Work and Play

Bill returned yesterday from a business trip to Reno for a hearth products trade show. We all missed him like crazy! He had some really long days, but overall the trip went well. As you can see, a late-night game of Blackjack proved to be quite lucrative for him. It's a good thing too, since my little Ebay addiction flared while he was away...but that's a story for another time.

Slumber Party

We had a sleep-over with Cousin Finn last night. We played games, watched a movie, ate pizza, and did pedicures. By this morning, Will and Maddie were begging Nicole to buy the house down the street so they could hang out with him all the time.

Nope, none of these toes are Madison's...

Just a wee bit Irish...

Happy St. Pat's Day

The kids and I went to the St. Patty’s Day Parade in St. Paul yesterday with Nicole and Finn. There was more wild green clothing, crazy drunk people and bagpipers than I have ever seen! Bejaysus!

Have you ever noticed something funny about Irish people? I know, I know…that’s a loaded question with limitless answers. You could respond with “they could jab your arse off”, “they fancy their pints of Guinness”, or “they swear a wee bit more that your average lad”. But, the answer I was leading up to is: they only seem to claim the Irish-portion of their heritage, no matter how small.

Take my husband and kids, for example. It physically pains Bill to admit that he’s part German (and he’ll be really ticked off that I told you all). And he’s passes it on to our kids, too. Today when I asked them about their ancestry, they both claimed to be only Irish. When asked “Why?” Madison responded, “I thought we had to be. Isn’t Gallagher is an Irish name?” And Will responded, “Because being German is pretty boring.” I guess it’s hard to compare stoicism, polkas, and Hitler to leprechauns, green things and a pint o’ Guinness.

One of Bill's greatest dreams is that both of our kids marry people of 100% Irish heritage as to not further dilute the Gallagher blood lines as he and his father have done. Puh-leeze! (Apparently German women are just too irresistible for certain Gallagher men.)

I will admit there is something fun about being Irish, even if it is in name only. So, next year, the German and the Scandinavian daughter-in-laws, with Irish last names, want to organize a “Gallagher Family” entry in the St. Paul St. Patty’s Day parade. A melting pot, indeed!

And to end, a little Irish blessing for you all:

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers—

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours—

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through

Book List

Directions: Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read
*Italicize the ones you want to read
*leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2.Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10.A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
12.Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16.Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(J.K. Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45 Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jone's Diary (Helen Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100.Ulysses (James Joyce)

I found this list while blog-surfing. I thought my "book-aholic" sister, Jill and my book-club-friends might find it interesting. I've always considered myself a good reader, but after going through this list, I've read only about 25% of the ones on here. I know, I know...less TV, more books...

There are a few in there that I'd like to read but just haven't gotten around to yet. And, there are several that I have read in the past and am planning to read again. But, there are many in there that I haven't even heard of. Does that make me a loser?? Do you think it counts if I've seen the movie??

I'm not tagging anyone but if you'd like to do this, have fun!

Warning...

Consider this a warning for those of you out there desiring whiter teeth:

I recently visited my dentist and was offered a great deal on the Zoom! Whitening System. Sure, I’d like whiter teeth…how could I pass it up? I really didn’t pay much attention to the warnings in small print on the information pamphlet regarding increased sensitivity and tingling sensations. “Hmphhhh,” I thought to myself, "No worries…I’m pretty tough. I sailed through childbirth to twins with a malfunctioning epidural. I’ve walked a 60-mile breast cancer walk with my femur rubbing against my tibia…3 times. For God’s sake, don’t waste my time with warnings from a tooth-whitener brochure.”

So, I finished the 2 hour procedure without any problems. By the time I got home, I had a couple “zings” through my teeth. They were here and gone in a second…no big deal. While I was Googling “Zoom!”, I came across a blog with postings from many people complaining about the horrendous pain and misery they had suffered as a result of this process. All their episodes appeared to be pretty short-lived, but nonetheless, many people were seriously questioning if the results were really worth the agony. At this point, I was feeling pretty proud of myself and thinking, “Come on, people…Really. Agony? Suffering? Are you serious?? It’s just bleach and teeth!” I experienced a few more “zings” that afternoon and thought I was out of the woods.

