I don't mind the rat race but I could do with a little more cheese.

It's been a lovely visit. Mom and I got lots of quality time together and not all of it was spent harvesting our Farmville crops. I even got to spend a fair amount of time with the siblings. We're all usually so rushed during these visits. I'm not sure what made the difference this time.

beaz and Melinda's baby still hasn't arrived, but he's dropped since Friday night. She's been carrying him really high and didn't look all that pregnant, to be honest. Tonight, she looked oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-pop-at-any-moment pregnant. Funny what a couple of days will do. She's still scheduled for induction Tuesday morning.

Mom and I forced Pete and zipmeister to go see Starry Nights. Too bad everybody else in Memphis had the same idea. Good thing we took Zippy's Ford Focus hybrid; we might have otherwise run out of gas while sitting on Walnut Grove for 2.5 hours just to get into the park. Yeah, we should've bailed. We're a stubborn bunch. I refuse to say whether or not the wait was worth the display.

It's been tough, but I've kept up with my schoolwork while out of town. Mom's cats have been just as helpful blocking the light on my still lifes as mine are. Good kitties.

...and it was grand.

Friday night the 'fink and I met dmn4nr and spouseling and K & J for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. Mmmm... steaky and lemondroppy goodness. And for once they actually had key lime pie when I was ready for dessert. Got home about 10 minutes after the BSG premiere but caught up quickly with the DVR.

Saturday morning I took off for the not-quite-wilds of Pennsylvania to retrieve danabren and meet woodwindy at the east coast BPAL mecca. I had a couple of false starts, though. Since the air temp in Sterling was a mere 3 degree farenheit (the coldest I've ever been), both the Prius and Jeepfink were cranky. The Prius wouldn't stay in gear; it kept slipping from drive into neutral. When I couldn't make it to the end of the street without it slipping three times, I decided I shouldn't take that particular vehicle on my three-and-a-half-hour sojourn. Blessedly, Jeepfink started but the brake light stayed on through much of northward trip. The brakes were fine, if a little mushy; I made sure to keep extra braking distance between myself and other vehicles.

But! The meat of the trip: BPAL! Shelly had prototypes of the new Lupercalia blends and I fell in love with only a few of them. I was disappointed with the Ode to Aphrodite line and surprised to like many of the Shunga line. Shelly didn't have any of the Lupercalias in stock so I managed to escape the shop with dropping a fairly small chunk of change instead of the significant chunk I'd planned upon. We wound up hanging around the shop for several hours as it seemed that Shelly really needed some folks to talk with. She was in bright spirits when we finally headed out for our late Sonic lunch.

woodwindy and her friend headed home after our quick lunch with everyone piled in the Jeepfink, and danabren and I hit the kitchen stores at the local outlet mall. She talked me into a set of three springform pans for $10. I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'll be ready when the day I need them comes around. I got her a light-up, burbling goldfish; she got me a mouse-shaped cookie cutter.

Our enthusiasm for shopping finally waned and we rushed back to danabren's neighborhood for sushi. Post roll, million dollar roll, and godzilla roll, ahoy! And lots and lots of hot tea. danabren said she'd turn me into a geisha yet. I lamented that I should've picked up those chopsticks at the kitchen store for my hair. She gave me a look. I laughed and said, "Oh don't worry. I know that only maiko wear chopsticks in their hair." She rolled her eyes.

We parted company after dinner, and my drive home through the countryside (I decided to forgo the interstates and beltways) was uneventful. Did you know that "Ski Roundtop" is the Gettysburg Round Top? I hadn't put the proverbial two and two together until I passed the visitors center exit and then saw the ski routes all lit up on the mountain. Neat!

Yesterday, I was mostly sluglike. I did a little bit of straightening around the house and Hubbyfink and I put away the laundry which has been languishing in baskets for over a week, but that was it. It was delightful.

