Oh, Hec. I think you will appreciate the mouseover panel.

My soup is amazing. And it took me all day, what with the veggie stock making. (That's a feature, not a bug, in my book.)

Chopped and sauteed two leeks in butter and olive oil for about 15 minutes, then added a couple of pounds of potatoes and about six cups of veggie broth, along with some salt and pepper. Pureed, then added a half a shredded cabbage and a handful of chopped (cooked) bacon. Cooked for another five or ten minutes then added a handful of parsley and a shot of sherry.

Didn't find any dresses. But got in a four mile walk (and a mondo blister, I really need new shoes) and a really excellent long swim. Sometimes, it is just like flying.

House is CLEAN. I even made some progress on the disaster that is the table in my front room. Still a ways to go, but it is a start. I think I want a wall mounted magazine rack. Next up, I've got to tackle the coffee table.

I'm seriously considering taking friday off. There's planting I'd like to do, I've got to find a dress, some house stuff.... I've managed to fill my weekends up.

Tom made some jambalaya, but grilled up a ham steak and diced it up in lieu of andouille. Verrrrry tasty. We have so much Gulf of Maine shrimp left still.

Nora, if you want to get rid of some of that shrimp, have a manila envelope and a whole lot of stamps...

It goes without saying how much I love this community. I want to hug you all.

Thanks for the birthday wishes for O. He had a lovely party with several of his classmates. They bounced the bouncy house, ate cupcakes and were very generous with their gifts of Lego and Bakugan.

And Olivia cut her hair this afternoon. She said she wanted to be like Mulan. I laughed. It'll need some minor repairs but I'm not sweatinng it. It grows very fast.

Poor Kelly. I've got Flight Track as an app, and it texted me a while ago that her *new* flight was now delayed 2.5 hours. And she was already through security at Denver, so now she gets to kill time at the airport. And when she lands, it will be too late for BART, so I'll be driving in to SFO and picking her up and taking her to Alameda.

ETA:

And Olivia cut her hair this afternoon. She said she wanted to be like Mulan. I laughed. It'll need some minor repairs but I'm not sweatinng it. It grows very fast.

Ha! I love your relaxed attitude. You're a rockin' mommy.

is there a white TV show family with several kids, all of whom have dark hair?

Super Why's family is all dark-haired, but I can't tell if they're supposed to be biracial or Jewish. (Wait, the mom is a redhead. But the dad and all three kids have dark brown hair.)

I can't think of a non-animated example, but none of the prime time shows I watch have kids in them.

I think the kids on Modern Family are all dark-haired.

In the ongoing saga for my girl trying to make it back to CA and be ready for her 8am class tomorrow...her 7pm flight is currently delayed to 9:40pm. Poor punkin will be lucky to make it out of the airport by midnight. Who knows when she will make it to her dorm or if she will be awake enough to make her first class tomorrow.