Tomorrow after BSF I'll make a run to Arlington to Texas Appliances, in
an attempt to locate a couple of refrigerator models I can find online,
but no one actually has on-site.  Mind, eager offers of ordering
one or the other are always forthcoming, but as I said, I simply refuse
to order a fridge based solely on the internet.  I want to open
the doors, etc. and get a feel for it.

But darned if virtually every retailer of size around here doesn't
carry pretty much the same darn models!  There's a certain Maytag
available on the floor of Lowes, Best Buy, Sears, and Oliver
Dyer.  It's okay, I suppose, but it doesn't really do much for
me.  OTOH, perhaps the fact all these companies have elected to
carry it means it's a reasonably decent model.

There's a GE and an Amana I would really like to see first, though.

The Samsung's a nonstarter, BTW.  What a mercy I finally noticed
it hasn't got split shelves in the fresh food section....they're all
one piece and fixed, and the door bins are fixed as well.  There
would be no way to stand a bottle of wine or anything tall in that
refrigerator, so o-u-t goes it.  Pity!  It was the most
attractive one of the bunch.

Dmitry's come up with a way for him to practice his Russian.

He's in charge of answering all out-of-area, etc. phone calls. 

Really fritzes out those on the other end of the line, to be greeted with "Da?" followed by a torrent of Russian. 

Tomorrow is the last day of NaNoWriMo and I'm feeling quite guilty at having dumped Mercy Maud! like I did.

Except let me clue you in on something:  If you don't have
anything to say, writing is Very Hard Work.  Seems easy enough,
doesn't it?  Just write!  Pay no never mind to whether it's
good or not, or logical, or amusing, or interesting, or possesses any
virtue whatsoever, just put words on the screen.

How difficult can it be?

Incredibly difficult.  Bizarrely difficult.  Mind-numbingly difficult.

Gives a person a whole new appreciation for nonsense verse, that's for
sure.  I vaguely recall having to do some "free association"
writing back in school, and found it nearly impossible then, too. 

Fact is, it's nearly impossible to write unless one has something to say.

My apologies for the silence but choosing major appliances is Business of the Most Serious Sort.

Can't seem to find any brand that doesn't have someone making a face and warning me to stay away from that one, whatever
I do.  The highly rated models at ConsumerReports.com are one, too
pricey if they've the features I want, and two, don't seem to be
anywhere around Fort Worth so I can actually put my hands on
them.  Or else don't come in black.

Something in me rebels at the notion of ordering a fridge I've only seen on the computer or in a catalog.

Refrigerators!  There are too many of the creatures from which to choose, and that's a fact. 

We're trying to decide between a side-by-side model or a bottom-mount
model.  The side-by-side tends to have more freezer capacity
(yay!) but it's narrow, which is a problem for big or wide items (think
DiGigorno pizza). 

There's a nifty combo by LG that I like the looks of, only it's a bit
pricier than the others we're considering....it has water thru the
door, as well as being a bottom-mount:

And I like the freezer arrangement, too:

Only thing is, I've only seen this one online, not in a store.  Would really like to physically try it out first, y'know?

Can you believe the fracas at those Wal-Marts over cheap laptops, etc.? 

Men resorting to fisticuffs in Orlando!   A woman and a 13 year old girl virtually trampled in Michigan!

Why would anyone want to risk life and limb merely to save a few bucks?

Mercy Maud, but am I glad I'm not working in retail right now!  It's amazing how many stores are opening at 6 a.m. and even 5 a.m. 

Lemme see, to open the store at 5 a.m., the employees will have to be
clocked in by 4:45 a.m., and heaps of them live a fair distance from
the store, so they need to leave home around 4 a.m., meaning they need
to haul themselves out of bed by 3:30 a.m. or so.

And they're to be happy, and jolly, and helpful, and friendly! 

Make me drag my carcass out at a frightful hour like that and you get what you get, and if what you get isn't a sock in the jaw you may count yourself fortunate. 

Everyone would be far more cheerful  -  sales associates and customers, both  -  if they could get a decent night's sleep, ISTM.

We just returned from a fabulously delicious feast at Elaine's
house.  Omygoodness!  Who'd have thought a gluten-free
Thanksgiving could be so tasty? 

Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole,
cornbread stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, gingerbread muffins,
fudge pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie....oh, MY. 

Don greeting Bryson:

Jessica, Jason, Kirsten, and Brianna were going to dinner at his
parents' house, but they stopped by Elaine's first to visit
(inadvertently causing Elaine to nearly have a stroke..."They weren't
coming!  What are they doing here?  Where am I going to put them?"); here are Jason and Kirsten, with my Kirstin in the background:

Jessica getting to meet darling Cole for the first time:

The little girls....aren't they precious?

Benjamin's chowing down at the kids' table:

Mom with her newest great-grandson and his daddy, Justin:

And last but definitely not least, our kind host and hostess.....thanks, Elaine and Hal!  You can do this every year, so far's we're concerned. 

While waiting for Xanga to get its photographic act together, I'll tell
you how I whiled away the hours betwixt Memphis and home....

Playing the ubiquitous "How many different states' license plates can I see?" game.  Ahem....

Michigan  
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Arkansas
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Missouri
Wisconsin
Illinois
Oklahoma
Louisiana
Minnesota
Ohio
Indiana
Kentucky
Florida
Virginia
New York
Connecticut
And Ontario, Canada.

Not a bad haul, huh? 

Well, we're home!  Actually, the traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected it to be, thank heavens. 

Anyway, we arrived in Cordova about 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night, and
Alex met us at our hotel to collect Dmitry and carry him back to his
apartment to stay.  Next day we went to check out their church,
Bellevue Baptist, which was the church pastored by the late Adrian
Rogers, then that evening we headed to downtown Memphis and its famous
Beale Street:

It's quite reminiscent of New Orleans' French Quarter, only without the Really Unsuitable Parts.   
There was a police museum, which instantly brought Bill Waybourn to
mind, naturally.  Alex thought it'd be a hoot to try to break in:

Afterwards we headed to Isaac Hayes' restaurant for dinner, which featured some bodacious barbecue.

We stopped in souvenir shop which had a truly impressive selection of
funky hats.  Alexander.  Funky hats.  Some things just go together.

On Tuesday we went to the base and got to meet some of Alex's friends
in the fleet band, plus his lieutenant, and visit the band hall:

Afterwards we hung out for awhile at a mall (bought Hannah a darling
Christmas dress), and their apartment, where Hannah decided
Granddaddy's mustache was quite intriguing:

Brothers fooling around:

BION, Hannah relishes being held upside down.  Can't think why, personally.

Dmitry surprised us by being fairly adept at Wheel of Fortune, able to
look at BR__KF__T and know it was "breakfast," for example.  He
did this frequently, though he couldn't manage to beat Alex. 
Still, we were all impressed at his increasing ability to recognize
English words with missing letters.

That evening we went to The Butcher Shop for dinner, as I've been
wanting a good steak, but never get one here (Don gets home from work
too late for us to go out for such a heavy meal, and the restaurants
are crowded on the weekends).  Had the stuffed filet, which was to
die for. Yum!  Dmitry took a turn amusing Hannah:

It was a delightful trip!