My Book Review

When you're in second grade you watch Reading Rainbow at least once a week. I get a big kick out of watching Geordi La Forge (without his banana clip eye bling) riding horses or touring some factory where they make crayons. The show always ends with overly cute kids giving a review of a book they read and loved and you will too. Their little reviews follow a strict format: Title and Author, a few facts and highlights, personal opinion and the recommendation. Being inspired by their enthusiasm to share a good book, I too will offer you this, my own Reading Rainbow book choice:

I think you should read "Talk to the Hand" by Lynn Truss. Lynn Truss's voice in this book is crystal clear, very British and hysterical. This is a book for grown-ups, because while it doesn't get terribly profane, it does have the "Eff" word, a lot. The book discusses what is rude, who is rude, why they are rude and how you yourself could be a little more polite. Unfortunately, she points out some things that I never considered rude before, but now that you mention it... well, let's just say I'm looking at my phone in a whole new light. My favorite part of the book is the her step-by-step emotional roller coaster you go through when someone doesn't say "Thank You" when you hold a door open for them. Very enlightening. "Talk to the Hand" is not a long book and can easily be read in a few days, even all in one day if you really get into and have the time free. You should read "Talk to the Hand". You'll love it! (Insert big cheesy smile)

Okay, maybe I won't make it through an audition for the show. I'm probably too tall anyway. But I do mean every word of it. I'm most of the way through another book of hers, "Eats Shoots and Leaves", which I'm big time enjoying. Maybe if you're lucky, another enlightening and persuasive review will be coming your way!

The Phantom Returns

It's okay everyone, breathe. I am still here. Alive and surviving my stint as a second grade teacher. Another six days to go and so far all is well. They are a yakky group of kids and they sing the opera so very well, but it could be worse...so much worse!

Working everyday piled on top of camping the whole weekend really has turned this place upside-down. There is actually NO FOOD in the refrigerator. It's all condiments. Sunday is my shopping day and this week I was kicking it out at Singing River with the chicks, so no shopping got done. I've just been throwing stuff together all week trying to keep us all from starving to death. But camping was a glorious weekend if you only look at food, weather, campfires and hiking. And let's JUST look at that shall we? No need to dwell in any dark places.

While at camp I make a God's Eye that was (No kidding) about three foot in diameter. I took a picture of it with my phone, so if you want to see it, you'll have to catch me with the phone because I have zero idea how to get it out of there. I suppose that kind of information is probably in the little book; I even know where it is. Okay, maybe I'll do that. But not anytime soon.

The boy goes camping this weekend with his troop. Their weather won't be as beatific as ours last weekend, but it seems to be their lot in life to camp in rain, snow and mud. Must be a Boy Scout thing.

Our Mama Cat has turned into a walking, furry sausage. Not a pleasant image I know. Eating just calorie rich Kitten Chow has turned our sleek, half-starved stray into a lady of plump loveliness. On the advice of Nance though, we are putting her on grown-up cat food and try to get her back into just sleek and athletic looking. I'll post some "now and then" pix soon so you can see how she's changed in the past year!

What a way to make a living

Tomorrow I start a twelve day stint in a second grade room in my home school. Hurray! 12 days of not waking up with the phone ringing, 12 days of knowing what I'm doing the next day, 12 days of being somewhere with guaranteed nice kids and not insane animals. Hurray again! I met with the teacher today and the plans are dreamy! Just broad strokes with general time frames and the instructions to just get through what I can. This I can handle!

And I picked that clip art picture because the kid in the pink shirt cracks me up. Every class has a kid like that!

As the Phone Rings...

Some of you might remember Larry, the guy who doesn't live at my house. You can refamiliarize yourself with him here. We haven't heard much about Larry lately, not the entire winter. But all that changed this week. Here's the call I received on Sunday:

Sweet Little Me: Hello?

Guy With Wrong Number: Hey ya! Joe Shmoe gave me your name about brick laying.

Tiny Girly Voice Me: My number?

