Bye-Bye 2010, and Good Riddance

Here I am, again, back from my self-imposed exile from blogging. That is not to say that I crawled into a hole and pulled it in after me.  At Thanksgiving, Jay and I and our friend, Judy, made our annual trek to Omaha, to visit my daughter and son-in-law. We have done this for many years. It works out well because my daughter is an excellent cook and a week at her house helps me put off my annual attack of Holiday Depression. I have had some form of depression at Christmas time since I was a teenager. I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say that the Ghost of Christmas Past is no stranger to me. 

Anyhoo, we came home the day after Thanksgiving and I settled down to a long winter's three weeks of watching the Democrats in the Senate regain consciouslness long enough to pas a whole slew of very important bills, that the incoming House and Senate members will try to repeal the minute they return from their Christmas recess, starting with Healthcare.

Be sure to tune in this week to hear someone read the Constitution. It's a Republican idea, bu it could be worse. It may be the first time some, if not most, of the House members have heard or read the document, if they bother to show up for the reading, that is.  The first new house rule to rear its ugly head, as I understand it, will be a bill requiring every new bill to include an explanation of which part of the Constitution it pertains to. This should be worth the price of admission.

In other news, Presidential Hopeful, Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi got loose on Fox news the other day and would like you to know that the White Citizen's Council is not a racist organization.  See their Website. Decide for yourself.

Something tells me things are about to get interesting.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Stay tuned.

Home, Again

I'm back, but I'm not necessarily all there, if you catch my drift. It takes me a lot longer to recover from a change of routine than it used to. The eight-hour drive was just deadly boring. We had to drive the length of Missouri, then across a corner of Iowa, into Nebraska, and back the same way a week later .


We had a fine time in Omaha. We always enjoy going to Kelley and Allen's house. I bonded again with my grandpuppy, Cosette. She loves her granny, but she loves her Uncle Jay more. She woke me up each morning by trying to climb all over me and lick my face. I managed to fend her off, but I could see in her expressive little eyes that she was primed and ready to take advantage of the first opportunity to lunge if I loosened my grip just a little bit. She only got me on the lips once. Bleah! I've been kissed by a dog!


Kelley brined the turkey again this year. It was very tasty - moist and perfectly cooked. She's such a good cook! The four of us pigged out on turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, asparagus/pea casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, gravy and chocolate pecan pie. Yum!


A few of their friends came by Thanksgiving evening for dessert. Lots of fun. Nice people.

We came back with colds. Jay had shared his with me again. Sometimes I think he might could be a little less generous.

This blog will probably be kind of on again, off again through December. I'm in one of my moods. But, if anything momentous happens, I'll be right here, giving you a piece of my mind. And, of course, I'll be reading your blogs and commenting. Be forewarned.

Stay tuned.

On The Road Again

I'll be away for a while, and it's just as well, since I don't seem to have any ideas for the blog. Jay and I will be making our annual pilgrimage to Omaha, to spend Thanksgiving with Kelley and Al and Cosette.

I won't be blogging for a while, but I'll be reading, and maybe commenting. So, don't be talking about me while I'm gone. OK?

Now, We Can Have Christmas

I'm back. We had such a good time! Our good friend, Judy went with us and she graciously offered to take her van and Jay drove - 8 hours through some of the most boring countryside I've ever seen. Sorry, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

Kell and Cosette greeted us at the door and the aroma of Petit Jean Peppered Ham drew us into the house and to the kitchen.

We were there for a week, and every morning, Cosette had to pounce on me and play kissy-face until I made her get down. That puppy sure is a snuggle-bug!

On Thanksgiving, Kell roasted the turkey that she had "brined" over night - mighty moist and tasty. She also had two kinds of cranberry sauce, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, an asparagus casserole and gravy. Then, after all that started digesting, we had our choice of warm apple pie and ice cream or vanilla bean cheesecake. Quite a spread, and all of it delicious. I love to go to Kell's for Thanksgiving!

Then, on Saturday morning, we climbed back into the van and started home, in the rain, sleet, snow and fog. Poor Jay had to drive through all that until we were almost to Branson. After we had been home for an hour or so, it started snowing here, and we had a dusting on the grass by Sunday morning.

I spent a lot of time reading blogs yesterday. I had over 300 of them to catch up on. And, no, I didn't comment on any of them. Now, I'm caught up, though, and things can return to what passes for normal in my little corner of the world.

I am proud to announce that, except for one gift, I have finished my Christmas shopping. I didn't get up at 4:30 a.m. Friday with Judy and Kell and hit the stores. No. That's just too much for me and my poor old arthritic bones. I almost always do my shopping on line. It's just so easy and, so far, I haven't been disappointed.

Well, that's about it for me today. I'll try to think of something else to say in a day or two. I'm never without words for long.

Later.

Thanksgiving Report (burp 'scuse me)

Isn't she cute? This is my new grandpuppy, Cosette. Kell and Al surprised us with her when we drove up on Saturday before Thanksgiving. She entertained us all week. She is a three year old PBGV (Petit Bassett Griffon Vendeen), house trained and completely at home with Kell and Al, even though they have only had her for a week. In fact, she already has them trained.

She definitely has a stubborn streak, though, and she and Kell threw down a few times while we were there. She hasn't figured out, yet, that she has met her match in Kell.

We had a fine time in Omaha. Kell cooked another scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner. She, Al, Jay and Judy were in and out all week, while I waved bye-bye and read my book, most of the time.

It snowed on Tuesday (or, was it Wednesday?), about 2 inches, but the streets never were slick. Sure was purty! Cosette loved the cold weather and snow. She didn't love having her feet and nose dried off when she came back in, but that's the price you pay.

By the way, nobody in our household got up to go shopping at 4 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. We all have better sense than that. Besides, this is going to be a gift certificate, gift card Christmas, which takes some of the stress out of the season.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, too! It's good to be back.