Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I'm late to the party with this one...I didn't realize today was actually THE day. Ah, well - such is life.

I'm fairly sure I don't have many if ANY lurkers. But maybe there's one of you out there that I haven't heard from yet. And if you're out there, you lurker you, leave a comment. Show me some love on this cold January day.

Monday, January 12, 2009

winning scrabble on facebook
and then
watching True Beauty on the computer between turns -

A total brain usage balance, no?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Not wanting to be left out of any possible concussion action we had going on last weekend my daughter clonked her head while sledding.

Never mind the fact that, when asked both she and the neighbor girl said that they would be right next to the neighbor girl's house and would under NO circumstances be sledding down the slope to the pond.

Lies, all lies.

What my daughter clonked her head on turned out to be a different neighbor's dock. As in, on the shore of the pond. At an entirely different house.

There was bleeding and tears and ice packs but within a few minutes they had invited her back over to watch a movie. I sent her, in her pajamas, with popcorn and drinks. And a giant lump on her head.

We were fortunate that it was the side of her head, that she didn't hit harder, that she didn't go far enough out onto the Pond as to fall in. There were a few conversations this week about honesty and keeping yourself out of dangerous situations. Not at all sure how much of it sunk in, apparently she's got a pretty thick skull.





Saturday, January 10, 2009


Last year, there were two days of skateable ice. I use the term skateable loosely as it was bumpy and cracked and while it was safe it wasn't fun. We've been monitoring the situation very closely for the past few days. Trips down to the pond before school. Reports from Dad after getting off the bus...."Is it safe yet?" Finally, today...it was. They skate until it's dark and the pucks are disappearing into the shadows. Until we look around and realize the temperature has dropped a bunch and damn, it's REALLY cold now and holy crap, it's kind of dark out here.

But tonight, as we're watching the weather the meteorologist starts talking about the full wolf moon that's going to be out tonight. And that it's going to be clear, cold and bright. 'Like mother nature has turned on a night light for us', he says. I give my husband, B. a look. He knows what I mean. So, at eight fifteen we get tell the kids to grab their stuff and we took them to skate under the light of the full moon. Truly awesome.

Friday, January 09, 2009

16 Random Items....

Dawn posted this a week or so ago and instead of being original and coming up with my own 16 Random Items I just, um, stole hers.

Not really stole, I mean I just used her topics as my starting point. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Right?


1. I have never made my own pie crust. I've made tons of pies but never, ever have taken the time to make the crust from scratch. Someday, I'm sure I will - but honestly, I don't even care to learn how.

2. I'm always afraid that my shoelaces will come undone and my foot will be sucked into the escalator. I double and triple check the shoes of anyone that's with me too.

3. I sort of like bologna.

4. The winged monkeys from the Wizard of Oz totally scared the hell out of me when I was little. Same with the crows from Dumbo.

5. I use Firefox.

6. I used to eat canned fruit cocktail when I was a kid and the cherries were the best. Oh, to have a can with an extra cherry!

7. I have only just learned to spell definitely.

8. I didn't start eating mushrooms until after I had my son - and then I fell in love with them. And then I had an allergic reaction to something with cremini mushrooms, which I heard were just baby portabella mushrooms and now I only eat the white ones.

9. I could use a cut and color. My hair is now wavy, apparently - after being straight for the entire rest of my life. Weird.

10. Am moderately excited for baseball season, hating the Yankees, at this point, even more than I thought possible. The MLB network is just superfluous to me...we've got NESN and pretty much that's a Red Sox channel come April. I say moderately because April will mean that hockey is just about done and it's the Bruins that I'm really loving right now.

11. My life is totally different than I would've ever imagined. I sometimes think I took the path of least resistance but honestly? I'm so glad that I did.

12. I go to both aquariums and zoos but I'm not really crazy about either one. The kids love going, happy kids = happy mom, so I don't particularly mind.

13. I could be doing a lot better on the whole Green Living thing.

14. Now I'm wanting to make Shepard's Pie.

15. I have posts. In drafts.

16. My favorite TV character on Veronica Mars was her dad.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Snow. And Christmas. And a Show.


