Four Squirrels Drive Into a Forest (I Love This Joke...)

Growing up in the Nutz family there are two major vacation destinations that are a staple to our lives. First would be a Disney theme park vacation which I personally would consider to be my top choice preference. Unfortunately my casual readers who don't know me well would not be able to discern the depth of my Disney obsession just by reading this blog. It truly runs deep in me, and to my family. Mrs. Nutz once noted that I was at my happiest when I was in Disneyland, which is both sweet, and slightly disturbing (surely I am at my happiest when I am with her!)

The second preferred vacation destination for my family would be the fantastic Yellowstone National Park.

Growing up Yellowstone was always an odd vacation for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being there; but most of the trip is spent driving through forests and looking through binoculars, all while battling an onslaught of motion-sickness courtesy of the books and magazines that I brought with me on the trip. (I will admit that mostly they were picture and comic books, I read a lot more seriously now than I did when I was a kid.)

As I grew older, I developed a respect for the park, though my personal preferences were more into the geysers and hot springs (and yes, the gift shops) than into looking for Grizzly Bears and Moose on the side of a hill only visible through a spotting scope. While my juvenile perspective would maintain that all my opinions and preferences were ignored and overruled by the rest of the family, I would be very wrong if I still thought so. Frankly if all we did was what I had wanted to do at that time (and I will admit, that time even ranged to the teen years) then our trips would have been very short and meaningless. How glad I am that my family had me experience all that the park had to offer!

Mrs. Nutz on the other hand, hadn't been to the park in 15-20 years, and her only memory of the park was riding in her grandparents RV and getting in trouble for getting the gum in her bubble-gum ice cream all over their curtains. She was ready to see the park again for the first time.

We left Thursday after work and stayed the night in Idaho Falls. Our meal that first night was another Nutz family tradition: Flags West Diner and Truck Stop in Downey Idaho. Yes, it really is as glamorous as it looks, but the scones are great!

The next morning we made our way to the park. On arrival my Dad, Grumpy Nutz, told us to be on the lookout for moose, since it had been years since it had been a few years since we had last seen one. I often underestimate my wife's penchant for hidden games. When we are at Disneyland (or WDW) she really gets into looking for the Hidden Mickeys in the parks, and is generally faster than I at finding them, even when I know where to look and she doesn't. She attributes this to her love of Where's Waldo and I-Spy books when she was younger. It comes as no surprise that on the road from Madison to Old Faithful, she would spot the lone moose that we saw this trip, (not counting Stiltz in Yellowstone Bear World of course.)

He was obviously a younger moose, and when he saw us back up, he got a frightened look on his face and ran off. None of us could get our cameras ready even, but it was a great spot by Mrs. Nutz. She reminded me that she's good luck, so I told her that her next job was to conjure up the mother Grizzly Bear with four cubs that my Brother and his wife saw on their recent trip. She got us half-way there: A mother with two cubs. It had to be the closest I have ever seen a Grizzly in the wild.

There were also the Buffalo, Elk, Deer, a lone Coyote, and a Wolf (as seen through the spotting scope) to behold, which is the usual fodder that Yellowstone has to offer. Not to mention the squirrels (SQUIRREL) that we saw... y'know, ignoring the four of us that is. Thanks to the movie UP shouting out "Squirrel" became something of a game for us (though more likely for me than anyone else in the car who merely got to enjoy my amusing myself.)

We of course did the usual tourist spots: Old Faithful, Dragon's Mouth and the Mud Volcano, Lower Falls, Mammoth, Roosevelt, etc. All in all it was a great and relaxing vacation, though I'm sure my Dad would complain that it was too relaxing for me, as I slept through a sizable chunk of the drive.

It was such a nice trip that we really weren't ready to come home, knowing that we had a busy week ahead of us. Yesterday we hosted (or more appropriately Mrs. Nutz hosted while I hid in the house on the computer) a baby shower for Mrs. Munk, who is due in just a few weeks. We are so happy for them, despite the bittersweet feeling we have due to our own misfortune in starting a family on our own. We work to stay optimistic for the future, but it does come difficult at times.

