Big Ten Tourney

Here's the schedule:

At The United Center, Chicago

First Round
Thursday, March 8
Michigan vs. Minnesota, Noon
Michigan State vs. Northwestern, 2:30 p.m.
Illinois vs. Penn State, 5 p.m.

Quarterfinals
Friday, March 9
Ohio State vs. Michigan-Minnesota winner, Noon
Iowa vs. Purdue, 2:30 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Michigan State-Northwestern winner, 6:30 p.m.
Indiana vs. Illinois-Penn State winner, 9 p.m.

Semifinals
Saturday, March 10
Ohio State—Michigan-Minnesota winner vs. Iowa-Purdue, 1:30 p.m.
Wisconsin—Michigan State-Northwestern winner vs. Indiana—Illinois-Penn State winner, 4 p.m.

Championship
Sunday, March 11
Semifinal winners, 3:30 p.m.

G O    S P A R T A N S !

Saturday and a FULL MOON!

Dragon Mood? -- excited!

Whoo-hoo ... I just checked out the phase of our lovely Moon. It's gonna be FULLLL this weekend! Everybody, it's gonna be FULLL! Get your howlin' voice out and WARM UP! Ah-WOOO-oo-OOOO!

Pre-diabetes Panel Report

Dragon Mood? -- dragons & glucose?

Attempting to be an informed consumer and personal health advocate, I subscribe to a regular email newsletter from the American Diabetes Association. Here is an excerpt regarding pre-diabetes (my current and hopefully only diagnosis) from an article:

Panel Agrees on Whom to Test, How to Treat Pre-Diabetes

People who have pre-diabetes should undergo intensive lifestyle interventions, and possibly drug therapy, to reduce their risk of developing diabetes, as well as their long-term risk for developing diabetic complications, according to a consensus statement being published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.

A seven-member panel of experts convened by the American Diabetes Association last year developed these guidelines and others geared toward people who exhibit early metabolic abnormalities. The panel's report grew out of concerns arising from the growing epidemic of type 2 diabetes, which now affects more than 20 million Americans. The disease is expected to continue increasing dramatically worldwide over the next two decades.

Type 2 diabetes is frequently preceded by one of two conditions together thought of as "pre-diabetes." These conditions -- called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) [I have IGT] -- are similar in that they represent a state of abnormal glucose regulation that is not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes but is too high to be considered normal. While these two states may affect different groups of people, both ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes in the majority of cases. However, previous studies, including the Diabetes Prevention Program, have demonstrated that lifestyle interventions aimed at weight reduction and increased physical activity, and medications, can substantially reduce the development of diabetes.

The panel convened over a three-day period in 2006 to answer questions such as how IFG and IGT differ; whether they should be treated (and how); and who should be screened for these conditions. The answers to these and other questions are included in the 7-page consensus statement.

The report's recommendations include:

• Lifestyle interventions (losing 5-10 percent of body weight and moderate intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day) for any person exhibiting IFG or IGT, to prevent/delay the onset of diabetes and to help reduce the long-term risk of developing diabetic complications.
  
  
• Making weight loss and obesity prevention priorities in the United States because of the strong association between obesity and type 2 diabetes. The panel advised intensive weight-loss counseling for those who need it; changes in school-based meals and exercise programs; community infrastructure changes that are conducive to frequent exercise; and legislation that promotes a healthy lifestyle.
  
  
• The use of metformin as optional drug therapy, limited to those with both IFG and IGT who also have one or more additional high risk factors, because it has been shown to be most effective for these populations.
  
  
• Screening for IFG/IGT for anyone who is at risk for diabetes.

Puzzled

Dragon Mood? -- puzzled

For whatever reason, suddenly my drop cap stylin' has not worked on the previous two postings. I can't figure out what has happened in the HTML to 'break' them. Hmm? Anybody out there in the World Wide Web, you got any suggestions?

Hunting and storytelling

Dragon Mood? -- a natural born fireball, not so natural at storytelling

This week has been full of workshops, learning new job hunting skills and interaction with many, many other people who are also seeking jobs. It's been a positive and healthy interaction for me, interrupting my long periods of aloneness and isolation.

My biggest surprise this week has been how incredibly poorly I'm prepared for so-called "behavioral questions" in a phone or face-to-face interview. Behavioral questions are the sort like this:

• Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to succesfully ....
• Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgement and logic in solving a problem
• What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.

According to Heather, our instructor/leader/mentor at the workshops, these behavioral questions are all about identifying and codifying a story from one's own work and life experiences. Once you have identified five or six stories from your past, you can push, pull and morph the stories to answer the questions in a manner that highlights and positively showcases your talents, skills and abilities.

I guess my storytelling skills need a bit of polishing. *sigh*

Differently?

Dragon Mood? -- wiggling and squirming, wondering how I'm gonna answer this question

In a post celebrating her sixth blog anniversary, Dooce says this: "Is there anything in my life that I wish I could go back and do differently? Yes. One thing. I wish had worn more sunscreen. You?"

So, here's my answer, Heather ... and the rest of the world:

• I definitely should have continued working on my art after ninth grade
  
  
• I definitely should have worn a Giant Maxi-Pad to my commencement instead of that skimpy little tampon ... what with wearing a white graduation robe and all!
  
  
• I definitely should have told my dad to take a hike when he "strongly encouraged" (read "pushed") me into studying computer science instead of commercial art in college.
  
  
• I definitely should have drunk more at my wedding reception.
  
  
• I definitely should have learned how to fight more fairly with my then-husband. Storming out and not returning for hours on end is no way to resolve conflict.
  
  
• I wish I had studied lots more history in my earlier years.
  
  
• I wish I would have taken photos of all the calendars I made over the years for ELFCO, the East Lansing Food Cooperative. Damn, all that creative energy undocumented!
  
  
• I wish I would have watched my children as they slept more. I was usually so tired myself or craving some quiet, I would find a place to curl up and replenish.
  
  
• I wish I would have sketched and doodled and kept all those remarkable sketches and doodles in cool sketching notebooks like Moleskines all these years!
  
  
• I wish I could have taken in the fact that I am a physically beautiful woman and not internalized so many shaming comments I heard my mother say about her own body as I was growing up. Now, when I look at earlier photos of myself, I see a woman who was generally trim and healthy-looking. So much wasted energy agonizing over my appearance!
  
  
• In the same spirit of energy conservation, I definitely should quit obsessing about death. When it's time, it's time. When my time comes, ready or not, here I come. And changes or no changes, regrets or no regrets, it's been and continues to be a wonderful life!
  

Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle! It's our birthday!

Dragon Mood? -- excited!

Today, I celebrate calypsoDragon13's blog birthday! Wow! I looked at my very first posting and my, my, how things have changed!


P.S. The photo is from September, 1980. We were visiting Doris and Hemie at the farm. It was still so doggone hot in September in Texas, they put Ruth, I and the kids up at a local motel. Ruth must have taken our picture. Caroline was four at the time, Josh two. And contrary to my perpetual negative body/self images, I look trim and healthy.

Flying monkeys, flying beds?

Dragon Mood? -- not scared of flying monkeys!

If you've ever watched TV, I presume that you've watched the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. And if you've watched The Wizard of Oz, I presume you remember the scary flying monkeys, right?

Have you ever seen a flying bed? If not, click this link and see some not-scary, actually-well-designed flying beds. Really!

"Eureka!" while making the bed

Dragon Mood? -- slightly embarrassed

Making our bed this morning, I re-acknowledged to myself that I am one of that group of people who do like their beds made. Not messy and unmade, but tidy and made. Tidiness is not as self-righteous as godliness, but it's definitely a rather self-congratulating preference.

Now, right after I made the bed, I had this wonderful realization, a "Eureka" moment, immediately upon which I thought, "I should blog about this!" Wonderful moment, enlightened opportunity to share .... (heavy sigh) .... and you know, I can't remember a damn thing as to its content!

I do promise that if it ever comes back to me, I'll update this post!

