Hi Everyone!
I don't have my list of birthdays, anniveraries, etc handy so will have to edit this section later.

Monday - 01 November to Tuesday - 09 November - Not much difference in my back pain except it's not the excruciating pain anymore. Some days I think it has finally gone and then it reappears the next day. Have decided that my doctor is probably right: I'll have to get an MRI. I don't like enclosed spaces but will have to get through it. I did feel fairly good for a couple of days, so I straightened up my office and caught up my data base for my personal DVD movie collection (EXCEL data base). I also carried my hibiscus and geraniums (one at a time, using a hand truck) into the porch to protect them from the cold weather over the next few months. Neither of these plant types will survive outdoors in the winters here in Myrtle Beach, even though we only get freezing temperatures for a few hours (or so :-)

Wednesday - 10 November - Chuck came over and did all the heavy lifting for me today! It's been over three weeks since I've been able to pour any concrete (e.g. "when I hurt my back"). All I had left to do was a set of stairs, and I had the forms already done! Anyway, we finished it today. Chuck also moved some dirt and mulch from the back yard and I was able to plant the seven bushes around the large tree (the new patio areas now surround three-quarters of the space around this tree). That's a big load off my mind because I really didn't want to leave the bushes in plastic pots all winter. Now they'll have the winter months to grow roots etc.

Thursday - 11 November - Veteran's Day! We loaded up the Dodge RAM with new sets of dishes, cutlery/silverware, rugs and tons of other stuff for the condo. Dale's been picking this new stuff up over the past few months, in New Hampshire and South Carolina. We'll give the existing/old condo items to Goodwill. Made side trip to the Boat Storage facility and paid for the next four months, and then to the Dump to drop off our last bag of garbage. Then: FREEDOM !! (We're on the road again :-)! Stopped off in Mt. Pleasant to say Hi to Rene & Jay. Dale gave me a heated, massage pad to use on my seat and back. I bought it for her years ago. It plugs into the cigarette lighter, and it did help me, along with a thick pad I bought in North Carolina at Sue Peterson's suggestion. This time I didn't get that pain in my right leg (and rear end) that has happened to me on our last two long-distance trips. We arrived at the condo at 10:45PM. Took a while to unload the truck but we're now here until the end of the month!

Friday - 12 November - Dale had two letters from the Tampa District Court in our mailbox. In September, just after we departed Bradenton (9 Sep), she was called for Jury Duty in mid-October. Of course we weren't here, didn't know and she didn't show up! She called the Court this morning. Luckily they didn't need her in October and said that she didn't have to submit anything now, not even the form that accompanied the two letters. Sure hope that the clerk knows what she's talking about. When I was called for Jury Duty, the judge actually issued warrants for the arrest of everyone who didn't show up! Also in our mail box was a refund check from the IRS. They had erroneously withheld $250 of our refund in April and I spent hours on the phone over the summer until they agreed that they had made a mistake. So, today we cashed the check and split our loot :-) Then drove to Sears to see how much replacement lenses would cost for my eyeglasses. This summer I ruined them by wiping them after concrete dust got on them. Fortunately I can see just fine with my previous set of glasses, although they are a bit nerdy :-) Replacement cost for the lenses is over $270! I think I'll just continue to wear my old glasses and use the ruined ones whenever I'm outside working in grimy conditions. Went to Goodwill to see if they wanted the glass sliding doors that I removed from our condo bedroom. Yes, and they will pick them up too. Dale then spotted a narrow sofa table that matches my office desk (in Myrtle Beach). Perfect, because I wanted something like that to place along the window in my office. I'll move my desk forward a bit to make room, and use the table for a lamp and files etc (and clear out some space on my desk)!! So now our guest bedroom is filled with furniture that we're bringing back to Myrtle Beach (we had bought some patio seats (gliders and wrought-iron) from Big Lots here a few months ago, but didn't have the Dodge RAM here at that time). Drove to Manatee Beach on Anna Maria Island for lunch. Bright sunshine and 80 degrees!! This evening I took some "PHP" code that Chuck just sent me and used it to replace some old Javascript code that did a "countdown" to whatever important event that I want to display on my web site (birthdays, holidays, etc). Chuck's code works on Firefox AND Internet Explorer, which my Javascript did not! Thanks Chuck!

Saturday - 13 November - Staying inside today, at least for now. I'm updating the "News" and editing snapshots. Maybe THIS time I'll actually get them uploaded to the web site! (Just heard a weird sound. Thought someone in the condo complex was "growling" or something. Turns out that it was our cat, "Bandit", asleep on the dining room chair and snoring)!!!

