It's still snowing, but I can see the moon.

GHR

Me.

In memory of family and friends who have lost the battle with cancer; and in support of the ones who continue to conquer it! Post this on your LJ if you know someone who has or had cancer. 93% won't copy and paste this. Will you?

GHR

Thanks, primarily, to Dr. Seuss' ABC's and a PBS show called Word World, Julie can name her letters. She's actually a little better t it than Katie is. The only problem is that to Julie, the letter between C and E is called "duck".

We're working on it.


GHR

I'm sorry we aren't there.
I miss the people.
I miss the music.
But I'm glad we didn't try to go.
The weather looks horrific down the entirety of our route,

Sing lots, have fun.
We're thinking about you.

GHR

"As Your life is on New Years Day, so it will be for the coming year." I think she just used it as a justification for her cleaning frenzy the week between Christmas and New Years.
But if it holds, then in 2010:

My house will still be a pit.
I will have a rash.
My daughters will be rowdy but cute.
I will have a mountain laundry to do.
We will get unexpected visitors.
Katie will take the occasional nap.
I will get some chances to sit down and read.
There will be more sun than clouds.

We will have lots of good homemade treats to eat.

All in all, not bad. : )

GHR

Had good pastrami for dinner. Spent the evening with friends. Drank good whiskey. Saw lots of police and FD activity on the way home. Little girls are very asleep and we will soon follow.

May the coming year be all you hope and nothing of what you expect!

GHR

It's raining hard enough that I can hear it on the roof. The Presents for the morning are all wrapped and the stockings filled. Katie has taken all the bulbs out of the candelabras That are in the upstairs front window. She has done this before, but the bulbs are not where she left them last time.
The Weather Chanel is on, but they haven't shown me the maps I want to see. I want to change the sheets before bed, but I'm pooped.

Have a happy holiday!

Love,
GHR

Are there any classic holiday movies or TV shows that you look forward to watching year after year? What are your all-time favorites? Are there any you simply can't stand?

The only one I absolutely must see is How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I love it, the music, the message, the animation, Max the Dog.

What I can't stand are the growing number of Something-has-stopped-Santa-Christmas-will-have-to-be-canceled things that are popping up. My girls love Tigger and Pooh, but I'm not going to let them watch the Super Sleuths Christmas movie any more. Santa does a practice run and loses hi magic toy bag that has all the presents in it. Our heroes find it and embark on a journey to the North Pole to bring it back so that Santa can make his deliveries and Christmas can happen. If they don't make it Christmas won't come this year. They arrive just as the elves are pushing the sleigh back into the barn.

I never really thought about it before, but I'm really starting to dislike the whole Santa thing. Santa has become an anonymous, no-strings-attached font of goodies. When I was a kid the only things we got from Santa were our stockings. The held fruit, nuts, candy and a few trinkets. The presents under the tree were all from somebody. A real person who had to be thanked. And when we were old enough, we had to start picking out (or making) presents for them in return.

When I was little my mother pulled out the manger and a box of straw at the beginning of Advent. When we were good, did our chores, or did something thoughtful or hard without complaining we got to put a straw in the manger. When we were bad we had to take a piece out. The aim was to make a nice soft bed for Baby Jesus.
Next year I think the girls will be old enough to start the straw for the manger thing.

And now, Katie is awake and I must go do pick-up-and-put-away so Miss Yolanda can clean.


GHR

I just signed up with Freecycle and posted the out-grown infant car seat.
Given how untechnical I am, I am very proud of myself.
Now, lets hope it goes to a good home.

GHR

Things went pretty well at the movie. We picked the right time. The crowd was small. And, except for a retired-looking couple, the only folks in the theater were people with small children.
We managed to find an empty row and sat on the aisle in case a quick retreat was called for.
Katie sat quietly watching and munching popcorn for about an hour. After that she got fidgity, but was quiet so I don't think she was unduly disturbing anyone. She seat-hopped some, but always had an eye on the screen. After the house lights came back on I let her explore the theater a bit.
As a reward for being good we drove through Steak-n-Shake and she got a small vanilla milkshake.

The film was classic Disney. I'd put it on a par with Cinderella. The art was stunning. The creatures were funny, the romance predictable but sweet. The musical numbers were cute but forgettable. (Made me wish for the Sherman Brothers.)
The Shadowman was scary but not too scary.

I expect we'll buy it when it comes out on DVD.

A good time was had by all.

GHR

When Roper was at the Disney Store recently he received a coupon for a free child's admission (w/ adult purchase) for The Princess and the Frog.
So, in a couple of minutes I'm packing Katie up and heading out to Randhurst for her first trip to a movie theater.
She will sit through a Pooh video at home, and I have promised her popcorn, so I think she will sit through this.

Wish me luck.


GHR

So last evening we were playing catch, such as it was, in the family room. Mostly this involved gently tossing or rolling the ball to one of the girls and them tossing it wildly in our direction.
Roper tosses it to me and I toss it back, playing monkey in the middle with Julie. This goes on for a couple of minutes and Katie bursts out "Guys, You're not sharing."