While we weren't ready to come home, our cat Emma was so glad to have us back. Mrs. Nutz sister (woodland critter name yet to be determined) was house-sitting, and she and Emma don't get along very well. Add to that the fact that Emma is still recovering from her declawing surgery, and it sounds like she ha a traumatic weekend... not that my Sister-in-Law did anything to antagonize her.

The saddest part about Emma now is that I think we broke the cat. She used to be real hyper and full of energy, but all she does now is move from one napping spot to another. It's really sad to see that she's not the same anymore, and we're hoping that it passes. I think it's depression, but I doubt that we'll be able to give our cat a dose of Zoloft.

Well, that should be enough for now. Three updates on July, that's a good sign. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Ramblings From A Tired Squirrel!

I had every intention of making a new post on Monday, and I have already received flack from the Munks for not accomplishing this task. So if anyone else feels slighted that I did not make a post, I apologize.

This past week my and Mrs. Nutz's nephews were in town visiting their Father (woodland critter moniker yet to be decided) and we tried to spend as much time as possible with them. Sunday, the 4th, was their last night in Utah, and the family was determined to finish this visit with a bang... literally. When we do dinners with my wife's family we generally assign out part of the meal, and her father was assigned the task of buying the fireworks. Mrs. Nutz and I, while doing our grocery shopping, saw an inexpensive bucket of fireworks that we decided to add to the pot (ironically it was the exact same bucket that was one of the kits her Dad bought.) Apparently other members of the family felt the same way, so we had a HUGE amount of fireworks to launch, and we sure had a great time doing it.

Monday it was time for the boys to go back to their mother in Louisiana, and Mrs. Nutz was volunteered to fly them back. Their Father is going to be moving out of state at the end of the month to be closer to the boys, and is working as much as he can to save up for the journey, so he only had a week vacation available. In order to spend more time with the boys here, he asked that someone escort them home, so of course we were happy to help. Mrs. Nutz flew with the boys to meet their Mom in Houston, then flew home the next day.

The downside to this trip was the toll that it's taken on us. I have never especially enjoyed being home alone, but being separated from my best half is downright lousy. I maybe got 4 hours of sleep that night, and I was lucky to get that. (I even thought about writing this update while I was fighting with insomnia, but with how tired I was, I have no idea what kind of ramblings would be posted.) Mrs. Nutz told me that she too barely got any sleep Monday night, so she also was exhausted when she got home yesterday.

Here's the kicker: we got plenty sleep last night, so I can't explain why on Earth we are so much more tired today that we were yesterday.

So things have been pretty busy since my second to last update. Summer semesters have a reputation for being fairly easy; but when you do a math class that is usually takes 16 weeks in 7... well lets just say I've spent a lot of time doing Algebra the past weeks. If it wasn't for the fact that I only have 2 weeks left, I would probably be burning out right now. I feel like I'm turning Mrs. Nutz into a homework widow (though she is getting caught up on her viewing of chick flicks.)

Last month I had my 30th birthday, and for my present from my wife, I got a Wii game I've been wanting, and the cat got declawed. Happy birthday to me! While getting the house ready for the family party associated with my birthday, I indulged my inner child by renting the film adaptation of the children's book Where the Wild Things Are. My feelings were really mixed as the credits rolled, and I spent the next couple of hours trying to sort out my impression of the movie. I finally came to the conclusion that it was one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. I hated this movie (Mrs. Nutz has no opinion to interject as she did not watch the movie with me.)

The movie wasn't necessarily sad, but it wasn't upbeat and positive. Obviously the screen writer had to take some creative liberties when writing the film, since the book only has around 26 words in it. But the book was more pleasant and fun to me, while the movie was, well... I can only describe it as melancholy.

Fortunately the last movie we saw, Eclipse, was very well done. By far the best film in the Twilight series so far. If you are a fan of the books, you will love this move (and you should enjoy this if you're only accompanying a fan of the story.)