Winter Storm, basketball & Oscar Sunday

Dragon Mood? -- warm, cozy and relaxed

The title of this post pretty much sums up what I'm doing today. S and I are comfortably ensconced in the pied-a-terre here in Motown because of nasty weather predictions between now and Monday morning.

As far as basketball, Louisville is just about to beat Connecticut. Immediately after that, it's Duke vs. St. Johns. And the BIG game for today is #1 Ohio State against #2 Wisconsin. I can't stand Bo Ryan, Wisconsin's coach, so I guess I'll root for Ohio State.

As for the Oscars tonight, I'm rather ho-hum about the affair. I may read, I may do some sudoku, -- who knows -- maybe I'll be back upstairs, sitting here at the computer, posting to calypsoDragon13?

Wetpaint

Dragon Mood? -- now a Wetpaint devotee


One of the delightful and unexpected dividends of our family trip to Texas is a renewed interest in our family's Wendish/Sorbian heritage and family immigration history in Texas.

To that end, we have created yet ANOTHER website, a website devoted to our family. It was suggested by Josh, not one of his typical areas of interest (those being actuarial math, Spartan basketball and girls?) It was created by -- who else? -- Carolina, and she and I are populating its pages and authoring much of its content. It's entitled Kunze Family History and Notes, through Wetpaint. I hope you'll check it out.

A returned slacker blogger

Dragon Mood? -- sleepily stunned at my long absence


Wow, have I ever been a slacker blogger! My last post was -- how long ago? -- three weeks ago? Hard to believe! I guess I've been a bit preoccupied.

One of the things I've been busy with is job hunting. Since my last post, I've applied for eight to ten jobs. At least. The good news is that I have a phone interview today for a job in northern Indiana. The bad news is that I have insomnia, it's 3:20 a.m. right now and I'm not sleeping. ArrrghH!

I think the even larger thing that has occupied my psychic space, so to speak, is my flying trip to Texas, to the family farm, weekend before last. Seven of us (everyone except S and Luke) flew down to the farm for the sheer joy of it, just to be with our extended family, aging aunts and uncles, and of course, to see our dad/grandpa.

It was an accelerated trip, and yet, the time down there felt like just the right amount of time, given the HIGH intensity of the gathering and all the attendant emotional drama that went with it.

What emotional drama you may ask? Angst over what airport to fly into; a stuck cow; tachycardia attacks from emotional anxiety; a swirling, spiraling toilet problem that ended in complete and utter sewer failure; misplaced cheddar cheese -- the list goes on.

But, in the same breath, I can cite lovely, enjoyable moments like sitting in the farmhouse kitchen on the old wooden bench, watching sleepy-eyed adults stumble into the tender morning bonhomie like they were five-year olds again, hearing Aunt Doris's, "Well, good MORNING!" greeting, smelling the tantalizing fragrance of Uncle Hemie's venison sausage, feeling the oh-so-familiar good energy as people scrambled about the house, walking down to the pond dodging the cow pies, seeing the blue, blue Texas sky, listening to people laugh and laugh and laugh with one another -- well, there were many, many moments like that, moments that thankfully far outweighed the 'problem' ones.

I must confess that I had entered the weekend with my own emotional trepidation, feelings that, for the most part, evaporated once I was with my family members. The weekend was lovely, just the kind of experience that I had hoped for even though I couldn't imagine nor visualize in the days preceding the weekend.

late January update on the Spartans

Bob Wojnowski, a sports writer from the Detroit News who usually has nothing nice to say about MSU sports, wrote this article in today's News. Since I'm trying to speak positively of others more in this new year, I thought I'd reprint part of his article on the MSU men's basketball team:

"Open your eyes now and should anyone really be surprised by what we see? We won't get too goofy because the Spartans aren't a shoo-in for the tournament. But at 17-4 (4-2 Big Ten), they're in fine position, if they can survive a nasty 10-game march to March that now looms.

As bubble season unofficially opens, I'll say this: If the Spartans win their five remaining home games, they're in. If they drop one to Wisconsin or Ohio State but steal a road game, they're in.

Before we start sifting through RPIs and getting decimal points all over our nice clothes, we should take a moment to consider what MSU already has pulled off. It has beaten Texas. It has beaten Illinois. It has won all its home games against a weak schedule.

And along the way, the Spartans have served notice to the rest of the sloppy Big Ten that they plan to contend for something. Wisconsin and Ohio State will fight for the conference championship, but the Spartans are in the middle of everything else, thus far confirming two significant points.

If you give Izzo a little something, he'll put together something more. If you give Neitzel a little, he'll take a lot."

Thank you, Bob Wojnowski. There, I said something nice!

... in the face of parsimony

Dragon Mood? -- snorting, steaming and revelling


What with losing my job, the meagerness of funds especially right after the holidays and the general grayness and darkness of January, what is there to uplift my spirits?

Well, one thing that helps me feel better is this little essential oil burner. One of our kids gave it to us for Christmas a year ago ... and oh, how we have used it! It is two pieces, the bowl on top and the base which holds a tealight for heat. Made of some stone, perhaps alabaster, it is rather translucent and highly functional.

Whether we're burning peppermint oil, lemongrass oil, lavender or some combination of oils, it puts out the loveliest fragrances .... and it costs us virtually nothing; essential oils (which we had in the cupboard anyway) and cheap little tealights.

Who could imagine that such a simple thing could give me such pleasure?

What I'm working on ...

Dragon Mood? -- Generating some dragon steam!


Now that I've finished painting in the bedroom (at least for now), I thought I'd post a few photos of my work.

Am I pleased with the results? YOU BET I AM! Compared to the old, satin-gloss baby-poop brown that covered the walls, this feels light, fresh, clean and a nice combination of open-yet-intimate. It's a definite improvement! Here's the ceiling 'mandala' surrounding the ceiling light fixture:



Here's how the walls look:



In case you're interested, the paints are Ralph Lauren, purchased at our local Home Depot. They are from top to bottom: Climbing Lily (the light, springy lemongrass), Aged Mint (a medium-valued turquoise?) and Amethyst Stone (the deep, rich purple). I love them all, but most especially the Climbing Lily. I never would have picked it out, so here's a shout-out to my intrepid designing daughter, Lina.

And here's my project for today/tonight, assembling this little bedside night table that's been languishing in a closet (purchased over two years ago!). I have a bit of concern that it may look too "country" for our bedroom. If that's the case, I may just paint it the Climbing Lily color!?!




That's ALL, folks. Have a great day!

Me and Paris Hilton's dog

Dragon Mood? -- bemused and confused


Have you ever dreamt about Paris Hilton? Or her little chihuahua? To the latter question I can now answer definitively, "YES!" Let me tell you about it.

I was living back in the house on Sunset Lane. (Yes, those Desperate Housewives had nothing on me living on an idyllic-sounding street. And this was back in the late 70's. When I was a housewife. Desperate?... not yet ... that came later.)

Sorry, I digress.

Lina and I were in our subterranean garage. Lina was around 8 or 9 years old. The garage was a dream garage, a two-car version, spacious, well-lit and CLEAN! We were talking and heading out of the garage, up to the front door. Caroline was carrying a tiny little chihuahua in her arms. I asked her whose dog was that?

She replied, "Paris Hilton's." As if that were the most normal thing in the world.

I accepted her answer with equal equanimity ... at least for the moment.

Next, we were in the living room. Panelled wood walls, orange shag carpet. Oh yeah, you had to be there. Lina was lying on the carpeting, playing with the dog. I stood over her, seeing myself even in the dream as TOWERING over her.

"Did you ask permission to take care of that dog, young lady?" I trickily composed the question. "Did you ask your dad?"

"Yup," she breezily replied.

"When?"

"Three months ago," she looked at me, confidently, almost haughtily.

And I folded, just like that, a flailing rookie in a high-stakes poker game. End of parental authority, end of conversation, end of dream.

(chuckling)

What do you make of that dream?

Fairy habitat

Fairy habitat
Originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

Because it's so cold and wintry and white outside, this photo drew me in immediately.

The photographer asks rhetorically in her post, "...do you see any fairies?" While I don't see any, I do believe there are fairies living along this lane leading to somewhere. Why not?

