Farewell to 2011 and HELLO to 2012! I’ve been looking forward to this year, and we had a nice party last night to properly welcome 2012 into our lives. I hope this new year is kind and generous to us all!

One of the things about pumpkin pie is the smell of pumpkin spices that fill the house while the pie is baking. When you first walk in the door and get a big whiff of that wonderful aroma, you mouth starts salivating and your tummy starts grumbling and it is very hard to wait for dinner and then, finally, dessert.

Tonight we have been invited to a holiday party at my friend, Josh’s home. I’ve know Josh since he was in grade school. He and my son were best friends for over 10 years. To be honest, I think of Josh like a son, even though he has his parents and doesn’t need another dad.

We bought some gifts for Josh and his wife and also their kids. It add to the sense of the holiday season to continue seeing family and friends even though Christmas was 2 days ago.

Notice the car up on cinderblocks. The only thing missing is the pitbull chained in the yard.

It will be a big run on fresh and frozen turkeys, but also a run on prime rib, standing rib roasts, and Honeybaked hams. Not everyone likes turkey and depending upon where you live and what your family traditions might be, you could be serving a totally non turkey based meal this Thursday.

When I lived in San Francisco, the Thanksgiving focus was on Dungeness Crab and fresh oysters. November is the start of Dungeness Crab season and everyone grabs up the first catches of the year. Dungeness Crab season always begins mid-November and runs until June. But, the reality is that 80 percent of the Dungeness Crab is brought in by the end of December. So, there is always this Thanksgiving rush to get the biggest, sweetest, freshest crabs. Makes my mouth water just thinking about those.

Today we honor our military by observing Veterans Day. It was formerly known as “Armistice Day,” and is a federal holiday, observed every year on November 11.

My company is really big on putting their name on everything. They order custom printed pens and pencils for the stock room, and because we do a lot of trade shows, they order a lot of other items for giveaways. We search out the unusual things and like to give away items that generate a certain amount of buzz. Once other vendors or exhibitors see what we are giving away they realize that people are coming to our booth just to get our special giveaways. And it is always good to get in front of potential customers first.

We are thinking about sending some care packages oversees to our troops and including custom stuffed animals. Except this time, instead of printing our company name on the items, we want to print something patriotic. That way, when the soldiers get the stuffed animals and give them away to the little kids in Afghanistan and the other countries where they are stationed, the kids will have not only a toy but something with a message about how great America is, to help reinforce our message about why our troops are over there.

I had that idea a couple of years ago when we had an office party on Halloween. It fell on a Friday and we always enjoyed Casual Fridays, so it was not that big of a deal to have a costume party at the office, complete with decorations, free food and even lots of candy.

I had the idea to play a doctor and bought a real lab coat, a toy stethoscope, and then I smeared red tempura paint all over the front to look like blood. The only problem with that plan is that the paint did not wash out. I though that paint was water soluble and the same things kids used at school. So I was totally surprised to find out that the pain stains white things and no matter how many times you wash it, there will always be red splotches on your clothes. I had to toss the whole thing away.

This year I’m going to buy green scrubs and splurge on the fake blood that is sold in the costume stores so I can still smear red stuff all over the front of me. But this time I want the red to wash out after Halloween.

I learned about Vaporizers as a kid and have been a fan of running one at night when someone is having trouble with irritated sinuses or bronchitis. The extra moisture in the air makes a huge difference, and adding a dab of Vicks vaporub helps even more. Depending upon where you live, you could have allergies in the Spring, which are mostly tree pollen or grass, or over the summer, which is grass and ragweed, or the fall, which is leaf mold. All of these types of allergies respond well to extra moisture in the air at night.

A new development in night treatments is the Volcano Vaporizer, which we found out about from a neighbor who is a 24 hour day care provider. She swears by it for one of the little kids that she cares for at night.

Happy Easter to all!