Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes today is the day!

As some of you may know, Thanksgiving Day has always been a huge cooking day for me. This was my big day to prepare a feast for my family! This year I came to the decision that with my recent loss of my brother Paul that I just could not bring myself to prepare "the feast" with the same fervor as past years. So where does that leave me?

It leaves me assisting Lyn with her turkey day preparations of course! She is heading north as we speak to eat with her family with turkey in the trunk and a fabulous container of Cranberry Pomegranate sauce! The cranberry sauce was my contribution. I must tell you that I was sorely tempted to add a little vodka to the mixture since the sauce sounded more like a martini. What a surprise that would have been to a Baptist family! It turned out remarkably well despite the big mess it left in Lyn's kitchen. I will likely make it again when I cook for my friends on 12/14 and then.......it will be a spiked sauce!

Tonight I am heading out to the outlet mall at midnight to get a little Christmas shopping done. Yes....it opens at midnight and it is packed with people! It is very fun and if an outlet store is open near you at midnight tonight I highly recommend that you go. What else are you doing tonight besides nursing a food coma?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today. This day probably has more meaning for me than any other for I am profoundly thankful for all of my friends and family that have been hovering close by for the last 6 weeks. If I could name them all here I would but then I would miss most of this day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think I killed Rudolph

Yeah.....I am hoping that I am wrong. The night of the election I was on my way to Lyn's house when a deer ran into my path. I am usually vigilant for them since I live in an area where the deer abound and frequent my backyard on a daily basis. And yes.....I have been known to feed them from time to time as they bring their young into the yard. Ok....I am softie.

End result of the little collision.......$1616.00.

My only consolation is that there is now a deer in Northern Kentucky who can truly light up the night's sky because he has a headlight permanently attached to his head.......

No V-Necks Need Apply

Rita's favorite season is fast approaching. This weekend she's gone headfirst into her HSN/QVC browsing mode. Sunday Morning on CBS? Hmmmmph. I'm blogging to the sounds of some bubble-head doing her best to sell Rita a pressure cooker.

Seriously. It's like crack to her. And what's even odder -- SHE HATES TO SHOP.

I, of course, adore shopping. Just not via the tube.

I particularly like to gift those I love (and seek to dress in a style of my choosing) with warm, fuzzy, stylish sweaters.

Lands End and Eddie Bauer holiday catalogs send me over the edge.

A snazzy argyle. A fine cashmere. A thick, chunky, handknit import from the British Isles.

One of my favorite post-Holiday shopping activities is to peruse clearance tables piled high with men's sweaters. I have several lovely steals from the local Gap outlet that I wear as a coat until 'real' winter arrives.

So you can imagine my reaction the first time I presented Rita with one of my bargain finds for herself -- a lovely V-Neck shetland in a fabulous soft gray green.

She didn't shriek or run away -- but it was a decidedly mommie dearest decree -- no v-necks. Ever.

That almost ended the relationship before it began.

But I don't give up.

Rita will be the first to tell you I'm a strong believer in assimilation.

Each and every Fall when the catalogs start arriving I try again.

"Isn't it lovely? It's a shallow v, not really noticeable."

"Well, with a turtleneck under it it's not really a v-neck."

*sigh*

One last shot over the political bow!

Wow....how time flies! Here we are.... the night before the biggest and most sought after Presidential election any of us will ever remember! The two candidates have been chosen and we have heard the rhetoric from both sides for the last four months. I am tired of hearing the commercials, the bickering and Sarah Palin. I think that is the correct order for all three of my pain points.

My goal is to vote for Barack Obama tomorrow. There is not an argument out there that can now convince me that I should vote for the old Maverick and his pup. A maverick is defined as follows:

1. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, esp. an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.
2. a lone dissenter, as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates.
3. (initial capital letter) an electro-optically guided U.S. air-to-ground tactical missile for destroying tanks and other hardened targets at ranges up to 15 mi. (24 km).

Feel free to choose any one of those definitions that appeal to you most.

I am of the opinion that I don't want a lone dissenter who has the temperament of a guided missile in the White House. We have not had the good fortune to see him "blow up" on the campaign trail, but we have all heard of his reputation. We do not need someone who is more volatile than Dubya. We do not need someone who takes the lone road because he wants to make the lone decision because he is feeling "mavericky". If he is elected, do you not think he IS going to take things into his own hands? He will because he has been telling us for the last year that he is exactly that type of guy. He goes it alone if he has to and bucks the established practice.

Wow.....great way to reestablish those NATO allie connections that have been incinerated by Dubya for the last eight years. We are a country that needs its allies and those connections need to be reconstructed by someone who has the ability to reach across the table and work with others. Not someone who is a lone dissenter.

Around the world, third world countries not only have our jobs (I have seen what outsourcing can do) but also hold our IOU slips because we've had to borrow money from them. It is time that we hold major corporations responsible for sending those jobs overseas and leaving us without good jobs. I am not talking just about manufacturing jobs here, but IT jobs as well.

It is time for us to take back the "America" brand and image. It is time for all of us to unite together and move forward as a united front and not a divided country. Do you not think that the rest of the world knows that most of the American citizens can't stand their President or what he stands for?

Tomorrow I am voting for Barack Obama because he represents real change and a fresh perspective on what it takes to bring us to the table as a united front to the world. He represents my views and my philosophies in my personal life. It is not about one issue - "the Gay issue" - its about several issues. It is about my confidence in the person and his abilities to lead this country.

I cannot take the chance on John McCain. His choice of VP should have been clear to all of us that his judgement is in serious question. If I have to question his judgement on his VP selection, I have to worry about what other decision this "maverick" will make as he picks up the phone at 3am. I don't want him making a off-the-cuff decision at 3am that could cost me my life and my pursuit of happiness.

No thanks John McCain. You are just not worth the risk.

Here I am

In case you all thought I have vanished into thin air I thought I would check in to prove that this blog is still very much an active thing for me!

In the last few weeks I have been dealing with a very sad family issue. I lost my brother Paul on October 16th at the young age of 40. I'm not going to get into many details but it was an accident that didn't need to happen. It took a very funny, charming and well mannered man from my life and the life of my parents. Lots of great things have been said about him over the last few weeks and the outpouring of support from people I have never met (at his funeral) was overwhelming.

We have been left shocked and dismayed by this loss and are taking things one day at a time. I have watched my mother exude a personal inner strength that I would have never imagined she would have during a time such as this. I have to believe that he is in a better place and that provides me and my family with great comfort during this time.

I have been back to work for the last two weeks and it has helped to preoccupy my mind and renew my spirit. It is nice to be able to come back to the blog and write a few things again.

It is time to regroup and learn to adjust to the "new normal" in my life. There will be good days and bad days but I know that while my mind and heart will not forget in time I will learn to reconcile with it as I move forward.