Norman Stifler died. His funeral was at Oakcrest Thursday. Norman was Danita’s uncle, married to Bud’s sister Catherine. Norman was a body builder, Marine, and a Lieutenant in the Baltimore City Fire Department. Catherine was a nurse who earned her PhD. It’s an unlikely combination of backgrounds for a successful marriage, but there’s no doubt they loved each other. When Catherine was suffering from Alzheimer’s, Norman was with her constantly. RIP Norman.

I have a couple of small projects coming up this week. Our fireplace doesn’t turn all the way off. A small flame burns all the time. A fireplace expert will be in Wednesday. Now that we have a nice new table and chair set, we have more tables and chairs than we need. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore will pick up our excess Friday. I had to disassemble the table to get it downstairs. I’m going to have to move it upstairs and assemble it. Assembly is likely to be more difficult than disassembly (matching up screws to holes in the table top).

We’re having lunch with the Chaprnkas Monday. Tony and I usually have lunch the first Tuesday of the month. Since this is the holiday season and Monday is a holiday, we decided the four of us should have lunch this month.

We’ve been planning trips and reserving hotel rooms, both for our Texas Tour and our trip to Italy. We still aren’t done, but we’re getting close. Our great bargain is in Baton Rouge. For less than $500, we are getting 3 days in a suite with a real separate bedroom (door and all), made-to-order hot breakfast, manager’s reception in the afternoon (with wine), indoor pool, plus normal amenities such as parking and WiFi. Queue “Blue Bayou” in the background.

The big news this week — I got my first Social Security check. Money in the bank. Every month. Woo-hoo!

I hope this finds everybody doing well.