TGFTEON!

That stands for Thank Goodness For The End Of November and my last mandatory daily post! And by the way, 'NaBloPoMo' has been taken offline by its owner. Wonder how many days ago the contest went defunct anyway. Hope you enjoyed seeing some daily activity on my blog! Back to a normal posting rhythm tomorrow!

Nature Sitings

I saw a fox on the way home from work last night. And I saw a flock of white pelicans on the way to work this morning.

Have You Seen My Cat Lately?

Eienstein loves the window sill. Of course he does! He's a cat!

Shopping

A pretty cool shopping blog: Mighty Goods. LINK.

Thanksgiving Cookie

Turkey Cookie.

Martha and Ryan made these cookies together for Thanksgiving. He wanted to bring them to the family dinner instead of to his school. They sure were cute!

Thanksgiving 2007

Dad at Thanksgiving.

Still Raining

Yep, still raining!

Rainy Saturday

Eienstein is one unhappy kitty. He goes and looks out the window and then comes and jumps on the chair meowing unhappily at me as if I can make it quit raining. Sorry, Cat. I'm not happy about it either. If I'm wishing, I'd wish it wait until the night-time. But it's slow and steady and knowing how some parts of the country are really hurting for rain, it would be wrong to complain.

Before Me

Mom, Martha, and Dad.

This is the house that Mom & Dad built after he came home from the war. Not long ago, Dad & I drove by it and took a look. It's still there and also the shop that Dad built for his auto body repair business. The porch is unusual because it is an elevated concrete one. Dad's dad, Big Daddy, was doing huge commercial concrete projects at the time and gave him the particulars on how to do it just right. More than 50 years later, it still stands.

Happy Thanksgiving

I was blessed to spend time with Dad, Martha, Cassie, family. It was a good day.

Almost Time For Lunch And We're Still Here

As state government employees, we still hang on to the hope that the governor will cut us loose at noon on the day before Thanksgiving. Looks like it won't be happening this year. (The last time I remember it happening was an election year and the governor was running for re-election. Is that the only reason to be generous?)

Pictures of Food

You may be seeing pictures of food today. We are having our work Thanksgiving Feast. I made banana pudding for the first time for this event.

Later:


Christine and Vicki with our lunchtime turkey and dressing.

Halloween Work Shenanigans

Santa Anna, Sister, Sister, Bunny


Sister, Santa Anna, Sister

Movies

Watched a couple of movies this weekend. Mr. Brooks with Keven Costener and DemI Moore. Also, Knocked Up. Then started on watching 4th season collection of Nip/Tuck. Highbrow entertainment, yes?

Did You Know?

A polymath is a person with encyclopedic, broad, or varied knowledge or learning. It especially means that the person's knowledge is not restricted to one subject area. The term is used rarely enough to be included in dictionaries of obscure words.

(Ooops!)

(How did I miss the 16th?)

Overheard

"See that dress she's wearing? I have one just like it but in lavender. I was in a wedding and that was our bride's maid dress."

Should Have Gone To Wendy's I Guess

Today I went to lunch and ran some errands. A friend went with me. We went through a Taco Bell drive-thru after errands on our way back to our jobs. When I dropped of said friend, she accidentally picked up my bag of food, too.

I didn't realize it until I'd already gotten parked and there was no way I was going to give up that good spot by driving back to her work to pick up my food. So I called her (and she said Sheese realizing she'd done that) and told her to donate it to some starving college kid at her work.

So at least I had my big ol' diet-Pepsi to sip on for the afternoon. Or thought so. Not only was it flat, it was not a diet-pepsi but a regular one. (Oh and I forgot to say they screwed up when they were taking my order.)

Was feeling hungry, so I walked over to the Subway in the food court and ordered the special for the day. It was Turkey sandwich which should have swiss cheese I think. But nope. They didn't have any because they got sent the wrong cheese. Not so bad to choose another kind, but still wasn't what I wanted.

