Thanks

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are all the things I'm thankful for:

1. My husband. He's the best. The love of my life and the reason for all my happiness.

2. My son Doug. He's a good man. He's an excellent family man, a good husband and father.

3. Doug's wife Kara. She's more than a daughter-in-law to me. She's another daughter.

4. My beautiful grand-daughter Emily. She's the light of my life. She makes me laugh.

5. My son Nicholas. He's another good man. Smart, responsible and hard-working.

6. Nick's girlfriend Kelly. She makes my son happy.

7. My daughter Jamie. She's been a good friend to me.

8. My Mom. She's a good friend, a strong lady, an excellent role model for me.

9. My Dad. He's the most wonderful father any daughter could ever want.

10. My brother John. Another good friend. We have some great times together.

11. John's wife Ruth. He's made my brother happy.

12. My niece Laura. She's given us lots of fun times.

13. My sister Chris. She's been...well....like a sister to me.

14. Chris' family. They've all been so welcoming, so warm, so enjoyable.

15. Hubby's kids..Kenny and Wendy. They make my hubby so happy.

16. Wendy's boyfriend Allan. He's a good partner for Wendy and a great father.

17. Grandson Noah. Another light in our life. He's a blessing.

18. The fact that I'm so close and warm and loving with my family. I know lots of people are estranged from their families. I'm glad we have each other.

19. All the holidays we get to spend together. Especially Thanksgiving.

20. My good friends - Sylvie, Carol, Debbie, Sue T, Sue F and Gail

21. I get to go out with my friends once a month and keep in touch.

22. A home I can afford to pay for.

23. Plenty of food.

24. Enough money to treat ourselves once in a while.

25. Taking trips and going on adventures with my Hubby.

26. My good friend who helped me get a real job.

27. My real job.

28. A consistent paycheck.

29. Hubby's job is still employing him despite the fact that they have little work.

30. Good books.

31. Simon and Garfunkle

32. Our condo is quiet - we have well-behaved neighbors.

33. We pay for our heat through our condo fee so it is somewhat regulated.

34. The price of gas has gone down.

35. I have a nice car.

36. Hubby gave me a CD player for my car.

37. And an automatic car starter.

38. Hubby's car still runs.

39. Hubby's fried chicken.

40. Ice cream

41. first cup of tea in the morning.

42. Hubby doesn't mind cleaning the oven.

43. We had a beautiful wedding near the ocean - a day I will never forget.

44. The ocean - summer or winter.

45. Hubby's warm body at night.

46. Warm socks.

47. I thought to put money aside each paycheck for Christmas this year so I can afford to get some nice things for my family. 48. Internet shopping.

49. Internet banking.

50. Hubby's family who have accepted me like their own.

51. Hubby's mom, who always has a great attitude despite her physical limitations. 52. My mom's continued good health.

53. Dad didn't miss a step despite his heart bypass surgery last year.

54. They are active and healthy and can still travel and enjoy themselves.

55. I had a chance to work at the summer camp for the past four years.

56. I worked most of my life with children.

57. I still like children even though I worked with them most of my life.

58. Boston Market Chicken

59. Mornings spent lying in bed snuggling.

60. The Sunday newspaper.

61. Internet chat friends.

62. Internet blog friends.

63. I get to work "in-town" where I know lots of people.

64. I work 3 minutes from my home.

65. I can go home for lunch.

66. Meeting all Hubby's musical friends.

67. Singing at open mics.

68. No one screams or throws me out when I sing at open mics.

69. The Beatles.

70. Prime Rib of Beef

71. Cheap coupons from Restaurant.com

72. Free shipping

73. Hiking in the woods with Hubby.

74. Craigslist.

75. We don't have to plow or shovel snow.

76. We don't have to mow the lawn.

77. I can cross-stitch.

78. Bette Midler

79. Raspberries

80. Raspberry skin lotion.

81. Contacts.

82. New clothes.

83. Being able to make photo albums with scrapbooking.

84. Digital camera - no more film to buy or develop.

85. Jamie has not been severely injured playing football.

86. A sunny spring day.

87. Clean sheets.

88. Penguins.

89. Penguin movies.

90. Christmas movies

91. Shoes that don't hurt your feet.

92. Being able to put my nightgown on and veg at night.

93. Sleeping

94. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

95. Hubby's french toast.

96. I got the chance to try white-water rafting....and loved it so much I went back time and time again.

97. I have a hubby who likes to try new adventures and visit new places.

98. We are going away for the weekend in December.

99. Kisses from my Hubby.

100. I made it to 100 and could probably come up with 100 more!

Thanksgiving Anticipation!

