Sunday, Monday, Happy Days...

Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days...
That show was the end all be all for me. It just was. I SOOOOO wanted to be one of those swoony girls in a poodle skirt slow dancing with...The Fonz. Would I come if he snapped? You betcha. So here I am...all these years later and STILL completely startstruck and in love with Henry Winkler...

OH YEAH, babies...that's me and the Fonz on Friday night at the Chicago World of Wheels. And yeah, the Fonz, told me I was really beautiful. Not just beautiful, REALLY beautiful. And then after my husband took the picture, he shook his hand and he told the hubby that he has fantastic taste in women. *blush* Seriously - the FONZ, people. My family sooooooo didn't realize the magnitude of this. For a girl my age, back in the day, this man was (and I guess still is) the shit - so now, I guess, I can officially die happy. The Fonz might actually have had me as one of his girlfriends...how completely affirming. And for those of you who think this little rant is silly? Bite me. You're probably a guy, so you don't get it, because I know all of the girls out there totally do. And Henry - if you have internet spiders out there looking for your name and you stumble onto this, you made my year - and if you can download this pic and sign it "I would have made out with you by the jukebox at Al's", that would be fantastic.

Because you guys -- wait for it -- he hugged me goodbye, and when he did, he kissed my cheek. I totally got a kiss from "the man".

And I'm really beating myself up because I had my flip in my coat pocket and should have had one of the kids filming the whole exchange while my husband was taking the photo and didn't. Bummer.

Anson Williams (Potsie) was also there and I thought he looked fabulous! Erin Moran (Joanie) was there, too...

Oh, yeah, and there were cars and motorcycles...I guess. HA!

Cheer up sleepy teen...

So...Alex is 15. And every day he falls asleep in the car. EVERY DAY. And I know teens are naturally sleepy, and I know he's not getting nearly enough sleep. Yesterday on the way home he announced that he doesn't have any homework, and wanted to know if he could "take a nap" when he got home. Ummmm, sure.

Yeah, he woke up this morning. 13 hours the child slept. oy! He says he feels fine, no headache, no throat problems, no stomach ache. So we all know what this means, right? Yeah, I'll be buying him new pants. Seriously, if that kids inseam goes up again I'm going to light myself on fire. He's grown 2 inches or more since March. I thought I had him set for jeans and uniform pants, but now I'm worried that he's going to look like Urkel.

AND - I totally busted him this morning committing the sin of all fashion sins. He's got gym this semester. So instead of wearing black socks with his navy pants and his black dress shoes like he's done all year, he's wearing WHITE socks. And not just any white socks, white ANKLE socks. In the freezing damn cold. Oh for the love. Have I taught him nothing?? No. Noooooooooooooooo. He said it's because of gym - so he doesn't have to change his socks before and after gym. But you're changing your shirt and your shorts already, right? And your shoes, right? So you're telling me it's THAT much harder to also change your socks that you are willing to look like a total tool with white shorty socks and black shoes all day?? No. I forbid it. I told him so. NO. I disallow it. NO. NO. I finally, FINALLY got Kevin to stop doing it, and now my 15-year-old starts. NO. He says other kids do it. NO. I cannot budge on this one.

The early morning confusion bandit strikes again...

This kind of stuff never stops being funny for me. I've personally never done this *knock on wood*, but I totally could, since I HAVE worn my shirt inside out, worn my underwear inside out, worn two different socks and forgotten countless items.

JRo is a lurker on the blog and a co-worker...the peeps here at the office almost didn't notice this:
To her credit - she did snap this handy dandy photo with her camera phone and send it to me. God love 'er. It wasn't even a Monday, but it sure did feel like one.

I fried some chicken last night, and I swear I still smell like the deep fryer. Usually I'll fry the chicken in a pan on the stove, but when I picked up the breading mix from the store, it had instructions for the deep fryer. What the heck - I'll give it a try. I'll mark it up to a success. The kids seemed to like it...I could only do 4 legs at a time, but it was still worth it. mmmmmm, chicken.

