This Is Halloween

Today is Halloween, and the festivities are just beginning. I rather like Halloween; it's not too much work and there is plenty of chocolate and Starburst Fruit Chews for payoff.

Thing 1 has not gone out trick-or-treating for the past few years, feeling she had gotten too old for it. But they both saw "Wayne's World" back in the summer and got the brilliant idea of dressing up as the main characters, so Thing 1 agreed to be the Garth to Thing 2's Wayne. It's Thing 2's last kick at the can, it's nice of Thing 1 to go along with her.

I have a fairly liberal policy when it comes to Trick-or-Treaters here: If you have a costume, you can have some candy, however lame. I figure if kids come dressed up, they get something, no matter how old you are. (Even if 11 year olds come without a costume, I don't mind giving them a Kit Kat bar....you never know what some kids are dealing with at home.) It's sometimes hard to tell anyway; one year a gang of 6 foot 4 guys came to the door, and I almost asked them if their Employment Insurance didn't cover candy, until I realized that they were all in Thing 1's Grade 8 class, and were only 12 and 13 year olds.
Besides, we have "A List" candy and "B List" candy; Cute little 5 year olds dressed up as caterpillars and Ninjas get the "A List" candy, teenagers with a top had or a football helmet get the "B List" stuff.

One year a fairly distinctive van pulled up in front of our house and a whole load of teenagers spilled out of it. I was a little put out; if you can drive I think you're probably old enough to buy your own candy, but what the hell, they can have the "B List" candy. When they came to the door I was amazed; their costumes were unbelievable. One girl was dressed as a fairy, and she must have spent hours sewing on sequins and glittery bits. One of the guys was dressed as a matador, complete with a red cape. They had put some real effort into those costumes; they definitely got the "A list" candy.
A little while later, I saw the van leave, only to pull up again a few minutes later in front of our house. Nobody got out for a long time, and eventually I saw a window open and some smoke come out. I'm pretty sure they weren't smoking cigarettes in there, because when they came up our front walk again I heard one of them say "hey man, I think we've been here already! I remember that pumpkin, that pumpkin freaked me right out before!". They had just gone around the block without realizing it, probably because of the stuff they were smoking. They left, but I think I would have given them some "B List" candy anyway, just because they amused me.

It's supposed to be cold and rainy tonight, so I don't suppose we will get many kids, maybe 25 or so. Which is fine by me; for the first time in 13 years I can let the girls go out on their own. I will hang out here and eat the "A List" candy.

Cautionary Tale

I usually do the grocery shopping on Mondays.....no crowds + day off = Happy Mrs. Loudshoes. There are about 3 grocery stores that I frequent, depending on my mood, their specials and what I need to get.....No Frills is really cheap, but the staff is surly and testy, and there's no deli. Loblaws has everything I could ever need or want, but it's a bit more expensive and I have to dress up because I am bound to meet every single person I ever knew that I want to think well of me. Sobey's is in the middle, not too expensive, not too socially demanding, but they seem to change the entire layout of the store constantly, so that I end up going around and around the store about thirty times just to get paper towels and butter.

I went to Sobey's last week because they had pot roasts on sale and I was wearing running shoes.

I was texting Thing 1 at one point, because she had written something hilarious on my shopping list. As I was going along with my grocery cart, one of the young guys that works there jokingly said "you shouldn't text and drive", which made me laugh. As I did so, I rounded the corner to start up another aisle, and I managed to take out an entire end display of disposible aluminum trays, complete with lids. I mean, I caught that thing with the front end of my cart and absolutley clobbered it with an almight force that knocked it sideways and spewed disposible aluminum trays and their lids in a most spectacular fashion. The young guy doubled over laughing, but quickly recovered himself long enough to apologize and take in my reaction. I was too busy doubling over myself, and had trouble hearing him. He said he hoped I wasn't offended at him laughing, and I said I didn't see how he could help it; it was quite a breathtaking episode.
His boss happened by, to find the two of us picking up the stuff while wiping our eyes and occasionally bursting into guffaws. The kid said it was the best thing he'd seen all day.

Luckily, aluminum foil pans do not leave much of a mess, and we managed to clean it up quickly, but I'll tell you, those things can fly. There was one that must have been twenty feet away.

So not only should you not text and drive, you should probably not text and drive a grocery cart, either.

