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That is the exact same experience I had on Nieuw Amsterdam in September 2021. I received a copper medallion and was invited to the reception. It was a small affair.

Thank you, God, is right. I'm thankful you are ok. A tree can be replaced if necessary. You can't. Thank you for the comments about our new home and also for the warning about critters and the low windows. We'll be sure to watch out for that! Enjoy your trip! Thank you! Inspection is set for next Wednesday. After that, we are free to close. @HAL Sailer What wonderful news about your family home!

Good morning, everyone. I'm going out to make arrangements for a truck for my move today. One step closer! Other than that, just a trip to the grocery store and doing my laps around the block. Carnitas are Mexico’s version of pulled pork. Pork carnitas are traditionally made using the heavily marbled, rich Boston butt or picnic ham cuts of pork. The 6–16 lb (3–7 kg) sections are usually cut down to a workable (6–10 lb) size and seasoned heavily before slow braising or deep frying. Carnitas can also be made of chicken, using breasts or thighs, and cooking in a similar manner. The traditional way to cook carnitas is in a copper pot (or any thick-bottomed pot that disperses the heat evenly), in a process similar to confit. Lard is used to cover the dish in proportion to the amount of meat being cooked. Once the lard has melted, pork and flavorings are added (usually salt, chili, cumin, oregano or Mexican oregano, marjoram, thyme, bay leaf, and crushed garlic cloves). Traditional carnitas are then made by a process of simmering the meat in the lard until tender over a very low heat. Once appropriate tenderness is achieved, the heat is turned up and the outside of the pork begins to crisp. At this stage, the collagen in the meat has broken down sufficiently to allow it to be pulled apart by hand or fork or chopped with a cleaver. The meat can then be used as an ingredient in tamales, tacos, tortas, and burritos. We won't be cooking our pork in lard. Instead we'll be using orange juice. https://www.recipetineats.com/pork-carnitas-mexican-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/ This next one uses beer. The beer and orange juice help tenderize the meat so it can be easily pulled apart. https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/crispy-slow-cooker-carnitas/ And this one uses some lime juice along with the orange juice. https://kristineskitchenblog.com/carnitas/ Wishing everyone a good day and hope we hear from all of our Florida Dailyites who were in the path of Ian.

Thanks, Sharon! We'll have plenty of opportunity to celebrate when we are on our BHB. I'd be interested in the fish marinade recipe. Thank you for letting us know. Hopefully @MISTER 67 will check in this morning.

Thank you! It definitely is a unique house. Not many like it. I love it!!

Oh, Melisa, that is so sad. Thank you, Maxine. You are right, it is about the people, not the property.

It would be nice if his agent did sit him down and let him know what the score is. But, my agent thinks his agent was aiding and abetting him. Maybe too inexperienced to know when to tell a client the cold, hard facts. I listened to everything my agent told me and did everything he asked. And my home played out exactly as he said it would. I knew he had a lot more experience than I did and I valued his advice. Too many sellers are trying to take advantage of the market right now. It is still good for a seller, but it is evening out. There are a lot of homes on the market right now that have inflated prices. Both of our choices were like that and that is why they were on the market, or back on the market, for so long. Sue and I are two of the few buyers who bought significantly below asking. Thanks for checking in with us. We are worrying even with the check ins. I am so thankful my niece is in Tennessee.

Thank you, Terri! Good! I hope you do get out and can go on your trip. Thank you, Melisa. I've been watching Ian as well. I am so thankful my niece and her DH got out Monday night. They live in Sarasota. It warms the heart, doesn't it? Lot's of giggles going around here. Susan, thank you so much for your work on the Voodoo doll. My sister and her husband were going to sneak up there at night and cut the garden hose that was holding the tree branches off the roof. They didn't make it, so your hard work is what paid off. I'm not so sure it is rash. Out of the norm for you, but from what I am reading you have thought it out. You have insurance if weather prevents you from going and you've researched the flights and all. I think it is a great decision. Sometimes our friends can't see themselves doing something like cruising solo so they don't think it is good for anyone. I've done both. I usually cruise with my sister, but if she can't go, I go solo. I've had great trips going solo. You are an independent woman with a lot of experience and knowledge. You can do this. Thank you!

Oh, Graham, I am so sorry. But, that is fairly easy to do. Wishing you the best. I do, too. Not very nice of me, but I can't help it. Love the karma, but understand the hot tub. Got it! Isn't it, though? Thank you! We told him to take a hike. Our realtor told his realtor to go kick rocks. I want that mug! And it was sooner! I've always wanted one.

Thanks, Jake.

