More zoo pictures tomorrow

For now, a lovely blue frog and an astonishingly handsome bird named Steve.

Witty title goes here.

Scott took Robin to "work" yesterday.


Then we played a new game.


It came with special glasses.


Lying by the fire has been a popular activity this week.


Much of this afternoon was taken up with the making of these little cookie candy things.








Followed by more lying around.

In which a lovely, lovely card reader frees my photographs from out the camera in which they are lodged.

So. Catching you up:

We got on a plane in Costa Rica.


We got bored.


We saw the Irazu volcano at the end of the runway


And the Poas volcano when we turned into position for takeoff.


Then we took off, banked around to the right, and flew right over the Poas volcano. Which I didn't even realize until I looked at the photo. Serendipity!


Then we sat on couches and watched TV for an entire day (no need for photos).

Then we decorated the Christmas tree.








Then I bought a card reader so I could show you these photos, and I spent six days uploading them all on a dial-up connection because that's how much I care about you.

You're welcome.

Help is on the way

I looked into getting a (memory) card reader (for my camera) today, and it looks like I can pick one up for $17 or so. But the guy at Target said the camera looked like it took a standard mini USB cable, and if that turns out to be true, it'll be an even cheaper solution. They didn't have them at Target or Circuit City, but we'll check Radio Shack tomorrow, and one way or the other I should have some means of downloading my photos soon. (Yesterday's was courtesy of Lisa, of course.)

Other things I've done in the past 24 hours:

• Gone to four thrift stores looking for a winter coat that would fit Robin.
• Found lots of things at thrift stores including, at the very last one, a winter coat she could live with.
• Eaten heartily.
• Made coffee.
• Made it Irish.
• Watched plenty of TV.
• Lost $2 (in dimes) playing cards with my grandmother.
• Learned a new "8 & up" card game Lisa had, and lost that too.

Okay, I admit it. I don't really want to give up the daily posting schtick but, frankly, I don't have all that much to say this evening.

*Wanders out to the living room to see if anyone's playing any cards*

My kind of tree trimming

Check this out.

I didn't have to be in charge of the tree. I didn't have to go get the tree. I didn't have to get out the boxes of lights, test the lights, or hang the lights.

I didn't have to explain to other family members that this was a family activity. One to be savored and enjoyed, dammit.

I didn't have to get out the ornaments, divide the ornaments into child-safe and adult-safe boxes, hang the ornaments, or arbitrate the children's participation in the hanging of the ornaments.

All I had to do was sit on the couch, placate Julia, take pictures, and drink a Foster's. And I still got to pose with an ornament, so as far as posterity is concerned, I totally participated.


Now I'm no Scrooge, but this level of participation in the trimming of the tree? Was like a breath of fresh, pine-scented air.

Disadvantage #1 to last-minute packing:

Actually, I'm not sure we can blame this on last minute packing, but let's just anyway.

I didn't forget the cable for the digital camera, because I distinctly remember unplugging it from the computer and holding it in my hand.

It now seems that I didn't, however, get as far as actually packing it. Hopefully someone around here has a compatible cable, but for now I'll just have to tell you that we got to see the Irazu and Poas volcanoes as the plane was taxiing down the runway, and then we flew right over Poas.

Good to be here

Few things are more difficult
When one is six years old
Than a flight that is delayed
Indefinitely
At bedtime.

Public Service Announcement for the State of North Carolina

Take your echinacea. You are about to be exposed to Julia's miserable, miserable cold.

Again with the beautiful

Julia's graduation was tonight. The kids were supposed to dress up in traditional dress from different countries, and somebody loaned us a Chinese dress for her.

I have more pictures, but won't post them now because of the monitor thing - can't tell what the colors are doing.

Plus I have a plane to catch in like 36 hours and I may have one or two things to take care of before then...

I apologize in advance

But a promise is a promise, and Phydeaux totally held up his end.

So here's the track in question (see yesterday's post if you weren't here when it first came up). It is the second of four Spiritual Truths that, from the track list, appear to take up about 45% of the CD. The part I mentioned yesterday is at 2:10, although if you start at 1:25 you get to hear about how his dad belted him for lying, "love the sinner" style. (Assuming the player has the same proportions on everyone's monitors, click on the status bar right above the right hand side of the volume button. The sin part is about where the envelope icon starts.)

Also, turns out that this is not technically a baby voice. It is an old geezer voice - also considered comedic gold hereabouts. But the "old geezer" is telling a story from his childhood, so he actually slips into "Grown man doing old geezer, doing little kid."

Cringing,



Here's a different kind of link to the same thing if that doesn't work.