What is she making them sing?

hey we got trick or treaters. Teens but at least they were in costume.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Pinkalicious came to town!! [link]

Happy Birthday to Daniel!

Happy Anniversary to Jilli & Pete!

We didn't have as many kids as we expected. It was a nice night so we sat outside with tiki torches to encourage the kiddos. We did visit some with neighbors doing the same so that was nice.

Tiring weekend. We had company picnic Saturday afternoon and huge neighborhood block part Saturday night. And I still lost a pound! Not eating meat again leaves little to choose from at such events. Rice and black beans at one event, a bit of fresh salad at the other. Some raw veggies. DH consumed my share of jerk chicken and other stuff.

Still unpacking at the house. Did 6 boxes today, which was awesome. My life, so exciting!

The stars do seem to be aligning to enable me to go watch the shuttle launch on Wednesday. It was initially scheduled for Monday when it is way more difficult to play hooky from work.

So I skipped tons of posts again. I skim and send good thoughts, but don't get to post as much as I would like. And now it is time for sleep. G'night Bitches.

Pinkalicious! Adorable!

Still no kids. I've now watched 3 animated Batman movies today. Now watching Black Stallion. Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

So! Just talked to my dad. You know how I've been the goddamn angel of death this year, racking up a loved one's death in August, September, and October? Well don't put away your scorecard yet, because 2010 is continuing to beat the shit out of me and has my November candidate all lined up.

Another of my dad's brothers is in the hospital and is apparently very seriously ill. He's the only one who never had the heart disease issues the way the rest of the siblings did; that said, he's devoted his life to drinking ALL THE BEER and smoking ALL THE CIGS. And while my dad isn't totally clear on what the actual diagnosis is, he's pretty fucking sick.

I saw my Uncle D. at the memorial in September for the uncle who died, and Uncle D., even then, looked very, very bad. The type of skinny that denotes illness, not just natural body type -- his clothes were hanging on him like he was just a skeleton under there. Waxy, pale yellow-y skin. Couldn't walk without assistance, and even then he couldn't walk more than a few feet before he had to stop and sit down.

Dad said that he doesn't think Uncle D. is coming home from the hospital. However, my dad is not a doctor, and so I'm hoping that my dad didn't get a good sense of the diagnosis, and that whatever is going on with my Uncle D. is treatable. Because, honestly? This is just too much.

I am the motherfucking angel of death.

Still no kids.

Ok, we can fill in the details later, but omnis -- it's a nine-month process, getting one of them. Gotta be patient here.

Ha, first ya gotta mate. I'd settle for that right now.

Can someone answer a couple questions for me? I've done some Googling but I'm almost more confused now than before I started. My oldest niece is still stuck in the soul-sucking job, and it seems her bosses are trying to make her quit. She's stubbornly hanging on, feeling they should fire her if they want her gone. (The problem is in essence a long-standing personality conflict between her and one of her supervisors, who's carrying a grudge from a previous project they worked on together, because the boss then liked Kim best. From what I've seen, this kindergarten shit actually seems to be the truth.) Anyway, my sister thinks she should quit before she's fired, because she's afraid being fired will leave a black mark on Kim's record, somewhere. I say they can't legally tell any future potential employers that she was fired. (I still think it's better to quit than be fired, though.) So, questions: does being fired potentially cause a problem with being hired in the future? And: Regarding unemployment benefits and health insurance, does it make any difference if she's fired or quits? [If it matters, she works for the University of Virginia, a public school (which is an awesome school and should not be judged by the actions of this particular group of unpleasant humans.)]