Nov. 2: And on your left, Memory Lane

Man, I was doing so well for a while, writing more often and feeling like I'm not totally wasting web space. Bleah.

Well, Halloween is over for another year, but here are pictures. It took weeks of preparation this time, because for the first time Katie & Jack both totally "get" the holiday. Jack decided with the arrival of the first Disney costumes catalog a few months ago that he wanted to dress up like Captain Hook--or as he says it, "Tackin Hook." Katie took longer to decide and I was trying my best not to influence her too much. I loved the JoJo costume, and it would've been nice and warm, but Katie didn't like it. She ended up choosing the Dory (from "Finding Nemo") costume, which was also very cute. Lots of people thought she was a bird, but she still looked cute. Now both kids are having a ball dressing up and pretending to trick-or-treat. I keep telling them I've run out of candy but they won't go away.

Check out the page of the kids on their new scooters.

Can you believe I'm old enough to be attending my 20th reunion? Me neither! As Ralph Wiggum says, "It's unpossible."

It's a girl! It's a girl! My friend Debi is having a baby girl! Pretty cool that she'll have a cousin so close in age; they'll probably grow up like sisters. I can't wait to meet them both.

I took a trip to southern Oregon a few weeks ago with my mom, grandma, and sister. We had a delightful time visiting family and friends. My mom pointed out all the houses she (and we) had lived in, the schools we went to, and other points of interest. It was a lot of fun to see these places, even though things have changed a lot in 30 years. One of our favorite parts of the weekend was getting to see my uncle perform in a musical, "The 1940's Radio Hour" and attending the cast party afterward. The other was getting to see our aunt Hazel and our favorite cousin, Deanna. Our least favorite parts of the weekend were, well, never mind.

I just finished reading the sequel to "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." It's called "Son of a Witch," by Gregory Maguire. Now I'm reading Amy Tan's newest novel, "Saving Fish from Drowning," and I'm enjoying it very much, as I have all of her books. It's not getting great reviews, but so far I don't see why.

Sarah Vowell was in Portland last week, and Ed and I went to see her. She was hilarious! I haven't read much of her stuff--mostly just heard her on NPR--but I've ordered all her books. She's fabulous and her humor is similar to David Sedaris--you just can't lose.

And speaking of funny things, here's a graphic from today's edition of The Onion: tonight's TV schedule.

Vic and I had our first parent-teacher conference a couple weeks ago. Katie's teacher said she's doing well and is impressed with her drawing skills (obviously inherited from Auntie Sonya). She also said she has "leadership potential," and Vic said, "Oh, Jack's gonna LOVE that." It went so much better than the only parent-teacher conference I remember being part of, which was when I was in 5th grade. Mrs. Webster said I rolled my eyes when she asked me to do things sometimes. I don't remember doing it, but I remember thinking she was ridiculous, so I probably did. I fully expect to have a similar conversation with one of Katie's teachers someday, and I fully expect my mom to sit back and laugh when I tell her about it.

Coming up in the next few weeks: Debi's visit, my mom's visit, Jack's pirate-themed birthday party, a "family night" at Katie's school, and Thanksgiving in Walla Walla. The coming holiday season seems a little early; didn't we just do Christmas?

Cheerio--

Jen