However… I do know that I have many many things to be thankful for, which is why I push myself to make this annual post… sometimes it’s easier to dwell on everything that’s wrong, when if we would just stop and think about it, there are so many things to be thankful for.  So… here goes…

I am eternally grateful and thankful for Steve and Jeanne.  I sometimes feel like a stray dog that got plucked off the streets just in the nick of time.  I can’t begin to convey my thoughts and gratitude for the both of them.  It’s nice to have been adopted into a new family.

I am thankful for both of my sons, who have grown up to be fine young men.  They make me smile, I am so proud of them.

I am thankful beyond words that I got to spend a year living near Sheri, and getting to know her and her family.  Yes, maybe things with my life there weren’t always the greatest, but getting to be around Sheri made it all worthwhile, and something I would choose again.

Obviously, I am so so thankful that all of my parents are still here.  They always seem to know when to pick up the phone, and they have that ageless parental wisdom that I can only hope to pass on to my children.  I love them so much.

And of course, I am thankful for all of my friends, both real life and online.  I have so many of them, and they always surprise me by appearing in my life at the most unexpected times.  It’s nice to feel loved.

Last but not least, I am thankful for Robin.  It’s not easy being apart, and she does have to put up with a lot of grief from me (although I try not to!)… I miss her and love her, and am so grateful to know she’ll always be in my life, one way or another.

Ok… there, I did it.  I really do have lots of things to be thankful for.  I knew I did, just had to think about it a little <g>.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving, and happy holidays, all.

Fenny and Sheri’s dog, Meadow, are having difficulty adapting to each other.  Fen’s pretty miserable here, and I’m not sure why, she’s not usually this hard to please.  I keep reminding myself that she lost her best friend and her boy (Robert, my son), within 24 hours of each other, and then within two weeks of that, we have been in and out of the car, all over town, to the vet’s (she was actually pretty good there), back and forth to here (Sheri’s) a few times, etc.  I feel bad, but I don’t know if there’s anything I can do.

So the original plan was for me to take off on vacation tomorrow after the guy comes out and inspects the house (and gives me my check).  But now I’m worried (again!) about the dog situation.  I feel like if I leave, I’m just dumping the problem on Sheri, and it’s not like I haven’t already dumped enough on her!  (just check  her inventory of cleaning supplies and spices, LOL)

So I’m uneasy… plus I’m more than a little bit worried about driving the Explorer back to San Diego.  Fun times…

If life’s a dance you learn as you go, I feel like I’m learning the Tango with two left feet.

Long ago, when the world wide web first started, many sites carried a logo and statement - “Free speech is a human right”.  As Americans, we frequently crow about our freedoms, we go to war to try to free others, and, sometimes, we take our freedoms for granted.  It may be time to start a grass roots campaign to bring to light that more than anything else, free speech really is a human right.

Nick seems to think that the Russian government is behind the DDoS attack.  That’s terrifying to me.  But beyond that, what is the most terrifying is that millions of people around the world were impacted because of some entity’s desire to silence one person.   Looking at the bright side, though - the next time you think you are too small or insignificant to have an impact on the world, come back and read this post and remember cyxymu, the man that brought social media to its knees simply by exercising his human right of free speech.

Now, please remind me not post, ever again, about a subject that gets Nick thinking, LOL

He’s in Cleveland, and seems to have an affinity for the Cavaliers, Indians, and Browns.  Not being a basketball fan, I know nothing of the Cavs.  The Indians are of course an AL team, so they’ve also stayed off my radar.  And the Browns… what can be said about the Browns?  heh… probably nothing I should write in this post.

Actually, as most of you know, I love talking about just about any sport.  I learned long ago that if you become a sports fan, you have an instant discussion starter with nearly all men, and quite a few women, interestingly enough.  Who knows, by the time football season rolls around again, I may have to break down and get DirectTV or something, so I can become a rabid sports fan again.

I’ve been dj’ing, although my broadcasts aren’t optimal for audiophiles, since my net connect still bites.  I’d been thinking of how to reconnect with my friends and gain more listeners, so I went over to PVP and dedicated an entire Sunday show to them.  OMG it was a blast!  Des, Light, Juice, Connie, and Sav joined us in the chat channel (and Skotty later)… and I swear, I laughed through my entire 3 hour show.  I’m going to do it again this Sunday.

While on IRC, I’ve talked to lots of people about my business… several have expressed an interest, but I’ve always suspected they had ulterior motives (*koff* *choke* I’m not expounding on that).  But today, I picked up a legitimate client - eDataLockDown.com - how cool is that?