And then it started. It began as a “zing” in my bottom teeth that relented a little, but just wouldn’t go away. I decided that keeping my mouth closed was the best option. So, I was silent…and hungry…and thirsty. I tried Ibuprofen. I tried Tylenol. I tried pinching my leg and biting the inside of my cheek as to divert my attention from my throbbing, aching mandible. Poor Bill even asked if I was mad at him a couple times. Apparently, I have similar reactions when I’m pissed off and when I’m reaching the brink of insanity due to pain.

Now its 10:00 pm. I’m exhausted, I’m crabby, I’m near tears, and I’m desperate. As I rifled through our “pharmacy” drawer, tossing aside Benadryl, Triaminicin, Vicks rub, Midol, Rolaids, vitamin C and calamine lotion, I finally found the answer to my prayers. There it was…one single white pill…Vicodin. YES! I ignored the expiration date on the prescription bottle that was labeled “October 2001” and took that pill with as little water as possible as to not get my teeth wet (that's really not easy, BTW). Thank God I didn’t throw it away during past cleaning sprees. The universe must have known that single pill was destined for a great cause in the future.

To wrap things up, I soon fell into a drug-induced sleep and was fine by morning. But I do want to apologize to all those people who I referred to as “a bunch of wusses”. I’m sorry! I’ll never be judgmental of your pain tolerance again.

You gotta see it!

I just saw one of the best movies I have seen for a very long time. You have to understand that my taste in movies may be considered a bit un-feminine. In fact, the LOTR trilogy is my favorite of all time, and I also really liked “Fight Club”. I have hated movies like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “The Breakup”. So, take this recommendation with a grain of salt, but I loved “300”!

It’s poetic, artistic, and incredibly bloody. This is the plot line:

In 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes sends his massive army to conquer Greece. The Greek city of Sparta houses its finest warriors, and 300 of these soldiers are chosen to meet the Persians at Thermopylae, engaging the soldiers in a narrow canyon where they cannot take full advantage of their numbers. The battle is a suicide mission, meant to buy time for the rest of the Greek forces to prepare for the invasion. However, that doesn't stop the Spartans from throwing their hearts into the fray, determined to take as many Persians as possible with them. It is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name.

We saw it on the IMAX screen…and it was so awesome! In one review I had read, it stated “See it on the biggest screen with the loudest speakers possible.” I totally agree.

For all you NetFlix subscribers…5 stars.

YouTube Pick of the Day: 300 Trailer

Creative Scavenger Hunt

This is what I came up with in response to the game (see post below). You better brace yourself, here's my attempt at creativity...

1) Morning: Simply stated, this is my view upon waking each morning. (But much more blurry, of course!)





2) WOW!: For some reason, these pictures and memories from our trip to Ireland several years ago were the first thing to pop into my mind when I thought of this topic yesterday. These are the Cliffs of Mohr along the western coast of Ireland, in County Clare just south of Galway. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was so incredible to lay down on the rocks and scoot up to edge on our bellies. It actually makes my stomach turn to think about it. At the highest point, it is 700 feet above the sea. An average of 10 tourists die here every year because they get too close to the edge and a strong gust of wind pushes them off ,or the ground gives way. Nope, no guard railings here, folks!

Bill is in the picture above, that's my head in the picture below. Wow, I'm really glad Bill and I survived this vacation!

3) Happiness: This is what makes me happy...

4) Lost: I wimped out on this one and took the easy, literal way out...I couldn't think of anything else.

5) Unexpected: You weren't expecting this, were you!?!?

Let's see yours...

South American Sara

Who's up for a game??

Who's up for a little game to get your creative juices flowing??

