I was so proud of myself. For the first time in months, I had prepared a column well in advance of my Thursday morning deadline. I figured with Thanksgiving coming up, it would be a good idea to get it finished ahead of time. It was, if I do say so myself, one of my better ones. It dealt with the issue of waiving adoption fees at the new Hall County Animal Shelter.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a passionate advocate for the adoption of shelter pets. I’m just not sure I’m an advocate of free shelter pets. I wrestled the issue this way and that and ended up with 750 words that I was proud to put my name on.

Then I finally got around to reading Sunday’s Times on Tuesday morning. There it was in black and white: "Our Views: Real love isn’t free" by the Times editorial board, 933 beautifully crafted words on precisely the same topic. With precisely the same conclusions.

Which is why I find myself back at the laptop trying to come up with another topic for today’s column.

There are lots of possibilities. I just read about the 5,000 member Facebook group known as "National Kick a Ginger Day" which urged readers to "get them steel toes ready" for a day of beating up on redheads. It was started by a 14-year-old who was apparently inspired by an episode of "South Park." There were reports of assaults on redheads from Canada to California.

I am the daughter and granddaughter of redheads. Genetics being what it is, I will probably someday be the grandmother of a redhead or two. That makes these acts of supreme idiocy very personal. I can think of 5,000 kids who need to have their Internet privileges revoked.

I could do a follow up on previous columns.

My piece last month about collecting goodies to send to Latessa Bortner, who’s serving with the Air Force in Saudi Arabia had a wonderful response. Through it I met long-time Avon representative Ree Browning, who not only sent Avon products to Latessa but to all of her female co-workers, too.

I met the delightful Mr. Guda, who donated a Stephen Hawking CD. He figured a rocket scientist like Latessa would appreciate it. He was right. She was thrilled.

Any number of people brought goodies to send to the staff sergeant and her colleagues. So far, the Gainesville Optimist Club has shipped seven large priority boxes full of treats to Saudi Arabia. We plan on continuing to do so throughout the holidays so keep those gummy Lifesavers and Jolly Ranchers coming, folks.

The column about the death of our beloved Australian Shepherd, Lola, resulted in dozens of e-mails, some in sympathy, some from people who had endured a similar loss. I went through a box of tissues as I read and replied to some of the most touching testimonials to the love between humans and companion pets that I’ve ever seen.

I could possibly write a column about the Optimist Club’s yearly (since 1956) Christmas tree and wreath fundraiser that starts today in front of Gallery (Wolfman’s) Furniture on Brown’s Bridge Road. But, no, I wrote about that last year. But since I’m already on the topic, come on over, get a fresh Fraser fir tree and help a wonderful community organization at the same time.

Or I could just take the day off, recharge my batteries, come back in two weeks and hit the ground running. I think that’s what I’ll do. I hope everyone had a meaningful Thanksgiving Day and a productive Black Friday. See you in two weeks.