Like

If life had a big ol' Like button a la facebook I would totally click Like on these things today:

Traffic (or the absence thereof) during K-12 spring break
M&M's (not the coconut ones which are a total "dislike" (eeuw!) but plain ol' candy coated milk chocolate M&M's. Mmmmm!)
Texting during a meeting so it looks like you're answering professional emails (Shhh!)
JibJab's Easter cards
Lunch with the work spouse
Blogging
The "like" button on facebook
The absence of a "dislike" button on facebook
Friends who offer the use of their guestroom
Sunshine
Radio stations on iTunes
The morning news (Because it's much more positive than the evening news. Go figure.)
Pretty fumes (Some people say "perfume.")
Google maps
The ringtone on my cell phone ("Summon the Heroes" anyone?)
Blonde streaks
The possibility of a certain teenager having a summer job
Netflix movies via Wii
Freshly laundered sheets
Very active board members (Job security - yee haw!)
Skype
Momisms (Flow snurries, people. Flow snurries.)
Laughter
The Turkey's laughter
The fact that The Turkey no longer needs daycare
Comfy mumfies (Mmmm!)
Tush toasters in the car
A good book

...and...

YOU! :-)

Marching to a different drummer

It's March 29th? Really? When did that happen? Where did the month go?

Um. No. Not so great for a blog opening. Hmmm. Try this one: 

March. Marching on. Marching to a different drummer.

Um. Still no. I mean, everyone knows I march to a different drummer. No secret there. 

March madness.

Duh! And still no. Sigh.

I'm gettin' my blog on again... (Ah. Much better!) I am not quite sure where March went, other than it's almost out the door. Madness, indeed! What the heck did I do this month? Basketball? No. Trips? No. Black tie events? Definitely no. Work? Yes. Fun? YES. But I can't tell you exactly what it was. Drat. Let's do a little BSI (blog scene investigation, in case you were wondering) and see what happens. Maybe we can recreate a little of the fun. Grab the popcorn and let's go! (Make mine with extra butter and lots of salt.) (Please.) (Can't forget the please.)

Um.

Yeah.

Well...

It looks like March was boring. Boooooorrrrrrrrrrriiiiinnngggggg. The work time was busy, the evenings were full, the weekends were weekends, spring break happened (and was also boring, just in case you were wondering), and the weather has gotten progressively better. Yep. March. Yawn.

I did get some fluff-a-doodle-doo time during spring break and came out blonder. Yee haw! The hairs are highlighted so it's not all-over color but the effect is definitely, well, blonder. Whether or not blondes have more fun is still in research stages, but the funness (a word?) of the streaks is definitely me. Wanna see? Of course you do!
 

Oops. That's not it. That was taken via Skype one night. Cute, but not the One.

Aha! This is still not the One but is a picture of the two of us with Mr. and Mrs. T at their farewell party. Mr. T is the teacher that organized the trip to Turkey 2 years ago and hosted the boys every Saturday night for calculus club. Did you catch the past tense there? No more calculus club. Nope. The T's moved back to Turkey last week. See Mrs. T's tears in the photo? Heck, see how tall the Turkey is? See my blondness?  (Oooo! This is like an old fashioned game of I Spy!)

Ding! We have a winner! So it's not the best picture, nor in the best light, but you get the general idea. Blonde streaks mixed in with ... huh? ... are those curls? Yep. I even brushed them before the picture was taken so they are smoother than usual if you can believe it. (The hairs, that is. I brushed the hairs. Please, no fuzzy teeth!) I'm not quite sure what's happening but my hair is getting curly with age. Yes, this is the same girl that spent the first 40 years of life trying to manufacture curls and now it's a simple matter of scrunch-and-go. Finally!

So what else did March bring? Let's see... The Turkey and I both had/have spring breaks. Three cheers for time off! The only problem is that our breaks did not coincide. Grrrrr. So during my spring break I was still getting up at o-dark-early-thirty to get the kid to school and supervising homework in the evenings. Early mornings and homework do not an exciting spring break make. At least it was a few days I didn't have to battle rush hour traffic or get dressed up. I'll take whatever I can get.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is The Turkey's spring break. Now. Yep, he's currently on spring break and I don't think he's showered yet. (Thank goodness it's only Monday!) His day was spent ... Wait. Let's try that again ... After waking up slightly before noon (more like it!), his day was spent on the computer, eating, playing online games, eating, watching tv, eating, playing online games, eating, eating, and more tv. Oh, and now he's eating again. Figures.

We are planning a spring break trip for later this week which will include ... hold on to your hat ... his first college tour. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that. College? My kid? Already? Sigh. I'll post details as soon as they are settled, but let's just say this will be quite a wonderful and eponymous trip. (Using my SAT words!)

The Turkey just discovered I was blogging and thought it would be cool to do something crazy like run out and buy a Lamborghini so I could blog about it. Ha! Good try, dude. See? Our lives really aren't boring, they are just sometimes difficult to translate into bloggese. (One "g" or two? Blogese? Does it really make a difference?)

And on that note, I must say adieu for now. It's late and unlike some people in this house, I have to work tomorrow. Toodles!


PMG - happy now?

