of the B U G that I caught – twice! – this morning. I woke up to find a large creature twirling long antennae and swaggering across my living room floor. He was in no hurry. I caught him in a glass that Dave prizes – legend has it that Kurt Vonnegut drank from it. I didn’t have it in me this morning (no coffee yet) to finish it off and flush it. That would entail finding something thin but sturdy to slide under the glass. Then I did some work, Sam woke up, and we went about our business. That is, until Sam came back to find me with the Vonnegut tumbler in his hand. Ewww! That means the creature is LOOSE! I’d forgotten it was caged on the floor. I was convinced there’d be no way I could catch this thing again. Usually they’re very quick to escape. But there he was…swaggering and sniffing and twirling again. I swooped down, hesitated, he swaggered, I took a deep breath, and swooped again successfully. This time I did find something to trap him with. I knew that I shouldn’t scare Sam off from bugs – he is a boy, after all. So I tried to actually look at this creature from his perspective. It had long legs with spikes coming out of them, a stiff short neck, and a large jaw. Any guesses? Ugh! I sent him swimming down the toilet. Dave would like me to refrain from using his special glass for bug hunting, and was dismayed that I put it “right in the dishwasher to let it fester?” I responded that if he’s not home, bug hunting will be accomplished with whatever weaponry is at hand 🙂

In other news, I still have a sore throat and cough. Going on 5 days now. You know how much I enjoy being slowed down. I ran and swam anyway, but took today off. Sam enjoyed an IMAX on dolphins today – we have Netflix so we get some fun stuff for Sam and me periodically. He was actually riveted for longer than the Baby Einstein we sampled yesterday (he doesn’t watch TV or DVDs ever, so it’s a special treat and saved mommy’s throat!). I have long suspected that he prefers real life over cartoons. Maybe it’s only because mommy never watched cartoons and still doesn’t quite get the attraction.

We are so excited about Thanksgiving! We just got word that Dave’s brother, Dan, will be home from Iraq by then. Although he likely won’t be able to get leave in time to join us, we’ll be supremely thankful to have him back again. My brother just got his tickets to come – a 13 hr trip from NYC on a redeye, but he’ll be here for 5 days! Dave’s parents will be making the journey from Long Island to stay with us for two great weeks, and Steve and Jen will be with us from Florida for a week. Mom and Pete will be here by then as well. We’ll be participating in a luau to cook our food, and will supplement traditional Hawaiian fare with the expected Thanksgiving staples.