The Mice Before Christmas from Jenny on Vimeo.

Here she is. My elf. I am still willing myself to forget how much the whole affair cost us but damn, she shore is cute.





Snow! Here's the girlie getting pelted by her brother.





And here he is getting his payback.


And you get this one just because I love it.


We're supposed to be trying to get the Christmas Card shot but they have to get some of this out of their system first. See that yellowish/fake front tooth of his? Well, that week he bit into a pretzel and broke it right off. So now he's got a new shiny white tooth in there. Until the next time.
Here's the shot I would've probably used.
If I ever got around to getting them printed for the cards.Here's a semi-blurry shot of the tree. I have a clear one but when I just uploaded I picked the wrong picture. Sorry, no do-overs tonight. The Christmas decoration pictures were supposed to be part of Jen's Open House. Jenny=Fail.
Christmas Morning. They're eleven and eight and still not even one complaint about the matching pajamas. I had to take the waist on my son's pajamas in at ten p.m. on Christmas Eve but other than that? Success!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

A Food Meme

1. Favorite milk? Well, I buy 1% and like it. Would I rather have 2% or whole or skim? No, not really - I could buy them. But I don't, so I guess it's 1%.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook this season? In the winter we definitely lean more towards comfort foods/oven use. I make a lot of pork roasts, roasted chickens (with mashed potatoes, gravy and a veg) and there's the weekly pasta dish.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? Real butter and salt. Lotsa both..

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? A few weeks ago I was grilling chicken and within five minutes the grill caught on fire and burned the chicken thighs to a size and color similar to hockey pucks. They tasted only slightly better than pucks and went straight into the trash. Was that my most disasterous? I can't even think, really - it was certainly my most recent.

5. Favorite pickled item? Not a fan of pickled items. I can occasionally stomach a spicy dill pickle and I do liked chopped ham and pickle sandwiches. My girl loves pickled stuff and I got her to try one of those totally gross pickled eggs that they have on the counters of convenience stores all over Maine. She hated it but she totally tried it, and for that, I will be forever impressed.

6. How do you organize your recipes? Um, I don't. Maybe this will fall under the theme of New Year's Resolutions...

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? We do a mix of the first two. We have a septic system and not town sewer so garbage disposals are a HUGE no-no.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)? popcorn, blueberries and Rapid Ray's steamed hotdogs. Protein course, y'know.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Picking fresh veggies from my parent's garden and making salad from whatever I came up with. Looking back, our yard was a postage stamp and still my dad carved out a little piece for veggies and fruit, trying something new every year. Potatoes = Fail. I'll never forget that.

10. Favorite ice cream? chocolate peanut butter cup

11. Most loved kitchen appliance? Not an appliance but it's my cast-iron pan, seasoned to near perfection.

12. Spice/herb you would die without? kosher salt.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? Funny, I've read a few of these memes and the Betty Crocker cookbook is on all of them. Mine too. I love the banana bread recipe.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Raspberry. Hands down. Although there IS this little place in Maine that makes wild blueberry jam. Delish.

15. Favorite recipe to serve to a friend? I generally make a soup or chili during the winter when we have other families over. In the summer it could be anything from grilled chicken to some sort of shrimp or steaks but whatever I make won't require oven use.

16. Do you eat tofu? I cannot, for the life of me, get past the look and texture.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? Definitely dinner. Breakfast is okay but I hate cleaning up the kitchen like that at the start of the day and lunch? Nah.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? A basket with our sunglasses, walkie talkies and my old camera. Plus a little jar for milk money and an envelope for Box Tops for Education.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. Ice Cream Sandwich ice cream, a lasagna and a bucket of margaritas.

20. What's on your grocery list? A smoked shoulder. My family loves a good boiled dinner.

21. Favorite grocery store? Shaws, I guess. Although I do go to Trucci's for meats. Market Basket is to scuzzy and Stop -n-Shop is too expensive. Roche Brothers is nice to shop in but I couldn't afford it weekly. The nearest Whole Foods is forty five minutes away - I've never even been.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to try, but haven't yet. Prime rib. I was a little afraid to ruin one, they're not cheap. But after this past weekend...they're SO easy. What was I afraid of?

