Pic Of The Day - 11.25.15 - Over The River And Through The Woods

The Calvinator has a rough life. He gets to be chauffeured 272 miles to Fort Worth. This allows him time to sleep, look out the window and contemplate life. It's tough being The Calvinator.

Pic(s) Of The Day - 11.27.14 - Little House On The Prairie

Thanksgiving lunch was held at the Senior Citizens Center in Saginaw, TX, and yes, it looks like a log cabin.

It was nice gathering of family and friends.  There was plenty of food which included tamales, pinto beans, arroz and pico de gallo.  If the pilgrims had landed in Rockport, TX, instead of Plymouth Rock, MA, I'm sure their first Thanksgiving would have included those items too!

Kinky Boots Part II

I can't believe I missed this yesterday!  I was doing odds & ends around The Calvinator's North Texas Crib and didn't get to watch the parade from beginning to end.

 

 

 I knew there would be a highlight from Kinky Boots and I was hoping this would be the song.  This is a very uplifting song and I was humming it when I left the theatre on my recent trip to NYC.  Once again Kinky Boots, thanx for making me smile!

P.S. I'm still amazed at anyone, female or male, who can dance heels that high!  Something to aspire to I guess.

Happy Thanksgiving!

circa 2010

This is a photo that was taken with a self-timer.  I'll probably never get that expression again from The Calvinator so I've decided to make this my annual Thanksgiving Day photo.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving Blogger Challenge

The other day David Dust issued a challenge to his fellow bloggers. He asked to post pics of our Thanksgiving meal. I have posted some pics. If you want to see additional pics, click here. In additional to liquor and wine, we had turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, macaroni & cheese with white truffles and a slew of other side dishes and desserts. It was a fun time!

Thanksgiving Plans?

So what are you doing for Thanksgiving this year? I am going to stay in Houston and celebrate the day with friends. I asked what I could bring to dinner and I was told, "1.75 litres of Skyy vodka." I replied, "You don't want Kettle One?" "Skyy will do." was the reply. I can do that! Specs, here I come!

Thanksgiving

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
-Jean Baptiste Massieu

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. Some people will spend the day with their family. Some will spend it watching football games. Others will watch a parade or be in a parade. Some may do a fun run first thing in the morning before they sit down to a big meal. Some people may spend the day alone.

However you spend your day, I hope it is a good day for you. I hope that you will take a moment to find something that you are thankful even for.

I am sure Dear Abby will run her yearly Thanksgiving Day column tomorrow but just in case you miss it here is part of it:

DEAR READERS: By popular demand, here is my traditional Thanksgiving column:
Today is Thanksgiving Day, so take a few minutes to reflect upon all the things for which you are thankful.

How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands -- maybe millions -- are hurting even more. (Have you ever visited a veterans hospital? Or a rehabilitation clinic for crippled children?)

If you awakened this morning and were able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.

How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions. No welfare. No food stamps. No Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.

Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.

Are you concerned about your country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Your country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.

Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can still worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences -- nothing to keep you here...

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone!

T 'n T (This and That for Nov. 25, 2007)

It's time to catch up and I'm not sure if I should go backwards or forwards or just ramble as I am prone to doing.

Belated Birthday Greetings

Saturday, Nov. 24 was JLo's Birthday. No, not THAT JLo. The JLo I'm referring to is the one who lives in North Carolina.

On paper JLo worked for me but in reality we worked together. She is another good egg in my life.

For her birthday, her husband gave her a dog but she can't get it until Dec. 24. So in the meantime they have to get the house ready for the new arrival.

Although I talk to JLo quite often, I have not seen her in awhile. Here is a picture of her.

Happy Birthday JLo!

Who Let The Dog's Out?

On Friday, Joe & Helen's house became Doggy Central Station. Here's what happened.

Joe & Helen have a Cocker Spaniel named Frex. He is almost 2 years old. Frex likes to steal The Calvinator's treats and food. With the exception of that, they get along.

Next on the list of players is Hogan. Hogan is a Golden Retriever that is the size of pony! He is very docile and he belongs to Richard. Richard is my red-headed quasi-adopted brother from England. It is a very long story but in a nutshell...when he moved to Ft. Worth to attend college my parents took him under their wing. He would attend Sunday Mass with them and join them for the family lunch. So in other words, when I left Ft. Worth, he took my place at the dinner table. He graduated and stayed in Ft. Worth and is now married and now has a dog. They came to visit on Friday.