We lost it at that point.

GHR

So, there was this package that I needed to get into the mail today. And I needed to shop as we're having a few folks over tomorrow. The girls had been running around in the yard since it was sunny and fairly mild. They were still rowdy as we visited the Post Office and traversed the Jewel. I bought a bunch of evergreen bows for the Advent Wreath, and Katie picked up a bunch of peach colored tea roses. Since I promised a treat if they were good we also got some cookies (our Jewel has an excellnt bakery.) As it was still sunny and mild I decided to stop off at the cemetery where my parents are buried to say the prayers I didn't get a chance to say on All Souls' Day. The cemetary isn't far, but I managed to be stopped by two freight trains and Katie was getting restless, yelling and trying to unbuckle her harness.
I said my prayers and as an addendum I asked, "Ma, she's making me crazy today, what do I do?"
We did a quick drive-by of my grand parents and Aunt Kathleens's graves and headed home, Katie still complaining bitterly. We got stopped by another freight train and I suddenly noticed it was quiet. I looked over my shoulder and Katie was asleep. This isn't too unusual, but she generally wakes up when we pull into the garage. This time, she barely stirred as I picked her up and set her in daddy's big chair and dropped a throw over her.
Julie, who is slowly becoming resistant to naps, happily followed me upstairs to her room, walked over to the crib ad pointed. I asked her if she wanted a nap and she nodded vigorously.
So, they're both asleep and I am having a greatly needed break.
Thanks, Ma.

GHR

Roper is off to Chambanacon. Julie is down for a nap. And Katie is watching The Penguins of Madagascar. I signed on briefly to look up a friend's address as I need to get her Advent calendar in the mail tomorrow. Then I will finish taking out the garbage and recycling. jeff_duntemann is coming for dinner.
It is my plan this weekend to start putting up the Christmas decorations.
Wish me luck.

GHR

I could give thanks for the usual stuff, sturdy house, loving friends and family, etc, (And I do, every day,) but there are other things.

I'm grateful for Dr. Ramana and his nurses. The girls have been blessedly healthy, but I'm happy to have kind, patient folks looking out for them.
I'm grateful for the folks at the pediatric urgent care in Dublin,OH who put 4 stitches in Katie's eyebrow on a Sunday afternoon in such a calm and matter of fact way that she was calm and matter of fact, too. (And for a good friend that came with and kept us all calm and matter of fact.)
I'm grateful for Dr. Weiss, who keeps an eye on me and said "Come back in six months."
I'm grateful I live in a country and culture that allows and encourages different views. And I'm grateful for the folks who express their views in a calm and respectful manner.

And now I must go and make Hawaiian Salad. And restring a car seat.

Oh, yeah, I'm grateful for all of you.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

To the AMAZING museinred!

And Many More!

Good luck with the semester crunch.

GHR

Writer's Block asks "What scene from a movie, book, or play would you most want to recreate in real life?"

I've always wanted to be in a pie fight.
It strikes me that I am not alone. I'll bet somebody could throw a whopper of a fund raising event by holding a pie fight. All you would need is an outdoor venue like a stadium and some baked-goods company to sponsor with the pies. Charge everybody $20 or so to get in and let'r rip.

GHR

Ok, here's the problem. We have tickets for the matinee of the Adams Family this Saturday.
My regular babysitter had her work schedule changed out from under her and can't sit after all.

So, I either need a sitter from noon to about six or somebody to take my ticket off my hands.

Any suggestions?

GHR

I seem to have picked up a cold. It's mostly stuffy head and a sore throat from drainage. I'm hoping tea and soup will keep me lubricated 'till it leaves. Julie has a runny nose and Katie has a cough, so maybe we're sharing a cold.

OVFF was nice. Katie loved Kidspace. The only down side was the four stitches to close the cut in Katie's eyebrow from running into one of the console tables in the long hallway to the function rooms. She was very brave through the whole thing. lindaneely was indispensable on the trip to the urgent care. She kept both girls entertained in the waiting room and minded Julie when katie was getting the stitches.

Halloween was fun despite very few Trick-or-treaters. billroper took Katie around the neighborhood and she picked up a good haul, but Julie, who was supposed to go too woke up from her nap grumpy and refused to wear her cute little dragon suit. She stayed home with me and we watched "Heffalump Halloween".

My Friend V just had eye surgery and has to spend two weeks looking down. Roper is going to mind the girls this evening while I go over for a visit. It's half price pizza night at Solarno's, so I'm bringing a pepperoni and mushroom thin crust.

I have a new icon. There is this wonderfully eccentric Disney cartoon show called Phineas & Ferb. One of the minor characters is a short, brownhaired girl with glasses. I recently discovered her name is Gretchen. So there she is.

And now, it's time for Jeopardy.

GHR

Has been a total perfect waste.
If I wasn't so annoyed with myself, I'd be proud of it.

GHR