Birthday shout-outs

Happy Birthday! shout-outs to

Aaron

and

Patrick

Aaron is my orangey-juice cool nephew who recently bought his first RESIDENCE in Chicago.

And Patrick is a good friend of S's and mine.  He's a 'family' guy, a lovable party-er with the heartiest laugh you could ever hope to hear.

Happy Birthday, guys!

Vitality Compass

A website to check out, as seen on ABC News.

About my feet and wool socks

Dragon Mood? -- a teeny-tiny bit chagrined that I'm actually writing about this!


Are you ready for a confession? Well, like old versions of neighborhood nighttime hide-and-seek, here I come, ready or not!

My confession is that I have sweaty feet. Or, to find a more delicate way of saying it -- I have feet that sweat. A lot actually. In the winter, I wear wool socks almost all the time so that the wool can absorb the sweat. From my feet. My feet that sweat. Sometimes, my feet sweat so much, the heavy wool socks actually get damp feeling ... from the sweat. And then my feet get cold. Yecch, I hate that feeling!

That happened today -- actually, just a little while ago. And then I had a brainstorm! You know what I did? I took my heavy wool, slightly damp socks off, put them on a paper towel and nuked them in the microwave for a minute. Yup, I nuked 'em. Isn't that a good idea? And, oh, the result? Ahh, wonderful warmth!

But then I discovered something. Something I've heard from S and Lina and other people close to me who love me. Your feet are stinky! Pewww, your feet smell! And you know what? They're right. My sweaty feet DO smell.

My American accent

Dragon Mood? -- swimming in not-for-me job postings


Enough with looking for a job! I'm ready for a diversion and this proved an interesting one. I found it at LutheranChik's "L" Word Diary, written by a Michigan lesbian who also happens to be a still-in-the-fold Lutheran.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Red Sky Posterized

Red Sky Posterized
Originally uploaded by jeffclow.

Getting ready to close out of Flickr, I saw this photo and had to look at it. And then, of course, I felt compelled to post a shot of it.

It looks like a live oak. This was taken by Jeff Clow, who lives on the north plains of Texas and who is such a consistently good photographer, you just want to throw yourself on the floor with appreciation. Or something like that.

My hard-working week drawing to a close

Dragon Mood? -- looking forward to seeing the pine trees


Is Friday still an extra-special day when you're unemployed? You bet! I haven't worked all these years without unconsciously modifying my internal hardwiring ... such that Friday brings a slight sense of relief, of relaxation and an anticipation of leisure and good times this weekend.

What's on tap for this weekend? I honestly don't know. I'm not sure if the Christmas tree is still up and requires transport back down to the basement. I'm sure there is more post-holiday cleanup requiring my attention. Laundry that needs doing is like death and taxes -- ever-present.

I have some beading to do. I gave ankle bracelets to our friends, J & J, and sadly, both anklets require shortening. ArrghhH! I have a few other beading projects that I had hoped to finish before Christmas, but -- haha -- it didn't happen.

Cissy desperately needs her Cruella Deville-length nails trimmed. And after that, a BATH! As she ages and slows down, the least I can do (as her co-owner) is keep her looking her furry-beast best!

This week I stumbled upon a flickr user named pedalpower. I commented on one of her photographs and she wrote me a lovely email back, offering several weblinks to check out. They are here and here. I would LOVE to get in the habit of sketching every day. (It's interesting to note and pay attention to the fact that two times this weekend, the universe has 'stumbled me' upon websites featuring drawing. Everyday Matters for one and Inkymess for the other.) Sketching is something I've done for years, but never in any type of disciplined, regular manner. Perhaps it's something I should think about doing. (chuckling) Along with exercising, taking my medications, watching what I eat, exercising, walking the dog every day, blogging, reading more, did I mention exercising? Whew! So much to do -- who has time to work?

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Here's a rather compelling portrait sketch by Danny Gregory. What an interesting thing to do -- a portrait in reds and blues!

Incorporating the drop cap

Dragon Mood? -- slightly smug

Once upon a time, there were very clever people at Mandarin Design who knew ALL kinds of CSS tricks that a simple person like myself would never dream of ... so I simply stole their idea and incorporated it into the formatting of my blog. Voila!

A happy-looking Dragon

Dragon Mood? -- artistically charmed

I found this friendly little dragon, drawn by the talented Mr. Tom Morgan-Jones. I admire his work and took the liberty of copying, rotating, colorizing and adding a background to his charming illustration. Please visit his website, http://www.inkymess.com/.

Unemployed AGAIN!

Dragon Mood? -- pretty discouraged


Igot a call from Adam last Friday. No work now, no work in the next couple of weeks or so. (... heavy sigh ...) I went in this past Monday and picked up my few belongings: headphones, box of Kleenex, a cool new mechanical pencil that my coworker Mariya had given me.

Friday, I felt so depressed and beat down, I couldn't even make the drive home to our house in the pines. I stayed here, while S was there. I can now understand why people diagnosed with clinical depression can't even get out of bed some days. Completely understand it.

Send me some positive hopeful vibes. Pray for me.

And to recap the holidays, Part II

Dragon Mood? -- downloading

Yosh headed back to Milwaukee right after the Casino Royale movie. S, Lina and I were all sleep-deprived and tired from Christmas... but first, we went to the video/DVD store and got a couple more movies. My memory is that we went home and slept.

Wednesday, each of us had missions. My mission was to buy some badly-needed bras. Lina and I went to Macy's. Serendipitously, they were having an "intimates" sale. I got sized for a bra (thanks, Lina and Oprah!) and with Caroline's help, found one style that I really like! I ended up buying four bras and six pairs of panties. Yay!

I can't remember Lina's mission. We did hit Bath & Body Works and Marshall's, one of her favorite stores. She found a cool item (which I can't reveal here) for Ruth and Paul's home and a lovely male manager (who I suspect is family) gave her a helluva deal on it. To celebrate, we decided to return to Dusty's for some drinks (compliments of a $50 payoff from Yosh on losing a drinking bet).

S's mission was to buy some gifts for her mom and grandma. She went to Schuler's to buy Sally several books. We then joined S at El Azteco for margaritas and yummy Mexican food.

Thursday, S headed up north. Grandma was back in the hospital with frightening swelling in her arm and word of several scary clots close to her heart. (I will blog about this in a separate post.)

Lina and I took it easy and enjoyed one another's company. We watched videos, took naps, got more videos, got Chinese take-out and .... watched more videos?

Friday, we took an easy drive north to visit Grandma in the hospital. Friday was also Sally's 71st birthday, which we celebrated at Spike's. Also celebrating were S's sister, Becky and her daughter, Lydia.

S stayed up north for another day while Lina and I returned to the house in the pine trees. Late Friday night, the dogs were happy to see us and ready for peeing and running around.

Saturday was another low-key day. I honestly can't remember what we did that day, but I'm sure we had fun. Oh yes ... we went to Tar-zhays to pick out an accessorizing item to the can't-tell-you gift item for Ruth and Paul. Oh yes, and we went to Home Depot to PICK OUT COLOR SWATCHES! How could I forget? That was fun! Have I mentioned that I LOVE color!

Saturday night we made popcorn and ... what else? ... watched some videos. What a bunch of futon potatoes we were!

Sunday was readying ourselves and the house for New Year's Eve. We bought groceries, Lina prepared food, S and I tidied the house, I ran the vacuum cleaner and then ...

We had a fashion show. S had put out the word that she was in desperate need of work clothes ... and by golly, Santa had delivered. So Lina and I requested that she give us a fashion show, modeling all her new duds. She gave us a bang-up one! I probably have never mentioned it here, but my partner has got a sexy figure and she wears clothes well. We had lots of fun, commenting on her combinations, take this off, try this on, oh I like those together!

After the fashion show, we all took quick power naps, showered, did our hair and dressed for our BIG intimate NYE gathering. S wore her new, glammy black jacket with a red blouse underneath along with black slacks. Lina was decked out in black, including new, very HOT high-heeled shorty boots. I tried to keep up with my decked-out companions wearing my new-favorite bottle green fine gauge sweater and an Italian scarf from Ruth and Jess.

