because one family member is away at college. We make our occasions when we can so my official family meal with be sometime in mid-December when he's back in town during the winter break. After the sale I'll work on setting up for that meal. And all of this time I hope to be making progress on the low-carb diet I've started again.

This evening I'll start sorting the names for the Secret Santa game. That's a lot of fun - doesn't take too long, but it does require attention to detail. I'll launch that project then watch it unfold on its own.

That's enough to keep me busy. How about everyone else?

SRS