I also managed to down an entire bottle of pinot by myself. Ummmm, whoops. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I was pouring the last little bit into my glass and I thought - now where did the rest of it go?? Needless to say I slept well last night! :)

Since the writers continue to strike and there's nothing good on television, the Crums played a game last night: Sequence. We're officially addicted. We've had it here at work for awhile in the lunchroom, and now Alex got it from Grandma for Christmas and we're hooked. I highly recommend it!

And PS - everyone should officially hate Sugar Snap Pea as she sits in JAMAICA right now drinking some fruity drink and getting tan and we freeze our asses off. Damn you, Pea!!

Really? Are they getting paid for this?

So Alex and I were hanging out in the basement watching anything "not wrestling." Originally we were going to watch "This is Spinal Tap" - but I was too sleepy and wanted to finish watching "Intervention." Yeah, I know...shut up.

After intervention - the show "Paranormal State" came on. Have you seen this hot mess? Seriously. SERIOUSLY. I mean I'm not mocking the paranormal, I'm not (do you hear me ghosts and spirits and demon-like creatures...if you can surf the net, I'm not mocking you) - but this show. For the love. It's so drama-ridden...and there's this big build up...because these spirits are really 'bad' and can HURT YOU. They all end the same way... the homeowners have some sort of 'ceremony' at 'dead time' (3 am, in case you were wondering) and tell the spirit, soul, demon, to "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE" and poof! All is well. Whoever was sick? Feeling better. Whatever noises you heard? All gone. Whatever fears you have? Relieved.

Are they paying this group for this??? Who's worse, the people filming it or me for watching it. It's a toss up.

And after that hour of my life I'm never getting back, they had a special on called "Psychic Children, their Sixth Sense." Psychic stuff, yes - I think people can see things, and hear things and whatever - John Edwards? no. but other people, yes. But this one little girl...her ability? Yeah, she can talk to trees. Whodawa? Now who in the hell is going to dispute that? They showed her walking through a forest and she touches a tree and says "Cows used to graze here, this tree provided shade." Really? The tree told you that? Great. THAT'S your gift? Who can challenge her? Another tree whisperer? Well when that tree talked to ME it said it used to dance the funky chicken back in the day and drop acorns on indians. PROVE ME WRONG!! She also gets very emotional and depressed when things happen in nature, like Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami. Noooooo...really? I bet a lot of people got depressed watching the Katrina coverage. I know I did. I don't think I'm a nature psychic because of it.

I am actually dumber for having watched this stuff. Alex and I got a big kick out of it. I'm now "the couch whisperer"...I told him that the couch told me that it's tired of my boys farting on it all of the time. It's feelings are getting hurt, so please stop...especially when mom's in the room.

I've been busy, have you noticed?

Seriously, honey, what's all this? What's happening here?

I've had some pretty funny things to say lately...and........now they're all gone from my brain. You'll all be happy to know that the church board I sit on isn't all old men anymore. With this last election, I am now president, my financial director is a very nice woman, the records director is a PASTOR, and the other member is older than me - but I wouldn't call him old. Now this I can work with. We had our first meeting on Saturday morning and I think it will be a good group.

I took Alex to Mville with some friends on Saturday night for his birthday. They did the typical teenager stuff - mall, pizza, movies. We made sure we were elsewhere. Alex seemed to have a good time. Other than the fact that since he goes to a private school the kids are scattered. I had to leave my house 1.5 hours early to pick everyone up. UGH. But, he'll be driving soon, so I'm fine with being the chauffer every now and again so he can have a social life with his friends.

Owen took the plunge, shaved the fro. I didn't know it was going to happen when it did so I don't have good before/after pics. He got paid and under armor was purchased. He's thrilled.

We finally have ICE! At long last this midwest chill has frozen our pond. The kids were out skating for a good 3 hours in the cold on Saturday morning.

Good weekend overall - except Green Bay lost. Boooooooo. The NYG are in the SUPERBOWL?? Further proof that the NFC is worthless.

And, for my far away friends...I love this picture. Jimmer gave me the big whatever on it, but I say whatever to YOU Jimmer!

The writer's strike sucks and other obvious tidbits...

When I heard the writers were going to strike I thought "This sucks."

