Dear Kids,

Hasn’t conference been great?  Dad and I watched yesterday’s morning session just fine on our main TV with our powered antenna, but by afternoon we couldn’t get a signal.  We tried the library hot spot but we couldn’t connect up, so we ended up huddled in front of my little computer screen watching it on YouTube.  It worked fine, though.  Just as inspiring.  Better than the days when Dad used to listen on short wave in Virginia.  I’m looking forward to today’s sessions.

You all seemed to get Sharon’s text about Thanksgiving.  We’re delighted that she and her family are coming.  Since they’re going to the Thackers’ house in Upalco for Thanksgiving day, Sharon came up with the plan of having a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with our family the Sunday before.  When it gets closer we’ll figure out what time.  Sharon will be in charge of the meal, so I’m sure she’ll be assigning out the food.  I’m doing pies, even though I swore off from that job last year.  I should be in better shape this time around.  We need a place where everybody can sit down, so that means either the cabin greenhouse or John’s house.  I vote for John’s house, because the setting is so elegant, but if Heather says OK, we’ll all have to bring our foods pre-cooked.  More about this later.

Book club should be next week, unless I hear that some of you haven’t had enough time.  I’ll call around and see.  We’re reading The Great Brain, and I’m enjoying it just as much as the first time around.  Nora will be leading the discussion.

And then, when shall we have Super Sunday?  Since we have five Sundays in October, we could either have it the 22nd or the 29th.   It’s Tom’s turn, so I’ll check with him and let everybody know.  

Dad and I never did put up the half-log siding on the bunkhouse, and it’s been more than ten years, so we’re going to hire it out.  This is the first time we’ve ever had other people work for us.  We also need to have work done on the cabin, where the wood around the edge of the roof (fascia) and soffit under the eaves are all decroded.  We got a bid for both projects, and Dad was horrified, but I wasn’t too surprised.  Needless to say it’s going to cost us a lot, but that only underscores how much we’ve saved over the years by doing our own building and landscaping.  I wish we could do the work ourselves, but people in their late seventies need to slow down.  We just can’t do what we used to.

Still, life is plenty rewarding.  We love you all!  Mom