Happy Halloween!

My favorite holiday!

We have a busy weekend on tap. We're trick or treating for sliders and beer at Betty and Tom's house tomorrow night. What a great idea. Saturday, I'm not doing anything that I don't feel like doing. I might stay in my pajamas all day and read my book on the couch. Saturday, Amber's parents are coming to town...Mike and Peggy...so we're going to Patrick's for a celebration. My birthday is tomorrow and Peggy's birthday is Saturday so we'll put a candle in a Schell's Oktoberfest. After dinner, we're going to the Bothy for a concert by Lehto and Wright. From their website:

Lehto and Wright have a sound that is a unique blend of traditional and modern styles. By taking cues from the Irish, English and American folk traditions and interpreting them with contemporary guitar-based arrangements, Lehto and Wright have taken fresh approach to the world of folk and folk rock.

They're great fun.

I made a pork loin for dinner with something called autumn wild rice casserole. It had some interesting ingredients: jalapenos, granny smith apples, and onions. It called for Swiss chard but I've never seen that in a store around here. I checked it out on google and it looks like rhubarb. I must have neglected to read the "how to" part of the recipe because I put it in a baking dish in the oven and it was supposed to be stir-fried. It was still good. We had a hoisin sauce on the pork and it was delicious.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

what day is it anyway?

I've been working too hard lately but I guess it feels good. I'm not talking about my paid job ha ha ha since I always work hard there. I'm talking about my home jobs. It's probably a direct result of a summer of loafing. And as Bev says, I suck at housecleaning. Things you suck at take more effort.

This getting healthy thing is hard work, too. Last night we made butternut squash soup and creamed cauliflower. Tonight we made vegetarian minestrone; not a big favorite of mine due to the texture of the zucchini skin; a little too tough. Why do I have to look up the damn word zucchini every time I use it? I'll remember it tonight and the next time I write it, I'll have to put it in google again. All that cooking means a lot of dirty dishes and we live in a pre-dishwasher house.

I think I wrote before about wanting to start some weight lifting. This from a person who has ridiculed that kind of activity for years. I know, I know. Well, I got the room in the basement cleaned up, took my computer down there to watch the videos, did a few things that involved weights (i.e. dumb bells)....but it was very hard. So many things to remember...when to inhale, when to lift and when to let down, how to suck in the abdominals. I was wrong...this is cerebral. I think the whole thing took me about 30 minutes and most of that time was spent squinting at the screen trying to figure out how to do it.

I've found that since I've lost a small amount of tonnage, I run my mouth more. I wonder why that is. Maybe a greater lung capacity and a higher need to expel oxygen into the atmosphere. See what I mean?

Miles, the weather is going to be perfect for stroller walks the next few days. Tell your mama to dig it out of the storage shed, you're ready to go.

I started a new book last night that I love already: Driftless by David Rhodes. His writing is lyrical and the characters are people you wish you knew. Check out the link and read the reviews. His writing reminds me of Jim Harrison whose books I read over and over. True North and Returning to Earth are two of my favorite books. I think there's a link on the right. Doesn't the cover look inviting?

A couple things on my library list: English Major (Jim Harrison), Plague of Doves (Louise Erdrich), and The Other Boleyn Girl (Phillipa Gregory). As insurance against the day I don't have a library book. I bought The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Joanne said she liked it but wasn't sure about the ending. I really hate bad endings. I have flung books against the wall for bad endings.

I've been waiting for the new issue of the Rolling Stone and it hasn't come. What the hell. I get two magazines: Cooking Light and Rolling Stone. Now that's funny. What's my demographic?

snow coming sideways

The wind is gusting to 45 miles per hour and the snow is coming sideways. I don't think it will accumulate because it can't land. I'd have Regis take a picture but it wouldn't do it justice. It's ugly-ass weather. I miss the beautiful afternoon we spent in our lawn chairs.

I've been on a tear this weekend; as in spree, an uncharacteristic outburst of activity. Yesterday I cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen, and the living room. This morning we bought groceries and as soon as I got home, I cleaned the bedroom and installed the new electric mattress pad. I cleaned out two drawers of jewelry. Then I headed to the dungeon of the house, the basement store room. It's right at the bottom of the steps and it's where everything lands that doesn't fit upstairs. I filled two big garbage bags and took it over to the neighbor's trash can then filled a bag for the thrift store. I don't know what came over me.

