juliloquy

Oh come all ye faithful (you don't have to leave your car)

Saw this in the paper (click to embiggen).

Really, Maryland? A Drive-Through nativity scene?

Shepherds dropped what they were doing and herded their sheep through the sleepy streets of Bethlehem to see a little baby. Wise men traveled hundreds of miles through the desert by camel to set eyes on the Prince of Peace. And you can't leave the comfort of your freakin' car?

A view to da Roo

13 years to go, originally uploaded by augen.

Roo, you sure have a lot of personality packed into your 32 pounds. You are 3 and 1/6 years old.

One of my favorite things about you these days is your fake laugh. (Your natural laugh is great, too.) Your enthusiasm is unbounded.

You are a fashionista with definite Opinions about what to wear. Skirts are your favorite. I choose my battles. Good thing you have plenty of pairs of tights for these cold-weather days.

Pink is your favorite color, although in the past few weeks you've been making eyes at blue.

You love books, singing, and dancing. You have a stock repertoire of these oeuvres, but also make them up as you go.

You are hyperverbal. Beyond your academic smarts, you are endlessly curious about others' emotional states.

You talk to anyone and are generous with hugs. You are usually up for an adventure, but are an unapologetic homebody.

You admire and adore your big brother and are getting better and better at standing up for yourself.

My sweet girl. Your love cracks my heart open further with each day that passes. And there is always room for more.

Bideo

About a year ago, HPR and I got sucked into watching What Would Jesus Buy? (I had clicked on a link, not realizing it was a full-length video.) It was great. So if you have 91 minutes to spare, see below.

 

If you only have a minute and 47 seconds, then watch this:

 

decet

Ten years ago, in Pazardjik, Bulgaria, HPCPC* and I got together. We had gotten to know each other the previous weekend, celebrating Thanksgiving with a handful of other Peace Corps volunteers and several residents of Smilyan, the village where HPCPC was living. After a day or two of work at our sites, he and a couple of other volunteers crashed at my place en route to a training event. The next day, we all departed on the narrow gauge train to Bansko, which we subsequently named "The Love Train." (smooch smooch)

I'm looking forward to what the next several decades bring, HPR!

*Handsome Peace Corps Poster Child

what we did tonight

lights in the parkway # 12, originally uploaded by pammienderek06.

Went to Allentown's Lights in the Parkway.

Fun!

age progression

Shmoo receved his Kindergarten school photos! The older photo is from when he's about 2½.

Shmoo's happiest place on Earth

As we did last year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, here is where we spent the day.

We learned from our mistakes. This year, we were properly blood-sugared. It was awesome.

 

All in the Family

A couple days ago, I received this comment on an old blog post:

"I hope I'm not being too forward, but I was searching for information on my grandfather's uncle, the same Raymond Koppang who died on the Indianapolis, and came across the blog. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this would make us related, albeit distantly so. If you're at all curious, my grandfather is James Koppang."

I wrote to my mom right away to figure out what our connection was, and then back to the commentor, David. His grandfather, James, is my mom's first cousin. (James' father, Glen was the eldest sibling, Raymond was the middle child, and Mom's mom, Helen, was the youngest.) And now David and I are facebook friends. I peeked at the other Koppangs whom David is friends with, and I can see a hint of family resemblance. It's kind of mind blowing.

And I still highly recommend the book about the Indianapolis.

 

fowl

Elsewhere I pointed out that I find it a bit disturbing that Woodstock eats turkey in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." I learned that a friend's parrot loves chicken.

Related:

Oh Richard Scarry, I love you, but. um. Maybe that's just the way they rolled in the sixties.

And an aside. How cool is it that someone recreated the Peanuts Thanksgiving menu?

(Photo from here.)

Promtacular

I think I never announced on my blog that I submitted my prom photo to Promtacular, which is basically Cakewrecks meets Awkward Family Photos in dyed-to-match shoes. My photo was featured back in February. Kristy entitled it "Prom on the Dairy Farm" although we all know my date and I both lived in the metropolis of Minot, ND. We were city kids, dammit!