Pack

Adding three dogs to the early morning run increases the feeling of safety and fun exponentially, in spite of having to deal with the dog poo. Sometimes you just got to pick up the poop and keep chugging on.

He's a slave to rhythm

Gary squeaked out a win in the Hannah Montana Wii Dance-Off before bed tonight, beating Hope by a landslide in Round 1 (Best of Both Worlds) and taking the lead from Hank in the last few seconds of Round 2 (Pumpin' Up the Party).

Real cats make me sneeze

Video cats make me laugh. (I am easily entertained. I know.)

Kids say the darndest things at church

The Sunday School teacher asked the rhetorical question to a large group of third graders, "Do you know what 'testament' means?" Hank leaned over to me and said, "No, but I know what a 'tentacle' is."

Hope told me that they made lemonade in her class. Another mother commented, "Must've been one of those lessons about when life gives you lemons..." to which Hope looked up at her a replied, "No. We used the powder."

I need to quit my job and hire a nanny

so I can play Spore around the clock. Have you played it? If you do you get to hear your kids say things like, "I can jump higher but I can't wiggle my butt anymore." That right there is an excellent return on your investment as far as entertainment goes.

Toenail

If Hank can heal his face completely one week before school pictures, is it too much to ask that I lose and grow a new toenail in time for the marathon a week from Sunday?

Spooky lamp behavior

There is a streetlight in the neighborhood that turns itself on when we run past it at 0.5 miles and turns itself off when we run past it again on our way home between 45 and 55 minutes later.

It's freaking me out!

Preschool programmer training

This is a fun little puzzle and useful in case you are trying to train your children to be computer programmers.

Happy Sunday

Nellie McKay -- The Dog Song

Thank you, shyestviolet, for sharing this song!

Stuff on Peggy's nose

20 miles DONE

My legs are gone but it's done. (I think I left them somewhere back on Minnehaha Parkway.) Sweet Taste of Italy, here I come.

Note to self

The average third grade boy does not think it's anywhere near okay for his mother to pick him up at school on a tandem bike.

Forcing a tender moment at tuck-in

"Hank, when you're a 40-year-old man will you remember back to when you were eight and you would ask your little sister to go in your dark room at night before bedtime and turn on the light for you?"

"No."

"Well, when I'm a 90-year-old lady, I will."

Totaled (It's the washer)

I've never totaled a car but I'm guessing it hurts too. I'm sitting here wondering if I prefer physical pain over financial.

Off to a good start

Star Tribune review

Pioneer Press review

Concert report

Although there were no dog songs, there was something for almost everyone in tonight's Vocalessence concert; ABBA, tap-dancing, Garrison Keillor, a straight-jacket ballet, Joan of Arc, a rollerskating tenor, and The University of Minnesota Marching Band which, in my opinion, was the highlight of the show. It was an eclectic start to the choral music season.

Dog song

How many songs about dogs do you have on your iPod? Gary has more than he knew. He found this one today and recommended it to me.

Timely post linked on Instapundit

For the first time, scientists have discovered a difference in serotonin transporter levels in the brain in fall/winter versus spring/summer, opening the door towards a better understanding of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the relationship between a person’s exposure to light and his mood, and people’s general mood changes from season to season.

This scene from Fargo pretty much sums up winter Minnesota. Oh, you betcha.

Here's to a happier Minnesota winter

30 minutes a day upon waking is supposed to make you feel like you're on vacation in Costa Rica in December. We shall see.

The Me Monster

Oh... SNAP!

Bad figure of speech

Spore!

Spore!

How is this a sport?

Snails on face?

Yay!

Lance Armstrong returns to the Tour in 2009

The cheating crap is admittedly distracting but color me there anyway.

Back in the saddle

The saddle of running long miles, that is.

Marathon training. Trying to do it right. Yesterday I was supposed to run 16 but I accidentally got a little lost and ran 16.87. Those 0.87 hurt! Dang!

You'd think that the main reason for wearing a GPS device would be to prevent someone from getting lost. In my case it only provided a bell at each mile and a frequent unpleasant tone from mile 12 on, admonishing me to "SPEED UP!"

It was a little bit demoralizing but at least I got the miles done.

First game

I didn't keep score but Hank said they lost 6 to 32. They lost but had fun. And looked good doing it. :-)

Balloons

Maybe every news story would be improved if the reported had to fight with balloons the way this one does.

Balloon Attack

More than one dog would be nice

We're dog sitting for two extra dogs this weekend and although there is a lot more fur to sweep, it is really fun having these two extra pooches around the house. Peggy likes them. The kids especially like them because they are lap-sized. Gary likes them because it's easier to pretend they are cats. (Peggy's too big.) So we are all enjoying their visit.

I'm not going to run right out to adopt two more dogs when they go home but when you have one dog, why not get another one? Or two?

Just sayin.

First and third

Back to school. They each acted surprisingly happy to go despite having told us at dinner last night that they hate school, school is boring, video games are more fun, teachers are mean, etc.