...And May All Your Christmases be White

A pic that Stinky took of her cousin when my girls were down in Ottumwa.

So, hey! Merry Christmas or whatever you like to celebrate! Sorry, I haven't written in a while. Things have been crazy busy in my world.

Sooooo, let's see...Where were we? Oh yeah. I dropped the girls off with my sister on Tuesday night. They had a great time while they were there. The original plan was for me to pick them back up when I came down on Christmas Eve. I had a wonderful Wednesday night with the guy....As usual. Then on Thursday morning I woke up to find that there was a big blizzard coming our way for Friday. Drat!

Instead of a nice leisurely day of last minute shopping, followed by a quaint evening wrapping gifts and watching movies, I ended up running around to a crowded mall and a few other insanely busy stores,throwing all my gifts into bags and driving down to Ottumwa a day early to avoid the storm. By the time I got there I was so frazzled, and stressed and tired and hungry, I could barely enjoy myself. I did get to see all the cousins and I know my girls were happy everyone was there too.

Sadly, all they had was snack food and I was STARVING, plus I wasn't sure what time the snow was supposed to start flying, so we didn't stay very long.

Christmas Eve did turn out pretty nicely for me and the girls after all...Even if it was different than how we normally spend it. I got up and shoveled snow, then Coadster and I ran some errands. I picked up the guy and we had a lunch at the Masala for the Indian food buffet. Very nice.

In the afternoon, the girls and I went to the mall. Not my favorite place, but it makes the girls happy, they had some Christmas money to burn and it was very empty on account of the weather. We then got some groceries, and rented some movies and headed home. We ate popcorn and M and M's and watched movies until Coadster left with her dad to go to church and Stinky fell asleep on the couch. I watched White Christmas (pretty fitting, don't you think?) and at some point, Stinky woke up and I took her place falling asleep on the couch. I feel like we celebrated that day very well, thank you.

Birds Are Leaving Over Autumn's Ending

Here is some spray paint art.

Oh, kids. I had a wonderful night with the guy. He came over and for the first time since the accident, things almost felt kind of normal. I made tempeh reubens for dinner. He's not supposed to sit for very long. He has to either stand or lie down. Weird, huh?

Since it was such a blustery evening, I wasn't complaining one bit that we got to lie around and talk about every little thing that came into our heads, while we listened to the wind howl around the sanctuary of my little cottage.

All the Things I Care About (Are Packed Into One Punch)

I'm out of recent pics, so I'm recycling this one from a couple of years ago.

Wednesday's are becoming nice reprieve nights for me. Coadster goes to her dad's and Stinky is gone most of the night at rec league basketball games and then to her youth group. There was a time, before I was so house poor, that I would meet a group of friends at different restaurants around town for Supper Club on Wednesdays, but I haven't done that for many, many months.

Lately, I'm probably most happy spending Wednesdays by myself, anyway. That might change if the weather ever gets better and I tire of hibernating. But right now, my solitary evenings are exactly what I need in the middle of the week. It feels weird to have even a few hours to do with whatever I want. Yes, I did some chores and worked for a bit on the kitchen, but I also want to make sure I give myself time to read and listen to music if I can. I've got about a hundred pages left in The Sun Also Rises. It's been a quick read and such great escapism. I can't imagine a life where people spend most of their days and nights drinking and socializing. I couldn't do that every day without it making me really, really unhappy, but it sure is fun to read about. It's funny how I don't remember that they drank so much when I read it in high school. And as much of a drunken misogynist as he was reported to be, Hemingway sure could write the hell out of a novel.

Of course, as soon as I finish it, I'm moving on to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The only book I've read of his was Blood Meridian and if The Road is anything like that, it will be about the opposite of The Sun Also Rises. I'm sure I'll be ready for it after a hundred more pages of frivolity.

You'd Take an Inch, But You'd Love a Mile

People I don't know dressed like Santa and eating pizza.

So, my plan tonight was to wash my bathroom walls and start taping them for my next painting project. The only problem with that is that I've been neglecting my normal cleaning duties with all of these projects. So, I took the evening off from painting prep to get all crazy and clean the kitchen and do some laundry. It should work better this way, though. I can clean and tape the walls tomorrow, put the primer on the next night and try to paint it earlier in the day on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas day I plan to rest and relax and watch movies and maybe even get into a bottle of wine a friend left on my door the other day. Sounds like an awesome way to spend a holiday, doesn't it?

