Wow, the last day of January. Remember when you were little and it seemed like a week took forever and ever to get through and it seemed like the weekend would never arrive. I swear, time really does go by more quickly as each year passes, amazing.

It was super cold here today, 14 degrees! I'm just glad I am feeling better and am totally thankful for Airborne. After you get the water to fizzy tablet ratio just right so you can drink it down in one gulp, it's not all that bad.

I watched the Today Show segment on mom's who have a drink while their children play. (www.suburbanbliss.net) I thought Melissa looked and sounded great on the segment. I thought she stated her opinion clearly and was very well spoken. I especially liked the part where she sometimes wondered how much she could get on e-bay for her children. Big kudos to her for saying that on national telivision, I mean really, who hasn't thought that. And, in my opinion, it is okay to have these thoughts once in a while. I also feel it is okay to have a drink once in a while. At least these mothers are spending time with their children instead of hiring a baby sitter and then going out for a drink with their friends. If you asked the children whether they would rather have a playdate with a babysitter or a playdate with their mommy and a bunch of friends, well, duh. I doubt wheather the kids know if the glass is full of Crystal Light or a martini. Remember the holidays when we were kids, dad and the older cousins had a beer in front of the football game, mom and your favorite aunt enjoyed a glass of wine and after dinner the adults had a little creme d'mint on their ice cream and look, we all came out okay. Then there is the whole double standard thing about targeting moms and not the dads when they have a few drinks. If you are going to bring up the other sex then why not mention the neighborhood BBQ where both parents are present and have a drink or two. Is it okay for the mom to have a cocktail then because her spouse is present?

Snofie and I watched a movie called "The Swimming Pool". Actually I made Snofie stop watching after the sex scene. Yeah, this guy in a speedo was standing by the aforementioned swimming pool admiring a young girl when he took hold of something in his speedo and well, oh my god, Snofie can't watch this! I hit pause on the remote but that only made things worse because it froze the frame of the guy with his hand on his ho-ha. Poor Snofie. After she left the room I watched the rest of the movie and I hated the end. It was one of those endings that makes absolutely no sense at all. I watched the ending twice and couldn't figure it out. Stupid swimming pool movie!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/swimming_pool/

I was watching 60 Minutes on Sunday and a story about the Geek Squad. Here I had been feeling all good about my technical savvy, all pumped that I could download a video from YouTube to my blog when suddenly I realized, I can only do these things because of the geeks out there in our technical world. 60 Minutes was right, I can't program a universal remote, set up HDTV or install a little computer widget in the traffic light we have out front to make it blink. So, I feel I need to take a step back out of the spot light I have been basking in while feeling all up on technology. I return the lime light to the geeks who deserve it, the geeks who make it possible for me to change the fonts on my blog with the greatest of ease. The geeks who make it possible for me to have an account on YouTube and watch all my favorite programs again and again via our DVR thing-a-ma-jig. Geeks are Great!

Snofie an I slept in the big bed together and we fell asleep holding hands.
Snofie: But that's the hand I use to pick my teeth.
Me: Gross

Snofie and I took a bubble bath this evening.
Snofie: I am having Jana problems. One day she says she wants to be my friend and she's nice to me and then the next day she says she doesn't want to be my friend and she's not nice to me.
Me: Sounds like it isn't much fun to have a friend like that.
Snofie: I don't like it when I am talking to someone and she comes over and says that I am lying. It hurts my feelings and she is the one who lies anyway. Today she asked me what year I was born. I said 1998 and she told everyone I was lying.
Me: What do you do when stuff like this happens?
Snofie: I ignore her.
Me: Maybe you shouldn't "ignore" her because it might hurt her feelings... instead try to just be polite to her. That is what you would want, right?
Snofie: Look at the bubbles, I made them into a mountain.

This evening Snofie and I watched "Celtic Woman" on PBS. We really enjoyed them. Maybe we will go when they come to Columbus in April.

Last night I found Snofie crying in her bed...
Me: What's wrong?
Snofie: I make mistakes, I cry and then you and Daddy yell at me so my life isn't perfect anymore!
(Oh my god, that is so sad that she thinks she has to be perfect.)
Me: Oh, Sweet Pea, everyone makes mistakes... it's okay to cry... mommy and daddy only yell at you because we feel frustrated with ourselves and....
Snofie: Let's talk about my hair now, look at it when I take my braid out.

Me: On "Gilmore Girls" this week they were celebrating Christmas and they put candy canes in their coffee. See, I'm not the only one who does that!
Snofie: Yes, there are other weird-os out there just like you mom.

Oh my god, I am so embarrassed! At pick up this afternoon I was the first car in the line. I took off my shoes and was sitting with my legs crossed reading a book. I don't really care for the first spot in the line because it is hard for Samantha to see my car right away. After a few more cars pulled up behind me I realized that if I pulled around to the back of the line then I would have the perfect spot. As I pulled out I heard something thud. Oh shit, I ran over an orange cone. Then I head a dragging sound and realized that the cone was stuck under my car. I got out with my shoes half on and went to look under my bright orange big square Element that sticks out in a crowd and sure enough, there was the orange cone. And, there were 5 or 6 other mothers laughing. Oh, how embarrassing, but, I got the good spot. I called Kelly to tell her what an idiot I am and she said, "Oh, I have to go, Tim just got home and I want to go tell him."