Two good things: I found an earring that has been lost for two years. I kept finding one and thinking it was the only one...today I came upon both of them. Regis gave them to me and they're Egyptian cartouches of the words I love you. I also found a bag of clothes that I thought I had gotten rid of last year, one of which was my favorite fuzzy robe. What would I do without it?

I don't know what to say about the music we went to see last night. It's not a place we frequent so I don't know if this was the usual crowd or if these folks weren't from here. Not wanting to insult anybody's relatives, I'll just say it was a less than sober crowd. There were jackass t-shirts, low-cut dresses, mini-skirts, frog-ass old men who happened to also be toothless, and a few drunks who had trouble remaining vertical. The folk singer writes his own beautiful songs but the crowd wanted to hear Johnny Cash and I swear to God I heard someone request Brittney Spears. I had to jump up and move three times because I thought there was going to be a bar brawl. Regis said he hasn't been so entertained in months. We made it through an hour then left as a big green bus from St. Paul was unloading a fresh supply of drunks at the front door. Most of those people weren't there for the folk singer, I could tell.

I can feel a nap coming on...

here's one for my mom

good show!

The elements of local history made the show great. I got goosebumps more than once and almost cried at the end. That's me...but it was fun.

Saturday in pictures

I pulled Ella in the wagon to the farmer's market where we bought a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, a pumpkin, four butternut squash, a jar of honey, a huge French heirloom squash, and a giant head of savoy cabbage. There was hardly room for Ella on the way home!

The French squash is on the right side, second from the bottom. Kind of ugly and warty looking but very good to eat!

Mike Callahan is doing the Little Ghost Theater at the E. St. Julien Cox House. We're going there at 6 for the first show.
Charlie Roth, folk singer from St. Cloud, is playing at the Embassy Bar tonight. We're going to try to stay up until past nine o'clock to hear him.

poem for jane and other stuff

What She Taught Me
For Jane
From Teresa

She taught me oh them moose-goosers ain’t they a bunch and how to talk
in clichés when we’d get drunk as Lords and cut a rug but never
buy the farm. She taught me how to order drinks in a Donald Duck voice and
how to ask the local police for a ride home to Vivians so we
can eat more of that enchilada casserole.

She taught me how to tuck your dress up in your pantyhose when you
wash the floor. To tell Ole and Lena jokes to Iowans who loved them. To never
scrub the skin under your eyes because you’ll get wrinkles. To fill garbage
bags with junk and hide it in the bedroom when you get unexpected visitors.

She taught me On the Banks of the Ohio and how to
say shit fire in at least five syllables. She taught me the man
from Nantucket and the man from Madras and lovely poems about
her babies and her friends. She taught me that the best way to clean
the attic on a hot and humid summer day is to chuck shit down
the stairs, pile it on the lawn, and then go have a beer.

She taught me to suck the sweet flesh off artichokes after dipping them
in butter. She taught me to light candles and to pour wine when you’re sad
and when you’re happy. She taught me to have parties on the deck and laugh
until you’re sick over the story about Dick with the fire hose or the guy who
came drunk through the woods. She taught me to make everything

A celebration. She taught me when friends come for weekends
you cut flowers and put out pretty towels and you hire a big
red rusty party bus to haul you to the next town to drink beer.

She taught me that at some moment in the weekend, you sit on the
sofa with a cup of coffee and cry about shared sadness and shared joy
and what we hope for our children and that we’ve been
friends for more than thirty-four years.

This is the poem I wrote for Jane as a retirement gift. It was what Jill and I call a mentor poem...there is a poem written by a real poet that I used as a model. Other than that it just came from stories.



I went to the foot doctor today because since I've been walking, my one soft mushy ankle lump has turned into two mushy ankle lumps. My real doctor (who Regis says is not a real doctor) said it was nothing to worry about and I believed her but it was getting unsightly. Imagine this traveling up your leg in a series of mushy ankle lumps.

The foot doctor gave me a shot of novocaine and then tried to suck whatever was in there, out. She said it was a ganglion like this was good news. She was able to get a lot of stuff out of it that looked like that old LePage's glue (see picture...mucilage... ick) that came in a glass bottle with the rubber top. It was gross but interesting. Tiffany would have loved it. She always had a strange fascination with injuries.

So, now I have a thing on my left ankle that looks like I forgot to wear a sock on my right foot. It's a pressure sock like the astronauts wear. Under it is something the foot doctor says is excess skin that will suck back into the general skin overage and I hope she's right.

