This are easy to make, with soft and delicious results. When you’re tired of sweet Christmas cookies, try this stronger flavor. The other options is white sugar and sorghum in place of the brown sugar and molasses. My research tells me the molasses version is more typical of Detroit area moms and grandmas and bakers.
Go! Pack! Go!
If you think I’m a green freak (Amigo does), you may be right. But if you think my attitude toward wrapping paper minimizes the colors in the pile under the tree, you’d be wrong.
Ho Ho Ho! Looks great, ya know!
In case you think I’m obsessive about it, and you’d be correct, take a look at this. I salvaged larger scraps of wrapping paper for later re-use. Compare the pile of reusable papers with the small plastic bag of trash. Not bad, eh?
That’s a creative transformation of a Verizon bag in the background, too.
I did spend a few dollars at the dollar store to buy ribbon and tape. I’m not a total Grinch.
A little time organizing, and we’ll be all set for next year. There will be no need to buy wrapping paper. No need to buy more, family, do you hear me?!
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.
Sometimes the closed captioning is wrong, and it becomes humorous.
Sometimes it’s the announcer.
There is a media program for the folks who call a football game. It’s a team roster with phonetic pronunciation of the player’s names. Brian Bulaga, for example, is listed as Brian Bulaga (Boo’lahgah). Today’s play by play guy didn’t study the roster before the game. He called him Brian Beluga.
Readers, you’re way ahead of me, I’m sure. We turned it into song, of course. To the tune of Raffi’s Baby Beluga, I give you – Brian Beluga, from the O.K. Chorale.
Brian Beluga on the great green sea.
Block so wild, and you block so free.
Snowfall above, and the turf below,
Just a green and gold guy on the go!
Brilliant, it’s not. Memorable, kinda maybe. But we do have fun watching football.
Oh, Interweb peoples, I have a problem. Maybe you can help.
We have a gas stove and oven. We much prefer this over an electric. A few weeks ago, we had to replace the igniter, the modern equivalent of a pilot light. We made the investment, and the oven runs well again.
But the broiler. That darn broiler. A long time ago, at least a year ago, we cooked something juicy under the broiler and it splattered. Since then, we remove the smoke alarm from its wall and open a few windows and run the fan every time we use the broiler to cook. My oven has a self-cleaning setting, and I usually use it in late spring or summer when I can stay nearby in case…. well, just in case.
So, folks, how do I clean this broiler? Since it got splattered, we’ve been conscious of where we put the rack so it’s not too close. We run the kitchen fan. But still, still, still we end up with a smoky house.
Ideas? I’ll take any and all under consideration.
Husband and I have a different perspective on the Packers and their post-season. He’s a Packer fan in a way, but he looks at their success from a slightly different angle because he works in television.
Television news in a major NFL market is a whole different, well, ball game from working at a station with no football to cover. For him, an extended post-season is both a blessing and a curse. It means more work, and it means more work. More work means overtime, and more work means overtime. An extended season can also mean travel…unless the Pack manage to earn home field advantage.
Who cares? I hear you wail. To answer that question, I share the transcript of an Actual Conversation at the O.K. Chorale. The script is the type that gets repeated annually. This one is funny because the Super Bowl was in Arizona the year I first blogged the topic, just like the one coming up in early 2015.
Me: It’ll be great if they keep winning and get home field advantage through the playoffs.
Husband: No, no, n-n-n-n-n-no!
Me: What? I thought you’d like it because you wouldn’t have to travel!
Husband: I don’t want to work outside on the sidelines in the freezing cold!
Me: Okay, then you want (insert NFL team in southern U.S.) to win so that you can work a game in (insert warm locale), instead?
Husband: No, No, n-n-n-n-n-n-no!
Me (confused): Huh?
Husband: I have this fear that the news director is going to look at us engineers and say, ‘Erbert, Gerbert, load up the satellite truck and drive it down to (insert southern NFL market). and when they win? Turn right.’ I could be on the road for three weeks! (editor’s note: he said “IF they win.” I changed it.)
Me: Then you should cheer for the Packers to keep winning. They’ll earn home field advantage, and you won’t have to travel.
Husband: (speechless, waving arms in air)
Me: I suppose it’s a lose-lose situation for you.
Husband: Yes! Yes! Yes!
It started as research for Eating the Opponent, Atlanta. Then it blossomed. Courtesy of my dear husband and the Internet, I give you: Cheeseheads Breaking All the (Tailgating) Rules.
The following pictures may help illustrate what not to do and may raise relevant questions:
The marked parking spaces are for vehicles only. Fans cannot use parking spaces for tents, grills, chairs or other items. (Would a rock band using the top of a Cheesehead Camper as a stage be okay?)
Tailgating is allowed at the Georgia Dome in the Yellow Lot or Lot A, known as “The Gulch.” Tailgate tents cannot exceed 8-by-10 feet. (If a bar 3 blocks away erects a temporary pole building, would that be ok?)
All vehicles require a valid parking permit. (But what if it’s an away game?)
Tailgating may not interfere with vehicles driving through the lot. (Would it be ok if I set out orange cones?)
Tailgating equipment (grills, coolers and electronics) may not extend beyond the parking space. (We’re trying Mr. Tailgate rule guy. Would you like a brat?)
Loud amplified music or noise is prohibited in any Georgia Dome lots. (It’s not amplified and it’s not noise.)
Tailgating may not extend beyond the parking space.
Take that, Atlanta. Up here in Green Bay Packer country, we know how to handle tailgating.
Everyday decor – I looked over this post and realized, as usual, that not much has changed since this piece first hit the Interwebs in 2011. Read on and find out what little did need updating.
It’s not just any stack of books. In my family? Books fill and overflow the shelves until we have book piles – and that’s after I swap away quite a few and deposit a few more in neighborhood Little Free Libraries.
But I’m already getting off topic. La Petite called and asked if I could help her transport a bookshelf she would like to buy. I was going to be there anyway, coming to pick up Amigo after a weekend visit. Of course I said “Sure, why not?”
First: the bookshelf she wanted, a display model, flew off the store shelves before we arrived. It was gone. The store had the item in stock at full price, but La Petite wasn’t quite prepared to pay that much that day. That’s my girl: frugal to the end, even with a bookshelf.
But we had the van. And the shelves were unlikely to fit in her Saturn. Unlikely? Impossible .And the shelf unit was perfect, just perfect, for her apartment and the Big Art Books that needed a home. The shelf unit was a little more than she wanted to pay, but the Momvan was temporarily available, and it was Black Friday weekend, after all. She asked for a manager – nicely, of course.
The manager on duty offered her 20% off – close to $100 discount. We bought the shelves.
With a big box of ready-to-assemble bookshelf loaded into the Momvan, we realized we didn’t have a hand truck or dolly to help us maneuver this big, not too heavy but definitely awkward box from the parking lot to her apartment. We found a nearby Menard’s (doesn’t every strip have a nearby Menard’s?), bought a simple hand truck and a toy for the Toys for Tots box, and we were ready.
It wasn’t easy, and it was punctuated by repeated utterances in the category of “Mom, you’re pushing the wrong way,” but we got the Big Awkward Box to her door and then up to her second floor apartment. Luckily (for me, anyway), she didn’t want the shelves up in her loft bedroom.
And so, all was well with the world. Amigo and I hit the road with a few chips and sodas for a snack and the Green Bay Packers battling the New England Patriots on the radio. La Petite watched the game and put together her new set of shelves.
Home, sweet home.
Let’s see: Thanksgiving Thursday, all together with family. Good meals, good company, good conversation. Later on, we had good leftovers and good naps.
Friday: No, folks, I didn’t venture into the craziness that is Black Friday. We went out for lunch and had New England Clam Chowder (Eating the opponent: Take that, Tom Brady!). I shopped online a bit. Amigo took off with La Petite for the weekend.
Saturday: Shop Small! We went downtown for Small Business Saturday. It was fun to see some of my favorite shops looking busier than usual. I hope the shoppers come back to these locally owned and operated stores and shop there regularly. I now have a new canvas tote that shouts “Shop Small”, a pin that announces the same, and a new mug that was free with any purchase at one of the shops. Readers, I’ll see if I can get my act together and share pictures.
Sunday: Chuck was working the football game. He spent the entire day and more at Lambeau Field. I drove southward to pick up Amigo and bring him home. La Petite took advantage of my minivan’s cargo space and bought a bookshelf. I realized I’d forgotten to pack my small hand truck, so we took a detour into the nearby Menard’s and bought one for her. She has moved annually for the past four years, so it’s actually a good investment.
Finally, Amigo and I found our way home, fed the bunny, watched the second half of the Packers beating the Patriots, and settled back into our routines. Never fear, readers. We didn’t miss any of the game; we listened to the Green Bay Packers Radio Network on the highway.
I feel tired just reading this! What happened to weekends being restful? I’m glad to go back to school tomorrow and get into my own routine.