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Mishaps and a Leopard-print Pillow

Okay, you can ignore my crusty-looking foot. Just note the huge bulge on my ankle.

Yes, I managed to sprain it playing basketball. I haven’t played in YEARS . . . like 12 of them . . . and I used to joke that I retired after 10th grade. Man, if only I hadn’t fallen for the Michael Jordan syndrome and come out of retirement.But alas, there we are. Stupid ankle. (Doh! That word again. London would be scolding me if he knew.)Fortunately, I had wonderful people to take care of me. One of them even loaned me the leopard-print pillow (which, I might add, is very soft and perfect for propping up my foot).So let’s see, I have now sprained both ankles and most of my fingers at one time or another (we won’t mention the time I slammed my own finger in the door when I was mad . . . teen years shouldn’t count, right?), strained my right quadriceps, and broken my wrist, toe, and nose.How about you? Please assure me that this is typical, and I’m not really a clutz. Look right for a poll.

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Resolutions and a Little Silliness

I did a quick search to see if I could find my resolutions from last year. Nope, not recorded in the journal. So I guess that means I kept them all. BUT, here are some pretend ones so we can all feel good about that assessment:

1. Start a blog. Check.
2. Start the next draft of Prince Bob. Check.
3. Have a baby. Check.
4. Get back to pre-baby weight. Check.
5. Be more patient. Che . . . well, this is kind of an “always” resolution, so we’ll go ahead and say Check.

Of course, I COULD go on (wink, wink, nod, nod), but you get the point. I definitely accomplished things this past year. And may I just say, that resolutions are SO much easier when you write them down after the fact.

But not to let sleeping dogs lie, or whatever idiomatic expression would fit better there, I am going to actually record some resolutions for this coming year. And a year from now, I can reassess and see if I don’t prefer last year’s method of writing them down after I accomplished them.

Okay, here we go:

1. Lose weight. Cliche I know, but alas, there we are. And yes, I know what you’re thinking: that’s a vague goal, but I have a plan. No, really. I just don’t want to reveal all my secrets. Bwa, ha ha. (maybe I should add a resolution to work on my evil laugh.)
2. Read with London every day. I can hear your gasp. “But all good mothers do that anyway without having to set a goal! And what about your other children?” Yes, yes, we do that, but I mean the “he-reads-to-me” kind of reading. He has my temperment (i.e. throw-a-fit-when-you-can’t-do-it-perfect-the-first-time-behavior), but he’ll get there. Dad, your curse is in full force. Oh, and sorry.
3. Finish draft 2 and 3 of my book. How long did the first draft take you, you ask? Details, details. Never you concern yourself with that.
4. Start a blog. Oh . . . wait! That one’s already taken. But on the bright side, I’ll just check it off now. Check.
5. Visit at least 1 cool thing in the area per month. Totally attainable. The trick will be making it something different every month. But note, that’s not actually part of the goal. 🙂 Every good resolution list has to have at least one loophole. Right?

I think 5 is good for now. Though I have others, I’m choosing not to list them here . . . that whole mystique thing. 🙂 So are there any uber-unique resolutions out there? I’d love to hear them. And in fact, maybe I will add a sixth, uber-unique one, just for kicks and giggles. Let’s see, it would have to be something I wouldn’t normally do . . . something legal, of course . . . something that might challenge me . . . and that may be just a little silly. I could sew something wearable that’s NOT a costume. But that’s not very silly. I could read a non-fiction book. Definitely something I wouldn’t normally do, but there again, not very silly. Ah, wait, I have it:6. I resolve to hold a contest with an actual prize on my blog. Pointless, you say? Maybe. But I wouldn’t normally do it. It’s legal (except in states where prohibited, of course). It will be a challenge, because I still have to come up with what the contest will be. And last but not least, it’s a little silly. And funny, I’m actually excited by the prospect! Random contest, here we come!

