As I am not the first to notice, it is getting to be that time of year - the time of year when I think about sending out Christmas/Seasonal Cards.

I say think about it, because I did send some out, I think, in 2006...but I don't think I have since. And before then it had probably been at least 12 years. I am going to try again this year - no promise that I will manage it. Why not? Because this is one of those areas of my life that is just epic!fail and I struggle against it with only the very occasional win - but if you give up, then there are no wins, right?

So, if you would like a card from me, please comment with your address, comments are screened, do not assume that just because I have mailed you in the past means I have the vaguest idea where your address is, etc, etc, etc.

And the explanation was in case I don't get the cards out, so no one will feel it was personal if I have to post on the eve of the Epiphany that I didn't get it done. I figure with my efficiency, I figure I need at least 12 days to get it together.

On another front, I bought everyone socks yesterday at the Sock store. I got 20 pair for my sons who seem to only be able to wear them once before they get lost, I got half a dozen for my DH and maybe 8 or so pair for me - mostly pink. I have given up on anything that might vaguely be unisex in any color but pink. Everything in every other color gets absconded with...

The nice report...

I have managed to get about 20,000 words done. This is despite my brilliant procrastinating. I am now, I assure you, your go-to person [maybe not you, bets, but everyone else]for info on vintage sewing machines, including where to find them, what to pay for them, and how not to get totally taken on them on ebay. There, I am sure you all were just waiting for me to say that so you could inundate me with pertinent questions that have been bothering you for years, like "What colors does the Singer Featherweight come in" and "what can you get a treadle sewing machine for these days?" Come on, try me! In the valley of the blind, after all, the one-eyed sewing machine expert is king...

I have figured out that Wanda plays tag with me. That is, she jumps up, hits me with both paws, and then runs like hell. She stops here and there to sort of let me almost catch up to her. I never will, of course, but she does not seem to mind that - she does the piglet run, she looks happy, and then she comes back in and begs for treats. I wonder if she is happy I have finally figured it out?

The Coconut Oil seems to be working well enough that I am adding it to Braveheart's dinner, too. Just started that yesterday.

We had choking here today. I got a little irritated because Braveheart should know by now that lying on his back while hocking up mucous is bad news, but he turns on his back anyway, involuntary or not I couldn't say. So there I was, turning him on his side and pointing this out to him when the House Elf came in and wanted to know why I was mad. I bit out "Because he was on his back and if he chokes on his back he could die." Elf's response?

"But I don't want him to die. He's our brother."

Kisses to you, House Elf. And also for announcing to Grandma earlier this week, when the usual prayers about Braveheart Walking and talking and using his hands and so forth were ommitted at mealtime, for telling Grandma that you were going to pray that he not choke and cough. We are seeing progress here, folks...

dr_pretentious has, as usual, some good stuff on her blog. Go read it. I have no idea why I keep telling people to go read it and not getting back messages that you have, and how useful/interesting/whatever it is. Do you none of you follow my advice? Have you no idea how SILLY that is? I am hardly ever wrong. (Granted, I manage these by keeping my mouth shut on things I know absolutely nothing about, but that does not change the fact that when I do open my mouth, I am very very usually right.)

DH only worked 6 hours overtime this week, which after the amount in the two weeks before, should hopefully help him recover his humanity...

Our nurse is going home for the week next week, which, while not particularly nice for me, is very nice for her and her family who outnumber me, so I decided to look at this as nice overall.

I will not be fighting with DH about driving to Buffalo this year. There. That proves I can pull niceness out of anything.

Your niceness below, please!

Well, my entire life is still a large laundry pile of epic!fail, but there are some signs of, I dunno, improvement on a molecular scale...so...

Braveheart went to the Orthopedist today and the doc was pretty pleased with him, Orthopedically speaking. He has, and has always had, a very very slight curvature of the spine, and it has not gotten worse. His legs are not that different in length - the only difficult thing was in trying to determine how much it hurts when he sits on his hip.

He was trying mightily to communicate with the doc, and at one point he tried like hell to get up and walk. I don't know why he thought it might work - maybe he just wanted the doc to see him try? Anyway, we have a bunch of stuff to order now...

