Train wreck?

Ah, gee.... ever watch something like a train wreck or an avalanche and know that there's really no way to make it stop? In our group, we have a train wreck on it's way with a young engineer who is certain that he's riding into glory. And he just keeps adding coal to the fire. *sigh* I hate not being able to help someone avoid trouble and the poor reputation that their actions are going to incur but with the young, there sometimes seems to be no way to prevent it... thank the Gods I had sons with good manners and hearts.

I went holiday-meal shopping yesterday and managed to buy everything that was on my list! Woohoo! Too bad my list didn't include dates (I thought I had a box of 'em.) so now I'm heading out again today. I've got hockey gloves and shin guards. I think I might need them. :) And why is it that once you think of *one* item that you've forgotten, suddenly other things crop up as "something else that might be good" to add to your list? I mean - I have two types of olives for our table-of-four, but now I'm thinking, "dill and sweet pickles would be good, and Opi likes those garlic-stuffed olives, and I wonder if I should make an antipasto, just for pre-dinner nouching, and the package store is on the way to the Commissary and I could pick up some brews for Arn and Opi, and cider for me and maybe Shawn, and..." while all I really need is about 2 ounces of diced dates to add to the sweet stuffing for the turkey (it's a family tradition). What's with that?