The countdown to the right on this blog shows 1 day and 17 hours left until Thanksgiving! My favorite holiday. I love it because there's so little pressure. 1. No gifts to buy. You don't have to go into debt and feel bad because you can't get everyone the perfect gift they need. 2. There's no stress of fighting traffic and idiot shoppers to contend with. 3. There's no Thanksgiving parties to be attended....having to get the new dress and the too-tight pantyhose and the uncomfortable shoes so you can dress up and try to impress other people. Instead it's a day for families. For getting together and eating a wonderful meal while enjoying being all together. This year my Mom and Dad will have a really full house. Besides them, there will be my older brother Steve, his wife Angie, Angie's son Jacob and Steve's two girls Sara and Shannon. Hubby and I will be there along with my son Doug, his wife Kara and their daughter Emily; and my son Nick with his girlfriend Kelly and my daughter Jamie. My sister Chris will be there with her husband Lloyd, their son Marc and their daughters Jess and Sammi, and perhaps Jess' fiance Kyle. Also present will be my brother John with his wife Ruth and their daughter Laura. Finally there will be what we laughingly call the "old folks and stragglers"; my aunt Sister Marcelle, my Aunt Isy and my cousin Father Paul. That counts up to about 27 people! Believe it or not, we'll all have a place to sit at the table in my parents' mobile home. They built an extra room onto the side and manage somehow to arrange the tables so we can all fit. Of course, once everyone is seated, there's no way to get back up again! But that's okay. We dont' mind sitting there for a long time eating the delicious meal my parents prepare. We'll start out with a salad and some plates of pickles and olives. Cranberry sauce will make an appearance as well as snowflake rolls. There'll be turkey of course. My dad will probably cook a 25 pounder or more. In addition, because God forbid we should run short of food, he might make another turkey at my sister's house and have her bring it over. Or he might cook one on his rotisserie grill. The turkey is accompanied with the usual Thanksgiving fair......mashed potatoes, maybe some sweet potatoes, perhaps squash, and definitely stuffing. In fact, I believe for the past few years they've made THREE kinds of stuffing - one regular stuffing that goes inside the bird, one without meat for any non-meateaters, and traditional French pork stuffing. Corn and carrots will probably be the vegetables. And finally, my Dad makes banana fritters. Why? Who knows? Actually, I think it started many years ago when my Aunt Claire and Uncle Rudy used to come to Thanksgiving and my Dad made them one year on a whim...my Aunt liked them so much she requested them the following year...and a tradition was born. The really cool thing about this is....my Dad knows how much I detest bananas, so every year he makes me my own little plate of apple fritters. AND .....strangely enough.....we all love the little bits of crunchy batter that ends out floating on the top of the oil after my Dad is done cooking the fritters. So my Dad scoops them up and puts them on a plate and we eat them. We call them "pitons". Naturally, there'll be lots and lots of desserts. My sister will make some cheesecake because Sister Marcelle loves it. I think she also said she's making some sort of pumpkin whoopie pies? And we are bringing an apple pie. I think DIL Kara is bringing a dessert and so is sister-in-law Ruth. I think that might be enough! After dinner the table is cleared and the dishes are done. A new tradition was born a few years ago....Mom uses paper plates! That tradition started because while my daughter and nieces were doing the dishes, they were singing at the top of their lungs. The threat was made that we'd use paper plates the following year if they didnt' stop....the singing got louder (they're not stupid!!) and Mom followed through and got paper plates the next year. Then we all sit and talk....some play cards....a couple times Hubby has brought his guitar and he and my nephew jam a bit. It's all very lazy and lots of fun. More often than not some of the old stories come out about the trouble we got into as kids. Once in a while, we slip up and Mom and Dad hear stories they hadn't heard before. Oops! I suspect that pretty soon the stories will be coming out from MY kids about the mischief they got into and the things I never heard about! It will be a long, lovely day and we'll go home full and happy and tired. Perfect.

