Post on Halloween coming later, with pictures.

Works so well, I should patent it

First, before anything else, go to the website again and look at some of the latest news.

Then go to L0ud0unExtra d0t c0m and look at their L1v1ng 1n L0c0 blog, there's a story there about a famous author and a reference to me!

If you ever have to put together Y(a)r(d) S(i)g(n)s, I have the perfect technique.

First, wear grippy gloves. These are great and they protect your hands from the oil, grime and pokey things on the wires.

Second, if you're me, wear eye protection. Seriously.

Unbox the signs and wires and cut any binding stuff off of them. Place the wires so that they are leaning on a side wire, with the top bars facing you (if some are facing the other way, ignore them for the present). Place the signs so that the opening on the bottom is closest to you.

Now, sit with the wires near your dominant hand and the signs near your non-dom hand. Grab the top bar of a wire and pull it out from the rest of its brethren. Then move your hand to the free side wire and push it down toward the other side wire (the one on the bottom) until you can grip them both in that one hand.

With your other hand, pop open the bottom of a sign and bring sign and wire together. Once the wire is in the sign, let go of the side wires and let them pop into place.

I did 200 of them in about an hour today.

Peed. My. Pants.

I love YouTube.

He's serious

(screamed while sobbing in a corner of the examining room)

Mommy! Daddy! You're bad! I told you I didn't want a flu shot! I told you NO THANK YOU! I said please! I'M NOT GIVING YOU ANY OF MY CANDY!






I did not laugh out loud. I did NOT laugh out loud.

Gah!!! I'm getting comment spam again!

Sorry guys, I'm putting comment verification back on.

I just saw that I have a visitor from China

HI DAD!!!

Weekend and thanks!

Thanks for the feedback! I changed the light grey to dark blue...is that better? Should I change the purple link colors too, do you think?

Updates of an outdoor weekend:

Yesterday, the whole family spent the afternoon smilingsmilingsmiling. MM handed out stickers while we handed out balloons and information.

The other guy was just opposite us handing out cups of flavored ice that make a reference to his name, and movie theatre candies, ditto. Also his team put his stickers on kids' backs when they weren't looking and without asking parental permission. Stinkers.

Today, I rewarded MM for all his excellent smilingsmilingsmiling by going with him and his friend LovesHighSchoolMusical and her mom to a nearby CornMazeWithFunCowTrain! Moon Bounces! OMG! PONIES!* and FUNNEL CAKE!!!

Fun!


*PS, I miss you.

I upgraded to the new template and lost my blogroll EDITED

Somehow Blogger used the one I had when it upgraded the whole thing. VERY STRANGE. Fortunately, I'd saved the old one. Please be patient while I work on this issue.

In the meantime, please tell me if you like the new color scheme or if I should go back to the old one.

Blogroll is finished, but I'm going to make it easier to read soon.

Big ol' can o' whup ass EDITED FOR CLARITY, EDITED AGAIN FOR TYPOS

The question was about traffic on a major road near us.

The answers can be seen on YouTube if you search on M*I*L*L*E*R + S*N*O*W + D*E*B*A*T*E.

As seen at Overread

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Lovely busy day

7:00 AM: wake up because MM is TICKLING MY FEET. We end up in a big pile o' cuddles.

Morning: kvell with our CM over the Big Can of Whup Ass our side brought to an event yesterday. WHUP ASS.

Brunch at LovelyRestaurantThatHasBuggiesHangingFromTheWalls. Mmmm.

Post brunch, more kvelling.

1:00 PM: MM and I go to YearlyPumpkinExtravaganza and I spend 3 hours watching him have an indescribably good time. He got his face painted, rode a pony, slid down enormous slides, climbed the rock wall, had a hay ride, ate popcorn and drank cider...

4:30 PM: Come home, set MM up with a movie. I make 75 phone calls. Leave 56 messages, talk to 12 people.

6:30 PM: Watch a bit of another movie with MM and wait for a friend to call to go out to dinner.

6:45 PM: Go out to dinner with DeepVoicedKindergartener and his mom. Did I tell you guys that DVK ended up coming back to PoshPlace? MM and he are so happy. YAY!