And now that there is truly no new/different/funny television out there because of the writers strike I've confirmed that "This sucks." I mean, reality TV was already threatening to take over and now HAS, in fact, taken over as the only "unscripted" (and I use that term VERY loosely) shows on television and therefore not needing any writers. Not to mention most of them are filmed months in advance, and probably were done before the strike.

Anyway, I digress. Reality TV sucks (except for Idol, which starts this week, and I'm so excited I can hardly STAND it).

What I wasn't expecting from the writer's strike? For them to ruin my award show season. MY AWARD SHOW SEASON, PEOPLE! I am a red carpet junkie...remember, I came out of the closet last year?!? I require my red carpet and my overly processed Hollywood types and several phone calls to my mother and my sister-in-law praising or bashing what we see. I require foo-foo cocktails for such viewings and for my family to leave.me.alone.period. The Golden Globes were last night. GOLDEN GLOBES. This is like the mother ship for people like me and they didn't even HAVE a red carpet because NO ONE CAME. No one. Well, unless you count Nancy O'Dell. Not. They called them off, and the awards were handed out by entertainment reporters to NO ONE. Whodowa??? This chips away at the very core of who I am. No best and worst dressed list the next day on E!??? No horrible red carpet banter from the Rivers duo?

WHAT??

Now this shit has gotten to me. It's bad enough that I'm stuck with no Grey's, no Brothers and Sisters, no Chuck, no Life...but, but...I almost can't speak.

Give them what they want already you overpaid buffoons so I can at least have my Oscars and salvage SOMETHING from this award season. It's the 50th anniversary of the Grammy's for fuck's sake. Let's go.

If you're looking for something interesting to read - Eileen posted out on a blog about the writer's blog "Why We Write", where very famous writers and producers share why they started and continue writing the shows you probably love. Some of them are lame and preachy, but some of it is very, very good. Take a peek: Why We Write

Oh, and the Colts suck. Peyton is good, guys, but he still needs an OFFENSIVE LINE and I don't know, maybe a DEFENSE that can stop a SECOND STRING DAMN QUARTERBACK in the fucking PLAYOFFS from marching the ball down the field and scoring a touchdown. Ya think? At least the other Manning had a team that looked like they wanted to win and did. All I have to say to that is Go Green Bay! (And I still hate the Pats, how they play so horribly every 1st half and then win is beyond me. I think they do it on purpose just to screw with me)

And last, my kid rocks. Played the drums with Pistol Pete at the Blues Jam yesterday and I got some great pics from Mary Hampton. When she posts them on her website I'll let you know. But I still can't find anyone to give him a decent haircut. Oy. (*ETA: she posted them, I was just too dumb to find them - click on the "I'll let you know" link...for specific pics of me, go to about page 20 and then again starting on page 26 of the thumbnails.)

Something cool I just found on Picasa: the highlights from last Sunday from Mary:

It takes two to make a thing go right....

It takes two to make it outta sight...
Hit it...

(If you can finish that song lyric, I love you like I would marry you)

I just read an old blog post on a stranger-friend's blog, and he was venting about how his son doesn't really like to read, and my friend is an avid book junkie.

I have two boys. Two very different, wonderful boys. Both smart, both funny, both considerate, polite, devilishly handsome (biased) young men.

One reads...the other...well, notsomuch. I mean, he can read...he will read...but he doesn't thirst for it. Doesn't hunger for it. Doesn't put a book down and want to talk about it, or read more by that author or laugh out loud while he's reading. That's just my Owen.

Alex on the other hand? Insatiable. My stranger-friend blamed the video-game, movie-driven society in which we live. But Alex grew up in the Playstation era - and still, he reads. And reads. And reads. I gave him "Lord of the Flies" at Owen's age. I couldn't imagine Owen reading that right now. I started Alex on all the classics at Owen's age...he devoured them. Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, Count of Monte Cristo, Of Mice and Men. Things most kids don't ever read voluntarily and certainly not until high school. But I was running out of "chapter books" and they were clearly beneath him. So onward we went into the novels I loved in my teens.