Guy Suddenly Sounding Unsure: Uh, yeah... maybe I have the wrong number...

Me, with the upper hand: Maybe you do. What number are you trying to reach?

Frantic shuffling sounds of Man going through everything around him: Ah.... Hmmm... Oh! Here's it is. (rattles off my phone number)

Me taking change of the situation: Yep, that's me. But look, you want the 216 area code for that number.

Man totally flustered by this turn of events: Really? Oh, thanks so much. Sorry about this! Thanks for your help. Sorry about the call. Okay. Bye. Thanks again. Good-bye!

Now I think this guy was completely adorable by how upset he got over having a wrong number. Is this how he stumbles through life, done in by life's every tiny misstep? Does he painfully count out how many items he has before he attempts the Express Line for fear of a cashier reprimanding him? Is he the guy who takes an agonisingly long time to make a left turn, because he would never dream of cutting someone off, only to charge recklessly into traffic because someone behind him finally honked? What are his nightmare like? Accidentally walking into the ladies room? Poor fella!

And then yesterday...

With a song in my heart Me: Hello?

Man (And was that the sound of a hand slapping a forehead?): This is the number I called before!!!

Me, so happy that Mr. Anxiety has called back: Yes it is! You want 216, remember?

Mr. Anxiety, really winding it up: There's no area code on this business card!

With a tsk-tsk tone to my voice: Well, there should be.

Poor, poor Man, almost to a yell, but not quite: There SHOULD be!

I'm considering calling Larry. I know his number after all. He should be more considerate to his customers. People can be fragile!

Getting Zoo-y

Spring Break just keeps chugging along around here. Yesterday we all packed up and headed out to the zoo. I guess it's been awhile since we went because the whole damn bird house is gone! Gone like it was never there and replaced by this strange Eiffel Tower made of rope looking thing that the kids get to climb on and two concession stands. That bird house was a pretty big building and cool to boot. The reasoning behind this evades me.

Also, there's that huge bridge that spans over the bear part of the zoo. Spooky, scary bridge but interesting nevertheless and a good landmark for where you are. Right now there's big chunks missing from it and this old guy told us they are going to blow up the rest of it later this month. The zoo without the giant bridge? What is going on?

Oh yeah, there were animals there. Lots of animals. Being cold they were out doing all kinds of fun, moving around things. The highlights were the big noise that the hippo made, seeing a baby orangutan whose birthday it was and learning that giraffes walk right-right-left-left and not right-left-right-left like most every other four legged creature in the world. There, you learned something today! Bummers were that the baby koala wasn't out, the butterfly exhibit is over and while it didn't rain in the rain forest house, it did drizzle on us most of the time we were out there.

Right now the kids have rearranged most of the furniture in the living room and draped the whole thing in sheets and blankets. But they're happy, so what do I care.

Crazy Mouse = Crazy Pictures

Happy day after Easter! I hope your Easter day was full of chocolate, bunnies and that plastic grass all over the place. We spent the day at the IX Indoor Amusement Park. You can't get more Easter-y than that! We go every year, but this is only the 2nd time we've gone on Easter Day itself. But it's a great day to go, there's barely anyone there. Imagine that!

The big draw for us is this one roller coaster they have called the Crazy Mouse. It is the coolest little roller coaster ever. We're big Cedar Point people, but CP doesn't have anything even close to the Crazy Mouse. It has round cars that sits four people. As you go up and down and back and forth on this super smooth track, the car itself spins around. There's sharp curves that, even though you know it's coming, makes you feel like you're going to go flying off the track into the middle of the park. It's terrifying and hysterical. I laugh like a damn fool the entire time, every time. It's actually a little embarrassing. Whenever I'm playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, I always build a version of the Crazy Mouse first. I want my guests to have the best!

The Crazy Mouse has a camera that snaps your picture as you're going down the first hill. That's always good for a big laugh to see the awful expressions on everyones faces! Last year we rode it so many times, we knew exactly when the camera would snap, so we came up with a plan. We were all going to look off to the right and salute as the camera took the shot. It would be an excellent picture. And it was, but not for the reason it was suppose to. In the picture we're all looking to the right, hands to our brows, big smiles in place, except for the boy who has forgot the plan. While the three of us are cheesing it up, he has a death grip on the handle and a look of absolute terror on his face! His hair is going straight back and his eyes are huge. It is the single funniest picture ever taken. Much to his dismay we bought it, but after we realized how upset he really was, I tucked it away so he would never have to see it. (I would post it here, but he would be mortified. If you really want to see it, next time you're over, I'll let you sneak a peek.) I take it out whenever I'm in a cloudy mood and it instantly makes me laugh. It's a great shot.

This year we promised to take the revenge picture. This time as we passed the camera, the three of us would look super scared and he could wave and smile. And it worked, kind of. The boy was smiling, but it was a bit of a scared smile. The man and the girl both looked scared, but it was a tad of a laughing scared. But the true look of terror goes to me: I look like the cave troll from Lord of the Rings is waiting at the bottom of the hill. I was horrified at how horrified I looked. Honestly, I guess I didn't hold back at all. I would post the picture here, but we didn't buy it. The boy decided against it. I guess just making us do that was enough for him. What a relief!

My April Fools

The girl and boy turned a whopping 12 years old yesterday! Not only was their entrance into this world dramatic, but they had the pre-natal sense to arrive on a memorable day. Not a bad start and it's been a grand 12 years since.

Yesterday we celebrated with a houseful of family and a ton of food in the brunch category, complete with funnel cakes. After presents, I used my family members as slave labor to put together key rings for the kids to give out at school today in place of the customary cupcakes or treat bags. They were a surly crew (especially my Grandma!), but the finished products were worth the complaining. The afternoon was spent playing cards, more eating, drinking bad wine and lots of visiting. It was a lovely day. It felt like a mini Christmas! Here's one of the key rings we made (sans the ring). Ely colors with an Ely Eagle on the end.

Saturday, my co-leader Denise and I went to an all-day leader training out at Timberlane. Now that might sound like a drag to you, but we love to go to these things. We went to four classes. The first taught us what kind of chemicals you can throw into a campfire to make the flames turn different colors. The green worked and looked the best. (And yes, Brewer, we were very safety conscience!) Then we took a mosaic class. Glass was flying everywhere as we snipped and cut. This is what I made and I'm pretty damn proud of it. That's a mirror in the center, but in this shot it looks like a hollow box. Weird.

After lunch, we took a basket weaving class which probably was the single most frustrating thing I have ever done. The woman who taught this class should be put up for sainthood. She had a roomful of women who had just got done breaking glass, now trying to weave uncooperative reeds. The mood was tense. It was awful to start, but it did get easier, just like she said it would. Here's my basket:

After that it was African drumming, which was more fun than I thought it would be. Nothing to break or fight with, just things to hit. We had dinner at Boccardi's and I got to play hero as I ordered pizza to go and brought it home to my hungry crew.

While I was doing all of this, the man and boy were out playing paintball. They said they had a really fun time and they both have the mandatory number of bruises to prove it. The girl spent the day out with Grandma buying spring clothes for her AND her bear Lola. Lola ended up getting more outfits than the girl!

The big birthday present this year were tickets to go see Weird Al in July. They both get to take one friend and we'll make a wild day out of it. They're so excited! July can't get here fast enough!

Nothing About Cats

I didn't get called into work today. I didn't get called into work today! Now there's plenty of days that I don't go into work, but it's my choice. Today, for the first time in months, they didn't call me. I'm feeling rejected here. A little bummed out. Here I am with nothing to do, except a bunch of stuff I don't want to do. So to delay all that, I will catch up with all of you.

