7 Quick Takes: Thanksgiving links! Saturday in November comforts! your suggestions for Writer's Block and more!

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Less than one week to Thanksgiving!  I love this holiday and now have the added anticipation of my two oldest boys coming home and all six of us being together again.  It's quite shocking to me each time I re-discover the truth about our season of mid-empty-nest.  

Even though we are in a different season of life than the one described in this "how to get ready for Thanksgiving" post from Like Mother, Like Daughter,  I love "Auntie Leila's" wisdom and humour, don't you? (p.s., if you are a nursing mother responsible for Thanksgiving prep, this is a must read.)

Ask Auntie Leila: No, really, how do you prepare for Thanksgiving?

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Probably my favorite Thanksgiving post I've written here hails all the way back to November 2008:  All is safely gathered in

I'm quite impressed with myself for managing to combine Van Gogh, Miles Davis, Snoopy and WKRP in Cincinnati all in one post.  See for yourself.

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It's not quite cool enough yet here in Austin for crackly fires but I did wear a hooded sweatshirt on a lovely Saturday morning walk through our neighborhood.  A few stretches of sidewalk pleased me with piles of crackly brown leaves to crunch under my feet.  The morning felt positively November-ish and homey.  I am so grateful.

I discovered one of these delightful private lending libraries perched outside one of the houses on my way.  Such a neighborly thing to do. (as I look through the Statesman article, I'm realizing this was the exact yard I walked by!)

credit: Carolyn Lindell

Michele Holt shows her library in the Brentwood neighborhood in North Central Austin.

Growing the love of reading: Free libraries pop up in front yards (via Statesman.com)

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As I mentioned in last week's Quick Takes, I'm pretty certain I've got a severe-ish case of writer's block.  My hope for the long walk this morning was, in part, to clear my head from the week.  My day job is not difficult, rarely stressful, but somehow feels like it's submerging the creative writing part of my brain under water or something.

Suggestions from any of you artist and creative types out there?  How can I keep my thinking/dreaming/pondering mind alive during a week of task-oriented, spreadsheet and serial-number thinking?

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This week was finally cool enough for me -- the ultimate fair-weather fan -- to attend a highschool football game.  Just in time because it turned out to be the last game of the season. A disappointing play-off loss for McCallum but I didn't sweat one tiny bit and even got to wear a sweater, scarf and hat.  

McCallum Knights vs. Rouse Raiders at Austin's House Park

What a view from this field, eh?  To the right Austin's iconic Frost Bank Tower and downtown, to the left that little red light (just left of the stadium light) is the dome of the Capitol building.  

Awesome.

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In this week of counting our blessings, I'm adding a few comfort items to the traditional list:  

• my bathtub which is made just right for a person of my height
• the drugs Guaifenesin and Pseudoephedrine which, taken religiously, have kept me from being sick this fall
• Central Market's dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt
• the aformentioned hooded sweatshirt
• Miles Davis radio on Pandora
• my husband's perfectly-mixed mixed drinks and foot rubs
• our new Ikea mattress (half price in the "scratch 'n dent" section!) and side-sleeper pillows
• Saturday afternoon naps on the couch and college football 

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ZZZzzzzzz........

Enjoy a beauty-filled weekend!

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For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!