This was a week of small accomplishments.

Change our website calendar – done! The board asked me to make a change to our website calendar. That’s fine, but before making the change, I needed agreement not only on what we were removing, but what we would do to replace the old. I went through a long chain of Emails with no agreement. I have not been successful presenting plans to the board in the past, so I asked an ally to do the presentation. We all agreeded on a new plan. The changes are done.

Kitchen faucet — fixed! Moen sent some cool parts, but the only part I needed, the faucet handle, wasn’t included. When I called back, they sent the handle express at no charge. Thanks for the first class service, Moen.

Bike adjustment — done! The bike chain was rattling against the side of the derailleur cage. A decent bike mechanic could fix this in a couple of minutes. It took me a couple of hours. But the bike rides fine.

Rear porch trim boards — fixed! I spent about 90 seconds trimming the boards with my new small circular saw. One could say I spent $66/minute for the repair. Or one could say I saved a bunch of money on a contractor and had the satisfaction of fixing it myself. Thanks to Mark for being an excellent ladder holder. And thanks to the guy at Lowe’s who recommended the correct screws.

Rear porch cleaning — done! The porch was filthy, but I wanted to fix the trim boards before wielding the pressure washer.

Paint the rear porch — deferred. I probably should paint it this year, but it’s just not in the cards.

Nail down the details of our trip to France (tickets, etc.) — done! Actually we did this last week, but it fits on this list rather nicely.

Nail down the details of our Thanksgiving cruise — almost done. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite holiday. This year, it was going to be just 3. Even Danita would have difficulty preparing a proper Thanksgiving dinner for 3, so we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner on a cruise ship. Danita found a deal on a cruise leaving Baltimore, using a travel agent Bud and Leona had used for most of their cruises. Bud was talking about wanting to take a cruise. We invited him to cruise with us. He thought that was a great idea. Unfortunately, by the time we got home and called the agent, it was too late on Friday afternoon. I expect to get this done tomorrow.

Nail down a winter cruise with Mom — Done, and with more excitement to come! I wanted to visit Mom in February. Danita found a great price on a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, and asked Mom if she was interested. She was. The tickets are purchased. We will take the car-train to FL, visit Mom for a couple of days, then drive to the cruise ship. When we come back, we’ll drop Mom off and take a car tour of Texas. Our first stop will be the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This is a very popular destination because it is also a popular cruise port. That Cape Canaveral hotel ticket is done. (It was one of the last rooms available.) We have a rough outline for the rest of the trip. It looks to be a fun and interesting tour.  On the way home we’ll visit Danita’s cousin Darlene in Atlanta. The trip topper will be a visit with Julia.

If that’s not enough excitement, we also have a neighborhood party coming up this weekend. The good times just keep on rolling in.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.