Here's the deal:
Sometime between now and Monday, post something that correlates with each of the following words:

1) Morning
2) WOW!
3) Happiness
4) Lost
5) Unexpected

Anything goes. It can be a picture (old or new), a short story, a link, whatever. Kinda like a creative scavenger hunt!

When you post something, be sure to link it so we can check each others out.

Easy, huh? So don't think it's weird...just play!

Birth order (and a really funny story)

In case any of you were wondering about the effects of birth order on appearance in children...check out my sister, Jill's post for her theory using our family as an example.

But first, you may want to read her account of "The Skipping Contest". She's a funny, funny girl...my belly still aches and I'm wiping tears from my eyes...

The Wonder Spot

More snow...more pictures...

YouTube Pick of the Day: Be Careful Playing in the Snow!

WOO HOO!! No school!!

I was a bad mom this morning. I sent the kids out to catch the bus to school this morning (...twice, actually), unbeknownst to me that it had been cancelled. As the kids came back inside after waiting for a bus that never showed up, I overheard Madison telling Will, "I told you crossing your fingers works!" It was truly a joyous day for couple of 8 year olds!

My neighbor, Nancy braved the weather to get this great shot of the kids in the back yard enjoying their snow day.

Varen, you made the blog!

...told you I'd do it.

Early Memories

It has been documented that children do not start forming memories until they reach the age of 3 - 3 ½ . It’s really amazing to me to think that we can exist in this dynamic world, absorbing an incredible amount of information and learning at a pace that far bypasses any college curriculum; and yet, be unable to recall actual moments from the first several years of our existence. It makes me sad knowing that my kids will probably not be able to remember the times I rocked them to sleep while singing their very own songs which I composed; how it felt to dance the day away to sounds of Raffi; or the countless hugs and kisses from their Grandma Karen. Thank God for pictures and video.

I don't really have any memories prior to age 5. And unfortunately, the few I can think of off the top of my head right now, have absolutely nothing to do with great vacations, wonderful family bonding moments or life-altering experiences. In fact, it's a little scary to think about what my kids will remember... Anyway, here's my memories:

Memory #1) “Huh…who is that little boy?” I’m sure you all remember how exciting it was on the day yearly school pictures arrived. Well, that was my exact thought after looking at the photo my mom held up for me to see. To provide a little background, up until Kindergarten, I had really long, beautiful, wavy hair. Apparently it got to be too overwhelming for my mom to handle with raising three girls ages 5, 3, and 1. So, before I started school, she decided to get my hair cut into a “cute, short little pixie style”. To this day, I’m not really sure what a pixie style is, but that’s what she always called it when I asked her about it in the years following. I don’t know if the haircut was still new to me, or if I really didn’t have a concept of my appearance. Either way, I looked like a boy.

Memory #2) Absolute humiliation and embarrassment while cleaning mud from the floor of my Kindergarten room with paper towels. Most days, I would walk the short, 1-block jaunt to school. On the way, I’d pick up my friend Nikki Wanner, whose house was across the street from the school playground. This particular day we must have decided to walk straight through a mud puddle. We tracked little muddy footprints all over our classroom. A very irate Mrs. Greco made us crawl across the floor, cleaning mud with paper towels while all our classmates watched us. Keep in mind that I was a painfully shy child who didn’t like to call one bit of attention to myself at all. I’m pretty sure I cried of embarrassment when I got home that day! I wonder if Nikki remembers that?

Memory #3) "I’m not voting for Jimmy Carter. His teeth are too big." It was the 1976 presidential election – Gerald Ford(R) vs. Jimmy Carter(D). Mrs. Ackerman, our first grade teacher, had given us our “Weekly Reader” and instructed us to complete the Presidential Election Ballot on the back page. There was each candidate’s name with a blank check-box next to their pictures. I voted for Gerald Ford that day because Jimmy Carter’s teeth were much too big for his mouth. Now, my family has never been political. At all. In fact, I’m sure it was never a topic of conversation during my entire childhood except for this one instance. When I went home that afternoon, I asked my mom about the election. I clearly remember her saying that I did the right thing by voting for Ford since there aren’t any Democrats in South Dakota anyway.






