Book Reading Demon

I have been doing a ton of reading the last few months. The majority of it from the library. Don't know why, but I'm finally out of that dry spell/slump I've been in. It also helps that I discovered a fabulous app for my iPhone - Bookcrawler. I can use it to scan barcodes to add in books, then categorize, indicate if I've read them, do I own them, rate them, enter comments, tags, etc. It's a sweet little app.

Recent reads are (In alphabetical order):

• The Autobiography of Mrs Tom Thumb (Melanie Bemjamin)
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs, YA)
• The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay (Beverly Jensen)
• Smokin' Seventeen (Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum series)
• The Twisted Thread (Charlotte Bacon)

Since I just finished The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay last night, I'm going to dicuss it here. Having read nothing from this author before, I ordered the book through ILL (Interlibrary loan). Overall it was an "eh" book, and could have been much better. The first 60 pages or so really had me wanting to read more. Enough so that I brought it to work to read at lunch. And then...then it started to change. Then I noticed a few things.

 

Weighing In

Only not talking body weight here. Just so much going on in the news, the world, I feel the need to comment. So I'm summarizing (hopefully!) instead of doing tons of posts.

New Poster Family for Why Abstinence-Only and No Sex Ed DOES NOT WORK: Sarah Palin's family. Seriously. First her daughter gets pregnant "out of wedlock". Now her son, married for two months, is going to be a father. Only thing, from the picture I saw this morning, his wife looks well over 2 months pregnant. Soooo.

Bachmann Migraines: I'm kinda split on this. I have sympathy as a migraine sufferer. Yet I know how they can take a person out of the loop for awhile. And even if you are "functioning" you don't always make the best decisions. Especially depending on the kinds of meds you're on! I don't like her anyway because I think she's absolutely nuts. But it does make me wonder, what would disqualify someone form running, for medical reasons? I mean, look at Cheney (VP), FDR. Is it physical or mental? Who decides? The public I guess. But there is so much medical misinformation out there.

Debt Ceiling Crisis: Wish the Republicans would tell the fanatics/tea party faction to take a flying leap. What they want would tank the economy- and increase unemployment. Wish the Democrats would tell the fanatics in their party to take a flying leap. What they want will tank the economy, albeit over a longer period of time.

Gang of 6 Plan: On the surface it sounds good. Compromise from both sides required. We have to tackle SS and Medicare. BUT we have to have tax reform, increase income. Cleaning up corporate - and other - loopholes would be great. Not thrilled with some of the suggestions, like keeping EIC and Child Tax Credit, but eliminating mortgage interest credit. Lowering top tax rates 35% to 29% without seeing an equivalent increase in income at that level from closing loopholes. They gotta go hand in hand, and should actually be more in my opinion than the reduction. From some reviews I've read on the Economist's website, it seems to me this one will help lower and higher income, and squeeze the middle. Being at the lower middle with no kids, no investments (capital gains, what's that?), and only mortgage interest deduction, this would increase my taxes.

Cut, Cap, & Balance: No dice. Really think this idea would hurt the economy quickly, put us back into recession, distract from what needs to be done, and not help in the long run. Hate the constitutional ammendment. Why do we need an amendment to tell us what we already know we have to do? It would also eliminate the government's ability to respond in economic downturns, emergencies (Katrina, anyone?), and so on. I really think the government should have that flexibility. Not to mention the wasted time and money when it won't get out of Congress and if by some miracle it does, it is facing almost certain veto. Why kick a dead horse? We also have got to raise revenues. Capping spending to such a low percentage of GDP when faced with an increasing burden in SS/Medicare, well, how's that supposed to work? Oh, that's right. No more ss, medicare, food stamps. If you're poor, you just don't work hard enough is what the right seems to say/feel. At least, that's how it comes across to me!

overview of debt ceiling plans

Taxes/No Taxes: No ifs, ands or buts about it we have got to have more revenue. Cutting spending alone isn't going to be enough. Especially if they cut willy-nilly and abruptly. Although I think increases in taxes (whether by closing loopholes, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, or adding new taxes) they should be phased in from the top down over several years to avoid great shock to the economy, and to avoid harming the poorest among us. I also think we desperately need tax reform. Refunds should be limited to how much you have paid in. If you paid X amount, that's the most you can get back. No getting back more than that. Then some of that savings can be used to shore up effective programs like food stamps (which are pathetic in the amount you can get, and actually have a better positive economic effect than many programs) and child health care programs. Which would hopefully help those on the bottom rung of the ladder that would be hurt by the refund cap.

