I'm baaaaack

After a bit of a blogger break, I am back! (Blogpals, I'll be checking in with your blogs soon!) We had a good Thanksgiving, although the time went by waaay too fast for C&D who had homework to do. Here's Christina with her anthropology project:



(Any guesses?)

And we had our 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Pie Fest with the Dust Bunny family. This year we all chose for our attire (or costume) something that represented Thanksgiving; a do-your-own-thing category. As for my family: Mike and I did a role reversal of the Normal Rockwell Thanksgiving painting (which allowed me to wear my grandfather's old suit!), my mom was a piece of pie, and C&D were pumpkins. The Dust Bunny family got into the spirit of things nicely too...

just to let ya know

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I haven't been blogging (reading or posting!) in about a week. I've put in a request for 26 hour days, but haven't heard back yet.

In any event, hope to be back blogging soon, so please --




(googled the pic)

uh oh

I don't usually blog the weather report, but I just read this on KATU's website:

November is prime time for storms around here and this year is no different as two storms are racing toward the Pacific Northwest, expected to bring heavy rain and possibly very strong winds to parts of the region Monday and Tuesday.

High Wind Warnings are now in effect from 6 p.m. Sunday through 4 p.m. Tuesday for the coast and Northwest Interior from Monday morning through Tuesday morning. Along the coast, we could see gusts of 70 to 85 miles per hour at times, with gusts of 60 to 70 miles per hour in the north interior.

In addition, Flood Watches are in effect for all rivers that feed off the Olympic Mountains, as well as rivers in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish Counties.

Apparently this will be me tomorrow and/or Tuesday:

Friday the 13th Five

1. How is this Friday the 13th looking for you?
Well, it could be looking better. Hubby is sick! Yesterday he left work early with a pounding headache, then developed a fever and nausea. (I'd report on his progress, but he's still sleeping!) I suppose technically we can't blame Friday the 13th since it happened on Thursday the 12th!

2. Have you ever had anything unlucky happen on Friday the 13th?
Nope, can't say that I have. As a child I had a black cat, so I'm sure 'Katze' counter-acted anything that Friday the 13th could throw my way! ;)
Here's Katze and me:


(The camera caught me at half blink, but Katze made up for it with his wiiiiiide open eyes!)

3. Did your family of origin embrace or scorn superstitions?
We'd be more on the scorn side! Although I think 'amused' would be a better word.

4. Are there any unique or amusing ones from your family, region, or ethnic background?
Yes, there's that word amusing! My ethnic background is "Germans from Russia" and one superstition is that if you, for example, bruise your elbow or knee, your parent (or friend or whatever) blows on or kisses the area while saying "Heile, Heile Katzendreck, Morgen ist alles Wieder Weg!" -- which I think basically means with the magic of cat poop, it will be better tomorrow.


(Who knew there would be a picture of Katzendreck on the internet?!)

5. Do you love or hate horror movies like "Friday the 13th"?
Hate them. And I can't over-state that.

The "Starkey Effect"

You've seen Jesus in toast and Mary in grilled cheese...



Now witness the greatest miracle of all. Ringo Starr's face in a droplet of water bouncing on a lotus leaf.



Yep, a Duke University team researching water-repellent leaf behavior took high-speed images of water drops bouncing off a lotus leaf and saw the face of Ringo. (Full story here.)

And this inspired me to post Mr. Starkey himself and Photograph...

Friday Five: What's New

Songbird writes about a new baby on her street who has her "thinking about all the new things that please us with their shiny freshness." For this week's Friday Five we are supposed to "share five things you like *especially* when they are new."

1. New books. I like the way they smell when you flip through the pages. (This is one drawback of the Kindle, but I still love my Kindle!)

2. New snow. What could be more fresh?!



3. New hiking trails. Ooh, the call of adventure as you discover a new path!

4. Opening a new package of my faaaavorite molasses cookies. (Yes, I'm addicted.) The first cookie is so soft and delicious, but the longer the package is open, the less soft and delicious they get. *sniff*



5. Hint to family: I would *especially* like a new canoe if I got one for Christmas...



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googled all pics

life lesson from edith

This postcard (postmarked October 27, 1942) features the Mayo Clinic by night:



The stoic Edith writes to Miss Grace E. Thielman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...



Tuesday noon
Just been thru some very severe tests. I believe the worst one comes this afternoon. Don't feel particularly peppy but I guess I can take it. Edith

Yep, sometimes that's the way of things. We might not feel peppy, but we guess we can take it.

what I've been up to...

I'm glad we got an extra hour today, because the time has been whizzing by. (Actually I could use a few extra hours -- wonder how I could arrange for that.)

We were in Bellingham to see WWU's production of The Mistakes Madeline Made, described on the Western Theatre site as: a story of love and dirty people. The play follows a girl who toils away in a soul-crushing job as a personal assistant as she begins to battle all things clean after developing ablutophobia – the fear of bathing. Soon her smell starts to overwhelm her co-workers and her many casual lovers. A fantastic story about finding one’s self, the play raises the questions: Is it a political act to live dirty? And is it even feasible to live clean in our current times of unrest?

I knew very little about the play going in, and I was surprised at both how funny and how sad it was. Directed by Rich Brown, the play was simply outstanding. The set, the sound, the costumes, the acting -- all top notch. They could (they should!) take this on the road.

Christina played Beth, the tightly-strung manager of the office whose function is to run errands for a rich family (who are never seen). The character of Beth provides a lot of the comedy in the play (and Christina has a real knack for comedy), yet the character also evokes pathos (and Christina has a real knack for that too).

Here's Christina as Beth: (I *ahem* "borrowed" this picture from her facebook page)



Then last night (back home in Longview) we actually went to a Halloween party -- in costume no less! And (speaking of time whizzing by) today is the 29th anniversary for Mike and me. Here's a weird part -- lots of the anniversary cards are looking familiar since we've given so many to each other over the years!