Potatoes in the Mist

I feel like blogging, but I have no overarching topic, so this is kind of a premature Tuesday twelve/Thursday thirteen. We had Thanksgiving at my in-laws'. My MIL made two chocolate Statues of Liberty as centerpieces. Upon hearing that the statue contained rum, my SIL became excited and broke it in half (to get to the rum). Unfortunately, the rum had been soaked up by the chocolate. I met one of those foxy dogs (you know, the ones that look like foxes) and found out he was 15 years old. I told him he was an elder statesman. I read Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi recently. Although the premise might strike you as ultra-depressing -- it's the story of her great-uncle, whose wife broke his tar (lute); he couldn't find a replacement, and ended up starving himself to death -- it was really a beautiful story. I also love the way she draws. She did a really cool thing in this book where she put the flashback panels in black with white ink (instead of the other way around). T...

The answer is: hair. This year was our turn to have Thanksgiving with the in-laws (next year we'll be in Massachusetts with my brother's mother-in-law's fabulous pumpkin pie, with brandy in the filling). Anyway, D has two male cousins. One of them has told us in the past, "It would take a weed whacker" to cope with his body hair. So both of them took off their shirts and we compared. It was determined that M was hairier than J; M's chest and back hair was denser, while J's was more artfully distributed. J even had "eagle tufts," small puffs of hair on his shoulders. How hairy is your man? (Or woman.)

Just spent the day in Philadelphia. I had a good time with D's cousin's daughter, Dalia. She came in, looking shy around all the big scary people (I felt the same) so I whisked her to the hall, where we played with her Little Mermaid doll and talked. In case you're wondering, the doll has detachable red hair, a small purple bra and a turquoise-green sea tail. I wondered if Little Mermaid can switch hair colors...why make it detachable, after all? Dalia explained, "Belle has brown hair, Cinderella has blonde hair and Snow White has black hair." I now consider myself an expert. At any rate, I tickled her at dinner and felt a small protuberance on her belly. She has an outie! D asked me if I knew any adults with outies, and I could remember a childhood friend who had one. I don't know if she still does. And so, I ask...do you have an innie or an outie, and has it always been that way? :)