Playing in the snow at Grandma's

Backyard fun,
Christmas Day.
Deep snow.
Uncle Dean with the snowblower...Sam's igloo..
i rest on a snowbank..
Path to the crow feeder..and back.
Icy images.
Time for warm cocoa & cookies.
Inside.

Journey to Wisconsin

Sitting on the runway.  Sam to my left, Colby to my right.  Pilot just announced that our flight time will be 2 hours, 11 minutes.  Snowing and zero degrees in Mpls.  Here at RDU, 60-some degrees.  Drastic climate change.  Must turn off electronics now.  see ya!! :-)

Funny moment before the taxi arrived… 11-y.o. Sam, upon being asked to stuff her winter coat into her checked bag instead of lugging it through the airport: “but then i have to go through the HARSHNESS of having to zip it up again.”  ahh, love her choice of words.  and, knowing that she’s inherited her mom’s style of packing, yes, it would be harsh.  ;-)

HIgh in the sky now, electronics buzzing again.  Trays slapped down in eager anticipation of .00025 oz. bag of cookies and 1 oz. soda in plastic cup.  

yes, folks, this here everyday blog is my online diary of daily mundane details.  not the deep thoughtful stuff.  Though these clouds rushing by the window are putting me in a thoughtful mode here… wish i were traveling someplace exotic...where they don’t speak english, but sells mangoes on street corners and stray dogs go trotting into grocery stores. don’t think i’ll find that in minnesota, wisconsin.. just some overweight packer fans drinking beer and eating deep-fried cheese curds.  

waiting for my food. ears popping. turbulence.  need that food now please.

cute pug in seat kitty corner from me. that’s ironic. a dog sitting kitty corner.  i need a dog. random thoughts.

airline attendants wheel by with the big bulky cart, repeating their mantra, “watch your elbows, watch your knees…”  ok, i’m watching them.  will they do tricks?  sure wish my daughter’s bony elbows would share the arm rest a bit more compassionately.  planning passive-aggressive move of pretending to fall asleep and taking over her space, mwa-ha-haaaa….oops, now she’s reading this, my bad… she’s frowning at me and elbowing me quite harshly.  sorry.  now she’s writing her own blog on her tablet, and calling me a jubilant monkey.  that’s ok.  i love monkeys. especially the white-faced cappuchin and spider monkeys i’ve seen in the blogs about costa rica. just dreaming, one day…  But beware: monkeys will throw their poop at you. so don’t get them mad.

poor sam. dude in front of her is a pilot resting up for a later flight, and he’s using his entitlement to lean his chair back into Sam’s lap, practically.  So we can inspect his freckled greying scalp. ew.

ok. more observations of this flight.  oh dear.  i think i will have to use the loo.  (i’m loving that word now. loo loo loo loo loo loo….) I do not enjoy using airplane loos. just saying.   will say no more.   

ok, i’m back.  that was, ummm, interesting.  a real high-in-the-sky experience. oh wait. was going to say no more.  err, just one thing, note to self: always remove phone from back pocket before squatting (good for your gluts) on plane loo. you don’t wanna go down there..

ah, snack time. sounds of soda tabs popping, cookie wrappers crinkling. higher levels of happiness among passengers.  sleep-inducing snacks consumed, lazy heads lolling back and forth on reclined headrests.  mouths hanging open, oh gross. don’t look. babies crying. pug behaving perfectly. i need a dog.

