Sometimes you just can’t help yourself…

Sorry. Just couldn’t resist. Why it struck me funny I don’t know. I think maybe it’s the shoes.

Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m a day late because yesterday was a busy one at our daughter’s house. My parents are here from Ohio, which was a bit of a challenge but my wife made it happen by flying to Toledo and helping by driving them here. My son’s girlfriend’s parents are here, too, from the Columbus area. Add my daughter’s family and our son-in-law’s parents and brother and it’s the most people we’ve had together for Thanksgiving in years.

I’m very thankful everyone was able to get here safely. There were some weather challenges that could have been worse. My Mom and Dad have had some recent health issues that could have kept them home, but they were determined to get here, and they did! As I get older I am more and more thankful that we have a family that gets along so well. I know a lot of families don’t, and all families have bumpy times, but this particular holiday was very important and everything worked out fine.

My wife picked up another major client last week, so she is set now for being out on her own. It’s going to be kind of scary but things look a lot better for her, and for us, than it did three or four months ago. She stuck with it and didn’t fold when I’m sure the pressure was getting to her. She’s really courageous and she stuck it out and now things look much better. I think in the long run she will be a lot happier than she was in her old job.

For it being a lousy year in a lot of ways – the death of my brother, my wife’s job hassles, my parents’ illnesses and legal stresses as a result of my brother’s estate issues – it  looks like things are improving. And I’m very thankful for the two cutest granddaughters in the known universe!

“Law and Order: UK”

OK…so NBC killed off the original “Law and Order” right before it would have set a new record for becoming the longest-running TV series ever. That seemed insane to me. Now I find out that for the last three years there’s been a “Law and Order: UK.” I just started to watch an episode on BBC America. I love this – they even said “make the deal.”  Cracked me up!

The wigs they still wear in court are a riot. I know there’s a long tradition there. But even the women lawyers wear them! I find it a bit difficult to take seriously. I suppose if I was involved in a British legal proceeding I’d feel different about it!

Tracks

I can’t even tell you how I feel about this…

Thanks to Up-Ship.com for this…damn.

Is there anything she cannot do?

Sunday night’s premiere of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” broke all the records for ratings for a premiere episode on TLC – and nowadays on cable TV, 5 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at.

So…let’s see, she seems to be able to choose local and national candidates and help them win, she seems to be the closest thing to a National Conscience we have (see her twitter feed), she has a new book coming out, and now she’s a TV star – and brought her family and her state along with her. (Donate $ 100 to SarahPAC and you get an autographed copy of “America by Heart,” her new book.)

I don’t know if she has the chops to be President, but she has the chops to be Something…what’s higher than President? National Mama Grizzly? That sounds better to me…

Again, I’ve been gone for a while…

It’s been a busy time. Marching band judging is over now for the season. I really enjoyed it this year. Most shows I judged general effect, and I think I’m finally at the point where I am comfortable doing it. I hope the directors and staffs of the schools I’ve critiqued felt that way as well.

Yesterday I conducted the fourth jazz ensemble at our district jazz festival. We had students from at least a dozen different schools. They all came at 8 in the morning and we performed at 3 in the afternoon. The kids were very well prepared and they had a great attitude, and kept focus all day. I had a great time and I hope they all did as well. They played really well and I think it was a good experience for everyone.

I didn’t have much to say about the election. It’s all pretty much been said. If the pro-Tea Party folks don’t hold true to their colors – if they sell out to the old-school Republicans – it’s still better than having the House run by the Democrats, but only just. Probably the best thing to come out of the election is that the conservative shift in the people of the US, the grassroots movement, is now all out there for everyone to see. This has the Democrats scared and now we have to “keep up the skeer” all the way to 2012. That won’t be easy if the House Republicans cave; if they just decide it’s better to get along and play the Washington game than to do what’s right.

Apparently Obama has now blinked regarding the so-called “Bush tax cuts.” Thank God that will stop all this stupid talk about what defines “rich people.” All that ever did was create more class envy, and even Rush Limbaugh played into their hands the other day talking about whether  $ 100,000 or $ 250,000 or  $ 1,000,000 a year was “rich.”

It’s a head fake. Ignore that. The problem is that taxes of all kinds are crippling us, individually and collectively.

Congress won’t have the guts to do what’s really necessary, because it would put tens of thousands of “public servants” out of work. We need to start phasing out agencies now, so that as the economy picks up we can absorb those people into the private sector. If we just dumped them out on the street it would obviously be a disaster…but we don’t have to take forever doing this. The government is way too huge and this Congress could realize we’re on the brink and finally do something to pull us back. They don’t have any reason to follow Obama any more, even in the Senate. The Senate Democrats aren’t unified because they can’t be bullied any longer. Reid doesn’t have anything to bribe or threaten them with, they know Obama has no coattails, and they are on their own in the 2012 election. Every Democrat up for reelection in 2012 in the Senate knows it’s all about their own constituents now. No back home will care about how much support their Senator gave their President, because he’s been discredited in the eyes of everyone except the lunatic left.

Well, I thought I didn’t have anything to say about the election, anyway!