Happy Thanksgiving!

3:45 p.m. CST: I've decided to use a kind of "facebook" approach this year; several small entries to mark the day. I will be adding more; they'll all appear here under the same date. For now, I'll wish you all a healthy and thankful day...whether you're with extended family, just your own family, friends, or by yourself. Even when we think we don't have a lot to be thankful for, especially then, we have a lot to be thankful for even if we don't realize it right away.

I'm thankful for the last two days. Our family has had a couple of get-togethers with my wife's sister's family. Great people, and two enjoyable visits. They're on their way back to Houston now, so Tuesday and Wednesday were Thanksgiving previews, or trial runs, you might say.

Looks like our big dinner will be during the four o'clock hour.

6:30 p.m. CST: This Thanksgiving dinner, it was the five of us - including our second Daughter home from Missouri State in Springfield. We gave thanks, and the food was great...turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy (for those who wished), stuffing (again, some partook, some didn't), rolls, corn, cranberry sauce, celery, and baby carrots.

And I left plenty of room for pie.

Since then, I've turned on the outdoor Christmas lights, and done most of the dishes.

6:50 p.m. CST: Not long after I posted last, the announcement went out, "Time for pie"!

Pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Yummy.

9:45 p.m. CST: Some of my readers know though others might not, that my family and I live in the house I grew up in. Well, from age 5 1/2 until age 29 anyway. I'm thankful for my wife and children, and it's great to celebrate holidays with them. But living here, I can't help but remember past Thanksgivings with other family members, some scattered, some since departed.

So that thought got me started on a search for an old slide of Thanksgiving 1973, when my sister, her husband and their first daughter, my grandfather Ira "Poppy" Moore, and 5/6 of the Scowden family came for a visit. I took a picture of everyone, including my mom and dad. I haven't found the original slide yet, but when I do I'll re-scan that. The earlier scan I did find has issues and I know I can do better. When I find and re-scan the slide (maybe tomorrow), I'll post the image here.

10:45 p.m. CST: Of course, I thought of the WKRP episode with the turkeys...you know the one. One of their better episodes, and Hulu has it. When you have about half an hour, give yourself a treat by clicking here. Funny stuff.

Well, we had food left over. So maybe in a week or two we ought to have another get-together...like this guy.

Have a thankful weekend.

The Evening Rambler for November 10, 2010

I've been thinking about the last entry of the Music List Project. It bothered me for a while and I wasn't sure why; now I think I have the answer. The top 39 songs (including ties) I'd still say were my favorites for the year. The other songs on the list I like well enough when they come on the radio, but to describe them as "favorites" would be stretching the point. So I'll go back and edit that post a bit, and in the future, I'll try to keep the lists simpler.

How about a couple of fall photos?

The colors weren't as intense as last year, but it would have been hard to beat 2009. Anyway, here's our maple.


I didn't go on the pumpkin patch outing this year, so I'm seeing this picture for the first time.



My son, doing a great job carving...


...Pumpkin Bubs! You know, the Jack-'o-lantern version of this character, from the Strong Bad e-mail "Original", from the Homestar Runner site.

That's about all for now, other than a friendly reminder that tomorrow, November 11th, is Veteran's Day. By all means, if you see a veteran, thank him (or her) for his (her) service!