Back from Thanksgiving in New England

This year, I must give thanks for MJP. He traveled with me over 12 hours up and down the east coast, driving most of the way, so that I could share savory foods with my brother's nuclear family unit and some of his in-laws.

While my nephews, Thing 1 and Thing 2, are getting a bit too old to be the source of many cute kid stories, they were charming as ever. Thing 1, whose age just crossed into the double digits, can be a little saucy. Here's Thing 2's version of Jingle Bells:

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in an almost open sleigh!

As he might put it, "I'm only six-years old." He is so tall that he feels the need to throw the "only" in there right off the bat.

I only have a few regrets about this trip. First of all, based on my hunch that no one in my brother's family likes pecan pie very much, I should have kept mine at home. (I can see it now, moldering untouched in my brother's distant refrigerator, being slowly shoved to the back until at last it gets scraped into a garbage disposal. Sniff.) I should not have packed my fancy boots. Last, but not least, I should never by a personal well-being product while on a day trip to a city I rarely visit.

Living in Other Moments

Why am I not living in this moment? Because it's cold in my cubicle and I have a headache.

Today I find myself preoccupied with thoughts of Thanksgiving, and Christmas as well.

I want to prepare appropriate musical recordings for my Thanksgiving Day journey so that my travel companion and I will feel energized yet calm, as if we were on nicotine (not that either of us are smokers). At least I can rely on Odelay, my go-to travel album for over a decade now. I am working on getting more music from my coworkers to add to my library.

I fear that this Christmas will be spent watching old people eat meat. I must make room in my belly for at least three kinds of meat, three beasts who's lives were taken so that my relatives can share the bounty of the season.

Not Exactly a Go-Getter

I looked at a list of life goals that I made in late July and found that I'd actually accomplished one of them. I did manage to go for a hike.

In my defense I must say that many of my goals were grand long-term things. Some of my plans to achieve these goals were a little iffy. For example, my plan to exercise three times a week consisted of the words "get off ass." My strategy for traveling aboard began with "find a place to go" and it also ended there.

Not in my defense, I can't help but wonder why the hell I haven't managed to "weed out craft supplies, give away or sell unwanted clothing, find replacement for hideous dresser" yet. That's hardly "stop global warming, resuscitate the economy, peace in the middle east," is it?

So now my new goal is to rethink my goals. Maybe I should scale things back a bit. I definitely need to devote actual periods of time to work towards my goals. Also, maybe I need to be more honest about what I really want. I probably managed to go on a hike because I really wanted to go on a hike. Having an organized bedroom is admirable, but I can't imagine that it will bring me nearly as much happiness as that hike did. That's not to say that my goals should only be fun, but the goals that don't lead to pleasure should lead to outcomes that I truly value.

Moved by Quilts

Last Friday, I took a tour of the Gee's Bend quilt exhibit at PMA. Most geometric and abstract art doesn't do much for me besides look cool, but many of the quilts on display were truly moving. Many were musical, some were witty. Being in the same room with the quilts, I could imagine the original life of the early ones, the ones that were made simply to keep families warm. And there was something joyful about the later ones made simply because the quilter wanted to make them.

Not Down with OPS: Other People's States

I just gave money to a political campaign in my home state, but I chose not to donate money for a tight race in another state. I also did not get involved in trying to kill the dreaded Prop 8, not even at the facebook level. Although local elections, ballot questions, and such may have national implications, I don't feel right about getting involved unless I have a personal connection to the region in question. While a financial contribution can certainly buy ads or pay staff to promote an person or a cause, I doubt that what one or even thousands of people in other places have to say about a local election is going to have much of an impact on voters in the locale in question.

At Long Last the Sewing Machine Manual

At long last I found the Kenmore Model 158.13160 sewing machine manual. It is available for a reasonable fee at www.sewconsult.com. They're Canadians, I believe.

Forget This

MJP and I knew that we had some kind of anniversary coming up soon. Since neither he nor I was sure of the exact date when we first met, we talked about just making something up. "Let's call it the 15th." "Let's just say second Saturday of the month." Well, there's no need for that guesswork. I just flipped through my old calendar and found the real date.

Let the record show that one year ago today, on Saturday, November 10, 2007 (the second Saturday of the month), I met MJP for our first date.

Now that it's official, we can all feel free to forget this information properly. Forgetting an approximation just isn't the same.

Pictures of Stuff I Made Recently

Need to Get Back on Track

I thought I would be more productive and less distracted at work after the election, but I was wrong. Not only that. My apartment is a wreck and I only own one pair of decent long pants.

I don't know what is driving me off track. Why, for instance, have I stopped putting my keys in the same place? Recently, I put a bag in my refrigerator containing Halloween greeting cards (and no perishables). I found the bag on November 1. I guess those kids will have to wait until next year for their Halloween mailing. Last night, I got on the wrong bus, and when I finally made it to my class, I was a total dunce. I haven't been screwing up at work as badly because I'm not really doing that much.

I'd better go back to the ADHD tool shed for some more coping skills. I also need to dust off some of the techniques that were working for me earlier. More exercise, less sugar, more real food, more acceptance of the power of lists and consistency.

Slabs of Meat for Everyone!

Whoohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smooth Voting

I just voted. I arrived at the polling place shortly after 9 a.m. and didn't have to wait more than 15 minutes before I was in the booth and voting. Most of the voters I saw in line with me appeared to be under 30. Maybe it was because of my timing (I usually vote before 9 a.m. on my way to work), but this voting experience was the smoothest one I've had in this town.

Now I'm off to nag more people to do the same.

Project Candy Apple

Last night I made a small batch of sex red hot candy apples. If you enjoy playing with molten sugar, have about an hour to kill, and you aren't too precious about your dental work, then you too will enjoy this project. This recipe from Cooks.com works just fine.

Findings: Double dipping makes the shell too thick. Candy apple slices do not work because any moisture on the surface dissolves the shell. A thermometer is not necessary, but it eliminates a lot of fretful guess work