Hi Kathleen! thank you for starting the November thread for us.

It is Friday morning...I am sending all positive thoughts to you regarding the doctor's appt to remove the basal cell carcinoma, that is so scary, best wishes!!

OH how true!!! and not fair at all ooo I like Skittles too!! but something about the sugariness makes me cough alot if I have more than a handful I have plenty of other foods to be bad with though. I am also over my 'good' weight...I consider my 'good' weight to be from 142 to 149...I think the 150 number makes me technically overweight according to the BMI charts. I have been exercising with that nice Pahla Bee lady every single day since i stopped working.

Kathleen that is such great news that the doctor got all the problem out with the first cut. I hope you can keep that area nice and dry and heal up and NO MORE occurrence

You asked if I was interested in sports to get me thru the winter, I'm afraid I'm not, truly I need to not fixate on what I'm missing during winter because it is a long period!

We have been super-duper lucky with sunny weather for about 5 days now it helps my mood so much. Temperatures are chilly at night, 22 the other night; not so bad last night at 30 but we won't get above 50. I DID take a quick ride to town on the motorcycle yesterday !

I have been enjoying my time off so much!! looking for a job is not so successful - even with all the nationwide hype about not being able to find workers, I submitted 3 applications last week and haven't heard from any of them! I got notice that I *should* be able to get at least a couple weeks of unemployment benefits, plus what I squirreled away during the summer, money just gives me a feeling of security. And I try to select something that is not kitchen related, as I like to save my enthusiasm for the summer job. But I am also not as young as I used to be and especially with the knee issue, can't choose something that will be tough on my knees.

If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you!

Hello friends! Hi Kathleen!

Kathleen how are you? are you healed up from the incision? that must have been scary . All good wishes to BEST health to you

How is your daughter progressing with the driving? such a big leap to independence. And I'm sure a ton of worry to you and your husband but I guess we all feel like that when our children, whatever age, start to drive. It must feel great to her

I am enjoying every minute each day that I'm not working haha!! but yes I have been submitting applications and I am so old fashioned (heck I'm OLD lol) that I expect a personal response from each place. Well, think back to the olden days when we did not have the Internet. It has made it so hundreds ( I can't say 'thousands' because our population is so low here) of people find out about a job and reply remotely. So it stands to reason that businesses can't reply. Anyway....I interviewed at a job fair for a local (but nationally known) seed company and I survived the first cut and have a TWO HOUR interview today at 11:00! It will be for Customer Service / call center. It is only about 8 miles from my house. I do not have the hard skills but I definitely have the soft skills so I am hopeful. And kind of excited! maybe I need a real job to keep my interest thru the winter . https://www.highmowingseeds.com/

What are your Thanksgiving plans? do you have to travel? We are going to our older son's house which is just 20 minutes away and our younger son/fiance will come (they are about an hour away)

I will let you know how I think the interview goes!

Hello Kathleen! and any others out there! I am missing our Pat and Lisa so much. and tree! And all others who have joined us over the years. Hoping that they are good!!

Kathleen, have a wonderful time at your sister-in-law's house tonight for your bigger family Thanksgiving and also a wonderful time for your own closer family on Friday night

So, the interview ... it went pretty good that day, then when I got home, they called and asked if I would come in for a computer skills assessment!! that was yesterday..and I was quite uneasy because I haven't used a PC in years, I've only had a Mac laptop and now a Chrome laptop and it is quite different in many ways, but I guess I demonstrated a working, basic knowledge. I went grocery shopping after the meeting, then when I got home there was a message to call them. I called and the sweet woman who has been with me during the interviews (3 of them!) has such a mellow voice but very neutral and it wasn't until I heard the words "we'd like to offer you the job" that I knew I made it! She said she knew I was intelligent and could pick up the tasks to learn and that the customers would be lucky to deal with me!! wasn't that nice?

So I start training on Dec. 6th, so I still have a good week and a half of freedom left This will be full time through their busy season, Jan - April; so it fits well with my summer job. And heck...what if I really excel at it and they offer me year round?

We now have light snow on the ground, ugh lol. My motorcycle is now in the garage with the lawn mower, and the snow blower is out and ready. I am wearing leggings under my jeans in the house, and always a tank top, a long sleeved shirt then something over that too, I am always so cold. I just have to adjust I guess! I bought one of those heated throw blankets that I LOVE and even though they are supposed to last 5 years, I wear one out every winter, LOL from having it on always! it feels so very wonderful when you're on the couch. My dog has just claimed it though, she is a warmth-loving doggie for sure.

Regarding Covid 19 ; my husband and I got our booster a few weeks ago. Stores in our area can make their own rules about masks. I am so sick of wearing a mask but I do it when going into a grocery store or the Post Office because most everyone else is. Our state has the highest vaccination rate in the country yet we still have hundreds of new cases every day (we have a very small total state population though - 600,000) But they don't tell us if the new cases are from unvaccinated people or if it is the Delta variant on a vaccinated person. Currently our Legislature is trying to get the Governor to do a State wide mask mandate again and he is against it. And there is legislation to allow individual towns and cities to make their own mandates.

thanks for letting me talk so much