The Grinch, little hecklers and whitewashing

- A delightful evening with the Fun Girls seeing "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!" - the national touring company's "show on the road" at The Fabulous Fox Theater.  A favorite moment:  when the audience was invited to sing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" with the lyrics displayed on colorful pull down banners and flipped over pillows.  :)

- The actor Stefan Karl as The Grinch was as Grinchily Grinch-like as one could want.  Another favorite moment:  he just couldn't seem to spit out the word Christmas when he was trying to say Merry Christmas to The Whos and the children in the audience started calling out "Christmas!"  He heckled them back with glaring mock sternness saying, "Where are your parents!!!"

- It's the 176th birthday of another famous American curmudgeon, Mark Twain.  Check out the Google home page today for Tom Sawyer supervising the painting over of the Google logo.  :)   Mark Twain on finding just the right word, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

7 x 7 Link Award, memory lane and thank you

My friend Sara from a sharing connection gave me this award.  You are supposed to pick 7 posts that fit the following categories.  Wow - that was hard!  I have had 980 posts, so I had to utilize memory and stats to come up with good responses. 

And I am supposed to award this to 7 other bloggers.  It's just too hard to choose, so I say any of you should use this as good blog history material and do it.  Thanks Sara!  You are a peach.  And thank you to all who come here so faithfully.  Here goes:

1. Most Beautiful Post:  Darkness into light, good neighbor and anniversary.  You thought I would choose one of those mountain / river posts, didn't you?  I have to walk around the back of the building I work in most mornings to get in since the front door is locked until 8:30am and happened upon this beautiful sky one morning.  It fit well with the quote, too. 
2. Most Popular Post:  Shadows and light, a red one and just right.  This post has the second most page views of all time and I don't know why, but it has a gorgeous memory for me.  My mom couldn't wait to get home to model that red coat for my father.  She knew he would love it and he did. 
3. Most Controversial Post:  I stay away from controversy on this blog.  I mean - seriously, there's enough controversy in this world, so I just want you to leave my blog with a peaceful feeling or having had a chuckle.  But I'll say this one:  Tribute, accent and ridin' music since Mr C's got that quote a little bit wrong.  :)  See Riot Kitty's comment.
4. Most Helpful Post: How to live to be 100.  I like this advice so much that I've reposted it a few times. 
5. Most Surprisingly Successful Post:  Thomasville, downtown and brick paved streets from January 24, 2011. This one had a lot of page views.  I like it because it features my new adopted home town - Thomasville, Georgia.  I saw a framed cross stitched piece recently that said, "Home is where my Mom is."  And so, Thomasville is a little bit home to me.  I love that downtown area, the park adjacent to the rose garden and the lovely people.
6. Most Underrated Post:  Treat, games and lovely.  Underrated isn't quite the word because it was significant to me.  It didn't have a photo and there was only one comment, but it was the first comment I had from my darling friend Jannie Funster.  Jannie says she utilized that button at the top of the Blogger blogs that says "Next Blog" and happened upon this post. So Jannie was my first regular commenter and I know most of you because of her and seeing your comments on her blog and then others'.  Thanks Jannie Muffin!
7. Most Pride-worthy Post:  This Is Yours, family gathering and new message - I was delighted that a rock band asked me to help them with printed props for their video.  I sent the link to the video shown in this post to my nieces and nephew and one niece reported seeing it featured on Entertainment Tonight.  :)

The big day, score and hanging of the greens

 - Thanksgiving day at my cousin's home in Fayetteville, Georgia was all that I thought it would be.  Favorite moments:  41 relatives cramming into the den to hold hands and bless the food, two little third cousins "playing the piano" and taking requests for songs, the delicious praline pumpkin cheesecake that all of us had spotted in the November issue of Southern Living.  Yum.

 - Telling my cousin how much I loved the crunchy "bread and butter" pickles and scoring a jar to bring home.  :)

- And a few minutes ago, my own hanging of the greens on my front door.  It has little white lights in it and I love walking up to my door after dark and seeing it lit up and glowing.

I've heard an awful lot about "Black Friday", but it will be golden for me.  (The time and weather app on my new computer cracked me up with its black background.) :) I have the day off and I'm about to light the fireplace and have coffee.  I hope you all have a golden weekend, too, my friends.

Portrait, ridin' music and Thanksgiving

- A delightful young visitor to the office drew a picture of coworker Brenda standing inside a rainbow.

- Hearing "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers on the car radio and not remembering why I love that tune in particular, just that I do.

- My cousin tells the final count for Thanksgiving dinner, 41 in all this year.   And 10 are elsewhere this year.  I am thankful for them and for all of you.  Happy Thanksgiving - even if you live outside the US.  Peace.

Bounty, looking forward to that and breakfast

- My church used to share its sanctuary with a first generation Slavic congregation who met there in the afternoon; they moved into their own space a couple of years ago. But the first Sunday-before-Thanksgiving they were with us, we walked into the church that morning and found a lovely surprise; a harvest display, much like this one. Since then our chancel guild has kept the tradition alive and the food is donated to a nearby food co-op. It's always a little thrill to see it again each year.

- My big volunteer job within my church will come to an end in December. I ask the woman I took it over from two years ago if she misses it. She smiles and says, "Like my grandmother used to say, sometimes the missing is pleasant."

