On the Road

We visited Jes and Andrew in Brooklyn over the weekend.  Squeezed a little trip to Manhattan in–along with 5 million of our closest friends!

First stop – Bloomberg where we rescued Andrew–and had a tour of the office.  Zowie, what a gorgeous office!  And lots of free snacks!

Next we stopped at Bloomingdales for some really delicious and overpriced burky burgers.

Then down 5th to check out the decadant Christmas displays!

This one is my favorite.

Of course, our ultimate destination, along with our 5 million close personal friends, was the Rockefeller Center Tree!

Back to Brooklyn!

No, not referring to the disease I picked up on the airplane or the TSA that hassled my little dog–but that pond that was spontaneously created because of a water leak.

Nah, that didn’t happen.

Because the last thing we do before heading to the airport is to TURN THE MAIN WATER SHUTOFF VALVE OFF!

But it did happen after we turned the water back on in the wee hours of the morning of our return and we woke several hours later to a massive puddle.  That sucks but it could have been worse.

Turned the water off again.  Terry started digging. And digging. Finally had to get the professionals.   It was fixed in a few hours–what a catastrophe that would have been if Terry hadn’t shut off the water.

Water is not only a precious resource here in Florida but REALLY expensive when it runs nonstop.  Wonder what that next water bill will be!

Whenever I tell anyone that I’m going to North Dakota during the winter season, I get these incredulous looks–Are you crazy?  No, I’m not.  First, it’s not as bad as you think and I have the necessary “sleeping bag” coat and fluffy boots, plus Alan and Lauri keep the house cozy warm and they have remote starts on their vehicles so they are always comfy.  Second–we get to see some of our kids and grandkids.  Totally worth it!  And it didn’t hurt that we were blessed with a week of sunshine and daytime temps in the 40s – upper 50s.  Not bad.  It didn’t get chilly until Thanksgiving. And we left the next day.

Speaking of Thanksgiving.  I’ve got a few pics for you.  Promise, this is the last bunch of family-oriented photos that I’ll post for a few weeks.

Besides our gang descending on them, Alan and Lauri also invited Lauri’s parents, brother, his girlfriend, and two more small people for Thanksgiving.  14 adults.  4 kids.  Fun!  They have a huge heated shop which we put to use.  Prep in the house.  Dining in the shop. Friday morning brought every couch filled with a sleeping body plus kids on a air mattress on the floor.  Only for a short while though because Lauri and Ashley were off for Black Friday madness!

Following Michelle’s instructions from last Wednesday:  https://ktgreendesign.com//adventures-in-the-kitchen-with-michelle-19/ , we made a huge turkey, Alan smoked a turkey, and Marcy brought a ham.  Everyone had a side or some part of the preparation.  Dinner was followed by poker and ping pong.  Rumour has it that there were a few people in the hot tub, too.