And since I had a good thing going, I told her about the plantar fasciitis on my right foot so I have a big pad taped to the bottom of that foot. I'm a medical miracle. Both of my feet feel so damn good tonight that I made burgers on the George Foreman grill and butternut squash in the oven and I baked the last rack of ribs WITHOUT GETTING CRANKY. Regis would agree...a miracle.

I have been sort of over-attentive to my medical issues lately. It's not typical and I'm sure it will pass.

I went for a 1.5 mile walk this morning at 6 a.m., in the dark, by myself. Ta da!

Tom Brokaw was on The Daily Show. He said he misses Tim Russert and feels he needs to be a part of this election because Tim's gone. Sad.

Fawlty Towers is a good distraction from the ugly world of politics. Try it.

woes

Regis works out of our house for you-know-who. The really rich guy. Some technology dude came over last week and hooked up a new phone system that will allow them to see his computer when he's working. One could speculate about why they might want to do that but we'll leave that for another discussion.

I have several issues with this deal. The dude comes into our house, makes a comment about my bumper sticker, and says he almost left. That's my first issue. The AH making comments about my politics when he pulls into the driveway of my house.

Well, apparently he should have backed out and gone back the way he came from, because nothing has worked right since he left. When Regis has his GT phone plugged in, nobody can use the wireless router. There's an IT plan for you. Do these people just stop at BB and buy something, then come to your house and plug it in???? Send me an email if you want to know what the acronyms mean; you know how I worry about google searches.

I made pizza for dinner. Whole wheat crust, homemade sauce, and chopped up by my own hands toppings. It was very good.

I worked so hard this week that I have a bad attack of carpal tunnel syndrome which I think might result in early retirement. Unless we win the lottery tonight. I can also plead a bad sinus headache. The two of these ailments ought to qualify me for an early Rule of 90. Eh?

The liquor store in our neighborhood is remodeling and frankly, we're fascinated. Tonight we learned that they are indeed moving the coolers. The young blond clerk said the cooler installation company will come in and "pivot" the old ones and then install the new ones. She didn't want to come to work on Sunday but we said we'd come just to see it. This project has been our biggest excitement this fall.

I suppose I'm making us sound like drunken gamblers which is not true, Mom. Don't worry.

Miles, they had an inch of snow in Canby today. If you still fit into that Patagonia snow suit, I would dig it out of the cedar chest and have it at the ready. You might need it soon.

dead bird trauma

I was walking late this afternoon and thought about the times in my life I have been traumatized by dead or dying birds. I realize in the scheme of the universe this is not great psychic injury but it's interesting.

I have a clear memory of running home from school in the rain when I was about ten. I was barefoot and about three seconds past the point of impact, I realized I had stepped on something with the consistency of a wet rubber ball. I looked back and saw a fledgling bird on the sidewalk, apparently washed from his nest. I hope he was dead before I hit him. Weird that I would remember that for so long.

Last summer, a dove was sitting in front of my garage door on one of the hottest days. It didn't look healthy and didn't fly away when I approached so I tried to shield it from the sun with an umbrella. I moved the umbrella a couple times over the course of the afternoon and the last time I went out, the dove was dead. I buried it under the maple tree.

Yesterday when I was mowing the lawn, I ran over a recently dead, or at least I hope it was dead, small bird. Parts went in every direction. I went to get Regis who was puzzled as to what part he played in this drama: I wanted him to pick the pieces up so I didn't have to worry about running over it again. Which he did.

We had a parakeet for a pet about ten years ago. One day, almost right before my eyes, he dropped off the perch and lay flat out on the floor of the cage. He wasn't the best pet, at least not a very interactive pet. It's sort of an unnatural life for a bird so I don't think I'd do that again. Same for gerbils and hermit crabs. All of those small pets come to very bad ends with me.

Well, that's life in the fast lane. Nothing but parties and bling here at our house. I think I'll pour myself a glass of box wine and watch Jon Stewart for some real news. It's a couple days late but what the hell.

things that amaze

1. I walked under a walnut tree last week and heard a loud crunching noise. I looked up and there was a squirrel on every branch, each of them with their little paws on a walnut. It was like a squirrel Christmas tree.

