A chilly good Friday morning to you all....

It's 61*F as I type at 7:28am and the sun is shining bright.  A perfect autumny start to the day.

Hubby's got a bad cold that he's been battling for a couple days now.  I'm guessing he probably got it from youngest daughter-still-at-home who was sick with it last week.  We have granddaughter's 17th birthday party here tomorrow so I've got to send a few texts to make sure nobody minds coming here despite their dad's/grandpa's cold.  We have always extended that courtesy....to warn folks that someone is sick, either at the host's house or one of the attendees.  Usually people say "Oh, that's ok...we don't mind." but everyone wants to extend the courtesy all the same.

Hubby's not one of those guys who whines when he's sick or whatever.  In fact, he's the opposite extreme and that's not good either.  He keeps going, like the Energizer Bunny, and wears himself out by simply not resting when he's sick.  But if I notice him blowing his  nose or see that his eyes are red or hear that his voice is raspy, I can use whatever *little* influence I have to encourage him to rest so that he gets better quicker.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't....mostly doesn't.  *haha*

I've been working diligently each day on the scrapbook for oldest daughter & her family for Christmas.  My goal was to get three layout sheets done per day but as it's turning out, I'm only getting one or two as each one takes me at least 2 hours, if not more.  Just the right papers, just the right elements, looking up facts about the Sistine Chapel or Mona Lisa, to add to the page, all takes time.  But as my husband & youngest are watching it unfold, they say the scrapbook is going to be an heirloom to treasure for oldest & her family.  I hope it is.

(In the 1880s Gustave Eiffel was commissioned to build something monumental and enduring for the World's Fair Exposition in Paris.  The theme of the World's Fair that year was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.  Completed in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is 330 meters tall and was once the world's tallest structure for 41 years.  Today, it weighs 10,100 tons.  The Parisians hated Mr. Eiffel's tower at first and demanded that it be torn down.  They grew to love it after awhile and today it's the most popular and most easily recognizable icon in the world.  It took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days to build the original structure.)

We've had our eye on a home across the street from my son & his wife for at least 5 years now.  We've been thinking about downsizing for many years and as we age, the fact that we're going to have to make that happen soon rather than later is front & center on our minds.  The subdivision-within-the-city, that son & his wife live, is one that my parents built a house in when I was 12 years old.  The houses are close and it's definitely aging but it's still a good, safe place....close to all the amenities that the town has to offer.  Son & daughter-in-law have stated they would love for us to live close by and the feeling is mutual.  Well, the woman living in the house across their street recently passed away & her children are going to be selling soon.  They wanted to give us first dibs on the house and we appreciated that very much.  We went to look at it this past Wednesday afternoon.

The house is very manicured on the outside...and it's very clean on the inside.  But oh my, it needs a lot of work!   I won't list things here but let it suffice to say that hubby & I are too old to be tackling that sort of renovation at our age.  So we gave our condolences once again on the passing of their mother and thanked everyone for allowing us to see the house.  The following day we called to say we had thought about it but must decline.  They were disappointed....we were *very* disappointed....and that's how life is sometimes.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Friday & a good weekend.  If you're going through tough times, please keep your chin up.  I will if you will.

Much love, Andrea xoxo