The Boy Scout Motto

While at The Home Depot to pick up new smoke alarms, I also bought myself an 1800 lumen Husky flashlight.  It cost more than I wanted to spend but I thought it was a good investment and good idea to have a solid working and bright flashlight for my upcoming solo drive to Tennessee!

You know, just in case -

"Be "Prepared"

Where There's Smoke...

The Franklin Fire Department was out this morning to test my fire and CO2 alarms, which is a requirement in order to close and sell on a house here in Massachusetts -

CO2 alarms passed with flying colors!

However, the (4) hardwired smoke detectors did not pass, UGH.

They failed because they're older ionization-type alarms, which are no longer supported, GRRR.

So, I ran out to The Home Depot and picked up the below Kidde (4) pack of photoelectric alarms. Another hidden expense of selling a home -

I removed the old ionized alarms - 

And installed the new photoelectric alarms -

The vaulted ceilings in the living room were a bit more challenging and required the use of my long extension ladder -

The new alarms all tested fine!

Now it's just a matter of having the Franklin Fire Department come back out to reinspect and issue their passed certificate, so the closing can be completed.

I Need A Time Machine!

Always but especially around the holidays...

What “Tine” is it?!

Wanted a snaky last night, Trixie too, so I made a bowl of cereal.

One problem, I completely forgot that I had boxed up all the spoons earlier in the day, OMG DUH!

Now what to do? The milk was poured and the cereal was getting soggy, alas. So, I MacGyver’d it and used the only utensil I had, a fork!

Scoop and slurp, scoop and slurp…

OMG, This Is Me!

Those Are NOT Christmas Lights A Glow!

A bit of excitement in front of my house last night -

Around 8PMish I heard an awful loud crash and bang, which got my attention.  I opened the front door to have a look but all I saw was a lone car with it's emergency flashers.  A couple cars passed by, slowed but kept going, so I assumed everything was alright.

Twenty minutes or so later my neighbor called to tell me what a truck jump the granite curbing in front of his house, took out his granite mailbox post and all and careened into a deep, open pit.  This open pit leads to a culvert that runs under the street to drain water into the wetlands on the opposite side, so when I say "open pit", believe me it's BIG and DEEP - why the town never had a guardrail installed is beyond me.

While on the call with him four police cruisers, the town ambulance, and two fire trucks arrived on scene, see pic above -

I did watch a bit from my living room, and although other curious neighbors made their way out to see what all the commotion was, it was too cold me so I stayed put.

I've not yet heard an update, so not sure how someone could loose control in that stretch of road, jump the curb and veer down in the pit, but hoping everyone was okay.

Better Late Than Never

Although, a tad late, my Thanksgiving cactus is loaded with buds and those buds are beginning to open -

I bought this dude as a marked down item for a couple bucks back in the spring.  It was touch and go for a while and I didn't think it was going to make it but WAHLA!

Perhaps, the flowers are a goodbye gesture, as we'll be parting ways very soon...

In The Midst Of Chaos!

Well, there's NO turning back now!

The clock is ticking and I am tweaking!

Yes, I've made progress, however, it still seems like there's SO much left to do, UGH!

I've been in purge mode and making some tougher decisions on what comes and what goes.

I'm thinking some of all this is a life lesson and karma; karma for not understanding and having SO MUCH MORE compassion and patients for my dad when he was faced with the same scenario - shame on me!  Being in the midst of all this, I now see how incredibly difficult to take 60+ years of belongs and memories and history, and need to make the decision on whether to take or toss.  Doing it all alone makes it that much harder, and for me, that much more emotional.

Egg Glazed Koulouria! The BEST!

While in Chicago and before the storm on Saturday really got going Stephanie, Audrey and I headed out to run some errands.  We had an Amazon package to return, dry cleaning to pick up and the most important, picking out their Christmas tree.

While Stephanie and I were in the UPS store taking care of the package return, Audrey ventured into a new Greek store in the same plaza and what a find it was!  Looky at what Audrey bought, Koulouria, OMG!

Clearly and obviously NOT my mothers but man-o-man these sure brought back some wonderful memories and were quite tasty -

One of these days I'd like to try my hand at making these Greek cookies using my mother's recipe.  However, like most old-school cooks their secrets lie in what's NOT listed in the recipe but rather how they "ad-lib" on the fly.

Time will tell and we'll never know until we try.  Stay tuned...

