It took longer than usual - most of the afternoon - 

but the first placemat of the set is now pieced.

And because I dropped off books at the library earlier, 

later in the day I got a message that a book had come in.

Very tired, so glad it's finally "late" enough to head to bed!

While it was still early (lol) I got a load of laundry washed, dried, folded (AND put away!), completed the WP Saturday crossword puzzle (which seemed easier than usual), finished several more D blocks (unofficial count is around 37), got the fabrics ironed and ready to cut for a gift project, took a shower, deviled the eggs for Alex, emptied the dishwasher, changed the sheets on the bed, and did miscellaneous other things that don't leap to mind at the moment.  But it did seem like a very productive morning.

Once it got "late" enough, I ran some errands with Brownie, 

who was thrilled to go along for the ride.  

 I returned Marcie's leftover tublet, got a new rear wiper for the car, dropped off a couple of books at the library, and picked up a couple of Rx refills at the drive-through.  Driving between stops I caught some of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the radio, always entertaining. 

Now it's time to get back to work sewing.

Alex joined us for dinner last night, when (like on dinner tables everywhere!) Thursday's leftovers were on the menu.  Everything was just as tasty as the first go-round, though as always we are getting low on the turkey gravy.

He asked if I could drive him to the airport on Sunday (he's 'just' flying back to California in the afternoon) and of course I said I would.  But when I mentioned that since "it's the heaviest travel day of the year" (a FACT) he might want to allow a little extra time in his schedule, I was chastised for my worrying.

I'm 'guessing' that Security will be a zoo, with LONG lines -

but of course I'm an idiot and know nothing.

Let's not forget how long (never?) it took Dad to live down 

"Nobody flies to Denver on a Sunday"... <G>

Another (too) early start to my day, at 3:30.  

Since there's nothing on today's 'official' agenda (except whipping up Batch 3 of deviled eggs, for Alex) I should get in a fair amount of sewing.   

On Tuesday I will need to make up a 4th (and final!) batch for the Busy Bee potluck on Wednesday.  But then I'll be off 'egg duty" until Christmas.

Made the binding for my 4th (!) UFO of the year, and then attached it to the mouse quilt.  Now all I need to do before Wednesday's party is the blind hand-stitching (which won't take long) and I'll be eligible for the UFO fat quarter drawing.  

Marcie had a perfect piece of focus fabric for one of the Christmas gifts I still need to make (and then mail), and then I twisted her arm <g> to join me for a quick trip over to TOQS to pic up some companion fabrics.

Realized (late this afternoon!) 

that I spaced out going to the gym this morning.  

That's the first time I've ever done that! 

I will say that shopping at the quilt store 

IS more fun than working out at the gym...

Because of the current issues accessing photos off of my camera's memory card, Alex "urged" me to start using the camera on my iPad. Then gave me a tutorial on using it.  Here are a couple of my better results.

He "needs" me to whip up a batch of deviled eggs to take to the Friendsgiving party he's attending  tomorrow.  I just boiled up another batch of eggs and will devil them in the morning.

Good news; Alex was able to access yesterday's photos via his laptop.

I got to watch some of the dog show yesterday before the TV was 'highjacked' for the football game. While the Aussie was pretty, it only took 4th place in the crowded Herding Group. 

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/australian-shepherd-2019-national-dog-show-herding-group

Daniel the Golden Retriever obviously delighted viewers, 
and won the Sporting Group handily.  

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/golden-retriever-2019-national-dog-show-sporting-group

He is a stunning dog, and though I was rooting for him to take home Best in Show it didn't happen; that honor went to Thor, a Bulldog.

The Azawakh, from Africa, is a new breed entry this year in the Hound Group.  It looks painfully thin, as if it has been starved, with bony haunches and ribs that I could count.

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/azawakh-2019-national-dog-show-hound-group 


Dinner yesterday turned out scrumptious.  I'd gotten all of my stuff done ahead of time, but Tom and Alex were on duty for the last-minute prep.  While they were hard at it I snapped a couple of great pix of them, but my laptop is still not 'recognizing' the memory card.

I was going to blame it on the card - but since that's working fine in the camera maybe it's the slot in my laptop that's at fault?

Our feast included turkey and gravy, stuffing, mashers and sweet potatoes, green beans, Asian salad, cranberry smash, deviled eggs, and rolls.  Linda was the only one who 'behaved' herself; the rest of us went back for seconds!