Our friend, Kevin, arrived mid-evening along with his constant companion, Jack, a muscular little Jack Russell terrier who loves nothing more than to bounce into your lap while you're playing euchre. Oh, hello!

We played euchre right up until midnight, popped some yummy bottles of champagne that Caroline brought from Madison and toasted one another using our ever-so-elegant Waterford champagne flutes. We wandered out onto the deck, enjoying the unseasonably mild air and the almost-full moon that lit up the clear night sky. The night felt gentle and full of promise, a lovely way to celebrate a holiday and start a new year, don't you think?

And to recap the holidays

Dragon Mood? -- bewildered

Recap the holidays? Where to start?

The holidays broke roughly into three chunks for me: time with Yosh before Christmas, Christmas Day and time with Lina after Christmas. In retrospect, S and I literally had no time alone during the ten days that I was home. We didn't really plan and make time for each other -- other events intervened -- but when we sat down and talked about it, it made us a bit sad that we had made no time just for one another.

Time with Yosh was brief but thoroughly enjoyable. Saturday, the three of us did meet at Dusty's after individual Christmas shopping for great drinking and memorable appetizers. Yosh drank Maker's Mark, S drank some imported beer I can't recall and I drank the most amazing dirty martini. Vodka martini, Grey Goose, blue cheese-stuffed olives -- are you getting the picture? -- but the most remarkable part of the martini was the tiny crystals of ice floating on that wondrous briny booze. I complimented our server and he said that is a little trick of the bartender's, shaking the martini shaker until the outside has frosted from the ice. That's when you know the environment is perfect for ice crystal-making!

Saturday evening, the three of us played cards. We played two rounds of cribbage (both times beating S!) and then a round of cut-throat, three-handed euchre. We also managed to beat S on that round. There was also a Christmas miracle in there somewhere, but damn if I can remember what it was! We even commented on it! Later that night, S and I broke tradition and actually wrapped gifts for three hours and it wasn't Christmas Eve or Christmas Day!

Sunday was another whirlwind day. Yosh and I drank some yummy Alterra coffee from Milwaukee and then headed to Oliver T's to pick up our traditional smoked and peppered salmon for Christmas Day. We also swung by Beaners in East Lansing so Josh could fire up his laptop and demonstrate for me a new approach to cyber job hunting. That was a curious way to spend Christmas Eve afternoon. It was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and mild, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time with him.

That evening, Josh made smooshy potato soup for Lina, I fixed brownies for all our adult kids, I started laying out all the stocking stuffers on our bed to figure out who got what ... and darn if I can remember what I did the rest of the time. All I know is that there was no twiddle-your-thumbs time in there -- we were all busy with preparations.

Lina showed up right around midnight on Christmas Eve. She made exceptionally good time traveling from Madison -- I wonder if the speedometer needle ever tired of hovering around 80? Thank God her trip was a safe one!

Christmas Day was all gift wrapping, food preparation, bloody Mary drinking and the like. S's kids and spouses started showing up around 5. We weren't able to start opening gifts until around 7. And then -- whew! -- what a whirlwind of paper, gifts, hugs, thank yous and I-can't-believe-you- got-this-for me exclamations! Our time together as a family even included tears of sadness and tears of wonder! I never knew that a vintage Pink Floyd album could elicit such a reaction!

People started leaving around 10:30 because they had to work the next morning. Matt and Sarah and Madison stayed because they didn't have to work and wanted to play cards. I started fading around 12:30 p.m. I was just too pooped to pop anymore. I remember getting in my red flannel scottie pajamas, wrapped in my new all-cotton white robe from Tim, laying down on the living room couch, falling asleep to psychedelic Pink Floyd music remembering why I was never a good candidate for being a sixties hippie -- sometimes, I just don't like that music!

Pretty much all I remember from Tuesday, the day after Christmas was that the house was trashed, there was wrapping paper and empty boxes and gifts still strewn all around, and we left the house to go see the movie, Casino Royale. Being a card-carrying lesbian, I probably shouldn't say this, but the new 007, Daniel Craig, is HOT! I quit watching 007 movies 20 years ago because they were all so formulaic and actually rather boring -- but NOT THIS MOVIE! There's little computer graphics techno-wizardry and enough edge-of-your-seat action that the movie was fun, enjoyable, even exciting. Go see it! I recommend it!

I'll continue my holiday recap later.

My first 'official' posting of 2007

Dragon Mood? -- a little blue, but it's a beautiful wintry periwinkle blue

It's Wednesday, it's Wendishday, it's 2007 ... and I'm at home.

Not at work, because of a work 'slowdown.' Sorry, no work this week. Better luck next week! Yeechhh! I'm trying to see this time at home as a positive thing, but truth be told, I'm feeling a little low today.

I walked the dog this morning, I responded to a job posting with a cover letter and my resume, I filed for unemployment, I bought a few groceries, I did a bit of organizing, I even took a nap.

I really wanted to paint. BUT ... it's a full moon today ... not a good time for starting a new project like that. AND ... S and I haven't agreed on colors for our bedroom. I do want to be respectful of her wishes on color choice ... we just need to come to an agreement!

Another BUT. There is the ceiling and walls of the pied-a-terre's center hall. The ceiling is virtually CRYING OUT for a new paint job. I may not be able to ignore it much longer.

Plus there are these things to do, as well:

• spend time working in Illustrator and Photoshop
• peruse my new, gently-used Photoshop books
• make my yummy beef stew tomorrow
  
• download all the Christmas and post-Christmas images off the camera
• upload said images to Flickr
• update all my other blogs to the new-and-improved Blogger interface
• download the latest version of Mozilla Firefox
• take a run to the new-in-Canton IKEA store (can't believe I haven't been there yet!)
• make some mandalas in Illustrator
• try using Yosh's methodology for scouting out new and potential job possibilities
• read some more of my new book, The Faith Club (thoroughly enjoying it)
• walk the dog some more
• exercise on the treadmill
• did I mention painting?
  

An "Ouch" Op-Ed by Garrison Keillor

Dragon Mood? -- pained

Once upon a time, there was a president named Bush. This is not a fairy tale.

According to Garrison Keillor, of Prairie Home Companion fame, Dubya may have some issues, in addition to the war in Iraq. Issues with Bush 41. It's entitled "Daddy Issues."

You wonder, however, what this earnest bunch [the new Congress] can do when things are so far out of whack as they are in Iraq. The gangland-style execution of Saddam Hussein was visible reality, a token of the blood lust and violence that swirls around Iraq ...

Meanwhile, in Washington, the limousines come and go, memorandums are set out on long polished tables, men in crisp white shirts sit at meetings and discuss how to rationalize a war that was conceived by a handful of men in arrogant ignorance and that has descended over the past four years into sheer madness.

Military men know there is no military solution here, and the State Department knows that the policy was driven by domestic politics, but who is going to tell the Current Occupant? He is still talking about victory, or undefeat, like some frat boy on meth who thinks he can step off a roof and not get hurt. The word "surge" keeps cropping up, as if we were fighting the war with electricity and not human beings...

Here we have a slacker son of a powerful patrician father who resolves unconscious Oedipal issues through inappropriate acting-out in foreign countries. Hello? All the king's task forces can gather together the shards of the policy, number them, arrange them, but it never made sense when it was whole and so it makes even less sense now...

He was the Great Denier of 2006, waving the flag, questioning the patriotism of anyone who dared oppose him, until he took a thumpin' and now, we are told, he is reexamining the whole matter. Except he's not. To admit that he did wrong is to admit that he is not the man his daddy is, the one who fought in a war...

It's time for 41 and 43 to work something out ... Pick up the phone, old man, and tell 43 you love him dearly and it's time to think about sparing the lives of American soldiers, many of whom have sons, too.

I appreciate the fact that Mr. Keillor isn't pulling punches here. People are dying because of our president's poor leadership.

