Last nite something strange happened to our Tivo, and it is not working now. It is really amazing how much your life can be thrown into havoc by not having an appliance that you've come to rely on.

We've had the Tivo about 3+ years I think and we basically don't watch regular (live) TV anymore. All of Little P's shows are recorded and the shows we watch are recorded too. It's such a convenience because we don't have to worry about commercials or having him see other shows we don't want him to see.

I'm sure it will be fixed soon enough ~ but in the meantime we are missing it.

Your turn: What appliance or electronic "convenience" items would you miss in your daily routine?

Turning the clocks back, trick-or-treating, and having a burst of great weather after such a long stretch of rain. The planets must be lining up right today!

Tomorrow is the last day in our marathon series of Halloween events. It's been fun and Little P has had a blast being Puss-in-Boots. But all the running around is tiring and, like returning from a vacation, it will be nice to resume our "regular" schedules again.

Best wishes to Jen and RJP who are resuming / starting jobs tomorrow! Let us know how it goes - you are in our thoughts!

Little P wanted Gromit on his pumpkin so I did the best I could :)

If you're not yet familiar wtih Wallace and Gromit, click here for more about the movie Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

If you're looking for something to do with those seeds, here's a recipe I use that works well:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1 pinch salt

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2 Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.

I have been craving this for three (3) days. Maybe I will break down and get some this weekend. Mmmmm

Time to chat about this week's episode!

Who wasn't shocked this week when The Donald fired four (4) people? Wow!

I am so glad that whiney Jennifer is gone, and so happy that he sent my current favorite Rebecca up to the suite. Did you see how she sold -the most- items? Given her setback with the broken bone (is it her ankle?) I have to give that woman snaps!

Next week has to be interesting - are they going to remix the teams? I keep waiting for the ball to drop on the ex-stripper in the boardroom (I read this was going to happen in TV Guide).

Now for the snarky stuff ... did Caroline's hair look at little better in the boardroom?

With all the Halloween activities I have going this week I am a little frazzled to say the least.

Last night I had the weirdest dream. I went to the deli to get lunch meat (which I almost never do by the way - honestly!) and ordered the most bizarre triple-striped meat. It was like beef or pickle loaf in one stripe, some kind of cheese in the second, and ham in the third? Ewwwwww!

It cost something like $7.00 a pound and then the deli dude told me it was FREE if I bought the fruit that went with it. I can't even begin to think what this might mean in dream-theory?

After the Halloween party tomorrow things should go back to normal - I hope.

Your Turn: Share a strange dream -you've- had recently!

I'm a little behind on this news ... but I was e-mailed the link to the USA Today article and wanted to share.

Here's the gist -- Starbucks will start putting quotes on their coffee cups this year. One of the quotes they will use is a quote from Christian writer Rev. Rick Warren. The full quote is:

You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your real purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance and our destiny.

Here is a link to the full article on USA Today I'm not sure which part of the quote will be used? From reading the article, depending on which piece they use, I don't think their intent is to hide basic message.

This is definitely an interesting marketing move by Starbucks. If you look at the steps that Starbucks has taken to make their logo more politically correct over the years, this almost seems contradictory.

That's not to say I'm against it ... I always like things that make me think. I hope that they have chosen even more thought-provoking quotes. I may have to get my courage up and learn how to order coffee there just to see what the cups say!

Now your turn: How does it make you feel to see quotes like this on merchandise like food and clothing? Would you applaud the company for giving a voice to someone? Or do you prefer to get your items without any messages attached?

We got our second set of pumpkins at a farm near Little P's preschool on Friday. For fun, they had a bunch of pumpkins that local kids had decorated (but not carved). I thought this one was pretty original.

More rain? The weather people are forecasting a Nor'easter is heading our way. This rain is driving me nuts. I hope the weather improves so that the kiddies can go Trick-or-Treating next weekend.

Speaking of which, we have a busy schedule this week with spooky activities. We have something going everyday after Tuesday - thinking about all the running around scares me!

If I'm not blogging much you can just guess I'm off recovering, or picking candy-corns out of my teeth, or whatever!

Your turn: What is your favorite Halloween candy?

