Yeah, pumpkins are pretty non-threatening, as long as they have little to no facial expression, I think.

I'm going to get one of those hay bales and arrange pumpkins artfully around it. It's my first time not living in the suburbs or a city, so I think it's acceptable to embrace country-like decorations.

I think "a" room could be ok, but several years ago I was working in a very remote part of a forest in Northern California and I needed permission from the owner of the only house in the area to do some noise surveying. The woman let me into her backwoodsy cabin and the ENTIRE house was completely decorated for Christmas. Not a few decorations. Every square inch of it.....hundreds and hundreds of decorations everywhere. The kicker? *shivers* It was June.

I had just finished reading Stephen King's Misery, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. She was very sweet...but I was seriously creeped out so I got my work done and got the heck out pronto. Irrational? Possibly, but I wasn't taking any chances.

My wife is a huge Halloween decorator. I think she now has nearly as many decorations for Halloween and Christmas. We live in a semi-countrified area too, hegelite, and don't get many trick or treaters, but she puts out hay bales on the front porch and scarecrows and such. It's all good. :)

Maybe you can enlighten me on how conservative academies would be against celebrating Halloween. Is it a Jehovah's Witness academy? That's the religion that I know is against Halloween and any other holiday celebrations.

The school he's teaching at is a conservative Seventh-day Adventist school, and I think the objection is the same as many anti-Harry Potter crusaders: witchcraft is bad, et. cetera. There aren't any Halloween parties, and my husband told me not to expect any treat-or-treaters. Boooo.

I know not all SDAs are anti-Halloween: I was raised SDA, and we had Halloween parties when I was a kid.

That's kinda funny Should, did she offer you cookies and milk?

Yeah I have all kinds of rooms planed out, who knows if they will ever come into fruitation though, like one room I want to be like in black and white, aka basicly a lot of grey tones,and put in a black & white tv in there and such.

Wow, shouldbe, creepy (tm. Christy, and I'm doing the sign with my hands). A whole HOUSE done in Christmas. Even a room is a bit much in reality, I imagine. Fun to dream of, but I would imagine a bit opressive in fact - unless of course you had so many rooms, this room became sort of like a gallery space. My Mom's idea was to display her enormous collection of Nativity scenes in her Christmas room. She has hundreds from all over the world that she and my father have collected in the travels and others have given as gifts. Some are truly exquisite, and some are kind of junky, but with lots of love; she even has one my father made her for their first Christmas together, so sweet. But this forest woman, decorating her whole house all year round in Christmas, is a little sad to me. It almost sounds like she's a bit haunted, waiting for the perfect Christmas moment to appear, a bit frozen in time. Imagine being in the middle of a beautiful forest and thinking that the way you create magic is to create this very false world? These's so much magic all around her already. She should take a walk and embrace the seasons! They're all good!

Lots of different religions frown on the spirit aspect of Halloween, but one of the perks of being raised Catholic is that we get to embrace the spirits through various ways. We have All Souls Day the day after Halloween to remember all the ones who have gone before. Halloween celebrations came out of that day. Also, we have all the Saints Days as part of our worship. It's so cool to have all the energies of people who have lived before so close to us and real. I like feeling like I have all these energies available to me. It's one of the things I've always enjoyed about the Catholic Church, though other aspects, not so much.

My son's room is black and white with a cool red wall, woodlock. I like that look. But he definitely wanted a color TV!

I'm having a lot of trouble with my home internet connection. They told me yesterday that they should be able to get to it by the 23rd (I'm hoping they meant this month)! So I'm going to be in and out, I guess.

Thanks for the blender, Yogi!

There is only one person in the world who writes something as beautifully as that! I knew Yogi was here the second I saw that!

