The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

Peter made a surprise and very brief appearance!

Yesterday we went on a field trip with our friends from Patrick's. We spent the morning at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts looking at art and art and more art. My eyes got full eventually and I couldn't tell a bowl from the Tang dynasty from a hole in the ground, but it was an education. I think I discovered that you mosey around and really look at only about 25% of what you walk by and you don't try to see everything. The place was packed, too, which made it difficult to absorb. I wanted to look closer at The Astronomer but a pack of old hens moved in and I was elbowed to the side. The second part of our adventure was at the Summit Brewery in St. Paul. We had a very nice tour with a friendly young woman name Jeannie and then we spent the late afternoon hours in the tasting room. They were quite a hospitable bunch there at the brewery, laying out cheese and crackers and cookies and plying us with their nice selection of beer. We got back on the Govenaire's bus whic...

I went to the Pulse this morning for the strength class. I decided that I was going to attend some classes just for a change of pace since it's been a year today that I started exercising. (Remember our first day of swimming, Betty? We thought we'd die it was so cold.) I did the strength class and a short bout on the treadmill then came home to take a nap. I love naps in the winter. Regis and I went to the grocery store and MenRnerds. I'm sitting on the couch and that folks, has been the extent of the day. We're taking our friend Joanne out for dinner to Dino's. I love the atmosphere there. They play that nice Frank Sinatra music and the lights are low and the food is great. My resolution for the new year is to try and do better. That's it. One way to do better is to try and complain less. I read this poem and it made me think of it. Here it is. In case you want to complain less, too. At the University College of North Wales at Bangor   by Gerald Locklin ...

I was awake between 3 and 4 o'clock this morning. Regis was sound asleep but talking in his best oratorical voice. He said, "They are always aware when quietness descends upon a region." It was so curious, I had to write it down. He has the most vivid dreams and says the most interesting things in his sleep. One of my favorites was the time he dreamed that we were dressing up in the costumes of different countries and visiting their websites, like www.germany.com dressed in lederhosen. I have dreams about amorphoous bad guys chasing me. No details like names or places. Just a fearful feeling. Regis remembers names of the people in his dreams, sometimes people who went to kindergarten with him. I don't remember those names when I'm awake. It makes for interesting nights when he has dreams like this.

I'm at the end of the laziest day in recent memory. I'm feeling the urge to do something that requires some mental stimulation so I guess I'll post some random observations here. Oh boy for you. We have Showtime on Demand but every time we look at the schedule, there isn't one movie we've even heard of and therefore, we aren't too interested in watching them. We watched a couple episodes of Iron Chef but when they looked like they were going to start killing fish on the air, we abandoned that channel. I don't have the attention span tonight to sustain a movie anyway. I sent a big bag of chex mix off with Peter tonight. That shit is evil and it needed to get out of the house. He called later and said he had just driven by an accident on 169 with four cars and a semi in the ditch, patrol cars and ambulances all over the place. I guess the chex mix and the accident aren't connected. Are they? I hope Ella is feeling better. She made a trip to urgent ca...

Here's my new diamond ring. Quite a beauty, eh? Actually, it's a key ring that came free with a bottle of bath oil. Hahahahahaha.   Here's the pile of books by the couch. A couple of old favorites and a couple I'm trying to plow through. Ella saw this on the tree and thought it was beautiful. It came from a tiny town in Missouri.    This is a lily from the bouquet Regis had sent to me on the 23rd.

As you can see, I'm doing a good job of nothing productive today. I made an elf-yourself dancing elf. I have no idea why I think it's so funny.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I love this picture of Regis and Amber. They wanted to get ugly Christmas sweaters this year but decided they were too expensive. Apparently they've gotten to be pretty hip fashion items...so Amber found these ugly Christmas sweater t-shirts at Target. We got quite a hoot out of them. I like the way the Grinch hat on the Christmas tree is sitting right over Reg's head, too.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with good food, good friends, little kids who believe in Santa, and family. It snowed off and on all day which made for a beautiful backdrop for the events. We had some guests who came because they had to cancel travel plans...and we're glad they were safe and sound in St. Peter instead of on the roads. We missed Tiffany and Elliot on his first Christmas. Our neighbor Julie and her daughter Ivy joined us later in the evening. They had headed out for Fargo the night before with their big dog Waldo in the back seat of the convertible. Somewhere near Delavan, they spun out, went in the ditch, and nearly rolled the car. We were glad to have them at our table. Ella is at the perfect age for Santa belief. She knows all the details about him and is so sweet and innocent, she doesn't question a thing. She told me how he gets into their house (without a fireplace) and what he does prior to Christmas and how Mrs. Claus and the elves help. She wondered...