23. Food blog you read the most. She's not a food blog, per se, but I get a decent amount of recipes from The Pioneer Woman.

24. Favorite chocolate? Dark.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Meat. I'm kidding. Things aren't quite that dire. But, extravagant? Nothing.

26. What vegetables do you enjoy most? Corn on the cob and steamed carrots.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Trying it again. Halfheartedly.

In keeping with Amy's theme...

Facebook:

Where you browse through your high school friend's contacts and realize "god, I'm so glad THAT'S over."
You'd think I'd be over the whole dog missing thing. It's been six months now.

This was the first year we've been able to put candy canes on the tree.
He'd eat them off the tree, once knocking it over to get at those pepperminty treats. All the salt dough ornaments disappeared mysteriously a few years ago too.

The first year we could put presents under the tree before Christmas Eve if we had decided on that course.
He'd open them while we were gone and leave them unwrapped on the floor for the kids to see.

The first year our tree hasn't died within a few short weeks.
He'd get thirsty and drink all the tree water leaving it bone dry after we had just filled it.

On Easter I'll be able to hide the eggs the night before instead of outisde at the asscrack of dawn without worrying that he'd eat a dozen eggs before the kids have a chance to find them. Generally I spent Easter morning following the dog around the yard calling him, trying to distract him while the kids and HE searched for that one last egg.

But I missed filling his stocking this year.

I still wait to hear his bark when someone pulls into the driveway.

A quick movement, an out of place shadow...I still think I see him sometimes out of the corner of my eye sometimes.

Monday, January 05, 2009

99 Things

The 99 Things Meme!

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to: leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog. Um, yeah.

2. Slept under the stars. I did, whenI was a camp counselor. Our every other week overnight was just us, in sleeping bags under the stars. I caught bronchitis and slept so close to the fire that my pillow case burned. Did I mention we were left in charge of 10 8-year old kids? The powers that be paired girl and boy counselors together, not sure about the thought process there. My partner in crime was named Mike and he was a shaved head skateboarder dude. And by the end of the summer? He was also my boyfriend.

3. Played in a band. ahahahahaha! No.

4. Visited Hawaii. Nope. And I'm pretty sure I never will.

5. Watched a meteor shower. Once.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity. More than I can afford? No. But we do give.

7. Been to Disneyland/World. Disney World. Once, in sixth grade. Another place I've got zero interest in. Sorry kids!

8. Climbed a mountain. I've climbed Blue Hill. You can ski somewhere nearby, maybe even there. But it's just a hill.

9. Held a praying mantis. I've seen plenty of them. But I have no inclination to HOLD one.

10. Sang a solo. Have you heard me sing? No? There's a good reason for that.

11. Bungee jumped. Nope. I would do one of those crazy long zip lines though...

12. Visited Paris. I'd like to. Someday.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. Just last summer.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. I taught myself embroidery in the past few years. And I just taught myself how to thread my daughter's sewing machine today. Does that count?

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning. Thank god, no.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. How high can you go up? Her head?

18. Grown your own vegetables. Tomatoes. I have visions of a vegetable garden but for now that's what they'll stay...visions.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. I think Blackbird mentioned a long line. If that's the case then forget it. Still, though - a short line and I'm in.

20. Slept on an overnight train. I would LOVE to travel this way with the kids.

21. Had a pillow fight. A bunch of us teenage girls had a slumber party and we were all in our bras and panties....HAH! Not! Not as much fun as it looks.

22. Hitch hiked. Nope.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. You bet. I went to Martha's Vinyard and went to the beach.

24. Built a snow fort. Still do.

25. Held a lamb. Aw, who wouldn't want to hold a lamb?

26. Gone skinny dipping. Yep.

27. Run a Marathon. Longest distance ever: 5 miles. And that was years ago.

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice. I'm thinking this would be smellier and dirtier and not as fun as it looks like in the movies.

