Arise there, holidays!

I am proud to report that our Thanksgiving was a success. We had no kitchen disasters and the pumpkin pies that we were skeptical over turned out amazing! My mother ate lunch with us and then in the evening we invited a small group of friends over for a Friendsgiving. My favorite part of our Thanksgiving were the cute bearscuits we baked.

My mother had surgery the day after Thanksgiving. She had a pacemaker put in her stomach that helps digest food. We are hoping within a few weeks she will be back to eating normally and enjoying food again. She is supposed to be discharged on Tuesday - a day earlier than expected, 'cause she's, well, recovering so fabulously!

Nils and I have one more day off of work. We hung up some lights last night and are planning on setting up our tree tomorrow. We are also planning to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox tomorrow too. We tried to see it on Friday, but it was sold out! We went over to Borders since we couldn't get into the movie and I picked up Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited for 5 bucks. I guess that makes up for missing his new movie that night. I felt slightly horrible buying something on Black Friday...

Tonight: St. Paul Book Club - Thanksgiving style! Leftovers galore - or at least I hope!

prepping for the feast

Nils and I will be cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen starting tomorrow night.

So far this is our menu:

Tofurky and its fixings
Homemade vegetarian stuffing
Dill and basil mashed potatoes
Mushroom gravy
Yams
Cranberry sauce
Vegetarian meatballs
Brussel Sprouts
Cornbread
Biscuits

Vegan sugar free pumpkin pie with pecan topping
soy vanilla ice cream

Oh man, we are already experiencing a stomach ache just thinking about it. I can't wait!

We'll have my mom over in the morning and then friends in the evening.
Oh, how I am thankful for the life I have.

Moving fastly along.

This week is moving so fast and before we know it, Xmas will be upon us in all its festivities. I can't wait to deck the halls and put up our plastic tree...

Nils and I will be hosting a small Friendsgiving at our house next week. So, if you don't have any plans or your plans end early, please contact me. It will be a turkey-friendly day of vegetarian/vegan preparation!

Nils and I missed the Turf's decoration party, but thankfully, they've decided to extend the party till next week! I am excited to see friends! Apparently, this past Tuesday was a glitter fest.

Tonight, I will be oriented into the U of M's Graduate School. Luckily, it's on the St. Paul campus. I shouldn't *crossing fingers* have to worry too much about parking...

All I want for xmas:
>a camera of awesomeness!

>and then I want to win this! You should enter too!

>and I think I will make this next week, but vegan! Mmmm, mmhmm!

This weekend will be prepping for my mom's surgery the day after Thanksgiving...What the what? And catching up on my handmade xmas gifts.

new shoes for my hurting feet

a fall day

One day we will adopt a puppy.

Friday, I went to my friend Steph's birthday party at Mancini's and ordered a delicious Grasshopper. Mine was made with ice cream, mmm. It was nice to see so many friends and reconnect. I feel like I have fallen off the radar. I hadn't seen so many people in such a long time.

Our friend, Jug, has borrowed us a copy of his book of short stories. He spent it writing it in a cabin...How Minnesotan...I can't wait to get into it. First, I have to finish Under the Banner of Heaven though.

Yesterday, Nils and I did so much walking around Uptown. We went to Mager's and Quinn, and although I had picked up Ann Patchett's Bel Canto and a mass market paperback of Stieg Larsson's A Girl with a Dragon Tatoo, I found willpower before the cash register. Early in the day, I spent a little too much on craft supplies...Nils though, he caved, and bought some Flann O'Brien, the works under Brian O' Nolan's pseudonym, well, one of many. Apparently, it is not known how much writing is out there of O' Nolan, because of his consistent use of fictitious names. I really want to start reading Larsson's trilogy though, at least before the movie comes out.

Nils and I saw An Education at the Uptown Theater. I enjoyed the film, but at times, I felt emptiness. Maybe it was too flighty? The end just came together too well in such a short amount of time. I would have liked to have seen more story in the end rather than the tying up.

Before Uptown, Nils and I made a quick stroll around the Humane Society in Golden Valley. One day, we will be able to adopt a puppy. One day...So many people were adopting animals. It was nice to see so many animals going to new homes.

We ended the night at home, ordering a pizza, and watching an episode of Mad Men.

A Rat Recovered

Signing up for classes is becoming all too familiar. I used to add classes and then drop them every semester. After talking with my advisor via email, her best suggestion was to wait on the class with 12 required books. The last thing I want is to get burn out in my first semester. So, I will be taking an Intro class in Interdisciplinary Studies and that class only. I have an orientation next week and as much as it saddens me, I will be missing Jenny Hart appearing at Crafty Planet. Poopola. Ah school - always getting in the way of socializing...

Cavity fillings are never fun. I was calmer than I thought I would be when I met with my dentist today. I was in and out in a matter of 25 minutes. Is that a record for a filling? I dunno, I was impressed. I should have given her a tip.

After dinner, I chatted up with our rat Stella. About a month ago she was in surgery getting a tumor removed. We're so happy she's back to her old self. It was definitely a trying time while she was recovering.

Required Reading

I've figured out my class schedule for Spring semester. I am relieved that I will only be on campus once a week - on Tuesdays. Apparently though, one of the classes I am signing up for has 12 required books. Yikes! I guess that will be about 200 pages a week on top of my other research class. What am I getting myself into?

I am missing Stacy and Aleshia. My two buddies. I hope I will get to see them soon. LA is so far away...

I am currently required to read Under the Banner of Heaven for this month's for book club. Not only have I been so uppity about the Stupak amendment, I am now raging about mormons...I considered looking into Buddhism to combat my anxiety.

Hanging out with Squirrels

I made a book! It was fun!

Tomorrow is another day

Over this past weekend Oak Street had been playing You, the Living along with A Swedish Love Story. What a sweet double feature. Nils and I had seen You, the Living two MPLS/St. Paul International Film Festivals ago and just adored it. So, we couldn't miss the chance to see it again. It's not available on DVD. A Swedish Love Story captured love in all its ages and complexities. Apparently, it was quite the film in 1970.

Roy Andersson has to be one of the best comedic and meaningful storytellers in international film. He also makes hilarious Swedish commercials...

buckeyes