Dear Santa

Smile

Quinn told me he's lucky he knows how to hold in his tears, because his chorus teacher is tormenting him about his "fake, scary doll-baby smile." I think my son has a beautiful smile (And we paid a lot of money in surgical and orthodontic work!). So I asked him to show me what his teacher is talking about.

Oh! That fake, scary doll-baby smile. Yeah, we will have to work on that one. We'll start by brushing your teeth.

PokeWalker

Quinn has this toy that is a type of pedometer, only the number of steps equates to watts and "experience points" for the pokemon in his video game. These points then transfer from the pokewalker back to the video game. The idea, I suppose, is to get the kid off the couch for a while.

Instead, I've observed my son to think of creative ways to get the pokewalker to register "steps" taken.

1. tape pokewalker to ceiling fan and turn on high
2. place pokewalker in salad spinner and spin
3. attatch pokewalker to neighbor's dog's collar
4. attach pokewalker to cat and entice it to chase laser light
(problem - we don't have a cat)
5. attach pokewalker to box fan and turn on high so that it vibrates

Never Say Never

I Black-Friday-ed. Well, it was more like late-Thursday-ed. Anyway, from 10pm until 12am, I scurried after my friend at the local outlet shops and found some deals. I was ushered back to reality while watching a young mother pick up her baby from her car seat and wake up her toddler and lug them into a line outside a popular store, where they waited in the windy 25-degree temps for the doors to open.

Enough. I drove home, pondering the materialistic scene, and counting my very many blessings.
Happy Thanksgiving!

So Many Tears

. . . during the Harry Potter movie, of all places!

when Hermione obliviated her parents' memories in order to protect them
when George was cursed
when Ron was splinched
when Harry & Hermione visited his parents' graves
when Ron was being tormented by the locket horcrux
when Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix
when Dobby died


Mr. Rellim had to hold back tears when Harry's owl, Hedwig died trying to protect Harry. That one didn't make my list. I guess I'm just not an animal person.

Try This

During a recent lunch date with my dad, I was reminded of this funny thing he does with the wait staff. He calls them by name as soon as he reads their name tag. He especially enjoys calling them by name if they haven't yet introduced themselves. It really is particularly entertaining to watch the expressions on the faces of these servers while they try to figure out how this man knows them.

Girls Basketball Begins

Rachel is playing Fresh/Soph and JV and Varsity. Well, actually, she is dressing varsity, playing JV and starting Fresh/Soph. But tonight? Tonight?! Rachel was leading scorer for the Fresh/Soph team with a double-double!! That's ten points and ten rebounds. She would have had a triple-double, but they only called four fouls on her. She is so excited and we are so proud.

Choosing to SEE

Extremely personal and touching story of Mary Beth Chapman's struggle to be in control of her life and the humbling realization and acceptance that God has other plans. From childhood to current day, with particular focus on the tragic loss of their daughter, Maria, Mary Beth describes in detail how God has chosen their family to care for orphans and promote adoption.

I donate monthly to their organization, Show Hope at www.showhope.com. Maybe you'd like to check it out too?

Antique Shopping

Mom and I were at a local antique shop today and noticed a funny three-legged chair near the check-out counter. The tag said, "authentic German birthing chair." Of course, I had to check it out. I loudly pondered how something like this could work. "Wouldn't you get splinters?" The antique shop owner suggested that I change my position slightly on the chair in order to understand the complete ergonomic effect. In doing so, the chair promptly cracked into five pieces and collapsed under me. Fortunately, I did not break the glass display cases that were on either side of me. And I did land on my softest body part.

The owner began laughing hysterically before she apologized and asked if I was OK. "Sorry," she said, "but that was just the funniest thing I've seen in a long time."

I was just happy that she didn't ask me to pay for it.

Not a Botanist

Mr. Rellim and I grow an awesome salsa garden in the summer. We also have some fairly nice perennial gardens around the house. Knowing this, a friend asked me to diagnose the problem with a big tree in her yard. I told her that it looked like Dutch Elm Disease. A few days later, a university botanist made a house call to look at her tree. "First of all," he said, "this is an oak tree."

I guess I'll stick with the tomatoes.

Celebration

Jamie and Corbett got married yesterday. Short and sweet ceremony on Lake Geneva. Congratulations!

Overheard on the News

Regarding the loss of many liberal leaders:

YES WE CANNED!

Overheard at My Dinner Table

"Sorry. I didn't mean to stab you so hard."

Think on This

Think on this, dear Congressman, when you wonder why you'll be job-hunting this winter.

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. ”

—American writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

You Said It!

“Well you could even describe it as a civic awakening... Quite frankly I'm excited about what this means — not because it's going to put a particular Party in place — but because citizens are once again assuming the responsibility for determining the future of this country.”

— Tony Perkins, president on Family Research Council

Thanks, Mrs. Bickerson

Thanks for reminding me of this School House Rock video. Click here to view it yourself.

VOTE!

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”

—Samuel Adams, in the Boston Gazette, April 16, 1781

Halloween Mobster and Mobstress