Finally getting here today. I wanted to change my schedule around a bit and start doing my all-house cleaning on Monday but I didn't get very far. I got our master bedroom, our spare bedroom, and both bathrooms cleaned except I forgot to clean our bathroom floor. I'll to do that quickly soon. I am not fixing dinner...it's every man for him/herself night. Unless we decide to go out but I doubt we will. Dh doesn't like to go out in the cold and I'm not too thrilled about it myself. One reason I didn't get all my work done is because we again went to Costco, and bought the GPS we bought and returned the other day. It was $30 off today. Of course we also picked up a couple other items. I love their socks and they had a new color pack so had to get it. Like I don't already have enough socks....can't even close the drawer because I have so many! We stopped for a piece of pecan pie on the way home. That was our lunch. We won't get much pie on Thanksgiving so we are just eating a little at a time this week. Don't worry we will stop our naughty ways once Thanksgiving is over.

Deelou - Happy Birthday Deelou! Sounds like you had a blessed day! Those kids do keep us on our knees don't they?!! I'm impressed with your weight loss since I can't seem to be good and really try. I'm at the highest weight I've been in more than 10 years. You're almost up to me in age, I'll be 72 in Feb.

Carole Sue - You are making me hungry for turkey! And I'm not much of a turkey eater...I eat a sl or two at Thanksgiving but that's about it. Don't think the cream of soup is for me but I do like potatoes and gravy with it and a bit of cranberry sauce on the side. I'm sure we will bring some home from our dd's. Occasionally I will eat a little leftovers but mostly it is for dh. That modem is sure causing you trouble or maybe it's the wind...either way..sounds like a close call with the tree. Glad no further damage.

Love2Garden- 72 degrees sounds great! We aren't cold like lots of other areas but it was in the high 40s today. Dh cooked Thanksgiving once when I had to work on the holiday. I remember I was so upset having to work as I had never worked on a holiday before! This was the first year I worked as a nurse. I was almost in tears. Then I thought because I'd worked Thanksgiving I'd automatically get Christmas off...naive me...no, I was scheduled to work Christmas and I was really in tears. I wanted to be with my family as always and fix everything just so. Another nurse with no kids took compassion on me and worked for me. I was so happy! Dh is a good cook though, no problem there. I just wanted to do it in those days. Now I don't care ..LOL I prefer white meat but dh prefers dark. Since he (actually both of us) tend to have high cholesterol, doctor told him to eat only white but I figure once or twice a year won't kill him. Sheesh he's almost 80, let him enjoy.

Lucinda - I can't wait to get my new fridge, more excited about that than Thanksgiving...that sounds terribly materialistic I know but I rarely get a new appliance. Sure hope it fits when they bring it in. Don't think I remembered to post a picture. Here it is:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electr...vZc3piZ1z11ao3

My son thought I should have gotten the water dispenser on the door but I really didn't care about that. I like that it has more cubic feet than I expected to get and should fit in our small space (just barely). I was leary about going with LG as I've heard they aren't too good with support, but I decided to purchase the Home Depot service agreement thinking they might be better than I at getting a tech out if i need one. Hoping this is a good fridge without problems. It has good reviews.

Hi to Glynne! What happened to Judy?

Mary, that looks like the exact refrigerator I got! An LG We've had it a couple years. I think you said you were getting white, but I got it in stainless. It fit right in where our other standard size refrigerator was with room to spare. You will like it. I didn't want the water dispenser either. We have never even used an ice maker in any of our refrigerators. We still use the old fashioned ice cube trays. We don't use that many ice cubes anyway.

That's one thing about being a nurse or other medical professional. If you work in a hospital or nursing home, you will be working on holidays. One time I was planning a turkey dinner for a Sunday, not a holiday. At the last minute, I was asked to work for a special project. I got everything ready, had everything cut up for the stuffing, and wrote out directions for DH and his daughter, who was a teenager then. They did fine, but even now my stepdaughter says she doesn't know how to cook a turkey. I think it is intimidating to some, but actually a very easy meal to prepare. Stuff the turkey and put it in the oven. While it's cooking, prepare the sides. When the timer dings, it's ready. LOL

I thought you bought another GPS when you took the first one back. I must have been reading too fast and misunderstood. I hope you like it.

Today we are going to the Comcast office to get a battery for our modem. They don't provide them anymore because most people have cordless phones that need electricity to work. We have them, but also have a couple wall phones that plug right into the phone line, so the battery will help us.

I tried it out with my Nook and it's working fine, so I'm set to go.