Sunday - 14 November - Am "up to date" with the news and also uploaded our photos for August and September last night. Am now working on October photos and should have them uploaded tonight! (Yes! Done)!

Monday - 15 November - Went to Home Depot and bought 2x3s, wooden shins/slats and insulation for the lanai walls. I'll install that stuff later this week or next. Also bought paint for our master bedroom and two new fake-wood window blinds for the guest bedroom and kitchen. They look better than the thin aluminum window blinds that we have, and give added privacy.

Tuesday - 16 November - Spent most of today replacing the aluminum window blinds in our kitchen with the fake-wood blinds. I thought it would be easy but it took hours! The blinds come in standard lengths and widths so we had Home Depot cut the width cut to our window sizes yesterday. Today, however, I had to remove the extra slats and cut the strings to fit the height of our window -- and then retie everything. Very tedious! I was going to do the guest bedroom today but it'll have to wait a while :-)

Wednesday - 17 November - Courtney gave birth to baby boy Lucas this morning at 1:48AM! Saw a posting on Facebook, and then we got an E-mail from the Great-Grandma Dot! All doing well. Put a coat of joint compound on our master bedroom wall. Should be dry by tomorrow and perhaps we can sand it and start painting (Dale's job :-) Replaced the baseboard in our guest bathroom, a small job. In 2001 we had our condo renovated just after we bought it, but the contractor used "clamshell" doorframe moulding for baseboards throught the condo. Will probably replace all the baseboards sometime this year. Rearranged my "tool closet" on the lanai while Dale continued to reorganize the kitchen :-) She started with all the new dishes and stuff we brought down with us on this trip, and she can't stop :-) Had dinner with our friends Paulette & Bill Davis at the Thai Kitchen on Cortez Rd, down the street from our condo. They had just returned from a trip to Egypt and had plenty of really neat pictures! Can't believe that their grandson is two years old already. I remember when their son moved down from Maryland, and when they started talking excitedly about this beautiful girl he had met! :-) Time is really zipping along!

Thursday - 18 November - Home Depot is like a second/third home these days. I bought 120 feet of baseboard, along with semi-gloss white paint for trim, some minor tools, etc. Sanded down the master bedroom walls. It's now ready to paint (tomorrow). The condo looks like a construction zone with bales of insulation, 2x3s, 2x4s, paint, tools, etc. Turns out that Goodwill doesn't take "construction materials" (glass sliding doors) even though they said they would, so Habitat For Humanity came around noon and picked up the glass sliding doors and all the boxes of stuff that Dale replaced in the kitchen. Heard from Pat Brockway this evening. Tomorrow they're going to the matinee for the latest Harry Potter movie. We can't go (gotta get that room painted)! They're also going to Alabama for Thanksgiving (we invited our friends Larry & Geri to come over here) and then they're going on a cruise to Bermuda with the family, out of Jacksonville, FL, on Christmas day! See? Us retirees are just wallflowers hanging around doing nothing :-)

Friday through Tuesday - 19-30 November - Nothing much new. Lots of work in the condo. Went to the movies on Saturday night and saw the new Harry Potter movie (Deathly Hollows I). Dale liked it and says it follows the book very well. I wasn't impressed but will probably like it more once the DVD is out and I can understand the dialog a bit better (with the "CC" on :-) Monday, the 29th, the temperature hit 86 degrees -- a new record high! Unfortunately a cold front is on the way and will bring us into the 40s at night and 60s during the day. Our master bedroom update is now finished. I also replaced all the beige electrical switches and plugs throughout the condo with gleaming new white ones to match our walls and white marble floors etc. Spent the entire day yesterday replacing the master bathroom fan/light, which is the original one installed in 1982 when the condo was built! The plastic covering had yellowed and cracked but the fan/light still worked great. I had to replace it anyway, as they don't have parts for the original any more. The bathroom ceiling access hole was very difficult to work in! Today, 30 November, I sheetrocked most of the lanai. Have only the part under the windows to do, but I need to cut a hole in the wall and insulate it from behind. Will probably wait until we return in January to do that. Went to Fire and Stone Pizza place tonight with friends Larry & Geri Tyler. Best pizza around and cheap prices!! The owners are from England and the Czech Republic.

   

Love,	&nbs;	Regards,
Dad & Mom	&nbs;	Barry & Dale