Been rainy and gloomy around here the last few days. We had 3 inches of rain just last night. DH is staying in "sick" today. Good thing, he would probably have to take the long way to work. Most likely the bridge between our house and his work will be under water. Thought I would pop in, catch up and say hello. Thankfully I am not as far behind as I thought I might be!
Ev, thankfully DH has not found the farting iphone application. Probably just a matter of time!
Pikester, I loved your pictures! It must be beautiful when all the trees are in full color. We have a few turning but not much.
M&N, good for you working a few extra days to add to the Disney fund! I could stand to do that myself. It looks like Pikester and myself will both be in Epcot on Dec. 5th. Any chance of getting you there that day too?
Wendy, the soup recipe sounds great! Can't wait to give it a try. My step-DD loves tortilla soup so I will have to pass the recipe along to her. Sounds like quite the wind storm you had! I think you made a good call with your DS. Maybe next time he will think twice before he does something that gets him kicked out! At least it appears to have also been the answer to solve the transportation problem. Perhaps he can prove himself and you can try and let him get involved again at a later date. I certainly understand the desire to want him to get something good out of it.
We still "make" our son go to church too even though I know he less than enjoys it. We have had some less than stellar experiences that have shot the heck out of his faith. Still... keep plugging along and hoping that forgiveness comes and his faith is restored. Honestly, I don't think it is his faith in God so much that is hurt as much as his understanding of men. I remember when I was a teen and I hated going to church. I sat there like a sulled up toad frog but thank the Lord my mother was wise enough to lay the foundation for me and some of it sunk in and eventually "it took". I am praying fervently that DS will mellow and come around in time too. My favorite verse is Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." It certainly held true for me!
D&D, I am glad I am not the only one who hasn't gotten my ornament to
Shmu! I am a world class procrastinator. It doesn't help that the ornaments are in storage in our garage.

It's scary in there! Still... soon, very soon!
I hope your trip to the doctor for new meds helps relieve some of the problems you are having with DS.
JOCAmom, glad the wind didn't get your electricity!
Welcome back
Kitty! We missed you and are glad you had a good time. Now, where is that
Shmu? Guess we will all be patiently waiting for the full reports!
LITC, Joel would have been a good choice but Walter is just perfect. Glad you got a chance to catch up on some sleep and Grandma got to spend some time with Walter.
We "adopted" our Joel when he was 10 and my son was also 10. His birthday is the same day as mine! This is Joel then and now:
We also began sponsoring a girl in Columbia a year later in honor of my DD. Her name is Kelly. Here she is then and now:
It has been an honor and privilege to help them out a little. It is also very rewarding to see and hear from them when we get an update or letter.
Howdy to everyone else I missed and have a wonderful day!!!
Gotta see what ya'll think about this.... My step-DD had a really bad week last week. One of her horses cut it's leg very bad and had to be put down and then she also had to put one of her dogs to sleep because it was old and in bad shape. I had been feeling pretty sorry for her because she is such an animal lover and I knew she was taking it very hard. That was, until she told me how she came to have the dog. She said it belonged to a neighbor of one of her friends. The dog had been seen out wandering in the neighborhood so her friend did not feel the people were taking proper care of it so since she knew that our SIL wanted a dog she picked it up and gave it to them. Anyway, step-DD seemed amused when she was talking about how the dog was "stolen". I was not impressed at all and am feeling quite disappointed that she would think it was okay to take someone's dog just because they did not approve of how the dog was being taken care of. Obviously she felt the animals rights were above and beyond stealing. Incidentally, since she has had the dog it has escaped their yard on several occasions. I wonder how she would have felt if someone had picked up the dog because they assumed she was not taking care of it properly?