Thankful at Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for at Thanksgiving this year. Below is my list of what I'm thankful for.

1. A loving wife who puts up with me, my messes, and all of my "oddities."

2. A dog that runs to the door every time I come home.

3. Festive decorations in my apartment all year long

4. A family that loves me.

5. Friends that keep in touch even though I live 4 hours away.

6. A job that allows me to pay the bills and occasionally splurge on something.

7. A cat that purrs when she seems me after a long day.

8. The "Thanksgiving Turkey" gifts that I still receive.

9. Sundays that I can just sit on the couch with Jen and watch movies and relax.

10. Co-workers that keep me sane during a work day.

11. Emailing my friends throughout the day about absolutely nothing important or relevant at all.

12. The knowledge that one day I'll look back at this time in my life and realize how great we really have it.

Sick Season

I got up this morning feeling slightly congested but not too bad. I went through my morning routine and took some cold medicine. About the time I got to work, I felt sick to my stomach. I was abruptly sent home.

The nice thing about my new job is you can actually take a sick day without being scrutinized for it. My previous employer, both in Alabama and Tennessee,looked at taking a sick as not being a team player. If you can walk you can work was basically the mentality. I'm not someone who calls in sick for any given reason. However, I am someone who thinks that working when you sick is bad for customer service and for getting better. Everyone at work told me that they didn't want whatever they had and sent me home.

Ironically, yesterday I got a flu shot hoping to avoid any major illness this winter. The flu shot was kind of awkward because I got it in a room with several tables and everyone could see you getting the shot. The problem was I was wearing a button down dress shirt. So for the nurse to get to my arm I had to unbutton most of my shirt in front of everyone there. Slightly awkward for me and the rest of the bank employees getting a flu shot yesterday.

So now I'm home laying in the bed with Taylor and Emma. I don't know if they can sense when you don't feel well, but they have been sitting with me since I've been home. It's kind of nice to have some company while Jen is at school.

I'm also revisiting watching some daytime tv. I was very disappointed to find out that my current cable package does not include the sleuth network. I was very excited to watch some Magnum PI, however that did not work out. I have watched a couple episodes of Las Vegas in between sleeping and being sick.

Homecoming

Yesterday was homecoming for my alma matre, The University of Tennessee. Homecoming is always a game I try to make it to. I graduated college three years ago, so Homecoming is kind of a tradition Jen and I have started.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. In the morning my dad and I went out and played some tennis. I'm starting to get my groundstrokes back the more I hit. For those of you that don't know, I'm trying to get back in to playing tennis. There is a local league starting in January and my goal is to get to a point where I can play competitively in my division. So Dad and I put in about an hour of practice yesterday.

After that I donned my orange and white and Jen and I headed to the game. A friend of my dad's gave us his tickets. The seats were awesome. We were on the 15 yard line, 40 rows back, in seats with cushions and backs already on them. It was the perfect place to watch an unperfect execution of Tennessee football. For anyone that didn't see the news yesterday, Tennesse lost it's homecoming game to the Wyoming Cowboys. Yeah - SEC football at it's finest.

After the game we headed to Litton's for a great dinner. TN football and Litton's are two things I miss in Birmingham.

Today we are toting all our Christmas decorations back home that we stored up here. Next weekend will begin the Christmas decorations holiday extravaganza at the Brooks Household. I will post some pictures.

In brighter news, I work tomorrow and then I'm off on Tuesday for Veteran's Day. I love bank holidays.

Election Day

I haven't blogged in a while, but I thought today was as good a day as any to write a new one.

Today is election day. One of the many great reason to live in the United States of America. Because, we as a nation have the right to line up every four years and cast a ballot for the candidate that we most identify with. No candidate is ever perfect, but everyone can find someone that they can identify with. If not you haven't done your research. If you still can't you can always right someone else in.

This morning I got up early and went to the polls to vote at 7am. There were a couple hundred of people in line. The wait wasn't too long and I really didn't mind it. I thought it was pretty cool how an election can bring everyone together and divide them at the same time. Everyone I was in line with had the same feeling of responsibility to vote for the next leader of America.

Election years bring out the best and worst of people. This year in particular the talk of politics in regular conversation has been worse than normal. By worse I mean more than there should be and more retarded than ever. Apparently radio DJ's are being considered a neutral form of information. I did not get any of my voting information from the morning radio talkshow.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on how the country would benefit from each candidate. I also have my opinions, but I try not to offer them unless asked. I don't care if other people vote how I do. I understand that voting is a personal decision people make and they have their own reasons for it. At times I've had to defend my decision of the candidate I'm voting for. However, that is a good thing. If you can defend the person you voted for that means you actually know why you are voting for them.

I didn't cast my vote half heartedly or just because of a party line. I looked at the issues that are important to me right now. When I voted for the rest of offices I didn't vote for a single party. I heard a conversation today that sounded like this.

"Did you vote for _________ for Judge"?
"Were they republican?
" I just voted for whoever was republican."

If that is what voting is for people, they would be better off just leaving that section blank. No single party or person has all the answers.

A lot of people worry about a candidate being some sort of tyrant and ruining the country. Last time I checked we have Congress and the Senate to regulate any tyrannical behavior. There is a stat that says city government is the most tyrannical of any form. I would definitely believe that.

So I did my civic duty today and casted my vote. I hope my candidate wins, but if he doesn't at least I did my part to get him elected.