Road Trip 2018

It's time to hit the road and head on out.  I'll try to put up a post or two along the way but if that doesn't happen, I'll post from Washington next week.

Veterans Day

 “Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an ‘s’ at the end of ‘veterans’ because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans." - U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Currently - November 2018

Joining up with Anne IN residence for November's Currently.

Appreciating // The cooler temperatures and the beautiful colors of the trees that fall brings.  It was a long time coming here in southeastern Virginia.

Researching // House layouts, prices, and neighborhoods.  When our house-buying plans were derailing by the change in Vic's orders, I put my daily updates from Zillow on hold.  Now that we have a new plan, I'm once again researching the options for our forever home.

Posting // Blog posts!  Finally seem to be back in the groove.  Not sure how much I'll be able to keep it up on the road but I'll try.

Getting // Organized.  With Vic gone this week, I have been able to work non-stop on finishing up the home inventory and packing the totes and bags ready to be loaded into the car.  The road trip begins very soon.

Cooking // As little as possible.  The fridge and freezer are almost empty in preparation for our trip so most of my meals are takeaways or snack-type foods that don't need to be cooked.

TBB Asks - November 2018

It was a Tuesday post on Monday and today it's a Monday post on a Tuesday - I'm really at the point where I'm running a day ahead or a day behind in the final countdown to our move!  Check out The Blended Blog for more Giving Thanks goodness.

1.  Have you ever kept a Gratitude Journal?

No, thought about it quite a bit but just never put the thought into action.  I like the idea of making a Gratitude Jar and putting your thanks on a little slip of paper.  A lot of families read them out at Thanksgiving.  Maybe a strip a month because a strip a day would end up with a lot to read, especially if there are three, four, or five of you in your family.

2.  Hosting Thanksgiving at your house?

No, we will be at Sophia's house/pet sitting house for Thanksgiving in Washington.  Her house sitting family has graciously suggested that we cook and eat there since Sophia will be there with the pets and we will have just arrived from Virginia.  It's going to be a different kind of holiday this year but we'll all be together and that's all that matters.

3.  Favorite Food from the Thanksgiving Meal?

Stuffing and more stuffing.

4.  What one thing in nature are you most grateful for?

Fall, I love to see the trees change into their vibrant fall colors.  I took this photo in Maine one October when we were up there for a 4-H event.

5.  Pumpkin Pie?

Yes.

6.  Traditional Cookbook?

Yes, I love the original Betty Crocker version and you can get the New and Revised Edition on Amazon.

7.  Oven Baked or Deep Fried Turkey?

Oven Baked but only when someone else bakes it.  I'm hopeless with a whole turkey.  I usually buy a boneless breast and pop it in the CrockPot, always super easy and comes out so moist and tender.

8.  Thanksgiving Leftovers?

Yes, especially turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry sauce.  Like Starbucks Holiday Turkey Panini, only better.

9.  What is one household product you are most grateful for?

I love these Wet-It dish cloths and there are so many cute designs.  They make great stocking stuffers and hostess gifts.  This winter design is my current favorite.

10.  Are you most grateful for home-cooked meals or restaurant meals?

Both really.  I love to cook but my current galley kitchen in our government quarters is a bit of a challenge so we often eat out or get a takeaway.  I'm looking forward to a more cook-friendly kitchen one day.

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #104 (on Monday because it's Bonfire Night)

What is Bonfire Night?  It's also known as Guy Fawkes Night because on November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested in a gunpowder plot to blow up the House of Lords, and King James I along with it.  It was one of those Catholics (Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators) vs. Protestants (King James I) struggles although people lit bonfires around London to celebrate the fact that the king had survived the plot and it became an annual public day of thanksgiving.  Guy Fawkes, however, was tortured and sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered for his crime but mercifully was spared the drawing part of the punishment as he broke his neck and died during the hanging.  He still ended up being quartered.

I can remember children in our village in England making a Guy (he loosely resembled a scarecrow) and popping him into a wheelbarrow as they ran around crying "A penny for the Guy!" in an attempt to raise money to buy fireworks for Bonfire Night.  Poor Guy ends up in the bonfire, he just can't get a break.

Bonfire Night is burned, pardon the pun, into my memory as we attended a Bonfire Night event put on by the local fire department one year during which a burning ember flew from the bonfire and hit my Mum in the face.  They moved the cordon back significantly the next year.

Friday Favorites

There's been a whole lot of Friday love on the blogsphere over the years I've been blogging - Five on Friday, 5 on Friday, Friday Faves, Friday Favorites, High Five for Friday, Friday Loves, The Friday 5, and I'm sure etc., etc., - and I've dipped my toe on occasion but today was a day that called for a special favorites post so I'm joining Tanya who posts both a weekly and a monthly Friday Favorites post chock-full of goodies.  Maybe that will inspire me to post at least monthly with my favorites.

Today is red letter cup day at Starbucks.  Buy an holiday beverage and you get it in the holiday red reusable cup.  In the back of my mind, I knew this promotion was going on but I wasn't really paying attention because I was focused on the other highlight of the day at Starbucks, the introduction of the holiday design paper cups.

I placed my holiday drink order and I asked for my drink to be put in a regular cup so that I could keep the holiday cup clean (for my December Daily album) so the barista put the reusable cup in my bag and my drink tag on a holiday paper cup.  I didn't realize there weren't any plain cups any longer, only holiday ones.  When I said, no, I wanted a clean holiday paper cup, she put one in the bag as well so I ended up with a clean reusable cup, a clean holiday paper cup (the one with the red stripes), and a drink in a green holiday stars cup (which I dumped into a coffee mug as soon as I got home so I could wash out the green cup).  Crazy, I know, I doubt I'll use all four holiday designs (as I plan on picking up the other two) but I had this light-bulb moment that perhaps I could put all four of them together accordion-style to make a fold-out photo collage.

So, without further ado, here are my Starbucks holiday 5 on Friday Friday Five Friday Favorites!

1.  The reusable red cup, free with holiday purchase on November 2 while supplies last

2.  The green cup that held my drink and the clean red stripes cup

3.  The red stripes cup ornament - I saw someone who had a kitchen tree and I thought, what a great home for my Starbucks cup ornaments

4.  Scratch-off tags - cute for gifts but mine are going in my December Daily album - how perfect that one of the Product Play 2 classes will feature tags

5.  And finally my gift cards - we have a long road trip coming up and we'll make a lot of Starbucks stops - I'm going to transfer the money from the cards to my app and use the cards in my December Daily or perhaps it should be titled December Daily 2018 courtesy of Starbucks!  By the way, the top three cards have to be loaded with a minimum of $10 and the bottom three with a minimum of $15.