Women are 51% of Population, 16.6% of Congress: What is up with that? I'm sorry, but men, be they white or black, don't truly represent me or my life. They can try, and some may do well. But I truly think men and women think and react differently. Having more of my view/perspective as a woman in Congress would be more beneficial to me! Read an interesting opinion piece yesterday(don't like the headline, but some of the discussion is thought-provoking).

Casey Anthony: Get over it people. She was found not-guilty of the murder so cut it out. Move on. GET A LIFE. And when is Nancy Grace going to get the pants sued off of her? Some of what she says seems like libel or slander to me. Wonder what the legal definition is? I truly wish CNN (and other news networks!) would stop pandering to this woman and having her on.

Murdoch & the Hacking Scandal: Well, duh. People are suprised at this? What the heck did they think was gonna happen with increasing monopolies in the media, and increasing partisanship, and increasing sensationalistic reporting. Just, duh! I think something needs to be done to break up these monopolies, and to require news to be fact-based, with no opinion or asides. Don't interpret, just report!!!! Anything that is opinion and interpretation needs to have a warning label, and something on the screen stating THIS IS JUST OUR OPINION/INTERPRETATION. PLEASE THINK FOR YOURSELF.

There's more rumbling around in my head, but that's all I can get out for now. :)

Review: A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches: A Novel

So I read this book recently. It's a very large book. More of a tome. I'd been eyeing it at the bookstore, but wasn't willing to spend that much on a new author in hardback. And I must admit, the sheer size of it was intimidating.

A few weeks ago I saw it on one of the "new books" carts at the library, waiting to be reshelved. I took it as a sign, and grabbed it.

I almost didn't read it after noticing on the inside flap that it is the first book in a trilogy. All I could think was "It's book one and it's this big?"

I have to admit, it was very engaging at first. In a strange sort of way. I say strange, because the writing was heavy, ponderous, almost on the professorial level. Wich kind of fit, because the main character is actually a professor doing research. The premise is good, and different.

I don't know if any of this could be considered spoilers, so read on at your own peril.

Modern Living

So I got invited to my second birthday party for a dog last weekend. Yes, you read that correctly. The first party was a year ago, and really, I thought it was just a fluke, more of an in-family joke than a serious party. Although there were four-footed guests, and cake.

This recent party invite was from an acquaintance with whom I walk my dogs occasionally. I've invited her to my house for Thanksgiving, etc, because her family won't let her bring her dog to their house (I could care less - there're always dogs at my house from my extended family on holidays).

I took Leia, leaving Max home for several reasons, mainly because I didn't want to stress him out due to his heart condition. At least not until his meds arrive. (They are a special order - they have to actually compound the meds specifically for him because he's so little.)

So here's the pickle I was in: to gift or not to gift? Ah, that was the question! Or questions:

• Do I bring the dog a present?
• Or just bring the hostess a gift?
• Or maybe just bring a dish like for a pot luck?

Somehow I don't think Debrett's or Miss Manners address this situation. Or do they? From things I've seen on TV, I think the uber rich are more into this dog-party thing than us peons are. (Which could be changing!)

I finally settled on a $5 "fun pak" from Wal-Mart with dog toys in it. Which apparently was the correct choice, as everyone else brought gifts.

Ahh, the joys of modern living.

Cable Madness

It has been a crazy summer. My oldest niece spent the first two plus weeks of June visiting me. It was a whirlwind of fun. I'll be posting more on that as I get the pictures together for uploading.

After months of thinking about it, I finally decided to cancel my cable. It's just getting more and more expensive, and I only watch the same few channels. Unfortunately, none of those channels are available over the air (OTA). But I'll get to that. But here is what I've learned over the last week:

1) Going cable free is not as easy as you would think.

2) If you have a newer TV, ie, an HD ready TV, it probably has an internal digital tuner. If it does, you can just plug the rabbit ears (antenna) directly into the TV. And voila.

3) Okay, maybe not so voila. Don't forget to change the setting on your TV from Cable to Antenna/OTA.

4) And arranging those darn rabbit ears is tricky. Very tricky. Do what I didn't and go to www.antennaweb.org and www.tvfool.com to find out what channels you should be able to get, and what direction to point the antenna in.

So the first night I spent 4.5 hours (no exaggeration) rearranging my home theater system/DVD player and Wii trying to get a digital converter and the antenna added to the mix. I could not get everything to play well together. And when I was done (gave up) I only had 2 OTA channels: NBC and CBS or the CW. I had to get up and turn the tuning knob on the antenna one click to switch between CBS and the CW. Fun. Not. That was Friday starting out the long 4th of July weekend.