My last post of 2006

Dragon Mood? -- excited with anticipation

I'm getting ready to leave the pied-a-terre and head 'home' to the pine trees for the holidays.

Josh will be rolling in late tonight. I have cleaning and laundry and bedmaking to do before then, but those are simple put-on-the-Christmas-music chores that are part and parcel of holiday preparations. I'm hoping that Josh and S and I will have some time for fun and visiting this weekend.

I have a little Christmas elfing yet to do .... a gift check to cash and disperse from Papa and Evelyn .... gifts to wrap .... our traditional peppered smoked salmon fillet to retrieve from Oliver T's (Josh has agreed to drive over there with me) ... Christmas music to listen and sing along to ... drinks to drink ... Christmas Eve potato soup to prepare ... you know, the regular things people do in anticipation of Christmas!

Caroline rolls in late Christmas Eve. I'm just hoping that the roads are clear and dry for her drive.

We'll all gather (S's kids and spouses) late-in-the-day on Christmas Day to exchange gifts, eat, drink and smoke cigars. Whether or not Grandma and Sally will join us is up in the air. I don't know if S has invited them nor if they'll make the drive down.

Josh leaves to head back to Milwaukee sometime on the 26th. He's got work on his mind ... as well as partying with his peeps, I imagine!

Caroline is staying through the New Year. I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing, but I know we'll have fun no matter what!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! Hard to imagine but my next post will be in 2007!

Another ripple in the automotive sea change

The Detroit News is reporting today that Toyota is set to surpass GM in 2007. Here's an excerpt from the article:

NAGOYA, Japan -- Toyota announced on Friday a global production target of 9.42 million vehicles for next year, increasing the odds that the Japanese manufacturer will surpass troubled General Motors Corp. as the world's No. 1 automaker.

The latest figure, announced by Toyota in a release, marks a 4 percent increase over the 9.04 million vehicles the company expects to produce this year and easily clears the 9.2 million vehicles GM is estimated to have produced this year.

GM does not give targets for next year, but it has been forced to scale back production recently, seeing its market share eroded by Asian automakers, including Toyota, which have a reputation for better mileage.

....Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe barely said anything when asked about the possibility that his company may soon beat GM in global output.

"That's just what the results may be," he said quietly at a news conference ....

A new take on garbage trucks

I just read an article at Newsweek's website by Dean Ornish that compares a person's HDL to a garbage truck that removes excessive cholesterol from your blood and tissues -- "garbage" -- and delivers it to your liver for removal.   Interesting analogy.

 

His suggestion is that some people are genetically predisposed to having more garbage trucks in their systems than others.   Those folks typically don't have coronary-related problems.

 

For those of us who may have been blessed with fewer rather than more garbage trucks (lower HDL), it is imperative that we be responsible stewards of our bodies and not generate a lot of garbage.  That is done by eating low-fat, high fiber diets with little red meat, lots of chicken and fish, and even more fruits and vegetables.

 

AND .... we must exercise.   Exercise typically increases HDL, creating more garbage trucks to remove cholesterol.

 

Sigh.  I wonder if thinking about generating little Tonka-cute garbage trucks in my bloodstream will help motivate me to exercise more?   I hope so!

The Faith Club

What to read a captivating book?

Check out The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding.

I heard a fascinating interview of these three authors on The Diane Rehm Show on NPR today.

Seldom does a book ask so much of its readers: open your mind, open your heart, examine your prejudices, purge yourself of them, become a better person, and then become an agent of change for good in the world. A modest proposal!

I'm hoping that Santa may bring me a copy for Christmas!

Let's hear it for NJ!

Dragon Mood? -- thrilled!

I guess I've been so busy getting ready for the holidays, this slipped under my radar!

After a long, congratulatory ceremony at the Trenton War Memorial yesterday, Gov. Corzine signed a bill granting civil unions to same-sex couples.

New Jersey became just the fifth state to extend some rights of marriage to gay couples, but many of the speakers said the law was just a stop on the way to full gay marriage - possibly in the next two years.

"That is something that needs to be our goal," Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D., Camden) said. "We need to commit ourselves to achieving that as soon as possible."

The civil-unions law will go into effect in 60 days. Among the rights that gay couples will have are hospital visitations, survivor benefits, and eligibility for tax deductions. Employers also must treat couples in a civil union the same as married couples.

The law requires municipal clerks to issue licenses for civil unions, and any mayor who performs marriages must also perform civil unions...

Same-sex couples at the signing ceremony said that they would join in a civil union, but that they regarded this as a legal formality, not an occasion for a grand celebration.

"A lot of people feel that way," said Forest Kairos of Mount Laurel. "They've had ceremonies."

Kairos and her partner of 10 years, Veronica Hoff, were married in a private, Quaker-based ceremony eight years ago, and went to Vermont for a civil union.

But Hoff said a civil union in New Jersey was significant because it "means about a thousand rights."

"Yeah, we have about seven now," Kairos added.

Ed Mather said he and his partner of 37 years, Robert Kriesat, a retired Lutheran minister, would join in a civil union, but would wait until they could get married to have a celebration.

"That will be kind of the journey's completion," said Kriesat, of Morris County. "We'll be able to join the rest of our family and say, 'Yes, we're married.' "

Steven Goldstein, the chair of Garden State Equality, said that about 95 percent of the couples he had talked with felt the same way. Goldstein got married in 2002 in Montreal, where gay marriages are legal, but he said he would have a huge ceremony in New Jersey once they were legal here.

"Every gay person on the Eastern Seaboard" will be there, he said.

The bill-signing was historic, Goldstein said, because of the support the speakers expressed for full marriage rights.

Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D., Bergen), the prime sponsor of the civil-unions bill in the Senate, predicted that gay marriage would pass in her next term in office.

"These rights will be known as they should be, under the banner of marriage," she said.

The law was written after the state Supreme Court ruled in October that gay couples must be eligible for the same protections as married couples. Saying gay marriage didn't have enough support yet, the Legislature passed a civil-unions law instead.

Let's hear it for New Jersey, it's open-minded citizens and a State Supreme Court not cowed by fearmongering fundamentalist conservatives!

Turning of the wheel

... the seasonal wheel, that is.

 

Winter begins on Thursday, December 21st at 7:21 p.m.  And asThursday is the shortest day of the year, we then begin the six-month journey towards Midsummer's Eve, the longest day of the year.

 

I always look towards February 1st, because then I can really notice the lengthening of the days.

 

As for now, I try to celebrate the darkness, this cocooning time of year.  It's a time to burn candles, a time for lots of holiday lights and the resulting glow on loved ones' faces.   It's also a time for reflection, quietness and anticipation of what is to come.

Catching up on birthday horoscopes

Dragon Mood? -- a wee bit of dragon confusion

I love to read my horoscopes (as well as many of my family members) from Astrodienst.

Here is one that I find particularly difficult to comprehend. I feel like I want to space out when I read this -- which is why I'm posting it here -- and all the more reason to read it and understand it.

Limited warranty
Valid during many months: This is a time of equilibrium and balance in your life, because now you have a pretty good idea of how to handle your own world. Events will run along more or less easily during this time. But it is important to note that it will not necessarily be an especially happy or peaceful time [my emphasis]. Our lives are directed by our own demands much more than we realize, but very often those demands are unconscious. We would often be horrified if we knew what we are really trying to do. We try to protect ourselves and what we feel belongs to us from "threats" that often are not real threats according to adult criteria. Yet we structure our world according to them. This influence only guarantees that you will be successful in patterning your world. If you are very unhappy at this time, you had best get in touch with what you are really doing.

This can be a time when you are successfully approaching your main conscious goals in life. Or it can be a time when you are being run largely by unconscious "programs," as if you were a computer. Usually you will experience a little of both of these effects. However, in the long run the positive possibilities are more useful to know about. Concerning the negative side of this influence, suffice it to say that the difficult and unsatisfactory aspects of your life that you are experiencing now require you to look into yourself more closely.

At this time you are particularly good at working with other people. You are able to see your individuality and differentness in a way that makes it possible for you to work with others in a complementary way so that neither you nor they feel competitive. You can work just as well with people who are above you and with those at your own level.

