Marianne Love/Slight Detour provides this Christmas-card shot of one of her dogs dashing through the snow on her Lovestead property. More photos & story here. Also, you can see why Marianne wants her daughter to eat her Swiss cheese here.

Best Post: I am slightly embarrassed to say that 1) I paid (matinee price) to see this movie and 2) I not only admitted it on the world-wide web, but spent more minutes of my life that I will never get back writing about it. But it made me happy. It gave me two hours of uninterrupted silliness in an otherwise mostly serious life. And, if you must know, I'll even buy it on dvd when it comes out so that I have the whole collection. You can come over and we'll have a Twilight marathon. Come on. You know you want to/A Butterfly Moment. Complete review here. (AP/Summit Entertainment/Andrew Cooper photo)

• The best mad scientist book/A Family Runs Through It
• Evolutionary economics/Arch Druid
• So what's happening in last 248 years/Atmospheric Ruminations
• Answer to Sunday question/Nicole Hensley, Blush Response
• When will the end come & how?/David Laird, Community Comment
• But for one political black sheep/Dogwalk Musings
• Occupy what? And why?/From A Simple Mind
• Countdown to turkey day begins/JeanC's Cat House & Shooting Gallery
• A Thankful Heart: Thankful for books/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Crabby for want of pumpkin pie/Not A Fairy Tale
• Winter driving tips — bonus post/Rants, Raves, & Random Thoughts
• Hatha yoga tryst/Tumblewords

HucksOnline numbers (for week of Nov. 13-19): 51,200/30,890

Lake City Development Corp. has added 69 photos of infrastructure work for Education Corridor that's currently under way, including this photo to the west of Steve Widmyer's Fort Ground Grill. You can see the other photos here. Also: MDM Construction plans to continue work through Art on the Green weekend, limiting parking in the Ed Corridor area lots. You can see detour news here.

Top Post: Dear Teenage Girls at the Movie Theater Last Night,: You are adorable with your trendy clothes, ponytails, and smooth skin. I'm glad that you enjoyed the movie even if you did figure out that she was his daughter early on. I'm sorry that the movie theater girl had to tell you to put your feet down off the seats in front of you. But why, for all things holy, did you not wash your hands after you went to the bathroom?!!??/A Butterfly Moment. More here.

• Phil Ochs, folk singer/Atmospheric Ruminations
• Purity rings/Crazy Homeschool Mama
• Taiwan — between a rock & a hard place/Dogwalk Musings
• So I missed a day/From A Simple Mind
• No galloping for this cowgirl/Slight Detour

Hucks Online numbers: (for Wednesday) 6924/4535, and (for Thursday): 7277/4604

Question: Do you always wash your hands after using the restroom?

I must say that I know that there are Twilight moms out there who have crushes on Edward or Jacob in some kind of reliving of their teenage selves. I, though, feel only maternal about the whole thing. Or maybe it’s a teacher thing. But, I can’t help but to think of these characters from a mom point of view. Hoping that Bella makes wise choices. Proud of Edward for at least attempting to do what’s right. Admiration for Jacob in handling his new life as a part time wolf. That being said, I am totally a wolf girl. Team Jacob all the way/A Butterfly Moment. More here.

• Noes and toes/Accidental Rabbit Trails
• Bipolar opinions on 4th of July/Arch Druid
• I’m not going to watch soccer, and you can’t make me/Atmospheric Ruminations
• Bayview Daze 2010/Bay Views
• Knee highs and other garden news/Bent’s Beer Garden
• A word a day: bibliolatry/Community Comment
• I get it/Crazy Homeschool Mom
• Why just the TSA?/Dogwalk Musings
• Debbie Austin — I hate you/From A Simple Mind
• All summer lily mix/Gathering Around the Table
• Steve McQueen visits Coeur d’Alene for 4th of July/ilovecda.com
• Rest of North Idaho blog roundup here

Question: Team Edward? Or Team Jacob?

• 1. It’s the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
• 2. I’m happy that it’s the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!
• 3. I got end of the year presents today (and earlier this week)…Diet Coke and Oreos and a movie gift certificate (from a mom who obviously knows me very well. Thanks, Alyson.), a Willow Tree trinket box, a basil planter, a Scentsy candle and burner, a set of watering bulbs (from the mom who knows that I do not have a green thumb), a shadow box with teacher stuff, and a huge, beautiful hanging plant. All mighty fine gifts, I think.
• 4. We had our awards ceremony. Every student in the school got at least one award.
• More from A Butterfly Moment here

Question: Did your kids get out of school today? What do you tell them when they say (as they will fairly soon this summer): “I’m bored”?

They got Adam all set up with an IV, which he was very curious about, and prepared him to go up to the operating room. Dad said a prayer with us and I was glad again that he was there. The surgeon came into the room and explained everything to us. (When the surgeon explained how they were going to remove his appendix, Adam looked at me and whispered, “But I like my appendix.” Typical Adam)/A Butterfly Moment. More here. 

• Security theft in health care/Accidental Rabbit Trails
• Lands Department screws Timberlake Fire/Bay Views
• ‘Directions’ by Billy Collins/Gathering Around The Table
• On illness/Kellogg Bloggin’
• Everything I need to know I learned online/Life’s A Freak Show
• Anniversary/Live, Love, Laugh, Hope
• Carol, this one’s for you/Slight Detour
• At peace in the garden/Notes from The ‘Kan EWA
• Solstice/Tumblewords

HBO Numbers (for Thursday, June 18): 7222/4223

Question: Have you had your appendix removed?

Yesterday we were walking through the toy aisles at Target when all of a sudden I exclaimed, “Smurfs!” The boys thought I was crazy, which is nothing new, until I pointed out the little blue plush Smurfs on the shelf. I then explained to them what Smurfs were and told them to pick one out. I couldn’t resist. They each chose a Smurf and I grabbed a Smurfette for Jules.* Then this morning I googled Smurf and guess what? There is a new Smurf movie in the works. The release date is December 2010. Apparently it takes a while to come up with all that smurfy dialogue. Then this morning I was flipping channels on tv and saw Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and two versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was right. I guess the 80’s really did have the best cartoons/A Butterfly Moment. More here.

Question: Do you agree with A Butterfly Moment that the ‘80s had the best cartoons?

So why is it that all through every day I have these brilliant blog posts go through my mind and then I sit down to write and everything is gone? I know that they are still in there somewhere, I just can’t find them. Oh well, maybe tomorrow/Jen, A Butterfly Moment.

Question: How do you fellow bloggers who post regularly fight writer’s block?

have encountered a problem that I wasn’t expecting when we named Julianna. Some people pronounce it Juli-aw-na. But it’s Juli-anna. Just like it looks. Don’t get me wrong. Juliawna is a fine name, but it’s not my daughter’s name. So what do I do? So far I have let it go if it’s someone we rarely see, like the doctor. If it’s someone who we see often I just make sure to say her name correctly a few times hoping they’ll catch on. I honestly never thought there would be a problem with the pronunciation or spelling of her name. (Apparently you can spell it Juliana, too.) I hope that she doesn’t spend her life correcting people about her name. I can just see her in 15 years rolling her eyes and saying, “It’s Juli-ANNA”/A Butterfly Moment.

Question: Do people have trouble pronouncing or spelling your name?