Well, unfortunately the time has come for me to sign off again. I hope to be able to post another update soon, but time will tell.

Happy Birthday America!!

This is only going to be a short post today, and I will get more up tomorrow when I have a little more time. As we celebrate our nations birthday it only seems appropriate that I say thank you to all those who have fought (and are still fighting) for our freedoms. Without your sacrifices we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms that we have today. Thank you, and God bless you and your families!

Thanks for reading check again tomorrow for a longer update!

I Promise I'm Still Alive!

¡¡HAPPY CINCO de MAYO!!

It has obviously been a while since I got a chance to update this, but at least I have a good excuse: Spring Semester! Thankfully that semester is done, and Summer just started today, but this should be a little bit milder than the last one. The best part for me is that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm trying to get there as fast as I can. That may mean that I have to put stuff like this blog on the back-burner, but it will only make things sweeter when all is said and done.

I know that there's some of you out there that have been wanting me to make an update. Mrs. Munk told Mrs. Nutz that I was taking so long to do updates that she should just take over. She is welcome to do so anytime. It would be nice to let the family hear things from her perspective, but I don't know if that will happen. Time will tell.

Also, if you choose to post a comment on here, it will no longer show up immediately. I know that I have mentioned in the past that I would like to maintain anonymity on this site, and everyone who has posted has been great in not mentioning names in their comments, so I had no problem keeping my comments open to all. Unfortunately, some weird Japanese website started posting comments that linked to a page that was highly inappropriate for many reasons. After I discovered their comments in one or two of my posts, I decided I would have to moderate, so I apologize if you submit a comment and it takes a while to show up. My personal feelings for free speech still stand, so unless your post is laced with profanity, or you list my and Mrs. Nutz real name, it will be approved to go as is.

Since the last post, our dog had her surgery, and she bounced back just fine. She was so good that she didn't even mess with her stitches, which means she did not have to endure the cone of shame. I wish I could bounce back as fast as she did. We'll have to see if the cat fares as well when we take her in for her declawing.

I'd wager that there's some readers of this who disagree with the practice of removing a cats claws, and frankly we normally would feel the same. We don't like to torture our animals (even though Iola would beg to differ based on last Friday, but I will get to that in a minute.) Unfortunately our cat Emma is super jumpy, and she likes to play rough with her claws. We made the decision to have the claws removed. With us planning to have kids, we really don't want our future kids to be scratched up because the cat get startled.

In regard to Iola being tortured, last Friday she went with me to go pick up a box of latex gloves from Mr. and Mrs. Munks house. Unfortunately the Munks had recently been battling mice in their home, and they forgot that they had a couple of mousetraps out that were baited with Decon-laced peanut butter. We suspect that Iola licked the peanut butter, and may have ingested a trace amount of the poison.

We consulted a vet, and were told that we would have to induce vomiting to make sure that any trace would be gone. We were told to give her some hydrogen peroxide and then wait ten minutes. Unfortunately our dog, whose stomach is usually so sensitive that ice-cold water makes her sick, decided to have an iron stomach that night. After about 30 minutes, we mixed up some salt water, and forced her to drink that (by one taste of the peroxide, she was not going to trust anything we gave her.) That didn't work, so we decided to try forcing her to drink really cold water, which was accomplished by jamming a hose in her mouth and holding her still. After doing that a few times, we figured we were only water boarding the dog rather than making her throw up, so we took her inside to let her know we weren't mad at her.

We contacted a source at Guide Dogs, who had raised Iola, and were told to give her another dose of peroxide every hour until she threw up. We gave her another dose of peroxide, then a third an hour later. Finally after the third dose she went outside and tossed her kibble, so we were able to finally relax. The Munks felt awful about the whole thing, and they decided to make it up to Iola by bringing her some new toys and treats. The sad truth is that she is more likely to be mad at us for the torture, instead of learning the real lesson: Don't eat/lick everything you walk by!!!

