Note To Self

Never ever ever again go grocery shopping at Winco during the week before Thanksgiving. Just DO NOT DO IT.

I had kind of forgotten that it is the week before Thanksgiving, mainly because I really don't care all that much about Thanksgiving and am not planning on cooking turkey or anything crazy like that. I just needed a few things so that I could fix myself a halfway healthy dinner last night while Keith was at work. Just some chicken and bread for him and milk and a few vegetables was all I needed. So, off to Winco and while the parking lot looked a little fuller than usual, I didn't think too much about it because midday at Winco is always busy. I'm usually a fairly patient person, but after a while was tempted to start playing bumper cars with the multitudes of carts that seemed to be blocking every aisle. Every checkout was open, so I didn't have to wait too long, and apparently the man in front of me in line was as clueless as me about what week it was since he asked the checker if it was always this busy on a Monday in Winco. Well, DUH, it's Thanksgiving week, folks!

Anyway, our plan is to ignore the holiday, Keith may actually get the day off since the yard decided not to run some of the normal jobs that day, but since he is on the extra board if they need someone he will get called. We were thinking about going out to eat, but we'll see how the day unfolds. He's worked the last 5 days in a row and just went in for his 6th, so by Thursday he may just want to lay around the house and rest up. He is starting to feel better now that his meds have kicked in on his sinus infection but he still seems to just want to sleep most of the time.

Our rain last week was really something for these parts, downtown actually saw some flooding, partly from leaves and such that clogged up the drains, but mainly because some crackheads and/or tweaker methheads stole the copper wiring from inside one of the storm drain pumps and nobody knew about it until the pumps didn't work during the storm and the downtown streets turned into rivers.

Speaking of crackheads and tweakers, when we were helping Joe moved we all stopped at his favorite gas station/convenience store, where any size fountain drink is only 89c even the huge bucket o' soda size, and as we were walking up to the store a girl was asking everyone if they could spare some change. I just ignored her and commented on her to Joe, who said that she is always there, it's her job. Ha!

And, here is Mimi sitting in something rather than on something this time. I had my box of paper opened up on the bed and hey! a box! and paper! Yay! I must sit in it!

Yeah, Thanks, Whatever

Ho Ho Ho! Oh, wait, that's next month, right? Today it is Gobble! Gobble!

Not that we are going to be doing all that much gobbling. We are thankful that we don't have to drive anywhere today and we are thankful that Keith got his confirmation from unemployment that yes, he qualifies and will be getting benefits. No check yet, but hopefully soon. Since he is not spending $75 a week driving back and forth to work nor are we buying groceries and snacks for him to take to work, it should be manageable. Although him being at home all day is starting to wear on my patience and today I nagged him about putting on his pants already. The other day he was in his underwear until noon.

Our not so big feast today is going to be a frozen turkey breast with stuffing from Trader Joe's, some already made mashed sweet potatoes from Save Mart, and a frozen apple crisp with vanilla ice cream from Vons. There might be a veg or two that appears alongside that, but then again, maybe not. I am thankful that I don't really have to cook today.

I did clean the entire house while nagging Keith about his pants, and did start some laundry. Thanksgiving does have its traditions after all!

Whew!

Well, one holiday down and one to go. Then it's smooth sailing until tax paying day, not that tax paying day is a holiday but it's way more stressful than any holiday possibly could be.

We drove (and drove and drove) down to Ventura on Thanksgiving for dinner with Keith's brother Bruce, his wife Carolyn (who likes to cook and is really good at it), their big tall teenage sons Jesse and Asa ( I don't know how they got so tall since Carolyn is really really short and Bruce isn't all that tall either), Keith's mom Cleta (yes, she is from Oklahoma and has a sister named Jorene, those Oklahoman's like unusual names) Keith's daughter Katie, and her boyfriend John. It's a long drive to Ventura and it's really boring for the first hour or so, a very straight road through farmland from Bakersfield to Grapevine, then up, up, up the Interstate and lots of barren hills and mountains with not much to look at but barren hills and mountains, then down, down, down into Castaic, and a right turn onto the 126 and at least that road isn't quite as boring because there is green stuff to look at and a couple of towns to go through and then you are in Ventura.

We ate the traditional turkey, no potatoes and stuffing for me, but I did have a little sweet potatoes (with marshmallows) and some really good fresh green beans with almonds and some kind of seasonings on them, and a salad with sliced pears and walnuts and a pomegranate vinaigrette dressing on it that was homemade and really delicious except for the bleu cheese sprinkled in the salad (gag). Then two kinds of pie, pecan and pumpkin cream cheese with an oatmeal cruncy topping on the pumpkin and yes, I had a piece of the pumpkin pie and it was pretty darn tasty. Then after eating and visiting we stopped by the ocean to say hello and we miss you and the sun was going down so we drove home in the dark which is even more boring than looking at barren hills and mountains.

Then on Friday Keith wakes up with a sore throat which quickly develops into a full blown cold, something about being the fresh air in Ventura and then going back to the not so fresh air in Bakersfield seems to always make him sick. So he kind of laid around all day Friday and Saturday, and then yesterday we got in the car for another road trip down to Castaic to John's house for another sort of Thanksgiving dinner. Meghan and Ryan (niece and niece's boyfriend) were down for the week from South Lake Tahoe (what a lovely place to live!) so she wanted to get a chance to see everyone that she hasn't seen for quite a while. So we had all the family that we didn't see on Thanksgiving all together for second Thanksgiving, and had a traditional meal of tri-tip, baked beans, salads, and brownies, cupcakes and lemon cake for dessert.