Wannabee, I got stainless steel too! I wanted white but it was more money and dh talked me into getting the stainless steel. It is pretty and although my other large appliances are white my microwave is stainless steel with a black front, so I decided I can live with that. I was concerned it might show smudges but they use this cleaner in the store and I actually tried to make a smudge on one like it and couldn't. Do you have trouble with smudges? Glad to hear it fit in your space. I think it will just barely fit the height, but we have plenty width so think that will be fine. I've never had double doors but it will stick out some from the counter (depth) so should have room. I hope the freezer is big enough..looks kinda small in the picture. I do have a good size freezer in my old one. Our son buys a lot of frozen veggies and large bags of chicken. I normally only buy frozen peas and get other veggies fresh and I buy only small packages of meat for just the two of us, so things have changed with our son here. But we do have a smaller old fridge in the garage with some freezer space. That's where his venison is. I told him if he someday gets a big deer he'll have to get his own freezer, then he can take it with him when he gets his own place.

On the GPS thing..we got the first one, took it back, got a better one We liked it but when the coupon book came out there was a $30 off so we took it back and then went back and bought it again to get the $30 off! Sometimes we are embarrassingly thrifty! And Costco is so good about returns.

Glad you are up and running with your new modem! I hate it when I can't use my electronics. So spoiled. I used to want a tablet so badly and now I have three tablets plus my old Kindle ereader. Its the first version Kindle but still works ok. I mostly only use it at the gym so it's not getting much use these days.

Guess you're getting things ready for your big meal. I need to get a few ingredients...trying to decide today or tomorrow. Also want to get a manicure.
My hair feels too long too although it is short..if you know what I mean, Not sure if I'll get it cut or not.

Love2Garden - You will probably be here later but I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Hi to Glynne!

Mary, I get smudges on my refrigerator, plus sometimes we spill something and it runs down the front of the freezer. DH does a good job of cleaning it. Do you know the name of the cleaner they were using? An appliance repair man told me that Home Depot sells a stainless cleaner that comes in a black and white can and looks like the old generic products. He said that's the only one he uses that doesn't leave smudges. I wanted to buy it but DH wants to clean it his way, so I let him. He does a good job. I'm surprised that the white cost more. That's unusual.

I don't blame you for wanting to use that $30 coupon. I would do it too. I look for bargains like that all the time and I rarely buy anything full price unless it's something I need right away.

My first ereader was a Pandigital. I used that for a couple years, then Target had a basic Nook on sale for $49 so I bought that and got an additional 5% off with my Target card. Then I wanted a bigger screen that I could use to go online so I got 9 " Nook on sale on QVC. Now I'm disappointed that I don't have a Kindle to take advantage of free Kindle Books on Amazon, so I might buy a Kindle now, too. I have a Kindle Cloud account on my PC and I can download the free books on that, but I can only read them on my PC. With all the money I have spent on tablets I should have just bought an IPad to begin with.

I went out this morning and got the last of my ingredients I need for Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to it, then in a few hours, it's over. LOL

Hi Mary and Carol Sue.
Everyone must be very busy and unable to come here today.

We had a strange experience when our very old refrigerator went down a few years ago. We have a gallery kitchen with 4 feet from one side to the other. When the dishwasher door is down, the kitchen is blocked.

The refrigerator was delivered and I realized for the first time that it was a foot deeper than the cabinets and made it even more difficult to work there. I couldn't put dishwasher door totally down. I literally cried. I called, they told me they would charge several hundred to take it back.

The next morning, our dining room rug was a soaked as the water from the ice maker flowed out. We cut off the water supply. I checked the temperature in the Refrigerator, it was room temperature!!! Then I was furious.

I called, DH called and they are lucky I didn't hold them responsible for replacing the ruined rug. Actually, I was pleased to get rid of that rug, I had made a mistake in the bright color and later we got a satisfactory one.

The replacement refrigerator is a side by side that I love. It fits, and is perfect. We keep lots of herbs from the garden and nuts, and the left overs for the next week or so in there.

Hope Mary is as pleased when it gets installed.

I have desktop computer and DH has a laptop, period. Because I prefer to read books with pages, I never thought to buy any of the others. When we go places, I'm the one driving so that wouldn't be something I'd use then, either.

Sore foot has healed enough that I now have on shoes. Weather is cooling off rapidly so we won't see those wonderful high temperatures till spring now.

Love2garden, right now I have a few boxes full of paperback books. I trade with a friend and she has several people who give books to her when they are finished with them. After we are both finished with them I donate them to the library for their used book sales. I would pass them on to someone else but I don't know anyone else who would want them. They aren't usually the newer books, but if I haven't read them already they are new to me. I have never bought a book for my ereaders. I get them from the library, too. I can do it from my home on my PC. I can click "return" when I'm finished with them, which I usually do, in case someone is waiting for that book. Otherwise, the library just takes them back after 21 days. Never have to leave my house for them.

