• My hands are dry (any indication why?).
• My back hurts (aside from my *baseball, any indication why?).
• My feet hurts (same as above).
• Sophia went to bed late.  She was thoroughly entertained by all guests.
• No food coma for me which was nice (when you're preggers, you don't shovel a large amount of food down your throat.  Okay, maybe some do- that's why they end up gaining 50lbs. total pregnancy weight.  You actually eat at least five times a day).
• Made turkey stock from leftover carcass (the ham bone is in the freezer).  Gonna make some turkey soup this weekend.
• The sweet potato pie was DEEEE-LICIOUS.
• The turkey was OUTSTANDING (if you've never brined a turkey, LEARN TO DO IT).  Props to Kim.
• Lemon-dill mashed potatoes was very nice.  Props to Judy (sorry, no props on your pumpkin pie- use graham crust next time!).
• Mom's famous potato salad was like old times.   Mmm.
• Good call from Tio Rolly on adding cheddar cheese to the asparagus and broccoli (parmagano reggiano would probably have been better, but there was none in the house).
• There was literally NO ROOM to put our plates on the table because there was just mountains of food everywhere (I sat at the computer desk because the chair is the most comfy).  And to think we extended our table.
• I used anti-bacterial Clorox wipes to wipe down the house after our guests left (I am a germaphobe!).
• My grandmother brought over yellow sponge cake that she made- it always brings me back to childhood.
• I totally forgot about watching football. 
• No annual Thanksgiving bowl-a-thon this year (or probably for the rest of our lives or until my parents are willing to let them stay over for the night).
• Sophia made $10 after saying, "bay chien (give me money in Chinese)" from Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa, Grandma and Grandpa (my side of the family).
• I concluded that this is probably the first AND last time we'll do this. 

*baseball- Sophia calls my belly a "baseball", not a basketball, so HA.  Yes, she knows the difference between those two.

Goodnight.

• We passed by a row of bras.  Sophia asks, "Who's bra?"  I answer, "I don't know."  She replies, "Somebody's bra."
• We drive by a Toys 'R Us store on the way to Target.  She's all excited, thinking we're going there.  I tell her no, Goong Goong and Paw Paw (grandpa and grandma) is going to take you there.  I'm trying to figure out how the hell did she know it says Toys 'R Us?  (I think she recognizes the font from the Sunday circular)
• A few minutes later, we drive by Party City (they sell all sorts of party paraphenelia).  She gets excited again, thinking it's Toys 'R Us once again (I think it was the bubble font and colorful sign they have).  I tell her no, Party City is not Toys 'R Us.  She was probably thinking, same shit!
• We buy a puzzle map of the United States (individually pieced).  She keeps asking me, where is the guitar, where is the hat (my parent's house has the same puzzle except it's not individually pieced and has different icons on the state).   I didn't understand what she was saying when she said "guitar."  She kept repeating the word over and over and realized I still didn't understand.  She then made the motion of strumming the guitar and the sound.  I exclaimed, "OHHH, GUITAR!" and we all laughed.

(Mind you, Auntie Judy was a bit intoxicated whilst writing this)

while sophia's mommy was giving out candies to the slew of children who gathered in the building lobby, sophia and i stood off to the side and watched the mayhem incubate before everyone ran off separate ways in lickety split time.  (sophia and juey-mo-mo both need time to get acclimated with strangers).

once the whistle blew (in a manner of speaking), we crammed in an elevator with maybe six kids and five or six adults.  juey-mo-mo was secretly wondered if all would enjoy halloween night stuck in the elevator, gasping for air.  alas, that was not to be - thank goodness!

as the elevator opened at each designated floor, it was a race to the designated apartment that signed up to give out candies for the children.  at first, juey mo-mo thought the ones who left candies outside their door were a bunch of chumps who couldn't find the time to humor the children by opening the door and let the kids have someone to scream out "trick or treat" to, until sophia's mommy explained that these were the parents who are already out chaperoning the other ten thousand trick or treatin' kids.

at first, sophia (or fia) was shy and would quiety say "trick or treat" or rather, "chick or cheat" about ten feet away from the door while the older kids bombarded the homeowners who gave out candies or coins to the kids.  Fia had to be ushered a little closer to the door to get her share and almost always got a few extra because "the little bumblebee was soooo cute" and at 2.7 years old, damn straight she was with her little "chick or cheat" bag that barely held much of anything (mommy, the prego piggy loaded up on all the goods the cute little bumblebee collected between each floor). 

it was hard for juey-mo-mo to keep up with the rest of the rushing crowd of kids and adults screaming, "trick or treat", "no, not that door! the other door!",  "ring it just once! don't ring it again!", etc. etc.  it was crrrrrazy and juey-mo-mo felt she didn't get to enjoy the night casually walking from door to door with her cute little bumblebee neice.  BUT the little bumblebee, really started to get into the spirit of things and after each door, would say, "try again" - meaning, to do it again at another apartment.  she even started yelling "CHICK OR CHEAT" louder as the night wore on but still, at 10 feet away from the door - which was cute.

when we were done with fia's place, we headed to fia's grandparent's building and selectively hit a few apartments of families we already knew.  at the last apartment, no one was home and that was when the little bumblebee kept repeating over and over, "no one home".  the look of concern on her face was insanely cute. it was if some injustice had occurred and she didn't understand why.  as we were leaving the building, a crowd of kids were heading our way and the little bumblebee stood off to the side and repeated loudly, "no one home", "no one home" - she was doing them a favor!  don't waste your time, there's no one home! what a cutie!  (editor:  she really said NOBODY, not NO ONE)

by the time we hit the other building, her patience was starting to wane and she told mommy, juey-mo-mo and kim-mo-mo, "no more.  go see gung-gung (grandpa)".  but of course, we HAD to make sure she saw the halloween legend.  this one particular man, since mommy and juey-mo-mo were kids, always got into the spirit of halloween by decorating his doorway and having the kids bob for apples which contained coins (quarter, nickles, dimes, pennies).  but this year, it seems he was concerned for the kids whose parents made the effort to put makeup on the kids and he didn't want to ruin their makeup, so he developed another way to entertain the children.  one way, was by having a spider quickly drop down as he opened the door.  The little bumblebee was petro when this happened and it was the cutest thing.  the little bumblebee's face froze and was dumbfounded like a deer in headlights.  when the little bumblebee's mommy assured her, "mommy's here, it's ok", the little bumblebee quickly ran to her mother's side, eyes still glued to the big ugly spider. 

when all was said and done, the little bumblebee was glad to be with her grandparents.  she was so pooped, she barely moved when having snacks and a drink.  it was a great halloween and juey mo-mo can't wait for 2006!!