While grocery shopping recently, I couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the spaghetti squash. It seemed like the very essence of autumn’s bounty, so I added one to our cart.

The day I decided to make the squash, I allowed myself to be completely sidetracked by blogging, and got a late start. With the pork roast already in the oven, time was running out.

I read the cooking instructions on the sticker only to find that I needed 45 minutes to an hour to cook spaghetti squash thoroughly. Uh-oh. Time for plan B.

I cut the squash in half and removed the seeds per the instructions. Cutting this monster in half is actually the hardest part. Then I placed the two halves in a large Corningware dish, over 1/2 cup of water. With the dish covered, I popped it into the microwave for 12 minutes, until it was tender.

Then I discovered why it’s called spaghetti squash. With a fork, you scrape the insides of the squash, which comes up in strands like spaghetti. Placing the strands in a dish, I added butter, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

It was so simple, but full of flavor. My husband, who is not fond of squash, not only ate it, but went back for seconds!

I am a big fan of trying new things — and keeping things simple.  This is one more side dish to add to my repertoire.

Barack Obama was not the only winner in this year’s election. Neither were African-Americans. Or democrats.

On November 4, 2008, the world witnessed the electoral process of the United States in all its glory! From this day forward, children of every race, male and female, will grow up believing in the promise of opportunity.

Read the rest of the story:   Election 2008: Who Really Won?

We voted… did you?

We voted at 2:30 p.m. here in rural Virginia and faced no lines, no delays, and no problems with the touch screen voting machine. Pleasant experience all around.

Now all we have to do is kick back and await the results.

We dined at our favorite local Thai restaurant this weekend.  I was reminded, once again, of the importance of ambience.

We are drawn to this particular restaurant for many reasons, not the least of which is the food. But it takes more than good food to keep us coming back for more.

Here, we are greeted with a friendly smile and “welcome back!” The authentic music plays at just the proper level for dining. The color scheme is warm and relaxing. The furniture is not only beautiful to look at, but comfortable to sit in.

We relax as we take in the atmosphere and the aromas. We feel no need to rush either our dinner or our conversation.

It’s not necessary to leave the house to experience fine dining. With the right touches, we can create a wonderful dinner right at our own kitchen table, even with the simplest menu. The evening meal is about more than food. It’s about reconnecting after a busy day.

In August of 2007, Jim and I created he said/she said relationship blogs under the common name of Conversations Over Dinner.

The theme depended upon us both blogging every day and allowing our readers to compare our different versions. It was a lot of fun in the beginning, but when Jim became sidetracked with other demands on his time, we merged the two blogs into one and I carried on. I soon found the one sided version of a he said/she said just didn’t work. Conversations Over Dinner lost its focus and its heart. Don’t worry — Jim and I are as happy as ever!

Conversations Over Dinner is such a great blog title that we didn’t want to give it up completely, so we brainstormed and came up with a new, very focused blog that will be my baby, one which I hope you will enjoy as well.

From now on, Conversations Over Dinner will be about… dinner! Categories will include recipes, decoration, presentation, mood, romance, dining with children… and conversation, of course. If it has to do with mealtime, we’ve got it covered. We live in tough economic times and dining out is not as attractive as it once was. It’s time to rediscover the lost art of dinner.

Please pardon our dust, as they say, while I work through old posts, links, and category changes. Even as I work through some of those changes, I plan to have my first new post up next week.

Conversations Over Dinner is under construction.

No, I’m not talking about the current presidential campaign… I just finished reading Mark LaFlamme’s “Dirt: American Campaign.”

With thoroughly fleshed out characters, intriguing sub-plots, and twists you never saw coming, “Dirt” holds the suspense from the first pages to very end.

A bizarre chain of events involving a love more powerful than death, and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of American politics, are just the tip of the iceberg.

If you enjoy delving into human psyche, this book will not disappoint. I would not recommend it for the squeamish.

As a child, I wanted the game of Monopoly more than anything. As Christmas approached I took every opportunity to make my wish known.

