Last Days Of October-Part 1

Hey There Everybody. Welcome to November. I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Halloween. It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted so let's catch up a bit. Here are some of the things packed into the last two weeks of October. 

On the 19th my grandson turned 1 year old.
As has become a tradition with his sister, his mom made him birthday pancakes. 

He also got his first hair cut. 

He was so calm and cool about it; acting like he's been there before. Here's what he looked like afterwards.

As I mentioned in my last post, some of my family who live in Pennsylvania came to Kentucky for an autumn visit. It was wonderful to see them for the third time this year. The main reason for their 2nd sojourn of the year to the Bluegrass State will be shared in a bit. 

When they visited back in April, my family brought along an extra "player" along; my niece Teejai's friend. For this trip they brought someone a little younger. TeeJai's God daughter, Aaniya. She's a little cutie, just a couple of months older than my grandson. Here's a picture of the two of them together. 

Although I didn't take many pictures of my family while they were visiting I'd like to share a couple of my favorites. First there's my brother-in-law, Gene. It's one that captures the humor and whimsy with which he enjoys life. 

This 2nd picture is my niece, TeeJai. I don't know if she even knows that I took this picture. But based on the silly filters she adds to her Snapchat selfies, I don't think she'll mind me posting it. 

The family arrived on the evening of Thursday the 19th. On Friday we stayed around my house watching movies and just visiting. On Saturday most of the family went to Jackson's Orchard.

My Nephew, Bobby and I went to Nashville for the day. We attended a seminar that helped me learn more about an idea I've wanted to follow through with for a long time. I will write about that in a future post. 

Saturday evening all of us went to my son's house for dinner. James enjoys having people over to his house. He grilled burgers and hot dogs. Although I was tired from the long day in Tennessee it was a good time. 

What was not a good time was watching the first innings of game 7 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees had taken a lead in the series with a 3 game sweep at home earlier in the week. The Astros won game 6 to force a final "winner take all" game. The Yanks didn't do very well in this game. They got down 4-0 early and never recovered. Neither did I. 

My typical "depression" about the Yankees losing in the playoffs took over about halfway on the drive home from James & Brandi's house. Don't worry it's something that happens every time the Yankees season ends, especially if they get into the playoffs and lose. 

It starts of as a strong disappointment but gradually gets better; lasting until the end of the World Series.

I did have a sports related distraction that eased my "post season depression" this year. I'll write more about that in part 2 of this series.  

On Sunday of my family's visit, it was time for the big event of the weekend: Gabriel's 1st birthday party. 

Once again, my daughter-in-law and team of party planners, a small but very creative group of her friends and family members, came through. They set up a wonderful event with a lumberjack theme. 

A small lunch consisting a choice between chili or potato soup was delicious. 

Of course, the birthday boy got the chance to have his cake...

...and eat it too. 

The young man really enjoyed getting messy. But it wasn't the last time he'd do it on the day of his party. 

Later that evening he would chow down on the dinner I made for the family. 

On Monday morning, the 23rd, after a nice breakfast at a local "mom & pop" restaurant, the PA family (as all us Kentucky kin folk affectionately call them) headed home.

That afternoon, for the first time, I picked up Aria at school. Her mom had taken her brother for his 1 year check up. So it was Papa's turn to take her home.   

I took her to her house and we spent some time alone. I taught her a game I've played with kids ever since my nieces were little. It's called "The French Fry game", but you can play it with any for or snack you can eat one at a time. In this case it was Doritos chips. 

With the busyness of the 4-day weekend behind me the cold and sinus issues I'd been having for a couple of days had the chance to take hold of me.

For the rest of the week I really didn't do much except stay home, take cold medicine, and sleep.  

I did manage to finish listening to the audio book version of the auto biography of astronaut Mike Massimino. 

Before seeing him talking about his book on Good Morning America last year, I only knew Mr. Massimino from playing one of the astronauts who flew with Howard Walowitz on "The Big Bang Theory" five years ago. 

The size of this man's accomplishments compared to mine is like the difference between the earth and the sun. He's done so much in his life. He is truly one of this country's greatest examples of determination and dedication. But he's, for the most part, an overlooked modern hero. If you are looking for an interesting perspective of the post Apollo phase of the US space program I highly recommend this book. 

That's going to do it for this initial entry in this post series. I have a few more things to share with you from the final days of October 2017 coming up. So keep an eye on your FB feed. I'll let you know when I've posted more. Til Then, take care.