if I were DOING IT RIGHT this is what I would have said

Last Thursday:

Karl's basketball kiddos went into double overtime at Karl's basketball game. DOUBLE OVERTIME. Nate thinks going to Karl's games is akin to going to Disney World (BASKETBALL! BIG KIDS!) but this was a little long for him. I let him build up his immune system by rolling around on the floor and climbing up and down the nasty bleachers. (Yep, I'm that mom. The best part is Karl coaches our pediatirician's son so she and I sit together at all the games. It's DOCTOR APPROVED germ-rolling people!)

Oh and they did win the game! My heart almost exploded from my chest four times.

Last Friday:

I cooked all day for dinner under the Broadway Bridge with our homeless friends. We had a great turnout and (seriously) just enough Italian food to feed everyone. My friend Erin and her husband joined us this month and Erin (who is an Animal Lover) wanted to bring some individually wrapped bags of dog food. I'm not going to lie y'all, I seriously doubted that any one would take it. I know there are some homeless with dogs but we haven't encountered any animals during our events. BUT Erin asked around and (seriously) the second person she talked to acted as a Dog Food Coordinator w/ one of the local non-profits to help distribute dog food around the city! How cool is that? She definitely made his night (and mine too)!

On Saturday:

We celebrated my friend Leah turning 30 with Mexican food on a patio (helllllo patio weather GET HERE and STAY HERE), some board games and a Wii dance party. Since a lot of our group is turning the big 3-0 this year, it has been fun to make a bigger deal than normal for everyone's birthday.

Last weekend, at a joint 30th party for my friends Kristen and Elizabeth The Cops even made an appearance (at the ripe ole hour of 10:30). Having the police show up kinda made us feel 22 again. HA. It was the joke of the evening anyway. Especially since everyone was winding down around midnight!

We have another great week planned this week and TOMORROW BEGINS THE DREADED FEBRUARY so I'll keep you posted!

i'll convert you i promise

First, thank you for your book suggestions.

Last night was my turn to host and it was Book Club #18! EIGHT-TEEN.

That, my friends, is dedication.

We decided to make a list of books and their selectors.

I highly suggest joining (or starting!) a book club. (I was anti-bookclub from the start and have since been 100% fully CONVERTED.)

hibernation continuation

Hibernation continues in all it's January glorious-ness.

I have (as of this moment) declared this winter the Winter of Reading. I need suggestions. STAT.

I am currently reading some Stephen King (Lisey's Story). I haven't read a good Stephen King novel since I was, oh, 12? 13? (My parents were very generous with their library!)

Next week is my book club selection - Room by an Irish author, Emma Donoghue - I HIGHLY recommend. (In fair warning, it is about sex slavery.)

ANYWAY, YOU THERE (tall girl. beverly.) I need your reading list. Share?

radio silence: beep beep boop

We've been quiet.

empty-socket snowman eyeholes ARE creepy right?

Well, I know you all were wondering (desperately) what Nate thought of all the (five whole inches of!) snow. The only thing Nate has said regarding the HOURS of snow play (when questioned by teachers and grandparents and even complete strangers): "The snowman eyes fall off. He no hurt you." (Said very solemnly.)

Lawd, I have scarred my child from snowpeople for life!

His little imagination has been working OVERTIME lately and he often pretends that his fingers are characters from Toy Story (Jesse, Bullseye, Woody and occasionally Buzz Lightyear to be specific) and that we need to nibble them. ('Eat Buzz Whightyear Mommy?' he asks.) (And I totally do.)

This afternoon he stopped playing suddenly and said "Mommy, catch the hamburger from the sky!" and then proceeded to pretend to catch and eat it, complete with mustard and onions (or so he claimed).

I would LOVE to be inside that little head for just FIVE MINUTES!

I have a grand post in the works... perhaps tomorrow? Karl started his volunteer basketball coaching gig (5th year!) and the hours he spends at the gym seem MUCH longer now that Nate is older and asks "Where Daddy?" every 30 seconds.

I leave you with this rare family pic (I guess we like orange, eh?) (Also, I swear I had gloves on and a coat at some point) (Also how cool do the TREES look in the backyard?):

we FREAK when there's SNOW in the south.

So, it snowed here in the good old L of R. For us, that means EVERYTHING is closed. And, usually, it doesn't actually accumulate on the ground and I have the pleasure of making fun of everyone for freaking out! But this year, THIS YEAR was different. The flakes started puny (as per the norm) but they kept POURING out and we wound up with about five(ish) inches. And, amazingly, it was fluffy and white and some of it is still sticking around. (School and work are also canceled for the 2nd day. I'll tell you how I feel about that this afternoon when I've been cooped in the house for over 48 hours with an overly-energetic 2 year old.)

Like any good Southerners, we donned our shoddy snow gear and headed out! It must be noted that Nate wore boots (for the first time ever), gloves (for the first time this winter) AND a hat (for the first time since infancy) with little complaint. I think he was so flabbergasted by the snow and our excitement that he was willing to do whatever to get close to it.

Though the hat did take some convincing...
Hooray! All the neighborhood kiddos were out by no later than 8:30 in the AM, in our yard and banging on our door. They know that Karl and I are secretly children as well and will play with them. Sleeping in on REAL snow days is for the birds! Let the snowball wars BEGIN:
And the sledding:
None of the kids were into the idea of a snowman until his body started to gain some heftiness. Then the ALL wanted IN.

And the snowman-making (most of the neighbor kids; missing two or three):
AND BREAK for Hot Chocolate:
And thus concludes my SNOW DAY post that may seem perfectly normal to the rest of the country but was NOT NORMAL for us and, therefore, special.

Ok, snow, you can go now.

it IS actually elvis' birthday

I'm working media services this weekend at an event called the Auto Extr@vag@nza.

For the past two hours, I've been dealing with THIS:

My ears, they are a bleeding. So Loud.

And I would be remiss if I did not show you this, The Gold Digger. It has real bars of gold in both the engine and the steering column.

And yes, we have been singing Kanye West all weekend. NOW YOU CAN TOO.

You're WELCOME!

what's with today TODAY?

BANG.

karl and i were asleep by 12:05!

I started to do a 'year-in-review' post but decided that b/w my grandfather's passing, our miscarriage, Karl switching jobs and me finding a new job, it's been a crazy sort of a year and I don't really want to look back that closely at the moment.

ONWARD SOLDIER! GO WEST YOUNG (WO)MAN! MOVE ALONG...NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

So, instead, I'm going to look on forward. (I hope you got that from all the CAPSLOCK.)

These are not resolutions PER SE but...

This year I want to volunteer more, change more, cook more for others, stop being upset about old friendships that are fading naturally b/c life is just in the way (i have change/letting go issues), seek new friendships and do more things for myself, be more productive and (somehow!) put all my INTERNETS in one place. I also want to continue the ole bloggity blog log and finish up my Project 365! And maybe start a new internet project and maybe do another Run Like Robot 5K. And maybe (please god) potty train my child. And maybe I'll do a little bit of running and maybe do a little bit of procreating. We'll see.

Welcome 2011. I'm happy to see you!