Frigid Nightmare

I'm supposed to be at my watercolor class right now...but I'm not there.

Want to guess why?

No, that's not it.

Nope--that's not it either!

I'll give you a hint--I think I might have frostbite in my right hand and both feet.

If you guessed "You were outside in the sub-zero wind chill, knee-high in the snow trying to saw out a newspaper that was wedged inside the snowblower" you're a winner!

That's right, I was getting ready to head out to my class and Don wanted to give the driveway a "quick blow" (because it NEVER stops snowing here and I don't think it ever will!!). A few minutes later, he came back in all crazy-like saying that he needed help. So I put on my furry coat and my Ugg boots and went out to assist.

The stupid newspaper (which I couldn't find this morning because it was buried in snow) had been sucked up by the blower and, instead of being shredded by the blade, managed to totally lodge between the blade and the side of the machine preventing the blade from moving.

Don was furious that his blowing had been interrupted and was swearing and clawing at the newspaper. This paper was wedged so tightly that it absolutely wouldn't budge and the addition of the moisture from the snow had melded it into a hard, almost brick-like consistency.

Since clawing and tugging wasn't working, Don got a screwdriver and tried repeatedly stabbing at it. Periods of stabbing were followed by turning the engine back on to see if the blades would start turning again.

They wouldn't.

Did I mention that it's sub-zero here?

Then I had the brilliant (?) idea of getting a saw and trying to shred up the paper that way. So we spent the next hour or so taking turns hunching over and sawing at the snowblower. Meanwhile, Don said the "F word" about ten thousand times.

At one point, Don threatened to "burn the paper away" which I was immediately opposed to, but he went in and got some matches anyway. Before he even thought it through, he lit a match and started bringing it towards the paper, but I screamed at the top of my lungs because the snowblower just reeks of gasoline and it probably would have gone off like a bomb if the paper had started burning. I shudder to think...

I also shudder to think what the neighbors must think if they saw--or even heard--us out there. The screaming and the swearing and the sawing! Oh my!

So we continued with the sawing and the stabbing until all the visible parts of the paper were gone. But it was still hopelessly stuck.

Tomorrow I'm going to call a blower repair place--which is probably what we should have done in the first place.

Meanwhile, I'm typing this with my left hand and my resolutions are all screwed up!

A Whole Lotta Nothing

I find myself writing this post with no clear direction of where it is going. I had a couple of makeshift ideas, but to tell you the truth, I'm so preoccupied with our ongoing real estate saga that I forgot what my ideas were. So this is going to end up being a weird stream of consciousness post.

Okay--the real estate thing goes something like this...(I'll link back to some posts about it here and here in case you don't know what I'm talking about.) Long story short, we have brought in another realtor on the case. He is a friend of ours and I am hoping that he can get through to the seller and get the deal done--otherwise we will drop the whole thing and continue with our renovation.

So here's how it stands--we re-presented our offer but added a contingency to sell our house first (because the market has gotten so much worse) but with a more aggressive approach, really outlining how terrible the housing market has been around here and providing comps proving that our offer is a good one.

The scary thing is that if he accepts it, we will have to put our house on the market in five days! That really freaks me out, but I'm trying not to dwell on it. Also, I keep going back and forth--wondering if we're better off buying that house or sticking with our renovation. I'm so sick of thinking about it! The thought of change scares me and the thought of renovating exhausts me. I'm so confused right now, I didn't know what I want! But, in any case, I should find out which direction we'll be going soon and I will keep you all posted.

Onto more random things...I copied Brenda's (from Queen of Good Intentions) menu for this week and tonight I made "Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken" (it's really only chicken--doesn't have anything to do with a burger!) and it was cRaZy delicious! It involves teriyaki sauce, Ranch dressing, bacon and cheese. If those ingredients sound good to you--check it out! needless to say, Pickle LOVED it! Everybody did. I managed to get one makeshift pic before we devoured it:

I also made the rum cake recipe I found on Pioneer Woman. OMG!! It probably had ten million calories--but it's worth it! I don't even have a pic because we were all on it like animals. Oh, also, I made it without nuts beacuse we have all kinds of nut allergies here, but I put brown sugar in the bottom of the pan instead which made a delicious crunchy crust.