Well, life is continuing on. We were very frustrated with Mrs. Nutz OB, since he seemed to be giving up on us. He kept pressuring us to consult a fertility specialist, which would cost us $475 just for a consultation, and then $2000 monthly should we see him more regularly. We kept asserting that we could not afford that, but he kept pushing. Finally we decided to go with a new OB on the recommendation of the Munks, and we're being very optimistic about it. He has drastically changed Mrs. Nutz prescriptions, and now she's a walking pharmacy. She's taking Clomid for infertility, Metformin and an Estrogen supplement to enhance the Clomid, Robitussin to counterbalance the fertility medications effects, and Prenatal and Vitamin D. Oh, she's also taking Immodium to help with the effects of Metformin... fun times.

In my own medical pains, I finally went to see the dentist for the first time in four years, and since that visit I've been getting cavities filled, and have had 2 root canals, with a third coming up. Dammit, I am never missing a 6 month check-up every again!! The only plus side is that during both root canals I fell asleep in the chair. This was a point of playful contention between my wife and I, as she felt that being so comfortable during the procedure was not punishment enough for going so long without a check-up.

Well, I think that I've rambled on long enough. I am going to try and update the header of this blog soon, and I would like to make a post about the advanced screening Mr. Munk and I were able to attend for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I make no promises, but keep your fingers crossed. If I don't get a chance, you can read my review of the movie on imdb.com. At the time of this posting, it's the only review there; but if more show up, those who know me should have no problems finding it.

Marketing SNAFU, or Am I Just Nit-Picking?

Happy 2010!!!

Once again a new year is upon us, and I for one am doing all I can to be optimistic about the new decade. Granted, I do think of myself as a natural optimist anyway, and I hope that those who know me would agree, but the suffering economy and soaring unemployment rate is enough to turn anyone cynical. Still, the spirit of the new year is to wipe the slate clean and start over anew.

As this year begins, so does another semester of school for me. As I continue on my trek to graduate I find myself enrolled in classes dealing with ethics, screenplay writing, intercultural communication, and a series of lectures from professionals in the field of digital media and computer science. At one end of the spectrum, I look at the work-load of these classes and feel overwhelmed by the semester before me; but on the other end I'm excited about these classes, as I think I'll really be able to do some cool things in them.

Everything else seems to be rather quiet around the Nutz household. Our Christmas decorations have come down, and we find our free evenings (which will inevitably come to a screeching halt once this semester goes underway... at least for me) are now filled with our favorite TV shows, and the newly acquired Wii.

We'd circled around the thought of getting a Wii for quite some time, and we thought that this past Christmas, the Wii would be a great present to each other. We started out with a standard assortment of games that we already knew from playing my parents Wii, but we decided to indulge and try the new Super Mario Brothers Wii game, and man is it fun! Extremely challenging, but fun. The funniest thing to me was how quickly this game sold out after Christmas. We bought our copy the day after Christmas at our local Target, and up until New Year's Eve we could walk into any Target, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy, and they had tons of copies. We introduced my Brother and his wife to the game at my parents one evening before New Year's, and when they went to look for it, it was nowhere to be found. Having found it all over the place in our neck of the woods, we checked for them, and were stunned that the supply in our area had been depleted as well.

One of the guys in my class works at a game store, and he informed me that Nintendo sent out a notice to all the distributors that they did not have enough supply to meet the demand of that game (which Nintendo is known for under-producing to create artificial demand anyway,) and that they would not be able to get more to the stores until sometime in late February/early March.

This was, however, a lie, because now you go through Target and Wal-Mart, and they once again have tons of copies. I guess Nintendo either ramped up the production, or they tried to create more artificial demand by creating a scarce supply in hopes that the game would continue to fly off the shelves when they brought the next batch out of the warehouse. With the economy as volatile as it, and considering that these games sell for $50 bucks a pop, I personally am inclined to believe the latter.

