Thanksgiving Lights 11-23-24

Retired Life. Sunday.

The stupid alarm did go off early this morning. It wasn't for church though. It was so we could meet up with family. Absolutely worth the noise!

We met Hannabeth, Calvin, Maria, Brenden, and the two granddaughters for breakfast. Great time! Mini-reunion!

After pictures, hugs, and goodbyes, we went back to the AirBnb, packed up, and headed out.

Earlier in the week, I searched our Faith's Congregations to see if one met at 1pm that also was in the area or at least on the way back to the east side. And yup, found one in North Bend. So off we went to North Bend where we attended Sacrament Meeting.

After changing back to comfortable clothing, gassing up, and buying snacks, we headed back over the pass. It was a bit slushy near the top, but not bad.

Stopped in Ellensburg for a Whopper, the rest stop at Sprague for a rest stop, and then made it home with several hours to spare before bedtime.

We're happy to be retired and to be able to make a quick unexpected trip like this to see kids and grandkids.

Finally, here, have the usual Sunday Jesus Picture because it is Sunday and we did manage to go to church.

Retired Life. Monday.

The main gig today was to drive to Post Falls to meet up with Luigi, Brooklyn, and August at The Whitehouse Grill. Good food. Good conversation. Good company. Most of the road there and back was snow covered with more coming down.

Other than that, bills were paid, bookkeeping was caught up, books were read, and dogs were walked.

Exciting Finance Discussion today revolved around how if a professional service business such as medical, legal, accounting, etc. is not profitable, it is usually because they have too many employees and some are not being efficient and perhaps even wasting a lot of time at work rather than getting things done. We unfortunately know this from first-hand experience.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

Grocery Day!

You know the drill. Plan out our busy week. (From Sunday to this Friday, we will have seen all the Franchino children. That is six days. Gotta be some sort of family world record!) Create scrumptious menus. Prepare detailed grocery shopping list. Drive to Plummer. Snow had melted and the sun was out, so we started by taking Frivvy for a walk on the Trail of the CDAs before it got cold and dark. Drive to Worley to have Salads and Rummy at Red Tail. Drive back to Plummer to buy the delicious groceries. Drive home. Unload. Unpack and put away.

That pretty much took up our day.

They had a Christmas tree up at Red Tail. I took a picture. Enjoy.

Exciting Financial Discussion was about the Mayo Clinic's billing system. As great of medical facility that they are, their billing system can be a mess at times, especially for self pays. Today required me writing them an Email telling them their balance on our account was incorrect and them sending me the "missed itemized statement" for over $3600. Sigh..............If I wasn't retired, I would ask them if they need new accountants and give them my pitch. They'd be a heck of a great account to have! We'd have to open an office in Minnesota though.

Retired Life. Wednesday.

Once again, to save time, we bunched all our errands and appointments in town into one huge, long day.

First up, I spent an hour at my Chiropractor's getting the back decompressed and then adjusted. This is due to: lifting the heavy dog kennel into and back out of the truck, plus hauling it out of the house and into the AirBnb and back to the truck. Loading 5 sixty pound bags of sand into the back of the truck. Loading 33 heavy boxes of food into the truck and then back out. The back was a mess.

After the fun there, we stopped at the URM Cash and Carry place to buy some more food storage. Oil. Crisco. Baking Soda. Stuff like that.

Stopped at a Jewelry Store to have them replace the battery on half a dozen watches that Hanna owns.........all dead. And to fix her ear ring.

Stopped at the Grocery store to buy a turkey and some nondairy popcorn. Alright, I bought a Reese's too. And Hanna bought some Christmas pine cones. Impulsive splurging spending for sure.

Worshipped in the temple.

Had a BBQ dinner. Tried out Outlaw. Not bad grub.

Got our Mission Interviews with the Bishop. (We both passed.)

And then Frivvy and I waited in the truck in the dark and the rain while Hanna went to a church women's meeting party.

That's plenty enough fun for today.

Retired Life. Thursday.

Absolutely beautiful day because we didn't have to leave the house! Frivvy thought it was a great day to take long naps on the couch.

I made omelettes for breakfast. Other exciting things I did included changing out the "harvest picture" in the entrance way to the "Christmas/Winter picture. Studied up on Medishare Plans. And started booking airfare to Chile. I got us to Chile, now to find the way back home. The Copa airlines website wasn't working, so I had to call them. Spent about 30 minutes on the phone with a gal that was in Columbia. Her English was better than my Spanish. And she got us all booked and reserved. Exciting! Layover in Panama City. That'll be fun.

Retired Life. Friday.

The main gig today was to run into CDA and meet up with the Grandkids! We all grabbed some burgers at Hudson's and then, since it was raining so crazy like, found an indoor play center. The grandkids had a blast. We had a blast watching them have a blast. And it was good to talk to Dominick and Alisha too.

Old people like us just can't run to town without having a Doctor's appointment. So after the fun, we drove to the PT place where Hanna was fitted with her new leg braces. For over an hour. And...Frivvy and I waited in the truck. And read a book. Hanna was really excited for her new "more sturdier" braces and had to try them on with all her shoe inventory when we got home.

While in town, we stopped to have some cancer-killing ice cream YUM!

Once home, we declared it date night (even though practically every night is date night around here with us...) and watched the movie The Pianist. Great movie. Pretty intense. One of the best WWII movies ever made. I'm glad my Polish ancestors got out of Warsaw before the war started.

Retired Life. Saturday.

Old folks go to breakfast day! Food that I don't have to cook always tastes better! We went to Red Tail and had their breakfast buffet and omelette bar. We took the back roads to get over there and the fall crops are looking really green with all this rain.

Back at home, I finished booking the airfare and lodging for the Chile trip (Actually found a one-way flight during the day from Santiago to Orland. Sweet!) And we're mostly doing AirBnbs down there except for when we need to be near an airport.

Also did more studying on Medicare stuff. Trying to make sure we get the expensive cancer drugs ($40k per month) covered one way or another. Did you know that if you don't do a D plan (pharmacy coverage) when you first qualify, but sign up for it later, they penalize you? What the heck...

And then we put up a bunch of Thanksgiving Lights. They're the type that automatically turn to Christmas Lights after Thanksgiving is over.