Amazing Race 17 Ep. 5

I'd probably be more disappointed at the Volleyball girls' elimination if I remembered who they were. Other than a few snarky comments towards the other teams, I don't think they did one memorable thing the entire time. They did have very white teeth, though.

This season is delightfully free of inter-team drama, and I am enjoying that so much, I cannot tell you. It is so nice to not to see anyone snotting about another teams' throwing their sports bras off a balcony or laughing about their beauty pagent experience or cutting into lines at airports. Racing is plenty interesting enough, thanks, and it's a pleasure to actually see everyone doing it.

Still with the dissing your dad, Kev? Really? Can you let it go yet? We get it, your father is made out of egg shells and toothpicks, and you're terribly burdened by having to run this race with such a feeble old man. Except, he seems to be doing just fine, and I haven't heard him whine about you yet.

I'm not sure what was funnier, the Tattooed team's confusion over "Fast Forward Taken", or Nick's thinking they were hitting the Amazing Bathmat in second place. Did Vicky think that everyone could do the Fast Forward and skip all the tasks? Or did she think that there were more than one? Or that the team that had it might give it away? But that girl absolutely rocked those physical tasks, and with a smile on her face, too! And she has asthma. Nick sounded like a geriatric chain-smoker on that bike.
What on earth made him think they were in second place? That made Thing 1 and I look at each other with our mouths in little "o" shapes.

The conversation between the cars while driving around and around the roundabout made me laugh out loud. I would totally do that if I had any of those around here.

Nastiest Christmas tradition ever. And I thought fruitcake was disgusting. Note to self: Decline invitation to Christmas in Oslo.
Kudos to vegetarian of 20 years, she ate that mess without whining, which is way more than I think I could have done. And I actually eat meat. I had to laugh when she said "a glass of water is never a good sign". She's totally right on that one.
Did you hear Mallory's disappointment when they didn't go for the Fast Forward? "But I LOVE Christmas!" I wonder what she thought when she heard what it was.

Did you hear that Thomas went to Notre Dame? And his girlfriend did not? I KNOW!! That is such totally new and relevant information!! Everyone knows that college graduates are WAY, WAY smarter than hairdressers! I wonder which of them has a job.

Oh, Anonymous Stuttering Norwegian, you made my night. Not because I was laughing at your stutter, far from it, but because what are the chances of a desperate, frantic team needing directions happening on the ONE guy who would have to take his time? Especially if that team includes Chad, who I think is a douchebag.

One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time is that shot of Brooke walking up that hill with the two fish tails flapping away on her ass.
Actually, I've got to say, these two are made of tough stuff....a watermelon to the face and a gash over the eye and not one whine. And they make me laugh...."Why do you live all the way up here?"

Until next week!

To Each His Own.

I was in the car the other day with my daughters, and we came up against a one-way street, which prevented me from turning off the street I was on and going in the direction I wanted. No problem, thinks I, I'll go down a block and do it there, which is what I did. For some reason, this enraged Thing 2 mightily, and she went on a verbal rampage dedicated to her hatred of one-way streets....."What good is a street where you can only drive one direction?? Why shouldn't we be able to drive down there if we want??? This makes NO SENSE!!". It was pretty intense, especially considering we still managed to get where we wanted to go without any trouble. Still, she had decided that this was a hill worth dying on, and was determined to make a big, noisy deal about it.
I realized that everyone something for which they have an incredibly strong opinion, out of all proportion to the issue.