Other than that, our lives have pretty much simmered down to normal. Work continues, and we do our best to keep up with our lives. We should be done with our major expenditures for quite some time, though we do have to take our dog Iola into the vet for surgery. She has developed a tumor on her side that, from all accounts, is both common and benign for purebreds. The vets told us to keep an eye on it, and that as long as it didn't grow, and didn't bother the dog, we should be okay. That was 2 years ago, and while it doesn't seem to faze Iola at all, it has grown to be the size of a large rock over the past couple of years, so we decided that it would be good to have it removed altogether.

Speaking of dogs, I saw something in the grocery store a while ago, and I still find it both humorous, and oddly morbid:

The Walt Disney company is by no means a stranger to product licensing. The first piece of merchandise that was adorned with a Disney creation was a Mickey Mouse watch from the 1920's. Donald Duck orange juice has also been on the market for years, and even though it really doesn't taste any different from the pulp-free OJ that you can buy at any grocery store, I personally love getting a carton of it whenever I can find it.

Another thing that is no stranger to the Disney company is dogs. They have made countless stories about dogs over the years, with such memorable ones as Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, Oliver and Company, and Bolt. Even many of their live-action offerings included canines (The Ugly Dachsund, The Shaggy D.A., The Incredible Journey, and even the modern day Airbud and it's many sequels and knock-offs.) Heck, that's not even mentioning the 2 dogs that have been with Mickey and the gang the longest: Pluto and Goofy.

So when Kroger foods and Disney decided to market a dog food together, they had a pretty good list of potential mascots. Oddly enough, they decided to go with Old Yeller.

That's right, Old Yeller dog food. The first time we saw it in the store, Mrs. Nutz and I were speechless. Even now we don't walk by it without making some comment between ourselves. Don't get me wrong, Old Yeller was a classic Disney movie, but what do people remember the most about the movie? I'd say the same thing they remember when they watch the movie Bambi. People don't remember the heroics of the dog, the rousing theme song, and the charming aspects of the story as the boy Travis grows to love his dog; they remember when the dog gets rabies and Travis has to put him down with a shotgun.

It seems odd to me that a company would choose to market a movie based on a story that made countless generations of children cry. Death really isn't a positive marketing tool, unless you're selling pest control (though I think Disney legal would steer clear of marketing something ridiculous like Mickey Mouse rat poison, or mouse traps.)

A little Google searching revealed that the dog food was put on the market in 2005, and Kroger even put out a press release for it. Not surprisingly the press release neglects to mention the sad ending, but paints the movie to be all about frontier fun, and the bonding of the boy and his dog. That's not saying that they're lying about the contents of the film, they're just leaving out the part everyone remembers.

Of course, there's enough online, and in the media, to remind everyone of the sad ending to the film. My personal favorite joke comes from the show Friends when Phoebe see the ending of the movie for the first time and asks, "what kind of sick doggy snuff film is this?"

Well, I believe that I've rambled on for long enough. Until next time... whenever that is.

Oh Fudge!

Once again, that most wonderful time of the year is upon us, and I for one couldn't be happier about that. It is now Christmas Eve, and that is my favorite day of the year.

With each passing year it keeps feeling more and more like Christmas comes up faster than we expect. I started working on a new banner for this blog that would commemorate the holiday season (and be adequate to leave posted until February) but it still hasn't gotten past the drawing board. I plan to still get it on this site this weekend, but it was evident early on that I would not get the drawing ready for a visit from Santa.

Since we finally woke up from our turkey coma, we've had the joy of preparing for the upcoming holiday. Our shopping is done, our presents are wrapped, and the cat has actually managed to not dig into one of them this year! Last Christmas my Mother-In-Law gave us some pancake batter as part of our gift (each year we get something to contribute to our food storage) and it sat under the tree for a week without Emma even looking at it; then one day, we walk in the front door and there are white paw prints all over the floor, and a white cat (who is normally black) sitting on a pile of flour.

This year, our biggest battle with the pets has come in the form of our dog Iola. We recently decided to purchase a new love-seat and chair for our front room, and we wanted to make this the couch that our dog would not be allowed to get on. Sure enough, she was attracted to the couch almost instantly, and we had to do some major training to break her of that habit. Fortunately for us, it's easy to tell when the dog has been on the couch, as she leaves a pretty sizable drool stain when she gets off.

