Just to clarify, "drive by howdy," as mentioned in last week's post is a little expression I invented and it means - "just stopped by to say, 'Hey.'" It's simply a quick exchange of pleasantries, and one does not have to be in a car to execute a "drive-by-howdy." A co-worker who stops at your cubicle and asks about your weekend? Drive-by-howdy. A fox just passing through, in front of the Snowmancam? Again, drive-by-howdy. I am the sole author of that nifty saying, but only the co-author of the increasingly popular acronym for tough economic times, TET. Stormy and I made that up together. (although, teachers, don't use this one in the middle school classroom because I'm sure it would produce giggles) Here's a third one that I had nothing to do with at all: It was made up by my friend, Cindy. It's called "making the appropriate noises." Like, when that person standing at your cubicle is telling you all about his weekend and although you might not really be that interested, you're being supportive and giving him all the timely, "ah's" and "oh's" and umm-hmms, and hmm-mmms, and tsk-tsk's and shocked gasps. "He was boring me to tears, but I made the appropriate noises." Feel free to use all three of these great expressions in your daily conversations. No, really, they're our gifts to you and the world.

From the Archives: Halloween, 1987 - Lindsey as a lovely green-faced witch, and....

......Halloween 1998 - Also lovely, Rob and Mike prepare for Trick or Treat night on Hickory Hill Drive. I had to keep an eye on Rob because he liked to lay in our ditch and pretend to be a dead body to scare our Trick or Treaters. I don't know how many times I made him get out of that ditch over the years.

And, how about a bad Halloween poem I wrote in the 5th or 6th grade. It has no title.


Unnamed Halloween Poem

On Halloween night when the moon is out
And the wind through the trees sings a song.
You think there is nothing but silence about
But that's where you get me all wrong.

Down the sidewalk comes a bunch
That scares you plain out of your wits.
There's a ghost, a witch, and a goblin
And things that come out of pits.


Recipe of the Week: I tried a new chicken recipe tonight, which consisted of browning some breasts in butter, then sauteing mushrooms, black olives, and green onions in the same pan and pouring them over the breasts in a glass baking dish and adding slices of mozzarella on top. The originator of the recipe claimed that this preparation kept the breasts very moist. I thought the dish was okay, but wasn't so sure about the moist part, and didn't really consider it blog-worthy. You can't hit a winner every time.

Happy Halloween