Waking up to snow...

again, just a bit this time. Enough to make things look nice in a world that isn't always.

Last week NPR's Bagdad correspondent did a long interview with a Sunni man who lived in a Shiite neighborhood. The militia had driven out most of the Sunni and were trying to force him to leave, but he told them he had nowhere to go. Apparently as all of the "new deal" was announced, he had been visited by the militia commander and told that he didn't have to leave, that they weren't going to operate that way anymore, and that they were even going to ask the people who had been forced out to return.

I thought perhaps, finally, there is a glimmer of hope!

Last night they announced that the man had been executed on Monday by militia...

alan

Blue Monday...

Sometimes it all just goes "screwy"!

Laura's birthday dinner turned out, in spite of it being 20 outside with a 35 mph wind while I was grilling. I split the salmon into halves because one was so much thicker than the other and put the thin one on the "cool" side of the grill, but between the marinade dripping from it and the mushrooms, the thin one caught fire once or twice...still edible, but not perfect like I hoped for!

Dottie was exhausted Saturday morning so we slept in, no movie that morning. With Bill and Laura we watched "The Lake House" and "Robin Williams Live". "The Lake House" we had seen in the theatre, and I loved it (sucker for romance, sorry!) as did Dottie after she saw it. The "Robin Williams Live" was a DVD I gave Dottie for her birthday that we hadn't seen, and though parts were a bit embarassing to watch with your kids, it had me in tears from laughing so hard...it was an HBO special from early in George the 3rd's administration. Made me really look forward to my first colon exam...now overdue by about a year...(not due to fear of the exam but fear of co-pay).

Sunday morning her stomach was "queasy" so we didn't dare do an early movie again. I had hoped to make it to "Pan's Labyrinth" at 10 that morning, then "Volver" at 4 in the afternoon. By then she felt better, but John was coming by to borrow a cord for Noel's laptop, and it's seldom we get to sit and talk to him anymore, so we stayed home and watched TV yesterday. Dottie was actually happy not to have left the house all day...

Sometimes when your "blogfriends" are going through a rough time it's very hard to not want to jump on an airplane just to deliver a hug...

alan

Last Weekend...

Talia enjoyed her birthday thoroughly! The actual day was Friday, and Mommy and Daddy took her and her siblings to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant that night, then Saturday she had her party. It was already beginning to snow by the time this was taken, and after she was done opening gifts the boys went outside to play touch football in the snow, followed by some sledding. When they decided they were cold enough, they came in and we had ice cream and cake.

Dottie took a vacation day for Saturday, so she had to work on Sunday. I got up at 7:30 to clear her car and shovel before she had to leave for work. This is the view that greeted me-




I cleared the sidewalk to her car, then her car and warmed it up, then started on the driveway itself. I wasn't through with it yet when she had to leave. I shoveled for 3 hours by the time I had my truck clear, the driveway back to the garage and the sidewalks behind the house. They still hadn't melted all the ice off from the last "go round" and I knew it would never melt with 6 inches of snow on top...

Of course, Angel loves it!




Between what I shoveled, the salt and the sand, the front driveway melted down pretty well. I heard the plow go by early during the Bears game, of course it filled the end of my driveway back in, so I went out at halftime to clear it again before Dottie came home.




When I got out there I found that the ice on the back sidewalk and patio were lifting enough I could clear them, so I spent another hour doing that. I finished just in time to peel potatoes to go with the roast I had in the oven and make gravy.

Dottie is off this weekend, and Bill and Laura are coming for dinner on Saturday. Since it's Laura's "birthday dinner" she wants salmon and portabellas on the grill, so you know where I'll be Saturday afternoon. I'm hoping to do a movie early both days, and after that we'll see what transpires! "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Babel" and "Volver" are on my list; we'll have to see what's on Dottie's!

Hope everyone is doing well!

alan

I had planned...

to put up some photos of the weekend, both Talia's party and our Sunday snowfall. Overtime on Monday (needed it) and a long day yesterday put that off. Dottie was off Friday, so we went and saw "Eragon" then she had yesterday off and I got up early and we went to "A Night at the Museum". No way was I missing out on Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney on the big screen; everything else was just an added treat!

Then I went to work last night and wasn't smart enough to turn my radio off at 8pm. Amid all the other b-s, I heard W. say he wanted to create a civilian corps with specialized skills to augment the armed forces.

Mercenaries, anyone?

alan

I like this one much better...

You Are An Apple Tree

You are quiet and shy at times, but you have lots of charm and appeal. You are quite attractive: your pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, and adventurous spirit draw people in. Sensitive and loyal in love, you want to love and be loved. You are a faithful and tender partner - who is generous in sharing your many talents. You love children, and you need an affectionate partner.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

We're melting!

Finally, a bit of warmth!

It's been so cold that the ice on the hood of my truck has never melted loose. I opened and shut it the other night when I got to work, and the edges came off but the middle is still stuck.

Still watching and listening to too much news for my own good...so many things I wish I knew how to fix!

My grandaughter turns 6 tomorrow; her party is on Saturday afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it. She is the first girl born into our family since my sister in '59, and is being spoiled appropriately. Not that the boys don't get most everything they want, too...lol!

Hoping to bloghop some on Sunday; may the weekend be wonderful for you all!

alan

Courtesy of a Friend...