29. Seen a total eclipse. I'm pretty sure I have. I'm bolding.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. Not many sunrises, except when I've been up all night.

31. Hit a home run. Once. In elementary school. An infield homerun. Not the same.

32. Been on a cruise. Honeymoon. Yawn. I mean, it was okay. But I wouldn't go on another one.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. How have I never been here?

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. My parents? Yes. Grandparents? No, it's far into Maine. 12+ hours away.

35. Seen an Amish community. We went to Pennsylvania when I was in Junior High School. Saw the buggies. Wasn't interesting at the time. I'm sure I'd appreciate it more now but maybe not.

36. Taught yourself a new language. No thanks.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Oh, yeah. With my husband laid off and my work hours set to NEVER increase? Not likely anytime soon.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. I'd like to see this.

39. Gone rock climbing. On one of those flooky indoor rock walls.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David. I'll include this as part of my trip to see the Tower of Pisa and the Mona Lisa.

41. Sung karaoke. Drunk and only as a back-up singer.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. Okay, I'm bolding but really - I've only paid for someone's coffee at the drive-thru.

44. Visited Africa. No, and I have no real urge.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. That question about sleeping under the stars? Same guy.

46. Been transported in an ambulance. No, thankfully.

47. Had your portrait painted. *snickers* A caricature.

48. Gone deep sea fishing. A few times.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Apparently, I'll be busy while I'm in Europe.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. Snorkeling. And I hyperventilate. We were with stingrays. Good times.

52. Kissed in the rain. To be young...

53. Played in the mud. Yep.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater. We used to go all the time when I was a kid. There are a few around here now, around here being a forty five minute drive...I've been meaning to take the kids...

55. Been in a movie. I'm going out on a limb here to say that home movies don't count do they?

56. Visited the Great Wall of China. That's what aerial photography is for.

57. Started a business. Good god. NO. I would be an utter failure.

58. Taken a martial arts class. Yawn.

59. Visited Russia. See number 37. Basically I'll probably never get there. Still, italics.

60. Served at a soup kitchen. No, I haven't. I'm not saying I want to. But I wouldn't be opposed to it.

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies. As a girl scout my dad took the form to work and I cleaned up. As a mom - once. And I sold the bare minimum.

62. Gone whale watching. Dismal failure.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason. Yep and I think they're kind of a waste of money.

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. I went once and they turned me away because of my tattoo.

65. Gone sky diving. No freaking thank you.

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp. I'm not sure I could do this. I don't do well with memorials.

67. Bounced a check. Not recently but yes.

68. Flown in a helicopter. Once. Great fun.

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. Little People cruise ship? Barn? That big green inch-worm? Got them.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial. This type of memorial doesn't bother me. But The Wall? Or something like that? I just burst into tears.

71. Eaten Caviar. I loved it. Or convinced myself I did. I was a kid and it was so EXOTIC. I haven't had it since.

72. Pieced a quilt. I just learned to thread a sewing machine. Today.

73. Stood in Times Square. Once.

74. Toured the Everglades. I sort of italicized this one for the kids - THEY'D love it.

75. Been fired from a job. Sort of. I was offered a job change where I was working and while I was on vacation I was told not to report to back to work the next day - they were auditing my work at my previous position. When all was said and done what they thought they knew was totally WRONG and I was vindicated. And then I resigned.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London. Something I can skip during my EuroTour.

77. Broken a bone. No, never - thankfully.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. Once. And never again.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. I would love to. I've heard Zion is better, though.

80. Published a book. I can't even write regularly on a blog. What on earth could fill the pages of a book.

81. Visited the Vatican. Eh, maybe.

82. Bought a brand new car. Maybe next time.

83. Walked in Jerusalem. Do they make kevlar for tourists? No thank you.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper. During my illustrious days as a brownie scout.

85. Read the entire Bible. No but the LOL Cat version is damned funny.

86. Visited the White House. From the outside. Long lines.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. I won't even help my husband clean a fish.

88. Had chickenpox. Yep.

89. Saved someone’s life. No.

90. Sat on a jury. Once, I was like ten people away from being questioned during the voir dire. It was a horrible, violent case. I go again on February 3rd. - it's only trial court this time.

