October 2024

 
October 1 - Sandra brought dinner over and we had a great time catching up with everything that has been going on all summer since I haven't been able to go walking.  I have missed out walk/talks.  Avian got to take the business class bear home and add to the accessories.  Of course the bear needed Batman print pants.  Avian even gave them a tail hole for ultimate comfort.  The are having a great time a college but really miss their bed, Charlotte water (Savannah water has a very different taste), Sipco and their car. 

October 3rd was a regularly scheduled remote day.  I got to drive down to South Carolina with Cindy to pick up chairs for the media center.  Afterwards we went to lunch at Cracker Barrel.  It was a fun day.  

I also got a lot of calls and texts from family out west is calling to check in on us.  They are hearing all sorts of crazy stories on the news and social media about Helene aftermath. There are people reporting that nothing is being done to help anyone and that the government has not responded with any aid.  It is sad that people are taking a terrible situation and spreading disinformation.  At one point, there was a group of self-appointment militia going around in the mountains and threatening FEMA workers who were trying to help the survivors because the militia heard that FEMA was not helping.  It completely hindered people getting the help they needed.  So sad!!!  People were also really mad at a police deputy in a small town that was turning people away who came to help - - - because it was too dangerous to let anyone in the town!!!! They were getting people out as quickly as possible, but didn't want to have to rescue anyone else who just went running in to "help".  

October 4th I got to help collect donations for Western North Carolina at the LNC football game.  Knight Watch was playing at the tailgate and I got to see Rose and Leah.  Rose looked great in her drum major outfit.  They wanted me to send a pic to Avian.  Avian sent back a picture of their view from SCAD Jazz practice.  At the end of the night we needed a bigger trailer to transport everything we had collected.  LNC is the best.

The weather cleared up just in time for the tailgate to start.  

Rose (in their drum major outfit) and Leah!

Liz and Jill are the best band moms.  They are making the year so much fun for Knight Watch.  

Rose leading the band.   I love the silver-lined cape.  

Avian's view of SCAD Jazz practice.  

October 5th, Steve and I thatched the lawn and trimmed the azaleas.  The HOA has been sending out nasty grams about overgrown plants and we didn't want to give them a reason to send anything to us.  We made two trips to the dump to get rid of all the grass and branches.  During the second time loading up the truck, I backed the truck up to the side of the house to make it easier to load the branches, but miscalculated the distance from the truck to the sidewalk and came down a little harder than I had anticipate.  I heard a loud "POP" and thought it was my knee, but my knee seemed to be fine.  In fact, it felt a lot better and I thought maybe it was some scar tissue moving.  I didn't think much about it until I tried to stand up after sitting and watching a session of conference.  My foot was really tender and it was hard to walk.  So much fun.   

October 6th I went for a walk with Sandra in the morning.  My foot felt better so I thought a walk was a good idea.  My foot hurt a little bit after the walk, but it wasn't terrible.  I helped Steve clean the mold off the side of the house.  The azaleas had blocked the sun and mold had formed.  Once again, trying to avoid an HOA nasty gram.  I got myself cleaned up and went to the a pre-conference brunch with the Hilliard Ward.  The meal was very nice.  The conversation was amazing, as usual and the first session of Sunday General Conference was inspiring.  Back at home, Steve mowed/vacuumed the lawn (to get rid of any thatched grass we hadn't gotten with the rake) and watched conference.  

October 7th Steve and I took Sandra to dinner at Mi Pueblo for her birthday.  She is always so much fun to hang out with.  Never a dull moment.  

October 9th, Steve and I got our COVID booster and flu shots.  We capped off the day talking to Avian. The sent us the pictures below while we were talking.   

A picture of the sunset from their window.  

Some ideas inspired by Epic-the Musical

Avian's is the one in the middle.  

October 10th both Steve and I felt like crud because of the shots, but we muscled through.  It will be worth not getting so sick this flu season.  

October 11th, Steve and I went to dinner at Freddy's and then walked around mall.  For some reason my foot waited until we were halfway around the mall from the truck to really start hurting.  Steve left me on a bench and went to get the truck.  My foot felt like there was half a golf ball on the bottom of my foot.   

October 12th, Steve went to South Carolina (Lauren and Clinton) with the church group to help with clean up.  Instead of going for a walk with Sandra I went to OrthoCarolina urgent care for foot.  The doctor found a small break at the base of my 2nd phalange.  Jeremy worked all day.  

