Random 5 for November 24, 2024 – Adventures, birthdays, PTSD, mice, holidays

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On his way to Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

There is one in every family – We got word this week that the adventurer in the family (the beloved husband’s son) got a job as head meteorologist in Antarctica for the next six months. He has climbed Mount Everest twice so this isn’t unusual for him. He’s very excited. I’m excited for him but my personal adventures are more centered around tiki bars at beaches.

Here she is at her 90th birthday party five years ago

Birthday week! – We had two birthdays this week. My sis-in-law turned 95 and the beloved husband turned 82. My SIL celebrated with a trip to the Emergency Room (she’s doing ok at home now) and the beloved husband celebrated with breakfast out. Way back when I was younger this would be a month-long celebration that did not include ERs and much more than breakfast. Transitions.

Meetings – This past week we attended a HOA (homeowners association) meeting for our development. An interstate highway nearby is being widened and there is a lot of construction going on. We are hoping they install noise barriers. The meeting drew a larger than normal crowd. What surprised me was that the attendees used the meeting to whine about things that can be handled outside of a meeting. Each area has a representative that can answer simple questions and present problems to the board. No need to wait for a bi-annual meeting to rant. One guy went on for 10 minutes on how the HOA “needs” to do something about people (firing squad? beheadings?) who don’t pick up after their dog. Periodically the HOA sends out a reminder to everyone about that, but they can’t arrest anyone who doesn’t. There were a bunch of time-wasting discussions that could have been avoided. I had a case of PTSD from my working days. I had a high conflict job and most of the meetings I attended were whiney, frivolous or both. Don’t miss those.

Who lives here anyway? – For the second time in a week, a mouse ate one of my potatoes. I store them in the garage because it’s cooler and they’ll last longer (but only if the mice don’t eat them!). They have been moved inside. I must find a cool spot that is mouse-free. They also ate an old quilt I used for projects. I need to live in a mouse-less bubble.

Chestnut Praline, yum!

Happy Thanksgiving – This week we will celebrate thanksgiving (and retail sales extravaganzas) in the US. Families will get together for food orgies and Amazon will be stacking up the sales. We will have a quiet one here which suits us just fine. Maybe an extra Starbucks. Their Chestnut Praline latte is out.  Woo-hoo! Living on the wild side!

So how was your week.

62 thoughts on “Random 5 for November 24, 2024 – Adventures, birthdays, PTSD, mice, holidays”

  5. Happy birthday to your amazing SIL and husband. Sorry she spent it in the ER and we send our best wishes for a full and quick recovery. Kudos to the hub’s son for getting the South Pole gig. A friend recently went to Antarctica and her pics were beyond amazing. What a great opportunity for an adrenaline junkie! Wishing you and yours a wonderfully happy and safe Thanksgiving.

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  8. While “Antartica is NOT on my BINGO card . . . I’m impressed at the adventurer’s landing on that continent as head meteorologist! Most days, he’ll be able to report that the weather is apt to be COLD. 😀

    Why did he climb Everest twice? Did he leave something important (like his wallet) behind? 😀

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    • Reaching the summit of Mt. Everest is extraordinary. Most people don’t make it all the way. He didn’t quite get to the top and wanted to try again. The second time was 10 years later and he was 10 years older. It was harder and he didn’t make it again. The weather turned dangerous. That chapter closed. On to Antarctica!

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  9. Wow! That sounds like an incredible opportunity for an adventurous soul. I suddenly feel incredibly lazy…lol.

    I’ve learned there is no crazy like HOA crazy. I’ll leave it at that.

    Happy birthday to you SIL and Hubby! My granddaughter turned 2, and she was not impressed by any of the hoopla.

    Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy that Starbucks. I’m somewhat addicted to the Peppermint Mocha.

