obama us and tattoos

The main reason is because our family is not giving gifts--yaay!!! Well, that isn't completely true. We did a grab bag name drawing thing where everyone buys one gift and gets one gift. The only immediate problem is that no one set a money limit on it, so the person who drew my name may be buying me a diamond necklace while I am out getting a schlocky oven mitt for someone else. This will have to be solved.



Meanwhile, I had a great time in Arkansas, as always. Here is my brother Brian (Big Orange) getting ready to sample that wine bottle. Yum. There was a good bit of that kind of sampling going on. The sous-chef Gretchen (d-i-l of Big Orange) and sous-sous chef (diamond necklace hopeful) tried to keep things organized.

The meal came out pretty good. Note sweet potato dish at far end placed near my seat at all times. My diet behavior was in a word, deplorable. Frankly, I should be taken outside and shot. My brother has a great big long granite island in the kitchen, big enough for a person to lie down on, and I suggested it could be used for liposuction. There's a garden hose outside and I'm sure we could have looked up the procedure on the internet. I even volunteered to go first. Buncha pansies.

My dad is 94 and doing okay. He doesn't hear well all the time and we sometimes have exchanges such as:

Becky: "Dad! Remember when you used to travel to Chicago on business?"

Dad: "I wear glasses about half the time."

So I guess we're in the holiday season, dear reader. Try to stay calm and keep the weapons stored safely.

A bientot

love,

becky

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First of all, nine weeks ago I started the Hamster Diet and this morning I officially have lost NINE POUNDS. I am thrilled.

Now that I've accomplished that, what am I doing? Heading off toward temptation, that's what. First, Arkansas for Thanksgiving, well known Velveeta and Cool Whip destination.
V and CW are ingested and enjoyed everywhere on this map. I will be landing in Little rock--see it? I may throw myself on top of a big slab of Velveeta right in the airport. You wouldn't want to miss it if you are in the area. Then I will be motoring to Hot Springs, down there in the lefthand corner. Excellent V cheese dip waiting and my sister-in-law's divine chili. She lets me take a container of CW to bed with me. She's awesome.

This is a picture of the Hot Springs observation tower, or maybe it's the water tower. I don't know what it is. You do see it on the horizon wherever you go. How this photographer did not manage to catch WalMart in the shot I don't know. It's very scenic in Hot Springs and the only bad thing is the preponderance of snakes. But I think they're all underground at this time of year. They have a den somewhere underneath and they all try to stand up and dance. It's pretty pitiful seeing snakes do that and I'm glad we can't.

In just a few weeks, after the semester is over and --gag gag--Christmas, I am going to....are you ready....wait for it...
ROMA!

This is not my hotel, by the way. I am very excited about this development and will have much more on the subject later. Have to dash now, though.

Cutie pie Molly goes to her first restaurant. She tried to order the tiramisu, but the waitress asked for ID.

Big sister Maeve gets in a few licks on the harmonica. Hey. Bob Dylan had to start somewhere.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader. A bientot

love,

becky

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It's only a matter of time until you're not a genius. Until people cringe at your decisions and say"what were we thinking when we conferred that title"?

Maybe if Professor Einstein had lived longer, he would have been revealed as something less than a genius--DID YOU SEE AL'S LATEST EXPERIMENT? HE SAYS THERE'S TEN PLANETS OUT THERE AND ALL OF THEM FLAT! COME ON BY AFTER LUNCH AND LET'S TAKE A LOOK!

So anyway, Coach Hoodie (as called by Dan Shaughnessy) gambled on the big time gutsy Bill Parcells type of move last night (going for it on fourth down, even though in own territory) and lost.

Hey, baby.
C'est la vie.
Ya win some, ya lose some.
Wassup?

