Thanksgiving Preparations

So no unusual plans for Thanksgiving this year... homemade donuts for breakfast (though since the arrival of Krispy Kreme donuts in Columbia last week, we may make an exception) and dinner at Mom and Pop's place with Gram.

Mom's asked me to handle the relish plate (not too difficult an endeavor), and Gram usually contributes a Cranberry Salad (awesome stuff). But she has more and more difficulties managing her kitchen since her balance is so bad she has to constantly clutch her cane while doing everything... and one handed cooking can become quite a difficult proposition. So she asked me if I wanted to make the salad this year. I thought it would be a better idea if we could do it together. Even if I end up doing all of the work (which I don't mind), we'll still spend some time together... and I think she really appreciates when we can do that.

As for myself... well, I'm kinda lookin forward to it. Every weekend, when I take her home from our weekly Family Dinners, we always end up sitting down and just yappin about anything for a little while. Usually the mundane things that have become the cycle of her life. She doesn't get to talk to peeps much... and even Family Dinner is usually consumed by other discussion that go right over her head.

So I think that Wednesday night will be good for us. The cranberries need to be ground and set with sugar in the fridge overnight before we can assemble the rest of it... so I think I'll do that Tuesday night so's to not worry about hauling over the food processor, then take the rest of the stuff over to her place to make it Wednesday night. I figure I can do my relish plate over there, too.

Overall, I think it will be a good Thanksgiving... I dunno if I'll get back here before then, so if I don't...

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

More Aussie Diaries

So I've had a chance to talk to my Aussie quite a bit these last few weeks. I believe he popped in to chat Friday before last... and then again this past Friday. And, since I was on the 'puter all weekend workin on my Christmas card, a good chunk of Saturday as well. See Fridays and Saturdays are pretty much our best bets for hookin up since my afternoon is his next-morning, and I only get online during the day at work, and he only gets online at home.

Amway, per usual, our chats were neither short nor boring. Sometimes it's quite a challenge to keep up with his lightening subject changes, periodic ornery moods, and delight in confounding me with new Aussie-isms (they seem to have a never-ending supply of them... just when I start getting used to old ones, he throws new ones at me.) Though, his recent conversational offerings have been more contemplative than usual. Lots of changes in his life... he objects when I call his life a soap opera, but he can't deny his life seems to undergo one overhaul or another at any given time. He's like the antithesis of my mundane life... so I guess I ride the rollercoaster vicariously through him. *grin*

Actually, we've been talking more seriously about options for my getting out to Oz to see him. I've suggested HIM coming here, but I think it's a matter of pure vanity... obviously, Oz is the greatest country on earth, and he simply HAS to prove it to me. *grin* Amway, he's promised to save up to help me out with the airfare... that shit's exPENSive! I figure I can probly manage about half the fare without hurtin my credit card TOO badly. He thinks he can save a good chunk in a year's time... so... I guess we'll see what happens then. I'm not gettin too excited about it yet... I mean, anything can happen. Inclinations can change... better things can be found to do with the money (the most probable)... other uses of my vacation time may arise. I know I'm already planning a trip to the west coast for next Fall... so, mebbe I could make it the following Spring.

I know I really loved the place last time I went for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and definately look forward to seeing it again (and more of it) as well as finally getting to meet this individual I've known for at least 4 years. But I've also been thinking about visiting for 4 years, with few affordable options presenting themselves. So we'll see how it goes.

Motivation is a Funny Thing

So my motivation has completely fluxuated lately... to do anything, really. I didn't really sink my teeth into this year's Christmas card/letter until this weekend... and then I started havin all kinds of fun with it. I got kinda silly this year. *grin* All of the writing is done... and I'm almost done with the design work. I should be able to have a draft to present to Gram and the folks on Thanksgiving... and then it'll be the not-so-fun duplication and assembly time. Not to mention sifting through my Christmas card list, updated addresses, printing up labels, etc. We'll see if these actually get sent out by December 1 or not.

As for motivation at work... well, I thankfully found it again this morning. For at least 2 days last week, I couldn't focus on work at all... was all kinds of restless, and spent most of both days looking up train schedules and fares to visit just about everybody I know within the continental United States. I'm thinkin it was just part of my feeling that I wanted to be anywhere but here.

On the upside, though, I've discovered that I can make two major trips... one west, and one east, and hit about 4 stops each in one swell poop. Of course, this will require a LOT of vacation days, but it should be fun. I may try the westward trip next Fall to see Mikee and BBM in Seattle, the usual crew in San Diego, my tat artist in Santa Maria... and possibly even a stop in Colorado to see the Wanderer. We'll see how it goes.

Amway, back to this work business. I finally managed to focus this morning... and quickly dispatched all the non-essential stuff that had been piling during my trips through the Amtrak website. I was on a roll... until the meeting we just had at 3:00. Then the wind blew straight out of my sails, and I'm kinda biding my time until 5:30. *sigh* This sometimes happens, though, at the end of the day. I just get to a point that I have to say: I'll focus on this in the morning.

And then go blog or something. :)

What Mystical Creature are YOU?

So I'm trying to get some online Christmas shopping done today, and came across this banner... amazing where curiosity can lead you...

Amway, these are my results:

(And just to clarify... I'm not sure about "innocent", but I WILL say I trust animals to be true to their nature... I'm all for saving the world, but that doesn't mean I'm inclined to strike up a conversation with a mother bear)


You are a Unicorn Lady... Animal loving, you don't
trust in humans, but in animals, because you
believe in their true and innocent hearts...
You'll do anything to help them. Good for you !