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Contest, Goals, New Year's Resolutions

Name-calling

Brandt adores London. He has to do everything his brother does. If London gets a treat, Brandt wants one. If London has reading practice, Brandt does too. If London bites his tongue when eating, Brandt suddenly has an owie in his mouth.

So when London accused Brandt of calling him a name, not to be left out, Brandt was ready with his own accusation: “Now you called me a name, mama!”

“I did not call you a name, Brandt.”

“Yes, you did! You called me Omar!”

And I admit, I laughed. Silly boys.

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brothers, name-calling, Omar

Mistletoe: Really?

I think it’s a rule that you have to include a mistletoe scene in every Christmas movie you make. In fact, I just watched Donald and Daisy kiss under the mistletoe. But I have to wonder, does it ever happen in real life? Does it take away my mystique to confess that I have never kissed anyone under the mistletoe? Okay, so I won’t confess, but you get my point.

You do get it . . . right?

So, in the spirit of polling (once you start, it’s hard to stop), I want to know if mistletoe is just a movie thing, or if it’s actually used in real life. Look to the right margin to vote.

And not to break a newly formed tradition, a bit of mistletoe trivia: While mistletoe can grow on its own, it is more often a parasitic plant (i.e. it preys on the good graces of other plants, usually trees). In Europe, mistletoe produces white, sticky berries which are “considered to be” poisonous (whatever that means). And last but not least, in Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a “peace plant” and thus, spouses who had argued could kiss and make up under it. In medieval Eurpe, however, mistletoe was hung in doorways to ward off witches. What to make of that . . .

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donald duck, mistletoe, poll

Sharing Traditions

Today, I got to visit London’s kindergarten class and show them how to make cinnamon twists. The teacher invited parents to come in and share their holiday traditions, so this was our offering. London was practically jumping out of his skin, he was so excited. His teacher told me that London bragged all day that he already got to eat a cinnamon twist last night, “So when my mom comes, guess how many cinnamon twist-es I’ll have had?! Two!” And may I say that his teacher does a pretty good impression of London.

London got to be my helper, and showed all his friends how to dip the dough in butter, cinnamon-sugar, and then twist. Twisting was amazingly hard for them to do. Some really didn’t want to get butter and sugar on their hands. And a few of the kids finally just mushed their twist into a ball. Very amusing. One or two wanted to eat the sugary dough, but fortunately I brought a pan of already-baked twists so they could all taste them. We had fun.

Khyah sat in her stroller and happily munched on a plastic bag until one of the kids told on her. She screamed bloody murder when I took it away, but accepted her binky as a peace offering. Th teacher’s assistant was very happy to hold her.

Brandt was THRILLED to be at school with the big kids. At circle time, the teacher let Brandt call out all the kid’s names as they were drawn from the basket. Brandt stood calmly at the front, and carefully pronounced each name (and some weren’t so easy). The kids thought he was super cute. They giggled when he said a name wrong, and patted him on the head when they took their name from him. The teacher was very impressed that he was willing to do that.

What can I say? I just have impressive kids. 😀

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cinnamon twists, kindergarten, traditions

Brandt’s Shopping List

1 bunch of bananas1 gallon of olive oil3 bottles of Season-All (2 small, 1 large)1 bag of coffee1 bag of whole wheat Goldfish crackers2 lbs of bologna1 tube of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough1 tube of Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough1 lb of Smoked Sausage Link

Nothing like a secret second shopper to liven up a trip to the store. I caught him on most of it, but I did have to trek across the store to return certain items to their proper place. Little stinker. In my defense, Khyah’s car seat blocks my view pretty well.

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Thanksgiving Et Al

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and this year, we are most thankful to have spent it with family. Rick had two weeks of vacation over the holiday, so we had a splendid visit with parents, grandparents, cousins, brothers, sisters, the whole shebang.

I don’t want to bore you with all the sordid details, but here are the highlights of thanks:

1- I am thankful I got my hair cut! (The dead animal is GONE.)

2- Brandt is thankful for chopsticks and McDonald’s. (And for grandparents who love to take him out to eat!)

