>The Day after Christmas

Posted on by
2

>Gradually, in baby steps, we are reclaiming the house from the chaos that is Christmas. Oodles of wrapping paper filled a big garbage bag. Tags have been recycled, bows stored for re-use. New clothes have been tried on and placed in the hampers so that they are soft for their first day of wear. Wrapping materials are making their way downstairs for storage (until Amigo’s birthday), and the extra table “wrapping station” has been taken down and stashed in its attic home. This could almost make a Clement C. Moore style verse, if I felt the urge to write it.
Husband is back at work. La Petite is sleeping, and Amigo is using his new HUGE remote control to watch TV while he waits for his new clock to “chime”. I am relaxing over a cup of Candy Cane flavored coffee, and feeling like life is good. I can catch up on reading Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue and feel important.
Gifts? Internet folks, a list of family gifts would bore you to tears, despite the uniqueness of our family’s shopping habits, so I’ll skip the gift list in favor of highlights.
Husband did some of his shopping at the Packer Pro Shop again. That’s what happens when he’s working at Lambeau a lot just before Christmas. He has to shop where and when it’s convenient. La Petite’s GBPacker blanket throw is so soft and warm that she spent most of yesterday wrapped up in it.
Amigo gained several new fidget tools/toys. He holds and manipulates these to keep himself focused. It started with the cool little Detroit RedWing bendable player. We set the hockey stick aside so it wouldn’t get lost. This was upstaged by a CocaCola ladle with a coke bottle shape on the handle, which was replaced later by a soft vinyl reindeer bank. Fidget tools provide pleasure for all of us, whether we’re the givers or the receiver.
The most unique student gift I received was a chalkboard mug. Yes, it is what it sounds like. It came with two pieces of chalk. The mug has a unique black finish that I can draw on and then erase again. This has potential!
The bunnies? They celebrated with a bunch of organic carrots complete with greens.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>’Twas the day before Christmas

Posted on by
Reply

>…and all through the house, the coffee was brewing, and gone was the mouse.
Okay, I’ll stop there to avoid the unpleasant memories. My kitchen now smells like coffee with chocolate amaretto. End of story.
We’re about done with the wrapping, and all done with the shopping. Tonight we’ll go over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s for a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, and then come home and hang the stockings. In the meantime, we’ll watch some unimportant (not Packers) football, nibble on some cookies, and take some time to search our favorite holiday web sites.

Has Santa left the North Pole yet? Find out exactly where he is by checking NORAD’s Santa Tracker. This site updates once an hour, so keep checking back.
Want to check weather radio anywhere in the USA, or even the world? Click here, then try the transmitter for the North Pole location. (Falalalala!)

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>The tastes of the holiday

Posted on by
Reply

>Since my winter break started yesterday, the Holiday Nibbles have begun. The entire family dips into my edible gifts from students and the other yummies around the house. La Petite isn’t worrying about wisdom teeth this year, so she can partake in all the goodies, too.

After school snack: caramel corn from Husband’s Aunt Margaret in Alaska
After supper: We got busy and decorated cookies of our own, and of course sampled a few to be sure they were okay.
Bedtime snacks: a handful of said cookies, accompanied by hot cocoa (double chocolate flavor) from a student
Midnight snacks: Who knows? I was already asleep. But the plate of cookies a student gave me looked a little bare in places when I got up to make coffee this morning.
Breakfast: candy cane flavored coffee, toast with (student gift) marmalade, and a Florida White grapefruit from Husband’s cousin Mike in Tampa.
Midmorning snack while doing Christmas cards (late, I know): more candy cane coffee and a small cookie from the student platter
With lunch: cheese from the Usinger’s package Husband’s parents sent
Later in the afternoon: decaf coffee with a little Chocolate Amaretto in a snowman mug
Hmmm, dinner plans: Christmas cookies for dessert, maybe yet another flavor of coffee
Evening snacks? If we’re tired of sweets (not likely), we can break out the pretzels from the Usinger’s package and dip them in the gourmet mustard one of my students provided. Mmmm.

