saturday: community college and crab cakes

 
Regis made the President's List at South Central for fall semester. Here he is contemplating one of the more difficult spreadsheet assignments. He worked very hard and he deserves the honor.

I've had a very nice Saturday. (I'm having a bear of a time typing this, though, because the dog has his head laying on my arm.) I got up at 7:00 which is like way over-sleeping for me. What happened to the 4:00 wake-up call?

I sat around and drank coffee for a while, thinking I would skip the workout this morning. But then I felt drawn to go, so I went. It was a satisfying session, which they all are not. Hard to say why.

I planned to pick Ella up and go to Target, but she wasn't feeling well so I went by myself. I poked around for a long time, looking at Valentines, St. Patrick's day t-shirts, baby pajamas, and kitchen stuff. I bought Ella a pair of Valentine's Day leggings and a t-shirt with sparkly hearts. I wanted to get something equally flashy for the little boys but holy crap. They must not expect people to clothes 12 month old boys. There was a dearth of 12 and 18 month old anything at Target.

I bought myself a pair of black leggings with silver peace signs on them. Regis rolled his eyes but I think they'll be good hippie clothes for the Superbowl party. I looked at some sparkly Converse shoes but the sizes were weird and they were still twenty bucks so I passed. I like sparkly stuff.

When I got home, I took a champion nap. I don't take naps very often but once in a while I do just because I can.

I made a steak for Regis on the George Foreman grill for dinner and some crab cakes for me. I bought them from a nice young man who comes around in a little truck full of frozen food. Not the big conglomerate frozen food guy in the yellow truck. These were a little disappointing as the first ingredient was imitation crab. Ugh. Not highly recommended. The shrimp look great.

I'm disappointed that there isn't a Winter Fest parade this year. I did make a lame attempt to organize a spontaneous parade, knowing that organizing a spontaneous parade is oxymoronic. Hey, that's pretty funny. Wasn't that an art form a couple years ago? People would text their friends and show up at some location at a certain time and that was the performance. I have to think about this some more.

Saturday the 13th, we're planning to be at Patrick's for the New Primitives. They're our new favorite Minnesota band. Here's what google says: New Primitives explores popular music through high-energy Rhythm & Blues, Ska, Reggae, Calypso, and World dance music. It's a happening and we'll be there. We have to plan well for a 9 p.m. performance meaning that a nap is essential as that is an hour past our usual bedtime.

I still have my Christmas tree up in the living room. I hung a pitiful string of Valentine lights on it to bring it into the season and I'm going to move it into the other room for the football game tomorrow. But...I like the lights so what the hell. Until the sun shines, it gets to stay upstairs. I found a couple strings of chili pepper lights that I'm going to add in the spirit of Valentine's Day. Hey, I think I have some Guinness beer bottle lights I could hang on it so it gets another month. I think by Easter, it's going to have to go.

Regis is predicting some measurable snowfall for the next few days. He gets his information from Paul Douglas. Check it out.

MGM was a busy place tonight. I went to pick up some beer for the football game. Regis requested Leinie's but I got nostalgic when I passed the Summit display so I bought some of that, too.

 

 So, there you go. Happy Saturday.

milestones

Regis looked at my blog stat counter the other morning and noticed that I’m closing in on 10,000 hits. Maybe because we watched Julie and Julia last night, he got interested in how many readers I have…and maybe he’s thinking I’ll get a big fat book contract and be rich and famous. Or maybe not.

He thought I should write a special commemorative piece for the big 10,000 roll-over like when you were a kid and your car’s speedometer rolled over to some big milestone.

We started this blog in October of 2006 as a way to document our efforts to walk 500 miles in a year. We amused ourselves along the way by thinking of witty and sarcastic things we could put in the blog. I would write, then Regis would retort. Pretty much like our real life. We didn’t make that goal because, as we quickly realized, the math was against us. If you’re going to walk 500 miles in a year, you can’t take a day off without racking up future miles. It started to look painful. So we quit the 500 mile walk but we did (or I did) continue with the blog.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I go through periods where I am not quite as entertaining as others. I can’t explain it. Many times during the day, I observe things from the point of view of the blog and then I compose passages in my head. If I have a memory lapse, those things disappear into the morass of spent electrons swirling about my head. Like Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoon. Often they aren’t very good at coalescing on the page in the evening when I’m in the mood to write.

I also have a couple other creative outlets, Facebook for one. I know, I know. Social networking and a big fat waste of time. Did you hear that Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are going to merge into the biggest time waster of all-time called You Twit Face? I think that’s hilarious. I have enjoyed Facebook as a way to connect with family I don’t see very often, work friends I don’t see very often, and for general nosiness. I usually post something every day and it’s easier to come up with a one-liner that fits in a Facebook update space than a whole bunch of something to fill a blog page. Just the way it is.

I read an article in the paper yesterday that said younger people have forsaken blogs, like they have email and crank telephones, in favor of the more immediate and much briefer twitter and such. So maybe I’m just riding a trend here.

