Bullet Points

Oops. My blogging skills are totally deteriorating. When I noticed it's been well over a week since my last post, I racked my brain for some witty or noteworthy events, thoughts, or observations I might share with you, Internet. But I came up short, and will instead resort to some classic bullet points. Over the past couple of weeks I have:

- Celebrated Janet's 25th birthday with a night of hearty fall food and beeswax candle making. Here's a picture of the birthday girl in action that I stole from her Facebook page:
- Convinced the landlord to repaint the ceilings which were stained after a leak caused by their faulty washer & dryer. A small domestic success.

- Waited in line for an hour for dinner at Westville with Jamie, Ned, Meredith & Lisa. There are about a million other fine dining establishments in the vicinity, but we were a determined bunch. After dinner, we went to Sweet Revenge-- a gimmicky but great cafe that pairs cupcakes with exotic beers.

- Babysat for a (very cute but) fussy, teething baby who could only be consoled by a) repeatedly doing the Hokey-Pokey or b) Schnappi.

- Finally bought a humidifier after several winters of vowing I would buy one for the next year. It has transformed my room from a dry, scratchy nightmare to a cozy, luxurious oasis. Here's Meredith enjoying its wonderful steaminess:If we Photoshopped out the plastic top, I think this would make for fine evidence of ectoplasm in a ghostly encounter hoax. Which, appropriately, is one of Ms. Bak's primary scholarly interests.

- Watched Sprout's nesting tendencies kick into high gear as the weather has gotten colder. It's not uncommon for me to notice she's left the room, only to find she's retreated to the bedroom to curl up on my pillow and snuggle under blankets. How she manages to do this on her own, without opposable thumbs, is amazing and cute. Amazingly cute: