Bill & Jo Brooker branch

This and that

Oh yes, I received the new printer head and it is installed and it is working like a brand new printer. I have mailed the old one back to them as instructed. So for now it is good to go.

First computer class this morning. 3 attendees and we resolved more than a few issues for them.

Butch was watching the Nebraska/ Iowa game but became overly disgusted and quit.

No black Friday for us. We looked at a whole bucketful of ads and saw nothing worth the hassle. I did however order a few things online.

For anyone that knows us you might be surprised that we have eaten out twice since we arrived on October 30th. That is very unusual for us. Eating at home is very useful if you want to control your food intake.

All of my Word with Friends players are busy this weekend. Come back, please!

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'all

Here we are at Thanksgiving Day. So hard to believe we are here already and 2012 is winding down. Received word yesterday that our son Gary will be graduating on December 14th. Gary made the decision to change careers a while back. I really think he is in the niche he belongs. He is a Math and Science teacher and now he is fully certified and authorized to teach in the state of Missouri. Gary and Susan have made plenty of sacrifices to get to this point. We are very happy for them.

We are as thankful and happy as we can possibly be on this Thanksgiving Day and we hope you are as well.
So maintain an attitude of gratitude as the saying goes.

Creating Wrinkles and being thankful

Not weighing in till December 1st but I enjoyed a "Finally!!" moment today when someone asked me how I lost so much weight. They noticed! Someone who knows told me people will not generally notice that you have lost weight until you lose 20- 25 pounds. I hope they are right. I will let you know a week from Saturday. It was nice to get the unsolicited verification that I have indeed lost a significant amount of weight.

Butch has lost 14 pounds and it is noticeable on him. But then he could lose 3 and people would comment on how much he had lost. It is one of life's inequalities.

I am very Thankful in the true spirit of the holiday. It is part of my daily practices to be happy, thankful and grateful for all I have so in that respect Thanksgiving is just another day. But the truth of it is that it is another truly spectacular day...but they all are!

Geek Alert

I use Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome for my browsers. I gave up Internet Explorer years ago. I like both Firefox and Chrome and cannot say I have a favorite between the two. But today I had a window suddenly appear (red flag) on my computer telling me I needed to update Google Chrome. There were three choices to download but I suddenly said to myself, "What the heck is happening here?" I decided if I did need to update I could do it later so I clicked out of all the windows and the browser. Later I brought Google Chrome back up and did a search in Google asking "How do I find out how to update Google Chrome?" My search results told me I did not need to update Google Chrome because it auto updates. You will always have the latest version with Google Chrome. Bottom line? I dodged a bullet and I really cannot say I dodged it purposely. I stumbled into the right decision.
So why am I sharing this? In case it happens to you, hopefully  the right choice will come to you consciously.
My computer could have been hopelessly handed to some underhanded individual quicker than a wink. Be careful out there.

Thanksgiving Week

The forecast for Thursday is 85 degrees. Now we have enjoyed warm temperatures in Iowa on Thanksgiving. I remember one in particular when we all went for a walk after dinner wearing light jackets. I also remember one where we made it home from our travels on icy roads. But 85 degrees is warm enough for a dip in the pool. We just might do that too if it isn't too crowded.
We have been coming here long enough now that I am sure it would feel strange if we were in Iowa where it isn't so warm.
I am becoming as tired of the black Friday commercials as I was of the political ads. It is ridiculous and such a travesty of both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. When I was a child we received one Santa gift and one gift from each of the family members. If that was all a child received these days they would feel impoverished. How many of the gifts you received as a child do you hold a clear memory. I remember a watch and I still have it. But mostly they all melted together with me remembering the anticipation more than the event. The memories are the best and most lasting gifts of those years.
And now we are here making different memories...