Shopping The Day Before Thanksgiving!

Yes, that's right, I went grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving! And yes I had to buy a turkey!

Now I went during the later part of the morning and even then the Shoprite was crowded! It was especially crowded where the frozen turkeys were! Shoppers were looking into the bins looking for the right sized turkey and to make things more complicated there was a decision to be made as to whether to buy a frozen or fresh turkey (remember this is the day before Thanksgiving!).

I often wondered how someone could get a frozen turkey on the day before Thanksgiving but expect it to be cook-able and thawed out for Thanksgiving Day but Marsha told me that people use a hair dryer to thaw out their turkey!

Like I said, Shoprite was packed! - even for the early afternoon and I suspect that it would probably be more crowded as the day wore on!


The parking lot was crowded, the Cheltenham Mall was crowded both inside and out!

I just could not wait to get home and out of the madness! But I did manage to get everything that I needed!

Sister2brother

Our First SnowFall!

I could hardly believe my eyes when I looked out the window to see it snowing! At first it was just a little trickle of snow and I thought that it was just debri from the trees falling but as time went by I saw that they were definitely snowflakes! And then it started snowing more heavier! Looked at the local news and they said that since the temperatures were above freezing then the snow wouldn't accumulate. However there is the forecast of more snow tomorrow!

Now don't get me wrong it was a very pretty site watching the snow falling down - especially from the comfort of my own home - but I'm just wondering if this is a sign that the upcoming winter wil be more harsh as far as the weather is concerned?

Even if it is the people in the area learn to adapt well no matter how bad the weather gets. It's just a matter of inconvenience. But then again we are talking about Mother Nature here!

I don't think that anyone can 100 % accurately predict the kind of winter that we are going to have and its just going to have to be a case of being prepared just in case we do get some bad weather.

"Getting Out The Vote!"

From my own personal perspective, Election Day was a beautiful day to behold!

Here is an excerpt of a recent email I got:

Hello Friends While I can only speak for myself, I'm always glad when Presidential campaigns are over. I know that sounds funny coming from a guy who serves in the Pennsylvania Senate, but the endless commercials, analysis from pundits and opinions from talking heads is almost more than I can stand. If it weren't for the Phillies, I would have unplugged the tube. The news that always brightened my day was to see young people turning out in large numbers at campaign rallies for both Democratic and Republican candidates. Whatever your political leanings, the growing interest of young Americans in our political process is exciting to watch. Observers say the large voter turnout we saw November 4th reflects a surge in the number of younger voters casting ballots. That's good news for our country. In recent decades, young Americans were largely indifferent, voting well below their 17 percent share of the population. That may have been due to both the candidates and their political parties ignoring the opinions and issues important to young people. As candidates become more in tune with voters between the ages of 18 and 30, we've seen the number casting ballots rise. In 2000, 18 million people under the age of 30 voted. Four years later, over 20 million did. In Pennsylvania, of the more than 218,000 new registered voters since January 2008, over 70 percent are between the ages of 18 and 35. Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama worked hard to win the vote of the more than 50 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 30. (There are an estimated 1.9 million young people in Pennsylvania who are eligible to vote.) From registering new voters through Facebook to texting supporters to get out the vote, both presidential candidates spent enormous resources to curry favor with younger voters. While still to be dissected, returns show that young voters supported Barack Obama by a more than 2-1 margin. Here in Pennsylvania, I believe more needs to be done to reach out to this newly invigorated electorate. As public servants, we must do more to extend a hand to young voters and address the issues that matter to them. For example, it is estimated that 71 percent of students who left Pennsylvania higher educational institutions in 2007 owed money. The average debt load was $23,613, the sixth largest in the nation, yet Pennsylvania is doing little to address this issue. As importantly, we must do more to keep Pennsylvania's young people in Pennsylvania. Between 1990 and 2000, Pennsylvania lost more young people than any other state in the Union. Since being elected to the state Senate, I have heard from interest groups from almost every aspect of our society -- groups that represent everything from dry cleaners to ice cream vendors to egg producers. And that's a good thing. People voices should be heard. But Pennsylvania's young people have no such voice to represent their interests or concerns. It may be because they are too busy with school or starting new jobs to lobby the halls of Harrisburg, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be listening. After all, in 10 or 15 years, these people will be running things. One of my objectives for the coming year is to become an advocate for advancing youth issues within the state legislature. The first step in this effort is to meet November 19th at the Harrisburg Area Community College to hear from stakeholders and lawmakers about what we can do to support our state's youth. While our overall goal will be to make Pennsylvania a premiere state in which young people can live and be heard, I am focused on three driving principles: education, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. I am confident that improving these "3 Es", will make Pennsylvania a leader among states where young adults can successfully live, work and start a business. The event is open to anyone with an interest in these issues. Pennsylvania has the potential to be one of the best places in America to go to school, start a career, and raise a family. It's important we start listening to our state's youth and work with them on developing a plan for the future growth of our Commonwealth in the 21st century. By Pennsylvania Senator Rob Wonderling (R-24th)