So, PoPo Pop came home from Home Depot last night:
Me: What did you get at the Home Depot?
PoPo Pop: Stuff to mud & tape the drywall in the basement.
Me: Do you want me to help?
PoPo Pop: YES!!!!!!!!
Me: Right now?
PoPo Pop: Yes, because I am stuck in my coat, I think the zipper is broken...

PoPo Pop has been working really hard on the basement and it looks awesome. He had his mom over yesterday to help him hang dry wall. I don't know whether to be thankful that he didn't ask me to help him or hurt that he didn't ask me to help him. Maybe he just knows what a weakling I am. Oh well, it looks great none the less.

Snofie got all the spelling words right on her pre-test again. I am so proud of her. I just look at her and am amazed at what a big girl she is becoming and all that she is learning. I think about how she spends most of her day away from me at school and has this whole life that I can't see anymore. When she was little I saw every moment of her life. Now I have to have her tell me and I don't always understand. She came out of school today and said she had an awful day. She said someone pushed her down at lunch in the cafeteria but she didn't see who did it because she was walking too fast. That translates into: I was walking too fast because I was worried about something and I tripped and fell down then decided to blame it on someone I didn't see to save face. Okay, I get that one. Here is where it gets more complicated. She says, through tears making it all the more difficult to understand her, "other people know things that I want to know but they won't tell me."
Me: Who?
Snofie: I don't know.
Me: What won't they tell you?
Snofie: I don't know.
Me: When did this happen?
Snofie: When did what happen?
Me: This incident that has you so upset.
Snofie: There was no incident.
Me: Then who won't tell you what?
Snofie: There is no one in particular and it's just stuff.
Me: Was there an incident?
Snofie: I already told you.
Me: .....
Thankfully we were at the pizza place so that was the end of that. We went in to order the pizza and the guy asked her why she was all upset. He received a blank stare. I told hem we were going to run next door to the pet store while we waited for the pizza and he asked if we were going to get a puppy. I replied, no. And he said it looked like someone could use a puppy. Okay, SHUT UP mister pizza dude!
The puppies seemed to cheer Snofie up. There was a lonely little Whimeriner who was too cute. Normally I don't care for those dogs but this one had the cutest face with these big ears. He stopped being so cute though when he grabbed hold of my sweater with his teeth. There I am in the middle of the pet store, "please puppy, please let go of my sweater, let go of it now, please puppy..." One of the girls had the African Grey Parrot out so I went to pet him, he bit me but then he let me pet his head. Then we purchased our hamster food and went back for the pizza. Snofie seemed better after that.
After dinner Snofie and PoPo Pop went to the Home Depot. I'm scared as to what they will come home with. At least I know it won't be a puppy.

So, I asked Snofie what she would ask the trees and she said: "Why aren't you moving? Move trees move."

Ask The Trees

Another basket...

Tired after the game...

Snofie played outside in the snow until it was time to go to her basketball game. Here she is shooting one of 3 baskets she made. And, they won their game, 32 to 28!

We woke up to lots and lots of snow this morning, yeah, SNOW. It looked like there was about 2 inches covering the ground but I am not a very good judge of things like that... jut how pretty it was.

Snofie and I went out with Jennifer and her boyfriend, Max today. Neither one of us had met Max yet so we started the day off by going over to Jennifer's house for coffee. Coffee and Possum... We finally got a chance to meet Possum, her new kitten, as well. We all spent the afternoon at the thrift store and then ate at The Mad Greek where Jennifer introduced Snofie and me to falafal. More like fawful if you ask me, I didn't care for it and Snofie wouldn't even try it. After we dropped Jennifer and Max off Snofie and I decided to go for a drive in the country. What we do is set out in one direction and when we come to a stop sign we decide, at random, which way to turn. So, totally by accident we ended up at Chestnut Ridge, one of the Metro Parks we had never been to. We decided to go for a hike even though neither one of us was dressed for it. But we were up for an adventure so we headed up into the trees. It was a lovey albeit extremely cold hike. By the time we returned to the car neither one of us could feel out toes or fingers. Then we decided to head into grab another bite to eat with PoPo Pop. On our way Jennifer called. After telling her where we had just been she said that that is where Max filmed the video he told us to watch, Ask The Trees. Wow, that is quite a coincidence. We all said it was fate that had led us, while on our random drive, to that particular park. Before we met PoPo Pop we drove by the new Wally World that opened up this past Friday, the parking lot was completely packed. I don't think I have to say, we did not stop there, just drove on by... We met PoPo Pop at Dairy Queen for a snack and then headed home. We were so tired. Snofie and I got into the big bed and fell asleep watching a Lifetime movie.

We have SNOW! It's not on the ground quite yet but it is swirling around in the air making driving slightly hazardous. I noticed, on my way to work this morning, that gas is down to $1.89. That is lower than it has been in quite a while.

