Soups On!

Thanksgiving is a time for all to give thanks. We have always participated in community service and this year is no different. Matthew and I signed up with our parish, St. Leo's to help prepare the food for distribution to the New Covenant House. We wanted to serve dinner this year to the needy but couldn't due to time constraints. I helped out in the kitchen by washing the pots and pans and Matthew was busy taking out the food trays to the awaiting cars for delivery.

We finished and went home to prepare our own Thanksgiving dinner. Tony smoked the turkey on the barbecue and it was very tasty. I prepared lots of side dishes and chilled the wine. We had our friends Al and Dawn and Tony's parents over to share the meal. It is our first Thanksgiving back in the States. Quite a difference from what we experienced last year in Shanghai. Last year, we were dining at the club house with our friends Anne and her family and Tony who arrived from Hong Kong to visit. This year, we're back in our house, settled and grilling.

So, to all of friends, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. You are always in our thoughts and prayers.

Interruptions

We've been chugging along. Matthew's been really busy with school, Kumon and Chinese school. It's Sunday morning for us and it's our usual routine...except today, no cable, no internet and no phone service. Early in the morning. What the ????

Called the cable company and reported the issue. No reported outages in the area. It became an emergency call. Two hours later, the cable guy shows up and he couldn't figure out what happened. He checked every wire in the house upstairs and downstairs, checked all the equipment and it was a complete mystery. For giggles, he decided to check the wires running from the pole down the road from the house. Bingo! It turns out that the wires were chewed through by our resident squatters- the squirrels. They've done a lovely job since all the wires had to be replaced from the bottom of the road to the top of the house. Total time, three hours to replace all the wires. Now we know why the squirrels love squatting in our yard. They must be getting a jolt each and every time they chew the wires. Hey, some like it that way. Me personally, if I were a squirrel, I'd rather keep digging around the yard for nuts.

HIstorical Event

Election day in the United States. Millions of citizens turned out to vote for the next president. Some even waited as much as four hours for their chance to vote. Tony and I were at the polls bright and early this morning at 6:15 AM. We did our duty and cast our votes for the change to take place in this country. The economy has been sliding downhill and the Bush administration, well, let's just say no one is happy with them. I never thought I would live to see this day but it has happened. Senator Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. It's been a very tight and very grueling race and it's finally come to an end. I am so glad that we have had the chance to witness this historical event.

The tension between Republicans and Democrats are pretty apparent. Matthew's classmates were clearly divided. My nephew Nicholas almost incited a riot in the first grade class in Florida as well. He was telling all the kids that Sarah Palin was not the right choice because "she shoots and kills animals." Well, that's a fact that can't be denied. My sister Sandi received a phone call from a parent informing her that Nicholas is sharing this information with his classmates and almost caused a riot on the school bus. OK, maybe not quite a riot but let's just say my little nephew has gotten the attention of the first grade class. He's got a bit of me in him. Yeah, that's right. You're doing me proud kid! My sister Sandi should leave him with me for a few weeks. Good Ol' Auntie Sue will teach him right! If I do this right, he'll never get a visa into any foreign country!