Let it snow? Let It Snow. LET IT SNOW!

Okay I know that snow is a bummer in many ways. I don't have to shovel and my car is in a heated garage so I'm in much better shape than many people. But today, with the snow coming down, I realized there are a few good things about snow:

1. I am feeling very Christmasy again. My friend Peter told me I had to decorate this year and I was all "yeah, yeah, yeah" about it, but today I want to take everything out of the closet and start decorating. I have even created a "favorite holiday" playlist on my iTunes so I'll be ready to go on the day after Thanksgiving -- which my friend Sue insists is the proper day to begin listening to Christmas music. I may, however, watch "Elf" tonight. I love that movie (yes, Peter I know you hate that movie).

2. Freckles loves the snow. When we went out this morning she got up on the grass and looked up at me with a look that said "Oh boy it's back." I think dogs believe we can make this stuff come and go. When it's nice she likes me, when it's not so nice she's thinking "hey lady, get rid of this stuff." She ran as fast as she could through the snow and was bouncing all around with glee. Then she came in and went to one of her five beds and curled up in a sweet little ball of contentment. She doesn't usually sleep like this, she likes to stretch out but today she was in a secure ball.

3. And seeing her so content reminds me that snow gives you a perfect excuse not to go anywhere. It sucks when you are going somewhere and you have to make your way through it, but when you don't have any plans, a snowy day makes you want to curl up into your own ball of contentment and settle in for a nap.

So if you'll excuse me, I have some hibernation to do.

Big Friday Night

Annie and I are having a big night tonight:

1) A couple hot games of Uno where I will undoubtedly have my butt handed to me

2) A homemade dinner (by me, yes really) of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs.

3) Watch the classic "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"

Annie and I hang together most Fridays. She is a great friend and reminds me of what is best in life. Have a good weekend.

Thank You

You may have seen this photo before but I think on Veterans' Day it is worthy of a second viewing. This is my dad (on the right) and his two brothers.

Having grown up during the Vietnam War days, there was a time when a veteran was not given much respect. In fact, I know when guys came back home they tried to hide the fact they had been in the service. Oh how times have changed -- for the better.

What has me ticked off though is the commercializing of the day. I got an email from one of our vendors. It had an American flag and said Veteran's Day and then underneath had his name and a tagline for his company. I thought that was extremely tacky. Even tackier than the President's Day Lingerie Sale they have every year at Dayton's/Marshall Fields/Macy's. Happy Birthday George Washington ... do you like my new push-up, cross-your-heart, underwire bra?

Well anyways ... thanks to all the men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Give Me A Break

The company I work for has season tickets to the Vikings and I am the go-to-person to handle payment and distribution. I received an email about voting for the top 50 Vikings to celebrate their 50th anniversary. When I was a kid my dad use to build apartment complexes, many of them that are now on the Bloomington 494 strip, and a number of his investors were Vikings including Fran Tarkenton. In fact Mr. Tarkenton (see I'm still 8 years old) use to come over to the house. So when I saw this opportunity to vote I thought what the heck, I'll see how many names I recognize. Well to my surprise they had a long list of present and former Vikings to chose from but I couldn't believe Brett Farve is one of them. Now he did a phenomenal job last season but they had to beg him to come back this season and he's been with the team for 1-1/4 years!!!! Give me a break.

Now for one of my best memories of all time that involved Mr. Tarkenton. When I was about 12 my family went up to Bemidji for a vacation and to watch the Purple vs. White game at Bemidji State, where the Vikings use to have their training camp. The day after the game about 6 or 7 of the players came to the resort to have dinner with us. Now besides having the entire resort starring at our table in envy what I remember was at one point when I came back to the table (I have no idea where I'd been), Mr. Tarkenton stood up and held out my chair for me. At 12 years old I felt like the queen of the world. He showed me what a gentleman is.

It was such a small gesture but, as you can see, I've never forgotten it. Makes you wonder how many small gestures we do in this world that people remember. I hope the ones I do are good ones.

Let There Be Light

I love it when it is light out in the morning. Yes, I know it will be darker earlier but that's okay because it's night -- it's suppose to be dark at night and light in the morning. So don't complain too much.

My friend Pat and I were two of the few people I know who didn't like it when it was light at 9 at night. I like my sunlight in the morning, of course there was as time when I use to like my vodka in the morning. People change, thankfully.

The other day I went to Target and they are taunting me with Christmas. I have 6 tubs filled with Christmas decorations plus my tree, a ceramic tree, and a snowman tree in separate boxes. This is the year I plan on decreasing the amount of holiday decorating I do. It takes me days to put everything up and days to put everything away and I just don't know if it's worth it anymore. Of course I've said that before and end up adding every year. We'll have to see how it goes. I don't want to end up on the holiday edition of Hoarders.

The Big Squeeze

This is a big day ... it's mammogram day. I can't wait to be squeezed until I think I'm going to explode. But it needs to be done.

I'm looking forward to a big weekend treat -- I got DVDs of two of my favorite movies as a kid -- The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and The Private Detectives -- starring Don Knotts. If you've never seen them you should. I think it's fun to go back and watch old movies.

Some other movies I would like to see again -- The Reluctant Astronaut, The Moonspinners, Flubber (the first one not the Robin Williams one), Hard Day's Night, to name a few. Of course be prepared to find out the movie isn't as good as you remember. I watched Babes in Toyland a few years ago and it just wasn't the same.

Well off to mamoland.

Am I A Fine Wine Getting Better With Age or a Fine Whiner Getting Bitter With Age?

So what's up with me? Where have I been lately?

Sorry, hard to get back into the swing of work. Good thing I'm not a teacher; imagine if I had had two months off instead of one week -- yikes.

Funny that I got the most done on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think having some sort of time constraint really makes a difference. It's a lot easier to put off something on Monday if you know you have 6 days to get it done.

Tonight I am at the halfway point in my classes. I like the classes but it sure is hard to go to school after working all day. I don't know how some people do this two or three nights a week for four or five years. These are people with determination, drive, and probably someone to do the laundry. I was going to say youth but didn't. I have been blaming a lot of my problems on age lately. I find myself saying "I'm too old to [fill in the blank]" or "Nothing I can do about [fill in the blank] it comes with age" a lot. Now while this may be true for a number of things:

• I'm too old to have a baby
• Nothing I can do about my eyesight getting worse, it comes with age
• I'm too old to be on American Idol
• Nothing I can do about liver spots, it comes with age
• I'm too old to join the Army (and a nation breathes a collective sigh of relief)

but it is as if I've given up and raised some sort of white flag (which I believe is actually a pair of old lady underpants) and surrendered, just waiting for death now.

I need to regroup, change directions, make a new plan Stan, get on the bus Gus, pick up the key Lee (wait that's 50 ways to leave your lover) -- you get my drift. I use to say I wanted to grow old disgracefully but I've let myself down. Perhaps before I start crocheting doilies to put on my tables and arm rests, I should have a little more fun.