Now, that's interesting....

The second clause of Article 1, Section 6, of the Constitution reads, "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office."

During Hillary Clinton's current term in the Senate, the salary for Cabinet officers was increased from $186,600 to $191,300. Since the salary is scheduled to again be raised in January 2009, not only Hillary Clinton, but all sitting Senate members could be considered constitutionally ineligible to serve in Obama's Cabinet.

I'm cleaning today.. I keep stumbling across recipes that I want to try one day,so I've added to the FAVORITE RECIPES blog since I sat down a break.
I'm making some progress, but I wonder where all this junk came from? I thought I'd pitched half of it 6 months ago.. UGH!

Baby, it's cold outside!!! 26 degrees and sunny..
I've been planning to do laundry today, but I think it's not going to happen. I'm just so tired and both shoulders are still sore.. lifting things I shouldn't have been lifting on Thanksgiving.
So I'll think about Monday when I also plan to go to the Y for some exercise in the pool.

I didn't sleep well last night, nor the night before.. it's taking a toll on me. I was hoping to be able to get allergy shots this past week, but it's nearly impossible with the asthma causing wheezing. UGH! Perhaps I'll hang around here today and get a little more cleaning done.

Let me be among the first to wish you all a Merry Christmas.. I refuse to be politically correct..
Today is the day I choose to stay inside at home because it's Black Friday.. I don't like the crowds. Mandy and John went to Walmart at 4:30 this morning and tried it out. They got a couple things, but the crowds were soooooo huge.

After a lovely Thanksgiving day meal, we are back on target again today. I think we are okay. We had a planned "cheat" day, but we were, for the most part, very careful. Mandy's dilemma today was in putting on a pair of brand new jeans that she had purchased a while back, and they were hard to keep up.. You go, Mandy!!!!!!

Tomorrow is Saturday and I plan to do a ton of laundry. Sure wish we could do it here at home instead of carrying it in the car to a laundromat. I have to admit, the laundromat gets the clothes clean in 2 hours...and we are done, but the ease of being able to do it all day long with the option of cleaning elsewhere here while they wash/dry, is tempting.

It's quiet here tonite.. I'm thankful for that. I enjoy the peacefulness.

PREPARATIONS..

THANKSGIVING 2008

Daniel and his dad Paul made these turkeys!
They were sooooo cute!

Mints and candies..

Yummy pasta salad..

Dinner rolls in a terra cotta pot
Looks like a candy corn!

Side table of foods..

The turkey in the roaster

DINNER...

Paul and his family gathered in the living room around the table for their meal.. I teased the boys who were seated on a steamer trunk.. I thought they looked like they were on a pirate chest.. all they needed was one of Keith & JJ's parakeets to perch on their shoulder..

Joyce had a great meal

David had ham

ENTERTAINMENT

Crystal hid all afternoon, but Wizzy came down and played hide and seek with Annabelle.

DESSERTS..

Charlie brought pies.. pumpkin and raspberry. Amy brought a pumpkin dessert and had whipped cream.. Annabelle decided to skip the pies or dessert and went right for the whipped cream..

CRANIUM

We played a game called Cranium (I think that's what it was).. We enjoyed that a lot. John is partnered with wife Amanda, and he is using clay to make the clue words "umbilical cord" for Mandy to guess .. she did get it.

John is reading the clue for JJ and Keith to perform.. they did very well in this category.

And here the actors are.. JJ was to use Keith as a puppet and have Keith make movements so he could guess the clue .. he got close, but the clue was surfing..


John had another clay project.. Mandy got it right away.. a campfire! John is a pretty good sculptor.

GIVING THANKS

Today is a wonderful day.. better than yesterday.. I had many complaints then. I'll not rehash them, but I'm glad things look brighter today.
It's Thanksgiving Day in these United States. We are a nation that has been blessed by the unfailing love of God. We have so much all the time. Even the poor are not poor when you consider the poor in the rest of the world, though I'm referring to material blessings.
I've been wondering if next year there will be no day of Thanksgiving proclaimed by our President. It's done traditionally on the last Thursday of November.. and the proclamation is for the entire nation. I suppose some radical group will complain that it's a Christian holiday and the President will refuse to sign the official proclamation. If you think about it, it's change.
We thank God for all things every day, but that the nation takes one day to give that thanks seems to include the fact that there are some people who at least acknowledge God once a year.
I'd be offended if my President refused to acknowledge our Thanksgiving Day as referring to Thanking the Lord for all the bounty he heaps on our nation. It would seem to just be wrong.