Saturday night (10/22) we had a wedding to go to, and as schedules turned out, Memere and Pepere weren't available to sit for Little P as they usually do. Although he is four years old, last night was the first time he has stayed with a non-family member babysitter.

Luckily, Little P is at a great age now where he is so verbal and smart that I knew he would be able to answer any questions the sitter had. He also has a great personality and is not overly shy or withdrawn so I knew if I found the right sitter he would be fine. (At least that's what I kept telling myself.)

When we left I felt they were comfortable with each other and I had left her tons written information and instructions so she would be all set. We were gone about 4 hours and I managed to call just one time. She called me once because she had a question about the DVD. For a first-time for all of us I think it went great!

Little P was just a little worried she was going to leave when he went to bed and he would be home alone. So she explained that I had gone to get her and so I had to bring her home and he was all set after that. He was still awake when we got home so we went in to see him.

"Thanks for coming home. I love you." he said.

This morning Little P said "it was great" when I asked him how it went last night. Happy day!

I finished this book back in late August, so if I forget anything in my summary, let me know and I'll try to comment. Of course if you haven't read the book or started the series, please don't read this summary! It will really ruin it for you IMO.

Like so many other readers, I am looking forward to Book 7 to see if my theories are correct. It makes it unnerving to have to wait, but is sort of fun at the same time!

Your turn: Post your thoughts and theories on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

My Thoughts
First of all I have to say that when I was reading it and I got to the Dumbledore death scene, I just had to stop reading that night. It was so close to the end, and I would have liked to finish, but I was so upset initially on reading this. I remember turning to P Daddy at the time and just saying " Dumbledore just died."

I think it's a real testament to JK Rowling's writing that she was able to create a character who's death would effect me (and I believe others) like that!

After I continued to read the book, and got over the initial shock of that death scene, I thought about everything more. By the time I finished the book the things I was sure about were:

(1) Dumbledore was not dead

(2) Snape was not evil

Dumbledore has been such an amazing authority throughout the series, speaking with wisdom and intelligence so many times that I couldn't bring myself to believe that he would have been tricked by the Death Eaters (and Snape).

So I began to look at Snape's actions toward Harry more closely and decided that although it appeared to Harry that Snape was pursuing him at the end, he was in fact protecting Harry. Because honestly Snape had proven that he could out-wizard Harry before. So if he really wanted to "do him in" I believe he would have.

The "unbreakable vow" Snape made with Bellatrix and Narcissa is a little sticky for me. I believe he didn't make the vow when they did it so he is not held accountable to it. But again I am not sure of the details of this or how he got out it?

Then I thought more about Snape's behavior in the other books. Clearly Snape has a dislike for Harry but I don't think he has ever been deliberately harmful to him. He's pushed him and berated him, but hurt him? I can't remember that he has.

In fact the person (outside of Voldamort) who was the cruelest to Harry (IMO) was Dolores Umbridge. In Book 5, she banned him from quidditch and then forced him to carve “I must not tell lies” into the back of his hand until he bleeds. Truly gruesome.

Back to Book 6. The whole end part with the funeral etc. was probably staged using some magic that Dumbledore and Snape had planned. I'm not sure about the exact details on how they did it -- waiting for Book 7 to reveal all those answers.

So I was all set with the end of Book 6 having hope that Dumbledore would return in Book 7 and we would learn about Snape's true role as a helper.

More Theorizing with P Daddy
Then I talked to P Daddy. He agreed with me about Dumbledore and Snape.

P Daddy explained further that Dumbledore had transfixed Harry during the big death scene to prevent Harry from interfering in Snape and Dumbledore's plan. Had Harry not been frozen, he would surely have tried to save Dumbledore.

Then he explained about Dumbledore telling Malfoy repeatedly that there was "another way" to solve the problem. I think Dumbledore knew this stand-off was coming having watched Malfoy during the year, and worked with Snape to plan a real defense against the dark arts.

Then P Daddy explained one big gap that I could not fill in.

Snape has issues with Harry because Snape was involved in a love triangle with James and Lily Potter. Lily married James, who was Snape's arch rival, but Snape continued to love her secretly.

When they died, Snape's love for Lily made him want to protect Harry in her memory. However, through the other books, we have heard countless times how much Harry reminds people of his father. What torture that is for Snape to see - a living memory of his own failure at winning Lily's love. But remember that Snape has his mother's eyes. So there is that there too.