When we talked about it this morning, Regis said he thinks my focus has changed since my surgery. I asked what he meant and while I see it myself, I’m not sure I understand what he is seeing. I think he means that I spend my time differently for one thing. I get up at 4 most mornings and go to the Pulse to exercise. While that doesn’t take time out of the middle of the day, it’s a considerable energy expenditure. I’m often out of gumption by 8 and shut the computer down. That used to be prime time for piddling around and turning out those witty blog posts.

Other than that, I’m stumped.

The last almost 24 months have been a wild ride. Since the day in March of 2008 when I decided to make an appointment to go through the Mayo evaluation program for bariatric surgery, things have gone crazy. I eat differently, spend my time differently, I’ve learned to enjoy exercise, and I think I look at a lot of things differently. Tiffany said last weekend that I seem younger. I feel younger and not really in years but maybe in attitude. Beyond that, I’m the same middle-aged crank I have always been.

I bought myself a Kindle this week and so far, I enjoy it. I love the easy access it gives me to books. It’s amazing.

I have a yen to have a Blackberry like phone. If I wouldn’t have to take out a second mortgage to pay for the monthly data plan, I would do it.

So, there you go. I just checked the counter and see we slid right past the 10,000 mark. And I see I just past the 1,000 mark on number of posts.

tuesday

Elliot and Tiffany came for a visit on Sunday. Elliot, as you can see in the picture, has learned a new funny face. He squints his eyes like Clint Eastwood and it's hilarious. He's quite the little toddler.

We all had a fine time making French bread and lasagna. I had chosen a Tyler Florence recipe for something he called ultimate lasagna but we opted for a different one. Tyler's recipe had a lot of wine thickened with flour that didn't sound appetizing. It also called for four pounds of meat and two quarts of ricotta cheese. I think that would have flowed over the sides of the pan.

Regis and I are watching Julie and Julia. What a hoot of a movie.

I ordered a Kindle and it came in the mail today. Amazing. When I opened it up and started it, it said Teresa's Kindle at the top. I can access the Amazon store and buy a book and minutes later it appears on the home screen. Kind of a dangerous concept. My first book is the sequel to Dalva by Jim Harrison.

I keep getting distracted by the movie. Have to go.

end o' january

 

Regis popped over one morning to see Ella and Alex. I'm not sure but it looks like she's pulling out his cheeks to make him smile. That's a bossy sister for you!

 

 

Alex looks pretty happy with the Saturday morning routine...cartoons, jammies, rough housing with Dad and Ella, smiling for the camera. Oh, to be a baby!

January has been kind of a grit your teeth and get through it month for us. It's been cold, snowy, dark, and gloomy. The kind of month where cave people just huddled over the fire and grunted. We have high hopes for February, starting next Sunday with a Superbowl party. That doesn't mean much to me except for a chance to have the kids over, eat good food, and laugh a little. Who cares about the football game.

We're having man food at the Superbowl party: bratwurst, pretzels, chicken wings, chili cheese dip, M&Ms, and puppy chow.

We'll be partaking of some of the Winterfest events in February, too. I'm sad that there isn't a parade this year as that's my favorite. I love parades, even the ten minute kind. 

Here are some of the highlights:

Chili Feed — 5-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5 at the Legion.

Bingo — 4-6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 at Red Men Club.

Blastfest — 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7 at Patrick's. Enter your best baked beans and/or deviled eggs in contest.

New Primitives perform — 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 at Patrick's.

Hairy Legs Competition — 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 at Patrick's.

Polar Bear Plunge — 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 at Hallett’s Pond in St. Peter. 

You can see why we look forward to this. 

We celebrate the birthdays of Alex and Elliot in February. Regis and I are having a party on the 20th in their honor. I love birthdays and think they should always be celebrated. You can't sit around and wait for other people to recognize the importance of your birthday. Shout it out about a month before...hey, it's my birthday...celebrate! Have a party in your own honor.

Tiffany is helping me with the menu for that party. Since her dad is invited, I can feel his influence in her requests...no chiles in the potatoes, no onions in the pork. Groan. That's all I'll say about that.

Regis is turning into a geek man. He has a second monitor set up for his computer. Who needs two monitors? And is this where we're headed? Bob, I've seen your basement room...I know what can happen.

done being cranky

Well, it's Friday tomorrow. You can't be cranky on a Friday.

Regis said he's tired of winter but I don't think we can complain about winter yet. It could last a good long time so we should conserve our complaining until we're closer to spring. Maybe mid-March.

Tomorrow's Friday. There is reason for optimism.

what is this black cloud following me around?

I haven't been cranky for a long time but this is the night. I can't even say why exactly but I feel a nasty ass mood hanging over my head like a big black cloud. Regis did his best...poured me a glass of wine, put my slippers by the table, made a nice soup for dinner and I am appreciative of his efforts. I feel like weeping.

ah monday after a football spanking

Don't worry about reading the play by play here. I was only in the same room as the football game. Everyone who expressed enthusiasm and optimism got this message: Knock wood and get used to disappointment, my friend. I went to bed at half time and was better off for it.

