I was surprised at how not-orange my fresh-from-the-gourd pie was. It's more brown than a number of pumpkin pies I've seen. I've heard that most canned pumpkin has butternut squash in addition to the pumpkin - if so, maybe that's it. Still, it was yummy, and the vodka in the pie crust trick worked wonders.

Jars, if you buy a fresh, whole pumpkin now, it will likely still be good by Thanksgiving.

Oh, my! So much happened!

Doggie~ma to Darcy!

{{{Cass and Niece}}}. I hope she arrived safe and sound and that you're both getting some much-needed sleep. Much love.

{{{Gris}}} How frustrating.

It seems there were other things, but I'm still on my first cup of coffee. Fortunately, though, today I woke up. That's always a start.

I'm on the 3rd cup of coffee! Whee! It was so nice to get up with the sun this morning instead of in the dark. It won't last, but for now it rocks.

On pins and needles until I hear news from my sister on Darcy.

Cass, your niece is so lucky to have you in her life.

{{Gris}} Sorry that this wasn't the one.

I think I am going to work from home today. There is just so much housework to be done that didn't happen on the weekend. Bad moody because DH and I have completely different parenting notions. Blah.

Ack, poor Darcy. So glad she made her way home.

Tom and Gris, sorry for the suckiness.

Cass, I hope niecelet is okay. So glad she has you to turn to.

Cass, your niece is so lucky to have you in her life.

What Laura said.

{{{Gris}}}

{{{vw}}}

Jars, if you buy a fresh, whole pumpkin now, it will likely still be good by Thanksgiving.

Ooh! Great idea!

I grew up in the Midwest but have spent some time in the South, mainly due to the Army. The first time I got called a Yankee, I was like, "dude, those people are all dead!"

Once I'd lived in NC for a while, I got used to it, but it still always catches me off guard a bit. Now, I'm a gringa.

"Why don't you ask Hillary? She's Jewish." I said, "Ask me what?" and after a bit of hemming and hawing, one of the other girls asked me, "Are you offended by the Confederate flag?" I said yes. She said, "OK, but are you offended as a Jew, or are you offended as a Yankee?" I was a bit stunned, as I'd never thought of the word "Yankee" to describe myself, but that was how they saw me.

And obviously there's no reason to be bothered by a symbol of solidarity with Jim Crow that's not about being Jewish or from the north. @@

[Edited to be more clear about who I'm rolling my eyes at.]

Drive by picspam!!

Me and Em on Halloween: [link]

Emeline as Sleeping Beauty: [link]

MWAH!!!

waves wand

t poof!

Drive by picspam!!

Wow, you look fabulous. Great costuming there.