New Wednesday, new prospective president

[Nasoosie]

Good morning, all.

I will refrain from commenting on the election as I can't stand the thought of having any debates going on at this early hour! Suffice it to say that I am happy the whole shebang is over for now.

Warm again this morning---no need for a woodfire here. Supposed to get back up into the 60s again by this afternoon! Molly and I took a good long walk on the ski trails yesterday afternoon and discovered that they are once again bare in the open field areas where the sun has melted the snow, but that I can still ski in the shaded woodsy areas! (Still about 4 to 5 inches of snow in the woods.)

I am having some of my leftover chocolate-raspberry truffle coffee this morning, and preparing to take a hot bath.

I LOVED reading the posts about the GTG in TX, and the photos on there are GREAT! I hope I have time after my bath to see what has been added since yesterday. Thanks to all of you who let us share in your good times!

Hope you all have a fun day!

[Cedar518]

Good Morning Soos! Thanks to you, our very, very, early-bird for keeping Zeee's Morning Coffee going in her absence!

I have to tell you that my drive to vote yesterday was spectacular,... I drive ten miles east to the hamlet where my polling place is. Then at daybreak I drove ten miles south to where I work. That part of the drive was along the shore of Lake Champlain as the sun was coming up over Vermont,... the sun was huge and peach colored and it turned the sky and water all golden/peach colored. And silly me..... i didn't have my camera!

Have a great day everyone,....

[Echo]

Goooood Morning!!

Well I have risen but I aint shining! Been guzzling coffee and it hasn't worked yet either. The coffee had better work or I might be in big trouble today. Got good sleep last night, just would have liked more of it this morning.

I worked an hour over last night, Kelly worked just short of an hour and a half. Today we have to start doing mandatory 2hrs overtime each night until further notice and 8hrs of overtime on our weekends off. ~sigh~ Went to WalMart after work, Kelly needed to return a pair of jammie pants she bought then decided she didn't want. Have no idea what all she might have ended up buying? I was a really big spender! Got Tylenol, Glucosamine, toothpaste, a new toothbrush, new box of Q-tips and something else but have forgotten already. HA And I got my hair cut! Whoa!!! It's shorter than I think I have ever gotten it cut before. I have always wanted to grow my hair out to where I could sit on it. I've come within probably 5" of doing that? But just never quite made it all the way. Well I sure wont make it now. A bug would be able to sit on my hair now but it sure wouldn't be able to get lost in my hair. But it's sure gonna be easy to take care of and a bottle of shampoo will now last me a LONG, LONG time. I either have to keep my hair long enough to tie it back or short enough that I don't have to worry about it. There is no in-between for me, I can not stand to have my hair in my eyes or face.

Well it's time I go check out my email, comics and get around ready for work. blech!

Hope everyone has a great day and be sure to stay safe.

Love to all

[rvgrammy1953]

Good Morning.....it's 6:30am here and I just walked outside a little....the only lights on here at the GTG are Jill's (sunseeker) & Tommy's and ours....everyone else is still in bed.... Have the door open cause it's a little warm and humid....temp. 67.....

Boy, what a party!!!! We ate, drank, and laughed!!!!! And talked and laughed some more!!! But believe it or not...true to our pattern here, we were all cleaned up and in the rigs a little after 9PM

Today, we all travel to San Antonio for some site-seeing....of course, we'll all take the cameras along and bring you all with us via the internet....stay tuned...

[Fernie]

I woke up early and pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt and headed to town to pick up a newspaper. I knew I had to get one early or they would be gone. Shorts was a little breezy since it was only 39 here this morning!! LOL Grabbing a cup of coffee to warm me up now. I finally discovered one thing I miss about going to work----after 3 1/2 years of being retired. Coming home from town, I couldn't help but remember the early mornings driving to work with the orange of the sun behind the mountain just starting to creep above the mountain. I always enjoyed that driving to work---if I had to go to work!! LOL Gotta head over to the campfire and see if Janice cleaned out the wall partying last night after the election!!! We may have to restock the wall from scratch!! ROFLMBO!!!!

[Fernie]

I woke up early and pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt and headed to town to pick up a newspaper. I knew I had to get one early or they would be gone. Shorts was a little breezy since it was only 39 here this morning!! LOL Grabbing a cup of coffee to warm me up now. I finally discovered one thing I miss about going to work----after 3 1/2 years of being retired. Coming home from town, I couldn't help but remember the early mornings driving to work with the orange of the sun behind the mountain just starting to creep above the mountain. I always enjoyed that driving to work---if I had to go to work!! LOL I Gotta head over to the campfire and see if Janice cleaned out the wall partying last night after the election!!! We may have to restock the wall from scratch!! ROFLMBO!!!!

[asirimarco]

GOOD MORNING !! iSN'T IT A WONDERFUL DAY no more election ads - begining to think the day would never come. The elections end was my best birthday present and I will gladly share with everyone.
Boy does oldtimers set in overnight??? I tried signing in three times before I realized I was spelling my username wrong - only had it for 45 years.
Supposed to be nice here today and tomorrow and then winter is supposed to come. Guess I'll start cleaning the house in anticipation of our departure which gets closer every day. Spent last week setting up everything for e-billing and e-paying and vacation suspension. Why can't every one let you use the password and user name you want to use so you can remember them. By now I have so many I'll never be able to remember them and get anything done.
Just how short is your hair? Mine has finally grown to the point that I'm thinking of getting it cut again - but not at the same place.
Enjoy reading all about the Texas get together - wish we could have been there. would love to finally meet some of you in person.
Guess I'd best check the rest of the site - didn't get a chance to yesterday as the internet decided not to cooperate. Was also busy setting up Bill's new laptop.

