happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Yesterday afternoon I took the boys over to Bethany's house for a marathon baking session. They were really into it; check out the flour all over Henry! (How did he get it on his eyelid?!)

Today I am thankful for aunts who welcome me to share wifi on zero notice, parents who come and pick up my kids so they can spend the day at the farm, nieces who delight me by sharing my not-quite-normal sense of humor and appropriate communication, sisters who let me vent, dogs who are complete assholes sometimes ... and YOU. I’m always thankful for you.

collagen disaster

This morning, three things happened simultaneously: I tried to end a call with a customer service person (apparently my legos were sent from Poland and are stuck at customs); an Amazon delivery person rang the doorbell, causing the dogs to completely lose any pretense of chill they might have had; and the power went out because we’re in the middle of a very high wind event. So I set the Amazon box on the stairs behind me and went to get my laptop to see if the boys could help me set up a wifi hotspot so I wouldn’t have to miss any part of my work shift. Eventually, I called Laura, and she had power, so we ended up rushing over to her house.

I came home about an hour ago because power was restored. The trash and recycling bins were open and laying askew in the flowerbed, so I hauled them into the garage. But the real fun started when I came inside.

This is what came in my Amazon package.
Sixteen ounces of collagen powder.

Library, first sign of a problem.
Thunder plays innocent.

Office. Oh shit. Dogs hiding somewhere.

Living room. Piles of collagen all over the floor.
A mighty battle was fought here.

Pluto: I'm sorry, Holli. I know we did a bad thing and now
you're stressed and have to clean this all up.
Thunder: CHEESE!

For the record, when collagen gets wet (say, from dog slobber), it makes a nice thick paste that works its way into carpet fibers. Impossible to just vacuum up. So even after cleaning, we have these gross stiff areas in the carpet, and I never want to walk barefoot in my house again. The end.

tufted titmouse

I love that we have lived in this house for a year and a half (WOW does time fly!) and we are still spotting new (to us) birds. Today's first-time visitor was the tufted titmouse. They're quick little birds, so it took a few tries to get good pictures, but I finally got some. Behold!

crane weekend

Welp, I might have picked a bad weekend to see the sandhill cranes at Jasper-Pulaski State Fish & Wildlife Area, but that didn't stop me from trying ... twice. Saturday morning, Max got up with me to see the sunrise, but it was pretty foggy and very cold. There were still plenty of birds (and deer!), but they were kind of far away and the conditions just weren't right. BUT we met up with my parents afterward for breakfast at Christo's, so the morning was definitely not a loss.

Yesterday, I talked Mike into going back with me to try to catch the cranes at sunset. It started raining when we were on the road, which probably was a sign that we were wasting our time, but then we saw a broad-winged hawk in a tree, just hanging out getting rained on, so that seemed like a sign that we should press on. So we did. Again, not great conditions. It kept threatening to clear up, but never actually delivered. Oh well. Any weekend with this much bird viewing is a good weekend, no matter how the pictures turn out!

he's helping

Listen, all I wanted to do was watch the impeachment hearings while working on my laptop in the living room. Thunder thought he would help by sticking his big head on my shoulder and just ... leaving it there for a while.

snow birds

Well, the snow has arrived, but the birds were still pretty active. In order: house finch, white-crowned sparrow, black-capped chickadee, male cardinal, downy woodpecker, blue jay, blue jay quartet (!!), dark-eyed junco, female cardinal, white-breasted nuthatch.

before the snow

Lots of birds out and about today, getting ready for winter weather to finally arrive.

snow queens

Today Liam and I went to see Kelsey and Emma star in the musical The Snow Queen. Liam found a tiny hat in the parking lot and made me circle back so he could get it and wear it for the performance. What a goofball! Kelsey and Emma did a wonderful job, and there were tons of family members in the audience to support them.