I only have two more days left to work before my four days off. Right now, the plan is to drive down to the big O for Christmas Eve mass in the afternoon, drive around with the kids and check out the lights and then go to my Aunt's to eat and open presents. We'll drive back that night. Of course, this is all weather dependent. According to the most recent forecast, we're supposed to get either snow, rain, ice, freezing rain, a typhoon, plagues of locusts and/or eternal damnation ( or something like that) starting tonight and continuing for the rest of the week. Since I've lived in Iowa for most of my adult life, I'll just go with what I always say...We'll see.

If the weather is too bad to drive down to be with the family, I know the girls will be disappointed, but we'll just hibernate. Luckily, we only live a few blocks from the store, so even if it's too icy to drive, I can at least skate over there and stock up on food and make the best of it...Maybe I'll even get into that bottle of wine a day early.

Or Thursday Watch the Walls Instead

Here's another snowy branch pic.

Well, kids. I just got finished painting my bedroom and I still have to clean-up. Sounds like the beginning of last Thursday's post, doesn't it? Anyway, I could have been done a lot sooner, but I went running and got the girls dinner ready and then stopped over at my friend E.'s house. Tuesday was her birthday, so she wanted to have a girly happy hour. I only stopped by for about an hour, and that was perfect. I got to see some friends, have Libby swear at me and drink one beer. Then I finally made it home to paint. I think I have this moment with every room I do, but when I'm halfway done, I look around and think, "Holy shit! That's a lot of whatever color I painted it" and then I get over it and after I get everything put back together, it doesn't seem quite so overwhelming. At one point, Coadster walked in and surveyed the room. I asked her what she thought and she said, "It's very you." I'm not sure if she thought that was a good or bad thing. But I want my room to look like me, so I'll just go ahead and think it's good.

Sooo, the weekend? Well, tomorrow night Stinky is babysitting for my friend Eggo. I'm not sure what Coadster's doing. I suppose if she's going out, I could too if I wanted. I know a lot of people who will be out and about, but I'd rather stay home and get my room put back together and drink a beer and watch a movie or read a book.

Since I was so good and finished my Christmas shopping already, I plan on just working more on the house on Saturday afternoon and running, of course. Then I'll meet some people out for a beer and talk to real live grown-ups for a couple of hours on Saturday night. It's my favorite couple - the Hall's anniversary. Stinky is babysitting for them, so I would love to run into them after they do their romantic dinner and stuff. But I could see where they might not want their dorky friend tagging along on their date too...

Okay. I better go clean-up paint and hit the hay. Let me know what you all are doing. Will you be spending a mellow night at home, or tagging along on your friends' date?

You Was There When the Money Was Gone, You'll be There When the Money Comes

Here is some drank carnage from Saturday night.

Let's see...I was going to talk a little more about my weekend. Well, it started off with a bang, when I saw that I got my income tax refund. Yea, me! Most of the money is going to pay off bills and a credit card and the rest of Coadster's Spring Break choir trip to NYC. (she's already paid almost half) We do get to spend a little on fun stuff, however. Since you all know I like dates, the girls and I went on one on Friday night. We had dinner at the Blue Bird Diner. If you are an Iowa City ex-pat, it's located where Gilpin Paint Store used to be, across the street from The Foxhead. I have heard mixed reviews about it, but we really liked the food and the ambiance. It's a little pricey for us po' people, so we couldn't go there all that often, but it was great for a special occasion. I got a Reuben, and it was the first good Reuben I think I've ever had in Iowa City. Stinky almost always orders a bacon cheeseburger whenever we go out to eat. She said she thought the Diner's burger was one of the best she's ever had. They just happened to have shrimp scampi over angelhair pasta as a special, which is about Coadster's favorite food ever in the world, so she was happy. All in all, I'd say it was a fine dining experience.

After dinner, we headed over to Gordman's to get the girls some clothes. A while back, I figured the best way to go clothes shopping with the girls, was to tell them how much money they had to spend, and let them budget what they could get with it. It works for me, because I don't have to spend the entire shopping trip telling them that I can't afford whatever it is they want. Now THEY can't afford whatever it is they want. They get to be their own bad guys. It's also good for them, because it teaches them how to get creative about how to make what they want, jive with what they can afford. It's a valuable skill, I think.

We got home around nine, and my friend G. called me to tell me some friends were going out. The girls and I were all exhausted, and I was going to have to get Coadster to the show choir bus by 7 am, so I lamed-out and stayed home. Both of the girls went to bed, and I stayed up to watch a few of the newest episodes of Weeds. It was a perfect Friday night.