The word of the day is "notice". We had a very lively dispute at breakfast over the word notice. Notice is one of Snofie's vocabulary words this week. She has to give an oral definition of the word. Her definition went like this: "you never saw something". "No Snofie, it means you did see something," I replied. She insisted every which way that I was wrong and she was right. "IT'S WHEN YOU NEVER SAW SOMETHING! MY TEACHER SAID SO!" We even looked it up in the dictionary but, nooooo, her teacher is correct. I totally love that she respects what her teacher says but, she's wrong, Snofie, not her teacher. I tried to explain that her teacher probably used it in a sentence something like: I never noticed your blue eyes before. Then, realizing one, that I was not going to convince her eight year old brain that I was right and two, because it was getting old, I shut up about it. But, once we were in the car I had a brilliant idea, I used the word notice in as many sentences as I could. "Look Snofie, I just happened to notice there is snow on that car." "Oh, I love noticing all the orange Honda Elements like mine." "Did you notice..." on and on I went all the while Snofie got madder and madder. I just couldn't help myself. Sorry Snofie!

After school I picked Snofie and Tara up. Snofie came out first, in tears because she had forgotten something in her desk, had to run back for it, fell down and was afraid she was going to be late. Then Tara came out, also in tears. Something had held her teacher up and she was a little late releasing the kids. Tara was worried she was going to be late as well. They sobbed all the way home. PoPo Pop was home this evening so we ordered pizza. Then the girls and I gathered up a bunch of blankets, pillows and stuffed animals and headed out for Family Movie Night at the school. This was our first time attending the movie night and I didn't know quite what to expect. Well, we get there, the parking lot is packed and there are children running everywhere throughout the halls. Once we entered the gym where the movie was it just got better. Before us was a solid sea of blankets and pillows. We eventually found a spot right up in front and off to one side. It was not good at all because we were too close to see the screen and there were still tons of kids running around all red faced and sweaty. The girls were a little annoyed that we couldn't see and because it was so noisy. I asked them what they wanted to do. They wanted to stay but they wanted to sit in a better spot, um, gee guys, tell me how I can make that happen and I will. They came up blank but then Tara had a marvelous idea: "we can go to my house and watch the movie on my dad's projector and it will be just like here only no noise so we can hear and see the movie." She also mentioned something about marshmallow flavored pop corn, yum. The girls watched to movie and I hung out downstairs with Kelly and Tim. It was so much nicer than staying at the gym.

I woke up this morning with a really bad headache. I think it's a migraine but it's hard to tell anymore, it may actually be a sinus headache. Anyway, I plan on leaving work early, going home, taking a Maxalt and going to sleep. PoPo Pop is off today so he can pick up Snofie from school. Sue did say that I looked cute today. That was nice of her considering that I am wearing my PJ's.

Yesterday we were still having major computer issues at work. Normally we would just call Brad, the computer guy, but he is off this week due to the passing of his mother on Monday. That didn't seem to stop us though, Lynn was asked to call him at home. I felt so bad for Brad and Lynn.

Me: Did you hear that the guy who created Scooby Doo died?
PoPo Pop: From Smoking dope?
Me: No, he was Asian.

It was 15 degrees this morning but still no snow.

I've decided to change my hair style. I have two reasons for this. One, I want my bangs back and two, I can now that I am forced to change hairdressers. You see, Nick has been cutting my hair for a while now. He is the one who convinced me to get rid of my bangs in the first place, he said they were a throw back to the 1980's. So, Nick has this certain way of cutting my hair. Don't get me wrong, I really like the way he cuts it but he will not be able to cut it for the next two years. Nick's in jail again. He has this breaking and entering problem. Every time he cut my hair I was totally fascinated by the fact that I know an ex-con. He'd been incarcerated several times before. Anyway, now that he is unavailable I will be having Dobri cut my hair again. Dobri has a particular way that he cuts my hair, the style with the bangs, and you can't tell him to do anything different. If you try to tell him how to cut it he says, in a very thick Macedonian accent, "I don't tell you how to do your job, you don't tell me how to do my job. You don't know how to do my job. You are wrong. I am right". And that is that. Dobrie is amazing so, I guess if I want him to cut my hair it will have to be his way.

This morning I talked to Mom. She said she talked to Aunt Mary Ann. She hadn't spoken to her since her Birthday which Aunt Mary Ann asked her about. Mom said she told her all about the great SOCKS with African Grey parrots on them that Rebecca had given her. Oh my god! I freakin made her a memory book filled with 35 freakin years worth of mother daughter memories! What the heck, SOCKS! Next year I swear, all she's getting is socks!

When Snofie came out of school today she was bawling. She said a boy named Christopher had taken her fuzzy zebra pencil and said he wasn't going to give it back. I told her she had two choices, we could either go try to find another one at the store or she could go talk to her teacher about it. She wanted to talk to her teacher but she wanted me to do it because the kids who ride the bus were still inside and she didn't want them to see her crying. Ok, I can understand that so I told her I would go talk to her teacher. I went in and told her teacher that Snofie was really upset and asked her what she thought Snofie should do. She said, "that's the second thing he took from someone with out permission. He's still here and I'm going to go see about this". And she marched off down the hall and got the little boy. I like her, she doesn't tolerate any monkey business. I left and told Snofie what had happened. Then as we were driving home my cell phone rang. Snofie answered it, it was her teacher calling to say that the fuzzy zebra pencil was safely back in her desk. Her teacher rocks!

