last of this holiday

Spent most of today traveling to Pell City, AL to visit MonsterMustDie's mother and cousin, stopping at several antique malls on the way there. Nearly every place we stopped had a BBQ grill smoking outside, putting Mr. Monster in the mood for pork. So we took his mom to WallMart and then out to lunch at Golden Rule where I had the chicken lunch special (very dry, unfortunately), he had the pulled pork special, and his mom had a hamburger. Came back to her house and visited for a while before finally heading back to Atlanta.
Stopped on the way at the Grassy Knoll and visited for a while with Mrs. Lounge. Got to pat the furry beasties and chatted about books, food, family and animals.
Finally got home, unpacked the car, covered the herb planter to try to protect the plants from tonight's freezing low temperatures and picked the last few green tomatoes of the season and peppers off the plants. I'll fry what I have tomorrow night, along with other things, for dinner.

post Thanksgiving with family

We went to my brother's house this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. for an early dinner with family. My nephew had to leave early for a game he was playing in, hence the early meal. Mother brought an electric skillet full of fried okra. Andy cooked and served us roast turkey that was tender and succulent, made to Alton Brown's specifications, along with dressing, corn bread, greens, mac'n'cheese, mashed potatoes with pancetta, sweet potatoe souffle, and marinated tomatoes. Desert was peach and raspberry crumble (my choice), pumpkin pie, and apple pie.

Rachael's boyfriend Bobby (a keeper, IMHO) joined us for the meal and customary music played by my brother afterwards. My favorite selections were Charlie Brown theme music. Lots of gossip about people I do not know or hardly know. Thankfully, little or no conversation on sports, which I have no knowledge or interest in.

I tried to encourage Brenda to continue practicing and learning violin, an instrument she got about a year ago. She told me that she has been learning how to play it from lessons on her computer.

One thing that came up in conversation was that a good gift for my mother might the a Garmon navigation device. Mother says she just wants someone to assemble and show her how to use her steam vac for the holidays. Brenda could really use a copy of Acrobat Pro software for her PC. Andy could use more kitchen tools. Gifts for Rachael and Adam will require more creativity since they did not mention anything in particular they liked or needed.

Thanks

Thankful for large soft black dogs, soft plush cats, perfectly cooked turkey, pumpkin pie, brussel sprouts, stuffing with oysters, bad jokes, good company, 'taters, and a lovely autumn day.

Still surprising how early the night falls. Makes it seem much later than it actually is.

Turkey Time

Love it. Today's turkey was very tender and moist. I don't know how she did it so well.

It Gets Better: Hal Duncan, Glasgow, Scotland

from the blog of Caitlín R. Kiernan:
Hal Duncan, one Scottish sodomite who doesn't mince his fucking words.

pretty good day

Got up, watched Sunday Morning as usual. Checked the latest update to PostSecret.com. Drank coffee. Then got dressed and waited for Gilli to pick me up.

We went to the I.C.E. show at Ambient Studios, where I exchanged the too big T-shirt Monstermustdie purchased yesterday while Gilli, Becky, Russ, and Brandon looked around at the many crafty booths in the show.

Afterwards, met Pyynk and Kel and Fez for brunch at SunInMyBelly in Kirkwood - GREAT food - very good service. I had the Tuscan sandwich with a side Caesar salad.

Got home and did mostly nothing the rest of the day. Monstermustdie is feeling icky and has spent most of the day in front of the TV on the couch, watching Pirates Of The Carribean and Narnia movies. After an hour at home checking email and FB and trying not to disturb the housemate, I was bored and went outside and puttered around until it was too dark to see anything. Now I'm back indoors, pacing between the computer and the bedroom, wondering how I can sleep tonight.

things to be thankful for

Good Health
Enough rain to start new grass seed I scattered around in empty patches
Good friends
Doc Martin shoes
A car that runs well

worked. working. not working.

It was a crazy day yesterday. It started the night before. At 9pm, I got a call to come in for an interview at noon.

That morning, my revenant job emailed and wanted me to come in - for less than an hour if possible.

Then, someone that I had dropped a resume off with previously phoned and asked me to work and I committed to come in late in the afternoon after the interview. I ended up working with pay for 3.5 hours there. :)

The interview went well - until they told me training began in two hours - at 3pm til closing. I explained that I had other commitments for the day - without going into any detail what - and asked if training could be another day. They quickly got up, shook my hand, and said goodbye. :(

ugh - my head!

I've had a headache all day that feels like my skull wants to explode. It has been raining all day too. I think these two things are very much connected. Sometimes, just occasionally, the rain brings headaches with it. I wish my body would adjust faster to atmospheric changes.

Last week, oh, by the way, our friends Cindi and John got married. They have been together for 17+ years. No changes going on other than the need of affordable health insurance. Turns out it was MUCH cheaper to get married and on a combined policy - offered only to married couples. Congratulations to them on both the marriage and the health insurance. It was just a quick trip to the courthouse to do it - no wait necessary. I thought the only place you could get a quick wedding was Las Vegas or Tennessee but that is no longer true.

to serve

Sometimes I look at the new Christianity and I can only think WTF?!

I grew up in a church that served the community around it. There were morning and evening services to accommodate everyone's schedule. There were community dinners mid-week. The church van went to nearby retirement homes to bring elderly people who could not drive to services, if they wanted to go. They had a FREE daycare during worship services and other events. They had a small library that had all sorts of books in it. It was still a fairly small church by today's standards.

Today, it seems like everyone goes to giant mega-churches where the ministers make 6-figure salaries and there are no community services at all. Daycare is not free. Membership is not free. I can only wonder why anyone bothers be be involved in groups like that. I suppose it's still cheaper than joining a country club is you're only there to network, but the romantic in me still thinks that is not the purpose of a church or the definition of community.

sometimes, it rains.

Tomorrow, I have to go with MonsterMustDie (in my car) to Alabama in the morning to handle some family business.
His mother's diagnosis has been changed from "dementia" to full-blown Alzheimers and now he and his cousin are going with his mom to handle whatever paperwork is necessary for power of attorney with her bank, house, etc. She is already to the stage where someone must check in on her daily to see she's eating, taking medications, and that the house and fridge are clean.

All this and she's still driving a car...