OMG!! Miss Yogi, it is sooooo good to see you again! You sure have been missed, and not just around these parts! How's Mr Yogi and Yogi-son doing? Yogi-son must be 16 now? A bit young for a super-model heh, although he would probably disagree with that statement. Can you believe that Jack is 15 and Mark is 7? I have a lot of news - the most serious being that I left my marriage, moved out of that house into a gorgeous house perched on a cliff in Mt Nebo, which by the way, is just down the road from Mt Glorious (remember that one?), got a job, quit smoking over 7 months ago, joined the gym where I am taking yoga classes and also teaching Tai Chi classes. Phew, that's a quick recap, anyway. I am very happy, and we share custody of the boys, they have had a hard time with the whole separation but I'm hoping that time will help that.

I am so sorry to hear about your dog, I know how much you loved your old one. But it's great that you got a new Goldren Retriever too. And I love Heroes too! It's on tonight.

It's so good to have the whole gang back together again! Wow, Yogi, Should, Hildy, VB, Birdlady, Woody (with his pleather) just to name a few! Hello to you all!

Hi, sweet yogi. I've thought of you often recently. Perhaps happy karma wafting west? Good to hear that life is good and you have added to the family. He sounds like a wonderful pup.

All this talk of holiday decorations sparks a memory. There used to be a bar in the city where we used to live which was floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall Christmas decorations. I mean thousands and thousands of strands of garland, bulbs, wreaths, Santas, angels. It was incredible. And they had the bestest drinks, ever, at reasonable prices. Then the building that it was in was sold, and they had to move the bar into a neighboring building. The city inspector banned them from putting up all the decorations like before. So now it's just a shadow of its former self. Fargin' fire safety rules.

Ha! Miss Aussie, If I ever have a band, It's tottaly gonna be called Woody with his pleather :)

Woody and his pleather - I like it! :lol

Hey! The MM woke up! Hi everyone! *passes out virtual "welcome-back" cupcakes*

yogi, I'm sorry about your poor doggie, but so happy you have a new family pooch now.

Hi, Tracey! How's the TC? Work? Kitty and husband?

Aw, that's sweet. What a great name for what sounds like a great dog, Yogi. It's good to see you here, by the way!

Of course, now that I've popped in, I'll be popping out again very soon -- I'm going to Spain with my mom on Thursday! I'm very excited, but I wish I had learned more Spanish. Stupid work taking me away from the important stuff. But I'm still excited.

Cool, just get a simple spansih/english pocket dictionary, I'm sure that would work.

Spain, cool! What cities? I visited Sevilla about 20 years ago, with day trips to Cadiz and Cordoba. Very interesting - there's lots of Moorish architecture there.

We're all doing ok here in TC-land, negrilchick. Kitty is rambunctious, MrBee is going into fall-cooking mode - stew, soups, pot roasts. LittleBee, MrBee's daughter, is getting excited about Hallowe'en. She's now planning to be an FBI agent, since she found an FBI cap at a thrift store this weekend.

Hey, Dear Ones! Wow, this is so, so very, very nice!
Cupcakes and Frozen Beverages for everyone; It's great to catch up!

I am just back this afternoon from an EXHAUSTING trip to the World of Disney! Oh my heck, we saw it all; we did it all; and then? We did it all again. Truly. It was amazing. I had a group of ten, ranging from 68 to 6, and what a challenge it was keeping them all happy. But, I think I did a good job of giving everyone most of what they wanted, and that's more than enough magical happiness to go around. We had breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle, which is my favorite activity, and we attended a rousing celebration of Halloween at the Magic Kingdom. My most favorite sight was the nightly fireworks over the castle. I enjoyed those every night. Fireworks are always fabulous! I love them.

Spain - how fun is that, Col? I'm with Woody, those little pocket Belitz books get you through everywhere pretty well. Good menu and taxi language help. And! It fits in your pocket! I'm sure you are going to have a great time. I've always wanted to walk the Camino from France to Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately, it takes 2 months, walking 8 hours a day, and I haven't quite arranged the time yet. Maybe you will see part of it when you are there? It's an ancient pilgimage route, originally for Catholics, though it is walked and enjoyed by people of all faiths now.

