Several of you have written to ask if I’m still on the planet. I am. I’ve been a bit under the weather. That two week business trip, Share A Square (see the Share A Square FAQ if you don’t know what that is), and a nasty head cold have knocked me flat on my rear. I’m recovering slowly, but I’m getting there. Today being a Thursday Thirteen day AND Thanksgiving, I decided to try to muster a post and wish you all a happy day. I DO wish you a happy day, even though I’m a bit cynical about “Thanksgiving.”

The holiday seems to have morphed from a simple day of giving thanks into a day of overindulging in food, watching football on television, and getting a jump on Christmas shopping at the Thanksgiving Day sales. I consider every day that I wake up a day to be thankful, so I’m unclear about why it needs to be a holiday. However, it means a day off of work for my husband, so I’m thankful for that.

I’m thankful for other things as well. In no particular order (and with tongue occasionally in cheek) I offer you

1. I’m thankful to those of you have been checking on me. Your kindness means a lot to me.

2. I’m thankful that I don’t have to cook a big turkey for Thanksgiving! I know it’s un-American, but I don’t particularly like turkey. We wouldn’t have to eat it if Benjamin Franklin had succeeded in making it the National Bird. We’d be stuffing a bald eagle instead.

Perhaps my dislike of turkey stems from the time my grandfather’s Tom Turkey jumped on my back and started trying to peck me to death. More likely it’s because a few years ago I planned Thanksgiving for my whole family and we had to cancel because of an ice storm. I got stuck with 30 pounds of turkey. Turkey Tetrazzini, Turkey Salad, Turkey Goulash, Turkey Sandwiches, Turkey Enchiladas, Turkey Chili, Turkey Stew. Ack! I overdosed on turkey.

3. I’m thankful that I found one of the few men in Texas who doesn’t care for football (perhaps because he is originally from California). I’m not fond of football either. I know that makes me even more un-American than not liking turkey. Worse than that, it makes me un-Texan, but it’s a fact. The only attraction it holds for me is seeing muscular men in tight pants. Don’t tell my husband I said that!

4. Though television newscasts bombard me with the woes of the world, and sometimes fill me with sorrow, I’m thankful that I have an “off” button on my remote control.

5. I’m thankful for a roof over my head (even when it leaks), for clothes on my back (though they are not always stylish and are sometimes ill-fitting), and for food on my table (even turkey). I know I’m fortunate.

6. I’m glad I know that, and feel that I have enough abundance to be able to share it. I’m thankful that my husband feels the same way.

7. Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Relief medicine makes me very thankful. My friend SusieJ had suggested apple cider vinegar as a cold remedy. Susie, honey, I tried it. But, you had suggested mixing it with water and sipping it. I couldn’t stand the thought of drinking that much nasty tasting liquid, so I slugged it back like a tequila shot. I may never be able to look a shot glass in the eye again. It didn’t work, but Alka Seltzer did!

8. I’m also thankful for Vicks Vapo Rub. I know it smells nasty, but at least by using it I was able to breathe. I promise I won’t wear it as a perfume.

9. I’m thankful for The World Wide Web, which connects us to people we would never otherwise be able to “meet.” It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?

10. I’m thankful when Charter Cable allows me to actually access the internet (stupid cable company).

11. The people who have contributed to Share A Square make me very thankful indeed. You can see what they have been doing on the Share A Square Update. In fact, anyone who volunteers for any charitable organization makes me thankful, for they restore my faith in the inherent goodness of human kind.

12. I’m thankful for the blessed bunch of people in my family. They are happy and healthy and a delight to know.

13. Yes, I’m thankful for many things. Not the least of which is that the Good Lord saw fit to create bacon! I’m sorry, it’s the only redeeming quality that pigs have, and it had to be said. I told y’all I love bacon!

Leave me a comment if you would like (whether you are playing Thursday Thirteen or not) and you will be magically linked. Then you can visit some other Thursday Thirteen participants. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, y’all. Use your powers for good. And, come back and sit with me on the porch another day.

Technorati Tags: Share A Square, Turkey, thankful, bacon

I got home from my two week trip to find a huge pile of mail for the Share A Square program! My Sweet Spousal Unit went faithfully to the mailbox every day while I was gone. Isn’t he a good guy?

Whoot! Look at what piled up. Thanks to everyone for your hard work. I can’t wait to go leap right into the middle of these. This pile doesn’t include Saturday’s mail or today’s mail. I’m a little afraid to go to the post office! I’ll be taking pictures and resizing them tonight. Tomorrow I’ll upload them to the update page. Then, I have to get to work answering e-mails and comments. I’m so behind from two weeks without a reliable internet connection that I’m following my shadow!

My husband stacked all of the mail on my mini-trampoline where I could find them. He made sure not to put anything that looked like a check on the trampoline—-so it wouldn’t bounce. But, that trampoline is full! Now how am I supposed to exercise?

Oh, Darn! I’m so disappointed.

