thanksgiving, in Canada. and stuff.

I, for the first time, prepared Thanksgiving dinner. For the past few years, (this being the 6th, to be precise) my dad's side of the family has been getting together at Thanksgiving. It's nice, we're kind of spread out, and so we get together this once a year. Most of the family was able to come out to the wedding, so I got to see people then. This year, the big day was held in Hamilton. The budget just wasn't going to allow any flying, and driving would have just been madness with the tiny boy and only for...basically one day by the time we got there. Anyhoo, so we had Turkey Day here, and my sister and her man came to feast on absurd amounts of food with the husband and I and the dear boy. Dear boy was not interested in turkey dinner, and generally made it difficult for me to get most things done, but he did sit on the counter and chew on a piece of bread while I did pre-supper dishes. So, yes. My sister made cranberry sauce, which as far as cranberry sauces go, was delicious. I'm not a huge fan, myself. It's good on leftover turkey sandwiches, but that's about it. We had turkey, which I stuffed with my version of my dad's stuffing. I bought the turkey in the US of A, on a flying road trip with a co-worker of mine. She's doing her B.Ed. at UMPI, and had to head over there Friday afternoon to get some papers signed. We were at meetings in Centreville, which is about 20 minutes from a border crossing (Bridgeview, I think?), so I went along for the drive. We went to the university for about 3 minutes, then to WalMart and Shop 'n' Save. WalMart yeilded a terrific haul of Halloween candy and some Gerber treats for the boy. SnS had Butterballs for $1.49/lb. Sweet. I got the smallest one, which was 9.99lbs. Cathy got the biggest one, which was like, 25lbs. She was having 10 people at her dinner. I had 4.5. So, yes. Turkey, with stuffing. Potatoes, turnip, carrots, and beets. Apple pie that the boy's sitter made for us, and pumpkin pie that I made for us. The pumpkin part tasted really good (I did make it from scratch with just plain pumpkin from a can, not pie filling, so I can take credit). The pastry was kind of crunchy, which was odd, but I blame that I tried to use half crisco and half butter, and have never done that before. I had never made turkey or pumpkin pie, so all in all, things went swimmingly.

I'm in Florenceville today and tomorrow. It smells like french fries. McCain is based there, I think. We had a kick-ass lunch, real food instead of the lame cold sandwiches we usually get. We also got chocolate chip cookies, which are pretty much off limits in our district, for the new nutrition policy. I got away from one district with their silly dress code, and now can't find a chocolate cookie or a bag of chips to save my life. Or at least my sanity, which sometimes is necessary.

I went to the dentist and the eye doctor on Wednesday. The latter was uneventful, everything is still good, I can still see, and don't need glasses. The dentist was unpleasant. 2 of my existing fillings need replacing, and I have a new, "interesting" cavity that needs fixing. Also, my fixed retainer wire thing came unstuck. So, they were able to fit me in right then for one filling and the retainer, and I go back Friday for the rest. super. I'm in school for 1.5 days this week. Hilarious. At least I'll be well trained.

I found out that I have a connection in this district that may come in handy come 'Mrs. R needs a job and it needs to not be in Edmunston' time. My grade 8 teacher (who was super cool, and left us halfway through the year to take a principal position, but we loved her anyway, because she taught us health / human growth and development (that's sex ed) and we had a question box and every day someone would ask "what's an orgasm" and she'd answer for like, the first 11 times) is the new superintendant. Or, as Ralph would say, Supernintendo. So, that's pretty fun. She actually remembers me too, which is nice. We were her last homeroom class ever, which probably helps.

What else. The boy is doing well, he's super happy at the sitter's, he doesn't mind us leaving him there anymore at all. He's saying a few words, and understands just about everything we say to him. He's turning into quite a little golf pro too, much to the delight of....everyone on his father's side. His webpage is more than slightly neglected. I get to spend about 2.5 hours with him a day during the week, so I'm not taking much of that time to do photo shoots. We're more into the playing and running around type things. Bath time is turning into more of an adventure, as he has discovered the joy of bubble baths. He'll go get the bottle in the bathroom and bring it out and say 'bubble'. But it'll be like, 4:30, so we're like, no, babe, not yet. Then he tries to open it with his teeth, generally succeeds, and if we're not watching, will squirt a bunch of it into the bath tub. Silly. He pushes his trike around Fred Flinstone style, cause his legs aren't long enough to pedal. He actually says 'bye' now when he waves, and generally says it like, 13 times before, during, and after the actual leaving part.

I think that's a respectable update, and it's 10, and I stayed up late last night watching Heroes and What About Brian, so I'm going to bed now. There's too much tv, it's problematic. I'm going to have to delegate nights or something, and unplug it the rest of the time.

One last thing. I love cream cheese, but the Philly ads suck. I wrote them to tell them I didn't think bitchy angels was a good way to go with the advertising, and that I wasn't a particularly devout person, but that I didn't think heaven invovled 'wing lifts' and catty girls. I see those ads less now, but they're still around. Meh. That's my opinion. I like to voice it.

Also, I'm going to buy myself a pair of boots. Not full-on hooker boots, but semi. I saw a pair of super hot shoes, but they're like $160, so no. Boots are a little more practical also, as far as hot shoes go. I'm thinking dark brown knee high, they should go with pretty much everything. I have mid-calf boots, and they're cute, but don't go with much.

that's all, for real.