I'd love to hear some of your first memories as well!

Snow Day

Most of Minnesota braced for the weekend blizzard. It was a beautiful snow...and what made it even more beautiful, was that we had nowhere else to be.

This was the neighborhood scene about 10 am this morning. If nothing else, it gave us all a chance to catch up with each other after several months of hibernation.

...and a good time was had by all!

List of 4's

I just got a "List of 4's" from my high-school friend, Steph. I thought I'd share it will you all:

FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE
1. Trauma & Neurosurgery Nurse Clinician
2. ICU Nurse
3. Perkins waitress (will go down in my record book for "Most Horrible Job", ever)
4. Babysitter
FOUR MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED OVER AND OVER
1. Lord of the Rings (yep…all of them.)
2. Love Actually (I have a thing for British accents)
3. Star Wars (not really by my choice – just because people in my family always seems to have it playing.)
4. Forrest Gump (an oldie but a goodie!)
FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Charleston, West Virginia
2. Overland Park and Olathe, Kansas
3. New Haven, Connecticut
4. Bradenton, Florida
FOUR TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH
1. LOST
2. The Office (almost too funny for TV!)
3. Brother's & Sister's
4. Grey's Anatomy

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY

1. All the links on my blog (some of you should really post more often!)

2. MSNBC

3. You Tube

4. Ebay

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION
1. Ireland
2. Key West, Florida
3. Hawaii
4. Bar Harbor, Maine
FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. Mexican
2. Thanksgiving feast
3. Italian
4. Ice Cream
FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
1. On a caribbean cruise with my husband
2. Seattle (to help my baby sister celebrate her birthday tonight! – Happy Birthday, Gina!!)
3. Disney World with my family
4. At the bank cashing in my lottery check

Now, you're all tagged...

The good old days

So, I went out for lunch today with my kids and our neighbors Brendan and Clare….and I had a very “old” moment. The conversation went something like this:

Will: “Hey you guys, Britney Spears shaved her head!”
Maddie, Clare and Brendan: “WHAT?”
Brendan: “Why would she do that?
Me: “They think she might be going crazy.”
Maddie: “Well, you go crazy all the time, and you haven’t shaved your head, mom.”
All: "Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Clare: “Oooohhh! I love this song!”
(Faintly hear music playing overhead…almost too faintly for my 36 year old ears…)
Suddenly all 4 kids start singing while other people in the restaurant turn their heads our way:
“One Prozac a day, husbands a CPA…her dreams went out the door, when she turned 24…”
“She was gonna be an actress, she was gonna be a star, she was gonna shake her hee-hee-hee on the hood of White Snake’s car…"
“Since Bruce Springstein, Madonna, way before Nirvana, there was U2 and Blondie, and music still on MTV, her 2 kids in high school they tell her that she’s uncool, she’s still preoccupied with 19, 19, 1985. …”
“She’s seen all the classics, she knows every line, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, even St. Elmo’s Fire. She rocked out to Wham, not a big Limp Bizkit fan, thought she’d get a hand on a member of Duran Duran…”
“When did Motley Crue become classic rock? Please make this stop – stop – stop.”

WHAT?!?! Who are these little people that are sitting here, surrounding me at McDonalds and unknowingly mocking my youth?? Aside from the fact that it is incredibly frightening that they know all the words, it’s even more un-nerving that they could be singing about ME! I bet you can’t give me the name of a single 32-37 year old woman that doesn’t remember watching Breakfast Club over and over; having a big crush on Vince Neil of Motley Crue, or watching endless hours of MTV. I dare you… Well, it could almost be about me – although I really never liked Duran Duran, or wanted to be an actress. (much less shake my butt on the hood of a car) But the truth is, I LOVED 1985!

Anyway, this scenario left me with 2 questions. 1) Where does the time go? and 2) How do they know about Britney Spears anyway?