My Bone Density Test went pretty much the way I expected. I have a little bit of bone loss - not a lot yet - and so I have to do something about it, and this doing will have to involve both more milk and less sediment - that is, I am too sedentary and have to walk 20-25 minutes 4-5 times a week. Hopefully this will help prevent more bone loss and maybe even build some back.

Moreover, I am now perilously close to 15,000 words, which means I have made up a little ground and have more to make up tonight. When my protagonist speaks, ti goes very fast - when the adults are narrating, or it is from their pov, not so much. If I have any sense I will have him narrate the whole thing.

I am still too far behind in school and knitting and so forth for discussion, though...

Ok, I won my first e-bay auction. In fact, I think it is the first ebay auction I have ever bid in. And looking at the picture obsessively since I won, I am now doubting that the thing will do what it is purporting to do, or, rather, be what it is purporting to be, but hey, as I told my mother, here I am in the 20th century only 9 years into the 21st! Trust me, folks, no one saw this coming!

Wanda continues to delight and confound me. She actually takes my hand with her paw and directs it to where she wants her head scratched. We will see if this continues after tomorrow's dose of flea stuff or not, but for the moment she seems like a sort of Dog-human hybrid to me everytime she does this.

We've all survived DH's work schedule of the last week or two...in which he did three weeks worth of hours.

My Mom had a nice time with us on her actual birthday, I think...

I got, oh, another thousand or so words done on my NaNo, but more importantly, I talked the Spottedcat out of quitting! No going back on that, Feline!

Turns out the old Singer I had in the basement did not get thrown out (I was not sure) and I have found a group on Ravelry that lurves the antique machines, and whose members know all about them.

(There are groups on Ravelry for almost as many things as there are groups on Yahoo...AND these people all ALSO knit or crochet. The Gov't, if it is smart, will never pass any legislation against knitting. I would not want to be on the other side if the half a million people on the site decided to become an armed force for reals...)

There was a Sale at Smileys....Mwahaha... I got, conservatively estimating, 350 dollars worth of wool for 30 dollars. That does not count the three bags and three odd skeins I don't know initial prices on, btw... and that is not a bogus comparison. The yarn is discontinued, but it is still for sale at full price at a number of places, and full price is seven bucks a ball...ten balls in the bag... and I bought 5 bags of it...for 6 bucks a bag. (I also got superwash wool that originally must have gone for at LEAST 8 bucks a ball for six dollars a bag of ten...I mean, really, how could I leave it there? Superwash is hard to find, and the color was my friend's fave...and it was her birthday last week... smirk, smirk, smirk...)

Despite the fact that I have been especially disorganized this week, no one here has died from starvation - in fact, I sent DH with two meals a day for the last four days. This is a record for me.

We had some nice weather, Braveheart and I got to go to the sale together, arriving so early in the morning tht we beat the store manager, and had time to pick up coffee in the Spanish bakery that used to be an Italian bakery - it was really neat to see the neighborhood coming alive.

Sometime recently - I can't recall when, I got the Vonage people to come in and mess with our very messy wiring, resulting in our being able to use all the phones in the house if we wanted to. I may have mentioned this. Well, the phones then died, and more recently, DH went and bought us new ones. They are very nice and cordless so I no longer have to sit at my desk to take a call as I've done for the last 10 months. That is a tangible little pleasure.

Two nights this week, for one reason or another, I've gotten to sleep most of the night without the little one in with us - I do sleep better that way, I think. Well, cause then I am not falling off the side of the bed, and that helps a lot!

IYour nicenes below, folks!

My wonderful, wacky Wanda has totally won over my dad  - the one who made me make a list of :

every person the dog would impact, including all Braveheart's therapy providers

How this dog would impact on each one of these people, both for good and for ill

and

who told me, when I had done this and still set on getting the dog that I obviously had not done it thoroughly enough. 

That Dad.  He thinks that she is a very nice dog.  And he can't quite get over the fact that she is terrified of him.  I mean, she takes a look at him and goes and hides in her crate at one point today.

