The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

I've been slowly getting the house back together after the Thanksgiving debauchery. Nothing is getting done fast and I've intended since Thursday night to run the Swiffer over the kitchen floor. Still not done. Regis fed the dog too much turkey (apparently the ham bone incident has faded from his memory) and we had unfortunate event of dog intestinal distress. Those, believe me, are all the details you want. I went for a long walk outdoors this morning instead of going to the Pulse....to clear my head of cobwebs. There was a gentle breeze and the air was brisk so it helped. A year ago, I never thought I would say that I enjoyed exercise. Never having done it, except for short periods of time in my life, I was not going to be convinced that this would ever be fun. In fact, I used that as a justification for not starting: I’m not the kind of person who will like it, so I might as well not start. If you've been a reader here for a while, you might remember when Regis and I dec...

Things that can go wrong generally do. Alex was sick so he and Emily couldn't come. We missed them! Good thing they don't live far as Bob was able to transport food over to them at the right time for eating dinner. We had good luck in the kitchen with most things but the lefse fell apart. It felt chaotic as it was happening, but the meal was good and the aftermath was sweet. Most of the clean-up is done. I'm going to exercise this morning and having lunch with Joanne and Laurel later. My goal is a relaxing weekend. Now go back and read sentence #1! One of the nicest moments was when Tiffany and Peter were in the kitchen making gravy and I was sitting in the chair in the dining room directing them. They were laughing and having fun together. It was fun to see.

Awake at 4 a.m. As usual. Made a peanut butter pie. Made a pistachio salad. Checked over the recipes for the traditional bread stuffing and the Andouille sausage stuffing. Rolls are rising. Had coffee. Had another cup of coffee. Did the dishes. Many times. Opened a Thanksgiving card from Mom. Checked my email. Had another cup of coffee. Thinking about taking a nap. Thanksgiving Parade starts at 8:00!

Came home after work. Opened a bottle of sauvignon blanc. Made a pumpkin pie. Made cornbread. Visited with the Young Regis who bought a house today. Cut up all the onions and celery for the dressing. Went to the garden and picked sage, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Helped Regis with the brine for the turkey. Got the turkey into the cooler with the brine. Cooked the giblets. Reviewed the to-do list. List looks good. Poured another glass of wine. Talked to Tiffany on the phone. Looking forward to tomorrow!

I've let go of all the stress. I've just let it go. I'm not going to worry about the BS anymore. Life's too short and too sweet. I'm going to get done what I can get done today. I went to Patrick's for a glass of wine tonight. I stopped at the liquor store to buy wine for Thanksgiving Day and thought about a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream. There was a beautiful baby boy sleeping in my bedroom today and how I can be upset about anything when that's true. I'm glad to have my friends (sane as they are) and my family (sane as they are) and the rest will sort itself out eventually without my interference or worry.

I can't believe it's been a week since I wrote on my blog! I used to love documenting my mundane activities here but this fall, there are a lot of things that make it happen infrequently. My exercise routine, getting up at 4:30 and working out for 60-90 minutes in the morning, kicks my hinder. I'm not tired for the most of the day, but by the time I sit down on the couch after dinner...maybe 6:30...it doesn't take much for me to tip over and go to sleep. Some days I can stay about until 9, but not often. It doesn't leave much time for anything in the evenings. I don't read much anymore either. I've been reading the same damn book for weeks. Spooner is good and the writing is entertaining and funny but I can read about five pages and I have to go to sleep. I hate to think about all the good books I'm missing. My job is more stressful this year. Some days I go to three or more buildings and probably three or more meetings. By the end of the day, I hardly r...

Oh, I hate the end of a weekend. Since school started, we have hardly had any weekends with nothing to do. Not even one day... and I could tell by the archaeological dig that is my house. The late summer brown-eyed Susan flag was still up which means the Halloween flag didn't see the light of day. At least the 4th of July decorations were gone. Small favors. A lot accomplished and we're ready for the week. It will be a busy one. Haircut tomorrow night. AARP class Tuesday night. Night class Wednesday night. Time for bed.

me with Santa me with Tim Walz (and Gus and Hope) me with Terry Morrow We had a blast at the 169 Celebration today. I have more pictures to post of the festivities but these are some of my favorites. I was excited to see which dignitaries would show up for the opening but I never dreamed that Santa would be among them. In a golf cart, no less. He was happy to pose for a picture with me.