Today was topped off with Skyline Chili with the McAleas and basketball practice. Ciera was back this week so everything was back to normal at Skyline. I got a lot of my book read at basketball practice. I'm reading this really good book about a disaster on Mt. Everest. I am totally fascinated by those who climb mountains in such extremely cold conditions and at high altitudes. Anyway, as I was reading I would look up every now and then to see Snofie. At one point I watched the mean girl throw the ball off to the side where a man in a wheel chair was sitting. Oh my god, she threw the ball so hard it almost knocked him out of his wheel chair! She's mean. The mean girl brought her home work to practice. It was the same sheet Snofie had and I told Snofie not to help her, that she needed to do the work herself. So, mean girl takes her markers, it was a page you had to color, and she scribbled all over the page without reading the directions. There she was scribbling madly and I didn't say a word, she's not my kid, what do I care if she gets a bad grade or not. Wow, I am on a mean streak today, wonder what spurred that?

The neighbor's Christmas tree is out by the road. I wonder how long it will stay there? The 2005 tree was there until August of 2006. I started out by the road, moved to the back yard and ended up by the garage. There it sat, in two pieces with all it's needles long gone until August.

Today it was 28 degrees. It finally feels like winter. We have no snow yet, just lots of flooding.

I had a horrible headache this evening and took a nice hot bubble bath. I had just settled down in the heap of vanilla scented bubbles when in came Snofie. "I can't find Tabby" she said. After going through an exhausting list of where to look Snofie was still there and seriously cramping my relaxing time. "I have a headache" I told her. "I want you to help me find her." Really what she meant was she wanted me to look for Tabby. I told her I would when I was done with my bath. I closed my eyes and sunk down into the bubbles. A few minutes later I opened my eyes and she was still sitting there staring at me, waiting. Oh my god, she's going to sit there until I get out! I just ignored her and about a half hour later I got out, went into her room, pulled back the covers on her bed and said, "there's Tabby". I so too an Advil PM after that. You know how you get so aggravated with your kids and then they go and do something sweet and you end up shrouded in guilt. Yup, that's what happened. Snofie cleaned up the living room when she was done playing and went to bed on time without having to be told. I love that kid!

Oh, and speaking of the greatest kid, she got every word right on her spelling pre-test. I was so proud of her.

Friends

I was thinking about friendship today. I suppose the topic was on my mind after seeing the play, "A Year With Frog & Toad" where the message was, what would I do without you as my friend. Frog and Toad were so appreciative of their friendship and chose many ways to celebrate it. They raked the leaves out of each others yards, sent each other mail and made cookies together. So, I decided to take a look at the friends in my life and what they mean to me.

My first friend was Carolyn. We met in nursery school and are still in touch today despite going to different colleges and settling down in different states. I have a great respect for Carolyn and admire what a strong woman she is.

In school I met Beth. I was drawn to Beth because she possessed qualities I did not. Mainly, she was a cheerleader and popular with the boys.

There was Kate. Kate was my competition. This was a slightly painful friendship because I felt as though I had to constantly be on my toes to stay a step ahead of her.

Then in high school there was Peggy. I admired her intelligence and her weirdness. Peggy was quite weird and didn't care what anyone else thought of her. I loved this about her because in high school I was concerned what others thought about me. It wasn't until years later that I fully appreciated all Peggy taught me about being an individual.

In college there was Jody. I secretly wanted a family like hers. They were so close and had so many traditions they shared together. I still keep in touch with Jody.

I miss Amy. We lived together after college and had a falling out. Who knows what it was about, I can't remember. I loved how Amy had created a perfect life for herself and had everything just so. I learned a lot from her that I've incorporated into my life today.

And Shawntel. I cherish her beauty and kindness. We see each other several times a year and I always wish it was more.

Once out in the real worked I met my husband. He is truly my best friend. I can not remember my life before he was in it nor can I imagine my life without him. He possesses so many qualities, too many to name, that I admire. Sometimes it seems we are exact opposites but that is why we work perfectly together.

Neighbors make good friends I found when I met Denise. I admire Denise's caring nature as well as her great relationship with her husband.

Along came my daughter. I see myself in her and love what I see. I often wish I was her.

I was drawn to Lesley right away. She knows how to get what she wants. I admire that she is not afraid of change and knows how to use it to her advantage.

Work produced Susie. Susie is the most amazing person. She is the perfect person to talk through a difficult situation with as she always knows the right thing to say.

Speaking of right, I cannot overlook my mother. I may not have always considered her my friend but I do now as I see so much of myself in her. Not to mention, she is always right.

Through my daughter I met Kelly. I feel like I have known Kelly forever and know if we'd grown up together we would have been friends. I am in awe of what a great mother she is. I always find myself making lists of "things I have to tell Kelly" and always look forward to talking to her.

