10/31 - Boo asks "Are you a banana? Or just happy to see me?"

A fitness club was giving away Halloween bananas today. It’s not often you see someone in a banana costume!

Boo tried to surprise Pumpkin Spider by jumping up and yelling “BOO!” but his little ghostie elbow got stuck in her web.  (We got him out.)

I saw a few grown-ups dressed up in costumes when I went out to get some lunch, but nobody at work is dressed up.  OK, Jeanine has on some monkey ears.  I’ll try to get a picture of her…  Rats -- she's already taken them off.

Here are the twins at the start of trick or treating.  Lil' Gal is a Dalmatian, and so happy to be allowed to be a dog IRL.  She is wearing a red collar we made together.  Lil' Guy is a Madagascar Penguin (Rico, if you know them).

All was going really well, minus a few trips over little penguin webbies, until we reached That House.  You know -- the one that's all into making it really spooky.  There were about 4 costumed kids, hiding in spots along the passageway to the front door, that leapt or reached out as we passed by.  We'd done so much work with the kids, especially Lil' Gal, to make Halloween less scary for them.  And these kids scared the bejeezus out of her in about a minute.  I have never heard her scream like that.  Poor kid.

The worst?  Not one family member at That House apologized to us.  The dad (?) on the sidewalk didn't warn us that his house was not for littles.  He didn't once tell his kids to ease up.  When Lil' Guy bravely made it to the front door, hoping to get extra candy for his sister, the teenager handed him a bowl full of candy wrappers.  (Lil' Guy thinks he did get candy for Lil' Gal -- please don't tell him otherwise.)

Overall, I think Halloween went well.  Lil' Gal was consoled with some candy treats, and we got to have a good talk about Mean Kids and how rotten it is to be around them.  But she's also been up about every 20 minutes tonight...

Happy Halloween.

10/28 - Raj looks BOO-tiful in Ghostie Glasses

We had a big lunch at work to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights.  I think I had too much delicious Indian food…  Ow.

Here’s Raj, wearing Ghostie Glasses and Boo puppet.  He’s a good sport.

10/27 - Green Monkey hangs out

We rushed to the train station in the dark this morning for our 8am meeting, only to find BART experiencing major delays. While I missed that meeting, at least I was early for my 9am meeting.  Yippee.

Look at the fabulous fuchsia flowers!

Look at the kids at our gym's Halloween Spooktacular event!

10/26 - Nico is on a motorcycle -- on a truck!

The motorcycle was going for a ride on the truck, and Nico wanted to ride them both.  But we had to get back to work.

Nico found these baby penguins, who wanted to do a dance with him.  They should all be in the movies, I tell ya.

10/25 - Bitty Boom and Little Lego study the speed of light and sound

Bitty Boom liked the sound of jackhammers tearing up the sidewalk, and chimed right in.  “Boom!  Crash!’’ Boom!”

Little Lego was interested in the worker changing the big light bulbs on the kiosk.  He started singing “You light up my life.”

Bitty Boom and Little Lego were excited to see a Halloween car on the street.  Their new friend Boo gave them a ride.  He was really nice!  (This is only a decoration!  It’s blown up with hot air.)

At the train station on the way home (thank you, BART, for more delays), I saw what appeared to be a class for guide dogs and their owners.  Here they are, learning how to cross the street.  Who knew they travel in packs?

10/24 - Sally takes an easy nap (while the twins take a field trip)

This napkin holder said “Easy Nap,” so Sally laid down and started sleeping, right there at the salad bar.  Whoopsie.

While Sally and I were chasing meetings that were on-again/off-again, Mama went with the twins on their class field trip to the pumpkin patch.

10/21 - Yellow Jack wonders why my meetings don't have toys

I guess if you have to have a lunch meeting, it should involve Lego blocks.  The cookie platter looked nice too. I only have meeting in my meetings.

These blue flowers want to be jacks!

Tonight was a fundraiser for my roller derby team.  I have to say, I kinda like being on a poster in a bar.