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Snort. I want to go to a Christmas bar!

So great that you are teaching Tai Chi and doing yoga, AussieGirl, so healthy and happy-making. My teacher always said "if you want to be happy, do yoga." Wow, now that I write that I realize that I should be doing more yoga... But, Aussie, I'm truly sorry to hear your marriage has ended. Life can be very diffcult, and it must have been a hard time for you all. However, happily, it sounds like you have landed in a great place, and your new house sounds .... glorious!

Can't believe that vb has connectivity issues for WEEKS. Yikes, vb you need to make that IT guy much, much more motivated. Bribery? Perhaps one of your excellent beveragea?

Samwise is laying across my feet. He's a 75 lb lap dog! So sweet.

Aww how sweet! Someday hopefully like when I graduate college or something I want to backpack Europe, and also visit Japan and Australia.

Holy Cow, I need to put this back on my daily visit list! How very nice to 'see' you again, Yogi! I am sorry to hear of your old dog, but Samwise sounds like a real blessing. A very large, heavy, furry blessing.
Not much going on around here; Boy is in kindergarten now, and girl is in second grade, and thus far it's been relatively peaceful, schoolwise. No calls from the principal as yet. Girl is starting speed skating this Saturday. Her idea--I blame Apolo.

Pleather Woody, I dunno. If you are going to have a black and white room, you also need to have a faux room. Faux leather sofas, faux fur pillows, Trompe-l'œil painting on the walls, TiFaux on the Cable....

And SPAIN?! Oh boy oh boy, I want details about dancing till all hours with Spanish boys who have eyelashes long enough to use as weaves. What fun!

Halloween--we need to decorate. I am getting pressure. Must go buy some sparkly skulls or something....

Hildy, I am sorry about the Sox disappointing showing against the Tribe. I was thinking about you while listening to one of the games this past week. I would suppose you have your rally cap on right now. Hildygirl will certainly tire herself out with speedskating - I've watched practices for it, and mabn, they sure work hard.

Disney sounds like it was heaven on earth, yogi. Just delightful. I think I would fancy myself the princess type, also, if I was to visit. Give Samwise a pat for me.

Tracey, LittleBee's life aspirations sound like she's a bit whimsical. I would guess that she has had other career choices in mind in the past? I have been doing some Fall harvest cooking, too - pumpkin soup, some breads and cakes. I would like to do more, but our busy schedule has precluded spending much time in the kitchen recently.

I can't wait to live vicariously through col. I fully expect exciting stories of breaking the hearts of many Spanish lotharios.

Aw cool, Spain sounds so exciting!! I can't wait to hear all about it.

Tracy, can I borrow MrBee? Soups and stews are sounding pretty good right now, it's starting to get pretty chilly here at night. I'm so glad to hear that you're all doing well.

And Yogi, I'm so jealous! I'd love to go to Disney World again. The only time I've been there was a little over 30 years ago, they didn't even have the Epcot Center there then. But I still had a wonderful time, I was still a starry-eyed youngster, and I'll never forget how great it was just being with my family on a fabulous, sunny Florida day in the greatest amusement park in the world! Alot of it was pretty cheesy (It's A Small World immediately springs to mind), but I had a fantastic time. I'd go there again in a heartbeat, especially since I've seen it on the Travel Channel. It looks like it's just incredibly awesome now.

And Yogi, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, but I'm so glad to hear about Samwise. He sounds like a wonderful dog. Can we expect to see some pictures posted pretty soon? Sam was my favorite character from Lord of the Rings. And it's such a perfect name to give to your faithful companion!

It's so great to "see" everybody back here! I love hearing how everyone's doing. It's been way too long y'all! And I'm so glad that this season of Survivor looks pretty good so far. I really like reading all the comments here, even when I don't agree. To me, it seems like there's quite a few people on this season that would make decent winners. Now that Dave is gone, I could be happy with just about anyone else winning this.