A quiet turkeyless Thanksgiving day with the Hubbyfink was followed by a busy Black Friday where I did my part to shore up the US economy. Thanks to an award from work, I was able to get Hubbyfink an Xbox360 as an early Christmas gift and scored an 8Gig Nano for myself.

psalite, pirategirleee, and I visited Colonial Williamsburg on Saturday, with an obligatory stop at the Williamsburg Sonic for good measure. We were smart and parked at the visitor center and caught a bus over to Colonial Williamsburg. We met a delightful lady in Mistress Dickerson's shop with whom we discussed things Regency while purchasing yummy soaps. We oohed and aahed at the decorations (I want to make a pomegranate and pineapple wreath), shopped 'til we very nearly dropped, and dined like kings at the Kings Arms Tavern. The whole day we kept saying to each other: "This is SO much fun!" And it was.

So, between Friday and Saturday's expeditions, I have just about finished my Christmas shopping. Need one more item for my father and something for my brothers and I'm done. Yay!

No, the Daily Ornament Report hasn't cranked up. It might not run at all this year. Since we're going to Memphis for Christmas, I'm debating even putting up the tree. Plus, weekends are full: this weekend is Unevent, next weekend is Ponte Alto's Winter's Welcome Revel (which I'm autocratting), and the following weekend we leave for Memphis. We may do what we did our first Christmas in the house and just put presents under the tabletop tree.

It's dead in the cube farm. Dead dead dead. I have stuff I could do, but I don't wanna.

Hubbyfink got a reprieve from Martha-spotting last night when I found a Terry Jones barbarians series we hadn't seen. I questioned how the Germanic tribes' loyalties to Rome worked -- it seemed counter-intuitive to me -- and, of course, Hubbyfink was delighted to explain it all. During another segment, someone mentioned the Gauls giving Germanic tribes good thrashings up to and including the Napoleonic wars. I turned to Hubbyfink and said, "Oh, so Hitler was just getting even for the Napoleonic wars."

As Hubbyfink drew a large breath with which to reeducate me, I said, "Stop. Don't. I was making a joke. I really don't care. Really." He blew out his breath and said, "Good, because I don't know that much about the Napoleonic era."

And in my world, Celts were dirty, patchouli-wearing hippies. Hubbyfink told me I win. I haven't figured out if it's a jar of Turtle Wax or a Brand New Car!, though.

Three out of four items/lots posted on freecycle have left my home. Yay! Anybody local want two 36x72" and one 48x72" fruitwood matchstick roller blinds?

BPAL order from last month arrived and I have Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, Shoggoth, and No. 93 Engine in my clutches. Mouse... is vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. It's so light and feminine but has some serious staying power and a bit of throw. I'm very happy with it. I also got six frimps which will probably get tested this evening.

And speaking of BPAL, I'm making another pilgrimage up to PA to retrieve danabren and sniff the Yule scents at Nails, Etc. Anybody want to keep me company on the drive up and back on Nov 15? There'll be a stop at Sonic for limeades/slushes/tots... Banjo music is negotiable.

This past weekend was a Super Concentrated Memphis visit. In seventy hours I enjoyed family time, enjoyed zipmeister time, drank a cherry limeade, ate ribs from the Germantown Commissary, shopped with Mom, cleaned house, saw a movie, swam in the pool, drank a margarita, and played with the dogs, plus the previously blogged tailgating and football game but that was something out of the ordinary. The only things I didn't do were see my dad or beaznuts, but I did spend a few hours visiting with beaznuts' girlfriend (she opted to skip the Six Flags over St. Louis trip which kept my brother from me).

I am completely head-over-heels in love with my sister's and mother's high efficiency washing machines. Completely. I'm also pretty enamoured of Mimi and Chris' bathroom renovation. I snapped lots of photos.

The melatonin I took at bedtime made for interesting dreams and disoriented periods of wakefulness. Margie woke me at one point by kneading (and drooling) on my pillow. My arms were wrapped around her and I spent some time trying to figure out which of Mom's dogs was so small and silky. Answer: neither!

( One more baby picture and I'm done until Christmas. Maybe. )