I'm awake at 3:30 as I have been for the past couple weeks. I hear the snow plows going down the streets. It looks like a wonderland outside with fat layers of snow over everything. I can't tell how much it snowed in the night but they say that is only the first wave anyway. I wish our boys didn't have to go out in the bad weather this morning. They should be done by 1:00 and maybe it won't snow anymore until after that. Amber and Emily and the little ones are in St. Peter. If they're leaving town, I don't want to know. I'll worry. Cybil and Shawn should be arriving in Canby right about now, from Ohio. They're young and much more stout of heart than I am. It will be nice for Mom to have little kids in the house on Christmas Eve so I'm glad they are. Peter has to work until 4:00 today. Who is eating Subway on Christmas Eve? Invite them over here! Tiffany and Elliot are safe and snug in Pine Island. We'll miss them but I'm glad they ar...

Regis made the indoor barbecued pulled pork today while I was at work. He also whipped up a batch of peanut butter cookie dough. When I got home, we made a crock pot full of meatballs, a savory cheesecake, and the cookies. It doesn't seem like so much once you write it down. There are a few things to do tomorrow but I think it's under control. Regis and Regis brought in the big round table tonight. I thought I was buying a 5 foot table but lo and behold, it was 60 inches in diameter. The latter seems bigger to the math disabled like me. Regis pronounced the cookies sublime. They are supposed to have peanut butter cups in the middle but we only had one bag so we subbed crunch bells and mini-snickers. They seem to have the same soporific effect. Here is what Accuweather says about the weather: DO NOT take this storm lightly. This will turn into a life-threatening blizzard, especially for those that will be passing through. Those that live in this part of the country unders...

We went to Patrick's for a bite to eat last night. We had to order the boneless wings. When I told Brian I wanted to order some and he said they didn't have any, I whined, "Well, what will we do for Christmas dinner then?" He took pity and said he would order a box and have them by Thursday. Nice people. Regis made chex mix yesterday and when we got home last night, we made krumkakke. We had forgotten, since we made them last, that it makes a boatload of the little buggers and takes forever. He has a couple other things on his list of things to do today so it looks like we might have things under some semblance of control. I don't advocate this kind of preparation for a holiday, it just happens. Shit just happens and in the end, it's fine. Everybody is talking about the weather. In the conversations, if someone suggests they may be stranded here, I invite them for Christmas Eve. If you're reading this and are contemplating the day with a frozen pizza, ...

Snow occurring on Dec 22 | Dec 23 | Dec 24 | Dec 25 . Total amount 21.1 Inches.

It's hanging on the refrigerator alongside the card from the Boulevard beer company.

So, I came home from work yesterday, looked at the list of things to do...and did nothing. I took a nap on the couch, had a glass of wine with Regis, had a bowl of chili, and watched television. We talked about the weather some as Regis is excited about the impending storm. Paul Douglas is predicting 1-2 feet of snow and you can read about it here. He has maps and science to go with this dire forecast. It may change a lot of people's plans for holiday travel. Paul says: Stay tuned, especially if you plan to do any extensive traveling from late Wednesday into Saturday morning. What he calls extensive traveling and what I call extensive traveling (across town) may be different. Yesterday was the winter solstice. Thank God the days will start getting longer now. I hate the lack of light, really I do. I have been out early every day and it's dark...and I've been out at the end of the day and it's dark. Mostly it's light between 8:00 and 4:00. Before and after that an...

We had a wonderful time at the Nutcracker. Ella was enthralled and wanted to talk to the ballerinas when it was over. They all came out and sat on the edge of the stage so she wandered back and forth and waved at her favorites...mostly Clara. She asked a lot of questions (When is Clara coming back? Why is she doing that?) and grabbed the book a couple times to examine the pictures. It was a magical afternoon with my girls.

  Indoor Pulled Pork Buns Swedish Meatballs Boneless Wings with Blue Cheese Dip Savory Cheesecake Bean Dip and Corn Tortilla Chips with Salsa Karen’s Fruit Salsa and Tortilla Chips Chex Mix Spiced Nuts Hot Spiced Punch Sweets Walnut Cranberry Whiskey Tart Peppermint Bark Chocolate Pretzels Truffles

I spent the last hour and a half writing my Christmas letter. I love this part of the holidays. Other things are not going so well and I could use the help of a few elves around here. Hey, Regis and Peter are both done with school. I see a to-do list in their future! I've tried to do the things I enjoy and let go of the things that are a pain in the ass. I didn't decorate much, except for the tree. Ella and Tiffany helped with that. We've had friends and family over for dinner and wine and that's been great. I gave up on the idea of Martha Stewart entertaining a long time ago, so they get us the way we are...no matching pinafores or handmade place cards at the table. Today, I'm taking Ella and Tiffany to the Nutcracker. Tiffany and I went when she was about 5. She loved it and sat in rapt attention for the whole thing. It's snowing a little bit this morning so that will add to the magic. I went to the Pulse yesterday and did my weight routine and my runni...

Regis likes to float through the day and do things as he thinks of them. I like to have a plan. I gave up lists a few years ago, but I like to have a plan. My plan for today is: make muffins, make banana bread, finish menu and grocery list for the coming week, finish Christmas Eve menu, pay bills. There you go. That's my plan.

