Miss Mikkelson's Kindergarten: Thanksgiving Pageant

Welcome to the New World.


I am Squanto.


This is the story of The First Thanksgiving.

here comes the king

here comes the king



here comes the big #1



Can you imagine: the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and you've got 15 minutes to buy the Bird and all the trimmings before you have to take Carmichael to karate and you can't find a freakin' parking space---hell, you can't even pull into the parking lot---because Fry's is hosting the Budweiser Clysdales.

Aren't they beautiful? You should have seen them in the sunlight: their bay and brown coats are dappled, like a black panther's. Their shoes are positively enormous! What a treat for us, we people who have nothing better to do than stand in the aisles and foil Carmichael's mother's efforts to get him to karate on time.

Happy Thanksgiving! Budweiser Beer is Beer that's second to none!

not the band

Because Mandy had to work tonight, Jack and I went to The Ranch to hang out with Evan. The boys play so well together. I got a bunch of homework done while they messed around with Evan's birthday presents and Cassie.



We went to Cafe Bonita for dinner. The boys shared a quesadilla, Em ate a huge plate of rice, and I had menudo. When I ordered it, Mandy said, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I know what tripe is."

"I just don't think you'll like it."

"If I don't like it, I won't eat it."

Always looking out for me, she said, "Well, OK. I'll have the cooks make a little bit for you to taste."

So the cooks made a little bit for me to taste, and I tasted it, and it was good. I love hominy, and the broth had an almost velvety consistency to it, a real fatty mouth-feel. And the tripe, well...the tripe tasted...tripe-y. I guess. It's more a texture than a taste, like octopus or squid tentacles, but more tender, less chewy. I figured I may as well try it. And I tried it, and as I was
chewing, I kept up a constant monologue in my head, "Tripe is brains, right? No, maybe it's intestines. Which would I rather eat? Brains or intestines? Is it stomach? No, intestines. Maybe stomach. Would I rather eat stomach, brains, or intestines?" Turns out I guess I'd rather not eat stomach, though I ate the whole bowlful. And now I can say I tried it, though I'm not sure how "authentic" it was (sorry Dominica) because I read on wikipedia that menudo is characterized by the hominy, the tripe, and the chili powder paste. There was definitely no chili powder in this menudo. It was quite mild. Maybe a regional variation?

Anyway. I've tried menudo. Have you?

little drummer boy

Thought it was time to learn how to use YouTube. Enjoy!

Halloween

We took Batman and Frodo to visit the Davisons before trick-or-treating on Halloween. Here's a few pictures.



Earlier in the day, Dave attended Jack's Halloween Parade at preschool. Jack's class is known as the Rolling Stones; the other four-year-old class is known as the Beetles. The Beetles wore decorated T-shirts (I think they were supposed to look tie-dyed?) and carried painted posterboard guitars. The Rolling Stones wore burlap sacks and also carried painted posterboard guitars. They're supposed to look like stones, or rocks. It's too bad they look like sacks of potatoes. I didn't go, since I'm laid up at home with this sprained ankle. But when Jack came home he said to me, "Mommy, I'm never ever going to wear that costume again because it is SO ITCHY!"