Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

I realized last night two things. First, this is the last Thanksgiving with all the kids at home, as kids. One of our children becomes an adult before the next Thanksgiving, and will probably by away at school come November. And then we begin the phase with someone away on a mission or bringing home a girlfriend, and by the time the decade is out, grandbabies, maybe. But this is the last one with just our own babies. Which is what reminded me of the other thing. It was the night before Thanksgiving that Mr. Coffinberry proposed. Twenty years, now, I've worn this ring on my left hand. So glad he asked. So glad I said yes. *** An apple, a cherry, a pecan, and two pumpkin pies sit waiting in the refrigerator (we demolished one pumpkin pie and two lemon tarts last night with supper). Big bird is going into the oven as soon as I finish this. Then, while ol' Tom bakes, I shall try to boil down my contracts outline. Thirty-seven pages is way too long.

Today is Pie Day. Daughter has planned all the pies we shall make this afternoon: pumpkin, pecan, blueberry, cherry, maybe apple. We shall eat pie all weekend. *** Harry Potter IV was very enjoyable. Saw it last night, on a date with my beloved, after going out together to a delicious dinner at the Thai Kitchen, on north Main in Longmont. I highly recommend this surprising little restaurant. *** My Mom's Basic Pie Crust For every shell (a top or bottom crust counts as one shell) you need: 1 c. flour 1/3 t. salt 1/3 c. chilled shortening (I prefer butter Crisco) 3 T. COLD water (in Colorado, where everything is so DRY, I find it needs a somewhat more than this) You also need a rolling pin and a fine-weave cloth (I like flour-sack tea-towels from the farm-supply store). In bowl, combine flour & salt. Cut shortening into flour mixture using fork, pastry blender, or electric mixer, until it is grainy like cornmeal (don't mix together so that it gets doughy - if you do, you'...

"To Flush Out" - to rid, to purge, to eliminate. "To Flesh Out" - to elaborate, to give body and substance to, to complete the picture. I realize it's just a slight pronunciative nuance of schwa here, but please, use the right one! I am tired of hearing about people having to "flush out" the analysis of the Open Memo factors. I mean, really, doing that might clog up the toilets in Fleming, and that just would Not be a good thing coming into finals, now would it?

Today, I am glad for my personal policy of no-law-school stuff on Sundays. But, it creeps in anyway. I was helping out in the church nursery during Sunday School today, sitting on the floor and singing songs and reading stories to 1-1/2 and 2-year-olds. In the room was one of those light-weight pop-up play castles; another adult playing with the kids was picking the castle up and putting it over different children (essentially playing peek-a-boo). And what I found coming out of my mouth was, "See, a castle is a good under the Uniform Commercial Code..." You just can't get away from it. *** Daughter-one-and-only wants an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. I remember wanting one when I was her age. (Oh the joy of retro-toys.) And getting one. And being sadly disappointed at how hard it was to use, and what it couldn't do. Waiting forever for a tiny cake with next-to-no-flavor; washing the pans (see them rust). And when you ran out of the tiny stale cake mix packages, not be...

Saturday afternoon. Son One, in kitchen eating a clementine, turns and suddenly says: "Oh, by the way, I heard about All-State." (long pause) "And...." say I. "I'm in. Mixed Choir. Bass." Hooray!

Offering your youth, Years you could have spent elsewhere. Thank you for serving. For Uncle Homer, who repaired airplanes, and Uncle Willie, who heard the call only to be struck down with a brain tumor and die in a military hospital, in WWII. Mr. C., who played in the Band. Aunt Jeannie, who nursed the wounded boys in Viet Nam, and died 25 years later from the virus she caught there. My husband, who spent years on a submarine watching over nukes, while I and my classmates debated the SALT II treaty and nuclear winter in our high-schools, in the waning days of the Cold War. Great-gran'ther John, 37 years old, who stepped up to preserve the Union, and marched 500 miles in the cold and wet on meager food and foul water, and died for the country he loved. Alexander, James, Nicholas, John and many others, who wouldn't let the British undo our freedom, in 1812. And Jonathan, Henry, John, Nicholas, Joseph, Jacob, David, Johannes, David, George, David, and a whole host of others whom I...

This time last Friday I was re-reading and re-tweaking my Open Memo, when I finally had to say "Enough! print it out already and be done with it!" Everyone had been so supportive and tolerant of my insanity going into those final hours, and I'm really grateful. It was so nice to have it finished, and dropped safely into the "box of doom" (as I called it when I gave my family a tour of the law building that weekend). That night, Son One had an audition for All-State Choir in Fort Collins (hurrah for being old enough to drive - and no, we don't know yet how he did), Son Two had a dress rehearsal for a symphony concert, and Son Three and Daughter-one-and-only had a Harvest Festival at the elementary school (Son Three was invited because he had been part of the fifth grade last year that did so well on the CSAP that the school was getting a special award that night). Had fun at the Festival... until Daughter, in the middle of doing the toy-walk (like a cake-walk...