But what I've come to learn, what I've come to love...are those differences. Owen is my athlete. He loves sports, all sports. Loves watching them, talking about them, projecting them. He loves checking the stats, knowing the stats, comparing the stats. He loves cars. Being able to recognize cars on the road, talking about which year made the best model of a particular car. He's my more outgoing one, my compassionate one. Alex is my reserved one. My reader. My thinker. My quick-wit...he would no sooner watch sports than light himself on fire. He'll finish a book as soon as humanly possible because he craves the ending. He likes knowing technical details about everything. He likes watching the same movie over and over and over to pick up the one-liners and use them in every day life. He's my musician, a lover of all sorts of music.

It's brilliant! Because I love all of these things, too!! I love watching sports! I love talking about sports. If I wasn't half deformed and had any coordination I would love to play sports! I love cars! I used to spend my time with my friend John Steffen talking about cars to an exhausting extent. I love to read! I love talking about books. And I do love watching movies over and over again to pick up the one-liners and use them in every day life. I love music. Love to listen to it, sing it, feel it, play it, see it.

In short I just feel fortunate to have my two very different boys to share so many of my different passions with. And the one they share is the most important of all! They love food!!! I can take them anywhere and they will try anything! They love it when the house smells of vegetable soup stewing away in the crock pot or a good pot of sauce on the stove.

So in the beginning of the new year - I say, celebrate your differences!! Celebrate the differences in the people you love! Every different person you have in your life brings something new to your table...and isn't it wonderful??

Sorry folks..

That there have been no new updates. My job is kicking my ass.

Quick update:
Yes, the Steelers lost. I was sad. Actually, I'm still not over it. I didn't think they'd win without Willie Parker and a couple of other injured peeps. If only they hadn't rallied...I actually got hopeful. But alas, NE is next up for the Jags, and they will have their asses handed to them appropriately. The only team with a shot of taking out the Pats is Indy, otherwise it's going to be a NE/Green Bay/Dallas superbowl. I'm unwilling to commit to the NFC bid just yet...I'd love it if Green Bay went.

On a more tumultuous note - no good deed goes unpunished. I hate it when the managing partner/owner here at the firm says it - but ultimately he's right. Almost always. Which I also hate. He drags me out of my rose colored glasses world of believing the best out of people. He shares this quality with my husband. They both say mean things about people and I always defend those idiots and tell them that they're being too cynical. And in the end, they both end up being right and I hate it. I refuse to let my faith in the goodness of humanity be thwarted, however...and so I trudge on. I realize you guys have NO idea what I'm talking about. I'm just venting....

Blues jam is back on, kids - Sundays 4-8. Well, let's be realistic...5-9. It's getting better all the time and the food is still AWESOME. Get there.

Julie - I miss you.

My girlfriend Jen is pregnant. YAY Jen! June baby...can't wait. She won't tell me if it's a boy or a girl, though. Grrrrrr.

My to do list is getting longer here at work and I'm exhausted. Oy. I feel like there are things I'm forgetting which is NOT GOOD when you are solely responsible for the updating and security of your network for a firm protecting personal data for too many people to think about.

The tone of this email isn't really uplifting, is it. Sorry guys and dolls -
When all else fails, celebrate!

2008! 2008! 2008!

Seriously? 2008?? OMG.

Here's what you missed at the end of 2007:

Bowling night Thursday, 12/20: I had the shot at the $187 strike pot. It looked so pretty going down the lane - right in the pocket - a hush LITERALLY fell over the crowd...aaaaaaand...nuthin. 8. I got 8. I wouldn't care so much if a certain c u next tuesday didn't end up winning MY money. There aren't many people in that bowling alley I don't like. She's one of them. Bitch.

Waterpark weekend - a blast. A total blast. But girls, I'm here to tell ya, they didn't make 18 year old boys like that when I was an 18 year old girl. What is going on? Where are they growing these factory made 6-pack stomach, arm&hammer arms...whodawa?? Ummmm, mercy...mercy me. Am I too young to become a dirty old woman?

Christmas - busy - fun - a good time was had by all. LOVE the Wii. If you haven't bowled on the Wii, you must. It's a total blast. Even my dad bowled using his walker. We laughed and laughed. I got a locket with my boys pictures in it. I've never had a locket before. Love it.

Day after Christmas - Chicago - Shedd Aquarium - ice skating in Millenium Park. I love the city.

Thursday, 12/27 - Alex turns 15. I have to work, even though I was 'on vacation' - new copiers delivered - total drama. Late, everything was late...I still made my hair appt. Best hair of my entire life...again...I don't know how she does it. Love Liz. Bowling was...well, bowling. My Roselawn wife Linda? Kicked it in the ass. 212 first game, 222 third game. Brilliant.

Friday night - Howl at the Moon in Chicago with my college roommate & company. Good times - Chicago H@tM not as much fun as Indy H@tM...they did too many slow songs and didn't get the crowd into it as much. Still had fun and got to catch up with my gal pal, her hubby, brother and his wife. Bitch hasn't aged a DAY since our first day of freshman year. I love her - but still secretly hate her as she has always been one of the most beautiful people inside and out that I have ever known. And she teaches high school boys. (and girls) They must LOVE her.

Saturday night - gig at Blues Island. All I have to say is this:

I didn't bring that boa, but I soooooo wanted to steal it when the night was done. Something about singin the blues with feathers on - made me very happy. Game on. Lordy is quick on the draw - official pics at Chicago Blues Beat...

Sunday was football and more football. Monday was party preparation.
NYE found us ringing in the new year with our Roselawn Crew. The kids ruled the roost. One broken pool cue...whoops. Boys played poker in the garage and smoked cigars. Girls played....wait for it....SPOONS in the dining room. What a hoot. My drunk ass hubby on a four wheeler plowing not just our driveway, but the entire street so people could get home. I should have stopped after one glass of champagne - that stuff is not good for your hangover the next day.

Yesterday was a lazy day of leftovers and football and whatever movie we could catch on the movie channels.

And now, here I sit...back to work. That's my vacation in a nutshell kids....what did you do over the holidays? Eat too much? check. Drink too much? check. Stay up too late and sleep in when you could so that your biological clock is all screwed up when you have to go back to work? check.

Resolutions forthcoming - welcome 2008!

Happy Holidays to you and yours...

Well kids...it's the Thursday before the holidays - are you ready?? Stocking stuffers...last minute gifts??

I'm feeling a bit pressured. I thought I was so on top of things and yet I feel like I have nothing done.

I'm taking the next 12 days off...I'll try to blog from home, keep you posted on the insanity of our holiday season, but if you don't see me updating for a couple of days, it's because I don't like to log in to any computer when I'm at home.

Sooooooo...Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...

Jibjab...

Hi all - glad to see you're enjoying the flip! I have some great footage of the big concert with Alex, but in the confusion this morning (they ended up canceling school for Owen AGAIN) I left the flip at HOME. grrrr.

So I'll give you this for your viewing pleasure...featuring me, Kev-head and the kids, plus a couple of extras from our blogging family...

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Enjoy

Triple shot!!!

So I'm so glad Tigger finally has SPEAKERS so she can hear this lovely video I'm about to post.

I think she threatened to kill me if I posted it.

Whoops...it just sort of slipped onto my computer and into my blog.

Fear not BBFF's - there will be more of Tigger to come, I'm sure...
Ladies and gents...
The Tigger...




Apologies all the way around for the shakiness of the vid - I was just laughing too hard...tripod where are you??

Double Post Friday

Okay - so pay attention here, kiddies...two post Friday. I just posted my short review of the flip...and then I realized Sugar Snap Pea is here...so I figured I would do my first video run of "getting to know our blogging family." Make sure you read the review post AND I changed my first video post from yesterday a little. ENJOY.

Without further ado...
The Pea...



Again - I produced this in Quicktime format as to keep it small, yet viewable. The picture quality isn't perfect, and not nearly as good as what I get in the .avi format...but blogger doesn't like my large and in charge video sizes when I start playing around.

Flippin Out...

I started responding to our new blogging friend Kristen, when I realized I was typing too much to be a comment. I decided to make it a post.

