Fun with the Wii

Awesome.

Would you rather watch The Today Show or get tasered?

Here's a video of Martha Stewart teaching someone to make a martini for breakfast. I love how the cast has to line up behind her and pretend to not want to drink vodka and gin for breakfast every morning. The BEST part of the video is the end when Matt Lauer introduces the next show segment featuring something called "taser parties." Well now.

Martini Time

Hank's 15 seconds of fame

We pretended we didn't know him.

KARE 11 Perk at Play

(Don't blink. It's right at the beginning.)

Car Talk

My friend, Cathryn, (of This Little Site of Mine), had a little problem with her car. Click and Clack tried to help.

Naked in Minneapolis (Click on "Segment 10")

X Games

We're cheering on our pediatrician's son tonight in the superpipe, or whatever the heck they call it. We all want Dr. Fisher's son to beat The Flying Potato (as Hope called him last summer). Gary asked aloud how one practices for Winter X Games sports like snowboarding (Big Air and Superpipe) and snowmobile races where they jump 50 feet in the air. I say that first you have to erase your brain. I don't know where you go from there but it's all fun to watch.

Flammable foam facade

He said the exterior of the building was made of a very flammable foam facade. You mean it wasn't imported Italian marble?

I'm trying to do the math

I've been trying very hard to discern my personality's variables for the past few days and I've narrowed it down to three: RAGE!, optimism, and anxiety. I'm leaning toward anxiety.

The equation I'm working with now:

[optimism+(1.5)anxiety/RAGE!] = me

She's very tender-hearted

I was a little worried last night before bed. I had just checked on everyone to make sure they were fast asleep when I noticed that Hope's fish was trying to bury her/his head in the sand plastic fish tank rocks and then I thought, wait a minute, that fish is holding a very nice, steady down dog.

Or maybe not.

Yes, Little Fishy (we call him "fishy" because every time you ask Hope she has a different name for him) had gone on to the great big fish tank in the sky. I was sure there would be a waterfall of tears right before the morning school bus. So I tried to give her the news gently but matter-of-fact-style: Uh, you know, Hope, Little Fishy SURE WAS OLD. I think he might have died last night but you know he was really old for a fish and he lived a good, long life and nowhe'sinheavenwithGodandbucketnadedandalltheotherfishesandfamilypetsisn'tthatNICE?

Bracing myself for tears...

Hope said, "You're right. He looks dead. (Pause) Can we go to Pet Smart after school? I think I want to get a blue one this time."

I want to go back to school

A coworker visited a school that uses the Smart Board version of this interactive white board. Our daughter's school is planning to raise money to buy a similar one:

No chalk dust here

Worst part of the long weekend

Did you watch the Packers? I did even though I am not a football fan. Gary and Hank wanted to see it and I admit it was intriguing to me only because of the ridiculously cold temperatures. So I watched the game and every time they showed the face of the Giants head coach I winced. And apparently I wasn't the only one feeling his pain:

"Tom Coughlin + Frostbite" = Oww.

Inquiry

"Hope, how do you say 'I'm making up Chinese words' in Chinese?"

600 below

Dateline: Duluth

How cold is it?

It is so cold that we are forced to wear hats and mittens in order to go down the tube slides and body slides because the 10' sections that extend outside the building have FROZEN SOLID! (Almost.)

Note to Mary: The water park is located on Lemon-drop Hill. Thinking about you and marathon fun that awaits!

500 below

How cold is it?

If there were 75 fat and lazy rabbits sitting on our deck right now Peggy and Sami would only raise their cups of hot chocolate to toast them and wish them "Good luck out there you fat, lazy, slow rabbits. We would like to kill you if it were less frigid today but instead choose to sit by the window and sip our hot chocolates."

How cold is it?

Yes, it is so cold that human beings across the Twin Cities are making hot chocolate for their dogs. With marshmallows.

I want this Wii game

I was telling my friend Mary about this Wii game this morning. I told Mr. Bickerson it's officially on my birthday wish-list.

Trauma Center

Twinkle Twinkle

That's the tune anyway.

Secret racquetball playing?

Either my husband or my brother may be playing racquetball on the sly.

Rule 3.18

Hope for Hillary

Grandma JuJu's influence is Svengali-like.

I brought in a hazmat team for a long overdue cleaning in Hope's room today. In the process of throwing out old toys, do dads, gum wrappers, pink stuff, and pages and pages and PAGES of notebook paper with the names of her friends printed all over them, I discovered that she had firmly applied a Hillary sticker (given to her by her grandma) to her refrigerator. I guess I won't be surprised when Hope plants a campaign yard sign in the hallway outside her bedroom.

Family vacation

Our neighbors take a dream vacation every Christmas and head for the slopes in Big Sky, Montana. Here my neighbor and personal dog whisperer demonstrates a discipline technique she has found useful when working with an over-zealous photographer/husband. Observe her calm, assertive behavior and remember the three key components to husband-training: exercise, discipline, then affection.

Who wore it best?

Although Gary is one who can really pull off the ski-cap-with-ear-flaps look, Hope has the advantage here because she modeled it only after I had applied the spectacular, purplish whip-stitchery around the edges. Stay tuned for more ski hats with flaps.

That's why I like him, too

I like John McCain. He seems like the sort of guy you could have a beer with, right up to the moment where he smashes the bottle on the table and jams it in your face over something you said six years ago.

Debates

I will be making this sign for my yard:

"Giuliani-Obama in '08

It could be worse."

Actually, I would like a McCain/Giuliani/Obama ticket. Why can't we do it that way?

TV

If I could, I would subscribe to a cable company that would let me buy only National Geographic and Comedy Central. That would be all I'd need. (Okay, maybe Food Network for Good Eats. And HGTV which seems to have a couple of new knitting shows...)

Have you watched DogTown yet? Go adopt a dog.

Thank You, Tube

I have been making myself insane for the last several hours by trying to learn to knit a rib stitch. I thought I knew how to purl and apparently I thought wrong. I googled up "k1 p1" and found this on YouTube. I wasn't bringing my yarn forward for the purl. No wonder it looked so messed up!

Hello socks! I may be able to knit a pair of you after all. I had nearly thrown in the skein.

Check it out -- my learning swatch:

PS: Remember my one and only New Year's Resolution? Broke it already. I'm glad to get that failure out of the way early in the year.

Iowa caucus

Feeling left out. Gary and I had a good time caucusing with our neighbors Kate and Allen in 1996 in somebody's living room in Coralville Iowa. I think we all ended up supporting Dole. Now the Greys are in Grand Junction and here we are in Golden Valley -- missing out on all the hooplah.

Speaking of the political process:

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Crazy people

I love them!

And every New Year's I think, Maybe next year.

Resolved

To use up all scrap yarn before purchasing new. Hello, wacky scarves!

That'll do, pig.

Hope your New Year's Eve was colorful and explosive. The family that sets off illegal fireworks together, stays together. That's our motto.

And now we move forward with our ham-a-thon. We never eat ham except at Christmas time and this year we are trying to see how many consecutive meals can be consumed involving ham. So far we've had plain old ham, ham salad, ham balls, fried ham and eggs, and later today, ham and bean soup.

We're having a very hammy New Year and hope you are, too.