Thanksgiving thanks

I'm thankful for...

the love of my family and friends,
that our health scare with J this past year was just that and that he is relatively healthy,
that even if I do get laid off at work, my family will survive,
that I can turn to my blog family to vent, to share, to have support.

Happy Thanksgiving folks. Eat, share, and take the time to reflect on all that you have, rather than what is missing from your life.

Lay-offs

Work has had some interesting news today, mainly that there will be large layoffs within my company, with hiring freezes across the board. They are waiting until after Thanksgiving to announce them, so for now we just have to guess who is getting the axe. I believe I am safe, although my hours will be cut, how much I do not know. I hope I don't get laid off - I'm not fully vested in my company until February. It'll probably be the middle management folks who get laid off first, since they are considered more "redundant" than other positions. The sad thing is that my company has made a profit this year; they are just cutting costs to cover themselves for the future.
Bit off the topic - while we were discussing the possible ramifications these cuts would have on our jobs, one of our employees asked "does this mean we don't get our bonuses this year?" I think it is a safe guess, that yes, we don't get bonuses this year.

Update: We are getting bonuses..if we're still around to receive them.

New recipe for dinner

In my house, we hate coming up with ideas for dinner. When we do come up with an idea, there is always someone who does not like that dish (not that they get anything else for dinner, they just suffer in silence). However, last night, hubby made a dish both easy and tasty. We had jalapeno cheese encrusted pollack. It had a creamy cheesy flavor with a kick of jalapeno and a bit of crunch to keep your mouth entertained.
Sounds complex doesn't it? Not if you use the secret ingredient he used...crushed jalapeno flavored Cheeze-its. It may sound odd, but it was good.
For 2 large fillets of white fish (ie. cod, scrod, pollack, etc.) you will need about 2 tbls melted margarine or butter and about 2 cups crushed jalapeno Cheeze-its. Drizzle the fish with the margarine, then coat it with the crushed Cheeze-its. Extra coating can be added on top of the fish to give it more crunch. Cook in a 35o F degree oven for 15 -20 minutes (we needed 2o min. because our fish was still frozen in the middle when it got put in the oven) until fish is tender and flaky. If you are smart, you will line your baking pan with aluminum foil first so there will be minimal clean-up when you are done. Everyone had seconds at our house, so you may want to double the recipe.

To continue or not to continue

Jman has reached the end of his cub scouting career and is considering going on to boy scouts. I say considering since two weeks ago he told us that he wants to quit scouting, wants to quit it now. This is after he has done all the work to qualify for the Arrow of Light ceremony (the highest privilege in cub scouts), and has done all the work for super achiever as well. Also, this is after he sold over 500 dollars worth of popcorn for which we are waiting on delivery.
Why does he want to quit? He will not say other than "the meeting stop me from doing things I want to do, like read". We told him he has to at least finish cub scouts, since he has done all the work and should at least get the awards that go with it. We want him to continue on since scouting has helped him grow as a person. He has already learned so many skills (first aid, how to change a tire, fishing, woodworking, etc.) and has developed into responsible individual (many, many community service projects have helped him do this).
I think he may be having a change of heart - last night at our den meeting, as he was decorating his arrow for the ceremony, the scout leader asked if he was considering going on to boy scouts. He said, "I'll give it a try". Yay!

The dress

I have something that is trivial to discuss. I should be discussing what I believe the ramifications of our new president-elect will have on our country; but I can't. I have to discuss it...Michelle Obama's dress. She looked very pregnant in it. One might say it looked like a left-over Halloween costume - the almost black widow hourglass design was very distracting to me.
As I was listening to Obama's speech my eyes and mind would wander over to Michelle's dress and all concentration would go out the window as I would start to think "what was she thinking, this is for the history books and she chose that..."
I am so superficial.

Vote

Go vote.
Even if it is just for one candidate, vote and skip the others.
Your vote does count - ask Al Gore.
Waiting for 2 hours in line is not a sacrifice; it is a privilege. Our men and women in uniform have already made the sacrifice for you.
Vote.