Haha a faux room would be fun. This reminds me of one christmas time I was working at Family Dollar, and we got some faux fur rugs, and being in Texas, I was not too surprized to hear a co-worker call them fox fur, and so of course I had to explain to her that faux is french, and it meant fake, I don't think she got it. Sigh

Hurray - Survivor tonight, and it's so good!

My days are so long because Sammy needs a long walk every morning and another every evening, but every night after my walk, I come through the door with him smiling. He makes me so happy. Dogs really bring you to the present - that's where they are, with the squirells and sticks and frisbees. Two young guys in the park played frisbee with Sammy yesterday. They loved it; he loved it; it was a great way to pass the evening. He sleeps all day with his paws around the wheels of my desk chair. It's so great; he's the perfect companion!

I went to the big opening weekend of Disney World when I was just a little girl, birdlady. Orlando was just a swamp with this new amusment park then. My family and I always loved it. I go back just about every other year and sometimes more. It's a great place to gather a large and diverse group (my family.) A good time is always had by all, so I know exactly what you mean.

I saw lots of pretty princesses at Disney, Hildy. There's this new, very expensive, Disney boutique in Fantasyland. Lots of little girls in expensive dresses and make up walking around the park. They did look pretty, but not so comfortable. What is Hildy-girl going to be for Halloween? And Hildy-boy? My guy's James Bond outfit with the Tuxedo T-shirt when over very well.

It's almost 80 degrees in NYC this week, so soups and stews are not on my menu yet, but I'm looking forward to some cooler days - but not too soon!

Heh, yes, "whimsical" would be a good description. She also wants to be an Iditarod racer and an artist. The FBI agent thing is just for Hallowe'en, though, I don't think she's entertaining a life as the next Agent Scully (she's too young to have been an X-Files fan).

Can I brag for just a minute? MrBee and LittleBee's mom had a conference with her teacher this week, and LittleBee is testing in the 99% percentile for reading. I can't tell you how delighted both her parents are that she loves reading (and me, too!). They're both readers, too, as I am I. We all know that standardized tests aren't all they're cracked up to be, but still - *proud smile*.

TraceyBee, so great that Little Bee is a book lover. Lots of great conversations ahead for the family!

I went to the "Great Pumpkin Blaze" last night - acres of 4,000 jack-o-lanterns, all a-blaze. Everything from huge arches made of jack-o-lanterns to a cemetary of jack-o-lantern sculls and hands coming out of the ground plus a sea of jack-o-lantern fish and sea creatures, dinosours, spiders and tarantulas, and MORE. It was super spectacular. Now, I'm all ready for Halloween.

Hey guys! I have some halloween pics if anyone wants to see them yayay lol.

Hey Woody! I'd love to see them, where are they posted?

I'm not the best when it comes to linking so I hope this works. Pics!

It is so nice to have the gang back together here!

Woody, we need a password to see your pics.

Congrats to Little Miss Bee - wonderful news!

80 degrees in NYC, Yogi? Wow. We just had the weekend from hell, literally, weatherwise. But yesterday and today it's cold again! Weird stuff.

Hey PHildy! Whathisname from TAR is nowhere near as gorgeous as Peachy! Lol

Yogi, Hildygirl was a Shadow Ninja--not a scrap of the princess phase left in her. She's a very tomboyish girl, although she does love her High School Musical. That apparently is relatively gender neutral. Hildyboy was Luke Skywalker. We have entered the Pokemon/Star Wars phase of life. Are you all finished with renovation, by the way?

So negrilchick, I ended up going to games 2 and 6 of the ALCS. Six was much more satisfactory, and the WS was even better. I took the kids out of school to go into the parade in Boston for the Sox--I figured who the heck knows when it'll happen again, so I may as well jump on the chance.

And I'm sorry, Aussie, but Fruit Leather will never reach the heights of phantasticness attained by Mr. Eyebrow. Just tain't possible.