2. We had the last barbecue party of the season yesterday and it was a blast. If things go right, there will be a slideshow at the bottom of this post with the picture evidence. We were able to sit outside for about an hour between 2:30 and 3:30 before it started to cool off. What an amazing thing, to sit outside this late in October.

3. Regis cooked ribs and stuffed mushrooms on the grill, and people brought great food. Paul across the street brought little sandwiches made from ground brisket. Tom brought chicken breast wrapped in bacon. Amber brought her famous beer bread. Bob brought the Fritsch beans. It was a grand time. At the end of the evening, Regis fried a batch of pierogies in butter for the last of the crowd.

4. Jane and Dick drove up from Iowa for the weekend. Amazing to have such good, old friends. We celebrated Jane's retirement on Friday night with a bag of presents and a poem. I'll post the poem later. It isn't on this computer and I'm too tired to get up and email it to myself. Jane and I have been friends for 34 years.

5. Ella was delightful at the party. She had her picture taken with most people in attendance. She wasn't sure what to make of the rubber nose and moustache but she was a good sport about even that silliness.

6. My brother David and his wife Joan came for a while. It's amazing to have family and old friends and little ones together.

7. Betty brought a bottle of African liqueur called Idobo and we raised a glass to the beautiful day and family and friends. I've know Betty and Tom since 1979 when I moved to St. Peter from Iowa. That's going on 30 years, although once

8. Last week I saw a guy driving a huge-ass SUV pulling a tiny, junky trailer with a flat of water softener salt on it. You'd think if you can afford to drive a huge-ass SUV, you could afford to have your salt delivered. Just an observation.

9. My neighbor (to the north) was outside with gas-powered implements for 5 hours yesterday. First he blew all his leaves around the yard into a pile on the driveway. I could have picked them up in sandwich bags faster than that process. Then he mowed his yard, and his neighbors yard. I'm sure he covered it at least twice. I'm going to start using a squirt bottle full of Round-Up to write political messages on his lawn in the dark of night. Uh oh. But funny.

10. I mowed my yard today but even with our tiny mower, it only took about an hour and that's going slow to mulch up the leaves. We're not great believers in raking, as you can imagine.

11. We made the switch from lawn mower to snow blower today, put the lawn chairs away for the season, hung the bikes from the garage ceiling, and packed up the grill. Very sad. Next spring we're going to build the Howard Fritsch Memorial Patio in our front yard. We've given up on the notion of sitting discreetly in the back yard. We plan to have room for the grill, the chimnea, and a gaggle of lawn chairs.

12. Tiffany's ultrasound revealed good news. No bed rest for now. She was relieved and so were we. Baby needs to stay where he is for a while yet.

Well, there you go. My feet are tired tonight so I think it will be an early night. Tomorrow's Monday. Ugh.

opus retires and world suck grows

I'm a slow processor. I read last week that Opus was retiring and it's only now sinking in. I love Opus and Bill the Cat. The article said something about Berk Breathed being afraid that Opus couldn't be civilized in these harsh political times and I can certainly understand that; my kind and gentle mother gets absolutely irate, in a good way, when we discuss politics. Regis made her an Obama t-shirt and she wears it proudly to her Sunday night card club. (Poetic license, Mom. It makes a better story.)

Wing nuts and pitchfork wavers. Really, where did they find that woman? I thought Wasilla was a yeast infection. I'm not above stealing a good line.

I was thinking on my way home about writing, as I know I haven't been doing so much of it lately. Or maybe it's that I've been turning out more crap than interesting stuff. Sometimes these really good thoughts and stories go through my mind but I don't have access to writing material. In the car, for example. I think a person needs either a lot of angst or a lot of time for vacuous speculation and observation. Yeah, that's it. This sounded better in my head, too.

Regis has been religious about walking since his surgery. He takes the dog with him on every walk and sometimes does 4 miles in a day. I think he's wearing the poor dog out. I told him we have a pretty old dog to be dragging his furry ass all over town. Ha.

I tried to install some software on my desktop computer after school. I bought the computer a year ago and I have Vista on it. Usually I don't mind Vista but sometimes it's a pain in the ass. Like today. Regis had to bail me out before I blew a cork. Now, when I use Firefox, it won't play sound on Youtube. Grrrrrrr.

I wanted to watch a clip of Fawlty Towers which is a damn hoot. I saw it for the first time at Tom and Betty's the other night. Now I want to watch the whole series. Manuel is too funny.