Now I find this hilarious, because my father is not only a vegetarian and totally non-violent by belief, but even back before he had decided to take up this spiritual line, he just was not a violent person - EVER.  He's always been the one who solved problems with his brains, rather than his fists. 

He was trying to get her to come near him today, and was so obviously disappointed that she wouldn't that I couldn't help but tease.

"She must have heard about the list."

"She can tell you're an Alpha Male."

But finally I had to take pity on him, funny as it was.  I told her the story about the racoon- the one that was knocking over the garbage cans of the two kids from Brooklyn and spreading the garbage around the unpaved driveway. 

He put out bait for the racoon.

The idea was that the racoon would be gotten rid of. The plan may or may not have included the neighbor who hunted and therefore had guns and had killed animals before - I really don't remember.  However, said neighbor thought it was HYSTERICAL that once face to face with the racoon....

My father fed it. 

Wanda, you have nothing to fear, and it is not just because my mother has no dog meat recipes on hand...

01. If you went to Hogwarts, which house would you be sorted in?
Gryffindor.  I am too lazy for Hufflepuff, too lacking in Ambition for Slytherin and I'm interested in learning, but not like a claw.  Besides, the fiercest mothers are all Gryffindors.  Narcissa is an almost ran here...

02. Have you ever been to a Harry Potter midnight release?
Book, yes, movie, No.

03. What did you think of Deathly Hallows?
My reaction at the time was, "I have seen this plot done dozens of times in fan fic and some of those were better."  I haven't re-read it, although I listened to it once on the CD's.  And the epilogue is just plain stupid.  Sorry Jo, I adore your writing, but I do not adore this particular book.  If the trio had spent one more minute wandering in the wilderness they would have needed a burning bush and the Ark of the Covenant to justify it...

04. How many times have you reread the books?
I  have listened, mostly, with my son.  And how many times?  I could tell you which voices Jim Dale recycles, which of his Bella's I like better, how many ways he pronounces Bezoar...

05. Whose death was the saddest?
For me, or as a piece in the book?  For me, Mad-Eye.  I was really pissed at them all for that.  And poetically?  Dobby.  So loyal.  So good.  Such a fitting end.  And you want it never to have happened.  "Dulce et decorum est pro Harry mori..."

06. If you went to Hogwarts, would you rather have a pet owl, cat, or rat?
Owl

07. What did you think of the movie Half-Blood Prince?
I go into the movies only with the hope that I shall enjoy it as a movie.  I NEVER expect them to be as good as the book, to include what I'd want them to, etc.  If it were up to me every single one would have every single thing from the book in them, exactly the same way, cost 3 giga billion dollars and I'd probably be the only one who could stand to see all 75 parts...

08. What do you think of Deathly Hallows being split in half?
Should have done it with OotP and HBP as well


09. Have you read The Tales of Beedle the Bard?
Yes.

10. When did you first become a Harry Potter fan?
When my son did.  2002???

Favorites:

Female Character? Toss up between Hermione and McGonagall

Male Character? Hagrid, of course.  Although I would die to get my hands on book!Mad-Eye...

Professor? To have?  Remus or Minerva.  To shag?  Who are we kidding.

Death Eater? As what?  As an example of Evil Incarnate?  As one who does not fit but survives?  As one who is but is not exactly what a Death Eater is???

Malfoy is the evilest sane one.  Bella is the most literally insane.  Draco is the most pathetic and trapped.  Snape is the one who by being so many of the things they are supposed to be defeats them all in their aim.

Magical Creature? Thestrals, maybe.

Spell? Is Apparition a spell?  It is what I would most love to be able to do.

Quote? Movie, or book?  Just at this moment?  "Because you're the one that needs watching" or however exactly that goes.

Book? Order of the Phoenix

Movie? Prisoner of Azkaban.  It seemed to me to be a really good MOVIE, even if you'd never read the book.

Hogwarts House? Gryffindor.  Although whether the Gryffs would like me or not I can't say.

Place? Platform 9 and 3/4, because that is where the leap is made.

