Slush puppies, ooowwweee boy that brings back memories! You don't see those round these parts any more, but it was a big deal to get those at the corner market as a kid. I'm doing a 5K this weekend for the American Heart Association. Mommy asked me to do Race for the Cure next week, but then she backed out; I'm still considering it. We'll see how I fare after this weekend. I just realized, I had two activities planned for the same slot. Oops! I was planning on finally finally taping up the boxes I moved to go in mom's attic at the same time as the AHA thing. Guess that will have to wait until Sunday afternoon. I'm raring to get my place in order now as I am finished perusing boxes and boxes of old papers in order to prepare for court. I feel a great weight lifted and am in the home stretch for all the tasks that were piled on me, almost exactly, two years ago. October 19, 2008 is when the world came crashing down. Two semesters of school still left, house with doors missing, holes in teh floor, holes in the ceiling, finances in shambles... and becoming a single parent. That one was actually easier. He said/she said is no fun for a kid! The budget is great working order, which positions me to pay off all remaining debts (lab charges for medical work done and the lawyer) and can begin to sock away money for Christmas and next year's summer camp. Hurray! The grocery list ready with menus tantalizing my taste buds. Soups are on the docket. Have a hearty veggie, chicken, and barley soup in the fridge right now. In a couple of weeks we'll go back to the farmers market and buy a pumpkin for the door stoop. And gourds. The most gorgeous gourds!!! They're wearing frilly ruffled dresses. The wreath with golden, red, and orange leaves, sprinkled with apples is hung on the door. The tree in the drive is leafless. All the trees around here are losing leaves or have golden leaves. The reds and oranges have yet to show up. Seems like there is lore which says if you have a really wet spring, the fall colors are better. Let's see what a flood does to the trees. Speaking of the flood, the Grand Ole Opry is back up and running. The hotel decimated near the Harpeth River is back up and running. And the Opryland Hotel is slated to reopen within 6 more weeks. Yahoo! The last day for getting a tax break on new appliances and materials is over. Nashville is almost mended. I've become very tenderhearted for those who experience flood. I'd never been through it, but when I see scenes of that happening other places, be it in Iowa or the east coast (currently), I cry; it's so awful. I'm betting there will be a lot of Thanksgiving tables surrounded with loads of folk who are mighty grateful this year. I know I will! and not just for the delicious food.

Thank you all so much! This was so helpful. A lot of the great ideas had to be ruled out right away, however, because there was no chance for a trip to the store. The sink backed up the night before, so I had to have a plumber in - oh, and the builder was already there to re-anchor the dishwasher so we could use it. I couldn't cook while they were working, obviously, so I cleaned the house -- the housecleaner had called at 9:00 a.m. and cancelled because her uncle died -- and set the table then. As soon as they left, I had to go across town to get my laptop fixed. One of those days! Good thing I'd done most of the cooking already. Luckily, I had a box of Trader Joe corn & roasted pepper soup in the pantry, and it was parve. So I just heated it in the MW and gave her that when we had matzo ball soup. I didn't put out anything extra for her while we were standing around having chopped liver, and that was fine -- the other girls weren't much interested in it anyway. The evening was a success, and I didn't feel like a bad hostess or as if this drew focus. Thank you all so so so much for rallying to my aid and giving me confidence. I always feel like you are right there with me!

Dani, I agree with you and the others about Nicole Kidman. I remember her when she first turned up with Tom Cruise. That curly red hair! And I could swear the first photo I saw of her showed her pregnant. Some months later the two of them were on Mike Douglas's show (I think . . . or maybe Merv Griffin), and when he asked if they planned to have a baby, Tom and Nicole exchanged a certain look. She was so much more animated then, so much more natural. These days she looks uncomfortable no matter what she's doing. She said in an interview that she doesn't have much sexual confidence. That seemed ludicrious at the time (she had just made that weird movie with her husband--I forget the name, but it was a biggie), but since then from what I've seen of her I can believe it.

Kswl - Our kids did Irish dance but their instructor always made a point of differentiating the spelling between ceilidh and ceili. He said that Ceildhi is Scottish Gaelic while Ceili is Irish Gaelic. They both have the same pronunciation and meaning. I wonder if it might be a regional thing - we're just outside Philadelphia. We recently attended a small Feis to watch my niece and afterwards we thoroughly enjoyed the evening ceili - as the Irish would say it was great craic. And speaking of bagpipes - DD went to Columbia and one year I happened to take a day trip into the city to spend the afternoon with her and attend a Broadway matinee. How thrilling to find out that I had stumbled onto the Tartan Day Parade. That was in 2002 and Sean Connery was the Grand Marshall. This year's parade is on Saturday, April 11 and Graham McTavish (Outlander) has the honor. I'd love to go for the parade again. There's something about pipes and drums that stirs my soul. DS married a lass who was Scottish and all her relatives came to the wedding in their Prince Charlie jackets and Crawford tartans. Unfortunately the bagpiper who was to pipe the wedding party into the reception canceled at the last minute. The string quartet was lovely but nearly as exciting. It sounds like you have thought of everything. I hope your party is a huge success and that the weather cooperates too. Have you watched the documentary "Jig" - about the Irish Dancing World Championship?