The restorative powers of getting out of town...

Well, J., Allie and I arrived home yesterday from our three day trip to Black Butte- J's brother, also J., and his wife M., and our father in-law plus AlsoJ and M kids were there. I never have spent much time with any of J.'s family except Also J and M because they live here in town and the rest of J's family is in Alaska and they don't celebrate holidays. Plus, Also J and M are very fun.

It was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with M., we made thanksgiving dinner from scratch. I was basically the back up, since I like canned, boxed convienence foods, so this whole "from scratch" thing was alien to me. Of course, it made me take my once monthly vow to improve the eating habits of my family, which are terribly appalling and I'm shocked at times we don't have rickets or scurvy the way we eat.

It all came out very well, except our sweet potato recipe. I guess now sweet potatoes and yams are interchangeable, but they are really different things. The picture with the recipe was orange, so they really meant yams and not sweet potatoes, but anyway, we had sweet potatoes, which are like regular potatoes in color. In an effort to add color we added some pumpkin, however this made them a yellowish/orange that to any mom who has breastfed, reminded one of that early months of baby poop in color and consistency, hence they became the "baby poop sweet potato dish" The baking and topping didn't help the look- however, I did eat some and it tasted really good. My homemade biscuts didn't rise very well either, but otherwise- all quite tasty and very traditionally thanksgiving-y.

We (J. Allie, and I) stayed in a cute little cabin, while Also J and M got the joy of the father-in-law at their house- really quite a likeable guy except for some of his retro-thinking about women- fortunately J and Also J do not hold similar beliefs. A sample "women are unknowable creatures." I am neither "unknowable" nor a "creature"- yet I'm a woman....hmmm.... But, lots of fun anyway.

It was snowy and lovely. I guess dispite having a great time visiting and eating my favorite moment was Saturday morning. J and Allie were asleep. I was in my pink sheep pjs, stretched on the couch, cup of hot tea by my side and a blanket on my lap- reading Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" by the big picture window watching the big, fat, fluffy snowflakes come down....ahhhh......

Back from road trip...

Was on the road in Central Oregon for work. Plus, got to stay with the parents in Bend, so that was fun. This job is turning out to be pretty challenging. I had a lot of success in helping out the Bend branch of our program, as well as the chance to visit the thriving metropolis (metropoli?) of both Madras and Prineville.

However, now I am tired. The job takes a lot of mental energy, and Allie needs me a lot right now, to help her with homework and help her through the all important junior high transition, which can be rocky- with friendships changing, and friends changing...I think its be tough for her, but she keeps plugging away- I am immensely proud.

I don't know if its because I'm tired, but I feel my spirits really flagging. Down in the dumps about finances, my appearance, and myself. I'm sure from the outside everything looks good, but on the inside...eh, not so much...

On the bright side, I will have my first Thanksgiving off in 5 years! As an added bonus, we are going on vacation to Black Butte for four days...weee....vacation....hopefully, this will put me in a better state of mind.

Probably will be better than last Thanksgiving http://girlnamedmoe.blogspot.com/2005/11/haappzzzy-thanzzzksgiving.html

Sorry for the sad sack post.....

Safety for kitties and Americans...

Yay! The kitties are safe...a small measure of sanity is restored...We watched the results last night with pizza as we do every election night. Thankfully, this was a much better night than '04.

We were afraid to hope for too much so we were thrilled when the Dems reached the 15 member threshold to control the House. Plus, we had to switch from CNN's super snazzy graphics to the Republic National Committee's Propaganda channel (aka Fox "News") and watch a dour Brit Hume share the news of the Democratic take over. They had a small graphic "Democrats Win" with a fireworks background- but the panelists (Hume, Mort Kondracke, William Kristol, Juan Williams and some other conservative bobble head) looked decidedly unhappy. Then they had to show Nick Lampson winning ol' Tom DeLay's seat in congress. It warms the cockles of my heart, nay, it warms the sub-cockles of my heart that Tom had to wake up this morning realizing that a Democrat would be warming his seat in congress with his Democrat bottom! I hold Tom DeLay in special contempt, and though it pleased me to see him resign in disgrace the sight of his hypocritically proud mug and plastic helmet hair acting like he wasn't resigning in disgrace, pissed me off...now, I feel better.

I feel better on many levels...I knew that at some point reality would put the lie to all the Bush Administration's "makin' real progress in Iraq..." happy talk.

Is our long national nightmare over? I don't think it will be over until January '09, but we're coming out of the woods...

So, I bid a fond farewell to the following....

Goodbye, Rick "man on dog" Santorum- So Long, George "Macaca" Allen, See you later Conrad Burns....and a special salutation to "Henny penny the the sky is falling, and unknowable unknowns..." Donald Rumsfeld...oh, Mr. Rumsfeld, you have given Robert McNamara a run for his money...

Be Sure to Vote!

Things look rosey for the Dems, but I never underestimate the power of the Dems to screw it up at the last minute.

Here's to hoping for a change, and safety for America's kittens...