Comment the latest book you’ve finished or are reading now.. And what you thought of it.
I’ll get this started: Orphan #8, by Kim van Alkemade – I thought this historical fiction was haunting, yet great. 8/10

When the family gets together, we play games, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I wouldn’t say I’m all that competitive. I mostly love it to be challenged and the laughs.
I’m pretty good at most games, and even better paired up with certain people. If dad and I were on a team together- you had better watch out. Now my first-born, knows to sit a chair away from me, so that if teams are picked ‘every other person’, we’ll be together – haha!
My favorite group game is Taboo. Very similar to Taboo is ‘Poetry for Neanderthals’ where each clue can only be one syllable, and if you mess up you get bonked on the head with a blow-up club.
Some other good ones are Rack-o, Boggle, Mastermind, Tri-ominoes, Rummikub, Huggermugger, Phase 10, and Telestrations is super fun too.
What games are you favorites? For 2 players – or a group?
It’s been 365 days since Dad passed away. It’s hard, of course, as expected… but we’re doing ok. We’ve adapted to a new normal. I’m most grateful that Mom has so many good friends that love and support her.
There are a few memorials that were put in to place this year. For example;
Mom ordered a bench for the club Dad belonged to; it says “In Memory of Jonco – A friend and a beer are always near”.
A monetary donation was also made, for a few repairs that Dad had wanted to make at the club; they were carried out by son Dave, grandson Vince, and friend Kurt.
A ‘Thanks for the Memories’ video was made for Dad and his good friend Dave (who is retiring from emceeing) for all the Christmas Show hosting they did over the years. Here are some stills from the video..
A paver stone at Give Kids the World has been placed on “the Avenue of Angels” in Orlando FL. This was arranged by Dad’s brother, Paul.
Mom has arranged the tickets to take all the grandkids to Las Vegas (Dad’s favorite) in a few months, using all the miles that Dad had built up.
This framed pic of Jonco and Trixie, from B&P’er DJ, was hung right above the doggy door. (Yep, that’s Buster below!)
Jonco’s friend, Derek, (who named one of his cats Jonco) wrote a song about missing him.
Repass (for Jon)
We sit here
finding things to laugh about.
Friends and family–
all the people we can’t live without.
Scratching off the numbers
and missing you.
Telling all the stories
and missing you.
The world outside is quiet.
No one to ruin our day.
“Treat everyone as you would want to be…”
That’s such a “you” thing to say.
Measuring reactions
and missing you.
Random acts of kindness
and missing you.
Tell the person behind me
that this one’s on me.
I know I’m not always wrong or right.
I just see things how I see.
And all I can see right now
is that I’m missing you.
I’ve got all these Bits & Pieces,
but I’m missing you.
I’m missing you.
Memorial Posters were hung at the annual Mud Volleyball Tournament that Dad helped organize each year.
And of course, I also have to say, thank you for all the nice messages we’ve received from the B&P community. It truly means the world <3
Love to all,
krisgo and fam
Mom and I took our annual Christmas shopping trip to Branson. We hit Tanger outlet mall, and The Landing, as well as a few other stand alone stores. Had lunch at Mellow Mushroom. We gave our feet a break and saw the movie Ticket to Paradise – which we thought was cute, but predictable. Stopped by Uranus Fudge Factory on the way back (funny to see – but everything in the store is overpriced – which makes it not funny enough to buy anything – except fudge.)
I always look forward to this trip. It’s always a good time, and mom generally gets 95% of her shopping finished within the first day on this trip. I’m more of a – let me see all the options – then I’ll pick some things. Here are some pics:
I have a condition called Raynaud’s Syndrome/Disease/Phenomenon. Likely, there are a few of you out there that have this too.. 20% of the adult population I’ve read. The condition does not affect me year ’round – thank goodness.
I’ve had this for, I don’t know, 10+ years. When I’m experiencing it, I joke that my fingers have died.
In times of cold-ness and/or stress, the blood seems to drain, and my fingers ‘die’. They feel numb. Holding on to anything cold, like a beverage, while they are ‘dead’ burns like hell. Even running them under warm water when they’re dead hurts like hell.
They can stay dead for 5-30 minutes. I have no real control over that.
When they are ‘coming back to life’ they turn dark purple and they throb, tingle, and you guessed it.. hurt like hell.
The doc prescribed a blood thinner – which I’m not really sure is helping much. But there’s not any other treatment for it. Just prevention.
‘Stay warm’. ‘Move to a warmer climate’. ‘Avoid stress’.
Also, Raynaud’s affects my toes. So that’s fun. /s
I’ve invested in wool blend socks, I’ve tried several versions of hand warmers, gloves, mittens, etc. etc. etc. I’m still looking for the perfect solution.
I use to say Fall was my favorite season. But that’s not a thing I say anymore. I have no interest in playing in the snow. And sadly, I’ve built my last snowman ages ago.
Enjoy the cooler weather if you can. I’ll have to live vicariously through you all.
-krisgo
*I say it’s only gonna get worse, because it’s becoming the colder seasons here in St Louis.
As you know, Dad’s friend Derek got two kitties recently and named one of them after Dad. He updates his fb page every week with cute kitty content, like this:
“Derek, we’ve been reviewing the report you sent in, and while it was a fascinating read, we were hoping you could provide some clarifiCATion on the several pages that read ‘u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7…'”
Thanks Derek
Distant cousin Norman Mayell died this week. A drummer for several bands throughout the years, he played for (another) Norman, Norman Greenbaum for the album Spirit in the Sky.
Today Jonco would’ve been 74.. I found this video below from a post 4 years ago..
He writes:
On this date waaaay back in 1948, I was born. We had a party with family and friends a couple of weeks ago and I made this video of pictures from my life that was playing all day at the party. It’s better viewed fullscreen. Time: 10:07
Today I plan to hang out with the fam, play some games, and have pizza – which is something we would’ve done anyway for Dad’s birthday.
Dad – If you can see this from the great beyond – I miss you. I miss just being able to call you up and ask you an Excel question, or coming over to pick up or drop something off and just seeing you at your computer. I miss hanging out playing games with you, I always loved being on your team. I’m looking for the patterns that you told me about in that dream… I’ll keep looking… always and forever.
I might’ve had the best dad in the world – there’s no way to really tell. And I’m not saying he was perfect. But he was perfect for me. When we buried his ashes we toasted with his favorite. I’ll try to post more pics of that day soon.
But today – here’s what you get – courtesy of my niece, his youngest granddaughter. <3