Catboy says goodbye. I hope everything is okay, Robert, and that I get to meet you and Mina someday!

Me: How come none of the Melbourne suppliers are answering their phones today?
Albie: It’s Melbourne Cup Day! It’s a public holiday in Victoria.
Me: What? *snort* You mean they get a public holiday because of a stupid horse race? That’s idiotic.
Albie: They’re trying to make it a holiday in New South Wales too…
Me: Yay! I love horses!

Actually, my animal-phobia notwithstanding, I do love horses today… on account of the fact that my pick in the $2 sweep we had with the printers next door came in third! I won eight bucks! And my horse’s name? Xcellent…

Congratulations to Tricia and Jeff, who used their “corpse bride and groom” costumes to announce their engagement. Hooray! In related news, the Snook and I will be opening a Japanese restaurant.

We had a trick-or-treater tonight! It was a little girl with her dad. I gave her a glow-in-the-dark plastic skull full of candy, which was all I had left. (I took the rest of the party leftovers to work today.) They were nice and I turned the skeleton lights on for them, but I really wish non-American trick-or-treaters would learn that you don’t go to houses without their porch lights on! It was pure luck I had the candy. These are the unwritten rules, world! Learn them.

Knitted Digestive Tract. That’s kinda neat! And remember the knitted uterus from before? It’s like some Mad Knitting Scientist is creating a WoolMonster, one set of organs at a time… (Link courtesy of Nora.)

Note to Sydney knitters: The Entry Guidelines for the Royal Easter Show have been posted! Deadline is December 9th. I’m definitely entering something this year…

I went to meet a hypnotherapist this morning. No, REALLY. It’s just that I’ve kinda lost my “oomph” with regards to the weight loss, you know? It was easy at the beginning when it was all a novelty, but now I’m all, “Ehhh, I’m bored” and I’m starting to think about food again all the time. And I still lack the ability to stop eating when I’m full. So I looked at a bunch of websites and contacted the one that looked the least creepy. She turned out to be extremely professional and nice, and she thinks that I’d be an “ideal candidate” for the process. (And no, she doesn’t tell everybody that; I made her tell me about people who *wouldn’t* be right for it.) So I think I’m gonna give it a go. First session is next Friday. (What, you think I’m gonna do it before the candy extravaganza that is tomorrow night? No way!)

Hank is giving away two copies of a new book about Degrassi Junior High, so head over there if you’re interested. I reserve the right to mock your lameness, though, if you do.

My cousin Jenny just e-mailed me a heads-up that there’s a new Goblet of Fire scene available online. It shows the chaos at the Quidditch World Cup and ends with…… who the hell is that conjuring the Dark Mark? I thought Winky was the one who did it. (Or rather it was the invisible Barty Crouch Jr. with Harry’s wand, but Winky took the fall for it.) Are they cutting Winky out entirely? Who’s that guy? This is a pretty major plot point they’re messing with. That said, the Dark Mark looks pretty kewl.