SO Much To Do, SO Little Time

I had to run some errands yesterday, one in particularly that took me back to Walpole and then over to Westwood, my hometown, the town I grew up in.

My visit to Westwood was to pop-in to see a couple different folks and drop off some items but to be honest the main reason was to visit my folks gravesite one last time before embarking on my new adventure (yeah, adventure is what we're calling it.  Hoping it starts to feel that way soon, alas).

Each visit is tough but they also bring with it a rush of wonderful memories too and I cherish each one as it comes.  However, this visit was an emotional one 😢, more so than usual. Although, I'm guilty of perhaps not visiting more often as I should have over the years, my abilities to pop-in on a whim will soon be over, which made this visit special and more emotional -

Yesterday ended with this stunning sunset off my back deck, which are sadly coming to an end soon too.  Brought a smile to my face, as I assumed it was my folks sending me a message to hang in there and stay positive -

It's difficult closing a chapter, even if the next one looks promising.

#Blessed

Why?

What A Score!

Stephanie & Audrey surprised me with tickets to the Chicago Blackhawks vs Anaheim Ducks hockey game at the United Center on Sunday afternoon.

2025-2026 is the 100th season in the NHL for he Blackhawks, so they were in centennial celebration mode.

We stopped in at The Barn Hockey Bar before the game for a couple cold beers and an appetizer -

A pretty cool emblem of the original six teams on the floor of the bar -

One of my all time favorite goalies, Tony Esposito -

Centennial photo op signage -

The Ducks scored two goals, literally, before the first minute of the game. Sadly, it looked as though the hawks were gonna get routed. However, the hawks scored 5 unanswered goals -

And won the game -

We even “scored” an Alex Vlasic memorial pin upon entering the United Center -

After the game we stopped in at Morrison Roadhouse Tavern for dinner, which was delicious!

I had a fantastic time!

#Blessed

Snow, Shopping & Superdawgs

Currently under a winter storm warning here in Chicago, with ~12” of snow predicted! There were over 600 flight cancellations out of O’Hare this morning-

It’s starting to accumulate-

But that didn’t stop us from venturing out to run a few errands this morning, one being Christmas tree shopping, which was a success -

We stopped at Superdawgs, a Chicago landmark restaurant since 1948, to pick up lunch! Three loaded with all the fix’ns superdawgs and a superchickenmidgee -

Oh boy, SO SO delicious!

Chicago Thanksgiving Blessings

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mine was perfect - A brisk turkey trot in Edison Park to kick off the day, family, football, food all in a warm and inviting home -

The food was delicious and of course we all ate WAY too much, which is what you’re supposed to do, right -

Where we enjoyed our scrumptious meal -

#Blessed

Be Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends -

THANK YOU!  I love you!

They Walk Among Us

I think it’s safe to say that people are odd, generally speaking, at least I think so.

I do enjoy people watching, so waiting for a departing flight at the airport is an ideal location. SO many “unique” individuals coming and going to help pass the time away.

I find them all fascinating and fair game for criticism.

So, first up is this gentleman - those cuffs are somewhere in the 8 to 10 inch range, I kid you not! The dude was swimming in this britches too! Now we don’t know his story but he’s in dire need of a mirror.

Since this is a trip about “firsts”, this is my first time posting to my blog using my iPhone AND the first time doing so in an airplane at 36,006 feet!!

 

Up, Up And Away...

Morning all!

I'm headed out shortly to Boston's Logan airport.

Destination of Chicago, IL!

I'll be staying at my daughter and daughter-in-laws house. Unfortunately, it will not look as inviting as pictured above, since they already have snow on the ground AND in the midst of a cold polar vortex, 🥶

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with a couple of "firsts" - first Thanksgiving in their new house and first Thanksgiving being married!

I'm blessed to be able to be a part of these "firsts"!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Room With A View!

It's a rainy day this morning, so the pic below is a bit gloomy, which is kinda appropriate to this post.

This is the view of my back yard, out the window over my kitchen sink. Perhaps, not the prettiest with neighboring houses in view but when you look beyond that it's special, special to me anyway.  I've been blessed with this view for 25 years and it never gets old. There's always a surprise waiting - deer and turkey and other wildlife passing through, wind storms and snow storms a buzz, mesmerizing stars at night and of course, the amazing sunrises and sunsets to name only a few.

