I have finally completed that UI design I've had on my plate for too long, and I got a decent sketch done. I'm going to call today a win and call it quits at the office, although I may drive past Fry's on my way home.

-ma to Khusband!

I cleaned up the kitchen and dining room completely this morning, which leaves me feeling nice and accomplished and timely.

I have also cleared up my contacts in my email, done some niggly PITA financial contacts stuff, and loaded my pix from yesterday. Good deal.

I had a great Thanksgiving: [link]

I love your essay, Erin, and the sentiments you express. From the photo of your dining room, everything looks lovely--the furniture fits as though made for the room. I like the wall color, too. But there's one thing I love and covet--that's your dining room windows! The white-painted wood, the mullioned six-over-one panes, the lacy valances. But the thing I covet most is the deep sills. Wide enough to set an oil lamp in the window on a dark night, wide enough for a collection of glass to capture and scatter the light, wide enough for a collection of favorite books. Wide sills have always been a dream of mine, and since it's unlikely I'll have them in this lifetime (not moving again if I can help it!) it pleases me to see them where others enjoy them.

Foul! I wonder who the opposing player was, and how he feels about it right now. That's one hell of an elbow.

I am now killing time in a Starbucks in downtown Appleton, waiting for my bus to leave at 5:10. It's rather cold here and I'm a little underdressed for it. Thanksgiving was great (we went to a nice buffet at a restaurant in Clintonville). My brother ended up not brigning any of his kids (he's twice divorced) and my sis and her gf and kids couldn't make it due to illness. This morning we went out to breakfast, where about a third of the patrons were dressed in blaze orange for deer hunting. On the way into Appleton on Wed, the bus passed a truck with a deer strapped to the roof, and everybody in the bus looked at it as if they'd never seen such a thing before.

My brother has to be at work in Appleton at 3:00, so I got a ride with him so I could catch my bus. Will make it home about 10:30 tonight.

Happy birthday, Daisy Jane!

~ma to Khusband!

I have done some online makeup shopping for Black Friday, but that's about it. Later, we take the boykitties to the vet for a check-up, and then I start culling the closets for an upcoming goth rummage sale.

Sometimes I hate that good parenting means gritting your teeth and saying "Good using your words, honey" instead of "Next time, kick the shit out of that little brat." Grrr.

(Playground after lunch, older kid pushing and verbally harassing Dylan for no apparent reason as soon as we arrived. Other parent nowhere in sight so I played bad cop mama bear. Very proud of how Dylan handled himself, but if he'd kicked this other kid in the shin instead, I wouldn't have minded one bit.)

The Incredible Flying Nonagenarian [link]

Nutty and I Black Friday shopped for bras. We are an amazing contrast in sizes and I had more trouble than she - it's stunning how few unpadded underwires there are in a 36A/B.

Then I went to the Hanna Andersson store. Oops.

Wow. Pretty Praying Mantis is Pretty! [link]

Also, purple.

From here: [link]