In his wisdom, Dumbledore knows this about Snape and this is why he trusts him so much around Harry.

Questions I Still Have:

• The spellbook Harry was using was Snape's originally? What does this have to do with the story? Book 6 was named "Half Blood Prince" after the author of the spellbook so I feel like I am missing some key piece of information there?

Today we woke up to the first frost! How exciting -- this is really one of my favorite times of the year. The crisp cold in the air is so invigorating and such a fresh start to each new day. From the looks of the trees near us, the fall foliage must be very close to its peak despite the heavy rains we have getting.

Later today we are going to get our second set of pumpkins (the first set is rotting). Hoping to get those carved this weekend.

Click below for my thoughts on this week's episodes of Lost, Apprentice, and Inked.

Lost

Good show this week. I always like the ones with Jin and Sun (sp?). Does anyone know what Jin said to Michael near the end when Michael decided to go with him and Mr. Echo? It was very hard for me to figure out despite multiple playbacks.

I was talking with a friend about the show and they said something that I thought was interesting about Kate. Kate likes Sawyer because he represents what she is, and Jack because he represents what she would like to be. Made me think for a few minutes anyway.

Now we have two weeks without Lost! Thinking there's gonna be some withdrawals going on there ...

Apprentice

All I can say is Thank God that annoying Kristi is gone! She was so getting on my nerves. I think Miss Former-Beauty-Queen Jennifer M. better watch out though. Hello girl - can you pronounce the name of the product (movie) correctly? Once?

I think at this point I am liking Rebecca who seems very mature and "with it" for her age (23) and definitely Randal. He sure sized up the situation at Capital Edge quickly!

Inked

For the record, P Daddy cannot figure out why I love this show so much. (ha ha) This week was a great show too. I was so shocked to see Carey without his shirt! Who knew he had all those tattoos? He is a mean dirt biker too. It's nice to see a little more about him for a change. He certainly has it together for someone who came from a difficult start. Do you think that is what bonds Thomas and Carey? They both have that in common. BTW two thumbs wayyyy up for the team and helping the kids at Ronald McDonald house !

I am hosting playgroup for Little P's friends next week so of course that has me all stressed out. Gotta get the snacks, clean the house, before etc.

Then of course, being Halloween I wanted to do something special for the kids.

I saw this craft and thought it was super cute! I hope they all like the puppets as much as Little P does.

Sorry I forgot to write what the puppets are made of! They are made of that foamy stuff you get at the craft store (boy does it smelllll when you cut it) I just free-handed the shapes and cut them out, and used Sharpies for the drawn-on designs.

I've been going to The Baker's Rack regularly enough now to feel comfortable saying I'm a regular reader.

Great recipes and photos too! Although I love the time I have with Little P, I miss baking because I enjoy it a lot. It really makes me wish I had more time in the day to do both!

Your turn to comment: what do you wish you had more time to do?

Halloween is next week and before you know it -- it's Thanksgiving, and we are right in the middle of the holiday rush.

We have already started receiving our share of catalogs and holiday-issue magazines, giving us all sorts of things to add to our holiday "wish lists."

As I reviewed this year's picks by Family Fun for the top toys for the holiday season I was seriously disappointed. I have enjoyed this magazine for a while (since I graduated from the baby-focus mags) and was shocked to see them endorsing Star-Wars themed toys.

Studies show us that children are witnessing and experiencing violence at home, in school, or on the streets and this is scarring. As parents, souldn't we be focused on reducing the number of violent toys we give them to play with? Why introduce them to toys that are from a movie that is too violent for preschool children anyway?

As a study project, I stopped by my local Barnes & Noble store and checked out the top picks from other kid mags (like Child and Parenting, and Dr Toy's list). None had the Star Wars toys. In fact, they had more generic toys that encouraged children to use their creativity and imagination.

Dr Toy has some great questions parents should ask when considering buying a toy including:

• Will the product help expand creativity?

• Will the toy help nurture childhood?

• What will the toy teach?

IMO Family Fun should have considered these things a little more in making their list. I am interested to receive my December issue to see what readers have to say about the toy picks.

Your turn to weigh in. Do you:

(a) use the toy pick lists as a guide for your shopping -- experts know what is best for children after all?

