Goat Birthday

So, the goat turned 1u,39y8,456h98j7 in goat years a few weeks ago.

After the stress of October, we were hoping November would settle down a little. Alas, both of the first two weeks of November had Mike on the road. So his birthday turned  out to be a quiet affair. We went for pizza at our new favorite local place and then came home for birthday dessert. Mike had requested chocolate cream pie after tasting some a few weeks back at a delicious place that we've just discovered near our house (bonus: it's actually really, really close!). I don't have a picture of Mike with the original pie, but here's Natalie in the restaurant in a post-pie sugar coma:

So, using the Cook's illustrated recipe, I set out to re-create that. This wasn't my cooking process, but it is a pretty cute sort of cooking-related picture, so hey....

 Anyway, here's how I did:

Not bad, eh? 

The goat also received a tortilla press for his birthday, and so far we've been treated to some magnificent tortillas!

So I mentioned that Mike had been on the road a lot. One of his trips was to speak at a university alumni event. The alumni were attending a lecture by Gorbachev, and it was the goat job to provide some insightful background and context. That left me trying to explain to Natalie what, exactly, Mike was doing. Our conversation went like this:

Me: You know how Barack Obama is our President, right? Well, Gorbachev was the leader of another country a long time ago. He did some really big, important things. And he's a very important person. So listening to what he has to say is really interesting.
Natalie: [Pause, thinking] Kind of like SuperFrog? (SuperFrog is the TCU mascot)
Me: Exactly.

For those needing a little additional visual, here's SuperFrog (he's the one on the right, kids). 

Also, here are Mike and Natalie flashing their horned frog signs (or at least attempting to do so!):

The weather's been strange (or, typical - whatever). We've definitely had a few cold-cold days, and frost enough to kill the garden - and hopefully the West Nile-laden mosquitoes. But we're still having warm and pleasant days in the 70s, too. I guess all we can say is that the misery of summer is definitely over! Anyway, long sleeves and long pants are definitely making an appearance these days. Here's Natalie, modeling some new togs from Bubbe:

 
Hope you are staying warm! And happy Thanksgiving to you! Next week (in theory), I'll have a separate post all about Natalie's Thanksgiving program at school.