Heard from a time out

"Mom! Do not leave me in here where I am allowed to be. Oh, Mom. I wish you would not do that. It is not nice."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It was funny. This year, about a week before Halloween, a little alarm went off in my mind, saying "YOU NEED TO GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS!" I'm not sure why, since it's not time for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But Christmas shopping is kind of like cleaning house in that you should do it whenever you get the urge because it won't last, so I went shopping today. Would you believe Kohl's has started playing Christmas music? Not every song, just the occasional one, but it's definitely too early for that.

I hope it snows here soon. They were predicting a storm the other day, but it dumped on poor New York and nobody was happy. While it does look all gray and cloudy right now, it's actually about 60 degrees out there, so it's not very promising.

Fortune cookie

Jonathan and I split the last fortune cookie like a wishbone, and he got the fortune on his half. When he opened it up, he read:

":-) You have a deep interest in all that is artistic. :-)"

We pondered this. He handed it over. "You can have it."

I read it on the internet

The candle I had in this candle holder had burned down to the nub and left that nasty pile-o'-wax behind. I didn't feel like scratching at it with a plastic knife, so I consulted Google as to a better way of getting it out.

Opinion seemed split whether heat or cold worked better, but the freezers claimed their method had less residue, so I gave it a shot.

I left the glass part in the freezer for a couple of days, and afterwards, yes, the wax popped out in one piece with just a little poking and whacking. However, the glass wasn't all shiny and bright, so I gave a nod to the heaters and ran it through the dishwasher.

Now it looks great. Thanks, internet.

Skinny jeans

This is not going to morph into a fashion blog, not least because I don't care to post pictures of myself up here, but I need to say something. Skinny jeans are not a good trend. I saw a picture of Princess Kate - excuse me, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge -- in a pair, and they didn't flatter even her. She was fine, of course, but not great. And if she can't wear them, there's not much hope for anyone else.

If you want to go buy skinny jeans because they're all the rage this fall, go for it. I'm contemplating getting a pair to set off my stellar boot collection. But if you must indulge, try to wear a shirt with them that won't make you look fat, and if you show your midriff, you need to go re-think your life choices. Always remember that leggings are not pants, and jeggings... have a bad name.

But don't wear frumpy jeans, either. Bootcuts cut slim through the knees, that's my recommendation.

Turquoise and bright red jeans are awesome, though.

The simple things in life, like great words and watching your mother work

Meg handed me her sippy cup. "Wash my lid off, Mommy."
Me: "Wash it? What happened to it?"
Meg: "It got all butterdy!"
Me: "Butterdy? That is the awesomest word I've heard all day. I'll wash it just for that word."
Meg hoisted her tiny rocking chair and hauled it into the kitchen. "I'll watch!"

A picture

And now, to cleanse your soul after those harrowing apostrophes, here is a pretty mushroom from my sister's yard.

Cruelty to the common apostrophe

I feel like we need to meditate on this sign a minute. Let's try to figure out what the author was thinking. Clearly, they felt like plurals needed an apostrophe, but so did the verb "begin's." Probably they just apostrophized the final s's of words they liked, and so I'm wondering if they have a grudge against small appliances. I bet large appliances would have come up "appliance's."

I also notice that they left off the comma between "electronic's" and "toy's". Maybe they're really talking about the kind of electronics which are toys, as opposed to the strictly practical electronics, and they're not supposed to be separate items. Alternatively, they might feel the line break is adequate demarcation, but in that case you'd also expect "small" and "appliances" to be different items. This sign isn't really presented as a sentence, though the first two words could be understood as subject and predicate, so I suppose you could argue that the normal rules of commas in a list don't apply. But just for consistency's sake, since the other items in the list have commas, I'm not sure I buy that.

It also kind of interests me that there's no punctuation or connecting word between the date and the list of items. I'm wondering: does layaway only begin for the merchandise categories mentioned? Or are they just really excited about those in particular? Now I'm really curious about the sporting good's that aren't select. Who didn't select them and what did they do to deserve being left out?


...This is why I plan to home educate my daughter.

Happy fall

We got to go to our church fall party this afternoon. There's a particular pleasure in hot cider and firepits going on a really cold day. Meg and I went prepared, in layers of flannel and sweaters and puffer coats, but I think to be really warm we should have added several more layers of long underwear and maybe some chili peppers in our shoes.* About dusk our host lit a bonfire at the other end of the field, and nearly everyone went, "Ooh, shiny!" and drifted over to it. A bonfire is another of those very specific fall pleasures, for humans at least: a field mouse disagreed and scurried off. Meg got a whole bag of candy and Jonathan got to talk about books and computer games. It was a great party.

I went home and took a hot bubble bath until my toes thawed out. We're supposed to get our first freeze tonight. I'm trying to be prepared.


*Not kidding. Old ranchers would seriously do that. Watch out for chemical burns, though - that's why you have to wear rubber gloves to prep hot chilis.

Look what I found while antiquing in Kentucky

Ta-da!