Amazingly I made it. Thanks to Netflix instant over the internet. I did hook the computer up, but its wireless is unbelievably slow so I need to get it actually wired. But I need another ethernet cable and am too lazy to go to the store yet.

Did some research after that, and realized my tv has a built-in tuner. So I was using the digital converter to convert a digital signal to analog to watch on my HDTV. And I'd also forgotten to change the TV setting from cable to antenna. Not my most stellar hour. Or hours.

Undid all the rearranging I did, got rid of the converter, changed the tv setting and pointed the rabbit ears correctly. Now I have all three networks, Fox, the CW, a barely viewable (but audible) PBS, and two religious channels I'd rather not have.

Still not sure how I'm going to last. I'm missing my morning CNN and Weather Channel more than I thought I would.

However, if I can get the computer hooked up correctly, I can watch new episodes online after they air. Not that I'm following any new shows. Just "In Plain Sight" on USA. Which I know I can watch online. Still working on a solution for new episodes of "Dr Who". So. I am still feeling at a loss, even though I have the TV turned on the same amount of time as before. Just have to think about it a little more. And I did turn the radio on instead of TV the other night. Listened to music and played solitaire.

And I'm listening to music to go to sleep instead of TV. I need an alarm clock I can plug my iPod into. I already know which one I want. :) So here's to a cable free summer!

Experiences

Watching a commercial for the Kind.le last night, I was struck with a sense of sadness. Although wistfulness might be more accurate. Stylistically appealing and positive, the commercial ends with the tag line "The book is back."

As much as I love my gadgets, I'm still primarily a hard copy reader. I'll take the physical book over the ebook any day. (Although I do have many of my favorites in both versions!)

What struck me about the commercial, is what is being lost in this switch to the electronic format. Books and libraries and bookstores have always been such a large part of my life. To this day, the trip to the library or to the bookstore is filled with a sense of youth and joy and expectation. The discovery, the wonder of rooms full of books. The endless, overwhelming possibilities.

How I remember those summer days when friends and I would bicycle to the library. I remember the Florida heat and humidity and daytime stillness almost as if I'm there now. That blast of cool air as we entered the quiet of the library. Running my fingers along the spines of the books as I hunted for the next one that would whisk me away. Then, finally, the excitement of finding it, the satisfaction in pulling it off the shelf.

Why I Will Never Buy...

...A Jeep Liberty.

I really don't like this vehicle at all. Good thing it's a rental! I have a few basic issues that may have been corrected on later models, if there are any. I'm not sure what year the rental is. It is a Trail Rated Limited Edition, automatic transmission, and is quite fancy.

So here are my reasons, in no particular order.

• No handle above the driver's door - big issue for a short person. Need that to help haul myself up into the driver's seat.

• No step to assist short people get into the driver's seat. (I haven't checked the other doors.

• This thing is a tank; a giant lumbering ox.

• Rocks way too much in the wind. Feels top heavy.

• Did I mention this thing is a tank? Very hard to negotiate parking lots and parking spaces. Don't try to park between two other vehicles. Even if they are parked perfectly in their spots. It just is not going to happen. (Backing out is an issue too!)

• To reach the gas pedal with more than my toes, I have to sit way too close to the steering wheel. To get most of my foot on the pedal without feeling like I'm stretching and about to slide off the seat, I have to sit even closer. If that air bag ever deploys it will most likely kill me. To be fair, this is an issue I have with most vehicles as I am short. However, this one seems worse than most others I have driven. Even our company van.

• Silver knobs/plates on top of shift mechanisms are stupid. They reflect sunlight that no visors can block, usually straight into the driver's eyes (or corner thereof). Again, not just an issue with this vehicle, and probably not a problem for taller drivers.

And my number one reason I'll never buy this vehicle?

• Where the dash and middle console meet, it slopes down at an angle toward the gas pedal. Making it wider at its base. In order to use the gas pedal, I have to angle my foot to the right. Leaving my leg - and knee - feeling twisted the entire time I am driving. It sucks. Perhaps a taller person would not have this problem; I don't know. All I know is my knee hurts.

Twenty Three Years Isn't a Bad Record

This past Saturday I had my first auto accident. No one was hurt; although my car did suffer some damage.

I was driving to a rock climbing comp about 4 hours away, with my little and her mom in the car. For once, we actually left on time, with 5 hours until the comp started. A Spring snow storm had come through the night before, but the roads were great. Until we got about 1.5 hours from here, and got onto the interstate.