Avian got Batman tattoo at a flash sale in the artist's house.  Their roommate got a bunny cherry tattoo as well.  Good times in college.  

Steve cutting down trees and using his chainsaw.  He is a happy man!

I just can't catch a break - oh wait!  I can!!!

October 13th - Steve was back in South Carolina helping clean up trees and debris.  I went back to the YSA ward to play the piano for them again.  Seth, Nick's roommate, called me on the way to church and I freaked out a little bit.  Seth has never called me before but he has my number in case there is an emergency with Nick.  He was just calling to tell me he was leading the music and would be a little late.   Phew!

Later that night, the sister missionaries showed up at our house to talk to Nick.  We have left our address in there for him so he can still attend the YSA ward.  Technically he doesn't even live in our stake, but he doesn't want to go to the singles ward where he lives.  It hasn't been a problem until today.  We called Nick and arranged to have him come for dinner the following Sunday and then I fed the sisters some of the butternut squash soup I had made  It was a fun night.  

October 15th, as I was coming out of PT, a cute little lady asked if she could use my phone to call AAA to come and unlock her car for her.  She explained that her caregiver had the car keys and was off on a walk while she was in PT.  She was supposed to call the caregiver when she was done, but her phone was locked in the car.  I offered to drive her around the area and find her caregiver since AAA would take a long time and cost at least a couple hundred dollars.  We found her caregiver and got the keys to the car.  Crisis averted and money saved.    

Avian's silver medal arrived in the mail and Laura Arias brought us eggs from her chickens.  It was a good day.  

October 18th I got to attend a Relief Society activity called Campfire and Conference talks.  There were several firepits set up in the church parking lot and we were each handed a number when we arrived which corresponded to a firepit.   This way we were sure to get to sit with people we didn't know very well.  We were then given some prompts from the recent conference talks and we discussed them in the group.  It was a really fun night!  To add to the fun, I got to ride with Holly and we picked up Nancy on the way.  

October 19, Steve cleaned our garden and did some home projects while I went to the Concord/Kannapolis was Souper Crafty Saturday with Nancy.  I learned about how to put Christ back into Christmas and how to create stunning tablescapes.  We enjoyed some yummy, homemade soups and great conversation.  Back at home I went grocery shopping.  It is only notable because it was the first real shopping trip in months.  Back at home I decorated for Haloween.  

October 20th, Nick came up to join us for dinner with the sister missionaries.  Sister Grey and Sister Gregson are so much fun to talk to.  They really wanted to make cookies, so we did that as well.  It was a fun night.  

October 26th Steve and I got up bright and early and went to the temple for the 8 am session.  We came home and took a little nap before heading out that evening to a Hornet's game with the O'Briens.  We had VIP tickets and got to eat in the VIP restaurant.  It was a great night cheering on our Hornets.  Jeremy spent all day at UNCC helping run an event for the gaming club.  

We were right down in the action.  

October 27 -  We drove to Savannah to deliver a list of needed items to Avian.  One of the items was a hug!!  We also brought Anthony with us so he could see where Avian was hanging out.  Avian took us all over Savannah, showing Anthony all the sights.  We we to lunch at the Flying Monk which has been our favorite the last several trips.  The Savannah Pride festival was going on at Forsythe Park and we wandered around there for a little bit.  As always, we did a quick run to Target to pick up some needed items and then said goodbye to Avian and headed home.  I always hate leaving them.  

October 30th - Steve and I voted early at a new location I picked since it was halfway between us and Nick.  He wanted to go with us.  The people were very friendly and there was no wait.  The volunteers happily told us that their motto was "There is no line at the Shrine!"  We have found our new place to vote during early voting.  Afterwards, Nick headed back to his place to get things done and Steve and I found a new place to try out.  We randomly picked the Harrisburg Family House and it did not disappoint. We will have to go there again.  

October 31 we had very few trick or treaters.  I don't think more than a handful were from our neighborhood.  This is definitely an older neighborhood now.  We used to be crawling with kids and have to buy two big bags of candy and then hope they lasted all night.  Hmmmm.  

More of Avian's art assignments.  They are LOVING it at SCAD and their projects are getting rave reviews from their professors.  