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  10. We stopped going to the HOA meetings here when they became whine-o-ramas. Not one constructive thing resulted from any meeting we went to and everyone complained there weren’t nice enough snacks available at the meeting. WHAT? Anyway, nothing ever changes here – the HOA “rules” have never been followed. That latte’ sounds like a good way to start off the official holiday season…….I may have to have one of those before I begin my shopping (or even during my shopping!).

    Hugs, Pam

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    • The draw for us is the nearby interstate construction. We are all hoping for sound barriers and to understand the time line. There is a committee that will interface with the construction company and PennDOT and report back. Other than that it’s approving budget, minutes and listening to a guy whose neighbor’s dog poops on his lawn. We also have one woman who whines excessively about invasive species and native plants. Our president (God bless him) put her in charge of doing something about it. No snacks. That would set a bad precedence to make these things go on forever. I was asked to sit on the board. Nope, nope, nope.

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  12. Well that sounds like an exciting job! Belated birthday greetings to your husband and sister-in-law … they got their special days in, just before the holiday rush. That is cause for celebration, like a visit to Starbucks for that drink that Chestnut Praline latte. It sounds wonderful!

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  14. Congrats to the birthday celebrants and to your stepson!

    I remember those whiney meetings… yikes! Don’t you just love the “someone should do something about…” complaints?

    We will have a quiet Thanksgiving too. I miss the big family gatherings a bit, but I love the calm and the simple meal prep and clean-up.

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    • I have fond memories of the big family get togethers. I remember my mom getting up before 6 to get the turkey in the oven. Then all the sides, squeezing in extra chairs and folks watching football. There was something fun about it but I was always happy at the end of the day when everyone went home. Now I wouldn’t have the ambition to do all that work. Easy and quiet are good for me.

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  15. I am envious of your quiet week. My week is crazy. Every year I forget how busy the week of Thanksgiving is with my husband’s birthday and certain work projects. And then I got guilted into hosting Thanksgiving for 20 (mostly my husband’s family). I’m never doing this again! (I said that last year, too.)

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  19. as always, your post brought a smile. The meteorology position is incredible! My guy is jealous because in heart he’s a meteorologist. I really laughed about the HOA meeting. I really dislike going to those. And yes there are always one or two blowhards that talk about nothing … forever. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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  20. What an adventure as a meteorologist. We have Mt Washington here, and those folks go up and stay several days because the weather is not conducive to going up and down. Hope he has a fulfilling six months. Your SIL is a beautiful lady. I hope she had a lovely birthday. HOAs are not for the faint of heart especially since every person gathered there is use to doing their own thing. Enjoy your extra Starbucks in the handsome red cup.

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  21. Your sister-in-law is amazing as is your step-son!

    Happy Thanksgiving, Kate. We’ll be a small group of five this year. Nevertheless, my son-in-law insists on turkey. I’m in charge. I’ve been successful in baking a tender, juicy turkey in years past. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

    We had an HOA gathering (not meeting) last week. We brought food or checks for the local food bank and sat around talking, drinking wine and eating snacks and cookies. So nice!

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    • Our HOA has a egg hunt and a summer picnic but it’s all geared for kids. The larger part of our development is family homes. We are in the townhouses that have seniors (although not age restricted). We talk about having something in our neighborhood but so far there have only been small gatherings in homes. We are having ham. No one in my family really likes turkey especially all the leftovers.

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    • That would keep whining to a minimum. We usually have it outdoors in our park in May and November. The fall meeting does not get good attendance because it’s cold so this year they moved it to an indoor location. Not sure if that was a good idea or not. The attendance quadrupled as did the whining.

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  26. Wow on the meteorologist assignment. Not my kind of adventure either, but good for him! We don’t do much for birthdays (or holidays etc) anymore either. We did have a dinner for Marley’s 70th with friends over, but only because it was 70. We might add a little to Amazon’s coffers for Christmas for the grandkids, but not enough for them to notice us. Quiet Thanksgiving here too…my kind of Thanksgiving. Prepared meal from a local restaurant and Marley’s oldest son and a friend/former employee of ours, and a nice quiet meal among friends.

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