Relaxation

This is a very busy week - pumpkin carving, birthday, anniversary, wedding, trick-or-treating, work functions. I found some time tonight for myself in the guise of cleaning pumpkin seeds for roasting. It was a simple pleasure, like Amelie plunging her hand into a bag of dry beans. And I don't even eat pumpkin seeds....

Action | Reaction

This photo contest at aurora15 is a really neat idea: it's like a chain mail of photos, with one photograph being passed to another photographer, who in turn submits a similar one in theme or subject. Nice stuff. It reminds be of this cool photo blog I came across once, 3191 a year of mornings. Two friends, thousands of miles apart, taking pictures at the same time of day and comparing them. I'd love to try something like that. Any takers? Hello out there???

The Great Schlep - Oy!

See more Sarah Silverman videos at Funny or Die

If my Jewish grandparents were still alive, I would make the schlep to Florida!

Festivals Aplenty

We had a great time at our neighborhood fall festival: petting zoo (which K loved), bounce house (which K hated), Smokey Mo's BBQ (yum), police car and fire truck tours (eh), tattoos (temporary ones), and of course pumpkins. Counting the one we brought home tonight we now have five pumpkins in our house, just waiting for the weather to cool off so they can go outside. Where they belong.... More photos at my flickr site.

Three is a magic number

Kennedy is soon to be the last only child of all her three-year-old classmates. (Congratulations to the mommy-to-be, if she's reading!) The choice of whether or not to have another baby has been one of much discussion in our household. Just as a couple is never "ready" to have a first baby, the thought of a sibling is just as daunting, if not more so. We've been watching this Schoolhouse Rock video lately, and I've already decided: if Kennedy remains an only child, this will be our theme song. And if Turner and I ever make a decision, or find ourselves in a "Whoops!" situation, I'll be writing about it here, I'm sure.

Corny

I haven't watched The Daily Show in a while, but I'm sure Jon Stewart had a few jokes about this one.

Matters

Ever since Kennedy has started to “read,” or at least identify letters and their sounds, she has always associated the letter M with Mommy. And, even with her knack for brand identification (i.e. Disney, Macintosh, even the Texas Lottery logo), whenever she sees the golden arches of McDonalds, she always yells, “It’s an M for Mommy!” This excerpt from a new book brings to mind that sweet innocence:

The great majority of languages start the word for "mother" with an m sound. The word mammal comes from the mammary gland. Which comes from baby talk: mama. To sound like a grownup, we refine mama into mother; the Romans made it mater, from which: matter. And matrix. Our word for the kind of animal we are, and our word for the stuff that everything is made of, and our word for a big cult movie all derive from baby talk.

Go on, read more. It gets better.

In the 'hood

Our neighborhood has many out-of-state transplants. Tonight we went to a little gathering where no one was a native Texan. There were Canadians, Californians, Indianans (Indians?), and of course the Floridians. It was nice to hear everyone's stories about how long they have lived here and their complaints about the hot Texas summers. Fall is trying to knock on our doors though, and I can't wait for all the kiddos to come a-knockin' for trick-or-treat.