Headline News!!!!

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE RUMSFELD STEPPING DOWN

Now if Bush would just join him..................  LOL

Anyone Have A Recipe for Crow? LOL

I guess I'm not a very good predictor.  The Democrats have gained control of the House.  My, my, my....    The new speaker is a woman, Nancy Pelosi...  she likes to spend and has a long list of programs that are in the wings just waiting for funding.  It's going to be very interesting to see what happens. 

One of the scare tactics used to try to get folks not to vote for Democrats was a warning about Rep. Pelosi's agenda for social programs would cost a lot of money and that she wants to reverse the tax cuts that the Bush administration instituted.  How much of this is true?  Who knows? 

So, since I went out on that limb and I was wrong, I will eat crow if anyone has a good, low calorie, low-fat, low carb recipe.  LOL

 

I Voted

I did my Patriotic Duty today and voted.  I don't think I've missed a major election since I was old enough to vote.  There have been local school board elections where I didn't vote because my daughter went to private school and I didn't know anyone running or what the issues were.

My first presidental election was in 1972 when Nixon ran against McGovern.  At that time, it was the biggest upset in voting history.  Senator McGovern was supported by the liberal Get-Out-Of-Vietnam faction.  The Republican party managed to paint him as a radical liberal and he never overcame that label and he went down to a huge defeat.

I'm interested to see how the results come in across the country.  The press has been predicting that the Democrats are going to win control of the Congress because Americans are upset with the Republican administration and the Iraqi war.  I am going to go out on a limb and bet that the Republicans stay in control.  I think the Democrats will add a few new members but they won't get the majority as predicted.  I think the majority of people are afraid of change.  I think most of the incumbants will be re-elected.  I will have to check the paper in the morning to see if my predictions are right.

I'm equally upset with both sides.  I didn't vote for either incumbant running for the senate or congress.  LOL  I didn't care what party they belong to, I voted for the other one.  If I had my way, every one of them would get their walking papers and we'd start with a fresh bunch that has no ties to the lobbiests and special interests that own those that are there now.  Ahh, enough politics.  I bet we're all sick of it tonight.

Oh, goodie! I Can Open My Journal....

I tried to open my journal yesterday but I got a page that said I was using an incorrect screen name and it asked for a password.  I entered every password I've ever used and it still wouldn't open so I gave up and came back this morning.  Presto-dingo,  it opened like usual. 

Today is Election Day here. I am so glad that the big day is here and that we will no longer have to listen to the misleading ads on TV and radio trying to convince us to vote one way or another on the issues or to vote for one person over another .  I don't listen to any of those ads and everything that comes in the mail goes in the junk mail pile.  I do my own research and make up my own mind by reading the material checking some non-biased information.  It is so sad that we cannot believe anything the ads tell us.   They all slant the truth so much that it no longer is the truth. 

I don't have anything else to say right now but I may come back later and add to this.

Oh, just a quick reminder:  If you want to exchange Christmas Cards, send me an email with your name and address and I will send you mine. 

Success

I had a successful shopping trip this morning.  First I took Dennis' car to the car wash and then I went to WalMart.  They had really nice Christmas cards for $5 a box.  What a savings!  I had to go to the post office so I bought my Christmas stamps while I was there.  They have some pretty snowflake stamps this year so I chose those. 

If anyone wants to exchange Christmas cards, send me an email with your address and I'll send you mine.  That would be fun.  For those in the UK I'll need to get yours in the mail early so it reaches you in time for the holiday.

It's hard to think about Christmas when it's 92 degrees outside.  How are we supposed to start getting in the Holiday spirit when it feels like we should be heading to the beach?

The tile guy is here.  The job will be finished tomorrow.  I haven't been upstairs to see his progress.  I'll wait until he goes home to take a look.  Dennis has been up there twice and he's pleased with the workmanship.  If he's happy, I know I will be happy, too.

There's another brush fire today.  This one is due north of here.  When I was out I could smell the smoke.  From news reports it does not seem that this one is nearly as bad as the last one.  Let's hope not! 

