Droppin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end is nigh.

23 Skidoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so another year is coming to an end, we bid farewell to 2023 with some Italian blue champagne and leftover bundt cake from Dads' birthday.

Mad Over The Holidays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting closer to another eve, this time New Year's. Mad is clearly very excited about it all.

Rainbow Fire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our gift from Dad was a Tiki fire pit with a special cover so it can be used as a table when not alight. Said metal cover reflecting a little holiday spirit.

Santa's Bounty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A smaller but still very nice Christmas with just Mari, Dad, the dogs and myself. Dad is showing off his new smart watch.

Fishy Traditions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the Atlanta gang headed back home we settle in for our Christmas Eve traditional salmon soup.

Reindeer Games

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before a Christmas feast provided by Cracker Barrel, we played some games including this one where you have to stack differently shaped blocks on a wobbly base. Lonnie and Payton in particular enjoyed this one.

Gmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good time was had by all, including a feisty little dog.

Happy Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part is watching other people have fun opening their gifts!

Christmas Is When You Make It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's Christmas morning! Sure a few days early but you take what makes family work! That's what it's all about anyway.

Biblically Good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A star guided us to Dos Margaritas this early Christmas Eve. Early because the Atlanta crew are coming up tonight but can't stay for actual Christmas so we are going to celebrate it tomorrow.

Hot and Hung

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to go into work for a while so that means hot chicken for lunch! What could possibly be better than Christmas and hot chicken?! Stockings hand made from a kit by Mari and Mackenzie.

Parking Not

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These signs mean nothing.

Waiting Patiently

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackenzie was very good hanging out in the waiting room!

Follow Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're back at Vandy today so the doctor can make sure everything is going well with Dad's eye surgery. I liked this sign in the lobby.

A Quick Eye

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad had a minor surgery today to put a shunt in his eye, a little pressure relief tube to help maintain his sight. There were two GR, E's on the schedule today, his was the second one. They got him in and out surprisingly fast and all went well.

A Grand Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackenzie is here for the week, then her Dad will come up with Payton for an early Christmas weekend.

Always Remember

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed to our second remembrance at the funeral home tonight. They do a nice job and its worth taking a little time out just to reflect.

Pecker Pair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a bit later, the Downy couple spent some quality time eating together. The male has the red marking on his head.

Big Pecker Little Pecker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don't get to see him (or her) very often but the larger Red Bellied Woodpecker was visiting this morning, and hanging out with his smaller kin the Downy.

Calling For Backup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope we never need it, but we are now the proud owners of a generator. Not enough to run the whole house, but it's got enough juice to keep the fridge going, along with a few lights, charge our phones and do a few other things.

Powerful Heroes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It must have taken a herculean effort but NES has the power back on after just three days. I can't stress how bad things looked, how many power poles were snapped, and that fireball that took out the substation. Yet here we are on Tuesday when they said we'd be lucky to have power back by Friday, and we're home.

Thank you NES and all the volunteers from Kentucky, Georgia, and Indiana power crews who came to help out as well.

That blue tarp is the roof of our veterinary clinic. We hope to have them back soon!

Unfortunate Ollie's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a picture from the news of one of our favorite places to eat, Jolly Ollie's. We hope everyone is safe and they have a speedy return to business, we'll miss them until the doors open. We feel doubly bad because in 2019 they had a big fire and were closed for quite a while then too.

Safe Haven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Goodlettsville. Random choice as we tried calling several places that took pets. The first two didn't answer and the third was full. I'm glad it turned out the way it did though, our room is very nice and the staff are great as well. Such a relief to know we have a warm, powered place to stay.

Our plan was to use it as a base and then pop home when we need to, but it took us two hours to get here because Hendersonville is such a mess, so we'll see how things go. I know we're fortunate, our house is basically fine and we have the financial means to get a hotel for a week and not be scrambling for funds, but for us this takes a lot of stress off in these crazy times.

