'Hi Sweetie, I Love Your Hair!'

Lauren's braid caught the eye of a woman at the post office today.

Lauren and I were at the post office this afternoon when a woman came rushing toward us. Here is how Lauren describes the encounter with "random lady" on her Facebook page:

Random Lady: "Hi Sweetie, I love your hair! Can I take a picture of it?

Lauren: "Um, sure."

Random Lady: "You know I've seen this hair before ... but I don't know where. I want to show it to my hairdresser because I want to do this with mine."

Lauren: "Ok."

Lauren also told her that the hairstyle was from the movie, "The Hunger Games" and gave her mom credit for the creation.

For those of you who don't know (and count me among them), the braid was worn by the character "Katniss Everdeen." I have seen the movie, but I was actually more entranced with the huge knives being thrust through the backs of the teenagers than the hairstyles. If you haven't seen the movie, click here to see what the braid looked like in the movie.

Premier Performance

Emily was all smiles after her first public performance.

It's called "A Midsummer Night in the OC," but you might as well have dubbed it, "Watch For Emily In The One-Act Play" Thursday night. That's because I didn't understand much of the plot, had a hard time hearing some of the dialogue, and spent the entire 29 minutes of the performance at Omaha Central High School focusing on Emily.

Emily is officially listed as a "Surfer Girl."

She was there right off the top, holding a surf board. She had a few lines – I believe one included the word, "Totally" (in Big 80s fashion). She traversed the stage a bunch of times – once in slow motion. And she was front and center when the cast did a bow to a nice ovation. I couldn't have been more proud.

There was one startling moment, though. It came early on, just after one of the well-muscled and shirtless male characters mightily did a bunch of push-ups. Moments later, Emily was walking off the stage arm-in-arm with him. I hope she's not so easily impressed with boys like that in real life!

Perhaps Emily has a future on the stage instead of the track. We'll see. It's certainly a different environment. The acting was good overall and the production values were solid. I wish the program listing of characters would have included grade levels. It's always nice to see who is doing well early on (freshmen and sophomores) and who should be doing well (juniors and seniors).

Grandma Weide accompanied me to the performance, which was at the Central High Auditorium. The seats were comfortable and we sat in the front row, off to the side, with Lauren. On Saturday, Emily and the 28 other actors will be perform this again at district competition at Lincoln North Star. If they win, they will be off to the state competition next month in Kearney.

So what's the scoop on this guy? He was the victim of a shark attack.

Measuring Up

Here's the "measurement device" which helped Veronica see how she sized up
against former Omaha Racers guard Tim Legler (who is now an ESPN NBA commentator).

The Girls Have Been Busy...

It's clear they've been practicing down in the basement.

Quick Stop at Cold Stone Creamery

We treated ourselves to Cold Stone Creamery after Chik-fil-a tonight.
Julia (right) didn't get the directive that we were only buying "Like It" sizes.

Way To Go, Julia!

Julia shows off the math contest certificate she earned from earlier this month.

Lauren ... The Burger Queen (or Princess)

Lauren enjoyed looking through old Christmas letters, now in a spiral binder.

One nice benefit to being home is being able to not only walk some of the girls to school, but also to drive Lauren home from school now and then.

Most recently, that has also meant a quick stop at Burger King for a little snack. Today, Lauren enjoyed some chicken nuggets and fries while perusing past editions of our Christmas letter.

The First Snowfall

Look closely in the upper part of the frame to see the snowflakes flying.

The first snowfall of the season is always an exciting time. In fact, I have written several entries about it annually:

• 2010 came on Nov. 12 and was seriously "measurable."
• 2008 (Dec. 20) came almost two weeks after a false alarm.
• Nov. 21, 2007 saw the girls eating the first snowfall.
• 2006 occurred on the last day of the year.
• The first snowfall of 2005 came on Nov. 15 and featured a fun photo of Olivia and Julia.

So when I got ready to walk up to the house to pick up Julia, Olivia and Veronica, I was ready to spring into action to document this year's event. Of course, not everyone was so excited about it:

Here's the DM Twitter exchange between Olivia and me.

 I told the girls on the walk to school that they need to "harden up" like the Belgians. "When it's pouring rain, Belgian riders race better. When it's snowing, they love it. When it's cold and windy, they feel right at home," I told them. So walking to school in blowing snow this morning was a bit like being Belgian.

Christmas Is Coming...

...And so is the YD Christmas letter.

Turkey Treat

Veronica shows off her tasty turkey creation.

Last Nice Day ... Until When?

We reached a record high temperature today: 74 degrees.

