What I do know is that we woman are not the only ones who
PMS once a month.

But seriously, maybe he is missing his home town, or mom, or
sibs. Personally I think he misses his old haunts and childhood friends. I’ve
tried asking him but he has his imaginary wall up. And with a wall 6 feet tall,
I won’t be climbing over it anytime soon to see what’s on the other side.

So right now I’m letting him have his own way, and when he
wants to ‘disagree’ to prove a point, I just let him have at it as long as he
doesn’t step over the line or push any of my buttons. Plus it’s amazing to see the
looks on the kid’s faces as he attempts to argue without a willingly
participant. Nothing says ‘cuckoo’ than a person caught arguing with themselves
and answering their own questions as they do so. I never realized how noisy he
can be when he is trying to prove his point.

However, I DID have a good time getting away for a while,
but there really is “no place like home”. Thanks Dorothy!

While in Philadelphia,
I did discover that:

I ) The stores, malls, shopping centers or what have you
were very crowded. It was every man for himself, and people didn’t mind pushing
you out of the way to get what they wanted. And I thought country people were
aggressive!

II ) The F.A.O. Schwartz in Macy’s is overrated. My living
room is bigger and has much more toys.

III ) Yes, the taller the buildings are the more clothes
people take off and stand in the window. People of all shapes and sizes. I’ve
had nightmares for the last 4 nights.

IV ) City traffic is overrated. There ARE some courteous
people in Philadelphia.

V ) I haven’t realized that since I started this diet how
greedy I really was. The variety of restaurants to choose from is overwhelming.
My eyes actually welled up with tears outside of a ‘Crown Fried Chicken’. That
is how much I missed eating things that I liked. (Crown Fried Chicken is like
KFC, except tastier).

VI ) You can still see the division amongst most of the city
dwellers and especially in their neighborhoods. Everyone seems to stick to
their own part of town. Who draws these invisible lines anyway?

VII ) I wasn’t mugged while there. However; it was the
holidays and everyone kinda sorta seemed to be in a jovial mood. I did keep my
fingers crossed, and kept my eyes out for seedy looking people. (Which is hard,
because with my paranoia, everyone looks seedy!)

VIII ) Yes, some individuals still do talk loud enough and
everyone on the street can hear them. And their not even using a cell phone!

IX ) No jaywalking! People there love their crosswalks. Only
they cross and walk in front of your ‘fast and approaching to catch the yellow
light car’.

X ) Everyone likes a good party. It seems that the whole
city was out to watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Ok, so… there wasn’t no
ball to drop, but the fireworks were still nice.

XI ) I never realized that my hubby was a true live
comedian. He said something so funny to me that my stomach still hurts from
thinking about it. He wanted me to DRIVE in Philly to the local market. ME?
DRIVE? In a city that I am so unfamiliar with? Philly with their narrow streets
and double parked cars?!? Hey, I’ll drive in NYC ‘cause it is at least
familiar, but Philly? No siree, not this chick! Plus I have grown so used to
trees and shrubbery being my landmarks that I’ll probably get lost going around
the corner. PSST… the hubby hated being the chauffer, but I enjoyed every bit
of the ride.

XIV ) “DON’T BLOCK THE BOX” I’ve seen this sign all over
Philly. Of course, ‘ole naiveté me had no idea what the heck that meant until
the car in front of us blocked the box and some people walked past hitting the
top his car. I told you Philadelphians love their crosswalks!

So all in all, I really enjoyed the trip. I missed home a
bit and noticed the tension level in my neck dissipated. Perhaps getting away
for a while did do me some good. Or maybe it was the chauffeuring, or the
restaurants that I couldn’t get enough of.

What ever the case, it was good to wake up in my own bed
Saturday morning.

*PEACE*

The New York Times reports Leon Panetta, former Clinton White House chief of staff, will be named CIA director.

"Democratic officials said Mr. Obama had selected Mr. Panetta for his managerial skills, his bipartisan standing, and the foreign policy and budget experience he gained under President Bill Clinton. Mr. Panetta has himself been a sharp critic of the agency’s interrogation practices."

But let's be honest, most of us are scratching our heads over this one. Panetta has limited intelligence experience, at best. And while President-elect Obama is touting the pick (unofficially) as someone who would not tell him what he wants to hear, but what he needs to know...I can't help but turn on some grunge music and wonder how this position came to be filled.

Was this part of the great Clinton negotiation?

Is this an old school pick or an unusual pick meant to push change in the CIA?

Mcjoan at Daily Kos writes, "This appointment is a bit out of left field, but it is encouraging in several ways: Obama wasn't swayed by the intelligence community's all-out effort to put a current CIA type into the position--an effort aimed at maintaining and/or justifying Bush policies, including torture. Instead, Obama went for someone with proven management skills, something that it desperately needed in the position. But the best news in all of this--Leon Panetta is a much of a departure from torture as you could want."

This is a plus, because I land firmly in the "torture sucks" crowd.

However my California Senator Diane Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, seems ticked:

"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time,” she said.

Lez Get Real writes, "From 1997 to 2000 I was employed by the National Security Agency as an analyst and I am getting feed back from those in the know about this appointment and they are saying that many intelligence and defense insiders are up in arms about this... Several top ranked members of the Intelligence Agency have also stated that they would leave their position if Panetta were confirmed."