It's wretched out there tonight. We had a work day today so there were no kids at school and half of the teachers left early. It's hard to work up any enthusiasm for anything sitting in a cold and quiet building when the snow is swirling outside. You'd think it would be a good environment for mental activity but not so.

I went to work out this morning and it was cold but not so windy. When I came out 90 minutes later, the wind nearly took me across the street. The snow came sideways. Someone told me they saw a pheasant trying to cross the highway and it couldn't fly and it couldn't walk so it sort of sat there and got pushed across the road. Poor thing. Heck, I was at the Pulse and a cat followed someone in. Can't blame the cat.

So, I'm trying out the Kindle. I like it so far but I miss the things about a book that it doesn't have....a cover, an illustration, a smell. And you don't have a visual indication of how far you are in the book. I know there is a little thing on the bottom that tells me I'm 16% finished. Hmmm.

I wish someone would make me some popcorn. I suppose I could get my lazy butt up and do it myself but I don't feel like it.

I made a note on Facebook today about some strange dreams. One was mine from last night. I dreamed that Jane had a baby and at a party, I gave it to someone. The next day, I waited for someone to ask what happened to the baby but nobody did. I couldn't remember who I gave it to and even when the police came, they didn't ask. It was terrifying so at least I had the good conscience to feel bad about giving a baby to a stranger.

The other dream was Betty's and is from a long time ago. It's so surreal that it made an impression on me and I've remembered it. Betty gave birth to an alien baby with a light bulb head and long arms with three skinny fingers. She wrapped it in a dish towel and kept it on top of the television. One interesting thing...this dream was from a time when televisions had tops. Eventually the alien dragged itself to an outlet and plugged itself in.

My only other memorable dream was about the house where I grew up. Pygmies were coming down the hill using Sunbeam mixers as weapons. When they pushed the eject button, the beaters flew through the air and toward the house.

Regis and Betty have rich dream lives. I usually have scary amorphous dreams. No characters, no plots.

january 24

Three nights this week, mediacom, our illustrious internet provider did not provide internet service. They claim they had major outages over the entire midwest and they used the lame ass excuse of ice. They probably sent the switchboard guy home for a few days because he didn't wear his pocket protector.

If you live here, you know the weather has been wretched. Last week, we had our January thaw which was welcomed. Temperatures in the 20s, warm sunshine, and balmy breezes instead of the weather that can kill you if you fall down taking out the trash. This week, the temperatures have been in the 30s which makes for slop. Slop on the streets, slop falling out of the sky, slop everywhere. The sky has been gray. The precipitation doesn't know what it's supposed to be, rain or ice or anything in between. You're half scared to leave the house because if it gets one degree colder, you'll have to skate home. Ah, well. I wasn't going to complain in 2010 and I'm not. I'm just making an observation.

Regis is letting borrow his kindle for a few days. He downloaded a book for me and I'm going to try it. I don't know why I'm suddenly intrigued by the idea as I haven't been since it came out. Maybe because it's been hard for me to read the last six months or so. I used to be a power reader...I had one book in the living room and another book in the bedroom and I logged a lot of hours reading. Now, I read two pages and fall asleep. I've been blaming it on the books but maybe I need to try another format.

Maybe my increase in activity level in the last year has rerouted the circuits from my brain to my legs. I bet that isn't a very sound scientific theory, but it could explain this. I can read on the Stairmaster because I'm closer to the book rack and I don't move around so much. I can't read when I'm walking or running. I tried listening to books but I get distracted and have to keep rewinding.

I bought the CD Crazy Heart this week. I haven't seen the movie but I'm anxious to see it. Roger Ebert says it's great and he's my favorite movie critic. The CD is great...one of my top three movie CDs: The Departed (hated the movie), Wonder Boys (loved the movie) and now Crazy Heart.

My plan for the day: sort through a small pile of paper, do the dishes, make something for dinner, go to yoga, relax. Happy Sunday.

what's with all the damn clouds?

I thought January was supposed to be one of our sunnier months. Not so this year. Today was like being in a monster cloud all day long. Cool hoar frost, though.

I was lying on the mat at the Pulse today after my run, stretching and trying to relax. I was listening to Raising Sand on my iPod...Allison Kraus and Robert Plant, singing along to Gone, Gone, Gone...when I realized that the dude on the treadmill was looking at me funny. I remembered that Regis comes running to see what's wrong whenever I sing. Bet I scared that guy! You know how you sing sometimes when you know you can't sing out loud so you sort of sing to yourself and it comes out like this horrific moaning hum? Anybody else do that?



This is the song and believe me, they sound better than I do.

I bought some sugar-free chocolate at Trader Joe's in December and it was delicious. I wish I had some right now. Anybody going up to TJ's, let me know. I'll put in an order.

seven minutes

I want to watch Two and  a Half Men and I can't multi-task so I have to write this in seven minutes.

I had a funny story to tell but it has completely slipped my mind.

Last week, I was chatting on Facebook with a cousin of mine who I have never met. He suggested we start a Facebook site for cousins and relatives of my grandma and grandpa on my mom's side. There are hundreds but so far only about 30 have joined. It's a damn hoot. All the old pictures are really fun to see. There are cousins from all over the country. Amazing thing that Facebook.