Here I am ready for the Jingle Bell Jam. I have on my Grinch Santa hat, a string of battery-operated LED lights, and a few bells. They gave us a flashing red light that I attached to my hat. Hard to see in the daylight.  Here I am coming up on the finish line. Regis said he could see me from a mile away with the LED lights! I didn't get cold in my two layers of fleece and the Cabella's down coat but I sure was wet underneath it all! I was glad to have the hood when we got to the top of the hill.   That's me crossing the finish line...see the Santa hat and white shoes on the left? And that's my time...1:01.18. I didn't want to be competitive about my time but I got that way. I didn't want people to pass me so when I would hear them coming behind me, I'd shuffle faster. All in all, it was a hoot.

I hope I never find out how much time I have spent in my life looking for things. Usually more than once. When I switched from my old e-mac to a PC a few years ago, I didn't really know what I was doing and therefore, lost a lot of things by trying to be efficient. I deleted them from where I didn't think they needed to be and they disappeared entirely. I should have kept the mac on the shelf for a few weeks but it went on its way to Wisconsin and all my thoughts were gone with it. The other day I found one folder of things. When I opened them, they looked like some ancient language. Phoenician, maybe. I was able to find a program that made sense of them and I published Edith below. It didn't make me feel better to find those few pieces, though...only made me feel worse about the ones still gone. This morning, I had the thought that I had found a white folder with writing in it. A shiny white folder with University of Iowa on it. Sometime this week. On a shelf. But no...

11-2-96 When I was ten, I lived across the alley from an old lady named Edith. She looked like most old ladies I knew then, not fat, but soft and a little lumpy, her gray hair thinning on the top so her pink scalp showed through, and hunched over, like she was still carrying a basket of eggs from the chicken house.  She lived in a small white house with a tidy lawn that my dad would mow because she was too old to do it herself and her men were too busy farming. She would make us a loaf of homemade bread every time he mowed. Her house smelled like that bread, and sugar cookies, and laundry soap.  And it smelled like family secrets, like my Grandma's cedar box, like scrapbooks and newspaper clippings and old letters. About once a week, especially in the heat of summer, when it was too hot to ride my bike out on the gravel roads to look for meadow larks, red winged blackbirds and wild roses, I went across the brown, parched lawns and the narrow  alley to visit Edith. Sh...

My Christmas binder seems to have disappeared. I have a binder for each holiday and keep favorite recipes and menus and even a couple of old grocery and to-do lists. The Christmas one seems to have taken a powder. I hope I didn't drag it to the thrift store last year. I wore my vintage faux fur to school today and got rave reviews. It's really warm. One friend pointed out that the lining and the label really hint at quality. Oh, my. It must be one of the first permutations of faux fur because it's really plush and not like the pile they call faux fur today. I'm watching the 1972 version of Scrooge with Albert Finney and Alec Guinness. I like very version but this is one of my favorites. I haven't learned to operate the tv with the new remotes (Jill, I can relate to all the remotes!) so Regis has to come in and get it started for me. I made a triple tomato soup for dinner. It has whole tomatoes, tomato paste, and dried tomatoes in it. We love it on a cold night. Now ...

some words from a song by The Smiths: If you must go to work tomorrow, Then if I were you I wouldn’t bother. For there are brighter sides to life And I should know because I’ve seen them, But not very often.

Couldn't decide which picture I liked best so decided to use the slideshow. I wish we had remembered to take pictures when Tiffany and Elliot were still here!

Really, I don't know where the time goes. We had a busy weekend. But not that busy. I see the damn weather channel is forecasting storms. That's all I need. I must have made a large trip to the thrift store last year with Christmas decorations. Man, I don't have much left. One tub of wrapping stuff, one tub of kitchen stuff, and one tub of tree decorations. Even some of the stuff I liked is gone. Hey, maybe we had a robbery.Thieves out looking for Christmas decorations. I'd like to meet those dudes. Ella came over today and helped decorate the tree. I unwrapped the little things from their tissue paper and she hung them on the tree. All at her eye level, of course. Tiffany tried to encourage a more holistic look but she wasn't in favor of that. Guess I can't blame her. She went home with a bag of steamed sweet potato squares. Some grandparents send cookies...we send vegetables. I'm in training for the Jingle Bell Jam. That means I have to round up the Grinch...

Now when I leave work at the end of the day, it's getting dark already. Oh, my aching back side. I hate that. I made dumplings for the last of the turkey soup. It smelled good and tasted great but now the turkey that's still left in the refrigerator can be gone. We've had enough for a while. We debated about going down to the bar to play trivia tonight. I suck at trivia. I don't have a fast retrieval system even if I have the information in my head. It just won't pop out when it's out of context. It's the same reason I suck at word finds and crossword puzzles. I like my words strung together in sentences. Regis has been working so hard on his spread sheet class that he dreams about it. Last night he must have dreamed about a dog, too, because he kept shouting, "We have to get rid of the chihuahua! That dog is a pain in the ass!" We've had two dogs that might qualify for that description but neither of them are chihuahuas. I went shopping at TJ ...