...I am sure gonna miss that view; morning, noon and night, and all the surprises and wonders it offers -

Here's just one example that you just can't beat -

#Blessed

Hey "U" There!

Since moving in back in 2000, I've transformed the landscape and yard. Most of the trees, scrubs, flowers and plants in my yard, are ones I've planted over the years - a labor of love!

This tree pictured below, a Bradford Pear, I bought at the Home Depot in Norwood. I bought two at that time, the other is in line and behind the one pictured.  The trees themselves were no bigger around than your wrist, however, the root balls were BIG and HEAVY!  Home Depot loaded them in the back of my pickup with their fork lift, so no problem there.  The challenge was at home and getting them from point a, the driveway, to point b, the complete opposite side of the yard, UGH!

I was able to wrestle each, one at a time, and slid them off the tailgate and into a wheelbarrow! Fortunately, the wheelbarrow had two wheels, so balancing wasn't an issue, rather the weight was AND pushing it was, OMG!

Fast forward some 20 odd years and the trees are both doing great!  They've grown into mighty trees and look awesome when flowering in the spring. Although, flowering Bradford Pear trees release of sulfurous compounds odor, which is very unpleasant. Guess you gotta take the good with the bad.

This ended up being an awful long posting to point out the cool and unusual "U" shaped branch that grew.  I've been tempted over the years to cut that limb off, as more often than "knot", I'd run into it when mowing the lawn but glad I fought the urge. Even thought it's at just the right height to take you out when on the ride mower, it's unique.

Anyway, that's all, a long tangent post.

It's Said "Hindsight Is 20/20"

Which means, it is easy to see things clearly and understand them after they have already happened.

That being said, had I known what and how these past several years would have effected me, I should have invested in Kimberly-Clark (KLA), the owners of Kleenex.

With my use of these tissues alone, it would have been a worthwhile investment; I would have made a killing!

If only...

My Little Shadow

Ms. Trixie senses things are a changing. Perhaps, the utter chaos the house has been turned into, the numerous strangers trapesing throughout or maybe, just maybe she can tell how emotional I've become.

Whatever it is, she seldom leaves my side. She'll follow me from room to room to room, upstairs to downstairs, always staying close.  If she wakes, and I'm not in the room with her, I can see a bit of panic in her as she hurries to find me, checking each room until she does.

She's always jumped up with me when I sit down, has been doing it for years now. I think mostly to see if I have any food, but seldom stays too long if there's none. However, this past Sunday, she jumped up, then curled up in my lap and went to sleep - like a true "lap" dog.  She zonked out and stayed there for close to 30 minutes, which was so very nice to keep my legs toasty warm, as the homeowner keeps the thermostat so darn low 🥶, GHEESH! She would have remained there longer had I not attempted to change positions to relieve the numbness that had set into my lower extremities -

She's 13 now and showing her age, 😢 Her eyesight isn't what it was and her hearing is all but gone, unless I yell, and even then it's hit or miss.  It's VERY difficult to watch but she's hanging in there.

She's helped me beyond comprehension to get through the ups and downs of the past several years, AND I'll do the same for her as she ages. Prolly couldn't have done it without her. My unofficial service dog...

She's a great dog, my best friend and I love her unconditionally.

#Blessed

NOT Frost On The Pumpkin

So here it is November 20 with overnight temperatures dropping down into the thirties!  Actually, last night we were down to a very chilly 28°, BRRR!

 Believe it or not I still have some Black-eyed Susan's, in the pool area, that are alive and well and still blooming!

They're not in the bestest condition at this point of the year but I'll take it and I'm thankful for their persistence and uplifting blooms.

This should help - I'm having tiny coats made for each of the flowers to keep them warm and happy, with the understanding that they keep on flowering -

#Blessed

Solitude

Just waiting on "one day"...

Winner! Why Yes, Yes I Am!

Looks like Friday nights $980 million dollar winning Mega Millions ticket was sold in Georgia!

Congratulations to whomever won.

I did contribute and purchased a quick pick.  Although, I didn't win the BIG jackpot, I did get two numbers correct, with one being the gold Mega ball!

I did a quick Google machine check and it looked like I won $7.00, which I was happy with since I recouped my money.

So, imagine my utter surprise when I stopped in at my local convenient store and asked the clerk to scan my winning ticket - BAM, he tells me it's a $35.00 winner!

CHACHING!