I was busy in the kitchen tonight. I made chicken thighs, an egg bake, a batch of muffins, and steak tips with peppered mushroom gravy. The last had lots of mushrooms and was delicious. Tomorrow night I'm making meatballs and split pea with ham soup. I was out of lunch material in the freezer so this will help.

Time to go.

are you old when you have a kid who's 32?

We took Young Regis out for a birthday burger and a beer tonight as it's his 32nd birthday. That means he's moving in on 40 and you know what that means...we'll be The Old People for real. We gave him a yellow fedora and a Bible that has a place cut out for a flask. Tacky, we know but what the hell. We thought he'd laugh and he did.

While we were at Patrick's, Brian told us about a field trip to something called Beer Dabblers at the Winter Carnival. It includes a bus ride and four hours at the beer tasting which we have decided might be too much for us. It sounds like a lot of fun, but like it might just kill us flat out.

We're watching the Golden Globes. Aside from not knowing many of these people, it's tiresome to hear about all the great, funny, awesome, creative geniuses in Hollywood. Oh my tired ass. Isn't there anyone there who is marginally amusing, lazy, and homely? Also, really do we need to see all their belly buttons and butt cracks?

Tiffany and I went to Canby to visit Mom this weekend. The roads were good all the way there until we got to Marshall. After that, the wind had drifted about 5 inches of snow in spots about every half mile. They were slushy, very slippery, and treacherous. I finally started pulling over and waiting until cars coming from the other direction had gone past. The road home was better. Elliot was a great little traveler, taking long naps both going out there and coming home. We had a good visit with Mom, a few glasses of wine, and a lot of laughs.

Regis didn't take the road trip with us. He started his second semester at SCC and was nervous about getting his work done. He had a quiz due yesterday and an assignment due today.

Busy week coming up so let's hang it up for the night.

the week's gone in a snap

We had a busy week and I believe I predicted it. Parent/teacher conferences on Monday, safe driving for old people on Tuesday, haircut in Mankato on Wednesday, burgers at the Legion on Thursday. Tonight I came home from school and finally took the decorations off the Christmas tree. Regis cooked a beef roast in the crock pot with carrots, onions, mushrooms, and potatoes. I fiddled around picking things up and sorting and organizing and now I'm watching the comedy channel.

Tiffany and I are headed to Canby (with Elliot) tomorrow to see my mom. Regis has decided (I think) that the burden of school work is too much and he better stay here and get a head start on his homework. Community College is not all silver saddles and Sunday parades. He has tough classes this semester and they've started out like runaway trains.

There is a significant snow event predicted for next weekend. What the hell. I can't believe that they can predict weather that far in advance because pretty much on a day to day basis they suck.

Somebody pulled in our driveway a while ago, hung around for a while, then left. It made Regis nervous but not me so much. It's the eastern thing. Everybody's a bad guy.

I'm going to have a relaxing weekend. No workout in the morning. Just coffee and pajamas and a slow-moving start.

mixing holidays

We decided to leave the Christmas tree up for a while because we (the royal we, Joanne) like the lights. I was picking up junk today, though, and decided to get out a few Valentine decorations. I hope this isn't a big design faux pas. Mixing holidays. Most of the Valentine type things are dishes and towels so they're all on the dining table...two red-stemmed glasses, four liqueur glasses with red dots, a red tray...hey, wait. I'll take a picture.

Aren't they pretty? Red is my favorite color. Speaking of red, I did a little online shopping today. I love the clearance sales. Nothing like a good deal. I bought a red jacket...hope I don't look the line usher at the mall Santa photo studio. Most of the stuff in wintery because, I suspect, we have quite a bit of winter left.

 

 This is a picture I took out the front door this afternoon. The sun is shining and it's beautiful out there. I'm staying inside today, though. I thought about going to yoga but decided against it, in favor of couch yoga. Which means I do just what I'm doing including maybe tipping over into a horizontal position and taking a nap. I have a loaf of bread in the bread machine and that's productivity enough for me.

I'm working on the menu for the week and the grocery list. We decided to plunder the freezer before we buy many more groceries. It's getting a little hard to shut the door. So today I took out some fish, a small steak, some pork for lunches, and a couple other things that were a little hard to identify. I think one is ham. I had Christmas Eve meatballs and Thanksgiving squash for lunch today.

There you go. Happy Sunday.

lazy day

I slept late this morning...well, 7 o'clock...then went to the Pulse for my workout. It was crisply cold. Crunchy cold. I came home and made a quiche, then got in the tub with a cup of coffee. Good way to warm up fast.

I took a nap this afternoon. Read a catalog for a while then took a nap. Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

About 3, we went to Tom and Betty's. They went to St. Louis Park to fetch Michelle this morning so we stopped by to see her, gab a little, and order up a pizza. Nice way to spend an evening. (the new domino's pizza is marginally better than the old domino's pizza)

I might do some cooking tomorrow. We have a busy week (I'm storing up energy for the week, you see) so maybe I can brew up some soup or chili or something. Monday night I have conferences and Tuesday night we have to teach safe driving for old people. We're going to retire from that gig. It's a drag. Wednesday I get a haircut and Thursday is burger night at the Legion. Oh man...way more stimulation than I like in a week.

