Heading Out for Adventures

Sarah wants to go shopping, so we're heading to Bloor Street for lunch in about an hour. She slept the day away yesterday and when I got home from work we went to see the Twilight movie, which I wanted to laugh at so badly but I did not, because I love my stepdaughter and she so clearly was engrossed in it.

When we got home, we ate my pumpkin pie and she told me all about her job and her friends, and said that her father is doing fine, which is good to hear.

Tomorrow we're going over to my parents' for an American Thanksgiving dinner. They invited us over tonight to spend the night, but Sarah didn't feel like packing and unpacking again within the trip.

I'm so happy to have her here.

Yes, I'm Seeing Twilight with My Stepdaughter

And yes, she's an adult woman. She says she's read all the books.

Wish me luck.

Off to Pick Up Sarah!

I feel so lucky that my stepdaughter is coming to visit me twice in one year. I have to work tomorrow, but I took off from work on Friday so that I can spend time with her.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Tonight I'm going to bake a pumpkin pie. I am not known for doing a particularly good job at this, but I am going to persist for my stepdaughter's sake. She lands Wednesday night from DC for a long weekend and we (my parents and I) are doing an American-style Thanksgiving just for her.

If it doesn't work out, no one will be the wiser. I'm also going to make my spice cake.

And Sarah will peel the potatoes this time.

Why Is It So Hard...

...to get a good haircut?

It doesn't matter if I take pictures in with me, or how detailed a description I give, I just have not been able to find a hair stylist since moving back here who can give me a good haircut.

All I want is a stacked bob.

Off to the Movies

Going to see The Men Who Stare at Goats tonight with a new friend. I've heard mixed things. I do love George Clooney. I think I really started to like him when I saw him in O Brother Where Art Thou.

A man with a sense of humor gets me every time.

It's supposed to be pretty nice this weekend. Looking forward to spending some time outdoors and over at my parents' place.

Spring Cleaning in November

Getting ready for my stepdaughter's visit next weekend. I did one of those grocery runs that is all about stocking up on paper goods and trash bags and snacks and sodas and cleaning supplies. Going to roll up my sleeves and give the place a good thorough scrubbing. Liz keeps trying to tell me I need to use her cleaning lady, but I just can't see the point. Besides, I like cleaning, once I get it going. It becomes meditative, and the instant results are very satisfying.

This may be the most boring blog post I've written yet. I do like trying to keep to a nightly post during the week, but sometimes I wonder if I should just write fewer pieces that are longer. I don't know. This way it turns out to be like a diary. I think I'll sit down over New Year's weekend and read through the past year, maybe print out or archive all the posts and take a moment to regroup and decide how to proceed.

Who Knew Borscht Was So Delicious?

My friend who I'm taking turns making soup with/for made a delicious batch of borscht for us! She used this recipe that she found online.

I've always liked my root vegetables, but I think this encounter with borscht has given me a new appreciation of beets.

I'm About to be Deliberately Mysterious.

I was contacted by someone on behalf of an organization in regards to something that might be very fun and interesting. Until I know how I'm going to respond to the opportunity, I'm going to refrain from sharing details.

But for now, there's the possibility of something new on the horizon.

What a Fun Weekend!

The Crafternoon event was so much fun! We were guided through a project that involved cutting out pictures from magazines of images we liked. We could have a theme to our project or they could be random images. I chose cats and yarn at first, but then I had to dig a little deeper because there weren't that many pictures of cats.

Once we had several dozen pictures cut out, we glued them on the outside of a small gift bag so that the bag would tell a story, and then we painted a clear sealant over that to make sure all the cut-outs would stay down.

I chose a pink bag and then we each made a clay sculpture of our choosing. The craft teacher had pictures of examples. I made a piglet, because my mother likes pigs--she thinks they're lucky. I chose pink for everything because she is a breast cancer survivor.

I felt very silly and childlike doing this, but that was sort of the point. Many of us were meeting for the first time, and the fact that we were immediately absorbed in such a fun and artistic task made the socializing seem so easy! Of course, the wine and cheese helped.

On Sunday, I gave the gift to my mother. She has never been one to Oooh and Aaah over anything I made, and with good reason. I do not have an artistic bone in my body. But she did seem very touched by it, and she placed the piglet on her kitchen window sill.