Ravioli to celebrate the new year

We could still use some lessons from the Aguzzis, but this was a respectable first try.

Christmas photos online

We're back in Vicksburg, with our wireless connection. Wireless isn't available in Pontotoc, which is oddly nice. There are too many photos from our holiday adventures to post on the blog, so we've uploaded to FlickR. To check out Christmas morning with our niece (cousin) Madeleine, see here. To view the hog adventure, click here.

3:45 a.m.

And still cooking.

Hog cooking begins

Way out by the lake, you can see Ned and Jimmy starting the fire.

Work on the walking trail begins

Merry XMas

Merry XMas

Merry XMas from Pontotoc

Christmas Eve

Madeleine's too tired to care about Santa right now.

We have the Christmas Spirit!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Texting Races

Jessica's up, 2-0. But Shelby's coming back strong.
UPDATE: Original post incorrectly described Jessica as the leader, to the great distress of Shelby. The post should have read: Shelby's up, 2-0. But Jessica's coming back strong. The blog regrets the error.

6:22 pm

Tada!

One hour to go

Table legs going back on. MB in kitchen, staying out of the way.

GV strikes again

After much work, Ned finally pried off the broken underboards. 3 hours left till dinner.

Busted boards

Saturday adventure

We invited the family to dinner at 1 pm. Then we tried to fix the shaky table so we could eat at it. 1:30 pm. Now we're at the Home Depot, 2:15 pm, because this repair is more involved than initially we thought. Look for live blog updates throughout the afternoon. Can you spell debacle?

I still didn't get a tour.

Ned's never taken me to the Mississippi Petrified Forest, even though the signs along the Interstate make it look so fun! On Saturday, as we drove home from Pontotoc (same day as the Hayman adventure), we popped by for a visit. We enjoyed a photo opp by the sign and a $1 slush puppie, as well as good conversation with the guy who sold postcards at the gift shop, but it was too cold to wander outside for the tour. We'll have to wait until next time. Can't have too much adventure in one day, you know.

Warning: Bass Pro Shop doesn't carry golfing supplies

They say it's a sports and outdoors store. Golf is a sport. And it's played outdoors. But there was no golf equipment at the Bass Pro Shop when we dropped by for a brief visit and (failed) Christmas errand. We did enjoy posing with various dead stuffed animals though. And we even splurged so Ned could play a hunting game. (See photo above.) It was quite the adventure. We're pretty sure that we were the only people there who drove a Honda Civic.

Our Favorite Christmas Ad of 2008

Remembering Birthdays

Today would have been my Grandpa Lasseter's 87th birthday. He never was one to enjoy having his photo taken, as you see above. I think this must have been taken on or near his birthday, because all us kids seem dressed up for a visit and, just barely through the front door, I can see the Christmas tree in the yard, which clues me to the time of year. Plus, he's wearing pants that aren't navy, which must mean that it was a special occasion.

Happy Birthday also to Mama Doyce, Ned's grandmother, who celebrates #94 today.

LD's is famous!

That's the story in today's food section. Not bad, Vicksburg. It only took you a month longer than the rest of the nation to read John T's story in Garden & Gun.

A Hayman

On the way back from Pontotoc this past weekend (yes, we DO travel all the time), we had occasion to stop in a little town on Highway 15, just south of Houston, Mississippi. They have Mississippi's largest furniture store (they've taken over an abandoned school), and the best Christmas spirit we've seen in the state. Here's a photo with our favorite festivity, the Hayman. We're not publishing the 5 photos that preceded this, where Mary Beth is running across the street in an attempt to beat the self-timer on the camera.

Meet Emmanuel Alejandro Sanchez!

We had the pleasure of visiting friends Alex and Sophie in Oxford this past weekend. Their baby boy, Emmanuel, was born just last Sunday. Isn't he precious? And don't they look too rested to be new parents?

Today's our anniversary

August 25 was our first wedding anniversary. Today, December 15, marks one year since we moved in together (we like to do things differently than other couples). As you can see from comparing this photo to our post from last year at about this time (see here), not much has changed in terms of the messy house. What's our excuse today? The painter we had talked to a few weeks ago called to remind us that he'd be at our house at 7 a.m. on Monday. Surprise! (That makes two surprises in less than 12 hours!) We had to quickly clear the dining room of furniture late on Sunday night so he could get to work upon arrival.

Surprise! Today's the Mitchell Christmas Party!

We made it, but it's a long story. And Mary Beth got some fun new snow globe wine toppers from Aunt Mary Sue. All I had to do was compliment them and she kindly gave them to me. Who knew she had a drawer full?

Finding the Christmas tree

Yum...dinner

Cincinnatti chili and onions

Ike on the way to his new home!

Ike update

Thanks to all who inquired about Ike. He is a happy puppy in his new home of Oxford, Mississippi.

Ike's looking for a good home.

So it's come to this.

