Is a commie pinko a bad thing?

Joe used to say "commie pinko" all the time, and I've found myself saying it lately. Until...Charlie said, "Mom, what's a commie pinko?" And I've heard him saying it to his stuffed animals. Probably not a good thing. Need a new catch phrase...I'm thinking....dowagers for sale. What do you think?

you want Tookie - I've got answers

First of all, there's no snow in Ste Agathe. Last year the guy who plows our driveway plowed it 13 times in ... November. He almost started crying when the 14th snow dropped down. You can tell Emma that even if she could somehow succeed in getting you guys to make a visit way up yonder, she still would not be able to go on the sled. And we do not think the bears in the neighborhood are hibernating yet, so we can't make a sled out of leaves and branches that will slide on the green, non-snow tundra, because we do not want to go into the woods until the bears are sleeping.

Secondly, we've never tried it with Tookie pulling children. He has a special thing with kids that we are trying to train him out of...namely that he treats them like his dog friends when they're all 'off leash' outdoors. He and his friends Jake and Bill run up and down the street, galloping clowns, biting each others' ears and slamming into one another. A few of the neighbors laugh when they see them and call them Les Buffons (clowns). Ask Emma if she is, at this very moment, ready to belong to the clown club.

Thirdly, it can get unbearably hot in Ste Agathe in the summer. Two summers ago? We spent weeks and weeks just panting. We swam and swam in different lakes, but at some point, they stopped being refreshing because they heated up so much. Last summer it was much cooler and we hardly did any swimming. But I was told that last year was a rare event. So who knows about this coming summer?

Speaking of this coming summer, we may have to all live in Massachusetts, provided that I can get a job here that would pay enough for me to support us all living in Boston. It's possible but I do not know what the probable stats are. You could say 63% probable, or even 38%, but really, what does that all mean? Maria has put in for a couple of grants in Canada to do more filming, but as soon as I can catch up with my work here at MIT (from being away so long) I am going to start sending out my resumes here. Last year it was all about NYC, which won't work out. That does not mean we will sell our house in Ste Agathe thoough. So even if the probability is at 98% for getting a prime job here and we relocate, there is a chance in having a probability of 40 - 96% that we could take time off in the summer and go up to the house and so you guys could too?

Eighthly, it is possible that we could train Tookie to pull a cart with wheels on it. Who can say the probability of this? Who can compare that probability with the probability that we make a cart with wheels on it that can be controlled remotely, electronically, so that if Tookie were to see a rabbit, we would not be able to take the kids flying on aforementioned cart.

These things and more are what roil around in my brain when I am not contemplating dinner, contemplating subscribing to the New Yorker magazine, getting the energy up to floss my teeth, or returning emails from people at work who weirdly demand my attention.

Sheesh.

Sheila-Tookie Questions

Emma and Charlie were trying to talk me into going to Canada TODAY. Emma figured since it's cold here, it HAS to be cold "all the way in Canada" and there must be snow, so Tookie can drag them on a sled. I said, sorry, we're not going until summer. Summer! How can Tookie pull us on a sled without snow ? Oh yeah, says, Emma, in Canada, there's ALWAYS snow. Had to break the bad news. But, it begs the question. Will there be ANY fun at all with Tookie in the summer??

P.S.

That's his dress uniform. He doesn't wear that everyday. Well, he wears most of it, but he never wears the shiny shoes, hat or gloves. And when he wears short sleeves, he never wears his tie.
Just so ya know.

Dem Lazy Bones

By the way, the "Fool of a Took" listing is b/c that's one of my favorite lines from the Lord of the Rings movies. Gandolf yells at one of the hobbits: "Fool of a Took!" And that's what I think of when I think of Tookie.

Anyway, I'm lazy. And I can't remember to do this when I'm at home, so per Maria's request, here are pictures of Danny in his uniform:
http://www.geocities.com/nderdawter/Graduation.html

That was on his graduation day, and the other guys in the picture are his two cousins John (in brown) & Kevin (in blue), who are brothers AND cops. One works for Cook County Sheriff's office (the one Danny wants to work for) and the other one works in Skokie.
:)

mope slap

Nice pics Katie. I especially liked the one with the monster sniffing the baby.