My short review of the flip...
The flip is great. Took it with me to my son's Christmas concert last night - In the dark theater sitting away from the stage, the video quality is good...probably not as good as a big handheld camera with 10x optical zoom, but for the size and portability - it's GREAT. The sound is very impressive, if you ask me.

Recommendations - get the tripod AND get a short 3' USB extension. I ordered both for myself. I worry that repeated docking of the flip to a computer would eventually wear down that arm - but if I can just set it on the desk and hook it to an extension cable, that would be better. I shake entirely too much to hold ANY video camera.

Get extended life batteries for electronics. The batteries yesterday lasted about as long as they said they would - approx. 2.5 hours of video/playback time. I was playing with it quite a bit yesterday and the batteries died by the end of the night. Cool thing? Because the flip has an adapter that hooks directly to the TV - Alex could watch the video of his show on our DVD player on the way home.

As for ease of use and everything else - it's brilliant...just BRILLIANT. Getting it out of the box and into production...2.2 seconds. It takes you longer to install the batteries than to figure it out.

I love it like I would marry it.

All by myyyyyyyyyysellllllf....

It's hard to talk to a camera when you're sitting in your office and you're supposed to be working. I make strange facial expressions. I think I do that even when I'm talking to real people, not just a camera.

I got a new toy...get one!
ETA: 12/14...I reproduced the video with some intro slides...but when I created it in .avi format it was WAY too big. So I produced it to use quicktime and it's much smaller, but a little grainier. Bear with me while I figure all of this out.

Mother of the year award...

OMG. I am perfectly willing to admit that I am not on the ball all of the time. I'm not. I miss things, forget things...my kids don't always inform me of things...

But this takes the cake.

Alex is in concert band at Andrean. It's not a huge program - nothing at Andrean outside of football would be considered a large program. 16 kids, maybe, in band. 30 kids, maybe in choir. So a couple of weeks ago I saw the Christmas Concert on the schedule and that tickets were for sale. Well, with basketball and other things happening, I wasn't sure when we'd be able to go and didn't think it horrible that I didn't buy tickets in advance. I can just pay when I go...right? It's just a little band/choir performance...right?

WRONG.

The thing is sold out. Whodawa? Sold out? Sold out for THREE STRAIGHT NIGHTS. If you don't already have a ticket the best you can hope for is to show up and pray someone else doesn't. It's not just a little band/choir deal. It's band, choir, string ensemble, pep band, pep band with soloists, pep band with full choir, jazz ensembles, the dance team ... HUGE deal with LOTS of kids involved, and lots of parents, students, grandparents and whatnot wanting to attend.

Oh boy.

And me without my tickets. So I guess we'll be going tonight and tomorrow to try and get in. The thing is 2 1/2 hours long with intermission.

What a weekend, boys and girls...

Well, we finally went and cut down our Christmas tree....the boys always love this event. It was especially fun this year since there was snow on the ground. Needless to say, snowball fights ensued and I brought home 3 cold wet boys and a tree. We got a different style of tree this year, I'm usually a short needle kind of girl, but the boys wanted a tree with long needles...you know the poofy looking kind.

Well what a disaster THAT decision turned out to be.

Ummmm, those branches? Barely hold LIGHTS let alone ornaments...Oh my. And then, last night, for some reason...the thing fell over. Right now my living room is a hot mess of water, pine needles and broken bulbs. Oy.

Friday night I was cooking dinner with the boys and asking them general questions about school and whatnot when Alex pipes up that his friends think he has a girlfriend. Ummmmm, why would they think this? Because a girl has apparently laid claim to my boy informing him that he's taking her to the winter formal.

Ummmm, what?

First of all, who is this girl? And secondly...YOU'RE GOING TO THE WINTER FORMAL? When is it? A: I have no idea. Whodawa? You have no idea? Is it after Christmas? A: Maybe. Well great. A quick hop out to the school website tells me it's on January 26th. Tickets are $50 per couple. Does that include dinner? A: I have no idea. Do you want to take this girl to the dance? A: Sure, I guess, yeah.

OMG.