This is a water color and is my favorite art project so far. 

This was a perspective project.  While most people did the road going off into the sunset, Avian decided to do just the opposite.  So cool!

September 2024

September 1st Avian invited Rose, Lea and Anthony over for a sushi dinner and one last party before they were leaving for college.   I had each of Avian's friend write them a letter to put in an "Open When" box filled with all sorts of surprises for when the were lonely or homesick or broke, or sick of cafeteria food or...  We had fun goofing off during dinner and then they all helped Avian pack up their clothes.  

I feel like I took this picture yesterday and now...

...we are packing up and moving to Savannah for college!

September 2nd we packed up the truck with all Avian's things and headed to Savannah to get them moved into their dorm.  

The truck is all packed and ready to go.  

We are all loaded and ready to head out. 

It is a really pretty ride to Savannah!

Crossing the bridge into Savannah!

We got to Savannah and were too early to check into the hotel so we went to Lowe's to get some plastic storage boxes for under Avian's bed.  We also went to Hobby Lobby and Blick to load up on art supplies they would need for class.  We then checked into the hotel and took a short rest before walking to Jalapenos for dinner.  After dinner, we explored a little bit.  We found the park where Tom Hanks waited for the bus in the movie "Forest Gump."  

September 3rd we were up and ready for move in day!  I gave Avian the Open When box and Steve gave them a necklace to wear when they needed a hug from Dad.  We still had time before our scheduled move in time, so we went to Ex Libre, the SCAD bookstore, and got Avian's packs for their drawing and design classes.  

The move-in process was SLICK!.  We showed up at our assigned time and there were helpers with bins waiting for us.  We got everything unloaded into the bins and Avian and I went up to room 305 with the helpers while Steve parked the truck.  The whole thing from start to finish was maybe 20 minutes.  They have it down to a science.  It probably helped that Avian got to move in a couple of days early since we attended the summer SCAD experience in July.  

Truck unloaded and everything in room 305 in about 20 minutes.  

The view of Forsythe Park from Avian's dorm window. 

Deciding where to put everything.  

We got everything out of the roller bins and started putting stuff away.  We took a lunch break to go to Chick-fil-A for some food and stopped at Target to get a few needed items.  Back at the dorm we walked with Avian to the Campus Security office to get the sticker put on their bike.  

The fountain in Forsythe Park.  

Walking back to Chatham through Forsythe Park

The parking lot under Chatham where Avian will park their bike.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting Avian's room rearranged and set up.  Before we knew it, it was time for Steve and I to head back to Charlotte.  We got almost everything put in place before we left.  Avian just needed to add their own special touches to the room.   

Leaving was really hard to do.  

On the way out, we gave the security team some of the homemade oreos to say thank you for taking such good care of the students.   We gave Avian some long hugs goodbye and left them to continue setting up their room.  I really hated leaving them because they would be alone for two days before their roommates moved in.  It gave them time to explore things before the roomies arrived, so I guess it was a good thing. 

Texts we got on the way home:

• The dining hall staff are really nice and the chicken strips and fries are really good. 
• The Krogers was really crowded when Avian went to buy toothpaste, which we totally forgot to get while at Target.  
• They rode their bike to a friend's dorm and spent time there for a bit.  They were back in their dorm before it got dark.  
• The pictures below of their finished room

Avian sent these pictures to us later that night with all their decorations in place.  

It is a nice little room.  

September 4th, Avian used this day to find all their classes and get some pre-class work completed.  

September 5th - Avian's roommates all moved in and they spent the day getting everyone settled in.  I feel better knowing they are not there alone anymore.   

September 6th - Steve got new tires for the Xterra.  Avian finished the animatic they had been working on.  It is based on the song "God Games" from their favorite musical in the works Epic - based on the Odyssey.  https://youtu.be/of_dPxM3py0?si=OeKaQsl28TTHcbqj

Jeremy spent the day planning a huge LAN party for the UNCC gaming club and then worked a night shift.  Steve and I finally did our anniversary dinner at 131 Main.  It was super yummy!

September 7th - Steve spent the morning going to Woodcrafters to get the lathe tools he needed (and they were on sale!!).  I helped Nick clean his apartment.  His roommate was on a two-week business trip and we took this opportunity to get things really cleaned up.  We straightened his room, the living room and the kitchen, got rid of empty boxes and mopped the floor.  We also cleaned out the drain in his bathroom.  It drains really well now.  The place looked and felt and smelled much better when we were all done.  The best part was that Nick felt a lot better now that the apartment was clean and organized.  

I got my new name tag for work.  I like this picture SOOOOO much better than the one last year.  

Back at home, Steve and I drove to Moorseville to see the dachshund races.  There were dachshunds everywhere and it was so much fun.  We stopped at an antique shop on the way home and enjoyed just looking around at the fun things people had collected to sell.  

A Smoking Gun meat smoker.  This was my favorite find of the day.  

Jeremy got home shortly after Steve and I did.  He was fully of excitement about the event he had hosted that day.  It was a huge success with at least 250 people attending.  It was really nice to see how energized and excited this made him.  

September 9th - Avian's first official day of college.  Their drawing professor is really silly and they have a class mascot - a stuffed bear that students take turns dressing up and accessorizing.  

I was also able to finally make it to the court house and find out that the judgement was definitely not me.  I think they took pity on me because I was on crutches, because usually they won't print out a judgement, but since I needed it to prove it was not me so our HELOC could continue AND I came all the way down in person, ON CRUTCHES, they gave me a copy to give to the bank.  The stupidest part is that the judgement was paid back in 2022.  The bank could have found this out, but they didn't.  Oh well.  

September 10th we took Avian's car in for inspection.  The brakes were sitting at 1 mm.  Yikes!  We had them repaired and the car passed inspection.  That night there as a presidential debate between Harris  and Trump.  It was interesting to watch how the questions were and were not answered.  Trump flat out avoided several questions that should have been a no brainer for him.  Part of the reason was that Kamala had made a comment about the size of the crowds at Trump's rallies and how people got bored and were walking out.  That completely derailed Trump and he spent the rest of the debate trying to prove her wrong.  It was very funny and sad at the same time.  

September 11th, Avian took their bike into a local shop to have some repairs done.  In other news, I started full weight-bearing (well tolerated) and PT (not so well tolerated) today.  

My knee was sore from PT and my ankle decided to chime in because of the months of no weight-bearing left it weak and ready to complain.  

September 14th - We got a message from Avian saying thank  you for the "Open When...you are tired of cafeteria food" Doordash card.  The roomies wanted Chick-fil-A and there is not one close to campus.  Doordash to the rescue!!

I went to the temple with the Stake Relief Society Presidency.  It was a fun day.  The last time I was there I ran into Kaylie Willden in the Celestial room. This time I was surprised find her and her mom at the bookstore.   It is always fun to run into your Charlotte neighbor in Columbia, SC.  

Shelly, Rebekah, Nancy and me. 

That night, around 11 pm, Steve and I woke up to someone pounding on the front door.  It was our neighbor from across the street.  He looked terrible.  He and his girl friend had gotten in a fight and she had torn his shirt and bitten his face and scratched his arms.  He left before he hurt her and called 911 from our house.  Steve helped smooth out the situation with the cops when they arrived.  It was a scary situation, but it ended with the cops telling the girl friend she needed to find another place to live as this was not the first time the cops had been called to their house.   (She did move out within a week and the neighborhood is much more peaceful now). 

September 15th I played the piano in the Singles Ward.  It is a good thing I was there because the date of their ward conference had gotten moved at the last minute (to today) and I was the only stake RS rep there.  We all thought it was the following week.  I am glad I was able to be there.  

September 17th I was finally cleared by Matt to resume normal activity as tolerated.  I am on my way to progressing back to full activity.  I did caution me that I should not run for at least the next 2 months.  Not a problem.  

Some of Avian's artwork for school.  

We are closing on the HELOC on Friday so now we will have a way to pay for Avian's school should Federal funding change with the new president.  

September 18th, Melonie came into town on her way to a girl's weekend in Myrtle Beach. It was fun to have her here with us and to catch up.  She wanted to experience Southern BBQ so we took her to Midwood Smokehouse.  YUM. Nick drove up to Birkdale after work to join us.  

Cannon siblings in the house. 

Big, fluffy clouds because they make me happy!

Saw this at the post office - Hi, Dad!!

