The Hurricane and the Holiday

As she emerges from her quiet, peaceful cocoon, she realizes she really doesn't have much to say. eh.

It's been a slow week or so. Really haven't done much other than yard work and seeing some relatives... and we don't need to go there. Other than brief glimpses of the news and what filters over the social media feeds, I haven't even paid a lot of attention. Honestly, I have no clue where the days have gone, only that it is now July.

It's Freakin' July.

It is however, getting close to the 4th of July Weekend. Yay USA. Oh sorry, we lost yesterday didn't we? Well that was rude, kicking us out before our national holiday celebrating our independence. Let's just say I am not a fan of watching however many men run up and down a field for 90 minutes and not one of them scoring. In real life, for those men, scoring would never be an issue. But I digress.

So now that's over, and we can plan for the weekend's festivities. Oh wait... there's a hurricane coming up the east coast for the 4th? And they raised the gas prices even before the hurricane was in the picture.

It seems we have a female four-star admiral for the first time in history, while the Supreme Court forgot about the separation of church and state. Can't wait for a religiously inclined corporation to try and deny blood transfusions and chemo, based on their beliefs. Think this shit ended with the decision they handed down the other day? yeah, right.

Anyway, that's about all I've noticed lately. Get ready for the weekend; stock the house with food and alcohol. Be safe out there, don't drink and drive, don't text and drive... hey don't drive, then you can do whatever the hell you want.

Happy 4th.

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Thanksgiving Preparation: Make a List...or Not

Do you guys realize this Thursday is Thanksgiving?  oops, my bad. oh yeah and I'm cooking too. shit.

It would seem that I am not quite as prepared for this holiday as one might hope. While I may not be in the state of readiness I would like, I've done it enough times to think it will come out ok. After all, it's just family, they are well aware I am not perfect and are only to happy to point it out.

I have the bird, some sides, a little of this and one or two of that...just not the whole package. And I haven't made a list. And my brain is another year older and a lot more airy than it was a year ago, when I did have a list.

Blame it on the hurricane.

Normally we have Thanksgiving in the Poconos. Whoever shows, shows. They stay overnight, a couple of days or the whole weekend. A lot of work, but fun. This year the hurricane meant we lost power up there, so we missed a weekend, plus we knew we weren't going up this past weekend. Which meant we lost a lot of prep time to get the house ready for the influx. Instead of stressing and trying to get everything done in too short a time period, we punted. Decided to have the dinner in Jersey instead. Cook at our house, eat next door at my Mom's. No overnight guests. No thirty-five loads of laundry. No cleaning before and after. Just cooking.

Piece of cake.

I think I remembered to bring home from the Poconos the essentials: mega roasting pan, cheesecloth, assorted spices and items I only use on Thanksgiving. I'll find out sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon whether in fact, I did. Tomorrow, I'll be at the specialty market first thing in the morning to pick up the ground sausage meat with sage, which makes the stuffing so damn good, and all the vegetables I need. Having a list would be a good idea, but for some reason, I just haven't been able to write one.

This is not the best way to get ready for a holiday dinner, of that I am fully aware. But this year...it is what it is. We will cook, we will serve, we will eat. And with this year there being so many who have so little, we will be thankful.

And stuffed. Can't wait.
Wish I made a list.

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Post-Election Dejection

Don't know about you, but I'm pretty much done with politics for a while.

Two years of non-stop campaigning, billions of dollars spent, so much time Congress wasted doing everything else but the People's business.

But...just one last little comment.

Apparently Jersey was the reason Romney lost the race. Heard on one of the Fox affiliates this morning that Governor Christie's ringing endorsement of Obama's handling of the hurricane relief effort, caused a tidal surge (sorry, but had to use that one) of support for the president. Governor Christie...for all the good this man has been trying to do, unfortunately to most of the country, is nothing more than a series of fat jokes.

AND, he's from Jersey. Since when do we get respect...for anything? Today, we get the nod for re-electing the President of the United States? Bull.

Whatever. It's all over. In the end, the Democrats still control the Senate, the Republicans still control the House, and Obama still controls the Country. As Yogi Berra said, "It's Deja Vu all over again."

Now what do we do about Donald Trump?

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Sandy: The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Been up since 4:30. Already the wind was picking up.

At this point almost three hours later, the winds seems around 30 mph sustained. The time has passed for preparation, it's now nail-biting time. We've all been through hurricanes before, this one is different.

It appears that Sandy has an agenda, and New Jersey is the center of the bulls-eye. The shore towns have been evacuated; only fools remain to ride this one out. All transit systems are shut down. New York City's Times Square is empty. Only my local convenience store is open this morning. Love those guys.

I live three blocks from the Passaic river. It floods...though in this area, infrequently. Upriver and downriver, the destruction caused by the Passaic is well documented on news reports and insurance claims. During Hurricane Irene last year, the river overflowed its banks and was a block and a half away, before slowly receding. I think tomorrow it might be even closer.

There hasn't yet been a drop of rain, so the emotion I feel most is one of impatience. Let's get it over with already and deal with it head-on. Not looking forward to the inevitable loss of power, and really dreading the dog walks in hurricane force winds. If she gives me one of those "I don't want to be out here"  looks, I'll be sure to remind her that I'm not happy about it either.

Time to run the flat iron through my hair. We may not have power for a few days and well...priorities.

Stay safe.

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