Thursdays are my days to stay home in the morning and take the hypermuffin to gymnastics class. After I drop her off at home with Andrew and the baby, I drive to the Park'n'Ride and take the express bus to downtown Seattle.

Today as I was looking at the wall with the electronic bus schedule display, I looked down and saw a lime on the sidewalk. A whole, unblemished lime. It must have fallen out of someone's grocery bag. So I picked it up and put it in my lunch bag.



Not the actual lime...

but clearly a close relative

What does this mean? Is there symbolism around tasting of a forbidden lime, a la the apple or the pomegranate? If I eat of this, am I doomed to be tart for the rest of my life??

What would Jung say about finding a lime and bringing it home with one? And more importantly -- what say you, O Internet? I ask you a simple question: What, oh what should I do with it now?

Poll #1196086 Arrr, it be a scurvy poll what ye be seein'
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What to do with the lime?

See if you can follow the complex chain of events that occurred yesterday, leading to me posting an amusing poll this morning. :-)

Getting together my list of perfume samples to order from Black Phoenix. They sell 6 sample vials for $19.50. Ouch. (I've found reviews, though, that say even a tiny vial will last a long time, so... Anyway, it's cheaper than flying to California to test them in person during the rare times their brick-and-mortar store is even open. And if there's a similar place here in Seattle, I'd love to hear about it, but so far I haven't heard of one.)

So, 6 scents for $20. I don't want to expand to 12 scents unless a few other people are also interested and willing to kick in $10 for three vials of their own. We could have a smelling party! :-)

Any opinions?

FACT 1: My company Christmas party is this Thursday at the Lake Union Crew Rowing Club. I don't believe we'll be, you know, rowing or anything. I think we'll be wearing nice clothes and milling around enjoying canapes and the open bar.

Two years ago I stunned everyone by showing up looking greater than they'd ever thought I could look. A sad testament to the usual drabness of my office attire, I fear. Still, I enjoyed the glamourous feeling so much that I am tempted to try to outdo myself this year.

I have a red plaid party dress I bought over the summer that I have never worn, but I have no shoes to go with it. Sadness!

I'm not at the level of some people at our company, who have been worrying about what to wear for awhile and who were apparently considering all showing up in matching colors. Yeesh. Still, I would like to put my best foot forward, just to prove that even a 30-something mom of two can look smokin' when she feels like it. ;-)

FACT 2: Some friends are hosting a Yule vigil, starting at sundown on Friday and going all night, until the sun comes up Saturday. I am seriously considering swinging by for a few hours after the girls go to bed Friday night; Andrew will be running his "Harmonium" game, but I can duck out of that without much trauma.

People who hold Yule vigils are, as a rule, non-conformist and anti-establishment and just interesting to hang out with. More materially, they almost always have extensive liquor collections, and it's pretty much my sworn duty to go investigate that to the full extent of my investigatory ability.

I turn to you for help, O Internets! What should I weeeeeeeeeeear to my various functions???

Poll #1107243 Help Catherine Look Fab
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What should Catherine wear to the company party?

OK, now what should Catherine wear for the Yule thingie?

You may have noticed, being of keener mind than I, that Halloween would be this week. Did you notice? Did you?

I attended a Halloween party on Saturday night. I had a costume for the wren. I had a costume for the hypermuffin. I even threw together a few things I'd bought from work and called it a costume for myself. We carved jack-o-lanterns. And today there was a Halloween office party at my work.

To those who are mentally alert, these are all fairly obvious clues that it's Halloween.

Yet I find myself approaching 4:00 PM on Halloween itself, just now realizing for the first time that I have not bought candy for trick-or-treaters.

How did this happen? Never mind that -- the better question is, what do I give them?

I'm not going to give out diapers, chewed-up books, too-small baby clothes, or toys covered in drool, even though I have copious supplies of all those things. Aren't I considerate?

So, the question is, if you were a kid showing up at my door, which lame candy substitute would you prefer?

Poll #1080734 Halloween Candy Subsitute Poll
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Which lame candy substitute would you prefer?