For those of you who don't know the song, my YouTube Pick of the Day: 1985

Talking Politics

Our family drove back to SD last weekend to visit my grandparents who have recently moved into the local nursing home following my grandpa’s surgery. I’m happy to report that they are doing very well! Grandpa seems to be getting stronger everyday.

Well, it’s been several months since we made the long, 6 hour trip back home, and during the drive I was reminded why I miss taking these long road trips. I actually get to talk to my husband. It’s an amazing concept, really. There’s nothing like being trapped in a small space, for hours on end, to facilitate stimulating and thought-provoking conversation. After crossing the Minnesota/South Dakota border, our focus of conversation took it’s usual turn from "Retirement", to "Politics".

As some of you may know – my husband and I have a history of political polarity. While I responsibly and conscientiously lean to the left, he favors the soul-less right side of the fence. For example, prior to the 2004 presidential election, our neighbors were all witnesses to the battle of political yard signs along 44th Place and Frankfort Pkwy. We also have great memories of a Halloween party in which Bill dressed as John “Frankenstein” Kerry, complete with flip-flops, a communist lapel pin and several purple hearts applied with Band-Aids. I, on the other hand, sported a Dubya mask, military fatigues, a gun, a “Halliburton” hat, and even labeled my ass with “Mission Accomplished”.

So, you may say we have a slight difference of opinion.

But…the amazing thing that I discovered on our long trek to SD, was that aside from our differing political end-points, once broken down into small topics…we really aren’t that different. It’s not that we haven’t had this exact same conversation hundreds of time before. In fact, it may surprise you to know that some of our favorite topics are religion and politics. (now, you’re probably thinking that the Gallagher’s must really be the life of party!!) I’m not sure if we just discovered this unifying fact at this time because we were actually calm enough to hear what each other had to say…or that we may actually be sub-consciously converting one another to the other side.

The key to this discovery lies in the fact that we each weigh the importance of the issues very differently. For example, we both pretty much agree on the social issues of abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research…but Bill doesn’t think they are important. And when it comes to issues of economics and gun control, our opinions are really not that far off either. It’s just that, to me, they aren’t as important. As for foreign policy, health care, and the war in Iraq...well, I'll just leave those for another time.

So, don’t get me wrong. There is no way in hell I’m crossing over to the dark side. And I have a feeling that Bill won’t be singing “Peace Train” anytime soon either. But, it certainly does make for an interesting marriage…and I wouldn’t have it any other way:)

Extreme Room Makeover: Part II

BEFORE:





AFTER:

Will really likes his "grown-up" room. In fact, he loves everything about it. He loves bed-time. He loves reading books in bed. He loves doing his homework at his desk. And, he told me he'd rather be in his room than in Florida. Amazing.

And, it didn't take me long to learn two things:

1) It is much easier for a grown woman to get up into the loft bed, then down from it.

2) Make sure you are WAY clear of the bed before standing up from the desk.

Will's turn

And now it's time for Will's bedroom re-do...

Did you notice my new title?

So, you may have noticed that I’ve been playing around with different titles for this site during the past month. Ever since I’ve started blogging, the title has been “Gallagher News”. I have recently decided that it is really an incredibly dull title…can you say BO-RING? I tried a few different ones: “Life in the ‘burbs” (too hum-drum blah…) and “Life Up North” (what is “north”, anyway…it’s not like we’re in the Arctic) and “The World According to Me” (just a tad too egocentric).

Well, I’ve settled on this one: “Are you kidding me???” This phrase is special to me for a couple reasons. First, I just so happen to use this rhetorical question all the time, in response to many situations. For example, just a couple days ago while in Eureka, I found Will and Madison engaged in a fight over toothpaste that had escalated to a screaming match at 11:17 pm, while everyone else was sleeping. I responded by venomously whispering, “Are you kidding me???” In another situation, Bill had just offered to take the day off work to get some stuff done around the house. I joyously replied, “Are you kidding me???” I even use it at work. Last week in reaction to one of our new admits who was involved in a drunken snowmobiling accident; I offered this same phrase in utter amazement of the pure stupidity of the situation.

