I forgot to mention this on Wednesday. Someone at work gave me this: [link] I am all for people giving the assistants gifts, especially if said assistants process the paperwork so that you can get paid, but, um, huh.

Have had a very nice day. Bro and SIL aren't here, but I sent them the recipe for our traditional xmas breakfast so we all had the same thing and exchanged pictures of it all. My dad and sis and I have spent most of the afternoon playing a card game made kind of endless by inattention and alcohol, and we're headed out shortly for dinner and more drinking and cards. Now sis is singing in the shower and dad is lounging in his new battery-operated massage slippers.

I personally am sitting here trying to work out the kinks in the theory my sister and I worked up about the conspiracy between Sarah McLaughlin and my father (with an assist from the dog) to ruin Christmas. I think we've got a pretty solid case involving stealth ASPCA attacks, beerblocking and the Great Coffee Scare of 08, but others may be less convinced.

Are you going to get some beach time?

Yes! From tomorrow through Monday we're going to the North Coast.

Went 2 and 1 in scrabble today, pulling out a dramatic last moment win for my first, and maintaining a solid lead for my second. And being pathetic for my loss.

It's funny--I irritate my sister because she thinks I know a lot of thing and so correct her a lot. But I honestly thought everyone knew about Mendel and the peas. They make me feel ignorant.

But I honestly thought everyone knew about Mendel and the peas

Wait, they don't?

My mother's a biochemist. She knew. My sister knew nothing of it. My blank "I had no idea you didn't know that" wasn't well received and is somewhat trip legend now. Christmas dinner conversation went quickly to what makes a man a man (society, psychology, genetics, hormones, epigenetics...). I think my sister tried to shut us down because we were in quite a religious house, and you never know how these things will go. The gender of god came up too, as men tried to lobby for dominance.

Good luck with that.

oy. just read that the city mulching will not be until 1/10 -11. My tree is ready now. SO my options: keep bags of branches and needles in the basement storage and the trunk in the living room for over 2 weeks, or put it all on the curb where it will be treated as regular trash.

We have a cardboard rocket set up in our house. Noah LOVES it, but he does not always remember that it's a big step in.

My mother's a biochemist.

My FiL is a biochem professor. It's very cool.

Oh, there's a book I was given for my birthday, A Guinea Pig's History of Biology, that has a fascinating chapter on Mendel, what he actually thought he was doing with his pea experiments, why it took so long for the scientific community to recognise its importance, and what he did next (hawkweeds, which showed none of the genetic ratios he found in his peas).

Well, I got nothing done but laundry today. I need to be more productive tomorrow, with the cleaning and sorting and packing and stuff.

DAMN.

House just broke me.

In other news, I'm starving. I think I'm gonna go have a chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter cookie that is nothing but a fat bomb.

There's nothing that will make one feel happier than 200 extra calories one doesn't need.