Not home for the holidays

Thanksgiving and Christmas will be different in the Godbey-Jones household. For the first time EVER, ewe will have the holiday dinner at a restaurant. If this experiment works, then perhaps we have started a new tradition, if not, then t back to the old tradition. 

My sister has always hosted Thanksgiving, and we host Christmas, but last year she tried to put together the big meal, while guests were staying at her house, and it was obviously a lot of work. Also, our parents live in apartment, without a traditional oven, or a dishwasher. Our kitchen and oven aren't big enough, (my sister has two ovens), so there you go, we will try something different.

We usually host Christmas, but this year, we will go to Chicago, because it's getting harder for my mother in law to travel, and we're overdue to go there for the holiday, as we haven't been since before Bruce and  I were married. Since we won't be home, we probably won't decorate the house. We aren't trying to be scrooges, but it just doesn't seem to make sense deck the halls, when no one will see them.


However you celebrate the holidays, enjoy and be thankful for each other!

Last installment of the reptile list series, for now.

This will be my last entry, because it occurs  to me that this list is judgmental. I hope my true friends, and my family know that I am not.


Today I mention former senator, John Edwards. Call me nutty, but I don't see how having a cancer-stricken wife is an excuse to cheat.  As a cancer patient, I know first hand that the disease takes its toll on marriages, but when it started to hurt mine, my husband and I went to counseling. Edwards cheated and lied, to his family, his supporters, all in the hopes no one would find out, and he could become president. I think his wife, now deceased, was just as ambitious about being First Lady, but still she was clearly hurt.


Adding insult to injury, it was the National Enquire, of all rags, that exposed him.

I know it's a tall order, but please give me some truth and authenticity in our politicians. Maybe someday.

I'm taking a detour from my reptile list to share some thoughts about the recent presidential election, in a place I hope is a safe and appropriate place to share my thoughts.

I very much understand that those who disagree with President are very passionate, and I'm assuming that they voted for Mitt Romney, as is their right. Some think this country, as we know it,  is over; that we are now a socialist nation, under the command of someone is who isn't Christian, or American; that we the people are takers, not makers.



I don't believe America is a socialist nation. Sweden may be closer to that model, but many are upset at the notion of the government trying to provide healthcare to its people, thus the concerns about socialism.  People want goods and services, but don't want to pay for them. Easier said than done. I would not want to live in a country with no government. I'm willing to pay taxes to promote the "general welfare" of my fellow Americans.

Regarding the president not being a Christian, didn't people kick up a fuss about his Pastor? Somehow, some people think that because Obama's father was Kenyan, he (Obama) is a Muslim, or maybe it's because Obama lived for a time in Indonesia. I believe people of all faiths should be welcome here.

Which brings me to Obama's citizenship. He produced a long and short form of his birth certificate, plus unless someone can argue the point Obama's mother was born here, Obama is a citizen.

I didn't vote for Romney, because since the economy is so bad, and Americans dislike taxes, it didn't make sense me to run a candidate who only paid 14%, according to the tax return he provided.

Enough. I've said my piece. This was way too long of an election cycle, and too expensive. My friend Rich said it best.

If your guy won, congratulations. If your guy lost, my condolences.

Another reptile

Today I give the nod to Ann Coulter. Please don't buy her books, and members of the media, please don't invite her on your program. If she is that good at writing books, she shouldn't need to yell it at the top of her lungs.

Still she'll say provocative things, not to start an intellectual argument, but to promote her books that bash "liberals". If someone questions her, she'll harp, "Read the book!"

News outlets invite her on, thinking she'll bring in ratings with another incendiary comment about gays, our president, or 9-11 wives. Just boycott her. She has nothing new to move a conversation forward. Confession:  I have never read one of her books, but I have read her columns. I can't believe she believes what she says or writes.

my reptile list part one.

This post will take some explaining, so be patient. In college, I wrote for a conservative student newspaper called The Commentator. There I met a guy named Duane Dungannon, who frequently described other men as "loathsome reptiles".   Today I start my reptile list, to generally include both men and women, who seem to be missing  common decency, and a moral compass.

After much consideration, my first entry has to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's bad enough he cheats on his wife, in their house, but then he goes and writes a book about it, in which he almost proudly admits to further indiscretions. It takes some brass balls to add insult to injury like that. All the while, he purports to be learning from his mistakes. Some egos are just too big.


More to come....

Veruca's last stand.

After years of trying everything, from painful laser treatments, to weekly freezings and burnings(also painful), it's time to cut Veruca out, like my brain tumor. I have a pre-op physical 9/4...pro-op with surgeon 9/24 and surgery 9/28, with a 4-6 week recovery time. During the healing process, my husband will need to take a business trip to Israel. Once again I will need help, but I have a plan.

We had to juggle the surgery time around my chemo, and the end of September made both my Oncologist and the surgeon happy. I will be given anesthesia (yay), and a knee scooter and a boot. I will miss being able to walk, but I was able to do plenty of walking and overall had an excellent summer.

Good Riddance Veruca, my plantar wart of doom!

A Republican's Worst Nightmare

Election season makes me pissy. I've heard so much rhetoric about "Obamacare"and "job creators" that I can't seem to fit in with any political party, but especially the Republican party.

I get social security benefits, and medicare, which last time I checked are government programs. My Bad. These programs cost taxpayer money, and something needs to be done to keep these programs from going bankrupt. So, by extension, taxpayers are helping me, and they are pissed. They maybe wonder how a disabled person like myself can walk a few miles a day, take a nice vacation with her family, and get government benefits.


Two things.  First, my family pays taxes, even on my benefits. Secondly, I challenge anyone to have two brain surgeries(with more potentially on the way) and have the capacity to get through a day's work. I sometimes think the strange hours I worked in television contributed to my illness. I worked late nights, early mornings, 12-hour shifts, with constant audio-visual stimuli. No wonder I broke down.

I understand the Republican wish to reign in wasteful spending, but the party loses me, when it comes to its stances on social programs, and the role of government. When I was a college kid, and had the world ahead of me, I never envisioned needing any help.

But then, as a 32-year-old working mom, I began having seizures, which I would later find out were triggered by a brain tumor, a cancerous one, for which I am still undergoing chemotherapy. I need help-- to drive to the store, see friends, and get to doctor appointments.

Should I be ashamed that I need help?

Time will tell, but I don't think I'll get much, if Republicans are voted back into office.