Along with our new couch and chair (which I contend, is the most comfortable recliner I've sat in,) we also invested in an end-table to go between the two. Our cat, who is by far the most jumpy animal in the world, quickly started investigating the new table and furniture. She found that she could comfortably fit underneath the table, with minimal clearance between her head and the drawer above. Unfortunately for Emma, Mrs. Nutz grabbed at her tail, causing Emma to jump about 10 feet when she had a 2 inch clearance. After we heard the loud thump of Emma hitting the underside of the table, we both laughed while the cat ran away and sulked for a while. Fortunately for us, the cat knows nothing about retribution, so I think we'll be okay to keep startling her for our amusement.

Speaking of new furniture, our local RC Willey must love having us around by now. Last Saturday Mrs. Nutz posted on Facebook that she had a fire in the oven, and apparently some people thought she was kidding. To set the record straight, we did manage to set our oven on fire. It wasn't by any means a huge fire, and we were able to stop it before the fire alarms even went off. Where we ran into trouble was that we used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and after we did that we were informed that the chemicals in the extinguisher could damage the element in the oven. We tried cleaning the oven, but were never able to get rid of the extinguisher smell and smoke, so we decided to run to RC Willey and buy a new one.

The oven we had came with the house when we bought it, and Mrs. Nutz has wanted to get replace it for a while now, so this really was nothing more than a convenient reason to go and buy a new better oven; however I jokingly tell people that I think she started the fire on purpose just so that she could get a new one.

Well, the tree is trimmed, the house is ready, and outside we have the return of the big inflatable rodent. Mickey once again graces our front yard, and this year we took proper precautions with our exterior illumination to ensure that it can withstand wind and snow. Last year Mickey never quite inflated properly, and the wind kept knocking over the tree we placed on the front porch, eventually destroying the base of it. This year we bought a new tree, and I bolted that thing to the ground so that it can't go anywhere. Mickey still inflates a little odd, but that can be attributed to the foot of snow outside, and not an error in my construction.

I've also been pleased that Emma has stayed (for the most part) out of our Christmas Village. Last year it took everything I could think of to try and keep her from playing Godzilla cat in Mickey's Toon Town, but this year she seems to be otherwise occupied. She might actually deserve the stuffed mouse that we bought her from Ikea.

Well, it seems about time that I end this post and bid you all a very Merry Christmas. The title of this post comes from the fact that as I type this, Mrs. Nutz is in bed watching A Christmas Story. It's one of those classic movies that just makes the season a little brighter.

From all of us in the Nutz house, to all of you, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

So Much For Traditions Charlie Brown.

I initially wanted to get this post up last week; however when that became an obvious non-occurrence I determined that I would get the post up in time for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I came up a day late and a dollar short. Still I think that the spirit of the post is relevant, so I will go ahead and proceed.

The other day Mrs. Nutz and I got onto the topic of traditions, and I commented my amusement for the way that some traditions, that seem to make little or no sense, will find their way into your life. For example: One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robins. The first time I watched this movie was on Thanksgiving day after I had watched the parade and was engrossed in decorating my room for the holidays. Since that time, I have always had my thoughts drift toward that movie on Thanksgiving at some point or another. Before marriage I would watch the film annually on Thanksgiving, but this has since faded away due to not having the time between visiting our families for the day.

I'm certainly not complaining about not watching this movie on Thanksgiving, because to me spending time with the family is infinitely more important than that. I just find it amusing that a movie about prisoners and triumph of the human spirit would become one of my focuses on such a prevalent holiday as Turkey Day. Of course I find it equally humorous that Football has turned into such a holiday past-time as well, but that's only because I don't enjoy watching the sport.

