BIG perks for playing for the other team

I'm going out tonight to catch up with someone I went to high school with and haven't seen in at least 15 years. WOW. We got in touch earlier this week and I'm dying to see how he's changed. I don't remember much about him which is killing me. Have a I repressed some awful memory of him?!

So, last night I was talking to a friend of mine to see if I could borrow a brown handbag from her (I know! What kind of a woman doesN'T own a brown handbag?!?! Well, that would be me) and she asked me if he was tall. I said:

"Well he was over 6 feet in high school so he is probably taller now."
"Oh," she said, "I prefer to go out with someone who is the same height as me."
"Really?!? Well, what happens if you go out and want to wear heels?"
"Um, then the likelihood is that she would be wearing them too."

That is just so damned handy. No matter how great any of my shorter dates have been, there is no way they would wear heels for me. My underwear perhaps, but never my heels.

Thanksgiving Cactus

I have never had a Christmas Cactus. For some reason they are always Thanksgiving Cactus. They get their real name because they SUPPOSEDLY bloom at Christmas time but mine always bloom right in time for Thanksgiving. She may have her holidays mixed up but ain't she purty?

Short weeks, not unlike short buses

I hate these short work weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they’re short but either I’m trying to cram 5 days worth of work into 2 and half (our office closes at noon on Wednesday and we get Friday off too) or everyone is on vacation and I’m bored out of my skull. Oh yeah, I HAVE work I SHOULD be doing but why should I be working when everyone else is off enjoying themselves?

Mmmm.... turkey....

Is anyone else out there in the Thanksgiving spirit? Did you even KNOW there was a Thanksgiving spirit?! I love getting ready for the Stuff Your Face With All Kinds of Yummy Stuff holiday.

We always have the same base selections and then add to it. For instance, this year in addition to the turkey, Mom’s AWESOME stuffing that she makes from scratch, cranberry relish and green beans, we will have roasted sweet potatoes (my contribution) and roasted Brussel sprouts. My cousins are bringing their (as in “their recipe” they said they’d share) sweet potatoes and my parents’ neighbors will bring rolls. I am in charge of dessert. Or at least the apple and pumpkin pies. Mom does Pecan. Do NOT mess with her pecan pie.

I have a small obsession with pumpkin pie. A couple of years ago I ate an entire pie in about two days. Not kidding. This will be my first Thanksgiving not being able to eat it. I think I’ll be OK. I got thru Halloween without eating any candy and my cravings for sweets have been reduced from the Crack whore shakes and a willingness to prostitute myself for anything with sugar in it to a mild craving every now and then for something “sweet.” Not bad hunh?!? I’m making progress!

I love the tradition in Thanksgiving. It’s always the same every year. The times may vary; sometimes we eat at 4 sometimes 2 but the same food is produced year after year and my Mother usually has a freak out at some point shoving us all out of the kitchen so she can “concentrate” on whatever task last left her frazzled. Oh yes, and every year she burns the almonds that are supposedly toasted to top the green beans. (Why we have those “toasted” almonds I will never know but there they are every year.)

What traditions to you have for Thanksgiving?