I didn't know the princess phase ever ended, hildy. I never did for me. When I took the neices to Cinderella's Castle, I asked for the wishing star and wand too. I couldn't believe they only gave them to the children. Who wouldn't want a plastic, sparkly wishing star?

My nephew was Darth Vadar, and he was adorable. I have very fond memories of the Star Wars Pokemon time with my guy. All the times were beautiful, really; so much pleasure (and worry!) watching him discover the world. But my guy is so grown up now, he takes care of me a lot of the time. On the trip to Disney, he insisted on taking care of the luggage, getting me through the airport and all. Soon, he'll be taking his Mom's hand to cross the street. It's a sweet thing. I never really dreamed he would ever grow up to be so good to me. I'm very very lucky.

The renovation is not a good topic. This is my 3rd holiday season out of my home. My heart is broken, and it has been broken for a long time. It's an ugly story. Think of the worst two renovation stories you ever heard, put all the worst parts together, and then imagine it being much worse, and that is my experience. There is much saddness and despair.

I can't see your Halloween pics, Woody. I've decided you are quite a tease! Heh. Birdlady, Aussie, and I feel quite cheated, I'm sure.

I see the dustballs are forming again here, and no one ever used the blender, sadly. After our whirlwind of activity at the beginning of this season, It's gotten quiet here again. But it's always so nice to see you all!

Oh dear, Yogi, I'm sorry to have brought up the R word! I hope that long process does come to an end soon, and your house ends up all you ever dreamed of.

I agree, the different phases are so much fun. I love where my kids are right now, except for the bickering. We're working on that.
And I can't say I'm surprised that your son is good to you. He has two role models who treat each other, and him, with respect and love. What could be better than that?

Okay, that's it. I'm passing out shots. We have to reinvigorate the patrons a little.
I'll start with a tequila with salt and lime.
It's either that or cold showers, people!

I spent the day covering half my roof to stop one of my neverending leaks with a heavy duty, huge blue tarp. My house is now officially covered with plastic and duct tape. Though actually we fashioned a rather effective way of anchoring the tarps with wire, two by fours, and bags of gravel - not too bad for a construction amature. Let's face it, if it doesn't leak, it's better than anything the professionals have done. My son's ceiling has fallen in for the third time, so I'm just trying to keep the water out. My architect comforted me by sharing that the blue tarps work really well. According to him, it's what they use to stabilize houses after hurricanes, like Katrina (he's from N.O.) Good to know I'm on the same tract after 3 years of expensive renovation. Heh.

Thanks for the nice words about my son, Hildy. It touched my heart. I'm sure you will be talking like me soon about your little ones.

I'm not sure even the cold shower will work here... Maybe the power hose Hildy? Either way, I'll have a shot with you - I could definitely use one!

Oh. My dear. Poor Yogi. I've thought of you and your lovely home often, and here I find out it is being leaky and fall-y. That is unacceptable, tarps be damned. Duct tape it a wonderful thing, but not something that you should have to depend upon to keep out the winter weather, as I am sure you know. [hugs]

That is awesome, Hildy, that you were able to celebrate the Sox victory with your kids. It must have been so fun to share it with them.

My kids have turned out pretty nicely, too. They are sticking their toes tentatively into the water of adulthood, to varying degrees, with varying degrees of success. But, it's all good.

As Suzyn Waldman might say, Oh my goodness gracious, Yogi. A leaky roof and a ceiling that falls in? That's beyond awful and into litigious, which of course is just more stress. I'm so sorry!

So what is up in Admin assistant land these days? Sanity or chaos?

Negril, does anything actually get bagged from those expensive tree forts of your husband's? Do they pay their freight, so to speak?

And a shot of, I'm trying to think of something elegant here, for Yogi.
Maybe we should switch to champagne.