Are you an angel, a dragon, vampire !?
brought to you by Quizilla

Veteran's Day

Tip of the hat to all my fellow veterans out there. :) And to all those fighting out there who will hopefully live long enough to BECOME veterans.

So amway... I'll probably be MIA around here for a li'l while. Gotta focus on my Christmas card/letter this year if I wanna get it sent out by December 1. Last year, I was so burned out from blogging, I never got around to my letter until the middle of December. Doh!

See ya 'round the blogosphere. :)

Christmas Performances

So I finally decided to donate this morning to our local radio station that hosts NPR. They've been workin their telethon all week... offering all kinds of "freebies" donated from local businesses. I'd been considering it all week, but none of the freebies really caught my attention. Bad I know... not to want to donate out of the goodness of my heart. I mean, I really do like NPR... listen to it every day. But I donated once before and they never stopped hounding me... pretty much until I moved and they couldn't find me.

But they finally dangled some interesting bait on the very last day of their fund raising (today), so I signed myself up for who knows how many more years of hounding. And for $5/month for a year, I am now the proud owner of two tickets each for live performances of the Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol next month... part of the University's Concert Series.

Mom and I have gone to the Nutcracker almost every Christmas season since we moved to Misery (with the exception of the year we went to St. Louis for a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert a while back.) So I figure this way, I'm still getting something I normally would have purchased anyway (with an extra play thrown in) and helping out NPR to boot. Not a bad arrangement, I'm thinkin. Aside for that hounding business.

Amway, each year we decide we need to see more of the Concert Series... and we DID see David Copperfield last year. But for the most part, we get caught up in life in general, and we forget. But the concert series get all kinds of interesting acts... Bill Cosby and the Smothers Brothers make an appearance (separately) just about every year. Big names in music, too... though I can't think of anybody off the top of my head, aside from Cher and Sting. And these are in addition to plays and musical performances by local or travelling groups. All over at Jesse Hall venues with no smoking, so I can actually attend comfortably.

Of course, this sort of entertaiment is nothing out of the ordinary for any of the big cities, but not too bad for a modest college town.

Weekend Plans

So I actually have plans this weekend! Well, technically, now I've had two different plans for the weekend. Gotta love having relativly uneventful weekends for weeks at a time... then things come up all at once.

Originally, I'd planned to hostess Family Dinner, considering my home is now fully decked out. But then, IHOP Buddy asked me in chat yesterday if I wanted to come visit this weekend. Evidently IHOP Hubby will be at a wedding out of town, so she's up for some company. She says she doesn't like being alone... I think she just needs somebody adult to talk to since her hubby's usually gone during the week, too... lol

No matter... it's all good. Her weekend schedules rarely supply opportunities to visit... with either me over there or her coming here. So we take advantage whenever such an opportunity arises. She's also asked me to bring over my Myst III game for the PS2. She saw the cover while she was here last, and I guess has been wondering about it. I'm not sure if she'll like it... her attention is usually captured by upbeat action and fighting scenes (neither of which can even remotely describe Myst) , and I think she loses interest if a game starts getting too hard to figure out (the game is ALL about figuring out clues and puzzles).

But I've warned her about all that and she still wants to give it a shot, so we'll see. I'm kinda lookin forward to exploring it again... and I know where to keep her from going around in circles like I did, before figuring out the clues. I KNOW she won't have the patience for that. *grin*

Tiger in the Bathroom

So my building at work is hosting this big ol' Health Fair today... the lounge area and just about every conference room is crawling with folks checking out and taking part of all kinds of different activities. I'm steering clear for the most part... except to get some Mahi-Mahi and noodles they're makin over there (VERY good stuff... though it's only a sample and I'm not sure how well it'll go with the mac and cheese I brought for lunch... oh well.)

Oh, and I felt kinda bad for the nurse stationed out front of one of the out-of-the-way conference rooms... theoretically running the Hearing Tests, but standing there twiddling her thumbs cuz I'm fairly sure nobody knows she's there. And really, I only saw her cuz I passed by that hall on my way back to my department. So, even though I already know I'm deaf, I stopped by to get tested and give the poor chick somethin to do. lol It was a pretty short test... and turns out I'm not as deaf as I thought I was since I heard all the tones. But then, I've always known I can hear most sounds just fine... it's just DISTINGUISHING them that's a problem.

Amway, they're also offering flu shots... for $25. NOT. But it DID remind me to walk over to the VA Hospital (nice benny of being a veteran, working across the street from the hospital, and also for having a gorgeous day out) and get one for free.

But back to the tiger in the bathroom... I guess the University mascot, Truman the Tiger, is also part of the activities today. Imagine sitting on the pot and seeing a big ol pair of orange feet and a tail go by from under the door... lol Imagine Truman bein a girl! :) In all seriousness, though... gotta feel for those poor peeps inside those bulky mascot costumes when they gotta take a pee.

For Meat or for Pets

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before... and I don't feel like poking around in the archives to find out. I know the sign has been up in the breakroom for at least a few months now, advertising rabbits for sale... for meat or for pets. Which rather bothers me.

Now don't get me wrong... I accept the whole rabbits for meat thing. Not overly comfortable with it... but I accept that rabbits are naturally prey and it's the way of life.

But for the concepts of "pets" and "meat" to be interchangeable in the same sentence... that's just disturbing. I can't imagine wanting to consider my pet as possible food... or my food as a possible pet. Though, I DID used to feel sorry for my Cheerios when I was a kid, and attempted to keep them in pairs so they wouldn't die alone.

Okay, so I'm a little wierd.