Finally, I thought I would grade my resolutions thus far:

--flossing/gum stimulating--B+

--eating only heart healthy foods--B+ (except tonight's dinner was clearly an F!!)

--not eating any food after dinner--A-

--going to watercolor class--A

--painting 3 times a week--C (I've only done it once, but I might work on it tonight).

--exercising--B- (I've been working out w/ the trainer, but not by myself).

So I haven't been perfect, but I will keep trying to improve!!

Sorry for this stupid, disjointed post!

Ponies!

Oh this was fun! I put ponytails on Pickle for the first time today. Well, I tried once a long time ago--and that was cute--but not quite the same. (Note the My Chemical Romance shirt!)
This time you can actually see the hair!
Plus, Pickle was so excited and wanted to show off her "ponies" to anyone that would look her way.
Also, to be extra cute, she and her "Bitty Twins" were wearing matching nightgowns.
Okay--just one more!

Lots O' Snow

I don't know what my problem is, but I spaced out and thought I already wrote my blog for tomorrow--but I didn't. So now it's late and I'm I panicky because I don't have any great ideas--so that leaves me with...snow.


Boring, I know, but it's all I got!

So, once again we have lots and lots of snow. We've been blowing and shoveling and salting like there's no tomorrow--but haven't done anything fun like build a snowman so I don't even have any cutesy snow pics.

Look how lazy we are--we still have our patio furniture out. Could we at least take the umbrella down? We don't exactly need it right now!
This was supposed to be kind of an artsy pic of a chair...maybe I should have Photoshopped it?
Another lazy-type pic: About to load the kids into the car and Pickle's still eating a waffle! Also, why did I cut Patrick's head off? I hope I'm not turning into my mother-in-law in the picture-taking department!

Kind of a cute one of the Gooser though.
And a cute one of Patrick.
Sooooo..that's it!

Oh, one more thing--I'm watching the Golden Globes and I just must ask--does anyone else think Johnny Depp is smarmy and gross and pretentious--or is it just me?? And what's with the Irish accent??

Exciting News!

If any of you watch Top Chef you will be interested in this: Some friends of ours won an auction recently and the prize is that one the the Top Chefs from this season's show will come to their home and prepare dinner for six people. Our friends have invited Don and me to go!!

The chef will be Radhika who so far is doing well this season. It would be extra cool if she actually wins and is the official "Top Chef"--but either way it will be really exciting! Plus she does a lot of Indian cuisine which is one of my very favorite types of food--so that's extra good. It also doesn't hurt that Top Chef is one of my favorite shows!

The dinner is still awhile off--probably not until May--but I wanted to fill you in on the good news. You can be sure I'll take lots of pics and blog about all the details when it happens!

Funny For Facebookers

My son, Andy, showed me this hilarious "Facebook In Reality" video. If you're into Facebook, you'll probably find it pretty funny! There's a little bit of bad language just so you're warned...

Fun In A Box?

Yesterday when Patrick came home from school he was very excited to show me something. "Guess what I got at school?" he asked excitedly.

As he was leading me into the living room to show me, all kinds of things were going through my head. Maybe he won a trophy? I thought. Or got an "A" on his project? Or won a prize?

But then I saw this:

A bunch of huge empty cardboard boxes.

"Whaaa?" I stammered.

"Isn't it great!?" Patrick asked.

"No." I responded.

"My teacher was just throwing them out! And I asked her if I could have them and she said yes!! " Patrick announced.

Thanks Teach! We just spent the past two weeks getting rid of the ten million boxes from Christmas. Now our house is filled with them again...

But of course all the kids thought the boxes were the greatest thing ever.
And played with them all afternoon.
When Don got home and the saw the boxes, I saw complete panic in his eyes. I think he thought I went on a crazed post-Christmas shopping spree. He was relieved they weren't the remnants of my purchases, but mad that he had to haul more crap out for recycling.

So this just reconfirms what I have always thought about kids not needing all those expensive toys we buy them. They're happiest in a box.
Well, except for Pickle's tea party stuff and Meow-Meow (she's in the bed in this pic). That's been a big hit!

Happy Friday and please join Candid Carrie for some Phreaky Foto Phun!!

Good News For Pickle!

Well, the oldest person in the world, Gertrude Baines, age 114 (can you imagine!?) attributes her longevity in part to "an occasional piece of crispy bacon." She has been quoted as saying that her favorite hobbies are "eating bacon and watching Jerry Springer."