91. Met someone famous. For a split second.

92. Joined a book club. Still in one.

93. Lost a loved one.

94. Had a baby. Two.

95. Seen the Alamo in person. I have!

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. No.

97. Been involved in a law suit. Only a class-action suit. For which I recieved a check for, like, three dollars.

98. Owned a cell phone. Uncharged and at the bottom of my purse, but yes.

99. Been stung by a bee. Yes, but not recently. The trick is to close your eyes and repeat "Bread and butter, bread and butter" over and over until the danger has passed.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

I love hockey but sometimes I wish he just played golf

This is nothing. Just a vent.

I saw my kid get leveled tonight at the rink.

A hit from behind. Boarding. Normally that's a five minute major and a possible suspension but because the time keeper had mistakenly stopped the clock with 4.9 seconds left - the freaking game was in actuality OVER, the refs waved off the penalty and they didn't write the kids name down on the score sheet.

My boy was against the boards digging the puck out of the corner and the other player skated full force at him and nailed him in the back. R's head whipped forward and slammed into the glass. Hard. And then he just sort of slid down the boards. It was right in front of us so as a bonus I got to see the look on his face during the entire incident. Oh, and the sound it makes when your 75 pound son gets hit against the boards like this? Still hearing it.

Granted, he got right back up - within a second or two - and skated to the handshake line but my stomach was sick. Never mind the fact that I wanted to go all mama bear on the other kid. I hate dirty hits. Hate. Them.

My boy came out of the locker room half dressed to see me and say hello to his grandparents. The minute he saw me his eyes welled up and he hugged me and told me that his head really, REALLY hurt. A hug? In front of his teammates and their parents? You know it's bad.

He went back to the locker room and apparently he was joking around and laughing with everyone and within minutes he told me he felt better. None of the coaches even suspected he was hurt, at all - his father included.

It's been a few hours. We watched him tonight, he seems fine - he says he feels fine but damn, I certainly don't.






Saturday, January 03, 2009

This was supposed to be the Organization Vacation.

The kids had two long weeks off. I had two days of work over the entire two week period. My husband, being laid off and working sporadically, had about the same.

I was going to clean the kids rooms out, clean our room out. Conquer the eaves behind our bedroom and make a few trips to Goodwill.

I managed to clean out my daughter's closet. I went into the eaves behind our bedroom and sort of semi-organized it. As well as you can semi-organize something that is basically a tunnel like crawl space with no place to turn around and entirely too much crap. Only it isn't crap. It's our stuff. My Eskimo doll from Alaska. My dad's old coins. A bin of pictures. A bin of books. It's not going anywhere so it just gets reshuffled according to what I think I might need next.

So basically I went O-fer. Getting one job half done - the closet. And one job - the eaves - I just pretended to do.

Instead of Organization - it has been the Pajama Vacation. Days spent in pajamas, only to get changed into clean pajamas after dinner. Trying to fit in all of our errands first thing in the morning so we can rush home and re-pajama.

Absolute perfection.

I know there's two days left of vacation and I could try to get some stuff done. And I may.

But I wouldn't count on it.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Stolen from Dawn and I think Mig did it too...

1. Name a TV show [or] series in which you have seen every episode at least twice:
Twice? Probably none. I watched Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch pretty regularly when I was a kid but I can't even be sure I've seen all of them. Oh, I've only seen every episode of Veronica Mars once but LOVED it and totally would watch them all again.

2. Name a show you can't miss:
Hmmm. I've lasted for a season and a half with the Hills. I most always watch Survivor. I watch both OnDemand though so I've actually already missed them and just end up hoping that Comcast doesn't go changing their service before I catch up.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show:
Brody Jenner. I'M KIDDING. Robert Downey Jr. is good, but does he even do TV anymore?

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show:
Just one? David Caruso, I guess.

5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from:
My quote repetoire is limited to "Survivor's Ready?"

6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys:
Sixty Minutes. Well, just my kids don't like it...I'm sure there's a few other people in the world watching.