3- London is thankful he got to bounce on the trampoline.

4- We are thankful we got our family picture taken. And even more thankful that we only do it once a year.

5- The boys are thankful they got to go to the zoo with their cousins. And very thankful to Aunt Kim who bought tickets to the carousel.

6- Rick is thankful that the people on the airplane were so understanding when Brandt had to get up to go potty every 5 minutes and then threw up on the plane.

7- I am thankful that Rick took Brandt and Khyah early so I got a nice peaceful flight with London.

8- We are all thankful that it snowed. More thankful that it only snowed once. And most thankful that we got to go sledding. London keeps asking when it will snow here.

9- Rick is thankful that he got to play soccer with my family.

10- I am thankful I got to go shopping with my sister (it’s tradition after all), even if it was only at K-mart on Thanksgiving night to find formula (because we ran out).

11- London is thankful he got to play with all his cousins so much. He wishes we lived closer.

12- Khyah is thankful to have FINALLY met all her aunts and uncles (excepting Aunt Tiff and Uncle Rob, who I’m sure she is dying to meet) and that everyone held her all the time. (She misses that. As do I.)

13- Rick and I are extremely thankful that we made it home before London’s stomach bug hit in full force. And in conjunction with that, I am grateful for carpet cleaner, washing machines, and toilets.

14- Though I could go on like this a long time, because we have much to be thankful for, I will end with our biggest thanks. We are thankful for our family, their love and support, and the chance we had to spend some quality time with them. After all, where would we be without them?

And I can’t resist a Postscript: We’re thankful everyone thinks we live in an awesome place so they all want to come visit!

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Chopsticks, Thanksgiving, Zoo

Poll results:

Even though 58% of those polled do NOT like cranberries, 90% reported serving them at Thanksgiving.

My interpretation of this data:

1. We’re tradition-driven.

2. We’re catering to the few.

3. You had leftovers of the cranberry sauce/relish/jelly (whatever you want to call it.)

4. This could very well be a snapshot of society-at-large. 😉

5. Cranberries just don’t taste very good.

6. We all gained weight over Thanksgiving . . . wait! That’s not related . . .

7. There is a conspiracy by cranberry growers to brainwash Americans into believing we MUST have cranberries at Thanksgiving.

Anyhow, these are just my biased, first-glance findings. Please share your own interpretation, I’d love to hear.

And as a little factoid, did you know that polls suggest that as many as 80% of Americans believe JFK’s assassination was a conspiracy? Important information, people. Right here.

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cranberry, JFK, poll, Thanksgiving

Cranberries: A Poll

So I just spent the last hour serving Cranberry Sauce (though it looks more like Cranberry Jelly) in the cafeteria of London’s elementary school for their Thanksgiving dinner. I found it very interesting to see who took it and who didn’t. Here’s what I noted:

– Cranberry Sauce is an extreme dish, meaning that people either love it or hate it.

– On average, only about 1 in 10 people took it.

– Like or dislike had no apparent tie to ethnicity or culture (and there’s a broad range in London’s school).

– The universal sign for dislike is wrinkling up your nose.

Then suddenly I was curious about the whole cranberry phenomenon. Why do we always serve this dish at Thanksgiving dinner when only 1 in 10 people eat it anyway?

And having just asked, “Would you like Cranberry Sauce?” a hundred times or so in the cafeteria, I feel like I’ve already conducted a poll, so I thought, “Why not? I’ll put a poll on my blog!”

So here’s the question:

Cranberry Sauce: yes or no?

And as a follow-up:

Does your family include it as part of Thanksgiving?

Please weigh in on the issue (see sidebar poll). This is important stuff!

And just as a little tidbit about cranberries, did you know that cranberries are native to northeast North America? They grow from the mountains of Georgia to the Canadian Maritimes. And in 1620, the Pilgrims learned to use them from the Native Americans who used them as food, dyes, and medicines.

Now you’re smarter for having visited my blog. 🙂

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cranberry, poll, sauce, Thanksgiving