Just to reassure that you that NYC is the Land of the Perpetually Delusional, the contractors who built this leaky structure (there are two leaks in the roof and there were four in the cellar that we did not get resolved until June) are threatening to sue me. And the leaks are hardly the beginning of this ugly, ugly tale. There is so, so much more. The terrace fell in as well.

My office manager is the same angel who has been with me for almost 4 years. I love her. And now, I have someone to help me with the renovation too. He is a darling, and I love him too. I'm lucky in this. I have such good poeple in my life. However, the same month that the contractors walked out (I stopped giving them extra money every month to stay on and finish, so they left) I had to move out of my office space of 11 years. That almost broke my little gang, seriously, too hard. Luckily, we are all of very, very strong, midwestern-type stock, and we got through it. We are settled into a new office now, and everyone is still working hard, but it's bearable. My team is really great [cheering and waving of pom poms]. La Dee Da, La Dee Da, La Dee Da, Da, Da!

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. Wheewh. It was very hard this year, so I ended up buying lots of multiples. All the men are getting one gift, the neices another etc. What can I tell you? There are hundreds of people, and I only have so much creativity! Has Hildy girl discovered American Girl, or is that too girly? They are hugely popular as Christmas gifts. My own teenage boy is the hardest. I'm thinking maybe a wii... He mentioned it. Has anyone ever seen one?

Thanks for the hug and the champagne, my dear friends. It's been challenging. It's nice to chat!

Boo on the forced office move, yay to the good employees who helped you through it, Yogi. And, why is it there are so many thugs in NYC? I'm not talking about the actual criminals, I mean the regular pushy, nasty people and business owners who make life miserable for the unfortunate citizens who cross their paths. A pox on their houses - I hope they leak and fall, too.

Oh, yes, Hildy, every year they get at least one deer. Not always a trophy buck, but the does are fine, too, as they are often better to eat. I think I figured it out once, though - the venison they bring home costs about $20 a lb., if you factor in the cost of the clothes, tree stands, guns, ammunition, licenses, etc. [sigh]

I've barely started on the Christmas shopping. Not much money for it this year, so lots of people are getting homemade things. My dad is getting a scrapbook about his life up until he and my mom married (I have about 50 hours of work in on it, about another 20 more before it's finished). I'm weaving my mom a rug for their cabin, which is where Mr NC and the gang stay when they hunt. Others are getting homemade breads, homemade Christmas ornaments and tins of Boy Scout popcorn. I had better start getting my recipes together and start buying flour - I'll be in up to my elbows by Dec. 23.

negrilchick, don't be apologetic about homemade presents! I think what you're giving sounds wonderful. How are you making the rug, is it a rag rug or some other kind?

And homemade food and ornaments are ideal gifts, to my mind.

I'll be up to my elbows in flour and such all next month. I love Christmas baking. I get my shopping done before Thanksgiving so I can spend my time in Decemer doing the fun stuff.

yogi, the house situation sounds horrible, I'm so sorry you're going through all that.

TraceyB, It's a rag rug, a heavy one made out of old blue jeans. I got a loom for making rectangular rugs last year from my mom for Christmas, so she is getting the proceeds of my work. I have to get it finished, I started it in February. Procrastinate much, eh?

Heh. You should see my knitting/crochet project bag. I have not one, but two handbags that need to be lined and finished. One has been sitting there since June. And yet, I keep starting other projects instead of finishing those. Bad needlewoman!

I love rag rugs, they're attractive but sturdy. Plus, they're ecologically correct, because they recycle fabric!