Who knows what goodies tomorrow will present (Pun intended, of course)? I must remind Santa to drop those special spices in my stocking for yet another way to continue the taste of Christmas.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Updates, corrections, and (maybe) retractions

Posted on by
1

>The kitchen smells good again. We baked cookies on Wednesday night, and we’ll probably decorate tonight. We were too busy watching the Packers’ and the Vikings’ defenses tussling last night to do anything that required concentration.
Husband felt compelled to correct my post about the whole olfactory ordeal, saying that he is NOT squeamish about mice. No, not at all. And he’s dealt with more mice than I supposedly know about.
Hence, let me rephrase this. Of the two of us, he is the one with the most active gag reflex. Removal of a smelly and potentially gross item from the home is safer done by the Daisy one, not the handsome Husbandly one, sweet and snuggly though he may be. Even though he did give me a hard time about the typo in the title (which I have since fixed), he is still a sweet and nice guy. And more…

And even though it’s not Funday Sunday, I felt compelled to show you the adorable little hat that adorns our tree. You couldn’t have predicted the color scheme, could you? No, the entire tree is not green and gold — just a few select ornaments. Okay, more than a few. Sort of. Maybe.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Fun on Thursday

Posted on by
2

>You might be a Green Bay Packers fan if one of these flies around your Christmas tree.

When we lived next door to Lambeau Field, watching the blimps was a favorite pastime — except when they interfered with our television reception. The blimps no longer circle Lambeau, but I’ll always remember watching them and watching the small planes that used to drag advertising banners through the air.

This little blimp was a gift, too. Lest you think I am obsessed (well, okay, I am), I didn’t buy any of the ornaments featured today or last Sunday. All were gifts, many from students.
Update:
Hey, Brett, are you listening? All of Wisconsin is shouting: “One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year! One more year!”

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Just when you think it’s safe to go back into the kitchen

Posted on by
2

>I am ready to bake cookies. I think. At least my kitchen is tolerable again. Let me explain.
There has been an odor in the kitchen. My kitchen is tiny, typical of the time in which it was built (1890). Even a small odor can make the room unbearable. I am by nature a lousy housekeeper (sorry, mom), so we pay a cleaning service to come in once a month and do the major cleaning. They were just here, so I was on my own to find and attack the source.
Here’s the initial process: none of it succesful.
Take out the garbage.
Run the garbage disposal.
Clean the rabbit litter boxes, even though they’re nowhere near the kitchen.
Take out the recycling, just in case there’s something gooey in a can.
Remove all washcloths, sponges, and towels from kitchen and throw them dramtically into the laundry machine. Dry them with a sweet-smelling fabric softener.
Wash the counters. Twice.
Check through the boxes of fruit in the back hallway in case of rotting.
Dump the toaster’s crumb bin (I was getting desperate).
Run the garbage disposal. Again. With baking soda in it.
Empty the garbage. Again. Spray air-freshener in room.
Clean as much of the refrigerator as I can reach.
Double check all leftovers in the fridge. When in doubt, throw it out.
Take out drawer under the oven. Check behind stove.
Sweep little spaces between counter and stove.
Consider tears, but decline due to lack of useful purpose.

Finally, I gave in. I had reached my limit. I was ready for the big guns. Here goes:
Call husband. Find out — um, he put a mousetrap under the refrigerator.
Stall. Hope he gets home before I get up the courage to check.
Remember that husband is more squeamish than I am.
Remove refrigerator grate.
Reveal the truth: One. Dead. Mouse. Ew.
Find large pair of plastic gloves, two plastic bags, and go at it.
Hold breath. Double bag said mousie. Dump double-bagged mouse in garbage can. Say a prayer for its soul (not really).