This weekend was a "grandchildren" weekend. On Saturday we babysat Emily. Doug and Kara just wanted to spend some time out together so we went over around 3pm. Emily was up from her nap and in great form. We had a good time playing with her. She loved playing with Pepere. He'd put a ball under his shirt and then ask her where it was and she'd come over and smack his stomach until he pulled it out. Of course, she had to do it over and over and over again! After a while we gave her some supper, which she ate like she hadn't eaten in days. Then it was bath-time. She loves getting herself soaked. She takes the little tupperware containers that she uses to play with in the tub and manages to fling the water in them perfectly so it lands all over her face and head. She laughs like crazy. After bath she was very calm....so we picked up toys and watched a little Sesame Street. I had forgotten what a great show it is. So fun for kids and not a bad thing in it. We were just thinking of putting her to bed when Doug and Kara came home. They loved their time out but were happy to come home and see their baby. This afternoon we had Tag's kids over for Thanksgiving dinner. His son Kenny came with his friend Matthew, and his daughter Wendy came with her boyfriend Allan and their son Noah. Noah is two months old already! He's a very solemn little guy. It's hard to get him to smile. I managed a couple of half-grins and one full blown smile. I don't get to see him much so I grabbed him as soon as they came in and hogged him most of the night! He ate and slept and kept us amused. I couldn't resist this photo of "Uncle Kenny" holding his nephew.

And I tried hard to get him to smile.....he's so serious!

Cell phones!! PLEH!!!

I've ranted about cell phones before. When I was substitute teacher they were the bane of our existence.....causing so much havoc they FAR outweighed the "benefit" most parents profess....that being that they can get in touch with their little cherubs any time they want. (which is assuming the little cherubs actually answer the phone when the caller ID says it's MOM).

I'm not substituting anymore, but cell phones are still a pain in the #@*. When you're driving behind someone and they're going slow as molasses, and weaving all over the road.....chances are they're talking on a cell phone. Go ahead. Check it out next time you finally pass someone you've been following for the past 700 miles. They'll be chatting on their cell phone totally oblivious to the road or the person behind them going into a rage because they need to GET somewhere (dammit).

Today at work, I had a woman who was trying to do some fairly complicated business with me, yet kept answering her cell phone and chatting while I was trying to do her transaction. We are supposed to be extremely friendly and polite to all clients so I didn't go with my first inclination, which was to say, "you go ahead and finish your conversation and I'll just wait on the person waiting behind you. You can go to the END of the line when you're done." (Although I thought that was fairly polite!!) Instead I just asked her for info (address, phone number) while she was talking and she finally said to the person on the phone that she'd have to call them back. Thank you!!

I'm not totally anti-cell phone. I own one myself. But I would never talk on it at the counter of a store, in a restaurant, or while I'm driving. I have a little common sense. Apparently most people don't.

Stuff

So we're all pretty happy that gas prices are going down. Most people I know have been trying to cut back or be conservative with their gas usage to cut their costs. But one thing I've seen quite often is something I don't quite understand. Parents DRIVE their children to the bus stop, then sit in the car with the engine idling and wait for the bus. HUH??

First of all, if the children are elementary age, the bus stop is usually right in front of the house. We've all been behind a bus when it stops at every single house along the road so the precious babies don't have to actually WALK next door to the neighbor's driveway. OR - the bus stop is at the end of a sidestreet, in which case, I see no reason the parent can't simply WALK with their child and stand to wait for the bus. I know, I know......some parents are sitting there in their cars anxiously awaiting the bus so they can take off and get to work on time. In that case, why don't they just drive their child to school and make things easier for everyone??? Just wondering.

Maybe this is why parents have to be there with their kids at the bus stop.

I've talked before about the traffic situation in my town. We're gearing up for the worst time of the year. Between now and Christmas it's going to be a zoo. I've had experience before with trying to go to the grocery store the week of Thanksgiving. I've personally seen the lines go through the store, around the produce department and lined up along the meat case at the back of the store. Are you kidding????

Because I hate (and I mean HATE) traffic, crowds and shopping, I decided to go out today after work (I worked 1/2 a day so it was only 12:30) and get the things I needed to do Thanksgiving dinner for my Hubby's kids on Sunday, as well as everything I need to keep us going until NEXT weekend, so as not to go into the store again before Thanksgiving.

