It happened fast. Annie and family, after being with us for a lovely three months, drove away on Tuesday morning with only a few hours' notice. Monday night Caleb received a call that a company in Virginia with whom he'd already interviewed once wanted him back for a second interview, and because it looked like a good "risk", they took off in their car the next day. We sure miss them, but we're praying that this job is the one that will have them settling down in his chosen field and building the next phase of their lives. Once again, the house seems way too quiet without grandkids...

Here in San Antonio, we're trying to figure out where to put all the water from the torrential rains in the past two days. Last night was one of the loudest electrical storms I've ever heard, continuing for hours and hours. It seems like nature is trying to make up for two years' drought in one or two nights!

After a rather up and down week, I received good news on Friday from all fronts in my recovery. I was freed from my PICC line, which although better than being hospitalized for IV's, is still a big headache and no fun. Now I can turn over without having to worry about everything getting tangled. Not to mention the pleasure of discharging my home health care nurse :-)

McDonald's at the Louvre. Gotta love what this is doing to the culture snobs:

"This is the last straw," said one art historian working at the Louvre, who declined to be named. "This is the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odours in the context of a museum," he told the Daily Telegraph.

Didier Rykner, head of The Art Tribune website found the idea "shocking".

"I'm not against eating in a museum but McDonald's is hardly the height of gastronomy," he said, adding that it was a worrying mixture of art and consumerism. "Today McDonald's, tomorrow low-cost clothes shops," he said.

What? No Marshall's in Paris yet?

Last night, the kids of our church, including most of my children and grandchildren, put on another fabulous musical, this time "Psalty's Camping Adventure". The culmination of six months' work, it was once again a dazzling combination of costumes, choreography, music, humor, and teamwork. I'll post a few pictures tomorrow.

On my list: renewing my driver's license. It expired on my birthday, June 20, while I was still recovering from my June 5 femur fracture. Obviously I haven't needed to drive since then...but now that there seems to be light at the end of that tunnel, I'd better get it renewed before they decide to make me take a driving test!

While I did not actually buy any Christmas gifts this week, I DID fill up my Amazon shopping cart with quite a few. That counts, right?

Family favorite ND (4-1) pulled out another ugly win yesterday. Good thing we have a bye week to breathe before taking on USC on the 17th! Look for some of our family to be scrounging for tickets when the Irish come to San Antonio to play Washington State on the 31st...

The Postal Service complains that mail volume goes down year after year, necessitating spiraling increases in stamp prices. I say hike postage prices on all these catalogs that stuff my mailbox the second half of the year and they'd have more than enough to service the bloated union contracts that keeps USPS in the red. Every day, The Papa brings in fifteen or more catalogs, of which I keep approximately ONE, and the rest go to the landfill. What a waste.

It's birthday season around here! From September through December we have one or two birthday celebrations every week, keeping Granny hopping with the gift bags. Today it's Liam, youngest son of Kristen and Dave. He's three today--Happy Birthday, Liam!

I can hardly wait to see the coloring of the few deciduous trees in our area. We're not exactly a mecca for autumn leaves here, but any little bit makes me smile!

Happy October from Granny's House, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average" (apologies to Lake Wobegon, but here it really is true).

Labels: Family, Fun, Grandkids, Health, Holidays, Sundays, Weather