And the week is almost over! Don’t you just love short weeks? Kevin is so very happy to be free after a mere three days of work. Actually, I don’t know how productive he’s been this week as he has been spending much time coming up with his Thanksgiving Meal Plan (TMP).

Now, what is your Number 1 Thanksgiving Day regret? It’s the food, right? All this delicious food gets passed around the table, you fill your plate until it’s ready to burst, and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t eat it all. Knowing this is the only time you get goodies like turkey, stuffing, and cranberries, you pop the button on your pants and eat until it hurts. Right?

Well, Kevin has decided this eat-all-in-sight approach is the wrong way to approach the Thanksgiving table. Instead, he’s come up with the TMP.

First, you scope out the table and list each food item in order of rarity. For example, if the only time you ever see a turkey is in November, then turkey would go to the top of the rarity list. Things like bread or even plain old mashed potatoes can be eaten any old time so they go to the bottom of the list.

Once the list is properly ordered, you fill your plate according to plan. Unique food items like the oyster stuffing or grandma’s famous cranberry chutney take a large part of the plate while the mundane items such as salad or rolls are lucky to make the cut at all. This way, you don’t waste precious stomach space on the everyday items.

Now is that a plan or what? Yes, Kevin is quite sure that with this new approach to the Thanksgiving food, he’ll be able to gorge himself and not have any regrets at the end of the meal.

My own plan is much easier. I focus on the major food items and ignore the rest. For me, Thanksgiving dinner is one part turkey, one part stuffing, one part mashed potatoes. Cover all with gravy. Add one scoop of green bean casserole for your veggies and you’re good to go. I pass on everything else. No cranberries, no yam, no sweet potatoes, no salad. I guess I’m more of a purest than Kevin.

But whatever your preference, take the time, while you’re stuck in traffic or in line at the supermarket, to plan our your own tactical approach to the holiday table. You’ll thank me for it!

Yes, yet another baby announcement from friends. My old highschool buddy – Felix – and his wife are expecting their first this summer. Thankfully, they aren’t one of those annoying couples who refuse to determine the sex of the kid. I just hate buying uni-sex baby stuff. It isn’t nearly as much fun as shopping with a gender in mind.

I am, however, quite excited. I’ve been trying to get them to leave the Bay area and move up to Portland. Now with a baby on the way, I have a much stronger arguement. Better schools, cheaper housing, and very family friendly city are all here in the northwest. They’d be a fool to try and raise a kid in the overcrowed, polluted, expensive San Jose area. Yup, I better start looking for some prime real estate because I figure it’s only a matter of time before they’re knocking at my door ready to become the newest CA transplant.

It’s funny because just last night Kevin was talking about how all of our married friends have kids right not. This thought depressed him. Yesterday, I was able to point out that Felix & Kathy were still childless and this cheered Kevin considerably. I don’t know how he’s going to take the news of a little Lin on the way.

Last night, Kevin & I (and our hodge podge assortment of pets) were all lounging in front of the fireplace. Kevin had just added the 6th log to the inferno he calls a file when he turned to me and asked…

“How soon can we get our Christmas tree?”

I almost fell out of the sofa.

Kevin, Mr. Humbug, Ebenezer himself, looking at me all excited at the idea of a Christmas tree! This was the same man who went on a three hour trek last year and returned with Charlie Brown’s pitiful tree. This was the same person who once sniggled and said we were killing a tree for Jesus.

Now before me stood a whole ‘nother person. Sure, he looked like Kevin and he built a fire like Kevin but I wasn’t quite sure who exactly it was.

“Well, we should probably wait until after Thanksgiving if we want it to last….” I began before Kevin cut me off.

“But if we cut it fresh it’ll last much longer.” I swear to you, he was rubbing his hands together in glee.

Suddenly, I felt like the Scrooge as I informed my reformed husband that we had to wait until December to get our tree. Kevin sighed, settled back on the sofa, and picked up his book. I think I hid my glee very well. Finally, after five years of pleading, it appears that Kevin has captured the spirit of Christmas. Yippee!

I haven’t told him yet but this morning, as I was walking the dog, I happened to look through the window of a house and there in its living room in all its glory was a beautiful Christmas tree. I couldn’t tell if it was real or not without walking up the lawn and pressing my nose to the window glass but I guess Kevin isn’t the only one who can’t wait for tree season.

I just hope I can hold him back until December

I loved Calvin and Hobbes. I totally identified with little crazy Calvin and his tiger Hobbes. Just the other day I was rummaging through some old highschool boxes when I came across my Calvin and Hobbes cartoon collection. Of course, I immediately plopped down on the sofa and spent the afternoon re-reading all those great comic strips.

One of my favorite gags was the Dad Poll that Calvin was constantly working on. Here’s a few examples or two. (Sorry about the quality but our scanner isn’t hooked up so I have to use the camera.)

In many ways, my blog is my Husband Poll. During the week, Kevin comes home grumpy from a long day of work. He mumbles and grumbles and vent his frustration on me and the pooch. Now, I’ve learned better than to try and fight back. Instead, I listen patiently and then scamper down here to vent my frustrations via this blog.

Now, Kevin is a very good guy and he realizes (on some level) that he’s a major grouch during the week and that I’m not to blame. So on Saturday morning, he wakes up happy and refreshed. He takes his time and moses down to the basement where he reads my blog. This is how he finds out where he stands on the Husband Poll. Some weeks are bad while others are mere minor dips in ratings. But he goes into the weekend fore warned as to how far he’s sunk and how much he has to pamper me. Somedays, that means donuts for breakfast or Kevin cooked eggs and bacon. On a particularly rough week, he may even go so far as to clean the kitchen or have a bouquet of flowers waiting for me.

All in all, I must say the a blog is a very non-threatening, non-controntational method to communicate with your husband. Of course, this only works if your husband a) reads your entries and b) can see the writing between the lines.

In true Calvin form, I’d have to say that Kevin has lost a few points in the last poll. A random polling of the wife revealed that she is feeling like Kevin is belittling her efforts. Most damaging was the statement Kevin made last night the “you don’t do anything all day” when, in fact, he had come home to a cooked meal, cleaned house, fresh laundry and walked dog. Such rash statement will always result in a sharp drop in the husband’s numbers. Luckily, Kevin still has over nine months to his current term as husband (which expires on our anniversary) so, with a little sweet talking to his constituents, he should be able to recover from this latest blunder.

That assumes, of course, that he remembers to read this entry on Saturday morning.

The latest Baby D update is still sitting warm in my inbox and two things concern me.

First, how is it possible that the kid is still managing to get cuter. Here he is after his first hair cut.

Second, it’s the middle of November and Suzy/Dan are dressed for summer. How is that possible?? I just came in from walking the pooch and my sneakers are soaked. I saw five people during my 20 minute walk and each and every one of them was bundled into raingear and attached to a dog. And yet, a mere two hour plane flight away, my sister and nephew loll about in shorts and t-shirts. It’s outrageous. Simply outrageous.

I don’t know what concerns me more. The cuteness or the blatant disregard for fall weather. Grrrr.

As much as I love Blogger, I’ve decided it’s time for a change. So, here it is. Welcome to the world of Movable Type.

Of course, more options mean more things to go wrong so this ought to be interesting.

For example, any photo I uploaded before September 2002 no longer works. It appears I have to change the path manually. Also, our nice floating menu bar is, sadly, grounded so it was removed.

But, the comment system appears to function! This will have to suffice until I figure out how to implement a guest book. Please leave your thoughtful and spell checked comments as you desire. Hee hee.