meltdown has passed - there have been hugs and kisses.

I am online christmas shopping now. And adding items to my kaboodle list. kinda loving kaboodle.

Kaboodle is good. Need to acquire some myself. Oh, did get a great suggestion for dinosaur boogers from K. See, when I called my dad the other night, he was tormenting D with "dinosaur boogers" otherwise known as a green bean that got smushed on the floor. D was hunting for more and going EWWWW!

So anyway, the suggestion was I take shoe-goo or similar semi-pliable glue and make snot-like squiggly deposits on foil or something. Peel 'em off, box 'em up and tell D they are petrified dinosaur boogers, specials from LA. AWESOME.

Robin, we have two upstairs dormers that face the street. We keep shaded candle lamps lit in them all year (nightlight bulbs), and during the holiday season we pop the shades off and let the flame-shaped bulbs shine. The downstairs windows directly under them each get a 1950s (rewired) row of seven candles, with the tallest in the middle, with clear flame-shaped bulbs. A garland of fake greenery twined with white minilights gets swagged on the front railing, caught up at intervals with wired red velvet bows; matching bows go on the fake boxwood wreath on the front door and the bare grapevine wreath that hangs by the side door all year 'round. I may cut branches from an evergreen bush whose leaves are shiny and waxed-looking and cedar in our yard to wire onto the grapevine wreath, or not. The half-basket of silk ivy that hangs on the side door all year has real holly leaves and berries tucked into it, and a red and gold bow tied on the handle. The boxwood wreath and the garland are at least 20 years old, the red velvet bows probably 10. They've all been used outside in all weathers and are still quite presentable--especially from the street.

The wreath and the garland coiled with the lights on it, and all the bows go into a bag when they're taken down, and have their place, along with the candle "pyramids", on their own closet shelf close to hand. Even if I don't get the indoor decorating done till very late, the outside stuff goes up in less than an hour, and no ladders.

I hab cold.

The parentals are taking mac for a sleepover at my brother's tonight. very nice. Of course I'd rather not be sick on a free night, but I am going to try and just roll with it.

I really wish this cold had been more entertaining, in the cuddle-up-in-bed way, but it was just mostly boring and frustrating with all the family T-Day stuff going on that I couldn't participate in. And the migraine, which was a super-rotten cherry on top. I'm used to headaches, but this one was super-special, and entirely empathy-inducing to my migraineur/se friends.

Chez Zmayhem is having hot biscuits for breakfast. We've got the heat on for the first time this fall

I caved and turned on the heat the other day. Tis the season.

I turned mine on late Thursday as well.

Then yesterday I had the sliding door to the balconey open all day.

I caved and turned on the heat the other day. Tis the season.

It's brisk. Matilda's ice cold fingers was a decisive factor.

Hey Consuela, where are there good cheap (free?) rock climbing walls in the Bay Area? Emmett's school has a wall and he really likes it. I need to find him some place to clamber.

Err, free is not to be had unless you want to go outside. There are some little crags in Glen Park, IIRC, and I think they're okay for bouldering.

Otherwise you have your choice of Mission Cliffs at 18th and Harrison ($15/day pass), Ironworks in Berkeley (Ashby at I-80), and Great Western Power Company, the new gym in Oakland at 20th & Broadway (which isn't open to the public yet).

Some of the bigger health clubs might have climbing walls, but I don't know which they might be. The Touchstone gyms have kids programs; some years back I used to work Saturdays at the gym in Berkeley, doing "kid's belay", which was pretty fun.