I have reclaimed the kitchen. Vengeance is mine! And so are the cookies.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>do-bee-do-bee-do or falalalala, whatever rings your bells

Posted on by
Reply

>Up here in Packerland, our local TV and radio stations are full of Packer shows, both pre-taped and live. The coach has his own show, several players have their own shows, and one former-player turned sportscaster has a show that welcomes a different player as a guest every week. This show has a live audience and a house band and films in the Lambeau Field Atrium itself.
Last week I got a call about 15 minutes before showtime from Husband, who works on the crew. He asked, “What’s the next line after ‘Happy days are here again’ in the song “Happy Days are Here Again?” (Notice how he never doubted that I would know.) I sang “The skies above are clear again” and heard him relay the line to someone on the other end. “Okay,” he said. “See you later.” It seems the band wanted to sing a little of that tune as the show began because the Packers had finally won a game.
Five minutes later the phone rang again. “We need one more line to finish up the chorus of the song! Do you know it?” Well, this one escaped me. I sang “Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again, da-da-dah-da-dah-dah-dah-da-da, Happy days are here again.” “No, no! Da-da-da isn’t good enough!” It took me all of two minutes to google the lyrics. I called him back, sang the first three lines, had him sing them back to me, and then when we were sure he had it, we hung up so he could go tell the band. This was, oh, about eight minutes before showtime.
I turned on the show and sat down with Amigo to watch. The host called out, “Here we are, in a real, true celebration of Packer Football!” The band began. “Oh, Happy Days are here again, the skies above are clear again, Da-da-dah-da-dah-dah-dah-da-da, happy days are here again!”
I nearly fell on the floor laughing. The show’s host razzed the bandleader a bit about not knowing the words, to which he replied, “Someone told me the words a few minutes ago, and then I forgot.”
Someone? Your backstage engineer is lucky enough to be married to a licensed music teacher, a woman who is willing to sing over the phone to give you what you need, and it comes down to “da-da-da” and “I forgot”?!!
All I can say is, there better be some tickets in it for me if I ever teach him lyrics at the last minute again.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>It was a night of small disasters.

Posted on by
1

>Friday night, Amigo was going to a freshman basketball game at his school.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find his wallet with his school ID in it.
Fortunately, the wallet turned up — in the wrong pocket of his backpack.
Unfortunately, the doors to the hallway leading to the right gym were locked.
Fortunately, we were routed through the big gym past the ticket-takers to get there.
Unfortunately, I needed a ticket to get in, too.
Fortunately, I work for the school district, so my school ID gets me in to most games free.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of Amigo’s friends immediately.
Fortunately, he befriended a few fans in the stands with kids on the team. He then told me, “It’s okay, Mom, you can leave to run your errands.”
Fortunately, the high school dance team was sponsoring a book sale in the school auditorium. I got a few great deals at 50% off. Then I left for my other errands.
Unfortunately, I got stuck in a long line of traffic behind a big accident.
Fortunately, the detour was going the way I was headed anyway.
Unfortunately, it too much longer than planned to get there, so I didn’t get my package shipped after all.
Fortunately, I did pick up what I needed for my class’ goodie bags, and had a good handful of change for the red kettle on my way out of the store.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know how long the game would last, so I hurried back.
Fortunately, I arrived in the last five minutes of a dramatic finish.
Unfortunately, the team lost, 46-42.
Fortunately, I ran into an old friend on our way out.
Unfortunately, the fire alarm started blasting as we were talking.
Fortunately, we were parked nearby, so we left quickly to avoid any ensuing chaos.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm.
And all in all, we had a good night.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

>Funday Sunday and the Tree

Posted on by
Reply

>No one fumbles around with the tree in a Green Bay Packer fan household. Diminutive though they may be, these little delights are like prize jewels of the family ornament collection. This roly-poly guy is a jingle bell decked out in Green and Gold and a football uniform.

These two came from a student (oh, she knew me well). They look fragile, but they aren’t. You won’t see them on injured reserve. Tiny and shiny, the crystal snowmen are small enough to fit in a teacup, but they’re prettier near a string of lights that can reflect on their glory.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares