Everything's More Fun with Babies!

My brother and his wife are very brave. They took a four hour plane ride to come for Thanksgiving with their two and a half year-old sons.





I got in a BUNCH of trouble for getting up from dinner to fix PB&J's,



but they didn't seem too interested in what WE were eating.



They are very energetic

and HIGHLY entertaining



The boys were very interested in the dog but a bit timid.



But once they go the hang of patting gently





Kisses were next!



Can I say borrowed babies are especially precious?

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, creamed onions, brussel sprouts, FOUR kinds of pie. Marvelous.
We were twenty for dinner plus the twins. My sisters helped with prep


Sib #2 made forty eight crescent rolls fit on two pans. It is a talent I assure you.
Sib #3 helped me peel TEN FREAKING POUNDS of potatoes. We LOVE mashed potatoes!

He doesn't look like a twenty-two-pounder does he?

He got some help from an additional turkey breast and I spent a great deal of time looking for more dishes.

The Saint spent a great deal of time opening wine.




Everyone else?
Spent a great deal of time


Enjoying the wine!
All in all a very satisfactory meal!

Is It Monday?

I bring a water bottle to work every day as the only water options in my building are:


A. Buy Bottled
or
B. Drinking Fountain with Dubious Plumbing

This morning I threw the bottle in my work bag and headed to the office. When I pulled the water bottle out of the bag to stick it in the fridge it was only two thirds full. That’s when I noticed the lid hadn’t been screwed on quite tight enough. So I did. Screw it on tight enough.

Another person might have had a warning bell go off in their head at this point. I, however, did not. (Bejesus it's been a busy week!) It wasn't until LATER that I remembered my digital camera had ALSO been thrown in the bag at some point this week.

GGGGAAAAAHHHH! Water + Digital Camera = Tragedy of Epic Proportion!

I began frantically rummaging through my bag pulling out soggy file folders, damp receipts and a very moist paperback. And yes, the camera. However, while dewy, the camera appears to be in good working order.

So, crisis averted. Thank God. Because I have several things on my Christmas list and a digital camera is NOT one of them!

True Story

If you walk around at a conference for three days in pumps with heel heights varying between three and three and a half inches? By day four the term “pain in the ass” becomes quite literal.

I’m just sayin’.

Random Thoughts

Oh the randomness currently rolling through my brain.

We have had THE most unbelievable fall weather. Very Little Rain = Much Sunshine. You have no idea how this pleases me. The windows have been open for weeks upon weeks. It has only been in the last few days I’ve left the heat on for an entire 24 hours.

Precious Youngest was home this past weekend. She needed a break. She is struggling right now. She is in a difficult period of discernment. She is my worrier by nature and I’m losing some sleep on her behalf.

I’ve been notified of two large awards for grants I wrote in late summer. Let me tell you; money is tight and competition is stiff. I feel pretty good about this.

I am afraid I have to walk away from helping my sister with her finances. I had hoped to keep her little ship afloat until she could deal with some long standing issues. My assistance is now being perceived as interference. She is resentful to the point that it is affecting our relationship. I am afraid for her, but I can not make an almost forty seven year-old woman DO anything she doesn’t want to do.

I have a sort of a braggy thing I keep writing about and then deleting. You know what? Make that two things.

The hot flashes. Oh my God people; kill me now. I have an appointment with a doctor next week. I am hoping there is something to be done.

See? Random.

Gosh

Gosh I wish blogs had sound effects. Wouldn’t that be great? This post would feature a creaky door, hollow footsteps and maybe creepy bat wing sounds.

But no, there are no sound effects. Simply my usual array of excuses as to my absence: Writing grants out the ass - I’m tired! Daughter home for a visit – too busy playing to post! New and extended drama with my sister now including a car accident AND a stolen vehicle – stressed to the max! Questioned by the FBI – intriguing but disconcerting!

What can I say? As each day unfolds it would take a Herculean effort on my part to get the details of each saga/adventure/drama fitted into words, sentences and paragraphs. So I skulk at the edges of the blogosphere. Reading but rarely commenting. Wondering if I should quit cold turkey. Back to the days when I didn’t know what a blog WAS.

But of course I can’t. I need to know what’s going on in California and Wisconsin and Nebraska. In Virginia and Colorado and Tuvalu. What of Florida and Illinois? I find myself invested in the lives of people I’ve never met.

So here I am. With a question no less! If blogs had sound effects what would yours be?

Split Personality

Here are two purchases I made in the past few months. I adore both and have worn them several times though never together. Are you ready?

I bought this necklace at Anthropologie.


It was $38. Just the right price for something I’ll likely only wear for a season or two. I am loving it just as much with the browns and burgundies of fall as I did with pinks and greens of summer!

I also purchased these boots.

OMG - I LOVE them! Lordy I DO have a thing for red shoes. I am wearing the boots with dresses and skirts and it is a level of fun I am absolutely crazy about!

So readers tell me straight: can schizophrenic be a personal style ?