Tiffany called today and she's having some trouble and might have to be "off her feet" for the rest of her pregnancy. She has another ultrasound tomorrow and will talk to the doctor after that to see what she recommends and what exactly "off your feet" means. Tiff said she didn't mention bed rest so we hope it isn't that serious.

Off to bed. More news tomorrow.

too warm for October

I think it was in the high 70s today. That's too warm for this time of year. Regis says tomorrow will bring a cold, drenching rain. I bet I won't like that either.

We were at Tom and Betty's last night to see Michelle, and for great cooking, as usual. Tom made bistro chicken and a salad with candied pecans, pears, and shallots on greens. It was delicious. As usual.

I made chili and corn muffins today from an old issue of Cooking Light. Peter even liked it and he's turned up his nose at a lot of my cooking lately. The black bean and zucchini enchiladas the other day didn't tempt him for a second.

We started the day with a long walk and that was the most relaxing part of the day. We came home to start the laundry and clean. I put out some Halloween decorations, filled the bird feeders, exchanged the summer candles for fall scents, and sucked or wiped up the dust of at least a couple months. I used to tell my kids when they were little that they could write their names in the dust but not the year.

We're doing the last barbecue of the season next weekend and our old friends Jane and Dick are coming from Iowa. Regis is cooking up ribs, brisket, and a bunch of hot dogs. Tom said he'd bring beer can chicken. There should be a good variety of chow but it sounds like the weather won't be conducive to sitting outside. Ah well, this time of year, we open up the porch, use a little electric heater when the sun goes down, and it's very cozy.

Speaking of sitting, we made the winter commitment today and put our favorite lawn chairs on the shelf in the garage. It's almost like getting the snow blower tuned up....a sign of the season's change. Reggie calls my abandonment of sandals in the fall "making the shoe commitment". Ha!

I went through my shoes today and tried to be realistic about what I would wear and what I wouldn't. A whole bag ended up the car for the thrift store along with several boxes of junk and stuff. We're both pack rats and it's a constant battle to keep down the level of flotsam and jetsam. We just have too much stuff.

Well, it's a short week. Let's hear it for mental health.

friday

We celebrated Friday at our favorite watering hole with a world famous patty melt and an oktoberfest. Or two. It was fun but now I'm really tired and it's only 6:30. Too early, obviously, to go to bed.

Between the two late Mondays in the past two weeks and the 750 miles last weekend, it was a killer start to October. I feel like I haven't really appreciated fall yet as there aren't enough trees in South Dakota to merit a look at any fall leaves. This is a short week, thanks to the traditional MEA vacation of which I have never partaken, avoiding a preposition at the end of a sentence, Paul. I just can't give up a long weekend in October.

Mom sent a story about a wire haired fox terrier eating a dozen yeast rolls and Regis is laughing so hard he's crying.

I looked at Nicole's wedding pictures online today and they were so pretty I cried again. I'm so glad I drove to Fargo to be there. It was just a lovely weekend altogether.

Baby!

Introducing Alexander Robert Fritsch.
(three dimensional ultrasound. cool.)

short-takes

Regis and I are having a glass of gewurtztrameiner tonight to celebrate $3.09 gallon of gas.

It rained here most of the day. Nice gentle rain.

Rich and Kim had a baby boy Sunday: Jens Jameson. Nice name. After an Irish whiskey, I think.

Larry Butler's brother Sonny died Sunday. That's the circle of life. Jens comes in and Sonny goes out. A happy life to Jens and sweet passage to Sonny.

Regis and Young Regis got the trees trimmed and some of the leaves raked this weekend. Bless their hearts.

I can't do a damn thing without weeping. I called my mom this afternoon to tell her thanks for giving me a good start in life and I could hardly talk for weeping. Maybe it's genetic but it's frustrating.

We're going to watch the debate. I love Tom Brokaw but I miss Tim Russert. Interesting town hall format. Uncommitted voters? How the hell can a voter be uncommitted? This just makes my head hurt.

Regis took the dog for a walk. He's a devoted walker and Kramer appreciates it. I wear my pedometer and try to add a few steps here and there but by this time at night, I'm whooped.

That's all for tonight.

more pictures

The bride, Nicole

Duncan, Ian, and Caleb

Michelle, Kelsey, Siiri, and Caleb

a few pictures

Steve and Michelle's baby Chloe.

Left to right: Michelle, Steve, Chloe, Nicole, Caleb, Jason, Ezra, Duncan, Ian.

