Hey Y'all!

That's right, folks, I'm back in the South. Let me address a couple of things here:

First, YES, Virginia is the South. It lies South of the Mason-Dixon line, and it also held the capital of the Confederacy for much of the Civil War.

Second, NO, I don't have an accent. But I can sort of pick up a twang depending on the accent of those around me. And I *do* use the word "y'all", which is indeed an official dictionary-sanctioned word.

Alrighty. So I'm home for Thanksgiving, and I totally can't wait for my parents' stuffing! It's not like what many people think of as a "traditional" stuffing - it's potato-based rather than bread-based. From what I understand, this is a cultural thing, more seen in the north (both my parents are from the NorthEast.) I honestly don't care where it comes from, as long as it ends up in my belly! It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. AND, my mom puts it in mushroom caps and covers them with cheese and broils them, and then I AM IN HEAVEN. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Mmmmm.....

In the meatime, it's not all eating, dear readers. There's also drinking to be done! Hee hee! Fear not, I also have massive amounts of work to do, so the drinking will not be too heavy. But drinking does involve hanging out with old friends, an activity I can never get enough of, so the next few days will be full of bliss - family, food, friends. Oh, and free laundry.

I had a whole slew of ideas to blog about but I left them on my desk in Boston, so for now I'll give you the one I can think of and I'm certain more will pop up as I try really hard not to work on the projects due when I get back. My interesting tidbit for the day is this:

Did you know that cashmere comes from goat hair? Who knew? I just find it interesting: cashmere is such a luxury item, you'd never associate it with a scraggly creature such as a goat. No offense to goats everywhere, I think they're really cute and all, but I've had the opportunity to pet one before and they feel nothing like cashmere. And they're pretty common, although not as hairy as sheep...is it some sort of special processing that makes the hair from goats so soft and luxurious, and thus because of the special processing it becomes expensive? Boggles the mind...I'll attribute this fascinating information to my source: my string cheese that comes individually wrapped in packages with trivia questions on them. Nerdiness and nutrition...what's better than that? I highly recommend them to everyone.

And now it's time for the aforementioned drinking. Rest well, eat well, live well and love well over these next few days. I'll post when I can....