The Doings Report

I haven't done one of these in a long time, mostly because I've been focused on getting some Europe memories into the blog. That and recovering from jet lag, which it doesn't seem like I've quite managed even now. I'm still really tired, not sleeping well, irritable.

On the bright side, we're back in our routine, mostly caught up with the vacation backlog and kinda started on the holiday prep. The house is a disaster area, which gets to Frank and me but disturbs the girls not a bit. What we need is to invite some dinner guests over; that would motivate us to get things shipshape again.

MJ and Chloe have been computer-oriented since our return. MJ is reading and reading and reading, blogging again (yay!), and doing other writing but won't tell me what. Chloe is doing a little bit of a lot of things: writing for NaNoWriMo, watching anime, hanging out on MySpace, doing e-art (see her blog for a sample), reading, buying people, etc. Oh, and she's been putting in sessions cleaning her room.

Frank has also been blogging, keeping on top of the dishes (those that are not lost in the bowels of the house), and keeping us fed. He's put in some time getting materials ready for the Maier Family Cookbook that cousins Sonya and Becky are putting together, in anticipation of the big reunion next summer.

As for me, I've been working. A lot but not too much. In my off time, I hang out with the fambly and read and blog and wish there were more hours in the day and more gumption in my soul.

This past weekend, we went down to Corvallis for Non-Con and had a lovely time. We really missed the Traaseths and the Mayers (who were all there last year), but we had the Winklers and Buchholzes and more of the Hessels than last year to fill in the gaps. Fun people, fun times. The kids did lots of trick-or-treating on Friday, first in downtown Corvallis (the streets of which were packed with people) and then in Zenmomma's easy-to-hit-a-lot-of-houses-in-a-short-time neighborhood. MJ, Chloe, and Qacei were Spike the vampire (from "Buffy") and two of his babes. MJ pulled off the male look so well that some enlightened souls called her a fag when she was out walking later with Conor (who made a very convincing Hunter S. Thompson). If they had seen her in Qacei's lady-vampire outfit a little later, there would have been no way they'd make that mistake.

Saturday, we played music. Frank and Carolyn brought their guitars, and Bret, his bass, and they had a grand time fiddling out tunes with like-minded people. I accompanied them on Jon's drum, and it was good listening practice for me. I need practice.

My favorite song of the night was Hey Sarah Palin. "Oh, if you become VP, it's Canada for me." I hadn't heard it before and found it quite entertaining. (warning: just a bit of explicit language)

Sunday was our traditional closeout breakfast at Sunnyside Up. It was pretty hectic because it was homecoming weekend for the Beavers, but we cleared a few tables to help out and had a nice visit. We left Chloe behind for a few days' apprenticeship as a barrista, then made our way back home, listening to the Seahawks tank.

Now, I'm procrastinating a trip to work. I'd rather crawl back in bed and sleep for a few days.