The Day After

Hi everybody? Are you in the proper post-Thanksgiving position? Reclining on the couch with a pillow under your head and clutching a bottle of Tums in one fist, a beer in the other, and an icepack on your head, with crumbs from the feast and confetti in your favorite team's colors littering the floor?  Well, good!  I had fun too.

We had a proper Thanksgiving feast, and spent the afternoon begging friends and neighbors to come over and help dispose of the leftovers. We still have leftovers, now residing in the fridge and freezer. That freed us up to spend today talking with kids and grandkids in other parts of the world : Oklahoma, Texas, Delaware, Russia, and Israel. 

This is one of those days that makes me thankful for modern technology. The cell phone is a wonderful thing when you have one grandson serving in the US Air Force in Russia and another serving in the Israeli Air Force.  They are both fine, despite the current ongoing conflicts.  I have a grandnephew who is serving in the US Air Force in Afghanistan. The technology that threatens to overwhelm us at least keeps us in touch with our loved ones.

I deliberately did not attend a single Black Friday sale. My presents were all either bought months ago or will be made before Christmas rolls around. Didn't watch the Macy's parade, but will watch the Parade of Roses soon. Looking forward to it. How about you?

Big, important days!

Today, Monday, November 5th was a good day. We had lunch  at a little country diner we'd never been to before. The food was good, and the company was excellent. My daughter, my best friend, and I had gone to town to have my oil changed, and the tires rotated, all for $23.95. The place was crowded, the young man in charge only had two workers, so I made an appointment to come back another day. We ate at the diner, did a little grocery shopping, and came home.

Tomorrow, Monday, November 6th, will be a great day! A red, white, and blue letter day! Any election needs our votes. The election of the next President of the United States of America, makes it even more incumbent upon us to vote! As we say here in Illinois, vote early, and vote often! I don't care who you're voting for. I only care that you vote! I learned that from my grandfather, the same grandfather I referred to previously in my reviews of Zane Grey's biography of his ancestress, Betty Zane.  Grandaddy was the first member of his family born on American soil, and he consider voting not an honor, not a privilege, but a right and a duty!

! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE ! VOTE !

Thank you, Karen Mabry Rice

Is it Friday yet ?!?

Interesting day. Had big plans to do things in two towns where we have to shop, and some fun stuff in the village where we live. We got about half done, then agreed to come home, take a nap, and do nothing for the rest of the day. My daughter's only 49, and I'm "only" 70.  Did some evil god sneak in and make us old when we weren't looking?  What happened to the two "supermoms" who could go all day long on a pot of coffee and a couple of Danish?

One way or another, we get quite a bit done. I can still drink a pot of coffee, and sleep like a log all night, except for the two nightly visits to the restroom. I understand that's a common occurrence for senior citizens. Seni . . . what?!? I know I'm a citizen, I've read my birth certificate, and they always let me vote. But, senior? I've only been a senior twice in my life, once in 1960, and once in 1994. When did I get this latest elevated status? Guess I just wasn't paying attention.

Tomorrow I'll be busy looking things up. Do I still have proof of ownership for all the software to be uploaded on my new hard drive? Do I still have the receipt on my three-year-old tires, which entitles me to free rotation for the rest of their unnatural lives? I'll probably spend some of the time asking myself dumb questions. Like, why did I buy an extended warranty on a five-year-old car that had its first major breakdown three weeks after the warranty expired? Why did the computer chip that allows me to use my cruise control, cigarette lighter, auxiliary plug in for electronic goodies, and lord knows what else, quit working two months after the car was paid off? Do I give a shit? Why don't I just have another cup of coffee, and join my friend Jim's WGAS club in Hawaii? These, and other inane questions will probably plague my dreams tonight.

That's enough thrashing around for one thoroughly inauspicious Thursday.  Remember, tomorrow we can say, TGIF!