7:45 PM: Go to a party for a good friend at another good friend's house. They are in the unbloggable business too. MM and his friend LooksExactlyLikeDoraTheExplorer watched tv in the basement while the grown-ups shmoozed.

8:30 PM: MM gets a bath to wash all the sand and straw dust out of his hair. PJ's, teeth, story, etc.

And this is all after yesterday's walking and smilingsmilingsmiling for 3 hours and the WHUP ASS event.

So I'm a bit tired.

But I'm still stoked. We WHUPPED ASS!

Rant

I bought MM a mosaic tile kit from Target. On their website, they have one that is MUCH nicer than the one they have in-store.

The one they had in-store is sold in a bright pink box.

Why?

Why the gendering of a frelling CRAFT?

Lucky for me, MM likes pink and isn't yet at that stage where he will turn up his nose at something because of its color.

Gah!

Pardon me, I'm just coughing up a small rabbit

Seriously, you remember my sinuses from 10 days ago? Well, apparently all that lovely green glop has migrated south.

Antibiotics and decongestants have been started. Sleep will hopefully follow shortly.

Fabulous

The reunion was amazing. I had a great time and saw a billion people. A surprising number of whom looked exactly the same. (MomOfTwoSetsOfTwins, WorksWithNonProfits, and Wow!CalculusIsBetterForEconomicsThanPhysics - I'm looking at you).

And then, as Dr. Dog points out, I woke up to a text message that I was prominently featured on page C5 of the local rag (article starts on page C1). You can read the article at L-O-U-D-O-U-N-E-X-T-R-A(dot)C-O-M. Click on "News". The article's about growth and at the mo there's a thumbnail picture of the one that was in the paper this morning

Did you know that you can't get my local paper in Park Slope, Brooklyn? The B&N in the neighborhood doesn't carry newspapers. I was shocked.

I mean, seriously, I can't believe that there could BE a neighborhood in NYC that has 7 newstands and NOT ONE carries the paper that broke Watergate. Gah.

Reunion

This weekend is my 20th High School reunion. MM and I are taking Amtrak up to New Yawk. MM will watch his first baseball game! (on TV)

I can't believe it's been 20 years since I graduated High School.

I'm in a great mood

You remember that unbloggable thing? Well things are heating up here. Again, I (most frustratingly) can't link to any of it, but please go to the website in the picture and go to the latest NEWS. There are two items there that tell most of the story.

Also, go to L-O-U-D-O-U-N-E-X-T-R-A (dot) C-O-M to see some really hilarious commentary about it all. While you're there, you might find more photos of me in the shirt (smilingsmilingsmiling) if you go to their news photo galleries.

Awe

In this post I said

What is my grandma going to do? She was married to [Grandpa Emeritus] for almost 50 years.

Well, I got my answer.

• She's visited my sister in Vermont for the first time in 11 years.
• She went to my parent's country house for a while.
• She went to her sister's country house for a while.
• She's going to see both her sisters in California for 6 weeks.
• She's doing things he wasn't able to do and she wouldn't do without him.

I hadn't realized how much of her life was bounded by the limitations imposed on her by his various illnesses. Part of their independence (living in their own apartment without home health aides) was predicated on their being close to quality medical care. The mere fact of his age (not to mention his health history and his bags) made any hospitalization a big deal and what if that hospitalization were to happen away from home? What if it dragged on for months?

Grandma is, for 89, a VERY healthy person. She's got some high blood pressure and some osteoporosis, but other than that, she's in great shape. She also knows that she's got to grab her chance to do these things NOW or she may not be able to do them later. She's paying 11 years' worth of visits, doing 11 years' worth of travel, having 11 years' worth of adventures.

When he was able, they loved to travel together. They went all over the world. They made life every day an adventure together. The two of them could make shopping for fresh vegetables at the farmer's market into a trip to an exotic destination and that spirit did not die with my grandfather. It lives with zeal in my Grandma.

She's my hero.

Drainage

I can't believe the amount of gunk my sinuses can hold at one time.

That is all.