So I talked to my friend, Suz, about Julia's death.

She'd been fighting the cancer for seven years. She had gotten to the point where she was trying to hold on for the sake of her youngest daughter and help her through her early teens. The oldest daughter is 15, and Julia felt she was on-course and would deal with the loss. But the youngest is only 9 and she just wanted to be there a few more years.

It's all complicated in that Julia and her husband had divorced, and he recently remarried. And the girls were primarily with Julia. So now they have to not only deal with their grief and loss but they are moving into a new house, with a new step-mother, and a new step-brother (also 15, but his primary custody is with his father).

Apparently Julia had developed some allergies to some of the opioids, so there wasn't as much they could do to alleviate the pain.

So hard.

I have no doubt that she's going to run, but I am clinging to the hope that there are enough smart people left in America to not let her get elected.

She's such a moron, and I mean that in its original clinical sense, that she makes Dubya look intelligent.

And I do not say that lightly.

And yet, I fully expect that if she runs, she'll get the nomination. Because her supporters are frightening in their sheer determination.

David, I am so sorry for your loss, and for all who knew her. Thank you for sharing your memories of her; they were beautiful to read. 48 is way the hell too young.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts.

I don't mean to derail the thread with the sad cancer stories.

I'm okay. It's definitely a painful sense of loss but that's a tribute to the impact she had on my life.

I have so many vivid memories of her. She considered orthodontia to be a bit of a bourgeois affectation and prized that her eye-teeth were ever so slightly crooked. The perfume Opium came out when we were together and she wore it, so I always associate that scent with her.

She had strong opinions about everything, including which of Andrew Lang's Fairy books were the best. (The Blue Fairy and the Green Fairy Books, for the record.) She liked green and black olives on her pizza.

I remember going to surprise her when I knew she'd be leaving one of the art studios, and watched her coming across a snow field slowly towards me, wearing the rabbit skin coat she'd inherited from her grandmother. She looked so beautiful coming across the snow with her pale skin, dark hair and red lips, wrapped in fur.

Think about her if you flip past The Turning Point on cable. There's a scene where Leslie Brown's character comes running out of the ballet school to the street. You can see Julia leaned up against the wall in that shot, artfully posed.

Anyway. That's enough reminiscing.

I do worry about her kids, though.

So, how are everybody's Thanksgiving menus coming together? I'm about to go shopping. I need a fresh, free-range bird about 12-14 pounds. A bottle of white wine to baste it with. (I don't brine my turkey, I stuff herbs and butter under the skin and baste it with first butter, then wine, then all the pan drippings. It stays moist and gets very flavorful.) Also, lots of butter and some Gruyere. Potatoes and apples to make a Potatoes Savoyard. Fresh sage, thyme and rosemary. A steak for Emmett who doesn't like turkey.

I only need to bring a side-dish so I'm bringing the typical cheesy potato bomb that involves ingredient measurements like "stick", "bag", "tub", and "can".

I am making rolls, cranberry salad, and pies. I still did not make the pie crusts today, so I really need to do that tomorrow or tonight.

I did make banana muffins though and last night I made banana pudding. mac is in banana heaven.

Hmmm.... apparently I need to prove that the $10 I spent at a place called "Village Pediatrics" is medically related.

I need to do all the shopping--the bird, the fixin's and the sides as well as do a pie.

And I'm sitting here trying to figure out why Chrome keeps crashing on me.

It is trying to tell you to go shopping now.

We're driving out to Oklahoma City tomorrow and Thursday (stopping in Little Rock on Wed. night), so we're not expected to make or bring anything, though if we leave early enough tomorrow, we'll try to get a pie from the Family Pie Shop in DeValls Bluff, Arkansas.