• How the toilet paper hangs. Some people think the toilet paper MUST hang from the top of the roll, while others are sure it must come from the bottom. I've heard people have wild screaming matches about this, sure that their way is the right and proper way and that anyone who thinks otherwise is "a drunken slob". Personally, I'm just happy if there IS toilet paper.
• That the open end of the pillow cases face the middle of the bed. (Or the wall, in the case of a single bed.) I knew a girl who's mother practically wept with disappointment that her daughter and I could make a bed and not know this crucial detail....how were we ever to grow up to be responsible, tax-paying citizens without knowing (or caring!) about this life-altering task? Placing the open end of the pillow cases towards the outside of the bed was tantamount to selling our bodies and smoking crack. To this day, I have no idea what the hell she was talking about.
• Using the phrase "you guys" when addressing a group where there is a woman present. I knew a woman who was incredibly offended when that phrase was used when she was there, because she was so obviously NOT a guy, and therefore the phrase was used to exclude her. And I've heard the same opinion from other women, as well, which baffles me. I get that the word "guys" does not mean exclusively those with a Y chromosome, and whoever is saying it probably wants me to pipe down with the rest of them.
• How to fold towels. Apparently, life as we know it will come to a screeching halt and civilization will cease as we know it if you fold a towel in half, and half again. The correct and only true right way to do this is by folding a towel in half and then in thirds, as God wants it. I was told this by mother of an ex-boyfriend, who scared the crap out of me on more than one occasion.
• Ketchup on French toast. Okay, this one is mine. One Sunday morning, not too long after we were married, I made breakfast for the Mister and I. (You can tell we were newlyweds by the fact that A)I was making breakfast for the Mister and B) he was eating it. He doesn't eat breakfast, and he was probably still being polite about it.) I made French toast, and had maple syrup with mine. The Mister put ketchup on his. I nearly threw up. Ketchup on French toast is an abomination against God and man. He countered that you put ketchup on eggs, and French toast is just bread and eggs, so why not?? Because, I said, I DO NOT put ketchup on eggs, and it's vile, that's why not. (Just for the record, I don't put ketchup on hardly anything, just fries and burgers. Not grilled cheese, not scrambled eggs, not macaroni. The Mister is bewildered.)
• The Designated Hitter Rule. When I was dating, a friend gave me an invaluable piece of advice: if you are struggling to find something to talk about, ask him about his opinion on the Designated Hitter Rule; there's barely a man alive who does not have an opinion about the Designated Hitter Rule. And she was right, in the right hands, that question will usually take care of the rest of the evening. (In baseball, in the American League, the pitcher does not have to take a turn at bat, they send in a special guy, the Designated Hitter, to hit the ball for him and run around the bases.) I've seen heads burst into flames discussing the Designated Hitter Rule....only pull it out when you want things to REALLY liven up.

Who knew?

Amazing Race 17 Ep. 4

That was too bad, I liked the Singing Geeks. (Although it has come to my attention that they annoyed the snot out of all kinds of other people.) I was pretty sure when they started talking about it being their graduation and they were missing it to be on the race that they'd be done for....the Race hates it when you are celebrating a big personal milestone while competing. We've seen in other circumstances that it is the kiss of death to be racing on your birthday. (See "Jenn, of Jenn and Nate", Season 12, Episode 10.) Except if you are a Globetrotter; the Race does not seem to mind that.

It sure didn't take long for Chad's inner dickwad to come out and play, did it? I seem to recall him saying he'd watch that after episode one. I guess that means "until I really want to be a dickwad again.". Shouting "come on!" at your scared, frustrated, increasingly upset girlfriend really helped, didn't it? I'm not sure who I'm madder at, him for treating her like a disobedient dog, or her for putting up with it.

I get that if you're not used to sliding on snow that there's a bit of a learning curve, but come on, were those sleds that tough to figure out? Maybe because we've been throwing ourselves off snow-covered, vertical ground since forever, but Thing 1 and I thought that looked like the easiest 1:58 minutes ever. And that track didn't even have trees you had to dodge, they were dressed for the weather and they were sober. Piece of cake.

That was the easiest Speed Bump in the history of Speed Bumps. Granted, that might have been a little more dramatic had all the teams been on the same flight to Sweden, but with the two hour advantage, sitting on an ice chair for ten minutes seemed kind of lame. Here in Canada, that's called "watching a hockey game" and we do it for an hour all the time. Of course, Kevin made it a bit more difficult than need be, simply because he was wearing shorts. Did it not occur to him at any time travelling between Africa and the Arctic Circle that he may need to change into warmer clothes????

Speaking of the Arctic Circle, I liked that Nick of the Tattooed Team thought that they could drive there. Perhaps he thought it was a really cool bar in Accra.

Those Tattooed Wonders impressed the daylights out of me with the sledding task; they rocked that, and without batting an eyelash, either.

Just as I thought Kevin had gotten over moaning about how lame his dad is, he said "I'd like to do the sleds, but I'm scared you can't do it" or something else designed to remind Michael what an albatross he is. His dad did just fine at the dog-sled task, thank you very much, including fending off a fake bear.

If ever I play high-stakes poker, I hope Mallory is on the other side of the table from me, because that girl cannot keep her emotions to herself for all that is holy. She doesn't just wear her heart on her sleeve, she's got an entire sparkly, purple jump suit decorated with every organ she owns.

