If you can quote "Folsom Prison Blues"...

...you're probably too old to trick-or-treat. I guess that requires some explanation of the backstory, huh?

We've had a good number of trick-or-treaters come by this evening (a surprisingly high number of Harry Potters, all of which were impressively realistic.) Most of them were toddler to elementary school age, which is what one would expect. A few others were...er...tall. Two of the latter category arrived in prison outfits. Denise asked what they did that earned them hard time. Without hesitation, one of our doorway guests quipped "I shot a man in Reno." This was followed by my nearly dropping the candy basket, and Denise encouraging further song-quoting banter by querying "Just to watch him die??"

So, some food for thought for all you parents out there...if your kiddos can quote Johnny Cash, perhaps it's getting time for them to focus on their algebra homework instead of trick-or-treating. Just something to ponder...I imagine the Man in Black is grinning in his grave...

A post-game quiz for you readers (yes, both of you!): Why is the song's protagonist serving time in California for a crime committed in Nevada? I never quite followed that. If you can explain that to me, I'll give you a nickel.

29 weeks and growing

We went in for the 29 week ultrasound on Saturday, and the bambinos are growing quite rapidly. They're each 50% bigger by weight than they were 3 weeks ago! Our daughter is 2.9 lbs and our son is 3.4 lbs (estimated). Hopefully they'll continue to grow at a healthy pace, but without causing their mom too much discomfort. Denise can definitely feel more impact from their jostling around.

Our daughter at 29 weeks

Our son at 29 weeks

We've pretty much got the nursery under control now. We got a glider earlier this month (pictured below) and also La-z-Boy recliner for one of the guest bedrooms. Why we waited 7 years to get a La-z-Boy is life's 2nd greatest mystery (shortly behind "How is it medically possible that Keith Richards hasn't died at least 3 or 4 times by now?"). It is soooooooooooooooo comfy. A few pics of the "95% solution" nursery are below.

Rock around the clock

"If I can change....and you can change....everyone can change!"

Given that these ramblings will be highly bambino-centric in 2008, this episode probably warrants at least some discussion dedicated to the Truminator. So here's a short anecdote...

Through some awkward cosmic force, we were both in the mood for hot dogs on Sunday evening. So I fired up the grill, and Truman (who generally follows me to the grill enthusiastically to volunteer as a taste-tester) took an uncharacteristic stance of curling up on one of our deck chairs and looking sad. It is likely that the sobering reality that there would be no hot dogs for him sunk in early. I did not feel too sorry for him, as he was the beneficiary of cooking too many pancakes Sunday morning.

I'd smile and look at the camera too if I could have a hot dog

And in this corner....

Denise joined this mothers of multiples (MOM) group, and it has been a great way for her to network, get advice, and find incredible bargains at semi-annual garage sales. While she is a member of the Bay Area Mothers of Multiples group, it turns out that the other MOM groups interchangeably allow the other groups to get priority attendance and sell at these garage sales. Last month Denise and my mom got a lot of clothes for our daughter, practically new stuff that was 80-90% off what you'd pay at a store. After this and our first baby shower, we organized our nursery closet and realized our daughter would pretty much be stylin' in her hip threads and our son....well...he'd have diapers. Which leads me into this morning's adventure...

This morning we got up early and headed to a joint Bellaire/Fort Bend MOM garage sale. Denise prudently recommended we arrive early, as the MOM members were able to start shopping at 7:30am and it opened to the general public at 8:00. We arrived at 7:20 with a modest group of a dozen or so in front of us, and in the ensuing few minutes there were about another dozen behind us. So far, nothing unusual...the doors open to the gym-converted-to-shopping-outlet at 7:30 and we're off.

So we find a bunch of nice clothes for our son, some of which belonged to a lady we met in a shopping aisle. She was both a buyer and a seller and told us "yeah, that was my son's outfit...really nice but once they outgrow them you just want to get it out of the house". I imagine we'll be there in not too long. At around 7:50 we've mostly taken care of business, and I start hearing a good bit of noise. Curious about the rumble, I look toward the spot where we entered. Lo and behold, there is a bulging sea of humanity befitting a rock concert, pulsing against the poor ladies that are guarding the entrance. At 8:00 am the dam burst and a flood of bargain hunters descended upon us. I have attached a picture of the chaos. Fortunately by 8:10 it was "mission accomplished" and -- Denise not being in a particular mood for contact sports -- we got the heck out of Dodge.

Please disperse....nothing to see here.

After that, we did a "trial drive" to the hospital to ensure we knew exactly how to get to the valet parking and to the delivery area. It was a good idea to go because there are skads (1 skad = 2.32 times "a lot") of construction activity going on at the medical center, and the path to the valet parking wasn't fully intuitive (at least for me). We also -- unexpectedly -- got a private tour of the operating area from Denise's friend Paige, who works in the delivery area. We had taken a hospital tour before, but the refresher was very helpful, as was the personal touch. Thanks Paige!

Pregnant woman shoots man in restaurant -- details at 10

We had a celebration event for employees and their families today at Dave and Buster's. While we originally intended to make a guest appearance for an hour or so, we had so much fun talking to people and playing video games, it turned into 3 hours. Denise and I diverged toward different games for some of the time. Once I wrecked my virtual speedboat in "Water Racer", I decided to see what Denise was up to. What I observed was quite the Kodak moment, and I just had to capture this....

This is what happens when you take pickles from a pregnant woman

Here's looking-at-you kids

We had an ultrasound on October 6. The bambinos have both more than doubled in weight since the last visit in late August! Our daughter is now an estimated 1.9 lbs and our son is now an estimated 2.3 lbs (it is typical for one to be slightly bigger than the other). Our daughter was occasionally putting her hand in her mouth -- it is exciting that they're big enough to observe that level of detail! The facial pictures are still a bit blurry, but of sufficient resolution to make out the major features. Their development is going right on track. Anyway, here's our daughter and our son looking right at you!

Our son's face at 26 weeks

Our daughter's face at 26 weeks

Switching gears a bit, I should comment on happenings of the season now that halloween season is upon us. This is a magical time of year when the weather gets cooler, college football is in full swing, and Denise gets excited about dressing up Truman in various halloween outfits. With regard to the last item, it appears a rather consistent pattern has emerged.

The normal sequence of events is that Denise breaks out the dog outfits for a "halloween preview", Truman meekly tries to hide (but to no avail), and I end up consoling him once Denise has plastered him in said outfit. I have advised Truman that even in middle age, he is still much faster than us, and he may want to take advantage of that. In case you thought I was joking, attached is photographic proof of our annual event.

I hope dog therapy isn't expensive