Zee answers...

....to zee quiz from Wednesday:

1. Everyone knew it was (d.). Our heater was broken and I was bakin'.

2.  (a.) Wasn't that an awful question? But I had to give a real answer and all I could think of was Batman. When I was writing the quiz, Pepe started looking more my style, but I had already decided on Bruce Wayne.The original question said no personality or anything could be part of the answer. Honestly, I still don't get the idea. By the way, the question-er was male and he said Ariel or Jessica Rabbit. And he and his coworkers DO need to get busy filing papers or calculating budgets or something....

3. (c.) I'm now the proud owner of my very own tiara! Yes! My friend Shelly read my heartfelt blog post and sent it last week. I adore that girl.  It's old, it's got gen-u-ine rhinestones, and combs to hold it in my beehive hairdo.  I'm still working on that hairdo, but the tiara is in the kitchen and I wear it often. Just ask the UPS man, who was very polite about it, but will be leaving all my other packages in the porch without knocking...

4.  (d.) Penguins and Golden Calves by Madelyne L'Engle is our next selection. It's intelligent, somewhat controversial, and they'll have to work at it; kind of like chocolate granola. The book talks about icons and idols....yeah, in a mixed religion crowd it's going to cause a stir.

5. (a.) In a stunning turn of personality, I decided that I do, indeed, still like frosted sugar cookies the best. They are called fish cookies in my house because Karen Yost and I made them in the shape of trout (I DO have that cookie cutter) and decided they are best that way. Truly. Everyone should try our fish cookies. Besides, by calling them that, everyone else steers away from our favorite confections.

6. (d.) All those things. Christmas trees bring out the best and the worst in me. Do come by for eggnog.

7. (c.) One movie, on Disney's evil FastPlay loop, will continue for all time and eternity until the electricity goes off or said cat accidentally shuts it off. I'm much too involved in writing to actually get up and disconnect the sucker. The kids, bored by the 45 minutes of Disney previews, eventually wander off to their bedrooms to build and destroy towns of blocks. Everyone wins.

Fontie, Country Wife and Lori....Thanks for playing! No one got them all right, but you came remarkably close.  Sadly, I don't have a new purse with fringe or lime green shoes, and the Vermont Maple cookies are a close second.  You all win a small amount of notoriety in the Chronicles. I'll be name dropping this week...

From the vault...

It's not cool to write a Thanksgiving post in the middle of December. But then, I've never been accused of being cool. I HAVE been accused of procrastination, and that, I believe, would be the reason you're seeing our Thanksgiving pictures now, as opposed to when you should've seen them. (The day after Thanksgiving comes to mind.)

Something you should know about us and Thanksgiving....we generally can take any holiday and turn it into a disaster, but Thanksgiving is where we really shine. We've been 10 hours from home under 3 feet of snow. We've had turkey poisoning which actually turned out to be a case of pregnancy. (I say "we". It was me, but the whole family suffered.) We've had turkeys done 2 hours before they were supposed to be. And 2 hours after. We've experienced my sister's attempt at a charming frog eye salad...all 1 1/2 gallons of it. (It was good, but there was enough to feed several families.) You get the idea.

This year, Celestia and I informed the men that we were not cooking or doing dishes, and we made a reservation at the Miles City Town and Country Club for their Thanksgiving buffet. Oh sure, we'd have to load the family up and drive 80 miles, but that's a pretty small sacrifice for soft hands that didn't touch dishwater and potential disaster averted.  There was a little grumbling, but I believe the glare behind our glasses convinced them that THIS year it would be alright. Just don't try that nonsense with us again next year.

And it was a lovely day. No mishaps, no kitchen disasters, no stories to tell years down the road. Rats.

The cooks, all giddy after lunch. They kept coming and taking our plates, so we kept having to start over again at the buffet, because we were going to get our money's worth, by golly, and it was fun to not have to worry about the dishes!

Yes, that's a little turquoise and pink purse in his hand. See? I'm not the only one with eccentric taste in handbags....