I noticed that when they were talking about using the Express Pass, Thomas kept saying "my Pass" and wondering when "I" should use it. Does he know he has a partner? And that she's not his assistant? And that there are two of them?

My favorite part of the show was when Chad and the Volleyball Girls ran up to the pitstop with that huge block of ice clue, even though nobody told them to lug that thing around with them.

Until next week!

Kibbles and Bits.

A head cold and a whole lot of inertia rendered me incapable of doing anything but the basics this week. I was a complete and utter sloth, and it was so nice to be able to do it with impunity.
Both girls had colds last weekend, so I figured it was merely a matter of time before it hit me. The Mister hardly ever gets colds. (When he does, it seems to coincide with events he does not want to attend. Hmmm.)

I could feel it coming on on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, I was conquered. I came home from work early, and crawled into bed at four in the afternoon. Truly, if there is a more wonderfully satisfying, spiritually gratifying sensation than getting into your own delicious bed when you're not feeling well, I don't even want to know what it is, because it's probably wrong or illegal or both. I ate lots of chocolate and had plenty of tea and watched all kinds of television. It was incredibly restoring. (Just for the record, I watched the entirety of Season 3 of "Mad Men" and it was worth it to get sick just for that opportunity. God, that show is amazing.)

I was feeling better today, so I started knitting a pair of socks for Thing 2. Thing 1 got a pair in the spring, and Thing 2 had no intention of being left out. It's been getting cold here, the past few weeks, and hand knit things have suddenly shot up in value. People think warm socks are nice but unnecessary in July, but they change their tune in October.

Thing 1 got a notice from school the other day wondering if she will be attending to receive her award for Grade 10 science at the awards ceremony in November. (Insert scratching record noise here.) Whaaaaa? Thing 1 is getting an award? For Science??? Not that Thing 1 is a moron, far from it, but science is decidedly NOT her thing, and she only took the bare minimum requirement to get through high school. When she decided last year to drop down from the more demanding Academic science course to the Applied level class, she did warn me that this probably meant that she was unlikely to pursue a career in medicine, much as I might have dreamed otherwise. (I said her father and I were fine with that, just as long as whatever she decided to do it paid enough for her to send us on a cruise now and then.) It turns out that she did very well in Applied science, in fact, she got the highest mark in all the Grade 10 applied science classes. Believe me, no one is more surprised than her. (Although she did say that, because the class was right after lunch, she was one of the only students who A) showed up regularly and B) not high.) I think an award is an award, and we will take whatever we get. We're going to that award ceremony. Especially since her primary career choice involves marrying rich, and I don't think they give out awards for that.

Amazing Race 17 Ep. 3

Has there ever been a Non-Elimination this early in the race before?
I kind of got the feeling that Kevin's dad was unhappy about letting his son down, but okay about not being in the race any more. He seemed to be okay with the idea of hanging out by a pool and sipping Mai Tais for the next few weeks.

Kevin really has to stop treating his dad like some sort of lame cow he has to drag around the world with him. Enough with the "I don't know if my dad can" stuff, especially right in front of him. 59 is not exactly one foot in the grave...don't you remember Grandpa Don from a few seasons ago? the man was in his 70s and rocked in every way possible. ("I used to mine gold when I was a kid!") Lay off, Kev.

Glee boys singing to Samson the Cab Driver was adorkable.

I sure hope they leave that decoder banner up so that when those guys go back to the school the next day they can see it. Thing 1 and I were laughing out loud when they started drawing circles around the kids in the dirt.....and then other teams did the same thing!! Oh, Herd Mentality, you are a strong and powerful force.

I'm pretty good at geography, but I think I would have had to take a few stabs at that map challenge....before this show, I'd have been hard pressed to say exactly where in Africa Ghana is. (I took a course on geopolitics in university, and one of the first days, the prof gave us blank maps of each continent for us to fill in with the names of the countries. It was unbelieveably hard....North America and Europe were pretty easy, but when you have to decide which one is Uraguay and which one is Paraguay, it gets a little tougher. And Africa was a disaster...the class average on that continent was about 3%. You know Chad and Malawi are somewhere on that map, but man, where, exactly???The prof was puzzled as to why the class all got Nepal, because that had never happened before, and we all replied it was because of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".)

