A Very HousePants Weekend

The band has been in full swing this weekend, as Christmas is approaching and our sophomore effort is as of yet incomplete. We'd like to have at least 7 or 8 songs on this one, but so far we only have five. It's been a busy year. But this weekend we have been working on a song that we might just finish this afternoon if all goes well. It is a sort of Santana-like salsa song with a little bit of Chris Isaak thrown in and a flute part that is reminiscent of Eric-Burden-Spill-the-Wine. It has been fun to record, and there has been very little fighting amongst the band. My parts are bongos, guiro, Jamaican shaker, tambourine, cowbell, and tin whistle (if I can pull it off). Kev is doing piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, and mandolin, and maybe the samba whistle he got for Christmas last year. The working song title is "otre parte" named after a bar on Ross Avenue, but that could change. It's possible that our neighbors hate us. But we are having fun.

We have definitely one and possibly two opossums living in our back yard, or at least hanging out there at night. The other night our back door flew open in the middle of the night (even though it was locked!), and after I got up to close it, I couldn't go back to sleep, so I came up with lots of theories about doors that open mysteriously in the night. Kev sat up when it happened, but didn't remember it the next morning. So at this point, I could blog about my alien theory, but I was told that people probably already think I am weird for having a snail for a friend, etc., and should maybe not blog about alien theories. Sorry! Anyway, I don't think it was the opossums that opened the door.

Also this weekend, I ambitiously cooked spaghetti and meatballs with toasted goat cheese rounds and a spinach salad with strawberries and pecans. I give the whole meal a B. My sauce was missing something. But it was fun anyway having a nice meal. After dinner we sat on the porch and were visited by a twig boy hippie with a petition about landfills. He was very happy, but melancholy about the landfills, and he clearly hadn't bathed for a while (disqualifying him from being a squippie). We signed his petition. I worry about landfills too. But I am clean while I do it.

Today on our walk, I saw chickadees, mockingbirds, sparrows, blue jays, and a red-bellied woodpecker, and some of the good neighood dogs. This is the best time of the year. I hope you have all been able to spend some time outside.

I will close with a fun fact:
The flesh-like thingy that hangs from a turkey's neck is called a "snood."