You approach your own goals methodically and practically, for you are not particularly idealistic at this point. You are much more concerned about how to achieve what you want in concrete practical terms. Use this time well, for it gives you the opportunity to lay a foundation that will protect you in the future.

Transit selected for today:
Saturn Sextile Saturn
activity period from end of October 2006 until beginning of August 2007.

Blogger beta needs more work

Dragon Mood? -- slightly disappointed

I just tried to post the previous post from what used to be Writely/now otherwise known as Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

In a word (well, two), it puked. Here's the message I got:

There was an expected [my emphasis] problem (com.google.blogger.api.UserMigratedException: The given Blogger account has been migrated to a Google Account on the blogger beta).

Okay, I guess the right hand needs an introduction to the left hand. Come on folks, let's get it together, shall we?

Dooce gets it exactly right

Dragon Mood? -- amused


I read Dooce. Pretty regularly. Along with a few other million readers, I guess.

Writing about Leta in the middle of the night, Heather describes the event like this:

And this went on for hours. Hours. And more hours. As many hours as there are between three and eight AM, which doesn’t seem like many right now, but there in the dark as the minutes were counted out in a machine gun spray of syllables, it seemed like all of the hours that ever were, a collection of time so vast that I could have witnessed the Colorado River carve out the Grand Canyon, one layer of dirt at a time.

And that is what I think Dooce got exactly right. That insane, completely surreal, will-this-night-ever-end kind of feeling ... that leaves bewildered parent you wondering if you'll ever feel normal again, ever able to sleep again?

She got it pitch-perfect. From one ol' mom to a new one.

Lunchtime

Dragon Mood? -- lunchin', munchin' and contented

It's Friday, it's lunchtime and I'm bloggin'. Could life be any better?

Lina and I have been IM-ing one another (in between working) this morning via our Gmail accounts. I am curious to see how Google continues to integrate its numerous applications like Gmail and Writely along with Blogger. What will happen? What new and glorious innovations will they heap upon us? Hmmm?

For my birthday week, this has been a better-than-usual week. Probably one of the happier and more relaxed weeks I've had in several months. I've had a number of people voice back to me how anxious I have been sounding recently ... and honestly, I don't like to have people 'hear' me that way, nor do I want to 'hear' myself that way.

So, the long and short of it is that I'm trying to relax. To relax about this job. To relax about my long-term employment situation. I can remember voicing wa-a-ay back last spring that we would probably have to sell one of the houses by this past summer. Notice the operative word, "past." We have survived past this summer and are continuing to squeak by, month by month. We have survived and hopefully will continue to survive -- two houses, one house or no house.

What's on tap for this weekend?

S and I need to buckle down and get serious about some Christmas shopping. I'm in better shape than she is (I think?) but still have plenty to do.

Tomorrow evening (after our shopping), we are going to babysit both Preston and Madison. We were both feeling particularly brave when we volunteered for this 'mission.' We'll find out if it was a moment of insanity or if we're two grandmas who are really up to the task.

Sunday, I'm hoping to do some more Christmas elf-ing at the dining room table and perhaps get together with our friends, Jeanne and Joanne, for a little holiday libation. Jeanne makes the best dirty martinis! I won't be driving back to the pied-a-terre Sunday evening, so perhaps I can drink!

Monday morning, I have a teeth-cleaning scheduled at my dentist. After that, I'll jump in my trusty little car and head back down here to Motown.

Until then, have a great weekend!

More birthday celebrations!

Well, my birthday celebrating continues on today.

I got an unexpected call from Uncle George this morning on my drive to work. He evidently had tried to call last night while S and I were at Jan and Tom's drinking and celebrating the holidays.

Then at work, a coworker, an emigre from Russia, came up to me (again unexpectedly) and handed me two items. Mariya said she overheard that yesterday was my birthday and wanted to wish me a "Happy Birthday!" She gave me a very nice mechanical pencil and a colorful pad of Post-It notes.

I grabbed a blank piece of paper and asked her to write the words "Happy Birthday" for me in Russian. I'm thinking about replicating them in UG, creating a jpeg file and publishing it to Flickr.

And here it is ... with my clumsy effort at creating a stereotypical Russian onion dome.

About this cliff-dive into Blogger Beta

Dragon Mood? -- temperature rising ... but in a good way

Well, I'm still warming up to this whole "Page Element" thing ... but it certainly is easier than my old trial-and-error-and-mostly-error method of messing with HTML and CSS which I have only the most rudimentary understanding of (with apologies to all those who are offended by ending sentences with prepositions). This evening, I intended to only post once (hah!) and ended up spending until almost midnight 'playing with' the different options on the "Edit Layout" page.

I do wish the Blogger Beta folks had included at least a couple of 3-column templates for blogs. Common on folks, step up to the plate!

Nevertheless, I will give a tentative thumbs-up to the Blogger Beta development folks.

Tomorrow is my birthday

Dragon Mood? -- befuddled and unprepared

Tomorrow I turn 54.

Wow, there it is. Fifty-four, carved in stone, up on a pedestal, its profile outlined by spotlights, big and monolithic and rather detached.

Maybe that better describes my feelings than any fantasy statue. Usually I'm more excited about my birthday, feeling a keener sense of anticipation, you know? For whatever reason, this year I'm not.

Fifty-three, almost done now, has been a tough year for me. Losing my job last January and all the ensuing uncertainty has been tough. My self-confidence feels smaller and diminished from a year ago. My sense of optimism and general well-being is feeling rather worn, rather weary. (I'm chuckling to myself. Thinking of my formerly optimistic outlook -- once robust but now rather worn down with a distinctly ragtag quality to it -- reminds me of my bras. I'm wearing the lone survivor and desperately in need of reinforcements, strong and up to the job!)

My moments of excitement feel smaller these days. Bite-size rather than whole meals, if you know what I mean? Even my dreams seem to have gone AWOL these days. S asked me weeks ago what are my dreams for myself and for us. Sadly, I couldn't come up with a single thought.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow as a remembrance of all the wonderful years I've already experienced. I'm also looking forward to a new age, a new year, renewed dreams ... and maybe even some new bras!

My Christmas elf name

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Jumping off the cliff into Blogger Beta's arms

Dragon Mood? -- ???

Well, I did it. I jumped and am posting for the first time under Blogger Beta's interface.

So far, it all looks pretty familiar. In the upper right hand corner, I notice that my email address, the Dashboard link and the Sign Out link have a vaguely Google-ish look to them.

That's about all, so far. I am curious what they've done to the template Layout interface. I'll keep you posted.

Recurring insomnia

Dragon Mood? -- getting sleepy

It's early Monday morning. I've been up for at least an hour-and-a-half with this troublesome, recurring insomnia.

It started rather gradually several weeks ago. Honestly, I can't point to a specific time when it started, but it's been occurring more and more regularly the past several weeks.

I wake up around 3:00, 3:30 and am awake until 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. Then, I get tired and am ready to go to sleep.

ArrghhH! What a bother!

My little Aries ram, the take-charge child

Dragon Mood? -- amused and still chuckling

So ... I'm posting yesterday, still trying to catch my breath and catch up with events from Thanksgiving. When what to my wondering eyes does appear but this email from my daughter, Lina, about Christmas plans(!):

Well, here’s what I’m thinking on making the food. I can bring the cheese and olives and Chex Mix with me, ready to go. I can make the Breakfast Casserole on Christmas morning [Ed. comment: "take charge"], because if history is any indication, I usually am up before anyone else, anyways. You’d be welcome to make the casserole if you wanted to [take charge], but I’d kind of enjoy arriving to some potato soup [take charge] when I roll in on Christmas Eve, if you were willing to make a little pot of that. I’d already thought about it, and am kind of looking forward to cooking the casserole on Christmas morning, so pre-making it isn’t necessary [take charge]. I would help you work out a grocery list [take charge] and ask that you do the shopping [take charge] for any ingredients for the spinach dip, artichoke/crab dip, bloody mary bar (though I can plan on bringing the vodka, since it’ll be cheaper in WI), breakfast casserole, shrimp, tortilla roulades, beef stew, brownies, etc. I’d imagine you could make the brownies and/or Rice Krispie treats beforehand [take charge]. It might be fun for you and Yosh to think about making some bourbon balls together [take charge], maybe on Christmas Eve before I get there?