My most recent friend is Jennifer. I admire her artistic abilities. I know the more I get to know her the more she will help bring out my creativeness.

It seems as though the friends who mean the most to us are always a part of our lives whether we have stayed in touch with them or not. I am so thankful for the amazing people I choose to call my friends and am grateful for the way each of them has influenced my life.

Snofie did not have school today and PoPo Pop took the day off as well. They spent the day together going to lunch and working on the basement. Snofie was all excited to tell me about how she got to hammer nails and paint.

I can't believe we have done it again, we have sent Jeff into the eye of the storm once again. Let's see, he's been to California with wildfires and Texas with a hurricane and mow Missouri with a killer ice storm, and I mean killer literally. The storm has killed several people so far. But while I was at work I did not hear from him so I am going with the "no news is good news" theory.

I was going to make Chinese for dinner but we are all tired and don't feel like doing anything so we ordered pizza and then plan on camping out in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.

PoPo Pop's Basement Project

Snofie had her first basketball game today. They lost 16 to 26 but they had a really great time and Snofie made a basket after she went in. At first she wanted to sit on the side with me because she was nervous about it being a "game". Several of the girls were but in the end they all got to play. They were great! I can't wait for the next game. I made a list of all the players names and numbers so I can cheer for everyone.

I guess crime does pay...

Several years ago there was a man who fired a few shots at some annoying neighborhood kids in the city where PoPo Pop is a police officer. His action resulted in the SWAT team being called out. They spent several hours asking nicely for the man to come out of his house to no avail and they were forced to make entry into his house. The entry was made like this: PoPo Pop held the body bunker shielding himself and the two officers on either side of him. These two officers had shot guns which they were forced to fire as they were fired upon by the man in the house. This resulted in PoPo Pop receiving permanent damage to his ears with a constant ringing, Tinnitus. The outcome of the whole thing was the man's death.

Last week a settlement was reached, out of court, with the man's sister to receive a sizable amount of money. So, yeah, crime does pay. What is wrong with her? Her brother shot at children, barricaded himself in his house and shot at the police. Why does his sister deserve to sue the police and have money awarded to her? Someone, please explain this to me. Actually, there is no explanation that would satisfy me because it is just wrong for her to benefit from her brother's crime.

I know what some are thinking: PoPo Pop knew what he was getting into when he became a police officer as well as when he joined the SWAT team. Yes, this is true, he knew and accepted the risks as well as accepting the injury that resulted from this particular SWAT raid. It stinks that he has a constant ringing in his ears as well as knowing that he had a hand in the loss of someones life but he accepts that this is part of the job. What makes me angry is that someone has profited from this man's crime. I don't doubt that she is grieving at the loss of her brother but come on, PoPo Pop was injured as a direct result of her brother's action and he got nothing. It's not that I feel that he should receive monetary compensation as a result of doing his job, I don't think he should. He is paid for the work he does and he receives medical care for any injuries sustained while doing his job. He agreed to this when he became a police office. I feel even more strongly that this sister should not receive monetary compensation for her brother's death that resulted from a crime he committed.

A friend's nephew was recently injured and is no longer able to work as a result of the apprehension of several illegal aliens attempting to enter the country. So, I end with the question: why do illegal aliens and criminal's sisters have more rights than the officers who protect them?

David Caruso One Liners (CSI MIAMI)

More Frogs...

Last night was "The Frog Prince" and tonight was "A Year With Frog & Toad" at the Phoenix Theatre. PoPo Pop went with us. I had as much fun watching him watch the play as I did watching the play. It actually was more of a musical and Toad was the actor we saw in "A Christmas Story". Frog and Toad sang lots of songs. Our favorite, that we sang all the way home, was: "Toad Looks Funny in a Bathing Suit". We also had fun exploring the Riffe Center building. PoPo Pop and i had never been inside. We looked out over to the State House where the new Governor, Ted Strickland was inaugurated today. I have trouble saying that word. Snofie thought this was quite funny and we started talking about all the words we have trouble pronouncing. I thought I should make a list of words Snofie says funny to remember them when we're old:

Bathing Suit: Babbin Suit

Bikini: Two Tops

Kiddy Pool: Kidney Pool

Light Blue: Yite Bue

Bob Evans: Beeb Eevins

Hospital: Hostibul

On the way home we bought a cheesecake to eat while we watched "Cops" in the big bed all together and Snofie said: "I'm going to get my H word bear when we get home." "Cops" wasn't on, stupid sports was on so we watched an Animal Planet show about the two Giant Pandas at the National Zoo in Washington DC. The zoo got Tien Tien and Mei Xiang on loan from China for ten years after Ling Ling and Shing Shing died. We decided that we must take Snofie to Washington DC within the next few years because when I was young we went to see Ling Ling and Shing Shing so Snofie must see the pandas like I did. I love taking her to all the places I went.

Everyone at work annoyed me today. Nothing really specific other than their usual behavior. It's funny how some days people's normal behavior can just drive you absolutely crazy.

