Pull up a chair, relax, and enjoy the company.
It’s almost Thanksgiving and I’ve got so much I’m grateful for:
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Family
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My Best Buddy
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Old Friends
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New Friends
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Natural Beauty At My Home
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Natural Beauty Far Away
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| But more than anything I’m grateful that |
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| nobody knows what I looked like as a kid. |
Sappy or snarky or both, what’s your list?
Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe from yesterday)
Thursday December 1st: Inexpensive Holiday Gifts
No matter what kind of mood I’m in, sad or anxious, tired or kind of ornery, that picture of you makes me laugh out loud….every time.
I got next to no sleep. Suffice to say that birthing 4 giant babies pretty much assures that your bladder will continue to wake you up as if you still had a newborn. Ack.
And I’m obsessing about my upcoming big court appearance where I have to complete a major report detailing my investigation and recommendations, and said investigation is not going as quickly as I’d like due to the holiday and people not returning my phone calls. I feel so inept. And nervous. So I’m basically eating everything in sight whether it appeals to me or not, and I’m snapping at anyone who looks at me the wrong way.
Anyway, knowing that I should come up with a list of things to be thankful for will help me see those things even in the midst of my crankiness and stress, and I’ll be back, after coffee, to write something properly thankful.
Morning, Andi.
You are the shy-bitch-goddess-of-the-left who can defeat nasty SUV’s with a single piece of paper and make witty jokes out of your pain — there is no task and no person capable of withstanding your powerful mind and sterling good will.
Ok, first on the list, I am thankful for cinnamon hazelnut coffee, made a touch too dark, but lots of half and half to mellow it out.
And people who make me feel stronger than I really am.
Repeat after me: Your report will be fine. You will be great. You are the Shy Bitch-goddess…
When I get stressed and snappy, I go for a long walk. By the time I get back, I usually feel better, even though nothing has changed but my attitude.
Plus, you have along weekend with your family this week. Is your daughter back from college yet?
I think I will go for a walk, it’s sunny today after 2 days of rain. My daughter gets back today and I’m really looking forward to seeing her even though it’s only been a month or so since I saw her last. It’s weird, the 3 boys and I have a kind of easy rapport; always have. But the girl and I must be too alike because we are hormonal and weepy and get our feelings hurt easily when we’re together. It’s all good after a few days together but, as my husband puts it, we have trouble merging traffic again after she’s been gone.
Snapping at anyone who looks at you the wrong way is excellent preparation for your court appearance. You’ll be fine, you’re a natural!
Beautiful Diary, Andi — I’m very impressed. Sappy or Snarky? — I can’t say I see any Snark in it at all.
And I’m thrilled to see pictures of your family and friends.
Me? I’m very thankful for having mister katiebird in my life. I try to think about that every day. I’m thankful to have all 4 of my sisters, my 3 brothers and my parents still with me in this world. I’m thankful that Booman and Susan brought us all together — and that somehow every new person that joins us fits in so well they don’t feel like new people at all.
And I’m very thankful that on this, Andi’s first official host day — I’m home for the holiday & can spend the day as a player, not a lurker!!!
Hey, I’m glad you’re here, too. Much more fun. I suspect I’m not going to get much work done today (but they’ll close up shop at headquarters in early afternoon and I’ll make it up later, anyway).
Well maybe a little snark at the end? If we make it to the second diary, there’s a good more snark in that one.
Sweety bragging about childhood adorableness does not in anyway count as snark.
this morning either.
vacant-stared, cross-eyed mouth-breather != adorable
vacant-stared, cross-eyed mouth-breather == laughably funny-looking
Of course my eyes are open! Would I dare face you two days in a row with closed eyes?
Put up a poll, I dare you.
Because my view will win. I’ll bet on it.
I showed the picture to my sweetie this morning and told him we were polling. (He’s never seen it before today!) Another vote for cute…
2 in my house vote for cute!
And there are people signing up right now for gene modifications for their little snowflake embryos so they will also come out as vacant-stare, cross-eyed mouth-breathers. Wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn, swamp land in Florida?
Besides, I’d rather be funny than cute.
Trivia time: did you know that cute originally mean smart as in sharp, and was shortened from acute?
Ahhh, you think a person can’t be cute AND funny. I guess I haven’t posted enough pictures of myself.
Besides, I’d rather be funny than cute.
You’re both, which is even better.
I admit it — I hear ‘cute’ and I see some bubbly, stepford-wife-wanna-be cheerleader waving pom-poms.
Depending on the sort of mood I’m in, when I hear cute, I think either ManE’s dog or Paula Marshall. Okay, usually I think Paula Marshall.