7. Name a TV show which you've been known to sing the theme song:
Gilligan's Island.

8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch:
The Dog Whisperer, Vernoica Mars and Bruins hockey.

9. Name a TV series you own:
Arrested Development. It's the ONLY TV series I own.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting chops in television:
A television actor? This is hard. There are actors whose singing chops surprise me but rarely does it go the other way...Jennifer Hudson was great in DreamGirls, that's a movie but it's my answer.

11. What is your favorite episode of your favorite series?
When Tobias joins the Blue Man Group. Or some of the episodes when Buster comes back from Army. Good stuff.

12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven't gotten around to yet:
Mad Men. Is that the name of it? The ad agency guys? Hustle is pretty good too, but I always forget about it.

13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad?
All the time.

14. Name a show that's made you cry multiple times:
Extreme Home Makeover or whatever it's called. Sob fest.

15. What do you eat when you watch TV?
Sometimes dinner, sometimes popcorn.

16. How often do you watch TV?
Every day. We're watching a TON of hockey this year, the Bruins are phenomenal. And generally I watch an hour of something every night - sports or whatever else catches my eye. If not, I read or Wii or Sims.

17. What's the last TV show you watched?
Cash Cab.

18. What's your favorite/preferred genre of TV?
I'd have to say sports.

19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with?
See question one. Maybe Little House on the Prairie. Obsessed is a pretty strong word....

20. What TV show do you wish you never watched?
Grey's Anatomy. One and a half episodes too many.

21. What's the weirdest show you enjoyed?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although it's not my definition of weird, it might fall into that category for some.

22. What TV show scared you the most?
Movies scare me, TV shows - not really.

23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched?
Arrested Development.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

A New Year

Okay, so I've got no idea what a feed reader is but I'm thinking it updates when I do - so I guess, phew, because I've been gone for awhile and I'm fairly sure no one is checking back here too much by now.

I tried Facebook for a day or two. Fail.

The kids started the New Year with a definitely New Englandish dish....A pie plate filled with freshly fallen snow mixed with maple syrup. Actually, they started the new year snuggled on the couch with me watching the ball drop but we all faded pretty quickly after seeing some of the acts on the Rockin new year's eve special. Horrible stuff, that.

We hunkered in yesterday during the snow, playing some games and making pizzas. My husband told my daughter (who had never made it until midnight before) that the whole world stops for just a second or two at midnight. And that it hurts less if you freeze in place for a few seconds. The boy? Jumps right on the lie bandwagon freezing like a stone at midnight and trying to freak her out, although to her credit...she didn't believe a word.

Until today. When her lovely mother asked her if she froze (to which she replied that she hadn't) I may have said something like, well then - everything will always be a few seconds late for you this year...your birthday, Christmas...only a few seconds but if you don't freeze next year, they'll add up.

She totally bought it (what is WRONG with me?) and got all worried. I only let it go for a half a second because I could see her brother ready to jump on my lie bandwagon and the poor girl would've been worried to pieces. Really, it's a wonder my kids are normal.

Today? Our friends brought over a prime rib so we could watch the NHL Winter Classic in style. And High-Def. Seeing as they have regular DEF and according to the guys? It just doesn't compare.

They're right, it doesn't compare - it's just funny to watch the husband S. conspire ways to end up at our house to watch a hockey game. Here's some of what they brought: Prime Rib, butter, seasoning, hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, dip, crackers, wine, beer, chocolate chip cookies, shrimp cocktail, snow gear for two kids, a portable DVD player, new movies and a corkscrew. Somehow, it all worked out wonderfully.

Except for the fact that my husband had to go out and load trucks with snow at 7:00 p.m. - putting an early end to the entire day. He has my sympathy - there is no place I'd rather NOT be tonight - in a front-end loader, in a deserted grocery store parking lot - trying to stay awake all night between truck fill-ups. Poor guy. I'm totally thinking of him as I sit here in my jammies, contemplating between reading a book or wondering if I'd be able to stay awake through an entire movie.

I do wish he was home, but all in all? A happy new year.