At this point in the email, she switches gears a bit, detailing her plans for Christmas morning, a part of the email that made me laugh out loud (while I was supposed to be working):

So, I’d get up in the morning, make the casserole, make myself a bloody mary, wait for all the sleepyheads to wake up…while the casserole was cooking, I’d probably make the spinach dip and mix up the artichoke/crab dip so they had time to “relax” before we were ready to eat them. I’d also make the tortilla roulade logs and put them in the fridge to set – only cutting them right before we were ready to serve them. I’d probably have another bloody mary, etc. When you got up, I’d serve you some casserole and a bloody mary (and maybe make myself another one), and we could eat some breakfast and have a cuppa coffee together (and our bloody marys) and then I’d probably say, “Hey Mom, let’s make that beef stew!” and we’d either work together on it, or you’d say, “Lina, go take your shower, I’ll get the beef stew started. Here’s another bloody mary to take into the shower with you.”

In hindsight, isn't it a wonder that I raised this child without either of us strong-willed people trying to kill the other? ... and that we love each other and love to hang out with one another?

Let's take a moment and give thanks.

More on Thanksgiving

Dragon Mood? -- awake and downloading

Our Thanksgiving celebration included thirteen of us adults and two grandbabies: two-month-old Madison, who I barely saw as she got passed around the relatives, and 20-month-old Preston who was all decked out in a little white oxford shirt and snazzy pint-sized dress pants; Tim and his girlfriend, Nicki (sp?); Mark and Lindsey; new parents, Matt and Sarah; Sarah's family, Hope and Sean, and teenage brother, Corey; the Wisconsin contingent, Josh and Caroline; and S and me.

Meanwhile, the bird is cooking out on the porch, the potatoes are simmering on the stove, leaves are flying out in the backyard and Caroline, the Mistress of the Autumnal Fire has got a roaring one going out on the deck in the firepit. As for me, --yawn-- I was tired and took a little nap. It was such a beautiful day, relaxed and anticipatory, that we were all unshowered and still in our grubbies when our guests began to arrive.

Amazingly, I think we actually had dinner on the table around six. Matt carved the bird -- although he would be the first to admit that it was so juicy, the meat literally fell off the bones. S made her hearty gravy (mental note for next year: have pineapple juice on hand in case the drippings from the brined bird are too salty!) and Josh carved the wined-and-cloved ham. Hope mashed and seasoned the potatoes, Sean made and brought a yummy spicy cheese dip appetizer and I believe I heard Corey serenading us on the piano with multiple renditions of "Body and Soul" on the piano. It was definitely a group effort and a fun one!

We stood around the dining room table, all thirteen of us, holding hands and taking turns saying one thing for which we are grateful. Although it was anything but a solemn prayer, I definitely felt that for those moments, we were connected in a beyond-this-world sense and sharing in a moment of sacredness. Voicing our gratitude like that never fails to move me.

Going from the sublime to the very earthy, the other dynamic that contributed to the relaxed and burnished memory of this day was THE WINE. Lina had brought six? seven? bottles of wine home from Wisconsin, a variety of them and none of which I can name. I think it was seven bottles. Well, folks, we drank six of them that day. Yup, all six of those bottles got drunk which lent a a lovely glow to an already glowing day.

I'm running out of recounting time here, but the evening included intense euchre whuppings, more combinations of people drinking and smoking around the "campfire" outside, whipped cream playtime between Matt and Caroline, playtime with Preston, conversations about sex toys and many more things that I never witnessed but heard about later. It was one of those times when you wish you could be in multiple places at once.

Thanksgiving

Dragon Mood? -- anticipating and salivating

Like most Turkey Days at our house, Thanksgiving was a whirlwind.

Caroline was up and knitting in her jammies when I emerged from the bedroom. The dogs had casually thrown their bodies all over the fireplace room in repose. I climbed over the various limbs and paws and headed for the kitchen.

First order of business was the bird. We had brined it about ten hours earlier, so after all the requisite cleaning and sanitizing of sinks and utensils, we washed the bird, buttered the bird and stuffed it with citrus fruits and a few small onions for good measure. Into the Rival oven out on the porch, it went.

Then we started in on other dishes that still required preparation. But, because of our post-inebriation cooking frenzy the night before, we were in pretty good shape.

Before I knew it, Lina was out on the deck building a fire in the firepit. S was outside in the stunningingly warm autumnal air, blowing a zillion million leaves off of the grass and into the woods. Josh, well, I don't know where the heck he was. Probably watching soccer or football or something on TV. (Although, bless his heart, he did peel an entire stockpot's worth of potatoes for our dinner and then risked life and knuckles cutting them up!)

So here's what our menu ended up looking like:

* * *



2006 Thanksgiving Menu


Appetizers

*Olives
*Spinach Dip with Pumpernickel Bread
*Cheese Plate


Main Course

* Citrus-stuffed Turkey with Bicentennial Rub
* Traditional S&M Wild Rice and Sage Sausage Stuffing
* Apricot-Rosemary Roasted Root Veggies (NEW!)
* Steph's Famous Celery Root
* Mashed Potatoes and Hearty Gravy
* Mixed Greens with Pears, Red Onions, Blue Cheese,
Walnuts and Country French Vinaigrette
* Spicy Cranberry Chutney (NEW!)


Desserts

* Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
* Apple Cranberry Currant Crumble Pie (NEW!)
* Milwaukee's Finest -- Alterra Coffee


* * *

It's late, I'm tired and I'm going to bed.

More to come.

Thanksgiving Eve

Dragon Mood? -- befuddled

Today is Wednesday, Wendishday, December 6th.

Where have I been? .......... (slow sigh) ......... Well, I've been here ... and there ... and sometimes it feels like everywhere!

Let me back up to Thanksgiving week. (ahem!)

Steph and I worked Monday and Tuesday. We arrived back at the pine trees house around 10, Tuesday evening? Caroline and Josh rolled in around 1 or 1:30 a.m. I was already in my jammies and snoozing on the couch.

Wednesday we arose leisurely, drank coffee, skipped breakfast (as I recall) and headed pretty much straight for El Azteco. I rode with the kids, Steph followed later. Jess was in town from Phillie, via Chicago, to visit with her high school peeps. We sat in the smoking section on the benches that back up to the kitchen -- perfect vantage point for watching the streetscape before us. We ordered lots of pitchers of Margaritas, numerous bowls of El Az's spicy cheese dip, mountains of their homemade tortilla chips and then .... we ordered lunch.

Lina took lots of pictures. We caught up on one another's lives. We talked about plans, or rather non-plans for Jess's graduation. We talked about the Jersey shore. We talked about NYC. We talked about things I can't even remember!

Steph joined us and the conversation got livelier. And more argumentative. As I recall? But then again, I was drinking margaritas. Does anyone really know? Care?

After a long leisurely lunch at El Az's, we mosied over to Campbell's Smoke Shop and bought some see-gars. Well, Lina did.

Then, it was on to Beggar's. You know, the place that I like to drink dirty martinis? Actually, my second favorite place to drink dirty martinis. (My first place is Jeanne and Joanne's. That's 'cuz Jeanne puts all kinds of loving TLC into her dirty martinis. And big olives stuffed with almonds. And .. they're free!)

Things get a little fuzzier around this time. Oh yes, now it's coming back to me. Steph headed home -- to take a nap, the little stinker. Josh, Lina and I headed to Meijer's to do some last-minute Thanksgiving shopping. This is now 4 o'clock, Wednesday afternoon. We're pretty well tooted, if you know what I mean. Lina, of course, is insisting that she's not tooted, but the more she wandered Meijer's aisles, the more her tootedness became apparent.