We've gotten the Rolling Stone magazine for years and have enjoyed it even with the transition from the Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga on the cover. The current issue came today and seriously it's about 50 pages long. They went to a smaller format about a year ago and we swore we wouldn't renew. Now this. Hardly worth going to the mailbox for it. You take out the stuff about people we've never heard of and there isn't much left.

Betty had a robotic cat she bought somewhere. The thing was a little creepy...when you pet it, it rolls over, wipes a paw across its face, or purrs. Kind of fascinating in a creepy sort of way.

Time to go to bed. Dark. Cold. Ugh.

damn good chili

Regis made some delicious chili for dinner last night. I've been using the same chili recipe (in my head) for years and years. He read about chili in a magazine and tried a couple new tricks. I must say it was very good. I'll ask him if we can publish the recipe with his adaptations. His intellectual property, you know.

I wore a skirt and my cowboy boots to school yesterday and I'm paying the price today for baring my legs. I know there is no basis for this belief in real science but I think the gods of winter are putting the smack down on me. My cold came back with a vengeance and I feel like curling up under an electric blanket. Today, I go back to the base layer, ugly wool, and boots and who cares what you look like. The fashion police have moved to a warmer climate.

It's below zero right now and the forecast is calling for six inches of blowing snow and wind chills in the 30 below range. What the. This defies the common knowledge. What happened to it's too cold to snow? We're getting beat with both ends of the winter stick.

I'm not complaining...just making observations.

Work has been fine since I decided to change my attitude. Hey, a meeting is a chance to get out and see people and maybe scam a donut. Good way to look at it.

I went to visit a daycare with Tiffany and Elliot yesterday. Every time I think my job is hard, I'm going to visit a daycare. OMG. Let's talk about your basic over-stimulation. This was a lovely place and the woman was calm and managing things very well...but there were little bitty kids everywhere, like ants. People who do that work are saints and they should get paid a whole bunch more money they probably do get paid.

Here's what I like about Facebook. One day, in a conversation after a comment...there was a cousin on my dad's side who lives in Florida, a cousin on my mom's side who lives in Arizona, a nephew from Fargo, a brother from Fargo, and a friend in Ohio. I love that. Not deep and important conversation, but human connections between people separated by lots of distance.

Going to take a warm bath to guard against the cold demons today. Stay warm. Dress in layers. I'll keep you posted on the weather.

Nightmare

I'm at the hospital and meals
on silver trays are being served
from little white vans
in the parking lot.

Scott and Marsha
who stole Cindy's May basket
in third grade
slide down the fire escape,
a huge metal tube coming
out of the third floor window of the
dusty school.

My dog Kramer
drives by in a Volkswagen Beetle
waves his red-mittened paw
and honks the horn.

A man with a banjo
gets off the bus and hands me
a white envelope.
As the bus pulls away
I see his face on a poster
on the side of the bus.

no humans were injured in the making of this video

Elliot spends the night at nana's house

Elliot came yesterday and spent the night at our house. It isn't an easy accomplishment because we have a non-child friendly pet who needs to be shuffled back and forth from outside to locked bedroom like a common criminal. This means Elliot sleeps in a porta crib in the living room and I sleep on the couch. He wasn't so happy with the arrangement this time and woke many times during the night to be comforted. A little rocking and he went back to sleep. I feel like I was pulled through a knot-hole butt first, though.

He's a character and I enjoy his company. He's decided that he only wants to feed himself...no more spoons and such. He's very clever in figuring out ways to get the food off the tray. Slippery little pieces of peach get scooped over to the edge and slid up where he can grab them. Today for lunch he had peaches, carrots, peas, and bananas. He loved the tiny pieces of toast with jelly which makes him a baby after my own heart. Always choose the bread product first, I say.

As much fun as we had, Elliot was very happy to see his mama's face at the door. And I had to have a nap the minute he left.

Ella's Birthday and Happy New Year!

We took Ella to Patrick's for lunch yesterday as a pre-birthday celebration. We had princess napkins, she ordered a Cha Cha basket and pink lemondade, and she opened her birthday presents. The favorite seemed to be a character doll from High School Musical who came with a microphone. Ella exclaimed, "How did you know I loved this?" Oh, to be four years old.

We went to Tom & Betty's last night for a wonderful dinner of prime rib roast, baked potatoes, popovers, and cheesecake. We watched a few episodes of Twilight Zone and the documentary Two Fat Ladies, One Large Life. It was a lovely way to end the year and the decade. Two Fat Ladies is a cooking series from BBC and it is a real damn hoot. The documentary is about the life of one of Jennifer Paterson and it's hilarious as she was quite a character. If you like cooking shows, it's worth a look.

