More family photos

Just wanted to post this one from Thanksgiving Day at my brother's house. My nieces and daughter in the back and the grandfathers in the front. That would be my dad and the other grandfather...my brother's father in law.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just got back from Virginia. My brother is hosting Thanksgiving at his home this weekend. His in-laws, about 40 of them, have come in from all parts of the country, so Dad thought this would be a good time to meet that side of the family. It was great to see my little nieces again. The girls are 16, 14 and 11 now. I can't believe it. The younger girls are taking harp lessons, so they played a few songs for us. It was wonderful. I thought about how much mom would have enjoyed seeing them. She absolutely adored having her children perform music. I used to have to play the piano anytime we had guests and I just hated it. Of course now I wish I had been a better sport about it....for mom's sake. Oh well. Anyhoo, I'm glad we had the chance to visit and I'm glad to be back home. I'm looking forward to a long, uneventfull weekend.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Today I went to Raleigh to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science. I'm taking a class on the Old Testament at UNC (non-degree seeking adult) and I was lucky enough to score a ticket at the student rate. Otherwise, I probably never would have gone--it's kind of pricey. Our instructor said unless we travel to Israel on a regular basis, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm glad I went. Very interesting stuff. Unfortunately you don't get to actually handle the fragments...I was hoping they would tear a piece off for me to take home as a souvenir. Oh well. After checking out the scrolls, I had a little time to scoot through the other exhibits...dinosaurs, bugs, native plants, etc. I love museums. I also love Hershey's chocolate cherry kisses and I think I hear them calling my name. I'll be right there, my little darlings!

Happy Halloween, Ya'll

Just got back from a church-sanctioned pot-luck and Halloween trick-or-treating party. It was great fun. I had forgotten much I enjoy this holiday. The kids were squeally and excited on their sugar highs and even I gave up my endless dieting for the evening. There's really no point even trying to diet until New Year's day. Mike is working at the club, as usual. I decided to pass on the festivities downtown this year. I wasn't in the mood for an alcohol-fueled bachanalia. Maybe it's my age, or my weird state of mind, but I prefer the quiet activities these days. Home and church is where it's at for me.

State Fair 2008

Our department was back to the State Fair this year for our annual "team building" exercise, which in all honesty is just an excuse to get out of the office and goof off for a day. One of my coworkers has a niece in the pre-vet program at NC State and she entered a cow in the livestock competition. I don't know if she won or not. I prefer NOT to spend too much time in the livestock exhibits...you know, I get enough of that sort of thing over at mom's nursing home. I like the crafts exhibits--crochet, knitting, quilting, and the flowers. There are a lot of talented people out there and someday I hope to be one of them! I have no interest in the games or rides and I had to avoid most of the fried food...I've got this wonky gall bladder, so the only fair food I ate this year was an egg biscuit and some apple fritters. Both were excellent.

Rockin' in Kernersville

******* Stratocruiser played an outdoor thing this past weekend up in Kernersville. That's near Winston-Salem for all you out-of-towners. Here's a couple pix of the boys: Clay, Miguel, and Matt. It was rather cold and windy, but they still brought the rock. And as for other news...I suppose I should throw my 2 cents in, since everyone seems to be all political and opinionated these days. Well, here's my take on the whole deal...TURN YOUR TV OFF. Don't listen to the radio. Throw your newspapers and magazines away. If you value your mental health, you will run and hide. Here's something that will help...I just discovered that you can watch old TV episodes on IMDB.com. It's so incredibly cool. I've been watching Hawaii Five-O and Starsky and Hutch. Excellent!! But, I haven't been wasting my time around here. Oh no. Not at all. I've been whipping up homemade stuff for holiday gift giving time. I'll be posting pictures at some point. But not now...I'm going to watch some Star Trek.

the cat has a problem

All these problems in the stock market have really taken a toll on the poor old gal. I guess I better pack her up and get her into kitty rehab before she does something really stupid...like try to drive the car or something...