Friday Funnies

Apropos with Wednesday's Snow?

Parts 1 and 2 of our favorite "Simon's Cat."

Enjoy! And have a Funny Friday!!

Blizzard of 2010 -- The Big Dig

Well, Boston may have had its day of the "Big Dig"...but now it's our turn with a "Big Dig" of our own.

After Saturday's snowstorm dumped 18 inches on us...and yesterday's blizzard left another 24 inches...we were left with 42 inches of wet white stuff to deal with...more in areas that had drifting from the high winds...and even more in spots that the plow left behind.

My word for this week: UGH!

Still, it is beautiful to look at, right?


Right?


Right??


Maybe in smaller amounts.

Here's a short video clip I took of the snow while it was falling yesterday. (Note: There's a 3-foot-tall soccer goal in the middle of the backyard...you can barely see the top of it at the point I took this video. Also, I tried to show that we no longer had back porch steps.)



At least we'll have the memories to keep us cooler in the heat of the summer.

Global warming...bring it on.

Sigh.

Still digging...

Wordless (mostly) Wednesday

It's BA-ACK!!!! Ugh!

Blizzard of '10

Favorite Family "Ad"dition

Happy Monday!

This was by far my favorite ad from yesterday's Super Bowl. Fun with an awesome message.



Still digging out from Saturday. They're calling for more snow tomorrow or Wednesday. Ugh.

Oh, well. Another new episode of 24 tonight. More adventures for Jack, I think. It's been a very exciting season thus far.

Back to grind, I'm afraid.

Enjoy your Monday!

Snowy Saturday Fun

Okay. Okay. So maybe we finally got our "Snow Storm of the Century."

Ugh.

All week, we watched the storm heading our way...and we thanked God that we were in the "light blue zone," which meant that we would only get 6" to 12"....only. Still a significant amount of snow.

And then Friday evening came, and it started to snow.

Somehow when we woke up on Saturday, we weren't prepared for what met our eyes.


And that was just 12" or so...and it was still snowing...


We got about 18" when all was said and done.

And the kids were psyched! Never had they seen so much snow!









And a fun time was had by all!

"Snowstorm Of The Century"

So apparently we were "in" for it, snow-wise. This past weekend, we were due for the "Snowstorm Of The Century." (Grammar disclaimer: Meteorologists' emphasis in capitalization, not mine.)

(Not that we're very many years into the current century, but who's counting and I digress...)



Okay. Okay. Some places did get that. But in our area, the total snowfall amounts varied from one inch to about 9 inches.

Not that I'm complaining.

I'm the biggest "snow grinch" around. I can't stand the stuff -- the icy wetness that seeps into your shoes or drips down the back of your neck...

Brrrrr.

But being a parent means I have to balance my snow "grinchiness" with allowing the kids to enjoy it. No point turning them into "snow grinches," too. Yet.

So on Sunday afternoon, we dug out all the hats and scarves and mittens and boots and snow pants (that are way too small), and we donned said gear for 20 minutes of snowy fun.


This was the first year that Ethan got to play in it, too.

And, well, he wasn't impressed.

Not an iota.

Perhaps it was the time of day (too close to naptime), or maybe it was the thousands of layers he had to wear just to waddle around in a white outerworld that looked nothing like anything he knew.

He managed to make a snow butt-angel, and I dug a path to a spot in the yard and put his play garden in it. I even pulled a few balls from the snow. He played for a little while but decided that it wasn't any fun to grab balls that immediately slipped away or trip over icy spots on the path.





The "Snowstorm Of The Century" was a bust as far as he was concerned.

However, Emily and Edward had fun in it, building some snow creations and throwing snowballs.


Maybe we'll try again before too long.

Friday Funnies

It's Snow Fun

Okay. Okay. I admit it. I'm a snow grinch. I'm probably one of the biggest ones out there. And I have no reason for it except that I really, really dislike getting snow inside my clothing or shoes. Hate it. Despise it. Abhor it.

Well, I guess there is a reason...

It all started when we lived in the city and had to park along the street. Since people weren't good at actually shoveling more than a few feet around their cars (i.e.: enough space to get the car out), I was forever stepping in the wrong spot next to the sidewalk and getting snow in my shoes. It could have been easily solved with the purchase of some good snowboots...but that only works if you have money for such things.

Anyways...

Putting that problem aside, I also can't stand having the snowy footprints that leave little puddles of brown water around the house. Call me silly, but I always manage to step in them which goes back to my original reason I cannot stand snow: wet feet.

If only we had a "mud room." *Pop!*

Ah, well. Sigh. No one dreamt of those kinds of rooms back in 1919 when our house was built.

Still, it's meant to snow tonight. A good 4-8 inches of snow. My kids are thrilled, exhilarated even...secretly, of course. They know that I cannot stand the stuff.

Yet, I feel bad.

As my daughter pointed out, I got to play in snow all the time as a kid....back when I actually liked it still. (Her emphasis, not mine.)

So I'll make some changes.

