Super Monday, 11/28/2022

Apparently, we had a glitch in the post from Saturday. It appears something went awry during the last paragraph about my thoughts on Yellowstone. I’d like to try and recreate the thought I had there, and finish it here.

I was talking about the opportunity to binge Yellowstone this weekend. I did, as much as I could, between cooking and quilting. And napping. It’s been early and overnight duty with the pups, since the Babe is out of town. But he returns tomorrow, late afternoon, and we’ll be back at full occupancy again. Looking forward to it.

The story of Yellowstone has more twists and turns than a mountain road. It helped to go back and watch the previous seasons to remind myself of subtle things that are significant later in the story. Some are tricky, some are expected, but they’re all a surprise.

Sunday’s episode of Jamie and Beth’s latest confrontation was so well done. I extremely dislike Jamie. He is so whiny, sometimes I can’t stand it. The character is well written, as is Beth. She has so many layers of flaws, strengths, shortcomings, she is a writers dream. Or nightmare, however you want to look at it. She is so complex, she would be a dream to create as a character.

I enjoyed seeing all the characters who had bad intentions towards the Duttons, they all met with what they deserved. No, the Duttons are not pure as the driven snow, but I believe they have the best of the land in their scope. It has been stated the maintenance on the ranch is everything it brings in over a year. Lots of overhead. Lots of unforseen expenses. It’s a fascinating story.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Yellowstone became an actual study of story/character/and plot development. It would be a hit, I believe. Taylor Sheridan knows his stuff, in my humble opinion.

What will this week bring? The first full week back to work after the first of 2022’s Holiday Season. People may feel the countdown towards Christmas now, as the heat is on for those who are counting down gift buying and all that goes with that. I miss the shopping for younger kids, and wrapping after they’re in bed, late at night. It’s when I learned about the true Queen of Christmas; Darlene Love, as she sang, “Christmas: Baby, Please Come Home,” every year on David Letterman. I miss that. She is wonderful, and I hope to hear her sing the song on tv this year.

As I wile away the hours tomorrow until the Babe returns, I’ll be working on Kayla’s quilt and cutting Cody’s out. I hope I don’t have to delay gifting the quilts until the respective birthdays of Cody (January) and Kayla (March). It may come to that, as I have just about run out of time. I’ll have to talk with my daughter about that. I’ll decide by the end of the week. More on that later.

Hope you have a great week. The weather is cooling, and shopping heating up. Make sure Christmas comes from your heart, not from what you feel pressured to do. We’ll see each other tomorrow. Be careful out there.

Happy Birthday, Part 2

Here is a photo of Mom yesterday, last evening to be specific, enjoying the spoils of the day. It was really neat, many of our childhood neighbor kids commented on my post and wished her happy birthday. Thank you all, that was cool!

Today was very busy, I cut and glued two more quilt blocks, hope to do another two tomorrow. I need to step it up to make sure those darling grandkids of mine have their quilts for Christmas. Lots of time, and we’ll get that book laid out, too. I’ll be so glad for fall to arrive. I’m ready for it.

I’m deeper into the Gary Sinise novel “Grateful American.” I think he is a good story teller. He describes the feelings surrounding September 11, 2001, the uncertainty, and the appreciation most had for First Responders and the Military. He actually called the USO many times to see if he could go on a show tour. Finally, they agreed, and there he went.

He describes the sounds, the smell, the feeling of sand pelting you from every direction, and what it was like to see the troops, the lines of men and women surrounding them when they walked from the cargo plane or helicopter to the building where they would meet and greet or perform. It was truly heart warming. It was full of respect, honor, and gratitude. I would suggest we all read this sooner than later.

In addition to the usual juggling of two careers, three kids, and traveling actors, Sinise also discussed his wife’s alcoholism and what it did to their family. He described the in and out of treatments centers dance they did, and the broken promises, the peaks and valleys of the relationship, and finally, the plea of the oldest little girl to “please, just let me be a kid.” It took every bit of tough love he could muster, and finally, finally it began a new life for them. Every day is still up for grabs, there are no guaranteed once a person quits drinking.

Much of life is unpredictable. From day to day, no one really knows what they may face ball tomorrow. We all have to try our best, be good citizens, and hold on to our convictions. We have to be resilient, should our situations change through no fault of our own, we need to be able to execute Plan B. Sometimes in my life, I’ve been down to Plan ZZ! It becomes laughable when I recall some of the outlandish things the kids and I worked through. And that’s a whole different blog.

I hope you all have a good rest of the evening, maybe with a dish or bowl of ice cream. It’s a favorite dessert, perfect for a humid summer night. Tomorrow is another Saturday but a special one – a Nebraska Cornhusker football game in Ireland, against Northwestern. It should make for some good TV. A lot of fans from Nebraska traveled to the Emerald Isle. I bet it’s beautiful.

Read a book this weekend, watch a Netflix series with a good storyline. Make sure you pay attention to character development and plot twists. It’s fun to have a different way to look at a movie, tv show, or Netflix series. I will see you tomorrow.