#Thanksgambling 2015

Some of the family at David & Janet's home on Wednesday night

Once again I was welcomed by my extended family to Louisville, Kentucky over Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful traditional dinner on Wednesday evening and went to Churchill Downs for the races and a buffet on Turkey Day. I had a great time with my whole family, especially my Aunt Cathy, Uncle Joe & cousin Lucas who hosted my mom & I for the whole trip. Also thanks to Aunt Joanna, Uncle David, Emily and David who took me to a rainy rivalry NCAA game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

Wednesday Night Dinner

#KidsTableStrong

The track on Thursday was a sunny nice day.

Kate and some losing tickets at the track

Mom and the Guptons

Oh yeah, and there were some horse races

Picking Winners

Tiny Handicapper Crew

After the track my uncle Joe made a cool bonfire:

I went with the little bits to see a movie:

Hayley, Lindy, Gracie and Lauren

Kate, Claire, Elise and Evan

We also went to see a holiday light show:

Here's me at the game (tailgating) and the mascot up close:

Extended Family

At the Louisville Slugger Museum

Out to Lunch at Lynn's Paradise Cafe

At Churchill Downs, picking a winner in the 5th

Thanksgiving was great. I went to Louisville, Kentucky to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a lot of fun. I went to Churchill Downs for some racing and to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Much good food was eaten and fun was had by all. Special Thanks to Matt, Mary, Claire, Gracie and Elise for putting me up.

I also went to my first college football game and saw the UK vs. UT game with 70,000 or so other people. We did a lot of tailgating, cheering and though the game didn't go our way in the end, it did go to overtime and I had a lot of fun.

My parents got another rescue dog. She is a cute baby golden and they are calling her Penny Too. Current score: Humans 2, Varmints: 9. I'll keep you posted on the uprising as it develops.

Please check out my friend Danielle's amazing website Toomuchtodo.org. This year especially nonprofits are really suffering with cut budgets, reduced donations and increased need. Danielle has researched and identified 40 really great causes. The site highlights organizations where the rubber really hits the road and people are doing meaningful work for change. In Danielle's words, "Throughout the site you will find statistics on the overall issues and needs here in the United States. I have tried to match the areas of need with organizations that are committed to fighting the issues that our communities are facing everyday. " My favorite so far is an organization to help homeless veterans in the New England area, but I'm certain that if you check the site you'll find at least one organization you can throw your support behind.

Shorts: I'm off to Knoxville for work. Coaching Beacon is still going well. I saw Almodovar's Broken Embraces and found it indulgent and navel-gazing. Eagles win big today and are still in the playoff hunt. I went to this great play(?): Dutch AV.

Be well.

Wanted

Wanted for questioning about the untimely demise of Olympia Rose Begonia: Courtney "Black Thumb" Kelly. The suspect is likely unarmed but should be considered dangerous to anyone who relies on chlorophyll to generate cellular energy.

Well I skipped the Window Box update last week with the post on Wilson's Prom and I know that your are jonesin' just like when HBO skips a week on the Wire, so calm down, calm down (Season 4 DVD out now for those already thinking of Christmas) here's the skinny on the 'Box: As you can see the Begonia has about had it. Thanks to Amy for the suggestion to cut it back, I clipped off 2/3rds of the blooms. Maybe it was just to little to late, but the rest of the leaves have turned black and I think the end is upon us. Should I cut the rest of the blooms off? Should I hold a service? The Lavender has developed a huge crush on the Erinus and refuses to stand on his own any more. He is all tangled up. The Erinus doesn't seem to be returning the ardor, but doesn't seem to mind and she continues to grow and flower. I guess 1 out of 3 isn't so bad. That's still better than the survival rate of kids in the New Jersey Foster care system.

Work is nuts. Killing me. I worked all weekend. It blew. I am tired. I did escape on Sunday evening for a throw around of the disc which was a nice change. This week looks even worse. ew.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. They don't have that here, but I know enough expats I actually had two Thanksgiving Dinners. Thanks to Gil, Susan and Julia for having me over for an Aussie hybrid turkey and shrimp on the barbie. Thanks also to Mike Shimota who had a lot of the account expats over to his place for a full catered Thanksgiving dinner. People brought their families. There were 40 or so people and maybe a third of them were under 7. There was a tumble bus out front for all of the kids. [Lynn, since I've confirmed the existence of a Tumble Bus down under, will you be coming with the girls, or are we already past that stage? Time flies...]

The election happened. Kevin Rudd (Labor) won as was widely predicted by the polls. Most of my Aussie friends seem pleased with this result, but as far as I can tell he didn't say much during the campaign to inspire optimism. He relied heavily on his election slogan (Kevin 07) which luckily rhymed and tried to say as little as possible that would make voters dislike him as much as they dislike outgoing PM John Howard.

I did steal away a break at work this weekend to plan my holiday trip. I'll be in Cambodia and Thailand over the break. Angkor Watt on Christmas day and Bangkok on New Year's eve. (Vietnam fell out as the Visa process just seemed too complex and I only have about a month to prepare.) Next I'll be planning hotels. Let me know if you'll be in the neighborhood.

Alright then, back to the salt mine.