Left to right: Duncan, Paula, Ian, Ezra.

I had trouble operating mom's camera and my photographer was not present so this is all I have.

home from the journey to fargo

I made it home this afternoon about five thirty. I was in good shape considering I'd been in the car since 11:30 and traveled about 350 miles in one day. That's darn near a record for me.

I left Friday after picking Joan up at the Land to Air stop. We headed to Canby and arrived there about 3:00. Mom was glad to see us, we had some wine, and visited until late.

Saturday we left about 9 for Fargo. We went up 75 because we wanted to go through the small towns. There were plenty of them. We stopped in Ortonville for breakfast at a diner, saw a flock of pelicans on a lake, and started noticing some changes in the landscape. After Ortonville, you could roll a bowling ball down the highway all the way to Fargo.

The wedding was lovely and quite a cry fest. I started with the gulping sobs the minute I saw Nicole. I probably cried three times before the wedding even started. There were many touching moments. I was holding Baby Chloe so I could hide my face in her little hat and not look quite so silly for all the crying.

I tried to explain the crying thing to Regis. He understands I'm a weeper but I think it's a bit of a mystery. It's so much more than this moment when I weep: remembering Nicole as a baby, Nicole and Caleb, Paula and Steve, Nicole and Jesse, all weddings, all people who aren't there, Grandpa, Jesse, Tiffany, Tiffany's wedding, Tiffany and Peter as babies, Peter's wedding. It's a lot for one day and it is a mystery, I guess.

We stayed at Bruce and Jody's and they were great hosts. It was fun to see Bruce's garden and their house. I wanted to see the the Hjemkomst Viking ship and the stave church but we ran out of time to do either. If I had been paying attention, I could have gone there from the reception pretty easily but I wasn't. Paying attention that is.

It's a long story but Mom and I ended up standing in front of the church without a ride to the reception. We had said hello and goodbye to dozens of people who might have transported us but we didn't realize we needed a ride so we didn't ask. Finally, I told Mom to stay there and I hiked down the street to the Radisson. The streets of Fargo are like damn wind tunnels so I was not really happy when I arrived at the hotel and barked at the rest of my family to go fetch my mom. Joan was kind enough to go, but when she came back, she said Mom wasn't there. Here comes the funny part.

Mom was impatient to get to the party so asked Toby if he could find her a ride. His brother's son John stepped right up. John is a very handsome young man and he drives a little red sports car. Mom jumped in and down the street they cruised. Mom saw my brother Steve on the street headed for the hotel. "Roll the window down and holler at my son," Mom said. She yelled out the window to Steve, "Look what I picked up!" We had a good laugh about that.

Mom reports in her comment below that the funniest part was when she came back with the story, my brother Bruce said, "Nothing like an old hooker in downtown Fargo." My family: a whole bunch of characters.

My little nephew Ezra provided us all with a good workout. He won't be two until this winter so he wanted to run. He has short legs but a good motor and he knows that trick of stiffening up and straightening his arms to get loose. I offered to chase him for a while but it wasn't long before he wore me out and someone else took over. I think Ezra went through five adults and in the end, he was still going strong. He's quite a little character. My Ezra muscles are sore today.

Back to reality tomorrow.

heading into the dakotas tomorrow

You won't be hearing from me for a few days. Tomorrow morning, Joan (sister-in-law from St. Paul), is coming to St. Peter on the Land to Air. We'll get in the VW and head to Canby which is so close to the South Dakota border you can almost spit across the line. Well, at least you can drive across and get a pizza. We'll stay overnight with Mom and celebrate both our birthdays, then go on to Fargo the next day for Nicole and Jason's wedding. Sunday, Mom and I will head back to Canby and I'll come back to St. Peter eventually. It's a long haul for a person like me who dislikes travel. All of it sounds like fun but the miles on the road.

Regis and I are getting liquored up so we can stomach the VP debate. Hahaha! No we're not. But maybe we should. I'm not saying all of those folks haven't said stupid things in the last few months and I'm sure, in a similar situation, I would babble like an idiot. But. My absolute favorite Sarah Palin moment was when Katie Couric asked her what books and magazines she likes to read to be informed. She said she's read everything put in front of her. What? THAT'S A DODGE if I ever heard one. Hahaha. She probably didn't want to say The Moose Journal.

I better get to the suitcase packing so I'm ready to go tomorrow. See you when I get back!