— 1 —

The Giants swept the Tigers in 4 games, making them WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!! Serious love here for my homeboys again because they proved that they were not going down lightly. Two of those games were shut outs and Game 1 involved some Kung Fu Panda power as the Panda bamBOOMed a few balls out of the park. I wish some of these wins had come when I was growing up in the South Bay but hey… they’ve happened when I’ve been back in northern California so I shouldn’t complain.

— 2 —

The victory parade and celebration were… interesting. I was catnapping during part of it which made for trippy dreams. It was surreal, especially the people with balloons on them who were riding on Segways. There were so many sights that reinforced the weirdness of some of the members: Pablo Sandoval (the Kung Fu Panda) wearing red leggings and white Hush Puppy-like shoes), Brian Wilson going Rasta on the Giants’ cable car, and Sergio Romo being… himself. (You had to laugh at the policeman assigned to him in the parade because Romo left the convertible and was running around the parade route getting high-fives. That was a policeman with a major sense of humor — he was shaking his head and laughing.) In addition to the key to the city, the mayor also presented them with a golden broom for SWEEPING DETROIT!

— 3 —

My AWESOMESAUCE Halloween costume. I was going to go as a black cat (because, as the house panther on my chest would say, I have good inspiration) but my kitty ears disappeared so I took strips of glow-in-the-dark duct tape and put strips of it on my long sleeved shirt. My costume: Daniel’s “mummy”. It was both awesome and safe because the duct tape was visible in the dark and reflective so it was safe for crossing the street. I would have gone as a “tired blogger with a sinus infection” but Jen of ConversionDiary.Com kind of stole that idea. (OK… she had the same idea.)

— 4 —

Do you see the boy on my sidebar. His name is Brett. He has CP, is incredibly cute, incredibly brilliant, and he needs a mama!!! Do you know someone who might be his mama? Go share his blog URL and show him some love.

— 5 —

Because I am a sucker for punishment, I am doing NaNoWriMo this year. I haven’t “won” since 2009 but I’m attempting it anyway. (I got derailed last year by my little bear ending up in the hospital over Thanksgiving.) It’s a chick-lit/mainstream fiction piece called “How To Be a Perfect Pastor’s Wife” — I’m writing about what I know. It was either that or a murder mystery taking place at an import brokerage and involving cross-border stuff. As I have been out of the import brokerage world for 2.5 years now (which bums me out — I loved that job), the latter idea would involve too much research so it has been scrapped. I have a widget on my sidebar (below the Obama graphic) so if you were to go to just plain http://grace-filled/net, you’ll see it. I don’t remember if it has my word count or not.

— 6 —

They are preempting NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles next week. I’d rather watch my shows than election returns… hands down. Election returns don’t matter until the polls close. By that time, I could have watched 2 hours of freaking awesome forensic dramas. *grumps*

— 7 —

And finally… my public service message: GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE POLLS ON TUESDAY AND VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!! This is not THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN US HISTORY (kinda reserving that for 1860 and a few others) but it is incredibly important nevertheless. If you need help sorting through your ballot, the League of Women Voters is awesome for that and has LOTS of local chapters in a ton of states. (They’re non-partisan and exist to help like this.) If you’re like me and have already voted by mail or early voting, THANK YOU!!! If not, please get yourself to the polls. I’m not going to tell you how to vote (I know that there are probably people posting Quick Takes on why you should vote a certain way) but I will say as an American, it is imperative that you vote. We are blessed to live in a country with universal suffrage (as in everyone over the age of 18 can vote) where we can vote for whoever our consciences lead us to support. Please take advantage of this. /steps off my soapbox.

— Bonus —

Regarding Hurricane Sandy… Unless you happen to be in New Jersey or New York or someplace else that is ground zero for damage, donating canned food to the Red Cross is probably not the best idea. There are a huge number of ways to help: donating money is one but they’re also pretty desperate for blood. I can’t donate blood for medical reasons but if you are eligible at all, get thee to your local Red Cross!!! Those who are on the ground in affected areas, is there anything we can send you? Leave me comments.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.