The roads didn't look bad; just like there was snow on them. I was going the speed limit when I decided to move into the left lane because it was clear and the right lane had snow. As soon as we changed lanes, I felt the car start to slide. I turned the wheel a bit to the right to keep us in our lane and from going into the median and then oncoming traffic. Not sure if that was a mistake as we went into a spin. At least I knew enough not to slam on the brakes, and just went with the spin. Because by that point I couldn't do much. At least we didn't roll! The whole thing was surreal.

The Plus Side of Insomnia

I've been having a tough time sleeping lately. Falling asleep is no problem, staying asleep is. Even with the CPAP for the sleep apnea. Of course, that could be part of the issue itself. Either type of mask I wear has been causing me to break out in eczema right around the nose. It's pretty embarassing, as some days it is so bad I look like a junkie. ;( Finally getting that under control, but it makes wearing the mask at night irritating.

Anyway. I've been waking up around 1am-2am just about every night. Dogs love it because they get to go outside. To get back to sleep, I put the TV on for background noise, with the sleep timer. Our local "government" channel (not PBS) usually has clips of ballets and operas, etc, at that time of night. So it's relaxing go to sleep music.

The other night, they had something else on. Some guy dressed up as Thomas Jefferson was speaking before a crowd. Turns out it was the last 20 minutes of a presentation from 2001. But it was fabulous. I stayed up for the credits and wrote the guys name down. It's Clay Jenkins, and he does what is called the Jefferson Hour.

Long story longer, I've subscribed to the podcast (first one ever for me). Have about five downloaded to my iPod so far. Was listening to one last week, titled "Civility" (show 904). Imagine my surprise when about 20 to 25 minutes into it, he started discussing the very thing I posted about last!

If you have time (and the interest) I recommend listening. It's pretty interesting. At least to this history buff, and self- professed geek. ;)

It's all about the words

Apparently the iPad has negatively affected my blogging. That, and work. I'm too lazy now to break out my laptop at home - it takes half a lifetime (okay, ten minutes or so) to turn on, and I'm too paranoid about fires while I'm at work to leave it on full-time. It's too time consuming to type a blog post using the on-screen keyboard of the iPad. It's also been busy at work, with no breaks to blog during. I've also been making a concerted effort to leave my desk for lunch. So. Until I get a wireless keyboard for the iPad at home, posting will continue to be sporadic.

Words have really been on my mind lately. Anyone who's known me for a long time will recognize that I've always been a word person. I love words. It's why I'm fairly good at crossword puzzles. (Hey, I'm up to Wednesday on the NYT puzzles!!!)  I love the sound of them, the feel of them, the weight of them as I move them around in my head. I know I don't measure my words as carefully as I should a lot of the time. It's so easy not too in this fast-paced, hectic sound bite we live in.

However, this is something that is really starting to bother me. Especially since our state legislative session has been in full swing. Whether it's what they themselves are saying, or the words in the bills, or the articles and online comments...words have been flying around like crazy. Big words; and I'm not talking syllables. Yet no one seems to be measuring them. No one seems to be weighing them. No one seems to be sounding or feeling them out first.

Breakitis

Or, When To Use Force (And When Not To!)

I think VW car designers and engineers must make too much money. Seriously. To them it must not mean much to have to take their car in and pay someone $30-50 to change the headlight. If it did, they wouldn't have placed the battery right behind the access to the front driver headlight.

Sheesh. I have small hands and that was tough. Naturally, I used too much force pulling the first cover off and broke off a little protruding piece of plastic. Turns out that was the guide for putting the cover back correctly. Oops. The tricky part was manouvering the cover out without harming the battery wire, and then getting the second cover off, bulb out, replaced, and back in. The back in part was awful. That's the part where I actually screamed in frustration. Could not get it anchored and that stupid locking ring fastened.

Wanna know why? I wasn't using enough force. Sigh. Once I got frustrated and shoved that thing in there it stuck like a charm. Naturally. [rolling my eyes] Then of course I couldn't get the cover back in. Because I broke the guide off. Pffffttt. Finally figured that out.

But I got it changed. Myself. And saved about $50. It only cost forty minutes of my time and some frustration. Hooray for me.

Feeling Guilty? There's an app for that!

The Catholic church is going digital and entering the 21st century. A little bit, anyway. If you're too busy to go to confession, or just don't like going, you can now download a church-approved Confession app. No fooling!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12391129

D Day, My Way

Well, it is a Monday and a half!