When I was in Lisle, I told John a tale of how I worked with a woman in Boulder who had horses and how one of her gloves that she used to feed her horses, that was stuck in her coat pocket at the other end of the room made me allergic. Ha ha ha wasn't that funny? We both agreed, gee you are sensitive.

Meanwhile I was sucking down my inhaler like no tomorrow and I was wondering: Why am I having trouble breathing?

FInally, in the car heading toward the border, we're in Michigan, and I am suspiciously breathing well, normally. It hits me then. John probably had the equivalent of a glove that had touched a horse, there in his room, and I spent almost a week in there. Double Dutch duh.

Fool of a Took!!

The Joe Standard, Debunked!!

He told me about this rule he has, but he hasn't followed it himself. Charlie ADORES him, yet Joe has yet to make it to one of Charlie's birthday parties. Emma, well, she's a little nervous around him, not used to being teased (is he serious mom?) Oh well, you're right Sheila, the birthdays (early ones) are for the parents!!

the Joe standard

But Lucy can't read, let alone know who I am, so why does it matter to her whether or not I say Happy Birthday....unless it's for the .... parents...ah...ok...I see now. Happy zBirthday Lucy.

But I think I'm sticking to my Joe standard. Only feel guilty of a kid whose birthday you missed *cough cough* if the kid knows who you are.

Guilt minus one.

But sorry Amy. Happy Birthday.

Nope

I'm not furnishing the sizes of MY children, until Lucy's happy birthday post is at least acknowledged by SOMEONE. Well, I guess mom and Katie came to her party, so nevermind. Charlie wears size 5 or 6, Emma wears size 7. Lucy is wearing 24 months. Genevieve is about the same size as Emma, and Jack is...well he's bigger than the rest...don't know his size.

pop tarts

Consider this post a cry for help. Can anyone please tell me the shirt sizes of all the kids (not including Jim Doerr)? I have some high hopes to do something for the little pop tarts. Anyone? Amer? Sara?

Muchos tacos of gratitude.

Sheiler

Happy Birthday Lucy!!

Lucy's first birthday gift...a panda from Emma & Charlie. If you look closely, you can see that she prefers playing with a bottle cap and a lincoln log. At least it's not a box.

Reflection

Thanksgiving Pictures

Here's some pictures I took at Thanksgiving. I almost never take pictures of adults. Hmm...I wonder why...While I ponder this, take a look at these pics.


Ok, technically Meg and Amy are adults, but there are kids in the picture.


Mom's pretty table! (Definitely NOT an adult)


Meg: Future Mom (far in the future)


"Hey Mom! Watch! I can do a magic trick!"


Gotta watch her closely like those guys with the cups at Taste of Chicago...


We took up Charades again this year. I wonder if we'll ever do it again. We were all pretty shaken up by "Who are the...(something family) and why do they have 19 children?" But, thanks to Amy AND Katie, "Garfield Counts to Ten" returned! Yessss



Ok, that's it for pictures right now. I'm tired.

Red Faces

They played in the snow for 20 minutes today and their faces are red hot!

Winter Wonderland

Too bad we homeschool, otherwise we could stay home and have a "snowday!"

So, what's everyone doing for Christmas?

I'm back working at Bath & Body Works, so I might have to work on Christmas Eve, and in the morning, we have committments at church. Hopefully, we'll still be able to get together with people. We will be at "Cork's" (Charlie's term) on the 23rd, as usual. What about YOU (you know who you are!) Aren't these two cute as buttons' noses?

promo mario cuomo

Hi gang,

We've revised it so that the youtube will go to maria's email address and not mine, since I am not so quick in replying...and if some hot shot producer emails us and I do not respond quickly, we lose our momentum. So, can you please send all of your bakers and candlestick makers to this:



Thanks,

the management

promo schlomo

Hi everybody,

I am posting this YouTube edition of the Professor Blue teaser. Please oh please, can you pass it along to all of your friends, coworkers, mailmen, grocery store baggers, etc. to view it and rate it? We need the ratings and publicity in order to get other scientists interested in hiring us to ad lib their science.



I think this code will work

Feedback pretty please!!!!!!!!

America's Funniest Videos, anyone?