Blogger Will Be Down at 9:00 p.m. PST

If you want to post anything, now is probably the time to do it.

To "anonymous". Thanks for your comment on my January 19th post. Fortunately we've been lice free ever since but I agree with you on staying away from the chemicals. Come back and visit anytime.

Ray came home from the hospital today with lots of new prescriptions, one of which has a huge co-pay. Back to the doctor to see if he can prescribe something similar which will be covered. If not, we'll figure it out somehow.

They still don't know what's going on with him.

Halloween is now behind us, Veteran's Day is coming up with it's parade on Saturday. They have forecast rain of course. We're supposed to march but I'm not too sure how I feel about getting soaked. I did buy four small flags which I stashed in the back of the van.

And I'm beginning to think about Thanksgiving. Jim doesn't think he'll be able to get leave for that and Christmas so he'll probably opt for Christmas. Tim will be around though and all of us. Possibly Jim's older kids as well. They usually drop by with their mom. I do a very casual buffet. Whoever shows up eats (sometimes as many as 20). I've started doing a little shopping and will pick up two turkeys for the price of one sometime in the next couple of days. I'll have to spend $25 (without the turkey) to do it but that isn't difficult with my gang. I'll use turkey #2 at Christmas. I have to go through my stash of canned goods and see what I already have and what I need and then look at the sales. Almost nothing changes year to year and I can almost do it in my sleep. It's usually Jim's job to do the mashed potatoes and ham at his house so if he's not here, I may cheat and go with instant. The last minute nature of mashed potatoes when I'm trying to do everything else is a pain. I did see a recipe today that explained how to cook them ahead and reheat. Simple - just put the bowl in hot water. I didn't buy the cookbook (was surfing through it at Barnes & Noble with Tim earlier today) but I bet I can find the same idea online.

Speaking of Tim, he thanks you for the kind words about his post.

I forgot to mention Rebecca's homework assignment for election night eve. I would have thought at least one of the girls would mention that they talked about the election in school. Nope. Rebecca's assignment (for P.E. - homework in P.E?) was to watch part of the Oakland Raider's football game. She would be tested. I know just about enough football to follow the game so I sat with her and we watched. She now knows the team who has the ball is usually the offense and the other guys are trying to stop them. And she knows the difference between a punt and a place kick and what a yellow flag signifies. She also knows that she finds football intensely boring and hates "flag" football at school. If I'd known that assignment was coming up, she could have watched the 'Niners with me on Sunday. At least we won - the Raiders lost.

I choose my issues and I won't register a complaint with the school but it may come up for discussion at some point. Maybe I'm missing something but it sure seemed silly. What about the parents who either don't have t.v. or would prefer their kids not watch the rougher contact sports?

The girls have a 3 day weekend coming up and a good thing because Elcie isn't feeling well. I picked her up early today and she'll have some time to recover.

They were so funny last night. Their mom was over and the four of them were in the living room with the kareoke machine singing "American Pie" - all 93 verses. Then they liked it so well they sang it again. By that time I'd decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and went in and sang along. They're always surprised when I know some of "their" music. Kids, it was mine long before you were dreamed of.

Thanks to all for the comments. My new modem seems to have fixed some of the problems I was blaming on Firefox or Blogger or anybody I could find to blame. I have, however, picked up a hijacker which I have to eliminate at some point. Big pain and doubtless due to the girls and their downloading of games.

I'm going to post this before Blogger decides to change their mind and shut down earlier. Take care everyone.