Sat down back at my desk to enjoy my sandwich. Munching along. Picked up my diet-coke to take a sip from the straw .... yep, the lid popped off and since the cup was tipped, I got a lap-full. Sigh.

My smarta$$ boss was talking about the tailgate before this big basketball game tonight and said there was going to be gumbo. But then reminded me that it spills easily and might be messy so maybe I shouldn't go. Soooo funny.

Well, that's my post for this meal-challenged day!

Six-Fingered Anne

In the past three days, I've come across two separate references about the fact that Anne Boleyn had six fingers on one hand. (1) (2) Waiting on that third one.

A Great Photo Of My Mom

Favorite Dad Photo

Rumblings

Okay, not exactly rumblings. But a steady bass beat from the local establishment down the road. After years of a country bass line, they have changed their format. I've not recognized a tune yet. Those old country standards kind of provided a clue sometimes. Hmmm. Much quieter now. They must have closed the door.

Gave Eienstein a bath a while ago. He really does pretty well during bath time. And I'm really glad. Even though he protests quite loudly, I could be in big trouble if that fifteen pound cat really didn't want to put up with being bathed. He could really put the hurt on me. But we made it through another bathtime and immediately afterwards he acts all put out with me. It doesn't take long, though, before he starts coming around and wanting to curl up in my lap. It's got to feel better to him. I know he sure does smell nice afterward.

Of all the things I had on my to-do list today, I accomplished few. Got the cat bathed and mailed a package.

I had a movie from Netflix waiting when I went to check my mailbox. I enjoyed it pretty much. It was Wild Boy (L' Enfant Sauvage), a french film based on "the wild boy of Aveyron" where a feral child is discovered and Dr. Itard attempts to "civilise" him.

I think you'd have to appreciate randomness for me to recommend it. I find that I end up with the most obscure movies on my Netflix Queue. They border on being a waste of time, but somehow I find some value in viewing them.

Like the 1962 Silent Star, actually named Der Schwelgende Stern which if you are a big sci-fi fan, you would appreciate it for it's historical value and for the fact that the spaceship they take to Venus is called the Kosmokrator. Another sub-titled one. Hmmm. I just looked at the Netflix Queue and the next four will be sub-titled. Maybe I should go throw in some block-busters at the top just for grins.

Okay, here I am spending lots of time surfing the internet on dial-up writing this while I wait for pages to load. Crazy prospect I know. Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow. Time to go to bed, turn on the fan to drown out the big base drum, and catch some z-z-z-z-z-z-zssssss. Night!

Senior Recital

A couple Saturdays ago, Michelle had her senior recital. I'm really glad I got to go. She's been working so hard on it for as long as I can remember. And she got a great surprise in that KimG was able to attend. Michelle was so surprised and pleased.


Michelle and Aaron.


KimG's favorite pose.

I enjoyed the entire recital but I especially liked these translated lines from the song, Rings ist der Wald, by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.

Here in the wood so silent and still,
My fearful heart is sighing;
The wind that bears our smoke away
My mounting tears are drying.

Ah, blow other winds
To others bring comfort
He who in sorrow still can sing
Tearless meet tomorrow singing.

Crocheted Brain

Back in December of 2004, I made an entry about a knitted womb (a cute, cuddly uterus doll).

Now I've discovered a crocheted brain.

There are also accompanying cross-sections in quilted form. If you love the domestic arts and anatomy, you must check them out!

BFF

Another reason to have enjoyed Dad's bday. My best friend in high school became a member of our family. She and her husband got to come to his party!


Ronnie, me, Dad & Deb

This Movie Has Been Mollified

I get a Word of the Day emailed to me everyday.

Today's was:
mollify \MAH-luh-fye\ verb
*1 : to soothe in temper or disposition : appease
2 : to reduce the rigidity of : soften
3 : to reduce in intensity : assuage, temper

Whenever Gene and I watched a rented movie, he would always read the "This movie has been modified to fit your tv" statement as "This movie has been mollified..." and I mean always. I can still hear it whenever I watch a movie.

