Yuck!! What an awful day. It has rained basically all day - think of the snow that would be on the ground if it were a bit colder. I went outside for a few minutes to see if the ties on a Christmas bow I found were long enough to put around our dog statue's neck and decided it could wait until the weather changed!

Thank goodness it was just very cold, not raining, on Saturday when we went to the races at Churchill Downs in Louisville, where the Derby is held in the summer. We were waiting for a buddy of Steve's to give us the tickets to get into his family gathering on what is called Millionaire's Row, which is basically a banquet room full of tables like at a big author dinner at ALA. Nothing fancy about it, nor about Churchill Downs really. But, the room was four stories up and you didn't have to go outside to see the races if you didn't want to. We actually were right down next to the track for the first couple races and it was really cool to hear the hoof beats so close. I made the mistake of using the restroom on that level - it wasn't heated! Let's just say my visit was as short as possible. I was really ready to be inside. We lost more than we won betting, but it was fun.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home, just the two of us, since both the granddaughters had pink eye and Monica had a head cold. My resistance is so low right now that, although we miss them something terrible, I am glad they didn't come down. We all would have been miserable. Thursday wasn't one of my good days so Steve ended up making most of the dinner. I had a leftover turkey sandwich for lunch today - that's my favorite part, with cranberry sauce on it too. :-)

I finally got the last of the Christmas decorations up inside. Now we just need to wait for the weather to clear up so Steve can put the grapevine deer out on the lawn. I like them better than the white ones as they look a bit more realistic, but then again - how realistic is a deer covered in white lights? Next project is to get the grandkids gifts wrapped and sent out. I did not attempt Black Friday sales shopping even though some of the prices were fantastic. We went to the eye doctor's instead. I can't believe how expensive our glasses were, even with our insurance. But then again, I didn't exactly pick cheapo frames and the no line bifocals are expensive - yes, I am too vain to wear ones where you can see the line.

My book for today is Boy Toy by Barry Lyga. I think the best adjective for this book is disturbing. I felt myself squirming and cringing as I read scenes between 12-year-old Josh and his history teacher. The poor kid honestly believed that he had seduced her while she was interviewing him for a fictitious research project, at her apartment after school. Most of the book is written from Josh's seventeen-year-old perspective, as he tries to relate to Heather, the very girl he tried to have sex with in a closet when they were 12, what had caused him to act like that 5 years ago. Sadly, his perspective, initially, isn't much more mature in relation to what happened to him than it had been when he refused to testify against the teacher in court. It took a final encounter with his molester for Josh to accept he was not at fault. This is one of those books I wish all teens would read, but I am sure it is going to be controversial.

That's it for today.