Veterans’ Day this year was a unique experience.  Pat and I spend the afternoon taking our granddaughter, Katrina, shopping for her birthday present.  While we were in a department store and I was waiting outside the fitting room while Katrina was trying on clothes, I heard an announcement that veterans could get an additional discount on any purchase – what a deal!  Then we had dinner at Applebee’s for their Veterans’ Day special.  What a great time to be recognized for your service to your country and spend special time with family.

I had a special treat the next day when I took Katrina out for her first kayaking experience on the pond at the campground.  She took to it like a duck to water!  She is just like her dad; she had to find out how fast she could go!SkillPath Seminars contacted me to teach a project management class to the Accident Fund in Lansing on November 15^th.  I thought this was a great opportunity and Pat and I started making plans to take full advantage of it.  We flew into Detroit on Sunday, drove to Lansing to spend some time with David.  He is doing fine and still working at Granger’s while looking for full time work.  We had a nice dinner with our friends, Susan and Gary Aten, before going to Stan and Betsy Pash’s house.  It’s great to have friends who invite you to stay in their home when you announce you are going to be in the area. Thank you Betsy and Stan!

Monday we took care of doctor visits and other “stuff” that is still based in Lansing.  Pat met with her “lunch bunch” friends and I had lunch with a friend from the National Guard.  Later Pat, Dave and I met my sister, Susan and her husband, Gerry.  We had a good time sharing stories of our travels and their trip to Europe.

While I was teaching at the Accident Fund, Pat went to Saginaw to do some early Christmas shopping with her sisters.  While the training went well, the hit of the evening was having Dave fix dinner for me at his apartment.  I can testify that he has picked up some of his mom’s cooking skills.

After a leisurely trip back to Mississippi, we were able to spend some more time with Sandra and the girls before we headed to Orange Beach, AL to spend Thanksgiving with our friends, Darcy Toth and her husband, Roger.