We have a dog, but hopefully not for long. Meet Ike. Our neighbors left him outside, without shelter, in the rain all of last night. Tonight, with it 39 and sleeting, he was barking so pitifully that even I, dog hater that I am, felt sympathy for him. So I walked across the street, knocked on her door, and ended up with the dog on our back porch. He's dry and quiet now. We left gates unlocked and gave her our phone number so her husband could call and/or pick up the dog when he gets off work at 1 a.m., though we doubt he'll retrieve him that late. (I emphasize: this is not a case of dognapping. The last thing I want to do is keep him!) Woe and distress. At least it'll give us news for the blog. And Ned gets a dog for 24 hours. DOG UPDATE: They've called and thanked us for keeping the dog out of the rain. Also, they're "allowing" us to keep him all night. And they welcome our help in finding him a new owner. Anybody interested? He's a large dog and will need good outdoor space. Very gentle, not aggressive, but excitable. English Bulldog mix (maybe some boxer?).

Lasseter Christmas Photo, Early

Every year, we line up at the end of the hall for a Christmas photo prior to seeing what Santa brought. This year, since Sarah nor I will be home, we lined up at Thanksgiving. It just doesn't seem the same when we're not all sleepy and wearing our pajamas for this snapshot.

Multiple Trees on National Street

Photo courtesy of Ned.

Almost all the ornaments are on the tree.

We ran out of hooks, and were too lazy to change out of our pajamas to go buy more. There are about ten more ornaments that I'll need to hang on the tree tomorrow, but Ned went ahead and topped it off with the angel. It's beautiful! We tree watched for a long time tonight. Ned got a little bored, because he pointed out that the tree doesn't actually move or do anything when you watch it, but he was a gamer and sat with me to admire it for about an hour this evening.

Bayesian Networks, by Margaret Anne/Mom

Though many theories concerning Bayesian Networks have been mentioned in previous chapters. [1] , little is known about its origin. Some have connected it to Thomas Bayes's posthumously published paper of 1763. However new evidence has surfaced that an advanced civilization existed on the Isle of Baye in the Geek Islands (currently called the Greek Islands). [2] Recent discoveries [3] exist that this ancient civilization dispursed itself thoughtout the world, using flying "brooms" much like those used by Harry Potter. Once within the culture, these ancient engineers directed the building of many of the Seven Wonders of the World, networking with each other using telepatic connections. In the United States this ancient lost "tribe" are called Melungeons and are identified by a small bump on the back of the head. At least one of the contributors, as well as the author, have this bump, thereby connecting them to the Isle of Baye. How many of the other contributors have this bump? Are they really Geeks as well? What is the Probability? Is there Risk in making these connections?

[1] Lasseter. M. Underground Disney World; Lasseter. D. Baywatch; Freeland, T. Best Barbeque; Shawhan, D. Theory of Barking Dogs and Lassater, M.B. Extrapolation of Barking Dog Theory (should one shoot the barking dog or the sorry neighbor?)
[2] Robbins, J. Theory of Geeks
[3] Petrified Pocket Protectors and Slide Rules Discovered in Ruins, NYTimes, November 15, 2008.

Bayesian Networks, by Patrick

C'mon. Can I be honest? If you have not heard of Bayesian Networks and do not know what it is by now, you're never going to know. We should just save the time and let me tell you about what I want for dinner.

I would like a good steak or other substitute meat along with some potatoes. Meat and potatoes sound really good. These Bayesian Networks really work up an appetite. If the Bayesian Networks owned a brewery, I would hope it was a Budweiser brewery because that is what I'd want with my meat and potatoes. Do not worry, fair reader, because Bayesian Networks does not own a brewery. It is much more complicated than that.

Signs of the Season

The first (of many) Christmas gin n tonics. Just like Mama makes: lime on the ice, a jigger of Tanqueray, Commander Schweppe's, and a Christmas glass.

Today, lights

Saturday, ornaments.

The CNN sports headline says it all, doesn't it?

Bayesian Networks, by Jimmy

With all due respect to Tom, Melanie, and Daniel , they are all very close to describing the Bayesian Network but have missed the mark .

The probability and risk of David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson meeting for a clandestine barbecue meal at Disney World (followed by other extracurricular activities) range from high to low. Given their current age and health, even though the probability of such a rendezvous would be high, the end result would probably be very low. Given their need for constant media attention, the risk that they might be caught would probably be high, but they wouldn’t care.

It is obvious that the Bayesian Network should only be used by over educated nerdy / geeky people to explain complex ideas to other over educated nerdy / geeky people.

Check out our tree

It's huge! Perfect for my lifetime of ornaments.

Bayesian Networks, by Aunt Da

Also useful is the Bayesian Network or “belief network” that helps predict probabilities. For example, suppose the dog barks loudly in the middle of the night. Depending on one’s world view or belief network, one might conclude that 1) invaders were at the door to rape and pillage or 2) the dog had a bad dream. In any case, an algorithm is in order and is much more likely to produce desirable results than is a simple calculation with pi (3.141414141414 all the way to Tucson, Arizona).

**Note the subtle beginning, perfect for insertion into any part of the diss, Ned. Also, might I add a third alternative to the conclusion? "One might also conclude that you have sorry neighbors who just let their dogs bark all the time."-- MB

Neighborhood competition

Our neighbors on the left have light up animatronic reindeer. The neighbors two doors down have a light up, blow up reindeer carousel snow globe. Ned and I have a lot of Christmas competition on National Street.