I was pretty lucky. When I got in line at the register, there were only two people in each line. By the time I got to the cashier, I looked back and there were five people in each line. I got there just in time. But it raises the question....if I'm almost a WEEK ahead of time, and the store was so busy, how early would I have to start shopping in order to shop in relative peace and quiet? Two weeks? A month? and how do you buy fresh vegetables and stuff that far in advance? And .......God forbid.......what if you forgot something and just have to run in for ONE item??

I'd like to have Thanksgiving with all my family and all the fixin's but with nobody else in the world around!!

Open Mic

Hubby and I were the "feature" at an open mic last night. For those who are uninitiated, an open mic is usually held in a small room in a cafe, a church hall, a community building.....where ever someone will give you space. Anyone can participate. Most of the time it's "old men with guitars" as we say. Just regular people who like to come out and sing and play an instrument. Often better-known (and better-abled) singers come out to use the open mic to try out new songs they've written....sort of a practice for gigs they might have in the future. Usually everyone gets one or two songs, but the feature gets a half-hour. Hubby's friend Betsi runs an open mic in Concord, MA , http://www.elizabethmandrioli.com/twice_told_open_stage.htm and offered to let us be the feature. Hubby is an excellent and very versatile musician. He's written many songs....most of them unfinished. So our first challenge was to pick the songs and the second challenge was to get them finished. Most importantly we had to practice. When Hubby sings on his own, he "wings it" a lot of the time, which is great. It makes for some interesting and wonderful songs. But when he wants to sing with me, we have to practice. We did practice quite a bit in the past month, and he did finish writing his songs. We sang five or six songs. For some he played guitar, for one song he played banjo, a couple on the ukelele and one on the keyboard. I'm not sure how we sounded, but we had a great time. And that's the bottom line. We want everyone to enjoy the music, but more importantly we want to have a good time at it. Hubby already has that attitude. He doesnt' care what people think and usually I'm the opposite. I fret and worry and get all worked up. But last night I went in with the attitude of - 'I'm here for Hubby, to enjoy ourselves and I'm going to let myself go and have fun"....and I did! Hubby's son Kenny came with his friend Matthew. Hubby was extremely pleased that he came out to see us. And Matthew signed up and played and sang a beautiful song.....such talent! I'm glad he came on after us! Five things I am thankful for: 1. That I have the whole day off today and can get lots of stuff done this morning before going to babysit Emily this afternoon. 2. That Hubby and I had such a good time last night. 3. That the sun is out even though it's "briskly cold". 4. That the price of gas is going down, down, down. 5. That I'm not rich enough to have money in the stock market because that is also going down, down, down!

Madagascar 2

Hubby and I got to take my niece to see Madagascar 2 at the movies yesterday. It's her ninth birthday next month and we wanted to take her out for her present. It was also a great opportunity for me to go see a children's movie and not look stupid cause I didn't have a child with me.

We told Laura we'd get her some snacks. Little did I know that they had containers of loose candies with scoops and little white bags so you could pick and choose your candy and pay for it by the pound.....$8.99 a pound, to be exact! I told Laura she could fill the bag up to the bottom fold line - she negotiated for the middle fold line. I put some candy in my bag and weighed it and determined that we could each get 1/2 pound of candy. We had a blast filling our scoops with everything from gummi bears to raisinettes to sour patch candies and weighed in. My bad was .45 lbs. Laura's bag was .58 lbs. Hubby's bag was .75 lbs!

The movie was a lot of fun. My only disappointment was that they advertised 37% more penguins and I'm sure there was NOT more penguins in this movie than their was in Madagascar 1. But it was great....the humor was funny for the kids as well as the adults. We had a good time. There's nothing like seeing a movie with a kid to make you enjoy it more.

Five things I am thankful for today:

1. It hasn't snowed yet.

2. I have a niece young enough to take to children's movies.

3. In a couple of years I'll have a grand-daughter old enough to take to children's movies.

4. I passed the test for Disney Academy and got my Mickey ears with the mortarboard on top in the mail. 5. I can put my jammies on now as soon as I get home because it's dark out so early.