(b) ignore them - you know what's best for your child?

For those of you who are all set on costumes and have loads of free time (remind me again what that is?) and are looking for a craft for Halloween ... I found this on Craftser.org - I think it rocks!

Dracula Soap Dispenser

Did you catch this week's shows? Click below ...

Lost
I really felt sort of ripped off by this week's episode. I kept waiting for something big to happen and it just never did. You know? There didn't even seem to be a -lot- of new information. Did anyone else feel this way?

On the up side ... it's nice to learn that "the others" weren't really "the others" but were the "back of the plane people." And it's nice to learn that Rose's husband is alive.

But that bossy/leader type girl is going to irritate me though because she already has.

How were we supposed to feel at the end? I just didn't feel like it hit me like it was meant to. Inked on the other hand ...

Inked

Okay this was a total tear-jerker for me. Thomas !! I hope you made the right decision.

   Too many apples

+ Too much rain
----------------------
   Apple Pie

This is the tart I made. It came out okay I think. I had a little pie dough left over and Little P was interested in making his own tart, so how could I refuse?

This is his mini-tart. It was about 5" across. He was so proud of his creation!

In this wet wet wet weather we decided to get out and meet one of Little P's friends for lunch and to burn off some energy at a Burger King. On the way there we drove by a McDonald's (of course).

As you remember from a while ago, Little P has given up eating at the golden arches Don't ask me how Burger King is okay ... but it works for me.

So we are driving by and this is what happens.

Little P: McDonald's should change their song.
Diva P: Oh? To What?
Little P: Ba Da Ba Ba Baaa - Not Cuttin' It.

Made me giggle all the way to Burger King.

I'm a closet SVU junkie. Okay. I admit it. I've been Tivo-ing it and watching it pretty regularly now before bedtime. Yeah - you're right it accounts for some interesting scary dreams.

The show I watched last night involved some teenagers who exchanged threatening e-mails. At one point in the story the investigators and lawyers didn't know what the acronym LMAO meant. It was used by the teens in some e-mails they had written.

So it made me wonder ... if you're a parent, and not that computer savvy, how do you really know what your kids are saying? How do you protect your children when you don't know what they are doing?

I wonder these things sometimes which makes me Google ...

A while ago I found a list of chat acronyms to help parents know what their kids were saying in chat rooms, PDAs, text messages etc. on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website.

I was so happy at the time that a tool would be available like this for parents would might otherwise be clueless. Then I looked at the list. LMAO is not even on there. C'mon people it is such a basic chat acronym that it used on TV (and explained!) Instead they have LMSO (laughing my socks off) I have literally -never- seen that used in a chat environment.

I guess if you are a parent and you want to know the real chat acronyms, go to NetLingo or somewhere else.

If you have a good resource for chat acronym meanings, post it here so others can benefit!

I thought this would be fun. I will post a picture... then other people will play off of my picture! Find something that I have in my picture that is similar to your pic.

Here's my first photo (I thought it was fitting being from "Cow" Hampshire):

Now you post a photo that has something in common with this photo. (for example: a cow, trees, ice cream) Be creative! Post the photo with a link (or trackback) to this one.

Subsequent photos can also be "uno'd"

Warning: This can be habit-forming.

Today I was feeling -very- sick.
Then I got the happiest surprise in the mail!
Thank you to my special angel friend who sent it to me!
You made my day.

If you haven't seen the epsiodes yet, you may find out more than you want to. You've been warned, click below to read more.

Lost
Another good episode, lots of information on Locke and his gf Helen that he talked about wayyyyy back in the beginning of the show.

Jack's getting a little tense don't you think? And in RL Jack's getting a little overexposed IMO. It seems I see him a lot on magazines and shows etc.

So the new girl went over to the dark side and is partnering with "The Others" - or is she? Will she eventually turn on them too?

Post your thoughts ...

Inked
Thomas and Lucky - okay it was about breaking my heart. First someone should have a sit-down with Thomas. Doesn't that boy know that his son would benefit -most- from having his Dad around? It's not the money Thomas, its being with you that matters to him.

Glad they booted Huntington and kept the shop.

So much to say today! Today is Dine for America Day. If you eat out at a participating restaurant, they will donate percentage of their proceeds from the day to the relief effort for Katrina.

Find a restaurant near you on the Dine for America website

Mark your calendars!

Life is Good Pumpkin Festival 2005
October 22, 2005
Noon - 8:00 pm
Boston Common ~ Boston, MA

Another pumpkin festival - this time by one of my absolute favorite companies -- Life is Good.

All profits generated from this festival will benefit Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life threatening illnesses and their families.

Consider going if you have the date free. It should be a great time! Click here for more information

Some boys love Spiderman. Some love Superman. Well, Little P has a fascination with Puss in Boots (PIB). It started with Shrek 2 and has certainly grown into something more.

He comes up with incredible stories about PIB, weaving all sorts of other characters into them now. The snag is that he likes to tell the stories to his animals in his bed at nap time ... but if I can keep that to a minimum life is good.

The stories are actually pretty interesting to listen to (provided you have the patience) because they give insight as to what's going on in that mind of his which I am convinced holds a whole lot more that he lets on.

I've been spending the last several days mostly at home trying to rest with this stomach thing and in the process of cleaning out a closet got to hear some great details about the Puss stories.

Here is a run-down on the cast of characters:

Puss in Boots (PIB): the hero

Policeman "News": PIB's grandfather, he takes care of Puss and gives him sparkles when he is a good listener.

Marty the Zebra: Not a good guy. Very jealous of PIB. Always doing the wrong thing. Examples: throws food, is silly during prayer, hits. His parents never get him any toys.

Jasmine: The princess that lives in the castle. She is going to marry PIB but Marty wants to marry her.

It makes me smile to see how Little P has processed all the lessons we are teaching him into these tales he creates.

BTW, guess what Little P is going to be for Halloween? And what princess does he want -me- to be?

After waiting for almost the entire morning for the grey to go away, the sun finally came out and Little P and I were itchin' to go outside.

So we went on a little nature walk to get some exercise and let some energy out. Here is a pic I took today of a remaining flower in my front garden:

By the way (BTW) if you happen to visit the blog over the next few days and it's all really messed up, there were some changes made on the server side that have been causing me problems and stress! I'll try to get it fixed ASAP. Thanks for your patience, and a big thank-you to the support team from the server place who has quick turn-around to my issues!

I am so lovin' this site for Little P right now:

EekoWorld - PBS Kids

Great info - fun graphics - cool games! What's not to love? If they put it into a pint and froze it I think it would be called Ben & Jerry's (wink)

I've been feeling poorly lately after I eat and went to see the doctor about it last week. Today I went for an ultrasound as a precaution to make sure there weren't any bad creatures that had taken up residence inside my upper abdomen.

As I was getting ready for it, I got to thinking that the last time I had an ultrasound was when I was expecting Little P. Today's ultrasound was a lot different than those from 4 years ago. Lots of pushing and prodding. The ultrasound techs (correct term?) seemed very pleased to be able to see all my organs at the same time on the monitor ... lucky for me I am built compactly.

The result was that everything is a-okay. Super healthy looking gall bladder, pancreas, etc.

So I think I will be asking for another visit to the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor for more anti-backflux (acic) meds. For those of you who remember wayyyy back to April, I blogged about some meds I was given then that helped me. I think what's happening now is more of the same of that.

Days like this make me so glad to be the one going thru this and not have to watch Little P going thru it. My heart goes out to all parents who have children who are chronically sick.

Lost

I actually kind of liked it better not knowing what was in the hatch

Well now we know that there is a person in the hatch. But who is it? Is it Jack's half-brother?

I am VERY disappointed with Charlie.

Don't sell crack-boy short too soon. He hasn't done the deed yet you know. He may still surprise us. Maybe by some bizarre twist of fate the baby will need a crack fix. Oh yeah - for teething. That's it. Woot - now I'll get hate mail for supporting crack as a teething soother ROFL.

Apprentice

Can we all say in honesty how much better the women's team's presentation was this week? OMG. They so hands-down won the challenge. I think George summed it up best when he said the men lost it on the tarmat. They were just overly cocky and sold themselves on their ideas which really weren't that good.

BTW ... I think Caroline should go back to last season's hairstyle even if people did say she looked like Princess Diana. That's not a bad thing is it?