booklovers! whatcha reading weekend~ 9/21-9/22

Good morning.
Warm and humid already. I have all the windows and patio door opened, but know that sometime later this morning, we will be closing it all to start the a/c. Also rain in the forecast, of course.

Pinky, yes, it looks like we will be getting your thunderstorms. We have some running to do, so will do it this morning, before it gets here.
I am happy for you, that the lawn is done and there is nothing going on (yet!) for your weekend. Enjoy!!
Thanks for reminding me that we too need some veggies. I have to watch how much I buy tho, as we are gone as of Wed.

Marsha, lol, sorry your boss was not able to spend the day golfing, wasn't that something, how much rain came down during the morning? I hope he carried thru and took off yesterday. 
What town were you talking about that did not have a farmer's market? I noticed during the summer that the various markets were proactive, with canceling the market's if weather was supposed to be in the area, so maybe that is why there wasn't a market. I know Broadway had their usual Wed market, as we went by there, to go to DGS football game at City Stadium. So I think the big markets are not done yet.

Gareth I will explain about DB and his $$ later, it sure got interesting yesterday!!! 
I really, really need to make an effort to get back to at least walk. I won't today, with the high humidity, that kills my breathing, but DH will be gone Sunday and Monday, (just during the day), so I am going over to the Y tomorrow. 

Carol, my brother's house is so small, that if there are issues inside, they are magnified. And there is A LOT! The house is very run down, plus icky dirty, I can't even describe it. My sister and I were raised as to how to house clean, and to do it on a weekly basis, so normally her and I could jump in and clean his house, but in this extreme case, we would not know where to start. Just a nightmare. And it breaks our hearts that our little brother was living like this! He was not raised that like.
How was the book sale? Did you find anything worth buying?

OK......WHERE IS ROBIN? Did she hop the plane with her DH?

Lots happened yesterday, with DB. The consult for his therapy for his brain went well, but I think there was just too much info. Too much medical terms. Tuesday he has his consult for getting the planning and schedule for his chemo therapy.
As there were things talked about, I suggested he may have to go into assisted living. Well that must have gotten him thinking. Next thing we know, he wants me to go with him to his financial advisor, to free up some of his investments.
Then he told my sister he wants to move! He wants to get a small apartment close to the hospital. Long story short, I talked him out of that, (the part of living by the hospital) as excluding one area, most of the area around the hospital is pretty seedy. I would not want him walking around that area, especially come winter, where it is dark early. 
So I gave him a job to do this weekend...with him and I going to that meeting Monday morning, I told him to sit down and figure out his budget, what with him applying for SS, and getting some of his retirement funds, how much he wants to spend on an apartment, and not worry about living by the hospital. Then after the $$$ meeting, we are going to an attorney to set up power of attorney. So he does have most of his ducks in order already! 
The doctor yesterday said there is a chance that it is just swelling causing his eye sight issue, so his eyes might get back to normal, which means he could end up being able to drive. Time will tell. 
The men folk in our family really believe his house is not worth anything, and when it is time to sell it, all it will be worth is the land, the house will have to be torn down. Just heart breaking. He lived there 20 years. When we moved last year, we had owned that house 18 years. I would feel just awful if we were told that our house had to be torn down. 

Today we need to run to Walmart, then I need to box up some of the seasonal decorations around here. Tomorrow with DH gone, I will go to the Y, then finish cleaning the apartment. Every single day, from today on, is something going on. Can not wait till Wed!

Have a nice Saturday everyone!

Karen, I realized I did not post yesterday. I started a post, but yesterday was a crazy, and very stressful day. Our secretary/receptionist left, her last day was Wednesday. I was filling in, and we were doing rush documents for someone who needed a power of attorney, healthcare proxy, living will (which just says whether you want to be kept alive by artificial means, nothing having to do with your money), and a will. These have to be printed out and put together a certain way, and I had to do that. The legal backs we put on them were hard for me to find, I had to format the will a certain way and print it on a special type of paper, and it kept messing up, just very stressful but I finally got it done, along with phones, sending other things out, talking to the lawyer for the people who are buying DM's house about certain things, yes, we are finally in contract! Then I went to have dinner with my friend who was mad that I did not invite her to DS's wedding. There were 2 interesting things that came out in our 3 hour dinner, which was very nice. Not the food, the conversation, and the fact that they served us very quickly but did not rush us out. I said something about the fact that she knows that her ex would not want to be with her boyfriend, so she would feel even worse if she was there and not sitting with all of our friends, which she realized was right. The other thing was that throughout there marriage, she always did her own thing with friends on Friday night, weird for a married couple I think. And, she had 2 late nights at work, and went out at least one other night folk dancing with her mother. So, 4 nights a week she did not spend with her DH. She said, "well, maybe we should have spent more time together." They didn't have children, so no reason to be home with them. 

I finished reading Evvie Drake Starts Over, which I really enjoyed.

Karen, when you talk to the lawyer about the power of attorney for DB, he should also probably have a will unless all his things that his financial advisor has for him are in IRA's or other retirement accounts, he will want his money going to whoever he wants to go to. And, for whenever it might be in the future, he should also arrange for a pre-paid funeral. A hard thing to talk about, but whatever lawyer he is seeing might suggest it. Is it someone who specializes in estate planning? Otherwise it sounds like he is thinking clearly about this. Any thought on him renting an apartment in your development? Might make it easier for you, being the one sibling who will be around through the winter.

