Thanksgiving Day

I spent the day today with Dad & Ma at the family homestead. When I got there Sarah & Jon were there with all 4 kids, plus Hayden's girlfriend Audrey and Celia's boyfriend Mike. They hung out for an hour or so and then headed off to New Hampshire.

I was there from 12:30 pm - 8:30 pm. Georgia made me a handmade birthday card (so sweet) before they all left. Dad & I watched the Vikings beat the Lions 30 - 23 (good game). The three of us (Ma, Dad & I) had dinner. Dad & I watched the Chargers beat the Cowboys 16 - 6, and we each had a 4 Elf Winter Warmer Spiced Ale from Dark Horse Brewing Company out of Marshall, Michigan (good, but a bit too strong at 8.75%). I had chocolate cream pie and coffee. Ma & I watched a few episodes of "Friends" & "Big Bang Theory". And then I headed home, with a bag full of Thanksgiving leftovers (turkey, gravy, rolls, apple pie & chocolate cream pie), plus my birthday gifts a day early. Dad & Ma gave me a $50 bill, a 2-pound bag of Starbucks French Roast whole bean coffee, a hardcover sketchpad, and last but not least, they had a tree planted in my name by the Arbor Day Foundation. Pretty cool!

B & N

I ran out to Barnes & Noble around 8 pm to use the gift card Dad & Ma gave me for Christmas. I needed a new journal, so I snagged one, and I also grabbed the latest issue of "Hi-Fructose", an art magazine that has a cool cover by long-time favorite Tara McPherson.

Brother

I was sitting around watching tv this morning, when Kevin wandered by my window. A few minutes later, youngest nephew Drew ghosted by. So I called them in, and we hung out for a couple of hours, goofing around on our tablets ("Clash of Clans", "Clash Royale", "Boom Beach") with "Good Morning Football" on the tv. I fed them brownies & milk (Drew) and cold pizza (Kevin). I sent them off around 12:30 with a once-used giant cooking pot (Kevin) and a drawing pad & 64 Crayola box (Drew). It was a great surprise visit.

Randomness

Today (Friday) was an unusual day. I slept until nearly 11 am, after waking up at 7 and feeding Chumble. In between, I had several vivid interconnected dreams (small-town life with friends & family, both old and new).

• I finished the last 50 pages of "Of Dice and Men" by David M. Ewalt.
• My final Amazon deliveries finally trickled in (see below*).
• I cleaned last night's dusting of snow and ice off my car.
• I watched 5 episodes of "Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place" (man, I love Traylor Howard!), my current binge-watching series.
• Chumble chased a bird through the house, and I rescued it, and let it free outside. How it got inside, I have no idea...
• I worked out from 7:00 - 8:30.
• I food shopped at 9:30.
• I ate cold fried chicken and watched sports tv ("Around the Horn" and "PTI") and the final-season premiere of "Bones". I somehow skipped all of last season.

The final deliveries from my recent Amazon madness/necessities mania:

• "Promethea: Vol 1" - Alan Moore & J.H. Williams III (DC)
• A 6-pack of white socks.
• A 3-pack of Pentel Hi-Polymer erasers.
• A dark green vintage-style t-shirt (2 white bands on each sleeve).

After a week of very little accomplishment (beyond reading, tv/online, and dishes/laundry), today was ironically, a great refocus.

Spectacles

Today around 1:30 pm I went and got fitted for a new pair of glasses...

Jean Marie let me use her due-to-expire health care flex-spending card, so I was able to knock a couple of bills off the price (in addition to the 20% off sale!), and finally replace my current pair, which is still in great shape after about a decade, but whose lens coating has cracked into a hard-to-see-through turtle shell pattern. Sweet!

Also, two more of my Amazon deliveries trickled in:

• A 5" x 8¼" unlined Moleskine sketch pad (240 pages).
• A small Sleestak magnet, which I am going to sneak onto my brother Kevin's fridge the next time I visit!

Side note: Winter Storm Fortin dropped about 7" of snow overnight. The plow guy took care of the bulk of it last night, and today the roads were fine.

My two front steps and driveway.

Deliveries

Today the mailman brought to me many things that I ordered over the last week or so, both  Christmas present gift card redeems, and just random "need/want" purchases.

From Amazon:

• Book: "Of Dice and Men" - David M. Ewalt.
• Book: "Empire of Imagination" - Michael Witmer.
• Graphic Novel: "Grayson: Volume 4" - Seely/King & Janin (DC).
• And last but not least, a super-high-quality brass pencil sharpener from M+R.

From Life is Good:

• Long sleeve grey "Winter Wanderland" shirt.
• Long sleeve green "Adirondack & Forest" shirt.
• Flip flops.
• "Get Lost * Get Found" motorcycle sticker.

From Amazon (Round Two):

• Orange "Surf Circle" orange tee from O'Neill.
• Brown "Woodstock 1969" tee.
• Book: "The Third Wife" - Lisa Jewell.

So much stuff arriving all at once! And just as Winter Storm Fortis is beginning...

Brass - so heavy!

Shirt images taken from the respective Amazon listings.