Thanksgiving has come and gone once again. This year, the holiday was a tad bittersweet.

• We didn't travel - which was nice.
  
• But, that means that we didn't see Dan's family in Philadelphia. Although he's been down to visit a few times this Fall, I haven't seen them since the 4th of July.
• We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Don & George (note: this photo was from our D-List Bears group Halloween outfits and has nothing to do with Thanksgiving!!), who have a wonderful Italianate home in Westerlo, NY - just 20 minutes from our house.
• But, we missed seeing our friends Sean & Jeffrey, both of whom are under the weather - Sean in particular is battling significant intestinal issues of as yet undefined origin. We had hoped to all be able to get together for a festive holiday gathering. We'll just have to do it later...
• I had Friday off from work! We avoided the "black Friday" shopping orgy by mostly doing things around the house & yard - like cleaning out bird houses, putting away hoses for the winter, putting up a bat house on a dead tree in our back yard, and putting up some outside holiday lights. We also got a squirrel feeder today that I expect we'll put up tomorrow - although we haven't quite decided where yet. We expect hours of enjoyment watching squirrels lift the lid to get at peanuts.

In other news... our friend Jim Dewey had a birthday on the 21st (I won't mention that it was 44!) We haven't been able to get hold of him (other than his answering machine & voice mail) to say "Happy Birthday" yet... but, that was only one significant feature of last Wednesday for Jim. It was also the last day working at his "old" job - that he's been at for several years. He's moving on... into an office job - with full benefits! His previous job was with a smaller company and providing full benefits just wasn't financially feasible for them. But, that's just not a tenable situation for anyone to be in... so we're very happy that he's found an alternative. He starts on Monday in his new job - we wish him the best (and hope to talk to him soon!).

Finally... I'm starting to think about my upcoming trip to South Africa. I'm heading there for work. I'm looking forward to the adventure (if not the hours - and hours - of travel)... but will certainly miss Dan, Sam & Dusty, and our friends while I'm far away for a week or so. More on this later.

Voorheesville, NY