First, this: One of the rarest things in the world. A halfway decent picture of me. Sure it's a little blurry and the color is funny, but if that's what it takes, so be it. This is me and the girl at the champagne brunch reception of the new Mr. and Mrs. Eric Anderson. My good friend Mindi went out and got her own Eric, so now we have a matching set. Okay, they don't match at all, except in name. But how strange was it to get that invitation in the mail? Just a tad bit unsettling, but we're all adjusting.

A few of you out there know my weakness for champagne and let's just say that they weren't stingy with making sure your glass was full. By 1 PM we were back home and I took a little nap.

The man: It's called passing out.

******

Friday night, the munchkins and I went to see "South Pacific" performed by the Elyria Catholic drama department. I don't want to talk about it much except for these points--

1. South Pacific has way too much talking and way too many slow songs to ever attempted by high school students. There should probably be a law in place against it.


2. The "auditorium" at EC is the ugliest room on Earth. And I am just saying that because I'm a EHS snob.


3. Sitting on hard, benches for a long, dull musical is very hard on your back, even when you resort to sitting between the benches and have your legs up on the bench in front of you, thus making you look and feel ridiculous.


4. The live band was very nice.

******

The kids and I just finished "The Last Battle" which is the last book in the Narnia series. If you've never read all of them (or any of them), I very highly recommend them. I know some people shy away from books in a series, too much of a commitment, but that's what makes these books great. You don't have to have a stellar memory to enjoy them. Each book is a story entirely on it's own, completely understandable without having knowledge or history from the stories previous to it. "The Last Battle" should be read last, but other than that, it's a free for all. I would really like to go into "The Last Battle" and discuss my theories about Susan with someone. I've read lots of online articles about her, but I would really like to have a discussion with someone else who has read them. If you've read them (or if you could please hurry up and read them), I would appreciate hearing from you! If I don't hear from somebody, I'll just have to spit out all my ideas on this blog and ruin it for everyone else. That's not a warning, it's a threat.

Cat Wrap-up

So you want even more news about these cats, do you? Okay, but this is it for awhile because there's only so much of this that a person can take.

Yes, they are our cats now. We did all the right things to get rid of them. Ads in the paper, ads on Petfinder.com, calls into shelters to be put on waiting lists, their own website: I really, really tried. And then something awful happened. It worked.

Someone called who wanted Jack. They saw his exceedingly cute pic online and then wanted to come meet him. I froze. I panicked. Jack? My little Jack-Jack? Some weirdo calls my house and wants my little sweet kitten boy? The decision was quick.

"He's already been taken." I wasn't a lie.

After that more calls came. Somebody else wanted Jack, two people wanted Meg, the APL called and had space finally. Nope, nope, nope. Couldn't do it.

So here we are with a house full of cats. The kittens are seven months old this week. And how is Marco fairing through all of this? The kittens figured him out pretty fast-- If you don't run, he won't chase. And he doesn't. He comes over and gives them a big sniff and a sloppy, wet kiss on the head now and then. (His tongue is as big as their faces!) They bat at him when he walks by, but he doesn't notice. Jack is very fond of sitting on a kitchen chair and striking out at the dog. Marco just keeps on going, never missing a beat. There's one big bowl of water in the kitchen and often you'll finding a kitten or two taking a drink beside Marco. Unbelievably cute. They don't snuggle together; not yet, but I can see the day coming when big group naps in the sun will be the norm.

Mama is another story. First, something happened to her last week which has completely changed her personality. The only way I can describe it is that they didn't just remove her female parts, they also removed her bitch gland. She is a new cat. (And yes, we discussed the possibility of a cat mix-up at wild and crazy Spay/Neuter factory).

Last summer, she was the sweetest little cat ever. She made us love her by being so friendly and cuddly. But she hated Marco and Marco hated her. Then, she had the kittens and we brought her in. Immediately she changed into this sulky hateful thing that was completely miserable. "It's just the kittens." We told ourselves. "She's being protective. She's tired." Once the kittens were on their own and so was she, we thought she would come back to us. But she stayed grumpy and snarly to everyone. She would glare at you with eyes that said, "If I was bigger, I would rip your throat out!" If you reached out to pet her, she would shy away like your hands were made of acid. She hid most of the day, only coming out when nature called or to kick the kittens around, chase off Marco or be ugly to us. Fun pet, eh?