September 21, I got our bathroom scrubbed and the downstairs floor mopped before my knee started screaming at me.  Jeremy had a friend over to help him clean his room.  Steve took me to Kripsy Kreme to get salted caramel doughnuts.  It helped my knee feel better.  We went out to dinner with the O'Briens that night and had a fantastic time, as usual.  

September 22 We headed down to Savannah to take Avian a list of things they forgot and needed.  They joined the volleyball club and needed their VB backpack and knee pads.  They joined the jazz band and needed their clarinet and reeds.  They also realized they needed their copic markers and the picnic blanket.  We took them a surprise dog bed for under their bed when they wanted to be in a cozy spot.  We ran errands, went to lunch (Sly's Sliders) and met their roommates.  They are all very nice.  Avian also filled us in on the majors fair where they students could ask questions about the different majors offered at SCAD.  Avian was excited about their decision to be a sequential art major.  Think comic book and/or story board.  It made me excited to see them so excited.  It was a good day.  

September 23rd, Steve found out what had caused the big sound in the garage the night before.  The garage door spring had finally sprung.  I didn't notice because I took Avian's car to work to give it some driving time since it has been sitting in the driveway since Avian left.  He called the garage door company we have always used and they came out that day and replaced the spring.  I am glad we figured it out because Steve was leaving for Nashville the following day and I would have been stuck.  

September 24th - Steve left bright and early for his drive to Nashville.  I was out the door early as well for a PT appointment at 7 a.m. then off to a full day of work.  Steve stopped in Sevierville, as usual, but this time the stop involved a Buccees.  Steve is now a Buccees superfan.  It will be the new favorite stop in Sevierville instead of the knife store. That is saying a lot for Steve.  

Jeremy and I went to dinner at Crave, the fun hot dog place.  We were lucky enough to pick a night when they were playing musical bingo.  We had a blast and almost won the game.  All we needed was "Jolene" by Dolly Parton.  

September 26th, Helene, a category 4 hurricane slammed into the Florida coast and quickly made its way up through Western NC.  Avian said the were on lockdown for a tornado drill for about two hours early in the day.  Classes were cancelled and rescheduled for another day because of torrential rain and strong winds.  I was worried about Steve driving home through the rain in the mountains of NC, but and eternally grateful that he insisted on pushing through and coming home on the 26th because the road he needed to get home (1-40) was completely washed out overnight due to the heavy rains Helene brought to the area.  

September 27th was an e-learning day because of the rain and winds.  At 4 am it sounded like a freight train was passing our house and the winds were shaking the house.  It rained really hard the entire morning and was gone by 12:30 p.m.  The aftermath left everything completely soaked in the Charlotte area and Western NC closed due to flooding and roads being out.  The town of Chimney Rock was completely destroyed when the river overflowed and washed it down stream into Lake Lure.  Swannanoa is under water.  Boone is flooded with 2 feet of water everywhere.  A tornado also touched down in Blowing Rock, just outside of Boone.  Communication to Western NC is down.  The Lake Lure Dam is very unstable and could collapse if any more water stress is put on it which would be disastrous.  

The firepit area in the back yard (under construction).  Maybe we should just make it into a pool instead.  It completely filled up with water from Helene)

Avian called in the middle of all this and was upset because they forgot to get a present to Rose for their birthday.  Jeremy and I went out immediately and secured the needed birthday items and dropped them off at the Licastri house, thus averting major catastrophe there.  

The O'Briens came over for dinner that night because Steve had been there most of the afternoon helping them build shelves in their garage and Holly had not fixed dinner yet.  Another fun evening with the O'Briens.  

September 28th - the Lake Lure Dam held and is not in danger of collapse any more.  Phew!  Nick ran in the Feed the 5k and came in 3rd in his age range.  We took him to Bojangles to celebrate afterwards.  

Nick in the starting line crowd.

Nick coming down the homestretch.  

First, second and third in their age range. 

That night we took the boys to see the Transformers One movie.  It was like reliving their childhood.  It was the BEST MOVIE EVER!

The smiles on their faces tell it all.  

After the movie we went and found the puzzle and candy store that had moved locations.  

Ranch dressing flavored soda - Nope!

Dill pickle flavored soda - NOPE!

Meanwhile, in Savannah, Avian attended an impromptu concert in Forsythe Park and finished their fractalization project. Avian is having a great time in college, but they really miss their car and their bed...oh, and you and Dad, too!  (Nice save!)

A fractalization project