"Yes, Miky, There Are Rabbis in Montana "
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/us/05religion.html?em

and

Fraudulent emails referencing CDC-sponsored State Vaccination Program
http://cdc.gov/hoaxes_rumors.html
(December 1, 2009)
CDC has received reports of fraudulent emails (phishing) referencing a CDC sponsored State Vaccination Program.
The messages request that users must create a personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov website. The message then states that anyone that has reached the age of 18 has to have his/her personal Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov site.
The CDC has NOT implemented a state vaccination program requiring registration on www.cdc.gov. Users that click on the email are at risk of having malicious code installed on their system. CDC reminds users to take the following steps to reduce the risk of being a victim of a phishing attack:
Do not follow unsolicited links and do not open or respond to unsolicited email messages.
Use caution when visiting un-trusted websites.
Use caution when entering personal information online.

I just realized that it's been a while since I posted, which is odd since I have so much 'down' time at work.
(I read LJ often, I just haven't posted for a while)

Let's see...

Nov. 20-22, I went to Iowa for Family Time. The drive was actually quite nice, even by my lonesome.
Was passed by "Air Ingus" and family on Hwy 39 southbound. :-P
Saw a fair number of hawks along the highway in Iowa - neat.
Kept myself amused by trying to find NPR on the radio as I went along. Found some wierd-a@@ programs.

Dinner on Friday was pizza at a restaurant; quite good. Claudia's eldest daughter, Jaclyn, left for a sleepover and movie thing after we returned to the house.
Saturday was spent cooking, playing with the kids and dogs, reading magazines, etc. Very wonderful. Oh, and the youngest (Julia) had a basketball game, which was really fun to watch (nobody kept score, to keep it fun).
Dinner was pre-Thanksgiving, turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato thing, green beans, rolls, fruit-in-gelatin (not Jello!), plus pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I was so full from the BESTEST T-DAY DINNER EVAR that I couldn't eat the cheesecake (which wasn't my thing anyways).
OMG was that a fantastic meal. I don't know if I can ever go back to the traditional Carlson meal again - I've been ruined by food with actual flavor. :-P

I don't think I can describe the cuteness that is my nephew, Quinn. He looks just like my brother when he was little! He doesn't talk yet (he's only 25 months), mostly communicates with squeals and whines and a bit of ASL (not much) - but my brother didn't talk until he was three at which point he jumped into full sentences. I'm not yet a familiar face, so I didn't get to hold him and I only barely got a cheek-kiss... I think I'm going to have to work on visiting more often!

Sunday we went to Alex's morning basketball game (his team whupped their opponents), then out to brunch (just Mom, Dad, Bud, Claudia, Quinn and myself - the three kids went to lunch with their bio-dad) at Cheesecake Factory. I ordered three appetizers, all of which were great.
After returning to the house, we wrapped up things and I hit the road.
The drive home was equally uneventful.

I worked at TJX on Monday and Wednesday evenings (11/23 & 25), and we went to our D&D session on Tuesday 11/24.

Merouda and her family opened their house to me and Karl for the actual Thanksgiving meal. It was quite good!
I'm strangely enamored of the vegetarian-option mushroom gravy (that is apparently from a packet, but was modified by the addition of real mushrooms).
There was a Wii, and various games were played, including the Swordplay thingy and even Canoeing (who knew that would be such a workout?)... ohmy.
We played Carcassonne later on... mwahahaha!
Met neat people, made new friends. Stayed out much later than I expected, but hardly noticed.

On Saturday, I went to my first local Jane Austen Society meeting (JANSA-Wisconsin chapter).

It happened to be their annual "Jane Austen's birthday" celebration (Dec. 16th, actually), so it was a formal luncheon at a very nice clubhouse in Menomonee Falls.  The food was delish.  (I had chicken w/saffron rice.)

It had started snowing that morning, so roads were a bit slushy but not horrible.  What was beyond description, however, was the effect the gentle snowfall had on our lunchtime atmosphere.  
The room in which we ate had two adjacent walls of windows, facing a wooded area.  The snow falling had covered all the ground and branches, and when the lights were turned down for the presentation, the glow from outside accentuated the garlands and wreaths decorating the windows.
It was breathtakingly lovely.

I had a delightful time chatting with the folks at my table - which included one of the three gentlemen, who, by his own admisison, was there "for the food."  But clearly he at least had a passing interest and familiarity with Jane Austen (and Monty Python!) because he was able to converse somewhat (at least about the movies, etc.) and we had fun making side jokes about shrubberies.

The presenter is writing a book about gardens in Jane Austen's time period (late 1700-early 1800), and she had a great PowerPoint presentation of pictures she took when last in England.

There was also a book sale table, but I didn't really see anything I wanted to buy.  I might check for a few things at the library, tho.

I wasn't figuring on meeting anyone I know there, so it was a surprise to bump into a co-worker from my recent temp job!  She was there with her husband (one of the three males among 80+ attendees).  She might loan me a few JA-related books, which would be nifty!

The next official event is May 3rd in Madison, and then the Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") in October just happens to be in Chicago this coming year - hooray!!

So, looks like I might make a foray into Regency gowns - there's a ball at the AGM, for which I would naturally want to be "suitably attired."