day after Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving we have relatively new tradition. We go to my Mom's house and put up her Christmas tree and decorations.

We have dinner too.......tonight we weren't too hungry.......still full from the previous day's feast!

Here are a couple of happy faces for you, my Mom and sister, Mimi!

Ok Santa, we are ready when you are!

the table is ready

Just thought I would post this picture before the food messes it up!

Guess I am prepared now for our feast tomorrow.

Just 12 of us this year.

The Kansas City Smetanas won't make it. They will be with us for Christmas though, so that make us all very happy!

Reminds me, we have to choose names for our gift exchange.......opps! One more thing to remember!

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

you never know what you will find

The weather has gotten cold. It is time to bring out and start wearing the warm winter jackets.
Each time I put one on and reach into my pockets, I find a part of my past.
Always a crumpled kleenex and usually a grocery list. Sometimes a candy wrapper, coins and business cards. I was especially happy when, early this morning, I took my little doggie outside. I reached in for a 'poop bag' that I had stuffed in the pocket, as I walked out the door. I was surprised to also find $5.00 bill!
I know I should check the jackets in the spring, before I put them away.
I have always thought this way much more interesting.

why would you ask?

Tonite my sweetheart and I were doing a bit of Christmas shopping.
He even took me for dinner at Culver's.
As we were placing our order and were about to pay, the clerk look at us and asked,

'are either of you 60 years old?'

She wondered if we would qualify for the senior discount.
I looked at her and said 'oh, please don't ask that'!
I took the drink cups and walked away while Bill paid.
When we sat down Bill very seriously said 'I have never been asked that before!'
Well, I have been and it sucks.

This week is the beginning!

Starting this week, the holidays officially begin.
Thursday will be Thanksgiving.
I, for one, will be giving alot of thanks!
We, as a family, have many exciting things to look forward to in the coming year.
Our son, Bj and his bride, Jessy, make it real on July 25 and then in Oct. Lori (our niece) and Patrick make the walk down the aisle.
I was so lucky to have had the chance to help Jess choose her wedding dress. How lovely she looked and I could tell in her face that she had choosen the perfect dress.'
I know that my son will melt when he sees her in that gown!

At this moment ........life is good.

So then as soon as the turkey is digested........gotta start thinking about the next event...Christmas!!
I feel very unstressed this year about gift buying. We made the decision to cut way back.
None of us need a single thing.
We are blessed........we will be together and we will have plenty of food on our table.
For these and many other things, I am thankful.
Joe, Silvia and Anna Banana.............it won't be the same with out you!
We look forward to seeing you at Christmas!

Thoughts

You know I feel so lucky to have had the chance to spend time with my sister, brother and sister-in-law. Usually when we all get together, it's so loud and crazy, that we don't really pay attention to the details of each other.
This time we had time to spend talking and remembering without distractions. We all realized how similar we really are!
We are all getting older and it's nice to remember that we still have each other.
I cherish my family and all the memories of our past.
I wonder what the future holds for the 'Smetana kids'?

Good-bye KC

We got up early on Monday morning and had our coffee. We got ready and finished packing.
The plan was that Joe would take us to the airport that day. We said our sad good-byes to Silvia and Mocha.

We decided to end the trip like we started it. At MIMI's Cafe for breakfast.
After breakfast we had some time so thought we would walk around. MIMI's is located in a shopping area so we did some window shopping.

Joe dropped us off, we had our good-bye hugs. Check in went very fast.
Now time to sit and wait for the plane. I love waiting in airports. I think that you have the best people watching opportunities while you wait.
My mind starts working:


Who are they?
Where are they going?
They are an odd couple.
Do they know how bad for them that food is that they are eating?


You know, all the odd thoughts that creep into your head.
It passes time.


Back onboard for the trip home. It's only an hour flight on the return trip.
Well, it's an afternoon flight so you know what that means on Midwest flights.
Warm chocolate chip cookies!
Before you know it we are landing.
We get our luggage in no time and go out to look for our ride.
My good friend, Barb, is there waiting for us.
Home again and then time for unpacking and laundry. I like going on a trips much better than coming home from trips.


Joe and Silvia.......thanks for the fun. Can we do it again real soon?

KC day 3

Well, guess it's time to continue the trip report from KC! I might forget everything if I don't write it down pretty soon.


Sunday morning started like Saturday. We sat at the table and drank a lot of coffee and looked at the sale ads in the morning paper. For some reason, we all love looking at the ads. Cindy and I are especially fond of the ads in the Thanksgiving Day newspaper! Guess it's the beginning of our holiday season.

Anyway, we then got ready for the day and we were off again.
We really just sort of wandered around, in and out of stores. Spent time and $$$ at Steinmart. We had lunch at Pei Wei, sort of an Asian fast food. Very delicious. I guess that all of Saturday's activities pooped us out....we were lazy on Sunday. So, we drove around sightseeing for a bit and then headed back home. We decided that it would be 'nap time' before heading back to Lydia's for dinner.



We had a reservation tonite so we weren't worried about not having a table. The olives and breadsticks, in the bar area, were just as wonderful as they had been the night before. I told myself that I was not going to eat too many. I wanted to have room for the dinner I had been waiting for.


We were seated at our table. Joe had requested a table in Steven's area. He remembered us and even knew what we had been drinking the night before. Now that was service!
We all ordered the same dinner. It included a salad and a sampling of 3 different pasta dishes.
We tried them all and we seemed to agree that the ravioli was the best. A very good and very filling meal. Our dinner included dessert so of course we saved room. We decided to order 4 different choices and share. Wonderful. It was a great dinner and with the service, we knew that we certainly would visit again, hopefully, very soon. Thanks again Steven.


Stomachs filled and we were on our way home.
Now we had to think about our trip ending, packing and leaving KC. We were flying home the next day.
I think its true that the best part of a trip is planning and thinking about it. Time flies so fast when you are having fun and we sure DID have fun!