Incidentally...

I will do two Blog posts today. This first one has to do with incidental things in our family.

Monday, August 22nd, I went to see my podiatrist. I have trouble with ingrown toenails. He removed a part of my right big toe nail and this was a check-up on its healing. It got an A+ for healing. Yeah me.

In the evening, Claude made us a fun dinner. The last time we visited Jake in Chelsea, Michigan, we popped into a gas station to get some things for our hotel room. They had a sign on the front door that you could get tatchos inside. Tatchos are nachos made with tater tots instead of tortilla chips. Claude made them for us and they were very tasty. Fun twist on an old favorite.

Wednesday, August 24th, I actually left my comfy little home and went to Walmart. Claude had some items he needed for the coming weekend (see my next post) and I tagged along to search for a few items I needed. One of those is a costume I am making for Joel, our youngest great grandmonster. He is affectionately called "the Potato". Katelyn, his mother, felt he needed to be a potato for Halloween this year. She asked if I could help. I found pictures of potato costumes and really liked the idea of Mr. Potato Head. Katelyn thought that would be a good idea. I found this lovely pillow in Walmart that will be the base of my Mr. Potato Head Costume. How cool is that?!

Thursday, August 25th, Katelyn sent these pictures. She has a new job. She will be the librarian for Orchard View High School and Orchard View Middle School. Hope I have those names right. They are next to each other in location. Katelyn went in and made her office in each school ready for the school year. The first picture will be her office in the high school and the second picture is her office in the middle school. And...she is off and running!

The Ropers are hosting Julia from Sao Paulo, Brazil as an exchange student this year. Thursday evening, they went to Grand Rapids airport and picked up Julia. (Joel held by Drew, Julia with Raelyn in front, Katelyn holding Emelia) Julia will be with them the entire school year.

Thursday evening, Katelyn had a bit of time with Joel. She sent this picture. Be still my heart. He is so handsome. 

Thursday, Bailey posted pictures of her mellophone group from the band. She also included a picture of her with her boyfriend, Jake. Not easy to get a picture of them. 

Friday, August 26th, Claude left for Hazard, Kentucky (see next post). I took the opportunity to go to Lexington by myself for a little outing. I started at Penney's and roamed all inside the mall. Purchased NOTHING! Drove behind the mall to a strip shopping center and shopped in the Half Price Bookstore and a party store. Purchased NOTHING! Drove across Lexington to Hamburg Pavilion to get some gift cards from Meijer. Received a notice on my cellphone that there had just been a shooting in front Dick's Sporting Goods at Fayette Mall. I had just been in that area. Whew!! I hit Michaels for yarn and felt to make that Mr. Potato Head costume. Then I treated myself to dinner at Chipotle. I grew up having pinto beans and rice for dinner a lot. I loved it. I decided this time at Chipotle I would get a burrito bowl with just white rice and pinto beans. The kid got the white rice part in and put black beans on top. I tried to stop him but the beans were on the rice. He went to throw it away. I can't waste food like that. So I took them and ate them. They were good but the black beans are not flavored like the smoky flavored pinto beans. I'll try again next time. Nice outing for me.

Saturday, August 27th, I had a date with my grandmonster. Hayden found this ad for seeing Rogue One (a Star Wars movie) on the big screen. He knows we love Star Wars so he asked if we would like to go and take him. Of course. Claude was in Hazard, so it was Hayden and me. Hayden also suggested we might plan to have lunch at Red Robin. He is a sly young man and I am an easy touch! We went to Red Robin. Hayden eyed the card with all the desserts. I asked if he wanted to skip dinner and just have dessert. He said he felt he should eat something nutritious first. He ordered a big cheese burger and fries. Hayden is not known for his eating. He wolfed that cheeseburger and fries right down. When the server came to see if we needed anything, Hayden quickly told her he wanted the brownie dessert they had. She asked me if I wanted anything. I quickly said I would have the mile high mud pie. Oh My Goodness. That pie turned out to be an ice cream pie. The size of the slice was really very good. The problem came in that the top layer of chocolate ice cream was piled on a mile high, hence the name. I didn't finish it. It was very good though. As we walked to the car, I looked a Hayden and said, "Are you developing an appetite?" He looked at me and grinned that great Hayden grin and said, "Maybe!" We enjoyed the movie on the big screen. I really enjoy being with this grandson. 

At the Marx home, Bailey showed me her new musical instrument. She played the trumpet in middle school through her first year of high school. Then, this year, she got the mellophone for marching band. Now she has another instrument for symphonic band, a French horn. She is very happy with herself. I am very happy she wants to try and learn new instruments. Michael, her father, simply asked if he should be buying a musical instrument store. 

As I drove to La Grange, I passed fields of tobacco getting near harvest time. So very pretty. I love watching this plant grow and then be harvested. I was pointing this plant out to Kris when she and Cordell visited. They had neither ever seen tobacco growing. So, I pulled to the side of the road and took these pictures for Kris. 

This Saturday, Nissa and Todd had Nelson, their grandson, our 2nd born great grandmonster. They were looking for school clothes for him. Love this little guy!

This week the kids started returning to school. That means "1st Day of School" pictures by parents. Nelson started Kindergarten on Monday, August 29th. The bottom picture is Aubrey, Nelson and Tay.

Today, Tuesday, August 30th, Raelyn went to her first day of 1st Grade. Of course, her little sister, Emelia, wanted to do exactly what Raelyn did. So, she had her picture taken as well. So fun. 

We received our final copy of Wing World Magazine. Gold Wing Road Riders has dissolved. It was such a big part of our life. I sent a thank you not to Shirley Stephens-Garcia, a co-founder of this organization. She put it in her final article for Wing World. Such a sweet thing for her to do. 

That about covers the "incidentals" for me for the past week.