OK, now on to the fun stuff. After work I picked up Po Po Pop on my way to pick up Snofie from school. While we waited for her we sat in the car and did crossword puzzles together. After school we all went for an early dinner at the new Mexican restaurant, Las Margaritas. It was really good and we were all really hungry.

This evening Snofie and I went to see "The Frog Prince" at the Columbus Children's Theatre. It was really good. Our seats were in the front row of the center section. We were so close you could have reached out and touched the actors. We decided to park in front of Cup-O-Joe as we were going there for coffee after the play. We found a parking spot right in front at a meter. I checked the meter to see how long we had. By the time we walked the few blocks to the theater I realized that my math was off. The meter had a 2 hour limit. We parked at 6:30pm. the play started at 7:30pm and lasts 2 hours. We were bound to get a ticket so we walked back and decided to valet park instead so we'd have all night. Cup-O-Joe was really fun. I taught Snofie how to read the personal ads in The Other paper and make fun of them. We laughed and laughed over some of them. Then we read our horoscopes and the movie reviews. Snofie wants to see "Freedom Writers" and was quite disappointed to see it got a bad review. I want to see "The Painted Veil" with Edward Norton. It looks really good and I love Edward Norton. We had vanilla lattes and afterward walked around the Short North for a little while. We mostly looked in windows as all that was opened were bars. We didn't even mind that it was raining a little.

It was freezing cold this morning but then the temperature went up to the 50's again this afternoon.

Po Po Pop worked day shift today and we had pizza for dinner. Snofie got new sneakers. An that's about it, it was a really exciting day. Actually, it was quite relaxing to not have anything going on. After we ate Po Po Pop and i lay around and watched TV. We are really into watching "Reba" and "Still Standing" re-runs. Those are two hysterically funny shows.

This is my new favorite sweater.

Last night around 7:00pm I took a sleeping pill, took a nice hot bubble bath and went to bed. It was absolutely wonderful. While I was in the tub Snofie came in and read a chapter book to me. She looked so cute sitting there with her legs all crossed and looking so grown up. It was a great moment to remember always. When I got out of the tub I went to bed and was asleep by 9:00pm, it was great. But then I was awakened at 1:00am by two cats fighting out in our back yard. Yeah, the back yard that is surrounded by a 6' privacy fence. They were in between the deck and the shed where we have Snofie's kiddy pool or as Snofie calls it, a kidney pool. They were making quite a racket, slamming the pool into the shed and deck as well as snarling and growling. I woke up PoPo Pop to go out there and shoo them out of the yard. I was worried that if one of them was injured and couldn't get over the fence that it would die back there and give me a scare when I came across it in the spring. Dead birds are icky enough to come across in the yard so I can imagine that a cat would be way worse. Speaking of dead carcasses makes me think of the dead bird we found last summer while we were gardening. Snofie named him toast.

This evening we met the McAleas at Skyline for kids night. Ciera wasn't there this evening and things just weren't the same without her there. Then for some reason, afterward I got an awful stomach ache. I must have felt really bad because Snofie talked me into letting her stay up a half hour past her bed time.

Snofie came home from school yesterday and asked if she could stay up to watch the OSU football game. I told her no because the game didn't start until after 8pm and she needed to get a good night's sleep for her reading test tomorrow. She said: "But Ms. Bohl gave us the whole test today so we could stay up for the game." I gave in and let her stay up. She fell asleep by 9:15pm though.

Before the game Snofie cut up a bunch of paper into a million tiny little pieces. She said it was confetti to throw for the imaginary pre-game party she was having. Okay. I showed her how to use the Swiffer and told her she could throw it around as long as she cleaned it up. She did clean every bit of it up with a bonus of the floors getting cleaned in the process.

When the game started Snofie got to see her very first Script Ohio by the marching band. She thought it was totally cool. We tried to imitate the tuba player who dots the i and we marveled at how amazing he is. The National Anthem was also cool because they had an American flag that was the size of the entire field, it was also amazing.

This morning, Tuesday, when woke up and checked the final score of the game on the computer. Since we had just woken up our eyes were all still sleepy and it looked like the score was 14 to 14. But how could there be a tie? Eventually we realized that the actual score was 41 to 14 and the Buckeyes lost. Or, as Snofie put it, they got stomped.

Then after we woke up even more with the help of some coffee we realized that it had snowed! There was a pretty good dusting covering the ground and our deck.

We are having a computer upgrade at work. It's going to be good once we all get adjusted to the change. I hate change. Anyway, Brad, computer guy from the plant, came down and Mark, computer sales/upgrade guy, was there also. It is so funny to watch them together, there is a lot of "professional tension" between them. I think because Mark went to college and owns his own business and Brad did not go to college and is quite sensitive about the subject. Here are some snip-its from their conversations:

Mark: You need to un-install that program.

Brad: Why, give me a good reason and I will.

Mark: Because, [technical mumble].

Brad: Why do you act like such a spaz?

Oh my god, he actually said "spaz", I haven't heard that word since 1987!

Here's more:

Mark: Did you see my new car? (Mercedes SUV)

Brad: What did you get such a small one for? Oh, wait, you're small.