I have no idea who that is — should I? (But I’d be much inclined to call her sultry than cute. My idea of cute is Michael J. Fox or Cameron Diaz.
She’s an actress currently playing a lesbian ER doctor on a new TV sitcom called Out Of Practice which also stars Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler. So far, it’s not great but not as vapid as other sitcoms either, but really I’m just watching for Paula.
I never get crushes on celebrities or rock stars, but the crush I currently have on this woman is ridiculous. I think a large part of it is the character she’s cast in, whose personality I find both amusing and appealing. It probably won’t last, though, the poor woman’s cursed and has had the past 5 or so shows she was in be cancelled very quickly.
Heh, I guess the short answer woulda been: no, there’s no reason for you to know who she is.
because I often feel like cultural klutz.
I have had two crushes in my entire life on celebrities, both in college: Arlo Guthrie and Jean-Paul Belmondo. I’ve often thought that understanding those crushes would somehow plumb the depths of my psyche — which is why I’ve never tried to figure them out at all.
Funny you should say that thing about being a cultural klutz, I used to be the same way. I didn’t watch much television until I was in my mid-20s, but very shortly thereafter my sociologist and pop-culture-junkie roommate was able to get me to understand that tuning in provided a deep understanding of nuances in culture that I’d never been privy to before. Now I always make sure to watch a handful of shows so I can keep track of the pop culture zeitgeist.
But we split ways on the psyche depths; I am addicted to most forms of analysis and rather enjoy regularly have some existential crisis or another going on.
I have no idea who Jean-Paul Belmondo is. Should I know him?
If watching some TV will do it then I’m not a complete schlub — I watched Buffy from day one, Angel, Firefly, and currently watch Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mar, and Lost. So I guess there’s hope for me yet on that count. No hope on the other — I much prefer enjoying other people’s existential crises.
Okay, I admit I mentioned Belmondo because I figured you wouldn’t know who he was as you are too young — his heyday was the sixties and he’s French. You can find out about him herebut to get the full effect you have to see some of his movies like Breathless, The Man from Rio, or Cartouche.
Notice you didn’t need to ask about Arlo, though.
I saw Arlo in concert in 1969. It was so crowded in the hall, I had to watch the whole thing through the gap between a girl’s braid and her neck. It was a VERY limited view.
But the music was great!
Nope, no need to ask about Arlo; hippie parents took care of that.
BtVS was brilliant (for the first few seasons). That was actually the first “appointment television” I had since Soap. I watch Lost, too, (how ’bout those tailaways!) but other than that we’re on different channels.
I know French philosophy, but not French film. If you’d said you’d had a crush on Gilles Deleuze or Luce Irigaray I’d have known exactly who you were talking about. But whenever I say that no one knows WTF I mean. ;p
It seems to me you should have been my mother’s daughter. Not me.
I have enough trouble being my mother’s daughter — I don’t think I can take on another one. So you mother had a think for vacant-stare, cross-eyed mouth breathers?
It’s interesting that in our family, my mother always takes Jim’s side and his mom always takes mine — I suspect that says a lot about of as children.
She never approved of it at all.
Now I’ll admit to having a cute prejudice but I don’t actually get approving or disapproving — it isn’t like cute is something you chose to be, it just happens.
I always disappointed my mother because I wouldn’t be a “lady” no matter what she did but we both got over it eventually.
Great photos Andi! I love photos of friends and family.
I’m going to have a cup of coffee and settle in for a few quiet hours.
Its time to unwind from Manny’s and Joe’s two day marathon on multiple blogs! I’m so impressed by what the two of them did the last couple of days!
Pics or fun later…stuff to keep me going as I travel. I’ll think about all these laughs as I face CA holiday traffic this afternoon!
SallyCat — I’ll join you in having that coffee. I’m taking mine black (I usually put heavy cream in my coffee for the holidays, but I haven’t bought it yet) — How do you want yours?
I have a breakfast blend – mostly french roast – this morning. For the holidays I like some Bailey’s Irish Cream in the 2nd or 3rd cup.
Some years past – visiting red state relatives – well I’d dig out the Irish Whiskey for the coffee!
ummmm. That looks so good.
In our family, the blue state relatives are no more liberal (if anything less) than the red state relatives. So, we’re lucky there.
I knew I could count on someone to do food — ’cause I’m not doing any today since people are absolutely going to o.d. tomorrow (except katiebird).
Funny you should say that. I was just thinking that I’m not at all worried about tomorrow. At least not in terms of the food issues.
I knew your determination was bigger than some lil ole holiday overstuffed with food.
But I am, by nature a rule follower. I think it’s because I always wanted things to be normal (when you live in a house as one of 8 little kids things are NOT normal). And I’ve always seen rules as a way to put things on track toward normalcy.
