Sunday

All is well! Ed made two trips to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles and also to the police department, and between the two he learned that the license plate in the photos belongs to a former owner of our van. The records show that it is no longer on our van, but in Missouri that is a minor detail (to be blithely disregarded along with the photos showing a Chevy truck, not a Ford van). So I sent a helpful note to Missouri and we are hoping that fixes things.

And now the really exciting news..... my parents are back! They arrived from Maine (bringing cold weather, but we'll pretend we didn't notice) on Wednesday morning, and it is wonderful having them here again!  Travis is the new king of Bananagrams, but I have a feeling my dad is just taking it easy early on to lull us into complacency (he's already started slipping in words like "wen," which certainly portends trouble). Last night they joined us for dinner, and I made chicken stew (I make good chicken stew), challah,  and my excellent pumpkin crisp (I bake mine in a 9x13 pan and add 3/4 cup chocolate chips to the top). It was good. And they are coming over next week for Thanksgiving and my mom is making pies! (and green beans. which are good and all.... but.... pies!)