Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Mama took Chase to school on Wednesday morning because she had the day off for Veterans’ Day. Daddy didn’t have the day off; there was no mail delivery; the Post didn’t publish a newspaper; the Columbia Library was closed but the County Library was open; the Columbia School District was closed but Chase’s school was open. It was a very confusing holiday. Mama went shopping this morning at Waterloo Walmart and bought a 23.69 pound turkey for Thanksgiving. She also bought some unborn corn to use for the stir fry that Chase likes so much for dinner tonight. Nanaw went along with Mama to pick Chase up from school. They needed to give Brady a ride to his mom’s office at the IC church for his tutoring session because the Columbia Library was closed. First, Mama dropped Chase and Nanaw off at Brittany’s for Chase’s haircut. Then Mama came back to Brittany’s after she dropped Brady off. Mama asked Chase if he had homework, and he said he had to finish the short story for English but it wasn’t due until Friday. Mama asked him if his teacher had told him the things to do that he couldn’t remember. He said yes, the things were all on the last page of the packet, and he’d missed seeing them. Mama, Chase and Nanaw went back to Chase’s house when the haircut was done. Chase and Nanaw sat in Chase’s room on their phones and iPad until it was time for Chase to leave for his workout at 5 p.m.; Mama was going to take him at 4:30 or so.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

First, below are Rockbridge addenda photos that Mama received from Aunt Becky and put in her Facebook post about the Rockbridge trip. Next, is an update on Chase’s Tuesday. When Nanaw picked him up from school, he said he had a good day. For lunch, he had a chicken crispito and that was good also. There’s still no current lunch menu on the Gibault website, just the old one from September and October. Nanaw asked about the most interesting thing of the day, and Chase said there wasn’t one. Maybe there will be one tomorrow. For homework, he has an English assignment to write his own short story like the Edgar Allan Poe stories they’ve been studying for the past few weeks. He also has a Civics assignment on the Bill of Rights, plus a Theology assignment. Nanaw asked if they’d discussed the midterm elections in Civics class. Chase said not as a class assignment but the teacher did mention it. Chase had his regular selection of assorted snacks after school. When that was finished, he asked for something more. Nanaw suggested ice cream, and he decided that was exactly what he wanted.

Monday, November 9, 2026

Mama says she has the day off Wednesday for Veterans' Day and that she’ll take Chase to school. She said she and Nanaw could both pick him up and take him to his 3:15 haircut with Brittany at her house. Chase has a workout at 5 p.m. so Nanaw will hang out with him at his house until it’s time for him to leave. Brady had basketball after school today so Nanaw didn’t get to see Debbie. On the way home, Chase said for lunch he had a ham and cheese sandwich that was good. He had only English vocab homework, which he worked on at Nanaw’s house but didn’t finish so he’ll work on it at home tonight. Nanaw asked Chase what was the most interesting thing that happened today. Chase thought about it for a minute, then said his Math teacher gave him a black key that looked like a skeleton key that was printed from a 3D printer. Nanaw asked why Chase got the key, and he said it was because he got a 100 on the most recent math test. He guesses he’ll have to pass it along to the next person who gets a 100. Mama brought home some of Marshay’s husband’s chili for dinner. Everybody loved it except for Chase. He said it was too spicy.  The first photo below is one that Copilot and Mama created on her phone. LOL

Saturday, November 7, and Sunday, November 8, 2026

Saturday was an exciting day at Rockbridge for Mama: She wore the new waders she got from Amazon, and most importantly, she caught a fish! It weighed 4.38 pounds, which is a really good size. It was slightly less than the one Pawpaw caught -- 4.4 pounds -- which he had stuffed and which is still hanging on the bedroom wall. Chase also went fishing in his waders but he didn't catch a fish. Daddy said Chase had a strong bite, and his line was stretched way out but unfortunately, the fish got away. It was a really good day for Aunt Becky. She caught a 7.02 pound trout and made the Rockbridge Leader Board with a photo of her and the fish she caught. At dinner, only Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky were hungry for dessert; everybody else was too full - they had a piece of cookie dough cake and said it was really good. On Saturday night, Aunt Becky discovered some Dishscapes on YouTube, so that was fun. Everybody was really happy with the new Wi-Fi at Rockbridge, especially Chase. Saturday night's entertainment for Mama, Daddy, Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky was another horrible movie: The Twister. Everybody agreed on how cheesy it was. On Sunday, the final fish total for the four who caught fish was 22 fish. Mama asked the breakfast waitress to take a picture of everybody at the table. Then after breakfast, Aunt Becky asked the cashier lady to take a fireplace photo. Also after breakfast, it was time for everybody to pick out birthday and Christmas presents. Even Chase picked something out this year -- a really cool-looking navy blue Rockbridge hoodie. They packed up, paid, and left about 10:45 a.m. and arrived back at Nanaw's house at 2:12 p.m. Nanaw was surprised that the cost was the same as last year; usually it  goes up. The cashier lady said it was because the rooms were charged at the winter rate rather than the summer rate. As always, the food was delicious, the fish were biting, and everyone had a wonderful time. Some of them even got to see Rockbridge workers dump lots of trout in the meat hole, as Pawpaw called the fishing area by the waterfall and the Grist Mill. 

