As Thanksgiving Approaches

And this is just from the first shopping trip! Undoubtedly, there will quite a few more shopping outings in the next three days -- for things like breads for the stuffing (Tom gets that; over the years I've managed to always get the wrong kinds) and the baby greens for the walnut, pear and Craisin salad with raspberry dressing. And of course, there's always that last minute dash before the stores close on Thanksgiving Day, for the one thing you forgot that you forgot...!

I'm definitely in Thanksgiving preparation mode now, but I have an interview tomorrow -- an important one, late in the afternoon, downtown. I even had an assignment to prepare for this one! The timing is definitely not great; all I can figure is that they're in a hurry to hire someone. The nonprofit that I'll be interviewing with is opening a Seattle office because they have a new partnership with The Gates Foundation, and they need someone to run things here, so it looks to potentially be an interesting position. My only concern is that the term "data management" appeared at least ten times in the job description, and I didn't see the word "creative" once. I'll certainly have lots of questions, as -- I'm sure -- will they.

So I'll need to take my head out of Thanksgiving preparation for a few hours tomorrow, and then I'll head right back into it. Because on Tuesday morning my dad and his new ladylove will arrive! I can't wait to introduce the guys of the family to Lou (us girls have all already met her). I truly adore her! And actually, I like the fact that she's so different than Mom was; it makes it much easier to see this as Dad's new life, rather than patchwork from his old one -- which it is absolutely NOT!

I think I'll also invite Eva from Koeln, the AFS exchange student for whom I'm the liasion. That's a story in itself and once things are settled, I'll post all about it. Suffice it to say that she's very unhappy where she is now. No one is ever home (one word: Microsoft) and when they are, they basically ignore her. We're trying to initiate a move for her into a new family. We were hoping it'd to be ours, but it looks like AFS wants to try to keep her in the same school she's in now, which wouldn't work if she lived with us. She's wonderful -- so happy and spirited and sweet, and we all adore her... and it really bothers me that every time I pick her up these days (I try to get together with her at least once a week), she moves slower and smiles less... and she never wants to go back "home." So hopefully we can steal her away for Thanksgiving!

Happy early Thanksgiving week to all of you, especially to my American expatriat friends in Germany! I'll post more about Thanksgiving as the Big Day approaches. Does anyone else feel as I do -- that in some ways, the cooking together, more than the eating together, is the real highlight?!