Wow, a rug loom for making rag rugs sounds really fascinating--I'd love to investigate that. My grandmother used to make hooked rugs, and she made up her own designs. We have a couple 'picture rugs' that she made that I really love.
Yogi, I'm having trouble grasping how a contractor could F*ck up so badly and think that YOU are the one at fault. NYC really is Bizarro World sometimes, isn't it? It's a good thing you have a bundle of unconditional love to hang out with you, that's got to be a good antidote.
So I went out and procured a pair of bad ass jeans to wear to the Springsteen concerts this weekend. It's always fun to pretend I'm 18 again--I just have to avoid mirrors.
And add me into the fans of homemade Xmas gift club. I'm making some portrait pottery plates for relatives, and homemade baked goodies as well. My question is, how to you make cookies well ahead of time and store them so they don't get stale?
Yogi, American Girl stuff is acceptable to tom boys, I have discovered. Hildygirl has Josefina and loves getting more Girl Goodies, so I'll be ordering some of that stuff. I'm more stumped as to what the boy might want. His is a very logical and mathematical mind, so I'm thinking stuff to build with, but what's good for a six year old?
(and TraceyBee, if it makes you feel any better, sophomore year in college I received a Fair Isle sweater handknit by my mother. I believe she started it when I was in elementary school.)

Hildy, the K'nex family of products has things for six-year-olds. There are also other building-type products that are good for kids that young. Also, there are little tool kits and "workbenches" that have things for the kids to hammer and such. My nephew got lots of those type things when he was that age, he loved to build things.

I'd suggest a science set, but 1) he's a little too young, and 2) unlike the sets of my youth, the sets now are so safe that it's almost impossible to kill or maim yourself or blow up the house, so what's the point?

Hildy, imagine those little pot holder looms they used to sell with stretchy loops of material (maybe they still do) when we were little. Then make it about 3' x 4', and you've got an approximation of my loom. My sis had bought one at a crafting convention in Madison, and then Mom ordered one from the same place for me for Christmas. It had to be assembled (would have been easy enough to make, but it was all nicely cut out with instructions and stuff - and I know if I had just handed Mr NC the plans and asked him to build me one from scratch, he would have looked at me like I had grown 2 extra heads). I'll see if I can hunt up the name of the company for you.

My kids loved Legos, we still have bins of them. And they have so many cool kits for them now. And I second on the K'nex, too.

Absolutely, Legos are great building toys - great kits in all sorts of themes. I believe they even have Star Wars themed kits - at least they did when my guy was younger. Hildy Boy might like that. The best thing about legos is that they come in different sizes, appropriate for different ages. Boys definitely like them. I remember that they were popular with lots of kids at birthday parties. Also, I remember anything that rolls being popular with all the young boys - cars, go carts, trucks that carry cargo, etc. And my guy always did love his action figures - particularly from his favorite TV shows.

I did the wii (pronounce WE) thing for my guy today, and that's it for his Christmas. It's a very popular electronic game thing. They sell out at the Nintendo store at Rockafeller Center every day before lunch. According to gaming friends, it's very cool. I wish for the days of legos and action figures. Electronics are so expensive and confusing. We needed to consult a friend of my office manager to figure out how and what to buy. Ugh.

What were your favorite toys when you were a child? I remember I used to love this toy called a LiteBrite. You put these colored pegs into a grid that had a light behind to make a lit picture. I thought they were so beautiful. I would spend hours making them, and I would leave them lit in my room to admire for days. Years later, when I studied art history, my first paper for was on the rose window at Chartres. No doubt the Lite Brite was a great influence on my love of stained glass. Or perhaps my LiteBrite was the first expression of my later passion? Other than that favorite toy, I had an easy bake oven that I made cakes in with another light bulb. Didn't everyone have an easy bake oven?

I used to make Christmas gifts. It was something I really enjoyed doing. Now, I hardly make dinner. (If it weren't for my husband who insists I eat regularly, I would no doubt be living of peanut butter crackers, Starbucks and hummus.) I always value something made for me very highly. Time is the greatest luxury. When someone takes time to do something for you, it has great value. I'm sure your families will be very grateful. And YUM.

Because I'm not cooking and our kitchen is so small, we order Thanksgiving dinner in. This year I bought some yummy treats from Zingermans. I ordered a stollen for Thanksgiving breakfast and a rye bread with mustards for left over turkey. Have you heard of Zingermans? It's really wonderful. I highly recommend it.

