Hey there everybody; it's been awhile, ain't it. Was just talking to GrandmaV last night, and she reminded me that it's been eons since I've been on our little family blog. As far as what's going on here, things are pretty much normal. Crashing at the in-laws 'til our lives get straightened out, with me missing AK and Erin missing CA... good times. There is a possibility that I'll be working for TSA soon, so better money, steadier work, crappier job, but at least we'll be able to get ahead. Erin should be done with her school in about a month and a half, so she'll be able to get a decent job too (I hope). If you receive a password reset e-mail from blogger, just ignore it as it's been so long I forot my password. I might be doing some fashion photography for a friend of mine soon, and I'll toss the pictures up here for critique. Only other news I have right now is that I'm finally quitting smoking (one day at a time). At any rate, will be updating you guys more frequently now, so if'n you don't hear from me, just send somone to slap me around a little bit.

my cats are mad at me. i don't think they like being moved around all the time and they definitely don't like the cold or when they don't get enough to eat. but i'm going to give feather a can of tuna cat food because tuna is her very favorite. machina wont touch the stuff. so for her, maybe i'll put her on top of the fridge or something.

hanks show went very well in NYC last night. which was a much needed morale boost after their drummer quit the band this weekend.

i'm going to hang out with dogs today and cook myself a wonderful vegan meal. watch some cable and read my national geographic. hope to talk to family today. call me!

love and thanks to everyone and thanks for snow!!! yay

maya

A beautiful day in the neighborhood. But winter br-r-r-r- is on its way. I'm deeply involved in the annual orgy of cooking: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, waldorf salad, ambrosia salad, two sorts of cranberry relish, green bean casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie, oh yum. I'm thinking we should go the Grand Canyon on Friday if Fran and Bill want to. I've e-mailed Matt Trail asking him to join us. He lives near Phoenix now and Tom told me he's not planning to travel to Nebraska.

I'll try to post a photo of last Thanksgiving in our house on the Rez, just Vern and me. So long ago.

Maya, have you heard of Canyoneers? They are less expensive that OARS and are featuring a restored Neville's dory. I want a really good trip but mostly I just want to go messing around with boats.

This above all gratitude and love for the universe and everything in it.

Hi people. The cat enzyme/pheromone substance is called Feliway. I use it in diffusers plugged into electrical outlets -- two downstairs and one up. I think it helps to keep the peace (we have seven cats in about 800 sq. ft. of living space) and reduce stress from overcrowding. It's pricey but I honestly think it works. At least for my guys -- all neutered, all totally indoor cats.
I really liked the ice pictures. I couldn't pick up the poster from Photobucket. What am I doing wrong?

Brother Tom called today for a really long conversation. He's sounding really good. He's birdwatching and making walking canes from diamond willow. Google it up -- really outstanding. His boy Matthew lives in Tempe (near Phoenix) and Tom suggested I invite him for Christmas. Which I will do.

I found turkey necks for sale at the supermarket, $0.59 per pound, which I'm slow-cooking for supper and to make stock to use at Thanksgiving.

Michael's birthday tomorrow. Unbelievable. The world has changed so much in 46 years. For better? For worse? Hard to say.

What am I thankful for? Family. Health. Possibility. The world wide web. Abundance. The great western rivers flowing .....

Love -- VBT

New Poster for Parts and Labor Collective

mom, love the pix, love to see you back. Just spoke with maya, and she is going to do a really quick turnaround to spend t-day with us, so we can relax and be sooo thankful! Michael and Ayla get turkey and fixins, and Maya and I get to be tofu-creative. Most stuff is shared, like yams and salads and cranberry stuff, just the entree, stuffing and gravy will be unshared.

Hank and she will come down a couple days after xmas and spend a few days, i hope.

i am at work, off to lunch, am gigging with my jam-buddies down at an art opening at Lick Creek Saloon or Country Store or something. Oh - General Store, that's what it is. Kevin is showing his paintings, mom. Isn't that cool? He sends his affection: he really enjoyed meeting you!

Things are calm, whether in a smooth part of the river or caught in one of those backwater eddies I do not know!

Zaadz is ablaze with a new seeding system that has lots of folks uproaring. You might check it out, Mom!

off to lunch, back for paperwork, clients, slam into high gear and get me down to the Lick Creek Corral - yee haw!

hehe ;-)

http://chickencrap.com/specials/arctic.htm

just some really cooooOOOOOOooool pix!

Flagstaff Friday morning. We had a major catfight last night with bold cats picking on shy, reclusive cats. It made some major noise and resulted in some ba-a-a-d cats being shut into spare rooms. I've been placing Feliway dispensers around the house to counteract this problem and upon checking this morning found that one dispenser is out of substance. So I remedied that. One internet site recommend more hiding spots so I'll try to rectify that today. Bright spot: no spraying. A very good thing.

Speaking of catfights -- I watched the CNN Dem candidate "debate" last night. I really really like Joe Biden best but I hope that whoever wins the nomination and hopefully the election has the good sense to appoint Biden Sec'y of State. The candidates look tired -- we need a better primary system.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? We are staying here; Fran and Bill are coming from Farmington. I bought the turkey yesterday, and sweet potatoes and cranberries, yum. Love you all.

Lovely morning in Flagstaff, cold, clear. I built a fire in the Franklin stove to take the chill off. I post while breakfast cooks -- fried apples, snoqualmie falls oatmeal. This post is to break the ice and get into the mood of posting, communicating ..... The inset photo is something I found on the web which I really really like. Have a great day everyone. :-)

hey, here's a really cool link to PostSecrets. It changes every week. There is quite a bit of fizz here!