November 29, 2016 - Tuesday - I took Riley's car to the carwash to get it cleaned and vacuumed and hopeful get the smoky, campfire smell out. This guy is a Puli, they're known for their natural dreads. This guy had his hair cut but his tail was complete dreads. He didn't sit still very well but he was really curious.

November 28, 2016 - Monday - I took an extra day off just in case. Pancake, Biscuit and I spent a lot of the day right here. I did get the car unpacked and all the camping stuff put away.

November 27, 2016 - Sunday - Woke up aching even more than yesterday. Some days my arthritis is kinda aggravating and being on my feet was not a good thing. Today this was lunch and dinner. Wish the Chinese delivery near me was better. I got really spoiled having Bobo China behind my house for so long.

November 26, 2016 - Saturday - After a pretty cold night I got up and got a fire going. Then I made some oatmeal and hot chocolate. It was cold and drizzling off and on most of the morning and my arthritis was starting to bother me. Then everyone packed up and left. Maybe they knew something I didn't. I packed up after lunch. I didn't want a night colder than last night.

November 25, 2016 - Friday - I decided to try camping for the weekend. I bought a tent and stuff after Christmas last year and hadn't used it yet. I took the dogs with me to Beavers Bend State Park. It was a beautiful day and I set up camp near the river. It was so nice to just sit and relax there. I took this just before the sun went behind a hill behind me.

November 24, 2016 - Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving! My sister loves to try new recipes but they don't love her. This "is" a four layer chocolate cake. As soon as she started frosting it, it began to fall apart and slide in different directions. When I walked in there were 3 people, 6 hands, trying to keep the parts from falling to the floor. Bless her heart.

November 23, 2016 - Wednesday - Riley has to work tomorrow so I drove out to see her. We shopped for a TV and then had dinner. She did an early Thanksgiving with friends yesterday and she brought me the leftover pie she made. It was really good considering this was her first pie from scratch. It was good to spend most of the day with her, but I'll miss her tomorrow.

November 22, 2016 - Tuesday - I wasn't too crazy busy at work and got out to meet a friend with her three kids and another mutual friend for lunch. After work I went to meet a friend for dinner. She picked up some pie for us. We started the evening on the patio but had to come in when it started sprinkling. Today was a good day.

November 21, 2016 - Monday - Going for a walk in the wood this weekend. The shoes I have are not remotely water resistant. I'm hoping these boots will help with my ankles and it doesn't get too muddy.

November 20, 2016 - Sunday - Yesterday I was also sent home with some chipotle roasted potatoes. These went into a delicious frittata this morning. This was a good late breakfast and a great snack during the Cowboys 9th win in a row.

November 19, 2016 - Saturday - A friend had a pre-holiday get together at her place. A mutual friend brought these, cranberry-orange rolls. They were so delicious. She made some sort of glaze for them too. Fortunately there were a couple left over and my skinny friend insisted that I not leave them at her place. Win-Win.

November 18, 2016 - Friday - Today was my boss' birthday. We had a breakfast for him and one of the guys brought in a cake. My boss doesn't eat much of anything, let alone sweets. There was also chocolate covered strawberries and his favorite ice cream.

November 17, 2016 - Thursday - The Super Moon is waning but was still big and beautiful this evening.

November 16, 2016 - Wednesday - My rheumatologist passed away about a month or so ago. I started seeing a new one in the same office but then she moved to a new group in a new building. Fortunately they accept my insurance and now she's a little bit closer. I'm going to miss the people in the other office. I went to them for about 10 years.

November 15, 2016 - Tuesday - It's that time of year when the sun in the afternoon starts to shine right in my face. It makes my blowfish look like it glows.

November 14, 2016 - Monday - Accord to NASA scientist this is the biggest and brightest the moon has appeared in the last 68 years and we won't see another like this until 2034. I went out to the roof of our parking lot after work but it hadn't come out yet. I wish I had caught this while it was closer to the horizon. Maybe next time.

November 13, 2016 - Sunday - When Riley and I planned for her to come over to get caught up on The Walking Dead I told her I would make dinner. I asked her what she wanted me to make and we ended up with Chicken and Mole with Spanish Rice. I don't think I've made this since I moved. My first time to make rice on an electric stove and it turned out really good.

November 12, 2016 - Saturday - I left the house for a little while this morning to do a bit of grocery shopping. I was pretty much out of everything since before our trip. I think going on our trip and eating real food has inspired me to cook more. Can't wait for cooler weather to make some stew. For now bananas and chocolate are a great way to end the day.

November 11, 2016 - Friday - Fortunately for me I have absolutely nothing planned this weekend except Riley coming over for dinner Sunday and us getting caught up on The Walking Dead. She hasn't seen any of this season and I've only seen the premier episode. I spent the evening on the couch with the pups. I need to start posting to Pancake TV again.

November 10, 2016 - Thursday - I went to meet a friend for dinner after work. Our appetizer was really good so we were both very hopeful about our dinner choice. Boy was it really disappointing. To help our sadness we found a Tiffs Treats not too far away. My friend ordered a cookie. Yes, just one. A cookie. Who does that?

November 9, 2016 - Wednesday - Our account girl made cookies again. It helped everyone deal with the shocking election results. I think a large portion of the country has finally had enough of the obviously corrupt establishment that screwed Bernie out of an opportunity to compete in a fair election and were willing to risk Trump in an attempt to get rid of it. Just a thought.

November 8, 2016 - Tuesday - Made plans to meet a friend for dinner tonight. She texted me earlier to tell me how she was looking forward to not watching the election coverage with me. A friend from Belguim emailed me today to tell me how worried she was about our election. We got asked a lot about it while we were on our trip in Italy.

November 7, 2016 - Monday - Drove out to Dad's to pick up the dogs. I went over to visit my brother. He had this basket on his table full of stuff from his garden. He gave me a bunch of tomatoes. I texted my friend about some basil from her garden. Now all I need is a friend who makes fresh mozzarella. Caprese salad is in my future.

November 6, 2016 - Sunday - The guys at the restaurant outside our hotel gave me a parting gift, one of their table cloths. Riley got invited into the kitchen. The kitchen, in an Italian restaurant, in Italy!!! I was a little jealous. They also let her behind the bar to make me a Jack and honey. I made a dinner worthy of the new table cloth.

November 5, 2016 - Saturday - The best way to recover from jet leg is to sleep late, get up whenever you feel like, wear pj pants all day and then watch the Cowboys beat the Eagles.

November 4, 2016 - Friday - I took one last photo early this morning in front of the hotel before we walked to our car to get to the airport. We could only scratch the surface of all there is to see and do, but none of it was disappointing. I found I can and will eat a pasta dish for every meal if given the chance and gelato here is not like home. I will miss all of this.

November 3, 2016 - Thursday - Today was a long day with a record number of steps and another early start. We may have had more fun than we should have last night and neither of us were at our best but that didn't matter too much. Out day trip to Florence was still beautiful even though it was a bit overcast. I took this from the other side of the bridge before Riley caught me.

November 2, 2016 - Wednesday - Today was another day wandering around Rome. We visited the Pantheon first and then the Colosseum. There were just a few little sprinkles but the skies were so amazing. We took a horse carriage ride that gave us a chance to see so many more locations than I could have ever walked to. Fortunately again, it was a very well lit tour.

November 1, 2016 - Tuesday - Our idea of a vacation is definitely not to be on the go the entire time so after the overseas flight and full day trip yesterday we got a caught up on our sleep a bit today. We made it to the top of The Spanish Steps and took this photo of the crowd and the crescent moon. We made it to the Trevi Fountain later. They're both beautiful at night.