That's when Linda "insisted" I try some of the sweet potatoes, so I did put one small bite on my plate.  It did not go well.... <g>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNQUZCz_j7E


A couple of hours later I "forced" myself <G> to chow down
on some of the chocolate lava cake she'd made.

After we ate (and while the guys continued watching football) Linda and I talked quilting.  That's when she gave me a wonderful idea for how to use the 24x24 pillow form I'd scored at a recent yard sale for (another) comfy resting spot for Brownie.  She and I had fun pawing through my stack of dog fabrics to choose just the right ones.

The weather held off yesterday and we didn't get any rain until after dark.  
In fact it was actually sunny much of the day, with blue skies. 

Though I have been sleeping better lately (at least until the past several days) this morning I woke around 3:00, and despite my best efforts (and some meds...) I just could not fall back to sleep.  I was still resting in bed 'trying' when the downpour hit around 4:00, accompanied by loud thunder and bright flashes of lightning.  That was incentive to remain snuggled under the covers until around 5:00, when I finally gave up the idea of sleep.

Between the weather and my early start to the day 
there could be a nap in my future...

In the meantime, I plan to do some sewing.  
Did actually get a couple more set D blocks done yesterday.

I really enjoyed the opening act of the parade, which brought back wonderful memories of the Motown music from my high school days in the 60s.  

Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations is a 2018 jukebox musical with music and lyrics by The Temptations and a book by Dominique Morisseau. Based on the story of The Temptations, the musical had a series of regional productions and opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre in March 2019.

The balloons are flying today (though lower than usual) 

no doubt a great relief to a great many people.  

The Ronald McDonald float sustained a tear in the wind and had to be bumped.

During a break in the parade Brownie walked with me to deliver the bag of potato peelings to the pigs/goats/chickens, and he kept flopping down like in the "old days".  

Took me a bit to figure out his halter was (beyond) wonky.  Turns out it was so tight that I needed help from Sarah to get it fixed. (Unclipping all the pieces could not solve the problem, so I had started carrying him home to deal with it.)  Can NOT figure out how he managed this latest twist!

All of my prep work is done; Tom gets to do the last minute cooking, like the gravy and mashers.  During my next parade break I'll grab a shower, then dress in loose comfy pants "just in case" <g> I overeat a bit.

No rain yet this morning, though I expect the predicted downpour to arrive within a few hours.  I plan to get wet before that, taking soak in the hot tub once I get the turkey into the oven.

Speaking of the hot tub, there "may" have been drinking involved last night when Alex and friends took a post-snowboarding soak.  He posted a clip on Instagram of one of them jumping off the diving board into the pool - though there was no footage of her reaction once she surfaced from that cold water.  No doubt it was quite a shock to her system after the 101 degree water of the hot tub!

After my soak there will be plenty of time 

to peel and dice the potatoes for Tom's mashers.  

That reminds me a story Bev once told me about when she and John were first married and she asked him to wash the potatoes - and found him using soap!

I had hoped to watch the Macy's parade in real time this morning, but couldn't find it anywhere on the TV guide, so will have to wait until it airs here at 9:00.  In the meantime I have the Weather Channel running in the background; so much crappy weather around the country!  Now that it's light out I can see the very gray sky here.  Currently the temp is only in the 50s though should soar into the mid-60s later.

Wanda stopped by to drop off some beautiful Thanksgiving flowers.  

I took a picture, but "for some reason" my laptop won't open the camera memory card tonight.  

We also had trouble with the TV today.  "For some reason" it switched from HDMI1 to HDMI2, and the Source Menu would not let us switch back.  When Tom and I had both tried everything we could think of we gave up and called COX - and I had to speak with 3 different tech folks before we got it figured out.

I took a break from sewing this afternoon to clean and refill the hummingbird feeders, so now they're all ready for the incoming weather (which was the big story on the news tonight.)  No rain here yet this evening, though it has gotten fairly chilly.  Holiday travel this time of year is crazy anyway, but the storms nation-wide certainly are making the situation worse everywhere.  I'm SO glad not to be traveling anywhere!

Flagstaff is expecting serious snow tomorrow, possibly as much as 2 feet.  Alex had a good time up there today with friends (he's currently soaking in the hot tub with some of them) and plans to head back up to Snowbowl on Friday after the storm dumps a bunch more of the white stuff.

I spent much of today sewing, and if anyone is keeping track <g> 

my set of D blocks now numbers 32.

Still need to devil the eggs this evening 

but otherwise am in pretty good shape for tomorrow.

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