A technicolor loony.

A very smart dog with some very nifty owners uses a machine to help him play fetch in the house. It's about two minutes long.

~~~

And, once again, hot tea is a true blessing. I've got a cold...as does Sam. The last time I was sniffly, I started thinking about the cold/s that would arrive this winter. And remembered that I had a small electric kettle. Last night, the coughing started, and I put my plan into action. I filled a metal tray with the kettle, two kinds of tea, a bowl for bags and such and my covered panda mug with the strainer. Thanks to the extension cord next to my desk, the setup is perfect. Yay.

~~~

Oh squee! The Foo Fighters are going to be on Top Chef, on the November 26th show.

Now the question is, will I be able to cope with Dave Grohl *and* Tom Collicchio on my tv screen at the same time? I'm not promising anything, but I just might swoon. Luckily, I'll be sitting down at the time, so while swoonage may happen, thuddage won't.

Also, I'd be willing to give up "adorable Gail Simmons" for Dave...or the whole band could come, as a package deal. I'd be just fine with that, too.

~~~

I got some of the best birthday loot ever.

Remember the Rizzo (from Grease, not the Muppets) Barbie I was lusting after a few months ago? So did my mom, which is why I now have one. Too bloody cool.

Sam made me a very cool card with her fairy stencils. I think it's the only card I've ever gotten with "Ta da!" on it.

And Jeff got me a bread slicer guide thingie. It's a wooden breadboard with a plastic guide attached to it. You put the loaf of bread in the guide and can use it to cut *even* slices. Which is something I just plain suck at.

He also got me some books that can only be described as frickin' amazing. Including Pratchett's The Last Hero and the Illustrated Wee Free Men, Maya Angelou's "A Letter to my Daughter", the autobiographies of Suzi Quatro (who was my very first girl crush), Lillian Gilbreth (I've been wanting to read her POV for as long as I've known about the book) and Rue McClannahan (I'm not too far into it, but it seems that Blanche wasn't entirely a work of fiction). There's also Chuck Amuck (the book, not the fabulous documentary. Though, that's on one of the WB Cartoon collections...I think it was three) and The Are You Being Served Stories. Hmm, those should also be in autobiography. Good thing I'm only reporting, not shelving.;)

Sure, I'm the one who put them on my wish list...but there are well over a thousand things there (I mostly use it as a reminder and am often surprised to find that other people know it's there) and what he picked were among the cream of the crop.

There's a chance that the child and I will make ice cream cone cupcakes later...but that will depend on how our colds are doing.

~~~

Jeff gets home tomorrow, possibly in time for the Top Chef repeat at eleven (It is far more fun watching with him than by myself). I'm happy and can't wait, but Sam and I have been doing really well this time. Turtle too.*Grin*

This does *not* mean that I want him to go away again anytime soon. But it's good to know that we can cope...hell, we can do better than cope. And I'm proud of that.

~~~

I cannot tell you why I really like these The End shots from various movies & tv shows. But I *really* do.

~~~

D00d! It is *snowing*! Very lightly and it's probably melting as it hits the ground, but still. Snow. Nifty.

Really frickin' cool mug.

~~~

So, Jeff's on a business trip, and as we all know, I don't *like* it when he's away. It's a short trip this time, Sun-Wed, but it's slightly eviler than the other trips. 'Cause my birthday's on *Tuesday*. And while I'm an adult and fully realize that life isn't fair and that in the grand scheme of things, birthdays don't matter all that much, it still sucks. And, I'm pretty sure it's against some rule, somewhere.

Or, shorter version: *pout* *flop* *sigh*

~~~

Teacher reads kids The Graveyard Book, kids love it, teacher and kids make a fantastic mural.

If you haven't read it and don't want to see any spoilers whatsoever, save the link for later. But really, they're the tiniest of spoilers to my mind.

~~~

Coolest ticket machine thus far in human civilization.

~~~

Moby says some stuff I've been thinking about.

~~~

Great essay by Melissa Etheridge. Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

More at the link, of course.

~~~

As you know, Bob, the neighborhood in which we live has a *lot* of trees. Oh no, more than that. After living in a new housing community for three years, where the trees still needed to be tied to support sticks, there's an almost unbelievable amount of trees. Which means a truly unbelievable amount of leaves. These are great and Sam has a fabulous time playing in them. The interesting thing is, I never realized how much the leaves hid. When I look out the back windows, I now see *houses* that I didn't know were there. It's a trip and a half.

~~~

Sewing sounds. Not *with* sounds, but modifying a sewing machine to use the sounds as a pattern.

~~~

Ohmighods, you're not going to believe this but yesterday? I not only *saw* the sun, there was actual warm sunlight on my arm! I was happily shocked.

~~~

Lots of truly amazing cakes. They say that every bit of the cake and decorative bits are edible.

~~~

Sam has a toothbrush that plays two minutes of Kiss' Rock & Roll All Night, so that she knows how long to brush. She's taken to singing along with it, which is not only amusing but for some reason, very sweet. Though, she may be getting tired of me asking "Did you brush all your teeth on all sides?" But she agrees that she has, and toothbrushing is no longer a huge hassle for us. So, definitely yay, with a little awwww on the side.