Rockbridge! Friday, November 6, 2026

 Chase and his family finally got on the road to Rockbridge about 9 a.m. on Friday morning. They made their usual stop at Panera’s in Rolla for delicious baked goods. Chase, ever the bread lover, got a loaf of artisan bread. At first, the sales lady put two loaves of bread in the bag, but Chase and Nanaw quickly corrected her. They got to Rockbridge about 1 p. m., and they were happy to find that their rooms were ready. After getting settled in the rooms, they went down to the lodge for lunch. Their waitress was a young woman who took great delight in teasing Chase about his phone obsession and everything else she could think of. Chase took the teasing and the family’s laughter really well, much to Nanaw’s surprise. It made for an extremely memorable lunch. Daddy, Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky went fishing after lunch. Mama and Chase went for a walk in the woods, as shown in the first picture below, and Nanaw took a nap. At 6 p.m., they all had a first-ever adventure, playing Bingo at the Grist Mill. Nobody won any of the Bingo games but they had a great time. Dinner was good but they put off dessert till Saturday night’s dinner. In the evening, they watched a terrible, really awful movie titled Frozen (no connection to the Disney Frozen). Nanaw left halfway through, but checked with Mama about how it ended.

Wednesday, November 4, and Thursday, November 5, 2026

On Wednesday morning, there was still no menu for lunch at Gibault. Nanaw forgot to ask Chase about it on Wednesday and when she asked on Friday, he couldn’t remember so Wednesday’s lunch was lost forever. Chase had Math homework, like he usually does, plus Biology. A week or two ago, Nanaw asked if he had more homework at Gibault than at ICS. She thought he would say more at ICS but he said more at Gibault. They took Brady to his tutoring session at the Columbia library on Wednesday after school. The two boys laughed and talked all the way there — very funny. Nanaw didn’t see Chase on Thursday. Mama and Daddy took him to and from school. On Friday, Chase told Nanaw he had a chicken sandwich for Thursday's lunch. It was the first Thursday in November so it was early dismissal at 2:20, and Mama and Daddy almost missed it. Fortunately, Chase texted a reminder to them and that was good. Mama texted the second picture below of Chase to Nanaw for Days of Chase. Thursday night everybody was packing and getting ready for the trip to Rockbridge. They were planning to leave between 8 and 9 a.m. on Friday morning. The first picture below is Chase's hockey team photo.

 

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

On Tuesday morning, when Mama brought Chase over to Nanaw’s house, she reminded them that Chase has an ortho appointment at 4:30 this afternoon. She also said that Chase has a 6 p.m. workout session so they should come home right after the ortho appointment. Nanaw said she would make sure they had the guys and the clothes backpack with them. It was pouring down rain when Nanaw picked Chase up from school so she didn’t get to get out of her car and talk to Brady’s Grandma Debbie. Maybe the weather will be better tomorrow. Chase took an umbrella to school with him but he walked out of school without it. Fortunately, the rain had slowed down a lot. Mama had texted that she’d call when she finished voting. . Mama took off work early at 3 p.m. to go vote this afternoon. She told Nanaw that it only took about five minutes, and it wasn’t crowded at all. Mama said she picked the perfect time to vote. On the drive home, Nanaw got all kinds of information to pass along to Mama. Still no lunch menu; Chase said he had a chicken taco today. He said he had some Math homework that he would do at home tonight. Nanaw asked him if he was going to miss the Bears baseball team, and he said yes. Bears baseball won’t start up again until next June, when all high school baseball is finished.  Nanaw asked how Chase felt about hockey, and his answer sounded like it wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad – just sort of in the middle. He’s happy about the two games they’ve won, and said he’s happy to be on a winning hockey team. Chase told Nanaw he’d emailed his Friday teachers to tell them he wouldn’t be at school on Friday. He got information from them about Friday’s homework and when to turn it in. Chase’s ortho appointment only took about a half an hour, and the technician said he’d already scheduled his next appointment in the first week in December. Chase told Nanaw that the technician told him his braces would be coming off in February. When Nanaw took Chase home, Mama gave her two fall-smelling candles: apple-pumpkin and kitchen spice. Mama was only going to give her one candle but Nanaw liked them both so much she couldn’t choose. So Mama gave her both candles.