I'm Speechless...

...and anyone who knows me knows that that's nearly impossible. 

This is why:  http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/18/2960371/walmart-food-drive/

Yeah, baby - shop Wal-Mart. Shop even on Thanksgiving, but hey - can you go there BEFORE the holiday to drop off some food so that their EMPLOYEES can actually feed their families??

Speechless not so much, as a matter of fact. Look at the facts. "Notoriously low pay." Yeah, poverty-level, actually. The average Wal-Mart "associate" makes $25,000 per year. You want to know what the Federal poverty level is for a family of four? It's $23,550. 

Twenty three thousand five hundred fifty dollars. To feed and house 4 people. It really can't be done. Here is a story on the vast discrepancy between what Wal-Mart management and their workers make... And yeah, it's ok for a CEO to make more than frontline employees. But I can't possibly believe that a man who decides what cheap crap Americans will buy next needs to make more in ONE HOUR than his employees make in ONE YEAR. 

A brain surgeon? A teacher (I wish)? A person discovering the cure to cancer? Yes, THOSE people can - and SHOULD - make tons and tons and tons of money. But not the guy who's screwing his employees out of a living. 

Here's a Daily Beast article on Wal-Mart, too, which you may be interested in. 
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/18/walmart-s-dumb-blame-game.html

I think I'm off my Wal-Mart rant. I don't shop there. I know, I know. I'm an elitist snob. Well, yeah, probably. But also, I am lucky enough to have other options. I know a friend of mine, a die-hard liberal, finds it hard to walk into her local Wal-Mart. But she lives in "Nowhere-ville" and has no other options. So you drive 35 miles with gas at nearly $4/gallon or you swallow your distaste and shop where you're at least staying in town. 

Yoga...

So I submitted my first book report (I have 3 more now). I have set up my one private lesson; I have another to set up, and I'll just coerce my kid into it... He'll go along. I also have a "Karma class" I have to do and I've got that in the works. I'll have to have a sign-up sheet on that, because I want to do it for the staff at Will-Grundy Medical Clinic. I have to limit it to no more than 12; usually, unless you've been teaching forever, or you have assistants, a dozen is all you can handle. Or at least all I want to handle!

I haven't yet started to work on the thesis. I know what I want to do, but haven't started the research yet. Hubby will help me do the video. 

I organized a new sequence today; I'm gradually building up a "library" and I like that. Even though, sometimes, the sequence goes out the window when someone walks in with enough issues to make it not likely to happen. I'm very lucky in that I've been doing yoga long enough so that for the most part, I can wing it. And I'm also lucky that I haven't had a lot of problems I can't handle. I'm sure it'll happen at some point...

Oh, we had an employee meeting this past Sunday. Yep. Right in the middle of the hugely bad storms that swept through Illinois. Lucky for us, we only got the crummy weather and some flooding, along with a few trees down...

November Tornadoes...

...while the folks southwest of us got bashed. Hubby has an appointment to visit with a reporter from the Chicago Tribune because even way up here, he found debris in the park. We got no tornado winds. This stuff came up from the southwest; IRA statements, high school pics, a family tree... It seems that this beats the infamous Plainfield tornado of the '90s. Click here for pictures. Or just Google it. It'll knock your socks off. 

Donate, if you can. Lots of people are doing things locally, and there's a Facebook page around if you have some of the debris that flew up here. 

Knitting...

Start of sock...

The pink sock comes along nicely, thanks. Again, sorry for the crummy pics. It's the phone... I have to wait till March before I get the whiz-bang camera on the phone. 

I need to only add 4 more blocks to my charity afghan -- I should say, only 4 more blocks need to be attached, since they're already produced. Then I do a border, and then we're done!!

Cardigan next. Yep. I think I'm ready for that. Along with socks as fill-ins, and washcloths. You need some instant gratification when you're in a long-term project. 

As I go, I'm happy that I've decided on a plain pattern. I do have some lovely Opal that's "fall-ish" and I have a leaf pattern for the leg. But I kind of like no-frills for now. Very mindless knitting. I did quite a few rows last night watching the Bears win and the Packers lose. 

Still need to work on the Nephew Afghan. It's about 1/3 done. It'll go quickly, just that it's bulky and I have till at least February to finish it. At least for the shower. I think for the wedding, they're getting a Holy Family or something totally useless in crystal. 

Music...

Whew!! Plugging along on "All Bells in Paradise" as well as "It Is Well With My Soul" and "I Will Sing" -- Made it through two songs this past week being the sole alto. Of course, it helped that there were only 4 of us in the choir group! But that was also scary, because I had nobody to back me up. I would love it if we could recruit a few more alto women so that I can either sing tenor with Hubby or go back to soprano. 

Leg of sock

And I'm still practicing BOTH versions of "Silent Night" - last year, I played it in the key of A but this year, Tom said "Key of C" - but then he can't remember whether he wants that or not... We'll figure it out, and I know both versions anyway. 

Food...

Will begin The Baking on Thanksgiving weekend. Kid #2 and I are splitting the list again this year. He loves to bake, and I appreciate the help. Potica (po-teet-za) will be done over the Christmas break so we can have it for Easter. 

Cookies include Snickerdoodles, roskis (family recipe), oatmeal, 7-layer bars, cottage cheese crescents (another family fave) and gingerbread. Anyone with a good recipe to share, please use the comments section!! 

I usually over-bake. Then, I usually eat it. Not doing that again this year. Well, probably will over-bake, but I'm getting rid of as much of it as I can. Giving to others, I mean, not eating it!

Random Picture...

This is an old picture of my sister's first grandchild.  I'm ok to post it because I'm not telling you his name, and his mom has posted stuff on her FB page. Isn't he a cutie?? 

I can't wait to see him and his siblings over Thanksgiving. 

No, I'm not in a hurry for my own grandkids. I just enjoy these kids. I can give them back! 

I did go today, while buying mousetraps for my campus, and get Christmas gifts for my "grandcat" Larry. She (yes, it's a girl) now has 2 little bags of snacks and two toys: one of them is some sort of fluff-ball thing that you can drag along the floor, and the other is a light up ball that she can bat around and play with. 

Hey, I'm happy. She'll be happy. It's all good.