This might be it on the string of unseasonably nice weather days. We broke a record today but tomorrow is supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler. And Friday? The forecast high is only 37. Yikes. So my routine of sitting outside in the sun from 9:30 to noon or so is about to be interrupted.

We've Been Lucky

Pit stop at the recently re-opened Haworth Park in Bellevue.

The weather has been unseasonably warm this November. And that's been nice. Particularly since I'm home this entire month. What would normally be mid 30-degree days temperature-wise have been mid 50s and even low 60s.

View of the Missouri River.

I have it down on what to wear when it's above 50: Hincapie Sportswear arm warmers beneath a long-sleeved jersey, shorts, a Hincapie Sportswear e-vest and a cap beneath my Bell helmet. Gloves are either thin long-sleeve or conventional short ones and aero shoe covers are good unless it's warmer than 60. I haven't been out when it's much below 50. But if I did, it would be with tights since it's not good to have your knees exposed at that temperature.

Some long afternoon shadows.

Getting out on rides has been a regular afternoon ritual. I try to leave by 12:30 p.m. or 1 and ride at least two to three hours. With a south wind blowing, I'll ride the Keystone Trail to Bellevue's Haworth Park, then double back on surface streets. The climb up from Old Towne Bellevue to Bellevue Boulevard is rated as a Category 5 by mapmyride. No other climbs are long enough or steep enough to be rated. But there's still a fair bit of climbing here and there - including the one up L Street from the Veteran's Memorial Bridge.

Possibly darker than August.

I also like to pass the time on these rides listening to my portable transistor radio (using just one ear piece, not two). At that time of day, the "Jim Rome Show" is on, followed by "Unsportsmanlike Conduct." It really helps take your mind off things, listening to sports talk radio.

All this riding has led to an usual November tan, particularly on my legs. Well, really only on my legs since everything else is pretty well covered. But who knew you could get such a deep, dark tan in the middle of November? We'll see how long it lasts.

Hey Godfather's ... We're Table 29!

Gotta like the ingenuity of Olivia (left) and Emily with their table number...

Busy Saturday Outdoors

Lauren and her unusual head gear were soaring high (with help from a ladder).

The weather this month has been unusually mild, with afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 50s. Saturday was no exception and we took full advantage of it by getting outside.

In addition to a few games of kickball and throwing and kicking the football around, I also asked Emily to help clean the gutters. This led to some nice photo opportunities (see below), as well as Lauren going halfway up the ladder before chickening out and heading back down.

There was also a bit of dress up taking place indoors, as Veronica went through my BMC Racing Team wardrobe to become Taylor Phinney. Yes, she said she was dressing up as Taylor Phinney. If he only knew...

Veronica started with my Oakley glasses and a BMC Racing Team podium cap.

She eventually donned all kinds of BMC Racing Team riding gear.

This massive promotional elevator from Aksarben Cinema was a nice thought
and gift from Uncle Jon and Aunt Bridget. But it didn't fit through the basement door.

Which princess is behind this character from "Hotel Transylvania"?

Veronica had her own scary dude.

Here is Lauren's favorite guy from the movie.

Emily had a little fun after she was done cleaning the gutters.

Veronica also got a little time in on her bike.

This is what was left of that elevator cutout after Julia and Olivia broke it down.

We also moved Aunt Jean's organ, with some help from Uncle Neil.

Lunch Time

This is what lunch on a Husker football Saturday looks like at our house.

Schwan's mini pepperoni pizzas are a popular meal at our house – and we have Grandma YD to thank for helping us get them monthly. You'll also note in the photo above that the empty portion of the second cookie sheet was used for ... cookies. Thanks again, to Grandma YD for providing them.

No More Twinkies?

A lot of sad faces by the Hostess rack tonight at Bag n' Save.

So, Hostess says it's declaring bankruptcy, going out of business and immediately halting production. That means no more Twinkies, Ding Dongs, fruit pies, or chocolate chip muffins. Well, there might still be muffins around, judging from the look of the photo above.

Anyway, Emily wanted to get her hands on some Twinkies when she heard the news. And that turned out to be a nearly impossible task. It seems there's been a serious run on them since the news broke this morning. In fact, we're hearing reports that a box of Twinkies is going for up to $100. Wow.

Lunch With Lo

When her sisters see this photo, they'll know Lauren got a nice treat.

It's not very often that there's one-on-one time with Dad. But that's precisely what Lauren enjoyed this afternoon after school when I invited her to Burger King. She enjoyed a large chocolate shake and some fries. Fun, fun.

Creighton Game With Julia

Julia and me after the game. She was easy to spot in her Maverick gear.

