Fidget

… beautiful Tahoe sunshine! And our big, crazy family. It was great to see everybody and hang out. I, for one, did not really mind that there was no snow this year. The weather was beautiful, and we found other fun things to do, like ice skating at Northstar and hiking. Thanksgiving dinner was a scrumptious success as usual, with MH and CAP doing the turkey and the rest of us chipping in a dish or two. This year, I discovered how easy it is to make cranberry sauce at home. Seriously, almost as easy as opening a can - just simmer a packet of fresh or frozen berries with sugar and a little juice or water … you can also customize with exotic flavors (citrus, spices, chili pepper?) and reduce the sugar content. Leftovers are welcome, try it stirred into yogurt for breakfast. Yum!

The other night we were eating dinner and talking about Probability. BN was explaining something to me about Random Graphs and I was bringing up all kinds of complications you’d run into in trying to describe the Internet as an example of this whole probability-related Graph thing. (Cause the Internet is not a simple net, now, is it?)

I was talking animatedly, while opening a new bottle of multivitamins. I managed to peel off the sealed for your protection thingy and dropped a pill out onto my placemat. Still talking, I reached for my bottle of calcium supplements and, without looking, tapped one into my hand then dropped it onto the table. BN’s eyes widened and he pointed at the spot. What I’m about to show you is NOT a posed photo. This happened by purely random chance (maybe not totally purely, we’d have to ask the probabilists): Check it out!

So, when BN were getting married in 04 we made a gift registry. One of the items we registered for was an iron, and for some reason we picked out a really top-of-the-line one, I guess it couldn’t hurt, right? It’s a Rowenta “powerglide 2,” and I think it cost at least $70.00. TB got it for us the following Christmas. Nice!

The iron has been very gently used. I rarely iron clothes; not even once a month! I’ve mostly used it for sewing, and in between projects it’s just sat on the shelf.

And now it’s stopped working. Plug it in, no response. Yes, we tried other outlets… I read the troubleshooting guide online, no help there. What gives?! I’d expect an expensive iron to last a good 10 years at least. It did have a warranty but only for one year, so 3 years later, that’s no good. I don’t think I even got a year’s worth of use out of it, cumulatively. ARrrgh!!

Last night was the Harvest Party at Willamette Bible Chapel. It went quite well - we had a good turnout with lots of guests invited by church people. We served chili and cornbread (that magical combination!) and had games, prizes, candy, candy, candy. I did some face painting, which was fun, and I didn’t go into the “funrooms” - ie scary rooms! But I heard they were really awesome.

I dressed up as a princess. I don’t have much experience putting my hair up in curls (OK - I’d never done it, actually) and apparently “spray gel” doesn’t sub in well for “hair spray” because my big curls on top wouldn’t hold. So I left the velcro rollers in and said I was a princess with a bad hair day. Good tiara day, though - I made the thing myself in about 15 minutes, with a dollar’s worth of silvery pipe cleaners. Sweet! My purple gown was from my role as a bridesmaid in JI’s wedding in October 04. I paid good money for that dress so I was happy to have an opportunity to wear it again, and to very good effect. I wish I felt that pretty every day!

BN went as… drumroll please… a sock monkey!!! He did the whole thing himself, from concept to execution. He looked great. The big stuffed head made quite an impression at the party! Most people didn’t know it was him under there. Some people never found out… Like one of the haunted-room actors got a scare in return when BN came out of nowhere and tackled him with his sock-wrapped arms. Freak out!