Weasley? Charlie or Arthur.  I am not, surprisingly enough, a huge Weasley fan.  I like them in theory, but as individuals, they don't all do it for me.

Couple? Oh please!  There is only one real couple in the whole series, and that is Arthur and Molly.

Gryffindor or Slytherin? Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? Hufflepuff. How can you not like people who are loyal and hard-working?

Fred or George?  Can't tell the difference?

Ginny or Luna  Luna.

Butterbeer or Firewhiskey? Firewhiskey . Although I'm dieing to know if they have Firegin or Icevodka...

Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley?  Now this is a really good question.  On the sort of days I like to spend in Manhattan, Diagon Alley.  On the sort of days I like to spend in upstate NY, Hogsmeade.  If I had to live in one or the other?  Diagon Alley.  My experience with small towns and cities has not been good.

BTW - has anyone noticed that the only suburb in the books is Little Whinging?  I rest my case about the burbs...

Books or Movies? I must Quote  Equinox... "Please! Who writes this shit?"

Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows?  HBP.  But I would take Webster's dictionary or the New Orleans Phone book over DH.

Sorcerer’s Stone or Chamber of Secrets? Sorcerer's  Stone.

Snape or Slughorn? As a teacher?  As a potioneer?  As a Slytherin?  As a guy to destroy with my hawtness?

teacher? - Slughorn, hands down.

potioneer? - possibly Snape, but it is a very very close call.

Slytherin - well, that's an interesting question.  Which is more ambitious?  Probably a tie, to begin with, although the ambition of taking part in Destroying the Dark Lord probably trumps the ambition of getting candied pinapple from every famous person in Wizarding Britain...

To destroy with hawtness?  I don't think Slughorn is particularly interested in girls.  I am not sure he is particularly interested in boys, either.  So no particular contest - every man on the right side of the Potterverse wins over him but Filch, and I'm not sure Filch is on the right side anyway...

Lupin or Sirius? Lupin.  Sirius is way too damaged and headstrong.

Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione? Harry/ Ginny because i have no problem with Hermione/Ron although I read a Hermione/Ron/Harry that I wish had been longer...  But then, I can read Dramione and I can read Hermione/Snape, if they are well written.  These people are all so young that it seems ridiculous to be too committed to any of their partner choices...

Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil? Despise them pretty much equally.

Seamus Finnigan or Dean Thomas? Dean.

Kreacher or Dobby? Dobby. Of course Dobby!  The most noble soul in the Pottervers after Hagrid, and you think there is a contest?  Kreachur is better when you realize his whole life, but still, not a patch on Dobby.

Muggleborn or Pureblood? Blood-Traitor.  Really serious Blood-Traitor.

Dan Radcliffe or Rupert Grint? Dan.  Who just bought a house in my old neighborhood. Nothing against Grint, mind, nothing at all, but in my case, Dan.

Although if Tom Felton is interested in polyamory with much older women he might want to give me a call...

Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy? For what?  For sheer insanity, Bellatrix.  For a quality (mother-love) which raises her above herself?  Narcissa.  "there is nothing i wouldn't do."+

Voldemort or Tom Riddle? Voldemort.  Voldemort is a better evil overlord.  Tom Riddle is just disgusting.

Hedwig or Crookshanks? Crookshanks. Hedwig.  Crookshanks disappointed me forever by not being an animagus...

I will say it.  Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!

If you are a Phillies fan, doubtless your milage will vary.  Philly has nothing to be ashamed of - ya done good.  Just - this week, last week, sometimes, we done a little bit better.

The parade is going on as I type.  I will never do anything to get myself a ticker tape parade.  Well, neither do most people.  They are a very special thing, though.  If you've never been in NY for something like this, you just can't know what it is like to celebrate with this particular city. 

My favorite parts?  Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera.  Derek, because he absolutely wins the "Not a Jerk" award of all time.  And Mariano?  Mariano is a law of Physics.  Mariano can be relied upon. 