Well, that's about it for now.  A quiet day in Southern California.  More soon.

 

Sunday - November 5

Dennis spent the morning upstairs removing base boards, pulling up carpet, and getting the master bathroom ready for the tile installer to come tomorrow.  Woooo, I can't wait!  We are having 16" Travertine tile set.  It's going to be so nice to have that carpet out of there.  I have regretted having carpet since we moved in this house.  The toilet compartment has tile but the largest area with the vanity, tub and shower is carpeted. 

We have to take out clothes for 2 days and our shampoo, towels, etc. because we won't be able to walk on the tile until it is completely set and the grout is done.  The whole job should be done by Wednesday.  Thank goodness we have two other showers.

After the tile is done, we will buy new carpeting.  Hopefully we will have that done before Christmas.  We are going to replace the carpet in our walk-in closet, our bedroom, the guest room and Cari's room.  Then all the carpet in the house will have been replaced within the past 2 years and we'll be set for a while.

I'll be posting pictures when the job is done.  I hope to make Martha Stewart envious.   LOL

We had a great birthday celebration for Bryan.  Our plans changed a little so I got out of buying cake and ice cream.  They came around 3:00 in the afternoon and visited before dinner.  We gave him his gifts and went to dinner at 5:00.  We went to a restaurant called BJ's (his initials) and had an hour wait for a table.  We were able to wait outside so the kids could run and play.  Once seated, we had a great waiter.  I think it helped that he and Sam knew each other from high school.  He gave us great service and he got a great tip in return.  The only bad thing was the place plays the music so loud that you must yell to be heard.  The noise level in the place was unbearable.  There was a small blessing to that, though, no one could hear Andrew's fussing about having to sit still above all the noise.  LOL

It was a clear, hot day here.  It got up into the low 90's.  From the top of the hill, you could see forever!  Awesome.  I got my grocery shopping done and a few loads of laundry.  I sat down and made my Christmas Card list and started to draft my annual Christmas newsletter.  I made a month-to-month outline of all that happened this year and I'm going to have to do some serious editing to fit it into a one page letter.  I don't believe in sending long, detailed letters that cause yawns and people to dread opening them -- just the highlights and a few pictures.  I refuse to be one of those who brags about every little thing and who goes on and on about how wonderful the family is and how the world is such a better place because they are in it.  LOL 

I looked at Christmas cards last night at one of the stores.  They averaged $14.99 for a box of 16 cards.  With my list, that would  be around $120 for cards and postage.  I'm going to have to find less expensive cards and cut that total way down.  I'm going to go out and look again tomorrow.  I think WalMart had some nice cards last year for a lot less than $15 a box.  I don't care if folks think "I Don't Care Enough To Send The Very Best".  

Our kids have abandoned us for Thanksgiving.  As soon as they found out my parents weren't coming, they all made other plans.  In a way, that gets me off the hook.  No big dinner to cook, no mess to clean up, and no left overs to worry about.  But on the other hand, it hurt my feelings that they didn't even ask if our plans changed because mom and dad weren't coming.  They just dumped us like hot potatoes.  I'm going to deal with them about this and let them know how I feel but the deal for dinner is no longer an option.  Dennis and I are going to Disneyland.  Screw 'em.   (I know that was blunt but sometimes I just have to be blunt.  No apologies there.) We are excited about it and plan on having a great time.

I feel better now. 

And That's Enough of That

I'm happy to have shared my journey in the past few entries but I am just as happy that I've written them and I'm done with them. 

Today I'll be going out to get cake and ice cream so after dinner we can all come back here for dessert.  I'm really looking forward to having Bryan, Shannon and the kids here.  Cari and Sam are joining us, too.  Sam has been in Colorado for a week so we are excited he's home.  We missed him.

New flooring is being installed in the master bathroom on Monday.  I am so excited about that!  We have had the tile for a long time but we are just getting around to having the job done.  After the first of the year, we will get new carpet, too.  We like to pay as we go so it takes a while to get it all together. It feel so good to get some things done around here.

If I'm going to stay on target as far as time goes, I need to sign off and get busy. 

More soon!