I’m feeling a little out of sorts this morning. Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re thinking: tropical storm Ida, right? Like I haven’t heard jokes like that all week. You just wait until you have a hurricane named after you.

I’m getting to my blog later than usual, because after my alarm went off, I closed my eyes for what I thought was only ten minutes. Oops!

See, Charlie went hunting with the boys (Bud, Smitty, Pat, Tommy, and Junior) this weekend. They stayed up to that old hunting camp they rent from time to time. With all six of those boys packed in together, you can just imagine the snoring. It’s enough to scare off any predator within half a mile. My husband’s no light sleeper, and it kept him awake. Combine that with being outside all day, and drinking beer into the night, and Charlie was pretty bushed by the time he got home. Fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, and he set right into serenading me with a delightful medley of snores and grunts. I kept poking him, telling him to roll over, and he’d stop for a minute or two. Just long enough for me to almost doze off. Then Charlie would gear up again. Took me forever to get to sleep.

Our little dog Scamp isn’t tired this morning, though. Charlie gave him a bath before he left for work, and Scamp’s turned into a regular whirling dervish. I don’t know if Scamp is excited to be clean or wants to be dry or what, but getting a bath makes him wicked hyper. He tears back and forth, jumping onto the couch, then off and running into the kitchen, the bedroom, onto the bed and then the whole route in reverse. It’s dizzying! All the area rugs are bunched up from him running and all of a sudden bolting in another direction. We have a throw on the couch to protect it from Scamp, and he’s gone and bunched it all up, rolling around on it to dry himself off. Mister man, he is a bundle of energy!

Earlier, while I was putting on my makeup and fluffing my hair, I turned on the tube. Usually I love morning TV, but today it got me going. I’m sorry, but doesn’t it seem a tad too early for Christmas commercials? I mean, I’ve just started to accept the fact that it’s fall! And this putting up Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween is just, well, there should be a law against that! Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas. But let’s keep Christmas in December, where it belongs. That way, it stays special. Let Tom Turkey have his day!

Well, that got me to thinking about Thanksgiving, less than two of weeks away, and me still playing around with my summer weight. I lose four pounds, gain back two, then lose another half a pound. It’s overwhelming when I think of gearing up for that big push from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. What with all the candy at work, the Christmas bazaar down to Saint Hyacinth’s, and all the holiday parties, I’m going to need an industrial-strength spanky.

How about this: let’s move Thanksgiving to the last Thursday in March. Because right now, it’s just too close to Christmas, which means too much of everything: pressure, time spent preparing food, over eating, and traveling to be with family. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a holiday to look forward to at the end of winter? (Easter doesn’t count. It’s a church holiday.) The great thing about Thanksgiving is that it’s all about family and food. And thinking about the things you’re grateful for. If it was at the end of March, we could celebrate winter being over. Almost. Right now, Thanksgiving is mostly just a deadline for getting your Xmas list together, and a reminder that there’s less than thirty shopping days left ‘til Christmas.

Well, before I downgrade to a tropical depression, I best get dressed for work. I’m still a kind of groggy, but a stop at to the Busy Bee should chase the clouds away. Babe serves a coffee frappe made with a shot of real coffee and Gifford’s coffee ice cream that’ll just knock your socks off. No wonder I can’t lose weight!

Uh oh! I just heard a crash from the other room, then everything got real quiet. That’s a sure sign Scamp is getting into mischief. Got to go!

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!

(Listen to the podcast of Ida's column here.)

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