Whiteout snow conditions (boss is actually considering a snow day, which says a lot considering where I'm located!)

My little sister's mom is trying to laugh off the fact that the week before they got all the dogs fixed, her eldest daughter took her dog to a friend's and let him mate with the friend's female dog. So now there is soon to be a litter of puppies to find homes for. I told her to let the daughter and friend deal with it. It's their fault, why should the rest of us have to get involved? At the very least they should just turn the pups over to the humane society for placement. They stand a better chance of getting good homes. This "friend" of the daughter has got to be the most irresponsible person I have met when it comes to dogs. They have something like 5 chihuahas and none of them are fixed. They keep having puppies. Gee, wonder why! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And then there are the local politicians (republicans) that are trying to...[political rant ahead, don't follow the link if you're sensitive or not interested!]

What did I expect?

Blogging has dropped off the radar for me the last months or so. I miss it, but somehow it seems "easier" to do the quick little meaningless soundbites on FB.

Possibly I've just been avoiding doing any thinking. At least, the thinking I should do for blogging. Life is pretty much the same in my universe. Work. Home. Family. Friends. Pretty short and sweet. [g]

Little Sis did decently at the climbing comp in Boise. She only made one climb out of three, but that happened to a lot of the climbers. Even one of her friends on the team, who is really good. The trip turned out to be fun, driving was pretty decent, and I really need a GPS for the car. LOL. I got around quite well, it's just that I did do some doubling back due to missing exits where two interstates connected/overlapped. Hate those. Especially when you think you're just on an on-ramp and geez, turns out before you actually get on the interstate you are past the first exit for that interstate, with no signs indicating so, and it was the one you needed!!!!

Had fun shopping, found a lovely basket - finally - for my Wi.i accesories. It even fits (barely) on my coffee table shelf. Just need to put a wee bit of felt on the bottom. Scratches the wood when it is pulled out. Oops.

So what else is new?

Hornet's Nest

I am madder than a hornet's nest. My little sister is going to regional rock climbing comp this weekend. We have been planning this for months. I even requested this Friday off because it's an eight hour drive. In winter. Through a pass.

Her mom just informed me she thought we were leaving after work. She scheduled their state licensing inspections for Friday. God. I am so mad I can hardly see straight. I hate driving at night. I will be so sleepy by then it will be dangerous! The roads will be so much worse at night. I also have poor night vision. There will also be less traffic on the road if we did get into trouble. Frankly I just want to tell her to take a flying leap and that I am leaving in the morning. If she still wants to come she can drive herself later. What the hell was she thinking? Who the hell leaves for a full day's drive at the end of a work day in the middle of a very rough winter?

I know I've mentioned several times that I took the day off since it's an eight hour drive! She does crap like this all the time. Changes at the last minute and the rest of us just have to do it her way no matter how it inconveniences us. As usual she gets her way. Gack. I need a chill pill. I'm going to bed.

Going over to the Dark Side

Well, it's finally happened. Ver.i.z.on has the i.Ph.one. And I'm seriously considering buying one. I'm eligible for the new-every-two program in June. I could upgrade now without any fees, and not have to pay full cost. But am thinking of waiting until June. Then applying that $50 credit. Unless they'll give it to me now.

Unfortunately that means I'll have to upgrade to a "real" data plan. So. Do I really want to pay that extra $29/month? Not really.

But I'm tired of carrying a phone and my iPod. Combining it into one would be lovely.

And I've been seduced by A.ppl.e's touch screen. I have yet to try any other maker's version that I like as much.

Ah, well. I'll just enjoy this jaunt to the Dark Side. [g] Who knows? Maybe I'll run into Lu.ke Sk.y.walke.r while I'm there!!!!

Critter Carols

'Tis Winter Solstice Eve

It's Winter Solstice tomorrow, and there's a total lunar eclipse tonight, and it's a full moon! It's the first time since 1378 that there will be a lunar eclipse for the Winter Solstice.

I'm thinking of getting up to see it. Shouldn't be too hard. The dogs wake me up between midnight and 4 am every morning anyway. Now if there will only be clear skies tonight!

Maybe that accounts for the Congress repealing DADT. Still can't quite believe they did that; especially with the Reps gaining more "power" come January.

Maybe it was part of a backroom deal to get the '01 and '03 tax cuts and unemployment continued, and that ridiculous payroll tax reduction (what were they thinking?). Not to mention the inheritance tax break. Gimme a break.

warning - political rant ahead

I really do wish someone would stand up and say "Hey. We know it bites big time, but we are going to have to go back to the tax levels before 2001. We know the economy is still fragile. That's why we are going to do this slowly over time."