Anyway. I’m a rule follower and so having set these two rules, I just follow them. I don’t have to think about food issues anymore. And since I was sick of the struggle, that’s great. It really isn’t a matter of self-control. I still eat whatever I want (although oddly enough, what I want to eat has changed over the months).
Anyway, I’m not proud of the rule thing, because of the whole, what if the rule was to do something horrible? Would I still follow that rule? I hope I’d fight it. But, what if?
to tell you about yourself (well, about as far as the dog sleeping behind me) — but I think you’ve got it backwards. You have a lot of determination and a strong sense of organization so you use rules as a way to focus your determination toward achieving a goal; following rules is nothing more than a successful stategy for getting where you want to go.
I just finished baking an apple pie, 2 pumpkin pies and a batch of Poorman’s stuffing.
Gotta cook the turkey tomorrow AM before we head off for my daughter’s (she’s got 2 master degrees but his kitchen-challenged LOL)
This will be my first normal Thanksgiving in several years -last year my husband was in jail and before that alcoholism interupted the holidays (not me) Plus this year I have my grandson, Denzel, so I am doing the Grammy Cha! Cha! tomorrow.
But my sad soul will be with all those who are suffering…
roseeriter — we’ve had our complicated holidays also, and for me that is another thing I’m thankful for. Everyone here is home safe and sound (at least as of this morning).
I’m very glad that you’re going to have a normal Thanksgiving. After a few years of trauma, those are the best.
8:48 a.m. Brown County Indiana
Digital cameras are such fun.
WoW! Loverly. I think I like snowy Thanksgivings more than white Christmas’.
We’ve got overcast here — but I think it’s almost 70. Which is kind of weird.
That looks cold and dark, just like I remember it. My family in Cleveland is expecting a big storm today with 12 to 24 inches forecast for the snow belt.
well, we’re on our way to our yearly 12′ of snow…got about 2-3 inches today and expect about another 1 inch tomorrow. Time for the snow tires and sand bags in the trunk!
I had a customer site in Syracuse that I had to go to quite a bit and I just hated going there. There was always tons of snow and they used cinder and ash on the streets and sidewalks so everything was covered in this gross muck.
it’s where I went to college…so I grew up near Rochester, went to college in Syracuse…and then went to grad school in Honolulu, HI! Momma didn’t raise no dummy! (So why the hell am I back in Rochester then????)
Maybe it’s because you admire Georgena Terry’s bicycles?
not sure about the bicycle reference though??? (I don’t get out much…I’m an “urban hermit”)
Happy Thanksgiving to all! Tomorrow I will have the singular joy of driving from my relatively quiet Hudson Valley locale to Long Island to be with the family. Metro area holiday traffic is, umm, abundant, and frustrating. But I’m hoping for abundance of a different kind to all!
Is there a direct correlation between the amount of food being cooked and number of cars on the road?
That’s my limit to philosophical questions this morning! ;^D
A cosmic correlation!
Good morning all! I am thankful today because you guys have reminded me that I am totally incapable of dealing with a winter. I heard that my old stomping grounds in upstate New York are expecting 2-3 feet of snow this weekend. We are expecting highs in the 70’s, I must remember to be grateful for that instead of moaning about how beautiful the snow is. Skating and skiing, romping in it was a glorious youth, but this is now. I try to give thanks for every step I take that is not on ice.
I’m so grateful to have an online family that keeps me tethered to this beautiful earth.
4. Sometimes well-behaved niece and nephew
(with their never-well-behaved dog)
Like your list, love the photos, and think that Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.
Mine is only well behaved when the spouse is around….
He thinks I’ll pay more attention when he’s knocking things off the end tables or begging for food!
Oh yeah – I absolutely love black kitties!
in the 2+ years I’ve had him he’s never destroyed anything, crapped or peed outside of the litter box…and when he throws up fur balls he does it on the tile kitchen floor rather than the carpeting!
9:15 AM, Raleigh.
Even more importantly – 9:15 AM, Raleigh, my kitchen – slave boy making bacon.
Mmmmmm baaaaaaconnnnn.
It’s one of my great character flaws that I am unmoved by bacon. Since we kept kosher at home until I was 16 (though I used to eat ham at the neighbors regularly), maybe it’s just one of those things that you need to get a taste for early — though it seems doubtful since I love scallops, clams, and mussels.
I am a total bacon whore. I could be deathly ill and if someone in the neighborhood was making bacon I would start to drool. I only allow myself to be near bacon about once a month or so, much as it pains me to show some self-control.
