I've been listening to Christmas music all day long. Mostly the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with a bit of Bob Rivers and the Fav Four thrown in. I love the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I have decided to compromise and not hang my "holiday" lights until after Thanksgiving. It gives me something to do on Friday at home, and next Monday at work. (They are holiday lights b/c they are blue and clear.)

So relatives are descending upon my house for Thansgiving this week. We're desperately hoping that nothing gets broken. Every time they come, I spend the next week doing laundry; five extra people, two towles each, washcloths - it doesn't ever end! Ugh! The positive thing; as a housewarming gift, they actually bought me 4 sets of towels. I think for when they come into town. The actual Thanksgiving dinner is being held at my aunt and uncle's place. The bad news: they don't allow alcohol in their house, and to deal with them, one should definitely not be sober. I am not biased; I think last year my grandfather (complying with the letter, if not the spirit, of my uncle's rules, had a bottle of wine of wine in his car, and conveniently had to keep going outside for some reason. I was thinking, maybe making a mudslide before I left my house and then telling them it's a slush. Whadya think?

So what have I learned this weekend? First, I learned that I'm bad at math. I went to cook chili b/c I thought it would be positive if I had food for my relatives. Anyway I was at Costco, which just might be the best store ever created, and I needed 1.5 pounds of ground meat. There was a bag that was 6 pounds, and I figured it was ok, that means that I would use 2 pounds, a bit more, but easy to divide. (Yes, I could have gone to the grocery store to get less. I didn't want to.) So I get the 6 pound ground meat. I get home, I divide it into three sections, and put in two sections of it. I knew that was a little more meat (.5 pounds) than consistent with the rest of my recipe in terms of the chili powder, tomatos, beef broth, and vegtables, but really, what is half a pound?

Not until TODAY when putting it on tupperware did it occur to me that if I had a 6 pound bag of meat and I put in 2/3 of it, that meant I put in 4 pounds of beef - which suddenly made sense why it was so friggin thick. The sad thing - chili is one of the few things that I actually DO know how to cook.

So here's my thing. I am guessing that it is relatively bland, since all the seasoning is based on a recipe with 1.5 pounds of meat. It is also really thick, not enough liquid (for the same reason.) The remainder of the beef (which is in the freezer) actually IS about 2 pounds. Should I just make new chili for them??

I am so not cookingly inclined. :(

I came in third place in the Texas Hold'Em game on Saturday night. Go me! Ok, there were only six of us, but prior to that, I had won a total of ONE hand in, like, 100+ hands. So this was major excitement for me. What I learned is that I make people made who bid after me b/c I'll stay in when I have nothing just b/c I want to know what the person who is raising has. Evidentally, it scares people out. My theory - you know that I do that. Why on earth would it make you think anything?? Anyway, third place meant that I got to get my enterance fee back. All $10 of it. I am not sure if I could have done better. I doubt it, but I was getting really bored. So I went in on one hand before I even looked at my two cards. I ended up winning that hand and doubling my money. Grr... So the next hand I went all in again and that time I lost. It was like the game that never ends. They raised the blinds for people with kids or whatever. OK, the first time they told me this, I thought they meant that would put the blinds up and down so you didn't realize how long you were gone and care about the kids. They explained t0 me it was a way to control the length of the game. Well, duh...

Sunday I had a baby shower. But this guy who gave me the thumbs up on the freeway (I later learned over my bumper sticker) apparently followed me from the freeway to this baby shower. I got out of my car, and he pulled up behind me. His opening line was telling me that I looked like a Republican. I pointed out I looked like someone who just came from church. He informed me that he didn't believe in God, refused to get married in a church, and would that a problem. I told him not to me. Let me just reinforce the fact that I've never seen this person before. in my life. He told me that we were going for coffee. I told him I don't drink coffee and I had to get to a party b/c I was already late. It wasn't even my house, I lived on the other side of town. He tells me it's a problem that I live on the other side of town b/c he doesn't cross the river. (It's a Cleveland thing.) It went in in this vein. It was the most bizarre conversation I've ever had - and I've had some bizarre conversations.

Now back to ERISA...