Pinky, sorry you still aren't feeling well. Was that why you tired out from the mowing? Sorry that all of you are still getting so much rain, or most of you anyway. It is reminding me to turn back on my sprinklers when I go out now to pick up DH at the airport. It has not rained here for a while, and I don't see any in the forecast.

I know I read yesterday's thread, but don't remember much other than about the weather! 

Karen, good that your DB is doing that planning, but sorry that this is the reason. How old is he? I can't remember if your sibling are older or younger than you, but I am thinking that the ones who go to FL for the winter are older. Sorry you are having a rainy day. 

I have to stop at Staples for copy paper for the office, good they open at 10, so then I can go on to a certain supermarket to start buying things I need to make for the holiday. They are having a sale on brisket. This is not a brisket I make smoked. They also should have some good veggies I can use. I am only having about 13 for the Jewish New Year next Monday. My sister and family are not coming. I have texted and emailed my DB & DSIL at least 4 times and have not gotten a reply. I am giving up. 

Robin, I too am in the dark as to the Jewish holiday's. I guess I should pay more attention to my calendar on my phone, with putting so many appointments on there, you think I would see that the 30th is Rosh Hashanah, and looking forward I see Oct 9th is Yom Kippur. How do we acknowledge them? (As in: Happy Rosh Hashanah?)
13 sounds like a good number, except for it being 13, maybe you could round it out to 14? That's just me.
My DB is my little brother, at 62. His 63rd birthday is November 1st, so he was going to look into if he would get more SS if he held off till then. I don't think it would be much more.
My sister (oldest of the 4 of us) is going back to McAllen Texas with her DH in October to sell their mobile home down there. 
My older brother (2nd oldest, he is 66, will turn 67 in Feb.) is going back to his mobile home park in AZ. He was planning on going back there October 20th, but I think he is going to stay now till November (yay!!).
Then there is me at 65, turning 66 in December. So long story short, there are 4 of us, with me the 2nd youngest, brother who is so sick is the baby.

Pinky, as I sat here reading your description of your flu, it hit me hard, as of this morning after I got up with the back pain, I started getting sick. Had to take a nap after DH left, then felt a bit better, was able to do the vacuuming. Can tell also that I am under the weather, as DH said this morning that it was warm in the living room and I was comfortable...it is always the other way around between us. This had better be gone by Wed or I will be livid! 
I am sure we have had this discussion before as to what frogmore stew is, but my feeble brain is just not coming up with it. Can you just kind of touch on what the main ingredients are? (Sorry for the forgetfulness!!)
Hope you have a fun afternoon with your family.

Karen, for your DB and social security, he has to call and schedule an appointment, which he might not get until November 1st anyway, so it's irrelevant. At this point, he might as well take whatever he gets. Who knows, maybe he will have some luck and do well with the chemo, you never know.

As far as Rosh Hashanah goes, Happy New Year is fine. For Yom Kippur, people say to each other "Have an easy fast", but I personally think that is stupid. We say it differently sometimes in Hebrew instead of Happy New Year. So, there was a big argument on our local restaurant Facebook group about a restaurant here that invited people to a special event on the 29th, which is really when the holiday starts, at sundown, and many families get together for their big meal that night with family. Someone said that was insensitive of them to do in our kind of area. Someone pointed out that the calendar only says the holiday is the 30th so they wouldn't really know. My family did not because it is the anniversary of my grandfather's death. He died when we were married only a year. When I was young, we just had our immediate family that night, then a bigger meal after temple on the first day, and then the 2nd day. After my grandfather died, my mother always wanted to go to temple that 1st night to say the memorial prayer, so we never had anything special. Both of my DDIL's families do, so that makes that holiday an easy one for us. Both DS's and DDIL's are coming to me on the 30th. I also invited my older DDIL's grandparents, because they would only pretty much be by themselves. They live here on Long Island, her parents live in Massachusetts and are only coming down for the weekend and will leave Monday morning. I have my brisket in the oven now, I just basted it and it is coming out great. I am wondering if it is because I only have 1 in the oven, when I usually have 2.

We found money all around my ILs house. My MIL had several old purses and there was a little money in all of them plus we found money stuck in drawers under a bunch of aprons or whatever. We moved a bed and there was a little box full of coins. We also found some in books and the pockets of coats and jackets. One of my friends opened a safe in her parents house and it was stuffed with money, over 5000 dollars.

Karen, it sounds like your DB is willing to get his things in order, especially with the will. My parents never made a will for some reason. They talked about it, but never did. When we were going through the house, my sister who lived in the same town would say, "Mama wanted you to have this" to my other sister and me. Of course, she did talk to them more, but it would have been nice to have it writing. There were a few things we could have gotten in a fuss about. I decided it wasn't worth a fight and stepped back. I hope your meeting goes well.

It was hot and humid yesterday. We went to our town's fall festival and just walked around. It was mostly craft booths and food. There was some music, too. We walked around, visited with a few people we knew and left. We weren't even gone an hour. I only got 3 books at the used book sale the night before. They didn't seem to have as many as in the past.

Robin, your brisket sounds great.

Pinky, I think the flu has started around here. I got my shot last week.