Randomday with Pumpkin Aliens

Quarta went to a Halloween party with her friend Sonata.  Silliness ensued, and creepy alien pumpkins with mustachios of doom were the result.

Quarta's original costume design.  She promised she will never be embarrassed by this photo.

 I myself spent a productive part of the morning darning three pairs of Steve's jeans.  Here's the tutorial for how I do it.  For some reason he always wears out his jeans on the left knee first.

For some of them it was the second time darning them.  That gives them a new lease on life, although they are probably best used for garden and work pants, and are no longer dressy enough to wear to auctions or recitals or other social events.  Sorry, dear.  The dirt stains should have told you that anyway.

The rest of the day I frittered away playing Civ IV, newly reinstalled on my laptop.  The Indians have a firm grasp on the Indian subcontinent and also have founded cities in Denmark and Australia.  In the scenario I'm playing, I was the first civilization to discover the new world and was awarded multiple military units with which I imperialistically conquered the Maya and Aztecs, so I also have a promising foothold in Central America, and the year is 1750 or so.  I always find that subjugating barbarians is quite refreshing after an intensive week of teaching and hosting parent-teacher conferences.  But I'm going to bed now, unless I succumb to the temptation to play the proverbial "just one more turn."