Happy Thanksgiving!

Families are Thanksgiving - and, oh yeah, FOOD! Here's our Thanksgiving menu:

Turkey with Cranberry Glaze

Apple Raisin Stuffing

Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Cheese Grits

Broccoli Cheddar Bake

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Souffle

Cranberry Marshmallow Salad

Bread Pudding Bars with Vanilla Creme

YMMM!! And best of all, most of it was prepared ahead of time at the Dinner Afare. Marci prepared the Garlic Cheese Grits, a family tradition and favorite. I prepared the Cranberry Marshmallow Salad and Jim prepared the Green Bean Casserole, both old family recipes.

BEST THANKSGIVING MEMORY: Will was anxious to perform the Merry Christmas song in Spanish - Feliz Navidad. As we all listened attentively, Will started singing, "Elise Bobby Dodd" - too cute. Of course, we had to immediately call our real life friend, Bobby Dodd, and let him hear his newly christened namesake song!!

But, really best of all was having our whole family together. Check out our pictures to the left. From our family to yours, a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Lady Vols vs. Lady Mocs

I'm always so impressed with the determination and discipline of the Lady Vols and Pat Summitt. So, we were thrilled that we had tickets to see them in Chattanooga. Jim's brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Pat, got the tickets and all 4 of us headed down the mountain for the game.

We stopped first at Jimmy's and got a big hug from Will. They were actually headed out to see the opera at the Tivoli that night. So, we didn't stay long - but long enough to get our "Will fix"!

The Lady Vols are a young team this year with all of their 2007 national championship team now playing in the WNBA. We were anxious to see the new talent. On the other hand, we had no idea what to expect from the Lady Mocs, but we happened to be sitting next to a former Lady Moc who was very excited about their team.

The first half (and frankly, the entire game) was very close. During the first half, the Lady Mocs were open on so many 3-point shots, I really just couldn't figure out whether the Lady Vols had no respect for the Lady Moc 3-point shooters, or just weren't effectively playing defense. In the 2nd half, I found out as the Lady Mocs proceeded to nail every 3-point shot they took.

Actually, two things could have swung this game either way: (1) the Lady Mocs could have hit all the 3-point shots in the first half and won; or, (2) the Lady Vols could have hit their foul shots - unbelievable!! There were more fouls called in this game than any I have ever seen - 29 in the 1st half alone - so, there was ample opportunity for the Lady Vols to win this one going away on foul shots alone. I would bet that they will be spending day-in and day-out at the foul shot line this week.

The Lady Vols were up by a few points at the half. During the halftime, we were entertained by the Sugar Mocs, a rhythm dance troop of students who performed to the music of the pep band.

The Lady Mocs came back out in the second half and started hitting the 3-pointers. Half way thru the period, they had an 8-point lead and showed no signs of slowing down. Slowly, however, the Lady Vols started making their way back and finally hit a couple of 3-pointers themselves.

Then the most amazing thing happened. The Lady Vols had a 1-point lead with 35 seconds left in the game. They took the inbound pass and froze the ball at half court and the Lady Mocs let them do this while 21 seconds ticked off the clock!! By the time the Lady Mocs challenged them, it really was too late. They had no choice but to foul, but in my opinion, they should have fouled them as soon as the ball was inbounded. The Lady Vols weren't hitting their foul shots anyway.

Miraculously, the Lady Vols missed their foul shots, and the Lady Mocs got the ball for an inbound pass. They couldn't get the ball into play, and called a time out with 2.6 seconds left. Problem was - they had no time outs left so they were charged with a technical foul. The Lady Vols made both foul shots and ended up winning the game 66-63.

This one came down to coaching - Pat Summitt is just hard to beat, all other things being equal. Both teams played hard, but the UTC coach was just outcoached at the end of the game. Great game! I'm looking forward to the next 4 years watching this team grow.

My Spot on MSNBC

This is truly the gift that keeps on giving!! As I was easing into the morning today, watching MSNBC reports about a possible Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, what to my wondering eyes appeared!! Yet another clip of Barack Obama's visit to the campaign headquarters in Charlotte, NC.