She doesn't look a day over 80! And I love her Little Edie-style headgear!

So this is very good news for Pickle who would eat bacon 24/7 if I let her. Maybe if Pickle continues with her bacon-love in moderation, she might have a shot at the Guinness Book some day!?!

End Of The Year Inventory

First of all--I'm feeling much better! The fire has been extinguished from my throat and the cotton is mostly gone from my head. The knife is still in my stomach--but it's not as twisty. Thank you for the well wishes!

I saw these "end of the year" questions at Freeul and thought it might be fun to tackle!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Went on a trapeze! And I'm NEVER doing it again!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't remember if I made any--that can't be a good sign. I did make more and so far I'm sticking with them...sort of...

.3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! My sister had a baby girl.

.4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit? Other states--but not other countries.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Another baby--but that's just wishful thinking.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? All the kids' birthdays always stand out to me. And Don turned the big 5-0!

.8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think starting my blog was a big achievement.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not continuing to exercise when my trainer went on maternity leave.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I hurt my back (badly!) hitting Don with a diaper bag. Looong story--maybe I should blog about it?

11. What was the best thing you bought? We bought some very cool artwork.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Andy had an amazing year--he was the lead in the school play, won the school spelling bee and also a State-wide science competition!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Gov. Rod Blagojevich--disgusting!

14. Where did most of your money go? Aside from housing? Probably clothes for Pickle! Whoops!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Seeing My Chemical Romance--three times!!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? That Kid Rock song "All Summer Long" will always remind me of hanging out with the kids at the pool this summer.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? Happier or just as happy.

b) thinner or fatter? I think thinner--but I've been too scared to get on the scale lately.

c) richer or poorer? I think richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Watercolor painting and knitting.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Just wasting time.

20. How did you spend Christmas/Hanukkah? Having a great time with my family. It's all HERE.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I sort of fell in love with the Edies!

22. What was your favorite TV program? Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab!!!!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Ummm...I don't think so.

24. What was the best book you read? I read a few that I enjoyed--The Memory Keeper's Daughter, My Life at Grey Gardens and Loving Frank.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Well, MCR continues to be my best musical discovery of all time--but I totally got into the soundtrack from Oklahoma (that was the play Andy was in) and pretty much sang the songs all the time.

26. What did you want and get? I got some beautiful photographs by my favorite photographer.

27. What did you want and not get? That baby...

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Well, the film I saw that I loved the most was Grey Gardens--but it's an old movie, I'm just out of the loop! But my fave from those released in 2008...Revolutionary Road was excellent--in fact, I want to see it again. But I haven't seen some of the "big" movies yet this year--haven't seen Milk yet, for instance. Oh, and don't kill me (Max!) but, although I "get" that Slumdog Millionaire is a very cool movie, I can't say I liked it that much...

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had a pretty low-key birthday last year--I need to pump up the celebration this year! I don't like the dwell on the number though...

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If we had figured out our real estate situation...it's still going on.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Pink hair! And a hint of Little Edie!

32. What kept you sane? My date nights with Don and just putting my feet up and relaxing at the end of the day.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I'm sure you're all desperately sick of me saying this, but: Gerard Way!!!!

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The Presidential election.

35. Who did you miss? I miss the kids when they're at school.

36. Who was the best new person you met? I met all my blogging friends! And Teddy and I met Frank Iero from MCR!!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. I read The Secret and learned a lot of interesting concepts that I attempted to put into action--basically it's the power of positive thinking.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "Think happy thoughts." MCR (of course!) and just a lyric that I love.

Punchy

Still sick here. Still with the throat on fire and the cotton-head, but now I have the added pleasure of a knife-twisting-in-the-stomach-feeling. Please let it all be over tomorrow!

As I was hunched over and shuffling through the house today, the afternoon light was so beautiful and I managed to hobble around and get some "artsy" pics. Then in my punchy Advil-addled state I went crazy playing around with my new Photoshop Elements and had some fun with the pics.

Babies:
Voo Doo Doll:
Bird:
Curtain:
Lamp:

Sunlight:
Feet:
Lamp II:
Shadow:
Gnarled Baby:
I also started a really crazy-weird painting! We'll see how that goes...