Still, I hold no qualms for unusual (and albeit silly) traditions for this holiday, especially since I'm just happy that people are showing recognition for it. It seems like too many people are moving toward a mindset of getting Halloween out of their system so they can focus on Christmas. There is still a holiday in between the two, and it's kind of an important one.

I know, I know. The good folks at Macy's put on a traditional Thanksgiving parade, but if you think about it, there are more floats dedicated to Christmas than to Thanksgiving. On yesterdays parade the newscasters were noting the Tom Turkey float, and noted that most people (myself included) think of that float when they think of the parade; and yet when Santa Claus finishes up the parade, they declare the parade as the beginning of the Christmas season.

Of course the Macy's parade, while a well loved tradition, is really nothing more than a marketing tactic by Macy's. It comes as no surprise to me that so many people have adopted the tradition of holding back on their Turkey dinners so that they can leave early in the evening to get in line to go shopping at midnight. It takes a special breed of person to look forward to Black Friday, and I can honestly say that I am not one of those people.

I am, however, equally guilty of catching the Early Christmas bug as well. As noted above, I used to use the time between the parade, and the first of two Thanksgiving meals, as an opportunity to start my own Christmas decorations. I guess when you have a worldwide holiday as prevalent as Christmas, it's difficult to get anyone to not let it drift a little into our Turkey Day festivities as well. Heck, I even started drinking eggnog yesterday, which is another one of my personal traditions, and I will be damned if I drink eggnog a day before Thanksgiving! (Pumpkin Spice eggnog for Halloween? Ugh!)

Unfortunately our traditions this year were held to a minimum. Last week I ended up missing work because I caught what I would consider the worst sore throat of my life. It did not turn into strep, thankfully, but it put me out of commission for a week. Between my regular Dayquil cocktails, I kept thinking how relieved I was that I was going to get this out of my system so that I would be better by Thanksgiving. As I'm sure you can guess, its very hard to stuff yourself into a tryptophan coma when you can barely swallow.

The downside to my sore throat, at the time, was that it came right during my and Mrs. Nutz's anniversary. Rather than taking the day off to go have a romantic evening out, we stayed in and watched TV while I tried to force soup and cough-drops down my throat.

When my sore throat finally ebbed, I got excited about being able to enjoy our families Thanksgiving festivities; unfortunately fate had a different plot in mind for my wife. Wednesday the sore throat went to her, and by the time we sat down for our first family meal yesterday, she was having too much trouble getting food down. We decided it would be best to forgo our evening plans, since we didn't want to spread this illness to anyone else, and we left to spend a quiet evening at home.

This turn of events led me to thinking about the TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which I was guilty of watching several times. In it Charlie Brown is berated by Peppermint Patty for serving them a thanksgiving meal that consists of toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans. Patty is furious that she wasn't served a traditional feast, despite the fact that she had invited herself, Marcie, and Franklin over when Charlie Brown wasn't even supposed to be at home.

The day was saved though, when that sage of sages, Linus, reminded the group that thanksgiving's importance doesn't lie with the feast; but rather with the meaning of the holiday. Ours was the first nation to make an annual celebration of giving thanks for our blessings. When you think about it, that's a pretty awesome idea.

In a holiday filled with traditions and family, my wife and I were forced to scale back this year. That notwithstanding, I want to just say how thankful I am for the blessings we've had this year. While the economy around us is just starting to show signs of life, we were among those who were fortunate enough to keep our jobs, and our home. I'm thankful for our families, and how they help us throughout our trials and struggles. We feel bad that we weren't able to make it to the family dinner, but our hearts were still with them on this holiday. I'm thankful for our friends, and the joy that they bring to our lives. In particular, at this time, I want to say thanks to Mr. and Mrs Munk for their friendship. And when they roll their eyes when we ask to borrow their copies of the seasons of The Big Bang Theory, I just want to remind them them that they were the ones to create this monster.

Mostly though, I want to say how thankful I am for my wife, and all that she does for me. I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with, but she puts up with me and shows me love in all that she does. My life is truly better because she is in it, and I thank her for that. I love you sweetheart.

Happy Thanksgiving!