Julia called me a bit after six o'clock tonight to invite me to the Creighton University men's basketball game. What I didn't immediately realize was that it started at 7:05. And I had just returned from taking Emily home from play practice – and before that, from a bike ride. So after a quick shower and suiting up in some BMC Racing Team lululemon gear, I was off to pick her up.

We zoomed down to the Century Link Center in my van where Julia showed me a great little – and free – parking space close to the arena. As we hustled our way to the box office, we were asked by quite a few people (scalpers) if we needed tickets. This continued right up until we were nearly at the ticket windows. But strangely, not a single person was in line in front of the six ticket windows. Since we had a voucher that gave us four free tickets, we were only concerned that the game might be a sell out. And it was close – 15,755. But the strangest part of the night occurred a split-second before I reached the ticket window. A couple asked us if we needed tickets. "Free tickets?" I asked. "Yes, you can have these," the woman offered, opening an envelope and handing over a pair of $30 apiece seats in the lower bowl. Wow. After a big thank you, we were off to find our seats.

Our view of the court.

It turned out they were on the end of a row with a tremendous view of the court (and the promotions area). The game itself was a good one, televised by NET and against a formidable UAB squad. Creighton's star, Doug McDermott, struggled to overcome double and triple teaming to finish with only five points.

Our experience was not without a run-in with a CenturyLink (formerly "Qwestapo") usher, who wouldn't let us stand behind the wheelchair accessible session for more than 30 seconds while we waited for my buddy, official scorer Tom Jelinek, to return to his seat at halftime. I'll say it again – if Omaha wants to have a reputation for being a friendly city, it's not happening with staffers who work at the CenturyLink Center.

Yikes

I rode by Rosenblatt Stadium today. Or what's left of it.

Hot Chocolate Time!

It's not hard to tell from these mugs who is having some.

Princess Julia: Math Wizard

Julia (far right) scored 14th out of 44 in the individual test.

I made my first trip to McMillan Magnet School today to watch Julia participate in a math contest with three other classmates. I arrived after they had already completed a round of written exam.

Once inside the main auditorium, the "quiz bowl" portion of the day began. Each of the 20+ schools had a few seconds to answer various math problems projected up on the board. Since I was seated several rows behind Julia and her classmates, I could only gauge by their reaction whether they were getting the questions right or wrong.

In the end, Julia placed 14th of the 44 people in her individual category competition. I'm not sure how the school did as a whole, but it seemed like the students and their teacher had a good time.

Mild Mornings

This is what it looks like on our daily walks to school.

Happy Birthday Julia!

At one point, both candles on the cake were lit.

Julia's birthday had come and gone without me last month (when I was in Belgium), so we celebrated in style tonight. Besides a nice ice cream cake (thanks, Aunt Bridget and Grandma YD), we also enjoyed Domino's Pizza. It was a fun time and we still had plenty of cake left over.

Nice expression by Veronica, eh?

Julia will also have to schedule her shopping excursion with Aunt Bridget at some point. Celebrating her birthday also reminds me of the lifetime pass I got her when she was born. The year 2000 was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Harlem Globetrotters. All you had to do was send a copy of the birth certificate in to them and they'd send you a pass good for a redeemable pass whenever the Globetrotters come to town. We need to use that the next time they stop in Omaha.

Norfolk Road Trip

The view from our fourth floor window in the presidential suite.

Did you know the Holiday Inn Express in Norfolk, Neb., has a presidential suite? It does - and it's a good deal, too. Less than $150 a night, and a full breakfast is included. It sleeps six - among two upstairs bedrooms and a pull-out couch. Plus, it's only a two-hour drive north of Omaha.

We enjoyed a nice drive up Saturday afternoon, then watched the Nebraska football game, ate at the Culver's (shown above in the photo), made the 7:30 p.m. mass down the street and watched free movies on the three DVD players in our room.

Friday Night Football

This was our view from about halfway up in the (cold) bleachers.

The school is pretty cool at night.

Omaha Central made the high school football players and scored a huge upset (over No. 2 Kearney) in the first round. So we decided to attend the Eagles' quarterfinal game against Creighton Prep tonight.

We knew it was going to be cold so we bundled up and also took a blanket. I also told the girls that no one could ask when we were leaving until after the halftime show was wrapped up. For the most part, they did a good job doing that.

Central was playing without its No. 1 quarterback and Prep had beaten the Eagles once already this season. Add that up and it equals a 10-0 halftime lead for the Junior Jays. We left after halftime and they ended up losing 28-14. But it was nice to show some support for Emily's school and she's still ahead of me in school state titles won at this point (two: both in basketball last year) in her high school career.

Fun In Aisle Nine

These guys were having fun in aisle nine at Nobbies.