I drove down to Mother's today and we had lunch at Applebee's and then went grocery shopping. This VW bug was in the parking lot, it looked about the same year as the one I drove in high school. It had a special "antique" license plate! What does that make me?

While going through belongings, I found this 20,000 words book. I've had it since I took office occupations class in high school. I decided to keep it awhile longer since I've been playing words with friends with Kristin and Sierra. I thought it might come in handy.

I have no photos today. It is Sierra's 25th birthday and she didn't take any photos for me,  soooo sad.

Here's what happens when you don't pay attention to the microwave oven while heating up your chocolate kiss cookie! Luckily, Tena's little fire didn't cause the smoke detectors to go off while at work today.

The time finally came to get rid of this old chest. Sierra had been using it in Indianapolis. It has been around since I was a little girl. I am pretty sure that Daddy built it for us from a kit.

Charlie loves laying outside in his soft bed of pine needles. We got home from Indianapolis this afternoon and the weather was nice enough for him to want to stay outside for awhile.

Kristin gave me this ornament as a Christmas gift. She did her part in the shop local movement and found this in a boutique in Broad Ripple.

We had our Christmas celebration today. The big hit was Kristin's gift to Sierra - a Kindle Fire. I don't think Sierra put it down until bedtime!

I managed to save Wayne's world famous chex mix until today! It didn't last long with all of us diving in.

Here's more memorabilia from the old clothes storage. Grandma Joyce hand painted these sweatshirts for Kristin when she was around 13 years old.

This was our last week together in credentialed training at work. We went to each site to check out the training classrooms and then went for lunch at Zombie Burger in the East Village.

Kristin sent me this photo today. She and a coworker were getting ready to go into surgery to perform patient neuro monitoring.

Tyler sent me this photo today of a Rudge bicycle. He said it was vintage campy record, 4 speed hub with flip flop fixed. He said a guy brought it into the shop and was fixing it up for a man who bought it in England and brought it to the USA. It had a generator front hub, Brooks saddle and all the bells and whistles. I googled Rudge and thought it probably was a 1960 or 70's bicycle.

Here's another find from the old clothes storage. If I remember correctly, our friend Tony had this t-shirt airbrushed for Rich. It is dated 1992 and must have been given to us shortly after we got our custom painted tandem.

Sierra won the Indiana State Cyclocross race today!

I brought this vest for Sierra to wear to school today. She said the kids really enjoyed it! It would also be great for one of those tacky sweater holiday parties!

Wayne's famous chex mix arrived in the mail today. I am going to hide it in order for it to be around for Christmas and for the rest of the family's enjoyment!

I found this little sweatshirt in some of the girls' old clothes. I used cross stitch waste canvas for the cute little bunny. The shirt is so small and soft; I am going to keep it to remind me of when the girls were just toddlers.

Mother sent me this photo today to show me how she's been able to enjoy the mallards and other ducks in the cove. Since the weather has been warmer so far this year, the cove hasn't frozen over yet.

While going through old Christmas decorations, I found this Santa troll. I am going to wrap it up and give to Kristin as a Christmas gift!

Here's Sierra racing in the PAX Gray Goat in the Backyard Cross race. It looks like she is having a great time and got 5th place today!

After enjoying food from the West Coast Tacos food truck in Indy, I decided to try making a similar treat. They ended up being pretty tasty!

Years ago, Mother saw this jewelry organizer in a magazine. She showed it to Daddy and he quickly made one for each of girls. Cross stitch fabric is between the wooden pieces and we each decorated our own. Earrings are attached in the fabric and necklaces are hung from the knobs at the bottom.

Today, I found this pair of miniature wooden shoes that we got when we were in Holland in July of 2004.

We are trying to increase the amount of my favorite new plant from the summer. At this rate, we should have several new pots of plants to enjoy next year!

I found this drawing in a small spiral notebook. It looks like something that Kristin drew while in high school.

I took a sample of oatmeal that I got at a cyclocross race down to Mother's house. We had some and she liked it so much that she made it part of her next Amazon order.

Even when it is cold out, Chase still wants to have the ball thrown into the lake so he can get in!

Sierra raced today at the Nuvo CX race at MTV. She got 5th place, it looks like the course was a little muddy, she should have been happy!

This mouse gave Mother quite a fit. He was trapped by his jaw and carried the trap around the house in places she could hear him banging around but couldn't reach him. He finally died in a spot that she could reach him. I guess that is one reason traps aren't the best way to get rid of the pest.

I'm going straight to the store with this holiday gift of $25 thanks to my employer!

Gas prices finally went down just a little, now just keep going that way please?

Sierra's birthday gift - one month early!

Day #3 of Jingle Cross brought lower temps with a 15-25 mph wind out of the northwest. The temp wasn't low enough to freeze the mud and the course included another tough climb up Mt. Krumpit. It was announced today that Jingle Cross included the longest run up of any race this year! Sierra crashed early in the race today while in the top 5 but was able to work her way back for a 12th place finish.

Day #2 of Jingle Cross included a steady light rain for most of the day with temps in the mid 40's. Plenty of mud was included! Sierra loves the mud and made her way to a 7th place finish. We watched the elites race and I must add that Steve Tilford is amazing!

Sierra and I went out to West Lakes Studios where Kim cut and styled our hair. Then we had lunch at Noodle Zoo before heading off to Iowa City. Sierra raced in the night at Day #1 of Jingle Cross and got 9th place out of a large 2/3 field of about 40 women.

I got up this morning at 7:00, had the turkey in the oven at 8:00,  and then mixed up the green bean casserole. Then I rode my spin bike for about 45 minutes until it was time to start basting the bird. Then I washed the potatoes and started the pumpkin chiffon pie. The turkey was done about 12:30, got the potatoes cooking and then mashed, started the gravy and crescent rolls and we ate at 1:30. After eating, I whipped up the egg whites and cream and mixed in with the pumpkin into a graham cracker crust and set in the 'fridge to chill. I then went for a wonderful hour long bike ride on the trail. The temperature today was in the low 60's!

I found this t-shirt while going through old clothes. Should I keep it? Hmmmm - no.

A bin full of baby blankets.......I kept a couple plus the crocheted ones.

Going through old stuff that should have been thrown away long ago. Here's 8 trash bags full!

Here's a photo by Chris Jones of Sierra at the Zipp CX race in Indianapolis yesterday. She got 2nd place in her category. The Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference regional cyclocross championships were also being held.

I went to see Becky today (and Midnight). He is a lucky kitten! I don't think any cat has it as good as he does. Becky is so busy spoiling him rotten!

I've had this cycling jersey since the mid '70s. I am going to keep it.

This rudbeckia was still wanting to bloom until the hard freeze we had recently. I can't complain, it is mid November!

Sierra says she may want to keep her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle skates but Kristin doesn't need to hang on to her Barbie skates!

Miss Spitty doesn't sit still for photos very often!

I was sorry to see this beautiful cardinal dead on the sidewalk. I'm hoping that he died of natural causes and wasn't caught by one of the cats.

Rich, Kristin, and I went to Louisville, KY to watch Sierra race in the USGP cyclocross race. She got 10th place after some muscle cramping trouble.

It was Kristin's 27th birthday! We had a nice lunch at Spinelli's pizzaria in Louisville. In the evening, she chose Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple for steak and frites.

We are headed to Indianapolis for Kristin's birthday. We loaded up 2 book cases to relocate in Kristin's house.