Thanksgiving and Beyond!

At this time of year, I get really sentimental. Woody and I are big Thanksgiving people...less so Christmas. We're gathering up all our stuff to go to see the grandkids, and wait for it, including the stuffing...or dressing as we say in the south. Our son thinks no one can make dressing as good as Mom! I make one pan of oyster dressing and one "plain". Ginny is our pet sitter for the weekend. She's great and the boys love her! I just want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season...we are so blessed to have the best family and friends a couple could want.

Tomorrow we go to an 80th birthday party for a dear friend, and to our niece's Christmas musical at Belmont. Life is good!

I'll write more on Sunday to brag on Jessica!

I'm so ready for Florida!

I am so ready to head to Florida!! It's really getting cold here in Hendersonville! We've had a great week...finished our Christmas shopping and will get it all wrapped this week. I'm finishing up quilts for Sebastian and Riley to use when they watch TV. Most of the stuff is going to Charlotte with us for Thanksgiving so we have to have it all ready. Friday night we went back to 2 Country...slightly different band, but still playing songs I don't know. We left early. Tonight we went to Red Lobster and celebrated Woody's birthday a few days early. I have to go to the dentist again Monday, so we thought Monday might be an issue.

This week is the first week that I felt just a tinge of boredom in retirement. After two years of being retired, I guess this is a pretty good track record. I think it's because it's cold and dreary and I thrive on sunshine. I thought about applying for a job in Obama's administration but think I might have too many crazy relatives and difficult children to survive the vetting process. The application is 63 questions, and basically, if you don't walk on water, forget it! I really don't want to go back to anything remotely like I left, so I'm trying to imagine what it is I would like to do. I wish we had liked retail a bit better, as Halo Properties in Hendersonville is going to build work/live lofts near Indian Lake Village! That would be way cool. Walk to shopping, restaurants, book store and movies!! So if any of you have suggestions about what I should be when I grow up, let me know.

We went to the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, and it was fabulous. It was so fast paced that I had trouble catching my breath. This is the first movie since Mama Mia that we wanted to see. I think Hollywood forgets us oldsters! I guess we could move to California and become actors, or maybe extras! The only problem with that is we have no talent. My sister got that!

Notre Dame finally won today! I'm not sure what's going on with our quarterback...he showed up in a fur coat the first time he rolled into South Bend as cocky as you want a QB to be, and everyone thought he would be fabulous. None of the Clawson boys are living up to their expectations. Oh well...hopefully we'll improve. And then of course tonight, Alabama beat Mississippi State so Woody's bummed.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Barack Obama and Hope!

As many of you know, I was a huge Hillary Clinton supporter who unwillingly transitioned to Barack Obama. In listening to his speech on Tuesday evening, I harkened back to the days of John F. Kennedy...I felt a sense of excitement about our country and hope for the future that I haven't felt since Bill Clinton was elected! Watching the diverse crowd of supporters, I remembered coming of age in the 1960's and, even then, hating the black-white divisiveness that poisoned our country. I guess I've always been a liberal! Having been raised by the most wonderful black women and white women in Jackson, TN, (it took a lot of people to get me to where I am today!) I was so proud that our country selected the best man for the job. That being said, I'm tired of talking about race...Barack Obama is both white and black, and represents the best in our country...so get over it! He's going to be an excellent president if we support him and do our best to address the issues that are confronting our country! So...here's what we need to do. We need to put aside partisan politics, confront the needs of our country and not the special interests, live within our means, recognize that family values are not owned by the GOP and that we need to focus on the needs and responsibilities of and to our families, address the need to offer healthcare for all, and generally get on with re-establishing our country as the world leader!

During this election cycle, I've blogged under the name HealthcareforAll on everything from the Washington Post to the NY Times to MSNBC and CNN! I've tried to keep my blog for fun things...but today, I just felt like sharing with you my thoughts on the election. Please indulge me! Promise that you'll keep an open mind if you didn't vote for President-elect Obama; and if you did, be ready to help our country get back on track!

Have a great weekend! I'm still recovering from lots of dental work with more to come, so my weekend will be quiet! and soft!