Incredible Lightness

Finally finished this very long and ugly piece of a project.  It was a task I dislike with a burning intensity, and a good chunk had to be re-done because of a loss in the computer crash.  And now, I get to move along to the more fun parts, and it feels like a giant burden lifted!

In more mundane news (W division), I think I'm gonna have to hear every detail of the cousins' hunting trip -- there is already considerable information on people waking up too early and frosted with ice, and how the camp heater almost carbon-monoxide poisoned everyone.  In anti-whines, the deer and elk in Idaho seem to be incredibly smart about hunters.

But I'm feeling so good that I won't even whine about being the dish fairy.  How's by you?

All! New! Awards!

Sorry for the lateness!  Again!

The Snow Bunnies Awards go to Sue and Queen of West Procrastination, who report that winter is inching in and headed south.   In other weather-related news, Esperanza wins the long-coveted Temperate Temps Prize, enjoying a week of perfection after the endless heat of a Texas summer.

Liz wins the  Walk the Walk and Knock the Knock Award, for continued prowess in doorbelling, and attracting enough attention that the namecalling has begun.  Let's do a little dance!  Go, Liz!

Lil' E wins the These Boots Were Made for Walking Award, on the occasion of all of a sudden toddling everywhere!  Woot!

The Visual Effects Award goes to JenR, who reports that her bigger boy accidentally dressed in little brother's clothes, producing very entertaining results. 

Halloween is coming!  Esperanza wins the "Make Your Mind Up, Already" Award, for the competing concerns of last year's debacle, this year's demands, and a 5% chance the things will be worn.  Liz reveals her talent as a Costuming Genius!  And QWP wins the Hand-Me-Downs Rule Award, rejecting the bulky duckling suit in favor of a dino jacket.  Yay!  Passing some of the good candy, before it all disappears.  (Our few trick-or-treaters tend to get what the household candy sneaks leave behind.)

Love and get-well vibes to Sue's beloved, battling another dratted infection. And more hugs for the group of friends who had such a rotten week.  Talking anyway, in lieu of the planned outing, was a wonderful idea!

Hugs to Neighbor Lady and Neighbor Girl -- we hope she is feeling less anxious (and think a movie night with a BFF sounds like the ticket).

(((( Miranda )))) 

Cluesticks to the news organizations that failed to endorse our favorite candidate, the universe for grave unfairnesses, and other deserving parties. 

All! New! Week!

Hoping this week to finish one last chunk to meet an official milestone in the Work Albatross.  And then I get ponies!!!!  Well, a check, which is better than ponies. 

W:  meant to do a lot on it over the weekend, but no.  AW:  Brand! New! Fresh! Shiny! Week!

AW:  Gorgeous fall day.

Pet Opera note:  Senior diva cat Persephone continues to perch obsessively on the very papers I need to see.  I de-throne her; she runs off to paw more water from the dish to the floor, meaning to leave the royal damp pawprints on her chosen space.  We've moved along now to the part where I invite her to a breath of fresh air on the porch, which leads junior cat Spot to mourn loudly by the door, lest she be eaten by wolves or sea serpents.  Meanwhile, junior dog Cora is resting up for the anticipated arrival of the Hideous Mailman, whom she has vowed to destroy via barking through the garage door.  If it is a special day, Cora may also have the opportunity to drive fear into the heart of the UPS guy. 

What's shaking in your environment?

All the Favourite Award Recipients are Here!!

Happy Saturday Pixies!

It's been quite a week here in Pixie-land. Canadian Thanksgiving inspired many great ideas for the use of cranberries and nuts to go with the turkey. Thanks to JenR for providing a great recipe (and good luck with those cover letters)!!

Elevated Risk of Mullet award goes to esperanza for this gem "...and pecans (national nut of Texas--unless you're counting GWB).

Our hearts go out to esperanza on the passing of Grandma Pete, whose story we love. We're thinking of you and your whole family as you celebrate Grandma Pete's life.

