Bush, you're fired.

Is it January 20th yet?

Snow!

Turkey Coma

So, we went to Costco before Thanksgiving. And we could buy a 20lb. turkey for $.89/lb. Or we could buy a 12lb. turkey for $2.83/lb. So we bought the 20lb. turkey. It was really big.

Quantum of Solace

We foisted Erin off on the unsuspecting mother of one of her friends and Scott took me on - gasp! - a date. Which involved arriving just in time for the first showing of the new 007 and having to sit in the third row from the screen like a couple of junior high kids (Scott's neck is still sore, poor baby). I would recommend it, if only because Bond is ... very ... mmm. Bond.

Folklore galore...

We drove to Spokane last weekend so that I could attend a conference that I decided at the last minute not to attend. But, in the free paper from the Davenport in the morning, we learned about the Spokane Folklore Society's Fall Folk Festival at Spokane Community College. And we decided to go to that instead. We got to see the bagpipers, the highland dancers, the taiko drummers, the bellydancers, and these cute Thai kids. Then we went to Marrakesh and sat on the floor and ate with our fingers. A fine day was had by all.

Kiss a Wookiee!

Um, for Grandpa Will, new words to the Star Wars theme. And Indiana Jones (and Jaws and E.T. and Jurassic Park and Superman). About Star Wars? I'm a little confused, but very impressed.

"Star Wars, beautiful Star Wars..."

Congratulations, President Obama!

I just drank an entire bottle of wine. Me. I don't drink. And it was called (ah, how apropos) Holy Cow.

Holy Cow.

I think Nate Silver, of fivethirtyeight.com, said it best:

!

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

Today’s a very exciting day! I need you to do a few things for me: grab your car keys and your photo ID. Put on some mitties and your jacket (it’s cold out today!) and ask yourself the following questions:

Have I voted already?

If you already voted, good for you! Take off your jacket and your mitties and have a cup of tea and some peanut butter toast. Take yourself out to dinner tonight to celebrate fulfillment of your civic duty. Have a glass of wine for me.

Am I even registered?

Call the Flathead County Election Department (758-5535) to find out. They can also tell you where your polling place is. If you’re not registered, get your butt to the County Courthouse (the old looking one in the middle of the triangle, not the jail or the blue building) in Kalispell! You can register and vote all in the same location, on the same day.

Do I have an absentee ballot?

If you received an absentee ballot but haven’t returned it yet, you must turn it in by hand at your polling location by 8:00 p.m. tonight. Do not mail it!

Do I know where to vote?

If you are unsure of where to vote, please call the Flathead County Election Department (758-5535) or visit Obama’s polling location site and find out. Then go vote. If you can’t get to your polling place, please call me! I will pick you up and drive you there. The polls are open until 8:00 p.m. tonight.

You call her Doctor Jones, doll!

Erin was Indiana Jones for Halloween this year, and I found myself acting just like my father - "You like this costume, it's perfect, it's cute, I would wear it" - while Erin squirmed and wished she was a vampire. But it was perfect, and cute, and maybe next year I'll be Indiana Jones.

Chicken the Antisocial

Movin' to the country...

...gonna can a lot o' peaches! The Apple Barrel had peaches and pears for 50 cents/lb the other day, and we couldn't resist. So Erin went to a friend's house and Scott and I spent the entire weekend canning. It was the best date ever.

He's ba-ack...

Yay! Kyle is back from Oregon, and we're all happy to have him around. Scott has a new video game partner who can actually play, Erin's got a fishin' buddy, and I have a punching bag. I mean ... punching bag. Welcome home, Kyle.

I love voting!

I hope that this guy, Steve Qunell, is the next Flathead County Commissioner. Not because he has two beautiful little girls and not because his wife is one of the sweetest women I've ever met, but because he's smart and certain and informed and not a creep like the other guy. So, for those of you who are voting in the Flathead, vote for Steve, not the creep.

This boy's got style...

Everything is Illuminated

Don't tell Scott, but I'm in love with Jonathan Safran Foer. Read his books.

So, about last Thursday . . .

Yay, Brooke & Dave!

Brooke and Dave Broadstock are here to visit from Sydney, Australia, so we took them and our kayak/canoe armada down the Whitefish river. Dave succeeded in convincing Erin that Sydney is as good if not better than Queensland, that the animals in the zoo are the same, and that if we go down under it would be okay to miss the Australia Zoo. (Steve Irwin, rest his soul, has ruined the rest of Australia for this generation of American children.) We saw herons and hawks and turtles and muskrats and beaver lodges. A good time was had by all; and, in case you were curious, the camera didn't go because our record of not-falling-in-the-river-kayaking is not very good.

Dr. Will

Will has been very busy this week: he's cured rashes and infections, filled a broken tooth and gave me stitches (okay, one stitch) at the kitchen table, not to mention doing the dishes every night and being an all-around stand-up guy. Thanks, Will - what did we ever do without you?

