The Good, the Bad, and the Smelly

I don't know what it is about Thanksgiving. It just seems like something always goes wrong. There was the Thanksgiving five years ago when I was pregnant and ended up in the hospital. Everything was fine, but Daphne gave us quite a scare that night. Then there was the Mouse Incident of 2009. And now, this year, I was sick. Daphne was sick before Thanksgiving, I was sick during Thanksgiving, and now, Kev is sick. In spite of all that, though, I still enjoyed the food and spending time with my family, and on the bright side, we're getting past the sick well before Christmas. I didn't quite get all my Christmas projects done by Thanksgiving as I'd hoped, but I'm well on my way, and not feeling too much stress. Christmas is going to be fun this year.

Winter is in the air. Today, I had to scrape ice off the car, and they say it might snow on Sunday. Next door, all the beautful yellow fan-shaped ginko leaves have fallen off the tree, leaving only these berries:

Evil little miniature stinkbombs, just waiting for the next gust of wind to knock them down from the branches and into the path of some innocent shoe. And Lord help the owner of that shoe. They should use these things in interrogations. Nobody could stand it for long.

On Friday, I was really sick, so Kev made me chicken soup. Few things taste better when you are sick than chicken soup. Daphne made the dumplings. They were delicious. Tonight, we had the leftovers, which was just in time for Kev, who is feeling about like I felt on Friday.

On Saturday, Kev and Daphne got dressed up and went on a date to the hot dog place and the Tally Ho, where they saw Tangled. They had a great time.

And I was feeling a little better by then, so I got some projects done while they were gone.

So, sick or not sick, Thanksgiving was good. I have a lot to be thankful for, and believe me, I AM thankful. And as you know, there are no lions, so I can't complain about a little head cold.

I hope you all enjoyed your turkeys and your pies and your families. One more day of November and the countdown begins, so stay tuned. And watch your step if you're anywhere near a ginko tree.

Good Cat Archie

Before I met Kevin, I had a cat named Archie.  Kev is allergic to cats, so I was lucky enough to find Archie a great home with a really nice lady named Sue, who loved him and took care of him.  Archie went to Animal Heaven yesterday, where he is hopefully having a great time chasing birds and eating as much as he wants.  We miss you, kitty.

Aurora

Aurora Borealis timelapse HD - Tromsø 2010 from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

Here is the Astronomy Picture (actually a video this time) of the Day from NASA. It is so good, I had to post it. Please enjoy. How amazing would it be to see that in real life? I wanna go to Norway.

Well, my throat started hurting really badly yesterday, and I figured I was a goner. No Thanksgiving for me. But today, I feel better. So, I don't think I'm getting sick, but I have totally and completely lost my voice. It's a good thing I've taught Daphne some sign language. I'm kinda in favor of a Less Talk / More Eat policy on Thanksgiving anyway. I hope yours is good, wherever you are. Bring on the pie.

Monday Morning Blog Post of Science

We've been watching a lot of Bill Nye the Science Guy videos lately. Speaking of science, the above picture is the sun. Cool, huh? If you are like me and think space is really interesting, check out "Astronomy Picture of the Day" from the good people of NASA. Thanks, Kev for directing me to this site. Put this in your favorites, and check it daily. You may learn something.

Daphne was sick all weekend, but before she got sick, she went to her weekly Little Ninjas class. Here she is with her sensei, practicing a block. She is the only girl in the class. She enjoys it. I do to. I get to sit still and knit for 30 minutes while she runs all around and wears herself out.

It is still fall. Our maple tree is bright red. The yellow-leaved tree in the corner background is the beautiful but oh so evil ginko tree that lives next door. Stink-O-Rama.



You may remember the video I posted of the people breaking into the Sound of Music "Do Re Mi" song in the European train station. Here is something similar, but more Christmas-y. Please enjoy. If you are like me, you may get a little weepy. Thanks to my friend Cheryl W. for this.

I am still in Mega Ultra Super Christmas Mode, so posting will be intermittent, but please check in now and then for tales of Holiday "Advent"-ures (a clue! a clue!). Back to my Monday...

Lisztomania

Groups of singing kids almost always make me cry.  This is awesome.  Until the end, when the teacher pipes in.  But still. 
I have never heard of Phoenix, but I am going to check them out.

