When did 'more' become one of my spelling words?

It was the way Jeffrey said it this morning not so much as what he said that brought a laugh out of Martha before she left for work. And she'd already been out of the house delivering the Minot Daily News for the day and even Sarah and I were up -- do not blame me if they fall asleep at school today; today was Jeffrey's day to shower, and the kids still want their mom to help with that; I slept in as I could, and you'd think I would have had enough sleep through the night. BUT I got back home after running a few errands after bringing the kids to school and crashed on the couch for thirty minutes! I must need it.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN (to HOOK, who threatens to tell his wife she doesn't have the real dagger that controls him -- look, just watch the show!): Blackmail brings out the romantic in you.

For some reason I got to thinking of Sir Thomas More, English king Henry the Eighth's royal councilor and for three years his Lord Chancellor, who may be better known to you literary types as the author of Utopia. He lived at a time when England was going through the throes of the Reformation and raised his objections to Henry divorcing his first wife and marrying the second against the will of the Roman Catholic Church and got beheaded for it. (As for Utopia, all I remember of that is we'll be celebrating its quincentennial in two years and that one characteristic of that ideal land -- well, ideal to Henrician and later Elizabethan subjects -- is that prospective spouses viewed each other nude BEFORE their wedding ceremony.)

EMMA (to HOOK, before their date on this week's Once Upon A Time episode "The Apprentice"):
I don't plunder and pillage on the first date, just so you know.

And that's as R-rated as I will get today, trust me. (Martha: "Never trust a person who says trust me!") Besides Sunday school and the Sorry! game I barely won against Jeffrey, two days ago was also the forty-fifth anniversary of my father-in-law Robert Fix at his current job! It's at a company called Gerdau Ameristeel, which a few years ago bought Porter Brothers which it was when he started, where he works cutting down metal for recycling. Granted, he hasn't had the same job there -- at one point he was skinning fur, if I remember correctly -- all that time, but Martha know more details than I do. (And if they ever forget how old sister Mary is, they remember she was born the year their dad started there!)

HOOK (to EMMA): That's because you haven't been out with me yet.

Monday night along with dinner at home is also our OUAT (the ABC show Once Upon A Time) night, but first Jeffrey got into his Cub Scout shirt and I walked with him to one of our neighbor's houses to get a popcorn order. It's the month for his group, and Martha and I agreed this year that HE'S got to do more of the heavy lifting, especially in regard to speaking to prospects. Anybody can be a great speaker when they're motivated, no matter what you hear. But back to the show, it's just so quotable and predictable yet surprising -- I think it's the only thing we all watch together anymore besides the occasional movie. I'm just not a big TV watcher; besides, I want the family and I to remember more done with each other than just watching TV. And I love 'em.

And love is a weapon, dearie -- it's just that so few people know how to wield it.

David