Hugs to QWP who met her brother's new girlfriend and high fives to baby E for being an adorable social buffer.

The "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Award goes to kathy a, whose utter frustration with the powers and principalities in government appears to have brought about a change of heart on their part.

For Miranda, we have the "Coffee and RedB*ll" Award for long work days now that the madness of the shutdown is over (see kathy a's award above). Thanks too for the GF cookie recipe (That's gluten free, not girlfriend, but if the girlfriend likes the gluten-free, that's good too.)

And for our Liz, the "Hey, I Know That Fabulous Woman!" Award, because when she's in the press that's what we're all thinking. Or is that just me? :)

The special "What the Heck?" cluestick goes to stoopid church meeting planners who don't bother to provide child care. Grrrr....

Cheers to all pixies "on the road again", waiting for good news with crossed fingers, and just enjoying another fall weekend!

Pixie Thanks & Whines - now served with cranberry sauce!

Greetings Pixies!

Today is Thanksgiving Day for our Pixies in Middle Earth Canada as well as more populated Northern regions. The sacrifice of the turkeys has begun, potatoes are peeled and swimming in the sea (well, the water is salted) and the cranberries are at the ready.
US pixies can think of it as a dress rehearsal for their big day next month. So join us at the table!

If canned cranberries are the order of the day, which do you prefer, whole cranberries or the Big Tube of Burgundy Jelly?

What goes in your stuffing?

A colleague in ministry had a funny moment yesterday. In the prayers of the people she thanked God "we give thanks for those turkeys that we're going home to...the ones that didn't come to church!" - hahahahaha!!!! LOVE that. Yes, folks laughed out loud - because it was hilarious.

I'm thankful today for my family. It's so good to have all of us around the table for a holiday dinner again!

Whine: My fave jeans are too tight. Wah. 

Please share your Thanks and your Whines!!

Awards Show with No Cute Name

Boy Do They Know How to Push Your Buttons Sibling Award goes to A. Nonnie Moose. QWP's sibling, on the other hand, gets a round of applause for practical and compassionate assistance to her sister.

QWP gets a Scary Neighbor Award, for her saga involving downstairs neighbors, disrupted sleep, absent husbands, and the police. Eeek.

QWP was going to get a Nosy Friend Award, but we are glad to rescind that award after she (the friend) acted like a grownup and discussed the matter further.

Parenting Awards, presented by teachers for all ages, for Mamas and Daddies and other parenting figures who use this little word judiciously: "no"

Sue gets the Non-Psychic Award, because however handy it might be for your pastor to read your mind...erm...clearly it's not a good idea *all* the time. If you or your loved one are hospitalized and would like a visit, it would be good to use a phone, letter, email, text, f@cebook message, or carrier pigeon to let people know. Ahem.

Neighbor Lady gets hugs for being a great teacher and in commiseration about the relative with teh fireplacing cancer.

Buddy the dog gets some extra ear rubs, and kathy a's beloved an extra hug, for that terrible decision about when The Time has come.

Hugs for everyone with too much work, too little work, malfunctioning cars, headaches, puking children, insufficient sleep, and other assorted whines I might have missed.

Special Kudos to Liz this week, for assistance resolving wardrobe issues, sibling issues, and political issues.

Kathy a gets the Elevated Risk of Mullet Award for this beauty: "I've been dating bad underwear for a while, and finally found undies that do not fail some of the categories." Bonus points for not using the word "panties," which gives me the willies for some reason.

Thanks to Miranda for the brownies. Hope you are ok.

ETA: This is our 666th post. Just saying.

Seamstress Whines (other kinds welcome, too)

In a fit of creativity, I went to the fabric store last week. I seemed to forget momentarily that I have other responsibilities. On the stack of things to sew:

* pillowcase dress (super easy) for Baboos' school silent auction

* pillowcase for the same auction. Did I mention the deadline is October 17?

* pillowcase for Baboos' friend's birthday. Her party is the 13th.