You've Done About All One Kid Can Do In One Day

Okay, kids. This weekend was INSANE. I'm so glad I took Friday night as my night of resting and watching movies, because I didn't do anything but run around like a chicken with my head cut off for the rest of the weekend. My friend G. even called me at one point to see if I wanted to meet some girls at The Dublin, but I had to decline. So, I'm exhausted and this will mostly be a photo post. I will also get back to reading blogs and hopefully, emailing all the people I owe emails to sometime this week.

At nine o'clock on Saturday morning, Coadster and I went to Stinky's basketball game. Her team pretty much sucks, and I say that with all the love in my heart for her. You know it's bad when you get excited that the other team only has twice as many points as yours.

After the game, I had to break down and go to the mall. I hadn't bought even one Christmas present, and it was about damn time. Plus, Coadster volunteered to wrap presents for Habitat for Humanity, so I had to drive to the mall in the middle of all that snowfall anyway. We decided to break up the shopping by hiding in the movie theater for a bit. We watched Seven Pounds, but I won't tell you anything about it, so as not to spoil anything for you.

Later that evening, I went to the Mill to my friend B. and A.'s anniversary party. It was a great time.

There were lots of musicians and even kid wrestling. Here is B. and A.'s daughter getting wrestled down by two famous local folks singer's adopted daughter. PAAAAR - TYYYY!

I didn't stay long, because Stinky was at my house having a sleepover with a couple of her friends. I was there long enough to hang with some great, fun women and have exactly two beers. Once again - PAAAAR - TYYYYY!

The happy couple seemed to have a lot of fun and find a way to make some money out of the deal too.

Today was more running and driving girls places, and watching the Steelers lose and now I'm going to pass-out. I can't wait to go to work tomorrow, so I can get some rest. Jeesh!

Ice is Back With My Brand New Invention

Here is a picture of Santa with a nosebleed standing next to a can of PBR. Merry Christmas, everybody!

So, I was walking home from work tonight. The ice storm hadn't started yet, but it was about an hour away. It was cold, and I was trying to rationalize to my conscience why I didn't have to run. Who knew when the storm would start, I'd just hate to get caught out in it and plus, it was cold out, that could make me sick again, couldn't it? I had talked myself out of it, when I entered my house and saw Stinky getting ready to run. Shit. My conscience instantly stopped buying my lame excuses and kicked my ass out the door to go running after all.

When I got back Stinky helped me make dinner. She had this idea, she told me last weekend, for something to make this week. It would be like stir-fry kind of but made with a little garlic butter and white wine instead. She thought it would be good served over some wild rice. So, that's what we made and it was damn fine, let me tell you. The best part was, that all I had to do was cut the chicken. Stinky wanted to do everything else, and she cleaned up. Man, I could get used to that.

Now, on to the weekend. I've been working hard all week after work, so that I could give myself a lame-ass Friday night. My house is clean, my tree is up and I have a few beers in the fridge. If we don't lose our electricity with the ice storm, I'm planning on sitting on my ass in my lounge pants and watching movies. If we do lose our electricity, I have many large flashlights with which to read books. Either way, I'll be hibernating.

If I go out at all this weekend, it might be for an hour on Saturday night. My friend Bob and some other people are playing more roots kind of music at The Mill to celebrate the solstice, which just happens to be his and his wife's anniversary. So, even though I'd like to just stay home, I also want to help them celebrate.

Okay, kids. What are your plans for the weekends?...You know, as long as your power doesn't go out.

And I'm Oh So Tired of Running, Gonna Lay Down on the Floor

Here are some people wearing hats and hugging each other on my favorite tree.

Well, kids. This was quite a week. I finally feel like I'm recuperating from the holiday. I would love to say that I was going to lie low all this weekend, but that's not going to happen.

Tomorrow night, I told my friend Libby I'd show up at her thing at Vito's of all places. Some guy just bought it and is trying to attract an older crowd (I'm assuming that's why I was invited). They are having some kind of party there to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition. I'll drink to that.

On Saturday afternoon, Stinky and I are going to Coadster's show choir Winter show gig. It's usually a little long, but still fun. We'll see if we can't get some goofy photos of all the hair and the make-up and the sparkly costumes.

I really, really want to stay home on Saturday night and watch movies. It's supposed to maybe snow, so it would be a good excuse to hibernate, drink a beer or two and let myself be entertained. I'll let you know how that goes.

Let me know what all you all are doing this weekend in the comments.