They could have done that and saved face for all. Except maybe the Reps with the highest earners. But they could have negotiated it to extend the income tax cuts for everyone making less than $500k, instead of $250k, etc. And gradually lowered that to get us back to 2001 tax levels. But nooooo. We have to keep it going, and add stuff to decrease the money coming in even more!

It boggles my mind how they can cut the payroll tax 2% for the next year. Isn't social security hamstrung already? For Pete's Sake.

And this one Rep. I heard on the news. OMG. He brought up the usual talking point that the extension of uneployment benefits should be paid for first (fully funded), but when asked if that should apply to the continuation of the tax cuts, he said "No, it's not the same thing." Really? Then what the hell is it?

You're still reducing money the government has to function. Front end or back end, it is the same thing. And arguably the cuts of  '01 and '03 helped place us in the current mess we are in. Reducing income while increasing or maintaining spending never leads to a positive cash flow. I can tell you that from personal experience. And don't give me that "It's not money the govt has anyway". Well, it is money the government used to have, until they gave it away without funding it.

I'm also tired of all the whining that comes when anyone tries to close loopholes for those making millions and so on. Let's face facts. The rich have a lot more opportunity to take advantage of tax shelters and loopholes than the average person. I can't hire Suz.e Or.man or her like to give me tax advice. But the rich can. There are so many ways to set up your money and estate to avoid taxes upon your death. Give me a break. They don't need that inheritance tax exemption for up to $5 million and a reduced rate!!!! They should have kept it at $1m and just reduced the rate to 35%.

I should stop now. I can feel myself tensing up. Which is why I haven't posted for awhile. Too much going on that I'm thinking about but makes me mad. On a local political level as well.

Repubs here gained advantages in our state legislature riding on the "economic woes" ticket. Their first stated agenda item? Eliminate ab.or.tio.n in this state. For the third session in a row, they're going to try to get a bill passed stating conception begins at birth. Even though the people of this state, by fairly decent margins, have voted no on two constitutional initiatives that tried the same thing. What the hell are they doing? The people of this state have said no twice already. Yet they are going to waste precious time and money on this issue, instead of facing the budget shortfall and economy. I'm going to pull my hair out.

Anyway. It all just drives me crazy. I'm going to stop now and think about the eclipse tonight, Solstice tomorrow, and the 3-day weekend coming up.

DADT Repealed Finally!

It being Saturday I just now got around to checking the headlines. It's about damn time "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was repealed. It actually gives me hope for the future of this country. Now let's see how they implement it.

Gobble Gobble

It has been awhile, hasn't it? Need to get back to posting here. I've been distracted by Fa.ce.book, but really. I just can't condense my thoughts to the small postings they allow. I like this much better. Whether it's read or not!

Had a successful Turkey day this year. Mom & Dad flew in the Monday before, and left for home yesterday. I think they were secretly a little glad to head out as the weather has been a bit chilly. Below zero, snowy, windy. Not normal Thanksgiving weather. At least, not in the past 10 years I've lived here.

Cooked my first turkey ever, with Mom's expert guidance. Tried a new recipe that left me a bit disappointed. Put an orange, onion, celery, and thyme in the turkey cavity instead of stuffing. We made that separately. Rubbed butter all over turkey, sprinkled with salt & pepper, then roasted in oven bag. It was good, but I was expecting more of an orange flavor. I'm still in search of that recipe my Aunt N cooked one year. She said it was from Em.eril, but when I asked her about it several years later, she didn't remember it. It's the best turkey I've ever had.

Anyway. Hosted my little sis' family and a few friends. About 14 of us total. It was fun, and a good day. But exhausting. Shanni stayed the night at the last minute, because we were going shopping in the morning. Hit the stores around 9 or 10 am, which got us past the madness. Except Macy's and Joann Fabrics. But those 2 were bearable. Worst was the cash register line at Joann's. Small store w/only 2 cashiers. But got yarn at half price plus so it was worth it. We were home by 3pm, and I got half my Xmas shopping done. The rest online over the weekend. So just a few little items to finish up and I'm all set.

With Mom & Dad here we managed to finish a few house projects. Nothing major. Dad and I got my adjustable shelves installed upstairs. Love them.Two shelves 6 feet long and 12 inches deep each. Adjustable to whatever height I want. Now to get the books on them and the boxes emptied and papers sorted.