Emily Strange was plagiarized

Wow. I love Emily. So sad that she is a rip off.

Glad someone noticed that this:

was stolen from this:

Nate the Great and the Lost List by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat is now on my request list at the library. It was published in 1978. From the research presented in the article I read, it seems that no one knows Emily was not an original creation. Sad. If this is true, I hope it is cleared up and the original author gets her dues. Just think of the thousands of girls who bought Emily paraphenilia at Hot Topic. Marjorie deserves a huge cut.

Thankful

We are supposedly in a recession. I can see the results in my bookings at work. This is a slow holiday season, but I am still getting paid commission versus $8 an hour, and for that I am thankful. My co-workers rock and I actually like going to work, for the most part.

I come home to a nice house, Stan and Noah happy to see me, and my little dog too. Having a loving, kind husband and amazing kid are the best parts of my life.

Sarah and Lori hang out with me every week, my sisters and Jesse are always on the phone or e-mail. I have Reade, John and so many other lovely people as my friends. I am grateful and humbled that such amazing people choose to spend their time with me. Thank you.

I have so many blessings that even the rough patches seem navigable. I'm not starry eyed, I'm just thankful.

For those of you who are retching at the sweetness of this post, thanks for making it to the end. This thanksgiving picture is for you. I titled it "Self-Brining."

Downy fabric softener uses animal fat. Ick.

For those of you who do not use organic (Method or 7th Generation for example) laundry products, now I think you will.

Mmm. . . cheeseburger fresh. The thought of my clothes covered in animal fat is not tasty. Not tasty at all.

Bedtime conversations with Noah

NOAH: . . . and then she said the A-word, B-word and F-word.
"Umm, what?" I think to myself.
ME: What is the A-word?
NOAH: Ass
Okay, it's what I expected.

ME: What is the B-word?
NOAH: Butt.
Whew. Not bitch, good. Now on to the final one. . .

ME: What is the F-word?
NOAH: Frow up.
ME: Frow up?
NOAH: Yeah.
ME: I think you mean "throw up."
NOAH: Oh, I guess it's the T-word then.

Gee, if only there was a website to give me ideas of what to do with tampons. . .

Oh, wait! There is!

I think my favorite (and by favorite, I mean most disturbing) is the bloody heart ear rings.


The description says: "These tampon heart earrings display both your romantic sentiments and your menstrual pride."

That's right: menstrual pride. I guess I'm supposed to be proud of my ability to bleed without wounding myself first. Go, uterus, go!

Oh, well, I'm off to make tampon ornaments. Now you know what you're getting for Christmas!

Mama's got two of em

Noah loves to read. He tries to read everything. Tonight I was checking up on my favorite blogs and from behind me a little voice started sounding out the title. "Bobs?" he said.

"Yes, Noah, it's Bobs" I said with a giggle, then a laugh.

He walked away, proud of himself. I know he can spell butt and a handful of it's synonyms, but thankfully, boobs is not yet on his radar. At least not this week. . .

Halloween, continued.

I know, I know, I am behind in blogging. What with still being on Halloween and all. Don't worry, I will get to the election (woo-hoo!) and Stan's birthday by Xmas, at the very latest.

On Halloween, the kids were asked to dress as a favorite storybook character. Skulls and vampires were not allowed, so Noah got costume #2: The Cat In The Hat.

Cutest Cat in the Hat EVER!

His best friend Alan was Batman.

His other best friend Emily was a snow princess. Her twin sister wore the same costume.

When we got home, Noah wanted a picture with our neighbor Bersi in his lion outfit.

Noah decided he didn't want to be a vampire for trick or treating. So here he is in costume #3: a hoodie that zips up to make a skull costume. He combined the skull vampire cape for a complete look and was off with the neighborhood posse to score a huge load of candy.

The Ulysses Kids.

There is one house a couple blocks away where the crazy lady puts weird things in her yard. See the manikin head in front of the window? It's always there, usually with a wig and hat on. Her lights are Halloween themed with 4th of July ribbons on them. Four years ago she had a Bush sign that was almost as big as her house. Scary!!! Anyhow, this is what she did for Halloween. Noah sat by her for a picture. It was creepy.

Noah sits with vintage serial killer, Mickie the Mouse.

It was a good night. A group of parents walked with the kids who literally ran from house to house to get the most candy in the allotted trick or treating period of time. A lot of people were out which made it more festive. It is rumored that one of the houses was giving out adult treats of jello shots for the parents. The idea is so amazing that we just might have to do that next year.

Happy Belated Halloween to all!