The second reason I hold this phrase very near and dear to my heart is that these were the first four words to leave my mouth after the ultrasonographer placed the transducer probe on my pregnant abdomen nine short years ago. As I saw two perfectly round little circular objects (which turned out to be tiny skulls), I was unable to stop asking the poor women “Are you kidding me???….Are you kidding me???….Are you kidding me???” The only thing that stopped me from uttering those words for the rest of that day was her very brisk retort, “Ma’am, I’m not kidding you. This is my job.” My repetitive questioning soon turned into uncontrollable laughter, which in turn made my big belly jiggle...seemingly forever. As I remember, she was pretty relieved to see us leave her office that day.

And the rest is history…



YouTube Pick of the Day: 9 months in 20 seconds

College plans

Will: "I think I’ll go to college in Kansas."

Madison: "I’m going to go to college in Hawaii."

Dad: "Hawaii is going to be really expensive. And, they really aren’t known for their great academic reputation. You should really go to Wisconsin."

Madison: "I’m not going because of that. I just like Hawaii. And they have an ocean there."

Will: "Does Kansas have a lot of tornadoes?"

Mom: "In some parts, they do. Don't you want to be a Jackrabbit from SDSU?""

Will: "No. I think I’ll just go to college in Wisconsin. That should be pretty cheap."

RAEBNC

OK… so call me old, call me a dork, call me un-cool. I have not been able to bring myself to use any of those ridiculous abbreviations that have become so popular since the dawn of text-messaging. In fact, I’m so out of touch with “hip-ness”, I actually had to Google ROTFLOL. Seriously. And I guess if you don’t know what that means – you’re a dork, too.

It’s not that I ever text-message anyone. Which is mostly due to the fact that I’m over the age of 16…never mind that I don’t really know how, anyway. But, occasionally I like to post comments on other people’s blogs and find myself writing stuff like: That’s so funny/cute/weird!! I’m rolling on the floor laughing out loud! Ha Ha!! It’s really pretty pathetic.

So, for something fun to do, and to weaken my aversion to these stupid acronyms, I’m going to “text” you some messages to see if you can figure it out. And I promise, I didn’t make these up on my own - they're legit! Here it goes:

1. IMHO PEBCAK
2. ROTFLOLAPMP
3. WIBAMU
4. FYA IFOML
5. TTFN LYMY



YouTube Pick of the Day: Weird Al's White & Nerdy

I’d been waiting for last night for months! So, what do you think is going on?? Why did Jack finish Ben’s surgery (he probaby should have let him die)? What did Ben and Juliet talk about? How could he possibly wake up during the whole thing, anyway? Do you think Alex is really Ben’s daughter? Why would Jack sacrifice himself for Kate and Sawyer? Why was Karl being imprisoned and brainwashed? Is Ethan one of the recruiters from the Dharma project…or is his company, Mittelos, an enemy of theirs? How does all the experimental pregnancy research fit in with everything (and why have they taken all the children in the first place)? Is Juliet (or any of the Others) actually captives on the island as well? So many questions!!!

And the scariest part of it is that I just went directly to the website http://www.oceanicflight815.com/ without Googling it…and I’ve just spent the last 30 minutes researching theories. (Gasp!)

BBBBRRRRRRRRRR.........

So, I bet all you Kansas City and Seattle people are really wishing you were in Minnesota right about now, huh?? Yep, looks like we won't be seeing any positve numbers for another 3 days. On my way into work this morning, I was really hating the fact that I have a job...where I have to work weekends... in the frozen tundra.

You definitely know it's too cold when your car makes that horrible squeeling noise for several minutes after starting, the inside of your nose "cracks" when you scrunch it, and you have to pick icicles off your eyelashes after the bitter wind has forced out tears that have frozen instantly.

On the bright side, it's already February 3! We're in the "home stretch"!!

YouTube Pick of the Day: Where the Hell is Matt?