But now, after the surgery, she's back to acting like that cat I found in the basement. She chirps and meows all day long; matter of fact, she never shuts up. She comes downstairs and sits with us. She cuddles with kittens and sleeps all wrapped up with them. It's an amazing change.

But she is the same cat, because she still treats Marco the same. The only difference now is that she has to deal with him much more often, now that she's not hiding. She's on the couch, in the kitchen, around the corner hissing, spitting and striking out whenever he lumbers by. But don't feel too bad for him. He KNOWS that she's going to do it and just keeps coming at her, sticking his big mug in her little face over and over again. He'll learn. Eventually. He has to, right?

So that's the story of how a tried and true dog family, became a dog/cats family. We were hoodwinked, sucker-punched and bamboozled. But as this little cat cuddles in my lap right now, I guess it hasn't been that bad.

What do you do on a day off?

You run around and take pictures of the cats. Yesterday the feline trio had a tough day. It was "Gettin' Fixed" Day. We took them out to the Spay Neuter Clinic in Cleveland out by the zoo. They had to be there at 7 AM and we could not believe the crowd that was already there. Later we found out that they were having a slow day! We picked them up at 3 and they were a sorry sight to see. Back at home, they couldn't walk in a straight line. They just stumbled about looking at you with their stoned eyes. Pathetic. But today at least the kittens are back to normal. Mama's still not up and about much, but even when she's feeling good, she's not terrible active.

Here's Jack and his new favorite toy- the catnip mouse on a stick.

Extreme close-up of Meg. Yesterday her eyes were so dilated! She would look at you with one eye, then the other, then just give up.
Jack in one of his favorite spots, right between the fish tank and the window. The cactus is there to keep him from going any farther. It doesn't work.
Meg sitting in the window. She barks at birds while she sits here.
The girl took shot after shot of Mama, but she is not photogenic, nor cooperative. This is as good as it gets. Mostly she hides all day.

We had the day off today because a tornado touched down near the mall last night and knocked out the power the school administration building. We didn't know until we showed up at school this morning and no one was there. Strange way to start the day, but we've made the most of it.

Books, books, books

I could tell you about how nice and warm it was today. I could tell you how the kids were shooting arrows today in the backyard and got an arrow stuck in the powerline. Then I could tell you how the man knocked that arrow free using a basketball. I could post a bunch of pictures of the kittens since it's been awhile since you've seen them. But instead, I'll pass along this list I picked up off Leesapea over at But Wait! There's more... She's easily the queen of the memes, but she posts everyday, so I'll cut her some slack.

Look at the list of books below.

Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you want to read.
Don't do anything to the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)--almost done!
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMavrier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce

Luxury?

1. I have been recently been asked what luxury items I would like for myself if price were no object. At first, I couldn't think of a thing. Not a thing. I can come up with list upon list of things I would like for the man, for the kids and especially this house. (The list for the house would probably bring you to tears.) But I have a had a much too difficult time thinking up things just for me. Finally, I have this list:
   

Socks. The majority of my socks are the most pathetic things you have ever seen. But whenever I go to buy socks, the price of them throws me back. Why are socks so expensive? It's not a lot of material and it seems to be in a fairly basic shape. It's a mystery. And I'm not looking for fancy schmancy socks. Basic colors and white would be just fine.

Shoes. I would love all new shoes. Shoes for work, shoes for walking, shoes for looking sharp. The catch is that they would have to fit me and my monstrously high arches. Most every shoe I've ever owned I've just had to settle with almost fitting my arch.

A Cut and a Color. (Did you think pants would be next?) I am way past due for afternoon with foil in the hair. Things are getting ugly!

