Ketchup

I know, I know...it's been too long since I've posted, and you are all crying yourselves to sleep at night because you don't know what I'm up to. Well, put away those hankies, because here's a recap!

1. I'm going to China! I'm leaving on 12/3, arriving on 12/4 and returning on 12/9. I'll be in Beijing and, possibly, Shenzhen. I can't wait to do all of my holiday shopping for under $20.
2. Went to Cirque du Soleil: Corteo. Completely amazing. I want to be in a circus. Removed because I know all you haters will have something to say about that.
3. I saw Borat. At one point, I was laughing so hard that there were tears streaming down my face and pain in my side. I had my hands over my face and my laughing spasms caused me to scratch my own nose. Everyone must see this movie.
4. My hair has gotten past another awkward stage and is well on it's way to being officially medium lengthed. I'll get BI'75 to snap some photos.
5. I have pneumonia/tuberculosis/scarlet fever. Or a slight cold. I'm not sure which. I stopped taking Sudafed because of the insane panic attacks it caused, so I've been taking echinacea and zinc. Any other suggestions?
6. We're going up to MV to see Ma and Pa E for Turkey Day. Papa E is feeling much better. He had a second cardioversion on Friday and says that he can now feel that his heart is beating normally. He has lots of garden chores waiting for us.
7. Alobar has lost 2.5 pounds in two months! He was already skinny in August at 14 lbs, and when I took him to the vet on Wednesday because he's had tummy problems, he weighed in at 11.5! He's so teeny and you can see every knob on his spine. I'm working on fattening him back up.

Other than my two new purses for $10 each and my new cushy pillows, I can't think of anything else. Promise to be better!

Nice Is Back

Last night, in the midst of the usual 35-year-old trick-or-treaters with no costumes, was a young man dressed as a skeleton. As BI'75 put a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the young skeleton's pumpkin, he said "I'm just being nice to everyone." She told him she thought that was great and continued handing out candy to the rest of the kids at the door. As the skeleton turned away, he looked back over his shoulder and repeated "I'm just trying to be nice to everyone tonight."

This incident reminded me of a boy I saw at the library last week. He was pulling a wheeled schoolbag and wearing a white oxford shirt under a green t-shirt that read "Be nice. Work hard." I traced the t-shirt to KIPP Academy, a sort of franchise charter school with almost 50 "branches" in New York, California, Texas, North Carolina (to name a few) and DC.

Now, I've only heard/seen young children talking about being nice. I haven't actually seen any evidence of the niceness. But I'm keeping an eye out.