[Liz]

Good morning from the TX gtg. Jill brought the Biscotti that Barbzee gave her in NJ. Thanks, Barbzee, sure wish you could be here with us!

[Sunseeker]

Did all you GTG ladies enjoy Barbzeee's biscotti with your coffee this morning? I never had it till I met Barb, then I had to hide it on myself after that...you are all very lucky it made it to Texas! Glad I could share. Well, the coffee pot is empty here and it's time to get ready for our San Antonio adventure.

Have a good day ladies, we'll be thinking of you.

[Bethers]

And a quick gm from me and Peaches. We were up about 7:30 - but by the time we did a walk along the river, and then stopped and gossiped with Jill, Tommy and Lori - I needed to head inside to take a shower to get ready for our leave-taking to SA. Just wanted to stop in quick and get a hi in now - otherwise, you'll be seeing me after all the others head to bed - as I'm still a night owl most nights.

Have fun all!

[oregontocal]

Well, I AM going to mention the election and the results. I use my TV only for watching DVDs, so missed all of the hype, nastiness, name-calling, and whatever else passed for campaigning. I fully supported Obama and am immensely pleased with his landslide victory. It gives me new hope that perhaps we can turn this country around again. There has been so much talk in past years and elections about "returning to "family values," and things like that. And that's fine as long as we're sure we know what and whose values those might be. However, IMHO, those "values" have turned into being good little consumers, going into debt to buy the latest things advertised as "needs," blindly lock-stepping to demands from the political machine in Washington D.C. in order to support an unpopular war with no conceivable end in the near future, a war that has taken the lives of TOO many of our sons and daughters, a completely unnecessary war, one we were led into by false information.

To me, there's only one way to go from here: up. And, it's up to us as American citizens with brains to use those brains and think for ourselves. The current economic, social, political, and military catastrophes have been coming for a long time--they're not just recent things. And we have allowed them to happen. It's time to take back our country by spending less time shopping and more time letting our leaders know what we need, making sure they do what we elected them to do, asking for and expecting accountability. We no longer have the option of sitting back and going along with whatever others think is best for us.

I expressed to Janice in a PM how much I appreciated her working on Obama's campaign, and I'd like to thank anyone else who got out there and worked in any way for whatever candidate you supported, and all of you who took the time to vote. That's the only way our country will work.

Okay, off the soapbox now. I've always been a very political person, one who can't be afraid to express my political opinions and beliefs just because there are some who might disagree with me. Disagreement opens up conversation, and conversation leads to honesty.

[Redetotry]

Cris, You say “Disagreement opens up conversation, and conversation leads to honesty.”

As someone who has the old fashioned opinion that ones political position is not something one discusses I wonder, when you open a political conversation becasuse of a disagreement are you seeing the conversation as an opportunity to learn why the person has his opinion or to bring the other person around to your point of view? I don't see how a conversation opened by a disagreement could lead to honesty especially regarding ones political opinion. Is one who opposes your political opinion not honest!?

[Bethers]

To support what Chris says - I, too, was brought up to discuss politics, religion, any subject. I have learned over the years that the debates that are sparked by this can teach me a lot - and can even make me rethink my views. How else can we learn? Without this debate, some people would continue to believe one way or another without possibly seeing other sides or points of view.

Now, wherein the problem lies, is when people think that because you have different points of view, it means that the other person is wrong or bad. I don't ever think that - and believe me, I have got into some heated political debates in my years - or religious debates. OMG, I am not Catholic, but worked for awhile for Catholic charities - where I counseled problem high school kids. It was a very rewarding job. But the priest who headed the academy and I had some very different views on religion. There was more than one occasion we actually would almost be yelling at each other - but at the end of the day/night, we would give each other a big hug - and he would then tell me, "my child, I fear for you - you are so smart and talented, and you will learn" LOL - and I would say to him "I hope one day you can understand where I am coming from". During the course of the year these debates went on, I truly believe both of us softened in our beliefs - and both of us learned a lot. Never once did we disrespect the other for the opposing views, or dislike each other for them.

And that is what I believe is the crux - respecting the other's views, no matter whether you agree with them or not. And being open to really listening to what they have to say. If any of you say Boston Legal on Monday night - 2 of the attorneys basically got into a fight over the presidential election - and then used that to tell everyone to make sure they voted in this election.

OK - enough from me - some of you wouldn't have wanted to eat at the dinner table with my family growing up - oh my we had some discussions you wouldn't believe. And as much as we debated, I learned as a child that my parents did NOT tell each other who they voted for LOL - said that some debates didn't have to go on forever. (Sometimes it was obvious they were on the same wavelength - as they worked for a few candidates over the years. - Sometimes they were on totally different pages).

[oregontocal]

To add to Beth's excellent reply, I'd just like to add one thing personally. As a chaplain, I've been trained to listen to everyone, to whatever they say (or don't say), no matter what their political, religious, or any other beliefs might be. I try to understand what they're saying, even reading between the lines a little at times. I don't particularly care what a person's beliefs might be, only that they feel free enough to express them without feeling threatened or shut down in any way. My main training and education in ministry and chaplaincy stressed the importance of NOT trying to bring someone around to my point of view, only acknowledging their own as perfectly valid. No, I'm not of the evangelical persuasion and would feel very uncomfortable trying to convert someone to my own religion. I think that applies to politics as well. A caveat: the need to feel free to express my own opinions applies to me as well and I do not hesitate to discuss things like politics or religion. I can't be a member of the so-called "silent majority."