the bean's got a star on her butt.

thank you for your kind words and condolences. i received an e-mail from my aunt with the memorial service details, which gives me hope that my presence won't be as disruptive as i feared. i still plan on remaining in the background as quietly as possible, but i'm relieved to know that i can attend and pay my respects to a wife/mother/daughter whose life was cut short far too soon.

and i'm even more sad for those two little boys who will forever associate halloween with the loss of their mommy. i hope that they'll be able to celebrate her life and their memories of her in the years to come.

now, to answer a couple of questions about the teen's halloween plans - she's wearing her costume at school today. then tonight she's going to meet up with BFF to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and probably meet up with some of their friends. it's most likely the last year they'll be able to get away with going house to house and scoring free candy. heh.

i managed to complete two important tasks yesterday - online traffic school and a call to the county recorder's office to verify that i'm registered to vote! whee! i was getting antsy because i wasn't receiving any election-related mail, and the online status thingy still wasn't showing any record of my registration, despite the fact that i'd mailed it in twice. and i really, really want to vote in this historic election.

so after a 15-minute wait on hold (going through that traffic school as i sat there), i finally got through to a bored-sounding government employee. i explained my dilemma, and after she put me on hold a few more times to "check on things," i heard the magic words:

"okay, you're all set. do you need your polling place information?"

sah-weet! although the hub's vote totally cancels mine out, i'm still stoked that i'll be able to take part and exercise my right as an american citizen. and i'm gonna rock that "i voted" sticker proudly come tuesday. yay!

the bean rocked some new jammies last night. how cute are these:

that little butt just cracks me up.

tomorrow is tea with my mom and the teen, and then we'll head off to that memorial service. a rather strange combination of events for one day, but hey - you take what life throws at you and go with it, right?

happy halloween and happy weekend to all!