I noticed that several people on President Elect Obama’s National Security Team are not as tall as he is. The lectern, the OPE* seal, and the microphones are set just fine for a taller person, but putting a shorter person at the same lectern…

Geraghty noticed this too. I have the screencaps.

Poor Susan Rice, she can barely see over the microphones.

*Office of the President Elect

Welcome National Review Readers!
Welcome Patriot Room Readers!

Snow.

I had to go shopping on Friday. I was dreading it.

But I had to go to the grocery store for a few items I needed for the second Thanksgiving dinner. We go to my sister’s house and therefore there are no leftovers. No carcass for me to make stock from. So I make the turkey and all the favorites after Thanksgiving.

Turns out I needed to make dressing to bring with, so I didn’t have the main ingredient in my stock anymore. So I had to go to the grocery store.

I set out on Friday at 9:45. There were not many cars in the lot. I went in the store and there were not many people there either. Got my shopping done quickly and even though there were only three lanes open (one was 15 items or less) I didn’t have to wait at all.

It seems everyone was out shopping everywhere but the grocery stores. Yay!

Only once did I actually venture out to try to get something on Black Friday. My mom wanted to get some Furbys. She talked my husband and me and Dad into going to WalMart at 5 am to try to get some. We got there that early. And there weren’t any Furbys. Never again.

When I was checking out at the grocery store I told the clerk that I needed new slippers too. She said, “but not today!”. I agreed completely. I may need new slippers, but not on Black Friday.

reposted from last year:

Thanksgiving Hymn

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation:
thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626;
trans. Theodore Baker, 1894.
Music: Kremser

Enjoy this day with your family and friends.

I am thankful for my family and friends, our home and our pets, and for God, from whom all blessings flow.

What are you thankful for?

We had some shopping to do this weekend. A Costco run for TP and coffee. Of course the list got a bit longer once we got there. A nice fresh Butterball for 99¢ a pound, a spiral sliced ham, some beer, half and half, sour cream.
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The place was packed. We lucked out and hit the cashiers during a lull. When we left more and more cars were circling the lot…

Then we went to WalMart for a couple of things and it was packed too. After we got home, I had to run to the grocery store and it too, was packed.

Before we went to Costco we’d been to Petsmart and our regional DIY chain, Menards. We got a small, prelit with multicolored lights, artificial tree. It’s quite lovely. Fits on a table so it doesn’t take up floor space. We needed a new tree because of flooding this summer that ruined everything we had stored in our crawlspace.{/column1}
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Christmas Tree

Via Don Surber we find this GenderAnalyzer site.

Results

We guess http://musing-minds.com is written by a man (58%), however it’s quite gender neutral.

I thought, like Don, I’d try a couple of other blogs…

Electric Venom has a one percent chance more than mine of being written by a man. However, like me, Kate is all woman.

Gender analyzer thinks The Anchoress is a man too. 77% in her case…

Patterico’s new related site is now open for business!

The other day my microwave oven’s turntable motor decided that it was time to quit. It’s probably about ten years old, so I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it. (I pulled it out and looked at the back. It’s 11-1/2 years old, manufactured April, 1997).

Now it’s time to start researching new ones. I don’t have have room for a toaster oven too, and I’ve seen a microwave with a 2 slice toaster on the side of it, so I decided to see if there was a toaster oven/microwave combo…

There is it’s a Sharp R-55TS Warm & Toasty Toaster/Microwave there are also microwave/convection ovens and microwave/convection/grill combos.

Sharp Convection Microwaves

Sharp Grill 2 Convection Microwave

Haier Microwave Oven for Convection, Grill and Microwave Cooking

So, can anyone tell me if these are any good? I do have convection on my regular oven, but this could be nice in the summer when one may not want to heat the house with the oven… Also nice for one small batch of cookies.

She’s 18, 18! years old today. Where did the time go, I was sure it was only yesterday or the day before that she was born.

She was born on November 19, 1990 at 6:47 am EST. 4 pounds, 10 ounces. 18 inches long.

Now she’s 18. She’s special needs. She has a developmental delay, moderate hearing impairment, epilepsy, and lupus. When we went to Legoland on Saturday, I asked her how old she was. She told me nine. When I asked her again, she said ten. She loves Barney, Dora, Steve of Blues Clues and Bumblebee from the Transformers movie. She’ll often put a cd of kids’ songs into the DVD player part of her TV and just listen to her “radio”.

She adores roller coasters. It’s a good thing we live near an amusement park and can get season passes for the summer. We can go many times and she can go on all the roller coasters.

Baby Girl Hours Old

Baby Girl 21 days old