* dresses for Baboos for holiday season. (Not super fancy. I want them to be able to wear them more than once).

* (edited to add) flannel pajama bottoms for myself. If these are done while it is still flannel weather, I'll be surprised.

So then, I look in my closet and realize I have no long sleeve dresses. I have no idea what I wore to church last fall and winter. I think to myself, in a moment of sanity, "I don't have time to sew myself something." So I look online. At several different sites. Pixies, I hate to be the one to tell you, but (a) it's hard to find a dress with long sleeves, (b) they are ugly, (c) I remembered I don't like shopping, and (d) I am sometimes too frugal for my own good.

I still don't have time to sew myself something, and dresses are hard to sew anyway. What's a person to do?

(There are more substantial whines in my life right now, but this one has gotten my goat this morning).

Whine on, Pixies, whine on.

AW: The weather is gorgeous. Finally.

Solidarity Edition

What a fireplacing week, eh?  The shutdown left us all stunned, and some of us unemployed.  As always, it is a thing of beauty to see the Pixies unite and support one another.

Queen of West Procrastination wins the Elevated Risk of Mullet Award, for her interpretation of LWOP:  I first read it as "Lady West of Procrastination." And then realized what it really meant.

 The Saved by Reassignment Award goes to Liz, whose original furlough meant she was going to burn vacation days and then sick days.  But kudos to her employer, which found another assignment, yay!

Miranda wins the Report from the Trenches Award, with an unpaid furlough and this news: 
The only thing worse than being on furlough is not being on furlough, from what I hear from those few still working.  

Although the real objective of the small group of instigators is somewhat murky at the moment, they started the shutdown saying they had a "noble" purpose, dismantling the Affordable Care Act -- something they already tried to do legislatively, 42 times.  By coincidence, enrollment for uninsured persons began this very week, and the citizenry was so "unhappy" about getting health coverage that many state enrollment sites were overrun.  Yay!  As members of our Northern Contingent (the evil Canadians) have explained from time to time, it's kinda nice, handy, humane, and sensible to have decent health coverage.

 Let's take Sue, for example, whose hubby had a bad week and had to go to the ER more than once, thus earning her the Miracles of Modern Medicine Award.  Short waits, appropriate tests done, health equipment set up at home, on the road to recovery.  "Exceptional medical care."  That's what we like to hear!  Hugs and crossed fingers for Sue's beloved; may things be better soon.

The Cluestick Posse has enthusiastically saddled up to visit Miranda's mom, who keeps sending screeds about antidepressant medication -- which medication has done wonders for her own granddaughter.  As Sue explains:  Ugh. The old "If you just have a positive attitude" against anti-depressants makes my head spin. That's like telling diabetics to forget the insulin, they can just think their way out of diabetes.

It goes without saying that Certain Members of Congress have also earned extended cluesticking.  Next stop, the book of friends opinionaters who believe [a] no children are being harmed by the shutdown, and [b] all those furloughed employees are just enjoying a vacation.  Harrumph.

The Making the Best of It Award goes to Miranda and her Army buddies:  Some of you may have noticed that I and two friends (who were old Army buddies back when we were thin and had all of hair) have declared it Cat Week and are posting cat stuff on the Book of Faces. If you knew us 20 years ago, this would not be conceivable. Life is cool/weird sometimes.

Kudos to Esperanza,  who is really sure that they made the right school decision for Sweet!  And congratulations on Sweet catching up to the growth chart!

More kudos to Miranda's kids:  My three children are amazing, empathetic, caring people. The older two have learned a lot about resilience this past year. My heart just bursts when I see them.  And also to Mini Baboo:  I just about cried this week when Mini said to Sweet, "Don't worry, Sweet, I'll be right there with you."

Congratulations to QWP for improved sleep in the realm!

Liz wins the Thespian Award, for her year in the theater! 

Much love to Esperanza, whose grandmother's decline suggests she does not have long.  xoxoxo

Thanks for playing!  See y'all next time.