The other day, I was walking down the hallway at work and looked out the window. There was a square cloud! I did a double take, took a closer look and I’ll be damned! It really was a square cloud! Have you ever seen such a thing? Go ahead, click on the picture and take a closer look. Amazing!

Got me thinking about things I was grateful for…things like the chance, and the eye to notice things like this. Grateful to be alive…that my friends and family are healthy and happy…that I found love so late in life…and so much of it!

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. What are you thankful for this day?

Dave and I made the most delicious (if I do say so myself) seafood lasagna for my cousin Maribeth’s birthday celebration this past Saturday!

me, to Maribeth: Is there something I could bring to contribute to the buffet? Something you’re craving especially?

Maribeth: I’m just starting to think things up. I’ll let you know. Talk to Dave and see what he thinks too. Love, MB

me, to Dave: I put this on our calendar…any ideas?

Dave: sea food lasagna. with all the goodies but without tomato sauce kinda like the lobster mac n cheese or stuffed manicotti

me, to MB: Dave suggested a seafood lasagna, or stuffed manicotti [spell check wants to change that to manicurist - cannibal!], using lobster and/or other seafood and a cheese sauce instead of tomato sauce, how does that sound?

MB: Mmmmmmmm! Good!

And then Maribeth googled “seafood lasagna” and found this recipe, which is the one we used, and it was SO good and SO simple!

Give it a try sometime, I PROMISE you will not be disappointed! And if you do…come back and tell me about it. Share a picture, if you like!

a friend had this funny, funny ap, Face Juggler. Had to try it with this picture LOL!

Went to Salem, MA on Saturday … just before we headed home, Isaiah gave his little brother Ralphy some fudge. Oh.my.God!!! This was but a small part of his performance on the way home:

Dave and I had his four year old grandson this weekend, and Saturday we took him to the Southeast Asian water festival in Lowell. Lots to see and do and for lunch we had some delicious grilled chicken with glutinous rice (long grain, rather than the short Japanese type I’m used to). I had a hankering to try some Thai iced tea, but the lines and yellow jackets were too much for me.

Afterwards we headed to a nearby lake for some relaxtion and refuge from the sun. It was supposed to be chilly and rainy but apparently the weather didn’t cooperate with the prediction in our neck of the woods!

And what day isn’t improved by blowing some bubbles?

Friday: The weekend started off with a lobster dinner…they were $3.99/pound at Market Basket and wth! Lobster cheaper than steak, we’ll take a few!

Saturday: Didn’t hear Dave get up at 6 to go to his daughter’s house to get Ralphy. He hung out there awhile so I could have some quiet before the storm (that is Ralphy lol).

I did two loads of laundry, walked and fed the dog, relaxed with a combo of FB, email & the book I’m reading (Two Coots in a Canoe) and fixed myself a breakfast of leftovers (cold corn off the cob, bbq chicken, cherry tomatoes, radishes with a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar & salt). Just as I sat down to eat it, Dave & Ralphy came home. Dave asked me to fix Ralphy something to eat (my turn now lol) but he said “he had food at home and didn’t want anything (this was a theme all day). I had boiled some eggs that morning and noticed one of them had not only cracked but the end of the shell had popped off. I showed it to Ralphy, he giggled and I had him touch it which made him giggle even more. Then he asked if he could taste it, sure! He liked it, so that was his breakfast (with ketchup on top, of course). Funny how those things work out!

Then Ralphy and I went to my boss’s house, she was having a yard sale (Dave went to practice with his brother and some other guys…turned out they had a great time and stayed for almost 5 hours, the brat LOL). Ralphy had the time of his life at her house…her grandson was there, whom Ralphy had met once before at a local park. They played with remote control cars, ran through a sprinkler, and shot baskets (both of them are obsessed with basketball).

While I was there, I got stung by a yellow jacket (there is a nest in the siding of my boss’s house, I am to remind her to CALL THE EXTERMINATOR on Monday). This ruined my string of only getting stung once in my life (I was 3 the first time, I loved grasshoppers and ooh look, there’s one on the stairs, let’s play with it…OUCH! Wrong bug…it was a wasp.) My screams of terror at this yellow jacket on my foot alarmed, then amused the kids. My boss, after apologizing all over the place, laughed and said she’d never seen me move so fast Anyway, we were there for about 4 hours and I was on my feet for a good portion of that time helping the kids shoot baskets.

Came home and fed the snapping turtles down by the slowly dwindling pond.

After that, we crashed for a bit in the AC watching a nature show.

Dave’s older grandson called, he’d just come home from bagging at the local grocery store and said he was bored (when he said that, I could hear my Nana’s voice in my head, telling me, when I once told her I was bored, if you’re bored, you’re boring, and I kept it in my head), so I picked him up and we hung out a bit more til Dave got home, then we descended upon my friend Michelle and went to dinner at a diner near her home and had a great time.

Poor Ralphy had the poops twice (post dinner pre-and during ice cream eating) (he didn’t have ice cream. I did. Ever try to wipe a kid’s butt holding a cone in one hand in a port-a-potty? YUCK!!!) (too much apple juice was the cause, Melissa said). After the second time he said that poop was REALLY loud and I laughed to myself

not poop, but a yummy coffee soft serve

When Dave dropped me off at home, then left to take the kids home, I hopped in bed, read for exactly a millisecond, then I was OUT til 630 the next morning.

Sunday: Same as Saturday, except I had two boiled eggs and watermelon for breakfast.

Dave brought Ralphy over, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a iced coffee and a couple munchkins for Ralphy, who was surprised to see there was jelly in the middle!

Then we headed to a nearby lake and did some kayaking, some paddle boating, some fishing (Dave) and more reading (me).

Both of us were tired after that, so we stopped at McDonald’s (don’t judge lol) on the way home and got takeout which we ate at a local water park/playground, so Ralphy could have some more fun. I gotta say, he was a good boy and ate his whole meal, watching the kids play in the water and giggling excitedly from time to time. Adorable! Saw a shiba at the park, too.

How was your weekend?