About 1 minute into this clip, look for me sitting in a chair just in front of Obama. Notice the great big smile on my face - and no I can't tell you what I was saying to him - I was way beyond rational thought at this point!!

The clip is actually quite good - 6 minutes in all - and features Jon Meacham who grew up and attended St. Nicholas School in Chattanooga with my children. Jon is Editor of Newsweek magazine, and has a new book out about Andrew Jackson, American Lion, which is getting very positive reviews.

All this is very exciting and I'm almost about to stop pinching myself. It really did happen!

Happy Birthday to ME

Yes, another year goes by and a good year it has been. I marked my 62nd birthday by filing for Social Security benefits. I did it online and it was really easy - can't wait to get my first check!

There has been much to celebrate this year. This was my first birthday in our new home here on the mountain. My good health, as well as that of our family, is always reason to celebrate. And, I'm still celebrating our new President-Elect! Best of all, our family was all together for the big day.

Marci and Ryan drove in for dinner at High Point on Saturday evening. Jimmy and Will were here, too, but got to bed early and, of course, 5-year olds don't know that weekends are for sleeping late!! Will was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go - and go we did. Legos seem to be the toy of choice currently. Aunt Marci put in some significant effort in building the police station - Will was an excellent supervisor!!

The weather was beautiful so Jimmy and Will took a short "hike" to the rock outcrop on our property. This picture was taken from our first floor window.

Will always manages to get in "tickle time" with Aunt Marci and Uncle "Rymie". The game goes like this: Will says "I'm going to get you" moving closer and closer, until Marci or Ryan make a move. Then he screams, "Don't get me, don't get me" then laughs and laughs when they do. Of course all of us have as much fun as he does just listening to his belly laughs.

My birthday gifts were 2 oil lanterns from Jimmy and Will, and an unusual stone lamplight from Marci and Ryan, all of which will be perfect for our new first floor deck. My children and grandchild truly are the lights of my life - perfect gifts!

At the end of a happy, fun day, all waved good bye and off they went - the memories are still with me.

Thanks to all of you who sent cards, phone calls and well wishes - every year I cherish my friends and family more and more!

More Election Reflections

This campaign has been a major focus in my life since last spring when I signed on to go to Asheville, NC and work in the primary. I have knocked on doors, made phone calls, cheered and held signs at rallies, and spent countless hours keeping tabs on the campaign's progress as reported by the media. At times, it seemed that the election could not come soon enough. Now that it's over, it almost seems like a dream that Barack Obama will be our next President!


But it's finally sinking in - and now the real work begins. One of the things President-Elect Obama wants is for all of us to stay involved in our government, and as proof of this please check out the website Change.gov from the office of the President-Elect. As he says, "Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today." On this website you can find anything you want to know about transition plans, the inauguration, press releases, cabinet offices, biographical profiles, and you can even apply for a job in the new administration. But the most important feature of this website is that it asks us to share our vision for what our country can be. I recommend that you spend some time exploring this site, bookmark it, and go to it often during the next 4 years.


There are so many memories from this past 6 months, but some of the best are the people I have met and worked with along the way. Last week, I knocked on doors and made phone calls along side Daidee and Steve from Chattanooga. We rode to Charlotte together, shared a guest house together, and celebrated together at 11 pm on election night. Our hosts, June and Phil, also joined in the champagne toast. Their "labradoodle" Dawson was so excited he jumped up in June's lap.


Kevin, our intrepid field organizer, never let us forget that we were making a difference in NC, calling us in from a late lunch at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon to go back out and find voters who had not yet made it to the polls which closed at 7:30 pm. At 6:45 I knocked on a door and a young woman answered and started apologizing that she had just gotten home from work and hadn't voted. I simply said, "Get your shoes on and let's go!" We made it with 10 minutes to spare. Kevin was right - NC was so close that those last-minute voters gave Obama the extra edge needed to squeak out a victory in NC.



As I walked through the phone bank room, back at headquarters, at about 8 pm, I noticed that the basketball hoop used by Senator Obama was still on the wall. How can I ever forget being in that room with him and his tossing the ball up in the air and then into the hoop.



And the most exciting surprise - finding my picture on the front page of the New York Times on Nov 4!! That's definitely a first and perhaps the only time that will ever happen to me.


