Kimler Adventure Pages (http://randsco.com)

Our five-year-old daughter, Alex (whom we call "the Oop"), had a great Halloween this year. Her Halloween costume was a princess gown, tiara and a shimmery golden cape. She thought she was pretty cute. She was! Hope you had a great Halloween too!

Halloween Tales of Princess Oop

Princess Oop: Alex wearing her "Princess" Halloween costume, standing next to the one-tooth pumpkin she helped carve, is ready for an evening of trick-or-treat. A dollar-store crown and a six-dollar thrift store costume shows that parents don't have to break the bank to put a Halloween outfit on their kid.

Alex has been enamored with Princesses for some time. It all started when she received a Disney "My Princess Collection" Alex's Princess Books "My Princess Collection" is a boxed set of 12 hardcover books containing illustrated stories about heroines from Disney and Pixar films, including: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Toy Story 2 (Jessie), Alice in Wonderland, Atlantis (Kida), Aladdin (Jasmine), Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), A Bug's Life (Dot), Pocahontas, and The Little Mermaid (Ariel). They're all told from a first-person perspective - that of each Princess - each being a story of true love, adventure and "living happily ever after". The Oop loves them and both Mom & Dad can tell each story, from rote memory.  of bedtime stories, as a gift from her "Uncle" Bruce and "Aunt" Michelle. For a while, they were her favorite bedtime reading choice and it started a near-obsession with Princesses, which resulted in a myriad of drawings, discussions and has - hopefully culminated with - this year's Halloween costume.

Trust me, as a responsible father, no-one wants their little girl believing that they are "a princess" ... with all the self-important, royal behavior that might follow! (Pity the poor guy marrying into THAT, some day, eh? I'm not sure where he'd sit on that royal court, but I doubt it'd be as "prince" ... more likely knave, slave or court jester!)

Alex's "princess" costume consisted of a $5 princess dress at the thrift store, a $1 jewel-studded tiara and the golden cape she was given for 'dress-up' on her birthday, a few weeks ago. Best $6 Rachel ever spent! The Oop loved it and played her part royally, wearing it to the local pumpkin patch, then to kindergarten, a party at day-care and (of course) trick-or-treating on Halloween night!

For a slide-show of the Princess Alex's Halloween festivities (and a celebration of the joy, innocence and excitement of a 5-year-old girl) ... read on ...

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Randsco is "published" in a French textbook, a Florida reader sent Scott a Penn State baseball hat and Oklahoma's Red Dirt Emporium donated generously to Randsco. (Hmmm ... maybe it's time I find a way to say "thanks" to everyone that's helped Randsco ... here's a start)

Some Recent Kudos

October has been another milestone month for Randsco.com. In addition to setting new records for visitation and Google AdSense revenue, there have been a number of other, off-site developments.

Two of those arrived by mail. First, we received a hard-back book. Randsco.com is now "published"! (One of our online photos was used in the book). Second, just yesterday, Scott received a surprise package. (No, it wasn't a bomb ... it was a Penn State baseball cap! We surmise that it's a "thank you" for the Geographically Challenged article, since it arrived without a note).

The other recent event was an generous, unsolicited donation - (donations of any kind, are a rare event) - by a company in Oklahoma, for the use of the Photo-caption Zoom technique.

Over the years, we've received a variety of unsolicited, creative "thank you's" for helping with HTML code, PHP scripts and/or our CSS techniques. Two that come to mind are a hand-made Afghan rug, which we received from a U.S. Army helicopter pilot stationed in Afghanistan and the other, an Opera CD sent by a Dane, living in Spain, who's wife is a singer.

We've had it on our "to-do" list to add a section that says "thanks" for all the people that have donated, contributed or helped Randsco.com in a meaningful way. This post is a way of biting the bullet and just "starting", though it will take some time to construct something more finalized and formal.

To find out more about our plans for "thank you's" and the story behind the book, the hat and the Oklahoma PZ3 donation ... carry on

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WARNING: Funny video about John McCain and Sarah Palin winning the U.S. Election in November. (A plan for disenfranchised liberal elite Americans - Move to Canada). Enjoy.

A Plan for America's Disenfranchised Liberal Elite

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A comparison of Canada's 2008 election and that of the United States - what it cost each country to elect a leader. (Hint: Record amounts set by both countries). Shouldn't it be less expensive to elect public officials?

Canada & United States - Cost of the Election

U.S./Canada Election Spending: Canada spent $300 million on their 2008 election and the United States is on target for spending $5.3 billion. Both values are the highest ever, in their respective countries.

Comparing Canadian and United States politics is bit like comparing grapefruits and tangerines. They're both fruit, citrus even, but also very different. In one respect though, Canada and U.S. are the same - they'll both spent record amounts in their 2008 elections.

It's a travesty that each election should consume ever more energy (time, material and money). It'll be a relief when they're finally over.

For a comparison on election costs between Canada and the United States, carry on ...

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First School Bus Ride: About a month after school started, Alex had a chance to take the school bus home. Boy, was she excited about doing that!

A "Proud-as-Punch" Kid

Barreling Down Yellow Point: Alex's school bus arriving at her stop. Yes, there are still a couple of 5-acre parcels available at the end of our street. See that pot-hole? It's something we have to try and miss, each time we come home. We're getting pretty good at putting the tires between the pot-hole and the road edge!

School started some time ago, but it wasn't till this month that Alex rode the school bus home for the very first time. It wasn't for lack of lobbying on her part.

"Mommy?" (or Daddy, depending), she'd ask, "Can I take the bus home tomorrow?"

More often than not, Alex was headed to day-care immediately after her afternoon kindergarten class, or off to swimming, or we'd pick her up on our way into town ... or some other activity. It's a rare day that she can actually ride the bus and boy-oh-boy, was she eager to do so.

Riding the bus to school isn't really an option, since the bus comes at 8 AM and her kindergarten class doesn't start till 11:35 AM. However, riding the bus from school is an option and (somehow) she knew it! She was bugging us about riding the bus since school began.

Finally, the opportunity to take the bus home came up and she was sooooo excited!

To see how excited and proud a 5-year-old can be about riding a school bus for the first time .... read on ...

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