"one of the rights our forefathers fought for was the secret ballot" According to Wikipedia, the secret ballot was introduced in the US in the 1880s. I'm not sure anyone fought for it at all. Not unlike other things, we introduced this voting feature years later than did many other developed countries in Europe and elsewhere. Campaign workers may ask who you're going to vote for. Physicians may ask personal questions about your love life and other rather private matters. That these people typically do doesn't mean anyone else in a general conversation should consider it appropriate. Nathan Hale was the "only one life to lose for my country" guy. According to a quick search, the quote about vigilance was used for liberty, democracy, and other things by many people at many different times. Good quotes are often wrongly attributed. Including many attributed to Yogi Berra, like "It's like deja vu all over again", which he denied saying.

Agree with Ritamay. Keep a close eye on your hand. I stupidly broke up a cat fight when I was in high school and ended up in the hospital for 3 days on IV antibiotics because my mom wouldn't take me to the doctor until it was too late for oral antibiotics. It was pretty obvious though as my hand swelled to about 3x it's normal size and was super painful. I was also bitten and scratched all over both hands as I tried to hold onto him as long as I could. One thing to be aware of is that this is usually reported to animal control and I don't know what would happen to the kitty. An officer came and checked mine for aggression and made sure vaccinations were updated.

Me: *Add to Cart!* *Add to Cart!* *Add to Cart!* *Add to Cart!* Thank you! I search for one every few months. I do prefer the lighter pink and all of my other appliances are the lighter pink,but I can definitely make do with this one! I want to wait and have it for my christmas present but I am afraid if i do they wouldn't have it by then! That's how I lost out on the lighter pink one!!!! Thank you again! You just made my whole YEAR!!!!

Rob, it sounds perfect! Mother is here with me and that went well too, for which I am thankful. If it is her last year, at least it was a great one. If she's still with you next year, well, you set the bar high! Jasdip, I hope you're feeling better soon and can still recuperate enough to at least enjoy some of your time off! We just had our dinner yesterday, there were 11 of us with Mother there. I high-heat roasted a tenderloin, using Barbara Kafka's method ala AnnT and served it with horseradish sauce. We also had a ham glazed with pineapple and brown sugar, twice baked potatoes, sweet potatoes stuffed with Italian sausage and gruyere, Sol's honey rolls, creamed corn. macaroni and cheese at the request of The Princess, cranberry/raspberry relish, broccoli with cheese sauce because it's Mother's favorite. Dessert was cookies and fudge, cherry crunch pie, apple pie and cheesecake. We had "appetizers" too, a cheese ball with crackers, deviled eggs, a relish tray with pickles and olives, a tray of cheese and Elery's homemade venison sausage. After that we opened gifts. Maci refused to eat anything other than fudge, Ashley came with her two German Shepherds and Amanda brought her Golden Retriever. Bud flew his drone around the house causing the dogs to bark and chase each other. Ashley played pranks on Grandma (my Mother) which resulted in her getting spanked by an 84 year old, which was extremely entertaining (for me!) Kevin had worked all day and tried to not fall asleep on the couch. You know, the usual. A pile of tenderloin, right off the slicer: Cookies and fudge: Apple pie: Next up, brunch with Elery's family on January 2, which also happens to be Elery's birthday, so that should be fun. They are coming here, and I'm cooking that 2nd tenderloin and "brunch stuff", still to be determined. We'll be eating at about 10 am and there will be 5 children, 14 and under, 12 of us if Mother is still here at my house then. Annie