Nadiya is talking about how one of the cooks knows when a cake is done. The cook says "I don't have a timer, I have a smell." "You know when it's done," Nadiya said, "what do I know?" And the entire group of cooks burst into laughter.

Instead of the full headscarf around the head and neck she wore on GBBO, she's wearing a scarf that holds her hair up and covered. She looks very elegant.

mac - Can I go hang at the mall with some friends?

me - what friends?

mac - a kid from tennis and M

me - who is this other kid from tennis? and M's parents are letting him go?

mac - Other kid is R and yeah R was going to pick me up and then we'll go get M.

me - um no, 2 of you can't be in the car with a driver your age and I do not believe you that M's parents are ok with that. I'll tell you what, we can go pick up M and me this friend R that I don't know at the mall.

mac - huffs off.

uh huh, nice try slick. I'm not sure what was really going on, but it wasn't what he was telling me. I was so much better at lying than he is.

t, have you had a FROZEN Charleston chew though? That's how I like them. Smack it on the counter after freezing and it breaks into a bunch of pieces and then eat.

(Also hi from Japan! We walked a lot and saw a bunch of shrines and now it's raining and I'm going to nap and my friend is going to the onsen)

I have not! OK, back on the list. Maybe under petting otters and seeing shrines in Japan...

An awesome time to be living vicariously through meara.

Good try, mac! I was ever so grateful that my boys weren't as good at parental subterfuge as I was. I feared Karma.

Sadly, I think Sara is almost as good as I was, but she's also not quite as brave. Brave? Reckless? I don't know.

She and her friends do seem to do things differently than we did. By ninth grade, I don't remember a lot of sleepovers, and these girls rotate between houses constantly. There are also a lot of sort of official "parties" where a kid's parent is home and supervising, but it's just casual mixed evenings with snacks and music, I guess. Which is good! I guess.

Timelies all!

There was a community event, where we got a bunch of old paperwork shredded. I then got a couple inches trimmed off my hair, and we had lunch. We are now trying to get Mr. S to take a nap.

(earlier he decided he wanted to wear his costume around the house. Silly boy)

The veggie sandwich I picked up for lunch has pieces of chicken stuck to the bottom. Not a problem for me except as a sign of lax care in kitchen prep, but I suspect a vegetarian ordering this as a meal would be rather peeved.

Given my brother & SIL, my nephews will have to up their game to epic proportions. I don't think Dominic has it in him. Tyler? I think he might give it a go, but even his chaos has an order to it. His stubbornness, however, is going to make for interesting times. He matches his parents, and his mother in rage.

Ripped up a bag of ivy. Am now sneezing. I hate leaves.