A Few Photos From Dad's Party

Here's Dad with his baby sister. (l to r: Dad & Eunice)


These two have been friends for 57 years, and didn't even meet until Dad was 33! (l to r: Dad & R. E.)


Who knew I'd have brothers someday! When Geneva came into our lives, we not only got another loving mother but brothers, too! Keith & James got to come to Dad's party. (l to r: Keith, James's Sonya, friend Bill, and James)


These folks traveled three hours with five grandkids in the car! Dad was their pastor. (back row l to r: FredK, Rhonda, JudyK; front row: the kids!)


This is a lot of what the day looked like as you might expect. Lots of friends and family talking, looking at photos, hugging, catching up. (l to r: JoNell, Eunice, Jerrilyn, Susan; Martha standing)

There were about 80 or more people there. (Martha offered to have the party at her lovely home. Thanks, Sissy!) It was a great time although it was hard to visit with everyone like you'd want. There were relatives from both sides of the family, quite a few of Dad's friends from his youth, friends from churches where Dad had pastored, and others there. Plus he got so many cards, many with letters, photos and momentos. They filled up an entire big scrapbook. And phone calls from all over the country. It was a grand day!

My camera batteries played out pretty early, so I don't have all the photos I wish I had, but hopefully I will be able to get some from others that were there. Especially looking forward to seeing a good one of me, Dad, and Martha together.

Birthday Party Food

Martha did a fantastic job of putting together a great table! The flowers for the centerpiece were from someone Dad knew since youth who couldn't make it.


Another view. Cassie's middle one, Tyler, sure is getting tall! The flowers in the corner, were from my mom's sister, Mintoria. She was very young when dad & mom married and has always thought of Dad as a brother. She lives out-of-state.

Fourth of November

The internet on my dial-up from home is dreadfully slow. Infuriating. But not enough to make me fork over the cash on a monthly basis to upgrade from the free access thru work. And I don't even know if I could. May not be able to do the phone thing since I have such a bad connection so often and last time I checked, cable hadn't made it this far. And when it comes to satellite, there may be just too many trees. So here you have it, another postdated entry but it wasn't for lack of trying!

PS: Dear Cousins, I am slowing loading photos of the birthday party. I'll let you know when they are accessible! I can't wait to see yours!

Blog Anniversary

Three years ago I posted my first blog entry about P B & J (wine-J) sandwiches. The blog started out all fun and silly. How things change. The House of Fun has gone through some rough times the past three years. Thought about changing the name but just decided to start an alter-ego blog about a House of Guts & Glory when I really needed to vent and leave this one be.

Happy 90th Birthday, Dad!

Okay, I fully admit that only three days into NaBloPoMo, you are reading my first post-dated entry. But I couldn't help it! There is no internet available where I was. But who cares! I was having a great time!

Martha and I gave Dad a party for his 90th birthday and it was fantastic! We saw so much family and long time friends, I'll probably be writing about it for days so get ready!

A Monday On A Friday

It's going to be one of those days! Will be a busy work day that might last into the evening. So in order to fulfill my posting every day requirement for NaBloPoMo and have that out of the way, here are a couple of photos that ML sent to me from when she last visited.


Dad, me and Martha. Don't we look relaxed? I love this picture.


I feel compelled to do this to my sister, always.

NaBloPoMo

Today is the first day of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. Thought I'd take a stab at it. We'll see if I make it the thirty consecutive days of November as is the point of NaBloPoMo.

I thought I was doing pretty well to post about once a week and now once a day? Hmmm. In addition to getting around to my own blog, as part of my job I have to encourage eight students to keep up with their once-a-week committment to do their student blog. Close to impossible.

I've even posted the last few blogs for one of them. When I run into Jordan and he tells me what he's been up to, I put it in his blog since he never seems to get around to doing it. Today he came by the office with a new giveaway t-shirt (he is the king of aquiring free t-shirts) and I took a photo of him to put on his blog. When his photo hits Facebook with him in his Halloween costume, I'll snag a photo of that to post for him. I've got to find some new bloggers that will post! HaHa.

That's all until tomorrow!