Beautiful

Yaya went a lil' crazy with the Thanksgiving selfies :)

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Yum

No room for dip lol

Oopsie

Lisa chaperoned Junie's class on a museum field trip today and managed to lose "only" two kids. (They wandered off during a restroom stop and were found at the visitor center). To be fair, the teacher lost one too. Not a crew of future Chaperone Hall of Famer's, apparently. Lol

Uh?

I have no idea why she finds this so funny, but she's laughed about this exchange for (literally) ten minutes now.

Me: Do I have something on my shoulder? It itches.

Lisa: Maybe you have shingles.

Me: Maybe you have crabs.

Ferguson

Listening to Ferguson area law enforcement on Scanner Radio. Here's hoping and praying for their safety as they deal with the mis-named "protestors" seeking to profit from tragedy.

What a Weekend

It's been a rough weekend of law school. First I plowed through 24 chapters of an online course that is required *within* a class I'm already taking this semester. Then at the end I had to take an online assessment and pass with a 90% or better; so far, I've failed to reach that after SEVEN exams, reaching as high as 89% and as low as 80%. I'm ready to toss my laptop out the window.

A Flashback to LuLu's Birthday at Rollero

St Vincent

If you can, go see "St. Vincent" starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, and Naomi Watts. It's low key, but funny and sweet, and you'll probably wipe a tear or two from your eye.

LuLu and the Sculptor

Watching. The Arts Page on PBS. This episode centers on the hyper-realism of sculptor Marc Sijan. A few years ago he saw LuLu at a hair salon and approached us to have her model for him; unfortunately she turned out to be a few inches taller than needed for the project and it didn't work out. She should be proud to have inspired such a great artist. :)

Lisa's New Coat

Tune In!

If you aren't watching The Mcarthys on CBS, you're missing one of the funniest new comedies in years. I say this not only because it features NKOTB's Joey McIntyre, but because it's 100% true. The star of the show, btw, is the son of the late great Jon Ritter. Watch it! #The McCarthys

Anyone?

Anyone up for a road trip to see the free Bills game in Detroit on Monday? 

PS from 2024: (the answer, my friends, was no LOL)

Gatti-Hutchinson

Watching the surprisingly competitive Gatti-Hutchinson bout from 2000. Fights can fall victim to over officiating just as easily as they can from the neglect of a ref; this was clearly the former. Hutchinson was robbed, not only by two shady deductions but by the fight not being stopped in the first when he cut Gatti.

I Guess She Doesn't Like Velvet

A Glum Development

I took the day off of work to attend a pro boxing tournament with Smiley, but post-Disney the cost was prohibitive. I then got a line on some cheap tickets from Craigslist, but the guy sold them right before I texted. I've got a wanted post on the site and there's a faint chance of success . . . But I'll probably have to settle for using the night to finish the online testing for legal writing. #tryingtputagoodspinontgings

Da Girls

It took Lisa twenty tries to get a pic where there wasn't bloodshed between the girls

Junie's Prize

One of Junie's prizes from the Girl Scout nut and candy sale. She's been filling it with Tang all week

What Was That???

Just watched the interview with #mamajune on #drphil. Really, there are no words. 

Rockerfeller

I've finally finished the 800 page biography of Nelson Rockefeller I started on our vacation. I disagree with some of Rockefeller's positions, but applaud his activism and mourn the loss of the (relative) liberal wing of the GOP he represented. A party is stronger when there is room for dissenting views.

Sweet Revenge

While the boss was volunteering I took the #Centerpieces to dance class. Lulu  had been a disrespectful bear for most of the afternoon, and by the time we left I'd had enough. My punishment was brutal and effective. For the entire half hour ride the radio was tuned to church hymns. Not Gospel mind you, but earnest Protestant pleas to the Lord, interrupted only be the recitation of Psalms. I think their ears were bleeding by the time we arrived. #thatllshowthem

My Bookends Are Dressed for the Winter

The Soup Kitchen

Lisa and Junie, volunteering at the soup kitchen with the Girl Scouts

What an Awful Day to Walk to School

What a brutal walk to school this morning with the kids. 12 degrees with a stiff wind and blowing mist, and a painful ankle that's plagued me since the trip. I was cold as heck and felt sorry for the kids, but as Lisa points out she has to walk to and from school regardless of rain, snow, or volcanic eruption. Plus I laud the health benefits. Maybe we'll compromise and set a basement temperature, below which they automatically earn a ride.

Not Happy with Doctor Who

I finally got around to watching the Kovalev -Hopkins bout from earlier this month. One sided all the way, with me scoring it 120-107 for Kovalev. Kudos to the Alien for going the distance against a great fighter, but I think it might be time to hang up his gloves.

I've also polished off the last of this season of Doctor Who, and I'm sad - sad that it took me this long to put this miserable bear of a season to rest. The finale was better than most of the season, (then again, the worst fan fiction is better than clunkers like "Kill the Moon), but even so it just recycled the same ol' enemies.

 I like the new Doctor, even if his accent sometimes necessitates captioning, but I don't think the show knows where to *take* his character. While they fumble around trying to iron that out, they've butchered Clara's character. And don't get me started on the idiotic Danny Pink character, with his oft repeated "just like an officer" line, and his yawn inducing PTSD, and his 1950's-esque obsession with taking Clara away from the life she loves and tying her down to one spot like a good little Mrs.

 This sex change of the Master is a turd too - why not make her the Rani and do something mildly interesting? If this was my first season of Doctor Who, it might have been my ONLY season too. 

Grade: C-

Pirate Night!

Pirates night is taken seriously on a Disney Cruise. I’d forgotten all about it in the years since our first visit (just like I’d forgotten about the tradition of decorating your stateroom door), but it all came back in a hurry. People – children, adults, the elderly – walk around in full pirate get-up, and a rash of “Rrrrrr’s” echo around the ship. 

If it wasn’t so much  fun, it’d be crazy. 

We all went for dinner and had a great time. The night before Junie had talked the ears off an elderly gentleman at the table next to us, and so I’d moved her over a seat that night. The elderly man was disappointed, saying he enjoyed her company and that she reminded him of the mischievous character “Eloise”. 

After dinner we dispersed as normal. Say it with me: Smiley to the club, YaYa and LuLu to The Edge, Lisa, Junie and I to the nightly musical. Only that night it wasn’t a musical, but a comedy performance by juggler Max Winfrey. It’s not normally my cup of tea but the guy was HILARIOUS and I’d love to see him again. We had good seats too, sneaking our way down into sole possession of the box seats in the balcony. 

Before the show we’d spent some time on Deck 4 enjoying the sights and sounds of the ocean as Lauren played on the deck. Even by then it was obvious LK was pooped, and by the time the comedy show was over our plans to put her in The Club and go out for some adult time were zapped by the zzz’s of our littlest Slap. 

Meanwhile, Lisa had earlier located the launderette, and so around 11 I picked Smiley up as usual from the club and enlisted his help in doing nearly a weeks worth of dirty, stinking underwear and socks for Team Slap We also took our WDW mugs up to the 11th deck to fill them with soda, which is where I found a midnight showing of Pirates of the Caribbean on the big screen by the pool.  Smiley and I took a seat in some lounge chairs and lo and behold, here came my two oldest and some of their friends to occupy the rest of the row.

 Eventually YaYa signed off and went to bed, then Smiley petered out and I took him to the stateroom. OJ and I stayed until the end of the movie, then headed back down to bed. 

What a great, great day! Top 100, easy!

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