How's this for karma? The first house is back on the market as the deal fell through. Sleepy seller had better wake up. And, no, we aren't considering it. I love the kitchen. I'll be creating some masterpiece meals there. Lots of room for two old ladies to spread out and not get on each other's nerves. I hope you can make it to Ann Arbor. That is a fun town. Thanks, Graham! We will have to have a celebration on the BHB. Not to long now. I see many evenings out by the fire pit with family around. Thank you so much! I thought the same thing. I am wondering if it is one of the Alden Dow houses in Midland. Alden Dow was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. There was one of his houses on the market last summer that had a window room. The sleepy seller has his own headache today. I suppose it does call for a bottle. Can not wait! Thank you! I'm looking forward to the holidays in my new house. Can't wait to cook that turkey. Well, the truth is we let them keep the hot tub to get the price down where we wanted. As nice as they are, they do suck up electricity like no tomorrow. And then you have the maintenance issues. Thank you!

Many thanks to all of you! The paperwork has been signed, sealed, and delivered. This one is moving so much faster than the other one. The exercise equipment will not be staying in the living room. All new appliances, granite countertops, and soft close cabinets and drawers. And, we have a dishwasher! Double oven for holiday baking! The house does have central air, but the sellers thought it needed a boost. We'll see next summer. Cannot wait to use this!

Good morning, everyone! And a wonderful morning it is. We have a house! As predicted, we met in the middle between yesterday's counter offers. I am so excited that this is over and I won't be homeless for too long. I'll get photos soon. Some cardboardeaux is in the future. Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus Aspergillus oryzae) and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables, fish, or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup, a Japanese culinary staple. Miso is high in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, and it played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining worldwide interest. Typically, miso is salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory. For more information:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame. It is served by itself (as a dip) or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva. Tahini is used in the cuisines of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of North Africa. Sesame paste (though not called tahini) is also used in some East Asian cuisines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini Our first recipe comes from Epicurious. A mixture of savory miso and nutty tahini adds a creamy richness to this filling vegetarian soup. A good dose of ginger and garlic, plus a few drops of hot chili oil, adds a punch of heat, making it the perfect cure-all on a blustery day. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-miso-tahini-squash-soup-with-brown-rice I love soups, especially when the weather gets cold. Leftover short grain brown rice for the soup, which is a little starchier than long grain, works perfectly. The kale and rice provide texture and the squash is so naturally creamy, it’s irresistible and provides such a beautiful, earth color. https://maroscooking.com/2017/12/12/miso-tahini-squash-soup-with-brown-rice/ The miso tahini soup it is simple, hearty, and restorative with brown rice, winter squash, and a creamy miso-tahini broth. Avocado, lemon zest, toasted nori, and chives kept things lively and beautiful up top. https://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/miso-tahini-soup-recipe.html I think I like #2. Wishing everyone a great day. Prayers for those in the path of Ian and hoping our Floridians check in often and let us know they are ok. My niece and her family are safely in Tennessee and for that I give thanks.

Thank you! I am thrilled for your DH that there is going to be a quick resolution of his problems. The worst thing is when health issues drag on an on and on.

I am hoping that is the case. I will have to bunk in with someone for about a week in between my house and the new one. I'm hoping that works in my new dishwasher. For the last 35 years my two hands were the only dish washer I had. I hear you! I'm not a Caribbean cruiser, but if I did it would be Eastern or Southern. I think it will. Hopefully we'll get more good news tomorrow. Thank you! Thanks!

Everyone is different and copes in different ways. After our Dad died my sister and I were kind of adrift and we thought about cruising during the holidays. We may someday, but then we decided to get our own place now so we had some place to land. We were in the wind until 2 days before Christmas last year. @Rowsby Good for you! @MISTER 67 Thank you for checking in and letting us know how you are doing. Do continue to check in during the storm if you can. We will all be worried. Ok, some good news! The sellers responded to our offer with a counter offer. We accepted most of their stipulations and are pretty close on money. Hopefully we will meet in the middle.

@Horizon chaser 1957 @Cruising-along

Not to worry. We all need reminders once in a while.

Good morning, everyone! Wow, did I sleep in this morning. I don't think I've slept that late in ages. Yesterday's travel wore me out. I'm hoping the next time I make that trip it will be because of moving. @kazu Jacqui, I think it is great that you booked a cruise for over Christmas and New Years. Sue and I were going to do one but decided we wanted the cruises next summer more. $$$ is finite. Instead we will spend the holidays in our new home. We hope. The wine sounds great. I love a good Gewurtztraminer. MIght go well with one of today's chicken dishes. The only requirement for today's meal is chicken and a skillet. Skillet chicken can really be anything you want it to be. It can be a simple dish like this skillet chicken with a garlic and herb sauce made in the pan. https://www.cookingclassy.com/skillet-chicken-with-garlic-herb-butter-sauce/ Or this one with a nice spice rub for the chicken before cooking. The method described helps keep the chicken breasts moist and juicy. https://www.inspiredtaste.net/49683/skillet-chicken-breasts/ This next one looks really delicious. You might want some rice to go with it or riced cauliflower if you are watching your carbs. https://gypsyplate.com/easy-creamy-chicken-skillet/ You can make this dish anything you want, from a version of chicken pot pie......https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-biscuit-skillet/ to something that sounds fancy like these plum chicken tenders. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/skillet-plum-chicken-tenders/ If those choices aren't enough, here are 60 ways to make chicken in a skillet. https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/skillet-chicken-recipes/ Wishing everyone a great day. May those in the path of Ian remain safe. And may our new sellers accept our offer.

