Ray's House of Love Vol III

I hate when this thread drops to back pages and I don't see it. Sorry for the delay in answering your question.

Apparently Kid Two's new job will be on a project funded by the Department of Defense, and one aspect of the project involves using moon-based lasers as strategic defense against incoming whatevers. She has some experience making precision camera mounts on a teensy scale, so that may have been what got her hired. We're just so relieved she's going to be working!

So, with a few days having passed, we hope your back pain has scaled way, way back. Mine is better than it was a decade ago, but nevertheless the heating pad lives on the couch near my favorite spot. I find that brings me more relief than painkillers.

Maryn, who needs a hot tub, perhaps

We went dark again this Halloween, after a string of years with ten or fewer kids. Which is good for me, since I don't bring the candy into the house at all.

It does make me kind of sad to put away Halloween decorations, though. Mr. Maryn doesn't care, so nobody ever admired the pumpkins, spiders, and skeletons, making it seem like a wasted effort.

Times like this, I really miss The Kid (who's doing fine elsewhere, leading her own life with friends other than me), who would have praised my decor.

Maryn, kind of blue

Thank you, Miss Sassy!

After much travel and a night at the theatre in our own back yard, so to speak, Mr. Maryn has gotten sick. It seems to just be a cold, apparently not bad enough to accept the hot tea I keep trying to force on him. (Can you tell he's a little testy?) He used to power through such ailments and go to work anyway, just keeping away from other people, but now he's lolled in his jammies all day long. It's weird and reminds me too much of when he was really ill, but I'm loath to bring that up. The association is my problem, not his.

We really liked the play we saw last night, Good People. It's about a blue-collar woman who dropped out of high school when she got pregnant. Now she's lost her job and looks up an old flame who managed to escape into a life of privilege. All she wants is a job, or his connections to help her find one, but of course there are old secrets which come to light.

We tried to see it on Broadway, with Frances McDormand and Tate Donovan, but we could only get one ticket. ("You wait outside and I'll come out during intermission, catch you up, and you go in while I wait for you!") Dramas never have a long run, alas. We ended up seeing some silly musical, either Priscilla Queen of the Desert or The Addams Family Musical, fun then forgotten.

It got cold here. I'm making chili for the first time in, what, six months?

Maryn, who should start it soon, since it's best if it sits a while

I have voted. And resisted the bake sale at the polling place, with home-made goodies which in past years have been to die for. And grocery shopped, resisting the various temptations there.

Am I thin yet? Damn it, not quite.

I think I'm catching the cold, which is not surprising but still unpleasant.

Maryn, thinking soup

To my relieved pleasure, I don't seem to have that cold after all, just a typical-for-me sinus flare-up which is passing already. Whew! Mr. Maryn continues to feel better each day, so life is easing toward normalcy. I walked yesterday, even. It had been some time since I'd gone alone. It's different than with him. Our usual favorite place feels unsafe alone (several students have been robbed nearby, walking to campus), so I went for a more-traveled section. It was nice to set my own pace instead of stressing my knees trying to keep up.

Our kids and I have begun meal planning for Thanksgiving, even though we don't know for sure if Kid Two can be here. She starts a new job on the 17th and doesn't know if they get the Friday off. The Kid flies in for a fast visit, unable to spare more time from work, which is a shame. I look forward to cooking, eating, drinking, and game-playing while they're here. (Kid Two says she's mastered pie crust--I am in awe.)

Maryn, who buys them

Even though we can't see your faces all that well in the new avatar, the happiness in that picture is obvious. And nice to see, too.

It's spitting snow turning to rain, back to a sort of sleetish mix. I'm so glad it's Mr. Maryn's turn to grocery shop!

A fast google suggests that a turkey can indeed be cooked in a crock pot. Apparently fitting the turkey into it is the big challenge. One site says the person fit a 9.5 pound turkey into a 6.5 quart crock pot, a very tight squeeze, then cooked it for three hours to an internal temperature of 140. You have to start with a turkey which is completely (and safely) thawed.

If you worry about fitting a turkey in your crock pot, consider a turkey breast (we buy those several times each winter, since that's everybody's favorite meat on the bird) or roasting chicken(s).

Is the oven gas or electric? What's wrong with it? Mr. Maryn fixed my lower oven six months ago, buying parts at Amazon, and he is not a fix-anything kind of guy. (Amazon keeps emailing me with suggestions for oven parts. Dudes, it's not like books, where if I like one enough to buy it, I might like more which are similar.) IIRC, it cost something like $35 to get that puppy working like new.

Maryn, whose upper oven needs a gasket (and a cleaning)

A nicer person would have given you the link. Too bad I'm not nice, huh?

Nice surprise: My bank has really, really good coffee for customers. I never paid it much attention before today, but I had a creme brulee coffee which was divine. And free. My teller said the salted caramel and the java were also excellent. Maybe I should be going in to get change for a dollar--and coffee.

Maryn, just a user

We forgive your absence, since you came back. Not everybody does. Think it's my breath?

Maryn, kidding

Trevor! Can you stay a while, or must I use restraints? Where'd I leave those pink fleece-lined cuffs?

I still manage to place pictures from camera to computer with the little cord, so I'm no help. The Kid set my phone up so its pictures go to DropBox until I move then from there to the computer, which I have mastered. (DropBox fills up too fast with novels and pictures both.)

Pretty low-tech person here, but I'll share what she's taught me well: Whatever tech problem you have, others have had. Google the camera make and model number inside quotation marks, then the trouble you're having, then the word tutorial and the word troubleshoot, i.e.

"Canon PowerShot 1234-SX" send pictures to cloud tutorial troubleshoot

I don't know about you, but for me, the how-to with images or video is easiest to grasp.

In other news, I had an epiphany last night. It was a little before eleven and I was not tired, nor was Mr. Maryn, so we decided to watch one more episode of a TV show. (We're just starting "Transparent" on Amazon.) And it came to me: I don't have to get up early because tomorrow's Monday morning.

I haven't for years, but it took a while for me to realize how great it is. I'm finally the grownup who can say up as late as she wants!

Maryn, wondering how long before she can eat all the ice cream and candy she wants