As I recall, the three of us were like heated molecules in the store, bouncing all over the damn place. Amazingly, I think we forgot only two or three items. Which, when you consider how much alcohol we had just consumed, is pretty darn good.

We got home, and thankfully, all helped to put the groceries away. Then we all headed to our respective horizontal surfaces to get, well, horizontal.

I slept for maybe an hour-and-a-half. It was dark when I woke up. Dehydrated and a bit disoriented. Everyone else was still sleeping. I started cooking and before long, out wandered S. She made some coffee, drank some coffee, woke up slowly and started cooking. Around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., Caroline and then Josh woke up and the whole famn damily was now awake and cooking. We cooked until 1:00 or 1:30 or so. It felt good to get a headstart on all the food preparation awaiting us.

I was looking forward to our Thanksgiving together. All in all, it was a very good day!

a Friday-turned-weekend meme

You can only type one word. No explanations.

1. Yourself: here
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend: fierce
3. Your hair? silvery
4. Your mother? missed
5. Your father: remote
6. Your Favorite Item: colorfulness
7. Your dream last night: huh?
8. Your Favorite drink: bloody!
9. Your Dream Car: cooperish!
10. The room you are in: darkly
11. Your Ex: unsatisfying
12. Your fear: boredom
13. What you want to be in 10 years: healthy
14. Who you hung out with last night? furry
15. What You're Not? entreprenurial
16. Muffins: fattening
17: One of Your Wish List Items: laptop?
18: Time: mystical
19. The Last Thing You Did: insufficient
20. What You Are Wearing: relaxed
21. Your Favorite Weather: foggy
22. Your Favorite Book: magical
23. The Last Thing You Ate: Campbell's
24. Your Life: unexpected
25. Your Mood: happy
26. Your best friend(s): precious
27. What are you thinking about right now? weekend
28. Your car: trustworthy
29. What are you doing at the moment? lunch
30. Your summer: jobseeking
31. Your relationship status: committed
32. What is on your tv? Jeopardy
33. What is the weather like? November-ish
34. When is the last time you laughed? morning

Shout-out to Ruth!

Dragon Mood? -- celebratory

And .... I want to give a "Happy Birthday" shout-out to my dear sister, Ruth who turns .. uh, fifty-two today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUTH!

Wow! In my mind, Ruth and I will always be young. Always.

We talked on the phone tonight and made each other laugh. When I hear Ruth laugh, I feel young. It's a wonderful thing -- an immediate, jump-in-and-splash fountain of youth.

I love you, Ruth! Happy Birthday!

Two doors closing

Dragon Mood? -- feeling the imperceptible breath of destiny

Last week I had the distinct sensation of hearing two doors closing.

The first one I closed. My former employer, one of the Big Three automakers, wanted me to come back and do the type of work I did for over twelve years for them. After a day's deliberation, I decided that "Nope, this doesn't feel right" and turned them down. Four days later, it still feels right. I'm glad that I didn't take the job.

The second door was closed to me. An international aviation supplier company that I had interviewed with called to tell me that they had chosen the other candidate. From a large pool, it was down to the two of us and they chose the other guy. Damn. I was disappointed, but I am trying to live by what S and I have been saying to one another, "Trust the process. The Universe (God) has a plan and we have to trust the process." I did have the presence of mind to say to the HR person that called, "Well, if this candidate, for whatever reason, doesn't work out, I hope that Mr. R and Mr. T will reconsider me as a candidate." (sigh) Politically correct. Businesslike and positive. Hopefully, anyway.

And ... this provides me with another opportunity to be thankful for the job that I have, temporary and transient and interim though it may be. Every hour that I work is another little chunk of money in my paycheck. Ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunk. I am thankful for it and don't want to take it for granted. Not for a minute.

Thank you, God, for this job. I am trusting this process .... this process of unemployment and and insecurity and vulnerability. I believe there is a purpose to all of this -- even if I am never able to know it.

Catching up!

Dragon Mood? -- amazed at my slackerly slack-ing-ness

Yes, I am indeed amazed at my slacker-coma in the blogosphere. All I can say is that given the incredibly bad marks that the nation gave George W., a vote of "NO CONFIDENCE, GEORGE!,"an amazingly uniform thumbs-down on Iraq, I was in a daze, a haze, a coma of such epic proprotions that only now am I emerging!

Wow! Can you believe what happened on Election Day!???!!?

Isn't it great? Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it amazing?

Amazing I'll grant you. As for great and wonderful, well, that remains to be seen. Can the Democrats really sustain all this "bipartisan" rhetoric and bonhomie? I rather doubt it. But ... I am a person of faith and I want to believe that they will indeed DO some of the things that they're talking about. I do, I Do , I DO!

First of all, Iraq. Or as my red-wine-befuddled fingers want to type, "Iraz."

Secondly, the minimum wage. Congress-People, "SAY what you mean and MEAN what you SAY!" Do it! Forgo the bloated, embarassing raises that you love to give yourselves and cough up the incredibly overdue cost-of-living adjustment to the people who are at the bottom of the income ladder and need it most.

Prescription drugs. Or more broadly, a short-term and long-term strategy for the national health care crisis which is rearing its ugly head ... and only getting uglier. We need it. We definitely need it. Not just the old. Not just the uninsured. Don't forget about all of us middle-class folks who are getting squeezed every which way we turn. Please don't leave us out of the health care costs equation. We want to see that our government representatives recognize and respond to the ways in which our current health care system screws us too.

Whew! Okay. I'm getting lightheaded up here on this soapbox. I'll climb down now.

But I may have more to say!?!

feeling nervous

Dragon Mood?  -- hopeful while nervous and antsy

 

Today, the news is full of polls and updates regarding our national election tomorrow.  It sounds like the Republican machine has kicked into gear, to maximize registered Republican voters voting as well as those poll-defying independents. 

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for people voting.  That is the right of all American citizens.  But simply put, I don't trust the Republican Party, I don't trust Karl Rove, I don't trust that our elections won't be tampered with.  A sad confession, isn't it?

 

Tomorrow, I hope that all people who want to vote can.

 

Tomorrow, I hope that polling places are well staffed, smooth operating and that all votes cast are counted.

 

Tomorrow, I hope that the Republicans get run out of office on a rail.  Tarred and feathered would be even better.

 

By the end of this week, I hope Governor Jennifer Granholm has a chance to relax and spend time with her kids.

 

By the end of this week, I hope Senator Debbie Stabenow can settle back into work and focus on getting prescription drug costs reduced for all of us folks who need them and can't necessarily afford them.

 

By the end of this week, I hope Nancy Pelosi is settling into her new role as House Majority Leader.

 

I hope!

Picking up the slack

Dragon Mood? -- winding even further down from a relaxed, low-down weekend

Yup ... I've been slackin'. Slackin' on the postin'.

Suffice to say that this past week was a bit terrible as far as work was concerned. I got threatened. Threatened with the axe. But you know?... I don't even want to validate the ephemeral nature of that threat and the transitional nature of this job by writing about it. It's a paycheck and it's keeping the modern-day wolves away from the door. That's it.

Next topic?

Well, I had the flu this past week ... sadly enough, on Halloween. Monday afternoon I suddenly felt achy and my throat hurt. I thought maybe I was coming down with a cold. The achy-ness persisted, the sore throat went away and then it got really fun -- I started feeling extraordinarily tired and three-sheets-to-the-wind dizzy. What a way to have the flu -- like you've drunk too much and got twirly beds! I slept, woke up, felt sleepy and slept some more. That went on for a day-and-a-half. And then it was over.

Friday, I saw my doctor. My doc is a woman and a longtime acquaintance from our children being in school together. I really like Wendy. She's a good doctor and a caring person. She and her staff have been an absolute godsend to S and my precarious financial state this past year. Every time I go in, she and her staff load me up with office samples of the numerous meds that I take. Thank God for Dr. Wendy!

My lab results came back and looked pretty good. I don't have the sheets here in front of me, but generally all my numbers looked pretty good. Another thing to be thankful for!

Like I said about my mood, I'm windin' down. Not much more to say. Good night!