But Call Me Betsy

Paul Skoles and Piper were fairly well-behaved except when Paul Skoles licked the top of the pumpkin pie. And the butter dish. And then turkey. John McGovern, law school student extraordinaire. Carrie and Ionia laughing at something. Piper grooming Paul Skoles. He likely needed it. Miss Carrie! Padhraig preparing the butternut squash with walnuts that I declined to eat. He called me fussy. That was the second time in a week that someone said I was fussy. I don't think I am! Seems so innocent. The spread. How about a list of things so I don't have to go through each day: 1. Best thing about Thanksgiving: this delicious key lime pie that Carrie's friend Sarah made with a heavenly meringue topping (though there was also some debate about it one should put meringue on a key lime pie). We also played Charades (who do you think forced that on everyone?) and almost every single one of Padhraig's choices included a cat, so that he could just point to either Piper or PS wit...

These little girl and boy plastic pilgrims are quite popular. I have managed to capture two window displays using them. I like the attempt at symmetry here with the Phillie flags also in each upper pane. Devil dog peeking out of the window panels. I bet he sits there for hours during the day. On my block, I believe we have one dog owned by this hipster couple across the street from me. I am not complaining...It's better to have none than to have a bunch of barking Chihuahuas. Happy bus. Clearly, someone has time traveled from 1965. Elaborate Thanksgiving extravaganza display. Lights, turkeys, scarecrows, dead wreaths--everything you could ever associate with fall and abundance/death. Pilgrims Progress again. I remember in elementary school that we made little cylindrical place settings of pilgrims just like these out of construction paper. I don't remember hearing much about the Native Americans. In third grade, my sense of history ran something like: God created worlds, Jesu...

As it turns out, Lisa Marie's oven broke at the last second and she had to come over here to finish cooking the turkey, the stuffing, and some potatoes. We were not able to cook the frozen pumpkin pie because neither one of us could figure out how to remove the oven racks. You will likely not find two less qualified people to be attempting to put together a dinner for ten. I did nothing actually except at the end, I suggested we could baste the turkey in some of the juices. We both did this for awhile, wondering if it would do something toxic to the meat, unbeknownst to us. But we made it and turkey was served (though it wasn't cooked all the way through in every place, it was mostly done). Got to meet baby Ruby who is a dream child--didn't cry or fuss like the rest of us. I suspect she's not fully human; she must be part Sainted baby. I expected her to bless us at any second, holding up two fingers and waving them our way as most baby pope statues do. Didn't help ...

My contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner will be brie, crackers, celery and carrots with dip, and wine. None of which required any sweat or tears on my part. Lisa Marie is making a turkey and everything else. Here are some great Thanksgiving crafts you can do to make this joyous holiday even more fabulous (as taken from Martha Stewart's Living magazine): 1. Catch a few squirrels and dress them up in traditional pilgrim/Native American wear (probably just hats) and put on a play re-enacting the first Thanksgiving. 2. After eating the turkey, separate all of the bones and glue them to a large piece of paper and label each bone with its proper anatomical name (tibia, fibia, ulna, radius, etc.). 3. Fill the bathtub with hot cider (requires approximately twenty gallons of juice) and bob for cranberries. 4. Get a copy of Pilgrim's Progress , cut out relevant passages and replace and fill in the blanks with random verbs and nouns to rewrite the book ala a Mad Lib. 5. Gather 500 pin...