Lee Family Thanksgiving

Typically, the family spends Thanksgiving with the extended Lee clan. This year, the family was almost complete, was you can see in this video clip.

This extended tracking shot required many takes, as you can imagine, to simulate Lee clan life so realistically.

Careful! Your face will freeze that way!

Taffy pull

To celebrate the first apartment in college in which I lived on my very own, I threw a housewarming party. I designed the invitations (printed on my state-of-the-art dot matrix printer) and planned the refreshments and party activities.

Always the party planner, I wanted to go beyond the typical tipsy gathering that characterized college social life.

In retrospect, combining frozen daiquiris with a taffy pull might not have been one of my more brilliant ideas...

Last week, I pulled out that same recipe (from ever-reliable Betty Crocker) and shared the fun with the boys. 

Clearly this illustrates that the same activity in different settings can have wildly different results (Making taffy with little boys = fun for all, very rewarding. Making taffy with drunken college kids = kind of a mess).

Good times.

Kitty drinking fountain

Earlier this year, after years of Tad caring for it, I became, via a shift in our chore roster, the primary care giver of our acquarium.

Since my takeover of our little underwater biosphere, I've added multiple water plants, a snazzy little "moss ball" (like a green tribble), a cute little tiger-striped eel thingie, some shrimp and a frog to our population of mostly guppies and a flock of impossible-to-kill zebra tetras.

I've really enjoyed being the god in this tiny aquatic world.

I found it odd how often I had to replace the water in our aquarium, but chalked it up to evaporation, until I caught Joey, lapping up water from the little waterfall in the back, fountained up by the filter.

It actually makes a very convenient kitty drinking fountain for him.

It's about love

There are many who may disagree with the assertion that "it's about love," but I don't. Personally, when I see two people in a loving, committed relationship, I do not feel my own marriage threatened in any way. 

Keith Olbermann's statement that there's little enough love in this world already, so why would we take the time and effort to quash out love that doesn't meet our own narrow guidelines really has resonated with me.

I am very aware that it was not so long ago that my marriage to my husband would have been illegal in some states.

Behold.... Lockman!

Beware evildoers of Portland, Oregon... a new superhero takes to the stage to root out crime and protect the innocent.

Yes. It's Lockman!

As mild-mannered Colin Craig explains, Lockman has locks. You may see a few a few tucked into the waistband of what may appear to be simply a pair of Fruit-of-the-Loom underwear.

When pressed for details about Lockman's particular superpowers, Colin becomes a bit evasive. "He has locks," he explains.

Ethan immediately signed up to be the trusty sidekick, Lockboy, but only minutes later, Lockboy decided upon taking on the persona of Chinese Yo-Yo Guy.

It's a new day

Whatever your political affiliation (and it would not be difficult to divine mine), what happened on election day on Tuesday was nothing but absolutely historic.

To see, in the crowd, people who actually marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in the civil rights era, who have experienced segregation and who have had grandparents who had been born into slavery, to see tears streaming down Jesse Jackson's face as he watched an african-american ascend to the highest office in the nation was indeed an absolutely monumental sight.

We have come so far.

I am so proud to be an american this week.

Obama's victory speech said it all for me, and still brings me to tears: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

Jumping Beans

This was an essay that Colin recently wrote:

Jumping Beans

The day after Halloween our mom came back from running. She gave us a paper bag she found with jumping beans in it. Inside the bag we also found a piece of paper that told us how to care for jumping beans.

Jumping beans look like half an apple with a little ridge in the3 middle and a milky brown spot on top of the ridge.

Jumping beans jump at light and warmth. Do not expose your jumping beans to very hot climates. Do not drop your jumping beans it will hurt the larve inside. Once an a while give them a little spritz of water.


Get a jumping bean at www.jumpingbean.com

------------------------------------

Top photo: Colin with Beanie Boy. Bottom: Ethan with Junior Jumper, the livelier of the two beans.

Cats are creatures of natural dignity and grace.

Olimpia's Birthday Party

Our ex-neighbors, who moved in next door to us last Christmas eve and who have since purchased a big white house near Lloyd Center, hail from Italy, where children's birthday parties are a little different than here in the states. 

I first got a whiff of this when I learned, earlier this week, that Davide had gotten a good start on party planning by purchasing all the wine that would be served at the gathering.

We were among the first guests and when we showed up with a set of brightly wrapped gifts, Olimpia (Olympia if you're americanizing it) was given a choice of doing it as the Italians do (which involves ripping off the wrap on presents upon arrival) or doing it as the Americans, which involves waiting for an appropriate time during the party and all watching the birthday child go through the show of opening each present and having the parents say, from the sidelines, every few minutes: "Say thank you to Aunt Polly," or whatnot. After the first few gifts, this can be a somewhat tiring exercise for all involved.

Given that choice, naturally Olimpia chose the Italian method, which nicely spread the gift opening session out quite a bit.

In addition to the carefully selected wines and champagnes, Davide had prepared a nice selection of appetizers, including a hunk of parmegianno-reggianno about the size of smallish person's head. See photo with Mickey Lindsey's head near it for a handy frame of reference.

There was also an excellent aged goat cheese. How often do you discuss excellent goat cheese at a nine-year old's party?

The kids simply ran crazy through the house while the adults socialized and ate good food. The birthday kidhad fun as part of the big pack, rather than reigning as the supreme princess/emperor of some elaborately planned out day. It felt more like a large family celebration which was a nice change of pace.

My favorite part: getting Olimpia an Easy Bake Oven with all the trimmings (extra mixes, coordinating apron, etc). I think half the reason you have kids is to be able to live out your own childhood toy fantasies through them (0r their playmates). I may need to offer to babysit Olimpia sometime soon...

Video is here (but probably not of interest to anyone other than the family and friends, although one cannot help but admire Davide's ability to fend off little boys' hands as he cuts the cake with what looks to be a really sharp knife).