Is there anyone else you were thinking of taking? A: No, not really. Well, do you like her, like her or is she just a friend? A: I don't know...she's fine, she's cool, whatever. Oh seriously, like pulling teeth, this conversation. So I still have no idea if this is a friend thing, or a girlfriend thing, or what. But I CAN tell you that I will be going into the homework room the next time I pick him up so I can potentially get a visual on this chick. Her mom works in the office so she's always around...that's what his friends told me this weekend. I'll be able to tell everything about what he thinks about her just by seeing how he acts when I'm around.

So my son is going to his first high school dance.

I.am.old.

I miss me some ze frank...

What? You don't know who ze frank is?? Shame on you. Have I not posted about him before? I think Scottish is the one who originally got me hooked, due to the fact that his wife was infatuated with ze frank. Is that how it went. Anyway, I've been busy and haven't had much time to be funny, but my office actually looks almost presentable. In that "stacks of crap" kind of way I've perfected in my 36 years.

So I'm leaving you with this episode of the show...

Snow Plow? We don' t need no stinking snow plow...

So Big Poppa is laid up - and definitely not shoveling any snow...and because he didn't plan ahead, and neither did my mom....and neither did I...my MOTHER shoveled the driveway yesterday. My mother who just had knee surgery herself not that long ago and has a horrible back problem (sciatic nerve deal??) is SHOVELING THE DRIVEWAY. Because what? They lost my phone number? They forget that while I can't personally plow the driveway, I am people who knows people, dammit! I've got friends in snow places! I know people with plows, able bodied men who live close-by who could shovel for them. For the love. My mother. Shoveling. "well, I just kind of pushed the snow, Bek, I didn't really lift anything. And I felt fine. And I'm doing my stretches." Seriously - let me say what you're all already thinking. This will totally be me someday. Little fixer that I am. Little "make it happen" girl. I come by it honestly!! See?? It's not my fault. God love her, but I could kill her sometimes.

I've already put the call in to my dad today that if more snow comes tonight and they can't find someone to call me. I'm thinking of firing off warning shots now.

19 days until Christmas.

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got...

My boys are at such interesting ages...

Alex, at 14, is really becoming more and more independent - I got to meet some of his friends over the weekend (they came to my house for a school project) and they fit him so well...it was fun to see them interact, talk about their school crap, teachers, assignments. The disdain in their voices, the laughter over teachers and what they wear and say, the snide comments about girls...ah yes...teenagerdom. I remember it well. Apparently Alex is quite the ladies man. If you ask his friends, anyway. He gets hugged...a lot...by various chicks. And they like writing on his hand - whatever that means. Did I ever write on a boys hand? Probably. I know I doodled on folders and left notes in lockers. Foolish, foolish girl. NEVER put it in WRITING. Oy.

His big "garage band 101" concert is Sunday, December 16th, 4pm at Front Porch Music for any of you interested in attending.

Owen, at 10, is looking for his place in the universe. "I typed in 'who is Owen Crum' in ask.com," he says to me yesterday. (He LOVES ask.com) Really...what did it say? "Not much." Well, you're still young...you haven't had time to make an impact yet. So we googled his name and didn't come up with much there either. But we did stumble onto a site that listed all known first names with the last name Crum...and how popular it is as a last name. We started clicking on the name combinations, and then we saw the origin and meanings of various first names. Owen found this FASCINATING. He was clicking on all the names of his friends, our names, other family names...he was hooked. Then we went out to other sites to see what they said the names mean. "This is so cool" he kept saying.

He wanted to print stuff so he could take it to school and show his friends. But well, the printer is in the other room and I haven't been a good enough geek to enable the samba print sharing on the mac in there...and we were watching the Pats-Ravens game (don't even talk about it) - and yeah, no printing. (yes I've already found documentation on how to do this and I now realize I was making it too hard)

He was so taken in with the history of names and their meanings...his means "well-bred" or "well born" and "warrior." Well CLEARLY! He was terribly pleased to find this out, once I explained to him what well-bred meant. With those eyelashes and that demeanor - um, yeah, honey...you are definitely well-bred.

21 days til Christmas...