Martini Musings

  Thankful! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving…a holiday I have always treasured. I love everything about it from the food to the fun to family, and everything in between, including games, movies, loungewear, and traditions. And the black Friday shopping...oh my! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving…and this year, it will be like no other Thanksgiving for our family and for most of the friends and family that I know. It will look different for each of us, but it will also look similar. There will be fewer place settings around tables. The rowdy crowds cheering on football teams will be smaller. There may not be enough people to play some of the board games or card games. Those traditional activities, like drawing names for Christmas, will surely look different. It won’t be the same. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving…a day dedicated to the gratitude that we often overlook throughout the rest of the year. All of us will find plenty to be grateful for, no doubt, but it will look different for sure. I am grate...

  There is hope…   Today, just one week away from Thanksgiving, I’m smiling today because I had a lovely evening and to be quite honest, it gave me hope. This week, it looks there are several potential vaccines for this dreaded COVID-19. Now, I also know that it isn’t happening tomorrow, but it does appear to have promise and I find hope in that. It doesn’t mean my disappointment about the holidays has disappeared, but it gives me hope that sometime soon, we will be able to get vaccinated and be together again!   Maybe we’ll have turkey for Easter with several people around the table! A girl can hope, right? My true hope comes from my experience last night. As you know, I work for a small non-profit that provides tuition assistance to about 70 families, around 100 students. Our organization tries to build community amongst the families, and with the donors, by having a Thanksgiving celebration each year. The celebration would normally consist of a catered meal by ...

  Who am I??? Be kind, it’s easy, they said. Be kind, it’s contagious, they said. Kindness matters, they said,OH WAIT! I call bullshit! It’s not easy, it’s not contagious and sometimes I feel like it doesn’t matter! Oh boy…just where this is going, I’m not sure. So bear with me. I think the past several months have been challenging for all of us. Between the pandemic and the election, most of us have grown weary of the masks and lack of socializing, the tweets and texts about our candidates…mainly asking for money, and a host of other things that with the trickle down effect, have caused us to be over it! During this time, we all have tried to stay focused on the positive…knowing that things would get back to normal at some point, cooking and enjoying time with those in your “circle” and for me, I kept saying that hopefully, we would learn from this experience and come out as better people. I’ve tried to be kind to those who are working the cash registers at the grocery a...

  Just a quick note…   Wednesday, November 4, 2020 and I am hungover! Not from drinking, although there was some alcohol involved, but from a very late night and a very early morning, soaking up the news. And I’m not finished. Say what you want…”you should have watched a Hallmark movie” or “you should have taken a walk” or “you should have made some brownies” or “you should have turned on music” or whatever the distraction you want to offer, but the fact remains, we had an election yesterday and I was consumed with results and news last night and this morning. I will be tuning in, sporadically to stay up on the results as we continue to watch things unfold. Although your thoughtfulness for me to step away from the screen will be heard, it probably won't happen.  I have been texting/messaging my daughter and my friends and although it’s only 10am, it feels like midnight already. I will say this…I believe in the good in people and fortunately, I am surrounded by m...