On Christmas morning, sure enough, there was a package with my name on it under the tree. It had that rectangular shape of a board game and I was sure that I would be maneuvering the thimble around the board very soon.

Instead, I was the recipient of a game called “Go For Broke.” It was the exact opposite of Monopoly… the Anti-Monopoly. The point of this game was to LOSE money! First one to lose their money wins!

I thought my parents had gone mad, but I conscripted my siblings into service and we played “Go For Broke.” Against all common sense, we competed to lose money.

Why Mom and Dad pulled this bewildering switch on me I never knew, but more than 40 years have passed and I still remember the lesson learned. You don’t always get what you want. And that’s okay. It’s making the most out of what we do get that counts.

Since then, I’ve received Go For Broke-like surprises countless times. When that happens, there is nothing left to do but play the game.

So… today is my birthday.

This is my last year to be forty-something. Shhhhhhh!

Jim aka Jake and I lingered over lunch at our favorite french restaurant. It was all very romantic and satisfying.

We decided to skip cake, since we just finished the cake from Jim’s birthday a few days ago.

As for tonight, we’ll be in front of the television for the political version of smackdown. That will definitely be a popcorn-worthy event!

It’s Jim’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Today we witnessed one of the worst days in stock market history, watched congress stumble on what to do about our failing economy, and listened to some political mudslinging.

Even as our retirement accounts plummet in value and our own personal health care crisis looms, we took the time to have a toast and celebrate. We are very fortunate that we have the most important thing there is in life: love.

We will finish off the evening by watching one of our favorite television shows, Boston Legal, and will probably indulge in our usual snack of freshly popped popcorn.

How I love that man and our life together. All in all, life is good.

Did you know that:

* The official name of Rhode Island is “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” — ironically, the longest official name for the smallest of the fifty US states. (Being a native of “Little Rhody,” I already knew this one!)

* Benjamin Franklin had an illegitimate son, William, who split with his father during the Revolution by remaining loyal to the British Crown.

* John Adams asked Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence because, he said, “I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise.”

* For a a time, Harriet Beecher Stow lived next door to Mark Twain.

These are just a few tidbits from The Intellectual Devotional - American History. The 365 readings are divided into seven fields of knowledge: Politics & Leadership, War & Peace, Fights & Reform, Business, Building America, Literature, and Arts.

The idea is to read one page per day to “revive your mind and converse confidently about our nation’s past.” I found this book so enthralling that I read the first 182 pages in one sitting!

I haven’t been reading much lately, but this book reminded me what I’m missing. If you’ve got time for one page per day, this book will be time well spent.

The Intellectual Devotional
American History
by David S. Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim

Idling at a red light one morning, I observed an elderly couple slowly making their way down the street, hand in hand. Her head was tilted slightly toward his and they moved in perfect synchronization.

They were to my left, heading forward, so I never saw them from the front, but I imagined faces that told of life well-lived, and contented smiles. I was drawn to them by their apparent closeness. I wondered if they have been married for fifty years, or if they are newlyweds. I wondered what their morning was like, and where they were headed; what hardships they have endured, and how they’ve kept their love alive.

They walked out of my field of vision, not knowing how deeply they touched the life of a stranger.

Southwest Airlines is in the business of customer service. Make no mistake about it.

Friendly greetings with a smile, announcements aimed at getting a chuckle, and efficient service make the flying experience tolerable, even in our current climate of fewer flights, more delays, and security annoyances.

We just returned from a cross-country round-trip and, as is usually the case with Southwest, it was smooth sailing all the way. Upon arrival back home, we were sent on our way with the advice to “be kind to each other.”

For consumers, a little courtesy and civility go a long way in humanizing the process. Good old fashioned customer service. It is greatly underrated.

Thank you, Southwest, for another pleasant flying experience.

Not a paid advertisement.

