Seven Quick Takes Friday, Vol. 5

I know, it's Saturday. Better late than never?

I

"Black Friday is Coming" sneak peek ads began cropping up for some local retailers on November 1. Really? This is unacceptable.

II

Matt's mother sent Little Bear one of my favorite baby books, Pat the Bunny, and it arrived earlier this week. He has probably heard it twenty times by now... He seems content while we read it to him, but he refuses to pat the bunny: He balls up his hand into a fist, and pulls away from the book.

III

Speaking of Little Bear, he has been trying out a new nap schedule recently: He stubbornly stays awake all morning, naps straight from noon to 3 or 4, and then alternates cat naps and yelling because his gums hurt until bedtime. It's better than last week's "never taking any naps" scenario, but still not ideal. How do you teach a baby to take regular naps when he isn't tired?

IV

I'm so happy to have recently discovered Frazz, a daily comic strip about a triathlete/songwriter/elementary school janitor.  It has been a very enjoyable read while I'm stuck sitting down feeding Little Bear.  Good *clean* humor, philosophy, insight, classic literature references... it's been quite a while since I've found something that makes me laugh and think (at the same time) as much as this comic strip.

V

The new Franciscan Way magazine showed up in our mailbox yesterday. I was flipping through it this afternoon, and the first line of one of the bios caught my eye. It sounded awfully familiar, but I couldn't understand why... until I reached the end of the piece and saw my name at the bottom! Oops; I'd forgotten all about writing it. It's so much more fun to see your name in print when you aren't expecting it!

VI

Sweet potatoes cook more quickly than regular potatoes. I learned this the hard way while making dinner tonight: we wound up eating roasted sausage and potatoes sort of covered in mushed sweet potatoes, instead of having nice firm cubes of sweet potatoes with the other two. At least it was colorful!

VII

It is officially bazaar season in Fairbanks! This weekend marked the start of a whirlwind of local bazaars: our parish, the Lutheran church across town, and the University Women's Association all hosted their bazaars this weekend, featuring an impressive array of items from hometown artists. I was disappointed that we couldn't make it to our parish's, but we've already made the hour-plus round trip several times this week and will be going again tomorrow, and Matt was working from home today (I didn't want to make the trip on potentially icy roads by myself with the baby).