Thanksgiving with Friends

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with special friends.  Actually this has become somewhat of a yearly tradition....and so it's day we look forward to.

But the preparations began about a week ago with the customary grocery shopping, especially that Turkey that needs time in fridge to thaw!  And then Tuesday, was dessert preparation day.  I made up a batch of peanut butter cups, knowing that Krystal could not eat pie.... and, of course Rich made his pumpkin pie!  And by Wednesday evening there was one lone piece left..... ( I had one small piece, and Rich finished the first pie Thursday for lunch)

Nathan and Krystal arrived first on Thanksgiving Day along with Miss Ava!  And they brought Rich and I a HUGE bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey..... along with a bottle of cream soda.  The drinks were excellent...... I had TWO!  Buddy and Dianne arrived about a half hour later (and the ramp that Rich put together worked perfectly for Dianne).... and the chatter, conversation, laughter, picture taking and getting ready to eat began.  Ava kept here eye on what was going on in the kitchen... patiently waiting for Rich to drop a piece of the turkey he was carving.

The menu included: Turkey (of course) Herb stuffing (in the bird) and Sausage stuffing (in the oven),Mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce,  Buddy & Dianne brought the Green Bean Casserole, dinner rolls and pumpkin bread, and Nathan and Krystal brought the Sweet Potato Casserole, Corn and Cinnamon cake/rolls for dessert.  Buddy gave thanks....and needless to say........everything was delicious!

Dennis called early afternoon.  The family usually goes to friends home for Thanksgiving. But Dennis has been under the weather, and not feeling well, so he decided to stay home rest and take a nap.  As did the two dogs, Laia and Zoey.  They joined Dennis on the couch!😊

Staying home for Black Friday.........probably do some Christmas Shopping on line today................OR, maybe I get started on Christmas decorations......

Time flies~ This week went by so fast

It's been a good and a bad week......I had been prescribed Omeprozole, and Ranitidine for my Barrett's Esophagus  As you probably heard, Zantac has been pulled from shelves.  Ranitidine is the generic prescription for Zantac..... so obviously, I had to stop taking it.  They replaced it with Fomitidine, which is not working.  I'm experiencing, again the bad symptoms (chest pain, stomach aches, etc.) but what is worse is that it makes me so very tired, and irritable!  So it's back to the Doctor on Tuesday.

What's that saying?  It's a bitch getting old?  Between working on the bathroom, the boat and dock, and the yard work we both have aches and pains:  my shoulder, and back.... Rich's back and knee..... UGH! 

We have not had the boat out since we came back from NY in August.... so it, and the dock was really in need of some cleaning.  I had to chuckle watching the White Ibis strut across the yard.. while Rich is so focused on his chore that he doesn't even notice.    A little later in the day... the Ibis was on the front hedge at the front window.

AND  as I was taking the picture.... with the screen door open.......... one of the black snakes made his way into the lanai!!!   Rich has been exceptionally busy - not just the boat, but yard work and above he's sealing the sliders.  And the last two pictures are a make/shift ramp for Dianne. Since she is unable to walk.... we need to get her and the wheelchair in the house on Thanksgiving Day.   And of course - he had to get the snake out of the lanai!😄

Moving right along on the bathroom remodel

Well the bathroom remodel is moving along.   On Tuesday the 11th, the plumber (from C&C Plumbing) arrived............an hour late!!!   He dug up a whole lot of dirt....  removed the existing water closet and install a new one, installed the shower valve in the wall, and installed a new  P-trap in the floor and moved the drain line.  He also removed  the old blue toilet and installed the new one.   Rich was not real impressed with his work....... very very very slow, put a few nicks in the tile floor.... etc. etc. and was here for better than 4 hours.  And so Rich has been pretty much finishing up the rest of the plumbing himself. 

The guys from Marlin Marble had planned on coming back to work on Tuesday,  but because the plumber  didn't finish up until mid afternoon, they rescheduled for Wednesday morning.   These guys don't wast any time.  They finished up the  shower drain and put in the shower pan, put up the wall board to support the marble..... and then did some work out front to get the vanity top to fit properly.

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They were back again on Thursday to finish up, installing the marble in the shower, along with the top trim, window trim, and installing the safety bar.  They also finished the installation of the vanity top.  They finished up mid afternoon, so Rich did the installation of the shower head and shower knob. And over the weekend he got the towel bars and toilet paper holder installed as well as getting the huge mirror and overhead lights back in place.  Also got all the wall painting done.

Early this week he started to get the plumbing finished for the vanity, and installing the new faucet.  And yesterday Cesar, from Marlin Marble installed the new vanity doors and handles.  I had ordered a shower curtain, and rug, on line.....but neither Rich nor I were pleased with the quality or the color, so today we returned them..... and I'll need to go shopping real soon! 

Of course - we still find time to work in the kitchen, cook on the grill, and make some of our favorite dishes.  This  past week we did the meatball subs, Stromboli  again ( it was excellent) and on Thursday did some Chicken K-Bobs on the grill, with some roasted baby potatoes.

And of course on the 11th, we observed Veteran's Day....  Had to share this, as we are so very very proud of our son Dennis.  This is what he shared on Veterans day.

"I am a Veteran, and a Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to & including their life... right out of High School to present. (Army Retired. Military Police... 21 yrs Active Duty Army & currently on 11 yrs as a Department of the Army Civilian) .. God Bless America, my brothers & sisters, family & friends, All Veterans & their Families & those that support them!" 🇺🇸

Next big day coming up is Thanksgiving......and our good friends, the Showalters and the Douglas' will be joining us for dinner at our home.  Dianne is not able to walk at all now.  So Rich is making a ramp, so that Buddy can get her wheelchair in up the landing step and the door step.  Once inside we'll not have a problem.  And of course Nate and Krystal is bringing Miss Ava, so we can get our dog fix!! Should be a fun day...

Bathroom demolition/remodel underway...

Pretty quiet week..... Rich had to go in for his yearly colonoscopy at Advent Health in Sebring, and all went well. This time he got the OK to extent the next one for TWO years.    I have ONE MORE DAY of eye drops....... finally!!!

Continuing to work on Christmas Gifts for everyone......... and it's going pretty well.  A couple of items have already arrived in the mail......and a couple more should be arriving in a couple of days.

Today the crew from Marlin Marble arrived to begin the tear out in the guest bathroom.  Rich has been busy taking down towel holders, doing some wall repair, and yesterday disconnected the sink....  The guys arrived just after 8:00 this morning and wasted no time getting started.  About thee hours later they finished what they could.  Tomorrow morning the plumber will be here, and when finished, the guys from Marlin will be back with the vanity top, and begin the shower area.   Some pictures from today.  Really hard working, friendly crew!

Another trip into Sebring on Saturday afternoon, so we stopped at Hibachi for an early dinner. Been doin' a lot of cooking and baking... but forget to get the camera out for the mac n cheese, or the meatloaf, or the burgers and the excellent peanut butter pie!!!  But I remembered today to take one of the Chicken Chili, and the peanut butter cups.