We don't have much going on today. I'm going to put ribs and kraut in the crock pot and we're going to another birthday party at 3:00 just down the street. I feel like I have the dreaded cold coming on so I'm doing what I can to activate my endorphins.

I hear Regis rummaging around in the other room. He has better sleeping habits than I do on most days although neither of us sleep very well anymore. We both go to sleep quickly most nights but I wake up at ungodly early. Regis can usually sleep until 7 o'clock which we consider sleeping in. I'd love to sleep like I was 16 again.

I still have the detritus of Christmas to deal with in my house. The huge round table that I thought I had to have is propped against the bookshelf. It's 60 inches in diameter which I didn't picture as being five feet. It's my math disability, I guess. It was handy to have on Christmas Eve but what will I do with it the rest of the year?

I'm not making any resolutions this year and I'm not sure I made any last year. I started exercising on December 28th in 2007 and continued through 2008 but I didn't make a resolution...I just did it. Resolutions seem to be too easy to forget. Oh wait...a resolution...I won't complain and I will try to be nicer.

That's enough rambling for today. Looking forward to 2010.

christmas with elliot and tiffany

Peter made a surprise and very brief appearance!

high class and low brow

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 which either has no shocks or really bad shocks (I can't believe Minnesota's roads are that bad) and nearly shook our eyeballs out of their sockets. The Summit folks kindly sent us off with beer glasses, cases of beer, and souvenir t-shirts and hats. A good time was had by all.

Here are the pictures from the field trip if you are so inclined to view more of the debauchery.

One thing I loathe about the week leading up to New Year's Eve is that they review the news of the past year. And this being the end of the decade, we not only have to hear about all the current bad shit going on all over the world, but we have to review the bad shit from the last year and the bad shit from the last ten years. Oh my God. How did I make it through the turn of the century? I don't don't want to know about that stuff unless there is immediate danger to my own personal self. If a bad guy is coming down my street, I want to know. That's the extent of my interest in the news. That kind of news anyway.

monday the best kind

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

Most of my students here are very poor.

I seldom see them in the pubs: they
Cannot really afford the prices.

As winter hits they have to decide whether
To spend their shillings on the coin-operated heaters
Or on food.

I suspect that heat often wins—you can
Freeze to death quicker than you will starve.

Their incentive is that they will presumably
Have more comfortable lives if they survive
The minimalist conditions of college.

The government gives them a small grant
From which to buy books.
We are encouraged to require
Very few books.

A book is a valued art object here.

I never hear a complaint here
And no one misses a tutorial
Without the most profuse and formal
Of apologies.

In California my students and I and everyone else,
Also including the movie stars and politicians and
Pro-athletes,

Seldom stop for breath
In the midst of a constant bitching.

********************************************
Me again. It's worth a try, eh? Although I worry that my main coping mechanism, humor, will lose some effect if I have to be all sunshine and roses.

Boy, it's tempting to buy crap this time of year. On our travels through Menards, we noticed a ton of discounted stuff. Of course, it wasn't anything we really wanted when it was regular price so we didn't buy any of it at 50% off. But it's tempting. I got a catalog in the mail with great stuff at reduced prices. It's better if you just don't look.

There you go. Monday.

dreams

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.

being lazy like it's my job

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 care on Christmas night and was diagnosed with pneumonia. Poor baby. She got a couple shots and a prescription. The report is that she's feeling better today.

It's snowing again. Nice to have a clean cover on the icy gray stuff that survived the storm of rain and snow the past few days. We have a puddle of water at the end of the driveway, bordered on both sides by huge ice battlements. Not so easy to drive on this stuff.

I'm going to make a warm drink (not coffee) and think about going to bed soon. That was my lazy day. My back actually is sore from sitting so much. Hahahaha. Still good to do this from time to time.

Saw a funny quote today. If work was so great, rich people would keep more of it for themselves.

what i did with saturday afternoon

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.

Productive use of my time. See below.

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

ugly Christmas sweaters

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.

Christmas Eve

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 if Santa would come to our house with her toys if she took a nap here. Oh, it makes my heart ache.

Thankfully (is that a word?) I didn't wake up at 3:30 this morning since I went to bed at midnight. For some reason we have HBO this weekend so we tried to stay awake to watch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert. Oh, it was hard to keep my eyes open and finally I couldn't do it anymore.

I put the food away last night but didn't do a good job of cleaning up so I have that waiting for me in the kitchen. I don't have any plans to do anything today and will feel like I accomplished something if I get dressed. What I like to do is lay on the couch all day and read.

It doesn't look like all that much snow came down during the night. Four inches maybe? It looks wet and heavy, though. I would say that in town, this storm was a bit of a disappointment. I know it was worse in the country and on the highways.

I'll probably end up writing more since I don't plan to move from this spot today, but for now, that's it. Enjoy the day. Merry Christmas to all.

a long time before dawn

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 aren't traveling.

Jill's daughter and son-in-law made it last night from North Carolina. Evan's luggage did not so we're trying to put together a Christmas outfit for him from donations. I said Peter had some low-hanging pants he could wear. Evan's a doctor so it might not be the professional look he's going for. Ha ha.