POSTSCRIPT: In a final show of customer appreciation, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant found our post and left the following message:

Author : SWA Flight Attendant
Comment:
Hey guys,
Glad to see your flights were good ones! Thanks for your business! We do appreciate it!
LUV Ya!

I was just about to call it a night here at the keyboard, when the calendar caught my eye. Today is my Dad’s birthday. I’m so glad I noticed before the day passed. See, Dad left this world 18 years ago, and I like to toast him on his birthday.

Too late to raise a glass in his honor at the dinner table, but we sent our birthday wishes into the skies, and now out into the world wide web.

Happy birthday, Dad!

If you had been spying through the kitchen window as we ate dinner tonight, you wouldn’t have seen anything unusual. Just two people eating an ordinary meal. What you wouldn’t have seen is how content we are to be sitting at that ordinary table in our ordinary kitchen.

Multiple sclerosis, not a shy entity, has been plaguing us of late. The past week was a difficult one for both of us, and the appearance of new symptoms reminded me that we can take nothing for granted.

Lord knows, we’ve got our share of problems, but we have each other. We have our quiet life and our peaceful home. As long as we can sit together, sharing dinner at that kitchen table, we’ve got more than most.

It was a wonderful dinner.

Five years ago, our home was pleasant enough, but entirely too neat and definitely too quiet. In an effort to inject a little controlled chaos into our lives, we decided to adopt a kitten from our local animal shelter.

As soon as we saw him, we knew he was the one. He was a magnificent dark gray tabby with handsome green eyes. One of a litter of five, he was entangled in a sea of black fur, which turned out to be three of his siblings. We took turns holding him to make sure that we were a good fit. We both felt an immediate bond with our new friend.

Even though we had made our choice, we couldn’t help noticing that there was anther kitten from the same litter, nervously sitting by herself in a corner of the cage. We felt strangely attracted by her tentative demeanor, so we decided to get to know her as well. Now we were officially in love. Times two!

That’s how we ended up with a brother sister duo that we named Smokey and Bandit. They did everything together. Bandit quickly took the dominant position to Smokey’s submissive, yet very feisty, role.

They grew… and grew. Big, by cat standards, Bandit weighed in at 18 pounds, and Smokey at 12 pounds, but there wasn’t an ounce of fat on either one of them. If you happened to catch Bandit out of the corner of your eye, you might mistake him for a small dog. We received many compliments about his amazing natural beauty. Gorgeous he was, but one would never accuse him of being graceful. All the more reason to love the cat we affectionately called our big “galumph.”

As the years passed, they more than fulfilled their duties as keepers of chaos.
Cat hair, spilled food, and scratched furniture replaced the neat and tidy interior of our home.

Bandit was the town crier, always making noise of some kind or another. An unusual cat, he would spend hours nestled in Jake’s arm, positioned like an infant, while we watched television at night. We never regretted our decision to bring home these two lovable pals.

Exactly five years later, quite unexpectedly, we lost our beloved Bandit. Our still young, strong cat succumbed to a bladder infection, just 48 hours after his first symptom. We were stunned and grief-stricken.

Smokey immediately displayed signs of depression. She sat without moving most of the day, and ate little. The rest of the time she spent vainly searching for her lifelong companion. We worried about her well being and considered bringing home a new kitten, to take her mind off her troubles, but our hearts were not yet ready.

When Bandit left, the chaos went with him. Once again, our home was lacking that extra lifeblood we needed.

Several weeks passed, and Smokey began to adjust to her new life in a single-cat home. She became increasingly vocal and adventurous. We began to realize just how dominant Bandit was, and that her less than sociable behavior was a result of her place in the hierarchy.

With new found confidence, Smokey has become a very active member of our household. Her vocalizations fill the air and she has blossomed into quite a handful! Chaos has returned, thanks to the newly crowned queen of the manor.

Bandit will always be with us in spirit. I still picture our big galumph, patrolling the house and checking in on his sister. Meanwhile, Smokey carries on, doing double duty as the keeper of chaos.