We had another great victory in town this week.  An American won the NYC Marathon.  The Marathon is the one NYC sporting event I have attended multiple times, and in which I have ever cheered for someone I know.  My brother ran it for years.  I would stand by the run down from the 59th Street Bridge to the turn onto the Avenue underneath.  I would wait  - first the wheelchair athletes would come by.  The top Men would come by.  Then the top women would run past, and just after them, my brother.  I would start screaming his name when I saw him and I would scream it until he was gone up the block.  I asked him once if he heard me.  He said they heard me in Brooklyn.  

This year an American won the Marathon, which hasn't been done since 82 or so.  He was born in Africa and came here when he was 12.  Thank you, Meb, for bringing it home to us.  This marathon is a very grassroots thing.  When it started, they ran around Central Park as many times as they had to to make up the mileage.  At the height of running's popularity, I think over 50,000 used to run every time.  This year it was somewhere in the 40 thousands. 

Gee, I have to remember to tell the one who runs that his Godchild will be 18 next year, and remind him that he promised to run with Braveheart as his assistant in Achilles Sports Club style...  Brother of mine, I hope you are prepared to Team Hoyt it....

Today is my friend Kim's Birthday.  GO, KIM!

The House Elf was SO good on Wednesday that one of the classroom aides gave him a special little toy car for his little being good prize.  Yesterday, he got a siren whistle from the treasure box for being good.  (The teacher apologized to me...)  

My broken finger is getting better.

We are trying a new thing on Braveheart, and it isn't hurting any.  No idea yet if it's helping any.  He was already, before we started, doing well in Riding this week.

GOD BLESS CURIOUS GEORGE.  Lately he has provided us with both humour and hope - humor because my baby son was seriously inquiring about why, if Curious George is a boy, he does not have a peen,  (They don' t draw them on cartoon characters, HE.) and hope.  Hope?  The man in the yellow hat got poison ivy and George was helping him by taping various things to his hands so that he could do things for himself.  Braveheart, who has always strenuously resisted cuffs and anything else that would help him hold anything has now done a 180 and is willing to try them.  Bless you, writers of that particular segment.

Halloween was nice and we had a really good time going up and down the next block.

On Wednesday my DH called my mother and basically told her I needed not to have to do my normal Wednesday things, and just rest.

v._ green has a book out today!!!! (I has got!)

Wanda was actually capturing my hand with her paw and getting my hand under her head yesterday!  And she hugged me!

I am not sure what this weekend holds, but I hope it will be good!  Your niceness below, folks...

The knitting friend from Ft. Hood has checked in and I know she's ok, but don't we have others down in that direction/in teh military/etc??  If you are one of these others and you see this, would you check in and let us know you are all right?   I totally realize it was a relatively small number of people on an absolutely HUGE base, but still, people know other people and are connected in ways I can't know.  In other words, I think my f-list is fine, but worry about their friends.

Julie and Sandy, this might mean you in one way or another.

Ok, teh wandering was yesterday, but hey, Tuesday is just not the same.

DH  had the day off for elections and I had to go someplace.  I do not for the life of me remember where I went, either, but I do recall that for some reason it was advisable.  Anyway, when I got home, DH informed me that I had to thank the House Elf.

"Because Wanda got out and he told me and I was able to get her to come back.  He's the one who let her out but you should still thank him."

Ok, in the crazy world of parenting this even makes a little sense, so I did.  It seems that what happened was that Wanda, who started out so afraid of all the therapists that she hid upstairs shaking whenever they came by has accepted the Tuesday-Thursday male Occupational therapist.  (He seems to be male all 7 days of the week, but he is only here on Tuesday and Thursday.)  Said therapist was working with Braveheart in Kitchen, and House Elf went and exeunt stage center as you might read in Shakespeare.  Without closing door.  And shortly thereafter, I suppose, Wanda also "exeunt, center stage back" or however you'd describe it, and was seen by House Elf  running up road towards corner - same route, in fact, taken by House Elf at his first attempted breakout.

DH was ...something.  He called her in Desperation and she ran back and ran into the house.

Seems like we need the fence sooner, rather than later, even if you don't count the sex offender living 3 houses away. 

But that is a story for another day...

1882.  Not behind yet....