There was a time when I did the full on make up and hair etc. even if I wasn’t leaving the house. No more. Now, if I’m not going any where, it is no make up, just moisturizer…the hair is so short it just takes a little water on the hands to style…that is it! If I am going out and about, then it is tinted moisturizer, a little blush, mascara and a little eye liner. The mirror is only important on those days.

I never shop on Black Friday. In fact, this year there will be no shopping. We are not doing the “gift thing” in our big family, we are bringing Christmas back to what it was for most of us growing up, family being together, tons of good food etc. Our children have MUCH more than most children do…their gift from us this year is a gift card each to their favorite store…in the amount of 40.00 - that is it. So today, I will be cooking again, as we have another family dinner tonight, and another tomorrow night! I’m in heaven with all of this cooking!

I’m confused…I watched the episode of “The View” when they took everyone “behind the scenes” and the thing that struck me and changed the way I felt about the show was seeing just how “scripted” everything is. Right down to Joy’s one liners, that I always assumed were off the cuff…but in that episode you saw that they were clearly scripted. I thought it was folly that they did the backstage thing, because it changed my opinion of the show as well as a lot of other peoples. A friend who was a very loyal View watcher for years stopped watching after that episode aired, saying she felt “duped” into believing the “Hot Topics” segment was spontaneous etc.

Cooking and checking the football game from time to time!! Happy Thanksgiving To All!

The first Thanksgiving with my “starter husband’s” parents and siblings…his Mother would NOT let anyone help, her kitchen was off limits. Dinner was served and I sat down, trying to wipe the shock off of my face. Raised by southern cooks, I was accustomed to tables and sideboards that groaned with food with food during the holidays. Enormous bowls and platters, un-ending portions available…however, on this east coast table I saw a turkey that looked more like a chicken…and the smallest bowls of side dishes I had ever seen. I looked around the oppulent house and wondered WHAT was going on!? As it turned out, my new in laws had lived through the depression and abhored waste of any kind. Our plates were made for us, one slice of turkey, one “slice” of cranberry, a spare spoon of gravy and mashed potatoes…there was no stuffing…(too many calories) some over salted buttered corn…and that was it. I promised myself future Thanksgivings would be at my own table or at my Father’s…I needed those leftovers the next day damn it!! So no, in all of our married years…we never returned to his parent’s home for the holidays. They came to ours and complained the entire time about the “over kill” that was my cooking style. “Better too much than too little” are the words I was raised with and still live by today! Long Live The Leftovers!!

Any time I get on a plane there is the chance I will “lose it”…I am terrified of flying. As a child, my Father owned his own plane, and I loved flying with him. In the mid eighties I was on a flight from Utah to Amarillo, Texas…we had one of those “near misses” and the pilot put the plane into a dive so severe that we were literally floating up out of our seats, everyone screaming…from that moment on I was terrified every time I got on a plane. These days, the flight I usually take is a 45 minute hop from Dulles to Savannah…and I’m a wreck the whole time, but it helps knowing I’m on my way to Hilton Head Island. Oh, and I NEVER fly anything but non-stop flights…and I order my drinks two at a time.

I still prepare the Thanksgiving of my childhood. My Father had firm beliefs that you do not “screw with Thanksgiving” it was not a time to try new recipes or mess with old ones…through the years I did veer off and try duck, a goose, exotic side dishes…but when I moved to the south almost twenty years ago, I returned to my Thanksgiving roots…Waldorf Salad, Cranberry Sauce..(both kinds, jellied and whole) mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread dressing (it was never put inside the turkey) sweet potato casserole with a smidge of Jack Daniels, green beans cooked all day with a ham hock, fresh baked biscuits and rolls. Dessert is always pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, cherry pie, and an enormous amount of vanilla ice cream and home made whipped cream. Ahhh, I love Thanksgiving!

Hey Joanne - if you’re going to be in New Orleans, may I suggest the newly refurbished Hotel Monteleone? One of the most historic hotels in the city…fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday…I get to be in the kitchen for days and I love nothing better. It just seems to me as if Thanksgiving is almost over looked, we jet from Halloween to Christmas in nothing flat. One of my favorite traditions at our family table is, after saying grace, we go around the table and each person says what they are thankful for…we really take the time to enjoy the day and focus on what it is all about for us, being together as a family and being thankful for that.

Palin is not worth commenting on. I say “Merry Christmas” when it is actually the Christmas season…never before Thanksgiving…and I am deeply annoyed to see the Christmas decorations etc. hitting the store shelves before Halloween!

“She doth protest too much” in my opinion.

No. She has seemed to be almost “invisible” during her time at the White House…and really, who can blame her?

In bed, having said good night to friends who had stopped by…everyone afraid to be too optimistic, feeling we might “jinx it”…when Virginia (my state) went blue we opened the champagne…when it was “official” my husband cried, I cried, we cheered! Then I logged on here! Oh hell, I’m crying now just remembering the night!

I crank up the stereo in my kitchen with some serious blues…and I cook! Big pots of soup, chilis, things that I can share with friends. Cooking gets me through a lot. My oldest son says when he was little, if he came in the kitchen and a large pot was on the stove, he knew I was stressing over something…!

Thank Goodness the new administration has it’s priorities straight! I shall begin gathering supplies immediately…and yes, because I am the public servant that I am…I will certainly test the product before releasing it! What an honor!