If I had been Vicky, that one "shut up" of Nick's would have been the end of the race for me. I don't care how unhappy or frustrated you are, you DO NOT speak to your partner like that. Ever. And guess what douchebag? You could have read the clue about the supplies yourself, too. I have a very low tolerance for anyone who keeps yelling after their partner says "I'm sorry" in that sad, beaten little voice. And if Chad can tone down his inate douchiness, then so can you.

I like Mallory, I really do, but she had got to lay off the White Man's Guilt for a bit. Not everyone in Africa is worthy of your pity, you know. Just because those kids don't have Nintendos and Fruit Roll Ups does not mean they are without justice and freedom.

Again, I can only imagine the conversations those kids had at dinner that night..."A big bunch of loud, screechy Americans came today, and hardly any of them know a damn thing about geography or pushing a bicycle wheel, and for some reason, they ran around us drawing circles in the dirt. One of them hugged me, and I was afraid he was trying to adopt me. So strange."

Best Line of the Night: from the Gleeks- "In Phil we trust". Also from the blonde doctor- "The kids were the best part of the day.".

The Volleyball girls are jerks. They haven't pulled out the "we're competitive" card yet, but they will, I'm sure, when they do something morally dubious. They don't even say "please".

Until next week!

Better Late Than Never. Really.

I get quite a lot of stuff done on any given day; I keep thinking I should start a list in the morning of all my accomplishments, and then I would realize how many gazillion decisions I make all the time, and how much I actually do get done when I think I'm lolling about not doing anything. I would do that, except I am a terrible procrastinator, and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'm very good at getting the things done that have to be done; I excell under pressure and I am freaking brilliant at mulit-tasking and working to a deadline. But if there is even the slightest chance that I am not going to be held accountable for my inertia, all bets are off. Especially if I'm the ultimate beneficiary....I am very understanding when it comes to my own transgressions; I will forgive myself unendingly, and then buy myself an ice cream to make me feel better.

Currently, I have three or four unfinished knitting and crochet projects lying around the house. I keep meaning to finish them but honestly? it's never going to happen. I've completely lost interest in them and nobody cares if they get done or not. It's like I am a very bad Grade 7 girlfriend, and my boyfriend is the two by two scarf I was really excited about a while ago but have lost interest in, but I haven't told him yet. I've moved on to the off-white wool hat with the cables, and I'm hoping the scarf will just take the hint and go away.
Starting a new project before I've finished the last one is the kiss of death for anything creative in my life; it just will not ever, ever regain my mercurial attention again in this lifetime.

When I painted the bathroom in the basement, oh, 5 years ago, I had the girls make some pictures which I planned on framing and using in there. I should probably get the frames for that.

I have a bathrobe that someone bought me for Christmas years ago. It's a bit too small and it has Winnie-The-Pooh all over it. The fabric is woefully unequipped for sopping up any water from my post-shower body, and it has borne the brunt of numerous cat-claws (from the early morning Tuna Beg-a-thon.) I keep meaning to replace it.

I can't even close the junk drawer in the kitchen. (Okay, any of the junk drawers in the kitchen, of which there are several.) Someday I'm going to clean those out, but not before I stumble into the jutting corners and gouge a divot out of my thigh a few more times.

I've been meaning to find a new dentist for about a year now. We keep schlepping off to the old dentist with very bad grace, which is a 30 minute drive right across town in rush hour traffic, and I think it's time we put everyone of us out of our collective misery. The dentist included.

There is a few meters of gauzy, light yellow fabric I purchased to make curtains for our en suite bathroom sitting by my sewing machine. They have been there for about 7 years now. I'm already tired of that particular paint job in the bathroom and will be re-doing it shortly. If I ever get around to it.

Amazing Race 17 Ep. 2

Bring on the culture shock! Ghana sort of stood in as "India Lite" for these guys, just enough noise and crowds and heat and dust to throw them, but not so much that anyone felt the need to curl up in a fetal position and cry.

Can I say how refreshing it is to NOT have anyone be a complete asshole right out of the gate? It was nice to see people just....racing. Of course, that could change completely at any time, but it was very pleasant to see teams getting on with the race and not have the focus on interpersonal relationships that clearly require intense therapy and a good kick in the ass.