*Yawn!*

Today was the first day since February 5th that the Turkey started school on time. That's 17 days, folks. Seventeen days of leisurely mornings due to snow and ice came to a grinding halt this morning. It was quite a rude awakening getting up at O' God Early Thirty and being in the car by 6:35 a.m. While this night owl turkey is happy the kids are once again getting a full day's worth of educational instruction, it also means getting back into a routine of things like planning ahead, earlier bed times, packing lunches the night before and, best yet, naps. (A big YEE HAW on the naps notion!) Nephew here has the right idea -- yawn!

Is it nap time yet?

Smilage

It's Tuesday. The snow is slowly melting but there is still more on the ground than our normal annual accumulation. I am back at work. The kids go back to school tomorrow but on a shortened schedule. Now there are new worries about killer potholes and flooding caused by the melting. Oh, and rumors of another nor'easter for the end of the month. Heavy sigh. Moving to Florida is sounding better and better.

But on a much Much MUCH more positive note -- and because snow is now a four letter word -- I just have to share this cool group, Improv Everywhere. How awesome that they create smiles among vast groups of people without asking for a dime in return. Just a bunch of peeps with a vast cadre of volunteers dispensing happiness. Neato burrito! I especially liked the Little League mission called "Best Game Ever." The text and still photos are utterly fantastic about describing what happened -- this is seriously cool stuff, people! -- and give a great perspective of how it all went down. It's also on YouTube (but not quite as goose-bump-inducing; you really should click on that link above and read the description; just sayin'):



Totally cool! Those kids and families had a great experience that day all because some people wanted to dispense smiles. Betcha you too experienced some smilage. ;-)

After all that snow a warm smile feels really good.

Keep smiling, turkeys!

snOMG #2

It's Snowmageddon II, also known as snOMG 2 or Snowpocalypse Part Deux. Again. It's our very own real life version of Groundhog Day. "Well, it's [a Snow] Day... again..."

As I did the past few days, I dutifully headed outside this morning with the shovel to try to get ahead of the accumulation. A noisy but welcome snow plow had been working in the neighborhood between 12 and 12:30 a.m. and I was also curious to see what havoc had been wreaked upon our previous shoveling jobs.

 

That there is our street with no new havoc. The plow peeps actually managed to widen the street! Yee haw! There are humongous banks of snow at every corner which will make visibility a wee bit challenging but, hey, it's almost a 2-lane street again. Almost. Mr. Snow Plow also did a fantastic job of not blocking the driveway too much:

 

Those two tracks are my morning shoveling. Not that we're going anywhere in this blizzard, mind you -- no, no, no! -- it's just nice to be a little ahead of the game. We will need to work the shovel muscles again tomorrow and widen the driveway access and locate sidewalks again, but those are only minor inconveniences, not havoc, from Mr. Plow.

But the funniest part of the morning excursion was to my right at the end of the driveway: 

 

See it? See that funny thing that looks like a candy cane in the middle of the picture? Guess what it is? Hmm. You've seen pictures of it before. Give up? Drum roll, please... That's our MAILBOX! :-) Poor Mr. Mailbox!

All told, we are expecting another 10" of snow today, Wednesday. School is canceled until next week and we are hunkered down for yet another day of cooking, reading, playing on the computer, talking with friends, possibly doing a little cleaning, intermittent shoveling and yet more shoveling and digging out tomorrow. It is so totally Groundhog Day.

"I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life." Roger that, Phil. 

Plow tease

At 5:15 pm I heard it. That diesel motor, the vibration under foot, yellow lights flashing, county emblem emblazoned on the side. Yes, friends, it was a snow plow sighting in the neighborhood. Oh, what relief! Freedom was finally on the horizon! Yee haw! I rushed outside and met the neighbors, waving shovels and cheering as the truck headed down the street.

So when the plow dumped a bunch of sand and backed out of the community we were baffled. What? No plowing? Our collective excitement deflated faster than the Hindenburg. Huh? What happened? Why would the plow tease us like that? Turns out that the plow arm on the front was broken (too much snow?) and the driver said he "might be back tomorrow."

Might? Be. Back. Tomorrow? Puh-leeze quit the tease and just plow. Pretty please. With whipped cream on top?

Snowmageddon III

24. That's veinticuatro, vierundzwanzig, twentyfour or XXIV.

24 inches is the official snow total for the pink turkey's abode. Considering we don't usually exceed 15" in an entire winter, 24" in 28 hours is mind boggling. (Back and shoulder boggling if you are the one wielding the shovel!)

We headed out on this bright and sunny day to make more of that 24" vamoose from the driveway and sidewalks.

 

...and then we shoveled a little further in to the street. Still no plow so it may be another day or two before we can go anywhere.  You can see what I mean:

And here's a side street:

 

The lines in the snow are where people have been walking. No trucks, no cars, no plows are making it through there. 

Our house.  I particularly like the "halo" created by the sun. Mr. Sun was a huge help in getting rid of some of the ice today. Thanks, Mr. Sun! I hope you come back tomorrow, too. 

Oh. Remember the mailbox pictures from yesterday? Here's the mailbox post shoveling: 

Somehow I think we may be getting a new mailbox come spring.

We also discovered that our favorite Italian restaurant at the end of the street is actually open today. Hooray! Not that we are wanting for food, but it's always nice to get out and, heck, a pizza during the Super Bowl is always VERY welcome.

Hmm. Wonder if they have wings, too?