Our kitchen is a galley kitchen also, but there is no wall separating it from the dining room, or "dining area." We have a movable island between the two rooms. I think the home was originally planned to have a big eat-in kitchen but then they changed their mind.

I'm glad it worked out that you were able to return your refrigerator. My step-son and wife bought a home that had a small apartment in the lower level with a fully equipped kitchen. They have 2 side-by-side refrigerators, both always full.

When we first got married we had DHs refrigerator from his first marriage, back in the 60s. It had 1 big door, then a small door inside for a very small freezer. We could not buy ice cream unless we didn't have anything else in the freezer. So we bought a small freezer to put in the utility room. We still have that little freezer and there's always stuff in it, especially around the holidays. After Thanksgiving I will start filling it with Christmas cookies.

How I wish I were close enough to exchange books with you two!! I bring books home from library that is 12 miles away, and return them when I'm in that area.

The idea that I could get a book and return it without even leaving my home is very appealing! Thanks for the education.

Our gallery kitchen has only a partial wall by the refrigerator and sounds like a plan similar to yours. One person working in the kitchen is so handy and everything so close. I've loved it.

We have a big freezer for the soups DH makes and we freeze, plus we hunted for years and had the meat kept in the big freezer. Also makes a good place to keep coffee beans that go on sale, we like coffee with Kona beans, but the cost is high.

What a blessing to be retired now and have more time to do what I want to do. Surprised I'm not reading more, but with DD having her studio in the living room and DH also newly retired, we tend to do a lot of conversation.

Love2garden, after posting, I realized that my kitchen is not really a galley kitchen. The one in my apartment was. That has a throughway with cabinets and counters on both sides. Mine is actually one big room with the dining room. The kitchen counters are L shaped and the opening between the two rooms only has the moveable island, which is like a room divider. It's a very small kitchen with not much storage space, but I have a lot of storage space in the basement with an old kitchen cabinet and some shelves DH installed n the laundry room. Good enough for the two of us.

You should check to see if your library offers e-books online. If they do, you could get a basic Kindle or Nook, and sometimes you can buy them refurbished. They work fine. It's mostly just newer books, and some publishers do not allow it. But there's more books that you could ever read.

We are getting a bit of snow. Inch or two. I hope anyone who is in the way of the Nor'easter is safe, warm and dry.

Good morning! I didn't get my grocery shopping done yesterday ..too tired after mani and other shopping...so have to go today. Hopefully there will still be enough in the stores with all the shoppers. I'm sitting here drinking my breakfast and then will get ready to go out.

Love2Garden - After reading your post I think my kitchen might be a gallery kitchen? I call it a U shape but it's not rounded. There are cabinets on both sides (one side has pantry and fridge) and the stove between cabinets on the other side...at the end are two cabinets (one very narrow) one on each side of the sink. Like you I have probably 4 ft between each side but I've never measured it. Fortunately my dishwasher is at the end so the door when opened only bars one lower cabinet. My kitchen is efficient and works well for one person, two ok, more than that forget it! It has upper cupboard on both sides. On the other side is the dining area a much larger space and if I ever remodel the kitchen the upper cupboards on that side will come down as I'd like to be able to see into the dining room better when I'm cooking. People seem to congregate in the dining area and I'd like to feel a part of it. I can imagine how you felt when they got the fridge there and it didn't work well for you! I assume the company replaced it after the water damage? Glad the next one worked for you. Also cool that you were able to get a rug you really liked!

It's funny I never used to worry about these things but for some reason I'm not going to be at peace about this fridge until it's in and I know everything is ok. I think it is because of reading so many reviews online and problems people have had. However this particular model had good reviews and I also know you can't particularly go by the reviews. To make me more uncomfortable, the delivery company called yesterday and asked me if I was sure it would fit, have I measured etc. I said yes we measured several times and I felt like asking are you sure YOUR measurement on the website is correct. That's the only thing that could cause a goof up. But we are hoping for the best.

We now have more tablets than we know what to do with since we got two for $49.99 each when we signed up with Verizon! But dh likes that he now has one even though he doesn't know how to work it. And it means an extra one for the gc to play with. I haven't even gotten to know mine really as I don't have time plus have the iPad to use so no real incentive. I will teach him more when I get a chance to really learn mine. These tablets are Android so it is an adjustment. I just now thought I could give him my iPad but he doesn't really have much use for one and it's all set up for me so I'll have to think about that.

