Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I have time off work and am determined to try to take that time, although I do need to get some narratives in by Friday. This is a time that people stop and reflect and give thanks. So, I am going to briefly say a few things that I give thanks for. First of all, my two boys. They have grown up and become friends even if we do have disagreements occasionally. I'm thankful for my now extended family which includes my DIL and two granddaughters. Of course, my dad. And the many friends that I have made over the years. There are so many other things that I am thankful for, but I don't have time to write a book. To all my friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday

Why is it that when one thing goes wrong, it seems like everything goes wrong? I had a good day at work. But, man, since I've been home, things haven't been that great. I have a shattered glass pot lid and a chair seat that has to be cleaned. My son was so sweet. He said, "I'm sorry you're having such a bad night." But, the chicken and dumplings I made came out perfectly. So all is not bad. Actually, maybe it's just time to go to bed before anything else can happen. Tomorrow will be another day.

November

November mean Thanksgiving, getting ready for Christmas, colder weather, adoptions. Ok, most of you don't know what adoptions have to do with November, but they do. November 15th is National Adoption Day. On November 14th, the 15th is a Saturday, Lubbock will have several adoptions. It's a special time, with gifts for the families, speeches, punch and cookies. Some counties actually hold their National Adoption Day on Saturday, but we always have ours on Friday. Last year I was fortunate enough to attend in Lubbock on Friday and in El Paso on Saturday. I had 11 children that I work with adopted those two days. This year I have 5 children that I work with being adopted. I know, slacking a little there, but I had two adoptions in October and have five more coming up pretty quickly. There's a lot of work that goes into this, but it is one of the best days of the year and definitely worth the work.

Going home

My time off is almost over. I will be flying home later tonight and back to work tomorrow. I wish I could take more time, but the job doesn't get done when I am not there. It will be hectic for a few days as I play catchup. Oh, well. That's the way of the working world.

Cross country travel

I have added Atlanta to my list of cities that have traffic jams in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Ok, up to this point, only Cincinnati was on the list. Chicago is on my list for traffic jams on a Sunday afternoon for no apparent reason. Back to the topic, my son and I were driving through Atlanta on I20 last night and making good time until we came upon the jam. Three lanes of traffic not moving. In fact, we sat in one spot so long that I turned the engine off. We finally made it through the jam, traffic picked up and about a mile down the road, whammy...another jam. At least this one had a reason. Three lanes of traffic merged into one for construction. This jam didn't last long, we got through and drove through the night. We did run into a small jam outside of Weatherford for construction early this afternoon, but that one barely rates a mention. We didn't even have to stop completely. I enjoy driving across the country, but next time, I think I would like to do most of the driving during the day so I can enjoy the sites. We did stop in Odessa for the night. We do have to watch the Tech/Texas game. We should be in El Paso early tomorrow afternoon. There is no rush now and I'll be flying home on Thursday. It's been a fun and interesting week.

I hate airplane lavatories

I love to fly, but I hate the lavatories in airplanes. I always make sure I visit the restroom in the airport before I get on a plane. Those are generally very nice. The problem I faced yesterday though, is that I was on the same plane from 9:55 AM until 3:30 PM. There is no way I can make it that long without visiting the cramped lavatory at the back of the plane. At least I only needed to go once. I kept my Diet Sprite drinks to a minimum and doesn't eating peanuts soak up the liquid anyway?

Leaving in two days

I'll be leaving for North Carolina in two days. I'm excited about being gone, even though I've had to work extra to make sure I'm caught up. It looks like I'll have a couple of days to relax before we head back to Texas in a U-haul. I'm taking my laptop so I can stay in touch with my friend, but I hope I can check out Fayetteville some, also. When I helped the boy move, he didn't want to do the touristy things. I'll be there on Halloween, but since he lives in an apartment complex, I don't think there will be many trick or treaters. I might have to trick the boy. That would be fun. Oops, I'm not supposed to let the evil me out in public.