sitting in rental car. in frozen rental parking lot. mpls. 2 degrees fahrenheit. can see our breath.  made it this far. found a starbucks in the airport, got our frappucinos and dark roast, ahhh. Baggage claim. 5 hefty bags flung onto a cart we rented for $5.  Well worth every penny as we schlepped our bandwagon across miles of MSP airport, bumbled it onto the tram for a high-speed, careening ride on the rails, and to the budget rental place. Dealbreaker came when I rolled it out into the parking lot, cringing at the onslaught of zero degree winds, and was faced with the daunting task of spotting the little “C3” sign on the parking space with our awaiting vehicle, above the perilously balanced mound of suitcases on the cart.  speed bumps. what? did you say speed bumps?  WHOOOOOOAAAA---CRASH!!! Over they go, suitcase after suitcase, clunking down off the pile and onto the frozen slush.  I bust out laughing, and as I’m shot with a disapproving look, I lean over to pick them up and SPLOOOOSH there goes my dark roast, out of my cup and down the side of my jeans.  I stop and stare in awe at the steam rising from my jeans. wow. i mean,i knew i was hot, but wow....oh never mind. it’s just the coffee in the cold air.  I rebuild the king of the mountain of suitcases and continue sludging along.   When my struggles become apparent, my job is taken over by another who, unknowingly  hits another lovely speed bump, sending our 300 pounds of cargo once again sprawling across the ice.  HA!!! I’m hooting uncontrollably this time, but unfortunately I am laughing alone. oh well. i find delight in the simple silly things…sometimes at the expense of others. sorry.

sitting in mcdonalds drive-thru. battling our spot in line along the snow-covered parking lot. tiny flecks of snow in the air, not sure if they’re flurries or just blowing. sunny blue skies.

that's all for now... the journey continues at Grandma & Grandpa's house. 

Merry Christmas!!!!

Ninja takeover

Ooh now i'm ready to brawler punch this retarded blogger app, just lost all my poetic waxing text..feelin and g skin turn green...shirt ripping...don't make me angry blogger....you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.....

ok, fine. i'm not mad.  i will rewrite this stupid thing for the third. FREAKING. time. deep breath. i'm not mad...

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....in lieu of my usual once a week bantering, rambling, ranting foaming at the mouth recourse of my weekly boxing or body combat class, (this is getting worse and worse each time...and why-oh-why-do-do-this-to-an-empty-audience-of...hello out there???? echo....hello hello hello...)  in lieu of all that, what a funny word, lieu, like a bathroom-loo, loo-loo-loo-loo-sounding weirder by the second....now what was i saying?)  oh yeah. so today i shall attempt to wax poetically (like waxing a car, a surfboard..) about the beauties the agonies and defeats of this absolutely ridiculous week before Christmas, someone give me another ninja-bread cookie and a slug of egg nog, please... about how I used my fighting prowess to roundhouse-kick my way through crowded shopping centers, karate-chopping my way to the front of retail check-out lines, muay-thai-shoving my car back through the throngs of lunatic holiday drivers on crack, jitzu-wrestling or however it's spelled, irritable as heck sticky tape onto combative packages of plastic junk for next year's yard sale... wow i'm sounding like the grinch already...whilst (good word) slathering my already sickened arteries with the molten-lava lard of too much Christmas candy, cupcakes and ninja-bread cookies.  oh and the poetic part..

Twas the week before Christmas when all through the house..
not a creature was stirring but my highly distractable brain and whatever rhymes with mouse.



My boxing gloves and wraps, they lay in a heap,
on my tired gym bag, not making a peep (or a pow!)

sick day fun

sick day fun with webcam, kitties, & colby on minecraft.

more later...maybe. time for chicken soup & a nap.

ho-ho-BAM!!!

That's it.  Gotta hit some bags.  Before somebody gets hurt.

I was "this" close to jumping over those ropes... "let me try that!!!!"

Class summary:  Work-out broken down into stations: 4 quadrants inside the "cage", as they call the area between all the bags.  1st quadrant = sandbags, extremely creative planks and push-ups, even a new move called "slurpies", a cross between a burpie and a SLAM to the floor with a 12 lb. sandbag.  2nd quadrant= a boxing/kickboxing combo on the bags.  3rd quadrant = kettlebell lifts and more core work, crunches, 4th quadrant = hit the bags again.  

Best part = they seemed to have their Pandora stations set to Aerosmith, Guns n Roses, and J. Geils Band, "Love Stinks, yeah, yeah!!!!!!"

love it.

dictionary

Beloveled:  that feeling of being loved but belittled.  IMHO an oxymoron.  ugh.

Lazy cold-intolerant mommy

The epitome of pure, unadulterated laziness: driving one block to the bus stop and waiting for my kids while sipping tea in my warm car because i hate cold weather!