Thanksgiving involves prayer. I give thanks every day for my family by name. I remember my mother telling me that she also did this for every member of the family. I'm thankful for her example to me personally.
At every meal we give thanks for the food we are about to eat because God has provided it all.
Prayer of thanks doesn't just occur on one day a year.. it's a daily and hourly thing. It acknowledges the goodness of God supplying our needs as they arise.
We learn to say thank you as a child.. we've all said to our children "what do you say?" with the response "thank you". We learn to be grateful for one thing or another. Soon it's a good habit when we realize someone has done or given or supplied a need or request for us. As we grow older we realize that all of the thanks belongs to God as he supplies the needs via others.
I'm thankful that I am loved and cared for, and for those who do so.
I'm thankful for my close friends whom I dearly love. I'm thankful that God has placed them in my life.
Now, I'm also thankful for the advanced technology we have in our generation. I don't think I could have handled an outhouse, horse and buggy for transportation, no running water, or no electricity as my mother dealt with in her early years. I could give up the TV set without any problem, as I don't watch it anyway.
But I am addicted to my computer and am a talk radio junkie. I find a wealth of information here.. the problem is sorting out truth.. but I'm thankful for it anyway.
I'm thankful for the employment that God has provided for us. It adds a small amount of income that we seem to need to get through each month. We don't have a lot, but we are content with what we have.
There is so much to be thankful for.. make your own list.. it's a blessing!

There is still some work to be done on the big meal today. I'm thankful that I'm able to participate in this 'feast day'. Each one of our families has made an expenditure to make the meal a really great one for all of us. I'm thankful for the fellowship and the fact that my family gets along so well, recognizing our differences as something positive.

Be thankful..

A day of thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING EVE

Here it is nearly Thanksgiving Day 2008. I always took this week off when I worked at the hospital. We had to choose our vacation weeks in February for that year, and no one ever wanted this week except me. That is, till the week came up on the schedule and I'd hear all the grumbling about how I always was off on Thanksgiving. I was always well aware that I'd asked for the same week every year, and had someone wanted it, they could have just said so when I asked if anyone wanted it.. but that's all in the past, and I'm thankful to be able to put it behind me.
I just happen to enjoy the idea of having family and friends around me over the holidays. It was so .... traditional in our family to begin with.. and then I love carrying on our best traditions.
We always had turkey on Thanksgiving Day, and then whatever was remaining out of the garden that might be fresh yet. Otherwise, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were definitely served that day.
Tomorrow we will be gathering at Keith and JJ's home, along with the rest of the family. Each of us will bring one or two items to add to the table. No matter what, it will be a most wonderful day with our family..
Later in the evening, we'll be heading to Hartwood Acres to enjoy the Celebration of Lights. It's something the kids love and us oldies too.


Snow. It's out there .. about 2 inches of new stuff. It is most beautiful at the moment.. but then, I'm INSIDE enjoying it. Stay warm.

There is much to do today.. I have my list drawn up, and will be starting on it soon. I could use another cup of coffee..

Getting into Perspective

I'm trying to get a trillion dollars into perspective.. It's a number that congress and the rest of the world seems to toss around as if it really meant something to anyone.
The number one trillion looks like this: 1, 000,000, 000, 000. Staggering , eh? And yet, our government is spending this much as if it was water.
Wait a second... it would take 31,710 years if you did it for 1 trillion seconds.. whoa.. that's a long time. My supper could get cold by then.
One trillion is one million million, right? uh... does it really matter?
If you placed dollar bills end to end, it would stretch the distance to the moon and back 200 times!
Well, let's see.. if I could spend $750,000 twice a day, every day, for 200 years, I'd be halfway to a trillion.. I don't think I have the time..
It would take 30 years to spend a trillion dollars at the rate of $1000 per second..
A stack of dollar bills equaling a trillion would reach 55 thousand miles high!

Now, what was it that I was doing before I started looking for this useless information? OH, yes.. I wanted to balance the checkbook.. uh.. it's not much.. I could use an inch or two of those bills..or perhaps 4-5 pounds of those bills.
It amazes me that the government spends this amount of money daily.. perhaps to stimulate the economy, they should scrap that idea and just give a million to all the people living in the country.. Now, there's a stimulus, and everyone would be happy!
We'd still have our country and the government could give up all the welfare programs they have planned. Who would need it?

For good news, see the DOWNSIZING blog listed in the right hand column...
This morning, though I'm thrilled with the weigh in results for today, I've got a splitting headache.
I'm not sure just what the problem is.. eye strain or perhaps just sinusitis? Whatever it is, it hurts pretty bad..

a surprise for kids..

Paul called early today before church and asked if we'd like to go to
a train display..
Why, YES, indeed we would!

The kids knew nothing about it, and on the way to the church
in Manor, they tried to guess where we were headed...
Hmmmm...NOPE!

As soon as we pulled in, they recognized the church and jumped
out and in the door they went..
They were very excited. The kids all love trains.
Annabelle fell asleep on the way. She missed out, but she needed
her nap too..

P3 is running the trains here

Joyce watched while David ran them too

Joyce admiring a display

David knew just what to do..

So did Daniel.. all the kids ran trains.
Most of the displays tell you not to touch,but
this one invited anyone and everyone to be an engineer

David got his stool as soon as he came through the door.
He's been here before..