Unbelievable

Some things just boggle the mind. Case in point: this article from USA Today. Are they serious?

And then the state of New Hampshire restores a little bit of order to my universe. This is why I read the news.

Little Miss Tantrum

Alas, Bug has entered the era of the tantrum. The most recent one happened when I decided that perhaps she shouldn't try to drink the bathwater. Earlier, she had one because I wouldn't let her bang on the computer monitor with a spoon. I know, I'm totally unreasonable.

She's also picking up new words every day, which so far has been incredibly entertaining. Lately, her favorites are the names of her friends at daycare, CJ and Kai. Lucky for us that she hasn't decided to mimic our more coarse language, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. And since G has a unique collection of curse words and phrases, it should be interesting.

In other news, Turkey day was quite nice. My cooking experiments sent no one to the hospital or made anyone ill. And I have discovered what might be the world's best stuffing. So tasty. I plan to make it regularly.

And I survived my birthday with no major meltdowns or drama. I just can't get all that excited about my birthday anymore. It must be a function of being old. And every year it's very strange to not get the phone call complete with bad singing from my dad or the card and call from my mom. But, given that, it was quite lovely. Uncle Jeff gave me yarn and a sockknitting book. My aunt sent a gift card to Macy's. And G gave me this. Alas, no card from BIL/W. How will I survive? Hee.

And on Tuesday I get to go see BNL, my very favorite band in the entire world, in concert in SF.

Life is pretty ok.

Power?

Apparently, it's all my fault. So, if you need someone to blame for something, no matter who small, blame me. Makes sense, right?

In an effort to smooth things over with the family, G spoke with BIL's W and learned that she seemed to have lots of issues with me. So I called her yesterday and spent a delightful 56 minutes on the cell phone with her for the pleasure of hearing how much I suck. She aired all of her grievances and every perceived offense and I apologized for ever hurting her feelings, if I had done so. How it must be my fault that G and his brother aren't close. How they would be close if only we lived near them because of course proximity always means closeness. How things were so much better before I showed up. Better for them, perhaps.

If only I would use my power for good...

But the thought that I would ever deliberately try to come between G and his family is not only absurd, but really offensive. Like I would ever do something like that? And that someone would think that of me? I guess someone has to be to blame and if they don't blame the newest person in the family, they might just have to accept that just because people are related doesn't mean they will be the best of buddies.

The more I thought about it, the more upset I got. I know it shouldn't matter to me, but it does. I hate that she could make me cry. I went out of my way to be nice and she just let me have it, but not directly. All passive aggressive all the time.

At least G doesn't think I ruined his life.

Halloween - Then and Now

It's astounding how much Bug has changed in a year. I posted last year's Halloween picture last year, but I'm going to show it again. Because it's cute. And because I can.

Halloween 2005

Halloween 2006


They had a parade and a party at day care yesterday and I can't wait to see the pictures. By the time we got there to pick her up for the day, all of the kids were dressed in their regular clothes. I guess they had grown tired of their costumes.

I tried to take her out trick or treating, but our neighborhood is full of old people, so there wasn't much going on. We did take a nice walk, which tired her out for the evening.

Things are plugging along here. Work has been busy, which is fine since I like being busy. That being said, I certainly don't mind the lull we will have for the next week or so. It means more time for knitting. I have finished knitting the half of a pair of slippers for my mother-in-law's Christmas present. I'm putting off the sewing. I'm not really a fan of the sewing part. The yarn is delicious -- Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in cranberry. After I finish the slippers, it will be back to socks. Or the sweater I started for Bug last year and never finished. Of course, it's probably too small already.

Oh and any advice on roasting a turkey is more than welcome.