10/20 - Tiny Blue Giraffe finds a little too much urban nature

Tiny Blue Giraffe is ready for Halloween.  She likes the pumpkin Lil' Guy made for me. I do too – I brought it in to decorate my desk at work.  :)

Tiny Blue Giraffe found a black horse in the alley.  (Special thanks to David’s guest fingers for helping.)

The froggie fountain was open today.  A silly pigeon tried to go for a froggie ride and almost got wet when he fell off!

Tiny Blue Giraffe felt an earthquake!   Our whole building shook – yay for vintage architecture!  Did you guys feel it?  Did you have an earthquake drill this morning at school?  Just in time!

After work bonus:  A second earthquake!  Did someone forget to tell the fault lines that the Great Shakeout is only a drill?!  (Whose fault is it, anyway?)

10/19 - Big Bird is out and about

Big Bird and I saw lots of things as we took a short wander at lunch:
1. A yellow parking meter

2. Some statuesque ladies (and two numbers!)

3. The Transamerica Building

What kinds of things did you see today?

10/18 - Cornay helps me through a sick day

Lil' Gal's favorite sleeping friend is Cornay, a flying horse she picked out when she was two instead of the doll we intended to get her.  Cornay, in her mind these days, is a male dog who is very brave and handsome... and the hero of all her bedtime stories.

This morning, Lil' Gal told me that Cornay could keep me company today and make me feel better on my sick day.  Awwww.  Here we are catching up on our magazines.

Here we catch up on our computer stuff.  (Not pictured:  the 6-hour nap from heaven.)

10/17 - Firefighter Dalmatian Dog likes the bling

Firefighter Dalmatian Dog and I found these shiny silver things when we went out to find soup at lunch.

I was hoping to go to my morning meetings and come home early, but one of the meetings got moved to the end of the day.  Phooey.  And sniffle.  It was a day where my work ethic was stronger than my voice.

Kindergarten update:  Today was parent/teacher conferences, and both twins are doing well and are on track.  They are popular, even!  I'm so proud of my big kids!!

10/14 - Popo and the succulent that didn't suck

Popo says "Oh no!" It looks like Mommy is fighting Mae’s cold.  Let’s hope the cold doesn’t win.

At lunch, Popo pretended to be a beautiful flower in this flower pot.  It kinda works, doesn’t it?  (It was HOT today!)  Let's hope we see more nice weather this weekend.

10/13 - Gio thinks Popo might be a lollipop. And fun with BART.

Popo tried to blend in at my desk.  He found this jar of pens and markers on my desk and tried to camouflage himself. Do you think it’s working?

We had lunch with Gio today.  Do you remember when he brought a motorcycle to our old house for you to sit on?

Popo liked watching the workers paint new street stripes. He wanted the workers to paint some on him, but I told him the paint was too hot.

I called out of derby practice today because I suspect I'm getting Lil Gal's cold.  (I had a moment where I considered trying to skate so fast it couldn't catch me, but I reconsidered.)  Clearly, the responsible thing to do was to go home and take it easy.  Here's where my partnership with BART shows its true colors.

I was able to get a seat without having to ride a few stops back -- clearly suspect.  As I settled in and started to nod off, I noted that the train was moving slowly, but I wasn't trying to get to work or derby practice on time.  All I had to do was make bedtime -- a full 2 hours away.  (Insert evil laugh here.)  So the train limped through the under-bay tunnel, and immediately went out of service in Oakland -- everybody off.  (Bonus points for an additional medical emergency and my phone crashing unexpectedly - not pictured.)

I was able to catch the 4th train out, heading in my direction but not to my destination.

Transferred after taking some pix of the sunset.

And made it home just in time for bedtime -- 2 hours later.  Thanks, BART.
Bay Area = yes.  Transit = yes.  Rapid = Compared to what?

10/12 - Lady Alien likes a blue uniform

There were lots of police officers, police motorcycles, and police cars in my work neighborhood today. Lady Alien was happy to see them keeping everyone safe.

My favorite lunchtime park was locked up today, so Lady A. and I had to gaze at it from behind bars. She said, "Free the trees!"  Sadly, nobody heard her tiny alien voice but me.

Look what Michael sent: a picture of a real Warthog -- like our toy one!  Hakuna Matata!