Brad: We have a $50,000 mini van with all the extras.

It was such a fun day listening to them talk like this over in the next cubicle.

Oh, there was so much entertainment at work today!

Well, it's feeling a bit more like January around here with the temperature at 32 degrees.

We had our computer conversion at work today. I hate change / disruption like this but it did have an upside. The upside was that it drove Travel Guy crazy. He had been in the office on Friday and had pestered me all day, "Is my trip done yet? Is it? Huh? Huh?" His hovering certainly did not make me want to move very fast to finish it. So, this morning it still wasn't done. Now mind you, I have NEVER missed a deadline and I knew I had plenty of time to string him along awhile longer. Then we had a computer training meeting for a couple of hours which should have been terribly boring but for me it was fun because I'm mean. I know it was driving Travel Guy crazy. When we came out of the meeting we found that he, all 6'9" of him, had cleaned out the vent fans in the bathroom. Oh my god, that is hysterical! I hate him when he's in the office and love him when he is on the road.

Oh no, I am jealous of Mom's new daughter. Ok, she's just her friend but it doesn't feel that way. Rebecca is several years younger than I am and lives across the creek from my parents. I think my mom likes her because she doesn't argue with her and she is about as crazy over animals as Mom is. Here is the response I got to my gift: "I like the books but in your list of memories, well, Kavaguchi is Japanese not Chinese." (I had made her a book of 71 memories of us together and one of them had been of her helping me make a house for this doll, Kavaguchi.) So, I'm confused by that comment but moving on... They had Rebecca and her husband over for dinner last night and Mom went on and on about what a wonderful birthday it was having Rebecca there. Yup, I'm jealous of her new daughter.

Oh, I forgot the other news from when Ryan was over the other day: HE IS GOING TO COLLEGE. I am so glad that he finally figured out that that is the only way he is going to get ahead with his career. He got passed up for a promotion a while back. He had oodles of experience but they hired a guy from the outside who had more education. I guess that was the wake up call he needed.

Mom's 71st Birthday

Snofie had basketball practice today. There is this one girl on the team that is kind of mean. One day I watched her as she stood behind Snofie and bounced the basketball off her her head. Today the girls were doing some sort of formation or some such thing. Each girl had another girl to block. I must note that they all take practice seriously except for the Mean One. She kept running away form the girl who was supposed to be blocking her. I felt bad for the other kid. Snofie said she has an evil streak in school too. PoPo Pop made the same observation when he was at practice on Friday. I'm glad Snofie really isn't friends with her.

This evening Snofie and I watched a movie called "Still Small Voices", and yes, it was another Lifetime movie. We turned on the fireplace while we watched the movie too. It was really good, the company and the movie.

PoPo Pop has decided to move his office downstairs to the basement and move Snofie's playroom upstairs. Snofie doesn't like playing downstairs by herself anymore. She thinks that there are creepy critters in the crawl space. PoPo Pop plans on building a closet down there, re-doing the walls and laying new carpet.

Currently the walls are paneling which I painted red with a wide, yellow, toile boarder. I love that boarder and had the wall paint color done to match it. It is beautiful for a playroom but not very manly for PoPo Pop's office. Today we moved ALL of Snofie's toys, well, all except some stuffed animals, upstairs to her bedroom. Ryan came over and helped PoPo Pop move the doll house to Snofie's room. It fit perfectly. She loves the doll house as much as I did when I was her age. My dad made it for me one Christmas. He made it to match our house and the chimney is even made of pebbles for our creek. I can't believe everything fit in Snofi'e room! We finished in enough time to have lasagna for dinner and then all watch "Cops" together.

Wow, it is really warm again today, about 57 degrees this morning when we left for school. The only drawback to all this warm weather in January is that I woke up with a migraine this morning. It was bad enough that I took a Maxalt. Luckily it went away by the time Snofie had basketball practice. PoPo Pop went to practice with us.

Afterward we went to O'Charley's for dinner. There was a really long wait. While we were waiting our favorite waiter, Rich, came out to the lobby and gave us a hug and said he'd sit us at one of his tables. He is the greatest. We wound up talking to another couple while we were waiting and some how the topic of ginger ale came up. I ended up ordering one. When was the last time you had a ginger ale? It was really good. I also ordered a huge chicken salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges, pecans, cranberries and feta cheese. I am so getting it again, it was amazing.

The Best Kid in the Whole World

My daughter is the best kid in the whole world. I love spending time with her. Today, after school, we had a family diner - spaghetti with this totally awesome garlic bread - and then we watched another Lifetime movie called, "Troubled Waters". It was about this 5 year old girl who was kidnapped. Ii is totally amazing how Snofie pays such close attention to the details. She notices way more than I do. There was one part about the investigation of the shoe prints and who they belonged to. They were size 9 and a particular brand. About a half hour later they interview a guy about the shoes asking him if he has that brand. And there is Snofie, "ask him what size he wears, it's so obvious." I would have never thought of that. She picked up on a few other details that I found totally amazing.