- There are a few sandwiches left from an evening meeting and I spot two halves of pimento cheese on the tray. I snag them - they are what's for breakfast and will be sizzling on the griddle to make the bread golden brown and the cheese melty. A little indulgence on Thanksgiving week. :)

Score, home for the holiday and animal haven

- I admired this fake pumpkin (one of three) on the sale counter at Rite Aid Pharmacy. They were originally $19.95, but were now half off. The manager walked by and said he'd sell all three to me for $15. I said, "How about one for $5?" Sold. :)

- A young man's face lighting up when he says he will go home to be with his family in Nashville for Thanksgiving next week.

- The new black cat at my hairdresser's home has the whimsical name of Stash Kardashian (because he looks as if he has a white mustache.) He was skittish and living in the woods before; they would just see flashes of him and their dog Bingo was always barking at him. One cold morning, his wife found Stash asleep in Bingo's bed in the salon. (He snuck in through the dog door.) She slipped in and put some canned food and water next to him and was gradually able to win his trust. They are kind and extremely fun people, so the kitty picked a good home and Bingo is relieved that he doesn't have to bark at him anymore.

I hope you encounter extreme fun and kindness this weekend, my friends. I hope it's a lovely one!

Giving thanks, paper turkey and protection

- The Thanksgiving card we are sending to our printing clients. A lovely idea (not mine) for a day that celebrates giving thanks and is one of my favorite days of the year because I get to see all my family at once.

- Coworker Tony helping his young granddaughter make "feathers" for her paper turkey she is to take to school. He suggested using colorful fall leaves and cutting them into feather shapes.

- He says he sent her to the fenced in back yard to get the leaves. She went to the back door, opened it and said, "Poppie?" "Yes, baby?" "It's dark out." "You'll be OK." "But what if there are raccoons out there?" "There aren't any - it's fenced in." "Poppie?" "Yes, baby?" "Will you go with me?" Me: "So did you go with her?" Of course he did. :)

View from the heart tower and a lake, parts 1 & 2

- I'm having computer issues at home, so looked at old blog posts for my photo this morning. This was the view of sunrise from the "heart tower" at the Macon Medical Center is central Georgia - taken two years ago today. So lovely that heart patients (and their caregivers) get to have an uplifting view like this when they are awakened way too early.

- Niece Amanda took these two photos of the lake on the property in which she works in the Florida panhandle. I tend to think it was a sunset rather than a sunrise. She is not known for early rising.

- "Who so loves believes the impossible." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Advertising, the main draw and bright spot

- Spotted on the way in to work yesterday morning - a line from "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" in which they were talking about alluring cologne. :) No - I didn't recognize it - I Googled. :)

- Later, while driving through the Georgia Institute of Technology, this sign. I guess they're smart hunks, too. :)

- And stopping to pick up a Cuban sandwich for lunch on the way back to the office, this sign made me chuckle. The fedora wearing owner has so much infectious enthusiasm, he makes he want to go there all the time.

Sometimes I call something that makes me chuckle a good thing (especially during a busy day like yesterday.) I hope you find lightheartedness around you this weekend, too. Have a great one!

Rhapsody, early birds and kissing the phone

Spaghetti Junction from the ground - from Google images

Spaghetti Junction from the air - from Google images

- This is the Tom Moreland Interchange in Atlanta (known colloquially as Spaghetti Junction.) I take it in the morning to go from I-285 to I-85 South on the way to work. On Tuesday morning, my late father's favorite music came on just as I was pulling out of my driveway, "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin. And the most soaring part of the piece was playing as I went over the top of this interchange.

- On the same trip, there were about 20 pigeons lined up in a row on the guardrail at the top of it, having a look at oncoming traffic below.

- My wee niece is staying with her grandparents while her parents are moving their belongings to a new home in another city. She asks to call her parents and then doesn't say anything - just smiles and listens. At the end of the last call, she still doesn't say anything, but starts kissing the phone when she hears their voices.

Sun dappled, big save and sucked in

- Arriving home earlier than usual and finding the sun dappling through the trees breathtaking.

- Making my "dish" - eggplant parmesan - for friends. One friend keeps me company in the kitchen and, as I tend to get a little distracted, saves me from forgetting to put the second layer of eggplant in. :)

- Starting a book that my urban book club selected, "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay and getting sucked in with the first line, "This is what happened."

My pleasure, great service and the goodbye girl

A windy drizzly day, but the trees sure are beautiful...

- The upside of having a cold all week is going by Chick-fil-A for chicken noodle soup at lunchtime. Delicious. But the best thing, they respond to your request at the drive-through-ordering-thing with "My pleasure." And say it again when I thank them as they hand out the soup at the window.

- Stopping by the Wal-Mart car service center for an oil change and an employee who is off duty, and only there to pick up his paycheck, rings me up at the counter because he spotted me waiting. More excellent customer service.

- My client, who I usually see at her home, brings her baby into the printing company. Wee Claire immediately waves and says, "bye bye" to me, since I am the one always leaving.

Sometimes it's the little things that will make my day, like hearing "my pleasure" or someone who goes out of their way to help. And a cute baby never hurts. I hope good things happen to you this weekend - let me know in a comment if they do.

The fabric, lucky day and that's what it's all about

- Passing miles and miles of cotton growing in south Georgia last weekend, many times seeing it growing up to a farmhouse's front door. I never get tired of gazing at it - it's a big deal down there.

- A client I visit at her home has made too much soup and sends me off with a ziplock bag of it. It's a thick tomato soup with pasta in it and just the ticket for lunch back at the office for a gal with a cold.

- A quote that I like: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects the wind; the realist adjusts the sails.