Vulgar Boat (wo)Men

We took the drive to Eklutna Lake today and dipped Will's homemade kayak in the water. It was Erin's first time in a kayak, and my first in a three-holer. Tough to paddle without thwacking the paddle of the person behind you, but once we got a rhythm down we really soared. The boat was tremendous, as was the company and the view.

Portage Glacier

Mom's friend Russ hooked us up with some spots on the Portage Glacier Cruise out of, uh, Portage. Here we are on the boat Ptarmigan, which - according to our illustrious Capt. Max - is the safest boat in Portage because (wait for it) "it has life jackets". We were lucky enough to see the glacier calf, which, even at its hugely rapid rate of recession, doesn't happen for everyone. Thanks to Russ (not for making the glacier calf, but for getting us on the boat)!

Breaking up is hard to do

I know that i just went through a tough breakup with Jonathan Lethem, and I really thought that things were going to work out between Dave Eggers and me (his wife and 1.6 children notwithstanding). But fine writer and tremendous philanthropist that he is, his speaking skills leave much to be desired (and wow, man, get a haircut). I'll still read your books and enjoy them, Dave, but I'm not going to come running to you when Scott kicks me to the curb. Heavy sigh. Authors.

Go ask Alice...

Zooin' it and zooin' it and zooin' it well

Grandma Beth, Grandpa Will, Ericka, Henry, Edwin, Erin and I went to the Alaska Zoo here in Anchorage yesterday (we rented a big van for the crowd of us). Here's a lovely picture of Erin getting a drink of water at the snack bar. She's so photogenic.

(For those of you who didn't catch the reference, L.L. Cool J. was a "rapper" in the mid 1980's to late 1990's who performed a type of rhythm music called "hip-hop". This particular selection alludes to a song where L.L. Cool J. reportedly does it, and does it, and - according to the sultry back-up singers - does it well.)

Totally Grounded

Sorry. I've been shockingly remiss in updating the blog. I have no excuse. I will make every attempt to be more diligent in the future.

Oh, Simma Grey

Nana and Baba and Chelsea and Dave and Simma joined us for a pizza dinner last night, most of which was spent discussing with Simma whether her name is actually "Simma" or if indeed it is "Missa", as she was convinced it should be. There was also some discussion of whether Scott was her daddy (information volunteered by Simma herself, who consistently claimed she saw pictures of her daddy in our photos from Nepal. When asked which one was her daddy, she invariably answered, "Scott!" I swear, if he continues to father children on my sisters, we're going to have to have a long, loooong talk.)

Simma spent time chatting with Bob the Immortal Goldfish.

And in general being unbearably cute. During this imaginary conversation, she informed whomever was on the other line that she was at Katie's with Erin and Scott and Nana and Baba and Mama and Daddy. Real Daddy, this time, not Scott.

More

Important things for you to see from Nepal . . .

. . . and . . .

Some more things we think you needed to see from Bangkok.

Home Grease Home

Our first hour on American soil, and this is what Scott orders for breakfast.

Kathmandu on strike

Up early this morning to return to particularly stinky Kathmandu - and lucky for us, they're having a taxi strike. Which I think started out as a labor-oriented concept, but ended up just turning into an excuse for a bunch of lazy guys to stand around in the street burning tires. Wish we were back in Pokhara. Heavy sigh.

Ghandruk

Krishna and Dipendra decided to take us for a walk. "A walk," they said. "Only four hours." What they didn't mention was that it wasn't so much a walk as a climb. Up several million stairs. For four hours.

On the way, Dipendra decided to treat us to dinner. Yes, there were many many jokes. We won't mention it again.

And it was delicious.

And all the stairs were totally worth it because we got to wake up in the morning to this. Which is called Fishtail by us worthless Americans who can't pronounce Machhapuchhre.

Food

We have eaten some things here that I never really thought I would put in my mouth. And really enjoyed most of it. Be warned, those of you who are considering a trip to Nepal: food here will still have its head attached, bones in it, sometimes feathers, and you will be expected to eat dried chicken gizzards, goat hearts, and pig livers and clean your plate.

Kukura go vale, xosi go masu. Mmmm.

Oh yeah, and you will also be expected to eat with your fingers. We're getting better at it.

Welcome to Kathmandu

Here we are at the Namaste Thakali restaurant in Kathmandu, which we pretty much took over for three days. Wonderful food, wonderful company (those boys on the right are, from the left: Dipendra, who owns the Pokhara Rodhi Club; Krishna; and Rudra, who has a pharmacy in Krishna's hometown. Conversation is interesting, since we speak approximately ten words of Nepali, Krishna's English isn't perfect, Dipendra speaks Nepali and Japanese, and Rudra only Nepali. But we make do, and good time is had by all. And the beer, of course, is Carlsberg.

New Developments

... Scott will be remaining in Thailand for $6/hr foot massages. These lovely ladies are very very strong, and don't just give you a foot rub. They climb up into the chair with you and bend you in all sorts of new ways and it's very wonderful. And super cheap. It's too bad that Scott won't be coming home, but at least we know he'll be happy and limber in Thailand.