I'll like it for them. I'll let them go out and play in it, and I'll dry out the little water puddles that end up on my kitchen floor. I'll pop their wet jackets, socks, gloves, mittens, socks, snow pants, jeans, shirts, hats, scarves, etc., in the dryer while they thaw in a tub of hot water. And I'll make them mugs of hot cocoa to eat with warm cookies.......

Okay. Okay. It's starting to sound a little "June Cleaver-ish" but playing in the snow should be fun.

It should conjure up warm and fuzzy memories that they'll remember when they have children who want to play in the snow and they feel like snow grinches....

Many More Monday Musings

Another week begins.

I look forward to Monday for two reasons: a fresh start to the week and a new episode of 24.

Speaking of 24, check out the Jack Bauer action figure available for a mere $189. My daughter wondered if I would be buying one. Hmmmm....no. A bit much for a doll, er, action figure -- and an ugly one at that. (I don't know if this was the one that Kiefer Sutherland and a friend purportedly set on fire in the wee hours of the morning when they'd had a bit too much "merriment".....but if it is, I can certainly see why.)

I do have a bendy, bandy action figure of another character played by Kiefer. I'll post more on that another time.

I've added a new video (it might last a few more days...I love this odd song, but it gets old after your reload your blog a few times to check things) and a new quiz. I didn't do as well on the quiz as I'd hoped...but I'm 85% smarter than the Jerry Springer crowd?? Duh. Who isn't?

* * *

More snow and ice overnight. Not as much as on Valentine's Day...but still. I remind myself: It's still Winter...it's still Winter.... Does anybody know...are groundhogs in season yet?

* * *

From my online daily calendar:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• sleeping in

• reading the Declaration of Independence

• Philadelphia steak sandwiches

• a book of puzzles

• rabbit hutches

* * *

We're heading to South Street, Philadelphia, in April to see -- drumroll, please! -- Rocco Deluca and the Burden again. The concert is being held in a venue on South Street, and I just remembered the yummy cheesesteak place we discovered down there called Jim's Steaks.

Since Stuart and I spent a considerable part of our first months traveling to Philadelphia for his green card, we looked for some fun places to visit whilst we were there. Jim's was one that we've since revisited a few times. Well worth it!

And there's "cheesesteak lingo" to learn. I only remember a few bits:

cheesesteak with = a steak sandwich with onions

cheesesteak without = a steak sandwich without onions

provolone = pronounced [proe-voe-lone]

whiz = CheezWhiz

It's "Snow" Fun

While it wasn't the best snow to play in -- being that it had a crusty ice covering on it -- the kids still managed to find some way to have fun in it. But isn't that what being a kid is all about?

Snow Business

There are days when I think I just shouldn't get out of bed...

Thankfully, today is not one of them. *grin* Though my kids might feel differently...

* * *

A new quiz has been added to my sidebar. A very appropriate one I thought.

* * *

From my online page-a-day calendar:

5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• a great university library

• a light dusting of snow

• finger food

• a cashmere bathrobe

• waterproof boots

* * *

We had another dusting of snow. Enough to whet the snow appetite of every kid under 16 and cause heart palpitations to the rest of us.

Snow.

It used to be a glorious word.

It meant the possibility of no school...or at least an abbreviated school day. (Remember sitting by the radio from about 6 a.m. onwards?) Sledding for hours until we very literally couldn't feel our fingers or toes and had to defrost them afterwards in a warm bath. Making snowballs and snowangels and snowmen. A whole yard full of homemade snowcones. Hot cocoa and cookies.

Now, it just means cold, wet stuff that you have to shovel in order to get in the car to go somewhere. Dirty, wet shoes that have to be shed by the backdoor so as not to ruin the rest of the floors in the house. Being cold and wet, wet, wet. I much prefer to stay indoors and admire it from the warmth of the couch.

What changed, I wonder?

It was far worse when we lived in the city and had to carve out our parking space and hope that if we left it it wouldn't be snatched immediately by the neighbor who worked third shift and had arrived home, dismayed to find no parking.....only there was that one spot, so nicely dug out....

I think most of the time snow brought out the worst in people.

Except...

I lived in the city during the Blizzard of '96. It was a blizzard that literally buried the Northeast. We had upwards of 40 inches by the time the three storms passed through. Not much for some parts of the world but too much for this part with no where to actually put the snow and no hope of it melting anytime too soon.

I took photos of my car and you can only just see about six inches of my radio antenna. The rest is just a mound of snow.

Since I lived just uptown from the newspaper where I worked, I walked to my job. There were no cars on Fifth Street, normally a fairly busy thoroughfare in Reading. There were kids on sleds and a "hush." Everything seemed muted by the snow. It was actually quite peaceful.

I was the only one from my department to make it in that day. I actually did the section's whole two-page spread by myself....not that anyone noticed. Funny, though.

It was a few days before that peace lifted from the city. I felt sort of sad when it did. The carved-out parking spots were like ice garages, and the city looked snowy white -- clean -- for a little while.

Quite a snowy memory.