New Eyes. This is the ultimate luxury item that I would want right now. Laser surgery to fix my eyes. That would be grand. I do have contacts, but most of the time I'm too lazy to put them in. To wake up in the morning and being able to see, to swim... I can't imagine what it would be like, but I know that I want it!

So there it is. Looks like about $4000 to me. What does your list look like?

Down to the last crumb

The cookie sale is finally, finally over! It's been a long three weeks of cookies, cookies, cookies and more cookies. The troop did four cookie booths in the past three weekends and sold a ton! We handed in all the paperwork and money today and I recycled everything else. That felt good!

There's 30 boxes of cookies left out in the van, but they shouldn't be a problem to unload. (You need any cookies?) Now I can get the van seats out of the house and back where they belong. Now I can find the surface of my desk. Now my phone will stop ringing all the damn time. Now I can talk about something else!

SPOON(S)!

Behold the Brewer brandishing my 6 new spoons that he found on Ebay for me. You may remember not long ago I was bewailing my spoon problem. Most of you told me, in not so many words, to suck it up and accept that I would have to have mismatched flatware. But not Brewer. Bravely he dove into the virtual garage sale that is Ebay and came sputtering to the top with not only these 6 spoons, but also 3 knives, 3 forks, 4 knives and an adorable little sugar spoon. My silverware drawer overflowth.

So thank you, thank you, Brave Brewer. I loved seeing you and Weaver again. Enjoy the cookies and the next time you stop by, bring the Numbers along. We'll feed them to Marco.

How long until Easter?

Ah! The Lenten Season! Time to find some way to improve yourself and have meatless Fridays. Lent is the one thing that the man and I still cling to from our religious upbringings. Why we do it doesn't make any sense: we don't go to church and we do nothing else Catholic for the rest of the year. But every year when Ash Wednesday rolls around, we both plunge right in. Old habits die hard? CCD classes only succeeded in the Lent lesson? Who knows what it is. It just is.

We've both tried a variety of things to give up or take on during this time of year: give up snack foods, give up pop, stop swearing out loud, stop being angry when driving. All of these have work with a modest amount of success. (The swearing thing didn't work out for me AT ALL!)

This year we are taking a different approach. We have decided to take a walk together everyday to get more exercise. We are going to try to do a 30 minute walk a day. And it has to be a brisk walk, not a stroll. Romantic, eh? Ah, but wait- To remove all fun from the exercise, we are taking Marco along. He needs exercise too and by including him keeping at a quick pace will not be an issue. The dog does not know how to heel despite numerous obedience lessons and pulls like a train engine when he's on his leash. He zigs and zags all over the sidewalk, sniffing, peeing, sniffing, lunging, choking, peeing, and tripping us the entire time. By the time we get home, we are exhausted.

Lent is two days old and we've taken two walks. Only 5 weeks and three days to go!

The Birthday Man

The 17Th was the man's birthday. And what a day it was. In the afternoon we went sledding with... um... most everyone we know! Down at Mill Hollow they have a sled hill that's nice and long and not too steep. Most importantly, the walk back up doesn't make you want to roll over and die like the hill at Cascade. As soon as you trudged your way to the top, someone would be there asking "You want to ride with us?" So off you'd go again. We had a variety of sleds: Long ones that you can fit four adults in and their kids, lots of little saucers, and one person sleds with a seat. Our long black sled is the worst sled ever made. You pile everyone in and if you're lucky, you end up going sideways, then backwards, then stop. If you luck runs out, you're face first in the snow with the sled on top of you. Nobody wanted to ride in it.

The hill was filled with people doing all kinds of crazy things. Some kids brought their bikes and were riding down. Not a good idea and they got scolded by the park warden. Some other kid had a huge, red blow-up inner tube. He probably never felt a single bump on that sweet ride! This other family would all pile into the sled and go down the hill with their leased dog running along side. But the most memorable sledder was the guy in the garbage bag. That's right, he was in the big black garbage bag and he would just sort of THROW himself down the hill. It was a sight to behold.