Which makes me go...uh oh.

Kathy from Comments From Left Field notes the righties are outraged seeing the pick as an "anti-torture" statement.

However, even if the CIA insiders (and the righties) are pissed, the President is STILL the President, and their job remains to gather intelligence and report TO the President.

Will there be unnecessary pissing matching by the big boys because their guy didn't get picked? Probably. Will they make life more difficult for the new administration and moan and whine a bit? Probably.

Will they stop doing their job and put our country in danger? I'd hope not.

Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest also blogs at Queen of Spain Blog

(Read more about Twelfth Night and get the recipe for a Twelfth Night Cake from Culinary Types)

Across the world, Twelfth Night is celebrated in many ways, with many food traditions.

Many of us can sing all twelve verses of the Christmas-ditty gifts from our true loves, a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds -- and my personal favorite, belted out by children's voices long and loud, "fiiiiiive gooooooooolden rings". But how many of us remember that the twelve gifts signify the twelve days of the Christmas season?

In the traditional Christian calendar, the season of Christmas begins on December 25th and ends twelve days later on what's called Twelfth Night on January 6th. Twelfth Night marks the day when the Three Wise Men reached Bethelem. In the Christian calendar, the season of Epiphany follows the season of Christmas, so January 6th is often also marked as the Feast of the Epiphany, the season that lasts until the beginning of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, in 2009 on February 25.

Photo by Andrew Barrow

Britain - Twelfth Night & Twelfth Night Cake

Spittoon Extra ~ Twelfth Night Cake
"... throw out the holly, pack away those decorations and move the tree back outside - for it is Twelfth Night. As with so many Christian festivals, Twelfth Night has its roots in pagan traditions; it is a time for games, feasting and general merriment. The festivities would be controlled by a King of the Bean or Queen of the Marrowfat. A bean or pea is cooked into a cake, whoever finds the pea or bean in their slice is crowned the King or Queen of the day."

Mexico - Three Kings Day & Rosca de Reyes

World on a Plate ~ Rosca de Reyes Cake
"Traditionally in Mexico, Three Kings Day was the gift-giving time, rather than Christmas day. In some rural regions of Mexico it is customary for children to leave their shoes out on the night of January 5, often filling them with hay for the camels, in hopes that the Three Kings would be generous. Mexican children would awake on January 6 to find their shoes filled with toys and gifts. Today many will write a letter to the kings (or choose one king as their favorite) asking for their special gifts and will leave the letter on the eve of Three Kings Day in an old shoe, under a bed."

France - Feast of the Epiphany & Galette des Rois

Chocolate & Zucchini ~ Galette des Rois
"The fabulous thing about a Galette des Rois, apart from its deliciousness, is the family ritual that goes with it: the youngest child of the family hides under the table, an adult divides the galette in even slices, and the child calls out which slice goes to whom. Why all the fuss you ask? Aah, it is just this small thing I forgot to mention: la fève is hidden in the galette. Historically a dry fava bean (hence the name), it is now a little porcelain figure. That figure should normally have some kind of religious meaning, but I've seen too many fèves in the shape of Disney characters to still have any illusion. Whoever gets the fève in his serving is named King (or Queen) for the day, gets to wear the golden paper crown that came with the galette, picks who the Queen (or King) will be, and glows with pride for weeks hence." (Here's a recipe for homemade La Galette des Rois Epiphany Cake from Hot.Sour.Salty.Sweet.And Umami.)

Ireland - Women's Christmas

Eat Drink Live ~ On the Twelfth Day
"January 6 was once celebrated in Ireland as Nollaig na mBan or Women's Christmas. With pinkies raised high in front of tables laden with cakes, sandwiches and many pots of tea, us laydees thanked ourselves for all the hard work put in pampering the menfolk throughout Christmas. Perhaps seeming a little old-fashioned nowadays when the workload is more equally shared (ahem), it is a largely forgotten tradition that was revived in my house today with tea and scones and lashings and lashings of gingerbread. Tomorrow the decorations come down and our lives become just a little less sparkly."

United States - Epiphany & Kings Cake

My Own Sweet Thyme ~ King Cake
"My family often celebrates Twelfth Night or Epiphany, which falls on January 6, the 12th day of Christmas. We set the table with English Crackers and have a King Cake for dessert. Whoever gets the piece with something special inside is given a small present. King Cake is similar to a coffee cake or tea ring. It is a yeast dough, often braided, traditionally shaped in a ring or oval, perhaps to represent Christian unity or the circular route taken by the Magi to avoid King Herod, and decorated with colored sugar. The colors used are the colors of Mardi Gras, purple to symbolize justice, green to symbolize faith, and gold to symbolize power. Perhaps the three colors also represent the three kings. I have also read of King Cakes being decorated with red sugar to symbolize the life of Jesus." (A King Cake is served all the way through the Epiphany, so right up until the beginning of Lent.)

And you?
And you, do you celebrate Twelfth Night? Leave a link to a post in the comments!

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg takes down her Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night and tonight will be cooking her own January tradition, Weight Watchers recipes.