I think I love Brook and Claire, the shopping channel hosts. Even though Brook is very screechy and needs a little talk about using her inside voice sometimes, they both get down to work and get the job done, and smiling the whole time, too. I really liked when Brook was crawling across the top of that guy's fridge while calmly asking "have you ever had antenna service before, sir?", like this was her job and she wanted to give him the best service possible.
I can't believe Claire did not have a broken nose and two black eyes from last week's watermelon incident.

Mallory's enthusiasm seems to be permanently set to "brain busting!", but I really like her, too. When she was on the mat saying "Phil,just tell me before I have a heart attack" I totally could feel her angst! I'd be jumping out of my skin, too!

Somewhere in Ghana, there is a man watching tv on his hastily set up antenna, and he's all "Wait, I paid how much for my sunglasses?? Everyone else only laid out 3 cidas, and I paid 15!!"

I think I would very much like a fish hat. Like the greeter. That would get me a lot of attention on the bus to work. Especially if I danced like the bootylicious lady at the market.

I can't say I'm terribly sad to see the Gilmour Girls go....I was kind of uneasy whenever they were on the screen, like I was terribly worried that one or the other was going to say or do something to blow the whole deal with the other one. What if one of them wanted to wear fur, or vote Republican or didn't believe in global warning and it came out on national television and the other one wanted to kill her? I feel like they were kind of on the same page as me, too....they seemed so awkward and guarded on the show, like they were too distracted by their relationship to really give the Race their all. I hope they can get to know each other in Sequesterville.

You really shouldn't be allowed to bring your father on this sort of thing and then complain because you think he's going to be too slow or not competitive enough. Those two have no excuse, they both lived in the same house, no one gave anyone up for adoption.

I think Thomas and Chad are going to be the residents douchebags this season. Chad seemed to have pulled himself together since last week, but I'll bet when the Killer Fatigue sets in, he'll go back to yelling and blaming. Thomas was mad at his girlfriend because she cared about the locals in an impoverished country while she ran around the world hoping to win a million dollars. And then he said that on national television. That attitude should get much better in the ensuing weeks.

When I die I'd like to be buried in a giant crustacean.

Until next week!

Perfect Sunday

Oh, drizzly, cold Sundays, how I love you. A blessed excuse to stay indoors, not do any of the exceedingly urgent, end-of-the-summer yard work, wear my pajamas all day and putter and laze and sleep and read. The most perfect of Sundays, which is the most perfect of days.

Sundays is the one day of the week when nobody in the house has to get up and get out the door. The Mister and I work on Saturdays, and the girls have school through the week; Sundays means that everyone can sleep in. (Toby hates Sunday mornings, because the usual Tuna Delivery System is delayed by a few hours, and this is unacceptable in his books. Loud purring, drooling and head-butting of the Primary Tuna Delivery Personnel usually remedies this situation to his satisfaction.) This morning I woke up at my usual time of 6:20, and could not circumvent my inner alarm clock (or my furry, external one, either), so I got up, went down to the family room and read my book and watched some tv for a while. (Just to tell you, programming at 6:30 on a Saturday morning is worse than terrible.....there shouty preachers telling me that God loves me, even though everything about their tirades would suggest otherwise, and about a gazillion informercials suggesting that I am a sad, sorry, stupid loser who needs to call this 1-800 number right away to rectify that.)
After a while, I got sleepy again and went back to bed. It was heavenly.

When I did get up, for real this time, it was kind of cold and drizzly, and while that weather is miserable most of the time, it's perfect for running. Off I went, had a great run and felt very smug and virutous the rest of the day.

I cleaned out my closet, putting away the linen shirts and cotton skirts and flip flops, and getting out all the wool and tweed and boots and jackets of my winter wardrobe. As a reward, I let myself watch a few episodes of "Mad Men" (I'm currently working through Season 3 and I have to be very strict with myself to only watch one episode or two at a time, lest I lose an entire weekend watching that incredibly addicting show.) Then I had a nap. Is there any more beautiful words in the English language than "afternoon nap". I have yet to hear them.

Everyone else puttered around the house in their pajamas....the girls did their homework, made popcorn and watched a movie, and cleaned their rooms. The Mister replaced the sink in the bathroom downstairs and then watched a football game. It was all very easy and lazy and totally stress-free.

I made a kick-ass dinner (roast pork, roasted potatoes and squash, with chocolate pudding cake for dessert.), and I will spend the rest of the evening watching "The Amazing Race" and reading my book.

It's not a very exciting day, but that suits me just fine; exciting is the very opposite of what I'm after.