There's nothing like sledding to make you question your sanity and redefine fun. You find yourself sitting in a snow-filled $3 plastic box with five other people looking down at a hill side of people face down in snow, who you are about to run over if they don't move. Some sadistic friend pushes you over the crest of the hill and now you're out of control, zipping and bumping, spinning and did I mention bumping, over snow that's been packed ice hard. You're screaming at little kids to get out of the way because you can't stop. You're praying that you can hang on to the baby in your lap (who is giggling her head off!). You know that you are going to end up with a face full of snow from the spray and end up looking like a cartoon character.

Then all these things do happen and when you get to the top of the hill, your legs wiped out, you do it all over again. Why? Because it IS fun!

Finally we had all had enough. A quick stop at a friends house to change clothes and then it was off to dinner to Boccardi's. Dinner for 21 with kids seriously outnumbering the adults. Service was slow, but that's to be expected there. Nobody minded. We accomplished a semi-successful wave around the big table which amused the other patrons. The food was super yummy, as always and there a chocolate chip cookie cake for dessert.

Happy Birthday to Dave, John, Brad and, of course, the man. Here's to another happy year!

Another Snow Day!

Home again, home again. Here we are. Snow day #4. Now is when you start to worry. Everyone knows that only 5 snow days are built into the school calendar. If you go more than 5 than they extend school into summer that much longer. NOBODY wants that! The girl keeps reminding us that she's only been to school 1 hour all week. Let's hope for school tomorrow. We can finally get the Valentine's parties in!

The man dug out the driveway yesterday with the much appreciated assistant of Mr. Neighbor Man and his snow blower. Today the kids and I cleared the walk from the sidewalk to the front porch. Now we can get mail. It's quite a pile out there, but it's lousy snow. Way too fluffy, it doesn't pack at all. No snowmen, no snowballs.

Today we finally got out of the house. We went to the grocery store for a few staples and the library. Books and food, that's what keeps us going. The laundry is all caught up. The girl got all her homework done. The PlayStation is begging for mercy. We watched an Indiana Jones marathon. All in all, it's been quite a couple of days.

Snow Day Valentines

To make up for having zero snow days last year, today would be our third one so far this winter. Though I guess the two days last week would be called "Extreme Cold" Days which were no fun at all. Snow days are better because you get to run around outside in foot deep snow and fall down over and over again. This would be the girl's third day off in row. She's been home with the flu for the past two days. Her snow day will mostly consist of doing make-up homework. Yucky!

On days where you are unexpectedly stuck at home, I like to take some time cleaning things up. Today, I'm cleaning up the blog, more like catching up. Two weekends ago the troop had a sleepover here at the house and we made pillows for Blessing House, which is a home that keeps kids that have been removed from their homes in an emergency situation. My girls cut fabric, used sewing machines, stuffed and hand closed about 20 pillows. My house was thread and fiberfill from one end to the other by morning.
Last weekend was the 1st birthday party for sweet Lucy. I didn't get one picture of her or her cake, but I got these shots instead. The party had an excellent balloon guy who made all kinds of amazing balloon things. This is my Calliope with little 2 year old Calliope. Both were pretty excited to meet each other. This was the first other Calliope that the little one met, but mine met another one when she was in the first grade. These two were best buddies for the whole party.
The boy had a sword and helmet made. Standing between him and his victim is Lucy's daddy, James. Right behind our knight is the clown pinata. I wish I had a better shot of what it looked like before because here's what it looked like after...


Every kid got multiple whacks at this poor thing. It kept getting knocked down and then rehung by an arm, finally by his feet like an Italian dictator. Finally it took James himself to deliver the death blow. While the kids scurried around for candy, my man grab the carcass and started using it like a puppet. Kids would come up and continue to beat on it and rip off limbs while the clown cracked jokes. Funny, yes. Disturbing, definitely!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Teaspoon for two

See this spoon? I used to have a bunch of these guys. Now I'm down to 8. I have my suspicions on how this has happened.