We were a little nervous about going over the hills, the forecast had been for 70% chance of rain in the valley, meaning snow on the mountains, and as we were driving towards the mountains the flashing road condition sign was warning of icy roads, but even though the clouds were dark and threatening as we headed through the mountains, no rain or snow and by the time we got to the other side, the sun was shining and later when I checked the weather report on the internet, the chance of rain was down to 0%, so no worries on the way back home.

But, when they tell you that Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel weekend of the year BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY! The interstate was bumper to bumper going through Castaic and up the hill and stayed bumper to bumper crawling along until we got past the part of the road where it goes down to three lanes because of the never ending construction there after the road fell down the hill years ago during heavy rains and hasn't it been at least 10 years now since the road fell down and they're still not finished yet? Anyway, once past the part where the road narrows, all the cars spread out and no more problems. Lots and lots and lots of cars on the road, though, and by the time we got to the other side of the mountain it was getting dark and you could see the ribbon of headlights stretching for miles and miles on the interstate and hwy 99.

So, one holiday over with for another year and Keith says we are staying home next Thanksgiving. Will I cook dinner? Um, no, we will go to a restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner, thank you very much. Although I think he is losing part of his mind because he was talking about having a Thanksgiving dinner for our cats. With little pilgrim hats and Indian headbands for them to wear. And little tables for them to sit at. Seriously. Maybe it was the copious amounts of cold medicines talking, though.

Happy Turkey Day!

Hope everyone gets their fill today!

We will be heading down South or West or whatever direction Ventura is in later this morning to go to Keith's brother's house, his mom is there from Las Vegas, so we feel obligated to go even though we really didn't want to travel today. At least we don't have to cook anything, not that we would anyway. I just want to know where my transporter is so that we don't have to drive, just step into the machine and be instantly there. I really really hate that drive, it's soooo boring. But we'll probably see snow up in the mountains.

I got a new pair of slippers the other day. I haven't had slippers in I don't know how many years, usually I just wear socks around the house, two pairs when it's cold, which is the reason that I had to go get some new socks, wearing your socks as slippers causes holes when you are walking around outside in them. I got these boot style slippers over at walmart and I absolutely LOVE them. My feet are nice and toasty and when my feet are nice and toasty I don't need to turn on the heater as much because the rest of me feels warm when my feet are warm. The only thing I don't like about them is that when you walk around in them you feel like you are doing the mental patient thorazine shuffle. I'm seriously thinking about wearing them down to Thanksgiving.

Have a good day, everyone, and if you are driving BE CAREFUL!

Gobble Gobble

Or ho ho ho, or something like that.

Not that we are going to be doing much gobbling tomorrow. We have pretty much decided to ignore the holidays this year. I don't want to cook and we don't really want to spend the money to go out-Denny's anyone?, so we're just going to act like it's any other day of the week tomorrow, albeit a day that Keith doesn't have to go to work on. I am hoping that with a 4 day weekend he will GET SOMETHING DONE AROUND THIS HOUSE! Like FINISH SOME OF HIS NEVER-ENDING PROJECTS! Like the kitchen that is still not finished EVEN THOUGH IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE HE STARTED!

Although, we do have lots of things to be thankful for this year. After a year of the Great Recession, we are still standing. He still has a job. We still have a house. We can still pay our bills. That's something these days!
And we do have a kitchen with a new refrigerator even if there is still no kitchen floor!

We are thankful for our six healthy cats who help lower our blood pressure. True fact, that, they say petting an animal is very therapeutic and calming. Except when they want to be petted while you are trying to sleep or going to the bathroom.

And, it's been getting downright cold at night lately, so I'm definitely thankful for our well insulated house and nice cozy bed! And, nice hot coffee in the morning when I wake up.

And, how about these crazy Black Friday sales this year? It seems as if each store is trying to out-do the others by opening up earlier and earlier each year. Kohl's is opening at 4 am? Well, damn you Kohl's, we here at Old Navy are going to open up at 3am! Take that! And if you are really adventurous, you can go up to Tulare's Outlet Center because they are opening at midnight! Well, screw all of you, we're going to be open at Walmart ON THANKSGIVING! All day and all night! Michaels is going to be open on Thanksgiving, too, which has me scratching my head, but they've got a great coupon, so I'll be there!

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the holiday and the turkey and cranberry and pies and football and shopping and whatever else you are going to be doing! Happy Thanksgiving!

We Are

Those dumb people that let their sprinklers run when it's raining.

We actually had RAIN last night. RAIN! Glorious RAIN! It never rains here, so excuse me if I get a little excited about RAIN!

And, of course, this morning our automatic sprinklers come on to water our already watered from the RAIN yard.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much!

We are going out for Thanksgiving Day breakfast tomorrow at Mimi's Cafe-yum yum. If you've never tried their muffins, the buttermilk spice one is especially delicious. I'm having one of those. Then we are going to Keith's brother's for dinner which I am thankful for because that means that I don't have to cook, which I probably wouldn't have done anyway.

We do have a turkey in our freezer, we were shopping at Save Mart last weekend and the cashier says 'would you like a free turkey or turkey breast?' Free? You betcha! We'll take the turkey breast since we don't like the legs anyway, so we have a legless turkey in the freezer. Maybe I'll even cook it one of these days.

And, no, I'm NOT going shopping at 4am on Friday. I was in a walmart on the day after Thanksgiving one year, purely by mistake, and vowed never ever ever to go in any stores the day after Thanksgiving ever ever again. No, thanks!