It is such a pleasure to watch Brady and Manning. They are both cool customers. I used to hate Dan Marino, who would get red in the face and start lambasting his own players . He was one pissed off QB. These two are the direct descendants of all the other Great Ones, including Joe Montana, Brett Favre, and John Elway. (thanks to Boston Globe)

A number of decades ago, a college roommate and I drove in the middle of the night from Champaign, IL to Indianapolis in search of a friend we knew at Fort Benjamin Harrison. It was a foolhardy trip (the only kind we ever took). The car had no heat. The window wouldn't open. Something about the "rings" (?????) made it so that it consumed one or two quarts of oil on every outing. It had other problems as well, which were all on display during the drive. It was pitch black as we drove the flat landscape between Illinois and Indiana. I urged my friend to turn the car lights off now and then for a scary thrill. I'm not proud of this. Anyway, we ended up parked near the tall skinny monument in the middle of Indy, unsure where to go. A very unlucky police officer tried to help us, but we ended up confusing him.

"American fashion has a cretin look to it."

One more full week of school, dear reader, until Velveeta.

love,

becky

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At this time in the semester, I am deluged with excuses. Buried. Swamped. They (the authors)are always very sorry.

"Dear Professor Motew,
I am so sorry for missing class. I am extremely sorry to bother you. I am sorrier than I can say for my miserable existence.."
OKAY, OKAY, WE'RE SORRY. OUR HEADS ARE BOWED. GET ON WITH IT.
"I know I wasn't supposed to miss any more class, but when I woke up on Tuesday, I had terrible stomach pains and panic attacks. My roommate said I looked awful, although it could have been the fact that I was out till 4 and plastered out of my mind."
YES MAYBE IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT.
"I was wondering if you could tell me if I missed anything."
NO, YOU MISSED NOTHING. NOTHING OF THE LEAST VALUE WAS UTTERED IN CLASS. YOU WERE FAR BETTER OFF AT HOME HUNG OVER--AND MAY I USE THAT AS A BOOK TITLE?
"Is there any assignment?"
DO THE WORDS "CHECK THE SYLLABUS" MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT MEANS?
"Again I am very very sorry for all of this."
NO PROBLEM.

There are lots and lots of variations on this theme. Sometimes they say there has been a death in the family, but they don't say who it is. I don't mean to be rude, but this makes me wonder if it is the dog. Or they say they have "stuff" going on. Oh of course--stuff! Why didn't you say so?

"It was a wonderful accomplishment and to me felt like winning the gold metal."

"I was leaning over the bed in dyer pain."

[hairdressers experience this if a color goes really bad]

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Okay, so I'm pretty happy about the diet right this second. I lost another pound this week, bringing the grand total to 6 pounds in 6 weeks. I know that pace won't last. I know it from past experience, but it doesn't pierce the lovely glow I feel right now.

I also feel queasy, though. Why? See that picture above? That is from a tapas restaurant (I always think people are saying "topless" restaurant) where I am dining tonight. How will I possibly conquer this challenge? I don't dare drink any wine because tomorrow is my ballbuster schedule and there wouldn't be anything worse than trying to do it hung over. So no drinking, just supreme, arm-gnawing hunger. Oh well, it will be fun anyway.

A bigger challenge will be next weekend when I have to face Maeve's birthday cake.
Well, I will HAVE to have a small slice. I will. Let's just hope I don't pull a knife and demand the whole thing for myself.
Speaking of eating until one is sick, my yearly trip to Arkansas is coming up too and we all know what that means.
Yes that's right. And plenty of.......

I was listening to someone talking on Saturday night about the diet she's been on where she's lost 16 pounds in a month. I did not rush to choke her. I did not do anything unseemly. See? Now a man would have sat back in his chair and belched loudly to show editorial comment. It was belch-worthy too, but I did not.

I just wrote a chicken sex scene in my new book. In the interests of full disclosure, it's people having the sex and a chicken making an appearance. Sheesh, details, details.

I've been mesmerized by Mad Men lately until last night. No more Miss Farrell. How blah.

Monday seems like a good day to blog, dear reader. I will probably be doing that for a while.
A bientot
love,
Becky

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