I put that trampoline here in my office so I could take a break now and then and jump on it. I guess my husband has noticed that the doggone thing has just been used for decoration—and as a cat bed. I totally avoid looking at it. Why in thunder did he think that was a logical place for me to look for my mail? I guess that since this whole project has been a leap of faith, it was appropriate to put it on a trampoline.

For the longest time, I had my Nordic Track in the middle of the floor so that perhaps I’d guilt jerk myself into walking on it. At least it could be used as a clothes rack. But, I ran into it in the middle of the night, so it had to go. It wouldn’t have held this many packages, anyway.

Technorati Tags: Share A Square program

Have y’all ever had a “brush with celebrity?” Were you excited when you did? Did you act like a moron? I’ve met some of my favorite singers, but no one that y’all would be too excited about. I did my best to act nonchalant when I met them, but I was sweaty palmed. Just meeting someone I had seen on a stage was a bit of a thrill. I wonder how they feel about meeting their adoring fans? I was thinking about “celebrity” this week, and remembered an incident that happened to my son. This is his brush with celebrity.

A couple of years ago, I called my youngest son in San Francisco on his cell phone. He said, “Mom, I don’t have a very good connection. I’m in a hotel room.”

“What in thunder are you doing in a hotel room?” I asked. He’s got an apartment in a building that was once a hotel. It’s just off of Union Square, a pretty desirable part of San Francisco. That place is as tiny as a postage stamp, in fact I’ve seen bigger closets. It’s called a “two bedroom,” but that means you have to put a bed smack dab in the middle of the living room. Though it’s minuscule, it’s quite charming really, with a phenomenal view. However he pays through the nose for the privilege of living there. His rent is astronomical.

It turns out that a movie company had looked at his building as a possible site to film a four minute flick for Sony Pictures to enter at the Cannes Film Festival. They liked the view from his apartment and offered him a sweet deal:

They moved him into a pretty decent hotel, and paid for the room and his meals for a week. The company moved all of his stuff out, painted the walls, and brought in their own furniture for the set. They pretty much took over the apartment building for the week. At the end of the filming, they painted his walls back the way he had them, put his furniture back and moved him back into his own lair. They also paid him $1500 for the use of his apartment (basically a month’s rent!).

I said, “Matt that’s so cool!”

“No, Mom,” he said. “What’s cool is that the mom character in the film was Princess Buttercup!”

“Princess Buttercup from the Princess Bride?” I squealed. Robin Wright Penn! Yes, indeed. Robin Wright Penn, the wife of Sean Penn, was born in Dallas, Texas. If you’ve seen The Princess Bride, you know her. You might have also seen her as “Jenny” in Forrest Gump, and she has been in a host of other films.

The Princess Bride was a movie that my young ‘uns and I watched over and over. I still love to watch it, and my husband and I have been known to quote phrases from it.

“Did you get to meet her?” I asked. “You didn’t say ‘As you wish’ to her did you?”

“No, Mom.” he said with just a touch of disdain. “That’s something you would do. Sure, I met all the cast and crew. They used my kitchen to cook a meal and someone stole my furikake.” [note: Furikake is a hard to find Japanese seasoning...Matt loves it for flavoring his vegetarian meals.]

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but was it worth it?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied. “Now I can tell everybody that Princess Buttercup peed in my toilet.”

Hey, not everybody can say that! Not everybody would want to!

I’ve thought about this incident for awhile, but couldn’t find the link to the film they made. It was an artsy fartsy little film, but interesting. It had been on-line for awhile, then they took it down. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to find “Max” on a YouTube video, so I can share it with you. Remember, I said it’s artsy fartsy. But, that’s my kid’s apartment (and his dishes!).

No, I haven’t had much of a brush with celebrity. But, last week I got to be a celebrity!

That’s right.

I was standing in line at Starbucks one morning. I needed a coffee fix, and it was early. I hadn’t taken time to get on my makeup or my performance clothes. In fact, I don’t think I brushed my hair. I was in a strange town, so I didn’t expect to see anyone I knew. I just fell out of bed and headed out the door.

I was chatting with the woman next to me in line, and she said, “You look familiar.”

“I don’t live around here,” I said. “I come down for two weeks every year to tell stories in the middle schools.”

She pointed at me and jumped up and down. “Kahla Middle School two years ago!” she squealed. “You told stories to my daughter’s class and I was there. Oh, that ghost story about the bed was awesome!”

I was puffing up with pride. Then, she said, “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. And, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Sigh.

There is no such thing as a “famous storyteller.” Like “jumbo shrimp,” “sympathetic lawyer,” and “military intelligence,” those words are an oxymoron.

But, just in case I might be recognized, I probably should start brushing my hair before I go out into the wide world. Only a moron would fall out of bed and head out to greet her public without taming the moptop. The celebrity needs to brush!

Technorati Tags: San Francisco, Princess Bride, Robin Wright Penn, Max