(I always misuse "hopefully." Always. But at least I'm consistent.)

Oh yeah. I totally gave up on that one. It's just too useful as a misused word.

We have returned home from Daniel's family reunion/mother's b-day party. Dan's mom, Mary, was thrilled with being able to all but 2 of her grandkids.

The sugar free cheesecake was a big hit. One of Daniel's nieces - who, as far as I know doesn't need sugar free stuff - asked me for the recipe. My response was, "Uh... recipe, what recipe?" So I ended up describing the process, while leaving out the bit about me wanting to clobber Daniel for telling me it tasted like "lightly sweet frosting" after I followed his suggestions for what to add.

At any rate, there were 4 pkgs Neuchatel cheese, 1/4 c. Splenda, some (maybe as much as 1 tsp.) liquid Sweet-N-Lo, a few sprinkles of the highly concentrated stevia powder from Trader Joe's, a bunch (maybe 1/4 c.) of dollar store vanilla, some water (at least a half cup, but probably less than a whole cup), and about half a large container of regular whipped topping (the "sugar free" variety actually has more total carbs than the regular). Beat hell out of it in a big mixing machine until it was all smooth and light. For the crust, I crushed up a whole box of Murray's Sugar Free Shortbread Cookies, and smooshed it together with 2 Tbs melted butter. Finally, I topped it with Smucker's Sugar Free Hot Fudge Sauce.

Mary's boyfriend, Ray, suggested this should be the signature dish that I bring to every family gathering.

Just wear a watch with a band wide enough to cover the tat. Or a cuff bracelet that's wide enough to cover it.

That's pretty much my plan. It'd have to be a pretty wide watchband to cover, but even just semi-covering I figure would be good. A cuff bracelet is definitely something I'm planning to find and purchase!

"No, actually, I was listening to them. Annabel was the queen."

Nice!

hopefully we can all agree that usage ultimately defines a word.

Or even, in this instance, that dictionaries do.

ok, I have to admit, I am really liking the On Demand thing of Digital Cable. Catching up on WEEDS, and thus avoiding chores.

Oooh, new Weeds tomorrow. I almost forgot. And now we're past the screeners.

OK, question for everyone: What is appropriate funeral attire? I was rather surprised at the funeral I attended this afternoon, I would say less than half the crowd was wearing black.

And some were wearing like, blue jeans and a blue and white striped shirt. We're not even talking "Oh, I don't have black so I wore dark purple" or "Well, she didn't like black so I got dressed up in her favorite color pink" or something.

Color wise - I'm not to worried about what people wear - I have to say I expect more conservative/more formal types of clothing.

I think of proper funeral attire as being dressy and sober. Not necessarily black (neither my mother nor I wore black at my dad's funeral), but dark and/or muted colors. I can't imagine not wearing a dress or skirt to a funeral, and I'd expect a man to wear a tie. Nothing perky or festive and nothing too revealing.

What Beth said. . . I would be surprised if the people closest to the deceased weren't wearing black but other attendees? I think formal daywear is what I would expect.