Another first for me was the paid TV ad. The local Grundy County TV station (GCTV) offers local community programming and our Cumberland Plateau for Obama group thought it would be a good idea to place some local spots for Obama on the air for the 5 days preceding the election. I was one of 4 people who did 1-minute spots - my topic was the economic crisis. Other topics included health care, education and religion (no, he's not a Muslim!)


I'm sure this afterglow will eventually mellow, but I hope that my renewed enthusiasm for participatory democracy will burn brightly for the rest of my life - "government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

My Incredible day with Barack Obama!

OK - Well, it wasn't the entire day. It was actually only 30 minutes, but a half-hour I will definitely remember for the rest of my life!

I have been in Charlotte, NC since Saturday night, knocking on doors, making phone calls and doing anything I can to help North Carolina go for Senator Obama. Yesterday, the field organizer (Kevin) in the Charlotte office asked if I could do some special phone banking on Monday afternoon to some still-undecided voters. I was to show up at 2:30 pm along with 14 other volunteers where we were given lists of undecided voters to call. There we are in the picture to the right. The fellow in the lower left corner of this photo is from Bristol, England, and came to Charlotte to spend 10 days working on the campaign!

Now, the twist in all of this was that Obama was coming to Charlotte for a campaign rally at 5:30 this evening, and I surely didn't want to miss this rally. Kevin promised me solemnly that I would not miss the rally as long as I promised him solemnly that I would show up at 2:30 and make phone calls until 5:00. He further said that I would have "almost VIP" seats."

Yes, I would call sitting right next to Barack Obama VIP seating! At 5 pm, Senator Obama walked through the back door of the office. Of course, we all erupted into huge cheers and he was so genuinely grateful for our work and our support. We started asking for autographs and photos, and he very promptly and kindly said, "We're here to work - this isn't an autograph party.

He asked us to go on with the phone calls we were making and to get some voters on the phone so that he could talk to them. I talked to a 3-time Iraq veteran who had questions about the length of the war and was concerned that it was time to bring it to a close and, at the very least, be sure that repeat assignments were not so close together that he had no time with his family. I handed the phone to Senator Obama who began by thanking him for his service and explained his policy regarding this voter's concerns.

I was so impressed with his genuine conversation with us. As hard as this may be to believe, after a few calls, it was almost as if he were just another caller in this campaign. There was no self-serving, photo-op, attention grabbing from this man. He even joked with one of the voters who was celebrating his birthday and whose wife and daughters were planning a party for him. I'm not sure what the man told him, but his response was - "It sounds like you are like me - surrounded by some strong women. My advice is - do what they tell you to do!"

If you are still an undecided voter, and if you still haven't voted, please consider voting for Senator Obama. He is the real deal!! I can't wait to see the change in this country, and in our politics and in our lives when he becomes our President!

Barack 'N Roll

Saturday was a great day on the "rock" - as we say here on the mountain. The Cumberland Plateau for Obama sponsored the Barack 'N Roll Music Festival this weekend. Our headliner was Milele Roots, a band started by our good friend Morris Thuku who is currently visiting here from Kenya. Morris (in gray shirt) was a college student in Chattanooga when he started the band and it has survived and thrived in his 10-year absence.

Milele Roots is a fabulous reggae band based in Chattanooga. They have been together for about 15 years and four of the original band members were there yesterday: Christian Craan (awesome dreadlocks!), Antoine Williamson, Morris and how great was it to see Earl, now in his 70s, who played awesome Caribbean drum beats in the original band, but now enjoys cheering the guys on.

The purpose of the festival was to pump people up to get out and vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday. There were lots of people in and out during the afternoon, and some stayed for the whole 2-hour show.

Morris had not sung with the band since he left the United States 10 years ago, but he was definitely back in the groove. The band led off with "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Answer: Obama!

Meanwhile, the McCain-Palin folks are very active - mostly with negative tactics. I don't want to join the negativity - so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

I'm in Charlotte, now. And, Obama will be here for a rally tomorrow afternoon - one of his last stops before he heads back to Chicago to vote on Tuesday! I knocked on 67 doors today and will head out again to go out putting door hangers on doors reminding people to go vote! I am totally pumped!!