Thanksgiving

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. What more can be said? Today I went in to work for a few hours, and the traffic was awesome. A lot of people took today off, and for that I am thankful..what a wonderful commute...if it could only be that nice every day!

Right now I am making a pumpkin pie. One less thing to do tomorrow in my opinion. I got the cranberry bread and cranberry relish done this last weekend. Always good to do those early so they can age gracefully for a few days before we devour them.

I am also thankful for the fact that we aren't going anywhere!! We also are not expecting anyone else to battle the airlines or highways just to eat turkey with us. It will be a quiet weekend at home doing projects, and that is fine. We will also have the standard traditional Thanksgiving fare that we can't live without..turkey, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes - no gravy thank you - sweet potatoes - just baked, nothing added- dill bread, cranberry bread and pumpkin pie. We don't need anything else. Sure, we'd love to spend time with family from all 4 corners of the country, but sometimes it just isn't practical, and well, we are the most practical people we know!

We'll go get our Christmas tree this weekend also, good to get that done early so we can enjoy it. That will surely be another post.

Winter is coming

Well, I've given up on uploading my video to the blog...still open to suggestions, but I've wasted enough time on it, and mailed out copies of the dvd to those who wanted it.

Today looks like another perfect fall day, sunny and temperate, low 60's. St. Louis is on the last few days of our peak colors - which were rather dull due to a dry summer. On another note, holy cow, Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away, which means we go get our Christmas tree soon. Our tradition is to go to a cut down place out in Washington, MO and kill us a tree. It sounds cruel, but it is a tradition, and I suppose there are worse traditions than that - like sitting in a tree waiting for a deer to walk by and then shoot it. (I'm fine with hunting, but I think bow hunting is much more sporting and I'm ok with that). Sitting in a tree with a shot gun just isn't my idea of a 'fair' fight.

We were surprised last year when we found this gem of a tree farm, hope we can find it again this year!! The trees were in great condition and we found a fir, not easy around here...most places just have scraggly white pine. We have been tempted to drive to MI to get a good tree, but then put it in perspective, 'um, duh it's a tree'.

So, in 2 weeks, we'll be thinking about Christmas, not that Target and everyone else hasn't already been pushing it down our throats for the last month....

Back to my thoughts that winter is coming, this link is to a fun website, ok, not that much fun, but it is a seasonal gem. The snowman cam up in Gaylord, MI. For all of us who get more ice and sleet than snow, it is refreshing to see how much Gaylord has...which is usually quite a bit!!

Live Web Cam From Wilderness Valley Gaylord Michigan

Enjoy!

Travis recital...

OK, my second attempt to upload this video, and I think I have it!! I decided that I might have been having a problem with Mozilla. So had to try it the old fashioned way, using Explorer, and seems as though that was the problem... Well, it still won't work. I can't do it on blogger and I can't do it on You Tube...I just don't understand. Very frustrating!!!

Anyone have any suggestions?

Piano Recital

Today was Travis' piano recital, and he did GREAT! I have been trying to upload the video of his recital to the blog for the last hour or so, but can't quite figure this out. It doesn't seem that difficult, but there is apparently some sort of problem that I don't see ....This is all very new to me. Anyway, he played Carillon and Jumpin' Pumpkins, not quite Beethoven, but he is working on it.

I hope to get this figured out soon so I can get this video out for you to see!!

Duke, ...

Welcome home dawg.....

Well, we went out and did it...got a dog. We 'rescued' him through a connection we had through Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue. His name was Brody, and we changed it..new house, new life, new name.

We hope he'll be happy here...so far he is a good boy for us... it's been less than a day. He is 2 1/2 yrs old, which is a bit younger than we were looking for, but I think it will be a good age for Travis. He needs a little training, but who doesn't, right? He may have some emotional baggage, as the last house he was in was just too busy for him, we don't see any abuse, but perhaps some neglect.
So, today we are heading to Petsmart to get him some new stuff, some food, and other doggie things.

Election time, already?

I was sent this link, and thought it was so neat, I'd share with all of you...ok, all 1 or 2 of you.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460


You answer the questions, and it will give you a ranking of all of the possible candidates based on how close they are to your answers. Unfortunately the top pick of mine isn't leading the polls heading into the primaries, but nonetheless, this was very interesting.



That is all I have to say about politics today...and hopefully tomorrow too.

Homecoming!

Yes, we do homecoming. We go back to Michigan State once a year to do the alumni thing, and it is fun! Sometimes we stop by while passing through town during our summer vacation, but this trip was different.

Travis enjoys going and wandering around campus, feeding the ducks at the river, and I think most of all going shopping in the bookstore to buy MSU crap. This year he focused in on a shot glass with his name on it. We got a kick out of his unique choice in Spartan regalia, and couldn't say no. I did put the brakes on the foam finger, at least the shot glass has some redeeming value. I got a new alumni license plate holder, my other one kind of disintegrated when we lived in Michigan due to all the salt on the roads in our fine MI winters.

So, this year the game was at 7:00 pm...yuck. I just don't really like night games all that much, and it was cold...windy and cold, and I left our gloves back at the hotel...drag. But, we all made it through. Steve made out better than my mom, Travis and I. He got invited up to a special box with heat, and food, and drinks...what a deal. So, the 3 of us huddled under our MSU wool blanket and had hot chocolate and did fine. A little wind burn never hurt anyone.

As far as Steve and his luck of the draw to get up in the press box, this was the 20 year reunion of the Rose Bowl team, and since he was part of it, he got the royal treatment. So, he had a really good time.

All in all, it was perfect football weather, just exactly what you'd picture for game day. Too bad I forgot my camera back in the hotel room too...

After 8 hours in the car on Friday, all day Saturday wandering around campus doing the alumni thing, freezing our butts off at the game, and then up Sunday to drive another 8 hours back...I'm exhausted!! But I suppose, that is what makes it all worth it.... Until next year....

Parenting Beyond Belief

I checked out this book from the library last week, have been reading it whenever I have a break to sit down and read..not as easy as it sounds. What a great book!! It is due soon, and I doubt I'll finish it, and can't renew it since there is a waiting list for it. I'll just put myself on the waiting list again, and finish it later.

It is compiled of short essays of different perspectives from a variety of folks, giving advice or just stories of how they raise children in secular households. How to help children figure out that they can ask questions about religion, or lack thereof, without fear. Lettings kids know to think for themselves, make up their own minds, not let anyone brainwash them at an early age. In Stu Tanquist's essay he speaks of religious indoctrination at an early age, how some evangelistic groups are getting the kids before they realize they can think for themselves, pushing the idea that doubt is bad and there is only one answer and someone else has already figured it out for you. Fascinating stuff.

So, I just thought I'd put this small post together to say..hey, check out this book if you are curious. Parenting Beyond Belief, On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, by Dale McGowan.