PoPo Pop bought a mold for plaster of Paris or whatever you want to mold, off of E-Bay. It is a really big, about the size of a serving platter, and in the shape of a police badge. He worked on it this evening. While the plaster of Paris was setting we noticed that it was warm. I had no idea that plaster of Paris gives off heat. Anyway, the badge came out great and I resisted the urge to poke my finger in it while the plaster of Paris was still wet. Now PoPo Pop is going to paint it to look like his badge. One of the guys on his department just retired and he's thinking about giving it to him if it comes out ok.

The New Chair

I love the new chair and so do Snofie and PoPo Pop. It goes really well with our living room... but... (I hate that there is a but) the positioning of it in a way that one is able to see the TV from it throws off everything being on the same angle. I am going to have to make a huge effort to get used to everything not being even. It seems I am the only one who cares about the angle of things being even anyway. It reminds me of the episode of "Mad About You" where Jamie is the only one who is bothered by the slanty floors in their apartment. I love that show.

Screaming Sean

After work I picked up PoPo Pop on my way to pick up Snofie up from school. (Today was her first day back from winter break.) Before pick-up we went by Wal Mart. I am still having "day planner" issues. I think that I have finally found the perfect one. It's pink and has:

• Monthly views
• Weekly Views
• A notes section as part of the weekly view
• Lots of address pages

So, we picked Snofie and Tara up, dropped Tara and a pizza coupon off at her house, and picked Tim up. (Tim and PoPo Pop were going to pick up the new living room chair.) Only I dropped off the wrong pizza coupon to Kelly so we had to circle back and drop off the correct one. The guys went and picked up the chair and it fit perfectly in the back of my Element. Snofie finished her homework and then Kelly brought the kids over for pizza and to check out the new chair.

Right now we are really into PaPa Murphy's pizza. It's the take & bake kind. For $20.00 we got:

• A large cheese pizza
• A medium Mediterranean de-lite pizza (chicken, garlic, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese)
• A medium cheese pizza
• And a dessert cinnamon pizza

The Mediterranean pizza, which only kelly and I ate) was amazing. I ate three pieces when normally I only eat one.

Sean was trying to get the last of the frosting for the cinnamon pizza out of it's container when PoPo Pop came along and licked the spoon he was holding. We all thought it was funny but Sean did not.He started screaming and screamed until they all left about a half hour later. He was so mad at PoPo Pop for STEALING his frosting. Then he shifted his anger to his mother for ALWAYS STEALING FROM HIM and NEVER LISTENING TO HIM. It was so hard not to giggle. After they left PoPo Pop was leaning on the arm of the couch and said, "why is this wet? Gross!" I laughed because it was where Sean had had his face buried when he was screaming.

...And in with the new

Out with the old...

Good Bye to the Cat Pee Chair!

A simple, normal, lovely life...

I keep thinking about the most hysterically funny conversation I had with my mother-in-law on New Year's Eve. It went like this:

Rose: Guess who I met today?

Me: George Clooney?

Rose: No, but really close, Jason _______ (She said his last name but I can't remember it.)

Me: Oh. (I was trying to sound like I knew who she was talking about even though I had no

idea.)

Rose: I drove MaryLee past the Extreme Makeover house. (Oh, that's who she's talking about. I don't get though how Jason Whateverhisnameis is "really close" to George Clooney.)

Me: So, how did you meet him?

Rose: We were coming home from church and we went down Hamilton Rd. and we turned left on Langley and then we turned left on Lizzie Lane and (oh my god, get to the point) as we were going around the block Jason was out in his yard and we stopped the car and I got out of the car and I said, "excuse me sir but could i ask you a question, my daughter made you a scrap book and I was wondering if you got it?" (etc. etc. and yes, that really is one long sentence.)

I listened to her ramble on for a little while and then decided to change the subject which made things even funnier:

Me: I didn't know you went to church?

Rose: We used to go all the time when the kids were little up until PoPo Pop started convulsing during the service one Sunday.

Oh my god, did she just say convulsing? I couldn't say anything for fear I would bust out laughing and I didn't want to offend her like I did over the Jesus nightlights. One day we were at the dollar store where they had this bin of Jesus nightlights. I couldn't resist making fun of them and I must have offended Rose because she got upset. She still has the Jesus nightlight she got that day proudly displayed in her living room.

Anyway, back to PoPo Pop convulsing in church... Oh, my side hurts from laughing so hard. I don't consider myself a very religious / go to church kind of person but I do frequently find myself thanking God for my simple, normal, lovely life.

PS: I looked on line for a picture of a Jesus Nightlight and I swear, the above picture is the freakin exact Jesus Nightlight she has!

New Year's Day

PoPo Pop had the day off and so did I. We all slept in really really late. It was a great way to start 2007. When we finally did get up I made coffee and PoPo Pop made pancakes. Later we took down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house top top bottom. Also another great way to start 2007. As I sit here writing this I am thinking about how nice it is to have everything done and be in a totally clean house. But then... oh no:
Snofie: Sniffle...sniffle...
Me: (ignoring her)
Snofie: Do you want to know why I'm crying?
Me: OK
Snofie: Because I don't want to go back to school.