My slave boys went to their grammy’s for an overnight, and have convinced HER to make bacon for THEM!
I am loving a morning of quiet here. Turkey’s in the brine already, laundry’s in, dogs are out…I guess I should write the next section of my work project while I can (but the cafe is so much more fun!).
I woke up around 4:40 AM to see mamma deer and two youngins about six feet from my bedroom window.
They were nibbling sunflower seeds from the grass that had fallen from the bird feeder on the deck above.
Looks like the 2nd day in a row without much sun. I need to see some sun!! Brain no functionada without it.
Thursday, Mrs NDD and I will take a drive to near the geographical center of North America to visit her family.
Then Friday we will be cooking a turkey for my family -parents and three brothers, all die-hard lefties, I might add. So I expect some interesting conversation into the wee hours.
I’m thankful for everyone mentioned above being alive, relatively well, and all of us being able to be together on a holiday once again.
College student asleep upstairs. Fourth batch of college student’s clothes now in the washing machine. And this for a kid who goes to school only 30 miles away!
All is well. Hi, Andi. I love your photo album.
that you have a large capacity washing machine or are you thankful that most of the time you don’t need a washing machine with a large capacity?
Ha! Good question! And there are easily another four loads waiting to be washed. Mind you, he never asked me to do any of it for him, and his plan was to do most of it at his dad’s house, and he started the work himself last night. But then he went out to play. . .and how could I not do “just one more load” for him. And then, well, after that one was done, the tub looked so empty, and there were all those other dirty clothes. . .
I never did my laundry in the week or two before coming home because why spend the money when I could do it for free? Then I’d haul in these huge mesh bags full of dirty laundry and my mom would take one look and announce, “I’m not doing your laundry for you!” And I’d say, “Sure, that’s fine mom, I’ll do it myself.” But somehow, within the next day or two… my dirty laundry had disappeared, and clean laundry was in its place.
I miss my mom, but I’m thankful I had such a good one. Knowing that your mother loved you is worth an awful lot when life tries to beat you around.
That’s a very sweet and funny story. I don’t even bother with the claim that “I’m not doing your laundry for you!” lol.
I used to love it when I was in high school and I’d stay out late and come home and find that my dad had made my bed for me so that I had a clean, sweet, cozy bed to crawl into. My mom strenuously objected when he did that, but it made me feel very loved. It may be my favorite thing he ever did for me.
Hi!! 4 loads of laundry? WoW!! you are a loving mom!
I’ve got a college student asleep in her room. But, I’m thankful that she left her laundry at her mother’s house (it’s one of the small pleasures of a divided family).
She brought the cutest dog home with her, but I forgot to take a photo last night. I’ll take one when they wake up (which should be in 4 hours or so).
If she says it’s OK, I’ll post some of her art later.
And a thankfully good morning to you, too, kb!! Can you believe it’s going to be 65 degrees here today? Also–can you believe there’s still no GOP opponent yet for Dennis Moore? (For non-Kansans, he’s our long-time Dem Congressman in our Republican district.)
Our remote-control thermometer says it’s 68.9 on the patio right now!!
Aaak! on the Dennis thing — Don’t jinx it! Or wait, maybe we should try to jinx it. I don’t know.
Did I hear something last week about scandal and arrests on the Republican side of things?
Scandal and arrests in Kansas? I don’t know! All I know is that the Repub state chairman is saying he’ll quit if the party doesn’t get its act together. And Paul Morrison’s running as a Democrat. And nobody wants to run against Kathleen Sebelius. And Kansas is looking blue! on the new Survey USA map.
There is less and less the matter with Kansas these days! Give or take the odd, Very Odd, creationist, of course. And Fred Phelps. And Phil Kline. Okay, maybe we have a ways to go?
I am against any sidling to the left by Kansas, no matter how slight. I count on Kansas being the red state exemplar of the nation so I don’t have to feel so bad about living in Indiana.
Ane neener, neener, too.
Ohio’s doing a fine job of making Indiana look sane as it strives to be known as the midwestern Alabama.
As I mentioned in some other diary, we Hoosiers refer to the inmates of Ohio as IFO — idiots from ohio. You know a state is not in good shape if people from Indiana slam them.
Ahem…I think the feeling is mutual. I’m just sayin…
indiana joke: Did you know that so many people moved from Kentucky to Indiana, it raised the IQ of both states?
arrived on the deck for the oil sunflowers. I’ve seen them here before, but never at the feeder. (I’ll try to get a photo, but no way to post that from here.)
What are pine siskins? I’ve never seen one.
I wondered the same thing so just in case he doesn’t get those picks, here they are.
