Bacon is Good. Pork Chops are Good.

After Family Fun Day yesterday, we ventured into the tiny Coffee Corner for a spot of lunch. Lunch was pretty much Meat all around. Doug and I had blue cheese hamburgers, Fiona had a hamburger, and Sophia had chicken fingers. So we're chowing down (oh yes, there were the requisite french fries, too) and Fiona announces that she thinks killing animals is wrong. Now, we've discussed this before, "this" meaning what meat is and what it used to be. So Doug says, do you want to stop eating meat then? He asks this very sincerely. It's okay to not want to eat meat (and okay to want to eat it, in my humble opinion). She looks at her hamburger a minute. She then resumes eating it.

After grocery stopping today, I made the impulse decision to get doughnuts to have after lunch. It is Sunday, after all. I buy doughnuts maybe twice a year, if that--not counting those cute tiny fresh doughnuts we get when we pick apples and at the fair. Oh, and I make them sometimes. So apart from all that. I got 6 doughnuts because 12 was just ridiculous (right?). I reported on what flavors I got (3 chocolate glazed--for Doug and the kids, 2 jelly filled---for whomever, and 1 Boston creme--that's mine). I said I just wanted one doughnut. Fiona proclaimed, "Not me! I want all I can get!" I worry a little.

Yesterday, on a whim, we journeyed to the Vermont Flower Show. Wow! It was like walking into a magical--rather dark--forest. Lots of bulbs in bloom, moss, bushes, trees, and even lilacs! The smell was heavenly. There was lots of stuff for sale (and "homemade apple pie!" as Fiona discovered...so nice to be able to read, isn't it?) and even a children's section. The model train layout was a big favorite with the girls and the Vermont Institute of Natural Science had a beautiful owl there that Fiona loved to gaze at.

We're having a Totoro revival around here. Totoro used to be a huge favorite of Fiona's at about age 2. Fiona still loves Totoro, but he's sort of an old well-worn love now. Sophia now adores Totoro. She will burst into the main Totoro song. Now we have technology in our car and we can listen to the whole soundtrack of Totoro at a touch. Fortunately, I like it, too.

No, Fiona's main love is either Cody (from The Rescuers Down Under) or unicorns. At Family Fun Day (Okay, is that not such a cheesy name? It hurts to write it out for some reason. But what else would one call it?) we managed to make our way into the face painting line (Fiona nearly changed her mind about it after we waited a while and it was finally nearly her turn, but I helped her out by saying she didn't have to get a--whatever she originally wanted...a rainbow perhaps?--but she could get a unicorn, and that completely changed things around). Fiona did indeed get a unicorn and Sophia sat still for a rainbow (she said "COLORS!" while making the sign for it). Sophia has been quite the canvas this weekend, because at playgroup the day before they inexplicably had face painting (not the usual play date offering) and she asked for a sun and a heart. Fiona and her unicorn and Sophia and her rainbow were gawked at by kids in the street and by kids at the flower show (who I overheard pestering their parents for a face painting, which I did not see at the show, uh, sorry about that!). Face painting seems to be very popular with kids. Normally we don't get one because whenever we go to places with such offerings, the line is incredibly long.

We don't really celebrate St. Patrick's day around here, but we seem to have both Irish Cream and Guinness in the house after our grocery trip. March is a good time of year for both. There are lots of great ways to cook with Guinness...Guinness is wonderful for sauces and baking and, of course, stew. I invarably drink it before I make it that far, though.