Well, I'd better get going. Talk again later.

Good afternoon GG's,

It is a nice sunny day today ~ about 70*. In the mornings, it is still chilly sometimes.

I've been reading here, but busy and haven't gotten a chance to post. We have Maddie all day this week ~ school vacation. She keeps us busy. She and Grandpa have gone to some special thing going on at the Childrens Museum, so having a little time to get some stuff done that I can't get to when she is here.

Gonna make a casserole I saw on Facebook for Thanksgiving tomorrow. It is probably just going to be DH and I, so I didn't want to make a turkey and all that stuff. I invited DS Jason ~ don't know if he will come or not. He might be going to get together with a friend's family. That is ok ~ I would rather him be where he feels like he is having fun and not be alone. DD Sara hasn't said boo about Thanksgiving ~ so don't know what their family is doing. Since her divorce holidays aren't the same ~ kind of sad, but I know others are in the same boat. Sometimes we get together, but it is kind of a spur of the moment thing if it happens at all.

Guess I'd better get off and get those things done before the big and little kid return ~ LOL.

Hope you all have a nice thanksgiving and good time with your families.

Glynne - I'm sorry you have no plans for Thanksgiving and wish you and your dh could be with us. Before our dd moved here (about three or four years ago?) we had Thanksgiving Day alone too. Usually we went out to eat even though we didn't really want to but I didn't want to fix a big meal for the two of us. Sometimes we even took a trip just to get away so we wouldn't feel so badly about being home without family on a holiday. Toward the end dh was saying he wanted a home cooked meal so I think I did a small version a time or two. I'm sure there are lots of people in the same predicament though. Now we have two kids living nearby and we get together but I no longer cook the big meal...funny how things turn out...and I am satisfied with this. I hope your dd and gs will join you or invite you. In the past my kids have been kind of last minute decision makers...have to admit at times I felt like mom and dad's place was for only if something better didn't open up!

Mary ~ it is ok. I'm sorry ~ I wasn't trying to make people feel sorry for me/us. I am ok with how things will be. Just sad that it is different now. It will be a quiet relaxing day. It is better actually than how it was when we lived in NC. There, the hospital I worked for would not allow anyone to take any extra days off at the holidays. You got either the eve of the holiday off or the day of the holiday. That was fine if your family lived in town. But if your family was out of town, you were sunk. You could not go be with them. Where my husband worked, he was able to take vacation time at thanksgiving and again at Christmas and went to spend it with his brother. I didn't want him to miss out because of me, I encouraged him to go. I spent many a holidays all alone. So even though it is just the two of us this year, it is better than how it used to be.

I do sort of have plans ~ I got the batting and backing pinned onto mom's quilt and while it is nice and quiet ~ I can get that sewed on. I am almost done with it

Even though things don't always turn out how I hope ~ I have so much to be thankful for

Gayle, as we look back on our lives, so much to be grateful for. We've always had Thanksgiving off, had our own business that our son now runs, so we could set the rules. Many years even the schools in our area would close down thanksgiving because both students and teachers hunt.

One year DS, DDIL, DH and I went hunting. Temperatures 8 deg, snow at least a foot deep of overnight snow, and I shot my first and only deer. Strange how the shot sound was so muffled because of the deep snow in the hollow we were in!!! I'm batting 1,000 by shooting once, and hit the target. We butchered our own deer that year, such a long hard job. We do love venison

When is the refrigerator due, Mary?

Here are some pictures of galley kitchens. It's like a hallway, with cabinets and appliances on either side. Named after the galley of a ship.

http://www.houzz.com/galley-kitchen-pictures

Mine is definitely not a galley. It is completely open on one side with the exception of the island and you can easily see into the dining area from the kitchen and vice versa.

I would love to have a year off from having Thanksgiving with the family. When I started dating DH we went to his mother's for Thanksgiving every year with his family, and also Christmas and Easter, too. When my MIL passed away it was right before Easter. My step-daughter asked what we were going to do about Easter so I offered to have everyone at our house. That's the way it's been every holiday since. I would like to have one year just the two of us where we could just relax. It's not that I don't like the family, just would like a change for once.

Last year when DH had shingles, we called off the Easter gathering. They didn't get together somewhere else, they each did their own thing. DH didn't feel up to it, plus he was concerned that he might be contageous. He didn't even want ham, so I cooked a turkey breast for the two of us. My step-daughter and her husband came over anyway. They just didn't know what to do with themselves. He didn't mind that it was just them.

Mary, I think the refrigerator will fit just fine.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ~ enjoy your day and the time with your families