I used to live in Ann Arbor; one of my best friends is a buyer for Zingermans. He brings me brownies and chocolate cherry bread when he comes to visit.

Oh my gosh, the chocolate cherry bread is to die for! What a handy friend to have, Pembleton. And hats off to your friend and the other buyers there. Zingerman's is amazing. They have the best selection of specialty food items from around the world - from honey to tuna to Italian condiments to serve with cheese (fig compote, so good.) Everything is truly exceptional.

I had no idea that Zingerman's is in Michigan. Interesting. Ann Arbor has taken on a whole new dimension to me.

Oh, yeah. When I lived there it was just the Deli (with the most awesome sandwiches ever) and the mail order and the Bakehouse. Now they have like ten other divisions, including a restaurant and a produce market and a bunch of other stuff.

My friend used to tell me about some of the crazy celebrity customers they had for mail order. One I remember was Michael Jordan's (soon-to-be-ex) wife who would place these insanely expensive orders for the holidays.

Wow, now I'm really craving a Pat and Dick's Honeymoon sandwich (turkey, provolone, honey-mustard on homemade challah). I think it was #27 on the menu. My friend actually has a sandwich named after him -- it was the first vegan sandwich they offered.

Hey Yogi - we bought Jack a Wii a year ago, and both our kids love it. Even I can play it. The only problem is that there just aren't too many games for it available, though the Zelda game we bought at the time (Twilight Princess) was great. The Wii Sports Package was good too, I especially liked the bowling. I was concerned however, that that would be Mark's only experience of things like bowling, so I made sure to take him to a real bowling alley. Anyway, I think your son will love it. I've yet to meet a teenager who hasn't loved it.

That is terrible about the renovations. I hope that everything improves greatly for you.

BTW, I'm so glad to read that your son does things like that for you, that is very sweet. Jack is like that too.

Hildy, how was Bruce? You went to two concerts this weekend, right? How many times is that you've seen him, then?

Hi everyone else!

Gotta go get some sleep now. Good night!

Wow, Pembleton, I can't believe you totally vetted me out! But don't blame me, living with all that air wasn't easy! And he ate so much! Heh.

I've got to say, my guy is not really big on stuff of any kind. The holidays are therefore challenging, as I have to get him something for Christmas. So, I've been after him to choose something and he finally came up with the Wii. I did a bunch of the games to go with it, but I think the guitar hero is going to be the most fun. Plus it was featured on South Park, so that's even better. I'm glad to hear that you play it too, Aussie. It might be fun to do together. I love to bowl - so much fun. Now I can't wait.

Love Springsteen. How were the concerts, Hildy? He's so great in concert. Yum!

I've got a pic-i-nic basket filled with Zingerman's, everyones favorite! Wait till you taste the gingerbread coffee cake. Yum again.

I adore mail order. I order Christmas gifts for several people in our families from Pittman & Davis, a wonderful family-run fruit/food gifts company out of Texas. I highly recommend it. Zingerman's sounds wonderful. Do they have a website?

I had a Lite Brite and and Easy Bake, yogi. Isn't it amazing how the cakes, cookies, etc. all tasted the same when they came out of the oven - kind of like burned sugar and light bulb dust? Good times, good times.

I have no idea what I am getting Mr NC for Christmas. The kids will likely get gift cards for their favorite stores (Game Stop and Barnes & Noble, or some such). They're not much interested in the Wii, but I think I'd love one - sounds like great fun. I most covet a 12"x12" Cricut, a scrapbooking tool/computer thingee that is all sorts of wonderful. But, it costs over $350 (and that's on sale). So I'll be happy with slippers and pajamas. I actually find it much more fun to give than receive.

I'm in charge of bringing rolls for the Thanksgiving dinner this year, so I think I'll make a big pan of my famous butter buns. And perhaps some braided bread with poppyseed topping. Yum.