Taking Christmas by the Antlers

It is still fall around here, but for the most part, my mind is on Christmas. I am doing everything I can to get finished with shopping and all that stuff by Thanksgiving so I can enjoy a stress-free month of December. In spite of this All Christmas All the Time urgency, I took a few breaks this weekend to enjoy this last bit of fall. Friday night, Daphne stayed with G-Ma and G-Pa so we could go into DC to meet Uncle Jeff for dinner and a jazz show at HR-57. DC is much better by Metro than by car, but it was still a good night out.

Yesterday was a perfect fall day, so we went on a hike at Ball's Bluff with "Cider Man" Tim and the kids.

Nothing beats a nice long walk in the woods. Daphne wore her new Junior Ranger hat that Uncle Jeff got for her, and the kids collected sticks and leaves and had a blast.

Saturday, I got some yarn. Nice soft baby alpaca. Another easy scarf is on the needles. Knitting at night seems to help me sleep. Calms my Crazy Christmas Brain.

Anyway, I must stop blogging now and do a few things* around here before I have to start on dinner. Daphne is taking a (increasingly rare) nap. It's potato soup night. The Winter of Soup is underway.

*by "do a few things," I mean put on my housepants, curl up with the new holiday issue of Real Simple, which just arrived, and start thinking about Christmas again. I think I'll even make coffee.

Noodles and Sleepovers

I took my camera to swimming last week, hoping to capture a jump from the side of the pool, but the kids in Daphne's group didn't get to do it that day.  Oh well, here she is with her awesome teacher swimming with a noodle and having a blast.  Hooray for Miss Janeane.  She has special powers.

 On Friday, the local library hosted a sleepover for stuffed animals.  Daphne loaded up Quincy, Doggo, and Austin into a bag with a picture of herself (so they wouldn't miss her too much) and a blankie that G-ma made for her "guys." 

 A few of her friends brought their guys too.  Stories were read.  Songs were sung. Crafts were made.

 And then it was time to say goodbye.  Daphne tucked her guys in and kissed them goodnight, and left them in the good care of the librarians for the night.

 The next morning, Daphne went on a hike with her daddy.

Then, it was back to the library to retrieve the guys.  We were treated to a slideshow of their activities, which included reading books, climbing on stuff, playing cards, and Austin getting his own library card.  The librarian took my email address and is supposed to send me some copies of the pictures, but I'm not holding my breath.  If she does, I will share.  It was really cute.  What a great idea.  I love the library.

You may remember my adopted penguin, Tula.  Here she is, back in her nest with her two eggs.  Thank you to the great Dr. Mike Bingham for all of his work with the penguins and for sending me this picture.  Penguin adoptions make a great gift!  Get yours today!
Kev got my internet working again!  Yay!  Hope you all had a good weekend.  Time to make goat cheese and garlic gratin.  Yum.

Back...Sorta

Thanks to the miracle of the External Hard Drive, I was able to move some recent picutres to Kev's computer so I could add them to the blog.  Here is Daphne, ready for some Halloween action, in her Super Daphne costume.  This was much easier to pull off than last year's octopus.  However, there was much more arguing, because this year, Daphne had opinions.  It all worked out, though, and everybody was happy.

There was a party at school, like last year.  The kids paraded around the rec center, got a few treats, and sang songs for the parents at the end.  Very cute.  A few more pictures on flickr if you want to see.

Meanwhile, the World Series was disappointing, but I finished my scarf.  And it's actually sorta cold enough to wear it.  I love this weather.  Cold enough for a scarf and sweater, soup,  a fire in the fireplace, and a hot drink in the afternoon, but no so bitter-cold that I have to bundle up in my Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man coat or wear a hat in the house.  There was frost on the car this morning, though, and I couldn't find my ice-scraper, so we had to sit in the driveway for a few minutes while it melted.

OK...off to enjoy my last bit of time before picking up Daphne from school.  Swimming class today...I'm hoping for more big surprises!

Virus

So, my computer has a virus and the internet won't work.  I am blogging from Kev's computer which is no fun at all because I can't post pictures. 

Halloween was great.
The Rangers lost the World Series but are still awesome.
Mondo lost Project Runway but is still awesome.
I finished knitting my black World Series scarf.  Perhaps black was not the best color choice.
I am looking forward to getting to bed earlier now that baseball is over.
I heard the Old 97s twice during World Series broadcasts.
The great Morning Benders have a song on a commercial, I think it is for Reece's PB cups.
I find the Direct TV commercial with the dart gun very disturbing.
I will probably be away from here until I can blog from my computer.
Back soon, I hope.