Thanksgiving 2013 morning

 It is 6:30 in the morning. The house smells so good.  Mom had just made the sausage quiche cups, sprinkled with green onions. Yum!

This is sitting in the cold room.  I wish we can start eating now.

 The cranberry cake is smelling so good, I was tempted to cut out a piece to try it.  I will never hear the end of it from Mom, so I better not.

 There are two crock pots here.  One is a pork soup Mom made for the diner later today.  The other is the hot Apple and cranberry drink for this morning.  Mom changed the formula for the drink.  It is mostly apple juice, with a small juice box of cranberry juice added, so it won't be too tart.











I made the garlic toasts last night.  I have not tried it yet, but this time I loaded it with garlic, so watch out!  We will have to brush out teeth after we eat these bad boys.

The vegetable dressing is here again, on Mom's request.  We used Bell's breading this year.  I find them a bit salty.  I won't buy this next year.

This picture is a bit dark, but smells heavenly none the less.  I am roasting some potatoes with garlic and olive oil in the oven.  Yummy.  It is browning up nicely.

Matthew Peter deSouza's Christening

Sunday November 10, 2013.

We (Paula, Babcie and I) went to Matthew Peter Souza's christening ceremony this day. The event was celebrated at the St. Mary's church (need to verify) in Lowell.  This is the church in which Amy and Mike were married.

We arrived at the church about five minutes before 10 AM.

Babcie's new chair

November 9, 2013,

 Paula ordered a mechanical lift chair for Babcie.  This chair has three positions: recline, upright, and lift up.  This is all controlled by a up/down switch (see here in Babcie's left hand.)

The chair came during the week, Wednesday.  I was mildly annoyed.  I had instructed the shipping company to inform me when they deliver, so that I can be there to open the door.  I know Babcie plays card every weekday, so she may not be home when the chair is delivered, and I don't want the delivery men to leave the chair outside, in case it rains.

When the chair was delivered, it happened that Babcie was home. She insisted that the delivery men bring the chair into the house.  At first they said no, but Babcie insisted.  Finally they relented and brought it in.  Just a case in point - people who need to use lift chairs are in no position to carry these chair inside by themselves.  I have to write to the seller about this point.

 Another point that irked me was that on the web site, there was no mention about "assembly required."   From Paula's description of the chair, it came in many pieces and a big bag of wires and electrical stuffs.  For the next couple of days, I hate dreams and nightmares about the chair.  On Saturday, I brought a box of all my tools to Babcie's house.  I have hammer, monkey wrench, screwdrivers, Allen wrench, nail clippers in case I want to clip my finger nails, gloves, and what-nots.

 Come to find out, the assembly was not that difficult.  The chair came in two big pieces - the base and the seat back.  The seat back clip into two clips coming out of the chair base.  The remote control plugs into the base. Another wire plugs into the base, then connect to a transformer and then to the wall plug.  So that was done within ten, or fifteen minutes.  Babcie tested the chair, and allowed it to lift her to knee straight position, where she can just walk out of the chair with a little push on the handles.
We both thought the chair was very comfortable and cushy.

The chair can also decline. When it does, the foot rest comes up from the vertical position, to horizontal.  It now becomes a nice bed.  All in all, this chair is like an airline business class seat, and more, because it does lift you up as well.

Babcie tried all the chair positions, and was very pleased.  She will be spending some time watching TV in this chair.