You Are 44% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul. You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

Crust, but no glaze...

yet! It's so cold that the sleet "grained" quite a bit, with a bit of snow over that, into a rough crust about and inch and half thick or so at this point. They kept the freeways pretty clear, the sidestreets they haven't messed with, so at this point it's not bad "going". Dottie went to work today, I'm off for MLK day, so I took her car in for it's oil change. There were some rollovers on the news early, and I saw one. Just because you can drive 60 doesn't mean you can take the ramp at that speed...

For those who have a holiday today, I hope it's enjoyable; for those at work, may Monday be kind!

alan

Ice is us!

Knowing that this storm was coming our way, I went to Lowe's on Monday and bought extra sand and ice melt for my house and John's. Since he's out of town 'til 10 tonight I'm planning on going by there on my way to work to work on his driveway a bit if it gets as bad as they seem to think it will. If I can get out of my neighborhood, lol!

Laptop is charging, just in case. I can always go to Borders or Panera Bread to pay bills...

But before I shut down my desktop until this is over (in my old neighborhood, the lights tend to go easily) I wanted to wish each of you a wonderful weekend! Dottie is off, and I think we may actually cozy up and spend this one quietly!

:o)

alan

In Shock!

"Yeah, men in position are backin' away:
Freedom is stuck in reverse.
Let's get out of Iraq an' get back on the track,
And let's rebuild America first.

Why don't we liberate these United States,
We're the ones who need it the most.
You think I'm blowin smoke? Boys it ain't no joke.
I make twenty trips a year from coast to coast."

Merle Haggard

When I heard that tonight on the BBC I almost fell off my forklift! They didn't play the whole song, only a few snippets; I came home a tracked down the lyrics, of which these are the last two verses.

Times they are a'changin'!

___________________________________________________________________

Addendum, Wednesday night/Thursday morning-

As the article the header links to attests, the rest of it is an "isolationist" anthem...
My first memories of hearing about Merle Haggard were during the Vietnam era, when he was singing against the protests, so I was quite shocked to hear him come out against the "2nd Iraq War".

I'm not a huge country music fan though I'll listen if it's on. When "the Chicks" came out with their new one I went and bought it to support them; to say thanks for standing up in spite of the flak.

I do have some Jerry Reed and Ed Bruce discs running around; also some Red Sovine and Dave Dudley. On album I have some Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins duets that are mind blowers!

But when I got in her car tonight to drive home I turned off the BBC and hit play on the CD player to listen to Glenn Miller and the Andrews Sisters, live airchecks from 1939-40.

Within a minute or two "King George" was forgotten, along with my night at work.

I was smiling!

alan

"Early" Sunday...

when you live my schedule...not quite noon yet, I've been up about 6 minutes, lol!

Friday evening at work I spent writing a long rant (in my head) that I had planned to title "No Warrant Needed" for King George; like my thoughts matter to him anyway! Rather than waste my effort, we'll see what transpires in D.C. this next week!

By the time I felt like doing anything yesterday, the massacre in Indianapolis had begun (Colts 23, Chiefs 8). Somehow I know it must be my fault, as it's the only game I've seen all of all year...all night at work Friday people would ask if I thought they would win (this is a team that made the playoffs because 3 other teams lost games they should have won last week) and my reply was that "I will hope, but I won't hold my breath".

When Dottie came home from work last night we went out and found a coat for Talia to make up for the one that was too short at Christmas. Hooray, it's finally over!!! The last Christmas exchange has been made! Just in time, of course, since Talia's 6th birthday is in two weeks; most of the shopping is done thanks to the extras we picked up through Christmas, only a few odds and ends to find now!

I'm really having a hard time not commenting on the world and national things, but I'm trying to focus on the ones I can have an effect on and let the other ones go...feeling guilty the whole time of course...

May this next week be kind to you all!

alan

It was a dream...

Back to work last night; after the initial round of "Happy New Years" and "Welcome Backs" and "was Santa good to you", it was like we never left!

New Year's Eve we did the November, December and January birthdays at my sister's house, along with a New Years Eve party. My Dad used to sit everyone down and show the family slides, and last year my sister and I tried to revive that, much to the chagrine of some of our kids. We only went through 2/3 of them last year; this year we did the other 1/3. I quit playing with photography after Dad died, partly from expense and partly because there were just too many memories, so this 1/3 was the slides of my boys and our family from when they were born 'til Bill was 5 (Dad died in '83). We hadn't seen a lot of these since then; some my sister had never seen. It went much better this year...

My mother didn't go; as she said her legs were bothering her and she'd rather stay at the nursing home. We didn't argue...

We buy gifts for each other and the kids from her; the DVD she bought Noel it turned out Noel had bought herself (The Lake House). Since we didn't buy it for ourselves, though we liked the movie, we kept it and spent New Years Day going back to the antique mall she and Dottie had been to last Saturday to look for a wooden grain bucket she had put back but really liked. Dottie had bought herself a Fairbanks scale that day (she is a descendant of the Fairbanks family), and gone back on Sunday to look for a piece that was missing (no such luck) . So the shopping continued though the holidays were technically over, lol! Tonight Dottie's doing the 2nd round of returns on my mother's clothes, then all we have left is finding a jacket for Talia, as the 6 I bought her was too short (growth spurt!) and they didn't have it in a larger size.

I would have never dreamed when I thought we were so far ahead this year that this would still be going on!

:o)

Time for some coffee and to finish waking up!

alan