Very cool, Calli!!

Just talked to my mom. My brother got the job he had applied for down in Florida, so in two weeks, he, his girlfriend, and her two kids are moving there. Dad's coming out next weekend to help him pack up into a rented truck and driving it down with them.

I think Mom's a bit relieved since that'll leave her on her own in her house for the first time in a bit over two years. And I know Bro will be feeling better since he can now quit working at the Philly post office--he's the fittest he's been since college, but the six days a week, no vacation days, was wearing him down. He had retired back in February (at the age of 48, the lucky so-and-so!), but the pension didn't really give him enough to pay for his kids' expenses, child support, alimony, and a place to live on his own, plus the mortgage he was paying on the vacation house in Florida. The new job pays less than his retired-from job, but much more than the post office did, so he's cool with it. And, it's an government office job with all the benefits and vacation time that goes with it.

Now I have to call my sister to see if she's heard back on the job she interviewed for earlier this week.

Thanks, y'all!

Kathy, I'm glad your brother got the job he wanted.

Ooh, barely-used thread! Nice.

You know when you know exactly what you want to eat, and then you get it, and it's fabulous? Unlike those times you know what you want and you get it and it's disappointing? We hate those times.

This was the good time. I'd been wanting oatmeal for days, and this afternoon finally decided supper=oatmeal tonight. Rolled oats, nearly "whole" oats, with the usual nutmeg, ginger, clove, and cinnamon, a dash of salt. Rather than the usual half-teaspoon sugar and dash of cream though, I added honey--like, a tablespoon. And butter. And walnuts. Om nom nom. Yesh, thish. Ecshactly. Num.

Other than pickling for banh mi, what I can I do with daikon?

I got a lot in my CSA, and I was planning to put it in stir fry and make daikon salad.

I still have a fever. Perhaps I should have checked that before I stripped the bed, washed the sheets and duvet cover, remade the bed, did laundry, put away dishes and filled the dishwasher, replaced a water filter, and collected another garbage bag of clutter to toss.

I think I'll spend the rest of the day sitting down.

I should really be cooking and/or cleaning. Meh.

I raked the front yard. More acorns than leaves, but enough of both to fill one of those Jack-o-Lantern garbage bags. I also made two real Jack-o-Lanterns (painted, not cut), we have two more to make.

I have a bit more to put out for Halloween decorations, then I'll take pictures. My house is very 'burby.

The amount of crap in your yard astounds me. But then, the amount of crap in my teeny yards shocks me. It's really the perfect size for me (and I actually am thankful for the clay sometimes, since it means I can garden by neglect and let the ivy out front barely advance.)

Sara, I have not even started on the flowerbeds. They need to be weeded and re-worked, but I won't get to them all this year. And what is really really painful is that there are still a ton of sandburrs. TONS.

My brother's Florida house is barely big enough for him to put a kennel in the back yard for his two Malamutes he's finally going to be reunited with (they were staying at his ex-wife's house and being mostly cared for by his kids, who were getting tired of the chore and not doing a good job). I don't know how those dogs are going to be able to handle Florida weather, though.

Good thing you like gardening, msbelle! I like a LITTLE bit of it, and frankly barely have the time for what I do have (reminds me, I need to rake the hell out of the back postage. Uhng. And leaves are about due to start being a major menace.)