So now we have: The Calvinator, Frex and Hogan.

While we were eating lunch and the three dogs were outside my brother arrives with his three dogs. He has two Schnauzers named Max and Buddy and little fluffy white dog named Fluffy. Those three dogs are hell on wheels.

Don't get me wrong. I like dogs but that was three dogs too many at Joe & Helen's house. Calvin had enough and started to rumble with Fluffy which made Helen scream. I was helping with the dishes and nobody would do anything so I had to crawl under the dining room table and break up the fight and even though Calvin didn't start it I took him to the other room to calm down. It was a bit much for both of us.

Speaking of Calvin

Joe & Helen had some of Helen's family over for Thanksgiving Day. Every time the doorbell would ring, Calvin had to run through the house to greet the new arrivals. So I'm sitting in the living room with him and my cousin Mario walks in.

Calvin is sitting on my lap being sociable. Mario walks up to him and says, "What's up dawg? That's D-A-W-G!" and he starts to laugh and shake Calvin's paw.

I see this look come across Calvin's face that says, "WTF?" and he starts to bark at Mario. LOL Mario walks off and I teasingly say, "Go get him." And he does! LOL He goes over to Mario and starts barking at him and tries to tear at his leather coat. Another cousin assumes that Calvin works for PETA. I think he was insulted that Mario called him a dog.

And speaking of Thanksgiving Day

It snowed. Yes, snow. It started with rain on Thursday afternoon and then it turned to sleet and then it started to snow. Big flakes.

Somebody commented that it never snows this early in Ft. Worth. While I agree with that, I reminded them that in 1992 (or 1993) on Thanksgiving Day it started to sleet around 1100A and it accumulated.

My brother had to take me downtown to catch a shuttle to the airport because I wanted to catch an early flight back to Houston. I was scheduled to leave late that night because I was the only in my office who was working on Friday.

Long story short, flights were cancelled at DFW and I did eventually make it back to Houston late that night. Lunch was pizza at the airport and dinner was some leftover Frito Pie that I had in my refrigerator.

And speaking of bad weather

It has been nasty here in The Bayou City. The downpour started some time after 430A and it continued most of the day.

I'm not sure the temperature ever got above 48 degrees Fahrenheit. It's the kind of cold that goes to the bone. YUCK!

So that catches us up. Except that I missed a party on Saturday night. I was laying on the couch and fell asleep and well...

Thanksgiving Day

This is a photo of some flowers that are at the entrance to the club house at Memorial Park.

The burst of orange and yellow is always a welcome sight when I'm out running.

I can't remember if it was Ann Landers or Dear Abby who said something like this:

Let us be grateful not only for what we have but let us also be grateful for what we have escaped.

I find that a bit humorous because I think of some of my antics, especially in New Orleans, and yet at the same time I find it striking close to home some times. For instance...

I was about 30 minutes late yesterday making my way with The Calvinator to Joe & Helen's. Not quite over the river and through the woods because I never really drove through the woods. I finally did cross the Trinity River; just barely.

Along the way, just outside of Calvert we came upon a serious car accident. The Jaws of Life were being used and Life Flight was on the scene. It wasn't a good scene.

It got me to thinking. If I had left 30 minutes earlier, would I have witnessed the accident? Would I have been a part of the accident? In case you can't tell it really bothered me.

This morning after walking The Calvinator I made my way to the local Starbucks. It was a bit cold outside (37 degrees Fahrenheit). I was listening to NPR and they were talking about a small restaurant (Norma's) that serves a free Thanksgiving Dinner. It reminded me of one particular Thanksgiving.

I was a member of the East Fort Worth Rotary Club. It was a club tradition to provide a Thanksgiving lunch for those who couldn't afford the meal. That particular year the family was doing dinner so I spent a few hours serving tea & coffee and busing tables. It really put things in perspective. It also reminded me that I need to be grateful for what I have.

Things may not always be coming up roses and daffodils, sunshine and Santa Claus, or bright lights and lollipops but I do have great set of friends and family, a roof over my head, a dog who loves me because I feed him and a pantry full of vodka and a wine collection that will see me through a few years.

It's sorta like that lyric, "And when we're weary and we can't sleep we count our blessings instead of sheep..."

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

World AIDS Day - Dec. 1

www.worldaidsdayhouston.org