From Our House To Yours

Happy Thanksgiving

to each and everyone

of  you from

Steve and Warren

-I am thankful for Steve today. He is my love, my partner & my best friend. He brings love to my life every day. I am grateful for each day together.

It’s The Day Before

-It’s the day before Thanksgiving … and people are traveling and going to the grocery stores buying food – you’d almost think it was the last opportunity they had to get food and to travel – as Thanksgiving 2009 quickly approaches.

-Hello everyone and good morning … welcome to our Wednesday edition of the blog.  Steve and I glad you joined us … to read about our daily lives.

We are thankful for your readership.

-Out in the back yard this morning, 37 cloudy degrees.  The weather forecast for our city and area is: Cloudy. Areas of fog in the morning. A chance of light rain and snow in the morning…then a slight chance of light rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs 37 to 42. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.

Color weather radar does show some snow this morning west of Duluth in central northern Minnesota and extending on over toward North Dakota.

Hopefully the snow will change to rain by the time it gets here or disappear all together.

-Steve went back to work yesterday .. having an extremely busy morning with noon time dead lines – then in the afternoon he and his boss and co-workers went out to view a “new business site” for their company.  Steve’s boss is thinking of moving a to a new and better location … if all goes well they could be moving offices in early to mid January.

It will put Steve about 3 or 4 miles closer to our home … which works for Steve and for me.  His new office would be just off the freeway, with easy access and parking.

-Just a brief history about Thanksgiving … The Pilgrims who sailed to America were originally members of the English Separatist Church. Before going to America they had fled to Holland to escape religious persecution. Although, in Holland, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disillusioned with the Dutch way of life. In the hope of a better life in, they took the help of a London stock company to move out to America. Most of those making this trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.

They reached Plymouth in 1620. There, they had to face a terrible winter. Around 46 of the original 102 had died by the next fall. But fortune turned in their favor and the harvest of the next year was bumper. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast — including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true “thanksgiving” observance. It lasted three days. Governor William Bradford sent “four men fowling” after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term “turkey” was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.

Tomorrow Steve and I and some relatives will be having a Thanksgiving Buffet at Blackwoods on the Lake here in Duluth.  We’ve got reservations and I’m going to pick up the “tab” … it should be a tasty and hopefully enjoyable time for each of us .. as we celebrate all the things we are thankful for.

As I said yesterday on my Facebook page, I’m thankful for the love of God, I’m thankful for my life, I’m thankful for my mom and dad, I’m thankful for my relatives, I’m thankful for wonderful close friends, I’m thankful for my education, I’m thankful for my career, and I am thankful for you because it means that I am loved … but most of all for my partner and the man I love so dearly – my Steve. Steve has made my life so complete, I can’t begin to explain or write here the true feelings I have for him -but suffice it to say at this Thanksgiving 2009, I am very thankful for him and his love for me.

May everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving week, and let’s all be thankful for all the blessings we each have.

-Steve works today and is off tomorrow and then returns to work on Friday … so neither he nor I will be “hitting the shopping malls” on Friday for all the early morning bargains … but I am sure by the time December 25th rolls around (oh and by the way, Christmas is just one month from today) .. we will have purchased all of our Christmas gifts for family and friends.

-On that note, I’m out of here and going to make some breakfast for myself.  It is 5:53 a.m. and Steve will be up in about 22 minutes from now to get ready for another day in his office.  As for me, well … I’ll be here doing my thing.

A thought for this Wednesday, “”The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.”

-Have a great Wednesday guys .. and if for some reason we don’t see you here tomorrow (Thanksgiving) .. Steve and I wish each of you a very “Happy Thanksgiving”.

We Are Back

-What an exciting and fun trip … Steve and I had – and now we are back home after a week of fun, good food, awesome love and great friendship.

-Hello everyone and good morning … It is Tuesday .. the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, 2009.

-Out in our back yard this morning, we have 43 degrees under hazy skies.  Today’s northland weather forecast for our area is calling for: Cloudy with a chance of light rain. Highs 42 to 47. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Later tonight, the weather service is predicting snow.  Yuck.

-We left Wednesday morning … and here’s all it all went:

• We left home and drove to Chicago, Illinois arriving there about 5:00 p.m.
• We went out for pizza Wednesday night
• Thursday we explored the City of Chicago (we’ve been there before) making several stops along the way.  One being  a cute little store called Bears Like Us
• We went to Hot Doug’s on North California, for two of the most awesome hot dogs I think I’ve ever eaten
• Explored up and down Halsted Street on the north side
• Friday we drove from Chicago to Cincinnati, Ohio arriving there about 4:00 p.m.
• We went to the Crown Plaza Hotel where we attended the Horror Hound Convention … and I have to say we both had a great time
• Saturday we were up fairly early, spending the entire day at the Horror Hound Convention … where Steve got autographs, photographs and various purchases
• Some of the Horror Hound stars were Elvira, Tom Atkins, Michael Gross, John Franklin, Jason Lively, Courtney Gains, Steve Marshall, cute little Quinn Lord, Tom Savini, Corbin Bernsen, and Don Calfa…just to mention a few.
• Saturday we ate at Skyline Chili … a so so “burp” experience … but one I won’t forget.  Chili, spaghetti and cheddar cheese .. “burp”
• Sunday we were up very early, leaving Cincinnati, Ohio and driving straight through to St. Paul, Minnesota which took us about 11 hours all total … a great day, a great trip, with a great friend and partner at my side
• Monday we spent just relaxing in St. Paul and Minneapolis, before returning home later in the afternoon.

The weather on our trip was good (except for a few period of rain/fog/drizzle.  Traffic was horrible in Chicago … people are just plain lousy drivers in that city, never signaling when changing lanes, honking horns, driving way beyond the speed limit – you name it, they did it wrong.

Toll roads … what can I say … keep your money handy … you always need it on those darn toll roads.

All in all, it was a fun trip … driving just a little under 2,000 miles – Steve and I saw a lot of good things, a few not to good – but all in all the trip was fantastic and it was good to get aways from our normal everyday life here in Minnesota.  The weather was beautiful in the mid to upper 50’s and we could not have planned for better conditions.

-Reality is back .. Steve’s alarm just went off a few minutes ago – he will be up about 6:15 a.m. for another day of work – and as for me, well I have some clothes to wash and a few things to get caught up on here at home .. pay a few bills and life returns to normal.

I think I’ll head on out to the kitchen and find some breakfast for myself.

-Enjoy this Tuesday … we’re glad you stopped by and joined us this morning … we hope you each have a great day.

We’ll see you back here tomorrow, about the same time.

On Vacation

On Vacation