within my grasp

Aubrey and I were skipping school and work, respectively, to go to Aubrey's doctor appointment. Afterward we felt like getting manicures, so we did. I suppose I am a bad mother, contributing to truancy, but it was so much fun! Funner because we were being bad. It's my philosophy that you learn the rules well, in order to know when it is appropriate to break them. This was only my third manicure ever in my life, and I made it a French one. Now my lifelong dream of becoming a hand model is finally within my grasp, so to speak.

not enough snoop

• Quotation of the day: "Snoop Dogg is all dogg and not enough snoop." --Rebekah H.
  
• Second quotation of the day: "...explaining what you believe isn't all that easy.  If you say that you believe something to be true, you might mean one of two things--that you're still weighing the alternatives, or that you accept it as a fact.  I don't logically see how one single word can have contradictory definitions, but emotionally, I completely understand.  Because there are times I think what I am doing is right, and there are other times I second-guess myself every step of the way."  --Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper.  Interesting book.  Heavy, sad, very easy to read.  Well written.

bums make their own gravy

Quotation of the day: "Bums make their own gravy." --Adrian Monk on USA's Monk. Love this show. Stay tuned for a theater movie that will top off of the 8-season series.

he's maybe kinda oldish

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sorry I pulled all your hair out.

consumer reports

This Perrier is good.
This lotion is good. It is thick and makes for suppleness and is found behind the pharmacy counter and is not expensive.

This is a package of electrical tape. It says it is "STICK SYSTEM ROLLER COVER". What?

the runs and such

Rebekah hiding in the Christmas tree box:

I had stomach flu, but I ran the 5K anyway. It was hard. I swear it was uphill the whole way. I'm proud of myself. Here is before, with Rebekah:

Here is Aubrey before the race, just because she looked cute all sleepy and such:

Starting the race, halfway back among hundreds of people:

At the finish line, taken with Rebekah's cell phone because the camera battery had just died:

After the 5K my day was sleeping, punctuated by "runs" to the bathroom. So I didn't make Thanksgiving dinner. Jerry had to go out and get takeout at the only restaurant he could find open. We basically failed at Thanksgiving. But this morning (the day after Thanksgiving) I got up feeling better and made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We ate it at 7:45 AM. Here we are:

big bird

• Quotation of the day: "Canned peas are so fluffy and moist. These are just wrinkly." --Rebekah H., while eating peas that were originally frozen but had been warmed up.
• So I saw Twilight with a big group of women and girls. I was not a fan of the books; Bella bugged me. But I liked the movie. It was so fun to scream for Edward with the rest of the estrogen-driven, high-pitched mob in the theater on opening night. There were whole chunks of the movie I couldn't hear because of screaming, which was just fine, because the cacophony was just as entertaining as the movie. My mom was visiting at the time too. Here is a picture of my mom and me in the theater, then a picture of superfriend Tate-opotomus, Rebekah, and me.



• This picture, courtesy of April, appeals to the vegetarian in me. Note the cookies on Cookie Monster's plate. He's got the right idea.