We ran the kids around the 16th hole and green, before we unleashed them on the country club crowd.

Celestia and Jasper.

Some family you are born to, some family you meet later in life.

Javon, my little niece, giving me her best baby grin.

We drove past my brother's house, and my Mom was outside with my nieces. They met us at the park for a little playing. Such a nice surprise!

Jentry, my niece, showing me all her loose and lost teeth. Maggie is lagging behind, with only one marginally loose tooth. Jentry's are coming out like Chicklets.

That's it! Next year will be a glorious post, filled with a more traditional dysfunctional Thanksgiving.

I promise.

Pop Quiz

The Farmer's Wife has been conspicuously absent from her blog for *gasp* a week, causing mayhem and malaise in the blogworld and a hole in the ozone, or something like that.  Here is a little quiz to see how well you know me and to hopefully renew your interest in reading my blog. (Leave your answers in the comments. And there really IS only one right answer per question. Really.)

1. The Farmer's Wife has been gone for a week...

     a. writing the great American novel against a 48 hour deadline, which came at the end of a 15 month deadline.

     b. because she finally learned to knit AND purl, and finished a sweater.

     c. decorating the house like Martin Stewart, Martha's redneck cousin.

     d. because her husband was fixing their heater and she was running for parts and heating the house with the kitchen stove.

2. While on hiatus, she was asked (as a Crazy Mary question) who she thought the "hottest cartoon character" was.  Her answer?:

     a. Batman; he's got a great car and scads of money.

     b. Mr. Incredible; I've been there, trying to cram myself into a too-small supersuit.

     c. Pepe Le Pew; he's got style AND he's French. Oui!

     d. Have you been drinking? Who thinks of these things, except people who need more to do in the Lewistown Schools Administration Office?

3. What fashion accessory did the Farmer's Wife obtain, causing great rejoicing in the land?:

     a. Bedazzled Scotch cap; cows and rhinestones go together like broccoli and ice cream.

     b. A new purse, sans animal print but with fringe, cutting edge fashion as usual.

     c. Tiara, (not stolen from the Princess Mags) to wear around the house.

     d. New shoes! Lime green, three inch heels, on sale at Walmart.

4. It's her turn to choose next month's Underground Bookclub Selection. What will she assign?

     a. Confederates In the Attic; y'all NEED to appreciate the Civil War is still going on.

     b. Too Much Tuscan Sun; we could use a little too much sun right now.

     c. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes; not QUITE a graphic novel, but work with me, here.

     d. Penguins and Golden Calves; controversial reading to warm the heart.

5. After baking 8 different cookie recipes, she's decided that her favorite cookie is:

     a. Frosted sugar cookies; classic and artistic.

     b. Gingerbread men; guys with spice are nice.

     c. Vermont maple cookies; portable little maple bars.

     d. Oreos; on sale, double stuff.

6. Christmas trees are:

     a. real, green and always grow in circumference after being put in that creaky little stand.

     b. evil traditions that cause mothers to start drinking leaded eggnog way too early in the day.

     c. beautiful, no matter how they are decorated.

     d. all of the above, and then some. Let's talk later. Over eggnog.

7. How many movies have the children watched, in order to buy enough time to make up this brain-bending quiz?

     a. Two. The Farmer's Wife types fast, once her brain gets warmed up.

     b. None. The Farmer's Wife is a martyr and types while kids climb over her, clawing and fighting like raccoons who ate too many cookies.

     c. One. Only it's been the same one on Disney's *Fast Play* and it will repeat until the cat accidentally shuts it off, batting at the little green light.

     d. None. The children are in the kitchen, painting ornaments for thier grandparents and singing Christmas songs together, sweetly. (Have YOU been drinking? Have you been to our house?)

That's pretty much it, for the quiz.  If you get all the answers right, you will be given due recognition and glory on this blog, and deemed a kindred spirit for life! (Woohoo. JUST what you wanted; to be a kindred spirit with a crazy, stay-at-home mother in Eastern Montana...)