Near Miss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a tense night in the dark we found out that the tornado went right down Main Street and did tons of damage. It was classified as EF2 with winds between 120 and 125 mph. At our house, just a short ways away, we barely got any wind and not much rain so to see the extent of the damage was shocking. It completely wiped out a major power substation in Hendersonville, you can see the explosion in several videos like:

This one here.

They are saying it will be up to five more days before we get power back and tonight temperatures are supposed to plunge. We could get by with our fireplace, but for safeties sake we found a hotel that takes pets and the five of us are going to stay there until things get back online. The five being myself, Mari, Dad, Maddie and Gigi.

This is us on the road. You can see a demolished building on the left that used to be a party supply store. Traffic is backed up for miles because almost every road is closed so there's only one way out of town, and that's towards Gallatin. Our hotel is in Goodlettsville but we'll have to head down to Gallatin, then take the freeway back.

Sitting In The Dark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A string of tornadoes cut through Tennessee tonight, including Hendersonville. Our power went out around 5:30 pm. Just waiting for news and power.

This Tradition Keeps Popping Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, it's that time of year again. Maybe we should order Garrett more often? It never disappoints.

Dog's Dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari is in New York for a Christmas hang with Casie, so I'm on my own and that means high class meals like hot dogs and chips for dinner.

Princess Java

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our upcoming office Christmas party we've been asked to bring in some kind of fun mug to have hot chocolate or coffee in. So I got this one, you can never go wrong with Inigo Montoya.

The Trifecta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue jay, cardinal, woodpecker.

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas is upon us, a new year approaches. 

A Net In The Bush

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front lights are looking good this year!

Maybe Next Year

 

 

We were at Ace getting some replacement Christmas lights and noticed this. Maybe next year we can get them to do our roofline, since I'm not getting up on any ladder to dangle lights or myself from the roof.

And So It Begins Again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it is written, that on the weekend after the giving of thanks, shall the Christmas boxes be brought forth and the decorating begun.

Thankful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would have been nice to have a couple more people around the table, but this turned out to be one of our better Thanksgivings so all is well. We'll do it all again next year!

The Fam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life's not always easy or fair, but we still have so much to be thankful for in this family.

The Dishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only downside to Thanksgiving. Someday a robot will do this and the day will finally be perfect.

The Other Dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gigi on the prowl for more table scraps.

The Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once the feasting is done, what's left? Relaxing with some football while putzing on the phone.

The Desserts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A classic duo.

The Feast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To answer an earlier question, the food from Cracker Barrel was amazing. Possibly the best Thanksgiving meal we've had. The turkey in particular was excellent. The only thing that wasn't as good, was the gravy. It was good, but Mari's is better. I think we will definitely do this again next year.

The Table

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mari always puts out an impeccable holiday table, T-day is no different.

The Parade And The Pet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell Mad is captivated. Side note: NBC coverage of the parade is way better than anyone else's. Remember that for next year. This program must of course be followed by the dog show. This is non-negotiable.

The Parade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Does it get any better than that? I think not.

Crackin' Good Instructions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also came with a well done, color coded manual that told you how and at what temp to cook everything, including timings so it would all come out about the same time. Really impressive! Now we just have to hope the food is as good.

Crackin' Good Packaging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to let Cracker Barrel do the heavy lifting on Thanksgiving this year and ordered a feast through them, leaving Mari with only the pistachio pudding and green bean casserole to make. So far we're very impressed, the pickup process was smooth, and the box everything came in is very sturdy with carry handles.

Late Bloomer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's mid-November and this lone little flower decided it needed to shine.

Cooped Up Again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm assuming this is the same one from six days ago, our buddy the hawk is back.

Cooped Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's probably not the best thing for the birds we feed, but it's always nice to see a Cooper's Hawk hanging out for a moment. They're so fun to watch and pretty to boot.

Little Grey Face

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never get tired of seeing this little grey face in the window when I come home.