Happy Thanksgiving to all

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and as Jim said we have lost family members but we still have each other and we still have the memories of our family so I continue to be thankful for all that I have and I'm looking forward to Christmas my favorite time of year. The time to be a kid and I have 4 grandchildren to have fun with.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Randall's

We are relaxing at home in our PJ's this Thanksgiving. We seem to be passing colds back and forth so we thought we would just hunker down and relax at home. Here are a few pictures of the girls. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. Jill, Tim, Tatum & Piper.

From Thanksgiving 09

From Thanksgiving 09

Thanksgiving - A Long View

This year seems a particularly challenging one for which to be Thankful. We have said farewell to several loved ones. Some tragically, others a part of the natural cycle of life. However, even in the loss, there is a glimmer of something to be thankful for. The many holidays spent together. The healing of broken relationships. The introspection that grief affords. The rawness of life that is soothed by the tenderness of those around us. Perhaps loss serves to remind us to take a long view of life. The moments, strung together, create a fullness for which to be grateful.

At our annual Thanksgiving gathering of friends and sometimes family, there will be one special someone missing this year. Calvin. His presence will be especially missed tomorrow. He was a very sociable cat and always enjoyed the turkey that he got on Thanksgiving. His brother, Leo, carries on the tradition of talking for turkey. I am thankful that Calvin was in my life as long as he was. His ashes now sit on "our shelf for nice things". Tomorrow his spirit will oversee the food preparation, the libations, the laughter and the inevitable late night dance party. It's really pretty simple. We miss him everyday.

As the leaves turn color and fall, the bare branches remind me that the structure of life remains. As I rake and blow the leaves into the woods, I am reminded to be thankful for each season, each life lived and each special moment along my journey to whatever is next. I am thankful for whatever is next and especially for each one of you.

Peace.

Jim

Holiday Decor at the Store

Here's the first picture of the store decorated for the holidays. I'll post more later.

No Gum in the Toilet

It's truly amazing that no matter where we go we run into this sign.

Floating over Egypt in a Hot Air Balloon

Fall in Salem Oregon

A colleague of mine took this picture of the Oregon State Capitol last week.

The capitol, constructed from 1936 to 1938, and expanded in 1977, is the third in Salem. The first two buildings were destroyed by fire. Unfortunately – fires have become a trend at the Oregon Capitol.

Last Labor Day a portion of the Governor’s office burned and we were displaced to a building across the street. The renovations and rebuilding is nearly complete and we should be back in the building sometime in January.

Personally, I think the building is a hybrid of a Mormon temple and a bowling trophy. The design certainly reflects the era in which it was built – when art deco was the rage, but I think I prefer the more “traditional” styles.

View From the Kitchen

November 17, 2009

Fun In Blue Ridge

We are spending the weekend in the "mountains" with our good friends Shafel and Shelley from Vashon Island, WA and Jeff and Cory from Canton. We are in Blue Ridge, GA.

Here is a little taste of our fun.

Children's Author Visit

Since August we've been working on bringing a children's author to Fairgrove for assemblies. Yesterday was the day! We had the wonderful Alexis O'Neill, who is most famous for her book The Recess Queen. The kids have been reading her books for months now and loved meeting her.

Veteran's Day

We should all take the time to reflect and thank all those who have served or are serving in the military.

Michael Buble

I am not a Dancing with the Stars fan. However, when my favorite "star" appears on it, I have to watch it. Now, you can too. It's already up on Youtube. Here you go.

Company

My great friends, Shafel and Shelley, from Vashon Island are coming to visit us tomorrow. I may be posting less over the next week. Although, there may be some interesting events worth posting. We're going to the "mountains" for the weekend.

It's a rainy night in Georgia. Too much rain.

Jim

New Store Merchandise

Sort of a slow weekend all in all. We went to a birthday party for our friend Jeff last night. I worked in the yard today. It was in the 60's. Divine.

I always like visuals in a post. Here are pictures of some of our new Store holiday merchandise.




Handmade Christmas Stockings - $25.00



Handmade Ceramic Magnets - $!5.00



Hand Stamped Cardboard Coasters - $7.50



Hand Silkscreened Wine Bottle Bags and Sommelier's Corkscrew -$12.50

View From My Window

Blue Sky. November 6, 2009. 2:20 pm

MB

Happy Birthday Tatum

Okay, I missed posting by one day.

Happy Birthday to Tatum (yesterday). At least her Dancing Elmo arrived a day early. And, I think her mom and dad will love hearing him do his song!

I am absolutely thrilled that we can video chat via gmail which we did last night. Although, Tatum spent most of her time jumping around in Piper's playpen or whatever you call those things these days. Video chat enables me to see her and Piper grow up - at least virtually. What a world? Anyway, much love to Tatum and her family as she enters her 3rd year.

Click here

Bon Voyage

Tonya and Bob,

Have a fabulous time on your trip to Egypt. I am happy for you, and I must admit a little envious. Dad loved Egypt. He would have been delighted to know that you are going there. Here is picture of mom and him riding camels. Maybe you will also do that while you are there. You deserve a great adventure.

No Recount

All three of our candidates won. There will be no recount.

Link to article. Click here

Success (one recount maybe coming)

We have been working for several years to change the direction of the City of Canton. You can fight city hall, it's just takes awhile. Well, tonight we got very good news. The three candidates that we supported for various reasons won. The main reason for changing the council was to try to eliminate the back room deals and cronyism. Anyway, here are the result.

Bob Rush - 694
Austin Flint - 386

Bill Bryan - 664
Bill Staab - 345

John Beresford - 520
Amy Turcotte - 512
(May be a recount)

Canton has 22,000 residents. Of course, some cannot vote. But, this kind of turnout proves that every vote counts and the state of our local democracy is pathetic.

So, barring any turnarounds, this performance seems appropriate.

Oh, how I love her.
Notice the spot light on her early on in the video. Chills. Baby. Chills

Happy November