Last Day of Political Calls- WHEW!!!

Holy Cow!!! My phone has rung off the hook for weeks now, and between polling calls or recorded messages from politicians running for office both locally and nationally...I am ready to hank my phone cord right out of the wall!!! Tomorrow is the big day, when America will go to the polls in what I would expect to be quite high turnouts on both sides of the fence.  It seems as if based on the news, it will be a very tight race with a narrow margin of winning for the man who ends up on top, and in the Oval Office come January.  It will be interesting to watch on the television tomorrow as the numbers come in from the different states beginning with the east coast and ending late in the night with the west coast poll results.  My hope is everyone who is able to vote, DOES!!! My opinion is you can't complain if you didn't vote!  

It is well known that there are several states which are considered "battleground" states; and mine in North Carolina is one of them.  They have driven me nuts, to the point that I am borderline rude because I just have about had all I can tolerate.  I have even told a very nice polite young man who asked me about voting for his candidate, (which was not mine by the way) that there was literally NOTHING he could possibly say that would remotely ever change my mind.  Then he made the mistake of asking me why!  Poor thing, but I wasn't mean, just matter of fact on my issues with his candidate.  I am sure he was shaking his head when he hung up from me, and maybe even was reconsidering his volunteering :)

I feel it is safe to say, just about everyone except the hermit which lives in a tent in the mountains and doesn't have television or internet access, everyone at least has some sort of opinion at this point.  Whether it be to vote for Obama, Romney, or write in their own name because they don't believe either one can get the job done, LOL!  At this point, of course I am pulling for who I feel is the best man for the job, but geeze louise, just get it over with already!  I'm tired of hearing about it, and would much rather hear how Joe Shmo in Hollywood got pulled over for a DUI or Suzie Q got herself a tummy tuck. It is almost done and over with, what else can you do now,  but you guessed it...smile and just move on ;)

Don't forget Thanksgiving comes between Halloween and Christmas

I don't know about you, but I am starting to feel like Thanksgiving is getting left out these days.  Halloween stuff comes out mid-September or earlier, and then come November 1st, Christmas is out and about in the stores...but what happened to that day where we concentrate on being THANKFUL in between getting candy and getting presents?  Now let me say right off the bat, I LOVE CHRISTMAS, and in my car I have listened to Christmas music; but I feel like Thanksgiving is getting squished out.  Now what kind of example is this setting for our kids, get candy-get presents, and squeeze a little thanks in the middle.  And maybe my memory isn’t the best, but I don't remember it being quite this early of a start on Christmas when I was a little girl.  If we got to put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night that would have been the absolute earliest I can ever remember.  Usually it was once December rolled around that we were decking the halls and hanging the stockings.

I want Thanksgiving turkeys to be decorating the stores, and harvest to be the focus.  Then of course, as the end of November approaches, we begin to enjoy the Christmas decorations.  I completely understand hanging your lights and what not while it is still warmer outside, so you don't freeze your hind end off; but don't turn them on yet!!! Put out a horn of plenty, a Turkey wreath on your door, and maybe a few other harvest things around.  Keep hold of your pumpkin stuff a little longer, because after all, pumpkin is a fall harvest fruit.  Yes, a fruit!  So here comes your lesson on pumpkins J

 

A pumpkin is not a vegetable; it's a fruit! In fact, it's a berry. Pumpkins belong to the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and gourds. Within this family is the genus Cucurbita which includes gourds, winter and summer squash, and all varieties of pumpkin. There are four species that are considered "pumpkins," but only one is the species most people would recognize as the traditional pumpkin used for carving jack-o-lanterns and baking pies.  And this is why on Thanksgiving Day we serve pumpkin pie, because before there was canned pumpkin, people had to use the fruits and veggies harvested at the time for meals and desserts.  This could lead me to a whole different direction about eating what is in season…but I will save that rant for another post. 

I totally realize my opinion won’t stop the media, marketing, and over advertising of Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I did want to make mention of it today along with my pumpkin lesson.  What else can I do but smile and just move on ;)

Post Halloween Candy Hangover

Halloween is over, the candy has been given out, some eaten...OK, a bunch eaten, and now the candy hangover is being felt by teachers and parents all over the nation. Getting those little darlings up this morning bright and early for school was just shy of a joke.  Then actually getting them ready, fed, and to the bus stop was nothing short of a miracle. Keeping them from eating candy for breakfast was, well probably unsuccessful! But hey, they are the school systems problem for the next 6 1/2 hours right?  Bus drivers are the first, other than family, to meet and greet these cutie pies all hungover from sugar overload, and I'm certain it may have been a bumpy ride on the way into school this morning.

Next, kids show up to school this morning, no longer dressed like zombie's but they sure may be acting like them.  Their poor little systems have been overloaded with so much sugar from the feast last night, their brains are half shut down :)  But who deserves much sympathy this fine post Halloween day? TEACHERS!!! They are suffering, and not just because of the damage done last night; but all of the candy being secretly eaten before and during school today; and the next several days!!!  If you have ever been a teacher in the classroom, you totally know what I am talking about.  It is like those little angels are suddenly taken over by alien candy dead-brained beings...and don't even think about scheduling a quiz or test the day after Halloween.  This creates several things: A. A lack of studying from your students, B. The difficulty grading those quizzes because of the large number of wrong answers due to A., and C. Having to give extra credit or a retake, thus causing...you guessed it, more grading on your part.  You get the point ;)  Every teacher sighs in relief as the students are dismissed to their appropriate rides home.

This is when the poor bus drivers get hammered a second time today.  Can you image driving a whole busload of kids screaming, fighting, jumping around, and acting wild and crazy?  I sometimes want to jump out of my own van with only my two kids picking at one another.  The idea of multiplying that by 30 or so, is beyond my comprehension and patience to say the least!! Then finally, at the bus drivers reprieve, everyone is delivered back home safe and sound.  Now, instead of heading right to the homework, kids are heading straight to the candy stash AGAIN!!! And the cycle repeats itself until all of the candy is either eaten, or the parents toss it out when no one is looking!! Well, and of course the candy we parents sneak from the candy harvest that was gathered last night.  We have a duty to help with the consumption right?  After all we did walk the streets to get that goodness too!!!  What else can we do until the candy is gone? You already know, smile and just move on...