Regis and I walked down to the highway late this afternoon to see the progress they're making on the construction. It's starting to look almost normal down there and it's a good thing. Tempers are running a little short with the detours and disappearing and appearing stop signs. To say nothing of the rapid traffic down the other residential streets that aren't designated detours. This morning a woman followed me down 4th Street and man was she in a blazing hurry right on my bumper. I slowed to 20 mph and put an end to her big deal rush. What a bag. There is a big grand opening to foot traffic celebration on Saturday. I'm all over that since there will be state and federal dignitaries there and I want to see that! There's a beer and wine tasting at our favorite beverage store, a band at one of the establishments starting at 4:00, and pictures with Santa at Total Entertainment. It will be a happening. I had kind of a grump going today. Maybe it's because I was...

Regis and I spent the afternoon raking leaves and putting away the remnants of summer...the lawn chairs, the patio table, the bird bath, the lawn mower. It was a wonderful summer and a not so nice fall so we really appreciated today. If we could have days like this for a few months, winter might not be so intolerable. I've started planning my Thanksgiving menu. This is the part of it that I love. I have a big binder full of menus and recipes from the last Thanksgivings and I look them over and decide which ones to make this year. Not like there are that many choices, you might think. My family likes the old standards: turkey and gravy, green bean casserole, bread stuffing. I like to throw in a few new side dishes like the corn bread Andouille sausage stuffing I made two years ago and loved. That gets a repeat performance every year now. Regis made some little onion tarts one year that were a big hit. We don't stray too far off the beaten path...no tofurkey or roasted parsnips a...

Is this the weirdest thing ever? Brilliant and seemingly glowing, the bloodybelly comb jelly comes in different shades of red but always has a blood-red stomach. The sparkling display on the outside comes from light diffracting from tiny transparent, hair-like cilia. These beat continuously, propelling the jelly through the water. This species has only recently come to the attention of scientists, thanks to images like this, supplied by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ’s remotely operated vehicles.

We had several sunny days in a row even though one of them had gale force winds. Today started out bright and clear but about 2:00, the clouds moved in and it started to rain. Again. Oh, it can be difficult to get through these gloomy fall days. I came home and lit a candle, turned on World Cafe, and made meatballs. Regis made a pot of coffee and we visited while we cooked. On my way to work this morning, I saw a woman and child get in a car, drive around the corner, and wait in a line of five other waiting cars with their motors running, for the school bus. What the. Do kids today melt when they get wet or cold? At the end of the day at the high school, the streets are full of idling cars waiting for the little prima donnas to come out and get in a warm car for the ride home. It isn't even cold yet! Here I could launch into my "I walked to school...." speech but I won't. I'm shopping for a long goose down coat. In my lightened condition, I get cold easily (sorry....

Friday, I spent two hours in the cold rain, taking Tiffany to get her oil changed and her tabs renewed on her car. Tote a baby along and you have some real errands. She headed over to her dad's about 5. Saturday morning, Joanne and I did the 5k fun run in St. Peter. This involved leaving the house at 8:00 and not getting back until about 11:00. I needed a long, warm bath after that adventure. Tiffany arrived about noon with Elliot. We baked brownies and went to the grocery store and played with Elliot until we went to Tom and Betty's at 4:00. We partied and danced and ate and had a great time until we went trick or treating (see photos). We came home at 9:00 and I went to bed shortly after that. We got up this morning and went to breakfast at Patrick's. When we came home, I put a roast on for dinner, peeled carrots and potatoes, and took Elliot for a long walk. Tiffany and I had a wonderful time. We had some time to relax and visit about school and about other things in bet...

443 22 W50 Joanne Smith, 51, Le Sueur, MN 46:54.0 15:06 Pulsators 444 23 W50 Teresa Saum, 57, St. Peter, MN 46:57.6 15:07 Pulsators Joanne and I finished 443 and 444 (in the over 50 group) in the Fun Run yesterday. That's out of 700 some.

We had a great time on Halloween night! We all went trick or treating (leaving some folks at Tom and Betty's to hand out candy there. Good food, good music, lots of laughs. Great fun. More Halloween pictures here!