Joanne's son and daughter-in-law and baby are heading to the airport, intending to fly to Florida in the morning.

Everyone should be arriving by mid-afternoon. I woke up thinking about which dish to put the truffles on and such important details as that. Also wondering who is canceling travel plans, who made it safely home, who will be joining us instead of whatever they thought they would be doing.

I'm heading into the kitchen to putter with my dishes and food. I'll need a nap later, for sure, but I can work for a while. I still have some cooking things to accomplish and plenty of organizing to do.

Pictures and stories to follow!

we're cookin' now, folks

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 understand full well how severe winter storms can become. They tell horror stories about storms such as a person getting totally disoriented just trying to get from the house out to the barn. Those that venture out ill prepared in such weather run the risk of being found in a snowdrift somewhere a couple of days later.

The point has been made. This will be a ferocious blizzard that will paralyze northeastern Kansas, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. Travel through this region should not be attempted from Thursday afternoon on. You simply will not get through.

Well, holy shit. That sounds serious and I'm not going to mess around. I will be staying at home where it's warm and safe. You should do the same.

down to the wire

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, come on over. We have a new fold-up table and plenty of food and we'd love to have you. I think we've expanded our definition of family over the years and it now includes just about anybody we want to have here. Glen joins us for lots of holidays, Joanne is almost always here for birthdays, and the kids call Tom their uncle. It really adds to the spirit to have more people to call family.

Our old friend Mary called last night. Mary was one of the nurses for Regis when he had surgery at Fairview ten years ago. She took good care of both of us over the week he was in the hospital and we have been friends ever since. One thing that makes our friendship so special is the serendipity of it. Of all the possible points in time, our paths crossed there and now we're friends.

So, off I go into the night to exercise. There's big snow coming, the lines are long everywhere you go, the liquor store looked like it was stocking up for the apocalypse, but people are happy for the most part. That's good.

forecast is for a %#@^load of snow

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

I got a Christmas card from George Clooney!

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

lethargy

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 and you better have a good flashlight. It's depressing, really it is. I think it's why we have Christmas lights and candles. To chase away the dark.

I told Regis I would bake some cookies but I haven't. He said he would try to do it today and I think that's his safest bet. I'm just not into it this year. I have a bagful of stuff from Trader Joe's and that could suffice, if you ask me. I'm doing a really good imitation of a lazy person this year.

I'm going to the Pulse to work out with Rachel this morning. I made coffee because it works better to lift weights if your eyes are open.

Nutcracker

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.

Menu for Christmas Eve

 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

where are the damn christmas elves?

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 running on the treadmill. I looked over at Sandy at one point and said, "Sandy, look at me! I'm running!" Ha! It's the daily miracle. Two years ago, I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without hanging on the railing and stopping in the middle to rest. Now, I can run and jump.

I've been digging through my recipe collection for the things I want to make for Christmas Eve. I have a pile of recipes, not cookbooks, but recipes in binders, folders, and on pieces of paper...that is seriously two feet high. They aren't very organized so it's a fair amount of work to find what I want. I did this one night last week and now I can't find the list I made for the menu. I'll have to recreate it sometime soon...like tonight. Peter said he would make meatballs (Grandpa Estle's favorite recipe) and Regis is going to make pulled pork. We went to Trader Joe's yesterday and I bought some sweet things so I think I'm off the hook for baking.

We went to St. Louis Park yesterday to visit a friend who has cancer and is in a nursing home. This kind of thing puts a different spin on the craziness of the holidays and helps me keep in mind what the important parts really are. Betty and Tom are giving Michelle's cat a new home so we had to fetch Bonita and we decided to make a day of it.

We had lunch at a great place called Laredo's and then stopped at Trader Joe's. What a hoot. If it hadn't been so dang busy, I could have spent some time in there. We bought: Peppermint Bark - $9.99 for a 16 oz. box Crushed peppermint candy layered between white truffle fudge and peppermint infused dark chocolate... deep breath...[sigh].

At Laredo's, we had a sampler of: Tijuana Torpedo Sliders (cola-braised shredded pork carnita with melted american cheese), Cowboy Sliders (shaved smoked bbq beef brisket & whiskey bbq sauce), and Santa Fe Sliders (mini-ground beef burgers with pico de gallo, chipolte mayo & pepper jack cheese). Just in case you wanted to know.

Now, I have to print my letters and start getting a package ready to mail. Oh my.

plan of the day

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.

Jingle Bell Jam

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.

finding things and losing them again

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 now when I look in all the places that fit that description, it's not there. Now I'm not sure I really did find it or if I dreamed I found it.

This probably seems very strange if you are reading this and you are an organized kind of person. A person like me has no good system for getting rid of things. What if I want it next week? Shouldn't there be a purgatory for stuff before it gets thrown away? A place where I can fetch it back if I decide I really need it after all? So, I end up with boxes and shelves and tubs of things that are not necessary in my life anymore today but may be next week. They're just waiting for me to decide.