They’re in the finch family if’n ya got a bird book. This site has a great photo which you can click to enlarge. The ones at the feeder look just like that photo. Either the whole flock drops in or there’s none. See Pine_Siskin
All this bacon talk making me very hungry!!! Also, my patience with dailup now exhausted!! Time for some breakfast… no bacon in house… nitrates, nitrites, nitrotes, nitretes, nitrutes… ah, WTH, next time I’m in town… my quarterly bacon treat.
Ooh, you just reminded me that I want to give the guys a Sibley guide for Christmas!
They are the most aggressive little birds! When they flock to my feeders they squabble among themselves like relatives at a Thanksgiving dinner. Kids, kids! I tell them. There’s enough gravy for everybody!
You got it! They’re really feisty, chasing off the nuthatches, chickadees, goldfinches, but they don’t stick around long when the downy woodpeckers arrive, or the bluejay.
Gotta go see if my brother needs help shoveling the last of soybeans out of the bin.
So they’re sort of like the Republicans of the bird world, aggressive to other birds but chickening out when push comes to shove.
only ones I could think of that would exemplify Republicans would be vultures
For you last minute organic turkey buyers:
http://www.localharvest.org/organic-turkey.jsp
Operation Yellow Feather is quiet so far (Is Manny still asleep??)
I posted the High Impact stats from DailyKos over at the diary….go check out how many Tribbers made the list! Also go give Jotter some love a dKos for keeping track of this stuff – his numbers show that blog whoring and cross posting can make a difference. (Link to Jotter is in OpCenter diary)
Op Center Day 3
Good morning! I’m barely picking the crud out of my eyes, but here nonetheless! 🙂 I just posted at the Ops diary.
Kerry wins election… as jury foreman
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/23/kerry.juryduty.ap/index.html
I will be running around (again) like a crazy person today with Operation Yellow Feather, but wanted to take this time to thank you all for being awesome human beings. Your warmth, your laughter, your voyeuristic tendencies
Peace to you all, my friends.
This photo creeps me out. I thought I was the only one who perfected the much-maligned wide hips, flat bust look.
Instead of creepy turkey pics –
Pie anyone??
Please note the absence of excess whipping cream!!!
Troublemaker. 😉
Vegetable = pumpkin
Protein = Eggs and Milk and whipped cream
Carbohydrate = Crust and sugar
Fat = vegetable shortening or butter in crust
You should hear my explanation of Carrot Cake as a balanced meal as well! lol
Sounds like a good breakfast on Friday morning to me!
I don’t see anything wrong with having a slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast. Really.
No wonder we get along so well. I have always considered pie to be the perfect breakfast food.
(smile) YES! That’s it. The perfect breakfast food. One of the things I love about the days after a holiday is the pie for breakfast afterwards.
Here is the newest member of our family. Our college girl brought him home with her:
He’s a mass of energy. I had the camera set to the sports setting and it still took about 6 trys to get this one. And he licked the lense.
I don’t think I’ve got the complete lay of the family land. Is this a step-daughter visiting? Niece? Friend of the family? Am I nosy?
Our step-daughter. I have two step-sons, but one never comes over unless he needs something.
We’re pretty reclusive and don’t have many visitors. Kind of as a result of all those years (almost 15) of horrible horror I referred to in another thread somewhere here.
Okay, now I’m confused and nosy. How do you have “our step-daughter”? Are you speaking in the royal we or is there a patchwork family arrangement I’ve somehow never been involved in? That seems impossible.
I caught it in another part of the paragraph and missed it there.
Actually, I’m trying to stop saying step-daughter, because she’s my only daughter. It’s not like I should have to over-explain.
So, I’ve been trying to say our daughter. But then inserted “step” without changing the “our”.
So — now I’m totally over-explaining. sigh.
Sorry for inadvertently luring you into doing a thing you’re trying not to do. 🙂
I was just curious because I have a lot of experience with blended families — my parents had four divorces between them by the time I was 18, all of which involved children both from the marriages and pre-existing the marriages. So the “Let’s Figure Out How We’re Related” game is an old favorite of mine, and I’m always looking for new angles, lol.
But during World War I they also called them American Eskimo (they thought spitz was too “German”). So now they are cross-referenced.
He looks just like a sligtly smaller version of my beloved Sasha, who insisted upon being known as an American Eskimo.
To be alive
To be me
For my roommate, who is my little, broken, but still good family
For my friends, in whichever form they come, 3d or electronic
For coffee and philosophy
For thyroid medication and cartoons
For blogs and activists
and
For Paula Marshall and the genuises who cast her as a lesbian character
*This list is not comprehensive and is subject to change without notice
I’ve opened a new cafe for you all to visit.