The realization that we were running low on spoons has been slow coming. I've been in denial for awhile telling myself things like "Oh, the rest must be in the dishwasher or the sink." But tonight, every dish is washed and put away and the final count is 8.

This flatware was a wedding gift from my Grandma. A heavy, heavy box, it had 12 each of knives, teaspoons, soup spoons, dinner forks, salad forks and two big serving spoons . The first year that I had Christmas for the family, I was already down a few spoons and a fork, so ordered some more. Oneida was having a sale so I bought 8 more forks and teaspoon. I had so much flatware, I couldn't fit it all in the drawer! That was 12 years ago.

Fast forward to today and my missing spoons. Oneida is very sorry, but they have discontinued my pattern. I've checked around all the flatware replacement sites and have found my spoons at two of them. They both want $6 a spoon! I found my pattern under headings like "Heirloom" and "Vintage" Come on! This set came from Kmart and we've only been married 14 years! This is not antique silverware!

But it's clear now that our spoons are valuable. My new plan is guard and protect these last 8 spoons from the dangers that they face. Obviously, we have a gremlin or rogue yard gnome sneaking around and filching our spoons for their own nefarious purposes. How dare they!

Happy Groundhog's Day

When I was a kid, I remember telling my dad that I loved snow. He said, "You won't after you learn to drive." End of conversation.

Well, now I know how to drive and I still love snow. I don't even mind driving in it as long as there's not much risk I'll get stuck in a snowbank and have to depend on neighbors and passersby to push me out. That's the pits! Ice is another story. Nobody should have to drive on ice, except the truck driver whose job it is to make the ice go away. My street is a permanent sheet of ice from December to April. Two blocks in any direction and you've got smooth sailing on dry pavement. But my street is a death corridor lined by 100 year old oaks. The plow went down the street last night with it's yellow lights dancing on our living room walls. We were about to burst into song when we saw that its the blade was up. The truck was just passing through on its way to more important streets.

There's lots of stuff to love about winter. New white snow hides all the ugly places in the yard. Grass doesn't grow, hedges don't need trimmed. Frozen dog poop doesn't smell, so there's not such a need to run out there and clean the yard. Besides, it's all buried in snow so you can't find it anyway! And frozen trash rarely gets hit by nighttime visitors. And there's no bugs. Very big plus!

I hear you out there. What about the snow shoveling?

We deal with that around in here in our own way. It's called the Pack Down Method, but we prefer to call it "Spring is going to happen eventually, so why knock myself out" method. That's right- we don't shovel. I hate to shovel and I only do it if I'm mad about something else and need to throw stuff around. The farthest I'll go at snow removal is sweeping off the front and back stoops. Ice on steps is dangerous. But that's it. The driveway, the front walk, the sidewalk, it's all deep snow with paths packed in from tires or feet. The cars take care of the driveway. Our feet handle the walk to the backdoor. The mailman and anyone else walking down the street help tramp down the front walk. The neighbors on both sides of us thoroughly shovel and salt their sidewalks right up to our line and then it's like you hit a glacier for our walk.

When we were kids walking to school, we would flip off houses that didn't have their sidewalks shoveled. ( Yeah, we were tough guys.) We would flip the house the bird inside our big mittens and yell stuff like "Why don't you get off your fat ass and shovel your damn sidewalk?" (I'm not kidding. You didn't want to mess with us!) Are kids out there sneering and hating at our house? I wouldn't be surprised. I know we've got it coming, but honest, spring is going to come!

Today is all about the need for spring. We need spring so bad that we are willing to bother some poor, fat, super cute (Sorry, I have a soft spot for groundhogs!) animal from it's slumber just to prove it to ourselves. But no matter what his prediction, whether it's winter for 6 more weeks or 12 (which is more likely), spring will come and melt all the snow away. In the meantime, while our snow shovel hibernates, I'll enjoy winter while it's here.