I'd be interested in seeing that information. Can you send it to me? If someone wants to find me, they'll find me. Although, I'll be gone in a few weeks.

Oh, my gosh, I used to walk past that house all the time when I was visiting Mom and Dad. Some days I'd go for long, long walks and hit almost every street in the neighborhood. Mom and Dad were through the path way over on Mason. You wouldn't have gotten the highway sounds where you were but those on Bloomfield would have. The house we looked at was on Butterfield and the highway went though the back yard. My niece and her husband and son are on their way. I told them they could come here, but they are going to Joe's aunt's house in Tennessee. I managed to fall going up the stairs and broke a hip. It can be done. However, I now always use the railing when going up or down stairs. We can always put in a double railing so there is one on each side. That is easy to do. Kind of like Spanglish? After one trip to Europe I decided I was a lazy bum and started taking Spanish classes. I even spent a few summers in Madrid living with a Spanish family. I got pretty good at one point, but haven't used it in ages. Not as much as we do. I'm going to be homeless in 38 days. My grandmother had to do stairs until she was in her 80's and sold it. It is a concern, but I don't think anyone could figure out who I was if I said I used to live at 608 Center Way in Lake Jackson, Texas. That was almost 60 years ago. That house seemed so big when I was 8, but looks so little now when I see pictures of it. I think Facebook is a bigger danger than CC for those who are scamming.

It is a split level, sort of. There is a full flight of stairs between the top floor and the lowest floor. The top floor has two bedrooms, a bath and the living room. Then you go down 4 steps to the kitchen and dining room. From there you go down to the lowest level. You also go to the family room from the kitchen. If the kitchen level had a powder room I would be home free. Where did you live in Midland? I wonder if my realtor can access pictures. That conversion does sound strange. I keep forgetting what I wanted to say. Maybe I should go directly to assisted living. My niece and her husband are in Sarasota, just down the road a piece from Tampa. They are currently packing and are heading to Tennessee.

Probably, but we'd have to install 3 of them. By then I won't be able to keep up with the place. '

I have them now and we just aren't finding a home without them that is acceptable. They are either twice what we can afford or dumps that will take twice what we can afford to fix up. We talked about the stairs and we figure we'll get a good 15 years in the house and then we can sell it and move to the senior living apartments in town. Our brother lives there and we can try to get apartments on either side of him. He'd love it. Ok, that last sentence was in jest.

Good afternoon, everyone! I am safely home from our whirlwind house hunting trip. Thank you to @0106 Tina for stepping in for me. I do appreciate that. I'm sorry for everyone experiencing health woes - I'll catch up tomorrow and be specific, but I wish everyone a speedy recovery. @kazu Jacqui, I'm glad to hear you weathered the storm. We saw 5 different houses. The two that were right in our price range were quickly eliminated. One already had offers and would certainly go over asking and I wasn't willing to pay that much for it. The furnace was quite old and would need replacing soon. The windows were old and most likely a great source of heat loss. All the appliances were old and needed replacing. The third bedroom had room for a crib and not much else. No where to put guests. The fireplace didn't work and needed repairs. And the laundry was in the basement. The other one had a lovely yard, but the house was pretty much a dump. The kitchen was a gut job, there was no dining area, you had to walk through the furnace room to get to the bathroom, one of the bedrooms was locked and we couldn't see it and the there was no bathroom upstairs where the other two bedrooms were. It was quickly scratched off the list. Next we went to a nice ranch home. The layout was kind of quirky. The living room was really small and the dining room was huge. The basement was mainly finished off and had a nice big family room. Laundry was in the basement. It has been on the market for a while now as it is over priced. Then we saw one that is again overpriced for location and what you get. It is located near the highway and the noise from the highway was constant. You wouldn't be able to open windows in the summer because of the noise. The kitchen was way too small. It did have a main floor laundry, but the highway noise was a deal breaker. You might as well sit in the median and watch the cars whizz by. The last one was multi level, but stairs were limited in number at any one time. There is plenty of space. In fact Sue decided she would like to take the bottom floor for her bedroom and there is a space close by for her art studio. There is also a bedroom down there for guests. And, of course, the laundry is down there. I'll just throw it down to Sue. There was a nice large family room off the kitchen and the dining room was great with built ins. This is the one we decided to make an offer for. We are waiting to hear back. I'm sure they'll counter with a higher price. We're a little hesitant because there was an earlier offer and it was withdrawn after 9 days and the house came back on the market. We are curious as to why. I'm hoping the negotiations on this house go a bit more quickly than the drag out rejection of the other house. We shall see. Meanwhile, time to start getting ready for my cruise. I timed this well, didn't I?