Prepping for Christmas

 Setting up for Christmas requires  a lot of work.  We have to clean out the shed to make space to put the treadmill in the shed so we can put the tree where the treadmill goes.  It is a process.  And the shed is gross.  And smelly. Marian and Callie helped to empty it out though.  They pulled out everything! It was awesome. We then sorted stuff we really might need, and threw away everything else.  It was rather glorious.

What was NOT glorious was all the black mold in the shed.  This is it AFTER I had spent a while cleaning it.  This is the stuff that would not come up.  And look closely- those are toadstools growing in the corner!!  Eewwwww.  I hacked it up and utilized much bleach and it was vast improved.

Unfortunately, a lot of our Christmas stuff was smelly and moldy.  Many things were covered with this white mold.  I sprayed a lot of vinegar and wiped down everything I could.  It was so sad.

I washed what I could.  I vinegar-ed what I could.  And I set a lot of stuff in the grass in the yard so the sun could help as well.  And mostly it worked.  The tree..... the tree, however, is rusty on one side.  I shall have to work on replacing it.  But for now, the rusty side is in the back and you can't even tell the lights that won't go on. So it is working out for now.  The girls won't let us decorate it till Josh gets home though!

Stairway to Heaven

 I have heard about this "Stairway to Heaven" for the last two years, and a few weeks ago, my fiend Amy took me there.  You have to park on base and walk 3/4 a mile to get to it.  Then you hike up 260 steps to the top.  There is a fence at the top, so you have to turn around and just go back down.  And then you do it again.  And when your legs are all jelly and incapable of going up again, you walk back to your car and take your sore little self home.

I am triumphant at the top!!

And there's Marian, kicking my fanny!  She and Callie wanted to go do it with me  since they were out of school.  Marian went 3 times. 

I only did it twice.  This is the view from the bottom.  You can't really tell that the steps are too long to easily walk up them.  You have to run or double-step.  So that's awesome. (I do not run it!)

Marian at the top!!  She's a rock star.

How was your Thanksgiving?!

I made a few pies.

There were some Levi snuggles. 

 And I made a turkey.

What I did not do was take any pictures.  I made my favorite things (Pie, turkey, stuffing) and we took those to the church potluck.  It was full of good food and it meant I did not have to cook all the things.  We got to eat and enjoy friends.  There were lots of leftovers to take home, so that was awesome.  all in all, it was a nice, low-key day.  I prefer Thanksgiving with family, but in the absence of that, I like the potluck.  I don't really want to slave over cooking for other people because that means less leftovers, and ...well, it isn't family.  So the potluck gives me some social contact, and leftovers, and doesn't try to pretend like it is a family gathering.  I know, I have issues!

Rylee vs the Dentist: Take 2

 Rylee did have to go back to the dentist.  He wanted to put a spacer in where the tooth had been- the tooth that had been pulled a few weeks prior.  Rylee was mostly cooperative, but very stressed out.  The dentist was super patient and nice and he was able to get it on after much work.  Apparently the tooth he wanted to attach it to was an odd shape and the spacer was tricky to get placed.

Rylee whined a lot and cried a little.

But Dr. Buttars was incredibly kind to her and was able to get it done.

Random things

I made fuge.  It made me think of my dad, so I took this picture.  But I'm pretty sure I forgot to send it to him.

The middle school PTO sold pies again this year.  I provided 8 pies for them to sell. And I found boxes to stash them in, which made my life much easier.

Rylee borrowed someone else's glasses and wanted to know how she looked in them.  Spoiler:  she looked cute!

And Mother Nature apparently did not get the memo that it is the end of November and these temperatures are NOT okay!