Happy Birthday Mocha Mike

Mocha Mike is my big brother Michael. When Orion was little he couldn't quite say Uncle. Or was it the ubiquitous cup of joe Michael always has with him? This is a picture of Michael on one of his most favorite places to be- the sailboat! May this next year have many opportunities for you to sail! We love you and can't wait to see you for Christmas!

My 100th Post!

This weekend we had several inches of absolutely gorgeous snow. The predictions were all over the place with 1-3 inches from some weather shows to 4-7 inches on other shows. We got a lovely dusting of about 6 inches! Orion has had so much fun. I am glad I let him have his Christmas Snow Shovel early! He was so sweet, without being asked he shoveled the walk to our next door neighbor's house! (She's in her 60s and not too steady!) What a good kid.

Friday evening our hot water tank finally rusted through. We have two in the basement, from the time our wee house was two separate apartments (!). The second one is much newer, we just have to figure out how to attach it to where the old one is. Seems we're short, about 6 inches! I'll keep you posted. Till then, I'll be boiling water to wash

Bowling Update

Greetings bowling fans! I am sorry I've not shared my bowling scores. I write them down, and then end up loosing them. Three weeks ago I missed bowling. Two weeks ago I was embarrassed by my scores. Overall I was about 20 pins above my average that evening, but I had two pretty bad games and my shoulder hurt like heck. This past week, I did very well. My average is up to 99 and between my three games I was just over 60 pins over my average! My score was 116, 124, 131. My New Years Resolution is to try to keep up with posting my bowling scores for all my fans out there.

OMG!

(Orion, Christmas 2001, Age 4.5)

So Orion says to me, "Wanna hear a funny Christmas joke?" Knowing I better answer yes, I nod. He continues:

"Sam writes a letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

I'd like a little brother for Christmas.

Love,

Sam"

I look at him, wondering where and when we'll find the punchline, when he asks "Well, what did Santa write back?"

"I dunno," I grunted. Wondering what sort of dorky joke was up his sleeve.

Orion finishes:

"Dear Sam,

Send me your mother.

Love,
Santa"

Then he started to chuckle. "Get it mom? Get it?"

I am not sure which was funnier- the joke or the fact it took me just about 45 seconds to get the joke! Am I getting old? Or is it that I was stunned to discover that my 10 year old knows Dirty Old Santa Jokes?

Correction

Just a note to clear up any confusion about the "YakTrax" I mentioned in my earlier post. I have the YakTrax Walkers. These are "snow chains" for my shoes and they cost roughly $20. You can buy them at Amazon, at YakTrax, or at your local shoe store. They're great and I'd buy them for everybody if I could.

*Tree, you might want to consider making these a stocking stuffer for PilDong!*

Let it Snow!

It snowed! It snowed! It snowed! Yesterday I got to school at 7:20 a.m. and promptly kicked myself for not checking the weather before leaving home and for not bringing sturdier shoes (I was in my Birks and the campus is notorious for NOT shoveling or de-icing walks. There were several injuries last winter. I was lucky not to be one of the statistics and I didn't want to be one this year either!). The weather folks predicted snow turning to ice with accumulations of 1-3 inches. They were right on target. Just around 10:00 that morning the flakes started to fall. It was gorgeous. By lunch time the the cars, sidewalks, and streets were covered. That afternoon, it turned "crunchy" when it switched over to ice.

Today it warmed up enough for the streets to dry out and the yards to get muddy. The next five days the weather folks are predicting highs around 32 and more precipitation. Unfortunately it looks like it will be ice, not snow!

But I am prepared. I've got my YakTrax. I'm ready to go!

Happy Birthday Dr. Goodspeed

Happy Birthday Dear Friend & Welcome Home!

Dr. Eric (von) Goodspeed is celebrating his birthday today! Eric returned home from Iraq about three weeks ago! Hooray, welcome home, and Happy Birthday friend! The Leslie Family misses you!

On This Day

(Kathy & Dad, circa 1975)

Michael Angelo Mangione, born December 5, 1931

Elf-Help Fun!

Got time on your hands? Wanna "elf yourself?" Head over to the Office Max site and have fun. But before you do, take a gander at these elf-alicious videos.

Michael, Robin, and Dominic ring in the New Year!

Elfin Grandkids swingin' to the Christmas beat! Yes, that truly adorable elf is my niece, Ellie.

Thanks brother Mike for the Dissertation Diversion! But it's back to work for me!

Dangerous Curves Ahead!

My birthday present to myself this year was a new pair of tennis shoes (Finally! Nola ate my last pair nearly a year ago!) and a membership to Curves.

This morning I woke at 6:00, dressed, scraped ice, started the car, scraped more ice, found myself at Curves, did the circuit, nearly died, and returned home. My only complaint thus far, mind you I've only been twice, is that it is entirely too warm in the gym. I keep my house at 62. How can they expect me not to keel over with a heart attack if the furnace is cranked to 80? When I went for my interview it was a chilly 65 degrees! Is this some sort of bait and switch tactic? Aside from the heat exhaustion I think this is something I can and will do. In fact, I am considering walking to and from the gym. It's only about .6 of a mile from the house. As I see it, it will take less time to walk there as it does to de-ice the door, heat the car up, and scrape the windows.

I'll let you know how it all works out for me!

F is for Food

I love to cook. I love to eat. I love food. One of the things I have missed the most this past year and a half is feeding my friends. My small kitchen and tiny house do not lend themselves to feeding the masses. I hope to create a nice area in the backyard to do just that, three seasons out of four!

Weird Weather!

Originally we were to be on the cusp of the wicked winter storm that will be dumping lots of snow on my sister very soon (If it hasn't started already!). They predicted ice and a bit of snow. What we got instead has been really weird. Friday's high was not quite 40 degrees. The low last night was in the low twenties. It did start raining ice as they predicted (around 3:00 a.m.). As the sun rose it changed to a drizzle and by noon it was damp, windy and cold (about 40). By 6:00 p.m. it was 60! It is now nearly 10:00 p.m., windy and it's 61 degrees outside. The low overnight will be 55.

Mind you, I am not complaining. I am confused. It makes me wonder what Mother Nature has in store for us later! I hope we get lots of snow this winter! I've got my fingers crossed!