As of yesterday, the governor's race was favoring Dino Rossi for about 3,000 votes. Yay! This is a nail-biter. The count is now down to pretty much the provisional ballots and those that were not signed (with volunteers seeking those voters to sign their ballots). And with both, it is impossible for the pollsters to hazard a guess as to which way they will go.

We were expecting Brian, along with a second plane, to be coming through McChord today on a cross-country, but it turns out that McChord is having a 'down' day that precludes any flying, so there will be no landing here. We are hoping we might still see them on their way back to Mt. Home in a few days.

We have been singing the praises of Tatonka Takeout here in Tacoma which is a little walk-up eatery that features buffalo burgers, and it was going to be the lunch stop today. This little 'hole-in-the-wall' is about the size of a good-sized living room, with one corner cordoned off for the cooking area. It takes a while to receive your order, but the wall are covered with photos and kitsch about bison to while away the time. There are about a half dozen tables plus a little bar at the window with metal tractor seats for stools.

Today is my friend, Elisabeth's, birthday so she and her son who is visiting from the east coast are coming for dinner. I dredged up an old recipe that was a mainstay for me about 30 years ago, but is still pretty acceptable, a chicken and rice dish embellished with mushrooms , bell peppers and light cream. The birthday cake is a sour cream chocolate cake with chocolate sour cream frosting.

Our Thanksgiving plans have changed dramatically from staying here and spending it with the Jerry Kirkwood family. With one small invitation from Keith, we were online booking tickets for Baltimore. We leave on the 21st and return on the 30th. The girls only have half days at school on the Monday and Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, so we should have a little extra time with them. Janet works half days, and I'm sure Keith has some comp time coming, so we should see lots of everybody. When asked what we could bring besides good Washington wine, Keith answered that we could not bring tomato aspic. No problem, we'll make it when we get there, and Ken and I will eat it and enjoy it. I suspect he doesn't want to hear about mincemeat pie either.

The kitchen is calling me so,

Ciao