Monday Rambles (Back Home Edition)

ALL HEED THE WISDOM!

That's the nicest thing a fortune cookie has ever said to me!

Well, it worked for Trump......

True that!


HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN

We got back at about 11:30-ish Thursday evening and were very happy to be off the road.  We made excellent time coming back too.  The trip is about a 13 hour drive, give or take.  We made it in 11.  We were worn out, but it was worth it to be back home.

FAMILIAR FACE

We were greeting enthusiastically and vociferously by this little guy.

Okay, so he's not quite so enthusiastic here, but trust me, he was.

He even slept in between our pillows that night, something he never ever does.  He was super, super clingy for a few days after.  He definitely doesn't like it when we go away.

We've finally figured out that he's not a very social kitty.  Kind of like his people, he's just not that into interacting with most people.  We're all just anti-socialites here.  We told our cat-checker to just make sure that he was okay when she stopped in, but not to try and pet him or play with him.  Even at that, he still growled at her every time she came over.  He's a two-man cat, our boy.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Since we still had our rental car for an extra day, we decided to make this year's long overdue cemetery trip.  Mazda just ain't up to long interstate journeys any more, so we rent a car to go to Arkansas.  Things have been too crazy of late to head to the country, so snubbing Black Friday seemed like a good idea.

My mother now has her new winter hat.

I also averted a crisis at my grandparents' grave.

I'm pretty sure Grammie wasn't happy about this.

All better!  I picked up the stray flowers after I took this pic.

THE VISITATION

We had a real good visit in Arkansas.  Even with the extra time we had, it still seemed way too rushed and way too short.  I guess it will always be that way.  Still, we did cover a lot of ground and had wonderful times with as much of his family as we could.  One of his aunts had been going through her mother's papers and pictures and gave him an envelope filled with his old school pics, family pics, and lots of pictures of his father as a boy.  It was great!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING

I did manage to get some junking in during the trip.  More on that tomorrow.  I found a Salvation Army that I had never seen before and revisited a cute little vendor mall that I was last at a couple of years ago.  I also stopped at a couple of flea markets during the cemetery trip as well.  I didn't find a lot, but there were some cool things.

REARRANGING THE DECK CHAIRS

Booth sales are still down in the dumps.  I had a little bounce in November, but not enough of one.  I'm still due for a really low check.  It seems that consumer confidence didn't rise with the election results. 

I've got Mazda loaded down with holiday stuff to put out this week.  We'll see if that helps at all.  I desperately need a really good end to this year.

MUSIC FOR MONDAY (HOLIDAY EDITION)

I guess I'll wrap it up with this and see you all later.