MerrinDonahue.com

At least right now. Tomorrow, of course, it will be 35 and sleeting. Ya gotta love Texas weather.
UPDATE: It’s 80 degrees right now, and the weatherman just advised us that we’re under a winter storm warning. WTF?

It’s my favorite day of the year, and from Chez Donahue to all of you: Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I’m especially thankful for my husband (who loves me enough to let me fritter away our savings on Ebay). Our biggest gift, though, is the knowledge that (sooner or later—and the wait is killing me) our daughter will be with us before too many more holidays have passed.
So. Eat lots of turkey (or, tofurkey if that’s your thing), send up a little prayer of thanks, and enjoy your families this year.

It’s no secret that I heart Nintendo. I heart Zelda. Kevin stayed up all night trying to get me a new Wii, but alas, there were none to be had. We thought we got lucky on Amazon this morning, but not so much. There is one lady who lives close to us that had one listed on Ebay, but Kevin had to run an errand during the last few minutes of the auction, leaving me to watch it. We set our high bid, but in the last 5 minutes, it kept getting higher and higher. Luckily, I have fast fingers and a total disregard for our bank account. I won that sucker in the last TWO SECONDS. Seriously.
So here’s my solemn vow: I will from this day forward be the wife my husband deserves. I will deny him nothing (as long as it doesn’t interfere with my Zelda time). And I promise to stay off Ebay, since it could would be hazardous to my marriage.
Update: I have a Wii and you don’t.

Are you f’ing kidding me?!?!? There is a new government report that has eliminated hunger in America. There’s just one problem: Hunger still exists, it’s just called something else. According to ABC News, if you’re hungry in America, you just suffer from very low food security. I’m perfectly serious. To quote the article: “Despite the positive news, the report is still drawing criticism, this time because analysts decided not to use the word “hunger” to describe how hungry people are.” For the millions of Americans who depend on food pantries, this is a ginormous slap in the face. It almost seems like by changing the name, we can ignore the problem, and that, quite frankly, pisses me off.
In the meantime, there is something we can all do. Just click the button below. It’s free, and it will help end hunger food insecurity.

I love my husband. Very much, in fact. We are so alike on so many fronts, and we share (almost) the same values. However, there is one subject that is strictly taboo in our house, and you guessed it, it’s politics. We have diametrically opposing views on all manner of political issues, and I would imagine that he’s not having a very good day today. In fact, it’s proabably best that he is out of town, because, even though I miss him, I don’t think he would appreciate the victory dance I did around the house. Twice (once for the election results, and once for Rumsfeld). And even though I’m not Nancy Pelosi’s biggest fan, I am eager to see if she truly can work closely with the President. I certainly hope she can, becuase it’s pretty frickin’ cool that we will have a female Speaker.
I don’t typically discuss my views publicly, because, quite frankly, I don’t take kindly to the crazy people who would most likely enjoy seeing me burn, but I think it’s important to make note of the power shift this election year. REGARDLESS of your political affiliation, we as Americans got to bear witness to true democracy in action. We used our voices, we exercised our privilege, and our voices were heard. It may not have been the result that you personally (cough)kevin(/cough) wanted, but there is nothing that inspires patriotism like the voice of the people turning the tide.

Britney has filed for divorce from that deadbeat K-Fed. Good job, Brit!

I got my stitches out a week ago, and I have to say: The ER did an amazing job. You can barely even see the scar, and like my doctor said (BTW, I love my doctor. This is the doctor that said I don’t have to lose any weight, so she’s pretty much my new best friend), in a few weeks, I won’t even remember that I ever did it. Still, though, I’m going through Mederma like it’s going out of style. So there you have it. Cheap Target glasses are forever banished from my house, but at least there was no permanent harm done.

Can somebody please, please, PLEASE tell me why it takes longer to dry a small load of whites than a huge load of colors? Seriously. It takes twice as long to dry the whites than the other loads. Even a full load of towels dries faster than four white undershirts. I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with the dryer monster that eats socks. It’s a giant conspiracy.

The ghoulies and ghosties will start showing up soon, begging for candy. In the meantime, however, I have two spooky stories to share:
1) When I bought Halloween candy last week, I neglected to buy Twix. Now, many of you know how much my husband loves him some Twix bars. Today, I tried to rectify the situation. I went to THREE different grocery stores AND Super Target. None of them had any bags of mini-Twix. There was plenty of candy of all other brands. I even went to the “normal” candy aisle, not just the Halloween aisle. NO TWIX. It’s a Halloween consipiracy.
2) True story (and I don’t give a crap what the Straight Dope says, cuz it IS true): I put out street lights. I first noticed it when I was a kid, and it has kept up ever since. The theory is that you don’t notice when they DON’T go out, only when they do. WRONG. I watch them obsessively. Sure enough, if I’m walking or driving after dark, I put out an average of 8-10 streetlights, no matter what time it is. So there.
Everybody have a safe and happy Halloween!

Our local ABC affiliate is doing a month-long series on women’s health and today they have chosen to spotlight lupus. The following is an actual transcript of a conversation that takes place during the news:

Me: Oh look. They’re featuring lupus.
Kevin: Why are they talking about werewolves?
Me: It’s not about werewolves. It’s an auto-immune disorder.
Kevin: No it’s not. Professor Lupin from Harry Potter was a werewolf. Lupus is a disease that makes people werewolves. All werewolves are women. That’s like saying “werewolves don’t kill people, people kill people”.

Please keep in mind that he was perfectly serious.

Here’s a friendly public service announcement: Don’t buy the cheap drinking glasses. They break in the dishwasher. This has happened before. In fact, we’ve had to buy additional sets of glasses to replace the ones that have broken. I have cut my hands and fingers taking them out of the dishwasher (they break pretty cleanly, and sometimes, the don’t break all the way until you’re putting them away).
Up until now, I’ve put up with it, because, hey, they’re cheap. NOT ANYMORE. I emptied the dishwasher last night (it’s typically the last thing I do at night). Then, I got a drink of water, using, of course, the glass I just removed. And then, the pain. The blood. The horror. The damn glass was broken, and I sliced open my face. I had to wake up poor Kevin and go to the ER. I now have 8 stitches, Angelina Jolie’s lips, and a lovely little Hitler mustache. Crap.

Yep. I voted. In fact, I voted for Kinky. So there.

I have always been a sucker for marketing. I even went through a phase where I wanted to own a Saturn because their commercials were great. Given the sad mood around our house, I found myself feeling better for having watched the Liberty Mutual commercial. Normally, I fast forward through them, but I’m glad I caught this one.

Abby Sue made the trip over the Rainbow Bridge today. Although we are very sad, we know she is having a ball playing with Bonkers, Dixie, Tinker, Greta, Fritz, and Hawk.
We will miss her.

As it turns out, I am bad at math. Anyone that knows me can testify. HOWEVER, there is finally proof that it’s not because I’m stoopid. I am simply happy and confident.
Suck it, math.