Ryan had his first Aikido class today. He loved it and is really excited to continue. I'm really impressed by the sensei and all the other students, and I think it's going to be a really good fit for him.

Mira's girl scout troop participated in a cookie swap with all the local girl scout troops this evening, and every mother in her troop baked gluten-free, vegan cookies so Mira could participate in the swap. She was thrilled, and I was very touched. Wasn't that incredibly sweet? What a great group.

The cookie swap was in lovely Krum, TX (680 households, approximately 7 miles from here), and their annual holiday parade was this evening. I'm so glad we stayed, because it was, without question, the funniest parade I've ever seen. It was like something out of a Bill Murray movie.

Oh, and I almost forgot about Denton's own holiday festival. The annual tree lighting and wassail festival was Thursday, and it was great fun. Mira's girl scout troop had a booth for kids to decorate cookies, so she helped out there. Afterwards we went into all the shops on the square to drink wassail. The local businesses compete for bragging rights every year for "best wassail."  As usual, I appreciated the charm of living in a small town. That was before I went to Krum and realized I live in a cosmopolitan city.