A very Happy Turkey Day to you all...

May your pants be split with the vast amounts of (good) food that you consume.

Thisbe must go cook two corn souffles, but wanted to post a picture of the blue stripey hat.



Enjoy!

Today's Project: The left front of Pink Sweater Project #2 is almost complete! I am hoping to make a great deal of headway on it over the holiday.

Today's Life Observation: You can never have too many Pyrex pans.

Not so friendly skies.

So this really burns me.

For those of you uninterested in clicking on the link, the gist of the story is that a woman on an airplane was sitting in a window seat (with her husband in the seat next to her), nursing her infant, and a flight attendant came by and offered her a blanket "for discretion". The woman turned down the offer of the blanket, and a short while later the flight attendant came back and asked her to get off the plane.

If what this woman claims is true, and she was indeed, kicked off an airplane for breastfeeding, then I am both horrified and furious. If I had been that woman, the exact same thing would have happened to me, as the wee kraken does not like anything on her head when she is nursing, and I would have no real interest in a crappy airline blanket for that purpose. I mean, it is not as if she was running up and down the aisle waving her exposed b**bs about and spraying other passengers (in which case, I would wholeheartedly support removing her from that, or any other flight).

If you don't want to nurse your kid, then fine. If you don't want to see me nursing my kid, then don't look, and frankly, even if you are looking, I am not exactly sure what you are seeing, other than the back of her head. Geez. I'm not much of a "lactivist", but I really get upset when people act like nursing your child in public is akin to stripping and table dancing.

Today's project: Working on the front of Pink Sweater Project #2. Picture to follow when the sweater gets a little farther.

Today's life observation: Mushrooms growing on your front lawn were a neat fairyland item as a child, but are really, just fungus, as an adult.

Home again, home again....

So. This past weekend, we went to the ancestral home of Thisbe, to visit the wee kraken's doting Grammy & Big Pop.

Long car ride, to get to the ancestral home. On the plus side, the long car ride always features amusing small town idiosyncrasies (a storage facility with (what appears to be) a giant paper mache beaver out front -- store your things here! Or I will gnaw down a tree in front of you!).

Also, I was quite pleased because I am a HUGE fan of my hometown college basketball team, and this past weekend they played my actual college team at the hometown arena. I LOVE going to games there (Childhood memories! Daddy buys me sports stuff! I get to yell at strangers without repercussions!). Also, Big Pop purchased the wee kraken's first sports outfit for our team (and a matching hat for Thisbe). I am extremely excited to suit her up to watch the games with me. Since PBB (Thisbe's husband, and father of the wee kraken) hates sports, I am thrilled to have created my own companion for watching the games.

Also, I am consistently fascinated with how many people we know when we go out anywhere in the ancestral hometown. When we were first married, PBB & I would go there, and we could not go anywhere without Big Pop knowing someone, and that trend has continued. PBB was completely amazed every time it happened, and vowed that he too would have this sort of local notoriety in years to come. And although I used to take it for granted (since I lived it for 18 years), I am starting to be equally amazed, and also amazed that this trend has extended to the rest of the family. For example, wee kraken & I went out with Grammy for all of 2 hours and ran into 2 people she/I know. At dinner, we saw another family friend, at the game we saw another guy Big Pop knows. I run into someone I know here perhaps once a month, although usually under hilarious circumstances.* And it is not as though we live in a particularly big town.

Today's project: I expected to make major headway on Pink Sweater Project #2 this weekend, what with all of the car time, but forgot to factor in my love of sleeping in the car. So, I got almost nothing done.

Today's life observation: You can go home again. Really. And if you are lucky, your parents will treat you to dinner.

*My favorite example of this is when PBB had such a severe headache that we had to take him to the emergency room, and who should we see there? Our neighbor, who we lovingly refer to as "Loud Guy", because 1) He is loud, and 2) he is a "close talker". You can just imagine how happy PBB was to have that kind of extra support in his time of need.

IIIIIIIIIIII.........am the very model

Of a modern major chorister.

Yet again, I have committed to performing in a Gilbert & Sullivan show. Why, oh why, do I keep doing this? I mean, I like G & S. Who doesn't? Crazy sexist plotlines? Cross-dressing? A guaranteed happy ending? GOOD TIMES FOR ALL, I SAY!

However, I find that the other members of the cast, (as usual) to put it delicately, are, shall we say, not so much acting to get into the "crazy" part of their characters.

To be fair, this group seems to have a lower crazy quotient than most, but still. It makes me all jumpy and twitchy just to be at a rehearsal. I actually get fidgety. Like a second-grader on a Halloween candy high. Ugh.

In other news, my wee kraken is now sporting two, count 'em, TWO teensy (but kind of sharp) teeth. They made her rather angry and rageful the last couple of days, but now that they are out I think she will return to her regularly scheduled pleasant little self.

Today's project: Work continues on Pink Sweater Project #2. I really like this project. The sweater is adorable and requires a moss-stitch knit for a good portion of it, which is just kind of fun.

Today's life observation: A hummer stretch limo? Can get a flat tire. Big does not equal invincible.

VOTE! Thisbe is begging you!

OK. So, I am not normally all that political. But for the love of amber waves of GRAIN, I am begging everyone to go out there and vote. I would also like to encourage you all to vote for the Democratic candidate(s) in your area**, but I understand if you would like to continue with the path of our current administration. [indistinct coughing *pointless war* indistinct coughing *failure to protect civil liberties* indistinct coughing *completely unethical*]. Ahem.

Today's project: Working on a new Pink Sweater project for the same small person. I like this one *much* better. I am about halfway through the front.

Today's life observation: "Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos" (from The Simpsons).

**Unless, as in my area, the democratic candidate is a guy that my friends and I routinely refer to as "Crazy-Eyed [Candidate]", since he seems relatively normal, except that it appears as though at any moment in one of his commercials he is going to whip out an axe and scream "Vote for me! Or I will chop you good!" I will (unfortunately) be voting for the Independent candidate instead. Suffice to say that the words "between a rock and a hard place" have rarely been more apropos.