Throwing things away and regretting it later...those are not my only organizational issues. I can't sort things very well so I have books and magazines and folders of tax records all mixed up. I believe this is a math deficiency like my inability to pick out patterns in jazz or classical music.

I realized yesterday that I have been, in the back of my mind, obsessive about the Jingle Bell Jam today. I have been worried about feeling good, eating right, wearing the right clothes to stay warm, and going fast. I don't think to worry to this extent is the point. So, this morning I'm going to have a massage then I'm going to relax until we have to leave. Trying to make this fun, you know.

Things I find around my house when I'm looking for other things:

• folders full of recipes
• a box with three Christmas cards and two old stamps
• a pile of receipts and brochures from a trip to PA in October
• three Cooking Light magazines
• Tiffany's baby book
• a box of pictures not in albums
• sticky notes with phone numbers but no names
• a 2009 calendar, never used
• a manual for a cell phone, long gone
• a George Bush cartoon on NCLB
• prescription receipts

I think I know where that white folder is...at school. Oh good grief.

Happy Saturday.

decorating for Christmas

Edith

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. She alway invited me warmly into her cool, dark house.  Her shades were always drawn and the doors tightly closed. My house was hot and bright and loud. Edith's house was cool and dark, and so quiet I could hear her Big Ben alarm clock ticking from her bedroom when we sat in the living room drinking lemonade and eating the sugar cookies she had baked that morning.  Sometimes we played Parcheesi on an old board with glossy marbles.  The set we played on at home had come from the Ben Franklin store and was made of cheap cardboard and plastic poker chips, but this one had been made from a thick piece of wood, the squares painted  bright red and black, the holes for the marbles worn smooth.

Edith's husband, Harold, had died a few years ago and she still talked about him every time I visited, usually to tell me that it was his birthday, or that he especially liked sugar cookies, or that on a day like this he would have been out in the barn taking care of their horses, making sure they had enough to drink in the stifling heat. Once when I was there, she asked if I wanted to see pictures of Harold and I said yes, expecting a picture of him with the horses that were so prized, or maybe on the front porch of their farmhouse where they had lived for almost fifty years together. Instead, she put into my hands a small pile of pictures of Harold taken at his funeral, in his polished white coffin with the cover propped up to show  the  quilted satin pillow and Harold in his new black suit. His gnarled farmer's hands were clasped together on his chest, a thin gold wedding band on the finger of his left hand.  Even in the picture I could see the thick callouses on his fingers where they came together to hold the yellow rose that had been laid there.  Edith said she'd had beautiful flowers on the farm, especially roses, and this one was from her garden. Harold's  face, not familiar to me in life, was startlingly white and almost pale blue in death. The color of skim milk. She tells me the details of his death and the things about the funeral; the songs they sang, the people who sent flowers, and what they had for lunch.  I had never been so close to death.

Christmas binder of recipes seems to have disappeared

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 have beef stew meat (from a chuck roast) bubbling on the stove. It smells good in here.

Man, on this movie they have little kids dancing around with a dead duck from one of the store windows. The duck still has its head on and most of the feathers. Gross.

I still have the raven(as in black bird) statue on the table. Tonight, I hung a Bah Humbug glittery sign around his neck. There you go. In honor of the season. Happy Festivus. Ha!

monday morning

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.

decorating the tree

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!

oh crap i meant to post more often

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 santa hat and sew the jingle bells on my clothes. I'm not carbo loading or anything. Not that kind of training.

Tiffany was here this afternoon and asked about the box of ornaments that belonged to her and her brother. Oh my God loud moan of horrific anguish. I rescued those things from their dad's house ten years ago and asked ten times (a year) if they wanted them. When the response was always a disdainful no I assumed it meant no. So, some of them must have gone the way of the thrift store last year. I did find a few and maybe enough to be meaningful. How did I know that having a baby would make you care about things that never meant anything before? I talked to a friend the other day about how a woman's need to collect stuff peaks in her forties, then declines dramatically. I wonder if that's universal.

The tree looks pretty. It's why people have Christmas lights. To chase away the winter shadows.

hey how come it's so dark outside at 5 o'clock

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 Maxx on Sunday. Actually I browsed around so long that Regis thought I was either dead or imprisoned so he came looking for me. I debated about a pair of boots and a jacket but decided against both of them and bought some lingerie instead. That evening, I decided the lingerie wasn't right but I really wanted the jacket and boots so the next day, I made a diagram and Regis went back to TJ Maxx, returned the lingerie and bought the boots and jacket for me. He said an old lady at the cash register asked him if anything was wrong with the lingerie and he said they cut him under the arms. She got a big charge out of that. What a character. But what a nice guy to do that for me.

I gave up on the book I was reading and started The Farmer's Daughter, Jim Harrison's new book of three novellas. I love his writing and if I'm ever marooned on an island, I'll take his books and those of Kent Haruff and Louise Erdrich. I thought it was odd that he used the phrase gag a maggot, though. Gag a maggot? Isn't that a little middle schoolish? Yeah, and when was the last time I had a book published?

That's my rant for the day. Happy hump day tomorrow.Harrumph.