Saturday, January 31, 2009

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Still playin' in the snow


Rock On! funny picture
Funny Pics & MySpace Layouts



Not much going on lately but more snow in the forecast. What's new?

Rock on!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Ok, enough already



So our weather report is calling for 2-4 more inches tonight. These pics were taken earlier today. Everything has been covered with another layer since I took them. The kids had a 2 hour delay this morning. Probably because it was about 7 degrees outside. We actually got up to a whopping 18 for a high today. Tomorrow night is going to be the real kicker at -2 overnight. yeah.
Electric blankets, anyone?
Hubby is supposed to travel tomorrow. He is coming from an area with absolutely no snow - on the ground or in the forecast - to an Arctic blast. Sheesh, I hope he can get into our driveway. You can't see it in the picture can you? This is the reason we chose 4-wheel drive for our last automobile purchase. So I really CAN get out of the house if I need anything. No need to wait till the news' storm tracker radar announces anything. It's all a matter of when I feel like dressing like an eskimo to go get bread. Nice that we have that option.
Well, I suppose I am going to start doing some baking, just to keep the house all toasty warm. And you know, hot chocolate is good the first time you go sledding for the year. But it's not all that special when you drink it every day. So I think we are done here with the snow. I told the sky that today. It's not listening so far. My grandma used to have a saying that she learned from her mom. "Snow a fine meal, snow a great deal." And I have to say, the snowfall has been real mealy lately. I guess there is something to those old phrases and wives tales. At least the snowfalls haven't been as bad as they were years and years ago. I remember having snow 3-4 feet deep before. Haven't seen that again around here for a long while. And of course, I'm not asking for it! (I say as I look to the sky.)
So I guess Spring will be a big welcome when it gets here. I won't be looking forward to the "big melt" though when all this snow has to go somewhere. Hopefully, it won't be our basement. Of course, last year was the first year we had an indoor pool for a while. LB just loved that. The water was a bit chilly but he still loved being able to splash around inside the house.
(sigh) Good times.
Well, you all stay warm out there. Hope the relatives out on the upper West coast are doing OK. I know you guys have been getting slammed pretty good this season. And you New Yorkers, hope all is well and warm! I'm gonna go put on my slippers and get to baking. Take care all!!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

We had a little snow...

Well as you can see we have accumulated a bit in the last couple days. It's about time we had some sledding going on here. Puppy liked it too. LB kept calling her "Snow Dog". Cute.
The boys played in the back yard for a while, then had to go trekking across the street to the bigger hill in our neighbor's yard. They don't mind if the kids use their hill. Well, at least that's what BB told me. I hope they don't mind.
After red cheeks were accomplished, they came back home and got out of their wet clothes and had hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream waiting for them. It was real gooooooood. I was forced to finish LB's hot chocolate because he doesn't drink too much of that. Oh, woe is me. I HAD to drink up that warm chocolaty goodness. mmmmmmmm..... I hope they want to go sledding tomorrow too. :)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Our big night out





Well, we did have a good time on New Year's Eve. We got to the party as soon as they opened the doors at 6:30 and got a good seat. The place was decorated nicely with New Year's fedoras on the tables for the guys and tiaras for the girls. There were balloons and party horns and confetti. (LABELED Mountaineer Casino confetti - Yeah, they made a lot of moolah that eve) The tabletops were these huge round mirrors actually. So I could look straight down at that double chin I was ready to get rid of when my plate or napkin wasn't there. The place settings had - get this - 3 forks on the left, 3 knives on the right, a fork and spoon above the plate area and a bread plate with a spreader on it, champagne glass, water glass, and coffee cup. That's alot of hardware, people! All I remember from the movies is that you start from the outside and work your way in. So I did and that actually worked. So I looked like I knew what I was doing. Which is nice sometimes. We met some real nice people at our table and found out that Hubby went to elementary school in Virginia with a niece of a man sitting right next to us! Talk about your small worlds! He actually lived down the street from her. Funny how things come together in life!
We started getting food at about 8:30. We didn't get to try caviar. At least I didn't see it on any of our plates so I guess that will be another time. They must have changed a couple things at the last minute. Oh well. We got our appetizer. I believe it was called "lobster pillows". There were 3 little gelatinous, lobster flavored "pillows" of foam surrounded with lobster meat and a puff pastry in the middle. It was pretty good once getting past the whole texture issue. Then we were served our salad, which was a lettuce wedge with a creamy cheesy dressing topped with walnuts and other things that tasted pretty good. Then for our meal, we had a filet mignon served on a bed of risotto and asparagus. When we got our steak, the band began to play. Johnny Angel and the Halos played us some doowop as we chowed down. Apparently, they play in Pittsburgh all the time and are well known around here. They were pretty good. Hubby and I got to dance that night and we were so proud to remember our footwork on our Swing dance steps. We think we did well. We had fun and that's the main thing. After dancing a little, we went to sit down and dessert was there. It was a chocolate covered fudgie brownie thing in a nice presentation. I thought about taking pictures of each plate to show you all, but after I ate it of course. heehee Sorry!
Anyway, after the band took a break we went out to the casino to try out the one-armed bandits. I won $3.30 in the nickel slots and actually stopped there! Hubby convinced me to cash out instead of what I probably would have done. Put it right back in the machines. We decided to go back to the ballroom to get ready for the champagne toast. We danced some more and made sure we were on the dance floor when midnight hit. They had balloons falling down on all of us and we toasted. I've never been in a balloon shower before. It was fun! Then we just walked around and checked out the rest of the casino. There were 3 other bands playing music in different areas. In the Pretty Boy Floyd's lounge area, they had a classic rock band. Very good. And in their "Mahogany Bar" they had 2 piano players playing a variety of music. They were awesome! One of the players is an elementary music teacher by day. The other guy that played was so good, you couldn't see his hands they were moving so fast.
After we sat in there for a bit, we decided it was time to get home. I have never smelled like smoke so strong in my life. We had to put our clothes outside on the patio to air out overnight. When we changed into our comfy loungy clothes, me and Mom of DDG played a little Guitar Hero and we all had lots of giggles that night! It was definitely a great night all in all.
The boys had a good time too that night. They got to stay with Grandma and were going to stay up to ring in the year. BB made it no problem because he loves to stay up late! LB made it till about 10:30 I'm told. Maybe next year!
Hope you all had a wonderful time!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a great time ringing in the new year. I decided to ring it in with a stomach virus. Hence, the long time between posts. yeah me. OK, we did actually ring it in at the Mountaineer Casino Celebration first and THEN....
Today I feel much better and am ready to start the new year off right with the old standard resolution of losing weight and getting healthier. I have enjoyed the Wii Fit we got for Christmas and am planning on using it quite frequently. Hey I did lose 5 pounds already just being sick so I am off to a good start. Sort of.
The kids really like the Wii also. Even LB whom I wasn't sure about. It's nice because we all get active with this, so this may be a resolution for the whole family to get healthier this year. BB got the Smackdown vs.Raw 2009, and on the Wii you actually have to move to get your character to do certain moves. So BB has been burning a few calories with that. LB loves the Outdoor Challenge game which involves some running, jumping, balancing, and all kinds of movement. That should help out his little muffin top. Hubby is already healthy anyway because he is extremely good at staying committed to being fit. But I think he enjoys it too.
So here's a toast to the new year and newer health.

Hey Dumbledork, what was that about toast again? :)