Where Did My Sunday Go?

I've lost my Sunday! Sheesh, it seems like it just started - and all of a sudden it's almost 10:30pm! The end of my lovely four day weekend! Well, poop!

I guess it's back to the same old grind tomorrow - housework - work-work - and joining the human race again. Ugh - but then again, it won't be that bad.

We've got Brighthouse coming in to change over the phone system at work . . . goodbye A T & T - - - and please, oh please, I hope Brighthouse is as good as they claim they are! We do get to keep our phone numbers - - but we've gotta change e-mail . . . . . so I have to contact ALL our vendors, on-line customers, etc. and send them new contact info . . . . Brighthouse wouldn't let me have an address ahead of time. So, once we're hooked up, I get to pick the address and send out notices - change addresses on all the accounts where we get news letters and notify everyone of our new address! And - the boss will expect me to keep up with everything else that's going on at the same time! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

IT'S TIME FOR MY SATURDAY SEVEN!

Here are my miscellaneous Saturday Seven! I've picked seven items from the news of the week and here are my thoughts on them.

1. I guess Mumbai would have to be first. What is the world coming to when Jewish Centers, Five Star Hotels, etc. are under seige - for endless hours - well over 100 innocent lives lost and no one has come forward and said what they intended to accomplish with all of this!?

2. On a much, much lighter note - There is a gentleman who owns a Christmas tree farm somewhere here in the States. For the past several years he has been giving free trees to Servicemen/women and their families. This year he has been fighting prostrate cancer - so the people he has been helping all these years are now taking turns helping him with his trees that he can no longer lift! They say it's only fair since he has given so much to them.

3. It looks like Black Friday was black in more than one way. In California two complete idiots shot and killed each other in the middle of a Toys R Us store! I can't imagine what could possibly prompt anyone to carry a gun into a toy store to start with - let alone have a shoot-out in the middle of their shopping trip!

4. And in New York the crowd was so out of control at a WalMart that they forced the doors - appears they came right off the hinges. Ended up trampling an employee to death. And then the shoppers actually got mad when they tried to close the store because of it! I am sometimes so ashamed of my fellow human beings!

5. My grandson, Pickle, made the Principal's Honor Roll - again! He's in middle school and has worked really hard to get those great grades!

6. Granddaughter, MH, got good grades, too - and is doing really well with her cheer squad. They won a National Championship last year - and are shooting for it again!

7. Greatest news of all! I got the Christmas decorations up - inside - outside - everything. So glad it got done before the weatherman's predicted rain hits us Sunday!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yes, it's Thanksgiving - at least for about another half-hour! We've just had a lazy day here around the house. Baked a chicken with all the traditional goodies - and ate enough to last us for at least a few days!

Started me thinking about Thanksgivings from my childhood. I remember driving from Charlotte to Durham to my Grandmothers' house for Thanksgiving dinner for years and years. Boy, could that lady cook!

There was always a turkey AND a ham. Mashed potatoes AND yams - both grown in her garden. Pecan and pumpkin pies - again from pecan trees in her yard and pumpkin vines in her garden. Green beans, corn and whatever other veggies she had either canned or frozen at their peak! And the cookies! There were probably at least 6 or 8 different kinds of cookies. Cakes made from scratch and banana pudding to die for!!

Once the table was set, we had better be dressed up - no jeans and tee-shirts at her dining room table - and spotlessly clean! That table would be groaning under the weight of all that food! The five in our family, Grandma & Grandpa, and anyone else who showed up were fed until we couldn't walk!

Once everything was cleaned up and put away - except the pies, cakes, pudding and cookies - most everyone would settle down in the "sun room" to watch football - between the warmth of the company and the warmth of the room, we rarely saw more than the first couple of plays . . . but we sure did get some good naps!

That was in the late 1950's and early 1960's. I hope there are still families out there doing it that way now. It was only a two hour drive back then. Our nearest son is 4 1/2 hours away - daughter is almost 8 hours and our other son is 9 hours! I guess that's what we get for living so far away. Ahhh, but we make up for it at other times of the year. We invade them and spoil the grandkids like crazy!

It's almost Thanksgiving!!

Yep, I guess I'm just about as happy as this doggie! I know the economy is in a total mess. I know everyone is worried about jobs. I know we're all concerned about how we're going to pay for Christmas. The housing market stinks. I know a lot of us are worried about how the new president is going to handle things. I know that there are so very many things happening right now that could make this the worst year ever for all of us.

But, I choose to look at it from a different direction. I have four walls and a roof over my head. It's not a huge estate - but it IS a pretty decent home.

My children are grown, pretty happy and are all able to take care of themselves and their own families.

I have electricity 24/7! Not like some 3rd world countries where it's only on for a couple of hours a day.

The gas prices around here are down to only $1.73/gallon!!! I can afford to fill up my 2001 SUV without having to take out a loan!

I have a grocery store a few miles from home where there is always food on the shelves - and I can usually come up with enough money to buy enough food to feed my husband and myself - - and the rat terriers - - and the sugar glider!

We can drive from the Atlantic to the Pacific without once having to show and ID just because we want to cross a state border!

Yep, I'd say I'm pretty happy right where I am. Things could always be lots better of course - but I don't think they are so bad, are they?

On this day of thanks - let's all try to find all of those positive things in our lives and be as thankful as possible for these happy, happy things!

LIVE AND LET LIVE!

I have a neighbor who is about 66 years old. She's really very nice. A good neighbor who keeps her yard neat and helps anyone around here who needs her. BUT, she painted her house a few weeks ago - yes, she painted it herself - and did a beautiful job. The main part is a nice cream color and the trim is really, really BLUE ! Only not that pretty. It's actually not a very attractive color at all. Oh, well, I thought. It IS her house and she did do a great job.

However, several of our other neighbors are just about going nuts over this! Our area has no restrictions - that's why a lot of us live here - we don't want restrictions for ourselves. But all of a sudden some people are really trying to restrict HER. One guy called Code Enforcement. They came out and upset our sweet neighbor terribly, telling her that the others in the area were complaining.

Now I have changed my mind. . . . I LOVE her new paint job! It has spunk . . . it adds a little spice to the neighborhood. We're not talking about some swanky gated community here. This is just a little group of little houses - maybe a total of about 50 or 60 - none of them worth more than $100,000 if that - and her place looks better than the ones owned by some of the loudest complainers.

Live and let live, people. This in no way is going to hurt you. I am encouraging her to keep her shutters and trim just as blue as she likes - and have offered to help her paint next time!

Find something worthwhile to worry about.